February 22, 2016

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  Romans 12:17-21

The power of goodness is the power to be proactive.

By contrast, evil is reactive. And evil reacts with greater force than what was used against it causing an escalation of evil.

Overcoming evil requires you to determine in advance that no matter what evil is done against you you will not retaliate with evil.

There is no way you can win the battle with evil unless you predetermine to do so. If you are not proactive in your commitment to good, you will react to evil with evil.

Any person can be reactive. It is human nature. You don't have to be a spiritual giant to respond with to an evil act with anger and retaliation. That takes no moral or spiritual conviction.

But it does take the love and power of God to refrain from retaliating? It takes the presence of the Holy Spirit and His power to prevent you from retaliating against one who hurts you.

What is really gained by retaliating? Does it make you feel good? Is it wise? Is it advantageous? Is it helpful to any one?

What retaliation normally means is that "when you bring a knife, I bring a gun". I am going to hurt you more than you hurt me.

Paul says, "That sort of reaction takes no special power of ability. Pick someone out of the crown and he can retaliate. But you may have to stop a number of people to find one who refuses to return evil for evil.

When Jesus told His disciples to pray, "Deliver us from evil". This is what He had in mind. "Oh, Lord, keep me from saying or doing something that will dishonor you and make a bad situation worse."

How do you respond to hurtful or harmful acts committed against you?

Or will you try to overcome their evil with greater "shock and awe"?

Overcoming evil doesn't happen by mistake. Overcoming evil is a commitment that declares, "No matter how evil you decide to be toward me, I will respond with love."

Is that how you lived yesterday? Is that how you plan to live today?

February 21, 2016

"So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." Joshua 21:43-45

The Bible lacks neither truth not drama in its presentation of the greatest story ever told! That story is still being written and you are on center stage!

From Genesis to Revelation the Holy Spirit inspired Scriptures combine history, biography and geography to provide the basis for a theology of God's perfect plan for redemption!

A perfect example is the story of the Exodus. God used Moses to lead the Hebrews from the slavery of Egypt to the hardships of the wilderness to the Promised Land of Canaan. Each of those very real geographic places have theological significance and spiritual symbolism.

Egypt is and was a very real place. For 400 years it was too real for God's people, a real horrible place of cruelty and bondage. Egypt build a very impressive empire on the backs of the hard-working Hebrews. For ten generations the Israelites worked from sunrise to sunset in the scorching desert sun with no relief and no hope. Whatever dreams they may have harbored in their heart died long before they did. They were powerless to deliver themselves from this miserable existence.

Egypt illustrates your life and my life prior to conversion. We were born into this world as slaves to sin. The power of the world and the flesh and the devil drove us to do, say and think destructive things. As we grew so did the bondage. We were lost in darkness, hopelessness and despair.

But as He did with Moses, God sent another Moses, a greater Moses to supernaturally deliver us from sin and bondage! Our new Deliverer is Jesus, the Son of God! He left the majesty of Heaven to become a servant and a slave by taking upon Himself the penalty and the bondage of our sins! When He died on the cross He took upon Himself the terrible curses associated with sin to throw open the Egyptian exit signs!

The power of sin died with Christ on the Cross and the power of death was broken three days later when He arose!

If you are living in Egypt this morning you do not have to stay there! There is a Deliverer, One greater than Moses, who has set you from free from the bondage and futility of sin! Call on Him! Confess your sin! Turn your back on Egypt and follow Him to freedom! Make this the day you put Egypt in your rear view mirror!

February 20, 2016

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,that you may be successful wherever you go." Joshua 1:6-7

It was about 250 miles from Egypt to Canaan. Moses added to the distance by leading them around the territory of the Philistines.

But in reality, they were no further from their Canaan than you are from yours!

How so?

The real distance from Egypt to Canaan was eighteen inches. That's right, eighteen inches! That's the distance between your heart and your head! You must believe in your heart what you know in your head! You must commit to what you believe and believe what God says! 

Forty years earlier Moses had led God's people to the verge of Canaan but they failed to match their head with their heart and they doubted God. They missed crossing the Jordan and entering Canaan by just eighteen inches.

When the 10 spies returned from scouting out the spoils of Canaan they regaled the people of all the wonders they had discovered throughout the land. But, they said, "There are giants in the land and we look like grasshoppers in their eyes! It is a wonderful land but we can't defeat them."

So, when they said, "We can't take this land did they really mean, God can't take it?"

If that's what they meant they were a full eighteen inches from Canaan!

Perhaps they meant, "We can't believe God will use us to do this."

That is equally problematic. That's not just an eighteen inch problem it is also a nine inch problem - the space between their ears. 

In the final analysis, whether they missed Canaan by eighteen inches or by nine inches they still missed it and subjected themselves and two millions of other Israelites to return to four decades of wandering in the wilderness. Many of them would never make it back to Canaan because they would die in the desert.

The wilderness mindset keeps more people out of the Promised Land than just about anything else I know of. Canaan people call upon God to help them take "I CAN'T" out of their vocabulary.

How many things in your life have been destroyed or seriously damaged by the "I CAN'T" mindset:

• Your marriage, when you said, "I CAN'T forgive?"
• Your self-control when you said, "I CAN't resist?"
• Your career when you said, "I CAN'T do this job?"
• Your self-discipline when you said, "I CAN'T quit this habit?

The God Who brought you out of Egypt CAN bring you into Canaan if you can change your "I CANT'S" to "I CANS". 

Can you?

Will you?

Wouldn't it be a shame to miss Canaan by nine inches?

 

February 19, 2016

“After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” Joshua 1:1-6

I find it interesting that the first three letters in Canaan are “C-A-N” because clearly God is saying to Joshua, “You CAN cross over into Canaan!”

So how could ten spies say, “We can’t!”

How could 2,000,000 Israelites agree that they can’t?

When they agreed they “can’t” what they were actually saying was, “God can’t.”

So God gave them some time to think it over. 40 years!

God said they “Can” enter because of what He has already done!

You can because He has!

I wonder how many Christians are stuck in the wilderness because they have an “I Can’t” attitude and an “I Can” God?

Are you saying, “I can’t forgive that person when God says you CAN?”

Are you saying, “I can’t resist that temptation when God says you CAN?”

Are you saying, “I can’t make that sacrifice when God says you CAN?”

Are you saying, “I can’t break this habit when God says you CAN?”

Are you saying, “I just can’t have that much faith when God says you CAN?”

The Apostle Paul affirmed, “I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

Canaan is for who CAN believe, trust and obey what God says they CAN do in Him!

The wilderness is for those who can’t.

Canaan is for those who understand they can’t enter without Him but believe they CAN because He promised!

Canaan is for those who CAN receive His power, His presence and His possession!

CAN you?

Sure you CAN!

February 18, 2016

"I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:3-5

God called His people OUT of Egypt through His Prophet Moses and by the power of His hand! He called them INTO the wilderness in order to bring them THROUGH it! And then God called His people OUT of the wilderness so He could bring them INTO Canaan to dwell and find rest!

Bringing His people into Canaan was the reason God brought them out of Egypt! It had been his plan and purpose for them for five centuries since He first called Abraham out of Haran and promised to make of him a great nation.

In fact, when God called Abraham He told him that there would be a 400 year period of captivity for His people but then He would bring them back to possess Canaan. (Genesis 15)

God always keeps His promises!

The bondage in Egypt and the weary wandering in the wilderness was allowed only to cause them to long for Canaan!

Aren’t you glad to be out of Egypt?

Do you long for Canaan?

Is the wilderness causing you to be weary?

What is it that makes Canaan so alluring?

It was a land where they could enjoy freedom!

It was a land where they could enjoy fruitfulness!

But most of all it was a land where they could enjoy God! And you see that portrayed in these several verses above.

They could enjoy His possessions! What could be better than taking possession of what He had provided for them and promised to them (“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west) and to be possessed by Him at the same time?!?!

Also, they would get to enjoy His presence! (“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”)

Thirdly, they would get to experience His power! (No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.)

Those are the blessings of Canaan! None of them are available in Egypt or in the Wilderness but ALL are available in Canaan!

And they are available to all of God’s children including you!

Will you claim them? 

Will you come into Canaan?

February 17, 2016

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.”  Exodus 13:17-18

When God led His people out of Egypt through His chosen leader, Moses, they entered into the wilderness for what should have been a two week journey to the Promised Land of Canaan.

The wilderness is a tough place to be. It may be better than Egypt but it’s not nearly as good as Canaan. We all tend to spend much more time in the wilderness than we should.

In the Exodus account, a projected two week trip became a 40 year trek. That’s what doubt and disobedience will do for you! Even though they were out of Egypt it’s clear Egypt wasn’t out of them. When they were in Egypt they were slaves to the Pharaoh but once they entered the wilderness they found themselves slaves to fear so they entered the wilderness “ready for battle”.

Little did they know that the battles they would fight would be waged in their hearts and in their minds.

When you have lived in bondage all your life, you have to learn how to be free. Some of the “freedom factors” that must be mastered while in the wilderness are:

·         Relationship

·         Responsibility

·         Role

·         Right thinking

God called them out of Egypt because He wanted them to live in an intimate relationship with Him. He wanted to be their father and their friend. But slaves only know taskmasters. Slaves have to learn how to love and how to be loved.

Slaves don’t have choices or options. Their taskmasters tell them what to do, when to do it and when to stop doing it. But freedom offers options and choices and decisions but it is also accompanied by the responsibility of those choices because decisions have consequences. Former slaves have to learn to handle responsibility.

While in Egypt as slaves the Hebrews had well-defined roles. They served at the command of their masters. Their role was to please their master well enough to limit the scorn and abuse he would inflict upon them. God called His people out of slavery to become His sons and daughters and residents of Canaan. It was a vastly different role they had to learn.

Servants and slaves aren’t paid to think. Their thoughts and ideas don’t matter and no one asks them for an opinion. Years of being subjected to slavery caused them to think like slaves. The worst bondage of all is bondage of the mind. The dominant thought of a slave is “I can’t”. Freedom begins in the mind and free people have to learn to think right.

The wilderness is where slaves learn to be free. It is where they learn to develop a relationship with God, take on the responsibilities of obedience, the role of a God-follower and learn how to transform their thinking.

These are some of the wilderness battles they faced and Moses was afraid they’d return to Egypt.

I’m wondering this morning, does any of this sound familiar?

February 16, 2016

“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 3:7-10

The story of God’s people is played out on three different stages across the pages of the Old Testament; (1) Egypt, (2) Wilderness, and (3) Canaan.

For 400 long miserable years the Israelites were subjected to the suffering of slavery at the hands of Egyptian taskmasters. They received no relief, no rest and no recompense for backbreaking work they were driven to do in the searing desert sun. It’s hard to imagine a worse existence.

Think about the duration of their plight! Four centuries represents nearly twice as long as the United States has existed. Can you imagine that?

As real as that suffering was for God’s people it also served as a metaphor for the sinful condition of man prior to conversion.

Some ten generations of Israelites had the misfortune of being born into slavery through no fault of their own. Such is the condition of every man and women born since Adam’s fall. You were born into the slavery of sinfulness. So was I. It is called moral depravity. It is absolute and absolutely miserable because the sinful nature inherited from Adam causes separation from a Holy God. Unless something supernatural happens to bring us into relationship with God we will live and die as lost sinners.

God saw the desperation of His people and heard their desperate cries. He sent them a deliverer named Moses. Through the obedience and courage of Moses God was able to see His people free from the bondage of the Pharaoh.

Likewise, God sent a Deliverer for those of us trapped in the bondage of sin. His name is Jesus. He is the Son of God. He left Heaven and came to earth conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin making Him fully God and yet fully man!

This is what John referred to when he wrote, “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  

Jesus came to deliver you from the bondage of your spiritual Egypt. He will lead you out but He won’t drag you out against your will. You must confess your sinfulness, repent and turn from your sins, and trust Him as your Savior. That is your only way out of your spiritual Egypt.

Spiritually speaking, you were born in Egypt but you don’t have to die there. Please don’t die in Egypt.