Brandon Neil Richards

Today I was heading to the store to pick up some coffee, my wife’s decaf wasn’t doing it for me. As I put my shoes on and announced where I was going, Jewel Grace my four year old, said, “Daddy will you need a helper? Jane is unavailable, so I’ll go with you and be your helper” She put down her toys and came to me for my answer. It took me a moment to respond because at the same time I was hearing the Lord speak to me about her.

I told her I wasn’t even going to ask Jane, I was so glad she asked because I needed her help. She didn’t care where we were going, just that she was helping her daddy.

Its fascinating when the Lord speaks to me through my children. Just previous to this little conversation I had been praying to ‘help’ my God. The reality is God doesn’t need my help, but He chooses to use us if we’re willing to follow.

Jesus chose His disciples by the words “Follow Me”, He said (Matthew 4:19, John 1:43) Some dropped everything they were doing, and followed. Some left their families, their businesses, their jobs and didn’t even ask where they were going. Others wanted to say fare wells to their families or bury their dead relatives and didn’t return to follow the Lord (Matthew 8:22). Jesus went on to say “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me (Matthew 19:21)”.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

The definition of the word ‘follow’ so revealing, you should read it for yourself:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Follow

• Becoming fishers of men, or instead of satisfying our carnal self (catching fish), we satisfy the needs of others(fishers of men). (Matthew 4:19)
• Plowing the ground for harvest. Plowing is the preparation of the soil for planting, and we plant for a harvest. Praying is spiritual plowing. We pray over the grounds we have to seed. We pray for the lost, we pray for harvest.  (1 Kings 19:19)
• Severing the tie and forsaking dead works (1 Kings 19:19-21, Matthew 9:9, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 19:21)

The Price

I’ve often heard from some of the faith leaders of our times about the mysterious, ‘price.’ I never understood ‘what’ the price was, I always had hoped that one would just tell us what the price was so I could start paying it. When in fact, I was really stupid. The price is something that only the owner of the thing can give you. The price is different for each person. For some it may be family, for others it may be a business, for others it may be servitude. The easy way to find out what the price is, is to ask God what you must do to be His disciple. I’d almost bet that you already know. It’s that thing that preoccupies your time and gets in front of your relationship with God. It’s that thing inside that says, No I will do this myself. Sadly, many do not pay the price.

God wants our loyalty (Luke 9:62), this will often mean sacrifice, service, and contentment to follow despite what others may be doing(integrity). Enduring the weather(spiritual warfare) and not giving up on the fruitless stony ground, but continuing to plow until the stones are no longer an issue of sowing.

A couple of years ago I heard the Lord sing to me, “Come over the mountains, Come across the sea…” beckoning me to follow after Him. After these words there was only a solid tone of music as if someone where holding in a note on the keyboard. The progression waited… the note reverberated through me as if the next part of the song were waiting on me.

I believe just as He sang that to me and the progression is waiting, He is also beckoning all of His children to follow Him, to go where He goes, to pay the price.

Will you pay the price?
What is your price?
Will you be His helper, or are you unavailable?

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If I could choose anything to do and anywhere to go, I would choose sitting alone on an early spring morning just at the moment the sun spills over the mountain tops of my grandfather's mountain land. Perhaps its the way the forest comes alive. Orchestrated by the sunlight, the song birds begin to sing and the squirrels search for their hidden treasures. Having endured the night, they always seem to be full of mischief.

Often for me a feeling of hope invades my being as the Sun’s radiance shines upon my face. It’s warmth, removing the chill from my bones. As the wind blows the remaining fog into the still-dark hollows below, visibility increases and all reminders of the night are seemingly forgotten.

A friend reminded me today that no matter how hard times get or how alone I feel while in the wilderness of life - the tough times, God is still with me. Astonished and in awe of the realization God has planned my exact life and all my experiences including those alone in the woods on my grandfather’s land as opportunities to know Him.

I was reminded no matter what the previous night and dark times of the past and present have brought into my life; His light is greater than the darkness. His radiance kindles passion and birth’s new life into my being. The sin and confusion of the past and today are removed and cast into the abyss. In His presence there is clarity. Confusion cannot remain in His presence, for in it there is relationship, clarity of vision, and fullness of joy.

I urge my readers, to not let the sun set upon the day without having spent time with Him. You won’t make it out of the wild without Him.

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As Christians, we should all desire to be witnesses to the lost around us. The bible states that we are called to be light to a darkened world. A light that not only draws men to the saving power of Jesus Christ, but as Jesus said, "a candle on a candlestick" which "gives light to all that are in the house" (Matthew 5:15)--an example of Christ unifying the church. As servants and priests in our Master's house, we need to be faithful in our duties to maintain the house; to keep our lights shining.

WISE SERVANTS

Jesus said our “flesh is weak” and can cause us to turn away from God only to enter into temptations which could cause us to sin. We are to continually watch and pray so that we do not enter into temptation (Matthew 26:41). According to Jesus’ parable of the talents, a wise servant is one who receives a talent from his master and uses it to gain a return on the master’s investment (Matthew 25:14, Luke 6:38).

Likewise, Jesus also gave to us what the Father had given to Him. John states that the Word was Jesus, who became flesh and dwelt among us that we would be the ‘return on the Father’s investment’ (John 1:14, John 17:8). Jesus, nearing the end of His time on earth, said He would send the Holy Spirit, who would teach and remind us of the things He taught so that we would not be Comfortless (John 14:26). Jesus prayed, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou has sent me, and hast loved them, as thou has loved me.” It’s with these two wonderfully abundant gifts, Jesus and the Holy Spirit , that we are able to hear from God, edify the Church, and then reach out to those who still dwell in darkness (Acts 26:18).

THE CALLING
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” (1 Peter 2:9).

Peter said, regarding those who are born again, you are a “royal priesthood” who has been called to leave the dark, sinful nature like we once lived before believing in Jesus. In the Old Testament, the only way people could know God was through a priest (Exodus 29:42). To be a priest during the time of the Mosaic Tabernacle meant performing rituals of animal sacrifice and burnt offerings upon an altar to be accepted by God. Only when a priest completed the ceremonial sanctification could the priest himself encounter God (Exodus 29).

As royal priests of the New Covenant we also need to be sanctified and to continuously consecrate ourselves to God. However, we no longer require an animal sacrifice or a burnt offering as in the Old Testament. Jesus became our sacrifice once and for all (Ephesians 5:2) and in doing so, we can become sanctified and cleansed from sin by faith (Acts 26:18). Thus, being cleansed from sin, we can now be in God’s presence through Jesus our Great High Priest (John 14:6, Hebrews 5:14, John 17:19).

As in the Mosaic Tabernacle, once we’ve presented ourselves as a living sacrifice, God meets with us, and speaks with us (Exodus 29:42). It’s during this time of presenting ourselves to the Lord that our minds are transformed by the word of God and our fleshly ways conformed to His will (Ephesians 5:26, Romans 12:2). Some ways we can commune with God and enter into His presence is through prayer, worship, or reading the Bible. In doing these the Holy Spirit, through the word, discerns the thoughts and intent of our hearts and reveals to us so that we can be cleansed, spotless and without blemish upon Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Hebrews 4:12, John 14:26, Ephesians 5:27).

BUILDING THE CHURCH

We’re not only called as servants “into His marvelous light” but Jesus said we are “the light of the world” and as “a city that is set on a hill” we “cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14). As we walk in His marvelous light, we become a light to the world, A pillar and refuge for those who are lost to see (Exodus 34:30).

Jesus compared all people as a “smoking flax” or a candle wick (Matthew 12:20) which has burnt its wax only to smolder. Once we become born again, part of our priestly duty is to trim the wick of our lamps and fill our lamps’ vessel with oil (Exodus 30:7-8). In Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins we are to then set ourselves on a lamp stand to give light to all that are in the house (Exodus 30:7-8, Matthew 25:7).

In the Tabernacle of Moses, God called and gifted workmen to build the required vessels through the instruction of Moses (Exodus 36:1-2). Each vessel had its individual purpose, and all were to be used by the guidance of Moses. In the church today, God has also called apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists…as gifted workmen to build the church, His vessels, by the word of God, which is Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:28). As vessels set apart for God’s purpose, we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, teach each other, encourage each other, sing spiritual songs—keeping ourselves in the love of God, looking, watching for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Colossians 3:16, Romans 8:23, Jude 1:20).

As light, we can’t help but shine. This Light within us is not of ourselves but of God. He has divided us from the darkness in this world and has given us His name (Genesis 1:4-5, Romans 8:15). It’s up to us to not hide anymore in fear, but by faith present ourselves as sacrifices, holy and acceptable, to be used by God daily. Once we do this, we can then “shew” Jesus to as many has He has called—by being a lampstand burning for light to the world and to the household of God (Genesis 3:8, John 3:16, John 1:12, Exodus 25:30-31).

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Ever wondered to yourself, "What has God called me to do?" I've spent a lot of years trying to figure it out and a lot of wasted time doing things that maybe I shouldn't have.

I don’t know about you but my thinking was to find what I think He has called me to accomplish and do that.
If I had only understood that God has called me to be transformed into the image of Christ, to be who He has called me to be, then I would have no choice to do what I was called to do.

Romans:

28We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

There are two requirements for all things to work together for good.

1) love God - How do you know if you love God?

John 14:15 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.

2) be called according to His design and purpose. - What is His purpose?

Pastor Wendell Smith of the City Church in Seatle puts its this way:

“We tend to think of destiny and achievment, as accomplishments stuff to do. But God thinks of destiny as “who you are to be.” And if He could just get you to be who you are called to be, then you would do what you are called to do.”

“If he could just get you to be an apple tree, you’d bare apples.”

We have it backwards, we think what we produce is what we are, rather God sees it as what we are is what we produce.

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