Lay it Down, Let it Go

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Lay it Down, Let it Go – Hebrews 11 & Exodus 2 Submitted by Kay Crumley

Years ago, it was common to have an ‘alter call’ at the end of each church service. People were invited to come to the front of the church to pray as the closing song was sung. Often several would kneel or stand near the platform where the podium was and pray. We were encouraged to lay our burdens at the altar. However, many of us would go there to pray, to ask His help to resolve the problem but then leave with the same resolve to solve it ourselves that we started with. We didn’t ‘let it go’ rather we laid it down only to pick it up again and keep stressing over it. Hebrews 11 is a list of those in the Bible who have demonstrated great faith. Included in that list is one verse about the parents of Moses.  

Hebrews 11:23 -  By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 

Moses’ mother was Jochebed who married Amram. They had Miriam and Aaron as well as Moses. Both Amram and Jochebed were of the tribe of Levi who was the tribe of Priests. That might suggest they had a deeper trust in God than the other Israelites. At the time that Moses was born there was an edict, an order, from the Pharoh, that all Israelite boys born would be killed upon delivery. However, as you see from the verse above, they did not follow that command. The mid-wives participated in the rebellion.  The courage of Jochebed was amazing, she hid the infant for three months and then built an ark, basket, that she covered with waterproof material so it would float. She placed ark in the river so that Pharoh’s daughter could find and rescue him. Imagine, if you can, that you take your most prized possession, placing it where that enemy’s family will find it so it can survive. That is truly laying it down, letting it go without knowing the outcome. That is the faith of Jochebed and Amram that is celebrated in Hebrews. Here is how God answered her prayers for her infant son Moses. His big sister, Miriam, watched to see what would happen to Moses. When the Egyptian princess found him, she recognized he was an Israelite boy but wanted to have him for her own. Miriam came out of hiding and offered to find a woman who could nurse him. Of course, his mother was not far away and readily offered to care for the infant, her son, Moses. She laid him down, let him go, but God had a different plan. It was common for women of that time to nurse children until they were about 3 years old or more. Then, she was forced to return him to Pharoh’s daughter. Jochebed had to let him go again. 

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.  

God’s purpose for Moses was not revealed until he had grown into a man and became the one who would free the Israelite people from slavery. It all started by his parents having faith strong enough to trust God with the outcome. Moses didn’t die in the infant slaughter that should have ended his life at birth. He was nurtured and educated as an Egyptian until adulthood.  

I am sure that his parents had no idea what the result of their faith and trust in Him would end. Yet, they are included in the list of those who had Great Faith because of their actions. Hebrews 11:1 -  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. We are taught in scripture to not worry about tomorrow but to live one day at a time trusting that our Father will be true to His promises. Our fears are not from God, Isaiah 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  

Lay it all down, your fears, your hurts, your anger, and your anxiety at the feet of Jesus. Then, maybe most importantly, let it go. We are not meant to carry our burdens but to give them to Him. He is trustworthy.  

Think About This...

Tuesday, July 2, 2025

Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 CSB

Think About This…

Philippians chapter 4 is the conclusion of the letter that Paul sent to the church in Philippi encouraging them to stay strong in their faith, concentrate on their relationship with God and serve each other in humility and love. One of the parting bits of wisdom he has for them(and us) is about our thoughts and what we should be focusing on. 

Paul gives some examples of what we should be focusing on such as  whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy. These things he listed are good things for us to put into our minds that will produce good fruit that will come out of us as a result. What we put into our minds definitely influences our actions and what kind of fruit we produce in our lives. As followers of Jesus, we want everything we say and do to glorify him and point others to him. 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 - Our thoughts can get us in a whole lot of trouble if we let them. They can cause us undue worry, fear, and anxiety. They can steal our precious moments with spirals that can take us far away from what we should really be focusing on. How can we get a grip on our thoughts? We can be transformed by the renewing of our minds – in him. When we spend time in the Word and in prayer we tend to have less spiraling thoughts. When we are in communion with him on a regular basis, renewing our minds and growing in relationship with him, we will be focused on all the good things and bearing his fruit in our lives.  

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 
2 Corinthians 10:5 - When we belong to Jesus, our minds and bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit, and we are to glorify him with our whole being. Intrusive and unwelcome thoughts can pop in our minds and the only way to handle them is to not dwell on them and take them captive, giving them over to Christ.  

Paul then tells them to do what he has taught them and what they have seen him do. Paul was the example for them as we are with those in our lives that look to us to see how we act, how we speak, and how we treat others as a follower of Christ. 

What are you focusing on lately? Do you spiral in thoughts that cause you to be anxious? 

Are you taking every thought captive in obedience to Christ?

Who can you be an example for in your life? 

Anything and Everything

 Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 CSB

Anything and Everything

Do not worry about anything… that means anything! Paul begins this passage with a command, not a suggestion. Worrying about anything is honestly not our place. This weight of taking care of all the things belongs to God. We are not wise enough, good enough, or powerful enough to take care of everything on our own. That is why Paul tells us to give it to God. 

But in everything… that means everything! Everything is what we should pray about. Everything is allowed and requested from him. There is not one area of our life that he does not care about or have total control over. He  wants us to bring everything to him. 

Prayer and petition are two different aspects of prayer. Prayer is a blanket term for all our communication with God. To petition God means to ask for something specific, or to ask God to do something. There is so much power in prayer and sometimes we never tap into it. We often don’t ask God for anything, maybe because we don’t believe he will answer or even hear us at all. But here he is asking us to present our requests to him. There are times we don’t pray because we don’t know what to say. And there are times we don’t pray because our heart is too heavy to even utter his name. He sees all of this. He knows what is making our hearts heavy and the Holy Spirit will intervene on our behalf when we can’t pray or don’t know what to say. No matter how unworthy or unvaluable or unimportant you feel you are, or your requests are, take them to him anyway. He wants to know them all. When your heart is heavy and you cannot even speak, just sit in his presence. He will cover you and wrap you up in his presence, providing comfort and peace – a gift that comes from trusting God completely.  

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

For Today Remember This…

Peace can be hard to find with all that is going on in this world today. Then add on top of all that the normal things that happen in life along with the things that are specific to each person’s life and circumstances. Some days it is hard to hand it over to God and let it go. I would argue that I do trust God and know he is always working for my good, but I still struggle with stress over all the things that put pressure on me because I don’t let go. There is no possible way to know the outcome of our circumstances. Yes, we can try to manipulate the outcome in some ways – or so we think. Ultimately God is in control and the only way we ever find peace is bringing it all to him, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving and letting it go. 

Besides truly letting go, the ”with thanksgiving” tag is really the key. We do spend a lot more time on asking God to do things and focusing on what he hasn’t answered yet. And honestly, on the hard days, that with thanksgiving part is harder. We are called to be in a posture of humility, while also remaining thankful in all things. We can do this because no matter what, we know we can trust him with anything and everything.  

How To Open Up The Doors For God To Do A Deep Work In Your Heart

Monday, June 30, 2025

Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:16-18

How To Open Up The Doors For God To Do A Deep Work In Your Heart

In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus discusses three spiritual habits with the disciples – giving, praying, and fasting. When Jesus spoke of these habits, it was not a suggestion, it was understood that disciples of Christ would implement these habits in their lives. As his followers we are transformed as these habits bring us into a deeper relationship with him. As our key truth for this message series says, the habits we form determine the people we become. 

Pastor Jim told us yesterday that fasting is the abstaining from food [or a normal function], for a short or long period of time, as an exercise in self-denial and self-discipline for spiritual purposes, especially prayer. A fast can be done for anything, not just food, in order for us to focus more intently on God. It could be during a time when we need to find clarity or direction from God, or for many reasons. 

Some of the many reasons we may fast are to strengthen prayer, to seek God’s guidance, to express grief, to seek deliverance or protection, to express repentance and the return to God, to humble oneself before God, to express concern for the work of God, to minister to the needs of others, to overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God, or to express love and worship to God. (Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 156-170)

When we fast, it should be between us and Jesus. As he stated in the verses above Jesus does not care what we do in church or what other people think about us. He likes us to serve, but he cares more about our hearts and the reason we are doing what we do. If we are not careful and intentional, we can be more concerned with how we look in the eyes of others than the motives of our hearts. The religious rulers during Jesus’ day would make it well known to everyone that they were fasting because they wanted to look more holy. They were not concerned with pleasing God, and because their motives were not pure, they got the only reward they sought. The only reward they got from the “holy habits” was the praise of men. True disciples do everything for the glory of God and God alone. Everything we say and so should be to exalt him, glorifying him and pointing others to him, not ourselves.

A spiritual habit itself does not make us more holy. We can go through the motions of the habits but without complete surrender to him in a true posture of humility, we will not be transformed. When we surrender, we stop fighting, hiding, resisting, or trying to handle things our own way in our own power. When we completely surrender, it means to completely give up our own will, thoughts, ideas, plans, deeds, etc… We die to ourselves as we are to do if we want to follow Jesus. Then Jesus said to his disciples,  If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life? Matthew 16:24-26 CSB

How does the posture of fasting open up the doors for God to do a deep work in us?   

The posture fasting is one of complete surrender. When we are willing to deny ourselves, and take up our cross, we are completely open for God to a deep work in our hearts, in our personal as well as private lives. God can only truly work in our hearts and transform us when we are fully surrendered to him. 

What are you willing to give up to grow deeper in your relationship with Christ? 

Do your private spiritual habits line up with your public spiritual life? 

Are you pursuing God with a heart that seeks his glory or your fame? 

Deeper: Developing Spiritual Habits “Fasting”

 Sunday, June 29, 2025

Deeper: Developing Spiritual Habits
“Fasting”
Matthew 6:16-18 (CSB)

 

- Humility-  “A balanced understanding of one's place in the world, acknowledging strengths and weaknesseswithout pride or arrogance.”

- Spiritual Habits: “Spiritual habits are disciplines we put into our lives that place us in a position to hear from God and allow Him to take us deeper into life with Christ.”

- Key Truth: “The habits we form determine the people we become.”

Main Question: How does the posture of fasting open up the doors for God to do a deep work in us?   

1.    Fasting in our private lives.  (Matthew 6:16a)

- Fasting- The abstaining from food [or a normal function], for a short or long period of time, as an exercise in self-denial and self-discipline for spiritual purposes, especially prayer.

 

So, why do we fast? 

a.          To strengthen prayer. 

b.         To seek God’s guidance. 

c.          To express grief. 

d.         To seek deliverance or protection. 

e.          To express repentance and the return to God.

f.            To humble oneself before God. 

g.          To express concern for the work of God. 

h.         To minister to the needs of others. 

i.             To overcome temptation and dedicate yourself to God. 

j.             To express love and worship to God

- Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 156-170

 

2.    Fasting in our public lives.  (Matthew 6:16b-18)

-  Jesus is more concerned about the motive behind our spiritual habits than simply the habits themselves.

After the Message: 
Read Week 5 of the DEEP Devotional Journal on pages 115-139.

Pray with Confidence

Friday, June 27, 2025

Pray with Confidence – Psalm 86  Submitted by Kay Crumley

Last Sunday’s sermon and this week’s devotionals that correspond are on prayer. How do we pray? When do we pray? Prayer is a spiritual habit we may be familiar with but are we comfortable with it? As a Bible study leader, I often pray for our group. I offer to others to lead but most are hesitant to pray in front of other people. If prayer is conversation with God who is our most trusted companion, should we be embarrassed to let others overhear that conversation? We are all witnesses to the fact that, today with mobile phones in public places, many conversations happen with anyone in earshot hearing all that one side of the conversation. Most people are not self-conscience about those conversations. When we pray to our Heavenly Father, we express our heart to Him and it’s ok for others to hear.  

One way to pray, when we don’t know how or where to start, is to find a Psalm that relates to our emotions or circumstances and pray the words or the ideas in our own words to the Father. I have chosen verses from Psalm 86 as an example. 

David, the psalmist, is expressing his dependence on God. It is a song of lament and petition. David is sharing his fears and desires to the One who can intervene on his behalf. He began by acknowledging his need for God, praising His graciousness and forgiveness.  

Then he begs God to hear his cries and answer him in his distress. Haven’t we all had seasons in our lives when we just need to be heard? If you’re at that time now, take these two verses, insert your personal needs and make this your prayer. You can expand it with specifics but using this framework may help you to begin the prayer of your heart just as David did.  

6 Lord, hear my prayer; 
listen to my cries for mercy. 
7 I call on you in the day of my distress, 
for you will answer me. 

Later in that same chapter David petitions God to be near, intimately, with him as he seeks His truth, commits himself to Him, and praises Him. These are common human emotions. These verses fit our lives every day. Our current sermon series Deeper just finished the third habit, Prayer. But the first two habits are Worship and Bible Engagement. As I look at these verses, I see that David wanted to learn from Him, that’s Bible Engagement for us. We learn His character and purpose by engaging in His Word.   

11 Teach me your way, Lord, 
and I will live by your truth. 
Give me an undivided mind to fear your name. 

Then he turns to Worship as he praises God for who He is, the Eternal Father. He then seeks to be near Him. David doesn’t want to be separated from God in the wilderness or by death. We know we have a future with Him, but do we praise Him that He has rescued us from the pit?   

12 I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, 
and will honor your name forever. 
13 For your faithful love for me is great, 
and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol. 

As we grow in our faith, we need to have examples to guide us in developing and practicing spiritual habits so that we can grow deeper in relationship with Christ. By finding examples of Biblical prayers, we can find ways to become more confident in our talks with Him. We have His Word so that we can grow into a deeper, more intimate, and more comfortable relationship with the One who seeks that relationship with us.