M
Miri
Guest
I’m reading a interesting book at the moment called
8 Reasons Your Life Matters: You are not an accident. You are loved. (by John Herrick)
I came across this and thought it might be an encouragement.
"Unqualified Champions”
Consider these individuals from the Bible. Each person was aware
of a personal shortcoming which should have rendered him
disqualified for service. God, however, saw champion potential.
Moses struggled with a speech impediment: “Then Moses said
to the LORD, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither
recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your
servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue’” (Exodus 4:10).
Yet God served as Moses’ source of strength. God used him to deliver
the Israelites from bondage.
Jeremiah considered himself too young to deliver a prophetic message
to an adult population: “Then I said, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not
know how to speak, because I am a youth’” (Jeremiah 1:6). God’s
reply: “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” (Jeremiah 1:8).
Isaiah, whose encouragement I quoted earlier, had reservations of his
own. Perhaps his vocabulary reflected my own—especially my vocabulary
as a teenager: “I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). Despite Isaiah’s
flaws, God saw him as a man He could use to provide guidance to the
nation of Judah.
Paul the Apostle had, in his past, persecuted the very people to whom
God would send him later. To most of us, Paul’s track record would
disqualify him for use. But God brought change to Paul’s heart and
redemption to his fervency.
Samson squandered his potential through poor life choices. As I read
about him, I can’t help but think, “The guy acted like a spoiled brat.”
But God had placed a call on his life. Though Samson sank to life’s
darkest depths—captors blinded him and placed him in slavery—at the
end of his life, he turned his heart toward God and asked to be used
for God’s purposes. God used Samson to bring deliverance to the Israelites.
Do you feel like the least qualified, the least important, the least
regarded? Perhaps your reward is yet to come. God has high regard for
those who are the least. Jesus said, “For the one who is least among
all of you, this is the one who is great” (Luke 9:48) and “But many who
are first will be last; and the last, first” (Matthew 19:30).
If heaven includes strategic positioning among God’s people, which I
believe it will, that positioning will be ego-free and based on a humble
heart. Those of high position in God’s eyes don’t focus on position.
They focus on hearts: their own hearts before God, and the hearts
of others loved by God. When we get to heaven, I believe many people’s
positions of responsibility will surprise us.
What if, in heaven, the some of today’s most accomplished individuals
end up reporting to someone who cried herself to sleep at night—yet kept
her heart pure before God? According to Jesus in Matthew 6:5, some
rewards are given in full before we reach heaven.
When He spoke those words, He referred to hypocritical religious leaders
as an example. Could we be in for a heavenly surprise? I believe many
who are last today—the ultimate servants—will be first in heaven.
God sees things differently than we do. God looks at you differently than
you look at yourself”.
8 Reasons Your Life Matters: You are not an accident. You are loved. (by John Herrick)
I came across this and thought it might be an encouragement.
"Unqualified Champions”
Consider these individuals from the Bible. Each person was aware
of a personal shortcoming which should have rendered him
disqualified for service. God, however, saw champion potential.
Moses struggled with a speech impediment: “Then Moses said
to the LORD, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither
recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your
servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue’” (Exodus 4:10).
Yet God served as Moses’ source of strength. God used him to deliver
the Israelites from bondage.
Jeremiah considered himself too young to deliver a prophetic message
to an adult population: “Then I said, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not
know how to speak, because I am a youth’” (Jeremiah 1:6). God’s
reply: “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” (Jeremiah 1:8).
Isaiah, whose encouragement I quoted earlier, had reservations of his
own. Perhaps his vocabulary reflected my own—especially my vocabulary
as a teenager: “I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). Despite Isaiah’s
flaws, God saw him as a man He could use to provide guidance to the
nation of Judah.
Paul the Apostle had, in his past, persecuted the very people to whom
God would send him later. To most of us, Paul’s track record would
disqualify him for use. But God brought change to Paul’s heart and
redemption to his fervency.
Samson squandered his potential through poor life choices. As I read
about him, I can’t help but think, “The guy acted like a spoiled brat.”
But God had placed a call on his life. Though Samson sank to life’s
darkest depths—captors blinded him and placed him in slavery—at the
end of his life, he turned his heart toward God and asked to be used
for God’s purposes. God used Samson to bring deliverance to the Israelites.
Do you feel like the least qualified, the least important, the least
regarded? Perhaps your reward is yet to come. God has high regard for
those who are the least. Jesus said, “For the one who is least among
all of you, this is the one who is great” (Luke 9:48) and “But many who
are first will be last; and the last, first” (Matthew 19:30).
If heaven includes strategic positioning among God’s people, which I
believe it will, that positioning will be ego-free and based on a humble
heart. Those of high position in God’s eyes don’t focus on position.
They focus on hearts: their own hearts before God, and the hearts
of others loved by God. When we get to heaven, I believe many people’s
positions of responsibility will surprise us.
What if, in heaven, the some of today’s most accomplished individuals
end up reporting to someone who cried herself to sleep at night—yet kept
her heart pure before God? According to Jesus in Matthew 6:5, some
rewards are given in full before we reach heaven.
When He spoke those words, He referred to hypocritical religious leaders
as an example. Could we be in for a heavenly surprise? I believe many
who are last today—the ultimate servants—will be first in heaven.
God sees things differently than we do. God looks at you differently than
you look at yourself”.
