Remote Control
How To Get A Handle On Your Future
4/28/04
I. Introduction
Set up a Remote Control Obstacle Course.
Have a volunteer maneuver the RC Car/Truck through the course.
Tonight’s message is Remote Control: How to Get a Handle on Your Future. How many of ya’ll had remote control cars when you were younger? How many of ya’ll still have remote control cars? Well, if you’ve never had one, have you wanted one? Here’s the basic idea behind a remote control car or any other remote control toy: You have the power to control every move it makes with just the touch of a button. You have the power to make that object go wherever you want it to go by using the remote control in your hand.
There are also other devices that have remote controls. My CD changer in my truck has a remote control that allows me to skip to a different CD or a different song and control the movement of the CD changer. Most televisions come with remote controls that allow you to turn it on/off, change the channel and control the volume. Other electronics like DVD/VCR players, garage door openers, and other toys can be operated by a remote control.
What I want you to see tonight is that FAITH is the remote control that allows you to get a handle on your future. With your faith, you can take control of your life.
II. Read The Instructions
First of all, let’s review what faith is:
Faith – pistis – conviction, confidence, trust, belief, reliance, trustworthiness, and persuasion.
Faith is being totally convinced of something, being fully persuaded that it is real and true, enough to trust in it and rely on it, having total confidence that it will do what it says it will do.
Now, what do you have to do to exercise your faith?
Speak.
Mark 11:23 23For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Once you have a basic understanding of what faith is, you’re well on your way to using it as the remote control for your life. But here’s the thing, you can know everything there is to know about what a remote control is, but if you don’t know how to use that specific remote control, you’ll have a hard time making that object do what you want it to do. It’s the same thing with faith and your life. You can know what faith is, but if you don’t know how to use it, you’ll have a hard time making your life go where you want it to go.
The thing about faith that intimidates a lot of people is that they see this huge instruction book that is somewhat difficult to understand and they just think, “Well, if I just believe in God, everything will work out.” And they don’t even try to get a clue about faith. And faith is really pretty simple. In fact, it can be summed up in two words: believing and speaking.
You have to make up your mind where you want your life to go, then use your remote control to steer your life in that direction.
III. Stay The Course
James 3:2-5 NLT 2We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. 3We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. 5So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.
James 3:5 NLV 5The tongue is also a small part of the body, but it can speak big things.
James 3:5 MSG 5A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything--or destroy it!
Just like a bit controls a horse, like a rudder controls a ship, like a remote control controls this truck, your faith (believing and speaking) controls the course of your life.
Now, you have to know the right commands to get your life going where you want it to go. There is a story of a young man who bought a horse that had belonged to a pastor. And this pastor had trained this horse with specific commands that would get it to walk, run, and stop. He told the buyer, to get the horse to walk, just say, “Hallelujah.” To get the horse to run, just say, “Praise the Lord.” To get the horse to stop, just say, “Amen.” The buyer said, “That’s easy enough, let me try her out!” He climbed up on the horse and said, “Hallelujah.” The horse started walking. The man was starting to have a little fun, so he said, “Praise the Lord” to get her to run. The horse just took off. Up ahead, the man noticed there was a cliff, and he started to panic because he couldn’t remember what command would make the horse stop. He screamed out, “Whoa!” That didn’t work. He called out, “Sweet Jesus!” That didn’t work. He yelled, “God Almighty!” That didn’t work. Finally, he hollered, “AMEN!” And the horse stopped on a dime just before the edge of the cliff. The man let out a sigh of relief, wiped his brow and said, “Praise the Lord.”
You got to know the right commands. Let’s talk for a minute about the command of faith – the right buttons on your remote control.
Matthew 8:5-10:13 5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
8The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ’Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ’Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ’Do this,’ and he does it."
10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith."
13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
A centurion is a soldier that’s been put in charge over 100 other soldiers. This soldier tells Jesus that he understands authority, and that he uses commands to get what he wants. When Jesus hears this, he calls it faith! And that’s exactly what it is. The centurion said, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Did he say, “Ask God to ease the pain if it’s his will”? Did he say, “Could you just say a prayer for him”? No, he said, “Say the word.”
Whatever the circumstance, whether it be sickness, lack, bad grades, mean girls, a teacher that’s out to get you, a friend that’s betrayed you, a parent that doesn’t understand you, you just say the word. What’s the word? The word or words that you say is what you want. You don’t say what you see. You say what you want.
For instance, let’s say at the present time, you haven’t raised the $325 that you need to go to camp, which is the case for many of you. How would you use your remote control to maneuver your life in the direction you want it to go? What’s the word or words you’d say? “I don’t have enough money to go to camp”? “I don’t have $325”? “Now I can’t afford to go to camp”? Or would you say, “I’m going to camp. I don’t care what Pastor Nate’s spreadsheet says about how much I’ve raised. That money is coming in and I’m going. Money, you come right now.” And then you do something to act on that command. If somebody in the church calls you with some extra work for you to do, do it, because that’s one of the many ways that God can use to get that money credited to your account.
If your faith is the remote control that steers your life, you got to know the right buttons to push or levers to turn…which means you have to know the right words to say and be aware of the wrong ones.
James 3:5 said that the tongue could accomplish anything (Woo Hoo) or destroy it. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself unconsciously pushing the wrong buttons and your life will be going the opposite way that you want it to go. If you continue to say the wrong things, you’ll continue to go the wrong way.
Regardless of what direction you choose, you’ll encounter obstacles that will try to stop you from reaching your destination. But using your remote control, you can go over, around, or push through them.
If it’s a sickness, tell it to Go. If it’s a lack of finances, tell money to come. If it’s an inability in any area, say, “do it.”
I don’t know where you want your life to be in six months, a year, two years, or five years, but I do know that you can get to where you want to go by using your faith. I’m not just talking about your career or occupation, but I’m talking about the quality of your life, your state of being. God has already provided the means necessary for you to live the best life you could possibly live. You have to use your remote control of faith to tap into what He’s already provided. Let’s pray.
