NO MAS! NO MAS! THE TEN COUNT? VS ACHIEVE? PREVAIL?
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
If you do this in one lesson, you must move quickly.
I start with a towel, and throw the towel on the floor?
What could this mean?
I. CAN WE HEAR THE CRY OF THE FLEEING SPIRIT, I SHALL FLEE, NO MAS! NO MAS? GOD HELP US TO SEE SACRIFICE IS NEVER SACRIFICE WHERE THERE IS LOVE.
KJV
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great
army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
NIV
Joel 2:25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten -- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm-- my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions
A. I woke up the other morning with one word in my heart. The word was simple, I turned on the light and wrote it on paper.
I have pondered several days ACHIEVE and what ACHIEVE COULD MEAN TO US? ACHIEVE--- PREVAIL!
B. The next morning I looked up ACHIEVE.
ACHIEVE MEANS:
To carry out successfully.
To accomplish.
A gradual increase.
To exert self and attain the results desired.
To attain an end or aim.
To manage to arrive at a goal.
C. PREVAIL:
TO RISE ABOVE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES AND ACHIEVE SUCCESS.
To gain ascendancy through power or strength, TRIUMPH.
TO BECOME EFFECTIVE.
To be victorious.
TO OVERCOME!
D. As I pondered: I recalled many years ago a great billed BOXING MATCH!
The great SUGAR RAY LEONARD was fighting ROBERTO DURAN.
DURAN was a great Mexican fighter.
The match began --- Sugar Ray landed some powerful blows to Duran!
DURAN THREW UP HIS HANDS AND STARTED CRYING OUT:
In Spanish: NO MAS! NO MAS!
NO MORE! NO MORE! I QUIT.
The great fight was over in seconds, and what was billed as a great fight
flopped as Duran quit!
DURAN NEVER ACHIEVED HIS GREAT FAME IN THE BOXING RING.
Sugar Ray is still known as one of the greatest boxers of his day!
Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
II. BY BIBICIAL HISTORY IT SEEMS ISREAL HAS NEVER ACHIEVED WHAT GOD HAD PLANNED FOR THIS LITTLE NATION!
A. I had many great questions about ACHIEVEMENT in my life about ministry and the many insecurities that ministering in small places may cost? I considered
returning to the "real world" to find something with a greater sense of security and retirement. I had for a long time pondered ACHIEVEMENT?
I had not verbalized this to anyone.
Maybe in a time of discouragement I had mentioned this to my wife?
B. My Dad and Mom came to visit me. My Dad has pastored small churches all of my life. I will forever respect and love him for his sacrifice for people.
As I questioned my self I wanted to talk to Dad, but I could never find a place to discuss this without sounding defeated?
C. My Dad and I loaded up and went to visit an old man that had chased several rainbows in life and had ACHIEVED. The man was sitting out in his yard swinging and my Dad and I pulled in the yard. The man dropped
some big names, and produced pictures to prove of his ACHIEVEMENT.
The old man said, I HAVE MUCH MORE THAN SIX FIGURES IN THE BANK. He told my Dad the house was paid for and he wanted for nothing. The old man was crying very hard... AND WAS SHEDDING MANY BITTER TEARS.
D. My Dad asked the SUPER ACHIEVER why he was crying. The old man told my Dad as a young father: God --- called him to preach and pastor.
Tears ran down his face and he said: My kids were small, and I knew pastoring country churches my income and resources would be so small and my dear family would make sacrifices and go with out and I WAS NOT
WILLING TO GO WITHOUT and I didn’t think we could MAKE IT?
E. The old man buried his face in his hands and cried like a baby.
He said: 55 YEARS LATER I SEE I COULD HAVE MADE IT IF I WOULD HAVE OBEYED THAT STILL SMALL VOICE.
He said: I have sit in this swing crying for four years knowing I missed
it. My children are adults, my grandchildren are adults, and I leave them everything but God! I FAILED! I FAILED MISERIBLY.
F. My Dad that had pastored over 50 years was crying like a baby with this man. My Dad had given all those years to small churches and had to work hard to supplement his income. My Dad had played music in rest
homes and traveled preaching the Gospel and we knew sacrifice.
G. I was crying and God was answering my self-doubts and dreams of more and greater? I was so proud of my Mom and Dad’s many years history of service. God let me see a hurting man that knew he could have done
more, and he missed it.
H. My Dad told this 80 year old man: God was merciful and his work was not done. Dad said: ASK GOD FOR ANOTHER CHANCE.
I. The old man was driving out in the country and went to the church he attended as a boy. The doors were padlocked, some of the windows broken.
The old man drove up to a neighbor of the church, and they had known each other many years ago.
J. The old neighbor said I dream of attending church there. The old man asked for the keys and went into the church and prayed. To his surprise the old preacher felt God tug at his heart strings like when he was young. The old man started working around the church.
What he could not do, he invested his own money and paid to have done. With in weeks they were having church in the old sanctuary. God was good and allowed the old man to pastor the church several years.
K. He would call me, bubbling over with LOVE OF THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE. He missed it to ACHIEVE, yet God’s GREAT MERCY AND GRACE ALLOWED THIS MAN TO LEAVE THIS WORLD WITH THE TORCH IN HIS HAND.
L. We came home that evening. Mom and Dad and my siblings left for home.
I WENT INTO MY YOUNG SONS’ BEDROOM AND PRAYED GOD TO BLESS THEM AND HELP US TO SEE SACRIFICE IS NEVER SACRIFICE WHERE THERE IS LOVE!
M. Sure, I will die with some regrets, but I thank God I never left the ministry worrying about tomorrow.
III. GOD HAS A PLAN TO ACHIEVE! GOD’S PLAN IS FAR BEYOND YOUR DREAMS! GOD IS IN CONTROL! TRUST HIM!
A. SEEMS ALL THROUGH HISTORY FEW HAVE RISEN TO ACHIEVE AS OUR GOD HAD PLANNED!
B. HOW SAD TO WAKE UP AN OLD PERSON WITH A LIFE OF REGRETS? I could have done more?
KJV
Romans 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
LIVING
Romans 11:7 So this is the situation: Most of the Jews have not found the favor of God they are looking for. A few have--the ones God has picked out--but the eyes of the others have been blinded.
8 This is what our Scriptures refer to when they say that God has put them to sleep, shutting their eyes and ears so that they do not understand what we are talking about when we tell them of Christ. And so it is to this very day.
NIV
Romans 11:7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
C. Will we accept defeat and discouragement as the NORM OF GOD’S PEOPLE? WE KNOW GOD HAS MORE!
IV. TO HAVE A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH GOD IS THE BEGINNING OF THE ROAD TO ACHIEVEMENT. WE HAVE CAMPED OUT IN LUZ LONG ENOUGH.
A. ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF JERUSALEM WAS A PLACE KNOWN AS LUZ.
LUZ WAS A PASS BETWEEN AI AND MICHMASH.
LUZ WAS A ROYAL CITY OF CANAAN.
B. LUZ MEANS VERY DRY, DESERT, BARREN.
C. JACOB WAS ON HIS JOURNEY IN LIFE.
He had to face SPIRITUAL DRYNESS.
JACOB WAS ON HIS WAY TO HIS MOTHER’S CITY, HARAN.
JACOB CAME TO LUZ AND DECIDED TO CAMP OUT THERE.
Genesis 28:10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.
Genesis 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
D. THE DRY PLACE THAT BECOMES A PLACE OF MEETING GOD.
FOREVER THIS PLACE WILL BE CHANGED TO EL-BETHEL.
Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
E. JACOB’S ENCOUNTER IS JUST SEEING AND RECOGNIZING GOD
IS HERE. Jacob never came in contact with God here that day.
He did have an experience learning to know God.
Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken
to thee of.
F. JACOB COMES TO THE POINT OF PROMISE!
THIS IS FOR ME! GOD’S PLAN IS FOR ME!
V. GOD’S PLAN OF ACHIEVEMENT FOR JACOB --- IS A PARADIGM SHIFT!
HIS WHOLE PATTERN AND METHOD WILL FOREVER BE CHANGED...
JACOB COULD NOT PREVAIL, YET GOD SHALL MAKE HIM TO PREVAIL!
A. JACOB COMES TO THE POINT THAT THE PROMISE IS MINE AND MY CHILDRENS’.
B. JACOB IS NOW READY TO GO BEYOND SEEING, JACOB IS READY TO
FIGHT FOR WHAT GOD HAS PLANNED.
Genesis 32:25 And when he saw that (he prevailed not) against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
C. THERE IS NEW HOPE. HOPE BEYOND WHAT A MAN CAN DO!
Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and (hast prevailed.)
D. PREVAIL:
TO RISE ABOVE DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES AND ACHIEVE SUCCESS.
To gain ascendancy through power or strength, TRIUMPH.
TO BECOME EFFECTIVE.
To be victorious.
TO OVERCOME!
E. EL-BETHEL BECAME A PLACE THAT PEOPLE IN TROUBLE AND QUESTION WOULD COME TO SEEK COUNSEL OF GOD.
F. Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson kept the ARK OF THE COVENANT HERE.
G. SAMUEL WAS KNOWN TO MEET GOD HERE.
H. Bethel became a HOME to the PRIEST!
VI. TO ACHIEVE GOD’S GOAL WE MUST LET GO OF THE THINGS BEHIND US. OUR PAST CAN NOT DICTATE OUR FUTURE.
REACH FORWARD --- PRESS TOWARD THE BULL’S EYE!
A. YOU CAN NEVER BARGAIN WITH GOD.
Abraham had to lay down his only son?
Jonah had to go to Ninevah?
Daniel had to go to the LIONS’ DEN!
3 BOYS TO THE FIERY FURNACE.
B. I HAVEN’T MADE IT YET!!!
Philip. 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
C. TO ACHIEVE AND PREVAIL YOU MUST LET GO OF THE SCARS
AND PITY PARTIES THAT SCARS CAN BRING.
D. SCARS ARE A TESTIMONY OF SURVIVAL!
VII. DO YOU ACCEPT THE 10 COUNT? 10? 9? 8? 7? 6? 5? 4? 3? 2 ?1? GOD MAY NEVER EXPLAIN TO YOU WHAT HE IS DOING AND WHY HE IS DOING IT? GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!
A. DURAN’S MANAGER THREW IN THE TOWEL?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THROW IN THE TOWEL?
Psalm 34:7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
B. MY FRIEND THERE IS MORE FOR YOU THAN AGAINST YOU...
2 Kings 6:18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
C. LET’S NOT DISCUSS WHY WE CAN NOT DO THIS!
LET US DECLARE OUR GOD IS ABLE!
D. A GREAT MISSIONARY DIED ON A GREAT MISSIONARY FIELD.
He died a very sick man in a strange land.
IN THE FRONT PAGES OF HIS WELL WORN BIBLE WERE FOUND
SOME WORDS WRITTEN VERY LARGE AND VERY BOLD.
NO RESERVES!
NO REGRETS!
NO RETREATS!
2 Chron. 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
E. GOD CAN RESTORE OUR HOMES!
GOD CAN RESTORE OUR HEALTH!
Jeremiah 30:17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ’because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.
F. DO YOU TRUST GOD?
DO YOU TRUST GOD AS A REWARDER?
G. REWARDER:
Recompense, pay day, to watch, to guard.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.
CONCLUSION:
TRUST THE REWARDER. GOD WILL HONOR US ---
WE CAN ACHIEVE AND PREVAIL AND THRIVE.
THE WORLD WAS AMAZED THAT THEY WERE IGNORNANT AND
UNLEARNED --- YET THEY FOUND THE POWER AND SOURCE OF
REAL ACHIEVEMENT!
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Pass it on?
