Have you ever considered the fact that John the Baptist had no mentor?
Moses had Jethro, Elisha had Elijah, Joshua had Moses and Timothy had Paul, but what of John the Baptist? It seems he had no fleshly mentor in this world.
After four hundred years of spiritual darkness, John the Baptist steps on the stage. In his lifetime, the people of God were in a spiritual, economic and political wilderness.
John was a solitary figure, content to be alone with God in a desert place.
And it’s important to realize that John the Baptist did not think of the wilderness as a prison, that he wasn’t banished to the wilderness, rather he enjoyed the wilderness lifestyle. He loved the solitude of the wilderness, and he fostered a sense of intimacy with God there.
He was away from the religious systems of his day, away from his family and away from the politics and news of the day. He was alone, with God. And in that wilderness, God spoke with him, molded him and shaped him into His image.
Instead of organizing a bunch of people, sometimes God takes individual men, gets them alone, and molds them as he sees fit.
• He takes Moses to the backside of the desert until he is ready to become a great deliverer.
• Leads John the Baptist into a wilderness until the day of his showing forth.
• Leaves Jesus in thirty years of obscure training before he ever ministered.
• Lands Joseph in a pit and a prison, before he found purpose and the fulfillment of his dreams.
And I really believe God used all of these horrible circumstances in these men’s lives, just to get them alone with Him. God brings them away from their religious systems, their families and all outside influences so he can mold them into His image.
The separation is necessary because, without it, there is just too much spiritual noise that drowns out God’s voice to these men.
God wants men and women who are patterned after His image. Christians who will follow His will. People who will submit to a wilderness experience, and love it.
I believe we benefit from godly mentors. I also believe there are times when God calls us into wilderness experiences just so that he can speak special things to us, and prepare us for a ministry that our mentors and peers would balk at.
__________________ The world has lost the power to blush over its vice; the Church has lost her power to weep over it.
John the Baptist had a Priest Daddy. He was doing what he was supposed to when
the Angel came to him and spoke of the birth of John. He was raised a Jew. How is
it that you feel he had no mentor? His family knew he was special from birth. His
mom had him at a late age and exclaimed that the babe in her womb jumped when
Mary entered the room.
John the Baptist had a Priest Daddy. He was doing what he was supposed to when
the Angel came to him and spoke of the birth of John. He was raised a Jew. How is
it that you feel he had no mentor? His family knew he was special from birth. His
mom had him at a late age and exclaimed that the babe in her womb jumped when
Mary entered the room.
The Bible says that Elizabeth and Zecharias were very old when John was born. There is no mention of Zecharias after the naming of John.
__________________ The world has lost the power to blush over its vice; the Church has lost her power to weep over it.
How are you to get that experience when you are taught that you must be in church 3 times a week, and you must listen to the person that is talking behind the pulpit, that they hear from God for you?
Do you remember how old the law said a man could be before he could no longer do his priestly duties?
If I remember right it was in either his late forties or early fifties.
I have to look that one up.
Just because there was no mentioning of Zecharias does not mean he died right after
or that they did not raise John. The Bible doesn't give us all the info Fox's book of
Maryters does but it doesn't mean we can conjecture.
Just a thought.
How are you to get that experience when you are taught that you must be in church 3 times a week, and you must listen to the person that is talking behind the pulpit, that they hear from God for you?
I think church attendance is good, especially in this crazy world. We need to fellowship with other believers in corporate worship.
And I believe the pastor does hear from Gof for you, but you need to have a depth and spiritual maturity that goes beyond that. You need to learn to be alone with God in a secret place.
That type of relationship BUIlLDS the church and never destroys it.
__________________ The world has lost the power to blush over its vice; the Church has lost her power to weep over it.
How are you to get that experience when you are taught that you must be in church 3 times a week, and you must listen to the person that is talking behind the pulpit, that they hear from God for you?
You could read your Bible, pray, study, fast and read your Bible for yourself.
That way you could be hearing from Jesus and the ministry over the pulpit
could confirm the word in you and increase your faith.
This is just a generalized statement so don't take it as to you but here is
what I see mostly.
Many people don't do any of the above and expect to be spoon fed their
whole lives over the pulpit. They don't think they have to do anything else
but attend church and give money and dress a certain way. Jesus is
calling us to more than that. He is calling us to a life of obedience to
His voice. The Bible says," My sheep hear my voice."
This is just a generalized statement so don't take it as to you but here is
what I see mostly.
Many people don't do any of the above and expect to be spoon fed their
whole lives over the pulpit. They don't think they have to do anything else
but attend church and give money and dress a certain way. Jesus is
calling us to more than that. He is calling us to a life of obedience to
His voice. The Bible says," My sheep hear my voice."
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