#1 Shake It Off

#1. SHAKE IT OFF, GOD HAS A PLAN...

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

PAUL WAS ASSURED NO MATTER WHAT THE ENEMY MUSTERED AGAINST

HIM, GOD HAD A PLAN... YOU ARE GOING TO ROME... FEAR NOT...

YOUR MINISTRY WILL THRIVE UNTIL GOD IS FINISHED...

Acts 23:11 (KJV) And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good

cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness

also at Rome.

Acts 23:11 (NLT) That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul.

Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good

News in Rome as well.”

Acts 23:11 (MSG) That night the Master appeared to Paul: "It's going to be all right.

Everything is going to turn out for the best. You've been a good witness for me here in

Jerusalem. Now you're going to be my witness in Rome!"

I. INTRODUCTION:

Sometimes you can do more than you thought you could?

Seems an old drunk took a short cut through the graveyard late one night.

The grave diggers had finished their digging and left an open grave for a

funeral the next day. As the drunk was walking he fell into the grave.

He was laying in the bottom of the grave he decided to try to get out. It was so dark.

He tried to climb out and the mud sides would just break off and he would

fall back down to the bottom of the grave. Finally he saw he was hopeless and he

quit trying to get out. He would just sit in the corner and wait for morning to come.

A few hours later another drunk was walking through the dark graveyard and

wouldn't you know it. He fell into the same grave. He tried to climb out, he tried

to jump out, he tried everything he knew to do. He was trapped 6 feet deep in the

grave.

Finally, he decide to quit trying to get out. And he started to sit down in a corner.

When the other drunk said: I SEE YOU CAN NOT GET OUT EITHER, GUESS WE

ARE TRAPPED TOGETHER UNTIL MORNING COMES.

The second drunk heard the voice, thinking it was a dead man and immediately

the drunk sobered up and launch himself out of that muddy grave. He ran 50 miles

an hour until he fell on his porch. His wife came out and said: LOOKS LIKE YOU

HAVE SEEN A GHOST. He said, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE ME IF I TOLD

WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME.

Sometimes in LIFE WE JUST NEED A LITTLE EXTRA MOTIVATION TO

GET US OUT OF THE RUT IN WHICH WE HAVE FALLEN.

II. GOD HAS A PLAN --- FEW LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THE STRANGE TWIST OF LIFE...

THE CRUEL, MEAN, MOCKINGS ARE ORDAINED MY A MIGHTY GOD TO

ACCOMPLISH HIS PLANS...

A. There is a special person HAND PICKED by a Holy God, Saul had potential.

We probably would not have considered this person to be a GREAT GOD WORKER?

B. Many feared this man SAUL/PAUL ... His past was bad stuff.

Their fear was justified.

C. GOD HAS A PLAN THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO PERSONAL OPINION or it is

not for MAJORITY RULE?

D. TEXT

Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul:

for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

Acts 23:11 (NLT) That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as

you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

Acts 23:11 (MSG) That night the Master appeared to Paul: "It's going to be all right. Everything

is going to turn out for the best. You've been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now

you're going to be my witness in Rome!"

III. DO WE HONESTLY RECOGNIZE THIS JOURNEY WILL NOT GO AS WE THOUGHT IT

SHOULD? IN ONE DAY, ONE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, ON ONE ROAD TRIP --- LIFE WILL BE

FOREVER CHANGED...

A. Saul was a very educated man, and was bold.

Acts 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him

a light from heaven:

B. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET A SEEING MAN TO SEE?

Do you think it is possible to see more and understand more when you are blind?

Acts 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord

said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.