Can you imagine embarking on a journey, having plotted out your journey via Google maps or MapQuest, then arriving at your destination only to find out there was a more direct, shorter route? What if the difference was 40 years compared to 11 days?

As the story goes... the Israelites had been set free from Egypt and brought to the edge of the promise land. Moses sent 12 guys to check it out. 10 came back scared to death, the other 2, ready to trust the LORD and take the land. Unfortunately, the 10 convinced the rest of Israel to disregard the LORD's heart of their lives and they rebelled, refusing to go for it.

The result: their journey out of Egypt into the promise land should have only taken 11 days, yet it took them 40 years.

"Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt..." - Deuteronomy 1:2-3

Doubt and fear can be so crippling to our destiny and our walk with Jesus. We must take heart and know that He has our back and as He leads we must follow.

In the book of Numbers, we find a story about the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The Israelites had been traveling around a while in the wilderness because of their unbelief and rebellion against God. The men of Reuben and Gad were putting in a request to setup their tribes permanently east of the Jordan which happened to NOT be in the land the LORD was giving Israel.

Moses gave them a bit of a warning in that the LORD made it clear He was making a way for them to inhabit the land WEST of the Jordan yet they wanted to stay on the EASTside.

The question was: were they slacking? Were they just wanting an easy way out?

Moses didn't want Gad and Reuben to be skipping out on any battles the rest of the nation would have to fight so he had them commit to crossing the Jordan and joining forces with the rest of Israel once a battle was engaged.

Moses wanted them to know how serious he and the LORD was about this commitment, so he told them this:

"But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the LORD, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out..." - Numbers 32:23

One thing I've learned in life is that sin in our lives WILL be exposed. It may not be exposed immediately -- in fact, many times the LORD is patient with us and gives us time and opportunity to repent and bring it to light ourselves. BUT because the LORD knows best (and because He loves us), He will eventually expose it.

Jesus also said it this way:

"For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light." - Mark 4:22

If you're struggling with hidden sin, or maybe to did something WAY back but have not properly dealt with it -- know this, the LORD will only allow that to remain silent for so long. Allow His mercy and grace to forgive and restore you. Return to Him and surrender it all to Him so that He can heal and restore.

Do you have giants in your life? Just do what David did...

If you can't see the video, please click here.

There's something that Jesus once said that has always stirred my heart. It's found in John 6:33 which reads:

"The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

The part about human effort accomplishing nothing has always stood out to me. Without the LORD breathing His Spirit upon our plans and efforts, in and of themselves they equal nothing. However, Jesus' declaration of this truth wasn't the first mention of it in Scripture.

In Psalm 147:10-11 we find this:

"He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. No, the LORD's delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love."

The LORD takes no pleasure in our might (our efforts)... but He does take pleasure in us fearing and trusting Him.

How often though, is our trust in our efforts and our abilities. This is a constant truth spun throughout Scripture, yet we often forget it's reality. Putting our trust in our selves, our might, our strength, ultimately amounts to nothing. Yet when we put our trust and hope in the LORD and His unfailing love, we find His delight.

So in this case when it comes to us and our abilities, it isn't E for our effort that we receive, but an F.

The psalmist prayed: "Turn my eyes from worthless things; and give me life through Your word." - Psalm 119:37

Nothing more than a thought: how often do we waste our gaze on worthless things?

As I was reading through the Psalms yesterday, I came across a passage that really challenged me.

It deals with the Israelites and when they had Aaron produce a golden calf for them to worship. As the story goes, Moses had been up on the mountain top for an extended period of time and the people decided that he wasn't coming back. For whatever reason, they felt it necessary to worship a god they could see and could satisfy their immediate pleasure, thus the golden calf was made.

Check out what the psalmist said about this scenario:

"The people made a calf at Mount Sinai; they bowed before an image made of gold. They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull. They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt..." - Psalm 106:19-21

Wow.

They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull.

It's easy to look back on this situation and say "what were they thinking?" "How could they do such a thing? How could they forget the God that parted the Red Sea for them?" We quickly point the finger but as my mom used to say "there are 3 fingers pointing right back at you."

In our lives it's EASY to quickly trade an UNSEEN God for things we can SEE.

Though most of us do not set up golden calves in our front yard, there are idols that can be dealt with in every area of our lives. Things such as: happiness, the American dream, the latest technology, fashion, your reputation, etc, etc. Not that those things are necessarily bad or even sin -- but they become sin when they take the place of God in our hearts and lives. When our gaze is set upon those things and is turned from the God who brought us out of Egypt, then we have made the trade.

So are there any grass-eating idols that you are trading your glorious God for?

The LORD is so, so good. It's amazing what He does and will do for us mere humans.

"He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fill smy life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's!" - Psalm 103:3-5

It seems many times we focus solely on one aspect of the goodness of God. While I agree our salvation and freedom from sin are the most invaluable and amazing things the LORD has done for us, we too often discount the other things He does and will do.

He not only forgives our sin, but He heals our diseases. He not only will redeem us from death, but crowns us with love and mercy... and on and on.

He does it all because He's good. So, so good.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to teach the Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten class for our church. It's always full of surprises. The lesson for the day was "Jesus is with us when we're afraid" and it revolved around the story of when Jesus was asleep in the boat with the disciples and a storm arose (see Mark 4:35-40).

While I didn't totally see the connection between what I was teaching the children (Jesus is with us when we're afraid) and His rebuke of the disciples at the end of the story for their lack of faith, I still taught the lesson. The point was Jesus is with us... and He's bigger than the storms. :)

As we were going through the story, I did my best at setting the atmosphere with a make-shift boat. We boarded the vessel and were promptly seated (no, there were no seat belts). As I was dramatically reading through the story, I could tell it was sinking in the little 5 and 6 year old imaginations. Some faces had looks of awe and some had looks of fear. Though it was all happily resolved when Jesus stood up and said "peace be still" -- for the disciples and the little children in my class.

However, as the realization came to one of the children that Jesus just spoke to the wind and waves and they stopped, a look of confusion came over his face and he promptly blurted out "HOW CAN JESUS SPEAK TO THE WIND? Can He speak to anything... like a door?" Though I didn't totally follow his last question, I understood that at that moment He was confronted with an impossibility that was introduced to the possibility-making God. I had the chance to explain the reality of Jesus' greatness. The class erupted in cheers. No joke.

Psalm 93:4 says "But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore-- the LORD above is mightier than these!"

How often do we live our lives with the initial mindset the boy had "how can Jesus do that?" We think he can save our eternal souls, but yet we treat Him like He can't save the day. The next time you're confronted by a storm, remember if you are in relationship with Jesus that the possibility-making God is in your boat and He is more than able to see you through... cause Jesus can do that. :)

"So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is! Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked... When you arise, O LORD, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning." - Psalm 73:20

Something I love about the LORD is that He has personality. He's not just a stiff-necked, constantly mad/sad God. He's real in the sense of being tangible, touchable and to an extent, understandable and He apparently has a sense of humor.

In the psalm above, the writer mentions God's reaction to the wicked person's plans: He laughs at them.

He laughs at them.

He doesn't get bothered by them. They don't frustrate Him or scare Him. In fact, in a way, they amuse Him.

As followers of Jesus this doesn't give us the right to be a snob and think of the wicked: "well, God is laughing at them so HA." BUT IT DOES allow us to rest in the fact that we should not be afraid of man, especially those not in relationship with God. If they don't scare Him, they shouldn't scare us. Rest in His security.

Cause the laughing God has your back, and your front, and both sides.

As mentioned in a previous post, I've also been reading through the book "Rethinking the Church."

The thoughts that James White, the author, shared on bringing change were excellent so I thought I'd share them here.

• People need to be thoroughly converted and convinced as to the "why's" of change before the "what's" of change.
   
• [With initiating change] begin with values, for they are the basis of everything.
   
• One of the keys to change, then, must be expanding the congregation's horizons authentic spirituality--to move beyond superficial identity markers towards a true and dynamic relationship with Christ. On a practical level, this means helping people see beyond certain practices and rituals in regard to their understanding of the spiritual life.

Here are the Four Steps to Change as identified by the author:

1. Establish a Sense of Urgency
   
   People will not even consider change unless they are impacted on an emotional level.
   
   
2. Develop and Cast a Compelling Vision
   
   Paint the picture for people of what the change will actually do.
   
   Vision is nothing less than the language of leadership.
   
   In reality, not only does vision leak, but it gets lost in the competing noise for attention.
    
3. Begin Implementation
   
   
4. Give Progress Reports
   
   "Vision and purpose must be restated every twenty-six days to keep the church moving in the right direction." - Rick Warren

The chapter ends with a solid reminder: One of the most important insights to remember is that change takes time.

I highly recommend reading the book as it poses a lot of good questions with solid answers and conclusions. You can check it out here.