Baby Steps into Giant Steps

“When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.”

Proverbs 4:12

In order to learn to take risks for the sake of the Kingdom of God we must build our faith in small steps.

That is so often contrary to what we want to do.

We read of the ‘Giants of the Faith’ in Hebrews 11.

 It tells of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and so many others.

We are told in verse 39 that “These were all commended for their faith…”

Perhaps in considering their lives we make the mistake of thinking they started out as giants.

Did you?

Maybe someone reading this was a rather large baby at birth but you were still a baby.

You didn’t start out as a giant.

You had to learn to talk, to walk and to make your way in the world.

Baby steps precede running.

So it is spiritually.

Small steps of faith precede larger ones.

Exercising our faith increases it in the same way that our muscles grow as we use them.

I Corinthians 4:2 tell us: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

Have you been ‘given a trust’?

Prove yourself faithful in it.

As you do, you are entrusted with more and more.

I admire greatly the men and woman of God willing to take great risks.

In doing so, they will reap great rewards; perhaps in this life, perhaps in the life to come.

But I must always combine that admiration of their risks with yesterday’s lesson of

 ‘why not me!’

My willingness and my ability to take great steps of faith and to take great risks comes from growing in the small steps that precede the big ones.

Can you identify one thing today in which God wants you to exercise your faith?

Maybe it is calling someone and praying for them.

Maybe it is declaring a promise over your life.

Maybe it is blessing an enemy rather than cursing them.

Take that step today.

And the next step tomorrow.

And the next one the day after that...

Turning Woe-Is-Me into Why-Not-Me

“Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

Joshua 14:10-12

 

 

♫ “Gloom, despair and agony on me;

Deep, dark depression; excessive misery. ♪

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all;

♪ Gloom, despair and agony on me.” ♫

No, you won’t find these words in the Book of Job.

They are not to be found anywhere in the Bible.

Those are the words to a humorous country song that used to be sung on a 1960’s television show called “Hee-Haw”.

But those same words (at least the thoughts and attitude behind them) sometimes hold believers from doing anything significant for the Kingdom of God.

To be able to take risks for God and achieve His purposes for my life I must get rid of the ‘woe-is-me’ attitude and replace it with a ‘why-not-me’ attitude.

I did not say an arrogant, proud attitude. In fact, it is just the opposite. Too often the man or woman stuck on a “God could never use little ole’ me” mindset is really suffering from a destructive self-centered attitude.

You see it is not about you.

It is about His work in you.

Peter walked on water because He asked Jesus to invite him to come to Him.

As long as his eyes were fastened on the Lord – he walked on the water.

How about you?

Can God call you to a task greater than your own power and ability?

Can He call you to a task with some ‘risk’ of failure?

If I want to achieve God’s purposes, I must believe that He can use me.

Even more, I must believe that He will use me.

‘He can’ still leaves room for doubt.

‘He will’ creates risk that is answered by faith.

Caleb didn’t suffer from a woe-is-me attitude.  

At the age of 85, it was still – Why not me!

How about you?

‘Stranger Danger’ and Risk

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”

Psalm 56:3

 

Yesterday we spoke of the importance of taking risks in walking with God.

So how do we learn to ‘take a risk’ with God.

Let me ask you a question as we get to the heart of the matter.

If I was a total stranger and asks you to trust me what would your response be?

Maybe you would question “Why should I do that?”

Maybe you would simply walk away and say “Sorry, I’m not about to trust a total stranger!”

After all, we’ve taught our children all about ‘stranger danger’!

Isn’t it true that we are more willing to take a risk when we know a person?

Then it stands to reason that the greater I know someone the more willing I am to take a risk.

‘Safety-seekers’ have not learned to ‘step out of the boat’ as Peter did.

Their relationship with Jesus does not go deep enough to trust Him with risks.

Keeping our ‘boat on the lake’ idea afloat; suppose you were all alone in a boat and fell overboard.

Now lets’ further suppose you could not swim very well.   

I know, you shouldn’t have been alone in a boat to begin with.

(But, if you are like me you don’t always do the wisest things.)

You are thrashing around in the water in panic and someone in a motorboat sees you and rescues you.

You thank them profusely but get back in your own boat and row away as they watch.

In our little story, Jesus is the rescuer who saves us from drowning in our sin.

We thank Him profusely for saving us but we then go on our way, the captain of our own boat and our own destiny.

We never take the time to build a relationship with Him.

Is it any surprise then when we struggle to trust Him and are unwilling to take even the slightest of risks for the sake of the Kingdom of God?

You see, God is trustworthy.

When it comes to comparisons, there isn’t a close second place.

He can be trusted.

But I learn how to trust Him as I build that relationship.

There is nothing unusual about that.

You know it to be true with your family and friends.

So, step one in learning to take risks with God is building that relationship with His Son through the Holy Spirit.

If God is a ‘stranger’ to you, then taking the risk will most be more difficult.

Water Walking

“When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  But Jesus immediately said to them:

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.”

Matthew 14:26-29

 

Risk

Risk is defined as: the chance of injury, damage or loss; dangerous chance; hazard.

Are you a risk–taker for the sake of the Kingdom of God?

Are you prepared to suffer injury, damage or loss?

Maybe not even physical injury, how about an injured ego, a damaged reputation or the loss of a friend?

Are you willing to take a risk like Peter did in stepping out of the boat?

He could have drowned.

He could have been humiliated.

He did walk on water.

Maybe you’re thinking: “Well, you know the old saying – ‘it is better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.’”

But did Peter fail?

He took a risk and he walked on water.

He lasted longer walking on the water than anyone else still safely ensconced on the boat!

The obvious point is that the others didn’t even risk it.

Risk takers were the minority that stormy night.

They continue, sadly, to be a minority in the church today.

We love the safety of routineness.

We are not comfortable with the step of faith, aka risk.

Maybe you take issue with the word risk and religiously declare: ‘It is never a risk to trust Jesus!’  

To which I would ask: When was the last time you walked on water?

It is never easy on the flesh to expose ourselves to injury, damage or loss.

But if we are going to trust God and be used by Him for great things it will be necessary.

Peter began to sink, but he did not drown.

I doubt very much that Peter was ridiculed by the other disciples for getting out of the boat.

Maybe one or two of them thought to themselves:

“If I had gotten out of the boat, I would’ve gotten farther than Peter did.”

Bold thoughts perhaps, but they still knew that they had not risked what Peter did.

Is God calling you out of the boat?

Then the question is: Will you be a risk taker for the Kingdom of God?

Water walking anyone?

 

Signs of the Times

“Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”

 

 “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

 

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

 

Luke 21:10-11

Daniel 12:4

Matthew 24:37-39

 

What are the signs of the times?

Some might say – “Well, wars are nothing new; we’ve had them from the beginning of time.”

While there may be some truth to that we must look at the whole of scripture and all of the events it speaks about.

War, famine, pestilence, fearful events, great signs, traveling over the globe for knowledge (gee, that last one sounds a bit like the internet, doesn’t it?) and finally – increased evil.

Some would contend that we are not experiencing an increase in evil but just the impact of the 24 hour news cycle that covers a tragedy 5,000 miles away like it was in your own backyard.

But I can’t shake the feeling that the ‘legalized murder’ of 55 million unborn children in our own nation since 1973 could be called anything else but tragically evil.

We murder for the sake of convenience and call it ‘choice’.  

As it relates to knowledge, we have made education a secular god.

As a culture, as we profess greater wisdom we become greater fools.

We hear from both camps concerning our nation – great revival or great judgment.

But at the end of the day – or more specifically – at the end of your life; it is not about a nation or the whole earth.

It comes down to you and God.

What will you do with the life He has given you?

Even if we are not in the last days (though I believe we are) we each must face the question of eternity.  

A non-believer must choose what he/she will do with Jesus.

A believer must choose if  he/she will capitalize on the blessing of God to do the will of God!

Don’t Wander Off!

“Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  

For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

Matthew 24:4-5

 

Jesus was never one to mince words when He walked on the earth.

We often hear of Him as the ‘gentle Jesus’ but this title may not always have seemed appropriate to those who watched Him drive out the moneychangers or heard Him speak to the religious leaders of His day. His choice of words – and He certainly made no mistakes in choosing the words He did – can be very telling to us as we read todays verse.   

I want us to notice some words in particular, first of all the two words “Watch out”.

There is zero nobility in being ignorant as it relates to knowing the signs of the times.

Jesus cautions His disciples – and that includes you and me – to not be caught unaware about something.

What is that something?

It is to not be deceived concerning others claiming to be Him.

We are not to live our lives wringing our hands in anxiety about the latest and greatest claim from someone that they are the Christ.

We are not to be ignorant about this.

I suppose this blog could be accused of harping on one topic more than any other and that would be that we need to abide in Christ.

You see, there is an interesting root to the Greek word used here for “deceive” and it is to “wander”.

I don’t know how you picture it but if I am abiding in Christ – if I am holding fast to Him, if I remain in Him then it is impossible to wander.

You see He gets to lead.

Only when I let go of Him can I wander off.

What about your young child?

Could you ever lose them as long as they held tight to your hand?

So it is with Christ.

As we remain in Him, we cannot be deceived.

As we hold fast, we do not wander.

The second thing I would like to notice in these words of Jesus is the phrase:

 “…in my name…”

We probably have all heard the phrase “in name only”.

As a matter of fact, here in the US one of the two major political parties has a faction often identified as “RINO’s” which stands for “Republicans In Name Only”.

In other words – they carry the name but not the values.

Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 7 and verses 21 to 23

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly,

‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The one who ‘abides in Christ’ not only carries His name but bears His fruit as well.

He is one who does not ‘wander off’.

He is one who is not deceived.

It’s ‘Red Sky at Morning’ Season

“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

Matthew 16:1-3

 

As I was driving my son to work this morning he noticed the dramatic sunrise and commented: “It won’t be a good day to be a sailor.”

His comment was based on the old weather forecasting adage:

“Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.

Red sky at night, sailors delight.”

The lesson being that the red, orange, yellow and purple sunrise may be beautiful but it means a difficult or changeable weather day ahead.

Jesus, speaking to the religious rulers and teachers of Israel, rebuked them for being able to predict the weather by the signs in the sky but failing to know the signs of the times.

If you are going to capitalize on your time on the earth what you need to do is see the big picture and accurately understand the signs of the times!

A great businessman is one who sees a need for a product or service and fills that need.

A great teacher is one who understands well what the student needs to learn and is able to communicate it in a way that helps his student grasp it.

A true disciple of Jesus Christ is one who understands well the signs of the times.

They understand well the days in which they are living and capitalize on them for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

When you look at the “spiritual sky”, what do you see?

How do you interpret what is happening in the political, natural and economic spheres?

Many people are impacted by the events of the day only in the natural realm.

They fail to see and understand the signs of the times in which we live.  

The ‘sign from heaven’ the Pharisees and Sadducees needed to understand was the ‘signs of the times’ in which they lived.

So, I’ll ask it again:

When you look at the “spiritual sky”, what do you see?

Gods’ ‘Unique’ Plan For Me

“I have not lost sight of my plan for you, the Lord says, and it is your welfare I have in mind, not your undoing; for you, too, I have a destiny and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 (Knox Bible)

  

What motivates you?

Are you led through life by a paycheck?

Maybe you live for the week-end and the downtime that it promises.

Some are motivated by power.

They seek it through politics; they strive for it at the office, even demand it in the home.

Let me ask you a more specific question.

What motivates you, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, to capitalize on your time on the earth?

Is it God’s love?

Is it His redemption?

How about the fear of hell or the reward of heaven?

Is that enough?

Some may be reciting their favorite bible scripture as their answer.

Let me suggest to you that understanding God’s bigger picture on the earth (and your part in it) is the greatest motivation to live fully for God and capitalize on your time on this earth.

You can read of accounts from individuals who have given lavishly of their time, talents and treasures to causes greater than themselves.

They will speak of how it added immense purpose and value to their lives.

Now imagine that instead of simply trying the:

‘eenie-meenie-miney-moe pick a worthy cause and go’ method,

as admirable as that may be, you sought the Lord and walked in His unique purpose that He had  in mind when He created you.

Of course there is a purpose for all of us as His children but there is also a plan

for each of us, unique to me and unique to you.

Jesus fulfilled His work at the age of 33 years and then declared: “It is finished.”

His desire was always to do the will of the Father.

His motivation was to fulfill His part in ‘Gods bigger picture’.

It was a motivation that carried Him to the cross and beyond.

You may be surprised at what you will endure when you are truly motivated by doing the will of your heavenly Father and fulfilling His plans for you as part of His bigger plans!

So

Eenie-meenie-miney-moe

Or

God lead me and I’ll go!

Finding My Place in Gods’ Plans

“The chief of the Temple police and the high priests were puzzled...”

Acts 5:24 (Message)

 

 Suppose I asked you to put a puzzle together.

Let’s say it is a 500 piece puzzle.

Oh, by the way – I don’t have a box or a picture of the finished puzzle for you to look at.

Makes it a little bit tougher, doesn’t it?

Let me help you out – I can tell you what it is supposed to be.

Does that help?

Suppose I had the ability to accurately describe the shape of each piece and the unique markings on that piece, also describing in the same way a piece that it fits into.

Then if you listened to me, you might be able to make some progress with the puzzle.

God has a plan for your life Mr., Mrs or Miss Individual Puzzle Piece.

You know that.

But He also has a plan for all of His creation.

How do you fit into that plan?

Do you know how to capitalize on His purposes for you within that bigger plan?

In other words, where do you fit in?

I suggest we learn from the puzzle-maker.

I suggest we yield to Him as He places us into His greater plans.

We all know what its’ like to try to put a piece into a puzzle that “almost-but-not-quite” fits.

We can force it but it just isn’t where it is supposed to be.

I want to be where God needs me to be.

I want to do what God has created me to do.

I want to fulfill His purposes.

I want to fit where He has purposed me to be – not forced, but a perfect fit.

How about you?

Let’s look this week together at discovering how we do that.

Its need not be puzzling!

Celebrating National “Pick on Moses Day”

“Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord.

I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.

I am slow of speech and tongue.”

 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths?

Who makes them deaf or mute?

Who gives them sight or makes them blind?

Is it not I, the Lord?

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:10-13

 

“God, I know better than you!”

We probably would all deny saying those words, but would probably also all be as guilty as Moses was in his request to send someone else.

Our passage today would certainly be a choice scripture if we were to celebrate a national “Pick on Moses Day”.

 “Can you believe that guy, dissing God the way he did!”

But let’s be honest – who hasn’t doubted Gods’ pick – when He is pointing directly at you?

It is valuable to review the first nine verses leading up to today’s text. In them, God turns Moses’ staff into a serpent and back again and then He turns Moses hand leprous and makes it whole again. With such a supernatural demonstration of Gods’ power we can perhaps sympathize with Moses’ response.

How could he possibly represent to Pharaoh such an awesome, powerful God?

We, like Moses, need to understand that when God commissions and calls us to a task He go with us and equips us to meet the challenges we will face.  

Nowhere in that previous statement did I say everything will be easy and there won’t be challenges.

It remains a walk of faith with God.

But He does not send us into Pharaoh’s court empty-handed.

The point is this – when you are confronting ‘pharaoh’ – trust God and stop making excuses!

What Did You Say God?

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.  And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Exodus 3:5-10

 

Have you ever been so fascinated by what you were looking at that you totally did not hear what was being said at the time?

When I read this passage I wonder if perhaps that happened to Moses.

On the other hand, we are not told that prior to this Moses had ever heard the audible voice of God so perhaps that had a way of searing the words spoken into Moses’ spirit.

I say this because it is at this point that the “facts” of the mission Moses was about to embark on were spoken by God.

God said: “I am sending you…”

Moses said: “You are sending WHO?”

Not!

God was sending Moses to do what Moses had tried to do in his own power some 40 years earlier.

Moses had killed an Egyptian who was beating one of his “own people”.

We may sense a call or mission from God, we may even be told of something specific that God is going to do – as He had told Abraham and Sarah – concerning a son.

But we, like Moses, Abraham, Sarah and a host of other Bible characters, can quickly move out of the will and the plans of God when we fail to listen to His voice and get the facts. If you look back at the verses above you will see that God speaks some very detailed plans to Moses unlike the day Moses killed the Egyptian.

On that day he responded, perhaps out of zeal or passion but not out of obedience to the direction of God.

We often can be guilty of acting based on our passion or zeal.

But we miss the plans of God, even though we feel so strongly about what we are doing, because we don’t wait on His instructions.    

“Faith doesn’t need to wait on instructions!” you argue.

But I would contend that we do.

In the verse above God begins by introducing Himself, identifying the problem, expressing His concern, offering His solution and commissioning Moses as the one He is sending.

I don’t know about you, but I think that gives Moses a whole lot more to go on than only the passion and zeal he had forty years earlier.  

You may argue, “Well, God doesn’t always give us that much detail.”

Perhaps you are right.

But more often than not we move out ahead of God calling our actions “faith” when in reality we just haven’t waited on His specific details.

So, what is our response?

Listen to Gods’ voice and get the facts from Him!

What Happens When Pharaoh Falls?

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this

all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

II Corinthians 4:7

 

What happened when the Pharaoh of Egypt was brought down?

Nations trembled at the awesome display of the power of God as He delivered His people.

Some may remember the invasion by the US of the tiny island of Granada in 1983.

It was initiated following the bloody overthrowing of a constitutional government by a military coup and the taking of American medical students as hostages.

The invasion freed the students and reestablished a constitutional government.

The population of Granada at the time we invaded was a mere 91,000 people.

That is roughly the population of Wayne County, New York where I live.

Some likened the successful military campaign to Goliath conquering David.

Not exactly a challenge like the Normandy Invasion of WWII!

But imagine instead, if the Nation of Granada successfully invaded and brought down the government of the United States.

As unlikely as that scenario sounds, it is actually a more accurate picture of what happened when God delivered His people Israel from the mightiest nation on earth – Egypt.

The Pharaoh was brought low through the stuttering shepherd Moses.

God called him after 40 years in the desert shepherding his father-in-laws herds.

Listen to this exchange from Exodus 3:11-12a

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

And God said: “I will be with you…”

Those 5 words should be more than enough!

But they didn’t quite convince Moses.

Those 5 words should be enough for you and me too.

But, like Moses, we often look at our weakness, instead of Gods’ great power.

We expect the ‘wherewithal’, the skill, expertise and power to originate in us instead of being displayed through us.  

It’s His power, not our own!

Pharaoh fell, but God got the glory!

God wants to take down our ‘pharaohs’ to bring Him preeminence in the earth.

Will you let Him, __________________?

                          (insert your name here)

‘Pharaohs’ in our Culture

“Then the Lord said to Moses,

“Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him,

‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”

Exodus 8:20

 

 

 

“Tell my people this: ‘There is no pharaoh that can stand against their God!’”

Those are the words God spoke to the Pastor in preparing the message he delivered on Sunday.

 We defined modern day ‘pharaohs’ yesterday not simply as ancient Egyptian rulers written about in history books but any obstacle that stands in the way of the will of God being accomplished in your life.

But there are ‘pharaohs of culture’ as well – those powers in our culture that would resist God and His people trying to bring them into bondage.

We see opposition to the church rising in our culture.

We see it attempting to bring the church into captivity to its’ will rather than Gods.

Opposition to God and His work is nothing new.

Though his future is already determined, the prince of the power of the air continues to defiantly oppose all that is godly in the earth and that includes attempting to destroy the church and its’ message.

Will he be successful?

Of course not!

We are told that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

Egypt’s pharaoh of Moses’ day was certainly an obstacle and stronghold.

But having said that, he was still no match for God.

God has not changed.

His power has not diminished.

He has always been and will always be “in His prime” so to speak.

So what are some of those modern day pharaohs?

Religion, abortion, homosexuality, human trafficking, anything that rises up to oppose God and to bring people into bondage.

Are you offended that I would lump ‘religion’ in with the others?

Of course I am not speaking of the ‘religion’ spoken of in James 1:27 but rather of that which is of routine and tradition but void of relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Are you the Moses God wants to raise up to confront the modern ‘Pharaoh’ in our culture?

Are you the David God will anoint to take out the modern ‘Goliath’ in our culture?

Are you the Weeping Prophet Jeremiah, sent by God with a message for this day and hour?

Are you the Daniel, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who will not bow down to a culture but will, in your non-surrender tenacity, bring glory to God?

Will you declare:

“There is no pharaoh that can stand against my God!”

 

Modern Day ‘Pharaohs’

“Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

Exodus 4:10-12

 

 

What are some obstacles you are currently facing in your life?

I’m not talking about a hangnail or what to wear to work tomorrow.

What are those genuine and significant obstacles in your life that you believe are keeping you from completing the purposes God has for you?

Moses was sent by God to give a message to Pharaoh.

God said: “Let my people go…”

Pharaoh said to Moses: “Why sure, I’d be happy to; how else can I help you today Moses?”

Not exactly!

His words actually were – “…Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go” Exodus 5:2

You see, Pharaoh became Moses’ obstacle.  

Please note that I did not say he became ‘Gods’ obstacle.’

That would be an oxymoron.

You know the rest of the story so you know that the Children of Israel, 1,000,000+ strong, not only marched out of Egypt, leaving the greatest and most powerful nation of that  day behind but they did so with gold, silver and other plunder.

This was not a hard thing for God.

But it was a tad unbelievable to Moses at first.

Moses saw Pharaoh as a huge obstacle!

He offered a lot of excuses (we like to call them reasons) why it couldn’t be or shouldn’t be him to carry God’s message and lead the people out.  

God had to have a man who would believe that what He (God) had commissioned him (Moses) to do could be done, no matter what the obstacles.

He had to have a man who believed God, not himself, was capable.  

Suppose God called you to a task far, far greater than what you felt you could accomplish.

Suppose the obstacles were like giants in the land.

This is what Moses faced.

Don’t be content with getting to heaven and saying:

“God, thank you for healing my hangnail – I knew you could do it!”

Instead, ask God – “Lord, what obstacle, what modern day ‘Pharaoh’ are you calling me to deliver a message to and to see removed by your power and under your anointing?”

In God We Trust?

“in God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
    What can mortal man do to me?”

“in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 56:4, 11

 

 

“In God We Trust”

As of the writing of today’s blog those words can still be found on our currency here in the United States.

But a search of scriptures will not locate that phrase.

Instead, you can find our text above with the words “in God I trust”.

So what?

I am not opposed to the statement on our currency but I point it out only in this respect:

scripture does not call “we” to trust without first requiring “I” to trust.

In other words, God is a loving Father who desires a relationship with each of us individually and personally.

So often we use the ‘we’ to shield us from the ‘I’.

If ‘I’ can hide behind the ‘group we’ or the ‘family we’ or a ‘church we’ maybe ‘I’ won’t have to address the ‘I’ statements God presents in scripture.

Will I trust in God?

Will I believe His word?

What will I do with His Son?

Where will I spend eternity?

Or, the questions we have asked these 21 days of prayer and fasting at His Place:

Will I encounter His presence?

Will I experience His power?

Will I engage His plans?

I understand the preaching against the personal pronoun “I”.

It was the first word of several statements Lucifer declared that ended in his fall from heaven.

There is often far too much ‘I’ in me and you.

But ultimately, we are called upon to answer some of the ‘I’ statements I posed above.  

So how will the ‘I’ in you answer?

Will you trust Him when family deserts you?

Will you trust Him when nations no longer honor Him?

Will you choose Him over all other interests?

How will you address and answer the ‘I’ statements?

No Disrespect Intended

“Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
     hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught”

Psalm 55:1-2

 

Would you please read the text above again?

Any thoughts come to mind?

As I read it, it can almost sound disrespectful or demanding of God on the part of David.

But there is, I believe, some light shed on David’s frame of mind as we read verses 4 and 5:

“My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death assail me.
 Fear and trembling have beset me;
    horror has overwhelmed me.”

There’s something about desperation that causes our prayers to “cut to the chase” so to speak.

When we are overwhelmed we jettison the pretenses and all the jargon.

Our prayers become – in the vernacular of a common manufacturing process – “lean”.

 We say what we mean and mean what we say.

Desperation has a way of ‘trimming the fat’ from our words.  

David was wounded deeply by a friend as he wrote this psalm.

It caused him to call out to God.

Reading the verse of our text it might be easy to imagine David shaking his fist at God as he spoke the words; except we know the context and we know the heart of David.

God knows the ‘context’ of your life and He knows your heart.

Don’t let false words get in the way of your heartfelt cry to God.

When you are desperate; when you are in a very difficult place, perhaps even questioning the purposes of God in that place, let your prayers be honest and direct with God.

Maybe you have put on a brave face for others but God knows you better than you know yourself so don’t pretend with Him.

I encourage you to take a few moments if you can and read the whole of Psalm 55.

It is rich in lessons.

I close with these words from verses 16 and 17 of that Psalm:

“But I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
 Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.”

What Say You?

“As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me.

Night is coming when no one can work.”

John 9:4

 

 

Jesus is the Son of God.

He was fully man and fully God as He walked on the earth.

He said in the Garden:

“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels.”  Matthew 26:53

And it is said of Him in Philippians 2:6-7

“Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.”

What a contrast!

We are the sons of God.

We too are called to be servants.

Just as Jesus got down on his knees and washed His disciples feet; we are called to be those who humble ourselves before Him in service to others.

A son of God, a servant of God, will engage the plans of God wherever God presents them and however He presents them.

Too often, we in the church are only willing to engage if our hands can stay clean.

Like the couple who live together without getting married we want all of the benefits without any of the commitment.

God bless ME, just don’t ask me to do anything that might inconvenience me.

Jesus could ask in return:

Like taking up your cross, you mean?

I don’t want to “guilt” anyone into service but I do want us to understand that the time is short and God is calling all of us to be engaged in His plans.

It is His mercy and His love that calls us because His desire is that we are found faithful and working at His return.

Look around you because the opportunities are there.

If you are having trouble seeing them, ask God to open your eyes.

He came as a servant and He calls you to service for Him.

What say you?

Little ‘Things’ Can Have Big Consequences

“This third I will bring into the fire;
    I will refine them like silver
    and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
    and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

Zechariah 13:9

Every so often you will read of some celebrity who was “discovered” by a talent agent or someone in “the business”. They were sitting in a restaurant or some other place, minding their own business and “poof” the next thing you know they are on the cover of “People” magazine.

Everywhere you look you see their image!

They are the next great somebody.

They are the newest hot commodity.

They are an ‘overnight sensation’!

As believers we must understand that great men and woman of God are not ‘discovered’.

They are developed in the hidden places of everyday life.

There are no shortcuts to maturity in the Kingdom of God.

We may be ‘suddenly’ introduced to a person being mightily used of God and because we had not heard of them before we assume they are a recently “discovered star”.

After all, American Idol, The Voice and other shows in that genre’ try to make us believe it only takes one television season to churn out tomorrow’s newest star.  

But you’ve probably heard that old saying – “He puts his pants on one leg at a time” – which is another way of saying of others that they face the same tasks and issues that each of us do.

God is no respecter of persons.

If we desire to be greatly used of Him, we will have the opportunity to be faithful first in the little things.

The seemingly unimportant things, the ‘invisible’ actions (at least we think no one sees them) that God brings into our everyday lives to refine us.

 Some will pooh-pooh them as not worthy of their attention and certainly not important in the grand scheme of things.

But they are important to God.

He sees those choices made in secret and even the ones done in the full view of others that we have somehow regarded as of little consequence.

Little by little they too can become great.

Great evidence of a life that is not faithful to God in the little things

 – or –

great evidence of a life that is!

Do you want to be greatly used of God?

Then let God develop you in the hidden places of everyday life.

Everyday His Way

 “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

Romans 12:1 (Message)

 

Ho-Hum Everyday life!

The routines of our work-a-day world or school schedules can crowd out the priority of living for God.

Some settle into a “sameness sanity” devoid of any time for God.

We can move through life doing tomorrow what we did today which was nothing more than a repeat of yesterday.

But carving out a “special” time for God can become as ritualistic and routine as everything else on our daily planners.

How about instead – we give God the whole day and let Him direct our plans.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you stay home from work unless you hear an audible voice!

It does mean that whether at work, school, home or anywhere else; we are committed to giving God His way as He orders our steps, sometimes even re-directing them.

We often have unrealistic dreams that God can only use us on the mission field in some far-away country when truthfully, He is longing to use you to pray for your hurting co-worker one cubicle over.

The missions’ trip to a foreign land begins oftentimes with the missions’ trip to the next door neighbor.

You’ve heard it framed this way – being faithful in the little things so that God can use you in the bigger things.

If you won’t speak to your neighbor over the fence why would God send you halfway around the world to speak to someone else?

“Well that’s different” you say!

How so?

Maybe God will use someone else to share the Good News ‘story’ with them but that does not excuse us from living the Good News ‘life’ next door to them.

Everyday His Way!