PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Acts 10:19–23 (NIV)
While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.
CONSIDER THIS
Two Holy Spirit communiques. That’s how we got in on the gospel. An unsuspecting God-fearing Roman centurion and a Galilean professional fisherman received the respective messages and responded accordingly and here we (Gentile Christians) are.
The consequences of simple obedience are stunning. It is one thing to start with this story at hand and work our way downstream to the present day. It’s even more interesting to think our way back upstream. For instance, how did Cornelius become Cornelius? How did Peter become Peter? Think of all the influences, all the relationships, all the formative interactions in their past, and all the ways they were challenged and encouraged across their lives to bring them to these most crucial moments recorded in the tenth chapter in the Acts of the Apostles. I like to think of all the seeds sown into their complex lives that shaped them into people who were awake when their moment arrived. For every Acts 10 story like this one, there are hundreds of stories of perhaps equally spectacular yet unsung obedience that make up the backstory we can only imagine.
It reminds me of the story of the great Edward Kimball. You remember him, right? The year was 1858. The place—Boston, Massachusetts. Kimball was a young Sunday school teacher, teaching a group of younger students. He was concerned about one of them. Kimball went to the shoe store where the student worked and found him stocking shelves. On that day, Kimball led this student to place his faith in Jesus Christ. It turned out to be Dwight L. Moody, who went on to become one of the greatest evangelists of all time. Moody once preached in a tiny chapel in the British Isles and told the story of Edward Kimball. The message deeply impacted the pastor of the little church, Frederic Meyer. On a trip to America, Fred preached a sermon that led J. Wilbur Chapman to answer God’s calling on his life. Wilbur recruited a volunteer to help him set up for a series of evangelistic crusades. His name was Billy Sunday and he went on to become a powerful evangelist. Sunday was holding a crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a group of Christian businessmen were inspired to keep it going. They invited Mordecai Ham to come and lead another series of meetings. It is 1932 by now. A local farmer would load up his pickup truck with whoever wanted to come and bring them to the meetings. One of them was a sixteen-year-old boy who would end up giving his life to Jesus on the last night of the meetings. His name was Billy Graham.
The great Edward Kimball is the great (insert your name here). True greatness comes from a humble life of simple obedience—always doing the next good, right, God thing. I want to remind you of something today, Sower. You are right here and right now—TODAY—a strategic player in a developing story that could be years and even decades from unfolding in the fullness of its significance. You never quite know at the time what could be happening just beneath the surface of simple obedience.
I love Peter’s word to the party of three sent by Cornelius to find him.
“I’m the one you’re looking for.
I want you to practice saying those words. Start by saying them to Jesus today. “I’m the one you’re looking for.” Carry them into your daily life and ponder them as you encounter people and situations. Remind yourself of these words, “I’m the one you’re looking for.” Listen for the whispering guidance of the Spirit. We are human beings and yet divine actors. We are playing the humble parts of a supernatural cast in the divine story of Jesus here and now. Growing up I remember always seeing a magnet my mom kept on the refrigerator. It’s message “stuck” with me! “This is not a dress rehearsal.” And you know what I’m going to say next don’t you?
“Wake up sleeper. Rise from the dead. And Christ will shine on you!”
THE PRAYER OF TRANSFORMATION
Lord Jesus, I am your witness.
I receive your righteousness and release my sinfulness.
I receive your wholeness and release my brokenness.
I receive your fullness and release my emptiness.
I receive your peace and release my anxiety.
I receive your joy and release my despair.
I receive your healing and release my sickness.
I receive your love and release my selfishness.
Come Holy Spirit transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength so that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen.
THE QUESTION
Take a minute and look back upstream in your life. Who are the people who had little idea of the influence and impact they would have on your own life and story? I’ll tell one of my personal favorites in the afterwords of today’s podcast. (You can go back to the top and hit the link if you want to listen in.)
THE HYMN
Today we will sing “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.” It is hymn 83 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
P.S. TOMORROW NIGHT—Join Steve Seamands, Dan Wilt, and Me for an hour of powerful sharing.
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3 Responses
This post is so basic, but also at the same time so true. None of us came to the place we are in our relationship with Christ without the influence of many other believers along the way. And yes, the words, “Speak, for your servant is listening “ are key to fulfilling our ultimate goal of transformation into the mature stature of Christ. It’s helpful to be reminded that many of the “seeds” that we sow in this life will mature long after we’ve departed to be with the lord. Much of the fruit of our labors will remain unknown by us in this lifetime, but will be revealed when our work “will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” (1 Corinthians 3:13) I long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant “.
We never know what God is doing around the corner.
We may never know the impact our life can have on another, as others have had on ours.
We can pray (which we should), instruct, give money, or encourage and hope (which we should), but nothing is as powerful as investing our lives personally into someone else through Jesus.
People don’t care what you have to say unless they know you care.
Be the answer to someone’s prayer through the action of love.
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Staying 💪’n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
You’re the one they’re looking for. Sow well!
Often when you meet a stranger in what appears to be a random way, you’re the one they’re looking for. You and they might not notice it, but you are in the middle of a divine encounter with someone who they Holy Spirit has led to you.
Many people you meet are being sent to you by God because they are searching for “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” for the fruit of the Spirit, and for the joy of the Lord. Open your heart with humility and kindness so that they can see the risen Jesus living and manifesting His presence and qualities in and through you.
Be sensitive to the Spirit as He leads you in what to say and do as you take the time to compassionately listen to and interact with people He sends you (even if you see them the way the ancient Jews saw the Gentiles) and right in front of your eyes God will touch and begin to heal their soul through the spiritual seeds you sow (and He will do many other amazing things that you may not see until eternity).