Well now…this should be interesting.

I have been reminded of something I lack…one of my weaknesses. Even
as I sit here reminded…convicted, even, to some degree…I find myself
unable to follow the words given to me. Instead, I find myself writing this
post to share my thoughts with you, because it’s something that most of
you need as desperately as I do.

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where
a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called
Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was
distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and
asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by
myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about
many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better,
and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

There’s always something to do. Always. And no matter how much we do,
there’s always more waiting to be done. We get worried and upset about
many things. We forget that only one thing is needed. Mary chose what is
better. Most of the time, we do not.

It’s interesting that the things Martha was doing, she was doing for the Lord.
Running around cooking, cleaning, getting the table set. Now, there’s a thought.
All of her “busy-ness” was for the Lord. Everything she was doing, she was
doing for Jesus. Everything. Just as I’m sharing this with you, for your sake,
yes…but I’m also doing it for him. And yet…

“Mary has chosen what is better….”

Even knowing that there’s a better choice, I feel compelled to occupy these
moments in being busy…and even though I like to think it’s in his service, I
can’t help but take a long, hard look at the irony.

“Be still, and know that I am God…” (Ps. 46:10)

But if I’m still, won’t I get even farther behind? Won’t that give me even more
to do tomorrow? What if the one thing I neglect, in order to be still, is the one
thing that can’t wait? At the same time, it CAN wait…for there is always much
to be done. Even if I do it now, there will be more to do once I’m finished…
and I’ll still be just as behind as before.

The Bible doesn’t tell us how Martha reacted to the mild rebuke given by
Jesus. Did she finish cooking dinner? Did she sit beside Mary and spend
time with the Lord, rather than being busy for him? Was she upset that he
took Mary’s side? Did she even realize she had been gently scolded?

Maybe if we spent more time being still…listening to what he had to say…
maybe if we could get over being busy and getting farther behind…if we
could just LISTEN…and spend a little time with him…he would teach us
the things we need to learn in order to keep us from being “worried and
upset about many things”. Maybe then we could live a little easier…be a
little more relaxed. Experience a little more peace in a chaotic world.

Martha was busy for Jesus. Mary sat at his feet listening to what he had to
say…and it was Mary who had made the better choice. Shouldn’t that tell
us something?

David and Goliath…Round Two

I suppose I could go on a bit about the stone of “Purpose”, but it’s time
to move on. In order to fulfill your purpose of believing “in the one whom
he sent”, you’ve gotta have a little faith! That’s what faith is…believing!

When David faced Goliath, he had faith. God had already delivered him
from the lion and the bear…he wasn’t worried about Goliath! (Can you
imagine a CHILD facing and killing a lion and a bear by HAND?).

Jesus had faith. He knew all along what his purpose was, and he never
doubted that he would fulfill it. Never doubted his Father or his Father’s
love or will. Never got excited about what was going on around him.
Never woke up in the middle of the night, wondering where his next
meal was coming from. Jesus was a cool guy with a cool attitude…
cuz he knew his Dad had his back.

How about the centurion? He had faith. In fact, he had so much faith,
he amazed Jesus with it! Wow!

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”
Matt. 8:10

The thing is, while the centurion had a faith that amazed Jesus at that
moment…I’m sure he often felt like many of us, too.

“He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?””   Matt. 8:26

“You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”   Matt. 14:31

“Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you
talking among yourselves about having no bread?”  Matt. 16:8

“He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your
minds?”  Luke 24:38

“He was amazed at their lack of faith.”    Mark 6:6

Wow…that’s twice that faith as amazed Jesus. Once cuz it was so great,
and the other because there was such a lack. If I had a preference, I’d
rather amaze him by the abundance of my faith…but you see, I have the
same problem Elijah had. The same problem David had. The same problem
the centurion, the disciples and Paul had. I’m human.

All those guys, at times exhibited a great faith. The kind of faith that
amazed Jesus. Can you imagine having the kind of faith that amazed
JESUS?? Wow!

But at the same time, they also had moments where their LACK of faith
amazed Jesus…

I would suggest we add to our daily prayer, this short phrase:

“Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome
my unbelief!” Mark 9:24

Doesn’t matter if you had great faith yesterday…or if your faith leaves
a little to be desired tomorrow. You don’t need it for either one of those
days. You need it for today…for THIS day. I pray your faith is strong
today. If it is, share it with someone who’s faith may be lacking a bit…
for tomorrow, he may be sharing his abundance with you…

Lord, I do believe…help me overcome my unbelief…

David and Goliath…Round Two

It’s one thing to know your purpose…it’s an entirely different matter fulfilling it.
One thing I’ve learned, is that you can’t fulfill your purpose without the other four
stones…Knowledge, Faith, Action and Prayer.

If your purpose is “to believe in the one whom he sent”…Jesus…then first, you
have to have a little knowledge about who he is and what exactly it is you’re
supposed to believe. And you can’t believe anything at all, without having a little
faith, because faith is, after all having a belief in someone or something. Your faith,
then, is revealed in your actions, and, finally, it’s all wrapped up in prayer.

If, for instance, your Goliath stands in the valley and defies you, shouting out
curses of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or whatever…then you need a little
knowledge. You need to know that while Goliath may threaten you with these
weapons of his, Jesus has already defeated that giant!

While Goliath screams, “You have cancer! You will serve my great disease!”
Jesus, calmly speaks, “I took up your infirmities and carried your diseases!”

He took them up and carried them where? To the cross! What happened to
them on the cross? They died, right along with the Savior…and when he
descended to the devil’s lair, he left em all sitting right there in that ol serpent’s
lap…

Without that knowledge…that Jesus took your sicknesses to the grave, right
along with your sins, then you can’t believe in his healing…without believing in
his healing, you can’t take action…you can’t defy Goliath on his own turf…you
can’t resist the devil so he’ll flee from you. You can’t pray effectively, because
you don’t know that it’s nothing more than the INTIMIDATION of a toothless
lion!

He looks scary…he sounds scary…he’s telling you scary stuff…but what he’s
telling you is a LIE! But you need your stones. You need a little knowledge,
so you can start finding your purpose, and building your faith and taking some
action…and you sure enough, need some prayer, because those scary lies of
his sure can appear to be real sometimes….

Maybe your Goliath defies you in other ways. Maybe he tries to convince you
of how you’ll never amount to anything, or he’s constantly reminding you of who
you REALLY are…all the things you do that nobody knows about, except you
and him. The things that you’re really ashamed of…

But Jesus says, even before the echo of Goliath’s voice bounces out of the valley…
that he loves you so much, he died on the cross for you…he paid the penalty of
your sins, and took your judgment on himself, so that you wouldn’t have to face
them someday. Apparently, he thinks you’re pretty special for some reason…in
spite of who you are.

So who’s right? Goliath or Jesus? Well, now, Jesus said, “I am the way, the life,
and the truth…” John 14:6

John 8:44 says that ol snake is the father of lies and that there’s no truth in him.
It also says that his children are just like him….and an awful lot of his kids are
named Goliath, oddly enough…

Ya need a little knowledge. And you need a little faith. You need to pray a little
about finding your purpose…believing in the one whom he sent. And you need
to take some action once in awhile. Like standing up for yourself when your
Goliath starts yelling at you. YELL BACK, for crying out loud! Not because
of who YOU are, but because of who JESUS is…GET IN HIS FACE, even
when you don’t feel like it, because I’ll tell ya something…when you start getting
back in his face, once in awhile, he’s going to start looking for easier prey…

It may take awhile…and you might get a little scratched up and scraped up…
but eventually, he’s gonna go looking for somebody that’s just gonna roll over
and offer a jugular…

David and Goliath…Round Two

The stone of “Purpose”….

David knew his purpose. His purpose was to defeat Goliath and
set the Israelite army free from the fear that had taken them captive.
His purpose was to defeat Goliath and avenge his God, whom the
giant defied. His purpose was to expose Goliath for what he was…
while powerful and intimidating, he was still an enemy that could be
defeated by the right person with the right weapon…

Jesus knew his purpose, too. His purpose was to defeat his own
Goliath…that ol’ serpent of old, Satan. His purpose was to set his
people free from the fear and sin that had taken them captive. His
purpose was to expose Satan for what he was…while powerful and
intimidating, he was an enemy that could be defeated by the right
person with the right weapon….

It’s interesting, that while Goliath used the most modern technology
of the time, David (a child, no less) defeated him with a rock…the
oldest and most primitive of weapons. While Satan employed all the
trickery and strategy and power against Jesus, that his brilliant mind
could conceive, Jesus defeated him with the same rocks David used…
five stones that ultimately led down a path to the intersection of two
sticks nailed together in the shape of a cross.

The simplest of weapons. Sticks and stones. Against the most modern
technology and the most cunning created mind of all of time…

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty…” (1 Cor. 1:27)

Now, for a moment, we’ll look at OUR purpose. Your purpose is to
defeat your Goliath. Mine is to defeat mine. Our purpose is to help each
other in our individual battles…to help each other find that freedom that
has already been fought for and won…

But what is our PURPOSE? Because if we can find our PURPOSE, then
we might just find out that our Goliaths have already been defeated. We
just have to walk in it…

I can tell you your purpose. But you might not like it. It can be a hard thing.
If you really want to know…if you REALLY want to know…I can tell you.

“Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.””
(John 6:28,29)

That, my friend, is our purpose. To believe in the one he has sent. Because
if we can do THAT, everything else will have been achieved. You see, while
there are, indeed, five separate stones, they are all one Rock…Jesus. And if
we can fulfill our purpose by believing “in the one he has sent”, then we’ll have
our entire arsenal of weapons already in hand.

I’m not talking about believing in him for our salvation, although that’s part of
it…I’m talking about believing in him. Period. Believing in him for our salvation,
for our provision, for our healing, our victories…just plain ol believing in him.
For everything. All the time. If we can do that, we have accomplished our
purpose, and everything else falls into place.

But it’s a hard thing, sometimes….

David and Goliath…Round Two

There’s so much I could say here about fear and how it affects
our daily lives…especially when you add it together with the words
we speak out of the overflow of our hearts….

At the same time, I feel the need to get back to the second
confrontation between a Shepherd and his giant. The first, as
we know was between a young boy by the name of David, and
his opponent was a Philistine giant, by the name of Goliath. The
second, of course, was between Jesus and Satan.

They met several times in battle, and as we know, Jesus always
won! We’ve already taken a quick look at the strategies of that ol
serpent, the devil…fear, intimidation and deception. Now let’s take
a quick look at the tactics of the Shepherd!

Jesus used the same five stones that David used when he faced
Goliath…Knowledge, Purpose, Faith, Action, and Prayer. The same
five stones that you and I have at our disposal. Of course, we know
that Jesus was set in his purpose. In fact, he was set in his purpose
before there was ever a world to save (1 Peter 1:20). Every step he
took here on earth led to one place…the cross. NOTHING turned
him from his purpose!

We know his knowledge and faith were firm. Just read through the
gospels and you’ll get an idea of what I mean. As a child, he was
leaving the experts astonished at his understanding (Luke 2:47) of the
Scriptures! His faith was unwavering…he calmed storms, walked on
water, healed the sick and raised the dead…

He took action…and he was in constant prayer.

The five stones. The giant killers….

And he used them all. Sometimes one at a time and sometimes in
a combination. But he used them all. And he was always ready.
He was never taken by surprise and fumbling through his shepherd’s
pouch trying to find a stone. It was already loaded in his sling and
waiting to be hurled toward the enemy…

I’m thinking I may try to take a closer look at each of these stones
as they apply to Jesus and his confrontation with the giant of all
giants, but there’s so much in other areas that we haven’t even touched
yet. Maybe a quick run through?  Hmmmmm….