Doubts

Take a look at Exodus 3 and 4. This is when God calls Moses to go back to Egypt to bring His people out of slavery. Look closely at how Moses responds to God:

But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Exodus 3:11 ("But God, I'm not qualified.")

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'what is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?" Exodus 3:13 ("But God, I don't have all the answers.")

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" Exodus 4:1 ("But God, it might not be easy.")

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." Exodus 4:10 ("But God, I'm not a good public speaker. I might make a fool of myself.")

But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." ("Once again God... I don't think I'm qualified.")

Essentially, God's answer to each of these arguments is that He will be with Moses. Too often, when God starts calling us to do something for Him, we think about the probability of success from the perspective of our own abilities. We forget that God is with us and He has all abilities. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone. Stepping out into a new area of service requires faith… and succeeding requires humility and surrender to make it a work of God. In the end, the act of service blesses others… and the servant is blessed by a closer relationship and better understanding of utter dependence on God.

I think back to a men's ministry meeting over 2 years ago now. Some of the ministry leaders were talking about a small group of men who were fasting every Wednesday. They asked if anybody was interested in helping these men expand the group. I remember raising my hand. Yet like a split personality, I also remember silently yelling at myself, "What are you thinking?!? You can't write!! Besides, you can barely fast for 24 minutes… much less 24 hours. Where are you going to find topics? You are getting way in over your head...". I thank God for pushing me through those doubts. I have learned way more from leading this list than I could ever verbalize.

So this week, we are praying about our doubts. Is there something God is calling you to do that you keep talking yourself out of? Do it and you might find that the thing God was doing all along, was a change in you.

Have a great week and a great fast.
Your brother,
Bob

The internet

Proverbs 6:27 says "Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?"

When I was still in high school, one job I had was mowing my neighbor's lawn. It was in his shed that I discovered the first pornographic magazines I had ever seen. Curiosity and teenage lust led to quite a thorough review of the material. I'm guessing that nearly all the men on this list (and perhaps the women as well) can think of similar incidents from their childhood. But we live in such a different world these days. With the advent and proliferation of the internet, we no longer have to go digging around in the neighbor's shed to find awfully graphic images. So this week, we are praying about the internet. Specifically, we are praying for the following:

1. There are many adults, even Christian adults, who are addicted to internet pornography. We are praying that they find the strength in Christ to shake that addiction. Perhaps you are the accountability partner for someone in this situation. Or perhaps you are in this situation yourself. There are great Christian resources out there to help.
2. We are praying for our kids. First that we as parents are able to adequately buffer them from pornographic content on the web. And second, that if they do become exposed to such stuff, that it doesn't have the destructive, addictive affect it can have on people.
3. That parents everywhere are modeling appropriate behavior and accountability. It's been said that more is caught then taught. Said another way - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Our children are much more likely to fall into this trap if they see us in it. Let's show our children what healthy relationships look like and let's show our children how to cherish and respect the wonderful mystery that is the opposite sex. We owe it to the future spouses of our sons to not let them buy into the preposterous female stereotype portrayed in pornography.

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;". 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5.

Have a great week and a great fast.
Your brother,
Bob

Our path

John 21:15-23 documents the account when Jesus reinstates Peter. There are a number of great lessons in this passage but this week we are focusing on just one of them. In verses 18 and 19, Jesus alludes to "the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God". Upon hearing from Jesus that he would be crucified, Peter looks at John and says "what about him?". Jesus responds by basically saying mind your own business - "what is that to you". Please read the whole passage to get the full context.

This brings us to our topic for this week. God has made each of us unique. We have a unique purpose and as such, He has planned out a unique path for each of us. Jesus was admonishing Peter to keep his eyes on his own path. We don't want to fall into the trap of looking with envy on the path of another.

So this week let's pray about our own unique path. That we accept it… embrace it… surrender to it.

Have a great week and a great fast.
Your brother,
Bob