Prepare the Way
Isaiah 40:3
A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God!
God wants to move in and amongst His people. To see lost saved, deaf hear, blind to see. He wants to reveal His glory to us, but we first need to prepare these earthly vessels for the day of the Lords visitation.
Remove the Obstacles
Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]
So what are the obstacles?
1. Fear
a. Fear of the unknown – We are used to having things this way and its been like this for as long as we can remember
b. God might ask me to do something I might not be comfortable with
c. What will my family and friends think?
Whose opinion of you is more important? God’s or theirs?
Romans 8:15
For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Do our fears have validity in comparison to the word of God? I would say not.
*Fear is faith in the devil*
A German Proverb – Fear makes the Wolfe seem bigger than He is.
Fear is debilitating to all of us and that’s why it is one of Satan’s top choices for keeping Gods children bound.
How can we break free from fear and remove this obstacle?
We carry the weapon to kill fear. USE IT!!!
Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light? Author: Maurice Freehill.
2. Doubt
a. We won’t see a powerful move of God like that here. Why not? Are you not just as important in Gods kingdom as the people were at Azusa Street or Pensacola Florida, or place in Africa now that are seeing people raised from the dead on a daily basis. YOU ARE!!!
Acts 2:17-19
And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [ divinely suggested] dreams. Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God’s kingdom]. And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor.
Jer 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
God wants to bless you in all that He has. Speak the truth of Gods word and speak the truth of Gods word and speak the truth of Gods word…You’ll start to believe it and expect those things you read about to become a reality in your own life. You want to see God move, you want to see Revival? Do you know what revival is?
b. The word revival has become a part of our Christian language, but you won’t find the word in the Bible as it is commonly used today. The concept is there, and we can see its effect in both Old and New Testaments, but you will not find the word revival laying on the surface of scripture. If we look at Psalm 119, David seemed to tap into New Testaments grace long before it was available to the rest of us. Numerous times He calls out to God to revive Him
Psalm 119:25 - My earthly life cleaves to the dust; revive and stimulate me according to your word
v154 - Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me and give me life according to Yyour word
v159 - Consider how I love Your precepts; revive me and give life to me, O Lord, according to Your loving-kindness
The word Revive comes from the old English Word to QUICKEN
H2421 chavah A prim root (compare H2331, H2424); to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively to revive:— keep (leave, make) alive, certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (God) save (alive, life, lives), surely, be whole.
David longed for, prayed for, and expected personal revival. This is evident from his prayer journal as seen in Psalm 119. There is no revival outside of exposure to God’s Word. Realizing the key to removing the obstacle of doubt is a person revival and a zeal and fresh understanding of the truth of Gods word.
Third Obstacle
3. Contentment with A Little When God wants to Give A Lot
a. Trusting in Past moves of God – Remember what God has done in your life is important and we should give God praise and glory for those things. But to stay and dwell on them is a mistake. He is pouring our new wine everywhere, and if you head is looking back you wont be able to hold your cup still as He pours it out.
Look at it like this: Were all on a train and its pulling out of the station. There a lot of anticipation on board because we don’t know where the train is going, but we were told we will see and experience so many wonderful things. It will blow our mind. As the train heads out we look out and see we are along side the most wonderful coastline anyone has ever seen. Its absolutely wonderful, so wonderful some people jump off the train to stop and admire. The trains keeps moving though and they are left looking at the beautiful coastline. A little further the train is climbing the most picturesque mountain anyone has seen. Again some people jump off the train and look around in admiration at the scene. The train steams to the top and stops. The conductor comes back into the cabin and is perplexed at where half the people went. He’s told some got off by the ocean, some got off halfway up this mountain. Why would they get off. Yes those things were beautiful, but look outside. We all look and for as far as the eye can see there is rolling hills, snow capped mountain tops, and yes we could look back and see the ocean where some had got off the train.
You see God is leading us someplace wonderful. Those places along the way are wonderful blessings, but there is so much more He wants to give to you and show you if you would just stay on the train and stop being satisfied with a little. Stay on the train.
Phil 3:13-14
I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward
Prepare The Way…Make Straight..
Steer your life back into Gods grace. When you sin, you veer off the path. When convicted with sin, repent quickly and get back straight. If you have to look to the left or to the right to see the mark, you are off target.
When a true believer sins, they know it.
If you see a brother or sister in sin, first look in the mirror and if your eye is clear, go and gently restore them back on track. It must be done in love.
Here’s an example, If you see a brother struggling in lust and you yourself are knee deep in its grasp, your probably in no position to approach that brother regarding his lust struggles.
Be humble enough that if someone comes to you and is trying to gently restore you back on track that they are allowed to speak into your life. We all have struggles, we all fall. But it’s the humble ones that will experience the most growth in their lives.
Prepare the Way…smooth in the desert a highway for our God!
Have you ever been to a desert? Seen one on TV? Its not very solid, its hard to build something on it. The foundation has to be packed, filled, packed, and packed some more.
Build a highway for our God – Prepare for the day of the Lords arrival in our midst by filling your dry places with the word of God. Use the word of God in praise, in prayer, in supplication. Ingrain it on your heart. Listen to it on CD. Read it aloud. You will begin to build a solid foundation for the highway to be built on. God wants to come in power to each on of us, to the church, to Lockeport. But He is searching around for those hearts that are fully His. You want to see this place filled with new believers, you want to see deaf hear, blind see, dead raised. The preparation must begin. Created a place that God will want to dwell in (stay). You look at revivals in the past where God has moved mightily. I wonder if they had prepared more for Gods arrival would those awesome moves of God stopped? We will never know this side of glory, but this I know. He want to come and dwell. Are you prepared????
