Words week 1 Courage

Courage is about doing the right thing when no one else is doing it, doing the right thing though everyone else ridicules you for it, and staying true in that belief no matter what it may cost.

1.      Courage requires us to live a life that inspires others.

1.      I believe with all of my heart that courage is born into every one of us.

1.      I mean God specifically made each of us in His image and He is by far the most courageous that I know.

Jesus our greatest model even in the face of death said, Luke 22:42 NLT [42] "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

2.      Courage is a game changer.

3.      Courage is a life changer.

4.      Courage is a career changer.

5.      And courage is a eternity changer.

1.      Bold enough to believe though we have not seen.

John 20:29-31 NLT [29] "Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen Me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me." [30] The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. [31] But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His Name."

courage: the ability to do something that frightens one-strength in the face of pain or grief.

6.      Courage is facing impossibility and stepping forward any way.

7.      Courage is facing tough times and honoring God in His plan and promise any way.

1.      Courage grinds away the doubt.

2.      Courage grinds away the insecurity.

3.      Courage grinds away the distractions.

4.      And courage grinds away the inability.

2.      Courage requires us to live a life that engages others.

Job 1:1,6-12 NLT [1] "There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless-a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. [6] One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. [7] "Where have you come from?" the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, "I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that's going on." [8] Then the LORD asked Satan, "Have you noticed (considered) my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless-a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil."

1.      Vs. 8 God says have you noticed, have you considered attentively?

1.      Why?

1.      No true, sincere, passionate servant of God escapes the eye of the adversary of God.

2.      I promise the Devil pays attention to your faithfulness.

3.      He sees courage acting out.

1.      He is looking for your weaknesses and your weak moments.

2.      Looking even for your successes that you might get prideful that he may use either to destroy you.

2.      Any person who is committed to God should expect Satan's attacks.

[9] Satan replied to the LORD, "Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. [10] You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! [11] But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!"

3.      Vs 10 But God you protect him, and the things he cares deeply about if you would take that away...

4.      Vs 11. He will surely curse you to your face.

1.      How will you be found if ever tested or tried?

1.      Courageous, standing in faith and purpose or would Satan's words be true of you as they are to so many.

2.      Take away their prosperity, take away some of the things they care about and many times you take away their belief altogether.

1.      People get tested and immediately God is to blame and they turn their previous courage in God into hate and distain of Him.

1.      Be careful how you treat the Word of God, be careful how you treat the Spirit of God speaking to you.

2.      Don't be like this culture:

Malachi 3:14 NLT [14] "You have said, 'What's the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying His commands or by trying to show the LORD of Heaven's Armies that we are sorry for our sins?"

2.      Many resume their same murmurs against God.

1.      Employing and empowering further stages of the same skeptical attitude and spirit.

2.      We leave our belief, we leave our trust, we leave our salvation to again agree with the Devil, that God doesn't matter.

1.      His truth isn't truth, how can His Word be truth or even that He isn't truth.

2.      The Devil uses every means necessary to divide, destroy, and disengage you.

[12] "All right, you may test him," the LORD said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the LORD's presence."

5.      Vs.12 God says,"You may test him" so we see that Satan has no power against man till God gives it.

1.      God would not touch Job with His own hand, though Satan asks this in Job 1:11, "your own hand", but He allows the enemy to do so.

2.      God's hand will not be in judgment to His children until death.

Hebrews 9:27

1.      Job, a blameless and upright man who had been greatly blessed, was a perfect target for Satan.

2.      Originally an angel of God, Satan became corrupt through his own pride.

1.      He has been evil since his rebellion against God.

1 John 3:8-10 NLT [8] "But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. [9] Those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning, because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning, because they are children of God. [10] So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God."

2.      There is a standard to Godly living and there is a standard to living in courage.

6.      Satan tries to hinder God's purpose in people.

1.      He actively attacks people through temptation and trial working to make them hate God, using lies, trickery and deception.

3.      Courage requires us to live a life that changes others.

Revelation 21:8 NLT "But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars-their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

1.      Being a coward is a sin.

1.      Those who quit their fight of faith or who draw back from the fight.

1.      Courage allows us to take risks, make sacrifices and to be, dangerously unselfish.

2.      Courage helps us to withstand and grow through ongoing pain, suffering, isolation and related difficulty.

1.      Right living requires courage, and the Bible commands us to be bold and courageous more than 25 times.

2.      There are people who fall away from their faith, Christ said, even when they experience initial joy, they possess no staying power or rootedness in their belief.

Matthew 13:21 NLT "But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word."

1.      Perseverance, one of our core values, is one of the primary benefits of courage.

2.      What Jesus was really saying is that some people leave their faith because they are cowards.

courage: the ability to do something that frightens one-strength in the face of pain or grief.

3.      We as Christ followers must remember that, "we can choose courage or we can choose comfort, we cannot have both."

1.      We must refrain from choosing cowardice in our giving, our serving, our believing, our evangelizing, our our discipleship.

3.      Courage is uncomfortable, that's why it's rare, in it's truest form. 

1.      The bravest among us will always be the most brokenhearted because they have the courage to love.

2.      Those who care and engage will always be disappointed because they are filled with the courage to teach, train, and trust.

3.      Those of us willing to be creative and innovative will know failure for if you are courageous enough, often enough, you are going to fail. 

4.      Although God loves us, believing and obeying Him does not shelter us from life's disastrous events.

1.      In and through our tests, our trials, God calls us to remain faithful and continue following Him that's where courage lives.

1.      How do you respond?

1.      Do you ask God, "Why me?" or do you say, "God use me!"?

Job 1:20-22 NLT [20] "Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. [21] He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!" [22] In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God."

2.      Could it be that we are to submit to trials we face?

1.      Not because we see the reasons for them, or because we believe they were just matters of chance, but because God wills them.

2.      Could it be that God has a right to send them, and has His own good reasons for sending them?

1.      We preach and live out a pretty safe gospel here in the states not realizing or recognizing all of the extreme sacrifices among Christianity in the entirety of the globe.

4.      Extraordinary courage was displayed by so so many within the scriptures.

1.      As strange as it may seem, this pattern is evidenced in the deaths of the greatest and most godly men and women throughout the ages.

2.      For instance, Stephen was stoned, James (the brother of John) was beheaded, Peter was crucified upside down, Paul was beheaded, Philip was crucified, Matthew was slain with the sword, James (the brother of Jesus) was stoned and clubbed, Matthias was stoned and beheaded, Mark was dragged to pieces, Jude was crucified, Bartholomew was cruelly beaten and then crucified; Thomas was thrust through with a spear, Luke was hung, and John was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil (and removed unscathed) and then exiled to Patmos.

1.      But in all their deaths, these Christian men exhibited a superhuman behavior—a pattern for facing the most extreme suffering with a brave calm and a steadfast courage.

1.      And it is this pattern that we as Christians need to be practicing in our daily lives.

1.      Courage is the ability to master our fears in the face of danger.

1.      Courage is knowing what to fear and what not to fear.

1.      Be afraid of being unjust, uncaring, or ungodly – rather than being afraid of the ridicule, abuse, or discrimination that often comes to people who devote their lives to justice, love and Godliness.

2.      Take courage because God Himself is with us.

1.      Take courage because God has a plan for us.

2.      Take courage because Jesus has overcome the world.

3.      Take courage because nothing can separate us from God’s love.

1.      And if He loves us, we can take courage that He will protect us, provide for us, and guide us.

3.      Whether we lose our jobs, our homes, our health or even our minds, Jesus will hold us in His love and never let us go.

1.      Courage dispels cowardice. Ask Peter.

2.      Courage can not be contained.

3.      Courage can not be confined!

1.      I challenge you to have the courage this morning to face your sin.

2.      Face your insecurity.

3.      Embrace the courage to challenge and overcome your addiction.

4.      Connect to the supernatural courage of reaching your community, your friends, your family, your home.

1.      Courage releases us from the hiding and accelerates us to a place where we can share the fullness of the Christ life with everyone that we possibly can.