POSITIVE WRITTEN SERMON - Wind at Your Back
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“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
I want to share a story with you. It is a story from the Life and Leisure section of the Arizona Republic newspaper. It’s written by Alan Gathright. This is a story about a freedom rider. Here is what it says:
“For 74-year-old Melvin Manger, freedom is worth any risk. Paralyzed from the neck down since birth, he has spent more than half of his life shut in at home. Fourteen years before, he was liberated by a motorized wheelchair and reborn as Cactus Mel the legendary cactus peddler. A cross between the ancient mariner and the road warrior, Mel (as everyone calls him) is out rain or shine, seven days a week, guiding his wheelchair and the wagon he tows behind his wheelchair full of cactus for sale with a chin joystick.”
Let me explain what that [a chin joystick] is. The only place Mel can move is his head. His body is paralyzed from the neck down. So he has a joystick that is attached to his chain. A rod runs from his chain to the controls on the wheelchair.
“So far, Mel has survived four hit-and-run collisions. His body is banged and bruised, but Mel refuses to slow down. He embodies both human frailty and Herculean will. People tell of stopping to help Mel when his wheelchair breaks down, or someone can’t understand his slurred speech, only to have him teach them a lesson about courage and independence.
“He was born with cerebral palsy in 1917. Mel has been at home most of his life. He was kept home by his parents to shield him from the taunts of the outside world. After they died, he was sent to a San Jose nursing home. There, two cousins and a friend (Marta Hessman), urged him to seize his dream of independence. But how do you become independent if you’re paralyzed from the neck down?
“A social worker had told Hessman that Manger was a deaf-mute. But when she listened, she heard a man pouring out the frustration of being trapped in a crippled body. ‘He’s telling me all these things and I’m going to help him. There’s somebody real important inside of there.'” When Hessman suggested an electric wheelchair, the tears just flowed down Mel’s cheeks.
“It was like rebirth. Suddenly, at age 60, the man who had never ventured very far out of his own room, who had never taken a step toward the open road, was going like crazy. Mel said, ‘My heart was in my mouth. I was afraid to get off the sidewalk. But in about two or three months I sneaked off and went to my first movie all alone. Boy, were they mad at the nursing home. I just told them that I didn’t need that place.’
“Since then, failing health has not kept him off the streets. Neither has traffic. Once police had to pull him off the on ramp to Interstate 280. Mel is an incurable flirt and he relishes his ‘Hell on Wheels’ reputation.”
There’s a lot that can be learned from people like Mel. We may be handicapped in some way. There is a part of all of us that has stayed inside of a room and has not ventured out for most of our lifetime. We do not so much need the vehicle of an electric wheelchair. We need the vehicle of faith in God in that one particular area of our life.
We need to know that we can do what we’ve failed at in the past. We have to know again that we have the power to go where we want to go. And if we have that belief, (and I know that you have that belief in most of the areas of your life), in that one area of our life that is still a little weak, we can change our lives with God’s help.
There are so many ways that we limit ourselves.
GOD NEVER LIMITS YOU!
God never gives you a handicap that you cannot overcome. If there is any area in your life that is not up to God-perfection, God is also giving you the power and ideas to overcome once and forever that handicap that may have held you as a shut-in way too long.
Take a firm, positive stand in refusing to admit that there is lack of any kind in your life. When you look with your all-seeing, all-discerning eye of faith, you see God’s abundant help manifesting to meet every need of yours.
Affirm in prayer and realize that God’s wisdom and good judgment were implanted in you from the beginning. You are now making your way illumined and prosperous. You would not think of closing your eyes and walking around saying that you can’t see and don’t know where you’re going. So why close your eye to the waiting good of God by saying, “I don’t know what to do.” Repeatedly affirm that with God’s help, you do know what to do.
This is the way to make your God-wisdom work for you and guide you in paths of plenty.
The world needs you. You have God given talent and capability that you can use to the glory of God and the honor of humans will bring a rich reward. “You become what you believe.” Oprah Winfrey
There is something that you can do better than anyone else can do it. Through the loving, efficient service you can render, you will fulfill a need in the world.
As you discover and develop your inner resources and capabilities, the way will open for you to cash in on your talents. When the way seems dark, pray for spiritual illumination and guidance and bring all your thoughts into light. You will become a radiating center of light, joy, and optimism.
You will inspire success and others will have confidence in you. Through the understanding of spiritual laws, you have a potential gold mine to prospect inside of you. God helps those who put forth the effort to use their faculties and abilities righteously. We are God’s executives. God needs humans to use God’s good ideas and to make God’s good things manifest.
Each one of us is an avenue through which God works.
We are praying with you and for you. Great is thy faith. Be it done unto thee even as thou wilt.
“We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.” Psalm 124:7
You have a knowingness inside of you that is not of you. It is of God. God is not separate from you. God is not a million miles away. God is closer than breath inside of you, and God knows what to do.
GOD NEVER LIMITS YOU!
If you are shut-in in some area of your life, if you feel handicapped in some area, God knows what to do. God knows what to do to bring you back into health or prosperity.
We are made up of many “thought-people” inside of us. You are many different people and these thoughts are all speaking to you, (sometimes all at the same time). Some are jabbering away saying, “Joe, you’ve got what it takes. You can do this!” Others are saying, “Joe, why try? Give up. You’re wasting your time and efforts.” They are all inside of you. The funny thing is, they all have your voice. You need to learn to lead those thought-people to higher ground. Try to direct all these individual thoughts to think about God in total faith.
There is something inside of you, (a potential gold mine), to develop. Now, if we have a gold mine; we have to dig in the earth. Sometimes the digging is hard, granted. But we have to keep digging and we’ll find that core vein of gold running through.
If we dig deep inside of us and we find gold there, we find a vein. Then, with God’s help we refine it, until it is pure. You will find all you need for every day of your existence.
There are many aspects of you. Often the thoughts held in mind focus on aspects of us that are not working so well, instead of mining those aspects that could turn to gold.
The Bible often refers to humans as sleepers. A great deal of your life is spent sleeping. The Bible tells us to wake up to our possibilities. We are that, but we are more. We are also the active person, the playful person and the serious person.
You have the Mind of God that is constantly working through your mind. Not one of us ever needs to say, “Well, I’m a dummy. I just don’t know what to do. I feel so frustrated.” We may say that from our lower human self. We need to turn to the all-knowingness of God. God is accessible to work inside of us.
It is the gift of God to you. God brings out ideas for your personal life. They are custom tailored ideas that you can use. God does not just give you the idea and say, “Okay, you’ve got the idea. You’re on your own now.” No. God helps you to express that idea through you. That’s the way it will always be.
The power that comes to your life is not the result of luck.
There was a lady whose name I will call Maude. When I first met Maude she had a plastic replica of Jesus on the dashboard of her car. She had a rabbit’s foot on her key chain which she kept in her pocket at all times, and she had a 3-leaf clover in the plastic wallet of her purse. Those were her lucky charms. She would stroke the rabbit’s foot. She would look to the plastic Jesus. And every once in a while, if she really needed luck, she would touch the 3-leaf clover. She would hope and pray that God would look upon her with mercy because, as she said to me, “These things had power.”
One day she was on vacation with her son about 180 miles from where she lived. At one point she saw that the plastic replica of Jesus was not in the car, the rabbit’s foot was not in her pocket, and she had left the shamrock at home. She had a panic attack. She knew it was silly, and yet she couldn’t control herself.
Her son said, “Mom, what is wrong with you?” She started to gasp for air. Her son said, “Well, I’m going to turn around and take you home right now.”
She said, “No, no. I don’t want to ruin our vacation. Go ahead. I’ll get over this.” But it just kept coming. She broke out in a sweat. Then, all of sudden they passed a billboard on the highway that said, “GOD IS WITH YOU NOW!” At that moment she said, “Yeah.” She was still in a sweat and was nervous, but over a period of time, she started to think about God and how God works in our life. She realized that God was with her right now. She thought that if God was with her right now, what could go wrong in her life? Nothing could go wrong. It changed her life.
Montane said, “Man is certainly stark mad. He can’t make a worm, and yet he will make gods by the dozens.” What have we made gods of in our lives? Sometimes we make gods of even our limitations, the things that imprison us. We may think that it’s funny that we would make a god of our own prison cell, but we have. We do it every day.
We have gotten comfortable in that prison cell. We need to get out of it. We need to walk out.
The hardest point in Mel’s life was when he left the security and safety of that room that he had known all his life. When he first ventured out, it wasn’t very far. When he reached the sidewalk, he said his heart was in his throat. You can just imagine.
The hardest thing that you have to do will be to venture out in that area where you are unsure of yourself. But remember, God is with you now. Pretty soon you will be going further and further. We have evolved past the point where we need to depend on luck or charms. God has the power in our lives.
We need to know with certainty that God changes I can’t to I CAN inside of you. God is not I can’t. God is an I CAN God.
GOD NEVER LIMITS YOU!
God’s help is instant and automatic, the moment you ask for it. It keeps coming and coming and coming. You don’t have to depend on it. It is automatic. You just know that it is there. And in your knowing it continues to come through you.
There is no such thing as luck. Nothing comes by chance. All things happen as a result of faith or lack of faith.
My car has a six-speed transmission. The highest gear is sixth and it will get me up to highway speed. The highest gear inside of you is a gear of your mind that connects through prayer to knowingness. It is the highest gear of faith. It is the highest gear of belief. It is the knowing – with God I CAN. I know that God is with me now and I’m going to make it through.
Nothing can stand in your way because you are a child of God. Claim that right now, for yourself in faith.
I’m not talking about the kind of speed that will make you go faster in your outer life. Gandhi once said, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” I’m talking about the stillness of prayer in which the quickening of freedom takes place. You’re in fourth dimension beyond the manifest world of the third dimension. You’re not so tense. You don’t have so much worry. You’re not spinning your wheels. Everything is working out okay. You’re consenting in that moment to God, and that becomes a powerful prayer.
Do you remember the story of Moses at the Red Sea? His people were behind him. What were they doing? WERE THEY shouting, “Go ahead Moses! We believe in you. We know you can make it. We are so grateful you brought us here?”
No! They were ready to throw in the towel. I want you to hear this story. But instead of thinking of the Israelites behind Moses, think you are Moses and ALL the other people are your thought people inside of you. You’re going to do something that you’ve wanted to do for a long time, but you have listened to the voices of the thought people instead of being a leader, instead of leading by God’s working through you.
And they said to Moses, “It is because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the wilderness. What have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt?”
Now, keep in mind that in Egypt the Israelites were slaves. They had the worst possible existence. Now they’re free. But like thought-people do in their new freedom, they complain.
“Is not this what we said to you in Egypt? Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians. For it would have been much better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
In other words, the thought-people will say inside of you, “Why are you bothering me? Why do you want me to go into this new freedom? I am happy here in the hell that I’m in. I don’t want to go and venture out into some new area. Please leave me alone.”
Moses said to the people, “Fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which will work for you today.”
Now, the salvation of the Lord is not a one time, one event thing that happens in your lifetime. It is a multi-event that happens every day, every moment of your existence. When you are in a problem state and you’re beginning to listen to your thought-people, stand firm and wait for the salvation of the Lord which will always bring good to you.
“For the Egyptians who you see today, you will never see again.” [He’s talking to the thought-people here.] “The Lord will fight for you. You have only to be still.” The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.'”
Here’s Moses with the water in front of him, and yet he is being told to go forward. This is a lesson that has been told over and over again. When you can’t see, the reason you can’t see is because your thought-people have blinded you to the good. There is going to be a firm foundation underneath your feet with your walk.
“Lift up your rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it that the people may go on dry land through the sea.”
You stretch out your hand and you say, “I believe in God.” You admit that you are frightened, (your thought-people are frightened), but you know that God is going to provide a way for you. Then, whatever that sea of adversity is in your life is going to part in front of you and you are going to walk through safely and on dry land. There is no way that you’re not going to succeed, because God inside of you is not a God of failure.
“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
Put your knowingness into high gear. Today, give yourself the gift of knowing that you are connected with God. Give yourself the gift to become a leader of your thought-people. Give yourself the gift that you are going to unlock that prison door. You are going to rise above your handicaps. You are going to affirm in positive prayer what you want to happen in your life, even if outer appearances say the opposite. Then you are going to speak your affirmation and you are going to feel and believe it totally from the core of your being. You are going to expect your good to come through your God. Then you are going to walk forward, giving thanks because you’re walking on dry land with new found freedom over personal bondage.
Let us pray.
Dear God, I pray for the power of personal freedom.
I pray for the power to get up and go to new heights of awareness and living.
I pray for new blessings that I cannot see from this vantage point.
I pray You will be with me, empowering me, so that I may make a difference with my life.
I am ready to go beyond my fears, beyond what I can see with my eyes, into my good that You have already prepared for me.
In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen
God bless you!
PRAYER / MEDITATION_________________________
In John 8:32 it says, “You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free.”
This is the answer to the desire in your heart and soul for freedom.
No matter what you may feel yourself to be in bondage to, perfect freedom can be yours.
I pray that it happens during this prayer time. This freedom comes to you through your greater understanding of God’s Truth. God’s Freedom begins within you. It does so now.
Ask for God’s help to have freedom over personal bondage,
Rest in the silence of prayer …
If you feel bound, or have a sense of inferiority in some respect, begin right now, with the help of God to set yourself free by lifting up your thoughts about yourself. You can’t think about the God Truth about yourself and at the same time be fearful or unhappy. God’s Truth about you is that you are God’s beloved child. You are created in God’s image and likeness. In God you live and move and have your being.
Instead of being a frail, human creature living in an uncertain world, you are in reality a child of God, a spiritual being. You are living in a spiritual world. You are governed by spiritual ideas. There are no limitations on God and therefore there are not limitations on you. In your True Godlikeness you are free. You are glorious. You are inspired and inspiring.
Rest in the silence of prayer …
Prayer is the means that God has provided for you to use, to draw strength and power from the Divine. Through prayer, you will learn that you have undreamed of capabilities. You will learn how to develop them. You pray with faith, and then you act with confidence in the realization of your Godlikeness.
Now, I ask you to pray with faith, in the silence.
Rest in the silence of prayer …
You are filled with new confidence in God and in yourself. You are God’s beloved child. Any mistakes of yesterday are forgiven by God. They are forgotten.
Any fears or apprehensions about the future disappear. You are a new person. You are a confident person. You are a successful person with God’s help. Stronger in faith than ever before, you know that God is with you. You know that in God you live, and move, and have your being.
Where before you have doubted your ability, you now place your faith in God’s ability to do all things through you.
God cannot fail, so you cannot fail.
Today you face life fearlessly. You express a happy, confident spirit. You meet all persons in a spirit of love and understanding. You handle every challenge with wisdom and discernment. Those whom you contact are inspired through faith because they see in you the very Spirit of God in faith expression.
You are unbound. You are free. You are triumphant. You are glorious. You are splendid. You are free!
Rest in the silence of prayer …
Dear God, we ask for grace to bear the irritations of the day, the little unimportant things that try my patience.
Lord, I pray,
For poise and wisdom to discern the good each small test holds for me, to see each as a steppingstone to ultimate self-mastery.
I decree for you in total faith: YOU ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD. YOU CONFIDENTLY CLAIM FREEDOM AND SELF-MASTERY.
In Jesus Christ’s name … Amen.
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