Mike Novotny - God Gives You a Powerful Weapon
And we feel so small, like running up on our two little feet trying to tear down those walls and it feels like we can't and that things will never change. Wow! We are here! Jesus was here, not around here. But here. Earlier this year, I got to explore Israel. I'm sitting, literally, in the place where Jesus' feet touched. I saw some amazing places. The old city of Jerusalem. In the Garden of Gethsemane. Beautiful Nazareth. At the Mount of Beatitudes. Capernaum, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. And I can't wait to share these video devotions with you.
I am standing here at the amazing, ancient city of Megiddo. And I'm thinking about those thoughts that we sometimes think that don't seem to change. If you're anything like me, I bet there are things that your heart just naturally gravitates towards that aren't necessarily true or good or beautiful. But they're just there. And they seem strong and they seem stubborn. And as much as you pray, it's hard to get them to go away. A lie I often battle is that if I'm not impressive, or above average, I can't be content.
In fact, just yesterday, here in Israel I did some below average devotions and I was a little bit moody, as some of our friends here know. There's these stubborn things, and maybe you believe them too. That if you're not rich or beautiful, if you don't have a perfect spiritual life, a perfect family, you really couldn't be one of God's children. Or you couldn't be satisfied today. But, that's why I'm glad that we're here. I'm standing in front of the ancient city gate of the city of Megiddo. And even if you've never been here, you could probably tell, it's impressive. Massive stones, stacked on top of each other. Gate after gate after gate so that any enemy that wants to get inside is going to have a pretty hard time doing it.
And sometimes those lies that we believe feel like the enemy that's inside the city gate. And we feel so small, like, running up on our two little feet, trying to tear down those walls. And it feels like we can't. And that things will never change. But that's why I love this amazing passage from the apostle Paul. He writes in 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, I love that. There's these old strongholds, these lies that we believe, but the words of God have the power to demolish strongholds. We can believe new things. We can toss out lies like old enemies. And instead, we can guard our hearts with the truth of God's Word.
So, don't believe the lie that your thoughts can't change. That what you believe about you and God and life and the world and eternity can't change. God's Word has divine power. Not just a little it of power. It has the power to demolish strongholds. So as you think about those struggles that you have in your heart, in your mind, in your thoughts, let's remember the power of God's Word is always greater. That's an incredible message that we learn here, at the ancient city of Megiddo.