What's In A Crumb?

1 John 3:8, it tells us, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested". Now when you read John's gospel in the first chapter it tells us very clearly, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And nothing was created without him". But then in verse 14, it says, "And the word became flesh and he dwelt among us". So here in this epistle to the New Testament church, John is telling them, whenever Jesus Christ came in the flesh, he came for one purpose, and that purpose was to destroy the works of the devil. What was it that the angels were announcing outside of Bethlehem's manger to shepherds, who were in the field, when they sang, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will towards men"?

With that declaration what they were telling sin and Satan that had been turned loose since the Garden of Eden, "Your works are being destroyed, because the one who was promised as the seed of the woman, has now arrived in Bethlehem's manger. And you may bruise his heel, but he is going to crush your head". What is it about Jesus Christ that the enemy tries to come against each and every time? He wants you to use doubt to get you to disbelieve whatever it is that Jesus is doing in your life. Why? Because doubt kills faith. But faith overcomes the world. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ who came to crush the head of the serpent, then you have the power of Jesus Christ to crush the enemy in your life. He'll crush addiction. He'll crush poverty. He'll crush suffering. He'll crush sickness. He'll crush sorrow. He'll crush depression. He'll crush every chain that the enemy has used to bind you.

But the question is, where are you connected? Where have you connected your faith? Here, Jesus Christ has come for one purpose, to crush the works of Satan. But we live in a world where there's too many disconnections. Why is his presence inhabiting the praises of his people, as we worship him in the sanctuary? He didn't come to entertain you. He didn't come to scratch your itching ears. He came to crush the head of the serpent. He came to destroy the works of the devil. Why did he go to Calvary? To crush the head of the serpent, to graft you into the covenant, to bring you on the inside of what you were disconnected from, to give strength to those who were powerless, to give hope to those who were hopeless, to give freedom to those who were enslaved, to give victory to those who were defeated.

You see, when you recognize the purpose for why Christ came to the earth, then you realize that there are no ordinary days for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because our God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you could ever ask, you could ever think, or you could ever imagine, according to "The power" that works in us. Now we're really good at saying, "Ask, think, or could ever imagine". But we forget that it's connected to "the power" that works in us. So, the question that I want you to ask today is, "Where are you connected"? Are you connected to the power, or are you connected to the opinion?

So, when you ask this question about, where are you connected, you have to recognize that many of us in this room, we understand what Christ came here to do: we just haven't connected ourselves to the source of power. He came, that we might be more than conquerors. He came, that he might provide according to his riches in glory. He came to rebuke the devourer for our sake. El Shaddai, the all-sufficient God, came, that he might turn your sorrow into dancing: that he might lift the burden off your shoulders: that he might break the yoke of bondage that holds you back. When you realize the power of God that is available to everyone who will call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you recognize that this is no ordinary day. This is the day that the Lord has made. And if you have breath inside your lungs, you should rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because God has given you the authority of his name. He's given you the power of his word. He's given you the conquering stream of his crimson blood. And if God is for you, who can be against you?

Mark 7:24 through 30, it tells a powerful story about a woman who needed a desperate intervention in her life. But it begins by telling us these words, "Then he arose, and he went to the region of Tyre and Sidon". "He" being Jesus Christ. He arose and he left. Where did he leave? He left Jerusalem. Now understand that's a significant thing, because Jerusalem is the city of God. Jerusalem is not only where Jesus is going to offer his life as a sacrifice, but Jerusalem is the place where he's going to come back and set up his throne and his kingdom shall have no end. Now when you're willing to leave such a precious place for such an abandoned place, what on earth would make you want to do that? And you have to go back in the beginning of the chapter to understand the situation. But the reason that Jesus got up and left Jerusalem in Mark 7:24 is because in Mark 7:1, it says these words: it says, "The pharisees and some of the scribes came together having come from Jerusalem".