Some Of You Need To Hear This Before The Year Is Over

i have had to learn the power of saying no i got to the point where i was just tired i was done with the lies of the devil i was done with feeling like i wasn't enough not good enough not qualified enough i was tired of that and so one day as i was reading the word of god i realized the authority that god has given me the power i have in his name the power i have in his blood the power i have through the holy spirit you see the day that i understood the power i have in jesus i begin to say no i begin saying no i am no longer a slave to fear but i am indeed a child of god i begin to say no i will not be held captive to thoughts or feelings of inferiority i am good enough because i can do all things through christ who strengthens me i learned to say no devil you can't come into my home you can't take my family and that's what i want you to understand learn to say no say no to the enemy learn to fight back when you feel your back is against the wall say no i won't give up no i won't be defeated because if god is for me who can stand against me [Music] it's important to know the power of saying no saying no can even help to relieve us of stress and so many other negative things if anxiety knocks if worry calls your name say no to it say no to your enemy when the devil tries to come at you you have the right to say not my home devil not my life devil not my marriage devil not my children devil refuse to let the enemy just walk all up into your life and wreak havoc say no in the name of jesus it's a small word but it's powerful when you know how to use it i love that the bible says in deuteronomy 3 verse 22 do not be afraid of them the lord your god himself will fight for you do you know what i get when i read this i read that god is telling me to say no to being afraid to say no to just fighting any battle why because the battle is not mine but it's the lord's romans 8 37 says and all these things we are more than just conquerors to him who loved us that says to me that i should say no to being defeated and discouraged i should say no i will not be overcome by challenges by trials and tribulations i will not be overcome by this attack from the devil people of god hear me there is power in saying [Music] no we have created a culture that emphasizes success productivity and hustle and as a result a lot of people are simply severely stressed out and don't get me wrong stress is an enemy an enemy to you whether you are saved or unsaved whether you believe in christ or you're an atheist stress is a common enemy to all of us here are some facts about stress from various sources work stress causes 10 of all strokes think about that three out of four doctor visits are for stress-related ailments stress is the primary cause of 60 of all human illness and disease it increases the risk of heart disease by 40 and the risk of a heart attack by 25 and risk of a stroke by 50 40 of stress people overeat or eat unhealthy choices meaning that we are self-medicating our stress with food 44 percent of people lose sleep each night because of stress meaning that stress is causing a lack of sleep which in turn is causing even more stress and finally studies have shown that stress literally reduces gray matter in your brain in other words it's shrinking your brain so what's all this got to do with you as a christian what's it got to do with your relationship with god well before i dive into that let me take a step back and say that many of us were stressed out and overworked because we don't know how to say no we are bombarded with bosses families and friends that demand our time and energy some of these groups can be very difficult to say no to but the tricky part is that all of them seek to make plausible demands we need our jobs to make a living and provide for our families our families need our time and presence to form the bonds of trusting relationships and it takes time and effort to build life-giving friendships the problem is that there are only 24 hours in a day and of those 24 hours six to eight of those should be dedicated to sleep this means that there is actually very little time that we have to fulfill all of the demands placed on us furthermore with all those demands on our lives and time we must ask the question when do we have time for god when do we have time to feed our faith to feed our spirits when can we find and set aside time for worship prayer and bible study because if we're not doing these things as christians then perhaps we need to reevaluate our priorities and the things demanding our time in other words we must learn to say no saying no can literally be the word to save your life learning how to say no is primarily about defining priorities you have to decide what things are worth a slot in your 24 hours of time each day most people have something like faith family fun so is god really first in your life we need to understand that as humans each of us are limited resources we can't give time to everyone and that's a fact so within our daily duties our daily responsibilities we need to find time to really put the lord first and i want to emphasize the point of finding time because every day will come with new chances and opportunities to get bogged down so we have to know when we are saying yes to the detriment of our faith or family or even our health you don't need to say yes to every phone call that shows up on your screen you don't have to say yes to watching every movie or to attend every event or function you must have priorities and at the top of that list is your relationship with god we must pray for the spirit of discernment as to when to say no i can't do that no sunday's not a good day to go there with you no i can't catch up today you're saying no because you know you need to pray you're saying no because you know you need to hear the word of god you're saying no because you know you need to spend some time in fellowship with the holy spirit another aspect of saying no is saying no to temptation saying no to the luring of the devil the bible says resist the devil and he will flee perhaps we could translate this verse to be say no to the devil and he will flee temptation is not a sin the sin comes in when we allow that temptation or thought to take root and grow in our mind and behavior we don't have to fall for the devil's temptations or accept the evil circumstances he throws our way we can declare in the name of jesus that the devil has no power over us we can rebuke the devil's whispers to try to lure us away from god we can resist the devil's lies about who we are and who god is when the devil tries to tell us we're worthless we can respond no i am made in the image of god and jesus christ loved me enough to give his life for me when the devil tries to tell us that god has abandoned us we can say no jesus said i will be with you always even until the end of time when the devil tries to tell us we cannot overcome the alcohol or the drugs or pornography or whatever addiction no greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world we have the power to say no to that old serpent called satan and let him know that god's word has the last say in our lives and not his learn to say no to anything that takes you away from god but learn always to say yes to jesus there are six words i want you to pay close attention to these six words saved me these six words helped me during one of the hardest times in my life i was told these words and i have held on to them ever since when in doubt call on god when in doubt call on god you see god tells you call to me and i will answer you and i will show you great and mighty things when it gets too much call on god when you need healing call on god when you need a miracle call on god you see he never sleeps nor slumbers when you call on him he can make a way where there seems to be no way and even then just because you are going through trials and tribulations that doesn't mean god is not with you who told you that you would never go through any trials or hard times don't let anyone tell you that being in the will of god won't get you in trouble or out of pain or out of sickness jesus was in the will of god and he went to the cross job was in the will of god and he went through hell on earth even though god said that job was an upright and faithful man when you call on god it means you may be in trouble but you have a deliverer you may be sick but you have a healer you may be in pain but you have a comforter when you need a savior call on him he's our loving keeper he is eternal and limitless and strength he's an able helper so even though i will forever remember to call on god whenever i am in doubt with the challenges of life we have to remember to call on god always call on him when times are tough but call on him when times are good too [Music] so what do you do when you are in a season of peace and blessings you call on god you thank him and you praise him how about when you've lost everything when you've been disappointed or feel rejected you still call on god regardless of the season you are in god is still god hebrews 13 verse 8 says that jesus christ is the same yesterday and today and forever one of the descriptions i love about him says i am who is who was and who is to come so he is a good god he will restore you he will deliver you call on god [Music] nothing you go through just happens god has a plan for your life before you were formed in the womb he had everything mapped out everything not just your final destination but the obstacles you would face any change of direction that your life would take how fast you'll move and the pace you would move at the people you would meet on your journey those who would hurt you and those who would help you and even the situations that you never saw coming god knows god knew and he had seen it all before it even came to be what i'm really trying to tell you is that your unknown is known by god your answer is already on the other side of fear your savior has already paid the price to set you free your healing is already there by his stripes your rescue is already there before the day of trouble comes he knows how it's going to work out even when you don't he guides your footsteps and like the bible says thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path now the problem is we want to know all the details you see worry is all about perspective perspective a believer in faith will pray and say god stand with me in the storm i'm facing a believer with worry will pray and say god what if the storm destroys me what if it never ends how come you're not stopping this how many times have we heard the words don't worry the word of god even says those same two words to us the children of god but no matter how many times we hear those words regardless of how many times we read those words in the bible somehow some way there just always seems to be something that makes us worry in this world you're going to have trouble you will face some hardship not everything will go your way but jesus said take heart be courageous be of good cheer i i have overcome the world so take heart for some people they are strongest in faith when they worship for others they are strong in prayer intercessors prayer warriors others find strength in god's word whatever you have to do to draw heavenly strength find your it and whenever you find your it there is no demon in hell that can take you out no evil can bring you down so i encourage you to use your it if you are a worshiper use it against the enemy if you're a prayer warrior use it against the enemy only god can give you confirmation not people after all it was god that created you for his cause not any other man on this earth so be who god's called you to be because he never made any mistakes when he made you the believers in the book of acts had wonderful encounters with god's presence during prayer even though they were experiencing fierce opposition at times on one occasion when they prayed under extremely difficult circumstances acts 4 verse 31 says after they had prayed the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit and spoke the word of god boldly prayer should be used as a weapon to fight against the enemy and for a believer with a willing heart for the person who looks to god to strengthen them through prayer they will seek the presence of god in prayer and they will face extremely difficult circumstances with a grace and a level of anointing that cannot be understood but their source comes from their prayer life and so i would like to encourage us to be even more prayerful in the middle of difficult situations there is a saying that goes the darkest hour of the night is just before the break of dawn meaning that things or situations will be at their worst just before they get better and i know this to be true because the bible says weeping may endure for a night but joy joy always comes in the morning finding hope when things aren't okay can prove to be difficult sometimes and maybe you're in your darkest hour maybe you're right in the middle of a dark season in your life let me encourage you and tell you that in my walk with jesus i have found his word to be true weeping does endure for a night because we all have to endure something we all have to go through some type of test we all have to overcome some challenge or some obstacle placed in our lives we all have to carry our cross but at the end of nehemiah 8 verse 10 the bible tells us do not grieve for the joy of the lord is your strength [Music] psalm 34 17 says when the righteous cry for help the lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles and so this means that as a child of god in my deepest hour of pain in the very hour that i come face to face with my darkest night then i still have hope i still have faith and the source of my hope the source of my faith is the word of the lord i look at the example of paul and silas when they were in a dark place they were in prison they had been badly beaten they were in chains their environment was not comfortable but in their darkest hour in their midnight hour what did they do they decided to pray and to worship the lord and that's what we have to learn to do as well during the darkest of times your praise to god should be the loudest your prayers should be the weapon that you fight through with let god know that your hope and your faith is in him let the enemy know that your hope and faith is still in the lord steadfast let him know that you are not afraid of persecution because the lord ultimately will never leave you nor forsake you i would like to read a few quotes that i pray will inspire you faith isn't about asking god to the storm faith is about trusting god to help you through the storm god's plan is always the best plan sometimes the process is painful and hard but don't forget that when god is silent he is doing something for you pray then let it go don't try and manipulate or force the outcome just trust god to open the right doors at the right time god has a bigger plan for me than i have for myself god will never let us down because his love is unconditional if i were given a stage if i were handed a microphone if i were afforded the opportunity to stand in front of the world and speak i will speak of my lord and savior jesus christ i will tell them that of all the people in my life of all the remedies you can buy of all the solutions you can find jesus christ is the only one that can meet every need he is the only one who is able to be both a healer and a bridge over troubled water he is a solid rock that i stand on and the waymaker who can always make a way where there seems to be no way if i could speak and reach millions i would speak about jesus i would say that out of everyone that i've ever met none has been so good to me than the lord none has been so faithful none has been closer than a brother i've felt pain i've felt disappointments i've been tired frustrated and depressed but there's only one person who ever said the words come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and i will give you rest those were the words of jesus and only jesus you see my perspective is this i don't need to have all the answers because i know the one who is the way the truth and the life i don't need to know what the plan is because i know the planner i don't need to know the why if i know the one i don't need to know the how because i know him so i want to speak to the person who finds themselves stuck stuck in a cycle stuck in the place of desperation stuck in a season where you have more prayer requests than you have faith to stand on don't give up just yet god is good and he sees you right where you are the lord will intervene in his divine timing the future you don't know is the future he's planned out everything to work out for your good stop worrying about when this will come through why didn't this happen what caused that to happen how can i make this thing work but friends let me encourage you to place your trust in the living god his word says i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you a hope and a future he knows the obstacles ahead will lead you to the good he has in store for you he knows your enemies will be stepping stones for the next level he knows the peaks and valleys which are in your path and the ultimate destination he is guiding you to will be one of glory although it's unnerving although you don't have all the answers right away take comfort that the god of all ages the one who is and who was and is to be has control over your life if god is disciplining you be assured that they will be good to come from it somehow someway there will be good many believers have found that the worst things that happened to them were actually the best thing to have happened in hindsight it doesn't feel like it at the time but hold on in faith a little longer job certainly knows this do you remember the depths of his sufferings when tragedy stuck job and his family he managed to keep holding on to his faith that's all he literally had left his faith job's wife couldn't and who could blame her joe's friends couldn't advise him job himself couldn't find a reasonable explanation for what had happened but somehow he managed to say god knows where i am going and when he has tested me i will come out as pure as gold that's very hard to say when you're right in the middle of great hardship we don't just begin to think i'm somehow being refined i believe i will come out of this a better person it is not our default thought pattern as humans but i believe it should be our stance as believers job held on and through that suffering he came out as pure as gold you can too the writer of the hebrews tell us don't throw away your confidence it will be richly rewarded that's what david found he tells us there was a time when he was struggling in psalm 55 he writes fear and trembling overwhelm me and i can't stop shaking morning noon and night i cry out in my distress and the lord hears my voice then david says this can be our experience also at the end of the psalm he writes give your burdens to the lord and he will take care of you he will not permit the godly to slip and fall and we need to hold on to this god will never let you slip so i urge you brothers and sisters the lord jesus is king and he invites you to come to him for rest the bible says let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking onto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of god troubles can be a blessing for believers you see god uses our troubles to remind us that he is a deliverer he is a savior he is our hope and rescue god is faithful to empower you to stand strong and victorious and not to be defeated understand that we are overcomers the first principle to receiving a victory from god is to understand that he has already won the battle has already been fought and he has already won if we could only understand this we have the victory we have overcome and yeah it's a battle sometimes to be a christian but we know that christ told us to take up our cross and follow him as we do this we receive the rewards of victory in jesus god is the best listener you need not to shout or cry out loud all the time because the lord hears even the very silent prayer of a sincere heart god is like oxygen you can't see him but you cannot live without him thank god for everything in your life the good and bad the joy and the pain because when you look back you will realize some were blessings and some were lessons what you need god knows when you ask god listens when you believe god works find joy every day not because life is always good but because god is always good god has a reason for allowing things to happen we may never understand his wisdom but we simply have to trust his will faith is trusting god even when you don't understand the plan god always has something for you a key for every problem a light for every shadow remedy for every pain a relief for every sorrow and a plan for every tomorrow god's plan for your life exceeds the plans for your day you are where god wants you to be at this very moment every experience is part of his divine plan god doesn't give you the people you want he gives you the people you need to help you to hurt you to leave you to love you and to make you the person you were meant to be trust that god will put the right people in your life at the right time and for the right reasons disappointments are just god's way of saying i've got something better so be patient have faith and live your life the lord never brought you this far only to abandon you if we were to go back in time right back to the days that jesus walked the earth there is an occasion where the lord was speaking to a large crowd and then the bible says in luke chapter 8 verse 41 and behold there came a man named jarius and he was a ruler of the synagogue and he fell down at jesus feet and begged him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about 12 years of age and she was dying but as he went the multitudes thronged him and if we stop there for just a second so here is jesus with that distressed father a father concerned about his little girl and they are going to the man's house perhaps hurrying since the girl was dying imagine the tussles with his disciples trying to make way through the crowd and all of the people around them and in that crowd there is a lady i believe she was on her own because the bible mentions nobody else with her now this lady no one knows her name no one knows how she got there and no one notices her but she's on a mission she has a problem that she's been dealing with an issue that needs to be addressed the bible describes the woman as having a flow of blood for 12 years and she had spent all of her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any so she had tried the best medical minds within her reach in fact the bible says she'd spent all her savings on doctors none of them had been able to cure her and now the bleeding is worse than ever this was a woman who was not only suffering but also desperate and let me tell you something about crowds whenever you find a crowd there are people there with different agendas just because you're in the same place that doesn't mean you're of the same accord it doesn't mean that you're unified simply because you're in a crowd together some people were in that crowd following jesus because they wanted to be associated with the man who can perform miracles others were in that crowd to watch because they were skeptical about jesus other people may have just been curious to see and hear from this jesus that they heard can heal the sick raise the dead and give sight to the blind but this woman was in that crowd for her own reason she was in that crowd because she needed access to someone to a power that could do what every other doctor had failed to do so now she is pushing through the crowd she is working her way forward she is saying to herself if i can only touch his guard and as soon as she touched him the bleeding stopped and when jesus turned he asked who touched me he knew this touch was different from everyone else's in the crowd this was a desperate touch a touch of faith a touch filled with hope and expectation the bible says when the woman grabbed at his coat jesus felt power had gone out from him in all the jostling press of the crowd jesus had detected that something was different this touch was a different touch all jesus said to her is daughter your faith has healed you go in peace be free from your suffering now i want you to see how jesus deals with people one by one each one of us are dealt with differently by the lord when he noticed power leaving him jesus didn't say to himself something like that's good another person healed no need to stop the disciples will get the details and i'll keep hurrying on to heal the little girl no every time jesus meets an earnest person he gives them his full attention one person is important to him you are important to him none of us is just another number or another name on a list you are significant in the eyes of god you are worth him stopping when you touch him with an earnest sincere prayer it doesn't matter if you are like this woman it doesn't matter if you have no savings left in the bank if the crowd you're in doesn't notice you if you call on the name of jesus if you reach out in faith and touch him he will give you his full attention and it doesn't make any difference if you are the opposite if you got it all together if you're in a good place and you don't need a healing but simply desire a relationship jesus will meet your need with the same grace and power our lord is good because he can pay attention to your need in any situation this woman was in a crowd she was approaching jesus when he was busy with something else jesus wasn't told master there's a special case you need to deal with before we go to jerry's house there was nothing like that this woman was unknown jesus hadn't been paying attention to her no one was paying attention to her everyone was thinking about the little girl yet this lady's touch stopped jesus in his tracks he quickly changed focus he turned and gave this woman the thing she desperately needed so i encourage you my brothers and sisters in christ you can come to jesus anywhere at any time if you have heavy burdens jesus said come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest he can give rest he can give you peace he can make you whole we don't have to be in a special place or perform a sacred ritual he can meet a need even in the middle of a crowd he can pay attention to someone on the side of a dusty road he can be stopped by the smallest touch of sincere faith just as this woman went away healed and free we can too if only we touch the hem of his garment [Music] most people in a time of struggling in a time of despair in a season of trials will ask god to rescue them they will ask god to deliver them but what happens when you ask god to take this problem or situation away and he doesn't what happens when you've told the mountain to move and it doesn't what now i'd like to submit to you that during these times when trouble just doesn't go away when the rain just doesn't stop should our prayer actually be lord go through this storm with me give me the strength to face this problem look at the three hebrew boys who were thrown into a fiery furnace god didn't deliver them from being thrown in the fire god got in the fire with them god didn't deliver daniel from being thrown in the lion's den god was there with him psalms 23 verse 4 says even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death even though i walk through walk through this isn't a case of saying god don't let me walk through the valley of the shadow of death or god save me from the valley of the shadow of death but it's even 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 the key part is for you are with me and i want you to know that god is with you god is with you even in the valley of the shadow of death god is with you even in the time of extreme grief and distress when tragedy strikes when everything appears to go against you god is still with you he is a friend that sticks closer than a brother so when the mountain won't move pray for the streak to climb that mountain when the giant won't move pray for the power to defeat that giant when your burden becomes too big then cast your burdens on the lord when we are drowning in sorrow and there looks to be no way out pray for the god of the ages to make possible what is impossible to man god is with you if you're in a fight at this moment in time if you're in a battle god is with you and that battle belongs to god let him fight for you the only way you will be able to withstand the fiery furnace the only way you will be able to survive the lion's den is if you come to a place of total surrender if this is your will lord go with me if this trial won't go away then face this trial with me god if i must go through this fire then go through this fire with me that should be our prayer lord go with me he will always provide you with the grace to overcome the strength to withstand and in the end victory belongs to god [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Grace For Purpose

Views: 230,863

Keywords: Christian, Motivation

Id: xokWtztU5Y8

Length: 43min 1sec (2581 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 25 2020