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Sermon of the Week 
Tuesday, October 30 2018

Someone asked the question… what do you give an injured lemon…(answer) Lemon-aid…. And surely, we’ve all heard the phrase…. “When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade”! 

Of course, the point is that you will face many disappointments and times when life produces less than you expected. If you got handed a lemon, then you had a “let down”, something “Popped your balloon”, you got “thrown by the bull”… the rug was “pulled out from under you”…. And you ended up as the “bug instead of the windshield”… We’ve all had our share of lemons, but sometimes you feel like you live in the lemon orchard…..

The picture you’re looking at is the legendary Olympic champion, Jim Thorpe. Look closely at the photo. You can see that he's wearing two different socks and shoes. This wasn't a fashion statement which he was making. It was the 1912 Olympics, and Jim, a Native American from Oklahoma represented the hopes of the U.S. in track and field. On the morning of his competitions, his preferred running shoes were stolen. Luckily, Jim ended up finding two shoes in a garbage can. One of the shoes was too small and the other shoe was too big, so he had to wear an extra sock in the shoes that were too large. It was with this unexpected handicap, running in miss-sized, cast off shoes, that Jim Thorpe won two gold medals. It wasn’t about the shoes that were on the man, but it was about the man in the shoes, that made the difference. 

This is a perfect reminder that you don't have to resign yourself to the set-backs that have hindered and beset you.                                                       So what if life hasn't been fair? The real issue is not about the lemons you have been handed, but what are you going to do about it today? Whatever you woke up with this morning; plans that went down the toilet, ill health, or failed relationships. Don't let it stop you from running your race. You can experience more in life if you'll get over the lemons and get on with living. If you’re going to fall, fall forward, at least then, you’re making progress!!!               

lemons were here before man arrived…I discovered that fossilized lemon leaves were found in China, dating back to about 8 million years. (Adam and Eve handed us all a lemon when they ate the forbidden fruit) And as far as we know, Lemonade has been around from before Christ, over 2000 years! 

Give me a lemon and get ready for some really sour looks on this face…. We all know people that have that “sucking on lemons” face. And you want to just walk up to them and say, if you don’t like them, stop sucking on those lemons…. It’s one thing to be handed a lemon, but it’s another to just go around sucking on the thing!!!! 

Our childhood may have been a lemon….Our education might be lemons…. Our car might have been a lemon…. Our job might be a lemon…. Our life may have a lot of lemons….

Having wrong priorities and being confused about what’s really important, can cause us to keep sucking on lemons instead of transforming them…..                                                                                                                                                     

A lawyer had opened the door of his BMW on the street, when suddenly a car came along and hit the door, ripping it off completely. When the police arrived at the scene, the lawyer was complaining bitterly about the damage to his precious BMW. “Officer, look what they’ve done to my Beeeemer!!!”, he whined. The policeman was incredulous at the materialisim of the lawyer…“You lawyers are so materialistic, you make me sick!!!” He said, “You’re so worried about your stupid BMW, that you didn’t even notice that your left arm was ripped completely off!!!”  “Oh my God….”, screamed the lawyer, finally noticing the bloody left shoulder where his arm once was, “Where’s my Rolex???!!!” Jesus said if you love the world and the things of the world too much, the love of the Father is not in you….

But this morning if we can learn how to make lemonade from life's lemons, no matter how sour they may be, and it will increase our joy.  If anyone can teach us this lesson, it will be Paul. If there is anyone who had plenty of opportunities to suck on lemons, it was the Apostle Paul… Paul wasn’t a lemon sucker! 

In Philippians, Paul is writing to the church, from the dungeon where he is being imprisoned in chains….He had every reason not to be happy, but yet he writes that he isfilled with joy.  Over 18 times in this short four chapter book Paul talks about rejoicing or joy….                                    

Joy is the sugar that you add to your lemons to transform what you’re going through and inspire others to do the same…. The source of Paul’s joy was worship, praise and his intercession for others….. Instead of sucking on the lemons…. He says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!!!

Sometimes our problem is that we allow our lemons become what identifies us… lemons can define your actions, your preferences, your relationships and who you become….Here again, Paul rises above the lemon tree, as he identifies himself by his relationship with Christ, not to the lemons he was handed…                                                                  Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. 

Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:3 “For we which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh”. 

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made unto God. v7 And the peace of God, which passesall understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. 

An interviewer was talking to a couple of young men who at one time struggled with their music classes in school. The teacher was giving them grades that were just barely passing. It was Liverpool, England and the two boys were John Lennon and George Harris. How could this teacher not recognize half of the Legendary Beatle’s group, who sat in her classroom? The Beatle’s took the lemons that their teacher handed them and determined to turn them into lemonade (they did a pretty good job)

Many times we fail to make great lemonade because we don’t recognize the ingredients we already have like John and George’s teacher… or we don’t understand what we need to do with them… to make that transformative action happen…

Paul tells us that the thing to do with lemons is to harness them and demand that they glorify God!                                 When I was a kid, my job was to go bring the horse for my dad so he could plow… (sounds easy) but the horse was running free on 150 acres of farm. It was a contest of who would wear out and give up first. I knew my dad wouldn’t accept the excuse that the horse wore me out, so I refused to give up until I brought the lemon horse home… Once I could grab him by the soft part of the nose, and put the bit in his mouth, he was mine baby!!!  Control the head and the body will follow (that’s a sermon in itself) Now this is what Paul is saying about your lemons….

Philippians 1:12 “But I would have youunderstand, brethren, that the things which have happened to me (my lemons) have been (prokopé̄… harnessed) for the furtherance of the gospel.”

Joseph harnessed his lemons…..he said to his brothers, as they were driven to Egypt by the famine that was in the land… Genesis50:20 “But as for you (lemon lickers and lemon suckers) you meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive”.

The three Hebrews harnessed their lemons…. They refused to eat of the kingsdainties and drink of his wine… and when they chose to go into the lemon furnace…. The fourth man appeared and made them fire proof…They overcame the lemon furnace!

Daniel knew how to harness lemons….Whenhe was told to not pray to anyone but the king for 30 days, he went to his house and began to pray… He knew that the lemon lions were no match for the Lord his God…. 

Sometimes we don’t realize that we can be the spark that transforms someone’s lemons to lemonade….. (turn to someone and say “Hello Sparky”)                                         

Adam Clarke, was born in 1763, in Tobermore North Ireland. When Adam was a schoolboy, his father told the teacher that Adam wouldn’t do well and was in great danger of growing up a dunce. The teacher responded “I think he is a bright boy”

That statement changed his life—One day, after being scolded by the master of the school and mocked by his fellow-pupils for his slow progress in his tasks, her words flashed before his mind, and he "felt as if something had broken within him," and, seizing his book, he began to study with a sense of power which was quite a revelation to him, and from that moment he became the wonder of the school. It broke the power of the lemons his father had put on him. 

He lived to be seventy-two, and he became a great scholar, an English pastor and an author of commentaries and a book called Christian Theology. It is considered among the most comprehensive commentary on the Bible ever prepared by a single author. When Adam Clarke preached, it was said, people listened and came to know God’s grace and assurance of salvation.

And that lemon was transformed into lemonade by the positive affirmation of one teacher!!! Perhaps you’re the sugar for someone’s lemons, that will break them free of their lemon limits and let them soar!!!

Check out another word which Paul uses as he encourages the Philippian believers…                                             Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer (deal with your lemons) for His sake. v30 Having the same struggle which you saw in me, and now hear of me”.                      

Paul calls their suffering, the “struggle” and the Greek word is “agó̄n”…which is the word we get “agony” from. It means   ( a contest for victory or mastery)… Paul is considering it a privilege that the Lord would trust him with his lemons! He is encouraging the Philippians that they should stand fast in the struggle and believe the contest will result in victory, because they are on God’s side….It’s the agony and the ecstasy !!!

It’s time to “Juice the Lemon”.. This is far more than picking ourselves up by our bootstraps or turning our frown upside down. It is fully believing and  trusting the God who is always working things out for our good.This contest for victory is described in Ephesians 6:12 “For we struggle not (agó̄n…. a contest for victory or mastery)against flesh  and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. v13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, stand therefore. v14 Having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, v15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. v16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench (sben'-noo-mee… put out, extinguish) all the fiery darts of the wicked. v17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”

If you “put out” the juice in the lemons, (sben'-noo-mee…) then you’re “Juicing the Lemon”..! That means drain it or empty it of it’s negative, bitter, sour effects in our lives….                                                                                                                                                                

Every believer should be running a Lemonade Stand…. Not only transforming your own lemons, but making lemonade and getting it out there and available to everyone who is willing to receive it….(Get your fresh squeezed lemonade here)!

Matthew 11:5 “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel (Good news) preached to them”. 

Luke 7:22 “Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel (good news) is preached”.

Believe me, transformed lives, and the blind seeing, the lame walking, deaf hearing and the dead coming alive, that’s a lot of lemons being turned to lemonade!!! That looks like a lemonade stand to me!!!

Lemons don’t ask if you’re ready for them, they don’t ask permission, and they don’t care if it’s inconvenient. There’s never a good time for your life to experience their bitterness and sourness. But the saying “God will never give you more than you can handleand He’ll help you handle what you’re given” tells me that with Him, I have what it takes. It tells me I can bear whatever comes my way. It tells me God permits lemons with the knowledge already of what I can endure. Conventional wisdom points people inward, but the truth is, our lemons should point us Godward. How much better is it to let God write your story, He does a far better than you ever could. He knows how to write a good outcome into every bitter and sour experience you’ll ever have….

Jesus took the biggest lemons of all and turned them into amazing grace lemonade for all of us…..

As the psalmist says, Psalms 46:1–3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling”. 

When our strength is failing under crushing burdens, Isaiah 40:29 God gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Yes, Praise God, He doesn’t give us what we can bear, He gives us power, and wisdom, and anointing, to bear what we are given…..

Stand and praise Him that when you don’t have enough, He’s enough!... When you need healing, He’s your healer…. When you have too many bills at the end of the money, He’s your provider…. When everything is upside down and inside out, He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever!!!

We sing the song that says “This (praise) is how we overcome”… Be that overcomer and give Him praise, praise that Christ in you is more than enough… We are more than conquerors…. The word of God within us will prevail…. He overcame that we might overcome also in His name… Declare right now, that YOU ARE AN OVERCOMER…. You shall triumph gloriously in His mighty, powerful name!!!

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