The Gates of Access – Pt. 4

Date: 9/24/06 - 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.”

I. The Gate of Obedience

·         “Obtaining” the grapes of God's blessings is directly related to your obedience to him.

II. The Gate of Knowledge

·         You cannot lay hold of the blessings of God unless you first have knowledge of what he has provided for you.

III. The Gate of Visualization

·         Visualize where God wants you to be, and then conduct yourself as if you are already there!

IV. The Gate of Persistence

·         Not everyone will be excited about what God is birthing in you. Do not allow that to stop the dreams that God is birthing in and through you.

V. The Gate of Forgiveness

·         Illustration #1: Blood Clot In the Abdomen – True Story

Clot caused the blood flow to stop to the vital organs…the organs had already turned black…death occurred in less than 2 hours.

 A. Forgiveness Cannot Flow To You Until It Can Flow Through You.

  1. Forgiveness = "the transferal of the right to judge and penalize."

   a. Matt. 6:15 - "but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses."

  2. "Forgiveness is the removal of information and the pain of it."

   a. There can be no grapes of blessing until we “remember not the former things.” Is. 43:18

·         You will never experience the “new thing” that God desires to do in your present or is birthing in your future while your attention is on the things of the PAST.

   b. Remember = zawkar - to make a memorial or a monument out of something.

·         Illustration #2: Pet Rock

In April 1975, some men were in a barroom drinking, discussing their favorite pets. One said his favorite was a dog, another said a cat. While others mentioned birds or even finish, one guy, Gary Dahl, spoke up and said he had a pet... a pet rock!  He said animals made too much of a mess. He said it was cheap, had a great personality, and did not make a mess. So they all thought it was a hilarious idea... and wondered if they can market the item. So, he bought several loads of rock and printed out a “Pet Rock Training Manual” for each one sold. Within the manual, topics were covered such as, “how to have a happy relationship with your pet rock; how to make it roll over and play dead; and how to house-train your pet rock.” Others jumped on the bandwagon and offered “Pet Rock Burial at Sea Services” and “Pet Rock Obedience Lessons”. Laugh if you want, but Gary Dahl’s idea made him a millionaire in a very short time.

·         Quit petting that hurt and you will see that after a while it will fade with time.

VI. The Gate of Sowing

 A. You Cannot Have Grapes Until You Sow the Seed of Grapes. 

·         Principle: The blessing follows the blesser.

Illustration: in the early 1800s, John Chapman gathered apple seeds from the cider presses in Pennsylvania: he walked across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois sowing apple seeds, wearing shabby clothing and a tin pot for hat... a trail of apple trees followed him across the frontier. You have studied him in American history; he is none other than Johnny Appleseed.

  1. If we want to receive the blessings of God, we must stop focusing inwardly so much (what is in it for me), and start focusing on what we can become...a blesser!

   a. Eph. 6:8 "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord..." - context -- talking to a servant; though he may be bound, "do good, and you will be blessed."

   b. I must bless others if I want God to bless me.

   c. If I want something good to happen in my life, I must make something good happen for someone else.

·          Many times, we expect a harvest where nothing has been planted. Farmer waiting for the crop to come in.

  2. God didn't say that if you treated someone right that they would love you…

·         Biblical principle: Everything produces after its kind.

   a. i.e. - If you need healing, start praying for the healing of another.

·         Your contribution to others determines God's contribution to you.

B. Four Principles of Sowing and Reaping

  #1 - You reap WHAT you sow.

  #2 - You reap HOW you sow.

  #3 - You reap more than you sow

·         Illustration: on average, corn yields 185 kernels to every one kernel sown. On average, a farmer will so 20,000 kernels of corn per acre. His return will be 40,000 ears of corn per acre. That's 185% yield.

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

  #4 – You reap in a different season than you sow.

   a. Gal. 6:9 "and let us not be weary in well doing: four in due season we shall reap, if we faint not..."

VII. The Gate of Praise

A. The First To Go Into Battle Against the Enemy – Mandated by God

  1. Praise is the sound that makes hell sick…it unnerves demons.

  2. Whenever praise takes place, heaven stands at attention.

   a. “Let the redeemed of the Lord SAY so…” Ps. 107:2 – (awmar = to boast)

  3. Praise is an act of the will…not something that one must FEEL in order to act.

  4. You cannot praise SILENTLY !!!

   a. A recognition of something / someone that is expressed through sound!

   b. When you start praising God, something happens; something loosens.

  5. Praise lifts you up into the presence of God.

·         “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” – Ps. 22:3

·         inhabit – yashab – to sit down; praises – tehillah – the song

  6. God is a God of celebration …He is an EXPRESSIVE God.

·         God responds to praise, when you praise, it lifts you up into His presence.

·         Remember: #1 – The grapes are not for the holy, they are for the hungry.

·         #2 – The grapes are not placed in your mouth, but they are placed within your reach.