Scripture

The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him.” Numbers 27:18-20

Observation
Joshua already had it, or rather Him, in himself to lead the people. The Holy Spirit was at work in his life. Being a carrier of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament was not an everday thing. He came only on a select few to lead the people. Otherwise, the mass of the people groped about for someone to lead them out of their stubborn lethargy.

Before there is ever a human ceremony, there is first the hand of God coming to rest on his person to do the job. Our words and even prayers can do little until God has first touched. We need to have eyes to detect where God is at work touching leaders and raising them up. The Lord will not always extend to us the courtesy of explaining what his future steps entail. Instead, he places his hand on his man; that anointing on a leader is a foreshadowing that the Lord has fresh plans in mind.

When we see the hand of God, then human hands and words can make a difference. Without public commissioning, Joshua would have been either frustrated or a menace. But with every eye watching, his commissioning service released his gift in a life-giving way to the people. The God-anointed yet self-appointed leader is dangerous; but when we bless the person God has touched there is life.

Prayer
Father, in just three weeks I will be installed as the pastor of Evergreen Community Church. I offer myself to you for preparation, that I will be a leader open to all that you have to give for the benefit of these people. I have had experience and experiences. Let those inform me but never limit me. This is a new thing in a new way. I choose today to follow. Amen.

Scripture
Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Numbers 17:5

Observation
It isn’t what people say about us; it is what God does through us that confirms our call and place in life. Moses could have dubbed Aaron with his rod that parted the Red Sea and the tailors could have dressed Aaron with impressive regalia, but none of that would have made Aaron a priest.

There was only one sign that Aaron was fit to be the father of many priests to come. That sign was fruitfulness.

When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds! Numbers 17:8

Application
It is not what I do for myself. It is not what others do for me. It is only what God does through me that confirms anything about my abilities. My credentials as a pastor is fruit in the lives of people.

Prayer
Father, I lay myself before you for you to confirm about me what you see fit to bless. I am no more than what you have made and blessed me to be. Help me to rest in your presence in that and flourish there. Amen.

PS
Here is a prayer that I have prayed throughout the years of my ministry, since I was first ordained in 1987. It is called “The Prayer of a Minor Prophet” and was written by A.W. Tozer on the night after his ordination to ministry.

This is the prayer of a man called to be a witness to the nations. This is what he said to his Lord on the day of his ordination. After the elders and ministers had prayed and laid their hands on him he withdrew to meet his Savior in the secret place and in the silence, farther in than his well-meaning brethren could take him.

And he said: O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and was afraid. Thou has called me to an awesome task in a grave and perilous hour. Thou art about to shake all nations and the earth and also heaven, that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. O Lord, my Lord, Thou has stooped to honor me to be Thy servant. No man taketh this honor upon himself save he that is called of God as was Aaron. Thou has ordained me Thy messenger to them that are stubborn of heart and hard of hearing. They have rejected Thee, the Master, and it is not to be expected that they will receive me, the servant.

My God, I shall not waste time deploring my weakness nor my unfittedness for the work. The responsibility is not mine, but Thine. Thou has said, “I knew thee – I ordained thee – I sanctified thee,” and Thou hast also said, “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Who am I to argue with Thee or to call into question Thy sovereign choice? The decision is not mine but Thine. So be it, Lord. Thy will, not mine, be done.

Well do I know, Thou God of the prophets and the apostles, that as long as I honor Thee Thou will honor me. Help me therefore to take this solemn vow to honor Thee in all my future life and labors, whether by gain or by loss, by life or by death, and then to keep that vow unbroken while I live.

It is time, O God, for Thee to work, for the enemy has entered into Thy pastures and the sheep are torn and scattered. And false shepherds abound who deny the danger and laugh at the perils which surround Thy flock. The sheep are deceived by these hirelings and follow them with touching loyalty while the wolf closes in to kill and destroy. I beseech Thee, give me sharp eyes to detect the presence of the enemy; give me understanding to see and courage to report what I see faithfully. Make my voice so like Thine own that even the sick sheep will recognize it and follow Thee.

Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should be come a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet – not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

I accept hard work and small rewards in this life. I ask for no easy place. I shall try to be blind to the little ways that could make life easier. If others seek the smoother path I shall try to take the hard way without judging them too harshly. I shall expect opposition and try to take it quietly when it comes. Or if, as sometimes it falleth out to Thy servants, I should have grateful gifts pressed upon me by Thy kindly people, stand by me then and save me from the blight that often follows. Teach me to use whatever I receive in such manner that will not injure my soul nor diminish my spiritual power. And if in Thy permissive providence honor should come to me from Thy church, let me not forget in that hour that I am unworthy of the least of Thy mercies, and that if men knew me as intimately as I know myself they would withhold their honors or bestow them upon others more worthy to receive them.

And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven.

Though I am chosen of Thee and honored by a high and holy calling, let me never forget that I am but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. I pray Thee, therefore, my Lord and Redeemer, save me from myself and from all the injuries I may do myself while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill me with Thy power by the Holy Spirit, and I will go in Thy strength and tell of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. I will spread abroad the message of redeeming love while my normal powers endure.

Then, dear Lord, when I am old and weary and too tired to go on, have a place ready for me above, and make me to be numbered with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen. AMEN.

Press the arrow to listen to Jared Anderson sing “Beauty of the Lord”

Scripture
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17

Observation
Moses repeated his prayer twice, so it must have been one that he deeply wanted answered. Travel with nomadic slaves through the desert and backpacking God in a tent must have felt to him at times like a rope of sand. Without God establishing his work, it would soon blow away like a sand dune in the wind.

We can work hard and see hardly anything for it, unless the Lord should bless it. He can make short term efforts long lasting. Today on my Facebook I got a message from a friend with whom we worked together to plant a church in Brisbane. He and his wife found us online and managed to come to our first service 7 years ago. They soon became core team members. Daily devotions became part of their lives. But time has moved us all. Peter and Joy moved to Denver, Colorado. I’m now in Seattle. What remains? He wrote to me today:

Have been enjoying reading your journal entries on the web. I am really excited that for the first time since leaving Brisbane, WE will be part of a group of people doing this. I have wanted to see this happen for some time and would never of guessed how it would finally come to be. Short version though is our life group will base our times of teaching / sharing when we meet each weelk on what we are learning and applying from journaling from the past week. Last time we met I shared how SOAP method works and how it has made a different in my life.

When God touches our works they will outlast us. I looked up the word “favor” and found other words that describe that one Hebrew word: beauty, delightfulness, kindness as well as favor. It is as if our Father in heaven looks with pleasure at the mess we are making with finger paints and slips his brush in and creates a masterpiece.

Application
I can work hard and I can work smart but it is only what god touches that will work out. I want more than anything to have God’s hand rest on my efforts.

Scripture
Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 28:31

Observation
The books of Luke and Acts are a two volume set of the gospel and the sequel. Luke shows what Jesus lived and taught while Acts shows what his followers did with it. It is fitting then that the first message of Jesus about the kingdom of God in Luke 3 is exactly what Paul is preaching 33 years later in Rome.

How does that message compare with the common message about Jesus today? Contemporary evangelistic preaching focuses on the promise of heaven after death and the forgiveness of sins in this life while we wait for heaven. Jesus, and then Paul, taught that the kingdom has come now, today, here on earth. Heaven has come to the earth as evidenced by miracles that change our mundane world. Jesus, God come down to become man, is the door into this amazing world of kingdom power. We are invited to follow Jesus as apprentices, to learn to do the works of the kingdom with him. Then we extend the kingdom, by living out the kingdom of God wherever we go. And in the end, God brings apprentices like that to be forever with him in heaven.

Application
I want my preaching about the kingdom to sound like Jesus’ messages. I want to “ravish” people with a vision of the kingdom of God at work now, as Dallas Willard says. I want Jesus to be central in all that I speak.

Prayer
Father, there are ruts in my thinking and in my speaking that constantly need to be re-examined with the truth of Scripture. Take me back to the primary sources and let my message sound like Jesus’ today. Amen.