So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, “says the LORD Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)
Throughout scriptures we come across numerous cases of God’s people who were driven to the end of their ropes, only for God to deliver them at that very moment. After living for 40 years in exile Moses had been driven to the end, and might as well have given up on his dream of liberating the Israelis when God of his own came and told him the time was ripe (Exodus 3). Joseph was down in prison when he was plucked from out of nowhere to a premiership (Genesis 41). Abraham had given up on having a child when God came through (Genesis 17).
In these instances one thing we notice that God came of His choosing. Sometimes in the life of a Believer one can do everything and nothing is moving. Perhaps one could say all the prayers there is, go into a long fast and so forth, but the break through is not coming. The comfort here is found in the old good scripture, “The horse is made ready for the day of the battle, but victory rests with the Lord” (Prov 21;31).
Do your part; and let God do His. Our time table is not God’s. Today, may you be comforted that your prayers in a certain matter are not in vain, just because the answer is slow in coming. As 1 Cor 15:58 says, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves to the work of the LORD, because you know that your labour is not in vain.” One day the breakthrough will come!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, as your word says, “not by might but by spirit”, I do surrender to you that troubling issue that you reveal your power at your choosing, this I pray in Jesus’
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09/05/2024 - 10/05/2024 All day“The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them” (Deuteronomy 28:2 NIV)
For some reason very often some Christians are found despising the importance of being enterprising. To some being enterprising
can be equated to the love of money and it’s pitfalls (1 Tim 6:10). There are some Christian communities where running enterprises is frowned upon as being overtly worldly. On the contrary, far from it, being enterprising is clearly an avenue God has given believers to raise resources for their well being and promotion of the rich Gospel.The Bible is full of enterprising characters who were used mightily of God. Abraham was apparently a good rancher that he “became very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold” (Gen 13:2). Job was hated by Satan who sought to destroy him because “He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area” (Job 1:3). The Lord Jesus Christ was born and raised in the house of Joseph, the carpenter (Mathew 13:55). Carpenters do not create works of beauty to donate for free. To prosper they must run sustainable enterprises which pay taxes and make profit.
The Apostle Paul would often rely on enterprising people to support him in his ministry. One of his worthy converts “was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house” (Acts 16:14).
Though Paul was a ranked Jewish legal scholar once he went to the mission field, other than cling to his titles by burdening his hosts he often dabbled in tent making to support himself. In Corinth he teamed up with an amazing couple, Priscilla and Aquila, and “because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them” (Acts 18:3). This couple run a successful tent making business that enabled them support mission work.
And then of course, there is the noble woman of character, as told in Proverbs 31, who “selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings.. She sees that her trading is profitable...She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes (vv 13-25). What better illustration is there to emulate being enterprising.
When the body of believers is filled with enterprising people it generates resources important for church upkeep. Further, the work of God is then supported without being dependent on sources that might compromise the mission, as sometimes we see!
Prayer for today: Lord father God of creation, as we see in scripture you have given us the gift of enterprise, and so, I pray to use this gift such that you bless me as you did to our father Abraham and all other great saints before for the glory and expansion of your kingdom, this I pray in Jesus’s name!
