Our First Calling

Hallelujah!! I can't thank the kind folks at Millstone Coffee Co. for their Holliday Peppermint coffee. Um...Let's talk about taste buds rejoicing. Especially after battling the wind and cold on the run this morning. I got pistol-whipped by a hard NNW wind this morning--so much so that I could literally barely make it up the hills--so I gave myself the gift of opening my new bag of java, which I'd gotten with a coupon, of course. $2.00 off just made it taste even better!

I had a great Bible study last night. I got to visit the precept study that a group from my former church is doing on 1 Peter. It was awesome! I just love those folks. And the lady who leads it might be one of the most passionate women of God I've ever met. She teaches with authority! And I just love that. It reminds me of God's power and fires up my heart to love and be loved by Him.

It's interesting what message God shared with me through the study last night. I've been doing a lot of thinking about my "calling" lately and examining it with a magnifying glass. What did God put me here to do? Am I doing it? How can I fulfill my purpose here? Questions we all ask ourselves periodically.

Anyway, last night was awesome. God spoke straight into that question through my girl--since I'm into funny blog nicknames, I'll call her C-Lo. She actually shared in her message that if we were wrestling with those questions, we could rest. If we were always wondering where God would place us and where we should go and what we should do, we needed to relax and understand that our first and primary calling is to know Him and let Him conform us to the image of Christ.

Wow. GREAT reminder.

It's part of life that we all question what we're here to do. If we're where we're supposed to be, doing what we were created to do. But I personally don't believe that matters as much as we think it does.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe that God has specific plans for each of us, but I think those will happen naturally if we are faithful to latch on to our primary role of knowing Him and becoming like Christ.

Matthew 6:33 is one of my favorite verses. It's one of those verses that pretty much sums it all up. I'll paraphrase, but it says that we are to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to us, as well. He's talking about our basic needs in regards to what we will be given, but I believe it applies to life in general in a great way.

Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and He'll take care of the rest. I needed that reminder last night. It's not so much about "doing" for God as it is about knowing Him--being in relationship with Him and allowing Him to conform us into the image of His Son. That's why we're here on this planet: to bring Him to earth. How we do that is by allowing Christ to live through us--to love others and to let them know that He loves them. To live in that loving relationship with Him ourselves. Man, it's so simple when we really look at it from God's perspective. Just seek Him and let Him take care of you.

Today, I'm reflecting on that. How am I allowing God to change me into the image of Christ? Am I more like Christ today than I was yesterday? What exactly does it look like to be like Jesus? Do I know enough about Him to walk and live like Him? Great questions that we all should ask ourselves. Moreso that where we should be going or what we should be doing. Those are okay to ask, but they're not the first ones we should be posing. They should fall in line after we have examined our hearts and allowed God to reveal His will for us in living and loving like His Son.

Love and hugs to you all. :) Be encouraged knowing that God loves you more than you can ever know.

-Jill