Sweet Gum Road was the most traveled road in our backwoods neighborhood of southeast Texas. It was the artery which gave passage to every other road, street, drive, and dead end (what fancy folks call a cul-de-sac) in our neighborhood.
Therefore, Sweet Gum Road was the obvious choice for mischief. The invisible chain prank was one of our favorites. My pal, Andy, and I would get directly across the road from each other and kneel down (facing each other). We wrapped our hands around an invisible chain and focused our gaze intently on our hands. We never looked at the oncoming cars because people have a tendency to wonder what you're looking at.
Sure enough, a car would approach and the driver would inevitably slow down to try to see what was in our hands. When the front bumper of the car got even with our invisible chain, we would shout, "PULL!" and jerk our hands up like a fisherman setting the hook. Without fail, the drivers of those pranked cars would either slam on the brakes or swerve to miss the invisible chain. Then it was time for Andy and me to run into the woods and hide.
Most everyone would get out of their cars and check for invisible chain damage. Quite a few of them would wave a fist or single digit in the air, shout expletives, and leave a burnt rubber offering on the asphalt as they drove away. One or two got out of the car and chased us.
We learned not to pull this prank as darkness neared. You can't see things as clearly. Like sirens on top of a police car, for example. We only had one police car and one policeman. He only had one bullet. But he had a really good spotlight and recognized the preacher's son when he/I ran into the woods. He didn't chase us or shoot at us. He just turned the corner, pulled into my driveway, and went into my house to have a talk with my dad. They talked a long time.
A couple of months ago, I was driving down a two-lane highway through the woods. Ahead of me, I saw two boys. One on one side of the road and one on the other. They were both squatted down. I smiled. As I passed them, they shouted and pulled at their invisible chain. I didn't swerve, slam on the brakes, or shout expletives. I smiled and waved (with all five digits, of course).
The difference between my reaction to the invisible chain and the reaction of others was experiential knowledge. I knew by experience that the boys had nothing. They had no power but the power of the unknown. The power that tugs at our fears.
That's all the devil has on those who have an experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ, too. The devil has limited weaponry. Fear, doubt, and ignorance of truth are his primary weapons. All invisible chains. They work well on those who don't know better.
But the devil made a big mistake and tried to pull his invisible chain on Jesus. Because the devil is always in darkness, he couldn't see clearly who Jesus was. Jesus' weaponry consisted of one life and one sacrifice. His own. Jesus' death and resurrection took both the fun and the power out of Satan's chains.
Jesus also had a really good spotlight. Before He went to the cross, He shined that light on the devil's chains to show us that the devil has nothing on us when we follow God. "And He (Jesus) said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you'" (Luke 10:18-19).
Don't be punked by the devil. The scars in Jesus' hands have removed the threat of the invisible chains in the hands of the devil.
Trusting the Nail-Scarred Hands,
Perry Crisp
Showing posts with label power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, August 25, 2008
More Power
"I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works" (Psalm 145:5).
The power of God is bigger than we figure. Of all that we know about the world around us, we still don't know half of all there is to know about the world around us.
Some braniacs say there was no God involved in the creation of the world. It just happened. It evolved. Yeah, right. And Michael Jackson never had cosmetic surgery. He just morphed into his current confusion of self.
God is the creator behind all creation. The designer behind the design. The lawmaker behind all law. God is the supreme fact of history, science, and philosophy. Take God out of any of those things and you're just a babbling idiot. There will always be a job for you at a major university...but you're still a babbling idiot.
Taking God out of your worldview is like an ant standing on the F1 key of a computer keyboard thinking that the F1 key is all there is to the computer.
Apparently, when our heads swell with knowledge, we can't imagine anything bigger than us. We strain to contain all the knowledge we have of this vast universe. So to think of a super-sized God looming over the unfathomable might be a bit too much for an overstretched cranium.
If the biggest river you've ever seen is the Mississippi, and you've never heard of a place called South America, then it might be hard for someone to convince you of the size of the Amazon.
If you've studied the Niagara Falls and been overwhelmed by its raw power and majesty, and you've never heard of the African continent, you might scoff at a South African who says he's seen falls five times greater than the Niagara Falls. You would doubt that such a river as the Zambesi exists that could be two miles wide and take a 400 foot plunge. Your mind could not fathom the 35 million horsepower of the Victoria Falls compared to the 7 million of Niagara that your mind already has trouble wrapping around.
That's a place you've never seen and a power you've never experienced. But because you have neither seen nor experienced it, does that make it untrue? The same is true of a believer who speaks of the power he or she has experienced in God.
Thank God I learned to be a believing man before I ever became a thinking man. Thank God I listened to the testimonies of those whose souls were saved by a super-sized Savior named Jesus Christ. Thank God I learned that there is power in the blood.
God is bigger than we figure. And I'm not finished with this. Stay tuned.
Perry Crisp
The power of God is bigger than we figure. Of all that we know about the world around us, we still don't know half of all there is to know about the world around us.
Some braniacs say there was no God involved in the creation of the world. It just happened. It evolved. Yeah, right. And Michael Jackson never had cosmetic surgery. He just morphed into his current confusion of self.
God is the creator behind all creation. The designer behind the design. The lawmaker behind all law. God is the supreme fact of history, science, and philosophy. Take God out of any of those things and you're just a babbling idiot. There will always be a job for you at a major university...but you're still a babbling idiot.
Taking God out of your worldview is like an ant standing on the F1 key of a computer keyboard thinking that the F1 key is all there is to the computer.
Apparently, when our heads swell with knowledge, we can't imagine anything bigger than us. We strain to contain all the knowledge we have of this vast universe. So to think of a super-sized God looming over the unfathomable might be a bit too much for an overstretched cranium.
If the biggest river you've ever seen is the Mississippi, and you've never heard of a place called South America, then it might be hard for someone to convince you of the size of the Amazon.
If you've studied the Niagara Falls and been overwhelmed by its raw power and majesty, and you've never heard of the African continent, you might scoff at a South African who says he's seen falls five times greater than the Niagara Falls. You would doubt that such a river as the Zambesi exists that could be two miles wide and take a 400 foot plunge. Your mind could not fathom the 35 million horsepower of the Victoria Falls compared to the 7 million of Niagara that your mind already has trouble wrapping around.
That's a place you've never seen and a power you've never experienced. But because you have neither seen nor experienced it, does that make it untrue? The same is true of a believer who speaks of the power he or she has experienced in God.
Thank God I learned to be a believing man before I ever became a thinking man. Thank God I listened to the testimonies of those whose souls were saved by a super-sized Savior named Jesus Christ. Thank God I learned that there is power in the blood.
God is bigger than we figure. And I'm not finished with this. Stay tuned.
Perry Crisp
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Got Power?
In the summer of 1928, a terrible drought gripped West Texas. In the little town of Peacock, the church prepared for revival.
But it was hard for anyone to concentrate on revival. Their thoughts were consumed by the desperate need for rain. It hadn't rained for four long months. The blazing sun over Texas scorched the ground day after day with relentless heat.
Drinking water had to be shipped into Peacock by railroad tank cars. Crops were destroyed. Cattle lay dead beside empty waterholes.
Four days into the revival services, a group of sincere, repentant people humbled themselves before God and began to cry out to God for rain. In less than 24 hours, the rain came crashing down with incredible force. A victory over the drought had been won through prayer.
Think about it: Drought...Prayer...Rain.
Now look around you. Do you see evidence of a drought? Is there a famine in our land? The one I see is worse than that of 1928.
There IS a famine in this land -- but not of water or bread. A spiritual dearth is all around us. Dry souls crackle and waste away. Lost souls hear no trumpets of salvation.
Yet...there is little concern, little alarm. It is hardly noticed. It is rarely mentioned. Tears do not fall. Cries do not escape from the lips of those desperate for God to send a flood of revival to this land that she may return to the God of her history.
Have we become Samson with a haircut? Have we forfeited the power of God for the pleasures and comforts of man? Instead of beating the drums of retreat or waving the white flag of surrender, shouldn't we sound the alarm for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to fall powerfully before God in prayer?
Third graders are plotting against teachers, children are killing their parents, morality is now colored only in gray...
The slope we are on is steep and we, as a nation, have slipped. We are gaining speed and soon will be at the scene of our own horrific accident.
Let's not put together an investigation committee. Let's not expect congress to fix this. Let's not grab torches and go out into the night to find the monster who is demonizing our village. Let's fall to our knees in prayer, humility, and repentance.
Unless we do...we assist the monster. We aid our country's descent when we have access to the power of change, yet do not tap into it with every ounce of our faith.
Hear, believe, and apply the promise of Jesus: "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14).
Join the man of Acts 8:19 who said, "Give me also this power!"
Sounding the Alarm,
Perry Crisp
But it was hard for anyone to concentrate on revival. Their thoughts were consumed by the desperate need for rain. It hadn't rained for four long months. The blazing sun over Texas scorched the ground day after day with relentless heat.
Drinking water had to be shipped into Peacock by railroad tank cars. Crops were destroyed. Cattle lay dead beside empty waterholes.
Four days into the revival services, a group of sincere, repentant people humbled themselves before God and began to cry out to God for rain. In less than 24 hours, the rain came crashing down with incredible force. A victory over the drought had been won through prayer.
Think about it: Drought...Prayer...Rain.
Now look around you. Do you see evidence of a drought? Is there a famine in our land? The one I see is worse than that of 1928.
There IS a famine in this land -- but not of water or bread. A spiritual dearth is all around us. Dry souls crackle and waste away. Lost souls hear no trumpets of salvation.
Yet...there is little concern, little alarm. It is hardly noticed. It is rarely mentioned. Tears do not fall. Cries do not escape from the lips of those desperate for God to send a flood of revival to this land that she may return to the God of her history.
Have we become Samson with a haircut? Have we forfeited the power of God for the pleasures and comforts of man? Instead of beating the drums of retreat or waving the white flag of surrender, shouldn't we sound the alarm for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to fall powerfully before God in prayer?
Third graders are plotting against teachers, children are killing their parents, morality is now colored only in gray...
The slope we are on is steep and we, as a nation, have slipped. We are gaining speed and soon will be at the scene of our own horrific accident.
Let's not put together an investigation committee. Let's not expect congress to fix this. Let's not grab torches and go out into the night to find the monster who is demonizing our village. Let's fall to our knees in prayer, humility, and repentance.
Unless we do...we assist the monster. We aid our country's descent when we have access to the power of change, yet do not tap into it with every ounce of our faith.
Hear, believe, and apply the promise of Jesus: "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14).
Join the man of Acts 8:19 who said, "Give me also this power!"
Sounding the Alarm,
Perry Crisp
Monday, January 14, 2008
Killer Voices
Enemy forces joined together and marched toward Judah in massive force. Multitudes of capable warriors were only miles away, ready to pounce on the weak, unsuspecting nation. King Jehoshaphat received very bad news from the JIA (Judah Intelligence Agency): "We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do" (2 Chronicles 20:12). "Jehoshaphat feared" (v. 3).
When it seems defeat is inevitable, it always helps to remember these words from this same story: "The battle is not yours, but God's" (v. 15). Sure, Jehoshaphat feared. But the verse doesn't end there. Fear was the initial reaction, not the course of action. "Jehoshaphat feared, AND SET HIMSELF TO SEEK THE LORD."
By doing so, the king set in motion a series of events that required the direct involvement of God to explain the outcome. I love the outcome. "Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated" (v. 22).
Talk about the choir knockin' 'em dead! "When Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude (the enemy's camp or stronghold); and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped" (v. 24).
No, their singing was not that awful. Their God is just that powerful! Jehoshaphat and Judah understood something that we too easily forget: "You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow, go out against them, for the Lord is with you" (v. 17).
Look back at the first paragraph and read the first verse I quoted (v. 12). I must confess I didn't quite finish that verse. Hear the end of that statement now: "but our eyes are upon You" (v. 12).
When a people turn their fear into faith and choose to submit the situation totally to God instead of surrendering in defeat or sulking in despair, God rolls up His sleeves. And if you want to see God blow your socks off in the way that He works, keep your sword in your belt, and belt out some "hallelujah's" -- sing His praises -- and see His power!
There are so many keys to the victory that Jehoshaphat and Judah saw that day. Sure, when they "stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high" (v. 19), God moved in power and might. But before they stood to praise, they bowed their faces to the ground in God's presence and worshipped Him (v. 18).
What enemy has you in sight? What force greater than you leans heavily upon you? Remember what the true enemy of your soul wants you to forget: "The Lord is with you," and "the battle is not yours, but God's!" Oh, and remember this as well -- You have a killer voice whenever you sing God's praises.
Be warned, devil -- I'm about to become a one-man hallelujah choir!
Perry Crisp
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