Bad News Don't Stop Breakthroughs
080921 Bad News Don’t Stop Breakthroughs
Numbers 13:7-ff
Tim Franklin
Introduction:
· This is another one of those messages this week in which I am going to attempt to do several things today.
o I want to continue to build the conference this week.
o I want to address the fears of this past week’s economic reports
o I want to equip you to breakthrough in the midst of bad new
· If you have been listening to the Wednesday night messages for the past few weeks you should be encouraged that you are being armed with the Word of God to respond accurately to the all the economic news we have received this past week.
· Bad News creates fear and fear steals ones quality of life. In fact the fear becomes so great they name them as disease and we know that sickness and disease is simply a limitation put on us by the devil. Listen to this: “Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people. Aerophobia: fear of drafts. Porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple. Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people. Levophobia: fear of objects on the left side of the body. Dextrophobia: fear of objects on the right side of the body. Auroraphobia: fear of the northern lights. Calyprophobia: fear of obscure meanings. Thalassophobia: fear of being seated. Stabisbasiphobia: fear of standing and walking. Odontophobia: fear of teeth. Graphophobia: fear of writing in public. Phobophobia: fear of being afraid.” Fraser Kent, Nothing to Fear, , Doubleday & Company, 1977.
· Bad news does not have to be something that paralyzes us in life or stops us from reaching our destiny. We can be like 5-year old Johnny who was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?" To many people live life questioning if God is really there. Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. NKJV We have must know Him! Joshua and Caleb were two Biblical figures that had to win this fight over fear. Read Numbers 13:25-33
1. How to avoid a Promise of God
a. Look at your circumstances. Numbers 13:28. The 10 spies who did not trust God lead a whole nation to dwell on the negative and cost them entrance into the promise.
i. The people are stronger—fear of man
1. so many people are kept from inheriting the promises of God just because someone else spoke negatively or they spoke doubt and unbelief.
2. So many people are kept from inheriting the promises of God just because through their words they convince we were too small for the job/task.
3. Fear man has stopped so many people. What fear is stopping you today.
4. If Israel had not stopped because of the fear of man they would have had their boots on the ground 40 years earlier in the promised land!
ii. The cities are fortified and big—fear of circumstances
1. If you want to avoid a promise of God focus on your circumstance or situation.
2. Who needs faith/God if you can do it on your own strength? If it is bigger than me it probably is God!
3. Notice the cities are fortified and they are also big. A double whammy!
iii. The descendents of Shaq are there—fear of the unknown/mysterious.
1. The Anak were a race of very large people.
2. They bring a spiritual dimension fear that is cloaked in mystery. What we don’t understand we have a tendency to fear.
iv. The circumstance was: the people are stronger, the cities are stronger, and the unknown covers it all!
b. Listen to negative people
i. They first brought their own fears. Vs 28
ii. Caleb quieted them
iii. Then they gave a bad report. Vs. 30. And made it even more “believable.” The giants are there, we were like grasshoppers compared to them, etc.
iv. Vs.28 Nevertheless—we see all that God has for us, we have heard what he said, ‘Nevertheless…’ Peter, in last week message said, Nevertheless and launched out into the deep. The Israelites said the same and sank into 40 years of wilderness wondering.
c. Let fear grip your heart 14:1
i. Fear gripped the hearts of the 10 spies and now a nation.
1. They raised their voice and cried.
2. They wept
3. They complained by blaming others—Moses and Aaron.
4. Anarchy ensued 14:4. They began rebelling against the plan of God. That can never be a good thing.
5. They wanted to go back not move ahead.
ii. The word cried in this passage means to give one’s self to. In other words their fear did not remain just with them but everyone began to speak with fear.
iii. The next product was that they cried through the night. They lost precious sleep.
d. Loath anyone who would attempts to give you hope. 14:10
i. Stone them!
ii. Fear causes inaccurate response that will cost you in the end.
2. How to Breakthrough Bad News
a. Look at the Word.
i. Keep your eye on the prize. 13:1 Spy out Canaan the land I am giving you!
1. Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? NIV
2. God is faithful to His word.
ii. Don’t forget who said it! God created the river that stood between them and the promised land. God closed the Red Sea on the armies of Egypt and finished them off. We are talking about an all things are possible type God!!!
iii. We have God’s Word the handbook for living. And we have those things that God has spoken prophetically to us.
1. Mike Bickle—a sanctuary or city of refuge in an area.
2. John Ekhardt—’94 said God has called you to be a fortress church, meaning regional.
3. Noel Woodroffe—a church of influence that sits upon the land.
4. Cindy Jacobs spoke of a move of God that would fill the churches of this regions. Crutches would pile high along with wheel chairs.
5. Bob Jones—Three generations of children will always be in this church. There will always be fish to clean if we commit to making disciples.
6. The list goes on and on. Things that God has spoken to us—21 years later your pastor is still here! Still moved by the word of the Lord.
b. Listen to faith filled people
i. Moses said, God is giving us the land. Be of good courage. Vs. 20.
ii. Caleb said, Lets go get it at once and take possession. We are well able to overcome it!
iii. Caleb said, Num 14:7-9 "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.'* 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord , nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them." NKJV
iv. During World War II, a military governor met with General George Patton in Sicily. When he praised Patton highly for his courage and bravery, the general replied, "Sir, I am not a brave man. . . The truth is, I am an utter craven coward. I have never been within the sound of gunshot or in sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn't so scared that I had sweat in the palms of my hands." Years later, when Patton's autobiography was published, it contained this significant statement by the general: "I learned very early in my life never to take counsel of my fears."
v.
c. Let faith grip your heart.
i. When you let the word of God speak to you and you listen to faith filled people, Faith will come. Rom. 10:17 Faith comes from hearing the message and the message through the word of God. NKJV
ii. Numbers 14:24 Caleb had a different spirit in him as he followed God fully. That implies/says that Caleb was a man whose heart was gripped by the Word therefore he had a heart of faith.
d. Love everyone who has the Word of the Lord and brings hope.
i. Who you listen to affect who you are. Mark 4:24 And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you — and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. AMP
ii. Who you surround yourself with makes all the difference.
3. Choose Your News
a. Dr. E Stanley Jones said this, “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, "We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact." But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality.” Dr. E. Stanley Jones. We are made in the image of our heavenly Father. We are called to have the God kind of faith. We must take on and reflect His nature.
b. The Reward of choosing the Good News.
i. Num 14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. NKJV
ii. Num 14:30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. NKJV
iii. Caleb and Joshua chose what they were going to listen to and they chose who they were going to believe.
iv. Heb 11:6 Those who come to him must know that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
c. Boots on the Ground, that starts this Thursday, is about this region listening to what God has said and is saying and putting action to it with our faith.
i. When we do we will begin to see the reward.
1. Our highlights were: Ministeried to a Jewish Messianic couple. Mr. Paddon broke through when God revealed to him what the wife, Amanda, was asking in her heart, "Who are these people and from what spiritual source were we hearing." I answered by responding, "We work through goodness and mercy, that should speak of our source in and of itself." She answered, "We are Messianic Jews." I exposed her inner emotions and she broke down and cried. God Revealed just about everything that she had in her heart and about her ministry and aspirations. My group had the same thoughts about her and flowed right into it. The Husband, William, was very, quiet, passive and received with such joy the Lords encouragement for him in which he has been pondering over in his own heart. He was told it was time to step out in faith. His wife said to him, "haven't I been telling you this all along!" I sensed they wanted a child very very badly and the desire for a child was overwhelming them. I did my best with this by saying, "I believe God is sending great joy into your lives of the type you have agreed and asked. You will burst out with laughter when you receive it and give Him the greatest of praises." They looked and stirred at each other for about 5 to 8 seconds with such love for the other as if they understood. At that moment there was total silence around us. We prayed for them and they verbally blessed us in the name of Jesus.
2. We were privileged to speak with mostly adults who were very receptive and who received God's encouraging words in astonishment. The couples appeared to be strengthen in their relationship by what we said about each. One husband said, it took strangers to get you to see how I was feeling on the inside and what I have been telling you all along. Professions, abilities and pursuits were accurately target as we heard from God.
3. A married coupled asked us to speak words of encouragement over their infant son, who was sound to sleep. The father asked that we speak encouraging words of his son since we did such a fabulous work with them. The infant's name was Jonah. After we finish speaking encouragement to the baby, the baby suddenly woke up and smile at all of us. The parents were stunned.
4. We stopped an engaged couple and God had powerful words to the two. They had set their wedding for next May. Surprisingly we sensed the young man was causing the delay because of the feared of marriage. Bruce pulled him a side with a personal word for his ears alone; Bruce shared with me that God revealed to him that the man had hesitancy in his heart...He told him either evaluate his heart over his jewel of a bride as gathered from the what we spoken to her. His whole countenance changed after this and he gave his bride to be a big hug and kiss. We all sensed that they would change back to their original date of September 2008 vice May 2009; he was the one who had changed it.
5. By the way, one of the guards who challenged us back in April, lit up when he saw us with the biggest and brightest smile imaginable. This guard is the same guard who said that since we have been coming out he has notice a changed in the atmosphere and much more peace, very little friction and people seem to be happier.
ii. Faith moves us out of the realm of fear and into the realm of fruit bearing believers.
d. As Moses once said and as did Joshua too, Deut 30:19-21 I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." NKJV
Conclusion:
· Invitation for salvation.
· Encouragement to sign up for Boots on the Ground Conference.
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