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?