 Our God is a God of order and progression…
While He can take you from one place and transport you to another or show you things that are beyond your current position He typically takes you on a journey that is often referred to in the scriptures as a walk… It’s also referred to as a race because there is a prize and there are rules… Like Morpheus said to Neo… “There are rules that can be bent and there are rules that can be broken”… God takes John up into heaven and shows him the Lord in all His glory… God takes Enoch and Elijah to heaven without dying… God takes untrained and overmatched men and uses them to win military battles like Gideon and Jonathon & his armor bearer… These things do happen but they are truly the exception rather than the rule… The rule is that God awakens the soul of a man or a woman like we saw in Week #1 of our series and they “Break Up” out of death and into life… Week #2 focused on “Breakthrough with People” because people are used to bring you to the Lord and then they are used to help you walk with the Lord… I’m so excited about the group going through the Discipleship Course right now because I believe they are going to begin to see things they’ve never seen before and experience another “Breakthrough” in their lives… But again our God is a God of order and progression… If you don’t understand your salvation and you haven’t been baptized and you aren’t a man or woman of prayer how can you be discipled or disciple others?… In life we often want a career without education or climbing the ladder… We want a peaceful loving relationship without struggle and sacrifice… We want vehicles to run forever without maintenance… In our faith we also feel entitled to blessings once we have “broken up” into salvation but the Lord says now that you are here you must begin to run your race… Actually He says… Begin to crawl and then We will walk and then I will release you to run… 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. See it?… Don’t get too tied up with the lack of spiritual growth and being called carnal Christians who still feed the flesh instead of the Spirit… It’s important but I want you to focus on the picture the Lord is painting about progress… Paul says even now you are babes in Christ… still drinking milk… and not ready for solid food… Hebrews 5:12-14 says… 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil Habakkuk 2:2 is the scripture each of the ministries here at The Way is built on… 2 Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. I understand and teach our ministry leaders though that they cannot run until they learn how to crawl and walk and actually receive visions from God… Today in Week #3 of our “Breakthrough” series we are looking at Breakthrough “With God and In Your Faith”… We’ve seen the need to “Break Up” and out of this world and we’ve seen that we need breakthrough “With People” in order to live in the kingdom… Now I want to focus on gaining ground “With God and In Your Faith” in the heavenly realm… Prayer… Let us enjoy the milk given to us if we are babes in the faith but let us crawl if we need to crawl and help us to walk if we should be walking and let us run who should be running… I want to start out by saying I’m talking to Christians… If you’d like to become one you always have the opportunity to confess your sin and ask Jesus to become Lord and Savior… For the Christians I speak to I want to challenge you but I always want you to remember that you are saved by grace and faith in Jesus and this isn’t about earning anything from Jesus… This is about growing in Jesus and experiencing breakthrough with “God and In Your Faith”… On your best day you are hidden in Christ and that is what God sees and on your worst day you are hidden in Christ and that is what God sees… Let me paint a picture of the kind of breakthrough we are talking about… You were asleep and you had a breakthrough into consciousness earlier today… You were in your home and you opened the door and broke-through into nature… You got into your care and you were on many roads but then you broke-through off of Lambert or Tamarack and into the church parking lot… You got out of your car and you broke-through into the foyer… You broke-through into the sanctuary and here you are… At each breakthrough you enter in to something special but even though you are leaving something behind you bring the knowledge of what you’ve left behind with you into the future… Many of us don’t realize the blessings of the different areas that we’ve broken-into with God and we forget to carry the blessings of past breakthroughs with us… Let’s look at our morning again not as babes on milk but as men and women who are eating solid food… You were asleep and you had a breakthrough into consciousness earlier today… You realized this morning as you do every morning that you are not in control and would die if God didn’t rest you every night and wake you every morning… You were in your home and you opened the door and broke-through into nature… You breathed in fresh air and looked at the creation of God reminding you that the Sun is giving life to everything around you and the Son of God is giving life within you… You got into your care and you were on many roads but then you broke-through off of Lambert or Tamarack and into the church parking lot… As you got into your car you realized that God has given man the gift to create because He is a creator and the things we create are a blessing to man kind… You got out of your car and you broke-through into the foyer… You realized that there were many places the blessings of your manmade car could have taken you and even in this parking lot there were many doors but you chose The Way… You looked around the Foyer and realized there is water and coffee and places to sit and relax and there is a TV giving you information on what’s ahead of you… and there are other people who have had breakthroughs this morning and arrived in the very same foyer that you have… You broke-through into the sanctuary and here you are… You realize that in this very room you have learned the majority of the things you know about God and you have worshipped Him in song more here than any other place and you feel His presence here in a unique way and you say to yourself I expect to meet with Him here today… You thank Him for all that He has done just to get you here so that He can speak into your life and bless you and comfort you… See at each stage of breakthrough there are things that you can now do that you could not have done before the breakthrough and there are things that you can no longer do that you could before the breakthrough… Yesterday I sat with a couple and heard a woman who’s been married for 50 years testify about never letting her emotions get in the way of what God has called her husband to… and not letting the immature sympathy of other believers lead her into self pity for herself or her children… and proclaiming that if God calls her husband into ministry that He has also called the family and will provide for the children in every area of their lives… She had breakthrough in these areas and she could never go back to where she was before the breakthrough… If she ever wanted to she would have to deny what she had come to know and forfeit all that was prepared for her in that new place with God… Hebrews 5:13-14 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised See a babe drinks milk forever but those who grow up and continue to breakthrough with God they enjoy solid food and they remember the milk that was given to them… They begin to ask questions like where did that milk come from? and who prepared the solid food? and what can I do to show my gratitude for all that has been provided for me?… How can I honor You Lord for this relationship you’ve given me and these finances you’ve given me and this house of worship You’ve led me too?… Beyond your journey to church this morning and all the breakthrough that took place what breakthroughs have happened in your walk with the Lord?… So what breakthroughs are still ahead and how will you be sure to experience them?… 1. Hold On Habakkuk 2:1-3 1 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. 2 Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come Breakthroughs with the Lord come to those who wait for them… God corrects and directs and we have to be ready for that… God will give vision and direction that we must write in stone so that we can have clarity about the direction we are to run… Then we must wait for Him to give us breakthrough… Breakthrough is for “an appointed time”… It will come but you must be there “holding on” when it does… A brother told me he had been significantly struggling for a while and then this last wednesday in bible study he had breakthrough… He was struggling but he continued to show up and he continued to serve the church and he continued to love his wife and children and he continued to show up for men’s fellowship and he continued to go to work but Wednesday was the “appointed time” of breakthrough… Hold On men and women of God!… Not because I say so but because God says so!… Psalm 25:5 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:21 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. Psalm 27:14 14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 37:7 7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him Psalm 37:9 those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:34 34 Wait on the Lord, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. Psalm 130:5 5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. Isaiah 40:31 those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Don’t give up continue to “Hold On”!… Stop giving up and going back and walking away from the Lord… “Hold On”!… If you’ve done it in the past leave that behind you and “breakthrough” into the realm of those who “Hold On” when the storms of this life come… Don’t stay in the Foyer of your Faith… come on in to the Sanctuary!!! Job 2:1-10 1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." 3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause." 4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" 6 And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job had had a breakthrough that many of us need to have… He was not serving God because of the blessings and walking away from God when life got hard… Job knew who the Lord was and the Lord knew who Job was and God allowed Job to teach the devil something about those who had given their lives up in order to know God… Satan said that all men will give up everything including God to save their own lives… Job said not so… I will “Hold On” to that which matters most… Revelation 12:11 they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 2 Samuel 22:47 47 "The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! Psalm 89:26 26 He shall cry to Me, 'You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.' The Rock is what you “Hold On” to when you want to go back and He is stable and strong but you have to know Him… 1. Hold On 2. Press In - Show Up - Try It Holding on and waiting on the Lord is not a passive holding on or waiting in fear and paralyzed… You should be holding on in faith and waiting on the Lord in confidence… To wait on the Lord is to be doing what He expects you to be doing until He comes with blessings and rest or further orders and direction… I don’t believe the man I mentioned earlier would have gotten breakthrough this week if he wasn’t doing what he knew he should be doing while he held on and waited… We have to have the physical waking up into consciousness and the spiritual waking up in thanksgiving to the giver of consciousness as we hold on and wait upon the Lord… You can’t just show up you have to show up and actively wait upon the Lord… When you get here you have to press in and you have to try to take the next step… Matthew 25:14-30 14 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' 21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'22 He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' 23 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' 24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' 26 But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. Waiting on the Lord and holding on is not taking your salvation and hiding it in the ground so that you don’t lose it… You have to take your salvation and invest it… When you get to church you have to say heres what I came in with but how can I take what I’ve got and turn it into more?… If I take what I already know and apply it to what I’m hearing today I may be able to come up or breakthrough… If I take what I’ve learned about salvation and who Jesus is and I sing it out in worship maybe something will break in my life and I’ll see my faith increased and multiplied… If I take the little that I have financially and invest it into the G-O-D 500 instead of the S&P 500 stock exchange maybe He will give me a return on my investment in the earthly and spiritual realms as His word says He will… Are you struggling as a man or a woman?… Show up the the men’s and women’s events while you wait on the Lord… Are you struggling with giving?… Show up to Financial Peace while you wait on the Lord… Are you struggling with understanding the word of God?… Show up to Wednesday night bible study awhile you wait on the Lord… Are you struggling in your marriage?… Show up to couples nights out and the engaged marriages events while you wait on the Lord… Breakthroughs are waiting for you but you have to press in and show up and try it… Breakthroughs come to those who are walking while they hold on and wait on the Lord… 1. Hold On 2. Press In - Show Up - Try It 3. Read - Hear - Digest the Word On Tuesday night I was late to Men’s Fellowship & Bible Study because I had another my headphones are on but I’m listening to other people talk and this time I had to say something… On Wednesday night we were reminded that the devil knows the truth but won’t share it and the world doesn’t have the truth… The only place we can get the truth is from the Word of God and the church of God… Without these you are on sinking sand and rather than breaking through you actually begin to sink every time you try to hold on and push through... John 11:1-44 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." 12Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." 13However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him." 16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 17So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" 37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." You can hear the word and not believe it or understand it… Mary & Martha had shared many meals with Jesus and heard Him speak and teach countless times but they hadn’t come to understand and truly digest the words that they were hearing… On this day though they saw what they had heard about in action… They were given clarity about who the Messiah truly is here and now not just then and there in the future… They had a breakthrough and saw death overcome by life against all the laws of nature and science… They could never go back to the world they lived in before this day… Are you reading and hearing and digesting the word of God in a way that gives you breakthrough into new realms of spirituality… The link below is for a song called "Transfiguration"… It says “I have seen the glory that cannot be unseen”… That’s breakthrough!!!… www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjeE1wzLfjI
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