God Can Use Any of Us

Can God Use Me?

What a question! However, the question alone highlights the fact that so many people have no real idea of their authority or ministry in Christ. Just about the most used scripture in prophetic utterances is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This one verse alone says, in other words, that God has a plan to use all of us in His Kingdom work.

So, God has a plan to use you; He wants to use you; but . . . . . what?

Many shepherds know their calling well and are obedient to it, but I find it incredible that so many pastors, leaders; teachers, and others who invade one pulpit or another each week, seem to have no idea of God’s actual plan for their own lives. They are doing, not what God necessarily really called them to do, but what they think they have been called upon to do. And, I might add, most of them are doing it entirely to their own satisfaction. We may rest assured that if God has called us, and if we have heard that call rightly, then God is going to use YOU in ways you never imagined - because He's in you and He wants to reach through you and touch the world around you.

Isn’t that simply amazing? It makes the opening question a little bit irrelevant doesn’t it?

I am always delighted to read Isaiah 6:1-10, where God called Isaiah and told him exactly what he was to do. The Lord did exactly the same to Jeremiah. God told him exactly what to do – not only that, but what to expect to happen as well. I am pretty certain He did the same with Elijah and Elisha too – as well as several others throughout the history of the Old Testament.

If we listen properly, God will tell us the job(s) He is calling us to do as well.

I feel God is calling all hands to the pump at the moment. There is a mighty move of God coming and many, many souls will be saved. Yet this means that we need to prepare ourselves to be ready to fulfil the Great Commission at a moments notice. God is calling many to be carriers of His presence and carriers of His Word. He is calling others to disciple the newcomers into our midst.

Church is about to get a bit messy. I once heard that if your church is a place where the ladies can leave their purses unattended for an hour or so, then that is a dead church because there is no new growth to shepherd. A church where all the new folk can go and get discipling will be a dangerous place for unattended purses – until the newcomers learn the new way that Chris leads them. Things will be messy – but they will be exciting and vibrant places too. New converts are hungry for God and they need good feeding. But their old habits may die a bit hard and slowly so we need to guard against placing temptation in their path.

They need care and love and lots more besides. They need nurturing and growing in their new faith. That’ll be our job – yours and mine.

Can God use you? You betcha He can.

Some truths about Christians

Four truths

I caught this the other day. My wife put it out on Twitter – “I find it incredible that Christ would die for the sinner in all their mess yet we're the ones who look at them and scorn.” It reminded me of one of the reasons for our ministry together to the hurt, wounded, and disadvantaged. Jesus told us to love our neighbours. Who are our neighbours if not the man in the street, especially those less fortunate than we are?

It also reminded me of something else I picked up in the last few days. Four truths about Christians and the practice of their faith. These were observations from comments made on Facebook.

1 People very seldom, if ever, practice what they preach. For Christians this must be one of the great sins; one that must grieve the Lord so very much; that Christians say one thing and do entirely a different thing. Things like loving our neighbours, and the quotation that ends, “By their love you will know them.” So many seem to try to buy their way into God’s good books by their giving to “good causes”. This is good but their motives aren’t quite matching their reasoning. Many would shudder at the thought of even talking to a down and out on the street, let alone providing a meal. The first thing to admit is that it is not everyone’s calling to minister like this but the giving is done out of duty and appearances rather than out of love for anyone. Christians are also frequently hypocritical in their whole life-style. If we are no different from the world, what is there to attract the unsaved to Christ?

2 The non-religious believe they know more about religion than those who practice it. This is perfectly obvious from all the news where we read and hear all about those who make laws against Christians based on gross misunderstandings of what Christianity is all about; based on gross ignorance of what Christians values are; based on a total ignorance of the constitution of their country and the Christian values upon which it was founded; and based on dreadfully misguided thinking that the new law will in some way appease those who demanded it so loudly in the first place.

3 Many who call themselves Christian nowadays have so compromised their values that you cannot tell them apart from non-Christians. Where do we begin? How long have you got? As Christians we are told to be in the world but not of the world but we have espoused so much jealousy, greed, sanctimony, unfaithfulness, worldly practices and approval, possessiveness, covetousness, and so on, that there is no longer any visible dividing line between us and the world. We are sexist, ageist, xenophobic, homophobic, and probably worst of all – we are judgemental of those who stand where we should be standing – just as accused, just as guilty, and just as unrepentant.

4 Those who say they despise intolerance are often much more intolerant than those they tend to criticize. Oh Lord, forgive our intolerance of others views, rights, and actions. Yes we do have to tolerate some activities, so often totally against Christ’s teaching, because the law says that the activity is acceptable to our society – but we do not approve nor condone. Also forgive us Lord for our intolerance of those who hold very slightly different Christian views to ours. This is perhaps Satan’s greatest dividing weapon – denominationalism and elitism. When Jesus sent the 72 out they returned saying that they had stopped others not of their group acting in Jesus Name. Jesus said, “Do not stop them. If they are not against us then they are for us.” I think it is around 95% of all Christian views and credos are virtually identical. It is that last 5% that keeps our denominations separate and disunited. How the Holy Spirit must grieve over this.

Oh Lord, bring us back to Your values as given to us in Your Word. Take from us our worldly value system – it has brought you nothing but heartache and caused us nothing but sin. Make us more Christ-like and cause us to walk in His ways to your everlasting Glory. Amen.

Tribulation - Coming Ready or not !

Are we really ready?

Listen to this amazing announcement from Australia !!

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On 18 September 2012 Scarborough Baptist Church received notification from the City of Stirling requiring the Church to cease all activities (including feeding the needy and running craft and pre-school dance classes) not defined by the City as “religious activities”. The penalty for not complying is an immediate fine of $1,000,000 plus $125,000 per day that the Church fails to comply.

Many of these activities are central to the Church’s pastoral role within the community, and have been operating in the church for years; the craft group, for example, has been holding weekly craft meetings for 35 years, and the evening service and community meal has now been running for nearly a decade.

According to the City’s correspondence, religious activities exclude, among others: funerals, weddings, Easter services, youth groups, quiz nights to raise funds for local schools, fêtes and fairs to raise funds for world aid, and the provision of meals and services to the community.

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I have highlighted some extraordinary bits from it. Have you ever read anything so “mad”.

Are we really ready for such persecution? In America, during the last months, people have been prosecuted and even jailed for holding a Bible-study at their own home. Christian charities have been threatened with large fines for feeding the poor and homeless. This is America – not an atheist, Muslim or Hindu country where Christians are regularly slaughtered, burned out, or thrown in prison.

Are we really ready for being outcasts? Throughout the Western world, laws are being passed that implicitly exclude Christians, Christian beliefs and values from almost any public office or place.

Are we really ready to be martyrs? In many African and Asian churches, Christians are burned out, maimed, or killed on a continuing basis. In North Korea thousands of Christians have simply disappeared – either into slave camps or to their deaths. In many states around the world, Christians are increasingly regarded as lower than slaves and of less value than dogs.

Are you really ready for this? Can you say, hand on heart, “Whatever happens I will trust You Lord. Your will be done not mine.” Could you stand firm in your faith and watch your persecutors kill your children, your parents, your spouse? Could you, with Paul, welcome death?

This is the great tribulation. It will come. It is on its way and will arrive in the not very distant future. As for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord. How about you?

Returning to your first love

First Love

Do you remember your first love of Jesus? You know – that love and zeal you had for Him when you first got saved? Do you remember wanting to tell everyone that you had met the Lord? Do you remember wanting to ‘save the world’ – especially your friends, family, and neighbours? Do you remember the hunger you had for the things of God then? Everything about God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit excited you didn’t it?

It was like that in the early church you know. They expected everyone who confessed the Lord and received salvation to be baptised. They expected that everyone who was baptised in water would rise up out of the water a new being – prophesying and speaking in other tongues ‘as the Spirit gave utterance’.  Imagine that happening nowadays. That would shake a few people and change a few attitudes.

This is the message I get this morning – for all Christians to ‘return to their first love’. To once again hunger for the things of God. To once again want to set the world aflame with revival. To once again take the good news of the Gospel to every one we meet – to our family, friends, and neighbours – to our work place and to the supermarket. Only one small difference from the original church and that is, instead of preaching to the market places we should simply carry the presence of the Lord with us in such a way that people notice. There is coming a day when, as happened to Peter, our shadow passing over people will heal them. Our handkerchiefs will be passed from person to person and healing will just happen as the presence of God is ‘passed around’.

I remember even recently, in the late 90’s, going into meetings and experiencing the presence of God even as I walked in. There was an excited expectancy in the air. That expectation for God to move seemed to wane slightly in the early 2000’s only to rekindle around 2008. Since then it has grown steadily until now, my expectation level is growing through the roof. I am excited and hungry all at the same time. Our Pastor recently came back from a trip where he described the presence of God as more powerful than he had ever known and the peoples hunger to be verging on desperation.

As far as the world is concerned, we are in desperate times and people are desperate for answers. As for the church, we must by now have realised that we are in the ‘end times’ – those times prophesied in scripture as immediately preceding the return of our Lord. Our hunger for God and His presence has risen along with that of our not-yet-saved neighbours, family, and friends. They may not realise what their hunger is but we can tell them. Personally, I am so very excited at the moment. I am so very hungry for God. I am desperate for more of Him so I can carry His presence with me wherever I go. I would like people to notice something ‘different’ about me.

How about you? How about your family, friends, neighbours, and church?  It’s time for a little more desperation for all of us I would say?

Seeking God's Face

Seeking

I have heard many words of advice given to the church, some as prophecy and some just as guidance. One or two have stuck in my mind and the Lord reminds me of those moments when they are most appropriate. Things like coming boldly before His throne; coming before Him like a child; retaining a child-like faith. Yet there is still one piece of advice that He holds constantly before me and that is to seek His face, not His hand.

To remind me of the advantages of so doing, I remember that Solomon, when asked by God what He could do for him, asked for wisdom. 1 kings 3:5  ^“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

What would you answer to such a question? The passage continues in verse 9, “Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” Solomon sought God’s face; His virtues, before gifts from His hand. Just look how God responded to this in verse, “The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.”

Solomon pleased God by seeking Him first and not the wealth of gifts He could bring. So God went on to say this in verse 12 – “behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. “ Then He added, in verse 13, “And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honour, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. “

God saw Solomon’s heart and He was pleased with what He saw and He blessed what He saw. Yet even so, God added a caveat to His great gift. In verse 14 He says, “So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

In all of God’s giving, there is often a condition to walk in His ways and stay with the principles of life that Jesus laid before us. Sure we will slip occasionally because we are a fallen mankind but God is also seeking. He is seeking those who will at least try to keep in line with His teaching.

How much more will He add to us if we seek His face and not His hand? Cup full, pressed down, and running over springs to mind. Let me encourage you to be like Solomon – seek Him first before any other thing, and “all these things shall be added unto you ”.