* Forgetfulness leads to Fearfulness which leads to Faithlessness. * Psalms 78:9-11 - “The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle…they FORGOT His works and the mighty wonders He had shown them.” * If you want to face your fear, then you have to REMEMBER what God has done in the past. * Two areas to remember what God has done: * 1) In YOUR past (personal history). * 2) In OUR past (collective history - the Bible, etc). * Moses is giving his farewell speech. * The people are about to enter the Promised Land, but it would involve a fight. * In order to ENCOURAGE them, Moses REMINDED them! * Courage means “to make courageous.” * Vs 1-4 - he reminded them of Og and Sihon (two names you’ll hear a lot in the OT). * Sihon was known as a might king with a strong and terrible army. * The Israelites wanted to pass thru his land, but he wouldn’t let them. * He picked the fight and God helped the Israelites kick his butt. * EX: Like David beating Lebron in one on one. * Og was a giant king who had a bed that was twelve feet long, made of iron, and weighed nearly 500 lbs. * The Israelites kicked his butt too. * Moses was reading them of God’s faithfulness in the past, which would help them walk faithfully in the present. * EX: A few years ago Tori had to speak at a conference. She was nervous. She told a friend. The friend reminded her that she had done much harder things in the past and that she’d get through this the same. She remembered she’s delivered four babies! Speaking publicly was nothing compared to that! * So what is the OG and Sihon in your life? * Look at what God has done in YOUR past. * Look at what He’s done in OUR past. * He’s got your back!
Deuteronomy 1:1-4 (3/18/21)
Remember
March 18, 2021
Acts 13:49-50 (4/17/24)
April 17, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Acts 13:49–50
* God uses people to accomplish His will on the earth. * He uses both good and bad people. * Satan uses people to accomplish his will on the earth. * He uses both good and bad people. * Backstory - Jesus was off the scenes and now the growth of the church was the responsibility of the apostles. * Paul and Barnabas were preaching like crazy! * Jews and Gentiles were getting saved by the droves. * vs 49 - “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” * Through their witness the kingdom of heaven was advancing forcefully against the kingdom of hell. * Then something happened: * vs 50 - “But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.” * A “God-fearing” person who’s a “leader” is a Christian Influencer! * The Christian Influencers of the day were now on the wrong side of God’s Kingdom expansion! * We need to always remember the four spiritual players at work here. * Revelation 17 shows us: * Dragon - Satan himself. * Beast - Antichrist spirit (any idea that stands against God). * Babylon - (PEC) Political, Economic, Cultural system of the Beast. * The goal of Babylon is to turn people away from God. * Harlot - Religious system of Babylon that gives credence to the Beast. * The only way people will desire Satan’s way more than God’s way is if there is a religious system that legitimizes it. * That’s what happened here in Acts 13. * Satan needed good-hearted Godly people to buy into his lies and hinder God’s work. * Note - These influencers were first convinced by the “religious” leaders. * “…the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women…” * What are our pastors teaching us today? * How do we make sure we don’t get used by Satan? * 1) Wrap knowledge around our zeal. * These influencers certainly had a zeal for the Lord, but they didn’t have knowledge. * They needed a Biblical worldview to filter the lies being spoken into their ears. * We need to “study” Scripture to be intimately familiar with the truth. * We need to study it through the lense of a battle. * 2) Look and listen for the spirit behind what’s being said or done. * EX: Jesus with Peter. * EX: Stanley - teaching Christians to stay out of the “hot topic” issues. * “If you need an enemy to prop up your leadership, you’re not leading.” * People clapped - but the Bible is a book about God’s enemy. * 3) Ask God what He thinks. * Then pause and listen. * 4) Sit under leaders with a “Fatherly” spirit (and Motherly). * They’re willing to talk about all things. * They teach about boundaries.
Psalms 119:44-45 (4/17/24)
April 17, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 119:44–45
* You might have heard it said that rules without relationship lead to rebellion. * It’s true, for the most part. * But relationship without rules leads to rejection! * Love is “compassion with standards.” * If we don’t operate by the standards, we don’t have love. * It’s our commitment to following the rules that shows our surrender to the rule-giver. * God’s fences (boundaries) are not to keep you from good things, but to keep bad things from you! * Look at what David says about rules in these verses: * vs 44-45 - “So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.” * David loved God’s rules because he saw how God’s blessings were found inside of them. * Why rules? * His boundaries bring freedom! * Freedom is the greatest blessing you can have. * EX: One boundary in the Garden - don’t eat the fruit. * If they obeyed, they were free forever. * If they disobeyed, they were enslaved forever. * EX: Doctor Dobson playground experiment. * Without properly defined boundaries we don't have freedom. * When boundaries are clearly defined we can move about freely and not be scared. * EX: Balcony with no railings. * Boundaries bring freedom, and God's boundaries are the answer to our fear. * Like a kite held by the boundary of the string, so we are free to fly so long as we don't let go of God's boundaries found in His Word. * If we want true freedom, then we need to operate within God’s boundaries.
Jeremiah 4:19 (4/10/24)
April 10, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Jeremiah 4:19
- When you draw near to God, He gives you eyes to see and ears to hear. - You will see & hear the spirit. - When Jesus returns, we’ll see Him and hear Him physically. - But we can do it now if we focus our spiritual eyes and tune our spiritual ears. - We won’t just see and hear God, we’ll see and hear the enemy. - EX: Jesus calling Peter “Satan.” - All through Christ’s ministry, He talked about those who don’t see or hear. - Jeremiah shows us what it looks like. - His culture was going to hell in a hatbasket, but everyone was having a great time. - They were building their churches and having their conferences and enjoying themselves. - All while the culture was going down the tube straight to hell! - vs 19 - “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me; I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.” - Jeremiah heard something nobody else did. - He heard it because his ears were tuned into God. - He saw it because his eyes were focused on the Lord. - We must do the same. - When we see God moving and hear Him whispering, we can prepare for what lies ahead. - EX: David and I speaking at a men’s event and charging the men to be bold. - Some of the staff might not say anything - maybe even distance from us. - But other men flock to us and are ready to fight! - They heard the battle cry! - But Jeremiah didn’t simply hear the battle cry, he also heard something else: - vs 31 - “I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child— the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath…” - He was soft-hearted toward people and hard-headed toward principle! - How do you tune your ears to hear God and focus your eyes to see God? - See like a Soldier - recognize that we’re in a spiritual battle. - Soldiers are always on the lookout. - They are surrendered to authority. - Process like a Parent - your role is to provide and protect. - So you speak truth in love. - Your provide boundaries for their blessing. - Study like a Scribe - devour the Scripture. - Don’t just read, but “study.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 - “Study to show yourself approved.”