Standing In the Storm #7
There is a parable in Matt.7 about two houses. One is built on a rock and another was built on sand. This is a great lesson about the way ALL PEOPLE face storms in life.
One house stood while the other fell. This is the way people do when faced with all the problems in life.
Matt. 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Notice it was not hearing the word.
The key is in the doing of the Word.
IF WE DO WHAT WE KNOW TO DO, we will overcome the storms.
Basing your life upon the Word of God assures us victory.
Every Storm’s outcome is based upon DOING OR NOT DOING THE WORD
A pitfall that leads many people to the conclusion that the Word isn’t working:
They evaluate how well they are doing the Word only in the area in which they are having trouble.
If the storm is in the area of finances, they only check their obedience to the Word in matters such as tithing or giving. The problem is, a failure to do the Word in one area can leave you open to storms in another.
This same principal of being a DOER of the WORD is found in another parable.
Lu.8: 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
1.Fear is a cause of falling,
2.We saw there were reasons for Storms:
3. We found Deception to be a cause of falling.
The Devil knows he can’t defeat you if he can’t deceive you.
4. Lack of understanding
5.The lust for other things
6. PATIENCE.
Last week we saw that PATIENCE is not waiting around or just hanging in there, it is Joyful Faithfulness.
THE ONLY WAY TO PRODUCE FRUIT IS BY CONSISTENCY.
Doing the things we know to do 90-95% of the time will not assure the fruitfulness of victory.
1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Re 3:11 Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown.
We can see there is no option for FAITHFULNESS’
Tonight I want to direct our study to another area that causes Failure in Storms and HOW TO BE FRUITFUL
The devils success in the battle against us depends upon OUR IGNORANCE of the WORD of God
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
We base our life upon what we believe= that is what faith is.
We do the things that we do because of what we believe.
Paul tells us to look at ourselves, to Test yourselves, to see if you are holding on to what you believe and are not a CAST-A-WAY.
The New living Translation says it this way.
5 Put yourselves to the test and judge yourselves, to find out whether you are living in faith. Surely you know that Christ Jesus is in you?—unless you have completely failed.
TO STAND IN THE STORM YOU MUST HAVE Christ IN YOU.
You must be born again and GROWING.
Fruitfulness means Christ in you.
What does it mean to have Christ in you?
I. Peace
Col 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
1Pe 5:14 Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The Peace of God is a marker of Christianity.
The test of Christ in you is Peace should rule in your heart.
Peace should rule as an umpire in your heart.
Peace is not the absent of conflict but is the way that you respond to the conflict.
We live in a World of stress and they say that we as a nation consumes 15 tons of aspirin EVERY DAY. Tranquilizers sales are at an all time high, peace of mind books are on the best sellers list
God is the maker of peace.
1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
It is the devils business to keep you confused and disturbed in your Spirit.
Many people have an unsettled Spirit in them, they wander from Church to Church, from revival to revival, from job to job, from fad to fad looking for that perfect peace.
The only real peace comes from being in Christ.
II Perspective.
The way we look at the situation determines fruitfulness or frustration.
Some do not glorify God as God, they want to be His buddy or His helper, forgetting God must be honored as God.
Ro 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened
This is people that thought it not important to go to Church, Decide to worship in their own way. This kind of person adds God to their life instead of God becoming their life. The problem with this is their understanding becomes darkened.
We must get a new perspective.
Some think God has forgotten them.
Isa 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
(Keep your finger there)
We as Christians are spiritual Israel. Here Israel is saying “GOD HAS FORGOTTEN ME”.
When you are tired and worn out it is easy to think God has forgotten about you and the bad things you are going through.
It’s not easy to focus on God when problems keep piling up.
Look at a scripture where David lost perspective.
Ps 13: 1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Their perspective had got away from God and on themselves.
When we begin to focus on ourselves we will not be fruitful.
It is easy to fall into the habit of saying “WHAT ABOUT ME? WHAT ABOUT ME? WHAT ABOUT ME?”
Watch a Storm STOP and leave a blessing
Job 42: 10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
We know that we are limited in the things that we can do, but we try to handle them ourselves.
We will always fail when we trust our strength, our understanding, and our power.
Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary there is no searching of his understanding.
God does not cave in, get tired and he knows all things.
We must change our thinking and get the right perspective and realize God has it in control.
Paul prayed that we could understand that we serve an AWSOME GOD
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
This is where we get a new perspective of who God is and what it means to be in Christ so that we can be fruitful.
III Purpose.
As Christians we must have a purpose in living.
Jesus had a purpose in living.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
We must live our lives to serve others, encourage others, lift up others, doing good for others.
Php.2: 2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
If our purpose is to serve others, then we are in Christ. We are fruitful doing the Word standing in the storms.
I know this is not a popular message. When I look at the sower and the results of the sowing we find 75% of the people do not produce fruit. It is only those that are in Christ that produces fruit.
Mt 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
That is the kind of fruitfulness that will bless you and all those around you.
