Sermon Tone Analysis

STRETCHING MY IMAGINATION

!! from ‘50 Days of Faith’

!! Part 1 of 2

!! January 28, 2007

 

/“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”/     

                                                                                                                                                         1 Cor.

2:9 (NLT)

 

/“With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.”/

Eph.

3:20 (NCV)

 

!!!                                                              IMAGINE HOW GOD CAN USE YOU

Joshua 1:1-11

 

*1.

LET GO ____________________________________________________________*

 

/“Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind...

They should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.”/

James 1:6-7 (NCV)

 

/“Be bold and strong!

Banish fear and doubt!

For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”/  Josh.

1:9 (LB)

 

What causes us to doubt?

 

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\\                                                                   STRETCHING MY IMAGINATION

!! 50 Days of Faith

!! Part 1 of 2

!! January 28, 2007

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   2249 words

 

We’re continuing this morning looking at the topic of ‘Faith’ and let me begin by stating that faith is not blind as many would want to claim; it engages the intellect or at least it should do if you take faith seriously.

The claims of faith are taken from scripture or God’s word which tells us that God put you on this earth for a reason.

He put you here for a purpose.

He has a plan for your life.

He has a dream for your life.

And God wants to use you for a great purpose, one greater than you could ever imagine.

That’s why God made you.

He made you so He could use you on this earth.

If we’re going to grow in faith we have to trust God’s promises.

Now here’s this weeks’ promise which is Php.

4.13 /“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”/

I hope you will memorize this verse this week so that when you start to doubt, when you start to feel discouraged, when you start to feel depressed God can bring that to your memory.

The problem with trusting God’s promises is that it seems too fantastic to be real or true and so you develop emotional barriers that keep you saying, “How could God ever use me?”

So for God to use you, for God to bless your life the way He wants to you have to have a change in your thinking, in your imagination.

Every great accomplishment that’s ever happened in history began as an idea in somebody’s imagination.

It starts with a thought in your mind before it actually becomes a reality.

Psychologists tell us if you really want to live you have to learn to have a dream.

You’ve got to have a dream in life otherwise you’re just existing.

That’s good but it doesn’t go all the way.

You need more than just a dream.

What’s more important is that you need to get God's dream for your life; what He put you here on earth to do; what He wants to use you for, because if God isn’t using you, what in the world is your life being used for right now? 

 

1 Corinthians 2:9 /“No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”/  God's dream for your life is mind-boggling.

It is so fantastic that you can’t even imagine it.

You cannot imagine what God could do with your life if it was totally, completely, irrevocably given to Him. 

 

/“With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we could ask or imagine.”/

One of the greatest gifts God has given you is your imagination.

The ability to imagine is one of the things that makes human beings different from animals.

You were made in God's image.

So like our Creator you are creative.

You have the ability to imagine.

Napoleon said, “Imagination rules the world.”

Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

What I want to do this morning is stretch your imagination because that’s what God wants to do.

He wants you to imagine how He could use you in ways you’ve never, ever thought of.

This morning we’re going to consider one of the major obstacles to faith; which in a sense goes hand in hand with faith – and that’s - ‘doubt’ and I want to clear the ground by firstly acknowledging that doubt is normal but it is also an obstacle to faith.

More so next week, we’re going to look at the life of Joshua, a man you find in the HB or OT.

His was a life that reveals four secrets of being used by God.

Today we’ll cover only the first of the four because I think it’s important to take time to squeeze out all that God promises in relation to His dream for your life.

If you want to be used by God, if you want God's blessing on your life, if you want His dream for your life...

 

*1.

YOU MUST LET GO OF DOUBT.

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* *

Doubt is a great enemy of God's dream for your life.

Doubt limits your potential.

Doubt causes procrastination.

Doubt causes you to miss God's best.

You say, “I doubt that God could use me in a great way.

Look at me!”

And you start coming up with all kinds of excuses and doubts.

The Bible says in James 1 /“Anyone who doubts is like a wave on the sea, blown up and down by the wind.

They should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.”/

So before you can be used by God in any great way you’ve got to deal with this doubt issue.

The fact that you doubt that God could use you in great ways is a stumbling block to faith.

In our reading this morning Peter’s problem was doubt.

He took his eyes off Jesus and the waves overwhelmed him.

But doubt is nothing new.

Doubt is still with us 2000 years after the time of Peter.

2000 years before Peter, Joshua had a doubt problem; he had a problem with self-confidence.

He just didn’t feel very confident for two reasons.

1.

He was the successor to Moses.

How would you like to be the follow up act to Moses?  It’s like “Here’s Moses!” who we’re told in the book of Deuteronomy is the greatest man who ever lived and now, “Here’s Joshua!”  Great!

I’d have a little self-doubt too following Moses’ act.

Not only that but the assignments that God gave him.

He said, “Joshua, you’re going to be the man who goes in and leads this little band of slaves who’ve been running around in the desert for forty years in fear, you’re going to lead them to take over the Promised Land – the area of Palestine.

There’s only one problem, Joshua.

Palestine is inhabited by seven enemy nations all of which are bigger and stronger than you guys.

But we’re going to take it over.”

So he had a lot of doubt, a lot of fear.

He didn’t have a lot of confidence in his life.

So just on the verge of him beginning this campaign which was going to be a battle for many, many years, they’re standing on the banks of the Jordan River and they’re going to cross over the river and begin this campaign to take over Palestine which is now where Israel is today.

And in that campaign, the night before, God says, “Let Me give you a little pep talk.”

In Joshua 1 four times He says, /“Be determined and confident.”

/He said, “Joshua, the first thing you’re going to have to do if I’m going to use you is you’ve got to let go of doubt.”

Joshua 1:9 /“Be bold and strong.

Banish fear and doubt for remember the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”/  Circle “banish”.

What does that mean?