Day 212: Inside The Prison Walls: An Authentic Calling
Read: Isaiah 6:1 - 8, Matthew 23:1 - 12
There is a word on my spirit today as I sit here contemplating this
devotional effort. That word, the word for today, is authenticity. The
authenticity of the feeling, of the call that I felt was placed on my
heart, on my spirit and finally on my mind. As with most anything that
finds its way into our souls, especially something that requires us to
extend ourselves into places we would not under most any circumstance
entertain we would go. For the novice skier, it might be the draw of the
'leg breaker' trail when you are still learning how to stand up or
trying to do all manner of acrobatics with a skateboard you are not even
sure you can stand upright on. Being authentically called by myself of called by God.
As I
considered the call of Prison Ministry on my heart, one of my primary
concerns were where was the call coming from and was it authentic, was
it real. Was it from inside of me that I might satisfy some lingering
curiosity, or some minor itch I felt so so completely tempted to
scratch? Or was it an authentic call from God to purposely give me an
opportunity to expand my spiritual horizons - Love God, Love ALL, Join
the Journey. All is one of those words that means exactly what it
says without using too many flowery words. All means just that - All,
period end of story Amen! No exception permitted. The fight I found myself in was with my heart and with my God. I was arguing: "are You being serious?"
The call of Isaiah is a fairly familiar one to Christians. In some
degree or another we have read that passage and we raised our arms in
surrender of our lives. It is really a beautifully stirring passage of
Hebrew Scripture. Isaiah looks up from where ever he has positioned
himself, sees God sitting in His own throne room. What an amazing sight or vision that must have been. I think to myself somewhere inside
of me and I wonder - really? What pill did Isaiah just pop? The vision
is just too wildly fantastic to
be considered anything but authentic. Today, we are quickly handing someone a cup looking for an authentic urine sample. Struggle number one: Is my vision authentically me or authentically of God?
The next one was really the toughest one to figure out. Then Isaiah
said: "Woe, I am a man of unclean lips, living among men of unclean lips
(and I can imagine that there hearts were not too far behind); for my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of Hosts." My own sentiments about who I was and what I was and where I was living
were on target with the words Isaiah spoke. Here was the inner
conflict, more like a war, I found myself in. Could I respond to this
God vision with an authentic heart and an authentic voice speaking God's
authentic Gospel message? People are extraordinarily tuned into 'fraudulent Christianity' and will get turned off in a heartbeat. Help me God! Help me be authentic.
Let Us Pray: Jesus, infuse us with your Spirit’s authenticity. We do
not want to be religious hypocrites who turn people off spiritually
because they can see through our false bravado, nor do we want to heap
condemnation on our brothers and sisters. We are not perfect in
ourselves. We are only perfected by your blood, Jesus. Help us to see
just how much you love us and how much freedom and power is available to
us through that love, and then let that powerful truth explode from our
chests and be evidenced in the way we live our lives. Let those people
whom we encounter become forever changed simply because they were able
to sample your love through the way we treated them. Thank you, Jesus.
We love you. Lord, God, help me to be authentic.
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Read: Isaiah 6:1 - 8, Matthew 23:1 - 12
There is a word on my spirit today as I sit here contemplating this devotional effort. That word, the word for today, is authenticity. The authenticity of the feeling, of the call that I felt was placed on my heart, on my spirit and finally on my mind. As with most anything that finds its way into our souls, especially something that requires us to extend ourselves into places we would not under most any circumstance entertain we would go. For the novice skier, it might be the draw of the 'leg breaker' trail when you are still learning how to stand up or trying to do all manner of acrobatics with a skateboard you are not even sure you can stand upright on. Being authentically called by myself of called by God.
As I considered the call of Prison Ministry on my heart, one of my primary concerns were where was the call coming from and was it authentic, was it real. Was it from inside of me that I might satisfy some lingering curiosity, or some minor itch I felt so so completely tempted to scratch? Or was it an authentic call from God to purposely give me an opportunity to expand my spiritual horizons - Love God, Love ALL, Join the Journey. All is one of those words that means exactly what it says without using too many flowery words. All means just that - All, period end of story Amen! No exception permitted. The fight I found myself in was with my heart and with my God. I was arguing: "are You being serious?"
The call of Isaiah is a fairly familiar one to Christians. In some degree or another we have read that passage and we raised our arms in surrender of our lives. It is really a beautifully stirring passage of Hebrew Scripture. Isaiah looks up from where ever he has positioned himself, sees God sitting in His own throne room. What an amazing sight or vision that must have been. I think to myself somewhere inside of me and I wonder - really? What pill did Isaiah just pop? The vision is just too wildly fantastic to
be considered anything but authentic. Today, we are quickly handing someone a cup looking for an authentic urine sample. Struggle number one: Is my vision authentically me or authentically of God?
The next one was really the toughest one to figure out. Then Isaiah said: "Woe, I am a man of unclean lips, living among men of unclean lips (and I can imagine that there hearts were not too far behind); for my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of Hosts." My own sentiments about who I was and what I was and where I was living were on target with the words Isaiah spoke. Here was the inner conflict, more like a war, I found myself in. Could I respond to this God vision with an authentic heart and an authentic voice speaking God's authentic Gospel message? People are extraordinarily tuned into 'fraudulent Christianity' and will get turned off in a heartbeat. Help me God! Help me be authentic.
Let Us Pray: Jesus, infuse us with your Spirit’s authenticity. We do not want to be religious hypocrites who turn people off spiritually because they can see through our false bravado, nor do we want to heap condemnation on our brothers and sisters. We are not perfect in ourselves. We are only perfected by your blood, Jesus. Help us to see just how much you love us and how much freedom and power is available to us through that love, and then let that powerful truth explode from our chests and be evidenced in the way we live our lives. Let those people whom we encounter become forever changed simply because they were able to sample your love through the way we treated them. Thank you, Jesus. We love you. Lord, God, help me to be authentic.
http://www.youtube.com/
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