The Isolation

I receive these little devotionals form Os Hillman.  Some of them ring out like a big church bell in the night. When I get that urge to repost, I know this message is not for me alone…

The Isolation Chamber
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Friday, October 26 2012

"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10

There is a time and place in our walk with God in which He sets us in a place of waiting. It is a place in which all past experiences are of no value. It is a time of such stillness that it can disturb the most faithful if we do not understand that He is the one who has brought us to this place for only a season. It is as if God has placed a wall around us. No new opportunities--simply inactivity.

During these times, God is calling us aside to fashion something new in us. It is an isolation chamber designed to call us to deeper roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, especially for a task-driven workplace believer. Our nature cries out, "You must do something," while God is saying, "Be still and know that I am God." You know the signs that you have been brought into this chamber when He has removed many things from your life and you can't seem to change anything. Perhaps you are unemployed. Perhaps you are laid up with an illness.

Most religious people live a very planned and orchestrated life where they know almost everything that will happen. But for people in whom God is performing a deeper work, He brings them into a time of quietness that seems almost eerie. They cannot say what God is doing. They just know that He is doing a work that cannot be explained to themselves or to others.

Has God brought you to a place of being still? Be still and know that He really is God. When this happens, the chamber will open soon after.

Serve Where You Are

By Greg Ewert – March 19, 2012

I cannot count how many times I’ve written and spoke on this subject.

We are all called into service, but not all of us are called into the fulltime five fold ministries.  You would be surprised, at how much you do for God, walking the kids to the bus stop; singing those little worship choruses, as you load the dishwasher; taking that walk in the park.  You would be amazed at how much you change, by moving from point A.. to point B.  And on the job.. Whoa!  if you could see into the spirit realm, you would be shocked at what God is using your presents to do. I hope you enjoy the devotional I placed after this. 

Thank You For Visiting my blog… Greg 

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This Portion is Reprinted With Permission –

This was my Morning devotional, I felt compelled to share it with you.

The Fallacy of Full-Time Christian Work
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Monday, March 19 2012

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." -
Colossians 3:23-24

"I didn't know you were in full-time Christian work," said my close friend as we were driving. "I didn't realize that," she went on. I responded, "Every person who has followed the will of God in their life is in full-time Christian work." God calls some to the mission field, others to be accountants, and others to be advertising executives, and still others to be construction workers. God never made a distinction between sacred and secular. In fact, the Hebrew word avodah is the root word having the same meaning of "work" and "worship." God sees our work as worship.

We have incorrectly elevated the role of the Christian worker to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in a more secular environment. Yet the call to the secular workplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life. Otherwise, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.

I learned this lesson personally when I sought to go into "full-time" service as a pastor in my late twenties, only to have God thrust me back into the business world unwillingly. This turned out to be the best thing He could have done for me, because it was never His will for me to be a pastor. He knew I was more suited for the workplace.

We are all in missions. Some are called to foreign lands. Some are called to the jungles of the workplace. Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today and see your vocation as worship to His glory.

 

Thank You !