God Can Use You for His Glory!

In Jared Wilson’s blog The Gospel-Driven Church, he writes about Moses' encounter with God in Exodus 3-4:

1. Who am I to go for you? Never mind who you are. That’s irrelevant.

2. Who are you for me to go for you? I am GOD.

3. What if they don’t believe me? It’s not your accomplishments you’re testifying to, but mine. Here, have some miracles.

4. Me no talk good. I use junk and jackasses all the time.

5. Send somebody else! I’ll send somebody with you, not instead of you.

Jared goes on to make some brief application for us today on how to glorify God.

So now we can make 5 basic assumptions about the way God uses Christians to bring glory to himself. Here are the basic qualifications to be used by God:

1. First, be a nobody.

2. Secondly, don't worry about your accomplishments or ability to persuade: what God has done -- namely, in the historical good news of Jesus Christ -- is a powerful persuasion all its own, and the Spirit will control who it stirs.

3. Thirdly, know God.

4. Fourthly, be unimpressive on your own.

5. Fifth, don't go it alone.

5 Paradigm-Shifting Books

5 Paradigm-Shifting Books

Michael Horton recommends five influential books that can change the way we think and live:

1. Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word
2. Luther, Lectures on Galatians
3. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
4. “The Heidelberg Catechism“
5. Sproul, The Holiness of God

How Big is Social Media?

There are so many ways of connecting with each other it can, at times, be overwhelming. Social media is always changing -- from facebook to tweeter, how we interact with others is being driven by the rise of new social media. I recently came across an excellent video by Erik Qualman, Social Media Revolution. It has been recently updated to highlight the growing change in numbers. It is a must watch for anyone wanting to do intentional ministry and have an impact in the kingdom.

http://www.socialnomics.net/2010/05/05/social-media-revolution-2-refresh/

LEADERSHIP

This is a great blog for becoming more of an intentional leader. This post is a great read: http://michaelhyatt.com/five-consequences-of-a-life-out-of-balance.html

MISSIONS KimyalBible (10minute)

What a treasure God's Word is! Amazing. Let the whole earth be filled with His glory.

S M Lockridge Preaching - What a preacher!

Preach the Gospel to Yourself!

Sometimes we get into a rut by looking at ourselves and our performance more than looking at Jesus and what He accomplished for us on the cross. We all need constant reminders of the gospel.

You hear the phrase, “Preach the Gospel to yourself.” But what’s the actual content of that message that you need to hammer into your head?

Here’s what I’ve been preaching to myself lately from Peter’s first letter --- 1 Peter 1:3-5

There’s a lot in this passage but a couple of things stand out. God has given us a new birth – a new start. And this new birth is anchored in a living hope of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And Peter goes on and writes that this new birth also has with it “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” This inheritance is kept in heaven. And God says he is protecting and shielding you.

You don’t need to depend on your position, your prosperity or your promotions – pleasures or popularity. We all run after that stuff because we measure ourselves against others to see how we are doing.

When I put the music to the lyrics of the gospel and start singing about the joy of the Lord – then, I begin to see again what Jesus has already done for me at the Cross. The gospel changes us because the focus is not on what I need to do, but what Jesus has already done for me. The difficult thing is to think less of myself and my performance and more of Jesus and His performance.

It is a thing that is “done.” We must preach the gospel to ourselves at every step – hitting the refresh button a hundred times a day – God has given us new birth. God has set aside an inheritance for us. God has shielded us with His power. Martin Luther put it this way in Lectures on Romans, “To progress is always to begin again.”

Real spiritual growth and progress is daily returning to the fountain of grace and reminding ourselves of all that Jesus has done for us.

Remember: Spiritual growth does not happen by behaving better, but by believing bigger in a big Savior, Jesus and all that He has given to us.