Champions BYTES for 7/14/10: "For the Sake of One!"

"When morning came, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife and two daughters who are here [and be off], lest you [too] be consumed and swept away in the iniquity and punishment of the city. But while he lingered, the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, for the Lord was merciful to him; and they brought him forth and set him outside the city and left him there. And when they had brought them forth, they said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you or stop anywhere in *the whole valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], lest you be consumed. And Lot said to them, Oh, not that, my lords! Behold now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your kindness and mercy to me in saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest the evil overtake me, and I die. See now yonder city; it is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape to it! Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved! And [the angel] said to him, See, I have yielded to your entreaty concerning this thing also; I will not destroy this city of which you have spoken. Make haste and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." -The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

For the sake of one righteous man, God spared the city.

Abraham had started the intervention of Sodom and Gomorrah in chapter Genesis 18, stating:

"Will You destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked? Far be it from You to do such a thing - to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as do the wicked! Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth execute judgment and do righteously? Suppose there are in the city fifty righteous; will You destroy the place and not spare it for [the sake of] the fifty righteous in it? And the Lord said, If I find in the city of Sodom fifty righteous (upright and in right standing with God), I will spare the whole place for their sake." (Gen. 19:22-26)

And you know the story; Abraham pleads and negotiates with God for the city.

He pleads (in other words): "Will the recession, will the economic crisis, destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked? Will cancer or chemotherapy destroy the good cells with the bad? Will depression destroy this joy I have? Will this marital crisis destroy my marriage (what God has joined together?) Far be it from me."

And He negotiates for Sodom all the way down to ten:

"And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again only this once. Suppose ten [righteous people] shall be found there. And [the Lord] said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake." (Gen. 19:32)

THEN HE STOPS.

Yet God would have spared the city for just one righteous man.

When man stopped at ten, God was still willing to do it for just one. Notice that even when Lot is asking for a city, he says in verse 20: "See now yonder city; it is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape to it! Is it not a little one?"

I wonder what would have happened if Lot had asked for the largest city?

As leaders, sometimes we underestimate the power of our influence and God in our life. We limit Him in our expectations. But He can do so much more. His thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways. He said He would do exceedingly, superabundantly, far above all that we ask, dream, think, hope, pray for or imagine.

I wonder what God would do in your relationships, workplace, industry or city with one, if you ask Him?

One righteous prayer
One faith
One dream
One vision
One Word
One peacemaker
One repairer of the breach
One lover
One initiator
One champion and warrior?

God specializes in using just one:

One Man on the cross
One shepherd boy against Goliath
One prophet against 450 false ones
One prince against a Pharaoh
One Joshua leading a generation into Jericho
One Gideon against the Midianites
One Jonathan against the Philistines
One Joseph against a famine.

What will God do with (and through) you?

He said, "Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance." Ps 2:8

What city or workplace have you asked Him for?

What is the census, crime rate (problem) or strong man that sits over it?

Some people declare, "I AM WELL ABLE TO GO UP AND POSSESS THE LAND OR CITY I AM IN."

But they don't even know what the population of the city is; They don't even know the crime rate, the race or gender mix is; the strong man that sits over it; they interview and don't even know the history of the company they are applying to, yet they claim they are going to take it.

Joshua sent spies into Jericho.

What have you done to scout your dream land, job or territory?

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