Allow Obstacles to Build Your Faith - Part 2

Numbers 22 presents the story of Balaam and his donkey. It conveys a godly lesson for us. Balaam believed God was the only true God but used his God-given skills to satisfy his monetary greed. The king of Moab persuaded him to put a curse on the Hebrew people and, if successful, he’d be rich.

Balaam became so blinded by temptation, he could not understand that the obstructions God placed before him were designed for his good. For monetary security and short-lived glory, he was willing to disregard God's will. To what extent is God willing to go, to prevent you from doing something destructive to yourself and others?

Balaam's donkey tried to stop him. She turned off the road onto a field, lay down on the ground and ran into a wall, crushing his foot. Balaam continued beating his donkey, even as the angel of God blocked her way. This clearly demonstrates God’s attempt to reach us as well as our determination to resist God’s love and protection.  

Allow Obstacles to Build Your Faith - Part 1

Frustrating obstacles often clog the pathway to our hopes and dreams. We have no choice in whether obstructions turn up, but we do have choices in how they are managed. Obstacles could be perceived as faith-builders, even as encouragers. A humorous example is found in Numbers 22. Balaam, a mercenary prophet, is saved from annihilation by his donkey.

The king of Moab feared the Hebrew people, who needed to pass through

his country on their way to the promised land. He recruited Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. This action displeased God, so obstructions were created to prevent Balaam from carrying out the king's plan.

While on his way to place the curse, Balaam's donkey saw an angel of God standing in the road with a drawn sword. The donkey could see what Balaam could not. Finally, Balaam understood the obstruction and confessed his sin. Accepting God’s obstructions as faith-builders is a choice, but it illustrates God's determination to save you. For this, you should thank God.  

Milestones of Commitment: Don't Turn Back! - Part 3

The fact that you’re alive indicates that faith and hope are possible for your future. There will be difficult times when circumstances require courage as you come to a crossroads where godly choices are critical. No matter how secure you feel nor how free from trouble you’ve been, life insures that changes will be required somewhere in the future.

Everyone has or will have crossroads experiences that challenge your purpose for living. Reaching a milestone is a point of departure from the old way and is indicative that real change is coming. Each developmental stage of life requires changes that cannot be avoided. While it's true that old, unhealthy attitudes can be retained, most people in time will discard these.

Maximizing a milestone experience requires being vulnerable to seeking God's best plan and then patiently waiting for his guidance. When your eyes, ears, heart, and mind are open and receptive, God will not be late or silent. It’s within God's character to respond to all who seek him, and he promises to be found. 

Milestones of Commitment: Don't Turn Back! - Part 2

Have you ever been lost? I mean really lost where it was difficult to find your way? Now we have GPS to tell us exactly where we are in addition to how far we are from our destination. Even with the best technology to help make a course correction, we’re still subject to bad choices.

There are many ways to get lost when distractions are so prevalent. Entertainment news presented a young actress who became addicted to drugs and alcohol as a teenager and remained so until her mid-twenties. She essentially lost touch with herself, her family, and the talents God had given her. Taking that wrong turn was a personal choice.

This young woman reached a positive milestone when she chose sobriety and committed to staying that way. Choosing righteousness over evil set her free from habits that had kept her bound up in sin. Committing your life to Christ without reservations is a milestone that endures for eternity. It means choosing a God-centered pathway for your life.  

Milestones of Commitment: Don't Turn Back! - Part 1

A milestone for Jesus came at Gethsemane as he realized his hour had come. There could be no turning back, no cowardice, even as suffering and death were immanent. A milestone is a cross-over point from which turning back is not seen as a good choice. The burning bush was a cross-over event for Moses, in both his personal life and his relationship with God.

When an infant begins to walk, walking becomes preferential except when crawling is necessary. Children experience several milestones – physically, emotionally, and mentally – which are natural occurrences for each child. After adolescence, adults continue to progress through different but predictable developmental stages.

Jesus began his ministry at age thirty, which is a major milestone for most people, as youthful looks begin to take on an older look and a new stage of development is set in motion. The good news is, maturity takes a step forward for most people. It pleases God to see his people mature and become the individuals he intends to bless.  

Milestones: Turn Obstructions into Opportunities - Part 3

Milestones indicate that a significant change is taking place for an individual or family. Milestones are benchmarks that identify personal objectives and values of a person or group. These benchmarks help us test the true values of others who intercept our lives. Milestones can occur by carefully planning and eloquently executing a particular objective.

Whether a milestone proves to be a moral high point or a disaster depends on the ethics and spiritual fiber of those involved. A spiritual milestone occurs at the moment of conversion and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. This choice serves as a reference point indicating that a new walk, purpose, and direction for one's life is taking place.

Infants begin the process of perfecting their ability to walk and run as well as learning to speak and communicate like their parents. We as Christians also must be committed to perfecting our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ by growing and maturing in faith and loving God’s word. This helps us procure favor with God and man.

Milestones: Turn Obstructions into Opportunities - Part 2

Parents have the privilege of observing their infant reach milestones when he or she begins to sit alone, crawl, pull up, and take that unassisted first step. They will fall down, collect bumps and bruises, but still there is great delight when observing children make these advancements.

When an adolescent graduates from high school or perhaps college and finds a job, parents rejoice and celebrate. How about getting married and becoming a parent? Milestones are indicative of a turning point from which there is no turning back. These high points indicate growth and maturity as well as commitment to accept higher levels of responsibility.

Jesus reached a significant milestone as he submitted to being baptized when he was about thirty years old. No longer was he just a carpenter or the son of Mary and Joseph. The Holy Spirit announced he was indeed the Son of God, whose objective was to be the Messiah and Savior of all mankind. Milestones are indicators of change and purpose, so be alert to choose God's purpose as you reach these benchmarks.  

Milestones: Turn Obstructions into Opportunities - Part 1

If you read the Gospels thoroughly you soon would discover how prevalent obstructions were in the life of Jesus. Even before Jesus was born Joseph, who was engaged to Mary, was ready to abandon her when he realized she was pregnant. However, God told Joseph by way of a dream that Mary’s pregnancy was acceptable because it was an immaculate conception.

While Jesus was fasting in a desert wilderness, Satan began actively laying out obstructions comprised of promises to give him an easy way to fame and fortune. Jesus countered Satan’s obstructions with God's Word, which in effect neutralized Satan’s power to control him. We, like Jesus, can turn obstructions into opportunities to grow, to become stronger and please God with our choices to serve him and him alone.

These scriptures demonstrate that Jesus was prepared to encounter temptations and obstructions regardless of their source. You can show the world you’re a Christian and far from powerless when faced with obstructions of any magnitude that Satan may place before you. 

Looking Back, Moving Forward - Part 3

We as people tend to view obstructions negatively, as having power to diminish our happiness and peace. Obstacles impede progress toward planned objectives while becoming a source of frustration. Changing one's perspective is difficult, but it’s possible to view obstructions as teachers and opportunities for positive change. Perhaps God intends for obstructions to slow us down so we can view life differently.

How can obstructions become teachers for positive change? A doctor in his early forties who seemed perfectly healthy began to feel severe and chronic fatigue and reluctantly submitted to a complete physical exam. Immediately his colleagues confirmed he had cancer.

Any Illness is an obstruction to health and must be confronted. For this doctor, cancer was a wake-up call. It taught him to value life and every moment as precious. Jesus remind us not to get so caught up in the pressures of living we forget what matters for eternity. “This is your day, the day God has made, so rejoice and be glad for it.”  

Looking Back, Moving Forward - Part 2

Memories have the capacity for being a blessing that provides contentment and joy. However, memories can be obstructions to our feelings of well-being and may contribute to a life-style of underachievement. We consistently come to crossroads where our choices remain permanently marked in our memories.

The Old Testament patriarch Jacob had left home as a young man under duress after he and his mother had conspired against his brother Esau to steal their father's blessing. While sleeping on a lonely dark road, he had dreamed about a ladder extending from earth up to heaven. There God had spoken to him and made a covenant to give him and his descendants the land where he was sleeping.

The memory of deceitfully conspiring against his brother would continually haunt him, but now he had the memory of that dream and a commitment to honor God with his life. As sinful as Jacob and his mother had been, God favored him. God sees beyond the moment to a future time when a person will change, mature, and live up to his or her potential. Jesus saw this in the apostle Paul.  

Looking Back, Moving Forward - Part 1

You’re aware of how some memories persevere for a lifetime while others fade into obscurity. A few rare memories are like sweet cream dessert, but others can be so awful we do our best to avoid them. Most of our memories include a combination of happy and sad experiences, sparking our emotions that span a range from joyful to disturbing.

When children are severely criticized and rejected, they may develop survival skills to help them reach their highest potential and yet continue to feel an emptiness that success is incapable of filling. Being disfavored leaves a child or an adult feeling impoverished, like the black sheep of the family. Yet it's possible to replace this perspective with God’s perspective.

No one makes it through life with only positive memories, but God will heal wounds we’ve acquired at every stage of life. Pain created by memories shrink as you permit God to do his work of cleansing and forgiving. You are favored by God, so deposit this reality into your memory bank. 

Remember! God Favors You - Part 3

When the people of Israel ended their forty-year residence in the desert, it was time to claim the promised land. Their journey, which had begun in Egypt, ended at the Jordan River near Jericho. Joshua, their leader and commander appointed by Moses, told the people, "Consecrate yourselves to the Lord God. Tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."

These people were to go forward to conquer the land. This is not unlike what God asks you to do as you go out to confront the tasks of making a living, parenting children, or just surviving the day. God wanted his people to remember he favored them and they would be successful regardless how the odds seemed stacked against them.

It's important to remember how God favors you by getting you through desperate situations that seemed impossible to navigate. Do not forget that God believes in you and regards you as his treasure and dear possession.  It's difficult to get that fixed into your consciousness, isn't it? You are his treasure and prized possession. He will never forget you!   

Remember! God Favors You - Part 2

The pastor of a metropolitan church states unequivocally that God favors those who put their trust and faith in Christ Jesus. Do you realize how significant it is to be favored by God? We tend to forget and consequentially fail to appreciate the benefits of such a privilege. God's word assures us we can't begin to imagine what God has in store for those who love him.

Someone revealed how frustrated she felt because God seemed so distant. She felt frightened, lonely, and powerless because of the loss of God’s presence she’d known since childhood. Another person asked, "Why doesn't God cut me some slack and give me a break? I'm struggling and desperately need help that only God can provide!"

Search your heart, confess your sins, and repent by turning from every wrongdoing. God will forgive you and remember your sins no more. Do not forget, God favors you and will send resources to aid you when it is in your best interest for him do so. Seek God with all your heart and he will be found. While God may not be early, he will never be late.