What a friend we have in Jesus Part I, Bible Study 06/10/09

Posted on June 12, 2009 by growintheword

What a friend I have in Jesus Part I
Synopsis of Bible Study 06/10/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III

It is important not to become lukewarm in our relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a term called Christocentric which deals with having as the theological focal point the teachings and practices of Jesus Christ. In other words, it is saying that Christ is the center in all we do. The Church is an example of something that is christocentric. Which means the church should be focused on God. Because the world has shifted so much in what it allows, we have moved further and further away from God and as a result Christ is not the center focal point of the church anymore. We have moved away from the fire we had when we first met the Lord. The question is how do we get back to that place? There used to be a time that people would get excited just at the mention of his name (Jesus). Now you got to tell people what God is going to do for you, just to spark the same excitement. It is important to focus on the friend we have in Jesus. When you reconnect with God, you will understand what a friend you have in him
I. Life now
1. Paul shares with the church at Philippi how he was content whether he was on this side of glory or the other. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Phil 1:21 (KJV). Paul reminds them that if he lived he would be ok because God had his back. If he died, he would be ok because he would be in the presence of the Lord. Christ is the model after which Paul lived his life.
2. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on our faith. 10 As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, Phil 3:9b-10 (NLT) -Paul was in pursuit of knowing what it was like being in relationship with Christ. Now that Paul knows for himself how good God is, he says it doesn’t matter what problems he may encounter, because he has Christ in his life. There is no life greater than knowing Jesus got up on that Sunday morning. When we are in relationship with God, we realize that if Jesus can get out of tomb and defeat death, he can get us out of anything you and I could ever be in. Paul recognizes even if his life is taken, he gains something on the other side. For him, to die is gain.
3. Jesus came to give us life. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (KJV) -On this side of life, we are supposed to have joy and peace in our relationship with him. Jesus came that we might have abundant life. On the other side, we are alright too, because on the other side, we gain eternal life.
4. The validation of your relationship with Christ is based on what you have put away. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Cor 5:17 (KJV) -The validation of your relationship with Christ is based on what you have put away. There ought to be a big difference between what you are now and what you were, because of what you put away. Ex- Why don’t you curse anymore? Because I put those old things away. Why don’t you drink anymore? Because I put those old things away. When you put old things away, you have a new look, a new walk, and a new talk.
5. Jesus brought you back to life. 1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Eph 2:1 (KJV) – When you accept that you were dead in your trespasses, you realize that Jesus brought you back from the dead. Life is the thing most of us take for granted. We think we are owed life, but we really don’t have the right expect it, nor do we deserve life (because of how we live). Instead of complaining about how hard life is we ought to pause and say wait, “At least we are alive to know that life is hard. We ought to rejoice in the fact that we are alive. If it wasn’t for the grace of God, you wouldn’t have what you have. There is somebody that would like to trade places with you right now, while you are complaining about your life. All you got to do is go to the nursing home or a homeless shelter to confirm this. There are some people that get up every morning and thank God that something ain’t hurting on them this morning on them this morning. For every person that does this, there is an older person that gets up every morning and thanks God that nothing new is hurting!
II. Pardon
1. A president has the right to pardon people that have been convicted at the end of their term. We have been pardoned by our relationship with Jesus. To accept a pardon, is to accept we have been convicted which means we were guilty of our sin. God pardoned us. No one gets a pardon that hasn’t been convicted.
2. We are all sinners. 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Romans 3:10 (KJV) -There are none of us who are righteous. We have all fallen short. 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23 (KJV)-Because we have sinned, we have all fallen short. For sum of us, it was just a few days ago that we sinned. For others, it was just a few hours ago. For a lot more, it was just a few minutes ago.
3. Prophetic Messianic Influence-6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:5-6 (KJV)-There are lots of Old Testament scriptures that have prophetic messianic influence. The province of the Old Testament using prophetic messianic influence implied that the Christ would come 1000 yrs before he actually came. “Him” highlighted in the Isaiah scripture is an example of prophetic messianic influence. “Him” used in the scripture implied that the messiah would come. It implied that when he would come, our inequities would be put on him (Jesus). Sheep referred to in the scripture are just rebellious (the sheep represents us). Without a shepherd, sheep could not make it. They have a tendency to stray away. To understand how good a friend you have in Jesus, it is important to put in perspective relationship of sheep and a shepherd. Ex-Remember the father that had two sons and one went away, rejoices over the son over the lost son when he comes home. Remember the good shepherd that left his 99 sheep in search of the one lost one. Just like this, Jesus cares for you so much that he will live others to come and find you when you are lost.
4. How does God get us back in line? 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalms 23:4 (KJV) – -the rod of the shepherd was striaght up and straight down. It was used for correction. Just like the rod of the shepherd’s staff, there is no swaying in the word. It is straight up and straight down and is used for correction. It whips you back in line.
5. God can pull you back in. The Shepherd’s staff had a curve at the top of it. The shepherd would use it to pull the sheep back in line with the herd. He put it around the sheep’s neck and pulled them back into the herd when they strayed away. If you think about it, Jesus works the same way. That is what you felt when you were dropping it like it was hot in the club and that small voice inside you told you that you know that you did not belong there. God used the curve in his staff (or the word of God inside you) to try and pull you back in. Jesus loves us so much; he will not just leave us out there so harm would come to us.
III. Sin must become real to us
1. How do we get out of our sin? 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24 (KJV) –We messed up, how will we get out? The issue is we have to recognize, because of sin, we are in a mess. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 (KJV) -Just because we got saved and we have friend in Jesus, doesn’t exempt us from working out our salvation. We yet war with our inward man. We need to put in perspective how did we get reconciled back to God. Sin separates us from God. Sin always separates us from God. God sent one prophet after another, until he finally sent Jesus. If you walk in the light, you are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. There can be no reconciliation with God, without the shedding of blood.
2. We have been redeemed. . 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. Eph 1:6-7 (NLT) we have been saved or rescued by the blood of Jesus. Soteriology [suh-teer-ee-ol-uh-jee] is the study of salvation. We could not save ourselves, so we looked to God to save us.
3. There can be no separation from faith and healing. They work simultaneously. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 (KJV) What God did for Christ happened at the same time he was being crucified (the action that healed us). Healing is to prevent disease. When something is not at ease, healing is to say I can pin point what is not at ease and put it in its proper place.
4. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. Ex-When a sign says “don’t trespass”, we do it anyway. In other words we are out of position or where we are not supposed to be. Jesus was wounded because we were out of position.
5. He was bruised for our iniquities. What are iniquities? These are the things in us that we are prone to do and maybe haven’t done yet. It means we have a genetic tendency to do these things without developing them, for example generational curses.
6. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. The things that chastised our peace and kept us up all night, Jesus took upon himself.
7. By his strips we are healed. We have gotten so far away from by his stripes we are healed, it is scary. When the Passion (the movie) first came out, we got to a renewed compassion for what Jesus went through for us. We were not at ease and we realized that at Calvary, Jesus was healing us. There can be no atonement without the shed of blood. When you look at the bible and trauma Jesus suffered, you will realize that the beautiful paintings that we see of Jesus on the cross are not biblically accurate. The trauma and punishment that Jesus suffered would have caused his head to be swollen; his eyes would have been blood shot, and etc…The bible says he did not even look like a man. When they hit him, punched him, and kicked him, why would he allow this to happen? The Roman Empire was so traumatic; they tied Jesus to a stump and whipped him 39 times. You got to go back further than slavery to get the full understanding of this. They would lace the edge of the whip with hooks and blades. Every time they would pull the whip back, flesh would come off of Jesus’ body. They did this 39 times. Here is the son of the living God being whipped almost to death and by one word spoken by him, he could have killed his oppressor and been back at the right hand of his father instantly, but he didn’t for our sake.
8. Why would Jesus go through this? There could be no redemption without the shedding of blood. The more blood that came out of him, the more of us would be covered. What can wash away our sins, nothing but the blood Jesus? There is power in the blood so we have to get back to pleading God’s blood over our situations. Ex- Bishop explains that it is discouraging watching people that are too busy to come back to Church on Sunday afternoon for communion after Jesus did all he did for us. All he asked you to do is as often as we come (for communion) do this in remembrance of him, remembering the price that he paid. Nowhere in the scripture does he say remember me, except for when he was talking about the communion. Because we have turned communion into such a formality, we drink and eat without any thought of what we are doing or why we are doing it. Remember, there can be no redemption without the blood. This will not really hit home to you, until you have reconnected with him. Only when you contrast your messed up life, to what Jesus paid for your life, will you refuse to allow anything to keep you from remembering what Jesus did for you.
9. What did Jesus do?
a. He imputed righteousness on us. He made us right thru his blood. Ex-You tell a child to make up their room, it will be wrong though it is the best they can do, but you will go behind them and make it right. This is what Jesus did. The Devil tries to say we are trying, yet we are not quite righteous, but Jesus comes back behind us and makes us right.
b. You got to recognize the power with having peace with God. 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: Romans 5:1 (KJV) -we are acquitted from our sins by faith 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1 (KJV)- the is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ.
c. We have power. We have the power to overcome bad habits. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phil 4:12-13 (KJV)
d. We have power to change. 17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Eph 4:17 (KJV) -Can you imagine what you were like before you came to Jesus? Do you remember how hard headed and stubborn you were? If you look just a few years back, you can’t believe you were like that. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 (KJV) -You have to understand power changes your mind. Ex-Explains this generation wants you to challenge their mind and heal their hearts. If you can get a person to change their mind, that is a powerful thing. When a person changes their mind, they have acknowledged that they were wrong.
e. We have the Power of provision. We have everything we need in our relationship in him. We have to quit allowing people to do for us, what he has already done for us. When you look at Psalms 23:1, a preacher can preach on this scripture every Sunday all year long and get a different revelation every time. 1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 (KJV) What they will do is preach the word and the spaces in between the words. For example: Psalms is written by David. Where is David? He is running for his life. Saul is trying to kill him. He is writing under pressure. “The Lord” written in the scripture is another sermon. David was living in polytheistic society which means they believed in serving more than one god. David says the Lord is over any hostile situation we can be in. The word “Is” is another sermon. The scripture says the Lord isn’t was, nor shall be, but is our shepherd. In other words, who will pay the bill? The Lord is. Who will fight our battle? The Lord is. “My” is another sermon. My problems are all God’s. The word “shepherd” is another sermon. Like the sheep, everything I need is in the Lord or our shepherd. “l shall not want”, is another sermon meaning completion. In this scripture are many sermons of encouragement.
10. Stop tripping over your life. 25 “So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Matt 6:25 (NLT)
11. Look at the birds the next time you go outside. They don’t work, tithe or anything else, yet God takes care of them. 26 Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Matt 6:26 (NLT)
12. Who can look in the mirror and say they want to be 2 feet taller and it happens? Accept what you can’t change. 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. Matt 6:27 (NLT)
13. Lilies don’t toil or anything thing, yet God takes care of them.28 “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. Matt 6:28-29 (NLT). They know God has them.
14. We are God finest creation and we try to figure out how god will take care of us. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! Matt 6:30 (NLT)
15. We worry about things, but God already knows what we need before we ask. 31 “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. 32 Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, Matt 6:31-32 (NLT)
16. We have to seek Gods way of doing things first. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matt 6:32-33 (KJV) keep doing it God’s way and he will provide you with what you need. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19 (NLT)

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How will your story end Part I, Sermon 06/07/09

Posted on June 10, 2009 by growintheword

How will your story end Part I
“Your Destiny Awaits”
Synopsis of 06/07/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text-Gen 12:1-3

One of the most important things to God is how we all end up. How does this story play out called life? Whenever God creates us he does so with an intent. There is a biblical law called the Principle of Original Intent. Whatever God does or whatever he creates he does so with the end in mind. This is why God said he is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He says this because when he starts a thing, he has already ended a thing, while waiting on you start what he has already begun. It is important that the end result of our lives should bring glory to God. The end result is called Destiny or Destination. In other words the path towards destiny is purpose and purpose is in the mind of the creator. The purpose of a thing is defined by the maker of a thing. If we are his creation, he made us and not we ourselves. God will do what he has to do in order to usher or push us to the original intent he had for our lives. Sometimes we are, skewed, off balance, and out of position, but God will navigate circumstances and bring us to a point called now where everything begins to line up and God says it is time for that thing that has begun in our life to come to fruition.

This is a story of Abraham. His life is so powerful it would take an entire year just to preach about Abraham, be we believe that there are some principles found in Abraham’s life that should be applied to our lives. Abraham discovered his blessings were contingent on his obedience. Unless were are willing to do what God wants us to do, the blessing that God has deposited into our lives will never come to fruition. Great things were awaiting Abraham, but he was unaware of these great things that were assigned to his life. Just to look at Abraham, all you would see is a man married to Sarah. You would not see that in him are 3 of the world’s most dominating religions. Out Abraham comes Judaism, out of Abraham comes Christianity, and out of Abraham come the Muslim faith. Inside of one man, all of this is brewing and Abraham is unaware God is about to use him to do great things. Like Abraham, some of us go through life unaware that God is about to do some great things in our life. There may be some that have a sneaky suspicion based on this message being preached that some of the repositioning that has been happening in your life and some of the rearranging that has been going on is Gods way of saying that he has invested too much stuff in us to let that stuff lie dormant. They are suspicious that something is about to happen in their life. You must understand that God is about to stretch some of you like never before. You must understand that God is about to take you into places you never imagined you would go. God is about do exceedingly; abundantly above all you can ask or think. There comes a time where you arrive at a fork in the road and you can declare either you will continue to contribute to your demise or walk in the God given destiny that he has for your life. It may be crazy in your life right now and things might not make sense, but there are some people that will testify that they know that their destiny awaits them.
The issue with many of us is we wonder when God is going to show up. You need to know that you really are not waiting on God, God is waiting on you. We will find out that there are some things about Abraham that we need to take notice of. For one, we have to know that Abraham is a patriarch. There are patriarchs found in scripture often. They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A patriarch is a male head of the house. Opposite of that would be a Matriarch. This is the female head of the house. An example of this would be some people’s grandmother or Big Mama. Abraham is about to discover that his Patriarchal line is about to be bigger than his whole house. It is not but your zip code Abraham. What God is about to do is bigger than you see! In the history of the Bible, when people would pray, they would reference all the Patriarchs. Remember they would say things like, I worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they were the patriarchs of that time. Their faith transcended generations. What is it about Abraham that gives us powerful revelation? It was his willingness to be positioned in the right place.
I. Positioned in right place
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Gen 12:1 (KJV)
1. Now represents a particular period of time. If God is not speaking to you right now then maybe there are some things that need to happen first.
2. Whatever God intends to do in our lives have a lot to do with positioning. You can’t be in purpose and be out of position at the same time. The two go hand and hand. God told Abraham to go out from the place where he was and go to the place where God wanted him to be.
3. In order for to receive what God has for your life, you have to be sensitive and know what a real call is. What does this mean to be called? There are many people claimed to be called to the pulpit for example. This isn’t a play thing. Much responsibility comes with this call. It is not a vocation. You don’t’ choose this, it chooses you. Some people have diluted the credibility of the call (to the pulpit), because they entered for convenience and not commitment. The call is about taking up your cross and denying yourself. The bible says woe be it to him that puts his hand to the gospel plow and looks back. We got too many people that claim they have been called and they end up being more absent than people that have not been called. They say they have been called, yet they have no stability.
4. The Call is not just to pulpit or ordained ministry. Many people have an authentic call upon their life, but we have elevated the call to be a call to the proclamation preaching ministry and people now fell pressured that when God calls them they think maybe God is calling them to preach. Because of this, they get in front of the congregation and make a fool of themselves, because they are out of position. Every call is not a call to preach. You can be called into your particular area of expertise. God could be calling you as a school teacher or a dentist or an attorney.
5. Why would God call you and not call you to the pulpit? It is because he wants the glory not just in the pulpit; he wants his name lifted up in the courthouse, the school house, and the hospital. If you really want to know how called to a their area of expertise, look at what they do ( the environment they work in) Every time some people go to work, they have to realize that they are called, because no one could put up with the hell they are going through, but them. No one could put up with what they put with, unless they are called to it.
6. How does the Lord call us? The bible says and the Lord said unto Abraham in verse one of the text. “The Lord came unto” or” the Lord said unto” or” the Lord spake” is something that is consistent with the Hebrew writings.
a. God calls by his word. Notice it is always by the word. Whenever the Lord calls, it is by his word. God does not allow someone else to call for him. He is God enough to call you himself.
b. He calls us to his will. You will do what his word says do if you have been called. You can’t be out of the will of God and proclaim to be called. Like Jonah, when you are called and out of the will of God, you will cause storms to come into other people’s lives.
c. He calls us to Witness. When God calls things by his word to bring us into his will it is so our witness will be for his glory. Like Abraham, what God is about do is bigger than us. It is not about us. It is about him. The things he does for us will not only bless us, but others.
7. Many of us change our location physically thinking it will solve our problems. Wherever you go, you will be there. Our dilemmas follow us. If we are not positioned in the proper place, we will have the same dilemma wherever we relocate.
8. God will sometimes place you where you are totally dependent on him. God told Abraham to go to a land that he would show him. God takes us out of our place of comfort. God will not give your vision to you without you having the willingness to walk to it. You have to pack up &go where he wants you to go.
9. This decision can’t be made out of emotion. It is out of devotion. You can’t be in will of God when you operate off of emotion. You have to be in devotion meaning that you will be steadfast, unmovable, always abiding in the work of the Lord. This means we will be willing to show up whether people like us or not. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. We are to lean not to your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.
II. Prosperity tied to God’s Plan
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Gen 12:2 (KJV)
1. What God does in your life is for his glory. God says I will make in verse 2. In verse 1, if we do (move), we qualify for God’s “I will”. If we do, we walk into what he will do. If we do what we can do, he will do what we can’t do.
2. We have a skewed view of prosperity. People think we are prosperous because of what we drive or have. Prosperity has never been tied to money only. Prosperity funds purpose, the poor, and funds God’s program. Any prosperity you gain that does not operate in these 3 areas is for God’s glory. God only blesses us to be a blessing to others. God assures Abraham that he would change his current reality.
3. When destiny calls you, God will do what he has to do in order to usher you to your destiny. God told Abraham that he would make him a great nation. God will change you to look like where he is taking you to. Sometimes our circumstances don’t look favorable to what God has promised us. You can’t look at your condition. When God makes a promise, his promise will come to pass. You have to understand that you will not always be where you are.
4. God is about to change your immediate future. Some people can look at their situation and think that their situation is going to change in the next 3 to 5 yrs. God will change some things for you so quick, it will blow your mind. God says he is about to change your situation right now! God told Abraham that he was going to make Abraham a great nation. Nation is considered to be plural. Nation is a gathering of people, which means he will make you and those around you great. Ex- Bishop Walker explains being in France last week and noticing that the country announcing President Obama as the American President. Notice one name (the President) represents the whole nation (America or any other country).
5. Remember names were significant in the history of Hebrew text. People were given their names as a potential indicator of their character. Their names were so powerful that they often do not list surnames. They only needed to be referred by one name.
6. God said I am going to make your name great. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Prov 22:1 (KJV)-God’s name gives you favor with someone. A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. Eccl 7:1 (KJV). Ex -”I know you, you are Sister Jones child”. Your good name gives you favor with man. A good name can get you into places (ex-“I am here with the Parker party”). A Great name gives your favor with God. God literally moves your name from noun to verb meaning action. It is not who you are, it is what you can deliver. Ex-There was a great company called Xerox that rose up in the last 20 or 30yrs. Its name became so great, when you go to the competition like Kinko’s, you can ask them to Xerox you a copy. The Xerox (the noun) has now been turned into xerox (the verb). Ex2-Micheal Jordan’s name became so great, you can be watching Coby Bryant do a great move and you will say, “That was a Jordan move”. A great name brings value to a thing. You can put Gucci on a ripped shirt and take it to someone who doesn’t know, and they will pay great money for it.
7. You are the blessing of Abraham. There are people you haven’t met yet that are going to benefit from the blessings that God has given to you.
III. Protection in the Lord’s Promise
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Gen 12:3 (KJV)
1. A Covenant is an agreement. Abraham understands he is a patriarch, over the house, but he doesn’t understand how big the house is until he comes into covenant. Some people get a covering & don’t’ understand that they are responsible for more than just them.
2. God fights your battles. When someone is in covenant with God, you have to speak well of them, because the hand of God is on their life. Mess around and curse them if you want. They don’t have to raise one finger. God fights for them.
3. This is not a seasonal blessing. It will continue generation to generation. God is not trying to just do a right now blessing. God told Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. The blessing of God was on Abraham’s life. He has no children and conditions are not favorable, because they were old. The favor of God is on him and in him is greatness. You can’t be scared, you can’t procrastinate, and you can’t just do nothing.
4. There is an anointing on your life. We ask the Lord often, when he will bless us? Verse 1 says now. It will continue generation to generation.
5. Why us? Because God begins a thing with the end in mind. What was the end with Abraham? The devil is after your, because he knows the end or what your destiny is going to be. This is why the Devil is trying to frustrate you from your destiny. This takes out the end result.
6. What was God trying to end in Abraham? Matthew comes after 100 yrs of silence from God. The devil was trying to stop Abraham from: 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; Matt 1:2-12 (KJV).
7. Satan thought he could stop Abrahams blessing at verse 11. They were in captivity at this time, but remember if God be for you, he is more than the word against you, because while in captivity, 13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. The conditions were not favorable, because Mary was a virgin, but an angel said that there was favor on her womb. Inside her was Jesus. Jesus was born and they took him to Calvary. Once again, the devil thought he would stop Abraham’s blessing, but Jesus defeated death. This why the devil is trying to kill you. There is too much inside of you. There are too many dreams and too many blessings. We are the blessing of Abraham.
Prophecy for your life
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: Deut 28:1-13 (KJV)

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Knowing the enemy, Bible Study 05/21/09

Posted on May 26, 2009 by growintheword

Knowing the enemy
Synopsis of Bible Study 05.21.09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
If we were asked to write down our enemies, most of us would ask for more paper. All of us have enemies. We need to however, understand the source of our enemy. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12 (KJV)-what this scripture is saying is the enemy is at another altitude. We also have to realize according to the scripture, that it is not a person or their flesh that we are fighting. The person that transgresses against you is not your enemy. It is the spirit inside them. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)-What we have is a demonic opposition. We recognize that it is Satan himself that seeks to destroy the people of God and to derail us from our destiny. To really understand this, we have to look at how Satan gets in so many people? To find the answer to this, we have to look at the origin of Satin. We have to look at how he began, how he got into the earth realm, how he manifests in the life of other people, and how we overcome him. Satan is our enemy.
Satan’s origin and fall
1. Satan was an archangel. Before he was Satan, he was called Lucifer. To understand this better, we need to first look at the book of Ezekiel to get clear understanding of where Satan comes from. Satan was one of God’s archangels created by God. 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Ezek 28:12-14 (KJV)-Satan was in the Garden of Eden and he was covered in precious stones and had tambourines and pipes inside of him. Within his whole being was music. God created Lucifer and he was created to give God the glory. God had a court of angels created just to worship him and Lucifer was one of them. Lucifer was in the very presence of God at his throne in the beginning. God created this beautiful angel and placed him over the music ministry if you will. In other words, he was placed over the cherubims that were there to give God the glory.
2. Lucifer was cast out of heaven because of sin. God had to cast him out because he allowed pride to rise up in him. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Ezek 28:16-17 (KJV) – Lucifer had too much pride. His pride corrupted his wisdom. Lucifer was in heaven and got tired of the glory going to God. Lucifer allowed pride to grow up in him and as a result, was kicked out of heaven. God is not going to share his glory with anyone, so this led to Lucifer’s dismissal.
5 “I wills” that caused Lucifer’s fall
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:13-14 (KJV)
1. Lucifer wanted to be like God. He wanted to be a possessor of heaven and earth. Can you imagine being created by God and then telling God to get off the throne and submit to you. This doesn’t even sound right! Well this is what Satan tried to do. We have to realize that when we say we love God and we let Satan run through our life at will, we are saying the power of Satan is more powerful than the power of God inside of us. When we let Satan have control over our life, we have said that Satan is the greater authority.
2. Satan fell quickly from heaven. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke 10:18 (KJV) – Lucifer fell from the 3rd heaven when he got kicked out. Lucifer, prior to getting kicked out, resided in the 3rd heaven where God lives. Ex- Just to review the heavens, there are 3. There is the one where the birds fly, the 2nd is where the stars hang and the 3rd is where we believe God lives. Satan dwells in the second heaven and manifest in the earth as well. Satan enlists people to do what he can’t do in the earth realm. He enlists people to carry out his work. He knows when he gets into you, his work is complete.
3. If Satan is attempting to manipulate people in the earth realm for his agenda, then how did it happen? Satan not only fell, he convinced a third of the angels to go with him when he tried to overtake heaven. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. Rev 12:4 (KJV). When you look at this scripture, Satan is compared to a dragon and with his tail; the scripture says he took a third of the stars with him. The stars represent a third of the angels. Isn’t it amazing how many stars fall over some tail?
Who is Satan today?
1. He is a powerful angelic being with power to deceive. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Cor 11:14-15 (KJV)-Satan is a copy cat. He wants to copy God like he is the real thing, but he is not. Ex- God has angels and Satan has demons. Demons are real. They are the opposite of angels. God has ministers, but Satan has ministers too. You can’t get caught up in everything that looks like it might be God. You have to try the spirit by the spirit.
2. Satan is the God or prince of this world-30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. John 14:30 (KJV)-Jesus told the disciples that the prince of this world was coming.
3. Satan came to blind your mind. 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 2 Cor 4:4 (KJV). Our minds are so blind; we can’t see the revelation of God’s word. The moment the cataracts came off of your mind and the moment your mind got open, your mind start seeing stuff your eyes hadn’t seen yet. This is why Satan wants to keep your mind blinded.
4. Satan’s major tactics and major works. Satan works through deception. He is a deceiver. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Cor 11:3 (KJV)-Remember Lucifer was created before the beginning. In the bible, the devil didn’t’ show up until chapter 3(tape) in the book of Genesis, but we must know that Satan already existed. He wasn’t the snake, but he needed the snake to carry out his agenda. Satan used the snake because it already had his characteristics (low down, sneaky and subtle). Satan is looking at the characteristics in, because he is looking for someone to carry out his work. If Satan always tries to enlist you, then you should be concerned. Maybe it means you have some characteristics in you that Satan likes.
5. Satan caused Eve to question God’s word. Many of you have snakes in your house and on your job. They got close to you and you found out later that they weren’t the real thing. Many of us have too much sense for him to come at us like the Devil, so he has to approach us in a sneaky and deceptive way. 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Gen 3:1 (KJV)-he has to slide in under cover, like a snake. Ex- Before the recession, you were willing to give God all your time and all your money, but when you got laid off you questioned what the word told you to do. This is an example of the deception the Devil plants.
6. Satan quotes half truths-6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Matt 4:6 (KJV)-Satan likes to quote half truths to you. He knows the bible as well as you do, but twists it for his agenda.
7. Everything Satan says is a lie. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44 (KJV).Ex-Bishop explains that he tries to teach the word with truth and in its proper context. People often lack context. Slavery, sexism, and racism can all be upheld by the bible if you take it out of context. You have to get to a point that you study to show yourself approved. Bishop explains that he is simply here to motivate you to study God’s word for yourself. You don’ eat twice a week, so why do you feed on the word twice a week. We are not impressed if a person says that they know the word either. The devil is in church and the devil knows the word as well as anyone. Many can testify that they met somebody that supposedly knew the word and their relationship started out like Little House on the Prairie only to end up like Nigh Mare on Elm St. Satan tries to transform himself into an angel of light.
8. Satan wants to cause you to stumble, so he lays snares in your path. 4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings. 5 The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah. Psalms 140:4-5 (KJV)-God has great things in store for you. Destiny is where we are trying to go. Purpose is the path towards our destiny. Destination is the great things God has in store for your life. When you finally say you are going after these things, Satan tries to block you. He tells you can’t get it. Now that you are going for it, Satan sets traps, snares, and land mines to trip you up. Remember the steps of good man are ordered by the Lord. We need God to order our steps and help us around those traps. We have to recognize that we are supposed to lay aside every weight so that we may run our race. 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, Heb 12:1 (KJV)-We have to lay down the foolishness and sin that hinders us on our path to our destiny.
9. We look to God the finisher of our faith. 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:2 (KJV) – we look to Jesus who both started it and finished our paths. The devil sets traps for us from the beginning. We have got to get saved so we can get around the traps. The Holy Ghost guides and directs us around the traps that Satan sets. The devil always has a trap. You have a choice whether to follow the Holy Spirit or your flesh, but no matter what, the traps are set.
10. Satan opposes & exalts himself above all that is God. The devil opposes anything God is doing. We could feed 500 people and house them (as a church) and the Devil will have somebody say “why wasn’t it 600?” There is always somebody that will have an issue with what we do for God. He will always try to exalt himself. People will ask how you know if a person is the right one for them, but all you have to do is look at how they worship. The devil can’t worship and bow down and say God is greater.
Tactics of the enemy:
1. He afflicts the righteous
2. He claims authority over the world.
3. He blinds the minds of unbelievers.
4. He slanders and accuses the saints.
5. He opposes the righteous and tries to keep us in our place.
6. He instigates sin and tempts us.
7. He contends with us in heavenly realms. The more you get closer to God, the more you have demonic agitation.
8. He places his people in the church to that defrauded. He plants people in church.
9. He steals, kills, and destroys.
Ex-Imagine the choir was at practice and they practiced the song Holy Holy Holy to sing for God. Imagine everyone would get in a worship mode when they heard this song and then they would start to worship God. Every Sunday the choir would sing this song and every Sunday God would get the glory. Imagine if at one practice one of the choir members decided that they would not sing this song anymore, because they were tired of God getting the glory for their hard work. Imagine if a 3rd of the choir members decided they were against singing the song too. Imagine as a result of this action, God decided that he would kick them all out of the church for what they had done. This is much like what happened when Lucifer (Satan) was kicked out of heaven. What were Lucifer and the angels doing before they were cast out of heaven? They were worshipping through music. Lucifer had music in him and he was over the music which was used to worship God. Since Satan had music in him from the beginning, what do you think is in him now? The answer is music. Although Satan was kicked out of heaven, his is still drawn to what he had at first which was the music. This is why he uses the music as a big tool to attack us now. Satan doesn’t want anything to go to God. Music controls a lot. It controls our mood, our attitude, and many other things. Ex2-Think about scary movies. You really ain’t scared of Jaws. What scares you is the music in the background before something happens. Without the music, he would just be a big fish in the water. You ain’t really scared of Jason either. It is the ch ch ch, hah hah hah sound before something happens that makes it scary. This mood is all set by the music. This is why hell in most churches, start in the choir. This is where our music comes from.
3 ways to defeat Satan
1. With Belief. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4 (KJV)-the way to overcome is to believe. If you hold on to the word and trust God’s promise, you will always overcome.
2. With boldness- 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12 (KJV)-greater things than Jesus will we do. Before you got saved you know you could fight. When you get saved, you don’t’ quit fighting, you just change the way you fight. You got to be bold with the devil and declare the Devil can’t have your family or your life or anything else that God blessed you with.
3. By the blood-11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Rev 12:11 (KJV)-The children of Israel put blood on door post and where the blood was, the death angel had to Passover. Because Jesus shed his blood, we are covered by his blood. This means his blood protects us. That tells us that blood has significance. This is why we must plead the blood over our house, our family, and our situations. If we trust God, we must know there is power in the blood.
What the devil really wants-
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. Mark 9:17-18 (KJV)-This scripture describes a father who brought his son to Jesus because he had a dumb spirit.
1. The devil wants to control you. The devil is violent. He has a nasty mouth. He has an attitude or chip on his shoulder. People with these attributes display a spirit of control. A spirit like this tries to control everything around it. Ex- If you leave and 3 mins later they are asking where you are, you got to take notice.
2. He wants to come in early and stay late. 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. Mark 9:21 (KJV). He wants to get you while you are young. Most of the struggle we struggle with now can be traced back to something that happened when we were kids. This is why we have to protect our children. We do realize however that some sprits are just inherited.
3. He wants to take you through many extremes. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Mark 9:22 (KJV)-He wants to take you from one extreme to the next. Ex – If fire won’t kill you, the water will and vice versa.
4. He wants to test the depth of your faith. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Mark 9:22-23 (KJV). This is what he tried to do to Job. He knew he had faith, but how deep was it? You got to have the faith that is so strong that it can’t help but show. It was Job that gave the following soliloquy about his faith. . 1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Job 14:1-2 (KJV)
Any person born of a woman is destined to have problems. 1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Job 14:1-2 (KJV). Job says he sees himself like a tree. Even though God has blessed me and you see my fruit, don’t think this is all there is to me. 8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Job 14:8 (KJV)-the enemy wants to cut us down, but the enemy doesn’t know that we have roots that run deep in the earth. That is where our faith is. This means we can lose this and that, but it is just a matter of time until we will be on our way back up.
9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. Job 14:9 (KJV)-We don’t have to wait for the rain, we just have to smell the rain. God is about to turn our situation around. It will bud first, and then brings forth the bough. The bud is the process and evidence the bough is on the way. Praise God for the bud.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. Mark 9:25 (KJV)now lets go back to verse 17 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; Mark 9:17 (KJV). Can you say total deliverance? Now the boy showed up in verse 17 with a dumb spirit, but when Jesus got ready to cast it out in verse 25, it was a deaf and dumb spirit. This means there was more than one problem. He couldn’t talk, because he couldn’t here. Jesus noticed that there was more than one sprit in him. We have to learn to ask God for total deliverance. We need God to all of these spirits out of us. The enemy will not leave without a fight. In verse 26, the devil cried out as he was cast out. .
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. Mark 9:26 (KJV) The Devil left him for dead. Some people don’t want total deliverance because they don’t want the pain of the spirit coming out. Ex-They want to remove the spirit of cheating, when they have the spirit of insecurity that was place in them when they were younger. This insecurity caused the cheating spirit. Until this insecurity is addressed, the cheating spirit will come back. The devil wants to damage you on the way out so that you may be damaged and unable to be in another healthy relationship. God is going to restore the years the locust ate up.

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Even Me, Sermon 05/17/09

Posted on May 20, 2009 by growintheword

Even me
Synopsis of Sermon 5/17/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Text
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Mark 10:46-52 (KJV)
It doesn’t matter what kind of title you have or what kind of predicament you may find yourself in. God always has time for you. God is concerned about those who feel left out. When God responds to us during the season of feeling left out, it can generate the response “even me”. As busy as God is, to know that he took time out of his busy schedule to take care of us can literally blow our minds. Has God ever blown your mind? Lots of us have learned not to take God for granted. Every time we wake up and God gives us another day, we are thankful and don’t take it for granted. It is often hard to comprehend this goodness that God displays.
In the text we discover a story about man named blind Bartimaeus. There were large crowds of people following Jesus, yet he had time to stop for one person specifically. That person was blind Bartimaeus. Jesus is aware of your needs in the midst of everything else that is going on. You can be in need and others might not pick up on it, but God knows all of your needs. God is about to give you the greatest turn around in your life. This is the season of the rejected. Because of your faith and ability to endure, you are on the verge of the greatest breakthrough of your life.
There are Lessons that we can learn from blind Bartimaeus:
I. Captive of his condition
1. Blind Bartimaeus is blind. This blindness is a condition. He has never seen the sun or stars in the sky. There are some speculations on how Bartimaeus became blind. There are some things that we can look at that may have caused his blindness.
a. Perhaps he has cataracts (blockage in the eyes). Without treatment, cataracts can progress until you eventually can’t see. This poses a question for us. What is blocking you from seeing? It could be relationships, friends, work and many other things.
b. It could have been glaucoma which is unrelieved pressure in the eye that causes blindness. Some people can’t see God, because they are under too much pressure. It might not look they are under pressure, because they always show up for church and other related functions. The truth is most of can testify that even though you show up, it is hard to see when you are under pressure.
c. Maybe it was a Traumatic Experience. Many people have suffered brain damage caused by traumatic experiences that happened early in life which led to blindness. Traumatic experiences can cause you not to see what you are supposed to see.
d. Perhaps he was just blind. The reason can’t be pin pointed. He simply couldn’t see. Just like this, there are those that don’t why, but they just know they can see what God wants them to see.
2. No matter what your issue is, we plan for you to leave this document here today, seeing! What the blind man has is Lack of vision and the bible says where there is a lack of vision, the people perish.
Without Vision, we lack:
a. Proper perspective- now you can’t see clearly what God is doing in your situation. Then you allow people to define your situation for you.
b. Can’t process information correctly. Now our perspective is off. You can’t process information correctly and as a result you lose sight of our possibility.
c. Lose sight of possibility. Without vision, we only see our right now and not our not yet. When you vision is right, you see yourself healed and you see yourself delivered. You don’t live in your right now, you live in your not yet.
3. Bartimaeus’ condition right now is the fact that he is blind. He has become captive to his condition. He has become a victim that is begging on side of the road. He is depending on other people to take care of him. He is living beneath his potential.
Notice his:
a. Posture-Just because you are blind, it doesn’t mean something is wrong with your legs. Bartimaeus is sitting on the side of the highway. He has become comfortable in a jacked up situation. No matter how bad your crisis, don’t become comfortable in it. Something should rise up in you and say, “I can’t become comfortable here!” You can’t stay there too long.
b. Placement-What is interesting about his placement is he is on the side of the highway. He is at a position where there is constant traffic. People are constantly passing him by. This is how you become captive to your condition. Blindness has caused you not to see and now you have become comfortable not seeing life clearly. Life passes you by while you are sitting on your blessed assurance waiting for someone to hook you up. Everyone is pursuing dreams and you are still sitting around. If you stay here you will end up in a pitiful predicament.
c. Pitiful predicament-the blind mind is found in this pitiful predicament as a result of sitting. Now he is begging, waiting for someone to feel sorry for him. This is not the season to be having a pity party. Everybody is going through something and you are going to have to make a shift and start reaching for something greater. You ought to declare that this will be your last time in the captive position in this messed up place.
4. Bartimaeus is now blind and we don’t know why. He could have had the things we named previously that could have caused his blindness. On the other hand we know he is on the side of the road sitting. He is comfortable and he’s allowing people to pass him by and he is in a pitiful place. The issue is he heard Jesus was passing by. The people were trying to keep him from crying out to Jesus. We can take comfort in knowing the Lord always has compassion for us even in the midst of criticism.
II. Compassion in the midst of criticism
1. The more they told the blind man to shut up the more he talked 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
2. It is one thing to go through life depending on people, but when you are let down by people, you put them in a position to disappoint you. Stop putting people in place where they weren’t ordained to be. We should be leaning and depending on God.
3. He has become vocal. The man heard Jesus was passing by. Interestingly, he was blind, but he heard Jesus coming by. It’s amazing that when you lose one sense, another sense intensifies. The blind man can’t see, but his hearing has become greater. It is interesting to know when you go through a season of blindness; you will hear God like never before. Sometimes God won’t let you see, so you can hear him better. Why does he do this? It is because faith comes by hearing. The devil doesn’t want you to hear, because he knows you will do something about your situation. He knows if you hear that you can do all things that strengthens me or in all things you are more than a conquer or weeping might endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning or that thing God has formed in you, he shall perform… or no weapons that is formed against you shall prosper, something is bound to happen. Satan does not want you to hear.
4. When you hear the God’s word your focus shifts. No longer are you dependant on people on the side of the road. He heard Jesus was coming and he was expecting Jesus to provide for him. When a child of God hears a word, the focus shifts.
5. He began to cry out or pray “Jesus have mercy on me”. The more the blind man cried out, the more people tried to shut him up. You can’t be cute with this kind of prayer. When you need a break through, you don’t have time to be cute. You don’t have to impress anybody, because you are trying to get God’s attention. Don’t’ let people discourage you and make you sit down. You are trying to get God’s attention. Sometimes you got to get ugly when you pray. Remember you are trying to get a breakthrough.
6. They began to vilify him. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Don’t allow people in crowd prevent you from getting what you need. There are silent haters. Everyone in church doesn’t have the same agenda. Some people have an issue with you getting your breakthrough. You got to get beyond carnal cliques in church and get to God anyhow.
7. The more they rejected the blind man, the more he cried out to Jesus. You keep pressing your way through until you get your breakthrough. Somebody needs to declare “I am still going to get my harvest like a good soldier!”
8. Blind Bartimaeus is on the side of road but he is saying “Lord have mercy on me” or “even me.” “I know I am not on your schedule nor do I have a position or title, but even me.” In verse 47-48 of the text we see many people told Bartimaeus to shut up. In verse 49 the bible says Jesus stood still. In other words the man’s prayer got Jesus’ attention. Something about your prayer ought to make Jesus stand still. Jesus commanded that the man that was praying, be called to him. They called the blind man. The real issue is the word “they”. In fact just conjugate the words them and they. It is always them that are talking about you. It was them and they that told you that you weren’t going to be anything. It was the same them and they that talked about Bartimaeus and tried to get him to shut up, yet Jesus made them go and get the blind man. Jesus will make your enemy your foot stool. He will make your enemies bless you. Jesus will let them that talked about you turn around and go get you and bring you to him. If you keep pressing your way, your breakthrough will come.
9. We know that the blind man’s issue is he is blind. His posture was bad and we know it was one of his first problems. He was comfortable in his issue. Jesus told the man to rise. Jesus says before he can deal with your issue, he needs you to get your but up and rise. He can’t help you until you help yourself. You are going to have to do something for yourself. You are going to have to get up out of that crazy place, or that mess, or even that crazy relationship you are in. There are some things you can do for yourself. Get up!
Now we see Jesus changes the blind man’s circumstance.
III. Changed his circumstances
1. This man comes to Jesus vilified. Now Jesus vindicates him. God will vindicate you, when people vilify you.
2. In verse 50, Bartimaeus took off his clothes of begging. He took off the stuff of his past. This represents him taking of the old state of his shame. 50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
3. In verse 51, Jesus said to him “what do you want me to do?” 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
4. In verse 52, Jesus told him to go away and be whole. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Immediately Bartimaeus received his sight. Jesus told him to go away, because His faith made him whole. You can’t have an encounter with Jesus and leave the same way you came. There is victory in your future. When God changes your life, there will be evidence in how he did it. Because you have faith, you have the power. Because you have endured and because you had the faith, it won’t’ take long for this to happen.
5. God said immediately! Immediately this breakthrough is going to come. You have been living beneath your potential too long. You have been on the side of road too long. The bible says he followed Jesus in the way. This is how you know a person really has been changed. You will no longer follow people when you have been changed. Now you will follow after Jesus, because he is the best thing that could have happened to you. We are tied up and tangled up in Jesus. Some people want to know why people get up so early or travel so far to just to get to Jesus. They don’t realize how blind you were before. Jesus touched you and now you see like never before. God is Adam’s redeemer, he’s Abraham’s sacrifice, he’s Noah’s ark, and he’s Moses bush on fire. Ask your neighbor do you know him? He’s Joshua’s battle axe, he’s Samson’s power, he’s David’s music, he’s Solomon’s wisdom, and he’s Jeremiah’s fire that keeps on burning. He is Ezekiel’s wheel that keeps on turning and grandmother’s bridge over trouble water and shelter in the time of the storm. He is a mind regulator and a company keeper, a body healer, shoes on our feet, clothes on my back, and food on our table. Does anybody know him?
6. We are going to follow Jesus anyway. We don’t know what caused your blindness, but we know God is about to move everything out of your way that is preventing you from seeing him like you are supposed to see him. It doesn’t matter what you’ve been through or how long you’ve been on the side of the road. Jesus has the power to turn everything around immediately. You been looking for a blessing and it seems it just won’t come, but remember the Devil is a liar and a deceiver. God is not through with you yet. He will deliver. He is not through blessing you!

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