Valley Grove Assembly of God
May 4. 2008
“God is Everything You Need Him to Be”
Exodus 3:13-22
INTRODUCTION: I would like you to think about the things that you worry about the most. It could be anything that causes you a lot of concern throughout the day or night. What things raise your anxiety level? What decisions hang over your head until you just don’t know which way to turn?
You might identify with a man named Frank whose wife said, “Frank, put on your sweater!!!” He asked, “Am I cold or are we going some place?”
Sometimes we feel frustrated by the many things that come at us every day and wonder if God sees our needs and is going to help us get through them. It could be anything from the weather that makes our aches and pains worse to very serious health concerns. It could be worrying how to pay our bills. You name it, and it causes us hours of undue worry and concern.
We should not be surprised when these things come to unsettle us. Peter reminded us of this in I Peter 4:12 when he said, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.”
Even in today’s Old Testament account, Moses faced much concern and anxiety over what God was calling him to do. He was at the point of pressing the panic button when he offered one excuse after another as to why he couldn’t fulfill the assignment.
In this chapter God has just called Moses to deliver the people out of the hands of the Egyptians where the people had suffered abuse for a very long time. At this point in his life he was not ready to rush right out and conquer the world as he had been 40 years earlier. He was now timid, unsure of himself, and lacking in the assertiveness that he would need for the divine commission. He gulped at the idea and said, “See if you can get someone else to do it.” He came up with a lot of excuses why he was not the man for the job. He was not at this point a shining example of faith and trust in God. He had a lot of “what ifs.” What if I go and then the people don’t believe me? What if I can’t get the words to come out right? You know I can’t speak. Who am I going to tell them sent me here in the first place?”
God answered each of his objections by assuring Him that He was everything that Moses needed Him to be. Today I would like to remind you that “God is Everything You Need Him to Be.”
1. How Do You Know This?: Digging into this scripture we find some answers that apply to us today just as much as it did to Moses. Moses was concerned about knowing exactly who it was who sent him. God said to him, “I AM that I AM.” Tell them “I AM” sent you. What does that mean?
It was not just the bare name of God but the SIGNIFICANCE or the MEANING
of the name. What does the name mean? What is the CONTENT of this Name? The people in the East had a lot of gods. Which one was Moses referring to? Was this god one that could deliver? For some of their gods there was an inequity between the agent and the mission. Did this god have the “goods” to deliver the people from the Egyptians?
To clarify who it was, Moses made it clear that this was no new God to Israel. He was the SAME God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is my name forever and this is my name to ALL GENERATIONS. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I change not…”
He is telling Moses, “I am truly he who exists and who will be dynamically PRESENT then and there in the situation to which I am sending you.” He said, “I will be with you.” Sometimes we don’t give it a thought that God is ACTIVELY PRESENT with me today--right now. He says “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). God made it known to Moses that His name was filled with His AUTHORITY and his POWER. God wanted Moses to know that He was always DEPENDABLE and has the RESOURCES to meet every need of the people. He is an unchangeable God and He is a present God to us today just as well. He has the resources to meet our needs. How do we know this? Many scriptures point to His resources. “My God shall supply ALL YOUR NEED according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).
What do you need God to be to you today? One time John D. Rockefeller said “Oh, what I would give to be able to eat a hot dog!” He had the money to pay for it but he didn’t have the good health to digest it.” We have a whole variety of needs that God wants to meet. Not just spiritual salvation, but healing, financial, relationships, etc. The word SALVATION is an all inclusive word. I AM…..is an open ended sentence. God says, “I AM the Lord that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26.) But we say, “Yes, but I’m sick.” Scripture says, “But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Psalm 3:3). But we say, “I feel so depressed today.” Scripture says “God will generously provide all you need. Then you will have everything you need and plenty leftover to share with others.” and we say, “I can’t pay my bills. I’m broke.” Who do you believe?
There is no reason to think that God can’t be what you need him to be. He is capable of being everything you need him to be. Are our troubles greater than God can handle? We can receive from Him through faith. Hebrews 11:6 says that “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” (Hebrews 11:6).
2. Making it Work Today: An Army sergeant who was caught on the beach by German artillery managed to save himself by jumping into the water. While improving his position with a trench shovel, he came upon an ornate crucifix--the kind that prosperous Italians often hung on their bedroom walls.
Two hours later a United States Chaplain rolled into the water beside him. The sergeant held up the muddy crucifix that he had been clutching for dear life since discovering it and turned to the Chaplain and said, “Man, am I sure glad to see you! How do you make this thing work?”
If our religion is superficial it won’t do anything for us. It won’t work in our every day life. How can God become to us whatever we need Him to be then? Why are we not receiving what we need so much of the time?
There are probably numerous reasons:
Sometimes we pray amiss and God has to answer, “You’ve got to be kidding.” Sometimes we do not keep His commandments. We just do as we please and then expect God to bail us out. Sometimes we really don’t believe He will do it for us thinking we are not deserving or too unworthy. We limit ourselves and think that He will only give us a tiny bit when he wants to pour out a blessing upon us. To “pour out” indicates volume. Not just a trickle. We set limits on ourselves--we choke down when our need seems to exceed our faith.
We need to be totally convinced that God WANTS to meet our needs. Why wouldn’t He?
The other day I said, “Walter I need some money out of your reserve. How much can you give me?”
He said, “Take what you need.”
We need to realize that God’s checkbook has more than enough to meet our needs. We receive by faith by “coming boldly to the throne of grace…”(Hebrews 4:16).
3. Taking By Faith: Seeing through the eyes of faith, let us look to Him who said, “I AM………………..” and finish that sentence. Don’t you think that God would know how to turn the tide of events for you?
1. Start ASKING for what you need.
2. BE SPECIFIC
3. THANK the Lord for it in ADVANCE
4. PREPARE TO RECEIVE the answer. What would you have to do to be ready for the answer?
5. Don’t TALK ABOUT the lack, or the sickness, or the depression, Begin to SAY “My needs are met. My needs are met. I am healed in the Name of Jesus. Depression be gone in the Name of Jesus.”
6. LET God figure out how he wants to do it.
God is everything you need Him to be! Start believing. Scripture says, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23 KJV) The New Living Translation puts it this way, “What do you mean, ‘If, I can?’ Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The Message Bible puts it still another way. “If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” Jesus said, “If? There are no ifs among believers. Anything can happen.”
CONCLUSION: I would like to conclude with this story. A pastor saw a little kitten stuck in a tree and it would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove until the tree bent down, he could reach up and get the kitten. He did this, checking his progress in the car frequently and then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent down enough for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved just a bit further, the rope broke and the tree snapped upright and the kitten instantly sailed through the air and out of sight.
He felt just terrible and walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they had seen the little kitten. Nobody had and finally he prayed. “Lord, I commit this kitten to Your keeping.”
A few days later he was at the grocery store and met one of his parishioners. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman hated cats, and he wondered why she was buying cat food.
She replied, “You won’t believe this but I have been refusing to get my little girl a cat even though she has been begging me for one. Finally I told her that if God gives you a cat, I’ll let you keep it.
“I watched my child go out into the yard, get on her knees and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won’t believe this but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky with its paws spread out and landed right in front of her. Of course, I had to let her keep it since it came from God.”
LET US PRAY:
