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Facts about the Hebrew Staff: - It was about 6 feet long - Made for person when he was a young boy. - He had this same staff for the rest of his life. - This staff was made of a young sapling. - It was treated to make it waterproof. - Etched with all types of letters, characters, and symbols. - Every one of these etchings had something to do with a significant event in the owner’s life. - The owner started his biographical etching at the bottom of his staff and worked his way up. LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE! Exod 4:2-20, KJV“(v.2)
And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
(v.3) And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the
ground….” “(v.17)
And thou shalt take this
rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” “(v.20)
And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned
to the land of Egypt: and
Moses took the rod of God in his hand.” God was telling Moses to lay down his life. You wanna live you’ve gotta die! Get? Give! Reign? Serve! Note the way verse 20 reads. It is no longer just Moses’ rod, but now the “rod of God.” Christianity is about RISK and READINESS not about passivity precaution! Exod 12:11, KJV“And
thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your
staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's
passover.” On the night of the Passover these people had to be
prepared to MOVE when the time came. Still
today there are going to be times to arise that you won’t have days, weeks, or
months to pray and “be sure” what the will of God is.
That is why we have to stay so sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
We are holding our lives in our hands and so often trying to strategize
what we can do to enhance and complete our lives, but the truth of the matter
these things are found in Christ alone. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and all the things you need for every day life will
be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). Seeing is NOT believing.
Believing is believing!
Num 13:23, KJV“And
they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one
cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff;
and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.” Seeing IS NOT believing.
Believing is believing. We
live in a world that is marked by Divine design.
We live in bodies that are totally miraculous. Given trillions of years this could never have happened.
The birthing process… DNA… all these things could not have happened
without a design. Many doctors
guide new mothers through the birthing process and may later that day take a
young mother from the ranks of motherhood through the procedure of abortion.
The same doctor who holds the squirming newly delivered baby and hours
later rips another embryo to pieces with a high-powered suction tube. Your life + an acceptable
sacrifice = DIVINE RESPONSE! Judges 6:19-2119
And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an
ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and
brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. There is no telling what divine response you may
experience when your life comes into contact with an acceptable sacrifice. NOTE: Process of this sacrifice.
This was not a “Sunday morning quicky”. The situations of your past become your motivation of your present! I’M STILL STANDING! 1 Sam 17:40-49, KJV“And he took
his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook,
and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling
was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. (v.41) And the Philistine
came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before
him. (v.42) And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained
him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. (v.43) And
the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. (v.44) And the Philistine said to
David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to
the beasts of the field. (v.45) Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest
to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in
the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast
defied. (v.46) This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will
smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the
host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild
beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
(v.47) And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and
spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands. (v.48)
And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet
David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
(v.49) And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it,
and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead;
and he fell upon his face to the earth. Too often we think with an American
portfolio mindset. We determine our
levels of success by how many “homeruns” we’ve had in life.
However, baseball or life is not made up of homeruns, but by everyone
continually hitting the ball. The
man with the best batting average may not be a “grand slam” hitter, but he
is the guy who hits something every time he is at the plate.
It may only be a single, but he hits something. If you’re just dragging along in
life and you want to do nothing more than “get by” this may seem very
uninteresting to you. If you are
the type of person that you want to do something to make a difference… if you
want to be a history maker then you are the person I need to speak into for a
few moments. Personally, I am of the latter
breed. To those like us we may, at
times, find ourselves fighting discouragement or frustration because we really
want to hit the “homerun” in the game of life that will make a major
difference in our lives, families, society and even the world. This homerun watch can become rather debilitating to our
faith and hope. We miss the power
of what has been happening because we were in a wide-eyed gaze looking and
waiting for what did not happen. A quick illustration.
I once knew a man who had a son strung out on drugs, under demonic
oppression (if not possession), and he eventually became incarcerated numerous
times. This son appeared to be a
lost cause. As only God could do
it, this young man became saved, delivered, and his potential in life totally
restored. One evening I was in a
group setting with several men and the father of this young man began to say,
“Where are the blinded eyes being opened?
Where are the dead being raised? Where
are all the big supernatural miracles?” At
this point I could not desist from stopping this man’s flow of conversation
and say, “My brother. Look at
what has happened in the life of your own son.
Who could deny the sovereign miracle that has taken place in his life? Your son once was dead and now he lives.
You have missed the greatest miracle that could have been placed in you
life because you were looking for a grandiose manifestation that would impress
your own faith.” The bottom line is that we can find
our own faith coming under attack because what we HOPED for didn’t come about
the WAY we hoped to see it and in the TIMEFRAME we wanted to see it in. The question will arise, “What
have I done with my life?” It is
a fact that the enemy of your soul will not commend you on your accomplishments.
He will begin to speak into your heart, “You should be farther along in
certain areas… this realm of your life should be different, that area of your
life should be farther along. Look
at this person, or that relationship, or that thing you’ve been working on for
so long.” He will have you looking at your life’s batting history and
all he is wanting you to look at is the homerun column. Not everyone can hit homeruns. I would like to speak into your
heart a simple phrase that will be a great source of encouragement to your
Christian walk. This phrase is:
I’M STILL STANDING. Since I’ve made the analogy of
baseball allow me to follow that track. When
a batter comes to the plate he has to get to first base, at least.
There are three ways he can do that.
First, is the most obvious means of doing so he can hit the ball and get
to a base without being thrown out. Second,
he can be hit by a pitch at which point the umpire will direct him to take first
base. At which point any other runner on first advances a base.
Thirdly, the batter is allowed three strikes before he is out and the
pitcher is allowed four balls or he “walks” the batter.
In every baseball game there will be a classic battle between a good
batter and a good pitcher. For the
batter this battle is called, “Staying alive.”
The batter may have two strikes against him and the pitcher can keep
pitching balls in the strike zone, but as long as that batter keeps making
contact with the ball and fouling it off he stays alive.
He can keep hitting fouls until one of two things will happen. One: he gets a base hit or homerun. Two: the pitcher loses his edge in the challenge and throws
four balls at which point the batter then goes to first and becomes a runner.
As long as the batter can keep the bat swinging and tagging the ball he
is STAYING ALIVE. In the body of Christ we need to
understand the importance of God’s process at work in our lives and power of
“staying alive” by not giving in to circumstances, discouragement, and
defeat. The most important part of
your life is not that you necessarily hit the home run to win the game, but that
you make the hit to keep the game alive. Your enemy wants you out of
contention. He wants you removed
from the road of process that God is working in your life to bring your
potential and destiny into fruition. I am here to tell you today that if
you are still standing you have reason to celebrate. The enemy has used sickness, divorce, death, debt, poverty,
crime, abuse, malice, betrayal, and everything else he could fathom against you.
He has thrown some of his best pitches at us BUT WE ARE STILL STANDING. Granted the score may not be what we
would like. He would prefer to see
the effects of our faith and efforts to be farther advanced than they are at
this present moment, but I’M STILL STANDING and as long as I’m standing
there is the potential of God at work in me to one day hit the HOMERUN that will
turn the tide of events for me, my family, and you!
As long as you are still standing there is the potential of God inside of
you that will turn the tide of events in your life for you, your family, and all
of us. I’m here to encourage you in life
and faith by saying it isn’t the big plays in life that are of the most
significant. What is most important
is that you KEEP STANDING in the process of preparation… your training for
reigning that God has you in. In God’s order of things it is the
seemingly insignificant that actually is the most significant.
God always does things backwards from the way man perceives it should be
done. 1 Cor 1:27 Wanna live? Die. Wanna get? Give. Wanna reign? Serve. David is a classic example. Everyone knows David who killed Goliath. Everyone knows David who killed the lion and the bear. But, how many knows David the shepherd boy who loved his sheep. David spent many more days praying to God, worshipping Him, and loving those sheep while getting revelation of God as his own shepherd than he did facing giants. Our western mindset would rather have us out killing giants
and making a significant difference; whereas, God would rather make each and
every one of us significantly different. God
doesn’t gauge us by the number of giants we’ve killed, but by the days of
faithfulness we’ve lived. Same day fame is but a by-product of everyday
faithfulness. When the enemies of God bombard you mind with thoughts of
failure or discouragement be quick to remind them, “I’M STILL STANDING…
IT’S NOT OVER WITH YET.” The staff of my life may not be filled with BIG pictures.
Nonetheless, it is certainly FILLED because my God has continually worked
His work of grace, mercy, and power in and through my life. Every day I have awakened and influenced someone’s life
has been a miracle. That person may
not have been President George Bush or any other world leader, but that person
was significant to God… the sheep of His pasture. I am super-abounding in Christ. I am super-natural in Christ. I am STILL STANDING in Christ. I may have to do some things I don’t like.
I may have to learn to do some things I’ve never wanted to do.
I may have to bend a little in some areas I’ve tried to keep untouched,
BUT I WILL KEEP STANDING. Every day
God is showing up and showing off in my life.
You may not be able to see it all the time, but I do believe in that SAME
DAY FAME STUFF and I do believe one day He will position me to hit that grand
slam that will get the world’s attention so I can direct my praise and
adoration to Him because HE is WORTHY! What matter is not who has the biggest stick, but who will be writing on the staff of their life at the end of the day. Maybe something like this: “Hell fought me very hard over the last little while, but God has been faithful and I’M STILL STANDING.”
Tell
me who you hang with and I’ll tell you what you are! 2 Sam 23:21 – Benaiah – one of David’s Mighty Men did the same as David didAnd
he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man (NIV – a huge man): and the Egyptian had a
spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the
Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear. You’d better quit reading so much history and start making some! II Ki 4:2929
Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take
my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute
him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the
face of the child. II Ki 4:3131
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff
upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing.
Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not
awaked. You can’t operate in kingdom principles by relying on someone else’s experience. You have to pay the price to experience the anointing of God for yourself. The
Scoreboard reads: God – 5 zillion
& the Devil – 0! Two seconds
left on the clock! Ps 23:44
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. The track record of God is proven. He is our Comforter. His record is untarnished. His win column is steadily increasing and His loss columns are empty. What does it take to minister
for Christ? Mark 6:7-8, NIV7
Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them
authority over evil spirits. What does it take to be a witness? “Hello, I have a masters degree in witnessing.” If you are subpoenaed to appear in court to tell of a
traffic accident you saw you can’t tell the judge, “Oh, I’m sorry, I am
not qualified because of my inexperience in the courtroom.”
No! You simply tell them
what you saw and heard. Acts 4:20, “For we cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard.” The Apostle Paul planted new churches and, in weeks,
would leave them in the care of elders who had just been saved since his
arrival. The best is yet to come! Heb 11:21, KJV21
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and
worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. He wasn’t finished with the story of his life. What is in YOUR HAND? Acts 13:36, KJV36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. |