Preamble I did not deliver a “New year message” at the beginning of the 2024, nor did I delve into the numerics involved and try to speak “prophetically” as many do, saying “this is the year of...”. If anything, I could dub this as “24, the year for more”, but more what? I for one do not want more of the same old, same old and nice sounding “words” that are a rehash of what was said before. I mark my calendar when receiving such “prophecies” and few come to pass. At the time of writing, we are still in the Jewish year, 5784 and it will remain so until 2 October 2024, but I sense in the very depths of my being that something has changed and that we are all sitting on the edge of something new and unique. It may or may not be in relationship to the Middle East crisis that is spilling over and affecting the entire planet, but may be indicative of a change in the spiritual climate in which we live. Many people I know and meet are in two minds. Some just do not care what is happening and want to continue living “as per usual”. Other believers know that things have changed and want to know what to do next. I do. I have a ministry vision that is as old as Methuselah, but the Lord has been telling me, “Whoa boy. Hold the reins. It’s not time yet. Wait.” This probably sounds familiar to many of you and if so, then this rather lengthy presentation may be of assistance. I came to the Lord in September 1968 in a Pentecostal church, coming from an Anglican background, but have Jewish blood. That’s a potpourri if anything, but it has enabled me to minister across a diverse range of people and churches in several countries and see outside the box many of us are locked into. I do not necessarily endorse them, but I have met many of the “big ministries”, some of whom are my friends and ministered with them, but what matters most is the relationship with the Lord. Paul said: I’ve met the Lord personally and have been to heaven several times. None of those things are false boasts and I share it only illustrate that I do not theorize and play games, nor am I a rank amateur. I am serious about our relationship with the Lord. During this time, I have planted several churches (I really dislike that term now) and been involved in a wide range of Christian activities ranging from being a pastor to conducting healing crusades, conventions and the like. There have been times when I did not know what to do. I wanted to be active and as many others do, wanted to ”do something for the Lord” and that is a noble cause. The problem however is in the knowing. Assuming that an individual is truly called by God into service and has not been self-appointed, as often happens, or put there by a denomination, a common “fault” is in “trying something to see what works”, or to start a thing and then ask God to bless it. Often times we follow the trends of others, but I recommend that be avoided, because we are all different; live in different places; know different people; experience different climates and so on. What may work in one place may not work elsewhere. What may work for me, may not work for you and vice-versa. I put it to you that if anyone is truly called by God, He has a specific plan in mind for us as an individual. I shall repeat myself in this presentation and start by saying it is up to us to determine what that plan is and not deviate from it. We all have to learn to get God’s vision—to make it our own vision and to follow the plan that He gives us individually. It should be evident therefore that His plan has a predetermined timetable and methods of implementation. We are time oriented, looking at the calendar, but God has “His time” and it is seasonal. We cannot harvest cherries in the middle of winter because they bear fruit in summer, so one of the biggest problems we all face is getting the season right and following the Lord’s specific instructions. This brings us to the question I posed in the title, “What do I do now?” Contents |
Write the vision “Making it work” Stop Relationship What is in your hand? The “Waiting on God” Factor Illustrations: Moses; Joshua; Gideon; Biblical mandates; Exposing plans; more... What do I do? |
Stop The first thing to do is to stop. Make sure it is a “God idea” and not your own. Do not start something and then ask God to bless it. If you do, the outcome depends more on you than it does on the Lord. Ask a simple question, “Is this what God wants?” Jesus told us very plainly that His sheep hear His voice, so He does speak to us and we have the right, the duty and the ability to find out. The problem has to be in the listening. We know from scripture that God does not want anyone to perish, but come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but that does not necessarily mean that we have to race off and do something. So, dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape your notice: a single day counts like a thousand years to the Lord Yahweh, and a thousand years counts as one day. This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with his promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, his “delay” simply reveals his loving patience toward you, because he does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8–9 Paul wanted to go to certain places to minister—but the Holy Spirit told him not to go as seen in Acts 16:6. It could have been a matter of timing, or the wrong person tying to do the right job. This is why I believe that the first thing to do is to do nothing! That is, to do nothing until clear and precise instructions have been given by the Lord that this is indeed what He wants. We can then proceed. Many “Christian endeavours” have been made with varying degrees of “success” because it seemed like a good thing, or because some other person is doing it. We should have grown out of that by now. If God wants it done, He has a way to get it done. Get the relationship right This is a good place to start anything and everything with God and with each other. I had gone to bed when the Lord called me and asked me if I would like to spend some time with Him, saying, “Come and sit with me for a while”. This is not the first time of course, but I share this to illustrate how we can ascertain if we are doing things right. It helps provide an answer to the question I posed, “What do I do now?” I am permitted to share what He told me: He shared more and continued. The most important thing is your relationship with me. Get that right and everything will be right. He asked me if I “saw it”. I did. That is our starting point. If we make sure of our relationship is right with the Lord, we are in essence giving Him permission to lead us; to guide us; to give us the answers we need and once we have established that—to give us a strategy to go about things. There’s the solution. That is the answer. If you or I want to embark on a venture, the first step as I mentioned is to do nothing. Stop everything. God knows what is required to get the job done. If He has asked you to do that, He knows what is going to happen, who you need for help; what you need for the task, where to obtain it, when to get it and how to get it. He knows! Peter shot his mouth off prematurely when asked about the Temple tax and the Lord told him to go fishing, saying that the first fish would have that specially minted coin in its mouth. This implies that there was more than one fish, so Jesus met a need, avoided an embarrassing situation, had a time of fellowship (fishing can be like that) and provided food in one simple act. This was not a theological debate or argument, but a simple command, “Go fishing Peter.” |
What is in your hand?
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Waiting on God
Illustrations
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Biblical manadates
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What do I do? I have covered a lot of territory with the aim showing how we can find the mind and will of God relatively easy, or perhaps a little easier than we sometimes make it. Rather than sharing from a theological and dogmatic viewpoint, I’ve shared some personal insights that “make it real” and drawn from scripture. Here are a few steps that we can all follow, if not literally, but putting the principles to work. I may repeat myself. Stop Wait before leaping into action. Seek the Lord if He would repeat His instructions. Get the timing right Sometimes because of our enthusiasm, we leap to conclusions or try to step out at the wrong time. It is not “questioning God” by asking Him if you heard correctly, but once you have ascertained that He did speak, you then have to do something with it. Be quiet As we have seen, it is easy to fall into a trap by speaking prematurely. During WW2, signs were erected everywhere saying “Quiet. Walls have ears”. Whilst we are on the “winning side”, we do have an enemy who constantly plots against us. I like to make things real to life and can attest to that statement. When I was living on Mount Tamborine in Australia, the Lord told me one Saturday afternoon to go to a certain church where the pastor and I were friends.
To bring this to close at long last, I can make this relevant by sharing an email request for prayer and advice that I received from a dear pastor in another country. It is typical of what comes across my desk. I replied and advised him that I would add it to this message. It has to be timely, because I have worked hard on this presentation as per the Lord’s instructions. He said it was of vital importance to many other people. I knew that it was not yet finished, but did not know how to finish off. The following is a copy of what he said: Dear Pastor, Happy New Year again. How have you been doing in Australia? How is your wife, Majorie?I really want you and her to pray for me. This is my worry. There is a new church leadership position here where many desire to vote me into office. I am not for it, does not even desire the position. Would even decline it if my opinion is sought except the Lord has other plans. My biggest worry is with those who desire that position at all cost. I suspect they are plotting against me to do me harm. I don’t know how to explain to them that I am not interested in that position. I have had terrible dreams of harm being done to me. A woman at a place called xxxxx just called me and said the daughter had a terrible dream about harm being done to me. Thank you as always... Unfortunately, there are many believers like him around the world. They may not have the same issues as he does, but every one of them needs help in finding the way to their own “promised Land”. We may not all be called into the ministry and we may not all have the same abilities, talents and abilities. Some may never stand behind a pulpit and others merely want to know how to live ordinary, everyday lives—but each and every one of us has the ministry of reconciliation, a ministry to ourselves and a ministry our families. The priorities are (a) our relationship with the Lord, (b) our relationship with our spouse and family and then, (c) our ministry. Therefore this lengthy presentation may hopefully help you; an individual; to get the answer to my opening question, “What do I do now” whatever that is for you. Blessings, Robert |
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