But It's a Good Stubborn

Hey I’m Pastor Jake Stewart, Lead Pastor of The Ark Christian Church

Coming to you from Beautiful Kaneohe Hawaii with the Koolau Mountain Range behind me.

2 pieces of Hawaii Trivia you might not have known:

We are the only state in the US that has an actual Royal Palace (because we were our own sovereign nation)

In Hawaii, this is called a Shaka & not “Hang Loose”

Isaiah 50:4 NKJV “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.

Here’s my prayer for me: That God would use my voice to speak a word in season to YOU if you are weary

Here’s my prayer for you: That God would awaken your spirit fresh today & awaken your ears to hear.

Isaiah 50:7 NKJV “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.

I want to encourage your heart with this verse for just a few short minutes!

By the end of our time in the word, my hope is that your are so strengthened by the joy of the Lord & the Hope of His word that you feel like a superhero!!!

Psalm 18:29 NKJV

29 For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.

Isaiah 50:7 NKJV “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.

The Lord Will Help Me!

Say this one out loud - The Lord Will Help Me!

Now say it with conviction, like you mean it!!!

If there is one thing Jesus knew for sure, He knew that the Lord God would help Him.

2 Chronicles 16:9a HCSB For the eyes of Yahweh roam throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His.

Is your heart completely His?

You can’t fake this one, God judges the heart!

If your heart is completely His (this doesn’t mean you do everything perfectly BTW)- then - God is looking to show Himself strong for you!!!

He will help you!

I Will Not be Disgraced!

Come on, let’s say it - “I will not be disgraced!”

When the Lord God shows up strong for you - you will not be disgraced!

Disgraced (def.) : Wounded, Taunted or Insulted - carries the connotation of being ashamed, confounded, confused & shamed.

But you will NOT be disgraced when the Lord God shows up for you!

Near-antonyms of disgraced: admired, appreciated, esteemed, regarded, awed, feared, reverenced, famed, gloried, renowned

Linguistically, the word Disgrace has 2 parts:

1) prefix- Dis

2) Grace

The prefix Dis means- “Apart”, “Asunder”, “Away”

In other words:

Disgrace = Apart from Grace!

Grace (def.) - 1) God’s divine ability 2) Unmerited Favor 3) The Divine impression upon the heart and its reflection in the life

When our heart is completely HIS, we will never be Apart from: God’s Divine Ability; Unmerited favor; or His Divine impression on our heart and its reflection in our life!

I Set my Face Like a Flint!

Flint is a really hard rock.

One passage in Ezekiel talks about something harder than flint - called Adamant Stone

If you’re anything like me - You’re like…Whaaaaa???? Adamantium? Wolverine was in the Bible?

Alright…enough of that MCU silliness

The Bible is telling us to be STUBBORN to trust God!

We shall have whatever we say!

Let’s hold on to Jesus tightly - no matter what is happening around us!

Hebrew 4:14 NKJV Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 10:35 NKJV Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Romans 8:38-39 NKJVFor I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Just One Thing:

Remember and say this often:

I am thoroughly convinced and I have made up my mind that: The Lord will Help me! My heart is completely His! I will not be disgraced! I will never be ashamed!