The Voice & the View

1 Sam 10:20-23 NIV

When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the Lord, "Has the man come here yet?"

And the Lord said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage."

23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.

Saul was extraordinary – stood above everyone else

Gifted, chosen & anointed by God 

But saw himself as flawed – “so I must hide”

vs. 1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance?”

Look at where he was hiding – in his baggage:  Shame, Low Self-Esteem, Condemnation

In spite of being chosen & anointed, he responded more to his Inner Voice than the Voice of God

We all have an inner voice – that voice serves as our interpreter

          ex. Preaching in a foreign country with an interpreter

One thing is said or done

But, that Inner Voice tells you what they really meant

      Catch: It Interprets based on what you already believe about yourself

You hear the Word weekly

It should change your thinking & change your perspective & renew your mind

But you never change the voice of your interpreter 

So when something is said, or happens that challenges or confronts you

Your inner voice begins to speak up 

•  I can’t do anything right
•  I’m so stupid

Or it becomes defensive or argumentative – it exaggerations 

• You always
• You never

That voice begins to affect our view

If your view is from hiding – behind veil

We can’t see you properly

But you can’t see us properly either 

Num 13:33. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

The Bible actually says that the giants were afraid of them

But they listened to their Inner Voice of low self-esteem

Engaged in mind-reading – which is never favorable towards self…

The Voice begins to Affect Relationships

Saul thought David was against him – he thought his son

Relate to him, not based on what he said or did…

But based on the negative motive he assigned to David

When you do that you frustrate & damage relationships, no one can talk honestly to you

The Voice rejects other Voices that bring Wise Counsel

Because you take counsel & correction as criticism & condemnation 

You reject those voices – become defensive

When you only listen to your own voice – you agree with yourself

You only re-affirm your negative thinking

We all need a voice that will regulate us & challenge our thinking

Prov 9:8-9 NIV

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

9 Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;

teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

Worst, that Voice will talk you out of dreaming – moving forward

Fulfilling the will of God

Taking risk

Doing new things

We must deal with that Inner Voice before we can possess

Josh 5:9.  The Lord said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you."

Before Jesus, the deliverer could come… there must be a New Voice

The Voice of one crying in Your Wilderness - to prepare the way 

Preaching Good News

Rev 12:10.  Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

Repent

2 Cor 10:5.  Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Whose report will you believe? 

The report of your negative Interpreter or the Truth?

Shame is not true:  There is nothing wrong with you

Shame is a lie you believe about yourself

You cannot be condemned, because you are IN Christ

Low self-esteem is not even related to humility

Every low place will be exalted – Is 40:4

Casting down imaginations is not a one time action

You have been listening to the voice of your interpreter for a life-time

Rom 12:1-2.  Renewed in your mind Daily

Faith comes by hearing

You’ve got to hear yourself saying it – how long have you heard yourself saying the negative?

When you go to the Dr. – Rx for healing

It takes time & application for the Rx to work – 2x day for 90 days

How can something be wrong with you if God says this about you?

•  You are fearfully and wonderfully made – Ps 139:14
•  You are God’s jewels – Mal 3:17
•  You are His treasured passion – Ps 135:4
•  God has chosen you to be His inheritance – Eph 1:18; Ps 33:12
•  You are made in His image – Gen 1:26-27
•  You are a Masterpiece – Eph 3:10

You are all God says you are

Are You the Gardener? Pt. 3 - 2 Adams, 2 Gardens

Rom 5:17-19 NIV

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant grace and His gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

1 Cor 15:46-49 NIV

So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.

⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.

⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

2 Adams & 2 Gardens & Choices

1^st Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden

Charged with caring for the Garden – being fruitful & multiplying

He had to choose between a garden & a tree

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (lost the garden)

Adam & Eve only knew good & happiness – they didn’t know evil

Like a loving parent, God wanted to protect them from evil

Eating from this tree would give experiences of grief, & sorrow, misery

It’s about believing that what God says is true and that He knows best

Disobedience brought exposure & shame – “He saw that he was naked”

Adam went into hiding

Sought to cover himself – keep certain things in the dark

Now, not only the experience of evil, but experiencing new feelings – Shame

v Guilt says there’s something wrong with what I did

v Shame says there’s something wrong with who I am

Shame drives you into hiding – Hide from God

          Shame drives you from purpose

Shame makes you keep silent

Go to another Garden: Gethsemane – where decisions had to be made

2^nd Adam, Jesus had to choose between a tree & a garden

Just like the 1^st Adam, He only knew good

To chose the tree was to experience every evil from the 1^st Adam 

          “He was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief” – Is 53:2

He also experienced the shame

Jesus stripped naked on the cross – exposed

Ps 22:1. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? 

⁶ But I am like a worm instead of a man.  People make fun of me and hate me.

Jesus is taking away everything that Adam brought – Sin and Shame

Shame says there’s something wrong with me

Jesus takes upon himself everything that’s wrong with me

He puts on me everything that’s right with Him

Grace says there’s nothing wrong with me – because I am New (2 Cor 5:21)

Bear His likeness (1 Cor 15:49)

Where Shame sent me into hiding

Grace says I can come out of hiding

And come boldly into the presence of God – without shame

“By His wounds I am healed” – Is 53:5

 Wounds heal, but scars don’t always disappear

So many of us in the church are healed, but hiding scars

          Because, when people see scars, they ask “What happened?”

                    Triggers memories of things we’re ashamed of

I believe in my head what the Bible says – I’m new; no condemnation…

But seeing the scars makes me doubt myself

Can make us struggle with the message of Grace

          Is there something that I need to do?

Why won’t the scars go away?  Bad reminders

Jesus has scars, too.

His scars didn’t go away just because He was resurrected

When Thomas doubted His resurrection, what did Jesus show him?

          His scars

He showed the scars from the most painful & shameful event

          He didn’t hide them

Jesus used the scars to Inspire Faith

When people want to know if this thing is real…

Your scars are proof of the Grace of God

Heb 12:2.  Looking unto 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.  NKJV

v There was shame there, but He ignored the shame

He focused on the joy & purpose that was set in front of Him

The answer to the question:  YES

He IS the Gardener – the Husbandman

He wants to cause growth in your life

Recovery of what was lost in the 1^st Garden

Be fruitful and productive, with multiplication in your life

Reign in life

Are You The Gardener? Pt. 2 When He's Not Doing Anything

John 20:11-15 NLT

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 "Dear woman, why are you crying?" the angels asked her.  "Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put him."

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. 15 "Dear woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?"  She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him."

16 "Mary!" Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for "Teacher").

• Mary was taking spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus (Mark 16:1)

We identify with Jesus at “Party Time”

          Christmas – Birthday Party

          Easter – Coming Home Party

We’re not much different from people in Jesus’ day

We come to Jesus with our needs and agendas

All is fine when we are being blessed or fed or healed

We find out if you’re a friend of Jesus – not when you’re a CEO - Christmas & Easter Only

But when hanging with Jesus eventually brings you to the cross 

Where were the people He had done so much for?

Where were those He had feed and healed?

Where are the ones that said they’d never leave?

• Some at a distant & some gone – committed by convenience

With Jesus on the cross, He can’t do anything for you

          To be friends with Him now would cost you something; even your life!

Song: “At the Cross” not light, but darkness

At the Cross we must deal with our disappointment, defeat, failure, loss…

The Cross doesn’t just represent a Dead Jesus

The Cross represents a Defeated Jesus – “crucified in weakness” 

When He’s dead and not answering any of your prayers…

When He doesn’t respond to your cry for HEALING

          He healed someone else…

His Word says, “The cattle on a thousand hill are His”

And He won’t give you any, so…

          You lose your job and your house, & you have to hide your car

How do you stay there in disappointment? 

          When He let your loved one die

Kids having babies like rabbits

          And He let you have a miscarriage

You’re trying to live right and follow Him

          Why won’t He send you a good man

                    Or why did your marriage fail?

It wasn’t supposed to end up like this

He’s not only Dead

He’s started to Stink!  His reputation was going bad

          This is where most people don’t know how to handle Jesus

This is not what’s supposed to happen if I follow Jesus

He’s supposed to be there for me – never leave me nor forsake me

Look at how people acted:  Now that He wasn’t able to do anything else for them

• Some denied Him – “I don’t believe in that anymore”
• Walked away – done with Jesus & His promises
• Some went back to their old lives

They started following Him in Hope – “quit everything to follow Him”

“Look at what it got me!”

• Stop coming to church

There was someone who didn’t leave at the Cross:  a woman, Mary Magdalene

Her relationship began like everybody else’s – 7 demons  (Lk 8:2)

Many times, she was just a part of the crowd, just like everybody else

She is experiencing the same loss and disappointment

          Yet, she is responding differently...

When everybody was lamenting and leaving,

          She was working

“What are you doing, Mary?”

          “I’m going to Jesus’ tomb”

“Why?  He’s dead and He can’t do anything else for you Mary”

          “Yeah, but I still love Him… and now I can do something for Him!”

“But Mary, you don’t need to go there, because He’s stinking”

          “That’s why I’m preparing some sweet spices for Him”

“Mary, it doesn’t take all that – hasn’t this relationship cost you enough?” 

“It’s over, He’s dead, it’s obvious He’s not answering anymore prayers”

          “That’s okay, I still love Him”

Mary was only worried about 2 things…  (Mk 16:1-3)

1. Who was going to move the stone?

He can’t get to me; how can I get to Him?

2. Do I have enough spices”

Because she was going to Anoint His Dead, Lifeless Body!

The others based their relationship with Jesus on what He was doing for them

          But now He couldn’t do anything for them

What will you be doing for Him when He’s not doing anything for you?

Mary’s relationship was based on Worship

The Difference between Praise and Worship:

• Praise Him because He made us smell good
• Worship makes Him smell good

So when Jesus was unresponsive to her prayers and not doing anything for her

         Mary was still doing something for Him

                 She was making Him smell good

Most of us don’t know how to worship in a bad smell

Jesus warned them of what would happen – what life would bring

The disciples couldn’t comprehend His plan – even though He told them

He has told us about the cross, suffering, trials, fightings without & fears within

But when disappointment comes…

When things are stinking, and He’s not doing anything for us

We go back to fishing…

How many are mad at God because He didn’t do what they wanted?

Feel like He made you promises, so you followed Him

He abandoned you when you needed Him most

Learn how to Worship Him in the stink of disappointment and pain

• Worship Him when things don’t make sense
• Worship Him when you don’t understand His plan
• Worship Him when He’s not answering your prayer
• Worship Him until you smell up the whole room

Worship Him until you hear Him call your name – “Mary”  (John 10:16)

• That means the tomb is empty
• That means it’s not the End, but a New Beginning!!!

Mary went to a place of Death, and found Life

We walk out before the end of the movie

Your Place of Defeat will turn into a Place of Victory!

Your Place of Loss will become the Place of Recovery!

Your Place of Suffering will become the Place of Overcoming!

Your Place of Helplessness will become the Place of Hope!

Your Place of Death will become the Place of Life!

Your Place of Finality won’t be so Final after all!

Go Get Peter - (Are You the Gardener? Pt. 1)

John 20:11-15 NLT

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 "Dear woman, why are you crying?" the angels asked her.  "Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put him."

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. 15 "Dear woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?"  She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him." 

Mark 16:6-7 NLT

The angel said, "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died." 

Go Get Peter!  Tell him to meet me in Galilee – where it all began

 You remember Peter, one of Jesus’ 12 Apostles

Incredible experiences in his relationship with Jesus

1. Starting with the miracle of the fish
2. Became part of Jesus’ inner circle
3. Witnessed Jesus’ Transfiguration – saw His form change
4. Had the Spiritual Revelation that Jesus was the Christ
5. Walked on water

Then Jesus predicted Peter would deny Him

“Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death." – Lk 22:33

"Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you." – Matt 26:33

But when the moment of truth came…

Peter denied any knowledge of Jesus, let alone any relationship

– 3X, publically, with cursing

Then the rooster crowed, he remembered what Jesus said and ‘cried like a baby’

 He failed – horribly & publically

 Left destiny – walked away from it all and went back to his old life – to fishing

What caused Peter to throw in the towel?  SHAME

Guilt says there’s something wrong with what I did

Shame says there’s something wrong with who I am

Some experience attaches to your soul & makes you feel defective

This eats at your self-image & self-worth

          Self-consciousness

Contradiction of Shame:

It’s such a private feeling that we don’t like to acknowledge

There’s the concern of what others think – how they see us

Shame makes you hide

DISQUALIFIED – “Condemnation”

          You don’t have what it takes to get it done

DISCONNECT – not involved – they would pick me anyway

Gone back to old life – either in isolation or place of acceptance

The angel said “Include Peter”

When Peter heard that Jesus was alive and wanted to see him…

          How did Peter feel?  What did he think?  More shame

This was going to be an “I told you so” moment

Jesus comes to restore his soul

          Move him back to Path of Destiny

JESUS REMINDS HIM 

Notice, when Peter went back to his old life of fishing, he didn’t catch anything

You won’t have success without Jesus

“Cast down your nets” – don’t do this without me

JESUS RE-STORES HIM

Put back in Peter what he had lost

He came to where Peter was – fishing

               Jesus stepped down to Peter’s level

                              “I’m not there yet”

JESUS RECLAIMS DESTINY IN HIM

“Feed my sheep”

“No condemnation to those in Christ”

                    Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost

Today, Jesus is sending for you by name

You’re not excluded because of your failing, or history, or experiences

We all have a past, and that’s just what it is – PAST

Jesus wants to restore your present

And He wants you to reclaim your future

You can’t worry about what people are going to say or how they receive you

These are the same people who wouldn’t have let Peter preach on Pentecost

          But Jesus does

Peter knew what it was like to fail – publically

To struggle with shame & need his destiny reclaimed

Whatever your shame is, it’s not who you are

It’s something that happened TO you     

You don’t have to live in shame

God has not written you off

Stop living on the fringes

Experience the GRACE of God 

Grace sees your shortcomings, your failures, knows your shame

Yet, GRACE reaches for the destiny in you

No matter where you are

GRACE says “Come Home”

Knowing Him - Making Him Known

Gen 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Form.  Tohuw:  be in waste; chaos: confusion

Void.  Bohuw: emptiness

Darkness on the deep – deepest parts of the earth

          POTENTIAL & PURPOSE

Chaos over potential

The Spirit of God begins to move on the Waters

          Every living things comes out of water – fluid of birth

Something is about to come forth

…and God said.    Deep calls to Deep  

A Word over your Chaos

…and there was light

The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.  Ps 119:130

          Light = Knowledge          Darkness = ignorance

So, what do we need to avoid Darkness?  Knowledge

• ·       Hos 4:6.  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

There is a great Tension

Not between good and evil

Not even between knowing and not knowing

          Tension between chaos and a Word

          Tension between darkness and knowledge

What is it we should know?  3 Things

Hos 4:1.  Knowledge of God

Our advantage:  We come to know God by getting to know Jesus

John 14, Philip asked “Show us the Father”

Jesus replied, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

1 Cor 1:24.  Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Transcends a head knowledge:  Having a Relationship with Jesus

          Not just church, not just the Bible

                    Ex.  I know football, stats… but I don’t know any players

2.  Know How to Live

Hos 4:1-2

Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel,

For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:

"There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.

2 By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery,

They break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.

Titus 2:11-12

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

If we live by the standard of the world – It is a testimony that we don’t know Him

3.  Know His Will for Your Life

Col 1:9.  Be filled with a knowledge of His will

Tension between your darkness & your deep – knowing your purpose

This is why we minister to you the way we do

          This is why we bring in the Prophetic

Rom 12:2, the key to knowing His perfect will is what happens in our mind

We talk about confirming prophesy

There must be application of what you already know

Results:  Make Him known

“The earth was in darkness”

There are people in darkness – chaos and confusion

Waiting for the Light to lead them out of darkness – answers

          Open your mouth

Hos 4:3.  Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away

          “Waiting for the revealing of the sons of God”  (Rom 8:17)

Main way to make Him know is by how you live

Cooperate with His Spirit, because His Spirit is hovering

Allow God to use you to speak a Word in their chaos

Don’t let anyone else be destroyed

Because you wouldn’t shine light in their darkness