#178: God wants us to be winners!
(from hillsong london sermon by jerry saville)
We as Christians have the right to live in victory. It's NEVER God's will for use to lose. and even if we have a setback, God wants us to get up again and try until we win.
Psalms 77:14-20
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah
16 The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water,
the skies resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
In the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, they came to the Red Sea. and when it seemed as if they was no way out (Pharoah was behind them), God had a path planned for them THROUGH the Red Sea. No one could see it at that time. and like v19 says, your way through the mighty waters through your footprints were not seen. In some versions, it says a path which no one knows was there.
There is a path through EVERYTHING. Our problems are not from God, they are from Satan.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55
God says that there is a path through that adversity which cannot be seen by the natural eye.
So, you've reached a point in your life where you can't go further or you can't go backwards either. (CF to Israelites) You're trapped between the Pharoah and the Red Sea. What do you do? We need to take that step of faith to get onto that path. Trust God and have complete and total confidence in Him to show you that path.
If God can put that path through the Red Sea and deliver the Isaraelites as He promised, He can definitely put a path through the adversity you're facing.
At the time when someone wants to give up, throw in the towel, quits, he/she is at the point of the breakthrough! Many people cry out to God and when they cry out and He doesn't do want they want Him to do, they complain and turn their backs upon God. At that point of giving up, stick in there, QUIT IS NOT AN OPTION. Don't accept defeat as long as you know deep down that "My God reigns!" If you're at the end of the rope, REJOICE because this means that you're at the verge of a breakthrough.
Psalms 84
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca (or the Valley of tears / sorrow/ weeping),
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
When everything is going wrong, you cry, you're tearful, you're sorrowful. And you have the right to be sorrowful. To cry. But don't stay there crying. Pass through. Some people take up residence at the place of Baca. They stay depressed all their life. God doesn't intend for you to live in your sorrow. He wants you to come out the other side victorious (the place of springs). Go from strength to strength.
We live in a quitting society. Many Christians want to a fair-weather life. But Christianity is a fight of faith. You've got to be a fighter. You've got to resist the devil and he will flee.
1 Peter 5
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
No matter how impossible the situation looks, don't allow fear to let you believe that there is no way through it. If God can calm a great storm and bring great calm on a ship, then He can calm that storm in your life.
i don't think i've ever felt so disappointed in myself before. but this sermon really spoke to me. and i really needed it the sunday of half t it still rings in my head to be a fighter. after rejection from king's and imperial for medicine, i felt at my lowest and lousiest and that all my dreams would just be crushed. where would i go? how would i end up in life? i really felt trapped. i didn't have anywhere to go forward to and i couldn't possibly turn back. what if i don't get a place at ALL for medicine? what would i do? would i compromise and be happy with doing something else? believe you me, i found myself crying the whole of wednesday and thursday. but i realised that i was looking at my situation the wrong way. its not my ways but God's. His ways are WAY higher than mine (no pun intended) and I should just keep on fighting in faith. and who greater to trust than God? :D
And God always has such perfect timing. on Friday morning, I did my QT and decided to read Job although Isaiah was on my agenda. I read through Job 3 and could actually sympathise with him. He had so much inflicted upon him yet he was innocent. and he was SO sad that he cursed the day of his birth. And then his good friend encourages him (and also encouraged me!) throughout chp 4 and 5 and particularly 5:8 (Aliphaz said) "But if it were I, I would appeal to God. I would lay my cause before Him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed and miracles that cannot be counted." Can anything be more encouraging than the word of God? :)
have a very good rest of the week guys! :D