Luke 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Many are discouraged with the election results in the United States, others, perhaps are elated. Most Christians and Messianic believers do not see the nation choosing Biblical values with the continuation of the present administration, and are deeply concerned about the direction America is heading.
It is our view that the Scriptures do not hold out a political hope for mankind in this age, but that the political scene will be increasingly consolidated by evil powers, moving toward a system overseen by an anti-messiah; [Rev. 13]. And since Yeshua's (Jesus') great commission to us was directed primarily at individuals when He said to go make disciples of all the nations, we will continue to focus on the individual lives which we can help to save, bless, encourage, and disciple.
We are not losing the battle. The gates of Hell will not prevail against the Lord's building of His Body, and His kingdom will come, as millions have prayed, when He, the King, returns here to set it up. [see Acts1:6-7, Revelation 11:15] In this light, let me remind you of a popular story that offers a profound but simple encouraging message:
A young man once went to the beach. There, he saw miles and miles of starfish washed up on the sand. “If these starfish stay out here during the heat of the day,” he thought, “they'll die.” So he began picking up one starfish at a time as he walked, and threw them one by one back into the ocean.
An elderly man also walking along the shore approached him and said, “Do you mind if I ask young man, what are you doing?” “I'm throwing these poor starfish back into the ocean so they don't die in the hot sun,” the youth replied. “But what difference can you really make,” said the old man, “Look at this beach -- there are thousands, maybe millions, of starfish here!”
The young man smiled as he threw yet another starfish into the sea. “Well -- it made a difference to that one!”
“Faithful in a very little”, the Word of God says. It is faithfulness in the little things that the Lord rewards mightily! Every individual human being is precious and inestimably valuable to God. It is no waste of time to address the spiritual, emotional, or physical needs of any of the millions of individuals who suffer in one way or another. So keep "walking the beach and rescuing starfish", being faithful in small things. We believe that somehow, our reward will involve a broader authority when the Lord's kingdom arrives with Him. These are His words: "because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities."
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]In the Olivet discourse recorded in Matthew 24, Yeshua prophesied that “… nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” The word “nation” in Greek is the word “ethnos”, from which we get the English word “ethnic”. All of this polarization and ethnic warfare which the media feed upon and incite is the work of the enemy as he stirs up the sinful nature of men.
Several hundred years before Jesus was born, a plague broke out in Athens, Greece. In an effort to stop the plague and appease the ‘gods’, the Athenians sought counsel from a wise man named Epimenides from the island of Crete.
A new driver for an interstate trucking company was having a difficult time. He found the long cross-country trips extremely tiring. The older driver who traveled with him, however, seemed to thrive on those long trips. He always seemed to look as fresh at the end of the ride as he did at the beginning.
There’s nothing we can do to earn God’s love, however if we want to experience His blessings we need to observe the qualifications that He’s given us in His Word. Psalm 112 details a whole list of blessings, but the key to receiving them is verse 1.
Looking at the relationship between “love and affection” (“chiba” in Hebrew) and “obligation” (“chova” in Hebrew), we find another closely related word, “chaver”, one of the Hebrew words for “friend”. Friends are people with whom we share love and affection and also a sense of obligation. Our God and Father wants us to be His friends, to share love and affection with Him and to carry the sense of responsibility and obligation which friendship requires.
We are called to be servants, are we not? Well, what does a servant do? He (or she) carries out the will of his master. A servant doesn’t tell his master what to do — he performs whatever tasks the master requests of him. A servant doesn’t choose what days or times it’s most convenient to serve his master. A servant’s function is simply to follow and obey his master’s instructions. A servant does not develop a vision for the master either. The master is the one with the vision — and he wants his servants to be ready and available to carry out that vision and bring it to fruition.
David is called a “man after God’s own heart.” Considering that he lusted after his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery with her, and had her husband murdered, the Lord’s description of him is remarkable. How could a man who was convicted a murderer and an adulterer also be called one after God’s own heart?