Chapter Three – God’s Higher Calling: All Other Ways Derailed

Chapter Three – God’s Higher Calling: All Other Ways Derailed “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies.” ~ Psalms 119:59 What is the best life for us to live as a Christians? “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.” ~ Proverbs 8:35. God’s Higher Calling is that life and when we live it, we obtain favor of the LORD. But how do we know when we are living God’s Higher calling and when we are not? Is each individual right or is there a Higher Standard that all Christians everywhere need to follow? And how do we know what that standard is, if there is such a thing? This is where the HC Test comes in. What is the HC test you might ask? The HC Test is the Higher Calling Test. This is the Test that determines if everything we do and say, everything we wear and every place we go is apart of God’s Higher Calling. The HC test also shows where our hearts truly lie. If an issue fails to pass the HC test, that issue needs to be discarded. If you can’t discard it, then you have chosen not to live God’s Higher Calling! Remember Solomon? His wisdom was not from himself. Remember how he asked God for wisdom and God gave it to him? That wisdom was never rightfully Solomon's, but rather something God had loaned to him so that he could lead God’s people. When the Queen of Sheba visited him, instead of proclaiming all that he had was God’s, he took the credit for everything. He allowed other people to think the wisdom was his own. At the end of his life, his heart was turned away from the LORD and he made many unwise choices and God punished him by telling him that the kingdom would be divided in his son’s reign. Solomon didn’t leave behind a beautiful legacy. He could have, if he had given God the praise and been faithful in serving God all the days of his life. He started out so well, but he did not finish well. And he was the wisest man that ever lived! Are we our own? “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” ~ 2 Cor. 6:9. Since we are not our own we need to be checking ourselves to make sure we are not living like we are our own. Take any issue such as contemporary Christian music, country music, movie theaters, and modesty and apply the HC Test. All of these issues, I’ve heard referred to as the gray areas of the Christian life. It’s the attitude “What’s good for you, doesn’t mean it’s good for me” or “What’s bad for you, doesn’t mean I can’t do it.” “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” ~ James 4:17. Ever use this verse with this attitude? “Hey, I don’t know its wrong, so it’s ok, I can do it.” or “God hasn’t shown me it’s wrong and I’ve prayed about it.” Here is the ultimate test… just give it up. So what if you don’t know if it’s wrong or not; everything about you should be God’s. Therefore everything needs to be given to God. Give all the gray areas in your life to God. We base the idea of what a gray area is upon our own thinking. But our thinking has a source. The source for our thinking is either God or the Devil. Remember Peter, how he proclaimed that Christ was the Son of God. “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” ~ Matthew 16:17. But then shortly afterward, Jesus said this to Peter after Peter rebuked Christ: “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” ~ Matthew 16:23. Gray areas are not from God. Gray areas are nothing more then an excuse that Satan uses to keep us from going up higher. They are weights that we need to set aside. We need to savor the things of God and so many times the gray areas savor the things of man! Ask yourself who does this issue honor? If it is questionable is there really any question of what needs to be done with that area of your life? So many times, we view issues with the excuse that there just aren’t enough verses for that topic to be sure that that issue is wrong. However, if there aren’t verses to back up your opinion, the issue is wrong and not the fact that there aren’t enough verses for the issue. The HC test is a simple question: “Is this apart of God’s Higher Calling, is it going to help me to live a holier set apart life for God or is it going to keep me where I am?” The Modesty HC Test: Does what I wear state that I am a Christian called to live a higher standard? “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;” ~ 1 Peter 2:9. “Dad, is this skirt modest?” “Modest?... yes.” “Does it say bad girl?” “No, not bad girl.” “Does it say, God’s Higher Calling?’ “No” Though this father was right in telling his daughter that the skirt wasn’t apart of God’s Higher Calling, another father might believe that it is fine. Our standard comes from the LORD. He has set the standard for modesty. I’ve heard all the arguments and I’ve used them myself. Arguments such as: The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what is right when it comes to dress. Or I just don’t feel that there is anything wrong with _____ (fill in the blank.) It doesn’t matter whether you think something is wrong or right, what matters is whether or not you are willing to give that thing up to God. Want to know if you are willing to give something up? Just give the thing up! If it is apart of God’s higher standard, He’ll bring it back into your life but guarantee He’ll use your willingness in being yielded to Him and cause you to grow. Everything needs to be given to God because you belong to God. If a lady is unsure if pants are wrong, she needs to give them to God. My pastor’s wife told me to bag my pants and get rid of them; soon the desire to wear them would go away. And it did, until I let them back in again. As harsh as this may sound, pants on ladies open the door wide to lowering standards in other issues besides dress. I’ve seen this personally in my own life every time I brought pants back. A few years ago, I again started wearing pants and last year I realized that I was not willing to get rid of them. I was holding it to myself proclaiming, “No, no, God, you can’t have them!” It was not something I actually said or necessary thought, but in my heart not being willing to give them up, I was demonstrating that attitude. You want to go up higher? Look into the mirror, and ask God if what you are wearing pleases God. In January of 2006, Mrs. Amy Heinz, missionary’s wife to Chile, told the teens this exact thing. I sat there as a counselor and thought to myself that I was ok and did not need to ask God about my dress. God was trying to get a hold of my heart in a gentle matter, and when that didn’t work he showed me the hard way. If you really want to go up higher, give everything to God. Go through your wardrobe and anything that does not say God’s Higher Calling, get rid of it! The Music HC Test: “Does my music say God’s Higher Calling?” “Does the music coming from my car sound recognizably different from those around me?” Satan uses music to grip the Christian’s heart and keep him from living the Christ centered life. It’s a slow process. First, one starts listening to contemporary Christian music and then the “positive hit” type of music along with Country, until they are so far into music that they can’t even see why it’s wrong. Movies today are so infiltrated with music. I have very rarely tuned my radio to a rock station, but I have listened to the songs on movies and found myself liking them. And then when I would be searching for a Christian station, I’d hear a song from a movie and leave it on that rock station. I had come so far without even seeing the effects of where my choices had taken me. I also found songs that had Christian words and thought they were good Spirit filled songs. I found myself listening more and more to songs by the praise and worship bands. I started listening to the WORD FM which plays some contemporary songs but mostly rock. I wasn’t a hard core listener of contemporary Christian, Country or rock, I was a dabbler. And it was destroying my walk with the LORD. You want to know if your living God’s Higher Calling put your music through the HC test. The Movie HC Test: Are my movies and what I watch found in God’s Higher Calling? “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.” ~ Psalms 11:5. God says that those that love violence his soul hates. Where does that put those who say: “I love action films”… “It just has a little bit of violence.” What about this one? “Violence doesn’t affect me.” What about watching things that are morally wrong? Movies where people steal and get away with it? In fact, in the movies it is considered cool that the characters pulled off the perfect heist. One of my favorite movies is Gone in 60 seconds. Let’s see, the moral of the story, a kid gets in trouble and his brother bails him out by helping him steal cars. It’s a glorified auto theft story! Not something I need to be filling my mind with. It’s not going to cause me to live a holier life for Christ. “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”~ Psalms 101:3. You see that last part of the verse; it shall not cleave to me. You want to know how not to have sin cleave to you, stop filling your mind with sinful thoughts through movies. Movies will tell you how to dress without you even knowing. They tell you what to listen to and it creeps in unawares. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”~ Col. 3:2. We are to set our affection on things above. Set means to fix; to render motionless; as, the eyes are set, the jaws are set. Our eyes are supposed to always be fixed upon looking to those things which are above, and we are to guard against our eyes wondering to those things below. I had high places in my life that I refused to remove. “Save that the high places were not removed:” ~ 2 Kings 16:4. These places were things that were more important than God and placed above God. My father would often tell me that the TV was a god in my life. I didn’t like that and usually would become very offended. I would often give movies up for a while and then bring them back in. I would try to stay away from movies with innuendoes and yet I always thought I could just fast forward a bad part because after all I’m not watching it. “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” ~ Proverbs 6:16-19. We are not to even look on devised wicked imaginations. I think these verses describe so much that is on Television rather well. Television shows are another down fall in the Christian life. Cable is like opening a portal to hell. I know it is harsh, but I’m preaching to the choir! I liked shows like CSI and House until I stopped watching them for a while and tried to watch them again. They are filled with trash, better yet they are trash! We get so complacent when it comes to such junk. Christians revaluate what you are watching. Give it up for a while and I’m talking months not weeks, and then try to watch the show again and see how far you have come! If you are truly a child of God you will see all the filth that is on the Television. I did not see why I needed to give it up until I thought on how controlling the television as been in my life. It is a high place that needs to be torn down. “He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made:” ~ 2 Kings 18:4. I still like a movie once in a while, but I am aware of the control they have on me. “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” ~ Proverbs 4:15. What we put in our mind will affect how and what we think! The beauty of God’s Higher Calling is that God is continually teaching us. There are things this week that God’s taught me. I could have remained where I was by not obeying the LORD. What if I hadn’t yielded that which the LORD required of me? Instead of going forward, would I have taken two steps backward? I was going also discuss the topic of movie theaters, yet I don’t think I have to, because Christians that are living a higher standard won’t go to movie theaters. Movie theaters don’t cause us to live God’s chosen life for us. I do believe that there is a balance. Not every Christian is on the same level as another, we all are still growing and we all our in different stages of our Christian life. There are times of purging. There should be times when we do not turn the television on. And yet if we watch TV, we should always do so in moderation. Being careful of what we let in. Try reading your Bible before you put on a movie it will help you put God first over the Television. The HC Test derails our ways: There was a train that thought it was too limited because of the track it was on. It could go back and forth on the track but what it longed to do it could not. For that little train as it ran up and down the line would longingly look out at the fields and the towns it would pass. “I wish I could venture off the track and visit the places this line doesn’t go. Oh, what adventures I would have!” One day, there was a breach in the line and the little train saw its chance. He sped full ahead and with all of his effort he jumped track. He was so excited at his triumph that he didn’t realize what had happened. For when he tried to move to have all those wonderful adventures, he found his wheels stuck fast. Without the track under foot, he had become immobile. So it is in our lives, when we leave the track God has for us because we think we are being limited. And we find that we, like trains, were made for a specific purpose. The state of being godly is found in Psalms 91. Here we see that all other ways of the so called Christian life are derailed. This is the only way we are to live. This is the Christ like way. This passage has references to Christ. However, it also is a message to us on how we are supposed to live. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Remember, Moses up on that mount? The Bible says that he talked face to face with God as a man talks with to his friend. Moses was in the secret place with God. He was in the place where God could talk to him. Remember, where the people were? They were down at the bottom of the mountain unable to go any higher. Am I in God’s secret place? “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” In the secret place with God, is a place of protection from the world. “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” The world has a lot of snares in which to trap us and there are many noises in which to turn our eyes away from the LORD, but if we are living in the secret place with God, He keeps those things from taking over. He delivers us! Who am I trusting in and where am I resting? “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever? Under His wings, my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” Terror by night ~ this world has a lot of terror by night. As I watched my family leave for Arizona in 2007 this thought came into my mind: “There go my protectors.” My brothers have always been my protectors; my brother, Jeff especially. I have never felt afraid when I was with him, except maybe when he was driving. A few times, after they had gone, I found myself afraid. A sound in the night could make my heart beat wildly. But you know what I also found? When I began to pray and rest in the LORD’s protection, it was as if He covered me with His wings of protection and I could rest in that fact. But what about the arrow that flieth by day? Any verses come to mind? How about Ephesians 6:16. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” When we put our faith in the LORD and make him our trust, we will not be overcome by the Devil. Am I purposing to avoid complacency? “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” All around others may want to live in mediocrity but we need to purpose that we will live in the Secret Place with God. But “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” ~ Daniel 1:8. There is a message that Bro. C.R. Curtman preached at a youth camp. He called it the king’s meat. The king’s meat is anything that comes out of the World. Anything! He warned about what the king’s meat will do to a Christian. The king’s meat quenches the Holy Spirit. This is why before camp, parents are asked to make their kids turn of the outside worldly influences such as the Television and Internet. But they shouldn’t just turn it off before camp but after camp. Bro. Curtman’s main question was, “Why do teens make decisions at camp that only last for about a week?” The answer: “The king’s meat quenches those decisions and keeps the individual from living a victorious Christian life.” Is the LORD my habitation? “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;” so many times, we as Christians are inhabited not by the things of God but rather the things of the world. Is the LORD your habitation? Is that where you can be found, or do you have to come out of your habitation – the world to spend some time with the LORD? How’s my fighting in this spiritual warfare? “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” These verses are talking of Christ, but I think they can be applied to us. First of all, God does give us angels to protect us. They fight the battles we cannot see, for we are in a spiritual warfare. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” ~ Daniel 10:13. Secondly, God gives us the ability to have victory over sin. And the strong holds of Satan can be pulled down in our lives. “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:4. Whom do I love? “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” ~ Psalms 91:13-16. These verses define what it is to be called up higher. It is having a love for God so great that it causes us to cast down all other ways. It is calling upon God first when the trouble comes! Not trying to fix it ourselves and then run to God when all else fails. It is being satisfied with having nothing but the LORD. And it is yielding to God every area of our heart! So my dear friends, what are the areas that God is requiring of you? What are the areas in your life that no longer hold any face value? Has your life’s way just been derailed?

Chapter Two: God’s Higher Calling: Our Duty

“Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts: so shall I talk of Thy wondrous works.” ~ Psalms 119:27 Why is God’s Higher Calling so important? “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” ~ Romans 8:12-14. God’s Higher Calling is important for us to live because it is our duty! We are debtors to God. God made us His own and He bought us with a price. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” ~ 1 Cor. 6:20. As God’s Children, we are bought with a great price and our lives are not our own. How we often forget this, and live for self and selfish motives. Maybe, we try to appear like we are living the Christian life in order to get the praise of men. The Pharisees in the Bible lived their life for the praise of men. Christ called them hypocrites. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.“ ~ Matthew 23:27. Duty is that which a person owes to another; that which a person is bound, by any natural, moral or legal obligation. It is our duty to live a higher standard. We are to do our duty by continuing to give back our all to Christ. “Our all” would be every fiber of our being. Someone once said, “Life - put your heart into it.” If we are really truly living the Christian life, we will put our all into doing right. If we really want to put our heart into life, then we must first define what LIFE is. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” ~ John 14:6. Jesus Christ is our Life. We need to put our full heart into serving Him. God’s higher calling is our duty. We are to be faithful by doing our duty which is avoiding meritocracy, and living a higher standard. The word “Duty” has the same connotation as the word obedience. “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;” Ephesians 5:6. We need to obey God’s higher calling for our lives. God’s higher calling is not meant to be drudgery, but rather it is to be a delight and our hearts desire. We ought to have a delight to go up higher no matter what it may cost! Because remember, we are not only supposed to do our duty but we are to exceed it! “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” ~ Luke 17:10. God’s Higher Calling is not only for the stage of singleness but it is for the married stage, the stage of motherhood and fatherhood, for the stage of youth and the elderly. It is for all stages of life! I’ve heard these phrases used: Singleness-God’s Higher Calling, and also, Motherhood-God’s Higher Calling. But which one of these is correct. Which one is God’s Higher Calling? The answer may surprise you –Neither! God brings each individual to a stage of time in their life and in each stage each individual is to be living God’s Higher Calling. It is not the stage of life that is God’s Higher Calling but rather our entire life is supposed to be a life set apart to serve God in a higher standard of living. I wrote this in my Bible after I was approached yet again for being single… “My duty is not to get married or to stay single, but rather to do what God has for me in the time He has given me to do it.” In essence, my duty is to obey God, live apart from the world and continue to be teachable so that I can continue to go up higher. What does God have to say about our duty? “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. Oh my dear friends, God has a precious plan for your life. He formed it with his own hand and longs for you to obey his every command. God’s Higher Calling is not something we can make a one time decision to do. “Yes, from now on, I’m going to live God’s Higher Calling.” Oh, It may start with that thought, but it is a daily thing… a moment by moment thing. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,” ~ Deuteronomy 10:12. God’s Will for our lives is to live our lives in the fear of the LORD. We are to daily walk in all His ways; this includes loving Him with all of our heart and serving Him with all of our Life. This is exactly what God’s Higher Calling is all about. It is not a one time decision that we make and never think on again. Why is it that so many can go to the altar and get things right, but when they wake up on Monday morning they have forgotten all about the decisions they made? I’ve been there as I’m sure you have too. The answer really is not that difficult. To have complete victory and to stay consistent with the decisions made, there has to be a daily renewing of the mind. The Battle for life starts in the mind! What you think will effect what you do! “Sow a thought, reap a deed. Sow a deed, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a Character. Sow a character, reap a Destiny.” ~ Pastor Hammett. How can we avoid mediocrity? “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” ~ Romans 12:2. Every day and yes, even every minute the world is trying to conform us. We are being feed information from the world every time we step out the door. I’ll never forget one year at camp, I had to run out to the store midweek into camp. My mind had been surrounded by God’s Word, godly messages, and godly leaders. As I walked into that store, I felt like a “peculiar person.” The feeling that I didn’t belong flooded my soul. “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” ~ Titus 2:14. I also was aware of the shroud of ungodliness that surrounded me. All I wanted to do was get out of that store. I felt as if every one of those lost souls had a demon on their shoulder and I walked in with two angels of light by my side. I soon heard cursing and rock music and thoughts began to flood my mind. Why? Because the world is trying to conform us and Satan is trying destroy us. He wants to keep us from going up higher. Oh, God may use a mediocre Christian, but He can’t use them to their full potential. But the Christian who is living God’s Higher Standard He can use to their fullest and above their own full potential! A preacher once gave this illustration: “God has every one of His people in his dishwasher of sanctification. He often comes and pulls one of us out to use but if we won’t let the dishwasher clean us and we remain dirty He can’t use us and puts us back in to be re-washed. The dishwasher represents trials that God puts us through to purge us of our sins, but if we won’t yield things to the LORD so He can clean us, we won’t be used!” How can we live the Christian life to the fullest potential? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” ~ Romans 12:1. We are commanded to be holy. It is our duty to be holy. We have to renew our mind daily! It is not just a one time thing! I bring this up again because we live as if we think holiness and victory are something we get a hold of once at the altar, but that is not where we get holiness. It starts in the mind not with some action, but with a reordering of our thinking. How do we renew our mind? The Sunday School answer, Read your Bible, pray, memorize Scripture and meditate on it. We hear these words so often. However, we could do some of these things and still not renew our mind. Let’s go to the wilderness shall we. So many men were taken out to the wilderness to learn life lessons. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness. Elijah, Moses, Joshua and Philip all spent some time in the wilderness. I can’t say I’ve spent time in a real wilderness. I did spend some time hiking with my family out in the dessert of Arizona. And from these hikes, God gave me a picture of what it is to renew your mind daily and how trials lead to a sweet close walk with God… The Necessity of cool clear water in the wilderness ~ We started out each with a bottle of water in hand. Some of us grabbed our water from the fridge and some of us grabbed our water from the pile of water bottles sitting out. Even though, we had walked only for a short time, those of us who did not have refrigerated water soon found our water not to be just warm but hot. Though it was wet it was not thirst quenching. The Word of God is our water. It is in the wilderness of life that we need that fresh cool view from the Word of God. This takes time. But time seems to escape us and we find ourselves racing to read anything in the Word of God just for the sake of reading it. The water is wet but because we don't take the time to ponder and meditation on the Word of God and what God has for us, it does not quench our overly dry thirst. The Longing for shade in the wilderness of life ~ God's Presence and Prayer, without these two things we will never be able renew our mind with the Word of God. When the things of this life have compassed around us and we are in the wilderness where the sun is pounding down this is when our time with the LORD can be the sweetest. “Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” ~ Jeremiah 31:2-3. This verse speaks of God loving us and drawing nigh to us. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” ~ James 4:8. “Purify your hearts, ye double minded,” we can do this only when we are in communion with God. If we let our thoughts whether good or bad run our life, we will not hear from God. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” ~ James 1:8. Our thoughts will keep us from doing what God wants us to do. We need to bring every thought before God. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” ~ 2Cor. 10:5. When we get to a place where we are continually yielding our thoughts to God, we will find such rest and peace. God wants to cover us with His wings. He wants to protect us from the World. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” ~ Psalms 91:4. It is under His wings that we have sweet communion with Him. “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” ~ Isaiah 51:3. This is such a precious verse, because the wilderness can be a place of distress and great grief and loneliness. But when we look to the LORD and begin to fellowship with Him in the midst of the wilderness, it is as if the sand becomes grass, trees spout up, a stream appears, and soon before you even know it you’re standing in a peaceful quiet oasis just you and the LORD.

Chapter One: God’s Higher Calling Defined

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” ~ Psalms 119:18 What does it mean to go up higher? “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself:” ~ Psalms 4:3. First, it means we are separated to the LORD. Secondly, we are not just separated but we are separated for a purpose… the purpose of godliness for Christ. Thirdly, since we are separated this means we had to come away from some thing or some place. At the time of Salvation, God takes us off the broad way that leads to destruction. We no longer are to walk in the way of the World. We now are to be walking down a new road… growing with each step we take. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”~ 1 Peter 2:2. As a baby grows, they learn to lay on their stomach and then they wil start to roll over. From there the child will begin to push up using their knees and then they begin to craw... from there they start to learn how to walk. So as a baby begins to grow in a step by step process, so we too begin our new life as a babe; growing and then crawling and on to walking. Then there comes a time when we get to a place where we feel we don’t have to go any farther. This place is the place of complacency or mediocrity. This is a dangerous place to be. We must ask the question are we at a place of complacency or mediocrity? “But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” ~ Hebrews 10:38. This verse is not just referring to those that turn back to the world by some drastic measure. It is also referring to those who refuse to go any farther for God. In a sense, they are drawing back because they aren’t perusing God’s Best and Higher Calling. It is so easy for a Christian to remain where they are. If they remain there for too long, they end up going backwards. If a person isn’t going forward, they are going to draw back. This does not just happen to individuals but to whole families. They let circumstances overwhelm them. Until one day, someone is asking: “Hey, whatever happened to so and so.” Well, they use to sit in the front rows and then they moved to the far back rows. Until, one day, they were just gone. What happened? They let circumstances stop them from serving and began to come late to services and leave right afterward. At times it looked like they purposely avoided talking to people by making a b-line for the door. How do I know this? My family and I were there. In fact, we had let our circumstances overtake us to the point that we were up and moving! We were running away. I’ll never forget how God stopped us from going. We were all packed. Boxes were every where. My father was on the phone with his soon to be new boss, when I heard him say: “Sorry, I can’t do that, guess it’s not going to work out.” My father had been lead to believe that the small business he had would be bought out by the new boss. But the deal fell through and we ended up unpacking. The Lord knew that if we had moved that day, we would have still been living a mediocre Christian life and not God’s best plan for our lives. Are we satisfied in our comfort? “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” ~ Psalms 119:1. God wants us not to sit in our own comfort, but rather He longs for us to keep drawing near to Him. It is a place where God can have clear communion with His own. As Moses had to be called up to a mountainous place to get alone with God, so must we go up higher. Examine your life; are you in a place of comfort? Are you noticing a decline in your life from the things of God? Are you finding yourself thinking that you use to be involved and you use to serve, but are no longer involved? Maybe your still serving but you find that you just want to stay were you are and not go forward? Which way are we going to chose? Path number one: “And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD.” ~ 2 Chron. 17:6. Path number two: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” ~ Proverbs 14:12. Man is walking in a path. Do you know the song: “Just two choices on the shelf, oh what will your choices be… Pleasing God or Pleasing self, Oh, I would more like Jesus be.” We have a choice to make and there are only two paths to choose from. There is man’s way and the end of that path is death! And there is God way and the end of that path is an eternal relationship with God. These Paths may sound similar to the paths of Salvation and eternal damnation. But I am talking to Christians! My dear friends, every day you make a choice to either chose your own path, or let God direct you in His Higher Calling. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” ~ 2 Chron. 16:9a. Those whose heart is perfect toward God, these are apart of God’s Higher Calling. Why is God’s Higher Calling so important? To answer this question another question must first be proposed. What is God’s Higher Calling? It starts with Galatians 2:20 ~ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me Every Christian is called to be crucified with Christ. It is a command. But so many Christians neglect to obey. We are not supposed to settle for less then God’s best. But what is God’s best for us? God’s best is so simple and yet so many refuse to live that way, because it costs! What does it cost? The answer is Self. Another dreadful word that we often hate and it is another reason why Christians refuse to do God’s best. That word is Change. God wants to root out and adjust things in our life so that we can live the Christian life. You see, the Christian life is God’s best for us and yet we cannot live it for this life is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lives this life through us but only if we are yielded to His Holy Spirit working through us. This is God’s higher Calling and it is the only way we can live the Christian life. This higher calling isn’t just for Pastors and leaders and Sunday School teachers, but it is for all Christians! To settle for anything less then God’s Higher Calling, is to settle for a mediocre life. Not even a mediocre Christian life, because based on the definition of the Christian life… any thing below God’s Higher Calling isn’t Christian. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2. Anything of the World is not apart of God’s Higher Calling. It’s not Christian! And therefore what we put in will conform us, what we wear will conform us, what we see will conform us! “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” ~ Col. 2:8. The world spoils us. It stops us from serving and from doing our duty and from obeying our heavenly Father! I see so many people that claim to be Christians living this fake, empty life, calling it Christian. I am tired of seeing people dress worldly, talk worldly, walk worldly, act worldly, and still claim to be one God’s own. But I have been there. I have been there, I have let the fashions of the day tell me what to wear. The movies tell me what to think. When I filled my mind with all this fluff, it looked so right and I did not even see how wrong it was. Then one day, I asked the LORD to show me my blind spots. I did know what would happen when I prayed that. They say don’t pray for patience for you will get trials. Well, let me tell you, if you don’t want trials, don’t pray that God will show you your blind spots. “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” ~ Job 23:10. And through the trials, God enlarged my heart to have a desire to go up higher and live Christ’s Christian life. What weights are we carrying? “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” ~ Hebrews 12:1. There are many weights that we can be carrying and we just don’t see them as weights. These weights were things I considered not really having an effect on my Christian life at least not to a great extent anyway. They weren’t something that I thought was wrong, just maybe something not every Christian should do. After a friend began to point out some things she saw in my life, I began to realize that I was not where I use to be and not even close to where I should be. But thank the LORD, He was not content with my being there. He took me through some fiery trials. He wanted to root out the dross and show me what the weights that needed to be cast off. But that was just the Beginning. For at this time, I could not see nor hear God’s higher calling. It took a trial of utter exposure of the Soul and Spirit and less then a year’s time to break me and get me to a place where I would be able to be molded. Do you know that song? “Break me, take me, mold me, and make me. I want to do Thy Will, O LORD.” We sang this a lot at teen camps before a service. And I for a long time loved this song. However, there was a time in my life when this song scared me. Deep down, I knew how far I had drifted. Instead of looking at myself and realizing that I had brought me to this lower standard of living, I blamed my circumstances. And I might have been justified in doing so according to the World’s standards. For those of you who think you have arrived or that you are indeed trying to live the Christian life, Beware! Please be careful not to criticize or look down on others because their standard is lower then yours. God is possibly teaching them things that you do not know. Pray for them, for God to show them where they need to be. Beware of this attitude: “I’m not as bad as those over there, LORD!” This is not God higher calling and you are not living it, if you criticize and look down on others. If you are living a higher standard, this does not guarantee that you are living God’s higher calling. I’ve seen many a lost soul living a higher standard and they are lost and not apart of God’s higher calling. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” ~ 1 Cor. 10:12. If you are to approach someone, be prayed up. Make sure there are no beams in your eye. Never approach someone in anger or with harsh words or false facts. Be honest about yourself with that person. If God has shown you something that you are learning in your own life, share it. If you can’t share it, then don’t think you can help a person by approaching them because that is showing a Pharisee attitude. Beware of Criticism. Criticism often is nothing more then Gossip. I have criticized, thinking I was doing good and I didn’t help anyone. I hindered more then helped. Criticism is not discipleship, it destroys! Had it not been for the LORD teaching and guiding, I could have let criticism destroy my life. I wonder how many people my criticism of others has effected. For those of us who have criticized, pray for that person. Ask God to continue to work in their life and pray that what you’ve said won’t hinder the work of God. And for those of us, who have been criticized, don’t let it hinder you. Satan is going to bring back every harsh and hurtful thing that was said at the oddest times. Guard against bitterness. People are going to fail and you are going to fail others. Watch what you say… Gossip, criticism, jealousy, bitterness, backbiting, fear of other, shunning others is not apart of God’s higher calling! “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” ~ Gal. 5:21-23. Don’t criticize, Encourage! Encourage them in love. We are to have love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. We are to show these things to others! God can use the criticism of others, to bring about a sweet and wonderful change. You have to be willing to be broken and molded. A self pity attitude will stop you from going up Higher. This is where Satan wants you to stay, in a place where you feel that you are not worthy to serve God, so you quit! For a while, I was there. I quit on God because I let criticism stop me. Because every time I started to serve, harsh words from the past would come echoing back in. I am thankful for the trials now, because had I not gone through them, I would not be hearing God’s call to go up Higher! I pray that God will give you the ears needed to hear God’s Higher Calling. There is no other Christian life to live then that of God’s Higher Calling. There will be those that want you to remain as you are, and you might lose their friendship. But I ask you this, what is more important: Your friends’ opinions or God’s great call for your life?

God's Higher Calling Introduction

Dedicated to my beloved Sisters in Christ: Joanna Byerly, Joycelin Byerly, Emily Rogers and Rachel Frederick. And In Loving Memory of Brandi Byerly By Jennifer Byerly There is a Higher Calling The Path is stretched out before me; Oh the faithful, continuous Journey. We are called always to be steadfast; A faithful heart that shall forever last. We are called to be continuously sober; Serious and true, a heart fixed forever. Oh, there is a bitter-sweet higher calling; That only comes from God’s bringing. Oh, who will go up higher? The call comes loud and clear. Oh, who will have a zealous fire, To carry God’s Good News with fear? It’s not an easy pathway to trod, my friend; And yet there are rewards around the bend. But the greatest reward shall forever be, When my Savior’s face I clearly see.

The Written Word

“While the spoken word can travel faster, you can't take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at the convenience of the reader.” And on this note I feel that it is time I once again start writing. Over the past 12 years I have often taken up my pen in hand and made an attempt to write several books. I finished exactly two of those books. The rest have been left in a folder on my computer called "books I am working on" ... sad I know. Yet I think it is time that I attempt to finish some of those books if not all of them. I believe that it would help if I type out each book chapter by chapter on my blog. Granted though I love to write, I am not proficient at editing. There will be many mistakes along the way. But if one never tries, one will never finish the task at hand. I will start with the book I started in 2007 called "The Mediocre Christian Life is it really worth living?" The title I'm unsure about... but the idea is what I want to drive across to all my Christian brothers and sisters. In this day and age, we live such self-centered lives that we miss out on the purpose and plan God has for us. The purpose of this book is to remind us of the simple principles that we seem to have forgotten. I hope that my starting this project will be a blessing to all those who read this little insignificant blog. God Bless and remember take heart, my friend.

Proverbs 3:23

"Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble." Are you walking in God's Wisdom? Is the Lord directing your path?