Are you Willing? If you are...so is He!
2 Ki 2:11-14 MSG
11-14 And so it happened. They were walking along and talking. Suddenly a chariot and horses of fire came between them and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it all and shouted, “My father, my father! You—the chariot and cavalry of Israel!” When he could no longer see anything, he grabbed his robe and ripped it to pieces. Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him, returned to the shore of the Jordan, and stood there. He took Elijah’s cloak—all that was left of Elijah!—and hit the river with it, saying, “Now where is the God of Elijah? Where is he?”
When he struck the water, the river divided and Elisha walked through.
Judges 15:14-16 MSG
14-16 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him, shouting in triumph. And then the Spirit of God came on him with great power. The ropes on his arms fell apart like flax on fire; the thongs slipped off his hands. He spotted a fresh donkey jawbone, reached down and grabbed it, and with it killed the whole company. And Samson said,
With a donkey’s jawbone
I made heaps of donkeys of them.
With a donkey’s jawbone
I killed an entire company.
Elisha and Samson were two very different kind of men, not unlike any two individuals in this room right now....but they had at least two things in common.
#1. They experienced the Power of God in a mightily way!
#2. They both had something they needed within reach, as long as they were willing to grab it and use it!
It doesn’t matter how much glory.... power....peace....or joy surrounds you, or is within reach!
it doesn’t help and it will never help you unless you realize it's available to you in your situation and you are willing to use it! Amen??
That jawbone became a WMD against the army that was oppressing Samson, but he still had to reach down and pick it up.
Elisha had told Elijah that he had wanted a double portion of his anointing, but it never would have happened if he hadn't picked up his cloak and received it.
There’s a lot of bad stuff happening in the world today and we could complain about a lot things that are going on around us,
but lets choose not to focus on the distractions, you can catch those 24/7 on cable, along with all the opinions that go with them
some folks might try to tell you different, but that's exactly what they are, all designed by the accuser to take your focus off of God and make you wonder what's going to become of little old me....
That's what happens with the news and events around the world, it always seems to come back to, how it's going to affect you, in your situation.
"Are we just suppose to ignore what's going on?"
No, but realize this and the accuser hates this....as long as we focus our attention on our relationship with God, those things are not going to affect us anyways!
He is our help in every situation!!
Psalms 121:1-2 MSG
I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
Our help doesn't come from within, or the government, our help comes from God, He alone is our Source!
I can tell you this morning, with great confidence...the Devil is not and will never be in charge,
I don’t care what it looks like,
or feels like,
or sounds like.....
God is still in control! Amen?
We are not going under,
we're not going around,
we're not going over,
Praise God forevermore!...we're going through the mountain of whatever comes our way...and we're going through safely with Gods help to the other side!!
It doesn’t matter what happens on the world stage, to gas prices or health care, or anything else, as long as you make Him The Lord of your life, God is still in control of what happens in your life!
Let's finish the rest of Psalms 121:3-8 MSG
3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
I can't even imagine one moment of this life without Him!
In case you weren't aware of it...Let me make this declaration....
We are on an Amazing Journey with our Amazing Creator, our Loving Abba Father! Amen?
If your not liking the journey, I can't even imagine what you are going to think when you reach the destination?
Isn't it about time to Start enjoying the Journey!
This is the finest hour there has ever been for the church:
Just think about it, we were chosen by God to live right now, right here in this city, in this present season,
and if God in all of his wisdom saw fit to allow us to live in this season, it is because he believes we can make a difference!
Sometimes you may not believe you can, but God has always believed you could, He is all the time working behind the scenes and will continue to,
Make plans for you,
To set up times to prosper you,
To open the right doors for you, especially when you can't!
To close the wrong ones, even when you beg Him to reopen them!
To continue to give you a hope and a future!
Your words transform who you are...start to declare to yourself not if....but the fact that...."God believes in me" and so do I!
Stop complaining about where you are and realize the opportunity you have in front of you...your the one...your the one who can make a difference right where you are!
You may be the only Christian in your family, you should be glad you are?
you may be the only Christian on your job, somebody needs to be and God has chosen you to reflect His Glory!
you may be the only Christian in your neighborhood, great because the glory of The Lord has risen upon you,
Realize with Gods help, your not outnumbered, your an army of one...one that believes with Gods help...ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!
If you are the only believer there.... it’s because God has called you where you are and has confidence in you!
And you say yah but...things on the news are so doom and gloom,
And I would say to you, yes they are...but God wants you to know and to realize...."Things are not always as though they appear to be"!
Listen up, the devil would have you believe the world as what know it, is slipping off the edge of a cliff, into the darkness with no hope in sight.
That's his whole goal and he is great at deceiving, there's no doubt about that,
But TBS(the bible says) and I believe it and so should you,
Greater is He that is in me...than He that is in the world.
We've got the power in the name of Jesus
We've got the power in the name of the Lord
Tho Satan rages we will not be defeated
We've got the power in the name of the Lord
Yes we have access to the Power, but are we laying hold of it?
"we ought to be!"
Because the accuser is throwing everything, including the kitchen sink at all of humanity
If God is for us and we know the He is, then who can be against us?
That's the $64 question...and the answer is no one! Amen??
No one has the right to be.....This is our time, we who are in the church, time to shine: and be a light to the world around us!
This is a time in history, to stand up and be counted faithful and keep on keeping on! Amen??
Joshua 24:15 MSG
15 “If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.”
this is no time to worry about being politically correct or socially acceptable.....politics ain't going to get you to heaven!
people are on their way to hell and they are searching for someone who has some answers....you know what the answer is, you have the answer in your possession
We are either part of the solution or part of the problem, there is no in between.
If you are willing, you can make a difference, the question is, are you willing?
Like Esther, she was in the right place at the right time, it was no accident with her and the same can be said with you,
Gods timing is always perfect, you and I have been brought into the kingdom for such a time as this.
Like Esther, it's your time now, your chance to make a difference right where you are in the peoples lives, who you love and care about.
We have something in common with Esther, it's called opportunity....and opportunities knocking and just like her, we also have a choice wether or not to participate.
For had she never spoken up, she would have been spared, but her people would have perished and the same can be said of the situation in our lives!
She made a difference, the whole nation of Gods people was spared because of one persons obedience and we can do the same!
You say, that's a great story, but what could I do?
With Gods help, what you should be saying is, what can't I do!! Amen?
All things are possible to him who believes!
Illus. As of 2008, Billy Graham’s estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion. That means that approximately 2.2 billion, that's 2,200 million people who have heard the gospel from Billy Graham. That’s hard to wrap your mind around.
Billy Graham has shared the gospel with more people than anyone else in history, but do you know who shared the gospel with him? It actually is a series of events that has been traced over the years and starts out with one volunteer Sunday school teacher.
“You can count the apples on the tree, but who can count the apples in a seed?” goes the old aphorism.
So it is with the influence of a single person.
Take Edward Kimball, for an example. Never heard of him? You’re not unique in that sense. Most people have never heard of him.
Kimball was a Sunday school teacher who not only prayed for the often rowdy boys in his class but also sought to win each one to the Lord. If Kimball ever felt like giving up, he never talked about it. If you have ever taught the Bible to young boys, you know that the experience can often be like herding cats.
One young man, in particular, didn’t seem to understand what the gospel was about so Kimball went to the shoe store where he was stocking shelves and confronted him in the stock room with the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That young man was Dwight L. Moody. In the stockroom on that Saturday, he received Jesus Christ as his Savior. In his lifetime, Moody touched two continents for God, with untold thousands coming to faith in Jesus Christ.
But the story doesn’t end there. Actually that’s where it begins. Under Moody, another man’s heart was touched for God, Wilbur Chapman. Chapman became the evangelist who preached to thousands. One day, a professional ball player had a day off and attended one of Chapman’s meetings, and thus, Billy Sunday was converted.
Sunday quit baseball and became part of Chapman’s team. Then, Chapman accepted the pastorate of a large church and Billy Sunday began his own evangelistic crusades.
Another young man was converted whose name was Mordecai Ham. He was a scholarly, dignified gentleman who wasn’t above renting a hearse and parading it through the streets advertising his meetings.
When Ham came to Charlotte, North Carolina, a sandy-haired, lanky young man, then in high school, vowed that he wouldn’t go hear him preach, but Billy Frank, as he was called by his family, did eventually go. Ham announced that he knew for a fact that a house of ill repute was located across the street from the local high school and that male students were skipping lunch to visit the house across the street. When students decided to go to interrupt the meetings of Mordecai Ham, Billy Frank decided to go see what would happen.
That night Billy Frank went and was intrigued by what he heard. Returning another night, he responded to the invitation and was converted. Billy Frank eventually became known as Billy Graham, the evangelist who preached to more people than any other person who ever lived,
Billy Graham was willing, are you?
What difference can one person make? All the difference in the world if they are willing to step into the anointing and ministry that God has for them!
Ministry? Yes ministry, if you can breathe, God has a ministry already waiting for you!
Are you willing this morning?
Many are called, but few are chosen.
It's no accident you are here this morning, realize you have been chosen...
Just like Elisha was
Just like Sampson was
Just like Esther was
Just like Edward Kimball was
Just like Billy Graham was....
Yes the whole world knows their names!
But not one person knew any of their names, before they said yes to their calling!
Are you willing?
God is calling, just say yes and start making a difference
Right where you are today!
Let's pray
Thanks to Terry Sisney for the outline
