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Exo. 3:10-11 – “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?
It is time for me to kick back and take it easy. I spent 40 years in Egypt studying and developing my talents. I moved to Midian and worked these last 40 years tending to sheep and my family.” So how do you accomplish a project for which you feel totally unqualified?
Remember if someone has asked you to be the leader of a project it is because they have faith in you. (If you are working somewhere and you are asked because your supervisor wants to see you fail. Then seriously you need to be looking for another job.) God asks Moses to lead because He believes he is capable of accomplishing this task. Plus, He knows that He is going to be there to help him complete this project. Moses’ real problem is he lacks faith in God. He tries to hide his trust issues of God behind the veil of “Who am I?” A lot of people have this same problem. We don’t trust God will help us finish the job at hand, but this is difficult to admit. So we place the blame on ourselves by saying we are the smallest, the weakest, or some other bodily handicap or character flaw. If you want to accomplish something great then remember who asked you and trust their judgment of you.
If you are being asked to accomplish a huge task do you know those in authority? Do you know how to approach them and when? Can you speak their language? How has life educated you for this opportunity? Remember most of your education didn’t come from the classroom unless you are or were a teacher. Your education has continued to come from what you have learned in everyday life. Last week I used a lesson that my dad taught me nearly 50 years ago. He said, “If you have a vibration in your steering wheel while driving or braking something is wrong with the front tires or brakes. If you have a vibration in your seat something will be wrong with the rear tires or brakes.” My wife told me she noticed a vibration when she applied the brakes in the steering wheel. I drove the car and there was a vibration in the steering wheel when I applied the brakes. When I took the car to the mechanic he discovered the car needed new front rotors. When they installed new rotors the vibration disappeared. Thanks Dad for the lesson. Remember the lessons you learned in life and apply them as you accomplish the project that you have been asked to do. Moses learned he could trust God the One who asked him to accomplish the project of leading the children out of Egypt. God helped Moses and they lead the children out of Egypt. God will help you and this is what you need to believe. Trust in God and everything will work out fine. Think On This: A college education never hurt anyone who was willing to learn after he/she acquired it. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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I Kings 18:43-45 - He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go back” seven times. It came about at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.’” In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower.
Having people not believe in your dreams or God's calling of you is a commonplace experience. In our text above Elijah had a vision or a dream where the Word of the Lord came to him. In this vision God had told him that it was going to rain (vs.1). Now no one else knew it was going to rain. Everyone had been programmed to believe it wasn't going to rain because it hadn't rained in over three years.
They go through this ritual six times and each time his answer is the same, “There is nothing.” Imagine going through this same routine six times and coming back with the same answer, “There is nothing.”
How many of us have seen something that no one else was able to see? We believed in it but no one else did.
I thought to myself that was a true statement. I began to inform God in my prayers that I was willing to say what Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me." God began to open up doors for me that others couldn't see being opened. People started questioning my intentions and I realized it was better to keep this to myself. They didn't have faith in me or my calling.
What are you to do when you can see what no one else can see? I believe you keep on displaying your faith in what you believe. You don't quit believing what you know to be true. At least that is what Elijah did and on the seventh time his servant came back with a different answer. A don’t get your hopes up to high answer. He says, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand…” The servant doesn’t have much faith in this little cloud. In fact, he says it is a “small” cloud. It is only the size of a man’s hand. Now if you think about that for a moment, physically speaking, a cloud the size of a man's hand isn’t going to do much. That is what makes this story all the more fascinating.
You might have a vision, a dream, or a calling and you have shared it with your family or friends and they all think you are “crazy” or worse yet they even call you a “dreamer”. All I can say is keep believing or having faith in your dreams. Elijah did and in the end he was right and they were wrong. You may be the small cloud that God wants to do great things with today. Will you let Him use you? Think On This: Small minds are the first to criticize large ideas. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Jn. 1: 40-42 - One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
Peter is mentioned over 160 times in the N.T. and it is all because his brother Andrew (mentioned 13 times) led him to Christ. Andrew, who is mentioned fewer times but really plays a vital role in God's Kingdom by introducing Peter to Jesus.
All we have to do is be like Andrew and introduce a Peter to Jesus. Peter was the one who said, "Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And Jesus would give Peter the keys to the kingdom (Mt. 16:16-19). It was Peter who got out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. It was Peter who would cut off Malchus' ear in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was Peter who would preach the first gospel sermon and over 3,000 people would be baptized into Christ. We could say a whole lot more about Peter, but I want to remind us of this one thing: it was ANDREW, one guy, who brought Peter to meet Jesus. It was Andrew who became friends with one little lad, who had a lunch, and when this one lunch was given to Jesus it fed over 5,000 men, women and children.
Yes, one can make a difference. In what area of life are you going to make a difference? Andrew was just one person but look at the huge impact he was able to make. YOU ARE ONE. What huge impact are you going to make? You may have thought "What can I do, I am only one person?" Well, now you know. One person can make a huge impact if he or she has a mind to do so. Now go and accomplish something great in your life. Go and make a huge impact. You know you can do it. Think on These: It is when we forget ourselves that we do things that are most likely to be remembered. Every accomplishment, great or small, starts with the right decision, "I'll Try." Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 21:5-6 - So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch." So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. NASU
He used a "fish" as an illustration for Peter to pay the temple tax in Matt. 17:27 -"However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."
I = Iesous when translated means Jesus Ch = Christos when translated means Christ Th = Theos when translated means God U = Hurios when translated means Son S = Soter when translated means Savior The "Fish" symbol means Jesus Christ God's Son is our Savior. The next time you hear the word "fish" you can think about Jesus Christ God's Son is our Savior. We all need a Savior because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Praise be to God who has provided us with our Savior Jesus Christ. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today is the perfect day to do this. What you need to do is confess that you believe Jesus is the Christ and be baptized or immersed in what we call the watery grave and be resurrected from that grave to walk in newness of life. Think On This: If you keep God out of your life, something must be wrong in your life. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Num. 14:6-10 - Joshua... and Caleb…, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation… “If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. “Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
The other ten spies were very negative and critical of accomplishing this feat and they made it known to all who would listen to them. You will see the 10 negative spies were able to persuade the Israelites to stone Joshua and Caleb. When they were about to stone them the glory of the Lord appeared and the attempted stoning stopped. Leadership 101 teaches some very specific lessons.
We were on 2 acres of property and the extra land would allow us to grow. There were 60 people in attendance for the congregational meeting that night. This was my first real taste of seeing Christians act like the children of Israel. There was one couple in particular who made numerous accusations about me and my character. I had never heard Christians speak like this before. This was the first time in my ministry I was compared to the infamous Jim Jones. After this man was through his wife stood up and reiterated everything her husband had said. This meeting lasted less than an hour but it felt like a week. When no one else had any questions or comments we took a vote and it was 58-2 in favor of purchasing the land. I believe with all my heart God used those two negative and critical people to His glory. I had a family of four adults approach me after the vote. They informed me that when they walked into the meeting they didn't know how they were going to vote, but after listening to the husband and wife they knew they were not going to align with them. I always believed there were probably others who walked in that night thinking the same way. Once they heard negative Nathan and Nellie they went the opposite direction.
We did grow. Every critical statement that was made about me that night was proven to be incorrect. In fact, I was able to use the negative criticism as a form of motivation. If I may encourage you today let me say this, "When you're criticized don't quit trying to accomplish your goal. Allow the criticism to motivate you to say, "Okay! We will see who is correct, you or me." The Israelites had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because of their unbelief. After 40 years they enter into the Promised Land just like Joshua and Caleb said they could 40 years earlier. We hear the names Joshua and Caleb mentioned often in our world today, but we never hear the men who were negative mentioned.
Always remember criticism comes with the territory when you are a leader. Leaders will be criticized and leaders will be motivated by criticism. Think on These:
Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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