Marching Forth!

" Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: "I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. 15 Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel .'" Amos 7:14-15 Amos is a great example of a man God called to enter His ministry step by step.  God brought him out of a farming profession - breeding sheep and picking fruit - and called him to be a prophet for His people. He didn't have a pedigree which would have been valued in the Jewish community, but he was called a prophet nevertheless.  Like Moses, he was taken from following a flock of sheep and was called to prophesy to the nation of Israel. Jesus called fisherman, tax collectors, doctors, and educated Pharisees to follow Him.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd who takes us from one pasture and moves us to another.  He takes people from all walks of life and employs them in His service.  ...

The other day I was struck with a simple truth:  things which tempt me to be proud are the very things which God desires to use to humble me.  Pride comes from a high regard of self.  Our flesh always seeks promotion and recognition.  The basis for true humility springs from a high view of God.    After being born again by faith in Jesus, our whole perspective changes through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  Our chief satisfaction is found in service and glory of God instead of serving self. Tonight I have a privilege of going to my dad's ordination at Calvary Chapel Santee and I have been asked to share a few words.  From a fleshly standpoint, I have always been "proud" of my dad.  He has always been my pastor, and has always been an godly example for me to follow.  Should I be proud of him, however, it reveals I seek to promote myself through him.  Instead of a feeling of pride, I am greatly humbled that God wou...

" A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones ." Proverbs 14:30   At Calvary Chapel Sydney, we have been taking an in-depth look at the book of Proverbs in the Bible.  What richness is found for those who linger and receive of the wisdom they contain!  They never grow old, and their truth shines undimmed by passage of time.  They hold forth the unchanging, divine wisdom of God.  As we increase in understanding, our love and knowledge of Christ expands because the Father has made Christ to be wisdom for us. I found the above Proverb most delightful, for King Solomon through the power of the Holy Spirit made a connection between the heart and bones which was not understood by physicians until the 19th century!  In the Hebrew, the word translated "sound" is " a curative, remedy, a medicine ."  We all know the heart is important to the overall health of the body, and when it is working efficiently it circulates oxygen-enri...

" It is not "try" but trust, not "do" but done ." Corrie Ten Boom This is one gleaming nugget of wisdom plucked from the surface of an address Corrie Ten Boom made to a group of largely new believers.  In the message she emphasised the love of Jesus and the blessing of forgiveness.  When Corrie speaks of Jesus and the Gospel, it sounds very simple - and it is.  We have ways, however, to exponentially complicate matters when we try to do in the flesh what can only be performed through the Spirit. One of Corrie's common object lessons was a flashlight with only one battery stuffed with rags.  She said that when a person makes a decision to follow Christ and is born again, it is like one battery is placed within us.  But one battery will not allow that flashlight to operate.  We need the second battery, which she said is the gift of the Holy Spirit who operates within us in power.  The spot for the second battery was filled with crumpled rags w...