Welcome!
Date: Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Today: Living the gospel
Passage: Phil 1: 27-28 NIV
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,[e] striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. (emphasis added)
Jesus was not just preaching with His mouth, while He was physically here, on earth; He was speaking through his very life
His disciples were witnessing every action of Jesus
Never was Jesus ever “caught” in an act of sin!
If Jesus had sin in Him, one of the twelve- at least Judas would have found it out
He would have published a book and made millions on that!
Following Jesus calls for a life of a very high commitment
The life of a Nazirite was not easy; Numbers 6 will tell us that
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the LORD as a Nazirite, 3 they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4 As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.(Num 6: 1-4, NIV-emphasis added)
A Nazirite cannot eat even the seed or skin of grapes!
In an environment where people drink wine everyday, that was pretty difficult
But these were the people dedicated to God totally
God used them in unique ways; they were never popular, nor did they want to!
The desire to become popular can be very dangerous
Equally dangerous is trying to serve God and Mammon at the same time
People who try to serve God and Mammon simultaneously can never become effective for Jesus; they cannot make any impact upon people’s lives
In a world where many of the “ministries” are ways for survival or ways to make money, name and fame, are we tempted to yield to such tricks of the devil?
If so, it is time to come back
When “ministry” becomes a side-business, God will not be anywhere with us
If God is not in the “front”, He will not be anywhere
Jesus did not take advantage of the many “opportunities” He could have had!
He did not sell His gifts in exchange for anything
He was rich in the Spirit; He wants us to be so, as well
Let others not know what all good things we are doing because of Jesus
Let God alone know that
When God’s name is glorified, ours may not even come up!
In Exodus 40: 34 and 2 Chronicles 7:1, we see the glory of God coming down upon the tabernacle/temple
In the first case, Moses, who did all the work, could not even get into the tabernacle; in the second, the priests- the most important people to lead the service, could not minister!
When the big boss comes, the bosses had to give their chair and just stand!
If we want Jesus to be exalted, we need to get off the chair we are grabbing on to; Then, He will do amazing things, and all we need to do is to stand and give Him praise and glory due unto Him. As long as we don’t want any possessions or positions, he will continue to do amazing things. Otherwise, it will be nothing more than a show- an event where nothing worthwhile happens!
God bless as we change the way we are looking at ministry as well as life
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my role model in life and ministry. Help me to do things that pleases you more than anybody else. Thank you for all your provisions. Help me to understand your will and submit myself completely for that. Amen