Last week, we were reminded of what it truly means to follow Jesus.  We ended as His disciples followed Him into a boat and began to cross a lake on His way to free two violent, demon-possessed men.  Jesus left behind the crowds and the needs of the people to continue following His Heavenly Father’s lead.

The safest place to be is right in the center of God’s will for our lives.  That doesn’t mean that there won’t be trouble and opposition and difficulties, but it still remains the safest place.  We saw this real-life example when a storm suddenly came in and nearly sank the boat that Jesus and the disciples were on.

Knowing where they were headed gave Jesus the faith to rebuke the winds and bring God’s peace and calm to drive away the chaos of the storm.

Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to figure out the one big thing that God wills for our lives that we forget that life is really just about doing the next thing that God calls us to.  Whether it seems big or significant to us or not, the most important thing that we can do is simply to follow Him.

Sometimes pushing back someone’s shopping cart for them or sending them a quick text message can be just as significant and life-changing when lead to do so by the Spirit as bringing a dead person back to life.  In fact, those simple acts of service can spiritually lead a person to cross over from death to life!

The will of God for our lives can be simplified by considering what we are pursuing. 

God is always pursuing us, calling out to us, reaching out to us.  God is always speaking, providing, and inviting.  God pioneered a path for us and awaits our choice to follow Him or to continue our own way.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that everyone would repent and be saved. 

God freely gives us all things.  Everything that we have from the breath that we breathe to the fact that we woke up this morning is a free gift from God. 

Psalm 118:24 (NKJV)

This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Every day is a day that the Lord has made and He has made us for this day.  What will we choose to do with it, though?  What will we choose to fill each day that God gives us with?

God is pursuing us, but what are we pursuing?

To be in the center of His will and in a place of safety and peace is to simply pursue God.

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you

    from the fowler’s snare

    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes

    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salva

This morning, we’re continuing where we left off last week in the evening service as we see Jesus healing every sickness and every disease of the crowds of people following Him.

Matthew 8:16-34

16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah (53):

“He took up our infirmities

    and bore our diseases.”

The very next verse in Isaiah says:

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

This brought to my attention an interesting aspect to prophecy.  Here we have a prophetic word given by Isaiah about Jesus.  Living on this side of history, when I read Isaiah 53 verses 3 and 4, I always read them as one word and always believed that it was fulfilled on the cross.

According to Matthew, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” was being fulfilled before Jesus even picked up the cross to carry it.  Jesus taking up our infirmities and bearing our diseases was happening as He went about healing people from them.  Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever and Jesus always has been, is now, and always will be our healer.

This part of the prophetic word happened before He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, punished to bring us peace, and wounded to heal us.

So, if you’ve been given a prophetic word and a part of it came to pass, but the rest of it did not, it may just be that the time has not yet come for the rest of its fulfillment.

Don’t give up on every word and promise from God for they will never fail.  It’s not over yet, there is still hope and God is still at work!  Paul wrote to Timothy this very reminder:

1 Timothy 1:18-19

18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.

Recall those prophecies and keep fighting the good fight of the faith!  To follow Jesus is a whole-life commitment.  It requires us to trust Him and to let go of our own opinions.

For example, Jesus was healing the sick, driving out demons, and fulfilling the prophetic word that Isaiah spoke about Him.  The crowd kept growing of people who needed healing, deliverance, and people who wanted to hear the teachings of Jesus. 

We would think that this is a good thing and that Jesus would keep ministering to the needs of those who were coming to Him.  We would think that Jesus would encourage the growth of the crowd and be excited about it.  However, Jesus responded in an unexpected way.

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.

Jesus instead left the crowds and got ready to cross a lake.  Then, Jesus responds in another unexpected way.

19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

The choice to follow Jesus is not one to be made as just an emotional response in the heat of the moment.  The choice to become a disciple of Jesus and to follow Him is one that is to be thoughtfully considered.

In fact, there is another time when Jesus spoke very directly to the crowds with this same concern.  Often in our culture, we measure success by the size of the crowds and the numbers of those in attendance.  Though it is true that a healthy church should be growing, Jesus valued comm

Next Sunday, we’re hosting revival services.  Now there is usually a great deal of excitement around these services and rightfully so. 

We eagerly come expecting great things from God.  We expect to experience a personal encounter with Him.  Whether it be a prophetic word, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, salvation, spiritual gifts, healing, deliverance, or some new thing that has never even been done before, we come with great expectation!

We expect the fire of revival to come anew and to set our hearts ablaze for Jesus.  We expect His refining fire to burn away our fleshly desires and for God, our All-Consuming Fire, to cause us to shine brightly for Him.  We expect to have our hunger and thirst for more of His Presence to be satisfied and yet simultaneously to increase.

We expect to hear a fresh word of God; a new revelation about Him and His Kingdom and more about who we are in Christ.  We expect to be encouraged and challenged and inspired to live the full and abundant lives that Jesus promises to us.

All of this is great and right and should be the case.  However, why wait until we need revived to seek after God for these things and to expect them from Him?

Do we wait to eat until we are fatigued and beginning to pass out?

Do we wait to breath until we’re blue in the face and losing consciousness?

Do we wait to find a source of income until our vehicles and home have been repossessed?

Of course not!

What if our zeal for the Lord was something that we fanned into flame daily?  What if we lived under the sheltering cover of His Presence?  What if we sought and followed the lead of the Holy Spirit consistently?

What if our desire to bring others into a personal encounter with Jesus exceeded our own personal hunger for more of God’s Kingdom?

Proverbs 11:25

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

It’s something to seriously consider, right?

Throughout our history, we’ve experienced many revivals.  God’s word and our recent history contain several of them and I believe that we’re going to soon experience a great revival once again!  As the Elijah and Baal showdown taught us, if we provide the sacrifice, the fire of God will fall, right?

However, now, we don’t prepare an altar of stone and wood upon which we place bulls.

Romans 12:1-2

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We offer up our own selves as a living sacrifice and expect the fire of God to fall.  It’s said that John Wesley was once asked “What is your secret? Why do so many people come to hear you preach?” and that he answered “I get alone with God in prayer. He sets me on fire. The people come out to watch me burn.”

The greatest revivalist of all time took the same approach.  In fact, you may have heard of Him before.  His name is Jesus Christ.  God, Himself, came down from perfection and wrapped Himself in the same weak and tempted flesh that you and I live in.  God became man and dwelt among us. 

He was baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit and He began a world-wide movement that will not cease until He returns again to end the current order of things.  In just three years, His ministry made such a rippling wave that you and I are here as a direct result of it!  In fact, that same Spirit that baptized Jesus and even rose Him from the grave dwells in you and I!

The blind could see, the dead were raised, the deaf could hear, the leprous were given clear skin, sins were forgiven, food was multiplied, every sickness and ever disease was healed, demons were cast out, many believed and began following Jesus.  The list goes on and on and on,

There is freedom here in this place!  Complete freedom, true freedom!  Nothing holding us back, nothing weighing us down!  So free that not even death can stop us!  Jesus said:

John 8:36

if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

There is a freedom that we receive and experience through Christ that is unlike any other freedom that this world can offer us.  It is a freedom that is nearly indescribable.  It is a freedom that Jesus paid the highest price to purchase.  Jesus stepped out of Heaven, victoriously overcame all opposition in our weak and tempted flesh, gave His life on the cross to take on the curse and punishment that we all deserve because of our sin, and then defeated all sin and death. 

All power and authority given to Him and now accessible to us!  We have been empowered to rise above the weaknesses and temptations of our flesh and to destroy every work of the devil!  Jesus has set us free indeed!

That is, if we so choose to be free. 

Galatians 5:1‭;‬13‭-‬16

1 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.

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

We were born in this flesh, born in sin.  Initially in life, it’s all that we know.  We live our lives controlled by our own will, our own desires, our own opinions, and our own feelings.  We think that freedom is being able to do whatever we want whenever we want however we want without consequence.  In fact, if you ask Google what freedom is, they define it as: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Place a dozen or so toddlers (tiny humans who act, speak, and think as they want without hindrance or restraint) together in a room with some snacks and toys and see if you would call that a place of freedom.

This isn’t freedom, it is slavery to our flesh. I propose that true freedom is actually the power to act, speak, or think with chosen hindrance or restraint. It is the power to choose to restrain our own flesh that gives us freedom.

Anyone can act, speak, or think without any restraint and there are always consequences for them. Believing that we can ever do so without consequence is simply a lie about our reality that actually enslaves us instead of freeing us.

That train of thought usually leads to prison quite literally.

Gratifying all of the desires of our flesh simply makes our flesh our master.  We become a slave to it and are by no means lead along a path to freedom.

2 Peter 2:19

… “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”

Paul teaches us that if we walk by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  Through Christ alone, by the empowerment and leading of the Holy Spirit, we are finally set free from our bondage!  As he also wrote:

2 Corinthians 3:17

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

There is a freedom available within us through the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit empowers us, emboldens us, sets us free indeed!

Even in the very beginning, this fight for freedom existed.  We usually think of the temptation of Adam and Eve.  However, I think it is interesting to read the encounter between Cain, the first person ever born, Abel, the second person ever born, and God.  God spoke with Cain who was really downcast and angry because he favored Abel’s offering to Him over his own.  His flesh was tempting him to act out on his anger and to kill his brother.  God came to Cain in his anger and told him:

Genesis 4:6-7

6 “Why are y

This weekend, we celebrate Independence Day.  On July 4, 1776, delegates from the thirteen colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson.  This document lays out 27 grievances against Great Britain resulting in the colonies’ decision to absolve all allegiance and political connections to the British Crown and its tyranny and declaring themselves to be independent states. 

It is considered the birth of the United States of America and the freedom that we now enjoy.  It began a new government that put in place many measures to prevent tyranny by establishing three distinct branches of power guided by a simple, but incredibly powerful document; the constitution of the United States of America.

Just last weekend, our family spent some time in Philadelphia and Valley Forge experiencing firsthand where many of the events of the founding of this nation began.  We saw the very weapons used, read the personal journal entries from those involved, walked through the buildings and grounds where it all took place. 

We were amazed by the courage and sacrifice that so many made to participate in the following war for this freedom and the nearly impossible odds that they faced to win that victory.

Only 250 years later, these sacrifices have produced one of the greatest nations on the face of the earth!  We have been blessed with so many civil freedoms that many right now across the earth are being denied.  We’re not a perfect nation, but as the founding fathers wrote, they certainly formed a more perfect union!

Any government established by humans and operated by humans will never be perfect.  Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence lays a foundation defining that governments are instituted to secure the unalienable rights that we are endowed with by our Creator which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  These governments derive their power by the consent of those who are governed by it and warned that they should not be changed for light and transient causes.

Our nation’s leaders today continue to struggle to ensure the rights of all people groups without also infringing on the rights of others.  It’s an incredibly difficult balance to maintain!  In our constitutional republic, we have the opportunity to be a voice into our government and to directly influence the decisions that are made and the laws that are legislated.  As Christians, we should speak up and take a stand to ensure that the government continues to protect and defend our rights.

There are plenty of scriptures that instruct us to do so, but one of my favorites is:

Psalm 119:45-47

45 I will walk about in freedom,

    for I have sought out your precepts.

46 I will speak of your statutes before kings

    and will not be put to shame,

47 for I delight in your commands

    because I love them.

From a Christian perspective, we have had a few huge wins as the Supreme Court decided to overturn the decision made 50 years ago with Roe v. Wade indicating that a right to abort the life of an unborn child is not protected by the constitution.  They also decided that a coach named Joseph Kennedy’s right to pray at the 50 yard line on the field after public school football games is protected by the constitution.

Here is where we begin to transition and where my personal, Biblically guided, perspective often becomes unpopular as a Christian living in the US.  As a follower of Christ, we have dual citizenship.  All of us sitting here this morning are citizens of the United States of America.  Those who have put their faith in Christ are also citizens of Heaven.  The USA is a constitutional republic, Heaven is a kingdom.

Biblically, this is evident as the apostle Paul claimed to be a Roman citizen (Acts 16,22) and claimed and leveraged all of the rights ensured him because of this status.  He also claimed to be a citizen of Heaven (Philippians 3).

We are incredible blessed to live in a n

This morning, we honor and celebrate fatherhood!  There is truly no other journey like it!

This morning, we’re going to learn some advice for being a good father from the life of Jacob, whom God renamed to Israel.  God is obviously the absolute best, perfect father.  However, He chose Jacob, a single man, to be the father of His own people.  That’s saying a lot!

God chose Jacob to father twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes of Israel who would, spiritually speaking, become the father of us all.  His children became the nation of Israel and generations later, they are still here today as a direct result of God’s promise.

This was the promise given by God first to Abram, which was then passed along through Isaac, which was then passed along through a blessing to Jacob.  We start with the power of:

A father’s blessing

One of the most significant things that God has enabled a Father to do is to pass along a blessing to his children and along through his children to future generations.  The blessing that a father speaks over his children is prophetic and powerfully life-directing!  This blessing is our inheritance that remains even when we are not present.

Proverbs 13:22 (NKJV)

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children

An inheritance is so much more than just money and material possessions.  As most of us have seen firsthand, those things will destroy a family if they are not also accompanied by the blessing of a strong moral compass built from God’s word and a solid foundation to stand on of God’s Kingdom principles.  Only then is an inheritance all that God intends for it to be.

Men, what are we passing along as an inheritance to the generations to come in our families?  What attitudes and behaviors and mindsets do we bless?  Which do we boldly curse?  What values are we developing into the lives of our children and the generations to follow them?  What are we defining as right and where do we draw the boundary of what is wrong?  We do these things not only with our words, but more importantly, with our own actions.

God honors the blessing that we pass along to our children because it’s who He is.  He promises and fulfills, therefore, he honors the blessing that we as fathers prophetically promise to our children.

Don’t underestimate the power and authority that are carried in the blessing of a father!  Next, we can take a breath of relief because:

Perfection is not a requirement

Jacob wasn’t a perfect man and he definitely did not have the perfect family.  He was a momma’s boy and his twin brother, Esau, was his dad’s rough and tough hunter.  Jacob bought his firstborn brother’s birthright for a bowl of soup.  Then, he stole his father’s blessing to Esau by deceiving him.  Of course, this was his mom’s idea and not his own.  She vowed to be cursed so that Jacob might be blessed.  Esau was furious and planned to murder him because of it.  This is how valuable the blessing of a father is!

We don’t have to live life perfectly to be the perfect father to our children.  In fact, we probably teach them more from our mistakes and how we respond to them and what we do to own up to them and to make things right than we do by making all the right choices.

Jacob didn’t have the perfect family.  Jacob chose to favor his son Joseph more than his brothers and this caused issues.  Ten of Jacob’s own sons agreed to kill, but then instead sold off into slavery, Joseph!  However, because of Jacob’s commitment and faithfulness to serve the Lord and that same trait that Joseph lived out, God brought their family all together in the end.

Jacob’s life was not without hardships.  His own uncle, Laban, treated him badly.  He broke his promise at the end of a seven year contract by deceiving him and giving him the wrong daughter in marriage.  Then, he made him work for seven more years for the daughter that he worked the first seven years for.  However, God continued to bless Ja

This morning, we continue on our journey.

700 years before Nebuchadnezzar’s  blazing furnace and 1,400 years before the birth of the church at Pentecost, another miraculous fire was burning.  God called out from within a bush that was on fire, but never burned up to a man named Moses.

And also again, God was concerned for His people.  They were being harshly oppressed and He heard their cries of suffering.  They were still in between the place where God told Abram to “go” and the land that was promised to him and his descendants.  They were stuck in Egypt; physically between the place of promise and the place of the fulfillment of that promise.  And, yes, it can be a discouraging and miserable place to be. 

God remembered His promise and said to Moses:

Exodus 3:10-14

So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

With all of Moses’ concerns and questions, God’s consistent response was the assurance that He would be with Moses.  Moses felt unqualified and insignificant for the calling that God had placed on him. 

Last week, the disciples were confused and questioned Jesus and His response was simply, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  I AM!  I AM WHO I AM!

Later in Moses’ life, he was again growing frustrated and overwhelmed with the journey that he was on and the calling of God on his life.  Like Thomas last week, Moses just wanted to know the right things to do;.  He just wanted to know God’s ways so that he could make right life decisions.  Moses said:

Exodus 33:13-14

13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Again, God’s response again was simply that He would be with Moses.  God’s Presence is enough.  Jesus is enough.  The infilling of the Holy Spirit is enough. 

Life is less about making all of the right decisions and more about getting to really know God and how to live in cooperation with Him. Jesus taught:

Matthew 7:21-2321 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Life is less about doing all the right things and more about truly knowing Jesus!

Whatever we may be going through and wherever we are at on our journey, God’s consistent assurance for us and reminder to us is that He is with us and for us.

Moses’ role was just to walk in cooperation with God and to trust Him.  First, Moses was to go to the elders of Israel, then he was to go to the Pharoah and request that he let the Israelites go on a 3 day journey into the wilderness to worship the Lord.  It sounds like a simple request, but God said:

Exodus 3:19-22

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward thi

We left off last week with the realization that Jesus’ disciples were about to have transferred to them the responsibility of continuing His ministry.  They were promised the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit to equip and empower them to be able to carry that responsibility. 

Today is Pentecost Sunday and we are so incredibly blessed to live in the days of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all people.  It is an experience that we don’t want anyone to miss out on!  Salvation is a free gift to all who ask for it in faith and so is the gift of Spirit Baptism.  Jesus taught us that anyone who asks for the Holy Spirit will be given the Holy Spirit and we want Him to the full!  We want to be overflowing with the Spirit of the Living God within!  We want His fire baptism to burn away all of our old self so that only He remains!

For Jesus’ disciples, however, there was a journey in between the promise and the fulfillment.  There was a season of waiting and uncertainty; a 50 day season.  There was a journey to make and it was going to be a challenging, dangerous, and emotion-filled one.  Jesus was concerned for them. 

Would they have the courage and strength and faith to stay the course and continue the journey without His physical presence?

Out of His concern, He told them in just a few simple words everything that they needed to know about the path that lie ahead of them.  They didn’t understand it at the time, but as they journeyed on, those words became a lamp for their feet and a light to their path.

Those same simple words are the answer for each of us as well.

He said:

John 14:1-14

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Just like His disciples, you already know the way to the place where Jesus has gone.  You do!

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Really knowing Jesus is to know the way.  Really, really getting to know Jesus is to have a confidence and boldness and assurance that we are never alone.  Knowing the Father in a personal, intimate way so much so that you know His thoughts, His attitudes, His voice, His behavior, His attributes. 

Jesus is the way.  To us, this is a cliché, easy-to-quote verse.  However, it should be so, so much more to us.  Jesus IS THE WAY!  With Jesus:

Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

You never need to be lost when you have been found by Jesus.  You will never need to be lonely when you have the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  You never need to wonder or worry or fear when you know Jesus, the way.

However, much like us, the disciples heard these words straight from the mouth of Jesus and yet they still just didn’t quite get it…

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Wow, this had to pierce the heart of Jesus; it had to hurt.  Jesus wasn’t enough for Philip.  He wanted to see the Heavenly Father.

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?

It doesn’t matter how many years we have been with Jesus.  We can still miss it.  We can still not truly know Jesus and therefore, not truly know the way.  In the same way that you could know someone and spend tons of time with them and still not really know who they are, we can call ourselves a Christian for

As we learned the last few weeks, God has us on a journey.  We were challenged to take our next step; to keep moving forward in our life in faith and obedience.

Yes, it’s important to celebrate our successes.  God instructed Joshua to build a memorial after crossing over the flooded Jordan on dry ground for generations to remember the goodness and faithfulness of God.  He set aside times and seasons for celebrating and feasting and rejoicing.

Marie shared God’s vision with us last week that we have arrived!  We are on a mountain top and have achieved a large degree of success at coming together in unity and finally moving beyond some things that held us back for so long.  God even paid off our mortgage and miraculously enabled us to be debt free!  He has given us so much to celebrate and rejoice in; more than we could even mention!

We’re beginning to see a move of the Holy Spirit bringing about the miraculous and we firmly believe that He’s just getting started!

God is now calling us up higher.  He is calling us to ascend to the next mountain.  We’re moving from glory to glory!

As Marie shared last week, there are several different ways to reach out destination and according to the Lord’s revelation; we choose.  God also has a purpose laid out on each of those paths.

Whether flying across on a horse or on the wings of eagles to help prophetically guide those below and to go ahead to cheer and encourage others on.  Whether running and not growing weary or walking and not growing faint as we walk in the Spirit and run the good race getting to explore firsthand the details and wonderous, deep revelations found in the valley.  Whether crawling or being carried, but doing all that we can to push forward into God’s destiny for us no matter what it takes to get there. 

No matter what, we’re all heading to the same destination and doing what we can to help one another be successful.  Our goal is to all reach our destination with no one left behind.  The key is that we keep encouraging one another along our journey, no matter what each one of ours looks like and what challenges each one of us face, so that none of us give up.

We’re all at different stages in our lives, we are all in different levels in our faith, and we are all different parts of Christ’s body.  We have unique perspectives and strengths and weaknesses and abilities and gifts.  However, the Holy Spirit is able to bring unity in the midst of all of these differences as we care for one another.

Maturing in our faith, however, is a bit like a double-edged sword.  There are huge benefits, but also some responsibilities that may not be comfortable for us.

Spiritual maturity can look a lot like our natural maturity.  In fact, Paul used this very analogy when teaching about how Jesus became perfect through obedience and suffering and discipline and fervent prayers and tears.

Hebrews 5:11-14

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

The more mature we become, the more responsible we become out of necessity.  The more responsible we become, the greater things that God can entrust into our hands.

When we are born, we are reliant on others for everything and we receive everything we need exactly when we cry out for it every time.

As we grow up, we learn self-discipline and patience and how to do more things on our own to meet our own needs.

It’s a good and necessary thing, but it’s not something that any of us wanted to do.  Let’s be honest, adulting is no fun.  But at the same

Have you ever felt stuck in life?

You’re discontent with where you are at, you know that there’s no way to go backwards in life, and yet you’re unsure of where to go from here.  Uncertain about your future, you’re very hesitant to take the next step.  However, you’re certain that you can’t stay where you are for much longer. 

Why not move forward and take the next step?  Usually, it’s because we’re afraid.

Maybe afraid that you might fail.

Maybe afraid that you might choose the wrong path.

Maybe afraid to get hurt again.

Maybe afraid to venture into new and unfamiliar things.

Maybe afraid that you might end up walking that path alone.

These are natural and ordinary responses.  However, we are more than just natural and ordinary people!  Followers of Christ are supernatural and extraordinary people!  Yes, we still live in this flesh and still have those same thoughts and feelings, but we are new creations who walk by faith and not by sight!

We may feel afraid, but we know that:

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

…God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

We may feel afraid, but fear no longer has control of our lives!  Fear has lost its grip!  We have the Spirit of the Living God within us that enables us to overcome all fear and timidity.  We have the raw power of God within us so that nothing can stand against us.  We have within us a perfect love that drives out all fear.  We have been fully equipped to discipline ourselves to no longer bow down to the lies that our fears are shouting at us!

We don’t have to walk in uncertainty, either.  The same Spirit that baptized Jesus and empowered Him to do all of the miraculous works that He did, that same Spirit that rose Jesus from the grave lives in us!  Listen to just some of what Isaiah prophesied that the Spirit of God within us is like:

Isaiah 11:2-3 (NLT)

2 …the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah continued prophesying about Jesus and what the Spirit of God would enable Him, and now us, to do:

3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.

    He will not judge by appearance

    nor make a decision based on hearsay.

We no longer make decisions or judgments based on what looks like the right thing to do or on hearsay of what people say is the right thing for us to do.  We are empowered and emboldened to do what the Lord calls us to do; whether it makes sense or looks right or not by human standards.

When we feel stuck in life, we’re usually not in a good place.  However, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have a purpose for it and that doesn’t mean that God is finished with us and that doesn’t mean that He isn’t going to do something good through it!  Listen to what the word of the Lord declares about you in that place:

Isaiah 30:20-21

20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

What confidence we have when we walk by faith in hearing the Holy Spirit!  He will clearly guide us down the path of the Lord.  Even if we start to stray to the right or to the left, He will redirect us saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Here is the key.  Here is the hard part.  Here is where we miss it.  Here is where we get stuck.

We have to take the next step.  We have to move forward.  We have to start walking.

There are way, way, way too many examples of this in the scriptures.  So many times, God’s people just literally needed to take the next step forward in faith to where God met them and did the miraculous to lead them into the fulfillment of His promises to them.

This morning, we’re going to look one to give us the boldness and the courage and