Compelled To Minister

In the message "Let It Shine" we considered our responsibility to shine the light of Jesus into the world. God will sometimes use powerful preachers to share the gospel message with thousands; but most often, He uses common people like you and me to share His love with one individual at a time.
Sharing the gospel usually does not come naturally. We fear being offensive or rejected, and mostly we fear not having the right answers. A portion of these fears are perfectly natural. But our fears are always magnified by the enemy who seeks to keep us silent. Satan hates for us to speak the truth!
God chose Jeremiah to be a prophet forty years prior to Israel's captivity in Babylon. This was a difficult time to be God's spokesman - His message was not at all pleasant. From his first days as a prophet, Jeremiah was told to speak of approaching doom; "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land" (Jeremiah 1:14). God was going to discipline the nation for their many years of sinful rebellion and Jeremiah was sent to warn and explain why.
Jeremiah had his own fears about sharing God's message; "Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child" (Jeremiah 1:6). His words certainly match some of ours today. But Jeremiah was obedient and placed his trust in God's promise; "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you" (Jeremiah 1:8).
After many years of proclaiming God's message, Jeremiah's life had become nearly unbearable. Nobody believed his message and, instead of repenting, the people mocked and ridiculed; "The Word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long" (Jeremiah 20:8). Jeremiah had every reason to walk away from his calling, but something wonderful had taken root in his heart.
Jeremiah 20:9
"If I say, 'I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,' His Word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."
For many years, Jeremiah had pressed close to God, seeking His direction and desiring to do His will. Jeremiah knew the presence of God and could not conceive of life apart from His Lord. Despite great hardship, he could no longer imagine his life void of ministering and proclaiming God's Truth!
His Word is never a burden too heavy to carry. But we will continue to struggle until we draw close and fill our lives with His presence. When we can see nothing but His majesty and glory, His Word will no longer be contained. Only then will we truly shine. Only then will we be compelled to minister.

Have a Christ Centered Day!
Steve Troxel




Daily Proverbs.

1. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2.	To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3.	To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4.	To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5.	A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6.	To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7.	The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8.	My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9.	For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
10.	My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11.	If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12.	Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13.	We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14.	Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15.	My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16.	For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17.	Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18.	And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19.	So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20.	Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21.	She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22.	How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23.	Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24.	Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25.	But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26.	I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27.	When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28.	Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29.	For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30.	They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31.	Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32.	For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33.	But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.