Today on bold steps, Mark Jobe asks the question, what are you dragging behind you?
The moment that you get serious about your walk with God, then your delayed obedience, your unfinished business becomes a priority because he's saying, If I'm going to use you, then you have to deal with the issues that have been asking you to deal with for a long time.
This is bold steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is the senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago and president of Moody Bible Institute. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Mark, you have a burden for men, helping them know who they are in Jesus and their identity in him. And you had a chance to speak at a conference last spring called Walk Worthy. So over the next couple of days, we're going to hear one of these messages you gave
last year called What Are You Dragging Behind? It's true that if we are carrying baggage and unfinished business, we will have a very hard time moving forward with purpose and calling.
Yes. And Wayne, let me just say, I do have a strong burden to see men live out their calling. Walk in God and in the city of Chicago. I discovered years ago that there's so many broken men, so many passive men, so many men that really don't understand their identity and what it means to be a man of God. So that's a real passion of mine, to restore men to godliness. And so I was speaking at an event in canton, Ohio. Probably about a thousand men
were there. We had a phenomenal time. And if you've never checked out a walk worthy conference, we do it every year up in that area. And so I would encourage you to check it out. But that's where this message was preached.
I hear such great reports from it. All right. Let's jump into the message. It's titled, what are you dragging behind?
Today I want to talk to you about. What are you dragging behind? What are you dragging behind? You know, I live in the city of Chicago, and, um, you know, we'll probably. It's like Ohio a bit. I'm assuming that right after the cold winter months and ice and snow. Uh, we have these jolting, awakening spots on our highways that we call potholes. I'm pretty sure we've lost a few people there for a few weeks in the potholes that we have in Chicago. I mean, they're huge sometimes, and
you have to kind of drive avoiding those potholes. Well, um, I hit a pothole, uh, just a few months ago. And, uh, you have to know this about my car. My wife keeps telling me, why are you driving that car? And I say, because it works. It's got 205,000 miles on it. And she says to me, aren't you embarrassed to drive that car? I say, no, it's hijack proof in Chicago. No one wants to hijack it. I mean, it's hijack proof. Seriously.
But I was driving my my nice, reliable car, and I hit a pothole and on the expressway on I-55. And then right after I hit the pothole, I started hearing this, uh, screeching noise under my vehicle like I was dragging something, and it sounded like I was dragging metal. And so I pulled off after driving for a while, thinking I would release it. Or maybe I ran over something. I didn't know what it was. I pulled off to the side of the road and sure enough, I don't
know what it was. Under my car, a big piece of metal had come down and I was dragging something that caused me to slow down, that caused me to have to get off this highway that had that caused me to have to stop. And then I got under, and I'm tugging at this piece of metal that's there. And finally I pulled it off. I don't know what it is, what it what it does. So I put it in the trunk of the car just in case I have to use it later. Um, and that gave
my wife a little bit more ammunition. Why are you driving that junk? But. But I was dragging something that slowed me down. That made me stop. Because anytime that we drag something, anytime that we drag something for a long period of time, it tends to slow us. It tends to eventually stop us in our journey. And that's what I want to talk to you about, because I believe that as I talk to men across this nation.
I run into many men that are dragging things behind, that they have unfinished business, that they have baggage that they're dragging. I run into men all over this country that are neutralized, that are not living out their call. They have the Spirit of God inside of them. They've yielded themselves to God. They said yes to the lordship
of Jesus. But when I talked to them about their life and what they're doing and how they're living, oftentimes I get this sense that they are not living their call out as they were designed to live their call out. They're not living in the fullness of what Jesus has called them to. In fact, oftentimes feeling like I'm kind of missing it, I'm neutralized. I'm not engaged in significant purpose. I know God is God. I've heard that God has a purpose for my life, but I don't feel like
I'm really living it out. And if I were to have those of you that feel like that today, raise your hand. I believe that we'd have a lot of hands go up in this auditorium today. In Exodus chapter three, you know the story. We have the story of a burning bush experience. God is calling Moses at the age of 80, by the way, to make a major shift in his direction. And you remember the story when he was young and full of fire. He tried to pursue the calling of God on his Life in a fleshly way.
When he started to awaken to the fact that God was calling him to be a liberator in the power of the flesh, and how many of you know we can try to do the work of God and the power of the flesh? So he if you remember the story, he killed an Egyptian. And why? Because the the heart was right. Set my people free. But the way he was doing it was wrong. It was in anger and in the flesh. And God used his mistake. And how
many of you know that God uses our mistakes? And God used the mess up, actually, to drive him out of Egypt into the land of Midian? And so later on we will discover that God was actually used his mess up to take him into the middle of his calling. And he finds himself now in Midian. And you know the story. To make a long story short, short, he becomes a shepherd. and long have gone these ideas of I will be a liberator. God is going to use me.
I'm going to be someone that sets my people free, and the power of God is going to be upon me. He's left those ideas now. He's embraced the life of a shepherd. He's comfortable with sheep. He likes the ordinary. He's got two kids, he's got a wife, and he's got a job that is pretty passive. So he's out there. The Bible tells us in Exodus chapter three that he's out in the mountains. He's feeding the sheep, and at a distance he sees this sight that attracts his attention.
And can I tell you that often times that God will invade the ordinary with the extraordinary and unexpected moments? Some of you came to this conference just not expecting very much. Maybe because someone pressured you. Maybe because a friend was going. Maybe because you just had a Saturday off.
Maybe because I don't know why you came here, but can I just say that sometimes in our ordinary, God can interrupt the ordinary with extraordinary when his presence is there, and suddenly Moses becomes aware that there's a bush not too far away. And so he draws closer to that sight. And then God speaks to him out of the bush. And this is a bush that's not consumed, the Almighty
God of the universe, the powerful. I am the Alpha, the Omega, the God that has no beginning, the God that has no end, the God that the God that spoke and launched the stars into the universe and created the orbit of the sun and the world. This God, this God that is never learned because he's always known. The God that's immutable and never changes because you cannot improve upon perfection. The God that's always present. He's omnipresent.
The God that's omniscient. The God that has all power. Omnipotent. The God that's sovereign. So he controls the order of the universe. This God, he shows up in a burning bush. It seems a little trite that this extraordinary God would meddle with the bush. But there's something about this bush. The bush is not consumed. It burns, but it doesn't consume. It burns, but it doesn't seem to crackle. It burns, but there's no smoke because it's not consumed. And it
keeps burning and it's bright. It's the extraordinary working in the ordinary. And as Moses begins to approach this book, then the the sound and voice of God comes from this bush and says, Moses, take off your shoes. Listen, he's in a place that he's walked in many times. He's in the pasture lands of. He's not on Mount Sinai, he's in Midian, he's in a pagan territory. And God says to Moses, take off your sandals because you're on
holy ground. It's the extraordinary invading the ordinary. Listen. Look up at me right now, man. I want to tell you something. The God of the universe is present right now. The God that has the power to transform your life. He's. He's here in this moment, in the ordinary place, with his extraordinary presence. And he does what God does. He challenges Moses. He reroutes Moses life. He says, Moses, I'm
going to use you. I'm calling you. Moses has this battle with God, like we always do in a calling. There is no calling without battle. There is no calling without a struggle. Do I fit in? Can I do it? Is it really me? Do I have the power? Do I have the ability? And finally, Moses capitulates to the call of God upon his life. And the very first thing that he does is he goes and, well, he's got to talk to his father in law because his
father in law owns the business. And he basically tells his father in law, hey, um, he makes up a story. He doesn't tell him I'm going to set people free. He basically says, I'm going to go visit family. Will you release me to take your daughter Zafira, and your two grand boys back to, uh, back to the land of Egypt? And that's where we pick up the story.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Today's message is titled what are you dragging behind? Mark, before we return to the message, I want to encourage our listeners to reach out to us with their testimonies and comments, Bible questions even. We love getting to hear what's on your mind, and sometimes we even read what you've sent us on the radio. And I want to share a bit of a heavy note we received Mark. I think it touches on some of the themes of today's message.
It's a letter from a listener named Gary who says, I listened to the teachings on Joseph on an earlier broadcast called Dare to Dream Again, and for a short time I was encouraged. But then I remembered how, even as a servant and in prison, God blessed everything Joseph put his hand to do. He says Joseph walked upright, made all the right choices. And then he goes on with a very personal note, doesn't he?
Yeah. He goes on to tell us that he was saved 50 years ago when he was 17, and as a young boy he was molested, which led to some of his own struggle with sexual Addictions and thought he was going to die two years ago. But God started to work in his life, and he spent a lot of sleepless nights weeping for his own soul and realized that after 50 years, he had been a rebellious and carnal Christian. But Gary goes on to say, you know, he thought that there was room for revival in his heart,
that God was going to change him around. And he heard the story of Joseph and he thought, yes, God, maybe you can do that in my life. But he says, but then I realized that Joseph had been faithful to God and done everything right, but I had not. Instead of God's blessing, I feel like God is against me to frustrate my life. Thank you for listening.
Very honest, isn't he?
Yeah, that was honest. So, Gary, let me just say this. Thank you for being honest. And I believe that God has done an awakening of sorts. After 50 years. You've come to the realization, hey, I've been living rebellious and carnal, and I want you to know, Gary, you're not alone. Sometimes we come to Christ, but we allow our own will our own way. And God has to. We wrestle with God. But here's what I want to remind you about, Gary. God is not against you. God is for you. You
may be reaping the consequences of your rebellion. You've lived for many, many years sowing seeds, and so you're reaping a bad harvest. But I believe that God can turn that around. I believe that God can take our mess and turn it into a message for others. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that when you turn to God, Gary, that God is for you. In fact, I know that God wants to restore your soul. Amen.
That God wants to start to rebuild you. And I believe that God, just as he used Joseph, wants to use you as well.
That doesn't mean that everything in your life is going to be smooth, that the problems are going to go away. It just means that, you know, the presence of God is in the midst of it. So I want to encourage you, Joseph, to rebuke those lies the accuser tells you you're no good. God is against you. Look at what you've done. How could you expect God to love you?
That is straight from the pit of hell. The Bible tells us if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and that there is no condemnation, no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. And so I want to pray for you right now, Gary. But I do believe, I do believe that God can use even our years of rebellion to become a story that inspires and touches other people as well. So, father,
I pray for Gary. You know how he feels like so much in his life is going wrong. And father, I'm sure that he's reaping years of bad seed sowing and he's reaping the harvest. But I pray in a special way that you would step into Gary's moment of darkness. I pray that he would feel the presence of your love. I pray God that you would wipe away the confusion about his future. I pray that you would dispel condemnation and guilt coming from himself and from the accusation of
the enemy. And I pray God that today he would sense in a fresh new way hope for his life God and Father. I pray that he would begin to walk in his calling, not in a life that's free from problems, but in a life that has your presence in him. I pray that you would use Gary beyond what he could ever have imagined or fathomed, and I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. That's powerful encouragement, Mark. Thank you and you have your own story to tell. We'd love to hear it. And if you'd like to get in touch with us, just use our website Bold Steps. Org or give us a call and leave your message on a recorded line by dialling 312329 2011. 312329 2011. We listen to all of them. We read all of them. Some of them we get to talk about on the air. But we really would appreciate you contacting us. All right. Now back
to our message for today. It's titled, what are you dragging behind? Here's Mark.
And the Bible tells us in Exodus chapter four that Moses says, okay, I'm listening to God. I'm going to do what God has called me to do. I'm on my way to Egypt. God is going to use me in this powerful way. And so I've said yes to the call. I've picked up my family, I'm leaving my security. I'm taking my wife. I'm taking my kids. I'm on a journey in faith to say, God, I'm saying yes to you. I'm reengaging in my call. And the Bible says in verse 18, Then Moses went back to Jethro.
His father in law said to him, let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive, Jethro said. Go. I wish you well. And the Bible goes on to tell us that Moses gathered his stuff. He started to go on to Israel, and in verse 24 it says, at a lodging place on the way the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zafira took a knife, a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin, touched Moses feet with it, and said, surely you are a bridegroom
of blood to me. And she said, so the Lord let him go. At that time she said, you are a bridegroom of blood. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. If you're dragging baggage behind number one, write this down. Your baggage or unfinished business will hold you back on the way to your higher
calling or on the way to you re-engaged calling. It just seems wrong to me that after Moses says yes to God, that when he's on his journey of faith, that when he's starting to follow God, that he stops at this cheap motel on the way and the Bible says at the lodging place, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. And I think to myself, God, why are you so angry at Moses, who just said yes to you? Why is it that you are about to take out the life of the vessel that had
just said, I surrender, I'm rerouting my life. I'm going to follow you. Are you have to dig a little bit to understand this, But it becomes very apparent in this scripture that Moses had baggage. Unfinished business. Listen. Delayed obedience. Procrastinated action that God had spoken to him and spoken to him, and confirmed in his word and spoken clearly in his word, and convicted him. And they had dialogued it.
It becomes evident they had dialogued about it with his wife before, but they had failed to take action on that which God had been clear about. And you know what happens. Is that sometimes our future destiny can be sabotaged by baggage of unfinished business that we refuse to deal with before God when he's been asking us to deal with it. What was the problem? Well, it becomes clear in this passage that Moses has a father. Moses
has a Jew. Moses has part of the called out people that it was clear back in Genesis, through Abraham, that it was very clear that when a boy male was born that they needed to be circumcised. Moses knew it. We don't know exactly why Moses didn't circumcise his sons, but he had refused to circumcise his male child. And it wasn't a problem. It wasn't a problem when he was just leading sheep. It wasn't a problem when he
was not engaged in a higher call. but as soon as he was called to his higher call, then suddenly his delayed obedience became a big issue to God.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, the start of a lesson titled what are You Dragging Behind? We'll continue with the second part at this time tomorrow, so be listening then. And if you ever have trouble joining us for these daily messages, there are plenty of ways for you to catch up on your own time. Wherever you are with your phone or smart device, you can download the Bold Steps app or subscribe to the Bold Steps podcast to listen on the go. You can even
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