Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

"I [God] sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one."¹

Whenever God has a job to do and a gap to be filled, he always starts by choosing and calling an individual. While men use methods, God's methods are men and women.²

To start a nation to use as his special witness on earth, God chose and called Abraham to be the father of ancient Israel. When God wanted to lead this young nation out of slavery in Egypt, he chose and called Moses. And so it was with Joseph, Samuel, Esther, David, John the Baptist, Mary, Peter, Paul and scores of other lesser known individuals.

God today is still urgently looking for people who are willing to stand in the gap to help save lost souls from a lost and hopeless eternity and to do his work here on earth. The kind of people God is looking for, chooses, and calls are Fâ€"Aâ€"T people. That is: Faithful … Available … Teachable.

F â€" Faithful. You don't have to be a Peter, Paul or a John the Baptist for God to use. Think of the twelve disciples. What a motley crewâ€"rugged fishermen, a despised tax gatherer and the likeâ€"they were. God uses other ordinary people like them too, people who daily trust their life and way to God and, with his help, seek to serve and obey him faithfully in all the circumstances of life.

A â€" Available. Years ago I told God that I was too afraid to be a witness for him and that I was quitting. "However, God," I prayed, "if you want to use me to share the gospel with others, I'm available, but you'll have to do it through me because I'm too scared." The result? Today God is using our small organizations to reach thousands around the world with the gospel and Christian message every day. This is because I madeâ€"and make myself available every dayâ€"for God to use. He will in some way do the same for you if you daily make yourself available to him to use.

T â€" Teachable. One reason God used the disciples was, not only because they were faithful and available, but also because they were teachable. Naturally they spent three years with the Master Teacher par Excellence and had a lot to learn about the Christian way, especially because it was brand new to them and everyone else in their day. We also need to be teachable and learn God's ways more clearly by studying and knowing what his Word, the Bible, teaches and applying the principles found therein in our everyday living.

So, if you want God to use you to be a part of what he is doing in your world today, I urge you to pray and tell God you are availableâ€"and renew that prayer and commitment every day. To be an "Andrew" by quietly helping to bring others to Jesus click on: http://www.actsweb.org/announce.php to see how you can do this in a simple, non-threatening way.

Remember that "when many people each do a little, great feats for God can be accomplished."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, I'm available again today. Help me to be faithful and teachable to learn your ways more clearly, and please use me to be as Jesus in some way to every life I touch today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV).
2. E.M. Bounds.

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