A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to Me.; I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose. "So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend.
Will God use Me in 2006?
The Allegheny ants help in forests by carrying tons of soil from below to the surface. A study done over a three-year period of time a colony of ants moved 15 tons of subsoil. "Go to the ant. consider her ways and be wise." If God can use a bunch of ants to move 15 tons of dirt do not you believe He can use you is 2006?
Matthew 9:36-10:7
1. God uses you as you look on others with compassion. The 36th verse says Jesus was moved with compassion. 1 COR. 13:7 "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." The love that Christ gives us helps us to look with love on people who are different from us. Compassion makes us reach out to people in need with warmth.
2. God will use you as you realize the hopeless situation of those who are perishing without Christ. There are people around us and maybe even in this building who are full of fear, filled with despair, living in depression, overcome with sadness, deep in misery and feelings of rejection who could use love that only you can give. When we look at others, can we see on their faces that they have no hope? Those without Christ have no purpose in life and every day is filled with despair and pointlessness.
3. God uses those who will be enthusiastic with response to help the lost. Christ faced the challenge of reaching the lost and found few willing to be involved. He did not face this with despair and defeatism but with hope that through prayer there would be many to help in going to rescue the lost. The ones that cannot be of help are those who let doubt and fear be their way of life. If our thinking is only that the church is weak and destined to fail, we will be wall block to the cause of Christ. God uses those who see there is a remarkable job that has to be done and with us, it can be done. As we help those who are bored with life and have no hope we are doing what Christ started. This is an age of wickedness and leisure activity in which people spend more money on dog and cat food than they give to the church. People make bets on sport games and hope to win the lottery with their money than to buy the things they really need. How excited are you about leading others to a faith in Christ that will give them an eternity in heaven?
4. GOD WILL USE A FEW TO DO A BIG JOB. 37. Some think we pay the pastor to do the work of the church. We have Sunday School teachers who are responsible to bring people into Christ. There once was a pastor who brought four couples to a faith in Christ and taught them the basics of being a Christian in a 10-12 week program during Sunday School time. After that time they wanted to continue with the class they had begun but the adult Sunday School teacher who had another class became angry saying the pastor had stolen her class away. The pastor had to leave his new class to teach another class. These new converts left Sunday School because the other teacher did not try to keep them coming. We are not in competition in bringing people to Christ and every one of us have an influence that others do not have to reach the lost. Are you excited about doing your part in bringing people you know to Christ?
5. God will use those who take time too really pray. 38. Would you believe that God has limited Himself to our prayers in reaching the lost? If we fail to pray, we fail to do as He has commanded us. This is not our harvest but his. He gave his life for the souls of men not us and so we are simply doing what is his desire. We must become involved in the harvest as we pray for others to help us.
Jabez prayed That God would bless him indeed. Why should he pray such a prayer? He knew that if God blessed him he would be a help to others he met.
One of the misunderstandings about this prayer that it works if one just repeats the words. It is not magic that reaches God but it is an expression of your heart to God. One might believe God has to answer me because I prayed this prayer just as he granted Jabez his request. If that were so, only words would make God act and there would be things that would happen that we would be in shock. What gets God’s attention is the attitude of the heart. There are reports from churches across the world, which would let us know that when they prayed this prayer from the heart God started blessing in ways beyond their thinking. This prayer works because you are taking time to ask God to help you do the very things Christ wants you to do. It is a prayer to do the will of God. A simple illustration of this would be found in a mother asking her child to clean off the dishes after supper. Each night when the child finishes his dessert, he pleads with mom, "Please let me clear the table and wash the dishes." How would the mother respond?
A second misunderstanding is that some feel that this is a prayer for selfish results. The Bible does not say we are not to pray for ourselves and in fact, as we read about the life of Jesus He prayed for himself. To see this clearly let us think that God has a box in heaven containing a number of blessings that He will give out each day. Jerry is an early riser and prays, "Lord, please give me a lot of blessings today." God responds by saying, "You are here early so can have all you want." Now his friend Fred gets up later and asks, "Lord please bless me a lot." God has to respond, "I would like to but Jerry got up first and most of the blessings are gone for he asked the same thing and I only have what is in the box for today." If that were the case then it would be wrong for Jerry to pray in that way. God is not that way and when He blesses you to over abundance He more to bless everyone else who prays to be blessed. I also want us to know that when I am blessed then it over flows to others to have a better life. Now just stop to think of how much better we would be if everyone we met were blessed up to overflowing.
6. God uses when we let His power flow through us. 10:1. "He gave them power." He gives us power but does not take over our will, reasoning and emotions. We still have charge over our will power, our ability to reason and can be happy or sad as we choose to be. We are to be in complete trust that He will bring about his will and show His power through us. He does not send us power with no purpose. As we trust Him, we will see His power work in and through us to touch others and ourselves with His love.
7. God uses us when we give out the Gospel with joy. 10:7. We read that wherever the disciple went there was joy and excitement for they believed Jesus was who, He said He was and they were involved in the greatest work in the world. People are lost as 10:6 says but the power of the Gospel will save them. Rom 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ for it is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes." There is no person that the power of the Gospel cannot change. John and Jesus both said we do not have to wait for the kingdom of heaven but said, "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand."
God will use you those who look on others with COMPASSION.
GOD WILL USE THOSE who will be enthusiastic with response to help the lost. GOD WILL USE THOSE WHO PRAY BELIEVING THAT GOD WILL ANSWER. GODWIL USE THOSE WHO BELIEVE THERE IS POWER IN THE GOSPEL TO SAVE THE LOST. GOD WILL USE THOSE WHO ARE FULL OF JOY.
WITH THESE QUALIFICATIONS, WILL GOD USE YOU?
