“You take care of yourself.”
Ron Thaxton, PrayWV
Ron Thaxton, PrayWV
They were the last words uttered to me by a
prominent local pastor in the city where I ministered. As I walked away from
the meeting they resonated within my being. I could not help but ask, “Is this
another version of Cain’s dialogue. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Have we been so
long in futile religious pursuits that the question remains unanswered? The
disciples themselves felt the force as they faced a life-threatening storm.
“Master, Don’t you care. We perish.”
There was no carefully disguised faith
confession upon their lips. The turbulent storm had been successful in washing
it from their mouth. They were in trouble. They were about to lose their
ministries, their faith, their lives. Reeling to and fro they soon released all
that could not support nor sustain them. The wind of adversity was blowing. The
waves of calamity could not be restrained. They knew by circumstantial evidence
where they were headed. They were doomed to be swallowed up by yet another wave.
Drowned by yet another unrestrained outpouring. They were shaken. They were
wavering. They were afraid. They were questioning, “Don’t you care?”
What fate awaits us in the turbulent seas
of adversity when leadership boldly declares. “You take care of yourself.”? How
can we take a city, hold to a promise, or continue to stand when the words of
man contradict the Word of God? Can we continue to hide the subtlety of our
real attitudes towards our brothers?
That there should be no schism in the body;
but that the members should have the same care one for another. 1 Cor 12:25
And I will bless them that bless (congratulate) thee, and curse him
that curseth (to be lightly esteemed ) thee: and in thee shall all families of
the earth be blessed. Gen 12:3
By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Prov 11:11
I could not disconnect myself from the void lack of appreciation had caused. Nor could I ignore the cry of many of those in ministry who suffer from the same plight. My remembrance filled with the words the Lord spoke to me while in Uganda a few years ago. “Poverty is not the absence of money. It is the absence of appreciation.”
How my heart leapt when the words hit me. I knew they were true. Appreciation is the recognition of value. Nothing motivates the heart of a child of God like appreciation. Withhold it and watch the results. The King of Sodom experienced the desolation of his city because of it.
Allow this thought to be the fore-runner of that which follows. A
few days later I was in London, England. My heart was heavy over my own
failures and a strange mixture of comments such as those above which draped me
with a veil of hopelessness. Not only was I faced with caring for myself but I had
to encourage and myself as well. I atrophied. Webster’s dictionary gives a fitting snapshot of the scenario, the
failure of an organ or part to grow or develop, as because of insufficient
nutrition I was on the verge of giving
up because of improper nourishment from the body.
Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and
things wherewith one may edify another. Rom 14:19
As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from
your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? ……. If the wicked
restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of
life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. Ezl
33:11, 15
I could not escape the conviction in my own heart nor could I ignore the responsibility we have to deliver a word of warning to those who are on the brink of perishing. The Body of Christ is in desperate need of those who will stand up and blow the trumpet.
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. Ez 33:1-4
Ezekiel relays the Father’s strategy for sparing the land and the wicked. Find someone to do what you are not able and or willing to do. Set someone in place to watch for you. These are not self-appointed watchmen but installed watchmen. They are recognized because the people of the land collectively made note of the gifting. It is not a volunteer post nor is it treated with contempt. There must be an awareness with the people that the sword is coming. To avoid it there must be someone in place who has the foresight to see it coming and the boldness to blow the trumpet with clarity.
Have you heard the sword is coming? Have you found a faithful watchman? Have you set them in place and acknowledged they are there to take care for you? Can they continue to care for you when you refuse to care for them? There must be an acceptance of their gifting and payment for their service.
When the tsunami hit a tidal wave of questions surfaced as well? Where was God? Why was there no warning? Well my friend, God was right there pointing out the way and giving instructions in Ezekiel 33. He said I told you to choose a watchman and set them in place so they could warn you. How many people, churches, cities, nations and continents are refusing to walk in this simple life-saving instruction?
Can we take a city we refuse to protect? Can we protect it outside of Godly counsel and instruction? Can our leaders, pastors and churches stand against the sword of God if we refuse to hear and carry out his instructions?
On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the
people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should
not come into the congregation of God for ever; Because they met not the
children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them,
that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.
Neh 13:1,2
It’s time to take inventory. Are the wages of the laborer being withheld?
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Js 5:4-6
This is a wake up call for every church and church leader. Board of elders. Deacons. Take note of your responsibility in the distribution of funds. Are the labourers (please note this is plural) being compensated? If not hear the Word of the Lord, “the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” The sword is coming. Take warning. Give back that which is robbed.
Set
5414 יָתַן, יָתַן, נָתַן [nathan /naw·than/] v. A primitive root; TWOT
1443; GK 3851 and 3852 and 5989; 2008 occurrences; AV translates as “give” 1078
times, “put” 191 times, “deliver” 174 times, “made” 107 times, “set” 99 times,
“up” 26 times, “lay” 22 times, “grant” 21 times, “suffer” 18 times, “yield” 15
times, “bring” 15 times, “cause” 13 times, “utter” 12 times, “laid” 11 times,
“send” 11 times, “recompense” 11 times, “appoint” 10 times, “shew” seven times,
and translated miscellaneously 167 times. 1 to give, put, set. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to give, bestow,
grant, permit, ascribe, employ,
devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over,
deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention,
utter, stretch out, extend. 1a2
to put, set, put on, put upon, set, appoint, assign, designate. 1a3 to make, constitute. 1/30/05
