How to Be Bold as a Lion (2)

Proverbs 30:30 NIV

a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;

Proverbs 30:30 RVR60

El león, fuerte entre todos los animales, Que no vuelve atrás por nada;

1. Charging through the savannahs of Africa, the mighty lion is regal and fearless in his pursuit. Known as “the king of beasts,”

2. he possesses courage and confidence that refuse to retreat from any threat or attack.

3. With a roar that can be heard from miles away,

4. a lion is an animal to be reckoned with.

5. He is a symbol of

6. fearlessness,

7. strength and invincibility.

8. In short, a lion is bold.

1. The Bible mentions the word lion 155 times in the Old Testament alone.

2. Proverbs 30:30 (NKJV) describes the lion as “mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing.”

3. With such a reputation for power and might, it is no wonder God used this animal to describe the demeanor He expects from His children

Proverbs 28:1 NIV

The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1 RVR60

Huye el impío sin que nadie lo persiga; Mas el justo está confiado como un león.

5. One thing you need to know today is this: Jesus didn’t die and defeat all of hell to have us quivering in the corner!

6. He gave us dominion and all authority—

7. but we have to operate in it!

Be Bold in Approaching God

Hebrews 4:16 NIV

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 RVR60

Acerquémonos, pues, confiadamente al trono de la gracia, para alcanzar misericordia y hallar gracia para el oportuno socorro.

1. When you approach God in prayer,

2. how do you show up?

3. Are you confident?

4. Expecting to receive or just wishing and hoping?

5. Asking or begging?

6. Do you know you belong, or do you feel unworthy?

7. The difference in how you come to the throne of God will determine whether you take possession of what you need or walk away empty-handed.

8. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly so that we may obtain what we need.

9. In other words, boldness is a prerequisite to receiving—because the fuel for boldness is faith.

So, where does boldness in prayer come from?

1. Your source of boldness is knowing who you are in Christ

2. what rights you have in your covenant relationship with Him.

3. One of the rights Jesus secured for you at the cross is the right to come freely into the presence of God without condemnation, without insecurity and without the fear of not being heard.

Ephesians 3:12 NIV

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:12 RVR60

en quien tenemos seguridad y acceso con confianza por medio de la fe en él;

1. That means Jesus paved the way between us and the throne room of God.

2. Fellowship with Him is part of our covenant rights, so acting unworthy is disrespecting the price Jesus paid to get you there.

3. Take your house, for instance.

4. You go into your house boldly—knowing it belongs to you.

5. You don’t hesitate.

6. You don’t question if it belongs to you.

7. You certainly don’t go to the back door, trembling.

8. That house belongs to you.

9. You aren’t stealing anything from God by stepping into that house with boldness, because He gave you the house.

10. Of course, the devil will work overtime to convince you that you aren’t worthy of boldly entering in.

11. He doesn’t want you in there, and he certainly doesn’t want you making bold requests.

12. But don’t let the devil trick you out of coming boldly to the throne—it’s where you belong.

13. When Jesus is abiding in you and you in Him, you know He loves you.

14. You know the Greater One lives in you.

15. There is no fear in love—so you know He is going to take care of you.

16. That’s where your boldness comes from.

Boldness isn’t begging, pleading, wishing or hoping—boldness is knowing.

1. It is confidence that when you pray according to the Word in faith, and as you live in obedience to God’s Word, you will receive what you ask

1 John 3:21–22 NIV

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

1 John 3:21–22 RVR60

Amados, si nuestro corazón no nos reprende, confianza tenemos en Dios; y cualquiera cosa que pidiéremos la recibiremos de él, porque guardamos sus mandamientos, y hacemos las cosas que son agradables delante de él.

3. You have a standing invitation from your heavenly Father to come boldly and take possession of what you need.

4. So, start praying in the Name of Jesus, according to the Word of God, and expect to receive what you ask for not just once in a while, but every time!

Jesus was bold about going to the cross.

1. He was bold about being punished.

2. He was bold about accepting your sin.

3. So be bold if for no other reason than to honor Him.

4. If you need something from God today, don’t waste time standing around outside heaven’s gates.

5. Through Jesus you belong in the very throne room of God.

6. So, come right on in. The door is always open for you.

2. Be Bold by Acting on the Word of God

James 1:22 NIV

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:22 RVR60

Pero sed hacedores de la palabra, y no tan solamente oidores, engañándoos a vosotros mismos.

1. Have you ever noticed that miracles most often occur among people who are bold about God?

2. Boldness and the miraculous are so closely tied together that some people “try” to act bold just to get things to happen.

3. Of course, it doesn’t work.

4. Because true boldness comes from a knowing in your spirit, and boldness causes us to act on God’s Word.

5. When you’re standing in boldness on the Word of God—that’s faith talking.

6. You aren’t bragging on yourself—you’re bragging on God!

7. You just know what’s yours.

8. When you know (not hope) it is God’s will—to heal you,

9. to pay your bills,

10. to take care of your children—

11. you won’t hesitate and you won’t be timid.

12. You’ll reach out and TAKE those promises.

13. You’ll take your faith and put it into action and do it boldly!

How do you get that way?

1. By spending time in the Word and meditating on it until it becomes more real to you than anything else.

2. That’s when boldness will rise up in you and you’ll start putting feet to your faith.

What does it look like to put your faith in action?

1. If sickness is trying to come on your body, you don’t just believe for healing, you act on it.

2. You speak to it and command it to leave in Jesus’ Name.

3. If you’ve been in debt or lack and you’re believing to be free, put your faith in action.

4. Pay even $1 on that debt in faith toward becoming debt free.

5. You sow a seed of faith toward debt freedom.

6. Whatever you do—do something!

7. When we hesitate and are afraid of what people might think, nothing happens.

8. So, make up your mind now to be bold—whether you want to or not.

9. That’s how it works, but you have to take the first step.

10. Do what the Bible says to do— whether you feel like it or not.

11. That’s called ACTING ON THE WORD! And that’s called FAITH!

Be Bold to Resist the Devil

James 4:7 NIV

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7 RVR60

Someteos, pues, a Dios; resistid al diablo, y huirá de vosotros.

1. How does the devil see you?

2. Does he see you as a terrifying and mighty warrior of God…

3. or does he see you as a wimp he can whip in a minute?

4. The answer to that question depends on you.

5. If you study the children of Israel and their failure to enter the Promised Land, you’ll see the key to their failure is found in Numbers 13:33

Numbers 13:33 NIV

We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 13:33 RVR60

También vimos allí gigantes, hijos de Anac, raza de los gigantes, y éramos nosotros, a nuestro parecer, como langostas; y así les parecíamos a ellos.

1. The reason the Israelites were so terrified to fight the giants in Canaan wasn’t because those giants were so big.

2. It was because the Israelites saw themselves as so small!

3. It was what they were in their own sight that defeated them.

4. The same thing is true for you as a believer.

5. It’s what you are in your own sight that will make the difference.

6. If, in your own sight, you’re a weak, powerless Christian, the devil will run over you three or four times a day or more if he’s not busy.

7. But when you begin to see yourself as God sees you,

8. as a conquering son or daughter of Almighty God,

9. equipped with the very power of God Himself,

10. the devil will want to steer clear of you.

11. The devil would rather do anything than come against someone who’s bold and courageous, because he’s a coward himself.

12. In fact, ever since Jesus came up out of that grave, Satan’s heart has melted within him at the sound of that Name in the mouth of one who has faith in it.

If you’re not strong in the Lord in your own sight, you need to change that.

1. You need to get so full of God’s Word and so full of the Holy Ghost that you walk around like a spiritual giant.

2. Turn the tables on the devil, and let him find out what it feels like to be a grasshopper for a change.

IN CLOSING

Jesus has already defeated the devil, and if you’re a Christian, you’ve got authority over him.

1. You’ve got the Name and blood of Jesus at your disposal,

2. but you have to decide to be bold and take authority over your family,

3. over sickness and disease,

4. over the spirit of poverty,

5. and anything else going on in your life.

6. You might be the quietest, sweetest person in the whole world, but when the devil comes, don’t be nice and quiet toward him.

7. He is an outlaw, a killer and a thief.

8. So, be bold in standing against him.

9. Confront him and cast him out.

Be bold to walk into the darkness and bring the light.

1. Start practicing, and you’ll get bolder and bolder.

2. Tell Satan he can’t come into your garden,

3. he can’t come into your body,

4. he can’t have your children,

5. and he can’t have your money.

6. Rebuke him and tell him to get out in the Name of Jesus.

7. Put him in his place—and that place is out of your sight and out of your life.

8. When you’re bold in approaching God,

9. bold in acting on the Word of God,

10. bold about resisting the devil,

11. you will be one who God describes as being bold as a lion.

12. You don’t have to live in fear ever again.

13. Get a spiritual roar going, and be bold as a lion!