ENLARGING YOUR TERRITORY

..."Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory!...." - 1 Chronicles 4:10

He is mentioned only once in a brief description in the Old Testament,
yet what he says and what his life bespeaks could fill volumes. He was a
man whom God saw as worthy of a request that had significant
consequences for him and his family. His name was Jabez. Here is how the
Scripture describes him:
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him
Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God
of Israel, "Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let
Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from
pain." And God granted his request (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).
When you think of territory, you probably think of land or some area in
which you have dominion. Jesus often spoke about giving responsibility
based on what we do with the little things first. Jabez must have been a
very responsible person. God describes him as honorable. Jabez must have
understood what it really means to be blessed by God. He was a man who
knew what it meant to press into God and ask for God's favor with
passion. God saw the heart of this man and gave him his request. His
borders were enlarged! He lived a life free from pain. Imagine that!
The only reason God will enlarge a person's territory is that He knows
that person will use it responsibly. He will steward what is given in
light of God's Kingdom. God truly wants to increase our territory to
have greater influence in the world around us. That territory can mean
personal influence and/or physical territories.
It is rare to have a life without pain. Pain is often necessary to mold
us and shape us. This is the only exception I have seen in Scripture.
Jabez must have been quite a man with incredible integrity and purity of
heart.
Are you this kind of person? Can God enlarge your territory and entrust
you to use it for His purposes? Ask God today to enlarge your territory.
Ask Him to make you the kind of man or woman who is worthy of such
trust.

CREATED FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10

Eric Liddell was an Olympic runner from Britain who won a gold medal in
the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was a man who had a deep commitment to the
Lord and had future plans of being a missionary. In the meantime, he
knew God had given him a special gift to run, and he often said, "I feel
God's pleasure when I run."
He spent years training for the Olympics. He passed each hurdle and
qualified for the Olympics. Finally, the day came for him to run in the
games that were held in Italy. There was only one problem. One of his
running events was held on Sunday. Liddell refused to run on Sunday,
believing it dishonored the Lord's Sabbath. He held to his convictions
and brought great persecution on himself. He made a decision that even
if it meant losing his opportunity to compete, he would not run. God's
laws were greater than man's applause. Just when the circumstances
seemed hopeless, another situation arose that allowed Liddell to run on
a different day.
So often this is the case in the spiritual realm. God tests our hearts
to see if we will remain faithful to Him at the cost of something
important to us. Once He knows where our loyalty lies, He opens a new
door that meets the desires of our hearts.
God takes pleasure in seeing His creation used for His glory. Liddell
understood why he was made to run; he used his gift of running to bring
pleasure to his Creator. Later, Eric Liddell went on to serve God on the
mission field.
Does your life work bring pleasure to the Lord? Do you understand that
God instilled certain gifts and talents in you so that He might find
pleasure in His creation of you? Take pleasure in the gifts God has
given to you this day. And let His glory shine through you.

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

"And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed
against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their
trust in Him and in Moses His servant." - (Exodus 14:31)

What makes an effective Christian leader today? Is it charisma?
Is it ability? Is it communication and oratory skills? God's view
of an effective leader has nothing to do with these qualities.
They may be a part of an effective leader. However, the core
attribute of a Christian leader is his integrity with God and his
obedience to follow Him. When this happens, God manifests His
power in and through that leader. Moses was effective because he
was willing to obey the commands God gave him. When Moses did
this, God manifested His presence in him. The result was that
people followed. They followed because they saw God working in
and through the man. They saw that this man was worthy of
following because God's anointing was on him.
When people see the Lord's power manifested in your life, they
will have a healthy fear of the Lord. They will look at you and
say, "This person has something I don't have that is worthy of
more investigation." Your challenge is to seek the Lord with a
whole heart, resulting in God's power being manifested in the
daily activities of your life. When this happens, you can expect
others to be drawn to what they see in you. The problem with many
Christians today is that non-Christians see nothing different
about the way they live to motivate the unsaved to desire their
faith.
What makes you different from your neighbor? Is your experience
with God noticeably different from that of the man next door? If
you're not experiencing regular encounters with God, it's time to
ask why not. We don't live day-to-day for the next spiritual
experience, but we should see by-products of a life centered in
God that is reflected in fruit from His presence in our lives.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of
life." - Proverbs 13:12

Life is filled with disappointments. Many of God's greatest servants
experienced deep disappointment in their journeys of faithfulness to
God. Joseph, after spending years as a slave and in jail for crimes that
he did not commit, revealed deep disappointment when he was forgotten
another two years in prison. John the Baptist, when awaiting execution,
doubted whether Jesus was, in fact, the Christ because he was sitting
there awaiting his death. Elijah, losing all hope and despondent to the
point of death, asked God to take his life in the desert; and Peter, who
left his fishing business and invested three years of his life only to
watch his Savior crucified, wondered whether the purpose of those three
years could be justified.
When life doesn't add up, it leaves the heart sick. When we have done
all we know to do and the formula has not worked, it leaves us
questioning. These are times that try the very souls of men. There is no
human sense to be made of it. We are left with a choice: to cling or not
to cling. There are times when holding on to our Master's robe is all
that we can do. It is all that He wants us to do.

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore,
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern-unseen before-
A path to higher destinies! ~Longfellow

There is only one answer to life's disappointments. Like the psalmist,
we must "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He
alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be
shaken" (Ps. 62:5-6).

DIVINE SETUPS

"Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed
for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned
back, strengthen your brothers." - Luke 22:31-32

Have you ever perceived yourself to be at one place spiritually only to
discover that you were actually far from this place? Peter perceived
himself to be so spiritually strong that he was prepared to suffer
greatly for his Master. Yet Jesus knew where Peter really was in his
own pilgrimage. He knew that Peter's enthusiasm did not match his reality.
He was suffering from an attitude of self-righteousness. So, how did
Jesus help Peter match his perception to his reality? Peter was the
object of a divine setup.
First, notice that satan asked permission to sift Peter as wheat. Jesus
determined that satan would be used to bring Peter to the maturity
level both Jesus and Peter really desired. And Jesus was praying that Peter
would pass the test. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three
times that very day. Peter could not believe what Jesus was saying.
Sometimes the lessons we must learn are very painful. This experience
was necessary in Peter's life. It was necessary to purge Peter from his
sin of self-righteousness. This very lesson would allow Peter to come
face to face with his own misperception of where he was in his
relationship and devotion to Jesus. When he was forced to confront
this,it nearly broke him apart. He wept bitterly once he realized he had
done just as Jesus had predicted.
This confrontation with reality is necessary at times in our lives. Do
not be surprised if Jesus allows you to experience some painful
circumstance. You may be the subject of a divine setup designed to
bring you to a greater maturity level in your walk with Jesus. It may not be
a fun experience when you go through it, but you will, like Peter, become
a leader whom God will use to lead others.

DISOBEDIENCE ROOTED IN FEAR

"Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until
morning." - (Exodus 16:19)

Have you ever seen God do something really good in your life only
to find that you have abused the blessing He gave you? Such was
the case of the Israelites as they were traveling through the
desert on their way to the Promised Land. God was providing for
them in miraculous ways. Manna was provided each day as their
bread. God gave Moses specific instructions as to how this manna
was to be eaten. God said each one was to gather only what he
needed for that day. No one was to keep it until the next
morning.
"However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part
of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to
smell. So Moses was angry with them" (Ex. 16:20). God was
teaching the Israelites daily trust in His provision for them. He
wanted them to trust Him one day at a time. If they tried to
hoard, God put a self-destruct feature in the manna. Yet God also
told them to gather two days' worth on the sixth day so that they
would have manna to eat on the seventh day. Interestingly, this
manna did not stink or have maggots.
For many years I gathered manna in business out of fear of not
having enough. One day, the Lord decided that manna should be
destroyed in order for me to learn total trust in His provision.
When we operate out of fear, we can expect the Lord to lovingly
discipline us in order to help us learn to trust Him. There is a
danger when we seek to "insure ourselves" against calamity. If
your actions are born from fear, you can expect God to
demonstrate His loving reproof so that you might not live in
fear.

DESERT PREPARATION

"Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I
was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus." -
Galatians 1:17

The apostle Paul tells us in the first chapter of Galatians some of the
facts surrounding his own conversion. He tells us that he clearly
understood the call Jesus placed on his life. He did not have to consult
other men about this calling. But before he was released to begin his
own mission, He went to Arabia for three years. Why did Paul have to go
to Arabia for three years before he ever met another disciple of Jesus
Christ?
The Scripture does not tell us plainly why Paul spent three years in
Arabia. However, based upon many examples of God placing special calls
on people's lives, we know it often requires a time of separation
between the old life and the new life. No doubt, Paul had plenty of time
to consider what had taken place in his life and time to develop an
intimate knowledge and relationship with the newfound Savior. His life
was about to change dramatically.
So often, when God places a call on one of His children, it requires a
separation between the old life and the new life. There is a time of
being away from the old in order to prepare the heart for what is
coming. It can be a painful and difficult separation. Joseph was
separated from his family. Jacob was sent to live with his uncle Laban.
Moses was sent to the desert.
When God began a deeper work in my own life, it required a separation
from all I had known before. He removed all that I had placed confidence
in up to that point. It was very painful and very scary since I was in
my mid-40's. In my mind, it was not the time to start life over. I had
been making plans for early retirement. God had a different idea. He
removed all my comforts and security in order to accomplish a much
greater work than what I could see at the time. The picture is clear
now. I understand why it was necessary, but I didn't at the time.
Perhaps God has placed you in your own desert period. Perhaps you cannot
make sense of the situation in which you find yourself. If you press
into God during this time, He will reveal the purposes He has for you.
The key is pressing into Him. Seek Him with a whole heart and He will be
found. God may have a special calling and message He is building in your
life right now. Trust in His love for you that He will fully complete
the work He has started in you.