Never Stop Praying – 7

 Never Stop Praying – 7

Subject – God’s Litmus Test

by Rick Welborne

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT2) ¹⁷  Never stop praying.

Numbers 22:21-31 (NLT)
²¹  So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials.
²²  But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along,
²³  Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road.
²⁴  Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls.
²⁵  When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again.
²⁶  Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all.
²⁷  This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
²⁸  Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
²⁹  “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
³⁰  “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted.
³¹  Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. 

--Some of our toughest moments as Christians is when you have prayed hard and believed God to do something in our lives and the answer is ‘no’ and we don’t know why. Maybe God is just silent.

--We are all so excited when God answers our prayers and gives us exactly what we wanted, when we wanted it, in the way we wanted it, but that is not how our lives normally go.

1. The Litmus test of trust.

Mark Batterson – Do you trust that God is for you even when He doesn’t give you what you have asked for? Do you trust that He has reasons beyond your reason? Do you trust that His plan is better than yours?

--I am sure, if we will all be honest, that we have questions or unanswered prayers that we really do not know why God did not come through the way we thought He would or the way we thought He should.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV)
²⁹  The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

--This verse tells us that there are certain mysteries that won’t be revealed until we cross over into eternity. I played tournament tennis in Texas. As you played and did well, you accumulated points. Major Tournament. 

--About two weeks before the tournament I started feeling bad and began to cough more and more. I kept pushing myself to train but found it more and more difficult…I was a sick puppy.

--I finally went to the doctor and he said I had pneumonia. What? You need bed rest for a couple of weeks and absolutely no tennis or any other strenuous activity. This couldn’t be true. 

--Being the compliant and non-competitive person that I am…I did exactly what the doctor told me…not! I played in the tournament thinking God would touch me and come through. He didn’t. I lost to a jerk.

--We don’t understand when God does not come through. We don’t understand when people die pre-maturely, we don’t understand when we lose a job, we don’t understand so many things.

--One of the hardest things for us as we pray hard and believe God to come through is enduring unanswered prayers. Hear me, there will be times as you follow God that trusting Him will be your only option. 

--If you can trust God when the answer is no, you are more than likely going to give Him praise when the answer is yes. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 

--When you don’t know what to do, you have to press into God and press on…by definition, praying hard is praying when it is hard to pray. 

Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)
¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

--Our District Superintendent reminded us at Council that the only reason we can press toward the prize and hang in there when times are tough, is because Jesus has first laid hold of us.

--Because Jesus has initiated this relationship…I can lay hold of Jesus, I can lay hold of His promises, I can forget those things behind me and press forward. Can you let it go for Him?

--Sometimes what we perceive to be unanswered prayers are often God’s greatest answers for us. Our heavenly Father loves us way too much to give us everything we ask for.

2. Stop beating your donkey.

--Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way. He sends or creates divine detours to get us going the right direction. This is absolutely His mercy to us. Thus, a talking donkey. There are many talking jack…

--A prophet named Balaam is on his way to Moab because he has been offered money to curse the Israelites. On his way, an Angel of the Lord gets in the way. Balaam does not see the angel but the donkey does. 

--Three times the donkey saves his life by running a different direction. Balaam’s response is to beat the donkey. Stop beating your donkey.

--Let me throw in here, if you are on your way to curse God’s people, the church, or even the pastor and someone is trying to stop you (you may consider them to be a donkey) listen to them!

--They are smarter than you think (obviously smarter than you are) and they are saving your life because God does not take it lightly when you curse or speak against his people. 

1 Chronicles 16:22 (NKJV) ²²  Saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm." 

--We pastors love to use this verse to encourage people not to speak against us but if you read this verse in its context, it is talking about God’s people. We are all His anointed ones if we belong to Him.

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
⁹  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…

--Balaam’s donkey opens his mouth and says, what have I done to you to make you beat me these three times? Balaam’s response was that you made a fool of me, if I had a sword I would kill you!

--Wow! What would we do if our donkey or in our case, someone started talking to us? You know you are not thinking right or headed in the right direction when a jack…I mean a donkey, has to reason with you. 

--Finally, God opens Balaam’s eyes to see the angel of the Lord and reveals He would have killed him if it hadn’t been for his donkey. 

--Sometimes we get ticked off as much as Balaam when we can’t get where we want to go. We hate detours! They are frustrating. They are confusing to us.

Batterson: But the divine detours often get us where God wants us to go. The real miracle in this story isn’t the talking donkey; the real miracle is a God Who loves us enough to get in the way when we’re going the wrong way. These are the miracles we don’t want, but these are the miracles we need.

--I am so glad, when I look back on my own life when God got in the way of my own plans and rerouted me. My story of begging God to let me be a missionary to Mexico. God will give me the desire of my heart. 

--His re-direction was not easy. When I look at our Mission’s program now and realize that there was no way I could have influenced so many by staying in that village but now look what our missionaries are doing. 

3. Sometimes we need to just stand still.

--Have you ever had your back up against the wall with nowhere to go and there seemed to be no good options. Time was running out. It is almost like God is wanting to play the game of flinch. Israel knew this:

Exodus 14:13-14 (NLT)
¹³  But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.
¹⁴  The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

--I have used a phrase for most of my life…Do something even if it is wrong! When I said that to someone, it was to motivate them to not be passive but make a decision and go with it! Bad choice…oh well!

--I must confess that my phrase is not biblical…many times just doing something is exactly what God does not want us to do. He tells us to not be afraid and to stand still. 

--When the children of Israel were at the Red Sea they were completely hemmed in…no place to go and nothing left to do but pray. We love miracles. We just don’t like being in a situation where we need one. 

--We don’t like being between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. It is bad to see the dust rising from the chariots and the horses who are in hot pursuit of you but now you can hear the sound of hoofs…when Stephanie rides or the horses run…sounds like thunder. 

--God loves to lead us into places where there are no options or no way of retreat…He becomes our only way of escape. Why does He do this? He sets us up so He can be glorified!

--Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today…The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Just stay calm and trust Me!

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 

A Quest for Intimacy - 3

 A Quest for Intimacy - 3

Subject – Having a Determined Purpose is not Easy

By Rick Welborne

Philippians 3:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.   

--I believe we all can agree that having a “determined purpose” is so important to our intimacy with Christ, but hear your pastor, it is neither easy nor automatic. 

--If you are looking for encouragement from this world or this world’s system or even from friends who are not born again, forget it. I am shocked how many people look for counsel outside the family of faith. Non-biblical.

--Listen to Isaac Watts’ questions. They are extremely old but overwhelmingly relevant:

Watts – Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God?

--Today let’s look at two essential decisions, each related to a discipline (we are disciples), that will help us develop an in-depth intimacy with Christ and Holy Spirit. 

--If you are serious about becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with God, you will find these two decisions will help you in that process. This is not all we can learn but a good beginning. Swindoll:

1. Reordering One’s Private World: The Discipline of Simplicity

--Everything we encounter in this world works against reordering and simplifying our lives. Yes, everything. Our world is cluttered with junk and is extremely complicated. 

--Please know God did not create our world that way. Our depraved, restless world wanting more and wanting it faster has made it that way. Think about all the devices made to save us time. A joke. Complicated everything. 

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (NCV)
²⁹  One thing I have learned: God made people good, but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)                                                                                                                                        29 God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

--I hope you know this, advertisements have one major goal: to make us discontented. They want us miserably dissatisfied with who we are and what we have. Why? So we will buy what they are selling. And we do.

--The watchword for the consumer society is very loud and clear and assertive…more! Enough is never enough. Even in the church we get caught up with competition which pushes us to the brink of questionable motives.

Proverbs 30:11-15 (NIV)
¹¹  "There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers;
¹²  those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
¹³  those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful;
¹⁴  those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind.
¹⁵  "The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry. 

--Solomon was definitely right…We have made ourselves very complicated. Not only do we acquire more stuff, we accumulate more and more and run out of room to keep it. I have nothing to wear.

--We are driven, not led, to win at any cost no matter who we have to run over to get there. Not only do we want more, we have to spend so much time trying to maintain those things.

--Trying to stay ahead at this maddening pace leaves us strained and struggling to deal with all this stuff. We find ourselves fearful and even struggling to breathe because of the anxiety. 

--Surely it is not God Who is the author of such confusion and chaos. Thomas Kelly - God never guides us to an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness. 

--To be able to re-order one’s own world happens when we find it imperative to simplify our lives. If we don’t we will not be able to find inner peace, nor be able to access the deep parts of our hearts where God speaks to us

--If we stay in that condition too long we will find our hearts growing cold toward Christ. We become like Eve.

2 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV)
³  But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

--Please do not think you are not vulnerable to this. It can happen in a family where everyone is a Christian, even in a church where truth is taught, and even in seminary where exhausted students let down their guard.

--Another enemy to this simplicity is when we compare ourselves with ourselves. We judge, compare, and even get prideful how we are better than the other person or discover we never measure up to the super saints.

--To those who determine to simplify their lives quickly discover it is a rigorous solo voyage against the wind. We must slow our pace and stop envying others. Two tough assignments. Make your life simple.

2. Being Still: The Discipline of Silence

--The disciplines get tougher not easier. Imagine how tough it is to simplify our lives, just imagine the challenge you face in a world filled with noise, restlessness, and nonstop activity, to have the discipline of silence.

--I have almost found in my own personal life that this challenge is insurmountable. Another family crisis, another funeral, Covid, and just life keeps us from the times of silence. But listen to the Psalmist:

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) 

¹⁰  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 

Psalm 46:10 (TLB)
¹⁰  "Stand silent! Know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation in the world!" 

--It really does not matter what translation you choose, God is addressing His own people of every race, color, culture, and era, people mature, employed, unemployed, single or married…be still and be silent in my presence

--We are commanded to rest, relax, let go, and make time for God. The scene is one of stillness and quietness, listening and waiting before Him and Him only.

--Sounds almost impossible in these busy times but if we will know God deeply and intimately we must have this discipline of silence. We can’t do without silence if we hope to go deeper with God. 

Swindoll – Noise and words and frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses, closing our ears to His still small voice and making us numb to His touch.

--Think about how we have to contend with words (messages) on our phones and on billboards. Sometimes we fill like we are driving thru a dictionary. Use me, drink me, buy me, come to my place. Nonstop words.

--Think about it when you get a chance to go to a place, a beach, the mountains, or wherever there is silence or solitude, and how we are refreshed by that. It is the therapy of stillness connecting with God.

--Do you ever find yourself victimized by the noisy, busy, overcrowded world in which we spend many hours a day in the middle of. We become insensitive to Holy Spirit and the things of God.

--There are times we find ourselves feeling down and depressed without even knowing why. We find it hard to pray and we find ourselves truly distracted from what is important.

--Straight talk…no one can do anything about this but you. 

Swindoll – Allow it to continue, and you will gravitate into one of two directions. Either you will run through the motions and cultivate a hypocritical spirituality hidden behind the mask of phony enthusiasm, or you will simply fade from involvement and distance yourself from meaningful relationships with other Christians. In both cases, you will set yourself up for a fall. I have seen it happen more often than I want to recall. 

--Let’s face it, we all can be sucked into a sort of black hole of activities in this hurried world. When that happens, we find ourselves running from others in our own family and church rather than toward them. 

 --Intimacy with Jesus calls for disciplines that are no longer valued or emulated by our society. We must begin with simplicity which allows us to re-order our private world. 

--After this, there must be silence…Be still and know that I am God. This silence and stillness allows us to be able to hear from God and allow for the closeness we so desperately need. 

--All of us can testify, God does not speak to a hurried, worried mind. It takes time alone with Him and His word before we can expect our spiritual strength to recover. In Paul’s struggle, he could hear God:

 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NKJV)
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Never Stop Praying – 6

 Never Stop Praying – 6

Subject – Get Your Feet Wet

By Rick Welborne

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT2) ¹⁷  Never stop praying.

Joshua 3:11-17 (NLT)
¹¹  Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River!
¹²  Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
¹³  The priests will carry the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”
¹⁴  So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.
¹⁵  It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge,
¹⁶  the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
¹⁷  Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground. 

--Last week we talked to you about the message of the manna, holy complications, and making the comfortable uncomfortable. God wants us to trust Him. Give us this day our daily bread. Jesus is the Bread of Life!

--Think about it, your complications or discomfort could be the working of Holy Spirit to get you where you need to be doing what you are supposed be doing for His glory.  

Donald Gee:  There are so many situations in which we need to see, not the working of Satan, even though he may be actively involved, but the hand of God. We should not be asking “What is Satan doing here?” but “What is God saying here?

--God is not so much interested in your comfort as much as He is in His Name receiving honor and glory. Sometimes God wants us to step in before He steps out and does the miracle. The crossing of the Jordan.

Joshua 3:14-16 (NLT)
¹⁴  So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.
¹⁵  It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge,
¹⁶  the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam…

1. Get your feet wet.

--When the Israelites were getting ready to enter the Promised Land, God commanded the priest not to just look toward the sea (like Elijah with the cloud), He commanded them to step into the river.

--Have you ever noticed that you cannot put God into any of your little man made boxes because as soon as you do He will surely do, whatever it is, a different way. 

--He may just speak healing to lepers and tell them to go show themselves to the priest and the next time He may be taking a loogy (spit and mud) and putting in your eyes and telling you to go and wash.

--Moses came to the Red Sea and God just told him to raise his staff and God parted the sea and the Israelites walked across on dry land. We personally prefer this method…who wants to get their feet wet?

Joshua 3:8 (NLT)
⁸  Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’” 

--The Jordan river was at flood stage and rivers that have overflowed their banks are dangerous…God, part this mile-wide river and we will walk right across. We want God to go first. That way we don’t get our feet wet.

Batterson – It’s often our unwillingness to take a step of faith and get our feet wet that keeps us from experiencing a miracle. Some people spend their entire lives on the eastern shore of the Jordan waiting for God to part the river while God waits for them to get their feet wet. 

--Right after I became pastor of Life Church we ran into our first crisis in our mission’s program, we had a decision to make. We were three thousand dollars short with no money in the General Fund. 

--Some said, just contact the missionaries and let them know and send what we can…We had a choice to get our feet wet or just camp on the eastern side on the Jordan on dry ground.

--As the former youth pastor we had raised several thousand dollars (back then we had no budget unless we raised it) and we still had about $4000 in the account. I said let’s get our feet wet.

--We went to the newly hired youth pastor and asked him to loan us the $3000 for our missionaries and we would pay him back as soon as possible. Of course, he said yes. 

--God saw we were serious about missions and that we were willing to do whatever it took to keep our commitment…we paid our missionaries and we paid back the youth ministry in a couple of months. 

--We have never faced that problem again because God saw we were not afraid to trust Him and to get our feet wet. What if the money had not come…wrong question…what would have happened if we had not jumped in?

--This promise of going into the Promised Land was 400 years old. The promise of God was in sight but they could easily lose it by their fear and disobedience. 

--What if the priest had not stepped into the river? What if they would have waited for God to part the water? 400 years could have turned into 500 years or more. Spending the rest of their lives on the wrong side.

--That is where many of us spend our lives…we are so close to our dreams, so close to the promise, so close to our miracle but aren’t willing to get our feet wet. If you move, He will move heaven and earth to do the miracle. 

2. The Apostle Peter had wet feet.

Matthew 14:25-29 (NLT)
²⁵  About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.
²⁶  When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
²⁷  But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
²⁸  Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
²⁹  “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 

--Peter’s resume may not have been the greatest…he had a big mouth, he denied the Lord three times, he was called Satan by the Lord, he fell asleep when Jesus truly needed him to pray.

--He passed the wet feet test by getting out of the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee (a 91 square mile dunk tank) when he responded to one of Jesus’ craziest commands, “Come!”

--Two keys I see here about getting your feet wet in the Sea of Galilee is, first of all, hearing the voice of God and, secondly, know Jesus was in the sea already waiting for you. 

--The Israelites were commanded… The priests will carry the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth into the river. This was God’s voice commanding them and the Ark represented God’s Presence. 

--Do you see the similarities…both received God’s command to get in the water and God’s Presence was already there. If Jesus says come…then get out of the boat but if He doesn’t say come…stay in the boat.

--One evening I had been at the hospital visiting sick folks and I was on my way back to the church to do some more studying…our house was on the way to church. Holy Spirit said “Go to your house.”

--He didn’t know I was not finished studying so I reminded Him and He apologized and said, of course go on to the church and get your work done. Of course, He didn’t say that. Go to your house and check on Stephanie. 

--I asked Tricia is Stephanie ok and of course she said yes…she is sleeping. Holy Spirit said go check on her again with much intensity. She was sleeping peacefully I thought…I rolled her over on her back.

--I looked at her and she looked fine until I looked deep in her mouth…I saw something tiny on the back of her tongue…I tried to carefully put my big fingers in her mouth…I grabbed it and starting pulling. A dryer sheet!

--She had almost completely swallowed the whole dryer sheet…thank you, Holy Spirit for speaking to me and saving my daughter…it is imperative that we hear His voice.

--When you have the presence of Jesus and you hear that still small voice do not ever be afraid to step out of the boat and get your feet wet. God will be glorified…Peter could say…I walked on water!

3. Get your feet wet when it comes to Holy Spirit!

--Some of you need to have the walls fall and you need to get your feet wet when it comes to Holy Spirit. You have been on the sidelines too long looking in and wondering if He is real and if He is for you!

--If any other subject was in the Bible as much as Holy Spirit is…It would be a Cardinal Doctrine in every denomination. Satan does not want you to understand about Him and His power. It is time to jump in!

John 14:16-17 (NKJV)
¹⁶  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
¹⁷  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:26 (NKJV)
²⁶  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 15:26 (NKJV)
²⁶  "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

John 16:7-8 (NKJV)
⁷  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
⁸  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

John 16:13-14 (NKJV)
¹³  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
¹⁴  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

A Quest for Intimacy - 2

 A Quest for Intimacy - 2

Subject – The Apostle Paul’s Passionate Quest

By Rick Welborne

Philippians 3:7-14 (NKJV)
⁷  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
⁸  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
⁹  and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
¹⁰  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
¹¹  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.    

--In this single sentence we find the Apostle Paul’s goal or quest for his life. He refers to it as his “determined purpose” as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

--Did you hear what he said. You need to read it again and again probably out loud watching for key statements and words that can blow your mind. Such as:

--That I may know Him…progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him…perceiving …recognizing…understanding…continually transformed.     

--Could anything on this earth be more important for any of us who call ourselves Christians? I don’t think so, yet, strangely so few of us pursue this most important priority.    

1. A Determined Purpose

--What is that saying to us? It says that there is or should be a change in order. We have to deliberately embrace this aim to “become more intimately acquainted with Christ.” That I may know Him. 

--Hear me, not intimately acquainted with theology, as important as theology may be. Not intimately acquainted with the church, as valuable as the church may be.

--Not even with sharing Christ with others, as important and significant as evangelism may be. We must become intimately acquainted with Christ and with Him alone. 

--It is not knowing about Jesus, hearing another sermon, watching a video, listening to a podcast…about Him.

John 5:37-40 (NLT2) ³⁷  And the Father who sent Me has testified about Me Himself. You have never heard His voice or seen Him face to face,
³⁸  and you do not have His message in your hearts, because you do not believe Me—the One He sent to you.
³⁹  “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!
⁴⁰  Yet you refuse to come to Me to receive this life. 

--From this day forward, our goal in life should be to become intimately acquainted with Jesus and with Holy Spirit. I believe this is what Jesus was talking about in the book of Matthew:

Matthew 6:33 (NCV)
³³  The thing you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants. Then all these other things you need will be given to you.

--The psalmist understood the desire, the quest that I am speaking about. Nothing was more important to him.

Psalm 42:1-2 (NKJV)
¹  As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
²  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 

--These are the words of a man whose inner being ached to go deeper with God and to be more intimately acquainted with Him. 

--How powerful are the words, “My soul pants for you, O God.” When was the last time you were so hungry to get into God’s presence? To have intimate communion with Him? 

--Listen to Charles Spurgeon describe the word picture that the psalmist is trying to convey:

Spurgeon – David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honor he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul…an absolute necessity, like water to a stag…His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. O to have the most intense craving after the highest good!    

2. Nothing is of Greater Importance than Knowing Christ Intimately

--This was the whole point the Apostle Paul was trying to make to the Philippians before he shared with them his “Determined Purpose.”      

--Paul quickly and intentionally shares with his readers his accomplishments which would have made the finest Jews stand up and take notice.

 Philippians 3:3-6 (NLT2)
³ …We put no confidence in human effort,
⁴  though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
⁵  I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
⁶  I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 

--Talk about a resume’. If anyone had reason to be proud of their accomplishments, it was Paul. But before you could absorb or applaud what he just said to you he follows up and declares:

Philippians 3:7-8 (NKJV)
⁷  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
⁸  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

--In comparison to knowing Christ deeply and intimately, he considered everything else as loss, as rubbish, and even one translation which I believe to be more correct ‘dung’. Crap! 

--We almost have it completely backwards in the church today. Our faith is no longer a means of drawing us closer to Jesus but a means of getting more things…we want more stuff. 

--Bumper sticker – The one who dies with the most toys wins. It is all about having more and more. Accumulating more and more things that we cannot take with us. John warned us about this attitude.

 1 John 2:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  

--This was more than just some cute idea for Paul. It was a very strong conviction in his life…something he believed passionately and with every fiber of his being.

--Paul’s conviction about intimacy with Christ should be an encouragement to us to spend less energy and time pursuing human accomplishments and more time cultivating an intimacy with Christ.

3. Holy Spirit is Our Key to Intimacy with Christ.

--Think about this…Jesus is the Mediator between God and man. Without Jesus to fill that gap, we are all in trouble. We have been reconciled to God through Christ.  

--Question…Jesus is the Mediator between God and man is indisputable, but Who is the Mediator between Christ and the believer? In other words, Who is the One Who connects us to Jesus? Of course, Holy Spirit.

--When Jesus was on the earth, He was limited by being in only one place at a time. When He was leaving He knew His followers would need someone close to all of them all the time. 

 John 16:7 (NKJV)
⁷  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

--It is amazing to me what different translations say about Holy Spirit in this passage…Helper…Advocate… Counselor…Friend…Comforter. All of this points toward intimacy.      

--When King David messed up so badly with Bathsheba, what was one of his greater concerns?

  Psalm 51:11-12 (NKJV)
¹¹  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

--David knew his connection (his intimacy) with God was through the presence and power of Holy Spirit. So many times we worry about not making it to heaven because of our sins.

--David knew the potential of his sin and that was losing his intimacy with God by Holy Spirit. Take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

--You Pentecostals are so emotional. Absolutely! My emotions are attached to the presence of Holy Spirit in my life drawing me closer to Jesus.

--God, please draw us closer to Jesus by the beautiful intimacy we can have through Holy Spirit.

                                                                                                                              

Never Stop Praying – 5

 Never Stop Praying – 5

Subject: God Will Always Provide

By Rick Welborne

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT2) ¹⁷  Never stop praying.

Exodus 16:15-19 (NLT)
¹⁵  The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat.
¹⁶  These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.”
¹⁷  So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
¹⁸  But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
¹⁹  Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 

--As we continue praying for the walls that need to fall in our lives we see how incredibly important for us to trust God with all our hearts and to not lean to our own understanding.

--Last week we looked at the acronym…JEJIT…and we spoke about how God is often Just Enough Just in Time! God has a great tendency of showing up at the last second to reveal Himself. A father with his child.

--I will not re-preach my sermon from last week but let me just say…it is vitally important for us to stay out of God’s way when He is trying to accomplish something. 

--The whole point of hiding behind the door is to let the King of Glory come in and to make sure He gets all the glory. Remember John 14 tells us that Jesus is the door of the sheep…Hide behind the Shepherd. 

John 10:7-10 (NKJV)
⁷  Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
⁸  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
⁹  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
¹⁰  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

--Today I want to talk to you about the message of the manna, holy complications, and making the comfortable uncomfortable.

1. The message of the manna.

--When God provided the miraculous manna for the Israelites as they wandered around in the wilderness, our text says that He provided “enough for that day”. Just enough! The language that is used is extremely precise.                 

Exodus 16:17-18 (NLT)
¹⁷  So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little.
¹⁸  But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed. 

--God provided just enough and then, He gave them this strange command…Do not keep any of it until morning. So why does God provide just enough?

--Why would God forbid them to have leftovers? What’s wrong with taking a little initiative and gathering enough manna for two days or even two weeks?

Batterson – Here’s my take on the manna miracle: The manna was a daily reminder of their daily dependence on God. God wanted to cultivate their daily dependence by providing for their needs on a daily basis. Nothing has changed. Isn’t that the point of the Lord’s prayer? 

Matthew 6:9-11 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread. 

--In our selfishness we want God to supply one week or one month or one year but God’s goal is to teach us to drop to our knees every day in complete dependence on Him. 

--God knows that if He provided too much for us that we would lose our desire to seek after and to hunger after Him. We would stop trusting the Provider and we would start trusting the provision. 

--One of our central misunderstandings of spiritual maturity is thinking that it should result in self-sufficiency. It’s the exact opposite. The goal isn’t independence; the goal is codependence on God. 

--Could it be that our desire for self-sufficiency is a subtle expression of our sinful nature? It’s a desire to get to a place where we don’t need God, don’t need faith, and don’t need to pray. Let’s be content with just enough.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)
¹¹  Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.
¹²  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
¹³  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

2. Dealing with holy complications.

--Let’s face it, many people are either misled or misinformed when they come to the Lord believing that their lives will be trouble-free or at least, free from what the world goes through.

--There are sectors of Christendom who teach us that when we come to Christ and we confess the right things, life will not only be better…it will be filled with prosperity and lots of blessings. Easy to do God’s will. Nope!

Batterson – I don’t know if this will be encouraging or discouraging, but the will of God doesn’t get easier. The will of God gets harder. Here’s why: the harder it gets, the harder you have to pray. 

--When I read that quote immediately Holy Spirit reminded of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying:

Matthew 26:37-39 (NKJV)
³⁷  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
³⁸  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."
³⁹  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

--God will keep allowing you to be in situations that stretch your faith, and as your faith stretches, so do your dreams. As you pass one test in this life, others are waiting around the corner…usually harder ones.

--Life doesn’t get less complicated as you serve God…it actually gets more complicated because God does not want you to stay where you are…He wants you to grow…He wants you to be a disciple.

--We have to come to grips with this two sided truth…the blessings of God won’t just bless you…they will complicate your life. Sin complicates our lives in negative ways.

--Marriage is complicated. We have had three more complications…Jeremy, Joshua, and Stephanie…oh my! Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! The truth is, I can’t imagine my life without these holy complications!

--The truth is, with every promotion, there are complications. As you earn more money your taxes get more complicated. Blessings complicate your life in ways God wants it complicated. 

--When God spoke to me about having a campus in the Villages, it complicated my life…when, where, how, how much? It not only complicated my life…my staff’s lives are now complicated.

--One of the joys of having holy complications from God is that you get to share them with others. Everyone on my team are scrambling to get ready for a new campus…we are all in complication mode.

--A new campus and a tremendous missions program complicates everyone’s lives…dreams take money and people…I joyfully invite you into the complications God shares with me as you joyfully follow!

--Even in a day when many churches are choosing to relegate Holy Spirit to a backroom somewhere, we complicate our lives by inviting Him to have pre-imminence at the beginning of every service.

--Holy complication caused Moses to deliver the children of Israel from bondage, caused Joseph to save his family and the then known world from starvation. Caused Jesus to become the Savior of the world. 

3. Making the comfortable uncomfortable.

--Truly every true man of God has two goals with his portfolio: to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. Obviously, the second part is more difficult.

--Let’s be honest; many of us if not most of us, our prayers are selfish in nature. We pray as if God’s chief objective is our personal comfort. It’s not. God’s chief objective is His glory. His gain may be our pain. Job!

--So many people want churches where they feel comfortable. I hope by Holy Spirit I can preach about missions to the point that you feel so uncomfortable that you choose to do something about it. No pain no gain.

--I have gotten so bold over the years that I tell people in our covenant member’s classes that if they do not want to be faithful in the tithe and missions, they probably will not want to join our church.

--We have to get past this seeker sensitive stuff and to be willing to challenge people with the Word of God and to direct them to the Great Commission. 

--I am going to say it…if you have been coming here for years and you have still not caught the vision for missions and outreach…how hard is your heart to resist the Word and Holy Spirit?

--I loved the heart of Sister Browne“Pastor, with our dreams for a new campus, with wanting to reach our community, it will take sacrifice and money…just ask the people to give! Yes Ma’am!

--Would it be more comfortable just to relax and be happy where we are? There comes a time when you not only pray about something…there comes that time when you have to put your money where your mouth is.

--Sadly, many of us are willing to pray right up to the moment of discomfort, but no further. We are willing to pray up to the moment of inconvenience but no further. 

--Praying hard and believing God is uncomfortable and inconvenient but that is when you know you are getting close to your miracle. Your dream!                                                                                                                               

Batterson: There comes a moment, after you have prayed through, when you have to start doing something about it. You have to take a step of faith, and that first step is always the hardest.

--Sometimes we have to be willing to do the uncomfortable and get our feet wet! This is how we will experience the miraculous!

Matthew 14:28-29 (NKJV)
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.