Think Tank

Below are some of the favorite verses of some of my friends. These submissions do not include all my friends so if your favorite verse is not here please do not take it as a sign of the end of our friendship. If you want to tell me you favorite verse you can email me at rublepro@gmail.com. I encourage you to pray through and meditate on these verses with me.

Group Meditation Verses for January 9, 2007

John 10:9

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Psalms 35:27

May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, "The LORD be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant."

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Psalms 2:8

Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.

John 5:14-15

14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Philippians 4:13

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Galatians 6:7 - "Intercede for the seed"

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Matthew 11:12

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Romans 2:4

"Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"

Isaiah 43:22-29

22 "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob,
you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.

23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
nor wearied you with demands for incense.

24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
and wearied me with your offenses.

25 "I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more.

26 Review the past for me,
let us argue the matter together;
state the case for your innocence.

27 Your first father sinned;
your spokesmen rebelled against me.

28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple,
and I will consign Jacob to destruction
and Israel to scorn.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

11 "I know the plans I have for you," announces the Lord. "I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come. 12 Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you. 13 When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.

Hebrews11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Isaiah 40:31

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Psalms 1:1-3

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

OR

2 Timothy 1:12

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Reaching Out

Exodus 4
1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."
This is really cool. In this passage, Moses is trying to convince God not to use him because he is scared and does not believe he can do what God is asking him to do. God responds to Moses with this miracle.

The staff turned into a snake. It was a scary snake. It was scary enough to scare the bejeebies out of a guy who had lived in the desert for four decades! We know this because it states that Moses ran from the snake! Then God tells Moses to reach out and grab the snake by the tail. I guess Moses was more afraid of God than the snake because he did it.

A staff is symbol of support or power. For a shepherd it is a symbol of authority. It is what he uses to keep his sheep in line. The staff was in Moses’s hand but he dropped it. Once it was out of his hands, it intimidated him to face it and take it back up again, but, because he believed God, he overcame his fear and took up the staff again. Here’s the point I’m trying to make - Moses had the authority and the position of power in Egypt, but he let go of it. God was calling him to take up that position again, but he was scared. God told him to take it up again and he had to overcome his fear to take back that authority.

After this point, the staff is referred to as God’s staff. Moses was able to carry God’s authority after he overcame his fear. I sense that God is often trying to lead me to do things in him and I have to admit, more often than not I’m scared. I look at who I am and remember how I have failed in the past and try to talk myself out of it. Then, I look at the demands of the role I think God is calling me to and I am terrified.

Then I hear God saying, “Reach out and grab it by the tail.”