LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF TO YOU!
Posted by: spiritualdigest <spiritualdigest@...>
I bring unto you a very warm Christian greeting in the
precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Let me first introduce myself to you. I am an ordained
minister of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. I work in
its headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria. The Lord has put
it in my mind to be sending His words to as many people
as I can by email. I tagged this ministry "SPIRITUAL
DIGEST". I have been doing this consistently every week
since February last year. I do not usually introduce
myself to people in my email ministry because to me,
the ministry is more important than my personality.
In my continual compilation of people's emails, I came
across this group and I joined it. I will be sending
short simple messages to you through this group at
least once in a week. They will serve as spiritual
nourishment for you.
Meanwhile, let me share with you one the messages I
have sent to people in this ministry:
"WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?"
"Then the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your
hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The LORD said, 'Throw it
on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it
became a snake, and he ran from it" (Exodus 4:2-3, NIV).
Sometimes, we all feel inadequate, insufficient,
incapable, unqualified and helpless to do something
while in actual fact, the resources to do such thing
are at our disposal.
Moses found himself in a similar situation. How? God
called him to go and lead the Israelites out of the
land of slavery. He was trying to dodge the divine
assignment by giving unconvincing excuses. He looked
down on himself. Then God asked him, "What is that in
your hand?" Moses must have thought: "Of what use would
an ordinary staff be in fulfilling such an enormous
task?" However, the "ordinary" staff became an
extraordinary instrument when he surrendered it to God.
The disciples of Jesus Christ were also in a dilemma.
They had to feed over five thousand people in a
solitary place. How would they do it? "Then Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. 'There's a youngster
here with five barley loaves and a couple of fish! BUT
WHAT GOOD IS THAT WITH ALL THIS MOB?'" (John 6:8-9,
TLB). How could they feed such a large number of people
with a boy's lunch? They never saw God above their
inadequacies. Nevertheless, Jesus fed the people with
that "little" food, and there were twelve baskets full
of the leftover!
In the same way, a prophet's widow was about to lose
her two sons to creditors. She ran to Prophet Elisha
for assistance. "Elisha replied to her, 'How can I help
you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?' 'Your
servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'EXCEPT A
LITTLE OIL'" (2 Kings 4:2, NIV). How would see settle
her debt with that "little" oil? Elisha told her to go
and use that "little" oil. She did as she was told and
at the end, she paid her debts and even had more!
Likewise, the son of a Shunammite woman was dead.
Prophet Elisha gave his staff to his servant, Gehazi to
go and raise the son from the dead. "Gehazi went on
ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there
was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet
Elisha and told him, 'The boy has not awakened'" (2
Kings 4:31, NIV). He had no eye of faith. He could not
see the extraordinary power in the "ordinary" staff.
Take an honest look at your own life. "What is that in
your hand?" What do you have that looks "ordinary,"
"little" or "insignificant"? Look at it with an eye of
faith. You have something that others do not have. Let
God use it to perform His wonders in your life. "[For
God has chosen] the lowly things of this world and the
despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify
the things that are, so that no one may boast before
him" (1 Corinthians 1:28-29, NIV).
Pray that I will be able to continue to send messages
like this, and forward them to your friends. May the
Lord bless you as you do. Amen
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
NB
You may also contact me through
<spiritualdigest@hotmail.com>. If you want to read my
previous messages, visit
groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritualdigest2003.
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