What are you trusting in?
Many years ago, the late Larry Burkett of Crown Financial Ministries shared this story: Ten days before a church was to open their new sanctuary, a local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, they had used every inch of their land except for the large hill which took up most of their backyard. In order to have more parking, they would need to move the hill. They had no financial resources left and no way to accomplish such a massive undertaking in 10 days.
The pastor called the church to pray and encouraged everyone to have faith in God for a miracle. The very next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock on the door. As he opened the door, he saw a construction foreman who removed his hat and said, “Excuse me pastor, I am from a nearby construction company and we are building a huge shopping complex and we need a lot of fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that hill behind your church? We’ll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave and stripe all the exposed area free of charge if we can begin work right away.” The church was able to be opened and dedicated on the planned date.
When Joshua defeated 5 kings in the southland of Canaan, the northern king of Hazor heard the news and gathered an incredibly overwhelming force to take on Joshua. Joshua 11:4 says, “They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.”
Joshua went to the LORD and the LORD told him not to worry because He would deliver them into Joshua’s hands. But the LORD added one little detail, after Joshua defeated them God said, “you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”(v.6).
It seems to me that horses and chariots would have been a great advantage to have in battles back in those days. It would be the equivalent of having tanks fight against soldiers on bicycles! But, as always, God knew better.
If God had allowed Israel to keep those weapons of warfare, it would only have been a matter of time before they would come to depend more upon their own strength than the strength of the LORD. By hamstringing the horses, the horses would only be good for farming and not war. Burning the chariots removed any doubt that they were going forward in faith.
King David had faced chariots much like Joshua when he wrote Psalm 20. Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God.”
As believers, when we trust in our own strength, we will run into problems. But when trust in the power and strength of God, we can move mountains – or even hills.
These are your Words for Wednesday.
I want to thank JT for organizing our outreach with the Ballentine PTA's Fall Festival this past Sunday evening. We had a great turnout of several hundred people. I also want to thank all of those who took the time to volunteer. We had numerous encounters with several families and it was a great evening! I hope to see you this Sunday morning at Ballentine at 10:45 for worship! Have a great rest of your week!
In Christ,
Kevin
The pastor called the church to pray and encouraged everyone to have faith in God for a miracle. The very next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock on the door. As he opened the door, he saw a construction foreman who removed his hat and said, “Excuse me pastor, I am from a nearby construction company and we are building a huge shopping complex and we need a lot of fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that hill behind your church? We’ll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave and stripe all the exposed area free of charge if we can begin work right away.” The church was able to be opened and dedicated on the planned date.
When Joshua defeated 5 kings in the southland of Canaan, the northern king of Hazor heard the news and gathered an incredibly overwhelming force to take on Joshua. Joshua 11:4 says, “They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.”
Joshua went to the LORD and the LORD told him not to worry because He would deliver them into Joshua’s hands. But the LORD added one little detail, after Joshua defeated them God said, “you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”(v.6).
It seems to me that horses and chariots would have been a great advantage to have in battles back in those days. It would be the equivalent of having tanks fight against soldiers on bicycles! But, as always, God knew better.
If God had allowed Israel to keep those weapons of warfare, it would only have been a matter of time before they would come to depend more upon their own strength than the strength of the LORD. By hamstringing the horses, the horses would only be good for farming and not war. Burning the chariots removed any doubt that they were going forward in faith.
King David had faced chariots much like Joshua when he wrote Psalm 20. Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God.”
As believers, when we trust in our own strength, we will run into problems. But when trust in the power and strength of God, we can move mountains – or even hills.
These are your Words for Wednesday.
I want to thank JT for organizing our outreach with the Ballentine PTA's Fall Festival this past Sunday evening. We had a great turnout of several hundred people. I also want to thank all of those who took the time to volunteer. We had numerous encounters with several families and it was a great evening! I hope to see you this Sunday morning at Ballentine at 10:45 for worship! Have a great rest of your week!
In Christ,
Kevin
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