What Has God Said About You? (4)

If your vision is to be a great parent, that doesn’t mean you don’t have great faith. It just means you understand your calling. All Moses’ mother did was give birth—but what a baby! God protected her son when she couldn’t do a thing to help him. Then He arranged to have him raised in Pharaoh’s royal courts. And when you discover God’s purpose for your life, He will provide for you, too! Some days your vision won’t look like it’s coming together. As a child, Joseph dreamed of being a great leader, but before he could get to the palace, he had to go through the prison. Pastor James Petro says, ‘You can’t build a foundation in a storm, so God will prepare you in advance.’ Sometimes your vision will seem to die before it springs to life. That happened to Abraham. ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised’ (vv. 18-21 NIV). Paul wrote, ‘We are fools for Christ…’ (1Corinthians 4:10 NIV). God uses radical people who don’t care how they look: people who’ve survived difficult pasts, defied the odds, held onto their vision, and declared, ‘My God is able!’ And you can be one of those people!

What Has God Said About You? (3)

When God tells you to give of your finances in order to fulfil someone else’s vision, you must realise: 1) He’s testing your faith and your willingness to obey in difficult circumstances. When Elijah the prophet asked a widow to share her last meal with him, the timing seemed strange. There was a famine in the land and people were dying. Who would have blamed her for saying no? But by putting God’s interests before her own, she connected herself to a divine, unending source of supply. The Bible says: ‘Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously …God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work’ (vv. 6-8 NIV). 2) He’s giving you an opportunity to sow into another’s life and reap in your own. We love to quote, ‘My God will meet all your needs…’ (Philippians 4:19 NIV), but do you remember who this promise was made to? It was written to those who supported Paul’s ministry. ‘When I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again, when I was in need’ (vv. 15-16 NIV). Then Paul added these words: ‘My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.’ When you give, you invest in an account you can draw on when you have a need yourself.

What Has God Said About You? (2)

Don’t waste your life trying to do things that God has neither called nor equipped you to do. Your parents may think you’d make a wonderful doctor or lawyer, but what does God think? What has He said about you? God told Jeremiah, ‘…I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled.’ If God said it—He will back it up. If He didn’t—you’re on your own! Too many people waste their lives trying to do things that God never called and equipped them to do. Identify the source of your vision! Look deep within yourself; who are you trying to impress? Are you trying to prove to your ex-husband or wife that you can make it successfully without them? Or show your parents that you’re as talented as your brother or sister? Or demonstrate to the world how you overcame your roots and pulled yourself up by your bootstraps? Your vision cannot be born out of unresolved issues; that just breeds a need for control and recognition and dooms you to failure. What’s more, if your vision is from God, you can’t afford to be impatient like Abraham and try to accomplish it in your own strength and ingenuity. God’s promises can never be fulfilled through fleshly effort. If only Abraham had waited, he could have avoided a lot of heartache with Hagar and Ishmael. The Bible says, ‘The blessing of the Lord…maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow’ (Proverbs 10:22 KJV). No matter how long it takes, seek God’s will, wait on His timing, prepare yourself thoroughly and move only when He says go!

What Has God Said About You? (1)

If your vision is to be a great parent, that doesn’t mean you don’t have great faith. It just means you understand your calling. All Moses’ mother did was give birth—but what a baby! God protected her son when she couldn’t do a thing to help him. Then He arranged to have him raised in Pharaoh’s royal courts. And when you discover God’s purpose for your life, He will provide for you, too! Some days your vision won’t look like it’s coming together. As a child, Joseph dreamed of being a great leader, but before he could get to the palace, he had to go through the prison. Pastor James Petro says, ‘You can’t build a foundation in a storm, so God will prepare you in advance.’ Sometimes your vision will seem to die before it springs to life. That happened to Abraham. ‘Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised’ (vv. 18-21 NIV). Paul wrote, ‘We are fools for Christ…’ (1Corinthians 4:10 NIV). God uses radical people who don’t care how they look: people who’ve survived difficult pasts, defied the odds, held onto their vision, and declared, ‘My God is able!’ And you can be one of those people!

Be Resilient

During their famous expedition, American explorers, Lewis and Clark, faced incredible hardships. On reaching the Missouri River, they thought the worst was over—then they saw the Rockies! Instead of the easy ride downstream that they’d expected, they faced their biggest challenge: retreat or start climbing! Looking back, they realised it was in conquering the Rockies that they gained the confidence they needed for what they’d face later. Scott Peck, author of ‘The Road Less Travelled’, writes, ‘It’s in meeting and solving problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. Wise people learn not to dread, but to welcome the pain of problems.’ Sociologists who study resiliency—the ability to bounce back—tell us that people handle trauma in two ways. They either give up because they’re afraid, or they grow up by developing the capacity to handle it. What makes the difference? Instead of acting like victims, resilient people: 1) take charge of their lives; 2) refuse to relinquish their values; 3) refocus on their goal. Noela Evans says, ‘Challenge is a dragon with a gift in its mouth. Tame the dragon and the gift is yours.’ Quitting is always simpler than enduring. But it produces a pattern that’s hard to break; one you live to regret. So if you’re thinking, ‘This relationship is too hard, I want out,’ or, ‘This job isn’t what I expected, I’m quitting,’ remember, you develop resiliency by remaining faithful in situations you don’t like and can’t change. That’s why the Bible says, ‘We give great honour to those who endure.’

The Finger of God (4)

The finger of God in cleansing. One day the Pharisees brought a woman to Christ. She’d been ‘caught in the act’ of adultery and they expected Him to condemn her. But instead, ‘Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.’ This is Jesus at His best! He stooped down to identify with the victim in her shame, refusing to listen to the words of her accusers. Then He scattered them with a single statement: ‘…He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first’ (v. 7 NKJV). Ouch! Then the One Who came not to tear us down but to build us up, said to her, ‘…Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more’ (v. 11 NKJV). The question is, where would she find strength to live such a life? Through Christ! His commandments are His enablings. He said, ‘…I am the light of the world, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’ (v. 12 NKJV). Jesus sees every weed as a potential rose, every doubter as a potential believer and every sinner as a potential saint. Stop listening to the voices that condemn you. Stop beating yourself up over your failures. Come to Jesus today; He will cleanse you, make you whole and give you the life you’ve always longed for. You don’t have to live under satan’s control anymore. Jesus said, ‘…If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come’ (Luke 11:20 KJV).

The Finger of God (3)

The finger of God in stone. Why do you think God wrote the Ten Commandments in stone? Because His principles are permanent and unchanging. You say, ‘But what about all those people who have never heard God’s Word? How will He judge them?’ Paul answers: ‘Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law…show that they know His law when they instinctively obey it…They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right’ (Romans 2:14-15 NLT). Your conscience acts like a compass. If you let it, it’ll guide you right. But when you reject its warnings, its voice gets quieter and quieter until you can no longer hear it. That’s a dangerous condition to be in. Paul writes, ‘Having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected, concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck’ (1 Timothy 1:19 NKJV). Picture yourself standing on a bridge, dropping pebbles into a pond and watching the ripples go out to the edge. It’s just a little pebble, but look at the effect it has! Yet in winter, when that same pond freezes over, you can drive a  truck across it. Your conscience is like that. When you keep disobeying God, your heart becomes calloused and hardened and you no longer hear Him speaking to you. Paul writes, ‘…I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man’ (Acts 24:16 NIV). That’s a good rule of thumb for you to live by!

The Finger of God (2)

The finger of God in calamity. When God sent plagues that Pharaoh’s wizards couldn’t duplicate, they cried out in fear, ‘This is the finger of God.’ Finally Pharaoh got the message: ‘Maybe God’s trying to tell me something.’ The calamity that befell Egypt was a direct result of Pharaoh defying God. Ten times Moses stood before him with God’s Word, saying, ‘Let my people go.’ Notice, God was only asking for what was rightfully His. The question is: What is He asking of you? Only when you say yes to God, will things begin to go right for you! When you see His purpose in the reversals and setbacks you’re going through, you can actually turn them into stepping stones to blessing. The Psalmist wrote, ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary’ (Psalms 77:13 NKJV). Then he added, ‘Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters…’ (Psalms 77:19 KJV). The sanctuary or the storm! God will bring you the easy way or the hard way. If you refuse to listen to His voice in the sanctuary, He will speak to you in life’s storms. Pharaoh rebelled against the providential dealings of God and it cost him his kingdom and his life. Don’t miss the lesson here. God wants what belongs to Him, what He bought and paid for at Calvary. He wants His rightful place in your life, which is first place. And you have an option: you can rebel against Him or respond to His love. If you feel God tugging at your heart today, it’s because He wants to save you, use you and bless you. If you’re wise you’ll say yes to Him.

The Finger of God (1)

Let’s look at the finger of God in Scripture: the finger of God in creation. The Psalmist David said, ‘When I consider…the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?’ (vv. 3-4 NKJV). The Bible opens by telling us, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1 NIV). In a day when many challenge the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, we need to teach our children Who made the universe, Who runs it, and to Whom each of us is ultimately accountable. In 1961 Yuri Gagarin, the first Russian cosmonaut to go into space, boasted, ‘I looked and looked but I didn’t see God.’ Guess what? One day he will see God and stand before Him and be judged (Romans 14:11-12). We all will!  Faith and reason are not necessarily opposed. But when reason won’t take you another step, faith keeps on going because it connects you to God. The stars convinced David of God’s existence. They say if you counted stars at a rate of 125 a minute, it would take 2,000 years just to count the stars in our Milky Way. And that it would take ten billion human beings standing side by side to span the diameter of the average star. Awesome, isn’t it? Paul says: ‘For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse’ (Romans 1:20 NIV). If you look you will see God at work everywhere—including your own life.

Holy Communion ‘…This is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’

Here are three reasons you need to partake of Holy Communion: 1) To make you grace-minded. No one will ever stand in heaven and say, ‘Look what Jesus and I have accomplished.’ If you had to pay one penny of your debt of sin, it would make you a co-redeemer with Christ. What an offence to the cross! (Ephesians 2:8-9.) Hymnist Horatio Spafford wrote: ‘My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!’ 2) To keep you sensitive to sin. ‘…Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself…’ (1 Corinthians 11:28-29 NKJV). You say, ‘If I sin and take communion, does that mean I’m drinking liquid damnation?’ No, it’s the ‘manner’ in which you approach God that counts. You don’t have to avoid the communion cup; you need only confess your sin, then drink deeply with gratitude. 3) To keep you focused on Christ’s return. ‘…I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God’ (Mark 14:25 NKJV). Every communion service brings you one step closer to the greatest communion service of all: the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven (Revelation 19:7). Are you planning on being there?

Whose ‘Report’ Will You Believe?

Frank Furedi documented an increasing use of fear in the media by counting the appearances of the term ‘at risk’ in British newspapers. In 1994 the term appeared 2,037 times. By the end of the next year the total had doubled. During the year 2000, ‘at risk’ was printed more than 18,000 times. Now, did world danger increase ninefold in six years? Or are we just getting the bad news faster, in real time? ‘Information overload’ has produced the most medicated generation known to man. Not only do we need antidepressants and tranquilisers, our children do, too. Even our pets are taking them! Thank God for increased medical knowledge, but you have to ask, ‘How did folks in the old days get by? What did they do when they were stressed out?’ Here are words some of them woke up with every morning and went to bed with every night: ‘Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you…Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act…The Lord rescues the godly; He is their fortress in times of trouble. The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in Him’ (Psalms 37:1-7, 39-40 NLT).

What Happened to Demas? (2)

Again we ask, ‘What happened to Demas?’ 1) Was he troubled by Paul’s diminishing prestige? When Paul came to town, church growth exploded—and so did riots. In one town the new converts brought out pornographic books and artefacts of witchcraft and burned them in the town square. That didn’t win Paul any points with the publishers and manufacturers! He had the social status of a leper in a health colony. Who said the Christian life was supposed to be easy? Not Jesus: ‘If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you’ (John 15:18-19 NKJV). Attack is a sign of respect; it means you haven’t been conquered. Indeed, the level of the attack that comes against you is an indicator of the level of God’s blessing that awaits you beyond it. 2) Did he resent Paul’s growing ostracism by professing Christians? A man asked his friend, ‘How’s the world treating you?’ He replied, ‘The world treats me just fine, it’s the saints who give me a hard time!’ Sometimes the church supported Paul financially, other times he had to make tents to support himself. So how did he respond? ‘…I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved’ (2 Corinthians 12:15 NKJV). The burning desire in Paul’s life was ‘…to be well pleasing to [Christ]’ (2 Corinthians 5:9 NKJV). Is that your desire, too?

What Happened to Demas? (1) ‘…Demas has forsaken me…’

Paul writes one of the saddest verses in Scripture: ‘Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.’ The runner has stumbled. The lights have gone out in the life of a believer. Why? 1) Did he resent his minority status as a Christian? It’s been said that there wasn’t just one, but two Martin Luthers in church history. And they both received the same revelation of justification by faith as the way to salvation. But the first wrote it down and hid it in a monastery wall because he feared the authorities. The second nailed it to the door of Wittenberg All Saints Church and started the Reformation. Christ promised that our message would be a powerful one, but not always a popular one: ‘Do not fear, little flock…’ (Luke 12:32 NKJV). Wear your minority status as a badge of honour! 2) Was he cut down by the doctrinal sword? We have the message people need to hear, but don’t always want to listen to. Even some Christians don’t want to hear it. ‘Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it”?…From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more’ (John 6:60,66 NKJV). You say, ‘But if we’re too strict with people we’ll lose them.’ If we’re legalistic we will, but if we’re scriptural, we’ll build men and women of God,who shine like lights in a dark world. Jesus said, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’ (John 8:32 NKJV). Sometimes, before the truth sets people free, it puts them through the wringer! But we must preach it nonetheless.

Get Back Up, God Is on Your Side ‘…He rose up and went into the city.’ Acts 14:20

If you’re going through a hard time, read these words: ‘Then Jews…came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city’ (vv. 19-20 NKJV). Notice two phrases: ‘supposing him to be dead’ and ‘he rose up.’ Paul was stoned but not silenced; beaten but not  defeated. ‘We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed’ (2Corinthians 4:8-9 NKJV). Imagine satan standing over Paul like a referee standing over a boxer who’s on the canvass. On the count of nine Paul gets up and says, ‘I may be down, but I’m not out!’ He was a defiant optimist, a self-encourager who knew how to lift himself and those around him. One day in the heat of battle, Lord Nelson’s enemies flashed him a signal to surrender. Picking up his telescope, he looked through it and announced, ‘I can’t see any sign of surrender!’ During World War II, Churchill warned the French that, if necessary, Britain would fight on alone. Their generals sent him a telegram saying, ‘In three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.’ Undeterred, Churchill took to the airwaves and announced, ‘We shall never, never surrender!’ He lifted Britain up by its bootstraps! After the war, Churchill addressed the Canadian Parliament. Wearing his hallmark, bulldog expression and waving the telegramme,he announced, ‘Huh! Some chicken, and some neck!’ The word for you today is—get back up, God is on your side.

How’s Your Work Ethic? (2) ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too. Genesis 24:46

When Abraham’s servant arrived in the town of Nahor, a young woman named Rebekah offered to give him a drink of water. When he had finished drinking, Rebekah said, ‘I’ll water your camels, too.’ We are told that she ‘quickly’ emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well. It all sounds fairly unremarkable, until you read between the lines: one gallon of water weighs eight pounds. A thirsty camel can drink up to thirty gallons of water and there were ten camels. Do the maths. Rebekah is drawing three hundred gallons of water for a stranger. She does all that could be reasonably expected of her—and then some.

 This was a pivotal moment in her life. Because of her act of service, Rebekah became the wife of Isaac and went on to the adventure of a lifetime, becoming part of sacred history. To this day, her name is remembered and revered by people of faith. Rebekah did not know all that was at stake that day. She did not offer to draw three hundred gallons of water because she knew what the reward could be. It was simply an expression of her heart. Rebekah proved the truth of Scripture: ‘Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper’ (Proverbs 13:4 NLT). Where did we get the idea that it is wrong to give, expecting a return, or serve, expecting a reward? Certainly not from the Bible! Some of our rewards will come in this lifetime, others in the next one. But, ‘You know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does’ (Ephesians 6:8 NIV). 

How’s Your Work Ethic? (1)

We seldom know ahead of time the full significance of what we do or don’t do in our work. The Bible simply says, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might’ (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV). Judaism, Christianity and Islam all trace their roots to Abraham—who was a farmer. Abraham was ‘…now old and well advanced in years’ (Genesis 24:1 NIV). So he realised the time had come to find a wife for his son Isaac. Since there were no Internet dating services in those days, he assigned the task to his ‘chief servant,’ Eliezer. The servant set out with a caravan of ten camels to the region Abraham had directed him. Finding a wife for your boss’s son was an important assignment that required considerable thought. Certainly, it isn’t a job you’d want to fail at. So the servant began his work with a prayer: ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today.’ Do you ever pray and ask God to make your work successful? People sometimes wonder if it’s okay to pray for your work to be successful. Of course! Now, if success is becoming your God, you will have to find a way to dethrone it. But generally speaking, if you can’t pray for the success of what you’re doing, you should start doing something else! Any good parent wants their child to succeed. Any wise employer wants their workers to succeed, because when they succeed the company succeeds. Here’s what God told His people: ‘Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do’ (Deuteronomy 29:9 NIV).