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]“Don’t be anxious”…even though it's a perfectly natural response to mounting threats; sickness, finances, employment, uncertainty, emotional stress, family crises...Nevertheless, it says, "Don't be anxious about anything". Instead, pray!
A major earthquake struck Taiwan over the weekend, which triggered a tsunami warning as far away as Japan.
This reminded me of when we first moved to Israel, in 2003.
The word "verily", in this verse, is the Hebrew word “emunah” (em-oo-nah). It also means "faith" or "faithfully". When we trust in the Lord, and our trust is demonstrated by doing good, He declares that He will faithfully feed us. How will we be fed?
In the early 1800's a preacher gave a message to call men to join him on the mission field in Africa. In the audience were only a few women along with a boy. The pastor knew that few women were expected to volunteer to face harsh African jungle conditions. However, he gave the message; and no one responded. What he didn't realize was that he had touched the heart of a little boy whose name was David Livingstone. This boy would grow up to spend the rest of his life ministering to Africa's unreached tribes.
A.W. Tozer had an interesting commentary on this verse. He said: "Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent."
When does God answer our prayers? And when do we receive what we ask of Him? And when are we confident He has heard our requests? Many of us wonder why our prayers seem to go unanswered.
A farmer was showing his visiting citydwelling friend around his farm. "Watch this!" he said. He gave a whistle and his little dog came running from the house, herded the cattle into the corral, then latched the gate with her paw. "Wow, that's some dog -- what's her name?" The forgetful farmer thought for a minute and then asked, "What do you call that red flower that smells good and has thorns on the stem?" "A rose?" "That's it!" The farmer turned to his wife. "Hey Rose, what do we call this dog?"