GOD'S WORD TO ME--Walking with a Limp

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I Kings 18:21

"And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you go on limping between two different opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.'"

Do you ever feel like your spiritual walk is more like a limp?  I know that I do.  Sometimes it is because I have been wounded or beaten up through spiritual attack as I try to traverse this life as a Christian.    But all too often I am reminded of my limp when I consider the great battle that rages between my spirit and my flesh.  More and more I am realizing that this battle is between polar-opposite opinions, God's good and perfect will and plan and the evil that entered the world with the very first sin. 

I  only have two choices in every situation.   I can choose God's way or the wrong way.  The wrong way, the way of Baal, consists of three entities.  I John 2:16 describes the three as "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life."  This is the way of the world, the way of Baal.  How often I take this path and follow Satan's way in the world.  It is no wonder that I walk with a limp in so many situations.

My call is to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, for this is the only "Way" to walk without a limp.  When I create my own 'altars of sacrifice,' that I willing lay upon, it is no wonder that I then find myself limping, for I will always limp around altars of my own making.  (I Kings 18:26--Read it!) 

Lord Jesus, today I choose to follow You.  Open my eyes to see those places where I am  sacrificing my trust in You by trusting in my flesh, what I can see, and my own sinful pride, for these are the altars that make me limp.  Lord, continue to show me that a limp can quickly become lameness.  Forgive my idol worship of life in this world while forgetting You. Come, lead me today, that I might walk in Your strength and power! 

Choosing Joy

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Ever had one of those days?  You know the kind I am talking about.  The ones that are a truly "Murphy's Law" kind of a day.  From the moment you get up, the snowball starts rolling down the side of the mountain.  Everything you touch seems to fall apart.  And if that were not enough to try to handle, the constant interruptions and the "rearranging" of your schedule seems endless.  Then there are the feelings of not getting anything accomplished, and the realization that you are just "spinning your wheels."  I had one of those days last week. 

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I was well aware that the Spirit was with me, residing in me with all kinds of power for me to overcome this day  in spite of how it was unfolding.  My Bible was available to me to be my moment-to-moment guide book for navigating through this already unsettling day.  But I soon learned as I sat down to read my devotional that both the Spirit and the Word would be useless to me unless I surrendered my "right"  to experience my feelings in full bloom, repented of them, and turned to face my God, bowing in His presence.  It would be in that posture alone that I could choose the joy of the Lord, the only strength I needed for my discombobulated day.

These are the words that the Spirit spoke to me in the midst of the waves that continued to sweep over me:

"This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep . . . Go your way.  Eat the fat and drink sweet wine . . . for this day is holy to our Lord.  And do not be grieved, FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!"  (Nehemiah 8:10)

When I read those words a smile lit on my face, for in them I could see what my solution to my day would be.  If I would crucify my irritated flesh and surrender my right to be "grieved" by my day and to moan and complain about how much seemed to be going wrong, I would be able to celebrate in the day with joy.  Realizing my marching orders, I chose to receive the command to go and "eat and drink,"  the command to just continue through the day with a different attitude.

No matter what our days hold we will always have a choice in how we walk through them.  Frustration can become joyfulness; busy-ness can become joyfulness; being overwhelmed can become joyfulness.  Even sadness and mourning can become joy.  And when you choose joy, your inner man is strengthened.  Out of our inner being will flow rivers of joy, contagious joy, that will minister to those around you.  And through our emotional transformation from upset to joyfulness we will be strengthened with enough might to overcome even the hardest of days. 

Choose joy!  It will reverse the effects that a bad day can have on you and those around you!

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 24

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Day 24:  Nicodemus  (John 3: 1-21)

“I am so confused,” Nicodemus thought. “Being a man, a GOOD JEWISH man, I have been raised and well-schooled in all the laws of God.  I know very well what God demands of me, and I have obeyed Him and His laws.  But this Man Jesus……He is a puzzle to me.  He has come to us proclaiming a new and better way.  I know that He has performed many impressive signs and miracles that only a man of God could do.  But He also overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple at the last Passover, declaring that they were making the temple a place of business.  Isn’t that the way it has always been?  What am I, a ruler of the Jews, to do with such a man?  How can He and the God of my fathers both be right?”

When Nicodemus’ questions refused to leave his mind, he decided to seek out Jesus late one night, not wanting to be seen by his fellow Pharisees.

From the moment Jesus started to speak to him, Nicodemus’ heart began to stir.  Jesus spoke to him of being born again.  “But how?”  he questioned.  As Jesus began to explain just how a man could be spiritually born again , the fog in Nicodemus’ mind began to clear for the very first time.  It was all about the Spirit, not the Law!  And then there was the issue of eternal life, the gift to all who would believe that Jesus was God’s Son AND live their lives by the Spirit according to His commands.  This was the salvation and hope that Nicodemus had longed for his whole life!

He had choices to make.  Would he continue to live in his dark world of sin and the laws he couldn’t possibly keep on his own?  Would he continue to hide his desire for Jesus from his friends?  Or would he confess Jesus as his Lord, coming boldly into the Light that would expose his sin?  Would he live his life by the Spirit as one who practiced the truth he claimed to believe, as a witness to his friends?

These questions also beg questions of us.  Will we receive Jesus in a way that changes our lives dramatically? Will we be witnesses of the One we call Lord? Will we be ashamed to openly worship Him?  Or will we stay safe?