The Road Less Traveled...May 2024
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Leadership Principles
As leaders in YWAM and
if you are involved in another organization there are principles of leadership
that must be developed in your life if you are going to be successful. There are differing styles of leadership and
each one has advantages and disadvantages. What each person in leadership must
do is find the style of leadership that fits their personality, giftings and
the needs and goals of the organization that they are working with or for. There are certain qualities that every leader
in a Christian organization must have in order to conduct themselves in a
manner that is first pleasing to God and secondly effective in moving the
people they work with toward the mission and goals of the organization.
Nehemiah 1
We can study many
biblical leaders to learn principles from their lives that will help us develop
as leaders. One leader who has impacted
my life is Nehemiah. He was young of the
men taken captive by the Babylonians to serve in the court of the King as his
cupbearer. He had to be a man of good
character in order for the King to entrust him with this position. One of the fears of the King was that someone
would poison his food or drink and that would cause him to die. Nehemiah job was to make sure this did not
happen on his watch. Death to the King would result in death to Nehemiah.
Preparation for Leadership: Nehemiah established himself in his work and
won the favor of the King. He was
faithful in his job and this was noted by the King. Nehemiah did not have a character issue that would
ban him from any position of leadership God would desire for him. How we live our lives each day in service to
those placed in leadership over us is very important. If we are not in submission to leadership and
operating within the standards, values and ethics of the leaders we will not be
qualified to lead others and expect them to be submissive to us. Nehemiah learned how to serve the King and
did it in such a way that the King trusted him and gave him opportunities that
he probably would never have received.
There are many people
who would love to leave their secular jobs to work with a Christian
organization. This is a noble desire but
the proof of being ready to leave a job is how well you performed your job with
your previous company or the secular organization. The work habits you develop, the attitudes
toward your work and fellow workers will be carried over into your new work
place. If you have not been a faithful
worker and have not worked well with others, you will not find it easier to
work within a mission and positions of leadership will not be instantly granted
to you. If your previous work record has not been good or pleasing to the Lord,
steps will need to be taken to make changes. God is the God of second
opportunities but when they are presented we must do everything we can to allow
God and those he places over us to bring about the changes.
Nehemiah was placed in
a leadership position because of his faithfulness to serve the King.
A Leader must have a God given vision: When he heard the news of how Jerusalem was in
desperate need of repair, it became a personal challenge to him to do something
to bring about a change. His heart’s
desire was to go himself and do whatever he could to rebuild the walls of the
city and restore God’s people. He knew
that he would need permission from the King to take a leave of absence to do
what was in his heart to do. He knew
that the King had the power to release him or retain him but he also knew that
God has the ability to change the heart of a King through the prayers of his
people.
A leader must have a
God given vision, a vision that God will bless and support and provide the
people as well as the resources that are needed to see the vision come to pass.
If God is not in the vision, it will fail and result in great frustration. A good idea is not the same as a God idea but
a God idea is a good idea. God had a
claim on the city of Jerusalem. It was
his city, he had chosen to have a temple built where the people from many
nations could gather to worship him. His
zeal for his name and the name of the city he had chosen would accomplish the
mission.
Nehemiah became the
man God would use to restore the city and the people. He had proven himself faithful in his secular
job and was ready to be given a God sized vision of what he could do for God
and his people.
Leaders must be people who pray: Nehemiah’s
first priority was to seek God in prayer and ask him to give him favor with the
King when he presented his petition. It
was obvious to the King that Nehemiah was not his normal self. Something was bothering him and the King was
concerned enough for him that he asked him what was going on. The King could have replaced Nehemiah but
because he had developed his relationship with the King wanted to know what was
going on. The burden Nehemiah felt for
his people and for the city of Jerusalem brought him to his knees in prayer and
fasting. If this burden was truly from
God then he must pray and seek God’s intervention to make it become a reality.
Leaders have to be
people of prayer. Prayer demonstrates
our need for God’s intervention and our lack of ability to accomplish on our
own what God has placed in our heart to do.
Prayer is God’s channel to communicate to us his desires and strategies
that he wants us to use to accomplish the vision. Throughout Nehemiah’s
leadership, he focused on prayer. He
knew that task was greater than his abilities and he needed God’s wisdom and
favor to accomplish it. The vision was birthed
in prayer and sustained by prayer.
Prayer keeps us in the position God wants us to be. When we fail to pray, we act on our own
wisdom and experiences that often are not in agreement with how God wants us to
act. Whatever ministry we have been
given we must constantly be praying for God’s direction, his provision and
favor among those we are ministering to.
One of the principle values of YWAM is to pray and seek God before
attempting anything and then to continue to pray. God does not have any auto pilot control
feature in our lives. We can’t sit back
and neglect prayer, we will fail or the results will not be what they could be
or should be.
Throughout this story
of Nehemiah we witness his prayer life.
Neh 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and
wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God
of heaven.
Neh 2:4 Then the king said to me, "What are you
requesting?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Neh 4:4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised
Neh 5:19 Remember for my good, O my God, all that I
have done for this people.
Neh 6:9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking,
"Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done." But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
Neh 6:14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God,
according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and
the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
Neh 13:14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and
do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for
his service.
Neh 13:29 Remember them, O my God, because they have
desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.
Nehemiah 2
Leaders have to be initiators and planners. They
have to know where they are going, what they need, who they need, how long it
will take and how they can best do it.
Nehemiah knew what he wanted to do in Jerusalem to preserve the city and
reunite the people under God’s leadership.
He planned his route, asked for permission to pass through safely and
asked for some of the building materials he needed. When he arrived in
Jerusalem he surveyed the area to determine the condition and know more clearly
what was needed to get the job done.
Leaders have to be
able to convince others of the need to accomplish the vision. People have to know why you are doing
something before they will commit to joining you in accomplishing the vision. When Nehemiah talked to the leaders of the
community he explained to them why they should partner with him. He emphasized his commitment to the project,
he was going to be involved to see it carried through. He emphasized the need to have the walls
constructed for the protection of the city as well as to remove the reproach it
was among the nations. He also explained
who he had been given favor and permission by the King as well as Asaph who
could give him the timber he needed. He recounted how God’s hand had been upon
him to give him favor. Nehemiah won
their hearts, gained their respect and received the response he needed. The
project was more than just a wall, it was the opportunity to restore the
dignity of the people, reestablish their identity and preserve the city that
they loved for the God who had given it to them.
Nehemiah 3: Leaders must also know how to
motivate people to do the work.
Nehemiah had motivated the people to build the wall through his organizational
skills. He organized the people to
rebuild the wall in the area that would be most identified with them. He placed families in the section of the wall
that would be a benefit to them. The
people had motivation to work because they saw the benefit that they would
receive from it. Nehemiah organized the
work in such a way that it kept the people motivated. They took ownership in the work because they
saw the benefit it would be to them personally but also to the entire city. They
were “all in”. He entrusted the work to
them, having confidence that working together as a team they could do the work. The people were highly motivated to do the
work and accomplished rebuilding the wall in only 52 days.
Chapter 4: Leaders must also know how to handle
opposition. There will always
be people who the enemy will use to try to stop you from accomplishing your
vision. Nehemiah had a couple of people Tobia and Sanballat who did not want
the walls rebuilt and they tried several things to distract Nehemiah to cause
him to stop the work.
They ridiculed the
work. 4:1-3. But Nehemiah relied on God to help and defend them. They were going against God not just
Nehemiah.
Plotted resistance to
the project to bring confusion. 4:7-8
Nehemiah took their threats seriously and set guards to protect the
people.
Used rumors to discourage them. 4:10-11 Nehemiah encouraged the people
to not be afraid and to realize that what they were doing was something God had
called them to do and he would be with them.
The work they were doing was going to leave a legacy for future
generations and for this reason it was worth continuing the reconstruction.
Nehemiah’s story continues but we are just focusing on the first
chapters that establish specific principles of leadership that we can put into
practice in our lives.
1. God uses our past as well as our present situations to prepare us for
the future positions of leadership. What
is your past and present record say about you?
Are you faithful in what you are doing now to demonstrate that you are
ready for a greater leadership role? Nehemiah had established himself as a
faithful and dependable worker for the King.
2. Leaders lead with a God given vision.
What Nehemiah wanted to do was birthed in his heart by God. Many people must have seen the rubble but
only Nehemiah saw the opportunity to bring change. If God is not in the vision
do not pursue it.
3. Leaders must be dedicated to prayer.
Nehemiah sought God in prayer and fasting. He knew he was not able to do the work
without God’s involvement through his prayers.
4. Leaders are initiators and planners.
Nehemiah took the initiative to plan the work and carried out his plan
to completion.
4. Leaders know who to motivate others. He motivate the people to join
in the work by appealing to the benefits it would provide for them and the
honor it would bring to God and his people.
5. Leaders know how to handle opposition. Nehemiah did not give in to the threats of
the enemies but relied on God, took appropriate action and encouraged the
people.
Three Encounters in Evangelism
The message
of the gospel is progressing throughout the world but there are still many that
have not been exposed to the gospel and have no Christian witness or church in
their community.
Currently
there are 8 billion people living on the earth.
1 billion are Evangelical Christian, 4 billion have access to the gospel
and 3 billion are unreached because there is not a Christian witness or
resources available to hear the gospel message.
Coca Cola
has a goal of putting a can of coke into the hand of every person on the
planet. Every place I have traveled,
coca cola is there. Our goal as
believers should be like that of Coca cola, reaching every person with the
gospel message.
There are
many challenges today to present the gospel message to people. When we read the stories in the book of Acts,
we can identify the same challenges the early church faced that are similar to
the ones we face today.
There are 3
specific encounters that we must be ready to address when we present the
gospel. Paul faced all 3 of these
encounters as he traveled on his missionary journeys.
The first
encounter was a truth encounter.
Wherever he went there was almost always opposition to the truth of the
message he was preaching to the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews refused to accept the fact that
Jesus was the Messiah. When Paul and
Barnabas were in Antioch in Pisidia they drew large crowds that wanted to hear
the message they were sharing. However
opposition from the Jews came against them.
Acts
13:44-45 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together
to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the
things spoken by Paul.
They could
not accept the truth of the resurrection of Jesus, a critical part of the
gospel message.
When Paul
was in Corinth his message was rejected by the Jews who did not believe that
Jesus was the Christ.
5 When Silas and Timothy had come from
Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that
Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he
shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am
clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Acts 18:5-6
Paul was
very skilled in presenting the truth and he used the scriptures to convince
many people that Jesus was the Messiah.
When we are
sharing our faith with people that live their lives according to their own
beliefs that are not according to the truth of the scriptures it is important
that we address four specific areas that are part of their belief system.
Acts 17:
The first area Paul addressed was Origin. “What is your belief in the
origin of man and the universe?”
Every religion and philosophy has an answer to this question. The Stoic
philosophers believed in many gods but the Epicureans did not believe in any
gods. The Athenians were worshipping an
unknown god. They believed in many gods
and erected idols and altars to them.
The scriptures declare that through observing nature we can come to know
that there is a God who created everything (Ps 19:1-6). Creation reveals the majesty of God and as
man acknowledging that there is a God who created everything, he can come to
know him.
We as Christians believe that God is self existent, he is the First Cause
and he is the Creator of the universe.
We believe we are created in the image and likeness of God. Our origin
comes from a loving God who created us and breathed his spirit in us.
One of the mission movies I always show is called “Eatou” which means it
is true it is right. The Zook family
lived among a native tribe in Papua New Ginea and presented to them the
biblical timeline from eternity past to eternity future. When they were told about the evolutionary
beliefs of some that we came from apes, they replied, “That is stupid.” They were uneducated people but they had
enough sense to realize a lie when they heard it. Yet their own beliefs in their origin were
not any better. They believed they came from two birds.
What you believe about your original has a great influence on the value
given to life and how you treat other people.
There is little dignity or honor if you believe you came from an ape or
a bird or from corn like some of the Mayans believed.
Likewise if matter is eternal then somehow this matter created mankind
through evolutionary processes.
Buddhism never claimed that the world, sun, moon, stars, wind, water,
days and nights were created by a powerful god or by a Buddha. Buddhists
believe that the world was not created once upon a time, but that the world has
been created millions of times every second and will continue to do so by
itself and will break away by itself. According to Buddhism, world systems
always appear and disappear in the universe. We are just part of a process that
will continue forever. Not much hope
here or anything that would give man any dignity or worth.
As we come to know our Creator we also understand our true identity,
whose we are.
2. The second area that Paul addressed was Purpose. “What is
man’s purpose.”
26 and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face
of the earth, having determined {their} appointed times, and the boundaries of
their habitation, 27 that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for
Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we
live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also
are His offspring.’ 29 “Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think
that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the
art and thought of man.
Paul addressed the purpose of man was to know God, to have a relationship
with him. In our relationship with God
we experience true and meaningful life.
Our purpose is to be like our Father, to have a Father-child
relationship where we come to know our Father in all of his attributes. Man was
to multiply and fill the earth and carry the image of God wherever he went.
Those who do not know God’s purpose, live their lives for the
most part for selfish reasons. Accumulating wealth,
positions of power and control, pursuit of fleshly pleasures or intellectual
superiority are the focus of many people’s lives.
There are people who live their lives for noble causes but one has to
question the true motivation of their hearts.
They do what they do to receive something.
3. The third area Paul addressed was morality, “What are the
morals you live by?”
30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now
declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a
day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. “
Paul expressed that each person has a moral code written within
them. Everyone know what “ought” to be
done. This moral code or some may call
it conscious is part of our nature that comes from being created in the image
and likeness of God. Paul stated that everyone
is called to repent, turn away from evil and follow after what is good and
right. One cannot repent unless there is
a conviction that they have done something wrong.
As believers we have both the internal code of morality but we also have
God’s Word that gives us greater detail on what is right and wrong in the eyes
of God. The laws of many nations are
based on the 10 commandments given to the people of Israel along with the other
civil laws that were instituted to create a culture that was different than the
Egyptian culture.
Because we have this moral code, we are also held accountable if we
violate it. If there are no consequences
to the violations they simply become suggestions and not laws to obey. There will be a day of judgment and every
person will give account for their lives to a righteous God.
Each person must acknowledge that they do have a moral conscience and
that they will be held responsible for not living in accordance to the truth
that they have received.
The moral climate of the world is changing and the behavior of mankind is
denigrating to become like it was in the days of Noah when every thought and
intention of the heart was toward evil.
What was rejected 20 years ago is now accepted as normal. Marriage was defined as a covenant between a
man and a woman but now it is between any two people who “love each
other.” The sexual identity of children
is now at the discretion of the child.
There is great confusion because of this and the results have not been
fully understood. The moral conscience of man is being seared so that what once
was wrong is now acceptable behavior.
The culture is now making their own moral code and much of it is in
opposition to what we know to be in agreement with the word of God. Absolute truth has been replace by relativity
or personal choice.
4. The final area Paul addressed was Destiny, “What will
happen to you when you die?”Or “What is your destiny?”
Paul stated that Jesus was resurrected from the dead indicating that
physical death is not the end of life on earth.
There will come a time when everyone will be raised from the dead. This is the hope we have as believers that
there is more to life than what we experience on earth. We were created to be eternal beings and we
have a destiny after we physically die.
The resurrection of Jesus is proof that we too will rise one day. The resurrection of Jesus is the most
convincing evidence that we have of his existence and our future.
Those who do not believe in the resurrection are left with options that
are not very promising. Hindus believe
in reincarnation. Life is cyclical and
after death you are reincarnated into another life form based on your karma.
You may return as an ant, animal or some other life form. Other people believe that we simply return to
the earth as our body decays. When life
on earth is over, it is over. There is
nothing to look forward to after death.
With this belief the door is open to live in whatever manner you chose
as this life is all you have.
These four questions (What is your origin? What is your purpose in life?
What moral code do you live by? And What is your final destiny?) are important
for us as believers to be able to explain and defend as we encounter people who
have a different worldview. Paul was
very direct in confronting the philosophers with their false ideas and worship
of idols. He did not have spectacular
results and was rejected and scorned by them.
Yet there was fruit from his labor, some people did give their lives to
Christ.
Like Paul we must be witnesses of the truth of our worldview wherever God
sends us. We must know what we believe
and be convinced of it so that our witness will be strong, convincing and most
of all in agreement with the truth God has revealed to us. For many people God is still the
"unknown god”. They have not heard
or perhaps have heard and have rejected the message. Our responsibility is to go to them, share
with them and trust God to use our witness to open their heart to receive the
truth.
The second encounter Paul faces with a power encounter.
When he was in Ephesus there were encounters with evil spirits.
11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so
that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and
the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the
name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise
you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons
of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I
know; but who are you?”
16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them,
overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that
house naked and wounded. 17 This became known both to all Jews and
Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord
Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had believed came confessing
and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced
magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And
they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of
silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Acts
19:11-20
Power encounters demonstrate that God has the ultimate power over evil
spirits. I have had some personal
experience dealing with people that are demon possessed in Mexico, Haiti and
India. After one of the crusade in India
people came forward for prayer. One of the believers on our team was praying
for a woman for deliverance but nothing was happening. He called me over and asked if I would pray
for the lady. As I prayed for her she
immediately fell to the ground and began to move like a snake with her body. I rebuked the devil and had the lady stand on
her feet. I told her to renounce the
devil’s control over her life but she was unable to speak. The demon had control of her voice. I prayed against its control and she was able
to speak and renounce the devil’s power. Immediately the demon left her body
and she was set free.
Missionaries ministering among tribes in the remote area are often
required to confront evil spirits and demonstrate to the people that God is
Almighty and has power and authority over the demonic forces.
Story of the missionary to South America power encounter.
The final encounter is the encounter of commitment. What has this person committed his
or her life to do or be? Is it a
commitment one would be willing to die for or just a passing phase of life?
Is the person is seriously ready to make a complete commitment to become
a believer in Christ? Are they willing
to renounce their lives of sin and dedicate themselves to a life of obedience
and service to the Lord? Paul
experienced this in Athens. Some of the
people that heard his message became believers while other rejected the message
or would hear him again.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while
others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul
departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and
believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and
others with them. Acts 17:32-34
A decision must be made regarding the message of the gospel. To not decide is really a decision of
rejection and unwillingness to make a commitment.
Jesus challenged his disciples to be willing to take up the cross and
follow him. This was a commitment unto
death. Our commitment to obedience to
the Lord is a testimony to others that can have a tremendous influence in the
lives of others.
How committed are we to give our lives 100% to the Lord and sharing the
gospel with those who are unreached?
What is our level of commitment to Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to the 3 billion that have never heard.
I want to close the message of a story of a young lady whom God called to
be a missionary in Malaysia. David Bowler shared this story that was passed on
to me from a friend.
At one of his services he gave and Altar call and a young lady named
Marcy, who graduated from Bible College came forward. She was a very petite lady. She surrendered her life to God to go to the
foreign field. She had a desire to go to Malaysia, to a group of head hunters.
No missionaries had gone there for 11 years.
These people were cannibals and had eaten people who tried to reach them. The oil companies left the area because of
their people being attacked and eaten.
David Bowler, was a special forces Green Beret, highly decorated soldier
who could lift 650 lbs. All he could
think of was the conditions were not right for this young girl to go to these
people. Her parents tried to talk her
out of it. David Bowler tried to talk
her out of it but she replied to him, “You are the man of God who taught me of
the God of the impossible”. Marcy asked
for prayer. David felt he was putting a
death sentence on her by allowing her to go.
He thought she would be eaten. He prayed for her, that God would let her
die quickly. No mission board would send
her because it was a suicide mission.
Marcy spent 30 days in preparation hoping and praying that someone would
go with her but, no one would go, and she would have to go alone. The day arrived when Marcy would be taken to
the cannibal people. There were no roads
to the people, she would have to enter by helicopter and even this was
dangerous. The cannibals knew how to
bring down a helicopter with their spears, so Marcy had to repel 250 feet to
get to the ground. They dropped her down and told her they would come back 60
days later. The pilot said he would be
back but she would not. He asked her if
she understood the conditions were not right. Marcy replied that she had asked
and she was going.
When they dropped her down, the pilot began to cry. Their thoughts were
to say goodbye because you will never see her again. For the next 60 days everyone prayed for her
protection and prayed God would just take her and not suffer if she was
attacked.
60 days later the helicopter returned.
They found Marcy, with 70 people she led to Christ! She found out that they only ate men!!! The people had a 200-year Legend that a
female god would come to them from the sky.
So when she was lowered by the helicopter they thought God had arrive so
they worshipped her. She told them she was not God but would lead them to God.
In our witness to the people that do not know the Lord, we must be
prepared to deal with the 3 encounters we addressed today: Truth encounter to
identify what people believe to be true regarding their origin, purpose,
morality and destiny, Power encounter to demonstrate that God is Almighty and
more powerful than demonic forces. Commitment encounter to challenge their
complete dedication and obedience to follow Jesus.
The Apostle Paul’s The
Life of Faith
We live in a time when
there are still billions of people who have not heard the gospel.
(Illustration of 8
people representing the population of the world)
1 billion are
evangelical Christians
3 billion are unreached
people groups; less than 1 in 50 are Christ followers
As a church our
mission is to go into all the world to preach the gospel.
Coca cola has a goal
of putting a can of coke into the hand of every person on the planet.
The Apostle Paul was
one of the first missionaries God called and sent out to the unreached people
and his life is an example for us to follow. He was always looking for new
territory to share the gospel message.
He lived his life in
such a way that he could tell others to follow me as I follow Christ. He had no problem stating that others should
imitate his way of life. He was not perfect
but his life was one of constant pursuit of God and striving to do what God
called him to do.
2Ti_1:13
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith
and love that are in Christ Jesus.
As I look at his life
of faith there are four important aspects of his life of faith. We see these demonstrated in Acts 17: 1-12.
Act
17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came
to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
Act
17:2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he
reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
Act
17:3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to
you, is the Christ.”
Act
17:4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a
great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
Act
17:5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble,
they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason,
seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
Act
17:6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of
the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned
the world upside down have come here also,
Act
17:7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the
decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
Act
17:8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they
heard these things.
Act
17:9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest,
they let them go.
Paul and
Silas in Berea
Act
17:10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to
Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Act
17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they
received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if
these things were so.
Act
17:12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high
standing as well as men.
Paul had previously
been in Philippi where he was run out of town, stoned and left for dead. But God miraculously spared his life and Paul
continued on his mission.
The first aspect of Paul’s life was marked by
obedience to the calling and ministry God had given to him.
When Paul received his calling in Damascus he immediately
responded in obedience to the vision and mission God had given him.
When Paul gave his
testimony before Agrippa he testified of his obedience.
Act
26:16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for
this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which
you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
Act
26:17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am
sending you
Act
26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Act
26:19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision,
Act
26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and
throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their
repentance.
He passionately
pursued his calling to preach the gospel to the Gentiles as well as his own
people. His obedience brought him to
many cities where he preached the gospel message. After leaving Philippi he and his companions
moved on to Thessalonica where he continued his mission
As believers in Christ
we each have a calling and a ministry that God assigns to us. Our response should be one of obedience to
passionately fulfill the calling of God on our lives. Just as Paul declared to Agrippa we should
also be able to say, “I have not been disobedient to the heavenly vision” or in
many of our situations what we know to be God’s calling in our lives.
Act
26:19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision,
Paul encourage Timothy
and others to fulfill their ministry and at the end of his life he could
confidently 2Ti
4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith.
The second aspect
of Paul’s life of faith was his obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
He was forbidden by
the Holy Spirit to go to Asia and Bithynia.
Through a vision in the night, he was redirected to go to
Macedonia. He followed the leading of
the Holy Spirit and obeyed what he was told to do. (Acts 16:6-10)
Being led of the Holy
Spirit is essential in fulfilling the ministry God has given each one of
us. We must learn to hear his voice and
obey him. He is the administrator of
evangelizing the nations. He knows where
we need to go to be at the right place at the right time.
Holy Spirit leads us
in our ministry. While in Peru, I met a Missionary
who had been ministering in the in the jungles with a doctor to bring medical
attention and the word of God. They felt
the HS was telling them to go to a tribe in the jungle they had not visited,
nor did they know how to get there. They
were directed by the Holy Spirit who went before them and spoke to them. They followed his voice until they reached
the village. When they arrived there as
man sitting in an open area by himself.
He was the chief of the tribe.
The missionaries did not speak his language and there was no interpreter,
but they began to share the gospel message.
Each would share part of the story and they took turns until the message
was communicated. The chief then
motioned for them to follow him to the village in the dark. He woke up all the villagers and gathered
them together to listen to what he had to say.
The chief explained the gospel message to the villagers and they all
responded by bowing on their knees and lifting their hands toward heaven in
acceptance of Jesus as their Savior.
These missionaries,
like Paul obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit and brought the gospel message to
this tribe.
The third aspect of Paul’s life was overcoming
the testing and trials of his faith.
Fulfilling his mission
was not an easy task. He constantly faced opposition from both Jews and
Gentiles. While in Thessalonica he was
once again opposed by the Jews who rejected his message. The opposition turned violent and once again
the people who accompanied Paul as well as the new believers feared for his
life. God has prepared Paul for the
opposition when he called him to the ministry.
Persecution and suffering was part of the calling.
Acts 9:16 …I will show
him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
In spite of the forewarning, Paul fulfilled
his ministry. For most of us going through constant testing and trials could
become wearisome and discouraging. Yet
these trials and tests are not designed to destroy us but to strengthen our
faith. Trials reveal what is really
inside of us. They show us who we are
and what qualities God has placed in us or what areas of our lives need to be
addressed.
Paul was beaten
severely and left for dead but God raised him up and he continued his
ministry. He had to flee for his life in
Thessalonica and while in Jerusalem the Roman soldiers had to intervene to keep
him from being attacked by the Jews. On
his journey to Rome, he endured a horrific storm that ended in a crash and he
had to swim to the shore. Persecution
and hardships were part of his fulfilling his ministry.
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
describes the many trials that Paul endured for the sake of the gospel being
spread.
Afflictions,
imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, punished etc.
James the brother of
Jesus also experienced trials and test of his faith but his perspective was
different than what most people would embrace.
Jas
1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various
kinds,
Jas
1:3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces
steadfastness.
Jas
1:4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing.
Paul knew that in
spite of the difficulties he encountered that God was in control and was
ordering his steps. These trials did not stop him from continuing his ministry
but strengthened him to move forward.
Trials are designed to perfect our faith not destroy our faith. Through our trials and tests God is teaching
us and equipping us to pursue the ministry.
The fourth aspect of the life of faith of Paul
was his tenacity of faith. Tenacity is gripping something tightly,
determination and persistence. Paul was
not a quitter. He tenaciously pursued
his calling and would not give up. His
commitment to his calling was for his entire life. When one door closed he
moved on to another location. When he
was run out of Thessalonica he moved on to Berea. He was determined to fulfill his mission of
reaching the lost.
Many of the stories we
read of missionaries are examples of great determination and persistence in
spite of what appeared to be no tangible results. William Carey was a shoe repairman who God
called to go to India. When he presented
his proposed mission to his church board he was rejected and told the God did
not need him to go to India, if God wanted to save the people he would do it
himself. Carey would not give up the
calling and even though his wife resisted he went to India. For 7 years he preached the gospel but had
zero converts. He did not give up but
found another way to reach the people through his linguistic skills which
enabled him to create a written language and translate the Bible into the
language of his people. One night there
was a fire in his home that destroyed all the written work he had done. Yet he persisted and rewrote what had been
lost. His work in India was very
fruitful and continues to have an impact on the nation even though he has been
dead since 1834. He left a legacy because
of his tenacity and persistence.
The final aspect of the life of faith of Paul
was his reward of faith. Each ministry location Paul went to produced
fruit, there were people who accepted the gospel message and churches were
formed. In Thessalonica
Act 17:4 And
some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of
the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
Paul had developed a
strategy of reaching the people with the gospel and he faithfully used it to
show from the Scriptures that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
His work produced
results which was seeing people come to faith in Christ. The new believers were his reward for his
faithful ministry. This had to be a
great encouragement to him to continue to go to new areas to preach the gospel.
When he left
Thessalonica he went on to Berea and witness the reward of his faith when the
received his message.
Act
17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they
received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if
these things were so.
Act
17:12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high
standing as well as men.
It is a joy to be able
to see the positive results of the work of the ministry God has given us. To see lives transformed by the power of the
Gospel message and the work of the Holy Spirit bring great satisfaction to our
lives and motivate us to continue.
God blesses our lives
of faith by rewarding us by seeing the fruit of our labor but we also have a
greater reward that is waiting for us.
Paul at the end of his life looked forward to the reward that was
prepared for him.
2Ti
4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me
but also to all who have loved his appearing.
God is a rewarder and
he has something special for each one of us who finish the race.
I want to close the
message of a story of a young lady whom God called to be a missionary in
Malaysia. David Bowler shared this story that was passed on to me from a friend.
At one of his services he gave and Altar call and a young lady named
Marcy, who graduated from Bible College came forward. She was a very petite lady. She surrendered her life to God to go to the
foreign field. She had a desire to go to Malaysia, to a group of head hunters.
No missionaries had gone there for 11 years.
These people were cannibals and had eaten people who tried to reach them. The oil companies left the area because of
their people being attacked and eaten.
David Bowler, was a special forces Green Beret, highly decorated soldier
who could lift 650 lbs. All he could
think of was the conditions were not right for this young girl to go to these
people. Her parents tried to talk her
out of it. David Bowler tried to talk
her out of it but she replied to him, “You are the man of God who taught me of
the God of the impossible”. Marcy asked
for prayer. David felt he was putting a
death sentence on her by allowing her to go.
He thought she would be eaten. He prayed for her, that God would let her
die quickly. No mission board would send
her because it was a suicide mission.
Marcy spent 30 days in preparation hoping and praying that someone would
go with her but, no one would go, and she would have to go alone. The day arrived when Marcy would be taken to
the cannibal people. There were no roads
to the people, she would have to enter by helicopter and even this was
dangerous. The cannibals knew how to
bring down a helicopter with their spears, so Marcy had to repel 250 feet to
get to the ground.
They dropped her down and told her they would come back 60 days
later. The pilot said he would be back
but she would not. He asked her if she
understood the conditions were not right. Marcy replied that she had asked and
she was going.
When they dropped her down, the pilot began to cry. Their thoughts were
to say goodbye because you will never see her again. For the next 60 days everyone prayed for her
protection and prayed God would just take her and not suffer if she was
attacked.
60 days later the helicopter returned.
They found Marcy, with 70 people she led to Christ! She found out that they only ate men!!! The people had a 200 year Legend that a
female god would come to them from the sky.
So when she was lowered by the helicopter they thought God had arrive so
they worshipped her. She told them she was not God but would lead them to God.
An incredible story but we have an incredible God who call us to follow
him, to take risks with him. Age, experience, conditions are not a problem for
God so we can set them aside and believe that he will take us as we are to make
us what he wants and needs us to be.
Nothing is too difficult for him.
Marcy’s life exemplifies that same life of faith that Paul’s life
exemplified.
·
Obedience
·
Tests and trial
·
Tenacity and persistence
·
Reward
Where will your journey of faith take you? Are you willing to take risks with God
directing your steps? Are you holding
back and giving more power to fears or the counsel of others? Whatever hindrances we see are not always the
same in God’s view and that gives us hope for an exciting future.
Monday, June 28, 2021
The Journey of Faith
The Journey of Faith
I think of people today in the same situation. Living lives of unbelief and never experiencing all the goodness that God has planned for them. One of my acquaintances in my home town died a week ago. We were in Boy Scouts together for several years so I knew him a little bit. His death was sudden and sadly his body lay in his apartment for 3 days before he was found. I read his obituary and like many people there was no mention of his relationship with God, service in the church or any ministry he was involved in. His pleasures in life were hanging out at the Eagle’s Club, playing darts and watching car races. I could not help but think of what he missed by not serving God. He had his physical needs met but the most important part of his life, his relationship with God was not something that was noted by his family in his obituary. Like the Israelites he never entered into all the goodness that God had planned for him. Perhaps by choice or ignorance yet the result was the same.
God’s promises to Israel would be fulfilled by a new generation led by Joshua. They would see the fulfillment of the promises God had made to their ancestors. Faith would be required as well as obedience in order for them to possess the land.
Only two Spies were sent in to check out the land. 40 years had passed and the population of the inhabitants had increased greatly. From outward appearance it would seem that conquering the land was going to be even more of a challenge. The cities must have been even more fortified as the people knew about the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites. The spies found refuge in the house of Rehab the prostitute as their mission had been discovered by the leaders of the city of Jericho. Rehab had a healthy fear of these men and whom they represented. She told the men:
Jos 2:9 and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
When the spies returned they gave an inspiring vote of confidence that God was going to give them the land.
Jos 2:24 And they said to Joshua, "Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us."
The doom and gloom report of the previous generation had been upgraded to two thumbs up. There was a completely different attitude among the people. But there would still be challenges to face and overcome.
They like their fathers faced their first obstacle, crossing over the raging Jordan River. Instead of becoming fearful and complaining this generation responded in faith and obedience. God was going to perform a miracle that would bolster their faith in him and take away the fears they may have had. When the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant set their feet in the raging river the waters separated as they did at the Red Sea and formed dry ground for the people to pass. The ark represented his presence and his covenant. He would go before the people and his covenant promises would not be unfulfilled. The Israelites knew beyond a shadow of doubt that God was leading them and he would give them victory.
God is always faithful to keep his covenant promises with us. He will never fail us, what he promises he will fulfill. We can move forward with confidence in fulfilling God’s calling on our lives. He goes before us to prepare the way. We serve a supernatural God who cannot and will not be stopped from fulfilling his purposes as we respond in obedience to him. He wants us to believe in him and expect him to do the miraculous in our lives and through our lives.
As we follow in obedience to him we will inevitably come into circumstances and trials that will require a miracle. This is the normal Christian life, expecting the miraculous to happen. God will come through when we call upon him, he will show up and show himself strong on our behalf. God reveals himself to unbelievers in miraculous ways who call upon him, how much more will he do for those who truly believe in him and call upon him?
I was listening to the testimony of Chris Velotten from Bethel church. He did not grow up in a Christian home and his father left the home when he was very young. His grandfather was his greatest influence in his life and he was an atheist. Life was hard for the family and in desperation Chris called out to God to prove he was real by healing his mom from the skin condition she had. He promised that if he did he would serve him the rest of his life. He then heard the audible voice of Jesus who identified himself and said he would fulfill his desire. The next morning Chris saw the miraculous. His mother the night before was completely covered with psoriasis from her head to her feet. When she awoke in the morning she was completely healed and Chris knew that Jesus was real.
The Israelites experienced the realness of God when they saw the miraculous happen before their eyes. God will do what is necessary to bring us to a point of faith and trust in him. We will need to have this faith in him for the entire journey of our life. God had much more in store for his people and they had to walk by faith and obedience to receive everything he had promised.
The miraculous crossing of the Jordan confirmed to the people God’s presence and power to fulfill his promise. But now there needed to be the consecration of the people to the Lord and this was done immediately after crossing the Jordan.
The Israelites had to confirm their allegiance to God by going through the rite of circumcision. This was the outward sign of their identification and dedication to the Lord, it set them apart as God’s chosen people. God had made a covenant with them and they had to confirm the covenant with him as well. Before they began the conquest of the Promised Land there was a need for the covenant to be confirmed for the sake of the people. It was a way of showing their commitment to God to fulfill the covenant he had made with them. They had to be “all in”. We are called and set apart to serve the Lord. Our hearts need to be circumcised, set apart from the world and the flesh to serve God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. When we make the commitment to follow the Lord there can be no turning back. God keeps his covenant with us and expects the same from us.
It is a grievous thing to see people who once followed the Lord who now live as though he did not exist. They have turned away from him, forsaking the covenant made with him to follow after other gods. How the heart of God must be broken over the broken covenants people have made with him. He remains faithful and will welcome them back because his love never ends. Yet the travesty is the life that has been wasted pursuing the things that will not bring happiness and are things that are destructive to their personal lives as well as their relationship with God.
After the circumcision was completed the next event that prepared them for the conquest was the celebration of the Passover. This was a reminder of the miraculous deliverance of the people from Egypt. They were never to forget where they had been and what they had been delivered from after 400 years of captivity. God had brought them out to bring them in to the Promised Land. There was no turning back, no more thought of going back to Egypt like their fathers had requested. The Passover was another event that God used to bolster their faith and remind them of what he had done for them so they would believe that he would continue to lead them.
It was a new day for the Israelites. There was no need to eat manna as they had for all the years in the desert. The Manna Diet was over!!! They could now enjoy the food of the Promised Land. They began to enjoy the goodness of the Lord and his provision for them. As we journey in faith God provides what we need but also gives us the desires of our heart. He is not a stingy God who wants to keep us poor and humble. He wants us to enjoy the good things he provides for us.
Jos 5:11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.
Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
They were now experiencing the abundance God wanted them to enjoy and there was more to come! It had to have been a great encouragement to the people to be able to enjoy what they had been missing for all those years in the desert. I think this had a tremendous effect on the people and motivated them to continue with moving forward with the Lord to possess the land.
All of these preliminary events were God’s way of preparing the people to take possession of the land. He encouraged the people by the report of the two spies that the inhabitants feared what God would do based on what he had done. He miraculously made a way across the raging Jordan demonstrating that his presence would go before them and he would fulfill his covenant promise. The covenant was confirmed by the circumcision of the men, a sign to all that they belonged to God, they were his special chosen people. The Passover celebration was another faith building experience as a reminder of what God had done for them to bring them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The people began to enjoy the goodness of the Lord by eating the food of the new land. All of these things were done to prepare them for the first battle of Jericho.
Joshua, the appointed leader also needed to be prepared for possessing the land. Prior to the battle, he had an encounter with the captain of the Lord of Hosts army. He was required to take off his sandals as an act of acknowledging that the ground he was on was holy, it belonged to the Lord. It was a similar experience that Moses had when he met God at the burning bush. The Promised Land belonged to God, it was his special land where his people would dwell and he would live among them. It was a reminder to Joshua to keep him aware of the holiness of God and that the land and the people were dedicated to him.
Israel was now prepared as was Joshua. Jericho was the first city they would conquer and God was going to demonstrate his power to both the Israelites and people of Jericho. The battle strategy was not like any other strategy used before. The people of Jericho knew that their end was coming. For six days the priests and the armed guards blew the trumpets constantly as they marched around the city. You have to wonder what was going through the minds of the people in the city. I imagine their anxiety level increased each day and the talk of the town was centered on what was going to happen. They must have been unable to sleep constantly thinking about when the invasion would happen. On the seventh day they marched 7 times around the city blowing the trumpets and when given the command they all shouted and the walls of the city that were high and thick fell into the ground giving the Israelites direct access to the city. God gave the enemy into their hands and they were defeated. The people had to be pretty tired after 7 trips around the city but God gave them the strength to overcome and when the battle.
Israel was learning to follow God’s instruction in spite of what they may have thought was a very strange way to go to battle. Their faith was being built up to prepare them for the many battles that were yet to be fought.
In our journey of faith with the Lord we will go through a similar process that the Israelites experienced.
God has a special call on each one of our lives, he has saved us and delivered us from many different forms of captivity in our lives. Through Christ we have been forgiven and rescued from the power of evil.
God has so much more for us to experience with him. We are saved to serve him and fulfill his purposes for our lives. The Israelites had a divine purpose that involved possessing the Promised Land. It would become the place of the birth of the Messiah God had promised to the entire world. Their calling was to conquer the land and possess it. It was a holy land because God had greater plans that culminated in the birth, death and resurrection of the Savior of the world in the Promised Land.
Possessing the land was accomplished through a process that involved the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River. God’s calling on our lives will always require faith to follow him and trust in his promises and the covenant he has made with us.
The next step was the consecration to the covenant God had made with them. The circumcision of the men was their mark of separation and identification as the people of God. In our walk of faith we too will have a time of identifying ourselves with the covenant God has made with us and will be called upon to make a commitment to be forever linked to him.
The next step of the journey was a time of remembrance by celebrating the Passover. Remembering where they had been as a nation and what God had done to bring them to the place he had destined for them. The Passover was symbolic of the death of Christ and the power of his blood to forgive us and spare us from eternal separation from God. In our walk of faith we must always remember the work of the cross that brought our forgiveness and has made possible eternal life.
The final step of faith was facing the enemy and following God’s plan for victory. It was a unique and strange battle plan but it was designed to test their faith in God’s wisdom and guidance to lead them to victory. It was a miraculous victory and the fulfillment of his promise to the people. The supernatural life was going to be their lifestyle because they had to depend upon God’s intervention, his guidance, his wisdom and power to overcome all the enemies they would face as they possessed the Promised Land. This first battle was just the beginning of what God was going to do through them to conquer the land.
It is the same in our lives. God has to be the one leading us, guiding us, providing the wisdom we need and the strategies to defeat the enemy. He wants to lead us supernaturally to accomplish the work he has given us. It requires faith on our part and obedience to what he instructs us to do. He will be faithful and will do the miraculous to bring us to victory.
We need to have a faith that expects the miraculous, expects God to lead us supernaturally by his Holy Spirit to instruct us and empower us to do what he has called us to do. His expectation of us is that we will hear his voice, obey what he has asked us to do, expect him to guide us, empower us and intervene to make the impossible possible as we place our faith in him.
Are we living a supernaturally lifestyle of faith, obedience and expectation of God’s intervention in our daily lives? Or are we living with a subsistence or substandard level of faith, just getting by, just getting through the day and not seeing or expecting anything miraculous to happen? I believe God has so much more than we currently are experiencing.
He performed the miraculous for the Israelites,
He demonstrated in the life of Jesus his awesome love for people and power over all the works of the devil by healing sickness, disease, casting out demons and demonstrating power over the forces of nature.
The early church walked in the miraculous because the gospel message was confirmed through signs, wonders and miracles. The power of the Holy Spirit saturated their lives and flowed out of them to bring healing and deliverance to the people in need.
This was not a special dispensation of the Spirit for a limited time. It was and is for us today. God wants us to live in his realm of the supernatural. He wants to use us to carry out his work through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
John Lake was a man whom God used in miraculous ways. His life story is one of God’s supernatural intervention and guidance. He saw incredible demonstrations of the power of God in his life. He gave three keys to living the supernatural life.
1. Feeding on the Word of God. There must be a hunger in our soul for the Word of God. It is our lifeline with God. When we neglect the study of the Word our walk with the Lord loses its intimacy. It builds our faith, instructs us in God’s ways, it is spirit and life to us. Derek Prince who walked with God for many years stated that we can measure our love for God by our love for the Word of God and the amount of time we spend in the Word of God. Many spend hours each day in Facebook but we need to spend more time with our face in the Book, God’s word. Joshua was instructed by the Lord to remember the laws, keep them constantly on his mind so that he would walk in obedience to them.
Jos 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
After the disaster of the first battle against Ai, it was discovered that Aachen violated the instructions to not take anything from the city of Jericho. God dealt severely with him and the second attack on the city of Ai was successful. After this victory, Joshua made a point of reading the entire law to the people to remind them of what was expected of them and what the positive and negative consequences would be if they obeyed or disobeyed.
Jos 8:34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
Jos 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.
We have to be people of the Book if we want to walk in obedience and experience the supernatural work of God in our lives and ministries. Ministers who fall away from their calling or lack power in their ministries can be traced to their neglect of the Word of God.
2. Constantly confessing publicly of what you are and what Jesus is to you. Confession of your faith in Christ, of what Christ is to you, of his completeness, and his redemption. Confessing what God has done through Christ in your life. We have to know who we are in Christ, all that Christ has made possible for us. The life he lived is the model for our lives. He has made possible the same supernatural life he lived. He said we would do even greater things than he did. Our confession has to be public, God wants us to share what he has done for us to those who have not heard or those who are struggling with the challenges of life. We are his messengers that he has chosen to work through. The reality of what God has done for us establishes our faith and confirms our faith in him. This is why it is so important to share your testimony, share the gospel, and share the Word of God with others on a regular basis. Soul Patrol is one avenue to intentionally put yourself in a place to share what God has done for you and who you are in Christ with those who do not know him or have a wrong concept of him. Don’t shrink back from sharing what God has done in your life, take advantage of every opportunity you are given to testify of the goodness of God. Last Saturday night on Soul Patrol a young lady was sitting and listening intently to the gospel presentation but she did not go forward at the invitation. I sat down by her and engaged her in a conversation and shared with her how God was real to me and what he has done for me. She believed in God but was not actively living for him. It was an opportunity that I did not want to pass on and I believe God spoke to her heart as a result.
The first word of the great commission is “GO” which means a change of location which can be a simple as walking across the room or sitting beside someone to engage them in a conversation about the Lord and his love for them.
I encourage you to be intentional in reaching out to people. The easiest thing is to do nothing but the most rewarding thing is to share your testimony and the gospel message with someone.
3. Communion with God. Being connected to God throughout the day. Seeking him, speaking to him, listening to his voice, enjoying his presence, setting aside time to be saturated and filled with the Holy Spirit. We have to have NOW experiences with God. We cannot live on the experiences of yesterday or of others, God wants to give each of us personal experiences daily with him that we can share with others. We cannot allow anything to break our communion with God. When our connection with him is broken his power cannot get through to us and we are ineffective in our ministry. Our flesh has to be put to death every day so we can walk in the Spirit. Paul stated that many have a form of godliness but have now power. They look like Christians and call themselves Christian but they really are not connected with God or are walking in communion with him. We can become passive in our relationship with God or we can choose to be passionate in our pursuit of him each day and our communion with him. Those who walk in communion are open and available to let God pour his power through them to see the miraculous in their lives.
If we are doing these three things we are in a state of preparation and readiness for the Holy Spirit to move powerfully through us. We can live each day with the expectation and anticipation of the supernatural life of God flowing to us and through us.
God has called each one of us to a special ministry and he wants us to continue to move forward to possess all that he has for us. He has prepared the way to bring us where he wants us and he desires to move supernaturally in our lives to possess all that is ours in Christ. We can become passive or passionate in our walk with him. We can feed on his Word and continue to grow in our faith and obedience or we can neglect the Word and watch our spiritual lives become powerless. We can be sharing what he has and is doing in our lives with others or we can remain silent.
Your destiny with God has everything to do with how you live out your life of faith. You can move forward with God with his supernatural power working through you to possess all he has for you or settle for a stagnant life that has lost its connection with Him. What will you choose for your life?
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