Holy Ambition

In our heart of hearts, most of us want to be used of God.

Holy ambition is good.

The saying is noble: "Only one life to live, will soon be past; only that which is done for Christ will last."

But to be truly successful, it’s not just any "work" we must do for the Lord-- we must do His commanded works!

In order to be used of God and to make an impact on this world, we must be regenerated and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And we will need to learn to hear the voice of God to follow his specific instructions.

Also 2 Timothy 2: 24 packs a lot of basic instruction from the Apostle Paul, who was a mentor to his spiritual son Timothy. In this verse Paul gave four characteristics of a servant of the Lord. He said a "servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient." Paul could put forth a powerful argument, but he did not believe in being argumentative for the sake of arguments, and that’s a big difference.

An argumentative spirit is something to check —our daily performance versus standards in the Word of God.

Secondly Paul said a servant of the Lord must be gentle to all men. I move among some people who are very intelligent and sometimes aggressive, but our gentleness is to be noticed of ALL men.

Thirdly, Paul says we have to remain teachable, and I believe that's a life-time quality. And fourth ...we must be patient. It takes a lot of patience and humility to be exalted by the Lord into his perfect will.

Some things we have to wait for in God. He shows us the headlines of his overall plan for our lives, but the small print has to be walked out on a daily basis of trusting Him. Patience in Hebrew is savlanoot… one of the first words that anybody who studies modern Hebrew must learn.

Dwight L Moody was probably the greatest evangelist of the 19th Century. According to TA Torrey, (one of Moody’s closest friends and ministry partners), God used Moody in such a mighty way for seven reasons. I believe these seven reasons are qualities we must pursue to be used mightily by God.

First of all, Moody was fully surrendered to God. To become fully surrendered doesn’t always happen overnight, but it’s necessary for God to use us fully.

Secondly, Moody was a man of prayer. If we don’t have a prayer life with God, we can never accomplish much for the Lord’s kingdom.

Thirdly, Moody was a deep and practical student of the Bible.

A fourth characeristic of Moody’s greatness was his humility—he was a humble man.

Fifthly, Moody was free from the love of money. No man can be a man of God and no woman can be a woman of God and love money.

A sixth characteristic of Dwight L Moody was that he was consumed with a passion for the salvation of lost souls. Our great mentor Reinhard Bonnke of blessed memory was also greatly used to God because he had the same spirit—a love of souls.

And number seven, Moody was endued with power from on high. Psalm 62: 11 sums up Moody’s life: "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that POWER BELONGETH UNTO GOD."

I am glad power belongs to God. I am glad that power did not belong to D. L. Moody, Reinhard Bonnke or any other man or woman of God. Because power belongs to God!

Power and miracles aren't deposited into our lives by accident. It is true that God gives grace, favor and power to whomever He wants, but He wills to give power on certain conditions clearly revealed in His Word; and we must meet those conditions of holiness, faithfulness, prayer, fasting and obedience.

If we truly know God, we will know his heart and that he loves the nations.

We will be filled with holy ambition.

Furthermore, we will know by the spirit of revelation that God is not finished with Israel but that in our day he is determined that all Israel shall be saved. (Romans 11: 26)

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