God Can Use Anybody He Wants
A Testimony of a Divine Encounter
Many years ago, I had a tent ministry. I designed and made the tent myself and it was round and about 8 meters in diameter, with a firepit in the middle. I would keep a large pot of Chai tea brewing on the fire for anyone who came in for a chat.
One day, I sensed the Lord was directing me to travel to a forest about an hour and a half's drive from the farm where I lived. There was an anti-logging protest action about to happen there and I was having doubts about it, so I mentioned it to a fellow believer who knew me well and had been with me on a couple of 'adventures' before and had seen the holy spirit working through me. He said, "How about I drive you up there and we'll take a look?"
So we drove up there, arriving at dusk to find a camp of
So we drove back home to get the tent, then set it up. I had a groundsheet, over which I had carpet and I made it a rule while camped there, that everyone had to take off their shoes when they came in. Within three days, the feral protestors had cleaned up their act and by the time the protest began and the police arrived, I had convinced them that the only way, was to greet the police and the loggers with love. They did and what ensued was amazing. To the outside world, through the eyes of the media, it was a battle between the police and the protestors, but in reality it was like a party and everyone was on friendly terms. The protestors went happily off to jail for a night and the police treated them in a very friendly fashion. It was all a bit surreal and everyone sensed that they were only playing a part in a movie.
Eventually, the last blockade came down and it was like there was an invisible line across the road and everyone knew that when the police crossed the line, it was all over. The police stood there for a few hours, until just before sundown and then turned around and went away. They didn't want to cross the line! They didn't want the party to end!
About a month after it was all over, there was another protest action, not that far away. This time it was in a seaside community. The local mayor had decided to put in a sewerage outfall pipe to the ocean and the locals were up in arms. Not only did they not want it, but it also came to light that the mayor's father owned the company that made the pipes and he couldn't sell them anywhere.
Again I sensed the Lord directing me to take the tent there, so my friend and I drove down the coast to the community. When we arrived, I was quite surprised. The ferals that had been at the other protest were there in force, only this time, instead of building a lot of different tripods with poles, they had built a huge tripod about three stories tall and at the top they had constructed a large platform in the shape of the star of David.
The whole event was occurring in a bulldozed area, in a gully at the end of a street in the community and the Lord told me to set up the tent just off the side of the road, overlooking the whole area.
The locals were very happy to have the protestors there, because although they wanted to stop the pipeline from being laid, they were very fearful of the police and being arrested. This was not the normal boys in blue that were going to attend this protest, this was the boys in black, the Tactical Response Team, renowned for their sternness and lack of compassion. Because of what had happened at the previous protest.
The morning after I set the tent up, I received a visit from a delegation of community elders. I forgot to tell you, that I had a cross painted above the entrance of the tent. The first thing they said to me was, "Excuse us, but we just want to ask you, do you believe in Jesus?" I answered with a smile, "of course, that's why I'm here!"
The transformation that came over that community was miraculous. Overnight, the locals had found a renewed strength and courage and all the fear they had been feeling was gone. They started inviting the protestors into their homes for roast dinners, a shower and bed for the night. I would have locals coming up to me and saying things like, "I never knew that neighbour three doors down was such a lovely person!" The community spirit, love and joy was overwhelming and truly inspiring.
One evening, I asked God, why He'd used the ferals and not people from the church. He replied with more than a hint of anger, "They're all lukewarm cowards, who sit on the fence in the halfway house (church) with one foot in the kingdom and one in the world, serving two natures (masters) and are too corrupted, blinded, deceived, governed & ruled by the characteristic pride, vanity, envy, selfishness, ambition, lust, greed, desire for creature comfort and/or fear for survival of the carnal, instinctual, egoistic nature of their flesh, to leave their foxholes (comfort zones). I needed selfless men and women of courage, who were ready, willing and ABLE to step out of their comfort zones, make the necessary sacrifices and go without their creature comforts."
If you are one of the religious egos and/or lukewarm fence sitters in the halfway house, who NEVER had the courage and faith to forsake all and WALK the narrow path of TRUE discipleship, I hope this serves as a warning to you. Because God IS in absolute control and can use absolutely anybody, even those who don't believe in Him.
"So likewise, WHOEVER OF YOU does not forsake all that he has, cannot be (IS NOT) My disciple."Luke 14:33
But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."1 Samuel 16:7
God has taught me not to judge a man by how he looks or what he has or doesn't have, but by the characteristics displayed in his character. Does it reveal the characteristic virtues of His true love's divine nature? Does it shine with true humility, integrity, honor, courage, faith, dignity, etc.? Or does it reveal the dark and sinister, characteristic pride, vanity, envy, selfishness, ambition, lust, greed, desire for creature comfort and/or fear for survival of THE BEAST (character) of the carnal, instinctual, egoistic nature of the flesh God named Satan and man calls ego, that stains/marks his character, when it instinctively and egoistically (self-centeredly & self-righteously) reacts by rising up within him like a serpent that fills his mind with dark, negative, unvirtuous thoughts, causing him to bear false witness of your character, hiss and spit venomous words like a viper, stomp and roar like a raging bull, puff out his chest and prance about like a peacock or run like a chicken, etc.?
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits (characteristics). Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree (character) bears good (virtuous) fruit, but a bad tree (character) bears bad (unvirtuous) fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree (character) that does not bear good (virtuous) fruit (characteristics) is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits (characteristics) you will know them."Matthew 7:15-20
passive lamb-like characteristic of true love's divine nature
Generosity is giving and sharing. You share freely, not with the idea of receiving something in return. You find ways to lift the spirit of others, and give just for the joy of sharing. Generosity is one of the best ways to show love and kindness.
But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.Isaiah 32:8
Challenge yourself to be aware of any and all opportunities to practice and apply generosity in your life this week, and the times you should have, but didn't because of the characteristic pride, vanity, envy, selfishness, ambition, lust, greed, desire for creature comfort and/or fear for survival of the carnal, instinctual, egoistic (self-centered) nature of your flesh.
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