When Worlds Collide
Gal 2:20, 2 Tim 1:12, Prov 3:5 - 6, Psa 91:4
August 7, 2004
I. I’ve been talking about the fact the Jesus is able deal with the changes that need to be made in our characters and personalities.
A. This week we’re going to talk about how He is able to deal with our problems.
B. Lloyd Ogilive tells a story about when his family took a vacation by sailing from New York harbor to Quebec.
C. They were going through the locks that allow ships travel up the river where they have to move to higher elevations.
1. You come into a lock at the level of the water where you are. Then the gates are closed behind you.
2. The gates in front are opened, and the water rushes in and raises you to a higher level.
D. Lloyd Ogilive and his family had decided to take a nap as they sat in one of the locks, he says that he woke up to the sound of a voice yelling" hey mate are you ready to move on?"
1. It was the lock master yelling at him, he said you can’t stay here forever, now tell me are you ready to move on?
2. After Lloyd Ogilive had gotten awake and ready the lock master opened the door to the lock and the water rushed in and lifted them to a new level in the river.
E. Life is kinda like going through locks, there are times that we think that we have gone as far as we can go.
1. The gate behind is has closed, because we have come far enough that we couldn’t go back to where we were.
2. But the problem is, that the door to the future is closed too, and there seems to be no way to go anywhere.
3. Then the eternal lock master ( Jesus) says "hey are you ready to go on?"
4. And the minute that we are ready and sincere about moving to a new level the gates open .
5. And the living water of Jesus rushes in and raises us to a new level.
F. The important thing is opening the new flood gate?
1. Where God’s power is concerned, the word power is spelled C-O-M-M-I-T-M-E-N-T.
2. When we are committed to move to a new level in our relationship with God enough to be what He wants us to be, his power raises us to a new level of life.
3. God knows when we are sincere, and the floodgates won’t open until we are sincere.
4. Commitment is mandatory if we are going to grow and live victoriously as a Christian.
5. Without Jesus we can’t, and without us Jesus won’t.
G. Paul was a man who was committed. His battle cry had become "for me to live is Christ!"
1. Paul was grateful for what Jesus had done for him!
2. He gives us a description of that in (Gal 2:20 NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
3. Paul was forever amazed that Jesus would die for him.
4. Paul realized that what Jesus did in his life and what Jesus wanted for his life were what really mattered.
5. And Paul knew that Paul was not able, but JESUS IS ABLE.
H. Paul committed his life and his problems to God, and the result was a tremendous flow of God’s power into his life
II. Near the end of Paul’s life, while he was in prison in Rome he wrote to Timothy and poured out his heart.
A. Paul had lived through some tough situations in life, and now he passed on to Timothy the secret for receiving power no matter what His surroundings were or how big the problems seemed.
(2 Tim 1:12 NIV) That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
B. The word translated entrusted or committed carries the meaning of "a deposit committed to another person’s trust for safe keeping."
1. In Paul’s time there were no banks or FDIC.
2. There was no greater sign of trust than to give someone responsibility for your valuables.
3. The word translated "keep or guard" means to protect against robbery, and it carries the idea of an investment that will bring high return.
4. After years of life, here is Paul, not as young or as Strong as he used to be but he is saying in the strongest words he can think of, "there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus can be depended on"
5. I am absolutely convinced that He is able to protect, guard, and multiply everything that I will commit or entrust to Him.
6. Because Jesus has all power, because He is able, because He is trustworthy, we can trust our problems to Him.
7. And we can feel safe to make the same statements Paul did in 2 Tim 1:12.
a. I know!
b. I believe!
c. I am persuaded!
d. I HAVE COMMITTED.
C. But don’t get the idea that Paul’s life was a bed of roses at the time he wrote this, it wasn’t.
1. He was in prison.
2. He was concerned about Timothy.
3. He was concerned and disappointed about the lack of consistency and the lack of faith in some Christians.
4. He wanted the churches that he had planted to keep growing.
5. AND WHAT COULD A PRISONER DO ABOUT ANY OF IT!
D. That’s what made Paul’s statement mean so much more. Even with those problems facing him, even with that internal struggle trying to pull him down, He committed his concerns to the Lord!
E. He trusted God and committed the future to Him!
III. We find ourselves in places in life, where we cry out with our voices or inside ourselves, "I don’t know where to turn".
A. Those words are spoken in hospital rooms, in front of a stack of bills, or laying in our bed when sleep won’t come because of worry. These words force their way through our lips or our minds when life becomes a struggle.
1. These words are words of loneliness, an they cry out for direction in life.
2. They cry out for the power to deal with our struggles.
3. We have all said it, felt it, or thought it. " "I don’t know where to turn to."
4. We want the power and ability to deal with our struggles.
B. We get to the end of our strength!
1. We don’t know what to do.
2. The things that stand in our way seem too big to move.
3. We get stretched beyond our ability to comprehend and cope.
4. All the possible answers either seem unacceptable, or impossible to carry out.
C. Physical illness, emotional pain, broken relationships, anxiety, fear and the list never ends, and these things push us into a corner that we don’t have room to live in, and we exist instead of living.
1. The rocky marriage, the family crisis, the growing financial problems.
2. Then added to that are the loaded schedules, the things that we put off, we get behind and think we will never get caught up.
3. Decisions to be made problems to be dealt with!
D. And for a lot of people its a sign that we live in two different worlds that seldom ever meet.
1. One world is our relationship with Jesus that many times lacks because we neglect it, or because we think that we’re self sufficient.
2. The other world is our day to day life with its busy-ness, pressures, and routines and too little thought of Jesus and our relationship to Him in all those things.
3. A lot of people seem to think that being a Christian should automatically exempt them from any problems, but our bible doesn’t say that.
4. If we spend time with Jesus only in the UP times, (which is what a lot of people seem to think ) we exclude Him from a big percentage of our lives.
E. When we come to the hard times in our lives we have the opportunity to see our two worlds collide in such a way , that we can see that what happens around us everyday has got to be connected to the essential need in our lives for a relationship with Jesus.
1. IF YOU ARE IN A PLACE THAT YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE TO TURN TO, THE ANSWER IS REALLY EASY BECAUSE THERE IS ONLY ON PLACE TO TURN TO, AND THAT IS TO OUR LORD!
F. When pain, fear, frustration, and struggles force our two worlds to collide it’s a time that we can turn to Jesus and see that He is the only place we can find the help that we need.
IV. Commitment has three main parts.
A. The first is repentance.
B. A lot of people see repentance as a hard and scary thing.
C. But repentance simply means that we have decided to return to the Lord and do things the way He wants.
1. It means that we change our minds about a lie that we have been told, and that is that we have to get our lives straightened out by ourselves and in our own power.
2. Jesus doesn’t cause our problems but if we will turn them over to Him, He will be Lord over them.
3. He will help us see each problem for what it really is and then He will say turn this area of your life over to me.
4. Repent, go the other way, and let me be the one that is Lord over your problems.
D. The next area of Commitment is relinquishment.
1. It means that we not only say that we want Jesus to take control of our lives and our problems, it means that we let go of the struggle where our problems are concerned and really give them to Him.
2. Now I am not saying that you hide in closet, because there may be some things that God wants you to do.
3. Jesus doesn’t usually go to work for you or buy groceries for you, but He will help us in the areas that we need the help, and he will also let us know what things we should be responsible for.
4. He will give us help and show us solutions that we would have thought were impossible or never thought of to begin with.
5. HE IS ABLE TO KEEP, TO GUARD AGAINST LOSS, TO HOLD, TO CONTROL, TO RETURN WITH PROFIT, THE THINGS THAT WE COMMIT or (RELINQUISH) TO HIM!
6. But He will only take and be Lord over what we are willing to commit to Him.
7. To commit something to someone else means that we have to let go of it.
E. When we commit things to Jesus two very big things take place.
1. We free ourselves from the tension of trying to be in control and He releases His power to help us.
2. It’s a no loose situation.
3. And I believe Jesus likes to step in a surprise us with what He can do with our troubles when we release them to Him.
F. Step three is responsiveness. Relinquishment and responsiveness are close together, but they are two different things.
1. Relinquishment is letting go of the problems and giving Jesus control of them and responsiveness is acting on the things that Jesus tells us to do where the things that we have given Him are concerned.
2. You see if we don’t respond to the things He directs us to then we are trying to control again and the flow of His power is shut off.
3. We have got to trust Him enough to follow the direction that He Gives us.
(Prov 3:5 - 6 NIV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
4. Being committed to our Lord doesn’t mean that we won’t face problems, but it does mean that we will never face them alone.
G. When we are willing to commit ourselves to Him, Jesus opens the lock ahead of us and raises us to a new level in life, and He will do that with everything that we commit to Him, and we can have the assurance of His protection.
An article in National Geographic gives us a picture of God’s protection. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trip up a mountain to assess the damage of the fire. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched like a statue on the ground at the base of a tree. A little sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he hit it, three tiny chicks ran from under their dead mother’s wings. The loving mother, aware of coming disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.
She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had singed her small body, the mother had stood still and given her life. Because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.
(Psa 91:4 NIV) He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
H. That mother bird gave her life to save her children, but the chicks played a very important part in what happened too.
1. If they had not been willing to trust, the protection of their mother’s wings, if they were not willing go where she said, if they were not willing to commit themselves to their mother’s protection she couldn’t have helped them.
2. I when the fire rolled in if they hadn’t trusted their in their mother’s ability to protect them, they would have lost all the benefits of having someone that was willing to die for them.
3. Jesus gave His life to save us and make it possible for us to have protection and peace.
4. He will guard and protect what we commit to Him. But the key is that we commit to Him!
5. What part of you life do you need to commit to the Lord?
6. Don’t hold back! Take advantage of the protection and peace that is available to you.
7. Let your two worlds collide and trust everything that you are to Jesus!
8. HE IS ABLE TO KEEP WHAT YOU COMMIT TO HIM!
