Use What You Got

Intro: Gifted Persons

I am always amazed at people who are able to take just a little amount to items, materiel, budgets, and seeming insufficient things and turn them into incredible works of art, presentations, or events.

My wife in particular like to do event planning, like weddings, parties, etc. She can take items that are random and turn a room into a winter wonderland. My youngest child, has the imagination to create things out of small ideas and turn them into a complete screen play or short story.

An my daughter once took the entire story of Alice and wonderland and created the entire set, costumes and even a dress made out of new paper.

These are just some of the things that people have done with little or no resources. Or what I like to say, "Use What You Got!"

“And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory, by Christ Jesus”. -

SETTING OF OUR TEXT ()-The Need

Exodus 4:1–4 NKJV

1 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ” 2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),

Exodus 4:1–4 NKJV

1 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ” 2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),

Time for the deliverance of God's people had come:

a. God's promise to Abraham - ,

Genesis 15:13 NKJV

13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

Genesis 15:14 NKJV

14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

b. Its fulfillment was at hand - ;

God was looking for a deliverer for His people, so he visits Midian and finds an old shepherd who had a disability, that was attracted to a burning bush. (- The Call)

Exodus 3:3–8 NKJV

3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” 4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

2. The training period for Moses was about over. But Moses felt he was not ready.

3. This was clearly indicated by his answer to God's call to lead his people out of Egypt:

a.

and that I should bring forth the children of

Exodus 3:11 NKJV

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Israel out of Egypt?" -

eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast

Exodus 4:10 NKJV

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

Exodus 6:12 NKJV

12 And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”

God was looking for someone that was not qualified, but someone that He could qualify. He is always looking for those who are not “eloquent in speech” to confound the wise. God is not always looking for the good people to serve him (Bad boys for God)

"WHAT IS THAT IN THINE HAND MOSES?"

1. God said to Moses: “What is that in thine hand?” This question by the Lord reveals His reasonableness in the call:

a. He is willing to use what we have.

b. And therefore God tells Moses and us “Use What You Got!”

God understand the talents and skills that we all posses. He knows our sinful nature and knows what we are easily tempted by. When we look at others and desire their gifts, in a way we are denied what God has given us to use. God is telling us, "Using what you Got!"

b. The rod of Moses was an occupational tool.

Using your talents, skills, and opportunities at school, on our jobs are soul winning moments that is a Biblical teaching.

2. Moses' rod becomes the rod of God:

1) Your talent in music, becomes the voice of God to the hopeless

2) Your kindness and hospitality becomes the heart of God for the weary

3) Your witness for God, becomes God’s tool for the saving of others.

a. The rod was no longer in the common service of the shepherd in the land of Midian.

b. It now became the emblem of redeeming power.

3. The rod of God became the symbol of transformational and saving power:

a. The rod was used by Moses performed miracles - (He Used what He had)

b. Locusts - ,

c. Blood - ,

d. Frogs -

e. Lice -

f. With it he overcame the counterfeit -

WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND STUDENT?

1. God has, in past times, used many tools as common as the rod of Moses:

the rod of Moses:

a. David's sling - ,

b. Elisha's stick - ,

c. Samson's jawbone -

d. Peter's fishing hook -

2. What we possess must be in the service of God to become the symbol of transformational and saving power for others:

the symbol of transformational and saving power for others:

a. We all have some abilities which, if consecrated to the service of the Lord, can become potential for the saving of souls.

the service of the Lord, can become potential for the saving of souls.

b. God speaks to us this morning, asking us, as He did Moses, "What is that in your hand?" Once we know...Then He tells us to “Use What You Got!”

Then He tells us to “Use What You Got!”

If we use what we have, we would not be looking for what others Got!

Example: Student here at Oakwood, I had a reduced meal plan. I had to be creative with my meals. noodles, and grillers. (But I also had to used the juice from the noodles for seasoning other meals)

Your educations now, is part of your Midian training for the needed deliverance of those who are broken hearted.

1. If you are going into financial management, show how God has a stewardship teaching that does not over look those in need and shows how we should manage our funds

2. If you are studying education, use that as an opportunity to teach moral principles that will changes lives

3. If you are going into the medical field, teach the health principles that will extend life, bring happiness, and healthily bodies.

4. If you going into business, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Be honest, loyal and friendly so that people will want to do business with you.

5. If you are studying social work, work with integrity, faithfulness, and always have compassion for those you serve. They are not just numbers.

6. If you are going into communication, tell the story of Jesus, write on the hearts every word, tell of the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard, ” communicate that to the ends of the earth.

7. If you are going to preach the word of God, “be instant in season, reprove rebuke, and exalt with all long suffering, because the time is now that they will not endure sound teachings of Jesus Christ.”

Once you use what God has given you, and it has been consecrated to His service, your little will become much in the Master hand. -

Philippians 4:13 NKJV

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

It is God that makes the simple to be come much…

A rod in your hands is just a good walking stick, but with God it delivered Israel out of the hands of Egypt

A sling and 5 smooth stones in your hands would be an accident waiting to happen, but with God will bring down giants.

A jawbone in your hands would be just a jawbone in your hand, but with God it will slay 1000 men.

5 loaves and two fishes in your hand is an unbalance lunch, but in the hands of God it is a full course meal with leftovers that feeds 5000

A hammer and nails in your hands would be a weekend project gone bad, but in God’s hands it saved the world through His Son on the cross.

3. Our message today, shows very plainly the reasonableness of God:

a. He does not expect of us what we do not possess.

b. But He does ask of us to use what we got to the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind.

-- God uses the weak things of this world to accomplish great things

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 NKJV

27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

“USE WHAT YOU GOT!”

We must never get to the point where we feel that we have a better way of doing things than what God has already proven. The results can be deadly:

"Each member must co-operate with the Holy Spirit in his office work. Let no one feel that he must engage in a warfare at his own charges. To neglect a single means which God has provided, is to exclude the rays of light that should shine forth to the world, and to rob the souls for whom Christ died, of the light of life. Human effort must be combined with divine power." {RH, January 27, 1891 par. 10}

Appeal: You have to use what you got!

In Football They Have A Huddle, The Goal ...

Text Illustration:

“In football they have a huddle, the goal of the huddle is to give you thirty seconds to call the play, that is why they give you a huddle. (At a professional football game there may be ) Sixty thousand people watching you huddle, they don’t mind you taking thirty seconds to call the play. They understand that you have to get organized, you have to know where you are going to go, the ends need to know where they are going to go, the quarterback needs to know where he is going to go, the backs need to know where they are going to go. A huddle is a necessary part of playing the game. But let me inform you if you do not already know, sixty thousand people do not pay $20 a ticket to watch you huddle. See, people don’t come to football games to watch the huddle. They want to see if their team can overcome the opposition who is daring them to snap the ball and move down the field to score. What they want to know is does your practice work? Now what Christians often do is get high on their huddles. We gather together on Sunday morning (Sabbath Morning) and Sunday (Friday Nights) nights and Wednesday nights and we go nuts over the huddle! We say, “Boy did we have a huddle!! My quarterback can call plays better than your quarterback. And boy do we go off on the huddle. But what people don’t seem to understand is, that the huddle is so that we can play the game. The effectiveness of your church cannot be measured by how well you do on Sunday (Sabbath Morning) morning. … The test of the church is what it does in the marketplace. What we need today is churches that are representative of Jesus Christ not only when gathered but when disseminated.” (Dr. Tony Evans. “The Power of God’s People.” (Sermon, 1987 – Church Growth Conference, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Dallas, TX)