News and Updates
November 1, 2020
David Copeland · November 1, 2020
Newsletter · Volume: 20 Issue: 11
I recently began a personal study of the Gospel of Mark and didn’t have to go very far to find something I’ve never seen before. Mark begins his writing by cutting straight to the ministry of John Baptist, declaring him to be “the voice of one crying in the wilderness… “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make His paths straight!”
John was always known as a forerunner. He knew that was exactly what his ministry was to be. He told his disciples and all the people so in vs. 7:
“And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.”
Every generation is the forerunner of the next generation. What we do with Jesus, the message of Jesus, the life Jesus pours into us, (and how we express it) sets the stage for the next generation….it creates the foundation for them to stand on.
I want the next generation to stand on my shoulders to go higher in God than we are now.
Because…every generation stands on the shoulders of the last generation and declares the coming of Jesus Kingdom and the right now works of God.
My question is: are we giving them a firm foundation to stand on? No foundation can any man lay other than the foundation of Jesus Christ.
What are we doing with the assignment God has given to us to fulfill? Am I giving the next generation something solid to stand on?
1 Cor. 3:10-15
“10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” NKJV
How do we give the next generation a solid foundation?
1.Accept WHO God called has called you to be…..
and WHAT He has called you to be.
STOP COMPARING YOUR LIFE & MINISTRY TO OTHERS!!! You are a son!
1 John 3:1,2 Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God….
2.Beloved, now are we the sons of God: and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is!
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
2.Accept the limits to your assignment. Ephesians 4:7
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. My definition of grace in Ephesian 4:7 is “a Divine distribution of God’s ability to be who He has called us to be, do what He has called us to do, have what He has called us to have and to accomplish what He has called us to accomplish.”
God will never strengthen you to fight a battle He has not called you to fight, nor will He anoint you to stand in a place He has not called you to stand.
There is a measure to your grace. A limit to the anointing God has called you to carry and what He has called you to accomplish. There is no shame to admit and embrace that. Because God doesn’t give you the anointing to make you famous, He gives you the anointing to meet the needs of the people and to make Jesus famous!
Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed by that.
3.Be faithful to the assignment God has called you to.
One day John’s disciples were upset because Jesus’ ministry was exploding and John’s ministry looked like it was imploding. They came to him in John 3 and basically asked you, “what are you going to do about this?”
John looked at them as only a mature spiritual father could do and said these words:
“A man can receive nothing unless it be given to him from heaven.” John 3:27
Don’t get sideways with God because promotion has not come in the way you thought it should! Accept who you are and who He has called you to be. Don’t be embarrassed by the limits to the anointing on your life. You are NOT anointed to touch and reach everyone; but you ARE anointed to touch and reach someone! Be faithful to the assignment He has given you. Then when this life is over, we will hear those words I am longing to hear,
“Well done, good & faithful servant.”