Nothing is Impossible - Power in the Walk

From Shepherd's Staff to the Rod of God

Have you ever read that poem, "It Depends on Whose Hands It's In"? It's a pretty interesting little poem that talks about how small insignificant items can mean different things to different people. For instance, a basketball in my hands is worthless, but a basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth millions.
I was thinking about that poem last night when I was reading my Bible. I was reading the passage in Exodus 2:2-4 where God told Moses to throw down his shepherd's staff. When Moses threw the staff to the ground, it turned into a snake, and Moses ran in fear. But God told Moses to grab the snake by the tail, and when he did, the snake turned once again into a shepherd's staff.
Several things struck me in this passage. Number one, Moses was willing to listen to God. Otherwise, he would never have thrown down the staff to begin with, and he definitely wouldn't have grabbed the snake that he ran from by the tail.
Secondly, Moses was afraid when he saw the power of God revealed. He ran from the snake. Now, I totally would have done the same thing because snakes are not animals I like.
But the thing is that God hasn't given us the spirit of fear. He has given us the spirit of power. (II Timothy 1:7) His power. The power to overcome any fear that threatens to overtake us. Fear is a form of torment that Satan uses to keep us in bondage. (I John 4:18)
The question is, why do we allow that fear to overtake us when we HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE POWER OF GOD? I mean think about it. God merely told Moses to throw the staff to the ground, and the stick turned into a living, breathing, slivering serpent. I don't know about you, but I've never thrown a stick to the ground and seen it do that. No, God was showing His power to Moses, yet Moses was afraid.
And most of us are just like him. We have seen the power of God in our lives. He saved us didn't He? He's answered prayers in our lives, worked miracles that He alone could work, yet we cower in fear wondering what darts Satan will throw our way next.
We don't have to live that way. Every day ordinary things in our lives can be used to show God's power if only we will be willing to accept the fact that we need His power.(We'll talk a little more about that tomorrow)
Thinking back to the poem about whose hands it's in, I wonder how awesome each and everyone of our lives would be if we truly placed them in God's hands and without fear allowed Him to work His power through us?
I don't know about you, but that's something I'd like to find out!

Keep Your Eyes Open - Wisdom in the Walk

You Have to See the Prize

Philippians 3:13-15
"13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."

Today's post will conclude this series about wisdom in the walk, and I honestly think it's probably the most important point in the series. You must see the prize that is before you.
And what is that prize? Philippians 3:14 says the prize is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And what is this high calling?
Is it to be great at your job? I doubt it, otherwise, why would Jesus have called Peter and other disciples away from their fishing boats. Is it to be wealthy? No, otherwise, why would Jesus have told the rich young ruler to sell all that he owned to follow him? Is it to be the picture of health? No, otherwise why would Paul have suffered with a thorn in the flesh.
Now that's not to say that we should all quit our jobs, sell everything we own and let ourselves become unhealthy slobs. I think Jesus was just trying to show these people and us, that the things in THIS world aren't the MOST important things.
Think about it, several times when things got hard, Peter ran back to the fishing boat. Jesus wanted Peter to realize that even when Peter didn't understand what was going on around him, that God was still in control. Eventually Peter learned this lesson. Eventually he learned that working for Christ was much more important. And because he learned that lesson, God used him greatly on the day of Pentecost.
We all know that the rich young ruler chose his wealth over Christ. His money was more important to him than his eternal soul. He had such a tight grip on the things in this world that he couldn't see the treasures he could gain in the next.
Paul prayed three times that God would remove his thorn in the flesh, but he had to learn that God's grace was sufficient. Even if Paul didn't understand why he had to suffer, he had to learn that God was with him. Paul used his sufferings to show others that God was faithful to those who trusted in Him.
So if the things of this world aren't the prize, what is this high calling? The high calling is to become perfect, or mature in Christ. To be a true Christian. To be Jesus to the world.
Paul said in Philippians 3:13 that he had not yet reached that goal, but he did say that he was constantly pressing toward it. It was constantly in his sights like the finish line at the end of the race. He vowed to never stop working toward that prize.
We should make that same vow. We should remember that the high calling for each of us is to be Christ-like, to be holy. Then we should strive to be more spiritually mature every single day. If we keep our eyes on that prize, we will not miss it. And when we come to the final end of the race, we will hear the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Keep Your Eyes Open - Wisdom in the Walk

You Have to See the Path

This past Sunday, I taught the ladies at my church about wisdom in the walk. This is something that God put on my mind last Sunday night. I was reading this verse in Ephesians 5:15:

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,"

Walk circumspectly? I pondered what that meant for a while. It means to always be on the lookout. Never let your guard down. Don't walk around in la-la land, totally oblivious to the things going on around you!
And why shouldn't we do that? Because we have an enemy out there who wants to destroy us! I Peter 5:8 puts it this way:

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

The devil wants to devour us. He doesn't want us to be successful Christians. He wants to see each and everyone of us fall. So he puts potholes all along the path of life in order to trip us up.
A few years back my sister and brother-in-law bought a bassett hound named Copper. He's a pretty sweet dog, but when he was just a pup, he liked to dig holes. Not deep holes, holes just deep enought to trip you up.
The problem is that when he was in his hole digging stage he lived at my house. There is one hole that I've almost broken my ankle in about 900 times. The problem is that the hole is just out of the reach of the porchlight. If I could see the hole, I wouldn't trip in it at night.
The thing is that I keep tripping in the SAME hole. I know it's there, but in the darkness, I can never judge exactly where it is. Satan works in our lives the same way. He KNOWS our weaknesses, and he tries to use them to bring us down. The only way we can avoid those potholes he puts in our paths is to shine the light on them.
That light is God's Word. Psalm 119:105 says this:

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

God's Word is a light for our way. When we use God's Word to light our path, we see the potholes Satan has put in our way BEFORE we trip in them. If we are staying in God's Word, we will know temptation when we see it, and we will avoid it with the wisdom we have gained from God's Word.
So use wisdom in your walk and keep the light on the path!

Break Those Chains - Freedom in the Walk

Freedom in Truth

When my brother and I were little, we hated chewable Tylenol (aka edible chalk for children.) I mean HATED. To the point that we began to hide the Tylenol under our tongues and then find a convenient spot to get rid of them because there was no way we were chewing those nasty things.
Me, I was smart enough to spit mine into a trashcan or something. Not Ben. He hid his behind his dresser, which I guess would have been okay had mom intended to leave our furniture in the same place for all of eternity. That however, has never been my mom's style. She can't stand to keep furniture in the same place for long.
So the day came that she got bored with the way our room was set up. And she moved the dresser, and there behind it was a small pile of chewable Tylenol. She was like no wonder you weren't getting any better.
Now, we got into trouble of course for wasting the Tylenol and lying to mom about taking them. But once the truth was out, we were set free. She started giving us half of a regular Tylenol from that point on. All you had to do was take a tiny swig of water and swallow it. No more chalk-like pills for us.
As I've grown, I realize that at times, part of that little pill-hiding child is still in me. I still want to cover the bad things I do at times. I still want to act like everything is fine. But finally I realize that things are so much easier when I'm honest.
The truth sets me free. If I'm honest with God about the wrong things I've done, He says He will forgive me (I John 1:9). And that is a promise I can rest in as truth.
You see, Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the truth. And in John 8:32 He says:

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Knowing Christ leads me to a different life. A life set apart from the world. A life that uses God's Word as a standard. A life of freedom.
A life of freedom found in God's truth. A life that is free indeed. (John 8:36)
You too can rest in that freedom. Break those chains by trusting in God's truth today.

Break Those Chains - Freedom in the Walk

Freedom in Obedience
As promised, I'm going to give an update today on my Sunday School lesson from yesterday. Things went really well. God calmed my nerves, and I was able to get across the message He gave me with His help. And the ladies actually asked me to teach again next Sunday, they are real gluttons for punishment!
So anyway, onto the lesson for today. I'm actually going to break this down into several posts called Freedom in the Walk. Today I'm going to talke about freedom in obedience.
Now we all know that when we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are set free. Free from the life of sin that once had us bound. Free from our old master Satan who controlled our lives.
Once Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed. (John 8:36) We no longer have to live a life that is bound.
However, many times we bind ourselves to the consequences of our disobedience. When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden he informed them that if they disobeyed him, they would face the consequence of death. Spiritual death. Seperation from God.
We all still pay the consequences of Adam and Eve's disobedience today. We are all born spiritually dead. Our only hope for salvation is through Christ.
Now you would think that Adam and Eve's ancestors would have learned from Adam and Eve's mistakes, but they continued to go against God's standards. And they continued to pay the consequences.
And sometimes those consequences were very hard to face. Take Moses for instance. In the book of Deuteronomy, God informed Moses that he would not be allowed to enter into the promised land. Moses had to face this punishment because he hadn't obeyed God when God told him to speak to the rock for water. Moses' anger at the children of Israel caused him to strike the rock instead. The children of Israel still received water that day, but God made Moses pay for his disobedience. He was never allowed to enter the land that he had told the children of Israel about.
Then there was David. He committed adultery and as a result, he had to face the consequence of seeing his son die. The son that had been conceived in that adulterous relationship.
God forgave both of these men. But they were still bound to the consequences of their own actions.
The point is that we are free, but that freedom isn't a liscense to do what we will when we want. If we use our freedom in that way, we are chaining ourselves to the consequences of our disobedience.
God loves us, and He will always forgive us (I John 1:9). But God's forgiveness can't erase the consequences of what we have done.
Some relationships might end in divorce because of adultery, though God has forgiven the adulterer. Some children may be born to young teens, though God has forgiven the young girl for having pre-marital sex. Our sins have consequences. And those consequences can bind us.
So freedom is found in obedience. An obedient life is never bound to the consequences of sin.