Stepping In His Steps

This weekend is Father’s Day and so I want to look at several verses in Psalm 37:23-24.  When Jesus called his disciples he used a certain phrase, “Come, follow me.”  Those who responded became his disciples.  Notice that this same thing is happening today, 20 centuries later.  Of course, Jesus is not physically here calling people.  But, the Holy Spirit is speaking to the hearts of individuals and through the lives of believers to call out to this world, “Come, follow me.”

Yet, this call to follow Jesus would be like asking a child to follow a professional rock climber.  Without help we are unable to follow Jesus.  Today’s passage makes it clear that those who respond to the call to follow Jesus are not left to do it in their own strength.  Rather, they are helped by God Himself.

The Good Man Fights the Good Fight

Verse 23 starts out by referring to a “good man.”  The word translated as good is a term that can also mean strong, as in strong for battle.  Because the context is not about physical strength it gets translated as “good” as in morally strong.  Perhaps it may be better to see it as strong in faith because that is what is in contention.  It is clearly a righteous man who trusts in the Lord that is in view.  In fact the whole chapter is a treatise regarding the righteous and the unrighteous.  So this is a good man, a man strong in his faith toward God. 

We see the Apostle Paul speaking of this in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  He has been a strong warrior for the Lord.  The good fight is not fought with physical strength, but with spiritual strength.

Our battle is not with atheists and other religions.  Rather, our battle is first of al with our own self.  The flesh has a powerful way of justifying its lusts and desires.  If we do not restrain it, it will pull us down into a quagmire of serving self.  We also battle against the corrupting influence of this world.  Its culture, institutions, systems and powers are difficult obstacles to overcome in the arena of faith.  Also, we have a spiritual enemy in the devil and his evil spirits.  They operate mainly through deception and temptation.  These three areas of Self, World, and the Devil take a man who is strong for battle.

Of course, none of us are able to conquer these three areas.  Only Jesus has been able to do that.  He is the ultimate warrior.  He has done what none of us could do.  However, this enables us to follow him.  When we stick close to Jesus and put our steps into his steps we will be able to have victory in these areas.  We will talk more about this later.

The Good Man Gets Direction From The Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”  So in Psalm 37 we are told that the Lord “orders” the steps of a man who trusts him.  Our paths or steps are a picture of the decisions and actions that we do in life.  Put in order we walk a certain way.  Now there really are only two ways in life.  God’s way will lead us to life. But “my” way will lead me to death.  Even if “my” way involves following someone that we look up to, other than Jesus, it is still headed in the same direction.  Yet, believers find that when we try to follow Jesus our way becomes a mixture of veering off the path of Jesus and then course correcting to get back in line.  This may seem futile, but recognize that God is able to direct us through it all.  He is not trying to control our every step so much as inform our every step.  Do you get your directions from Jesus?  Perhaps you wonder how that is possible.

We have the commands and example of Christ given to us in the New Testament.  We also have a powerful instructive picture in the Old Testament that helps us to understand who Jesus really is.  Thus his directions, in general, are given in the Bible.  As you read the Bible you will see that Christ does not call us anywhere that he hasn’t gone himself.  So if we cast off his commands and example we are trusting in our own thinking or the thinking of someone else.  The problem here is not that we are thinking.  Note in Proverbs 3:5-6 that we are only warned against leaning (i.e. putting all your weight upon) on our own understanding.  Yes we have questions and fears.  But we shouldn’t put our weight upon those things.  Instead we should trust the lord.  If we are truly listening, God will lead us and give direction to our path.  He will not force us.  He wants us to follow out of our own heart.  But know this, His direction will give you sure footing on treacherous ground.

The Good Man Is A Delight To God

You may not be particularly excited about your life right now, but God is.  He delights in our trust even when it is the trust of a spiritual babe.  He knows that it will grow and become the trust of a strong man of faith in time.

He also delights in the future to which He is bringing us.  He is leading us to a wonderful goal both in this life and in the life to come.  He sees the end that we cannot see yet and He is delighted in anticipation of the joys we shall have together.  Even when we are told the end goal, we cannot truly grasp how it will come about and what it will be like.  Thus it is our joy to delight in the discovery and realization of those things along with Him.

What about our failures?  Surely God doesn’t delight in us when we have failed.  The reality is that none of us will make it into eternity without having failed.  Only Jesus is the perfect warrior against sin.  God can see over the top of our failures to the person we are going to become.  He loves us, not just in spite of our failures.  In fact, our trust and love become more precious and more of a delight because it is over the top of cuts and bruises in this life.  Our trust becomes that much more precious, which brings us to the point of verse 24.

The Good Man Is Supported When He Falls

God promises to help us when we fall morally.  He knows that our frame is frail and that we are but dust.  This is precisely why He has pledged Himself to help us.  If you put your trust in Jesus, you will make it, period.

We might ask our self why we fell.  Did I fall because I desired sin?  Or, did I fall because someone else sinned against me and I couldn’t let it go?  Perhaps I merely lack skill in a particular area that he enemy is attacking and I am learning to follow Jesus.  Whatever the reason, Jesus knows your difficulties.  If you look to Him and cry out in the time of need, he will help you.

Notice verse 24 says that though a man fall, he will not be cast out.  It is one thing to fall, but quite another to never get up again.  Everyone who has fallen reaches that moment when they realize that they have survived and need to get up, and in fact must.  Can you imagine if the first time you fell off your bicycle you just quit trying ever again?  Though it sounds silly, what if you never got up off the ground and continued to cry and get angry for years on end?  Things that don’t happen in the natural often happen spiritually.  Many people are still laying in the road of some misfortune long ago and, instead of getting up, they just lay there refusing to move on.  Please know this, God is not looking for an excuse to get rid of you or throw you away.  He knows you will fail and He is committed to helping you get up and keep riding until you get it.  However, you must want to get back up and keep trusting Him.  People may cast you aside, but Jesus has pledged, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  And, that means even when you fail.

In fact, the Lord promises in verse 24 to support us by His own hand.  Allstate insurance can only do so much for you.  But there are far better hands in this world and they are God’s.  The support or bracing of the Lord holds us up so that we do not fail beyond recovery.  Of course we may not want to fall and wish God would keep that from happening.  However, we will never learn if God protects us from the effects of our decisions.  The hand is the symbol of power.  The power of God is Jesus.  He is the hand of God that has come down to save us.  When you trust in those hands they will lift you up through this life and through times of failure and bring you out the other side.  Jesus does this through the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit’s purpose is to come alongside of us and provide the help that we need.  If this is His purpose then He is also working in believers to be such a help to other believers.  I point this out because in engineering bracing is always done through triangles.  Thus God supports us directly by his Holy Spirit and indirectly through other believers.  This triangle of God, You, and Other believers is magnified by the multitude of relationships we can have with other believers.  Let the Lord support you.  If you aren’t a part of a group of believers that are trusting God and helping each other through life then you are missing a great part of how God intends to support you.

Now, the enemy wants you to stay down and refuse all help when you fall.  If you let him, he will get in your head and poison your thinking.  He will lead you to believe that it is impossible for God to love you because you have failed so badly.  In fact he only needs to insert the idea and walk away.  You will do all the work for him by trusting in what he says.  Don’t do that.  You will never recover from failure until you reject the lies of satan and believe the truth of God.  “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”  It is not over.  God is not done with you yet.  Trust him.  Rise up and walk!

Stepping in His Steps Audio

The Holy Spirit Helps Moms

This was Mother’s Day weekend and so we want to be thankful for moms and encourage them.  I am going to use the series we have been doing on the Holy Spirit to do exactly that.  However, I also want this to be an exercise for all of us in which we see how to take biblical truth and apply it to our particular life.

Being a mom is often a thankless job.  We do not want to be like the 9 lepers who did not return and thank Jesus.  We need to often go back to the moms in our life and recognize what they have done for us. 

Now, moms and dads are tasked with raising their family for God and being a continuous influence towards Him on into their lives.  We see this early in the Scriptures in Deuteronomy 6.  Parents are instructed to teach the Word of God and thus the Ways of God to their kids as they go about each day.  It is an on the job learning experience.  Moms, you need to know and trust that the Holy Spirit is helping you in this task.  As we look at the different ways He is helping you, first make sure these are happening in your life and second share these things with your family.

He Helps You Bring Your Family To Salvation

In John 16:8 we are told, “when He [The Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”  The greatest need for any person is to be in right-relationship with God and, thus, to believe on Jesus.  It can be easy to throw our hands up and want to quit when kids seemingly don’t respond as we hope.  In fact, many will continue this into their adult lives causing much grief and sorrow for moms.  Let me just encourage you, mom, that the Holy Spirit hasn’t given up on your kid.  He is working every day to point out their sin, show them what is right, and warn them of judgment.  You might grow weary in these things, but He doesn’t.  Take strength from that.  Keep strong even when you feel unappreciated because God knows how you feel.

Now, God’s best plan is a mom and a dad encouraging each other in this as they cooperate with His Holy Spirit.  However, even a single-mom is not alone in this battle.  God will supply even more grace for those who do not have the best situation.  If your kids are without a father, then trust that in a way you may not understand, God will become their father.  In fact, for yourself, though you be without a husband, God himself will give you extra grace if you will look to Him for it.  Now for us in the Church, we need to have the heart of God that sees those who are “without” and choose to step in and fill up the gap.  Thus we cannot say to moms, “Just trust in Jesus.”  As true as those words are, if we say them so that we don’t do anything, then we are denying the very heart of who Jesus is.

He Helps Moms Set Their Family Apart For God

Romans 15:16 says, “…ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”  Like Joshua, we all need to make the resolution, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  Your determination to share Jesus with your family will make a difference that sets them apart from others.  They will think differently from those who have never been taught the ways of God.  So make sure you are in the Word, living the Word, and speaking the Word into your kid’s lives.  Let them see that you too needed the Gospel to cover your sins.  Help them to know that before God you are actually their older sister, just teaching them the ropes.

Yet, moms also need a chance to “recharge.”  God designed us to recharge.  No one can last long without laying down and sleeping at night.  Often stepping away from a project for a moment can open the door to new creativity.  We need times to spiritually, physically and emotionally recharge and these are often closer together than we think.  They really are interwoven together.  When you step away from the task at hand you can grow in understanding that this is not a quick work.  It is a long range plan that works because line upon line, precept upon precept, one layer on top of another layer makes a difference over the long haul.  In fact we need to recognize this in one another and be quick to help each other recharge.  Find someone who “can’t take a break,” and help them get one, or seven. 

He Helps Moms Protect Their Families

Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  Raising a family is warfare.  No, you are not fighting your kids, though it may feel like that at times.  First of all know that you must maintain your own spiritual health.  This is the first line of defense.  If Satan can discourage you then your young ones will become fair game as you wallow in despair.

Then be vigilant to demonstrate and teach your family to trust in God’s armor.  Teach them the value and necessity of Truth, Right-actions, Sharing the Gospel, Faith in God, Salvation, The Word of God, and Prayer.  Satan is not afraid of burly, muscle-bound, marines.  But he is afraid of a man or woman who will dare to trust God’s armor enough to make it their daily life.  Your presence in the home will help to protect against all that Satan would be free to do if you were “checked out.”

He Helps Moms Share The Gospel With Their Family

Though we may all feel inadequate to try and convince people of the Gospel, kids are an excellent place to “cut our teeth.”  First of all, they trust you probably more than anyone else.  However, they are difficult at times.  Help your kids to “get” the Gospel.  Though we are to correct our kids, our correction should always have direction.  Sometimes we can be so focused on stopping wrong action that we can forget that we are still sinners saved by grace ourselves.  We can use times of correction to remind kids of the reason why we need Jesus.  Use the correction to turn their eyes into the direction of Jesus and God’s provision for them.

He Helps Moms Pray For Their Family

Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.”  Raising kids will drive you to your knees, which is good.  However, we feel so inadequate at times.  The answer is not to tell ourselves that we are all-sufficient.  But rather, it is to recognize that God has promised to help us in our weaknesses.  When we are weak then God’s strength will become more visible.  As you pray for your kids know that God is praying with you.  And, when you are at a loss for what to pray, know that He is not.  The Spirit intercedes for you and on your behalf.  Take encouragement from this reality.

Final Thoughts

We need women who will choose to raise kids for Jesus.  In the midst of a world that looks like it is going to hell in a hand basket, courageous moms who dare to raise kids for Jesus are precious.  Choose to be that woman.  Even if you have failed, know that God can help you stand upon the failures of the past and move forward.  He is all-sufficient and will supply your need no matter how great it is.

We also need a Church that will come alongside of moms and lovingly assist them.  It isn’t easy raising kids and we don’t need a constant reminder of how far short we fall.  But we do need those who will come alongside and help lift us up. 

Lastly, we all need to remember that it is not ALL up to us.  Are you a big part of it?  Yes, of course!  But do you shoulder the sole responsibility?  No.  God Himself is in the harness with you, not to mention the personal responsibility your children have for themselves.  Take time today to rest and say, “Yes, Lord, I will continue to partner with you to point my kids in the right direction.  Amen.”

Holy Spirit and Moms Audio

The Holy Spirit in Spiritual Warfare

Today we are going to look at how the Holy Spirit is involved in Spiritual Warfare.  We are going to start in Ephesians 6:10-12.  When we look at this passage the work of the Spirit doesn’t readily jump out.  But in truth, He is all over the place in this passage.

Now before we begin let’s keep in mind that spiritual warfare is not some kind of mental video game where we visualize slashing demons from behind every tree.  The truth is found in this passage and understanding just how we fight the enemy.

He Helps Us Stand Against The Devil

These two verses emphasize the need for believers to lean upon God’s strength and His armor.  Since it is by the Holy Spirit that we know the Father and the Son, it stands to reason that the main way God’s strength and protection come to us is through His Holy Spirit that lives within us.

Now the reality is this, there are evil spirits in this world.  Now the occult world has tried to minimize this by saying that there are also good spirits that we can tap into and be protected.  However, the only spirit in the Bible we are given the green light to seek and approach is the Holy Spirit.  Thus the idea, that the spirit of long dead Grandpa being summoned to give us wisdom is actually a spiritual trick that the enemy uses to trap people.

Notice, that this passage lets us know that without the help of the Spirit of God we are not going to be a match for these kinds of tricks.  The Bible is an excellent source for studying the methods and schemes of the devil.  He employs many different “cons” on people in order to get them under his control.  However, the Holy Spirit within us-who was also directly involved in the writing of Scripture, can also give us warnings from within us.  This is where we need to truly be in prayer and sensitive to what God may be saying.  Anything short of complete dependence upon God and His wisdom will cause us to be entrapped by these demonic schemes.

Another thing to notice in Spiritual Warfare is that our enemy is not a physical enemy.  We are not fighting against people or nations even when they are treating us as their enemy.  In fact, demonic ideas and beliefs always lie behind those who mistreat us.  We don’t “see” them or sense them.  Rather, we recognize their influence through teachings, beliefs, lies, sinful lifestyles, and attitudes, whether they are religious or secular.  Thus we need the Holy Spirit to help us see how the enemy uses others to try and promote ungodly lies to us and to see through this.  The people themselves may not be even aware of this dynamic.  Thus our problem is not generally with someone who is possessed by a demon, but rather with someone who has been tricked and trapped into an ungodly mentality.  Recognizing this will go a long way to helping us keep from getting angry with people and avoiding the pitfalls the enemy sets for us through them.

He Helps Us Advance Against The Devil

Now the next verses in Ephesians 6:13-18 lay out the “Armor of God.”  Paul uses the armor of a Roman soldier to help us recognize the reality and seriousness of the battle around us.  We need to be spiritually prepared.  It will not come by dreaming about slaying demons.  It comes from listening to God’s Word, doing it, getting knocked down, getting back up, and repeat over and over again.

Though much of this armor seems defensive, many of them also have an offensive aspect as well.  Just as the battle is not physical, so our protection and weaponry are not physical as well.  So let’s look at the list.

The belt of Truth points the believer to live their life based on the Truth of God’s Word, especially the Truth about Jesus.  We should be truthful and receive a love of the Truth that the Holy Spirit is seeking to give us.  In fact in John 16:13 The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth.”  Thus, we should have an intimate relationship with the Scriptures and spend time in prayer understanding it. We need to make truthfulness the basis of all our relationships.  This is not only a protection, but it is a weapon that God uses to set us and others free.

Next is the Breastplate of Righteousness.  Foremost we are to understand the need for the righteousness of God.  My righteousness falls short without Jesus.  Within the covering of His righteousness then we can embrace doing the right thing.  In fact part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of righteousness.  How much more can he lead the believer in living out the righteousness of Christ is this world?  As we lean on Him, He will help us to live righteously and treat people as God would have us.

Next is the Gospel of Peace.  Paul ties this in with the feet particularly because in the Old Testament the prophet says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of them who bring good news.”  The Gospel of Peace with God through Jesus needs to be the flag of every believer’s life.  Thus our feet are prepared to walk tough roads, whether to distant places or across the street, in order to share the Gospel.  This too is aided by the Holy Spirit as He leads and directs us in this endeavor.  Part of our preparation to share the Gospel is knowing the Word.  2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to study to show ourselves as approved workmen.  Yet the other side of it is to recognize that because we have studied and internalized the Word, the Holy Spirit comes along and directs us in what to say.  In fact Jesus promised His disciples in Matthew 10:19-20, “Do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”  Wow, what a promise for those who take this spiritual battle seriously.

Paul goes on to mention the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the Sword of the Spirit, Prayer of all kinds and in the Spirit. The Spirit is involved in bringing us to Faith and Salvation.  Also the Sword of the Spirit implies that though we may quote Scripture and share it with others, it really is the Holy Spirit who is using it like a spiritual knife to cut through the layers down to the tender part of their heart.  Prayer becomes important for us and for those that we battle.  In all kinds of prayer and praying in the Spirit we present our needs and also present ourselves for strengthening.  When we live a life filled with these things we combat the enemy in our life and the lives of those around us.  No wonder the enemy spends so much time undermining our faith in God’s Word.

Now I do want to take some time to talk about demon possession because it is a real phenomenon.  Though it seems common place in Scripture we do need to realize that our culture exists upon the foundation of the Christian ethic.  In countries that do not have a biblical foundation demon possession is not rare.  Today anti-spiritualists try to explain everything away as mental illness and of course mental illness does exist.  In fact, Jesus didn’t cast demons out of everyone, some he simply healed.  So, even the Bible recognizes that sometime the problem is merely physical.  However, sometimes a spiritual element exists beyond the physical.  Most likely we will see more and more of this in our country as we continue to cast off Biblical guidance and wisdom.

If you look at the passage in Acts 19:13-17, you will see Paul in the city of Ephesus.  God was doing unusually powerful miracles through Paul there.  Part of that was the deliverance of those who were demon possessed.  It caught the attention of many in Ephesus.  They had tried to deal with the demon possessed people in the past without any effect.  In this passage 7 sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva try to copy what Paul was doing.  Thus they go up to a demon possessed person and say, “we exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  The Bible says that the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know and Paul I know; but who are you?”  Then the man jumped on the 7 guys and proceeded to overpower all of them until they ran from the house naked and wounded.

Here we see that without a true living relationship with Jesus himself, we are not prepared for spiritual battle.  No “magical” phrase will make demons come out of a person.  In fact demons don’t always manifest brutally.  Sometimes they come on sickly sweet.

Jesus told his disciples that some demons are harder to cast out than others.  In fact we need to pray and fast as we approach such serious business.  The demon has invested a lot of work to get control of a person and they will try every trick to remain.  The key is that Jesus has all authority over all spirits, both good and evil.  Thus as long as we are anchored in Jesus and take the situation seriously, we can grow in learning how to combat such unseen enemies.

Final Thoughts

Living for Jesus and sharing the Gospel is God’s plan against the enemy.  This doesn’t need to change because we are closer to the end times.  It is simple and yet serious.  When we have the Holy Spirit in us we become a light in a dark world.  How important it is for us to work with Him to take down any strongholds in our life and to take that light into the lives of those who are bound under ideas and philosophies of demons.

When you speak to the lost, pray for insight in how the enemy has trapped them and how to use the Truth to set them free.  Sometimes we can be saying true things, but they are the point that attacks the lie that they have believed.  Take time in prayer and in asking questions and simply listening so that then you can truly be a warrior for God in this life.