The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Are You a Polished Arrow in God's Quiver?

Episode Date: March 27, 2017

God wants to use you, but before he does, he needs to prepare you so that you can "hit the mark." Jeff explains this time of preparation using the steps taken by an archer to create the perfect arrow.

Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show. And welcome to the show. Good to have you once again.

You know, it's good to get together like this and to share some good things from the Lord and talk about life. You might be in the car right now, and you're on the way to an appointment, maybe a very important appointment, and you need some help. You need some guidance, maybe in decision-making, whatever it might be. Maybe you're at home and sitting and listening to the show, and you just need that extra little bit of encouragement today.

Well, that's what we're doing here, and it's a pleasure to spend some time with you talking about the things of the Lord. I have a great show today. I want to talk about a topic that I get questions about from time to time where people will say, I want to be used by God. I want the Lord to use me, you know, in a particular way. They read the Bible and they see that God used people like David and, you know, the early apostles. And they want to know, well, can God use me that way too?

answer is absolutely yes, God can use you. And so I'm going to talk today about the process of really becoming the person that God typically uses. Because God doesn't just use people because they say, you know, use me. He usually goes through a time of preparation where their life is changed. He begins to mold them and shape them for the mission. And then they enter into this readiness or this listening phase where God can use them at any moment. So I'm going to use a metaphor of the arrow for the show today. In fact, I would call this the polished arrow. And it comes from a particular scripture from Isaiah chapter 49 in verse 2. It says that He, God, has made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow in his quiver. He hid me

away. And the idea there is that an arrow is something that is actually made. There's a preparation phase. And if our life is like an arrow and we want to be used by God, we need to know how we should be prepared. And so I'm going to use the making of an arrow to talk about your spiritual life. I think you're going to like it. Hey, by the way, let me just say something real quick about the show. notes we have a great crew working on this show and everything that I talk about on the show we're going to put in the show notes so if I give you scriptures they will be in the show notes if I'm going to talk about a picture we'll put that picture on there so if you're driving in the car don't feel like you got to take notes at the same time notes are already there waiting for you

and that's just a little perk from ascension and all the work they're putting in to produce this show marisa is my producer and she does a fantastic a fantastic job you can find the show notes by simply going to ascension presents.com forward slash podcasts and you will see all the show notes there if you want to get in touch with me and talk to me about maybe a show idea or you have a question you can email me at the jeffcaven show at ascensionpress.com and I would remind you if you want to go to iTunes and subscribe, leave a rating. And that always does well for the show as far as the success of it in getting the gospel out there. Hey, before we get into the show here, as far as the topic of polished arrow and spiritual growth, I just want to let you know that we have completed

the video shoots for the new study that I am putting together on Wisdom, part of the Great Adventure Bible Study series. And you can find out more about that. by simply going to ascensionpress.com. Really excited about the wisdom study. If you need wisdom and decision-making, that show, that series is for you. You know, one of the episodes that we did was on decision-making.

And one of the things I learned was that we make, on average, about 30 to 35,000 decisions a day. and that means we need some wisdom to make these decisions. Some of them are snap decisions, and some of them are long and thought out, and we need a lot of information, some knowledge, and some counsel. We talk about all that, and I think you're just going to really, really like it. Well, let's talk about a polished arrow. You know, when this really hit me was when I read Isaiah 49 in verse 2,

he made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand. He hid me. He made me a polished arrow in his quiver. He hid me away. So the idea behind that scripture is that an arrow is something that is actually made. There's a process of taking a stick from a tree. And then finally you end up with this incredibly beautiful polished arrow that's ready to be used. And if you're like me, that's the kind of person you want to become. You want to be really the product of God's handy work, and you want to be ready for anything so that if God wants to use you in your family or he wants to use you at home, at work, in your neighbors, among your neighbors, you'll be ready to be used by the Lord. And one of the most common questions I get, to be honest with you, is people will hear me tell stories of how I got out of the boat and tried to walk on water, you know, whether I was on an airplane or at a coffee shop.

and I started to talk someone, they want to know, well, how do you do that? I mean, how do you just, how does the Lord use you? And it really comes down to preparation and a willingness to be used. And that's what we want to talk about. When I've got this idea from Isaiah 492 that I am and you are a polished arrow in the quiver of the Lord, the quiver is where the arrow rests and it's ready to be grabbed at any moment and to be used in the bow, I went to, I actually went to a place where a man made arrows. And it was a bow and arrow shop.

And I went in there with this scripture in mind. And I asked him, I said, could you talk to me a little bit about how an arrow is made? I mean, what's the process? What are the real key components of a very good arrow? And what are the signs that the arrow is going bad? well he said yes i'll do that so much of what i'm going to share with you today's show comes from not only scripture but from the actual practical making of an arrow you know in the bible arrows are mentioned quite a bit in second kings chapter 13 verses 14 through 17 it talks about

about elisha he had fallen sick with the illness which would eventually take his life and And Joash, King of Israel, went down to him and wept before him, crying, my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. And Elisha said to him, take a bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows. And then he said to the king of Israel, draw the bow and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, open the window eastward.

And he opened it. And then Elisha said, shoot. And he shot. And he said, the Lord's arrow of victory. the arrow of victory over Syria. So the idea there is that arrows are arrows of victory and deliverance. And I want you to think of yourself as an arrow in the hands of the Lord, and he can use you in really, really powerful, powerful ways.

Now, we know God used Moses and God used Joseph to bring deliverance to a people, and God wants to use you in your family, your church, your workplace. you happen to be. But before they were used, they went through a process to become a polished arrow. And you do too. And I have to go through that process as well. But sometimes we get frustrated because we want the Lord to use us. But many times our frustration is due really to a lack of preparation or a lack of discipline. We want to be shot out of the Lord's bow, but we have not submitted to him for preparation. It's kind of like a, you know, a guy says, well, I want to be a priest. I'm going to go down to the chancery and talk to the bishop

and hopefully by 6 o'clock tonight I'll be ordained. Well, try that. It's not going to work. You're going to go down there and say, well, Bishop, I prayed about it this last week and God has called me to the priesthood. I'm ready to be ordained. He's going to say, no, no, you're not. You've got to go through a period of preparation. There's some things in your life we've got to deal with and you've got to learn some things about the Lord and his church. And that's just the process that we go through. So I want to show you that process and bring this out. Now, Isaiah 49, which is the text where I'm getting this idea of a polished arrow, it really speaks of two things. Number one, a time of preparation and change.

It says, in the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me into a polished arrow. So that's a time of preparation and change in your life. Number two, it says that he concealed me in his quiver. he said to me, you are my servant. So the second thing is, number one, time of preparation. Number two, readiness, listening quietly, resting in the Lord so that you can be used at any time. Now, let's talk about the making of an arrow. The first thing that you're going to have to do is if you're going to make an arrow is you've got to get a twig or you've got to get a branch. And if you go out to a tree and you cut, let's say, a twig that's about, I don't

know a yard long and it's roughly the the size of an arrow you know as far as the thickness and the length when you bring that in you can't use it in that form at all it's just a twig it's not a weapon it isn't it hasn't really been been prepared so god is is in the earth today restoring dead branches and you might feel like that you might look at yourself in the mirror and say man, I'm like a, compared to a polished arrow, I'm just a gnarly twig and dead. But God restores dead branches and God brings life into us and he can work in our lives in such a way that we can be used in a powerful, powerful way. And that's the beautiful thing.

So the first thing that you would do with that stick, that twig, it's about a yard long is you need to cut away the obvious little branches and the bumps and all of that and try to get this this twig as straight as you possibly can the first step in the making of an arrow is to get rid of the obvious things that are contrary to the arrow being a successful arrow so the most important aspect of making this arrow is that the shaft would line up with the head eventually. So all the work that is going to be done on the arrow will have to be checked with the head. The head determines everything. And if you're going to submit your life to the Lord and want to be a polished arrow in his quiver, then you're going to have to

begin to focus right away on the head who is Christ. And so Jesus will be the focus of all of this transformation that's going to take place in your life. You can't do it on your own. And you you can't do it without a head or a point that everything is going to line up to. Everything is going to conform to the head. And I'm reminded of what the scripture says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by looking at Christ and making him the head. Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 1 says, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. So the very first thing that we need to do is cut away the obvious things, the big sin in our lives, the patterns, the habits that we have fallen into that are going to keep us from really being used by the Lord. You know, in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 in verse 18, it says, And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.

For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. And then it goes on in 1 John, chapter 2 in verse 3. It says, and by this we may be sure that we know him if we keep his commandments. And he who says, I know him, but disobeys his commandments. is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. So we want to really cut away the big, obvious things that are keeping us from looking like Christ, acting like Christ, and thinking like Christ.

And we would call this really sanctification. And sanctification is that process whereby we become holy, we become like Jesus, we cut away the unnecessary, we cut away those things that are getting in the way. And at this point, I mean, you know what those are. I know if you're struggling in your life with pornography, you're struggling in your life, with unholy habits you know what those are and the first step would be to go to confession and to confess those those protruding little branches off of the main branch because those those are not going to work I mean go ahead get a bow try the stick see if it hits the target

no way it's not going it's not going to happen so if you're really serious about following Jesus. You will agree with John the Baptist when he says in John 3 3, He must increase and I must decrease. He must increase. I must decrease. So what are some of the obvious things? You can just take a moment, list them, and make sure you go to confession and you deal with that. You want to be conformed to Jesus. In Romans chapter 6, it says, Paul writes about this and he says, so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey their passions. Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life

and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no domain over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means. Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

But then Paul says, But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you are committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. And so you see that there's this process that we have to go through. Now, once you've dealt with those obvious sins, the things that stand out,

are you ready to be shot out of the bow at that point? No. You're not, and I'm not either. Because the truth of the matter is, there are more things in our life that we have to deal with, which may look small, but are actually very, very important. And so the next process that we want to go through

is what's called the sanding process. So number one, you cut away the obvious. Number two, you're starting to look better, but you want to go through the sanding process. And these are those things in your life that prevent you from becoming the instrument in God's hands that you want to become. But these things have a tendency to be hidden.

You're the only one who knows about them. They're so small that other people might not even notice, but you notice. You know, it's kind of like when you go into the bathroom and you look at yourself in the mirror, you see details that nobody else sees because you're focused on those. And so as we begin the sanding process, we want to look at things that are perhaps hidden, things of the heart, that are patterns, sin,

that we have to deal with if we truly want to be a polished arrow, totally lining up with the head. And so 2 Corinthians 1220 mentions a number of things. Listen to this list. You might want to write it down and, you know, kind of think about it. He says, for I fear that perhaps I may come and find you not what I wish and that you may find me not what you wish, that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. First Peter 2.1, he mentioned some also, he says, so put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander like newborn babes long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up to salvation. So both Peter and Paul there mention a number of things that, you know,

They're not real obvious to everybody because they're kind of hidden, but it's enough to really throw you off from hitting the target. And isn't that what the arrow is all about? The intention of the arrow is to hit the bullseye. It's to hit the bullseye. That's what we want to go after. And the smallest deviation in that shaft and lining up with the head can cause the arrow to go to the left, go to the right, or just go straight down.

up, it's just not going to hit the target. So these things are just as damaging as far as hitting the target. And we've got to be honest about this. Sin causes one to miss the mark. Now, what's interesting about this is that the word for the scriptures for the Jewish people is Torah. And you're familiar with the Torah. You've got the five books of Moses. You have the entire Hebrew scriptures. You got Torah. Now, Torah comes from the root word Yara, Yara, Y-A-R-A-H. And you know what the word Yara comes from? It is an archer's term. Coincidentally, it's an archer's term that really means instruction that is geared towards hitting the mark.

Instruction, God's word, will instruct you and guide you to hit the mark. And guess what sin is? sin in Hebrew is the word chet and you know what it means it means literally to miss the mark so god's word will help you hit the mark and sin will cause you to miss the mark the farther the arrow is shot the more important it is that imperfections are dealt with and what you know what's interesting is during the sanding process is that oil is applied during the sanding process they use oil Now, you have number one. Step one is cutting away the obvious. Step two is the sanding process. Do you have things to deal with like gossip, slander, disorder? Selfishness. Are you quarreling? Is there a jealousy in your life? Are you dealing with anger? That's the type of thing that needs to be subject to God sanding you and taking those imperfections out so that we can be perfect, even as God is perfect. Now the third phase is called. called the Fletching. And these are words that most of us are not that familiar with,

but if you're going to build an arrow, you know what the fletching is. These are the feathers on the side of the arrow and the purpose of those feathers on the side of the arrow towards the back. You've seen them. And I have a picture in the show notes of an arrow, so you can go to that. The purpose of those feathers, the fletching, is to stabilize the arrow in the flight. That's what those are for. They give the arrow balance. But here's what's really interesting about the making of an arrow when it comes to the fletching. Did you know that the feathers are from one side of the bird or the other? It's either from the left side or the right side, but there isn't a mixing. And the reason for that is that they need consistency and balance in the arrow

and you can't have yes and no, maybe sometimes it is all or nothing. It's one side or the other. So this fletching gives you stability when you are working for the Lord. Now, you know what's beautiful about this is that Jesus even told us he was going to give us someone to come alongside of us to guide us. And you know who that someone is. John writes about it. It's the Holy Spirit.

it says in John chapter 14 verse 25 these things I have spoken to you and Jesus is talking here these things I have spoken to you while I am still with you but the counselor the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you in John 1613 when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you guide you fletching he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come. This is beautiful. The Holy Spirit is the one who is coming alongside of us to help us. Literally, in Greek, that's called the paraclete. The Holy Spirit is called the paraclete. And guess what

paraclete means? It's one called alongside to help or direct. So the fletching, those feathers on the arrow are similar to what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in our life, which is to come alongside of us and help us and guide us and direct us. I love that. In fact, even in the Old Testament talks about this. Ezekiel 36, in verse 26, Ezekiel prophesied about the future. And he said, a new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Isn't that beautiful? And that's what the Holy Spirit does in our life. So you've got that fletching.

Now, the next is called the cresting. What is that? Well, the cresting, if you look at an arrow, and you'll see this in the show notes on the arrow that I provided for you, a picture of it, The cresting are the stripes, the stripes that go around. Some are maybe two black stripes, maybe a small green and a yellow and a purple striped. It's limitless how many different kinds of cresting there is, how many different kinds of markings there are on an arrow. But you know what the purpose of that cresting is? It really doesn't have anything to do so much with the arrow in flight,

the mechanics of it, it is a marker. It identifies who the arrow belongs to. That's the reason for that, the cresting, those markings. So if you picked up an arrow that had three narrow bands around it and one black band, well, people would know that belongs to so-and-so. It doesn't belong to me or doesn't belong to my neighbor. It belongs to this guy that I know who has three red stripes and a black one. You see that the cresting identifies who the arrow belongs to. And in your life, you've got markings. You should be living your life in such a way that people look at you and they'll say, you belong to Christ. I can tell by the way you fly. I can tell by the way you live your life, the way you conduct yourself, that you belong to Jesus Christ. And in the scriptures,

we are told of several ways that we are marked. For example, in John 1335, John says, by this, all men will know that you're my disciples. How? What's the cresting? If you have love for one another. It's an identifiable mark on you as a polished arrow in the quiver of the Lord. Exodus 21, they even use this marking as master-slave relationship in the Old Testament.

And it says, but if the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an all, and he shall serve him for life. In other words, he had a marking in his body. It was in his ear that he belonged to that particular master. So that's one marking. One is love one another. The other one is just this marking in our body, which Paul brings to a whole new level when he says in Galatians 617, henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. And what was the mark? The mark was the beatings that he took. He suffered

with Christ. He was filling up that which was lacking in the sufferings of Christ. So the mark is very, very important to people recognize that you as an arrow belong to God. So you've got the sanding, you've got the fletching, that's the feathers, you've got the cresting and the mark. And remember, everything is headed towards the head. Everything needs to line up with the head. Now, let's talk just for a moment about the nature of a good arrow, okay? Jeremiah 50 in verse 9 says that arrows will be like skilled warriors who, do not return empty-handed. So you cannot make a good arrow out of yourself. Dead works, self-effort, it won't accomplish it. It's just not going to do it. But as you are obedient to

him, he will build you and develop you with tremendous skill. The cutting, the sanding, the polishing, the fletching, the cresting, and then the notch. What is the notch? Well, that notch is that little piece at the end of the arrow that the string of the bow fits in. In other words, it gives the arrow a place for the master's bow to slip into. It gives a place in the life of the arrow to start the launch.

And that's something that you have to think about. are you giving the Lord an opportunity to put that bowstring into your life and use you in a powerful way? That notch is really, really important. An arrow can look pretty good, but you won't really know until it is tried. And I'm going to tell you a little bit about how an arrow goes off to the left, how it goes off to the right, and what causes that. And we'll talk about that right after this break. It's hard to live out your Catholic faith on your own.

In fact, the Bible reveals that we need a community of people to help us on our journey of faith. If you're interested in finding that community by joining or starting a small group study, visit ascensionpress.com and sign up for a free ascension account. With your account, you'll get all the tools you need to start walking with others towards Christ. Welcome back to the show. We're talking about being a polished arrow in the quiver of the Lord and the process that we go through, you know, to be that arrow.

And so far we've talked about the fact that everything, everything lines up with the head, which is Christ. And as we take a twig off the tree, the first step is to do away with the obvious, big problems they're going to keep this twig from being a polished straight arrow and then and then after that we go through a sanding process which takes away the seemingly small imperfections but very important imperfections and then we go through a sanding process and a polishing process with oil to bring this stick totally in line with the head and then we look at the fletching which is the feathers and they're taken from one side of a bird or the other, it allows the arrow to have balance in flight and it guides the

arrow to the intended target. And that's the same as the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, who's called alongside of us to help us and to guide us. And then we spoke about the cresting, which are the markings of an arrow, and they identify who the arrow belongs to. But we left off by mentioning that you can't make yourself an arrow. You've got to be in the hands of the master who knows what he's doing. Now, once you're done with the arrow, and it comes time to shoot the arrow, if the arrow goes off to the left, guess what that means? It means it is too stiff. The arrow is not flexible enough. It is too stiff. And you know what? This is so true of our spiritual life and walking with Jesus, is that if we're just too focused on the letter of the law, we're so

rigid and so stiff, we'll go off to the left. We won't hit the target. We're not going to do it. So if we want to be a polished arrow in the quiver of the Lord, one of the things we have to learn is that we have to learn to be flexible in the hands of the Lord. And we can't insist on our own way all the time. Now if the arrow goes off to the right, what does that mean? It's too loose. it's too loose and it's it's too flexible and it goes off to the right. You need to have the

arrow balanced and then it'll hit it'll hit the target. So a good arrow speaks of balance. But the true test of an arrow is does it go where the archer wants it to go? Does it bear fruit? Or as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 50 in verse 9, does it not return empty handed? So that's really the test of an arrow is is it going to hit the target that the archer intended it to hit? Does it bear fruit? Now, you can take a beautiful arrow that's perfectly balanced and can be shot in 50 yards hit its target and you can ruin a perfectly good arrow. Maybe you have gone through a period in your life where you were doing really good for quite a while, but then something happened. And you now, you can't hit the target anymore. You're off to the left.

off to the right. It's just a disaster. Well, how do you ruin a good arrow? Well, arrows are meant to rest in the quiver. That quiver is that round, kind of a bag that the archer has on his hip, and he might have seven or eight arrows in there, and the archer carries the bow. And at any moment, the archer can reach over, grab one of the arrows in a split second. It's the notch is in the bowstring and man that thing is shot just like that but you can ruin a good arrow if it's not resting in the quiver if it's just laying around the house if it is outside in the humidity it it can be ruined it can be ruined at that point Hebrews chapter four in verse one says therefore while the promise of entering his rest remains let us fear lest any of you be judged to have

failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message which they heard, that's Israel in the Old Testament, did not benefit them because it did not meet with faith in the hearers. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, as I swore in my wrath, they shall never enter my rest, although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. If we're truly going to be polished arrows in the quiver of the Lord, my friend, we have got to learn to rest in the Lord. And if we take our lives and we bring them outside of his quiver, and we are subjecting our lives to bad company, as Colossian says, bad company corrupts good morals. If we are going to start a lifestyle that is contrary to the gospel, you're going to get

warped. You're going to get warped. So entering his rest by continuing to mix faithfulness with the word is the key and we rest in him idle time in the wrong atmosphere will cause a select arrow to warp too dry too wet it'll warp and when god wants to use you it's not going to work the way you wanted to be used and and according to his intended purpose for your life so the process of making an arrow is is very very important but what you do once you are mature is equally as important to maintain proper health as an arrow, and that is, rest in Christ. Go to adoration. Read scripture regularly. Live a sacramental life. Increase your prayer life. Don't spend a lot of time in an atmosphere that is contrary to the gospel because it will rub off on you

and it will warp you as a Christian. And you don't want that. So it's true that God can use you at any stage. as we go through this and I'm getting ready to conclude here, don't be discouraged if you look in the mirror in your spiritual life and say, man, I am so far away from being a polished arrow. You know what? Here's the good news. That's the goal, but God can use you at any stage. He can. I've seen God use people in such a simple, beautiful way

at a point where, yeah, there might have been problems in their life. They might not have been perfectly conformed to Jesus, but he still used them if they allowed him, to use them at that stage. But that's really not the issue. How effective do you really want to be? And if you really want to be effective for Christ, then submit your life to him today.

Submit your life to him today. And when I asked this archer, remember I said at the top of the show, I went to the archer's store, and I asked him, what's the most important thing to remember about a good arrow? What's the most important thing? Do you know what he said? that the main question to address is, will the arrow, when it's ready to be used, be able to withstand the power transferred to it from the bow?

Oh, let me just say that again. This is so cool. This is so powerful. Because when you take an arrow and you put it in the string of the bow and you pull back and you release your finger, there's a transference of power from the bow. to the arrow which propels it at whatever speed. It's up to the strength of the one of the archer, who is God. So this is exactly what he told me.

I'm quoting. The main question to address in the making of an arrow is, will the arrow, when it's ready to be used, be able to withstand the power transferred to it from the bow? If the arrow is not properly sized and weighed and proportioned, it will not be able to handle the power. will receive. Amazing. And that's what Luke wrote in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8 is he was really a part of launching the New Testament church into the modern world at that time.

He said, you believers, you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. My friend, are you able to withstand the power that's going to be transferred to you as God uses you? That's a good question. You see, he knows what he's doing. And if you're not properly prepared, that power could destroy you. That power could literally destroy you. You have to be made in his hands to withstand his power.

Isn't that a great thought? So let's just recap real quick, because I know that you're probably, getting ready to go to work or you're almost there whatever number one do you want to be used by god fantastic then remember what isaiah said remember what isaiah says and isaiah is saying us that we are going to be like a polished arrow in the quiver of the lord Isaiah Isaiah 49 and if we're going to be a polished arrow we've got to submit our broken lives to jesus line ourselves up with the head allow him to cut off all the obvious things as we give him to him in confession and then allow ourselves to go into a deeper phase of polishing and sanding with oil, the Holy Spirit,

so that we will be properly aligned to the head. And then we want to make sure that we're walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, the fletching, the arrow, they offer balance and guidance. And then the cresting, who do we belong to? how does our life look? How are we identified? We're identified by loving one another. We're identified by the good works that we do. We're identified by what we say, how we live our life. The cresting in our life is obvious. We belong to Jesus. Amen? That's good. I love it. And then after that, we want to make sure that we are stored and resting in the proper place.

that will allow us to maintain good balance. We're not going to become too limber. We're not going to become too stiff, but we're going to rest in his presence so that we'll hit the target, that we will hit the bullseye when we feel that hand of God grabbing the notch on our life

and pulling us out of his quiver and suddenly pulling the string back and launching us on a mission. I think that sometimes we are not used by God because we had no intention of being used and we weren't prepared. My friend, you and I, let's go on that. Let's go on that journey together, shall we? And prepare ourselves so that at any moment, any moment, you can feel the hand of God, just pull you out of that quiver for a mission that you've been prepared for in his hands. I love it. It's fantastic. Hey, I want to

give you just a little update real quickly. If you would like to get the show notes for this show, all you got to do is go to Ascensionpresents.com forward slash podcasts, and we'll have the pictures there of the arrow and any of the scriptures that I used, they're going to be waiting for you. And once again, I do want to hear from you. If you have questions, comments, show ideas, you can email me at the Jeff Kavan Show at Ascensionpress.com, the Jeff Kavan Show. at ascensionpress.com and if you go to iTunes and subscribe, rate the show. Love to hear your comments

and that will help us in sharing the gospel in a more complete way. Well, my friend, it's been good to talk to you once again. Make sure that you share the show with your friends. Maybe they need to hear this, even give it to your pastor. And I will pray for you that God will help you to become that polished arrow in his quiver. Will you pray with me? In the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit, amen. Lord, I lift up to you, my friend who's listening right now. And I pray, Lord, that you will take their life in your hands and begin to conform their life to you. That, Lord, you will help them in taking away the obvious and the sanding process, the less obvious. Lord, I pray that they will walk with the assistance of the Holy Spirit that balanced and directed

life. And I also pray, Lord, that their life will reflect the cresting, the markings of you on their life. Lord, prepare us for a mission. Prepare us to be used by you. To you be all the glory as you use us as arrows of victory in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Have a great day, You know, Thank you.