Pick Up Sticks

Numbers 15:32 " And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks on the Sabbath day"

When I was a kid we spent a lot of our rainy days inside playing all kinds of games. Monopoly, war, a card game, hide and seek, one of the games we always played was a game called " pickup sticks". The object of the game was to pick up the most sticks. To begin the game a bundle of sticks are randomly distributed so that they end up in a tangled pile. The players attempt to remove a single stick without moving any other stick. Players must not move any other things while attempting to remove the stick, if any other stick moves, he loses his turn.

In Numbers 15: 32-36, there's a story of a man who simply picked up sticks on the Sabbath day, you would have thought that he broke some law or something because immediately he was thrown in a prison and the Lord said " The man shall be surely put to death"! WOW! What is going on? You pick up a few sticks on a Sabbath and your put to death. According to the ten commandments you couldn't do any work at all, no raking leaves, no laundry, no washing the car. That all changed when Jesus came, Moses came by the law but Jesus came by grace and truth, under the law there was serious consequences for breaking any of the laws of Moses, now you can "PICKUP STICKS" and not be stoned! Good news you are not under the law but you are under grace so you don't have to live under fear of punishment from an angry God He loves you and accepts you!

So pickup as many sticks as you want this Sunday, play tennis, go swimming, and if your scheduled by your boss to work, you're in a guilt free zone He is your Sabbath rest, be blessed not stressed! God's not mad at you He's not even giving you a dirty look, He certainly loves and accepts you.

Jesus' Nickname

Mathew 11:19 " A friend of tax collectors and sinners"

I don’t know about you, but when I was younger (a long time ago), we had nicknames for everyone. Rarely was anyone called by their real name.  For me, my nickname was “Forch”, short for Fortunato.  "Hey Forch, how's it going”, “Forch, let’s go play baseball”.  You don’t hear too many nicknames anymore, but when you do, hopefully it’s something that characterizes a person in a positive way.

Not so with the Pharisees.  They gave Jesus a nickname that they intentionally wanted to be seen as a negative.  But their plan had the exact opposite effect.  They said that Jesus was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners”.  Oh my, how scandalous!  But instead of a negative, this became a positive because the name revealed the heart of God for all people.

As a friend of sinners, they came to Him in big numbers. However, they did not remain the same. The unconditional love and unmerited favor of Jesus changed their lives.  Luke 15:1 says, "Then all the tax collectors and sinners kept drawing near to Him to hear Him".

Imagine if every church had the same nickname, “The friend of sinners”. How do you think the sinners would feel?  I can just imagine where they would go, and to whom they would go to if they needed help in their lives.  Jesus was honored by that nickname, it said who He really was. Let’s make that our nickname too, shall we!

You've Already Got It!

Philemon 6 "That the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus"

You've already got it!  Everything that you will ever need for this life has already been provided for you. Your healing has already been provided.  Your deliverance has already been provided.  Financial prosperity has already been provided.  You’ve already got it!

Where is it?  It's IN CHRIST JESUS!  Philemon 6 say's that if you're in Christ, then every good thing is already in you, in your spirit!  It's like a water well, and the pump is activated by "acknowledging every good thing that's already in you”.  In Christ Jesus you are now living from the inside out, not the outside in.  Peace is in you.  Joy is in you.  More than enough is in you.  Start declaring it.  Why?  Because you’ve already got it!

One definition of faith is - a positive response to what Grace has already provided!  God didn't provide healing the day you got sick, HE provided it 2016 years ago.  God didn't provide finances the day you got that bill in the mail.  He provided it 2016 years ago!  God didn't provide deliverance the day you fell into bondage or addiction.  He provided it 2016 years ago!  

If you’re born again, every good thing is already in you, you've already got it!  All that you need is not “out there” somewhere, or in your future, you don’t have to go get it from God.  Simply release the healing that is already in your born again spirit.  Release the finances that are already in you through the finished work on the cross.  Release the peace that is already in you, a fruit of the Spirit.  

Go ahead, “Abound and overflow in thanksgiving” as in Colossians 2:7.  Hallelujah!  Whatever you need, you’ve already got it.  It is finished!