Business leaders take inventory daily, and their ability to act on that review determines success or failure. The store windows may be inviting, the website may be the latest and greatest, and the sales staff is prepared and on time, but everything is headed for absolute failure without inventory.
Could you imagine a company that does not know its inventory?
Have we, children of the Most-High God, taken inventory of our priorities?
The hurricane winds of change and transition are blustering across the United States and worldwide. This storm was already raging before the pandemic. This pandemic has intensified the open hostility, and the election is spewing insults from deep rage. The voices are getting loud; everything from culture, civilization and Christianity is under attack from cancel culture.
Yet God remains constant. His principles are the foundation of our relationship; His priorities are the flow of our workmanship; His potential is the possibility of our leadership.
There are three questions of principle I would like you to consider:
—How did we get here? (Past Actions).
—What do we need? (Present Actions).
—What do we want? (Future Actions).
The first question reflects on the principles we have built our lives on. The second question takes inventory of our current priorities. The third question unlocks the power of our potential.
God has given us His supernatural power for times of transition. We have an opportunity to reveal God’s extravagant ability for His grace, His forgiveness, and His healing. I love it!
God is not having a bad day because of the election.
God does not remain silent when we call out.
COVID-19 must bow at the name of Jesus.
In the opening chapter of Acts, Christ’s followers have been through the devastating trauma of the cross and the Resurrection’s astonishing power. These young believers have seen the unwillingness of religious leaders to accept and surrender to Jesus the Messiah. Rome’s government crushed Israel by killing innocent babies, fierce taxation, fear from domination and brutal persecution.
In the first eight verses of Acts, Chapter 1, Jesus unlocks everything that will stand against the wind of adversity (Acts 1:1-8).
God’s principles are the foundation of our relationship.
“All that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1b).
Your actions in the past determine the present.
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He presented Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, appearing to them for forty days, and speaking concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3).
God’s priorities are the flow of our workmanship.
“He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4b).
Your obedience to the Father now determines the future.
“Being assembled with them, He commanded them, ‘Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, of which you have heard from Me. For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ So when they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’
“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the dates, which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:4-8).
God’s potential is the possibility of our leadership.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8a).
Let your actions in the future birth out of the Holy Spirit Baptism.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
God bless America, land that we love.
“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered” (Ps. 68:1a).
You’re beautiful; I see Jesus in you. Have an awesome week! {eoa}
Mikel French has challenged spiritual awakening all across America, where many celebrations extended into multiple weeks, and has conducted celebrations in France, Sweden, Russia, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Serbia, Germany, South Africa, Malawi, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Haiti, Japan, Singapore, India and Thailand. He conducted an outreach celebration in Manila, Philippines, reaching 200,000 teenagers with the Book of Hope. Through the generous support of partners, he has presented the message of Jesus Christ to millions of people in the nation of Russia through televised citywide soul-winning celebrations. Mikel considers it an honor to assist in conducting the annual pastor’s conference, where thousands of pastors from Russia’s 11 time zones come for training, teaching and equipping. Mikel and his wife, Marsha, reside in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
