A must read.Indeed I am moving forward ! Expectation Factor pt 4 Acts 12:1-11 When the disappointments of our past drives our expectations into retreat, our life will also follow suit. But today God is opening the door to the cell of disappointment; bar by bar the prison of disappointment is being dismantled. Dont Get Too Comfortable Peter being asleep in the prison shows that he had settled into his situation. But just as he had slipped into a sleep, God came onto the scene; an angel of the Lord struck him on his side. This was more than a gentle tap on the shoulder. That pain you have been feeling lately may be God trying to wake you up. Its Gods way of telling you, I have more for your life than what youve settled into. Hes disrupting your comfort to get you to move. The brook drying up was Gods way of getting Elijah to move forward (1 Kings 17:6-9). So dont get mad at the brook or the raven, just move on! Animal trainers were releasing lions back into the wild after being in captivity, but they refused to leave the cage. So the trainers decided to stop bringing meat to the cage until they would finally leave. You should thank God youre not comfortable with where you are. When you need to move on, there will be a unrest and discomfort in your soul over where you are. Something inside you will say, There must be more for my life. That feeling is a blessing; it’s God trying to move you out of your sleep in the cell. Now I know... Peter was being led out of the prison by the angel, but in his mind he didnt realize it was actually happening. He was free, but didnt realize it. Finally after being led out a good distance, Peter realized what had happened and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me...” (Acts 12:11 NKJV) The devil does not want you to know you are free. But you are actually more free than you realize. The chains and limitations you think are holding you down are not actually there. God has been leading you out of the cage and into the next level and you didnt even know it. The enemy will do anything he can to keep you blind to your freedom. But God is awakening you to whats before you today. It’s time to wake up to what God is doing. What if...? Sometimes, the what ifs of life imprison us more than actual challenges we face. When God came to Moses in the dessert after 40 years, he wasnt ready to leave (Ex. 4:13). Likewise, the woman protested Elijahs prophecy about having a child, because she was so afraid of being disappointed (2 Kings 4:14-17). Maybe you didnt choose to go into the dessert, but youre choosing to stay there. You may think youre running from your past, but youre actually running from your future. You may think youre running from failure, but youre actually running from any potential of success. In Genesis 45:26, Jacob could not believe his son was alive. Jacob had finally accepted that his son Joseph had died, and his dream had passed, but then a report came that it was alive and well. In disbelief, Jacobs heart stood still. Deep inside he wanted to believe what he was hearing, but he was afraid. He had seen so much that contradicted what he had hoped for his life, that it was too difficult to believe. We can’t let the fear of disappointment keep us from moving into what God has for us. Enough is Enough! There is another person inside you that is waiting to come out (2 Cor. 5:17; Gen 45:27-28). These last few weeks, God has been speaking to you until, like Jacob, you reach the point where you say, Its enough! Im ready to come out now. You have to decide when enough is enough. What God said to Jacob next (Gen 46:3) reveals that every step Jacob takes towards Egypt, he does so with fear in his heart. If you wait for your emotions to cooperate with Gods word to you, then you will never move a step. You dont have to wait for your fear to go away before you will move forward. You may actually never conquer your fear until you move towards it. God didnt say, Come out after you get your emotions in order. He just said Come out! The direction of your greatness is through the path of your fear - I will make you great there. What would you do if you werent afraid? Fear sometimes closes the door of possibility in our minds. But Genesis 46:1 shows us that Jacob came out and offered sacrifices of trust in spite of his fear. We must trust God more than we trust the narrative of fear we are telling ourselves. Do not be afraid, Jacob, for I will go down with you, and I will make you great there. I will make you great in the direction you were afraid to go in. Your potential is going to come out there. The promises I have spoken over your life are going to come out there. It is enough! Go out, and I will make you great there! As a prophetic declaration of this word, we then joined together as a congregation and sang Moving Forward’ by Jenzen Franklin.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:47:38 +0000
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