NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER

God works through weak and obscure instruments to do His work for Him. How often we look to the rich and famous to get the job done. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said:

“We Christians often quote ‘not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord’ (Zechariah 4:6b), and yet in practice we seem to rely on the mighty dollar and the power of the press and advertising and politics. We seem to think that our influence will depend on our technique and the program we can put forward and that it would be numbers, the largeness, the bigness that would prove effective. We seem to have forgotten that God has done most of His deeds throughout history through remnants. We seem to have forgotten the great story of Gideon, for instance, and how God insisted on reducing the 32,000 men down to 300 before He would make use of them. We have become fascinated by the idea of bigness, and we are quite convinced that if we can only stage, yes, that’s the word, stage something really big before the world, we will shake it and produce a mighty religious awakening. That seems to be the modern conception of authority.”

But as Jesus said, “What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15b). God does not look for powerful instruments but for instruments that can be wielded by His power. 

-- Adapted from “A Beacon in the Darkness: Reflecting God’s Light in Today’s World” by David Roper

#5868

THE DOMINANT INFLUENCE IN OUR LIVES

“How can young people keep their lives pure? By obeying Your commands. With all my heart I try to serve You; keep me from disobeying Your commandments. I keep Your law in my heart, so that I will not sin against You.”  (Psalm 119:9-11 GNT)

Only through God’s Word are our minds remolded and our values renewed…

Obedience is the pathway to holiness, but it is only as we have His commands that we can obey them. God’s Word must be so strongly fixed in our minds that it becomes the dominant influence in our thoughts, our attitudes, and our actions.

Jesus said, “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me” (John 14:21).

-- Jerry Bridges in “The Pursuit of Holiness”

#5863

THE BOOKS BABIES READ

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”  (Proverbs 22:6 NIV)

I venture that the books babies read before they are enrolled in school are probably the most important books that will ever come into their lives. I am speaking of those things which children read in the lives of the people around them. The book of human conduct: there is no other quite like it. The print is large, the lessons are both clear and subtle, the illustrations command attention. Long before a child knows the alphabet, it has begun formulating profound and perhaps lifelong attitudes about God, character, love and human values. The infant may not be able to verbalize those ideas until years later... in fact, some ideas will always be a little beyond verbalization; perhaps that's why we sometimes say, "I really don't know why I feel the way I do" but the ideas are there. A baby has read them in the most persuasive of all books, the conduct of those around her. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in “Honey in the Lion” from a sermon called "Books That Babies Can Read"

#5845

CHRIST-CENTEREDNESS

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”  (Colossians 2:8 ESV)

Our journey toward balance and centeredness is a lifelong journey. While we may join others as we travel, and while fellow travelers may provide valuable support, our journey will belong to us and will be unlike any other person's. 

We will encounter obstacles, both from within ourselves and from the outside world. We will face forces that hinder our growth and seek to mold us into images that do not fit. 

But if we work to discover who we are, if we desire to come into relationship with God with our authentic selves, we can then find and live from Christ, our center. 

-- Kimberly Dunnam Reisman in “The Christ-Centered Woman” 

#5371

INFLUENCING OTHERS

“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”  (1Peter 1:15-16 ESV)

Influence grows out of worship. Without that preoccupation, we have nothing to give a cynical, desperately unhappy, and unsettled world.

In 1966, during the closing service of the World Congress on Evangelism in the Kongresshalle in Berlin, Germany, Billy Graham spoke of the need for “a gentleness and a kindness and a love and a forgiveness and a compassion” that will mark us as different from the world. “We must be a holy people,” he said.

As an illustration of the power of personal holiness, he spoke of the conversion of Dr. H. C. Morrison, founder of Asbury Theological Seminary. He described a day many years before when Morrison, as a farm worker, was plowing in a field. Looking down the road, he saw an old Methodist circuit rider coming by on his horse.

Morrison had seen the elderly gentleman before and he knew him to be a gracious, godly man. As he watched the old saint go by Morrison felt the power of God’s presence, and a great sense of conviction of sin came over him. He dropped to his knees. And there, between the furrows in his field, alone, he gave his life to God.

When he concluded the story, Billy Graham earnestly prayed, “Oh, God, make me a holy man, a holy man.” 

-- David Roper in “A Beacon in the Darkness: Reflecting God’s Light in Today’s World”

#5235

A WORD TO TEACHERS

A word to Christians who are [public] school teachers and administrators: Most of the teachers my children have had in school were Christians, and for this I am grateful.  Though you cannot overtly seek to bring your students to faith in Christ, you can minister to them.  You can encourage children and believe in them.  You play such an important role, and God is honored by what you do with your lives.  You chose a career that may never pay six figures but that allows you to invest in the lives of our children.  Teachers are heroes, and we are grateful to them.  And you as Christian teachers, while you may not intentionally use your position to lead children to the Christian religion, you may certainly let Christ's love shine through you.

You teachers may pray for your children by name in the evenings at home.  You may live the gospel in how you love them at school.  You may ask the Holy Spirit to work through you as you work with the most challenging of these kids.  You may listen for the Lord to guide you in what you do.

-- Adam Hamilton in “Confronting the Controversies”


#4176

ON BEING INFLUENTIAL

Scott Adams, creator of the popular "Dilbert" cartoon, tells this story about his beginnings as a cartoonist:

You don't have to be a "person of influence" to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life probably are not even aware of the things they've taught me.

When I was trying to become a syndicated cartoonist, I sent my portfolio to one cartoon editor after another -- and received one rejection after another. One editor even called and suggested that I take art classes. Then Sarah Gillespie, an editor at United Media and one of the real experts in the field, called to offer me a contract. At first, I didn't believe her. I asked if I'd have to change my style, get a partner -- or learn how to draw. But she believed I was already good enough to be a nationally syndicated cartoonist. Her confidence in me completely changed my frame of reference and altered how I thought about my own abilities. This may sound bizarre, but from the minute I got off the phone with her, I could draw better. You can see a marked improvement in the quality of the cartoons I drew after that conversation.

-- James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner in Encouraging The Heart

#3673

MOLDING OUR MINDS

"Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity." (Romans 12:2 Phillips)

If we consider the lives of Christians in their churches, we so often find that they make good sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, employers, and employees -- they have many individual virtues; but they have no way of life other than that which has been imposed upon them by their environment.  It is their sociological conditions, their social class, their neighborhood, their national characteristics, rather than their Christian faith, which determine their outlook and values: they are an overwhelming demonstration that it is the economic conditions and background of one's life which determine what one is and what one will think.  This is an intolerable condition, and so long as it persists we shall not be able to make any impact on the world, because it will be abundantly clear that it is the world which is making its impact upon us.

-- Douglas Rhymes in The Place of the Laity in the Parish


#3527

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Do you want to be a positive influence in the world? First, get your own life in order. Ground yourself in the single principle so that your behavior is wholesome and effective. If you do that, you will earn respect and be a powerful influence. Your behavior influences others through a ripple effect. A ripple effect works because everyone influences everyone else. Powerful people are powerful influences. If your life works, you influence your family. If your family works, your family influences the community. If your community works, your community influences the nation. If your nation works, your nation influences the world. Remember that your influence begins with you and ripples outward. So be sure that your influence is both potent and wholesome. How do I know that this works? All growth spreads outward from a fertile and potent nucleus. You are a nucleus. 

-- John Heider


#3040