The very last thing that Jesus told his disciples in Luke
was to “stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.” At the beginning of Acts, Luke reminds us
that this was Jesus instruction to the disciples. We see that the disciples are obedient to the
directions given by the Lord. They are
gathering together in the upper room. In
fact, we are told that not only are they gathered together, but they were also
all meeting in the same place. I love
this little picture of obedience! They
knew that the one thing that Jesus asked of them was that they remain in
Jerusalem. Jesus said, “Don’t go
anywhere until you receive power from the Holy Spirit.” Looking back, from our perspective, it seems
like an easy task, but to them this may not have been easy. After all, they had no idea HOW long they
would have to stay in Jerusalem they only knew that he said to stay put and
wait. However, how many of us like to
wait even an hour at the doctor’s office?
Now imagine if you had to wait not just one hour but seven days. Often before we can be effective for God in
any other area, we must be obedient in the small things like waiting. The other thing to know is that while they
were waiting, they were not just sitting around. No, they were praying (communicating with
God), meditating and studying the scriptures (that would be the Old Testament).
Most of us reading this, desire to do great things for God. God says, “If you want to do great things for
me, first, be obedient in the one or two things that I’ve asked you to do, THEN
I can trust you with great things. I
want you to think of the great things you want to do; then think of the areas
where God has already given you instruction.
Focus on obedience in those areas, for obedience in the little things is
the first step in being greatly used by God.
Thank you God for how you lead us. Like a shepherd leading his sheep. Sometimes through the words you spoke in the Bible, your written word. at other times, it was the wise words from friends, coworkers,or neighbors spoken at just the right time. Still other times it was a gentle tug, a whisper to our heart to move in one direction or another; intuition or a sixth sense that one way or another was right or wrong Yet, when I listened and obeyed I found the way was clear, distinct and easy to follow. You never leave us to guess which way to go. ...
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