God Cares About Your Donkeys

God Cares About Your Donkeys
4-11-10

We are living in a time where the cares of this life and worries of tomorrow really hold us down
Those elements have the atomic potential to choke the Word out of our hearts and knock us off course
Cares and Worries are what keep you up at night, keeps you on edge with your family, can cause you to use that as an excuse to sin,
Cares and Worries of this life have the kinetic potential to drive you away from God, even causing you to blame God, for your own mess.
However cares and worries, viewed in the right perspective, and handled with the utmost prayer and integrity, can spill you into the reservoir of God’s purpose
Even though you feel like you are free falling into a bottomless pit,
God will float you right into your destiny, where you always wanted to be, His way.
Nothing like a good season of uncomfortableness and worry to lead you smack dab into the perfect will of God
Let’s see what God has to say about Cares and Worry…
Cares-serious attention; caution: protection;
1. Matthew 6:30
And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

2. Luke 8:14
The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.)
3. 1 Corinthians 6:13b
But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

4. 2 -Corinthians 7:15
Now he cares for you more than ever when he remembers the way all of you obeyed him and welcomed him with such fear and deep respect.

5. Ephesians 5:29
No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

6. Philippians 2:20
I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare.

7. 1 Peter 5:6-7
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Worry-to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret. to seize, esp. by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does another. to harass by repeated biting, snapping, a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble
8. Matthew 6:25
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

9. Matthew 6:28
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,
10. Matthew 6:31
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
11. Matthew 6:34
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
12. Matthew 7:3
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?
13. Matthew 10:19
When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.
14. Luke 12:22
[ Teaching about Money and Possessions ] Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear
15. Luke 12:26
And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
16. Luke 21:14
So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you,

17. Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
• Now that we know that God cares about the little things in our lives, consider Saul. Soon to be King Saul
1 Sam 8:10-20 NLT
• make your men soldiers and slaves for him and your women will work as slaves too
• He will take a tenth of your cattle and the best of your flocks.
• God wanted to be their King, but because they had rejected God as the only one to lead them, they wanted a king like the other nations
• God chose Saul to be king on a day that Saul wasn’t even looking for God’s purpose, he was just looking for his father’s donkey’s
1 Sam 9 -10.
Saul was the most handsome man among the children of Israel that stood head and shoulders above all of them-taller than any of them
• One Day Kish’s (Saul’s wealthy father) donkey’s strayed away and Saul’s father asked him to go get them
• God cares about the things that concern you, even the asinine things
The Donkey’s
• Saul’s donkey’s represents our concerns, worries
• Donkeys were all purpose animals, the pick up trucks of Bible times
• Used for transportation, hauling and farming, they were necessities
• Even the poorest families owned them.
• Many donkeys were a sign of wealth, and to lose them was a disaster
• Saul’s father was very rich and evidence of his wealth
Sometimes we think stuff happens, but God uses these common events to lead us into our purpose, where He wants us to be.
• Good and bad circumstances are there for you to consider God’s purpose in them
• Maybe He is building a quality in you or leading you to seek and serve Him in a new area?
• The donkeys straying away were considered a divine appt for Saul
• The donkeys have been lost for 3 days and as far as 15 miles from Saul’s hometown
Saul ends up in Zuph- honeycomb and overflowing
• He is about to give up and his servant says I know a seer, or prophet, and everything he says comes true, let’s go to him
• They brought a sacrifice of Silver.
• Their sacrifice that day unlocked the purpose of God despite their worries and cares about their donkeys.
• Saul stops to talk to some young women, and they give him directions and Saul enters the town
• As they entered the town, Samuel the seer, the prophet was on his way to the high place
1 Sam 9:15-24
• Saul was only looking for his father’s donkey’s
• God is leading you to Zuph, in the face of your journey,
• Get up to the high place
God has a spot at the head of the table for you with the choice cut of meat,
It has been set aside for you, saved for you
1 Sam 10:5-6-7
• God want to take your worries and concerns and turn you into another person as the Spirit of God comes upon you with power.
• What if Saul wouldn’t have listened to his father that day, and said no?
Later Saul runs into his uncle and the uncle says where have you been?
• Went to look for my dad’s donkeys and we went to a prophet and He told us they had been found
• But never tells uncle that he was just anointed to be the very first King of Israel!
• By the way, Saul never actually brings the donkeys home.
• The very thing that sent him on his journey didn’t worry him anymore, He is the King of Israel.
When God brings a revelation of who He is, you are not concerned with money, issues, circumstances, he reveals His royalty, deity to you!
• Is it possible that God allowed these donkeys to stray from Saul’s house?
• Is it possible that God allows your dreams and visions to stray from you for the purpose of you getting in a lifetime journey with God?
• Saul to the Israelites was a picture of what we want but not necessarily what God wants for us
• God wanted to rule over Israel as a theocracy Himself, not a democracy with other men sharing it with Him
• Israel was very disobedient to God and very selfish, they wanted to be treated like the other nations of the world, having a King rule over them
• God wanted those other nations to be defeated in Joshua’s time, and because they weren’t, Israel faced great opposition later in life because of that
• Saul to the Israelites is a picture of selfishness, worry, and concern of the flesh
Conclusion
• Saul was just looking for his fathers donkeys, but God was looking to change his mentality
• It’s time to get to the high place because God has been saving the best for you
• Your greatest success is when you obey God, your greatest failures will come when you act on your own
• Strength and abilities make us useful, but our weaknesses make us usable
• Our skills and talents make us tools, but our failures and shortcomings remind us we need a craftsman in control of our lives
• Who’s in control of you? You or God?
Later on in 1 Sam 10 Saul’s inauguration was taking place and they looked for him because he had disappeared
• They had to ask the Lord where he was, and God said, He is hiding among the baggage.
• They brought him out and said, here he is the man that the Lord has chosen to be your King.
You might hide from God and where He wants you to be, but God knows where you are and will exalt you in due time.
• Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead to give you a brand new life
• That life is filled with different turns and winding roads.
• Don’t be afraid of Him or allow the worry and concerns of this life to get you down
• The Holy Spirit will take the pathway of worry and concern and reveal your destiny to you
• The things that worried you, the things that kept you up all night, are about to change, and God is going to release unto you the Kingdom.
17. Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

God cares about your donkey’s.

Good Friday: "The Life is in The Blood"

I am speaking at Joy Community Church, Clinton Twp MI, this Friday April 2, 2010, at 1pm if you can make it. Here is the message. I Hope you like it.

Good Friday
“The Life is in The Blood”
4-2-10
1 Peter 1:18-19 (King James Version)
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Pray
Leviticus 17:11 (King James Version)
11For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Genesis 3:15 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
 First time we here of talk of a substitutionary death, burial and resurrection
Genesis 3:21 (King James Version)
Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, our sin
21Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
 1st Blood Sacrifice
 1st time an animal would be used as the substitutionary sacrifice to cover and atone for man’s sin,
 later on with Abraham’s sacrifice, he believed that God, would provide Himself a lamb
 after Adam sinned, instead of immediate physical death, He experienced immediate spiritual death
No longer covered with the Glory of God, but warm, wet, bloody sacrifice of the creation of God, an animal
 this new covering different from the previous one, made through a horrible and ugly occurrence, an animal was slaughtered before their eyes
 the Lord impressing on this new couple the utter ugliness of sin and the wages it pays: death
 In a similar manner our Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, The Anointed one, provided our payment for the penalty of sin
 We deserved to drink that cup and experience the power of the curse
 But Jesus death was VICARIOUS, totally for another, than Himself
 His substitutionary death was the great exchange for our sinful lives and eternal deaths
 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh
Isaiah 52:14 14 But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.
1. God required the shedding of blood for payment of sin
 Heb 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins
2. The sinner must be covered with the blood
3. God provides the sacrifice
4. God Himself covers the sinner
 Not only provides the sacrifice, but made covering of skins for Adam and Eve,
 They did not cloth themselves
 When it comes to that robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation, we do not put it on ourselves
 The Father dresses us, He clothes us with righteousness Isa 61:10
 Talking about Jesus, God is the regenerator, He provides and clothes on the basis of the Blood of Christ
5. The innocent dies for the guilty-the just for the unjust
6. God brings judgment upon the sacrifice-the fire always falls on the blood
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrated His love toward us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
The life is in the blood!
 Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body, while the white blood cells fight disease
 Picture of Jesus carrying life to His Bride, the Church, while fighting the disease of sin and death
The life is in the Blood!
 At Passover Exodus 12
 The firstborn was commanded to die for the sins of Pharoah and Egypt
 they were to apply the blood on the doorposts and sides and bottom,signifying a cross
 and when the death angel saw the blood he would pass-over that house
The blood to us makes our God a living God
 David wanted to build a temple for God, but God told him no, he had too much blood on his hands, his own labors
The life is in the blood
 Heb 8:6 ratified by better blood
 That blood is holy, pure, innocent, living, rare, precious, and incorruptible blood not subject to moral or spiritual degeneration
 Costly valuable highly esteemed, honorable ,beloved, not redeemed with corruptible things
 We are serving an uncorruptable God with incorruptible blood
 David did not want to offer anything to the Lord that didn’t cost him
 His son Solomon had the privilege of offering sacrifices to God when he had built this incredible temple
 The sacrifices dedicating the temple to God cost over $13 million in todays economy-offering 22,000 oxen, and 120,000 sheep
 The blood from 3 oxen would have filled a bathtub full of blood, and there were 22,000! 7,334 bathtubs full of blood.
 When God sent the fire, the power of God was so strong that the Priests could not even stand to minister!
 And that is the power of God that is resident within 1 drop of the blood of Christ
 Jesus was worth more than all the animal sacrifices that Solomon could produce
Highway to Hell
 And then it happened, the story picks up with Jesus rising from the last supper and inviting the disciples to pray with Him,
 That night would truly be His last meal on Earth, and the night before was that was His last night of sleep
Gethesamane-oil press
 Mat 26:41 watch and pray that enter not into temptation, that temptation was going to persevere as all the disciples would soon betray him and run
 Jesus begins to feel the weight of the world on Him and therefore sweating drops of blood because of the amount of stress He is under
 A medical term hemitidrosis, where the capillaries in the brain begin to burst under intense stress and pressure literally breaking through the skin
 From there He is led to Caiaphas the high priest where He is spit on, blindfolded and beaten, by the priests and religious leaders!
 After being handcuffed, beaten, spit on and up all night, He is transferred to Pilate, the governor
 Pilate says I find no fault in Him, who do you want Jesus or barrabas?
 Even Jesus in His weakened state on the way to the cross, saves Barrabas from another painful night in Prison, by taking His place
The Whipping Post
 Pilate delivers Jesus to the whipping post, to be whipped with the cat of nine tails, a whip with 3in pieces of metal and glass sharply arrayed with teeth to literally rip the flesh from the body
 Now Jesus has been up for almost 2 days, sweat drops of blood, beaten, swollen, spit on, and now whipped
 The flesh around His back now blowing like ribbons in a noon day breeze
 After 40 stripes, His bones are exposed and He is delivered to band of soldiers in the common hall
The Common Hall
 Roman Band of soldiers 600 men
 They strip Him of what little He had left on
 The bones of His entire backside exposed, from the shoulders to the ankles are exposes from the whipping post
 Standing naked in front of 600 men, being spit on mocked, punched, kicked,
 They put a scarlet robe on Him, jam the crown of thorns into His head with 3” thorns they have pierced His skull and scraping His brain,
 They mock Him, torture Him, strip Him, beat Him
Via Delorosa
After His torturing He is led into the via delorosa, a 1/3 mile walk to Calvary, the hill of Golgotha, the place of the skull
 Jesus is so weak at this moment, where are the miracles Jesus, where is the power now? He can’t even stand…to hardly bare His own cross.
 He had just about been beaten to death, moments before, so a black man, Simon the Cyrene helps carry Jesus’ cross.
 Angels are crying, God it’s enough, it’s too much, He can’t take this
 But God said that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him Isa 53.
 God was saying just a little while longer, 6 hours to be exact.
The Cross
 At 9am they nailed Jesus to the cross
 12-3pm Darkness covered the entire earth
 While men mocked Him, laughed, even one crucified next to Him mocked and demanded his own way
 But a 3pm Jesus heart began to fail as He began to drown in His own fluids as His heart filled with fluid, all His bones were out of joint from being beaten, whipped and now crucified
He cried with a loud voice my God my God, why have you forsaken me?
 At that moment God turned His head from Jesus, as He became sin for us, every disease, sin, stain of this world was put on Him
 Angels cried, is it enough now God?
 Jesus words echoed in Eternity as He in concert with God cried out with a loud voice, “it is finished” !!!
 At that moment an earthquake hit the world as Jesus descended to hell, sheol hades, preparing His Exodus with the righteous dead, and defeating the daming powers of death and hell
The Veil
 After the earthquake the veil in the temple was ripped in 2 from the top to the bottom, that way no man could say that man did it
 Now Heb 10:19 declares to enter boldly into Holiest by the blood of Jesus with a new and living way, through the veil of His flesh
 The blood gives us cleansing from dead works
 Reason why we don’t enter in is we seek it for ourselves, other than to minister directly to Him
 Before Jesus, we are told enter not, but after the veil was torn we are told to enter in!
Come through the blood
 When Jesus side was pierced, when He ripped the veil ripped
 Ripped not so God could get out, but so we could get in
 Ripped so it couldn’t ever be closed again
 The tabernacle veil kept us out, other than the priest
 But now He has ripped that veil just for you to come in, to enter boldly,
 Now He says to draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.
Enter boldly by the blood of the Christ
 Now we can enter in, not with our own labors, not because our own blood, but because of the efficacious, substitutionary, sacrificial blood of the lamb, of the risen Christ!




He died and rose again on the 3rd day burst forth from the tomb,
 God gave Jesus an exit sign written in red, called the blood
 Jesus burst from the tomb, death couldn’t hold Him down
 Put 1 foot on the crumbling empire of death and hell, and the other on devils
 He declared to be the son of God with power, by saying all power is given unto me in Heaven and Earth
 Lifted up His hands to the Father and said, I am alpha and omega
 Beginning and the ending
 What you call the end is just the beginning.
Revelation 1:5
Jesus Christ loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Conclusion
All I can say is thank you, I am not worthy, but God demonstrated His love toward us while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
He calls us to remember His death till He comes again, and before He returns, we need salvation.
That veil was ripped for you. Time to come in.
Look for Salvation/Repentance-
Prepare for Communion-
Read Isa 53:1-12

Growing in God: Visitation

Series: Growing in God
Message: Palm Sunday Visitation
3/28/10


 God uses the burden of Hannah’s heart to bring a surprisingly larger solution to a burden of His own heart.
 Barrenness was not only Hannah’s condition, but Israel’s spiritual condition.
 It was a season of spiritual need with little prophetic activity
 God was looking for a voice to speak to His people
 Hannah could not know that her intense intercession for a child was moving in concert with God-bringing her a son, but also bringing forth the will and blessing of God for a whole nation
 Postponing her years of childbirth was for a purpose
 She believed God
 He moves on her behalf, but also advances His larger plan through her at the same time.

1 SAM 1:12-18
 Develop Hannah’s Faith
 Hannah had been eating she was in turmoil, she was fasting, food didn’t sound good to her
 We want everyone to hear our sob story because we want people to know how bad it is…
 Stop going to your God and tell Him about your mountain, and start going to your mountain and tell it about your God
 You are serving a big God, start believing the Word, go buy your own word
 If you would believe you would see the Glory of God
 God uses the little insignificant things to bring His anointing in on
 She believed the Word of God through Eli- the baby was on its way, there would still be a process, but Samuel was coming
 She was no longer sad, … go prepare for baby makin
 There is a visitation of the Holy Spirit coming to this Earth, the likes of which man has not yet seen, nor cried out for…
 But it’s coming as sure as I am standing here
 Faith takes hold of a Word-you have to get a Word from God and let your faith grow from there
 The Word is found in Shiloh, Go to the Ark, Meet Jesus, find the presence of God and get a Word to believe in.
 When Peter is walking on water…
 Peter wasn’t walking on the water, he was walking on the Word, Jesus said, “Come” so Peter did
 Water can’t hold a man but a Word can
 Get a Rhema, Revelation, apocalypto-uncovering, of Jesus
Joel 2:28
in last days I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men shall see visions and old men dream dreams, and in those days will I pour out my Spirit upon men and women, and great signs and wonders shall take place, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 This is the visitation that is coming again, like at Pentecost 2000 years ago
 Hebrew word Visit= Pakad; commit, trust, deposit, visit
 Ex: if you go to the bank with money you are looking to make a deposit
 Jesus is returning to this Earth and looking to make a fresh deposit of His Spirit and His gifts
 When Jesus comes He brings life to dead things, life that sustains
 Hannah’s consistent sacrifice brought the visitation of God to Israel through Samuel
1 Sam 2:18-21 the Lord visited Hannah again with 3 sons and 2 more daughters

The Woman at Nain Luke 7:11-16
 Jesus walks into a funeral procession and raises a boy from the dead, right from the coffin
 You might be in a death process, or the dream might be dead already, but Jesus is about to take that wet blanket and set it on Fire!!!!
 He is ready to re-birth dreams, relationships, that you thought have been dead for years-Jesus is “the way, the truth, THE LIFE”
Luke 7:16 (King James Version)
16And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.
Episkope/episkeptomai

to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes
a) in order to see how he is, i.e. to visit, go to see one
1) the poor and afflicted, the sick
b) to look upon in order to help or to benefit, to look in on as a nurse cares for her patients
1) to look after, have care for, provide for: of God
c) to look (about) for, look out (one to choose, employ, etc.)

Visitation is coming, visitation of God’s power, worship, miracles
 you are going to start worshipping where you have mourned, start celebrating where grieving
 God is going to ride in on the back of the things that you have suffered
 He is changing your weakness for His strength, my grace is sufficient for you
Visitation was coming to Jerusalem
Where Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem was held
Luke 19:30-31 NLT
 There is a wave of revival getting ready to sweep the Eastern Seaboard
 It will be a wave never ridden before, but the Lord has need of it, we have need of it, the lost have need of it
 If it were to be something we’ve had on our plate before we would all be fed, and the job would get done.
 But last generations revival was for them, it isn’t meeting the need for today,
 last generations puddle of God’s presence isn’t good enough for me today, if it would have been able to get the job done we wouldn’t need more…
 But have you seen the shape of our economy, our families, our people?
 We are barren, destitute of the prophetic word, and in need of a new anointing, an anointing that will carry us right up to the return Jesus Christ to the Earth again…!!!
 The old fires of revival were good, but are not getting the job done today, we need something fresh from God, for a new generation.
John 12:12-13 NLT
 News that Jesus was on the way spread through the city, and a huge crowd of people ran down the road to meet Him, and shouted.
 The thing that is going to grow our church is that you are talking and there is a buzz that Jesus is on His way, and that others are running down the road to meet Jesus, lines out the door waiting for us to start.
 When people know that Jesus is coming they will run to meet Him
 People flock to the presence of God, People will flock to the real thing
 A visitation of God to our city, is God coming to make a deposit of the anointing and Glory of His presence.
 Some may not understand why, but they will know that they need to get right, and follow God.
Luke 19:36-38 NLT
 Visitation of the Holy Spirit comes as you lay down your sacrifice
 No sacrifice too great to have the Glory of God rest on me
 Visitation comes as you lay your garments down
 Lay your garments down and He will give you a garment of praise for the Spirit of Heaviness
 God will give you as much as you are willing to take
 As much as you sacrifice to God, He will give back to you.
 The entire city was stirred as He entered.
 Jesus said if they keep quiet right now, the stones would break into cheers!!!
 The fire is coming, and the fire only falls on the blood.
Hannah’s faith caused the visitation of God to come to Israel as God birthed His plan for a prophetic voice to be heard,
God will use that little insignificant things, use the foolish things to confound the wise.
ConclusionIf we want Jesus to triumphantly enter our city, our church, our families, our lives, we must lay down those things that slow us down,
Hebrews 12:1 KJV
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us
What are you giving to Jesus, maybe just an ass, maybe something insignificant, are you laying aside drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, your ways, your resentment, bitterness? The Lord has need of those things.
Give Him your ways and He will give you His ways.

Growing in God: Hannah's Pain for God's Purpose

Series: Growing in God
Message: Hannah’s Barrenness for God’s Purpose
3-21-10

Intro
Gideon, Ruth with “The Treasure is in the Field”
As you are working that field it takes work, energy, motion against resistance
Show you today how that prayer, and worship are in concert with God’s purpose as you stand your ground and believe what God has said to you.

Obj
 God is getting ready to visit the earth with another great outpouring of the Holy Spirit
 It will be an outpouring of power, healing, and great miracles.
 But not because we are asking for His hand on the Earth only, but begging for His face, He is going to look on us…
 The flipside of what we are facing now, debt, discontentedness, depravity, and barrenness of the presence of God
 The answers are coming, as sure as you are sitting here the prosperity of the power of God’s face is coming to this Earth
 God’s purposes are established through prayer, that the will of God would be done on Earth as it’s done in Heaven!
 And Prayer and Worship are the formula’s to end the spiritual barrenness that is represented in our lives, church, pocket books, and our bodies, in your families, relationships

Hannah’s Story
1 Sam 1:2-7 NLT
Barrenness
 It was customary, though not sanctioned by God, for a man to take a 2nd wife when his first one was barren
 To be barren was viewed as cursed from God, but God can take circumstances that are the darkest and without hope and totally turn them around
Rms 8:28 we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose
 Hannah in her own mind was considered a failure, it was a social embarrassment for her husband.
 Children were important part of the social economic structure, they were a source of labor for the family and it was their duty to care for their parents in their old age.
 If one could not bear children she was obligated by ancient Middle Eastern custom to give one of her servant girls to her husband for child bearing-Hannah didn’t want that
 Elkanah could have left Hannah, he was permitted under the law to divorce a barren wife, but he remained lovingly devoted to her despite social criticism and his rights under civil law.
 But Hannah’s repetition in prayer proved her dependence and humility on God as He remembered her by removing the social disgrace associated at that time with infertility.
 She sought God for only what He could do
James 5:16 the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much
Ps 34:15 the eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, His ears are open to their cries for help

Did God remove the stigma of barrenness?
Yes, but not without going to Shiloh…

You must go to Shiloh
You don’t get the blessing of God without going to Shiloh
 Shiloh- bringer of prosperity/peace, with infinite resources and power with which God acts for His people
 Go to Shiloh-the temple-house of the Lord, symbolized the presence of God-It’s where the Ark is..Where Jesus is.
 God is trying to get the Church to go to Shiloh, that’s where they find prosperity, peace, blessing, JESUS
 Ex: Bible college, dorm hallway sign on kids door, “Freshly, fall in love with Jesus everyday”
 It’s where they find the double portion
 Hannah was barren but on her way to Shiloh, taunted by her husbands other wife, reduced to tears, to not even eat.
 1:8 Elkanah= what God has purchased
 What God has purchased for someone else is not enough for me, I have to have the power of God for myself,
 Your blessing will not satisfy my barrenness, I have to have my own, I have to pay the price for my own fruitfulness.
 I have to have my own experiences with God, yours aren’t enough for me
 No sacrifice is too great to have the glory of God rest on me.
1 Sam1:9-14
vs 12 reminds me after HS was poured out to the disciples and 120 in upper room in
Acts 2:1-4 Suddenly there came a sound of a rushing mighty wind, that filled all the house where in they were sitting, there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:13
these men are not drunk like you would suppose, but this was prophesied by the prophet
Joel 2:28
in last days I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men shall see visions and old men dream dreams, and in those days will I pour out my Spirit upon men and women, and great signs and wonders shall take place, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

It’s time we get beside ourselves, and let the HS take over
You might be in anguish, start pouring out your heart to God
Hannah acted drunk in front of the Eli the Priest

1 Sam 1:15-16
Sometimes we speak out of our pain because we want others to feel bad for us
But God is saying, “You come to Me”.
Keep seeking Him, asking, knocking…God will answer.

17-20
Wait until baby weaned 2-3 years old, and leave him with the Lord permanently
Returns to the temple, 2-3 years later, reminds Eli about the promise
27-28
 The promise of God is the purpose of God
 But the blessing is not just for you
 God always has a greater plan-
 The blessing is through you to others, blessed, to be a blessing.

 God uses the burden of Hannah’s heart to bring a surprisingly larger solution to a burden of His own heart.
 Barrenness was not only Hannah’s condition, but Israel’s spiritual condition.
 It was a season of spiritual need with little prophetic activity
 God was looking for a voice to speak to His people
 Hannah could not know that her intense intercession for a child was moving in concert with God-bringing her a son, but also bringing forth the will and blessing of God for a whole nation
 Postponing her years of childbirth was for a purpose
 She entrusted the longings of her heart to God
 He moves on her behalf, but also advances His larger plan through her at the same time.

Conclusion
God uses our weakness to ride in on wings of His strength
His grace is sufficient for you/must be filled with the HS
Hannah’s barrenness was God’s timing strength and purpose
Hannah’s consistent sacrifice of prayer and worship brought the visitation of God to Israel through Samuel

STOP 3/21/10









START HERE 3/28/10
1 SAM 1:19 God Remembered her request
1 Sam 2:18-21 the Lord visited Hannah again with 3 sons and 2 more daughters


Luke 7:16
episkeptomai

to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes
a) in order to see how he is, i.e. to visit, go to see one
1) the poor and afflicted, the sick
b) to look upon in order to help or to benefit
1) to look after, have care for, provide for: of God
c) to look (about) for, look out (one to choose, employ, etc.)
Conclusion
God uses our weakness to ride in on wings of His strength
His grace is sufficient for you.
Hannah’s barrenness was God’s timing strength and purpose
Hannah’s consistent sacrifice brought the visitation of God to Israel through Samuel