The Runt of the Litter

 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the

weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Judges 6:15

The anointing of God will supernaturally enable you to do what you would not be able to do in your own strength and ability.

And if you are going to join God in His work, whether in the local body of Christ here at

 “His Place” or wherever you fellowship; then you will need to expand your expectation of Gods’ ability working through you.

The: “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t whine” 

will need to be replaced by the confident declaration of Philippians 4:13:

“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

 Gideon certainly found this to be true.

He was the runt of the litter in a litter of runts!

At least that seems to be the mindset he held (as noted in our passage above) before

 God’s anointing. But, God was true to His word (no surprise there!) and

the runt, under the anointing, defeated the Midianites.

So what is the task God has called you to?

Is it to the Office of an Evangelist?

Has He called you to the mission field?

Are you being led to write a book?

Maybe you look at these things and say –

“I could never do that, but I know many others who could!” 

Here’s the thing though, many others could do these things - in their own strength - and that would be precisely why God has called you – to do it in His strength and anointing and not your own. 

How different might the world be if it were filled with people who truly

believed God and did what He anointed them to do?

Let me rephrase that question –

How different might your world be if you truly believed

God and did what He has anointed you to do?

Will God Anoint the Less-Than-Perfect?

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this

all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

II Corinthians 4:7

Today I read of a show, currently on Broadway, that tells the story of the famed early 20^th century evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. The show is titled

 “Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson”

and while that may not seem to be a very flattering word to use it is said to be accurately reflective of the life of the evangelist.

I am always a bit reluctant to believe most of what is produced in Hollywood or Broadway.

There is, after all, no question that she had an impact on countless numbers of lives,

bringing thousands to Christ.

But there is also no question that she was, as we are, a jar of clay.

God empowers and enables, through His anointing, less than perfect human beings.

Any doubt of that can be soundly laid to rest by honestly looking at the lives of men and woman in scripture that God has anointed; 

- Or -

If you have ever ministered under the anointing of God then

you know personally that He uses people who are not perfect!

I say that not to offend you but because we both know it is the truth.

None of this excuses the need for God’s sanctifying work in our lives but recognizes that God uses us while He is still perfecting us and in the process He is the one

who alone is worthy of the praise and glory!

As the scripture says:

“…the all-surpassing power is from God and not from ________________

                                                                                  (Fill your name in above)

 I know that often when we hear the name of some failed evangelist or walk into a room where the discussion is about a less than perfect minister we wince and would rather not be associated

with the story but the truth remains that the power of the anointing is from God and not because of our holy or (sometimes) less-than-holy lives.  

What Does The Anointing Attract?

“My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die and his name perish?”

 Psalm 41:5

 

The evidence is overwhelming…

Carry an anointing on your life and you will attract conflict like a magnet attracts iron filings.

Would you agree the following people carried an anointing: Moses, Elijah, David and Daniel?

If you agree, then you will also recognize the conflicts that arose in their lives because of that anointing.

None of them sought the conflict – it was a result of Gods’ anointing.

Whether it was the Pharaoh of Egypt, the prophets of Baal, a Philistine giant named Goliath or the lions den; each of these anointed men of God faced conflict.

Have you asked God to anoint you?

Do you covet that anointing to minister in His power and strength?

If so, you too can expect conflict to follow you.

Only, be sure of this:

Let it be because of the anointing and not because you do foolish things.  

Some have behaved poorly and then when the turmoil that behavior has created is evident, they claim it is because they took a stand for God.

Don’t confuse that for the anointing.  

Remember what we said yesterday – God sees our heart and knows those who have surrendered their heart and taken on the heart of a servant.

He also recognizes the conflict that arises because of the anointing (and He will strengthen you in spite of the conflict) and the conflict that poor choices we make creates. 

We are told in scripture that all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

We can further expect that any who desire the anointing

will know the conflicts that anointing brings.

There is a battle taking place for the hearts and lives of men.

An anointed servant, like a general in the Armed Forces, attracts a lot of opposition.

Our confidence though, is not in our own strength but in Him who has called us!

 

Gods’ ‘Employment’ Screening Process

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart.”

I Samuel 16:7

Suppose you were a hiring manager for the Apple computer and electronics stores.

Their retail business always seems to be jam-packed with customers at our local malls.

Your task is to hire seasonal help to get you through the busy holiday shopping season.

Who might your ideal candidate be?

Now ‘profiling’ may be illegal in certain areas of society but when it comes to hiring; companies practice it all the time.

Not racial profiling mind you, but cultural profiling.

What candidates are a good fit for our company and its culture.

What job applicants, when hired, would best represent the Apple culture?

That selection process may require several interviews with a battery of personality tests along with the requisite experience in customer service.

How about the anointing of God?

You desire it as you minister.

Does God require loads of papers to be filled out?

Do you sit with manager after manager after heaven-sent manager for interviews?

Of course not!

God looks at your heart.

Nothing is hidden from His eyes.

He knows how you will handle His anointing. 

 He knows how you will represent His kingdom.

Is the culture of His kingdom in your heart?

You may never have an outward appearance that draws people’s attention.

But that’s ok – what you need for the anointing of God to be poured on you isn’t found in outward appearance. 

Its’ found where God looks.

Its’ found where God sees.

Its’ found in a heart that is surrendered to God!

Whom Does God Anoint?

“I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.Cross references:

Psalm 89:20

‘Anoint’ is defined as: to pour or rub oil or ointment on; to put oil on in a ceremony of making sacred or consecrating to a high office. In the bible we find examples of priests, prophets and kings anointed and set apart for service.  

When God wants to do something in the earth, He does not simply snap His fingers – as it were – to accomplish it, but He anoints a person or a people to do His work.

There is a “setting apart” or an anointing for these last days fore those who will surrender their lives to the purposes of God.

Some would speak of, or treat, the anointing of God as a right bestowed on every believer.    

That just doesn’t seem to be borne out in scripture.

“For many are invited, but few are chosen” are some words that Jesus uses in the parable of the Wedding banquet which might equally apply as it relates to the anointing of God.

God chooses, God selects who He will anoint for a task.

Does that mean that God is a respecter of persons?

Does that mean that God has favorites?

Not at all!

It does mean that while we may be looking at a mans’

outward appearance; God sees the mans’ heart.

Can you walk in the anointing of God without taking the credit and the glory for what is accomplished?

Can you give to God what belongs to God alone?

 Before you answer, let me suggest that God can answer that question better than you can.

That is why it may appear He is picking and choosing when in fact He is simply recognizing the vessels able to carry that anointing.

Do you want to walk in Gods’ anointing?

Walk humbly before Him with a life surrendered to His purposes!

He anointed David – His servant.

Maintaining the Attitude of a Servant

“He chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
from tending the sheep he brought him
    to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
    with skillful hands he led them.

Psalm 78:70-72

Jesus, we are told, came not to be served but to serve.

We, too, are called to service.

The ‘actions’ of service are borne out of an ‘attitude’ of service.

If my attitude is anything other than that of a servant then the fruit produced from that attitude will be anything but service.

Today, the attitudes of victim-hood, entitlement and individual rights seem far more prevalent than servant hood.

Sadly, that is true inside the church as well. 

We feel we are ‘owed’ blessings from God.

“After all, didn’t I teach that class for you?”

“Didn’t I shovel the sidewalk before service began?”

“God, I hope you notice that I put in my tithe regularly!”

Until we recognize that it is God’s grace that saves us and that same attitude propels our actions we will continue to look for ‘payment’ for our good works.

  Our sin demands a payment that Christ made on the cross.

His mercy is extended to us and out of His grace and His

mercy working in us, by the Holy Spirit, we do good works. 

The church must not only have the attitude and actions of a servant, she must also accept the assignments God gives us in obscurity.

Would you continue to do what God has given you to do if there was never, ever any human acknowledgement of it?

If you can, you may be ready for promotion in the Kingdom of God.

God promotes those who are willing to give Him the glory and not keep it for themselves. 

The servant of God is not stuck on everyone seeing what he is doing and the impact he is having.

Instead, he is delighted when the works he does bring glory to God.

David was a servant before he was a king.

David became a king because he knew what it was to be a servant.

If God uses you and elevates you can you maintain the attitude of a servant?

Thank You!

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all who read this blog.

I pray it has been, and continues to be, a blessing for which you give thanks.

But let us all recognize the One most deserving of all our thanksgiving on this day…

“Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:”

Psalm 50:14

“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;

I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.

Jonah 2:9

“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and

honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 7:12

“God gave you the gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you”?

William A. Ward

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.

Edward Sandford Martin

Please enjoy the video below...

http://youtu.be/7NSQLMPUK-8

Don’t Miss the Reward of the Mundane!

 “Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.”I Samuel 17:17-21

“…as Jesse had directed…”

Dad had a chore for his son and David faithfully followed the assignment his father gave him.

Oh, did I mention that this son had been anointed by the prophet to be Israel’s next king?

No matter, David’s heart was bigger than his head.

His heart of obedience would not cause him to rise up in disobedience to his father and say:

“Don’t you know who I am and what I am called to do and yet you give me this menial task of delivering groceries to my brothers?”

There is a lesson in that passage for each of us.

(Actually there are many lessons in that passage but we’ll stick to one today!)

If you and I are going to be carved into Gods’ creation then what we need to do is be faithful in the mundane tasks.

David’s mission started out as insignificant as you could imagine.

But we all know the ending of the story of David and Goliath. 

 A big ego could have kept David from realizing Gods’ purposes on that trip. 

David did not know the ending to the story.

God did.

David could have missed Gods’ purposes by failing to be faithful in the little things.

When we fail to be faithful in the little things, we miss out on the equipping they bring to accomplish the great things God has prepared for us.

David was there to face Goliath because he had faithfully responded to the mundane task his earthly and his heavenly father had assigned to him!

Don’t miss the reward of the mundane!

It Slices, It Dices!

 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword,

it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;

it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

James 3:9-12

Maybe you are not old enough to remember the old TV commercials for Veg-A-Matics.

But if you are, let me ask you a riddle:

What do words and a Veg-A-Matic have in common?

They both can slice and dice!

That’s right – what the Veg-A-Matic could do to a potato, words can do to a person.

But that’s not always a bad thing.

The Word of God, for instance, can slice and dice out of you and me some un-Christ like things that ought not to be there.

This week we are looking at God ‘carving us’ – so to speak – in a way that our lives become all that He has dreamed or planned for us.

His word becomes the tool of choice in shaving away the rough edges.

But our words, and the words of others can also be a tool for good or for bad.

I can whittle away at you with words of discouragement, words that poison, bitter words.

---------Or--------

I can speak to you in a way that builds up, encourages and blesses you.

I can speak words that agree with Gods plans and purposes for your life!

 Gods’ words, in the mouth of the prophet, spoke life to dry bones.

Won’t you look today for someone who you can speak words of life too?

How refreshing would that be?

Both to you and them!

A Chip Off the Old Block

“Your hands made me and formed me;
    give me understanding to learn your commands.” 

Psalm 11:73

Allow me to start right off by saying I mean no disrespect when I use the phrase:

‘a chip off the old block’ where you and I are the ‘chips’ and God is the ‘old block’.

Rather, it is meant to paint a picture of the fact that God, as was expressed so well in the service yesterday, is ‘carving’ us – as it were – into the image of His Son and to fulfill the purposes He has for our lives.

A gifted artist can look at a block of wood, a canvas or a piece of metal and see the completed work in it.

There is no greater creative touch than that of God in the lives of His children or – for that matter – in anything He touches or speaks into existence.

God sees in you all the plans, purposes and dreams He has for you.

God see in you what no others have seen.

God sees in you what you yourself may struggle to see and believe.

God speaks to those things in you that are not as though they were.

Why? Because He has created greatness and wonderful things in you!

He is ‘incapable’ of anything else!

Some may look at the mess in their lives and ask: “God, why did you do this to me?”

We are carved by the hands to which we surrender our lives.

If we choose to be the one forming, fashioning and carving then the work is of our own making.  

If we surrender to the Master Craftsman and allow His hand to carve and shape us He will bring greatness from what we may have thought was a simple block of wood.

Jesus saw in Peter some things Peter himself would not have dreamed were in him.

Some things Jesus carved out of Peter, others were carved into him.

So it is with you and I.

We are not yet complete in what God has for us to be – some never will be.

But the choice to surrender to God’ hand, the enemies or our own is ours to make.

Choose wisely.

In the end your life will be a reflection of those choices.     

Are You Sleeping Like A Baby?

 “From the Lord comes deliverance.
    May your blessing be on your people.”

Psalm 3:8

How has your sleep been lately?

There are certainly hundreds of things that could keep people up at night.

Psalm 3 was written by King David.

It is titled: “A Psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.”

His family could have caused David some sleepless nights.

But it didn’t.

How about your family?

Or maybe its’ your job, your health or your finances that keeps you awake.

David was fleeing for his life from his own son who had betrayed him and yet…

…and yet verses 5 and 6 offer an interesting insight –

“I lie down and sleep;
    I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
 I will not fear the tens of thousands
    drawn up against me on every side.”

Through the betrayal, through the thousands who sought his life,

remarkably David was still able to put his head down and sleep.

How was that possible for David?

How is it possible for you and me?

The answer is found in the very same verse.

David could sleep because he knew who sustained him.

He was not sustained by his wealth, his power, his righteousness

and certainly, given his circumstances, not by his family.

He was sustained by the Lord!

What sustains you?

Your stock portfolio?

Your career?

Your countries leaders?

Your retirement account?

Does it give you peaceful sleep through the night?

Likely not given our current state of affairs!

Knowledge of the Lords’ sustaining power in my life can bring peace in the midst of a storm.

The one who knows that God alone sustains can declare with King David:

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.”

Psalm 3:3 (KJV)

Majority Rules?

“…Let God be true, and every man a liar…”

Romans 3:4 

ONE WITH GOD IS A MAJORITY

ONE WITH GOD IS A MAJORITY

       ONE WITH GOD IS A MAJORITY

Today, as I read a couple of news blogs, I saw two different topics represented by a map showing areas of the country currently “supporting” a particular viewpoint.

The context of one was that, while they had won some

crucial victories, they still had a lot of work to do.

The second one showed how quickly a particular cause

was gaining strength across the country.

Both implied that the “victory” would be theirs when a majority supported their cause.

While that may sound reasonable to some, let’s remember that truth is not determined based on how many support it or by how many are in vehement opposition to it.

Truth is found in God’s word and it does not change based on public opinion. 

We may be able to enact and repeal laws in this country based on votes but not all laws support the truth of God’s word.

Am I proposing that we ought not to be law-abiding citizens?

While that argument can be made that is not the point I am bringing today.

I want us to remember that no matter the numbers in favor or opposed to a thing; no matter the volume or passion of our arguments; regardless of the side on which the ‘experts’ reside; it does not change the truth of God’s word.

In other words, don’t be fooled by passion, emotions, numbers (majority or minority) when it comes to how you determine what is true and what is not.

Don’t be fooled; instead be guided by the truth found in the Bible.

As the day of Jesus’ return draws closer and closer the persecution of those who hold fast to God and His word will increase.

You may be labeled as uneducated, gullible and superstitious nuts who simply refuse to face the facts (presented for that particular days arguments) that the majority holds and believes. 

When that happens remember the saints before you who knew that God was God and they were going to hold fast to Him regardless of what others chose to say.

Don’t surrender your trust in God for the approval of men.

Don’t compromise what God declares because everyone else (at least it seems that way) declares a contrary message!

Hold fast!



Before and After

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

II Corinthians 5:17

 

The Bible is filled with some pretty remarkable before and after stories.

Before:

Naaman has a death sentence called ‘leprosy’ hanging over his head.

After:

 7 dips in the Jordan obediently following the prophets word and he is healed!

Before:

Lazarus is dead for three days.

After:

Jesus calls Lazarus to come forth and he lives!

Before:

Saul of Tarsus travels the region imprisoning, persecuting and killing the saints.

After:

Paul the Apostle brings the Gospel to the Gentiles!

Before:

____________________________________(Fill your ‘Before’ story in here)

After:

______________________________________(Fill your ‘After’ story in here)

We were asked on Sunday night to open our bibles to Acts chapter 29.

Why don’t you take a minute to do that before we go on…

Couldn’t find it could you?

Suppose your ‘life story’ – God’s dream for you, became chapter 29?

What’s that you say: That’s pretty arrogant to even consider that?

Not really!

You see, if God is in it, why couldn’t it be?

Is God big enough to create an ‘after’ story through your life?

Is it His desire to see His Son honored through all that you do?

It is time for the church to realize that we serve a big God who is well able to do great things in us and through us as He has in times past.

He hasn’t gone into retirement.

Have you? 

“The World Waits For Our Dreams to be Fulfilled”

 “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”

Romans 8:19

Before Sampson was born, as a matter of fact before Samson was conceived, God spoke to his parents concerning what we might label a “Jeremiah 29:13 moment”.

We looked at it last week but let me print it here again to review –

Judges 13:2-5

“A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Using our description from yesterday we can see that God had a ‘dream’ for Sampson.

He had a course set for his life that Sampson was free to follow or to disregard.

We know from scripture that there were some bumps in the road.

Sampson often gratified his own flesh rather than wholly follow the plans and the dream that God had for him.

We also know that God is no respecter of persons and that his plans, though different for each of us, are good and when followed will benefit us.

Sometimes we struggle to see those benefits when we are in the midst of the issues that life  has a way of presenting to us.

That is why trust is so critical.

We do not have the understanding that God has.

We do not have His perspective.

We do not always choose wisely or with our long term benefit in mind.

Like Esau we gravitate to the bowl of food while rejecting the birthright blessing.

God did not refuse Esau his choice.

God did not refuse Sampson his choices.

God will not refuse you your choices.

It is sometimes much easier to walk away from God than it is to walk with God.

Don’t walk away from Him.

Don’t leave His dreams for you unfulfilled.

Don’t drop the dream for a short term fix.

Ask Him for strength and for perseverance to fulfill all of His purposes.

Don’t quit after realizing 10% of what He has called you to do.

The world needs 100% of God’s dreams fulfilled in your life!

“Dreams From My Father”

 “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.”

Jeremiah 29:13

Last Tuesday, here in the United States, we elected President Barack Obama to a second term.

Some, in the past, have referred to the person occupying that office

 as the most powerful man in the world. 

Before his election, the President had written a book titled: “Dreams From My Father”.

One might assume the dreams that the President holds from his father would then have opportunity to powerfully impact the nation that he leads. While that may hold some truth, I would suggest that one single believer, surrendered in total to the dreams of His heavenly Father for his life wields far greater power to change the earth than any political office holder.

Am I seeking to minimize the impact of our leaders?

No, not at all!

Instead, I want us to understand how God can change the face of the earth when one man or one woman says: “God use me to fulfill your purposes for my life and not my own.”

Those are the ‘dreams from my Father’ that can change the world for good!

What dreams?

God doesn’t dream, he doesn’t even sleep!

Call them His plans, call them His vision, call them His purpose: God created each and every person with purpose, and He ‘dreams’ for them good things!

He ‘dreams’ for them His purposes fulfilled. 

So the next time you hear that expression or that titles mentioned, here is what I would challenge you with today:

Ask God to reveal His dreams to you for your life.

Ask Him to show you in His word the great and mighty things made available to you through His Son Jesus Christ and commit to fulfill, with His Holy Spirit inside you,

the dreams from your heavenly Father!

You Can’t Eat Your Cake and Have it Too!

 “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:38-39

 

When my son was a toddler I had a co-worker who was a masterful cake baker and so his birthdays included cakes that looked like Merry-Go-Rounds; Tigers and a number of others designed to delight a toddler. In a way, the hardest part of the birthday celebration came when it was time to cut into that beautiful cake.

It wasn’t baked just to be looked at.

It tasted good too but we never would have known that if all we did was enjoy how it looked. It gave meaning to the title of today’s blog since we really couldn’t eat our cake and simultaneously hold on to the creative beauty of it.

I suppose that’s what “Kodak moments” were made for!

Running Gods’ course can be a lot like that as well. We have fallen for a lie that we can have all the best in our life all the time and still fulfill Gods’ call on our life.

It sounds good.

It is very attractive and very appealing.

It really tickles our ears and draws us in.  

There is just one minor problem, its’ not true.

That’s not to say that God wants you miserable.

Not at all!

But the Gospel’s Good News is that we have been saved from the destruction that our sins deserved and demanded to an abundant life in Christ.

We interpret the abundant life to mean that it is all pleasure and satisfaction, all things meant to satisfy the longings of my flesh.  

In other words, we can eat our cake and have it too!

There are just too many passages in scripture to reference them all here but suffice to say that one sure thing you will face as a disciple of Jesus Christ is the choice to forgo immediate satisfaction for long term gain.

Remember this: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Sometimes the ‘desires’ of my life, and the course it would take me on, are in direct contradiction to the course God has laid out for me.    

It is at those moments, I (you too) must choose His course or mine.

It can’t be both!

You can’t eat your cake and have it too and, in surrendering your life to Jesus Christ, your life is not your own. 

“In” But Not “Of”

“Do not love the world or anything in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  

For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man,

the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—

comes not from the Father but from the world.

I John 2:15-16

As we have been looking at the question of staying on Gods’ course for your life we must be aware that you can become so well assimilated into the culture around you; so comfortable with the world; that the result is you love your life more than Gods’ plans.

This is not instantaneous but happens over time.

The good news is it is also reversible.

Maybe this is where you say to yourself – “I know, the answer is to not be part of the world! We need Christian communities that are set apart and separate from everyone else!”

Well, that’s only half right.

We are too be set-apart and separate.

But it is a separation from the culture of the world system that is opposed to God.

We are not separated from the people in the world.

The bible tells us in John 1:15 that:

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…”

Jesus didn’t hide out in a cave nor does He ask us to.

He didn’t walk among people as if they all were contagious with a putrid disease.

He was, as we are called to be, in the world but not of the world.  

So, how do we remain unpolluted by the world?

             Paul tells us the secret in Galatians 5:16 when he says:

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

I can be in the culture but not immersed in that culture.

I do this by being immersed in the Spirit of God.

God sent His promised Holy Spirit to the church on Pentecost.

The Spirit of God is in me to help me live a life that honors God.

A life in the Spirit is a life that runs His course.

Hmmmm, My Life or God’s Course?

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

Acts 20:24

Staying on God’s course is not always easy and it certainly isn’t for the faint of heart.

It demands that we place a greater value on God’s course than our own life.

Are you prepared to do that?

It may be simple to answer yes, but it is tough to stick with it.

In today’s verse, Paul speaks of completing the task the Lord had given him.

He was headed for Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen to him there.

 Nonetheless, we are told he was “…compelled by the Spirit…” to travel there.

Do you have a task from God?

Do you know what it is and have you committed to completing it?

Are you “compelled” by the Spirit of God to complete that task?

We must understand that the enemy of our soul is committed to just the opposite.

Now we know that he is not greater than God (not even close) and that God equips us to complete the task and/or race we are in.

But we must understand that he will resist our efforts and that,

what we accomplish for God will not happen without opposition.

That alone is enough to dissuade some.

Don’t allow the slightest headwind or the roar of the enemy to knock you off course.

Paul says in verse 23 of Acts 20: “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.”

Paul faced possible prison and hardship in going to the very city that the Spirit of God was compelling him to go to.

How is it that he could continue forward on that journey?

He valued God’s course, God’s task, God’s race greater than his own life.

This from the same man who declared: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

 Are you prepared to lay down your life for Christ?

I am reminded of an old proverb (not found in the bible but it fits here) that

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Maybe you are not sure about laying down your life for Christ.

Take the first step – step out of your comfort zone – take up your cross today, by laying down your desires and walking in obedience to the Lord.

I’m Called and Equipped; What More Do I Need?

“A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son…the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will  

        begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”                                                 Judges 13: 3-5 selected
                 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power.” 

                             Judges 14:19

How is it that we veer off the course God has established for us?

How is it that Sampson found himself off course?

One lesson we need to learn is that our call from God and His equipping to complete that call does not guarantee that we will complete the race.

It is indeed special to receive a call from God and to know that He has given us all that we need to complete that call.

But the call and the equipping are still ours to step into and to utilize.

God will not force you to respond to His call.

You are free to disobey.

You are free to walk away.

You are free to use the gifts, talents and abilities for your own purposes and not His.

Sampson’s supernatural strength was often used to get him out of predicaments his own flesh, his own desires got him into.

Like Moses who struck the rock he was commanded to speak to, Samson used Gods’ equipping to get himself out of a pickle he had brought upon himself.  

I thank God for the call on my life.

I thank Him for the equipping He gives to walk in that call.

But I also recognize that finishing the course requires a moment-by-moment trust and obedience to Him.

Jesus spoke of it as: “…abiding in the vine.”

The call sets me on the course and the equipping gives me what I need to complete the race but neither one guarantees a finish.

The runner must keep his eye on the prize, the goal that is set before him. 

There is a hunger, a zeal, a thirst, an appetite for completing the race that only comes to those who remain in intimate relationship with the God who has called us.

Don’t be shortsighted as Sampson became (sorry about the pun); stay focused on the Lord!

Super Sampson

“The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:3-5

Stronger than 100 men!

Able to destroy enemy fields with only a torch and foxes!

Look, the man with the long, long hair – its’ Super Sampson!

Well, of course that is silly.

The Bible did not have super heroes in the way comic books stories tell of super heroes today.

I suppose if they did, Sampson would have been one of the Old Testament’s best.

At least, he started out that way.

You see, he had a course laid out for him as a Judge in the Nation of Israel.

He was dedicated to God at birth with a Nazirite vow.

He was renowned in the land for his great feats of strength and for

humiliating Israel’s enemy, the Philistines. 

But along the way, Samson veered of that course set for him.

It is a life that we can learn much from.

It is a life filled with advances and retreats.

His story is a story of broken vows and self-gratifying appetites.

So what can we say?

How much greater the exploits recorded and how much greater glory might God have received, through his life, had he stayed on course.

We too have a course set for us.

We too have temptations to stray from that course.

We too have opportunities to dedicate our lives to God.

Let’s look together, this week, at how we stay the course.

What can we learn from Sampson’s life to apply in our own lives?

We’ll find out together how to stay the course!