Pushing Through
#GettingBetter (2)
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”
5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.’”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. 11 And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”
13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
Prayer
WELCOME – to week 2 of our series, ‘Getting Better, At What Jesus Said Matters Most’ (which is to love God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your soul and with all of your strength… and to love your neighbor as you love yourself).
NOW LAST WEEK – we said that the starting point for getting better… BEGINS – with the Father’s love.
We love, because He first loved us. – 1 John 4:19
B/S – I have some awesome, incredible, mind-blowing news for you… The Father’s Love for you…
• Is a love beyond reason
• Is a love that delights in you
• Is a love that is for you
• Is a love that pays attention to you, and
• Is a love that constantly pursues you
Amen?
GET IT?
AND – I wrapped up last week by extending to you,
3 invitations….
#1 – The invitation to STOP questioning God’s unconditional love and begin to accept and embrace it as your own…
#2 – The invitation to DEFINE yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is your true self. Every other identity is an illusion.
#3 – The invitation to LET YOUR ROOTS – go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love for you.
(So that you will be able to understand as all God’s children should.. How long, how wide, how deep and how high His love really is and to experience this love for yourself. Though it is SO GREAT that you will never see the end of it!)
We love, because He first loved us… - 1 John 4:19
God loves me!
God crazy of me!
God can never get enough me!
NOW – like I have been saying from the beginning, before you will ever love God with all you got and love your neighbor as God intends, you must first love yourself.
AND B/S – plunging the depths of God’s love is where loving yourself begins.
NOW THIS MORNING
WE ARE - going to unpack a conversation that I am calling “Pushing Through.”
UNDERSTAND – before you can ‘really’ love ourselves you must push through our insecurity.
Insecurity
1) self doubt
2) a feeling of uncertainty about yourself
3) lack of confidence and anxiety about yourself
4) low self esteem
YOU SEE – it’s hard to ‘really’ love yourself, IF you are insecure about who you are, and have low esteem for yourself.
AND LISTEN – when it comes to insecurity, in many ways it really is everyone’s battle (even famous, rich and ‘beautiful people)…
IN FACT – this week I read an article on the Huffington Post that talk about 20 celebrities who battle insecurity… here are a few of them…
(NOTE – I PUT THEIR PICTURES ON THE SCREEN)
Ryan Reynolds
“I still feel like an overweight, pimply kid a lot of the time”
Sandra Bullock
“I’m an optimistic, joyous person, but also afraid and insecure
Robert Pattison
“You have to confront your insecurities quite a lot, and I have plenty of insecurities, even more now.”
Kim Kardashian
“I am lot more insecure then people would assume.”
(and there were others on the list as well… Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake,… and bunch more)
AND – check out what this very famous person said in an interview with Vogue magazine… a few years back
My drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre. That is always pushing me. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being but then I feel I am still mediocre and uninteresting unless I do something else. Because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended and I guess it never will.
DO – you know who said that? Madonna.
LIKE – I said insecurity is pretty much every person’s battle at some time or another.
Even for Jesus followers…
Some of you have probably heard of Sheila Walsh (Christian singer, writer, a host of the 700 club and Women of Faith Conference speaker)
She writes…
One morning I was sitting on a national television program with my nice suit and inflatable hairdo and that night I was in the locked ward of a psychiatric hospital, the psychiatrist asked me, “Who are you??
“I’m the co-host of The 700 club”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said
“Well, I’m a writer. I’m a singer”
“That’s not what I meant. Who are you?”
“I don’t have a clue,” I said.
And he replied, “Now that’s right and that’s why you are here.”
She continues…
I had been measuring myself by what other people thought of me and it was slowly killing me.
Before I entered the hospital, a friend from the 700 Club (her best friend at the time) tried dissuade me from the journey,
“Please, Sheila, don’t do this, If you do God won’t be able to use you again. Besides people trust you. Once the public finds out where you’ve been your ministry is over. You’ll never be special again.”
She replied,
“I’m not trying to save my ministry, I’m trying to save my life”
AND LISTEN - at the lowest moment of her life she not only found that God was there, but that He both knew her and loved her. AND HE – loved her back to life and she now is living free.
NOW – I spent some time this week trying to find a study that would give me a percentage of people who struggle with insecurity – but I couldn’t find any.
SO – I thought we would do one in here…. Okay?
• Raise your hand if you have ever struggled with feelings of insecurity.
• Raise your hand if you have struggled with these feelings a lot more frequently then you would like.
• Raise your hand if you are feeling too insecure to raise your hand.
OKAY – here is how I want to attack this conversation, ‘Pushing Through”
FIRST – by talking about some of the major causes of our insecurity.
SECOND – by talking about the way to push through those insecurities.
SO MGCC – are you ready to do this…
The Causes Of Insecurity
Believing the lies of the enemy
He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies… - John 8:44
MGCC
Our enemy is a liar and he will do whatever he needs to do in an effort to attack your worth, value and your security in Christ…
AND UNDERSTAND - he often speaks his lies through other people.
Spouses, brothers, sisters, friends, culture and especially through parents…
YOU KNOW – parents can be pretty crazy and they can say some crazy things (I know I’ve been one for over almost 33 years)…
AND LISTEN - saying crazy things as a parent starts early…
Recently I found some examples of the Crazy Things that moms and dads say to preschoolers]
I MEAN – grown people, educated people say them…
• I know it hurts but I will not kiss your butt
• No honey, her face isn’t melting. Those are called wrinkles
• No, he doesn’t have a baby in his tummy
• Sometimes your breathe stinks to
• Don’t hit your brother while his sleeping
• Take the funnel out of your sisters ear
• Put grandpas teeth back where you found them
• Please get your feet off grandma’s head
• Where are your clothes
• Yes you’d make a beautiful ballerina but boys don’t wear tutus to church
• What if I spit in your soda
• Don’t put the chips back in the bowl after you licked them
• Please don’t chew on your dirty underwear
• The dog’s nose does not need picking
• You can’t pee in just anyone’s yard
• Yes it makes me very happy when you poop
AND – as kids get older, I think the things parents say to their kids get even crazier…
AND – have you ever noticed that parents frequently ask questions that they don’t really want an answer to..
• Do you want me to give you something to cry for? (yeah that’s be great)
• Close the door, do you think you were born in a barn?
• Do you think I cleaned the house for my health? (I don’t know, but you are looking pretty good)
• Do you want me to come up there?
• You’re tired, I’ll give you tired
• This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you (that’s a lie)
• And my all time favorite, do I look stupid to you?
YES – parents can say some crazy thing, funny things and insane things… AND – they can also say some pretty cruel things, some self image and security distorting things…
• Why can’t you be more like your brother
• Can’t you do anything right
• I wish you were never born
• You always disappoint me…
• You will never amount to anything
• I can’t wait until you grow up and get out of here
• I never wanted you in the first place
AND LISTEN – hurtful words like these cause people to both embrace negative beliefs and lies about who they are, which carry well into adulthood…
• I am a mistake
• I am a burden
• It was all my fault
• I am worthless
• I will never measure up or be good enough
“It is astounding how many deeply committed followers of Jesus would affirm that those statements articulate how they truly feel about themselves.”
– Peter Scazsero (Emotional Healthy Spirituality)
I recently had lunch with someone who said that their mom who is now 83 and who recently lost her husband is begin to feel the weight of the hurtful words her parents spoke to her while growing up.
And she has been a committed Jesus follower for decades.
Another major cause of insecurity is…
Drinking the deadly toxin of comparison
NOW - during my studies for this message I came across an article in on the website for ‘Psychology Today’ dated April 7, 2015 called,
“The Epidemic Of Insecurity’ by Beverly Flaxington.
Remember those good old days when you were a child and your parents used to always tell you how wonderful, great, and one-of-a-kind you were?
“Oh, Lily knows her alphabet already—she is the smartest little girl! Jimmy is so good to help granny with the chores—isn’t he the kindest boy you know?
And Annie, in her new dress, is so lovely—when she grows up, she is going to be the most beautiful girl on earth.”
IT FELT - really good to hear that about yourself—like you could do anything and be the best at everything.
DO YOU - know why you were so confident and proud of yourself then?
IT’S NOT - because everyone said that you were the most perfect little human being;
IT’S BECAUSE you actually believed it.
AND THEN - you grew up and grew a mind of your own.
Let me guess—not so many people tell you now that you are the smartest, funniest, or most good-looking person out there, and when they do, you don’t tend to believe them as readily and completely as you used to as a little kid.
At some point in your life, somewhere in your mind you started comparing yourself to others, and that’s the point when your self-esteem – and belief in your world supremacy – suffered it’s first blow. – Beverly Flaxington
UNDERSTAND
Nothing can kill contentment and feed insecurity like comparison.
AND LISTEN – as I have many times before…
NOW - more than any other time in history, we live in a culture of incessant comparison.
I MEAN – (through media… both social and traditional) we have instant access to the lives of those we know, those we don’t, those we can’t stand, those we wish we were, those we’d give anything to measure up to. WELL - we don’t exactly have access to their lives. WE HAVE - access to the parts of their lives they’d like us to see.
I MEAN
Nobody posts the shot of Tommy karate chopping his little brother in the sternum while standing in line at Disney land or Sally rolling her eyes at her mom and slamming the door because she’s not allowed to go to the movies.
INSTEAD - people post the shot of Tommy holding the game ball or Sally accepting the dance competition trophy. And the enemy uses all of this— the images we see of who we think others are and what we think they’re doing— to make us feel we’re boring by comparison. Even worthless.
LISTEN
One of the main reasons we struggle with insecurity – is because we’re comparing our behind-the-scenes with everybody else’s highlight reel.
QUESTION – have you ever went on Facebook and after only a few minutes you start feeling bummed out and insecure after about your life, your marriage, your…?
IF SO – you are not alone.
A study was conducted by The University Of Gothenburg, Sweden… where the researchers found that prolonged Facebook usage negatively impacted the user’s self-esteem, with women being more affected then men.
QUESTION – when someone:
• Gets a promotion
• Gets a new boyfriend or girlfriend
• Buys a new house or car
• Looses 25 pounds
• Gets married
• Experiences a huge success
• Posts those perfect family pictures by the Christmas tree
Do you feel worse about who you are?
UNDERSTAND – when you compare…
• How you look
• What you have
• Where you live
• What you know
• What you’ve accomplished
• What you do
To other people your vision of who you really are will be severely distorted
The first King of Israel, King Saul… Is the textbook case of how compulsive comparison will miss up your life…
I MEAN – He is a successful King, the people like Him. He is a great warrior. BUT – when he starts comparing himself to David, HE - starts thinking they like Him more.
THE RESULT - he looses it… His sanity, his crown his life
AND LISTEN – when you compare your life to the lives of other people you will loose yours as well.
NO – you may not have a crown to loose…
BUT – you will loose the unique life that God created you to live.
B/S – God did not create you to live someone else’s life.
A 3rd cause of insecurity is….
Accepting and embracing a false identity
As I mentioned one of the books that I have been reading for this series is… (and I would highly recommend it, EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY)
AND PETER – in a chapter called, “Know Yourself That You May Know God,’ shared some powerful insights about accepting and embracing false identities in the story of temptation of Christ in Luke 4 that we read earlier…
NOW - to be honest, I have looked at Jesus’ encounter with satan from many different angles, over the years (each such a powerful and packed encounter)
HOWEVER - I never looked at it from this angle, and you know I think Peter is on to something.
UNDERSTAND – these three powerful temptations by the evil one, threaten us today just they threatened Jesus in the wilderness to embrace a false identity.
False Identity One: I Am What I Do (Performance)
QUESTION – have you ever accepted and embraced this false identity, that you are what you do?
The devil said to Jesus, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” - Matthew 4:3
UNDERSTAND
Jesus had not done all that much for thirty years.
Just some basic carpentry stuff.
I MEAN – he had not accomplished much of anything that would cause people to take notice.
Nothing impressive.
He had not yet begun his ministry.
“Jesus do something, what contribution had he made to the world, that would give you value?”
B/S
Our culture asks the same question.
What have you achieved?
How have you demonstrated your usefulness?
What have you done that matters?
NOW - most of us consider ourselves worthwhile if we have scored sufficient successes—in work, family, school, church, relationships. AND - when we don’t, we may move harder and faster, go inward into depression out of shame, or perhaps blame others for why we have not performed so well. – Peter S
Again – false identity number one, “I am what I do”
False Identity Two: I Am What I Have (Possession)
QUESTION
HAVE YOU EVER - accepted and embraced this false identity?
Luke tells us that Jesus was taken to see all the wealth, splendor and power of the earth.
The devil basically said to him,
“Look around you at what everyone else has. You don’t have anything. So how can you think you are somebody?
I think we are all well aware that our culture often measures our success and worth by what we have.
AND - marketers now spend more than fifteen billion dollars each year seducing children and adolescents to believe they have to have certain toys, clothes, iPods, iPhones, etc.
I MEAN - their very identities depend on those things, right?
AND AS ADULTS - we also tend to measure our worth by what we have… I MEAN – who has…
• The most money?
• The biggest house
• The most expensive car?
• The most beautiful body?
• The most wealth stored up?
• The most comfortable lifestyle?
• takes the most exotic vacations?
Often our sense of worth is tied to our positions at work—the money and perks. Who has the best education from what school, the most talents and awards, more degrees on their résumé? Who has the most attentive, handsome boyfriend or husband? The best-looking girl or wife? - Peter Scazzero
AND
False Idenity Three: I Am What Others Think (Popularity)
QUESTION
HAVE YOU EVER - accepted and embraced this false identity?
Luke tells us that satan invited Jesus to throw himself down from the highest spot of the temple, so that people might believe in him.
AGAIN - at this point people did not think anything of Jesus.
He was not well known, not very popular.
He was, in effect, pretty invisible outside of his small hometown of Nazareth. SO HOW - could he think he had worth and value?
UNDERSTAND - most of us place a higher premium on what other people think than we realize or would care to admit. It influences so much of what we do in life…
• What will I say or not say in a conversation?
• What school will my child attend?
• Who will I date?
• What should I wear?
• Do I tell that person he or she hurt me?
• What kind of career will I pursue?
• What vacations photos awesome things should I post on Facebook or Instagram? (count the # of likes)
AND LISTEN – one of the truest indicators that we have accepted and embraced this particular false identity….
IS WHEN - our self-image soars with a compliment and is devastated by a criticism.
MGCC – 3 of the major causes of insecurity are…
Believing the lies of the enemy
Drinking the deadly toxic of comparison
Accepting and embracing a false identity
• You are what you do
• You are what you have
• You are what other people think of you
The Way Through Insecurity
Resisting and replacing the lies of the enemy with God’s truth…
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. – John 8:31,32
OKAY
BUT HOW – do we know when it is our enemy who is talking to us? By knowing the truth.
I MEAN – when Jesus did battle with satan in the wilderness for 40 days… HOW – did he combat the lies, not only by knowing the truth but by quoting the truth.
Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”
Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.’”
12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”
I’ve always like this filter for recognizing the lies of the enemy that John Eldredge (Waking The Dead)
“Any word or suggestion that brings; discouragement, condemnation or accusation – that is not from God. Neither is confusion, nor any counsel that would led you to disobey what you know. Reject it all and carry on in your journey…
The voice of God is never condemning, never harsh or accusing. His conviction brings a desire for repentance. Satan’s accusations kills our hearts…”
You are not what you think you are, there is a glory to your life that the enemy fears and He is hell-bent on destroying it before you act on it. – John Eldredge
The story of your life is the story of the long and brutal assault on your heart by the one who knows who you could be and fears it. - – John Eldredge
The Way Through Insecurity
Saying NO To Comparing Yourself To Others
When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. – 2 Cor 10:12
In that verse God is saying….
LISTEN - when it comes to comparing… just say NO!
Remember as I said earlier God does not want to you become someone else he wants you to be you…
LISTEN - If you are on facebook, instagram, or whatevergram
And what you are seeing or reading is making you feel bad about who you are - log off.
UNDERSTAND – you a unique individual created by God and for God.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! - Psalm 139:13-18
As a teen I frequently drank the deadly toxic of comparison.
Don't be fooled by the radio
The TV or the magazines
They show you photographs of how your life should be
But they're just someone else's fantasy
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...
B/S – we push through insecurity by
• Resisting and replacing the enemies lies with God’s truth
• Saying no to comparing yourself with others
Seeing Yourself Through The Lens Of The Father
NOW – this Friday morning I decided to talk a few selfies of myself..
And I’d like to get your opinion of them.
(NOTE – I TOOK DISTORTED IMAGES OF MYSELF WITH MY MAX AND PUT THEM ON THE SCREEN)
Wow, is that how I really look like them.
I mean it really was me in front of my laptop camera.
UNDERSTAND – when you accept and embrace and those 3 false identities… (I am what I do, I am what I have, I am what people think) they will become the lens that distorts how you see yourself.
But listen
It’s not you – it’s the lens…
Get It?
AND MGCC – though you and I will often choose to see ourselves through these false lens the enemy throws our way.
Jesus never did.
QUESTION – what made Jesus so sure of who He really was, such that he refuse to see himself through those distorted lens?
BECAUSE – of the event that happened right before He was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness. His baptism in the Jordan River…
As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” - Mark 1:10,11
I LOVE – what Henri Noumen the Dutch priest writes about this event, it’s awesome!
I very much believe that the core moment of Jesus’ public life was the baptism in the Jordan, when Jesus heard the affirmation, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” That is the core experience of Jesus. He is reminded in a deep way of who he is.
The temptations in the desert are temptations to move Him away from that spiritual identity. He was tempted to believe He was someone else.
You are the one who can turn stone into bread.
You are the one who can jump from the temple.
You are the one who can make others bow to your power.
Jesus said, “No, No, I am the one loved by God.” I think His whole life is continually claiming that identity in the midst of everything. There are times in which he is praised, times when He is despised or rejected, BUT – He keeps saying, “Others will leave me alone but my Father will not leave me alone. I am the beloved of Son of God, that is my identity.
B/S…
WHEN - the Father ripped open the heavens,
WHEN - the Spirit descended like a dove…
WHEN – God shouted from the sky…
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus was given a lens to see Himself through that if He would continue to look in… would never allow the image of who He really was to ever be distorted…
UNDERSTAND….
• When the devil tempted Him,
• When the people rejected Him,
• When His own would not receive Him
• When they wanted to make Him a worldly king
• When they praised Him for His miracles
• When the leaders turn against Him
• When a friend betrayed Him
• And when everyone abandoned Him
Jesus still knew who He was…
He was never tempted to be someone else…
AND B/S – the good news is that God invites you as Jesus follower to look through that very same lens, to see yourself as the Father sees you…
Who are you?
The Father would look at you and say) you are
• My son/my daughter
• The One I love
• The one who pleases me
• The One I adopted into my family
• The one I chose before the foundations of the earth were even laid
• The one who though you have flaws and failures are still is worthy of my grace.
• The one who matters so much to me to me!!!
MGCC – here’s the deal… IF YOU - do not see yourself as someone who the Father loves intensely and freely, you are looking through the wrong lens….
In his book, Abba’s Child, Brennan Manning talks about guy named John Eagan. John was an ordinary guy and a high school teacher in Milwaukee.
He spent 30 years ministering to youth and struggling with seeing himself worthy of the one (who as he puts it) is able to perform miracles with nothing more than spit and mud.
HOWEVER – during an 8 day spiritual retreat, his spiritual director said something that pulled it all together, rocked his world and gives you & me something awesome to chew on…
John the heart of it is this: to make the Lord and His immense love for you constitute your personal worth. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life.
Later that evening John wrote in his journal…
The basis of my personal worth is not my possessions, my talent, not esteem of others, reputation… not kudos of appreciation from parents and kids, not applause, and everyone telling me how important I am to the place…
I stand anchored now in God before who I stand naked, this God who tells me, “You are my son, my beloved one.”
Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life.
2 quick things and we’re done…
#1 – to define yourself this way will not be easy.
BECAUSE - you have an enemy…
AN ENEMY - who trembles at the thought of you seeing who you really are. AN ENEMY – who is a thief that seeks to kill and destroy the identity you have in Christ.
#2- to define yourself this way will only become a reality in your life IF you pull away from the world and spend time at the feet of your God and in His Word…
B/S – it’s 2/5/17
AND –
Remember, if you…
• Resist and replace the lies of your enemy with the truth of God
• Say ‘no’ to comparing yourself to anyone else
• See yourself through the undistorted lens of the father (refusing the false identities of – I am what I do, I am what I have, I am what other think)
You will push through insecurity
And you could go all the way at loving yourself, loving God and loving others better.
