Indispensable Christians

by Alex James
(OK)

One of my favorite heroes in the entire Bible is a man found in the book of Judges by the name of Jephthah. (Judges11:1-12) He was the son of a prostitute and he was ostrecized by his family. However, when there was a war brewing in the nation, he was sought out by his countrymen. He went onto becoming the leader of the nation as well as leading many successful military campaigns.

Here are a few essential qualities that made Jephthah indispensible.

1. He dwelt in the land of Tob. Tob means "good" just because Jephthah was rejected didn't mean that he was going to be in a sulky place. He was dwelling in "good". Rejection has no bearing upon you. Even if you get rejected by people refuse to feel bad for yourself. The Bible says rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice. Tob was also very near to Gilead. In other words in order to be indispensible you have to be within "reach". Can people get a hold of you???

2. Jephthah was a "mighty man of valor". Valor is defined as showing courage in the face of adversity. The times that we are living in are tough, but we must be individuals of mental courage. That no matter what, I believe what R. Schuller said, "Tough times don't last tough people do".

3. Jephthah was anointed. The Bible says "the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah". Is. 10:27 says, the anointing breaks the yoke. David said in Psalm 51 "take not thy Holy Spirit away from me". The Anointing of the Holy Spirit makes all the difference. Sure, Jephthah got elected, but it was the anointing of the Holy Spirit that got him the victory.

I believe in the coming days, we need to have these Christlike qualities as seen in the life of Jephthah. And if we do we will be indispensable Christians.