May 2011
Why do we wait to take a leap of faith?
There are many things God places within our hearts (and tells us to do), yet we won’t move out on it. We sit, stand, and hide in silence unwilling to step out on what God has called us to because of fear. Under the banner of fear, we don’t step out because of:
1. Fear of the Unknown. The unknown is that…unknown. The hows, whys, whens, etc. Many times these questions are not answered until your first few steps of faith are taken.
2. Fear of Failure. What if I don’t succeed? I’ll look foolish in front of others, lose money, time, etc. But if God’s Word does not return void (Isaiah 55:9-11), how can you fail?
3. Fear of Being Alone. You don’t want to move until others come along side of you.
We were made for the Lord’s glory and to show forth His praise upon the earth (see Isaiah 43:7, 21). In discipleship, we are pupils and learners of Jesus, obedient to His commands (Matthew 28:18-20). Disciples reflect the example of Jesus they have purposefully studied.
God conforms us into the His Son in word and deed (Romans 8:29). Disciples will think and act like Jesus, and even accomplish greater works (John 14:12). This fact is evident throughout Acts as the disciples healed, taught, and proclaimed Christ. When before the many leaders at Jerusalem in Acts 4, they understood Peter and John to be unlearned and ignorant, but they knew they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). They were like Jesus, sharing in His sufferings, in order to bring glory to the Father.
After repentance, you often go through a season of strength and dedication. It’s a time when you must engage in proper ‘exercise:’
1 Timothy 4:7 – Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
Exercising yourself unto godliness brings you closer to God’s character and less like the world’s (or your own sinful nature). If you see professional bodybuilders in the gym, you would realize that they did not grow large muscles overnight. It came with practice, concentration, dedication, commitment, and discipline. In the same manner, it will take the discipline our minds, words, and deeds in order to keep maintain a godly state.
Through the power and grace of God, you can live beyond the revolving sin that seeks to return to your life. You can be free. Trust in the Lord…pray…and commit your ways unto Him.
Photo courtesy of freeimages.com/Nathaniel Dodson
Proverbs 18:16 – A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
As Solomon describes in Proverbs, it is the gift that makes room for a man, not the other way around. We are to bring glory to the Lord through our good works (Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Corinthians 12) – the gifts are HIS, used for HIS purpose, and bring HIM glory upon the earth.
A disciple is a person that is conformed into the image of Jesus through careful study and obedience to His life example, commands, and guidance through the Spirit.
Jesus outlines what one must do to be a disciple, how a disciple is identified, and how they are to live. Below is a listing of scriptural references that further outline the preceding sentence. Disciples:
1. Are not forced to follow Jesus (John 6:43-71).
2. Are drawn by the Father (John 6:44).
3. Must hate their father, mother, wife, children, and their own life (Matthew 10:32-39; Luke 14:26-33).
John 9:1-5 – And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
When the disciples saw the blind man, they asked Jesus who sinned, the man or his parents that he was born blind. Though neither sinned, his blindness was purposed to manifest the works of God (via Jesus healing him). Jesus said that He MUST work the works of Him that sent Him. He said these must be done while it is day, for when the night comes, no man can work.
Now, as Jesus declared, He is the light of the world. The life that is in Him is the light of men (John 1:4-9) and all that follows Him will not walk in darkness (evil, sin), but will have the light of life – righteousness, salvation, eternal life (John 8:12).
There will come a time when the night will come and no man can work. This refers to a future period in history, and for our own lives, it will come upon our death or the Lord’s return. Therefore, we must redeem our time by making the most of each moment we have:
1 Timothy 4:16 – Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Paul was instructing Timothy as he was to remain in Ephesus to charge the churches concerning doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3). In this first letter, Paul tells him to: take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
As a pastor and leader, the way for him to save his hearers is to first save himself.
1. Be available. Windows of opportunity come unexpectedly.
2. If the opportunity to counsel came upon you suddenly, say a short prayer. Your prayer should focus on the Lord assisting the person; receiving an answer from the Lord; and the root issue is revealed.
3. They should speak more than you. Keep your comments short, simple, and to the point.
4. Allow the other person to tell their story – to share their heart.
Proverbs 5:3-20– For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
Solomon is giving a stern warning to his son about other women. A ‘strange’ woman is one that is a stranger, another, prostitute, harlot – SOMEONE THAT IS NOT YOUR WIFE! Solomon is warning his son to stay away from such women.
Though the lips of strange women seem like honeycomb (sweet) and has a mouth smoother than oil (soft, comforting words), her end is bitter, sharp as a two-edged sword and her path leads to death and hell. Some married men (even those that are not), look at the strange woman as something to be desired. They look better than your wife; always there to comfort you with soft words; and make you feel young and ‘fancy free.’ But as Solomon says, we do not know her ways as they are moveable and hidden…and unless we ponder the path of life (and our own), we would be subject to follow her down to death and hell.
After a season of ministry, there can be times of silence in your transition. You may be doing things for God, but it still seems like you’re neither here or there. You feel settled, but not settled…almost…lost. You miss the previous season of ministry, but you know you can’t go back – only forward. Even if you tried, it wouldn’t be the same.
But where do I begin? I don’t have the same ‘title’ or position I once had and nobody knows who I am.
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