Accepting The Call

     I can't think of anything more fulfilling than the personal relationship and communion we can have with God through Jesus Christ.  I'm not talking about a religious exercise or ritual.  There is a real experience of intimately relating to God on a spirit level when we accept His call to know Him.

My Story

     I grew up in a family that held to a formal, legalistic Christian denomination's beliefs and practices.  A lot of the beliefs centered around doing good deeds to make up for the bad ones, and if you did enough good ones you could clean your slate with God.  (I never felt I could get my slate clean.)  Most of what I thought or felt about God was based on fear and guilt.  I didn't have a personal knowledge or relationship with God, or Jesus.  No one told me that was possible.  Still, I considered myself to be a Christian.

     We were taught about Jesus, that He was crucified for our sins.  But I never understood what that really meant, because I thought God was still angry and disappointed with me for all my failures.  Since I never truly knew God, I blamed Him for all the hurt and misery in my life and the world.  After all, I thought, He's in total control and not doing a thing to make my life any better.  Needless to say I was frustrated and unhappy with myself and life in general. 

     That was until one night in the summer of 1986.  I had been listening to a Christian husband and wife team ministering on cable television.  They exuded such love, and joy and peace.  And they seemed to have a personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ.  I WANTED WHAT THEY HAD.  For years I had been trying to achieve what I sensed this couple had, but the various spiritual philosophies and practices I was pursuing didn't satisfy.

     That summer night I felt drawn to what the ministers on T.V. were saying.  If I would believe in Jesus Christ as my personal savior, who took away MY sins, then I would have eternal life and a personal relationship with Him.  Alone, in my room, in my best attempt at praying, I genuinely admitted to God that I needed Him and believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior.  Without any otutward evidence, no burning bush, or warm fuzzy feeling, right there I knew without a doubt that I NOW HAD  what that couple on T.V. had.  I had accepted God's "heavenly calling" to eternal life* -- to know Him.

A Good Ending

     I felt a connection to God on a spiritual level.  From then on my praying was more like conversation, where I knew that I was really talking to someone, and someone was really listening on the other end.  I felt a peace inside that I'd never known.  A kind of comfort, or secure feeling, like it didn't matter what went on outside in the world or in my life, I was going to be all right.

     Over the years I've grown to know God for who He truly IS, and developed an intimate relaionship with Him.  I've received answers to prayers, experienced supernatural healings, and have operated in spiritual gifts that have blessed others as well as myself.  Most significantly, MY CLOSEST FRIEND AND LOVE is the GOD of the universe, and He loves me!  I wouldn't say it's been without challenges or difficulties.  And just like any other relationship, I've had to invest time and effort in order to nurture it and grow. 

     God's calling, or invitation, is given to everyone.  It's up to each one of us to respond to it.  Have you accepted His call?

* And this is eternal life, that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  (John 17:3)

The Heavenly Calling

     I believe hidden deep inside each of us is the inherent need to be connected to our Creator.  We want to know that we have significance and purpose in this life.  We need to know that someone out there is in control even in the midst of all the chaos, and that we can connect with that stability and peace, and make sense of our lives.  I began my quest for answers to that inner need when I was twelve years old.  This blog is one of the ways I will be sharing what God has revealed to me over the past thirty-plus years regarding that deep inner connection with Him, and how we can experience it.

     Most times when we talk about a "calling" we're thinking in terms of vocation, or life-career; work that a person is innately drawn to and talented for.  It usually carries with it a sense of purpose and significance for the one called.  Well, that's not what I'm referring to in "our heavenly calling".  As good, and yet elusive for most of us, as that kind of calling is, what I'm going to be sharing about is MUCH MORE significant, lasting and satisfying.

  The Call to Connect

     Put simply, "OUR HEAVENLY CALLING" is God's invitation to come into relationship with Him and know Him.  For a slightly more theological definition, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon says the heavenly calling is: the invitation to receive salvation in the Kingdom of God, or eternal life.  Jesus Christ, the One who made the calling, or invitation, available to everyone said, "This is eternal life, that they would KNOW YOU, the ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, whom you have sent". (John 17:3)  Pretty simple, and downright awesome!  The Creator of the universe invites us to be in relationship with Him, to truly know Him!

     The reference in the Bible to the "heavenly calling" is Hebrews 3:1.  The Apostle Paul addresses the people he's writing to as "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling".  So, receiving and partaking of the heavenly calling into a relationship with God and Jesus Christ means we are HOLY and part of the heavenly family, brothers and sisters with others who accept the invitation.  This heavenly, deep inner connection is what gives us true purpose and significance, and the peace and understanding through life's difficult and confusing circumstances.

     Incidentally, once you come into relationship with God and discover your true purpose and significance, a vocational, or career calling often follows.  I'll share next how I came to know God and some of the significance that knowing Him makes.