Rising From the Fall

For those of you who have done any kind of traveling in mountain areas, you know that the scenery is beautiful. On one side, you have the rugged mountains and on the other side you have the forest, lakes, or even rivers. It’s a very beautiful road to travel. But then this same road can become very treacherous. It is full of twist and turns and bumps and at some point, it gets very hard to navigate. There are signs that are put up to help you to navigate through the turns and twist because one wrong move and ignoring the signs can lead to tragic consequences or you could lose your life.

Life is like this road. It is full of twist and turns and most of the time, you can’t even see what’s coming around the bend and it becomes difficult to navigate through it. But for the Christian, what God has on this route of life are signs posted. These are posted for us to navigate this thing called life successfully. But the question that I have is why are there so many stalled and fallen vehicles on this road of life?

Why do we have so many people not able to move forward and rise from their fall?

Why do we look over the cliff and find so many have gone and fallen over and can’t get up?

And then the question becomes even more intriguing to why so many of these people are Christians? Why are Christians unable to navigate through the problems of life with all the signs and answers are before them?

Even though we believe in a God, we won’t rest in. Resting in Him is how we are to rise from the fall.

Background/Body:

Preacher you say rest in the Lord but what does this word rest mean? In our passage, David said to “Rest in the Lord”. Now when we see this word “rest”, the first thing that comes to our mind is sleep. As a matter of fact, when all of us got up this morning the first thing we wanted to do was get back in the bed and get some more sleep! But this word rest in our passage is more significant. The Hebrew word for rest is damam (daw-man), meaning to cease thy self. Cease means to silence, to take away, or come to an end. When looking at the word rest even closer, we see that rest is used as a verb-a word of action. This indicates that there is an action that has to take place in us and by us before God will act on our behalf.

Taking an even closer look, we can also see that the word “rest” works in 3 dimensions:

A. To be Silent- this means that you have to cease (release your control and let God take control) yourself before God, so He can council you in the mist of your fall. You cannot hear God speak, if you are trying to talk when He is talking (i.e. barbershop having TV and radio playing at the same time). This is one of the reasons why we can't ever hear Him. That is why we have to silence ourselves. But I like the way that the Hebrew translation puts it to cease thy self! By ceasing, you are digressing so God can increase. It’s no longer your will but God’s perfect will. You can miss out on the answer He has for you if you are always talking and never listening.

B. To Submit- now the problem with us with being submissive is that we like to be in control, therefore to relinquish our control is to be overruled. We want things to go the way we want them to go. When you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you submitted to His rule and to now deny that very rule is for you to go through the unnecessary problems of this life and remain fallen. Your submission is your spiritual and willing dedication to the Father to be under His rule, His protection, His law, His commandment, His blessing, His grace and mercy (that we all need) and His love; it’s His way or the high way.

Illustration :

When you were younger you lived with your parent and you decided that since you think you're grown you want to move out and get your own place (Not because you had to, but you wanted to). You get your own place and get the big chest yeah, I’m grown now; I ain’t never going back home! Everything is going good but then life happens; it hits you hard. So, you have to go back home but when you go back home you have to fall back under the submission of your parent’s rules because this is their house, and what they say goes. You just prove to yourself that you couldn’t make it out there on your own. So now you have to abide by their rules, their commandments or else deal with the consequences that follow. It doesn’t matter how grown you are; this is your parent’s kingdom; this is God’s kingdom and you have to abide by His statues. says:

“Therefore submit to God. Why submit? To Resist the devil so he will flee from you.” But why? Because in verse 6 “He will give grace to those who humble themselves.” Because if you humble (submit) yourself to God, verse 10 “He will lift you up.”

Meaning that in the time when you begin to fall weak He will strengthen you and keep you from falling. When we no longer want to be under the law of our parents or God we leave but not with their blessing. We don’t tell our parent that we are moving out, we just gradually move all of our things out their house. Especially if it's with some gal you just met; something that we ain't got no business doing. And it’s the same thing we do with God, we decide that we want to do something-that we have no business doing, but we don’t confide in God about it. We just gradually move in and do it and then when we get into a tight jam we call on Him to get us out! God is not a ride or die buddy that you call every time life beats down on you and you had no business doing what you did in the first place. He is a God that if we had confided in Him first we never would have been in the situation to begin with. Submitting is being under His rule all of the time and not just when you want to be.

C. To Trust- One thing about trust, it is something that we give away way too easily; especially to those who don’t deserve it. We put our trust in people who mean us no earthly good and we put our trust in things and possessions that will one day fail us and never live up to its guarantee.

Illustration :

I was out one day and this woman was on her phone and she was just bragging at how her phone is like her personal assistant it just does everything until she needed it to do something and it wouldn’t do it (android users). Then she drops and cracks the phone and had to get it replaced and she couldn't get her contact, photos, music or appointments back because she didn’t have them backed up.

Now let me tell you about trust, trust is being in a situation and no matter what has happen and no matter what is going on you know that someone has your back and it is backed with a guarantee. When your trust is in God, you know that no weapon formed against you will be able to prosper. If you ride out in righteousness, then God is rolling out with you.

says, “Blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, and has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”

But see not only do you have to trust God, He also has to be able to trust you. You can’t expect for Him to do His part, if you are not willing to do yours. How can you expect for water to boil in the pot if you don’t turn on the eye on the stove? The water can’t do what’s intended if you don’t do your part.

Every miracle in the Bible was performed by the participation of the person receiving the deliverance. They had to trust in the One who made the miracles possible.

says, “He will not forsake those who trust in Him.”

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In our scripture, , it says, “I will look unto the Lord”, and the second part of this says “I will wait for the God of my salvation.”

Micah tells Israel to wait on God. But we don’t want to wait. We want what we want when we want it! We just feel that God takes too long to do what we want Him to do. We feel that there is a quicker way to get what we want. There may be a quicker way……………………

But at what cost? I have seen this situation so many time before and it always has to do with money.

If money is what you desire and what you say you need, the Bible that I read says, “That money is the root to all kinds of evil.” It is not saying that money is bad, but it depends on your intentions and if you have a selfish agenda for it. You will be even willing to sell or give up something that is not yours to give; your soul. It is not yours to give, but it is yours to send into eternal damnation. Selling your soul is ignoring self-value and knowing what you are doing is wrong. It is against everything we belief in to let money have the control that it has over us. Realistically, we all have done it! We slept around for money, lied for money, stole to get money, we receive something for free or pay little to nothing for it and turn around and sell it to somebody in hopes of making a bigger profit. Betray, back-stab, manipulate, cheat, and swindle all for the love of money. If you ever want to see family or a friendship be torn apart, make money the factor and see what happens. Situations become a whole lot different when money is involved. But “wherever your treasure is () there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Another example, you may not sell your soul for money, but you will mismanage it. You want God to bless you with more money but you are not even a good steward of the little that He has allowed you to have now. A lot of us make enough money but we just mismanage what we are given. A lot of us are in financial disarray because we have mismanaged our finances and we want God to get us out of it. You want God to bless you with a new car but nothing is wrong with the car you have and you can’t even pay the car note on the car you have! You want a man or a woman in your life so you can be happy and feel complete, but you aren’t even happy with yourself. When looking at all this that has been said, there still lies another part of waiting patiently in the Lord, and it is being content in our situations and circumstances.

Having more money is not going to bring you out of the hole, because we have the mentality that the more money we make or possess the more we have to spend. We haven't learned how to be content with what we have! The Philippians was supporting Paul in his missionary journey and they were sending money and other things and Paul tells them thank you but I was never in need, for he waited and allowed God to provide for his needs. says:

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” Why? Because, “I can do all things (not some things, but all things) through Christ who strengthens me!"

But look what he says in :

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition (eternal punishment). (Here the verse is again) 10 For the love of money is a root (hold, source) of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

There was this quote by Jim Carry, “I wish that everyone could be rich, just so they can see that money doesn’t bring happiness.”

God has promised us that if we trust in Him and wait for Him to act on our behalf that He will do what He has promised.

You say well preacher, you told us why we should rest in God and why we should wait patiently when we fall, but how can we rest in Him and wait for Him and receive deliverance from the fall?

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4 Points (Trust in the Lord, Declare Deliverance, Confess and Repent, Commit yourself to God)

1. Trust in the Lord ()- How can you follow if you don’t trust. Trusting is choosing and letting God be your first choice in your time of need. Not your second, not your third, not when you feel like it, but He has to be your first line of defense. When you look back at your past situations, maybe even some current ones now, you turned to everything and everyone else and look at the mess you have made and how far that has taken you! As Christians, our resolve has become so worldly that we rather turn to other resources instead of the Source to solve life’s problems. Where ever or whoever you turn to first that’s where your faith and trust lie. Don’t let Him be your last choice. We run and turn to man and when the Bible tells us that man will fail us, but God is our help in our present time of trouble, we should run to Him who is able to keep us from falling. I like the way says it, “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar,” What does this mean? Go to God first, then man, and if man isn’t saying what He’s saying then man is wrong. But what we have done now is that we have called man the truth and God a liar. You say that you believe in Him and will walk in His ways but let me see what this person has to say first. Okay preacher I hear ya but how do I trust in the Lord?

says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.”

You have to trust the Lord with all your heart. That means that everything that is in you, you trust Him with it. Everything that you hold dear you trust Him with it. But how do I know that I am trusting and having faith in the Lord? Simple, because you're not leaning to your own understanding. You're not trusting in your own intellect but you're leaning to God’s wisdom. Then in all that you do, you will let Him be a part of it and God will make your path successful.

The second thing about faith is, if the Lord has told you to do something or He has told you that He will do it, then believe in Him.

says Trust in the Lord and He shall bring it to pass."

When you go for a job interview the one thing that you give them is your resume. This is a physical document that reassures the company that you have the qualifications to do the job. The Bible is God resume, and if you would take the time to read it you will see that He is more than qualified to fill the position.

Trust in His word, for He is not slack in His promises. You cannot turn and do your own thing when God has told you to do His thing. He has already given you instruction on what to do, so do it!

say, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.”

God is so faithful to us, but we are so faithless in Him. Think about the many time He has brought you out of your situations, how He saved and spared your life. Look at how we keep getting ourselves in trouble and we call out His name to get us out and He delivers us out of our troubles.

In He says, “So shall My word go forth from My mouth; But it shall not return to Me void, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

God has already spoken life to your situation. He already knows the end result. You may be going through what you are going through, but He said in verse 12 that you will live in joy and there will be peace!

The third thing about faith is, someone that doesn’t have the same faith as you cannot and will not understand the path that God has for you. See God is trying to do something different in you for His purpose. God tells you to step out and start your own business and you do it, people are not going understand because the faith that they have will not allow them to conceive how and what God is doing in your life for His purpose. See people only see in the moment, but don’t see what your situation will become. God is taking you a step further in your faith because there are going to be other obstacles in which your new faith in Christ can get you out of.

When it comes to having faith in God you can’t expect other people to understand your faith in God; they have to seek God for themselves.

says:

“Be honest in the evaluation of yourselves by the faith that God has given us.”

Trusting is waiting. says:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Verse 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing.”

Without the fall, we can never know and discover the depth of our character and our faith. But by enduring the trials and the falls, and the problems we will become complete and without lack.

2. Declare your deliverance ()- You declaring your deliverance is making a declaration and once you make that declaration you have to stand by it. In declaring your deliverance, you cannot be double-minded; Knowing in one moment and doubting and thinking the next.

That is why we must,

“But he must ask in faith without doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways ()."

Declaring your deliverance is knowing who and who’s you are. I’m not just Robert and Shirley child, but I’m God’s child.

I don’t believe in , , the is my light and my strength of whom should be afraid. I don’t believe that, I know! “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering the sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

See you have to know, that you know, that you know, that you know, that God is my salvation, that God is my strengthen and my deliverance. I know that He is my help in my time of need!

3. Confess and Repent ()- Confessing means that you have recognized the error of your ways and you make know to Christ of your transgressions. Confession is not a mouth thing, it’s a heart thing. For whatever proceeds out of the mouth comes from the heart (). I believe that when we get to Heaven and we have to give an account of what we have done on earth. When we stand before God, our spiritual bodies will be before Him, and we won’t have to say a word, our hearts will do all the talking. And when God tells you to give an account and when your mouth opens He will say not you, but your heart. Confession is the hearts song for redemption and transformation. Confession like people that attend AA meeting. You first give your name and you admit that you are an alcoholic. Confession your sin: “Lord this is Lorenzo I am unworthy of your forgiveness. But I have sinned against thee. I am a liar, and adulterer, I am a murderer, fornicator, thief, I have evil thoughts of suicide. Oh, God I am undone, but I come to ask you to forgive me. Cleanse me of my manifold sins for I know now that you are the only one who can.” says, “9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us (our hearts and minds) from all wickedness. says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes their sins will have mercy.” We may believe that we are unworthy of His mercy but he knows that we are worth it. He would not have sent His Son to be the propitiation (covering), the atonement for our sins.

4. Commit yourself to the Lord ()- You might be saying now earlier you said we have to submit to the Lord and now your saying commit; aren’t they the same thing? The answer is no! When you submit, you are coming under and embracing the rule of God over your life. But now you’re committing to His agenda. We commit ourselves to everything else and everyone else but not to God. We feel that the Lord will always be there and I can go to Him anytime I get ready (His grace will not always abide with man). But some look at life like it is a once in a lifetime party, but you will not always have a chance to know God then as you can know Him now. We have to stop committing to the wrong thing and commit to what God’s will is for our lives. says:

"Commit your actions to the Lord, and yours plans will succeed."

I had a friend or a little brother as I would like to call him.

This guy was super-talented. He was great at football, baseball, basketball, track he was smart; he was five-fold talented. Now he would be at my parent’s house more than he would be at his own. This was everyday 24/7 even on holidays and leap years; he even came to church with us sometimes. It didn’t bother us because he was respectable, kind, and we welcomed him in our home. Now this happened over 15years ago. But the one thing that I didn’t know about him was the problems that he was facing when he would go home; the verbal abuse, the neglect, broken promises, the medaling, the teasing, by his own siblings, there were so many things that was going on, but he kept it to himself and had a smile on his face because around us he could be who he was without ridicule and persecution.

One day he called me and ask me where was I and I told him that I was out on the town and he said to call me when I got home, no matter the time. I told him that I would, but I never did because I was too busy committing myself to what I wanted to do. I kept hearing something to say call him but I didn't obey. The next day I kept getting phone calls from people asking me was this young man dead? I said no I just talked to him the night before and it hit me, “I didn’t call him when I got in.” I went to see what was going on. I get to his house and I asked for him and his family told me that he had killed himself.

We never know what a person is going through because we are too busy committing ourselves to things that we should never commit to.

See when we commit ourselves to the things that we believe to be important we miss out on the bigger picture. When we are not resting in the Lord we can't be in tuned to earthly affairs that need heavenly intervention. We miss out on that life that could have been saved. We miss out on the blessings. We miss out on family. We miss out on the good time and never there to help in the bad. We miss out on the love. We miss out on the Lord.

David says in verse 6 to commit our ways to God and He shall bring it to pass. What shall He bring to pass? Your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. But will you rest in Him?

When it gets hard, rest in Him.

When you weary, rest in Him.

When you fall, rest in Him.

When they forsake you, rest in Him.

Today while there’s life in your body, today while His grace is still with you, today will you rest in the and wait for the Lord?