If ever you have the chance to visit the catacombs in Rome, those tunnels under the ancient city where many of the early Christians were buried, you

Transcription

1 1 If ever you have the chance to visit the catacombs in Rome, those tunnels under the ancient city where many of the early Christians were buried, you can see the symbols of faith on their tombs. Three common symbols appear: the dove, the fish, and the anchor. The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The Greek "fish, stand for the words Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior. The anchor came from the idea that, as Christians were going through difficult, insecure times, their hope in Christ anchored their souls. Today we will tackle insecurity, which is life without connection to a secure anchor. Peace is when we are joined to this anchor. Peace reflects security. We lock our doors at night, which gives us a measure of security, so we can have peace and sleep well. Several weeks ago we addressed anxiety. One could make a case that at the bottom of anxiety is a layer of insecurity. They are like a vicious tag team. In the wrestling ring of life one of the top tag teams we battle against is Anxiety and Insecurity. Maxwell Maltz, who wrote Psycho-Cybernetics, estimates that 95 percent of people in our society have a strong sense of inadequacy and corresponding insecurity. Lets consider a reliable and helpful anchor. Revelation 4:2-6 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. 5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like 1

2 2 crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. You may say Sean that is not an anchor, that is heaven. Yes! Heaven is our anchor. This is a very stimulating, creative environment. Very colorful, very powerful, very authoritative, very active, very diverse and very secure and very intense. Keep in mind this is not a movie with special effects, this is real. We got rainbows (promises), we got elders (church), we got lightning and thunder (God s Word), we have fires burning (Spirit), we got creatures looking all around (wisdom and insight). This is the literal throne of God. This throne is secure, I am not seeing very much insecurity in this place. It is where the activity of the Kingdom is launched. It is the Oval Office of the Universe. It is the power and command center of the cosmos. And it is not off limits to people. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. It is interesting now to consider Jesus prayer when he said Father, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is what we want. The will of God in heaven to be expressed here on earth. And specifically within our own throne room for life. We all have a throne room, a center, a place where our lives are launched from. God wants our throne to represent His throne. His throne is to be our throne. Peace is a throne issue. Notice what comes from the throne. Lightning and Thunder comes out from the throne. Power and intensity comes from this throne. Also notice the people and the sea. The people are sitting and the sea is calm. Sitting represents victory, generals and kings never sat until the war was won. This is a kingdom at 2

3 3 peace with all adversaries. The battle is over. That is why it says Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father. This is the model, the pattern for the environment of effective believers. This is an environment of calm power and a secure environment of the highest authority. God wants you to have a smooth sea as well as some lightning and thunder. Which I will get to next week, with are All In series. We will explore the topic of intensity. Heavenly Intensity! We are All In so we can go All Out for God. Before there is Heavenly Intensity there is Heavenly Peace. We are not used to seeing calm water in the bible stories here on earth. When we see the seas in scripture, they are stormy, agitated and destructive. Are you familiar with the violent parting of the Red Sea? The Egyptian army sure is. There are the raging floodwaters of the River Jordan in the Israelites crossing. The tempest waters of Jonah in the Mediterranean that sent him overboard. Jesus walking upon the waves of the sea of Galilee. Paul is shipwrecked in stormy seas of the Mediterranean in his missionary journeys. However when we see water in heaven it is peaceful. Even when there is no peace on earth, there is peace in heaven. It reflects which authority is at work. And it from the environment of the throne Jesus offers this promise: John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. What about your own personal throne room, what are the waters like surrounding you? 3

4 4 A place of peace where the sea is smooth like glass and clear as crystal or from a place of stormy or raging waters. Stormy waters come from contrary winds. There are no contrary winds in heaven, because the authority of God s peace reigns. There are contrary winds in our world that produce insecurity in our lives. Which are then revealed in stormy behavior. Insecurity has some common behaviors: aggressive behavior overly aggressive people and those who are toxic in competitive environments are insecure people. I saw a few insecure people at Hoopfest. addictive behavior repeated choices to medicate or escape insecure feelings with euphoric experiences result in unhealthy addictions and dependencies. affected behavior This is behavior produced or affected by insecurity. Someone who is overly shy or even overly extroverted might be responding to environments that stir up insecurity. It is behavior designed to protect themselves. criticism Someone who needs to tear someone else down to lift themselves up comes from insecurity. So, if we can move people out of insecurity and into greater security from God we will see less aggressive behavior, less addictive behavior, less artificial behavior and less criticism. Hey now! We are seeing God s will in heaven being done here on earth. Insecurity has some common sources: Criticism or condemnation from influential people when young Excessive change A crisis in life A culture wrapped up in image and outward performance A big contributor to insecurity is divorce, in particular for children: In her book Primal Loss, author Leila Miller explores the thoughts of 70 adults who watched their parents divorce. Here are some excerpts: I believe the divorce instilled a fear of abandonment in me with regard to all of my relationships. 4

5 5 I developed problems trusting people to be there for me, believing that when the going got rough, people would leave me. I never learned any skills for solving conflict in relationships. As much as I desperately craved intimacy and love, the closer someone came to me, the more terrified I was of getting hurt, or worse abandoned. I unconsciously sabotaged relationships, as I didn't know how to receive and accept real love Leila Miller summarizes, a parent might be able to totally start over with a new spouse but the child s world will forever be fundamentally split. For those effected by the insecurity of divorce, which is my story, God provides hope of a secure, peaceful center of His authority and power and love that overrides these layers of insecurity. The Apostle Peter, who was married, addresses a marriage situation and speaks specifically to wives about security. However this verse has also been speaking to me as a man. 1 Peter 3: 1-4 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God s sight. Peter addresses wives whose husbands do not have Christ on the throne of their life. Peter gives a strategy to win them, draw them, attract them. We learn the greatest beauty comes from the condition of our own throne room, the inner self. This is a wife with a calm sea with the associated advantage of influencing her husband for Jesus. The way to attract someone to God s throne is for God s throne to be active in you. She has a husband who is not connected to God s throne, but she is. Therefore the dynamics of heaven can now be interjected into her home. 5

6 6 This describes a secure wife, even when her husband doesn t share her core values. This could cause alarm and insecurity. But she has a quiet and gentle spirit. She has inward dignity. This is where her words come from, where her actions come from. It is a calm and deep sea. It is difficult to be gentle and quiet when insecure. When the inner self is at peace the outward ministry of attraction can commence. Peter also describes a type of behavior that is pure and respectful. An insecure person will be more apt to compromise their faith and an insecure person will be more apt to use external measures to attract attention. Believers who are anxious and insecure in their faith won t attract anyone to Christ. There is no power or authority in insecurity. Insecurity for a follower of Christ means something is off, the focus is off, we don t have the connection with God s throne room. 1. Connect to what is secure. Beauty is designed to attract. But it is not from hair, clothes or jewelry. That is not a secure source of beauty. If that is where our beauty comes from, it comes from the outer self rather than the inner self. And If that is all we have it is only short term attraction. Because the beauty is not very deep. Relationships simply based on outward looks, the outer self, are short term insecure relationships. There needs to be a deeper beauty and therefore a deeper attraction. These principles for security are for everyone, not just wives. I may not have used my hair or clothes or jewelry for my security, but I have used other less than secure sources. Athletics, performance, accomplishment, possessions, promotions as ways to feel secure. When we use what is in the natural to gain our security we become more of a natural person. That is not my goal. I want to be more of a supernatural person. 6

7 7 Yes I want to excel in my natural talents but not as my security but as a stewardship to create a bigger platform for Jesus to use. Instead of using your talents for your security, use them for launching lightning and thunder into this world for Jesus. There is a big difference. 2. The settledness of security is attractive. This isn t a wife who doesn t speak, it is a wife with a quiet spirit, not a quiet tongue. It does describe the tone of her words. It speaks of what you are connected to. So the words are peaceful and come from a secure place. True peace, from spiritual authority doesn t need words to send a message. Actually the absence of words can be the message. I find much of my security is reflected not in the words I use, but many times the words I don t use. 3. Authority in the inner self pleases God. A calm presence is of great worth to God. He made us to be powerful and calm at the same time. The more secure we are the more He is working in our lives. I believe the throne room of our lives can either represent the seas of the world or the seas of heaven. The throne of our life determines our capacity to regulate agitation. Proverbs 14:30 A heart at peace gives life to the body. A home at peace gives life to it s members. A spouse at peace give life to their marriage. Breaking through insecurity will allow you to do the things you could do and should do. Is there something you could and should be doing but insecurity is holding you back. You should do it but you wont do it. That grieves God s heart. Illust. Breaking through insecurity So many of us are seeking to manage the stormy seas of our inner lives we don t have the freedom, the energy, the release to embrace our mission with authority, let alone intensity. Relaxed intensity comes from a finished work on the cross and empty tomb. This allows me to sit down. The war is over. 7

8 8 The intensity now comes from love and allows me to engage all my resources to share this love. I am not intense because something is missing, I am intense because everything is supplied. The church needs to be a place of healing so we can also be a place of mission. When we lack peace, we are restricted in mission. We can have great vision and methods for ministry, but if everyone is overly anxious and insecure or overbooked it is difficult to launch ministry to other, including our family members. 8