KLOVE Features May 2018
Moving the Unmovable, Shaking the Unshakable
Nothing in life is static. Everything is fluid…moveable…in motion. Yet, with the right amount of focus, what seems unchangeable can be conformed to God’s perfect will and purpose. At times, it requires pressure to move the seemingly unmovable. The pressure of prayer or the power of humble acceptance even makes the impossible, possible. At other times, only by flowing with God’s ultimate intention, can we see immoveable mountains moved and unshakeable evil shattered. It’s not our might or power that is the difference-maker, but God’s unwavering will and plan for each of our lives. But there are also times when we need to be unshakeable. The Psalmist wrote, “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.” (Psalm 16:8, NLT)
Difference Between Guilt and Shame
Do you know the difference between guilt and shame? It’s vital that you do. Guilt is feeling bad about what I’ve done compared to God’s best for my life. It is a divine protection. Shame is feeling bad about how others see me…even how I see myself. It is a total distraction. Because Jesus was sinless, God come in the flesh, He never experienced guilt because of His actions. Additionally, Jesus despised the shame of becoming sin for us and dying on the Cross. On the other hand, when we sin, and our conscience feels the guilt of our sin, we can ask and receive God’s forgiveness. But, when others try and shame us for not meeting their standard, whatever that may be, we must reject their rejection, and fight to live in the complete acceptance of Jesus.
Boy Choking on a Train
Once, when I was a teenager, I was riding a crowded train early one morning in New York City. Breaking the silence, a girl right behind me began to yell. “My brother, he’s choking! He can’t breathe!” Over and over again she shouted! Everyone crowded around, but no one did anything. I was the closest person to him but was frozen. She screamed, “He’s turning blue!” It was overwhelming! Then after what seemed forever, I heard a distant voice. “Let me through! Move out of the way!” A man, elbowed his way forward, picked the boy up, threw him over one arm, and smacked his back with the other. The boy coughed and began to breathe. Within minutes we were all back in our seats, as if nothing had happened. But my life was forever changed. I never, ever, wanted to be in a situation where I couldn’t help someone in need.
Eddie Rickenbacker
Each of us will either face our fears or cower from them. Victory in life requires courage. The most renowned American pilot during a war was Eddie Rickenbacker. By the end of World War 1, he had logged 300 combat hours: the most of any American pilot during a war. Rickenbacker survived 134 aerial encounters with the enemy and earned the Medal of Honor. He also endured a plane crash during World War 2 and spent 24 days on a raft in the Pacific Ocean. When Eddie was asked how he did it he said, “Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.” A great prayer to pray is, “Jesus, make me a person of conviction, make me a person of courage.” A courageous God will always answer that prayer.
Holding Your Ground
There’s a man in the Bible you’ve probably never heard of: Shammah the Hararite. In a battle with the Philistines, while others were running away, he stationed himself in the middle of a field, defended it, and won a great victory. (2 Samuel 23:11-12) Shammah’s father was named, Agee, which meant “someone who flees” or “someone who runs away”. Agee ran from his problems. Shammah faced them and broke the curse of cowardice over his family. It raises the question, what piece of ground are you and I called to defend? What heavenly stewardship have we been given? What eternal reality are we created to fight for. We all have these! We never really believe in anything, until we stand for something. “For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NET)
The Least Safe Thing You Can Do
Want to know what the least safe thing you can do is? It’s bowing to fear! It actually de-activates the grace and power of God. When Martin Luther, the great reformer, stood before a council in the 16th Century to answer charges of heresy and to hear a possible death sentence, he responded, “…my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot, and I will not, recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me!” Courage is not succeeding in what you are called to do. It is being willing to give your all, even if you don’t succeed. One day, when the disciples were terrified, Jesus spoke to them, “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” (Matthew 14:26-27) What are you afraid of? Face it, in the name and authority of Jesus!”
All the Faith We Need
How do you feel about your future? Are you excited or terrified? Do you have financial pressure? Over two-thirds of Americans with debt are not confident they’ll ever pay it off. Do you have relationships that are in trouble? So many are fractured and need the miracle of healing. As important as our present is, what we are believing for is equally important. The Bible says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV) A.W. Tozer writes, “When we come to the place where everything can be predicted, and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut.” Never forget, everything God has for you in the future can only be accessed by faith, and He promises He will give us all the faith we need.
We’re Always in the Majority
In the Old Testament, every time the King of Syria was going to attack Israel the prophet Elisha told the King of Israel what was about to happen. So, the King of Syria sent a great army to seize Elisha, and surround the city he was in. When Elisha’s servant got up one morning, he saw that his city was surrounded with a great army. The servant cried to Elisha, “What shall we do?” “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. (2 Kings 6:15-17) When we are on God’s side, we’re always in the majority.
The Smartest Thing We Can Ever Do
If I’m to be truly led by God’s Spirit, I must be as committed to do nothing as I am to do something; to be as fully conscious at STOP SIGNS as I am at GREEN LIGHTS. I’m not wasting time when I’m waiting on God. He’s merely testing my willingness to obey Him more than my own preference. Am I as willing to rest in Him as I am to work for Him. In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel commanded King Saul to wait for him to return before offering a sacrifice. Yet, Saul succumbed to fear and his own desires, and went ahead of God. It would cost Him dearly. Obeying and waiting on God is the wisest action we can ever take. It shows we trust Him more than ourselves, and that’s always the smartest thing we can do.
Palm Trees
The older I get, the less flexible my body becomes, and it really concerns me. I have to really stretch to remain pliable. When I was a young Christian, I quickly yielded to encouragements from God’s Spirit. But am I still obeying His slightest unction? It’s a serious question that requires great humility. The Bible says we need to become like palm trees. “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…” (Psalm 92:12) A palm tree can bend so far over, it almost touches the ground. But when the wind finally stops, it bounces right back up. It reminds me of humility, which literally means “to hug dirt”. God wants us to be like palm trees because when the storms of life blow, if our roots are in Him, we’re going to bow before Him, and yet bounce right back as strong as before.
Go for the Gold!
No one ever encourages an Olympic athlete, “Go for the bronze!” Bronze is a mixture of two metals: copper and tin, and God doesn’t want our lives to be a mixture. Bronze is also hard and brittle. Nor does He want our lives to be hard and brittle. There’s also no expression, “Go for the silver!” Silver is a precious metal. Slightly harder than gold, but it tarnishes and ranks second to gold in its ability to be molded or shaped without breaking. Gold, on the other hand, is extremely rare. Only one out of a billion atoms of rock in Earth’s crust are gold. Gold is the most moldable and shapeable metal without breaking. One ounce of gold can be beaten out to 300 square feet. So, let me cheer on your life. “Go for the gold and settle for nothing less!”
The Courage of a Flight Attendant
Years ago, a plane crashed and burned on a runway in Philadelphia. A flight attendant stood at the door assisting passengers to safety. When she thought all were safe, she heard a woman screaming, “My baby, my baby!” The flight attendant then returned to the flaming plane, never to be seen again. When the burned wreckage was examined, they found the body of the flight attendant draped over the child she had tried to save. That’s courage! We may not complete every mission or every God-given assignment, but, may we be found faithful to, if need be, die trying. Courage is doing what’s right even if you don’t succeed. The Bible encourages each of us, “…be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10, ESV) Always remember, we serve of courageous God!