Sermon - I am, I can, and I will part 1 from Clark Baptist Church June 16, 2013

Message title:  I am, I can, I will

 ME (orientation): 

I can think back over the years in my life and see I did not always let God be in control. Those teenage years that I spent doing what I wanted regardless of what anyone said. Those early adult years going out and partying. Even the first few years of our married life was lived without God in control.

I spent many years doing many things in life. Seemed like I was always doing something new but from a spiritual perspective I was running in circles.

Sadly even the first few years after I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior it was more of the same, I was spinning in circles. I was a Christian but I still controlled everything. It was not until I really had a need in my life that I began the process of letting God control things. It was only then that Jesus started showing me the path He had laid before me, it was then that God showed me that there was a better way. His Way!

WE (identification):

Is this something you can relate to?

Has there been a time in your left that spiritually you seem to be spinning in circles? You may not have a relationship with God; you may not be growing in your faith and as a Christian. Sometimes it feels like you are spinning your wheels and not getting any further down the road.

This is not what God wants for us. He wants us to stop running in circles and to find the path that He has laid for us. He is waiting on you to make that initial step in the right direction.

GOD (illumination):

In the book of Deuteronomy we find the nation of Israel after their remarkable escape from Egypt. They have spent the better part of 40 years wandering the wilderness getting nowhere. They were walking in circles.

Deuteronomy 2:1-3

“Then we turned back and headed for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, as the Lord had told me, and we traveled around the hill country of Seir for many days. ² The Lord then said to me, ³ ‘You’ve been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north,”

After all this time, God was asking the nation of Israel some simple questions. “Are you tired of walking in circles, do you want to see what I have in store for you? Are you ready for my blessing?”

Basically God was telling them enough of this wandering, I have something better for you. All it will take is for you to follow my lead. Take that step in faith! I have a new place set out just for you, a new path that you are to walk on, it is time for a change of scenery.

God was telling the nation of Israel that the promise land is waiting for you! Your faith has made you ready.

Can you imagine being in there shoes? As people today we would tend to get tired of the same old place, same food, and the lack of guidance in 40 days. The thought of it taking 40 years to be ready for what God wants to show us is difficult to understand.

Sadly each of us allow ourselves to get in a rut and to continue doing the same thing over and over. This is a problem for us both physically and spiritually.

Like the nation of Israel we never want to take that step in faith, we drag our feet when it comes to making changes in our lives. We, just like the nation of Israel, never realize that accepting and making changes in our lives is necessary. If we want to experience all that God has in store for us, we need to change, we need to let God lead.

For 40 years the nation of Israel was saying I’m not going to change, I can’t it is too hard, and I won’t do what is needed. Sadly there are people today who still respond to God that way, each of us probably have aspects of our lives where we respond in the same way.

People are reluctant to make changes in their lives, which keeps them from experiencing all of the blessings that God has given them. Sometimes those blessings are right around the corner and all we have to do is turn at that corner instead of continuing on as we have been.

God does not want to hear I’m not, I can’t, or I won’t. What he wants from us is I am doing what you want me to do, I can accomplish it, and I will take that step in faith.

God was telling the nation of Israel that ‘you have been in this place for long enough’. It is time for a change. He is telling each of us the same thing every time He wants us to grow and go.

What holds us back? Finances, health, family situations, or personal life stuff, God is willing to take us past it and into a life of blessings.

Think about it for a moment. Jesus has already taken care of everything for us. We know that through His death on the cross and His resurrection nothing is impossible. He has already been victorious over death and every other challenge before us.

There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that can stand up to what He did, when He died on the cross and rose again nothing can compare.

Are you ready to stop walking in circles? Are you ready for a change in your life? Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Are you willing to stay I Am, I can, and I will?

The first step for each of us to take, regardless of where we are in our faith journey with Jesus is to say ‘I am ready to make the changes necessary in my life, to follow where Jesus guides!’

I Am!

Now we may be feeling unworthy of God’s blessing in our lives, we may have been told by others that we are not going to succeed; we may wonder what we have to offer. Can I tell you something, these are the lies of the devil. He wants us to think we are nothing, he wants us to listen to people not God, and he wants us to doubt ourselves. Simply put, Satan wants us to say I can’t do it.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

“¹¹ For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

These verses show us that whatever the devil is telling us is a lie. God already has plans for us that far exceed what the devil says we are capable of.

God has plans for each of us. Each of us can probably come up with several examples in our own lives where we had made plans for something. Whether it was throwing a birthday party for a kid, planning some social event, maybe even plans on how to complete a project at work. Each of these plans took thought, preparation, and follow through for them to be successful.

There is a lot to making plans. Verse 11 is telling us that God has made plans for each one of us. God has thought out, made preparations, and has the steps laid out for His plans to be successful.

God has worked long and hard to develop your future blessings potential. After all His plans are for our own good to give you a future and hope.

As people who want to know God better, we need to overcome any fear or doubts and accept what we are being told in Jeremiah 29:11. God has blessed plans for our lives. His words tell us, it is true, so our only course of action is to accept and embrace the blessings He has for us.

God wants to bless you abundantly, and most of time the issue lies with us not wanting to act out in faith. Think about how much we are missing if we let something in our lives prevent us from drawing close to God.

God wants to give us hope and a future, don’t let anything interfere with that. Say proudly, I Am! Step forward and accept Jesus’ victory over death and evil. If you are not seeing those blessings in your life, it is time to figure out what you are allowing to block them. It cannot be God since He made the plans; it is something in your life that is interfering. Step out in faith and say I Am, and remember that since God’s has developed the plans it is easy to come to the next step and say ‘I Can”

Philippians 4:13

“¹³ I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

If we believe in Jesus Christ we can do all things through Jesus. With faith in Jesus each one of us are capable of doing so much more than we let ourselves do.

The question is what is holding us back? Why do we not trust in the things of God as much as we do in those of man?

Man has done a lot of things, like putting a man on the moon, the creation of life saving medical care and prescriptions, and so much more. Does these great things compare to what God can do?

Should we accept the things man has done and question those of God?

The movie Soul Surfer is about a young girl who was on the verge of becoming a professional surfer until she was attacked by a shark and lost one of her arms. To begin with, this had a huge impact on her ability to compete as a surfer and she actually gave up and did not trust in God to work in her life.

Her Father reminded her of this verse and the meaning it has for our lives. That and a missions trip allowed her to get away from everything for awhile and allowed her to see that through God all things are possible. Through her dependence on God and hard work she realized that she was able to surf again and even compete.

When asked if she would change anything about what happened to her, she plainly stated that through her troubles she was able to embrace more people than she would have been able to with 2 arms. She learned the lesson of I Am, and I Can by trusting in “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

YOU (application): 

My hope is that each one of us can hold onto that verse. No matter what we are going through. It is only through our faith in Jesus that we can accomplish what He has planned for us.

Have faith by saying I am going to follow Jesus and His plans for your life and follow it with an I Can attitude and do not be afraid to act on those plans.

To begin this journey you need to have a relationship with Jesus. If you do not know Him, I invite you to come up and pray with me during our final song. If you feel God calling you to Him, please come forward.

Let’s Pray!

Check back next week for the conclusion!

Blessings,

Robert