Faith Expansion #3 Series

Faith comes in CANS.

Most of my childhood I was raised by a single mother. Her favorite saying was, “CAN’T never did anything but sit on a fence post & cry!” Whenever I said, I can’t do this. I can’t face this. She would respond with this saying. She wanted me to live in the land of FAITH, the land of CAN.

Faith changes our language, our self-talk, what we say to ourselves and to others.

Faith is not fantasy. It doesn’t say I can do whatever I can imagine”.

I can imagine jumping off a cliff and flying but I can’t do it.

Bur Faith says, Whatever God wants me to do, I CAN do.

It says with Paul in Philippians 4:13 I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

In these 10 verses we will study today we find out that:

Faith EMPOWERS us to see the invisible, love the unloveable, endure the unbearable, and do the impossible.

Faith is the bridge between my reality and God’s ability! Do you hear me?

1. 11:20 By faith I can IMPART blessing to others.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

Isaac was the son of Abraham whom we studied last week. He had two sons. Jacob and Esau. And Isaac wanted a blessing on their lives.

Although it is an involved story Genesis 27 speaks of the blessing Isaac imparted to his sons.

Isaac said I CAN impart a blessing by God’s power t to my children. And that’s what happened.

Do you realize you can IMPART blessing to others? If you are a follower of Jesus the HS is living in you. Consequently you can release or withhold the spirit of BLESSING to them.

This is especially true to your children bc God has given you a position of authority in their lives.

*Lindsey, my daughter I would daily pray over her and say, “I bless you in Jesus name”. She stood for Christ, she won awards, she became Homecoming Queen.

We need to practice saying with FAITH these words, “I bless you in the name of Jesus”.

2. 11:21 By faith I can leave a LEGACY.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Jacob blessed his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh and then worshipped God, even though he couldn’t stand without leaning on his staff. As he was dying Jacob wanted to imprint upon those near him that his priorities were his God and his family, prayer and worship.

Listen to part of his blessing from Genesis 48:15 “May the God…who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys.

Jacob left a legacy that was being spoken of 1000 years later.

What kind of LEGACY will you leave? Your legacy will be one of treating God as real and important or not. Your legacy is not formed in your dying breath, but as you live your life.

Faith can help you die well like Jacob, but more importantly it can help you live powerfully.

*My Grandpa Fred…the last time I saw him as he was dying, said, Larry trust the Lord all your days. His life had been a picture of that and his legacy lives on in me everyday.

3. 11:22 By faith I can impart VISION & HOPE to others.

22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

If you remember Joseph in the Bible, he was the one who sold into slavery by his brothers, carried off from Canaan, the Promised Land and taken to Egypt and after doing prison time, God elevates him to second in command to Pharaoh. During a famine his family has to flee to Egypt and there the family grows but there arises a Pharaoh that enslaves the Israelites.

As Joseph is dying, by faith he prophesies and says, “You are going to be set free and return to the Promised Land. I am so certain of this that I don’t want you to bury me here in Egypt. Take my bones with you.”

By FAITH Joseph saw the promises God had made to Abraham coming true.

By FAITH Joseph spoke to the Israelites, TAKE HOPE, freedom is coming, things are going to change, God sees you, God is at work, God loves you. God is able.

And I will stake my very bones on his promises!

Is that the kind of language people hear from you? The language of FAITH? Vision? Hope?

4. 11:23 By faith I can take COURAGEOUS action.

23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.