Few are Chosen Article I Wanted to Share

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"For many are called but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14

In Matthew 22, Jesus shares a secret of how the kingdom of God works by telling a story. There were 5 groups of people in this story that illustrate how one can move from being the called to the chosen. They are sent a grand invitation to a king's wedding feast. What would you do if you were invited to a king's wedding feast? Their response to his royal invitation shows the value they placed on the king. Here are the 5 groups of people:

The Called Who Refuse to Respond

“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!" Matthew 22:2-3

This an invitation to a royal wedding feast yet they refuse to attend. Their hearts show a blatant disregard for the king. Their response says the royal invitation isn't worthy of their time.

The Called Who Ignore the Invitation

“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business." Matthew 22:4-5

The royal invitation is ignored by those who are too busy and entangled with their responsibilities and businesses. Everyday He calls out to us. Do we ignore His royal invitation with our busyness?

The Called Who Kill the Messengers

"Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them." Matthew 22:16 This is the ultimate insult to kill the king's messengers. The king is furious and sends his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. (Matthew 22:7)

The Unworthy Who Respond

"Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests." (Matthew 22:9-10)

The king expands his guest list to include the good and bad alike. Everyone is invited to the wedding feast. Everyone is called.

The Unworthy Who are Called but not Dressed Appropriately

“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 22:11-13)

It was customary to for the king to provide wedding garments for his guests. To not wear the garments the host provided was considered an outright insult with severe punishment. The guest with no wedding clothes is banished.

From this passage, we know that Jesus is speaking prophetically to the Jews who had rejected and persecuted Him. He came to His own and was treated like an outcast. From these responses, here's how we can move from being called to chosen.

Respond to Him Like He is a King

Giving honor, worshipping and treating Him like a King will make you stand out. When the President walks into a room, everyone knows it. He walks in with an entourage and given honor regardless of your personal politics.

I had the honor of hosting Barbara Bush, the wife of former President George Bush. She had a corps of security guards around her. I adjusted everything for her when I hosted her. If I had a bad day, it didn't matter. Mrs. Bush was on the scene. In the same way, we can learn how to respond to Jesus like He is a King.

A King doesn't take orders. He gives orders. A King doesn't want to hear about your past or how bad of a day you're having. A King has a job that needs to be done. There is a time for relationship with the King but that grows with time. There is a protocol for entering a King's presence and leaving His presence.

Be Ready to Respond to Him Always

When you're working for a King, you're working 24/7. He can summon you at anytime. Be available to respond to the King anytime, anywhere. I responded to the call of The King by moving to Kansas City in 2000. I left my husband and children for a brief season to move and it was hard. But the King had called me and I responded.

I listen through out the day for gentle promptings from the King to encourage someone, pray for someone, call someone. You see, the King is the servant of the people. The morale and health of the people are always on His mind. When you think like a King, you're thinking about someone else.

Learn About the King

Learn how the King thinks, how He acts and how He responds. Spend time in His word. Spend time in prayer and worship. There is no shortcut to building a relationship with a King. Your pastor or your church leader can't do this for you. You have to dig into the scriptures. You have to spend time in worship. You have to pray.

Dress for the King

Wear your royal garments provided by the King. What does this mean to wear your royal garments? Take up your authority on behalf of the King. Exercise His authority over your life. If you belong to Him, than act like it. So many Christians think and live like orphans. This is so degrading to the King of Kings because it sends a message to the Enemy that we don't believe Him.

Believe that He is the King and dress for Him by wearing your royal robes of righteousness and your clothing of salvation that He has provided.

"I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels." Isaiah 61:10

When you treat Him like a king - which is rare and will make you instantly stand out - and consistently respond to Him and show a hunger for His ways, you will become the chosen. You will enjoy the royal feast of His presence. Having the King in your life brings royal benefits such as prosperity, His presence and His authority.

Make way for the King in your life. Become the chosen.

Leilani Haywood is editor of SpiritLed Woman and a frequent contributor toCharisma. She is a Kansas City, Mo.-based award-winning writer and columnist. She has been published in the Kansas City Star, Metro Voice and other publications. Follow her on Twitter @leilanihaywood.

An Epidemic

There is an epidemic in the world today of people who can't admit they did anything wrong. 

God says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness." 

But first we must be sorry for what we've done.

It is freeing, try it, practice it, live it, rejoce in it, and share it with others.

There will be no judging from me or from Christ because He states "therefore there is no condemnation  if you abide in Him."

Abide in Him, for your life will never be the same. Stay close and He shall direct thy path. Love Him because He first loved you, and love others because we need to remember that forgiveness is one of the most powerful tools we have in our arsenal.

God Bless.

The Secret Pearl

Every word or thoughts can be a pearl that can be dropped into the secret places of our heart and other hearts.

In some hour of need we and others will find the treasure hidden deep within and for the first time we may see its value. 

Yet there is something else at work here. A secret pearl.

So what is the secret pearl? It is the work of the Spirit and the Spirit's work is the only one that counts. It will draw on those words and thoughts that we have hidden and bring them into the glorious light shining brightly for the world to see.

A Life of Faith

A life of faith does two things: 

1.). Faith helps you to see God behind everything and what He chooses to use.

2.)  Faith also helps keeps you in place where you are not sure what will happen next.

To have faith you can not always know what is happening or what is going to happen. 

God wants you to trust Him alone and the strength He gives you is intended to get you through one moment to the next. 

We must be faithful to His voice and depend in Him moment by moment this will cause us to die to ourself allowing Him to be glorified not only in your life but in others.

Walk via the Bible

The bible reveals much about the kind of walk we should have. We are to walk with moral correctness because "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk up rightly." 

We are to walk without fault because "whoever walks blamelessly will be saved."

We are to walk with godly advisor because "blessed is the man who walks mot in the counsel of the ungodly."

We are to walk in obedience because "blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways."

 We are to walk with people of wisdom because "he who walks with wise men will be wise."

We are to walk with integrity because "he who walks with integrity walks securely. 

Most if all, we are to walk a path of holiness. "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.

The best part of walking on the "Highway of Holiness" Is that even if we end up doing something dumb, we still won't get thrown off the path.

This Era and What Your Running Towards

Do you realize that this era will pass away quickly? In a blink of an eye.

Do you realize the present stresses will seem insignificant and remote in light of eternity?

What will matter to you at the end of your life? 

What will matter at the end of life will be the loving relationships you have built with your family but most importantly, what will matter the most is your readiness to meet The Lord.

Are you ready? Keep running your race, loving others with all your heart all the while knowing that someday you will hear:

"Well done thy good and faithful servant."

Genuine Love

I am absolutely loving my little desk calendar sayings these last few day. 

I want to share with you the one for today with the hope that you will also get something out of it. Something that will effect your situation and/or your life.

Here is what I hope to be a blessing: 

Genuine live demands caring, commitment, and giving unselfishly to the other person.

Amen and may our eyes be enlightened that it shouldn't be about us, but others.

Parental Accountability-God, the Honorable Judge in Charge now presiding.

We can't raise our children perfectly, but we subject ourselves to a constant cross-examination in the courtroom of parental accountability.

Whether you have children or not, there is something to be said in this one liner that marked my calendar for January 22.

This statement got me thinking. Maybe I should start to see this not only in thinking of my children but maybe start to see it through God's eyes. Maybe you will agree with me or maybe you will find something in it totally different. That is one thing I love, something might mean or say something totally different but whatever way, it just might be something that is needed to change a situation around. 

I digress, here is my thought on this one liner: God knows we won't be perfect, although that is what we should strive to be in Christ, He still wishes we would do our own accountability trail and not have to let Him conduct one. Maybe He wishes we would just look to His courtroom and His ruling and not let outside forces dictate our live's so much. 

It is when we look to others and to the world is when we get into trouble by taking our eyes off the the only Judge and Jury we need to please. We have to know without a shadow of a doubt that even thought He is our judge, He is full of mercy and is gentle and loving and He has an unbeatable court appointed attorney who is available day or night, in any given situation, and who can handle the truth because He is the way, the truth, and the light.  

So glad He is on my side. Won't you call on Him in times of trouble? His name is Jesus.

A New Way

It's time we went back to the basics. Get back to the foundations of the living word. It's time to go back when we first began seeking Christ, the Savior of the world.

It's time we take a new direction on a very worn path that others so bravely traveled and cleared before us. It is time to seek Him like never before. It is time just to sit and wait on His voice letting us know what are next step should be.

It's time we picked up the weapons He has given us and put them in motion. There are dying people everywhere who need to be led to their Lord and Savior.

 A lot of people don't even realize they are in need. They are going around claiming they are Christians and the fruit of their lives are no where near where they should be. There are tons of good people going to hell in a hand basket because they don't know any better. 

So what do I think needs to happen? Notice I said I and not thus says The Lord. I believe that we must quit shoving our religion down people's throat. Instead of focusing on the sin, maybe it's time we started focusing on the person. We need to look at them with love in our eyes and God's word in our mouth transferring what we have hidden in our hearts into the darkness of the ones we are witnessing to.

Instead of going out with our guns a blazing from some gun smoke movie, why don't we drop to our knees and begin to hit the book again. The living book that can change lives and will lead us to path we need to travel. What we need to do is keep in mind, we have our own paths we must travel yet we walk together in Christ. So, what one might get isn't necessary what everyone else should do. 

However together, we can begin by helping close the doors where the enemy has gained entranced and begin praying the scriptures then wait in God's presence. Praying the scriptures is a unique way of getting the scripture put into motion so they can do their jobs they were designed to do.  

Soon you will find yourself being a doer of the word. You will begin to meditate, speak out, and build up not only your faith but the faith of others all the while Jesus and the Holy Spirit is freed to move about calling out for others to join in the greatest religion of the world. The religion where the Great I Am reigns supreme.

Love Bangs the Door

Life with God is not immunity for difficulties. But He does promise peace and love. When we keep our peace and love others and know that God loves us, then joy will be the result.

Joy is the fruit of all our hard work. It will bubble up within us just at the right time and remind us in the heat of the of the moment everything has been worth it.

Love will put all the pieces together and we will walk in joy everlasting.

Practice Love

In 1 John 3:23 God makes it clear what He wants out of Hs people. It's none negotiable. It is an order from the Almighty. He makes it plain as day as to what we are to do not just on a daily basis but hourly if we need to. It is for our own benefit not so much for others but it is to keep us humble so in the end we can draw others to their Savior that may or may not be aware they need, 

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (I John 3:23 NKJV)

This is where we must get to and live by:

1.) We must love all those who are unlovable and continue to love those who do.

2.) We must practice love. 

3.) We must continue to remember love will teach us great lessons for it is the greatest teacher we have.

If we don't love how can we ever expect to abide with Jesus and the Father, and the Spirit? 

God Bless.

Love Your Servants

Do you dwell on the fact that God is love? Where does your thoughts vere to when someone tells you about God's love?

God tells us in 1 John 4:16:

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (I John 4:16 NKJV)

Not only must we dwell on the thoughts of God's love but we must put God's love in action; not only in our lives but in the lives of others. So go forth knowing:

God is love...there should be no judging.

God is love...there should be no resentment.

God is love...there should be patience put in practice.

God is love...we should be walking in God's power.

God is love...we should know without a shadow of a doubt God's our supplier and He will supply.

God Bless.

Affirmations

More advice from Joyce Meyer's little booklet that I wanted to get out there.

God's word is powerful, and it has the ability to bring freedom to very area of our lives. So please keeps these things in mind. Meditate on them, then believe them.

1.) I am right with God

2.) I am loved 

3.) I am special

4.) I am forgiven

5.) I am free

6.) I have a great future

God bless!

Motivation

I love this little diddy and I want to share it. I don't want to be the kind of person who finds something, then keeps it to herself, and not pass it along. 

So here is my diddy for you:

The motivation and strength to live a life of purity 

Is a by-product

Of a spiritual commitment. 

Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, 

With them that call on The Lord

Out go a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22

God Bless!

God's Masterpiece

Recently I received a small pamphlet from a Joyce Myers conference and while reading through it, I came across something I wanted to share with you. Enjoy.

You are God's masterpiece-the prize possession. 

He has created you for a unique and awesome purpose and nobody can ever take your place. 

He loves you, He forgives you,

He approves of you, He's not mad at you, 

And He will never leave you

Or forsake you.

God is on your side!

 So together, we must remember, God is always with us, and no matter where we are in our journey, He wants us to know: We are beautiful, Special, and are loved, so we must believe it!

Downtime

God, in Hs infinite wisdom and love created us with a need for some downtime and fun. He longs for us to enjoy recreation regularly. Our bodies, as well as our souls, need fun in order to thrive. 

We need to find some way to blow off steam. Get a hobby. Enjoy God's creation. Watch a movie even. Whatever causes us to relax we need to do it often but remember one thing, whatever we like to do, make sure we bring God into it too. 

God enjoys having a good time. It's part of His nature. After all, He is the place where our souls find thier ultmatate rest and peace.

As for Me and My House

    2014 is amongst us. I don't know about you, but I can't help but wonder what the year holds not only for myself, my family, but also for America. I know one thing, I don't have the ability to look in a crystal ball and I haven't heard God yelled down from His throne telling me His master plan for this year which I totally disagree with Him on but I have to suck it up and be willing to go with the flow of His plan.

     Yet, I find myself trying to put my two cents worth in by telling Him just return already. I am ready to catch the first fight off the ground and get the show on the road and have eternity start like yesterday. For this reason alone makes it clear why I am not God and He is the great I am.

     As I think upon 2014, I can't help but hear a still small voice deep within me to begin to cry out for my family and to declare as for me and my house we will serve the Lord in a much more intense fashion.

     I have no way of knowing the future only what the word of God tells me and if I only read a fifth of the bible in my lifetime, I would still clearly see some things are going to happen and it would only be the smartest and wisest thing for me is to see how important bringing the family under God is.

     Somehow I believe this goes deeper than just my family but needs to be spread out amongst my fellow Christian brother's and sister's in Christ for us to join together and begin to declare where we stand and take homes, communities, states, and America back to its core foundation where this nation truly becomes one nation under God.

     So I send out a challenge for 2014 for you to join me in declaring and singing out to our Lord,  as for me and my house we will serve the Lord

 As For Me And My House Lyrics

John Weller

Verse 1:

I'm done 

Building my own kingdom

No more

Seeking worthless idols

Pre:

Like sheep we have all gone astray

We must choose this day

Whom we will serve

Chorus:

As for me and my house

We will serve the Lord

We will serve the Lord

Idols raised, tear them down

Cause we will serve the Lord

We will serve the Lord

To one king we bow down

As for me and my house

We will only serve the Lord

Verse 2:

I'm done

With powerless religion

No more

Living in deception

Pre:

Chorus:

As for me and my house

We will serve the Lord

We will serve the Lord

Idols raised, tear them down

Cause we will serve the Lord

We will serve the Lord

To one king we bow down

As for me and my house

We will only serve the Lord

Bridge:

We will cross over Jordan

We will claim what you promised

Chorus: 

Out:

We will not give our hearts to another

Will not give our hearts to another

We belong to the Lord

We will not give our hearts to another

Will not give our hearts to another

We will only serve the Lord