Moses and the Bush Administration

But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?' So He said, I will certainly be with you...' And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.' Exodus 3:11-14

Once upon a time, a shepherd stood before a burning bush whose fire said it was God. With no reason to doubt a fire that left its bush unconsumed, this shepherd listened with fear as God called him to set His people free from the slavery under which they had suffered for four hundred years.

As this true story goes, Moses, the shepherd, says, Who am I that I could possibly think of doing that, or that You would think to ask me?

God's reply tells us a lot. He said, It doesn't matter who you are. What matters is who I am, for I will always be with you.

I know that there are a lot of things that God calls us to that we might think the same thing as Moses. God says, Go make disciples of every nation. God says, Be holy as I am holy. God says, Love me with everything you are and love everyone else as much as you love yourself. And we might say, Um, God? I think I'm in over my head; I'm not up to the challenge.

God says all these things to us that we can't live up to, but He says one more thing that makes it all possible-I am with you.

This answer wasn't quite enough for Moses, so God gave Him another one. Tell them my name is I AM. In other words, Tell them that whoever you need Me to be, I am that for you.

If we need Him to be our provider, He provides. If we need Him to be our shelter, He is that. If we need healing, He's our healer. And most importantly, because we all need it, He is our Redeemer, our Salvation.

Whatever your circumstance is that you are facing today, whether it's good or bad, abundance or poverty, healthy family or hellish one, God is the redemption you need today. No one else can answer to that name, because no one else has that name. Only Jesus is our redemption, and no matter what you need today, He is the answer.

Prayer Lord Jesus Thank You that You are my Redeemer and that You make it possible to do what You have said! I confess my needs to You today, and boy do I have a lot. Come and redeem me today!

Amen

Fitly Living, Clearly Seeing

Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather, and like vinegar on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. Proverbs 25:20

Have you ever made a volcano?

So many kids love this. You can buy little volcano-making kits and toys, and when you put it all together, just put in the baking soda and a little vinegar and what happens? It erupts!

Or have you ever walked outside on a winter morning thinking that it's nice outside only to find out that it's a lot colder than you thought? It takes your breath away, doesn't it?

If you imagine these two reactions happening inside someone's heart, that's what our verse today says it's like if you sing songs to a heavy heart.

You say, Well, wait a minute. I come to church sometimes with a heavy heart and ac-

tually the singing of the songs helped. Good! It was meant to. But sometimes it can be like vinegar and soda.

Here's what Solomon is pointing to: You're in a situation where things could not be going worse for you. You fill in the blank. You have all been in situations like that. It might be the death of a loved one. It might be the difficulty of something that has happened at work. It might be the loss of a job-whatever it might be. But here comes that jolly saint Christian guy who looks at you and says, Well, you know, all things work together for good. And you just feel like it is time-POW-to pop this guy right in the schnoz. You know what I'm saying?

This verse is saying that, as you would never take away a coat when it's cold, don't be one who kind of glibly, brainlessly shows up without the sympathy and true-heart affection for someone who is hurting, don't go say something that-although it is true-at the moment, might not have the timing to be right in that moment.

I have found this proverb to be so true, and certainly would have to admit I have learned it the hard way, that sometimes it's better to say nothing and just have a ministry of availability instead of a ministry of words. There are times for a ministry of presence, of just being there and putting your arm around someone and saying, You know I'm here for you if you want to talk, to let them do the talking instead of you trying to fix all their problems.

Do you know people who have heavy hearts? Then be someone to them who brings comfort instead of clichés. Do you have a heavy heart today? It's okay. May God bring people around you who will keep your coat on until things are warm again.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for caring about me when my heart is heavy! Please help me to be sensitive to the people around me so that I can bring healing instead of hurt.

Amen

Better Wives

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord...And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:18,23-24

How do you like the idea of submission? If you are like most people, then submission is not exactly on your top ten list of things you like to think about.

Like it or not, submission is a major subject in the Bible, and is therefore something that we need to understand. More than that, we need to come to grips with what submission means in our lives and where and to whom we need to be submitting.

Our verses today address just one of many aspects of submission, and there is one thing I want you to hear before I say anything else. All of us have to submit; none of us are exempt. Even Jesus had to submit to His Father, saying, Not my will, but yours be done. Wives are not relegated to some special category of submission as though they were a subcategory of humanity.

What we need to understand is what submission really means. Look at the word this way: sub-mission. To be in submission to someone means that we place ourselves under their mission. It does not mean that we are slaves, subjected to every whim and desire of the person to whom we submit. Rather, it means that we use our talents, gifts, passions, and abilities to their fullest to further the mission of the one who is over us.

In a family, this means that the husband has a responsibility to God to carry a missiona calling to which the family is called. What is your goal in marriage? Are you pulling in the same direction? Do you have a direction, know what it is, and what you and your spouse's role in that direction is? If you cannot answer these questions then, husbands, you are falling down on your responsibility; and wives, you might have a hard time with submission-you have to know the mission to be in submission.

Submission is about pulling together instead of going your own direction. It goes beyond simply being compliant, taking committed action from the heart to benefit the calling of another person.

This is true submission. Do this and it will transform your marriage, your family, and your life.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for being my example of true submission! Please help me to know what my/my husband's mission is, and then give me the courage to submit and do all I can to benefit that mission.

Amen

Good Grief

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

2 Corinthians 12:7 You know the line from the Peanuts character, Charlie Brown-Good grief. Did that ever strike you as odd?

I think it makes perfect sense. See, before we came to Jesus, we only had grief. But now that we've turned to Jesus, our grief can become good for us through His grace.

Paul's good grief kept him grounded, lest his head inflate a little too big because of the revelations he'd received. And it's good for us to be grounded, too.

Honestly, I pray this for the kids in our church all the time, that they would be grounded. Now, I don't mean that they would be grounded, as in punished for something. I mean that they would be grounded in who they are, in whose they are, in what they believe, in what's true and real, and in the Word of God.

This is something that my dad taught me when I started dating. He'd always say to me as I left, Bobby, keep your hands in your pockets, your feet on the floor, and your tongue in your mouth; remember to whom you belong.

You know what? We all need our hands grounded, remembering that people see what we put our hands to and what we build with our lives. What are you working for? Are you building for yourself a little kingdom in this world that can't last forever? Or are you putting your hands to building God's eternal kingdom?

We need our feet grounded on the floor-our faith and testimony relevant to the people around us, not going over their heads or ignoring their needs or where they're at, but meeting them exactly where they have hurt and need.

We need to keep our tongue grounded, speaking in such a way that it leads people to Jesus and introduces them to His love. Do you realize that Solomon, Jesus, Paul, James, and many others talk specifically about how powerful our words are? Use your words wisely.

Finally, remember to whom you belong. We are not our own; we belong to Christ. Begin to act like this today and let Jesus be Lord in your life.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that I belong to You! Please help me to stay grounded in Your truth and to live in such a way that I live that truth out to everyone around me!

Amen

How to Pray

Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

Everyone who grew up in church knows the Lord's Prayer. But do you know what not many people know? They don't know about the Lord's Prayer, because they've never taken time to think about it.

But there's a lot that can encourage us today if we will but ponder for a moment on what we learn about prayer from our Lord, Jesus Christ.

First, prayer can be short. In fact, Jesus said that we should avoid vain repetition. Listen, we're not going to be heard in Heaven because we repeat the same prayer over and over again. Studying things people have prayed in the past can inspire our spirits toward deeper prayer, but prayer isn't a bunch of magic words that makes stuff happen through hocus-pocus; it's a conversation with a God who loves us and wants a relationship that includes two-way communication.

Second, it's not self-focused. Look through our verses again; you don't see a lot of me, my, I, and mine. This is probably one area that most believers can grow in the most when it comes to prayer because it is so easy to let prayer become that thing we do only when we need help. And, yes, God wants to help us, but He says He knows our needs before we ask them. Instead, let's pray about what He desires and for the needs of those around us.

Third, it leaves time for listening and thinking. See, because it's short, that means that we're not always jabbering at God. It means that we take time to listen as well to what God wants to say to us and then we think about what He's said. It also means that we can think about what we say to Him before we say it.

Fourth, and this might be the most important, prayer isn't concerned with impressing the audience. This doesn't mean we let ourselves be irreverent, yet at the same time, we are warmly invited to call God our Daddy. Our Daddy! Think of how little children address their fathers. Do they get to be disrespectful? No. But is it honoring to their dads if they approach him stiff and reserved like a pious cherub out of some da Vinci painting? Also no. Instead, we should approach our Daddy as children who want and expect a loving embrace, a listening ear, and wise counsel.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for changing the way that I think about prayer! Please continue to help and teach me as I learn to talk to You in this new way.

Amen

Your Ultimate Interior Designer

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:1-3

Have you noticed the problem out there? It's big. And I mean, this is a timeless problem that's bigger than anything we'll hear about on TV.

The problem I'm talking about is that, so much of the time, if we're honest, we really think we know better than God. We can read a verse like today's verse and say, Wow, God, that's cool. You go before me. You come in behind me. You know my thoughts. That's all great, but I'm okay. Really, I've got everything under control here. I like the way I've designed my life. I got my own style, see?

We think we're sufficient being our own designer. It's like we walk into a model home, all decked out by professional designers, and we say, Yeah, that looks pretty cool. But you know what? It's a little too modern of a taste for me. I'm more traditional. We all have our own personal style and taste, and all of a sudden, if we begin to buy into that with the ever-changing styles that surround us, we'll be on a never-ending comparative treadmill kind of existence that will leave us feeling hollow.

But the Lord steps in here and says, Let me save you from all that. Please, allow me to fulfill and design you from the inside out.

You know, one of my favorite cities to go to is New York, and one of my favorite places to go in New York is Grand Central Terminal. It's amazing. It's right in the middle of Manhattan and every train, every subway, all converge at that one spot. I love watching people, and there just isn't much that can match this place for all the hustle and bustle that happens there.

But what if there wasn't someone in charge of managing and designing all that? I mean, if you just stand still in that building, people are yelling at you, saying that you're in the way. If someone wasn't working to keep the schedule organized and on track, trains would crash, the tracks would clog with traffic, everyone would be yelling their own ideas, and people would get hurt.

But when you submit to the person in charge of the terminal, everything works in perfect order. If that's true for New York's Grand Central Terminal, how much more true is it in life?

Submit to God today. Let Him design your life. Only then will your life become all that God created it to be.

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You that You know me better than I know myself! Thank You that You also see the world around me more clearly than I can see it. I give myself over to Your plans for my life, trusting that You will guide me better than I ever could on my own.

Amen

Head-On Collisions

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1-2

You know, as a pastor, I am very familiar with examples. This is because if I don't give examples for the points that I preach and teach, then quite often it leaves a lot of people not understanding the message.

Just as it is vital for me to have examples when I preach, it is absolutely necessary for us to have examples in life. If we don't carefully choose examples for ourselves, then we set ourselves up to misunderstand what life is all about and face the consequences of living life for the wrong things.

When Paul addressed the Corinthians with our verses today, they had chosen the wrong example in many areas of their lives. They had chosen the world instead of Christ, and that's why there were so many problems within the church there.

So Paul says, No, no, no. Let's get our eyes off the culture and our eyes back on Christ. And if you need an example, then imitate me. Follow my example. Now, he does not want them to see Paul as much as he wants them to see Christ in Paul.

I think a good word picture to keep in mind, a good illustration of what Paul is saying here is that picture of the potter and the clay. Okay? Like, really, honestly, have you submitted your lives into God's hands to shape you and to make you and to mold you into the image of His glory? Or have you chosen to let the world shape and mold your life?

That's exactly what Paul says in Romans, Chapter 12. Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world. Don't allow the world to set the example for you to follow. Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. Don't let the world be your potter. Let God be your potter.

Now, sometimes God's going to tell us something that we might not be comfortable with. It might be something that we don't want. It might be something that makes no sense to us because of all the time we've spent letting the world be our example.

But you know what? God's going to mold you differently than the world would mold you. Expect it to look different. Expect yourself to become set apart and holy and sanctified unto the Lord, made beautiful in His hands for His glory and honor in this world.

God has an incredible plan that will be released as you submit to His hand in shaping and molding your life. But if you're going to engage in this process, first look at who your example is. Is your example someone who is following Christ, or someone who is following the world?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You have incredible dreams for my life. Please show me examples to follow as You to shape me into all You created me to be!

Amen