Tuesday, June 23, 2015

THE HOLY DEPOSIT


            If you had a large sum of money in a safe inside your house and you guarded it carefully but never used it or invested it, what good would it be?  If it stayed tucked away and was never spent to meet your needs or the needs of others, it would be useless.  And if you didn’t deposit it in an interest-bearing account, it would stay the same throughout the years, never increasing.
            Our lives are the same way.  They are given to us to be used and invested during our time in this world in a way that will make a difference for eternity.  The Apostle Paul said, “for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”  The word ‘keep’ means to guard or preserve.  The word ‘commit’ means to deposit.  When we deposit our lives into God’s hands, He will guard it and see that it is put to the very best use with nothing wasted.  But first we have to commit it to Him.  The most difficult obstacle we face in making that deposit from our hands to His is prying our fingers open so we can surrender it all.  Once we take that step, He can accomplish great things through us. 
            Have you made that deposit yet, or are you still struggling to maintain control of your life?  We may feel safer when we are “in control”, but the fact is there is no way we can truly be “in control”.  Just when I think I have everything going in the right direction, something unforeseen happens to prove me wrong.  When we realize that fact will never change and we lay all our efforts at His feet, we are the safest we can possibly be…and the most useful.  Since nothing takes God by surprise, He can keep everything going in the right direction without anything disturbing His schedule…even our reluctance to surrender.
            As we deposit our lives into God’s hands in full surrender, He deposits His Word and His Holy Spirit in us to allow us to gain the optimum increase.  His dividends are “out of this world”!  It works like this.  We deposit our lives into God’s hands so He can deposit His Spirit and Word in us.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Because from that deposit in us we are to make a deposit into the lives of someone else so they can start the chain over, depositing their lives into God’s hands, receiving His deposit and passing it on.  It’s like the seeds that produce trees that produce fruit that produces seeds that produce more trees…and on and on it goes!  That’s how trees are perpetuated in the earth.  And, spiritually speaking, that is how we perpetuate the Kingdom of God in the earth!
Just think about it for a moment.  Jesus came to earth and chose twelve men whom He took under His wing and deposited into them the Word of God by teaching them and by example.  They left their past behind, deposited their lives into His hands and followed Him.  Eleven of those twelve continued with Him and received His deposit as He poured out His Spirit on them.  From that moment on, they were swept into another life, into another dimension, and they began to deposit the Gospel into the hearts of those around them.  That is why you and I can have this holy deposit today.  It began with their testimony of Jesus and has continued to be passed on all the way down to us.
            From the moment we surrender our lives to Jesus, we no longer continue as we were, because we have entered the Kingdom of God and He is always urging us forward.  He is always teaching us and leading us to the next season in our lives.  And He equips us for whatever work He calls us to, because Jehovah-jireh always provides what we need for the journey. 
            God gave Moses complexly specific instructions on every little detail of building the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, even down to the fringe on the priests’ robes. It must have seemed completely overwhelming.  But God also gave specific men the gifts and abilities to be able to accomplish His plan perfectly.  We read in Exodus 31:1-6, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.  And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee”.
God supplied the men to do the work, but it wasn’t through their own abilities and wisdom.  God had specifically placed the wisdom, ability and understanding in them they would need for the task…by His Spirit.
That is a beautiful example of how God equips us to do His work today.  God gave them abilities by filling these men with His Spirit.  When He calls us, He equips us, and He has called every born-again believer to ministry – to spread the Gospel throughout the earth.  When we say with a sincere heart, “Here I am, Lord; Send me”, He will begin to show us the specifics He has for us.  He will show us our part in fulfilling His great purpose on a day to day basis – sometimes on a minute to minute basis.  And He gives us all we need to accomplish it just when we need it.
So God equips us by depositing in us His Holy Spirit and His living Word -  the same Holy Spirit and the same living Word Who empowered the disciples and the men who worked on the Tabernacle.  When we speak God’s Word, there is power in what we say. 
Even our natural words have a certain power to them.  We can influence a person’s life with encouraging words or discouraging words, with lies or truth.  Just imagine how powerful our words can be when we speak God’s Word with the force of His Spirit in them!  The Word of God is alive!  We need to realize what we have and use it for the glory of God and the perpetuation of His kingdom.  The Spirit and the Word work together in us to help us have understanding into spiritual things.  The Spirit gives us insight into the Word that we would never possess otherwise.  We have wisdom, power and ability by that same Spirit.  We will be called into account for what we have done with that deposit in us.
Jesus told the parable of a nobleman who went on a journey and gave several of his servants money before he left, saying, “Occupy till I come”.  The word ‘occupy’ means to carry on business.  When he returned, the servants showed him the profit they had made from what he had given them, except for one servant who was so afraid he would lose his master’s money, that he wrapped it in a napkin and hid it, then he presented it back to him on his return.
Each servant was given the same amount of money.  Each was expected to invest it while the master was away.  Those who wisely used what they were given had a healthy increase to show and were rewarded with even more.  The servant who didn’t invest what he was given had even that taken from him.
Jesus has given each of us the same amount of His Spirit and His Word to invest in the lives of others.  What are we doing with the Word of God and the deposit of His Spirit within us?  It is up to us to develop it and invest it.  We can’t do anything with what we have on our own, but we can do miracles with what God has given us.
He is saying through this parable that we need to invest what He has given us so it can multiply.  Remember the five loaves and two fish that Jesus used to feed about 5000 men plus women and children?  Remember the oil and meal that was only enough for two little cakes for a widow and her son, but lasted “for many days” for them and the prophet Elijah?  They didn’t have much to give, but God increased it!  God doesn’t ask us to provide what we don’t have.  He wants what we do have so He can work through it.
God doesn’t call just a few to do the Father’s business.  Jesus tells each of us to occupy till He comes, to carry on His business while He is away.  And He expects a return on the deposit He has placed in us.  The more we give, the more we will receive from Him.  If we hide what He gave us, we will lose it.  Are we about our Father's business?  Or have we fallen into the pattern of this world so completely that we have nothing to give?  If so, it’s not too late.  With full surrender we receive His deposit.
None of this information is new.  We know all of these things, but knowledge is not enough.  Jesus expects us to put it into practice and live out what we know.

What are we doing with this holy deposit?