Put Your Baby in the Basket

Put Your Baby in the Basket - Letting God Have Control

Welcome

{A VOLUNTEER HANDS OUT SLIPS OF PAPER AND WRITING UTENCILS}

Could I say something for just a minute…

Let me just say this… I feel the led to say it… If you are experiencing a feeling of the Lord calling you, it’s time to pursue that.

God is placing callings of ministry on people in this church. And to kick against the pricks is to go the wrong direction.

First of all, you need to talk to your Pastor and tell him about it. Let the spiritual authority that God has placed in your life give you some guidance.

Text

Exodus 2:1–4 KJV 1900

And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

The Problem

We Have A Problem

We have a problem.

It’s a problem that every one of us are born with. Some of us deal with this problem a little more than others… but every one of us struggle with it.

We’ve got a problem… and it’s that we tend to be control freaks.

So let me ask this: have you ever been watching somebody do something - just as a bystander - and you just couldn’t resist stepping in to show them the right way to do it? Or, for that matter, has anyone done that to you???

I’ve been making a few trips to Texas lately for work. And each time I’ve went with different people that I work with, we’ve driven there and gotten rooms and stayed a few days. Both times, I’ve done the driving. So this week, I went with a couple of gentlemen. And we got going early in the morning. We hit the highway and were really covering ground.

And once we had gotten in to Texas and were facing some turns here and there we were going to have to make, I was focusing on where I was going, and one of these gentlemen, from the backseat, says, “You’ll want to make sure and use your turn signal, there.” And it wasn’t even time for it yet… It just kind of caught my attention.

A little further down the road, out came this: “You’re going to want to ride the white line over there, these people could side swipe you easily down here.” And, all of the sudden, I began to realize what kind of road trip this was going to be…

That evening, we were finished for the day and were going back to the room before dinner. I had asked a local what the best place to eat was. He said, “Spanky’s BBQ, for sure.” And I had heard of it before. So we got together to decide where to eat dinner. And I mentioned it. And, I do not lie to you, his words were: “Yeahhh… I’m not so sure that Spanky’s online reviews are truthful. I read restaurant reviews a lot.” And in my mind, I thought, Well praise the Lord! I was not aware that we had a cuisine expert from Food Network on hand!

The guy just had to be in control of things!

And often, this is actually us. We have to have complete control and action in every single detail of our lives. And things have to go the way WE want it to.

The common thought in humanity is that, “I’m going to do things MY way!” And that might mean that it will involve going against nature as God created it. It might mean going against the structure of things that God has placed in order - I mean, male and female He created them, in His image, for His glory. That there is one God, and He wants us to follow Him, and the fact that you need a Pastor in your life, and that you don’t have to live in sin - you can get victory over it! These are things that humanity tends to turn away from...

But we want to take control and be in control at all times. It has to go the way WE think it should. Our finances. Our career. Our week. Our church service.

And if we are not in control of something, that means that we are unsure of what the result is going to be. We begin to have anxiety about all of the outcomes and how bad they might be, because we are not in control of it.

It’s much like the pitcher in a baseball game. When that manager makes that long trot out to the mound to take the baseball from his hand, and he places it in the hands of the next pitcher. Oh, you knew how you were going to throw to that next guy to save the game. And this other one that you just handed the game over to, you don’t know how he’s going to do. You don’t know what he’s thinking… You may have thought that the curveball was the perfect pitch to throw… and this guy might think it’s the fastball!

We want to take control, because “our way is better!” And truthfully, the further we go down this road of “my way” - it runs right into the road of rebelliousness.

Jonah

Lot’s wife

Pharaoh could have had another fishing day with his boy if it were not for his decision that “I WILL STAY IN CONTROL.”

Oh yes, there are areas of our lives that we don’t let God have. Dry places that the Spirit has not touched… for whatever reason, they are under lock and key

The Way Of Faith

But what I would like to present to you today is that THERE IS ANOTHER WAY TO LIVE. And it involves the decision and the commitment that “I AM NOT THE LORD OF MY LIFE!”

And “I AM NOT IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF THINGS!”

I’ve come to minister to somebody, if you’ll let me today: IT’S TIME TO LET GOD HAVE CONTROL!!!

It might be even better worded to say it this way: IT’S TIME FOR ME TO LOSE CONTROL!!!

Let me tell you what the difference between stale, dead Christianity and Apostolic victory is: being truly Apostolic means letting God have control!

What do I mean by “letting God have control”? I don’t just mean obeying what’s in His book - and that IS part of it. I’m also talking about letting the Holy Ghost move you when it’s trying to!

Hey, I’m all about order - as long as it’s GOD’S ORDER! We make these service outlines so we know who’s responsible for what and what songs we plan to sing… but - Sis. LaRue, tell me if I’m wrong - at any moment, this thing is subject to change per the Holy Ghost!!!!! {rip paper}

And we welcome that - because we want God to have control!!!

HEY - LISTEN TO ME: THERE’S A BETTER WAY TO LIVE THAN JUST BEING IN CONTROL OF THINGS! YOU CAN LIVE THE WAY OF FAITH! YOU CAN ACT AND LIVE ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT, AND WHERE IT TAKES YOU!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALL ALONE!!!

But still yet, as much of our life that we give over to God… many of us continue to hold back parts of ourselves and parts of our lives.

That’s what I’ve come to deal with today… HEAR ME: It’s time to give it to God. You know what I’m talking about. You’ve tried to deal with it on your own and make things work. Can I tell you: It’ll never work. You have to give God control.

Moses Was Left Under God’s Control

Attack on the Hebrews

What drives a mother to place her baby boy in a basket in the river???

I want you to imagine...

A woman, in the dark of night, stands under the shadows of the alleyway behind her home. She is waiting on the woman from down the street - a mother - to come by.

Now she can see her in the distance, coming to this secret meeting. The mother is tip-toeing the bottoms of her sandals, trying to go completely unnoticed, not a sound can be made. These types of conversations are forbidden; you cannot keep secrets from the Egyptian empire.

Finally, she makes it there. They briefly embrace. The mother asks in whisper, “What’s the news?”

The woman in the shadows responds, “Not good. Pharaoh has made a new decree.”

The mother, a daughter of Levi, feels her heart drop. “What has he said?”

The woman is hesitant to say, but it must be done, no matter how bad it hurts: “It will begin tomorrow. They are preparing now. It will be announced that his decree is that every Hebrew son who is born will be thrown into the river. They are coming. Unless we escape, our sons will be found soon.”

And there, in the dark night, a very quiet, short, but effective prayer meeting may have ensued, in which a mother and her friend down the street begin to pray that God would make a way. And in the process, the mother gives God all control of the situation.

Has anybody ever made that kind of a prayer? Where you are at the end of your rope, you’ve done all you can personally, and now you’re just ready to hand it to someone who can make things work? And you pray, “God, I NEED YOU TO MAKE A WAY!” And, “God, IF YOU CAN JUST DO THIS, I’LL LET YOU HAVE EVERYTHING!”

And, most of the time, God has been standing there with outstretched hands the entire time, and He responds, “I’ve been waiting on you to hand this to me for such a very, very long time!”

Oh, yes! That’s exactly what happens! That’s why Jesus would say:

John 15:5 NKJV

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

He’s just saying, “Let me be a part of it! Let me be involved! Hand the reigns over to the creator!!!”

Because the fact is, in this world we are going to continually be tempted and afflicted. Satan is going to try every means at his disposal to steer us OUT OF CONTROL, and it usually works out better for him if I’m still in control of things!

And he REALLY gets bent out of shape and desperate to attack when he senses a revival in his midst!

That’s actually the whole reason that Pharaoh wanted the baby boys killed on sight… let me read to you:

Exodus 1:6–7 KJV 1900

6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Somebody might say that GROWTH was happening! REVIVAL was taking place!

Exodus 1:8–10 KJV 1900

8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

So - they didn’t even know that they, being in captivity, were already mightier than their enemy, and HE ADMITTED IT!

…

Let me help somebody out with a little boost right now: I know it’s not hard to feel afflicted and worn out and tired by the world we are living in and what it is doing around us… It’s the spirit of the antichrist at work in the world… there are attacks on every side…

Satan works at attacking your spirituality with getting you wrapped up in negative news that you can consume 24/7, or showing you countless carnal things to covet, or maybe hooking you in on your social media account by placing a light version of pornography on your news feed.

And if he can’t get your spirituality, he’s going for the Church as a whole… with movements to attack the Church’s credibility, confuse and distort truth, and he’s trying to make it to where outside parties can dictate what the Church can and cannot preach, teach, or do.

Yes, there are attacks on every side! They are aplenty! And I’m feeling those same pressures that you are...

…But in the middle of ALL of that attack and pressure, I find myself in a church that is HAVING REVIVAL! I find myself around some people who I SEE GROWING! {give examples}

I SEE GROWTH!

And we had better realize that we are mightier than our enemy… because even HE’S saying it’s true: WE ARE MIGHTIER THAN HE!!!!!

An Ark of Bulrushes

The mother of Moses knows that they are coming for her child. It won’t be long and they’ll be at her door.

And you’ve got a choice to make, Jochebed, daughter of Levi, mother of Moses… You’ve made it on your own for a while. It’s gotten you by doing it on your own. But if you’re going to see the plan of God carried out… if you’re going to see your son live… and if your people are going to be delivered… it’s going to take a massive step of faith.

I don’t know if it was the Spirit of the Lord that specifically moved upon her to do it this way, or if it was the only thing she could do in the situation, but either way, it took faith.

She takes a woven basket, and she uses pitch to waterproof it. The King James Version called it an “ark” - a vessel which floats.

And she places that baby inside the basket. And she puts that basket in the river, where it is taken away to a destination she cannot be sure of.

She could have done it her way. She could have tried to hide him again. She could have tried to sneak around and keep him out of harm. But this time, there wouldn’t be Hebrew midwives to save the day. The Egyptians would oversee the death of the children. Her way wasn’t going to work very long.

And my way doesn’t work very long, either. Our way doesn’t take in to account the future that God has perfect knowledge of. Our way doesn’t understand His plan, that He also understands perfectly.

It might seem right to you to keep him in your home and hide Moses - but if you want to see a promised land, you’ve got to put your everything, put your baby in the basket!!!

It might seem right to go by your human instincts and take control yourself, but if you want to see the deliverance of your family and all your descendants, you need to follow the plan of God and give Him control - put your child in the basket!!!!!

Giving God Control

Give Him Control

Now, I don’t know how spiritual Jochebed was, but I don’t think it matters how spiritual you are, it’s going to be difficult to put your baby in that basket and let it go. But she did it.

But as I prayed about what I’m preaching to you today, I’ve found that I’ve got some areas in my life that I needed to fully give over to God. And I know that each and every person in this room has some area of our lives that we have at least somewhat withheld from God or kept secret from Him, or tried to deal with on our own.

Maybe that thing you’ve withheld has not occured to you yet this morning. Or maybe there are multiple things that you have carried a burden about for a long time, and you’ve not allowed God to be involved at all.

But whatever it is, when it comes to you in the next few minutes, you’ve been given a piece of paper - I want you to write it down on that paper. Doesn’t matter what it is. No one else will see. Write it down. It’s time to give it to God.

Now, I’m about to get specific - and if you want to get mad at me, I hope not, but I guess so be it… I’m trying to help you!

She put her child, her baby, her everything into the basket, and from that act of faith… out came a mighty leader, the deliverer, an oracle of God for the plan of God!

If you want a godly, fulfilling marriage - you better put it in the basket!

Hello?

If you’re looking for financial peace and you’re tired of struggling - it’s God’s money, put it in the basket!

If you want to raise kids who are blessed of God and living for Him - they don’t need another extracurricular activity for that, place your children in the basket!

Anybody??? Write it down!!!

If you are living in a place of pain today, something’s happened that you don’t understand - don’t hold it back any longer… let God help you, let Him have control… put it in the basket!

I’m telling you, we’ve got some things this morning we need to give to God! And holding it back for 10, 20 years - even one more hour - is too long! God’s not interested in sharing you! He wants control of everything in your life!

Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

I know someone that I have noticed only attends their church when things are going bad. He’ll jump and shout and huck-a-buck when there’s a struggle in his life. But the moment that either God answers his prayer or things smooth out, he’s gone… until next time.

Now, you can live like that and get by - or you can just give it all to Him every day and be blessed continually because of it!

God wants it all! There can be no other gods before Him! He’s a jealous God! And He’s jealous for you!!!

Unction

Part of this giving Him control, though, doesn’t only mean laying things down on the altar and handing it all over. Giving Him control also means being led by the Spirit.

We need to be led by the Spirit.

There is such a flow of the Holy Ghost that is present in our services. It’s tremendous. And particularly, something I’ve noticed is how the flow of the Spirit is revealed in the preaching across this pulpit. It is absolutely marvelous and it’s unmistakeable!

And it often extends beyond just the pulpit. It’s on others. But I found myself praying last week: Lord, let every saint discover what walking in the Spirit is! Let every saint be moved by the Spirit to act!

Paul told the Galatians:

Galatians 5:16 NKJV

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Galatians 5:25 NKJV

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

There is a walk that you can have. I know that maybe you have the Spirit, but I’m talking about WALKING in the Spirit! You know what walking in the Spirit says to me? It says that I am in touch with the Spirit enough that it affects my movements!

And the word that leaped out to me was: UNCTION.

What’s unfortunate for the Christian world that is not living in Apostolic anointing… is that there are dead mean in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people. There is no UNCTION.

What is unction? I can’t say that I’ve got a perfect definition of what it is. But I know what it is not (or at least I know when it’s not on my soul). Preaching without unction kills instead of giving life. Living for God without ever being under the unction of the Spirit is a tragedy!

Where there is an unction… GOD IS IN CONTROL!

Where there is an unction… SIGNS AND WONDERS ARE SEEN!

Where there is an unction… I CAN FULFILL GOD’S PLAN FOR ME!

We all need to be willing to find and feel the unction of God! It needs to spread like wildfire!

And where does unction come from? Where is it that you can find this mysterious, powerful thing? Hold onto your seat… this is really going to shock you! I don’t know if you’ll be able to believe this or not! …you’ll find unction when you have found yourself in prayer!

Oh my! Let me tell you something… it’s easier to let God have control when you have a conversation with Him every day!

We get worried about things like our money and bills and financial commitments. We take control of them ourselves and don’t bring a lot of these issues to God, trying to make it work on our own! Did you know that research over the last five years shows that the number one source of anxiety among church attendees is money?!

Don’t misunderstand me today - if there are things that would seem valid as a common worry, it would seem that money gets us all sometimes. But yet, that thing called money that tries the modern church the most, troubled the New Testament Church THE LEAST!!!

Our attention gets on PAYING - theirs was on PRAYING!!!

When we have PAID, our place is taken…

But when THEY had PRAYED, THE PLACE WAS SHAKEN!!!!!

OH, I’M SPEAKING A WORD TO SOMEONE RIGHT NOW! It’s not enough to just let the Spirit lead us and guide us in those high points during church! We’ve got to pray in such a way that we have allowed God to give us UNCTION and TAKE CONTROL!!!

The first time I ever felt the strong unction of the Spirit to act was at a conference in Sikeston, MO. In the midst of prayer, God moved on me to speak a word to a young man there that I barely knew. That came out of prayer!

Just recently, God gave me an unction during a prayer meeting to say a certain thing to a certain friend of mine. And confirmation came when I spoke it!

Oh, the power of an unction! It is that flow that is found! It’s God trying to have His way! AND I WANT TO LET HIM!!!

I want Him to have control of my thoughts! My home! My job! I want Him to give unction to ME! I want Him to give unction to MY PASTOR!

I don’t want to just sit by and be a SPECTATOR and watch the Spirit move! I want to be a PARTICIPATOR and move in the Spirit!!!

God wants to have control - AND WE NEED TO GIVE IT TO HIM!

Conclusion

Put It in the Basket

Let’s stand. Sis. LaRue, please come and give these people some sense of false hope…

Have you written something down yet? There’s something, I’m sure, that you need to hand over to God.

Now I want you to come to the front. And bring the paper with you, whether you’ve written on it or not. We’re about to give some things to God. Spread out here and find you a place.

When you get done praying in a minute, and you know God has taken this from you, place that source of frustration, that source of pain, in the basket. Let God have it. No on will ever see it. It’s His. And He’s in control.

You’ve been burdened by that for so long. You’ve had tears, headaches, heartaches.

Whatever it is you have written down, I want you to lift up your voice right now and give it to God in prayer. It’s time to lay on Him your burdens. Come on. Give it to God. Let Him have control! He’s been waiting!