Wonderfully Complex – 6

                                                               Wonderfully Complex – 6

Subject – Seasons and Delays

By Rick Welborne

Psalm 139:13-18 (NLT) 

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 

18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! 

Last sermon in this series:

1. In discovering God’s soul print you may find that your greatest weakness may become your greatest strength. 

2. In discovering our soul print we find out God will use past experiences and present circumstances to unfold our destiny.

3. In discovering your soul print God will use your greatest challenge to uncover His divine preparation.

–Today’s message:

1. In discovering your soul print you will discover that God allows us to go through certain seasons on our journey.

 

–As you get older and mature you realize the battle is won long before you are on the battlefield. You win or lose based on your faithfulness to whatever season you are in

–In our impatience we forget there is a time to be on the front lines and a time to be on the sidelines. There is a time to be in the limelight but there is a time to be in the shadows.

–Moses needed to take care of sheep for 40 years before he could lead and shepherd Israel. The disciples had to learn to be fishers of fish before they became fishers of men.

Batterson: Every divine appointment is preceded by a season of preparation. And if we submit to the preparation, God will fulfill His promise. If we don’t, He won’t. Why? Because God never sets us up to fail. 

–As I think about God’s preparation for me (some extremely difficult - Hitler), I can now look back and see how all of that was necessary for me to be who I am and where I am.

–Were those seasons tough? Absolutely! Did I think about quitting? Of course! Did I seemingly barely survive?  Oh yes! Were there people to encourage me to quit?  Yes!

–Another key to fulfilling your destiny is to recognize the season you are in and not let frustration and disappointment take over.

–There are seasons when learning to lead is not as important as learning to follow. There are times learning to handle failure is better than handling success.

–We worry so much about making our business, church, or whatever grow, but before God can grow them, He has to grow us. If you are growing thru the tough seasons God will grow the institution you are leading.

–One of the biggest mistakes we can make is focusing all our energy on the next season of our life instead of enjoying the season we are in. Or possibly enduring.

–What we perceive to be the worst season of our lives may just turn out to be the portion of our lives that benefit us the most in the next season.

2. In discovering your soul print you will discover that often there will be divine delays.

Batterson: Your dream seems like a mirage that remains the same distance away no matter how fast or how far you pursue it. You know you have a destiny to fulfill, but the elapsed time causes you to second-guess yourself.   

–This is what you must understand...if you arrive too early at what you think to be your destination (your destiny) you will miss the growth you would have experienced.

 –My personal opinion: many teach out of theory having very little substance to back up what they are saying ...second hand knowledge is not as convincing as firsthand experience, real life situations and delays.

–Consider the disciples of Christ who went thru 3 years of intense life with Him and then came what they thought was a delay...it was...a divine delay.

–There came the cross which made them feel that their hopes were dashed...Jesus died...Peter said I am going fishing...Our dream or destiny is dead.

–What they did not realize was the resurrection, the ascension, and Pentecost were on their way...divine delays do not always mean that hope is gone.

–Even after Jesus rose from the dead...yippee renewed hope...Oh yes, guys, I am going to Heaven but I will send Holy Spirit to be with you...another delay.

–They came very close to losing God’s destiny for them because life had not gone the way they had expected ...can you imagine in those 10 days of waiting...is it over?

–Obviously we know that it was not over because Pentecost came...The Spirit came...the fullness of time came and 3000 were saved that day. 

Dutch Sheets: Are you struggling to get to the next stage? Don’t give up. Your struggles won’t be wasted; they may even be necessary. The key is not to quit.  

–You must realize that God wants you to get to your destiny more than you want to get there. Take a deep breath, enjoy the journey, and know God will get you there when you are ready to be there.

–Your current frustration (your current delay) will be cause for future celebration if you hang in there long enough. Don’t give up!

Batterson: God is building emotional endurance. And the key to emotion endurance is experiencing high levels of disappointment that break us down so God can build us back up with holy confidence. 

3. In discovering your soul print you will discover that without a crucifixion there is no resurrection.

–The days between death and resurrection are long and dark but that is often when a miracle is about to happen.

Batterson: You never know how or when or where a dream will be resurrected, but if it’s God ordained, then God Himself will bring it back to life somehow, somewhere, sometime.

–I can imagine that David (as he watched his brothers go off to war) felt overlooked and underappreciated. It seems like everyone else is getting the recognition, the promotion, or the guy or girl. Your day will come.

 –Don’t short circuit God’s plans for you by taking short cuts and by doing what so many have done by compromising...there is a price to pay for forcing your desires and wishes.

–God is setting you up just like He was setting David up...His day of destination was coming and what he had to do in the meantime was to be faithful where he was.

Matthew 25:21 (NKJV) 

21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' 

–Notice the faithfulness to the few compared to being a ruler to many things. David was faithful to a few sheep and God made him ruler of a nation.

–Maybe you are being faithful to a few (single mom faithful to her children or a SS teacher faithful to a few children in her class) ...you fill in the blanks.

–The Master is keeping good records and the reward...the resurrection will come...don’t give up...don’t compromise. Compromise or unfaithfulness costs more than you want to pay. 

Matthew 25:24-30 (NKJV) 

24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' 

26 But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 

27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 

28 Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 

29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 

30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 

–What was the wicked servant saying about his master:

A. You are a hard man...God, you are too hard to serve...I’ll make my own choices.

B. You reap where you have not sown. You receive when you have not given. Where did the talent come from?  

C. You make me afraid...You can’t be trusted to do what You say. No compassion.

 –Hear me, one of the fastest ways to mess up what God has for you is to not trust Jesus, to try to help Him fix your situation, and to compromise the Word of God.

–OK, life has been tough, Jesus has been there, most of us have been there but without a crucifixion there is no resurrection. Your choices...your decision to be faithful will be the catalyst for you discovering your soul print.

Matthew 24:12-13 (NLT) 

12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 

13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 

Trust God or Trust Our Emotions – 4

                                                     Trust God or Trust Our Emotions – 4

Subject – Battling our Emotions When a Test Comes

By Rick Welborne

Genesis 4:1-8 (NKJV)
¹  Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."
²  Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
³  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
⁴  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
⁵  but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
⁶  So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
⁷  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
⁸  Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 

--Last week we looked at guilt and sorrow and how God desires for us to be free from our past and from our sin. We can’t live here and now if our emotions are tied to something or someone back then.

--If you are human at all, you have done things, said things, caused things in your past that you are so sorry for, but you must trust that God has the power to set you free and to forgive you.

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

--What’s your point, Pastor Rick? No matter what you did back then (I did some stuff) we must know that if we have received Christ and are attempting to love and serve Him…His blood is enough.

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV)
⁷  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…

--I have been redeemed by His blood and I am forgiven of all sin and guilt according to His wonderful grace.

--Today, as we continue this series on Trusting our Emotions or Trusting God, I want us to look at the power of desire. Listen to what God told Cain in our text.

Genesis 4:7 (NKJV)⁷  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." 

--Sin lies at the door and sin’s desire is for you, but you should rule over it. NIV – you must master it. NLT – You must subdue it and be its master. How is that even possible?

--How many of you know that we are bombarded every day with information that has been created to appeal to our sinful nature and to cause desire. Why is that a dangerous thing?

James 1:14-16 (NIV) ¹⁴  but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
¹⁵  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
¹⁶  Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 

--I see two people in these verses…the person who perseveres under the test and the one who is tempted, enticed, and drug away by his own evil desire.

--Through phones, social media, Netflix, cable, satellite, computer (whatever the means) this world, this Cosmos has done such a good job of placing sin at the door. 

--So today can we look at what the Lord told Cain and what I truly believe He is telling all of us…Sin lies at the door and sin’s desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

--Today let’s look at three ways to rule over, to master, to subdue these desires, feelings, and emotions. We know these answers but will we find the strength to put them into practice?

1. Stop feeding the beast!

--Why do you call this desire a beast? The Word says that when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. The goal of the beast for you is death…physical and spiritual.

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.

--Desire is hungry and desire will not stop until you are enticed into the trap and you are destroyed.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT2)
⁸  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
⁹  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

--It did not take long after I was saved to realize that this Christian life was going to be a battle. Sadly, there were many who were in church already who had surrendered to the enemy. 

--Someone told me…what you starve dies and what you feed grows and gets stronger. They told me a present day parable about a man who had a vicious dog (our sin nature) and a weak dove (our spiritual man).

--His dog was strong because he had fed it and nurtured it for years. He spent hours every day with this dog. This dog received attention from the man to the point he was neglecting everything else. 

--The dove was weak to the point of death…he had not been feeding it or giving water to it. He spent no time with it. One day the man’s eyes were opened to what was happening.

--The man was so afraid that his dog was eventually going to get strong enough to kill him and his dove…what am I to do? Stop feeding the dog (isolate him) and start nurturing the dove. 

--The dog became extremely violent, began to rebel and fight, but started getting weaker. The man began to feed the dove and carried him everywhere he went on his finger…the dove got strong and beautiful.

--The dog finally got so weak he died and the dove flourished and lived. Now I would like to tell you the flesh will eventually die but that is not true…he will always want to revive and thrive. 

--What you starve dies and what you feed grows and gets stronger…feed your spiritual man. Pastor Rick, I have no control over these desires. Really? I think the Word says something different: Stop feeding the beast!

Galatians 5:22-25 (NKJV)
²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
²⁴  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

--God has given us the power to stop feeding the beast…He has given us Holy Spirit and he who has Holy Spirit power has self-control available to them…we must choose to crucify (to kill) our flesh.

Genesis 4:7 (NKJV)

⁷  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."  NIV – you must master it. NLT – You must subdue it and be its master. 

2. Start feeding your spiritual man every day.

Psalm 37:1-5 (NKJV)
¹  Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
²  For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.
³  Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴  Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
⁵  Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. 

--Verse 4 is probably one of the most quoted scriptures in the Bible and many times it is quoted out of context. Many believe that God is obligated to give us the desires of our hearts no matter what.

--What is David saying here? Don’t worry about evildoers and don’t desire the things they crave. We want so much to be like the world…we want to be accepted by unbelievers…we want to be cool.

--David says to feed our spiritual man:

A. We must trust in the Lord and do good. 

B. Live your life and as you do, feed on His faithfulness (His truth). Feed on His truth, His Word, on Him…eat My flesh and drink My blood! Have communion with Him!

--Here’s what is usually left out when we quote this verse…Delight yourself also in the Lord. To delight yourself in the Lord is to find a high degree of gratification in Him and Him alone.

--When I feed my spiritual man by worshiping Jesus, by singing songs of exaltation to Him, when I thank Him for all He is and all He does, when I magnify Him over my mess…I find myself delighting in Him.

Psalm 69:30 (NKJV) ³⁰  I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 

--When your world is spinning way to fast, and to a great degree, out of control, in the middle of your worship, ask Him what He wouldsay to you. I am not more than enough in your life.

 

3. Don’t open the door.

Ephesians 4:27 (NIV) ²⁷ ...do not give the devil a foothold. (NCV) ²⁷  Do not give the devil a way to defeat you.

--Don’t open the door to the devil but daily open the door to Jesus and Holy Spirit.

Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)
²⁰  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Courage to Get Out of the Boat - 4

                                                        Courage to Get Out of the Boat - 4

Subject: The Challenges Continued

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 14:22‑33 (NKJV) 

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 

23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 

24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 

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. 

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

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 

32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." 

1. Walking on water and being obedient does not guarantee you no adversity. 

2. As you consider walking on water you will be challenged…what is faith and what is foolishness.

3. To walk on water you will be challenged to simply get out of the boat.

Ortberg:  Your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life gets stormy. Your boat is whatever keeps you so comfortable that you don’t want to give it up even if it’s keeping you from joining Jesus on the waves.  Your boat is whatever pulls you away from the high adventure of extreme discipleship.

4. As you attempt to walk on water you will be challenged to see fear as an opportunity for growth.

Susan Jeffers: The fear will never go away, as long as I continue to grow.

Tonight’s Message – Challenges Continued

1. As you attempt to walk on water you will be challenged to respond to failure in a proper way.

–Because Peter saw the wind and the waves and gave into fear...he began to sink. Did Peter fail? Before we answer this question let us make some observations about failure.

John Ortberg: Failure is not an event, but rather a judgment about an event. Failure is not something that happens to us or a label we attach to things. It is a way we think about outcomes.

–Jonas Salk tried two hundred times to develop a vaccine for polio before he discovered the right one.  Somebody asked him...How did it feel to fail 200 times?

Salk: I never failed 200 times in my life. I was taught to never use the word ‘failure’. I just discovered 200 ways how not to vaccinate for polio.

--Winston Churchill was asked what most prepared him to risk political suicide by speaking out against Hitler during the years of appeasement in the mid-1930s and then to lead Britain against Nazi-Germany. He said it was the time he had to repeat a grade in elementary school. “You mean you failed a year in grade school?’ he was asked.

Churchill: I never failed anything in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right.

–Jonas Salk made 200 unsuccessful attempts to create a polio vaccine. Was he a failure? Winston Churchill repeated a grade in elementary school. Was he a failure?

–Did Peter fail? I suppose in a way he did. His faith wasn’t strong enough. His doubts were stronger. He saw the wind. He took his eyes off of where they should have been. He sank. He failed.

–Just a thought. There were 11 bigger failures sitting in the boat. They failed quietly and privately. Their failure went unnoticed and un-criticized. Peter was the only one of them who knew public failure.

–There were two things Peter knew: He knew the glory of walking on water. He alone knew what it was to attempt to do what he was not capable of doing on his own, being empowered by God to actually do it.  

–You see...once you walk on water you never forget it...not for the rest of your life. I think Peter carried this with him the rest of his life.  

–The other thing that Peter knew was the glory of being lifted up by Jesus in a moment of desperate need. Peter knew like no one else that when he sank that Jesus was more than able to save him.  

–He had a shared moment, a divine connection, a shared trust in Jesus that none of the others had. They couldn’t because they did not get out of the boat.  

–The worst failure is not to sink in the waves...the worst failure is to never get out of the boat. Slaves in a boat.

Winston Churchill: “If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

2. As you attempt to walk on water you will be challenged to respond to failure as an opportunity to grow.

–It is so important to know this...as soon as Peter cries out for help, Jesus is there. He helps Peter physically by pulling him from the water and helps him grow, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Was Jesus being critical?

–As you observe this text you see that the comment was made to Peter while the two of them were in the water.

–It is possible that with the violence of the wind and waves that no one else heard their conversation...a good mentor never wants to embarrass His student. 

–So in the privacy and safety of His strong hand, He gently helps Peter to grow by helping him to see the source of his problem.

–The problem was quite clear: whether Peter walked on the water or sunk was dependent on whether he focused on the storm or on Jesus.  

–Peter understood his dependence on faith in Jesus much more deeply than he would have if he had never left the boat...he grew! It was his willingness to risk failure that helped him to grow.

–Even more than we hate to fail, we hate for others to see us fail. If we had been Peter we would have been tempted to cover up our lack of faith by saying, we tripped on a log or something.

–Because Peter put himself in a position to fail, he also put himself in a position to grow.

Ortberg: Failure is an indispensable, irreplaceable part of learning and growth. Here is the principle involved: Failure does not shape you: the way you respond to failure shapes you. 

–Sir Edmund Hillary made several unsuccessful attempts at scaling Mt. Everest before he finally succeeded. After one of his attempts he stood at the base of the mountain and shook his fist at it and said...I’ll defeat you yet, he said in defiance, because you are as big as you will ever be but I am still growing.

–Every time Hillary climbed he failed and every time he failed he learned, he grew and tried again. And one day he didn’t fail.  

2 Peter 3:17‑18 (NLT) 

17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 

18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. 

3. As you attempt to walk on water you will be challenged to wait on the Lord.

–Even though this story is much about risk it is also a story about waiting on the Lord. The disciples had to wait until 3am before Jesus came to them. Even with that Jesus did not immediately relieve them from the storm.

–Jesus could have easily caused the storm to calm down before Peter got out of the boat. Why didn’t He?  Maybe because they, like us, need to learn something about waiting.

–We have to learn to wait on the Lord to receive power to walk on water. We have to wait on the Lord for Him to make the storm disappear. 

–I think most of you can verify this...Waiting on the Lord is the hardest part of trusting. It is not the same as waiting around...It is putting yourself with utter vulnerability in His hands.

Psalm 27:11‑13-14 (NKJV) 

11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 

13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 

14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! 

4. As you attempt to walk on water you will be challenged to have a deeper connection with God.

–Jesus is still looking for people to get out of the boat but why even risk getting out of the boat? 

–It is the only way to real growth...It is the way true faith develops...It is the alternative to complacency and stagnation that causes people to wither up and die...It is a part of discovering and obeying your call from God.

–There are many good reasons to get out of the boat but one surpasses them all...The water is where Jesus is.

–The water may be rough and dangerous but Jesus is not in the boat...The main reason Peter got out of the boat was because he wanted to be where Jesus was...Lord, if it is You...Command me to come to you!

Key: Because Peter got out of the boat he and his friends came to a deeper understanding of Who Jesus was...wow we can put our lives in this guy’s hands.

Matthew 14:32‑33 (NKJV) 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." 

–The Lord is passing by...can you risk it...getting out of the boat? Two things will happen:

–The first is that when you fail...and you will fail sometimes...Jesus will be there to pick you up. You will not fail alone. You will find that Jesus is more than adequate to save.

–The other thing is this...every once and a while you will walk on water to Jesus. It is not a time for you to do something religious but something ridiculous...get out of the boat.

Wonderfully Complex – 5

                                                                Wonderfully Complex – 5

Subject – Freedom in Being Yourself

By Rick Welborne

Psalm 139:13-18 (NLT) 

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 

18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! 

Last sermon in this series:

1. Because you are God’s child your heredity and destiny are from Him.

2. Why is it that we all start out as “one of a kind original” but too many of us end up as carbon copies of someone else.

3. If we will have God’s uniqueness for us, and if we will be who we are, we must be willing to take Saul’s armor off.

1 Samuel 17:38 40 (NKJV) 

38 So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 

39 David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them." So David took them off. 

40 Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 

Soren Kierkegaard: The deepest form of despair is to be another than oneself.

 

Batterson - At the end of the day, God isn’t going to ask, “Why weren’t you more like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa?”  He won’t even ask, “Why weren’t you more like David?”  God is going to ask, “Why weren’t you more like you?”

–Today I want us to see how we can have confidence in who God created us to be...in our uniqueness.

1. In discovering God’s soul print you may find that your greatest weakness may become your greatest strength. 

–Around the turn of the twentieth century, a pioneering psychologist by the name of Alfred Adler proposed the counterintuitive theory of compensation.

Adler - Perceived disadvantages often prove to be disguised advantages because they force us to develop attitudes and abilities that would have otherwise gone undiscovered. And it’s only as we compensate for those disadvantages that our greatest gifts are revealed. 

–He discovered 70 percent of the art students he studied had eye problems, he found that some of the greatest composers, Mozart and Beethoven had degenerative traces in their ears, hearing problems, probably loud music.

–Adler concluded that people with perceived disadvantages such as birth defects, physical ailments, and poverty can be springboards to success. 

--That success is not achieved in spite of those perceived disadvantages. It’s achieved because of them. You are not a victim. Listen to what Paul says:

2 Corinthians 12:7 10 (NKJV) 

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 

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. 

–Can you even perceive how powerful this is? What a confidence we can have in Christ.

–We may think that what we are strong in is where our greatest advantage lies but our greatest advantage may be hidden in our greatest disadvantages. 

–One of the keys of finding what your soul print is identifying what our weaknesses are and letting God redeem them...Example of my speech impediment growing up.

–Batterson shared how he could not preach like many of his friends either from memory or from short notes but had to write out his sermons in manuscripts. Was embarrassed. 

 –What God uncovered by him doing this was God revealed his hidden gift of writing.

–When was the last time that you thanked God for the challenges and disadvantages in your life?  Without them you may never uncover God’s hidden gifts that give you holy confidence.

–David would have never discovered his greatest strengths without being confronted with his obvious weaknesses...He was not a warrior but a shepherd.

2. In discovering our soul print we find out God will use past experiences and present circumstances to unfold our destiny.

–All of us have heard that when you are staring death in the face that you begin to have your life flash before your eyes...can you imagine what David was seeing as he looked at Goliath?

–He is probably googling or binging trying to find anything that would help in this situation. He has a flashback of a lion coming after his father’s sheep on the hills…a bear coming after the sheep...holy confidence comes.

1 Samuel 17:34 37 (NIV) 34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 

35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 

36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 

37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you." 

–In that moment fear begins to evaporate...and his confidence rises up...it is more than realization...it is revelation...it is more than self-confidence...it is holy confidence.

–The un-circumcised Philistine who is staring him down is no different than the lion or the bear David faced and fought as he tended the sheep.

–David is able to connect the dots between his past experiences and his present circumstance and it empowers his soul with a sense of destiny.

Batterson - Every past experience is preparation for some future opportunity. God doesn’t just redeem our souls. He also redeems our experiences. And not just the good ones. He redeems the bad ones–especially the bad ones.

 

–He goes on to say that the way he does that is by developing our character and teaching us lessons that could not be learned any other way than going thru the fire...not classroom teaching...this is on the job training.

–Let’s face it...we have all failed at some point. If you learn the lesson God is trying to teach you, no matter how things turn out, you have not failed. In fact, you cannot fail.

–Every wild beast that attacked David’s flock was a quiz for the big test that was coming. David could have sacrificed his sheep over his own safety. Preparation. Why is that so important...God was getting him ready to shepherd His flock...Israel.

3. In discovering your soul print God will use your greatest challenge to uncover His divine preparation.

–On paper, it was obvious that David was at a great disadvantage in facing Goliath on the battlefield. He probably was not good with a sword or spear...He was a shepherd.

–That perceived disadvantage gave him the advantage he needed to defeat Goliath. We all must learn that we cannot fight our enemy on his terms. The rules of engagement have to be changed to beat this giant or devil.

2 Corinthians 10:3 6 (NKJV) 

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 

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. 

–David may have been weak as a soldier but he was a great shepherd. He may not have been good with a sword but he was deadly with a sling...his holy preparation is leading to holy confidence.

--He was perfectly prepared and positioned to win this battle. The battle with Goliath was not won in the valley of Elah it was won on the hillsides outside of Jerusalem.

–There must have been times when David thought he was the one who was put out to pasture...could not go to war...could not be with the other brothers...He was exactly where God wanted him to be...getting prepared to shepherd His people.

–You may fill that way about your life but God is preparing you for your date with destiny. That is why it is imperative for you to be faithful where He has placed you!

--Pastor Rick, how do you know He has anything planned for my life?

Psalm 139:16 (NLT) 

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

–God wants you to have a holy confidence that He has you in His hand.

 

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV) 

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.