Manna for Your Morning

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:” — Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV) The call of God is a higher and holy calling. In Isaiah 55:9, Yahweh says, His ways are higher than our ways. It is a calling to be set apart from the world and its ways and live a life that is pleasing to Yahweh. Hebrews 12:14 (TPT) instructs us to “ run swiftly toward holiness.” For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private]. (1 Thessalonians 4:7 AMP) Conforming to a life of holiness is not something we can do on our own. It is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. As we truly seek to follow Christ and submit to God’s ways, we will be empowered by His Holy Spirit to do so. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape al...

“Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t even remember these former things. I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” — Isaiah 43:18-19 (TPT) In Philippians 3:12-14 (AMP), the Apostle Pauls says: “Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Stop dwelling on the past. Let us actively press on, moving onward and forward, and run with perseverance, the race that is set before us. Fight the good ...

When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call . — John 10:4 (AMP) In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:1-6 MSG) Amen! …I urge you: Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you. — Ephesians 4:1 (VOICE)

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. — Galatians 6:9 (NLT) We have an upward call of God on our lives. And no human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the LORD. (Proverbs 21:30 NLT) Keep pressing forward. In Hebrews 10:38 God says “… if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. ” Do not grow weary in well doing. Wait on the LORD and He will renew your strength. Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. — Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)

Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose ... — Ezra 4:4-6 (NKJV) When the people of Judah, returned from captivity to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, their adversaries came. First they acted like they wanted to help them, then they proceeded to continually discourage and harass them (for years). When we seek to fulfill the call of God in our lives, we can expect opposition, those who want to tear down what we are building. There will be those who come to frustrate the work of God, but greater is He who is in us and with us. Let us be relentless, persistent and determined as we carry out our God-given assignments. Keep building! Complete the work. Keep the faith.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. — Ruth 1:16 (NLT) When Ruth chose to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, she committed her life to God and His people. Ruth chose to leave the land of her birth, her family and all that she knew. Sometimes we have to let go of what we know and leave our comfort zone to venture with God into the unknown. When Ruth chose to go with Naomi, little did she know, that God had Boaz, in position to receive her as his wife. Because of her wise choice and commitment to God, she and her son Obed are listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5) What a destiny she would have never known if she would have turned back to the familiar. May we stay committed to the LORD and the call He has for our lives.

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. — Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG) In the Lord we live and move and have our being, (Acts 17:28, NKJV). In Him, a glorious destiny awaits each one of us. Be true to the call of God on your life. It is when we love God and respond to the call of His plan and purpose, that He works all things together for the good. (Romans 8:28). In Christ, we thrive and are triumphant. I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. ( Jeremiah 29:11, GW )

Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. — Isaiah 43:19 (AMP) “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare;” (Isaiah 42:9, NKJV). God is doing a new thing! Stop studying past events. They cannot be changed. No longer cling to what is old and familiar. The Apostle Paul said, “one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 3:13b-14, NKJV). Today is a new day! May we press on and look forward to what lies ahead!

As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. — 2 Corinthians 6:1 (NIV) The word vain means to produce no result or to have no meaning. Let us not take the goodness of God for granted. In Him, we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Pastor Matt Pollock has described grace as having everything you need, when you need it. God’s provision is not for us to just sit back and grow spiritually fat. His grace has a higher purpose. He equips us that we might fulfill the call of God in our lives. Having received God’s grace, let us engage in an active pursuit of completing the mission we have received from God and focus on fulfilling His purpose in our lives. Amen!