God Calling, August 2, 2009

God Calling
8/2/09

Moses, Exodus 3
• minding his own business,
• tending the flock of sheep of his father-in-law,
• Jethro who was a priest in Midian.
• He led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

• The angel of the LORD appeared
o in a flame of fire out of a bush.
o Bush blazed, but was not consumed. That got Moses’ attention!
o “I must turn aside and see this great site; see why the bush is not burned up.”

• Out of the bush came the voice of the LORD, “Moses, Moses!”

• “Here I Am”
o Come no closer!
o Remove your shoes
o holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
o Moses was afraid and hid his face

The LORD told Moses that He had heard His people’s cry for deliverance, and Moses was to go to Pharoah to bring the Isrealites out of Egypt.

o Who am I to go to Pharoah?

o I will be with you.

o What about the Israelites? When they ask me the name of the one who sent me, what shall I say?
o I AM who I AM. Tell the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you.” God told Moses what to say.

o But what if they don’t believe me? God showed Moses
o Turned staff to a snake and back to a staff
o Put your hand in your cloak – it came out leprous, and turned it back to healthy flesh
o If they don’t believe those 2, pour water from the Nile on the ground and it will become blood.

o I’m not eloquent!

o I’ll send Aaron with you

Aaron never got to say a thing.

MBD: (461)
Ex 2:15 Moses moving from the wilderness to Horeb
o discipline we must undergo when we have sought the One.
o Horeb means solitude.
o So we go within and lead our flock of thoughts to the mountain of God, that is, the divine I AM, whose kingdom is good judgment.

The bush burned but was not consumed.
o The light, or flame of intuition burns in our hearts, but our hearts are not consumed.
o Instead the heart brings forth wisdom. This is “holy ground”, or substance in Divine Mind.
o When we approach that holy ground of wisdom in our own inner being, we must take off all limited thoughts, i.e. “remove our shoes”
o In this communion in the silence with the light within us, the true way of release is indicated.
o We see the possibilities of humankind and the goodness of the Promised Land to which we can raise our thoughts.

From God’s assurance that “I will be with you,”
o recognize the power and presence of God, and
o in that recognition lies our strength and ability.

Determining the call of Spirit
o a theme that has been around since time was.
o myths and legends about the will of the gods, or the Will of God in every culture so far as I know.
o legends of gods and goddesses
o messengers that conveyed the will of these gods to humankind.

In our own scriptures there are many examples of callings.
• Samuel, [I Samuel Ch 3]: Samuel served the Priest Eli. Samuel heard his name called 4 times before he answered the Lord, “Here I am for your servant is listening.”
• Saul [Acts 9:3] Saul was on his way to Damascus to bring followers of the Way to Jerusalem when a light from heaven flashed around him.

Each of these was called to serve God.
o Each of you is here because you at least are curious about God.
o Perhaps you have been called.
o Being called does not mean you have to stand on a platform and speak.
o You might be called to do exactly what you are doing!
o Or it may be a form of ministry you have only admitted in your innermost hearts.

Before we talk about what, let’s ask some more questions.
But how do we know we are called?
Maybe we just fell out of the basket here on Earth and life happens to us.
o And if we are called, how do we discern that call? How do we recognize the touch or voice of Spirit?

• We are created by God, in the image and likeness of God; therefore spiritually perfect.
• God has already chosen us;
o so the first choice for us to make is choosing God.
o We can delay, we can reject, we can go our own way, and the invitation will continue to present itself in various ways.
o At any moment we can choose God or “not God.”
• When we choose God, we
o set into action a catalyst that sends us toward experiencing our oneness with God.
o This is a union that is a soul yearning
o When we choose God, we choose a path of returning to our spiritual perfection.
o even if it is challenging, we are equipped to handle it.
o Through our connection with God we perceive and understand what is ours to do.
o When we choose God, we choose a path of love.
 Whoever does not love is not in alignment with God, for God is Love.
 God is the all-pervasive, all-encompassing love energy that is in everyone and everything.
 It is in everything and everywhere, always in all ways.
So if any of these things are missing, it’s a good bet it’s our own ego that we are choosing, Not God. God is the light that is always shining within so that we may all be enlightened with the knowledge and glory of God.

Having chosen God:
How do we know what God is calling us to do or be?
God’s will for all humankind is that each one of us expresses as much good and Christ nature as we possibly can on the level of consciousness at which we are operating.
o Raising our awareness of God in us is our life-long walk when we choose God. There are many tools for seeking self awareness and heightening consciousness.

• First is prayer & meditation. This is our direct connection with God.
o Prayer is a process in which we
 relax our bodies and
 focus our attention on our connection with God.
 We concentrate on life, wholeness, and health.
 We continue to focus on God to deepen the connection as we sit in the Silence.
 In the Silence we commune with God and listen for guidance.
 Realizing our oneness with God and all the Good that God is, we may receive our answers if we are willing and open enough.
 We then give thanks.
o Meditation is a longer period of remembering that we are Spirit and that our bodies are the temples of our Spirit. Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, said in Christian Healing (15), “A daily half hour of meditation will open up the mind to a consciousness of the inner One and will reveal many things that are hidden.”
• Self observation is another tool. We have the capacity to observe ourselves,
o to review our actions, and assess our motives.
o One instrument - keeping a journal. We can note our feelings and our reactions to situations. We can write down when we feel disconnected, and what was going on at the time.
• Listen to our questions.
o Are the questions we are asking leading us to answers?
o Or are they questions like “Why?” “Why doesn’t God answer me?” “Why can’t I figure this out?”
o A question that DOES lead to an answer, “What needs to die in me so that I can discern God’s gifts and leading?”
 What part of me needs to be released to hear God?
 What ego-motive needs to die
• Interact with other seekers who help you find answers; with those who support your efforts and offer conversation that further your spiritual quest.
o A drug addict who gets clean does not return to the drug culture in an effort to stay clean!
o A depressed person doesn’t seek the company of other depressed people to feel better.
o May be useful in understanding the illness, but it doesn’t help us be less depressed.
o If we are seeking spiritual enlightenment, then seek the company of those who support and uplift us on our path.
o You may be amazed at the comments that impart wisdom when the speaker was just making conversation.

As we seek to discern God’s call, remember that “divine guidance is a magnificent flow of Infinite Mind. It is a longing and an energy through which you and I can make choices that are best in our own consciousness” (MPH I, 45).

What is God calling you to be or to do?
What is the desire of your heart?
Who would you most want to serve?
Help children? Teach adults to read? Care for infants in distress? Care for the elderly? What desire is bigger than the next thing we want to buy? What secret yearning of your heart is greater than how great we want to look for the picnic?
It can be anything, AND to be a true calling, it must have those God-like qualities:
• Compassion
• Love
• Kindness
• Serving
• Lifegiving
• Strengthening
• Goodness

Sometimes it helps to look at how others have experienced a call.
You’ve heard of Petfinder.com—a website that helps shelters and rescue groups find loving homes for animals? http://www.guideposts.com/story/strays-stayed
Maybe you even found your own pet through the site—Petfinder.com has facilitated more than 13 million adoptions.
Back in 1995 Google wasn’t a verb and Facebook didn’t exist. The world wide web was more of a wild world.
Betsy Saul, and her husband, Jared, weren’t dot-commers. He was beginning his medical residency and she worked for New Jersey’s urban forestry. But they were intrigued by the sense that anything was possible on the web. We just didn’t think it was being used effectively.
“The ultimate website would harness technology for a socially responsible cause,” Jared said.
Betsy nodded and they fell silent. What cause needed our help? Then both said, in unison, “What about animal shelters?”
Betsy got goose bumps when she thought of all the lives we could save. What were the chances the same inspiration would strike us at the same instant? Betsy knew every year, millions of abandoned pets—healthy, loving animals who wanted only for a home—were killed.
Two years later our site went national. I left forestry to devote myself to it full-time. Today, more than 12,500 animal welfare groups post animals on Petfinder; 65 percent of animal adoptions in the U.S. come through the site, including most of the animals on my farm in North Carolina. Jared and Betsy live with three horses, seven chickens, a guinea hen, two goats, a sheep, two guinea pigs, two cats and a dog.
Betsy said, “Helping animals find homes isn’t always easy, but it’s what I was meant to do. Every day I’m reminded we’re all connected in ways beyond our imagining.”
James Dillet Freeman, Unity’s poet laureate, wrote
Sometimes I wonder if life ever answers prayer except with a seed. Life never gives us a life lived, but always a life to be lived.
Life never makes a tree grown but a tree to grow.
Life never brings forth a man in the full flush of his powers and deeds, but a babe with powers all to be discovered and deeds to be done.
What powers and deeds are God calling forth in you? God is calling. How will you answer?