A Sign Among Us - Chapter 7 - Confident Vapor

Dedication

We dedicate our children to the Lord. We commit our marriage to the Lord. We should pray when we put our tithe into the offering box. Do we dedicate our day to the Lord? Do we pray for safe travel to work? Do we stop and give thanks when we get there safely? When we are in the middle of a tough conversation, do we pray before we open our mouth? Do we pray that we are walking in the Lord's will? Do we pray over our 'to do' list? Do we pray over the bills, when we sit down with our spouse?

In verse sixteen of James chapter four, we read, 'But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.' We hear, 'Look at me. Look what I did.' Then we are reminded, 'Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick but the one who has it.'

'Your glory is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?' I Corinthians 5:6

Even a little sin has a corrupting and polluting influence in our lives. In our sin we are compared to animals throughout the Bible.

A snake for its venor - Job 20:16 and Psalm 140:3;
A donkey for its stubbornness - Job 11:12;
A bear for its cruelty - Daniel 7:5;
A dog for its uncleanness - Proverbs 26:11;
A fox for its cunning - Luke 13:32;
A leopard for its fierceness - Daniel 7:6;
A moth for its appetite - Job 27:18;
A sheep for its stupidity - Isaiah 53:6;
A spider's web for its flimsiness - Isaiah 59:5;
A pig for its filthiness - II Peter 2:23 and
A wolf for its ferociousness - John 10:12

How Do They Compare You

By contrast, the apparent fruit of the Holy Spirit should characterize us in our lives. Once again, '... a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump...' No sin can be considered an isolated event. Just like Achan in Joshua 7, the sin had to be purged, or else it would contaminate the whole lump.

What is that lump refering to? The church. The stress is on the unity of the church. That was a hard one for me to digest. My sin affects the blessings being poured out on my family. My sin has a consequence on my spiritual brothers and sisters? When I rejoice in my boastings that is evil. When we rejoice...?

'Therefore to him that knoweth to to good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' James 4:17

'To do good...' here requires including God in our plans. Omitting God is not merely bad planning, it is sin. 'Therefore to him that knoweth to do good...' What did the Lord ask you to do? What did the Lord tell you to do?

I want us to think on this for a moment. The Lord is constantly revealing His plan for our lives. What has he revealed to you?

Back in verse fourteen of James chapter four, '...For what is your life? It is even a vapor, ...' Does this verse say anything about our lives being insignificant? Does it say, 'You are not a Christ like man ... why should your wife respect you?' Does it say, 'Why should your kids listen to you? ... You don't spend enough time with them.'

It could say a lot of things. What does it say? 'For what is your life? It is even a vapor...'

What Is A Vapor?

Let me tell you a little something about vapor - Picture a glass of water. That glass of water is you. That glass of water is me. It's your Pastor ... It can't do much sitting there on it's own.

Now, take that water, pour it in a crack on the side of a mountain, freeze it, and it can crumble and bring that mountain down. Take that water, allow it to evaporate and condense. It turns into a fog that can cripple a city. 'It is even a vapor, ...' Our lives are nothing on our own.

We would all agree that we are nothing without Christ. We are that boring glass of water. An outside force has to be acting upon us. Moving us, putting energy into us to be effective, effective one way or another. A positive effect... Or a negative effect...

Same glass of water, turn it into steam... that glass of water, add enough energy to it, over time it will turn into steam. When that happens it will expand seventeen thousand times.

'It is even a vapor...' - You bet it is. We are the water; the Lord does with it what He will.

Does the Lord want us to be a crippling fog or the powerful vapor of steam? The world gets us down; Satan wants us to think we are a crippling fog, he wants us to think ... your life is just a vapor who do you think you are... At work - you can't make a difference. At home - you don't listen to the Lord, and you expect your children to listen to you. Spiritual Life - the enemy wants us to think we are hypocrites and cripple us to the point of inactivity.

Which Are You?

You are right, our life is but a vapor, we are a motionless glass of water, and satan wants us to think we are alone. Are we alone?

'The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.' Proverbs 3:19-26

Rocky

Remember the movie Rocky III - with Mr. T as Clubber Lang. In the first two movies it was Rocky's fight to the top. This movie, he was at the top, in his comfort zone.

Going into the Championship Fight the enemy was aggressive, with words of intimidation... 'He ain't nothing... He's mine... I'm gonna get him.' His trainer, Mickey is also telling him, 'You can't win... He'll knock you into tomorrow.'

Rocky listenes to them, and he's down in the 2nd round. Here was Rocky, down and out... face bloody... and bruised... and defeated... in less than six minutes. He is down and out and Apollo, the former enemy, approaches him, and reminds Rocky of who he was... who he is... and who he can be.

During training Rocky's heart is still not in it. He says, 'We'll start fresh tomorrow, we'll do it tomorrow.'

There Is No Tomorrow

Rocky is not listening to his new trainer; he is not listening to his wife... he is feeling sorry for himself... he screams out, 'I'm afraid, there I said it... I'm afraid.'

His wife encourages him, 'What if you loose? Then you loose. You loose without fear and no excuses, and I know you can live with that.'

His training improved... He was never alone, but this time he realized it. He was so afraid of failure he didn't want to try. He was so focused on himself he didn't see the others around him. That they were there with him and that he was not alone. He went gack ti training. His heart was in it. He was not alone.

Before the fight... Apollo is with him. 'Remember where you came from, now it's your turn... but remember... You can't go toe-to-toe with him.'

Going into the re-match the enemy, still aggressive, still with words of intimidation... 'You ready for another beating? You never should have come back. I'm gonna get you.'

Round one. Then round two, just like the earlier fight, he goes down. He goes down for about a seven count. Same round, he goes down again. He gets up and finishes the round. He had to get mad enough. He had to decide enough was enough. He had to decide...

I Ain't Going Down No More!!!

He didn't. He won in the next round. He came back. The enemy's intimidation was silenced.

'For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.' The Lord has a plan for us, an awesome plan. The Lord shall be thy confidence. We can't do it alone. the Lord shall keep thy foot from being taken. We are not alone.


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