doer | Revelations From The Road

Good Sermon Pastor

June 18, 2011 by Bill 1 Comment

Given April 2009

“Good sermon Pastor.” Have you ever said this to your pastor? He prays, listens to the Holy Spirit, and prepares the message you need to hear. Your pastor is God’s servant doing what God instructs him to do. So what’s our part in this? Imagine this…you say to the pastor, “Good sermon today Pastor, it really spoke to me.” And the pastor replies, “Thank you, now what are you going to do with it?” “Uh…do with it?” “I have to do something with what you taught?” Yes we do! “Do what God’s word says. Don’t merely listen to it, or you will fool yourselves.” (James 1:22, God’s Word Translation). We can listen to many sermons, teaching CDs, or MP3s and be able to quote fifty scriptures but if we don’t put into practice what we’ve learned, what good is it to anyone?

Jesus told his disciples, ”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus had been teaching them; they had “heard” the Lord say many things from God and now He was telling them to go, baptize, and teach, (all action words), what He had told them. Basically, “Now guys go and do what you heard.” It’s the same for us.

What have you heard? What did you learn? What are you going to DO this week? “Good message Pastor. Now I’m going to go put it into practice.” And Jesus says, “Great! I’m going with you.”

God’s To-Do List

December 22, 2008 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given August 2, 2007

Has God ever told you to do anything? You know, when you get that “feeling” you need to speak to or apologize to someone or the preacher’s sermon convicts you to do something. I have actually written some of my things down so I’ll be reminded every day. The Holy Spirit reminds me as well.

On this day, God gave me a revelation of just how important this is for me. During morning prayer, I was asking God for something, I think, like for more influence or power in an area of service. I was wanting a promotion to another level of Spiritual effectiveness. The Spirit responded with something like, “What about the things I’ve asked you to do?” It brought to my mind when a teenager asks his dad to borrow the car and dad says, “Have you cleaned your room yet? Have you taken out the trash? Do those things first, then you can have the car.” I think it’s the same with me and you and God.

God has a plan for each of us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. And, His plan involves some obedience and action on our part. I don’t think God will fully do what He’s got planned for us until we do what He’s asked us to do. What has God asked you to do? What things do you know in your heart you should be doing?

Maybe we’re satisfied with where we are in life. Maybe we don’t want a promotion in the Kingdom. But if we do, God wants to use us; to move us up in His Kingdom. But it’s like training for a desired position. We are tested at every level and must pass the test to move up. There are things we must do in order to be promoted. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22. Yes, we may have our to-do list but it’s not too important compared with God’s. His list for us comes with guarantees too. If God asks us to do something, He will give us what we need to be successful. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31. So, what has God asked you to do? Go for it!

What’s Your Dream?

November 22, 2008 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given November 18, 2008

I’m on the Board of Deacons at my church and we had a deacon’s meeting on this evening. After the normal “business” of church administration, our pastor directed us to think about what our dreams were for our church. Our AG church, I think, is a progressive congregation focusing on Jesus and leaning toward the contemporary style of worship. Our pastor is a gifted leader and is not satisfied with, “church as usual” and, thus, our church is different than most in our area of Southwest Virginia. The early church was different too, wasn’t it?

As we talked about what we, as deacons, dreamed for our church, some things mentioned were, “500 for Saturday night prayer.”, “A place where miracles happen regularly.”, and “Hosting a youth conference with thousands in attendance.”. All these things sounded great and I know they can all come to pass. “All things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9:23.” So, what would God say about our dreams?

I got this vision, or revelation, as I frequently do, of me telling God my dreams for our church. As I told God one dream, He’d say, “OK, no problem.”. I’d tell Him another and He’d say, “I can do that.” With another, He’s say, “All these things are easy for me and I want to make your dreams realities but you’re not dreaming big enough! And, you know, your dreams depend on you too. Do you really believe I can and will do these things? Are you reading My Word and following My commands? Are you willing to sacrifice and pray to help make these dreams come to pass?”. I realized many of the things we ask God for, things we pray for, He is ready and willing to speak them into existanct but is waiting for us to do our part.

“Be ye doers of the Word and not hears only. James 1: 22“. This is so important. What’s your dream for your church, your family, your job, or your life. God is able, God is willing, and He could very well be waiting on you. Ask Him what you are to do. You probably already know.

Watch This!

August 13, 2008 by Bill 1 Comment

Given August 4, 2008

During my morning devotion, I read a quote from Don Clifton that stated, “Vision without action is hallucination.” It made me think…(that’s what these revelations do for me). I thought, “We can have all these visions or plans for great things but if we never act on them, what’s it worth? You’re just seeing things that aren’t real, a hallucination.” Visions are only beneficial when they’re acted on and brought into reality.

I wrote previously on, “Be A Doer”, right below this which comes from the verse, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22.” That post encourages believers into action as well so God must be trying to tell me something here. I am in a new job after retiring from public education and have lots of “ideas” for the future. I guess it’s time to take action on some of those ideas.

In this same revelation, I was reminded of my two 4 year-old grandsons. When they get together, they’re competing with each other on doing things and showing Pawpaw what they can do. They always preface what they do with a hardy, “Papaw, watch this!” They don’t talk about it, analyze it, plan it…they just announce it and do it! I’m getting the picture. I can see Moses standing before the Red Sea and telling his whining people, “But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. Exodus 14:13, NLT.” Basically, he was saying, “Watch this!”. On the other hand, Jesus usually didn’t announce what He was going to do, He just did it; “Peace! Be still!“ Mark 4:39, “Be quiet. Come out of him.“ Mark 1:25, “Lazarus, come out!“ John 11:43. He could have said to the crowd, “Watch this.”

The point is, we as Christians and me in particular, should stop dreaming and planning so much and start doing.

Be A Doer

July 31, 2008 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given July 7, 2007

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22.” We’ve heard that verse before and realize it’s talking about the Word of God; that we should take action after we hear a sermon, read the Bible, or receive some teaching. If we don’t DO anything with the Word, what good was it to have heard it? What’s the point? I would say that many Christians don’t do much with what they know spiritually. Maybe you agree and maybe you don’t but let’s look at it another way.

Take a kid in school. The point of going to school is to learn what’s necessary to be successful in the world, right? To get a job, to support yourself and your family, help some people, and contribute to society. So, how ridiculous would it be for a kid to go all the way through school, to “hear” everything the teachers had to say, remember it, then go out into the world and do nothing? Spend all that time in school preparing for life but never using what you learned! You’d think, “What a waste!” Well, that’s right, it would be a terrible waste but aren’t most Christians doing just that?

We go to church at least once a week, (don’t we???), hear teaching from the Bible, then go home and back to whatever it is we do. Then do it all over the next week. I’m being a little hard here but God has convicted me for this so I’m preaching to myself! I go to church a lot and listen to teaching in between but, God reminded me, I’m not doing enough with all I’m learning.

The purpose of going to school is to learn how to live and live it. The purpose of hearing the Word is to learn what God wants us to do and …. DO IT! Think how you can use what you learn the next time you hear the Word. The Holy Spirit will give you an assignment; don’t miss it! Be blessed!