STAND OUT- SESSION FIVE SKIN IN THE GAME Exodus 8:23 (NLT) I will make a clear distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow. (in the midst of Pharaoh refusing to let Gods people go) Last Week: We encouraged you to Step In in order to Stand Out. The story of Joshua and his leaders stepping into the Jordan. Once they stepped in, the waters began to part and heap up creating a dry path about 30 miles wide. It spanned from Zarethan near a city called Adam (Hebrew: tribulation & perplexity) to the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth where there is no life form): (Joshua 3) Do you think it coincidental that our great God cut a path between a place whose name is translated tribulation & perplexity and the lowest point of elevation on the planet to bring his people into the Promise Land? He is not intimidated by your perplexing circumstances or your low places. HE WILL BRING YOU THROUGH IT to get you to THE NEXT BEST PLACE AND PLAN he has for you. (believe again, breath again, live again see your way out, release and forgive yourself, love yourself) Your Promise Land is not limited to a geographical spot on the planet, it is Gods NEXT BEST PLACE, PLAN and PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE-PROMISE is always Good but it will cost you something. STAND OUT: SKIN IN THE GAME I. INTRODUCTION: SKIN IN THE GAME The phrase Skin in the Game is as old as I can remember and is common as it relates sports, business and life. It means to demonstrate sincerity in your intentions, your movement, your actions, your commitment (You are serious) by offering or investing something of value into the transaction. In my business, when a buyer puts cash with his contract to purchase a property, we call it earnest money or skin in the game and it is intended to demonstrate their serious intent to buy. If the buyer doesn t follow through on their commitment, they forfeit their earnest money or skin in the game in otherwords they lose it all. We live among a generation that somehow is convinced that the world owes them something for nothing in exchange 1
We live in a world where COMMITMENT is a dirty word. People are so uncommitted till their own heart has lost confidence in their word. Nothing invested, but everything expected In the kingdom we are expected to remain WILLING offer something of value and remain vulnerability and in return we can expect God s best I came to tell you this morning that if you are going to be serious about Standing Out- it will require you put some Skin in the Game Requires Vulnerability: (Defenselessness, exposure, voluntary weakness) is not popular. The opposite is true. Society says Resistance is a sign of power. Don t cry, never let them see you sweat. The deception is that by pretending to be invincible, somehow makes it true. o You will either bow down voluntarily or involuntarily. (Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess Bow in honor now, or bow in shame later Requires Exposure of the private places of your life: Our secrets are not worth our soul. He wants total access. o God is not pleased with our choosing private loyalty to our flesh while offering disingenuous public presentations that cost us nothing. o This kind of insincere offering will cost you to forfeit Promises, Plans & Purposes o Unconditional Surrender to God is the ultimate posture of preparation to possess the promises, plans and purposes of God for your life o SURRENDER IS YOU POWER POSITION!! (James 4: 7 KJV.. Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee) o Surrender to God is my best defense to RESIST the devil Often Requires emotional Pain, Discomfort and Inconvenience: for some it is: o A relationship o Sleep o Forgiveness o Movement, change of heart II. History of God s People: And the demand that they surrender Skin in the game a. Though it didn t originate with them, Circumcision was a sign of covenant for the Jews, same language when he said the rainbow would be a sign of covenant: i. A separating sign of peculiar destiny, inheritance and of peculiar duties and privileges. ii. Done on the 8th day. (God is intentional 4000 yrs ago, the command was to do it on the 8th day happens to be the day of highest level of vitamin K in a new born) iii. A shot of vitamin K to aid the blood coagulation process within the first few hours of birth b. Types and shadows in the OT of spiritual principles & godly strategies in the NT 2
i. There is a connection between the number 8 and the resurrection of Christ it is the value of the final letter of the Greek alphabet OMEGA (The new beginning marked by the Resurrection of Christ) ii. Jesus = 888 & The Salvation of Our God iii. Shedding of blood, remission of sin 1. SKIN IN THE GAME- IS A MESSAGE OF SURRENDER Joshua 5:2 3 (NLT) At that time the LORD told Joshua, Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites. 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. They had come through the wilderness. During their time of wandering, they had forsaken the commandment to circumcise their sons Just like you and I, When we are wandering, covenant is forsaken because of distraction, discouragement, disobedience, began with unbelief o Its not that we don t know what to do, it is that we would rather live like we don t know what to do. Wandering may be a sign of your refusal to surrender. (stagnant, low productivity, slow progress) They were on the precipice of God delivering Big on a Promise and one of the prerequisites was they had to cut away the flesh. a. The Heart of the Matter- Jeremiah 4:4 (KJV) Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. What Promises in your life are being postponed because you refuse to Circumcise Your Heart? The Proper Perspective of Promise will produce a resolve that nothing else is more important - b. Flesh Cannot Inherit- Romans 8:7 8 (KJV) because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. c. Sinful flesh will disqualify you for promise d. Carnality diminishes the influence of your spirituality with God and man e. The Foreskins of the heart. Represents Layers of flesh that makes it impossible to please God can you see how intentional God is? f. God knew how to get to the heart of the people, by getting the attention and speaking a language the men understood. They were responsible to ensure their sons were KEEPERS OF COVENANT 3
Romans 2:28 29 (NLT) For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise* from God, not from people. a. We keep covenant by keeping our heart right with God. Is your heart right today? Colossians 2:11 (NLT) When you came to Christ, you were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision the cutting away of your sinful nature. What is God saying to you and me? Our surrender to the process of circumcision of the heart is the THE GATEWAY TO OUR INHERITANCE 4 2. SKIN IN THE GAME IS A MESSAGE OF REST- Joshua 5:8-10 (NLT) After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed. Then the LORD said to Joshua, Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt. So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. o Look at God! Colossians speaks of this spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of sinful nature and then we can receive the fullness of Salvation (Passover) o Come unto me, all that are weary. I will give you REST. Rest is a place of rejuvenation, recovery, renewal, REVELATION Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. Close: 3. SKIN IN THE GAME IS A MESSAGE OF OBEDIENCE Joshua 5:11 12 (NLT) The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. 12 No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan. God wants to do a new thing in you and for you The next best place and plan He has for you is meant to expand your revelation of who He Is. (they now are eating from the land, when they had been eating manna for 40yrs.)
2 Samuel 24:24 (NLT) But the king replied to Araunah, No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing. So David paid him fifty pieces of silver* for the threshing floor and the oxen. What is God saying to you and me? Are you willing to put skin in the game in exchange for THE NEXT BEST PLACE, PLAN AND PURPOSE That I have for you? What are you holding on to and refusing to surrender and causing you UNREST? Following Christ should cost you something. He wants all of you. He wants your heart. STEP UP and surrender your HEART today. There is always a deeper level of intimacy and surrender that the Lord is calling you to When was the last time you answered his CALL TO COME DEEPER 5