Revelation!

Revelation – Something that’s hidden that becomes known.  We have revelations all the time.  Do you know what revelation sounds like?   It sounds like this, “I didn’t know that!”  That’s revelation – Something you didn’t know, you now know.  A while back I posted a sermon titled, “Eight Ways to Hear from God.” It’s a sermon about the different ways that God reveals something to us.  Reveal is the root word of revelation.  That’s what I want to post about today – Revelation.

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV)
^29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

We Need a Revelation of God

How many can understand that we need a revelation of whom God is?  Even more specifically we need a revelation of who Jesus is.  Our text tells us that “without revelation, we cast off all restraint.”  In other words, unless we have a revelation of Jesus – Anything Goes!  We will not restrain ourselves.

Here’s an example, God has delivered Israel from Egypt.  He did powerful things to cause Pharaoh to release them.  In fact, He did some of the most powerful miracles in history:  The plagues, the death of the firstborn, the paring on the Red Sea; miracles never seen again.  Even at that though, they had no revelation of God!

I understand that some things remain hidden from us:

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
^2:9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

The things which God has prepared for us remain hidden.  They’re yet to be revealed – Paul calls the “mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained.”

Even though Israel saw the things that God did, they seemed to not understand whom God was, or their responsibility to Him.  If they had known God; if it had been revealed to them, why did this happen?

Exodus 32:3-4 (NKJV)
^32:3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

They’d witnessed all of the plagues on the Egyptian people.  They’d seen what God did to rescue them at the Red Sea.  They’d experienced God’s provision in the desert.  So, how could they say, “This is your God, oh Israel, that brought you out of Egypt,” about a golden calf that they made with their own hands?  They had no revelation of God, and they reverted to the familiar gods of Egypt, and where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint:

 Exodus 32:5-6 (NKJV)
^32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Aaron built an altar; he proclaimed a feast to the Lord, so everyone got up early, offered sacrifices, sat down to eat and rose up to play.  This isn’t the church picnic; they weren’t getting up to play volleyball.  That word “play” is a euphemism – a euphemism is a nice way to say something.  We do this with our kids all the time, “You need to go number one or number two?”  “Number one” and “number two” are euphemisms for…well; you know what they’re euphemisms for. “Play” in the Bible is a euphemism for sexual immorality.

False religion almost always involves sexual immorality.  Diana worship included temple prostitutes.  Molech worship was made up of sexual acts.  Even early Mormons were polygamous – many still are today!  Israel has cast off restraint – Egypt’s worship in ancient times included sexual immorality.

There is no revelation of whom God is.  This event takes place while Moses is up on the mountain, meeting with God, and receiving the Ten Commandments.  He’s been gone for a while.  He hasn’t been seen, God’s commandments haven’t been revealed.

In our society, today we seem to have this understanding that Jesus is a savior.  “He’s my Lord and Savior,” isn’t that what we say?  What’s interesting is that even though we call Him “Lord and Savior,” we treat Him only as a savior.  He died for our sin.  He forgave me – His grace.  We have that revelation of Him as a Savior.  We really think that He will always save us from our sin – no matter what.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
^1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is all true; He is our savior; He is faithful to forgive.  He has acted with grace; there is grace in our lives.  This has all been revealed in scripture.  The problem is that we see Him only as a Savior and we need to have a revelation of Him as Lord, too.  We need to see that Jesus is also God because if we don’t have that revelation of Him as God then we are just like the Israelites and we are in danger of casting off all restraint.

Think about this:  If you will always be forgiven, then you can do whatever you want.  If I sinned, I just have to confess it, and I’m forgiven.  That’s what Catholics do – I can live like the devil, then just go to confession and it’s over.  If you have the revelation that Jesus is Lord then you recognize His authority over your life. 

John 14:15 (NKJV)
^14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

That’s Jesus speaking, but it is also God’s word.  Here’s an Old Testament quote:

Exodus 20:6 (NKJV)
^20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This is the proper revelation of Jesus:  He is Savior and Lord!

Reigniting Revelation

Throughout Israel’s history, they struggled with this.  There were warnings and judgments throughout the Old Testament because people were always turning away from God.  Very often it was the kings and leaders who led them away.  They built high places to worship false gods.  They installed Asherah poles.  They openly adopted the worship of the people God had called on them to destroy when they took possession of the Promised Land.

In Elijah’s time, the King, Ahab and his wife, Jezebel turned the people of God away to worship Baal.  They brought in Prophets of Baal. 

It was a difficult time for Israel.  They were in the midst of a great drought.  The king called the prophet of God “Troubler of Israel”.  People were hurting and many followed the king into Baal worship.

It was so bad that Elijah thought that he was the only one in all of Israel that was worshipping God.  The people had lost their revelation of God, once more.  The people had become blind to the fact that God – only God – had the power to change their circumstances.

So, he set upon a bold strategy.  He challenged the Prophets of Baal to a contest.  He told them to build an altar of sacrifice and place an offering on it, then call upon Baal to send fire and consume the sacrifice.  So they did –

1 Kings 18:26, 29 (NKJV)
^18:26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
^18:29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

They did those things and nothing happened – there was no power there.  Then Elijah did the same things and he filled pots with water and dumped them over the offering.  Look at what happened:

1 Kings 18:36-38 (NKJV)
^18:36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." ³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

God sent the fire; the people saw God’s power, and the Bible says they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God!  The Lord, He is God!”  After this God changed the circumstances and brought the rain.  The judgment ended when they turned back to Him.  What thing caused them to turn back to God?  God’s power was revealed to them!  They had a new revelation of Him as God. 

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, right now, if I saw God’s power, I would believe in Him one hundred percent.  I’m not seeing it, though; my circumstances are still the same.  I believe that the problem is that you see Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord!

He doesn’t have priority over your life.  Your prayers are half-hearted if you pray at all.  You resist the authority God has placed in your life.  You have a timetable for God to do things for you. 

“I came to prayer meeting, for three weeks and nothing happened.”

“I tithed for a whole month and the windows of Heaven never opened!”

Does this sound familiar?  Moses has been gone a month, “Here are my earrings.  We need another god!”  They had a revelation of God as Savior.  He saved them in Egypt – He was a savior, but the didn’t have a revelation of Him as Lord.

Exodus 32:5 (NKJV)
^32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord."

The Golden Calf – They made the Lord with their own hands.  You have to be careful that you don’t try to make Jesus in your own image of Him.  You need revelation!

Revelation Comes Through Faith

When the power of God was revealed to Israel they turned back to God.  When that received revelation of God’s power. 

What did Elijah do to help them to have a revelation?  The first thing was that he had faith.  Look at boldness with which he offers the challenge.  There are four hundred fifty of them and one Elijah.  He didn’t back down in the face of that.  He even stood there and mocked them, “Maybe your god is sleeping or on a journey!”  He knew that God was going to respond.

The second thing was prayer.  He prayed “Hear me oh Lord.  Let them know that You’re God.  Let them know I’m your servant.  What a declaration of faith in prayer.

The third thing is how he prayed.  He’s not saying, “Oh, help me, help me!  I need you to do this God!  It’s all about me God!”  He prays, “Show them that You’re God!  So that Your will, will be done.  It’s not about me – It’s about You, God!”

James 4:3 (NKJV)
^4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

If you’re praying as if it’s all about you, you don’t have a revelation of God as Lord over your life.  Pray with faith, “God, show me whom you are!  Make yourself real to me!”  Give God authority and power over your life.  He’s Lord and Savior, not just Savior!

The Rod of Surrender

Most of us have said that we want to be used by God.  We pray it; we speak it; we sing choruses about it, but many times we can’t figure it out why it doesn’t come to pass in our lives.  Why are we toiling and laboring, but it seems like we’re not getting anywhere in our desire to be used by God?  Maybe, there’s something that’s left inside of us that hinders God’s use.  Maybe we see our talents and abilities as the reason God can use us.  Maybe there’s still some pride:  We want to be noticed for what we’ve done for God, or assume that God will reward our egos. 

Is it about what Gods wants to do, or is it about what you want God to do for you? Are you surrendered to God’s purposes, or are you looking for God to bring about your purposes? 

Surrender to God is the beginning of real revival.  Here’s a secret, what God is doing isn’t about us, it’s about Him and His purposes.  Today, I want to post a message on what it means to surrender.

Exodus 4:2-3 (NKJV)
^4:2 So the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." ³ And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
 Exodus 4:20 (NKJV)
^4:20 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

The Staff of Man

In our text, we see Moses as he is receiving the call of God on his life.  This moment takes place at the burning bush.  We all know the story; Moses sees the bush burning but not being consumed.  He turns aside to see the miracle and God calls to him out of the middle of the bush and sends him to deliver Israel.  The problem is that Moses isn’t ready to answer God’s call.  He has a number of reasons why he can’t do it.

I stutter – I’m not eloquent.  The people won’t believe me or trust me.  He had lots of reasons why God should choose someone else.  Finally, God says to him, “What’s that in your hand?”  Moses answers, “A rod.”

What it is, is the shepherd’s staff – Moses was a shepherd.  The staff is what identifies him, this is what defines him.  It says who he is and Moses is hanging onto it.  All of us have things in our lives that define us:  Things that speak to who we are.  It may be a job title.  It may be some material thing.  It may be an image you’ve cultivated – It defines who you want to be to other people. 

When we put those things before the purposes of God, we’re like Moses, resisting the call that’s on us.  We’re holding to the rod of our self-image.  We can’t have revival, when it’s our image that we’re trying to lift up.  We can’t serve the purposes of God when it’s about making us look good. 

Moses is holding on to the symbol of himself.  He’s holding onto the rod and saying this is who I am.  I’m not the instrument of God’s deliverance; I’m the shepherd that this rod implies. 

Many times, it's lack of faith that keeps us back.  Other times the problem is that we want to be used, but we want to be used on our own terms, in the position of life that we have already attained.

There was a time when Country and Western singer Johnnie Cash wanted to be an evangelist like Billy Graham.  When he brought it up he was told. “You can do more for God as a famous singer.”  He wanted to give it all up for God’s purposes.  He wanted to throw down his guitar.  He wanted to give it all up for God, and I believe that if he had, God would have used him powerfully. 

Up to this point, Moses had dome nothing for God.  He’d spent the last forty years as a shepherd.  Prior to that, he was the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and he rose up as a deliverer of God’s people but he did it on his own terms and fell flat on his face.  He wanted to deliver the people of God from the oppression and bondage of slavery, but he didn’t want to give up who he was, and in trying to do it that way, he was forced into exile in the desert.  His motives were questioned by the very people he wanted to deliver.  He was operating in his own power, and not surrendered to the will of God.  God tells him, “Cast it on the ground,” and as soon as he releases it and casts it down, God begins to move in the supernatural.  God begins to move in power.  If we want to see the power of God in our lives, we also have to cast down our image of self.

This is a picture of his surrender to God.  He’s saying God if you have a purpose for me, that’s outside of whom I’ve always been, then I will throw that down for you.  He’s stepping out of himself to be God’s instrument.  Can you see yourself in the service of God in a role that you would not have chosen for yourself, or in a lifestyle to which you wouldn’t have aspired, if not called into his service. 

Moses wasn’t comfortable with releasing it all into God’s hands.  He resisted the call of God.  He made excuses for not answering the call.  He did what he could to get out of answering it.  He even asked God, “Can’t you send someone else.”  We do the same thing in our generation, but when you do surrender; when you’re willing to drop the rod, that’s when the power of God is seen in your life:  That’s when God can do the miracles.

The Rod of God

When Moses drops the shepherd’s staff, that’s when we see God move.  Look at what happens:

Exodus 4:3-7 (NKJV)
^4:3 And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ⁵ "that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." ⁶ Furthermore the Lord said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. ⁷ And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh.

God begins to show His power through Moses.  He begins to give Moses a supernatural ministry.  That only comes after he throws down the rod.  Usually, we are the limiting factor to God’s power.  God isn’t limited – He’s omnipotent – He’s all-powerful.  He can do anything.  This is the God who spoke the universe into existence.  This is the God who created living, breathing man out of the dust of the earth.  This is the God who brought a flood upon the whole earth.  What’s the limit to His power?  The limit is us; our unbelief.  Our lack of faith limits God.  We can’t turn loose of who we are right now, because we can’t see the possibilities of God’s will for our lives.  Can you step out of your comfort zone to step into the will of God?  Look at the things that Moses is telling God about why he shouldn’t go.  What are they?  I’m slow of speech – Because of my impediment people won’t listen to me.  I’m not eloquent – I’m simple; I’m not persuasive or well-spoken, but God tells him I can teach these things to you mouth.  This isn’t difficult for the creator, so what is Moses problem?  A lack of faith; unbelief; fear.  He doesn’t see the possibilities of God’s power.

Because of fear, unbelief creeps into our lives, and we are unable to completely surrender ourselves to all that God has called us, so there is no tangible demonstration of the power of God in our lives.  We need to cast down the rod of comfort, before we can see God do something in our lives.  When we cast down the rod of our comfort zone; it can become a rod of power, because we aren’t limited by our comfort zone any longer.  We are only limited by God’s supernatural power, which is limitless.  We should be glad to toss away the limits of human potential for the limitlessness of God’s power.  That’s often pretty scary, though, because we’re used to having control of our own destiny and by surrendering ourselves to God we are relinquishing control to God.

I’m not saying that preparation isn’t necessary, but God doesn’t always do things in our timing, and if we try to control it all we put the brakes on the will of God. 

What if God had allowed Moses to talk him out of sending him?  God had prepared Moses and equipped Moses for this task:  He had the education of a future king.  He had the humility of a shepherd.  God had spent eighty years preparing him to deliver His people.  What would it take to prepare someone else, because Moses refused to give God control over his life?  We are all like that.  We all say, “I’ve given my life to Jesus,” but we still hold off on giving Him complete control of our lives.  There are certain things we hold onto:  Our jobs, our finances, the place we live, certain attitudes, beliefs or behaviors.  We hold on to those things – We control those things.  Abandon those things to God and we’re forced to trust Him, or someone else he has placed in our lives.  That’s the rod we hold on to.  That’s the rod we don’t want to cast down, and that’s the rod God commands us to drop so that He can move through our lives.

Moses wasn’t appointed the deliverer of Israel for Moses’ benefit – It was for the benefit of the people of God.  God was moving through Moses’ life.

Moses threw down the rod and when he picked it up again to do what God called him to do it was no longer his rod, but the Rod of God.  It was the rod that parted the Red Sea.  It was the rod that brought water out of the rock.  It was the rod that brought victory over Amalek.  Moses could never have done those things in his own strength.  If he had never cast down the rod, God would not have been able to use him.

The Testimony of Surrender

Exodus 33:7-11 (NKJV)
^33:7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. ⁸ So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. ⁹ And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. ¹⁰ All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. ¹¹ So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

Finally, God shows us the testimony of surrender.  The people watch Moses and see God.  This is a powerful thing.  They see his surrender.  They see the things God has done.  They recognize that God is using him.  They see God’s hand and power in his life.  I want people to see what God has done in my life.  I want them to KNOW that God is moving in me.

This is what’s happening here.  They see Moses go to the tabernacle, and they’re thinking, “God is going to show up.”  “Let’s pay attention because God meets with Moses.”  They see the cloud standing at the tabernacle.  They see God speaking to Moses.  They see him as a friend of God. 

Don’t you want that kind of relationship with God?  Don’t you want people to recognize that God speaks to you?  What did it take for Moses to have that kind of relationship?  Surrender.  He had to surrender to God.  He had to cast down the rod of self.  He had to cast down the rod of comfort and give it ALL to God.  We can’t expect to be all that God has called us to, if we won’t get ourselves out of the way.

We’re holding many rods: The rod of self-will, the rod of our comfort zone, the rod of unbelief, the rod of pride, even the rod of apathy.  Until we’re willing to throw them down, we will never be all that we have he potential to be.

You might be thinking, “Why isn’t God using me?”  What’s that in your hand – Cast it down.  “Where are the blessings that God’s promised?”  Who controls your life? Throw it down.  “Why am I not growing in God?”  Who is your faith in?  Cast it down.

Surrender to God!  This text is a picture of Moses surrender to God.  God finally had to get angry before Moses really released it all and said, “Okay, God whatever you have for me that’s what I’ll do.”  As he surrendered the rod that was the symbol of who Moses was, it became the symbol of God’s power in him.  That’s a testimony.

The life we have laid down as we have given it all to God is the testimony of God’s power in us.  I’m not just talking about the release from sin.  This testimony usually comes after we’re saved – It’s the testimony of trust in God.  That’s where the power in our lives comes from.  With God all things are possible – If we surrender all things to him.

Dominion

In our Bible Study we have been studying 10 “Points of Victory,” including, “The Spear of Dominion.”  That word dominion is the root word of dominate.  The word translated as dominion in the Old Testament literally means, “to step down on.”  It means to take authority over.  Dominion flows from authority – God gives us dominion.  It is our ability to use God’s power.  Today I want to post on Dominion.

2 Kings 6:14-18 (NKJV)
^6:14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" ¹⁶ So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." ¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸ So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Strike this people, I pray, with blindness." And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

We Need Dominion

Here’s the back story for the scene in our text.  The king of Syria is making war on Israel.  He calls his “war council” together and they discuss plans and come upon a method for the battle.  When they make their attack on Israel the King of Israel is prepared.  It’s because God is speaking to Elisha and giving him the king of Syria’s plan and Elisha warns the king of Israel, who is able to thwart the plan.  Eventually, the Syrian king figures it out and so he sends his army to find and kill Elisha.  They find him in Dothan and they arrive in the middle of the night.

When Gehazi, who is Elisha’s disciple, wakes up the next morning, he finds that they’ve been surrounded.  He becomes frightened and calls out for Elisha.

This is taking place in the natural world.  Very often we are involved in what seems like a battle in the natural, there is really a battle taking place in the spiritual realm and it’s playing out in our lives.  Things happen – problems come up.  We lose our jobs.  We become sick. Family members die and it seems as if we are surrounded by enemy forces.

We look at these events and we see the work of the enemy, but we don’t see what God has already put in place for us.  We don’t see that God has moved in these circumstances.  When all we see is the circumstance; all we see is the suffering we are seeing the battle with Gehazi’s eyes.

There’s something going on that’s hidden from him.  Something is playing out in the realm of dominion.  God is moving.  God is involved, but His involvement isn’t seen, at least Gehazi can’t see it.  The problem is that Gehazi is looking for a solution in the natural world, and the answer may not be found in the natural. 

This is something that people do.  We look for answers in our experiences, We’ere looking for answers we can see.  Gehazi has never seen an army defeated by two men and so there’s fear.  He can’t see a way through this.  He cries put to Elisha in despair.  Despair is the opposite of dominion.  The reason you’re discouraged; the reason you’re fearful; the reason you’re overwhelmed is that there’s no dominion in your life.  Because of the circumstances you’re blinded to your ability to use God’s power!

Luke 10:19 (NKJV)
^10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

“I give you authority to trample on serpents.”  Remember, what I told you about what dominion is.  It is “stepping down on with your foot.”  Trampling is dominion and it flows out of Jesus’ authority.  He gives us the authority to do that.

In our text, Elisha and Gehazi would face certain defeat.  There’s no way that they could escape the Syrians – They’re surrounded.  There’s no way they could fight them – They’re outnumbered.  If they rely only on what’s found in the natural they will be destroyed.  That’s where dominion comes in.  How did Elisha solve this?  He called on God’s supernatural power – He struck them blind.  In other words he used God’s power.  That’s dominion. 

We face a supernatural enemy.  We can’t fight against him with natural weapons.  You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight. It isn’t adequate to the battle.  You can’t fight a supernatural battle with a gun or a knife.  You need a supernatural weapon.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NKJV)
^10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

This scripture is about taking dominion over your life.  Our weapons are not carnal or natural.  They’re mighty in God.  They’re supernatural, but in order to defeat the enemy, we need to take dominion over habits and attitudes:  Bringing every thought into captivity.

Punishing all disobedience.  We need to “step down with our feet,” on those thoughts and habits that separate us from God.  We need His power and dominion.

Where Does Dominion Come From?

In or text we see these two men Elisha and Gehazi.  They’re facing an enemy that can easily destroy them.  Have you ver felt like that?  Felt like there’s no way out of your situation?  Felt like there’s only defeat in your future?

In our text, we can see that God has already put His solution in place.  We don’t see Elisha praying for God to help them. They wake up, go out on the balcony for a cup of coffee and God’s troops are already in place.  Elisha doesn’t pray for God to deliver them, he only prays that God will open Gehazi’s eyes, so he can see what God has already done.  God has already brought deliverance.

I want to look at something else for a moment.  I’ll come back to this because I’m not finished with it, yet.  Do you think that it’s interesting that Elisha could see and Gehazi could not?  I think there are two reasons:

1.        Elisha is “prayed up.”  He has a habit of prayer.  You don’t hear from God of you’re not praying.  God speaks to us in prayer.  Elisha studies the word of God.  He knows the scriptures.  God speaks to us through His word.

2.        Elisha is a man of God, and he is the authority in Gehazi’s life.  All dominion flows from authority, but you have to be under authority in order to claim authority.

Matthew 8:9 (NKJV)
^8:9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

This man is a man of authority – He has command over troops, but he is also a man under authority – There is a leader over his life.  The authority he has flows to him from the commander that’s above him.  Elisha was also a man under authority.  He had a leader.  That leader was Elijah the prophet, Elisha played the same role with Elijah, that Gehazi plays with Elisha.  He was a disciple; he was under authority, and the dominion in his life came out of his relationship with Elijah

2 Kings 2:11-14 (NKJV)
^2:11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹² And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

Elijah is taken up into Heaven – God raptures him, his mantle falls down and Elisha picks it up, and uses it to part the water.  The mantle is the symbol of Elijah’s calling.  It’s the dress of the prophet and that calling is now Elisha’s.  It’s now the symbol that Elisha is the prophet, and with that calling comes Elijah’s authority and dominion. That dominion has now passed down from Elijah to Elisha.  Dominion is passed from the man of God to the disciple.

Are you a disciple?  Are you looking for dominion?  Do you want your eyes opened, so that you can see things clearly?  There’s only two ways to get dominion:

1.        You have to have a right relationship with God, and

2.        You have to have a right relationship with your pastor.

Dominion is Victory

Here they are in our text, they’re surrounded.  The enemy is all around them and yet God gives them a great victory.  They don’t have to face the enemy with weapons.  They don’t have to fight them as soldiers.  They only pray and God does a miracle. 

2 Kings 6:18 (NKJV)
^6:18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, "Strike this people, I pray, with blindness." And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

The picture of dominion here is sight.  Elisha had sight – He could see into the supernatural.  He passed that sight to Gehazi – His eyes were opened.  They could see the soldiers of God in place.  With this vision came an end to Gehazi’s fear.  That was dominion.  At first the soldiers who surrounded them had dominion.  They found Elisha and Gehazi, but when Elisha called on God, God struck the Syrian’s blind.  Then Elisha was able to lead them right into capture.

2 Kings 6:19-20 (NKJV)
^6:19 Now Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." But he led them to Samaria. ²⁰ So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, "Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

He’s taken them to the capitol of Israel.  He’s taken dominion – Vision is dominion.

Do you want to see God do powerful things with your life?  You need vision.  You need a plan.  You need direction.  You need to link yourself to a man of God.

Directional Decisions

It is in moments of decision that your destiny is shaped – Tony Robbins

I can remember the very moment and the decision that I made that caused me to turn in the direction that led, fifteen years later, to attempt suicide.  I can see the exact moment:  All I needed to do was say something to someone, but I hesitated.  “What if I’m rejected?” was my thought.  That decision to hesitate, compounded by other bad decisions I made along the way, led to the despair and loneliness fifteen years later.

That decision of hesitation was a directional decision.  Not all decisions are active decisions sometimes not making a decision is decision enough.  That isn't to say that making better decisions can’t reverse those decisions, because eventually I made another directional decision that turned me onto the path that I’m currently on.

Today, I want to post on directional decisions.  This is something we, as Christians, need to be aware of, because even though sometimes it seems to be a minor decision, an obvious, or even right decision it can be a decision that turns us from the will of God.

1 Samuel 13:8-14 (NKJV)
^13:8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹ So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. ¹¹ And Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, ¹² then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."

Directional Decisions

What has happened here is that Saul has made a directional decision.  He has, in a moment of weakness and fear, made a decision that has actually changed his destiny.  This is the moment when Saul turned off the path that he was on, which was that his family would rule over Israel forever, to the loss of the kingdom, which would be given to another: A man after God’s own heart.  In Tony Robbins’ vernacular this was a destiny shaping decision.  God, literally changed his mind as a result of Saul’s decision to burn the offering without waiting for Samuel’s arrival.  This was not to be done.  Offerings were the job of the priests and no one else.

I believe there are some decisions that we make that cause a fundamental change in our hearts.  There is something that happens as we act in our own counsel that can cause us to compound the problem by making more bad decisions.  This isn't Saul’s only bad decision; this is Saul’s first bad decision.

In Chapter fifteen Saul refused to utterly destroy the Amalekites, even though God told him to do that.  It was another decision that moved him out of the path of God’s destiny for him.

At that time Samuel made this observation about what caused Saul to make these decisions:

1 Samuel 15:17 (NKJV)
^15:17 So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?

The phrase “when you were little in your own eyes…” speaks of a humble Saul.  Saul has risen up in pride and this is the root of his problem for the rest of his life.

When we act in pride we act against the will of God.

James 4:6 (NKJV)
^4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

When we begin to make decisions in our own understanding that impact God’s calling on our lives, God resists us.  These are decisions made in pride and pride continues to grow as we continue to act on our own.  We fall victim to more decisions that turn us, or move us further away from God’s will.  When we make decisions for less of God in our lives it is because we have filled that space with something else.  We have elevated something else and placed it into that place where God once resided in our lives. 

Look at what God gives to Samuel to tell Saul after this incident:

1 Samuel 15:10-11 (NKJV)
^15:10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.

Saul has “backed off” from serving God.  God isn't number one in his life anymore.  He has other concerns – The concerns of a king.  He took Agag, the king of Amalek prisoner. Agag is a symbol of Saul’s dominance and power over Amalek.  He saved the sheep to make a big show of offering it to God.  He’s saying, “Look at the wealth and power of the king.  I can offer all of this to God.”  He’s proud and his pride is propelling him out of the will of God and out of God’s grace.  These are directional decisions.

At the end of Saul’s life God’s no longer even responding to him and he ends up at the witch of Endor’s house trying to get advice from Samuel who has already died.  This all started with one bad decision; one directional decision to act on his own outside of the will of God.  I’m sure that decision seemed reasonable, even right at the time. 

He thought Samuel was late.  The people were scattering.  He had to do something to hold it all together.  In his mind, he thought that he had to do something to move God’s agenda forward.  So, he acted.  But Samuel wasn't late; he arrived at the end of the burnt offering.  Saul violated God’s command about offerings, that’s sin.  Sin will never result in God’s blessing.  When you put God aside for your own will you step out of the will of God and into the will of you, and lose out on God’s power and ability to overcome circumstances.  You become dependent on your own power and your own ability and the question becomes, “Who are you serving?”

Matthew 6:24 (NKJV)
^6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Mammon is often used to refer to money or wealth, but really, it’s whatever you put before God.  In Saul’s case it was his pride; his unwillingness to lose face. Mammon for Saul was himself and his appearance before the people.  What is it in your case?

Decisions Affect Destiny

Life is the Sum of all your Choices – Albert Camus

How often do we make decisions that we think have no relation to the will of God for our lives?  Saul made a choice to do the burnt offering based on military and political decisions.  He couldn't go into battle when all his men were deserting so, he offered that offering to keep them together.  I wonder if he gave any consideration at all as to how that decision impacted the will of God for his life.

This is a moment of extreme tension.  They’re facing a enemy that outnumbers them by a huge amount – 36,000 plus “the sand on the seashore’ in multitude, against three thousand Israelis.  We can understand the reluctance of the men of Israel, they probably thought they were all going to die.  Saul is making his decision in light of those circumstances and left God’s power out of the decision.

I've seen this over and over.  I know people who were offered a job that paid one US dollar an hour more than they were making…but they had to move to a different city…and they left.  Some of them wound up in fellowship churches in other cities, but never really did anything for God, and others drifted completely out of the church and back to the old life.  That was never God’s destiny for them.

Saul made his decision without considering God’s power.  He never thought about what God had done before.  Gideon, in Judges Chapter seven,  faced the same size enemy, “As many as the sand on the seashore,” with only three hundred men, armed with only a jug, a lamp and a trumpet. God is able to bring about a victory beyond our abilities…if we trust Him.

I think it’s interesting that Saul panicked and couldn't wait for Samuel – The man of God.  He could have used his counsel.  He could have used the word of God to help him, but he was the king.  In his mind, he knew what to do and that decision cost him the kingdom.

Samuel wasn't a great general.  He wasn't a battle-hardened veteran, but he heard from God.  Any counsel Samuel gave Saul would be God’s counsel.  Besides, who knows that God didn't want to do something like he did with Gideon, so Israel would know it was God that delivered them, and that He was with them.  People have this great capacity to assign their victories to themselves and their defeats to the devil, and most often it’s a move of God that brings victory.  God used Gideon and his three hundred men to defeat Midian so Israel would know that it was God moving on their behalf.

In First Samuel Chapter fourteen, Jonathan and his armor-bearer defeated a number of Philistines and then God brought about an earthquake that drove the rest away in fear, because he acted in faith and trusted God.  Jonathan’s decision to trust God was a directional decision.

I have a friend who overcame a poor education by trusting God.  He’s now the number two man in a multi-national electronics firm with only a high school education.  He had dropped out of high school and returned to get his diploma at thirty-four years of age.  This was after he became a vice-president.  This is the power of God to move on our behalf.  In the process, he made several decisions that proved to be directional decisions, as he gave and supported his church, and was involved in all the church’s activities. (A practice he continues to this day.)  Can you imagine the CEO of your company recommending to the board of directors of the company to make a high school dropout a vice president?  Only God could make that happen.  This man could have stepped away from the church while he was earning minimum wage but he decided to trust God for the increase, a directional decision.

I know a family that trusted God through a huge financial tragedy.  Their entire business burned to the ground.  They lost everything and, in addition faced fines for environmental impacts and fees for City fire-fighting services.  Expenses of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they continued to give and made a decision to put God first.  They were at every service, every outreach and every revival service.  Through this crisis, God brought them even more business.  Now, they’re successful enough that they can turn the business over to their children, so they can be available to go out and pioneer…they’re in their mid-forties.  They could have stopped giving, thinking they needed to hold on to their money, but they made a decision to release and trust God for their provision.

These types of decisions are directional, they’re “God first” thinking.  The problem is that often people don’t make these types of decisions.  They make “me first” decisions.  They are also directional.  If you’re making decisions that move God out of the center of your life, I don’t care how much you've prayed over them, they’re not God.  If it means that something replaces God, then it isn't God – it’s pride.  It’s the same kind of thinking that Saul used in Gilgal.

That decision moved Saul away from God’s will and the result was that Saul lost the kingdom that God had given him.  If we make those kinds of decisions then we are also in danger of the same result. 

We Can Reverse Course

You write your life story by the decisions you make – Helen Mirren

One day I walked into the Door Christian Fellowship Church in Colton, California and heard a sermon on commitment.  After the sermon there was an altar call.  I raised my hand, but when it came time to go forward, I hesitated:  Not out of fear but because I wasn't sure what to do.  One of the brothers came over and asked me if I wanted to pray and I said, “Yes,” and followed him to the altar.  This was another directional decision that put me back into a relationship with and led directly to my being in Taiwan.  The decision to respond to the altar call reversed the bad decisions that led to the destruction of my life.

Saul could have changed the course of life that he had placed himself on.  He could have made another directional decision and placed himself back into the right direction.

David did exactly that, so let’s take a moment and examine his life:

2 Samuel 11:1 (NKJV)
^11:1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

We probably all know what happened here.  David made a decision to stay home rather than go to war.  It could be another prideful decision, “I’m king, I don’t have to go.”  This decision, a directional decision,  took him in a direction that led to great sin in his life.

2 Samuel 11:3-4 (NKJV)
^11:3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" ⁴ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.

That decision led to other bad decisions, eventually resulting in the murder of his friend and mighty man, Uriah the Hittite. 

Nathan the prophet pointed out his sin through a story and David realized what he had become. 

2 Samuel 12:13 (NKJV)
^12:13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

David had gone from being a man after God’s own heart to God was going to kill him, but he repented  Repentance is directional; it changes the course of your life.  In this last illustration, I wrote about answering the altar call and how it changed my life.  It moved me out of the path of destruction and brought me into a relationship with God.

David changed his life at that moment.  We read throughout the chapters that deal with David’s life that he made decisions after consulting with God.  He examined the decisions that he made in light of the will of God for Israel and for himself.  The good decisions he made after that moved him further away from sin and folly and closer to God’s will. Directional decisions don’t have to be kingdom-losing decisions they can also be kingdom-gaining decisions.  It’s the direction that the decision propels you that’s important.  Does it take you onto a path closer to God, or does it take you onto a path closer to the world?  Are you making decisions to further the will of God in your life or to further the will of you?    Directional decisions:  Which way are you heading and how did you get on that path?

A Partnership for Deliverance

Today’s post is something that’s a theme for me as a pastor.  I see my job as a shepherd.  The job of a shepherd is to get the sheep from one place to another.  The job for every pastor is to get his congregation from earth to heaven.  But there are some difficulties and they are that 1) there must be a change that takes place in you, in order for you to get from here to there and 2) that change has to be lasting and permanent.  You have to grow spiritually.  What is growth, it’s overcoming your flesh.  In other words there should be a greater distance between you and the sin you struggled with before.

I was sharing some of what I was going to write with someone and they said, “You have to show them how to change.”  This person was recommending that I deal with specific sin that I see in people’s lives.

I can easily do that, but to me, I think that you probably already know that some of the activities you’re involved are sin and that you know what they are.  You know when you’re sinning.  But if you don’t let me offer this:

If you’re smoking, stop it.  Smoking is sin.  If you’re getting drunk, stop it.  If you’re fornicating, fornicating is sin.  What is fornicating?  It’s sexual intercourse without being married to the person.  If you’re stealing, or you’re selfish, or you’re gambling or you’re cheating, all of these things are sin.  If you’re doing any of them or all of them you need to stop.

But I wonder if that’s helpful.  Because most Christians already understand those things are sin and I believe most Christians are sincere about their salvation.  So, I’m offering this post today as help for you; as one way to find deliverance.  Deliverance, in a purely practical sense, means that God helps you to quit the sin that plagues.  The sin that plagues you is the sin you can’t seem to kick.  I think this is the bigger problem, you know that what you’re doing is sin, but you’re not sure how to get past it.  There are some things that will help you to find deliverance and today I’m going to highlight those things for you.

Romans 8:5-11 (NKJV)
^8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

You Have a Place in the Move of God

We like to think that when we’re dealing with God that God does things for us.  But in reality God does things through the decisions we make.  He doesn’t pull out a magic wand and just “poof”  our problems and addictions away.  He works through the decisions we make to empower us to change.  If God just changed us without our involvement we wouldn’t need the exhortation of the Bible.  We would just pray a prayer and our sinful nature would automatically just disappear.  If we are honest with ourselves we realize that none of us have stopped thinking about sin completely.

Why didn’t God take away your sinful nature?  Why is it there that are still sins that you can’t shake?  It’s because God doesn’t work like that.  If He did Adam and Eve would never have sinned in the Garden of Eden.  If He did then we wouldn’t ever struggle with sin after we got saved. We do struggle, though, some more than others.  How do I know that?  I know that because I know that I sometimes struggle, too.

So the question becomes, “How can I ever find deliverance?”  First, you will never be completely free from sin this side of Heaven.  The default position for us is to live in our flesh.  We’re carnal beings, carnal means, of meat or flesh.  In other words we have appetites that relate to making ourselves feel good.  We all want to feel good.   The Bible calls it the “pleasures of sin for a season.”  Why drink?  It feels good; it temporarily makes us forget our problems.  Why fornicate?  It feels good; we feel what feels like love.  That’s why we sin because it makes us feel good and we all want to feel good.

I’m sure if you examine whatever sin you are involved in you will see that in some way it makes you feel good and because of that it’s difficult to escape sin.  It goes against our nature.  There is good news, though, and that is that sin can be overcome.  We just have to take action to make it happen.

Romans 6:6 (NKJV)
^6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

So, there it is, we have to crucify the old man.  All that really means is that we put the will of God before our appetites or as our text puts it, be those, “who live according to the spirit.”  Be spiritually minded rather than carnally minded.  If the default position is to be carnally minded, then how do we overcome to be spiritually minded?  We have to make a decision to overcome the flesh and then take the actions necessary to make it happen.  Our desire to live in our flesh is relentless, it’s like a flood, it just comes no matter what.  The Bible tells us the enemy also comes in like a flood.

Isaiah 59:19 (NKJV)
^59:19 So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

He comes in like a flood; he’s relentless in his temptations.  God will lift a banner against him.  Do you know what a banner was used for?  A banner was a call to the battle.  It showed the place where the battle was taking place.  God raises the banner but we have to fight the battle.

The devil relentlessly drives us to live in the flesh.  He doesn’t force sin on us he only appeals to that appetite to feel good.  We call it temptation and it’s relentless.  Everywhere we look we see something that is appealing to that desire to feel good.  The only way to overcome sin in your life is to stop the flood of temptation.

Deliverance 101:  Damming the Flood

If this were a college course today we would call it "Deliverance 101:  Damming up the Flood."  Let me start with an illustration:

Say that you live near the beach.  Your House is right on the beach, and every night the tide comes in and destroys it.  You build it as strong as you know how, but every time the tide comes in; it comes in like a flood and destroys your house.  So you decide to build a brick wall to keep the ocean out. 

A wall will keep the water out.  A wall will protect your home from the flood.  So, how you build the wall will depend on how valuable your home is to you.  If you don’t care too much you will just do what’s easy and hope for the best.  If your home is valuable to you, you will do whatever it takes to protect it.  So, how valuable is your home?

Let’s go back to our illustration:  You start to lay the bricks and at first you are very careful to put the bricks in.  But the work is hard and the bricks are heavy, and it stops being fun to think about how well your house will be protected.  So you skip a brick here and there. 

This is how a person who doesn’t place a lot of value of their home will build the wall.  He’s done what’s easy.  He didn’t invest too much into the protection of his home.  There are people in church who think that way about their salvation.  They think, “I’m getting enough of the word of God at one service a week.” They think, “I don’t need to read my Bible.  I don’t really need to pray that much.  I can be late every service and miss out on worship.  I can just attend church once a week…mostly…and it’ll be all right; but do you know what you’re really doing.  You’re leaving bricks put of your wall and every time you leave out a brick it leaves a hole in the wall that the tide can come through.   If you leave out too many bricks when the tide comes in your wall won’t stop it from destroying your home again.  If the wall has too many holes it’s worthless as a protection against the flood. 

Those things I mentioned, church, Bible, praying, worship, those are opportunities to enter into the presence of God.  Every time we’re in the presence of God we strengthen our faith and our resolve to live for Him.  Every time we’re in the presence of God we add another brick in the wall.  If we build a good strong wall, we’ll keep out the flood.  Living in the Spirit is really just living for Jesus.

Secondly, we will never overcome sin through willpower.  We can’t say, “I’m not going to sin,” and keep sin from happening.  Say, for example your sin is drinking.  You can’t keep yourself from drinking just by saying, “I’m not going to drink.  I’m not going to drink.  I’m not going to drink.”  Ask any sobriety counselor.  They will tell you you’re always a recovering alcoholic not an ex-drunk.  Let me illustrate a truth for you.

Don’t think about a pink elephant.  Don’t think about its big floppy ears.  Don’t think about the little purple flowers printed across its back.  Don’t think of the big trunk with all its wrinkles.  Don’t think about it!  What were you thinking about?  You were thinking about a pink elephant.

If you’re using willpower to stop drinking and you say, “I’m not going to drink.”  What are you thinking about?  The answer is obviously drinking.  Now, think about a green giraffe.  Look at the long neck.  Look at how it reaches into the trees to eat leaves.  Look at how it wiggles its ears, the way it chews slowly.  What are you thinking about now?  You’re not thinking about a Pink Elephant.

If we concentrate on not sinning what we’re really concentrating on is the sin.  But if we turn our thoughts toward Jesus and we concentrate on Him we’re not thinking about the sin.  So, how do we focus our thoughts on Jesus?  At church we preach about Him.  In our Bibles we read about Him.  When we pray, we have direct access and conversation with Him.  The more we concentrate on Him the less we think about the sin and how good it feels.

Third, what we receive from our salvation is in direct proportion to what we put into it.  If we put forth a lot of effort we will have a large return. It’s like bank interest.  The bank used to actually give interest that amounted to something.  They don’t anymore, well; they still give interest it just doesn’t amount to much anymore. Your interest was given based on what you put in the bank.  If you wanted more interest you had to deposit more money.  The same is true of Christianity:  if you want more from God you have to put more into receiving from Him. 

We expect God to do for us.  Some of you look at God as someone who exists to meet your needs.  However, what you receive from God in terms of deliverance is in direct proportion to what you do to overcome.

I had a friend who was a heavy smoker.  He smoked more than one pack of cigarettes a day.  He always said, “God is going to deliver me one day,” but do you know what happened?  He died of Lung Cancer.  He expected God to “poof” away the sin, so he never took the step to get rid of his cigarettes.  He never stopped smoking.  He never threw them away and took the steps to build a wall against it.  Had he done those things God could have delivered him. 

If we want deliverance we have to take the steps to get it.  We have to make sure that we keep the holes out of our wall of protection.  We have to learn to focus our minds on Jesus and his plan for our lives, and we have to be willing to take the steps to receive deliverance.  Deliverance is a partnership with God

Deliverance is a Partnership with God

I hear people say, sometimes, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.”  There’s no rule in the Bible that says, “You will attend church!!!” but did you know that Jesus attended church, regularly? 

Luke 4:16 (NKJV)
^4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

That verse right there tells us that Jesus regularly attended synagogue.  He went to church.  If you are a follower of Christ, that’s what Christian means, are you following Him to church?  Another illustration:

Diets have directions.  They tell you that you can and can’t eat certain foods:  That you have to eat certain amounts and quantities of certain things.  If you follow the instructions you will have success in your diet.  But what if you change the instructions and don’t follow the diet and basically do whatever you want?   Will you lose weight?  Maybe, but it will only be by accident, not because you followed the diet.

There are guidelines to help you find deliverance, but you have to follow them.  I’ve heard the Bible called “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.”  The Bible has instructions that will help you to live out your salvation successfully, In other words to make it to heaven, but you need to read the instructions. 

There are a lot of people these days that are struggling with doubt and confusion.  The problem is that you’re not following the directions.  For example, in our church, I never know if people are coming or not.  I’m usually worried in the moments before Church starts because the place is empty.  Someone who wants to protect their home, because they see it as valuable is going to be there to make sure they get all the bricks they need.

Worship service is a part of the service.  It helps to prepare you to receive the word of God, but some don’t give it any importance and that’s a mistake.  Worship will help you to focus on Jesus and take your mind off the sin. 

Sin is oppression.  It’s a hardship.  Serving God is a blessing.  I have to be honest, as a pastor, I’m concerned, because I see some people beginning to struggle and doubt.  I’m seeing them have less and less interest in their salvation.  I’m seeing them leave more and more bricks out of their walls and I know the outcome of that.

There is a guy who spent four years in my church.  Over the years he gradually started coming less and less.  First, it was a couple of weeks a month.  Then he would come one month on and one month off.  Then he missed five months in a row.  I tried to talk to him about it and he got offended and now he says he won’t come back.  You know that is?  That’s a guy whose wall couldn’t hold back the flood.  In every church there are others who are going in that same direction.  It won’t help for them to get mad at their pastor for telling them the truth.  It will help for them to seek the power of Jesus to change your life and deliver you from sin.  Deliverance comes through Jesus Christ.  It’s about resurrection power.  We’re dead in sin but raised to eternal life through Jesus.  It’s a partnership with God…You have your role to play.

God is Able

For a while, I worked in a business that taught developmentaly disabled people how to work. We would have them come in and we would teach them about being responsible and faithful; we would teach them to come and be prepared to work; we would teach them a work ethic. We taught them to do many things. And it was good for them. They learned a lot. But I think the most important thing they learned was that they had abilities…They were ABLE to do things.  But they had limits, because of their handicaps.

We all have limitations, don’t we? Sometimes they’re physical limitations, or mental limitations, or emotional reasons why we can’t do things. But we have limits; sometimes time or physical laws limit us. We can’t go beyond those. For example, we can’t exceed the speed of light. It would violate the laws of physics.

But God doesn’t have limitations like we do. God is limitless in his power: He’s God, He’s transcendent. He exceeds the limits. That’s what I want to post about today…the transcendence of God. The power of God, the ability of God: God is able.

Ephesians 3:20-21
20Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

God is Able

That word able comes from the Greek word dunamai, the Strong’s Hebrew-Greek lexicon defines it like this: to be able or possible: - be able, can (do, + -not), could, may, might, be possible, be of power. It speaks of God’s possibilities. God’s abilities affect our lives. God can make the impossible, possible.

Mark 10:27 (NKJV)
27 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

God is able, He can do things that we can’t do. I was thinking of the widow of Zarephath;

1 Kings 17:9-16 (NKJV)
9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.' " 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

This is an example of God’s ability. God is the one who caused the jar to not go empty. It wasn’t the widow’s ability. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t have the power. It wasn’t Elijah’s ability, he had no ability to create more flour. It was solely God’s doing, but…there’s something you should see here.

The widow and Elijah could do nothing to keep the jar full of flour; with them it was impossible. But with the action they took God was able. What action did they take? They took a step of faith. The widow provided for Elijah and because of that action God was able to provide for her. We have to understand that faith is an action word. Faith isn’t passive.

What does that mean? Sometimes we think that faith means that we believe. I believe Jesus was God on earth, but that just takes place in our minds and hearts. That’s intellectual belief, we believe. But faith means that we take an action in accordance with our belief. We act in faith. The following is an example of acting in faith.

Matthew 14:28-29 (NKJV)
14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

We know that it isn’t normal that people can walk on water. But Peter in his faith is sure that Jesus can call to him and he will be able to walk across the water to Jesus. So what does he do? He acts in faith and gets out of the boat and starts walking to Jesus. That’s an act of faith. That’s active faith, "I believe it, so I act accordingly."  Now I want you to think about this for a moment. Peter can’t actually walk on water, can he? Without Jesus there to call to him what would happen?  Peter would sink. In fact, there comes a moment in the middle of this experience where Peter’s faith falters.

Matthew 14:30 (NKJV)
14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

Peter gets scared. He thinks I’m walking on water in this storm and he loses faith. He begins to sink. But what else has changed? Nothing. Jesus is still there, the command to come has not been rescinded, Peter has gotten out of the boat…but now he’s sinking. The only change was that Peter lost faith. Jesus was able to command Peter to walk to him on the water, while Peter had faith that he could. So Jesus’ ability resides in our faith. It isn’t Peter who is able to walk on water, it is Jesus who is able to call Peter out to walk on water…while Peter has faith. In the widow’s case, because she had the faith to feed the prophet before herself God was able to provide for the widow.

God is transcendent; He is not bound like we are to natural laws. He is able to do what we can’t do. Look at these examples of God’s transcendence:

God created the earth out of nothing – Genesis 1:1
He made mankind from mud – Genesis 2:7
He wiped out the earth with a flood – Genesis 7:17-21
He changed water into wine – John 2:1-9
He fed 5,000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish – John 6:1-12
He rose from the dead – John 20:1-10

You and I are not able to do any of thse things on our own, but God did all of them. God is able.

God Can Move in Our Circumstances

Do you realize that God can move in our circumstances? God is able to do what we can’t. Look at this interesting scripture:

Matthew 6:27 (NKJV)
6:27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

What can we do on our own? Not much; we can’t cause ourselves to grow. We can’t heal ourselves. We are not able to act in a supernatural way. We’re limited. We’re restricted to our talents and skills, and our ability to learn. Even with these limitations, mankind has been able to accomplish much.

But think about this what have we ever created? We’ve used the things God has created, with a word, to make something we’ve engineered. But we have to face facts we are really able to do little.  But I’ve seen God do miracles. I’ve seen people healed of many diseases. I’ve seen God overcome circumstances that people thought were impossible. He’s moved in circumstances where we were unable to do anything.

They have been working on a cure for cancer for how many years? Thirty, forty, and they can control cancer to a certain extent now, but can they cure it? No they can’t, but I’ve seen God cure Cancer, because God is able to affect our circumstances.

1 Kings 18:42-45 (NKJV)
18:42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.' " 45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.

Israel had been in the midst of a famine for three and a half years and Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel to pray. A cloud the size of a man’s hand rose up out of the water and God used that cloud to bring rain. God changed the circumstances in of famine in Israel. What activated God? It was Elijah’s prayers. Once again we see faith in action. Elijah’s prayers activated a move of God. Elijah believed God would bring relief, so he went to the top of Mount Carmel and prayed and God responded. But I see something interesting in Elijah’s faith. He prayed and at first nothing happened. So he gave up? No, he prayed again…and again until God responded. It took seven times, before the cloud came up. How often do we pray for something and when we see no response at first, we give up? Persistent prayer spoken in faith is sometimes required. Because of Elijah’s faith God is able to change the circumstances.

God moves in our circumstances. We see this time and time again in the Old Testament history of Israel. God moved to deliver his people out of oppression in Egypt. He called Moses. God gave Joshua the plan for defeating Jericho. God sent a messenger. God defeated one hundred thirty-seven thousand Midianites with three hundred men, using Gideon as a leader. God intervened in the future of mankind. He sent Jesus as a redeemer.

These are examples of God being involved in the needs of people. This is God changing circumstances where we are unable to change them. Because God is able.

When we are struggling with issues today, God is able to move in our circumstances. We think we have to solve them ourselves: That we have to change the circumstances to make things work out. But in reality, we often can’t change the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

If we have an incurable disease like Muscular Dystrophy, we can do nothing to change our circumstances, but God can. The people of Japan after suffering a tsunami and nuclear meltdown can do nothing to change those circumstances, but God can. Most circumstances in our life that affect us in a strongly negative way, we can’t change, but God can. He changed the circumstances in Israel’s famine and he can change the circumstances in your life.

According to Faith

There are a number of interesting stories in Matthew Chapter 9 about some people who come to Jesus for healing.

The first one who comes is a man whose daughter has just died. He asks Jesus to come because he knows that Jesus can raise her from the dead. When they get to his house the mourners are there. People are crying and wailing. The mourning for this dead young woman has begun. But the father of the girl is nonplussed. He believes that Jesus can raise her. Jesus tells the people, “She’s not dead, she’s sleeping.” They all begin to mock and ridicule, but the father’s faith sees it through. He doesn’t stop having faith. Jesus shoos everyone out but the parents and raises the girl.

As He is on the way to the dead girl’s home a woman with an issue of blood sees Him. She’s been sick for many years. She’s been to many physicians and she’s still suffering. For this woman this is a huge issue. Because of the blood, she is considered unclean; no one can touch her. For 12 years she has lived without the touch of another person: Her husband can’t hold her, her children can’t hug her. In fact, she’s required by law to walk down the street and cry out, “Unclean,” so strangers don’t accidentally touch her and become unclean. But she says to herself, “If I can only touch His garment, I can be made well.” And so she makes a huge effort to get to Him and touch Him and she’s healed.

Look at this version in Mark Chapter 5:

Mark 5:25-34 (NKJV)
5:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." 29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?" 31 But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, Who touched Me?' " 32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

It is by faith that these things are done. Jesus felt the power go out from Him, but it wasn’t an action he took. Her faith activated that move of God, Jesus told her, “Your faith has made you well.” Faith activates a move of God.

Finally, there is this that takes place in Matthew Chapter 9:

Matthew 9:27-30 (NKJV)
9:27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."

There is an interesting line here, Jesus says, “According to your faith, let it be to you.” Let’s break this down, for a moment. That phrase, according to, means: in conformity to. An example of the meaning is this: You are paid according to your skills. If your skills are high, you are paid more. If your skills are low, so is your paycheck. So Jesus says, “According to your faith let it be to you.” If you have enough faith, let your healing be complete. If you have no faith, then you won’t be healed. So He is telling them that if you have the faith you will be able to see. God is able to heal; He does that in us according to our faith. God healed all of these in Matthew Chapter 9 according to their faith. The father had faith, even as the mourners were there preparing to bury his daughter, he believed that Jesus could raise her. The woman with the issue of blood had faith, Jesus even tells her her faith has healed her. The Blind men called him “Son of david.” This is a reference to the Messiah. They are calling Jesus, messiah. They are saying to Him, “You’re God, you can heal us.” Jesus tells them with as much faith as you have let that be how much you are healed.

In all these cases it was the faith of the people that caused them to be healed. God is able. It is our faith that activates God’s ability on our behalf. If the father hadn’t believed Jesus was able to raise his daughter and never came to Him what would Jesus have been able to do? If the woman with the issue of blood, never reached for his garment, what would Jesus have been able to do? If the blind men hadn’t called out they would have remained blind.

In your circumstances are you able to go in faith to Jesus? Do you believe that He is the circumstance changer? According to your faith…