Well, my ministry has taken an unexpected turn. I was approached a few weeks ago by a web developer, who volunteered to "run" videos of my blog posts if I would make them. I had been praying that the Lord would give this blog ministry more exposure, and after much prayer and seeking counsel from trusted friends, this seemed to be a valid opportunity. So, taking a deep breath, I went for it.
Now, I surely to hate to hear and see myself on camera. The first time that happened was in graduate school, when I had to watch a video of myself conducting a choir. Appalling, truly.
Another quirky thing about this new phase of ministry is that I was discussing this type of ministry (in theoretical terms) with a good friend, about two weeks before this opportunity came up. Given my loathing of seeing myself on camera, I vehemently declared that I "could never do that!"
God has a sense of humor.
Today's verse is Romans 10:1-4 (NET)
Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation. 2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
Paul used the example of the 1st century Jews to illustrate this point. The Jews were very, very zealous (passionate) about following the O.T. Law, prophetic writings AND their own man-made, rabbinical traditions. In so doing, they believed that this would earn for them righteousness. But, although zealous, their fervor, their heart-fire was not aligned with the truth revealed in Jesus Christ. By ignoring Christ's way and seeking instead to earn their own way to God, they were zealous, yes, but in the wrong direction!
As Christians, we need to call on the Holy Spirit's wisdom and discernment as we exercise our zeal for Christ. "All that glitters is not gold." In other words, just because something looks good or sounds good or seems good doesn't guarantee that it IS good. We do not want our zeal, our passion to please Jesus, to become misdirected.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time" points out the importance of prayer, studying the Bible and seeking wise counsel. In the same vein, "following one's heart" is a perilous path, because we know the Scripture teaches that the human heart is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Our hearts are generally not to be trusted.
This reminds me of the pastor who told the story of the adulterous man who came to him for counseling. "God told me it's His will for me to leave my wife and marry this woman", the man said. Well, God told him no such thing! God does not lead us down paths that are contrary to His revelation of Himself in His written word. That man was "following his heart", and it was going to lead him down a path to ruin. When we choose to act in opposition to God's word, we always are the worse for it.
Now, there are times that we make "bad decisions", in spite of doing all the right prep-work. We sincerely pray, study the Bible, seek wise counsel and then step out in faith toward God's will. Growing in grace always involves exercising our faith. This is why the dreams God gives us are always "bigger than ourselves". He wants to show His mighty power through us, as opposed to us trying to do "big things for Him" through our own, paltry "strength".
But, sometimes, things don't work out the way we thought they would. We end up saying to God, "What in the world is going on here?!" I believe that is okay! If we sincerely sought God's will in a matter, and did our very best to be obedient, He will use those situations to grow our faith and to bring Himself glory.
I am rather old. Looking back over the course of my life I have made what some would call "bone-headed" choices, even though they were made with a pure heart - - a heart that desperately wanted to please God. I could spend my time beating myself up over the fact that things didn't always "work out". What good would that do? No good. Instead, the biblical response is to trust God with all our outcomes, to trust that He is working out his kingdom plan through us and that He is going to use all our "uh-ohs" to bring Himself even more glory.
Fixing our gaze on the past will only limit our godly zeal in the present. The Devil loves to trip us up with our past "mistakes" (deliberately disobedient ones, unintentional ones or ones that only look like mistakes from our limited human vantage point). If we have confessed our past sins and sincerely repented, we must not continue to perseverate on them. They limit our effectiveness for God in the present!
So, I'm zealously walking through ministry doors the Lord seems to have opened and praying that my life offering will be blessed, used for His glory. Exercising that faith....whew! This is why some call the resplendent walk "the Great Adventure". Saddle up, Beloved! Saddle up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVFPjIp6nkk
Father God, thank you for the privilege of serving You. It IS a life like no other! We know that Your plans are perfect. Teach us how to listen for Your voice in our souls as we study Your word, as we seek Your face in prayer. May our zeal never, ever be out of line with Your desires. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven!" In Jesus' name, amen.
Sources:
If you are so inclined you may view my videos here:
http://patriotjournalist.com/VideoChat/RedMeat/
They play in rotation with others' videos. Or, they are in a cache under the tweets at the top of that page. Just click on the small YouTube icon below the bank of tweets.
Or, you can view them on my YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-cqwblgSV9AZxM0pv32yQ
(They're in rougher form on YouTube. If you use YouTube yourself, I'd love for you to subscribe to my channel.)
I'm also in the process of going back and embedding these vids in the Summer 2014 blog posts from which they were made. But, that's a slow process. This summer I hope to begin making the vids right after I write the blog posts and embedding them that very day.
Your prayer support of this ministry is so very appreciated!
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