KILLING THE GOD POTENTIAL... SPIRITUAL SUICIDE...
THERE IS NOT ENOUGH IN THIS DESERT?
MY PERSEPCTIVE... HOW DO I SEE THESE FACTS...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
This is a two part lesson...
I. HAVE YOU EVER CAME TO THE PLACE WHEN ENOUGH WAS NOT ENOUGH?
A. I do not have enough...
I CAN NOT CLIMB THAT MOUTAIN... That is too hard for me...
LET ME ESCAPE TO LITTLE... ZOAR MEANS LITTLE...
Genesis 19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified
thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the
mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20. Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither,
(is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye
may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest
of these is charity.
B. EVER BEEN AT THE CROSS ROADS OF NOT ENOUGH?
THIS IS NOT ENOUGH...
A missionary was sitting in her apartment looking out her second story window.
She was crying, she had a great need, she needed $60...
So she was praying... and she noticed the mail person deliver her mail.
There was a letter from home.
Wow, she opened the letter and there was a crisp, brand new $10 bill.
This will not help her need, $10? I need $60...
Looking out the window she notice a ragged, poor, old man...
She felt she was to give him the $10.00, so she placed the money in an envelope
and wrote: "DO NOT DESPAIR" on the envelope and she dropped the gift out
her window... The man received the money, tipped his hat and happily left.
The next day the missionary was preparing to leave her house when she heard a
knock at the door... the beggar handed her back the envelope that said:
DO NOT DESPAIR.
The lady opened it, and there was $60.
She said: WHAT'S THAT FOR?
He replied: DON'T DESPAIR WON AND PAID 10 TO 1...
LADY THAT IS THE CUT OF YOUR MONEY DON'T DESPAIR WON...
II. THIS DESERT IS BUT A TESTING ZONE...
WHERE CAN WE GET ENOUGH IN THIS PLACE?
WE HAVE BEEN IN THIS DESERT 3 DAYS...
A. COMPASSION MAKES A DIFFERENCE...
COMPASSION MAKES NOT ENOUGH ENOUGH
Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
B. PEOPLE WILL FAINT IN THIS DESERT...
WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING?
Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion
on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to
eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
33. And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the
wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
C. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH IN THIS PLACE?
D. WHAT DO WE HAVE? Not enough..,
7 biscuits and a few fish...
Matthew 15:37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat
that was left seven baskets full.
III. OFTEN TIMES IT IS NOT EASY TO LEAVE WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN AND STEP
TO A NEW DIRECTION...
A. MY PERSPECTIVE IS FROM
1. WHERE I HAVE BEEN
2. WHERE I AM NOW...
B. WHAT DO I SEE... MY OWN PERSPECTIVE...
C. WE SAW THE GIANTS... OUR FOCUS IS GIVING POWER...
WE ARE IN OUR OWN SIGHT... I CAN'T ... I CAN NOT...
IV. WE PROJECT OUR SELF IMAGE...
Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants:
and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
A. THE GIANT IS NOT FROM WITH OUT...
IT IS THE GIANT FROM WITHIN...
While teaching school I saw all kinds of attitudes...
Most of these attitudes had SOLID ROOTS that had been formed out of the CLASS
ROOM...
B. I had a very nice girl named APRIL as a student in the 6th grade...
April's family was a typical mountain family...
I taught April all year.
The last day of school I had my student write a personal note of the positives and
the negatives about me...
C. When they finished their assignment they left my classroom and this school to attend
a larger school. Many of my students I never met again.
The room was quiet as the students were gone, so I began reading the papers my students
had written.
I picked up APRIL'S PAPER, AND BEGAN READING:
MR. HUGHES , YOU LEARNED ME ALOT THIS YEAR...
D. I COULD HAVE CRAWLED UNDER MY DESK...
How many times had I taught: NO ONE ELSE CAN LEARN YOU ANYTHING,
THEY TEACH YOU!
V. HUMANS ARE THE ONLY BEINGS THAT BAIT AND SET THEIR OWN TRAPS...
I AM NOT A BIG WHY PERSON AS I PROBABLY KNOW I DO NOT UNDERSTAND
HOW NEGATIVE WORDS CAN SO BIND POSIITIVE ACTION...
A. SEEMS I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES I NEED TO UNDERSTAND...
Numbers 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against
the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the
children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that
eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
B. I WOULD RATHER FAIL IN A CAUSE THAT WILL ULTIMATELY SUCCEED,
THAN TO SUCCEED IN A CAUSE THAT WILL ULTIMATELY FAIL...
That is why we invest in the cross.
C. CAT LOVER:
In 1978 a book was written called THE BOOK OF FAILURES... by Stephen Pile.
There are many stories of failure of different kinds.
In 1978 in England the FIRE DEPARTMENT was "ON STRIKE."
So the army was officially taking calls, so the ARMY was taking all the calls.
On Jan. 18, A dear, sweet old lady called in great distress, her PET CAT was
stranded in a tree. She loved her precious cat.
THE SOLDIERS ARRIVE IN GREAT SPEED, they cleverly rescued the cat.
A GRATEFUL old lady invited the soldiers into her home for TEA.
LATER SHE HUGGED ALL THE SOLDIER AND THANKED THEM for their
kindness...
As the soldiers drove out of her drive way,
the FIRE TRUCK RAN OVER HER CAT AND KILLED IT...
They saved the cat... THEN KILLED IT... makes little sense to me?
VI. THERE IS A SELF-BAITED TRAP CALLED CRYING ALL NIGHT...
WHERE IS THE POWER OF THE PROMISE? DO WE BELIEVE GOD'S PROMISES
ARE PERSONAL TO ME IN MY NEED?
Numbers 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept
that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole
congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God
we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives
and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
A. There is a study out of the Human Population Laboratory of the Public Health Institution
in BERKEY, CALIFORNIA... in 1997 American Heart Association:
THERE IS REPORT THAT LINKS HIGH LEVELS OF GLOOM and DESPAIR
with a 20% HIGHER OCCURANCE OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS--- HARDENING OF
THE ATRERIES and a NARROWING OF THE HEART HEART ARTERIES...
B. This 20% greater risk is about the same as a 2-3 pack a day of cigarettes smoking.
BEING NEGATIVE, LIVING IN HOPELESS DESPAIR IS AS BAD ON YOUR HEALTH
AS A HEAVY SMOKER IS...
C. IT IS GOD'S PLAN FOR HIS PEOPLE TO BE FOCUSED AND OPITISTIC...
BIRTHED IN FAITH AND HOPE...
FAITH, A POSITIVE ATTITUDE, HOPE, BELIEVE THE PROMISES ARE
GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH...
VII. THE REAL BATTLES OF LIFE ARE FOUGHT IN THE TRENCH WITH THE
WEAPONS OF WORDS, ATTITUDES, FAITHFULNESS... THIS DESERT HAS
A PURPOSE...
A. PEOPLE ARE SLOWLY AND SURELY KILLING THEMSELVES BY
THE WORDS THEY SPEAK AND THE THOUGHT PATERNS THEY DEVELOP...
B. We allow mental attitudes that we develop and allow others to push us into---
ARISE and bring SICKNESS, HATRED, BITTERNESS, WORRY, FEAR,
ANXIETY, TO KILL THE GOD POTENTIAL within us.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat
the fruit thereof.
C. WE SEE THE GIANTS, WE BECOME GRASSHOPPERS IN OUR OWN EYES...
D. What are we allowing our minds to dictate?
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
E. HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT YOUR MIND IS A GARBAGE CAN...
YOU HAVE TO DUMP IT OUT OFTEN... IT WILL GROW DISEASE... INFECTION...
Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
F. WE FALL IN LOVE WITH THE GARBAGE...
KILLS OUR DREAMING ABILITY...
Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is
ready, but the flesh is weak.
G. A WRONG ATTITUDE will destroy every hope and ALL CREATIVE ASPECTS
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT...
VIII. WEIGH THE POWER OF THE PLACEBO EFFECT...
WEIGH WHAT THE COST OF SPIRITUAL PLACEBO'S COULD RUN?
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
but his heart is not with thee.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat
the fruit thereof.
A. I would take 100 year old Dana to the doctor. She would be sick and in pain.
The doctor would write her several prescriptions. We would leave the doctor's
office to go to the drug store.
OFTEN DANA WOULD TELL ME, BEFORE WE GOT TO THE DRUG STORE,
HOW MUCH BETTER SHE FELT... And she would be visibly better...
We had not even had the prescription filled, the doctor's visit took away her fears
and she would be better before she ever took a pill.
B. A dear friend had COPD and his breathing was so terrible. He had a machine,
oxygen tanks, puffers and medicine at home... His wife had years of experience
with the disease and cared for him like a nurse.
The man would come home from the hospital and would become AFRAID,
LOOSE ALL CONFIDENCE, and be so sick... he could not sleep, eat, or breathe
at home...
He learned to know all the nurses at the hospital and he loved the attention...
He would thrive at the hospital...
C. PLACEBO: a pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for mental relief
of a patient than for its actual effect on a disorder...
an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments
testing the efficacy of another substance.
1. PROZAC did worse than the PLACEBO in 7 out of 10 pharmaceutical studies?
2. Heart failure patients had a 60% greater life expectancy when taking a PLACEBO...?
3. A recent BRAIN SCAN STUDY would place a hot metal bar in peoples' hands
and give them a pain shot or A PLACEBO INJECTION (sterile water)...
All the patients reported a REDUCTION IN PAIN...
The brain scan showed the brain activity TO REFLECT both the pain medicine and
the placebo worked...
D. Many studies on depression, pain, smoking, sleeping, worry-anxiety all report
that THE PLACEBO EFFECT PRODUCES REAL RESPONSE IN A POSITIVE
WAY...
E. Several issues seem to come into play...
1. Conditioning
2. MOTIVATION
3. EXPECTATION
IX. YOU DEFINE THE DESERT AND THE DURATION OF THE DESERT.
IT IS NOT BEING IN THE HOT DRY DESERT THAT DESTROYS GOD'S
PEOPLE --- IT IS WHEN THE HOT, DRY, BARREN, SEEMINGLY ENDNESS
DESERT GETS IN YOU...
Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days,
each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach
of promise.
A. BRINGING BACK A NEGATIVE REPORT? Conditioning
1. Alarms the people 2. Motivation
2. Discourages the people 3. EXPECTATION
3. Releases a REBELLOUS SPIRIT in the camp
B. NUM. 13--- SIX WEEKS OF WEARY TRAVEL PRODUCES A NEGATIN REPORT...
40 days turns to 40 years
C. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER... THE GARBAGE CAN OF THE MIND?
WHAT CAN A DISCOURAGED HEART PERSEIVE?
We need to elect to new leaders and return to Egypt...
Numbers 11:5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers,
and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
D. Our heavenly Father took almost 2 million people out of Egypt in a short
scan of time...
BUT IT TOOK 40 YEARS TO GET EGYPT OUT OF THEIR HEARTS...
E. MY PERSEPCTIVE... HOW DO I SEE THESE FACTS...
WILL I DUMP THE GARBAGE OR RETAIN THEM...
F. SEEMS I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES I NEED TO UNDERSTAND...
LIFE IS A JOURNEY... We must overcome gloom, despair, negativism,
1. HOPE IS A VIRTUE
2. DESPAIR CAN LEAD TO SIN...
G. PETER'S WRITINGS ADMONISHES US TO:
1. BE STEADFAST AND PERSISTENT...
2. PERSEVERANCE UNDER PERSECUTION
3. BE PRACTICAL, NOT SHOWY
4. PATIENT AND HOLY
5. GIVES SOUND ADVICE TO PASTORS AND PEOPLE..
AS A FISHER MAN MUST HAVE HOPE, SO MUST A CHRISTIAN...
A HOPELESS CHRISTIAN IS AN INDIVUAL HAD HAS SPIRTUAL, TERMINAL
CANCER...
CONCLUSION:
SATAN'S GOAL IS TO TRY TO GET YOU FOCUSED ON YOUR FAILURES
MORE THAN TO SEE ANY BATTLES THAT WE HAVE WON.
faith, hope, love, persistence, faithfulness, God's word, and THEN TRUST GOD...
SET YPOURSELF FREE, FORGIVE...
WE CAN LIVE ABOUT:
1. 40 DAYS WITHOUT FOOD...
2. 8 DAYS WITHOUT WATER...
3. 4 MINUTES WITHOUT OXEGIN
4. PAINFUL SECONDS WITHOUT HOPE
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Help me, check out my works?
