Victory Can Be Yours!
Article #69 –
“Resources Available”
Three
things have been pointed to for us to keep in our hearts and minds as we do our
best to serve the living God. The past
two weeks we have covered the first, you must be convinced of the reality of
God, and the second, you must know that you are His representative. The third point to remember is that, you
must be convinced of the resources available to you. Where do these resources come from?
The resources
available to us for serving God come from only one source and that is God. Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3) God has given us everything that is needed to
minister on His behalf. He has given us
examples of how we should live through the life and teachings of His only Son
Jesus Christ. He has given us His Holy
Bible to instruct us. He has given us
gifts for every occasion. And, He has
given us the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth.
He
has given us examples through Jesus in how He humbled Himself and gave Himself
for us. He has given us examples through
all of the people of the Bible, such as; Abraham and his faith and obedience to
God. Through the lives and accounts of
such people as Noah, who found favor in the eyes of God; through Daniel and his
life, faith, and prayer-life. He gave us
examples through others, such as; Moses, Samuel, King David, Daniel, and many
New Testament people such as the Apostles who all but one died horrible deaths for
presenting and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God
has given us the resource of His Word to guide and direct us and instruct us on
how we should conduct ourselves. The
Bible is like an owner’s manual for your vehicle in that it instructs you on
the different parts and pieces that it takes to make it run and what you must
do to get the best possible performance with the least amount of trouble. It tell you some things that you must do and
some things that it would be best to do to cause your vehicle to have the most
trouble free life so that you may enjoy that life to the fullest. The Bible does the same thing. It tells you how you got here and what it
takes to make the most out of it and how to prepare for the best possible
eternal destiny. It is the owner’s
manual for an abundant life filled with faith, hope, love, and joy now and
forever more.
God
has given us gifts as described in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. “Now there are a variety of
gifts, but the same Spirit. And there
are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in
all persons. But to each one is given
the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (I Cor. 12:4-7) There
is no shortage of resources from God to enhance our abilities to serve God by
serving others. That should be obvious
to us from the example God has given us through Elijah. This is such an interesting accounting of a
man with a nature like ours who served God beyond human abilities simply
because he allowed himself to be used by God.
God, also, reveals the weakness of Elijah but still took him to heaven
in a flaming chariot (2 Kings 2:11) at the end of his ministry.
You,
too, can have victory in Jesus! More
next week.
Lowell Parrish
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