10.pdf 12/9/2014 12:30:31 PM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 10 Emergency! Emergency! All hands on deck. The sea of darkness An article by Clive Urquhart W L “Em goin drow deat Who As I abou the s hear natu and the does desp He w Its a “Do In Lu man excu and town serv room to co the b In Lu you the n who swee At t rejoi right stori wha Peop
11.pdf 12/9/2014 12:30:41 PM WHAT IS GOD LOOKING AT? t C M Y CM MY CY CMY K “Emergency! Emergency! All hands on deck. People’s lives are going down. The sea of darkness has overtaken them, people are drowning in their own sin but many don’t realise it. The power of death is overcoming them. They need rescuing. They need saving. Who will go? Who will respond?” As I sat down the other day and started to ask God to speak to me about who He is these words echoed around my head along with the sound of alarm bells. It was not the answer I was expecting to hear. I thought He was going to say something about Himself, His nature or character, something that would cause me to respond and worship Him. Yet, He did say something about Himself this is the cry of His heart, His longing, His passion is for the people He does not yet have in relationship with Him. He showed me the desperation of what He sees going on in peoples lives and what He wants to do about it. Its a wake-up call a call to action. Its like a shout from heaven, “Do you see them? Can you hear their cries? Will you go for Me?” In Luke chapter 14, Jesus told a parable about a man who invited many guests to a great banquet but, one by one, they gave their excuses as to why they couldnt come. He became angry at this and told his servants to go quickly to the streets and alleys of the town to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. His servants replied that they had already done that, but there was still room for more. He then told them to go further and compel people to come so that his house would be full and the people would enjoy the banquet that he had prepared for them. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells another parable, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine and go after the lost one until he finds it? Or the women who had ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search till she finds it?” At the end of these parables Jesus says that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over many righteous people that do not need to repent. We see from these stories that God wants to get our attention; He wants us to see what He sees and to look at what He is looking at people. People that dont yet know Him. Have you ever lost your keys or your wallet? It can be very frustrating, cant it? Suddenly all of your attention is set on finding whatever it is that youve lost. Imagine if you lost one of your children - the whole world would have to stop, you would let everyone know so they could join in the desperate search to find them! You wouldnt leave a stone unturned until you got them back. This is Gods heart for those that are lost and need saving, for the people that He does not yet have. God was so set upon rescuing people out of darkness that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to make a way for them to know Him: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal <strong>life</strong>. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16). Jesus reiterated this when He said of Himself “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). If this was Jesus priority, His mandate from heaven while He was here on earth, how much more should it be ours as we seek to follow in His footsteps and do the will of our heavenly Father? One day Jesus said to His disciples “Wake up and look around you. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal <strong>life</strong>” (John 4:35-36 NLT). Later on He instructed His disciples saying “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:37). Gods looking for workers who He can send out into every sphere of society to reach those who dont know Him yet. As followers of Christ were called to fulfil the Great Commission which He gave to His disciples just before ascending into Heaven: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19). Let’s respond to this Great Commission to be the workers that find the lost, make disciples and bring them to the banquet that is waiting for them. As a result there will be great rejoicing in heaven, but also great rejoicing on earth as well. 11
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