Deut 8:2-3 - You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. NASU
 

• Hopefully, It Was Humility 

The Israelites were led out of Egypt, but God didn't take them straight to the Promised Land. He could have led them straight to the Promised Land in 5-6 weeks. Instead, He led them in the wilderness for 40 years.
 
What was the purpose of 40 years in the wilderness?
 
Here is the answer: "the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you,"
 
God was trying to teach His children a lesson on "humility".
 
Have you ever thought while going through a trial that God is trying to teach you a lesson about "humility"? 

• I'm Going To Be Honest 

I guarantee you when I was going through a trial or my wilderness I didn't see it as a time when God was trying to teach me "humility" I saw it as the devil trying to defeat me.
 
I need to rethink many of my trials or wilderness wanderings now. 

• Wilderness Time 

The Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and were now being led by God's fire at night and cloud by day. As Christians, we have come through our Red Sea, which was our baptism. We are now in our wilderness and as Christians, we are to be humble and always relying on God's Word.
 
Has your wilderness time taught you to be humble?
 
Has your wilderness time taught you to depend on God's Word?
 
Notice what vs. 3 says, "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
 
A humble person will listen to God's Word.
 
This is what Jesus said, Matt 11:29-30 - "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS."For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
 
As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness God was trying to teach them some very valuable lessons.
 
If you are a Christian and have been baptized (immersed) into Christ then you are wandering in the wilderness. You are journeying towards the Promised Land and God will be trying to teach you "Humility and Dependence Upon Him".
 
Stay alert as you travel to the Promised Land. God has a lesson or two for you on the way.
 
Think About These:
 
It is when we forget ourselves that we do things that are most likely to be remembered.
 
The person who does things that count doesn't stop to count them.

Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word

I Sam. 16:6-7 - When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 

• Samuel Looking For God's Man 

The Lord told Samuel to go to Bethlehem and anoint one of Jesse's sons who the Lord would indicate was going to be the next king of Israel. Samuel walks into the sacrificing area with Jesse and sees Jesse's oldest son, Eliab.
 
As soon as Samuel sees Eliab he thinks surely this is the one God will have me anoint as the next king, but God said, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him;…"
 
Samuel had made a judgment because of his good looks and his height, but the Lord said he is not the one I want you to anoint because I have rejected him.
 
Samuel made the same mistake we all have made at one time and that is he judged Eliab by his appearance. 

• How To Judge Like God 

If we are going to judge like God then we are going to have to judge a person by their heart. Read the text again: "…for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
 
I have known a lot of coaches in my 60 + years and every great coach wants to know what their athlete's heart is like. When it gets tough will they break or will they dig down deep and go to another level.
 
Going to the next level doesn’t have anything to do with how you look or how tall you are. It has to do with your heart.
 
My all-time favorite saying goes like this: You don't always have to be in the lead if you have the HEART to come from behind. 

• How's Your Heart Today? 

What is it the Lord wants you to accomplish for Him?
 
Remember the Lord knows your heart and He would not be calling you if He didn't think you were the right person for the job.
 
Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, and all of Jesse's sons passed by Samuel and the Lord rejected all of them. Samuel says to Jesse do you have any other children? Jesse says, "There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep."
 
In other words, Jesse doesn't have very high hopes for David. He is not like his brothers. He is not only tending sheep and the youngest; he is fair skinned with red hair. In this area, people have dark hair, eyes and complexion.
 
One thing the Lord knows about David is he has heart. You judge for yourself about David's heart. Here is the conversation David had with King Saul before he fights Goliath:
 
"Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God."  And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (I Sam.17)
 
David's older brothers were there when Goliath threw out the challenge but they didn't accept the challenge. David not only will accept the challenge he will kill Goliath with a stone and then cut off his head with his own sword.
 
Why?
 
The reason is very clear to see David had heart exactly what God was able to see.
 
God is calling you to do something and it is because you have heart. All you have to do is go and God will go with you.
 
Think About This:
 
When God measures a man, He puts the tape around his heart instead of his head.

​Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word
​

 2 Kings 6:5 - "As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water."Oh no, my lord!" he cried out. "It was borrowed!" 

• We've All Experienced A Crisis 

I am sure many of us can relate to this crisis. You borrow something from someone and then you break it or lose it.
 
Can we prevent a crisis from barging into our lives?
 
I believe the answer is "yes". We can avoid some but not all of them. If you are like me you can think back on some of your past crises and had you listened to the advice you were given by parents, friends, or spouse you could have avoided some of them.
 
There is no way we will avoid all crisis situations. 

• What Is A Crisis? 

A crisis happens when we lose our abilities to cope with a personal life situation. Some crises are very hard to endure. Some will last a very long time.
 
We have an American phrase "going postal".  This phrase was first coined after a mass killing in Edmond, OK in 1986 at a Post Office building.
 
There a postal worker had been reprimanded the day before and thought he was going to be terminated the next day. When he went to work the next day he killed 14 people and wounded 6 others. Then he committed suicide.
 
He not only didn’t know how to cope with a crisis in his own life, but he put numerous families into a crisis situation because of his actions. 

• Different Types Of Crises 

There are different types of crises. Some end as fast as they start i.e. lost your car keys, wallet or wedding ring only to find them a few minutes later.
 
If you are in a crisis right now maybe this Pump Up will help you through it. 

• Facts About A Crisis 

First, there are no insignificant ones. Our lives rest figuratively speaking on a set of balance scales. When one side gets too far out of balance a crisis is near.
 
When someone tells us to "Be Patient" they are actually saying "Learn to cope with your crisis". The next time you find yourself in a crisis remember this - there are no insignificant ones.  Next, ask yourself, "How can I cope with this?"
 
Can I figure this out on my own, should I confide in a friend or should I seek professional help?

Proverbs 15:22 says, "Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success." NLT
 
Second, they can illuminate us. The crises we find ourselves in can open our eyes to see things as we've never seen them. What crisis can you look back on and say honestly, "Yeah, I am glad I went through it. It has made me a better person."
 
Now not all crises will have this effect but I would say more will than won't. I remember a man telling me one time, "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger." I really didn't want to hear that then, but he was correct.
 
Think About This:
 
See your crisis as a liberation, not an incarceration.

Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word

1 Samuel 14:6 - Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few."   NASB 

• Jonathan Was On A Mission 

Jonathan was the son of King Saul, Israel's first king. The Israelites are fighting the Philistines and this isn't anything new. Jonathan has great faith in the Lord and his own capabilities. He tells his armor-bearer to come on let's take the fight to them and they cross over into enemy territory.
 
Jonathan is a man of tremendous faith. He and his armor-bearer are alone as they go out to engage the enemy in a skirmish. He believes God is able to conquer the Philistines with the two of them as well as if they were joined by 100 soldiers or more. 

• What Is Your Mission? 

The one great thing about life is waking up every day with a mission. This is what makes life exciting and worth living. So, what is your mission?  
 
If you don't have a mission I would like to ask you to join me with this mission.
 
Gal 6:10 - So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. 
 
Let's make it our mission in life to go about doing good to all people and especially to those who believe in or have faith in God.
 
What I watch on the nightly news is people doing evil to other people. What was done to Justice Kavanaugh was a very sad picture of how evil people can be and I am concerned it is only going to get worse.
 
So my solution is 2,000 years old and it was given to us by the Holy Spirit when He had the apostle Paul inform us we should "do good to all people."
 
I pray you will ask God daily, to use you, to do good to someone you meet every day of the remainder of your life.
 
It has been said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing." I know those of you reading these Pump Ups are good men and women so I exhort you to do good to someone today and help us conquer evil.
 
Think On These:
 
There is no limit to the amount of good a man or woman can do if he/she doesn't care who gets the credit.

People seldom get dizzy spells from doing good turns.

Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word
​

​Luke 4:25-26, 28 - “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.… And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;…" 

• A Movie Line 

In the movie, "A Few Good Men" Col. Nathan R. Jessup played by Jack Nicholson makes the movie's famous saying, "You can't handle the truth!" to Lt. Daniel Kaffee played by Tom Cruise.
 
This statement I am sure has been quoted many times by many people. 

• The Truth Some Times Hurts 

It sure fits the scripture reference above when Jesus told the Israelites there were many widows in Israel during the famine of Elijah's day, but the only one God helped was a Gentile widow from Zarephath.
 
He goes on to say there were many lepers in the days of Elisha but God only helped another Gentile named Naaman who was a Captain of the Syrian army.
 
This was, in fact, the truth, but the Israelites could not handle these truths. They became so infuriated they wanted, and tried, to kill Jesus over His quoting these two examples of God showing His mercy to the Gentiles and not the Israelites. 

• Has The Truth Hurt Us? 

How many times have we become upset by someone telling us the truth?
 
Or there is the flip side to this coin, how many times have we been upset when someone didn't tell us the truth? In John 8:32 Jesus says. "…the truth will make you free."
 
What truthful statement are we hearing that we are fighting against today? 

• A Time When I Didn't Want To Hear The Truth 

When I was a teenager my parents tried to teach me, but I wanted to do it my way. My way cost me a lot of money, headaches, and some time in jail.
 
I will share with you one of my costly blunders: It was the night I got pulled over by the Ohio police. As I sat in the car under the influence of alcohol and a 1971 movie title "Vanishing Point" I decided to run from the police. As the officer was walking up to ask me for my driver's licenses and registration I pushed the gas pedal to the floor of my 455 cubic inch Pontiac and I was gone.
 
My bright idea was it is only 2 miles to the PA state line and once across the state line I will be free. Why would I believe something like that? In the movie, every time Kowalski was being chased when he crossed the state line the police stopped chasing him.
 
There is only one problem with that belief, it is false. The police in real life don't stop at the state line. They come right across after you and that is the truth. I received 11 citations that night, 6 from the Ohio and 5 from the PA police officers.
 
I should have listened to my parents when they said, "When the police want to pull you over, you pull over and be polite." 

• The Most Important Truth

What are we going to do with the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the One who lived a perfect life, and the One who died on the cross to redeem us?
 
Hebrews 9:22 says, "…all things are cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
 
This is why Jesus poured out His blood on the cross of Calvary. It was so all mankind could have their sins forgiven. One must choose to accept the truth and be redeemed by the blood of Christ.
 
So my question to you is this: "Can you handle the truth about Jesus?"
 
Will you man up, woman up, cowboy up or cowgirl up and say, "I have sinned and need the forgiveness that comes from the blood of Christ."
 
We all have sinned and this is the truth. We all can be forgiven and this is the truth, but you must do it according to God's terms.
 
God's Word says, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
 
Think About This:
 
Many men seek the truth-not because it is lost, but because they are.
 
To hear the truth and not accept it does not nullify it.
 
Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word