An old legend tells how the devil had put some of his tools up for sale, each marked with the appropriate price. Hatred, lust, jealousy, deceit, lying and pride were all there. But one was marked with a ridiculously high price, it was a harmless looking but well-worn tool. A buyer asked, “What tool is this?” “Discouragement,” replied the devil. “And why is it priced so high?” asked the man. “Because it is more useful to me than all of the others. I can pry open a man’s heart with that when I can’t get near to him with anything else. It’s so badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since few people know it’s me behind it, and almost no one makes good choices when they’re discouraged.”
We’ve all known discouragement to varying degrees, it’s a human condition. Even the giants in the faith, such as the Apostle Paul, knew times of deep despair. He wrote, “We were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). The great revivalist, Charles Wesley fought constantly with bouts of discouragement and depression, but never let it keep him from his calling. He wrote 8,989 hymns and preached and taught daily as well as writing many books.
Our story today, starts with David thinking all the wrong things. He got full of himself, his problems, his sacrifice, his pain. Satan loves to get us like that....He’s in survival mode. He's come to a point in his life that he's thinking exactly the opposite of what God has in mind, for him, the total opposite of what God promised that He had in store for him. We know that Saul was pursuing David. He barely escaped several times when Saul tried to assassinate him. He had to spend a lot of time running around in the wilderness and hiding. But when we get to 1 Samuel 27, he's at a particular point of weakness. David is so busy just staying alive, that he’s relying on his own strength, and his own ability. (Go ahead, try to pick yourself up by your own shoe laces) Everyone has failed so far!
It’s possible to get so locked into the drama at the moment, that you forget that God is greater, and larger than your moment. So, you know what David does? He seeks refuge in the city of Gath, Oh, yeah, remember that guy, Goliath of Gath,... the giant that David conquered and beat? Yeah, that's the Gath. Gath is a place He knows Saul will never seek him out. You see, David wrote about God being our refuge, but when it came to live or die, he leaned on another refuge..(Somebody say “Help the boy”)
So he goes to Gath, a Philistine city, and meets with the king, (King Achish), and he makes a treaty with him. And by doing that, he didn't just go by himself. He went with his wives and children. He went with his mighty men. He went with his whole entourage. He's got 600 mighty men that are with him plus all of their wives, all of their families. In total, probably well over 1,500 people going to Gath with David. (Tell somebody, “Someone is following your example”) Be careful little hands what you do, little eyes what you see, little feet where you go.....
So he pretends to have this treaty with Achish A king of the Philistines. (what’s going on is that, old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”..) concept. Sounds like politics, doesn’t it! Undercurrents and whispering, and division and taking sides.
As time went on, the King started to trust David, so eventually, he gives him his own city, the city of Ziklag, Which means “Measured and pressed down”, which was certainly what happened to David there. When you depend on the wrong refuge, the clock is now ticking, you’re being measured and pressed down.....
Now, the interesting part, as time goes on, Achish is gathering all of his forces to battle the Israelites, and to battle King Saul.
That's something David doesn't want to do. God had told him to “touch not his anointed” Saul, even if Saul had become power crazy. (God is bigger than the power guys!) But suddenly, Achish the king says, "David, you can't come." The rest of the Philistines are kind of nervous about your loyalty. So, what does Achish do? He sends David back home to Ziklag, and that's where the story begins to get interesting.
Perhaps the worst form of despair and discouragement is when you realize that you’re beginning to reap the consequences of your own bad choices. Choices that are responsible for the mess you’re in. Add to that the accusations of those you thought were your friends, who now are blaming you for problems they’re having because of your failure. You feel alone, rejected, and as if everything you’ve been working toward has gone up in smoke.
As I was preparing this message, I found out something I didn’t know..... Did you know that cats can’t taste the flavor of sweetness? That’s right. Felines cannot taste sweet. It’s like their tongues are color blind to sweetness. No wonder cats are so grumpy all the time! They can taste sour, bitter, saltiness, and meatiness, but not sweetness. if you’re like a cat who struggles to taste the sweetness of life, you have a sickness of the soul, and you need to encourage yourself in the Lord, for the healing of your bitterness of soul...
That’s where we find David in 1 Samuel 30:6. He’s having difficulty tasting any sweetness in life. But it’s at this moment of utter despair and gloom that we read one of the most encouraging sentences in all the Bible. It breaks through the storm clouds like a ray of sunshine: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Another version says “But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”.
It teaches us that No matter how low you go, Failure is never final for that one who has the call of God upon them.. (and we all do) Even though, like the prodigal son, you find yourself in the muck of a pig pen, polluted by the corruption of the world, and even though those circumstances are the direct result of your own rebellion against the Father and His instructions, His grace can still break through the gloom and find you there. Even in the pig pen, you can say, “I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned ’” ( Luke 15:18).
And you can be assured that the gracious, forgiving Father will see you from afar, He will see you before you get there, He will feel compassion for you and have everything prepared before you arrive, and will run to you and welcome you back into His presence! Oh, you watch God as He runs to you!!! The prodigal son came back and everything that was his was still waiting for him!!!
How low and how far can believers go and still get back? Remember the old Chubby Checkers song, “Limbo Rock,” with the line, “How low can you Limbo?” The answer, even for believers, is, “Pretty low, pretty low!” (I’m not about to try it) David was in the lowest place he had ever been in his life. But God sees the rest of your story. Someone say, “Thank God, He sees beyond what I can see.”
As you follow the story, you see at first, things got much better for David. Saul did stop pursuing him. He was given a city and he was gaining wealth and power. Things were looking up. Sin is always that way: It snags us by making us think that it will get us where we want to go, even if we take another path other than the path God gave us. When I’m out walking, I’m always aware that the farther I go, the farther I have to go to get back.....At first, going our own way, may seem like it’s delivering on its promise. But then, like buying on credit, the bills come due, and those chickens all come home to roost.
It was a three day trip, (which means they were gone for weeks with the Philistine army) Now, to get back to Ziklag, and as they approached Ziklag David and his men no doubt talked excitedly about how good it would feel to get home to their families, to enjoy the embrace of their wives and children, to eat a home cooked meal and to sleep in their own beds. But as they came over the hill and looked down on what they expected to be a peaceful domestic scene, they were horrified to see nothing but a pile of smoldering rubble, where their city had been, just ashes! Their town was burned to the ground, their families were nowhere in sight, and everything they owned was gone. These tough warriors fell apart and wept until they had no more strength to weep (it says in chapter 30:4).
To add to David’s despair, his own men--those who had pledged their allegiance to him, those who had gone into battle with him so many times—were so overwhelmed they now spoke of stoning him, they were so bitter! (Oh how bitter and deep are the wounds of a friend)! So in addition to David’s grieving for his wives, he felt rejected, totally alone in this world. And now he realized that he was in this mess because he had acted solo, without the Lord’s direction. (Oh, you better take God with you, where you plan to go).
If the enemy can make us think that our situation is unique, and we’re the only one, then he can make us despair of thinking that there is any way back. Guilt and condemnation are murderers, and kidnappers. Oh, my, “Sin will take you where you never planned to go, it will keep you there longer than you ever wanted to stay, it will cost you more than you could possibly pay, and make it harder than you ever imagined to find your way back”...
But there’s always a way back! (Somebody needs to take a shouting break)....You can never go so low but that the grace of God is not sufficient to bring you back. There is always hope in the Lord!
Perhaps some here today have at times felt overwhelmed with discouragement. It may be to a health problem or a family problem. Maybe you can’t find the right job, or you’re in debt so deeply that you can’t see your way out. Maybe you’re lonely, without family or friends who seem to care about you. Perhaps you’ve sinned and you feel like God has cast you off. But for you, .....if there was no one else on the planet......., God put David’s terrible situation, right here in the Bible to say, “There is a way back! In times of deepest despair, there is hope in the Lord!”
David’s experience teaches us a number of things about the way back..
THE WAY BACK IS AN INTENTIONAL WAY.
“But David” .....This is one of the many great “buts” in the Bible. Everything around David was gloom and doom. His property was either destroyed or stolen. His wives and children and all his possessions were gone and he didn’t know at this point if he would ever see them again. His men were talking of killing him. “But David!” intentionally looked beyond the smoldering ruins of Ziklag to the greatness of his God.
I love that one of the names of God, is “Jehovah Shammah”-The God who is There” He’s there with you, and He’s there before you get there! He not only waits for the prodigal, he’s there with him in the pig pen!
David’s “strengthened himself.” It implies persistent and continuous effort. Coming back to the Lord at a time of despair requires personal initiative. It doesn’t just happen by itself. Sometimes, like the psalmist, you have to give yourself a good slap, and grab yourself by the nap of the neck and give yourself a good talking to!
1 Sam. 43:5-11 “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, He is still the help of my countenance, and my God”. (Come on, talk to yourself, get real)
Like the prodigal son, you have to determine, “I will arise, get up out of this pig pen, and go back to my father!” The way back is always intentional and with purpose.
THE WAY BACK IS A VERY PERSONAL PATH.
“David strengthened himself in the Lord HIS God.” David knew God in a personal way. God was not just the God of David’s country, though he lived in the covenant nation of Israel. God was not just the God of David’s father, though he was raised in a God-fearing home, God was not just his church’s God, though David frequently was in the temple. God was David’s personal God.
You do not know God if you do not know Him personally. You can know about God, but not KNOW GOD. You can use a lot of religious language and attend worship services and even say eloquent prayers, Go through all the motions, but not know God personally. That’s why we encourage folks to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because then you have the encouragement, inspiration, divine unction, and source of power on the inside, where He moves, and stirs and quickens on a constant basis. Oh, my, BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT! Jesus said, “For this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, through Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). And it was Jesus who said, “Go tarry until you be endued with power from on high” You can be saved and never tap into the real power God has available to you....Be filled with the Spirit!
THE WAY BACK IS A SELF SACRIFICIAL WAY. That’s about laying aside my wants for His desires. To repent doesn’t just mean to lay your stuff on the altar, it means to lay yourself on the altar. David got distracted, he hadn’t sought God’s direction in his decision to go over to Achish, king of Gath. But now David is very careful to seek God’s direction and to obey it. If you had to fall flat on your face to learn it, then Ok it’s worth it!!!
A tourist visiting Australia was so into her facebook page on her smartphone that she literally walked right off a pier, plunging twenty feet into the deep waters of the ocean below. Rescue workers were called and after spending twenty-minutes treading water, while clinging tightly to her smartphone, she was saved. (can’t lose that smart phone) Sadly, many people are distracted, to their own peril, by the cares, riches and pleasures of this life that they never achieve the calling of God on their lives.
In David’s day, a person could seek God’s will through the Urim and Thummim which were contained in the ephod, or vest plate on the front of the garment of the high priest. These stones were contained in a pouch behind the breastplate. It was a God-ordained system of God’s answer to “Yes and No” questions for guidance. David now sought God’s direction in this way.
The way back to the Lord always involves acknowledging that I was wrong, and turning from that wrong, and doing what God desires. So David now called for the ephod in front of all his men, so that they could see that David was not calling the shots, but rather that he was seeking after and submitting to the Lord. Repentance often needs to be acknowledged in front of others, when the offence was done in front of others.....so those who saw us going our own way realize that now there is a change. It’s not going to be the same old, same old. (say, change is coming)
Let me add here, that God would never tell us to seek His will, if He wasn’t willing to show us His will. Open His word and you’ll know His will. The Prophet called for a ministerial and as he played God’s voice came to him. The Apostles gave themselves to prayer, and God showed them His will. Sometimes there is a certain song, or place or scripture, or something else, that always holds a special anointing for you, begin there, but don’t limit to that. When I am praying in the spirit, it sensitizes my spirit to tune in to God’s voice. Just open yourself to hear His voice in whatever way works for you, but you must get beyond yourself.... Put yourself and your talents and abilities on the altar, and watch what God will do!
THE WAY BACK IS A SURRENDERED WAY. David asked of the Urim & Thummin
1 Sam. 30:8: “Shall I pursue this band?” Many would not have bothered to ask the question: “These guys stole our families and our possessions. Let’s go get ‘em!” But David deliberately stopped to ask the Lord if he should pursue this band of marauders to try to recover what they had taken. (some lessons come the hard way)
You can’t write your own terms when you come to the Lord. You can’t say, “Lord, I’ll come back if You will do what I want.” He is the Lord, and our arms are too short to box with God, which means that He does what He wants, which doesn’t always fit with what I want. Submission means that I let Him call the shots. Whether He says, “It’s all gone,” or whether He graciously gives it back, I submit.
THE WAY BACK IS A TRUSTING WAY.
God told David that he would recover everything and David took God at His word. It’s pure logic that it would not have been good for David to sit around the ruins of Ziklag saying, “I’m just trusting the Lord, The Lord will have His way.” I’m just going to wait on the Lord.....No, He had to go and fight to recover what had been stolen.
Sometimes you have to march into the enemy’s camp and take back what he stole from you... but not before something more important.... Marching comes after “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength”......
Genuine faith is always active, trusting and it is obedient. If you are recovering from a situation caused by your sin, you have to believe what God says concerning your sins (that your sin is now charged to Christ’s account, not to yours) Let me repeat that.....and act upon it in spite of your feelings. You must leave it at the cross and march forward in trust and obedience!
THE WAY BACK IS A GENEROUS WAY.
On the way to pursue this enemy, 200 of David’s men were too exhausted to continue, so they stayed behind with the baggage so the others could move forward more effectively. The represent the intercessors and servers. After the other 400 had defeated the enemy and recovered far more than they had lost, some of those who had fought didn’t want to share the spoils with those who had stayed behind by the stuff. But David would not let them act in this self centered way. He gave the men who stayed behind an equal share and he sent generous gifts to his countrymen in the surrounding towns (1 Sam. 30:23-31).
To whom much is given, much is required.
The point is, the Lord doesn’t restore you to Himself so that you can live a comfortable, self-centered life, hoarding all the blessings He has graciously given. The problem with David’s greedy men was that they thought they had recovered the spoils. But David’s reply makes it clear that he knew it was the Lord who had given them back what they had recovered. If the Lord has given, then we must give an account to Him as stewards for how we dispense His gifts. The Lord never gives us His blessings just to make us selfish. He gives us His blessings so that we can share them with others so that He is glorified. When you testify, be sure He’s glorified!
So believers can go pretty low when they take the path that is away from the Lord. But, praise God, the way back is always open, even in our deepest despair! It is an intentional, personal, repentant, submissive, trusting, and generous way. Last of all, let’s look at ...Look at the God That we come back to.....
WE FIND THAT OUR GOD IS A SOVEREIGN GOD.
The Amalekite raid on Ziklag while David and his men were gone, was not an accident. The God who works all things after the counsel of His will, used this tragedy in the lives of David and his men to teach them to seek Him and trust him when everything seems hopeless. Even in the moment of despair, I’m sure that David could not imagine how God could allow such a tragedy nor how He could use it for the good of everyone.
But as he strengthened and encouraged himself in the Lord his God, David saw this great disaster as a great opportunity for God to show Himself mighty. So David didn’t just ventilate and express his rage toward God. He didn’t do the, “God, if You really loved me you wouldn’t have allowed this to happen!” He didn’t blame God. His need wasn’t to ventilate his emotions, his need was to get right with God. What he needed was to submit to the sovereign God and obey what God told him to do.
One day Billy and Ruth Graham were driving through a long stretch of road construction. They had numerous slowdowns, detours, and stops along the way. Finally they reached the end of all that difficulty, and smooth pavement stretched out before them. A large sign caught Ruth’s attention: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience." She commented that those words would be a fitting inscription on her tombstone someday. And if you visit her grave, that’s what the marker says......Push on through, there’ll be a sign waiting for you. “Well done faithful servant, you were patient during construction, enter into the joy of the Lord”....
God’s sovereignty is seen here, in a small incident in this story, as they got it right.. It says they “happened” upon an Egyptian in a field who turns out to be the discarded slave of one of the Amalekites generals, a slave who couldn’t keep up (1 Sam. 30:11). But as it is so often true, God uses the world’s discards and things overlooked by others, in His sovereign plan. This slave proved to be the key in recovering what the Amalekites had taken. Notice here, that if David had not been kind and generous to this hurting man, he would have missed God’s provision! It’s of great comfort to know that however bleak our situation, our sovereign God is still on His throne and that He has ordained all things, even little details, to show forth His attention to the smallest ingredients in our story as we trust in him..
WE FIND HERE THAT OUR GOD IS A SUFFICIENT GOD.
The great 19th century British preacher Charles Spurgeon was prone to depression. One day he was riding home feeling weary and down when suddenly God burst through his spirit with the verse, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Spurgeon replied, “I should think it is, Lord,” and burst out laughing. His unbelief seemed so absurd. He said, “It was as if a little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry and the river said, “My stream is sufficient for you.” Or, it was as if a little mouse in the huge grainaries of Egypt after seven years of plenty, feared it might die of famine and Joseph said, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for you.” Or again he imagined a man fearing that he would exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere by breathing, but the earth said, “Breathe away, O man, and fill your lungs forever. My atmosphere is sufficient for you.” What need do you have, no matter how desperate your situation, that the God who spoke the universe into existence is not sufficient to meet that need and so much more?
WE FIND THAT OUR GOD IS A GRACIOUS GOD.
God’s grace means that He does not deal with us according to our sins, but according to His great mercy shown to us in Christ, who bore all our sins. Who do we think we are, that our sin should ever be bigger than God’s grace, which is inexhaustible toward His children, more than the air we breathe every moment.
Don’t you suppose that when David and his men saw Ziklag burned to the ground and their families and possessions gone that anyone asked the familiar question, “Where is God in all this?” Where was God? Why did He allow all this? Had He abandoned David because David had gotten snagged by sin? Don’t miss this, because it’s the beautiful part of the story. Could any man’s failures be bigger than an all powerful God!!!!
While David was at the lowest point of his entire life, God was actually acting on David’s behalf to give David the throne of Israel which was always his. We’ve already seen how God graciously used the Philistine commanders to get David out of a compromising situation. And at the very moment that David and his men were lamenting the destruction of Ziklag, God was using the Philistines to sovereignly remove king Saul out of the way so that David could be king, without David having anything to do about it.
Perhaps this was the inspiration for David’s Psalm, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup runneth over”!!
If all of us in the church would commit ourselves to encouraging each other in the Lord our God.... All the Lazy folks would get up …Sleepy folks would wake up.... Discouraged folks would cheer up …Gossiping folks would shut up …Dishonest folks would fess up …fighting folks would make up …Depressed folks would look up...... Disgusted folks would sweeten up …Lukewarm folks would fire up …Sanctified folks would show up …Dead folks would live up …Vowing folks would pay up …And all the Godly folks would stand up, stand up for Jesus."
On one occasion, the great reformer, Martin Luther, was overwhelmed with depression. It didn’t seem to lift in spite of the appeals of family and friends. Finally, his wife, Katie, put on the black garments of a widow who was in mourning. When Luther noticed, he asked her who had died. She replied that God in heaven must have died, judging from Luther’s downcast countinance. His depression lifted instantly as he laughed and kissed his wise wife as they danced around the room together. Oh, today, encourage yourself in the Lord, your God!
You may be feeling low today—perhaps you’re feeling that something bad that happened is all your fault, as David experienced, or perhaps you feel like you’ve failed in some area and, things have just gone down hill. Just remember, no matter how low you go, the way back to your sovereign, sufficient, gracious Lord is always open and waiting. He bids you to come back to Him. Like David, you can strengthen yourself in the Lord your God! And find all He always had for you, still waiting to be received. Lift up your head, your redemption draws nigh... step into His grace, Yes, He’s waiting to give you all that He always said was yours, and it still is!!!
If these messages have ministered to you and you would feel to support our ministry in any way, you may send any support or drop a note to "Eagle's Rest, P.O box 2820, Key West, Florida 33040.... But most important, keep us in your prayers that we may be a tool in the Master's hands, and Jesus may be exalted continually in our lives and ministry. Thank you in advance and God richly bless you.. We look forward to hearing from you.
The question begs to be asked of each of us every day of our lives…. ”are there areas of our lives, where we are living as though the victory Jesus accomplished, is still undecided”? Areas where we speak, and act as though the Lord has not already won the battle?
There’s an old saying that "If one person calls you a horse's rear-end, ignore it. If two people call you a horse's rear-end, look in the mirror. If three people call you a horse's rear-end, it’s time to buy a saddle”.
"To talk to some Christians, you would think it made no difference that Jesus has declared….”It is finished”!!!! That means “He has done everything He needed to do, now it’s up to us to take His finished work into the enemy’s camp and take back what he’s stolen. He is far from finished, but the victory He came to give to us, has been accomplished!
Colossians 2:10 When you come to Christ, His victory, comes to you, too. His power extends over everything. v11 Entering into this fullness is not something you have to figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of keeping a long list of do’s and don’ts. No, you're already an insider – you’re not brought in through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. v12 If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been initiated by submitting to Christ.
Think of it! All sins are forgiven, v14 the slate is now wiped clean, the guilt and condemnation is canceled and nailed to the Cross of Jesus. v15 He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their stolen authority at the Cross and caused the triumph to be shown openly, for all to behold their defeat. v16 So don't put up with anyone pressuring or putting you in bondage over religious rituals, or holy days. V18 They're a lot of hot air. v19 They're completely out of touch with the source of life, Jesus Christ...”
So, what is it that causes us to continue to struggle and strive so much if the battle is over and we have won…. Is it, that something in us is not really convinced that it is already accomplished, finished and done with, or is it that we haven’t really processed the reality of it yet? Sometimes we can know a thing and yet not really know a thing…..
A farmer hired a man to work for him. He told him his first task would be to paint the barn and said it should take him about three days to complete. But the hired man was finished in one day. The farmer set him to cutting wood, telling him it would require about 4 days. The hired man finished in a day and a half, to the farmer's amazement. The farmer sent him to the wheat field to harvest the wheat, and expected it to take all week, but he finished in 3 days. The next task was to sort out a large pile of potatoes. He was to arrange them into three piles: seed potatoes, food for the hogs, and potatoes that were good enough to sell. The farmer said it was a small job and shouldn't take long at all. At the end of the day the farmer came back and found the hired man had barely started. "What's the matter here" the farmer asked. "I can work hard, and I can get a lot done whatever work I’m given, but I’m no good atmaking decisions!"
If you don’t make the tough decisions in your life, someone else will! Life is full of things you choose or things that are chosen for you.
John 8:31-32 “ Jesus said unto them, "You are truly my disciples if you live as I tell you to, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The problem many have is what to do withtruth..... Pilate was confronted by Christ with the truth that would be able to transform his life, and his question was “What is truth?”.. He had twisted the truth to fit Rome’s definition of it so long, that he wasn’t sure what truth was anymore. But truth cannot be adequately explained, recognized, understood, or defined without recognizing God as the ultimate source of truth.
Like Pilate, The truth is....Sometimes we are afraid of what will happen if we really give God control of our life. And what we’re feeling is, "I don't want anybody controlling me." Who are we kidding? We're being controlled all the time. Too often we're controlled by the opinions of other people. Too often we're controlled by hurts we can't forget. We’re controlled by our baggage, our habits, hang-ups, other people’s agendas, or even our own ego! (come on, it’s amen or oh me)
Sometimes you have to plunge in and not look back, set your course and move forward, come hell or high water! There are some decisions you don’t have to keep making. Once you’ve made them, it’s done, it’s decided. I will be faithful to my wife, I will put God first in my choices and decisions, I will treat my body as the temple of God, I will treat others as I would want to be treated….once you make these decisions, you don’t have to keep making them, they’re now just a part of who you are.
Don’t clutter your life, your mind and spirit with a lot of undecided, unresolved issues, that’s what keeps you awake at night. Make your choice, make up your mind, and move forward! You’ll sleep better and you’ll get it behind you, so you won’t keep running into it. Sit down somewhere and just ask yourself, what issues in my life, have I not made a clear, concise, decision about, and make it in God’s favor.... For example, when I was a meat cutter, I decided that I would not work on Sunday so I could put God first on Sunday, and be in His house with my family. I didn’t have to keep making that decision, once it was made.
I see this in Joshua 24:15, he stood before the people and said…“ If it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve….but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”. Charles Stanley says that we should ask 4 questions when making good decisions and deciding on the best choices.
1st. Is it biblical? So many say they want God’s will, but they seldom crack open a bible. God’s Word is our paradigm for the way we do life. I’ve said before that the Word of God is our firstlanguage.
2nd. Will it help accomplish the goals I have set for my life? Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”. When we take care of God’s business, He takes care of your business!
3rd. Is it a wise stewardship of my resources? Andrew Jackson said,
“It may be true that there are two sides to every issue, but it is also true that there are two sides to a sheet of flypaper, and it makes nodifference to the fly which side he chooses, He’s going to get stuck”. Bad choices are only bad, if you insist on staying stuck there. It’s OK to admit you made a bad choice and then make the right one and move on. That’s wisdom.
There is a museum in a Deadwood, South Dakota, with these final words left by a desperate prospector: "I lost my gun. I lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I've got all the gold I can carry!" Life wants to convince us that we are stuck, but when Peter was stuck in his guilt from failing Jesus... the answer Jesus gave him was “Follow me”... When the rich young ruler was stuck in his greed, Jesus answer to him was the same, “follow me”.....
4th. Will it glorify Christ?
Jesus is praying to the Father in our next scripture.... He says... John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name”. Whatever we go through, whatever we find ourselves in, the prayer we are to pray, “Father, glorify Your name in this”.....
We all need to find a quite place on a regular basis, and soak in the 23rd Psalm, and let ourselves be saturated with it’s truth… It speaks to our spirit and addresses how we are to live…..and the attitude we live with...
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. v2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. v3 He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. v4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and You staff they comfort me. v5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing. v6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the very presence of the LORD forever”.
We can shout in spite of the turbulence, strife and fear that arises… “The Lord is my shepherd. I am satisfied with Him!! I do not want. I am satisfied with His promises!! He makes me to lie down in plenty, peace and fullness. I am satisfied with His presence!!!!” I look at what is and then declare what He said it could be!!! If there’s any way to do it, He’ll get it done!!! I am satisfied, He is with me all the way, in every way!
Don’t confuse decision making with problem solving. I think we all at times in life, confuse the decision-making phase with the problem-solving phase. When John F. Kennedy announced publicly, "We're going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade." That was the decision. Had all the problems been solved when he made that decision? No!
If you're a good manager you know you never confuse decision making with problem solving. Kennedy said, "We're going to do it, and every resource will be made available to accomplish it" then it was everyone else’s problem to figure out the details. They didn’t have to make the decision, they just needed to make it happen. If God sends you to do it, then God is responsible for making it happen. “What is impossible with man is possible with God”.....
At the age of 12, I made the personal decision to give the Lord control of my life. Since then, I have been sending out change of address cards to my past, saying, ”My future has moved me again, and I am leaving no forwarding address”!!! My past shouldn’t limit my future…, I don’t live there anymore, I’m not that person anymore....That's not the new me, that's the old me, my shepherd has given me a new address."
Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns”.
When Moses led the Jews out of Egypt and they came to the Red Sea, they got stuck, with nowhere to turn. The Egyptians were coming up behind them and the Red Sea’s flood waters were in front of them, and the mountains were on either side. They were stuck, but God’s solution to them was, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. To stand still, is about checking your reasons for doing what you do. Are you judging the situation accurately, and are you seeing clearly. It’s about making sure you’re fighting the Lord’s battle, not your own. Some battles God won’t fight, because they are not His fight. If the battle is the Lord’s, then it’s already won before it begins. Are you fighting your own fight, or His fight?
Someone here feels today feels stuck, you feel you have no place to turn. I want you to know, that the first thing you need to do is check to make sure you are where you are, because you were obeying the Lord. Because God won’t fight for you in the place of disobedience. Check where you’re standing and make sure it’s a fight God can fight and you will see the salvation of the Lord because He never loses a fight!
Do what you know to do until He shows you something else!
Does that mean everything in your life is perfect? Absolutely not. It means that God has checked your heart, and sees that your heart is right towards Him.... and He's going to be liberating your mind, your emotions, your soulish desires, and freeing your spirit so He can rule and reign in your life…, once you’ve made the decision, all the resources you’ll ever need, have been made available in Christ…victory is inevitable if you don’t give up!!!! .
Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”
An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drainpipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.
Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the boy’s eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear life. Those scarred hands had settled the issue.
The scarred hands of Jesus, paid the price so we could be His forever and Our life is safe in those nail scarred hands.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR FAITH, BUT IT’S ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR GOD! It’s not about your power, but God’s authority that backs you up! Your faith doesn’t have to be “perfect” to get results
Oh, by the way, God doesn’t measure us by results, because results are
His department, He measures us by our obedience. When we obey, He is in charge of the results.
So, let’s believe and declare what He calls us!.... He calls us blessed, justified, free from the law of sin and death, joint-heir with Christ, new creature in Christ, chosen, holy, and blameless, seated in the heavenly places, God’s workmanship, complete in Christ, friend of God, beloved of God, blessed with every spiritual blessing….winners, not losers….OH MY!!!!
Colossians 2:9&10 says, "For in CHRIST dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And we are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."
All we need, is embodied in us through the work of Christ, the mind of Christ, the faith of God, the authority of God, the love of God. We have in us the very life of God, because we are in Christ Jesus.
Deuteronomy 28:1 If you listen obediently to what your God is saying, and heartily obey what He speaks to you today, Your God, will place you on high, and give you favor above those around you. v2 All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of your God”.
There’s no luck here, this is all about God’s successful outcome in your life and guaranteed blessings! Our job is to develop a lifestyle of listening. One day Tony Evans says he was trapped along with a group of people, in an elevator in a high rise tower. The car he was riding in got stuck in between floors way up near the top floors. He noted that some of the people in the car began to panic. They began to beat on the door hoping to get someone’s attention. Others began to yell in the hopes that their voices would get someone on the surrounding floors to come to the aid. But nobody heard their noise or their cries.
Then Evans quietly made his way to the front of the car, opened a little door in the wall and pulled out a telephone. Immediately he was connected with someone on the outside. He didn’t need to beat on the wall to get their attention. He didn’t need to speak loudly in the phone to receive their help. He could have whispered and they would have heard him. When you’re stuck, don’t forget you have a direct line to the owner. That’s what Adonai, the name God gave us to call Him, actually means. He’s the Land lord of the earth, and we are tenants who live here.
He is also known as Jirah, the provider.... Shalome, our peace....Rapha, our healing.... Nessie, our victory.... and while everyone else is panicking, we have direct access... Even before we call, He answers!
When we feel stuck, we need to .....
MAKE A QUALITY COMMITMENT TO ACCEPT ALL THAT THE LORD’S SACRIFICE HAS MADE AVAILABLE TO USTHROUGH THE PURCHASING POWER OF HIS OWN BLOOD, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
ACCEPT GOD’S WAY AS YOUR NEW STANDARD FOR LIVING.
ACCEPT GOD’S WILL AS YOUR OWN GOAL FOR YOURLIFE.
ACCEPT GOD’S POWER AS THE SOURCE OF YOURSTRENGTH. That’s about ownership...He owns it all, including the place you’re stuck in... If God is our owner, then our problems are His, our struggles are His, Our delays and barriers are His.
I believe this is your time to recover what Satan has stolen from you, what the deceiver has delayed in coming to you, and what he’s blocked from getting to you that God says is yours!!!!
When Jesus shouted from the cross…”it is finished”….He made it possible for us to get plugged in to all the power we will ever need. It’s waiting to be released and it’s all available through faith in Christ….
Sometimes the entire mountain moves, and sometimes it’s moved a truck load at a time….but it will move!
Let us Pray together….“Heavenly Father, today, we come before you expecting this to be the greatest day of our life. A day filled with unique opportunities to share your love with every person we meet. We thank you, Lord, for the favor which will flow through us today and for this to be a day in which you will be glorified by what we think, say and do, in the strong name of Jesus. Lord, we thank You for freedom in being a mouthpiece for You, for fearless confidence, for cheerful courage, and for boldness with supernatural assurance.
We command stolen blessings to be restored seven fold for every blessing we have missed in Jesus name. We have angels assigned to minister and strengthen us in Spirit so that we can do those things that God has called us to do, who go before us to protect and to guard us and bring us to the place that God has prepared. We are of good cheer for the Lord has overcome the world and given us His victory. We have been made more than conquerors in Christ.
Lord, You enable us to come forth victorious and be raised to a higher place as we receive full understanding of our rights, privileges, and authority in Jesus. The lord sets us on a path of ever increasing success so that the latter days of our life are much greater than any previous time. We now leave the past behind as the Lord brings us into the wider place of His abundance. We walk in happiness, peace, Divine favor and good fortune.
Our families are blessed and anointed and our possessions are secure, because the limits have been taken off and we overflowwith God’s covenant of fullness. We declare that we are in total and complete health because You have taken away sickness from our spirit. Your word says we are the healed in Jesus’ name. We boldly declare that we are made whole, spirit, soul and body, for the power of sickness, infirmity, disease or deformity is no longer has any place, in Jesus’ name!
We declare that the Lord sustains us, even in our old age. He gives energy, vitality, health and rescues us from feebleness and calamity. We now receive His ability, power and anointing, that we may be established in His covenant design and plan. We cancel premature death and receive the full number of our days and the ability to pass on wealth and honor as an inheritance for the next generation. Lord, may You be honored and glorified as all these things come to pass, in Jesus’ Name, AMEN!!!!
Whether you scan the page, or read through the message, I want to thank you for stopping by our page. It is an honor for me to host each week that which the Lord puts in my spirit and share my Sunday morning message for April 2nd, presented at Eagle's Rest Ministries, meeting in the auditorium of the Poinciana School on Kennedy Dr, Key West, Fl. Join us each Sunday Morning at 10:30 am, for a time of prayer, praise, worship, and the Word.
My Palm Sunday message this Sunday is "Where Two Paths Meet"... This is what kept ringing in my spirit on Tuesday morning before Palm Sunday, as I was reading the Word... The scripture which I have chosen, For Palm Sunday, is....
Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters at the same time. He will hate one of them and love the other. Or he will be faithful to one and not the other. You can’t serve God and this world at the same time”. It has always been and will always be about the choices we make.
Rudyard Kipling wrote the following.... If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—and not lose the common touch. If neither foe nor loving friend can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much. If you can fill the unforgiving minutes, With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run. Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it......
Today I’m going to go against the conventional consensus and have us take a fresh look at Palm Sunday . It is referred to as the triumphant entry, but under the surface, where all the shouting and accolades are filling the air, something much bigger and deeper is going on. Everything Jesus did, went against the expectations of the crowd. He chose a donkey on which to ride into the city. He was staying under the radar, till his time had come, but the crowd had other plans.
The mentality of the crowd was to start in that street and then march into the center of power and take the throne of Herod, evict the Roman army, and march on to Rome where they would install Jesus as ruler and emperor of the entire region...
So I want us to look at Palm Sunday by taking an honest look at what’s really going on here.... how the joyful waving of palm branches, the garments cast down on the ground for the donkey to walk on, the Cheers and pats on the back quickly turn into fists in the air and a mob shouting for judgment and death of the same person they were so accepting of and wildly celebrating before, as He stood before Pilate a short time later.
The entire Palm Sunday experience was to pressure Jesus and appeal to His humanity, to take another way, other than God’s way.
That theme started much earlier, at the dawn of time, when Satan rebelled and said “I’ll do it my way”.... Then he led a heavenly revolt and was cast down to the earth, where he vented his rage as any spoiled child, throwing a tantrum will do. If God’s highest angel, did this, to the heavenly Father, don’t feel you’re a bad parent when your kid begins to rebel.
But then Satan made an illegal entrance into the garden of Eden and spread his rebellion, into Eve, who then spread it to Adam.... “You can have it your way.... God isn’t always right, you have your own ideas, so, why should you always have to do everything God’s way”! That was the theme of his revolution, and it still is today
Adam and Eve fell for it and mankind has been looking for another way, that is not God’s way every since.
Satan is figuring by this time, “Hey, I think I’ve got something powerful going for me here.” Just appeal to their ego, their pride, their lust for power, and they’ll play right into my hands”. They’ll empower me, and together, through mankind, I can do what I set out to do in the beginning..... I can dethrone God....
So for thousands of years, it worked, with very little resistance. Only a handful of Patriarchs, prophets, and kings, refused to resist his plan. But he was able to convince people that those few who opposed him, were just weirdo’s and misfits, who were out of touch and disillusioned...
Then when it seemed that no one would be able to walk in perfect obedience and expose the devil’s lies and deception, a virgin gave birth to the God child, on Christmas morning. Satan’s lie sowed it’s seed in King Herod’s heart and he sent out a decree that every male child under two years old, would be slain. Satan knew that his plan was on shaky ground. When Joseph was warned of the plan. Mary and Joseph chose God’s way and went to Egypt where they waited until it was safe and they received word that Herod was dead.
As Jesus reached manhood, and His ministry grew in favor with God and man, we next see Satan as he confronts Jesus in the wilderness temptation, and each of the attempts he made to get Jesus to turn stones into bread, to cast himself from the heights of the temple, and to bow down to his evilness and receive the kingdoms of earth.... were all attempts to get Christ to do it another way besides God’s way. But they were all met with “It is written”. And Satan leaves for a season. Sounds like a great plan to me. “it is written”.....That choice will chase the devil off every time.
This brings us to Palm Sunday, and this Palm Sunday event was just another attempt, to use the crowd, to convince Jesus to find another way, instead of the suffering of the cross. He was using the crowd to appeal to Jesus’ ego. To convince the flesh and blood God man, that He could avoid the pain and humiliation that was ahead, and accomplish in the natural what could only be done in the supernatural.
Knowing what Satan was up to, and that he was using the crowd to play to Jesus’ ego, the bible says that Jesus ignored the crowd, went to the temple and drove out the money changers, and those who were selling sacrifices which were required by Jewish law, for tremendous profit. We can do the right thing for the wrong reasons and still get the wrong results.
In the garden where Jesus prayed, the night He was betrayed, Satan tried to use the fear of the horror and agony that lay ahead, to overwhelm Jesus’ heart and mind, until it was so intense, his sweat was mixed with blood as the very capillaries in his skin began to burst under the pressure. As He resisted, He even asked that the cup of suffering pass from Him, but closed the request with “Never the less”... Thy will be done”....Our will can be the enemy of God or the enemy of Satan.
Satan’s pressure didn’t stop there, because even on the cross, Satan spoke once again through the crowd.... As Jesus struggled in His last moments of glorious suffering.... the crowd shouted their cruel taunts “He saved others, but He cannot save himself”....”If you are who you say you are, come down from the cross”....
And Hell partied and demons screamed out victory as God hung on the cross, Satan celebrated in his hellish domain, but a shock wave of redemption power went through hell, as Christ cried out “IT IS FINISHED”....
And He marched into Hell and took the keys of death, hell and the grave, and rose up to heaven to sprinkle His blood on the heavenly altar, before He came back to earth to present the keys to the apostles, and every believer who would call upon Him and follow him. We have the keys, because Jesus didn’t fall for the pressure to settle for another way, and neither should we.
John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Satan is always pressuring us to take another way and he wants to keep us from our prayer time, and clutter our lives with many other demands which will keep us off our knees and out of spiritual warfare. I want to tell you about a mom, who wouldn’t let anything keep her from prayer.... Susan Cook, a Christian mom in Sebring, Florida received a letter from her 21-year-old son Dustin, a specialist with the Army National Guard serving in Iraq.
“Dear Mom, I Just want to let you know I’m still O.K. I Wanna tell you this cool story. Two nights ago, I had gone to bed late. I couldn’t sleep as usual. Then about midnight I heard 2 loud booms, which sounded like they were 2 feet away from me… after about 5 minutes of silence we all got up off of the floor and got back to bed. Come to find out, we had 2 rocket propelled grenades (otherwise known a RPG’s) fired at our building from across the river. The Chaplain had gone up on the roof to see the guards up there, and they vouch for this, too, by the way. He said he saw the 2 men fire the RPG’s almost simultaneously, and the small exploding heads were on their way, no turning back. Being a Chaplain, what is the one thing you always carry with you?...a Bible. The Chaplain said he saw the 2 RPG’s coming, looking as though they were headed directly towards him. He heard a loud voice within him, yell "STOP THEM." He said he didn’t know why but he held up his hand with the Bible in it and softly said, "Please Lord." What happened next is gonna blow your mind. The Chaplain said he watched the RPG’s almost instantly do a 90 degree turn away from the building and land harmlessly in a field about 100 feet away from the palace where we are headquartered. Mom, I think that there is a second force here, even stronger than we are. Our guardian angels have taken up their post all around our perimeter. I know it has been because of everyone’s prayers back home, and I have 100% faith that I will be returning home safe and in 1 piece. Though I do not know the time or the day, I do know it will happen soon. Well, Thanks mom, for always having faith, thanks for all of your prayers, thanks for never giving up hope, and most of all, thanks for being a wonderful Mom! I love you. Love, Dustin”......This mom chose prayer and would not be distracted...
When the battle is the hardest, God is doing His greatest work...and so much depends on the choices we make, and that we choose God’s way. Dr. Wilbur Chapman became pastor of a church in Philadelphia when he was a young man. After his first sermon, an old gentleman said to him, "You’re pretty young to be pastor of this church. But you preach the Gospel, and I’m going to help you all I can." The man continued: "I’m going to pray for you every service that you may have the Holy Spirit’s power upon you, and two others have agreed to join with me in prayer for you. The 3 became 10, the 10 became 20, and 20 became 50, the 50 became 200 who met before every service to pray that the Holy Spirit might come upon their pastor. He always went into the pulpit feeling that he would always have the anointing in answer to the prayers of those who had faithfully prayed for him. It was a joy to preach! The result was that they received 1,100 salvations in three years. It was the fruit of the Holy spirit in answer to prayer!" They could have done many other things but they chose prayer!
Satan wants us to choose another way, and it’s the same temptation he’s used for thousands of years.... so he’s pretty good at it...
God’s way is the way of love....Satan wants us to choose another way, instead of love.... DL Moody once said “Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community.” Just having meetings, singing, preaching, praying, but no personal show of love and caring in the services and through the week, will never be enough.
A little boy attended Children’s Church. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little fellow still attended the same Children’s church, even though it meant a long, tiresome walk each way. A friend asked him why he went so far, since there were plenty of other churches just as good near his home. "Well, he said, They may be as good for other folks, but not for me". "Well, Why not?" The friend asked. "Because they really do love a fellow over there," he responded.
If the world truly believed that we really do love them, there would be fewer empty churches, and a lot less folks who never come through a church door.
A Christian man worked with a gay man and witnessed to him every day that he had the opportunity. One day the gay person, said to him.... “You tell me that God loves me, and Jesus loved me so much He died for me, but never once have you invited me to your house to sit at your table....I guess that’s where love draws the line....
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1 “If I were to speak with eloquence in earth’s many languages, and in the heavenly tongues of angels, yet I didn’t express myself with love, my words would be reduced to the hollow sound of nothing more than a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I were to have the gift of prophecy with a profound understanding of God’s hidden secrets, and if I possessed unending supernatural knowledge, and if I had the greatest gift of faith that could move mountains, but have never learned to love, then I am nothing.
3 And if I were to be so generous as to give away everything I owned to feed the poor, and to offer my body to be burned as a martyr, without the pure motive of love, I would gain nothing of value. 13 there are three things that will always remain: faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run”.
Satan wants us to choose another way instead of the place where the Christian church began.... in people’s homes. There is an all out attack on the home. Satan wants to indoctrinate our children against God’s way in their choices. (there’s a reason I made other choices, brown on the power point!!)
Acts 5:42 Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, and they did not stop teaching, proclaiming and demonstrating the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Our homes should be light houses, Holy Spirit filling stations, and sanctuaries where love and faith are demonstrated daily, not only to our families, but to those who come from broken homes, families in turmoil, and the unloved and forgotten.
I read that Hitler came to America as a young man to attend college. He stayed in a Christian home where he was never once invited to learn about the bible, the Lord’s salvation and His love for every person. He was just another exchange student. But think about how much the world would have changed, if that one young man, had seen the power of Jesus love at work, and had received Christ as His personal savior. The world could have been affected by one Godly home!
God started the church in homes in the book of Acts, because it is the foundation of any culture. It is where we learn responsibility, accountability, honor and loyalty, to love and be loved, kindness, forgiveness, patience, obedience, identity, respect, and it should be where we learn about Christ and the abundant life He offers.
May we be challenged to see our homes as a place where lives can be changed and the world can be changed forever in the Christian atmosphere of our homes.
“And they did not stop teaching, proclaiming and demonstrating house to house, the good news that Jesus is the Christ”....
Satan wants us to choose another way instead of reaching out to strengthen and encourage one another.... We can get so caught up and preoccupied with our own struggle and our own cares of life, that we fail to reach out to those around us.
In 1903, A theater in Chicago was packed full, when a fire broke out and quickly spread. In panic, folks jammed the exit doors so no one could get out, since all the doors swung in, instead of out. 590 people died and when the fire department broke through, only one man emerged who had clawed and scratched his way over all the bodies. For many years he would be heard mumbling over and over “I saved nobody but myself”.....I saved nobody but myself”.... How many will stand one day in heaven, Oh, yes, they made it, but their family didn’t make it, their spouse didn’t make it, folks they called friend, didn’t make it, but they made it in... Oh, yes, there will be tears in heaven, my friend. When we see the angel of judgment, lead our loved ones, who have just heard “depart from me”...and casts them into the lake of fire forever, and we were too embarrassed, afraid, intimidated.... What a wonderful day, when I led my brother to the Lord before he died. My mom had walked away from God, and I had the privilege of leading her back to the savior!
I’ve never had a bridge, a highway, a building, or a boat named after me, but I have had a person named after me and to me that’s a much bigger deal.... But even bigger than that, I have lead many people over my life to receive the name of Jesus and be named “Christian”... Now when buildings, bridges, highways and boats, have all crumbled, those souls will last for eternity.....And will enjoy the glory of heaven, in God’s presence, instead of eternal torment....
1 Thessalonians 2:18 “For we wanted to come to you-- again and again--but Satan stopped us”. Oh, he’s so good at getting folks to miss opportunities to change lives and present Christ to others.
A Professional man who lost his job, took work on a construction job, simply to put bread on the table. He was suddenly plunged into a drastically different world; instead of going to an office each day, he was hauling loads of concrete block and mortar up to the 6th level of a construction site. Profanity filled the air, especially from the foreman, whose leadership consisted of cursing at people and intimidation. "The worker had become the brunt of more than one joke each time his lack of experience caused him to do something foolish. The stories of his mishaps, were retold constantly and he felt more and more like an outsider. Near the end of the third week, the new employee felt he couldn’t take it anymore. And he decided to finish out the morning and just walk away and leave at lunchtime.
But just before noon, the foreman came around with paychecks. As he handed the man his envelope, he made his first civil comment to him in three weeks. "Hey, there’s a woman working in the front office who knows you. Says she takes care of your kids sometimes." "Who?" He named the woman, who sometimes helped in the nursery of the church where the man and his family worshiped. The foreman then went on with his rounds. When he opened his envelope, he found, along with his check, a handwritten note from the payroll clerk: "When one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer with it. Just wanted you to know that I’m praying for you in these challenging days." He stared at the note, astonished at God’s timing. He hadn’t even known the woman worked for this company. Here at his lowest hour, she had given him the courage to go on, to push another wheelbarrow of mortar up that ramp. What might not mean a lot to someone else, meant a lot to this man at this moment in his life.
God’s ways are not our ways, scripture tells us
Isaiah 55:8-9 For His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways your ways,” As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than your ways and His thoughts than your thoughts.
The Bible also tells us in Proverbs 14:12 that “there is a way that seems right to a person, but the end is the way that leads to destruction”.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says this “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Because of the office worker’s encouragement, the worker stayed, and because he stayed, the boss, happened to look again at his resume, and called him into the office, to inform him that his assistant had quit, and he had the job!
When folks did it God’s way, the walls of Jericho fell down flat!
When folks did it God’s way, the axe head floated
When folks did it God’s way, manna fell in the wilderness and they were filled
When folks did it God’s way, the Red sea parted, and the Egyptians drowned
When folks did it God’s way, the oil and the meal were multiplied in famine
When folks did it God’s way, they entered the land flowing with milk and honey
When folks did it God’s way, the lame walked, the blind eyes and ears opened, the lepers were cleansed, the sick were healed, and the dead were raised!
Satan knows Jesus’ voice when you speak it... He knows how Jesus acts when you do it..... He knows his power is broken when you demand it.... and he knows when to flee, and get lost when you put God’s word in his face....
You don’t have to convince him, he already knows who Jesus is, and he knows those who Jesus lives within....
"Not I but Christ in me, the hope of glory"....
Irene Sagin says that when she was a teen-ager, she used to cross a park where she saw mothers talking together, while the toddlers sat on their swings, with no one to push them. She says that she would "give them a push, and you know what happens when you push a kid on a swing? Pretty soon he’s pumping for all he’s got and doing it himself. That’s what my role in life is--I’m there to give others a push, so they will start doing it themselves.... (tell someone, pump it up, come on, pump it up)
Who’s way do you choose......Abraham’s way, produced an Ishmael, through someone that was not his wife. God’s way produced an Isaac, through his barren wife at 90 years old, and he was 100 years old! (sounds good to me)
Gideon’s way was to round up an army of thousands to go against the enemy, God’s way was to use 300 men against the 100,000 man army of Midianites....
Jonah’s way was to go as far in the opposite direction as he could from God’s way.
God’s way was to provide an ocean going Uber whale taxi, to bring him to Nineveh so that the entire city could repent, turn to God and experience one of the greatest revivals in the bible. Around 600,000 people repented and turned to God...
Somebody say... God’s way is better!
Satan wants us to do it our way..... the moment we decide to go God’s way, he loses, and blessings begin to fall everywhere!
So the real choice is
1. blessing or 2. Cursing...
You may say, Pastor, that’s a no brainer.... but look what the bible says... Matthew 7:13-14. “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult.” is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Amazing!..... God’s way gets voted down most of the time....
And yet it is the way of blessing, restoration, abundance, and reconciliation....
Let’s change the odds.... what do you say!!? I believe we can change the statistics beginning today.... God’s way, not another way!!!
Your influence can make the difference and instead of a Hitler, we can have another Billy Graham.
Jesus has chosen to operate in and through a different body than He had when He was on earth 2000 years ago and guess what, He chose your body and mine.... “Christ in me, the hope of glory”... but it’s my choice.
If these messages have ministered to you and you would feel to support our ministry in any way, you may send any support or drop a note to "Eagle's Rest, P.O box 2820, Key West, Florida 33040.... But most important, keep us in your prayers that we may be a tool in the Master's hands, and Jesus may be exalted continually in our lives and ministry. Thank you in advance and God richly bless you.. We look forward to hearing from you.
