The Solution To Our Stumbling Blocks

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

Yesterday I promised you a story from the Bible that would be an example of a stumbling block, to help us see the difference between a sin and an encumbrance.  The story is found in Matthew 16.  Let it inspire you to overcome both!

". . . Jesus had just told the disciples of the real events that were about to happen in Jerusalem.  Jesus' prediction of His death gave them more detail than had been disclosed during their previous discussions.  Peter couldn't handle the truth he had just heard.  Jesus told them that He was about to die, and Peter's rebuke was strong.  But it was filled with adoration for his Master.  In his blurting sort of way, Peter boldly told Jesus that His death would never happen!  Jesus immediately turned to address Peter, saying, 'Get behind Me, Satan!'  (Matthew 16:23).  Jesus understood that the thoughts of Peter had been infiltrated by the enemy.  So Jesus said, 'You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.'  (Matthew 16:23).

You see, your own thoughts or actions that are self-absorbed, self-centered, and self-focused can just as easily be a stumbling block to you or to someone else.  They are flesh-fed thoughts, and satan delights in such thoughts, for they do not consider the thoughts or plans of God.  If you struggle with these kinds of encumbrances, your battle plan to overcome them is found in the verses that follow the account of Peter's wrong thought processes.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'  (Matthew 16:24)

This is the answer not only to self-centered thinking or activities but also for every sin you will battle.  We must learn to simply tell our flesh 'no!'  By denying ourselves what our flesh wants, we 'take up our cross,' for that is what Jesus did when He clearly understood what His Father's will was.  If we tell ourselves 'no,' and then obey what God says, in any situation, then we are following Him in that moment.  Those things that encumber us are our stumbling blocks, and they often appear to be innocent thoughts or activities that seem right, on the surface.  But we still will trip over them.

What thought or activity is currently encumbering your walk?

What Are Your Stumbling Blocks?

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 (Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)



"Let's take a closer look at some very important words in [Hebrews 12: 1-4].

• Lay aside -- to put away, cast off, lay down, put off, the opposite of storing up

Can you think of any examples of 'storing up'?  I like to create word pictures.  They help me 'see' better what is meant by certain words.  That's how visual learners learn best!  Here are my word pictures:  a well-stocked pantry [as I stated in yesterday's blog], grain bins too full for even one more kernel of corn, and fat stores.  I know!!!  Don't remind you!  Things that are used to store up other things are designed with a plan and purpose for 'storing up.'  There is no other reason for it!  So, if 'laying aside' means the opposite of 'storing up,' then we need a plan and a purpose for 'laying aside' every encumbrance that we have, as well as the sin that entangles us on our Christian walk.

• Every encumbrance -- a burden, hindrance, or weight; specific to this verse it means a tumor, mass, impediment, a stumbling block

It is critical that we understand this definition because an encumbrance and a sin are defined as two different things in this verse.  The encumbrances that the writer of Hebrews is referring to are not those things that are clearly and scripturally sinful.  He covers that in the next phrase of our passage, and we will define 'sin' next.

So what is he referring to?  Encumbrances are those stumbling blocks that are often called the 'gray areas' of the Bible.  An encumbrance can be anything that impedes your walk that isn't specifically identified as sin.  Consider these:  watching too much television,  smoking, drinking, and being a workaholic.  Do you get the picture now?

The word 'encumbrance' concerns those things that weigh you down or hinder you from doing what God wants you to be doing.  Often you justify their presence in your life because the Word doesn't strictly forbid it or state they they are sins to you.  Yet they rob you of certain aspects of your relationship with God and eventually burden you.  What do you depend on or rely upon other than God  What do you do that creates a way for you to spend more time involved in it than with the things of God, causing you to sometimes exclude Him from your daily life?  These are stumbling blocks that are intentionally set in your way by our enemy."

Join me tomorrow for a specific example of a stumbling block found in the Word!

Are You Laying Aside Your Sin . . . Or Are You Storing It Up?

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

'Storing up' is a very good thing to do when it comes to pantries. But at other times what we 'store up' becomes a hindrance to us.  Take for instance our sin.  God doesn't want us to store up our sin because it will become a stumbling block to us.  When we store it up, we become more comfortable with it.  It can even become our security, and what we trust in when push comes to shove.  God wants us to lay aside our sin because it encumbers our walk with Him. 

Do you remember the story of David.  As a young boy, he took it upon himself to stand and fight a giant who had ridiculed David's God.  King Saul thought he had the solution, or at least a small help for David.  He offered him his King's armor to wear as he fought.  David obliged, but not for long.  It only took moments for David to realize two things.  The armor was too cumbersome for him, and it took his eyes off of trusting God and walking through this battle with Him alone.  David defeated the 9-foot tall giant, but only after he laid aside the armor.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.  (Hebrews 12: 1-4)

"Did you notice the 'let us' phrases?  Whenever you come across a 'let us' verse, you need to read it a 'I must.'  It is a gentle command; it is not a suggestion!  What did the 'let us' phrases tell us to do?

       1.  Lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us.

       2.  Run with endurance the race that is set before us.

If you have been in church, participated in Sunday school, attended a small group, or just read your Bible, you know that eventually you will hear or see something that has to do with how we are to be dealing with our sin.  But in this chapter [of Spiritual Healing] we are going to discover our need to deal with all things that hinder our walk.  We are going to use the Greek definitions of certain words in our passage to help us gain a better understanding of what Hebrews 12: 1-4 is actually telling us, and what was originally intended by its author.  Read the verses above again."

We will continue with this tomorrow.  Be sure to check back in!