Wide Open Doors – 6

Wide Open Doors – 6

Subject – Untie Your Donkey

By Rick Welborne

1 Corinthians 16:9 (NLT2) ⁹ There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me. 

John 10:10 (NKJV) 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. 

–It is important that we look at our motives for wanting to go thru those great and effective doors and I believe God is speaking to many of us about the “why’ of what we are doing!

–I love fellowship with the Holy Spirit and again as I communed with Him I ask Him what would he have me to share today...within seconds He directed my heart and thoughts toward what I am about to share.

–I felt He spoke to me and said it is time for the people to take initiative (the first step, the opening move, the go-ahead) toward the wide open doors and toward abundant life. 

1. Untie Your Donkey.

Luke 13:10‑17 (NIV) 10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 

11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 

12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 

13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 

14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 

15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 

16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 

17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. 

–Jesus had very little patience with the religious of His day..."You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey (KJV ASS) from the stall and lead it out to give it water?”

–Jesus had no problem with initiative...He saw a need and He met it...He saw the woman and He healed her after being crippled 18 years.

–In His impatience...He said to them...when something is set before you that represents a need...a cripple woman or a tied up donkey, going thru doors, gaining abundant life...take the initiative.

–This what He said to them and I believe He is saying to us...Untie your donkey...KJV!

–We have prayed, we have asked, and we have believed God will open the wide open doors and that He will give us life more abundantly...it is time we untie our donkey. 

James 4:17 (NLT) 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. 

--You want to go thru wide open doors in the area of your finances, you pray, tell everyone your need, but it is another thing to get off your donkey and start searching for a job. I have worked four jobs.

–It is one thing to be frustrated about the condition of our nation but it is another to educate yourself where the candidates line up with Scripture and then untie your donkey and go vote and get others to do it also.

–Find out who is pro-life, pro-Israel, pro-family, pro-marriage (man and a woman), and for protection of our country and then vote for that candidate...financially responsible.

–Again we must ask ourselves is this a Biblical principle and can we verify it in the Word of God.  The answer is absolutely!!!

2. Why Sit There Until You Die.

2 Kings 7:1‑8 (NLT) 

1 Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the LORD! This is what the LORD says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.” 

2 The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” 

3 Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other. 

4 “We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.” 

5 So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there! 

6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!” they cried to one another. 

7 So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives. 

8 When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it.  

–The four lepers were in a horrible situation...did I mention they were lepers...Hear this...They were put outside the gate because of their disease (limited...sound familiar?)

–They were broke, busted, and disgusted not to mention they were starving to death...

–Their options were not good...go to the enemy camp or stay there until they died. Isn’t this the way many of you feel.

--My life, my marriage, my family, my finances, my health all are a disaster and my options are not good...you are close to the gate but you cannot go in. You feel limited by your situation.

–These lepers asked each other...why do we keep sitting here until we die...it is time for us to untie our donkey and get up and go do something.

–They made the decision to get off their donkey...to untie their donkey and face their enemy...their problem!  They made the decision!  They were one mind...one spirit.

–We are not going to sit here until we die, when we decide to untie our donkey and we do it together there are no limitations that could be set before us that we can’t overcome thru God...shout now!

–They said “Let’s untie our donkey” and head to the enemy’s camp and just see what God is going to do for us...If we die...we die! Though He slay me yet will I trust Him!

–We keep waiting for God to move and God is waiting for us to untie our donkeys and get up and go thru that the wide open doors. Take the initiative. I love Israel’s resolve to fight.

--We need to make the decision that enough was enough...why sit here until we die...why sit here until the church dies. We don’t want to be another sad church statistic. Untie our donkey.

–We put on the armor every day and started making strong declarations every morning over our lives, our families, and the church!

–God will begin to change our hearts and our lives...you see when we untie your donkey God has the opportunity to do great things for us and in us! Encourage others!

–With God’s help let’s head toward the wide open doors and to an abundant life...I wonder if anyone is ready to untie your donkey and get up and head for the enemy’s camp?

3. When You Untie Your Donkey, God Unties the Blessings.

–What did they find when they untied their donkey and went to the enemy’s camp...they found out that God had already gone before them...enemy had scattered...they had found life and life more abundantly!

–What happened when they found that blessed life...yes, they enjoyed it for a while and then they said we have to untie our donkey and head for the gates of the city.

2 Kings 7:9-11 (NLT)

9 Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.” 

10 So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there wasn’t a single person around!” 

11 Then the gatekeepers shouted the news to the people in the palace. 

--We have to get thru the wide open doors and when we find abundant life, what do we do? We take it to our city, our county, our state, and to the world. 

–The Doorkeeper (He is the door and the doorkeeper) is waiting on us to untie our donkeys and waiting on us to go to our world with the good news! Why sit here until we die?

–Naaman the leper was healed when he untied his donkey and faced his pride.

–Peter was set free from his fear when he untied his donkey and was filled with the Holy Spirit!

–The widow in 1Kings received her miracle of sustenance when she untied her donkey and trusted God!

–Untie your donkey and get thru those wide open doors...receive abundant life...you take the initiative!

We Need Each Other – Community – 1

We Need Each Other – Community – 1

Subject – A Cure for the Lonely

Genesis 2:18 (NKJV) 18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." 

Matthew 18:20 (NKJV) 

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." 

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT2) ²⁴ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
²⁵  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

–Today I want to speak about the community of God and His invitation for all of us to be a part of it. The book The All Better Book children are asked to solve some of the world’s toughest problems. 

1. We Really Need Each Other.

“With billions of people in the world, someone should be able to figure out a system where no one is lonely. What do you suggest?”

Kalani (age 8) - People should find lonely people and ask their name and address. Then ask people who aren’t lonely their name and address. When you have an even amount of each, assign lonely and not lonely people together in the newspaper. (Administrative gift)

Matt (age 8) - We could get people a pet or a husband or a wife and take them places. (Makes you wonder about his understanding of marriage).

Brian (age 8) - Sing a song. Stomp your feet. Read a book. Sometimes I think no one loves me so I do one of these. 

–This thing of being lonely is why we attend churches, join hunting clubs, have girls shopping days out.... why so many are joining on line...Find Me Somebody.com.

Martin Luther King - "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!".

 

–He articulated the need we have as humans for community. How we need each other.

2. There is No Pain Like the Pain of Loneliness.

–We would be shocked to know those around us who are so lonely or maybe we would not be surprised because we are. Home makers to CEOs are lonely and hurting. People in the Villages. Friendliest?

John Ortberg - If loneliness is common for women, it is epidemic among men. One survey indicated that 90% of the male population in America lack a true friend.                                                                                          “No one wants to admit they are lonely, “writes psychiatrist Jacqueline Olds. “Loneliness is something we associate with losers.” Loneliness has such a sting, in fact, that people will admit to being lonely in anonymous polls, but when asked to give their names they will say they are independent and self-sufficient. 

Mother Teresa - Loneliness is the leprosy of modern society. And no one wants anybody to know they’re a leper.

–We do everything we can to try to avoid being lonely...we stay busy, we marry someone less than our standard, we join clubs, we do things that are crazy to not be alone. Loneliness hurts.

–Anyone who had great success in life and accomplished great things but never had friends died with bitter regrets. Every one of them.

–I have never known of anyone who succeeded at relationships–who cultivated good friendships, devoted to their families, who mastered the art of giving and receiving love–yet had a bad life.

–We learn that what really matters to us is not how high on the totem pole we get; it is people who matter the most. This beautiful idea of community and oneness. 

3. We Were Made for Oneness. 

Genesis 2:18 (NKJV) 18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." 

–Man needed someone to be one with...not a monkey, dog, cat, horse...someone made in His image.

Matthew 19:5-6 (NKJV) 5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 

6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate." 

 

–We were made for oneness. Loneliness is so painful. V.18 it says man was alone and God said, “not good”.

“With billions of people in the world, someone should be able to figure out a system where no one is lonely.”

This oneness leads us into life giving relationships which makes us whole.

Alameda County Study - A Harvard study of 7000 people over a 9-year period found that the most isolated people were 3 times more likely to die younger than those with strong relational connections. People who had bad health habits (such as smoking, poor eating habits, obesity, or alcohol use) but strong social ties lived significantly longer than people who had great health habits but were isolated. In other words, it is better to eat Twinkies with good friends than to eat broccoli alone. 

–What is this saying? We were meant for oneness in the framework of community...we desperately need each other. We need each other, Life Church!

–There has been a steady decline in our American society of what sociologist call “social capital”– a sense of connectedness and community.

Robert Putnam - Bowling Alone: The level of community in America is at its lowest point in our lifetimes, and this loss of social capital results in lower educational performance, more teen pregnancy, greater depression, and higher crime rates.

4. The Answer: The Divine Community.

“With billions of people in the world, someone should be able to figure out a system where no one is lonely.”

Someone did. That system is called community.  

Ortberg - I believe that if you had to sum up in a single word what God is up to, what His goal is in creating the universe and the persons who inhabit it, that word would be community.

Dallas Willard - God’s aim in human history is the creation of an inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself as its primary sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.

–To show how important community was to God we can go back further than when man existed and see what life was like for Him. This is the doctrine of the Trinity.

--The Trinity turns out to be vitally important because it tells us that God Himself has been experiencing community throughout eternity. Community is rooted in the being of God.

5. Life within the Trinity - The Great Invitation!

–Frederick Bruner in an essay on the Trinity begins with discussing Holy Spirit.

Bruner - One of the most surprising discoveries in my own study of the doctrine and experience of the Spirit in the New Testament is what I call the shyness of the Spirit...What I mean here is not the shyness of timidity but the shyness of deference, the shyness of a concentrated attention on another; it is not the shyness (which we often experience) of self-centeredness; but the shyness of an other-centeredness.

–Holy Spirit is constantly drawing attention not to Himself but to Jesus. Holy Spirit comes in the Son’s Name, bears witness to the Son, and glorifies the Son.

–It is as if Holy Spirit is hiding but saying…Look at Him, listen to Him, learn from Him, follow Him, worship Him, be devoted to Him, serve Him, love Him, be preoccupied with Him.

–Jesus has this shyness too...Didn’t promote Himself...If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. He didn’t come to be served but to serve. Jesus submitted to the Spirit and was led in the wilderness.

–The Father has this shyness...this otherness as He says at Jesus baptism...This is My Son in Whom I am well pleased...Listen to Him. The Trinity has this shyness...they point faithfully and selflessly to each other.

Dallas Willard - The Trinity is a self-sufficing community of unspeakably magnificent personal beings of boundless love, knowledge, and power.

–So what about this great invitation? Imagine with me the Trinity in a circle in perfect love and unity. We get God’s invitation to come into the circle. Listen to Jesus explain this:

John 17:20 23 (NLT) 

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 

21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 

22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 

23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.  

 –We have been invited into this fellowship of love...this community of love.  Why Jesus says:

Matthew 18:20 (NKJV) 

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." 

Ortberg - At enormous cost to every member of the Trinity, you and I have been welcomed to the eternal circle, to be held in the heart of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, to fail to prize community; to tolerate disunity with the people God loves–particularly disunity in the body of Christ; or to do things that could lead to disunity is unthinkable.