Deeper Still by phil mccallum | Archive

Look Out for the Called

No Comments 17 December 2009

Press the arrow to listen to “Follow You” by Leeland. It’s a perfect intro for today’s devotion.

Scripture
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10

Observation
I’ve been thinking about something for 10 years and today I’m ready to talk. A decade is a long time to keep something to yourself. It started with a conversation with a pastor turned carpet salesman. He was angry with his dead-end job. He felt worthy of better things because in his words, “I have the call of God on my life.” Selling shag or berber wasn’t his idea of God’s call. His words worried me, because they suggested that there was a first-class section in church of pastors who were called by God and back in coach were all the rest who somehow missed out.

But that is not what the Bible teaches. After 10 years of reflection on God’s call and every Christian, here are my thoughts.

The call of God isn’t just for pastors,
Every single Christian is called
For how can a person be saved without God calling them?

The call of God lures us to heaven,
And called ones bring heaven to earth wherever they go.

Called people are desirably different from the people around them,
That’s what holiness means.

Words like
hope,
freedom,
friendly,
praising,
blessing,
peace,
resilience,
and
determination,
describe them.

Every Christian is in full-time ministry.
God is their provider.
They are on God’s payroll.
So they are full time ministers.
Called ones are priests bringing people to God.
That’s a full time job.
Serving on God’s staff should motivate the called to be the best they can be.

Most of the called aren’t exceptional people,
But they do extraordinary things
All because of the call.
They are ordinary people in mundane places,
Eternal beings, zipped up in earth suits of builder, teacher, accountant or whatever vocation they may be.
Most of the time God asks them to stay right where they are when they were called
And make to a difference there.

Every called person has a spot
And around that spot is an audience
That no one can reach but the called person.
A builder can reach builders best.
A teacher can reach teachers best.
An accountant can reach clients best.
The called have their earth suit for a reason.

The called should be ready for the unexpected.
If they are faithful in their spot
There is no telling where God just might take them
Before they finally arrive home.

Application
My job for the rest of my life is to help ordinary people discover how extraordinary God’s call on their life really is.

Prayer
Father, help me to awaken called ones to live up to their calling. Amen.

Jesus, Purpose

Facing Your Purpose

No Comments 16 November 2009

Scripture

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

Observation

What is the purpose of my life? That is the ultimate question of living. But where is the answer to be found?

To see Christ is to see our purpose for living. Jesus is man fully alive who alone of the whole human race can show us what it means to be fully human. In Jesus there more than a man with a purpose, he is Christ so he is THE purpose. That is why he calls us to follow him. Jesus is the only human who knows where he is going because he is God.

We will find our purpose for living when we see Christ’s face. That sounds out of reach, doesn’t it? We might as well be asked to see the dark side of the moon. How can we on earth see Christ’s face without dying? Paul says it is simple. He could say for certain because he had seen Christ’s face, brighter than the noon sun. The brilliant face of Christ is to be seen in our hearts.

The blazing glory of the resurrected Christ is glowing inside of us. That is why it is so important for us daily to spend unhurried and uninterrupted time with Christ. The resurrection needs to move from an ancient tomb to Christ alive who speaks to us today. The ascension needs to be more than a Renaissance painting, but the vivid sense of Christ piercing the darkness of evil around us. The throne of God needs to be more than a future hope, but a fresh experience of hearing Jesus Christ pray for us by name before our Father. Jesus is not remote, he is near if we will take time to seek him.

Application

There is more of Christ available for me than I take advantage of. Right now I’m watching a sunrise. Our home has a seventh story, 36 foot glass wall facing east that makes sunrise unavoidable. How many sunrises I have missed in other homes. But not in this one. I see them all. As C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Prayer

Father, I refuse to believe that the vision Paul or John had of the glory of Christ is out of my reach. It is yours to give. I want to see your glory in the face of Christ. I am not seeking some mystical experience, but one connected with real life. I want to see Christ in the faces of those around me, in the words of the Bible, in songs of worship and in the thousands of events in this day where the finger of God moves and just because you are thinking of me. I want to see Christ so that I may know where I am going. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong United sing “Lord of Lords” as you read today’s devotion about the face of Christ.

Scripture

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

Observation

What is the purpose of my life? That is the ultimate question of living. But where is the answer to be found?

To see Christ’s face is to find our purpose for living. Jesus is man fully alive who alone of the whole human race can show us what it means to be fully human. In Jesus there more than a man with a purpose, he is Christ so he is THE purpose. That is why he calls us to follow him. Jesus is the only human who knows where he is going because he is God.

Seeing Christ’s face seems out of reach, doesn’t it? We might as well be asked to see the dark side of the moon. How can we on earth see Christ’s face without death? Paul says it is simple. The brilliant face of Christ is to be seen in our hearts. Paul could speak from experience. He had seen Christ’s face brighter than the noon sun.

The blazing glory of the resurrected Christ is glowing inside of we who know him. That is why it is so important for us daily to spend unhurried and uninterrupted time with Christ. The resurrection needs to move from an ancient tomb to Christ alive who speaks to us today. The ascension needs to be more than a Renaissance painting, but the vivid sense of Christ piercing the darkness of evil around us. The throne of God needs to be more than a future hope, but a fresh experience of hearing Jesus Christ pray for us by name before our Father. Jesus is not remote, he is near if we will take time to seek him.

Application

There is more of Christ available for me than I take advantage of. Right now I’m watching a sunrise. Our home has a seventh story, 36 foot glass wall facing east that makes sunrise unavoidable. How many sunrises I have missed in other homes. But not in this one. I see them all. As C.S. Lewis said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Prayer

Father, I refuse to believe that the vision Paul or John had of the glory of Christ is out of my reach. It is yours to give. I want to see your glory in the face of Christ. I am not seeking some mystical experience, but one connected with real life. I want to see Christ in the faces of those around me, in the words of the Bible, in songs of worship and in the thousands of events in this day where the finger of God moves and just because you are thinking of me. I want to see Christ so that I may know where I am going. Amen.

Potential, Purpose

God’s Greatness in Our Smallness

No Comments 02 July 2009

Press the arrow to watch grass grow (and enjoy it too!) while thinking of how God will develop the potential of your life.

Scripture Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. John 12:24-25 [The Message]

Observation
What does a grain of wheat look like? Wrinkled, hard and brown? You might be right in thinking that to look on the outside of the kernel. But what about inside of the seed? What does the inside of a grain of wheat look like?

If you were to peer inside of a grain of wheat you would see fields of wheat waving in the Kansas sun. There are bakeries full of bread. There are bread trucks full of baguettes, bagels, black bread, rye bread, damper and sourdough. There are shelves laden with challah, hushpuppies, tortillas, pumpernickel and dinkelbrot. There are plates of cakes, brownies, donuts, crumpets and Twinkies.

There is more to one grain of wheat than meets the eye.

Application
If a grain of wheat is full of so much potential then why are we so afraid to let the Lord whittle our life down to one, single seed? All of the extraneous things of our life are winnowed away until we are reduced to just one seed. And with so much potential, why do we cling onto his hand lest he drop us into some rich, black soil? I think it is because we think more about what we’ve lost than in the potential of what is still yet inside of us. If we could grasp God’s greatness in our smallness then we would cease seeking great things for ourselves and let him use our littleness.

Prayer
Father, I am a seed. That matters more than anything else. I embrace that concept while letting everything go. Amen.

Calling, Purpose

My Return Address

No Comments 20 May 2009

Press the arrow to listen to John Waller “Still Calls Me Son” while reading about your life purpose.

Scripture
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…. Romans 1:1

Observation
If a letter should have a return mailing address, what should a human life have? There should be some kind of indication of who we are, where we are from and where we are going. The sentence should be short enough for a mailman to read at a glance. That one phrase should sum up our life.

When he wrote letters, Paul didn’t put a return address at the top, he put a simple statement about himself.

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…. Romans 1:1

That crisp set of words put his life mission in focus.

His core identity was as a slave in chains to the Messiah Jesus.
He had a calling to be a spiritual entrepreneur to launch new congregations.
He was reserved for a special work of whatever it took to tell the good news message.

We need that sentence, because when we end up at the wrong address, we know where to go back to. Life tends to take us away from living, because we lose touch with our purpose in the confusion of existence. As my mentor often said, we need to reinvent ourselves backwards, by remembering our original purpose and returning to it. Sometimes, when lost, it is best not to look for where we are going, but to return to where we began to begin afresh to find our way home. If we know our return address of life purpose, we can always retrace our life purpose to the start.

Application
That was a simple sentence to wake up to every morning and to give clarity to the day. Too often my sentence becomes fuzzy. I lose track of my core identity. I hear other voices and lose the call. I forget the special work. I need to refine my sentence, my core, my call, my commission.

Prayer
Father, today, sharpen my pencil and clarify the words that give me direction. Amen.