WELL EQUIPPED & CAPABLE

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Chronicles 24:1-26:11, Romans 4:1-12, Psalm 13:1-6, & Proverbs 19:15-16

1 Chronicles 26:6-9

⁶ Obed-edom’s son Shemaiah had sons with great ability who earned positions of great authority in the clan. ⁷ Their names were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad. Their relatives, Elihu and Semakiah, were also very capable men.

⁸ All of these descendants of Obed-edom, including their sons and grandsons—sixty-two of them in all—were very capable men, well qualified for their work.

⁹ Meshelemiah’s eighteen sons and relatives were also very capable men.

It is interesting to me how many people struggle with a poor self-image of who they are in Christ. As a pastor, I often hear people talk about how they can’t do certain things. They say things like:

1.     I’m not smart enough.

2.     I have no real talents.

3.     I’m not able to do ministry.

4.     I couldn’t ever share my faith.

5.     I am too afraid to pray for people.

6.     I don’t understand the Bible when I read it.

7.     I don’t have anything to offer God.

These are all the things that people have wrestled with from the moment the fall occurred. I believe that is the main reason why God stresses in this text that these men where well equipped & capable to fulfill the task in front of them.

I want to say something that I hope you will accept:  “God never calls you to do something that He fails to equip you to do.” The fact that God has called you to do it means that you can! God doesn’t ever send us on “mission impossible” tasks until He empowers us with everything we need to succeed.

Think about it, why would God set you up for failure? It would only make Him look bad & incompetent as a leader. That is not the case. He sets you up to succeed in things that you would never have been able to do BEFORE YOU MET HIM!  This is what causes Him to receive glory. It also makes you shine the light of Jesus.

Here are 5 things that you MUST believe that God has equipped you to do:

1.     You can reach the lost of your generation for Christ.

2.     You can lay hands & the sick & see them recover.

3.     You can do the works of Jesus.

4.     You can pray & be heard in heaven.

5.     You can speak to mountains & they must move.

Next time that you are being tempted to think that you can’t do any of the  above—REBUKE THAT WAY OF THINKING IN JESUS NAME & DO IT ANY WAY!!!  You are equipped & capable to do all these & MANY MORE!!!

Philippians 4:13

¹³ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Pastor Richard Schlotter