Author: admin

God’s method of administering people is to pick good leaders. When Moses had the responsibility of leading an entire nation of former slaves, the burden was immense. So God instructed His weary servant to choose additional leaders from each of the tribes. The answer was not to import executives from other nations. These administrators were to be home grown.

They were also to have qualities that mattered to God. Wisdom was the first attribute to be sought for. Wisdom includes far more than knowledge or technical expertise. There are people who are brilliant in their narrow field of endeavor but fools in working with people. A second prerequisite for leaders was that they needed to have understanding. These people had to be able to grasp the issues facing the people and to discern the best response. Such skills would be invaluable in administering a nation. Finally, they required knowledge. Some people desire to lead but they have not paid the price to acquire a grasp of the facts and technical details of the challenges that are facing them. Those chosen to lead required a depth of knowledge that could be drawn upon in finding solutions for the people.

What type of people are you gathering around you? What is the caliber of people you have chosen to work with? Do they meet the standard God set for leaders?

God has a purpose for every person. But His will for your life may not have begun with you. Your assignment may merely be the continuation of what He initiated in others years ago. If you are a leader in your church, God may have established that congregation a century ago. God’s will for it did not begin with your arrival! God may have begun a work in your family tree generations before you emerged on the scene. God may have been initiating a divine work in your community or company long before you arrived.

If those who went before us had not been faithful, we might not be where we are today. The key is to have the correct perspective. We must ask: “What has been passed down to me? What will I pass on to those who follow me?”

As great a man of faith as Abraham was, he never saw what Moses did. Nor did Isaac or Jacob. But they did fully experience God’s will for their life in their day. Likewise Joshua and his generation would experience God’s power in ways Moses would not. Each generation was meant to build on the ones that preceded it. How are you living, and leading? Are you acting as if everything began with you? Or, do you recognize you have been given a sacred trust from those who went before you? And, that those who follow you will one day take up your work and attempt to build upon it?

It was breathtaking, to say nothing of terrifying, to camp at the base of Mount Horeb, the awesome mountain of God. No one who was there would forget the peals of thunder, the flashes of lightning, the endless fire and smoke that ascended to the heavens, as well as the ear-piercing blasts of trumpets. After witnessing the ten plagues on Egypt and watching the Red Sea part, this was greater still. On the sacred mount, God had dictated His law to Moses in which the divine expectations for His people had been clearly delineated. It had been a defining moment for God’s people.

But, as with all mountain top experiences, it was time to move on. It might have been tempting to dwell at the foot of that great mount, but it would not have accomplished God’s purposes. God intended for His people to bring judgment on the wicked inhabitants of Canaan. God had prepared a wonderful inheritance for the Israelites where they could become a light to the nations. None of that could happen if they remained where they were.

Worship is a central aspect of the Christian’s life. It helps us regain a proper perspective on God as well as ourselves. But at a certain point, it is time to get to work. Some people come too little to the mountain of worship. Others stay too long. Once God has clearly spelled out His will for your life, there comes a time to break camp and begin the process of fully implementing what you experienced in worship into your daily living.

We are saved by grace, through faith, not by our works. There is nothing you can do to save yourself from your sin. However, once you are saved, God expects you to live like someone who has been made right with God. In fact, Scripture indicates that the proof we have been born again ought to be seen in the righteousness of our lives (1 John 5:2-4).

Being saved by grace does not exempt us from living holy lives. It ought to compel us to live for Christ with abandon. Christians ought not to live carelessly or casually. Every area of our life ought to be wholly surrendered to God.

The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day were fanatical about following God’s commandments. They went to ridiculous lengths at times, to ensure they were following Scripture’s teachings. Of course they missed Christ, and so their religious behavior was for not. But Jesus, rather than condemning their zeal, commanded His disciples to seek to live holy lives with even more fervency.

Would fervency for righteousness describe your life? Does a desire for holy living pervade everything you do? How serious are you about honoring God in every part of your life? How pleasing is your life, currently, to God?

There is a spiritual and moral darkness that is spreading in increasing intensity across the world. It blinds its victims so they are unable to see themselves properly or to recognize the God who is prepared to save them. It leads people to do horrific crimes against others and yet to see no wrong in their actions. It causes untold hurt and pain as people act selfishly and thoughtlessly and yet justify their actions. It motivates people to rush headlong to their destruction without recognizing the folly of their ways. The darkness today gets worse, all the time.

Yet God has a remedy for spiritual darkness. It is you. Jesus said that you were the light. Those who are followers of Jesus have been appointed to serve as lights of God’s truth. God’s method is to place you in a position where your light shines and dispels the darkness around you. The darkness won’t like it. It won’t depart willingly. But darkness has no choice but to flee when light shines brightly and determinedly.

Where has God placed your life? How has the darkness blinded people around you? What is the condition of your light? Is it shining brightly, or dimly? Have you allowed the darkness to intimidate you? Be aware of this: the darkness will bluster and threaten and seek to intimidate you but, if you will faithfully and boldly shine your light for Christ, the darkness will be dispensed. It has no choice.

Are salty? Salt has two primary functions. First, it preserves. In ancient days before refrigeration, meat would quickly deteriorate in the hot, Middle Eastern sun. Since meat was extremely valuable, every effort was made to preserve it. By salting it down, meat would last and provide food for its owners. Secondly, salt was used to bring out the taste of food. Food might not reach its full potential apart from salt being added to it.

In our world, sin is constantly working to deteriorate and destroy peoples’ lives. God has chosen Christians to be His divine preserving agents throughout society. When sin abounds in people’s lives, God places a Christian alongside them to halt the degeneration that is occurring. When we see people around us whose lives are falling apart, our first reaction ought not to be that of criticism or complaint. Rather we must ask ourselves why our life of salt was unable to preserve those near us. Sin pervades our world. It is continually degenerating marriages, families,friendships, and partnerships. The only effective restraining agent is God’s people acting as salt. God also intends for His people to bring out the best in others. Is your life bringing out the best in those around you?

If God has currently positioned your life in a place being ravaged by sin, take heart. You may be God’s instrument to stop sin in its tracks.

Our culture has persuaded us that if God is pleased with our lives, He will bless us by making us prosper and overcome those who oppose us. It can be puzzling when people criticize us or oppose us with immunity. Why can ungodly people be allowed to make our life so difficult at times? Why does God not bless the righteous and punish the ungodly?

Jesus turned this thinking upside down. He declared that when people oppose us because of our faith and when they are critical of our beliefs, we should be glad. For then we are sharing in the same fate that met our Lord. Being assaulted is not necessarily a sign that God is unhappy with you! The opposite may be true. It may be you have never been more pleasing to God than when people criticize and oppose you for your belief in Him.

The reality is that society is changing. Christians ought to prepare themselves for increasingly intense and relentless persecution. We need not recoil from it or hide in fear. Jesus Himself declared that our reward would be great, when we suffered for Him. Have you suffered because of your faith? If you haven’t, examine whether you have been joining Christ each day in His work. Where He is, suffering is inevitable.

We tend to think that repentance is intended for hardened sinners, not good Christians like us. But when Jesus began preaching this message, He was speaking to God’s people. In Scripture, the first words of repentance are always aimed at getting God’s people back where they need to be.

The Israelites had waited for centuries for the promised Messiah who would come and deliver them from their oppression. Numerous generations had come and gone while waiting for God to intervene in their world. Now, at last, the time had come. But when God came, in His Son, His people were unprepared. They needed to repent. Repentance involves stopping the direction we have been going in our life, and changing and going another way. It calls for a radical alteration, not merely a good intention.

When God is at work right next to us, it is critical that we make whatever adjustments are necessary to become involved in what He is doing. The disciples could not stay in their fishing boats and go with Jesus. Matthew could not remain at his customs table and be on mission with the Messiah. They had to make major adjustments. What changes is heaven calling for you to make so you can be right in the center of the advance of God’s kingdom, today?

God has ways of expressing His pleasure on an obedient life that are unmistakable. He may not speak audibly, but his affirmation is tangible. God is pleased when we resist the temptation to sin. He is delighted when we go out of our way to minister to someone in Christ’s name. God always honors our desire to draw near to Him (James 4:8). God does not remain indifferent while we seek to live for Him.

Have you sensed God’s pleasure on your life lately? Take a moment of silence before Him in prayer and allow Him to speak into your soul. As you read your Bible, be sensitive to a specific word God might have for you today. Listen to the feedback from those around you. God may choose to use their mouth to voice His pleasure in you.

Or, has it been a while since you last knew for certain that your life was honoring and pleasing to God? Glorifying God is why He created you in the first place! It was so you could live in a way that brings honor and glory to His name. What adjustments would you need to make in the way you are living so you could, once again, hear God’s “Well done” upon your life?

There is much about our appearance that we have no control over. Many of our physical attributes came from genes that were passed on to us and there is little we can do about them. Some people, however, spend inordinate amounts of time desperately seeking to alter what nature assigned to them.

Yet there are other aspects of our lives over which we have much control. Our actions and our use of time is something we determine. While the secular world worships people’s appearance, God focuses on their actions. Beautiful people can be selfish and thoughtless. Secular media often overlooks this and zeroes in on their outward qualities. In God’s view, however, an attractive appearance is no substitute for godly actions.

Those who deserve praise are the ones who use their time to contribute to others. Praise belongs to those who are productive, not pretty. Perhaps in no area of life is it more evident how the world colors our values and perspective than here. Entire magazines are devoted to people who are attractive, even when they have contributed nothing wholesome or helpful to society. But those who view things from God’s perspective are quick to admire people who use their time and energies wisely. Their lives make a difference. They invest their time wisely. Such people deserve your admiration and commendation.