Chapter 11 -Fresh or Committed

        Exodus 4:18-23  “And Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said unto him ‘Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive.’  And Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace.’  And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian ‘Go, return into Egypt; for all the men are dead which sought thy life.’  And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon a donkey and he returned to the landof Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.  And the lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand; but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”

        Earlier in scripture, the Lord told Moses the people who sought your life are dead now.  It’s almost as if Moses didn’t hear it then, so God is repeating it again, knowing that Moses will listen now because he’s finished arguing with Him.  When the argument is over, the wrestling done, the decision finally made; we are somehow in a position to hear what we wouldn’t hear before. 

        Here we have an 80 year old man asking permission from his father-in-law to depart into the land of his forefathers.  He has been tending sheep for some 40 years.  They are not his sheep, they belong to another.  He has been a servant to this man Jethro and his reward is the identity crisis of the ages.  Serving is fine, a servant’s heart is everything in order to be Christlike, but not when we use the service to avoid destiny and purpose. 

        Proverbs 22:7  “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.”  Surely this is true in the Spiritual realm as well.   When we embrace a “borrowed work” we can become a slave to it.  It will become drudgery in mind and conflict of soul.  We will be so busy losing, that we never gain.  We can become trapped in it and never get out.  It’s just not good business to walk on another man’s water.    

        Have we become servants to the service or children in His service?   Moses has not understood yet that he was a son and not a servant.   He was a son, whom the Father was desperate to pour out blessings of favor and abundance upon.   But Moses is still wrapped up in who the root of rejection is dictating him to be.  He would struggle until Egyptwas far behind him.

        Romans 8:14-18“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”   Enough said!

        Moses has forsaken the source of disobedience and he says goodbye to Midian. It isn’t that he has embraced the journey or even the cause or the destination; he has just forsaken the right to say “No” to God.  God can work with that.  While the Lord is working these things out in us, He desires to show us the difference between radical obedience and partial obedience.  Partial obedience is simply glorified disobedience!  

        Exodus 4:24-26  “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.  Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it as his feet and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.  So He let him go; then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.”

        Let’s face it, this is some of the weirdest scripture in the life ofMoses.  There is a white elephant right in the middle of this story, so we might as well address it!  We do not know which form God chose to wear while He is visiting the household of Moses, whether it is an angel, a vapor or an overwhelming presence; but we know this, it was God and He was waiting for Moses.  

        As we have seen, the arguing is finally over.  The conflict between man and God appears to be settled.  Moses will go to Pharaoh, Moses will obey.  So, he packs up his wife and kids (Scripture tells us he has two sons, Gershom and Eliezer) and heads off to Egypt.  They stop along the way at a little hotel for the evening and BAM!  God is waiting there, grabs Moses and says He has come to kill him!  We know that God had a hold of Moses, because in the midst of this passage it is written, “God let him go.” 

        I have a hard time believing that God would hold Moses accountable for stuff that he was unaware of.  How did Zipporah know about God’s requirement of circumcision for the Israelites anyway?   She was a Midianite!

        Come with me on a journey of supposition.  For that is the only country we can travel through in this passage because there isn’t much explanation, yet I feel the revelation hidden in these few words cries out to be understood. 

        In Exodus 18:4 it is said that “the name of the other son is Eliezer, for the God of my Father said He was my help and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”  But yet, we hear not a word about him, not even his name until this passage.  We know that the sons of Moses went with the family caravan on the road to Egyptbecause the word says that Moses took  Zipporah and their sons.  Sons is plural.  So, both sons were there. 

        Eliezer’s name means: “God is my help and deliverer.”  Could it be that when good old Zippy, whips out the rock, calling it a knife and came after her sons to CIRCUMCISE them that Eliezer was just too quick for her?  He may have thought, “Heck man, my name means God is my help and deliverer and this thing has gone bad,  I’m gonna consider myself delivered!”  It is only recorded that Zipporah circumcised one son.  We don’t hear about the sons again until Exodus 18 and then just for a moment, when they come to visit Moses with Jethro and Zippy.   The circumcision was more about Moses than about Gershom or Eliezer.

        Remember, these were not babies.  They were grown men.  Moses and Zipporah married in the first year of his Midian dwelling and in the same breath the word records that she gave him children.  He dwelt in Midian for 40 years.  More than likely these children are close to 40 years old that Mama is coming after to circumcise with the edge of a stone!

         I don’t think they waited a decade to have children, it is inconsistent with scripture and inconsistent with the culture and tradition of the day.  Even if they waited for 10 years, the children are still almost 30 years old at the point of circumcision.  It is very unlikely that they waited that long to have children, but even if they did…….. these are not baby children, they are men children! 

        Moses had to have known about God’s desire for his chosen people to be circumcised as a token of their heritage in God and obedience to Him or God would not have had such a strong response about the lack of circumcision.    Maybe Moses was talked out of it by his sons……… and why not?  This was not an apparent “user friendly” act.

        Aaron had been visiting quite a bit I’m sure; preparing for their trip to Egypt.  Aaron was probably learning how to lean on Moses as he would God, as was proclaimed by the Lord.  Aaron was probably learning how to handle the rod.  How to be the spokesman that Moses was afraid to be.  I’m sure they spent much time together and it’s pretty safe to say that Aaron was telling Moses, “Hey, you can’t look like an Egyptian and act like a Midianite.  You have to look and act like an Israelite.  You have to become who you really are now.  You are a Hebrew and here is the kind of stuff that we do.  These are our traditions.  Here is the heart and law of the Father whom you serve.  You have to hook up with the circumcision thing before we set out on our journey.  We cannot have any defilement in our camp when we take on Pharaoh.  If you are going to obey God, you have to obey all the way.  God can’t start this great work on a bad foundation and disobedience.”

        More than likely, Moses was willfully disregarding the command of the Lord.  “What’s the point of THAT,” he may have thought.  He was 80 years old and I’m sure circumcision wasn’t an exciting option for him!  

        Moving forward for a moment, we know that Moses himself was never circumcised because in  Exodus 6:12  he says to God, “…Behold the children of Israelhave not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?”  He says it again in verse 30 when he is speaking to the Lord:  “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?”  This is after God has taken another chapter and tried to build the confidence of Moses and given him specific instructions to give to Pharaoh.  God is telling Moses that “all He wants is his obedient heart now, forget about the circumcision, it’s deeper than that now, come with me!  Whatever was wrong I’ve made right, I forgive and accept you.”  But, Moses is still insecure and can’t let it go.  It’s over and time to move on, but Moses is having trouble doing that just yet.   This banter will continue for chapters which seem like years.  The same old invalid argument is being recycled so he will have the joy of feeling rejected.  You can still see him setting himself up for failure and guilt; succumbing to fear as if he has a mandate to be rejected and wrong.

        Getting back to the Palm Inn along the Egyptian road where Zipporah is holding a sharp stone …… Maybe Moses couldn’t hear God in this because it was just going to cost him too much and the whole circumcision thing didn’t make enough sense to an ex-Egyptian/Midianite.   Maybe Zipporah was fed up with Moses and figured he was on his own and she was going to save at least one of her sons.  Maybe Zipporah knew if she circumcised her son that it would save Moses and her children.  Maybe circumcising the child was enough for God, because he never required it of Moses after this point.   Maybe Zippy knew it was all about obedience.  Maybe, just maybe a lot of things…….

        Either way, we know that God sought to kill Moses after it appears he has agreed with God and is on the way to Pharoah.  That tells us that the thought of total and radical obedience didn’t go that deep in Moses yet, but it would quickly arrive there.  Maybe he disregarded this very difficult task, figuring God would ignore it as long as he did.  God will not.   It appears that God told Moses to circumcise his children and he wouldn’t do it.  Zipporah had to have hid this in her heart, waiting and watching for the fall-out of a bad decision made by Moses.

        Sometimes, we have to protect our children when those around us have made bad decisions.  God will hear you and respond to your efforts of purity and obedience toward Him.  We are not held in the bondage of another if we keep pursuing Christ, keep praying and keep putting the enemy in his place; in spite of who let him in.  God will always hear you.  His ears have not become deaf because you are in the middle of a battle and trial.

       Imagine God, the very God, the Almighty Creator of all things, seeking you out to kill you.  What a sight, what a sound, what a terror it must have been.  Zipporah was a quick thinker and it’s a good thing, because we don’t have any words coming out of the mouth of Moses at this point.

        The name Zipporah means “bird”.  Yeah, that’s it.  I was hoping for some fantastic declaration to help explain this phenomenal woman who wrestled her grown son down and cut off his foreskin to throw it down at the feet of her husband as she saved his life.   Bird.  I’m thinking Hawk, Eagle, Pterodactyl.  She is not striking me as a blue bird or a sparrow kind of gal!  If the Egyptian women were considered “lively” as we read before, I don’t even want to know what the Midianite women were considered! 

        She says this to Moses, and it sounds like she is screaming to me….”Surely a bloody husband thou art to me.”  She says it twice.  The word says that she made this statement to Moses because of the circumcision.  What is she talking about?  The blood that the circumcision caused; the horror, the mess, the violence?  No, she is yelling at Moses and blaming him for not taking care of business.  This is why I think that he knew about the circumcision and made a deliberate decision to disobey God, Who, by the way, was done playing this game with Moses.

        “Bloody” means this:   “Guilty.  Cause of death, to make to perish or fail.”  Moses is a “bloody husband” at this point.  Apathetic and not walking in his full authority. 

        It is so easy to become “bloody.”  The guys who do dumb surveys say that we watch about 60 hours of television a week.  I don’t know anyone who is willing to admit to that horrible number of hours.  But, they are out there.  The reason why it is done?  Mindless entertainment.  The problem is, mindless entertainment creates “Mindless Zombies.”  How can you advance a kingdom like that?  I guess people get tired and don’t want to think.  This stuff needs a timer on it or it will cause us to “fail and perish.”  In other words, it will make us “Bloody.”  When you are “bloody,” you absolutely cannot walk in the abundant favor of God.

        Moses became “bloody.”  He was willing to ignore truth because it suited him.  Sometimes, it’s easier to pretend that we didn’t really hear.  If it’s inconvenient or inconceivable, then we can find something else to occupy our time, our mind and our heart; even our wills.  Being circumcised was not going to be a party and Moses thought it best to pretend he just didn’t hear.

        I was in a home this past week speaking with a couple whose teenage daughter had been giving them fits.  She had gone to bed and was finally sleeping after her raging outburst to her parents.   They were upset and wondering what to do.  I said, “That’s the easy part, let’s pray and let the enemy know that he has no place in this house or on her heart, she is a child of God and through prayer, we will overcome for her.”  Ephesians 6 declares, “We fight principalities and powers in high places.  We don’t fight flesh and blood…..”  It was easier for them to scream at their daughter than to take authority over the devil.  When we get tired we can forget who our true adversary is.

        It is the devils great joy to get us wrapped up in fighting each other or declaring, “Oh, that’s just the way it is.”  The “Whatever Spirit” is making us lazy.   “What a hassle” our body tells us!  “You are too tired for that right now,” we soothe ourselves with thoughts of nothingness.  “That would take too much time, you can just pray in the car” our body pleads with us.  “You get out what you put in,” this is the oldest principle that passes physical and spiritual lines! 

        We’ve allowed ourselves to be so tired and conditioned to chasing emergencies that we don’t address the truly urgent things when they come our way.  Emergencies scream.  Urgencies wait, but not for long.  Our Spiritual state is an urgent matter.

        I told them that I’d pray with them.  The wife was grateful and began to weep and say how tired she was of the fight, but that she would persevere for the sake of her daughter and to please the Lord.  She trusted the Lord to give her strength.  I asked the husband if he wanted to pray for a minute and he sat looking at the television for awhile and then made this statement to me.  And, I’m not making this up.  “Well, I don’t really think I should right now, I’m kind of tired and I think I’ll just pray in the morning when I’m fresh.”  “FRESH?”  I laughed and laughed.  “Fresh?”  I thought he was kidding.  He had to be kidding!  Surely he wasn’t going to let the devil devour his daughter through the night because he was too tired to stay up and pray. 

        The disciples decided that not staying up to pray was a mistake when they did it and the odds of it being a good idea now haven’t increased over the years!  Jesus wasn’t feeling too “fresh” when he walked Calvary.  Jesus wasn’t feeling too “fresh” in the Gardenof Gethsemane; he was in agony there and continued with the Father.  In fact, I’m not really feeling too “fresh” right now, but I’m willing to stay and pray for your kid.  “Fresh?”  “Yeah,” he said, “I’m not feeling really “fresh” right now!”  He got up and went to bed.  I thought “fresh” or not, this is HIS family and HIS child and he needs to get in here and inconvenience himself and pray.  Inconvenience himself in obedience to the Word of God that tells him to be the priest of his home.  Inconvenience himself and scrape the devil off his child and give her the peace of God.  So, after 5 minutes I asked the wife to go into the bedroom and get him.  She came out teary eyed and said he was asleep, already snoring.  Bloody man that he was. 

        The word says that in our weakness, we are made strong.  Not in our strength we are made strong.  Not in our freshness, in His!  Some of my most powerful times in prayer were when I would wake up in the middle of the night coughing up blood while wracked in pain from the Cystic Fibrosis; pushing through to Jesus.  I can’t imagine that I would have grown in God at all or accomplished anything spiritual during those years if I was doped up with so much medication that I couldn’t think.  I had to learn to give my pain to God.  We aren’t allowed to simply declare in the heavenlies that we just don’t feel “fresh enough to pray.”  What’s with not being “fresh?”  The word says to be “instant” at all times.  That means to be found “fresh” and ready whether you feel like it or not.  The devil isn’t stupid.  He isn’t going to attack when you are perfectly ready.  He came to the Lord in the wilderness, not before, but after he was hungry.  May we be found being effectual and fervent to accomplish the Lord’s desires down here in His time; always “fresh” and ready to go!  Pushing through our tiredness and pain.  Giving it “one more mile” is the stuff of champions and heroes; that’s what Jesus did.  Spiritual giants maintain their frame by such exploits and it isn’t hard for them, it is second nature.  Whether they are “fresh” or not, they yield to Christ.  Grace comes alive in us when our Godly behavior becomes automatic.  Grace is our living ability in Christ to behave as He did. 

        The scary part about the “Fresh Man” is that he is a leader in his church and considered an awesome Christian man.  This man might do something awesome once in awhile, but it doesn’t make him awesome.  There is a difference between being Christian and being Godly, a difference between purification and sanctification, a difference between good and best, partial obedience and radical obedience!

        The Lord only tolerates disobedience and rebellion against the spirit for so long, even when it is disguised as “our nature or character or gift” and then He comes seeking to “kill us.”  Death in the Spirit is a terrible and ugly thing to watch.  The Lord will not let you carry the mantle of His power when you are “bloody.”   This is not about acting ready, but about being ready!   This is not about salvation, it is about sanctification.  The Lord loves us too much to leave us the way we are.   The greatest lesson Moses would learn about being a man was obedience and he just learned it! 

        The Israelite nation encamped at Gilgal so they could be circumcised before the battle.  Joshua 5:9  “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egyptfrom off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.  This was a point of purifying their hearts and minds.  This would “get Egyptoff of them” and cause them to succeed.  The circumcision here, just as it was for Moses earlier and Paul the apostle later was about the heart.  What were they willing to believe God for?  Would they be willing to get past themselves in order to believe it or would they simply, easily act like Egyptians?

Sometimes life is simple when we are just Egyptians, isn’t it?  Simple and slow…..and, well, too simple.

        The obedience Moses is walking in at this point isn’t held in “reckless abandon” but nevertheless, it IS obedience!  His manhood won’t provoke him tomorrow as much as it did today.  He would walk forward; limping at times, staggering a bit, but he would not go backwards and that holds great value when we are working out the rules on how to be a vessel of God.

        Has God shaken your “rules” up a bit in this reading?  Maybe you have been acting like a goat and God says, “Hey I’m a lamb shepherd.”  The goats will be on the left and the sheep on the right according to Matthew 25.  Goats are selfish and rebellious, sheep are giving and submissive.  So, Don’t be a goat!  The Lord is waiting for you to make a decision that goes past a decision and moves into action.

        As a vessel of God, as a lamb of God, you, right now have all the privileges of a child of God and as Jesus said in Matthew 5 …”Blessed are you…”

                        Chapter 12 - A Weak Man Prays

Exodus 4:27-31“And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.  And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.   And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:  And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.  And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.”

        It is here that the Man of God would determine how intently he would become the Vessel of God and leave his manhood behind.  It is here, looming in the shadow of Pharoah’s Court, that he must decide if he would be a mere man or an honored vessel.  In order to become a true vessel of God; one must rid themselves of fears, haunts of failures and insecurities.  If not, those attributes of evil will dominate and manipulate the ministry and call the Lord has set before us and eventually destroy the true work of power and purity the Lord had intended.  As we have discovered, there are many wounds that attempt to hold us captive, but the fear of rejection is often leading the assault against our freedom.

        Just as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:19-26, Moses would also learn the value of forsaking his manhood for obedience.  “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.   Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.   In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

        Paul told Timothy that “God knows those that are His.”  He knows you and what He has designed you to do.  At the end of this passage in 2 Timothy, Paul further tells Timothy that he must be the kind of man that is able to help someone who will not help themselves.  He must be the kind of man who is willing to teach the truth with peace to deliver those who allow the enemy to just come along and “get them” whenever he wants to, even at the enemy’s will.  Some people love to be devil bait and are their own worst enemy.  They have to be taught with the greatest of love and patience so they can come to the understanding that God will never give up on them.  We are the only Jesus they know sometimes.  Paul is telling Timothy that he can’t “get sick” of the weak people, he has to protect and guide them with patience.  (The word further says we must “uphold the weak”) 

        The “meekness” mentioned here in 2 Timothy as Paul describes it, is the kind of “meekness” required for Christian service and it means:  “Humble and gentle, mild mannered with others.”  As we shall see, this is a completely different “meek” than the “meek” used to describe Moses!  In the end, Moses would change his revelation of “Meekness” and embrace Paul’s.   One would handicap him, the other would empower him.

        There is one small problem with Moses at this point concerning his character.  It is a problem, that God would immensely use to His benefit later and turn into one of his best character traits; but for now, it is a problem.  And we can see by review, it has been the basis for most of the trouble Moses had at the burning bush.  It was the basis for his apathy about the circumcision and it wasn’t something he was born with.  It developed down through the years after his identity was handed over from mother to mother.  It was refined in error when his kinsmen rejected him.  It developed as a handicap while his rejection produced insecurity.

        The word says in Numbers 12:3“Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”  This word “Meek” is known to mean:  “Given to depression, one who deals harshly with themselves, gentle in mind, lowly and humble, afflicted with emotional needs.  Considered needy.” 

        What has formed and developed you while you weren’t looking? 

        All of a sudden the exchanges in Exodus 3 and 4 make sense.  This does not appear to be a recipe for the character of someone that would go to Pharoah and make demands in the name of God.  But yet, here is God, “confounding the world with His wisdom…”  So, it isn’t that God was going to work through Moses because he was this motivating, confident, assuring individual.  God picked the most unlikely candidate.  This is the guy whose knees would be knocking as he approached Pharaoh’s ominous throne.   This is the guy who would cry all the way to the castle and constantly deal with bladder control.  Moses, the man who was a bit depressed and very needy was the vessel God would move through to perform exploits.   The Lord wasn’t going to move through Moses because of who he was, but in spite of who he was.  God was saying in essence, “Watch what I can do!”  The Word says in Daniel, “Those who know their God will do exploits….”  Oh, that we would know Him!  This is not a word for this man but for every man, woman and child who would dare to believe that God was bigger than they are and that they were created for a divine purpose, designed by the Master, fit for His use.

        God would make the man a vessel of honor whom He could truly move through with power, and in the end, call him friend.   If God had such high plans for Moses, then there is hope for us. 

        The “meekness” of Moses which was formed by the world and all it’s episodes, as we have read, actually means “weakness.”   When Moses left Midian, he left in his weaknesses, not his strengths.  The goal was to lose his Kingdom and gain God’s.  It would be a journey he would suffer to take and live to enjoy; but for now, he is moving ever so softly.   He became every man in Midian; he became you and me. 

        Aaron was in the lead.  He moves forward with words and deeds in the sight of the people.   Because of the miracles in the hands of Aaron, the people believed.  They believed because of what they saw, not because of what they knew and this attitude would cost them their promise in the end.

        It is to the credit of Moses that he is going.  Afraid and almost feeble minded, insecure in his abilities, rejected of men and from time to time depressed; but he is going.  It is amazing to consider what Moses has overcome just to get here. 

        The behavior Moses employed way back in Egyptall those years before is the opposite of his behavior on the mountain in Midian who was indecisive and unsure.  This was not the man “who was not afraid of the wrath of the King” so he killed and buried an Egyptian.  When he allowed rejection to produce insecurities and fears, he submitted to it.   When he heard the enemy’s voice above God’s, that’s when he allowed himself to be “taken at the will of the enemy. ”  Unknowingly, Moses gave the enemy permission to manipulate his God given character and nature.  Who and what you submit to becomes binding upon you.  If we don’t submit to God’s authority, we can’t walk in His authority.  Likewise, when we submit to God’s authority, all His authority becomes ours.

        Moses allowed the weakest part of him to become the strongest.   His “gifts” were being used against him.  The Lord said, “in your weakness, I am made strong.”  He is speaking of allowing who He is to overcome our weaknesses.  But, Moses was allowing his weaknesses to be overcome by the root of rejection that held him captive instead of God.  He then became negatively empowered by the fear that it produced.  He was so meek, that it was overwhelming and he could barely make a decision without the help of another.  He could barely pick his head up and couldn’t discern what to do most of the time.  He was needy and emotionally afflicted.  He didn’t start out this way, but he ended up this way.  In the end, his meekness would be his greatest quality; a necessary and essential ingredient to be a friend of God.  But, it must be “God’s empowering meekness” and not “man’s handicapping meekness.” 

        For instance, take the gift of Mercy. Now, this is a great gift, but when used by man and not the Lord, it will make someone let the enemy walk all over them.  It will cause them to rarely fight and stand passionately for a cause to advance it or defend it.  The devil intimidates them by saying that they shouldn’t offend anyone or cause any “trouble.”  Mercy dictated out of the fear of rejection and insecurity can kill a righteous cause.  Showing mercy and being merciful are different things and we should know how to operate in those differences.  “Showing it”, is giving it when it is needed, “being it” is not being able to respond any other way.  A mighty warrior can show mercy if he is full of God.  But, if the mighty warrior was consumed only by mercy, he would never get up and fight.  Too often, we let one gift overcome and overwhelm us so that we become the gift and no longer resemble the giver of the gift.   We can get our identity from the gift and not Jesus and that is when we become a liability in the middle of our giftedness.

        However, mercy given as a gift from God and protected under the power and purity of the Lord is a gift that goes forward with passion; accomplishing great things for the Lord and protecting the weak, not lending itself to judgment or becoming weak itself.  True mercy will always hold up the weaker vessels, but never forsake it’s purpose and cause that is set before it.  It will kill if it has to in order to protect the purity and plan of God.   Yes, even in the name of mercy.  The devil loves to cause mercy to be misunderstood.  So, many people with this gift become backward; unwilling and unable to fight for justice.  They become apathetic and tired; revolting against battle, any kind of battle.  We need mercy shown, but not to the enemy or his plots; only to those who have been trapped by it and then the mercy is given in order to bring them up out of their captivity, not lull them to sleep in it. 

        I love peace, but I understand that we often have to go to war to secure that peace.  In the physical and spiritual realms, the law is no different in that regard.  Not all things can be negotiated.    

        The devil has a whole generation of Godly, merciful people who are convinced that doing the right thing would be unmerciful because they are following their gift and not the Lord.  Most any gift has the potential for good or bad.  The Lord won’t take those gifts away, He expects us to be responsible with them and allow His light to shine through them, not our light.  Are you a worshipper that worships worship?  A warrior that worships and seeks out a war?  A teacher that worships teaching and has forsaken the supernatural, unexplainable things of God? 

        Moses lost himself in the cure and now he would have to find God in order to find himself again.  This time, he would find himself as a Godly vessel of honor, not just a man.   He would eventually forsake his brand of meekness for the kind of meekness that Paul is telling Timothy about.  He was meek to his dismay now, but under God’s direction and empowerment, it would become the best part of his nature:  He would become humble; humility without strings. 

        Have you been so “meek” that it has handicapped you beyond ability?  Sometimes our nature can do that to us.  Take inventory of “who you are” right now and find out if that person is in the way of God’s plans and desires for you.  When we lend ourselves to depression, we cannot pick anyone else up out of it.  It scary to trust God with those things that provoke your mind, but to be a vessel, you must let Him heal your mind and emotions.  As a vessel of God, we have to be thinking clearly and completely whole.  We cannot be altered by external things that were created to temper or control our emotions, we have to be whole and trust the Lord to live through those emotions and heal them.  You will soon find that you are not nearly as depressed and needy as you thought.  You are not nearly as distressed and troubled as you thought.  You will discover that, in fact, you are a creation of the Almighty fit to be his friend by becoming a vessel operating only unto Him and nobody or nothing else.  Trust Jesus today to take control as you lose control to Him.

        Truly, we don’t need any new definitions of the gospel, but rather a new demonstration of the power of that gospel walked out by you and I. 

        Moses must have prayed as he walked toward Egypt, leaving his mere manhood behind in his attempt to agree with God and forsake rejection:    “Lord, I have been fearful and insecure.  I have gotten ahead of you and failed.  I have moved myself and only want to be moved by you from now on.  I’ve leaned on my own understanding and have embraced my own abilities.  I run to you Lord to lose myself.  I have not been totally honest with myself or with you and I ask you to forgive me.   I am still afraid and I’m not sure that I trust You, but, I commit to you today Lord and I ask You to help me walk in trust and not depression and fear.  I am committed to destroying the fear and rejection in my life that has caused me to be in control and unable to lean upon You.  I will no longer ponder the past, but go forward into the future.

        I know now that I am no longer rejected, I am accepted.  Cause me to walk in the acceptance of what You have done for me and who you are in me.   I embrace your blessings and deny the curse that has been upon me because of my need for identity in anything other than You.  I pull up roots of rejection and destroy their seed in the name of Jesus.  I forgive those who planted those trees in my soul Lord and I ask you to bless them, heal them and save them.  I declare to you today Lord, that I will forsake the events of human hands and hearts to fully walk as your chosen vessel.  As I leave my human nature behind, being dead to it, I ask you to make me a vessel of honor for your glory.”