Born to Taste the Grapes – Pt. 2

Date: 9-03-06 - PPHC  - Born to Taste the Grapes Series

Jer. 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Deut. 28:12-13  “The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens to bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God and carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always have the upper hand.”

I. The Gates of Access

A. The Gate of Obedience

  1. Deut. 28:13 “…If you listen to these commands…and carefully obey them …”

   a. Simply means doing what He has already instructed you to do.

   b. Living up to a knowledge you have already received.

·          Illustration: My first model car (Willis Jeep – I didn’t bother reading instruct.)

  2. Abraham knew little of God, but the little that he knew of Him, he obeyed.

   a. Lived 75 yrs in Ur; Idolatry; served Babylonian moon god, Sin – But God spoke to him…

   b. He became known as the friend of God; the Father of our faith.

  3. If God has been speaking to you about doing something, do it. Don’t negotiate!

   a. If God is drawing you, speaking to you and dealing w/you, obey Him.

   b. If you step through the gate of obedience, all of heaven will open for you.

   c. Jn. 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it

shall be done unto you.” (i.e. Christ; healed, multiplied resources, financial needs supplied)

B. The Gate of Knowledge

• The old adage: “What you don’t know won’t hurt you…” – is not Scriptural.

  1. Hos. 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”

   a. What we don’t know can destroy us!!

  2. Information is God’s business.  

   a. All of heaven is involved in distributing information:

    1. Angels, Bible (information manual…a “Winner’s Digest”) about God (power, nature, his

thoughts); the enemy: satan, angels, demonic spirits, etc.

·          2 Cor 2:11 – “we are not ignorant of his devices.” – Before battle, a soldier is schooled in the weaponry and tactics of the enemy” – Heartbreak Ridge – “The AK-47, the preferred weapon of the enemy.”

  3. You have a right to the Blessings of God.

   a. You are; a child of God, an heir of God, a joint-heir with Jesus; He is your elder brother.

   b. You have a right to enter into the Holy of Holies (we have been granted access by God)

   c. You have a Great High Priest…an Intercessor Who stands by the throne of God.

·          But you cannot lay hold of the grace and blessings of God unless you FIRST have knowledge of what He has provided for you.

    1. Illustration: Jeana & I paid a higher tax for years until someone told us about a certain tax break that was on the books. But we had to request it! Once we requested it, we received its benefit: lower taxes!

• “Your faith level will never exceed your knowledge level.”

  4. Do you have a knowledge of the grapes God has provided?

   a. Find out what the Scriptures teach; know about the grapes you are reaching for.

·         A lot of people do not have because they do not even know the grapes exist. You were born to taste the grapes, and you need to have the knowledge that God did make them available and accessible to you. 

 C. The Gate of Visualization

  1. You must start visualizing the grapes (blessings/provisions) before you.

• If you cannot see the grapes in your mind, you will not see them in time.

   a. Your mind is a force that affects every thing else in your life.

    1. The renewing of the mind is the secret of transformation. (Rom. 12:2)

     a. Transforming – metamorpho’o - to change into another form

     b. “Renewing the mind” – kainos – denotes the newness / freshness in quality.

  2. The woman with the issue of blood – 12 years.

   a. "If I can but touch the hem of his garment, I know I will be healed."

    1. I believe she visualized it... it happened in her mind before it happened in her body!

  3. Visualize the grapes before you; see yourself tasting the grapes; see the victory!

·          Some of us have never seen ourselves victorious as God see us!

 Illustration: My wife, Jeana, used to work at McLeod Hospital. Adjacent to the hospital was the Merita Bread Co. Early in the morning fresh bread was baked in their ovens and put on trucks for distribution to the local supermarkets.  When you smell that fresh bread cooking in the morning, it made your mouth water and your stomach scream. As I smelled it, I would start visualizing the yeast rolls at Quincy's or Ryan's. It was only a short time after that, that I would find myself somehow conveyed across city blocks, seated at Quincy's with a yeast role, caked with honey butter in hand.

Ask the question: "Where does God want me to be?"

• Visualize where God wants you to be, and then act as if you are already there!
• We must quit talking like beggars if we're on the road to the palace!!

  4. Jesus visualized himself in victory.

   a. Heb. 12:2 - "... for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross."

   b. He endured present suffering for future joy; his mind was picturing victory!

   c. "When Jesus walked to Calvary, he was not looking at the cross; he was looking at the resurrection!"

  5. Is there a habit or an area of your life that you long to be victorious in; don't concentrate on the habit; concentrate on the victory.

   a. This is called the law of displacement.

    1. It means that you replace evil by the entrance of good.

Illustration: You don't go into a building and suggest to the darkness, "Would you mind leaving, because if you leave we can have light?" No...we bring in light, and the entrance of light forces the exit of darkness.

Conclusion: some people spend their lives saying, "Oh, I wish I could quit thinking bad thoughts.” You can only move away from a bad thought by deliberately moving toward a good one. You'll never stopped thinking bad thoughts, you'll never stopped thinking doubt, until you start thinking straight and you start seeing yourself victorious. That picture drives out evil.