God Can use Anyone Even You!

                                                     

You may wonder am I good enough for God to use me? The answer is yes God likes to use imperfect people to accomplish his task. It shows that no matter who He uses as long as He is the guiding force behind the task it will go exactly how it was supposed to. It is also a good reminder there is no obstacle that we can over come as long as we trust in the Lord  

Matthew 26:30 -35 ³⁰ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ³² But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ³³ Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” ³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” ³⁵ Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Peter promised Jesus he would never abandon him even if it meant his life however if we go a little farther into the story to Matthew 26:69-75, ⁶⁹ Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” ⁷¹ And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷² And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³ After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” ⁷⁴ Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.  we find just as the Lord predicted Peter Abandoned the Lord in his final hours. Now before you go accursing Peter I must wonder given the circumstances of the moment would any of us do differently shamefully I doubt it.   But even with Peter’s weakness Jesus wasn’t done with him and a scant 43 days later Peter delivered one of the greatest sermons ever given. Peter who was an uneducated fisherman was able to convert over 3000 people in one day. The same peter that was afraid to admit that he even knew Jesus less than 2 months before hand was standing before the Leaders of the Jewish council proclaiming the Glory of Jesus after healing a lame man. What changed?  We will talk about that little later in the sermon. I have one more example of someone being used By Jesus who you would least expect. I bet you can guess who I am going to say?  Yes, you are right, Saul of Tarsus.

 Acts 8:1-3.  And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³ But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Did you know that Saul was acting as an agent for Jesus even before his conversion unbeknownst to him? You remember what Jesus told his Apostles to have his disciples to do in the Great Commission? To go forth and spread the word of Jesus to all corners of the world. The problem was that the early disciples settled around Jerusalem until Saul started his relentless almost manic persecution of Christians did the word start to spread throughout the world. He was on his way to Damascus when Saul was confronted by Jesus and this Meeting lead to one of the most miraculous conversion in history. Acts 9:1-9  But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. ⁴ And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” ⁷ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

 What changed Peter from being in For the Answer we must go to Acts 2:1-4. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.ar to a champion for the Lord? And what about Saul?

 There is your answer the Holy Spirit filled Peter and it not only embolden him, but it also guided him to not only deliver the sermon that caused so many to accept the Lord in Jerusalem but also to rebuke the Jewish council.  The Spirit also filled Saul and He was converted to Christianity and became Paul, who Spent the rest of his life spreading the word of Jesus to the gentiles. This same Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books of the new testament or almost 32 percent of it.

 So think about this when God does come a calling, if he can use  an illiterate  fisherman to be the spokesman for His new church or someone who is trying to squash  Christianity before it can gain a foot hold and turn the both of them into fervent apostles that willing laid down their lives to  spread the word then he can use you no matter what your circumstances are.  Once the spirit enters you and you place all your trust in the Lord he will make sure you are equipped to handle whatever calling He has decided to use you for.  Let’s take a quick look at one more time God used a man to lead all His people out of Bondage.  Exodus 3:3-10. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸ and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁹ And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰ Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”    Moses did do what God Had commanded and lead the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt to the promised land.  I would however suggest that you accept the commission that God gives you and not try to dispute with God about it I can show you a quick example of what happens if you try to refuse Gods command Jonah 1:1-13 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

⁴ But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. ⁶ So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

⁷ And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” ⁹ And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. ¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” ¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” ¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. ¹⁷ And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

After spending three days and nights in the fishes belly the Lord had the fish spit Jonah out on dry land and Jonah did as he was told and went to Nineveh just as the Lord had told him to. Once God decides to use you it is far easier on everyone to just do as he has told you to with a joyful spirit then to invoke the Lord’s ire. Just remember God has a purpose for having you do the task and it is all part of his great plan a plan that will lead us to everlasting life with Him in paradise. Since God has given you so much won’t it be nice to be able to give a little back and help even in a miniscule way to further God’s redemptive plan if you can.