Walking Through

(Revelation 3:7-8) “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” 


FINDING THE RIGHT DOOR 

 God’s moral will. What God has already said in His Word. 

 God’s sovereign will. What God is doing on the earth. 



WALKING THROUGH 


(Acts 20:22-24) “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” 


1. The prompting of the Holy Spirit. 


(Acts 20:22) “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem…” 


(Job 32:18-19) “For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wine skins ready to burst.” 


2. Certain uncertainty. 


(Acts 20:22) “…I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” 


(1 Corinthians 16:5-9) “After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you-for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” 


(2 Corinthians 5:7) “We live by faith, not by sight.” 


3. Predictable resistance. 


(Acts 20:23) “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.” 


(1 Thessalonians 2:18) “For we wanted to come to you--certainly I, Paul, did, again and again--but Satan stopped us.” 


4. Focused determination. 


(Acts 20:24) “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus Christ has given me– the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” When vision increases, options decrease, making it easier to walk through the right door."


Video
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/walking-through

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

The Miracle of the Donkey

Luke 19:28-38 (NIV)

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

1. It was a fulfillment of a 1900 year old prophecy.

Zechariah 9:9 (NIV)

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

2.  It was borrowed.  Jesus liked to borrow things such as a...

A. Manger

B. Boat

C. Loaves and fish

D. Upper room.

E. Tomb

3. Ways that God can use us like a donkey.

A. We can Pray.

B. We cab Invite.

C. We can be available. 

4. The LORD has need of you to bring Jesus into someone's life who needs freedom.  

Let God use you because you never know who's looking for Him.  

Dino Rizzo, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/the-miracle-of-the-donkey

Out of Control?

You are not in charge of fixing you.  God has to do it.  When we try to take control, things tend to get out of control.  2 Samuel 21:15-17.

When we are in control...

1. We have patterns of extremes.  1 John 4:18 

2. We don't listen to advice.  James 1:5

3. We obsess in planning.  Proverbs 16:9

How to get out of being in control. John 15:5-11

1. Surrender in prayer to God.  John 15:7

2. Walk in obedience.  John 15:10 

You can't separate your love of God and your obedience to Him.  

If God is not Lord of your all, He is not your Lord at all.  

3.  Receive God's joy.  John 15:11

When God is in control, joy and security return.  1 Timothy 6:6.   

You can be in control, or you can be content, but you cannot be both. 

Allen Pedram, Church of the Highlands

When It Looks Too Late For A Comeback

As long as you're breathing, you can still have a comeback.  

You may have lost a job, a spouse, or a house, but comebacks are based upon God Himself.

  

Moses was supposed to be killed as a baby, but was saved by Pharaoh's daughter, which was his first comeback.

His second comeback happened at age 80.  Here's how it happened.  

  

Acts 7:23-29  (NLT)

23 “One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 

24 He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. 

So Moses came to the man’s defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian.

25 Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t.  

26 “The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. 

He tried to be a peacemaker. 

‘Men,’ he said, ‘you are brothers. 

Why are you fighting each other?’

27 “But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 

28 ‘Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 

29 When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. 

There his two sons were born.

Acts 7:30 (NLT)

30 “Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush.

Exodus 3:1-2 (NLT)

3 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,the priest of Midian. 

He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,the mountain of God. 

2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. 

Moses stared in amazement. 

Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.

In the midst of his routine.  

When Moses least expected it.  

He was surprised by God's invitation.  

What made the bush extraordinary?  

It wasn't the bush, but God presence within the bush that made it special. 

Exodus 3:4-5 (NLT)

4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, 

“Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” 

Moses replied.

5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. 

“Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

The first thing that Moses heard was God speaking his name.  

It is a holy place wherever God shows up.  

Moses had a lot of questions for God.

Let's hear Moses ask his questions.

God said that I want you to go back to Egypt and set my people free.

1. Moses said, Who am I?  

He said God, I'm not qualified.  

What you want me to do is greater than my qualifications. 

It's not about who you are, but who is with you. 

The answer is not who you are, but who God is. 

It's not the bush that made it important. 

It was God's presence in the bush.  

It's not you, Moses, but my presence in you. 

Exodus 3:11-12 (NLT)

11 But Moses protested to God, 

“Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? 

Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 God answered,

“I will be with you. 

And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: 

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

God's answer: I will be with you.

2 Corinthians 3:5 (NLT)

5 (Paul writing) It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. 

Our qualification comes from God.

You can choose comfort and control, or you can choose God's presence. 

2. Moses asked, Who are you, God?

Exodus 3:13-14  (NLT)

13 But Moses protested, 

“If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, 

‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, 

‘What is his name?’ 

Then what should I tell them?”

14 God replied to Moses, 

“I am who i am.  

Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” 

When God says, I am... the one who can meet any need that you have.  

I AM your provision (Jehovah Jireh)

I AM your victory (Jehovah Nissi)

I AM your peace (Jehovah Shalom)

I AM there (Jehovah Shammah)

God's answer: What is your need?  I AM the one who can meet it. 

We live in "I wish for" world.  

God says, I AM who you wish for.  

3. Moses asked, What about them?   

I tried to be their Savior before, and they rejected me. 

Exodus 4:1-2  (NLT)

4 But Moses protested again, 

“What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? 

What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the Lord asked him, 

“What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

What things or people are keeping you from your purpose?  

It may be the tape in your mind of family or friends who are long gone.

God's answer: What's in your hand?

God took what Moses knew to help him.  

Exodus 4:3-4 New Living Translation (NLT)

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. 

So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

4 Then the Lord told him, 

“Reach out and grab its tail.” 

So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

You take what's in your hand, and put it into God's hand, and see what He can do with it. 

We break free when we realize that we can't give God what we don't have, but God can take what we do have.  

God is not looking for extraordinary people, but ordinary people who put themselves in God's hand, so God gets glory. 

4. Moses asked, What about this? 

  

Exodus 4:10-11 (NLT)

10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, 

“O Lord, I’m not very good with words. 

I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. 

I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

11 Then the Lord asked Moses, 

“Who makes a person’s mouth? 

Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? 

Is it not I, the Lord?

Moses felt handicapped.  

God's answer: I'm in control.

God says since I made your mouth.  

I can surely speak out of it. 

Sometimes, God removes the handicap, but sometimes He speaks in the midst of the handicap.  

If you can't get a miracle, be a miracle. 

Your handicap isn't in control. God is in control.  

What if Moses said no?  He wouldn't have seen the Red Sea split, or the Manna, or the 10 Commandments.  

What's your next step towards God's purpose in your life?

Hebrews 11:26-27 (NLT)

26 He (Moses) thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.

27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. 

He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.

Are you hearing God call your name right now?  

Joel 2:12A (NLT)

12 That is why the Lord says,

    “Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.

  

Say Lord Jesus, please take my mistakes and my failures.  

Be my Lord.  

Please save me Lord Jesus. 

You are the only one who can.

Notes taken from Tom Holladay, Saddleback Church