COMPROMISED POTENTIAL
10/11/2007
10/18/2007
Mark 8:22-25
22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
(KJV)
Compromise of 1850 American History to 1865 A set of laws, passed in the midst of fierce wrangling between groups favoring slavery and groups opposing it, that attempted to give something to both sides.
The compromise admitted CALIFORNIA to the United States as a “free” (no slavery) state, but allowed some newly opened territories to decide on slavery for themselves.
SENATOR HENRY CLAY was a great force behind the passage of the compromise.
The Compromise of 1850 is an example of how difficult it was to accommodate the two sides of the slavery question. It failed to prevent the CIVIL WAR, which broke out barely ten years later.
Acts 2:17
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
(KJV)
*** You have the golden gem of potential but you can waste it by yielding to the wrong things.
Rom 6:16
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
(KJV)
*** Balaam was a good example of someone who had potential but lost sight when he yielded to the spirit of compromise.
BALAAM Num 22:1-22
[BAY lum] (lord of the people)-- a magician or soothsayer
A curious mixture of good and evil, Balaam wavered when he was asked by Balak to curse the Israelites.
But he finally agreed to go when the Lord specifically instructed him to go to Balak
When the angel of the Lord blocked their way, the donkey balked three times and was beaten by Balaam, who had not seen the angel. Finally, after the third beating, the donkey spoke, reproving Balaam.
When the angel told Balaam, "Your way is perverse before Me"
The angel told him to go on, however, and reminded him to speak only the words which God gave him to speak.
Balaam and Balak met at the River Arnon and traveled to "the high places of Baal"
After sacrificing on seven altars, Balaam went off alone. When he heard the word of God, he returned to Balak and blessed the people whom Balak wanted him to curse.
The New Testament mentions Balaam in three passages.
Peter speaks of false teachers who "have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam" <2 Pet. 2:15>.
Jude speaks of backsliders who "have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit"
The nature of Balaam’s curse is made clear by John in the Book of Revelation. It refers to some members of the church in Pergamos who held "the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality"
Before leaving Balak, Balaam apparently told the Moabite leader that Israel could be defeated if its people were seduced to worship Baal, "to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality"
Indeed, this was exactly what happened: "The people [of Israel] began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifice of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel"
BALAAM
A battle was fought afterward with the Midianites, in which Balaam sided with them and was slain
(from New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)
Num 24:1-4
1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.
3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:
4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
(KJV)
*** God opened his vision and he still would not change.
*** God won’t change a made up mind!
*** Your life is your potential, Don’t waste it!!
James 4:14
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
(KJV)
Jer 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
(KJV)
Gal 5:7
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? (KJV)
Heb 12:1
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (KJV)
*** When your vision is distorted you potential is compromised
Prov 29:18
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
(KJV)
*** As your self perception clears, your dependency on other people diminishes.
*** When you see yourself weakly you always want someone to go with you. Moses
*** You don’t read where Aaron actually spoke for him.
*** Aaron was a crutch he didn’t need in the first place.
*** What God is trying to teach us is that He can use you with your limitations.
*** Get out of town! Sometimes to help some people you have to get them out of their surroundings.
*** Cause you knew me when…and you locked me down to who you think I am.
*** Get out of mediocrity, normalcy, limitations, comfort zone, so something can happen in your life.
*** This is Jesus, and He is Jesus anywhere
*** Suppose the blind man loved his town more than he wanted his healing?
*** That’s what loving tradition will do.
*** It will make you give up on your vision because you don’t have the strength to “get out of town”.
*** This mans vision clears… as he goes!
*** Look at the steps:
*** Step 1 He is led out blind
he said I’m willing to go with you than to stay blind where I am, from the familiar to the unfamiliar,
*** The familiar is everything when you are blind. Count steps.
*** Step 2 When He got him out of town he spat in his eyes, a radical change,
***Stop 3 I see men walking as trees, in other words I’m better, most people stop right there, they settle for better when they could have best!
***Step 4 He touched him again and he could see clearly.
*** It’s the danger of low expectations; touch me again!!
*** What provoked the 2nd touch was the realization that he was not seeing his external conditions clearly.
*** The key to this is to surround yourself with people who do!
*** If he had not been around anyone else he would have thought that was normal, but the people around him said they are men not trees.
*** He was willing to admit what few people will…I’m not there yet.
*** When was the last time you had your vision checked?
*** I’m not living my dream yet, I’m not walking in my vision yet, if you hold on to something as if this were it, you will miss the next step that God has for you.
*** This is not it, it may be a tool to get me to it, the minute I realize this is not it, it has to become a stepping stone to get me to it!
*** Anything that affects your vision impairs your mobility.
*** Their just steps, that thing that you are sitting on is just a step.
*** He was opening himself up for the possibility of improvement.
*** To be able to see it clearly is to change it effectively.
