I saw this skit earlier this year at a Promise Keeper’s conference and it really had an impact on me. I found it the other day on YouTube and thought I would share it. It’s very powerful, and very true. God doesn’t make junk! And He wants to turn us into His masterpiece. The Bible calls God the Potter, and we are the clay (Jeremiah 18:1-6). That means that if we submit to Him, to His working in and on our lives, He can transform us from a shapeless lump of clay into an exquisite vessel that He can then pour into, and in turn pour us out to those around us. As He blesses us, we can bless others.
Sometimes when we feel that God has not responded sufficiently, we need to look at ourselves first to see if we have responded sufficiently. This morning I thought about the story of Elisha and Joash when Israel was threatened by Syria. This story really illustrates how God responds and makes promises, and gives us direction, and yet the end result is still due to our response. The fulfillment of that promise is wholly based on us, not God.
Here we can see God’s direction played out, and Joash’s obedience to the Word of God:
“And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and some arrows.’ So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the east window’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said, ‘The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17, NKJV)
Joash obeyed everything that Elisha said, and Elisha gave him detailed instructions. This clearly shows obedience. Yet the following verses, while showing obedience, also show a lack of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm — which are things that God wants from us as well:
“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19, NKJV)
Obedience is important, absolutely! If Joash had not obeyed the Word of God through Elisha, he would not have struck Syria at all, and God’s deliverance would not be evident whatsoever. Yet, even though he was obedient, he was not zealous about what God had said. He was not given the specifics of what striking the ground would produce, yet his lack of response ultimately meant that God did not respond as fully as He wanted to. God wanted to give Joash complete victory, but the king’s response limited God. And as a result of that limitation, complete victory was not attained. More
“‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’” (Rev 6:12, NKJV)
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sites on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever!’” (Rev 5:12, NKJV)
Can you imagine the glory, the praise, the continual worship, the adoration and love and gratitude and blessing poured upon Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, in heaven? I can’t. This world is such a shadow, such a dim thing compared to what eternity will be like. And even here on earth, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the absolute abandonment and joy we can receive when we worship our Lord Jesus in spirit and truth, that anointing and blessing that comes from God the Father… I honestly believe it pales in comparison to what heaven will be like, despite how absolutely beautiful and fantastic it is.
Last night at church, as we were worshipping, I felt such an impression of “worthy, worthy, worthy”… it was so heavy, like it had weight, an importance behind it. It bubbled out of me like a desperate cry… God, You are so infinitely worthy! Worthy of my love, my time, my attention, my energy, my hopes, my dreams. You are worth more than I could possibly ever offer You!
And after such a wonderful encounter with God, and an awesome message, the reality hit me.
If He is so worthy (and He is) why aren’t we giving Him our best?
I mean, we sing songs about how worthy He is, how He sent His Son to die for us, how we owe Him everything. We sing songs about living lives pure and holy before Him, about inviting Him in, about becoming living sacrifices. And yeah, singing those songs are great and there can be a real heartfelt passion there, but… if He is so worthy, why aren’t we giving Him our best. I mean our absolute best? More
“For He will deliver the needy when He cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (Ps 72:12-14, NKJV)
The above was part of my Bible reading guide this morning and it spoke volumes due to what we had done yesterday. Yesterday, we had put on a BBQ in probably the roughest neighbourhood in our inner city, a free BBQ to feed the homeless, helpless, and the less fortunate. Why did we do this? Because we love God, and we know He loves these people and street people are of value as well (which the above verse definitely indicates!), and they deserve to be shown the same dignity and respect that we are all accustomed to.
This is the third year this event has been put on, and preparation for it began months ago. There were preparations in the natural, of course, soliciting donations for the event, but there were also preparations in the spiritual realm. Twice we had done prayer walks around the field, just praying that God would do what He does best: meet with people, transform people, that His Spirit would be there in a very real way. As organizers, we had prayed together and individually for this thing for weeks beforehand.
Yesterday morning I was up at six in the morning, preparing to be down at the site for eight in the morning to begin setup. That morning I was reading from the book of Acts, and the works of the early church inspired me for the day. What powerful things the early church had done! What beautiful adoration to God, to His Word, to His divine purpose! What a humbling thing to try and recreate by the work we were doing!
The BBQ was an absolute success. Despite little technical setbacks early on that, in the grand scheme of things, really amounted to nothing, we had an opportunity to feed at least 500-700 people. Local media was out, so we got a few seconds of exposure on the local TV stations (keep reading to see the clips) and there should be an article in the local newspaper regarding it as well. It was a hot day, up to 24C and many of us got sun burnt. We gave away so much, a thousand hot dogs and a thousand hamburgers, brand-new clothes that were donated, pillows, donuts, fruit, chips, pop, bottles of water. Thank you to the many companies that supported us and gave freely to the event, and thank you to the many volunteers that helped. God bless you all!
Now that the natural results have been described, I need to describe the spiritual. And this is what made this day so exciting, so powerful, and so exhausting. As I said, we were praying for weeks before the event and even driving down, the music in the car was off, and I was praying for the BBQ, for the volunteers, for the food, for the people that were coming to the event. And God moved in an absolutely powerful way! Thank You God that You listen to the heart-felt prayers of Your people who are striving to be obedient and do Your will! There is so much to describe, so it may be a bit disjointed — please bear with me.
First and foremost, there was such a sense of joy among the volunteers. There were no arguments, no one complained about having to do more than others, or do something they didn’t like. We were united in one purpose. There were smiles everywhere, people were so welcoming to those coming through the line to be fed, there was a genuine servanthood evident. There was such complete _peace_ in that place. You need to understand that these are people who are accustomed to a life of strife and fighting, that literally fight over scraps of food. Yet it was so peaceful in the field. There was no striving for places in line. They were patient, despite the heat, and they were grateful for the food. They were polite, thankful. To put this in perspective, I drove off-site around 2:30 in order to get some coffee. Not even a block away I saw two men yelling at each other and fighting. When we were loading the left over supplies into the church at 6:00 there were young men and women, right before the doors of the church (which is also right in the middle of downtown) fighting and swearing and arguing. But in that place, at that time, there was complete and utter peace. No fighting, no arguing, no dissension. More
I saw a post on Facebook the other day, and what it implied really bothered me. I hate picking on people, but this bothered me so badly that I’m going to quote it. I did respond to it, but I think I came across as to hard on the individual who posted it. I understand that they are disappointed, and I don’t necessarily know if they’re poking the finger at God, but the way it came across really made me think that this is what they were thinking, and it also really sums up what most people think as well.
… is sad to have just seen someone who was baptized a few years back, but today says, ‘It’s not working for me any more…’ I sometimes wonder why God doesn’t do a better job of keeping his people. But I also wonder, ‘What are all the dynamics that come into play in a decision like that?’
I think this is the wrong question to ask, honestly. I think the real question is: “why aren’t we doing a better job of keeping people?”. If God doesn’t change… if He’s the same today, as He was yesterday, and will be tomorrow, then it isn’t up to God to keep us, it’s up to us to keep ourselves and those around us. Blaming God because someone was baptized and then a few years later has strayed and says “it just wasn’t for me” is a cop-out, and playing the blame-game with someone Who doesn’t deserve that kind of criticism.
I think the problem really comes down to emotion, rather than faith. Too many people “try” Christianity and then when it doesn’t do what they want, they give up on it. But I don’t understand this, because I don’t understand why they “get into it” in the first place then. Do we “get into” Christianity because we expect God to do something for us? I think this is usually it. We want God to heal us, prosper us, take care of us. We go to a meeting, are swept away in anointed worship, get on a “high” and then come to the altar and profess our love and need of a Saviour. More
We have prayer meetings every Tuesday night at the church I go to, and as I was at prayer last night I kept thinking about “Holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory” and then I had a crystal clear thought come to me that I had to write down. We’ve been talking a lot about holiness and righteousness at church, so this really settled into my spirit, and I thank God that He saw fit to share this with me.
“And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’” (Isaiah 6:3, NKJV)
The whole earth is full of His glory. Who is in the earth? We are. So I think there is a call for us to be glorious before God, so we can fill the earth with His glory.
But how do we “fill the earth with His glory”? How do we become glorious before God?
I believe we display the glory of the Lord by leading lives of holiness and righteousness. Lives without compromise. I believe that God makes us glorious as we humble ourselves, and as we submit to Him, leading lives that are wholly holy (the dictionary defines wholly as “entirely” and “fully”), and righteous (right-living) before God.
I believe that if we are 100% wholly sold out to Jesus Christ — uncompromised, unapologetic (to the world), complete and utter love slaves to our Saviour and Redeemer, that we glorify God with our lives. I’m not saying we become glorified — we don’t. To say that we are glorious is to tread dangerous New Age thinking. No, we are not glorified. The whole earth isn’t full of our glory, but we were called to fill the earth (“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28, NKJV)), and we need to start filling it with His glory. I believe we were called to more than just dominion over the fish and animals — we were called to fill the earth with His glory! We become vessels of honour as we are filled with the Holy Spirit and live righteous, holy, pleasing lives before Him. More
A few weeks ago at a Tuesday night prayer meeting, one of the members of the church was exhorting us about imitating Christ. He gave two scriptures:
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV)
“For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth,’ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;” – 1 Peter 2:21-23 (NKJV)
This is a lofty thing to aspire to. Imitate Christ? He who was perfect and without sin? How can we possibly do something like that? More
This is the testimony of how God moved in my life. I was raised in a Christian home. My family and I lived in a trailer park just outside of a big city. We were very poor, but we all loved God and attended church regularly. I was never really liked as a child. Friends were hard to come by, but I didn’t mind too much. We moved into the city into a nice house when I was 13. I attended a new school, where again no one liked me very much. My sister, who was almost 20, left for a program called the Masters Commision in British Columbia. She decided to stay and live there because she felt there was nothing for her where we lived. As I continued to go to youth groups at my church, I found friends there. We were a bit of the “black sheep” type of people, having strange clothing and funny color harido’s, but we liked each other.
When I was a bit into my 14th year, my grandfather died and then my life-long friend who was only 15 overdosed on drugs. It impacted my church friends and I greatly. We stopped hanging out, and went our seperate ways. I slowly stopped going to church and found myself friendless again. I wanted people to like me so bad. So in grade 9 I finally figured out how. I started to say yes to things, and I started to become what others wanted. I’d go to the parties and smoke some weed and drink with them. At school I’d make fun of people, and I began to smoke cigerettes. My life went down hill after this.
I entered high school ready to party. When I was in grade 11, I was introduced to cocaine and crystal meth. I had never done anything like it before. Because cocaine was so expensive and people dont like meth heads, I decided to do ecstasy instead, which is a combination of all drugs in one. Within a year and a bit I had swallowed over 500 pills and had done other numerous amounts of drugs along with it. Life was a blur, and questions were begining to present themselves. Questions like whats next? Why am I here? Is there more? I still belived in God but didn’t want to walk in His ways. At the end of grade 12, I “fell in love” with a woman 5 years older than me. She was smart, sucessful and drug free. I thought this was the answer. So We moved in together and stayed together for two years. I continued smoking pot and drinking alcohol. I realized a year in that life was still not fufilling and I was not happy. I began to drink a lot and my girlfriend and I began to fight more and more, and the fights all the while becoming more and more violent. I needed a change, so I did. I left her and broke her heart, for I had promised to marry her. The next year and a half consisted of numerous women, drugs binges and forgotten nights at the bar. More
This is a very powerful testimony that truly speaks of how God loves and longs for the broken-hearted and how, if we let Him, He can do amazing and powerful things in our life.
I was raised up in a Christian home with two loving parents and a younger sister. We lived in a large city for seven years and then moved to a small town just outside it. In the first few years I had a hard time trying to fit in. The kids that I went to school with treated me harshly. They would beat me up and make fun of me every day. Growing up, I lived in a constant fear of people. My self esteem was very low. I thought that I was different and no good. All the things my classmates said were becoming true in MY MIND. At age ten I remember being in my bedroom and crying franticly, pulling on my hair and holding a knife to my neck screaming that I wanted to die. My mother came in, and seeing me like this told me that she loved me and that all would be alright. The words and actions done to me affected me physically and emotionally and, later in life I found out, spiritually. Thankfully these kids that were so mean to me before had started to treat me with some kind of respect.
Now my life seemed to be going in a direction I liked. I had friends and I played in sports teams, all was well. I even started to have girls liking me, something that was fairly new to me. I was really enjoying these times until the unimaginable happened. My father had come home late one night and as I was trying to sleep, he came and gave me a kiss. I knew something was wrong so I pretended to sleep. When he went upstairs I heard him telling my mom that it was over and he was leaving her. I remember my mother screaming in utter terror as her whole life was being taken from her. She pleaded for my dad to not leave. But he left. I didn’t know how to take this so I built up a wall to protect myself AGAIN! My family and I now had to move back to the big city so that my mother could find work and make a life for us. My mom went first to welfare and got some help from them. Then she found a job during the day and went to school at night. As I write and remember what my mom did I can only thank God for giving my mom the strength to endure this while still trying to cope with the loss of her love. THANKS MOM!!!
As a kid I didn’t see things like this as I do now. I felt really abandoned and all alone. I thought that I was a man now because I had to fend for myself, since both parents were not able to be there for me when I wanted. As I started to look for friends, I found some not in school, but outside school. The outsiders, the hurt, and broken, just like me. This started my years of crime and drug abuse. With such a low self esteem and no real guidance, I was easily influenced into many of the things I chose to do. By fifteen years old I was already in prison. The first time in jail, I spent thirteen months in custody. Because it was such a long time when I got out I was worse than before. I didn’t know what to do except go back to ”MY BROS”. They welcomed me with opened arms. It was nice to be wanted. Positive or negative, I just wanted to be accepted and these friends did that in their own way. As my drug abuse escalated so did my issues around me. More
This is a semi-rhetorical question, but how would you like it if your significant other only spent two hours a week with you?
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.” (Eph 5:22-29, NKJV)
The above passage is often used to describe how married people should love each other. While this passage does describe, in a very basic sense, how the relationship between a husband and wife should work, the meaning that is often overlooked is the relationship between Christ and His bride. This passage indicates that the Church is the bride of Christ, which means that if you are a believer and have accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you are a part of the Church, the bride of Christ.
This means that we, as believers, are the wife — we are to be submissive to our husband (Jesus), we are to be holy. These are important things. But this passage implies something else: it implies relationship. Jesus could have called us to be many things: servants, slaves, good people, farmers, whatever. But no, He called us to be His bride, His body. Both of these imply closeness, and deep intimate relationship. The Bible calls a husband and wife “one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Being Christ’s body, and His wife, are the same thing. More
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We look forward to reading and sharing your stories. Thank you, and God bless!
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