Stupid... Faith
Faith is not about getting something – blessings, healings, etc.
It is a way of living – Heb 10:38
We connect faith to events as opposed to living
Faith is not about control or making God do something
Faith is about what I do for God
I do what God tells me to do, not because I want something from God
But because I want God
Moses asked 2 questions that reveal
why it’s hard to do the things God asks of us:
Who am I?
Who are you?
If you don’t understand who you are, you can’t do what you’re called to do
Ex 4:1, 10-14
Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say,
'The Lord did not appear to you'?"
10 Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute?
Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses
Heb 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
Heb 11:6
Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Ex 33:11
The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
How did Moses move from “I Can’t” & “I Don’t Know”
to speaking face to face with God?
Before I answer that question, let’s examine another situation…
Num 13:27-28, 30-31
[10 spies] told [Moses], "We came to the land to which you sent us.
It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people
who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.
And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said,
"Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it."
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said,
"We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are."
Heb 3:16–19
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? – faith comes by hearing
Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? – all had the same pastor
17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Condemned to 40 yrs. in the wilderness – between Egypt & the Promise
Living Half-way
We live at Contraction Crossing
I Can’t / I Don’t Know
· How
· Anybody
· What the first thing is to do
· How to do a business plan
· Who I am
· Who He is
Settled in Ignorance – no resolve to know, increase…
Hos 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me. – I cannot use you
When we let what we don’t know or can’t do stop us from living by faith…
He is not pleased with us
He cannot use us
His anger burns…
What you don’t know or what you can’t do
Cannot be the determining factor for obeying in faith
How do we move from “I Can’t” & “I Don’t Know” to the Faith Life?
Do (obey) – discovery
You have the capacity
He’ll be with you
Learn – you are not stupid, maybe ignorant (uninformed),
I will teach you. – Ex 4:12.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. – Matt 11:29
Prophetic Strategy – divine insight from acting on “Do & Learn”
Connect
Faith situations create separation
2 Cor 6:14
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?
Prov 22:24-25
Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
We must really come to know Him
Hos 6:3, 6
Let us press on to know the Lord;
6 For I desire… the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
I am not able + The “I AM” = I can do all things
Dan 11:32
The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.