Have your parents always been active in Church, but you’ve held back…maybe thinking it’s not for you? Look around your Church and assess the age of those who serve the most. Are they in their 20’s or 30’s…or is it more like 60’s and 70’s, or older? The sad fact about many Churches today is that the vast majority of those ministering and volunteering are the elderly of the Church, not younger adults. In this verse, it speaks of the Gatekeepers being chief men…men who were strong and in the prime of their life…charged with guarding and protecting with self-discipline and integrity. The Church is only as young as the people who serve. And when those precious Saints of the Church are gone…what happens next? Who will fill their shoes? Will you?
Tag: nothing is impossible with god
In Christ Jesus…You are redeemed and forgiven.
Forgiveness. For some that’s a hard word to accept. They feel as if they need to “do” something first in order to gain God’s pardon. But to be forgiven by the Lord has nothing to do with us…for it is solely based on God’s unmerited love and mercy… His redemptive power working to heal and make us whole again.
Isaiah 25:1 ” O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”
Elsewhere in Isaiah it says, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’ ” Lord, I give You thanks and trust that everything, both big and small, that happens in my life has been prepared long ago. Each wonderful, miraculous, and extraordinary thing that has and will happen to me You have planned out far before I was even born. And I know you have much more for me to be doing, and I look with eager anticipation to the future and Your plans for me. And everyone said, Amen.
Jeremiah 35:6 ” But they replied, ‘We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.’ “
The Lord had directed Jeremiah to invite the Recabite family in and serve them wine. But when he did, they responded with this covenant they had kept for generations. None of them had ever drank wine. The Lord then used this example to show how the Recabites had continued to uphold their forefather’s commandment…yet the people of Judah and Jerusalem couldn’t seem to keep God’s commandments.
Exodus 4: 11-12 ” The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’ “
Moses had many excuses of why he wasn’t the person to go to the Pharaoh and demand release of the Hebrew children. But the Lord countered with an airtight defense of why Moses was just the right man for the job. We want to argue with God, but speaking from very personal experience…you’ll never win. We can object all we want, but God desires obedience exclusively. For if He calls you to something, He can and will give you whatever skill is needed to accomplish that task. With God, arguing will get you nowhere…obedience on the other hand, will move His Kingdom forward.
Philemon 7 ” Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. “
What happens when you encourage someone? They hear those words of inspiration and their spirit is renewed and energized. And as their spirit is lifted, that encouragement gives them the courage to persevere through the challenges they face. Never refuse the chance to encourage someone…it may be the one word they need to hang on.
But God…
At just the right time, God works the impossible. It’s known as a “but God ” moment…a great reversal in a dire situation . Over 40 times in the Bible it’s stated…things are going one way, but then at the most definitive moment, God intervenes, and the inconceivable happens. There have been “but God” moments in all our lives if we just think about it…times when we were at our bleakest, only to have the Lord intercede on our behalf… doing the unimaginable.
Acts 18: 9-10 ” One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘ Do not be afraid; Keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ “
Satan would like us to think we’re out there working for the Lord alone…like the Lone Ranger, isolated and unaided by others. Satan would like us to be fearful in talking to others about the Lord…not wanting to offend…wanting rather, to be “politically correct”, even if it goes against the Word of God. Satan would like us to keep quiet, not rocking the boat of this modern liberal society. Satan doesn’t care if we read the Bible or pray…just as long as we don’t do it in public. But Satan also knows the power of the spoken Word, and what a transformation could take place… if Christians weren’t silent.
Ezra 4:24 ” Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a stand-still until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”
The book of Ezra recounts the efforts of the Jewish exiles who returned from Babylon to rebuild the Temple. Sixteen years would pass between the laying of the foundation and when work would take up again. God gave them the vision for the Temple…it was started…but then suspended. Just like the exiles, we too hear from God and plunge forward only to be sometimes detained. Sadly, it’s usually at that stoppage we throw in the towel and claim failure. But just because there’s a delay doesn’t mean it’s a defeat. The Lord never goes back on His promises, and any vision He’s given you…even if it’s been years…is still viable in His eyes. Remember, a delay doesn’t mean a defeat.
II Chronicles 30: 18-20 ” Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manassh, Issachar, and Zebulum had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘May the Lord, Who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God – the Lord, the God of his fathers – even if he is not clean according to the rules of the Sanctuary.’ And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.”
In these verses we see the spirit of the Law vs the letter of the Law. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus chastised the Pharisees for their legalism and in doing so losing sight of the more important matters of the Law…things like justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The Lord always searches the heart for honesty and sincerity and will reward accordingly.
Safetypinlove 