Part 3!

For Bible in Context April 2006 part 3

This is where those “Snake Handler”
churches get it right
and where you and I get it wrong:

We have this guy at the factory where I work;
you should see him!
He walks around the place like he runs it…

That’s because he does!

When you have authority you act like it.
We have authority from God but
we act like we don’t believe it.

When my boss at work asks for something
to be done, he expects that it will be done.

When we ask for something to be done,
do we act as though we expect it to be done?

These “Snake Handler” churches are taking
Jesus at His Word and expect that they will
not be harmed.

Yet I can’t help but wonder if they

even know Him

for wouldn't they realize that they

were putting “God to the test”?

They have “put the cart before the horse”

so to speak.

We can handle vipers and drink poisons

without being harmed –

when we are in performance of the job

He asked us to do.

Handling vipers and drinking poisons is NOT

– I repeat- is NOT “the job” that He asked us to do!

Telling the World how to attain Salvation

through Grace, by Faith in Jesus Christ is.

Showing the World how we can have a real

relationship with God the Father,

through the Son and The Holy Spirit

is the mission we are all supposed to be on.

If that is the mission we are really on,

then the “signs” and “wonders” will happen

as a natural by-product of doing the Lords work

–as the Holy Spirit Leads.

I can play a recording of the sounds of meat sizzling

on a grill and even spray some scent into the air

that will smell like steak and proclaim that

I am making you hungry so you will

go find some steak for yourself,

but that isn’t what we’re supposed to do.

If we cook a real steak on a grill for the purpose

of serving it to someone who is hungry or in need,

the smell and the sounds will certainly make it appetizing

but that is the natural by-product of serving a meal.

It isn’t the reason for the meal.

The reason is to feed those who need to be fed.

In the same way the signs and wonders

–snakes and serpents-

are not the main point they are simply "by-products"

that sometimes can happen when you are trying

to feed the world “The Love of Jesus.”

(The end of part 3. Even more to come!)
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