Untitled Sermon (41)

VICTORY OVER LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES.

INTRODUCTION:

I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN HAVE VICTORY OVER OUR LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES IF WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR EXPERIENCES.

LIFE WILL TEACH YOU THAT THEIR WILL BE SOME UPS AND THEIR WILL BE SOME DOWNS.

BUT WHAT WOULD GIVE US THE VICTORY , WHEN WE CAN FIND OUT WHAT PURPOSE CHRIST HAVE FOR US WHEN WE ARE FACING CIRCUMSTANCES.

PAUL LETTER TO THE CHURCH OF PHILIPPI SHOWED HOW GRATEFUL HE WAS FOR THEIR GENEROSITY, BUT PAUL DID NOT WANT THEM TO THINK THAT HE WAS IN WANT FOR ANYTHING.

PAUL GIVES US 3 THINGS THAT WILL GIVE US VICTORY OVER LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES.

LEARN HOW TO BE CONTENT.

LEARN HOW TO ADJUST TO CIRCUMSTANCES.

LEARN HOW TO DRAW FROM CHRIST POWER.

A. LEARN HOW TO BE CONTENT.

PHILIPPIANS 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

THE ONE THING, WHEN YOU ARE CONTENT WITH SOMETHING, YOU DO NOT HAVE A DESIRE TO WANT FOR SOMETHING FOR YOUR OWN APPETITE.

A WANT IS SOMETHING YOU DESIRE, THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SELF, BUT A NEED IS SOMETHING THAT GOD WILL SUPPLY.

BECAUSE A NEED IS SOMETHING NECESSARY FOR YOU TO LIVE OR SURVIVE. YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT THE WORD OF GOD, YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT WATER, OR FOOD, BUT THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT GOD KNOW THAT YOU STAND IN NEED OF.

PAUL FOUND OUT NO MATTER WHAT STATE OF MIND HE’S IN , HE SEEK THE WILL OF GOD FOR THAT SITUATION. THAT’S WHY PAUL SAID THAT HE CAN BE CONTENT.

WHEN YOU SEEK GOD’S WILL FOR ANY SITUATION YOU’RE IN , YOU’RE SAYING THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO LISTEN AND RESPOND UPON WHAT HE SAY AND THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO VICTORY.

THE WORD CONTENT IS NOT TO HAVE SUFFICIENCY IN SELF, BUT IN GOD.

THE KEY IS THAT PAUL LEARNED HOW TO BE CONTENT. THE ONLY WAY PAUL WAS ABLE TO DO THAT WAS THROUGH LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES.

PAUL SAID IT WAS THROUGH LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT TAUGHT ME HOW TO BE CONTENT.

WHEN YOU ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO INSTRUCT YOU, CIRCUMSTANCES YOU MAY EXPERIENCE, BUT THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES DOES’T HAVE YOU.

WHAT KEEPS US FROM ANXIETY OR BECOME OVER ANXIOUS , WHEN WE KNOW WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR NEEDS.

1 TIMOTHY 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

B. LEARN HOW TO ADJUST TO CIRCUMSTANCES.

PHILIPPIANS 4:12 “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”

MOST OF US DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT MEANT TO BE IN SURVIVOR MODE UNTIL WE WAS IN A SEASON OF LACK.

PAYCHECK COULD NOT COVER THE MONTHLY BILLS YOU HAD EACH MONTH.

LAID OFF FROM YOUR JOB OR JOB SHUT DOWN OR RELOCATED ON YOU.

WE HAD TO LEARN HOW TO ADJUST TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

SOME OF US DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PUT FOOD ON OUR TABLE, BUT GOD SUPPLIED OUR NEEDS, BECAUSE WE TRUSTED IN HIM. PAUSE? WE MADE IT.

WE ALSO WAS IN A SEASON OF PLENTY WHERE WE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH AND WAS ABLE TO ENJOY THE FRUIT OF OUR LABOR. PAUSE? GOD DID IT.

WHETHER WE LACKING OR HAVE PLENTY, WE BETTER LEARN HOW TO BE GRATEFUL TO GOD THAT HE HAS SEEN US THROUGH THE THE GOOD TIMES AS WELL AS THE BAD TIMES. I BELIEVE I AM TALKING TO SOMEBODY WHO’S LIFE IS IN TRANSITION. YOU BETTER LEARN HOW TO ADJUST TO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

LOOK PEOPLE OF GOD LIFE CAN THROW YOU BLOWS, BECAUSE IT WAS NEVER PROMISE TO YOU THAT LIFE WOULD BE EASY, BUT THE ONE THING THAT WAS PROMISED TO YOU THAT GOD WOULD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS.

YOU WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN HOW TO ADJUST TO CIRCUMSTANCES, UNLESS YOU BEEN THROUGH IT.

1 CORINTHIANS 4:11 “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;”

C. LEARN HOW TO DRAW FROM CHRIST POWER.

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

PAUL FINDS THAT HE DO NOT PROCESS OUTER STRENGTH, BUT HIS STRENGTH IS INNER, THAT IS THE CHRIST THAT LIVES IN HIM.

PAUL RECOGNIZE I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHEN ME, BECAUSE THE SELF LIFE NO LONGER EXIT, BUT THE CHRIST LIFE THAT LIVES IN ME.

WE MUST LEARN HOW TO DRAW FROM CHRIST POWER WHEN LIFE BECOME OVER WHELMING.

BECAUSE WHEN YOU DRAW FROM THE POWER OF CHRIST, YOU CAN BE CONTENT THAT CHRIST IS IN CONTROL OF THE CIRCUMSTANCE AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES IS NOT IN CONTROL OF YOU, THEN YOU CAN HAVE VICTORY OVER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

JOHN 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”