When a person who has smoked for years finally lays down the cigarettes for the last time…that’s a breakthrough.
When a person who has struggled with alcoholism gets sober and gains control over their impulses…that’s a breakthrough.
When a person addicted to pornography turns off the T.V. or computer refusing to watch that filth ever again…That’s a breakthrough.
When a husband and wife who have been having marriage problems discover a new way to communicate with each other and express their love…That’s a breakthrough.
Anytime a person goes from one level to a new and better level in their life, that’s called a breakthrough.
Like riding an elevator that takes you up one floor at a time, a breakthrough takes you up one level at a time…helping you reach new heights in your life.
For the past 2 weeks we’ve been talking about how to get a breakthrough in your life.
Perhaps you are here today and you are in need of a breakthrough.
You may be facing one of the situations I mentioned a minute ago, or you might be facing something totally different.
Today I want to share with you some… BREAKTHROUGH PRINCIPLES YOU CAN PUT INTO ACTION.
If you are here today and you missed the past two Sundays, you can order this series of talks after the service today back at the sound board back there.
Just let John know how many you need and he will be glad to help you.
In 1 Chronicles 14:8-17, God shares with us powerful principles that we can use to help get our personal breakthrough.
Maybe your breakthrough is as simple as how to stop being so irritable.
You want to go from irritable to lovable, God can help you do that.
Maybe your breakthrough is how to rekindle the flame in your marriage again. God can help you do that.
Maybe your breakthrough is a financial breakthrough. God can do miracles with money.
Whatever your need, God has the breakthrough to fit that situation.
Would you follow along with me as I read 1 Chronicles 14:8-17?
READ TEXT.
BREAKTHROUH PRINCIPLES YOU CAN PUT INTO ACTION
1. Did You Know That Private Breakthroughs Precede Public Breakthroughs?
I want you to notice that David had two different kinds of breakthroughs in this passage.
First he had public breakthroughs. Highly visible, very public breakthroughs.
His first public breakthrough comes in verses 11-12.
“So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there…David gave a commandment, and they (idols) were burned.”
The Philistine army opposes David and David defeats them in front of the watching world.
Even though there was no cable news back then, no doubt the surrounding countries heard about what David did that day.
David’s breakthrough became a spectacle when he lit their wooden idols on fire.
Just like Moses saw the burning bush and turned in to watch it burn, people must have seen the fire and come running to see what the commotion was all about.
David’s second public breakthrough comes in verses 16-17.
“So David did as God commanded him, and they drove back the army of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezar. Then the fame of David went out into all the lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.”
After this war, David’s name became a household name.
David’s face was plastered on billboards along the highways of the country.
David’s job approval rating skyrocketed to 99%.
It is even reported that King David launched his very own clothing line that became popular with the younger generation.
Okay, I don’t have proof for that one. But you get the picture.
David’s breakthroughs were public affairs. Everyone knew about them and saw them and it elevated David in the eyes of many people.
I want you to see that David’s breakthroughs became public. But I also want to stress that before David’s breakthroughs became public, David had some breakthroughs in private.
We see in verse 11 that David publicly defeated the Philistines in battle.
But what comes before verse 11 shows us his private breakthrough.
Verse 10 reads… “And David inquired of God, saying, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?’
God responds in verse 10 by saying… “The Lord said to him, ‘Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand’.”
Before David assumes his position on the battle field he goes to God privately and asks Him whether or not he should go out and fight.
One private breakthrough David experienced was the elimination of his pride.
You see, to come to God in prayer and ask Him for permission to go and fight another country takes humility.
Before David could be exalted in war, David was humbled in prayer.
By humbling himself before the Lord, David was experiencing a spiritual breakthrough.
David went from prideful to humble.
You say, “Pastor, how do you know David was prideful?”
The reason I know David was prideful is because of what the Bible says he does in verse 3 of Chapter 14.
Before this incident with the Philistines, David had another incident that showed the level of his pride.
Verse 3 says:
“Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David begot more sons and daughters.”
David exhibited his pride by taking on more wives in direct violation of God’s law.
God had given specific qualifications for Kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17.
Listen to what God said…
“When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away…” – Deuteronomy 17:14-17
God specifically told the Israelites that their future king was not to practice polygamy.
He was not to multiply wives for himself.
But David decided this law did not apply to him, and he defied God’s order marrying many wives and concubines.
What causes a man or woman to rebel against God even when they know what He expects of them?
One word…P.R.I.D.E.
So David, defying God’s laws, gets defied himself by the Philistines and then the private breakthrough.
David humbles himself before the Lord and seeks to know the will of God on the matter.
That’s called a private breakthrough.
Before the public victory came the private humility.
Before God could exalt David in public he needed to see David humble himself in private.
This is the way breakthrough’s work.
PRIVATE BREAKTHROUGHS PRECEDE PUBLIC BREAKTHROUGHS.
Why should God honor you publicly until you honor Him privately?
Some of you have been looking for a public breakthrough, you want more fame, or more fortune, or you want God to save your family.
But what God wants to do first is save you personally.
You and I will never be any greater than what we are on our knees before God.
If you’re looking for God to breakthrough in your life don’t start looking around you start looking within you on the inside of you.
2. Remember That The Goal of A Breakthrough Is To Show Us How God Works In Our Lives.
The ultimate goal of a personal breakthrough is for God to give us a greater understanding of who He is and how He works.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us…
“Let not the wise man glory in His wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in His might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight, says the Lord.”
God wants us to know Him and understand Him.
When God breaks through into our lives it’s always with the ultimate goal of teaching us about Himself.
God broke through this second time in David’s life in a different way than the way he broke through the first time.
The first time God told David to go out and by force defeat the Philistines.
But this time God gave David some different instructions.
Read along with me beginning with verse 13-17.
If you’re going to have something you’ve never had you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.
God says, “Business as usual will not get the breakthrough you need. I’m going to do something different in your life. I’m not going to work the same way that I did before.”
God was giving David a new way of thinking about him.
Try as we might, we cannot tame God.
We cannot put God in a neat, safe little box.
At some point God is going to breakthrough in our lives in his own way and on his own timetable.
And he’s not necessarily going to ask your permission to do it either.
God defies our categories.
Sometimes God places us in a situation that challenges our current understanding about the way God operates.
We are forced to expand our ideas about God to take in new insights He’s trying to show us.
What has God been trying to teach you lately?
Is He teaching you humility? Is He teaching you to be dependant on Him? Is he teaching you to trust His promises?
Albert Einstein once remarked:
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
God’s instructions to David must have seemed unreasonable.
God’s way of doing things probably made David feel uncomfortable.
This was a new thought for David. David had never thought of winning a military battle in this fashion.
God is good at coming up with new strategies and methods.
