Month: January 2021

Insignificant? Not to Him

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2 Corinthians 8:12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.

For most of my life I have felt shut down by a paralyzing sense of inferiority. I wouldn’t meet new people for fear that they wouldn’t like me. I wouldn’t speak up in groups because I was afraid I would say something stupid and embarrass myself. It limited my life in huge ways.

There were a few things I felt that I had some level of gifting to do. But others were gifted in such a higher level that it discouraged me and made what I had to offer seem unimportant and insignificant.

But these are exactly the things God uses – the insignificant things.

The temptation is to bury your one little talent because it seems paltry compared to the brother or sister who has five talents. Or ten. But even the servant with his one little talent was expected to do something with it. (See Matthew 25:14-30)

Whatever little ability you have, step out in faith and use it for the kingdom. God will accept what we do for Him, in faith, with what He has entrusted to us. Those who seem so greatly gifted now probably started at the same place of fear and insecurity. But stepping out, they were increased and multiplied by God.

Mark 4:25 “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The right ambition

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2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.

The Amplified Bible says it like this: We are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to him.

What does it mean to be ambitious? Here are some dictionary definitions:

Having a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous.

Having a desire to achieve a particular goal

There was a time in my life when I was very ambitious in my career. I worked extra hours and took on new responsibilities. I took on hard projects and learned new things that made me more valuable to the company. I disregarded normal activities that I enjoyed because there wasn’t time for them if I was going to be devoted to work responsibilities. I would work until I was physically exhausted.

Many people have had this same experience in their work life. But how many of us have had this experience in our spiritual life?

Rarely have I pushed myself this hard in the things of God. It’s been more common for me to go to sleep then to stay up late and pray. To indulge my appetite rather than fast. To zoom through my Bible reading rather than digging in and studying to learn something new, to receive some new revelation of the glory of God.

Being ambitious has gotten a bad reputation because we often find ambition in connection with selfish and self-promoting things. But the word of God commends it when it’s directly rightly.

Beloved, let’s be ambitious in our pursuit of God and our desire to please Him in all things. Admittedly, it can sometimes be very difficult to deny ourselves the things our soul and flesh desire. But once we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good those other things will lose their savor and our ambitious pursuit of Him will be fueled by the expectation that we will taste and see even more.

The faithful blessing of the Lord

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Ezekiel 29:18-20 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me,’ says the Lord GOD.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was a pagan man and an ambitious ruler. He laid siege to Tyre out of his covetous desire to possess their land and their wealth. Just read through Ezekiel 28 to see how wealthy and influential the city of Tyre was. So for 13 years Nebuchadnezzar labored to overtake the city of Tyre, and when the city finally surrendered to him, they received little benefit from it. Commentators speculate that the wealth of Tyre was relocated during the lengthy siege. Because this overthrow of Tyre was the fulfillment of will of God against this proud city, and Nebuchadnezzar was His unknowing servant, the Lord granted Egypt and all its wealth to Nebuchadnezzar as payment for his service.

Needless to say, it was a little shocking to read that. If this is what God does for His enemies, imagine what He will do for His friends.

If He will not fail to reward a pagan king who doesn’t even acknowledge Him, then how much more will He delight to reward His sons! But here is the thing that was most helpful to me – Nebuchadnezzar expected to get the wealth of Tyre for his labors. Instead he received the wealth of Egypt. And maybe, just maybe, when God chooses to send some reward or some blessing to us it may come from a totally different direction than where we’ve been laboring.

What grace!!! What amazing grace!! Maybe you have been discouraged as you’ve served the Lord in a particular way (or ways), laboring faithfully, knowing you are in the will of God but seeing little fruit and receiving little blessing. But remember this:

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

The blessing of the Lord may be ready to overtake you at any moment, from a totally unexpected direction.

A life on fire – consecrated

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Previously we have considered a life on fire as it relates to John the Baptist. But as I close out this little series, we will leave John and take a peek into the Old Testament.

Lev 6:8-13 tells us about the burnt offering. It was the only one of the offerings that was given entirely to God. Every hoof and whisker was burned on that altar. None of it was taken anywhere else and none of it was given to the priest. It was wholly for God. Three times in this passage it says the fire shall always be burning. The priest tended the fire continually to make sure it didn’t go out and once the sacrifice was completely consumed, he removed the ashes. Notice that it doesn’t say that he sweeps or shovels out the ashes, but it says that he “takes them up” and it says the priest puts on the linen garments to do this. The only other place that it is recorded that the priest changes into the linen garments is on the day of atonement. These are the holy garments and this matter of a sacrifice offered wholly to God is a holy matter. He carries the ashes outside the camp to a clean place and there they are poured out.

But this is about something more than an animal; it is about my life. He wants it all for Himself. And He is the priest Who watches over the fire to keep it burning. It is only the totally consumed life that is poured out and when nothing remains of the sacrifice but the ashes that the fire has reduced it to, it is then that Jesus our high priest gathers them up. Do you see the beautiful picture? He is in the holy garments, carefully taking up what we have offered to Him. Do you see that it matters to Him when you offer yourself completely to Him? And He takes these ashes, which are your life, outside the camp and he pours us out into holy moments where our life intersects with the lives of others in what becomes a holy place. A life on fire is a consecrated life.

The word consecrate is an interesting word. When I looked it up I thought it would be defined by words like holy, separated, devoted. But what this word means is “to fill the hand”, as in when you would fill your hand with an offering that you were offering up to God. The definition of the root of this word is fullness. That was utterly shocking to me and a wonderful revelation. I had always thought of consecration as an act of emptying, but God sees it as an act of filling.

Maybe you’ve heard the stories of the men and women who walked with God so closely that their presence in a room changed the atmosphere. Many times I have wondered if these were just special people who were singled out because of the particular calling on their lives….or is this something that all believers can have – this life on fire, walking so closely with God that it is tangible to those around you. I was reminded of the story that Jesus told about those who were invited to the banquet that had been prepared and they wouldn’t come. They were just busy with other things. They missed it. Jesus waits at the banquet table ready to give what we need and what we desire….but there is a requirement. Would we go live out in the wilderness to seek His face? Can we let ourselves, all of ourselves, be put on the altar to be consumed by Him that we may be poured out for Him? Can we turn away from the distractions of this life, and just come to the table? If we could just see what He longs to give we would hunger for it……and we too could receive a life on fire.

Luke 12:49 “I came to send a fire on the earth and how I wish it were already kindled”