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]It ought to be obvious to all of us believers that we are in a spiritual war that is taking place all over the earth -- and that we are called to fight in this battle. In the world's armies, soldiers are not sent into battle before receiving many months of serious training. They need to get physically in shape first and then to learn how to handle different wartime situations and tactics of the enemy.
Yeshua (Jesus) asked this man "Do you want to be made well?" Of course he did! Wouldn't you? Why did Jesus ask a question like this when its answer was so clearly obvious? It seems the Lord wanted to hear him verbalize his need.
When Elijah went up to to heaven, Elisha took up his mantle and walked in the power of Elijah. The Hebrew word for mantle is "aderet". It's root word is "adir", which means excellent, gallant, glorious, mighty, noble and worthy! Elijah was a man with these qualities. The mantle that Elisha received from Elijah meant a calling which was powerful. Elisha had earned it. When the two first met, Elisha had slaughtered the oxen he was plowing with, and burned them on the wood of their yoke as an offering. Then he followed and served the prophet until the day Elijah was taken miraculously to Heaven.
One of the paradoxes of our walk is that God’s gifts often require work on our part. After He delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, the Lord led them to the Promised land and told them He was going to "give" it to them. It wasn't long before they realized, however, that they were going to have to fight battles and overcome fortified cities in order to inhabit the land. God did promise that they would not have to fight the battles on their own, but even with this divine advantage the Israelites themselves would be required to destroy their enemies – they would still need to fight.
A good pastor friend of ours told us that his congregation was experiencing some hardships and division. How often does this happen among us? It breaks my heart -- and I believe the Lord weeps over this too.
I came across an old article about "fake physicians". According to this article, many American citizens could be receiving medical treatment from doctors who lied on their medical school loan applications and used the money to pay a broker for fake documents. One guy was arrested and later admitted that he was paid beaucoup bucks to hand out approximately a hundred phony medical documents claiming that his clients completed their training! Can you imagine?!
I came across a powerful parable written by a Haitian pastor illustrating to his congregation the need for total commitment to the Lord.