~ Isaiah 64:1-5a
Notes taken by Frederick Drummond, Jr. (4/10/2006)
Before I actually get into the specific notes from this message, I want the reader to grasp the essence of this message by Frederick Drummond Sr. No one can blame anyone else for their success or lack of it. We each rise and fall on our own. It doesn't matter our personality, our education, gifting...God expects each of us as Christians to BELIEVE His Word and stand on it, and create an environement where God is welcome by our faith and attitude and decisions.
Festive Eyes.
We are called to live as those in a triumphant march (see Victory to Victory), being lead by our great God in every step we take. What a powerful posture - I am being lead by God through this thing I am in. I am not being lead by fear, anxiety, death, destruction...I am being lead by God ("Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."). With that much revelation it is already time to be jumping and shouting and screaming our heads off that I AM BEING LEAD BY GOD! He is with me! Get the picture Christian. If you have your head down, you missed the point, and why should God hang out with you? If that offends you, understand that your posture is just as much an offense God. He has prepared the heavens on your behalf so that you can live in defeat?
My flesh will always be an unbeliever and calculate and prepare for every sad and probable angle of defeat, but I don't live by the laws of probability, I am following my Triumphant King! The problem is that we forget to see ourselves seated in heavenly places looking down on the circumstances and instead see ourselves from the earth below crying out to heaven. We have it backwards. I have to see my life through festive eyes, or I stand in denial of how he leads me. He leads me! I don't believe in the devil and his odds, because He leads me in triumph. Your explanations and reasons why this or that isn't going to work.... don't be a party pooper. Stop telling me about the devil's plans. How about God's? The devil doesn't know the real story, so he doesn't know the ending either. God is greater than our problems, and the enemy. God is for us!
It is time to cut through the negative fantacies, the veil of defeat. God isn't glorified in your pitty-party. He inhabits the praises of His people, and if you can't praise while it looks bad, you can't believe in the God who leads you in triumph. Why should God take time for you? Do you have a good enough reason. Christianity has to be more than babes thinking that being saved owes you a blessing and a cuddle from God. How about those who do great exploits for their God?
Embrace the Conflict.
Dont' run from your troubles. Embrace them in light of the fact that if they keep following you around, and you have and do seek God's face, there is a reason God has allowed them to camp in your life. Stop running from the problems, the troubles, the hard areas to conquer.The devil knows your value and wants you to think you have gone too far. It's a lie. God hasn't let you go too far. Wouldn't that be a perfect ploy of the devil, to keep you from proceeding in your triumphal march. Stop running from it and meet God in it. Don't try to manipulate a new way out. Stop hiding from the conflict that God has promised you victory in, even if you can't see it or if you have fought that enemy before and have lost to him in the past. You don't have to love it, just embrace it knowing God is training you for something and you had better get the lesson this time. You may not be able to run and hide and go around again. He is qualifying you for something great.
Eight Basic Principles of Success.
There are Eight Basic Principles of Success you need to follow if you want God to show up on your behalf. In Isaiah 64:5 we find the first three. (1) Rejoice in the journey. God loves those who rejoice, who join Him in the triumphant march, and don't allow the circumstances of life to steal from their understanding of God and His plans. He is worthy of our rejoicing, a deep-seated joy and inner glow from the heart that loves and cries out to God. Hallelujah to our King. God also honors righteous living, those who (2) Do the right thing - people who make right decisions in spite of the pressures of life around them. And Isaiah reminds that God comes through for those who (3) Remember God and how He does things. Don't let the enemy distort your vision and remembrance of God. You are an embasador of Christ and act in His stead.
The first three are the simple basics that posture us for the rest of the principles. With the first three we have only created the foundation upon which God can meet with us and upon which we can build the rest.
However, it is possible for God to get held up by our response to the next principle, (4) The Power of Correction. Jeremiah tried to get God's attention in prayer, and in Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14 and 15:1 God's answer was, "I will not hear you." Over and over Jeremiah prayed to God that He would forgive their sin, and God was addamant that there was no resolve, no path of mercy or repentence. But Jeremiah wouldn't give up. For EIGHTEEN CHAPTERS HE BESEACHED GOD until finally God said in Jeremiah 18:5-9 "if the nation turns from it's evil...." God is serious in His correction; does He have your attention? Don't try to find comfort outside of God when He is trying to correct you. Stop flipping to Scriptures and start repenting. God is offering another chance and the devil wants you to despair your way out of the opportunity. He wants you to give up, run, hide, give in...anything but get God's attention by humbling yourself and praying to God.
