Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A life of service”
Our Bible verse for today: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.” Zechariah 4:6 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “If God calls you, He will also enable you and empower you.”
Zerubbabel was appointed by King Cyrus to be the governor over Jerusalem during the time when Cyrus was allowing some of the Jews to return to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the destroyed city and the Temple. Zerubbabel’s primary responsibility was to oversee the rebuilding of the Temple. Ultimately he did it, and that Temple ended up becoming known in history as Zerubbabel’s Temple, but it was a huge task and at first it appeared impossible.
That’s what the prophet Zechariah was speaking about in Zechariah 4:6. Through the words of the prophet, God was making it clear to Zerubbabel that he would be able to successfully complete his God-assigned task but it wouldn’t be because of any strength, or power, or intelligence of Zerubbabel’s, but because God willed it and the Spirit of God enabled it.
Dwight L. Moody was a dirt-poor farm boy. He was uneducated, uncouth, clumsy and awkward. Looking at him you would conclude there was no way he would ever amount to much. But Moody gave his life to Christ -fully surrendered – and the Holy Spirit of God then enabled and empowered D.L. Moody to become the Billy Graham of his generation. Moody never learned to speak well (he was commonly accused of “butchering the king’s English”). He also never learned to dress well, and his manners and social skills were always a bit rough, and he was clumsy his entire life. But he preached to kings and queens, to presidents and millionaires, and he led millions to faith in Christ. It was by the Spirit of God that such a thing happened.
Chances are that you are not a Zerubbabel who will supervise the building of a magnificent temple for the Lord, and you are probably not a D.L. Moody who will preach to kings and queens, but the lesson holds true for your life none-the-less. Whatever it is God is calling you to do He will also enable you and empower you to do.
Don’t allow your own perceived limitations and short-comings to become an excuse that holds you back from a lifetime of service to God and to others. Fully surrender your life to Him, go where He calls you to go, do what He calls you to do, and trust that by His strength and by His power it can in fact be done.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 