God Uses Unlikely People

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We don’t have to read far into the Bible to realize that God used unlikely people in His ministry. Abraham’s anxiety caused him to lie about his wife. Moses’ anger led him to murder and later kept him out of the promised land, even after leading Israel through the desert for forty years. Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and cheated him out of his father’s blessing. David committed adultery, and that was the beginning of his problems. He lied and murdered to cover up his sin with Bathsheba. But God called David “a man after His own heart.” God even used Paul, who persecuted Jesus’ followers. Yet, God met him on the road to Damascus and called him to preach the gospel. If you were leading a ministry, would you have chosen any of these men? I wouldn’t.

Changed Hearts

Paul’s heart turned from the persecution of Christians to preaching the gospel and taking the early church into Turkey, Greece and Italy. He passionately said to the church in Corinth, “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). Paul’s ministry clashed with the culture in Corinth – thousands of prostitutes, government corruption, violence. I am in awe of what he accomplished with God’s help.

As Moses led Israel through the desert, people rebelled and wanted to return to Egypt, which made God say He would destroy them. Moses stood in the gap for Israel. “If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land He promised them on oath, so He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion'” (Numbers 14:15-18). God forgave His people and did not kill them. Did Moses change His mind? Of course not. God doesn’t change His mind. He looked for someone to intercede for Israel, and that’s what Moses did. He knew the heart of God and His character, so he stood in the presence of God on Israel’s behalf.

Strong in Weakness

Many times I wonder why God called me to teach the gospel to women and children. I feel insignificant, inadequate. These are my feelings, not God’s. He doesn’t make mistakes, and He didn’t goof up when He called me. When I get to the end of me, He strengthens me as He did Paul when Paul asked Him to take away his thorn in the flesh (suffering). Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians12:9). Like Paul said, “I will glory in my weakness,” because that’s when God makes me strong. Who woulda guessed God could use someone like me?

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for calling me into ministry and partnering with me. It is all for your glory!! Amen.

The Church that Lost its First Love

EPHESUS, TURKEY – APRIL 26, 2018: Ruins of the library of Cicero in Ephesus.

Paul met with a clash of deities when he took the Gospel of Christ to Ephesus. Ephesus was a center for black magic, the occult and idolatry. It is the home of the great temple of Artemis, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and fertility. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto; the twin sister of Apollo. Her worship involved temple prostitution and wild orgies. Demetrius, the silversmith who created statues and shrines of Artemis, instigated a riot against Paul when he preached against man-made gods.

Located on the east coast of Turkey on the Aegean Sea, Ephesus was the home of a great library (the ruins are pictured above) and a huge amphitheater that seated 24,000. Timothy led the first century church there and the Apostle John lived and died there after he fulfilled his sentence at Patmos. Ephesus was one of the seven churches John wrote to in the book of Revelation. This is what he said: “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:2-5).

How did the Ephesians fall so far from their first love? I believe it was because of the city with its many attractions, both commercial and religious. Everyone seemed to worship the gods of the times. They probably enjoyed the wild parties inside the temple. It was the accepted thing to do. But it was not God’s way, and God’s way clashed with many things in Ephesus. Paul, Timothy and John established the early church there, and because they did, we have the gospel of Christ today.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord for Paul, Timothy and John, who were faithful preachers and teachers of your word. Open our eyes and our hearts to the truth established through their hard work and ministry. In Jesus’ name, Amen.