July 24 2016 Prevailing Through A Vision

PREVAILING THROUGH A VISION

Acts 26:19

Verse 19 – So then King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

Five Facts About A Vision:

I. Gods vision will stop you.

Ver. 12-15 – We all fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

A vision caused Paul to:

1. See himself.

2. See your possibilities.

II. God’s vision will send us.

Ver. 16-18 – Now get up and stand on your feet.

A vision helps us to see others.

III. God’s vision will strengthen us.

Ver. 20-23 – But I have had God’s help to this very day.

When you focus on God’s vision, it produces: power and strength.

IV. God’s vision will stretch us.

Ver. 24-29

This vision gave Paul:

1. Conviction to stand. (verse 26)

2. Conviction to speak. (verse 27)

3. Compassion to show. (verse 29)

V. God’s vision will satisfy us.

Ver. 19 – I was not disobedient to the vision from Heaven.

Who is the happiest person in the world?

People who have a vision.

Remember, when there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.

January 26 2014 The Truth About Change

The Truth About Change 

MYTH: "I should be able to change overnight. "

I. THE PROCESS GOD USES TO CHANGE US

Phase 1: CONCERN

Job 30:27 (LB)"My heart is troubled and restless. "

Deuteronomy 32:11 "like an eagle that stirs up its nest .... "

How you feel: UNCOMFORTABLE

Phase 2: CRISIS

2 Corinthians 7:10 (LB)"God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin .... "

How you feel: INTENSE PAIN

Phase 3: CHOICE

Job 34:3-4 (LB)"We choose the sounds we want to listen to; we choose the taste we want in food, and we should choose to follow what is right. "

How you feel: SCARED

Phase 4: COMPREHENSION

Romans 12:2 (NCV)"... be changed within by a new way of thinking .... "

John 8:32 (LB)". . . the truth will set you free. "

How you feel: CAUTIOUSLY HOPEFUL

Phase 5: CONDUCT

James 2:17 "Faith, if it is not accompanied by ACTION, is dead."

How you feel: FRUSTRATED

Phase 6: COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE.

How you feel: DISCOURAGEMENT

II. HOW TO COOPERATE WITH GOD'S PROCESS

Phase 1: Be Alert To God's Voice

Job 33:13-19"For God does speak -- now one way, now another -- though man may not perceive it. In a dream . . . as they slumber . . . (or) he may speak in their ears . . . with warnings . . . Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress .... "

Phase 2: Accept God’s Comfort

Isaiah 42:3 "God will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair. "

Psalm 31:7 (LB) "You (God) have listened to my troubles and have seen the crisis in my soul. "

Jonah 2:7 (LB) " When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. "

Phase 3: Ask God For Courage

Isaiah 43:2" When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown! When you walk through the fi re of oppression, you will not be burned up .... "

Phase 4: Apply God’s Word

2 Timothy 3:16 (LB)"The whole Bible . . . is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. "

James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Phase 5: Anticipate God's Help

Psalm 37:5 (LB)"Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it. and he will. "

Phase 6: Adhere To God’s Plan

Galatians 6:9 (LB)"Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don 't get discouraged and give up. "

Philippians 1:6 "Be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. "

July 21 2013 Trusting God When It's Hard To Hear Him

Trusting God When It's Hard To Hear Him

Ver. 9 - But they did not listen to Him.

INTRODUCTION:

What I know about discouragement:
1. Everyone gets discouraged.
2. Is contagious.
3. Keeps us from being effective.
“Neither God nor man can use a discouraged person.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
4. It comes from a loss of perspective.
5. Often comes before God’s blessings.

Why did the Israelites feel so bad?
1. Their situation seemed hopeless.
Ver. 1 - For with a strong hand He will let them go.
2. They hadn’t experienced God’s deliverance personally.
Ver. 3 - May name Lord.
3. Their problem had lasted many years.
Ver. 5 - Egyptians keep in bondage.
4. They were exhausted.
Ver. 9 - They did not heed Moses because of anguish of Spirit.

Un-listened to Lessons of Exodus 6
1. God hears us when we’re hurting.
Ver. 5 - Moreover I have heard the groaning of the Israelites.

Four Reasons We Often Fail To Sense God’s Help:
(1.) We may have a pain problem.
(2.) We may have a timing problem.
(3.) We may have a attitude problem.
God chooses what we go through.
We choose how we go through it.
(4.) We may have a faith problem.
Unbelief puts our circumstances between us and God.
Faith puts God between us and our circumstances.

2. Helps us to respond to God in a greater way.
Ver. 3 - I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob as God
almighty, but my name , The Lord, I did not make myself known to
them.

God is God, but at different places in our journey, He reveals
Himself to us in new ways. Most of these revelations come a
difficult times in our lives.

We off God our problems and He offers us Himself.

Closing Comments:
1. Look and listen for what God is teaching you.
2. Choose to make this difficult time in your life a time for
growth.
3. Focus on God, not your problems.
4. Take action now!

July 14 2013 Trusting God When We Need Strength

TRUSTING GOD WHEN WE NEED STRENGTH

Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 5:12

Philippians 1:6 - God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished.

1 Peter 5:12 - My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that the grace of God is with you no matter what happens.

GOD’S STRENGTH

1.  Helps me keep standing when I’m tempted.

1 Peter 5:8 - Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.  Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.

1 Corinthians 10:13 - The temptations that you have are the same ones that all people have.  But you can trust God.  He will not let you be tempted more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, God will also give you a way to escape.  Then you will be able to stand it.

2.  Helps me keep standing when I’m tired.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 - It is God who gives us the ability to stand firm for Christ.  He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

Philippians 2:13 - For God is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.

3.  Helps me keep standing when I’m troubled.

Isaiah 41:10 - So don’t worry, because I am with you.  Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.  I will make you strong and will help you.  I will support you with my right hand that saves you.

Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

HOW TO RECEIVE GOD’S STRENGTH

1.  Call out for God’s help.

James 4:6-8 - God gives grace to the humble.  So give yourselves completely to God.  Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.

2.  Fill your mind with God’s Word.

Psalm 119:25 - I am completely discouraged; revive me by your Word.

3.  Accept support from God’s people.

Galatians 6:2 - By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.

4.  Hold on to God’s promises.

Isaiah 40:29-31 - He gives strength to the wary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

2 Corinthians 4:18 - So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen.  For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 - I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me.  Be He said to me, My Grace is enough for you.  When you are weak, then My Power is made perfect in you.

August 19 2012 Managing Your Mouth

MANAGING YOUR MOUTH
James 3:1-12

James 3:2 - We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

I. Why must I watch what I say?

1. My tongue directs where I go.
Vs. 3 - When we put bits in the mouths of horses, we can turn the whole animal.
Vs. 4 - Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

2. My tongue can destroy what I have.
Vs. 5 - Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire.
Vs. 6 - It sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Proverbs 21:23 - If you want to stay out of trouble, be careful what you say.
Vss. 7-8 - All kinds of animals have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

3. My tongue displays who I am.
It is inconsistent (Verse 9)
Vs. 10 - Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
Vs. 11 - Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? Can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs?

The Problem is my heart.
Matthew 12:34 - For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

II. What’s the solution?

1. Get a new heart.
II. Cor. 5:17 - Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit.

2. Ask for God’s help.
Psalm 141:3 - Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips.

3. Think before you speak.
James 1:19 - Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.