Who Will Go?

By Mark Brazee

"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:1-8).

In the book of Isaiah God showed us a picture of the prophet Isaiah. He was called, he was anointed, he was walking in his gifting, in his calling. But suddenly, God brought Isaiah into a greater contact with Himself. Isaiah had a vision: he saw the throne of God with the angels crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts." He saw the glory of God rolling in, and it was so strong that the door posts shook. Suddenly Isaiah realized how limited he was. He started thinking about himself, and said, "Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Oh God, you're so high and lifted up. You're so lovely and so holy. I've made mistakes. I have shortcomings and faults and failures." I'm sure Isaiah thought of a thousand excuses. But while he was thinking of his excuses, God gave him the cure for all of them. An angel took a live coal off the altar, and put it on Isaiah's mouth. The angel said, "Your sins are forgiven and your iniquities are cleansed." Then God had a question: "Now-who will go?" And Isaiah made the correct response-with no excuses, "Here am I, send me."

That was thousands of years ago, but God is still asking the same question today, "Who will go?" In Matthew 9:35-38, the scriptures state, "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said, "...The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." Jesus was looking at the harvest, and He turned to His disciples and said, "I want you to start praying for laborers." Jesus was looking at the harvest, but He was not just looking at the few thousand people standing in front of Him. Matthew 13:39 says, "...The harvest is the end of the world...." Jesus was also looking down the road to our day. Jesus has had people praying for laborers-they've been praying for us for 2000 years.

Time is short. Hosea 6:2 says, "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." The Bible informs us that after the first 2000 years God will refresh us, and during the third 1000 years Jesus is coming back. We are the first group of people

to come into the third day-the third thousand years after the first coming of Jesus. We're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. When Jesus walked on the face of the earth, there were only 250 million people. This is the first time in the 6000 years of the history of recorded humanity that there is a six billion soul harvest available on the face of the earth, from our backyard to the uttermost parts of the earth. And I heard someone say that five billion have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They've never come into contact with the Good News; they are still waiting to hear. We have the message, we have the Good News; they have the open hearts. And God is still saying, "Who will go?"

Sometimes when I'm praying I can almost hear wailing in the background-it's the cries of the lost. They're out there in false religions and in cults because they're hungry for God. And I believe God is asking, "Who will have compassion on the lost, and the sick, and the dying, and the poor, and the oppressed? Who will pay the price to start reaching lost souls and nations that have never heard the Gospel?" China, with 1.3 billion souls, is about to open. Burma is wide open. Cambodia is coming open. All the Asian countries, the European countries, the American countries, the African countries, the Australasian countries are open wide for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is saying, "Who will go?"

There is no such thing as a hard place. The right key will open any door, and Jesus said, "...I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" Matthew 16:19, NKJ. God is looking for people with confidence in the Name of Jesus, confidence in their authority, knowing who they are in Christ, what they can do in Christ, what they can have in Christ-and who they can reach in Christ.

There are nations that have never had a major move of God. I don't know about you, but that excites me. God is looking for a pioneer generation. He is opening the harvest barn doors and bringing out some harvesting equipment that no one has ever run with before. We've come to the kingdom for such a time as this. God is looking to see who will not be content with the mediocre, but will contend for the supernatural. Let's hear from heaven and do it God's way. He's looking for someone who won't lean back and say, "Well, they've always done it this way, and we don't want to rock any boats." There's nothing that will rock a boat like wind and waves, and there is a Holy Ghost wind blowing, and there are some Holy Ghost waves coming.

God is saying, "Who will go? Who will labor in the Word and in prayer so they always have something fresh from heaven to give to the world? Who will not be talked out of My windows of opportunities-My open doors? Who will lay aside lame excuses-'I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too rich, I'm too poor, I'm too educated, I'm too uneducated, I have too much experience, I have no experience, I'm married, I'm not married, I can't speak the language?'"

Some will say, "But I'm not called to the fivefold ministry. I'm not called to go to the nations." But all Christians are called to go to our world-our neighbors, our job, or our city. Jesus said. "...You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" Mark

16:15, The Living Bible. We cannot see ourselves or our circumstances through natural eyes. We must see as God sees. When Jesus looked at Simon, He called him "Peter-the rock." Peter made mistakes. Jesus knew Peter would deny Him three times on the night when He was betrayed, but He still called him "Rocky." Jesus saw Peter not as he was, but as he was going to be-a leader of the Church. We may think we're not equipped, but we're more equipped than 99% of the people in the world today. When we start thinking "I can't do this," look for that angel with the live coal in his tongs. God will show up with a couple of coals of fire, put us back in our prayer closet, and bring us back out like we ought to be.

We're living at the end of the age. This may be the last generation to walk on the face of this earth before we are caught up to meet Jesus in the air. But we have a job to do. Matthew 24:14 says, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;

and then shall the end come." We're not going home without our harvest, and we're not going home without our soulwinner's crown waiting for us.

I'm telling you that of all the generations in the history of mankind, this is the generation where God is crying the loudest-"Who will go?" God is saying, "I've saved you, I've filled you with the Holy Ghost. I've spent years preparing you. I've had people praying for you for 2000 years. You have heard the message. You have seen My glory. You have experienced My power. You have come into contact with My fire. Now who will take it to the far reaches of the earth? Who will go?" And God is looking for a generation-like Isaiah-who will say with no excuses, "Here am I, Lord. I'll go! Here am I, send me!"

Walking Free from Offense

Part 2

by Janet Brazee

The apostle Paul said in Acts 24:16 "...Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men." If the apostle Paul had opportunities to be offended, then think it not strange when we have opportunities! But we don't have to fall into those traps set by the enemy. We can choose to walk victorious and free in every area of our lives-even in the area of offense.

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus taught us to "...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Praying is the last thing we feel like doing when someone has offended us, but that's where praying in tongues becomes such a help. A few years ago I had an opportunity to be offended by some things I had heard were being said. I found myself consumed with those thoughts which opened the door to hurt feelings and resulted in a pity party all by myself. But suddenly inside I heard these words, "Keep yourself in the love of God praying in the Holy Ghost." At that moment I had not been thinking anything "spiritual" so I knew it wasn't just me thinking those words. My helper-the Holy Ghost-was endeavoring to help me! So I began to pray in tongues quietly. After awhile I drifted off to sleep and when I awoke, that hurt, sadness, and heaviness was gone! It was a supernatural transformation! But I had a choice-I could have continued to meditate on wrong thoughts and imaginations or I could pray in the Holy Ghost!

The choice is always up to us. We have a choice everyday to be offended. Maybe someone is not treating us right at work. Maybe we are being cheated out of some commissions. Pray! We keep ourselves in the love of God by praying in the Holy Ghost. Praying in tongues will help keep our hearts right and will turn situations around.

Jesus went on to teach us in Mark 11:25-26, "...When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." We must forgive others. Offenses are not worth holding on to. They're not worth getting sick over. They're not worth having our faith not work. God wants to bless us; He wants to answer our prayers, but we must line ourselves up with the Word of God to be in line for the blessings of God. Often times those closest to us become the greatest source of offense-whether it's those with whom we work or even our spouse. Shortly after Mark and I were married one day we stopped at our favorite place for lunch. As I was eating my salad, Mark looked at me and said, "Man, you're

going through that salad like a mowing machine." I couldn't believe it, and I thought how could he say that to me? I was highly offended, but I didn't say anything-I just kept eating my salad. But tears began to flow down my cheeks and drip into my salad. Now I realize he didn't mean it the way it came across but I had a choice to make. I could either not speak to him the rest of the day or I could just get over it. I chose to get over it! Psalm 119:165 has become a favorite verse, "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."

Walking free from offense is a choice-what do you choose?

Inviare a pastore.enzo@tiscali.it un messaggio di posta elettronica contenente domande o commenti su questo sito Web.
Ultimo aggiornamento: 03-08-06