I am Called to this

You're tuned into Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Justin Lester is an average guy who refuses to let Mondays control him. Justin is a husband, dad, pastor, student and Jesus follower. He's done a lot, he's learned a lot, and he wants to see you at your best. Let's win Mondays. Hey, Justin, what's up today?

Alright, welcome again to Made for Mondays. We're here and continuing and I pray that this is going to challenge you to just be the best you possibly can be as you go into this Monday. And so today I want to challenge you and encourage you on what it means to be called. What it means to be called. You are called to this. You are called to this. See, listen. So it's one thing to be selected, it's another thing to be called. Being called goes beyond selection because of anointing, that oil, that possibility that God has put in you. And here's why. When you're anointed, you're not standing by yourself. You're standing because God is standing through. You want to say that again? When you're anointed, you're not standing by yourself. You're standing because God is standing through you. And one of the challenges we have is not walking in selection, it's walking in anointing. You have been anointed for this. You've been called for this. You have been called for this hour. Let me give you two scriptures. First, John 2:27 says this. But the anointing that you receive from him, God abides in you. You have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. Ephesians 4:1:7 says this. Therefore, prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling for which you've been called. With all humility and gentleness and patience and bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is but one body, one Spirit. Not then just as you were called in the hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gifts. I want to challenge you to know a couple things about anointing. Number one, anointing is not based in preferences. So anointing is not just something you want to do or you're doing things because you want to. You're doing things because God is coercing you through the anointing in you to do it because you're connected to God's voice. Number two. Anointing drives culture, doesn't listen to culture. God did not put you on this world to do what the world says. God put you on the world to tell the world what to do. 3. Anointing will assist in change. If you're looking to change things at your job and your home and your resources, anointing will assist in giving you the language to do so. An anointing fourthly allows you to speak the language. One of the great things about the world is that we can't come to the world with big language. We come to the world. God gives us authority with the world's language to change the world's language to match the language that God has for us. Because what you engage in is a reflection of how see God. What you engage in is a reflection how you see God and the anointing on your life. So when you think about those verses that you go into this week, I want to challenge you to grab a hold of purpose. Because if you don't have purpose in this calling that God given you, you have no reason then to walk into this. I want you to grab a hold of your purpose and the calling you have. So let me give you two things to stand strong in your calling this day. Number one, be disciplined. Be disciplined. If you're not going to be disciplined, you're not going to be a disciple. If you're not going to be disciplined, you're not going to be a disciple. Discipline is intentional, purposeful because it challenges us in both secular and sacred spaces to have an intention in everything that we do. Listen to what Richard Foster, in his work at Celebration Discipline said. He said this. The Bible called people the disciplines like fasting and prayer, worship and celebration, but gave them no instruction how to do them. The reason this is easy to see the disciples were so frequently practicing these things as such a part of a larger culture that the how to was common knowledge. Look at this. A call for fasting and prayer and reading Scripture is an easy thing to do when leaders are doing it. When you're doing it, anything that needs too much explanation is something that is not being practiced. It's one thing to explain a thing. It's another thing to enter into a thing with celebration. So as you talk about discipline, as we talk about your discipline this week, what are the things that are easy for you to do when it comes to being A disciple is the disciple easy for you to do it because you're constantly doing it? Is a leader easy for you to do because you're constantly doing it? So what are your consistent practices with the Lord, your daily routine, your discipline things? And what are ways that you balance either your spouse or your children out as you go in to conquer the world today? And secondly, God challenges us to be principled. God challenges us to be principled. Our disciplines give us clarity of the what. Our principles give us clarity of the why. Policies are many, but principles are few. And if your why has not been accomplished, you can't quit. Just look at your principles. So here's a way you can grab your principles. What matters most to you? What principles do you stand on? Why are you doing what you're doing? This calls upon us to be people who are lifelong learners and understanding in God, understanding yourself. Because I can tell you this. You tell me what you're reading and I'll tell you where you're going. If you tell me what books you read, the things you're doing, I'll tell you where you're going. And that's why your why has to be connected to principles. When you live your life by principles, 99% of your decisions are already made. And that comes down to the things, the things you're reading, the people around you, people who have access to your ears, what you're memorizing, your principles. Because we live in a world that's constantly changing. And a lot of our fights and arguments that we have in the world are not over, are not over principles, they're over our preferences. But if we strengthen our principles, it'll change the ways we engage in our preferences. So I want you to go into the day knowing you're called to this, you're anointed to this. I want you to go into this day grabbing a hold of your disciplines, grabbing a hold of your principles, and go into this day to conquer this day, knowing that you have been made for this hour to do amazing things, to change the world, to be the person that God's called you to be. You are made for Monday. You own your Mondays. Mondays don't own you. Today was a short one because I want you to go win this day. Take a moment, let's pray together, and let's go defeat this Monday. God, we're grateful for another Monday, another day, another hour, to be the best we can be. Challenge us, pull out of us, all of us, that we might change the systems all around us. We honor you today. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. You got this. Go to feature Monday. God bless you.

This has been made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at Ms. Lester. J. Lester. And online at www.jluster.com. see you next week. Go win. You were made for this.