Fully committed 

 
2 Chronicles 16:9

God is constantly searching for men and women who’ll radically trust and follow him. His passionate search found its mark in Asa, king of Judah. The first time his nation was invaded by a mighty army, King Asa cried, “Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you” (2 Chron. 14:11). God miraculously intervened. But with the passing of years, Asa’s fire grew cold.

When Judah was invaded a second time, God was waiting for the opportunity to help. But Asa did not ask him to get involved. Instead, he turned to the skills of hired soldiers.

Though Asa’s passion for God had diminished, God’s intense commitment to his people had not. As he longed to be there for Asa in his moment of need, he wants to do the same for us. Commitment to the Lord means to invite him into our moments of greatest vulnerability. Don’t settle for “hired soldiers” when Almighty God is available!

What are the big challenges you’re facing? -Invite God to step in.

Further study: Psalm 33; Prov. 15:3; John 15:9-17.

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Leadership Shift Pt. 1 
by Loren Cunningham

One of the biggest changes in history is taking place right now and many have hardly noticed. When a major shift of thinking happens it's called a paradigm shift. Such a shift occurred when Columbus discovered the earth was round, not flat. Another paradigm shift was when Peter received a vision of unclean things which he was commanded to eat. God was changing the way things had always been done. Gentiles were to be a part of the Church! It was a radical, unnerving idea. It took the early church awhile to adjust their thinking. The leadership shifted forever from Jerusalem. Never again would it be an all-Jewish club.

Now God is again making radical changes. The leadership of the Church, particularly world missions, is shifting. Christianity is exploding all over Latin America, Africa, and in parts of Asia. We need to see what God is doing and adjust our thinking and the way we do things.

Did you know...

*that just 90 years ago the majority of born again Christians were in North America and Europe--yet today two-thirds of all believers are in Asia, Africa and Latin America?

*that 90 years ago there were only 50,000 evangelicals in all Latin America, from Mexico to the southern tip of Chile--yet today there are 40 million believers in Latin America?

*Seven hundred are being saved every hour in Latin America?

*The second largest church in the world, with 160,000 members, is in Santiago, Chile?

I went to Chile recently for a five-week, 20-city tour. We covered 2,000 miles of that long finger of land, from Arica in the deserts of the north to Punta Arenas, the world's southernmost city (about 600 miles from Antarctica). It is a stunning country, with mountains like the Swiss Alps, fjords like Norway, and glacial beauty like Greenland. It is a land rich with minerals and farmlands.

(to be continued)
[Reprinted with permission from Ministries Today July/August 1993. Copyright Strang Communications Co., USA. All rights reserved. www.ministriestoday.com]

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