Does God's Call on Your Life Overwhelm You?

Does God's Call on Your Life Overwhelm You?

Have you ever felt like God has called you to do something for Him? It could be something like witness to someone or even step into a certain career path. As soon as you felt the Lord speak to you, excitement filled your heart and mind. Shortly after the burst of excitement you started doubting yourself and soon you allowed insecurities, shame and past failures to talk you out of what God laid on your heart.

I'm reminded of the story of Moses in the Bible. We find Moses tending to another man's sheep in Exodus 3. He was on the back side of the desert when the Lord spoke to him through a burning bush. The Lord found Moses to be faithful, watching and leading another man's sheep, and now wanted to promote him to lead His flock to the Promise Land and out of bondage.

We find Moses in Exodus 3 having a conversation with the Lord that many of us have had in the past. The Lord plainly explains to Moses what is on His heart and what He is calling him to do. Exodus 3:7-8 says, "The Lord said, 'I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. Therefore, I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'"

Remember, God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called! You are just whom the Lord is looking for to do His next grand adventure! Many lives can and will be changed for the kingdom of God with a simple yes in your spirit. Remember, you may feel unworthy but you're called! Now go make a difference in the world for Jesus!

Record numbers use Scottish food banks by By Marc Ellison Data journalist, BBC Scotland

 Trussell Trust food banks were visited by 10,489 people in December 2014

 - a third of them were children

A record number of adults and children relied upon food banks in Scotland in December, according to new figures obtained by the BBC.

Nearly 10,500 people visited the Trussell Trust's 48 food banks for the first time in the charity's history.

The data also reveals a third of users cited low income - and not welfare benefit delays - for their predicament.

The figure is a 13% increase from the 9,263 people who used a Trussell Trust food bank in December 2013.

BBC Scotland wants your help in compiling a definitive list of all the food banks in Scotland. Please take just one minute to fill out this short form with details of your local food bank(s).

In December 2014, 10,489 people visiting Scottish food banks were given a three day supply of nutritionally balanced food by the charity - a third of them children.

The charity underlined that the final figure for December visits is likely to be even higher as food bank staff continue to input data into their system.

'Harrowing accounts'

Ewan Gurr, the charity's network manager for Scotland, said he was concerned that many low income families were forced to face hunger in the run-up to Christmas due to financial difficulties.

Read more here:

Bishops were wrong about poverty last time... this time they're irrelevant, by Damien Thompson, Daily Mail

Justin Welby

The quickest way to ruin a dinner party is to talk about the Christian belief in an after-life. ‘Heaven? It’s just a fantasy cooked up by clergy to keep themselves in a job,’ a typical metropolitan hostess might say, her lip curling as she spoons out the asparagus soufflé.

To which I can only reply: in 20 years of covering religious affairs as a journalist, I have almost never heard vicars or priests talk about heaven – except from the narrow confines of the pulpit, and even then not very often.

But I certainly hear clergy talk incessantly about another fantasy world. It’s a Britain in which they talk about the ‘gulf between rich and poor’.

This always seems to be a nicely flexible concept that they never precisely define. Above all, it is always ‘widening’ and they argue that society’s ills can be miraculously solved if only more taxpayers’ money was spent on them as if it was holy water.

This week, they are it again with a book that deliberately echoes the infamous ‘Faith In The City’ report published by the Church of England in 1985 when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.

It controversially called for greater government spending in every conceivable area (except on the country’s military defences, of course) and was denounced by one Thatcherite minister as ‘Marxist’.

Such criticism was, I believe, over the top – but make no mistake: the truth is that the Church of England tried to strangle the Thatcherite reforms that turned Britain into the economic capital of Europe.

The Church failed in it efforts – and it seems that Archbishop Sentamu is still very bitter.

In his new book, he says he is sorry that the Church lost its nerve in its response to what he calls the ‘savage attack’ of Thatcherism.

But he is wrong. The Left-wing bishops did not lose their nerve: they actually did everything in their power to elect Labour’s Neil Kinnock as prime minister. And then when that failed, too, they went into a sulk.

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of this offensive by the Church of England is the involvement of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The fact is that some of what he says is patently not true.

Read more here:

Further Reading

Bishops branded 'out of touch' for claiming the poor are being cast aside and cities are in a 'cycle of decline'

Supersize benefits family claims £50,000 in handouts every year and spend cash on designer trainers and mopeds 

Now Scotland wants tax breaks to bail out struggling oil industry... just four months after Salmond said North Sea would bankroll his independence dream, Daily Mail

Now Scotland wants tax breaks to bail out struggling oil industry... just four months after Salmond said North Sea would bankroll his independence dream

·         Price of a barrel of Brent crude has more than halved since June to $48

·         Dramatic fall undermines SNP claim that oil would make Scotland rich

·         Now Scottish ministers are demanding UK government steps in

·         Chancellor George Osborne under pressure ahead of Budget in March

·         Oil expert Sir Ian Wood says taxes should be cut by up to 10%

·         Tories condemn SNP 'deceit' that the price of oil would rise and rise

The Scottish government is demanding tax cuts to bailout the oil industry, just four months after claiming that booming North Sea reserves would bankroll independence.

The move has been ridiculed by supporters of the Union, who point out that if voters had backed independence in September the country would not be in crisis.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude – the global benchmark – has more than halved since June to around $48 (£31.50). Experts predict it could fall as low as $31 (£20.44) by April.

The weak oil price seriously undermines the claim by the SNP's Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon nationalists that an independent Scotland could rely on its natural resources.

Scotland's Energy Minister last night issued a demand for new tax breaks to shore up the industry, after BP announced it was cutting 200 onshore workers and 100 contractor roles from its 3,500 staff in the North Sea.

Mr Ewing said: 'It is clear to me that the UK Government has accepted it must act on tax. My question is why wait in respect of the supplementary charge until March

'This is the most serious jobs situation Scotland has faced in living memory.'

But rival parties have this week condemned the SNP for demanding help from Westminster just months after wanting to sever ties with the rest of the UK. 

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: 'The SNP told the people of Scotland the price of oil would rise and rise - that was a deceit.

'No end of experts pointed out the many flaws in this fanciful policy, but they were dismissed by the Scottish Government as scaremongering.

'In the last few weeks we've seen just how volatile the price of oil really is.'  

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