Breaking Down the Faith Barrier - Part 1

Welcome to the intensified Catholic term Stanley for Monday, February 28 day week series of programs that can help you grow strong in faith. The first obstacle to growth breaking down the faith barrier.

Here's today's podcast. God has this on the plan for all of our lives. That plan is the very best that of all liquids and all loving God could possibly design.

Now if I want his best. I will find out what the design is for my life.

And then I will follow with and obey him at every turn.

If I don't care if I don't want is best.

I'll try to figure out something that I think is better for me than what he's figured that I think all of us know that that would be very unwise and yet that is exactly what most people choose to do they decide they know better than God. Now if he designs a plan for a life then he also will equip laws that enable laws and gift us with whatever is necessary in order to make that plan a reality will make it possible. It will even be in keeping with the character of God. To say this is what I want you to do with your life. This is how I want you to live your life and did not equip us or gift us to do so that when I think about how people fail in their life and how they failed to accomplish or achieve the things that God is set for them. The goals that God is set for them that I cast myself the question why does that happen, but it certainly can't be that they're not equipped because it would be inconsistent with the nature of God, therefore it must be that it has something to do with their belief that they can or cannot that they are capable of the not capable something that has to do with their whole faith system and I believe that when a person has a barrier in their faith or barrier to their faith that somehow they'll never be able to achieve never be able to accomplish what God is set for the title of this message is breaking down the faith barrier and I will you turn if you will to Exodus chapter 3 because what I would like to do.

I would like to illustrate this whole principal in the life of Moses. One of the wonderful things about the word of God is this, it does not give us these beautiful pictures of perfect men and women, but men and women who struggle with the same things you and I struggle with. I think of all of us would have to admit that there are times when we face challenges in our life task in our life goals in our life that God has set for us that oftentimes our faith wavers.

That is, we are not sure we'll be able to accomplish this. Not quite certainly going to be able to achieve this will God knows how all of us waiver and so he did not give us a group of men and women in the Scripture who had perfect faith, but men and women whose faith waiver just like our what we have to ask is what is it that keeps us from being able to believe God when it is so absolutely necessary and so essential to achieve those things that he wants us to achieve in life. So I will still give us a little background here in the life of Moses because the very same things that you and I have to deal with with no exception. He dealt with them. He failed the same way we fail. And yet God was able to bring them through it just like he is us. And here is a tremendous lesson for all of us getting in chapter 3, verse one that Moses was pastoring the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire. Yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said I was turned aside now and see this marvelous site. While the bush is not burned up.

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look God called to him from the midst of the bush and said Moses.

Moses and he said here I am. Then he said, do not come near here.

Remove your sandals from your feet for the place in which you are standing is holy ground.

He said also I am the God of your father the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and Moses hit his face, for he was afraid to look at God and the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and I have given heed to their cry because of the taskmasters from aware of their suffering, so I have come down to deliver them from the power the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and spacious land to a land flowing with milk and honey to the place of the Canaanite in the Hittite and Amorite in the paraxylene. The Hivite and the Jebusite now behold the cry of the sons of this role is come to me.

The furthermore I have seen the oppression of which the Egyptians are pressing them. Therefore, now, and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt. Well, that's when things turn the little dim for Moses because he was not excited about that last part.

I hear he was kneeling all probably lying prostrate before the presence of Almighty God listening to God reveal himself, and then all of a sudden he finds himself the object of the call of God to a task of which of course he absolutely was not excited about whatsoever. And so in this call of Moses, a man who was called to a great work. A great adventure a great ministry a great blessing and a great place in human history.

His response was the kind of response that oftentimes God gets from the most committed believers when we face something we are not quite sure we know how to handle or some kind of contest in life. It will not sure we going to get through in the way that we would like to. So what is the faith barrier of faith barrier is an attitude or combination of attitude that short-circuit our faith, thus hindering us or hindering the flow of the power of God in our life, which would keep us from becoming the person God wants us to be, or accomplishing the thing God wants us to accomplish. So we say this is one a faith barrier is, it is there an attitude that short-circuit listen short-circuits our faith, thus hindering us by shutting down the power of God and therefore we failed to become the person God wants us to be and to do the things that God wants us to do now. I'm talking about attitudes and patterns of thinking that you and I have adopted over the years. Sometimes there patterns or attitudes that we were given his children, but no matter how you will program and about what somebody said about you and what they told you that you would amount to a maybe nothing will never achieve a never be anything of a told you you are ugly of the told you a lot of things about yourself that that you had to live with things that were damaging to your sense of self-esteem. You remember this what they think about you and what God thinks about you is not the same God doesn't make any junkie anything he doesn't make failures he doesn't make people to fail God loves us just the way we are and if he allowed us to be made a certain way he had something in mind.

God doesn't just throw something in the air and a design falls out. God has a purpose to design your life in my life a certain way and that design is the best that he could come up with and he has something good in man every single time. So when we look at that in me think about what is it that short-circuit some these things in our life. What I would like to do is to lay out just these five excuses that Moses gave because each one of these is like a building block that builds a barrier in my faith that I cannot trust God I cannot believe him to be a what he says and what he promises to do so.

Let's begin with the first one of those building blocks of that is a poor self-image. I want to look if you will, in verse 10, because when God said to Moses, now and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt. What is the first thing Moses said.

Moses said to God, who is who am I that I should go to Pharaoh that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt who Moses answered to his own question was, I am a nobody. I am a Midianite Shepherd run out of Egypt, a Hebrew slave and certainly I am not welcome back in that nation from which I had to escape from our life.

So if he looked at himself. You have good reason to say will who are not used to it you got the wrong person and a lot of other people you could send them there besides me now think many people struggle with the poor self-image. They struggle because of what they've heard. What's the root of all that, I think the root of that there probably you could you not get bonded in several things and I think of one of those things that you and I can look back and and see how people develop a supports of images is by comparison that anyone of us can find somebody that we know can do better than what we do. But here's the issue.

God doesn't choose men and women who always can do better than to do his work for.

He chooses people the basis he says of his good intention of his goodwill.

He may choose you to do something to accomplish something in life and he certainly shows you to be something in life very important and so what we do is we compare ourselves. All people we say well you know there must be a better person who could do this well, that probably is but that's not the issue. The issue is this. Did God tell you to do.

And if God told you to do it then you and I don't have anything that we can do except be obedient to God all rebel against God.

Therefore, a lot of people they look at themselves and compare themselves.}

I will, God, you needed to someone else because there's a lot of folks who can do this better than I can that you think God knows that he doesn't in the account information. He knows exactly who can do the best he also said he also knows who has the spirit that is humble enough to say God if you don't do this through me ill never be done.

He isn't looking for mighty people. He's not looking for the most intelligent he's not looking for the best looking, he's not looking for the most eloquent he's looking for men and women who willing to surrender themselves to God and say Lord, whatever you want to do with my life. The answer is yes. That's the kind of person he's looking for the next time somebody says will. Who do you think you are most of the time as if I was there that to you sure you think you're the master question. What did you say what is what you could've said you get is that something like this, you could've said well I think I am out to you while I'm a forgiven child of God I am a sealed saints sealed forever eternally for him. I am a gifted follower of Jesus. He is gifted me to do whatever he wants me to do.

I am a faithful servant of God that he like that your love who I am. So when somebody says will. Who do you think you are, you know what you should and shouldn't vary ahead and say what you you should sell to exactly who I tell him who God says you are. That's what matters not what they think you are, not what the world thinks you are.

Who does God think you are, God sees us as his children. God sees as his his servants, God sees us as the object of his divine unconditional love. God sees as is gifted with his forgiveness, God sees us as those children who can live with him for all eternity. God sees as his his servants who are going to serve him for all eternity. God sees us as the object of unconditional eternal fathomless indescribable in measurable law. That's who we are and we should be able to say the people. This is who, while it isn't just your name is who you are. It's what you arts what God has made you and what he's in the process of making and so when God said to Moses, I want you to go and this is my call to you is a book about who who have a nobody.

There's no such thing as a nobody. Everybody is a somebody and those of those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior. We are really somebody you still have what you think you so somebody in Orlando on Dante. This is how valuable you in our look at the cross and I'll tell you how valuable every single person, is that Jesus thinks she is so important. He went to the cross and died for your sin and mine in order that you and I could be made.

The children of God and live forever in the eyes of God before him. So one of those barriers that we have to deal with is a positive self-image, a second one is ignorance look at this is what happens. So he says to them in verse 12 he said certainly I will be with you and this should be the sign to you that it is who have sent you and when you brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God dismantle every single time you can find making a promise he says now I'm sending you and he said not all that he says I'll be with you. I'm going with you. And secondly, you gonna bring them out and he says besides that you will worship with those you bring out of this very amount. Now this is what he says.

Then Moses said to God, behold, I'm going to the sons of this will also say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they going to say to me what's his name now one of the barriers to faith is ignorance and so Moses said to God will one a minute you going to send me to my people back in Egypt or they got regular sable. Who do you think you are coming out of the mountains overhear a shepherd and you telling us that God sent you. Well thank you very much. Note no thanks. The last time we saw you got is all in trouble, so why should we think God sent you. He said now what am I going to now this is a major problem and listen to me carefully, you will not put your faith in a God, you do not know you will not do it.

One of the primary reasons people will not believe God and trust him as they don't know nothing going by the name God Jehovah and a few other names, but they don't know him personally in a personal relationship God knew that Moses needed to understand who is this that is calling him to this impossible task. First of all, how is a man with a stick that is with a shepherd staff going to walk into mighty Egypt to what they would think would be omnipotent Pharaoh and say you let my people go, he be the laughing stock of each God said to him.

Listen I want I want to be sure you understand who is doing the talking.

I am is doing the talking. I remember my promise to your forefathers, not all that will take care of the Egyptians, you simply obey me. Listen the reason I've asked people to bring a Bible to church, and the reason I say to you who listen week after week you will open your Bible take notes, write down what God is saying to you because you see what this is all about is discovering who God is. Most people do not know who God is.

They have an image of God that is absolute, the story you will not trust the God whom you do not know those people who say why I got have a miracle to believe got you just forget the Pharisees and the Sadducees watched Jesus healed people raise the dead, renew the strength in the in the limbs give sight to blind and hearing the data.

What are they that they crucified no matter how many miracles he performed that always had some human explanation for what he did when they couldn't explain it. They thought and they just said no we don't believe that Ms. get rid of this matter was if you can explain it killing, meritless, and the person who wants to little Michael. I want to go to church with us miracles hallelujah praise God. Dante what every time somebody gets say the most important miracle that can happen, the face of this earth happens at that moment. That is the most important miracle that can happen when a person who's living in sin, turns the life over the Jesus Christ becomes a child of God.

The name is written in the Lamb's book of life. God forgives them of their sin, which is something that nobody will place this can possibly do and therefore ever child of God, to live eternally with him. Name me something more miraculous than that. And remember this that the primary purpose for the miracles of Jesus was to convince those of his day that he was the Messiah. Not trying to convince them that he had all power. He was the Messiah and that the his power was the evidence of who he was. They refused to accept who he was. Now when you and I doubt what we have to ask is what's the basis of our doubt is the sometimes you talk to yourself you so if I get told most of what somebody don't think there's negative what they think you need to talk to yourself yesterday to ask yourself the next time God tells you do something you doubt it, ask yourself this question. What evidence do I have, having been a Christian this long.

What evidence do I have that God is not going to do what he says there's no evidence that God is ever failed to keep a promise, the Almighty God, who says I am is the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all loving, merciful, just and righteous God who cannot live who will not live and who is every thing he says he is and more because our finite minds cannot comprehend the awesome reality of who God we have no reason to doubt we have feelings that causes the down we have things it that we think give us reason to doubt. But the truth is not there. In reality, my friend, don't let yourself miss out on God's best. Because these building blocks that you've allowed to bury your faith cheat you out of life's very best. God has the best of those who willing to trust him and trusting him means that I'm willing to believe this statement that God assumes full responsibility for the line the consequences of the line totally committed to him. You'll never lose being thank you for listening to part one of breaking down the faith barrier if you like to know more about child family for intense ministries enhance.org is not cast as a presentation of intense ministries Atlanta, Georgia