The Square Box

As children there are many times that we want to do something and we assume that the excellence which we see in someone else can be copied quickly and without all the effort that’s necessary to become a craftsman. I can remember one time when I wanted to build some furniture like my dad was building that he had a prerequisite for me. He suggested that my very first serious project should be to build a perfectly square box.

Inside, I was frustrated. I believed that building something as simple as a box was way below my skill level. The challenge was not that great, so the effort I put into completing the challenge wasn’t that great either. When I confidently presented my box to him, I found out that my quick attempt to build the square box was a failure.

In assuming the simplicity, I neglected the craftsmanship. Oh, it was a box, but not truly square. You see I had looked at the task that I was given as being beneath my skill level, undemanding, and really unnecessary. I didn’t see the values he was trying to instruct me in.

Are we disappointed in life when God asks us to do something that we consider having gone far beyond earlier? Do we consider the simple task as something which requires much less than our best?

We need to understand that the Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. There are no parts to that plan which are unnecessary, demeaning, or undemanding. The "Oh, I can already do that" mentality will get us into trouble very fast. We will carelessly listen to directions, half-heartedly attempt the task, or rush right past the teachable moment.

We see the disaster of this approach with Joshua and the Hebrew people when they rushed to battle with Ai. It seemed so simple that they did not seek seriously the input of God. A simple, supposed victory turned into a horrific defeat (Joshua 6-7).

When we start living out the truths of God’s Word, we will find that even the simple things require a full measure of faith and trust in the Father. To truly love others the way Jesus tells us to love requires a personal connection with Him.

When Jesus said to, "Love our enemy," that doesn’t make sense. Further, He informed His followers to carry a Roman soldiers burden for an extra mile. Surely, as a Christian did this joyfully, it would raise the questions that would allow for the sharing of the Good News. It is interesting to see that by the end of the first century there was a church in practically ever city that had a Roman outpost. Had the simple act of obedience and the witness of the love for Christ changed the entire known world? (Matthew 5:41,44)

One of the most beautiful things with Christianity is that Christ says, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." He will teach us to be the craftsmen that He needs, in order to bring Him glory. (Matthew 4:19)

Lord help me not to think of the task you give me as simple and therefore failing to give my best and forfeiting the benefits. Teach me to be the craftsman you want me to be.

Be Alert

1 Peter 5:8 ( HCSB ) ⁸Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Red Alert!! The enemy is at the door. Scripture sounds the warning. Peter tells us to be sober. The meaning of sober is to be discreet, sensible, and discerning. Satan uses a tremendous amount of subtlety when dealing with us. We need the discerning power of the Holy Spirit.

Satan attempts to deceive us in many ways. Sometimes the attacks of the Devil do not seem to be attacks at all. He tries to convince us as Christians that we are skilled and mature, and asks why do we need to go to God in ceaseless prayer as Paul states? He asks us, Isn’t getting the job done enough? Satan says that we must pace ourselves, giving it all right now would leave us spent. All his desire is to see that we are less than God wants. We need the uncommon insight of the Holy Spirit to help us see through the deceit.

When we follow the deceivers prompting and do what we can in our strength, then the glory is ours, not God’s. When we partially commit to a task God has called us too, we stoop to believe that either God is incapable of suppling future strength or that He is not worth the effort. Our failure to pray in humility places presumptuous demands on God instead of being submissive. Satan wants us to feel fine with what we are doing. God wants us to see through the smoke and mirrors to take careful thought of what is godly and follow Him with all our heart.

See. Satan is a sly opponent. He attempts to blind us to the "minor" failures in our lives, even our prayer lives. Everyone is a target of his attacks. That is why Peter calls us to be vigilant and watchful. With the alertness brought about through the fresh and daily relationship with Jesus, we will be able to thwart the enemy.

Satan cannot overpower God. To be alert, focus on Jesus, learn from Him, yield to Him, and allow Him to live life in all its fulness through you. The slanderous words and false accusations of Satan fall flat when we are constantly realize that Jesus loves us deeply.

Gaining Control of Anger

Proverbs 29:11 states, "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."

Anger is discussed a number of times in the Bible. There are examples of anger because of unfaithfulness to God and the stubbornness of people. Sometimes anger can be called for as a reaction to sin: Eph. 4:26 (NASB) "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger."

Although there are examples of anger, there is not ever an appropriate time for uncontrolled anger. Bitterness, spite and hatred quickly attach themselves to anger. To make this connection is definitely sinful.

Signs of uncontrolled anger:

• Outbursts of temper or bad and damaging language.

• Bitterness, resentment and hostility.

• Inner turmoil - feeling like God is displeased with our behavior.

• Harming others, emotionally, physically, verbally.

Uncontrolled anger damages our testimony and personal walk with God. Anger distorts our view of our family, friends and ourselves.

Gaining Control of Anger

1. Don’t see everything as a personal offense or hurt.

2. Pinpoint the things which cause excessive anger.

3. Pray seriously about your attitudes and responses.

4. Agree with God that excessive anger is sin.

5. Learn to "put off" the old nature and "put on" the new nature. (Eph. 4:22-24)

6. Surrender each day to the Holy Spirit.

7. Read, study and memorize the Word of God.

Two good verses to start memorizing to help control anger are:

Prov. 15:1 (NASB) A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

James 1:19-20 (NASB) ¹⁹This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Focused on Him.

Listen While We Pray

One of the greatest opportunities of our prayer life is most often overlooked. We spend so much time talking to God that we forget to listen. Prayer has been defined as a two-way conversation between God and us. However, there have been too many times in my life that I carried out the exercise of a monologue and called it prayer.

The key to my learning anything from God is to listen. Listening can be uncomfortable. God may be silent awhile to insure that we are going to give Him time before He begins to speak. When He does begin to speak, I am going to find that there are some things that I am not very excited to hear. He will correct those things in my life that are wrong, even if I am just a little off. Correction can sometimes be painful.

Following His loving correction can come beneficial direction. Through all the problems of my life God will give good directions. I don’t need to take over the leadership of my life to come up with my own directions. When I do that I am unintentionally saying that God doesn’t really have an answer, and I know that He does. It is important for us to listen well to God so we can learn.

If we will listen to Him we will gain the wisdom to repair a broken relationship. We can learn how to love our spouses and children allowing us to strengthen our marriages and families. Financial difficulties which hound us can be overcome through listening to God’s guidance. Hearing the Lord clearly allows us to navigate the mine field of our daily spiritual battles.

To succeed I need to be a good listener. We need to plan time to hear from God when we pray.

Deut. 13:4 (NASB)"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him."

I am Desiring to Hear from Him!

Be Encouraged

Nehemiah 4:14-15(NASB) ¹⁴When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." ¹⁵When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

Nehemiah built the walls of Jerusalem in fifty-two days. Of course it wasn’t just Nehemiah. There was an army of folks helping. Each person knew their task, worked on their assigned part of the wall, and was a part of a team. Although they were sure of the task, to build the wall, and even knew the reason, safety and security, they lost sight of these. At the half-way mark, we find Nehemiah reminding the people of "why" they were rebuilding the wall.

The initial euphoria had waned. Enemies were gathering. The nay sayers were hard at work. Ridicule was constant. Nehemiah knew that the hard work and years of oppression was taking its toll on the workers. Even though most things were going well, he knew the importance of rallying the people and reminding them of the "why."

He was not content merely accomplishing the task of rebuilding the wall but he also wanted to encourage and strengthen the people. They needed to be reminded that God was working mightily through them to accomplish what seemed just a few weeks earlier to be impossible.

As Christians we have work hard and we achieve many wonderful things. However, even though most things are going well, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Why should we continue to give the effort?

We are here to reach the lost. More unchurched people than we will admit live immediately around our location. Many of these people do not know Jesus. We are here for them!

We are here to disciple the saved. There are many believers who are not actively studying God’s Word. We need to provide as many opportunities as possible to give people a chance to hear how Jesus can impact their lives every day.

We are here to minister to our families. Each family is important and we need to reach out to encourage, care, and comfort. Through numerous opportunities we can make a difference.

It is important to remember "why" we are following Christ and going beyond ourselves and moving outside our comfort zone. Let’s not forget the reason we started and finish well. Also, we need to remember that we are empowered by Jesus! Our strength, wisdom, and skills are a gift from Him. We need to lean on Him, He is great and awesome and will fight for us.

Personal Opinions

1 Kings 18:21 (NASB) Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

"In your personal opinion" is how we begin a question to share our faith. Personal beliefs are strong. They direct our life. Our opinions guide us each day to choose the way we act and react. These thoughts are often so dominating that we assume they are right. Even by not answering Elijah, the people were sharing their choice.

Personal opinions can lead us to believe that:

*God may want us to lie sometimes.

*We don’t have to do our best at work because we’re not paid well.

*Holding a grudge against someone is okay.

*Forgiveness is what the other person must ask for.

*God is here to make me feel good.

*It’s okay to live with someone before marriage, I love them.

*Everyone will go to heaven. And countless other opinions continue on.

Often personal opinions are made up of personal desires mixed with majority rule. In the 1 Kings passage, most people worshiped multiple gods so it must be fine, the same rational works to justify many of our attitudes. Stop a minute - remember Christ told us that broad is the way to destruction. Many of our beliefs may be popular but the vast amount of popular things aren’t pointing people to the Bible or heaven.

The seven opinions I mentioned earlier are unfounded in Scripture and are wrong. God is not going to judge us by the polls of society but by His law. The Bible is easily available to us. Not knowing God’s Word is voluntary on our part. Any ignorance of the law doesn’t exempt us.

Although we all have personal opinions there is only one opinion that truly matters. That opinion is shared by God through the Bible. The words clearly show His thoughts. No matter how much we hold to our view, it must pass the test of Scripture. Any attitude or belief not in line with God’s clear teaching should be abandoned. We need to adopt the opinion of our Lord as our own. When we hesitate between two opinions, it shows we are in trouble. Focusing on another opinion other than God’s considers that it may be equal to or supercede His.

Which opinion will you choose to follow today?

Let’s make Jesus our focus, let’s choose His opinion. Give God your answer now.

Burning the Bridges to and Enslaving Past

Exodus 14:26-31

We need to recognize that the power to break with our past is not found in our personal strength but in the power of God. Moses was used as an instrument of God. He never thought that the sea ripped open and then crashed back together because of him personally. The Hebrew children recognized that they were freed from the Egyptian army by the Lord and they feared and believed in Him because of it. We need to recognize that our salvation and release from the bondage of sin comes from Jesus.

We know that the Israeli children were not weaklings. As slaves that were the workhorse of the Egyptian nation. But as an Army they would be no match for Pharaoh’s top men. As Christians we are not weaklings either. Yet, in our personal strength, we are no match to the attacks of Satan.

There were other routes by which Moses could’ve led the newly freed slaves out of Egypt. However, God had chosen to back them up against the sea. Through the events that would take place over the next few days they would witness the amazing power of God. Going through the sea would allow many of them fully sense freedom.

As the Egyptian army pursued the former slaves through the dry bed of the Red Sea they must have sensed the power of God. As Moses stretched out his hand and the sea went back to normal every Egyptian who had pursued Israel into the sea were destroyed. The Scripture testifies that not one who entered the chase survived.

Every witness knew that the victory had been completed by God. We need to know that God completes the victory for us also.

When we are freed from our past we need to remember several things.

1. Our sins were overpowered and destroyed by Jesus.

2. Not even one of our sins from our past remains.

3. The Lord is our salvation.

In response to those things we need to:

1. Recognize that Jesus has paid for our sins in full.

2. Have a proper respect for God.

3. Believe Him with all of our heart.

4. Worship Him.

Prayer: Lord, help us believe that the freedom we have is real and complete. Lead us to focus on You, the One who gives us victory, and live in the daily victory that You bring.