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BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS

by Rev Roger & Flo Gamble (rev@masterstouch.ca)
Master's Touch Ministries Fellowship Int'l
www.pastor.ca

We have just crossed the threshold into 2005. As we enter this year it appears the enemy would like to spread a smoke screen before many eyes. This smoke screen is designed to obstruct the reality of what God is doing and wanting to do in this year.

The smoke screen is designed to bring discouragement. Combined with it comes doubt and fear in regards to the future. For some the smoke screen will seem to cloud the dreams and hopes that you have hung on to for such a long time -- believing that one day they would become reality. For others the smoke screen will cause you to go into some sort of a spiritual holding pattern instead of moving ahead into the fulfilment of God's promises.

I keep getting a picture of a baby chick that has just started to break out of its shell. The chick has two options; one is to quit trying, hunker down and just wait for the inevitable to happen, the other is to keep pecking away, struggling to break through the shell of past protection into the freedom of the future.

There is one big difference that we often don't often talk about. That is the mental state of the chick. First, the baby chick, regardless of whether it stays in the shell or exerts the effort to get free, holds onto all the same dreams. To be clear, the chick that stays where it is dies holding on to the dreams of a future just as surely as the chick who breaks free of its past life in the shell lives to see the fulfilment of the very same dreams.

I believe today the church is full of baby chicks. Not all are young, but all have a dream. Some have never invested the time or exerted the energy to break free from the old shell. Sometimes I can't help but wonder why?

Is it because we so often find in the church so many people who have a legalistic bent? They come around and recommend that the baby chicks should 'stay in their shell' for that is where there is 'safety and protection'. It was not any different in gospel times.

Remember how it was with Peter and the boat that was being beaten about by the storm? Peter could have stayed in the 'safety' of the boat; he could have remained in the company of his fishermen friends, but by faith he chose to get out of the boat, leave it and all it contained behind in order to go to where Jesus was. That is how he walked on water.

That is what is required of us also if we would walk on water. The sad and truly frightening thing is that too often we choose to stay in the boat. We try to exist within the confines of the shell of our old life. (Ever wonder why it seems you are always walking on egg shells?) This is not the life God has planned for us! Unfortunately, the longer we believe the illusion that the shell represents a safety zone, the harder it becomes to break free. Far too many Christians simply struggle perpetually, expending so much effort just to exist. Why? Because they are afraid of the unknown in the life outside the shell.

We each have a choice to make. Will we break free of the past, and move on into the freedom of the fulfilment of God's dreams for us? Do we break free of the limitations put on us by others (and sometimes even ourselves)? Or will we remain trapped in the shell, living a lie? The chick that stays in the shell dies. That which was the safety zone for the embryo is the shackles of death for the chick that fails to break through and walk out into a new level of life.

Some of you may say, "Those are hard words". I agree, "Yes, they are difficult but they are also extremely important". So now, it is time for each one of us to make our decisions. Let's each one of us look deep within our own hearts (not some one else's) and ask the big question. Are you walking in all that God has given you to dream of walking in? If so, then keep on doing it -- and begin to encourage others that they not only should but can walk in their dreams too. If you are not walking in the fulness of the dreams God has for you, then please hear this -- it is time, maybe even past time. Today, start to walk in all God has for you. Don't delay any longer! Don't allow fear or doubt or any other emotion to hinder you from breaking out of the old shell. Remember, your life depends on it.

It may be hard breaking free of past roadblocks, but that doesn't matter because God is with you and will enable you to do all that is needed. It doesn't matter whether you either erected or allowed others to erect the roadblocks that have been placed in your path. What matters is that you can break through them and step out into the fulness of God's dream for you. Only as you take the risk and push through to complete the task, can you walk in the new level of life God is calling you to. He is already there -- waiting, watching. Will He see you begin to take the steps, to climb out of the old comfort zone, leaving all behind to follow Him in new directions, new adventures and new victories with Him?

I trust we will all encourage ourselves in the Lord, let Him strengthen us and build us up so that we can walk into all He has planned for us, all He plans to do in us and through us in this new year. Let's invest it for His glory.

Jesus Cares About You & So Do We - Together We Can Make a Difference in many lives this year!