Be Available for God’s Assignment for You

A third grade teacher in Crivitz was preparing her students for the WKCE - Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, and she compiled an exam to prepare them for it. There were twenty questions. Number eleven on the test was this question: “List in any order the four seasons.”A whopping 67% of her 3rd grade students answered: “Fishing season, duck season, deer season, and turkey season.”

I don’t know what season of life you are in, but I do know this. God has something for you to do. He did for Jeremiah. He told Jeremiah he had a work for him to do. His assignment? Stand in the rubble of Jerusalem and weep. He was also told the people would not listen to him. That was it. And oddly enough, Jeremiah did it. As the people of Judah were leaving Jerusalem in single file as captives, Jeremiah stood weeping and reminding them that God would bring them back with these words: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23).

God had something for Jeremiah to do. And he has something for you to do too. In the New Testament book of Ephesians the apostle Paul writes to the church, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God created in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). In God’s employment contract for us today, he does not ask us to be successful by the world’s standards but rather to be faithful to him to do good things. God is not so much concerned about your ability as heis your availability.

Just like Jeremiah, God is calling you to play a role in his Grand Story. It may be that this is your time to change the direction of your family. Turning from a focus on you alone to a concerning yourself with the things of God. It may be that God is calling you to reach out to a neighbor. Perhaps he is laying on your heart a ministry where there is a need you can’t even see at the moment.

Whatever season of life you are in God is calling you to make a difference. And he desires to equip you to make that difference. Right now. Today. Are you available for his purposes?

Great news- Chapter 16

Throughout 208 years, under 38 kings, both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah repeatedly turned their backs on God and “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. It was time for God to act and He did- decisively. He chose the pagan nations of Assyria and Babylon to take the nations captive. The northern kingdom of Israel, never returned, they ceased to exist and God was left with the tiny kingdom of Judah.

God continued to send prophets to Judah exhorting the people to turn back to God. God spoke powerfully through the prophet Isaiah. He told the people of Judah that they would be captured and deported to Babylon but afterward he would bring them back home. The purpose? “Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. Then the whole human race will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (Isaiah 49:23).

700 years before Jesus walked the earth Isaiah tells us what kind of Messiah to look for. In Isaiah 53 the prophet depicts the coming Messiah. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53: 2, 3). He would take the punishment for our sin; he would be “pierced for our transgressions”; he would “be crushed for our iniquities”. He would not open his mouth to defend himself, he would hang on a tree, executed with criminals as a criminal; buried in the borrowed grave of a rich man. He would die in our place for our sin. 700 years before Jesus came, died, and was resurrected God told us what to watch for. God did not want the people to miss him. But they

did. And many still do. Don’t miss God’s greatest gift- the gift of His Son.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Because of His great love God could not stand idly by and watch you perish. He loves you and wants to do life with you, and it begins with forgiveness.

Forgiveness purchased by His one and only Son- His death was the payment for your debt; He sacrificed His life in your place. Only One sacrifice was worthy enough to die for all sin, for all people for all time- the eternal, sinless Son of God- Jesus. He offers His life for all who will believe- believe that Jesus died for you; that God is satisfied with His death and your sin debt has been cancelled by His death in your place. God promises eternal life to all who will believe- and He keeps His promise. His death on the cross pays for your sin and His resurrection provides your eternal life.

700 years before Jesus walked the earth Isaiah told us what kind of Messiah to look for, don’t miss Him.

Week 15- Can You Hear Him Now?

Verizon Wireless created one of the most memorable marketing campaigns ever in 2005. In their commercials a so-called “test man,” accompanied by a crowd of network engineers, travels the country asking the simple question, “Can you hear me now?” in an ongoing exercise to determine the reliability of the mobile phone carrier’s network.

The “catch phrase” caught on. The company’s market share went up and employee turnover went down. It seemed people could relate to the struggle to connect. Folks were tired of dropped calls and unreliable communication systems. And Verizon sent a message that they wanted desperately to connect with its subscribers and wanted its subscribers to be able to connect with each other.

At the risk of selling Him short, God has done the same. Even when the Kingdom had split in two, he kept sending his message. He gave the people of the Divided Kingdom some 208 years to decide whether they would “accept” or “reject” his call. He sent his own “technicians” to get the message out. We call them “prophets.”

The job of the Verizon technician is unique. But not nearly as unique as the task given Hosea. Hosea, himself a prophet, appeared in a down time in the nation of Israel. The reality is that people often hear best when things are at their worst. So Hosea signed on with God. But God gave him a most unusual assignment. Hosea’s life would be his message. He was to marry a prostitute named Gomer and love her. What an incredible request!

The tough assignment was made even more difficult as Gomer left Hosea. She would conduct her ‘transactions’ with customers and all the time in her mind believing they were the ones supporting her. In reality, though, it was Hosea who continued to care for her and provide for her necessities even during her times of unfaithfulness.

God tells Hosea to go and demonstrate his love for her, so he does. Now picture this scene, as ugly as it is: Hosea pays some Hebrew “pimp” for some time with his wife, Gomer. When she enters the room expecting her next customer, she comes face-to-face with her husband. It is then that Hosea tells her again he loves her and wants her to come back home.

It’s the lived-out message that Hosea later gives in words. And it’s the same message God sends today. He loves us—even in our extreme unfaithfulness. And he wants us to come back home, even though wehave abandoned him. But much like a call on your cell phone, you can hit the “accept” button or the “reject” button. You have the power to send God to voicemail and make him wait. Or you can answer his call today. The people of Israel had 208 years to pick up and they never did.

The network is clear. The message is reliable. Can you hear him now?

Chapter 14 / Pay Attention to the Ripple Effect

The decisions you make and the actions you take affect those around you.

Rehoboam learned that lesson the hard way.  Rehoboam followed his father Solomon to the throne of Israel.  Solomon had exacted harsh labor on the people.  A delegation, led by Jeroboam, went to the new king and asked him to take away the harshness.

In private, Rehoboam asked his elder council what he should do.  They advised that he become a servant to the people, lighten their load, and the people would always be faithful servants to the king.

His circle of younger friends gave him just the opposite advice.  They told him to work the people harder.  He liked that idea, told the delegation his plans, and wound up with a divided kingdom.

At one time or another all of us are impacted by someone else’s decisions or actions.  When we suffer the negative consequences of another’s wrongheaded decision, God can redeem the situation.  Although Rehoboam wound up ruling only two tribes—Judah and Benjamin (as opposed to Jeroboam’s rule over ten tribes)—it was through Judah that Jesus came to us.  God can work, and often does what seems to us as his best work, in situations that seem the most difficult.

We should always consider how our decisions and actions affect those around us.  In “systems thinking” it is said that “you are the highest leverage point in any system you are in.”  More simply stated, you can make a difference. You are more “powerful” than you think you are––no matter your station in life.

Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s use of the South African rugby team to help heal a nation divided by apartheid.  In one scene of the movie he explains to a team member, “Reconciliation starts here.  Forgiveness starts here.”  He knew his actions would have a ripple effect on those around him.  Eventually the blessing of that “ripple” washed across the nation.

Rehoboam made a bad decision, but it was really his father Solomon’s actions that divided the kingdom.  He forsook the one true God and chased after other “gods,” he neglected to serve the people and instead forced them to work harder, and he was focused on himself, as reflected in his accumulation of wives, gold, and horses in direct disobedience to God’s counsel.  His son Rehoboam was merely living out consequence of those decisions and actions.

Learn from Solomon’s mistake.  Love God first.  Love others second.  And serve those that do not yet know God.  You will be surprised to see how far your ripple will travel.

Chapter 13 / Don’t Forget to Wish For the Best

The first Sears Wish Book was printed in 1933.  (I don’t remember that and no I wasn’t there for the first one. I looked it up.)  Over time it has diminished in size and was even discontinued at one point.  It was revived in 2007, but the one I saw recently was nothing in size compared to the books I remember from my youth.  Of Course, children today don’t really need one.  They have the Internet and their high tech toys to cruise the information highway to identify their holiday “wants.”  But “back in the day” the Sears Wish Book helped us answer the seasonal question: “If you could have anything for Christmas, what would you ask for?” 

Every year my brothers and I would look through the catalogue and either dog-ear a page or circle our choices in pen.  We didn’t want Santa to miss our requests. 

You may not need the Sears Wish Book today, but you have some wishes too, don’t you?  Next Christmas how would you answer the question, “If you could have one thing in the world, what would it be?” 

Solomon had to answer that one.  He asked for wisdom.  And God gave it to him.  But by the end of his life he had accumulated more and more: more gold, more horses, more wives.  He had it all and wanted more.  In the midst of all these gifts he lost sight of the Giver.  He turned away from God and lost it all. He failed to finish well because his heart became wrapped up in the presents instead of His Presence.

Another King gave us another path to follow.  He had it all and gave it all . . . for us.  In the Christmas season, or any season for that matter, you can guard yourself from the tyranny of too much stuff by giving.  Simply give so that others can simply live. Be the blessing God intended His people to be.  That’s what the King born as a baby in the manger did. 

And my wish?  That you visit the manger and find him.