God's Love Gets You Out of the Wilderness | Pastor Gregory Dickow

welcome to the power to change today and you know the purpose of this program is not to impress you with theology and religious sounding words but my passion is to show you how to connect with the power of God so that you can live the life that you see in the Bible if we're gonna live like Jesus did I'll be honest with you we need the power of God and Christianity without power is just religion a man-made set of rules and regulations but Jesus came for something more much greater than that the Bible tells us he wants us experiencing his power doing good and healing and setting free everyone who is oppressed everyone who is suffering everyone we come in contact with we should be a dispenser a distributor of God's power you know someone in your life right now that needs the power of God well we are going to experience it in today's program the very same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive inside of every born-again child of God jesus said we could do greater works than then the ones that even he did well gang the only way we're gonna see that come to pass is if we learn to walk in the power of God the way that Jesus did we need to discover the source of true power and there's something Jesus understood that became the the basis for everything you read in the Gospels all the miracles all the healings everything hinges on one simple life-changing truth if you need power if you want to reignite your walk with God what you're about to hear will change you forever what was the source of Jesus power I'll show you right now watch this and in mark chapter 1 verse 10 it says that Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism and the spirit descended upon him like a dove you are my beloved son and in you I am well pleased and then verse 12 and immediately the spirit drives him into the wilderness now this is very important because immediately when he heard the voice of God's love he was prepared to face the wilderness a lot of Christians are going through a wilderness but they're not prepared for what they're encountering they're not prepared for the trials they're not prepared for the tests they're not prepared for the for the difficulties they're not prepared for the the circumstances that they face they're not prepared for the onslaught of the wicked one and therefore they stumble in the wilderness because they don't go into the wilderness with armed with the same confidence that Jesus demonstrates as our example he goes into the wilderness armed with the full confidence that God loved him he was his son and God was pleased with him so going into the wilderness he's not questioning God's love going in to face his trials he's not questioning God's love many of us face trials and the first thing we ask is why doesn't God care the first thing we ask is where is God in this situation the first thing we ask is I must have done something wrong and that is what that is what triggers our failure is we go into the wilderness with the mindset of defeat already we go into the wilderness questioning God's love and Jesus went into the wilderness with complete confidence in God's love what is the wilderness gang the wilderness is a place in which there is no true comfort from other people at times it's a place of wandering it's a place where there's confusion you're wandering the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness they weren't sure where to go they weren't sure where to turn they were wandering there was no comfort they were they were they were through amazing trials they were going through trial after trial test after test has anybody ever felt like you were going through trial after trial and test after test the wilderness is a place of wanting it's a place of of lack the word wanting it means you know remember what what David said the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want it doesn't mean that he won't have any desires it means he won't have any lack that all of all of his desires will be met by God there shall be no wanting but in the wilderness you're constantly wanting you're constantly lacking the wilderness is a place of lack the wilderness is the place of not enough or just barely enough but it is certainly not the place of more than enough is it the wilderness is a place of tests and trials fiery serpents the Bible describes the wilderness is a place where we have to face our weaknesses and acknowledge what we're acknowledged our need and our dependence upon God the wilderness is a place where it seems dry and it seems like the voice of God is far distant from us it's interesting to note that Jesus needed to hear the voice of God before he went into the wilderness because we're not sure what he heard when he went into the wilderness and the fact is we know for we know as a fact when he was in the wilderness for forty days he heard the devil louder than it seems that he heard God and sometimes the devil's voice is louder than God's I don't know if I'm in the right place here today it just maybe seems that way for me sometimes the temptation to worry the voice of worry seems louder than the voice of faith the voice of anxiety sometimes seems louder than the voice of faith the voice of doubt sometimes seems louder than the voice of faith the voice of fear sometimes field seems louder than the voice of love can anybody relate to where I'm coming from hey that's that's the wilderness man and when and we see Jesus hearing the voice of God saying you are my beloved I love you and in you I am well pleased so he's told them three things basically I love you your my son and I'm pleased with you you're ready when you don't know you're loved when you don't know you're a son or a daughter and you don't know that the gods pleased with you you're not ready but when you know you're his son or daughter when you know his love and when you know that um that he's pleased with you and what pleases God is faith without faith it's impossible to please God when you know those things you're ready that's why immediately Jesus went into the wilderness immediately he faced his enemy immediately he faced temptation because he was ready to handle anything that life would bring his way and he was able to handle any demon and any temptation that the devil tried to bring he was ready what makes us ready love makes us ready what makes us ready love makes us ready what makes us ready is security in God's love identity in God's sonship security that God loves us and the identity that we are his sons and daughters I'm say it again what makes us ready for whatever life comes security in God's love identity that we are his sons and daughters and I have this little saying security plus identity equals destiny if you want to fulfill your destiny you have to have this security in God's love this identity in knowing who you are because a lot of us might say oh I already know who I am but if Jesus was tempted with who he was you're gonna be tempted with that because this was as an example to us that will be tempt and what's the first thing the devil said to Jesus if you are the son of God if you are the son of God turn these stones into bread if you are what now if anybody knew they were the son of God don't you think it would be Jesus and if the devil tempted him to question that why do you why do we sometimes think well that's never something I would have to question or that's never something the devil would question me if he questioned Jesus about it he will certainly try to question you about it he tries to shake up your identity we're living in a culture of identity crisis we have a sexual identity crisis that is that is near the top of what it's ever been before guys that don't know if they're guys they don't know if they're girls they don't know if they're if they're if they're homosexual if they're heterosexual this is not because man is so wicked all men are sinners it's not because there's so much what more wicked than somebody else it's because we are living in a in a in a culture that has lost its identity and doesn't know who they are we don't know who we are we don't understand that we're sons of God when you understand you're a son or a daughter of God the moment you're born again you become a son or a daughter of God and when you understand that as your identity you're no longer asking Who am I but everybody is asking Who am I what am I supposed to be in life you'll never know who you're supposed to be what you're supposed to be in life until you know that God loves you until you know that you're a son or daughter of him and I security plus identity produces destiny that's when you're gonna really know instead of trying instead of trying to find your destiny focus on your security in God's love your identity in your sonship or being a son or a daughter of God and knowing that you're a son or a daughter of God no matter what comes your way no matter how many times you failed that's why the people that preach that if you sin in this area you sin in that area you're gonna lose your salvation as if God separates his fatherhood from you and your and our sonship how could God all the sudden one day say you're no longer my son you're no longer my daughter that theology man's theology tells us that but God never tells us that man's religion tells us that you can lose your sonship now I don't believe you can lose your sonship I believe you can miss out on the benefits of your sonship you can be acting like a child rather than a son and you have an inheritance in your name but you'll never experience that inheritance cuz you stay immature and you act like babies Oh help me now I'm a my preaching in my in the right Church still we have to remember sometimes we're acting like babies complaining and whining about everything that doesn't go our way God where are you God why isn't this happening why am i parents doing this and why am i why my kids doing that and why why is my husband do this why did my wife do that why doesn't my boss understand why where's the money where's the healing where's the beef whatever we're asking we're constantly questioning because we're acting as babies rather than I recognize that there are some things that aren't going in the right direction right now but I am a son of the Living God I'm a daughter of the Living God and therefore I believe God is somehow going to turn this situation around and I'm going to tap into my inheritance if I act mature through this trial if I act like a son through this charge through this trial if I act like a daughter through this trauma gonna stop acting like a baby I'm gonna stop acting like an infant I'm gonna stop acting like a whiny baby from the time that baby comes out of the womb it's crying and whining about something until it's 18 years old at least and has to do it all itself all right more than what most of you two must not have children it's what people have asked me why aren't I walking in the inheritance why aren't I seeing the blessing why aren't I seeing this because we're walking in immaturity and what what reveals our immaturity what we think about what we speak about and the logic by which we reason and that's why Paul said when I was a child I thought as a child spoke as a child and I reasoned as a child when I became a man I put away childish things come on Christian it's time to put away childish things it's time to stop thinking like a child talking like a child and making decisions like a child this children make decisions based on what will satisfy them immediately the immediate impulse of satisfaction is what causes children to make a decision and yet we can't discern the difference between children and adult in this generation because adults are making decisions in the same way based on impulse but we need to act mature and we need to embrace our sonship and when the devil came to Jesus he said you can try I don't have to prove that I'm a son I don't have to prove anything to you devil that I'm a son of God I am the son of God I don't have to prove anything to you I'm not going to engage in that I don't have to turn stones into bread to prove on the Son of God I'm the son of God because God said I am the love of God is what got Jesus through the wilderness and let's contrast that or let's compare that to what the children of Israel did when they got in the wilderness go over with me to Deuteronomy chapter 1 for a moment Deuteronomy chapter 1 and if this scripture is familiar to you because I've taught you before from it or you've studied it yourself then you'll be blessed by this nonetheless Deuteronomy chapter 1 now Moses was recounting for the children of Israel why that they didn't go into the Promised Land why they were stuck in the wilderness for forty years Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and the children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years they got used to that place you never get used to a place for forty days but after forty years being in the same house you get used to that house forty years after being married to the same person who's married here for forty years you start getting used to the same person for forty years of having the same habit or addiction you start getting used to that and the children of Israel got used to their condition and they learned to maintain that condition and they learn to stay in that condition and they let their condition confine them and they let their condition define them and they didn't note they didn't break free from what was holding them in the wilderness they got comfortable and satisfied with a wilderness lifestyle where there's no power there's no anointing there's no there's there's no process it's just all either we make it or we don't God doesn't want you to live in either we make it or we don't God wants you to live in you making it better and better all the time and him making it better for you amen but but here in Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 26 notwithstanding he said you would not go up but you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God you rebelled against God and you murmured notice verse 27 and you murmured in your tents now what does the tent represent tent represents their homes he said man you guys you came to the temple and you praised God but when you got to your tent you murmured and complained and you know that's really where life has to be lived in the tent how many know you got a tent when you leave here many of you after you stop at a restaurant you're going back to your tent and you might say oh I love that brother and I love that sister and in church you might say oh man I'll celebrate that whoo hallelujah love your brother love your sister call me you might talk good about people in church and you say oh the church is great and all the pastor's wonderful and all the people are great and all I love that brother there and I love that sister too but you get home in your tent you're like I can't stand that brother I can't stand that sister can you believe what she was wearing trying to prove she was all that when we know she isn't in fact I heard such-and-such say about now you what are you doing murmuring in the tent because it doesn't matter how loud the praises are in the in the temple what matters is what you're saying in the tent but why were they like this there's only one reason that makes us mad at people and angry is that there's something broken in our love walk it's not because I'm not loving you and off or you're not loving me enough it's that I'm not realizing how much God loves me enough and I'm not realizing that the same love that God has for me he has for you I can't say God loves me cuz I got black hair or God loves me because I'm this or because God God doesn't love me because of any of those things God loves me because Jesus died for me and demonstrated his love God loves me because of his character and he loves you because of his character too and so I've got to treat you the way that God treats me or the way I believe he loves me unconditionally I have to believe that he loves you unconditionally too so that's why I can't whine about you complain about you get mad at you get angry with you or tell somebody something nasty about you whether it's true or not somebody said as long as it's truth pastor we can speak all the nasty we want about one another no you can't the Bible says love covers a multitude of sins we're to cover one another not expose one another cover your brother and expose the devil rather than what a lot of Christians do is they cover the devil and expose their brother now we have to be we have to understand what's going on here why is that why are the children of Israel rebelling and why are they mad in their tent because verse 27 goes on to say because you said the Lord hated us he has brought us out out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the am rights to destroy us notice that when the children of Israel where are the children of Israel when they're saying this go down to verse 31 in the wilderness where you have seen that the Lord your God carried you like a man carries his son in all the ways that you went and you came into this place yet in this thing you did not believe the Lord your God in other words they were in the wilderness and when things went bad for them in the wilderness they said the Lord hates us now notice they went into the wilderness believing the Lord hated them Jesus went into the wilderness believing the Lord loved him and you have to make a choice every time you face a trial really make the choice before the trial comes make the choice now because every time you face a trial if this foundation is not secure if this foundation is not established you are gonna stumble in the wilderness you're gonna turn a 40-day journey in the wilderness into a 40-year lifestyle in the wilderness and you're gonna remain burned and wanting and lacking and stumbling and circling the mountains in the wilderness and wandering for months and years to come but when you go into the wilderness confident in the love that God has for you no matter what I face even if it's something bad God's gonna turn it around God is gonna turn this situation around in my life because he loves me in Romans chapter 8 verse 28 says because he loves me and I love him that even those things that are bad God will turn them into something good all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose and how could we ever possibly love God until we first understand he loves us amen are you with me still so I want you to see this that the love of God because Jesus believed the love that God had for him he was able to go into the wilderness take care of business and get through it into the destiny that God had for him but when the children of Israel went through the wilderness they did not believe the love that God had for them they believed God hated them and so they stayed in the wilderness the wrong believing will keep you in wrong living wrong believing will keep you in the wrong destination wrong believing will keep you from reaching the destiny that God has for you and they believed a lie about God he doesn't love us he hates us and why did they and and what happened by them believing that they ended up stranded for 40 years they strand they were stranded in the wilderness and they couldn't get out and most of them died in that wilderness because of one thing and one thing only they doubted the gut the love that God had for them when the trial came they doubted anybody can say I know God loves me but when you face a trial if you really believe God loves you then why do you say where Lord where are you now or Lord why am I going through this or Lord what have I done wrong instead of asking all those questions you need to stand on that word lord I thank you that you love me I'm son or daughter you're pleased with me I'm gonna continue to believe your promises and I'm gonna believe in the love that you have for me and somehow someway I believe that you're gonna make a way in the wilderness you're gonna turn this wilderness into a Garden of Eden you're going to turn this wilderness into the greatest days of my life you're gonna turn this dark night into a Morning Glory you're gonna turn this bad situation into something good that's what someone declares when they believe the love that God has for them well the children of Israel spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness are you ready to put an end to your wandering in the wilderness why did they die in the wilderness why did they suffer in the wilderness well they simply did not have a revelation of God's love for them they thought God was bringing them into the wilderness to die but in contrast Jesus went into the wilderness knowing that the father loved him knowing that he was approved and that's what got him through the wilderness that's what's going to get you through whatever wilderness you're facing right now maybe you're facing a financial wilderness the wilderness in your finances you just can't make it through you can't maybe you're in a wilderness in your health and your emotions in your relationships whatever you're going through right now knowing God's love a revelation of God's love is what brought Jesus through the wilderness and launched him into into the the power of God and it launched him into his destiny he understood his identity he knew he was loved and he knew he was the son of God and God wants us to know that we're loved and that we too are sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ when we understand our identity that is what produces our destiny well today I want to make available to you what will transform your life forever as we learn about a revelation of love that's what gives us our identity with Jesus when he knew his identity he fulfilled his destiny God wants you to fulfill your destiny it happens when you know your identity our identity carries the the DNA the future of our destiny is come is is contained in our identity when you don't understand who you really are that you're loved and that you're a son or daughter of God then the devil and life circumstances will give you an identity of defeat rejection inferiority which are all lies for a child of God let me help you understand who you are in Christ when you know that that revolutionizes how you see yourself and it empowers you to come out of your wilderness and fulfill your god-given destiny so every Christian should get these foundational truths in this message that I want to make this series available for any gift amount that you sow today identity understanding your identity in Christ that's what releases you into your destiny and in it you'll experience the love of God and for your generous gift of $35 or more also include this incredible teaching on the unfailing love of God I am amazed to hear from so many Christians who really don't understand the love of God for them when you don't know God's love you'll be stuck in the wilderness get this teaching today my answer is coming to tell you more about this special offer you can begin to experience God's power God's destiny God's purpose for your life and I'll be right back with a promise from God's Word watch this have you lost your way in life do you feel stranded and alone blend pastor Greg we take I'll give you the tools you need to navigate the wilderness and find your way again you're ready to face whatever Life brings whatever trials bring whatever comes your way you're ready to handle it you're ready to overcome it because you know you've heard those words you are my beloved son you are my beloved daughter in his brand-new CD series identity you'll discover what it really means to be a new creation in Christ and how to see yourself as God does you don't have to be defined by your circumstance or the mistakes of your past let the word light your way and lead you to the life of blessing and prosperity God has for you and to further guide you on your jurnee pastor Ditka wants to equip you with the CD series the unfailing love of God in which he reveals how to tap into the unstoppable undeniable love of God God's love for you is greater than your circumstance greater than your sickness your need or any struggle you face your destiny is guaranteed because God's love never fails both series are yours with your gift of $35 or more or call now and receive the identity CD series with your gift of any amount don't wander the wilderness alone call now get these great resources and get back on the path to destiny today's promises from first John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10 and he says this in this the love of God was manifested towards us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him and in this is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the substitution for our sins gangue Jesus has paid the price for you you are God's beloved he approves of you now pick up the phone and call get this special collection of teaching don't miss our next broadcast you'll never be the same again I can't wait to see you then it is Greg greedy cow's passion to bring the life-changing message of God's love God's grace and God's power to this generation and the generations to come if you would like to invite Gregory Duke out to minister at your church or upcoming conference or seminar please call eight eight eight eight four nine five four three three or visit our website you

Channel: Gregory Dickow

Views: 11,274

Rating: 4.9337015 out of 5

Keywords: Love, Wilderness, Message, God, Jesus, gregory dickow, the power to change today, god's love, lord, christ

Id: NVhA1RpvcUo

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 16 2012