Hi Friends,
God is indeed constantly calling out to every human being, yet we must respond to His call. The first call God is sending out to us, before we become His, is the Call to Salvation. Please listen to this most amazing verse:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Jn 3:16 NASB
Why does God call? Because He loves us! Not because we are such loving creatures, but because He created us. Not because we behave so selflessly, but because He has chosen to pour out His affection upon us. Not because we are so giving and kind and perfect…but because HE is so forgiving and kind and flawlessly immaculate. God loves us because we were always meant to be His children. We were always meant to reflect His love and goodness. We were always meant to live forever in fellowship with Him, a relationship filled to the overflow with peace and joy forevermore. God so loves us still, my Friends. Even though we have strayed so far from His original plan. And it is because He so loves us, that He sent His Son.
Who has God sent so we may hear His call? In one word: Jesus. The Father GAVE us Jesus so that we could hear His call. So we could respond to His call. And so we could reap the eternal benefits of His call. We do not need to “DO” anything but say an enthusiastic, “Yes, hello, I am here.” All we need to “DO” is exercise the Faith muscle that God has already given each of us to believe in Him and His Provision. It is ONLY when we surrender our lives to Jesus as our Lord and Savior that we can hear God, loud and clear. Something happens deep inside of us that awakens us to His Love. For me, it was like a light switch that had been turned to the “off” position my whole life, suddenly it was flipped “on.” I could not explain it, but I KNEW God loves me and Jesus saved me. Something NEW, like new life during conception, was now mine. And it is because He so loves us, that He sent His Son and the Holy Spirit so we shall not perish.
What more has God given us so we can continue to hear His call? We don’t talk about this Third Person of the Trinity much, but it is only this union with the Holy Spirit that empowers us to be able to continually hear God’s calls. God does not save us then leave us alone, to our own devices. NO! He continues to call to us and this fellowship with the Holy Spirit is the way we can hear God’s continued calls. The Holy Spirit teaches us the difference between what is holy and what is not…this is why a large portion of the Old Testament speaks about “clean versus unclean.” There are ways to live that will unite us deeper with God’s Peace and Joy. Those are holy and clean. Then there are ways to live that will turn us far away from God’s Love and provision. Those are unholy and unclean. Because God so loves us, He desires us to stay connected with Him so that He can pour out His blessings upon us. That is the Abundant Life, one where we do not experience perishing, but begin to be more and more aware of our Eternal Life.
Call to Salvation is the most vital call we must answer from God. It is the one major prayer He is always listing for, this prayer when we come to the end of ourselves and surrender our lives to God, trusting that Jesus has already opened up the door to Heaven FOR us and that the Holy Spirit will lovingly guide our days here until He brings us safely to our Forever Home. But this is only the first call. As we grow in Christ, we will begin to hear God’s next call more and more…and then, oh how amazing life gets! This has been my experience…won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
