Preparing for Breakthrough
Courage is stepping out and doing the right thing in the face of danger or difficulty. Courage is a prerequisite for seeing God unleash His supernatural power in your life. The question is how do you actually get courage?
Tonight I wanna help you get yourself ready for what God wants to do FOR YOU, IN YOU, AND THROUGH YOU.
B.Y.O.B. BRING YOUR OWN BREAKTHROUGH
One of my Favorite Stories in the bible about breakthrough is found in John Chapter 5:1
Do you need God to do something in your life?
In verse one Jesus is leaving to attend a Jewish festival it doesn’t say which one but from the scripture the important thing to know is Jesus had plans.. he was going somewhere... Now in verse two it tells us that there is a sheep gate with a pool near it called Bethesda that was surrounded by 5 colonnades (a purpose within the purpose)
Here is where a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, One man was there who had been disabled for 38 years.
Now when Jesus saw him lying there and realized how long he had been in that condition he said (hes to sick forget him) Oh wait that’s not it he said (hes a lost cause and has to much baggage to be useful) oh no that’s wrong. He said (oh that’s just Jim and Jim has always been that way)....NO What did Jesus say? He asked the man do you want to be healed? Or some translations say wilt though be made whole? You see Jesus looked for the one in the worst condition and walked right up to him. Sometimes we think God can only deal with the presentable parts of our life.. But breakthrough happens when we are willing to expose that place, that hurt, that let down, that pain, that past... Jesus asking the man do you want to get Healed is a powerful Question..
What is strange is how we will all come to church and have no desire or intention to change anything about who we are, based on what we experience or learn.
Notice that Jesus didn’t ask the man do you wanna get better... He asked do you want to be healed? Do you want to be changed?
Some of you may not know that at one point and time I had a cleaning business. When I would go meet with clients I had a list of things I would do (Windows, Floors, Bathrooms etc) and I had a list of things I would not do.. (laundry, organize peoples junk, Carpets) See I went into the meeting with a resolution already made of what I was willing to do.
A lot of us treat church and ministry and God that way. We come with a notion of what we are willing to experience, what we are willing to do and right out of the gate we limit our ability to change or see breakthrough. I listen to prayer requests, I listen to conversations we have at different functions and God has been revealing to me our heart conditions.. Not just those of the people but the condition of my own heart as well.
This week I asked on facebook for people to send me things in their lives they wanted to see breakthrough in.. I got some great responses.. People asking for breakthrough in looking for a new job, breakthrough in seeing family members saved, breakthrough for Churches and seeing the kingdom grow, breakthrough in family situations, past hurts, depression, anxiety, some said breakthrough in addictions. All of which are situations that I and many others will gladly help people pray about.
But what I noticed was people wanting breakthrough in circumstances but not in themselves. I think we all come to church easily willing for God to change our circumstances but not really willing for him to change us. No matter what the pastor says, how the spirit moves, how many lessons, how many gifts or talents we have we are already resolved as to what we will receive and immediately limit God. We use Excuses such as Fear, Insecurity, Failure, The opinions of others, etc to hold us back. I'm not saying that those are not legitimate excuses but what I am saying is how willing are we to let God Change us in order to overcome those excuses.
At the pool of Bethesda the people all had a condition.. Look around this room, everyone here has a condition. Whether its insecurity, Fear, Anxiety, Addictions, Pride, Lust, Heartbreak, We all have something that stands in our way of being who God truly called us to be and doing what he truly called us to do. The thing about our conditions are they are usually emotional or spiritual and its easier to hide those. Its easy to cover up our issues with words or avoidance. My papaw always used to say when referring to mam-maw wearing makeup that every barn looks better with some paint. That’s what we do. We disguise our issues with paint, looking the part even when we are really the captains of the hot mess express. If our issues showed up like a physical disability we couldn't hide those so easily.
What if we were honest enough to say.... I need Breakthrough because
I'm Selfish
I'm Arrogant
I'm Afraid
I'm Broken
I'm always late
I'm Lazy
I Gossip
I try to control situations instead of letting God work
I think its someone elses job
I dont wanna make time
I have failed in the past
Are we willing to get real enough with ourselves and Ask God not to just change a circumstance but Say GOD Change ME.. Renew in me a right spiritual
Jesus ask the man at the pool do YOU WANT TO CHANGE?
He didn’t ask do you want your illness to get better? DO YOU WANT TO BE HEALED (Healed means the circumstance is gone and YOU are changed) I for one no longer wanna come to church just to feel better but never get well. I don’t wanna come for comfort and leave unchanged.. That’s what the pool was in the bible. A place you could be around others with similar issues and be comfortable. I don’t wanna just be comfortable and wait for Jesus to come by. I wanna go to him, I wanna be his hands and feet, I wanna step out and be HEALED. I don’t wanna go my life saying I cant because of this and that. I don’t want my past, my hurts, my fears and my insecurities to be what defines my legacy. I don’t wanna stand before God and take an account of my works and have excuses.
You see at the pool, if you go back and read verse 4.. It says that from time to time and angel of the lord would come down and stir the waters and the first one in the pool after each occurrence would be cured. That’s what we do so often. We go to the same place and hang out with people who have the same condition (church) and we wait for the spirit to move and hope that we may get in and get something but if someone else moves first we will resolve our mind that it wasn’t for us and continue to stay the same. That’s how religion works.. the first one in wins.. The person with the highest position, the most titles, the leaders they get the victory.. Well I’m here to tell you tonight that Jesus walked right up to the one in last place, the one furthest from the water, the one with the most issues and he Changed HIS LIFE.
Now I want you to get this.. The man didn’t immediately accept change.. He didn’t immediately get it.. He was human.. When Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed he replied by saying I have no one to help me to the pool, While I am trying to get in someone jumps ahead of me.. See he presented Jesus with his Circumstances.. That’s what we do we present Jesus with the Circumstances, the reasons why we cant do more, the reasons why we cant worship better, Why we cant witness, or sing, or teach, or help organize, or step into our callings, or pray or clean or whatever...
God is not the God of our circumstances, Hes the God of US.
Isn’t it crazy how in the presence of an unlimited God we will stay stuck..
Circumstances are real they are there.. But Faith has the ability to override them.
We try and explain to Jesus the way things work around here lol. Or in our lives and we limit our breakthrough.
(MY BREAKTHROUGH STARTS WITH ME)
WHEN JESUS WAS AT THE WELL AND ASKED THE WOMAN FOR WATER AND SHE SAID SHE DIDNT HAVE A BUCKET AND HIS REPLY WAS SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF YOU DONT NEED A BUCKET WHEN YOUR THE WELL..
HE IS THE I AM. HE IS GREATER THAN OUR FEARS, GREATER THAN OUR INSECURITIES, GREATER THAN OUR FAILURES, OUR PASTS, WHATEVER EXCUSE WE MAY HAVE TO
NOT STEP OUT HE IS GREATER.
JESUS KNOWS WE CANT GET TO THE WATER, HE KNOWS THE ISSUE, THATS WHY THE WATER COMES TO US.
Many of us are facing impossible situations where we need this kind of breakthrough in our lives. Yet most of us sit and wait for God to make it happen, and then we wonder why it is that we don’t experience breakthrough as often or as fast as we would like.
What we need to know is that breakthrough is not something we sit around and wait for. Breakthrough is God waiting on us to respond in obedience to what He has already commanded and already promised.
Breakthrough happens when we take the first offensive step against the barriers in our life. Breakthrough happens when we say, "I’m going to trust that God is going to supernaturally do the impossible."
God does the breakthrough, but He’s waiting for us to take that first step of faith. We have to believe in God’s goodness, that God has already willed the breakthrough for our life. Then we actually become "agents of breakthrough," unleashing God’s supernatural power to change our impossible situations in our homes, workplaces, relationships and ministries.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, we see him unleashing God’s power in impossible situations. He also appointed 12 young apostles and taught them to do the same.
How did Jesus teach them? He demonstrated the love and goodness of God in action by preaching the gospel of love and forgiveness, healing the sick, and setting people free from demonic oppression. Then he expected his disciples to do the same. Jesus’ goal was to help them understand that they were supposed to be agents of breakthrough too. In Mark, chapter 6, we read that Jesus sends out the apostles to preach the gospel, cast out demons, and heal people just like he did (Mark 6:7-12). Then, later in the story, Jesus is teaching to a large crowd of over 5,000 people when He asks the disciples to do "the impossible." By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." But he answered, "You give them something to eat." (Mark 6:35-37)
Jesus expected his disciples to feed the thousands of people in the crowd even though it was impossible for them. That’s because Jesus knew that it wasn’t impossible for God. Similarly, Jesus expects us to take on the seemingly impossible in our own lives.
Why? God expects to do impossible things in us and through us.
How exactly does it happen? First, we need to look at what we do have and then give it to God in faith. Jesus knew the disciples didn’t have enough food to feed thousands, but He asked them to bring to him the small amount of food that they did have – five loaves of bread and two fish – and He supernaturally multiplied it. Similarly, God wants us to consider what we do have. This could be our gifts, our talents, our experiences, and unique personality. Then, He wants to use us as an agent of change in whatever impossible situation we’re facing.
Most importantly, we must believe that God is good – not just intellectually – but reallybelieve. We must be willing to obey Him and embrace that He is willing to do the impossible in us and through us for His glory so that more would come to know Him. No matter what we’re facing, God promises to show up in our difficult situations in a way that declares and reveals His glory and goodness.