Season

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In His Season

Psalm 1:3

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Every part of life has seasons. The seasons of the year are spring, summer, fall and winter. Each of these seasons are important for the next season to fulfill its purpose to its fullest. Without a spring, the summer would have no fruit. Without a summer, the fall would have no harvest. Without a fall, the winter would destroy the harvest. Without a winter, the spring could not bring new life. Every season is important to each other.

When I was twelve years of age, I was very eager to get into the youth department. Because I grew up in a smaller church, it was not uncommon for the youth to meet at our house for a youth activity. I can remember times when I so badly wanted to go on the youth activity that I would beg my parents to let me go, but they were consistent in telling me that youth activities were for teenagers, and that I would not be a teenager until I was thirteen. There were times when some of the teenagers would ask my parents if I could go on the activity with them, but again my parents were consistent with making me wait until my thirteenth birthday. They were teaching me the importance of not rushing my seasons of life. They understood that I would not enjoy my teenage years as much if they allowed me to go to the next season before my time.

God said that when He blesses someone, that their fruit will bring "...forth fruit in his season;..." In other words, God wanted everything to stay in its season. He was teaching in this verse that everyone needs to let the fruit ripen at its own pace without rushing the season. The whole purpose of not rushing the season is so that we can prosper to our fullest potential in each season of life.

Notice that everybody has their own unique fruit. The verse above says, "...that bringeth forth his fruit..." Christian, be careful about comparing your fruit to someone elses. Everybody has their own unique fruit, and you cannot expect yours to be like someone elses. Just like an orange tree has different fruit than an apple tree, so each person will have their own unique fruit in life. God made each of us to bear our own fruit, so stop trying to compare your success to someone else's fruit.

Furthermore, be careful about staying in your seasons. You will never bear the fruit that God intended for you to bear without staying in your seasons. Parent, don't be quick to rush your children through their seasons of life. Let them stay in their season, for when you rush the seasons, you will hurt the next. As an adult, be careful about rushing your seasons. When you are a young adult, don't try to enjoy the seasons of the middle-aged adults. When you are middle aged, don't try to rush yourself to enjoy the season of the senior years. Stay in your seasons.

Likewise, a church must be careful about rushing the seasons of Christians. In our attempt to build our churches, let's be careful about letting people grow in each season of their Christian life. Let's be careful about pushing someone into the next season of their Christian life before they are ready. Many young Christians have become disillusioned with the Christian life because they were given too much before they were ready. If a church will grow itself and those Christians in their own season, then a church will be stable and productive.

Remember that the purpose of bearing the fruit of the season you are in is to prosper to your own potential. If you rush the seasons, then you will never reach the potential of your prosperity that God wants you to reach. Be patient, and don't rush your seasons.

Defective

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Defective Christians

Titus 1:13

"This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;"

Have you ever gone to the store to purchase something that you really wanted only to get home and find the product defective? It is very disappointing when this happens. It is disappointing because you looked forward to having this product, and now, though you may have it in your hands, you will have to wait until you can get the product replaced.

I wonder how many people are disappointed with Christianity because of defective Christians. People hear that Christianity makes people better, but they deal with Christians who are defective in what they are supposed to be. God commands us to avoid being a defective Christian. When you read the Books of Timothy and Titus, you will see the word "sound" is often used. The word "sound" means, "undecided, whole, not defective." Each time this word is mentioned, God tells us where we must work at in being sound, or not defective.

2 Timothy 4:3 says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;" In this verse, God is showing us that He does not want our doctrine to be defective. If you are going to have sound doctrine, then you need to study the Scriptures to know what is good doctrine. Too often we take the words of a well-known preacher as doctrine, and nobody should ever be given this privilege. The Word of God is where doctrine is found. Whenever you hear a preacher teach something contrary to the Scriptures, then you must always adhere to the Scriptures and not to the man of God. Christian, be sure that what you believe in is found in the Scriptures. Don't let your doctrine become defective with the philosophies of man.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." God warns us in this verse to make sure we don't have a defective mind. Let me ask you, with what are you filling your mind? Too many people are filling their minds with worldly pollutions, and then they wonder why they struggle in their Christian life. It is crucial that you protect your mind. Most of the Christian life is derived in the mind. When you have a defective mind because of sin, then you will find your Christian life to be defective.

2 Timothy 1:13 says, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here we find that we must guard our words from being defective. If you don't protect what you think, then you will find what you say will be defective. As a Christian, you need to be sure that every word that comes from your mouth is glorifying to God. Whether the words are spoken privately in the home or publicly in the church or workplace, your words need to be words that build people and not tear them down.

Last, the verse above teaches us to be "...sound in the faith." The Christian life will only be lived successfully by those who live by faith. When you fill your life with doubt, then your faith will be defective. You build your faith by serving God. If you read the Scriptures, protect what fills your mind, guard the words you say, but don't do anything to serve God, then your faith will be defective. It is important for you to be involved with your church, for this is where you serve God and build your faith.

Are you a defective Christian, or is your Christian life sound? If you are sound in doctrine, mind, words and faith, then you will find that your Christian life will be what God wants it to be. Furthermore, these four areas are what it takes to have longevity in your Christian life. Without them you will eventually fail.

Reputation

A Christian Reputation

Ephesians 5:3

"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;"

One of the wearisome things that Christians deal with is the stained reputations of those who have fallen into sin. Sin always affects more than the fallen. The effects of sin reach to people who had nothing to do with the sin. For example, years ago a well-known TV evangelist was caught mishandling money. He eventually went to prison for his crime, but every Christian who went soul winning had to answer questions about that man's actions.

God warns us in the verse above about having a good reputation. He commands that we should live in such a manner that wrong actions could "...not be once named among you, as becometh saints;" This reminds me of Daniel who lived in such a manner that the only way his enemies could accuse him was through his service to God. They sent people to spy on Daniel to see if they could find anything of which to accuse him, but his reputation was one that they could not accuse him of doing wrong. God shows us in this chapter how to live our life in such a manner that people can not accuse us doing something wrong.

First, God tells us that loving people will help you to avoid accusation. Though this is not the only way, this will certainly help. God commands us in verse 2 to "...walk in love..." When people know that you love them, then they are less likely going to accuse you of doing wrong. People who are hateful will watch everything you do so that they can find something of which to accuse you. Don't be a hateful person, but be a person who is known for loving people.

Second, having the right associations will help you avoid accusation. People are often accused because of their associations. Verse 11 commands us to "...have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,..." Christian, if you don't want people to accuse you of doing wrong, then don't associate yourself with those who live wrong. If you don't want to be guilty by association, then spend time with those who are known to have good reputations and not bad.

Third, using your time wisely will help you avoid accusation. God commands in verse 16 to redeem our time. God is teaching us that being known as a scheduled person will help you to avoid accusations. Those who live an unscheduled life are more open to accusation than those who are scheduled. This is because scheduled people are known to fill their time doing what is right. A scheduled person won't allow open time for the Devil to use.

Fourth, being filled with the Spirit will help you avoid accusation. Spirit-filled people will have a reputation of God working through them. When a person is Spirit filled, you would not imagine them doing wrong, for the works the Spirit do not lean towards loose living. For instance, if I told you that one of the apostles had an adulterous affair you would not believe me. Why? Because they were filled with the Spirit, and their works testified differently. When you are filled with the Spirit, your works will testify of God's works, and not loose living.

Christian, having a good reputation is of utmost importance. Guard your reputation and live in such a manner that people would not feel that they could get away with accusing you of loose living. Though you live in a world where false accusations are prevalent, you can certainly live your life above board so that it would seem hard to accuse you of such horrible acts.

Why

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Why the Fallen Are Not Restored

Galatians 6:1

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

There is a pastor friend of mine who has a hobby of restoring old cars. I recently preached a meeting for him when he asked me if I would like to see some old cars that had been restored. He took me to a place where there had to be over 40 old cars that had been restored. I was amazed at the condition of these cars. Every car I looked at looked as if it was brand new. The owner of this shop takes old cars, and through a rigorous process restores them to their original condition. My thought that afternoon was that this is what God wants us to do with those whose lives have been marred by sin.

Not long after this opportunity, I was eating with another pastor friend when our conversation went to the condition of churches in America. I made a statement to him that one of the biggest reasons why we don't have revival is because of the sin that is swept under the carpet in our churches. This pastor responded in a classic way by saying that one of the biggest reasons this happens is because there are few spiritual people who are capable of restoring Christians. He referred to the verse above that says, "...ye which are spiritual, restore such an one..." He made the statement that it takes spiritual people to restore those who have fallen.

One of the works of Christianity is to restore those who have fallen into sin. It amazes me how aggressively we go after winning those to Christ who are living in sin, but we attack those who were once our co-laborers in Christ because they fell into sin. I ask you, why are we more concerned with the lost than we are with those who are saved but have made a tragic mistake? God's desire is that we would be concerned with both the lost and the fallen Christian.

However, to restore the fallen it takes someone who is spiritual. The reason God says it takes a spiritual Christian is because an unspiritual Christian will criticize and attack those who have fallen into sin instead of trying to help them. For someone to be restored, they must come clean with their sin. The core of any sin is deceit. There can be no restoration until deceit has been removed. Part of removing deceit is coming clean with people about what you have done. I often say you should never lie about anything, and that includes what you have done. However, if people are not spiritual, then deceit cannot be removed due to the attitude of the unspiritual Christian.

The verse above teaches us that the attitude of the spiritual is one of meekness because they also consider that they are capable of committing the same sin. When a spiritual Christian hears that one has fallen, in a spirit of meekness they do not condemn the fallen, but try to restore them. They keep this attitude because they realize they are capable of doing the same thing. Until Christians become like this, then we will continue to see our churches filled with sin.

Let me ask you, are you spiritual enough to restore the fallen? Are you part of the reason that we cannot get sin removed from our churches because you condemn those who have fallen? When you hear of someone who has fallen, do you gossip and shun that person? Don't be part of the problem, but be part of the solution in helping to restore people. Whenever you hear of someone who has fallen, always remember that you are capable of committing the same sin. Likewise, don't participate in the gossip of those who attack the fallen, but rather run to the side of the fallen and help restore them. Yes, I would rather our churches be like a new car lot that if filled with new cars, but that is not going to happen. So, let's make our churches like the shop that was filled with restored cars. The only way we can restore lives is if by being spiritual.

Balance

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Balance of Powers

Acts 4:33

"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all."

Two powers are revealed in this verse that enabled the apostles to accomplish great works. The verse above says that the apostles had "great power" and "great grace." It was important that the apostles had both of these powers together, for one without the other would have hindered them from accomplishing what God intended for them to do. The great power that these apostles had was balanced out by their great grace. Likewise their great grace was balanced out by their great power. Each power alone would have hurt them and others.

The word "power" carries several definitions that properly describe this "great power." It means, ability, authority, force, energy, or driving force. This power is what allowed them to accomplish the great works. With this power, they became bold. With this power, they would not let anything stop them. With this power, they acquired an authority that could have caused them to want everything to be about what they could get. The power these men had could have ruined them. Often you will hear that power corrupts good people. This is very true, but these apostles knew that they needed "great grace" to balance out their "great power."

The word "grace" means, elegance, goodwill, decor, good manners and kindness. In other words, the apostles balanced their power with grace so they could keep those whom they helped. Yes, they did the works of God with power, but they had a good attitude while they did their works. Yes, the power these men had enabled them to have the ability to take advantage of those they helped, but they balanced this out by giving to those whom they helped. Grace kept their power in check.

Every Christian needs a balance of great power and grace. It is about time that Christians start doing the work of God with power. In other words, don't do God's work apologetically. Jesus never apologized for doing what He was supposed to do. Likewise, when you are doing the works of God, you need to carry out these works with energy and boldness. There ought to be an excitement when you do the works of God. You should have a driving force that realizes that every person with whom we deal will either go to Heaven or Hell. We should not be passive about God's works, for we carry an authority from God to do them.

However, be sure that you are graceful as you carry out God's works. In other words, don't run over people just to get God's work done. Remember that the work of God is about reaching people. We don't want to run several off in an attempt to save one. Every person is important to God. Be sure that you have a right attitude as you do the works of God. Be sure that you are kind as you do God's work. Be sure that you have good manners while you do God's work. This grace will balance out your power.

Notice that both are important and relevant to great works being performed. Great power without great grace will hurt people. On the other hand, great grace without great power will cause you to compromise. If all you are concerned with is not hurting people, then you will eventually compromise truth. Both grace and power are needed to keep you right and from hurting others. Power will accomplish what needs to be done, but grace will keep those whom you reached with power. As you go throughout your day, don't be afraid to have great power as you tell others about Jesus, but also be sure that you are graceful as you use this great power that God gives to you.

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.