Barnabas Bulletin ~ 0148
FULFILLING A DESIRE FOR MORE OF GOD
A MINISTRY OF ENCOURAGEMENT and challenge to Christian Workers and Christians generally, inspiring YOU to rise to greater heights in God, Who is for YOU! He wants to use YOU more and more in these challenging times!
WELCOME to “BB” No. 148! May you know tremendous and continued blessing, enlargement of vision and purpose, and real encouragement as you open your heart and life to JESUS CHRIST the LORD, and His mighty Holy Spirit ~ and BELIEVE, DESIRE and HUNGER for all that He has for you. Let the challenge of His conditions for loving and serving Him teach you more and more each day of the importance of RESPONDING TO HIS VOICE in praise, thanksgiving, faith and allowing His LORDSHIP to rule in your life; of your capturing His vision for you, and obeying it. It happens by “faith that works through love” (Galatians 5:6).
FULFILLING A DESIRE FOR MORE OF GOD
To make forward progress with God Christians have to demonstrate to Him their desire for what they want to fulfil in their lives. The things of God do not “just fall into our lap” and it is “all victory from there on.” To get the desires of our heart into an outworking reality we have to first “delight ourselves also in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4). Desire is a longing, a craving, a being serious about what we are going for in life. This is the way it has to be in our Christian life, for there are many obstacles that get in the way of us fulfilling our desire and destiny in God. It has to be more than “wishful thinking.” I often ask people this question: “If there was one thing more than anything else that you would like to do with the rest of your life, what would it be?” What would your answer be? And how do you think you can achieve it?
So often we do not attain great heights in God because we are not strong enough in our desire to please Him! He has to become more than anyone or anything else in our life. And we demonstrate that to God by our actions. The desire has to become stronger than every obstacle that tries to get in our way to prevent it from happening.
ELISHA:
In the Bible we read of a young man by the name of Elisha. He lived in the days of the great Prophet Elijah. God had told Elijah to anoint Elisha to be a prophet, to be his replacement (1 Kings 19:16-21). Elijah found Elisha out ploughing in a field, and there he threw his mantle on him. Immediately Elisha felt something of Elijah’s power and authority, for from that moment on he just wanted to be with Elijah. He became the great prophet’s servant, and gleaned from his life and example day after day. What he saw, heard and experienced with serving Elijah obviously stirred something deep within his spirit. Elisha began desiring to be like his mentor – even better than his mentor! He desired twice as much of the Holy Spirit in his life that Elijah had! What was Elisha thinking and doing? Was he getting carried away with pride and arrogance? Who was he to think he could have twice as much as the great Elijah? Let’s be real here: Elijah had much more than anyone else in the whole land. No other person came anywhere near the power, ministry and authority that Elijah had. And here is this young upstart desiring to have twice as much as Elijah had!! Can you imagine if Elisha was a part of your church or Christian friends? How do you think you would re-act to him? Would you think he was “big-headed”? You see, to rise up above the normal circumstances of life one has to have a desire that is stronger than all the negative things that others try, say and do against us. We are not usually encouraged to desire a ministry that is greater than anyone else of our day. Why not? Is it because we Christians have become “conditioned” to “not rock the boat, to not rise above the status quo”? Let’s face it. Are you really satisfied with what you have accomplished as a Christian in your life to date? So how can that change? We have to cultivate a much stronger desire that will cause us to lay aside everything else that gets in the way of our rising to achieve something much greater in God. Capture your vision! Cultivate your vision! Feed your vision with a strong desire to make it happen more and more. Do not let others discourage you or put you off going after what even no else has achieved.
Elisha was not proud or big-headed. He caught something in his spirit after receiving that prophetic word from Elijah and went all-out to see it happen . . . with twice as much as his master demonstrated! He dared to desire “a double portion of Elijah’s spirit” (2 Kings 2:9)! Did God rebuke him? No! God loves it when someone dares to believe that God has saved them to achieve great things in Him. Did Elisha achieve his double-portion desire and plea? Yes! (It is recorded in Scripture that Elijah did eight major miracles, while Elisha did sixteen ~ exactly double)!
Right now our world desperately needs some Elisha spirited-people to rise up and do the mighty “double-portion” works of God; people who are willing enough, and daring enough, to believe that God can use them far more than anyone else they know. It can be done. This generation needs to know that our God is a God of miracles and can do amazing things through people who dare to believe Him!
Christian, life is too short for us to be wasting it. God has a purpose and destiny for you that no other can fulfil. He called you by name because He has need of you. He has a work for you that no one else can do. Make very sure that you do not stand before the Lord in that day to give an answer for the deeds done in the body, and hear Him say, “I saved you and called you to do a great work; but you doubted My call and allowed others to talk you out of what I desired for you to walk in.”
Feed and cultivate your desire for more of God by pressing in closer to Him. Let Him speak right into your heart and spirit. Be open for Prophetic Words that will help to confirm and direct you more accurately in the ways of the Lord. Do not doubt His call on your life! Fulfilling that call is the greatest achievement this side of eternity. Go for it! ~ Rodney W. Francis.
Bible Readings: 2 Kings 2; Acts 22:14-16; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2.
Prayer: “Father, I come to You in the precious name of my Lord Jesus and ask You to help me to be much more desirous and hungry for You. Help me to lay aside everything that would hinder me from being fully satisfied in my relationship with You. I want to do Your will fully ~ to believe for greater things in and through my life ~ and I realize that it can only happen as I have a divine desire and connection with You – and separate myself from the ways of the world. Break through in my life more and more, dear Lord! In Jesus’ name I pray these things, Amen.”
The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry, New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.