Tune and Prepare!

I - II - III from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo Having seen the Architect’s plans, how do we turn them into reality? David did not say to Solomon, ‘Be nice and laid back,’ but rather, “Be strong and courageous’ (1 Chronicles 22:13) . The call to build is also a call to battle. The house of God will not build itself. Its construction requires courage, skill and perseverance. Rugged stones have to be fitted together; beams and pillars positioned to take stress, doors built to give access and to bar intruders, windows put in to give light. All this has to be done in the face of opposition. The devil will brutally attack church building from the beginning, but building a house has to go ahead on wet and windy days as well as on bright and sunny ones. Your flesh doesn’t want to get up early in the morning to pray. It doesn’t want to fast. It doesn’t want to resist temptation, so you must show your flesh who is boss! The devil will als...

I - II - III from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo ‘I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the Lord’ (1 Chronicles 22:14). David had fought hard in battle and now he was giving the spoils of those battles to his son to build the temple. He had amassed ‘a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone’ (1 Chronicles 22:14). You can imagine David’s words being spoken to you by Jesus: ‘Now, My child, I have with great pains made available to you everything you need for the house of the Lord.’ Jesus has conquered death for you, provided at terrible cost everything that you could possibly need to get the job done. ‘From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another’ (John 1:16). The supply will never run out. It all seems so difficult, until you realise that Jesus’ resources are available to you without l...

I - II - III from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo God had told David, “Solomon your son is the one who will build my house ... for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father” (1 Chronicles 28:6). David encouraged Solomon by reminding him of that choice. “Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary” (1 Chronicles 28:10). Since God had chosen him, he could be bold. So David exhorted his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you, He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished” (1 Chronicles 28:20). But just a minute - who was this person that God had chosen to build His house? Wasn't he the son of Bathsheba, a woman who should never have appeared in David's history, at all? Why should she be honoured as the mother of the future king? Who was Solo...

I - II - III - IV from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo Prewords for the chapter “Go and make disciples” Relay racing must be among the most exciting of all the competitive sports. I love watching the runners hurtling around the track, slapping the baton into the hand of the next man, panting with exhaustion but straining to see if their team will finally win. Pass the baton The technique of baton-passing is crucial. Teams of athletes who have spent years training for the Olympics can be disqualified if the baton does not get passed correctly. Within brief seconds safe communication must take place from the one who has finished his course to the one who is just beginning. For fleeting moments they run together, then the fresh athlete is away. Races are often won or lost in those vital exchanges. Pure speed around the track can never win such a race. In this team event, you must make sure you have grasped what was passed on to you. ...

I - II - III - IV from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo Make disciples In recent years, ‘discipleship’ has spelled trouble. If you ever mention it in some churches, you are likely to encounter a mass retreat; many cautionary stories have circulated concerning people whose lives have been ruined by so-called discipleship. Through fear of excessive domination of people’s lives, many have steered clear of discipleship, but how can we back off from a subject that is so clearly biblical? ‘Disciple’ is used over 250 times in the New Testament. On ten occasions John the Baptist’s disciples are mentioned, on four occasions Paul’s, while the rest are disciples of Jesus. The Twelve were not told, ‘Go and preach sermons and give out literature.’ They were commissioned to ‘go and make disciples’ ( Matthew 28:19 ), Jesus didn’t want His followers merely to pass on information; He wanted them involved in the formation of lives. So Paul instructed Timo...

I - II - III - IV from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo Working with God When you know that God has initiated a relationship, you can also expect His help. You do not have to make the disciple over-dependent on you. You become a fellow labourer with God in producing another disciple of the Lord Jesus. ‘Who do people say the Son of man is?’ Jesus asked His disciples ( Matthew 16:13 ). Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ ( Matthew 16:16 ). On hearing this, Jesus said to Peter, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven’ ( Matthew 16:17 ). Jesus was the discipler, but Peter found out something that Jesus had never told him. He received a revelation from God. Similarly, when your disciple finds out things you did not tell him, don’t become offended but rejoice that God is working alongside you. Ultimately your goal is to help the new believer hear and obe...

I - II - III - IV from the book: "God Knows You’re Human" by Terry Virgo Close companionship God did not say to Elisha, ‘I think I'll send you to one of the schools of the prophets. Which would you prefer - Bethel, Jericho or Jordan?’ Clearly these groups did exist ( 2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7 ) and accurately prophesied that Elijah would be taken up into heaven. But God wanted Elisha to learn from personal involvement with his anointed servant. He was going to take Elijah’s cloak, Elijah’s place. He was not going to receive information alone; he was going to acquire something of Elijah’s spirit. As a symbol of what was to come, the cloak which Elijah wore was to be placed on Elisha’s shoulders. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church... He is carrying on the work of the Lord, just a...