Leadership is hard, deal with it!

The title of this article probably sounds harsh to 21st Century ears. This is ancient wisdom for modern times and I am so glad to be able to learn this and share it with others. Moses was a meek man by nature and the trials of leadership helped chisel that meekness into a beautiful virtue. Meekness is not weakness. It is power under control. Moses was obviously a powerful man with a temper. He beat a man to death who was trying to beat another man to death. Moses was no wimp. Moses rose to the call of leadership. He was hesitant at first, and rightfully so. He was going to have to lead an obstinate, stiff necked people to the Promised Land. The Pharaoh of Egypt wanted to kill Moses. The children of Israel wanted to stone Moses. In Numbers 16, his own sister rose up in opposition against him. In Numbers 16, a man named Korah convinced 250 people to rise up against Moses. Leadership was hard. Moses dealt with it. How do you react when you get difficult news? Moses is about to get some terrible news, right on the heels of the death of his sister, Miriam. Let’s examine Numbers 20.

To whom will you surrender, your sin nature or God?

As I sit here in my office and prepare a lesson for our Connect Groups, I am getting excited. I am getting excited because this lesson is so vital for all of mankind. Every single day, we are faced with choices. This idea of choices is an old idea. It goes back about 6,000 years to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve had to choose between obedience to the Word of God or obedience to their own desires. Unfortunately, they chose their desires over God. At that moment, all of humanity fell into sin and developed a sin nature. Adam and Eve were both created without a sin nature. All of the children born to Adam and Eve were born with a sin nature. Every single day of our lives, we, the children of Adam and Eve, have to choose either to surrender to our sin nature and its desires or, to God.

Our New identity in Christ

I am so excited about teaching from Colossians 3 this weekend in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. Our goal has been to teach through the entire Bible over a three year period and we are finishing up our third year on this journey. We have discovered that the red thread that flows through the entire Bible is the Promise of the Chosen One who will deal with mankind’s sin problem, the working out of that plan, and finally, the fruition of that plan in the person of Jesus Christ. Now, we are learning how to live in the light of the appearance of Christ. Jesus does not just save us for eternity, He also saves us from ourselves, especially focusing on our sin nature. As followers of Christ, we receive a new life and a new lifestyle. The Apostle Paul focuses on this aspect in his epistle to the Colossian church. Are you a follower of Christ? Has that decision to follow Christ changed your daily lifestyle? If it has, then this lesson is for you. If your lifestyle has not changed, this lesson is also for you.

Faith and Obedience go hand in hand

This coming Sunday, at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are going to study John chapter five. This is the story of the healing of the lame man. Last week, we learned about Jesus, the healer in the Gospel of Mark, chapter five. This week, we are also going to learn more about Jesus the healer. The healing that Jesus offers leads to eternal life. This healing changes us for all of eternity.

As a church, we are walking through the entire Bible, from cover to cover, over a three year period. We are now in year three. It took us three years to walk through the Old Testament. We have been studying the Gospels for about two months now. Each lesson just keeps getting better and better.

The vanity of happiness

“But God wants me to be happy, doesn’t He“? I have heard people declare this many times, in the form of a question of course, even though their minds are already made up. Mantras like “YOLO” were popular at one time. “If it feels good, do it” was another popular saying for a time. If you do not know, YOLO means “you only live once” which implies, have fun at all costs because you only get one time around. Each older generation declares that the younger generations are selfish, unlike themselves, when they were younger. I want to look at a passage of Scripture that speaks of people about 3,000 years ago. According to our modern way of thinking, the people 3,000 years ago should have been much less selfish than we are today because each generation claims that the next generation is much more selfish. Let’s take a practical look at the people of Israel, almost 3,000 years ago.

David experiences mercy, grace, and forgiveness

As we continue looking at the life of David and his walk with the Lord, we are reminded of why he is called a man after God’s own heart. He has a teachable spirit, a servant’s heart, and he was quick to obey. David is a man who has experienced God’s mercy and grace and he has been quick to extend that mercy and grace to others, even his enemy, King Saul.

In this lesson, we are going to see how David experiences God’s forgiveness. David, although a man after God’s own heart, was not perfect. Like all of us, David was born with a sin nature. His heart was inclined to sin, just like my heart is and just like your heart is. As we study this, just remember, no matter what you have done, God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness is available.

God’s Provision for Salvation

In our previous lesson, we looked at Numbers 13-14, specifically at the contrast between the children of Israel and Caleb and Joshua. The people had the chance to enter the Promised Land and, as a result of their unbelief, they are cursed to wander in the wilderness until they perish. Now, we get to Numbers 21. God is still faithful yet, the people have not changed. Some of our previous lessons are:

Idolatry: Are you not entertained?

If you saw Russel Crowe in Gladiator back in the year 2000, you remember that line that the title of this article is from. The Romans loved to be entertained. That is our human nature. That is our sin nature. The children of Israel were no different. We are also no different today. We have a way of justifying our idols today, similarly to the way that the children of Israel justified their idols.

Sin Nature is Contentious

As we continue to walk through the book of Exodus, we continue to see the character of God, His working out of an eternal plan, as well as His personal interaction with humanity. While walking through Genesis, we discovered that all of us have been born with a sin nature and that sin nature wants to master us. God’s plan is to rescue us from our sin nature so that we can master it. In Exodus 17, we are going to discover that God is our victory over our sin nature. God reveals this character trait to us through His Name, Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord is our banner of victory. Victory over our sin nature is already ours, we simply must choose to walk in that victory. God shows this to us with His interaction with the children of Israel in the wilderness. Sin nature is never satisfied, ever. The more that it is fed, the more it wants. The children of Israel were hungry, so, by grace, the Lord fed them manna from heaven. They then wanted meat. God gave them meat until it spewed from their nostrils. In Exodus 17, now they are thirsty. Let’s take a look at how their sin nature manifests itself when squeezed.