May 20, 2013 … Mighty Followers of A Mighty God

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 140

Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 22: 2 [In the context of verses 1-2] [NLT] …  
1 So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and other relatives joined him there. 2 Then others began coming — men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented — until David was the leader of about four hundred men.
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Contextual Study for today’s passage: 1st Samuel, Chapter 22 [NLT] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 4: 18-22 : [Followers who became leaders.] …[NLT] …  
18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!”  
20 And they left their nets at once and went with Him. 21 A little farther up the shore He saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And He called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed Him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

 My Journal for Today: If you had an idea which could reshape the world, as did Jesus; and you needed a “few good men” to help you accomplish this task, would you have chosen the men Jesus did to be His inner core of Disciples?

David also had a tough task ahead of him from the highlight passage of today’s study; – to stay alive and become the anointed leader of Israel. However, there he was, running from Saul in the dessert with only a rag-tag bunch of cast-offs to follow him. But in the choosing and development of these two groups of followers we have a very powerful lesson to remember, one that a mentor of mine taught me years ago. Simply stated, it is this: … God can do extraordinary things with ordinary followers who are extraordinarily surrendered to a Super-extraordinary God. 

And that means that God can even use you or me to do incredible things to accomplish His purposes if we follow someone who is anointed to accomplish HIS will … in HIS way … in HIS time. So, in that regard, we have to ask a couple of pointed, pertinent, and powerful questions.  

#1 … No matter how ill-prepared for God’s glory we might be, are we totally and unreservedly sold-out to follow God into battle each day. … David never lost a battle with the men whom God sent him, even though, when they came to him they were anything but “mighty men.” But they were surrendered to follow David; and David was following God. Therefore, these rag-tag warriors became David’s “mighty men;” … following an anointed leader who reshaped the middle-east, and really the world, for God’s glory.  

#2 … The power of God’s followers is measured by the degree of surrender they have to a leader who is totally surrendered God’s will. … The disciples of Jesus, who changed the world, became powerful for God’s gospel because they were willing – ultimately – to completely surrender themselves to God’s anointed Messiah. When Jesus picked Andrew, Peter, James, and John out there on that beach near Capernaum, they would not have been considered mighty and highly qualified leaders; but when they were willing and able to surrender their wills to follow Jesus, they became the leaders God knew they would be.

So, we have to ask ourselves in this brief study, …  
1. Am I following leaders who are anointed by God and who are totally surrendered to God’s will and His kingdom? 
2. Am I fully and completely surrendered to be a Christ-follower, … a man or woman who is willing to be reshaped into a disciple of Christ, battling daily for God’s glory?

Because if we can answer these two questions with an unqualified “YES!” … we can become God’s “mighty-men” (or women), … disciples who can be trained by God’s anointed leaders to first follow God for His glory and then to be shaped into leaders for His kingdom.

 Have you heard Jesus call out to you, somehow and in some way, saying, “Follow Me?” Well, if not, go back to that ever present, oft repeated, call from Jesus in Luke 9: 23. Or go to His calling to all Christians from Revelation 3: 20; and stand in front of a mirror, imagining that Jesus is calling those words to you, – BECAUSE HE IS (or maybe He already has)!!

Now, ask yourself those questions above; and then seek to be willing to surrender and find the “YES” answers to both; and when you do find yourselves being in accord and affirmative to those questions, God will use you for His glory … maybe even today!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You know my surrender. Use me today for Your glory! … Amen