WHAT CAN ONE PERSON DO?

HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE CAN ONE PERSON MAKE?

                The pathway of the Messiah is rarely made up of comfort zones. And if we were to make a list of those singular heroes that made a significant difference in this world, we would indeed have to look for the rugged, the intrepid, and the wild and untamed individuals carved out of stone and grit and unconventional thinking.

                They dared to see life differently. They dared to act on visions and dreams. They dared to walk on the invisible roads of faith… to live with passion, rather than tradition. They were the inventors, the trail blazers, the prophets. Often trained up in the wilderness, they suddenly showed up in society with a word that changed everything.

                “God told me to build a big boat and to round up animals and people. There’s going to be a flood.” Noah.

                “God told me to leave home, having no clue where I am going, to receive an inheritance that will never be mine.  Abraham.

                “God told me to deliver His people from bondage. So I killed one Egyptian and then had to flee for my life to herd sheep in the wilderness for 40 years. Now what?” Moses.

                “God told me to go to war with the Midianites with 300 unarmed men against their one hundred thousand well trained and well equipped soldiers. “ Gideon.

                The list could go on and on, of patriarchs and prophets and kings… of common people who rose to greatness by their faith in God. “All of these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. Heb. 11:13-16.

                The real movers and shakers in this world… those who have changed history, are rarely appreciated in their own time. To blaze a trail of greatness and change… to be a paradigm changer, you almost always have to face the persecution of the conventional thinkers, the rank and file, those who want to rule by control rather than by inspiration.

                “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured not accepting their release in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mocking and scourging, yes also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, ill- treated, (men of whom the world was not worthy) wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. All of these, having gained approval through their faith did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”  Heb. 11:32-40.

                And when it comes to world changers, we have to look at John the Baptist. A wild haired wild man, he emerged from the brush, a voice crying in the wilderness saying, Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” And then one day he said 13 words that forever changed history: “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.”  John 1:29b.

                “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He, who is mightier than I, is coming and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He Himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.” Luke 3:16.

                Of those who have changed the world, none holds a candle to Yeshua… How could they? He, the very Creator of heaven and earth, came into our world to redeem us. No greater sacrifice has ever been made; no greater miracle has ever taken place. God Almighty, reduced to a divine sperm and planted in the womb of a Jewish peasant girl, this body was prepared for Him so that He could die and He did it all so that we might live.

                Now, here we are some 2000 years later. Greatness and boldness all but snuffed out by political correctness, tradition and conventional thinking. The henchmen of the New World Order are seeking control over every human thought and action. Society is being dumbed down by mass media, and education that resembles mind control rather than learning. Society is being programmed to hate every freedom of the individual, every form of decency, every moral standard and every holy and righteous unction of the Spirit. Even much of the church is seeking to throw off the principles of greatness that would prevent us from sinking to the lowest common denominator.

                Churches have become weak and placid. Everyone goes to see what they can get, rather than what they can give. They feed like cattle at the trough, rather than running with the wild stallions. They conform to each other rather than to Christ, who would make them authentic and original and powerful. No one thinks for himself. No one dares to step out. No one breaks the mold of complacency and self-worship that now grips us. We have become too tired to think. We want others to think for us.

                Yeshua paid the greatest price that has ever been paid. He made the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made. He did this to bring us a New Covenant in His blood. What are we doing with it? Have we made use of the power He brought us? Have we caught on that He sent His Holy Spirit to replicate His life in us? Do we live with a sense of mission, like the patriarchs and prophets and kings of the past, or do we seek safety in conformity?

                Yeshua is the only One that we can imitate and yet be an original. He came not to make us clones of Himself but Sons and if sons, heirs according to promise. We become His brethren, royal heirs of a royal family… and even as everything that God creates is an original, so are we.

                You see; the antichrist wants programmed clones… slaves to a system… dehumanized and downgraded… seeking to be transformed into something other than the image of God… mindless robots in service to the elite. Even as they feign to denounce the slavery of the past, they funnel us into a much greater slavery in the future. Every human “upgrade” done by them will be either mechanical, electronic or by genetic manipulation, or mind control or demonic possession. None of these things bring freedom, but rather make us more effective soldiers or slaves… all in service to the elite.

                Yeshua, on the other hand, came to bring us life and light and freedom. He came to restore the Spirit of God in us, so that in being transformed we become authentic originals.

                “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1.

                It seems to be human nature to want to bind ourselves with laws, traditions and rules rather than to live by the Spirit of Christ. We want peace and safety. We want to conform to laws rather than to Christ. Do we know why? It is because in becoming conformed to Christ, we are forever being called out of our comfort zone. We are called out of the boat… out into the deep… out into the world… out of self-fulfillment… out of the flesh… out of Egypt… out of Babylon… out of the kingdom of this world and into the Kingdom of Heaven.

                We don’t want to go out. We want to stay in… to be fed with second-hand information… the inspiration of others rather than to find the will of God for our lives. We want to hear God’s voice… as long as it doesn’t call us out of our comfort zone. Good luck with that.

                The ultimate in selfishness and pride is to go into a church and say, “What a bunch of hypocrites…nobody greeted me, nobody invited me to lunch and half of these people are worse sinners than I am.”

                Imagine what a difference one person or a married couple could make if they went into a church determined to love every single person and to serve at every opportunity. What if they decided to make every stranger feel welcomed and loved? What if they would pray with every person that was stressed over a situation, or sick, or discouraged? What if they refused to be involved in gossip, but chose to see the best in people and to love and encourage the ones that are weak?

                You don’t have to go to Africa to forge a new trail in the wilderness. You can forge a new trail of love even in your church. In every church there are people who are on their last leg. They are looking for love, for answers, for friendship, of salvation, for purpose. Sometimes people are giving your church just one more try before plunging into the world. They are desperate, lonely, and hungry for one taste of the Holy Spirit in others. What if we walk by that person hoping that the official greeter did a good job? What if we never love them?

                Friends, if we want to be authentic trail-breakers then first of all we need to learn to live every day by divine appointment. When we become the kind of people God can use, then He sets up the appointments. You don’t have to go around trying to figure out what to do. God brings them to you and then He gives you the words to say or what to pray. This is the way Jesus operated.

                What would have happened if Jesus had said: “I don’t like the way things are done around here, I’m just going to stay at home and pray to the Father Myself so that I don’t have to mix it up with these hypocrites? Would we be worshipping Him as Savior and Lord today? Would we be looking forward to His soon return as King of kings and Lord of lords? No, in fact we would never have heard of Him.

                The way of love is not always the easy way. It makes you vulnerable to hatred and persecution. It breaks your heart at times. So you can either retreat to  the safety of your own home to watch a church service on the internet, or you can turn it around… stop looking for perfection in the church and start loving as Yeshua loved.

                You are that one person that can make a difference in your church, or your neighborhood. You are that one couple that can turn you cold church into a vibrantly warm and loving church. It only takes one candle to light a hundred more, then a thousand more.

                Of all the great and authentic patriarchs and prophets and kings that have blazed a trail before us, we have been called in these last days to bring the baton to the finish line… and it is going to require uncommon love and faith to do it. Are we willing to lay down our lives for His kingdom? Selah