Part 31: UNASHAMED, UNDAUNTED and UNSTOPPABLE! Part 14 Living in the Dimension Beyond Average

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1 Part 31: UNASHAMED, UNDAUNTED and UNSTOPPABLE! Text: Acts 2:42 (NKJV) - And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Part 14 Living in the Dimension Beyond Average A. Some people have a knack for saying what needs to be said. Here are a few more T-shirts that really get their message across in just a few words. 1. Well...another day has passed and I didn't use algebra once. 2. Dear math, I'm not a therapist. Please solve your own problems. 3. If I had $.50 for every math test I passed, I would have $ Education is important, but exercise is importanter. 5. Hopefully, you are moving up in life. I saw this on a T-shirt the other day: Actor, with a slash canceling it; Singer, slash; Musician, slash, Director, slash; Writer, slash; and finally Waiter (no slash). 6. Like these T-shirts, my subject today also gets its point across in just a few words, though I ll need the remainder of my time to unpack its meaning. My subject is: Position Yourself B. Let me begin, as I often do, by saying the Bible is the most absolutely amazing book there is! 1. It contains the principles you need to turn an average life into an incredible adventure. Living by its principles will produce such growth and success in every area of your life, others will want what they see in you. 2. Over the last few months, we ve looked at things believers did in Acts 2 that blessed and fulfilled their lives. As a result, they became the envy of others who lived at the time.

2 a. Things such as: unity, the teachings of the apostles, fellowship, communion, reverence of God, supernatural demonstrations of God s power, faithfulness in attending church, and the series we just concluded, practicing the Presence of God. b. This is how believers experienced the extraordinary favor of God. c. They were so blessed, people flocked to the church to be saved and to also experience what these Christians had! 3. We've covered most of what contributed to their enjoyment of life in the dimension beyond average. Let s talk about another thing they did that caused them to be so blessed. 4. But first, have you ever felt out of position in life? a. Like a receiver who was supposed to cut right, but you cut left; God, the divine quarterback, threw the pass, your destiny, right where you were supposed to be but you were out of position. b. Or, have you ever felt like you were waiting for your ship to come in, only to learn you should have been at the airport? c. Or, someone said, Exercise, and you thought they said, Extra fries? 5. You can literally be out of position to be blessed, and that can keep you from obtaining the kind of life you want to live. a. You can be out of position for God to bless your finances or out of position for Him to bless your marriage or relationships. b. You can literally be positioned incorrectly and unable to receive a breakthrough when you need one. 6. Thankfully, there is a way to fix this. Would you like to know how to position yourself to receive God s favor and to prosper? C. Today, let s talk about the extraordinary effect of prayer upon your life. 1. You may think it's not necessary to teach on this subject. But I've observed in my many years of speaking in different places that very few believers seem to understand the strategic importance of prayer in our lives.

3 2. To many people, prayer is boring and unexciting, much like watching paint dry. But if you ever learn how strategic prayer can be, it will be one of the most exciting things in your life. 3. Let me show you why that is so. Let's also look at some of the other things the disciples did to strategically position the early believers for God to bless them. 4. Clearly, something happened that caused the church to explode with growth. a. Acts 2:46, 47 (NKJV) - So continuing daily...[47] praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. 5. A quick point about prayer and practicing the Presence of God. If they were praying daily, it seems they must not have been asking God for things or to fix their problems, as many consider to be the purpose for prayer. 6. Obviously, since we live in a broken world, believers have problems. a. But a person would have to be really miserable and unlucky to constantly be asking God to bail them out, right? b. I can see maybe one or two people in that position, but the whole church? The unsaved would have run as far in the opposite direction as possible and said, "Whatever those folks have, I sure don't want it to rub off on me!" 7. If everyone in the church were in such bad shape that they needed to constantly plead for God s help, no one would have ever joined! It would have died out in the first century. 8. Obviously, praying was more about relationship and talking with God as their best friend than constantly asking for help or for things. a. The Bible actually bears that out, for the word translated here for prayer actually meant worship. b. They were in awe of God and His goodness and were constantly telling Him how wonderful He is, not just asking for things all the

4 time. They were doing what Paul would later describe as praying without ceasing. c. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV) - Pray without ceasing. 9. Christians have been led to believe that praying is what we do when we're confronted with needs beyond our control or problems so big we can t fix them. a. As a result, most believers do not pray very much because most of us have everything we need! b. We would like a pay raise or a newer model car and a bigger house, but most of us are doing pretty well, right? That's especially true if we compare our living standards with believers in other parts of the world. 10. Facts from a few places where I minister in Africa: a. In Ghana, the average per capita income is $1,340 per year b. In Senegal, the average income per year is less than $1,093 c. In Tanzania, the average income is $1,518 per year d. In Kenya, the average worker earns $1,160 per year e. The average Ugandan would have to work for 2 1/2 years to earn what the average citizen in the UK earns in a week. f. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the average income is $422 yearly. g. Americans on welfare are better off than most middle-class people in many countries of the world where I minister. 11. We probably don t realize how blessed we are. If prayer were only about meeting our needs, the average American would hardly ever need to pray. a. If prayer were only about asking for help or for things, the average person in church today probably wouldn t be motivated to pray. D. Something changed positionally for first century believers in the eyes of those in Jerusalem and that s what I want to talk about.

5 1. People didn't run in the opposite direction from the church. Instead they ran to it to become Christians! a. The unsaved began to admire early believers so much, they wanted what they had. b. The Bible says the number of believers multiplied until there were multitudes of Christians! 2. This emphasizes an important Kingdom principle: People won't like your God until they're first attracted to you. They won t buy what you're selling if you are unlikeable and repulsive. 3. By praying and doing other strategic things Scripture mentions, whether they realized it or not, the early disciples were positioning themselves for the breakthroughs that followed. 4. That's why these passages are so exciting. They contain insights into some of the greatest keys that exist for correctly positioning your life. E. We've spent a lot of time in Acts 2, so perhaps I can help you better understand how this repositioning occurred in the early church. 1. Let me take you to other places in Scripture where God helped people position themselves correctly. Even in the Old Testament era, God has always wanted to position us to receive His best Chronicles 20:14-17 (NKJV) - Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. [15] And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. [16] Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. [17] You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.

6 F. In the Kingdom of God, positioning yourself to be blessed can mean the difference between whether or not you're blessed, promoted, healed, or receive any of the other things God has promised. 1. Most of us are well acquainted with the two great promises found in the verses from 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. a. We love what God said when He told Jehoshaphat the battle was not theirs but the Lord's, and that they should stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. b. Sandwiched between the incredible reassurances God gave Jehoshaphat and Judah in 2 Chronicles 20 is this extraordinarily important instruction: God said to Judah, Position yourself! c. The King James Version says, "set yourselves." This is extremely insightful because we learn they had to do their part in positioning themselves before God could do His part! 2. This is truly revelation because many believers have begun to think that all they have to do is pray, claim the promises of God, and then sit back and watch God take care of everything. a. Do I need to tell you that it doesn't work that way? Prayer is not an override for laziness or disobedience. b. God wants to act on our behalf, but there are various conditions we must meet before He can act. These are the premises required before the promises can be given. 3. We get all excited about the over 7,000 promises of God in the Bible, but how many of us overlook these premises that are an important and necessary requirement before the fulfillment of the promise? God s part is fulfilling the promise. 4. Premise: from an old French word that means the proposition set before. It means a pre-existing given. In law, a basis, stated or assumed, on which reasoning proceeds. 5. We have over 7,000 promises in God s Word that tell us what God desires for our lives.

7 a. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV) - For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. b. Promise: Strong s Concordance says it means a divine assurance of good. 6. But to receive these promises, we must meet the premise, or the step we must take. It's the part we're required to do. Did you know that 1,500 of the 7,000 promises literally have the word if in them. The others imply the same thing as well. For example, look at what God told Abraham: a. Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV) - Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your family And from your father s house, To a land that I will show you. [2] I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. b. The promise was that God would bless Abram and make him a great nation, that God would also make him to be a blessing, that He would bless those who blessed Abram while cursing those who cursed him, and that all families of the earth would be blessed in him. c. The premise to receive the promise was that Abram had to leave his family, his nation, his father s house, and, in faith, go to the land God would show him. God was asking him to leave anything that would hold him back and to step out in faith. 7. Another premise is found in Deuteronomy 28:1 (NKJV) - Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, a. The promise is found in Deuteronomy 28:1b-9 (NKJV): that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. [2] And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: [3] "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. [4]

8 "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. [5] "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. [6] "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. [7] "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. [8] "The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. [9] The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 8. Isaiah 1:19-20 (NKJV) - If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land. a. The first part of verse 19, "If you are willing and obedient," is the premise to the second part of the verse, which is the promise. b. The promise says, "You shall eat the good of the land." To receive the promise, you must meet the premise: be willing and obedient. 9. Here's another example of a promise and its premise. a. Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV) - Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. b. Jesus is saying that asking, seeking, and knocking are the premises to receiving, finding, and to new doors being opened to you. c. Matthew 17:20 (NKJV) - Jesus said... I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. d. If you have faith is the premise. You can pray and God will move mountains is the promise.

9 e. Revelation 3:20 (NKJV) - Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. f. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door" is the premise. The promise is, "I will come in and dine with him, and he with me." What must be inferred is that if one doesn t open the door, Christ will not enter. 10. The Bible is full of these. Clearly the premises are all about positioning to receive the 7,000 promises in the Bible. 11. Even the promise of salvation has a premise that must be met. Look at John 3:16 (NKJV) - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. a. The promise is, God gave His only begotten Son that you would not perish but have everlasting life. b. The premise is that you must believe in Him. G. If you ask yourself why God gave us His Word, you realize clearly He had a reason. 1. What was that reason? Think about it. He gave us His Word for the specific purpose of enabling us to position ourselves to be blessed. 2. Someone might say He gave us His Word that we could be saved. But isn t that being positioned to enjoy the greatest blessing of all, which is to have relationship with God? Everything in the Bible is designed to help us position ourselves. 3. The real question is why would God care how we are positioned and whether or not we are blessed? He wants to position us correctly for two reasons. a. First, He loves us more than we can possibly imagine. b. Second, when we are positioned correctly and become all we can be, we become living advertisements for the goodness of God, which draws others to Him.

10 4. Look at the many ways the Bible helps position us: a. We were lost, but now, because of Him, we are found. b. We are born again and no longer strangers to God. c. And talk about being positioned the right way, we have even been adopted into the family of God as His own sons and daughters! 5. Scripture can also position our personal relationships to be blessed. a. Its principles will heal broken marriages and damaged relationships. b. They will even cause you to be positioned in such a way that your worst enemies will become your supporters. c. They will even position you to grow financially. Everyone wants to be blessed. Unfortunately, many people aren t willing to fulfill the premise so they can receive the promise of financial prosperity. Listen to what God said. d. Malachi 3:10 (NKJV) - Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, Says the Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. e. The premise is that we must bring all of God s tithe to the storehouse. The promise is that He will then open the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing there will not be room enough to receive it. 6. At the same time, the following verses tell us He will rebuke the devourer that keeps robbing you of what you have worked so hard to earn. a. He will leave handfuls on purpose for you, just as Boaz instructed the young men to do for Ruth. b. Demon scare prank during giving of tithe and offering: (:07- :16,:45-: Living by Scripture can put you in such a position that even your adversities and challenges will become the means of your promotion.

11 a. We live in a broken world. There is no way to avoid opposition. But if you live by the Bible's teachings, God will position you to be the head and not the tail, to be above and not beneath. b. He will cause all things to work for your good. If you live by the truths of God s Word and obey the premises, God will see to it that your obstacles become the very steps that lead to your elevation. 8. Remember the cross of Christ? By killing Jesus, the devil actually thought it was game over for our side. He thought he had destroyed any hope for our salvation. But God positioned the cross to become the means of our deliverance. However, you must fulfill the premise for God to fulfill the promise. H. The teachings of the Bible help position us correctly by doing two very important things which cannot be overemphasized. 1. First, the Scriptures confront us and point out where our thinking has been incorrectly programmed with the principles of this fallen world. 2. Second, the Scriptures will help us correctly position ourselves by providing us with keys to enable us to unlock the next dimension of favor and blessing. a. Keys open doors that would otherwise be locked and inaccessible. b. Of course, the keys I m referring to are actually principles. Acts 2 contains a number of these keys. 3. Without correcting and reeducating our thoughts, we will remain out of position to be blessed. That s why you should never resist the Word of God when it challenges your beliefs. 4. God knows what some of us have not yet learned: There is nothing in this world as powerful as a changed mind! a. You can change jobs, change your neighborhood, change your hair style, or change your dietary habits. b. You can even change the way you dress, your car, and anything else in your life; but nothing even comes close to the power of a changed mind.

12 c. Nothing will affect your life as much as a changed mind. 5. Some people do not want their thinking to be changed. They resist teaching. a. They will dial you out when certain topics in Scripture come up. Then they wonder why things never get better but rather keep getting worse. b. People who will not allow their thinking to be challenged condemn themselves to staying in the shallow end of the pool. 6. Before we came to Christ, the only principles we knew were those of a fallen kingdom and principles that lead to loss. If you don t exchange those for the truths in God s Word, you will continue to suffer losses. a. The hemorrhaging doesn t end. You'll go from one crisis to another. b. The keys you find in Scripture will open closed dimensions by infusing your thinking with wisdom that leads to increase and promotion. c. Any educator can tell you that learning can be life-changing. It can elevate your thinking to levels you didn t know existed. d. It provides keys that open new dimensions in your life that are inaccessible without them. 7. If we do not have access to knowledge, we cannot be empowered to experience promotion and elevation. That's why we need the Word of God. As I've said so many times, you cannot get too much of the Word. You can get too little, but not too much. The Word is amazing. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to get all they possibly can. 8. Psalm 138:2 (NKJV) - For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. a. This is an amazing verse. We know that a person's name stands for who they are and what they represent. b. There is power in the name of Jesus to save and to heal, to answer prayer, and in fact, to do anything God has promised. c. We are rightly excited about the power in the name of Jesus. But do you know what He elevates above His name? His Word!

13 d. That's how powerful the principles are in His Word. They are magnified above His name! e. This verse reveals how important the keys found in His Word are to us. f. You can claim something all day long in His name, but if you aren't aligning your life with the principles of His Word, the door will remain locked, and you will be disappointed. 9. The Word of God helps position us by confronting where our thinking has been programmed with the principles (keys) to loss. a. It then positions us correctly by downloading the new software of the principles of the Kingdom of God in our hearts and minds, enabling us to unlock new dimensions of life previously beyond our reach. b. In other words, the Bible changes the keys from the dimension of loss to the dimension of blessings and favor. I. Communion 1. 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 (NKJV) For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; [24] and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. [25] In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. [27] Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. [28] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. [30] For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. [31] For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

14 [32] But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.