Nov. 23, 2013–Obedience in Little

November 23, 2013 By

Gloria Copeland(Be blessed by this DWOD for Nov. 23, 2013 by guest contributor Gloria Copeland)

 OBEDIENCE IN LITTLE

He who is faithful in a very little [thing], is faithful also in much. (Luke 16:10)

Have you ever wanted to take on some really big project in the kingdom of God, but the Lord just wouldn’t seem to let you? If so, there’s probably a good reason why.

You can see what I’m talking about if you’ll read about what God did with the children of Israel after He brought them out of Egypt. He wanted to take them on into the Promised Land. But before He could do it, God had to know if they would obey Him. He had to know if they would listen to His voice. Because if they didn’t, the enemies they were about to face would wipe them out.

So, do you know what He did? He tested them in a small matter.

Exodus 16:4 tells us about this simple test. “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.”

God took a little, insignificant matter, the food they ate–and used it to see if they would listen to Him or not. He told them how much of it to gather, when to gather and when not to, and what to do with it after they brought it in.

And the Israelites went right out and violated those instructions. They showed God by their actions that His voice was not important to them. They were not willing to obey even His simplest commands.

God works the same way today. Before He sends you on a major mission, He gives you the opportunity to prove you can be trusted with small instructions.

But many of us miss that opportunity. We pray, “What do You want me to do, Lord? Where do You want me to go? I’ll do anything You say.” But then when the Lord says, “I want you to get up and pray in the Spirit one hour every morning,” we fail to obey Him. We say, “Oh yeah, that would be good. I ought to do that.” But somehow we never quite get around to it.

Don’t make that mistake. Start today obeying God in the little things. Let Him see that He can trust you out there in a place of much authority. Let Him know you’ll be faithful to His Words and to the voice of His Spirit. Once He knows you won’t let disobedience wipe you out, He’ll start sending bigger assignments your way.

(This post appeared first in from Faith to Faith, a daily guide to Victory. To subscribe to this daily devotional and access other great resources, please go to www.kcm.org)

Filed Under: Guest Authors

Nov. 22, 2013–The Christian Scout

November 23, 2013 By

scoutsIt was the last thing I expected to happen on a quick stop at the ATM to get some cash. I barely paid any attention to the gentleman who was standing beside me in the next booth…until I got back to the car.

Just as I was about to get into my car, he waved to me and said: “Wait a minute, buddy! I’ve got something for your kids.”

He walked over and handed me a DVD. “Just put this in your DVD player. I’m sure your kids will love watching it.”

I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the title of the DVD: Jesus.

It was the same DVD that I had taken with me on a trip to India a few years back as a gift for a children’s home. This one was meant for children ages 9-14.

On the one hand I was flattered that he considered this 55 year-old young enough to have children in that age range 🙂 For the record, our “baby”, Jaya, just turned 20 on Tuesday.

Needless to say he had no idea that I was a Christian, let alone a pastor. I am pretty sure that the colour of my skin sent out a signal: “Hindu in sight. Get DVD ready. Hand DVD over to the Hindu.”

But you have to give him full marks for traveling with that DVD in his truck so that when the opportunity presented itself, he would be prepared to hand one to anyone that came within receiving range.

Jesus always sent his disciples fully prepared for what they might encounter on their ministry trips, didn’t he? Case in point. “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.” (Luke 10:5-8 NKJV)

He wanted them to be on the alert to recognize the opportunities that would open up for them and to capitalize on them in an appropriate manner. He even teaches them what to say when they walked through an open door!

A year ago, Sulojana and I decided to keep some copies of a tract put out by Billy Graham called “Steps to peace with God”–she in her purse, me in my computer bag. This way whenever we had an opportunity to connect with someone at a spiritual level, we had something to give them, especially when we didn’t have enough time to go deeper.

You know the Scouts’ motto, right? “Be prepared.”

I would classify the man who gave me the Jesus DVD as a Christian Scout, because he was prepared for the opportunity to encounter a pre-Christian, even if it was a pastor who could easily pass for a Hindu 🙂

How about you, dear DWOD friend? Would you be known as a Christian Scout by how prepared you are?  What do you do in preparation for God-encounters along the road to your destiny? Please share your responses with the rest of us.

Filed Under: Pastor Jeeva Sam