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Are you Thankfullly Equipped - Part 1

If I came up to you, and gave you a brand new golf club, would you be thankful?  Probably so, even if you don't play the club may have some value if you were to sell it.  But what if I gave you the club and told you we were going to play tennis?  Or maybe I give you a brand new hammer, but then I tell you that you've got to use it to dig a hole?  These tools aren't quite as functional when being used for the wrong purpose and you're not quite as  thankful anymore are you?  Do you think that Jesus properly equipped his disciples and equips us today to do the job he calls us to do?  Let's take a look at a story in Mark 6:7-13 and see.

And he called to the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.  He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in their belts - but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.  And he said to them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.  And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."  So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.  And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

-  The first verse gives the disciples their first tool, which many of us overlook in our lives.  Jesus gave them a team.  They were part of the twelve and he sent them out two by two so that they didn't have to go on the mission alone.  God doesn't call us to do life alone.  We should rely on and be encouragers for our Christian brothers and sisters.  Try teaming up with one or two other people to intentionally share the gospel with someone and see the impact you can have.

-  Jesus also gave the disciples authority over unclean spirits.  In Matthew 10:1, it also says that Jesus gave them the power to heal every disease.  Jesus gave the disciples the tools and abilities they needed to do the job He had called them to do. 

Do you believe that His power is still available to us today?  Absolutely!  So how do we equip ourselves with the tools He provides?
1.  Bible Study:  God's Word is our foundation for understand Him, history, and the world today.
2.  Church:  We have a worldwide (and local) group of people who can work together to serve God, pray for each other, and encourage each other.
3.  Our Skills:  Each of us have different things that we're good at, but we are all good at something.  God designed and formed us to be who we are for a reason.  Use the talents and abilities that He has given you.
4.  Through Jesus:  Our lives are hard.  Living a life intentionally and actively serving God is hard.  But Jesus is our strength.  Jesus told the disciples in Mark 6:31 after they had been out spreading His word, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while."

How much time are you spending getting connected with Jesus Christ in your personal life?  "We must never lose sight of the crucial truth that our most important resource in following Jesus is our access to Jesus Himself." - DP

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