While I was preparing to write the message for today, the Holy Spirit asked me, “Where are my people getting their milk from?” As I began writing the first words, the Holy Spirit asked me again, “Where are my people getting their milk from?” With each word I wrote, the question became more intense. The question began to be accompanied by images. This images were not images of lollipops, rainbows, pots of gold, and purple gumdrops. These images weren’t of smiling faces running through the factory with Willie Wonka to smell and taste the wallpaper. These images were of destruction and brokeness.
If anyone remembers the 1971 movie, the original movie, titled, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, they should remember when Willie Wonka takes the children, and the adults with them, to the area that was lined with wallpaper. This wallpaper was an invention created that allowed 1 dimensional images that resembled fruit to taste like real fruit. In this scene, Willie Wonka stated, “I must show you this. Lickable wallpaper for nursery school walls. Go ahead, try it. The oranges taste like oranges, the rasberries taste like rasberries, the shnozberries taste like shnozberries.” The Lord began to deal with me and revealed that what we are seeing is a substitute for real fruit. The Lord then led me to the following verse:
1Pe 2:2 AMP -- Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto (completed) salvation,
The Holy Spirit, then, led me to another set of verses:
1Co 3:1-3a AMP -- 1 HOWEVER, BRETHREN, I could not talk to you as to spiritual (men), but as to nonspiritual (men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates), as to mere infants (in the new life) in Christ (unable to talk yet!) 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough (to be ready for it); but even yet you are not strong enough (to be ready for it), 3a For you are still (unspiritual, having the nature) of the flesh (under the control of ordinary impulses).
The Lord, then, declared: “My people are craving spiritual milk, but I am disturbed because instead of feeding themselves with the Word, they are choosing to feed themselves with the world. Their actions, their words, their relationships, their finances, and the fruit they bear are direct results of the substitutes they are consuming.”
You didn’t hear me. So, let me repeat it:
The Lord declared that “their actions, their words, their relationships, their finances, and the fruit they bear are direct results of the substitutes they are consuming.” My God, My God. This is heavy.
The Lord is saying that the many issues we face have a direct correlation to the substitutes we choose to consume. The world cannot provide us with the real thing. The world cannot supplement our spiritual needs. The world can only provide us with a substitute. And, just like in Willie Wonka, after you finish licking the wall, you find yourself still hungry. The world cannot fulfill the needs that only God can. The Word says that God can, and will, fulfill every need. Anything else is just not good enough.
Just like you can’t substitute Ramen Noodles for pasta and say that you have an authentic Italian meal, you can’t be fed by the world and say that you are being fed the real deal. Only the Word of God is that real deal. And feasting on the Word will lead you to true satisfaction and real manifestations. Just like with eating a whole bunch of Ramen Noodles, when you allow the world to feed you with substitutes, you will look back later in life, still hungry, wondering why you now have high blood pressure, wondering why no relationships ever lasted, wondering why you have a table full of medicine to treat the effects of the effects of the medicine designed to treat an original issue.
The world will leave you with all types of issues (heartache, heartbreak, uncontrollable health issues, brokenness, depression, anxiety, addictions, and much more), but the Word will lead you to everything that the world cannot give (healing, prosperity, a sense of self worth, the right relationships, peace, a sense of belonging, deliverance, and exaltation). Being of world is just not good enough for who you are.
And, this brings me to lesson for today:
“I quit!” Part 1.
To begin, I would have to say, that the preface to this message, was a great start to looking at what we need to quit. The world would like us to believe that we can find all of the answers within the world. The world would like us to believe that we will be just fine on our own just as long as we stay within the confines of its boundaries. The world would like us to believe that the demands on who we are can be reconciled if we just work harder. The world wants us to find our identity within precepts of the world. But, I contend that this line of thinking is wrong. I contend that, if we find our identity in Christ, if we move our focus away from the world and onto Christ, if we release our will to God’s will, we will begin to see our Chief Priest, Jesus Christ, providing all of our needs, supplying us abundantly and exceedingly above anything we can ask for, and filling us to overflow.
I am convinced that most of what we find hard will become easy. The world wants us to focus on the results. God will provide the results when we truly follow Him. I know the Christian walk may be hard at times, but the fruits of our walk will come without much effort. What I mean is, having the focus the world wants us to have, where we are working hard to get a good job, working hard to get the right relationship, working hard to pay our bills, working hard to get more money, working hard to overcome depression, anxiety, and other health issues--with Jesus, what we are looking for will come easy. The requirement is that we build an earnest relationship with Jesus and live our lives under the requirements Jesus set for us. This is how we receive what Jesus has already promised us. The things we focus on will change, and when it changes to Jesus, transformation happens.
Can I get someone to say, “I quit?”
As we look at the guiding verse for this sermon, I’d like you to be thinking about some things you want to quit.
Ps 119:105 AMP -- Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
On the surface, the verse is simply saying that the Word of God is a light that will direct our walk and allow us to be able to see as we walk on the path we call, “life.” But, there is more to it.
It is no shock to anyone that as we seek to live our lives, darkness of some sort seems to find its way in. As Christians, it seems that darkness, or dark times, seems to find us more readily. Sometimes, we, in our Christian walk, are even called to it. This calling could be to comfort a friend who just attempted to commit suicide. This darkness could be a vehicle emergency at a time that isn’t financially convenient. It could also be losing a job. No matter what the darkness is, and not matter if we are called to it or not, a form of darkness seems to come into our lives, especially when we are at our most vulnerable. The world would argue that we should just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and push through it. The world would also argue that we should seek the help of people and other means. Although both options have components of truth, the one thing that each are missing is God.
The world would say that we should turn to people, whether it be inwardly to ourselves or outwardly to others, but God says that we should turn to Him and rely on Him for the supply. We can connect to Him through prayer and through the Word. We should never venture out into the world, which is a dark place, without the light-giving Word. If we do, we will surely fall. We should use the Word of God personally, practically, and habitually, so that we can see the way forward and see what may be on our path as we move forward.
If the Word of God doesn’t reveal the way, or how to walk in it, we should turn to prayer, for God will provide the way, but if we don’t gain the understanding needed through prayer, the Word, and the authority God grants us in the capacity He anoints us, we should consider taking a different path that is lit up by the Word, for the the path we choose should always be lit up by the Word of God. The Word is a lamp by night, a light by day, and a joy at all times. The whole Scripture should be a light shining in a dark place--when we are down and out, when we are not sure what to do, when we are trailblazing a new path. The Word should be a lamp to be carried, securely and confidently, in the hand of a believer at all times. And, as you live your life, with the Word of God guiding your path, you will see the obstacles in your way. The things that caused you to stumble in the past will be seen clearly, and you will be able to avoid them. It will keep you from wandering off onto paths which could lead into danger.
Can I get someone to say, “I meant it when I said it the first time--I quit?”
Those who makes the Word of God their guide, and takes to heart its teachings, will find that they are on the right track. They will clearly see the path. They will be able to see the road they should be on and know which way to go. Following the Word of God will allow us to avoid all those other paths which would lead us astray. The Word of God will give us insight and a sense of discernment to know when we may turn off from the main path. Isn’t amazing to know that God has truly blazed a trail for us and that we have access to knowing which way to go by simply following the handbook we call the Bible?
If we take the Bible to heart and build a relationship with God, we will surely find that the things that have been holding us back cannot hold us back anymore. We will begin to see things for what it is. When Jesus gave the man sight, it wasn’t just talking about a physical blind man, necessarily. It was talking about, as some call it today…..being woke. With Jesus we can move from a state of ignorance to a state of enlightenment. We once were blind but now we see...as the song says.
The Apostle Peter spoke in the same sentiment when he wrote:
2Pe 1:19 MSG -- We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts.
God’s Word is a version of God’s glory. While we wait for Jesus, let the Word of God, and the prophecies within it, shine so bright that it causes the light in you to shine even brighter.
And, as you begin to digest the Word and allowing it to light your path, don’t keep it in. There are too many Christians who aren’t doing anything with the gifting God gave them. There are too many Christians hold in for themselves. We aren’t called to look out for ourselves. We are called to help others. Don’t be like that. Don’t get Constipated with the Word! Let it out!
CONCEPTS:
-When we allow God to order our steps, God will direct our paths.
-When we release our will to God’s will, we are giving up us and our fleshly desires to allow God to access to our steps. When we have released our will to God’s will, we begin the process of deepening our relationship with Him.
It’s because of this relationship with Him, where we move according to God’s purpose, and design, we begin to see manifestations in our lives that can only be of God--things begin occurring in our lives that we hadn’t seen before; these things are difficult to explain by the logic, and the intellectual capacity, of man. Things we needed to occur in our lives start to happen. We, even, begin to see connections created that fix things that we didn’t even know were broken.
-When we release our will to God’s will, and allow God to order our steps, God will not only order what we see as “needs to be met,” God will order everything. When God orders our steps, He also orders our environment.
-The more we let God in, the more we shine the Word on our life, the clearer we become about who we are.
God wants you to know that you were made perfect. The world doesn’t define you; He does. And, once you take hold of that fact, you will begin to see advanced manifestations of God’s enduring love.
Your perfect manifestation is soon to be revealed.
I Quit!
I quit--believing I’m less than I am.
I quit--seeing myself the way the world sees me.
I quit--being defined by others in my life.
I quit--wearing the mask the world dictates I wear.
I quit--walking away from God!
I quit--leaving my light in a corner.
I quit! I quit! I quit!
