Greetings,
Last week I presented that we as leaders must know how to keep our hearts spontaneous, deep, full, broken, and fervent in the life of God. We must lead others to keep their hearts in this same way so the issues of life flow through us all for the wellbeing of others in this world. Today I want to talk about implementing our hearts as a weapon of life.
A leader must know how to activate God’s weapons of life. I believe that Isaiah chapter 12 is a wonderful illustration of using the heart as a weapon of life.
Isaiah 12:1 And in that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.”
We must have a perspective in life that testifies of the fact that God is not angry with us. He is not angry with people. He desires to comfort us in all things. He doesn’t want us to look for love in the wrong places. He wants us to come to Him, because He cares for us. As leaders we must lead with this perspective.
Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; “For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ”
There is no situation in life where God is not big enough or great enough to reveal His salvaging plan. He is able to save any soul or any situation. This understanding should flow from our hearts like a song that can be heard by everyone around us. Have you ever been around someone who was singing a ‘catchy tune’; whether the song was good or bad, you went away stuck with the melody in your mind? What if we the song was one of life? I am not talking about necessarily literally singing, but I am talking about an attitude of the soul. A prosperous spirit will spawn a prosperous soul and prosperous soul will influence the lives of others around them.
Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
If we are to draw water we must make some action to reach the water. To draw water from a well you need a bucket, a pump, or some means of reaching the water and bringing it back to you. The water of life is within us, but we must activate the flow. We must seek to draw that water of life from within us and from within those around us. Joy is the key to drawing that water. Joy is the ‘bucket’; joy is the ‘pump’. We must be diligent to exercise joy in all that we do.
Isaiah 12:4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted.”
To activate the weapons of life within us we must call upon the name of the Lord. We must make declarations of His wonderful acts in our lives. We must make mention that He is awesome in our lives. Calling, declaring, and mentioning are all things we do that release the life of Christ within us. I am not talking about being religious; I am talking about letting God be the center of all that we say. You don’t have to be religious to talk about your best friend. Your best friend would prefer that you just be you and that you just be real. A perspective of life around negative people will inspire them to wonder about the source of your attitude. God is mentioned in the book of Esther without ever using His name.
Isaiah 12:5, 6 Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
The excellent things of God are known in all the earth if we will look for them. We should pay more attention to the excellent things of God and less attention to the bad news of man. If we focus on and declare the good things of God, the world around us will change. We can be a stronger force than the negative media of the world. We need to cry out and shout. This is not a crying out from despair or a shout from trouble. This is like the crying out and shouting that you do for your favorite sports player of team. In the Seattle area we know the power of the twelfth man! The Holy One is in our midst! He is in our lives and we should make mention of it in a life-giving, non-religious way. Life is real and what better life can there be than to have the King of glory in our midst!
Food For Thought
Ted J. Hanson
House of Bread Ministry and Christ Life Training are venturing into some very important areas pertaining to the future generations of the church. We are empowering people today for the generations of tomorrow. I have some very significant projects developing with many peoples in Europe, Africa, and some Latin American cultures. This also means that my expenses to reach these places have increased and there is a need for financial resources. If you are able to partner with me with a one time donation or an on going financial support, it will be greatly appreciated. You can make donations through the donation link on this page. Thank you so much – Ted Hanson
