How to do something for God?

In the Bible there are 3294 questions: 2272 in the Old Testament and 1022 in the New Testament. We can make many messages from these questions. One such message is what I am going to prsent to you.

I am going to take 5 questions from the Bible and want to share with you so that you can do something for God which is going to impact and influenece your community, city and nation.

This message is acrostic. FAITH

F for Faith

A for Availability

I for Initiative

T for Tongue

H for the Holy Spirit

(i)      Zec.4: 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!

Hugeness of the job is not a problem, have Faith Jn.4: 35

Worry, Fear, Doubt, Human opinion

Acts3: 16; Heb11: 33-34; Jn7: 37-39; 14: 12; Ex3: 11, 13; 4: 1, 10

Mothers prayer

American soldiers captured a place, wanted to fix the American flag, sent 3. All were killed. The captain hesitated to send anyone. One soldier came up and opted to go, but only at 4 pm. The next day he went at 4 pm. The enemies shot many rounds, but he was not at all hurt. He fixed the flag and came back safely. The captain asked the reason and also the timing of 4 pm. He replied that, that was the time his mother prayed for him.

(ii)    Jn.6: 9 There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?

Lack of Resources is not a hindrance for God provided you are Available to Him

(iii)  1Sam17: 43 Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?

2Ki2: 14 Where is the LORD God of Elijah?

David was inexperienced for battle and Elisha for prayer, but they took the Initiative and the Lord did the rest. You do what you can do and the Lord will do what you cannot.

Initiators: people who make things happen

Helpers or supporters: people who help to make things happen

Clarifiers: people who wonder how things happen

Hinderers: people who hinder that thing dont happen

Inventers, innovators, pioneers, Initiative to abolish Sati, slave trade, etc.

Ramabai (23rd April 1858, Maharashtra- 5th April 1922) pioneered an orgn to reform the treatment of women: widowhood, polygamy and child marriage. She translated the Bible into Marathi. In the last 15 years of her life, she mastered Greek and Hebrew to translate the Bible into Marathi. As death neared, she prayed for ten days to finish the proofs and God granted her exactly ten. In 1919, the king of England conferred on her the Kaiser-i-Hind award, one of the highest awards an Indian could receive during the period of the British Raj. Her contributions as a builder of modern India was recognized by the Govt of India by issuing a commemorative postal stamp on 26th Oct 1989 in honor of her.

Isaac Watts A young boy complained to his father that most of the church hymns were boring to him. The father said If you think you can write better hymns, then why dont you? The boy went to his room and wrote his first hymn. The year was 1690, the teenager was Isaac Watts. When I survey the wondrous Cross Joy to the worldCome ye that love the Lord Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove Jesus shall reign whereer the sun O God, Our Help in Ages Past Alas! and did my Saviour bleed are among almost 750 hymns written by him.

Anybody could have done. Everybody thought that somebody would do and at the end nobody did.

 (iv)   Ge17: 17      Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?
 Barrenness in the ministries is nothing before God if yiou are able use the tongue in the right way.Tongue-Positive confession Pr18: 21

Jer1: 6, 7

Moses: God used a stick of wood. Moses reacted and raised several specific objections. I have no ability Ex3: 11; I have no message Ex3: 13; I have no authority Ex4: 1; I have no eloquence Ex4: 10; I have no inclination Ex4: 13.

Ex 4:2 God directed Moses attention to the simplest thing imaginable the staff in his own hand, a shepherds rod, a stick of wood somewhere between three and six feet long. The rod of Moses had become the rod of God Ex 4:20. It became the rod of judgments (Ex. 7:15-17; 8:1-10:15), rod of deliverance (Ex. 14:16), rod of supply (Ex. 17:5-6), rod of victory (Ex. 17:9),

For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it.

  (v)     Ezek.37: 3    And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live?

Deadness of the church can be revived by the Holy Spirit and His gifts

Four characteristics of living things

1.      Made up of cells-cells of this church-body not working-some walk worthy of their calling, but not all Rev3: 4

2.      They need food-this church had stopped taking in the right spiritual food Rev3: 3, 6-to listen to His Word and Spirit

3.      They grow-this church had stopped growing as a body

4.      They reproduce-a church in such a bad shape stops reproducing-when Christians get cold and weak they stop multiplying.

               In the New Testament 261 Passages refer to the Holy Spirit

Gospels: 56; Acts: 57;  Pauline Epistles: 112; Remaining N.T.: 36        

                Mk16: 11, 13, full of fear and unbelief; to such disciples Jesus said Mk16: 15; Mk16: 20 full of faith and power; what happened in between? Pentecost

                The Holy Spirit is not given to us make us happy and clappy, but to do great things for God. Acts1: 1 Lukes Gospel Jesus began both to do and teach and Acts continue to do and teach through the Holy Spirit Lk4: 18; Acts10: 38

God is more pleased with those who step out and fail than with those whose fear of failure restrains them from doing anything for God. We need to be passionate and not passive. Be in hot pursuit of spiritual gifts.

May the Lord bless you to have Faith, to be available, to take the needed initiative, to use your tongue creatively and to operate the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that you can transform the commuinty, city and the nation for the Lord Jesus Christ