Have you ever wanted to live for God but felt overwhelmed by his
calling? Have you ever had the
desire to change the world only to look at the task at hand and discover that it
was impossible for you to accomplish?
In the Christian life it is easy to view ourselves as just one person
that can’t possibly have a major impact on the world.
But can I urge that as common as these thoughts seem to believers they
are wrong. In John chapter 6
starting in verse 1, we see the story of Jesus feeding the multitude that had
come to hear him speak. As Jesus
looks upon the multitude he asks, “Whence shall we buy bread that these may
eat?” As you continue through this
passage Simon Peter gives the answer that I believe many believers give God
today when he calls them to action.
Verse 9 says, “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and
two small fishes: BUT WHAT ARE THEY
AMONG SO MANY?” The five loaves
and two fish were all that this little boy had, but he was willing to give them
to Jesus. The boy gave them to
Jesus and he multiplied them so much so that it fed the whole crowd and there
were 12 buckets of fragments remaining.
I believe that we can learn so much from this young boy’s giving heart
and this passage. God is not asking
us to change the world; he just wants us to give our lives to him.
He does not expect us to have all the tools to accomplish this great
task; he just wants us to lay down everything we have at his feet.
If God can take five loaves of bread and two fish and feed a crowd of
5,000 plus, imagine what he can do with the lives of believers that are fully
surrendered to his service.
The great basketball Coach John Wooden once said, “It's the little
details that are vital. Little things make big things
happen.”
You may look at your life and think that there is nothing significant in
it that God could use to do a mighty work, but can I tell you that you are
Wrong! God desires that we
surrender to him the little bit that we have no matter how insignificant it may
seem. After all, we could never
change the world on our own no matter how great we may think we are, because
Jesus Christ is the Hero. It’s all
about him, and it is by his power alone that we may see revival in our day.
As believers we must remember that we are not going to reach the whole
world with the Gospel in one day, but that does not mean we should be
discouraged. God’s word teaches us
that our goal to reach the world should be one person at a time.
Luke 15:10 says, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
I challenge you not to become overwhelmed with the task, but be willing
to give God your five loaves and 2 fish and watch the amazing things that he can do
with them. Just imagine if you made
it a goal to share the Gospel with just one person a day, then at the end of a
year you will have shared the Gospel with 365 people.
One a day does not seem like much, but look at how much your faithfulness
to God would multiply overtime. My
prayer is that as the body of Christ we would become just like the boy in John
Chapter 6, that we would place everything we have into the hands of the Master
and let him do exceedingly great things that we could have never even
imagined.
God Bless you all,
Corbett Casteen
I’ve been struggling recently with being able to understand God’s
plan. His word teaches us that
when we call upon him he hears our cries and answers them.
As many of you know my family, our church, and this world lost a great
man this week in Doug Lewis. I am
sure that many of you, as I did, poured your heart out to the Lord in prayer for
Doug. As I became aware of the
fact that a cure was not to be I really struggled with understanding God’s plan
in this situation. I know that
God’s plan is perfect and that he doesn’t make mistakes but I could not
understand why with so many people praying and such a Godly man suffering God
would allow this to happen. That is when the Lord opened my eyes to a very
well-known verse that I had never considered in this way before.
Proverbs 3:5
says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding.
That is when I realized my problem, God never promised that we would understand his ways, but
he did assure us that they are perfect.
In fact the bible even tells us that God’s ways are higher than our ways
and there are certain things on this Earth that we may never understand until we
see Christ in Glory. God’s
knowledge and plan is so much greater than ours that we cannot even begin to
comprehend it. This verse teaches
us not to rely on our own understandings but rather, place our trust fully in
God that his plan is perfect and that what he has done has a purpose. We do not have to understand why, but
just trust that regardless of the outcome God’s way is best.
Even when you are hurting trust that God's way is perfect and even
through heartache know that God is working out his perfect plan to further his
kingdom.
Romans 8:28 And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose.
In the most difficult times of life we must place our trust completely in
God because he is never caught by surprise, but is always in control and we find
our strength to carry on in him alone.
When our world is shaking be sure and know that God is still on the
throne.
I am so grateful for the time and the relationship that God allowed me to
have with my Uncle Doug. I will
truly miss him. He was such a
Godly example that I was able to look up to from a young age.
Doug made a big impact on my life and I can honestly say that I am
stronger in my walk with Christ today because of his influence.
I will always remember his wisdom and guidance that he shared with me
when I sensed the Lords calling upon my life to go into the ministry. I love and will miss Doug, but I know
that he is better now because he has seen the face of the one he lived his whole
life for.
Psalm 116:15- Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of
his saints.
-Corbett Casteen
With Easter coming up this week I have been reading through the accounts
in the gospels of what Jesus went through leading up to the crucifixion. All of the pain and suffering that he
endured for sinners like you and me.
It made me stop and think that often times as Christians we lose sight of
just how much was sacrificed for us.
We have heard the story so many times and know it so well that we almost
become numb to what actually happened.
So I believe if we truly examine the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ it
will be a humbling experience that has the power to change the way we live our
Christian lives forever. If you
are reading this and are not yet a Christian I want you to understand that Jesus
endured all of this for YOU, yes you, so that one day you could spend eternity
with him in Heaven.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to this Earth and lived a perfect
life not even sinning once. But he
was sent by his Father for a reason.
That reason was to save the souls of men, and to be the propitiation for
their sins. When the hour came for
him to be offered up Jesus prayed to the Father “If it be possible let this cup
pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:39. Jesus submitted unto the Father because
he knew that there was not any other way because he was THE WAY.
John 14:6 I am THE WAY, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father but by ME. Jesus was aware
of the trials he was going to face, but he was sent to do the will of the Father
and to demonstrate the love of God to you and me.
As Jesus was arrested and came before the council they bare false witness
against him, mocked him, spit in his face, and then crowded around him and began
to strike him with the palms of their hands. Then Jesus was sent before Pilate and
he gave him over to the soldiers.
They took Jesus and put a robe upon him and pounded a crown of thorns
into his head. The soldiers once
again began to mock him and spit on him.
They removed his robe and beat him with a cat of nine tails that tore the
very flesh off of his back. Then
he was lead up to a place called Golgotha where he was nailed to a cross and
hung there and died. Jesus went
through all of these physical sufferings but do you know that there was
something that he had to bear that was even worse. Isaiah 53:6 says, “And the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” As Jesus was dying on the cross every
sin that you and I will ever commit was laid upon him.
He had to bear the burden, the grief, and the sorrow of all of our sin at
one time. Jesus was innocent he
did not deserve to die, but he went through all of that suffering for you and
me.
Isaiah 53:5 says but he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes we are healed.
Jesus went through all of this suffering so that he could pay the price
for our sins. Through his shed
blood we can receive forgiveness and eternal life, but we must accept his gift
to receive it. If you’ve never
asked Jesus into your heart and to forgive you of your sin and become your
personal savior I can think of no better time than Easter.
Because although Jesus was crucified he rose from the dead on the third
day and he is alive today.
As Christians my prayer is that our eyes would be opened to
exactly how much it cost for us to receive salvation.
We are truly bought with a price and I hope that we do not take that for
granted. God held nothing back he
gave it all for us. We are forever
indebted to Jesus Christ for the price that he paid, and we ought to give him
everything we have. Every day when
we wake up we should remember just how much it cost for us to be Children of God
and live with a purpose because of that.
“For whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Luke
12:48. We have been given so much
that we are unworthy of, it is only right for us to do our part to fulfill God’s
plan.
Amazed by his Love,
Corbett
Time is precious. It is one of the most valuable resources on Earth and once it is gone you cannot get it back. Yet so often it seems as if it is taken for granted. Society as a whole has lost the value of time and this is including Christians. The world is trying to capture us with things that are seemingly unimportant to occupy and distract us from the work that God has called us to do. I feel like so often our schedules are so busy between school, work, or other activities that our mindset for the day is just to get through it. I find myself doing this from time to time and I have come to the realization that it is totally wrong.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
God has a plan for each and every one of us for every day. He has us in the situations we are in for a reason and as Christians it is our responsibility to bring glory to him with every aspect of our lives. This is not an easy task, but the time to get determined and do it is NOW!
Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of God shall stand forever.
Our lives are just a short time (but a vapor compared to eternity), but God’s Word and what we do for him will last for eternity. No man knows what tomorrow holds. Not a single one of us is guaranteed another day. If today was your last day on Earth and you stood before God would you be content with how you served him on this Earth? If not today is the day to change that because we don’t know how much time we have left. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and have to look back and wonder what if I had given my all for the cause of Christ, because then it is too late. I also believe it is very important to never underestimate the value of a single day. The world can change in just one day. Christ’s birth, death on the cross, and Resurrection are examples of three days that change the world forever. On the DAY Jesus rose from the dead he changed the course of mankind forever. He gave every individual form the beginning of time to the end of time freedom from sin, a hope for tomorrow, and most importantly eternal life for all who believed. Just like Christ did, we as Christians can still have a major impact on the world today. It only takes one day for a person to get saved and when that person gets saved not only does it change their life, but it also changes where they will spend eternity. So as Christians it is time for us to start living and proclaiming the gospel urgently. NOW is the time to live with spiritual tenacity because it may be the only time that we have. Just think God created the whole entire Earth in just 7 days! Imagine what he could do with your whole life if you would just place it in his hands. I pray that TODAY every Christians will step up and live up to the greatness that God has given them. DON’T WAIT BECAUSE IF YOU DO IT MAY BE TOO LATE!
May God Bless and do a work in each and every one of your lives,
Corbett Casteen
Philippians 2:17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.
I surrendered my life to the Lord when I was 16, at the Bill Rice Ranch. For me that day it was all about giving my life and future to God and no longer pursuing my own selfish goals, but rather choosing to seek God's will for my life. I wanted to honor God with my life, but was I really willing to do anything that he called me to? I can honestly tell you that up until recently that answer was no. I believe that I, as many Christians are today. was willing to give God my life as long as I could still somewhat be in control and if whatever his will for my life was in some way still benefited me. However, it is easy to see upon close examination that what we call surrendering in fact is not surrendering at all. God wants to be in control of every single aspect of our lives. I can promise you one thing, he can do a lot more with our lives than any of us can. But the big question is are you really willing to surrender your life fully to God even if it may mean sacrificing your life as you know it in order to fulfill his calling? Are you willing to follow God's will even if it means that to the world you maybe seen as insignificant? Are you willing to answer the call even if that may lead you to a strange country which is out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to die to self and live with reckless abandonment because the cause of Christ and spreading of the Gospel is more important than the very life that you have? For many of us we may say yes I am willing, but do our lives really back our commitment? When the time comes will we really be ready for the sacrifice? I agree this is not an easy thing to do, and one of the first questions is why. When deciding if living a fully surrendered life is worth it, I believe many people come to the question of why should I? I believe this question is answered in Philippians 2:5-9
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 6 who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.
As Christians we are to be "Christ Like" and as you see in vs. 5 it tells us we ought to have the same mind in us as Christ had. Jesus is the Son of God yet he came to Earth in a lowly fashion, served others, humbled himself and was OBEDIENT even though his obedience lead him to death on the cross. He could have came to Earth as king, ruler of all, he could have reigned over those who persecuted him yet he endured affliction. Jesus Christ came to this Earth with one purpose, to fulfill his fathers will. And as we see in the garden before his death that it may not have always been what he wanted, but regardless of the cost he was obedient to his father. Jesus Christ loved us so much that he held nothing back. He gave it all for us and we ought to give our all for him. When we reach the point where we realize that nothing we face is greater than our God, and that we love him so much that no sacrifice is to great, then we will be FULLY SURRENDERED Your faithfulness will be rewarded by God one day, just as Christ's was and is (VS 9). God Bless and may he do a work in each and everyone of your lives.
Forever Indebted,
Corbett Casteen
|
RSS Feed