Psalm 3:8 Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people.
Jesus told His disciples to go into the deep waters and let down their nets for fish. When they did, their nets were filled up with fish to the point of breaking. Being fishermen and businessmen, they may have been tempted to start doing business. I mean, think how much they could make!
But God had a different purpose. The disciples’ occupation as fishermen was just a vehicle for God to demonstrate His great power and love. He wasn’t blessing them with fish so that they would get excited about fishing — He was blessing them with fish so that they could get their eyes off their fishing and on to the greater call He had for them! Thankfully, they left the fishing business and went off with the Lord to do great and mighty things.
Too many of us are wrapped up in fish. We seek the Lord for His blessings, prosperity, and success. But true discipleship is focusing not on the blessings of the Lord, but on the Lord of the blessings!
We can rejoice in our blessings, but let’s not dwell on them! Let’s set our eyes on the Lord and the calling He has for us. When He sees that we have pure and willing hearts, He will be faithful to use us to accomplish His glorious plan!
Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Did you know that on a rocket’s journey, the most force is exerted at its lift-off? The amount of force that is needed to get that rocket off the ground is so fierce that it could easily blow the whole thing to pieces. Interestingly though, the further the rocket moves from the earth’s gravitational pull, the less energy it needs to move farther along.
Isn’t it true with us as well? Whether it’s breaking a habit, losing those first few pounds or learning something new, taking our first step into a new thing is the hardest part. That initial step always takes the most effort, the most energy. If we keep pressing on, however, it becomes easier and easier to move ahead!
As many of you know, the fact that we have moved ourselves and our ministry here is nothing short of a miracle! God has sustained us as we have pressed ahead through all the difficulties of acclimating to a new language and culture, pioneering a powerful ministry, and living by faith for all our physical needs.
We have come to Israel with a vision and purpose that we truly believe is from God. That vision includes a number of endeavors such as a relief center for needy and hurting Israelis, a leadership training center and much, much more! In so many ways, we, like that rocket are just in our beginning steps of take-off. Please stand in prayer with us as we press ahead to bigger and better things for the Kingdom!
Perhaps there is something new He wants you to be doing! God wants us to get out of our comfort zones and take that first step of faith so that we can see just how truly awesome He is! Together, let’s take our first steps into something new!
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Ya know - something occurred to me this past week.
We, and I know many other brothers and sisters around the world have been praying and praying for revival to come. We’ve been seeking God for the seeds we’ve sown in prayer to be harvested in these crucial hours, when they are becoming ripe for the picking. We’ve been asking God to reveal Himself to His people and bring laborers into the harvest.
But people are dying. Ripe fruit is falling and spoiling in the fields. And still, there are few laborers to do anything about it. Why Lord?!
It became clear to me recently why. Jesus said that they will know Him by the love we have for one another. The world will know Him by the love we, believers, have for one another. Where’s the love, friends? Our body is so divided, over silly issues that don’t even matter in the big scheme of things! Our marriages and churches are being torn apart for lack of understanding of the enemy’s tactics upon us!
How can the fields be harvested? We are not prepared for them! We are not ready to minister! We’re so busy looking at ourselves and our problems! Most of us are not even aware of the critical condition we are in as a body! This is an EMERGENCY! We need to wake up and smell the desperate stench of dying souls! Not only those out there in the world but the ones who are part of us — we, and our hurting brothers and sisters in the Lord! We need to start loving one another, that the Lord may be glorified, that His Kingdom come!
Let’s start overlooking offenses today! Let’s learn the devils schemes! Let’s win the hearts of the lost by our love for one another! There’s soooooooooooooo much work to be done!
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
I used to sell newspaper subscriptions door to door and deliver flowers for a living. I also volunteered for years with my churches inner city bus ministry. My wife waited tables and cleaned houses. She volunteered with a number of ministries, doing youth work and teaching worship dance among other things. Never could we imagine that the Lord would take us to Israel and use us in full time ministry in this capacity. Neither of us ever did anything great in this world but we were faithful in some little things and God found it in His heart to promote us.
D.L. Moody once said, “A good many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is small in which God is the source.”
The Lord is always looking for opportunities to promote us - to take us to a higher calling. The problem is that we’re often so busy trying to promote ourselves that He can’t get a word in edgewise!
Let’s not neglect the little things God has put in our path to do. Help clean the church once a week, bless that neighbor or family member God has put on our heart, share the gospel with a coworker. Those little things will eventually lead to bigger things — don’t you doubt it! There’s so much work to be done!
Matthew 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
When I first gave my life to the Lord, like many of us, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. If God would have shown me, at that time, all the things that would have to change about me, I think I would have gone running for dear life!
Now, here we are, in Israel, a whirlwind of events going on around us, a toddler, a baby on the way, a growing ministry, all the trials you can imagine in relating to a different culture, language, etc. Ha! If you would have shown me this picture back in the days of my rebellion, I think I would have laughed my head off in unbelief!
But that is the Lord’s way. God is a gentleman. He doesn’t show us more than He feels we need to know. He knows that we are weak and He’s merciful enough not to give us more than we can handle. What He desires for us to lay our worries upon Him and trust Him for our future.
God has not given us power to overcome all the problems we have yet to face. He has given us only the power to overcome what faces us today! Just as the children of Israel could collect only enough manna for one day, the power God gives us to face our trials — it only comes one day at a time.
God has so many wonderful adventures ahead for us who love Him and are called according to His purpose — and He will surely give us the strength to endure the trials we’ll face with each adventure. Let’s trust Him only for today’s trials — and let Him worry about the rest!
Increase
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