Many people long to be used by God. Yet many people find this aspect illusive. But God is ready to use you. Perhaps it starts when God calls us to increase in our effectiveness. Many times, before God uses us, we go through a process of stripping, when things seem to go anywhere but where we thought they would go or should go. It is during these times that we need to assess for ourselves what needs to be eliminated from our lives (eg: Pride). Sometimes during the times of waiting, it is also a time of preparation. A time when we can fix what is broken and a time to change what needs to change. But eventually we have to step out and begin to allow God to use our lives. God is ready to use you!
1. WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT YOURSELF DOES NOT CHANGE GOD'S PURPOSES FOR YOU 1 Kings 3:1-13Often we allow what we think about ourselves to stop God’s purposes for us. The great Solomon of the Bible seemed to think he was inferior and ill-prepared for what God had planned for him. 1 Kings 3:7 ‘I am like a little child who doesn't know his way around.’ He may have felt like this but this was not the truth, and it was certainly not what God thought about him. God had a great plan for Solomon. If he had paused and elected to believe what He thought about himself, he could have missed what God had planned for him. But he chose to move past what he thought of himself and had the courage to ask God to help him and to step into God’s plan for his life. As a result God gave him what he asked for and also for what he did not ask for! 1 Kings 3:12-13 ‘I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.’ 2. BELIEVE THAT GOD IS WITH YOU AND BELIEVE THAT HE WANTS TO USE YOU Gideon was another man in the Bible who did not believe much in himself. He was an insignificant man and he knew it. There was a patheticness about him. Judges 6:14-16 The LORD turned to him (Gideon) and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." Recently a book was release entitled ‘GOD USES NOBODIES!’ God took Gideon, who thought he was a nobody and turned him into a somebody. God says to Gideon: ‘I WILL BE WITH YOU!’ We often doubt that God is with us and then we are hesitant to move. Just look at what God said to Gideon: ‘Go in the strength YOU have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. I will be with you, and YOU will strike down all the Midianites together.’ We just have get up and do it! Sometimes we have to take the initiative and do what we can do and know that God will come through for us. 3. GOD USES THE UNLIKELY God has unusual qualifications for people who He uses. What may be the requirements that the world has, often times means little to God. God is in the business of using those people who are unlikely candidates. I am so glad about this, because this means that God can use me. 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. 1 Corinthians 1:27 & 28 God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not to nullify the things that are. Let’s look at the categories that God makes use of: 1. The weak things. 2. The lowly things. 3. The despised things. 4. The things that are not. People who fall into these categories make ideal candidates for God to use. Perhaps you think you have disqualified yourself in one way or another. I want to encourage you and remind you that God uses the unlikely. 4. DON'T HOLD BACK - MOVE!In Psalm 74 we read how destruction came to Israel. God appeared to be doing nothing to stop the onslaught. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 74:11 ‘Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand? Take it from the folds of Your garment and destroy them!’ God, of course, had not dropped them. But this scripture is a picture of how we can sometimes live. We hold back, we keep things hidden in the folds of our lives. Instead of acting on what God is telling us to do, we hold back, we hide our potential or we don’t do anything. It is time to stop holding back, it is time to step out, and it is time to move forward. You may say: ‘I have no confidence!’ Have God-confidence and forget about yourself. You may say: ‘You don’t know what I have been through!’ That’s fine, God uses bruised reeds and He breathes His strength into them. You may say: ‘I am nothing!’ I declare that you are fit for God to use. The Apostle Paul wrote the following words: ‘For when I am weak, then I am strong!’ (2 Corinthians 12:10) 5. IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL WHEN WE SEE JESUS This was one of my own earthly Father’s quotes: 'It will be worth it all when we see Jesus' - Pastor Ed Roebert, 17 November 1991 You may be hesitant to let God use you, BUT it will all be worth it when you see Jesus. Perhaps you have been used by God, but now you are tired. Press on! It will all be worth it when we see Jesus. Pastor. H.F. Weitsz - Once you KNOW that you are on GOD'S mission and committed to HIS destiny for you, NOTHING will deter you. We cannot stamp out GOD'S purpose for us! 'All of the blessings that God has planned for us (including the blessing of being used by Him) are to be appropriated by faith!' - Pastor Ed Roebert, 9 October 1994 (The section in brackets has been added) Pastor Harry Koekemoer – ‘Nothing is as rewarding as doing what the Lord tells you to do!’ God is ready to use you. Make yourself available to Him, step up and place yourself in the line of duty. It is time! Comments are closed.
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