Nothing at all. It means nothing at all. Okay,
here we go. So I want to share with you a certain
story out of the book of Judges today. I want
to give you a little bit of a caveat before we
get there. Is it on now? I think it's on now,
yes. So before we get there, we're just going
to drill down on one aspect of the story. So
if you really want to get everything that God's
going to... have for you out of the store, you're
probably going to have to do a little bit more
work than what I can do with you here today,
because we will drill down on just one really
serious thing that the Lord laid on my heart.
That also will keep us from being here for another
two or three hours, which is good. So we're just
going to get right through it and then get on
that one really major thing. But I will show
you how to use it, I think, for your benefit.
I hope so. And I will show you why it's so important
when we get there. First of all, I want to talk
to you, just do an object lesson if I may, about
a sword style. So if you happen to know, does
anyone in the house happen to know what the sword
style, if I say these words, half -sorting, does
anybody know what half -sorting is? You do know
what it is? All right, would you come up here
and demonstrate? Don't hurt yourself, obviously,
because you don't have gauntlets. Basically,
from what I understand, bracing the blade with
your palm. Okay. Mind you, you'd be wearing protection
on your hands, but you're using it to block and
thrust and open up the attacks. Okay. So that
is one very serious part of that strategy, is
you're basically putting a hand on the blade.
Now, to finish the move, a knight in metal armor
or metal gauntlets, I'm going to do it now without
my gauntlets, because this is an actual sword
I'm using up here. It's not supercharged. Okay?
They would actually... drop the sword into both
hands, and swing it like a hammer. Which would
allow these cross pieces to function like a hammer,
and then you can pierce armor where the sword
would be turned away. So if you swing this sword
at steel armor, it will glance off most of the
time. You can find chinks in armor, so you can
thrust in. Or if you can get them out of position,
you can whack them in the armpit or in the back
of the knee, and it'll hurt pretty bad. But plate
armor is not necessarily penetrated by a normal
sword swing if the person swinging is not on
horseback. When you're on horseback, you get
a lot more momentum, or you can be traveling
20 miles per hour, and it will pierce plate armor
then. But typically, a sword will not do that.
So as Rahm has pointed out, if you put one hand
on the blade, you now have this maneuver, this
maneuver, and then pretty much the Germans invented
what? There's a word for it. I'll give you the
word. It's actually more to how. Thank you very
much. And they would actually switch and put
both hands on the blade and use it like a pick
or a hammer. So I want you to bear that in mind
today as we talk about this text. It is a kind
of combative and even kind of volatile text.
But we're going to use that, what I just showed
you, in spiritual ways. to our benefit, okay?
So maybe you'll say amen with me, a who to holler,
hallelujah, something as we go to Judges chapter
3. Okay, this is the word of God from here on
out. Whatever I get right, whatever I get wrong,
as long as I don't read the word incorrectly.
And if I do that, you're responsible to catch
it. Okay, not my job to catch it for you, right?
I'm going to try to read it exactly as it is
written. And then if I miss something or if there's
something in there that the Lord really wants
to highlight for you, then you need to catch
it, okay? Judges chapter 3 beginning in verse
12. So we're just coming in after Ophniel and
the land had 40 years of rest. Verse 12 says
this, Now the sons of Israel again did evil in
the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened
Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel because
they had done evil in the sight of the Lord.
In other words, he's raising up an enemy king,
giving him strength, giving him success over
top of Israel. 13. And he gathered to himself
the sons of Ammon and Amalek, and he went and
defeated Israel, and they possessed the city
of the palm trees. Any Bible scholars in the
room know what city is referred to as the city
of the palm trees? Take a stab at it. If I told
you that it is a prominent city in the region
and would give them control of the entire region
of the Promised Land, now would you take a stab
at it? Say it again. It's Jericho. Does anybody
know something special about Jericho? Jericho
was cursed by Joshua after it was captured and
said that if anybody ever fully rebuilt the city,
they will pay for the first part of the building
of the wall with their firstborn son, and when
they put the gates up, they will pay with their
youngest child's life. And that does happen later,
but it doesn't happen here, and they don't really
rebuild the walls, they just control that region
which overlooks the entirety of the promised
land. And so for them to take over Jericho, which
God conquered in a miraculous way, is a pretty
big deal. And that's what they did. They possessed
the city of the palm trees. And the sons of Israel
served Eglon, the king of Moab, for 18 years.
So for 18 years, they were in oppression. Longer
than last time. Verse 15 says, But when the sons
of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised
up a deliverer for them. And remember that as
we read the book of Judges, another apt term
might be the book of deliverers, actually, because
most of them don't judge the people or judge
legal cases, but they are deliverers in times
of need. Ehud, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite,
a left -handed man. Now, before I go any further,
if you lived in that day and you talk about him,
Ehud, being a left -handed man, does that sound
like a positive or a negative? It was a negative.
So he was to be considered handicapped from birth
because he could not use his right hand the way
that he should be able to. Now, there are advantages
to it, a few, in combat, because it puts your
sword on their sword side instead of on their
shield side. So there's some advantage to that,
but the truth is it also puts your shield on
their... On the wrong side. So it was considered
to be a weakness, and he's considered handicapped
from the beginning. He's always been thought
of as handicapped. In fact, even up until about
50 years ago or so, people would try very hard
to convert their left -handed child to right
-handedness because they saw it as a flaw, a
disability. And in fact, there was a period of
time where they believed that a lot of kids got
stuttering from being converted from left -handed
to right -handed. Because they would tie their
hand behind their back and everything else. And
finally, people figured out that being left -handed
is pretty normal for some folks and not really
a handicap. But in this day, he is seen as a
handicapped man, basically. And the sons of Israel
sent tribute by him to Eglon, the king of Moab.
So tribute is when you pay them not to bother
you any more than necessary. So he's taking the
tribute. Verse 16. Ehud made himself a sword
which had two edges. It was a cubit in length.
Now, a cubit is the distance from your elbow
to the tip of your fingers, about 18 inches on
most grown men. It could be a little less, a
little more. I don't know what his was exactly.
But it made about a cubit in length. And he bound
it on the right thigh under his cloak. So a man
would normally wear his sword on his hip on the
opposite side of his handedness. So if you're
right -handed, your sword goes over here. So
you can draw it cross -body because a sword is
longer than the length of your arm, usually.
or inconvenient in any case, to get it to clear
of the scabbard. So if it's on this side, you
have to flip it around, and you'll have a poor
grip if you're right -handed drawing from your
right side. If you draw from your left side,
you've got a good firm grip on it, you bring
it out, you can bring it into action faster.
So they would wear it on their left side. So
you would expect him, if he's going to be armed,
to have a sword there, and they will search him
in a moment, and they will not find a sword there,
because he has strapped it on the inside of his
right thigh. So here we go. Verse 16 said, and
Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges,
a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right
thigh under his cloak. And he presented the tribute
to Iglan, king of Moab. Now, Iglan was a very
fat man. And it came about when he had finished
presenting the tribute that he sent away the
people who had carried the tribute. So he was
sending everybody else away. Iglan, I'm sorry.
Our hero, if you will, Ehud, sends everybody
else away. He's the only one still standing there.
Verse 19. But he himself turned back from the
idols which were at Gilgal and said, I have a
secret message for you, O king. And he said,
keep silence. And all who attended him left him.
So in other words, he's requesting a secret audience
with the king. Now it's interesting that people
in the world are lured by secrets. We're looking
for that which is, That's just outside our knowledge.
Always looking for that just outside our knowledge.
And he was very intrigued by this secret message.
Now, what kind of a secret message could Ehud
be bringing that he would need to send his guards
away or whatever? But in any case, he says, I
have a secret message for you. The king first
says, keep silence. And then all who attended
the king left him. Verse 20. And Ehud came to
him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof
chamber. Ehud said, I have a message from God
for you. And he arose from his seat. And he who
stretched out his left hand took the sword from
his right thigh and thrust it into his belly.
The handle also went in after the blades. In
other words, he thrust that sword, probably a
good part of 18 inches or so, into the man's
innards. And the fat closed over the blade. And
he did not draw the sword out of his belly. In
other words, he left it there, 18 inches buried
in this very rotund ruler. And the refuge came
out. So in other words, it started to stink in
the room. It started to stuff coming out of him.
It was really gross. 23. Then Ehud went out into
the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof
chamber behind him and locked them. Then when
he had gone out, his servants came and looked
and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were
locked. And they said, he is only relieving himself
in the cool room. And they waited until they
became anxious. But behold, he did not open the
doors of the roof chamber, because he's got an
18 -inch sword stuck in his gut. Therefore, they
took the key and opened the doors themselves.
Behold, their master had fallen to the floor
dead. Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying,
and he passed by the idols and escaped to Sirah.
And it came about when he had arrived that he
blew the trumpet. in the hill country of Ephraim.
And the sons of Israel went down with him from
the hill country, and he was in front of them.
So he leads them out into battle. He said to
them, Pursue them, for the Lord has given your
enemies, the Moabites, into your hands. So they
went down after him and seized the fords of the
Jordan opposite Moab. So that cuts off their
reinforcements and also blocks their way home.
And he did not allow anyone to cross. And they
struck down at that time about 10 ,000 Moabites,
all robust and valiant men. and no one escaped.
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of
Israel, and the land was undisturbed, that is
to say, it had peace for 80 years, which is the
longest period of peace that the judges have
yet marshaled. So here's what I want you to see.
It's really kind of one thing, and the Lord really
laid it on my heart. It starts with this. The
world has a tendency to categorize people. It's
too much work to get to actually know someone
completely. You're going to have to sit down
with them over coffee, over meals, call them
regularly, visit with them, talk to them, ask
them questions about their past, where they came
from, about their family, what's their history,
what's their culture. Even your best friends
and even some of your closest family members,
you do not know enough about them to actually
say, I know them the way that would be necessary
for us to really know people. It's just too much
work. So the world has a tendency to tag people.
It's easier to mentally tag them and know how
to deal with them from the moment of tagging
on. This is why, for example, we naturally distrust
anyone who has ever lied to us before. Not because
lying is bad, addictive, wrong, all these things,
right? And because we can expect if they did
it once, they'll do it again. But because we
have mentally tagged them as a liar. It's how
people deal with people at their work. That's
my boss. By now, I know if I say this, this is
how he's going to react. If I say that, this
is how he's going to react. We may be completely
incorrect, but the bottom line is we've tagged
them. So here's how to break out of being tagged.
Ehud has given us the example. He was handicapped.
For his whole life, he was thought of as an inferior
man, an inferior warrior, and incapable. He looked
at his handicap and said, wait a minute, it's
possible that the very thing that everyone has
been tagging me with my whole life, the very
thing that everyone has been saying about me
is the weakest thing, is actually the thing that
God wants to use to bring deliverance to his
people. God raised him up. It says he raised
him up. He empowered him to recognize that God
is the one in charge and God is the one who did
all of these things that made you who you are.
So here's how to break up. Understand that you
are a culmination of many factors. As much as
the world might want to highlight just one of
those, or you might want to look at just one
experience that you've had, or one thing that
you think you've become, you're much more complex
than that. So if a tag is delivered onto you,
understand that that tag is barely scraping the
surface of who you actually are. You have to
know that. This is to say, many things have come
together to make you who you are. Even outside
Christ. People have DNA. People have culture.
People have how they were raised, where they
came from, what they experienced, the abuse they
suffered as a child. Let's be realistic. This
is childhood we're talking about. Hopefully not
terrible abuse, but the reality is children are
abused. If they're not abused by their parents,
which hopefully they're not, but if they're not,
they're often abused by their friends. Search
your history. How often were you abused by the
people that should have been? In your life that
were a positive, your friends, your family members,
your brother or sister, whatever. Bottom line
is we have all those events. So I ask you, who
is it that, number one, wrote your DNA? Who is
it that put you together just exactly the way
you would be in the womb of your mother before
ever you entered in? So those factors are all
controlled by God. According to Acts 17, Paul
says that God orchestrates the boundaries of
our living. So God set up where you live. God
set up the things that you experience. God did
all of that. So God has authored every bit of
it. Even though some of it was sin by other people
or sin by you or things that you wish you weren't
a part of, right, that you maybe regret, all
of those factors then were allowed to come together
to form you. And I would submit to you that by
now you're probably figuring out that you really
don't actually know yourself all that well. Better
than anybody, I'll give you that. Better than
any human alive. But the reality is, do we really
know? Like, for example, I believe wholeheartedly,
I believe absolutely that it is the position
of a Christian man to stand up and protect his
wife and his children and even his church, God
forbid, if something happened. And in our church,
we have a kind of a plan, right? So if the church
is ever invaded by a shooter or whatever, the
women will take the children and go one way and
all the men go toward the shooter. It's not run
away, not hide, whatever. We go take him out.
Ten men go after him. Unless he brings a bomb,
he's going down. And so even though I believe
that's true and I want that to be the kind of
man that I am, do I really know? Do I really
know that when that time comes that I will step
up and have the courage? I've walked into crazy
things. I've seen and done crazy things. But
will I be focused on doing the right thing at
that time? I'm not sure I know myself well enough
to know for sure what I will do in every circumstance.
But what I can say for sure is that God wove
together all those factors. Some of them may
be considered bad. Consider, if God can use the
very thing that you're going through, the difficulty,
the tag that you've been hit with, if you will,
that somebody labeled you with, if he can use
that for his purposes, that's what Ehud said.
God can use my left -handed handicappedness,
and I can make a sword, and I can put it where
they will not as likely be prepared for me to
carry a weapon. And maybe I'll die trying to
pull this off, but maybe I won't. And clearly
he didn't. And it was Ehud's strong, I submit
to you that it was Ehud's strong left hand that
buried that sword 18 inches deep in the enemy
king. The handicap of the man used to overcome
the things of life. If God can use the very thing
that you are labeled with, the very handicap
that you supposedly have, the diagnosis or the
prognosis or the weakness or the handicap, if
he can do that, then understand, first of all,
his presence will be clearly felt, at least by
you. I look back at who I was before I got saved.
I've said this many times. Before I got saved,
I avoided every opportunity at public speaking
that I possibly could. I missed 38 days of my
junior year of high school to avoid every public
speaking opportunity I would ever have. And when
they first asked me to preach, I said, oh no,
I would never do that. I know who God has made
me to be. See what I was doing there? I was believing
the tag. I said, no, no, I know who God has made
me to be. I would never be called to do that.
He's going to use me, I'm sure, but never that.
And for 48 hours, I couldn't sleep and I couldn't
eat and I felt sick and sweaty. And I didn't
have a fever. I didn't have any other symptoms.
I just couldn't eat. I felt sick and sweaty.
And I said, Lord, is this something I've done?
I wasn't even thinking about the fact I said
no, because I was sure I would never preach.
And the Lord said, you said no. He said, will
you pray about it? And I said, you said no, you
wouldn't even pray about it. You wouldn't even
bother to ask me if you should. And I said, okay,
I'm asking you now. And he said, yes, you should.
And I'm like, no, no, I don't want to do that.
And he says, and that's why. And then fast forward
now, I've been preaching for... Two and a half
decades. Preaching the gospel. And yes, am I
afraid I won't get it right? Sometimes. Do I
realize that that's who I am outside Christ?
Yes. But I also realize that God has used that
to make something in my life that he can use.
And I feel his presence when I'm writing a sermon,
when I'm praying for what I'm supposed to say,
when I'm standing here right now, knowing that
God is saying through me what it is that God
wants to say, I feel his presence. And if you
can allow that very thing that would hold you
back, that diagnosis, that prognosis, that tag,
that disability, to become a thing that God uses
for his purposes, then you too will feel his
presence. Notice also that if the world is trying
to label you, if they are wrong about you, if
they try to put that label on you and then later
you prove that they are completely wrong. Right?
So they thought you were nothing, nobody, not
honest, not good, not strong, weak in some way.
And then you step up and you do amazingly in
the Lord. You do exactly what it is that God
would have you to do. Then if they were wrong
about you, they just might start to think, well,
if I was wrong about him or her, maybe I'm wrong
about God. And God can use that then to open
them up to the possibility that they have bought
into the lie, the trap, the death that has been
offered by the world, and that they too are missing
out on this freedom in Christ. So ask yourself,
what can I do to put it to use? Well, let's look
at his example. He created a tool. You may need
to create a tool, right? I know a couple of teachers
who were paralyzed. One was in a motorcycle accident.
Another one was like cerebral palsy or something.
And they were in a wheelchair. They got a wheelchair.
Then they got a motorized wheelchair. And then
they went everywhere teaching the truth and the
gospel on wheels, not on feet. Right? And so
we have the shoes of peace and they had the wheels
of peace. They would go. They found out what
the tool was that was going to allow them to
live beyond their handicap, live beyond their
weakness, and began to do that which God was
supposed to do. You may be like, well, I don't
read so well. You know, my academic level is
not super great. There are audio Bibles. There
are video Bibles. There are commentaries and
people will explain to you what it means. There
are pastors and teachers of Sunday school. There
are tools that will give you the ability to understand
what it is that you need to know from His Word.
You can go further with that. You say, well,
I'll probably never make a lot of money. Listen,
you don't need to make a lot of money in life.
Nobody needs to make a lot of money. Nobody.
Now, you might say, well, I've got a $300 cell
phone bill. Well, you have a different problem.
Your problem is not that you need to make a lot
of money. Your problem is that you have a $300
cell phone bill, right? And you can adjust your
life and say, well, what is my tool? I can have
a spending plan. I can have a budget. I can have
five different streams of income, giving me each
one a little bit until I survive and then have
a little to give and to prosper. The bottom line
is, you can find a tool, a method, to capitalize
on the world's ignorant point of view where they've
labeled you and you've accepted that label. You
can be found busy at God's work while all the
world says you are hindered from doing anything
of value. Chief, of course, is trust in the Lord
because it is He that wrote you. Your character
was written by God. Your body, designed by God.
Your mind, designed by God. It's He that wrote
you and He that put you where you are. And now
He can raise you up and allow you to do the things
that He desires to do through you. Chief then,
the one major thing that Ehud got right was he
trusted in the Lord and allowed the Lord to raise
him up. It says this in the New Testament, For
consider your calling, brothers and sisters,
that there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, But God
has chosen the foolish things of the world to
shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things
of the world to shame the things which are strong.
And the significant things of the world and the
despised, God has chosen. The things that are
not, so that he may nullify the things that are.
So that no human may boast before God. For it
is due to him, to God, that you are in Christ
Jesus. who became to us wisdom from God, and
the righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
those are three really big words, so that as
it is written, let the one who boasts, boasts
in the Lord. There is one tag only in Scripture,
just one that God desires to place on you or
on me. In Romans 8 it says this, it says, For
all who being led by the Spirit of God, these
are the sons and daughters of God. For you have
not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear
again, but you have received a spirit of adoption
as sons and daughters by which we cry out, Abba,
Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our
spirit that we are children of God. And if children,
heirs also. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with
Christ if indeed we suffer with Him so that we
may also be glorified with Him. See, it's not
always going to be good by your estimation. There's
going to be difficulty. And when you go through
that difficulty, you can come out shining. You
can come out as a child of God. You can come
out as a child of God if indeed you're being
led by the Spirit of God. Just one label, child
of God. That's all God wants for you. And every
time someone says to you, well, you're weak,
you can say, no, I'm a child of God. Every time
someone says to you, well, you're fat, you can
say, I'm a child of God. You say, you're old,
I'm a child of God. You're not creative, I'm
a child of God. You talk too much, I'm a child
of God. And you can just keep saying, I'm a child
of God, because all those other labels, at best,
are tools that you can turn around and use for
your benefit in the kingdom of God. Romans 12.
One says that we are to be transformed by the
renewing of our mind, not conformed to the way
the world sees us. And in part, this means not
being smaller, not being lesser, not being trapped
into the image that the world will try to pin
on you, but being changed into the new you, the
correct you, the free you, the authorized you,
the you that God is heading you towards, the
you that God is making you into. diagnosis, career
or job title. I'm a doctor. I'm a scientist.
I'm a mower. I'm a drill rig operator. I'm a
plumber. I'm a maintenance man. These are all
just things of this title. None of those things,
by the way, everything that I just said, are
there doctors in heaven? Sure, there are doctors
in heaven. Is there any doctoring in heaven?
No. Are there mowers in heaven? Sure, there are
mowers in heaven. But is there any lawns to mow
in heaven? No. Right? Should I go on? The jobs
and titles that we accept here, they become our
vocations. They become our pathway to income.
But the work that you do must be done in the
Lord, authorized by the Lord, the career that
you have. If you're not empowered to do it by
God and sent to do it by God, then don't do it.
Don't have anything to do with it. But if He
does tell you, this is what I intend to do through
you, then do that. And whatever the world says
otherwise, you tell them, knock it off. I'm a
child of God. Romans 8 .31 says this, What then
shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who is against us? He who did not spare His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will
He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Here it is, 33, listen for it. Who will bring
a charge against God's elect? In other words,
who's going to tell you what you are? Who's going
to tell you what you deserve? Who's going to
label you? Who's going to tag you? Who will bring
a charge against God's elect? God is the one
who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Who
will take you out of the hands of the Lord and
tell you that you are weak? Tell you that you
are not capable? Tell you that you are stuck
in a rut? Who will do that? Christ Jesus is he
who died for us. Yes, rather, who was raised,
who is at the right hand of God. who also intercedes
for us. Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, that means when you
go through trouble, or distress, that means when
your very heart is shaking, or persecution, that
means when the world comes against you for being
a Christian, or famine, that means when you have
lack of food, or nakedness, when you have lack
of clothing or provision, or peril, when you're
in real danger, or sword? The answer is no one.
The answer is you mustn't let them. You mustn't
let them tag you. And when you recognize that
there is a tag, you need to learn, sometimes
crafting a tool or a process, how to use that
tag for God's glory. It's this simple. Our defeat
would be not being glorious, not being victorious.
Not being what God has made us to be. That would
defeat us in this lifetime. You walk away from
God. You do what's wrong. You use the blessings
of God for things that are not godly. And boy,
wouldn't the road of accepting the tags that
people place on you of the world, wouldn't that
be a road to doing that very thing? You want
to be what the world tells you to be so badly
that all your effort goes into that. Whether
it's a good tag or a bad tag. All your effort
goes into meeting the tag that's been placed
on you. That's not what we were created for.
We are meant to be victorious and glorious in
Christ. Our enemies would use literally anything
against us because they are our enemies. There
have been many times in history where one army
went against another and the one army was ill
-equipped and they would literally take pitchforks
and prods and staffs from taking care of the
sheep and rocks. whatever they had in their hands,
because otherwise it would take whatever weapon
they can get. And the enemy will take whatever
weapon he can get, which means if you tag yourself
or allow the world to tag you, then the world
will use it against you because the world system
is one of your enemies. If you speak it out loud,
you say, well, I'm no good because X. From that
moment on, the devil and evil spirits will use
that against you. It's why being rebellious is
addictive. It's why being lazy is addictive.
It's why making excuses is addictive. Because
there are plenty of evil spirits and demons that
will latch on to those things that we have accepted
in ourselves and use them against us. The enemy
will use anything he can get his hands on against
you. As God's children, however, God can and
will use anything at all for our good. Because
He is for us. Because He has that kind of power
and authority. When you go through the worst
suffering or the worst persecution or ailment
or disease or trials and tribulations of this
world, you can know, He says, in this world you
will have trouble, but fear not, for I have overcome
the world. Even in the verse that we just read,
it says, if we are willing to suffer with Him.
In Revelation 3, it says, after having suffered,
if you overcome, I will allow you to come and
sit on my throne with me as my father has allowed
me to come and sit on his throne with him. Yes,
there will be difficulty. Yes, there will be
trials. Yes, there will be troubles. Turn your
difficulty and your trials and your troubles
back on the enemy and beat him to stop with it.
What are we doing? We are victorious in Christ.
You say, well, I get angry so easy. I eat too
much. I sleep too much. I spend too much. I save
too much. I fight too much. I back down too much.
Cut it out. Anything that you have that is a
weakness, turn it around and beat him to death
with it. He's already dead just waiting for you
to strike the blow. As children of God, God can
and will use anything for our good. Being looked
down on makes you especially dangerous. That's
what happened with Eve. Nobody expected the handicapped
little man, unarmed. to take out the king of
the Moabites. And he didn't just do that. He
rallied an army of Israelites to block the fords
and cut down 10 ,000 men. I don't know how many
he took out. Personally. Being looked down on
just makes you especially dangerous. Being labeled
makes you especially dangerous. Being ignored
makes you especially dangerous. And learning
to use your identity in Christ to get hold of
all these things and put them to use for your
benefit and the benefit of the kingdom is part
of being ultimately victorious. You think you
have a weakness? I'll tell you right now, that
weakness turned around and properly used is your
greatest strength. I've traveled with my children
since they were tiny. Kid walked pretty much
even before that a little bit. And oftentimes
we'll go to the hotel pool. It's one of our favorite
places to visit. It comes free. You have to have
a place to sleep anyway, right? So you get a
pool, maybe spend an extra 20 bucks a night,
go to the pool, go swimming. And as they grow
up, every single one of them, we go through this
same cycle. We race, swim, race across the pool
and back. So three times, five times, whatever.
And then inevitably they'll say, well, I don't
want to race anymore. You always win. And I say,
well, I'll give you a head start. How much do
you want? Count to ten, count to five, whatever.
And they'll say, well, count to ten. And then
I'll count to ten. And then usually I'll count
to ten. When they're younger, I would still beat
them. And then when they're a little older, I
wouldn't beat them. And I'll say, well, I'll
give you a five count this time because you beat
me, and so on. What's the point of a head start?
Why does somebody need a head start? Because
they recognize that the other person is better,
faster, stronger, whatever, right? You play kickball
in the backyard and the one team is clearly weaker,
you spot them three runs. Whatever. The head
start is necessary because the one person is
going to win. Understand that the enemy is trying
to handicap you, trying to label you, trying
to tag you because... you're already going to
win. Every time one of those things pops up and
something is trying to hold you back, it's because
you are in Christ already going to win or because
you're getting close to being in Christ if you
haven't accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
yet and he doesn't want you to win and so he
tags you, labels you, holds you back so that
you cannot win the race. If I went running against
an Olympic racer, I would lose every single time.
They'd spot me. I'd say, we're going to run 400
yards and you're going to spot me 350 and maybe
I'll win. But they wouldn't have a problem with
that because they know that means they are a
winner. Why do you have a problem with it when
the world labels you if they're labeling you
just to hold you back because they already know
that you're going to win in the end? That's what
it's all about in the kingdom of God. It's time
to realize that our handicaps, such as we are
labeled, and remember that some of those things
are job titles, they are skill sets, they are
weaknesses of our physical form, whatever, and
we're labeled like that, and we're only being
labeled like that to hold us back because ultimately
we win anyway. Why? Because we are better, stronger.
If God is for us, who can be against us? Well,
if we let them label us and let them use that
label to slow us down, then we're allowing somebody
to stand against us. If they want to get you
doubting yourself, hold you back in some way,
if you can see a person undermining you, it's
a testimony to your proficiency. Then all the
more, you must know that you are worthy. I've
been reading this little devotional. I like golf,
by the way. Somebody bought this for me. It was
a gift. I think it was my wife. There's a little
story in here about... I folded the page over.
Here it is. We're in the conclusion, by the way.
Sam Sneed, pretty famous golfer. He was known
for gamesmanship, which entails using psychological
tactics to intimidate the opponent. Today, we
kind of call it trash talk or something like
that. Learning the game was not easy for Sneed.
who grew up in the backwoods of Virginia, the
White Sulphur Springs Resort is where he played
in the early days. In the 1930s, living during
the Depression meant he and everyone else did
everything they could just to make a few pennies.
Early on, Snead learned a difficult lesson about
the questionable art of gamesmanship during a
tournament. It was just before the final round,
and he was playing well. Then another golfer
came up to him and casually said, How do you
expect to do well with that left elbow flying
around like that? The comment unnerved Snead.
and he spent the rest of the round distracted
by his own arm movements. The result was an 8
on the second hole and an 80 total, which landed
him in third place. He realized he had been played,
and he determined that the next time someone
tried to get into his head, his response would
be, hey, beat me with your clubs. It was 1972.
I was a college golfer at the time, and had successfully
made it through sectional qualifying of the U
.S. Open. I was now in Charlotte at the regional
qualifier where all the touring pros were qualifying.
It was the first time I had played in an event
with tour players. I played with DeWitt Weaver,
a regular tour player at the time. I stepped
onto the tee and was getting ready to tee off
when I noticed someone standing just a few feet
away from me. I looked up from my ball and there
was Sam Snead with his arms crossed and simply
staring at me. It was the most intimidating thing
ever. I promptly ignored him and proceeded to
hit my ball down the fairway. I was shocked that
a man of that stature would want to intimidate
a college kid. Listen to me. This is your posture.
You should be shocked that the devil, ancient
as he is, some allege once the most beautiful
and strong of angels, that demons, ancient as
they are, long time ago they started this game.
You're a newcomer. That any of them should want
to bother to bring you down, you should go, oh.
I get it now, that anyone would, the world system,
how long has the world system been going on?
A long time before you and I were born. That
these ancient players of this game would come
against us with this feeble tactic, trying to
stop us from being what it is that God would
want us to be. And every time someone tags you,
and especially if it's you personally, but every
time someone tags you, you say, no, I am a child
of God. What game are you playing at? Beat me,
if you can. But I am a child of the king. Truly,
I am unbeatable. If pretty much everything of
this world can be used either by the enemy or
by God's people for blessing or cursing, then
determine to transform, renew, and redeem everything
you touch to bring it into line with his purposes.
Lastly, wear a tag that they can see so they
can find you. Stop trying to hide. As if you're
afraid of one more tag, if you're afraid of the
world judging you for who you are, Jesus said,
by this, all people will know that you are my
disciples. That is to say, they can all see this
one tag if we will wear it, and it is if you
have love for one another. We will stand firm.
Understand that your brother or sister in Christ
is facing trials and trouble. Love them through
it all. That's the tag that they can read. And
for all their efforts, they'll never cover it
up. They'll tag you 40 times, 50 times. They'll
cover you with toilet paper names and well -crafted
visages, something that will block your face
completely so no one can see you. You're downcast
and sad rather than mighty and true. But if you
love your brothers and sisters in Christ and
remain a child of God, these tags, they cannot
block out who you are. Let us not forget that
it says the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy.
And he's not going to stop trying to kill, steal,
and destroy. Just because you don't like him
or like what he's doing, he will lose and fail
to kill, steal, and destroy when we instead follow
the good shepherd who came that we may have life
and have it more abundantly. Hear me now. Abundant
life is in remembering that every tag, every
event, everything that ever comes against you
can be used by God for your good. Will you join
me today in recognizing that he is the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords and that Satan, who
may have been the serpent in the Garden of Eden,
some think, tempting Eve would come to you? It's
pretty unlikely, but if he ever comes, treat
it as a great honor. If one of his tactics comes
against you, wield your shield of faith and turn
it aside. If an enemy overtly comes against you,
wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of truth, and defeat them. Don't doubt. that
you are an amazing creation of God, and God can
use you to transform, to renew, and to redeem
everything you touch. And if anyone tells you
otherwise, you tell them, I am a child of God.