EUROCLYDON

"When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon." Acts 27:13-14

It began a difficult journey: a ship bound for Rome, and the apostle Paul bound in chains. Paul had been apprehended for preaching God's word. Paul's scripture-based preaching infuriated the Pharisees and Sadducees, two sects which denied the resurrection of Jesus. Fearful of their loss in power, as Paul's preaching was converting many away from their doctrine, they sought to capture and kill Paul. They accused him of sedition (noun. conduct or speech inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch). 

Paul's Roman citizenship meant that his captors had to hold his trial in Rome (Acts 25:10-11). Not only did this preserve Paul's life, his supposed crimes might have gotten him killed in Jerusalem, but would not qualify for death in Rome, but it also fit neatly into God's plan. God had previously informed him that He intended Paul to be in Rome: "the Lord stood by him and said, 'Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome'" (Acts 23:11).

And so they set out for Rome, but the waters were tumultuous and dangerous. It was immediately apparent to Paul that the voyage would result in disaster: the loss of the cargo and possibly the lives of those on the ship. But the centurion (commander) decided to take the advice of the helmsman rather than that of Paul.

They sailed right into the Euroclydon winds, a cyclical, tempestuous wind. Control of the ship was lost as it tossed in the sea; the crew did all they could to keep it afloat. Days passed of the fight to stay alive. Storm clouds blocked the sun and stars and stifled the hope of the men on the ship. As the winds and waters continued to beat down on them and their ship, no longer did they believe they would survive.

Meanwhile, Paul appealed to God through abstinence. If the journey was to be survived, Paul knew that it would be by the Hand of God. Paul's fast allowed him to review the situation, reflect on the decisions made that led to it, and hear with clarity God's plan of restoration out from it. From here, the journey documented in scripture helps us to survive the Euroclydon winds in our own lives.

• NEITHER SUN NOR STARS

Hopelessness and defeat are perhaps the most able to extinguish a person's faith. Sometimes the darkness of the storms in our lives are so comprehensive that we lose sight and even remembrance of the light. The crew on the ship were not like Paul. They followed the advice of men rather than the plan of God. Their rejection of God's plan may have been inadvertent but the result was the same. 

Sometimes our desire to do something or for something to be done is so fierce that we ignore common sense in favor of impatience. Like the men on the ship, we have it in our minds that we must be certain places at certain times. Things to do. People to meet. Money to make. Prospects to take. We want all of it to occur on a timely schedule, a schedule in accordance with our impatience rather than God's plan.

Paul presented the men on the ship with a choice: wait and have a smooth voyage, go and possibly lose your life to a difficult one. They chose difficult, and so often do we. But that sort of thinking propels us directly into cyclical winds too. We go around and around making the same mistakes, beating back the same fierce seas, desperate to stay afloat until we finally lose the hope that its even possible anymore.

The absence of sun and stars made it impossible for the crew to navigate the ship. They were tossed, lost and without hope. Which is a place many of us find ourselves to be in at times. Distress causes us to lose all ability to navigate the sometimes-rough waters of circumstance and emotion. Feelings of rejection, hopelessness, isolation, fear, anger, and impatience cause to behave erratically. That erratic behavior directly contradicts God's promises to us:

Rather than rejected we are chosen by Him, Ephesians 1:4. There is no such thing as hopelessness for a child of God, within the kingdom of God, hope is in constant supply, Malachi 3:10. We cannot be isolated from the presence or promise of God, Matthew 28:20. 

That erratic behavior directly contradicts God's instruction given to us: 

Do not fear, John 14:27. Do not be angry, Ephesians 4:26-27. Wait on the Lord, Psalm 27:14.

Extraordinarily, God has provided the emotional and practical instructions on how to survive the storm. Sometimes, in order to actually apply them to our behavior, we need to lighten the ship.

• LIGHTENING THE SHIP

Paul knew what to do in that darkness. Paul knew that he would make it to Rome because God had told him he would. Paul's advice and prayer and fasting was for the purpose of the preservation of the people with him. They were sinking. What do we do when we are sinking? We toss out the things that are causing us to sink. We remove from our ship, life, the things causing the water to weight us down. Paul did this through a fast. Sometimes a fast is about food, but other times a fast is the jettison of distractions. Secular distractions: attitudes, activities and other things that have no religious or spiritual basis. 

The world is full of secular distractions. The attainment of power and celebrity are cultivated by cultures around the world. The desire for control and admiration distracts us from giving and humility. The abundance and attainability of material wealth induces a desperate want of things. Our value of the material causes us to undervalue the actual substance of life. We corrupt the even the biosphere we rely on to exist in order to make and buy and have and use things. We neglect others' basic human rights and needs to pursue our own agendas, secure our own borders, protect our own reputation, clear our own day, have our own fun, claim our own rights and needs.

And so sometimes we need to jettison the things that perpetuate in our lives the distractions of our culture: the social media and music, biased news sources, commercialism and celebrity. We need to clear our lives of the distractions which cause the cloud coverage that blocks the sun and stars. The hope and the lighthouse that is God. We need to learn to be more aware of our susceptibility to the things our world says we should want. 

God is able to strengthen us. His love and instruction render us less vulnerable to the desperate desire of filling our bodies, souls and lives with those corrosive distractions. We need to clear the space, we need to jettison those things.

• TO TAKE NOURISHMENT

And then we need to be filled in. Once we have thrown overboard the distractions, we need to fill ourselves with something ordered and solid. We need meat and bread, that is: the deep and thorough word of God. Paul encouraged the crew to eat: "Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival..." Indeed this is for your survival. God urges us to stop ingesting empty calories. To stop taking in the secular world as though it could ever possible sustain us. 

Our souls need actual, spiritual nourishment. Things and fame and vanity are empty. The fruit of impatience is unsatisfactory and insufficient. Like Paul, fast the distractions and then take the bread. Live with gratitude for the One who pointed out the problem and then solved it. 

Paul cautioned that only those who remained on the ship would survive. The people who decided to solve their problems on their own would fail. God has capabilities that we do not; the impossible for us is possible for Him, Luke 18:27. The meaning of this is that we cannot leave  the kingdom of God and expect to thrive or even survive. It is God's path that leads to life and safety and blessing. We cannot just abandon ship (pun definitely intended) and expect to be nourished. All along God's path are the fruit and meat that nourish us. Away from from God's path, we might sustain ourselves but God has bigger plans than for us to be merely sustained. He has plans for us to live, thrive and survive. 

We must throw the junk out and fill ourselves with love and patience, humility and compassion. Easy as it is to give in to our cravings and binge on our temptations, we have to train, spiritually, until we are stronger than that impulse. The impulse to let loose our anger, feed our desire, act on our impatience. It is the nourishment that God provides which grows within us the muscle subdue the things, people and emotions that have power over us. 

God will get you to where you need to be. The storms become irrelevant when you choose God as your helmsman, the One to navigate your ship. Your life. You may not, at times, see the sun or stars. You may feel hopeless, but you must remember that God is the light. God provides the hope. Jettison the distractions and the clouds with dissipate, the sun and stars will be visible once again.

PAUL IS PROOF

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
John 3:17

Do not misunderstand the purpose of Jesus' life and ministry; do not mis-assign His target: not the flawless but the flawed; not the righteous but the unrighteous; not the sinless but the sinful; not the found but the lost; not the best but the worst.

Jesus came to find and (re)direct the lost and directionless; He came to put purpose in our journey and destination at the end of it. He came to re-purpose our flaws, mistakes and weaknesses into motivations, messages, and strengths. And so, regardless of why we are unworthy, or even how unworthy we are, God has made us His beloved mission. He has determined us, all of us who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, worth His time and His love.

• NOT TO CONDEMN BUT TO SAVE

Jesus was frequently questioned about, and judged for, his association with... well, sinners. In Matthew 9:9-12 specifically, adversaries of Jesus asked His disciples why Jesus interacted with the people society had condemned and socially quarantined. Jesus answered that the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. Society might have condemned and quarantined them, but God had not. God, Spiritual-Physician that He is, had compassion on them; spiritual stethoscope on their souls, He diagnosed that they needed healing. Jesus was the prescription; His ministry, the word and philosophy of God was the treatment. 

We, therefore, who have insecurities, deficiencies, and emotional turbulence, are most fortunate. For God is a specialist in our ailments. He is here and near and most importantly, equipped, to heal us. Although so many authoritarians would have arrived to condemn, Jesus came to save. He came to sentence us to life rather than death, and helps us to make the spiritual crossover.

• ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS

If you have ever believed that your mistakes or wandering have made you less valuable to God, read the Parable of the Lost Son in the gospels. In the Parable there is a father with two sons. One of the sons remained with and loyal to his father, but the younger son did not. The younger son left and consequently languished. He struggled in life and became desperate enough to reflect on his choices. He realized he needed to go home, but knew his father would not accept him back as a beloved son. But he had learned from his mistakes and had changed; he began to value the family he had been born into. He hoped, at most, that his father would take pity on him, relent, and allow him back as a servant.

The son journeyed back to his home. While was still a long way off, his father noticed his younger son and had not pity, but compassion for his son. The father ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. Immediately the younger son repented and humbled himself before his father. He felt unworthy; he did not believe he deserved the blessings he squandered, rejected and neglected. 

But the father began to clothe his son in the familial vestment. So great was the father's joy at his son's return that he immediately restored him and planned a celebration for his arrival. He exclaimed: "...my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." Though we had turned our back to Him, the love and mercy of God rushes toward us the moment we decide to turn our face  toward him. He considers our change of heart our return to life, and by Him we are welcomed home as beloved children once again.

It is thanks to the elder son's confusion that we understand why the wayward son was restored to his father's good graces so readily. The father had to explain to him that his younger brother's return was so beautiful because he had been dead. The elder son had always obeyed his father, unrighteousness, thus death had never claimed him. But the younger brother was in the clutches of death, he was a slave to sin, he was disconnected from the Kingdom. His return was so spectacular because it had been so unlikely. He return was so spectacular because he had been so far away! He had almost to the point of no return. His return was so spectacular because instead of suffering a loss, the Kingdom of God could celebrate a restoration, and addition. 

• SAVES THE ONE

In Luke 15:1-7, Jesus used an analogy of sheep to explain that God charges into the wilderness to save one of His lost ones. Just as in the Parable of the Lost son, those who never go astray are loved, but so, deeply, are those who do. In fact, we learn that "there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

We are cherished even more for who we are because of who we were. In His appreciation for us, God takes into account the arduous journey we take from past-self to present-self. After all, The people who left the kingdom worked harder than anyone else to be in it. The sick child restored to health, the lost child who found his way home, is cause for heaven-wide celebration.

• APPOINTED TO HIS SERVICE

In the book of 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Paul confessed that even though he considered himself to be the worst sinner of all sinners, by God's grace, he was appointed to His service. Returned children, healed children, are not just restored to a place in heaven, they are also given a purpose.

Jesus enabled Paul, put him directly in the ministry, because Paul's past served the impact of his future. Paul was known, infamously, as the persecutor of the Christian faith. Having come further than anyone else, from the brink of death to the peak of life, Paul's testimony carried a weight different and heavier than anyone else's could have. When he, Paul, the most known, most deadly persecutor of Christians to converted to Christianity the world changed; the ministry of Jesus reached further than ever before across the world and generations. 

Jesus came to save sinners and Paul is proof. Paul's life exemplified the pattern of God's patience: this, exclaimed Paul's life, is the pattern that is the restoration of the repentant sinner: We go from death to life! Lost to found. Sick to healed. The faith and wisdom we gained during the journey back become the tools and materials we use to bring others with us back with us. Our value is increased all the more; our mistakes and weaknesses, hurts and scars, the process of our repentance and return, teaches us how best to help, to heal, to rescue the people who are what we used to be!

Maybe you are the lost son, the lost sheep, someone who walks away from or even against God. If you are, Jesus came specifically for you. Your heartbeat is in His ears, your thumbprint is on His body, your hurt has been destined for His healing. He has planned a place for you in the kingdom, a purpose for you in this life. He is closer to you than anyone else; it is your voice He most wants to hear, your face He most wants to see. 

Until now you've shown Him your back, we all have at certain times and moments in our life. We are not perfect in any moment, situation, relationship or act. There are times in everyone's day and life when our back, instead of our face, is toward Him. We lose our patience, we resist forgiveness, we make a selfish choice, relent to doubt or to temptation. It is in those moments precisely that God is most fiercely present, ready to sit and speak with us; the Great Physician, ready to heal us of the greed or lust or anger or meanness or depression that made us sick.

LOCUSTS + WILD HONEY

Of John the Baptist in the book of Isaiah:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God."

Out from the wilderness came a humble man with a bold message and a roaring voice. It was a message for dwellers of the darkness, and for the inert in the light. A new way of life, the philosophy of Jesus, barreled toward humanity, to pierce it like the sun's rays do the earth. It was John's duty to prepare them. John the Baptist was faith in action; he prepared the people to become righteous vessels of the Holy Spirit, and obedient instruments for the hands of God. He prepared them for reversal, for submersion and for reconstruction. 

In his mother's womb, John leaped in the presence of Jesus in Mary's; he was predestined and ready to fulfill his purpose, to scoop and carve and clear the way for the ministry of Jesus and presence of God. If it was necessary then, to clear a place and construct a foundation, a basis of faith within one's life, it is necessary now.

Prophecy of the life of John the Baptist foretold several things: he would be a prophet of God, he would prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus, he would inform the people of salvation obtained by the remission of sins, give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide feet into the way of peace.

DWELLERS OF DARKNESS

In order to prepare for God and the word of God to preside in our lives, we must identify ourselves as either a dweller or darkness or one who is inert in the light. A dweller of darkness is one who lives separate, perhaps even in opposition to the word of God. Few of us would identify ourselves as such. But if the word of God has not made a life-altering impact on our way of life, a reversal of how we see and behave in the world, we are a dweller of darkness. A dweller of darkness has not yet been appointed by the light for a purpose of the light. 

John called the people to repentance, and thus to soul-deep revolution. The presence of God on the earth amid humanity meant recovery from the darkness, salvation from the sin. Every person John dipped into the Jordan confessed their sin; but it is important to understand the intimate process of confession of sin. We confess our imperfection, our mistakes and failures, and our uglier tendencies to God. By confessing them, we acknowledge them. One-on-one with God, we realize and claim and thus decide the areas where we most need His grace and mercy; discipline and instruction. Repentance is the first step not to condemnation but to reconstruction. We must realize all the places of darkness within us that are stemming the light.

In order to leave the darkness, we must leave impatience and greed beyond. Self-interest cannot come with us. Anger and anxiety must be dissolved by forgiveness and trust in God. It is a process, a journey out of the dark, but as long as we are not inert in the darkness, we are active in the light. We move into the light when we leave darkness behind. Our new focus, in every situation, relationship, or mood we find ourselves in must be on:

"whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8)."

For light, the fruit of the spirit  is:

"is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)."

SHADOW OF DEATH

Alternately, John was also sent to those who dwell in the shadow of death. That is: all of us. We all live in the shadows cast by disparity and injustice. We are all hosted by temporary bodies; we all love and befriend souls hosted by temporary bodies. John came to prepare us for a drastic change in our shadowed journey. Our walk through "the valley of the shadow of death", Psalm 23, takes on new characteristics: we are shepherded, led by the River of courage and comfort from which to draw.  

As we mold ourselves receptive to the ministry of Jesus, we adopt our eternal nature. Receptive to the ministry of Jesus, we become privy to God's purposes and plans. We become agents of God's purposes and plans. We realize that that which is wrong or cruel is not absolute. We begin to see, all over the world, construction zones. Project sites commissioned by the Holy Spirit, led and supported by advocates, fellow-workers of His peace.

The shadow of death therefore is a precursor to the light of eternity. John was sent to us to inform us that we are not stuck in death's shadow; this life is a beginning, not an end. John prepared them, and us, for Jesus to explain precisely how.

INERT IN THE LIGHT

It is not enough to bask in the light. From John, an itinerant preacher, we should learn that we are meant to move, to speak, to act. Submersion is in his title: John the Baptist; John the baptizer.  Submersion in the river Jordan was symbolic of submersion in faith. Our objectives shift, our purpose is established, our values are chosen by God, our wisdom is gleaned from Him. We are meant to use all of that. 

God provides the light, that is, the peace and comfort and hope and advocacy. He provides those things for a purpose... for our purpose. For our mission, our life's work in faith. What would we need advocacy for if we were inert? If we aren't breaking chains why do we need strength? If we aren't speaking out in defense of the meek, why do we need confidence? If we aren't going to love, why do we need comfort? If we aren't going to bear the burns of forgiveness and the bruises of compassion, why do we need healing?

We receive for a purpose. His advocacy is to advocate for us while we walk, while we speak, while we work.

 HOST OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

For the Holy Spirit to arrive and reside in our life, we must foster within ourselves the climate in which It thrives. Only a righteous host can host Righteousness. This is why it was so essential for John Baptist to prepare the way. This is why it is so essential for us to prepare the way for God to arrive in our lives. We suffocate our faith when we foster a toxic atmosphere. 

We cannot allow impatience, anger, greed, temptation, or injustice to fester in the place where we expect God to be. We have to behave selflessly in moments we feel most inclined to be selfish. We must sacrifice and give when our desire flares. We must choose justice even when it does not equate with a status elevation of ourselves. In the day-to-day, the thought-to-thought, we have to create a habitable soul for the Holy Spirit to fill. 

The ministry of Jesus reached a region which had been prepared for it because this lifestyle is not one that can reside on, or reside with, another. It cannot be contradicted, it must be absolute. We cannot have one foot in the dark and one in the light; a house divided cannot stand. What we think, say and do will never be steadfastly perfect. But our intention to think, say, and do things worthy of, like God, must be! Our commitment to this lifestyle must be steadfast and absolute. Faith unfed will starve, and our faith's provision comes from what our minds, and voices and hands produce. Faith will not subsist on the wrong food.

John was appointed to guide feet to the path of peace. Within the ministry of God, we walk a new road: a path of peace. He cleared the brambles, he trod the path for us to follow. As we walk into the Kingdom, we delve into comprehensive peace. He taught us to prepare ourselves, to prepare our lives for change and reversal, for purpose and new direction. Because beside Jesus, fear is illogical, shame is removed, chaos is ordered, safety is ensured, provision is provided, defense is absolute. Beside Jesus, peace is established and upheld.

John was a simple man who came from the countryside; he lived as a minimalist, eating only locusts and wild honey. God prepared him for great, prophetic, action-packed purpose yet he remained a humble man. The symbolism is that he subsisted on the natural, incredible, honey that is God's word and he crushed his enemies with the movements of his life. Locusts are used in the Bible to symbolize the enemy, the sin that corrodes the world. Imitate John, live humbly by the light and act boldly against the dark.

WELL OF LIFE

Give me a drink. 

Jesus initiated a conversation with a request. He asked the Samaritan woman at the well with Him to draw a cup of water so He could take it in; but Jesus' request was not for actual water. What Jesus truly wanted was for the woman to draw from the well of herself, and offer to Him what she drew from deep inside: her spirit, her life, her love.

He wanted to build a spiritual relationship with her and he began by making a simple, though symbolic request. A symbiotic request: an exchange for what each other's "well" provides. Jesus makes an identical request to you, and perhaps like the woman of John 4:1-26, you do not yet know His full identity. But He knows yours and makes a request for it. A request to know who you are, to love who you are and to provide everlasting provision to protect who you are and enable you to thrive.

Our relationship with God is the one relationship in our life that has a single request: fidelity. And to those who provide it, He provides for. He knit you in the womb and knew that if you were to exclusively engage your life to Him, your life would be exclusively dependent on Him. God does not expect us to subsist on thin air, neither does He want us to survive on anything futile or harmful; so He provides a well from which we can draw: a source of living water, the sustenance of Him.

Allow Jesus to initiate a conversation with you. 

A conversation with Jesus develops into a lifelong relationship. 

How many people want to know who you are? How many people want to love who you are? The intricate details. Even the dark ones. God devotes His full attention to a concentrated effort to do just that: He wants to know what makes you smile and laugh; He wants to know what confuses or distracts you; He wants to know what dreams you contemplate and what hopes you foster; He wants to know what frightens you or taunts you.

In other words: He wants entry to your life and soul. He already has access to it; after all, He created it and allowed it to be itself. He could barge in. But He awaits your invitation. He delights in your conversation. He cherishes the authentic process, the relationship that deepens as it is explored lifelong. He awaits entry because He knows what impact He can make from inside. 

Jesus made an intentional journey Samaria to speak with this woman, just as He makes an intentional journey to speak with you. Just you. To sit with you in a quiet place. To have a conversation that will give Him insight on how to best provide for you. To have a conversation that will give you insight on how to access that tailor-made provision. 

Determine Who your partner and provider is.  

With the knowledge that you would be dependent on Him for provision, He provided a source of specific, comprehensive sustenance. 

Jesus instructed the women to call for her husband. 

In the time and culture of this scripture, a woman was dependent on partnership with a husband for provision. He wanted her to call for the entity that was providing for her. But He did not mean an actual husband. He told her to call a figurative one. He will also instruct you to call for your husband. He will give you the opportunity to call for your figurative husband: the thing or person or philosophy that you have partnered with. The thing or person or philosophy that is supposed to be providing for you but by His estimation is not. Not adequately, and certainly not as comprehensively as Jesus would.

She responded that she did not have a husband. Jesus pointed at that indeed she did not have a husband: she had had five husbands. He did not point this out to shame her. He pointed it out to evidence that no partnership was as steadfast, as singular as His. He pointed it out to show her that none of those relationships provided what she actually needed, what nourished her soul. Jesus wanted her and us to understand that a person can move from one thing to another, from one person or philosophy to another, but none of it provides what we need soul deep. Not sufficiently and not eternally.

Juxtaposed Jesus, that thing or person or philosophy that we have partnered ourselves with is flimsy, powerless and even pathetic. Jesus us tells us to bring that thing near so that we can compare it to what He provides. Submission to an addiction? Dependency on a person? Fulfillment of a desire? A display of vanity? The attention of certain people? Do any of those things provide you value, purpose or strength? Love? Jesus says call for it. Put it in the center of the room. Put it directly under the light. Expose it. Compare it to Me. 

Beneath your flesh is a soul. You cannot nourish your soul with sustenance for the flesh. Jesus sees what you are labeling as your "husband" right now and He's challenging it. He is declaring that it is not your rightful partner. Call it, see if it can contend with Him. Determine if it can provide better for you than He can. 

If it can't, and it can't, it's time for a new partnership. It's time to partner with Jesus. 

Draw from the Well of Living Water.  

Drink from the deep well of the Holy Spirit, allowing His pure and cleansing water to course through your soul and life.

A human's body can go just three days without water. A human's soul can go an entire lifetime without the living water. But there would be no quality to that life. No weight. No purpose. No depth. No peace or joy or true love. In this world we have a lot of options, none of them as good as God. We can draw from all sorts of places, people and philosophies. But none of them as good as God.

Jesus wants you to understand that just as the body has to keep going back, once again, for temporary abatement to the well, so will you have to keep tapping into that thing that's getting you by, but only just: After a few days, you need another person to compliment you to once again, temporarily restore the value you have for yourself. You need your boyfriend or wife to tell you they love you so that once again, temporarily you feel secure in love. You need that drink or substance to once again, temporarily calm the storm within you. 

Jesus says draw from a different well. Draw from the well of life God provided to once and permanently sustain your soul. When Jesus offers you to drink from the well of life that God provides, that existential, soul deep thirst is quenched forever. You do not need another person to make you feel valued. You do not need to be desperate for a secure relationship. You do not need to submit to anything, anyone, anymore.

So draw from that well. His well. Allow Him to plant it deep within you so that His provision springs up into your soul, into your life, for all your life. Access and utilize the strength and wisdom, love and justice, patience and perseverance He provides in specific response to every situation and season in your life.

Call for your husband, call for Jesus. 

Jesus In the Wilderness

Jesus went through this world to exemplify the spiritual response to the weakness of the body. He lived in the flesh body to teach us to overtake it with our spirit. Each child of God undergoes an internal transition of power: the weak and sinful body succumbs to the authority of the strong and righteous spirit. By living it first hand, Jesus showed us how to recognize and destabilize (with our spirituality) the method and power of evil and temptation (against our body).

Jesus met Satan in the wilderness to show you how to resist temptation. Before Jesus' example, humans had little to no power over temptation; we did not understand its methods or purposes.

TEMPTATION WILL CAUSE YOU TO CHALLENGE GOD

Standing in the wilderness, Satan told Jesus to command stones to turn into bread. This is temptation's outright attempt to get you to abandon your faith in God. Satan wanted to make Jesus look like a fool; humans cannot turn stones into bread. Immediately we learn that Satan has a penchant for twisting scripture, for neglecting its spiritual significance and often figurative nature. Jesus taught His disciples that God's children live by His word more than by bread. He meant that God sustains their souls and organizes the circumstances in their life that keep them fed and whole, literally and figuratively.

But temptation's first method to get you to challenge God is even deeper than that. Every human has a circumstance in life they become frustrated with. Temptation wants you to turn your frustration with the situation into frustration with God. Temptation attempts to overthrow God's authority in your life. It wants you to decide that His refusal to perform a specific miracle in your life is an admission of His inability or worse, His unwillingness.

Temptation knows that within a person's faith is a certain amount of trust in God and patience for His timing. Temptation decides to determine exactly how much trust and patience you have. In a moment of some figurative hunger of yours, temptation will speak to you. It will try to convince you to doubt God's love, doubt God's timing, doubt God's ability, doubt God's willingness, and doubt God's power. Jesus refused to do any of that; He knew that no hunger could be filled without God. Jesus did not abandon His faith in God even though it meant He would be hungry a little longer. Jesus chose to wait for God's resolution and the spiritual feast He trusted God to prepare in the perfect time.

TEMPTATION WILL PERSUADE YOU TO DOUBT GOD

Satan brought Jesus up to the pinnacle of a temple and told Him to jump off. Satan then used and manipulated a piece of scripture to persuade Jesus to do so (Psalm 91:11). In effect, Satan said: God told You that He would protect Your ways, therefore You can live recklessly and without purpose, without consequence.

This literal situation neglected the spiritual significance of the verse. But Jesus' response corrected that. Jesus refused not only to doubt that God could save Him, but He also refused to live recklessly and without purpose. Jesus knew that God's promise of protection was ordained for the purpose of the perpetuation of the kingdom. We have the protection of God as we go about the way of purposeful righteousness. He does not protect us so that we can live recklessly, chaotically and without beneficial impact. Our enemy is a force in the world, a force of evil and as long as we fight against it, we will not fall from the pinnacle of the temple.

This is temptation's second and focused effort to stamp out your faith. It wants you to waste your faith, to doubt your God at the first instance of fear. It wants you to misunderstand scripture and thus the meaning of God's promises to you. It wants you to live hastily instead of waiting patiently on God's timing. In moments of fear and indecision, it wants you to leap prematurely into the wrong decision. Temptation wants you to determine that God's word has no credibility, because if it can do that, you will place your faith in it and it will have conquered you.

TEMPTATION WILL MAKE AN OFFER YOU'LL STRUGGLE TO REFUSE

Satan promised Jesus the world if only He would bow to him. This is the third method in temptation's scheme: since it could not challenge your faith, temptation will target your appetite for material wealth, position, and/or power. Temptation wants to be your master. It wants you as its slave; it resents your freedom in God. To possess you, it will offer you possessions. It has no intention of fulfilling its offers, nor does it have the actual ability to. It will make the offer anyway.

Do not doubt that temptation is persuasive. Do not assume that your faith is necessarily bigger than your appetite. There might be a price or prize you would abandon your faith for. Perhaps not all at once, but overtime, you could start to commit yourself to a new purpose, a new ideology and one that is separate from God. Any time we defy a commandment of God, a principle written in scripture, we separate ourselves from God and align ourselves with our desire. Expect that temptation's offer will be difficult to refuse! It will dangle such a treat before your eyes. Trust that if God wanted you to have it, you would have it or eventually will! How do you determine if something is from God? It will be delivered to you. The process will be smooth and steady. You will put in hard work but harder faith. You will not have to compromise your values for it. It will be propelled by love not lust. It will stand on faith not fear. You will not have to chase it or restrain it. Temptation will make a grand offer but it will be tainted. It will be hard. It will not last.

Temptation does not have the ability or intention to fulfill its grand offer with any permanence or quality. It does not want to fill or please or satisfy or bless you. It just wants you. It wants to claim you and declare its victory on the corpse of your faith. What do you want? Do you have an appetite for wealth? Do you have an appetite for fame, respect, or even reverence? Do you have an appetite for power or property? Whatever your body desires, temptation will offer it. It will rotate in front of you as if on a rotisserie; and dripping off of the prize is your faith that God can provide it what you need. Like Jesus, you have to know that only God knows what is best for you and when it is best for you to have it. Like Jesus, you have to know that nobody, nothing can offer you the world because the world belongs to God. You must decide what is bigger: your faith or your appetite. You must decide what has more power over you: your faith or your appetite.

Jesus rebuked Satan and did not succumb to temptation. He refused to become a slave to temptation, to material wealth and power, and thus resisted both death and slavery. Jesus knew that there was only One Entity worthy of servitude, only One Entity capable of fulfillment, only One Entity with selfless, just intentions: God.

The Seven Churches

The second and third books of Revelation are a survey not simply of seven different types of churches, but of seven different types of faith. Seven different types of people. They comprise an examination done by God. To each of the seven churches: Ephesus; Smyrna; Pergamos; Thyatira; Sardis; Philadelphia and Loadicia, John delivered a specific message from God about the quality of their ministry, authenticity of their relationship with God, and the potency of their faith. As hosts of the temple of God, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, we are each a church. As churches, these letters are written to us.


From the island of Patmos, John wrote the book of Revelation; he wrote to us in effort to secure the result of the culmination of our faith. As individual churches, temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), these short letters urge us to be present, accountable and productive in genuine faith. They reveal our strengths and weaknesses, and discipline us to either remain steadfast or to mend our broken way before it's too late, too irrelevant to do so.


God intended for these letters to serve as discipline, rather than admonishment. Caution rather than condemnation. Each individual must honestly admit which "church" they are a member of, and decide if they would like to remain there.



EPHESUS:

The church of Ephesus represents a bland faith. That said, members of this church get a lot right. According to God's analysis, they labor for the will of God, and they follow his commands. They are able to identify false preachers and prophets and are not hesitant to call them out as such. Generally, they are patient and forbearing in righteousness.


But God added: “Nevertheless”. As in, despite all of that, they have a significant flaw: they do not love God. They do what is right because He told them to, not because they feel a connection with Him. God requires genuine faith. For Him, it is not enough to do right, we must be righteous.


A person who does the right thing because it's required or because it comes with a reward or because they can use their "righteousness" to lord over others is not a person God is pleased with. God teaches us, from moment to moment, to do rightly because it is right and because we feel it an honor and blessed responsibility to foster righteousness.



SMYRNA:

The church of Smyrna represents a faith God is entirely pleased with. Members of this church endure persecution and tribulation on behalf of God; they are poor in the world but rich in spirit. Their faith is alive and fervent and strong. To this church God wrote not an admonishment but an encouragement: for them to continue persevere.


The strength of their faith makes them targets of their enemies; because the works of their faith constantly confront corruption, the corrupt constantly confront them. Their righteous work is so productive, so impactful that it destabilizes their enemies and enemies' plans. They are seen and known and thus become targets; they stand out as the ones the wicked need to beat to succeed in their plans.


God is wholeheartedly pleased with these types of people because their work is the most important work done on the earth. These are the people who start revolutions in people, families, communities and nations. These are the people who fracture dictatorships and rings of corruption. These are people who often work under the radar in order to reach and to save the people who are not on society's radar. They are not often recognized or celebrated; they do not have material wealth. They quietly unwire the dynamite beneath corrupt people and unjust nations and inhumane ways of life. They allocate all of their personal resources to the community they serve. God has said they will wear the crown of life.


PERGAMOS:

The church of Pergamos represents a useless faith. These are people who believe in God but live neutrally. They make no impact, and that can be as dangerous as making a bad impact. They do not participate in corruption, but they allow corruption to run rampant. They do not confront evil, they do not challenge evil, and thus they give evil free reign.


Their faith is not their life, it is an aspect of their life. It is not enough. Their faith does not exist beyond anyone but themselves, it is not enough. Jesus modeled that life is not about the self, it is about the neighbor. Those who have faith that does not extend beyond the scope of their individual life have an unproductive faith.


God gave each person a fingerprint for a reason: so that we mark what we touch. So that the world is affected by the impact we make here. So that our influence here is imprinted as our own. So make an impact. God is molding a new way of life, ensure that your fingerprints are in the clay of that new creation.


THYATIRA:


The church of Thyatira was led by a corrupt person. Thyatira represents a type of faith that makes allowances for sins. This type of faith is represented in a person who makes excuses for succumbing to their temptations. This is a person who has idols and lusts. Though they profess belief in God, their true god is wealth or vanity, fame or desire.


A person cannot just believe in God's commandments, they must behave within them as well. They must identify the people, desires and mindsets which contradict the word of God, and then they must expel them from their mind and life. We must all be strict about who and what we allow to influence us. For although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). We must be aware that we are susceptible to idolatry and desire. Because if we are aware of it, we can build our spiritual defense against it.


Faith like that of the church of Thyatira is weak, distracted. It is so consumed by its own need that it leeches on the earth and humanity. God charged Thyatira to remove its false prophet; and He charged members of this type of faith to remove theirs as well. To remove that thing or person or desire that distracts them from truly productive, selfless, pure faith. The guilty pleasures, the vices, the addictions, the destructive habits and immoral tendencies have to go. Because if they are not put behind, they are before, leading.


SARDIS:

The church of Sardis represents an apathetic and thus lethargic faith. These are the people who are not connected with the reality God wants them to see, from the perspective God wants them to see it. Their state of disengagement from the plans of God renders them prey to the machinations of evil.


They are caught unaware, unprepared, and unable to defend themselves when vultures swoop. And vultures swoop; they constantly search for prey. There is always something God wants an individual to see and to learn from. There is always something God wants an individual to expect and deny. Apathetic faith has neither the awareness nor the skill to do either.


Awareness is a mark of God's children. We are trained by Him to observe, to perceive, to analyze, to inspect. Members of the church of Sardis are easily plucked up by vultures, by unexpected circumstances. It is imperative to be alert in faith because vigilant faith is rooted faith, and a person rooted faith cannot be claimed by a predator, no matter what form in which it comes (a bully, depression, anxiety, a bad influence, a con artist, Satan himself leading you from God).


PHILADELPHIA:

The church of Philadelphia represents an absolute faith. A faith that remains resilient despite all the other options life provides. Members of this faith live in the midst of the world like everyone else, but resist the world, much unlike everyone else. They walk directly through the door of heaven, which has been opened for them, because they acknowledge no other door!


So much in the world is vying to be your god, the thing you devote yourself to: wealth, fame, vanity and desire all use culture's platform to make their case for your reverence. Anger to fuel you. Desire wants you to devote yourself to it. Depression wants you to submit to it. Deny them all; establish God as the authority in your life. Submit to His will. Devote yourself to His word. Submit yourself to His love.


The people who have faith like the church of Philadelphia have chosen to knock on one door, God's door, and it has opened for them. Life presents a series of doors, we have to decide which one we will knock on. So many people knock on other doors, multiple doors, but the rooms they enter are unsatisfactory: empty, corrupt or both. Walk steadfastly toward God's door exclusively, permitting none of your attention to divert from it.


LAODICEA:

The church of Laodicea represents a pitiful faith. It represents people who have placed their faith in the world: in who they have become in the world and in what they have procured from the world. They cater to their flesh by neglecting their spirit. What they have chosen as their sustenance will not sustain them; Jesus taught us that we cannot live on bread alone, Matthew 4:4, we can not serve the body only.


We need every word that comes from the mouth of God. What He has spoken has been said for purpose not for show. God has spoken in effort to uncover their delusions: they think they understand but they are blind to truth; they think they are impressively arrayed but are naked in righteousness; they are so misguided that they pretend their money buys happiness, they pretend to others that their misery is happiness. They think power, property, popularity and pompousness equate with joy.


God counsels such people. They need correction; they need to be properly aligned in order to properly interpret what actual wisdom is, what true happiness is like, how beauty is actually embodied. God pities people of this kind of faith, for they are so off-base, so comprehensively confused. People alive in this century should be especially attentive to this letter because it is descriptive of our culture. It so aptly describes the world we live in, the values that have been exalted in our world. The confusion spoken of in this particular letter, written centuries ago, permeates our society today.



"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." (Revelation 3:19). These letters were transcribed to encourage, to discipline, to realign, to correct and heal. Irrespective of God's pleasure or displeasure in each church, He proffered the same to each. At the end of each letter He made promises that the beginning of each letter proclaimed He was able to fulfill. He promised that repentance would result in redemption. That both realignment or continued alignment would result in the same destination: His door, His kingdom.


Ask yourself: At which church do I congregate? Which church am I? For which church do I live and work? It is vital that you know.

Dear Philemon

The succinct book of Philemon is an analogy of how Jesus put your freedom on His tab.

You are Onesimus.

Onesimus was a man enslaved to someone named Philemon. The apostle Paul met Onesimus while he was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. Whenever Paul was imprisoned, he utilized his situation as an opportunity to preach the Gospel. Because of Paul, the Word of God received entry to otherwise unreachable places.

And so Paul spoke with his fellow prisoners, and even succeeded in converting some of them. Onesimus was one such man. Steadily, Paul and Onesimus built a friendship. It became clear to Paul that despite his imperfection, Onesimus had greater purpose than enslavement. But Onesimus could not afford his own freedom.

Paul wrote a letter to Philemon, on Onesimus' behalf; in it, he acknowledged that Onesimus owed Philemon but could not pay his debt. As a solution to that, Paul absorbed Onesimus' debt. He told Philemon to put the debt on his tab. And just like that, Onesimus was absolved. You see, Paul was in a position where he could afford the debt and he had clout with the man to whom the debt was owed. To Paul, the new debt was worth paying because Onesimus was worthy of freedom.


The reason why you are Onesimus is because your imperfection has caused a debt. A debt you owe but cannot pay: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. But Jesus is in a position where he can afford to absorb your debt; and Jesus has clout with God. Jesus believes that you are worthy of freedom. The succinct book of Philemon is an analogy of how Jesus put your freedom on His tab.


Out of love, Jesus pleads to the Father on your behalf. Without intercession from the heart of Jesus, who else is worthy to vouch for you to the Father? Except for Paul, Onesimus had no one who could orchestrate his freedom or vouch for his worthiness of freedom. Like him, there is no one to do that for us except for The One. The One: Jesus, who came and modeled God's will perfectly on the Earth.


Paul had a deep friendship with Philemon. He put in the work. Philemon knew Paul to be an honorable and hardworking man. Therefore, Paul's opinion had weight and influence with Philemon. Jesus' opinion of you has weight and influence with God. Jesus has elected to be your representative, he has vouched for your soul and character. Why? Because he loves you, and trusts you to do good, to be righteous, with the freedom you are given. The same reason Paul vouched for Onesimus.


God has placed enormous value on what Jesus loves. And what Jesus loves, He trains. Paul had firmly rooted his life in scripture, and allowed it to train his soul. The word of God completely transformed him (from persecutor of Christians to a proponent of them). He passed that re-prioritization on to Onesimus. Similarly, our relationship with Jesus is an enriched teacher-student dynamic, instruction on how to align our lives in accordance with what is righteous.


Jesus loves us enough to rub the dirt off. He polishes us off before the Father, proving that underneath the dirt is a soul worthy of eternal life. Without Jesus' love for our imperfect souls, freedom would have flown indifferently right over us.


Your relationship with God transforms you from slave of the world to sibling of Jesus. Repentance does not provide the coin you need to purchase forgiveness, repentance makes you eligible for God's charitable magnanimity.


Essentially, scripture speaks one thing to us: If you want to be a part of the Kingdom, you'll need to know how it operates in order to function within its realm. After all, life cannot survive in an environment it was not designed for. In Matthew 12:49, Jesus declared that His family members were the students of God's word. He wanted us to understand that to be adopted into the Kingdom, a person had to submit to being designed for it.


The system of the world is entirely different from the system of heaven. And for that reason, we have to retrain our brain if we ever hope to make the transition. In the world, we are slaves. We are slaves to fear; to vanity; to desire; to emotion; to the laws of science. Jesus teaches us how to break those chains:


He teaches us how to dismantle fear and therefore render it powerless. He teaches us the wealth of selflessness over the poverty of selfishness. He teaches us that temptation in the world is the most persuasive slaver, and that to escape it, we have to put a willing spirit into authority over our weak flesh. He teaches us how to choose the advantageous emotions over the harmful ones.


The re-prioritization of a lifestyle is a form of lifelong, thorough, spiritual coursework. We work on the earth to prepare ourselves for the life after this one by making this life better for others. You become eligible for a place in the family of God's kingdom by learning to operate within it and thus fit in it.


Though you might feel useless to the world, you are useful to the Kingdom of God. You will be compressed by the world until you learn to occupy the space the Spirit has given you to expand.


Onesimus, and Paul for that matter, would have been forever pressed down to slaves and corrupt mentalities had they not learned to expand in spirit. Jesus has given each of us a wide breadth and deep basin in which to make an impact while we are on earth. Utilize that space of potential spiritual energy. Grow into it.


The systems and products of the world are useless. If you serve it, so are you. But you don't have to be, you have not been irrevocably sentenced to that slavery. You are not a slave to sin within or around you once the power of Jesus had declared you free. Jesus has extended an invitation into a space of freedom, you need only to step into it. He has provided the directions.


Picture the restrictive posture of a slave. They can only make certain movements. The humble and poor and overlooked and damaged and failed people of the world seem also to have only restrictive movements. But Jesus says: we can do big things with what makes you small in the world. So windmill your arms, do a cartwheel. Figuratively, speaking. Because you are not in chains.


Onesimus was confined by prison walls. But after Paul vouched for him, the whole earth was open to him. Maybe you are confined by something: a relationship, an insecurity, a fear, a doubt, weakness, an addiction, a depression, or loss. Allow Jesus to break those chains in a moment-to-moment relationship with you throughout your life. You are not confined so long as you are free in Him.


In the introduction of the book of Philemon, the author: Paul, introduces himself as a "prisoner of Jesus Christ." The complete irony is that Jesus purchases our contract from our former slaver. But as Jesus' prisoner, we experience freedom. His claim on our lives prevents anyone or anything else from ever owning us.
Onesimus went on to travel and preach with Paul; he became the valued member of the kingdom Paul always knew he would. What Jesus sees in you is real and will be realized as soon as you step into freedom.

Azotus

The Book of Acts: scripture written about the birth of Christianity; a handful of apostles sent forth into the wilderness of the world. Their survival pack: the Holy Spirit; their map: faith.

Jesus resurrected after His death on the cross and returned to the Spirit. His physical body was no longer with His disciples. Upon the spiritual manifestation of Jesus, those disciples graduated into apostles. They graduated from students to emissaries. The apostles were the first, after Jesus, to preach the gospel. It was an immense responsibility and it took place on a road that had not yet been walked. But the road had been paved; Jesus' life blazed a trail through the wilderness that led directly to the fortress of God.

It became the apostles' opportunity to be available to God, to allow God to insert them as instruments whose work would cause the philosophy of God to course through the veins of society and pump directly into the hearts and minds of every individual they encountered. The philosophy of God, found within scripture, is God's ultimate purpose for us: to restructure humanity and the earth in accordance with His righteous will. It began with Jesus' delegation to the apostles. And importantly, continued with the apostles’ faithful willingness to accept.

The first apostles were special and necessary, and so are the apostles of every generation. Each person is a potential apostle of God, and no matter how they choose to preach God's will, through oration or action, they are a harbinger of the Kingdom of God. Today we hone in on a snippet of the apostle Philip's life to understand what it looks like to become an available instrument of God.

This excerpt of Scripture, Acts 8:26-40, exemplifies the manner in which we are called by God; the reason for which we are called by God; and the result of answering God's call.

THE MANNER IN WHICH WE ARE CALLED

Expect God to call you from a dormant state into an unexpected place.

Philip "arise."

Do not expect to be ready; God's call on your life at present will be the catalyst to your future. It might frustrate you, confound you, or scare you, but God chooses you in your rawest state. Because when he looks at you, He sees your potential instead of your presentation. Always.

We see the reverse: A humble person views their presentation as insufficient, and they are wrong. An arrogant person views their presentation as sufficient, and they're wrong too.

God chooses you in a raw and dormant state because He has plans to mine the potential out of you. He's an expert at it. He puts you into a position you are not ready for, but sustains and supplements you with His strength and His wisdom until you build the figurative muscle you need, the wear and skillfully utilize the toolkit that is faith.

If you think this doesn't apply to you, think again. God has apostles (and potential apostles) in all sectors across the globe: businesspersons, preachers, teachers, artists, engineers, parents, siblings, children, friends, co-workers, acquaintances. No matter who you are, you are in a position of potential apostleship. As soon as you render yourself available to Him: ready or not, here He comes. With a plan and a purpose for your life (and a rigorous but compassionate spiritual exercise program to prepare you).

The angel of the Lord visited Philip and charged him to arise and go... to a desert. God purposefully drew Philip into a desolate place. And perhaps most amazing of all, Philip listened. Philip allowed God to call him into a specific, but not a spectacular place. Will you consider it demeaning to be sent into such a place? Because Jesus was honored to walk into those places, to doctor the spiritually sick. We are led into the desert with the expectation that we will become thirsty… we are called to purposes that will present needs. The point is to enter the desert with the faith that when thirst develops, we drink from the living water, the well of God. We enter God’s purpose for us and faithfully consult with Him as our needs develop.

Do you need a platform and light-system to pronounce your work? Because Jesus was good with the sun on His back and rugged mountain under His feet. What if God’s plan for you is not to become a celebrity, or a celebrated anything, but a servant, like Jesus. Not a slave to any person, but a servant of God, assisting Him to help others. Will you allow God to draw you into that place? A place that provides the opportunity for you to shine on others, rather than to be shined upon. To be the light, as, through faith, God’s light shines through you.

You must be able to appreciate that God will frequently send you to a place or person that doesn't sparkle and shine... precisely because it does not sparkle or shine. He will nudge you to go, and then subtly press you to do something once you get there, and not a moment before.

What a faithless luxury it would be for God to present all of the details upfront: all the details of His entire plan printed, laminated and bound. No, if you choose to receive delegation from God, you will quickly find that His is a plan that can only be carried out by faith. In steps of faith. The Lord told Philip to arise and go, so Philip arose and went. Phillip listened to God without question or hesitation. He listened to God with confidence not in himself, not in the prospect of where he was to go, but with full confidence in God.

THE REASON FOR WHICH WE ARE CALLED

Your determination must not be dependent on particulars, God reveals in hints and tidbits His master plan.

Philip entered the desert. He had no specific instructions upon entry. He looked around. You will never be able to determine what God wants you to do until you train yourself to determine what God wants you to see. God calls you to widen your perspective in effort to render you a more effective and efficient apostle.

An instrument fixes something that is broken. A support upholds something that is weak. An educator ministers to something uneducated.

Learn to observe the areas in which your instrumentation, support or education can mend, strengthen or educate. Phillip was trained by Jesus, and so are we. From Jesus, Philip learned to enter an area, observe its need for the particular skill he could provide, and then humbly implement it.

God calls you to recalculate the course of His chosen ones in effort to guide them into the kingdom (and thus, gently hurl them into God's love).

The divine-nudge came from God: for Philip, it was in the form of a chariot. God instructed Philip to catch up to that chariot and hop inside. Philip ran. That chariot was about to be overtaken by the command of the Holy Spirit. And wherever it was headed, it would set out on a new course after He was done. Will you run in spirited response toward God's objective for you?

Inside that chariot was a man reading what might as well have been riddles, because he did not understand the book of scripture in his hands. The man was clearly frustrated, a great representation of the frustration of life without God. He asked Philip: How can I understand this unless someone guides me? A prudent question for sure! How can we expect the world to heal itself, educate itself, support itself unless it has help? Your apostleship, in whatever form is particular to you, is necessary.

That man in a chariot today is a child in class with dyslexia. It's an intern without the resources to develop. It's a person with a disability without the ability to thrive. A direction-less child in need of a parental figure. There are so many personal iterations of this "man in a chariot" that exist today and could benefit from having your expertise implemented into their life.

Perhaps you think you have no expertise. Incorrect. God distributed gifts to every person, 1 Corinthians 12. We are one body that operates via many parts. Whether you recognize your gifts or not, through your servitude to God, through your kind and intentional interactions with people in your day-to-day, they will reveal themselves in ways that assist other people.

That man's weakness was Philip's specialty and he offered his service charitably. Philip interpreted the scripture for the man, specifically the words of the prophet Isaiah who prophesied of Jesus' experience on the cross. Philip began to "preach Jesus," in other words, he spoke of righteousness manifested. He explained how Jesus outlined the path of peace and cobbled together the road of righteousness.

Philip acted as an instrument which offered new life to a man. And the man enthusiastically took it; he baptized himself at the first opportunity because the kingdom that was preached to him was one he definitely wanted to be a citizen of.

God calls you to perpetuate the kingdom. That man in the chariot happened to be a man of "great authority." Which means that what he believed, what he said and what he did influenced and impacted a lot of people. Used properly, his platform could benefit a lot of people. It could serve the kingdom of God. Suddenly God's strategy is as stark as it was obscure at the start. If he became a Christian, his platform would host the Lord and his audience would receive the word of the Lord. The benefit of a relationship with God.

You see, this was not a random man. He was a root system whose tree would benefit from what he chose to take in. Because of Phillip, he chose the word of the Lord. Philip's faith in God and assiduous ministry transformed that man and potentially, the lives of many others. By waking up when God called him to and going where God told him to, Phillip brought the lamp of Christianity into a man, a place that was formerly dark.

Wherever God sends you, to whomever He sends you, it is to perpetuate the kingdom. God is an eternal light. Once He lights your spirit, you carry that torch into the world to light others' spirits. This is a light we keep on sharing until every dark place has seen the light of heaven; the righteousness; truth; justice; and mercy that has been established as law by God across the creation.

THE RESULT OF ANSWERING GOD'S CALL

When we produce good and faithful work, God will expect us to continue to yield.

The more productive we are, the more frequently we will be trusted with new responsibility. Do not worry, God continues to build the spiritual muscle we will need to carry them. Our kingdom-work is purposeful and valued not just by God but by the people who never saw us coming, but will never forget we came. By the people whose faces we lit up in the dark. Do not expect God to waste that potential once it has sparked.

As soon as Philip finished his objective with the man in the chariot, God vanished him from there and placed him elsewhere to do equally important work. Expect God to keep swiftly moving us to places where we are needed (into locations, into situations, into friendships, into partnerships, into new opportunities and fresh ideas).

Quietly but definitely, God moved Philip into Azotus. Azotus was a place but means "a stronghold." Along our journey of apostleship, we will find that God wasn't just using us to lead others, He was leading us all along. Into Azotus. A stronghold. His fortress, His kingdom. We commit ourselves to apostleship and quietly but definitely, God moves us into His stronghold.Passing through Azotus, Philip "preached in all the cities" as he moved. He utilized every opportunity in order to continue to yield in faith. Spiritual-work ethic like that is the reason why a mere handful of apostles was able to spread a small, infant movement into a global phenomenon surviving thousands of years. The potential of our apostleship is no less powerful, as it too, is powered by God.