____ is calling you? Don't UNDER-spiritualize... spiritual_ _ _s...

I was recently accused of "over-spiritualizing" some things as a "*seminary* nerd"... but I am reminded of "tears of the prophets"... who didn't "see the results" right away and people thought they were either CRAZY... and/or HERTICS... and/or LIARS....

So let's open with some bible verses perhaps... "back to the beginning..."

1 Kings 22:17
Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.' "

2 Chronicles 18:16
Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.' "

Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:5-7 (in Context) Isaiah 53 (Whole Chapter)

Micah 2:12
[ Deliverance Promised ] "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.
Micah 2:11-13 (in Context) Micah 2 (Whole Chapter)

As Christians we should be leaders at church, school, work and other places to plead our non-Christian friends and the world to the right path. And the greatest "leader" of all is Jesus who was sent to bleed and die for our sings on the cross. So the theme behind the name is "Be leaders in Christ".

I typed something like this before on my blog:
That's why there's us Christians, to live in the world as it ought to be, to show it what it can be...

Something we should keep in mind that it is not as simply as saying WE are serving God or that I AM serving God, but we need to keep in mind that it is ACTUALLY Jesus using us as His vessels to serve Him-self. Christ is the one that empowers as if you remember the commission of Moses back in Exodus:

Exodus 3:14-17 (New International Version)

14 God said to Moses, "I am who I am . [a] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, [b] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.'

As we can see, it is really Jesus (AKA The Lord) doing both the calling and empowering. Yes, we need to be submissive and do our part, but we need to also learn to trust in God's provision that those He calls, he will also empower to do the work He asked them to do. Like the analogy I was telling my CD team on Sunday, it's like we as human beings are similar to the dual-core computers of our day, we have one-core which is our own dreams and aspirations, but also contains our sinful nature. But yet we have another core which is our "Jesus Core" that gives us that extra something else, makes us different from non-Christian, allows us to understand, follow and execute the instructions from God as well.

Exodus 4:10-16

10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

People in our society often talk about giving it one hundred and ten percent (110%)... You do realize that from a logical point of view, this is complete rubbish because a person can only try his/her best. It is not possible to do better than one's present limits. Granted if 110% means that it is better than a previous attempt of the same thing, that is certainly plausible... However, it is my personal belief that anything more than our own 100% comes from God...

My conclusion to this post is that we shouldn't under-estimate God or under-spiritualize spiritual powers as well. We are on a spiritual battlefield fighting for the hearts of men, only with Christ as our vessel can we smile at the storms that come our way.