The Message of the Spider

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. I hope you will as well! I was reading some material about Spiders today online, and learned a lot. I especially enjoyed what I read from author Bob Gass, and would like to share some thoughts with you.

The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings' palaces. Proverbs 30:28

Everything a spider needs to survive and succeed in life, God put within it. Swipe it with a broom and before it hits the ground its fall is broken. It just reaches inside, releases another protein-filled silk-like thread, slides down, finds a safe place, then comes back stronger than ever and builds a new web.

What's the message of the spider?

1. Everything you need, God has placed within you! The Bible says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and Godliness… He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV).

What has God given us? "Everything we need." What has God made us participants in? "His divine nature." Wow! Your future is not determined by who you know and who you don't or who likes you and who doesn't. The power to fulfill your future is within you! The warfare over your life and the struggle you're in is about what you were born, called and gifted to do. So, "Stir up… the… gift of God… that is in you" (2 Timothy 1:6 AMP). In other words - start producing!

Life may have knocked you down, but it hasn't knocked you out. What's at work within you will triumph over what's at work around you. Stand on God's Word, draw on your faith, hold on, and when the smoke clears, rise up and announce, "By the grace of God, I'm back!" You say, "But I've lost so much." As long as you still have what God put within you, you can make it

When it's time to lay eggs the spider produces a particular type of silk thread and spins it into a protective sac, then deposits the eggs. When an enemy comes to steal the spider's offspring it gets trapped on the sticky fluids that line the silk. Then the spider wraps the enemy in another kind of thread and turns it into food.

What's the message of the spider?

2. The battle is over your future! Don't let the enemy have your children. Don't let him rob you of your potential. Don't let him steal your future.

When those with weak wills, weak knees and weak faith saw the giants in the Promised Land they wanted to go back to Egypt. But not Caleb. He said, "Nor fear the people of the land; for they are our bread" (Numbers 14:9). When you understand what the battle in your life is about, you actually begin to feed off the stuff the enemy throws at you and say, "Bring it on, what does not destroy me will only make me stronger."

Be like Shammah. "When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled… But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory" (2 Samuel 23:11-12). Shammah knew what he was fighting for. That lentil patch put food on his table. It represented his family's future. It was his legacy. And when Shammah stood up to the enemy, "The Lord brought about a great victory." And He'll do the same for you!

The spider has eight eyes yet it can barely see. What makes it an avid hunter is that the hair follicles on its legs are full of sensitivity and it can discern everything that's going on around it.

What's the message of the spider?

3. Use your God-given sense of discernment! You can discern more with your Spirit than you can see with your eyes. "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things" (1 John 2:20). God will let you know things you can neither prove nor explain. Jesus said that He would show us "things to come" (John 16:13). But He won't do it so that we can ego trip, or run around acting flakey. No, "He shall glorify Me: He shall receive of Mine, and shall [show] it unto you" (John 16:14). God gives 'inside information' to those who seek to glorify Him. So stop living beneath your Spiritual privilege.

How can a spider walk across the sticky threads of its web and not get stuck, yet those same threads will trap every predator that enters? The secret is - oil! Its tiny suction cup shaped feet exude fresh oil with every step, so it glides through stuff others can't survive in or get bogged down in.

What's the message of the spider?

4. You need to be continually anointed with the oil of God's Spirit!

Looking back, you realize that's what kept you sane when you thought you were going to lose your mind. It's why you made it when others didn't. And it's why you need to stay filled with God's Spirit every day. The Psalmist said, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil! (Psalm 92:10).

But there are four truths in Exodus, chapter 30, concerning the anointing oil that we need to keep in mind if we're going to live an anointed life.

• Without it, our ministry is ineffective. "You shall anoint Aaron and his sons… that they may minister to Me" (Exodus 30:30).
• Our children need to experience it.
  "This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations" (Exodus 30:31).
• God won't anoint our fleshly efforts and agendas. "It shall not be poured on man's flesh; nor shall you make any other like it" (Exodus 30:32).
• We are in danger when we try to substitute it with other things. "Whoever makes any like it… must be cut off" (Exodus 30:38).
  

Before you leave home every morning get down on your knees and pray, "Lord, anoint me with fresh oil!"

Some spiders have so much venom in them that they can kill anything they come in contact with simply by releasing what's in their mouth.

What's the message of the spider?

5. Check what's coming out of your mouth! Paul writes, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). What are you taking in? What are you giving out? Faith or fear, hope or discouragement, joy or sadness, truth or error, love or bitterness?

The Bible says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" (Proverbs 18:21). Notice two things in this Scripture:

• This is a life and death issue.
• Your words are like seeds; they always produce fruit. You can't believe God for His best if you go around expecting and expressing the worst.
  

When what you say consistently contradicts what God's Word says, you're sabotaging yourself. The words you speak have power - and consequences. So begin to correct yourself. Instead of saying, "I can't change," or, "I'll never get out of this mess," start saying what God's Word says.

Do what Jesus did in the wilderness: open your mouth and declare, "It is written." Jesus knew the Scriptures so well that He was able to tell Satan, "It's written that I don't have to bow to you. It's written that I don't have to come to you for what I need." And what was the result? "The Devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him" (Matthew 4:11). When you're under attack open your mouth, declare God's Word, and the forces of Heaven will come to your aid! Blessings!

Pastor Rusty