Greetings! Happy Resurrection Day! I hope and pray that today you were able to take a moment and reflect on the awesome gift of salvation and realize the weight that Jesus bore when he died on the cross for our sins (both past and future).
Some background information of how I had spent the last year. I worked at Cedar Campus InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Training Camp from April 2013 – mid-October 2013. I returned home to my parents house with the plan of studying for the Actuarial Exam 1 on days that I was not Substitute Teaching. Well, I did do some studying over the past 6 or so months but did not apply to take the exam 1 yet because when I would have time to study I would not be motivated and my heart just wasn’t in it. At the same time, I wasn’t really sure what direction my life was/should be going in so I started praying about that very thing.
Now we jump to an All Sons & Daughters concert in late October/early November (2013). I saw them LIVE at a college in Grand Rapids with two good friends. Their concert was more of a worship service with a lot of strangers but it was amazing. God’s presence was totally in that auditorium and He was speaking to a lot of His children that night. At one point during the concert, the group encouraged all of us to just have some prayer time with God. There were several prayer stations available if desired. So, if you ever get a chance to go see this group, All Sons & Daughters, I would highly encourage it.
Hence, I wanted to write about a song that both affirmed and inspired me to pursue the journey to embark on The World Race. The song is called “Called Me Higher” by All Sons & Daughters, a song they sang that evening and I immediately fell in love with.
To check out the song, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAzLKXqcDk
For your convenience I will now post the lyrics.
Verse 1: I could just sit, I could just sit and wait for all your goodness, Hope to feel your presence And I could just stay, I could just stay right where I am and hope to feel you, Hope to feel something again
Verse 2: And I could hold on, I could hold on to who I am and never let You change me from the inside
And I could be safe, I could be safe here in Your arms and never leave home Never let these walls down
Chorus: But you have called me higher, You have called me deeper, And I will go where you will lead me Lord
You have called me higher, You have called me deeper, And I will go where you lead me Lord
Where you lead me, Where you lead me Lord
Bridge: And I will be Yours, I will be Yours for all my life
So let Your mercy light the path before me.
Also, here are a few verses that I am reminded of from these lyrics are:
– Matthew 28:18-20 which states: “8 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
– James 1:27 which states: “27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
– Romans 12:1-3 which states: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”
A famous quote by C.S. Lewis also states: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
All of these pieces of literature have led me to believe that God has called me to embark on this journey called The World Race. Whenever I listen to this song it reminds me that we are called to be and do something great for God. I’m not saying that everyone is called to go out and be a missionary but I feel that this is where God is leading me right now so “I will go where He sends me”. The part about being “called higher” reminds me that we, as Christians, are called to live in such a way that we place other people above us and to serve them.
One additional note: Thank you for the prayers and financial support and letting God use you to use me to be His hands and feet all over the world!
God Bless and Keep Lookin’ Up!
