encouraged by this series.
Have a Blessed day,
Heather
Healed of Cancer
and a story in my own life how it has happened. We are in our teaching series called, Why?
He gave me this: Why is my life stuck in ordinary? Has anybody privately said to yourself,
‘Man, there has got to be more than this.’ ?
Has anybody said?,
‘There’s go to be…wakening up, punching a clock, making a paycheck, going to bed,
getting back up, doing it again…’
Sadly that’s where most people live. And everybody has felt that. And if everybody is not feeling it, there
have been people who have walked through seasons – probably extended seasons - of their life where
they’ve asked themselves the question,
‘I fought to get here and is this basically it?’
Probably been people who have asked themselves that in all areas of their life. That question begin to
come to mind and the Lord had me jot down a story He brought to my memory. It’s about a 12 year old
story. It’s not a story I would preach; it’s a story like I would be sitting down with my child and I just need
to walk through it. But it has a great, great powerful message to it. So I just want you to let me walk you
through it. I believe God is going to touch you.
‘Lord, help me to recall even the faintest details of this story that matter, and I pray right now in the Name
of Jesus that my mind and my body be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. And I pray that
the anointing would do what strength and what flesh can’t do. And may this Word come through my
transparency and penetrate a discouraged heart. Lord, You said that you would give a Word in season.
Let this be a seasonal Word, especially to the weary. And let them not grow weary in their well doing.
Harvest will come…if they don’t faint. In Jesus Name. Amen.’
Tell your neighbor,
‘It will happen…if you don’t give up.’
1 Corinthians 1. I’m going to start at verse 26 and read about 3 verses, and then, I’m going to give you a
life story that develops this principle.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. [That’s why we’re together in this church – one camaraderie
that holds us together. Most of you in this place were handed nothing. And there is a theme, many things
that connect this church together. That’s one of them. A lot of this building is made up of:
> never-should-have-beens,
> never-could-have-beens, and
> never-would-have-beens. Your leader was never voted ‘most likely to do anything’. Okay? Except to
get into trouble. All right? So there is a thread that holds us together and we realize that when we talk we
resonate with one another, and you can feel it in the building.]
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen [Now, look at God. If I was God I
wouldn’t do this. But look at God – that’s why I ain’t God.]
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and
the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and
the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, [Whew! Can I read that again?]
For you see … not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,
are called. [I want you to look at this:] But God has chosen the foolish things of the world
[Somebody look in there and say, ‘That’s me!’] to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen
the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base
things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things
which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, [Why? All of these 3 going into this last
statement. Why?] that no flesh should glory in His presence.
God is a glory hog. God loves glory. And God can’t get glory from things that already have it. That
was a bomb I just dropped on you. God can’t get glory from things that already have it. So He has to take
something that has no glory attached to it and bring it to a place of impossibility so that He can get glory.
Why? Because everybody knows once that happened, there is no way YOU could bring it to pass.
Now, you’ve probably heard that so many times where it sounds cliché. But it is no less true. When
someone looks at:
> the people nobody gave a chance,
> they never had a name,
> they never had nothing to themselves,
> they never impressed anybody,
> they don’t look especially gifted,
> they don’t seem especially smart, and
> they were not especially privileged,
and He does something extra-ordinary with their LIFE, then God begins to get glory from it
because it confounds people!
People think that certain things have to happen for you to be great in life. And God said,
‘No. I’m going to go get the most jacked-up people, the most messed-up people, the most nobody
people, the most people who haven’t been trained.’ He said, ‘I’m going to get them and raise them
up so that these guys over here who have it all handed to them are going to scratch their head and say,
“How did THEY get here?”
Now, I said I wasn’t going to preach but this gets me excited. Okay? That’s the kind of people God goes after.
So if you are stuck and mired in what feels ordinary, you are a prime candidate.
Ron Carpenter, Redemption World Outreach Church