For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the
time being.
In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first
posting in the series – John 14 (One).
We continue from
our previous message.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man
remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do
nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that
is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire
and burned,” (John 15:5, 6).
We spoke about
flowing in our gifts and talents last time. Whenever there is an outreach, a
team is involved whose members honour God with their gifts and talents and
every single one is enriched when a harvest is brought in.
I remember an outreach we for example
had a few years ago? A number of our city’s churches
have united in the presentation of the well-known play ‘Heaven’s Gates and
Hell’s flames’. We had lots of laughter, tears and joy as we rehearsed this
powerful play. As those, who had contact with this particular ministry before
would know, a team of two with all the equipment for the play are invited by a
church (or churches as in our case) to come and present the play. The cast is
taken from the church
members and the first time the cast
sees the script is the Friday evening or Saturday morning. The cast then has
the Saturday to set up the stage and equipment and the rest of the Saturday and
the Sunday afternoon to rehearse the play, which is then presented from the
Sunday night for a number of nights as needed. Needless to say, as usually with
this play, we had a vast number of decisions for Christ.
What was
wonderful to me, however, was the love and power of God, which were presented through His body. A group of people gave their time for
free to a couple of people who also gave their time for free. All they asked was for their costs
to be covered, which, in our case, was recovered from the minimal entrance fee.
Everybody helped and worked hard to get the equipment and stage set up, to learn their lines in
order to make a success of the play and
everybody worked hard to pack away. For what
reason? What did these people gain from it – money
or a salary? It was weekend, a nice
hot, sunny one with it – ideal for a barbeque or a swim, but they had to sweat
under the hot lamps – for what
purpose? For one thing only… the salvation
of precious souls and as the souls ran forward to give their hearts to the Lord
Jesus these workers rejoiced as they saw the harvest, the fruit of their labour
pouring in. Only a God that is alive can have such an effect on humans. Only if
a human has been renewed by a power greater than himself he
has the power to overrule self in such
a way.
But something
else showed me the wonder of God. Most of these people did not know each other, but when they got
together there, they were like old friends. There was a unity, a bond and an understanding. No introductions were needed, no
colourful biography of the speaker – nothing but just glorifying the name of the One in whose name we were together and by whose
love we were bound together. When the parts in the play were allocated there
were no arguments about which part individuals actually
would have liked to have, because the leaders were led by the Holy Spirit
within fifteen minutes as to how to allocate the parts and as the play unfolded we just praised
the Lord, since every part fitted each actor like a glove.
As we
rehearsed, one could see the Spirit moving. At
some scenes many of us picked a tear of joy when, for
example, the parents discovered their little
girl, who died earlier, in heaven, as
well as a lump-in-the-throat of sadness
when somebody ‘got sent to hell’. I for instance have changed during that weekend and the Lord has
spoken to me about many things
whilst we were busy doing His heart’s desire. During our time of
testimony before the last show others also testified how the Lord has dealt
with them.
As
the people honoured the Lord with their gifts and talents that weekend, every single one was enriched and a big harvest was brought
in. You see, Jesus (via the Holy Spirit) was
involved all the time and had so much to give to a large number of thirsty
people, but the only way He, the vine, could get it to the fruit, the new
converts, was through the branches, the actors. The actors allowed their gifts to flow and as
the life-giving sap flowed through them, they themselves were enriched. The same applies to any outreach. Every
single team member; from the speaker, the band, counsellors and so on to the
sound technicians and those who put out the chairs allow their gifts to flow,
and as the life-giving sap flows through them, they themselves are enriched (To
be continued).
Lord, please show me how
to let your Spirit flow through me.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
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