The Central Moment

We cannot put God in a box. How he answered past prayers may not be how he answers future prayers. The way by which he provided for past needs may not be the way in which he will provide for future needs. Let God be God and leave the process in his hands.

What have you devoted to God that you have tried to take back? How has that worked for you? Israel tried it and found out the hard way that it only weakens and endangers us.

Judgment is coming to our world, but not before mercy has already come for those who trust in the shed blood of Jesus. He is our Savior and Deliverer, saving us from judgment and delivering us from darkness. Although most reject it, Christ’s salvation is available to anyone today!

Obedience and praise are powerful companions in the working of God’s Spirit in our lives. Sometimes we try to go with one and not the other. But God’s victories are not servants to our preferences. It’s both our obedience AND God’s glory!

If you were asked the question, “Who are you for?” -- how would you answer? Would you name a football team or identify a political party or perhaps a favorite actor? But how would God answer if he were asked that question?

In Jesus, our sins are rolled away. The life of our fleshly disobedience was cut away at the Cross. So there at Christ’s Cross may you find a ‘Gilgal’ moment today in which your shame is rolled away, your sins are forgiven and you are made new.

Our reputations are often difficult to manage on our own. Let’s put them into the hands of the Lord. He can back us up. He can validate our calling with his confirmations and fruitfulness. The pressure is not on us to prove something about ourselves!

When the Lord has done something great for us, let’s not run off to the next thing too quickly. It’s not a time to be in a thoughtless rush. Let’s first camp out around the place of thanksgiving and erect those memorial stones of praise!

To consecrate ourselves to the Lord is to open the way for the power and intervention of his Spirit. It means renouncing personal idolatry and setting ourselves apart for the Lord’s purposes. It is the way we prepare ourselves for God’s ‘cross over’ moments in our lives!

Following Jesus means that he is the one out front, not us. He does not follow us. No -- we follow the counsel of his Word and the leading of his Spirit. That is why we do not fear the places we have never been before!

Two spies and a prostitute -- it’s not a mystery novel but an Old Testament picture of faith in Jesus! It is because of the blood of Jesus shed for us that forgiveness, rescue, and hope can come to our lives.

It’s nothing short of the power of ‘with’ -- the strength and protection that comes from walking side by side, growing in community, and loving one another. When God’s people are united and aligned, God’s Spirit moves and new ground is taken!

Three days -- three days to cross over, three days to step into restoration. All of this points to that ‘third day’ when Jesus defeated death, robbed hell, and released resurrection life!

Courage, harnessed by the wisdom of God, is what will mark our march into the future. Courage without wisdom is recklessness. Wisdom without courage is paralysis. But courage with wisdom will rise to meet the uncertain days ahead.

The Old Testament book of Joshua begins with a challenge -- let go of the past, take a risk, and step into the future that the Lord is giving you. Don’t let go of your values, but do let go of dependence on the familiar and the predictable.

Out of the exclusive relationship that Jesus had with his Heavenly Father, he calls us to find our fulfillment and rest in him. No frenzied religious activity or guilt-ridden drivenness -- just supernatural rest!

You are needed! The people you love need you. The lost in this world need you. The hurting ones around all of us need you. But Jesus was right -- too often the demands of the need exceed the supply of the laborers.

Every one of us has a purpose. That purpose is what becomes God’s “calling” on our lives. When we are called by him, we don’t need to apologize for that purpose, or stumble over our insecurities, or feel the pressure to constantly prove something about ourselves.

Today can be a ‘from this day on’ moment in your life. Thank God that he can intervene in a way that nothing is the same again. Thank God that change is possible and new seasons can be ours.

Proximity to holiness cannot make us holy! You can’t catch holiness like you would catch a cold. Sin may be infectious, but holiness is not. Only the first hand transformation of God’s Spirit in our hearts can work holiness in us.

God is going to shake everything that can be shaken. His unshakeable Kingdom will be the only thing left standing. So secure yourself to the firm foundation of life in Jesus the King -- the one who will come to judge and to rule!

God is never limited by small things. He out-dimensions the dimensions of whatever we face. So, confident in his power and presence, we press on in obedience with courage and faith.

In our moments of deepest honesty,  it’s easy to get discouraged with our often cold and drifting hearts. But thank God that his Spirit can stir our hearts towards zeal for him and passion to serve him.

Misplaced priorities lead to frustrated lives. It’s quite possible to be busy but not productive, and the purpose behind it all can be lost. But what about risking a life that is aligned around God’s priorities?

Are your priorities centered on things of this world that please you but ignore God? Or are your priorities in line with what is most important to God -- your worship and service to him and your loving of the people around you?