Mccordmatt’s Weblog

Well, we’ve been back from Venezuela for a couple of days now and God is still working in my life and among those who went on the trip.  You know we Americans have so much and not even realize it until we go somewhere else like Venezuela.  Many of us or maybe I should say none of us can be content with where we are or what we have.  But yet so many people around the world are very content and happy with all they have.  But this is not the only thing God showed me or spoke to me about.  The second thing he reminded me or maybe even shown me for the first time is that we as Christians have a “great power” within us.  We hold a very strong key or power and so many times we do not use it or we use this power in the wrong ways. This power we hold or have is the fact that we have Christ.  If we stand back and think about it we have the power for so many things if what we are using it for is of God’s will for our lives.  As we were in Venezuela I saw much of the power I posses in Christ.  We would walk up to a door and say “Burenas” and a person would come to the door.  We were able to see the power we have by watching people weep over the fact that they prayed for someone to come and share Christ with them or how to have what some others had. Or even say “I was hoping someone would bring me a bible, I’ve never had one.”  But to see this power of the Holy Spirit working in lives was amazing.  We see this same power in Moses’ life in Exodus 4:2 when God askes Moses, “What is that in your hand?” and Moses replied “a staff,” this staff Moses had in his hands is a tool God used to free the Israelites from the Egyptians.  We have a tool we can use if only we would use it and that is the Holy Spirit and God’s word.  It was amazing to see people start crying as they realized through the Holy Spirit that the witch craft they were following was not right or the fact that they were separated from God and needed Him for that relationship.  We hold a staff in our hands, the staff of God’s word and the Holy Spirit, and yet we do nothing with it on a daily basis or even a lifetime.  At some point in time we have to realize this “power” we hold as we live our lives for Christ and see other lives changed because of us “using that power” for God’s glory and seeing people come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

So, one question for you. . . . .

Are you using the “power” God has given you to share with others?

Have you ever put something in the wrong place and then it took you forever to find it?  Or maybe you get that new something that you could not live without and in a few short weeks or months you realize you haven’t been using it and think of the fun times you’ve missed not having it?  Well these are some of the questions that come to mind as I was doing my quite time and studying for the message for the students Wed. night.  How many times do we misplace or mishandle our walk with Christ or “misplace” Him and then figure out that we’ve missed out on so much that God’s had for us. 

We look at David’s life and see that he does all of this after conquering the Philistines and getting the Ark of God back.  He puts the Ark in another mans land or house because he is mad at God for killing Uzzah for touching the Ark (II Samuel 6:1-11).  But, David realizes that he has been missing out on all the blessing of God because he does not take care of it himself.  David mishandles his relationship with God by the way he allows the men to carry the Ark even though God was very clear through Moses and Aaron how to handle the Ark.  God is very clear in Exodus and in Numbers on the way the Ark was to be built and handled.  So, what was the big problem?  David mishandles his relationship with God and does not allow it to stay top priority in his life and also he misses out on blessing God could of had for him. 

So I ask again how have we “mishandled our Christianity or our walk with Christ” lately?   From this point on we see that David begins a slight down hill run with the people around him and also with his relationship with God.  And this is usually how it all begins on that slippery icy bunny slope.