Dou you really want...

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Do You Really Want God to Use You?

John 15:8

"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."

The desire to be used by God is a great desire. However, most Christians don't really understand what it takes to be used by God. Since my childhood, I have always wanted to be used by God. Do you have that same desire? Moreover, to what degree do you want to be used by God? If you are like me, I want God to use me in a great way.

What does it take to be used by God in a great way? God answers this question in John 15. You will find in this chapter that there are three levels to how much God will use a Christian. The three levels are: fruit, more fruit and much fruit. Every Christian should desire to get to the third level of usefulness, but realize you will never get to that third level without paying a price. Please notice that God only uses those who bear fruit. In fact, verse 2 shows that those who bear no fruit He takes away. God expects every Christian to have some level of fruit.

The first level of usefulness is bearing fruit. This first level is interesting because God does nothing to get us to the first level. Before God starts really working, the tree has to bear fruit. Don't get me wrong, God works with us, but it is primarily our responsibility to initially bear fruit. Yes, God planted our Christian life by dying on the cross for our sins. When we accepted Christ as our Saviour, we became a tree that was supposed to bear fruit. So, it is your responsibility to get yourself to the first level of usefulness.

The next level of usefulness comes through God's workings. In verse 2, when the tree bore fruit, then God purged the tree so that it could bear more fruit. Once you start bearing fruit for God, then He will help you to get to the level of bearing more fruit. However, the ability to bear more fruit does not come without a price. Notice that the tree had to be purged. Whenever you purge a tree, there is a cutting away. The foliage and the branches of the tree are cut away. The tree is brought to a point where it looks like it's dead. Yet, when the next season comes, the trees branches and foliage grow again. The fruit that the tree produces because of the purging causes that tree to have more fruit. Christian, God will purge you so that you can bring forth more fruit. At times, His purging will bring you to the point where you think you are going to die, but if you will trust Him, His purging will cause more fruit to come from your life. This purging comes through trials. God allows you to go through trials so you can bear more fruit. You will always find that your trials give you the opportunity to bear more fruit.

The last level of fruit bearing is the level of bearing much fruit. After you start bearing more fruit, if you want to see God use you in a greater way, then you must abide in Him. Only those who spend time walking with God in the Scriptures and prayer will see God use them to produce much fruit. Those who have been used the greatest by God always went through seasons of purging, but they also spent much time during the purging process walking with God in the Scriptures and prayer. You will never see the much fruit stage of fruit bearing until you start walking with God.

Finally, notice from the verse above that God's will is for you to bear much fruit. When you get to the point of bearing much fruit, you will find that only God will get the glory. Yes, people will see that God used you in a great way, but He will ultimately get the glory. The third level of much fruit is the level you should want to get to in your life.

He Lifted Himself

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He Lifted Himself

John 8:7

"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Place yourself in Jesus' shoes as He heard the Pharisees accuse this woman of adultery. They kept pushing Him to condemn this woman to death, but He would not lower Himself to their level. However, can you imagine how tiring it was to constantly put up with the harassment of the Pharisees? Yet, you never see Jesus' spirit get down. Instead, He stayed on top side throughout His life and ministry. You ask how He was able to do this? The answer is in the phrase from the verse above, "...he lifted himself,..." Jesus didn't wait for the circumstances to get better. He knew how to lift Himself when the circumstances wouldn't lift Him.

Every once in awhile I preach to a congregation of people to whom it is not easy to preach. When I preach to a congregation like this, I find myself having to look for another source to lift my spirit during the sermon. The people and circumstances won't lift me, so I must learn to lift myself so I can help the people.

The night that my mother went to Heaven was one of those nights. It was not the crowd who was hard to preach to, but it was dealing with my own spirit and the loss of my mother that I had to manage. Once I got through the initial shock of my mother passing, I went through my routine that I go through when I have to lift my own spirit. By the time I stood to preach, God's grace worked through my routine to lift my spirit so I could help those people.

Christian, circumstances are not always going to be right to keep your spirit on top side. There will be times in your life when you are going to have to lift yourself up just like Jesus did. When trials come your way, you will face days that you will have to lift yourself up so that you can still be a help to others. When you face attack from enemies and friends alike, you will need to learn how to lift yourself up. If you depend on circumstances to lift your spirit, then you will find your spirit will be like a temperature gauge: constantly going up and down.

One thing I have learned that lifts my spirit is good Christian music. Music plays an important role in your life. I have learned what songs or groups lift me up, so when I need to manually lift my spirit, I listen to them. I also have a couple of people to call when I need to get my spirit lifted. Though they do not know why I am calling, I know that every time I talk to them I feel better after I hang up the phone. These are just a couple of things that I do to lift my own spirit when the circumstances won't lift it.

Learn to study yourself. When you find something that makes you feel better, then write it down and use it again when you have to lift yourself. If it worked one time, it will work again. Those who seem to always have a good spirit don't always have everything go their way, but they have learned how to lift their own spirit so they can be a blessing to others. Be that rare individual who knows how to lift yourself up when nothing else will. You will find that if you can lift yourself despite your circumstances, then you will become one whom people will want to be around, because you will brighten their day as well.

Strife

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The Causes of Strife

Luke 22:24

"And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest."

One of the most stressful things that leader must deal with is strife. It is very tiring for a parent to always deal with strife among their children. Pastors wear themselves out because they are constantly dealing with strife among church members. Employers are constantly trying to settle strife between employees. Strife is an age-old problem that goes back to Cain and Abel. Even Jesus, Who was the greatest leader of all time, dealt with strife among His disciples. However, when studying the Scriptures, you will see there are four causes of strife.

The first cause of strife is the desire for position. The cause of strife in the verse above was the disciples desire to be the greatest. These disciples allowed their desire for position to hinder the work of Christ. Jesus quickly ended this strife by telling the disciples that the greatest is the one who serves others. Christian, stop striving for position. God knows your name and address, and when He feels you are ready for position He will give it to you. The only thing that happens when you start vying for position is you will cause strife with another who wants that same position. When you strive for position, you are only revealing that you are not ready for position. Those who are ready for position don't want it. All they want to do is get the work accomplished that needs to be done. Stop striving for position, and instead strive to get your work done.

The second cause of strife is the desire for possessions. In Genesis 13:7-8, we see that there was strife between Abraham and Lot's herdsmen. This strife was over real estate and who owned it. These herdsmen could not get along because they were concerned with who had the most possessions. When you live for possessions, you will find yourself at strife with yourself and others. This desire for possessions is a selfish desire. The desire for possessions causes strife because you want something that does not belong to you. The easiest way to overcome this cause of strife is to change your desire to please God. When you get to the point in your life when possessions are only a necessary evil to get through life, then you will find this strife will cease.

Serving personalities and not God is the third cause of strife. In 1 Corinthians 3:3-4, this worldly church was fighting over whose leader was the greatest leader. Some thought Paul was the greatest, while others thought Apollos was the greatest. This caused great strife among the early Christians. The same happens today within Christianity. There are many good men of God who are being used in a great way. The followers of these men often will fight over who is the greater personality. Let me remind you that we do not serve man, but we serve God. We should never fight over a personality. We are only commanded to contend for the faith. Be careful about lifting personalities so high that you lift them over truth. Always remember that a sign of a carnal Christian is when they fight over personality and not over truth.

The last cause of strife is jealousy. Romans 13:13 shows us that jealousy causes strife. When you become jealous of what someone else has, then you will start striving with them. You should never be jealous of what another has, but instead you should be thrilled that God has blessed them. If you live your life not expecting anything, then you will find yourself never becoming jealous over what others may get or have.

Christian, don't allow strife to be a part of your life. If you find yourself in constant strife, then it's time to grow up and make pleasing God the goal of your life. If your sole desire is to please God, then you will find that none of the causes of strife will exist in your life.

When Faith

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When Faith Steps In

Luke 17:14

"And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed."

On the final journey to Jerusalem before the crucifixion, Jesus stopped in a village to hold a meeting. When He entered the village, there were ten lepers who met Him in hopes that He could heal them. Can you imagine the hope these men had? Their health condemned them to death. Without Jesus' intervention, they would live the remainder of their lives in loneliness as they could not come into contact with the general population. However, when Jesus passed by, they asked Him to have mercy upon them and heal them. Jesus responded by saying, "Go shew yourselves unto the priests." I can only imagine these men were slightly disappointed because Jesus did not immediately heal them. Yet, they trusted His Word and went to see the priests. However, as they went, they were healed. It was when their faith stepped in that they were cleansed.

The key element of the Christian life is faith. The Christian life is started by faith, for you cannot get saved without it. Likewise, God says in Hebrews 11:6 that you cannot please Him without faith. In the story from the verse above, you will find the progression of what is needed for faith to step in.

First, there must be a need. Verse 12 shows us that the leprosy these men had created a need. Their need was to be healed from this awful disease. Do you find an area in your life where you have a need? Maybe your need is for God to step in and heal you of your sickness. Maybe your need is a financial need. Definitely there is a need for a world to be saved from their sin. No matter who you are, there is a need for your faith. That need is that there are people who are dying and going to Hell who are in need of Jesus passing their way. You are the only one who can bring Jesus to them.

Second, for faith to step in there must be a command from God to you. The verse above shows us that God commanded these ten lepers to go to the priests. This command didn't really make sense, for they were only supposed to go show themselves to the priests if they were healed. When Jesus commanded them to go, they still had leprosy. Christian, God's command doesn't always make sense, but our job is not to make sense of God's commands, our job is to obey His commands. If you wait to understand the commands of God, then you will never see the miracles of God.

Years ago it didn't make sense when God commanded me to go into full-time evangelism. I was twenty-one years of age and only had four meetings booked. However, I knew that God called me to be an evangelist, and I also knew that I must step out by faith to have God's blessings on my ministry. I am so thankful that I didn't wait to understand God's command, for if I did I would still be waiting to go into evangelism. You cannot wait for God's commands to make sense, you just need to obey God with whatever He commands you to do.

Third, for faith to step in it takes action. Action is the key to faith. Action is faith stepping in. Notice that these men were healed "as they went." A person without action is a person without faith. Christian, God will never work in your life in a great way without action. It is the busy Christian who sees God work in a great way. The great stories of faith always happened to those who acted. Those who sit never see the great works of God. If you want God to work through your life in a great way, then you must act.

Last, results happen when faith steps in. The action of faith produced the healing these lepers desired. Likewise, when you step out by faith, you will see the results of God working through your life. Stop waiting for results and simply step out on God's command for your life. As you act upon God's command, you will see God's great results in your life.

Every City

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Every City and Village

Luke 8:1

"And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,"

The life of Jesus Christ on Earth was an example for every Christian to follow. There is nothing that you encounter that Jesus did not give you an example of how to handle that situation. Every philosophy of life can be found in the life of Jesus Christ. Every purpose of life can be found in the life of Jesus Christ. Simply put, the life of Jesus Christ is the blueprint that every Christian should follow.

The verse above shows us the main focus of Jesus Christ. You will see that Jesus went into "every city and village." There was no place that Jesus felt that He was too big to go. There were no people whom Jesus did not feel that He should not reach. Jesus went into every "city and village" to show us what the New Testament Baptist church should do.

Notice that Jesus was concerned with cities of all size. The word "city" is talking about a metropolitan city. Jesus went to the large cities to reach the people with salvation. However, He also went into every "village," which was the rural areas of Israel. The size of the city did not matter to Christ, for every size city needs Christ. One of the mistakes we have made in Christianity is that we have forsaken the rural areas for the sake of reaching the masses. However, Jesus reached the masses by going into both the metroplex and the rural areas.

Why did Jesus go into the cities and villages? He went to both because every person in every size city has a soul that will go to Heaven or Hell. If we are not careful, in our attempt to reach the masses we will let those in the rural areas go to Hell. Though I am not against going to the larger cities, we need people who will go to reach the lost in the rural areas as well. 

My good friend, Gary Crawford, went to a rural area of Pennsylvania to reach the lost. He pastors in a town with a population of about 30 people. For close to thirty years he has followed the example of Christ by showing the good tidings to those in that area. Many lives have been touched in that rural area because he followed Christ's example of reaching people in a rural area.

On the other hand, another good friend, Brent Lenentine, went to the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to reach those people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While building a church on the outskirts of this city, he has trained young men to go reach the rural areas. He has done a fine job of reaching the cities and villages of the New Mexico area.

Pastor, don't get so wrapped up in numbers that you forget the formula that Christ gave to reach the lost. Remember that His formula was to reach the large cities as well as the rural areas. Remember that people in every city have a soul. Don't let your infatuation with numbers cause you to let the masses go to Hell.

Christian, it is your responsibility to help reach people in every size city. Wherever you go, be a soul winner. Whenever you stop in a small town, be sure to witness to those people. If you live in a bigger city, then set time aside throughout the year to go soul winning in the rural areas. Every parent needs to raise their children for the purpose of sending them out to reach the cities and villages with Christ.

The answer for your country is to have churches in every city and village. We cannot start churches in these cities and villages unless you get involved in your local church and help it reach the masses in every city and village.

Leading

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Leading by Following

Luke 2:51

"And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart."

The greatest leader who ever lived was Jesus. When the world thinks of great leaders, rarely do you hear them bring up Jesus as a great leader. However, when you consider that Jesus is the Son of God, you will realize that He was most certainly the greatest leader. Yet, how often do you look at the life of Jesus for leadership lessons?

One of the greatest leadership lessons in the Scriptures is taught in the verse above. Jesus understood that He was the Son of God. However, though He understood at this point that He was the Son of God, He still subjected Himself to His parents. Though He should have led His parents because He was the Son of God, He still followed Joseph and Mary because they were His parents. Jesus exemplified in this verse that He was a great leader because He understood that great leaders will follow when they are not in their area of leadership.

It is often said that you don't deserve to lead if you can't follow. Before leaders ever had the opportunity to lead, they had the opportunity to follow. Following qualifies who deserves to lead. This is because when you lead, you are still following. Great leaders don't use their position to get their way, but they use their position to serve their followers.

Parents need to rear their children to be leaders. One of the reasons why children should obey is so they can learn to be better leaders someday. Obedience should be expected of children. When a child is out of control and won't obey, then they are showing that they will be a poor leader because if they had a position of leadership, then they would use that position for their own gain.

Moreover, you should always use a person's ability to follow as a measuring stick to determine their ability to lead. A person who can't follow their pastor in the church should never be given a position of leadership. An employee who cannot follow their supervisor should never be given a position of leadership. A citizen who cannot follow the laws of the land should never be given a position of authority in society.

If you want to be a better leader in the areas in which you lead, then you need to be sure to be a good follower. Stop being the one who always has to buck the system. Questioning those in leadership should not be your mantra. I am not implying that you should be a blind follower, but I am implying that you should learn to subject yourself to those who lead you, even if you know how to lead in that area. The greatest qualification for leadership is followship. When you have learned how to follow, then you have learned how to lead.

Things

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Things of God or Man

Mark 8:33

"But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men."

One of the things that every Christian must learn to be successful in is to discern whether something is of God or man. Peter was like most Christians in that early in his Christian life he had no discernment in this area. Jesus questioned Peter to teach him how to discern whether something is of God or man. Jesus asked Peter, "But whom say ye that I am?" After Peter answered, Jesus responded by telling His disciples that He would have to die on the cross for the sins of mankind. However, Peter took exception to Jesus saying He would die and rebuked Him. Yet, in the verse above Jesus began to teach Peter how to discern whether something is of God or man.

The first test of discernment is to determine whether it is about you or God. Verse 34 says, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Discerning whether a work is about man or God is to see who gets the glory for the work. If man gets the glory, then the work is of man. Every work should be about God getting the glory. Whatever you do, only get involved in works that will bring glory to God.

The second test of discernment is to see whether the work is trying to impact the immediate or the future. You will see in verse 35 that the future impact is God's main concern. You will find that there are many things that are only concerned with the immediate results. For instance, one of the biggest problems you will see in the political realm is how politicians are more concerned with the next election cycle than they are with the future of their country. This is a very dangerous way to live. God's Word was written with the future in mind. Most of God's works will not have an immediate impact, but all of His works will have a good impact on your future.

The third test of discernment is to see if the work will cause you to have to change your soul to profit. Verse 36 asks, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Your soul is who you are; it is your character. When you have to change who you are for the sake of profit, then this work is not of God. God never asks you to sacrifice your character for His work. If you have to sacrifice your character for a job, then the job is not right. If you have to sacrifice your character to marry someone, then that person is not the right person to marry. If you have to sacrifice your character to be successful in your business, then you are joining the wrong business venture. Always remember that God's works put character before profit.

The last test of discernment is to see if the work is being done for perception instead of right and wrong. Verse 38 makes it very clear that God does not want us to be ashamed of His Words. When you are more concerned with perception than you are with truth, then you are working for the wrong reason. Truth should ALWAYS be your major concern. Don't ever let your perception cause you to compromise truth.

Having the discernment to determine whether something is of God or man is imperative to your Christian life. Until you acquire this discernment, you will find your Christian life to be unstable. Start using these four principles to help you determine whether something is of God or man.