Zookeepers and snake handlers will tell you that an individual should never grab a snake by its tail because it can coil around in a split second and deliver a vicious bite. The correct method is to control it by its head so that it can’t bite.

In contrast, picking up a snake by its tail is exactly what God told Moses to do in Exodus 4:1-5. Moses must have encountered snakes in the Midian desert and knew this was unwise.

What was God trying to teach Moses? God not only wanted him to realize His power, but to also be willing to be used as His messenger to Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21-23). There was little difference between throwing the rod to the ground and taking the snake by its tail. Both were acts of obedience to the Lord. The lesson was that God had the ability to use whatever means He wanted in order to validate His message to the people through Moses.

Today, what is in our hands? In a sense, our spiritual lives are in our hands because we choose whether we’ll squander the hours, days, weeks, months, and years in our own pursuits or if we’ll live an obedient life that’s useful to Almighty God (Joshua 24:14-15, Joshua 24:31).

If we will trust and obediently do what He asks, the Lord will mightily accomplish His will in us and through us.

 

Since I was off work this past week we decided it was the perfect opportunity to do some work on the kitchen.  The biggest part of this work was refinishing the cabinets.  After all the work they look pretty good if I say so myself.  But that good finished product didn’t come easy.  Contrary to popular belief the painting was not the hard part.  Matter of fact it was the shortest part with the least amount of work.  It was the prep work that was the hardest and took the most time.  I was two days into the project before I pulled the trigger on my spray gun.  The doors had to be pulled, cleaned, de-glossed, sanded, and primed.  Then the entire kitchen had to be masked off; anything that wasn’t changing color had to be covered.  In the end the painting took five minutes.

A lot of life is similar to this.  The big showy thing that most people think of as the main event is usually not what takes the most work.  A click of a mouse sets off a half-hour long firework show that took technicians months to setup and program.  The latest iPhone gets set up by a new owner in a brief time compared to the months of development and design.

Our worship service is no different.  We come together a few times a week and for the most part everything goes smoothly as planned and it all seems effortless.  But a lot of preparation goes into it.  Neville spends hours preparing a sermon that will last twenty-three minutes.  The song leader will pour through the song books choosing meaningful songs for the service and practice them to lead the congregation as best they can through a few three-minute songs.  The brother who presides over the serving of communion spends more time preparing his thoughts and message than delivering that message will ever take.

 

Even if we are not leading in the service we have prep work to do, don’t we?  Or do we think we’ll have a great and acceptable worship just walking in and approaching God without being prepared?  Do we spend time in prayer or meditation preparing to gather for worship?  Should we?  Absolutely.  Meditate, pray, read the scripture…  Any and all of these things help us get prepared for our meeting with THE King.  An hour’s worth of worship deserves more than moment’s worth of preparation.  A good end to any endeavor is in the prep work.

 

II John 14-13 “I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.”

It’s amazing how we can communicate in our modern era.  With a few swipes of a finger, on a device I carry in my pocket, I can shoot off a message that will reach the other side of the globe within a few moments.  I can send a message of hope, a warning, or encouragement so easily it would make the apostles’ heads spin.  After all, they were handwriting letters that could take weeks or even months to arrive in the reader’s hands.

We depend on these messages in their short format and incredible speed to convey our thoughts, feelings, and even our heart-felt condolences.  We’ve become accustomed to giving and receiving valuable information through a simple and easy path of communication.

I’m with John though on this one.  Written, long distance, communication is important and can’t be understated as necessary.  But I’d rather see you face to face.  John really wanted to be in the presence of his brothers and sisters.  John wanted more than a text message about their day and how they were doing.  He wanted to sit at a table and talk about things, face to face.  The same way we long for a day when we don’t hear from our Lord through “pen and ink” but talking with him face to face.

Don’t misunderstand me; text away and shoot those emails.  But remember, “I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.”

 

According to a study from Duke University, roughly 40% of a person’s actions don’t happen because we make a conscious decision.  This 40% of our actions are determined by habit.  Wendy Wood, in her session at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd annual convention, discussed habits. She explains, “Habits allow us to focus on other things…Willpower is a limited resource, and when it runs out you fall back on habits.”

When our willpower is low, habits kick in.  This can be very comforting if our habits are positive and constructive.  Remember that Daniel had a habit of praying three times every day.  But if our habits are destructive or negative it can be terrifying and usually damaging to our lives and relationships.  Don’t be fooled though, we create our habits.  Negative or positive they are the product of our choices.

What kind of habits have we chosen to create?  Do we need to change our habits? Are we willing to change them?  Start taking action.  Make a conscious decision to act differently and it will eventually become a habit.  With the right effort and direction it’ll be a good habit, and good habits die hard too.

 

We were struck with tragedy again this week.  I say again because it’s something that happens too often.  The kind of violence inflicted upon these students and faculty cause us to ask uncomfortable questions that are difficult to answer.  It can cause us to be fearful and doubtful of our safety.

Lest we crumble under the weight of our accumulating fears, we would do well to take example from a woman who bore sadness, pain, and heartache with grace.

Corrie Ten Boom lived through the horrible life of Nazi concentration camps, a place where hope was lost for most people, for harboring Jews. She survived to tell her story of unfaltering faith and tenacious grip on hope in God.

She saw the face of evil up close and personal. She saw some of the most terrible and inhumane acts men can do to man. And when she came out of it all, she said this:

“If you look at the world, you’ll be depressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look to Christ, you’ll be at rest.”

That rest she speaks of is the same rest Peter was able to take while calmly sleeping the night before his execution. He didn’t know he’d be rescued at the time; he just knew his safety was not in the hands of man, his or any other’s.  His safety was in the hand of an all-mighty God who authored his salvation.  The same God who authored and finished ours.

Where are you looking for your safety? In an uncertain world, we only find hope in looking to the Author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

 

A chicken and a pig came across a church building and read the advertised sermon on the billboard out front, which read, “What can we do to help the poor?” Immediately the chicken suggested they feed them bacon and eggs. The pig thought for a moment and said, “There is only one thing wrong with your plan. It only requires a contribution from you, it
requires everything from me!”

Our commitment to God should be, strangely enough, more like the pig’s than the chicken’s.  I know it seems like a big commitment; but that’s only because it is!  Giving ourselves to God as a living sacrifice is giving everything to him.  It’s not always easy but it’s always worth it.

In the 1976 Summer Olympics, Shun Fujimoto competed in the team gymnastics competition for Japan. In a quest for the gold medal, Fujimoto suffered a broken right knee in the floor exercise. But this injury did not stop him, for during the next week he competed in his strongest event, the rings. His routine was excellent, but he astounded everyone by squarely dismounting with a triple somersault twist on a broken right knee. When asked concerning his feat, he said, “Yes, the pain shot through me like a knife. It brought tears to my eyes. But now I have the gold medal and the pain is gone.”

Fujimoto-san was committed to winning the prize.  Even when it was painful.  Are we committed to God?  Even when it’s painful and expensive?

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

 

Are you ready for the new year?  Are you ready for all the usual hashtags?  Are you ready for your gym to get really crowded?  It happens every year.  January first rolls in and everyone resolves to change.  Stop bad behaviors; begin new ones.  Lose some weight and start eating healthy.  After all, it’s a new year so it’s a new me.

 

The problem is that a new year doesn’t make a new me.  It won’t be long before we’re overeating, smoking again, and come mid-February you’ll have your pick of the treadmills at Planet Fitness or Gold’s Gym.  The new year simply makes a new calendar and the hassle of correcting all our paperwork when we write the wrong year for a few weeks.

 

The only way we truly change is to recognize and accept the true changing force.  The power of God can perform true transformation.  He provides a power agent of change to transform us.

 

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

 

If the new year motivates your transformation to be God’s child, use it.  But don’t wait for January first to come to God.  Don’t delay.  Make the change now and stick with it until the final transformation when we put on our incorruptible bodies when the Lord returns.