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| Jesus sends out His disciples |
There was no electrical power, no plumbing, no phones. Their purpose was to build shelters for the villagers whose homes had been destroyed in the devastating earthquake of 1976. It had killed 30,000 people and left 1,000,000 homeless. They carried in materials and were building small, one-room homes for the villages during the daylight hours. In the evenings they would hold services in the center of the village.
They had been ministering for one week with very few people coming to Christ. The people were listening, but not responding.
He was to preach on the final night of our trip. Just as the service was about to begin, a team member told him about a little girl, six or seven years old, tied to a tree on the far side of the village. When they asked the family that lived there, "Why is this small girl tied to that tree?"
"She is crazy," the parents replied. "We can't control her. She hurts herself and others and runs away if we turn her loose. There is nothing else we can do for her so we just have to tie her up."
A few minutes into His message, standing on a folding table under the stars, the Holy Spirit spoke to him again:
Tell them you are going to pray for the little insane girl across the village tied to the tree. Tell them you are going to do it in the name of this Jesus you've been preaching about. Tell them that through Him you are going to break the evil powers controlling her-that when she is free and normal, they can then know that what you are preaching is true. They can believe that the Jesus you are preaching about is who you say He is. Remember what I said to you before the trip began? Represent Jesus.
Faith began to rise. The emphasis is not on me in this situation, I thought, but on the One who sent me. I am simply His spokesman. I merely release what He has already done. He has finished the work of delivering this little girl; my prayers release the work. I'm only a distributor of what He has already produced. Be bold, sent one. Enforce the victory!
With new assurance he began informing the people about what he was planning to do. They nodded in recognition as he mentioned the girl. Expressions of intrigue turned to astonishment as they listened to his plans.
Then he prayed. Jesus came out of hiding. He became alive: Relevant...Sufficient...Available!
For the first time he understood the heavenly pattern: Jesus is the Victor-we're the enforcers; Jesus is the Redeemer-we're the releasers; Jesus is the Head-we're the Body.
Yes, He set the little girl free. Yes, the village turned to Christ. Yes, Jesus prevailed through a sent one. So the partnership goes on-God and humans: Our prayers of intercession release Christ's finished work of intercession. His work empowers our prayers-our prayers release His work. Ours activates His-His validates ours.
In Kingdom Enterprises we're in distribution. He's the generator. We're the distributors.
There are many wounded and hurting individuals "tied to trees" around the world. You work with some, others live across the street. One of them probably just served you in a check-out line, seated you in a restaurant or served you food. Their chains are alcohol, drugs, abuse, broken dreams, rejection, money, lust....Well, you get the point.
Plan A is for supernatural, but ordinary people like you and me to: (1) wholeheartedly believe in the victory of Calvary-to be convinced that it was complete and final and (2) to rise up in our role as sent ones, ambassadors, authorized representatives of the Victor. Our challenge is not so much to liberate as to believe in the Liberator; to heal as to believe in the Healer.
Plan B is to waste the Cross; to leave the tormented in their torment; to scream with our silence: "There is no hope!"; to hear the Father say again, "I looked, but found no one"; to hear the Son cry once more, "The laborers! Where are the laborers?"
Come on Church! Let's untie some folks. Let's tell them there is a God who cares. Let's represent-let's mediate-let's intercede!
Shalom,
Rev. Obadiah Swen
Pastor, Bethel World Outreach Church - Virginia
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