022 - God Is Looking For Men!
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GOD IS LOOKING FOR MEN! By Rodney W. Francis “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him . . .” (2 Chronicles 16:9, NKJV). God is looking for men! Men (and women) who will be true to Him, and to the promises they have made. Christianity begins with a decision and a promise to God that we will follow Him all the days of our life! How often we make good promises to the Lord ~ and how often we fail God because we are not always true to our own word. As never before, the challenge before us is to “practice what we preach”; that is to “Be DOERS of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22-25; see also 1 John 3:18). If we are not doers of the word, then we are only deceiving ourselves. God is looking for men ~ men (and women) who have yielded their hearts and wills to the cause of Christ, and to the extension of His Kingdom ~ men who are willing to “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” (Hebrews 12:1-3) in order to live our lives for His glory.
Everywhere Christians are saying (and it is true) that the end is near, that “the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8). These are times when we very much need to “establish our hearts” (the word “establish” is translated from the Greek word “sterizo” and means “to turn resolutely in a certain direction” – Strong’s; “to set fast, fix firmly, make steadfast, establish” – Bullinger’s). It is speaking of a definite course of direction and action ~ but how many of us are sacrificing time, talents, pleasures and money in order to fulfil the calling of God?
CATCH GOD’S VISION FOR YOUR LIFE! It will not happen unless men (and women) catch the vision of the reason why Jesus Christ has laid a hold of our lives. Far too often our own personal vision is far too small to motivate us into making ourselves totally available to the cause and calling of Jesus Christ. We must have a larger vision ~ a vision that agrees with the will of Jesus Christ for our lives. He taught us to not procrastinate, to not put off until tomorrow what He is calling us to do today: “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:35-36). Christianity does not “demand” an hour or two of your time on Sunday, but rather every hour of every day. Jesus said to ALL of His disciples: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26). Mark’s Gospel records this: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34-38). God has a definite plan for the life of everyone who will wholeheartedly follow Him! Your life can really count for God when He is allowed to take over the controls.
Jesus said: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37). If you read on you will see that Jesus told His disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth those labourers into His harvest. The responsibility of praying for the Lord to send forth those labourers fell squarely on the shoulders of those who obeyed what Jesus said ~ and He sent them forth! The ones who prayed and believed were sent forth!
Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another” (John 15:13-17).
God is looking for men ~ men (and women) who are willing and prepared to labour in His harvest. The tragedy is that there are far too few Christians who are willing enough to labour in the harvest of our Lord Jesus (He said so Himself)! Many are keen for a time, until things get a bit tough (the labourer’s task is not an easy one). But let me remind you of the saying: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” There is not one ounce of victory in turning back from the battle (which is not yours, but the Lord’s). We are quick to tell of the wonderful blessings the early disciples had after Pentecost . . . but slow to realize just what made them the men they were. You say, “But they were filled with the Spirit of God.”That’s true, but . . . are you not also filled with the Holy Spirit? The Bible says: “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). There is another side to the story.
The Scripture says of Barnabas and Paul that they were “men who risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 15:26). The King James Versions says: “Men that have hazarded their lives . . .” The word “hazarded” means “to surrender, i.e. yield up, intrust, transmit” (Strong’s); “to give or hand over to another, to deliver up” (Bullinger’s). The purpose of God came first in their lives, and the powers of darkness were driven back!
A WHOLE AREA IMPACTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! A few years ago, my friend (Harvey Walker) and I were ministering in a remote part of the nation of Vanuatu ~ we were the first white men in 27 years to go there ~ and had the joy of experiencing a visitation of God. In the third meeting, a young lady prophesied for the first time in her life a very simple message: “The Lord is now saying, It is time for the men to come in; it is time for the men to come in; it is time for the men to come.” She repeated these words several times over. When she finished speaking I remember looking around the meeting and counting to see how many men were present. There were three men and twenty women!! But from the very next meeting men began to pour into those meetings and in the following four days we saw forty percent of the whole area come to Jesus Christ! It was awesome and it was amazing. Men came under conviction of sin and something was broken over that area. I often think of those other men ~ who never attended any of the meetings ~ yet who came confessing all kinds of sins to us. The Gift of Prophecy through a young lady (who could not speak one word of English) ignited something in the Spirit realm, and a whole area was impacted for Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit! On my visit to Bougainville in 1998 (I had the privilege of leading the first overseas ministry team after their local war), as a result of a word of knowledge that the pastors (all men) needed to forgive one another, when it was spoken out, it sparked off a time of forgiveness and reconciliation that I have never seen the likes of before or since. I can still “see” the puddles of tears on the gravel floor of that simple building as the pastors wept in one another‘s arms. As a result of their obedience to the Prophetic Word, the Holy Spirit broke through in that place. Even though it was a Pastors’ Conference, after that time of forgiveness and reconciliation, the Holy Spirit sovereignly drew backsliders in the area to that Conference ~ and every one of them came back to Jesus Christ! God is looking for men ~ men (and women) who will believe His Word, and what the Word of God says we can do! We can really do things for God when we will act upon His Promises! The Apostle Paul said he could “do all things through Christ Who strengthened him” (Philippians 4:13). If Paul could do all things through Christ, then you and I can do all things through Christ. Let us not say we can’t when God says we can! He is looking for men (and women) who will say “Yes!” to His Promises, and get into action (the smallest deed is better than the grandest intention)!
DEPEND ON GOD’S ABILITY! God is looking for men ~ men (and women) who will depend on Him to equip and supply their every need. You do not have to rely on natural ability, but rather to depend on God’s ability ~ and to have “stick-ability”! God’s enabling is sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 3:1-6). He will teach you as you are prepared to walk by faith “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). He has given you all you need to make the first step.
Take that step now, and it will not be very long before you will be conscious of the Lord’s Kingdom being strengthened, edified and increased as a result of your “effective working” in the service of Christ (Ephesians 4:16).
The world needs God’s life-changing Word NOW ~ and the “changed-life” Christian has the blessed privilege to give to it the Bread of Life. Jesus said to His followers: “You give them something to eat”(Mark 6:30-44).
Let the Holy Spirit of God speak to your heart through His Living Word to put into practice that which you have heard and read.
Forget all past failures, hurts, disappointments, ridicules, etc., and serve Jesus Christ with faith and boldness. God bless you as you seek to fulfil His plan for your life . . . and so become one of the men that God is looking for! I finish with this challenging poem: SAVED, BUT . . . I am saved, but is self buried?Is my one, my only aim ~
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