Acts
4:1-13 KJV And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the
captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being
grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the
resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put
them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. 4 Howbeit
many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about
five thousand. 5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their
rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 And Annas the high priest, and
Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the
high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they
had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye
done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto
them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this
day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is
made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of
Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom
God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you
whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you
builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 Now when they saw the
boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant
men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with
Jesus.
Jesus Handpicked His Misfits!
In Luke 6:12-16 we have
an account of Jesus selecting his twelve.
Luke
6:12-16 KJV And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And
when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve,
whom also he named apostles; 14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)
and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15
Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16
And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the
traitor.
Jesus' disciples were
picked by Him after a night of prayer!
What kind of men would
you interview and employ for your business? If you wanted to make a success of
any venture you would go out of your way to find the best persons for the job!
The disciples were as
ordinary a bunch of misfits you will ever come across, yet it pleased the Lord,
Who knew all men, to pick those men!
They were deliberately handpicked!
They did not look like
world conquerors.
They did not look like
anything!
They were constantly
arguing and squabbling over who would be the greatest in the kingdom, sleeping
when they were told to pray, denying that they knew Him, running away when
Jesus was taken in Gethsemane, doubting His Word of His Resurrection! The women
showed more courage than these men who Jesus picked. Yet Jesus was planning to
start a world shaking mission with these very men!
The bunch of misfits
that Jesus picked were a delight to Him! He enjoyed picking what the elite
referred to as "unlearned and ignorant men". They were a bunch who
had no idea what to do, and they kept getting it wrong! But The Lord was
patient and loving with them...all the time!
They were always
thinking in fleshly and earthly terms and He delighted in demonstrating the
unlimited resources of His Father! Our Father!
They wanted to know
where and how they going to get bread to feed the thousands! He showed them
where and He showed them how!
They thought they were
going to their death when He decided to visit Lazarus. Instead He took them to
a resurrection party!
Peter toiled all night
and caught nothing! Jesus said launch out into the deep and let down the
nets! Against all odds and natural laws He showed them how to really fish!
He had to remind Peter of this after His resurrection!
They worried about
taxes! He literally fished it out for them!
Their physical
limitations cried out at the life threatening storm! He showed them that He was
Master of the wind and the waves!
Connected by Commission to Draw on His Resources
Jesus may have been
limited by His physical body but His resources were unlimited! He was
connected! He knew how to withdraw from the resource, when to withdraw, and why
to withdraw!
What these handpicked
men failed to grasp during their association with the Lord, a Gentile
centurion, and a Syrophoenician woman grasped! The woman with the issue of
blood recognized there was something about Jesus, that all you needed was a
connection! She reached out and made that connection!
What made the difference
in the lives of the disciples after Pentecost? The Holy Spirit had come and
empowered them, and they suddenly realized that it was not about them, but
about Jesus, and only Jesus!
When He commissioned
them Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 KJV
He is saying that you
are to do the work based on my power and resources! Preach the gospel, heal the
sick and cast out devils by His authority! It's not by your own strength but by
His Spirit! Wait for the Holy Ghost, He said! Wait for the power, He said!
That's our connection! His abiding and Indwelling! Our abiding and dependency
on Him! He makes good on His Word!
Jesus told Paul, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. and Paul said, Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV
It's what we have to continuously
remember! It's why we have to remind ourselves and recognize that it is never
about our ability, and the church is not managed by the methods of the world! For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world,
and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not,
to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in
his presence. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 KJV
It's not by our abilities
or sufficiency And
such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who
also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but
of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 2
Corinthians 3:4-6 KJV
So when we say "I
can't do this", or "I can't do that", with reference to the work
of the Lord, we are in actuality saying that it's all about me, and not about
Him. We're saying it's about what I can do, and we're limiting ourselves to our
abilities and resources. However when we look out of ourselves, and beyond
ourselves, and we are looking to Him and His resources, which He has made
available to us!
A
wondrously beautiful thing happens when recognize and accept our human limitations
for what they are, and begin instead, to trust in the strength and power of our
God! We realize it's no longer up to us and to our limited resources. We're no
longer looking to ourselves and our own limited resources. We're looking to the
God Who is able supply and equip us, for whatever He has called us to do.
We
will stop retreating into a corner of self defeat by saying "I can't do
that", because no longer is it about us, but it is about Him Who is able to exceedingly abundant above all that I can ask or think,
according to the power that works in us! We are able to step out knowing that He who
called us is able to supply and equip, and we are drawing on His unlimited resources!
Unlimited Resources in Him!
It's like a man who has
to build a house but has only 500 dollars at his disposal. He will not get very
far in his project, and at the best may end up with a tiny hovel not fit to be
called a house. In addition to that, he will be in a constant state of tension
and stress over whether he is able to complete it or not! However if that man
is commissioned by a bank to build, and has a 10 million dollars credit line at
the bank, we can expect something grand!
When Moses killed the
one Egyptian who was beating the Israelite, he was a man alone, albeit a prince
in Egypt! When he returned 40 years later, he had at his disposal the unlimited
resources of Yahweh! His encounter at the burning bush dealt with his mentality
of it being all about him, and it became all about Yahweh! Instead of
throwing his fists about he was now throwing out miracles!
Many times we are so
anxious, and we worry, and we fret, and we're stressed, and we're overwrought,
because we are struggling in our own, and on our own. We simply pay lip service
to the might of God on Sunday, then move back into our tiny struggling lives.
We have made it all about us. We have wrapped ourselves, layer by layer into
cocoons of our own unbelief and cynicism, and as each layer hardened we have
slowly but surely become limited by the resulting shell. Some of us are so
enshrouded and mummified in our own selfish shell, that any motion is
difficult, if not impossible.
We have limited
ourselves severely by thinking it's all about us, and our efforts, and our
resources.
But it's not!
We fail to take into
account, that whatever He commissions, He will empower and supply according to
His riches! It's no longer about us, or our abilities, or our skills, or our
resources! It's about His power, His supply, His enablement! He never reneges
on His promises! In Christ they are all yea and amen! Outside of Christ we're
struggling alone, with inadequate resources, with limited supplies, with the
frailty and weakness of men, and regardless of how impressive it may seem in
the eyes on man, it's never about Christ. If the ministry and labor does not
point to Christ continuously, it doesn't count! We labor in vain, we beat the
air, we've wasted our efforts, and are exhausted for no reasonable
service. His strength is made perfect in our weakness!
Our father's Business UNLTD!
We see businesses and
companies marked ltd signifying their limited status. When Jesus said that He
must be about His Father's business we see no limitations! He declared Nothing
shall be impossible to you! If you can only believe, all things are possible!
With God all things are possible! Whereas earthly companies have Ltd at the end
of their titles, God's business has Unltd! It's UNLIMITED!
When David's brothers
and the rest of the army ran from Goliath's challenge, they did so out of
recognition of their limited status. David was not looking at his limitations.
He was well aware of that, but he was looking beyond, knowing that this battle
was not his alone, but it was the Lord's! Without the Lord he was limited to 5
stones and a sling. With the Lord, Goliath was already dead and finally about
to close his eyes when David opened a third eye in his forehead!
When the prince in Mark
Twain's novel, disguised as a pauper and exchanged his lifestyle with Tom Canty,
he quickly found out how limited he had become without his father's wealth and
power at his disposal!
When we worry, it's
because we are thinking from a selfish, limited perspective. If we have left it
in His hands there is nothing to worry about. He's neither careless nor
indifferent!
From seemingly
impossible odds the disciples rose to become a force to be reckoned with! They
created waves wherever they went, because they were not depending on their frail
and limited human resources! They were able to accomplish the impossible
because they drew on the heavenly resources of the Heavenly Father!
What had once appeared
as mission impossible, actually became mission accomplished, for in His Name
they turned the world upside down!
And
when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers
of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come
hither also; Acts 17:6 KJV
Paul wanted us to
comprehend and understand the scope of this resource available when he prayed
for the saints at Ephesus: For
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 KJV
On their own, the
branches of the vine will wither and dry without producing anything! It's when
they are connected to the vine that they draw sustenance and produce
fruit! Jesus said :
Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide
in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am
the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a
man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men
gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If
ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear
much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. John 15:4-8 KJV
