Posts Tagged ‘freedom’
First of three audit classes at theLab School of Fire Saturday at 10am
A Spirit of Insignificance is one of the most powerful messages of freedom you’ll ever hear!
Tomorrow (Saturday) at 10am at theLab School of Fire in Madison Heights you are invited to join our students and staff for a day of freedom!
We’ll be in the auditorium for four hours of deep prayer, ministry and teaching on breaking free from a spirit of insignificance.
The cost: $25
Day and time: Saturday 10am-2pm
The place: Revival Church (Central Church) 1529 E. 12 Mile Rd, Madison Heights, MI 48071
You can pay with credit card online at www.revivallab.com/payment or simply show up and pay with cash or check at the door!
THREE AUDIT CLASSES AVAILABLE
theLab School of Fire makes three of its classes available for people to audit.
Along with tomorrow’s A Spirit of Insignificance, you can prepare to join us for Becoming Unoffendable and Six Enemies of Fulfilled Destiny.
All other classes and sessions are closed to the public.
THE NEXT SCHOOL OF FIRE
Start to prepare for the next session: Apr 28-Jul 21
The tuition is $500 for everybody and all applications are due by March 28th. A late fee of $50 will be assessed for all applications submitted after this date.
You can apply TODAY at www.revivallab.com/apply!
5 Alarms : Why does the enemy appear to be winning?
It’s time to take an honest look at the typical Christian experience that is largely disappointing for so many.
Sing along with me:
I went to the enemy’s camp and took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me…
This is a fun song to sing and has a sold ring of victory to it, but it has always troubled me. I always wondered why Christians seemed to be playing catch up, perpetually trying to gain back what was lost and attempting to convince themselves that they are victorious. We often try to cheerlead our way to believing we are who God says we are. It’s as if we are sitting on a couch in a counselors office, looking into a mirror and saying, “I’m OK. God likes me. I’m a winner. I’m OK. God likes me. I’m a winner.” If we say it enough, surely it will sink in, right?
Again, let’s be honest. Yes, we as Christians all agree that in the end Jesus wins. Or, do we really believe that? Is it simply easier to believe something that’s far removed and chiseled logically into the stone that holds the tenants of our religion?
What if that end of times war exploded violently and experientially right now? Would we simply embrace peace and easily, confidently know that Jesus wins—or would we freak out and worry as devastation creeps onto our front lawn? Would it it result in a crisis of faith or an eruption of faith?
Our foundation of faith (or lack of it) will result in difficult situations either triggering hopelessness and despair or passionate expectancy.
Lets bring it closer to home.
At any Sunday morning church service I could stand in the pulpit and ask the congregation a question: Who here has a history of financial struggle?
Most hands would shoot to the sky. Yet, we know that scripture declares that every need that we have is provided for!
Philippians 4:19 (ESV) 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Do you see the conflict? It’s a crisis of faith that is unfortunately experienced by most Christians!
Think about the 1260 promises in the Word of God. How many are inactive in the lives of Christians? How many have the enemy stolen away? Just where is that camp that we have to find so we can take back what he stole from us?
UNBELIEF
Psalm 84:11 (NKJV) 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
That’s a really good Bible promise!
Why does that verse feel more like a pipe dream than a common reality experienced by Believers?
Because many Believers are actually unbelievers.
They doubt. They are gripped by unbelief.
Check out this passage:
Matthew 13:10-15 (ESV) 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. This issue is gripped the unbelievers in the church!
Why don’t we see extreme prosperity, healing, joy, life and freedom in the church today?
Matthew 13:58 (ESV) 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Unbelief.
5 ALARMS
- Tradition. Another way to say it is historical evidence or past experience. If our confidence and expectations come from past experience and cultural norms instead of the wild realities of the Kingdom, you will live like most every other Christian out there—below the bar of Kingdom wonder.
Matthew 15:6-9 (ESV) 6 …So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
- Powerlessness. Christians are evidenced by their supernatural power. Check out this problematic passage:
Mark 16:14-18 (ESV) 14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
What a situation we have here! In the same breath that Jesus rebuked them for unbelief he was telling them to wise up and figure this Kingdom thing out. They were commanded to deal with their doubt and change the world. The way they would pass the test? Faith-fueled signs, wonders and miracles. Does it strike you as concerning that there are Christians out there that have not discovered the power of God flowing through them? It’s a very serious issue.
- Failure of performance. Have you ever quoted verses that dealt with an issue you were facing? Did you add some prayer to the mix only to be disappointed by a failed mission? The Bible speaks to this directly:
Matthew 17:19-20 (NKJV) 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
It’s unbelief. Doubt. The moment we give room for any ending other than what is promised in Scripture, you can label that unbelief. So, what was Jesus’ prescription for their unbelief?
Matthew 17:21 (NKJV) 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
We don’t pray and fast to cause demons to come out. We pray and fast to cure our unbelief. Apply this verse to any enemy that is winning in your life. Depression, fear, poverty, sickness. If you don’t have belief that joy and power and prosperity and health are yours for the taking, then move into an extreme season of prayer and fasting. Breakthrough hinges on your ability to fully believe without wavering.
This verse makes the point very clear:
James 1:5-8 (ESV) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
If we doubt, we can’t expect to receive. Period. If your mind entertains thoughts like, “God might heal me,” you are pretty much done before you began contending.
- No joy of salvation. Ouch. This one hurts, but must be addressed. We see salvation and faith so intertwined throughout scripture that we simply have do deal with this. If we as Believers are living most of our lives in the realm of unbelief can we casually presume to be saved? I’m not so sure. Check this out:
Luke 8:11-15 (ESV) 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Do you see how faith and salvation are connected? Here we see the devil stealing the very thing that ensures their salvation—their belief. The next group experiences the joy of salvation, but didn’t have sufficient belief when the trials came. They fell away. It’s the last group that hears the word (faith comes by hearing the Word!) and endures and bears fruit with patience.
- Faith in what is visible. If we default to what is visible and humanly understandable, we will fall well below the mark of belief. This can have often tragic results. The story of King Asa should be an alarm for all of us:
2 Chronicles 16:12-13 (ESV) 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. 13 And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.
I believe one reason we don’t see more healings in America is because it’s too easy to pop a pill and trust that the doctors can heal us. That misguided faith has been devastating in its impact. The majority of our lives as true Believers exists in the invisible realm of the unseen—in the realm of confident belief.
Hebrews 11:1-3 (NKJV) 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
For the Believer, the unseen realm has more substance than what our five senses pick up. For the Believer it’s easy and normal to believe the report of the Lord ahead of the report of human experience or human perception.
Church, it’s time we stop hoping and wishing our way to victory. Hope deferred makes the heart sick! We have to put an end to demonic thievery. Pumping ourselves up and cheerleading our way to a low level confidence in God’s Word must give way to a peaceful assurance of breakthrough. We don’t contend for victory, we start at the point of victory. Now, we don’t have to play catch up as we focus on personal identity and success. We can launch with great faith from the platform of success into the world changing missions that God has assigned us to. As champions and authorities in the Earth we don’t ever allow the enemy to steal anything—instead we take dominion over his camp, his domain!
I see a day coming in the church where everybody who simply yet fully believes is wildly joyful, prosperous, healthy and free—strong and ready to annihilate the kingdom of darkness with force!
Audit theLab class “A Spirit of Insignificance” tomorrow morning
Discover extreme freedom as a spirit of insignificance is broken off of your life at theLab!
Tomorrow (Saturday) morning from 10am-2pm you can audit this powerful teaching at theLab Internship.
The cost is only $15 and you can pay online prior to arriving at www.revivallab.com/payment or pay tomorrow by check, cash or credit card.
The day will be intermixed with powerful prayer, prophetic revelation and teaching on this topic that has resulted in countless people being launched into wild freedom and fulfilled destinies!
The class is held at The Tabernacle : 14205 12 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48088
See you there!
Watch three powerful videos from theLab Internship
Healings have landed at theLab! Watch a video of several interns reporting how God set them free!
Today at theLab was HEAVY! Wow! Most of us are without words as God arrived suddenly and surprisingly in the middle of our class today.
The NEXT INTERNSHIP SESSION starts September 3rd, and we are offering a special reduced tuition of $499.
Watch some videos from today INCLUDING one featuring several interns and their testimonies of God’s healing power! The other two show what happened when God suddenly entered the room.
Check out testimonies from some of our interns:
“The internship has completely changed my life. I have been marked, set free…” Valerie
“I have become unoffendable. No man can shake me. The power of God has touched me and I am free!” Sam
“I’ve been waiting 36 years to see and experience the awesome power of the fire of God through theLab.” Shelly
“My anointing has skyrocketed…” Jamar
“theLab Internship has forever wrecked me.” Shannon
“God has brought a shift in every area of my life since starting the internship. It is a can’t miss, mind blowing God encounter that will change your life.” Joshua
“I am so awakened beyond where I’ve ever been before spiritually! There is this volcanic eruption of the Holy Spirit exploding all the time. I AM SO ALIVE!” Jill
“God has come after the strongholds in my life with a vengeance. Together we are violently breaking through to destiny.” Amy
“I have been delivered from the fear of man.” Victoria
“theLab is a place where spiritual combustion happens, and the result is an explosion of fire!” Pam
“Encounter after encounter, realm after realm, breakthrough after breakthrough. Words can’t even describe it. My life will never be the same!” Ruth
“I am wrecked by the community at theLab. It’s an environment of love and acceptance. I have broken through to a new place of freedom!” Marty
“God really is in the resurrection business! I have gone from coasting until I die to really living again!” Kathy
“Through Revival Church and theLab I’ve become a walking, jumping, dancing and praising fire carrier!” Joy
“Through theLab I’ve been exposed to a new way of ‘doing church’…I am in awe of the tangible experiences that even the staunchest skeptic cannot deny!” Alvin
“My body shakes and quakes…I come hungry and I get full. I burn in His presence. I want more!” Gail
“I’m so excited about theLab because now I can see what Detroit will become—a city and beacon set on a hill to draw humanity to Jesus. The anointing on theLab for this endeavor is evident.” Hedy
Audio and notes : Naming the Next Generation
Listen to a teaching on the power of our lifestyle—it can literally imprison our children—or mark them for greatness
What if we were required to name our children based on our own identities? On our own choices?
Imagine if we had to raise sweet little Bitterness or cute and adorable baby Apathy? How about tiny newborn Secret Sin?
On the contrary, we have the option to impart freedom and raise children with the names of Passion, Joy, Holiness and Fire!
Hundreds of years from now our great-great-great grandchildren will find themselves in prison with struggles that you and I passed down to them, OR they will find themselves marked with a fiery heritage of freedom. Our response to Jesus now will impact people we’ll never meet!
Listen to this teaching titled “Naming the Next Generation” at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/teaching and follow along with the notes below!
Naming the Next Generation
I. The response to a mighty call
a. The way we respond now to God’s call on our lives will result in extreme impact.
i. It’s going to leave a mark
ii. Proverbs 10:7 (ESV) 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
iii. Deuteronomy 5:9-10 (ESV) 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
1. Our lives will impact many!
2. People not yet born… people who will live a few hundred years from now… will struggle greatly in life because of what we do on an average day in our mundane lives right now!
3. They won’t know why they can’t shake the curse of addiction… it’s all because of great grandpa or grandma from the early 2000’s.
b. We live in an age where morality is judged based not on absolutes but conditionally.
i. The homosexual agenda’s cry is that it hurts no one and that it’s rooted in love.
ii. Many are crying out for the legalization of marijuana—it hurts no one.
c. However, we see this same frame of mind in the church too.
i. The number of Christians involved in porn is staggering.
ii. Pre-marital sexual activity is common.
iii. A 1996 Promise Keepers survey at one of their stadium events revealed that over 50% of the men in attendance were involved with pornography within one week of attending the event.
d. Our sin, whether secret or public, impacts so many people that we’d shudder if we knew how many.
i. Can you imagine if Billy Graham decided to secretly embezzle money?
ii. How many up and coming Billy Graham’s have been moved to the bench, because of God’s mercy, due to their secret sin? Who is now out of reach of God’s love because they are benched?
iii. Your lack of response to God will impact many just like a life devoted to prayer and love… a life full of the anointing and fire of God… will impact many.
iv. Todd Bentley’s anointing impacted many, his sin impacted many.
II. We are naming our descendants
a. Our lives, our lifestyles, our decisions and our response to God’s call is resulting in the name for our children and their children. We are naming our descendants.
b. In Hosea, this prophet embodies this reality… he goes to ridiculous lengths to communicate God’s message.
i. Israel is prosperous, yet fallen.
ii. Talk about an object lesson… check this out:
iii. Hosea 1:2-3 (ESV) 2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
iv. Hosea was instructed to take a wife from Israel… to participate as Israel was participating so they would be without excuse.
1. It’s the same concept as your pastor walking into an explicit R rated movie… as you yourself and your family is sitting in the same theater.
v. Adam Clarke—Go join thyself in marriage to one of those who have committed fornication against me, and raise up children who, by the power of example, will themselves swerve to idolatry. And thus show them that they are radically depraved.
c. The prophetic act continues
i. Hosea 1:4-5 (ESV) 4 And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
ii. Now, check this out… this is the ESV version:
iii. Hosea 1:6 (ESV) 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.
1. Today we sometimes name our children based on hope or a prophetic word or a declaration.
a. Grace, Joy, Love
2. Here, a baby was named No Mercy.
a. What a tragedy!
b. Israel’s lifestyle resulted in the naming of one of their own, the daughter of a prostitute who was delivered to a prophet of God… No Mercy.
c. Read on…
iv. Hosea 1:7-9 (ESV) 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
1. Wow.
2. What are we naming our children?
3. Anger? Hatred? Apathy? Lust? Secret sin? Hypocrite? Rebellion? Witchcraft? Thief?
III. Restoration
a. This great prophetic act, in obedience to God, in response to love, will result in a great harvest.
i. Hosea 1:10-11 (ESV) 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
b. Some believe the end times destruction of Israel’s enemies at Armageddon was God’s focus here.
i. God called a prophet in the mid 700’s BC to deal with an identity crisis that would be felt over 2700 years later!
IV. God is serious about identity
a. Isaiah 62:1-7 (ESV) 1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.
b. Revelation 3:11-12 (ESV) 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
Party atmosphere at Revival Church
Healings in a Party Atmosphere at Revival Church
That last two weeks at Revival Church have been amazingly free and alive. Laughter has been breaking out, and last night we had at least three instantaneous healings.
God is AMAZING!
There was such life and freedom throughout the night… I was buzzing as I was preaching on the pleasure of God.
That teaching can be heard at www.detroitrevivalchurch.com/teaching, and the full notes (I only made it through the introduction last night) will be included below.
Enjoying God!
I. Our Vision
a. We started this church with one big idea.
i. To know God, in the depths of his personality, is incredible!
ii. Our job is to make it easy for people to thoroughly enjoy God.
iii. He is so worth it!
iv. John Piper- we value most what we delight in most.
1. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.
2. We spent our money on a trip to Disney World.
3. It was incredible and worth every penny.
a. The $4 hot dogs, $3 Mickey ice cream bars, the long lines, the hot weather- all worth it!
b. We were there 8 days and we were up at 7am on 7 of them to enjoy as much pleasure as possible!
c. All of this pleasure doesn’t even come close to the pleasure that knowing God brings!
d. Psalms 16:11 (NKJV) 11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
e. The idea here is to live our lives in the presence of God!
4. If we truly understand what we have in knowing God, the church, not Disney World, will be the happiest place on earth!
b. This idea is in direct contradiction to religion.
i. To have a relationship with God is to enjoy him, to trust him, to love him and to be satisfied in him alone.
ii. However, religion is man’s attempt to use God to get what he wants.
1. That’s very different.
2. C.S. Lewis- Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
c. As we continually and aggressively grow in God, we will discover the greatest, deepest and most overwhelming satisfaction comes as we are simply with him.
II. He Is Passionate About Us
i. John 3:16 (NKJV) 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
ii. Rev 4:11 (KJV) 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
iii. If you saw the Passion of the Christ, you have an idea how passionate Jesus is for you, for the one who drove the nails.
III. Five Steps To Enjoying God
a. Surrender
i. Salvation
1. We can’t enjoy life if we aren’t free!
2. Our sins and our separation from God make it impossible to enjoy God.
a. That’s why Jesus came!
b. Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, F29 To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
3. Best decision I’ve ever made!
4. Not because of some hope of going to heaven, but because of how amazing life on earth really is!
5. Isaiah 12:3 (NKJV) 3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.
a. It’s wonderful to be free!
b. When our savior was on his way to the earth, the angels declared- rejoice!
c. Luke 2:10 (NKJV) 10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
6. Wildman
ii. Surrendering our thoughts and opinions
1. After salvation, the act of surrender must be continual for us to flow in the life of God.
2. 2 Cor 10:3 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
3. The word ‘arguments’ could be translated ‘reasonings’.
a. Every thought that rises up in our minds that speaks against the truth of the Word of God must be brought into captivity.
b. Another translation of that word is ‘imaginations’.
c. No matter how logical something may seem, if it contradicts the Word, it’s merely an imagination.
d. As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: "It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians–and I am one of them."
e. We surrender not only our lives, but also our frustrations, our fears, our doubts, our arguments against the truth of the Word.
f. This brings us to the next point- we must trust God entirely in order to enjoy him.
b. Faith/Trust
i. We can accept Jesus into our lives, but if we don’t trust him with everything, we can’t truly enjoy him.
1. We will be leery of him and that causes us to remain at a safe distance from him.
2. This is why he told us from the very beginning to die to our selves.
3. Matt 16:24-25 (NKJV) 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
a. What a dilemma!
b. So many Christians live their entire lives trying to find life- if only they would lose their life, carry their cross- then their lives would be amazing!
4. Romans 8:5-6 (NKJV) 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
a. If we have set our minds of discovering human answers to life’s challenges, we won’t give room for God to bring a supernatural answer!
b. Heb 11:1 (NKJV)1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
i. There is a very important truth here- if we truly live by faith, then our enjoyment is based upon what is unseen vs. what is seen!
ii. Circumstances cannot steal our joy!
iii. The reality of what our faith is based on is more tangible than the unpaid bills, the sickness in our body or the struggles in our lives.
iv. In the midst of it all, we rejoice because we know God’s taken care of us.
v. Jer 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.
vi. So- how do we know what to have faith in?
c. Romans 10:17 (NKJV)17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
d. This bring the third critical element needed to thoroughly enjoy God- The Word!
c. Growth in the Word
i. It’s easy to enjoy God when we believe the Word is true!
ii. It’s alive!
1. Phillip Brooks- The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope he sees worlds beyond; but if he looks at his telescope, he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a thing to be looked through to see that which is beyond; but most people only look at it and so they see only the dead letter.
2. So we find ourselves in a trial and our initial response is to complain and lose our joy.
3. But then! We open the 100% true Word of God!!
a. Hark, what do we have here?!
b. 2 Cor 4:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
c. Behold! Now our misery can turn to joy as we believe the Word of God is true!
d. Psalms 119:103-104 (NKJV) 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
e. C.S. Lewis- I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt, or else not to believe at all. Believe this book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith at best. It is little better than a dry-land faith, and is not good for much.
iii. In addition to making it easy to enjoy God by feeding our faith, the Word reveals the incredible depth of God!
1. What could be better?
2. Rev 19:11-16 (NKJV) 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
3. Wow!
iv. The way we see God, the way we make decisions, the way we perceive challenges will change as we stand on the Word.
v. Challenges can become thrilling instead of heavy.
vi. Burden is light.
vii. We can easily enjoy God as we devour his written word to us!
d. Worship/prayer
i. Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, "If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing."
1. To get lost exalting God is amazing!
2. The greatest part of the Christian life for me is prayer and worship!
3. I am fanatically addicted to it!
4. 1 Chron 16:11 (NKJV) 11 Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
5. For many, prayer is the means to the end.
a. It should not be that way!
b. Being with God is the end!
c. Col 4:2 (NKJV) 2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
ii. It seems strange that God calls us to exalt him.
iii. He knows that we will experience life and freedom if we do!
iv. In order to enjoy God, not only must we trust him, but we must interact with him always.
v. It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.
vi. Alfred Lloyd Tennyson- More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.
vii. When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Muller's reply was, "Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming."
e. Right relationships
i. In regard to relationships- Make sure there is a fire breather in the mix!
ii. Spend time with people who are can’t stop talking about God!
1. In order to enjoy God always, we must hang with people that share our passion!
2. Acts 2:42 (NKJV) 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
3. This is why it’s so important to come together each week at church- to fellowship, to worship, to grow together!
a. 3 times a week- Sunday, Wed, small groups.
b. Heb 10:24-25 (NKJV) 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
4. It’s a critical element of life on earth- finding joy and life in relationships with others.
5. People crave intimate relationships!
iii. Testimony of kid in mall
IV. Conclusion
a. So, to enjoy God we simply pursue him!
i. Surrender
ii. Faith/trust
iii. The Word
iv. Worship/Prayer
v. Relationships