Stronger - Shane Spears

amen amen how about giving that to jesus one more time tonight lord you're good to us you're good to us god amen amen amen how many are you glad you came to church tonight well i'm glad you came too it makes this part easier when you're here i love all of y'all it's so good to see you everybody i haven't seen you in this setting particularly in a little while you look like a bunch of overcomers to me that's what y'all look like y'all look like a bunch of overcomers and i'm glad tell your neighbor you look strong now tell them like you mean it so you look strong before you're seated tonight thank you pastor pastoral staff for entrusting me with these opportunities and these great people i give honor today to our leaders to pastor and staff and to sweet lane as many of you know this marks 10 years since bishop mangan stepped across the boundary line to eternity we honor those who went before us and paved the way we all stand here tonight on the shoulders of giants and aren't we blessed for that we are blessed amen never ever ever forget where you came from that's not the message but it's still good advice you can be seated if you like i have a word from the lord tonight the word is meant to help some of you as the lord spoke to me this week and said some of you have been stuck in a cycle of frustration knowing that god is in control and that he is sovereign yet not understanding why he doesn't bring deliverance and change and this understanding this reminder tonight is for you somebody just simply say stronger now you got to say it right and what y'all just did was not right you got to say it like you really mean it so i'm going to give you another opportunity we're going to say it a lot of times tonight so find your neighbor it sometimes helps you to focus a little bit if you've got somebody to yell it at so find somebody next to you and this time why don't you just say stronger there we go that was that was better y'all still got some room to improve but we got a while till to go lord help us tonight your word is our only hope for truth and change help us god stir us move in us do what only you can do not my words tonight but this is you in jesus name we pray amen i love the story of joshua what a mighty man of god he was a warrior and a leader and he did all the things right all the things right he won all the battles and he led god's people well they were strong and they were victorious under joshua's leadership but after he was gone and after all of his people were gone and after everyone who had served alongside joshua were gone things started to go badly the people started to get soft and weak they quit upholding the guidelines that the lord had given them and god recognized that his people had some things they needed to learn there were things that they had depended on joshua to provide them that they now needed to learn on their own and don't we all do that we can so easily allow our stepping stones to become crutches and the things that we hold on to as we grow up aren't meant to continue to support us forever we're intended to mature and grow up and stand in newfound strength but that's not easy we've got some kids in our family they're good ones too i remember we had at our home in arkansas we had a coffee table that was big the kids would learn how to walk they would stand and hold on to that and they'd work their way all the way around it would be odd if at nine and ten years old they still held on to the coffee table to walk around we're intended to grow up and get stronger this is the way it's supposed to be it's not just true of us as we develop and mature but it was true for god's people and our story too god recognized this need for his people to grow a little bit to get stronger to get tougher to develop a little bit of grit somebody say grit it's a muscle and it was all for their own good so that they didn't get overrun by their enemies god knew they needed to be stronger so as this transition from joshua's leadership to the time of the judges is taking place god does something very interesting you want to look at it with me it's in judges chapter three first four verses we'll take a look at now these are the nations this says so much we sometimes jump right over this first phrase these are the nations which the lord left left to prove israel by them even as many of israel as had not known all the wars of canaan many of those guys pause with me for a second many of the people living in this instant had never been on the battlefield they were simply the beneficiaries of someone else's battle scars matter of fact if you want to jump back to joshua 24 when joshua was giving his great choose you this day speech he says to them y'all are living in houses you didn't build them you're reaping from vineyards that you didn't plant you showed up here and we won some victories but now you're just living in a city that was already prepared for you almost foreshadowing the problem that was going to come with the people verse 2 says only that the generations of the children of israel might know watch what he says to teach them war at the least such as before knew nothing thereof now it's hard kind of sometimes with the language to understand what god's saying here the writer is simply saying these people got soft because they never fought for anything they were kind of weak and so what god did is he left some of the enemies in the land matter of fact joshua 24 says god didn't even allow joshua to defeat them and he defeated everybody basically god just kind of walled him off from messing with these people and said let's just leave them because we're going to need them verse 3 tells you all who all it is we won't read that verse 4 says and they were again to prove israel by them to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the lord which he commanded their fathers by the hand of moses that pretty much sums up the whole story right there god recognized that his people needed to be proven it's exactly what it says to be proven just means to show what you really are to lay it all on the line through providing evidence for what actually exists both to those around you and to yourself to be proven if they were obedient to god's word and if they learned to battle for themselves then the enemies would never be victorious over them they would grow stronger and through obedience and through endurance they would eventually overtake the enemies but if they didn't learn to fight if they didn't grow stronger they wouldn't be able to sustain themselves as overcomers like god intended so he left the enemies there for the purpose of teaching his people to war teaching them to persevere to grow stronger to obey him to rely on him he just left the struggle in their lives he could have delivered them matter of fact in their very recent history as they possessed the promised land he delivered them many times often miraculously you remember jericho remember joshua telling the sun to stand still all happened in this story there was no problem with god finding a way to eliminate these enemies his ability to deliver them was not in question it wasn't that it wasn't that he couldn't do it it was just simply that he recognized that for their good for their own growth and development for their own ability to learn how to persevere and how to struggle successfully how to overcome how to be victorious for them to understand that those things only come when you're submitted to god's will in his ways and obedient to his word for all of that to happen the enemy had to be present see the truth is you can't become a warrior without a battle you can't be victorious without an enemy you can't get stronger without resistance and this wasn't only true for god's people of old but it's true for us today we prefer to live on the mountaintop amen right you can almost shout over that right there can you that's just how we like it we prefer things to be clicking along real smoothly with no opposition and no struggle some people out there are saying when did that ever happen right we but we always long for it as a matter of fact we regularly pray and we ask god to give us that that's what we want because in our minds so many times if we're not real careful we'll start to think that that means god loves us or approves of us more when things are going well and when they're not going well that means we did something wrong that's a misunderstanding but it's natural to us we just prefer the mountaintop we desire a life without struggle you can nod your head it's okay everybody around you feels the same way but god doesn't feel the same way because there's this thing about human nature we don't do well when we get everything we want without any effort we don't do well matter of fact when a child or even an adult has always been given everything they want without ever having to work for it they become entitled and we call them i don't even have to say it do i we call them spoiled ruined of no use there's something valuable in the struggle it's common knowledge that we just don't function at our best when we aren't putting forth effort and working for and grappling for the things of life we naturally get weaker without resistance this is why god isn't just a big old genie in a bottle that gives you everything you want that's just not how he operates and there's good reason for it now i know somebody out there may be saying but shane god did say that he'd give you the desires of your heart well he did if you like to cherry pick pieces of scriptures out he did say that but actually it was david that said delight thyself also in the lord and he will give thee the desires of thine harm so there's a prerequisite to having the desires of your heart it's not just a free for all delight yourself in the lord be excited about him and the things he's excited about submit your own likes and dislikes to him and then pick up his likes and dislikes and take them on as your own one man said it like this men who delight in god desire or ask for nothing but what will please god hence it is safe to give them carte blanche blank check their will is subdued to god's will and now when their will is subdued to god's will they can have whatever they want see if god were just to give us everything we desired in our own selves we would destroy ourselves we'd be terrible we'd become such a self-absorbed bunch of weaklings that we wouldn't be of any use to his kingdom and most certainly we couldn't battle the forces of darkness and win the lost for his kingdom we just don't work that way there has to be a battle something has to die and in this instance it's your own will that has to die your own desires your own delights the one who gets the desires of their hearts they're the ones whose hearts are fully submitted to god and the desires that they have are totally in alignment with god's desires because life very simply is about dying to self and submitting to god and if you thought something other than that receive this kind correction tonight life for jesus is about dying to self and submitting to him this life with jesus everybody would testify tonight it's the greatest life you could ever imagine but jesus himself didn't even sugarcoat it now do we need to take time to go through some of the things he said about what discipleship costs i think you probably know christianity as a whole has often done the sugar coating ourselves in an attempt to convince people to come along with us but the truth is life with jesus is about overcoming struggle and it's the most incredible journey that you could ever imagine but god is simply not going to spoil his children not because he's mean not because he doesn't want us to enjoy life but he simply knows that we just don't respond well to that he knows his kids and he knows what's good for us when we get everything like we want it we shrivel up and become weak and ineffective and that's how we work we need the struggle we need to use those overcoming muscles and we need resistance to develop because every time we're pushing every time we're pressing every time we endure through a hard time we are stronger tell your neighbor one more time say stronger there you go so it brings us to this very poignant and and painful realization it's a realization that none of us likes at all it's not fun it's not exciting it's none of those things but it's so true god is more interested in your growth and development than he is in your comfort now don't get me wrong god blesses his people and there are times for peace and god definitely is a god of prosperity i'm not painting a gloom and doomed picture but the struggle of this life for jesus is a real one we were born in sin and this world we live in is so broken there's no way to overcome it without a fight we have to understand that there aren't easy solutions to the problems of life have you realized that things aren't simple we just have to get in the battle and fight and grow and learn and submit and fight and grow and learn and submit and fight and grow and learn and submit nobody likes that struggle against sin and against our flesh and against our enemy but it's real and it's there i read a statement this week that said no one likes the struggle against sin but the battle is good for us and they went on to say this the symbol of christianity is a cross not a feather bed that symbol of death has been the visual representation of what it means to live for jesus for thousands of years and it has endured because what it represents is really at the heart of what it means to be a follower die to yourself and submit to him and you notice nobody has ever suggested changing the symbol of christianity to something softer even in this extremely sensitive society we live in you know why because deep down we all understand struggle is how we grow and we got to die to ourselves and i wish it could be a different way i wish there was an easier way to do that but the only way that happens is through opposition through battle through fighting through enduring through persevering through overcoming and then getting a big breath and then doing it all over again it's about getting stronger god left the enemies so his people could grow stronger and learn what it means to obey him god can deliver of course he can how many you've ever been delivered by the hand of god he can deliver but if delivering you isn't what's best for you why would he why would god deliver me from a situation of struggle and a battle and perseverance when leaving me in it would only help me get stronger and become more dependent on him and learn to fast and pray more earnestly and become more intent on obeying every word he speaks i mean honestly it's a no-brainer what he wants is a strong and mighty army to overcome the enemy and rescue his lost sheep from destruction he can't do that if we're all pampered because we get delivered from every struggle as soon as it comes however i'm as guilty as any of us of probably praying for deliverance way more than i pray for endurance god get me out of this mess and god says in response nah i'm still with you but you're gonna hang on for a little bit yeah you're gonna be all right yeah it's going you're gonna make it you've heard it i'm sure but my grandpa used to tell a story it stuck with me forever of a man who was in a real crisis in life he could hardly keep his head above water so he prayed and he fasted he immersed himself into the word of god lord please deliver me please help me he studied like he'd never studied he prayed he fasted he did all those things constantly asking god to deliver him finally one day in desperation as he cried out to god for deliverance god responded and said actually with all this praying and fasting and studying you're doing i like the way you're developing under all this i think i'll just leave it a little longer if struggle leads you to a more intense walk with god you learn more about him you develop more habits of dependence your flesh begins to die more and more you learn to hear god's voice more clearly because you're desperate to do so and if struggle leads you to all that is it really a bad thing is anything a bad thing if it draws you closer to god this is why the writer said all things work together for good for them who love god and are called according to his purpose you know what his purpose for you is for you to develop and grow and get stronger and be more powerful and more effective as a disciple in the days he's given you to live his purpose for you is for you to realize all the potential that he put in you so that you can be most effective in shining his light into the world his purpose for you is for you to continue to shed the things of the flesh and continue to grow in the spirit and gain new ground and develop new strengths and move from glory to glory to glory that's his purpose for you so all things work together for good yes they do but they work toward his purpose and not your comfort [Applause] god wants his people to grow and be stronger look at revelation chapter 12. such an awesome passage john wrote in verses 10 and 11. he's sharing what he saw and i heard a loud voice saying in the heavens now has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our god and the power of his christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down everybody say down which accused them before our god day and night verse 11 and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto death we usually cut that part off it's not quite as encouraging friends this is a battle we're in victory comes through blood you know what it means when it says the word of their testimony the great commentator albert barnes he said it like this they declared their belief even in the pains of martyrdom and it was by this that they overcame the great enemy listen what he says the reference here is to the effects of persecution and to the efforts of satan to drive religion from the world by this persecution he finishes like this john says that the result as he saw it in his vision was that the persecuted church bore a faithful testimony to the truth and that the great enemy was overcome you know how the church defeats the enemy you know how we defeat the enemy we stand strong in the truth of god and we persevere through struggle through opposition through persecution and we just don't quit [Applause] we testify with our tenacity that says no matter what comes my way no matter what happens to me i'm not quitting i'm not throwing in the towel and i'm not giving up that's how we overcome now i may not have it all right all the time as i try to do this and i may waver sometimes and i may stumble and fall but like micah said rejoice not against me o my enemy because when i fall i will arise and i want to add on to that when i arise from my struggle i don't arise the same way i went down when i arise i arise stronger when i stumble and fall and when i land in the grace and the mercy of god and his love empowers me and his healing envelops me i stand back up but as i do i'm not the same man that went down i'm better because every time i pass through temptation to quit every time i meet that resistance and keep on fighting i arise stronger tell your neighbor one more time stronger and so we have confidence as we fight you have the assurance that the victory is yours you know the words of jesus john 16 33 in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer that makes no sense does it you're going to have tribulation but cheer up be excited about it i've overcome the world you will have to fight you will have the struggle but the victory is secured we like that but in the middle of the battle we can forget this pattern that god has long established with his people he's really good at guaranteeing victory but he expects us to be on the battlefield to enforce that victory he's good at that you will have trouble don't worry though i've overcome the world see there's a big big difference between a secured victory and an easy possession they're not the same joshua and the people of israel were promised to victory the land is yours go get it that's i mean it's already yours i've given it to you here's your present now your present also comes with a lot of bloodshed with a lot of tears with a lot of fighting with a lot of hard work it already belongs to you though it's yours i fixed it for you now go get it you can't just waltz in there and plop down in the promised land joshua you got to go get it i'll be with you don't worry you've got this it's guaranteed but you're going to have to fight for it in this world there will be tribulation there will be struggle and battle and hard times but don't worry i've overcome it already you're going to win but you do have to fight because it's the fight that makes you stronger it's the endurance that makes you stronger it's the resistance that makes you stronger we're living in a world friends with so much chaos and so much turmoil and it's all so real and all needs our most honest and sincere engagement and submission and humility the world is a dark place and many of us sitting here tonight have faced a lot of dark nights many struggles that you feel have gone on long enough we ask questions like how long do i have to battle this how long do i have to endure how how long is long enough god why is this happening and then later why is this still happening and i hope it's okay to say this but i believe that it's okay to ask god why in the middle of a struggle in my opinion why is probably the best question you can ask because when the answer comes it's often going to come in the form of something you can do something about why do i have to endure this well there are some things in you that need to grow the answer usually has something to do with your development and your maturity and your strength see god can deliver and he does sometimes but many times he just leaves us in the valley why it's really simple there's way more growth to be had there than there is on the mountaintop why does god allow struggle because he wants you to be stronger david said i walk through the valley of the shadow of death he didn't get delivered from it and as far as i can tell in psalm 23 he didn't even ask to be delivered from it he said i'll fear no evil why would that even be a relevant statement why would you even need to say i will fear no evil if you don't have the expectation and the experience of facing a lot of evil i will fear no evil i know i'm going to face them i know they're in the valley i know i'm going to have opposition i know i'm going to fight for my life for years i know i'm going to be rejected i know i'm going to be sought out to be killed i know that my life is going to be a struggle but thou art with me see david understood the heart of god for people stronger is better than happier i didn't expect much excitement over that stronger is better than more comfortable god has an understanding about us and what happens to us when we endure when we persevere and when we just hang on through trials is we get stronger psalms 30 and 5 you know how this ends weeping may endure for a night well you can get excited about that can't you but joy comes in the morning and as best i can tell it's the only time in scripture where joy automatically comes to you and you know when it happens you know when the joy comes automatically when all of the darkness has been endured when you hang on and when you battle through the midnight hour the loneliness and the dark moments and the isolation and the fear and the pain and the heartache all of the darkness has to pass in the night and then joy comes in the morning and do you remember what joy means for us nehemiah chapter 8 for the joy of the lord is your strength and when you endure through the night and when you hang on with all of your might and when you fight and battle and struggle when it might be easier just to give in and when you do all of that and the light that's in you outlasts the darkness that's outside of you and when the morning comes the joy comes and the joy gives you strength enduring through the night tell your neighbor again it makes you stronger [Applause] hanging in there when it seems like you can't hang any longer that's what makes you stronger so get this child of god it isn't an easy time we're living in not for anybody the world around us is in chaos and not just the world outside but so many people's lives personally are in chaos and it's easy to get discouraged you don't have to look far to find something discouraging but i wanted to bring you some perspective tonight i know you're battling hear me carefully i know you're struggling i may not know the specific struggle and i may not know what it is that's weighing on you through this last several months in the upheaval of our our cultural context and all of the story that we're having to face daily i know it's hard i know you struggle but don't stop whatever you do don't stop remember that every time you endure you're stronger every time you extend your hand in battle and meet that resistance you're stronger every time you hit your knees in prayer you're stronger every time you push that plate back and deny your flesh you're stronger every time mom and dad every time you press through the pain and pray for that lost child one more time you're stronger grandma every time you pull those kids in close and pray protection over them because you don't know what they're living in every day every time you do that you're stronger and every time the enemy tries to tell you about what you used to be and you get the word after him and send him packing you're stronger so i have a challenge for you as we go tonight every time that you face resistance this week and you will face some every time the enemy comes at you with discouragement and oppression i'm not a big fan of having conversation with him at all so let's just keep it real short why don't you just look him right in the eyes and just yell it as loud as you can stronger [Music] every time you have a day that just seems like one bruise after another but you hang in there and you make it to bed that night as you lay your head back on your pillow why don't you just with the last ounce of daily strength that god gave you take a deep breath and give it everything you've got and just say stronger i may be battling sickness in my body enemy but like david said in psalm 76 my flesh and heart faileth but god is the strength of my heart i made it through another day devil and i'm stronger i've walked with you jesus i walked with you jesus and i know you i know you lord we know each other now see i've stuck with you i i stuck with you lord and lots of times i didn't want to but i've stuck with you i've learned that you will never leave me because if you were going to i've given you plenty reasons but i've gotten to know you and i've learned that even though the night is dark i'm never alone i know that i know you god because i've walked with you through struggle and through hard times and because we've done that we've developed a relationship with each other and i just know who you are so as such i grab my battle cry from daniel 11 and i say but the people that know their god shall be strong and do exploits that's why we struggle that's why we have to get to know god like paul said in the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his suffering that's why we struggle so we can know him and we can grow stronger so we can know him to be faithful so we can know him to be good so we can know him to be righteous and long-suffering and patient and gentle and loving because when we know him we are stronger i therefore i take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities and persecution paul said in distresses for christ's sake for when i am weak when i am weak that's when i'm strong so here's our takeaway tonight and i'm wrapping up go ahead ask god why ask him why the struggle ask him why the endurance ask him why the opposition ask him why the persecution ask him why and listen carefully because your answer might be just one word stronger would you stand with me i know we're not gathering down here tonight like we usually do but right where you are i want you just to take a minute here as we wrap up and i want you to commit to god about this season for your life lord i don't understand what's going on i'm facing things in my life i never thought i would have to even consider i'm having to deal with issues and family problems and financial situations and decisions to be made and the turmoil of just living life and job crisis and family issues and health god i'm dealing with stuff i never even imagined i would have to but i'm not quitting on you no not a chance of that so so here i am on this night and i really do want to know why not why as in how dare you god but why is in what can i get out of this what is it that you want me to learn what is it you want me to let go of what is it that i need to press on through and here's the question for you tonight and then we're going to pray and go how god do you want to make me stronger how do you want to make me stronger how do you want to make me stronger would you take just a minute lift your hands to the lord right now god you are absolutely totally and completely in control we have no doubts we have no doubts about your ability to be in charge we have no doubts about your ability to be in control we know that you are but lord so many times reconciling the struggle of our own life with your omniscience and your omnipotence and your omnipresence god is a challenge for us so we pause here tonight and we we re-embrace and we re-engage with the fact that your desire for us is to make us stronger your desire for us is to grow us to mature us to develop us so that we can then in turn reach farther and be more impacting in this world and find more of your children who are lost and bring them you don't need a church that we can run down god but you need a church that's strong and mighty and powerful to the pulling down of strongholds to the casting doubt of imaginations that's what you need and that's what you will have lord so i pray that you would help us all tonight help us all help us all in our frustrations and in our our hurts and our struggles to realize that every day we survive we're stronger every moment that we press through we're stronger help us oh god we need you we need you we need you if you're comfortable with this and if it's your family why don't you just connect with somebody next to you before we leave tonight and i want you just to pray an encouraging prayer over them right now [Music] just lay hands on them and grab them and say lord in jesus name whatever they're battling help them see it through the lens of strength help them see it through the lens of opportunity and possibility to become more than they've ever been for you to come out of this season of struggle stronger than they've ever been in jesus name we declare that this will be our experience we will grow stronger through opposition we will grow stronger through the struggle yes we will god because you are with us

Channel: The Pentecostals of Alexandria

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Length: 39min 17sec (2357 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 17 2020