Faithful With Very Little

Luke 16
10 Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
…
13 No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Faithful is not a title we can claim for ourselves but a characteristic only others can attribute to us. Faithfulness, like love, is proven in action and not bound by fluctuating feelings. Faith without works is dead as love without faithfulness is dead and both are proven in the very little.
The “very little” things are often overlooked or despised. They are thought little of, easily missed and easily forgotten. They are insignificant to most people and beneath others; unglamorous, inconvenient moments of servitude for which no praise or thanks is given. Faithfulness is proved in little minutes and moments of life, in the unseen and unnoticed parts. It is a daily, moment by moment discipline/battle. It would be easy to stop, most people would understand, even encourage you to take it easy and relax!
On the other hand the flesh in me is eager to prove an ability to be faithful in the “much”. The idea of promotion to something greater appeals to my ego, but spiritually, that is to miss the mark entirely. The great vastness of God’s immense love is proven and demonstrated in the very little, consistent daily details of our lives! “His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23. There is great wonder and awe in knowing God spoke all creation into existence in six days but that same voice still faithfully holds all things together and it is in the menial task of caring for each and every sparrow that we get a glimpse of the vastness of His omnipotent love and omniscient care. To have the opportunity to serve our Saviour in the “very little” is far greater testimony of the majesty of God than any notoriety or momentary significance. His tender mercies, loving kindnesses and compassions are seen far more clearly in the very little things that we do for others in His name.
The greatest honour for a man is to be found in faithfulness to God in the least of things. Oh may we be so in love with The Lord that we joy to serve Him faithfully and joyfully in the very little.

1 Corinthians 4
2 Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

Luke 18
8 … However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?”

Immersed In God

Exodus 40
34 Then the cloud [God’s visible presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle!
35 And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

1 Kings 8
10 When the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house,
11 So the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.

Acts 2
2 When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
…
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].

•⁠ ⁠Three different dwelling places of Almighty God. Each one with its own baptism (immersion) of God! Each one filled with His presence and His Glory! Each one with a clear manifestation of God’s delight to dwell among his people. God’s deepest desire and glory is that He can dwell among His people! Hallelujah, What a Saviour! What a Gospel!
•⁠ ⁠None of these experiences were continuous though. They were symbolic of God’s acceptance and delight to dwell in the place prepared! But life and service continued on after these precious moments.

John 16
13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth. For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
14 He will honour and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

•⁠ ⁠The immersion had come and now there was work to be done. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was to be proclaimed and that’s exactly what the apostles did! The experience of Acts 2 is never mentioned again with longing. The disciples never looked back at the physical experience of the upper room wishing they could have that again, but they walked with a forward focus, proclaiming Jesus Christ, and taught us with obedience, joy and boldness to walk in The Holy Spirit, and to be being FILLED with HIM!
•⁠ ⁠But if we find that we feel empty, if we find that we hunger for more of Him, if we find that we feel a thirst and a dryness, we can do so rejoicing in all that He has given us! If we are thirsty, PRAISE THE LORD, we can drink from the Living Waters! If we hunger, PRAISE THE LORD for we shall be filled!! OH HALLELUJAH! There is never a reason strong enough to ever stop praising The Lord!! So let us continue to bring our sacrifices of praise, for The Lord inhabits the praises of His people! And if we bring to The Lord our songs of praise and rejoicing we shall never leave empty but full of HIM!!

I Shall Yet Praise Him

Psalm 42
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God.
6 O my God, my life is cast down upon me [and I find the burden more than I can bear]; therefore will I [earnestly] remember You…

THE QUESTION: Why?! Why are you cast down? Why are you fretting? What is wrong with you?! Why are you looking at yourself, or the enemy, or the storm? “Consider your ways”, analyse/understand your battle. Answer the question accurately and specifically… Why are you cast down?
The question suggests that it is unreasonable to be downcast. Sin is no cause or reason, because we are promised it shall not have dominion over us and, upon repentant confession, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin; Satan and his temptations are also no reason to be cast down. God is mightier than the devil! The Spirit of Jesus Christ, who abides in the believer is greater than he that is in the world! Satan can go only as far as God allows. There is no justifiable reason for the believer’s soul to be cast down! We have every reason to look up and wait expectantly in hope!
The implied answer is that we are downcast because we have moved our eyes from looking at our Saviour, Jesus Christ. We have taken our eyes off of all that He is, all that He has done and all that He has taught and promised! And we have started to perceive by our own logic and lean on our own understanding. We have magnified the problem/flesh and not The Lord!
THE RESPONSE: I shall yet praise Him! I will praise Him anyway!! Despite my circumstance, despite the enemy, no matter the storm, I will yet continue to praise The Lord with a set and determined heart of faith and trust. I will not let the enemy, the world or my flesh take me from abiding in Christ, the secret place of The Most High! I will not heed distraction but cling to The Lord, His promises and His faithfulness.
But also, I will yet have a testimony of paise in this situation so don’t be cast down… For praise is coming! Victory is coming! Joy is coming in the morning! A testimony of The Lord’s sustaining grace; providence; provision; goodness and mercy is coming! I will yet praise Him because I know that “surely” I will always look back and see His goodness and mercy following me. His Glory shall be my testimony!
I shall YET PRAISE HIM!! I will remember Calvary! I will remember that victory is already won! I will remember that we have been delivered by a Mighty Hand! I will remember that my name is written in Heaven! I will remember His So Great Salvation! I will remember His complete deliverance from Egypt; His promise to never leave me nor forsake me; His loving kindnesses and tender mercies… I will remember my Redeemer, my Saviour, my loving Heavenly Father and that Almighty God lives within me!! And then I will ask myself… Why are you cast down??

Matthew 28
20 “I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”

⁠If we have the faith to really believe that this is true then how/why are you downcast oh my soul, my brother, my sister? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for we shall yet praise Him, our Help and our God!

What Sets Us Apart?

Exodus 33
15 And Moses said to the Lord, If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here!
16 For by what shall it be known that I and Your people have found favour in Your sight? Is it not in Your going with us so that we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the other people upon the face of the earth?

Is it The Lord’s presence that distinguishes you from the those around you? Does the world see an individual who lives in the presence of The Creator God, walking in HIS joy, peace, love, power and testimony?
Or are we distinguished merely by moralism or legalism? Are we distinguished by our denomination/church label? Are we distinguished by only our isolation or lifestyle?
What does the world see in God’s people? Do they see a people set apart unto The Lord? Do they see a people who have “I AM” living within them? Do they see a people following after and calling after God? What do my work colleagues, friends and family see in me? Do they see The Lord and HIS testimony? Or do they see mere “Christianity”, religion and pride?

Exodus 34
9 And he said, If now I have found favor and loving-kindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance.

Moses was desperate for The Lord to be in the midst of His people. He longed to see The Lord dwelling amongst them. He doesn’t pray just for personal guidance and fellowship, he beseeches The Lord, “Our Father”, that He would be amongst “us”, His brethren, leading and guiding the congregation, the sheep that He has delivered!
Note “midst of us”, “our iniquity”, “take us”, Moses identifies himself with the people. Moses identifies the same heart within Himself and confesses our iniquity and our sin and our need for The Lord to be among us! He is not better than them or above them or apart from them.
Let us pray together as Moses did to be distinguished in the world by The Lord’s presence! Let us learn to be mindful of Our Father’s constant presence among us. His presence is not experienced by sense but enjoyed by faith!! Let us be careful to pray with the same meekness and humility to be distinguished from the world but not from our brethren.
By faith, may He be in all our momentary thoughts and have all our attention as we walk in His Spirit. By faith may we enjoy Him and all that He is minute by minute…
“O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us!”

The Little Things

Luke 16
10 Who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much…

The very little things. They’re so little. Things that seem unimportant, things that are so menial, boring and basic. They are little things. So little we often miss them, we forget them or we hide them away. We may find them tiring or inconvenient. However, it is these little things that make up the mighty work and testimony of God in a believer.

James 4
14 … What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air].

Let us be found faithful with the little lives that we have. May we never lose the joy of simply having the opportunity to faithfully serve The Lord. No matter the outcome, it is a joy and precious privilege that He would entrust us with His mina, His life, His word and His Spirit! Continue in well doing. Hide yourself in the secret place of His presence. Stay faithful in the little for little is much when God is in it.
Oswald Chambers: My personal life may be crowded with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean, but if I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I shall discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed.
The world observes God in the greater works but it is in the little things that we can know Him.