Hebrews 12:4-11; Jeremiah 18:4; Philippians 1:6; John 10:29; Genesis 22:17; Romans 8:31; Isaiah 49:16
We are walking in today: God Has His Hands On You!
Hebrews 12:4-11
4) Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5) And ye
have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint
when thou art rebuked of him: 6) For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7) If ye endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not? 8) But if ye be without chastisement, whereof
all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9) Furthermore
we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits, and live? 10) For they verily for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers
of his holiness. 11) Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be
joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. All the Jews,
whom the book of Hebrews was written for, were and going through, because
of their break with Judaism. It was coming from their Jewish friends
and relatives, who resented their turning there backs on the religious
customs and traditions which they had been raised. The readers had
to be reminded of the former days when after being enlightened--you
endured a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations--partly
by becoming shares with those who were so treated, Hebrews 10:32-22.
Even the unbelieving of Jews who were with the church, must have
suffered. Because of their association with the Christians. The
afflictions had largely been in the form of social and economical pressure
through which some of them had be in prison--we can imagine the
arguments they heard, for rejecting the new faith. Look at what you
have gotten yourself into. You have become Christians and all you have
had is problems, criticism, hardships, and suffering. You have lost
your friends, family, synagogues, traditions and heritage--everything.
It is difficult from time to time to understand, as Christians, we will
find ourselves in some interesting storms. What is even more important
is to understand that the storms that come in our lives are allowed by
the permission--decreed by God. You remember, Job and how it was that
God, Himself who singled him out, for challenge of his faith, by
satan. God metaphorically put His hand on Job, not only did God put His
hand on Job, but God to this day, has put His hands on us as well. In
the text, sometime believers, perhaps were wondering why their God, who
is the God of power and peace would have them suffer so much. Why are
we not winning over our enemies? It seems like our enemies have the
upper hand. Where is the God who is supposed to supply all of our needs
and give us the answer to our questions? The same God that gives,
fulfillment to our lives. Why when we turn to a God of love did
everyone start hating us? The last section of chapter 11 begins to
answer the questions like these and also provides a foundation for the
exaltation of 12:4-11. Suffering for God's sake was nothing new. The
saints of the old covenant had known what it was to suffer for their
faith. They faced warfare, weakness, torture, beatings, imprisonment,
stoning, and destitution--all because of their trust in the Lord
(Hebrews 11:34-38). Despite all of this they did not receive the
fullness
of the blessings promised to the believers under the new covenant.
Such as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the knowledge of the sin
completely forgiven and peaceful consciousness. None of the suffering,
the Hebrews, to who these letters are written--had endured. Compares to
what Jesus
had endured. Not one of them had given theirs lives for the gospel.
Nor has any of
them lived an absolutely sinless life as Jesus had done--living in
perfect obedience to the Father and thus deserving no punishment at
all. On the contrary, some of the suffering was deserved and was
intended for their spiritual discipline and growth.
Now
stay with me now, I am trying to get you to see something here. Every
one of us will encounter some rough seas--sometimes it is from God and
other times we bring it on ourselves. God still seeks to be our
Captain--moving us through our rough seas of life. He is always with
us--He promised to never leave nor forsake us! We are not worried nor
looking around so much when the sea is calm--it is in the rough choppy
waters that we began to get into uncertainty. We need to focus on this
word discipline, it comes from a Greek phrase that means to note or
signifies what parents and teachers do to train, correct,
cultivate, and educate children in order to help them develop and mature
as they ought. God uses hardships to train up His children. He has
His hands on you! Afterward, from verse 11 doesn't seem like a shouting
point but hold on--look again, afterward, yields peaceable fruit.
Think about it, when you hit rock bottom, when your faith has been
pushed into the dirt, you lost all that you had, friends and family push
you away--afterwards! We must humble ourselves, like clay in the
hands of the Potter. Then we will yield peaceable fruit! When God has
His hands on you, it doesn't matter what test, trial, or tribulation
comes up, nor if there are storm clouds in the sky. Some storms are for
our protection--to discipline us that we learn what not to do. Half of
what we are going through is not for us anyway, it is for someone else.
He knew us before we were shaped in our mother's womb, our names are in
graved in His hand, He goes before us making the crooked places
straight. He is the same yesterday, today and forever more! No matter
what is going on on our marriages, children or finances, we must know
who we are and who's we are! You are a child of God, a child of the
King fiveamprayer! Afterwards, peaceable fruit! Weeping may endure for
the night, but joy comes in the morning! He has His hands on You! It
is He that speaks to the storms, peace be still. He lead, captivity
captive! When the enemy comes in like a flood, He lifts up a standard
against it. God has His hands on us! We are in the Potters hands! The
Potter knows what He will make from each lump of clay. Can the clay
ask the Potter which vessel it will be made into? While the pot is
being thrown by the skilled hands of the expert, Potter, if there is a
weakness or flaws in the vessel, the clay is reworked. Sometimes adding
water or more clay to get the right consistency. We are the clay,
fiveamprayer, and are in the skillful hands of a master of pottery!
What are the things that can weaken the pot? Could it be that
unforgiveness, that is tucked away? How about that judgement that is
sitting out there in plain sight? Or could it be holding on to
offense? These impurities or weaknesses must be processed out. That is
where the reworking of the clay comes in. The Potter will rework the
clay--pressing and turning it to strengthen the composition of the clay,
all this is done with ease in a Master's hands. Jeremiah 18:4
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter
to make it. The
correcting of the pot is necessary because the pot once formed are
baked to dry up the excess moisture, if the pot contains imperfections
it will not survive the high heat necessary for a completed product.
God has His hands on you! All things are working for our good! Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Look to
Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith! He is still here,
touching us! He never sleeps nor slumbers! The devil is still a liar!
God has His hands on us! John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. The
joy of the Lord is our strength! His strength is made perfect in
weakness! We are coming out, He prepares a table for us in the presence
of our enemies, the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want! Don't
look at what you are faced with, we walk by faith and not by sight! We
have got to trust God, to acknowledge Him in all of our ways.
Fiveamprayer, we are the seed of Abraham--Genesis 22:17 That
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Because
God has His hands on us that we are to possess the gate of our enemies!
This is your time and season! God leads us back to where He has
purpose for us! Even when the devil comes to distract us or we walk
away, God will draw us back with His loving kindness, right back into
line with His purpose. Fiveamprayer, God has His hands on us! The
enemy comes to disguise our season. God has given us a spirit of power,
love and a sound mind to combat that spirit of fear. Walk this out by
faith. When God has you in His hands, there is no weapons that are
formed against you that shall prosper. He is watching over His word, He
will perform it. God will not leave us--never, not ever! That is why
you have peace that surpasses all understanding, He has His hands on
us! He is giving you, joy unspeakable! Get up early every day trusting
Him! All of these things coming against you and showing up every time
you turn around--we have to trust God and stand on His word! He will
hide us in a secret place. His thoughts are not like our thoughts nor
His ways like our ways. Sometimes we get tired--He has His hands on you
in your marriage, with your children and in your finances. God is
disciplining us! He is shaping us with His own hands, He has begun a
work and will continue! He is our shield and buckler! Tell those
around you that God has His hands on me! Hallelujah God! He is keeping
you! He is omnipresence and omnipotent! The all knowing God has His
hands on you! You should feel so much comfort and confidence right
now! Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
We must operate in faith like Job, David, Abraham, they were regular
people just like us. Who had a God encounter that changed their lives,
from the moment that you meet Him and He has His hands on you, you life
will never be the same! Thank You God!! Hallelujah! There is no more
panicking! We know that we are 99.9% His, the results are in!!! We are
children of the King! You know that Jesus, the Son of God is in His
hands and we are in Christ! We come to lift up fiveamprayer, have them
to know that You have Your hands on us! We lift up prayer requests,
those known and unknown, have them to trust in Your word--Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. We
repent for getting in doubt, fear and worry. We repent and take our
hands off of the whole thing! We yield to Thee who is the full or peace
and righteousness! Forgive us Lord for being out of order. We are to
cast our cares on You, not try to fix it ourselves! Fiveamprayer, lay
aside every weight that would so easily beset us. Thank You for Your
discipline that we are corrected and cultivated as You ordained us to
be. We must forgive others as fully and deeply as You have forgiven
us--so much so that our sins are cast way into the sea, remembered no
more!
We seal this prayer in His precious blood, by His Spirit: Thank You, Lord for keeping Your hands on me!
Welcome to the overflow...
Fiveamprayer, He has His hands on you! Our response is, we won't let go
until You bless us! Thank You Lord! It is by His hands that He is
keeping us alive! To God be the glory! Afterwards you shall yield
peaceable fruit! That is what will happen after all hell breaks loose.
Keep standing on His word, there is joy in the morning, the storm
clouds will blow over. We must hold on and not give up! Keep walking
this out by faith! This is our season! The devil wants us to live in
the right now only. We know that this, is temporary, we are seeking for
the Lord and eternal things! He has His hands on you! Now is the time
to stop playing with God, you need to know, that you know, that you
know--who you are and who's you are! No more babes in Christ, put away
that baby formula--strap on your boots and the whole armor of God, you
knew that it was gonna be a fight, long time ago. Look to the hills
from which comes your help, your help comes from the Lord! Take time
out to read these scriptures for yourself. Visit us on facebook, it
will encourage you! Walk in this one all weekend. Praise Him for the
afterwards! Have a supernatural weekend!
Visual Aid
Making pottery--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRQfX7aUPqs
and also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7MzAb6_yHk&feature=related
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