Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Oct 2, 2006 12:07:32 GMT -5
Is Writing a Calling? By Michael Chu
More specifically, is writing a divine calling? Do we have to hear from God first before we get started to write for His glory?
The Lord called Abram specifically to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan with this promise, “And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1 ~ 3) What a calling and what a blessing! As told in Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” Has the Lord called you specifically to be a writer? If so, wouldn’t you moved out by faith and in obedience, to be blessed of the Lord to be a blessing? Age is not an issue; Abram moved out when he was seventy-five years old.
Talking about age, Samuel heard the voice of God when he was a child. At the first, God gave him a prophesy of things to come. “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 3:19 ~ 21) But for his mother’s pray for a boy (I Samuel 1:11), Samuel would not have received his calling to be a prophet of the Lord. Are there loved ones who are praying for you, desiring that you serve the Lord? And, in a Word-based ministry, at that? If so, you have an awesome ministry! (Jesus has said that His words are life and spirit.) Following from Samuel’s example, people who read your writings will recognize your call, and you will receive affirmation and revelation from God Himself by the word of the Lord.
Then, there was Ruth, a widow herself, who elected to follow her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, who decided to return to the House of Bread (Bethlehem) in the Land of Praise (Judah) after her two sons also died in the country of Moab after her husband’s death. By the by, following the advice of Naomi, Ruth was married to Boaz. She bore a son, Obed, who begat Jesse, the father of King David. Through this lineage came Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. When you choose to be with God’s people and follow godly counsel, you will be blessed to be a blessing. It could well happen to you, too, when you act upon godly counsel to be a writer.
Saul was persecuting the people of the Way before Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus. The Lord spoke to a certain disciple, Ananias, to pray for Saul’s healing “for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15) The Lord may not have called you to a life of suffering, to be a celibate, or to be a writer. We may have different callings and, even for the same calling, we may be called to a different scope of ministry. One thing for sure, as the apostle Paul (formerly called Saul) wrote in Ephesians 3:20 is that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power (the Holy Spirit) that worketh in us.” In other words, with God all things are possible to him who believe and the limit is what we place upon the working of the Holy Spirit. Paul declares in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Through a life of faith and obedience, Paul had a close fellowship with God and experienced the truth and reality of the foregoing verse. It was not just merely a slogan or, in modern-speak, a password. Do you know that you know that you know Christ Jesus will be more than able to help you in your writing endeavours?
As we can see, when we hear and do God’s word diligently, we need not fret whether we have a call to be a writer or not. Or whether we can be successful in our writings, for that matter. As 2 Peter 1 reveals to us, we are urged to add virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity to our faith with all diligence. “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. …. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things. Ye shall never fall: For so an entrance will be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1: 8 ~ 11)
Beginning with faith, we must keep growing in our character unto the Lord. In so doing, we will make our calling and election sure. And, for sure, being a writer is part of this call as God so leads and as we so elect, the Holy Spirit not restraining us.
Article Source: www.faithwriters.com
More specifically, is writing a divine calling? Do we have to hear from God first before we get started to write for His glory?
The Lord called Abram specifically to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan with this promise, “And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1 ~ 3) What a calling and what a blessing! As told in Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” Has the Lord called you specifically to be a writer? If so, wouldn’t you moved out by faith and in obedience, to be blessed of the Lord to be a blessing? Age is not an issue; Abram moved out when he was seventy-five years old.
Talking about age, Samuel heard the voice of God when he was a child. At the first, God gave him a prophesy of things to come. “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 3:19 ~ 21) But for his mother’s pray for a boy (I Samuel 1:11), Samuel would not have received his calling to be a prophet of the Lord. Are there loved ones who are praying for you, desiring that you serve the Lord? And, in a Word-based ministry, at that? If so, you have an awesome ministry! (Jesus has said that His words are life and spirit.) Following from Samuel’s example, people who read your writings will recognize your call, and you will receive affirmation and revelation from God Himself by the word of the Lord.
Then, there was Ruth, a widow herself, who elected to follow her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, who decided to return to the House of Bread (Bethlehem) in the Land of Praise (Judah) after her two sons also died in the country of Moab after her husband’s death. By the by, following the advice of Naomi, Ruth was married to Boaz. She bore a son, Obed, who begat Jesse, the father of King David. Through this lineage came Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. When you choose to be with God’s people and follow godly counsel, you will be blessed to be a blessing. It could well happen to you, too, when you act upon godly counsel to be a writer.
Saul was persecuting the people of the Way before Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus. The Lord spoke to a certain disciple, Ananias, to pray for Saul’s healing “for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15) The Lord may not have called you to a life of suffering, to be a celibate, or to be a writer. We may have different callings and, even for the same calling, we may be called to a different scope of ministry. One thing for sure, as the apostle Paul (formerly called Saul) wrote in Ephesians 3:20 is that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power (the Holy Spirit) that worketh in us.” In other words, with God all things are possible to him who believe and the limit is what we place upon the working of the Holy Spirit. Paul declares in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Through a life of faith and obedience, Paul had a close fellowship with God and experienced the truth and reality of the foregoing verse. It was not just merely a slogan or, in modern-speak, a password. Do you know that you know that you know Christ Jesus will be more than able to help you in your writing endeavours?
As we can see, when we hear and do God’s word diligently, we need not fret whether we have a call to be a writer or not. Or whether we can be successful in our writings, for that matter. As 2 Peter 1 reveals to us, we are urged to add virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity to our faith with all diligence. “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. …. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things. Ye shall never fall: For so an entrance will be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1: 8 ~ 11)
Beginning with faith, we must keep growing in our character unto the Lord. In so doing, we will make our calling and election sure. And, for sure, being a writer is part of this call as God so leads and as we so elect, the Holy Spirit not restraining us.
Article Source: www.faithwriters.com