TITLE: How Do I Make Room For The Tide?
I. OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
"Years ago, a wealthy businessman from London chartered a bus to carry a busload of urban children to the coast. There, the children spent a wonderful day at the ocean.
Many of the children had never left the city. Most had never seen the ocean. For one blissful day, they ran unfettered over the beaches. It was a splendid day filled with vivid memories.
On the ride back to London, the businessman went through the bus speaking with each of the children. Toward the back of the bus, he noticed a boy sitting alone with a wistful look on his face. In the boy's grimy hands was a bottle half-filled with water from the ocean.
He pointed to the bottle and asked, "What are you doing with that?" The boy replied that he was taking it to his mother because she, too, had never seen the ocean.
The businessman was quiet for a moment. He then asked the boy why the bottle was only half-full.
Without hesitation, the boy replied, "I left room for the tide to come in."*
*Illustration borrowed from Ken Gurley, "Leaving Room for the Tide" in Where Will Your Heart Be Buried? (First Church Publications: Pearland, 2006), 70.
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
"Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit"
Be filled with the Spirit. The verb for "be filled" is in the middle or passive voice. It means to allow oneself to be filled. Like the little boy coming home from the beach that weekend we are to make room for the tide of God's Spirit to swell in our lives.
There are so many things that we are powerless to do on our own. We cannot control the tide. But, we can make room for God to.
In the book of 2 Kings there is the story of a woman who made room for the tide to come in.
2 Kings 4:9-17 NLT
She said to her husband, “I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God. Let’s build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by.” One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to this upper room to rest. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared, Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’” “No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.” Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.” “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!” “No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.” But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.
She made room for the tide to come in. Making room for our miracles is not as hard as we sometimes imagine.
This morning's sermon is not filled with lofty theology or mystery. It is very practical and simple and attempts to answer the question:
How Do I Make Room For The Tide?
II. Introduction:
There really is nothing that we have that God has not given to us.
He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25).
Solomon asked the Lord, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." (1 Chronicles 29:14 NIV)
Paul wrote to the young pastor at Ephesus, Timothy, "Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17 NLT)
He preached in Acts 14:17 (NIV), God "has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
The psalmist poetically cried out in Psalm 68:19 (NKJV), "Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah"
John 3:16 (KJV), "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Acts 2:38-39 (KJV), "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
God gives freely to us out of the overflow of His Love. God gives freely to us out of the overflow of His Grace.
Sometimes we receive, just because we ask for it.
Luke 11:11-13 NIV
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit (good things; Matt 7:11) to those who ask him!”
We make room for the Tide of God's Good Gifts, just by asking. Sometimes we don't receive, just because we don't ask (James 4:2)
Our response to God's Generosity should be to give back to Him in love. It is in our response that we make room for The Tide of God's Spirit, of God's Good Gifts, of God's Spirit.
Romans 12:1-3 NIV
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT
"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
In Psalm 23 David names all kinds of benefits of the generosity of God.
I shall not want. All my needs and God-given desires provided.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Tender care.
He leadeth me beside the still waters. Spiritual guidance.
He restoreth my soul. Refreshing and restoration from the weariness of life.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Leading in all relationships.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Strength and consolation in the most difficult places of life.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Protection from what would destroy.
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Hospitality!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. A permanent place in God's Family.
The way David made room for the Tide of all these good things was what he did first, what he said first: The LORD is my Shepherd.
How do I make room for the Tide? Put God first.
God loved us first in time and so we should love him first in primacy (1 John 4:19).
He that is forgiven much loves much (Luke 7:47).
There is power of priority.
What you start with determines your ultimate direction.
The apostles picked up on a prophetic motif when they call Jesus the Chief Cornerstone (Isa 28:16; Jer 51:26; Rom 9:33; Eph 2:19-22; 1 Pet 2:7-8). Jesus told the Pharisees that they were not making room for the Tidal Wave of God's Blessings because they rejected the cornerstone (Matt 41:22).
The cornerstone is the stone that you begin with. The secret to making room for the Tide is making God first in your life.
Here are five practical ways to make room for the Tide.
III. PREACHING POINTS:
1. Make Room With The First Hour of the Day
1 Timothy 2:1 ESV
"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men..."
Acts 3:1 KJV
"Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour."
Mark 1:35 NIV
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
The Difference (Alan Grant)
I got up early one morning
and rushed right into the day.
I had so much to accomplish
that I didn't have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me
and heavier became each task.
"Why doesn't God help me," I wondered.
He answered, "you didn't ask."
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
but the day toiled on, gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn't show me.
He explained, "you didn't seek."
So, determined to be in God's presence
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"My child, you didn't knock."
I woke up early this morning
and paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
that I had to take time to pray.
Set your alarm. Get up and pray and read Scripture. Make room for the Tide.
When you pray about it first, you make room for the Tide.
When you show up for church 30 minutes early and begin with prayer, you make room for the Tide.
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
When we pray first, we make room for the Tide of God's Peace in our hearts and minds!
Make room for the Tide!
2. Make Room With The First Day of the Week
1 Corinthians 16:2 NIV
"On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made."
Revelation 1:10
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet..."
The first Christians prayed, sang, and listened to Scripture together on the first day of the week.
They spent time eating together the first day of the week.
They started the week making God their priority.
I have found that those who make it a point to attend church regularly on the first day of the week tend to do better spiritually. For them, it isn't a question. It is a priority.
Hebrews 10:23-25 NKJV
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
We get together to stir one another up to love and good works.
We get together to exhort one another.
We get together to make room for the Tide.
Many people are rightly concerned about the things they see happening in the world around us. There are many people looking to Bible prophecy for answers. The writer of Hebrews says "as you see the Day approaching" you should make sure you are making room for the Tide of God's Spirit in your life by making your time together with other Christians a priority!
1 Corinthians 14:26 NLT
"Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you."
We get together and make room for the Tide of God's Spirit through structured worship services. There are ways that God meets with us together that we do not experience otherwise.
Make room for the Tide!
3. Make Room With The First Portion of Your Pay
Genesis 14:10 NIV
"And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."
Proverbs 3:9-10 NKJV
Honor the Lord with your possessions,And with the firstfruits of all your increase;So your barns will be filled with plenty,And your vats will overflow with new wine.
1 Corinthians 16:2 NIV
"On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made."
From the time of Abraham, through the Levitical priesthood, to the early church the people of God have set aside the first portion of their income for the purpose of providing for the ministry, the upkeep of the place of worship, and the poor.
We still practice this principle.
As a child, I watched my parents practice this consistently. They gave the first tenth of their income to the church they attended. On top of that they gave to Tupelo Children's Mansion, first. My mom gave me a dollar each week. Each week I would give a dime in an envelope to my local church and I had enough for an ice cream from the local Sonic.
Each week I pay 10% of my ministerial income to the South Texas District of the UPCI. I also support Bishop Blackburn. I give monthly to support Global Missions and Tupelo Children's Mansion. It isn't a question.
There is a place in the Scriptures where the LORD challenged ancient Israel. It was related to them giving the first portion of their increase to Him:
Malachi 3:10 KJV
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
When we make God first in our talent, treasure, and time we make room for the Tide. What God gives back is more than we can contain.
Make room for the Tide.
4. Make Room For The Tide By Giving God The First Consideration in Every Decision
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Psalm 37:4 NKJV
Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Matthew 6:25-34 NKJV
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Missionary Jim Elliot wrote, "God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him."
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
We often make decisions based on our anxious reactions to the immediate. Life has a way of dominating us and we find ourselves blown with every wind of change, but when we slow down and listen for the voice of God, we find we respond better.
And when we do, we make room for the Tide of all the good things God promises.
Jesus promised that He would give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).
Let God lead. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom 8:14).
David let God be his Shepherd and found an overflowing cup.
He left room in his cup by allowing God to guide.
David was anointed to be king over all the tribes of Israel. He had opportunity after opportunity to bump Saul from his position, but each time, he let God choose. Eventually, God gave him all that Saul previously had and more.
SIDE NOTE: Pushing your way and your agenda rarely gets you where the Tide is coming in. Letting God have first priority will open doors no one can shut!
Make room for the Tide!
5. Make Room For The Tide By Giving God The First Place in Your Heart
In Revelation 2 Jesus speaks to the church at Ephesus. His words are serious. They are firm. He begins by praising them for their diligence in being right in their beliefs. They are orthodox. He praises them for their hard work. But then He expresses that as great as all of those things are, what He longs for is their heart. He admonishes them to return to their "first love." (Revelation 2:1-6)
God wants first place in our hearts. All the other firsts we have mentioned can be done without giving our hearts to the Lord.
First, let me say that there is something to be said for going through the motions. There is something to be said for doing things we do not necessarily feel like doing simply because it is our duty to do so. We live in a world where people often quit just because there is a measure of discomfort. I want to commend everyone who has kept going when it was tough. All those who have stuck with this church through the past few years. Many churches, businesses, marriages, fill in the blank have been barely hanging on because of the intensity and inconsistency of the way things have been, but you have stuck it out! That is awesome!
Jesus's complaint to Ephesus was that they had faced so much and been faithful for so long that they had lost something that He wanted them to have back.
The Pharisees of Jesus's day were very religious externally. They had it all together, but God didn't have their hearts (Luke 11:37–54; Matthew 23:1–39; Mark 12:35–40; Luke 20:45–47). This caused them to exclude others and to reject Jesus.
The truth is that we can experience a measure of God's blessings through giving first place in our days, weeks, pay, and decisions but still not have our hearts completely aligned with Him.
The reality is that it is a journey of a lifetime.
I remember reading a portion of a letter by John Wesley, who was arguably one of the greatest Christians who ever lived, and whose practices were the foundations for many early 20th-century Pentecostal beliefs, in which he questioned whether he had ever truly loved God. He did all that he did, by faith, but realized his lack of love.
There is something that God wants more than anything else you can give Him.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was (Mark 12:29-31), He quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18:
Mark 12:29-31 NIV
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
When we make God our first love we live in victory. That's what Jesus told the church at Ephesus. He said, "Love me and you will make room for the Tide to come in. I will give you of the Tree of Life that is in the middle of the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7).
For all of us there are regular places where we have to realign our hearts, get our loves ordered right. God is so good to us that He gives us those moments. He wants to bless us and every blessing, every good thing we enjoy in this life is an echo of that goodness of which He is the Source.
James 1:17-18 KJV
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Notice that he calls you and I the Father's "firstfruits." He has given us as a gift to all of creation, to one another, and to Himself. And what He wants most of all, what makes the most room for the Tide, is our heart.
"Here's My Heart" (David and the Giants)
Here's my heart, here's my soul Here's something only You can hold You're the One who was true When my life seemed it was through Here is the piece That You were always missing Savior, here's my heart
The Psalmist David prayed:
Psalm 51:10 KJV
"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."
There are times when we just have to go back to the basics in order to make room for the Tide. We have to lift our hearts to God and ask him to take them.
IV. CONCLUSION
"A missionary in Africa had a farm some miles from the mission station. The season had been very favorable, and he had a large crop of corn on the mission farm. When the crop was ready to harvest, he made a public appeal to the Africans, asking them to help him carry his corn from the farm to the mission granary. He named the day and asked each person to bring his own basket to carry the corn.
On the day he named, scores of men came to the farm with their baskets to help harvest the crop. Some had baskets large enough to hold a bushel or more; a few had very small baskets. At the close of the day the containers were filled for the last time, and everyone walked to the mission station, carrying his basket of corn.
When the men arrived, the missionary thanked them for their help. Then he told them they could take home the corn they had just carried from the farm. Those who carried large baskets with a full load were very happy. Imagine how the men felt who had carried small baskets. Some of them said, "Why didn't I bring a bigger basket?"
From C.L. Paddock, Bring a Bigger Basket, (Pacific Press Publishing Association: Nampa, Idaho, 1962), 14.
Where can you make more room for God's abundant generosity in your life?
Where can you make room for the Tide?
We all have a next step. We all have areas where we can expand.
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:38-39 KJV).
