Friday, May 6, 2011

The Lord's Upside-down Kingdom



1 Corinthians 3:11 "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."


When Jesus came to earth he refused to be a political Messiah, because He knew that the pride and the self-sufficiency of the Kings, the governors, the rich, the powerful and the highly educated would not listen to Him or apply His Kingdom principles, which are so different to the world’s and also often contradict our logical understanding. Instead He lived a life of great humility and unselfishness, and listened to and obeyed everything that His Father told Him. What an amazingly beautiful example He set for us to follow. He began by choosing twelve very ordinary people, and taught and modelled Himself to them, and then told them to go and make disciples of all nations.


Many of the Champions of Foundations for Farming are farmers or people who also have Jesus’ humble and unselfish heart for the poor. Some of these Champions and Trainers have little formal education, and it is very significant that we have been called to some of the very weakest and poorest people on earth. We have seen that these weakest of the weak are the ones that the Lord has chosen to use for the whole miracle of the rebuilding of a very weak and poor continent, which we pray will one day be a discipleship model for the ‘stronger’ and ‘wiser’ continents of this world.


We have seen members of our Government in Zimbabwe, who for many years have been vigorously opposed to Foundations for Farming, have recently seen the amazing accumulation of consistent success that so many of our very poor disciples have achieved on their little plots. The models of these ‘foolish’ ones have confounded these national Ministers and these same Ministers have now asked us to teach Foundations for Farming to all the Government extension officers, and have asked us to help draw up a curriculum for all agricultural colleges and institutions as well as for all schools in the nation. The Lord seems poised for the miracle to begin in earnest.


We praise God for the privilege of being appointed by Him for this purpose, and may we always keep in mind this wonderful scripture from 1 Corinthians 1: 26- 31, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."


The Lord will rebuild Africa from the bottom and not the top, and He will receive all the glory!


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