VN520332 8-31-2014 Motivational
First of all I would like to say I’m glad you all showed up today. It makes my job easier, it really does, when a bunch of people show up and they are wanting to be in the house of the Lord and they are happy to be there because it says I rejoice when they said let us go to the house of the Lord. I am glad you are all here. Please come back. I also want to say thank you to all the motivational speakers because this week it just seemed like every time I turned around there was a motivational something being said. If I quote any of them or say something I don’t know who they are and they are anonymous as far as I know. So, if you heard them before I’m not pretending I made this stuff up. It’s just things that I’ve heard and I’m repeating back.
But, here is one of them that I didn’t quite hear. They didn’t say it, but I am. It’s a thought that never crossed my mind but faith and fear, as in dread and worry, dread fearing for the future, they are actually the same thing but one is the negative, fear is the negative side, and faith is the positive side because what fear, dread, worry, that negative part is asking you to do is believe something that you don’t see is going to happen and it is going to be bad.
Faith from God is the positive part and he says I’ve told you all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord and good is coming your way. I intend good to come your way. Faith is the positive aspect of the future not yet seen. Fear is the negative aspect, and fear is from the dark side pushing on you. Faith is from the light side saying come on, come on, come on, you can do it, you can trust Me, keep coming.
So, remember those two things are actually more than similar. It’s just one is the negative and one is the positive. So, with that in mind I’m going to read again Psalm 37:10-11, “Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” What does that say? It says that the humble will inherit the land and they will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. King James says the meek will inherit the land and they will delight themselves in abundant peace.
A lot of people say well Jesus just lifted everything right out of the Old Testament and He was just quoting the Old Testament. Well, let’s see. Who is Jesus? God. Who wrote the Old Testament? God. So, He is just quoting himself. He doesn’t have to say I’m going to footnote Myself as saying this earlier in the Old Testament. He is the one who said the meek shall inherit the land, the earth, and we will delight ourselves in peace and prosperity. Prosperity remember is quality, quality. We will have quality lives, and this is a promise. In a little while, though, is what it says. “In a little while, the wicked will disappear.”
In a little while, and the meek, the meek will inherit, the meek will come through, and the best I can say is Hebrew understanding, the way I kind of put it together is, the meek is a person who knows his place and it doesn’t matter whether your place is the King of England or if your place is the janitor or a chicken farmer. If you’re in your place where God placed you and you’re saying that is where I’m supposed to be and I’m going to give my best to the Master right in that place wherever it is. It doesn’t matter, oilfield worker, as long as you’re saying this is where I am and this is where God placed me you are being humble if you are doing your best right there, and God is going to bless you. God is going to give you abundance of quality. He’s going to give you peace, and He is going to remove wickedness from your presence.
That’s why this whole place thing is coming up because it says the humble person, the person that knows their place and is contentedly working away. Now, don’t think that just because your place, you start off as a janitor or something that you can’t move up. That’s not it. It’s right where you are. You say okay God, here I am today and this is my place, and I’m trusting You. Then as you grow and gain confidence and people are watching you and seeing how you function, when those promotions come you say thank you because the promotion is from God.
As you get promoted up, know your place, and do a good job there. I’m not saying you have to always say no, God made me a janitor and even though you want me to be the CEO of this multi-million corporation I can’t do it. I’m just a humble… If God is the one behind it and He is promoting you then say thank you God. I will step up there and by Your grace I will do better. The idea here is know your place. That’s meekness right there. You know where you belong, and you are working away trying to bring glory and honor to the Lord. That is meekness.
If you see somebody that is wicked be patient. In a little while it says the wicked will be removed and that whole place thing is you will look for their place and they will be gone. They are not in the place that they were occupying. They had been removed by God somehow, some way. Those wicked people have been removed out of their place, been pushed aside, and somebody else has stepped into the place who is humble and doing what God expects them to do. Know your place, do your best, and know that those people who are on your case and causing you grief, they will be removed. If they’re really wicked and they shove you out don’t worry. God will bless you, positive side. I have faith in my God that all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.
If you’ve believe you’ve been called. If you’ve been called then you have that guarantee that all things will, absolutely will, work together for your good. So, keep this in mind that it predicates on that, in a little while. Be patient. Wait, wait and wait. Now, David had the same problem, and if you go to Psalm 38 and I’m going to read Psalm 38: 11-15. That’s probably one page over. Psalm 38: 11-15. David makes these statements, “My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off. Those who seek my life lay snares for me; and those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, and they devise treachery all day long. But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth. Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no arguments. For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God.”
You see, David is in the same position. He is saying there are these people out there who seek my destruction, who are trying to cause me to fall. Even the ones who are supposed to be my loved ones, they want nothing to do with me at this point. They are standing aloof. They are looking down their nose at me and they have taken a step back. Those people are out there and they are there to encourage you. Satan is there to encourage you, the wicked is there to encourage you, and their encouragement is this: Fail. I encourage you to fail. I want you to stumble and fail. You are no good. You are not going to make it. You are going to fail. You are not worthy to be in the presence of God. You are going to fail. Nobody likes you. Look, your friends are standing far off, they’re aloof. You are going to fail.
Those people are there to encourage you to fail, but that is not what David gave in to. What does he say? Verse 11 and 13, 14, there it is, “My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen stand afar off. Those who seek my life lay snares for me; And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, And they devise treachery.” That’s their encouragement. You are going to fail. “But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth. Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no arguments.”
He has taken the proper relationship to them. He is saying I have shut them down. I am not listening. I am not listening to a thing they say. I’ve turned them off. They’re trying to stumble me, they’re trying to ruin me, and I turn them off and I’m not even arguing with them. I have become like a deaf man to my critics. I have become like a mute man to my critics. I’m not speaking to them. I’m not arguing with them. I have shut them out of my spiritual life. I have shut them out. I have closed them out.
Here’s an interesting story that will go along with that. There is a guy named (Derrick) Coleman. He is a Seattle Seahawk and he did a commercial back in January of 2014 for Duracell is who it was for. He says that during his life growing up he was picked on and people discouraged him and said he might as well quit, he would never make it in football, and he had all these problems. He didn’t make the draft when the pick was going around, but then he makes this announcement. I’ve been deaf since I was three so I didn’t listen to them, and now he’s a Seahawk, and now he has got friends, he has got fans, ha has people who follow him. I was deaf and I didn’t listen to them. He took the right route and said there I am and here. By the way, that commercial ends with this trust your power. Of course when it does that, trust your power, a little Duracell battery pops up and does that little Duracell jingle whatever it is and they are wanting you to associate that power with Duracell.
In the same way, that is what David is saying. Shut those people out. Don’t argue with those people. Just because they tell you and they discourage you, what does God say? Trust your power. Question. Who is your power? Is your power yourself? If your power is yourself you are going to have a tough time, but if your power is in God, is in Jesus Christ, if your power is there and you’re trusting Him you are standing on the promises, you are trusting in His word and you’re saying this is what He says. I’m standing. I’m trusting in my power. I will overcome. I will make it. The Lord is my power. We have a good God and He keeps His promises and so we can continually say it’s not by my power or by my strength, but it is Yours.
Now, there are times that He has led people to do different things. One time He told people it’s not your war and He told the King, all I want you to do is just go out and stand on the hill and watch how I wipe out your enemies. Another time He told them go out and march around that city seven times and watch Me knock the walls down. There are different times and different ways. With Gideon, He said Gideon, you are going to whoop up on your enemies over here but you have way too many men. Send them home, send those home, send those home. He finally got down to like 300 people or so, somewhere in there, give or take a few. He got down to a small level and God said now I am going to deliver them into your hand so that you will know it’s Me that is the one who is doing this.
God is the one who will lead you and guide you and He is liable to give you thoughts of saying oh, I should approach it this way. You know, there are people who are like trying to climb a mountain and they are always trying to climb the north side of that mountain that is north faced. They are attacking the north face. They are going against the north face. Failure after failure after failure. What’s their goal? What is the goal to be on top of the mountain? You are crazy if you just keep going the same way and think you are going to achieve something different. Go for the south side buddy and try climbing it over there, or go to the east side, or go to the west side.
If your goal is to be on that mountain, hire a helicopter if you have to be on it, and get life flighted up there and dropped off and say I am on the mountaintop. That was my goal. Now, if your goal is to climb then okay you climb it out, but focus on what… I’ve got somebody I’m going to say this to in the store in a few days when they cross my path. I’m waiting for them and I’m just going to ask them this. Where do you want to be in 5 years? What do you want to be doing in 5 years? Where do you want to be living in 5 years? What kind of a bank account do you want in 5 years? You know, what is your goal? In 5 years you say this is where I want to be, and if I know the kid I will probably say make a list and bring it back to me and when he does, or if he gives me an answer that day, I’m going to look at him and say what are you doing to achieve that? If you’re just frittering away your time in 5 years all you are going to be is older. But, if you know this is where you want to be then right now is the time to start making decisions and start acting toward and doing what it will take to get you to that point in 5 years.
I know people who were dirt poor, raised dirt poor, and they said I want to be rich. People scoffed at them and didn’t do it. Hey, you’ll never make it. You’re not quality, blah, blah, blah. I can tell you that today that man is a multi-millionaire and all those people who scoffed at him, they’re in debt. So, I guess what I’m saying here also is not just to that kid who is going to show up that I’m waiting for, but also to us as Christians individually, where do you want to be in 5 years? If you want to be a medical doctor, fine. What are you doing to get to that point?
Well, I don’t think I can do it. I know somebody that was a single mother raising a child, didn’t have two nickels to rub together, and she said I’ve got to support my child and I’ve got to do something. She went to school, she worked a full time job, raised the guy who is now a good Christian guy. Raised this guy and not only got a Bachelors, went on to get a Masters degree and now she is gainfully employed doing quite well. Don’t tell me oh, I can’t do it. You don’t do it because you are discouraged. You don’t do it because you don’t want it enough.
Where do you want to be, and what steps are you taking, what steps am I taking to get to that point in 5 years? In 5 years we are going to be 5 years older and we might as well be standing there with something we want than to be just standing there going boy, I wish I had that. Boy, I still want to be a doctor. Well then go out and be a doctor. Go out and sign up for the classes. Go out and do what it takes. Work at it, work at it, work at it until you get there. God, how am I going to do it? I need provision, and God provided for this lady time and time again when she was working her way through college and gaining the piece of paper, the sheepskin as they say, so she could get this good job. God blessed her.
God will lead you in the same way. She was surrounded by people who did not discourage her. Deuteronomy 20. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, the fifth book. We are going to chapter 20, and we are going to read verses 1 through 4 and then skip down and read 8. “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. He shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’” And then verse 8, “Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’”
There is no condemnation to those, to that guy who got up and went home, but you will notice what it says. You are going to enter into battle. We are going to enter into battles in our life and He says this. When you get there don’t be afraid, don’t be faint hearted. It is your God. Your God is on your side. Your God who has plans for you for a hope and a future. It’s your God. You trust in Him. Your God is going out there with you and He will lead you, guide you, and direct you on how to attack. Then He says, and then after this you call the people, the men together and you say listen, if you are afraid to go fight the battle, if you are afraid you are going to get killed or you are going to get wiped out, you are excused, you can go home.
No condemnation. You can just go home. Why? You see, if you’re going to go into that you want to have people who are going to be there to support you, people who are like-minded, people who are willing to fight that battle with you, people who are there to encourage you. Yes, we are going to trust in the Lord. You know like the Navy Seals and all that the big woo, whoa. That’s who those people are. You’ll notice they weed out all these people that apply and the people that are left are the ones who say yes, we can, and they get together and they become a band of brothers. They are, “We are going to do it”, and they encourage each other, and they are there for each other, and they are fighting together to achieve the goal that has been assigned to them. It’s all very positive, positive, positive, positive.
The people who are weaker, the people that were scared, no condemnation. They were set aside, they left and drifted away. That’s fine because when you are fighting the battle you pick your friends. You pick the people that you need in your corner who are going to stand with you, and you and they will be standing in the power of God and when you and they are standing in the power of God, you will overcome your enemy.
Remember this. It’s not winning that makes you strong, it’s the struggle that makes you strong. It’s the endurance that makes you strong. It’s not that winning element, it’s the struggle. You say I’m not strong enough. That’s the struggle part. You keep struggling, you keep praying, you keep fighting, you keep trusting, you keep walking and you’re getting strengthened more and more all the time through that. But there are people that say oh, Doyle, Doyle. I want to say quit whining, but they say Doyle, you know Doyle, I fight. I take one step forward and then something happens and I end up taking one step back. Then I’ll take another step forward and before you know it I’m taking one step back. I’m so discouraged because all I’m doing is one step forward and one step back. Do you know what that is?
It’s the cha cha folks. You just got to look at it different than what you are looking at it. Put some music to it and say cha cha is very good exercise. Cha cha is good endurance training, cardiovascular, and I am gaining in strength by this time and time again and eventually I will overcome. Yet a little while, that’s how that verse started off when we started reading all this. Yet a little while. Endure just a little bit longer. Just wait it out one more step. There’s that one saying that says go as far as you can go, go as far as you can go, and then take one more step.
Most the time we can go one more step and it’s just we ourselves choose not to. That’s like another motivational thing says water at 211 degrees is hot water, but water at 212 degrees turns to steam and steam can drive a locomotive all across the United States pulling a great big load. One lousy degree is all it takes. Just a little bit longer. Just hang in there just a little longer they say. Most rich people, or should have been rich people, are right there on the verge. They have worked, they have worked, they have striven, and they are right there and finally they just say I quit, I’m tired. They didn’t take that one last step that they needed to take. They didn’t endure that one more day and they name people. They will tell you people that did it. They were right there on it and just almost had it and they give up and somebody else comes along and says I’ll buy your idea off of you and they write them a check.
The guy says I’m glad to get out of it. I’ve got some money. That person takes that and makes one step with it and boom, rich, and the person says I was going to do that but I gave up. One more step. Remember, our strength comes from the Lord. We need to go just one more time. We need to cut out the naysayers and those people that are causing us to stumble and walk in fear. That’s negative. That’s from the devil. We need to look at what we are going to do, where we want to be as individuals and as a church and say this is the place we’re going.

How do we get there? How do we get there? Remember one of my favorites. 12 men went to spy on Canaan. 10 were bad and 2 were good. Well, there you are. It took only 10 people to discourage a whole nation from crossing into that border. 10 lousy naysayers prevented this whole nation from going in to Kadesh-Barnea. 10 discouraging people. I don’t know about you, but once in a while I am up there at the store and I’m just like ah, it’s a great day, things are fine, I love it, and people come in and just start ey, ey, ey, ay, and before you know it if I’m not careful I’m sitting there going oh gee, I’m bummed out, and I’m not talking about real problems people have. Just boy, it’s a beautiful day. Well then next week it’s going to be bad. Rapture might happen next week, I don’t care. Right now it is a good day.
Somebody came in it’s hot outside and steamy and muggy, and I said yeah, the good part about that is if you’ve got wrinkly clothes on you just go out there and the steam just makes those wrinkles fall away. If we could just do that with skin but hey, I like wrinkle free clothes. You know, it depends on the positive or the negative. What you choose is how you’re going to view the future. What you choose is your goal. There is more than one way to get on top of that mountain. You can climb it, you can walk it, you can hike it. However you get up there if the mountain is the goal, being on top of it like I said, hire a helicopter, but trust in the Lord and He will show you the path to accomplish what you want to be.
There is a motivational thing that says, “Push, push. Persist until something happens.” Don’t know who wrote it. My hat’s off to them. I’m not creative. Push, persist until something happens. Abide a little longer. Take another step. Be looking forward to that day when the wickedness is gone. Those people that are oppressing you, causing you to stumble, are trashing you and saying negative things, say one of these days they are going to be gone. I am right where I am supposed to be and I am not listening to them. I am cutting them out. They are not part of my life. I refuse to hear it, and I’m not even arguing with them. It’s over with them.
One of these days God promised in the beginning of this service in the Psalm I read, one of these days the wicked will be gone and because you waited just a little while longer, you will have quality, prosperity and peace. Is that what it says? No. It says you will have abundant prosperity, quality, and peace. Abundant, not just a little bit. You will have abundant because you waited just a little bit longer.
Glenwood Church, individuals of Glenwood church endure. Endure just a little longer, just a little bit more. Trust in your Lord and say I am here for the whole ride and He will get me to that mountain top. He will show me the way to get there. I might have to just walk around a mountain and watch it fall and when it’s down step on top of that pile of dirt that was up there at one time and say look, I’m standing on that mountaintop. I don’t know how He will do it, but He will do it. Trust in Him. Shall we pray?
Father, in the name of Jesus, all glory and honor to You. Thank You for the great and marvelous promises that You have given to us. Help us to stand on there. Encourage us to stand just a little bit longer. Help us to be people of positive faith and encouraging each other within this church, and encouraging this church also to move forward, to keep moving forward, and we want to see what You accomplish in our lives as individuals, and my life as an individual, and in this church’s life. God, what can You accomplish? Dazzle us. Make this an amazing day for me, an amazing day for the congregation, and Father, make it an amazing congregation for the world to see and to envy and then let us share with them about the amazingness of Your Son and what He has done. Encourage us, be with us, walk with us, guide us, and protect us. I ask it all in Jesus’ name. Amen.