A Tale of Three Servants

After the death of Moses the Lord ’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. (Joshua 1:1, 2 NLT)

D.L Moody, while in the prime of his ministry then as the world's only famous evangelist was once visited by a large contingent of European pastors who had come to attend one of his conferences in Massachusetts. The custom in Europe then was that guests would leave their shoes outside their rooms for them to be cleaned by hall servants overnight. So these guests did exactly that. However, unknowingly to them, in America there were no hall servants.

After the guests had gone to bed, Moody saw the shoes while walking in the dormitory that night and intent on not embarrassing these pastors, took all the shoes to his room and cleaned them all secretly. The European pastors woke up in the morning to see their shoes all cleaned and shinning without knowing who had cleaned them. Moody told no one about this and the story would have been lost to the world had it not been for a friend that had had arrived unexpectedly during the night and had seen Moody cleaning the shoes. This was just one of the incidents in Moody's life that showed his servant heart. No wonder he was great.

If you scan our text today, you will see three mentions of the world servant or assistant. Moses was the Lord's servant in life. Joshua was Moses' assistant and God called Moses his servant even after his death. The two people God spoke to in this passage where both certified servants just like Moody.

There is greatness in the kingdom of God. Jesus, while speaking on kingdom greatness gave only one prerequisite - becoming the servant of all ( Matthew 20:25-26). Every truly great person in the kingdom of God is a certified servant. Even Jesus, the greatest of all says he did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all Mark 10:45) . He was given a name above every name because he humbled himself and became a servant (Philippians 2:9-11)

Do you desire greatness? It is available to you. However, it is not in the way the world achieves it. Those who the world call great are not necessarily great in God's estimation. Your greatness is in your decision to become a lifelong certified servant of God and his people. You can start that journey to greatness today. Determine to become a servant. Look around you and add input and value to those he has placed around you. Seek out God's will and commit yourself to serving your generation. Be like Paul who took on the place of a bond servant (Romans 1:1) . He knew he was a son but he gladly chose to be a servant. Be like David who served God's purpose in his generation ( Acts 13:36). Choose to begin living the great life today.


Decision of the Day

I choose greatness in life so I choose to become a servant today. I will live to serve God and his purpose in my generation. From today, day by day, I will take advantage of opportunities to serve.

You are God's Method

After the death of Moses the Lord ’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. (Joshua 1:1, 2 NLT)


The explosion in technological development taking place today is driven by the constant search within the human heart for better methods of doing things. The phonograph was a great method of recording music until the vinyl disc came along, until the magnetic tape, on an on until this digital revolution of downloaded music stored in bits. Businesses and organizations are constantly searching for better methods of accomplishing their missions, leading to a deluge of how to books, conferences and seminars. However, in the midst of this constant search for new methods by humans, God has stuck to one method of carrying out his purposes on earth. He has neither reinvented nor re-innovated. His method has always been and still is to use humans.

Like E.M bounds said, " Men are God's method." Of all that God has at his disposal: archangels, cherubim, seraphim, all the animal kingdom, the vast hosts of creation and even the ability to create new beings if he so chooses, God in carrying out his purpose on earth has chosen humans as his method. God has chosen to use humans for accomplishing his will on the earth and he will not bypass them. All other resources, like angels, are merely backups for his chosen men and women.

In our text today, we see God beckoning to another man he had prepared after the passing of another. God didn't put it this way but it does no injustice to the passage to render what he said to Joshua this way, "Moses, my former partner has done his part and finished his work, now I need you to join me in accomplishing my will. I need you to lead my people to the land I promised them. I need you to be bold because without you, I will be unable to do this. I need you to be my partner in bringing this promise I made to Abraham to fulfillment."

So, it is not sacrilegious to say God was dependent on Joshua. If Joshua had said no or failed, God would have has to find another human because humans are his methods.

If we extrapolate this thought to you- to today. Could it be possible that God is depending on you for something today? Could an important agenda of his be hinged on your obedience and performance. Could there be a people he needs you to lead, a word he needs you to speak, a touch he needs you to convey, a thing he needs you to build? If scriptures are reliable, we can dare say, there is.
Some time today, there is something God is depending on you to do for him. You are his method. As he told Jeremiah, " You are my war club, my weapon for battle-- with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms" ( Jer 51:20). And as Jesus told his disciples before he left, "You shall be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)

So, as you go about your duties today, keep it at the forefront of your mind that you are God's method. You are his instrument of peace and justice. You are his representative and partner; his ambassador and change agent. Let him use you as he chooses today and always.

Decision of the day

I understand that men are God's method. Without God I cannot, but without him he will not. I yield myself to him today and always to use me as he chooses.

Today, Take an Overdose of Humility

After the death of Moses the Lord ’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. (Joshua 1:1, 2 NLT)

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (Romans 12:3 NLT)

The story is told about the ant that exclaimed, after crossing a bridge riding on an elephant, "Wow we did shake that good old bridge!" Talk of self-importance.

Sometimes all we need is a little reminder to take ourselves less seriously. To put the credit for whatever impact God might be making through our lives where it really belongs - with God. We need to be reminded that while our work and service are important, we are not indispensable as we sometimes are tempted to think. We need to remind ourselves that God is the one working through us and that he also has a succession and replacement plan in place for his work.

Someone once shared this with me and it that has never left me. He said: " If you put your hand in a bucket full of water and stir the water, you can cause the water to whirl and turn. Your hand actually "drill" a "hole" in the water and causes much activity to ensue. But then when you remove your hand, the water immediately fills the "hole" you had made and returns soon to its unagitated resting state. Here's the lesson, he said: no matter how effective you are in ministry and how much God is doing through you, never think you are indispensable. Don't let it get into your head because like the hand in the water, when you are removed, the hole you thought you will be easily covered up and God can easily get another hand to continue the agitation. There are no human shoes to big to fill- only God's."

Look at our text today. Moses had an extraordinary ministry.Think of all the mighty acts God accomplished through Moses, miracles that have yet to be replicated in history: the parting of a sea, seeding a meat rain, tapping water out of the rock, turning rods to snakes and rivers to blood. Then there was the law he received from the very presence of God carved in stones by the very finger of God. Yet after Moses was gone, God said, " Next!" He found someone else to continue the work in Joshua.

This reminds that God's work is more than an individual. It goes beyond a denomination or group. It transcends generations. It is bigger than you. So at every point when God gives you an opportunity to serve, do it humbly. Be serious with the assignment but don't take yourself too seriously. Don't be like our proverbial ant on the elephant. God has a deep bench: like the 7000 who have not bowed their knees waiting in the wings ( 1 Kings 19:18), the Joshuas watching your every move, and the secretly anointed Davids serving right now in Saul's palace.

Serve God diligently with all you've got, but have it at the back of your mind that serving is only a privilege. You were not the first he called to do it and you will not be the last. Don't overwork yourself for lack of delegation because you are convinced you are the only one who can do things right. You may end up killing yourself but the work will go right on after you if it is God's work.

So today, take an overdose of humility. Let it tranquilize your ego to learn to rest, to delegate and to have a mind to inspire others to do what you do. And if God says," Next!" implying he has someone else prepared for the job you have always done, gladly relinquish it and move on to what next he has for you. He will never leave you in the dumpsters.

Decision of the Day

I choose to serve God humbly, to take myself less seriously. I realize that while my work with God is important and to be taken seriously, it is bigger than me and it is not about me. I am not indispensable. I will give place for other to serve and rejoice if God takes my job and give it to another, knowing he has other plans for me.

Something is Scheduled for You Today!

After the death of Moses the Lord ’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. (Joshua 1:1, 2 NLT)

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” (John 2:4 NLT)


Schedules!

From primitive methods like by observing shadows cast by the sun, to the use of the sand clock, to mechanical devices and now digital devices, for thousands of years, humans have kept times and schedules. Somehow instinctively, humans came to know that life is made up of chunks of time beginning at birth and ending at death and that proper measurement and planning would help its maximization. Scheduling appointments and events is now as simple as typing on a digital device and waiting for faithful reminders sang in your favorite tunes.

However today, our subject is not human schedules but God's. A basic search of scriptures reveals a God who schedules events. He does not live in time but he created and uses time. He scheduled the coming of the Messiah eons before it happened. We read of events to come in the future that God has scheduled for a time only he knows. Our texts today suggests another dimension of God's schedules, his planned events for our lives. God told Joshua, " the time has come..." and Jesus had a sense to know that " his time has not come"

What does this mean? When God told Joshua " The time has come..." It is like saying, " Now you have come to the hour, minute and second in your life that I have scheduled for you to step into this leadership position. This is what I have scheduled for you now!". A schedule is "a plan for carrying out a process or procedure, giving lists of intended events and times ". It is " a plan for performing work or achieving an objective, specifying the order and allotted time for each part" God was telling Joshua. This is what I have allotted for you now in my orderly plan for your life.

What does this mean to you? First it lets you know that every day, whether you are aware of it or not, there are divine appointments God has prescheduled for you. Somewhere in God's scheduler, a melodius tune is ringing alerting all of heaven and earth of something that is about to happen to you today. Can you hear the tune? Just as we sometimes don't hear or heed the tunes of our schedulers and instead do something else, it is possible to miss the tune of God's scheduler and instead go about your own agenda and plans. That is why you must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, maintaining a soft pliable heart that is responsive to his timing.

That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:7-12 NLT)

They refused to move in God's timing and they suffered of it. God has a time for every event he has scheduled for your life. Your whole life is a page in his planner. You are not always ready for the biggest things he shows you, just as Joshua was not yet ready until Moses departed, but you can rejoice in the fact that there is something scheduled for today. Something awesome is ripe in time for you. As you are faithful in keeping today's schedule, the big appointments become inevitable. If you neglect today's appointments, then you run the risk of missing the coming ones. So decide today to be sensitive to the Spirit ; to keep every appointment he orchestrates. Living with such expectations will keep your life filled with God moments.


Decision of the Day

I choose to be aware of God's scheduled appointments for me today. Something is ripe in time for me. I will keep my appointments with destiny daily and watch God's preplanned events for my life unfold.

No Extra Parts

"All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it" ( 1 Cor 12:27) NLT.

"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it" ( Psalm 139:14) NLT.


The movie, Hugo, has a plot and an inspiring story. An instructive scene in the movie is where the following dialogue takes place between a young girl Isabel and Hugo:

Isabelle: "I wonder what my purpose is..."

Hugo: "Everything has a purpose, clocks tell you the time, trains takes you to places. I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine... I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."

What a wonderful way to illustrate the concept of purpose. God made the world and everything he made has a unique purpose. He did not create any extra part lacking purpose. Sometimes humans refer to vestigial organs in the body that have no particular purpose. This however contradicts what the bible reveals to us about God and his purposeful precision in creation. Anything without a purpose is a nuisance but God created no nuisance. Everything he created fits somehow into the machine, adding a unique contribution.

In the same way, you are not an extra part of the machine even though you may sometimes feel that way. You are a significant part of God's plans. Think of this too, even the very small part of a machine is important. The loss of a tiny diode or transistor in an electronic equipment could cause the entire system to shut down. That is how significant you are. You are designed to contribute something unique to the world and the world will not go quite as well if you do not discover, develop and deploy that unique contribution. Without your input, the clock will not work as well. Also, just as parts of machines are crafted, shaped and designed for the function they are to fulfilled, you were also crafted to specification for your unique function. You look just perfect for your purpose.

So decide today to live on purpose. Discover what makes you tick. What do you love doing? What do you do with ease? What do you hate? What gets you angry? What gets you going? What catches your attention easily? What gives you joy? What makes you cry? These are pointers to your purpose. Get into fellowship with God and let him clarify things for you. Then get moving on purpose so the machine can run as it should. Choose to live on purpose.


Decision of the day

I choose to live on purpose. I will find my place in God's plans, recognize my significance and get to work, making my unique contribution to my generation.

Eliminating for Progress

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." ( Hebrews 12:1)

"And if your hand--even your stronger hand--causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." ( Matt 5:30)

Nature teaches us many things. We know about compensation, seeds and harvests through agriculture. We know much about how the power of God operates through electricity. We learn about the sabbath of rest through the seasons and cycles of nature and our bodies. Truly as Paul said, the invisible things of God are plainly revealed in creation for all who care to see.

One other lesson of nature we concern ourselves with today is that of elimination. Nature practices elimination to maintain health. Using the human body as an example. A part of the food we take in is designated as waste. Every minute, you eliminate 30,000 to 40,000 dead skins which are immediately replaced by fresh skin tissue. We must breath out to eliminate carbon dioxide. We sweat and urinate to eliminate toxins from our bodies. Our kidneys and livers are working overtime to eliminate toxins. The entire ecosystem incorporates some form of elimination to maintain homeostasis.

In your walk with God and in life, as our texts today suggest, we must also allow this principle of elimination to take its course. In fact,we must regularly initiate it. As you get involved in the business of life, you receive various intakes from various sources and interactions.
Some of these are necessary for your healthy functioning in life while others are unwanted baggage clinging to you in the journey of life. All these start to accumulate in your life and soon become weights that hinder you in your walk. The constant practice of elimination helps you to keep in shape for your purpose in life. Here are examples of a few things you must constantly eliminate:

1. Wrong relationships. ( 1 Cor 15:33). Are your relationships drawing you closer to God and his destination for your life or away?
2. Moral impurity. (Psalm 19:12) Are your thoughts and actions empowering you or hindering you?
3. Wrong atmospheric exposures ( Lam 3:51). These include depressing TV shows, sensual music, suggestive movies and books etc.
4. Negative conversations (Eph 4:29). What kinds of conversations do you engage in? Are they empowering or disempowering?
5. Bitterness ( Eph 4:31). Bitterness is like cancer. It eats you up.
6. Time wasters (Ephesians 5:15,16). Do you waste time on nonessentials? Learn to chart your course.

The word of God guarantees a change in your life as you practice elimination. Why not do it today?

Decision of the Day

I choose to practice the principle of elimination. I cut of from my life everything that hinders me from running my race.

I woke up this morning with certain themes on my mind. These were brought to the surface from last week when I had the privilege of doing a tour of Lawndale Christian Center led by Coach Wayne Gordon. These themes are: vision, long -term commitment and simplicity.

1. Vision

Let me talk about vision first. One of the distinguishing qualities of leadership is the ability to see. The ability to s...ee something in nothing, a future in the currently unattractive and potential in the decadent. When we came into the John and Vera Mae Perkins Center of Lawndale, more like the strategy room in the White House, and saw how decades ago they mapped out the revitalization of a community in decay and started purchasing abandoned lots and buildings praying for God to use them for his kingdom and then seeing how these buildings have been turned into living miracles transforming the lives of thousands( hospital, fitness center, day care, restaurants, residential shelter, over $60 million dollar of housing and apartment complex etc, I have ceased seeing the ugly buildings and vacant lots in my south side community differently. In fact, I couldn't keep myself from preaching on this last Sunday and showing the videos to our young and small church community at CityLight of what could happen in Bronzeville, Washington Park and Englewood etc.

2. Long-Term Commitment

Many have visions but they are not willing to wait for its realization. People like things microwaved. They don't want it cooked because cooking takes time. I was amazed that many people who started with coach thirty-seven years ago are still there. I met a doctor at the clinic who has been there for over 25 years. He is a white guy who moved into a black neighborhood and he's still there serving. I think those people are the most amazing part of Lawndale, not the thousands who stream into the fitness center, coffee house, restaurants or health center now. It is those people who were able to commit long- term and stay when there was nothing . I could just imagine the various things they would have had to fight in order to continue: discouragement, the wonderings of delayed vision, interpersonal conflicts etc. yet they stayed. They were not flashes in the pan. They are the real deal.

3. Simplicity

Coach impressed me a lot. And I have seen that attitude in some great men I admire like Sunday Adelaja, John Perkins, John Fuder, Sam Adeyemi Etc, the ability to have God do mighty things through you and not having it get into your head, remaining human, accessible, humble and simple. Such people have no notion that they are somehow exceptional and uniquely gifted. They are just ordinary people serving an extraordinary God. They don't claim to be the fathers of alI or the best thing happening in town. I admire such qualities a lot. They remind me of Paul and Jesus. They teach me about what true prosperity and success in ministry and life is. It is not about your big mansion, expensive cars, private jets, massive crowds or fancy titles, it is the ability to walk with God, find the place he wants you to be and be there, knowing you are just one of the weak mortals he gave the privilege and strength to serve his kingdom. It is the ability to access divine resources sometimes even to the tune of millions and millions of dollars not to accumulate it for yourself but to redistribute it into kingdom causes and the decaying world all around. Such people may not have bulging bank accounts on earth but they have heavenly bank accounts that are spilling over to bless the entire world.