Secrets of the Extraordinary
Amos answered, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son, but I was a shepherd... The Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
Amos 7:14-15 NIV
I hate to sound like one of those cheesy self-help seminar speakers, but I believe that success rewards those who are prepared. Or I will say that if you want God to use you, put yourself in a position to be used. For instance, if you feel God wants you to open your home to people, keep it clean and in order. Or, if you feel that God wants you to teach, then you should study to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15). Whatever it is that God has placed in your heart, pursue it with prayer, patience, wisdom, planning and tenacity. Be prepared for the thing God is calling you into.
These words may sound well for someone with a strong will, but you may be thinking that you are average at best, merely ordinary. But if you see yourself that way, you underestimate the power of our God! God regularly takes hold of the ordinary and does extraordinary things with them. He uses the seemingly common to confound the intelligent (I Corinthians 1:27). And Amos is just such a man. He is a commoner and by some people’s standards, he is a lowly man being a sheep herder and gardener. And God raised such a man to be a prophet.
Don’t worry about what you think you can do with your own power. If you know God wants you to do something, step out in faith. He will provide what you need to accomplish the task. Don’t worry about coming from the right family or a place of prominence or even the right school. Keep in mind that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). With God, no one comes “from the wrong side of the tracks”. If you place yourself in God's path and are solely at his mercy, He will use you on His own schedule to accomplish the extraordinary.
Come to think of it, I know for sure that there is one position we can assume that will allow God to use us. It is when we are on bended knee.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Don’t quit your day job
Don’t quit your day job
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36 NIV
On the outside, people seem to be pretty relaxed about it. But on the inside, I think there is a lot of turmoil. If there is a cataclysm on December 21st, they will say that those Mayan’s were very smart and that deep down, they always knew they were right. But if nothing happens, they will say that this is proof that all religions are false. Or I should say that for them, it will be one more nail in the coffin of Faith.
Not long ago there was a television personality that brought shame on Christians around the globe. He claimed to have done the math and crunched the numbers. He came up with a date and announced that the world would end on October 21st, 2011. I heard that people actually sold their homes in preparation for the Lord’s return (if the Lord was coming back, why would they need money from the sale of their homes?). As you can see, his prediction was erroneous. And as for the Mayan calendar date of 12/21/12, I say, “Don’t quit your day job.” When speaking of the real end of the age, Jesus says that no one knows the date or time. We are able to tell when the time is near, but we will not have specifics. I would say that one should not worry about doomsday predictions or when the world will end. It is better to think about when “YOUR” world ends, will you be ready?
I hear it all the time. People say that they are, “Good”. But being a good person isn’t good enough. People say that they “do good things.” But there aren’t enough good deeds you can accomplish to secure a place in Heaven. According to the Bible, nothing but the blood of Jesus is sufficient (Hebrews 10:4 & 10). So, ask yourself, “Am I ready to stand in front of God?” Don’t wait for another prediction or for a day that has not been promised, you need to decide today.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Matthew 24:36 NIV
On the outside, people seem to be pretty relaxed about it. But on the inside, I think there is a lot of turmoil. If there is a cataclysm on December 21st, they will say that those Mayan’s were very smart and that deep down, they always knew they were right. But if nothing happens, they will say that this is proof that all religions are false. Or I should say that for them, it will be one more nail in the coffin of Faith.
Not long ago there was a television personality that brought shame on Christians around the globe. He claimed to have done the math and crunched the numbers. He came up with a date and announced that the world would end on October 21st, 2011. I heard that people actually sold their homes in preparation for the Lord’s return (if the Lord was coming back, why would they need money from the sale of their homes?). As you can see, his prediction was erroneous. And as for the Mayan calendar date of 12/21/12, I say, “Don’t quit your day job.” When speaking of the real end of the age, Jesus says that no one knows the date or time. We are able to tell when the time is near, but we will not have specifics. I would say that one should not worry about doomsday predictions or when the world will end. It is better to think about when “YOUR” world ends, will you be ready?
I hear it all the time. People say that they are, “Good”. But being a good person isn’t good enough. People say that they “do good things.” But there aren’t enough good deeds you can accomplish to secure a place in Heaven. According to the Bible, nothing but the blood of Jesus is sufficient (Hebrews 10:4 & 10). So, ask yourself, “Am I ready to stand in front of God?” Don’t wait for another prediction or for a day that has not been promised, you need to decide today.
Friday, December 14, 2012
I have plans for you
I have plans for you
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
It takes no imagination to see the fruition of the grand plans of mankind. One would only need to cast a gaze upon the towers of a big city or to use the smallest of electronic devices. We can hear the plans of musicians or look upon the plotted scrawling of artists. But not all plans are plotted out in benevolence. Malevolent plans brought enslaved Africans to American shores and yet another plan was poured out upon the Jews of Europe during WWII. Most everyone has a plan at work in some way...
I have heard the words, "God has a plan for you" so often that I fear I have lost count. But the repetition of the promise has not caused me to loose confidence in God's ability to design and guide my steps. Though, I admit that I sometimes circumstances push us to ask some hard questions. “Did God plan out our entire existence just to suffer?” - “Did He plan our pain and suffering for ecclesiastical fun?” – “Did He plan the joyous moments too? Did He plot out my specific path to righteousness?”
What plan could God have that would require the death of His son? What grand scheme is worth the pain, suffering and trouble? Let me dare to say that the answer is you. The answer is me. We are the impetus of God's grand plan! The chaos we experience isn’t the plan, peace is the plan. Evil is not God’s plan, the good is His plan. Anticipation and a great future are the ingredients of God’s plan and promise for us.
While you may hold reservations about the plans of mankind, rest assured that God’s plan for us is one where God and mankind both benefit for the good.
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
It takes no imagination to see the fruition of the grand plans of mankind. One would only need to cast a gaze upon the towers of a big city or to use the smallest of electronic devices. We can hear the plans of musicians or look upon the plotted scrawling of artists. But not all plans are plotted out in benevolence. Malevolent plans brought enslaved Africans to American shores and yet another plan was poured out upon the Jews of Europe during WWII. Most everyone has a plan at work in some way...
I have heard the words, "God has a plan for you" so often that I fear I have lost count. But the repetition of the promise has not caused me to loose confidence in God's ability to design and guide my steps. Though, I admit that I sometimes circumstances push us to ask some hard questions. “Did God plan out our entire existence just to suffer?” - “Did He plan our pain and suffering for ecclesiastical fun?” – “Did He plan the joyous moments too? Did He plot out my specific path to righteousness?”
What plan could God have that would require the death of His son? What grand scheme is worth the pain, suffering and trouble? Let me dare to say that the answer is you. The answer is me. We are the impetus of God's grand plan! The chaos we experience isn’t the plan, peace is the plan. Evil is not God’s plan, the good is His plan. Anticipation and a great future are the ingredients of God’s plan and promise for us.
While you may hold reservations about the plans of mankind, rest assured that God’s plan for us is one where God and mankind both benefit for the good.
Friday, December 7, 2012
His Heart
His Heart
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Ezekiel 33:11 NIV
I think it is a misconception to think that God loves the believer more than the unbeliever. I think that our minds are still very much in tune with the idea that performance and position deserve special merit. We think that because of our position in Christ, we deserve more of God's love than "sinners". And nothing could be farther from the truth. God's love for "us" and "them" is the same. And dare I say that love for the lost overwhelms God to the point that He would leave the ninety-nine in search of the one.
Jesus said that he came to do the will of his father (John 6:38). And in light of those words, you can find the heart of God in the expressions and actions of Christ. Jesus said that he came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). I am not looking for the healthy, but the sick (Mark 2:17). And if you follow the actions of Christ to the end you would find not only healing, not only a cross for the removal of sin and not only a promise of resurrection, but you will uncover the nearness of Christ (Mark 28:20).
One of the things that I am learning to love most about God is that His love does not stop at acquiring the bad and turning them into His own. His love goes on to attract the wicked and the base of our society. I think that every thing that goes on in the heart of God has at its roots, the reconciliation of mankind to Himself.
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Ezekiel 33:11 NIV
I think it is a misconception to think that God loves the believer more than the unbeliever. I think that our minds are still very much in tune with the idea that performance and position deserve special merit. We think that because of our position in Christ, we deserve more of God's love than "sinners". And nothing could be farther from the truth. God's love for "us" and "them" is the same. And dare I say that love for the lost overwhelms God to the point that He would leave the ninety-nine in search of the one.
Jesus said that he came to do the will of his father (John 6:38). And in light of those words, you can find the heart of God in the expressions and actions of Christ. Jesus said that he came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). I am not looking for the healthy, but the sick (Mark 2:17). And if you follow the actions of Christ to the end you would find not only healing, not only a cross for the removal of sin and not only a promise of resurrection, but you will uncover the nearness of Christ (Mark 28:20).
One of the things that I am learning to love most about God is that His love does not stop at acquiring the bad and turning them into His own. His love goes on to attract the wicked and the base of our society. I think that every thing that goes on in the heart of God has at its roots, the reconciliation of mankind to Himself.
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