Lanier Christian Church
February 5, 2017 - Series: Revive! – Sermon #3 in Series
David Simpson
Strengthen Your Frame
Isaiah 58:11
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
We are well underway in our REVIVE theme for this year. Last week Mac challenged us to grow in our prayer life. Two weeks ago we learned that God will satisfy your needs. Three weeks ago we kicked off REVIVE with the truth that “the Lord will guide you always.”
Today we go back to Isaiah 58:11 and learn that: “The Lord…will strengthen your frame.” (Say it)
A year and a half ago we set up early for our annual September Start Up event. This is the event that meets outside on our front parking lot each year. We set up about four tents that Saturday. Unfortunately, high winds came in later that day and bent and broke the frames of three of the tents. These tents were not strong enough to withstand the storms.
On Friday, I was installing a new bird feeder at our home. In order to get it high enough I decided to stand in a metal- framed patio chair. That was not a good idea. My “slightly large” frame began to buckle the legs of that chair and I immediately jumped out before breaking the chair and falling. That frame was not built to hold such a heavy load.
Frames are extremely important. A tent without the frame is just a canvass covering. A chair without a frame is just a mere cushion. A human body without a frame is unable to walk, run, sit, stand or move.
Isn’t it amazing how God created us? The human skeleton is the internal framework of the body. It is composed of 270 bones at birth – this total decreases to 206 bones by adulthood, after some bones have fused together. The bone mass in the skeleton reaches maximum density around age 30. So, if you’re over the age of 30 and feel like your bones…your frame… need strengthening…you’re right!
God created the human body. So what is God doing in our bodies from birth to adulthood? He is strengthening our frame! That’s why the bones decrease from 270 to 206. Fusing bones together to make us strong enough to handle life. Just as he wants our human bodies to be strong, He wants to strengthen the framework of our spiritual lives as well, the soul within us.
When your frame is weak, you are limited in what you can do. You can’t handle heavy weights and strong winds. When storms come, and you have a weak frame, you find that you are weak in places where you need to be strong.
We need to understand that God wants our frame to be filled with Him and His strength. Why? Because we aren’t called to walk in our strength, we’re called to walk in HIS.
If you feel like you are somewhat weak in your spiritual frame today, I have some good news for you! Isaiah says here that the Lord will restore your strength! He will strengthen your frame!
NKJV reads – “strengthen your bones”
NLT reads – “restoring your strength”
The Psalmist said: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps. 73:26)
When Isaiah refers to God strengthening our frame or restoring our strength – he is taking us beyond mere physical strength and endurance. He strengthens our frame in places where we need to be strong for Him.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening a strong character.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your faith.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your hope.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your prayer life.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your compassion.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your joy.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your patience.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your passion.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your wisdom.
He’s talking about restoring and strengthening your love.
Our human skeleton serves six major functions: support, movement, protection, production of blood cells, storage of minerals and endocrine regulation.
Without the skeleton framework, our lungs would collapse, our heart would be unprotected, our arms and legs would be unable to move, our spinal cord would be at risk, our brain would be exposed. Blood cells would not be produced and our insulin and blood sugars would be unregulated.
God wants to strengthen your frame. He wants to protect you. He wants to give you power to walk in His way. He wants to be your passion, your joy, your fuel for daily living. He wants to be wisdom for your decisions and strength for you every day! He wants to build in you a frame that can withstand any storm and handle the weight of any circumstance. HE wants to be your strength.
We have often forgotten some of the basic truths found in this Isaiah 58:11 passage. The truth of what God wants to do within our lives just jumps off the page.
The Lord wants to guide you.
The Lord wants to satisfy your needs.
The Lord wants to strengthen your frame.
If we allow Him to do that, this scripture says that we will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
If you know anything about gardening, then you know every garden needs water…a steady provision of life-giving water in order to produce any fruit. I’ve seen many plants and vegetables and flowers die for lack of water…and so have you.
So I want to ask you today. Is your life like that of a well-watered garden? Are you producing fruit for Him?
I’m going to be honest…the Bible plainly says…the Lord will guide you…but most of the time I think I can guide myself. I selfishly think that I know my way around, when the omniscient God that created us knows what’s ahead of me every day of my life and I don’t have a clue. I need to return to the basics and let God guide my life.
I’ll be honest with you today…the Bible plainly says…HE will satisfy your needs, even in a sun-scorched land. Yet, I awake most every day saying: “I need to do this, I need to do that, I need to go here and I need to go there.” I say things like: “ I’ll take care of that. I can meet that need.”
And yet, God is yearning for me to let Him care for my life, to allow Him to be my provider. He is truly the source of my every blessing, not anything I’ve done, but everything HE’S done. I need to return to the basics and let God provide and satisfy my every need.
I want you to know the real me today…the Bible plainly says…HE will strengthen your frame. But, I feel pretty strong right now. I’ve been around a little while. I know how this thing called LIFE works and I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grip on it. And yet, in the blink of an eye, my circumstances could change, my life could be confronted with a tremendous challenge, and the evil one could throw me a curve that I didn’t see coming. I need to return to the basics and let God strengthen my frame. My strength is not enough to face the challenges of any day. Only HE can guide and provide and strengthen in ways I never could.
So I want us to review the basics during our REVIVE theme this year. Sometime in March we’re going to offer a series of classes that will strengthen your frame. They are basics of the faith. Just like a winning football team practices the basics of running, blocking, tackling and ball control, we as believers need to return to the basics of faith, prayer, Bible reading, giving, service and worship.
I want God to strengthen my frame. I want to be a strong believer. I want to be totally dependent on Him. I’ve had enough of me. I want more of Him. (John 3:30 – He must increase – I must decrease). I want you to join me in learning the basics once again. To allow the Lord to recharge and refresh and renew and revive our spiritual lives once again.
So, when you hear about these classes being offered, I want every person here to sign up and get involved. The Atlanta Falcons call themselves a brotherhood. Well, we are a brotherhood and sisterhood of believers. We are the family of God and we need to prepare to win for our Lord every day – because we are not in a game – we’re in a battle against a strong foe who wants to destroy us. If we let Him, the good Lord will strengthen our frame and we will overcome – every day. But, it begins with the basics.
Now, I know, our number one excuse not to do anything is: “I don’t have time.” It’s time to make time.
We all want to spend eternity with God. We just don’t want to spend time with Him.
Mark Batterson said: “We stand and stare from a distance, satisfied with superficiality. We Facebook more than we seek His face. We text more that we study THE Text. And our eyes aren’t fixed on Jesus. They’re fixed on our iPhones and iPads – emphasis on “i.” Then we wonder why God feels so distant. It’s because we’re hugging the rim. We wonder why we’re bored with our faith. It’s because we’re holding out.
We want joy without sacrifice.
We want character without suffering.
We want success without failure.
We want gain without pain.
We want a testimony without the test.
We want it all without going all out for it.
It’s not enough to sit in a church service for sixty minutes. Going to church is a good thing, but sitting in a chair for sixty minutes is not God’s ultimate plan for our lives. We cannot let someone else worship for us, study for us, and pray for us. Instead of going all out for God, church becomes a bailout for many.” - (All In – Mark Batterson)
Do you go all out for what you believe in? You better believe that you will see two teams go all out in today’s Super Bowl. If you and I are going to go all out for God, then it means giving God everything you’ve got – 100 percent.
It’s loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It’s not just worshiping God with words. It’s worshiping god by living for Him every day, serving Him every day, representing Him every day, being His hands, feet and voice every day.
Again as Mark Batterson said in his book “All In” – “Church is not a spectator sport. In fact, you cannot go to church because you are the church. Church is happening whenever and wherever you are! Your workplace is your mission field. Your job is your sermon. Your colleagues are your congregation.”
God goes with us, as believers, everywhere we go. And, because of that, I want HIM to strengthen my frame. I want to know HIS truth. I want to be HIS servant. I want HIM to take and mold my heart. It’s yours, Lord, not mine.
Again as the Psalmist said: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
(Ps. 73:26)
Be the strength of my heart and my life Lord. I give it to you today.
Here’s my heart Lord.
Concluding Song for Decision: Here’s My Heart Lord.
