Letting God Out Of The Box
Speaking of that, here’s a little humor..... I read that a father was visiting his son’s house, one night when he asked if he could borrow the newspaper. The son replied, “Dad, this is the 21st century, I don’t waste my money on newspapers. You need to get out of the box of the past, and into the internet age, but if you like, you can borrow my I Pad. I just got it so just take it out of the box. The father finished, and gave the lap top back. He said “Well son, you are right, the lap top worked much better than the newspaper, That spider never knew what hit him”.
I grew up in a culture and a family that gave any adult the right to apply the rule of learning to my seat of knowledge. That’s another way of saying that they had the right to kick my butt! I always felt I was being watched, judged and the sentence, was about to be carried out when I was around family or neighbors. Then on top of that, Bill Elliott didn’t agree with Lola Elliott, that I should ever have been brought into their home to be raised anyway, so I was the whipping boy for anything that happened, and he was quick to let me know that I was an outsider. So I say all that, to say that I was very fearful, introverted, and insecure, with very little training in relationships... When God told me at 15, that He had chosen me and His hand was on my life, I ran from it for the next 4 years. I tried to put God in a box, and God didn’t like it....it was my way of having some control in my life, by keeping God at a level where I could handle Him..... But I’m glad God didn’t stay in my little box! Come on....Say with me “Today, we’re letting God out of the box”.
I begin today with a scripture in Joshua 3:6 “And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people”. They saw that God was where the box was. And they had gotten very comfortable with that arrangement.
We all know the story of how God’s glory rested upon the arc of the covenant and it was manifested as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Amazing miracles, signs and wonders took place as God opened the Red Sea, provided manna in the wilderness, on another occasion, He filled the camp with quail so that they had meat to eat, He vanquished their enemies, and many other things, which let every one know that God was with Israel and they were His chosen people. But then we come to the time when David wanted to build a great temple (a bigger box) to house the arc, and God said no, that a box couldn’t contain Him, but David insisted, so God allowed Solomon to build the temple...God didn’t want to be put in a box, hidden behind a curtain....He wanted His glory to be seen everywhere, that all may know His greatness and power and love.
2 Chronicles 35:3 He also said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will be a burden on your shoulders no longer. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.
So they put the God box behind the curtain, in the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest could go, once a year, and be in the direct presence of God.
When Jesus died on the cross, the temple curtain was ripped open, and the glory that was on the arc came out of the box, because God wanted His power and glory revealed to the world, in the person of Jesus. The work was finished, the glory now rested on the people who received Him.
But His followers began to build church buildings, to house the people that actually are the church, and the buildings became boxes where they could put God....and once again it became all about the box instead of the God that created the box. Folks promote their brand of the box, more than they promote the Lord... One day the telephone in the office of President Roosevelt’s Washington church rang, and an eager voice said, “Tell me, do you expect the President to be in church this Sunday?” The pastor replied, “I cannot promise you that,” “But we expect God to be there, and we figure it should be incentive enough for all Christ serving folks to be in attendance.”
On the day of Pentecost, God got out of the box. Pentecosthappened outside the box, but over time, folks continued to push Him back in the box of the church building again and again.....
Luke 14:23 “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”.
The emphasis here was not just coming to the church box, but going out of the box and COMPELLING by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that as folks saw God outside the box, they would also come, and go forth to repeat the same. And the out of the box experience would continue...
Matthew 10:7 “As you go, (as you go)....proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ v8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give”.
Now that’s what “compelling them to come in” is all about. Let me tell you this morning, the house of God would be filled to overflowing with that kind of compellinghappening... God wants someone to let Him out of the box..... I love this cartoon, with God towering into the sky, and Kevinstanding beside the little box, trying to convince God to get in.... God says “Rodney, we really need to have a talk”....
Some folks need to stop using God and let God use them....
In the New Testament, the blind, the lame, the deaf, the leper, the demon possessed, and the dead folks, all found God’s power outside the box~~because the ecclesia were everywhere....
The first thing dead people did, that Jesus raised up, was to get out of the box!!! They got out of there, shouting and praising God!
It was in the breaking of the alabaster box, that the ointment was able to pour out upon Jesus...Nothing happened until it got out of the box....
When Lazarus came out of the tomb, yes, he was alive but he was still bound up, and when they got him out of the wrappings, he could then be free to live again....and go out and tell everyone what Jesus did for him....God is looking to unwrap us so we can live outside the box..... John Wesley provides the most convicting analysis on what living outside the box means “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can.”
God is telling me to tell you, to break the alabaster box and anoint Him once again.... Don’t just come back to life, but get unwrapped and get set free to live outside the box....
Amazing things happen when you let Go and Let God!!!
When God was let out of the box, Abraham and Sarah conceived a child at 100 years old..... Joseph was brought out of a pit, and a prison to become second in charge of Egypt....the walls of Jericho came tumbling down and the Hebrews marched in to take the city..... The sun and the moon stood still while God provided daylight so Joshua could win the battle.... oil, kept flowing in the famine for the widow of Zarephath and her son was raised back to life.....When God got out of the box, the woman with an issue of blood was healed, the blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked, and Peter walked on water.....
How does that translate to our lives? What would that look like? Honestly, I don’t fully know, but what I do know is that God didn’t call us to safe living. He called us to live out our faith, to take a chance on him. He called us to step out of our comfort zone and live in the realm of the supernatural, where He can show His power.
I am tired of limited, God in a box living... I am tired of living in fear instead of stepping out in faith. I am tired of missing out on miracles. I am tired of a God that can be tucked awayin our neat little box.. Come on, if you feel that... pray with me.... “Lord Jesus, you alone are God of the heavens and the earth. You are the God who is the same yesterday and today. You are the God of miracles, the God of the impossible. And, you promise that your power is available to us today. I ask your forgiveness for failing to recognize my own boxes in deciding how you can and cannot act, for limiting you by my own beliefs. I ask you to unleash your power in my life, to do exceedingly and abundantly above all I could ever ask or imagine. Have your way in my life, by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever; if Scripture teaches that we will do even greater works than Christ did while he walked the earth...Scripture teaches that if we have faith we can move mountains, so, who am I to settle for less than that.....
Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think”.
I love this verse! It is such a great reminder of God’s power, of his ability to simply blow my mind with what he can and will do. I like to think about my dreams, knowing that God can do far more than anything I could ever dream up in my wildest imagination. ,But I can’t ignore the part that says “His mighty power at work within us”.... It has to be allowed to flow through us, not just to us! Let me say that again.... “Through us, not just to us”.....
Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped; then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the mute person’s tongue will sing. For in the desert, springs will burst forth, and streams of water in the barren place.”
I fully believe that this prophecy is about any time, and any place where folks are willing to let God out of the box! Dale Carnegie said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not just dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of habit”. Habits are necessary but they can trap us in a box....and become religion... it can rob us of the joy and freshness of a dynamic, new work of God in our lives.
Let me give you 4 signs that God is getting ready to break out of the box in your life.....
1. If God Is changing your relationships with People, Places, and Things in Your Life, This Could Be in Preparation for a time when He is coming out of the box for you.... God doesn’t try to grow seeds in soil that is not good. And before God brings you into his greater presence, he will first make adjustments in your life. Scientists studied a native tribe in South America whose people had been dying prematurely for generations. After thorough investigation, the cause of premature death was determined. The disease was transmitted by an insect that lived in the walls of their adobe homes. This new information presented several options. They could move to another area where such insects don’t exist, tear down their homes and rebuild them, use insecticide to rid their homes of the bugs, or, continue as they have and die early. Surprisingly, these people chose to remain as they were and do nothing about their problem, because it would involve change. Before God blesses you with a new level of the supernatural, He will begin to change around people, priorities, places, and things from your life that are putting limits on His presence and power. If God blessed us before He prepared us, so often, we would miss the blessing ormisuse it once we got it....
John 15:1-5. It says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . . I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he shall bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Is some pruning going on in your life, If God is taking away some people, places, priorities and things in your life that are hindering your growth, then rejoice and get ready!
2. If God Is Taking You Through a Season of Repentance and inner Healing, This Could Be in Preparation for a new level of out of the box supernatural living....
Sometimes there are external barriers in our lives that are blocking God’s blessings. At other times, there are things within our own selves that are blocking us from going to the next level. But if we quit, we will never know what could have been. Bill Broadhurst, he loved to run and he entered a 10k race in Omaha, a race that champion runner, Bill Rodgers would win in less than 30 minutes. You see, Bill Broadhurst had a handicap, he was paralyzed on his entire left side from an aneurism early in life. But he still loved to run and for him to be in the same race as his hero Bill Rodgers was the greatest thing he could imagine. He was still running when the banners had all been taken down, the traffic had begun to flow on the roads, there was nothing left that would tell you that a race had even been run. 2 hours earlier, Bill Rodgers had finished the race and now Bill Broadhurst was nearing the place where the finish line once was. A couple of kids on bikes road beside him and said "Hey mister are you still running the race, it’s been over for hours, someone’s already finished first and won, why don’t you quit, the race is over!" Broadhurst replied, "I can’t, I have to make it to the end at the finish line". As he approached the place where the finish line used to be, Bill Rodgers, the winner, and about 30 people stepped out from an alley and placed a banner up and strung a ribbon across the road. And Bill Broadhurst stumbled through the ribbon and across the finish line. And the winner, Bill Rodgers,took the winner’s ribbon from his own neck and placed it around the neck of Broadhurst, and he said, "you are a winner”... That’s what Jesus does, He takes the winner’s ribbon from His own neck and places it on us, and says “Well done my child, you were faithful, you didn’t quit, you overcame, you’re a winner.”
3. When there are character issues or a wound deep within us, that is keeping us from living out our full potential as new creations in Christ, God will take us through a season of repentance and healing in preparation....but He’ll always be there at the finish line, to celebrate us.....
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Don’t let wounds, fears, intimidation, and hurts of the past, keep you from running the best race you can, and from crossing the finish line and hearing His “well done”.... An old Peanuts cartoon has Lucy standing in the outfield of Charlie Brown’s baseball story. As a fly ball sails toward her, she remembers all the other times she’s dropped the ball. And she drops this one, too. Lucy calls out to Charlie Brown, who’s standing on the pitcher’s mound: “I almost had it, but then my past got in my eyes!” Hallelujah, He has settled the past, so we can do all things through Christ!!
4. If God Is intensifying and renewing Your Passion for Studying the Word and Spending Time in Prayer, This Could Be a Sign He Is Preparing You for a new level of, out of the box supernatural living.
Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
We need a proactive prayer life and a working understanding of God’s word, to keep growing and moving outside the box, in the Lord. Without this, we are easily led away by our feelings, our desires, and the world’s deceptions and manipulation. And even with all that, we need to personally stay connected with God’s presence and worship, and praise and prayer in agreement with the body of Christ. If you have lost your passion for these things, you’re probably in a box. If your prayer life is stagnant, you’re in a box. If you can’t lift your hands and voice in the house of God, you’re In a box... come on now! I will guarantee that if you start praying every day for others, God is going to bring some amazing opportunities into your life. Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you have not known”. Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours”.
Psychiatrist Paul Tournier, once compared faith to the actions of a trapeze artist who must turn loose of one bar and grab another, but there’s a moment after he’s turned loose of the first bar before he’s grabbed the second bar, that he’s hanging there in mid-air. That’s the Christian life in a nutshell—letting go of the former things,in faith, the comfort zone, and the areas we’re holding back, and where we stopped growing and stretching, so you can take hold of God’s new thing. Doing the same old mandatory things will produce the same results and leave you struggling. Be spirit filled, not just religious. If you want to live abundantly, if you want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, you’ve first got to let go of the bar you’ve been swinging on, which is where you’re moving from, and grab the fresh, new thing of God that is outside the box!!!.Oh, Hallelujah! Let’s join in a prayer of letting go......”Lord Jesus, In this moment You have brought me to in this time and place, I let go of all thoughts and concerns that have filled up my mind. As I let go, I am able to receive. When my hands are formed into tight fists, I cannot open my hands to receive anything.When I hang onto tight control, and I close off my heart and my spirit,I cannot receive the blessings You have for me.
In letting go, I choose to receive your blessings. In letting go at this moment, I receive your loving presence around me and within me.
When I am feeling overwhelmed, I let go, so that I may receive your peace. When I feel afraid, I let go, so that I may receive love and courage. I let go of problems and challenges in order to receive your guidance and clarity. Lord, I let go because I trust you. You will hold me up, and carry me forth to where I need to be.
I let go and trust in the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, inside of me.Help me to cease my struggle and surrender to You. I gladly receive the freedom, and release of letting go and letting you lead me and guide me. When I am weak, You make me strong, when I am confused, you are my way, when I am insufficient, You are my sufficiency. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my deliverer, my provider, my ever faithful one, my God, in whom I trust. In Jesus name.
