The fight of my life, Sermon 11/29/09

Posted on December 6, 2009 by growintheword

The fight of my life


Synopsis of Sermon 11/29/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text: Genesis 32:22-31: 22And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. 23And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. 24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 31And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
We are all under construction. God is molding us and working with us to get us to our place of purpose and destiny. It is never easy, because often we are our own worse enemy. The resistance is often within us. There is so much that God wants to do in and through us, but he must first get some stuff out of us. This may require the stretching of us. In Jacob’s case, it is wrestling with God. It really doesn’t take long, after reading about the life of Jacob, to see that you and I begin to see much of our own selves in Jacob. Jacob’s life or biography at first is not one to be proud of, yet it later becomes an indication of how God can transform a life. Jacob is a trickster. His whole life has been one struggle after the next. Even from his birth, Jacob spent time fighting with his own twin brother. Jacob’s twin brother Esau was about to be born first and the bible says Jacob reached up and grabbed the heel of his own brother’s foot and pulled him back into the womb so he could be born first. We are talking about a prenatal fight.
Jacob has been struggling all his life. You know the story about Jacob where he later on with his own mother Rebecca, tried to pull one over on his own father’s eyes by fooling him into thinking he was Esau. We also find that Jacob allows his brother to sell his birthright over a bowl of soup. It is interesting because all of Jacob’s relationships are birth out of manipulation. They are birth out of trickery. He doesn’t even know what healthy relationships are. Even his relationship with Leah was birth out of dysfunction. He continues to birth children with a woman he doesn’t love. Jacob loves Leah’s sister but he continues to birth children with a woman that he doesn’t love.
Later, Jacob is on the run and his life is constantly hurting people. He keeps on running from this and from that. Jacob is on the run yet trying to get home to his father Isaac, but he does not want to deal with his brother Esau. He wants to get to his father, but he doesn’t want to deal with issue with his brother. We are like this. Many of us are like this. We can’t wait to get home to our father, but we won’t deal with the issue with our brother. How can you say you love God whom you have not seen, yet you have problems with and hate your brother you see every day? We need to work these interpersonal relationships before we get home to our father. The bible says Jacob comes to an interesting place. He comes to the river of Jabbok. The bible says Jacob sends his wife, his servants, and his cattle ahead over the river, but Jacob is left alone. The revelation of this is Jacob is left alone at the river of Jabbok and Jabbok means empty! God is about to empty some things out of Jacob. When we look back over our lives at all of the dysfunctional relationships we had and everything that is in us, we will realize that every now and then God needs to empty some stuff out of us. It is here Jacob was left alone and he wrestled with a man until the breaking of the day. God has to put you in a place to get you into the fight of your life because you are at a pivotal point in your life. God knows when we are on a path of destruction. God is about to make a shift in your life. Many of you wonder why your crowds have gotten smaller. God is going to get you to a place of shift. He is going to move you to the fight of your life. He is about to do something new and fresh. You know when you are about to outgrow the foolishness around you, you are ready to go to the next dimension. God says you are about to enter the fight of your life. How you come through this will define your destiny. How you come through this will determine the next season of your life.

I. He proved he is Lord of our life
1. God will do what he has to do to move you to your place of destiny. Jacob is arrogant and self serving. He lived his life as if he was master of his own faith, but God will prove that he is Master. Jacob is left alone and he is ambushed by God.
2. Theologians wrestle with this text wondering if Jacob was wrestling with a man, with God, or an angel. It was really about Jacob’s perspective. Your bible declares that Jacob wrestled with a man in verse 24. Genesis 32:30 says 30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.- Verse 30 says Jacob saw God face to face. Some people wrestle between whether Jacob wrestled with a man or God. We don’t’ have time for this. The issue is much bigger than this! People act the same way when it comes to us coming to church. They are still wrestling with a man. Ex: Some people say, “You just going to that church just to follow Bishop Walker or whomever your Pastor may be!”Just like the issue in scripture (verse 30), this is bigger than Bishop Walker! This is about our relationship with God and our being fed a relevant word.
3. It is about progressive relationship. Jacob is wrestling with God’s will verses his own will. Up until the point of wrestling in the brook, Jacob has always been in control. Now Jacob is no longer in control!
a. Control – God has to prove to Jacob who is control. God will prove to us who is in control. Genesis 32:25 says 25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.-Ex-Bishop Walker explains that he sometimes wrestles with his nieces, his nephews, and his cousins. He explains that he will sometimes lets them win. He knows his is stronger and wiser, but he lets them win, but every now and then, he will flip them back over and pin them down. This is to remind them who is really in control. God will do the same thing to us sometimes. He will let you think that you are in control, but then he will flip us back to remind us that he is still in control. There is always a wrestling with our will verses God’s will. Remember in the garden, when Jesus said let his bitter cup pass from him? Jesus even had a point where he wrestled with God’ will. It is not a sin to wrestle with God, because all of us wrestle with God. All of us wrestle with God when he is trying to get us to submit.
b. Always submit-the path of success begins with the place of surrender. It is at the place that you say you give up and put it all in his hands.
c. Accept his sovereignty-Even if you have to be broken, you realize that there is a blessing in it.
d. Acknowledge him as savior-God will but you in a situation where you can’t help yourself. God had Jacob by the leg. Many want to run in their own direction and get ahead of God. God will let you go for a while, but then he grabs you by the leg. God will not let you go until he is ready to let you go. Jacob struggles with God, until God grabs his thigh. The thigh is a strong muscle. You can’t fight without it, so when God touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, he went from struggling to just holding on! Jacob said, “Let me go!” in verse 26, but he later realizes that if he has to go through this, he wasn’t going to let him (God) go until he blessed him. Jacob thought he was the man, but now acknowledges that he has to bow down! Jacob wants God’s blessing. Jacob had already tricked his father Isaac out of the blessing that was intended for his brother (Esau’s birthright). He tried to trick his brother out of his birthright with a bowl of soup prior to this. Remember whoever Isaac laid his right hand on, would receive the birthright. When Isaac laid his hands on whom he thought was Esau, he was really laying his hand on Jacob. Jacob was walking around with a stolen blessing. When Jacob was wrestling at the brook, he says to God that he wanted his blessing. Jacob begins to realize that any blessing that God could give would cancel out any blessing that is validated by man. We would rather have God’s blessing than your attention or your money or your favor.
4. In verse 27, God asks Jacob what his name was. Genesis 32:27: 27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. Why would the creator ask the creation what his name was? It is for Jacob’s own good.
5. After Jacob says his name, in verse 28, God says his name would be Israel from then on. Genesis 32:28: 28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. For Jacob to say his name was Jacob was to say he was that trickster and the manipulator that he always was. God had to give Jacob a new name.
6. Jacob then asks the name of the person that he was wrestling? God says it is not about who he was. Genesis 32:29: 29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. -God wants to know why he wants to know his name. After all this blessing has nothing to do with God. It is about Jacob.

II. He personally labeled my legacy
1. Names in the Old Testament came to us as adjectives. Names were descriptive of a person’s predicted character. Names often based on prophetic utterance. When one names you, they are making a statement about you. If you look at the names that Leah gave here children, this is seen.
2. Jacob now must take responsibility. When God asks Jacob who he is, for him to say Jacob was to say he is a trickster, a crook, a liar, or a thief. The real issue is that we all have some interesting names. We are here and we are reading this document as we speak, but what is your real name? What would your name be if they called you by what you acted like? Some of us would be called legion. This is why we don’t call other people names. We have enough names our own self (referring to be called by how we act).
3. What is your name? God is going to remind you of his destiny. Jacob will now be called Israel. Your name is not out of your past. Your name is out of your potential. Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery, but after Jesus came, she was told to sin no more. Lazarus was called stinky, but he refused to be what they called him. He chose to live. It doesn’t matter what people call you, it matters what God calls us. We were beneath, but now we are above. We were sick, but now we are healed God says he will not let us be defined by our issue. We will not be that alcoholic we used to be and will not be that promiscuous one anymore. When God changes us, we will not be what people remember us from.

III. He purposely left me with a limp
1. Genesis 32:30-31 says 30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 31And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.-Why would God leave Jacob with a limp. It was a deficiency. Jacob’s limp would be a public deformity, to create divine dependency. God left something (Jacob’s limp) that Jacob could not hide so he has no choice but to depend on God. Our limps have been so hidden and so camouflaged we would call out other people’s limps. Ex- There was a woman who went to this church, who had a limp. She told her Pastor about the limp one day. Her Pastor shocked, told he that he never noticed that the woman had a limp. The woman explained that she walked real fast so no one could see her limp. We do the same thing in our lives. We stay so fast and so busy that no one can see our limp. If we slow down, our limp will show. All of us have limps, but God can use us in spite of our limps. If you don’t’ have limp, then you haven’t truly wrestled with God.
2. To not have a limp, is depending on your own strength. Not having a limp is like walking around saying, “I can do this” or “I got this!” Having a limp is taking one step on our strength, but taking the next step depending on him! We can’t make it without him. He is holding us up! Ex- When you begin to look at this, Genesis 32:24 says24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. – The keyword here is wrestle. This scripture tells us that Jacob wrested to the break of day.
3. In verse 30, the bible says Jacob named the place Peniel means face to face, meaning that Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob said his life is preserved. This suggests that if you know anything about wrestling, you know that the loser has to be is pinned. God didn’t pin Jacob. God could have killed him, but instead he gave Jacob another chance. God just gave him a limp, though he could have killed him. Jacob said thank God my life is preserved. We give God glory that we are limping, but he saved us!
4. In verse 31 that bible says he passed over Peniel. The bible says he passed over Peniel limping into a new day. I don’t care how much pain was in yesterday, God is about to give you a new season. Limp on into your destiny! Limp on into your next dimension! We preach, we sing, and work for God with a limp! Limp on to the end to see what the end is going to bring!

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The Struggle for potential Pt 4, “The Anatomy of Noise” Sermon 11/22/09

Posted on November 24, 2009 by growintheword

The Struggle for potential Pt 4
The Anatomy of Noise
Synopsis of 11/22/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text: Psalm 100:1:1Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
It is no secret that we are living in a world where people make noise. Noise is the vehicle by which convictions are portrayed. Compassion is demonstrated by way of noise. What you believe in is often associated with the noise that you make. Even now while we are in this place, Republicans and Democrats are making noise, trying to get Healthcare passed in their favor. Noise in the hip-hop culture makes noise in an attempt to raise awareness of what they interpret as the ills of our community. Activists make noise in an attempt to bring awareness to their cause. Everybody is making noise. One of the most amazing things that we experience today is everybody else is making noise and the group of people that should really be making the most noise is silent. If anybody ought to be making noise, it ought to be the people that have witnessed the very power and provision and presence of God in our lives. In the text, the Psalmist makes a very powerful statement. It is a declaration of responsibility to those of us who have been recipients of the goodness of the Lord. Psalms 100 is one of those Psalms who was written by an anonymous author. In other words, we don’t know who wrote Psalms 100; however, we do know that this Psalms was written about 80yrs after the destruction of the temple that the Babylonian King had destroyed. They had rebuilt this temple and this psalm (in the text) was a Psalms that the people were singing as they were entering into the new temple. This Psalms is really about what you do in response to life when all the dust has settled and you begin to start over and are heading into another season. This is why they entered into the gates with thanksgiving and into the courts with praise. It was because it is something fresh and something new and even after the violent attack, God has raised them up all over again.
Today we are talking about people that have gone through a lot of stuff, but now you are in a brand new season. In other words, God is doing it for you. This is the kind of Psalms that says there is no way as a child of God that you can sit up in here and try to be quiet. Nobody has a problem with noise in any other area but the church. People go to the football game and make noise and they go to a basketball game and make noise. Bishop explains sitting in a theater the other day watching Michael Jackson’s movie “This is it” and people were in the movie making noise over Michael, yet when we come to church, we try to be the frozen chosen. We have to learn that we ought to open up our mouth and make some noise! This noise is not some mere emotional reaction. It is not some charismatic moment people just go through to fulfill some religiosity. When the Psalmist talks about making a joyful noise, it talks about splitting the ear or making God’s name large. You and I both know the devil has made a lot of noise in your life. When you make joyful noise, you drown out the enemy. What you are really saying to the Devil is that you are turning the decimals up so that we can drown out everything the enemy is trying to do. This noise has nothing to do with how you were raised denominationally. It has nothing to do with how you have interpreted church. This noise is about when you put in perspective how far God has brought you, you can’t help but to make noise!
There are probably some people that sit up in church and wonder what all the noise is about. You were raised to believe that the church is a place where you are supposed to be silent or dignified. This often makes you afraid when you see others responding with noise like they do. You look at people and wonder why they do what they do. The only way to make us understand this totally is to give the anatomy of noise. Maybe this will make you leave here making a little bit more noise!

I. The Revelation
1. Revelation is to take the cover off. The “a” portion of the text says make a joyful noise. Psalm 100:1a:1Make a joyful noise. Notice it did not say make a skillful noise. It said make a joyful noise. Joy is a result of the word of God that has been spoken in our life. Once the word is spoken into our life that word becomes a revelation. We have a word, the word is in us, and as a result it gives or creates within us a joy response. Without the word, there would be no joy. 1 Peter 1:5 says 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.- In other words, when we get into a context that is inconsistent with our destiny, it is the word that will keep us. It is the word or the revelation revealed to us regarding our situation. There is a distinction, between happiness and joy. Happiness is a result of external stimuli that creates an eternal response. Ex- Some says when you sing well and you become happy or somebody gives you a gift and you become happy. Joy on the other hand is not based on happenings; Joy is based on a revelation. I have a word that is in my life. Ex-This word has been revealed to us, so if no one ever takes us out, we will take our own self out. The doctor gives us a bad report; we know we are already healed, because we have a revelation.
2. This joy is not an emotional reaction. Our noise is not some babble. Our noise is a response of God’s word and what he has revealed to us. It was based on what God promised us, while we were going through.
3. Our noise is about:
a. His revelation is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10 says 10Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.-The revelation of God is our strength. The revelation of God is our strength. Our joy or our noise is a response of the revelation. If we didn’t have the word, then we wouldn’t have strength.
b. Revelation shifts us. We may be there physically, but not spiritually. Paul and Silas were in the jail in Acts 16, but their spirit shifted to another place Psalm 30:5 says 5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.-Joy shifts us from night to the morning. Therefore we can give God noise, because even in darkness, we have revelation.
c. Our noise is also about Salvation- Habakkuk 3:18: 18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. – What we have our self in, God has the power to bring us up out of it. God will bring us out. God is our strength no matter how weak we get. We make noise because we know we are coming out of what we were in right now. We know that what we are in right now is not the last word. Make a joyful noise, not skillful noise.
d. Make a revelation noise. If you don’t’ have revelation, you don’t have the noise to make. The revelation inside of us is what makes our noise. This is an informed noise and not a zeal nose without knowledge. It is zeal according to knowledge.

II. The Reaction
1. How to you respond to life’s reactions? What do you do when things fall apart? There has to be an explanation of the noise. The noise has to be made as a result of the revelation that we have. Some people have relative emotionalism. You declare that you are not an emotional person and you wonder why people want you to make noise. Well you need to know that your emotionalism is relative. It is based on your context. You make noise in accordance to what you like! You might sit in church and be quiet, but you make noise in other contexts!
2. To sit in church and be quiet is a contradiction of you confession that Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to you. Noise is a reaction to the response of God in our situation. Noise is really tied to information. Ex-There is a lady that died a few years ago that couldn’t read. She had a 5th grade education. She was on the Motherboard at church. You wouldn’t dare walk in church or talk, because she and the other Mother’s of the board would pinch you to correct you. They would be over there moaning during the service. Every now and then when the spirit would get right, she would go “mmm!” Bishop explained that as kids they would laugh. There was something she was trying to say, but she didn’t have the grammar to say it! There wasn’t enough adverbs or adjectives to put together what she wanted to say when the spirit would hit her so when she tried to say it, nothing would come out but, “mmm!” Sometimes what God gives us is incomprehensible. It doesn’t make sense.
3. When God gives us noise, he sometimes focuses it on:
a. A purpose-He might focus our noise on a purpose. Sometimes God forces our noise in order for us to get a breakthrough. God told the children of Israel to march around the walls of Jericho and on the 7th day the 7th time he told them to shout. They all shouted and guess what happened? The wall came tumbling down. You can go to wall now and shout and nothing will happen, but when you do it out of obedience it triggers something in the supernatural. The shouting was done through obedience. When they shouted, they triggered something in the supernatural that happened in the natural! When you make noise through obedience, you trigger something in the supernatural that will make something happen in the natural on your behalf!
b. Noise is about Warfare and worship-You can’t be quiet in warfare and worship. 2 Chronicles 20:18-22 says18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 19And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. 20And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.-When they made noise, God made the enemy confused. When you in spiritual warfare, this isn’t a time to be cute. This is the time to make some sho-nuff noise.
c. Noises are also about prayers-Sometimes you have to be noisy in your prayers. There is power in a noisy prayer. Ever been so hurt that you didn’t know what to say in your prayer? You fall on your face and cry and just make noise. There is power in a noisy pray. Romans 8:26 says 26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. – Some of our most powerful prayers we have ever prayed have been noisy prayers. We just let out a cry. Thank God the Holy Ghost can interpret our moans and our groans.
d. Noise is in our Praise-Noise is also in my praise. We can’t look back over life, and be quiet! You can’t tell by looking at us what we have been through, but if we have to explain it, we will be forced to make some noise! There are no words that can comprehend what we went through! All we can do is think about the goodness of God and all he has done for us and we can’t help but to make noise! Our praise then is a result of our inability to articulate what we have been through. The Psalmist says make a joyful noise (revelation, joy). It is a reaction that we are going to allow our noise to focus on glory rather than let it focus on what the Devil is doing to us.
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III. The Requirement
1. The text says make a joyful noise unto the Lord, everyone. Psalm 100:1 says 1Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. This means everyone. Here you have a requirement to give some outward expressions of gratitude. God has been too good for us to sit in church and be the frozen chosen. Ex- Bishop admits that he doesn’t like churches where everyone is cold like this. Bishop explains that he travels to a lot of churches that are so quiet and dignified and they resemble dry wood. The problem with dry wood is it catches on fir quick. Bishop admits that he likes a little moisture or some expressions of gratitude or maybe some appreciation. We have inheritance. We are beneficiaries of the goodness of God. What we have, God gave us! What we are he made us, what we know he taught us, and where we are, he brought us.
2. What the text suggests is the only ones that have the right to be quiet, is those God has never done anything for. If God has never healed your body, then be quiet. If God has never paid a bill, then be quiet. If he has never made a way out of no way, then be quiet. For the rest of us, if God has ever done anything for us, it forces us to open our mouth and say something! The more God’s does for us, the more intense our noise becomes.
Ex1-Bishop Walker explains that when he was in school @ Southern University, he played in the Band. He explains that the football team would be preparing for a game and they would have a Pep Rally before the game. The Pep Rally was designed to motivate the team, before the game. We have got to learn to have a Pep Rally, before we go in the battle!
During the game, the school makes lots of noise. They would be so loud in the stands that it would confuse the enemy. When the opposition would be in a position to score, the band would start the drum cadence alerting the crowd to make noise. This would cause confusion to the opposing team. They would be able to hear, so they would call a time out. They would come back out on the field and still be unable to hear because of all of the noise. This would throw the play off. Because they could not communicate, it would throw the play off. Just like this, we have to allow our noise to confuse the enemy.
After Southern University would win, they would have a party called the 5th qtr. This was a party celebrating their victory. How can you allow God to heal you and bring you out and you just sit there cold?
Ex2- There was an 80 yr old lady and things had really gotten bad in her life. She was raising her grandkids and her children were all in jail. She was in the grocery store with a basket full of groceries despite all that was happening in her life. She would go through the store doors and get her buggy and begin to shop. The store managers had gotten where they would watch this old lady while she was in the store. They noticed that every time that she would get to aisle #3, she would start screaming. This would scare the other customers in the store. The veteran Managers decided to send the new manger to talk to her and escort her out of the store this particular time. The new manager did as he was asked and he went up to the woman who was screaming and asked the old woman what her problem was. She told the new manager that she just couldn’t be quiet, because God had been too good to her. The new Manager says her praise scares the other customers and he asks could she explain why she had to scream every time she came to aisle # 3. The old lady said this is the last aisle she came to before leaving the store each time she came. She said that this aisle reminded her of all she had been through! She picks up a bottle of ALL detergent and she says despite all she was going through, she put it all in his hands! She said 6 mths ago, they turned off her lights, but thanks to God, she bounced back as she picked up a box of BOUNCE fabric softener! She also said God told her to be of good cheer despite her tribulation as she picked up a box of CHEER from out of the buggie and then she says weeping endures for a night but, joy comes in the morning as she shows the manager a bottle of JOY dishwashing liquid! She begins to shout and then she runs around the store as security comes and then she says and one more thing as they ask her why she has to be so loud? She says because I have learned that when things get rough we have got to shout it out as she shows the new Manager a bottle of SHOUT! Shout it out!!!

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What the Recession taught me Pt 4, “I shold have trusted God in tough time” Bible Study 11/18/09

Posted on November 22, 2009 by growintheword

What the recession taught me Pt 4
I should have trusted God in tough times
Synopsis of Bible Study 11/18/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker
We often have a hard time trusting, because we have been let down by people so many times and as a result we often equate trust with that. Regardless, we must understand that trusting God is not like trusting people. We have to put our trust in God and we must trust God in all things. 1 Peter 5:6says 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: – What God demand from us is humility.
God wants humility. Hebris, a word used in Old Testament Hebrew text is a word used for a prideful arrogant sprit. This is a trait that God despises. If the recession has taught us anything, it taught us involuntary humility. There were people that were big headed and puffed up and they thought they had everything going on, but when the recession came, it humble the. We must always as Christians, have a humble spirit. We must always walk in humility. You will be surprised how pride has sneaked in on many of us. God doesn’t use many of us on certain levels, because many of us are arrogant. We make a few dollars over minimum wage and we quit speaking to people! We must recognize that if it wasn’t for God’s grace, many of us wouldn’t have what we have. We must ask God to help us stay to stay humble. Ex- Bishop explains that his profession, he has had conference calls with people that we would considered to be very powerful people. When they ask Bishop how he wants to be addressed, he simply tells them to call him “Joseph” because that is his name. “Bishop “is Bishop Walker’s title, but “Joseph” is his name. They are shocked that he doesn’t mind being addressed by his first name. On another occasion, there was somebody whom we will not name that Bishop made a phone call to. Bishop Walker said he addressed him by his first name and it angered that person. They brought it to Bishop’s attention and asked why Bishop would they just address them by their name. Bishop told them that the man that died for him on Calvary is addressed by his first name. His name is “Jesus” so Bishop says if he calls him by his first name, surely this person would not take issue with being addressed by his first name. We get caught up in titles and attention and it is important that we understand that this is not really important.
God resists the proud. James 4:6 says 6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.-We need grace and this is why we are humble. God resists the proud. We recognize if it wasn’t for God’s grace, we wouldn’t have what we have. 1 Peter 5:5 says 5Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.-God says be clothed in humility. God is after our humility. Micah 6:8 says 8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?– God simply wants us to do right by people, lover mercy, and walk humbly with God. Stop walking around like you are better than everyone else. Walk around and simple be willing to speak to people.
I. Don’t act like you are better than others
1. Must have Humility- Proverbs 8:13: 13The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.-The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. If we humble ourselves under the hand of God, he will exalt us! Ex-If we were to hold our hand in a horizontal position face down, this represents the hand of God covering us. Our problem is that we try to move out from under his hand, because we feel we are not exalted fast enough. We try to step out from under God’s hand and lift our own selves up. God says his hand is face down now because he is covering us. What God wants us to know is he will eventually flip his hand over with us in the palm of his hand and he will begin to lift us up. We will be lifted up or elevated while we are in his hands. All we have to do is to wait. Because we step outside the covering of his hand, we get prideful. God hates pride.
2. We must not be Anxious- Many of us struggle with anxiety. 1 Peter 5:7 says 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.-God says just give me what you can’t handle! God cares too much to watch us go through what we can’t handle. In Matthew 6, God reminds us of this by asking us to look at the lilies of the field. If God takes care of them and they are not able to toil or give him praise, wouldn’t we think God will care for us his children whom he created? Matthew 11:28 says28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.-Stop trying to handle stuff all by yourself. Philippians 4:6 says 6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.-We must give our problems and our concerns to the Lord and leave them there. If we take it to the altar and pray about it, then we must leave it at the altar. God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear.
3. We must maintain Sobriety-Here is a bootleg definition for sobriety. To be sober in the world is to be absent of chemical influence on the brain. When we are not sober, then we are out of our mind. We laugh at stuff that ain’t funny, we fall and break stuff, and we get into stuff we are not supposed to handle when we are inebriated. When we are under the influence, we also put others at risk.
a. To be sober spiritually is to be absent of demonic spirits or demonic influences on our mind. The Devil comes in through our eye gate, our ear gate, and out mouth gate. We need our mind to be clear during rough times. If we don’t, before you know it, we are in church tipsy so to speak. We find ourselves under the influence while trying to receive the word. Be sober and don’t let outside sources control your mind.
b. We must be on the Alert. This means to watch. 1 Peter 5:8 says 8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: – It is because the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, then we must be alert. . Remember in the garden? Jesus asked the disciple to watch with him one hour while he prayed. Jesus knew he was about to become vulnerable. He was about to wrestle with his destiny. He asked his father to let his bitter cup pass from him and the bible says he prayed so hard it was if he was sweating blood. He wanted to pray, but he wanted them to watch while he prayed. This is why you have to be careful with the people you have around you. You can’t trust everyone with your vulnerability. Some folk are to sleepy for the job and they will leave you exposed. Remember Jesus says watch with me because I am go to pray and they fell asleep. Guess who was watching while Jesus was praying? The Roman soldiers were coming to arrest him, because Peter was not watching and praying, he took out his sword and cut off the ear of a Roman soldier. . If you don’t do the right thing at the right place and the right time, you will do the wrong thing at the wrong place at the wrong time. Peter is about to getting Jesus killed in a brawl in the garden of Gethsemane, but Jesus destiny was to die on the cross.
c. If the scripture says the devil is like a roaring lion, then you must know how a lion attacks to understand how relevant this really is! Ex-On Animal Planet we can learn a lot about this. Sometimes they have segments where they actually track a lion that is about to attack. They even give the lion a name like “Sasha”. In the setting they may say that Sasha has set her eye on something. They begin to commentate that she (the lion) has set her eye on the weakest gazelle in the pack. Sasha begins to set her plan into action. She begins to slowly creep and stop. There are other gazelles that are closer to her, but she waits until she has the opportunity to attack the weaker one that she has picked out. She sticks to her plan. She knows the one closer to her may be too fast and two strong. She has picked out the weaker one of the flock and she sticks to her plan. The enemy much like this is waiting to attack us. The enemy our adversary is patient. He is a devourer and a taker. He attacks the weak much like the lion. Many of us were vulnerable during the recession. We were weak because we began to lose faith. We must know that our language tips the devourer off about our weakened state. What do you speak, when you are in trouble? Know that God will rebuke the devourer for your sake.
4. Resist the Devil. . 1 Peter 5:9: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.-This scripture says we have to resist the devil through our faith. Just because the enemy is after you doesn’t mean you should just give up. You have to get to a point where you become firm in your faith. Galatians 6:9 says 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Romans 8:38-39 says 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.-Nothing will separate us from the love of God. We are not supposed to change because things around us change. The recession was an opportunity to show the world what we believed in. The bible says that everyone went through trails (in this case being the recession). We all had to take part in the recession, but there were different responses from different people. If we look like the world, then we lose our credibility. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says 17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.- He says no matter if no one else will, he will rejoice in the Lord, because his response is not like the world, our response is like God’s.
5. We must stand firm in our faith. If none else will, we will rejoice. 2 Corinthians 4:8 says 8We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; – We can’t respond like everyone else. When everyone else is tripping, we have to be the one that says that God is going to work it out. When we humble ourselves, we cast our cares on him, we keep our mind sober, we be alert, we resist the devil and we we stand firm in our faith.
II. What does God do?
There is a word called eschatology which deals with the study of the end of time. When we see certain text, it suggests that everything will be better when Jesus returns. Dispensational theology deals with times and seasons meaning God will save us in his own time. Soteriology Theology deals with salvation and study of the way God saves us based on past history. When you add Dispensational Theology and Soteriology Theology together, we see God will save us in his own time, after producing in us what is needed to come out of our situation. This way, when our situation comes around again (like the recession) we will be in a different place. In other words, after all the suffering we went through the first time, God will make us perfect meaning mature. James 1:2-4: 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
1. God let us suffer so we will grow up. Recession taught us is to stop playing. We had to learn to sow, to tithe, and how to invest during the recession. God was trying to mature us. Our whole value system had to change. We realized that it wasn’t the size of the house. It was instead all about the maturity of the people in the house.
2. God confirms things. God establishes us. Establish means to render unmovable or to fix firmly. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says 58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.- God establishes us. His word is unmovable and because his word is unmovable, we have to be unmovable. God wanted to know if we would still come to church and still be faithful when things are going wrong.
3. God strengthens us. We try to say we are not tired, but we need to know that it is ok to say we are tired. We just have to know where our help comes from. Isaiah 40:31 says 31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.2 Corinthians 12:9 says 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. -Some of most powerful moments that you experienced with God is when you said you didn’t have strength to go on. Psalm 28:7 says 7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. – Everyday when we get up, we realize everything we do is done on God’s strength.
4. God establishes us. If your house is built on faith, after all the dust settles from the storm, you will be left “standing”. Colossians 2:6-7 says 6As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.- If you claim to be a Christian, just walk in it. Walk in the principles that you have been taught as a Christian. You got these notes you have taken from sermons and you have CD’s from the sermons that you heard, therefore, some of what you learned should show up during rough times. When you can build roots in it, you can be like the palm trees. Palm trees don’t break during hurricanes. The roots are deep as the tree is tall and as a result they just been during hurricanes and storms. Trees often break into pieces during hurricanes. Are we going to be something that breaks or are we going to be something that just bends a little during the storm?
III. What God deserves
1 Peter 5:10-11 says 10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1. Glory-God is revelation to us of who God is in our circumstances. You had a group that said they couldn’t handle it, but there was another group that said they will give him the glory anywhere. Jeremiah 13:15-16 says 15Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken. 16Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. -Glory means worship. It is hard to worship, when you are being worshipped yourself. Jeremiah says in verse 16 that God said give him the glory or what we dread happening, will to us again.
2. Dominion-During the recession, the kingdom of world went belly up. We put all our money in the world just to find out how wishy-washy it could be! There will come a time where every knee will have to bow. Psalm 24:2 says 2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. -God is in control. God’s kingdom is greater than this world. God is bigger than a bailout plan. Jesus came that we might have life and have life more abundantly. Our destiny is him.
3. Control- God is in control. Psalm 22:28 says 28For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. -We all love President Obama, but even he has to get up every morning and get on his knees and pray to God, just like we do.
4. Forever & Ever- Hebrews 13:8 says 8Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Malachi 3:6 says 6For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. -God doesn’t change. We are in the blood line with Jacob, which means we will never be consumed. Ex- Bishop explains that about 7am this morning he was looking at a scripture and he was thinking about what it meant in relation to this series. God said it is so much bigger than that! Jude 1:24-25 says 24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, -Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. If we take this scripture and interpret it from the end to the beginning we see it says: See how wise God was, he saved us and we don’t give him the glory. He is in control and has the power forever. He won’t let you fall again. Walk with him and he will keep what happened before from happening again and he will make it like you never fell before.

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Struggle for Potential Pt 3, “There is a blessing in it” Sermon 11/15/09

Posted on November 22, 2009 by growintheword

Struggle for potential Pt III
“There is a blessing in it”
Synopsis of sermon 11/15/09
1 Peter 4:12-13: 12Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

The most difficult areas for us to deal with in life is with the sovereignty of God. It is the sovereignty of God that stretches most of us in here. Remember the Sovereignty of God reserves the right to do what he wants to do without giving us an explanation. This can stretch you, but God knows what he is doing. Sometimes God will allow certain things to happen in our lives simply to mature us. Look at Paul when God does not remove the thorn out of his flesh. God keeps it there and says that his (God’s) grace was sufficient. It was about Paul maturing. Paul says as a result that he will glory in his infirmity. Other times he will allow things to happen to make us examples of faithfulness. Look at how God dealt with Abraham. God used this principle regarding Abraham dealing with him sacrificing his son. Sometimes God will allow things to happen just to send the devil a message. God wants to remind the devil that he is in control and that God has his hands on his anointed. God will prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies. God will keep us and protect us so the devil will know that they picked the wrong person. God has our destiny in his hands. Sometimes, it is hard to see how this experience with our trials will come back to bless us. It is hard to factor in how this will bless us. Know that if God allowed it, it will bless you. Often it is in hindsight that we see where the things that God allowed in this season came to bless you. It might be hard to see it while you are in it, but many people can testify that they thank God for what other people complain about!
It is important to put this text into context. Peter is writing to 1st Century Christians. This is the same Peter that Jesus drafted to be a disciple. This is the same Peter that walked on water and fell. This is the same Peter that pulled out his sword on the Roman soldiers when they came after Jesus. This was the same Peter that denied Jesus 3 times. Now if take look at the context at which 1 Peter 4:12-13 comes from, we will have to take at look at our biblical history where we would notice one leader of Rome named Nero. In 1864, this leader burned the city of Rome. This is a historical fact with theological implications. Nero was a renegade leader and he has aspirations to rebuild Rome in his own honor. The people of Rome are upset over this. They ask why Nero would burn Rome. They are losing their houses, their possessions, and temples of worship all because one man’s ego. Nero is a manipulator and he decides to use early Christians as scapegoats by spreading lies and blaming Christians for being responsible for the burnings that were taking place in Rome. As a result, this turns many people against Christians because they think they are responsible for these burnings and they began to call them cannibals because they would over hear them saying ”this is his body take and eat all of it and this is his blood take and drink” while they were taking communion. Now early persecutions begin against Christians because of this and Christians were set on fire. Nero would actually use them as human torches to light up his festivals. He takes Christians and crucified them upside down. He also would take Christians and tie wild animals around them and send them out in wilderness so they would be hunted by wild dogs. This was all because of one man’s’ egotistical plight. It is in this context where Christian’s are being set on fire, Christians being crucified upside down, and sent in the wilderness to be hunted by wild dogs that Peter pins this epistle and says thing it not strange concerning fiery trials which come to try you! Peter says rejoice because when his glory shall be revealed, you will have great joy. Some of you are going through something right now that has nothing to do with you. You are a victim of somebody’s egotistical plight and schemes, but know that God says whatever the enemy does in your life; God will make sure that you get a blessing out of it.

I. You must submit to the test.
1. Tests are a reality and so are trials. If you can’t change a thing, then you must deal with the thing; Remember the serenity prayer says Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. We know that in this life, we are going to have trials. Job 14:1 says1Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. Psalm 34:19 says 19Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 2 Timothy 3:12 says 12Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. – If you are not experiencing trials or test, you ought to be nervous. This means you are not a threat to Satan. View persecutions as confirmation of what God is going to do in your life. The more the devil brings in your life it is an indication that God has a lot in store for your life. Tests are important and this is why Peter the apostle tells them that they must be ready and prepared for.
2. Test comes to:
a. Mold us -There are things resident in our life that will never come to pass, without God molding us. Ex-Kids will take Play Doh and press on it and mold it and do almost everything with it. Just like the Play Doh, it doesn’t matter if God presses on us as long as we remain in his hands.
b. Matures us-Some of us would not be reading this if it had not been for our trials.
c. Manifest us-God puts us on trail to get us to the next dimension. It is just like taking a class in school.
d. We must have the Right perspective. Just like in school, if we can pass this test, we know we can pass this class. We often look at the curriculum ahead of time to see how many test we will have during the class. Don’t curse God for the tests. Know that you are in a university for adversity.
e. We experience Rigorous preparation- You will have to focus for the test. You have to study and you have to be willing to miss going out when everyone else does. Your Pastor is only an instructor, but you have to open the book for yourself. Your Pastor can’t give you all the answers on just Sunday morning. You have got to study. Ask this question, “Why can’t people pass an open book test?”
f. Must be ready to perform.
g. We must be Resolved to pass-We are determined that we will pass this test. We are coming out!
h. We will Receive promotion-God doesn’t promote based on tenure. God can’t promote you until you pass some test.

II. You will have substance in your testimony
1. Many of us want a testimony minus the test. The revelation is there are some things you need to get. 1 Peter 4: 13b says we must be partakers of Christ’s suffering. 13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings;
2. If we don’t suffer with him, we can’t rein with him 2 Timothy 2:12: 12If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: – If we deny Christ, he will also deny us: We hate on people who are blessed, but we don’t know what they have been through. God said he is willing to put his reputation on the line through us. Look at Job and all the loss he went through. God told the devil if anyone will bless him (God), it will be Job. Job doesn’t even know this conversation is going on. The same conversation may be going on over you right now. The devil intensifies his attack on Job, but job says though he slays me, yet he will trust him. Some people understand that they are a testimony in the making. You move from testiphony to real full fledged testimony. Some people wonder who are those who have this true testimony? Well the answer is simple. Let the redeemed of Lord say so!

III. This will stretch your theology.
1. Theology is the study of God. When the glory shall be revealed, found in the c portion of text, God wants to prove the power of experiential knowledge. 1 Peter 4:13c: When his glory shall be revealed, we may be glad also with exceeding joy.
2. We don’t know God like you should, but because our experience in him his growing, our knowledge expands every day. Philippians 3:10: 10That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made comfortable unto his death; -We have to go through some stuff, to get to know him. The challenge with our theology is that it has been held hostage by ecclaostoloy. Ecclesiology is indoctrinated upbringing. This is why some people can’t experience God out of their denomination. Their theology is held hostage as a result of the ecclesiology. You don’t’ believe God can turn a situation around. God says, he is trying to get our theology to transcend the ecclesiology. God gives you your own set of expererinces so you can say you are bigger than your theology. You don’t believe, until you see Gods power for yourself. God takes us through test to expand our theology.
3. Why does Peter call it fiery trial. Maybe it was Peter who saw a Christian being set on fire and was so horrified, he pinned this text for encouragement. We don’t’ know for sure, but the scripture strongly uses the word fiery. This word must have some relevance. Fire and heat are synomounous. Where there is heat, there is fire. Fire and heat are necessary if they are properly regulated. Without being properly regulated, fire couldn’t burn. The delicate balance is of importance. Ex-When you took a shower this morning, you didn’t take a cold shower. You turned on the heat, so it would be regulated so that it would bless you. When you got up and cooked and put fire to the food, you properly regulated the heat on the burner so that the food was cooked and not burned. You ironed your clothes and the heat properly regulated so that it wouldn’t burn your clothes. Some sister today can thank God the hot curling iron was regulated so you could have a blessed hairdo. Properly regulated heat has a blessing in it, if there is a balance. God put the sun on the proper axis. If it had been placed too far away, we would freeze. If it had have been placed too close, we would have we burn up. Shedrack, Meshack, and Abednego was placed into the fiery furnace and the heat was turned up twice its normal temperature, but God regulated the heat. He didn’t bring them out; he regulated the heat so they could stand it. God does us the same way. God might not bring us out of the fiery trail, but he will regulate the heat so that we can stand it. You think it will hurt you, but know that it is properly regulated.
4. Why does the trial come? There are some members that go thru the fiery trials and they don’t understand why. The gold smith said he must place the gold in the fire to take out the impurities. Like gold, there is some mess or impurities in your life that only the fiery trial can get out. Just because the impurities are off of you, it doesn’t mean God won’t put you in the fire. Don’t miss this blessing. Like gold, he keeps us in there and then he takes us out. The blacksmith takes the gold in and out until the gold his pure enough that he can see his reflection in it. God is just like the blacksmith. He says he will tell us when we are ready. Just like the blacksmith, when God sees his image in us, he takes out. God will keep you in there until your praise looks like him.

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