​A THOUSAND MARBLES
 
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.  Maybe it's the joy of not having to do real work for someone else and being able to do the things that I want to do.  Well here is the story of the thousand marbles.  Grace and peace as you read it.
 
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
 
And that's when he began to explain his “theory of a THOUSAND MARBLES."
 
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
 
"It took me until I was 55 years old to think about all this in any detail,  and by that time I had already lived through 2,800 of my Saturdays."
 
"I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about a 1,000 Saturdays left to enjoy.  So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had.  I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles.  I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."
 
"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.  I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.  There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
 
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. I am now 75 years old and this morning I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
 
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man signing out."
 
You could have heard a pin drop when this fellow signed off.  I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few friends to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
 
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
 
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
 
Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.
  
10, 20, 30 or even 50 years from now, it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account, or what your clothes looked like.

But the world may be a better place because you were important in the life of a loved one because you made your marbles of life count.

​There are three processes of salvation, justification, sanctification and glorification. The first, justification, happened the moment you called upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

The Holy Spirit entered your spirit-man and you became alive spiritually when is called being "born again." This process of justification is knowing that "I AM SAVED" but it is in the spirit. You are forgiven of all sins, given a new nature, and been adopted into the sonship of God.

Step 1: Justification: I Am Saved in my spirit man and I am saved from the PENALTY of sin.

Then started the second process which is called sanctification. Sanctification is both instant and progressive. It is instant in the fact that you were made holy in your spirit-man by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore have been "Set Apart" by God to that holiness. It is progressive in the fact that your soulish man begin a process of becoming like Jesus and like the Father. The process of sanctification is knowing that "I AM BEING SAVED" but it is in the soul. The soul has three parts, the mind, the emotions, and the will. 

Therefore those who are called by the name of Christ should willfully depart from sin and worldliness. Understanding that justification, salvation from the penalty of sin, only begins the process of redemption, we acknowledge that one of the works of the Holy Spirit is to create in us the character of Christ.

The Bible teaches that without holiness no man can see the Lord. We believe in the Doctrine of Sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the completion of salvation at Christ’s return. In the process of sanctification our walk should match our talk. In the process of sanctification we experience a lifestyle change in every arena of life: mental, emotional, spiritual and physical. In the process of sanctification we have a life that reflects the nature and character of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Step 2: Sanctification: I am being saved in my soulish man and I am being saved from the POWER of sin.

Then we await for the third process of salvation which is called GLORIFICATION. Glorification is when we either die or our Lord returns to establish His rule on this planet with all of His children. It is when we put on our new bodies. Glorification says that we "WILL BE SAVED" in the body. This old body that is decaying and dying will one day put on a new glorified body that will shin through the ages of eternity. It will be my heavenly body.

Step 3: Glorification: I will be saved in my physical man and put on a new body and will be forever saved from the PRESENCE of sin.

​Do you want a glad heart?
Do you want your whole person to rejoice?
Do you want your body in safety?
Do you want to know the true path to life?
Do you want to know abundant joy?

Then always keep the Lord before you because He blazes the path we are to walk in.

Psalms 16:8-11 ESV
(8)  I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
(9)  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
(10)  For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
(11)  You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

So far we have covered:
​Defining the Fear of the Lord (See Parts 1-2)
Reward #1 is "Riches, Honor, and Life" (See Part 3)
Reward #2 is "Turning from evil" (See Part 4)
Reward #3 is "Wisdom and Knowledge" (See Part 5)
Reward #4 is "A Prolonged life & A Fountain of life" (See Part 6)

Now in reward #5 we see that the fear of God can bring into a place of Contentment

Proverbs 15:16 ESV Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.

So we are called to move from glory to glory, but what does this mean and what benefit does it have to me in light of the Kingdom?

Well, let's begin with the end in mind.

We know that Moses went up Mt. Sinai to get the Word of God. After 8 trips he finally presented the 10 Commandments written by the finger of God on stone. When he came down the mountain he was manifesting the glory of God on his face and he didn't even know it. After he finished speaking to the people he placed a veil over his face to cover the glory.

Exodus 34:29-31 ESV  When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.  (30)  Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.  (31)  But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.

Moses would separate himself and go in before the Lord. Each time he returned to the congregation they would see his facing shining.

Exodus 34:33-35 ESV  And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.  (34)  Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded,  (35)  the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Now we move to the rest of the story.

The Apostle Paul says that with an unveiled face we behold the glory of God. He also said that we will move from one place or degree of glory to another. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The people saw a cloud and with thunder and lightening on the mount when Moses was p there. The glory to them was dark and terrifying. Yet we as believes don't see the glory in the dark thunder and lightening and clouds. We see the glory in a glass more clearly. More on this later.

Paul moved right into chapter 4 with a "therefore", meaning that he started chapter four with the idea of continuing the thought from chapter 3. 

2 Corinthians 4:1 ESV  Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

What ministry Paul? He said that the ministry he had in the Apostolic was that of carrying and manifesting God's glory.

​That is what we are, carries of God's glory...
Still much too say. Next study.

So far we have covered:
​Defining the Fear of the Lord (See Parts 1-2)
Reward #1 is "Riches, Honor, and Life" (See Part 3)
Reward #2 is "Turning from evil" (See Part 4)
Reward #3 is "Wisdom and Knowledge" (See Part 4)

​Reward #4
A Prolonged life & A Fountain of life

Proverbs 10:27 ESV The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

Proverbs 14:27 ESV The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

The big beginning is not the end.

Salvation as we know it in the evangelical church is not the end. We have not arrived once we give our lives to Christ. In reality, it’s just barely the beginning. Now it certainly is a BIG beginning and the greatest event, greatest decision, and greatest opportunity even to happen to mankind. But it is still just a starting point.

The ending: That great beginning is so tremendous, and the race so extensive in longevity that it will not be complete until either the coming of Christ or we get called up to meet Him when we die.

So, although I had a supernatural change on Sept.4, 1974, the night I asked our Lord Jesus Christ into my heart, there has been a continual process of seeing myself still in the making. And for sure and certain, I am excited that God is not through with me yet.

Christ is still being formed in me as He is in you. When we move in word (what we say), deed (what we do) or thought (what we are thinking) we do so from the inadequacies of one who is still partially formed, as one who is not fully formed into the image of our Savior and King.

My hope that gives encouragement is that God is more committed to getting me there then I am. He is committed to me being presented to Him as His inheritance, pure, spotless and without blame. Any attempt of mine to get to and maintain this would be the "religion of self" and being holy in my own eyes. But if I do as Paul says and die to self daily then Christ can live His life in and through me. This was what John the Baptist meant when he said that he had to decrease so that Christ would increase.
  
Galatians 4:19 ESV  my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  (2)  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

So run the race, be faithful, we are all a work in progress.

Welcome to the new norm.

I remember a more peaceful time in the United States and most of the world. I remember a time when people respected one another and looked out for one another. The fast-food motto "have it your way" has permeated our society and it seems that through the spirit of uncontrolled selfishness everyone is doing whatever is right in their own eyes.
 
People who once were good model citizens are stealing and hoarding supplies, food and water from whatever source they have get it from. People who seemed to have lost the value of human life are killing one another seeking self preservation in light of an impending doomsday. Babies are being defined as nothing more than lifeless meat and can be killed right up to the point of birth.

Floods of Biblical magnitude sweep upon major coastal cities with deadly destructive waves.  Our earth is orbited by over 500,000 pieces of man-made space junk, any of which can fall to the earth any time like fire.

This may seem far-fetched to people living a peaceful normal everyday life. But a glance over the events of just the last twenty years should tell us that things have never been so bad and reported to be headed for even worse conditions. 

Currently there are multitude of uncontrollable diseases reaching epidemic proportions.
Currently there are crazy weather situations from extreme drought to massive flooding.
Currently there are more earthquakes and volcanic activity than ever reported in the known history of man.
Currently there is world-wide tensions of a possible break out of world war III.
Currently the world economic situation is on the brink of a world-wide financial crisis.
Currently Christians are being mocked and persecuted in some fashion or killed in almost every Country in the world.
Currently scientists are watching objects in space that have a trajectory close to the earth.
Currently we have a social and cultural time bomb in the push to allow the homosexual and Muslim free reign over the rights of all other citizens.
Currently we have many cities in American that a person is not longer safe walking down the street day or night.

What are we facing? If this is truly the end of the end times the Bible has recorded, which I believe that it is, it could be the actual end of our lifestyle as we currently know it on earth. Many in the 60's and up remember much better days in our country and world. Many have had lifestyle changes forced by government and society. One of the small changes forced in my daily lifestyle is that of being security minded. I grew up in a home that did not have door locks. There was no way to secure our house from outsiders. But we never even thought about it because it was not an issue. Now, my house has double locks and I have cameras and a security system tied to my complete property. The immoral nature of the people of our land has dictated a climate of personal change to those of us who would not dream of entering another man's property or home, however must be protected by those who have the mentality of "what is yours, is mine."    

Where will you be when things get worse? What will you do as society becomes more violent and immoral?

I watched how people acted in the aftermath of a major hurricane. The will to survive kicked in. Many survived by being helpful and sharing with one another. But there were some who survived by stealing and looting from the little of others.

When it gets worse, and it will certainly get worse, will you be stressing out trying to survive the chaos as you look for supplies, power, food and water? Or will you be at peace, already prepared to stand in faith at the inevitable end of the world?

If you've ever thought about preparing for or surviving the End of the World there are some things that you need to know. No one will survive the end of the world. The world as we know it will be destroyed and God the Father will bring about a New Heaven and New Earth and a New City. We are not called to be survivalists but overcomers.  This will be continued.

RECAP:

Definition of "The Fear of God" (See Parts 1-2)
Reward #1 is "Riches, Honor, and Life" (See Part 3)
Reward #2 is "Turning from evil" (See Part 4)

NOW
REWARD #3 Wisdom and Knowledge
​
Proverbs 1:7 ESV The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 9:10 ESV The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

THE FATHER'S GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK:
Versus
OUR GAME OF SIMON SAYS

We have speaking about abiding, and learning to abide in Christ.

 "To Abide"  The Greek word is "menō". Abiding means "to stay in a given place, a given state, a given relationship or a given expectancy: To abide is to continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, and tarry.

There are verses in the N.T. which many believers use incorrectly because of who the Scriptures are written for. One example is 1 Jn.1:9 which is a key verse for believers on how to maintain fellowship with the Father, although many in the body of Christ use it on lost people as a "soul-winning" verse.

1 John 1:9 ESV  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Another one misused a lot is Jn.8:32 as we go around quoting it like it is a magic wand verse to make everything okay.

John 8:32 ESV  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

However Jn.8:32 is not a stand alone verse. It is in connection with Jn.8:31 which makes it an abiding verse.

John 8:31-32 ESV  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  (32)  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So the process of growth goes in this order after salvation. Learn to abide (stay in the place of, in the state of, in relationship with, and in expectancy), in the Word then we become (are made into) His disciples. Then as disciples we will know different truths about different things. All of the things where we have truth in, we are set free from.  But, all this starts with the believer abiding in God's Word.

GOD'S GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK:

I have a friend who made a statement to me years ago: "The Father plays hide and seek with me." It was the first time I every heard this statement and I didn't know how to take. Then I realized there are many Scriptures about finding the Lord only as we seek Him.

God is everywhere, which embraces our doctrine of the Omnipresence of God. This is one trait that defines the greatness of our Heavenly Father.  Yet, although God is all present, there are literally hundreds of Scriptures commanding us to seek Him.
 
The Lord may overwhelm us and blesse us with His incredible presence today. However, tomorrow He may step back a pace, and say, "Find Me here!" Then we, in the attitude of seeking must press into that new position. The following day He steps further back and says, "Follow Me here." And so on to the fullness of the stature of Christ.

GOD PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK, WHILE WE PLAY SIMON SAYS:
This is what it means to abide in Christ. We are to seek and go where He is each day. This kind of rubs us wrongly when we are in the habit of going to our places which we call "sanctuaries" and almost demand God's presence to come to us and bless, in whatever we are doing. It is like we are playing the game of "Simon says" with God and telling Him what He is to do next. Ouch!

Abiding is not an option and it is not a "One Time Good Deal." It is a continual process.

1 John 2:23-25 ESV  No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.  (24)  Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.  (25)  And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

Our abiding in Christ today is different from our abiding in Him a year ago. More is required of us as we grow in knowledge and grace. Sins we practiced unknowingly a year ago are not permitted today. The self-love in which we indulged a year ago is not acceptable today. The Lord Jesus challenges us each day to a fuller abiding in Himself. Think of growing from a baby to a toddler to a young child to a teenager to a man.

As a 16 month-old it was expected that you eat with your fingers and leave a large mess around your plate, on the floor and across your face. But at 16 years old, all of that is unexpected and unacceptable behavior.

So the next time you are praying or crying out to the Lord and you can't seem to sense His presence, go ahead and enter the game of hide and seek with Him and seek Him out instead of demanding that He comes to your party. 

Matthew 6:33 ESV  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

It's all about abiding.

WARNING-WARNING-WARNING: There is a great devaluation within the Body of Christ for the preaching the Word of God.

There seems to be a value placed on everything except the Word. I hear things like, "wow, God really moved in our service today, the preacher didn't even preach, all we did is music." Really?

I also hear when it is time for the music, "now is the time for praise and worship," and when it is time to receive an offering, "now is the time to praise and worship in a special offering." However, I have never heard someone introduce the preaching of the Word as "now is the time to praise and worship with the Word."

One of the ways we can recognize the devaluation of preaching is the time and importance placed on it. I heard one preacher say that they sing for a hour but can't see any reason for preaching longer then 15 minutes because of the attention span of the hearer. What?

There are 134 verses in the New Testament alone on the importance of preaching the Word of God and many times you will find that our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul or Peter taught and preached all day with NO music or praise team. I am not attacking the music aspect of the Christian life, but according to the Word of God we DO NOT grow in faith in music but we grow in faith by the WORD.

Music time will not build by faith.
Coffee time will not build my faith
Fellowship time will not build my faith

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God

The N.T. shows us how the O.T. saints understood the importance of preaching the Word of truth and righteousness. To name a couple:

NOAH:
2 Peter 2:5 ESV  if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

ENOCH:
Jude 1:14 ESV  It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,

WORD NEEDS TO BE GIVEN TIME TO BE PREACHED:
1 Peter 1:24-25 ESV  for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,  (25)  but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Hebrews 4:2 ESV  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

WORD MANIFESTED THROUGH PREACHING
Titus 1:3 ESV  and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

COMMAND TO PREACH:
2 Timothy 4:2 ESV  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

PREACHING IS A LABOR AND TRAVAIL:
1 Thessalonians 2:9 ESV  For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

PREACHING IS A WARNING:
Colossians 1:28 ESV  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

WHAT WE ARE TO PREACH:
1 Corinthians 1:23 ESV  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

PREACHING IS A DEMONSTRATION OF GOD'S SPIRIT AND GOD'S POWER:
1 Corinthians 2:4 ESV  and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

WOE TO US IF WE DON'T PREACH:
1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV  For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

In all of the N.T. one would not be able to find any such importance on any other part of what we include in our church services today, including the music time. 

​ANOINTING-POWER-FIRE-GLORY:

What are these? Why does God drop them on and through us? What can we expect to experience while under them? What does God expect to be the end result of having these in our lives?

I have a detailed study on each, but for now I'll just share my quick-list chart.

REWARD #2 Turning from evil

The rewards of developing the fear of the Lord are emphasized throughout Scripture. Having the fear of God gives strength to turn away (truly repent) from evil.

I have people tell me all the time that they have repented of such-and-such sin, only to have them fall back into it in the matter of a short time. The problem was that they did not really repent, but confessed.

The word "confession" means to come in agreement with. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of a sin and we confess it, we are coming in agreement with the Holy Spirit that we had unconfessed sin in our lives we needed to deal with. When we confess our sins to the Father we are not telling Him something He does not know. When we confess we are coming in agreement with what He knows and has revealed to our heart.

The same is true about a spiritual truth we read from Scripture. When we confess that we are a royal priesthood, an overcomer, and a child of the King we are not confessing what originated with us. We are confessing or agreeing what the Word of God has already said about us. 

But repentance is different. To truly say we have repented means we have made an about face and headed away from the sin and to the opposite, which is what God says in His Word. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of heart, which results in a change of behavior.

The greatest asset to true Biblical repentance is having the fear of God. The fear of God causes to hate the sin within us the way the Father hates it. One of the problems among many believers is that they have a love/hate relationship their sin. I have been in to many services when the preacher will mention a sin he does and then makes a joke about it. This si especially true when it comes to gluttony. The issue is that the sin is either nor really regarded as sin or there is no fear of God concerning it.

Proverbs 16:6 KJV  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

Proverbs 8:13 KJV  The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Proverbs 14:16 KJV  A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

2 Corinthians 7:1 KJV  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

"To Abide"  The Greek word is "menō". Abiding means "to stay in a given place, a given state, a given relationship or a given expectancy: To abide is to continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, and tarry.

John 15:4-5 ESV  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  (5)  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

The fact is, through the wooing of the Holy Spirit, the God invited us to come to Him just as we were. He received us in Christ with all our sinful, self-seeking ways.

We were in no condition to abide in the Presence of God. We were naked and did not know it. We were poor and did not know it. We were blind and did not know it.

It was the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that has made our warm welcome before the Father possible. Jesus our Lord and Savor received our self-willed, sinful personality into His own Being as He took on our sins and our sin nature and gave us His nature. While hanging on the cross, He had received discord and rebellion and all nature of sin into Himself. He did this because He loves us, even in our sinful state.

Once we were saved it was not the work of the cross to "fix us." Our Lord did not die to repair old ADAM. He died to replace the old Adam within us with the last ADAM, which is His life. Salvation is not adding the Lord Jesus to our broken lives. Salvation is a life exchange, His life for ours. 

Once saved our Lord Jesus Christ begins to bring our personality into harmony with Himself until everything we were becomes absorbed by everything He is. Each day when we abide in Him there is a lesson in godliness presented to us. There is an evil of the heart that will be exposed and must be dealt with.

The process of not being conformed to the world but allowing ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds is taking place. This is not an easy process. Actually at times it can be quite painful because every sin and every trace of self-love and self-centeredness in us must be exposed to the fire of God. It is an internal transformation revealing an external new creation which the Father already called us.

NOTE: If this process of daily abiding in Christ was easy everyone would gladly do it.

As a believer it is more difficult as the days go by because of the increased demands. God did not ask Abraham for his son Isaac when his son was first born. Isaac was a young man and had walked with his Father many years before God asked Abraham to give him up.

​Moses did not stand before Pharaoh after just one year in the wilderness. It took 40 years in the wilderness for God to develop the type of trust and character in Moses to prepare him to stand before leaders and to lead a people. But it is true also that as the way gets harder we have increased spiritual wisdom and strength with those demands because we have learn to lean more on our Lord and draw from His strength.