Praise the Lord for another day and another chance to move forward with the gospel. On this day the message is about God’s recruitment process. I have a question for you, are you a real worker for the Kingdom of God? You can fool me but God knows the real answer.
Today’s Prayer
Father, I come before You on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ to ask these questions; are we doing the things that were given to us to do in your Word? Are we shining the light and spreading the gospel? If we are not doing your work the way you want us to, ambush us and get us on the right path, because I know we all want to please you. Wake us up with a jolt of the Holy Ghost so we can get busy. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Let’s eat.
God’s Recruitment Strategy for Leaders
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. – Acts 9:8
I was having lunch with a childhood friend whom I had not seen since we were in high school a while back and he asked me why I became a minister. I informed him that I really had nothing to do with the process. It was done by God. He laughed at me until he realized I was not kidding. It took a crisis situation for me to give into God. It wasn’t as drastic as what Saul went through but I was at rock bottom before I would let Him in.
When God calls one of His servants into service, there is often much travail. There are many examples where He makes His presence known through circumstances that tax the individual to their very soul.
– Consider Paul, who was stricken blind on the Damascus road.
– Consider Peter; when he denied Jesus after the crucifixion, he was in total despair.
– Consider Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace.
– Consider Daniel, who was thrown into the lions’ den.
– Consider David, who was forced to flee his former employer for many years and lived as a fugitive.
It may seem strange to us that God uses such incredible adversity to prepare His servants for greater service, but this is His way. He knows that the human heart is incapable of voluntarily stepping into situations that take us beyond our comfort zone. He intentionally brings us into hard places to prove us and to drive us deeper into the soil of His grace.
It’s just like in arid regions of the world; trees can’t survive unless their roots grow deeper to where the water table can be found. Once they reach the water, these trees become stronger than any tree that can be found in tropical climates. Their root systems ensure that they can withstand any storm. In that same way, God brings us into extremely difficult situations in order to prove His power and drive our spiritual roots deeper.
Friends, God may take you through times when you will question His love for you. In such times, you have to cling to His coattail so that you see His purposes in it. Don’t throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him” (Hebrews 10:36-38).
Quote of the Day
There are often bound to us, in the closest intimacy of social or family ties, natures hard and ungenial, with whom sympathy is impossible, and whose daily presence necessitates a constant conflict with an adverse influence. There are, too, enemies, – open or secret, – whose enmity we may feel yet cannot define. Our Lord, going before us in this hard way, showed us how we should walk. It will be appropriate to the solemn self-examination of the period of Lent to ask ourselves, Is there any false friend or covert enemy whom we must learn to tolerate, to forbear with, to pity and forgive? ~Jean Ingelow~