The Power of a Moment

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Luke 1:26-28 

 

As you know, one of the things I like to do is invite you to think.  Today is no exception.  Have you ever considered the power of a moment?  Consider: the moment when your child drew their first breath....the moment you knew realized you were in love....the moment heard the words "Congratulations, the job is yours".....the moment you God called you....moments change our lives forever.  

 

In a single moment, Mary went from being a bride-to-be to being the mother of the Savior.  In that moment, her entire world changed!  As we focus on the Birth of Christ, let's focus on the power of a moment! Make your moments count by sharing yourself.  Make your moments count by doing for others.  Make your moments count because they will quickly turn into a memory, make sure the memories are worth remembering.

My Words Just Sound So Empty

Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain. 

Romans 8:26

 

I felt completely overwhelmed and out of my element.  The call came in of a tragic situation which I needed to come counsel those involved.  Up to this point, I had dealt with pretty much any situation I could have imagined, yet this one was different.  This time, instead of being the one telling the counselor what I knew they wanted to hear, I was the one who would be hearing the "I'm fine" comment over and over (even though I knew it would be a lie).  I had no idea how to pray for the people involved.  I had no idea how to reach out to them with any sense of broaching the "Blue Wall of Imperviousness."  

 

The only thing I could manage to pray was "God help me!"  By the time I reached the ones in need, I was literally sweating as though I had just stepped out of a furnace and my thoughts were racing almost as fast as my heart rate.  How could I help make ANY sense of a tragic situation?  How could God use me to bring any sense of peace to this horrible event?  My mind's mantra became "Abba, speak through me."

 

All the books that I had read on helping others deal with tragic situations did not have a word about horrific situations and were, thus, of little help.  But the more I kept praying, the more sense of peace filled my soul.  By the time I was able to speak to the first person, God had already begun moving.  We talked, we cried, we hugged, and my soul continually prayed.

 

You see, I, in my own strength and knowledge, was completely lost and overwhelmed.  But God already knew exactly what was needed and had already begun His healing before I met with anyone.  I am convinced that Prayer is NOT telling God wonderful things we think He wants to hear.  Prayer, I do believe, is building our relationship with Him; understanding that He already knows what we need and has a plan already in action for our benefit.

 

"But I don't know what to say when I pray."  I hear this quite a lot, and have said it too.  What do we say to God?  How about: "Thank You Abba for loving me.  Thank You for this day You have set ahead of me and before we get started, thank You that You have already worked everything out.  Keep me calm and trusting in You every moment."  No flowery speeches, no repetition which become just sound filling the air....just simple heart to heart conversation with the One who knows you better than you know you (and the One who loves you anyway).

Knee Jerk Responses

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

 

Why are we such a fearful society?  A tragedy occurs and we have marches and rallies  and calls to ban this, that, and the other....but we are somehow fearful of actually DOING something to help prevent a lot of the rampages.  When did we stop teaching our children about respect, courtesy, and the fact that everyone has value?

 

I can remember as a child being taught to respect other people and other people's property.  Why?  Because of the simple verse we call "The Golden Rule."  Yet some seem to have changed the rule to read: Do to others BEFORE they can do to me.  And our Pit Dwelling enemy has taken full advantage of our fear.

 

If we fear, we become ineffective and the Pit Dweller wins.  But look again at today's verse: "God HAS NOT given us a spirit of fear and timidity" our fear to do what is right does not come from God!  It comes from the pungent pit!  God HAS given us the spirit of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-DISCIPLINE!!  God has given us exactly what we need to do what is right, and we must focus on that instead of being fearful!

 

So ask yourself again, is it better to do what is right even though it might be uncomfortable for us and take some effort, or should we just let this world degrade into a free-for-all?

Lessons Learned In The Dark

[God said]   "I create the light and make the darkness.
I send good times and bad times.
    I, the Lord, am the one who does these things."

Isaiah 45:7 

 

During the recent storm, power was lost in many places, my office being among them.  However, force of habit led me to flip the light switch and then bump painfully into the corner of my desk.  The light did not come on when I flipped the switch because there was no power and I didn't have the power to make it work.  I considered yelling at the light switch, laying hands on the light switch, in the end (due to the mishap with the corner of the desk) I sat in the dark and prayed.

 

You see, when we try to do thing in our own power, we fail miserably.  How many times have we tried to "fake it till we make it"?  How many times have we tried to make our plans work, even if the purpose was to honor God?  How many times have we tried to live life without God's power?

 

When we realize that God is God and He is the one in control, then life becomes a little easier to take.  When the good times come, be grateful and ask God for those with whom you can share that with.  When the trials come, be grateful and ask God to teach you. 

 

When God's power is at work in our lives, others will notice because we reflect Him.

Imagine The Power

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them

Matthew 18:20 

 When you hear the word "Power" what comes to mind?  Perhaps political power.  Perhaps military power.  But what about the power that comes through Christ?  Let's think about that for a moment.  

For all the years of my life in which I heard this verse, I thought it applied to prayer.  And....it does.  However, if we limit it to just prayer, we miss so much more!  Imagine if two or three are gathered together in Jesus' Name to ENCOURAGE you.  Imagine of two or three are gathered in Jesus' Name to help you move or fix your car or cut your grass or take you to lunch or gathered to comfort you during a time of struggle.

The point I want you to see here is that there is true POWER when God's People come together in Jesus' Name! 

The Paradox Of Weakness and Strength

Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10 

 

When I was a child, I wanted to be a Superhero.  Superman, Batman, Thor, Green Lantern, Flash....all the awesome names and costumes were taken.  So I set about trying to discover my super power.  The more I looked, the more I came up empty.  

 

I already had my costume (an orange swimsuit and Mom's old picnic blanket).  I already knew that flight was not my super power having jumped off the roof and spending a couple of days in hospital for my efforts.  I knew my super power wasn't speed (given my athletic abilities I have no special skills in that area).  

 

I was beginning to become extremely discouraged and frustrated.  And the more discouraged and frustrated I became, the more my friends and schoolmates wanted to talk with me about their issues and wanted to know what I thought about their situations.  This annoyed me at first because, I was trying to focus my energies on my own issues.

 

Finally, I asked one of my friends why they insisted on talking to me when it was plain that I had something else on my mind.  To my amazement, my friend said, "Because you get it!  You understand. Ain't another you anywhere."  Hmmmmmmm.......

 

Then I began to understand....we ALL are super heroes to someone simply because we are who God made us to be.  We might be that teacher who has the gift of presenting the lessons in such a way that the students get it.  We might be that one person who lights up a room simply because we have the gift of laughter and smiles.  We might be that one person who has ears to listen, wisdom to be quiet, and experiences that can guide.

 

Each one of us, in our weakness, are superheroes when we let God work through the gifts and talents He has given us.  When I am weak, I rely on Him and THEN I am strong!

 

BTW, my Super Hero music is the theme from the Benny Hill Show.

But I'm In Control!

When Jesus entered the city of Capernaum, an army officer came to him, begging for help. 
The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”

Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”

The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”

Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
Matthew 8:5-13

We like being in control, don't we?  We love being put in positions of authority and power (whether we can handle the responsibilities or not).  For some, being in the spotlight (believing we are more "important" than everyone else) is worth whatever the cost to cling to.  We get a taste of power and we aren't about to let it go.

But look at today's story...the Centurion, who is a man of authority able to order his troops to kill, defend, destroy, guard, build, tear down, move or anything else he had a mind to do. Yet, this man of power found himself in a position where all his authority and power were useless.  Understand, that servants during this time in history were disposable.  If one died, you just went to the market and bought another one.  So when this Centurion takes such an interest in his servant as to go as Jesus for help speaks of an unusual relationship.  Perhaps the Centurion and this servant grew up together in the same household, perhaps even played together, and were together throughout their lives (as sometimes happened).

But the Centurion recognized that all his hard won power and authority could not save his servant.  And in admitting that he needed Jesus' help, he achieved something most of us have yet to understand...that Jesus is in control and is the Great Physician.  He understood that God is God and he is not.  

I wish I could remember who wrote it, but this quote stuck in my mind: "Some of us think holding on to power makes us strong, but it is in the letting go that true power is unleashed!"

If you want to know just how powerful you are, grab a handful of sunshine.  When night comes, open your hand and see how brightly your handful of sunshine glows.  The only one who controls the sunshine is the One who created it...and it ain't us.

Got something you're trying to deal with?  Stop trying to control it and let God deal with it!