Part 9: FULL! Text: Philippians 4:12-13 (NKJV) - I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. [13] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Part 7 Father Knows Best How We Can Prosper! Text: Matthew 7:9-11 (NLT) - You parents if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? [10] Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! [11] So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. A. The Word of God is incredibly profound and filled with wisdom beyond our ability to exhaust. 1. Because that is true, when I teach a series, I like to approach a subject from several different perspectives. 2. Having just completed Father Knows Best...How We Can Prosper, today we will begin a new series of Father Knows Best entitled:
Part 1 The Blessing of Being Empty! Text: Philippians 4:12 (NKJV) -...I have learned...to be hungry. B. One of the most important ways to be full is first learning to be empty. 1. Being empty is an integral part of experiencing fullness. 2. When I think about God, everything about Him overwhelms me. But I haven t always known how to process this incredible revelation. 3. Only in the last 24 years have I come to understand His ways. But first, I had to go through some things. My experience with a heart anomaly in 1994 not only made me hungry, it caused God s Word to come alive like never before. 4. If I m going through a process, I d much rather consider how wonderful He is than the size of my problems. 5. I marvel at the wisdom of our awesome, omniscient Creator. Everything He made is so extraordinary, I just love to think about great He is. 6. For example, the size of the universe staggers the imagination! As close as can be determined, just a portion of the Andromeda Galaxy (the nearest galaxy to our own Milky Way), contains about 1 trillion stars. a. The Hubble telescope can see about 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. Only God knows how many more there actually are! b. (The size of the universe: https://youtu.be/fs-3diqnnaq). c. Just this fraction of the galaxy amazes me. The next time you look at the stars, make an open fist with the opening about the size of a quarter and then point in any direction toward the sky. Congratulations! You ve just located about 10,000 galaxies! 7. Remember: this is just a fraction of one galaxy and there are about 2 trillion more galaxies in the observable universe, with an average of at least 100 million stars in each one!
a. By the way, there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the planet earth. God knew what He was saying when He promised to multiply Abraham s seed more than the stars in the heavens or the sand by the sea. b. Scientists also believe that beyond the observable universe...are you ready for this..at least 150 sextillion more galaxies (that s 150 followed by 21 zeros), or 150,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 more galaxies. c. But what is even more astonishing is that our incredible God, who can create and manage what you just saw, still has time to be interested in you and me! d. Matthew 10:29-31 (NLT) - What is the price of two sparrows one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. [30] And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. [31] So don t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. 8. The attention God gives to each of us is absolutely astonishing! Our bodies, that were created to function in a certain way, are incredible marvels of creation that He designed Himself. C. Hunger is a marvel of divine engineering. 1. Science tells us that when we haven t eaten, the brain recognizes the need for nourishment and releases a hormone called ghrelin. This hormone tells your stomach muscles to contract, which produces the uncomfortable sensation that we call hunger. 2. Hunger can be an uncomfortable experience. As every parent knows, when a small child is hungry, they refuse to stop crying. 3. In children, as well as adults, inadequate nutrition can cause weakness, irritability and a decreased capacity to focus and learn. 4. During pregnancy or before a child reaches the age of two, malnutrition can result in permanent problems that affect both physical and mental development.
5. For many families, the search for food is a daily struggle. The World Food Program estimates that 795,000,000 people live with chronic hunger. a. About one of nine persons do not have enough food to live a healthy, active life. b. It is further estimated that 300,000 children go to bed hungry every night and 8,000 children under age five die every day from malnutrition. 6. One thing is sure: when you re really hungry, you can t keep from thinking about it. a. Hunger is a constant, nagging sensation and persistent knock on the door that won t go away. b. Hunger will interrupt whatever you re doing, no matter how hard you try to ignore it. c. Even if you try to refocus your thoughts, hunger won t let you do it. Pay attention to me! it keeps demanding. 7. Most of us try to avoid ever being hungry. You can usually tell when that happens by looking in the mirror or stepping on the scales. Fortunately, we are blessed to live in a country where, as a rule, most of us are seldom hungry unless we choose to do so. 8. Studies indicate that in the U.S., a terribly wasteful amount of food, actually 40%, is thrown away. a. In spite of living in a blessed nation, many of us are unaware of the fact that one of five children in America are at risk of hunger. b. To combat hunger, over 20 million children receive free or reduced price lunches. c. One in seven people in our nation, nearly half of them children, are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). D. Hunger isn t always a bad thing! 1. In spite of the tragedy of hunger in a nation of plenty and the developmental issues caused by malnutrition, the right kind of hunger can change your life!
2. The truth is, unless you become hungry for things other than mere food, your life will never become distinguished or set apart from others. 3. Because it contains some of the most significant life principles you could ever discover, Jesus Sermon on the Mount is considered one of the most remarkable discourses ever spoken or written. a. Like all the truths in the Word of God, if these principles are applied, it can radically and positively transform your thinking. b. One of the most important principles ever discovered is this: c. Matthew 5:6 (NKJV) - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 4. Jesus talked about a different kind of hunger than the physical desire for nourishment. The hunger for God and righteousness is one of the deepest needs of a human being. a. Because you were made in God s image and likeness, His greatness resides within you. That means you were created to excel in whatever you do and to be successful in life. b. And you were also created to know God and to have a relationship with Him. For that reason, success alone will never satisfy. Without God, all is meaningless and unworkable. 5. Many spend their entire life pursuing their dream. Yet when they become very successful, they realize how empty and disappointed they are with everything, including themselves. a. Then they try something else and become successful, only to discover that they are even more empty. b. The problem is they failed to understand the deep, profound need to know God and be in relationship with Him. c. They keep making the same mistakes over and over, never finding the one thing that makes everything meaningful. They are like... 6. Joke: Cajuns in a Plane Crash Boudreaux and Thibodeaux hired a pilot to take them way back into the Alaskan wilderness to hunt. When the pilot returned, he saw that they had each bagged a bear, a moose and a deer.
The pilot said, Wow!! That s amazing! The only problem is, this plane won t carry six animals, two hunters and the pilot. You ll have to leave two of them here. Unwilling to leave their game, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux both protested, We got six animals on de plane last year. The pilot finally gave in, and just five minutes after takeoff the plane crashed into the forest. Feeling lucky to be alive, Boudreaux looked at Thibodeaux and asked, Any idea where we are? Yeah, Boud. We right about where de plane went down lass year. E. The quest for righteousness and to know God is reserved for those who become hungry enough to seek Him. 1. Matthew 7:7 (NKJV) - Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. a. The tense of the verbs ask, seek and knock, are important. It doesn t mean to simply ask, seek, or knock, and then move on. It means: to ask and keep on asking, to seek and keep on seeking, and to knock and keep on knocking. b. These are not the actions of someone who is content and at ease in life; it s the behavior of a hungry person. In fact, they are so hungry, they refuse to be refused! 2. Other than mere food, you can hunger for: a. Success b. Fame c. Fortune d. Knowledge e. Relationships f. Excellence (in a profession, a particular sport, or hobby). 3. Since the list is endless, you must be very careful to seek only what is truly significant. a. There are only so many units of life, and so many hours, days and years to devote to anything.
b. Only you can decide if the thing you re seeking is worth the effort. c. Be careful to correctly align your priorities! F. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of a God-kind of hunger. 1. In essence, if you become hungry enough for God, you will be filled. a. Matthew 5:6 (MSG) - "You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat. b. If you ever become hungry enough to fulfill your need, miracles still happen! 2. Many years ago, a lady in Friendship, Tennessee, came to our meeting thinking she was the only one who had ever received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Her pastor had told her that it didn't happen today; but she began to hunger when her 12 year old son was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. In her desperation, she began to pray and then opened her Bible to these verses: a. Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV) - And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; [18] they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Amazing! She had never heard those verses taught in her church, and didn t know they were even in the Bible. When she opened her Bible a second time, she read these words: a. Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV) - When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. [2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. [3] Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
In Mark chapter 16, the infilling of the Holy Spirit and healing were both in the same verse. Now she had discovered another scripture about the Holy Spirit. So, she prayed, God, do You still do this today? If You do, please let me experience it, too! And she was immediately filled with the Holy Spirit! Because of what had just happened, she assumed that no one else at her church knew this was in the Bible. So, she made an appointment with her pastor and excitedly began to share what had happened. Her next thought was, if God still gives people the Holy Spirit, maybe He also heals, since the passage in Mark 16 said that God did both. If her pastor was mistaken about God no longer giving the Holy Spirit, perhaps he was mistaken about God no longer healing. As she continued to explain, her pastor angrily interrupted to inform her that God no longer gives people the Holy Spirit and neither does He heal. She had been deceived and must accept the fact that her son was going to die. She responded by saying, Pastor, you say that God doesn t give the Holy Spirit anymore. But the problem is, I received it before hearing that He no longer give it today. Now that I ve received it when I wasn t supposed to have it, what am I going to do with it? Pastor, maybe you are the one who is deceived. He became so angry, he asked her never to return to their church. But she continued to enjoy her newfound experience and to pray for her son. Then, a friend told her about the revival I was conducting and invited her to visit. I noticed while we were praying at the end of the service that she was standing near the altar area, watching everything that was happening. As she observed people receiving the Holy Spirit, she became really emotional and began to cry. Then she grabbed me and asked, "Do you allow this?"
At first, I wasn t sure what she meant. But then she asked if I allowed people to receive the Holy Spirit. When I assured her that we did, she began to weep and tell the story about her son. She asked us to pray for him because in Mark chapter 16, the God who baptized people with the Holy Spirit would also heal her son. God was so moved by her simple faith, the 12 year old boy was healed of cancer! So, her first step was to become empty so God could make her hungry. Her hunger then initiated a supernatural encounter with a loving God! Afterward, she shared that if this tragedy had not struck her family and made her so empty, she probably would never have been hungry enough to open her heart to God!