—Sunday Sermon—
“Hard of Trusting” God.
Action Point = Trust God
Jesus said;
“In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”
-John 16:33
Last week I talked about discouragement often causing us to become
“Hard of Hearing” towards God.
This week we look at discouragement potentially causing us to become
“Hard of Trusting” God.
TRUST and THANKFULNES GO TOGETHER
Have you ever thought about how Trust and Thankfulness often go together.
I trust in things and people that I am thankful for.
I think that you do to.
For example;
If you work on “Arts & Crafts”, you may have a
“Go-To” instrument or tool that you love.
It works for you and you know how to work it.
You’ve used it.
You’ve trusted it.
You are thankful for it.
If you need to fasten something, you may have a “Go-To” glue or tape or nail, etc. that you trust to do the job.
If you think that you don’t, if you have duct tape laying around the house, then you do.
Another example;
When you work on “Hardware” projects, you may have a “Go-To” tool that you prefer to use and trust.
If you think that you don’t, check the Black Friday ads. There are ads galore claiming that if you bought this one tool, it would be able to do 59 different things perfectly for you.
Another example;
Those who work “Software” projects, we all have our own preferred method of doing things.
Note: Whenever we are on the computer we are doing a software project.
Have you ever been shown a better or easier way to do something on your computer?
If you have, then you know what I’m talking about.
There may be many different ways to accomplish the same thing.
We tend to go with the “easiest way for us”.
We typically have a “Go-To” or preferred method of doing things on our computer.
Sometimes all I want is
ONE WAY THAT WORKS.
One procedure that I can
TRUST.
When I find it,
I am definitely THANKFUL.
The same goes for people in our life.
We all have “Go-To” people that we trust and are thankful for.
GOD TRUSTS YOU and is THANKFUL for YOU
Did you ever think about God being thankful for YOU?
He is.
He really is!
Here is a beautiful verse that illustrates this.
Note the three words, “We”, “Firstfruits” and
“Created” in this verse
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the
Father of the heavenly lights, who
does not change like shifting shadows.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits
of all he created.”
-James 1:16-18
Let’s look at these three words that
I highlighted in red above.
“WE”
Refers to Christians.
“FIRSTFRUITS”
Was the Offering that was
given out of thankfulness
for an increase or a new harvest.
Since God calls Christians “Firstfruits” This means that He is“Thankful” for us.
“CREATED”
God is thankful for us, not because our words and actions are always worthy of his being thankful,
but rather because he created us.
We are called, “Firstfruits of all He created”.
Since God does not create junk, you are not junk.
He is proud of you.
He is thankful for you.
He completely; forgives you, restores you, secures you, has use for you, smiles at you, delights in you, sometimes lovingly laughs atyou, always joyfully laughs with you, most-certainly cries with you, and is always with you through everything.
He never leaves you, not forsakes you,
and all because he created you and loves you.
We need to trust all of this more in our life.
We are called to “Trust” many things in life.
God is no different.
Have you ever thought about God TRUSTING in YOU?
He does.
He really does!
While we have recently been bombarded with “Black Friday” Ads once again this year, let’s look at how we can relate some of the marketing words and phrases to Jesus and his promises.
The following are all actually phrases that I found in Ads this year.
BOGO
We never actually have to buy anything.
God’s gifts of forgiveness, heaven, are free.
So, God’s Ad is actually not BOGO but GO (Get One, free without having to buy anything first.)
Free shipping
God always delivers his blessings to us for free. We never have to pay for them.
Satan however, offers his supposed-blessings that promises free delivery, but ends up costing us a great deal. Always read the fine print. With Satan there are always Hidden Costs that we really cannot afford.
Making the Season Bright
While Jesus, “The Light of the World” is present in every season, the “Christmas” Season welcomes the Light of the World into our lives in a deeper way.
Deals start now
Jesus offers no special deals at certain times.
He is the same yesterday today and forever.
50% off EVERYTHING
This reminds me of Jesus’ promise to lighten our load.
2 for 1 Beauty Boxes
With God we get 3 for 1 since He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Black Friday has arrived
With God, we can think of another Friday which is significant all 365 days of the year. “Good Friday” is where Jesus paid for all of our sins and opened up the certainty of heaven for us.
Deals are here
Deals All Weekend
Deals for 7 days
10 Days of Thanks-Savings
God’s blessings and mercies are new EVERY morning.
“…the Lord’s great love… his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3:22,23
They are not limited to segments of times.
TODAY is the day to get closer to God.
TOMMOROW is not the day to get closer to God until tomorrow, when today’s tomorrow becomes tomorrow’s TODAY.
Don’t procrastinate like the Nike-knockoff T-Shirt I saw that I recently saw a guy wearing at the hardware store which read;
“Just Do it”
Then the line below that had the printed word: “Later”
Don’t wear a shirt like that in your life.
Big Savings
Biggest Deals
God offers the BIGGEST SAVING (He has “saved” us). We don’t so much “SAVE”, as we “ARE SAVED.
Bigger than last year
Though God never actually gets any bigger or smaller, he should become bigger “to us” each year.
Are you closer to the Lord than you were last year? (When we get closer to things they appear bigger.)
I pray that He plays a more prominent role in your life as time goes on.
GOD WANTS US TO BE TRUSTING IN THE FACE OF DISCOURAGEMENT
“The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?”
-Proverbs 18:14
Many people think and feel that the greatest cause of discouragement is rejection.
It can “Crush” our spirit incredibly can’t it?
Perhaps your lowest time was when your spirit was Crushed causing immense sadness, anxiety and discouragement.
Maybe you felt as if you could not even bear it like the verse says above.
The closer the “Rejecter” is to you,
the greater the potential Discouragement.
God is not exempt from this line of thinking and feeling.
Some of the greatest discouragements in your life might include times and circumstances where you felt as if God himself was the one who “rejected” you.
But he hasn’t.
He can be trusted.
WHEN WE FEEL “REJECTED” WE FEEL “EJECTED”
When is the last time that you felt like a CD or DVD being spit out of a player?
We all have.
The music group the COASTERS has a famous line in their “Charlie Brown” song which says:
“Why is everybody always pickin’ on me?
You may have felt like that with others and you may have felt that about God.
MOSES, JESUS & YOU
The next section about symptoms of REJECTION is written with comedian Jeff Foxworthy’s famous routine in mind which goes something like this:
If you ______, Then you just might be ______.
IF YOU ARE VERY SENSITIVE …
THEN YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL REJECTED
Why is everybody always picking on me?
IF YOU FEAR FAILURE ALOT …
THEN YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL REJECTED
Someone may have planted in your head that you are good for nothing.
IF YOU ARE OFTEN SUSPICIOUS …
THEN YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL REJECTED
You may be just waiting and “looking for” the next assailant to victimize and reject you.
IF YOU OFTEN WANT TO ISOLATE YOURSELF FROM OTHERS …
THEN YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL REJECTED
The greatest protection seems like avoidance.
IF YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PROVE YOURSELF …
THEN YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL REJECTED
Acceptance is not the opposite of Rejection.
Some people feel that if you don’t positively affirm or positively accept them, then you by default must be rejecting them.
IF YOU OFTEN HAVE TRUST ISSUES …
THEN YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL REJECTED
When you have experienced others having let you down, not having had your back, having betrayed or denying you, you will have to deal with the issue of possible Trust-issues.
MOSES
Exodus 2:11+
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw anEgyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian…
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying,
“I have BECOME a foreigner in a foreign land.”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
Exodus 3
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord [The Pre-incarnate Jesus. Jesus in the form of an angel]appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. [The Burning Bush] Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey …10 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?”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
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?”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
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.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’
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 this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Exodus 4
Moses answered,
“What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
… 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” [I have used this verse often in ministry for myself and others]
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
(Sensitive, Fear of Failure, Suspicious,
Isolating, Proving, Trust-Issues.)
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
We are all like Moses to a certain degree.
We are all feel rejected and are effected by;
(Sensitivity, Fear of Failure, Suspicion,
Isolation, Needing to Prove our worth to others, Having some level of Trust-Issues.)
ONE OF THE ANSWERS TO REJECTION IS
TRUSTING GOD
Without me - GOD will not;
Without God - I cannot.
This is why God promised to be WITH Moses to protect him and help him to know what to say and do.
Whenever we have a direction problem, God will give us a plan.
GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS TO MOSES AND US
1. Let them know that God is concerned
“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heardthem crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.” Exodus 3:7
“… speak to the people as if you were God…”
Exodus 3:16
2. Show others their potential.
The Promised Land
“I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into… a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Exodus 3:17
3. Tell them their responsibility
They were to follow and join with Moses
4. Let people know that life will still have problems, but the answer will be to
TRUST IN GOD.
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
Exodus 3:19
To fully trust in God is to remember what Jesus said;
“In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”
-John 16:33
By his death and resurrection, you are forgiven, protected and guided daily.
Life and ministry is not filled with Pie-in-the-sky”
Promises.
It is filled with realistic, dependable promises that God will be present even thou we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We do not have to fear any evil, for God is with us.
“The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.”
-Psalm 23
Prayer
Thank you Lord for the option to trust in you in all things.
Help us to utilize you as the only option that we will consider.
“Help us” to trust in you.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen!
Pastor Dave
Word of Life Church
17525 W. Bell Rd.
Surprise, AZ 85374