There Are Giants in Our Land!

"THERE ARE GIANTS IN THE LAND!! Really , there are !"

In the movie, "Facing the Giants", the coach was having problems winning games. So, he decided on a new philosophy. He would praise God no matter what. He tells his players to give their best and he motivates them to believe that God would help them win. In the end, of course, they defeat the other team called the Giants.

People in the Old Testament faced giants; real giants. God had promised the Israelites the land of Canaan. But, in Canaan, there lived wicked giants. God promised He would go before them and destroy the giants.

“Now be on your way. Gather the leaders of Israel. Tell them, ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I’ve looked into what’s being done to you in Egypt, and I’ve determined to get you out of the affliction of Egypt and take you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, a land brimming over with milk and honey.”’ Exodus 3:16-17 The Message

What did these people do? They complained; they whined; they were angry even though God hadn't promised their trip would be without hardship only that it would be worth it in the end. Finally, God had enough and they got to wander around the desert for forty years. You might want to read the story for yourself...it's interesting.

Are the Israelites different from us? Do we complain, whine and get angry when things don't go smoothly? Are there giants in our pathway? Yes, there are but God has promised us, just like He promised the Israelites, that He would go before them and destroy the giants.

What are some of the giants that are keeping you from trusting God completely with every aspect of your life? Are the giants of fear, worry or defeat, etc. rearing their ugly heads?

The story is told of a mother who came home from shopping to find five of her children sitting quietly in a circle. When she looked inside the circle she saw they had five young skunks they had found outside. Without thinking, she yelled, “run children, run!” They did, but not before each child grabbed a skunk to take with them. We are often like those children. When faced with the giants of life, we panic and make a mess out of things. We want to drag our giants with us; whining and complaining all the way, instead of allowing God to defeat them.

A Pastor once said of Christians, "They want to circle the wagons at the church building and hold off the devil until Jesus comes back. That is not God’s plan!" We have gotten so comfortable in our lives; so use to the giants of fear and worry, etc., we don't want to follow God's leading and defeat those giants with His help. God has plans for each of us. He hasn't promised there won't be difficulties as we travel our respective paths, but He has promised He will go before us and defeat our giants.

"Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2 (TLB)

Are you willing to acknowledge there are giants in your life and allow God to defeat them?

Are You Watching for Signs?

Oh my goodness ! An invasion has taken place ! Two mornings in a row, our yard has been invaded by robins. And, not just a few, but an army of them! To say I'm delighted is putting it mildly. Robins are a sign of spring. They typically appear in Feb. or March on their way north. I suspect this bunch has stopped along the way , filling up their tummies with all kinds of insects that are crazy enough to show themselves above ground.

It has been very entertaining for Ms. ...Kitty, who sets in our window seat, watching the robins hop hither and yon. Ms. Kitty seems to sense that it's a bit cold outside for her plus, she has a little lazy streak that makes it a bit difficult to put forth much effort to chase them.

Do you watch for signs? I do. I watch for the robins to appear and the jonquils to push through the soil. I watch for the little purple heads of crocus to pop up brightening the grass, left dead by the winter frosts and freezes. When a woman is pregnant, she watches for signs of impending delivery like nesting; cleaning house furiously for no understandable reason. We watch the skies for signs of impending weather. We check our children's foreheads for a sign of fever.

However, there are some signs that we really must pay attention to that are far more important than the robins or jonquils or crocus or the nesting instinct. There are signs of His return. Signs our Lord will be coming back to gather the believers unto Himself.

"Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (MSG)

As I read the signs of His return, I couldn't help but think how many of them we are witnessing in our world today. Perhaps, we should spend our time spreading the news of our Lord's return rather than being a bit lazy like Ms. Kitty, setting idly by while the minutes click away and lives are swept into eternity without the assurance of a Heavenly home.

It's wonderful to see the robins return; the jonquils burst forth and the crocus peak out through the dead grass, but it will be even more wonderful when we hear that trumpet and see our Lord burst through the eastern sky.

"See! He is arriving, surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see him—yes, and those who pierced him. And the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when he comes. Yes! Amen! Let it be so!" Revelation 1:7 (TLB)

 

How Pliable Are You?

You know, there isn't anything very pretty about a can of Play Doh other than it's color unless a child has squished together several different colors and then it's just an ugly, gunky mess.
This is the way our lives are until God takes hold of them. Play Doh, unto it's self has no aspirations. Until it is in the hands of the Creator, it will be nothing.

I found an old can of Play Doh while cleaning out a closet. When I opened it and took it in my hands, I discovered it was... nothing but a wad of dried out gunk. It wasn't pliable; it wouldn't give when I squeezed it; it was like a rock. Our hearts can be like that old wad of Play Doh; dried up, hard and difficult to do anything with. I probably could have added a bit of water to that old worthless piece of gunk and it would have become pliable again. If we allow the Holy Spirit within us to soften our heart, He can make it pliable again and make us useful in His kingdom. 
 

But, sometimes we like to inform God what we are most useful for rather than allowing God to mold us into His will. We think we know our strengths and weaknesses and we like to tell God what we can and cannot do. However, like Paul, we could discover that God can use us in spite of our weaknesses.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7: 9-10 MSG " Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, 'My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.' Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."

Sometimes, God doesn't want us to be the "shiniest thing in the kitchen". Sometimes the work He has for us to do may be very humbling. However, He knows where He can use us for His glory in spite of our weaknesses. All we have to do is be willing to be pliable in His hands.

"In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing." 2 Timothy 2:20-21 MSG

How pliable are you?

Are You Content?

Most of the time, I'm pretty content. But, have you noticed how advertisements tend to make us discontented? I am content with the home I have until I see the one HGTV is giving away. I'm content with going to the closet and finding something I like to wear until I see an ad for clothes on TV. I have decided TV commercials are of the devil because they tend to make us discontented with what God has provided for us. What happened to being content with what we have until He... provides something more? How about being thankful that we have what we DO have rather than wanting something more.

How many of you have thought that getting a certain thing, living a certain place, or being married to a certain person would bring you happiness and then find out you are still not contented when this happens? We need to trust God enough to realize that He knows not only what we want, but He also knows what is best for us. Much of the time, I find that what I THOUGHT I wanted and what God provided were two different things and what He provided was much better.

We live in a world where we want what we want when we want it. Patience is not something most of us are blessed with. We don't even like to stand in line at WalMart for more than three minutes. What happened to waiting for something that we want until the time is right? Young adults want the kind of home now their parents had after being married for thirty years. They want a new car, a high paying job, short work hours and a three week paid vacation immediately upon being out on their own. Contentment is something young people have not known. Perhaps that's because their parents were never content.

The latest global statistic shows if one has a roof over his head and a meal on his table he is richer than 93 percent of the world’s population. If a person wears a pair of shoes he is richer than 75 percent of the people in the world. In the United States alone, credit card debt averages more than $16,000 per household, and we are still discontented.

How about you? What would it take right now to make you content with your life? Are you teaching your children to be content?

" Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 TLB