Qualified

God is so good and I want to let you know that He is in Love with you.  He dances over you and seeks your affection.  Worship in feeling and action.  Feeling is the presence of God that fills you as you worship Him with your whole heart and body, bowing down and saying you oh Lord are the only one worthy of this degree of willful submission, honor, respect, praise and adoration.  Action is the worship of our coming into a tangible contact with God’s will.  How we treat others.  Our will submitted to the higher calling of God’s worldview.  One in which we are God’s hands  showing our worship for God by acting on the love He has for people with our time, thoughts, emotions, talents, and money.  This is worship.  This is why we come together on Sunday morning and offer of the sacrifice of praise.  It becomes the culmination of our week’s service and submission.  It is with that we go into the presence of God together.

As always, that one is for free, the message God has for you today is one He has been working in and through me for years… Qualified.

As you’re turning to the book of Colossians the first chapter let me tell you a little story.

Joke: A new pastor moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his members.   All went well until he came to one house.  It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several times. Finally, he took out his card and wrote on the back: Revelation 3:20 and stuck it in the door.
      
      The next day, as he was reviewing the prayer request, he found his card in the stack of request.  Below his message was the notation Genesis 3:10.
      
      Revelation 3:20 reads: "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."
      
      Genesis 3:10 reads: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked."

That literally had nothing to do with my message, but it did make me laugh so take that home with you today.

Let’s read the word Colossians 1:12-14 (NKJV)

¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood,^[a] the forgiveness of sins.

We are looking at a new day in the world.  With the advancements of intellect, reason, sciences and technology, we have invented, reinvented and changed terms and words that have had different meanings in the past, all in efforts to reshape our thoughts. We have replaced words like sin with issues or even worse, not even issues but a way of life or “just the way we are”.  We can’t even call wrong wrong today without being called intolerant.  Even the word tolerance has changed to mean that we have to accept everything and everyone as equally right.  With all of this, it has left a weak and unstable individual with self worth and self-esteem issues.  Many Christians today struggle with guilt, unworthiness and being qualified for service to God, while some even try to create a check list or “righteousness” without ever thinking about this one question.

What does it take to be qualified?  

This can be a misleading and is a problematic question in and of itself, but we will get to that in a minute.  A while back we were in need of a Graphic Designer at the Church.  I had received many resumes’ and was taken by one in particular.  Let me just read you some of the things this person wrote for their qualifications to be a Graphics designer.

“I possess the abilities to multitask, be dependent, fast paced, dedicated, and often very diligent when inconvenienced.  Previous employers has often bragged about me being good at working under pressure.  Moreover, I am licensed to serve liquor (TABC) licensed, with grocery store and general laborer experience.  I previously worked for many trade jobs and plants.  Throughout it all, I have learned that hard work can keep a person very protected.  Accordingly, I will say that my productiveness, creativity, diligence, trustworthiness, and overall experience in high level jobs has kept me employed." 

• pouring cement
• guzzling truck
• scaffolding
• shoveling dirt

• Inventory Clerk
• cranes, tractor parts, and basically transportation of motor parts

• Flipping chicken
• washing dishes
• sweeping
• taking out trash
• sanitation work

His qualifications while great and even some of them humorous had no bearing on the position in which he had applied.  This is a is what Paul is talking about in

 Ephesians 2:8-9

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

What can we do to qualify ourselves for Salvation?

·        Nothing, Jesus has to become our Savior

We can’t do anything to gain salvation.  We are in the grace of a living God and are in need of a Savior.  Our lives are held in His hands. 

What can we do to qualify ourselves for Service?

·        Nothing, Jesus has to become our Lord

Colossians 1:12-14 (NKJV) ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood,^[a] the forgiveness of sins.

This is where most Christians fail is that they believe that sin somehow disqualifies us from the service that God has called us to perform.  This is a falsehood as if a lack of sin was the qualification then everyone would be disqualified and no one would be reached.  We cannot abdicate the position that God has given us.  We have to be humble and repentant but cannot use our faults as an excuse to exclude ourselves from His calling.

It would be like a father quitting fatherhood because they did something wrong.  We have to be lead by the spirit, not by guilt.  When we allow Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we are justified and qualified by His righteousness and calling.  

What does it take to be disqualified? 

In short, if you couldn’t do anything to qualify yourself, then when you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior you can’t disqualify yourself.  Look at Jonah.  He was completely against what God wanted to do, running from God then thinking he could out smart God by having the others throw him to his assumed death, only to be used by God to see the single greatest revival the world has ever known, all while hoping for death and judgment.  Does that sound like any of us?  Hope no one has tried to outlast God in the belly of a fish at the bottom of the ocean. 

We get very good at pointing out other people’s disqualifying acts without ever thinking if God has disqualified them for His service. They may be a testimony in progress, or repentant and I heading towards their greatest day.  

But that is about others, what about the way in which we condemn ourselves?  How often it is that someone will feel disqualified for service because of past sin or fear of future fallings?  We can’t afford to go down this road of disqualification.

Parents are the worst about this when it comes to report cards.  The first thing we do is look at the lowest grade and build the conversation around it.  We even impose punishments for that one grade without ever considering the unjust nature if we do not also implement rewards for the grades that are good. 

Don’t focus on the one F, look for the A’s; that’s what God does

Weather it is our kids, spouses, friends, coworkers, bosses, pastors, etc… this can apply to everything including ourselves.  So often we break relationship when someone disappoints or hurts us.  How tragic it is and counters the Will of God for us.

I have experienced this from more than one angle.  The time of my testimony and God revealing who qualifies us, to the miracle of God saving a dying baby in my arms at the scene of a wreck.

It’s not the quality, but the qualifier that counts

I’ll leave you with some questions in closing,

Who can qualify?

          GOD

Who can disqualify?

          GOD

Are you qualified?

          Savior - Salvation
          Lord - Service

For some, it’s working in our youth, for others its Praise and Worship or even the 3^rd service.  The point is that we don’t let anything including ourselves stop or derail us from the place and purpose God has called us to.

 

Find your qualification in Salvation through Christ.  Make Him your Lord and put your hand to the plow.  Remember you are the treasure in the field that God gave everything for a chance to have it.  Be worth the price of the field.