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📝 = Fill in the Blank
“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.”
Luke 5:1-2
“He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”
Luke 5:3
“He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”
What would you say this morning if I told you that…
YOU’RE THE BOAT IN THIS STORY.
The same way that Jesus stepped in the boat and used it as a vessel to teach from, is the same way that Jesus desires to use you. You are the vessel that God wants to use. You are the vessel that God wants to speak from.
But we have this treasure in EARTHEN VESSELS, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
The Bible says, then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. You are the boat in this story. The Bible says that Jesus got in the the boat, sat down in the boat and from there He began to teach. This leads me to a question…
IS THERE ROOM FOR JESUS IN YOUR BOAT?
Is there a place for Him to sit in your heart? Is there a place for Him to sit in your mind? Can Jesus use your boat? Can Jesus use you or is your heart and mind occupied? I must ask you in this moment…
WHAT’S IN YOUR BOAT?
The Bible says that Jesus came and stepped into Peters boat sat down and taught from it. What if Peter would’ve missed this moment? What if Peter’s boat would’ve been too full of useless stuff for Jesus to sit in it? This entire story could’ve been way different. I want to speak to you from this subject today….
PARTING WAYS
I told you two weeks ago that Help Is On The Way, and that it’s going to come through you. I told you last week that God wants to use you, yes you!
📝 Regardless of your PAST, God wants to use you in the PRESENT.
The reason why we wrestle with messages such as these is because we have the wrong things occupying our boat.
It’s hard for God to use you, when your boat is full of FEAR.
““For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.”
Matthew 25:14
“And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to EACH ACCORDING TO HIS OWN ABILITY; and immediately he went on a journey.”
Matthew 25:15
“And I WAS AFRAID, and went and HID YOUR TALENT in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’”
Matthew 25:25
“The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalms 27:1
The Lord is my light, He’s guiding me. The Lord is my salvation, He saves me. The Lord is my stronghold, and His hold on my life is stronger than anything else that’s trying to get a hold of me. Therefore I will not fear!
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
I John 4:18
God loves you too much to see you fail. God is fully invested in you. This is why….
📝 You have to put more stock in God’s LOVE than you do in Satan’s LIES.
Allow GOD’S LOVE to be greater than SATAN’S FEARS.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7
📝 FEAR—since God didn’t GIVE IT I don’t have to RECEIVE IT.
It’s hard for God to use you, when your boat is full of SHAME.
“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
Psalms 34:5
““Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.”
Isaiah 54:4
“Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.”
Zephaniah 3:19
“For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.””
Romans 10:11
📝 When you take on His NAME, He removes the SHAME.
📝 His NAME is greater than my SHAME.
📝 What Jesus DID is greater than what I’ve DONE.
📝 SHAME has no place here, because GRACE is already here.
It’s hard for God to use you, when your boat is full of LOW SELF ESTEEM.
“But Moses said to God, “WHO AM I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?””
Exodus 3:11
📝 It’s not about WHO YOU ARE, as much as it’s about WHO HE IS.
“The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.” Judges 6:11
“When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”” Judges 6:12
““Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us...” Judges 6:13
You’re going through what you’re going through because the Lord is with you.
📝 The attacks have COME in hopes that you won’t GO.
“The Lord turned to him and said, “GO IN THE STRENGTH YOU HAVE and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”” Judges 6:14
You have something that low self esteem doesn’t want you to know that you have.
You have something that the enemy doesn’t want you to know that you have.
📝 I have WHO it takes. I have WHAT it takes.
📝 God won’t DEMAND something from you that He hasn’t SUPPLIED to you.
You have strength that you know not of. You have power that you know not of. You have purpose that you know not of. You have favor that you know not of.
““Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.””
Judges 6:15
“The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”” Judges 6:16
📝 When you’re at your WEAKEST, and at your LEAST, God can use you the MOST. Then can’t nobody get the glory BUT GOD!
God uses the UNLIKELY.
It’s hard for God to use you, when your boat is full of BUSYNESS.
“Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word.”
Luke 10:38-39
“But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.””
Luke 10:40
“But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.””
Luke 10:41-42
But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; Luke 10:41
“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.”
Psalms 127:1
“It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.”
Psalms 127:2
“Stop striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.” Psalm 46:10
What are you trying to prove?
What are you trying to stay busy from?
What are you trying to gain?
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
Its time to part ways with….FEAR. SHAME. LOW SELF ESTEEM. BUSYNESS.
I was reading the story of Jonah the other day and something so simple, yet so powerful caught my attention.
“Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.”
Jonah 1:15
“Then THEY took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.”
Jonah 1:15
This is why discipleship is so important.
📝 What you can’t throw overboard BY YOURSELF, you can with THE HELP OF OTHERS.
Discipleship helps you throw baggage that you’ve been carrying for too long overboard.
Where there is no [wise, intelligent] guidance, the people fall [and go off course like a ship without a helm], But in the abundance of [wise and godly] counselors there is victory. Proverbs 11:14
Without guidance, a people will fall, but with many counselors THERE IS DELIVERANCE. Proverbs 11:14
“Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.”
Leviticus 26:8
📝 Discipleship will take you places that ISOLATION never will.
We often say, "Well, that’s just how I am.” But that’s the problem, it’s not how He is.
📝 Often how I AM, is not how HE IS. This is why I need to be DISCIPLED.
📝 What you’re HOLDING ONTO doesn’t even compare to what God desires to RELEASE.
Discipleship causes you to get to the place where Paul writes in Galatians 2:20,
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
“He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then HE SAT DOWN AND TAUGHT THE PEOPLE FROM THE BOAT.”
Luke 5:3
IS THERE ROOM FOR JESUS IN YOUR BOAT?
Is there a place for Him to sit in your heart? Is there a place for Him to sit in your mind? Can Jesus use your boat? Can Jesus use you or is your heart and mind occupied?
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PART WAYS WITH?