As one minister said... "Before I say something, I want to say something.... Before I announce what I want to share with you today, let me give a definition of the action verb which activates the mystery subject I will be using today….
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines this word as: “The increase in force gained by using a lever.” Further, a lever is defined by the same dictionary as: “A strong bar that is used to lift and move something heavy which could not normally be lifted or moved.”
The best and simplest example would be a very familiar playground fixture: the seesaw. The end of a seesaw is where seats are positioned and it functions by the principle of our missing ingredient. Most children aren’t strong enough to lift other kids high above the ground but with the seesaw, they are able to do exactly that. The seesaw increases the limited strength and weight of children, allowing them to lift other kids high off the ground.
For us adults, a more relevant example would be a hydraulic jack or lift. Can you imagine a single person lifting a truck weighing thousands of pounds, high enough off the ground to change a flat tire without a hydraulic jack? With our missing ingredient, the jack is able to magnify the limited strength of the driver or whoever it is trying to change the tires, allowing him (or her) to lift the truck and replace the tires with a minimum of effort.
That’s what our missing ingredient is for: to increase force and enable its user to do more than they may normally do, in spite of their own limited strength.
I have been moving this past week and the mystery ingredient that we have been describing is essential, and I discovered that it's very important to find the center of gravity for furniture if you're going to lift it. (I'm not sure there is any easy way to lift furniture, except by having someone else do it!
The term I have defined for you from mister Webster, and illustrated with a seesaw and a hydrolic jack, is about Leveraging.
Leveraging is the ability to utilize resources, influences, systems and power that is beyond your own, to increase your value, effectiveness, visibility and outcome.
Today my topic is “Leveraging Your Faith”…..
LEVERAGING IS VERY MUCH, GOD’S BUSINESS…. HE IS VERY INTO LEVERAGING..
Zechariah 4:6 "Then he said unto me, This is the word of the LORD.... It is not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the LORD of hosts".
God is, among many other things, the God of leveraging. He is able to significantly magnify our limited resources or their effects to the point where what is impossible becomes possible. The supernatural becomes the normal, and miracles become the way we live. The Bible is filled with so many such stories including the following to name a few.
Abraham –was called by God, the father of the faith. He experienced the amazing leveraging of whatever was left of his body that was counted as good as dead as well as that of his wife Sarah’s when it came to bearing a child at such an old age. And yet this was the impossible beginnings from which the nation of Israel was birthed and brought into being.
Moses – inspite of the fictional version played by Charlton Heston in the movie Exodus, God leveraged Moses’ very poor communications skills – because he was a stutterer – and used him to do mighty works to liberate the Israelites from slavery.
Then, there’s David – You know the story right? It would be like Alan going up against Payton Manning in a contest where Alan comes out victorious. God leveraged David’s slingshot and a rock from the brook, to cut Goliath down to size, minus his head!!!
It seems that Leveraging is God's full time business.....The bible is filled with EXAMPLES OF HOW GOD LEVERAGES THE LIMITED RESOURCES OF HIS PEOPLE, FOR HIS GLORY
God can multiply our resources, or magnify the benefits of our limited resources or both!
When Jesus fed more than 5,000 people with a boys lunch (Matthew 14:13-21) and when God through the prophet Elijah supernaturally increased the amount of olive oil and flour of the widows who took him in (1 Kings 17:8-16) these were great examples of God supernaturally leveraging the limited resources to meet peoples’ needs…and then some!
When God empowered Samson to defeat the Philistines (Judges 14) When God sustained the prophet Elijah to run a super-duper-marathon for 40 DAYS AND NIGHTS with a single maximized value meal (1 Kings 19:7-8) and when God the Father leveraged his righteousness to many, sinners (you and I included) through Jesus’ obedience (Romans 5:19),
He didn’t only create the resources but magnified and expanded exponentially, their effect or benefits to insanely huge proportions that would’ve otherwise been impossible without Him!
When Jesus performed His first miracle at the wedding in Cana, He didn’t just increase the volume of wine, He also increased the satisfaction that came with it (John 2:7-10). Talk about Happy Hour!
A teacher asked her young students to give her an example of metaphors and personifications. No one raised their hand for a while, so Little Susie raised her hand, and when called upon, she said, "I know what a metaphor is, but not a personification." The teacher, trying to give the class an example, said, "What's the word to describe what I'm saying when I point to that old willow tree and say 'He's saluting us with his branches.' Or what if I asked the sun to send us some sunshine? Or if I said 'That field of tall grass is waving at us?' What word best describes what I'm doing when I speak like that?" Susie thought a moment, then said, I think it’s called "Hallucinating?"
Well we’re hallucinating if we think we can do what we are called to do, without God, doing some leveraging in our lives.
I think this might be one of those times... where You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted anyway.
YOU CAN EXPECT GOD TO LEVERAGE YOUR LIFE FOR HIS GLORY
God leveraged the life of a rag-tag band of ordinary, uneducated folks to turn the world upside down to propagate His good news of salvation. Peter, the person who boasted the most about not leaving Jesus’s side but quickly dropped Him like a hot potato when the heat was turned on. Yet he was so “leveraged” by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost that he made a 180-degree turn (Nope, it wasn’t 360 degrees as many people wrongly say in their testimonies, because if you made a 360 degree turn, you're back where you started)
They became so bold in preaching Jesus as they leveraged their faith, that on Peter's very first sermon (Acts 2:14-36), there was an altar call of 3,000 people! I dunno about you but 3,000 responding to your very first ever sermon by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is quite a miraculous leveraging feat!
If God did that for Peter and the rest of the other disciples/apostles, He is still in the leveraging business! He can leverage our limited faith, eloquence, courage, time, skills and money, among others, to do great works in our lives for His glory.
BE CAREFUL, DESPERATE TIMES CAN CAUSE YOU TO ONLY DWELL ON WHAT YOU DO NOT HAVE IN YOUR LIFE AND CAUSE YOU TO MISS OUT ON THE LEVERAGING POWER OF GOD!!!
All of the friends that you do not have. all of the things that you do not have. all of the opportunities that you do not have. all of the BENIFITS that you don’t feel you have. I heard it said that You can't have everything....because if you did, where would you put it all?
But at the same time, more often than not, it is the desperate places that seem to bring out the best in men. . lt also has the great potential to pull greatness out of God’s saints. . . if we will just allow God’s leveraging in those times. Because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not yours!
Don't forget in the darkness, the promise God made when the sun was shining, and everything was great..... · Because Desperate places can give rise to GREAT courage.
·Desperate places can give us WONDERFUL opportunities to finish well in spite of the odds.
·Desperate places can present UNIQUE challenges to us that we would miss otherwise.
· Desperate places can fill your life with great focus and purpose.
·Desperate places can clarify and redirect your mission
·Desperate places can fire your ambition to make your time and life count for eternity.
Bennie Demerchant tells the story of an incredibly desperate place in his book Full Throttle. It was in August 1976 that he would face one of the darkest trials of his life.
He was invited to come and preach at a rally, east of Manaus Brazil, and the only way to get there was by his seaplane. So on the afternoon of August 31, 1976, he and 3 others, boarded the plane. About eight miles away from the city, a sudden storm, along with heavy winds, overtook them. In the middle of that storm, the engine stalled and the plane plummeted toward the water. The storm was whipping the sea into large waves as the plane went down. The plane begins to sink with everyone trapped inside.
They were able to get to the back of the plane and punch out a window and swim to the surface. But the other passengers could not get out and drowned in spite of all efforts to get them to the surface. Arrangements had to be made to ship the bodies home and during this time the media in Brazil had a field day. Some creative reporter wrote the crash had been on purpose for the sole reason of collecting insurance settlements. Others dreamed up other stories that were meant to totally destroy Demerchant and ruin his credibility in Brazil. He felt betrayed because some of the prominent members of the community that he had helped turned their backs on him. The terrible loss of his friends' lives exhausted him and he could not sleep and discouragement shouted at him to give up and quit!
In the early morning hours of September 3, as he wept and prayed earnestly and questioned God. “Why, why, why, Lord, would You allow this to happen when it seemed the future was so bright?” Suddenly a tall man in white appeared in the door of the room. He approached, turned sideways, and looked down at him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Have I not called you to this country to preach the Gospel? I am the pilot of your life. Get up and go on with the work. I will bless you and the work as never before!” And the figure turned and went out the door. Demerchant wrote that a calmness and relief came over him. A tremendous load had been lifted. He felt light on his feet and even giddy in believing what that man had told him. Fearlessness entered him. He knew that thousands had heard of the accident and were praying for him, but this incident engraved itself permanently upon his life. From that time forth, he knew that God would always leverage any situation so that He might receive the glory.
God always meets us in our desperate places and LEVERAGES our desperation into inspiration! If we only allow Him to!
HOW DO YOU TAP INTO GOD’S LEVERAGING?
One word: faith. When we truly believe God, we obey Him and we are able to truly do His works as we leverage His power . Because faith allows us to see what isn’t there yet, but we are assured that what is hoped for will happen. When we do, we ride the current of His grace and we are able to do great and wonderful things that glorify Him. But how do we acquire or increase faith?
According to Paul in his letter to the Romans, God’s word activates His leveraging power. The more we hear or read God’s word, the more our faith increases. When we see just how mightily God has moved and how faithful He was in the past, it lifts our spirits and strengthens us especially when going through difficult and challenging times.
It is exactly what the disciples experienced after walking WITH THE RISEN CHRIST from Jerusalem to Emaus, their hearts burned and their bodies were quickened to go and tell others....God’s word is all we need to truly believe in Him and to be equipped for His kingdom work regardless of how inadequate we look, or how the rest of the world sees us....or the challenge we may face. God is the ultimate LEVERAGE in every situation.
2 Timothy 3:17 "All scripture is given that the child of God may be perfect, and throughly furnished unto all good works".
I would love to go to the Holy Land but we don't need to go to Jerusalem to walk where Jesus walked.... We can walk with him right into the future he has planned for us. We can walk in his footsteps every day.... He told us
John_14:3 I go to prepare (leverage) a place for you, and I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, you may be also".
Jesus is telling us that right now, this moment, He is leveraging our future!
Success is not a place or destination you arrive at, it is an attitude within each of us and a life style that releases God's power to work through us. It is about constantly choosing to believe the best that God has said about us
Hebrews 12:1 "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, v2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith"
I want to close by having us look at the leveraging job which God did in the life of Moses' right hand man, Joshua, as the baton of leadership is passed and see the result it made in him and all those who stayed with him after Moses' death....This is so powerful for those who will leverage their faith and believe that our God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be forever.....
Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, v2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them. v3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. v5 There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you, nor forsake you. v6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers before them, to give them. v7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to My word, which Moses my servant gave you.
Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. v8 My word shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate on it, day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then you shalt make your way prosperous, and you shall have good success. v9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be dismayed: for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go".
God wants you to win and succeed more than you want to win!!! You are ordained by God to overcome and to triumph continually in Christ. That situation you may be going through is a won battle if you can trust God for your promised victory. You were not redeemed by God to be defeated by the devil, you were born again as a champion.
2 Corinthians 2:14 "Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the overwhelming fragrance of His knowledge by us in every place".
You were created to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, you are designed to be a winner not a loser, a victor and not a victim. God created you to express His blessings in the earth, to reflect His nature and show you off to principalities and powers. You are the proof of His power and authority in the earth!
Are you ready for some leveraging! Expect Him to do so and watch great and wonderful things begin to happen as He has promised.
It's not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord!!!
