KLOVE Radio Features – March 2023

GOD’S RESPONSE TO INSECURITY
After spending 40 years in a wilderness, having fled for his life from Egypt, God appears to Moses in a Burning Bush and tells him to return to Egypt and lead the captive nation of Israel out of slavery. Moses, fully stripped of every vestige of self-confidence, then begs God to find someone else. Saying, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please, send someone else.” How does God address Moses’ insecurity? Does He give him a hug, pat him on the head, and release him from stepping up? Hardly! God says the most comforting words ever spoken: “I will be with you!” (Exodus 4‬:12‬-13‬) Those five words propel Moses from, “I don’t want to,” “I can’t,” and “Get someone else,” to telling God, “I won’t go unless your presence goes with me!” (Exodus 33:23) He who has called us IS truly faithful! Believe it!

LOOK TO JESUS & BE HEALED
Rebellion always brings a plague of consequence, while looking to Jesus in repentance always brings forgiveness and a fresh start. In Numbers 21, when the children of Israel rebelled against the Lord, God sent a plague of snakes; thousands died. Mercifully, to stop the plague, God told Moses to put a serpent on a cross and lift it up for the entire nation of Israel to see. It was a visual forerunner of Jesus taking our sin upon Himself and being lifted up on a Cross to be crucified in our place. As those who looked upon the cross in the wilderness were healed, if we look to the blood Jesus shed on the Cross of Calvary for us, we will be healed as well. Look to Jesus, and be healed: spirit, soul and body!

SEEING HOLINESS UP CLOSE
In my 50 years of following Jesus, the greatest demonstration of God’s holiness has been when spiritual leaders have been judged by God for living hypocritical lives. It is then you can see holiness up close and personal. God says this emphatically in Numbers 20 when Moses is disobedient in striking the rock two times in frustration. In my mind, I’d think, “Poor decision, but not the end of the world.” Yet, because of Moses’ level of leadership, it necessitated God making an example of him for the entire nation of Israel and even for us. Because of his disobedience, God affirmed His holiness by not allowing Moses and Aaron to go into the Promised Land. I know God is merciful and forgiving, but there is a point where each of us, especially spiritual leaders, can reap consequences that are truly tragic.

ARE YOU BORED?
Religion will always drive us to boredom and even bondage. Has the mundaneness of going through the motions of Christianity been enticing you to go back to the bondage of Egypt? Have you forgotten what being a slave to sin is actually like? Spiritual boredom leads to barrenness and, more often than not, the bondage of self-indulgence. It smothers our potential, making us believe the lie that the God who makes galaxies, sunsets, babies and laughter is boring. Without training your soul to feast on the Word of God, you’ll live a malnourished shell of an existence; infinitely beneath the life God intended for you. Only a vibrant, life-giving, intimate, daily relationship with God’s Word and Spirit will fill your life as God always intended for you.

FEW PEOPLE WANT TO REALLY LIVE
Would you like to live truly alive? I hope so. You would think every Christian would answer “Absolutely!” But, I’ve found after a half-century of following Jesus, few people really want to live “fully alive.” In Numbers 14, having made it to the land God promised the Israelites would be their inheritance, out of the original 12 spies, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. The other 10 spies, who had previously explored God’s Promised Land and seen the amazing fruit in it, and yet refused to believe Him, had their lives cut short and died in unbelief in the wilderness. I don’t want my life to be cut short. I want to live a blessed, faith-filled life. Only by fully trusting Jesus can this happen. “Jesus, I want every part of my being to be whole-heartedly in pursuit of you.”

PRAY FOR PEACE, PLAN FOR PAIN
No parent hopes their child will grow up weak. They want their children to live victorious lives, overcoming every adversity in life. Therefore, each of us need to see the value of our pain and suffering. Pain always has a purpose. It’s a whisper beneath the scream. Either we use our God-allowed pain to help us and others, or the Enemy will use it to hurt us and no one will be helped. Believing for a pain-free existence is like believing in the tooth fairy. Pain can’t rob us of our peace, if our eyes are fixed on Jesus and we allow Him to show us the eternal work He is doing in us in the midst of our suffering. Pray for peace, plan for pain, and you will become the strong person you’ve always wanted to be.