“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring… He is the father of us all.” —ROMANS 4:16

Throughout generations and millenniums, God has raised up people from every walk of life who have a relentless desire to serve Him. They are people of prayer, dedicated to doing business with God, dependent on Him and obedient to Him. And this is the heartbeat of God. 

Before the foundations of the earth were laid, God had His plan in place. Paul tells us, “For he chose us in him (Christ) before the creation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4). God’s plan began with Abraham who saw the day of our Lord and rejoiced in it. Ever since, God’s strategy has been through His people, but it is a two-way street in which there are blessings God gives us, but also our responsibility of obedience to Him.

From the above verse, we can conclude three imperatives which apply to every Christian. The first is that the promises of God must be aligned with the purposes of God. There is always the temptation to claim the promise and detach it from its divine purpose. God’s promise to Abraham was not simply to make his name great or their nation great, but out of that richness, to become a blessing to the world. As it was for Abraham, all the blessings we receive are designed to make us a blessing to others. 

The second imperative is the fruit of a ministry must be aligned with the root of the ministry. The history of Israel experiencing the desired fruit for which God had called them was to the measure they remained connected with the root. In the church of Jesus Christ today, we go back to the New Testament to know and understand our responsibilities. The book of Acts, the Gospels and epistles are our reference point from which we derive our objectives. A church that changes its identity and purpose will eventually wither and die. We need, of course, to keep adjusting our approach to the demands of the day, but they must always be true to the root, which is the word of God. 

The third imperative is that direction from God must be aligned with dependence on God. The “you wills” stated to Abraham were utterly dependent on the “I wills” that God had said about Himself. A key verse we need to believe and trust is, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Abraham was credited with righteousness because of his faith and dependence on God, and as God promised, he became a blessing to the world. No one ever regrets serving God, because we are not only deeply enriched by our service to Him, but we become a blessing to others.

Dear Heavenly Father, grant me a heart so deeply aligned with yours that becoming a blessing to others takes precedence in my life. Thank You, God. 

How has God blessed me and in what ways can I pass that on?

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”—GENESIS 12:2-3

In the above passage, there are two things we need to look for. There are the particulars, which include the personalities, the place, and the purpose. From historical context, there are also principles which extend more widely and deeply that are relevant beyond the immediate context.

Israel was to be a great nation that would receive remarkable blessings from God. But the end purpose of those blessings was that they would bless the people of the world. 

The mistake the descendants of Abraham made was to read only the parts of the promise they rejoiced in. “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great.” Rather than being transmitters of the blessing to the world, they saw themselves primarily as the recipients of the blessing, and to such an extent that it became their quest in life.

Throughout the history of the Israelite people, they had adopted an elite sense of being God’s chosen, which they were, but for what purpose? To be a blessing to the world. They had failed to go under the surface and out to the edges of the particulars to look at the much wider and far more enduring principle of becoming a blessing to the world.

The fulfillment of God’s promise was in sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through the line of Abraham, who would become the means of blessing the world. 

Abraham’s calling was not only for his life or for his descendents, but for multiple generations that would follow, including every tongue, every nation, every tribe. Alongside God’s responsibilities, which are His promises and always the greater part to uphold, are the responsibilities of Abraham, which involved obedience. In the Christian life, we have to have both. There is an “in with Christ” and an “out to people”; in for worship and out for witness; in for sustenance and out for service; in for blessing, out for battle; in for resources and out for responsibilities. All these must be kept in good balance together.

If we are serious about doing business with God, we need to get connected to our world; to get interested and active so that we may become a blessing to it. And in turn, God blesses us, but the richness, depth and lifegiving nature of His blessings become greater the more we become a blessing to others.

Dear Lord, lead me into the much wider path of this world and help me to become a blessing to others. Thank You, Lord.

Do I look past my own blessings to see how I can turn them into blessings for others?

“And a voice from heaven said, ’This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased’” —MATTHEW 3:17

Three things every child needs to hear from their parents: “You are mine, I love you, and I am pleased with you.” When Jesus came out of the water after His baptism, this is precisely what the Father had said to His Son.

This is extremely relevant to us because if Jesus’ baptism is a picture of our union with Him, what is true of Him, becomes true of us. He was made to be sin and in Him we are made the righteousness of God. What does God say to us in our position of being united to Christ? He says, “You are mine. I love you. I am pleased with you.” In Ephesians 1:5, Paul says, “…he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ…” And to the Galatians, Paul writes, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). 

God has only one begotten Son and by being united with Him, we share in His Sonship. This is true whether male or female. It is about our position before God, which is entirely different from our performance. We tend to think our position is a result of performance, but our performance, whether living rightly or wrongly, does not create our position before God, nor undermine it. It is the reverse; our position in Christ is the source of our performance.

For many people, it is difficult to believe God is pleased with us, but He is pleased for the reason we are united to His Son and clothed in His righteousness. 1 John 4:17 says, “This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.” Why are we like Him? Because there was a day when Christ was like us, taking upon Himself all our sin, and paying the penalty on the cross. The consequence of this is that the death and burial leads to a resurrection in which we have new life, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 

As God was pleased with Jesus, He is pleased with us. Though we may not feel this way, it is a fact we need to believe and trust. It is a gift of God through faith in Him, and we can go into the world to live that relationship of being reconciled to God, in which He says of us, “You are mine. I love you and I am pleased with you.”

Dear Precious Lord, thank You for loving me, and as undeserving as I am, giving me a righteous standing whereby I am yours and You are pleased with me.  

Do I often tell my children these three things? Do I ever tell my children these things?

“So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” —EXODUS 3:8

The deliverance of the Hebrew people from bondage out of Egypt is the most frequently told story throughout all of Scripture. The reason is because it is full of typology, which is pictures and foreshadowing of the Messiah who was to come.

Egypt is portrayed as slavery to sin; the Passover Lamb is Jesus Christ, and crossing the Red Sea is a picture of baptism. Going into the sea symbolizes death to the old life, and coming out on the other side depicts resurrection to new life. When the people needed water, God told Moses to take his staff and strike the rock at Horeb. Water came out of the rock, and Paul says, “That rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). Canaan, the land they were going to, is portrayed in Hebrews as ‘resting in the fullness of God’.

The journey from Egypt to Canaan should have taken eleven days, but it took forty years. Like the Israelites, we often get stuck in our Christian lives and make little progress, if any. To know what God has in mind for us, we need to look at the purpose of the Exodus. God did not deliver Israel because He wanted to get the taskmasters off their backs. When they came out of the Red Sea, He did not wipe His brow, and say, “Phew! Mission accomplished!” Getting out of Egypt was not an end itself.

God’s purpose in delivering the Israelites was in order to bring them into Canaan, where they would fulfill the covenant God made with their forefathers. It was to re-establish the original purpose for which He had set Israel apart, in which they would become a blessing to the world. Many times in the wilderness, God reminded them of His purpose. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God” (Leviticus 25:38).

The reason God delivered His people from bondage is the same reason He delivers us from sin. It is not that we may be forgiven, cleansed and one day go to heaven. These are wonderful aspects of the Gospel, but the purpose is as Paul says in Ephesians 3:17, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Entering the land of Canaan is a beautiful portrayal of our resting in the sufficiency of Christ. It is a land rich in resources where we live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and come to know and experience God. The goal of the Gospel is not to get us out of hell and into heaven, but to get God out of heaven and into people.

Dear Father, thank You for your wonderful plan of indwelling us, and giving us the sufficiency of Christ for all we need. 

Have I entered into the land of Canaan or am I stuck in the wilderness?

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!”—REVELATION 3:15

The fruitfulness of the church corporately is dependent upon the life of Christ, but what about each of us individually? Many people are neither hot nor cold when it comes to serving Christ. They are stuck in the “in between”, not sure of what is involved or where it will take them. There are three basic responses we can make. We can say, “I can’t do this”, “I won’t do this” or “I will do this”. 

The most common response God heard was, “I can’t do this.” Abraham said, “I’m too old.” Moses said, “Who am I that the people will listen to me?” Joshua, David, Gideon, Jeremiah and many others, including the disciples, were of the same mind, “I can’t do this.” Most of us completely identify with that. Though God has gifted us in our own unique way, we still feel apprehensive and ill-equipped. 

Jesus fully anticipated the “I can’t” response. In the three years He spent with His disciples, He was not teaching programs or techniques, but revealing to them their weaknesses and bankruptcy. At the end of the story of the Gospels, the disciples are left in an extremely vulnerable position. Jesus ascended to heaven, leaving them utterly aware of their fears and powerlessness. But He had also instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they would be clothed with power from on high. That came ten days later on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured down from heaven. 

In His last words to His disciples, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.... And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus is not giving them marching orders so that when they arrived in heaven, He could say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” He is saying, “I am intimately involved in this process. I will be all you need and I will do this through you.”

That is the whole point for which the Holy Spirit indwells us. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). How did the Father send Him? In utter dependence on Him. Jesus does not send us into the world with a handbook, but is Himself the source of everything we need. Left to our own devices, it is absolutely true we cannot make disciples, but Jesus never said we could. It is He who can, and He will take us out of that “in between”, and enable us in our own unique way to become soul winners!

Dear Lord, I pray for a deeper work of your Spirit to direct, enable and equip me to become a soul winner. Thank You, Lord.    

Am I dependent on the Holy Spirit in my witness for Christ?

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” —COLOSSIANS 3:12 & 14

The heart is the core of our being, the seat of where the mind, the will and emotions come together and form the basis of character. As discipline of the mind and the will are to be applied in the Christian life, how does one apply discipline of emotion, especially in the world we live in today?

We can turn on the news any day of the week and hear again and again how corruption and greed are the currency of our times. On every level we can think that our world is in strife. War, calamity, crime, disease, abuse and poverty are rampant all over the globe. Though we claim to be rich in knowledge, equipped with the most sophisticated technology and a wealth of natural resources, the desperate state of humanity only appears to escalate. It is no surprise we shake our heads and wonder what this world is coming to. 

There are many New Testament verses that speak of how Jesus was filled with compassion. His mission was not a cold, calculated agenda for the salvation of souls, but it was the ultimate expression of a sovereign God’s love for us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That is probably one of the first verses many of us learned because God is love.      

A disciplined heart comes spontaneously when love for Christ permeates our lives. Something deep inside us resonates with the heart of God and we grieve the suffering of others. Stephen Olford, a 20th century Christian leader, was asked, “What is the secret of ministry?” He replied, “Bent knees, wet eyes, a broken heart.” The needs of our broken world can only be met by people with broken hearts.   

Until we feel the pressure of God’s compassion deeply within our souls, we will not fully participate in the work of God. We will not weep over other people if we do not weep over ourselves first. It is this brokenness, the very depth of touching the heart of God, and God touching our hearts that will sustain and energize us. We are actually fed by our tears. It is not out of pity, but out of genuine sorrow and compassion that the love of Christ within us becomes a driving force. When our hearts are united with Him and His agenda, we are clothed in compassion and become the instruments where God is at work in this world.

Precious Lord, be the means in me that will make a difference. Clothe me in compassion and allow me to share your heart. 

How deeply am I affected by the troubled state of this world?

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” —COLOSSIANS 3:5

God has given us minds, the means by which He directs our will. This involves not only a discipline of the mind, but of the will, whereby our genuine desire is to put to death anything that is not of God, but of our earthly natures. 

Paul says, “For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Paul is not talking about attitudes and behaviors, but about our position before God. It is past tense. We have died. When? Over 2,000 years ago, outside the city walls of Jerusalem. “I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul says (Galatians 2:20). In Romans 6:3-4, he explains in more detail. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4).

To put it simply, what is true of Jesus, becomes true of us, because as Christians, we are united to Christ. There was also a day when what was true of us became true of Christ. He was made sin so that we may be resurrected to new life; one that displays the righteousness of Christ. Paul tells us, “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Colossians 3:8).   

What we need to do, Paul is saying, is to knock these things on the head; get rid of them, because they are contrary to the nature of Jesus Christ who is seeking to express Himself in our lives. Our will has to be involved, because we cannot live the Christian life simply drifting and hoping it is going to work out well. The drift will always be away from Christ to where it is most pleasurable and convenient. We live in a strongly secular world, so discipline of the will is essential to put to death anything inconsistent with God.

The Christian life is lived in relationship with Jesus. In dependence on Him, our lives are intended to display the fruit of the Spirit - not the fruit of the Christian, but of the Spirit, which are only spiritually possible - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control” (Galatians 5:22-23). In verse 25, Paul adds, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit,” and that requires discipline of the will.

Dear Lord, I ask for your help in putting to death anything about me that displeases You. Help me day by day to live in the strength of your Spirit. Thank You, Lord.    

Do I have the desire to get rid of things in my life that are not of God?

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” —COLOSSIANS 3:2

If our Christian diet consists of listening to a sermon once a week, we will be utterly bored and frustrated with the Christian life. Christ will not be the one we are looking to for direction, because we simply will not know enough. Our minds will mostly be set on pragmatic issues of earning a living, paying the bills, and that too can be frustrating.

Paul tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). The temptation today is to opt for the quick, easy fix, bypassing the process of renewing our minds, and simply coasting on the good we feel from attending church. Our minds, however, are the initial avenue through which the Gospel message is processed. “I am a sinner, but I am forgiven, cleansed and saved because Christ died for me. I have risen to new life with Him, am indwelt by His Spirit, and now live in dependence upon Him.” This has to go through our thinking before it registers in our hearts. 

1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” The hope we have is “Christ in us”, but in addition to knowing this is true, we need to understand why it is true. As we explain it to others, it becomes implanted in their minds and reinforced in our own. Talking about the things of God is extremely important, because the more we do, the more we understand. 

We can only set our minds on the things above when we know what the things above are. Paul says, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly…” (Colossians 3:16). The things above are what God has revealed to us in His word, and to know His word, is to know the mind and heart of God. If our minds are set on earthly things, we will be limited to our own ingenuity and resources. We will work apart from our Creator and that is a frightening thought for a true believer in Christ. Be transformed by the renewing of our minds; setting our thoughts daily on the things of God, and they will settle into our hearts where change takes place and where our lives begin to make sense.

Dear Lord, grant me an increasing appetite for your word, and through it, a deeper understanding and revelation of You. Thank You, Lord.

How could I better set my mind on the things of God?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” —2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

Most of us are familiar with the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. That may be true, but if that is our philosophy regarding our Christian lives, we will end up settling for routine with very little expectation of change. But what if we were to change the dog?

When we read through the New Testament, we find that it is full of expectancy of growth and change. Paul writes, “…since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:9-10). The goal of the Christian life, as Paul states here, is that we be renewed in the image of our Creator.
 
The problem is that although Christ has come to live within us, we still retain our sinful natures. If we try to live the new life by the old dog; that is by human effort, we will never be able to change, because there are two competing forces at work in our lives. We have the natural, earthly nature, but we also have been raised with Christ and indwelt by His Spirit. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so you do not do whatever you want.”  

We cannot evangelize the old nature or live the Christian life by the old nature or even try to sanctify it. This is the civil war taking place within every Christian, and here is the dilemma: Earthly things are visible and natural, but heavenly things are invisible and supernatural. The default position to which we constantly revert is the natural. We want to live by what is normal, but in reducing the Christian life to what is normal, we will simply be living by what we can do for Jesus, rather than something He, alone, will do through us.

Paul says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ, you have been brought to fullness” (Colossians 2:9-10). This is what the Gospel is ultimately about, living in the fullness of Christ. “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught…” (2:6-7). This requires discipline of the mind, the will and the heart, but in bringing Christ in, we become new creatures, and it will be His character that will begin to be expressed in us and through us.

Dear Lord, help me to live in your strength and to overcome any desires of the flesh that are not in line with your will. Thank You, Lord.   

How is the battle of the flesh against the Spirit going in my life? 

“Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” —GENESIS 13:12-13

The Christian life is not one in which we remain static. We either digress or progress, as clearly illustrated in the lives of both Abraham and his nephew, Lot. Lot is a sidebar story of Abraham, a minor player who lives vicariously through Abraham. He had travelled with Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran where they settled for years. They then journeyed to Canaan, but threatened by a severe famine, set out for Egypt, then eventually back to Canaan. Lot never emerged from the shadow of Abraham. 

In Canaan, they parted company because their flocks, herds and possessions were so great the land could not support them both. Abraham gives Lot his choice of land, and he takes the lush, green plain of the Jordan, leaving his uncle with the tough, barren land. Lot then heads east and pitches his tents near Sodom, a city immersed in debauchery and sin. Before long, he is captured by invading powers, rescued by Abraham, and returned to Sodom, this time seated in the gateway of the city. This was a prominent place for city officials as they could keep watch on the comings and goings of the people, and could be readily sought out for counsel. Lot is no longer outside the camp of Sodom, but is now one of its leaders; an influential man who does not counter the depravity and corruption of Sodom, but becomes an active participant.

What is the cause of this moral decay in a man who had travelled for years with Abraham? If one were to have asked Lot what he believed about God, he would have probably given the correct answer, because what he knew is what Abraham knew. His faith was merely a spin off of Abraham’s, a man who experienced and knew God, but Lot simply experiences God through the life of Abraham. His motivations were not related to God, but to himself. Once they parted company, Lot had lost his moorings and had no secure direction in which to navigate. 

The work of God in other people’s lives can never be a substitute for our own walk with God. No one can be saved on the coattails of someone else, not even our spouses. God has no grandchildren. The Christian life is a relationship with Jesus Christ, dealing directly with Him. We can be pitching our tents near Sodom, giving the devil plenty of room to maneuver, or we can be anchored in the Lord, allowing Him to navigate our way.

Dear Lord, keep me from the gates of Sodom. Be my strength in times of temptation and anchor my life in You. Thank You, Lord.

Who would I say is navigating the course of my life?

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’.” —MATTHEW 16:24

Consider the following event that took place a number of decades ago. A terrorist involved in the hijacking of an overseas flight was holding a gun to a flight attendant’s head. Death for him was imminent, and the flight attendant asked him, “Are you not afraid to die?” He answered, “No”, and said he had died the day he committed to the organization he belonged to. Here, we have an illustration of shedding one’s life to the point of extreme fanaticism, however wrongly channeled.  

Further to the verse above, Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25). ‘Losing your life’ does not mean physical death, as in the above scenario, nor does it mean becoming a martyr, as there is no virtue in martyrdom itself. It is the cause we believe in that compels us, and like the skin of a serpent, our old selves are shed to make way for the new.

To take up our cross, as Jesus did in obedience to His Father, is an illustration of the challenge we face in becoming true disciples of Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for me”, not for ourselves or any other agenda but His, will “find life”. In order to find life, we must come to the position where all that is oriented around us - our agendas, egos and desires are relinquished to the will and purposes of God. This is a process in which the indwelling Spirit of Christ sets Himself in the midst of our sin, weaknesses and failure to bring about His will and purpose for us. Paul sums it up when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). 

To live with a genuine desire to serve Christ will lead us into an inner battle in which the flesh continuously fights against the Spirit. Externally, it will lead us into opposition, adversity and persecution for which we must be prepared. Again, like the skin of a serpent, our preoccupations, indulgences and egos are shed to make way for new life and new purpose. When our convictions and commitment are united with Christ, we are secure in Him, not only in our daily living, but for all He has called us to do. He is the empowerment, direction, wisdom and strength operating within us. On Christ’s agenda is where we find true and lasting joy from the deepest part of our hearts.

Dear Father, grant me your strength to shed my own ego and agenda so that I may be filled with the life of Jesus and His will for me. 

How far will I let myself die to bring the Lord’s fulfillment in my life?

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” —1 CORINTHIANS 12:13

God not only has plans for this world, but in this world. Every new day brings an outworking of the purposes and plans of God, but how are they accomplished? The remarkable answer is that His plans are primarily accomplished through ordinary people.

As Christians, we share in the outworking of those plans by virtue of being ‘in Christ’. Two things take place simultaneously when a person becomes a Christian. Christ comes to live in that person and that person comes to live in Christ. We understand on the basis of repentance and faith, Christ comes to live in us by His Holy Spirit, but it is equally important to understand what it means for us to be ‘in Christ’.

Before we became Christians, we were spiritually dead, separated from the life of God. After becoming Christians, we received the resurrected life of Christ to indwell us, and become spiritually alive. With Christ living in us, we now become members of one corporate body, the church of which Christ is the Head. He is our source of power, but severed from Christ, there is no spiritual life or power. The emphasis of ‘Christ in us’ is not just that we have life, but we now have power. Christ in us gives power, but ourselves in Christ gives purpose. Christ in us gives resources, but ourselves in Christ gives responsibilities. Christ in us is personal, but ourselves in Christ is corporate. 
 
This union with Christ is such that the church is described as being His body, the actual physical being through which His life and purposes continue to be expressed and accomplished. As Christians, we became the instruments by which God does His work on earth. In addition, we have an inheritance in Christ, which is Christ Himself, and the unlimited resources that come with being in Him. 

Christ also has an inheritance in us. On the Day of Pentecost, not only did the disciples receive the life of Christ to indwell them, but Christ received a new body; new hands to work with, new feet to walk with, new lips to speak with and new hearts to love with. This was the effect of Pentecost, God’s creation of a new body, consisting of every believer that is the vehicle through which the life, character, activity and purposes of Jesus Christ are manifested.

I pray, Lord, that my life becomes strongly and deeply indwelt by your Spirit, so that You will use me for your work in this world. Thank You, Lord.   

Do I consider myself an active participant in God’s agenda? 

“…she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man. That is why a man will leave his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”—GENESIS 2:23-24

The word ‘man’ in the above verse means humanity, not the male species, but the human species. God created man, a singular unit, and the human race as one entity. It then becomes plural, “male and female, he created them.” So there is one humanity made up of two genders, male and female. Genesis, Chapter 2 gives a more detailed account of the creation of man. He is created from the dust of the ground, in common with the animal kingdom, but then God breathes His own breath into him. This is not physical life, but spiritual life, which is meant to inhabit the human soul. In this sense, human beings are unique amongst all of God’s creation.

In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” and there are three basic reasons. Firstly, man was made a spiritual being; he needed the life of God to indwell Him. Secondly, he is a social being, needing a relationship with God, with people and with other living things. Thirdly, man is a sexual being. As a male, he needed a female, so God put Adam into a deep sleep and took one of his ribs and made a woman out of it. 

Now the question arises, why did God not make Eve from the dust of the ground as He did with Adam? The reason is because it demonstrates their unity. They were created from one flesh into two separate individuals, separate genders. Adam is so surprised by this that when he wakes up and sees Eve, he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…” (Genesis 2:23). He immediately recognizes Eve is part of him.  

The first command God gives Adam and Eve is ‘be fruitful and multiply’. As they produce children, their children will eventually leave their father and mother and have families of their own. This becomes the bedrock of society. The union of two equal parts will create a new life, which carries on throughout generations. 

Marriage is a sacred union ordained by God, but sadly, marriages are falling apart at a faster rate than ever before. God has built an ethic around moral structure and discipline, but that has moved to one characterized primarily by what is easier for us. Marriage is the union of husband and wife, which is intended to be lived together in union with Christ. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” In bringing the love of Christ into our marriages and homes, we not only keep the bedrock of society intact, but we keep our families together.

Dear Lord, thank You for designing the bedrock of society in which we are greatly blessed with family.     

Am I bringing the love of God into my marriage, especially when times are tough? 

“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say’.” —ACTS 2:14

All valid preaching is standing up with the apostles. The Christian church was born at Pentecost, and the very first sermon ever given was by Peter, who stood with the eleven other apostles. Throughout the history of the church, the apostles are given a special place of authority. Ephesians 2:20 speaks of the church being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. 

Preaching is the unfolding of the apostolic message, and is under the anointing of the Spirit of God. It is designed to enable people to hear the voice of God, beyond the voice of the preacher. When we take the inspired word of God under the anointing of the Spirit of God for the purpose of hearing the voice of God something happens. People meet with God and lives are saved and transformed.   

Good preaching is not backed up by Scripture, but comes out of Scripture. There are all kinds of ideas with many different verses that will back them, but the verses are usually taken out of context. The truth must come out of Scripture and not, “here’s the truth”, and then show passages to back it up. 

Noted theologian and author, James Packer, says of Paul’s preaching: “Paul, in his own estimation was not a philosopher, a moralist, or one of the world’s wise men, but simply Christ’s herald. His Master had given him a message to proclaim and his whole business was to deliver that message with exact and studious faithfulness, adding nothing, altering nothing and omitting nothing. He was to deliver it not as another of people’s bright ideas, but as a word from God, spoken in Christ’s name, carrying Christ’s authority, and authenticated in the hearers by the convincing power of Christ’s Spirit.”

Jesus Christ is the Truth which all of Scripture bears witness to. If preaching doesn’t lead to Christ, then it may be philosophizing or moralizing, but it is not preaching. A good preacher will ask, “What is it I am saying about Christ? How is Christ released in this message?” It will have the ring of authority and confidence to it as it is not the preacher making the claim, but the truth he is preaching, and the truth originates from God. Preaching is much more than giving information. It has to go through the mind, penetrate the heart and motivate the will where we are compelled to do something. In other words, this message involves us. What does this message mean, leads to an explanation of the Gospel, and compels us to do something that leads to the application of it in our lives.

Thank You, Lord, for the Apostles and all the men and women of God who have devoted their lives to passing the Gospel on with clarification and conviction.  

Am I moved in my heart with the Gospel message and compelled to do something?

“You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” —MATTHEW 13:14

Jesus quoted the above verse from the book of Isaiah just after He had told ‘the Parable of the Sower’. A farmer sowed his seed, and some fell along the path where birds came along and ate it. Some fell on rocky places and sprang up quickly, but the plants were scorched by the sun and withered, because the soil was shallow and the plants did not take root. Other seed landed among thorns and choked the plants, while still other seed fell on good soil, and produced crops a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Jesus then explained the parable. The seed is the word of God and the soil it falls on is the condition of our hearts. The seed that falls on the path falls on a heart that does not understand the word of God, and the evil one snatches it away. The seed that lands on rocky places and sprouts is the heart that receives the word of God with joy, but because it does not take root, quickly withers and dies in times of hardship and testing. The seed that falls among thorns is the heart that hears the word of God, but is choked by every day worries and pressures. The seed that falls on good soil is the heart receptive to the word of God, which then takes root and yields a plentiful crop. 

Just before His ascension, Jesus said to His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Preaching holds a prominent place in the New Testament, but in recent years has suffered substantial image problems. There was a time when it was customary for a person to stand up and preach, because books were not easily accessible. Today we are more sophisticated, pluralistic, educated and supposedly wiser, so the general consensus is that no one has the right to tell anyone what they should believe. Therefore, preaching of the word of God for many people is a relic of a bygone age and considered no longer relevant. 

Of this disposition, Jesus again quotes Isaiah, “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes” (Matthew 13:15). The effect of this parable sifts and divides those who have an appetite for God from those who do not. It deals with our response to the word of God, which grows and expands through the preaching of it. The life is in the seed, not in the soil. Hearing God is not about intellectual ability, but has everything to do with the disposition of the heart.

Dear Lord, I pray my heart will always be open and receptive to your word, and that your Holy Spirit gives me understanding. Thank You, Lord. 

What is the condition of my heart when it comes to God’s word?

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” —MATTHEW 16:19

Prayer is a mystery for many of us. We reason this way: if God knows everything, what is the point of telling Him anything? If God is sovereign, as He is, and has good plans, as He does, what is the point of making suggestions? His own plans cannot be improved upon, so why should we not simply pray, “Your will be done,” and leave the details to Him? To understand why conveying our thoughts to God is necessary, we need to go back to the Garden of Eden.

In the beginning, God gave man dominion over the earth and all life within it. His intention was that man would rule the earth, but in dependence on Him. Adam and Eve acted independently of God, and the consequence was that God withdrew His Spirit from humankind. A spiritual change took place in which we are separated from the life of God, and cease to possess the resources designed to enable us to function as God intended. However, the responsibility of dominion over the earth was not withdrawn, and that is why prayer is so essential. We may keep God out or we can bring Him in. God is not reluctant to give, and prayer is bringing God into the situation, not to get Him to serve us, but that His will may be done and His agenda fulfilled. 

The principle contained in the verse above is that all God’s plans from heaven implemented on earth are accomplished through His church. As the church binds and looses, heaven binds and looses. The Greek structure of this statement is presented in perfect future tense; that is literally whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven; binding being negative aspects and loosening, the positive. The church does not dictate or create the agenda for heaven, but the will and intentions of heaven are fulfilled through the church. 

We cannot make God do what He does not wish to do, but we can prevent Him from doing what He would do by grieving the Holy Spirit. Scripture speaks of God’s people who ‘vexed or limited the Holy One of Israel’ (Psalm 78:41). It is the activity of the church that is the vehicle for the activity of heaven on earth, and we grieve the Holy Spirit by acting in independence of God. As Christians, we are the church, and therefore, the means by which God is brought in is through prayer, so that His purpose may be accomplished both in us and through us.

Dear Lord, thank You for the incredible privilege of talking directly with You. You know the desires of my heart, and I pray they will always be in line with your will.

Is my praying in line with the will of God?

“If you love me, keep my commands.” —JOHN 14:15

God expresses His love in many ways; goodness, compassion, patience, forgiveness, but perhaps the most challenging for us is through obedience. Many Christians will attest to their darkest times being when they had stepped out of the will of God. It may have been tough, but it can also be a turning point in which our best lessons are learned.  

In addition to loving God, our obedience to Him is a condition of experiencing God’s love. Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21). The love God has for us becomes experiential in the context of our obedience to Him. That may sound legalistic, but our obedience to God is saying, “Lord, I want to live in such a way as to please and honor you.” And as we do, God says, “I will show myself.” That is experiential.

In the parable Jesus told of the ‘Prodigal Son’, the son was disobedient in dishonoring his father by asking for his share of the inheritance. In Jewish culture, this was greatly offensive as it implied the son wished his father dead, but at very high risk, the father gave his son his share of the estate. In a foreign land, the son squandered his money, and found himself feeding pigs, and longing for the pods he fed them. He then came to his senses. “I will set out and go back to my father, and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’” (Luke 15:18-19). The father joyfully greeted him, and said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found” (15:22-24).
 
God will take the same risk with us. If we persist in disobedience, He will let us go, but nothing changes in His attitude toward us. He never ceases to love us, and in tough love, He waits patiently for a change of heart. Wherever we are, God will meet us. The father in the parable paints a beautiful portrait of our heavenly Father. He gets the robe, the ring, the sandals, and welcomes us back with open arms. It is in humble obedience to God that we greatly experience His love.

Your grace is amazing, Lord. Thank You for loving me even in my disobedience and most of all, for bringing me back into your fold.  

Has disobedience brought me back to God in a deeper way?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” —MARK 12:30

There are many verses in Scripture that talk about the love of God, but perhaps the most profound statement is found in 1 John 4:8 & 16, which say, “God is love”. Love is not one of God’s functioning attributes as is His omniscience (all knowing), or omnipotence (all powerful), but is His very being. The fact that God loves us is one of the fundamental truths about Him, but for some that may seem a distant reality. There is, however, a difference in God loving us and us experiencing His love. 

Experiencing God’s love does not come automatically. By definition, love is relational. We can love someone deeply, but if that love is not reciprocated, it only produces pain. Genesis 6:5-6 speaks of God’s own experience. “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on earth and his heart was filled with pain.” The reason is quite clear. The people did not love Him back, and that was demonstrated in their wickedness and sin.

On the other hand, to be loved by someone and not know it also means there is no experience of that person’s love. In order to experience the love of God, we need to come to know Him, which is only possible in relationship with Him. Jesus tells us to love our God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength. What this means is that everything we do; everything our energy is engaged in and every ambition we hold, will in some way say, “I love God.”  

Jesus also said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Even in the best of times, we will admit that is not always easy, but our relationship with others is intricately related to our relationship with God. If we picture the cross, and envision the vertical as the relationship we have with God, it meets at the core and heart of the horizontal, which reaches outwards to the relationship we have with others. The relationship with God and with others cannot be separated. One is an expression of the other, and when we believe, as Jesus teaches, when He calls us, He empowers us. We are all loved by God, but if we do not respond to His love, there can be no experience of His love.

Dear Precious Lord, thank You for the many ways I experience your love, but especially for giving me Jesus who is my life.        

Am I expressing my love for God in relationship with others?

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” —JOHN 1:29

John was baptizing people from all over the land who were repentant and looking for forgiveness of their sins. One day, at the Jordan River, Jesus joined the line up of people, waiting to be baptized. We know from Matthew’s Gospel that this took John by surprise. Matthew 3:14 says, “John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’” In other words, “If this is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, what are You doing in the line of sinners?” Jesus had no sin and therefore no need of forgiveness. So why was Jesus baptized? 

Isaiah 53:12 says of Jesus, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” This came to fulfillment on the cross, but it began at the outset of His ministry. Jesus lined up with everyone else to be baptized, identifying Himself with our sin and need to be forgiven. He is taking the place of the sinner, looking forward to what He later called ‘a baptism that I am to be baptized with’, which was His death, burial and resurrection. 

Our baptism is identifying with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Going down into the water is symbolic of dying with Christ; submerged in the water of being buried with Christ, and coming out of the water being raised with Christ. The act of baptism is not something additional to the Gospel, but is a portrayal of the Gospel. The outward act was designed to portray the inner spiritual truth and reality of our union with Christ. Though we cannot attribute any virtue to the act of baptism itself as it does not unite us to Christ, it is an important event in the life of a believer, because it openly declares our union with Christ in such a way that what is true of Him becomes true of us. 

Jesus Christ stepped into the place we deserve (the place of death), so that we might step into the place He alone deserves, which is the place of being totally right with the Father. His baptism is a foreshadowing of everything that is going to become the outworking of the Christian life. Our baptism looks back on what Christ made possible, and His baptism looks forward to what He has made possible. As a man on earth, the Holy Spirit operated in Him and through Him, bringing benefit and blessing to others. God is committed to the same process in us, and the act of baptism is symbolic of our union with Christ, which makes that possible. And being united to Christ is the essence of the Gospel.

Heavenly Father, thank You for all You have done for us and given us in Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Is it time for me to be baptized?

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” —PHILIPPIANS 1:4-6

Paul and Silas were imprisoned in Philippi in Macedonia. They had been dragged to the marketplace, stripped, scourged, cast in a dungeon and locked in stocks, but were also praising and worshipping God while other prisoners listened. Around midnight, a sudden earthquake erupted; doors swung open, shackles fell off and prisoners were free to escape, but remarkably, none did. The jailor called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:29-30)

We all need saving, and not some more than others, but all of us in the same way to the same degree. There are no ‘maybe’ salvations, no middle ground. We all fall short of the glory of God, and cannot save ourselves. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” Paul and Silas answered. The jailor listened to the Gospel, and along with other prisoners believed. He then brought Paul and Silas home with him, washed their wounds and set a meal before them. Before the night was over, his entire household believed and all were indwelt by the Spirit of Christ and baptized. 

How do we know if the Spirit of Christ is indwelling us? Paul tells us to, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). What would we be examining? What are we looking for? As exemplified by the jailor’s subsequent care of Paul and Silas, the way we live, our attitudes and behaviors give valid evidence to the presence of Christ in our lives. Part of what we will begin to recognize is that we now have an appetite for the things of God that we never had before, or it may be that appetite has been reawakened.

Paul is known as the “Apostle of the heart set free,” because he did not mandate rules, methods or programs, but taught freedom from them by receiving the life of Christ to be lived in us; not Christ plus various things… Christ alone. Paul looked back on his new converts with joy and looked forward with confidence, because he knew he could take himself out of the equation, and God would complete in them the good work He had started. Paul’s strategy was simply this: “I left you Jesus”, because it is Jesus alone who saves and brings us to Himself.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the precious gift of Jesus. I pray His indwelling Spirit will bring me into a deeper knowledge and experience of You. 

What was my first indication of the indwelling of Christ in me?

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” —2 CORINTHIANS 12:7

Contrary to what many believe, Satan is a literal being with a mind to think, a will to act and a purpose to accomplish. Paul’s thorn in his flesh was not a question of being in unfortunate circumstances, but is much more intentional, and its origin is in Satan. 

We are all subject to satanic attacks, and there are three basic things we need to know in resisting the devil. The first is that Satan requires permission from God and is given boundaries. We see this in the story of Job. God set his prohibitions, and we can be encouraged by that, but the reality is God will sometimes give permission. Paul says because of surpassingly great revelations, he was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from being conceited. The operative word is ‘given’, and it was given by God, not Satan. 

The second thing is that God has a purpose in allowing satanic attacks. He did with Job and consequently, Job experienced God in a far richer, deeper way and he worshipped God. Another example is Jesus being led into the wilderness by the Spirit, not the devil, to be tempted by Satan. Satan asked to sift Peter like wheat. Peter was bold and outspoken, but after denying Jesus three times the night of His arrest, he was greatly humbled, and became the most powerful man in the first 12 chapters of Acts.

Thirdly, satanic attacks will empower us. James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We do not resist what God in His sovereignty has permitted Satan, but we can resist what he attempts to do in our lives. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

We all deal with temptation, but if we are in Christ, it is controlled by God. The problem is that we get excited by the temptation, and when no one is looking, we actually look for the way in. But in looking for the way out, God’s grace is sufficient, however long standing our temptation may be. Christ’s strength is made perfect in weakness, and our security lies in a sovereign God who is at work in us. Though satanic attacks can be tough and painful, God uses them to drive us to a greater dependence on Him, so that we may experience His presence and strength in a way that will ultimately enrich our lives and bring us into a deeper knowledge of Him. 

Dear Lord, keep me mindful when faced with temptation to always look for the way out, and grant me your strength in resisting the devil. Thank You, Lord.  

What recent experiences have I had in resisting temptation?

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” —REVELATION 3:1-2

In the book of Revelation, there are seven letters from the Lord Jesus Christ given to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. Each letter is addressed to a different church in the province of Asia Minor, now known as Turkey. In these letters, Jesus talks about aspects within the church that are displeasing to Him, and He gives them a wake up call. 

We know from the early decades of the New Testament church that the longer a church has been around the more danger it becomes exposed to. There is the danger of moving from being outward looking to becoming inward looking; of being God-centered to human-centered; of being a living organism, that is the life of Jesus flowing through, to becoming a well-managed organization. There is also the danger of being Spirit-dependent to becoming self-sufficient, and the danger of moving our thinking from biblical revelation to human reasoning. A spiritually mature church would recognize these dangers, but a chronologically mature church may not, because they subtly and incrementally creep up on us. 

Before Jesus’ ascension, He left His disciples with the very clear mandate of going into all the world to preach the Gospel. Do we, as a church, have equal clarity in our thinking, our planning, and envisioning that going into our communities, cities and around the world with the Gospel is ultimately our goal? Is this the fundamental reason that we may grow in discipleship, and become better equipped to live lives that not only bring pleasure to God, but bring revelation of Him to those around us?

As in the early church, there are many activities going on today that can easily be explained in terms of personalities, abilities and programming, but there is no substitute for the life of Jesus Himself. When Christ is the source of life, there are much greater developments within the church in which the only explanation is that God is at work. 

As much as abilities, programming and fellowship are necessary, they need to be tools for sharpening evangelism, and not a substitute for it. It is essential we remain outward looking with our focus and dependency on the life of Jesus; His agenda, His will, His empowering; His direction in every facet of the church. The end result flowing out of our ministry and into our communities, cities and around the globe is that people will come to know Christ and become partakers of His work in this world.

Dear Lord Jesus, I pray for your church all over the world, that it is always dependent on You, and alive and fresh with the working of your Spirit. Thank You, Lord. 

Is the Spirit of Christ alive and active within the church I attend?

“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…’”—GENESIS 1:26

In the beginning, we were created by God to display His moral character, which is why God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Theologians have debated frequently as to what the nature of that image is. By deduction, we can work out some of what it is, because there are things true of God that we know are not true of us. God has what we call ‘incommunicable attributes’ which He has not shared with humankind. For instance, God is omnipotent (all powerful); omniscient (all knowing); omnipresent (in all places at all times); immutable (unchanging); eternal (no beginning and no end). These are attributes of God that have nothing to do with the image He created us in. 

What God did share with us is what we call His ‘communicable attributes’. These are things true of God, which are intended to be true of human beings. God is love and we are intended to be loving. God is just and we are intended to act justly. God is merciful, kind and compassionate, attributes we are meant to reflect, having been made in His image. To be in His image means to look at the image and see what the real thing is like. God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai in order to reveal what He is like, so that we may understand what we are supposed to be like.

The only person capable of revealing what God is like is Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of his being…” The glory of God is not some kind of ultra glowing light surrounding the things of God, but it is His moral character; His goodness, righteousness and holiness. The nature of the Gospel is about restoring the goodness, righteousness and holiness of God into human experience, thereby fulfilling the law God gave to Moses. 

The law is like a flashlight. If we have a leak in our basement, the flashlight will expose the leak, but is helpless to fix it. Similarly, the law exposes our sin, but cannot solve it. Resorting to our own human capability, we are destined for failure because it requires divine capability. God sent His Son to fulfill His purpose for us, so that by His Spirit, living and working in us, we have the only means possible of attaining to some degree what we were created to be in the first place - the image of God. That is not only a liberating process, but an exciting process in which we come to experience God Himself.

Thank You, Lord, for creating us in your image, and working in us so that we may reflect your character.

Am I drawing daily on Christ to transform me into His likeness?

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” —LUKE 5:10-11

On a day when Jesus was teaching a crowd of people at the water’s edge, He got into Simon Peter’s boat so he could speak a little distance from shore. After he had finished speaking, he asked Simon Peter to take his boat out into the deep and let down his nets. Simon responded, “Master, we’ve worked hard all day and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). 

Simon was with his brother, Andrew, and out on the water were their partners, James and John, also brothers. Simon and Andrew’s catch was so great their nets began to break, and they had to call James and John to help them out. Both boats were so heavy with fish, they began to sink. It was right after this Jesus called all four to follow Him. He had given them the best catch they ever had, and then presented them with a choice; either take advantage of this enormous catch and make some good money, or leave everything behind to follow Me. They chose the latter.

Often when we have to make a significant choice of obedience to the will of God, we are presented with very attractive alternatives. The role of the will of God amongst attractive alternatives is a good test of discipleship. Ultimately, Jesus called twelve disciples whom He set apart from the rest of His followers as apostles, and the concentration of His ministry was with these twelve. They were a mixed group of very ordinary men; all of whom had their weaknesses, not the least of which was when they had deserted Jesus the night of His arrest. They were hardly material for turning the world upside down with the Gospel, yet though they were ordinary people Jesus had commissioned them to do the extraordinary. 

The invitation of Jesus was, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He did not challenge His disciples with foolproof methods they would learn, but took the responsibility upon Himself to make them ‘fishers of men’. The source of their strength was not in themselves, but in Christ who was empowering them. The secret in ordinary people doing extraordinary things is found in their relationship to Jesus Christ. “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). To understand this lifts the pressure of performance and enables us to rest in Christ’s sufficiency. In all He has called us to do, He is the ‘extra’ in the ordinary that makes the ‘extraordinary’.

Dear Lord, thank You for being the enabler for all You call me to do. Keep me mindful to rest in your sufficiency and not my own. 

Am I dependent on Christ’s sufficiency for what He has called me to do?

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake… Then the LORD said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail’.” —EXODUS 4:2-4

If we are going to live a fruitful life, then it must begin with God asking, “What is that in your hand?” As precious as it may be, it takes our willingness to throw it down and surrender it completely to God. It might be something as important as Moses’ staff was to him, but in our hands, under our control, it can become a harbor for the snake.

At the burning bush, God commissioned Moses to free His people from Egyptian captivity, and He told him to throw his staff on the ground. The staff would have been indispensable to Moses as it represented his livelihood. When he threw it to the ground, it immediately turned into a snake which Moses ran from. God then told him to pick it up by the tail. After forty years of herding sheep in the desert, Moses knew picking up a snake by the tail would be extremely dangerous because it leaves the head free for attack. But he trusted God, picked the snake up by the tail, and it turned back to the staff in his hand. What God was demonstrating to Moses was that He would look after the dangerous parts, and so it is with us when we surrender everything to God. 

We may have worked long and hard at our jobs, but will we give them up to God? He may give it back as He gave Moses his staff back, but it then becomes ‘the job of God’, just as Moses’ staff became ‘the staff of God’. It will be the same job God gives us back, but under new management, new power. What about relationships, finances, studies, ambitions and dreams? Will we drop them at the feet of God, and allow Him to take control? 

Surrendering completely to God does not mean everything will go smoothly. We will more than likely be taken to the front line of spiritual warfare, but the Pharaohs will not frighten us; the Red Sea will not hold us back; the drought will not deter us; and the Amalekites will not defeat us, because we have in our hands what Moses had in his hand… ‘the staff of God’, through which many miracles were performed. 

God does not twist our arms, but if we choose to keep the staff under our control, we also keep the snake. In Revelation 12:9, the snake is referred to as the “ancient serpent called the devil”. In not submitting what we hold precious to God, we give the devil access. But we can surrender completely, giving God the freedom to work in our lives.

Lord, I know your agenda far exceeds my own. Help me to surrender everything I hold precious to You. Thank You, Lord.  

Do I trust God enough to give to Him what I hold most dear?