Raise The Roof

January 27, 2022

Pastor Ken Brown Jr

Hi this is pastor Ken and these are my thoughts on a Thursday…Raise The Roof! There have been several sitcoms over the years that have made light of a man’s desire to fix what is broken. I remember several different episodes of various shows where the wife does all she can to stop her husband from trying to fix some broken appliance or fixture in their home. The scenes always went something like this…Appliance breaks…husband gets out his toolbox…wife immediately goes and calls repairman before her husband has had time to set his toolbox down and implores him to wait for someone who “knows what they are doing”. Around our home there haven’t been many things that needed to be fixed that I haven’t made some attempt (usually with a fair degree of success) to repair. I have a philosophy when it comes to such things. Whoever made it, or installed it, or built it originally probably wasn’t any smarter than I am so I can probably figure it out. After all, God gave me a brain…and I own lots of tools, soooo… In all seriousness, I have been more successful than not. My wife and children have all made the statement at one time or another that I can fix just about anything. That is mostly true. The real truth is that I can fix or rig most anything to make it work. My wife will tell you that there are a few things around our house that you have to know the right trick to use them. As I have aged and my skills have improved, there are less and less tricks she needs to know to make things operate as they should, and I am getting less resistant to admitting I may not be the best person for every job…though I still and probably always will believe I can fix almost anything. Even for people with my mindset however, there are limitations to what we can do. I can try to fix anything but I will not with my limited ability succeed at repairing everything. What do you believe you are capable of? Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT) Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! According to this scripture, it’s time to raise the roof! What I am capable of in my own power is predetermined by my brains, skill or might, though I may not like to admit it, there is a mark above which I will never surpass, and to some degree that mark is determined by my ability to perceive and my determination to pursue it. Spiritually speaking however, the mark has been determined by One who knows no boundaries. The One who created us. What we can do...or better said...what Christ can do through us is limitless! He says we don’t even know how to imagine what He can accomplish through His working in us. Furthermore, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 that these things unimaginable to me, I was actually created especially for. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Christ has designed me...and you...for incredible tasks well beyond our wildest dreams! Millennia ago Jesus looked across time and fashioned your spirit to be placed in you upon birth, and for that spirit to be made new upon your spiritual rebirth. He did so with a knowledge of who you were, specifically so that you could accomplish the incredible, unimaginable, fantastic good works he needed done in your lifetime, by just a person such as you, to affect the world in which you live. Ephesians 1:4 & 5 says: Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So...what are your dreams? What inklings of greatness would you like to accomplish for Jesus? What desires for ministry (love for others) has He made a part of who you are when He fearfully and wonderfully created you? Not so that you will be recognized as someone great...but so that He would be glorified. I believe those dreams and desires are like matches. They are indicative of what they capable of, but no one looks at a match and sees a forest fire. Your spiritual dreams are only waiting to be struck against your willingness...Christ provides the fuel for the forest fire. He has purposed our lives for so much more than we could ever possibly imagine or attain on our own, and He intends and desires for us to accomplish it all. No Christ follower is created or intended for mediocrity or spiritual boredom. Christ’s plan for all of us is the incredible! He wants to illustrate His boundless power through lives of weakness and imperfection for His glory. Paul wrote that it is in our weaknesses, our imperfections, our inabilities that He loves to show Himself strong, perfect and completely and totally able. So don’t let your perceived inabilities or shortcomings scare you or worry you that you won’t be successful at what God wants to do through you. Paul went on to say in 2 Corinthians 11:30 for that very reason, he chose to tell everyone about his own weaknesses. Like I said a moment ago, God only needs our willingness. After we say yes to Him, the results of the ministry are on Him, our only responsibility is our obedience. Our greatest ability…is our availability. So now, raise the roof! Open the doors of possibility by inviting the all-powerful work of Christ to be accomplished in and through your life…and Go Be Awesome!