The Changing of You

The Changing of You – Pastor Leon Fontaine (Sermon Notes)

• One of the greatest tricks of the enemy is to make you believe that where you are is who you are
  • You are what you can’t do
  • You can’t change
  • Medical science teaches that the brain is hardwired
• This is not true, science has found that the brain is so fluid that it can be changed
  • There is a process to change
  • Dr. Carolyn Leaf¹ came in and spoke about Neuroplasticity² and how your brain is so capable of changing
  • God’s word is true the thoughts that you think about yourself and life are powerful
    • Everyone thinks thoughts are just random
    • When you wake up in the AM and have a thought the thinking of your head determines a lot of what goes on with your body
    • One thought can have a physiological impact on the body – impacting bodily functions
    • The word of God says that your thinking controls your entire life
      • Romans 12 speaks about the fact that if we want to live according to the will of God, we must renew our mind³
      • What should I change to? What am I to become? How am I to renew my mind?
        • When someone becomes a Christian the first year of life they have the greatest impact on others. In one year more impact on others than the rest of your life. Why is that?
          • Don’t Christians often become something that they shouldn’t become?(e.g. spooky, religious, weird, judgmental, rebuking others, calling out sin)
          • Read from 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (Amplified) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom]. And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
          • We are transfigured into His image.
• What does God look like to you?
  • Do you even know what it looks like to be transformed from glory to glory?
  • 1,100 pastors a month leave the ministry in America
    • The Church is becoming irrelevant
  • Does God want us to rebuke people? Correct people?
    • Jesus never hunted down people who did wrong, He only corrected mainly the religious people (Scribes, Pharisees)
  • Do we always say “God bless you” and act religious when we are around others?
  • 1 John 4:17-19 (Amplified) In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. ¹⁹ We love, because ^[a]He first loved us.
    • We shouldn’t be spiritual, religious, spooky, judgmental
    • We want to be as He is – as Jesus is that is the picture of how we want to change and be renewed
  • When you rise up and become like Him, you bring glory to God
    • We are God’s crowning creation and achievement
    • Religion has reduced us to being poor little bags of blood always looking for God’s glory
      • We have it; we are God’s glory. God’s presence is in you, get up and do something. Don’t look for a supernatural experience – just rise up and love as Jesus would, walk as a son of God
      • When you have done it to the least of mine you have done it to me.
• Renewing our mind – practically walk out
  • Why your mind needs to be changed or renewed
  • Curse in garden had a brutal impact on our ability to believe and see
    • Impacted how we see ourselves and how we see God.
      • Adam and Eve hid from God sin has opened up feelings of:
        • Guilt
        • Fear
        • Shame
      • This is how the human race acts in the presence of God – we hide, we have guilt, we feel we are not good enough. We withdraw.
        • We carry shame and guilt
  • Everything that Jesus did was to stop the way we see God and ourselves. To stop us condemning ourselves and feeling shame and guilt
    • He said come boldly to the throne of God (Hebrews 4:16)
    • You are my son (Psalm 2:7)
    • We cry Abba Father (Romans 8:15)
    • Change how we see God – do we see a big bad mean God? If so, we need to renew this image in our mind
    • We need to change how we see ourselves – renew our mind
      • God needs to change our mind on these things
• Meditation
  • Meditation I believe is the missing link that can take us toward renewing our mind and overcoming feelings of shame, doubt, etc.
  • How to meditate?
  • A great part of prayer is meditation – allow his presence to do something to you
  • Gods word has promises
    • We need to stand on God’s promises – how do we do this, how do we renew our mind in this?
  • Example – someone that is insecure
    • A person can look at an insecure issue in their life
    • As we look at the thing we are insecure about, we begin to feel insecure.
    • When we feel insecure, we begin to look for evidence to ratify our feelings
    • This creates a repetitive cycle where we are always looking for reasons to feel insecure
      • Creates a state of insecurity that can go on until we believe that this is the way we are
    • We try to serve God – If God has called us to serve kids how is he going to get our butt on the stage – He has to get us to rise up, to change our heart our belief about ourselves to overcome insecurity
  • Need to use God’s word to renew our mind and we will change
    • Joshua 1:8 (Amplified) This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be ^[a] successful.
    • How is our prayer life? Do we fell that to be spiritual we must beg and bug God?
      • Tears and cry
      • Pray hour after hour – for many hours
      • Grab horns of altar
      • Pray for healing
      • This is an image that we passively wait and beg and plead for God to do something
      • This is not correct
      • Doesn’t God want to save our community and us and heal us more than we want it? Then why are we asking Him all the time, why are we crying and begging.
    • Praying looks different then some think – someone said that they never pray longer than 15 minutes or go 15 minutes without praying – constant connection
  • If we are insecure and want to change – what to do?
    • Find promise – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13)
      • But we have known this word our whole life and we are still insecure?
    • Know truth but the truth is not setting you free! Head knowledge does not lead to freedom!
      • God’s word does not change you just because you know it
      • God’s word changes you when it goes to work on the beliefs of your heart
      • We want this word to impact our whole life
      • Now they tell me to meditate on this, what does that look like? Say it over and over?
    • This word impacts us not when we say it over and over, but when it impacts what we see in our heart, what we believe
    • We want the Holy Spirit to take the promise and paint new pictures for our future of what we will become of how we will change
      • Heart sees the end from the beginning
      • The brain always see the steps – how are we going to get there and the brain is sorting and managing
      • The heart doesn’t do that, it simply sees the answer, and it sees it done. This is why we need to get the change into our heart.
    • Another example
      • I want to teach kids but I am too insecure to do that
      • Take bible verse again, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
        • See yourself in front of kids
        • See yourself teaching
        • Have a bible and the kids are laughing and rejoicing and you see yourself loving it and enjoying it
        • See the kids enjoying it
      • Now the word is changing what you see
      • We must change our heart images
  • No matter what you are believing for, you need to see it done. See the destination
    • God’s word needs to impact and change how you look at things
    • The Holy Spirit will help you to develop this vision
    • The Holy Spirit will show you things to come; the Holy Spirit will help you dream (Hebrews 11:1).
    • This is the process for everything in life
      • If you struggle with anger
      • You can be the Dad that you always want to be
        • God’s will is for you to be patient
        • You need to find the promise and meditate on it, you need to visualize it in your mind, what it looks like to be the Dad you want to be
  • Claim the word and allow it to change the way that you see yourself
    • Don’t plead for God to change you – visualize yourself changing, see the change, see the renewed you.
• Focus each day – thank God for the promises in your prayer and see yourself as the new you
  • Mentally practice who you want to become
    • This sounds New Age
    • New Age got it from the bible
  • One definition of imagine in Hebrew is meditate (Young’s)
  • Imagination is part of your mind
  • You need to root out the negative thinking
  • Deepest thoughts of your heart are leading you to your future
  • Instead of begging God to take it away pray from position of power based on God’s word
  • You can change – what you want to change can be changed through God’s word; your current state can be changed. You can have liberty through God’s word
  • Need to break the guilt and the condemnation
  • You are not praying God’s word because He has forgotten it.
    • When you pray the word you are renewing your mind and reintroducing God’s dream for your life
    • Success comes from the heart, focus on God’s word and stand and renew your mind on God’s word
    • Ask God for a new vision
    • If job is stressful, meditate on the job being a joy based on God’s word
    • You believe what you see on the inside
    • Then God’s grace will go to work and His favor will go to work

¹ http://drleaf.com/about/

² The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.

³Romans 12 (Amplified Bible (AMP)) – Therefore I urge you, ^[b] brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be ^[c] transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

“…The riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power”!

Ephesians 3:16-19

May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, indwelling your innermost being and personality, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been deeply rooted and securely grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints God’s people the width and length and height and depth of His love fully experiencing that amazing, endless love; and that you may come to know practically, through personal experience the love of Christ which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience, that you may be filled up throughout your being to all the fullness of God so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself.

This word is so full and covers so many facets:

1) Because of our faith, we humbly look to Jesus in every situation of life. We know that He is greater and more powerful and is the key to master every situation. He is the one true way and answer to all that life brings. He loves us with an everlasting and faithful love, great is His faithfulness. He alone provides and brings strength, energy and power through His in dwelling in our hearts. In and of ourselves we are lost, but with Christ we are more than conquerors, we are in fact the victors!

2) When we look to Jesus and Him alone, we personally experience the never ending love of Christ and the Father in our heart, soul and mind. This love is perfect and it casts out all fear. The key is to see the risen Lord and His power and might, not the circumstance that we face.

3) Since God is love the more we experience His love for us, the more Gods presence and power expands in our life. Never feel you are alone or forgotten, turn to His word, turn to Him in prayer, turn to Him in thought and meditation, and see Him answer in a powerful way!

Powerful Promises of God!

I hope that these verses, these promises of God over us all, encourage you like they do me.  Please feel free to add additional verses in the comment section.

Deuteronomy 7:6-15

⁶ For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

⁷ The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. ¹⁰ But

those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

¹¹ Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

¹² If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. ¹³ He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. ¹⁴ You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young. ¹⁵ The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 15:6

⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. ² And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: ³ “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. ⁴ “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. ⁵ “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  ⁶ “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.  ⁷ “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.  ⁸ “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.  ⁹ “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. ¹⁰ Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. ¹¹ And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. ¹² The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³ And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. ¹⁴ So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Job 22:23-30

²³ If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; You will remove iniquity far from your tents.  ²⁴ Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.  ²⁵ Yes, the Almighty will be your gold^[a] And your precious silver; ²⁶ For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.  ²⁷ You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows.  ²⁸ You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.
²⁹ When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’ Then He will save the humble person.  ³⁰ He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”

Psalm 2:7-8

⁷ “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

Psalm 30

I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.
² O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.
³ O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.^{[a]  4} Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.^[b]
5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 34

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!  ⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!  There is no want to those who fear Him.  ¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.   ¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.  ¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.  ¹⁸ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. ²⁰ He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

Psalm 139:7-10

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

Proverbs 1:33

³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.”

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10 

fear not, for I am with you;  be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 61

² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, ³ To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”  ⁴ And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.  ⁵ Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.  ⁷ Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.
⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear^[a] when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

2 Esdras 2:20-32

Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness. Keep the old and young within thy walls.
Wheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection.  Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness still come.  Nourish thy children, O thou good nurse; stablish their feet.  As for the servants whom I have given thee, there shall not one of them perish; for I will require them from among thy number.  Be not weary: for when the day of trouble and heaviness cometh, others shall weep and be sorrowful, but thou shalt be merry and have abundance.  The heathen shall envy thee, but they shall be able to do nothing against thee, saith the Lord.  My hands shall cover thee, so that thy children shall not see hell.  Be joyful, O thou mother, with thy children; for I will deliver thee, saith the Lord.  Remember thy children that sleep, for I shall bring them out of the sides of the earth, and shew mercy unto them: for I am merciful, saith the Lord Almighty.  Embrace thy children until I come and shew mercy unto them: for my wells run over, and my grace shall not fail.

 1 Corinthians 10:13 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

2 Corinthians 9:6-12

⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”^[a]

¹⁰ Now may^[b] He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. ¹² For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,

Matthew 11:28-29

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 19:26

²⁶But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Romans 8:37-39

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Philippians 1:6

⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

 Philippians 4:19

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

2 Peter 1:4

⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We Have God’s Favor! It is all about Jesus – His victory is our victory!

How big and great a factor our Lord Jesus is in our lives, when we let Him! I am convinced that one of the battles of faith in our lives is to see the greatness of our God and Lord Jesus, to see and know that God surpasses anything and everything that we face in life. That we need to see Jesus and His greatness and not the problem! Because of Jesus all the blessings of Heaven are raining upon us and blessings are chasing us down (Deuteronomy 28:2). The key is our faith in this, our belief in this. I then came upon a beautiful word out of Isaiah.

Isaiah 54

The Message (MSG)

Spread Out! Think Big!

54 ^1-6 “Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.
Fill the air with song, you who’ve never experienced childbirth!
You’re ending up with far more children
than all those childbearing women.” God says so!
“Clear lots of ground for your tents!
Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope,
drive the tent pegs deep.
You’re going to need lots of elbow room
for your growing family.
You’re going to take over whole nations;
you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed.
Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.
You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,
and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
For your Maker is your bridegroom,
his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel,
known as God of the whole earth.
You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief,
and God welcomed you back,
Like a woman married young
and then left,” says your God.

^7-8 Your Redeemer God says:

“I left you, but only for a moment.
Now, with enormous compassion, I’m bringing you back.
In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you—
but only for a moment.
It’s with lasting love
that I’m tenderly caring for you.

^9-10 “This exile is just like the days of Noah for me:
I promised then that the waters of Noah
would never again flood the earth.
I’m promising now no more anger,
no more dressing you down.
For even if the mountains walk away
and the hills fall to pieces,
My love won’t walk away from you,
my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart.”
The God who has compassion on you says so.

^11-17 “Afflicted city, storm-battered, unpitied:
I’m about to rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
Lay your foundations with sapphires,
construct your towers with rubies,
Your gates with jewels,
and all your walls with precious stones.
All your children will have God for their teacher—
what a mentor for your children!
You’ll be built solid, grounded in righteousness,
far from any trouble—nothing to fear!
far from terror—it won’t even come close!
If anyone attacks you,
don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them,
And if any should attack,
nothing will come of it.
I create the blacksmith
who fires up his forge
and makes a weapon designed to kill.
I also create the destroyer—
but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.
Any accuser who takes you to court
will be dismissed as a liar.
This is what God’s servants can expect.
I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best.”
God’s Decree.

• We need to think big under the influence of what the spirit prompts and according to His word. God is with us. King David had this attitude when he defeated Goliath and when Saul pursued him and tried to kill him (1 Samuel 17, 1 Samuel 24).

• We are grounded in righteousness. Not because of what we do, but it is a gift of grace. This is undeserved pure and saving grace. All because of the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus. This means that as the bible says we can be confidant, feeling no condemnation, never feeling like we do not measure up. We can hold our head high because of Christ (He is our identity, we are perfected in and through Him). How can we ever have words to describe what this means, and what the impact this sacrifice has had on our life. Often people are offended or stressed or feel like they don’t measure up. We need to reject all these thoughts and embrace the victory of our risen Lord and the overwhelming power it brings to our lives.

• Nothing can hurt us and nothing can hold us back. We have the victory. It happened thousands of years ago and the victor is Christ!

• Hope has a name, joy has a name, peace has a name, love has a name and that name is Jesus Christ! Praise His name forever!

Possessing Our Possessions

Deuteronomy 2:14 New International Version (NIV)
Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.

What happened at Kadesh Barnea?

Numbers 13:26-33 New International Version (NIV)

Report on the Exploration
They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites,Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Israelites thought that they were like grasshoppers to the people of the land, but how did the people of the land view them?

Joshua 2:8-10 New International Version (NIV)
Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fearof you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea[a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.[b]

The Red Sea happened 40 years prior!

Points:

• Isralites spent two years walking with God and 38 years wandering. Are we walking with God or wandering? What is the difference?
• John 5:5 – picture of Israel wandering – Jesus healed him
• The ones against going in spoke of the difficulties everywhere
• Joshua and Caleb acknowledged the difficulties but had faith that they could be overcome with God. They saw God and his vast resources not their limitations and circumstances.
• Faith looks at how big our God is, his resources and that nothing is impossible with God, unbelief looks at self and circumstances.
• God had prepared a land for them and wanted them to take possession of it but they wouldn’t, due to their fear.
• Today God wants us to enter His rest – Hebrews 4:1. This is the only place God tells us to fear in the whole bible. Otherwise He tells us to fear not. We should fear that we do not rest, that we become fearful over life’s circumstances, we should fear that we do not trust in God!
• We enter the rest and through entering the rest of God, He will provide.
• There will be troubles and difficulties that the devil wants us to focus on, but we need to rest and focus on God and Jesus and their resources.
• We need to take possession of the future that God has in front of us!

Miracles of Jesus – Feeding the Five Thousand (5000)

When we feel we do not have enough, we have more than enough, because we have Christ. The disciples said, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” Also the people reclined, they made no effort for their provision. A final point is that they were not just provided with enough, but more than enough! “And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [^[a]small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over.“

Let us read this account and have a greater understanding of the Lord’s love for is. This love is not based on our efforts or what we need to do. This love has an abundant supply for us, so much that we in turn can give to others! No matter what we are in need of, let’s simply trust in the Lord our bridegroom that He will continue to provide and that He has an abundant provision for us in every area of our life.

Matthew 14:13-21Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹³ When Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there privately in a boat to a solitary place. But when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him [by land] on foot from the towns.

¹⁴ When He went ashore and saw a great throng of people, He had compassion (pity and deep sympathy) for them and cured their sick.

¹⁵ When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote and barren place, and the day is now over; send the throngs away into the villages to buy food for themselves.

¹⁶ Jesus said, They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.

¹⁷ They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.

¹⁸ He said, Bring them here to Me.

¹⁹ Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [^[a]small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

²¹ And those who ate were about 5,000 men, not including women and children.

Bring your praise to God, not your problems!

Can We Make Sense of Suffering?

Dr. David Jeremiah’s sermon on May 31st was titled, “The Affirmation of Saul’s Conversion.”  The part of the sermon related to Apostle Paul’s suffering, really touched me, and made an impression.  First a text about Paul’s suffering that Dr. Jeremiah provided:

2 Corinthians 11:23-28 (New International Version (NIV))

²³ Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸ Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

• What is the point of the suffering Paul went through?
  • God allows suffering to make us into the people we need to be without which we could not be.
• God is always up to something when he allows suffering in our lives
• God often will not answer the question of “why,” we have to go through suffering, but he often will answer the question of “what”
  • What are you trying to accomplish in my life with this situation so that I can cooperate with it.

Finally a word from First Peter that Dr. Jeremiah provided.

1 Peter 2:20-21 (New International Version (NIV))

²⁰ But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. ²¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

My thoughts on this while living through a great deal of suffering, hurt and disappointment:

• Above all else we continue to trust the Lord and have an expectation that with Him we will come out of the suffering better than when we entered into it.
• I can not express enough how often the suffering does not make any sense at all, especially coming to terms with the suffering and the difficulty, the hurt, sense of loss, and the pain
  • Ask God the “what” of the suffering
  • Continue to persevere and to trust
  • Forgive and do not get bitter
  • Continue to hope
  • Know that God is on your side
  • Believe in God’s promises over your life
  • Believe in the grace of God in your life and the righteousness attained through faith in the Lord Jesus
  • The Lord will lead you day by day

Powerful Promises of God Bible Verses – You are not alone!

The Lord is watching and guiding you!

Psalm 139:7-10

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.  9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.

Hebrews 13:5-6 (portion)

…For God has said,“I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you.”^{[b]  6} So we can say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear….

Our God is all seeing and all knowing, and He is with us at this moment.  Sometimes we may not feel that way, but yes He is with us.  The evil one wants to make us feel alone, forgotten and forsaken.  Let’s not fall into his trap.  Let’s remember and keep alive the saving power of the Lord in our life.  Let’s continue to reach out to Him.  He is our great God, our deliverer and our Savior.  I love what it says in Job.

Job 22:23-30

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; You will remove iniquity far from your tents.  24 Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.  25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold[a] And your precious silver;  26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.  27 You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows.  28 You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.  29 When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’ Then He will save the humble person.  30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”

This describes what our great God will do through our Lord Jesus.  We only need to turn to Him and seek his path of righteousness (Jesus is our righteousness).  The evil one wants to cast us down, he wants to make us feel that there is no hope, no future.  But the future for us is bright and secure.  Remember the three boys who were cast into the furnace.  They had sustaining faith that saw them through their difficult trial.  The King presented them with a challenge.  Were they going to serve our Lord God, or bow down to an idol?

Daniel 3:12-15

12 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”  13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”

They had a high position working for the King.  They had power and comfort, a good life in comparison to many.  They could have maintained this life with one simple act, bow down to the golden idol.  They did not forget their belief in God, that the Almighty was their gold!  They had been in difficult times before and chose to serve God.  He sustained them.  Now they needed to have sustaining faith!  They had no assurances as to how this would turn out, yet they placed themselves into the hand of the Almighty.  Here is what they said:

Daniel 3:16-17

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

We know that these boys were delivered from the furnace.  However, even if they had not been delivered from the physical pain and death, they still would have been delivered for their eternal life.  We need only look at the example of Jesus who endured suffering and pain and now sits at the right hand of God.  God’s purpose for Christ was not to dwell any longer on the earth.  God’s purpose for the three boys however, was still on the earth.  He used an impossible situation to glorify His name.  Their test became a testimony!  We are still here; God is not finished with us yet.  He has a purpose for us, a path of blessing and prosperity.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Let’s follow the example of these three boys and put our trust in God even though we do not know how it is going to work out.  Let’s activate our sustaining faith!  Even though our feelings or the knowledge and wisdom of the earth from the evil one says there is no hope.  Let’s hold on to the knowledge, wisdom and promises of our God!

Matthew 19:26

 26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Our God is with us right now at this moment.  He is leading us down a path of greatness and brightness.  When it becomes really difficult, He even carries us.  He will never give up on us or leave us (Hebrews 13:5-6).

 One night a man had a dream.  He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Scenes from his life flashed across the sky and he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,one belonging to him and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life had flashed before him,he recalled that at the lowest and saddest times of his life there was only one set of footprints. Dismayed, he asked, “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,you’d walk with me all the way. I don’t understand why, when I needed you most, you would leave me.” The Lord replied, “My precious child.  I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you saw only one set of footprints…That was when I carried you.”

 – Footprints in the Sand

When we start to feel alone or forgotten, that there is no hope, let’s reach out to the Lord even more.  Let’s activate our sustaining faith and declare His promises over our life.  Let’s put away our thoughts and ideas and put our full trust in Him.  Let Him carry and take us to where we need to be.  We can be assured that the place He takes us will be a place of brightness, prosperity and blessing.

Miracles of Jesus – Healing of a man possessed by a demon in Capernaum

Mark 1:21-28Amplified Bible (AMP)

²¹ And they entered into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He went into the synagogue and began to teach.

²² And they were completely astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching as One Who possessed authority, and not as the scribes.

²³ Just at that time there was in their synagogue a man [who was in the power] of an unclean spirit; and now [immediately] he raised a deep and terrible cry from the depths of his throat, saying,

²⁴ What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!

²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hush up (be muzzled, gagged), and come out of him!

²⁶ And the unclean spirit, throwing the man into convulsions and ^[a]screeching with a loud voice, came out of him.

²⁷ And they were all so amazed and ^[b]almost terrified that they kept questioning and demanding one of another, saying, What is this? What new (fresh) teaching! With authority He gives orders even to the unclean spirits and they obey Him!

²⁸ And immediately rumors concerning Him spread [everywhere] throughout all the region surrounding Galilee.

Mark 1:21-28The Message (MSG)

Confident Teaching

^21-22 Then they entered Capernaum. When the Sabbath arrived, Jesus lost no time in getting to the meeting place. He spent the day there teaching. They were surprised at his teaching—so forthright, so confident—not quibbling and quoting like the religion scholars.

^23-24 Suddenly, while still in the meeting place, he was interrupted by a man who was deeply disturbed and yelling out, “What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to! You’re the Holy One of God, and you’ve come to destroy us!”

^25-26 Jesus shut him up: “Quiet! Get out of him!” The afflicting spirit threw the man into spasms, protesting loudly—and got out.

^27-28 Everyone there was incredulous, buzzing with curiosity. “What’s going on here? A new teaching that does what it says? He shuts up defiling, demonic spirits and sends them packing!” News of this traveled fast and was soon all over Galilee.

Luke 4:33-37Amplified Bible (AMP)

³³ Now in the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the foul spirit of a demon; and he cried out with a loud (deep, terrible) cry,

³⁴ Ah, ^[a]let us alone! What have You to do with us [What have ^[b]we in common], Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are—the Holy One of God!

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent (muzzled, gagged), and come out of him! And when the demon had thrown the man down in their midst, he came out of him without injuring him in any ^[c]possible way.

³⁶ And they were all amazed and said to one another, What kind of talk is this? For with authority and power He commands the foul spirits and they come out!

³⁷ And a rumor about Him spread into every place in the surrounding country.

Luke 4:33-37The Message (MSG)

^33-34 In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, “Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to. You’re the Holy One of God and you’ve come to destroy us!”

³⁵ Jesus shut him up: “Quiet! Get out of him!” The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn’t hurt him.

^36-37 That set everyone back on their heels, whispering and wondering, “What’s going on here? Someone whose words make things happen? Someone who orders demonic spirits to get out and they go?” Jesus was the talk of the town.