I Think He Can!

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Ephesians 3:14–21 KJV 1900

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

TITLE SLIDE: “I THINK HE CAN!”

Where Miracles Begin

The Meaning of “Think”

This word “think” in this passage is not just referring to some fantasy or some dream of what God can do that you do not really think is possible.

It is intended to mean “the parameters of what you really think God can do.” He is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask… or what we even THINK that He can do.” It’s those things that we believe are within the parameters that God can bring to pass.

I want to say early on here what I AM NOT preaching: I am not preaching the power of positive thinking. I am not preaching “think and get rich.” Those are things that speak of the potential of humanity.

But I’m not preaching about humanity’s potential. I am here to preach about the potential of our God! A God who has all power! In heaven and in earth!

It’s His ability I’m interested in today. Not your ability, my ability, or anybody else’s ability… I’m here to talk about what GOD can do!

We serve a great big God! A powerful God! One who knows no impossibility!

I want you to note that, the Apostle Paul did not say that God would do, or will do, above all we can ask or think. Because honestly, truly… most of the time He doesn’t.

Many of us have seen when God has miraculously, supernaturally come on the scene when we didn’t expect Him to. He surprised us with a miracle. And did something we never even thought He could do. Those are awesome times.

But I want to tell you today that MOST of what we receive from God comes because we ask Him for it, and we ask Him for it in faith!

As a matter of fact, that’s the plan He gave us. In much of the New Testament He taught this. He taught to ask in faith. Whatever we desire, to ask and believe. Ask, and we would receive.

But the Apostle here, take this whole thing one step further back!

Ephesians 3:20 KJV 1900

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

“…above all that we ask or THINK.” Much of what we see Him do has to do with the things that we ASK for. But the things that we ask start with a THOUGHT! If you never think of it, you never ask God for it!

You have to think of it before you ask God for it! It’s born as a thought in the mind: “I think God could do this! And because I think God can do it, I believe I’ll ask Him for it!” And when you ask Him for it in faith, that is the moment when God starts working miracles! But it starts with a thought!

Paul didn’t say God would do above all that we ask or think - He probably won’t. But it first has to be thought, and then asked for in faith!

The Blessed Ones

I’ve tried to make it a practice of mine to observe those around me that I know are blessed. Because I want to be blessed, myself! I want God’s blessing on my life!

And you can think whatever you want, but God does practice favoritism. There are some who are more blessed than others.

And you can watch two people who are going through very similar issues in life. One will get through all of it with flying colors. The other will end up discouraged, unsettled, their family destroyed, their marriage in shambles, the devil having ravaged their home…

What is the difference between the two???

I have noticed that the ones who are so blessed are the ones who… when in the midst of great trouble, they just believe that their God is BIG ENOUGH, WISE ENOUGH, and POWERFUL ENOUGH to see them through!!!

THEY THINK HE CAN DO IT!!!

Some people will never believe that God could help them out of their little problem. You’ll never convince them. But others, you’re not going to be able to tell them anything else except what they believe: “God is going to carry me through!” The situation could look hopeless, but they’ll look every devil and demon in the eye and say, “My God can do it! I think He has the solution! I think He has the answer!” I THINK HE CAN DO IT!

You’ve got to think right!

90% of faith’s victory starts in the mind. Faith starts in the mind. “I think God can do this!”

Faith starts there, in the mind… and then it flows from the mind down into the heart… and it mixes with the spirit… the spirit transforms that thought into faith… and faith rises up and gets ahold of the hem of the garment and hangs on until healing virtue flows and the miracle happens! BUT IT STARTS IN THE MIND! I THINK HE CAN DO IT!

Maybe you walked in one way today, and you’re thinking wasn’t quite at the level we’re talking about here. But then you heard some teaching. And you heard some singing and worshipped. And you started feeling something. And then all of a sudden, you started thinking: “I think I could get the Holy Ghost today!” “I think I could get my healing today!” YOU’RE 90% OF THE WAY THERE! I’M SURPRISED YOU’RE NOT TALKING IN TONGUES ALREADY!

Whether it’s on our job, on the mission field, here in our local church, on the road evangelizing, or anywhere else - the only limitation that God knows is how we think.

Don’t tell me that the devil is big enough to stop my God! Don’t tell me that the state of the world has handicapped what God is willing to do! Don’t even tell me that there’s something wrong with our doctrine or what we believe! My God’s bigger than that! Those things don’t hinder Him!

The only thing that stands between God and what He would like to do for us IS THE WAY WE THINK!

Jesus got up at the synagogue once. He had done it many times before. He got out some scriptures from Isaiah and began to read it before everyone there. Prophecy of the coming Messiah, and all of the power and ability to heal and deliver He would hold.

And then, He closed the book and the Bible says that all of the eyes of the synagogue were quietly on Him. And He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21).

Basically, He was saying, “You’ve heard for many years about the awesome things that the Messiah would do when He arrives. Well, I’ve come today to tell you: He’s here!” What a special day! You would think that naturally,

And Scripture tells us that He left that town having done no great work, except having healed a few sick people.

And the reason was… they THOUGHT… this was just Joseph’s son.

It wasn’t the devil. It wasn’t immorality. It was horrible sin in their lives. It wasn’t a lack of obedience! …The reason that He left that place and there was no great revival in Nazareth is because of their THOUGHT. They THOUGHT. …It was their THOUGHT LIFE that hindered Jesus! He left having done no great work because they thought He was just Joseph’s son!

I preach to you today that the only chains on His hands… the only hindrance that is before Him in the Church… the only thing that hinders us at this point from turning our city and world upside down is the way we think! We have the right doctrine! We have the right lifestyle! We’ve got the right fellowship!

We’ve got all the right ingredients! But God help us somehow this morning… help us with the way we think!

Someone say, “I think He can!”

The Little Engine that Could

Does anyone remember seeing, or reading as a child, the story of The Little Engine That Could?

SHOW IMAGE OF BOOK COVER

My dad introduced that story to me when I was just a little boy.

I went down a rabbit hole about that story. It’s interesting… Early on, in 1906, it was printed under the title Thinking One Can in 1906, in Wellspring for Young People, a Sunday school publication.

In the story, a long train must be pulled over a high mountain after its locomotive breaks down. Larger locomotives, are asked to pull the train; for various reasons they refuse. The request is sent to a small engine, who agrees to try. Despite the steep climb and heavy load, the engine slowly succeeds in pulling the train over the mountain while repeating the motto: "I-think-I-can.”

And this has been told and retold many times, various ways. And the underlying theme is always the same—a stranded train is unable to find an engine willing to take it on over difficult terrain to its destination. Only the little engine is willing to try and, while repeating the mantra "I think I can, I think I can", overcomes a seemingly impossible task.

And that story is encouraging to children. It was encouraging to me. It builds courage, self-esteem. That’s great.

But if I could offer… a little adjustment to the story today…

“I-THINK-HE-CAN”

Elisha and the Miracle of Oil

When the little widow came to Elisha, she said, “My husband’s died!” She was a preacher’s wife. And her husband had died. And now, she had no means to pay the bills. And the creditors were coming. And she said, “What shall I do?”

Elisha the prophet said, “What do you have in your house?” She said, “I’ve just got a little vessel of oil.”

He said, “This is what I want you to do. I want you to go to all your neighbors and I want you to ask them for vessels and bring them back to your house. And don’t ask for just a few.”

You know, that’s were we have problems. “A few” to us is a whole lot different than “a few” to God! We’ve just had a few miracles around here! A few breakthroughs!

I think maybe what we see is “just a few” to God!

He said, “Don’t just get one or two! Don’t get just a few!”

I imagine that she sent the boys out that were going to end up being taken as payment for the bills. She sent them out. Maybe it was Benjamin and Joseph. She sent them out. Go get the vessels! And they went all around the neighbors houses. And they asked vessels of all of the neighbors.

I don’t know when it was - listen to me - I don’t know when it was that they decided that they had enough… Maybe it was after they had twelve. Maybe they had twenty. Maybe they had one hundred. I don’t know how many. But at some point, they decided that this was probably as big a miracle as God could do!

They couldn’t think that God could do something bigger than twenty five! And so they brought the vessels back.

Little did they know… when they decided they had enough… they had set the limitation on the miracle! They had set the boundaries of how big the miracle was going to be!

They brought the vessels into the house. Mother began to pour the oil into the vessels. When she had filled them all, the Bible says that she said, “Is there another one?” They said, “No mom, that’s all we got.” And the oil stayed.

I preach to you today, that if they’d had a hundred more, they’d have filled up a hundred more of them!!! If they’d had a thousand more, God wouldn’t have run out of oil! God wasn’t finished - THEY JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS ENOUGH!!!

And with their thinking, they determine the limitation of the miracle!

God help us! God, enlarge the capacity of how we feel and think and you!

We Adopt the Thinking Around Us

We usually adopt the sort of thinking that our peers have. We accept the limitations of their thinking. Sociology shows this.

We are often the victims of our peers mentality. We are the benefit from many things about our peers. But we’re the victims of their mentality.

If you think it’s big, I think it’s big. I get my idea of what’s big from you. And then I pass on my idea of what’s a lot to you. And you pass along that same thought to them. They pass it back around to me. And pretty soon, we’ve made a vicious circle, and we think that 75 on Easter Sunday is a lot. And we think a church of 100 is huge. And we think 150 or 200 is a big thing for God!

Where did we get that? We sure didn’t get it out of the New Testament! We sure didn’t get it from God’s Word! Where did we get that kind of thinking? We got it from one another! And we judge ourselves amongst ourselves.

Let me tell you that our God is bigger than we ever thought Him to be! He’s bigger than we ever dreamed He is!!!

There were thousands at Ephesus and other places that became Holy Ghost-filled believers! They turned their world upside down! I don’t think 75 is very many!

I’m not trying to condemn you today or put you down - I’m trying to help you! Our God is able to do EXCEEDINGLY, ABUNDANTLY above all that we ask or THINK!

How We Change

A Work of the Spirit

The only way to escape this though pattern… is number one, it takes a work of the Spirit.

Behavioral habits are very difficult to change. Habits. That’s why they put out more self-help books about that than anything else. Habits are hard to change. But you can change a habit. It can be hard. But you can change habit patterns.

But thought patterns… take a work of the Spirit.

If you’re not willing to stay full of the Holy Ghost, speaking with other tongues, every day of your life…

I preached that recently somewhere, and had someone come up to me and ask about it. “Do you really think that’s necessary?” And I said, “Well, for me, one time is not enough.”

If you’re not willing to let the Holy Ghost have free reign and control in your life… you’ll never be able to pull yourself out from long-standing thought patterns. You’ll think about the way you think about it until the day you die.

But the Holy Ghost can help you change the way you think!!!

That’s why when you come in here, you leave with such faith and feeling refreshed! The Holy Ghost does that! And you don’t have to wait for every service here to feel that way! God would like to make your home a Holy Ghost hub!!!

We Need Our Mentality Challenged

So, first of all, we need a work of the Spirit.

Second, somebody needs to challenge our mentality! Challenge the way we think!

It was a dark time in Israel. Saul had already gone into the place of the priesthood. And Samuel had denounced and rebuked him and told what his fall would be. And Israel was hiding in caves and dungeons. Chased by the Philistines.

And Jonathan… got to thinking.

“It just doesn’t seem like it ought to be like this. We’re God’s people. We are the chosen!”

Don’t you feel that way??? We’re God’s people!!!

It just doesn’t seem right for us to be hiding back here in dens and caves and dungeons and oppressed and beat down and I just can’t get out of this rut and we’re a nothing and a nobody… it just doesn’t seem right! If we’re God’s people!!!

Think what you want, sir or ma’am, but that New Testament Church was a powerful force in the earth! Think what you want, but they changed the course of the governments and changed the history - those one-God Holy Ghost people!

It just doesn’t seem right that we ought to be meeting over here on the backside of the tracks, and nobody knows who we are and where we are and what’s going on with us and what our message it - it doesn’t seem right! WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe that’s right! I believe that in this endtime, God is going to elevate His church to a position of power and influence in this world! All over this community, they’re going to know who we are! They’re going to know what we stand for! They’re going to know what we believe!

…

Jonathan got to thinking… this don’t seem right. If I had about 10,000 men, I’d go fix those Philistines.

And - hear me - he got to thinking… “Well, really it’s God that does it. So I wouldn’t need 10,000. If I just had 5000… we’d turn this situation around.”

“Well, if I had 5000, God and me and 5000 could do it…” and he thought on… “You know, if it’s God… maybe… God and me and a couple hundred could do it!”

And he thought about it some more. God to thinking about how big God is… that’s what we need to do! WE NEED TO THINK MORE ABOUT HOW BIG GOD IS!

Don’t tell me He can’t do it! If He can’t do it, it’s because you tell me you don’t think He can do it!

Don’t tell me we can’t see a 50-soul revival this year! Don’t tell me we can’t end up with the biggest church in this city! If you tell me that, it’s just because you don’t think He can! BUT I THINK HE CAN! I THINK WE WILL!!!

I THINK HE CAN ANOINT US! I THINK HE CAN GIVE US POWER!

I THINK HE CAN! I THINK HE CAN!!!

If you don’t think He can, I don’t want to talk to you! My faith is too precious! It’s taken too long to get to the place it is! I won’t let you steal it! I THINK HE CAN! I THINK HE CAN!!!

YOU OUGHT TO LOOK AT WHAT YOUR FACED WITH RIGHT NOW - STARE IT IN THE EYE - AND SAY: “I THINK HE CAN!!!”

Jonathan’s Final Thinking

Jonathan got to thinking real good on that whole deal…

And he thought, “Maybe I think we just need a dozen, with God.” And then he looked at the armorbearer, and said, “You know, God could do it with just you and I, armorbearer. But really, He doesn’t even need you and I. He’s just willing to include us in the work.

He really does it all by Himself! But He loves us enough to include us in what He’s about to do! And no Philistine army is a match for God!

And God brought deliverance to Israel because JONATHAN CHALLENGED THE THINKING OF THE ISRAELITES!

What we need… we need some people to rise up and say, “I think God’s big enough!”

Let me help someone today… when you see someone who is greatly blessed or someone that God is evidently at work in their life or their church is overflowing with revival… IT’S NOT TIME TO GET JEALOUS! No, no! As a matter of fact, what you need is for them to put their finger in your chest and speak to you: “God CAN do this for YOU! You CAN be delivered out of that addiction! God CAN begin to fill up that pew you sit on! God CAN bring order and blessing to your home and your family! GOD CAN DO IT FOR YOU!!!”

I get Holy Ghost mad when I start thinking about the thinking that the devil has pawned off on us… thinking of what we can have… what we could have… I’m not about to let him have a word in the conversation as to what I think God can do!

I need somebody to take a stand today! Stand against that type of thinking that didn’t come from the Lord. If you think God can, I want you to stand right now.

Conclusion

Somebody can get the Holy Ghost right now! Somebody can get a miracle right now! YES, He can!!!

Some of you, God’s been talking to this whole time this morning, and your faith has started to spring open to the possibilities of what God is able to do in your life. You’ve felt something fresh this morning. God wants to work with that!

Do you know what’s going to continue to make is distinct and markedly different and cause people to gravitate towards us in this community?! WHEN WE PUT OUR FAITH WHERE OUR MOUTH IS!!!

You may have thought a few things in the last thirty minutes that at first seemed outlandish… but… “I think God can do it!” “I think He can!!!”

If you don’t think He can do it, you won’t see it!!! But if you do, you need to step out of your pew right now and present it to Him!

If you don’t think God can, then just stay where you’re at. But there’s another brother or sister next to you that you need to get ahold of that says, “I think He can! I’ve listened to the lies of unbelief and the enemy for far too long! I THINK GOD CAN DO IT!!!”

AND THEY’RE GOING TO SEE IT!!!