FUEL

John 1:3-4 "God created everything through him (Word), and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone." Do you ever wonder why it is so hard for so many Christians to stay faithful to the daily reading and study of the word of God? Maybe you too have faced the struggle of consistency in the word of God. Our scripture for today gives us insight into why Satan wants to keep you out of the word of God and ultimately disconnect you from Jesus the living word. This scripture teaches us that the word gives life to all that is created and that his life brings light to everyone. Understand that the word of God gives life to your life, it is spiritual fuel that ignites the engines of the Spirit and causes you to come alive for the glory of God. In Genesis 1 we learn that the Holy Spirit was hovering over the face of the deep and that darkness covered the universe. The Spirit of God was present but their was still darkness, until the word came. The moment God the Father spoke the Word and said let their be light, the Holy Spirit moved and light came. The word of God fuels the Spirit and gives life and that life the Bible says brings light to everyone. I have never meet a soul winning, disciple making, devil stomping Christian that did not have a daily time in the word of God. Why? Because the word brings life and that life brings the light of Christ to the world so that people can be saved, discipled and set free from the power of sin and Satan. So now you know why Satan wants to keep you out of the word. If he can deceive you into thinking you are to busy (you are not) or that you can not understand (the Holy Spirit will teach you) the Bible, then he can siphon the fuel out of your Christian life and remove the light of Christ from your world.

Clean Stables or A Large Harvest

Proverbs 14:4 "Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest." As a leader you can have a clean stable or a large harvest but you can not have both. Ministry is messy and it requires a lot of leaders to make it happen. People lives are never changed without great sacrifice. Our salvation is rooted in sacrifice, the cross was not clean and tidy. True discipleship is hard work and very messy, in order to grow people up in the faith you are going to have to change a lot of dirty diapers. Too many pastors want clean stables, they want pretty churches, filled with pretty people. But Jesus came for the sick and not the well. Hospitals are sterile but if you have ever been in the operating room it gets messy. Why? Because dealing with the stuff in people's lives that keep them sick and unhealthy means going beyond the surface of Sunday morning Christianity and ministering the healing and wholeness of Jesus Christ. True discipleship is hard work but one life becomes a seed that changes future generations, it is worth the effort. Raising up leaders also messes up the stable. The more hands you have serving the more chances you have that something can go wrong. And all leaders especially new one make mistakes and sometimes dig holes that have to be mended. It is easier and cleaner to just do the job yourself, but that decision limits the size not just of your church but also the harvest that you reach for Christ. We need all hands on deck if we are going to reach a dying world. Both sides of discipleship is necessary for a healthy growing church. We have to reach out to the sick and hurting and we have to raise people up (leaders) to do the work of the ministry. If you just reach out to hurting people you will be overcome by the enormity of the need. If you just raise up people to do ministry then you will run out of people to raise up and will have a group of spiritual couch potatoes. But if you do both you will have a thriving church that is filled with the sick and the well. You church will become a hospital for the hurting and a training center for those who have been made whole. It will be messy and it will be a lot of work, but it will be worth it. So as a leader you have to make a decision, do you want a nice, neat stable or do you want a large harvest. I believe the success of your ministry will be determined by your choice. So what do you want?

Fruit

Luke 19:8-10 "Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”  9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10  For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” 

Jesus said "salvation has come to this house today", the fruit of salvation is repentance. How do you know when a person has been born again and truly been saved? They turn from their sins and begin to do what pleases God. Zacchaeus said, "I will give to the poor and anyone I have cheated I will repay four times as much". Salvation produces a transformation in the heart and life of a person.

Not everyone that professes Christ, possesses Christ. The fruit of salvation is repentance, the word repent can be broken down into two parts. The first part re means to return, the second part pent means a high place. That is why the penthouse is always on the top floor. So to repent means to return the high place, the place that pleases God. In means to come out of the valley of darkness/sin and return to the light of Gods presence.

So what about you? Is there fruit of salvation in your life? Have you repented, have you come out of your old ways of sin? Are you living a life that pleases God? Please understand I'm not talking about a perfect life but I am talking about an on purpose life. Something changed in Zacchaeus's life and on purpose he began to stop doing things that he had once done that were wrong and he began to do the things that pleased God.

So what about you? Has there been a heart change, can others look at you and see the difference in how you live your life? I've heard it said, that "a difference that makes no difference is really no difference at all" if your salvation experience did not make a visible difference in how you live your life, then you did not have a salvation experience. True salvation produces the fruit of repentance.

Total Surrender

Luke 18:22-23 "When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23  But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich."

This story gives us an accurate picture of what God really desires, total surrender. Jesus told the rich young ruler that there was still one thing he had not done, that one thing was total surrender. He had not totally surrendered his life to Christ. He still valued his riches more that he valued his relationship with God.

So I want to ask you a question, what is your one thing? Is there something in your life that you have been unwilling to let go of? Is there something in your life that has not yet been surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus? Maybe it's your money or maybe even your family? Maybe it a position or a hobby? Maybe it's pride or a secret sin? Do you have a "one thing"?

Today, God's challenge for our life is to surrender all and follow him. Remember the kingdom of God is upside down and backwards, in the natural if you surrender you lose the battle. But in the spiritual when you surrender to Christ you win the battle, victory in the kingdom of God goes to the one who surrenders their life to the Lordship of Jesus and is willing to forsake all and follow him. The rich young man went away sorrowful but he did not have to. He could have walked away following Jesus with Great Joy! So how will you walk away from this message, with sorrow or great joy?

Leaders Wait

Joshua 3:17  "Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground."

Joshua 4:14 "That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses."


This scripture paints a beautiful picture of leadership and it also presents one of the greatest challenges that a leader faces. The bible says they waited until the whole nation crossed over. The job of a leader is to accomplish the vision of God through the lives of Gods people. It is always quicker and easier to travel alone, but it you go alone you may be a pioneer but you are not a leader. Leaders take people with them.

The natural tendency of a leader is to go, go and go, but our job is not just to get to the promise land. Our job is to help others get there too. Sometimes the most important thing that we can do as leaders is wait. Waiting for our people to cross over, waiting on God's perfect timing, waiting on our team to regain their footing. So many leaders run ahead and they leave their people unprotected and unfulfilled.

I will be honest with you, I hate to wait, I see the prize and I am willing to pay the price to get there and I am ready today. The only problem is that all of those statements revolve around me, I hate to wait, I am willing and I am ready. But leadership is not about the leader, it is about the people.

Impatient leaders are selfish leaders and many times they sacrifice their people for their success which is a perverted form of leadership. The scripture goes on to tell us that on that day Joshua became a great leader in the eyes of the people and they revered him for the rest of his life. One of the greatest qualities of leadership is the ability to wait, not drag your feet but strategically wait for the good of your people.