Many Men Owe The Grandeur Of Their Lives…

…to their tremendous difficulties. - Charles Spurgeon

Many people owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. God can bring grandeur out of the worst situations, trials and hardship. He can take the most horrific circumstances and from them create something great.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net.

In the past 30 years my husband and I have endured some difficulties; that sometimes I’m tempted to become angry and bitter about. But, this means that I’m not looking at them through eyes of faith and I think God must owe me a problem free life. I forget my blessings and indulge in self- pity. I ask why things have happened a certain way, instead of trusting in the Lord and His Word. The truth is that God never promised a trouble-free life and He certainly doesn’t owe me anything.

I wouldn’t use grandeur to describe my life, but there has been some good that has come as a result of the difficulties. Through them God has opened new opportunities for ministry and service. He has given me greater empathy for others going through similar circumstances.  My husband and I appreciate each other more and have a much richer marriage that comes from persevering together. God has brought forth fruit and I can give thanks that while not easy, the difficulties have yielded good things.

One can’t help but wonder if this quote about grandeur owed to difficulties is autobiographical. Grandeur is not a word that most people use in daily conversation. It means grand or impressive; and Charles Spurgeon’s life was certainly both. Though, he probably wouldn’t boast about himself, he must have had some sense of how great God was using him.

Lesser known is the fact that he suffered from debilitating physical pain and deep, recurring depression. He believed his difficulties were meted out by God’s Sovereign hand and viewed them as useful tools that equipped him for ministry; though, he prayed often and earnestly for relief.

The grandeur of Spurgeon’s life was owed to his tremendous difficulties.

The Bible teaches that God is Sovereign. He possesses supreme, ultimate and unrestricted power over all people, things, time and events. He brings both grandeur and difficulties to a person’s life.

But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does. So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny.” (Job 23:13-14 NLT)

In the Bible, Joseph suffered a betrayal by his own brothers and was sold into slavery. He was wrongly accused and imprisoned; and he endured great hardship. But, he was subsequently promoted to a position of prominence in Egypt where he was instrumental in ironically providing grain to save the very ones who had sought to destroy his life; and he forgave them.

Exodus 50:20 says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” (NLT)

The grandeur of Joseph’s life was owed to his tremendous difficulties.

God can bring grandeur out of tremendous difficulties; however, it’s not always easy to believe this; especially during times of suffering. But, we have to realize that we cannot see God’s master plan.

Of course, it is right to pray for deliverance from difficulties, but we shouldn’t become discouraged if the answer to our prayers is delayed.  Rather, we can be encouraged that God is doing a good work and it often involves bringing grandeur out of our tremendous difficulties.

• Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)

• Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (NLT)

• Psalm 57:2 says, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.” (NLT)

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. (Psalm 138:8 NKJV)

We can know that God is mercifully working on our behalf and He will not forsake us.

“Only God can turn a mess into a message, a test into a testimony, a trial into a triumph, a victim into a victory!” Unknown

How have you seen grandeur come from difficulties?

Please click here if you would like to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior now.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

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A God-Sized Vision Of 100 Million Disciples

The new vision of Discipleship Journeys with Jesus!

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“Our vision is to take 100 million people on a Discipleship Journey with Jesus.” That’s the new vision of the Discipleship Journeys with Jesus ministry, approved unanimously by our Board and affirmed by our staff. One thing is for sure, it is a God-sized vision! And that’s my favorite kind of vision-the kind that only God can fulfill. 100 million disciples is certainly far beyond our team.

How did we get such a big vision? Well it began with a challenging conversation with my friend from India, MK (name withheld for security reasons). On a ride to the San Diego Airport he challenged me saying, “Your vision is too small.”

I was surprised, because I felt that a vision of a half-million disciples was already a God-sized vision. But when MK shared with me why he felt we should go larger, I couldn’t argue—his reasoning was unassailable. So, after a few months we were led to increase our vision to 100 million disciples.

Here are the 3 reasons MK explained that a bigger vision made so much sense-now a vision of 100 million disciples:

1. God loves faith.

When my friend MK said this, it was something that I already knew. But I needed a reminder.

God loves it when we exercise faith, faith in Him to reach something like 100 million disciples. The Bible is clear about this saying, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:5a)

This is not just faith for salvation, but faith for big goals like 100 million disciples.

A great illustration of this is the twelve spies who were sent to check out the Promised Land before the Israelites would attempt to conquer it (see Numbers 13:1-33). Ten spies had little faith and said things like:

• It’s a wonderful land, but we’ll just be defeated if we try to occupy it. We can’t do it.

• The cities are too big and too strong for us.

• The people are more powerful than we are. There are giants living there!It might be a promised land, but I promise you we cannot have it.

The result: The 10 doom-and-gloom spies were struck with a plague and died (Numbers 14:36-38). The two faith-filled spies, Joshua and Caleb, were the only two who entered the Promised Land.

I want to be like the two, not the ten!

Everyone loves the story David vs. Goliath. Why? Because with faith in Jehovah God, David defeated the giant Goliath. David had a giant-sized vision and faith in God. The result was a victory for the ages.

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3)

Pastor Rick Warren wrote:

The Bible says in Matthew 9:29 “According to your faith it will be done unto you.” That’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible. What are you expecting God to do in your life? This is the law that God has established. It’s called the Law of Expectation. The fact is, we tend to get what we expect out of life. We tend to see what we expect to see. We tend to hear what we expect to hear. We tend to feel the way we expect to feel. We inevitably accomplish what we expect what we’re going to accomplish. This is the law of faith. God says you get to choose. Because “According to your faith it will be done unto you.”[1]

Vision should be based on how big God is, not how big we are. A vision of 100 million disciples is WAY too big for me, and for that matter so is a half a million. But for God it’s no problem.

“Whatever is not of faith,” the Bible says in Romans 14:23, “is sin.”

2. People are attracted to a big vision.

“Where there is no vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18) But where there is a big vision, people are inspired and enticed.

This is also something I knew but needed to be reminded. In fact, when I joined Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI) as a staff member in 1998, it was largely because of an expanded vision of training leaders to plant a million churches. It inspired me so much, I wanted to help. I thought, “That’s a vision I can commit myself to and sacrifice for.” And for 18 years, that’s what I did.

Big visions for God are inspiring for those who love the Lord and want to see His Kingdom advance! 100 million disciples is an inspiring, God-honoring vision!

“Make no small plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” –Daniel Burnham

Often when we start to dream about a vision like 100 million disciples, we begin to think of what kind of strategy it will take to fulfill the vision. We get stymied by the question of “how” and it limits our vision if we aren’t careful. But as Michael Hyatt wrote, “The what is way more important than the how. Until you get clear on the what, the how won’t show up.” So, don’t ask me all the “how’s” yet for our ministry—they’ll come in time.

With the Dynamic Church Planting International ministry, the vision of a million churches seemed impossible at first, especially when we only had 5 trainees in our early trainings. But gradually we discovered the strategies which produced thousands of trainees. In my final full year with DCPI (2015), we trained 25,000 church planters in one year’s time!

One of my favorite passages about vision is from the rarely quoted book of Habakkuk:

“Then the LORD told me: ‘I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance. At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting—it will happen! ‘I, the LORD, refuse to accept anyone who is proud. Only those who live by faith are acceptable to me.’” (Habakkuk 2:2-4 CEV)

Note that God told Habakkuk to:

• Write the vision clearly.

• Keep waiting, even though “it may take a long time”

• Live by faith

That’s the way it is with big God-sized visions like 100 million disciples. We want things instantly, but it doesn’t usually work that way. There is a big gap between writing the vision and the fulfillment. In that gap we continue to live by faith, as explained in point 1 above.

3. God is already working in remarkable ways through DJJ.

The third point my friend made was that God is already working in wonderful ways through the new ministry of Discipleship Journeys with Jesus.

People are often amazed at what we’ve accomplished in just our first two years. And in addition, “God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20)

One example of our progress is the translations of our discipleship materials that are being produced—we’re being translated into 5 languages so far at just our second anniversary (which is today as I write this on 9/21/18). These languages are Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Chichewa, and Chinese.

Recently we found that people from 37 nations have signed up so far to be discipled through the discipleship journey lessons we are providing! They are: Australia, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ethiopia, Finland, Ghana, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela and Zambia!

Yeah God! To Him be all the glory for our progress!

Conclusion:

This vision of 100 million disciples is ridiculous…were it not for the great God we serve. It is not a vision that anyone can achieve, except God. Some might wonder if such a huge vision produces stress but in fact it is so big, it reduces stress, because I know that I cannot do it, God has to do it.

I’m sure some will say, “Your vision is “Pie-in-the-sky?” But I say: No: It’s God-in-the-sky! We’re not reaching for the stars? No, we’re reaching for God.

Response:

May I ask you to take three steps in response to this vision of 100 million disciples?

1. Become a disciple and disciple others.

You can use the 52 FREE journeys to go from A to Z in following Christ. So please sign up for the materials. We’ve made it easy, just go to www.djjministry.org and click where it says, “START YOUR JOURNEY HERE.”

2. You can support this ministry financially.

In order to provide the discipleship lessons, it does indeed take a lot of financial resources. So, we’re trusting Jesus’ instruction to “Give and it will be given unto you.” (Luke 6:38) Perhaps you’re part of the means by which God will supply us with the resources to provide discipleship to others? Do donate to DJJ please click HERE.

3. Join our staff of volunteer, part-time and full-time leaders needed to reach 100 million disciples.

There’s a list of roles that need to be fulfilled on our website—just click HERE.

If you’re not sure you are indeed a Christian, please go HERE to learn how to be saved now.

Help Spread the Word!

If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

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[1] https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/how-god-tests-our-faith-rick-warren-sermon-on-faith-127087?page=1&wc=800

The Greatness Of A Man’s Power Is The Measure Of His Surrender. -William Booth

Greatness and power are considered desirable qualities by most people. In fact, a person may spend their whole life in pursuit of them through monetary gain, personal fame and recognition. But, the true greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.

William Booth, preacher and founder of the Salvation Army, credited all of his success in evangelism and ministry to the complete surrender of his life to the Lord Jesus Christ; body, heart and soul.

This is a guest post by Beth Harris. She is a wife, mother, Bible study leader and volunteer editor for markalanwilliams.net. 

It seems like most of the time I’m given an opportunity to serve God; I usually experience a crisis of faith before I surrender to Him.  I fret and worry, wondering how I can do what He’s asking; or take a step of faith. Then I realize that of course I can’t do it in my own strength and ability.

So, I acknowledge my inability to Him in prayer and I express my dependence on Him, telling Him that unless I have His help, I can’t do anything. He then helps me to believe that He will provide what’s needed to accomplish the task. I prayerfully step out in faith and He is faithful and trustworthy, to empower and enable me every time. He never ceases to amaze me and leave me in awe of Him. He is so worthy of all glory and honor.

Some examples of people that society values as having achieved greatness and power are Celebrities, professional athletes and self-made individuals. We applaud, admire and affirm their prowess, authority, skill, expertise, mastery and competence.

True greatness is not achieved by an accumulation of wealth, status or fame.

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28 NLT)

God values humility and service as true greatness.

Matthew 18:1-4 says, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (ESV)

Jesus said we should humble ourselves like a child if we desire greatness in His Kingdom.

God doesn’t look at the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:6-8), as we do. He uses people who may lack ability and are broken. He values people that society may consider insignificant, unimportant, unrecognized and marginalized.

Real power comes when we acknowledge our helplessness and weakness apart from the Lord. There is a famous quote, “God helps those who help themselves.” But, it isn’t in the Bible. He helps the helpless. He values dependence not independence, reliance on Him and not self -reliance.

Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)

Power comes from recognizing our need for the Lord and those who admit their weakness to Him qualify as recipients for His strength.

To surrender and submit to God, is the only appropriate response for every Christian.

Romans 12:1 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”  (NLT)

The greatness of our power is the measure that we give in, yield, submit and surrender our lives to the Lord; because when we do, we gain Him and what could be better?

Have you surrendered your life to the Lord?

Please click here if you would like to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior now.

Your thoughts are welcome! You can leave a comment below.

Help Spread the Word! If you found this article helpful, we’d love for you to share it with others on social media or otherwise. This will help get the Word in front of more people who need biblical guidance. Thanks for your help!

The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender. William Booth | CLICK TO TWEET

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NOTE: Facebook is random. Email is reliable. Subscribe via email and you won’t miss any of my articles, podcasts or videos. You’ll also get my eBook: 10 Prayers to Unlock Heaven on Earth