Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

You may have read in many sources (online, books, etc.) that your calling has to do with your gifts and talents.  Yes, the Lord can definitely sanctify and use our gifts and talents for His glory and purposes. But then why did God call the following people for the following tasks? Moses had a stutter, was a murderer, and was not very brave.  Yet God chose him as His mouthpiece and leader to His people.  He entrusted the Ten Commandments to Moses! Peter was ambitious, unreliable, and impetuous.  Jesus made Peter His rock on which He built His church. Isaiah was a man of unclean lips (he had a potty mouth).  God chose him to be His most important prophet to speak to Israel and foretell of Christ's identity as the Messiah! Noah struggled with getting drunk. God used him to literally save the world, and animal, population. Where in the world did we ever get the idea that God chooses "upstanding" citizens?!? It is just the opposite! God chooses the weak and foolish so that He

You’re not supposed to like your prison, whether literal or not.  Joseph didn’t look back on his prison years with fond memories! Those years were simply preparing him for his leadership role.  Ugly as they were, they were part of God's plan for Joseph's life.  Yes, God's plan - not his brothers'.  His brothers' actions caused Joseph's imprisonment, but they weren't the authors of it, though they liked to think they were.  They were unwitting pawns in God's greater plan for Joseph's dream coming true.   As Christians, we are taught to make disciples of men. However, this is not the case in every season. Yes, we should always be a light for Jesus in every season. But during our “prison” seasons, the Lord is about doing more of a work in us than around us, preparing us for the next chapter that He has for us. If you want a comfortable life, don't follow Jesus. He will take you to unchartered territory that you never planned on or asked for.  The

Don't cast your pearls before pigs.   Yes, Lord.  Lord, where do I find those who are not pigs?   Still waiting an answer to that one.  I believe He will give me discernment as I go. What does all this mean?  It means that when we give our best that God has given us - His wisdom through us, His anointing on us, the talents and gifts He put in us - and it is met with indifference, animosity, jealousy, or hatred, that those receiving/listening are as pigs who don't know any better.   If we were to cast literal pearls - priceless and invaluable - into a pigsty, the pigs would trample on them because they are ignorant.  They're pigs.  They don't know any better.  They're accustomed to slop and mud only.  Where does that leave humans?  When humans, who should  know better, trample on the gifts we give through Christ, then they are either prideful, stubborn, ignorant, jealous, insolent, or of their father the devil. "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in she

What does it mean to wait well?  And how long does the Lord expect us to wait on Him? I have been waiting on fhe Lord for almost 30 years for one of my prayers to be answered.  Another, over 10 years. The fact that these particular prayers haven't been answered yet doesn't mean that God doesn't hear me or care.   So what's the hold-up?  Is it me?  Doesn't God see how His answering these prayers would make life better for me?  Because in my mind, they would exponentially improve my life. But then my mind is limited.  God's mind is unlimited. God is always at work in our lives.  Doing what?  Yes, answering our prayers is one way.  But it is not the only way He is working for us.   What happenes to our faith when our prayers go unanswered for a very long time?  Does it strengthen as we persist in believing God no matter what?  Or does it lessen because we don't see the answers come to fruition yet? Whether our faith gets stronger or fades is up to us.  Faith is

How many of us truly wait on God simply just to get closer to Him?  Usually, our daily to-do lists and other distractions tug so strongly on us that we can't sit still for anyone for too long - even God.  And everything claiming to make our lives easier - technology - has only complicated them and made for the most distracted people ever! What or who has a hold on us?  This is an important question to ask ourselves if we really want to know God more deeply and experientially. Waiting on God brings so many rewards.  We feel His peace.  We experience His love.  We can truly listen to what He is speaking to our hearts.  There is no other relationship like it! And yet when my concerns and worries crowd in, I find myself seeking Him more for His answers, His provision, His deliverance than I do for Him . This can happen when a long-unanswered prayer has been gnawing at us.  Oh we let it go as best we can.  And we persevere in prayer about the matter.  But even this kind of prayer can ca

How do you know God is calling you?  Are you waiting for a sign?  An audible voice?   You will most likely get neither. God can be as direct or subtle as He pleases.  But His foremost desire and purpose for us is that we know Him.  So if we're looking to do  something - even for Him - then we are putting the proverbial cart before the horse. First we are .  Then we do. So who are we?  Are we committed to Christ?  Do we trust Him fully?  Because if we don't have those two qualities, then He is not going to tell us what to do.   If you're itching to act but God is not through with your season of waiting yet, then you will have to learn how to live with that itch!   God's call is unique and specific.  It entails everything we've ever experienced, seen, heard, and lived.  He uses all of it and wastes nothing.  The good, the bad, the ugly - all of it.  Being the Master Designer, He knows exactly how all of the pieces fit together.   Your waiting, suffering, rejection, an