Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Follow your instincts





Instinct: 1. a natural ability to know what to do in a particular situation.

2 Samuel 9:1 “One day David asked, "Is anyone in Saul's family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" 2 He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul's servants. "Are you Ziba?" the king asked. "Yes sir, I am," Ziba replied. 3 The king then asked him, "Is anyone still alive from Saul's family? If so, I want to show God's kindness to them." Ziba replied, "Yes, one of Jonathan's sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet." 4 "Where is he?" the king asked. "In Lo-debar," Ziba told him, "at the home of Makir son of Ammiel." 5 So David sent for him and brought him from Makir's home.”

1.Both God and people will respect your convictions when you strive to do what is right by the standards of the Word of God.
a.It’s imperative to know someone’s past to understand the way they are.

2 Samuel 4:4 “Saul's son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled as a child. He was five years old when the report came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle. When the child's nurse heard the news, she picked him up and fled. But as she hurried away, she dropped him, and he became crippled.”

b.In panic, the nurse picks him up and as she continues running drops him, and he becomes crippled.
c. Imagine, five years old, you’re playing in the courtyard, doing whatever royal kids do, the palace doors bust open!
i.   People go into pandemonium, screaming, and yelling.
ii. You’re like, “What’s going on?” And they say that your dad and your grandfather have been killed in battle.
iii.                That’s a bad start to any day for any body.
d.But it gets worse.
e.David was on his way to the palace to assume power.
i.   Now, that would have been a problem because in a monarchy, when family lines change, the old lineage gets eradicated, killed off. Why?
1.Because, you do not want a potential heir to the throne alive to decide one day to come back and assume the throne.
f.   Now, understand the context for this five-year-old kid.
i.   David was iconic.
ii. David had already killed Goliath.
1.In modern culture, Mephibosheth had a poster on his wall of David.
g.In fact, David had had many escapades as one of Saul’s top generals, and had slain many an enemy for him.
i.   In fact, there are scriptures where people sang songs and said, “Saul, he’s killed his thousands, but David, his tens of thousands.”
h.David’s a hero.
i.   And to Mephibosheth, he was an honorary uncle.
i.   Now, Mephibosheth is understanding, my family, killed in battle and now, David…well, it’s going to be okay, because David’s coming.
i.   And they’re saying, “No, he wants to kill you.”
ii. What do you mean?
1.I don’t understand!
a.His whole world, turned upside down.
2.Have you ever encountered such a life altering moment?
a.A Mephibosheth moment in your life, where everything’s just fine, everything’s good then, all of a sudden, you receive a report that you did not expect?
b.One day it’s beaches and BBQ’s; the next day, everything has been turned on end.
c. Maybe that someone you thought you could trust violated that trust.
d.Maybe it was a relationship that you thought would go the distance, instead it’s crumbled down around you.
i.   And for him, years go by, and nothing happens. 
ii. He doesn’t get healed, he doesn’t get helped.
iii.                He’s just broken.
e.Now, Jonathan and David were actually very, very good friends.
i.   Because of Saul’s rebellion against God, God had anointed David to become king.
ii. Jonathan was aware of this and said, “David when you become king, would you show kindness to my family and I?” 
1.And David vows, “As surely as God lives, I will show kindness to you and to your family.”
f.   So, they summon Ziba, who was a servant of Saul he tells King David, “there is one of Jonathan’s sons still alive, but he’s crippled in both feet.”
i.   Pushing him aside, like “you don’t really have to do any thing David.”
g.Why would he do this?
i.   Because, in that day and culture, to be crippled in your legs, there’s no ADA compliances, handicap ramps or wheelchairs.
ii. No government assistance programs.
iii.                So, this society would, in many ways, consider him a burden, even worthless.
1.Those of us who know God know that any physical limitation placed upon you has no bearing on God’s ability to work through you.
h.David says, “Well, go get him.”
i.   Lo-debar was a place that meant “not having” or “no pasture “a place of no bread.”
1.Considered a barren, dry, desolate place.
2.You would almost say that Mephibosheth had been placed in the Witness Protection Program, right?
a.Because they wanted to kill him, he can contact no one, ever, so they take him out to this distant place of no future.
i.   A town of forgotten people.
j.   In Lo-Debar we would find the lost, unskilled, uneducated outcasts from society.
i.   Mephibosheth was not in Lo Debar because of something he had done wrong.
ii. It wasn’t his fault his father and grandfather died, it wasn’t his fault the nurse dropped him; it wasn’t his fault that there was no doctor who could repair his situation!
1.It is not your fault you were molested as a child; it is not your fault that you were raped; abused-verbally or physically; it is not your fault you had no father, no mother; basically raising yourself.
2.It's not your fault no one gave you guidance, provided you with a good education; inspired you; poured life into you; built up some confidence in you, it is not your fault!
3.It is not your fault they closed the business down, or cut back.
k.People all around are battling something that causes them to not sleep at night, something that has crippled them from being who God intended them to be.
l.   That thing that’s kept you miserable, frustrated, angry, jealous, living in that psychological prison with no way of escape!
3.You may be sitting next to someone who needs you to show them kindness, mercy, love and honor.
a.1 Chronicles 8, it’s important to note that in the genealogy of King Saul, Mephibosheth’s given name was Merib-baal, which meant “an opponent of Baal.”
b.Baal represented false gods.
i.   So, it’s as if his father, Jonathan, named his son Merib-baal, saying, “You are of royal lineage.
ii. You are an opponent of false gods.
iii.                You are stately, and you are noble, and you are my son, Merib-baal.”
1.But after he was crippled his name got changed to Mephibosheth, which means “son of shame,” or “shameful thing.”
2.Taken from the palace, left out in some desolate, starving, dead end place and your name changed from “an opponent of Baal,” and “Merib-baal,” to Mephibosheth, “you son of shame.” 
c. We only know that Mephibosheth's not a little kid anymore, and he’s out there in Lo-debar.
d.And Ziba comes to the door and knocks, and he says, “Hello, I'm Ziba. I’m here from the palace King David requests your presence.”
e.Now, for Mephibosheth, is he like “Well, sweet! I’ve been waiting for this moment”?
i.   No. It’s like the incarnation of all the fear, worry, and terror that had haunted him for years is now standing at his door.
ii. Because he had to have grown up hating David!
iii.                Essentially, it’s David’s fault that I am out here in this desolate place.
iv.                It’s David’s fault that I’m a fugitive.
v.It’s David’s fault that my legs won't do what I tell them to do.
vi.                They’ve been telling me this day is coming, for years.
4.Follow your instincts.
a.This is where the story takes an unlikely turn.
b.Mephibosheth follows his instincts and says I’ll come with you Ziba.
i.   Friends, maybe in similar situations begging Mephibosheth not to go.
ii. Hey says, "I’m going to be ok, the world may ridicule me, they dropped me and changed me forever, they may have even changed my name, but I will follow my instincts and change my future."
1.I'm meant for more.

2 Samuel 9:6 “His name was Mephibosheth; he was Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, "Greetings, Mephibosheth." Mephibosheth replied, "I am your servant." 7 "Don't be afraid!" David said. "I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king's table!" 8 Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, "Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?" 9 Then the king summoned Saul's servant Ziba and said, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master's household. But Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, will eat here at my table." (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Ziba replied, "Yes, my lord the king; I am your servant, and I will do all that you have commanded." And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at David's table, like one of the king's own sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba's household were Mephibosheth's servants. 13 And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king's table.”

iii.                We see David’s response to be quite different than what Mephibosheth had envisioned. Vs 7, David says, ‘Don’t be afraid!’
c. Vs. 8 What a terrible thing to say about yourself: “a dead dog like me, a statement representing someone of no value.
i.   His reply to the king’s offer:
1.I am nothing, come from nothing, at least that is what they have been telling me all my life.
2.I will never amount to any thing, I’m crippled, can’t work, can’t even take care of myself let alone somebody else.
3.Nobody has ever cared about me, most don’t even know I exist…..why would you want to do anything for a dead dog like me?
5.Have you ever found yourself at a place where you felt like you’d become worthless, or maybe you felt inadequate for the task that’s been put before you?
a.You see, for Mephibosheth, in this moment, as he’s receiving this blessing from King David, everything that he had believed, known, everything that he had internalized about him, had been wrong!
i.   Confused, trying to figure out what is going on, knowing, coming to the palace, just waiting for the sword to come across his neck! 
b.But it didn’t happen.
i.   And in the same way we begin to believe and internalize these things that we believe about God.
1.David did not single him out for his disability, or withdraw from honoring him because of it he simply did what he would have done for any son of Jonathan.
a.Powerful warrior or wounded son.
c. We think, God's mad at me because, I haven’t been doing what I know I probably should be doing.
d.I know He’s upset, and He’s just waiting to destroy me.
i.   Or maybe it’s that you’ve carried guilt, for years, for something that wasn’t even your fault.
6.You see, in the same way that David had an unlikely and different outcome for Mephibosheth, God’s desire is to bless you, and to bring you a hope and a future.
a.David says I’m going to give Mephibosheth, all of King Saul’s land.
b.Not, like, a little garden over here to the corner, he gives him everything that had belonged to his grandfather, who was king.
i.   *Look at Vs. 11.*
ii. This incredible story of restoration, David honors his word, brings rescue, healing and power back to this broken, frail life.
c. David welcomed him to his table, and into his life as a son.
i.   We love seeing things like somebody who never got that chance, jump up on a stage, and sing in front of a few judges, get a couple of chair turns, and the next thing you know, they’re the next pop icon.
1.We cheer them on, because we love to see the underdog.
ii. Or, like, some tragedy strikes, and you see a family lose a father, and the mom’s doing everything she can to keep things together. The house starts to fall down around them, and it’s in disrepair, and they don’t have the money. And these people swoop in, and they just take this broken-down shanty, and they create a castle out of this thing, in one week! Then this super loud intense dude is in the street screaming, chanting “Move that bus!”  And people are crying in the street, and they’re like, “Awwww,” and we’re all crying on the couch. Why?
d.Because we love these stories of mercy, and redemption, because this person, this little boy who had this terrible beginning, ends up with this insanely blessed ending.
e.These stories are etched on the very DNA of our souls, because you’ve got to understand that we are Mephibosheth.
7.This true story symbolizes what Christ has done for all mankind.
a.“What do you mean, I’m Mephibosheth?”
b.Well, first, maybe you are not fallen and broken physically, but every single one of us are fallen and broken spiritually.

Romans 3:23 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.”

c. Second, we aren’t just left there.
i.   Just as King David pursued Mephibosheth, King Jesus–not just a king here on earth that grants us land, wealth, or material possessions, pursues us.
1.Jesus Christ seeks and saves that which was lost.
ii.John 3:17 “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world,
1.He didn’t send Him to condemn the world.
iii.               but to save the world through Him.”
1. The greatest underdog story ever told.
d.Next, the King’s table covers our sin.
i.   When he sat at the king’s table, his crippled, broken condition, his legs were completely covered by the king’s table.
1.Jesus covers your sin and crippled inabilities.
ii. And when people looked on at Mephibosheth, they didn’t see a broken young man.
1.They saw someone who was of power, who was of position, who had been granted access by the king, and they saw someone who sat there “like one of the king’s own sons.”
iii.                The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and His blood that was shed for us, covers all we’re made whole and complete at the King’s table.
1.You may think that you are broken and useless, forsaken but God says that you are chosen and invited to His table.
iv.                Vs. 13 Knowing that we are Mephibosheth, you could just say, “And___________, who was broken, and crippled now eats regularly at the King’s table.”
e.Finally, Mephibosheth could do nothing to earn David’s favor, and blessing, there’s nothing that we can do to earn God’s goodness and forgiveness in our lives.

Ephesians 2:6a “For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

f.   That’s the Spirit of God stirring on the inside of you at this very moment, that feeling, that need for purpose, healing and forgiveness.
i.   Jesus wants to heal the broken, lift up the down trodden, set free the addict, give hope to the hopeless, and elevate the depressed.
1.Jesus wants to rescue, redeem, restore, and return us to the Father’s table.
g.He wants every person to come up out of whatever is holding them down and walk in the destiny and purpose of God!

i.   Come, follow your instincts with all your dysfunctions, disabilities, disappointments, inadequacies, heartaches, burdens and pains and Jesus Christ will bear them all!




Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Sit with me week 4 Which chair are you in?






*Sit with me video*
https://vimeo.com/139639707


A staggering statistic tells us that 84% of the students brought up in church will not attend regularly in their adulthood.
·     Even though having a relationship with God is your responsibility this makes Godly Leadership feel like failures.
o  Maybe they were/are trying to live off of the borrowed faith of their parents, grandparents or friends.
o  Maybe their parents abided by all the religious rules instead of living out and engaging in a growing, vibrant relationship in Christ.
o  It could be that they are treating God like a shop vac, something only to be pulled out when there is a terrible mess to clean up.
·     I absolutely hate this fact but person after person after person choose to walk away from God, His house, and His mission for their lives. 

Deuteronomy 6:10-13 10 "The LORD your God will soon bring you into the land He swore to give you when He made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 13 You must fear the LORD your God and serve Him. When you take an oath, you must use only His name.”

1.Chair of Commitment.
a.Abraham the bible says built an altar and worshipped the Lord.
                                            i.     He built many altars but always to God never to anyone or anything else.

Genesis 12:7b “And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD.”
1.He picked out a place to honor God.
2.He chose a place to worship and serve God.
3.He secured a place to sacrifice and give to God.
a.He engaged personally experienced, encountered God for himself.
                                                                                                  i.     He lived in an “I KNOW God” lifestyle.
b.Altars were used in many religions, but for God’s people, altars are more than places of sacrifice.
                                            i.     For Christianity, altars symbolize communion, unity, and relationship with God; commemorating notable encounters with Him.
                                         ii.     They were places of testimony to the only true God in the midst of uncharted idolatry.
                                       iii.     They are reminders of God’s protection and promises.
                                      iv.     Continual reminders of God’s faithfulness, strength and healing power.
c. Abraham knew he couldn‘t survive spiritually without regularly renewing his love and loyalty to God.
                                            i.     Building an altar will help you remember that God is at the center of your life.
                                         ii.     Worship helps us remember God’s value to us.
                                       iii.     Finally, it motivates us to honor, love, trust and obey Him. 
d.Do you have a commitment to God?
e.Do you have a commitment to His house, His purposes?
f.   Do you allow Him to speak to you, change you, and guide you into His purpose for your life?
                                            i.     Are you sitting in this chair?

Judges 2:7 “And the Israelites served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him—those who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.
10 After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things He had done for Israel. 11 The Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight and served the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD.”

g.You have to dig your own spiritual wells!
                                            i.     We must engage this next generation.

Genesis 26:12-15 12 “When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him. 13 He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. 14 He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 15 So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac's wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.”

                                         ii.     This was a declaration and announcement of war!
h.Closing off a well, represented closing off one’s source of life.
                                            i.     God’s house, God’s Word and God’s Spirit is a well of life.
1.You come to the well and you can get all that you need, His well will never run dry.
                                         ii.     The Devil has come along and filled in the well of your life.
1.He’s filled it in with activities and confusion.
2.He’s filled it in with strife and doubt.
3.He’s filled it in with anxiety and financial stresses.
                                       iii.     The Devil’s a thief and a robber and desires to take life away from you in every possible way imaginable.
Genesis 26:18a “He reopened the wells his father had dug,”
i.   He dug again.
j.   We have to be willing to do the hard work and the consistent effort of commitment.

Illustrate here: You can count on the chair of commitment.

2.Chair of Casual Compromise.
a.Isaac also built altars and worshipped God but he found it is easier to compromise or lie to avoid confrontations.
                                            i.     Essentially building other altars and worshipping idols, instead of God alone.
                                         ii.     Even playing favorites between his sons and alienating his wife.

Mark 4:18 “The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.”

b.I refuse to only have “generation before me stories.”
                                            i.     *Hearing it, not engaging it.*
c. The observed experience.
                                            i.     Well my parents we’re Christians and I was always in church.
1.I “think I know God.”
2.You’re as close to God as you want to be.
                                         ii.     I want to be a generation who knows God and am being guided by His Spirit all of my days.
d.Chair of casual compromise says, “Oh if I do this it won’t matter” mentality…
                                            i.     Just one drink.
                                         ii.     Just one look.
                                       iii.     Just one touch.
                                      iv.     Just one hit.
                                         v.     Just one lie.
                                      vi.     I’ll skip just this one service.
1.You are deeply missed when you are not present, by God and His people.
                                    vii.     Just one sexual encounter.
                                 viii.     Just one, just one, just one…
e.A lot of people live their lives in the Chair of casual compromise.
                                            i.     They compromise everything and then wonder why they end up miserable and left with nothing.
1.Negotiating with the enemy will destroy you.
Romans 12:1 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.”
f.   A living sacrifice.
                                            i.     Altars were used to sacrifice; we are to be living sacrifices.
                                         ii.     Living my life sacrificed to God, His purposes and His mission.
1.The thing about compromise is that it's easy to drift.
2.Drifting is actually first nature.
3.When we don't stand up or we let our standards down we compromise and we become something we wouldn't dare think we would.

Illustrate here: Meth pics.

g.The devils biggest lie is, just this one time. 
                                            i.     The enemy is crafty, creative yet totally predictable.  
                                         ii.     If you don’t set up some parameters and borders he’ll get yet you again with your go to sin.
John 8:34 “Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”
1.Sin fascinates, then it assassinates.
2.On the outside everything may look good but on the inside we know the condition of our heart is far from who we are to be.
3.We are lost or found, saved or unsaved, believers or non- believers there is no halfway in God’s Kingdom.  
h.With restoration comes great responsibility.
                                            i.     Make the purity of others a priority for us.
1.Sit with me is an invite to believe, an invite to be saved, an invite to connection with Christ.

Luke 5:16 “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.”

2.You have to be intentional about growth.
a.Go to church.
b.Get a mentor.
c. Become a mentor.       
i.   Complacency and compromise is a nasty chair to live in.
Proverbs 26:11 “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.” 
                                            i.     God’s call is bigger than my fall.
j.   The secret of Abraham’s faithful separation from the ungodly, unholy system of his day and to his God was in the fact that he kept his eyes on a “heavenly city.”  

Illustrate here: (Chill in a soft comfy chair.) Compromise is comfortable. Party, dude! Church, sweet! Godly things, dude!! Ungodly things, sweet!! God does not celebrate compromise, only people do.

3.Chair of Confusion. 
a.Jacob built an altar but only when he was in trouble.
                                            i.     Cynical Experience.
1.Pessimistic.
2.Skeptical.
3.Distrustful.
a.You don’t know for yourself.
b.The antonym for confusion would be, to understand.
                                            i.     People have no understanding of God, His purposes, His miracles, His divine plan, and His will for their lives or for mankind.
                                         ii.     Sometimes we go life on our own and forget about how He has led us this far, encouraged us, provided for us, carried us and guided us.
1.It’s like thanks God for the travel this far but I got it now.
2.Keep the blessings coming, keep me in good health, keep my career skyrocketing but I don’t need your advice/help any longer.

Illustrate here: Don't be a cheap imitation, be the real thing. Dr. Pepper has 129 imitations.
c. Dr. Aahh
d.Dr. Better
e.Dr. Buzz            
f.   Dr. CHEAPER
g.Dr. Cool
h.Dr. D
i.   Dr. DIABLO
j.   Dr. Enuf-One taste of that you’ll have had enough.
k.Dr. Flave
l.   DR. PHIZZ
m.               Dr. Pizzazz
n.Dr. RIFFIC
o.Dr. Schnee
p.Dr. Thunder
q.Dr. Tremor-probably gives you the tremors.
r.  Dr. WOW
s. DR. X
t.  Dr Zipp
                                            i.     It makes no difference what you decide to call it and how cool your campaign was or how much you spent on advertising every one knows there is only one Dr. Pepper!
1.Often imitated, never duplicated.
u.Regardless of which chair you might find your self in this morning I am here to help you examine the source of your faith and to encourage you to take ownership of your faith.
                                            i.     Like Abraham, we need to dig our own wells and build our own altars.
                                         ii.     Then, and only then will you have what it takes to go the distance and run the race God’s marked out for you.            
                                       iii.     So that when it feels like no one else is reading their bibles, they read their bibles.
                                      iv.     When it seems like no one else is worshipping, they worship.
                                         v.     When it seems like no one else is praying, they can be found in surrender to God.
                                      vi.     I desire to awaken that kind of passion for the Cause, the Kingdom, and the King.
1.God will not give up on you until He has all of you.
2.Serving others takes real leadership—the kind Jesus exemplified His whole life.
3.Jesus’ mission was to serve others and to give His life away.
4.You can start by modeling God’s acceptance, compassion, helping and loving others.
5.If you see something that needs to be done, don’t wait to be asked; take the initiative and do it like a faithful servant.
4.God never condemns us; He convicts us but never condemns us.
a.Condemns means to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment upon; indicate strong disapproval of.

John 3:16 16 "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”

b.Convicts means that the Spirit of God helps us to understand and connect to the fact that there is substantial evidence to convict.

1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”