When God Calls E-Book

Dr Martin Gray

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 170

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

We are all faced with choices and decisions. The choices and decisions we make will in some way shape our moments, our days, and our futures. However, there are the times when a word comes from God, the word is powerful and sharp, it brings a deep sense of conviction, a word that holds the ability to take us beyond our daily routine activities. A word that comes in order to move us from one place to the next. The question here is;  when God calls, what will you do? How will you respond? How will you react?

Leseprobe

When God Calls

© Dr Martin Gray 2019

Chambers Flat QLD 4133, Australia

Motivation, Leadership, Religious, Educational

ISBN 0 9579836 2 X

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover & Book design by Troy Stoilkovski

Printed in Australia by Applause Press Pty Ltd

Dedication

Nigel & Jenny Line

I thank you from the bottom of my heart, firstly for hearing the voice of God, secondly for obeying. During my time of need, you came and stuck close by my side, you have encouraged me and inspired me to press on into the call God has for my life.

Yap & Shirley Quintin

Your love and support have been incredible, you are truly family. I am so glad the Lord has placed us together

Foreword

He turns impossibility into possibility

Chapter 1

Introduction

Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So, Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Genesis 12:1-4

Have you ever heard the voice of the Lord in one- way shape or fashion? Perhaps He has spoken to you audibly, perhaps through the word of God (Bible) perhaps through a brother or sister in Christ. Maybe by dream or vision, whichever the way or style, when He has spoken, led or desired to direct you, right at this point there is a choice which needs to be made. The choice is, will you adhere to and obey that which you are hearing, or will you resist and walk away?

We are all faced with choices and decisions. The choices and decisions we make will in some way shape our moments, our days, and our futures. However, there are the times when a word comes from God, the word is powerful and sharp, it brings a deep sense of conviction, a word that holds the ability to take us beyond our daily routine activities. A word that comes in order to move us from one place to the next. The question here is; when God calls, what will you do? How will you respond? How will you react?

Abram (whom God renamed Abraham), faced that very decision, the decision to hear and obey the word of the Lord or to disobey and stay in his current state. Abram was encouraged to "Get out of his country”. God wanted to uproot Abram, take him from one place to another in order to build an incredible future; his obedience to the word God had spoken to him would determine his outcome.

We too like Abram are faced with similar decisions; God comes to you and I requiring us to move out into new areas of life. He knocks on our door. How we respond determines where we will go. That other place could be a change in direction, a new job or a step of faith to serve Him at a different level. No matter what it is or where He wants you to go, when God calls, what will you do? Will you sail through life turning a deaf ear, never allowing the voice of God to penetrate your heart? Or will you go against what seems natural to the eye and obey His voice in spite of what you see in the natural.

I have studied the Word of God and found all that pleased God and all that fulfilled the plan and purpose of heaven were men and women of great courage willing to follow and serve the Lord no matter what they faced. Men and women of faith, trusting the leading of the Spirit whether it be glory or grace. I don't believe for one moment His plan has varied in any way. God is still requiring men and women of great stature and faith to move out into the realms of the unknown in order to bring to pass His purpose. Whether it be to give a little more or do a bigger thing, no matter what it is, don't allow the surrounding elements to dictate the terms. Trust the Lord, trust His word, hold fast to His promises and see His plans come to pass through you.

The few people I have chosen to write about all faced the same decisions you and I face today. Either to believe, obey and follow the leading of God, or to stand idle and watch opportunity walk by. As you will see, their outcome was determined by their response to Gods word. Likewise, your reaction or response to the word of the Lord given to you will determine your outcome and perhaps the destiny of those around you. The truth is this; God loves you no matter what, that truth will never change. However, because of His remarkable love, we now have the ability to pass on what we have received. When God calls, what will you do?

Chapter 2

God is Calling

Don't be mistaken, don't be deceived, God indeed is calling His people like never before to move out, step out, and get out in order to do that which He requires. Believe it or not, He is calling and speaking more than you believe. The Bible tells me He is my Father. If He is my Father then He is interested in hearing from me. He is interested in speaking to me. He doesn’t desire to keep me in the dark regarding His plans, He is eager for me to hear, to “trust”, and “obey”.

Every individual has a purpose; every individual has a responsibility. God is looking for a people here and far that will hear His voice and can hear His voice in any given situation. He is looking for a people that will respond appropriately to the word of the Lord given. God is always searching to and fro, looking for people who will align their will with the will and purposes of heaven in order to build and establish the kingdom of God. People that are not over- run or conditioned by natural circumstance.

God is looking for people that have been reconditioned by His amazing word, grace and power. People that have the ability to lay down whatever is required at the necessary time, no matter the cost at hand. You may remember the Scripture in Marks Gospel, where Jesus asks us to deny ourselves and take up His cause.

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Mark 8:34

It is any wonder that Jesus asks this from any person that desires to follow him. If we become too absorbed in the natural things that surround us it can be easy to get side-tracked and forget exactly why we have been gloriously saved. The Lord knows that as we focus upon Him, we possess the ability to engage His ways and His world. As we do this, we then have the ability to walk in a new and wonderful dimension.

Looking at various people throughout the word of God, we can see how they either walked into the plan of God for their lives or fell short of their desired destiny simply by their response. Those that adhered to the voice of God walked in the realm where impossibility was turned into possibility.

Develop a willing & wanting heart

What does the Lord want, what does the Lord require? Is there a specific qualification or prerequisite for serving Him and walking in realms beyond the natural senses? Yes, the simple answer is, a willing wanting heart. Someone that has the desire to serve God and obey His will. Desire is a very powerful thing. It can move people to step outside of natural boundaries. If desire is strong enough it can cause one to forsake all. It can cause an ordinary person to do extraordinary things.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So, I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah desired to not only hear the voice of the Lord but also to obey it. He struggled with his lifestyle wondering whether or not he was worthy to perform anything the Lord may require of him. As the word of the Lord came to him, his heartfelt cry was 'here am I! Send me'. What was he saying to the question at hand? He was saying, I hear you Lord, I am willing Lord and I obey you Lord.

The will of man is an extremely powerful thing. We have seen ordinary men and women achieve great things simply by developing a powerful will. The Bible shows us that by having a strong will is one thing but to align that will with the plan and purpose of God, the sky is the limit. The tower of Babel was a clear example of the power of mans will.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

Genesis 11:1-6

The point to be made here is; man set his mind to achieving, he set out a plan and worked toward it. Even though the Lord wasn't impressed with the plan it clearly shows us that if we direct our energy towards hearing the voice of God, we then develop the ability to visualize a plan of God. How much more can be achieved when we are clear with what He is saying.

Jesus developed twelve

Jesus took twelve young men, shared three powerful years with them then sent them forward proclaiming good news to all. Most of these men were uneducated, untrained and unskilled in theology yet they impacted the world for God like no other. Their hearts were willing; their hearts were wanting. They obeyed Jesus and saw impossibility turn to possibility.

He is the potter we are the Clay

I am personally challenged by this, desiring to become a person that grows and develops the ability to not only hear Gods voice in any given situation, but to act upon it regardless of what it looks like in the natural, regardless of the consequences or the obstacles. Trust me, when you obey the word of the Lord, at times people don't always understand it, or welcome it. It doesn't always look right; it doesn't always add up. His ways are not our ways we must remember; He is the potter we are the clay.

But now, O LORD, you are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8

The work of His hands fulfilling His desires. I wonder how many of the plans of God are thwarted and hindered by men and women standing in the way of the Gospel message being preached because of their boxed in mentality and spiritual deafness? How many plans are crushed because people would rather hold onto established traditions? Unblock our ears Lord that we may hear your voice and do your will. He is in control, not our scheming, not by our manipulation. His plans, not our ways. At times men and women can be so moved by what is surrounding them, so moved by what others are doing. Be careful not to follow the trends or what looks great, follow the word of the Lord for you and your life.

Some would have you believe that you must grow in knowledge, age or maturity before you can hear the voice of God and step out. Personally, I see this as fallacy and have proven this to be true in my life, time and time again. Without doubt, the more we know the more we grow, but to state this to be the qualifier for moving out in God is absolute and total garbage.

At the age of fifteen the Lord spoke clearly to me about starting an evangelistic meeting in my local high school, I obeyed that word without any formal education or theological study. In spite of the critics I saw God move in many powerful and wonderful ways. Peers of mine were gloriously saved and built into the kingdom of God. How? Someone had a willing wanting heart - eager to obey the word of the Lord. Today God is looking for people to move out and walk on water, people eager to take up His cause. Rather than holding back those with a passion to go for the Lord, we should be applauding all who desire to go forth into the harvest to see His plan come to pass.

Rather than extinguishing the flame because it doesn't meet our standard or fit into our vision, we should be continually encouraging those around us to burn bright for Jesus. It is far more difficult to restart a fire that has burned out, than to stoke one that already is burning. Determine to be a person that encourages the fire of God in another, even if that fire burns brighter than yours. God is calling you!

Chapter 3

Blessing Follows Obedience

You may have noticed one thing about this heading 'blessing follows obedience'. Too often, we want to see the blessing first, then we will obey. Unfortunately, in my experience, this has rarely been the case. In ninety-nine percent of the faith ventures I have personally undertaken; I have first been required to walk on water and then the circumstances have changed.

This may come as a surprise to you, but there have been times when I have obeyed the word of the Lord and the circumstances have remained the same. The truth is and should always be, whether circumstances change or remain the same, do the circumstances take precedent over obeying His will and desire?

So often in the Bible, we are shown God coming and speaking to people from all different walks of life. He came asking them to reposition, move out and act upon His word in order to bring change to various situations. Those that obeyed the word of the Lord saw great blessing, favor and grace manifested in their lives. Whereas those who rejected the word of the Lord suffered the consequences by their own choice not to obey. I have learned this first hand through personal experience, each time the Lord comes and asks me to respond to his word, as I obey, blessing follows. There is one thing for sure, you cannot help but to enjoy the peace of God when you make the right decision according to His word. This doesn't suggest all will be smooth sailing, you can be assured that storms will come to oppose the word which you have received, however as you hold fast to it, you will overcome the hurdles in your way.

His word, not your own

Remember as you begin to step out it must be according to His word, not your own. He never said, “Your kingdom come” it was always “thy kingdom come”. When the Lord spoke into my heart about serving him as an evangelist, travelling to nations, proclaiming His Gospel, I knew without a shadow of doubt it was the Lord. As I began to take up the call of God for my life, I faced much opposition, 'you're too young, you've had no formal training'. However, as I held fast to what the Lord had spoken, I saw His promises come to pass. Without a doubt, the Lord has blessed my life and those involved with me beyond measure, much of it has to do with hearing or sensing His leading them, and simply obeying. I understand that blessing follows obedience, regardless of the circumstances at hand. I witnessed His blessing upon me during my first international trip at the age of twenty. I was the youth Pastor at the time in a vibrant young growing church. I operated my own business to support my ministry, which I had been successfully functioning in since the age of seventeen.

I remember it so clearly, even to this day. I was on top of a skyscraper in the middle of the CBD preparing some rigging to allow me to scale the building when the Lord spoke to me very clearly; He said, “Go to the Philippines". Upon that word, I went that afternoon to my Pastors house and relayed what the Lord had spoken to me. It was absolutely amazing what took place next. My Pastor revealed that he had recently received a letter from a Pastor in the Philippines begging him to send somebody to come and preach the word of the Lord. My Pastor then told me that our church would pay the airfare and all expenses necessary to see this come to pass.