Saving Our Cities: You Can Change Your City for God by Happy Caldwell

Author:Happy Caldwell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Evangelism, Missions, Christian Ministry, Christian Life, General, Religion, Sociology of Religion, Social Science
ISBN: 9780892746989
Publisher: Harrison House Inc
Published: 1996-12-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Commitment

God is a God of cities. He started with a city, Eden, and He will end with a city, New Jerusalem.

All of God's men were "city builders." They were either strategically placed within a city, or they were told to build one.

In the Bible, we identify people with their cities: the virtuous woman in Proverbs was known in her city (Proverbs 31); Saul of Tarsus; City of David; Simon of Canaan; Jesus of Nazareth.

God spoke to men and women about their cities. Some were sent specifically into a city to preach the gospel and produce people of principle. Jonah was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance. Joseph ruled the nation of Egypt and saved Israel from starvation. Daniel was in the midst of Babylon and was a powerful witness for God as he advised several kings and prophesied the future. Paul was sent into city after city to righteously affect it.

All the men and women of God had a holy fire within them to accomplish their goal, no matter the conflicting doubts or persecution. They had one very important common trait: commitment.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Psalm 37:5

Commitment is a word little heard of in society today. The world stresses that a person has a right to get out of a commitment if they so decide. If they are married and suddenly like another person better, the world says it's all right to get a divorce. If a person has given their word to do something and then decides they don't want to do it, the world says they are free to change their minds.

However, in the kingdom of God, commitment is not a shallow thing. It is a principle of life, a spiritual law which is a vital link in obtaining the promises of God's Word.

The word commit means "to entrust, to pledge, to keep a promise to do something." (See Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1960.) There is a big difference between "making" a promise and "keeping" a promise. We must learn that if we are not going to keep a promise, then we must not say that we will.

If our own word means nothing to us, then neither can we believe and act on God's Word. Jeremiah 1:12 tells us God watches over His Word to perform it. Commitment is a holy thing to the Lord, and it should be holy to His people. As believers and leaders, we must learn to develop commitment or the body of Christ will be severely hindered.

When a person is committed, it doesn't make any difference what kind of trouble comes. If they are committed in heart, they will stay and continue on.

Commitment is exactly what constitutes a marriage vow. It keeps the marriage together, no matter what difficulties or aggravations come along. When we make that vow, we are committed for life. We recognize there is scriptural reason for divorce, but often even believers divorce for nonscriptural reasons, because they do not understand commitment.

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