What Can Yahweh Do with Ordinary Me? (‏ (7/5/10

Shalom,




Please begin by reading Acts 4:8-22.



Peter and John were called "unschooled, ordinary men." Actually all the people written about in the Bible can be considered ordinary. What made them extraordinary was their relationship with Yahweh and the activity of the holy Spirit manifesting through them. That's the way we all are, ordinary in and of ourselves with the capacity for the extraordinary when we allow Jesus to work through us. If we're truly Christian, we're filled with the Holy Spirit and have the ability to be spiritual giants because of this.

Any person who did great things for the Kingdom throughout history did them for the same reason, they trusted and obeyed Yahweh. No matter which "hero of the faith" you pick, they all started out as ordinary people. We know of people being anointed in the womb, but they stil had to say yes to the Lord for the anointing to activate and operate. And you know what, none of us has to be Isaiah or Solomon or David or Peter or John or Billy Graham or John Wesley or any other person we feel is a spiritual giant.

Yahweh wants you to be you and to let him do through you the Kingdom work he empowers you to accomplish. When you believe that nothing significant can happen through you, you've said more about your belief in Yahweh than you've said about yourself. You've said that Yahweh is incapable of doing anything significant through you. You either have a very great lack of understanding about how our Creator works through his creation, or you're standing in unbelief about his abilities.

The truth is that our Creator can do anything he pleases with any ordinary person fully consecrated to his service and willingly obedient to his call. Many denominations and pastors and boards and churches work outside this fact. They don't seek Yahweh's direct guidance or wisdom, and operate in the soulish or fleshly realm. And by the world's standards they often look pretty good, but in Yahweh's sight that worldly acceptance makes them detestable. We must ensure that we trust more in Yahweh's wisdom and insight and direction than we do in our human abilities or intelligence.



Yahweh is looking for and will reward faithfulness no matter what level of responsibility he's called us to. If you feel weak, limited, and ordinary you're the best kind of material through which your Lord and Master can and will work. 1 Cor 1:27-29 tells us that Yahweh deliberately seeks out the weak and despised things because when he works through them he receives the greatest glory. What we humans so admire and respect isn't necessarily so good in our Creator's sight.

So we need to remember: It's okay to be just ordinary people because our God is extraordinary. Peter and John had courage because they'd spent time with Jesus. They'd been transformed. When the soldiers arrested Jesus, his disciples all ran away. Peter denied Jesus after following the crowd to the High Priest's house. Some of the people we now call the heroes of the faith proved themselves to be very cowardly first. They also showed their fear when they hid in the Upper Room, and also the first time Jesus appeared in their midst. These "heroes" don't exactly sound like extraordinary men in these situations. But after seeing Jesus risen from the dead and spending more time with him, they emerged as courageous. Now they could stand up to the local authorities and proclaim the Good News of faith in Jesus. They had courage that could be seen by even the religious authorities who arrested them.

These men encountered the Risen Savior, and then were able to preach with boldness and courage that defied their heritage and their schooling. We can all have this same kind of boldness. Our lives can also be transformed by the power of the Living God. We can confound the scholars of our day by standing our ground on Yahweh's truth and proclaiming the Gospel.

This transformation comes when we spend time with our Lord Jesus. It comes when he talks to us as we pray and meditate on his Word. It comes as we follow his instructions and put our faith into action. It comes when we have real fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It comes when we live as obedient servants of our Lord and Master.

So if we're to have the courage to do what will influence our world, we need to allow his power to be continuously transforming our lives. We need to let our extraordinary God do extraordinary things through us. Do you go to church services hoping to have a Holy Spirit encounter? Or do you just go for your weekly "feel good" fix? Yahweh wants to get extremely personal with you. But like I've said in the past, you have to allow him the space and time to work on you. You have to volunteer yourself.

Our Father won't push his way into our lives. He patiently waits for the opportunity to improve us, to make each of us better people. And he's completely able to do this for each and every one of us individually. Just look at the disciples. These ordinary men turned into a powerful force in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Because they allowed the Risen Savior to empower them, they became great leaders and a holy assembly was formed.



Are you satisfied with where you are today in your faith? I certainly hope not. I need Jesus more today than I ever have before. And I expect that each of you need the same kind of help I do. Please don't settle for mediocrity or being a background person. We all need to strive and reach out for the extraordinary. We all need to be trying to attain to the really good stuff our father has set aside for us, the kind of stuff he's prepared in advance for when we mature enough to be able to handle it. It's okay to feel good about your spiritual growth, but never to stagnate or stop due to self-satisfaction.

When we live for Kingdom purposes, in the power and will of our Lord Jesus, his power will be demonstrated through our lives. Yahweh is a miracle worker. Jesus performed many miracles while living on earth, and he did all he did as a fully human person.. The Holy Spirit will work through us to continue this miracle working, at least that's what the Bible tells us. We can be used to do miracles as long as we know their purpose is to glorify our heavenly Father.

To begin with, all of us are miracles of Yahweh's grace. We're living examples of what he can do with a person's life when we surrender to his authority. Who would have ever guessed that some of you would be involved in the Christian Church today? Who would have ever thought that some of you would be attending Bible study or that you've come to believe in the Bible as truth?

As Christian we need to follow the example of the early disciples. No matter what kind of pressure comes our way we need to be bold. No matter what kind of temptation tries to get us to compromise our beliefs or our relationship with Jesus or our faithful actions for the Kingdom - we need to stand up strong and remember who we belong to. We represent the King of Glory. We stand with the source of all truth. We stand with the only one who can sustain us even through death.



After Peter and John were sent on their way with threats, they went back to the rest of the Christians and held a special prayer meeting. When they considered the threats against them they prayed, "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your Word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders" (Acts 4:29-30).

They weren't intimidated by the Pharisees and Sadducess. They didn't ask for peace and quiet, but asked for Yahweh to stir things up even more. They asked for "great boldness," the ability to publicly proclaim the Good News about their Lord Jesus. They asked to have a greater effect so more people could be saved. We don't know what the specific threats were that the religious leaders made, but we know the early believers weren't hindered by them.

Don't put yourself down, lift Jesus higher. Don't shy away from confrontation, confront people with the Truth. Don't back down because you're just an ordinary person, allow the Holy Spirit to work through you in extraordinary ways. Yahweh wants each and every one of us to do what we do best, which is to allow him to work through us.



Blessings & Peace, Mike