This is “Can Jesus Use Me?”. Do you ever wonder, “Am I someone God can use?” Many of us think our past disqualifies us. We think our weakness or failures disqualify us. We believe God only uses great men and women who are far better than us. But throughout scripture we see God take weak, broken people from all kinds of backgrounds, and use them to accomplish His purposes. He’s even been known to use animals a time or two
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>> Thank you for joining us
today on Kingdom Connection.
It’s my prayer that God
will use something specific
in this broadcast today
to really speak directly
to your spirit.
I say that with confidence
because I know God
still speaks to us,
and it’s really our desire here
that you will open your heart
and hear a now word
of what God is saying to you.
We’re so grateful
to have you with us
on Kingdom Connection today.
Let’s go right into the service.
♪ ♪
>> I wanna talk to you
for a few moments.
I feel like the Lord’s really
dealt with my heart about
that I’m given the title
in the form of a question,
“Can Jesus Use Me?”
That’s what I want you
to ask yourself.
Can Jesus use me?
And in Matthew 21,
“Now when they drew near
to Jerusalem and came
to Bethphage,
at the Mount of Olives,
then Jesus sent two disciples,
saying to them, ‘Go into
the village opposite you,
and immediately you will find
a donkey tied,
and a colt with her.
Loose them and bring
them to Me.
If anyone says anything to you,
you shall say,
‘The Lord has need of them,’
and immediately
he will send them.
And this was done that
it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophet,
saying, ‘Tell the daughters
of Zion, behold, your King
is coming lowly,
sitting on a donkey,
a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
So the disciples went
and did as Jesus commanded them.
They brought the donkey
and the colt,
laid their clothes on them,
and set Him on them,
and a very great multitude
spread their clothes
on the road,” notice that,
“and others cut down branches
and trees and spread
them on the road.
The multitudes who went before
them cried out, saying:
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord!'”
Can Jesus use me?
Everybody say that,
can Jesus use me?
This third verse is what
I really wanna center in on,
the Lord,
this particular chapter.
I could’ve read this story
in all four Gospels because
it’s so important.
All four writers of the four
Gospels of the New Testament,
all four of them
included this story and used
that phrase.
One of them made it different
and said, “The Lord
has need of him,”
but the point is clear.
What’s interesting about
this text is nowhere else
in all the Bible does
God ever have a need.
The Scripture said,
“The Lord has need of him.”
Jesus told them to tell anyone
who tried to stop them
from taking that animal
and bringing it for His purpose.
He said, “You tell them the Lord
has need of that.
I need that.”
I mean, you can’t find
in the Bible
where God has a need.
He said in Acts 17 that,
“I’m not worshiped
with man’s hands,”
listen to these words,
“as though God needs anything.”
That’s in Acts 17,
“as though God needs anything.”
God doesn’t need anything.
He’s self-sufficient.
And yet this text said,
“God needs something.”
This is the only place
in the Bible where God said,
“I need something outside
of myself.”
You need water.
You need food.
You need stuff to survive.
God says,
“I don’t need anything.”
God’s even said in Acts 17,
“I don’t even need
your worship.”
We think we come to church
‘cause God needs our worship.
God does not need your worship.
You need to worship.
You need the house of God.
You need to lift your hands
in gratitude
and praise the Lord.
God is not the one who
needs the worship.
You need to worship
‘cause you’re gonna worship
something, and you’re gonna
worship somebody,
and you need to worship God.
In Psalms 50, He said,
“If I were hungry,
would you feed me?”
That’s the great famous verse
where He says,
“I own the cattle
of 1,000 hills.
What are you gonna do for me?
What are you gonna give me?
You don’t have anything I
need.”
But in this text,
this unusual text,
Jesus said,
“I need that donkey.”
I want you to notice He didn’t
say I need a white stallion,
I need a beautiful show horse,
a Tennessee Walker
or a Clydesdale
that’s got powerful muscles.
I don’t need any of that
in the most,
one of the most critical moments
of Jesus’s earthly ministry.
He would use that animal to go
into Jerusalem the last week
of His life and die on the cross
for you and for me.
And in one of the most critical
moments of His life He said,
“I don’t need a stallion.
I need that donkey.
I need it.
I can’t take salvation
to the world unless I can use
something that I can ride on.”
A donkey is a beast of burden.
A donkey more than anything
else is a burden bearer.
If you’ve ever been overseas
and you go to the mission field,
you’ll see a lot.
In places like Haiti.
You’ll see people in South
America or wherever.
In third-world countries.
You will see a lot of donkeys,
and sometimes you will see
those donkeys just
so covered in a load,
big bags on the side that are
so massive that you can’t
even hardly — the animal
is so low to the ground,
and you can’t even hardly see
the thing except for its head
and its tail because
it’s carrying such a load.
If a donkey is anything,
it’s a burden bearer.
The church was not built
by stallions.
The church was built by people
who would take on a burden.
Great families are not built
by show horses.
Somebody’s gotta carry a burden.
Somebody’s gotta carry a burden
for the house of God,
for the finances of the house
of God, for the worship.
Somebody’s gotta carry
a burden of prayer.
Somebody’s gotta carry
a burden of praise.
You can’t just —
somebody’s gotta start carrying
a burden to win the lost again
because we’re in the most
critical time in my lifetime,
in the history of this Nation,
and people are lost
and deceived,
and they don’t know Jesus.
They know religion.
They’ve heard the story,
but they don’t know Jesus,
and somebody’s got to carry
a burden of bringing Jesus
to a lost and dying world.
Somebody’s gotta get it.
Somebody’s gotta get it.
And I wanna give you some
lessons from this story
that I pray will become
real to you, and it will answer
because when I look
at this donkey,
I see the kinds of people
Jesus can use.
The kinds of people Jesus
will choose and use are found
in this story,
and I’m gonna give you five,
maybe six, if I have time,
quick things that this story
teaches us lessons
from the donkey of what
qualifies you to be used by God.
Number one, the greatest
blessings come from the greatest
burdens you bear.
Jesus Christ was
the greatest blessing.
Understand this.
The burden that animal bore
was the blessing
that he carried.
All we care about in this
generation is the blessing,
the blessing, the blessing.
I want the blessed life.
Somebody needs to write a book
about the burdened life
because the greatest blessings
in life always come out
of the heaviest burdens
that you have to carry in life.
You cannot separate
the blessings from the burdens.
If you get a burden,
then the blessings will come.
Notice that the weight of Jesus
on that animal,
that was the burden,
and yet the burden
was the blessing
that God would use.
When you understand that
the burden of Jesus Christ
is where the blessing
comes from.
It is a burden to carry Jesus,
to live for Jesus,
to have convictions,
to stand for what is right.
It’s a burden, but out
of that burden comes
the greatest blessing.
And many of you are dealing
with burdens in your family
and in your home,
but I want to encourage you
today that the greatest
blessings of our life
do not come just out
of blessings and blessings
and blessings,
but the greater the burden,
the greater the blessing,
and you’re not qualified
to be used of God
until you understand that.
I’ve never seen a pretty donkey.
Why does Napoleon always pose
in a picture,
why does Alexander the Great,
any of the ancient pictures
that they’re seen
in they’re never seen riding
on a donkey.
They’re riding on some beautiful
stallion that’s raring up
on his hind legs,
and they did that because
they understood we need
to positon the king and show
and project an image
of authority and power.
But here comes
the King of kings.
He doesn’t need anything
to make him look powerful.
He doesn’t need your talent,
your good looks,
your great singing ability
or my preaching ability
to look good.
He can use anything and anybody
who will get up under a burden.
If you don’t have a burden,
I don’t care how
talented you are.
God can’t use you.
You gotta get a burden
for the loss and if you’re
gonna carry Jesus,
the greatest blessings come
out of the burden
of carrying Jesus.
We want everything easy.
I don’t want my friends
to make fun of me.
I don’t want to not get invited
to the party.
That’s the burden
of carrying Jesus.
Nobody wants to hang out
with me right now,
and I can’t get nobody to date
me because they want me
to do things.
That’s the burden
of carrying Jesus, but when
you carry the burden of Jesus,
the blessing will come,
and you can’t have
one without the other.
Number two, if you want Jesus
to use you, this story
teaches us Jesus calls
the unqualified.
This messed me up right here.
I’ve never seen this like this.
Just reading through the story,
and there’s one place
where it gives more description
of this animal,
and this is what it says.
It says it’s a donkey that
has never been ridden before.
You’ll read right over that.
You know what that means?
That means it was
an unqualified carrier.
It wasn’t trained.
It wasn’t qualified.
If God’s gonna use you,
you don’t have
to know everything.
You don’t have to have
a degree in theology.
The first thing you gotta do
is get under the burden
of carrying Jesus Christ.
If you’ll carry Jesus Christ
into the workplace,
they don’t care about the Greek
and the Hebrew and
what the exegesis
of that text means.
All they wanna know
is they can feel the difference
when you walk into that room
and you’re carrying Jesus
and you’re under the burden
I care about you.
I love you.
I can pray for you.
I’ve got a living relationship.
The one riding me is real.
Jesus uses and calls
the unqualified.
You say, well,
I don’t understand everything.
You don’t have to understand
everything to do great things
for God.
I look back when I started
preaching over 30 years ago.
I did not know a lot
about the Bible.
I didn’t know a lot
about preaching.
I didn’t know how to preach.
It was pitiful,
but I carried a burden,
and I knew Jesus was on my back.
The King was on my back,
and I didn’t know how
I was gonna do it.
I just felt like, oh God,
I’ve gotta preach or I’ll die.
I’ve gotta preach or my life
is meaningless.
I’ve gotta preach.
I’ve gotta do it.
And I didn’t know how.
And many times when I first
started preaching
I made a fool of myself.
Some of you say,
I can hear your thoughts,
“You still do.” I know.
I hear you.
But I’m so glad God doesn’t
just use stallions.
I’m so glad He uses people
who are not qualified,
but if you go down the road
with Him, He’ll qualify you.
He’ll train you.
He’ll teach you.
He’ll mentor you.
He’ll raise you.
And people won’t give you
the glory.
They’ll give the one
you’re carrying the glory
because you’ll mess up,
but He’ll never mess up.
Give the Lord a mighty praise
if you’re thankful.
Say, Lord, you can use me.
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Here’s something
that’s so important.
This story teaches us that
you have to carry,
you have to carry Jesus,
but Jesus will do
the heavy lifting.
What do you mean?
Isaiah 53:4, “Surely,”
listen to it.
“Surely, He has bore our grief.
He has carried our sorrow.”
You carry me.
I’ll carry that stuff.
“We esteemed Him stricken,
afflicted of God,
but He was wounded
for our transgressions.
He was bruised
for our inequities.
The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him and by His stripes
we are healed.”
And then it goes to say,
“The Lord,” listen to it,
“has laid on Him the inequity
of us all.”
You carry Jesus.
You carry the burden
of carrying Christ,
the reproach of carrying
Christ, sometimes the rejection
of carrying Christ,
but He lifts the heavy load.
I hear young people say
it’s too hard to live for God.
It’s too hard to live for God.
No, it’s not.
Not if you really live for Him.
He said, “Come unto me all you
who are weary and heavy laden,
and I’ll carry the heavy stuff,
and you carry me.
For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
I don’t know who I’m preaching
to this morning,
but you don’t have to carry
the heavy lift.
You don’t have to make it
on your own.
There is a Savior who says
I’ll help you.
Grace will lighten your shame
and your guilt.
Grace will lighten the load
of past failure.
Grace will pick you back up.
Here’s another big one.
This is number four.
Donkeys are built for endurance,
not speed.
Ecclesiastes 9:11,
“The race is not to the swift.”
Boy, are we gonna ever
learn that?
How many ministries have
we seen?
One thing about this
little church.
I know we go through our ups
and downs and our little deals,
but we’re not some little
fly-by-night,
built on a hot-shop preacher
or something or another.
We’re gonna go back
to this Book every time.
We’re gonna get on our knees.
We’re gonna love one another
and forgive one another.
We are not a
flash-in-the-pan ministry.
A mule is not a racehorse.
“The race is not to the swift.
The battle is not to the strong,
but he,” listen,
“that endures to the end
shall be saved.”
And boy, you better get ahold
of that ‘cause people are
quitting the race.
People are giving up the race.
People are falling aside
like a plague, and many of you,
you’re losing that joy,
that peace, that fire for God,
and you don’t understand.
It’s not how good you started,
but I have made up my mind.
I’m gonna make it
to the finish line.
I don’t care.
I can’t let nothing stop me.
I’ve got to make it
to the finish line.
This is about —
this is an endurance race.
How many of you would say,
Pastor Franklin, I have truly
been blessed by God,
He’s done amazing blessings
in my life?
I don’t deserve
the house I have.
I don’t deserve
the car I have.
I don’t deserve the life I —
come on.
Let me see your hand.
I don’t even deserve it.
Well, here’s a big lesson
from this story.
So important.
You carry the burden,
but don’t ever forget Jesus
gets the praise.
It would’ve been easy
for that donkey when he started
entering into Jerusalem
and all he was ever used
to was old, muddy trails.
Now, they’re throwing
expensive coats down.
Read the Bible.
They’re taking their coats
off and throwing it down,
and now he’s walking up
path of prosperity.
Woo!
High stepping.
Everybody’s screaming, “Hosanna!
Hosanna!”
Voices of praise coming
from everywhere.
“Wonderful Counselor.”
It could’ve been easy
for that donkey to actually
think, “They are really
impressed with me!”
You carry the burden,
but He gets the glory.
He gets the praise.
He gets the honor.
And some of you better go back
to giving Him the glory.
It’s not about you, donkey.
You need to give Him
some praise.
Corrie ten Boom said,
“I was just the donkey
that carried Jesus
to the multitudes,”
and if you will be that kind
of person that will give Him
the praise for every victory,
for every success in your life,
give Him the glory.
I close with this.
Jesus can’t use you,
this story teaches us,
until you get untied.
He said you’re gonna find
that colt, and it’s gonna
be tied to a post.
And He said, “Loose it.
Untie it.”
When you’re tied to something,
the scenery never changes.
When you’re tied
to an addiction,
all you see is drug addiction.
Same old thing every day.
Tied to it,
and that’s your whole world.
There’s a whole world out there,
but when you’re tied
to guilt and shame,
that’s all you see.
When you’re tied to alcohol,
that’s all you see.
When you’re tied
to an immoral life,
that’s all you see.
You can try to get away
every once and a while,
but you can’t ‘cause
you’re tied to it.
But when Jesus unties you,
watch this, and He begins
to get in you and ride on you,
He’ll take you to places
you’ve never been.
You’ll see a whole new world.
You’ll see a whole new life.
You’ll realize I was
thinking so small.
God really can use me.
And if you’ll get loose
and let Him lead you,
Jesus says, “I’ll change
the road you’re walking on.
I’ll never leave you.
I’ll never forsake you.”
Lift your hands and worship Him
all over this room.
Come on.
Come on.
Now, go back to my title
and say can Jesus use me.
Can Jesus use me?
Yes, He can use you if you
will let Him do what He did
for that lowly animal.
He will use you.
>> Thank you so much
for being with us today
on Kingdom Connection.
It’s because of you
we’re on television right now.
Our number one goal
is to reach people
with the Gospel.
To find the hurting,
the broken,
those that feel like
they don’t matter
and don’t count,
and call them into a real
loving relationship
with Jesus Christ.
If you’re hurting today
and you’re watching right now
and you want to give
your life to Jesus,
why don’t you just repeat
this prayer after me.
“Lord, Jesus.”
Just say those words.
“Lord, Jesus
come into my heart.
You died and shed your blood
to forgive me,
and rose again
to live through me.
I give You my life,
give me Your peace,
give me Your help,
give me Your purpose
for my life.
Help my family, help me,
direct me, guide me
through this time.
In Jesus’ name.
I don’t wanna be alone anymore.
Amen, and amen.”
I really want you to know
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Whatever season of life
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For decades I have set
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I know we’re approaching
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>> Cherise and I
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>> We hope you’ve enjoyed
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♪ ♪