What's That in Your Hand? [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Man falls over the cliff, holds onto the root. He's about to fall. Help! A voice comes, I'm here to help you. What do you want me to do?

Let go. Is there anybody else up there? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in our series called Moses as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It'll be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

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That's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. The power of this story to me grows in this, that when God tells him to throw it to the ground, he picks it back up. It's a snake. He picks it back up, becomes a staff again. God is showing himself strong. He's showing himself mighty. He is proving to Moses that Moses is God's man. He is validating Moses. And why this is such good news to me is that Moses doesn't do something to validate himself.

Moses didn't call himself and Moses didn't validate himself. And I think sometimes that we act as Christians as though God has called us, God has saved us, but then we have to do something to validate ourselves. No, the same grace that saved you is the grace that sanctifies you. The same grace that called you to God in the first place is the same grace that will validate, anoint, and use you. You do not qualify yourself for your inheritance in the saints, but Paul said in the first chapter of Colossians, you have been qualified for your inheritance amongst the saints. This is something that God does for Moses.

It is something that is right at hand, and then God turns it into something that is a powerful symbol and a validation of what God is going to do in Moses' life. I'll be your source, Moses. I'll be your confidence.

I'll show you how. I'll be with you. I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you.

If I'm with you, who could be against you? Throw down the staff. I want to show you my power. I want to show you my grace. I want to show you that my purposes are true. Oh, many are the plans of a man's heart, but the purposes of God will prevail. I want to show you my sovereign power, Moses.

I want you to know you are mine, and you are my man for this hour. I am validating you. When you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit. Every single Christian has the Holy Spirit. Every Christian has the Spirit of God living inside of you, and the first thing the Holy Spirit begins to do is bear witness to your Spirit that you're a child of God.

What's God doing? Validating who you are. Oh, my, if we could just have for our young people today, if we just, I just long for every single one of the children and youth in this country to come to know the saving power of Jesus, and then not only to know that, but to know that God says, I have plans for you not to harm you, but to give you a future and a hope. I have validated your life in Jesus Christ. You have purpose. You have destiny.

Oh, we're just, we're just, we're just a hurting people that are looking for validation. You wonder why people wander into every means of sin and every kind of group and every different kind of divided allegiance. People are looking for some type of validation of their life, and God just comes to Moses, and Moses is just tending sheep in Midian as an exile, and God not only calls him, he says, I'm going to show you that you have been qualified for this. Christians, you have been qualified through the gift of Jesus Christ, and there's nothing else for you to do to qualify yourself for your share in the inheritance. There's nothing else that is necessary for you to do in order to be qualified for your authority over the enemy. There is nothing else for you to do in order for you to be qualified for the fullness of the joy of the Holy Spirit in your life. You have been qualified. Hallelujah.

It's good news. Whenever we get a call from God, okay, well, what I got to do now to prove my, he just knows I'm going to show you, I'm going to do it. And the main thing he therefore had to do is the main thing of Christianity. Everybody was, well, what do I do? This is what you do. He said, Moses, throw it down. I want you to take the one thing that you have in your hand and let it go.

I want you to release control of the only thing you have in your hand and watch what I can do with it. Paul said, this is my worship. I present my body to you as a living sacrifice.

The old temple system with its turtle doves and lambs being sacrificed, all gone. A new covenant has come, and there's only one sacrifice that remains, Paul says, and that is I just present myself to you. I just yield myself to you. I just want to receive everything you have. I want to cooperate with everything that you tell me to do.

I want to be completely yielded to you. Just throw it down. Just throw it down.

And this is the hardest thing to do in life, isn't it? You know, the most famous story we've got now is the famous joke we got is a man falls over the cliff, holds on to the root. He's about to fall. Help! A voice comes, I'm here to help you. What do you want me to do? Let go. Is there anybody else up there?

That's the way life feels, isn't it? And so Moses has to let go. It's kind of a picture of sowing and reaping, isn't it? It's like a farmer. He's got seed.

Ah, I spent good money on that seed. Let it go. If you want to have a harvest, let it go. The things that God tells you to let go of, it's because he has a plan to return it back to your hand in a different, more powerful, more beautiful way. He lets go of ordinary staff, but what he brings back when it comes back into his hand is the thing that will be held over the Red Sea. That ordinary staff will be the symbol of God's power.

It'll strike a rock so that living water will gush forth and provide for the thirst of a nation. It is a staff that was guiding sheep, but God wanted to return it to Moses to guide a nation. It was a staff that might defend the flock from a wolf, but God wanted to give it back to him as the staff that would defend the people of God from Pharaoh. It was an ordinary staff that was released. When God took hold of the staff, it became supernatural.

It became the symbol of his power. Let it go. You see, you never know what happens when you simply sow what God has put into your hand.

That's the thing about it. He didn't tell Moses, this is what's going to happen. He just said, let go of it. You just sow it right down to the ground and I'm going to bring it back to you. But he didn't tell him what was going to happen.

You never know. Jesus came one day to ask Peter for his boat, the symbol of his livelihood. And Peter said, okay. Jesus went out and taught from Peter's boat.

Here, take the very, the only way I've got to make a living, I'm going to give it to you, Jesus. And then in the next scene, what's happening? Cast your nets on the other side of the boat. And they're bringing in so many fish that the boat's about to sink.

They don't know what to do, right? We were praying this morning. Somebody said, what about the little boy with the five loaves and two fish, his mother who fixed his picnic that day? Did she have any idea that what was in her hand, a little bread, a little fish, a little provision for her son, what it would become?

Not just to feed 5,000, but that a preacher would be talking about it on Rinaldo Road in 2015. You don't know. You don't know. You don't know. Moses didn't know what was going to happen when he threw the staff down.

He didn't know. But when God asks you to let go of something, I promise you, it's not because he wants to take something from you. It's not because he needs something from you. It's because he's got a bigger plan for your life. He's got something that he wants to do. And all of life is about letting go at the right time so that you can take hold of the next thing. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Ever feel like something's holding you back as if you lack an important key that could change everything?

Is there someone you love who seems stuck? You'd like to help them, but how? What's missing? Blessing. We all need a positive faith-filled vision spoken over our lives. You can learn how to embrace the biblical practice of blessing through Pastor Alan Wright's new book, The Power to Bless, which quickly became an Amazon number one bestseller after its recent release.

Until now, the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales. But this month, Alan Wright Ministries wants to send you the book as our thank you for your donation. Make your gift today and discover the power to bless. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. And so he lets it go and it becomes a serpent and it's squiggling along the ground. And so Moses runs from it. And that's really the way it is, isn't it? So often when you let go of something, at first it's scary.

I mean, it's scary at first, right? Well, it was wonderful that Kelly and Chris come up and give us good news about what's happening in the church, about the growth of the church, and good news about the growth of our new campus at Union Cross. But I tell you, everything I've ever done in ministry and our leaders, you know, you get a sense, you hear from God, you take a step of faith and you say, okay, we're going to send some people and we're going to send a lot of resources because we want to keep reaching people for Christ. People are hungry.

People are thirsty. They need the gospel and we need to be able to grow. But every time you do something like that and you just, and you kind of let it go, it's scary at first, right? I mean, I don't remember things in my life where if I've had to let go or sow something or invest something that at first I didn't start running from it going, oh my, what have I done?

You know what I'm saying? It's like at first you're like, oh. And so at first he runs from this and it's a snake. And then God says, pick it up. Now y'all, it might've been hard for Moses to let go of the one thing he had and throw away the staff, but I'll tell you if that was hard, it's a lot harder to pick up a living snake. It reminds me of just how true it is that if we think it's hard to sow, it's much harder to reap.

The farmer is much busier during harvest time. And in fact of matter in life, we may not realize this, but we often run from the very blessings that God is bringing into our lives. We can be scared of it. I was listening to a pastor friend talk recently and he shared a great story. When his dad was young, he was on a championship high school football team. They were in a smaller school conference, but they had a star running back. His name was Leroy and he would just scamper up and down the field all game long. But they had an opportunity to play a bigger school, a big 4A school.

And when they got up against this big school, they were getting pummeled. And they would send in a play and the quarterback say, all right, Leroy, ball's coming to you. And after a while Leroy was so beaten up, he said, okay, we're going to run this halfback play up across guard. And Leroy just, he said it was in the huddle. And he just went, just shook his head no. So they ran another play and the coach would run in another play and it said, all right, Leroy coming to you. And Leroy just went, shook his head no. And the coach kept doing this running into plays and they never would give the ball to Leroy.

This is a true story. So finally the coach just hollered out from the sideline in front of all the people. Everybody could hear it. He just hollered to the quarterback, give Leroy the ball. And the quarterback hollered back in the top of his lungs.

Everybody could hear it. Leroy doesn't want the ball. I played peewee football myself. And when I was a halfback and I would be the punt return guy. And sometimes it's fun to return a punt, but not against the police club ball team in Greensboro, North Carolina. I played for first Baptist and we were just okay. But man, when you played the police club, these guys, I don't know where they were finding these boys, but I mean, you know, they had goatees and stuff.

I mean, they were, they were huge. And I go back there and return the punt and I just be back there. Oh God, don't let it come anywhere near me.

You know, I mean, this is going to get clobbered. I don't want the ball. And Moses is running from the snake and Moses and Moses, God is saying to Moses, pick up the snake. Moses doesn't want the snake. You think that, oh yeah, no, it's just easy to take the blessing of God, but you see, he wasn't just picking up a snake. He was picking up a destiny. If I pick up that snake, one or two things are going to happen. It's going to bite me and I'm going to be in bad situation or God's going to do a miracle.

And if he does a miracle like that, that changes everything. God wanted him to know when you release something under his word, what you get back is life changing. It cannot be lost that there are upon us that there are two vibrant symbols signified by that slithering serpent. In the first, Moses certainly understood because he had seen it every day of his life on Pharaoh's headpiece, sticking, protruding out from just above the forehead area was a cobra, usually golden.

You'll see it on every ancient hieroglyphic depicting Pharaoh. The cobra serpent was the symbol of the sovereignty of Egypt. So when he picked up a snake, God was saying, we're going to show you where the real authority is. But there was a serpent that was much earlier than anything that Pharaoh would ever put upon his headpiece. And it was symbolized in a serpent that slithered into the garden in the beginning, and who was the prince of darkness, the accuser of the brethren.

That Satan was metaphorically represented as a serpent and the serpent, the snake was a deceiver, was wily. And when Moses is told to pick up the snake, he's told to pick it up by the tail. It's absolutely the worst way to pick up a snake. Not that I've ever picked up a snake. But if I were to pick up a snake, I would not pick it up by its tail. You can pick up the snake by the tail because you have so much authority over that snake that any way that you do it, you come out ahead, Moses. I want you to see today, you have authority, Moses, that I'm investing in you. And though Pharaoh seems to have all the power, you are going to have authority in my name. And I want you to see even more than that, that you have authority over evil.

See, here's the picture. He throws it down. It becomes a snake. He starts running from the snake. The snake is shaping what he does. And God says, no, pick it up.

You're going to shape what he does. I'm saying greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. I'm saying, don't be afraid of the serpent because God is all powerful. And it is to say that God can take the very thing that looks most evil and end up using it for his glorious purposes.

You meant it for evil, Joseph said to his brothers, but God meant it for good. He is so redemptive. He is so awesome.

He is so capable. You grab it. But I want you to see that you have authority. You have authority over evil.

Because I have a destiny for you. There came the fullness of time in which God saw that there was no one righteous on the earth, not one. How would he save the world? He took what was at his right hand. The father sent the son to the earth. The father sowed his only begotten son who became a man of the dust as we are. And he lived and he loved and he healed and he delivered and he raised the dead and he blessed the poor and they hated him for it. And when he hung on the cross and breathed his last, it was as if the serpent slithered. All of hell thought it had won.

The disciples all ran away. But God was not done. And on the third day, he took him back up to his right hand. And in so doing, God delivered the world from the power of Satan and gave you and I the opportunity to become children of God. This is the way of God. He takes the unlikely.

He takes the ordinary. He takes whatever is in your hand and he uses it for his glory, for your good, and for the transformation of the world. What's that in your hand? For the young or old, man or woman, boy or girl, rich or poor, matters not to God. It's just yielding what's in your hand, recognizing it. Let God's grace flow through you. Because if God says, what's that in your hand?

It means there's something there. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright. Good news from today's teaching. It is what's that in your hand from the series Moses. Alan is back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word today. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing.

It's free and just a click away at PastorAlan.org. Ever feel like something's holding you back as if you lack an important key that could change everything? Is there someone you love who seems stuck? You'd like to help them, but how? What's missing? Blessing. We all need a positive faith-filled vision spoken over our lives. You can learn how to embrace the biblical practice of blessing through Pastor Alan Wright's new book The Power to Bless, which quickly became an Amazon number one bestseller after its recent release. Until now, the hardcover book has only been available through retail sales, but this month, Alan Wright Ministries wants to send you the book as our thank you for your donation. Make your gift today and discover the power to bless. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Alan, so many of us feel like we're inadequate. We don't have the right tools. Maybe we don't have enough faith. And sometimes what we need is right in front of us or even right inside our hearts, the Holy Spirit moving in our lives. Yeah, to say that God uses something that's in your hand, it's something very ordinary that you might never think God could use. I didn't ask Moses to go to get some secret sword out of a stone or find a hidden gem in a dark cave.

It was just something that was in his hand, something that seemed ordinary. And sometimes Daniel, we have to look at our lives and just go, okay, what do I have in hand? And you might look at it and go, well, I've got some messed up relationships. I've got some problems and troubles that I've had to face.

I've got some regrets. Well, even those things, God has a way of using. He's done that in my life and he can do it in anyone's life.

It means you don't have to validate yourself. God does something through Christ to use who you are and all your ordinariness in order to qualify you. Mainly when he comes in this way, he just asks us to surrender, to let go and to let our lives, even though we might feel like they're not much, just clay in his hands. But he can use you and he will use you because God's good and he's all wise. I think so often we're like Moses and we're like, how can I do this? How could you call me to this?

Does my life make a difference? And sometimes when we're asking the questions of God, he's got a question for us and that's what he had with Moses. And he said, what's that in your hand? I mean, just whatever you now have in your hand, even if it was just a wooden staff that seemed so ordinary, God takes it and turns it into something extraordinary. It's the ultimate picture of God's plan for using people. We feel so limited and yet God's unlimited. So there's something in your hand. There's something God can use right now.

What is it? And that's a powerful encouragement from today's work. No, it's not all about if I only I had this or if only I could develop that. Exactly. It's already in your hand. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.