Tag: Jesus moment

Do You Want to Get Well Part 2

This Preaching in Shorts sermon series is called “Do You Want to Get Well”.

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Scripture Reading

John 10:7-10 (NIV)
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

When you decide to get well, one of the things that often happens is that there is some initial pushback from the evil one. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy the life that Jesus came to make possible for you. Let me give you an idea of what I am talking about. As I was getting ready for this series I had a series of events that took place. First, I had started running, which I really enjoyed, and I hurt my knee. It was very uncomfortable and kept me from sleeping at night, and I had to get a brace and quit running. So, I thought I would just work out harder at the gym. Well, I hurt the rotator cuff in my left shoulder. Again, couldn’t sleep, I am having to ice it, and ice my knee. Then, since I can use my left arm, I over compensate with my right arm, and mess up my wrist. Another night of no sleep, buying a brace, and ice and heat. So, when I go out in public, I have a brace on my right knee and a brace on my right wrist and all of a sudden a rumor gets floating around that I was in some kind of fight. Then, Alice pulls into the back lot over here a couple of Sunday mornings ago, and it was really crowded, so Serban says he will park the van for her. She jumps out and doesn’t get the van all the way into park. It starts rolling backward, Serban tries to jump in, they both get knocked down and dragged until the van hits the Doerfels trailer and stops it. They both have road rash, bruises, etc. I am like, hey I am just trying to get well and I feel like I am dying here. Then I had one of those light bulb moments, oh, it’s a little pushback. So let’s talk about….

1. The attack

1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

When the attack comes, just keep standing strong. When I had all those things hurting on me, I thought, hey, I didn’t feel this bad before I started working on getting healthier. But that wasn’t really true, it was just frustration talk. Don’t get frustrated, stand firm. Let me try and illustrate. Saturday morning I went for a run for the first time in a month. I was going to meet Barry at 8. I woke up and my ankle was hurting. So I started thinking about not going but I really wanted to go running. So, I went. I put on a knee brace, laced up my sneakers real tight. Stretched a little. Now, as I am running, every little thing is making me go, what was that. You know, little fears and anxieties, and what ifs. And then, the thing I like about running hit me. At least for me when I am running I have this feeling where I want to quit. And then I start thinking of reasons to justify quitting. And then if I just keep going I have a breakthrough. My epiphany was that in life, when you dont give in to the pushback from the evil one, you have a breakthrough in the Kingdom. You do that by continuing to …

2. Submit to God and resist the evil one

James 4:7 (NIV)
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Submit yourself to God and resist the evil one.

3. How to submit

James 4:6 (NIV)
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

You cannot submit to God without humility. Having a humble and submissive heart is a choice we make. It’s what we talk about all the time in living by doing the next right thing.

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

4. How to resist

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Part of being a follower of Christ is that we are engaged in a very real spiritual battle. We also live in a broken world on a fallen planet. We can get frustrated and give in to our selfish desires and quick fixes, or we can realize that this is a battle. But we are not alone in this battle. God is with us and for us and we have a large arsenal for the battle.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We are going to talk about the arsenal over the next few weeks.