Each day we depend on a source to help us make it through the day. We look to electricity and water for our homes, a car and fuel to be able to get to work and back. Money in the bank to pay our bills. Often times we neglect our true source...Jesus!
This morning I'll be doing a first for me, a 2 part sermon. When God dealt with me about this message he have it to me in parts. So this morning I'll be sharing with you the first part. And you'll have to come back tonight for part two!
INTRO:
- ILLUS: Imagine that you are going to Best Buy to purchase a new refrigerator. (You get the most high tech fridge out there $3500.) They deliver your shiny new appliance into your home, put it in place and you stuff it with plenty of all your favorite groceries. The next morning you go eagerly to the kitchen refrigerator and open the door, but the shelves don¡¦t glide out automatically, they just sit there. What¡¦s worse, the melted ice cream in the freezer section has run down and is all over everything. Your vegetables have turned color and the milk has gone sour. It dawns on you that your top of the line refrigerator is not functioning as you were led to believe it would. o You pick up the phone, call that salesperson who had sold you this merchandise and when he answers you give him a piece of your evangelical Christian mind!
The salesman says, Well, will you please open the fridge door and see if light comes on? NO LIGHT
Would you put your ear down at the bottom and let me know if you hear the hum of the motor? NO HUM. If you don't mind, would you kindly look around the back of the refrigerator and see if the cord is plugged in tight? END OF CORD LOOSE ON FLOOR. You come back on the phone and you say, The cord has not been plugged in but for $3,500 dollars that should not matter! It ought to work just on general principle! That's when the salesman explains that appliances are intricately designed to have astounding capabilities however, they are dependent in nature! While they have all the necessary parts to perform everything the manufacturer has designed it to do .They are not able to accomplish this on their own. They first need to be empowered by the fire that electricity provides only then can the parts do what the parts were created to do.
I Have a Source...
Hebrews 12:1-3
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, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Ephesians 3:16-21
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Source Of Strength – for physical, emotional and spiritual needs. God has so many resources at his disposal, ready to give to us and too often we don’t go to him for refreshing when we are tired, or upset or spiritually dry. Instead we use lack of energy or spiritual zeal as excuses why our prayer life is not happening. We need to follow Christ’s example in this and utilize God’s strength more and our strength less.
Take Susanna Wesley's life for instance. A quick glance reveals she was married to a preacher in the late 1600s. They had 10 children, two of which grew up to bring tens of thousands of people to Christ: John and Charles Wesley. Sounds like a sweet story, doesn't it?
Her husband, Sam, couldn't (or wouldn't) manage their finances well. They disagreed on everything from money to politics. This couple actually had 19 children; sadly, nine died in infancy. Sam left Susanna for long periods of time—sometimes over something as simple as an argument—leaving the duty of raising their children to her alone. One of their children was unable to walk. Another couldn't talk until the age of six. Susanna herself was desperately sick most of her life. Their home burned to the ground twice; everything they owned crumbled to ashes. One of her daughters became pregnant out of wedlock. They had no money for food or necessities. Sam even went to debtor's prison.
Long before Susanna had an inkling of how difficult her married life would be, she made the Lord a promise. When she was young, Susanna committed that for every hour she spent in entertainment, she would give the same amount of time to Him in prayer and in the Word. Taking care of the house and raising so many kids made this commitment nearly impossible to fulfill. She had no time for either entertainment or long hours in prayer! This wife and mother worked the gardens, milked the cow, schooled the children and managed the entire house herself.
It would have been understandable if Susanna reneged on her promise to the Lord. But she didn't. Instead, she gave the Lord two hours a day in prayer! As you can imagine with 10 kids, she struggled to find a quiet place to get away with God. So she advised her children that when her apron was over her head, that meant she was in prayer and couldn't be disturbed.
Susanna was devoted to her walk with Christ, praying for her children, and growing in the knowledge of the Word ... no matter how hard life was.
This dedicated woman's story may have never been known to anyone but the Lord and her children, except for the fact that her example greatly inspired two of her sons. They both said that their mom influenced them more than any other person.
John and Charles Wesley became powerhouses for the glory of the Lord. John preached to nearly a million people in the 1700's. He brought revival everywhere he traveled and taught the Word of God! Charles wrote over 9000 hymns, many of which we still sing today.
In the middle of great hardships, Susanna consistently tapped into her source of strength. She connected intentionally with the Lord every day. It's amazing how her choices influenced not only her family, but also countless individuals, families and worshipers over the years.
Most difficult times in Jesus life, what did he do? What were his sources of strength
1st Source of Strength comes through Prayer: Jesus Prayer in the garden (Luke 22:39-44)
He prayed till his sweat became as great drops of blood. Even the angels came and ministered to him. I've always said and the believe that the battle for our souls was won in the garden. It was merely finished on Calvary when Jesus said "It is finished". Fitting that the battle happen in the garden, for that's where the first battle began...in the Garden of Eden with the first Adam. But Praise God the last Adam won the battle. And because of His Victory, I have victory too. My true source of strength.
2nd Source of Strength comes from being full of the Holy Spirit : (Luke 4:1-14)
Notice when Jesus entered the wilderness of temptation, he was full of the Spirit. (Luke 4:1). In verse 11 he returned in the power of the spirit. Always remember that the Spirit was given to him with out measure. As joint heirs with Christ, I too have access to the Holy Spirit. Without Him in our lives as a source of strength, we will be come weak.
3rd Source of Strength comes from the Word of God : (Luke 4:1-13)
Every temptation Satan mounted Jesus, he responded with the Word of God. That's why Paul urged the believers in Ephesus, to put on the whole armour of God. Namely the sword of the Spirit with his the Word of God. So thankful that we have the Word as our weapon. The only offensive part of the Armour of God.
This last source of strength is not popular today in many churches, let alone with many believers today. But it is still true. Some popular versions remove all references to this. But it still works.
4th Source of Strength comes from Fasting : (Luke 4:1-13)
Scripture references in both old and new testaments revealed times when his servants fasted. Moses, Daniel, Jeremiah, and others. But for Jesus, you see that fasting helped him to grow stronger in the Spirit. Even though he hungered physically, it did not deter him Spiritually. I remember reading where presidents of this great nation called this country to a time of prayer and fasting. Don't you agree that in times life these, we need to go back to the old paths life Jeremiah said, and seek and walk in them. I believe there are several types of fasting, but the fasting mentioned here was from food. And remember like Jesus said in Matthew 6.16 -18, 16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Truly these are but a few elements that are involved in our source of strength. But I firmly believe that God has given us these that we will be overcomers and not overcome.
Ill.
Many years ago at the Tournament of Roses parade the Standard Oil Company, now known as Chevron, had a beautiful float. In the middle of the parade the oil company’s float came to a grinding halt and the rest of the parade with it. What had happened? It had run out of gas. The directors of the Chevron float had done everything well but they neglected to avail themselves of their companies vast resources of oil. The parade waited while someone ran to get a gallon of gas. Too often, I see this happen among us. Christians and churches breakdown right in the middle of the parade. I wonder what God must think when we neglect the source of our strength and power. When we fail to abide in Christ and render our selves ineffective.
Ill.
“We may get knocked down on the outside, but the key to living in victory is to learn how to get up on the inside.”
― Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
Ill.
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
Closing with the words of the song “I Claim the Blood”
. I have a source of strength when I am weak, that takes me through when life is pressing me, I have a source of power from above, I'm covered over by a shield of love.
2. I do not know how others make it through, who do not go to Calvary as I do, for there’s a healing, cleansing stream that flows, with peace that only His redeemed can know.
Chorus: I claim the blood Jesus shed on Calvary, those precious blood stains were made there just for me, for all my sin, my sickness and my pain, when I need healing, I claim those precious blood stains.
