A teacher is simply a student with unlimited chalkboard privileges.
• Oct. 23, 2005 - Who pinned this sign to my back??
With God's gift of wisdom comes great testing and a big red target that says "SATAN, AIM HERE!"
Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. No one before or after
him will ever match the wisdom God bestowed upon him. It took a
good amount of wisdom on his part to ask for this gift above all else
and God blessed Him in abundance. In spite of all of his wisdom,
Solomon still struggled in one area of his life...every man's
battle. He lusted after women...not those God gave allowance for
in marriage...but for those He did not. He wanted the
foreigners...those whose hearts were dedicated to other gods...those
who would turn Solomon away from the one true God. Solomon was a
man to whom God had appeared twice, whose father was called by God "a
man after God's own heart", who built a dwelling place for the Lord God
Almighty on Earth, whose wealth had never been even imagined by any
man, and whose kingdom knew peace by the hand of God. Yet the wisest
and wealthiest man on Earth couldn't control his greed...for
women...700 wives he claimed. No
one is above accountability. Who is it that you suppose is most
likely to be overlooked when it comes time to pick an accountability
partner? God told me it is our ministry leaders. How
often do we simply assume they have it all together...their prayer
time, their devotions, and their ministry? After all, who wants
to be the one to approach their pastor or pastor's wife and say, "I was
thinking you and I could be accountability partners. I have been
watching you and was thinking that we may struggle with a lot of the
same issues"? Even more convicting...who even THINKS of it
as a need of our pastors or their wives? We are leaving our
leadership to find their own accountability, and in doing so, we are
excusing the very things they are struggling with by simply saying to
ourselves, "No, that wasn't what I was thinking...they are a pastor" or
"I'm sure they are talking to someone about that...I mean look how
involved in ministry they are." The Holy Spirit doesn't speak so
that we may selectively choose what to act upon, He speaks so that we
will carry out His work at the precise moment it is needed regardless
of our naive perspectives. I want to challenge us all to look
toward our church leadership with compassion. Those in the
highest positions in man's eyes are sure to fall the hardest when Satan
attacks. Don't allow him a foothold simply because you have
underestimated their humanness. Charge them with accountability
because you love them, speaking out of conviction not condemnation. Wives,
pray protection for your husbands... for your pastors...for your
sons...for your brothers; Satan is prowling to ensnare the wisest of
man. The ones you look up to, when fallen, are the ones that will
cause the greatest pain in the body of Christ. Satan aims for the
top; therefore we must be prayer warriors in their midst. Don't
abandon them to the land of self-sufficiency for this is Satan's
favorite hunting grounds.
"1 Kings 3:9Give
therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that
I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy
so great a people? 10And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11And
God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not
asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor
hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself
understanding to discern judgment; 12Behold,
I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an
understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee,
neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13And
I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and
honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee
all thy days. 14And
if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days." |
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