“They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.” (2 Corinthians 8:5 NLT)
Recently Dr. David Jeremiah, in one of his Turning Point devotionals, wrote: “One day when twelve-year-old David Grant went with his father to a church service, a missionary named Charles Greenaway made an appeal for Christ. When the ushers later passed the offering plate, young David put it on the floor and stepped in it. The Lord seemed to say to him, ‘David, you will go to India.’ In the decades that followed, David Grant had a powerful missionary career.’”
What might the Lord be waiting to accomplish in your life or mine, if only we’d “step into the offering plate?” It’s ironic that many, if not most believers in the Lord Jesus want to be used of Him, while only a relatively few actually are. Why is that? Could it be we want to be used on our terms? Might it have something to do with “our” schedules, “our” desires, “our” restrictions that we place on the Lord’s use of us?
The first requirement of doing anything epic for God is realizing nothing is “ours,” it’s all HIS! When we’re baptized into new life with Christ, we’re lowered into a watery grave, then rise to new life in Him. What happens when we die? Everything about us dies, nothing survives. Why is that important? Because if nothing survives, EVERYTHING is new!
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” That means we don’t hang on to our old lifestyle, our old way of thinking and doing things. We let go of the childish ways of human reasoning and begin to use the logic of the Spirit who teaches us to rely completely on the Lord Jesus for everything, even our thoughts.
Jesus said in John 15:5: “Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.” David Grant (see above) wrote: “When the Holy Spirit passes the offering plate, step in…. God is not so much interested in your money; He’s interested in you.” He’s not interested in our excuses, He’s interested in our actions.
A famous preacher said: “Give me 10 men who love nothing but Jesus and I’ll change the world.” How could that be possible? It’s not except through the power of God who infills, empowers, and enables us to be more than we hoped or imagined we could be. I love D. L. Moodys’ quote about Moses when he wrote: “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; forty years learning he was nobody; and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”
Here’s the truth, whoever you are, if you’ll step into the “offering plate” of God’s transformational power and allow the Holy Spirit to take up residence in you, there is nothing that you and God can’t accomplish that’s in line with His will. There’s no greater joy than walking in obedience to and conformity to God’s will. The things He will teach you and use you to accomplish will stagger your mind and encourage your spirit.
When we yield our life, with all our limitations, to the One who has no limitations, we find strength, liberty, joy, and fulfillment we never knew existed. Step into the “offering plate” of God and watch Him do in and through you what you never dreamed possible.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 