The Word (234/365)

(A Terminus Ad Genesis, Part 4)

Last weekend, after the Saturday seminar, I approached Pastor Danny, the main facilitator, and I asked him if he could preach to us the next day during the afternoon service.

He agreed, then asked me if there was a certain theme to follow – I told him that I wanted to get the Youth into the Word of God.

These were the notes I took of Pastor Danny’s message… scribbled on the notebook, clarified and elaborated here.

Fear Not, God Equips Those He Calls

Base scripture (which I believe hit the spot right away):

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then said I: “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

7 But the LORD said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.

8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.”

11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

Jeremiah 1:4-11

I could actually jump into this Word on my own now, but no, let’s go through it as Pastor Danny did.

Here are his points:

The Lord God who calls us to ministry is alive.

Refer to Psalm 115:2-8:

2 Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?”

3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

Pastor Danny emphasized that and now that I’m writing about it I’m just thinking, yup, that’s our God. He’s that powerful. He does whatever He wants.

So His sending Christ to be born as us and to die for us… His raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand – He wanted to do that. It was His pleasure to save us fully, completely, absolutely, and forever.

4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands.

5 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see;

6 They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell;

7 They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat.

8 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.

God is in heaven, and He does whatever He pleases. He knows the past, present and future because He is IN the past, as much as He is IN the present and the future.

The Creator of the heavens and the earth is Himself creative… and as such we can believe that He truly equips and empowers workers whom He calls to ministry.

He’s that powerful. He does whatever He wants.

And because we trust in Him, we have mouths that speak true speech, eyes with true sight.

We have ears with true hearing, noses with true smelling.

We grip and touch with our hands, and we walk with our feet.

We have mouths and tongues to speak, and we don’t merely narrate, but overflow with hearts:

No, not with the decorated stone hearts of idols which do not feel, full of stone instead of life; We overflow with hearts made new.

We have new hearts – God’s commandments (God’s Word) written upon them that it is no wonder we say and read of how we are ‘obedient from the heart’

We have new hearts – new wineskins that are filled with new wine (God’s Spirit).

So out of the overflow of our new hearts, we speak the Spirit and the Word;

And as we think in our new hearts, so are we.

God is Alive! And so are we who trust in Him.

The God who sees you and loves you has a wonderful plan for your life.

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”Jeremiah 1:5

God sees us, He loves us, and He has a wonderful plan for us. Before we existed, He knew us. Before we were born, before we were formed, He already knew us, and loved us. He already had a plan for us.

13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.Psalms 139:13-18

God sees us, He loves us, and He has a wonderful plan for us. His thoughts to us, His thoughts about us abound in quality (precious) and quantity (great in sum, more in number than the sand)

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

It’s a pleasant surprise that God’s plans are as His thoughts; Oftentimes we speak of His plans of peace, and plans to give us a future and a hope, as this popular verse states… But apparently, His precious, numerous thoughts to us are thoughts – again, of peace, of hope, and of a future from Him.

¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

And He doesn’t merely go, ‘sending thoughts and prayers‘ as a good number of us are still so fond of doing… He doesn’t stop at thoughts and plans – No, He fulfills His plans, He brings His thoughts into fruition (His true knowledge into action) by giving us life; REAL Life, infinitely superior to merely existing.

Pastor Danny mentioned the story of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was 75 years old when he was called. Sarah wasn’t too far behind, but God’s plan for them still came to pass – she gave birth when Abraham was 95, and when she was 85!

Therefore, let us keep the faith! Let us not grow weary in doing good, let us wait on the Lord… all the while enjoying and savoring His plans and promises.

How would we know His plans and promises for us, without the Bible? That’s one of so many more reasons we ought to stay aligned to the Word.

But Pastor Danny also reminds us – Blessings may fall into our laps… But sometimes, we need to grab our blessings. We need to fight against the princes of the powers of the air who are holding our blessings back from us.

The power, the wisdom, the discernment, it all comes, again, from our aligning with the Word of God.

God does not accept excuses.

Then said I: “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

But the LORD said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

Jeremiah 1:6-8

He doesn’t accept our excuses because He has His equipping, His empowerment, and His solutions.

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

Jeremiah 1:9

All Jeremiah said was he was too young, and God saw he was afraid.

God put His words in his mouth, that he shall go to all He sends him, and he shall speak whatever He commands him.

God put His words in his mouth, and set him over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant. Jeremiah 1:10

God is watching over His words.

There are 7000+ promises of God in the Bible.

¹² Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”Jeremiah 1:12

Align with the Word, and align with God. Align with the Word, and your entire being aligns with His will. Study the Word. Meditate on the Word. Memorize the Word.

The Lord equips and empowers you and sets you up for success.

Again, He shall place His words into our mouths… implying that He shall overflow our hearts first with His Word.

The Lord gives you authority to destroy and build, and to uproot and plant.

At the time I was listening to Pastor Danny, and I was feeling good – not only because I was able to sleep well the night before, but it also felt distinctly like my questions were being answered.

They ARE being answered. On the last Sunday of June, after the service and over pizza, and before this whole debacle of my unfounded fears of rabies and death, these questions were:

Where is the main church going?

Where is my afternoon service going?

Where are my youth going?

Where am I going?

It’s only a little over a week after those questions were first posed… and it appears that the Lord has spoken.

We’re going to live by our name.

We’re going to go deeper into the Good News, convert knowledge into action and prove true knowledge and mastery.

We’re going to be naturally, intentionally moving from the Good News, so that we wouldn’t just be strategic in Missions but true components to the WORLDWIDE MISSION.

We’re going to live by our name.

The GNWMI Aces of the Afternoon Service continue to go deeper into the Good News.

We are being brought to far away places as units, so we demonstrate Unity of Knowledge and Action in our own families, and in our own spheres of influence, no matter how old or young we are.

In a move only he could pull off, Pastor Danny was led to end the service with an altar call: For recommitment, for just laying everything down on the altar. Everyone went to the front.

When he passed the mic to me, all I could think was, the Aces have potential.

Now that I think of all of this, I say… We lack conviction. If I ask where we’re going, where I’m going, we’re going to be intentional. Natural, but intentional.

I could elaborate more on this, but I want it to be naturally intentional. Let’s let this word develop.

Pastor Danny spoke last Sunday, and we’re poised to hear from missionaries from Burkina Faso this coming Sunday. Perhaps, by then, and after the rest of what happens during this week, we shall see more into what the Lord has for us.

For now, let us continue to flow, to trust in God, and to keep thanking God.

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