"It's In The Small Things" Pastor Albert Almore
As we’ve discussed, Paul opens up Romans chapter 2 by saying, I know y’all aren’t out here judging others, and you’re out here doing the exact same things they are, OR WORST. Paul was reminding us that only one has the right to judge and His Name is Jesus, and that WE ALL NEED A SAVIOR.
Before we get to our Bible passage for today, let me paraphrase what we’re about to read. Paul is about to go on to say in Romans chapter 2, there’s no real power in JUST being chosen. There’s no real power in JUST knowing The Word. The real power comes when you DO something with it. The real power comes when you DO, when you OBEY what it says. Romans 2:17-18….
“Now, you claim to be a Jew because you lean upon your trust in the law and boast in your relationship with God. And you claim to know the will of God, and to have the moral high ground because you’ve been taught the law of Moses.”
Romans 2:17-18 TPT
“You are also confident that you are a qualified guide to those who are “blind,” a shining light to those who live in darkness.”
Romans 2:19 TPT
“You are confident that you are a true teacher of the foolish and immature, all because you have the treasury of truth and knowledge in the law of Moses.”
Romans 2:20 TPT
“So let me ask you this: Why don’t you practice what you preach? You preach, “Don’t steal!” but are you a thief?”
Romans 2:21 TPT
“You are swift to tell others, “Don’t commit adultery!” but are you guilty of adultery? You say, “I hate idolatry and false gods!” but do you withhold from the true God what is due him?”
Romans 2:22 TPT
“The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.”
Romans 2:25 NLT
“And IF THE GENTILES OBEY GOD’S LAW, WON’T GOD DECLARE THEM TO BE HIS OWN PEOPLE?”
Romans 2:26 NLT
I want to preach a message this morning titled…
IT’S IN THE SMALL THINGS
Paul makes no bones about it and says in Romans 2:21…
“So let me ask you this: WHY DON’T YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH?…”
Romans 2:21 TPT
Two questions come to my mind after reading that verse, depending on where you are in life and they are…
WHY DON’T YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH? WHY DON’T YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED?
This is MAJOR because Paul says in Romans 2:25…
“The Jewish ceremony of circumcision HAS VALUE ONLY IF YOU OBEY God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, YOU ARE NO BETTER OFF than an uncircumcised Gentile.”
Romans 2:25 NLT
📝 God’s Word only adds value to my life when I hear it, AND PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. When I hear it, and don’t put it into practice, then I’ll be NO BETTER OFF.
Jesus Himself says in Matthew 7:24…
““THEREFORE WHOEVER HEARS these sayings of Mine, AND DOES THEM, I will liken him to A WISE MAN who built his house on the rock:”
Matthew 7:24 NKJV
The NIV translation says Matthew 7:24 like this…
““Therefore everyone who HEARS THESE WORDS of mine AND PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Matthew 7:24-25 NIV
📝 First step: HEAR
Greater step: DO
When you don’t, Matthew 7:26 happens..
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.””
Matthew 7:26-27 NIV
The problem wasn’t with his HEARING, his problem was with his DOING.
Remind you, Romans 2:25 again…
“The Jewish ceremony of circumcision HAS VALUE ONLY IF YOU OBEY God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, YOU ARE NO BETTER OFF than an uncircumcised Gentile.”
Romans 2:25 NLT
God’s Word only adds value to your life when you hear it, AND PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. When you hear it, and don’t put it into practice, then you’ll be NO BETTER OFF.
Maybe this is why Paul says what he says in Philippians 4:9…
“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:9 NIV
In like fashion, James says in James 1:22…
“But BE DOERS of the word, and NOT HEARERS ONLY, deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22 NKJV
“But DON’T JUST LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD YOU MUST DO WHAT IT SAYS. Otherwise, YOU ARE ONLY FOOLING YOURSELVES.”
James 1:22 NLT
📝 Sometimes you don’t need to meet with me, or other people, which there’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you just need to meet with your notes that you took, or the journal that you recorded, and DO THE LAST THING that God laid on your heart to do.
James says…
…Otherwise, YOU ARE ONLY FOOLING YOURSELVES.”
James 1:22 NLT
According to James 1:22, if you think that you’re going to change, without making the minor changes, the small acts of obedience that God speaks to you about, then you’re only fooling yourself.
📝 MINOR CHANGES, small acts of obedience, produce MAJOR RESULTS in Kingdom of God.
WHAT HAS GOD BEEN SPEAKING TO YOUR HEART TO DO, THAT YOU’RE YET TO DO?
THE CHANGE THAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IS LIVING IN THE SMALL THINGS, THE SMALL ACTS OF OBEDIENCE.
This is so key because…
📝 If not careful, you’ll miss God, in THE SIMPLICITY OF GOD.
2 Corinthians 11:3…
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from THE SIMPLICITY that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV
This is why Naaman, the warrior who was dealing with the skin disease called leprosy almost missed it. 2 Kings 5:9-10 says,
“So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.””
2 Kings 5:9-10 NLT
“But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!”
2 Kings 5:11 NLT
“But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something VERY DIFFICULT, wouldn’t you have done it? So YOU SHOULD CERTAINLY OBEY HIM when he says SIMPLY, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’””
2 Kings 5:13 NLT
📝 Be FAITHFUL to the simple thing.
📝 Simple things, simple steps from God help you conquer great difficult things IN FRONT OF YOU. Simple things, simple steps from God help you conquer great difficult things that’s INSIDE OF YOU. The healing, the miracle, the breakthrough, that you’re looking for is in the small things.
This message is for those who feel like they’ve been hitting a wall. When Joshua and his army were facing a massive wall that was in their way from conquering the land, they needed a sho nuff game plan. They needed a sho nuff strategy!
“Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.”
Joshua 6:1-2 NKJV
“You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.”
Joshua 6:3-4 NKJV
“It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; THEN THE WALL OF THE CITY WILL FALL DOWN FLAT. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.””
Joshua 6:5 NKJV
To you this doesn’t make any sense. To me this doesn’t make any sense. What type of strategy is this?!
📝 The strategy is OBEDIENCE.
Naaman I know you wanted some difficult quest to obtain your healing so that you could say look at what I did. Joshua I know y’all been conducting military exercises in the wilderness that you can’t wait to test out, but that won’t be today.
📝 Victory doesn’t come from your PERFORMANCE. Victory comes from your OBEDIENCE.
Romans 2:25 again…
“The Jewish ceremony of circumcision HAS VALUE ONLY IF YOU OBEY God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, YOU ARE NO BETTER OFF than an uncircumcised Gentile.”
Romans 2:25 NLT
God’s Word only adds value to your life when you hear it, AND PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. When you hear it, and don’t put it into practice, then you’ll be NO BETTER OFF.
Here’s what I know to still be true…
📝 Walls still fall at THE FEET OF OBEDIENCE.
WALLS STILL COME DOWN WHEN YOU DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO.
📝 God has the POWER, God has the the PLAN, and God has the PROVISION. Obey Him.
Because the promise is this in Isaiah 1:19…
📝 “If you are WILLING and OBEDIENT, You shall eat the good of the land;”
Isaiah 1:19 NKJV
📝 When God speaks to you about obedience, He’s not trying to CONTROL you, He’s trying to BLESS you.
Maybe God’s dropped the simple idea into your heart, and you’ve said it out loud, “I feel led to read my Bible 5 minutes a day.”
Maybe God’s dropped the simple idea into your heart, and you’ve said it out loud, “I feel led to get off of social media for a day or two, or I feel led to walk 10,000 steps a day, and to cut out eating after 9.”
📝 Start off in WILLINGNESS. End in OBEDIENCE.
Make the shift from…
I’m willing to do that ➡️ I’m going to do that.
I’m going to read my bible for five minutes, every morning at 6:15, at my kitchen table.
MINOR CHANGES, small acts of obedience, produce MAJOR RESULTS in Kingdom of God.
“His mother said to the servants, “WHATEVER HE SAYS TO YOU, DO IT.””
John 2:5 NKJV
What sense does it make to state, “I know what my problem is,” yet never change?
📝 If you know what your problem is, and if you know what you need to do then, DO IT. That’s where the blessing is. That’s where the promise lives. That’s where you’ll find peace.
“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. THEN THE GOD OF PEACE WILL BE WITH YOU.”
Philippians 4:9 NLT
📝 What if you haven’t been experiencing PEACE, because you haven’t been putting the Word of God into PRACTICE?
Here’s what I know about THE GOD OF PEACE…
HE KNOWS THE WAY TO THE BEST VERSION OF YOU. HE KNOWS THE WAY TO WHAT HE HAS FOR YOU.
DO YOU TRUST HIS WAY?
““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV
NAMAAN, I KNOW YOU THOUGHT THAT HE WAS GOING TO COME OUTSIDE AND MEET YOU, AND HAVE YOU DO THIS GRAND OL THING. BUT HIS WAY IS BETTER.
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