God is Sounding the Note of His Love at RFKC

I greet you from the mountains above Frazier Park. I am with a team of 50 committed volunteers serving 50 foster children from Kern County. We are at the 17th Royal Family Kids Camp (RFKC) of Bakersfield. Thus far, the camp has been a tremendous success with children enjoying the activities, Bible stories and love from each staff person. You can follow RFKC 2011 on HQ of Hope where we are posting regular blogs and video updates.

During one of our staff/team devotions, I shared from a book about a famous church leader, William Sangster. Sangster followed the call of God to preach, teach and lead. During one of his early struggles to enter ministry, Sangster chronicled an encounter he had with God.

Sangster felt completely unable and disqualified for ministry. He thought he was not trained, special or called. Additionally, he understood the challenges he would face in ministry and struggled to commit. During a prayer time, Sangster recorded a conversation with God about his qualifications and call to serve. Sangster was discouraged and disappointed when he heard God speaking to Him, “I want to sound the note through you”.

The note God wanted Sangster to sound was the call back to Methodist doctrine and evangelism. The note God wants you to sound is the personal ministry God has for each of His children (Ephesians 2:10). The note I challenged the staff/counselors to sound is the “love of God” for His children and the fatherless. I reminded them, “God wants to sound the note through you”.

Our call to God, “Here I am ~ Use Me!”

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:1-8)

What is your “Note”?

People often struggle with the “call” of God to be used for Him. The call is nothing more than God’s desire for the work of your life in a specific moment of for an extended period of time. For example, you have a “call” to be a parent if you have children – this is and extended call. Another example is shorter – you may have a “call” to speak to someone at a store about Jesus or to a neighbor about God’s ability to heal. The calling isn’t the most important aspect but your obedience is.

Isaiah had a vision of Heaven and in that vision He received a question from God, “Who can I send?” Isaiah, upon hearing the call, responded by placing himself in God’s hands for usage … “Here am I. Send me!” It is interesting to note that before Isaiah responded to the call he was cleansed by the Lord.

Upon entry to the Presence of God, Isaiah felt the shame of sin-stained humanity and a lack of worth to be in God’s Presence. God, being faithful and merciful, used an angel to minister symbolic cleansing and redemption to Isaiah, something that would come later  and be available to all through the ministry of Jesus.

God called Isaiah and cleansed Isaiah so He could use Isaiah as a prophet to His people. God desires to do the same thing in you and I. He may not call you to be a prophet to a nation but He has called you to ministry. He has called you to “sound the note” to your generation and sphere of influence. God wants to “sound the note through you.”

The note God is sounding through the lives of the servants at RFKC is the note of God’s love. God desires each fatherless child to know that He is a Father to the fatherless and that His love knows no end (Psalm 68:5). God wants to sound the note of unconditional love to the children and He is using the staff and counselors to make the noise! It is working. Please pray for the remaining days at RFKC.

Friend, what note does God desire to sound through you? It is true that God desires us to worship Him with our lips but we are also to worship Him with our lives. God does not simply want a church that gathers in a holy huddle to sing. God desires a church that will do the “works” of the Lord and live as Jesus would upon the earth. To accomplish this end, God uses people. He uses you. What does He want to do in and with your life? What note is He desiring to sound through you?