{"id":3488,"date":"2015-09-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3488"},"modified":"2015-09-03T23:33:40","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T06:33:40","slug":"94-how-can-you-be-useful-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/09\/04\/94-how-can-you-be-useful-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"9\/4: How Can You Be Useful To God (\u8bd7105:23-36 \u6797\u540e7:2-16 \u8d5b5:8-8:10 )"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd7105:23-36 \u6797\u540e7:2-16 \u8d5b5:8-8:10<\/h2>\n

How Can You Be Useful To God<\/h2>\n
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Pippa and I had just returned home from the hospital. Earlier that day, my mother had died of a heart attack while at her desk at work. She was sixty-nine.<\/p>\n

I was in a state of shock and turmoil within. I wandered out of our home for a breath of fresh air and was thinking that the one person I really wanted to see was Sandy Millar \u2013 our pastor and friend.<\/p>\n

At that moment I looked up and recognised his car approaching. He had just heard our news and had driven straight around to see us. God used Sandy\u2019s arrival<\/em> that day to bring us great comfort and encouragement.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s New Testament passage, we read that Titus\u2019 arrival<\/em> was used by God to bring Paul great comfort and encouragement when Paul was in a state of turmoil, exhaustion, oppression, affliction, dread and fear: \u2018But God, who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking, comforted and encouraged and refreshed and cheered us by the arrival of Titus\u2019<\/em> (2 Corinthians 7:6, AMP).<\/p>\n

Titus\u2019 arrival brought even further encouragement because he carried news of how the Corinthians were being useful to God. As a result, Paul \u2018rejoiced still more\u2019 (v.7, AMP).<\/p>\n

However bleak things may appear, God always seems to raise up people who are instruments \u2018for noble purposes\u2026 useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work\u2019 (2 Timothy 2:21). How can you and I be useful to God?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Be prepared to take the lead<\/h2>\n

Psalm 105:23-36<\/a>Do you sometimes feel you are in a spiritual wasteland in your workplace, your city, or even in your entire nation?<\/p>\n

The psalmist recalls one of the bleakest periods for the people of God. God had blessed them. They had become \u2018very fruitful\u2019 (v.24). But their success caused them to be hated (v.25a). Their foes conspired against them (v.25b). \u2018They abused and cheated God\u2019s servants\u2019 (v.25, MSG).<\/p>\n

The people of God were oppressed and enslaved. They were in a \u2018spiritual wasteland\u2019 (v.26, MSG). But God \u2018sent Moses his servant<\/em>, and Aaron, whom he had chosen<\/em>\u2019 (v.26). God chose Moses and Aaron. They responded (admittedly very reluctantly in the case of Moses) to the call to lead. They performed miraculous signs and wonders and set God\u2019s people free: \u2018They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland\u2019 (v.26, MSG).<\/p>\n

Lord, as we look at our nation and see the state of the church, we cry out to you to raise up people like Moses and Aaron to lead your people out of the spiritual wasteland.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Turn to God in times of trouble<\/h2>\n

2 Corinthians 7:2-16<\/a>Sometimes in our lives we hit a wall of pain and distress. It overwhelms us. It could be caused by bereavement, redundancy, sickness, disappointment, or other circumstances beyond our control. It could even, as in the case of the Corinthians, be caused by our own sin or mistakes.<\/p>\n

What matters is how <\/em>we respond<\/em>. For some, times such as these drive them away from God. For others, like the Corinthians, it is the making of them. Their distress drove them to God. It transformed them into a people whom God was able to use powerfully.<\/p>\n

Paul was someone who God used greatly. But it was not a smooth ride; it was not a stress-free life. Paul did not go around bringing trouble on his own head. He writes, \u2018We have never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of anyone\u2019 (v.2, MSG). Nevertheless, he continues to speak of \u2018all our troubles\u2019 (v.4). He writes about \u2018fights in the church\u2019 and the \u2018fears in our hearts\u2019 (v.5, MSG).<\/p>\n

Paul loved the Corinthians (vv.3\u20134a). Although Paul\u2019s love for them was not always reciprocated, it brought him enormous joy when it was. When he heard from Titus about their longing for him, and their deep sorrow and ardent concern for him, he said \u2018my joy was greater than ever\u2019 (v.7).<\/p>\n

Paul had the courage to confront them in a letter. Initially it caused them hurt (v.8) \u2013 as this kind of confrontation often does. At first, Paul regretted writing the letter but thankfully the Corinthians had the right response. They allowed it to draw them closer to God. We all mess up at times. Even the great apostle Peter messed up. However, what matters is how we respond.<\/p>\n

\u2018You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him\u2026 Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God\u2026 end up on a deathbed of regrets\u2019 (vv.9\u201310, MSG).<\/p>\n

The Corinthians, like Peter, responded in the right way. The wrong kind of sorrow, typified by Judas, did not lead to repentance but rather to death. Worldly sorrow brings death (v.10c). The Corinthians\u2019 response enabled them to be \u2018instruments for noble purposes\u2026 useful to the Master\u2019 (2 Timothy 2:21).<\/p>\n

\u2018And now isn\u2019t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You\u2019re more alive<\/em>, more concerned<\/em>, more sensitive<\/em>, more reverent<\/em>, more human<\/em>, more passionate<\/em>, more responsible<\/em>\u2019 (2 Corinthians 7:11, MSG). Thankfully, the Corinthians responded with this kind of godly sorrow.<\/p>\n

Titus witnessed the transformation in their lives as a result of their response to distress. He was exuberant about it. He was himself revived and refreshed by everything the Corinthians did for him.<\/p>\n

He could not stop talking to Paul about them, \u2018Going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn\u2019t be more pleased \u2013 I\u2019m so confident and proud of you\u2019 (vv.15\u201316, MSG).<\/p>\n

Thank you, Lord, that when we turn to you in times of trouble you transform us and make us more alive, concerned, sensitive, reverent, human, passionate, responsible and become more useful to you as a result.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Respond to God\u2019s call and say \u2018I\u2019ll go\u2019<\/h2>\n

Isaiah 5:8-8:10<\/a>As we look around the world today we see many nations, including Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, North Korea and South Sudan, in desperate times. The description in this passage is of a nation rife with injustice.<\/p>\n

The leaders \u2018grab all the land\u2026 evicting the old owners\u2026 taking over the country, leaving everyone homeless and landless\u2026 Those extravagant estates will be deserted. A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine\u2019 (5:8\u201310, MSG).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the leaders make sure \u2018their banquets are well furnished\u2019 with music and \u2018plenty of wine\u2019 whilst the common people \u2018die of thirst\u2019. Their leaders call evil good and good evil (5:8\u201322, MSG).<\/p>\n

But what authority does Isaiah have to speak to the society in this way? During a dark period in Israel\u2019s history, God called him. He describes the vision he had around 740 BC, in the year that King Uzziah died (6:1):<\/p>\n