Goals, Callings and Priorities

 It is so important to have goals for your life. Without clear goals in life, we go round in circles without achieving anything significant.

If you have ten priorities, you have no priorities.

But it can also be dangerous to have too few priorities. There are very successful doctors, preachers and business people who have neglected their spouses or children.

I love classical music. When I think of the greatest composers, I always see amazing achievements but abject failures in their family lives.

But one composer shone with heavenly glory.

Johann Sebastian Bach was so devoted to music that he damaged his eyesight studying sheet music by candlelight. He was extremely focused, but his first priority was the love of God.

He was also a faithful husband and a very good father.

He had many children and some of them also became excellent composers.

There are fanatics who only have one goal in life, but there are also duty-bound people who only want to be good Christians without a clear idea of a particular goal or personal calling from God.

What would it be like if Paul only wanted to be a good Christian and nothing more?
What if Johann Sebastian Bach only wanted to be a good father and church organist and nothing more?

Do you only have one goal in life? Perhaps you should ask yourself whether you are perhaps too self-centred or whether you are neglecting some important duties.

Do you have a clear idea of your identity and calling or do you only have a vague idea that you should be a good Christian?

Ask God to show you what he has created you for.

Every person is unique. God has created you for important tasks. Not only famous people are important in God's eyes. God has a plan for your life.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;

if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Rom 12:6–8 NIV

You may think you are not a prophet or teacher, but you can study the Bible and teach your children.

You pray for someone and an encouraging word comes to you for that person. Maybe you should share that thought with the person.

Maybe you are a practical person. You are a good gardener. Your neighbour is sick and his garden is unkempt. If you work in his garden, you might be able to win your neighbour for Jesus.

If you like to play the piano or guitar, maybe you can visit a retirement home and encourage the elderly with music.

We all have talents and abilities that we can use for Jesus.

What is your thing? Who needs your help? When you pray about it, what comes to mind?

Being Led by the Holy Spirit

 You love God. You experience his love in his presence. The Holy Spirit is not just a theological term for you. You know Him personally, but you are perhaps sometimes misunderstood in your congregation.

You may hear teachings in church that don't sit right with your intuitive spiritual mind.

Preachers and church leaders are flawed people, just like you. They study the Bible and theological teachings and they do their best. Even if they want to learn directly from the Holy Spirit, just like you, they can make mistakes, just like you.

It may be that you hear a teaching or a prophecy from God himself in the church, but you sense that God wants to lead you a different way. God has a unique plan for each believer.
 
Is your personal conviction wrong then? Maybe you have misunderstood God's guidance in your life, but maybe not.

A few years ago I was in a very good church where the leadership followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. I attended a very good meeting every Friday evening.

After the service, the pastor took to the streets in the nightclub neighbourhood. Many others also joined in. They spoke to many people on the street about Jesus. That was undoubtedly from God and I went along too.

But I was tired after my work and the next day I was tired too. I prayed about it. I was supposed to preach the gospel, but how and when?

I realised that I could communicate God's message best on the Internet. I needed peace and quiet and time to pray, read and write.

I continued to attend the wonderful Friday night service, but I stopped going out on the street.

I know Christian women who visit brothels to help prostitutes. I know a woman who came out of the brothels through her ministry and is now very faithful and active in God's service.

Are you called to do this? I also met a preacher who once visited a brothel because God sent him to save a woman. Not everyone can do that and not everyone should try.

What do you hear from God? How can you best follow Jesus?

‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NASB95

It is very good if you can find a good church where the leadership serves with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but it is even more important that you are familiar with the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your own life.

You can get there with God.

 Someone asked the great English preacher Charles Spurgeon: ‘Which is more important, Bible reading or prayer?’

Spurgeon replied, ‘Which is more important, breathing in or breathing out?’

If you only focus on Bible study and your Bible knowledge, you can be familiar with the Bible but not have personal fellowship with Jesus.

The Bible is our map, but the Holy Spirit is our guide.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Mt 28:19 NIV

So we are to go, but where should I go right now?

Hudson Taylor was a very fruitful missionary in China.

William Carey was a wonderful missionary in India. As a young man he was a shoemaker in England. His family was not rich and he had to work as a tradesman. He was fascinated by foreign languages and he learnt several languages, but he could not study at Oxford University like John Wesley.

He had a talent for foreign languages. Jesus taught that we must invest our talents, and that's what he did.

He became a missionary and moved to India where he learnt Indian languages and translated the Bible. Although he was never able to study at university in England, he founded a university in India.

He also wanted to preach and evangelise, but he totally failed as an evangelist. We all have different gifts.

John Wesley also had a gift for languages, but his mission field was at home in England. He was a marvellous preacher and evangelist.

Why did Hudson Taylor serve as a missionary in China, William Carey in India and John Wesley in England?

They didn't read it in the Bible. Their guide was the Holy Spirit.

Are you gifted with languages? Perhaps not.

Are you called to preach from the pulpit? Maybe not.

Noah was called to build a ship, but I am not a ship builder.

What is your thing? How can you use your talents for Jesus?

Please don't despise your talents, but never forget that your talents have no value without God's guidance.

What makes you tick?

Some people are different, we say, and that's not meant as a compliment, but in reality everyone ticks differently. 

No two snowflakes are the same. No two people have the same DNA.
We have had different birds as pets. We loved them all but no two birds were the same.

We once had a budgie that chased our young sons around the house.
This budgie loved music, especially classical music and particularly symphonies by Beethoven. When he heard Beethoven's great Fifth Symphony on the stereo, he would start dancing wildly and wouldn't stop until the music finished.

Then we had a rainbow lorikeet, a small Australian parrot that is bigger than a budgie. These birds love to play. They especially love balloons. They can be very loving and sweet, but sometimes stubborn and grumpy.

When I was a child, we had a black Labrador. No dog is more gentle and loving.
I love dogs, but I've never been a cat person.

I had good friends who loved God, like me, but they didn't love dogs, they loved cats. They had four cats that they couldn't live without.

Dogs worship their masters. They want to serve. Cats can be very friendly, but they have a mind of their own.

A cat asked a dog why it couldn't climb. The dog asked the cat why the police didn't have cats on duty, only dogs.

If you have a pet cat, dog or parrot, you will know that each species has a different character. Not only that, but each individual cat, dog or parrot is a unique individual.

It is the same with people. Beware of stereotypes.
 
There are many Christians who see their preacher or pastor as a role model. That can be a good thing. There are preachers who are enthusiastic about street outreach. Many in the church go on the streets, pray for people, tell them about Jesus, win lost people for God.

But that's not for everyone.

Maybe you are a nurse. You are overwhelmed in the hospital, but you care for patients with cancer or Covid with love. You pray for the dying and let them know that you are praying for them. You do all this humbly and with wisdom so that you are not dismissed as a fanatic.

You come home exhausted after your work. Should you condemn yourself as a worldly failure because you don't evangelise on the street? Not at all. We all tick differently.

Maybe you're an introverted academic. You study Bible texts for hours on end.

William Carey studied the Bible and foreign languages. He wanted to win the world for Jesus, but he only led one person to conversion through his missionary work.

William Carey moved from England to India. He learnt Hindi and translated the Bible so that the Indians could read it in their own language. As an evangelist, William Carey was a failure, but as a missionary he was still a trailblazer.

You don't have to despise your unique qualities and talents if you tick differently from the other Christians around you.

The body is also made up of many different parts, not just one.

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 1 Co 12:14–16 NIV

Why you are not like other people.

Why you are not like other people.

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Co 4:7 NIV

This text teaches us not to be proud. 

You and I must not claim the credit for what God has called us to do because with the calling, God also gives the inspiration, the wisdom, the faith, the love, the knowledge, the strength and the skill to fulfil His purpose in His way.

However, there are other lessons hidden in this text.

Firstly, we differ from one another. Some of the differences are by God’s design.

God did not call Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel to be preachers, but to write some of the most glorious music ever heard on this earth.

God did not call Billy Graham or Reinhard Bonnke to teach theology in a Bible college but to preach to great crowds to bring millions of lost men and women into the Kingdom of Heaven.

If God has gifted you to transform the lives of children, He may not have given you the gift of preaching to crowds of adults.

One of the saddest things in churches is the low value we put on children and children’s ministry.

Samuel was a child when he heard the voice of God and became a prophet. Mary was a young teenager when she conceived the Son of God.

In Mozambique, Heidi Baker adopts abandoned children and raises them up to preach the Good News of Jesus to hostile Muslims and witchcraft workers.

Little boys and girls open blind eyes and deaf ears and whole villages come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Children’s ministry can be a place of training for preachers to adults, but we should not only see children in this way.

I often hear people speak of children as “the church of tomorrow.” I hate this saying.

Although it is partly true, it poisons the church with unbelief concerning the potential of children to be heroes of faith right now.

In churches where these thoughts are accepted, the adults are often spiritual underachievers as well. God save our children from becoming mediocre unbelieving believers!

Another reason for differences between believers is simply that only some believers have learned the secret of receiving in order to give.

“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive?” 1 Co 4:7

Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." Lk 7:47 NKJV

You need to receive forgiveness before you can teach the gospel of forgiveness.

You need to receive love from God before you can love God or love others. You need to have a calling from God before you can be effective for Jesus. 

You cannot appoint yourself to a ministry. You need to be called, and to hear from God to know what your calling is.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. Jn 10:27–28 NIV

You need to hear from God himself before you can teach others to hear from God.

GOD IS INTENSELY INTERESTED IN YOU

God wants nothing but the best for each person, and that includes you. 

• God made you for His purposes, and His purpose is always good.

...God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (NIV) 

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good...Genesis 1:31 (NIV) 

But Adam and Eve messed up God's plan by listening to lies and choosing the wrong way. 

You and I followed the wrong way and messed up a lot of God's plans but that did not change God's heart towards us because...

... if a person isn't loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God—for GOD IS LOVE. 1 John 4:8 (TLB) 

When we are not loving and kind, it does not change the character of God or the heart of God towards us.

• God is love and he made you because He loved you.

• He loved you before the creation of the world. 

• He loved you when you were conceived and when you were born,

• and He loves you now.

But what if you were conceived in the back seat of a car after your parents had too much to drink?

• That does not change the love of God for you.

What if your parents brought you up in witchcraft, and you were demon possessed as a small child?

• That doesn't change God's love for you. He doesn't blame you for what was done to you.

One of the most amazing characters in the Bible was a man with a terrible past. 

• We don't know his name but when he first met Jesus, he was running around naked and cutting himself with stones. He was possessed by hundreds of devils, but he still had a human soul. 

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 

He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" Mark 5:6-7 (NIV)

He was so confused, that he could not distinguish his own thoughts from the thoughts of the demons who controlled him, but he responded to Jesus with faith when the demons left him.

For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" 

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." Mark 5:8-9 (NIV) 

After Jesus drove out the demons with a word of power, the man was restored to sanity and begged to be allowed to stay with Jesus.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Mark 5:18 (NIV) 

But Jesus did an astonishing thing.

Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." Mark 5:19 (NIV) 

But the man did far more than tell his family.

So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them. Mark 5:20 (NLT) 

After Jesus healed a totally insane and demon possessed man, He immediately commissioned him to go and tell his story to a whole region. 

• He became the evangelist for ten towns.

Before this man began to preach, the people asked Jesus to leave them.

• When Jesus returned later, great crowds followed Him and many people came to faith in the Son of God.

It may be that you have also been rejected and bullied. You may have been tormented by illness, depression or even demonised by involvement in witchcraft, drugs or sexual abuse.

Whatever your story might be, you are important in God’s eyes. He wants to give you a future and a hope.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 

YOUR SPIRITUAL DECISIONS CAN MEAN LIFE OR DEATH FOR MANY

CHRISTIANITY IS A PERSONAL TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND THE GOD WHO LOVES YOU. 

Ephesians 2:8 (TLB) Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God.

• You may belong to a family or a church but your FIRST priority is to know and love HIM, the God who loves you.

The second priority is to discover who HE created YOU to be and to find fulfilment in DOING what He designed you to do.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

For many people, involvement in church activities is the main thing in Christianity. 

• Some church leaders help people to discover their callings and release them into a life of spiritual adventure. 
• Sadly there are others seem to think the purpose of most Christians is to help build church organisations of which they are the leaders.

Bless others by discovering who you are. Find out who you are created to be and what your Creator designed you to do.

• Some Christians are especially gifted and called to build up other believers in their local congregation. 

• Others have a special calling to build up believers in their workplace, on the Internet, in their extended family or in their city.

• Others have special gifts to win unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ.

• Others have gifts to change the thinking and work practices in workplaces, companies or even whole industries. 

• Some have gifts in politics, media, science, or intercession. They have God given gifts which can prevent wars or win wars, change nations or redirect civilizations.

It is so important to know where you are primarily called to serve.

• John Wimber had an apostolic gifting to plant and lead a major spiritual movement. He was also an amazingly gifted personal evangelist. Thousands came to faith in Jesus Christ through contact with him.

• When he was converted to Christ, he was working as a manager of popular singers and entertainers. He was a genuine Christian convert and committed himself to attending a weekly prayer meeting in the church where he was a member. 
• Then he was offered the job of managing The Beatles on a tour of the USA. He turned it down because he felt obliged to attend weekly meetings in his local church. 

What if he had managed The Beatles and God had used him to win them to Christ? 

How many millions could have been influenced for Jesus instead of being seduced by drugs, Hindu mysticism and empty youth culture?

Jesus Makes you Free to be Different, to be You.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Mt 5:14 (NKJV) 

When you travel through the night, whether by car or by plane, you can see a city far ahead as a blaze of lights.

Jesus says his followers are like a city filled with light. This is a representation on earth of the City of God in the glorious Kingdom of God which is to come.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Rev 21:10-11

What is a city like? It is a community filled with diversity, different kinds of businesses and trades, different kinds of organisations. There are government offices and private companies, big businesses and small family businesses. In a healthy city the government does not own or control businesses and big businesses do not totally dominate small businesses. 

So it is with the people of Jesus. There are big churches and denominations and there are house churches and informal prayer groups. There are fellowships where believing business people meet to pray and bring their faith into their work. There are missions to the homeless and prayer groups in colleges. These are just as important as congregations which meet on Sunday. 

In a secular city there are very creative people who are self employed writers, artists, architects and consultants. No company boss or government official controls their lives. Their free creativity keeps the society open to new ideas. 

So it is in the Kingdom of God. CS Lewis was a great Christian writer but he did not hold a senior position in his church and he did not have a church leader telling him what to write or what not to write. 

Some of the most influential Christian leaders have not been church leaders. 

Bach and Handel wrote worship music that moved the hearts of millions. Bach was a humble church organist and music director in a local church. Handel was a commercial composer who wrote operas and music for public occasions.

God does not want all his people to be the same. 

He wants different kinds of churches, different kinds of ministries, different kinds of people doing different kinds of things to demonstrate His own glorious creativity. 

Maybe you are copying other Christians or trying to fit in with what your church, your leaders or your family expect of you.  

Stop, look around and listen to God. What did HE put you on this earth to do? He will show you and your life will never be the same.

For centuries we have been locked into a narrow stereotyped idea of church and the Kingdom of God. God is now saying: LET MY PEOPLE GO!