Barriers to Belief

Mark 9:23-24 - 23 Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’

Barriers to Belief, Worry, Guilt and Fear

Today I’m here to talk about barriers to belief. Let’s start with what a barrier is. The dictionary defines it as anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access, etc. or a limit or boundary of any kind.

So what’s wrong with having barriers? After all some barriers are a good thing. There are barriers on the highway to keep traffic from crossing into oncoming traffic, or going off a bridge.

The walls and roof of your house are barriers that protect you from the heat, cold, wind and rain.

Seat belts are barriers that restrain and protect you in the event of an accident.

Sunscreen is a barrier that protects you from the harmful UV rays of the sun and keeps you from aging.

We have barriers for our children in the form of curfews.

So some barriers can be a good thing. Right.

Now let’s look at belief. Belief is defined as a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.

We all believe something, even if it's as simple as believing that when we get in the elevator and push the button for the second floor, it will take us to the second floor and not the fourth floor.

We believed when we came into this room and sat down, the chair was going to support our weight and not break. I didn’t see one person inspect the chair to see what it was made of, or turn it over to see if there was a maximum allowable weight the chair could hold.

Instead, you came in with a smile on your face, just looking to say hello and have a seat to prepare for worship.

We all have our beliefs and they determine what we do, what we say and how we respond to certain things.

Most of the time we believe when we go to the doctor and they give us medicine, that it's going to work, that it will make us feel better and cure what ails us.

Anyone who has gone through cancer treatment or knows someone who has, believes that the treatment will save their lives. Otherwise, who in their right mind would allow someone to infuse poison through their system in the form of chemotherapy or allow someone to shoot lethal doses of radiation into their body when everything we know about radiation says to stay away from it.

Cancer patients do that because they believe it is going to kill the disease that has invaded their body and not kill them. So we all believe in something.

But when we put it together and look at barriers to belief, that is anything that restrains or obstructs your state of mind in which you place trust or confidence.

More simply put, for a Christian, a barrier to belief is anything that makes you doubt God in anyway. That could be doubt that He won’t do what He said He would do concerning you; specifically,

your healing,

your breakthrough,

your deliverance,

your finances,

your children,

your husband,

your other family members,

your marriage,

your – you fill in the blank.

So as Christians what’s the problem with having barriers to belief? Is it a problem? Of course, we know it is, because when we have barriers to our belief in God

We can’t totally fulfill God’s plan for our lives.

We can’t fully experience all God has in store for us and

We can’t fully reap the benefits of all God’s blessings.

(Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.)

When you have barriers to belief, that Scripture is magnified in your life. So what are the barriers we allow to restrain or obstruct us from doing what God has called us to do?

What hinders our progress? Well there are many things, but I’m going to deal with just three major categories of barriers.

Category #1 – worry We worry.

We worry we’re not good enough - We worry we’re not educated enough - We’re not pretty enough - We’re not experienced enough - We’re just not enough. - We worry we won’t get the job. - We worry we will get the job. - We worry we won’t be able to perform the tasks we have been ask to do, whether it is on the job, at home or in church - We worry about finances 4 - We worry about our parents - We worry about our children - We worry about our grandchildren - We worry about our health

But in Matt 6:25, Jesus said don’t worry about your life, why, because in verse 32 He goes on to say the Father knows what you need.

Now is there anyone here who believes that God our Father would know what we need and not give it to us? Paul answers that question in Phil 4:19 when he said, My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That word shall is definitive, not maybe, but will.

Because we serve a God that owns the cattle on a thousand hills, everything is His and He made everything, there is nothing you need that God cannot provide.

Now don’t confuse your wants with your needs. Back in Matt 6, Jesus is talking about our need of food, clothing and shelter and that God will provide those things.

So how many of you are lacking in any of those categories. If you are come see me and we’ll find some help. Because God, in His generosity and love for us has supplied much more than we need, He has supplied things I didn’t even know I wanted.

He has supplied things I didn’t realize I needed until Satan came to try to steal it away, like...

love

and peace

and forgiveness,

and friendship

and companionship

and joy

and patience

and kindness

and steadfast faith

and gifts of administration

and leadership

and Holy Ghost boldness when necessary.

I’m sure if you thought about it, there are things God has provided you with you didn’t even know you needed.

He gives us what we need to run the race He has set before us, God said I got this and I got you. He’s got the whole world in His hand, so don’t worry, be happy.

The second major category is guilt.

Guilt about our children and the choices they make, especially when they're not good choices

Guilt about the things we didn’t do we thought we should’ve done.

Guilt about the things we did do that we should not have done.

Guilt about not being the wife or husband we think we should be

Guilt about not being the provider we think we should be

Guilt about our current relationship and what we are or are not doing for it to be satisfying for the both people

Guilt about the relationships that didn’t work out.

Guilt about eating the whole cake, or whole package of cookies, or whole quart of ice cream to try to make ourselves feel better.

Then we have guilt about the weight we put on because we tried to comfort ourselves with the cake, the cookies and the ice cream.

Guilt about drinking, drugs or other behavior that harms our bodies.

And oh by the way, did you know that your body is the temple of God? It doesn’t belong to you to use and abuse anyway you feel like. We are to take care of our temples and let them be a place where the Holy Spirit can dwell, because He, the Holy Spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple.

Guilt is the barrier Satan uses to stop you from being who God said you are, to make you believe you’re not good enough to lead that group, sing that song, get that job, or be blessed with a good man or woman. Guilt makes you feel inadequate and undeserving of God’s blessings.

So many times, you punish yourself more than anyone else ever could or would, but especially more than God, if you repent.

Now let’s stop right there for just a moment, I said if you repent, because only when you confess and repent of your sin, will God forgive your sin.

Confessing your wrongdoing says you acknowledge that you know it was wrong and you won't do that anymore. Repentance without change is not repentance at all, because to repent is to turn away from.

When you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive your sins. Once He has forgiven you, He remembers it no more, but you know who does.?

First you do. When you can’t forgive yourself, you can’t move on, you can’t walk in the newness of life.

But trust me, when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior and discover what He has for you, you have a new life, regardless of what was in your past, (if any man (or woman) be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away and behold all things are become new).

Because my God is

a healer,

a reconciler,

a deliverer,

a father,

a mother,

a doctor

and a lawyer,

God said I Am that I Am. Whatever you find yourself in need of, God is.

Who else remembers your sin? You all have someone that refuses to let you live in the newness of life God has given you, they haven’t moved on so they refuse to allow you to, or they can try.

Those are the people you have to let go of on your journey, the ones who must fall to the wayside; because not everyone can go on the journey God has for you.

If you have to continually explain your vision or continually convince someone about your goal, that’s not the person to help you reach your goal.

If you desire to go back to school to get a degree and you share that with someone and their response is, “What you wanna do that for, you a’right like you are!” keep it moving, that’s not your person.

If the Lord is leading you back to school and I don’t care how old you are, I helped a woman with her dissertation and she was in her 80s, you get the support of someone who says, girl that’s wonderful you can do this.

I had a friend working on her last paper for her Master’s degree and Satan was creating a lot of confusion in her mind to the point she called me and said girl I can’t do this, I’m done, I’m just not going to turn this project in.

My response was quitting is not an option, what’s the problem. After she talked it through, she finished the paper and received her degree.

Did I contribute anything to her paper? No.

Did I give her any new information? No.

Did I have in depth knowledge of what she was doing? No.

So how did I help her? I wouldn’t let her quit, I told her in no uncertain terms, quitting was not an option and I listened.

You don’t always have to have the answer, sometimes all you have to do is listen, sometimes you must be the barrier that stands between success and failure for someone else.

You need someone in your life that refuses to allow you to fail, that refuses to allow you to quit. And if per chance you can’t find that person here on earth, take a page from David when the people wanted to kill him after all of their families had been taken captive, and encourage yourself in the Lord.

Sometimes, you will have to encourage yourself and you’d better make deposits in your well of encouragement so when needed there will be something for you to draw out.

There will be things in your life that can cause you to feel guilty; stuff happens, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, confess your sin, repent, receive forgiveness and move on. Ladies, you have got to keep it moving.

And lastly, the third major category is fear.

We fear the unknown.

We fear what others think of us.

We fear we will never be accepted.

We fear others will see who we really are, the person we try so desperately to hide.

We fear others will never really see us, the person we actually are.

We fear loneliness

We fear we won’t ever find a husband or wife.

And for those with spouses - We fear they won’t love us anymore.

We fear they will find someone else because we are so insecure.

Some women fear submitting to their husbands as God has told them to because they fear their husbands will abuse or misuse that power or them.

So in all of our worry, guilt and fear let’s look at the truth. Turn with me to Isaiah 41:9-10 and reading from the NIV it says – “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I need to read that again because this was written to the children of Israel in the Old Testament, to the seed of Abraham and it applies to us today because through adoption and by the blood of Jesus we are the seed Abraham.

God is speaking in this passage of Scripture and He said, “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah penned this passage for the consolation of all God's faithful worshippers; as encouragement to trust in God. He is encouraging his faithful ones to trust in him, with the assurance that he will make you victorious, and bring about a happy change in your life.

When you walk with the Lord, there will be a change in your life. You will be able to keep it moving through the trials and tribulations that will come your way. That is a guarantee, but the comfort is in knowing God is there to carry you through whatever trial or tribulation comes and Paul told us in Romans 5 they will come, but they come to make us strong.

It was written to his servant, whom he owns, protects, and employs, and in whom he is and will be glorified. God owns us; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

He protects us. In John 17:12 Jesus is praying to the Father and says He kept all those God gave Him and not one is lost. God’s protection surrounds us and keeps us from dangers seen and unseen.

There are things we don’t experience because the hand of God is on our lives and when troubles come God steps in, He’s a barrier for us.

Then He employs us, God puts us to work, not for money, fortune or fame, but for His glory, that men may see your good works and glorify the Father which is heaven.

Just as there is a God in heaven, so there is a church on earth that is in his particular care, and you are that church. How many of you know the church is not the building we go to on Sundays, it is each and every one of you.

You are the church that is in His care, that He owns, protects and employs and you are the church that will bring Him glory.

Is your life bringing glory to God or are you allowing barriers to keep you from doing that. How about the words you speak and the places you go or the things you watch on TV.

Pornography has typically been associated with men, but it’s an issue for women now too. 9.4 million women access adult web sites each month.

There was a commercial on TV talking about watching it in the privacy of your own home and how it’s ok. But can I tell you something? We are never alone.

God promised never to leave us nor forsake us. So be careful what you allow into your eye gates.

In these two verses of Isaiah, there are so many things to note. First God refers to Himself nine times with I or my concerning who He is to us.

The number nine represents Fruit of the spirit and divine completeness from the Father. We know there are nine elements in the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

Then he refers to us ten times concerning who we are to Him and what He will do for us. The number ten represents testimony; law and responsibility.

So these two verses are about God’s divine completeness and our testimony and responsibility.

God went to the ends of the earth and took you. How many people would go to the ends of the earth for you?

Being in sin is like being at the end of the earth because God cannot deal with you while you are in sin.

When Jesus was on the cross and the sin of man was upon Him, God had to turn his face from his only begotten son, and when God turned His face, darkness came over the earth in the middle of the day.

The same happens in our lives when we are in sin, God has to turn his face from us then darkness descends in our lives, problems come, death comes, troubles come, but God went to get you, He didn’t leave you where you were.

So praise God, he didn’t just go to the ends of the earth to find you but He went there and He took you. He took you out of the foulness that you were in, and trust me sin is foul no matter what form it’s in.

There is no big sin or little sin, it’s not cute, it’s not funny and the penalty for all sin is death. That is what God took you from, anybody want to say thank you.

Then He said He went to its farthest corners to call you. God called you for a purpose, it wasn’t just a, “hey how you doin’” kind of call.

He called you His servant meaning there is service or work for you to do. Now what kind of service did He call you for? You will have to figure that out with God.

There are spiritual gift assessments available to help you figure out what your spiritual gifts are.

So God called you for a purpose, He did not reject you. How many have been rejected at some point in their lives? I dare say everyone.

God said He did not reject you, so does anyone else matter? God holds your life, your future and your eternity, so really, does anyone else matter?

Not only did he go to the end of the earth for you, not only did he take you, call you and did not reject you, He says, “don’t fear.” Why not?

Because, “He is with you” and if God be for you, who can be against you? He didn’t put you someplace and leave you on your own. He is with you carrying you through your trial, your tribulation, your circumstance, your heartache, your sickness, your pain.

He didn’t stop there. Then he said don’t be dismayed, some other words for dismayed are discouraged, disheartened, downcast, depressed, distressed or intimidated.

Don’t let your circumstance take you to those places of despair, why? Well if you didn’t get excited about God coming to get you, or Him calling you, or Him telling you not to fear or Him being with you, then maybe this will do it for you.

Don’t get dismayed because God said; not LaSonja, because LaSonja can let you down, LaSonja could not show up on time, LaSonja can get busy with her own life and for just a little while forget about you, but God said don’t be dismayed, (discouraged, disheartened, downcast, depressed, distressed or intimidated) because I will strengthen you.

That is strength to make it through to the other side.

Just keep moving,

keep singing,

keep walking,

keep running,

keep striving,

keep pushing,

keep praising,

God is giving you strength, so don’t sit down, don’t you stop.

Keep coming to church,

keep in touch with the saints of God,

keep praying,

keep reading your Bible, (even if you don’t understand what it says),

keep meditating on His Word day and night,

keep believing God is who He says He is, that He will do what He says He will do and that He loves you so much He gave His only begotten Son just for you.

What’s that? You say you’ve tried and it doesn’t work. Well, not only is he strengthening you, God said he will help you.

David knew this well when over in the 121st division of Psalms he said all of my help comes from the Lord.

When God says He will help you, you can walk in that, you can rest in that, you can stand on that and you can be sure He will do just that.

Not only will God strengthen you, he won’t just help you, no He didn’t stop there, then He said I will uphold you.

That means he will sustain and maintain you. He’s got keeping power y’all. Who wants to be a kept woman? Who wants to be a kept man? That should be everybody when the keeper is God.

And he doesn’t just uphold you any old kind of way he upholds you with his righteous right hand. What's so special about God's right hand? I'm so glad you asked.

God dispenses rewards and punishment with His right hand, He does mighty things with his right hand, his right hand represents power. So while we allow so many things to create barriers for us; if we truly look at who God has called us to be and what He has called us to do, we would find that it’s really not about us at all.

First, we were made to worship God. 1 Chron 16:29 “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”

So we were made to worship the all-powerful, all knowing, all loving God who is everywhere, in everything at all times.

The God who had a plan for you from the beginning of time,

the God who went to the ends of the earth to find you,

the One who knew you were no accident, no matter how you got here.

What do you have to offer, you ask, just all that you are and all that you have.

Second, God has called you to obedience. Isaiah told Solomon, obedience is better than sacrifice when he failed to follow the instructions he had been given. It’s better to do it right the first time than to have to try and fix it later.

It’s better to pray first and ask God what you're supposed to do, who you're supposed to marry, where you're supposed to live and work and if you should make whatever major purchase you are contemplating.

Instead, we make our plans, we do our thing, then ask God to either bless the mess or get us out of the bad situation, we put ourselves in.

How many of you have ever told your children, just slow down and do it right the first time, then you won’t have to go back and do it again. Well, God is saying to us, just slow down and do it right the first time, ask Me before you make your plan.

Assembly line companies spend a lot of money to keep from doing things over, so much so some give employee incentives for not having rejects. God does not want to reject us, He does not want to reject what we do, but what we do must come from a place of obedience to God’s instructions and not an expectation for God to bless the mess we make.

Third, because of your obedience, God said some things about you back in the Old Testament. He said,

you are the head and not the tail,

you are above and not beneath,

you are the lender and not the borrower,

you are blessed going and coming,

in fact, He will bless everything you put your hands to do.

These are just a few of the promises. So what barriers are you allowing to block your way, what are you allowing to hinder your progress? What has God called you to do and you keep making excuses for why it’s not being done?

I’ve heard an acronym for fear that says fear is false evidence appearing to be real. But we know things are not always as they appear.

You all have seen magicians with their magic tricks trying to make you believe they really sawed the woman in half. But we know better, no matter how real it may seem it is false evidence appearing to be real.

These barriers of worry, guilt and fear are not who we are as Christians and that is not how we should operate. You don't have to walk around wondering when the other shoe is going to drop or when the next bad thing is going to happen or what you will mess up next, because God’s Word says in Phil 4:13 I can do things through Christ who strengthens me.

There’s that word again, strengthen. You don’t have to be the strong one, we put so much on ourselves that we can’t see our way to tomorrow, we can’t move or breathe trying to handle everything on our own but in Isaiah, God said He would strengthen us, then Paul said it of Jesus over in Philippians. Jesus also told us to take his yoke upon us and learn about him, for his yoke is easy and his burdens are light. He has big shoulders let him have it, let it go and keep moving.

So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to replace some things. Instead of worry we’re going to worship.

We’re going to - Worship God for who He is

Worship Him for the great things He has done

Worship Him for the many blessings He’s given in your life

Worship Him for the things He’s brought you through

Worship Him for your salvation

Worship Him for life, health and strength

Worship Him because He woke you up this morning

Worship Him because you have the activity of your limbs

Worship Him because someone loves you

Worship Him because you are here this morning, because there were some who wanted to be here but couldn’t.

Then, we’re going to replace guilt with gratefulness. We’re going to -

Be grateful for the person in your life that stands by you.

Be grateful for the car you drive.

Be grateful for your job, the one you have now or the one you are about to get.

Be grateful you are alive.

For the married folks, you’re going to be grateful your husband or wife is a man or woman of God (even if you don’t see it right now, praise God in advance and thank Him). Believe in your heart; speak that thing into the atmosphere and watch God work.

You want God to answer your prayers? Pray His Word and His Word says He desires that all be saved and none lost.

Is your husband or wife part of all, then be grateful to God for your saved husband or wife.

For the singles who have never been married, are divorced or widowed and want to be married, be grateful for your saved husband or wife who is on the way.

Be grateful you have a home to live in, food to eat and clothes to wear.

Be grateful for victories, big and small.

Be grateful for Christian leaders God has placed in your life who have a heart for the people they come in contact with, an ear to hear, a mind to minister and the boldness to put into action.

Let me tell you, just in case you don’t know, leading is a hard thing, because there is always someone who thinks they are more anointed than you, better than you and would do it different than you, but they are not the ones God called for the task.

And if God did not call you for that task, I don’t care how much knowledge you think you have, you will not have the same impact as the one God called to the task. So praise God for those with the stamina and willingness to be owned and used by God.

And lastly, we’re going to replace fear with faith. Not only are a going to have faith, we are going to exercise our faith. That means we are going to move or act on it.

Faith to move when no one around you wants to move.

Faith to walk in the vocation to which you were called.

Faith to return to school to better prepare yourself to do what God has called you to do. Let me stop here for a moment, God does prepare those whom He calls, but sometimes that preparation includes you doing something, like going to school, or taking other types of classes, study to show thyself approved. And not just studying but also taking a test.

There is always a test and when you pass, it’s called a testimony. Your preparation includes prayer and meditation. Pray without ceasing and meditate day and night.

We’re going to have

Faith to know that when God says something we will stand,

when nothing is going right, stand

when your friends and loved ones turn their back on you, stand

when you have no money in the bank and bills are due, stand

when you’re too exhausted to stand take your sister’s hand and know that she will help you and stand with you.

But more importantly, God is there to help you and strengthen you to stand. After you’ve done all you can, you just stand

Barriers to belief, what barriers? We’ve just replaced our barriers with blocks to help us reach our goals, to be the person God called us to be, to leave those things and people behind who can’t see the vision, who would strive to bring us down.

Blocks to take us to the next level of our journey and we will worship, be grateful and have faith that God will be with us all the way, because God said, “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you.

I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

If you’re ready to see these things happen in your life I invite you to come now and give your life to Jesus, the One who makes all things possible, the one who gave His life so you might have life more abundantly and everlasting. Perhaps you’ve already made that decision and just need a place to work out your own salvation we invite you to join us here at Love Christian Center. Rededication