Do The Best You Can With What You Have Where You Are Pt 1

open your bibles which mean to judge is the book of Judges at chapter number 3 and verse 31 judges chapter 3 and verse number 31 and after him was Shamgar the son of a Nath which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox gold and he also delivered Israel thank you you may have your seeds megrath withers and the flower fades for the word of our God shall stand forever I want to talk a minute from this subject for the next several Sunday's do the best you can with what you have where you are do the best you can with what you have where you are do the best you can with what you have where you are this this obscure almost incidental story in the book of Judges because Shamgar is not really one of Israel's judges he just shows up doesn't work and you never hear of him again when I was a student at Bishop College dr. Mangrum who taught homiletics would see that to some of us who preached our sermons in class he said maybe God just call you to preached one sermon just preach that one sermon and get out of the ministry you can't preach it just you just gave reached pretty good sign that God called you to preach as you can preach he said maybe you just have one sermon in you he said don't don't feel bad Noah preached the same Sam on 120 years same sermon over and over is going to rain he says so preach over in sermon and get out that might be a word to somebody here who's thinking about what you need to do this this this story of sham gah is one of the most singularly astonishing battles in the history of the Bible there's something wonderful almost miraculous in this strange and unparalleled victory we know next to nothing about this man we don't know his age we don't know where he comes from we know that he's the son of a knife he rises up out of the mist he strikes a mighty blow for the law Lord and then he vanishes back into the myths from whiskey cane and we never hear his name in Scripture again now conditions in Israel at this time were deplorable in sham gars day the filthy worship of bale and Ashtaroth had taken root in the land joshua for all of his great military conquests had failed to clear the land of its pagan population he failed to conquer the coastal cities of Philistia and Phoenicia and the Philistines and the Phoenicians were both deadly foes of the people of God because Joshua never ran them out of the promised land he conquered AI he conquered Jericho he conquered the cities within the land of Canaan the Hittites and the amorite the girgashites and the jebusites but he never count conquered B the outer regions of the camp and for that reason the Philistines and the Phoenicians always troubled Israel there's always an enemy on the outer fringes when you're busy taking care of business on the inside you've got to conquer every foe you've got to destroy every enemy or they will come back seven times stronger than they already were I try to say that well son last week that Joshua was so busy conquering enemies that he never trained a successful and because there was no trained successor they never could defeat the Philistine army nor the Phoenician army because they were so busy on the inside of Kanan that they left the outer fringes untouched and there are some other parts of our lives that we fail to touch and before long that sin will come up and grab you because we try to conquer big sins and leave the little stuff alone but then the little stuff has a chance to grow and get to be bigger stuff and before you know it what you thought you had gotten over comes back to bite you every time I wish I had a witness in somebody ought to help me testify that there was some sin you thought you had gotten over that was some sin you thought you had gotten the victory over you didn't get the victory over as a matter of fact you never even conquered it because it was on the outside of what you were paying attention to and just when you didn't need it to show up it shows up to show you that you're not strong as you really thought you were brothers and sisters whatever you count on as your strengths God will ultimately demonstrate but that's your weakness you are no match for the devil see how quiet you got right there I know you wake up real in the morning and you're spiritual because you're my 7:30 crowd but it's going to get to be 10:30 after wild and 12:30 and then 1:30 in the morning and that sin you thought you had victory over all it takes is the right set of circumstances and what you thought you had conquered long ago will show up in a way that will embarrass you because you did not destroy it from the beginning both of these countries the Philistines and the Phoenicians represent worldliness and dealt with God's people in different ways the Philistines dealt with the people of God by subjection the Phoenicians dealt with them by subversion the Philistines had a quarrel with Israel the Phoenicians gave Israel a queen the Philistines had Goliath the Phoenicians had Jezebel the Philistines use force the Phoenicians use fields and both these countries representing the world can come up in your life and destroy what God has been trying to build because if you do not conquer the enemy he will conquer you now in the midst of this subjection and subversion and force and filth comes this man Shamgar Shamgar is really nobody he's a worker but he's a worker who becomes a warrior and in the hands of God this worker who becomes a warrior becomes a winner because he just takes an ox gold an eight foot long pole that's used to keep accent ploughing and getting their attention he takes this stick this ox gold and uses it to kill six hundred for this fiend he kills him goes off the scene never hear his name again I hear me we determine our future by how we act in the present I need somebody to help me preach it if God would use you listen to me God never chooses a lazy idle person when he's getting ready to use somebody to do a noble work hear me brothers and sisters if you would be trusted you have to first learn to be honest if you would rule over people you must first obey the one who rules over you if you would rise to a more important position you must first feel the place where you are to overflowing with yourself i'ma say that last one one more time if you would rise more important position you must feel the place where you are to overflowing with yourself cuz God will never move you to another place if you're not overflowing where you are I have some preachers around here that's a preacher that I know who want a pastor but they don't like to go to church how are you gonna lead people and you don't want to be led help me preach if you can how are you going to beat over people and you can't be under somebody God ain't gonna move you to a place to do a work and you ain't doing a work where you've been planted until you are overflowing where you are God didn't put you in no where else because one of the requirements of being a pastor is going to church talk back to me if you can on your job you will never move into a higher position until you overflow in the position where you are you got to overflow with yourself you got to fill it with yourself you got to make yourself indispensable because God never calls anybody who is not already doing something you got to be already praying already singing already giving already doing your best already filling your space with yourself do the best you can with what you have where you are and God will move you somewhere else I wish I could help somebody hear this bang yeah it's this this sham god it's in this place in the field working because he's perhaps a farmer he's plowing his field doing what he's assigned to do he's not he's not looking for any trouble but but when a fight comes he's ready you see you got to have courage before the battle you got to be ready to fight before the fight starts it's too late to get ready to fight in the fight someone will help me talk it and as a child of God we've got to fight the devil not on his territory because we can't win on his field but we got to bring in when we have the advantage and we have the advantage on our knees we are more than conquerors on our knees wish I had my 7:30 cry we can fight the enemy best on our knees you ain't got a custom nobody out just pray for you ain't got to go hunt for that boy on the street just pray and ask God to change his heart and and and before you know it you come back home with tears in his eyes and only wise home God was working on him while you on your knees praying because the factual favorite prayers of the righteous availeth much sham God was just doing his work plowing and his for you keeping his oxen in place with his ox gold when a fight broke out and when the fight broke out he did not run because he wasn't a warrior he was just a farmer but a fight broke out and when the fight broke out he got ready and fall and was victorious because he used what he had in his hand now listen don't blame your instruments or your surrounding he didn't say I'm not gonna fight cuz I don't have a soul he thought with an ox go which was not a sword but it's all he had the workman is more than his to the spirit and the skill of the worker towers over his surroundings and his to the man gives value and significance to the instruments that he has in his hand those of us who read the Bible will know that second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are spiritual and mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds come on talk back to me here you don't fight a politician with politics you don't fight a liar with lies come on talk back to me here that's his weapons that's his tool but the weapons of our warfare are not carnal their spiritual and mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against spiritual wickedness in high places and you can't do it on y'all you need some weaponry so Paul tells us what we ought to put on put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil I wish I had a Bible reading put on the helmet of salvation put on the breastplate of righteousness have in your hand the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace all those weapons fit us on the front because we can't turn around you can't fight til you get tired the other fight till you die I wish I had a witness here don't ever turn your back on the enemy cuz you have no defense on your back God's got your back you don't have to stay up at night wearing about who's trying to cut you down I wish I had somebody to help me breathe you don't have to try to return evil for evil just put on the whole armour of God and God will take care of what they're doing behind your back when the wicked even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh I wish I had some noisy just before they got to me God trip they stumble and they fell though our host should encamp against me and this will I be company one thing have our desire to the Lord and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life here it is for in the time of trouble somebody ought to help me I said in the time of trouble he shall listen listen God will hide you in plain sight he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemy then lying on you and you here praising God be trying to cut you down behind your back and you here raising your hands in the church they can't understand why you so happy all the stuff they've done to pull you down I got somebody working on the inside of me no weapon Shawn against me shall prosper Shamgar Shamgar head had nothing but in ox gold but I wanted his the instrument of sham gars assault was not made for the use for which it was put the instrument of sham gars assault was not made for the use to which it was put it was an ox gold for the training of oxen the power was not in the Ox career the power was in the arm and the will of the man who used God consecrates our individuality and he uses it for his glory you don't have to be like anybody else you don't have to have anybody else's gifts you don't have to work with anybody else's tools just use what God put in your hand because the power is not in the tool it's in the hand of the one who uses it let me help you make sense out of this all Abraham had was a stick and a promise but he became the father of many nations all Shamgar had was an ox gold and ice gold in my hand will accomplish nothing but an ox Gold in Shankar's hand will kill six hundred for listing warriors a slingshot in my hand won't even kill a bird but a slingshot in David's hand will kill Goliath who was nine feet nine inches tall the jawbone of an ass in my hand will accomplish nothing but put a jawbone in Samson's hand and he'll kill thousands a nail in my hand will accomplish nothing by Dahlia to put a nail in the hands of a man called Jesus and he will save countless millions because the power is not in the tool but in the man who uses it do the best you can with what you have where you are which leads me to the last thing I want to say use the instrument you best know how to handle use the instrument we best know how to happen let me give you the secret to the greatness of my pastor it I'm a great pastor I am an exceptional leader and let me give you the secret to my greatness I am surrounded by people who have gifts that I allow them to use that's it that's that's it you've got nothing to do with education because some of these preachers got more education in me it has nothing to do with gift because some of them get hollow better than I can it has nothing to do with good looks well I almost said some of them are better looking than I am but that's not true it has nothing to do with appearance with clothes or cars it has nothing it has all to do with I surround myself with people who know how to do what I don't know how to do and they use that gifts to the glory of God and it makes me look like I know what I'm doing somebody ought to help me preach it you don't have to be the smartest person in the room just sit next to him I wish I had two or three witnesses it you don't have to have all the money just sitting next to somebody who got some never be silly enough to end this folk who can do stuff better than you can let them be around you to make you look good fool Oh listen what we want in order to our greatest possible efficiency is not somebody else's way of doing things but our own way of doing things trained and sanctified by the grace of God you may not be as well qualified for the work of somebody else but God does not call the qualified he qualifies the cold somebody should've shouted rather God does not call the qualified God qualifies the cold listen you don't have to be smarter than anybody else just use what you have all Moses had was a rod and a staff but when he used what he had in his hand the Red Sea opened six miles wide and the children of Israel went through on dry ground God said why you're crying to me use what you have in your hand it's not how much money you make is how much money you manage it's not how smart you are is what you do with what God has given you God has given you everything you need to make a fantastic life for yourself but you're holding back because you don't want anybody to talk about you for being great they're gonna talk about you anyway they're gonna lie on you anyway so just go be great and make a mob set with you because that being shot with you is not gonna - your greatness listen to me true genius true genius shows itself in accomplishing grand results with imperfect tools true genius always shows itself in accomplishing grand results with imperfect - this is Black History Month and I'm reading a book entitled first class by a young woman named Alison Stewart first class is the legacy of Dunbar America's first black public high school in Washington DC Dunbar High School still exists in Washington DC it was the first black high school in this country for African American people who taught at that school will qualify to work in their profession but racism which is the birth child of slavery would not allow them who are qualified to work in their various fields of labour the principle at Dunbar was a medical doctor some teachers had their PhDs some of them were lawyers and doctors and could not work in their field so they went to Dunbar and taught other blacks who would get a chance to get out and accomplish but they could not accomplish because they lived in an imperfect society one of the teachers at Dunbar who is the father of Black History Month is dr. Carter G Woodson cottagey Woodson taught at Dunbar in Washington DC with a PhD from Harvard the second black in the country to get a PhD from Harvard the first being w EBD walk one of the ladies there mrs. Brooks had three Doctorate degrees she was one of the 20 pearls one of the organizers of Alpha Kappa Alpha there was another woman there named Eva dykes who had a PhD from Radcliffe who taught Latin and German had the ability to work at the United Nations but because of her skin color taught at Dunbar High School imperfect society imperfect twos but they did not let their impediments stop them from grooming the best and the brightest and brothers and sisters we are where we are today as a people because those old people in our past who didn't have a chance to make it to where we are now prayed that the day would come that we would appreciate the struggles that they made for our liberation they had imperfect tools in my hands they lived in an imperfect society but they trusted God and here we are today as of a great legacy surrogates of a rich history because they use what they had in their hand I'm through now but don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can don't let folk who are evil and mean-spirited change your course don't let people who don't like you stop you from accomplishing your goals I wish I had some help to preach it don't let people who are naysayers a negative tell you that you can't do something we are more than conquerors through him that loved us somebody here came from a bad background you had a bad history in your past but your past doesn't have to determine your future because if you put what you have in your hand and then let God put his hand over your hand you can accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish I said God can hit a mighty lick with a Crooked Stick somebody and hit his one and it was crooked lost and on your way to hell but you came to Jesus and he's making a difference in your life and not only in your life but in the life of your family in the life of your neighbourhood in the life of your community in the life of your workplace because he can hit a straight lik with a Crooked Stick I need somebody here who can remember where God found you I need somebody here who's not too proud to admit I was lost and on my way to hell I had no hope I had no God on my side I thought I was doing pretty good but then one day I met Jesus I wish I had a witness here and there are some people in this sanctuary this morning who got a testimony of what they used to be before they met Jesus Christ you're gonna help me closers want you some folks here used to be drug addicts but they are preaching the gospel now they used to be alcoholics but they are serving on the deccan ministry now they had a baby before they got married but they're singing in the choir now they were divorced but they're serving on the Usher board because God can take you where you are and move you to where he wants you to be is there a witness here that God can take on nobody and make them a somebody so that they can tell everybody about Jesus Christ and when the Lord saves you don't sit down and act like you don't know who brought you when the Lord keeps you don't act like you made it cuz you went to U of H don't act like you where you are because you got your master's degree cuz some folk got a master's degree and don't have a job this morning some people got a PhD and they're living on a street corner this one God's been good too you God let you use what you had in your head and here you are today not as educated as somebody else not as wealthy as somebody else not as good-looking as somebody else not as tall as somebody else don't happens bigger house and somebody else but you've learned to praise God with what he gave you thank you Jesus for what you gave me and with everything I have and with everything that's in me I'm gonna praise your holy name is there anybody here I said is there anybody here willing to use what you have in your hand it may not be much to somebody else but if you put it in the master the hand is there anybody here know God kept you God brought you God forgave you God sanctified you God saved you well now is the time to use what you have you got a voice Jews it now you got some hands Jews a mouth drive somebody shake somebody's hand tell them do the best you can with what you have where you are do the best you can with what you have where you are tell somebody else do the best you can with what you have where you are now if you don't want to do it I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall shall continually be in my mouth or magnify the Lord with me or taste and see that the Lord is good grab somebody else tell them do the best you can with what you have where you are look at somebody else tell them one more time do the best you can when what you have what father one Friday one Friday on the cross Jesus said i'ma do the best I can with what I have well he died didn't he die and God said Sunday morning i'ma do the best I can with what I have where God raised him with all power in his hand one more time shake somebody's hand tell them for me one more time do the best you can with what you have where you are listen my best doesn't necessarily have to be your best God did not call me to do your best he called me to do my best and if when you give the best of your service telling the world that the savior has come be not dismayed if men don't believe you he'll understand and say well done all Shamgar had was an ox good all Samson had was the jawbone of an ass all David had was a slingshot all Jesus had was a cross but he accomplished salvation of the whole world by just doing the best you can with what you have where you are

Channel: lillygrovembc

Views: 148,835

Rating: 4.7308331 out of 5

Keywords: Reverend Terry Anderson Pastor Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church Houston Texas

Id: SsODNUJI6gI

Length: 44min 32sec (2672 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 08 2015