Ownership & Possession
Mark 11:24
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive (to take) them, and ye shall have them. (KJV)
Just because God gives you something is no sign that you will enjoy it!
This morning: Ownership & Possession
How many knows that Ownership & Possession
are not the same thing?
>Possession is 9/10ths of the law
You may have a legal right, but it is going to cost you to get it back.
>You can own something, but if I possess it - guess who is enjoying it?
(Problem with Christianity -
we have legal right w/o possession)
God gave the 1st generation Israelites the land of Canaan, but they never enjoyed it.
They couldn’t sit in their tent and cry until God feels sorry for you!
Women with the issue of didn’t sit in her house and wait for her healing.
She went out and possessed what she needed.
She didn’t ask if Jesus was ministering healing that day.
There wasn’t a healing line that she stood in - she determined that she would go in and possess.
>Jesus had established His purpose of ministry and part of that purpose was healing all those oppressed and she had a right to possess it.
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Be real: We know we have legal title, but we have not possessed much of what God has provided.
>There are sick among us
>There are financial pressures among us
>There’s oppression/depression among us
>We are not walking in the fullness of what God has
Until we decide that we won’t stop until we possess
Until we get real with ourselves and see that God has provided things for us
Until we get dissatisfied with where we are
We will live and die in this world with legal title, but never possessing what God has for us!
BUT HOW DO WE DO IT?
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Ps 1:1-2
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (total separation)
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (KJV)
(delight) chephets (khay’-fets); “pleasure; hence (abstractly) desire; concretely, a valuable thing;
Ps 37:4
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (KJV)
-Delight ourselves in the Lord (expect all our happiness) from the Lord (make ourselves soft and pliable) in the Lord
AND HE WILL GIVE US THE DESIRES OF OUR HEART
Why won’t we?
Ps 119:16
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. (KJV)
Ps 119:35
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. (KJV)
>Why do we not delight ourselves in the things of God like this scripture says?
We don’t believe He’ll do it! (NO BENEFIT)
>All would believe Phil 4:19 - needs unfulfilled
>All would believe Eph 3:20 - suffer lack
1. Several of you won’t be here tonight because you will delight yourself in something other than the things of God.
2. Even more of you won’t be here on Wednesday because you will delight yourself in rest or comfort or some other reason.
3. Even fewer of you will spend one hour in prayer this whole week because you delight yourself in
things other than God.
4. And even fewer will spend time enough in the Word studying to show yourself approved because
your delight is something else.
Why?
>Because we don’t believe God will perform His
Word
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When the Israelites went over the Jordan with Joshua and they came to Jericho - God had given them the promised land and this city was just one small area of what all God had given them.
God told them not to take any spoils from Jericho - it was set aside for God ....
But Achan when he saw the spoils could not believe that God was going to deliver to them greater things and he had to take what was in front of him.
What is tangibly in front of us is more real than what is in God’s Word
Do you ever wonder why it is so easy for you to believe
that when you die you will go to heaven
But it is difficult to believe that God will give you your ideal car without having to go in debt on it?
Because you have no control over getting into heaven. When you die it is totally in God’s hands.
There is nothing that you can physically do to walk
through those gates
No body has any say about how entrance is administered
>But a car - well, you’ll have to go negotiate for it somehow the title has to be transferred into your name - We’re not totally dependant on God.
If the doctor tells you that you only have three months to live and there is nothing else they can do - if you don’t just give up, your faith real reach a height that you have never known - because you have no control.
But get a headache and you’ll have trouble getting victory over it because an aspirin works just as well and is a lot easier.
You can control the outcome.
>>It is our ability to control situation that prevents us from trusting in God.
As with Achan, we see, tangibly, what we want and although God has promised to give it to us - we make the trade so we can have it now.
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I believe wholeheartedly that every person in this place wants more of God in their lives
But sadly, I also know that not everyone is willing to
do whatever it takes to receive it.
but over the next few weeks we are going to embark
on a course to find those willing to possess the land.
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There are areas that the Lord has dealt with me on and has stirred in my spirit about possessing His promises.
About a year ago, last January in fact, I preached a message that burned in my heart by the Spirit of God.
It dealt with crossing over the Jordan.
Recently, discouraged and fed-up I’ve prayed, “Why haven’t we possessed the promises that you have laid before this people?”
>The Lord laid this on my heart - we’ve claimed our legal right, but we’ve not possessed it.
There are some things that we have got to break through-
In claiming our legal right we gave a command for war to the enemy of God - and the enemy answered the call of war and has waged an attack against the people of God
But we have failed to push through the resistance.
We failed to do what it takes to possess because we
were comfortable with our legal rights.
Yes, we looked for the blessings, we even to some degree expect the blessings - but we have failed to do what it takes to receive the blessings.
And this year has been met with difficulty in:
>health
>finances
>and a host of other areas.
We have seen some victories in some small areas, but not to the extent of the promises that we laid claim to.
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The Lord has impressed me with,
“It’s time to possess what is ours!” (repeat and build)
It’s going to take something on our part!
1. We must believe that we can possess what is ours
2. Every time God’s people started to possess the land you will read about how the people were prepared!
The Word of God says that, “Faith comes by Hearing the Word”
over the next 6 week, by the Word of God, I am going to build your faith that you can possess what is legally yours!
And when I have done that - then, by the Word of God, I am going to show you and prepare you to possess what is yours.
And we are going to see some things change permanently in our midst.
