Food for thought

"For necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. 1Corinthians 9:16

"We are apt to forget the mystical, supernatural touch of God. If you can tell where you got the call of God ... I question whether you have ever had a call." O.C. I don't know about you but whew that is a relief and a truth I think we need to desperately understand. " I have chosen you." "not of our own ability less anyone should boast." It is written , It is written, It is written. I often wonder if Christians don't cause one another to stumble more than those blatantly against Christ. I believe both sides do a great deal of damage. The sad thing is a Christian most likely didn't start out to make a brother or sister stumble. We receive a little understanding and then bam! we want to expand on it with our own rationale. Unless we are walking in the Holy Spirit and He chooses to teach through us I can guarantee we are wrong. If we are honest we have all been there many times. Jesus was tempted for 40 days and nights by satan and he answered him "For it is written." Do we spend so much time in the word my friend that we can answer like this. My children are grown but the most valuable thing I have learned in raising them is that "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching and reproof..." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Are we not to live as Christ?, who came so we might know how. We discuss issues all the time in the name of being Christ followers, spurting out bits of truth many times with good intentions , but do we know without a doubt it is in the context in which God intended. Is it in the humble spirit of Christ in which we say these things or are we trying to get some one over to our point of view? If we can not say " for it is written" from the knowledge of the Holy Spirit then we may rest assured we need to be in the Word listening and seeking not boasting or discussing. Another avenue where we tend to drift is always listening to radio or t.v. preachers more than getting alone with God. It cannot be a substitute; for our Father desires a relationship with us. Now before you get too riled up I have many ministers I listen to in the car on the radio that have blessed me tremendously and my own pastor is a huge blessing. I want to learn and be taught the Word in the body and alone but the greatest gift we have is the Holy Spirit. For Jesus told His disciples " where I am going you cannot follow ,... I am sending a helper..." Do we access that spiritual door or do we depend on others to do that for us? We indeed are blessed like no other nation as far as I know with servants who walk with Christ and are here to teach us, but it is no substitute for your personal relationship to your Father and we have this through Jesus Christ alone. Let us always pray for discernment and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance. Don't let the spirit of busyness rob the most precious moments of your life. Your time on your Heavenly Fathers lap...priceless! Only then will we be able to start responding to the call, not really having any awareness that we are doing so, but simply delighting in being in the presence of God.

Love to all in Christ Jesus C:)