The Word For Today

Dr A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, was plagued with poor health. Two mental breakdowns and a heart condition led to a physician telling him - at age thirty-eight - he wouldn't live to be forty. The diagnosis was no surprise to Simpson. Preaching was agonising for him; even climbing a slight elevation left him breathless. In desperation, he went to his Bible to find out what Jesus had to say about disease, and he became convinced that Jesus wanted to heal him. Shortly after, he went for a walk in the country. Coming to a pine wood, he sat down on a log to rest and pray. He asked Jesus to become his physical life until his life's work was accomplished. He later said, 'Every fibre in me was tingling with the sense of God's presence.' Days later, he climbed a 3,000-foot mountain. 'When I reached the top,' he said, 'the world of weakness and fear was lying at my feet. From that time on, I literally had a new heart.'

Dr Simpson went on to preach 3,000 sermons in the next three years, sometimes holding twenty meetings a week. He became a prolific author whose books are still blessing the world. And he died at the age of seventy-six.

In the Bible, Jeremiah prayed: 'Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed' (Jeremiah 17:14 NKJV). David said, 'O Lord my God, I cried out to you, and you healed me...you brought my soul up from the grave' (Psalm 30:2-3 NKJV). Isaiah said, 'You will restore me and make me live' (Isaiah 38:16 NKJV). So pray and believe God for healing.

A cooperative spirit will become your norm when you learn that you plant seeds for your own success by supporting others. Like for Paul and Apollos. Some of the Christians at Corinth felt they had to choose who to follow - even though both preached the same gospel. Paul challenged their attitude. 'One of you says, "I belong to Paul," and another says, "I belong to Apollos." When you say things like this, you are acting like people of the world. Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important...We are God's workers, working together' (1 Corinthians 3:4-9 NCV).

In an attempt to blow out another's light so that their own lights can shine, sometimes ministers make disparaging remarks about other ministries. But it's such a turn-off to both believers and non-believers. Paul's primary objective was to spread the gospel, and he wanted no minister to be hindered from doing so. He encouraged believers to give Apollos their full support: 'Do everything you can to help...Apollos' (Titus 3:13 NLT) - a request from a secure heart.

So the word for today is - have a cooperative spirit.

In one sense, the Kingdom of God is future, eternal and heavenly. When Jesus returns to set up his Kingdom on earth, the prophecy will be fulfilled: 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever' (Revelation 11:15 NKJV)! What a glorious day that will be for all of God's redeemed children.

But until then, Jesus said, 'The Kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21 NKJV). This means that as a born-again believer, you're called to demonstrate what it means to live under the rule of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Winston Churchill famously quipped: 'Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried.' All human government is flawed and ultimately destined to fail because it's made up of flawed human beings.

As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we're called to be 'salt' that flavours, cleanses, heals and enriches the lives of those we come in contact with, and 'light' that illuminates darkness and dispels ignorance (see Matthew 5:13-14). We're called to practise the principles of God's Kingdom in the marketplace of life. Whether you work in education, medicine, politics, IT, sales, manufacturing, etc., you're called to demonstrate the benefits of living under the rule of Jesus and by the guidance of his indwelling Holy Spirit. 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord.' When Christ returns, that promise will be totally fulfilled. Until then, Jesus said, 'Do business till I come' (Luke 19:13 NKJV).

Many of the heroes in the Bible were wealthy individuals. 'Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold' (Genesis 13:2 NKJV). King David 'died in a good old age, full of days and riches and honour' (1 Chronicles 29:28 NKJV). Barnabas, a wealthy landowner, made possible the expansion of the early church when he sold a piece of land and gave the money to the apostles (see Acts 4:36-37).

There is nothing wrong with wealth in and of itself. The things that matter are: (1) How you get it. 'Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!...The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord' (James 5:1, 4 NKJV). The God who records and rewards also observes how you do business.

(2) How you give it. David said, 'We have only given back what is already yours' (1 Chronicles 29:14 CEV). So when God speaks to you to give, remember these two things: (a) He is asking for a portion of what already belongs to him. You don't own it; you manage it for him. (b) You generally get back what you give out, so be wise. 'Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap' (Galatians 6:7 NKJV). And in God's economy, you reap more than you sow. If you plant a single grain of corn, you reap a cornstalk with hundreds of grains like itself. So give and God will give back to you.

One of the greatest disasters of history took place in 1271. That year, Niccolo and Matteo Polo, the father and uncle of Marco Polo, visited Kublai Khan, who was considered the world ruler - with authority over all China, India and the entire East. Kublai Khan was attracted to the story of Christianity as Niccolo and Matteo told it to him. He said to them, 'You shall go to your high priest and tell him on my behalf to send me a hundred men skilled in your religion and I shall be baptised. And when I am baptised, all my barons and great men will be baptised and their subjects will receive baptism, too. And so there will be more Christians here than there are in your parts of the world.'

But amazingly, nothing was done in response to what Kublai Khan requested. Only after thirty years was a handful of missionaries sent. Too few, too late! Christian leaders in the West apparently didn't have the vision to see the East won to Jesus. The mind boggles at the possible ways the world might be different today if thirteenth-century China, India and the other areas of Asia had become Christian. Now it's up to us!

You say, 'What can I do? I'm only one person.' Three things: (1) 'Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest' (Matthew 9:38 NKJV). (2) Give, so the unsaved can be reached with the gospel (see 2 Corinthians 9:7). (3) If God calls you, go! 'Then I said, "Here am I! Send me"' (Isaiah 6:8 NKJV).

We all have expectations of others. Many times, we may not be aware of our expectations, or we don't express them or won't acknowledge that they're unrealistic. Expectations can cause us a great deal of frustration. Failed expectations create stress if we allow them to. And, unfortunately, some of the most harmful expectations are the ones we have of ourselves, for example: 'I should be able to raise three children, have dinner on the table each night, work ten-hour days, and look perfect when my husband walks through the door.'

Make a list of your key expectations, beginning with those you have for the important people in your life. Then, be objective about how realistic they are. Understand the origin or core reason for an expectation. Have you shared these expectations? If not, why not? Do you fear rejection? What's the worst that could happen? Are you willing to negotiate some of your expectations? To preserve your peace, there may be instances where you have to eliminate certain expectations.

The psalmist wrote: 'My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from him' (Psalm 62:5 NKJV). This means you may have to expect less from people and more from God. Don't set yourself up to be frustrated. Bring your expectations before God for a valuation. Let him weed out the unrealistic ones and give you the courage to express the ones that need to be communicated. Trust God to influence the hearts of those involved so your expectations don't become a source of stress for you or them.