If we position ourselves in fear, we don't experience God's best. We must position ourselves in faith.
Walking in faith is a lot like stepping out onto nothing. God made the universe out of nothing.
God already has your answer on the way even before you know that you have a need.
Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
If you don't understand how to fight, the enemy will put you back into bondage. If you don't know how to fight, the enemy is always going to push you around.
You don't have to start a fight with the enemy. If he starts it, you can finish it. You got to put on the whole Armor of God. Why would we go into the battle with no armor on? (Ephesians 6:10-18)
What you fight and conquer you will fight again. I'm not talking about Satan. I'm talking about you. You must stand your ground in faith against you. You must fix your thoughts on God's goodness instead of yourself.
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I can not keep a diet of current events. You should be looking for things through the day that are praise worthy.
We fight from victory because we have already won. We need to live in the moment, but look beyond it. Paul was writing in prison looking for things to praise God for.
Our problem is that we only learned how to live in the moment. Our thoughts are only on our problem in the here and now.
There is something beyond here. The enemy likes to create chaos in our lives. The enemy tries to take away our attention from hearing God in the tough situations. (Romans 10:17)
Where I am is not where I'm going. As long as there are lost people, we're never going to stop taking enemy territory. Don't camp out where you are right now. Don't quit where you are.
What you're living in, don't believe you'll stay in it. To get to the other side, you've got to trust Him in it. If you will trust God in the midst of a trial, He will promote you from it.
Daniel 3:30 New International Version (NIV)
30 (after the fiery furnace) Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
You've got to believe that it's not all about you. It's about we. We have each other. We stand together.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
Luke 5:17-19 (NIV)
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there.
They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem.
And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.
18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.
19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
(Jesus knows the thoughts of your heart. Why would you try to hide them from Him?)
23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?
The lame man's mind was disconnected from his body, so he could not walk. He was connected with guys who could walk. We need friends who can get us closer to Jesus.
The closer they got to Jesus. It became more difficult to get to Him. The religious people were in the way. They were sitting on the sidelines.
The area at the feet of Jesus was open. Anyone with a need is welcome at the feet of Jesus. The openness of your heart will determine how much Jesus can help you.
You'll find out who your friends are in the trial. We need people who will not let us quit. Let Jesus fix the issue that you don't know you have. The lame man didn't know that his sins needed to be forgive too.
Just because we can't do everything does not mean that we can't do anything. Live a life that's not just for you. If you make it all about you, all I can see is you.
The position to be is at the feet of Jesus. The people were all around him and the power of God to heal was present. Only this man went for the feet of Jesus, and he was healed and forgiven.
Jeremy Foster, Hope City Church
https://hopecity.com/sermons/legacy-series-part-1/
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