Dave Cape | 21 June 2020 | Sunday Celebration
“YOUR HEART WILL DETERMINE EVERYTHING.”
We live in a day when almost everything is being redefined. Your thinking, your attitudes, your social interactions and your views. Yet, we as mere mortals find ourselves trying to navigate paths we often never thought we would have to, whilst trying to fathom what we should be making of it, or how we should be responding to it.
Your timing in God will be determined by your level of obedience.
“The greatest enemy to God’s will for my life, is MY will, for my life!”
God moves in space and time.
Space and time are not “one and the same”. Space and time are distinct. Space is what you move in. Time is something that elapses or “goes by”, by which movement and change are defined.
God compacts His Omniscience, His Omnipotence and Omnipresence into one action – when we are obedient and cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
E.g.: Acts 8:26-40: Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip is then transported from Gaza to Azotus.
God compacts time.
There are things which only God can explain. He can hasten – and be God of the suddenly.
Acts 12: Peter in Prison:
He was in maximum security. 4 squads – bound between two soldiers.
Bound in stocks, fervent prayer was being offered up and the next thing they are free.He was so shocked he thought he was seeing a vision.
Sometimes we are free, but we still act as if we are bound. Sometimes we can become so distracted with our circumstances that we lose sight of where we are going.
But God is able to override our circumstance in an instant no matter how complicated or bleak it may look. It all depends on how deeply we are prepared to allow Him access to our lives.
He turns 40 years into 40 days.
What took the children of Israel 40 years in the wilderness, took Jesus just 40 days. God compacted time.
Luke 4:1-12:
“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, He was hungry.
The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
And the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to Him, “To You I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If You, then, will worship me, it will all be Yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”
And he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’” and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.‘” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
All by the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He conquered the devil, embedded God’s word, and established His Kingdom, conquering all temptation, in 40 days.
Jesus’ grounding carried Him though. He knew the word and was prepared in advance.
We have to be prepared before the battle, so we can draw it out in the battle. It’s no good in the heat of the battle or when you are suddenly confronted.
The enemy will always challenge:
– Your credentials or integrity – “If You are the Son of God”
– Your authority and power – “I will give You all this domain and glory, if You worship me.”
– Your security in God – “Throw yourself down. Nothing will happen. He will give His angels charge over You.”
Your response to the trials or the test will determine your destination. E.g.: the children of Israel could not enter into the Promised Land. But Jesus emerged and His ministry was launched.
You might think there’s no way out. No one understands.
Luke 4:13: “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him”.
Jesus was tempted in every way; He understands your situation and your pain.
That relationship, financial situation, business or job crisis, addiction. God can break in an instant.
E.g.: Joseph went from being in prison with no hope of being released to being Prime Minister in 24 hrs – Genesis 41
40 minutes and 4 hours
1 Samuel 17 – David and Goliath
Sometimes we can feel so locked in and even stumped, discouraged or fearful. Yet by the Holy Spirit, God can alter it in an instant.
Goliath taunted the Israelite army for 40 days, morning and evening, yet when a young teenager led by the Holy Spirit got the word of the Lord, it took just 40 minutes to sort out the situation and have the Philistines on the run.
David responded with boldness, filled with the Holy Spirit, when he ran towards the Philistine: “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.” (1 Sam. 17:45)
V52: “And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.”
It would take a soldier 4 hours to run this distance.
The leading of the Holy Spirit compacts time in God’s economy.
The army endured Goliath’s taunting for 40 days, yet in 4 hours, by the Holy Spirit leading David, the Philistine army was totally defeated.
Conclusion
So, God has a 40 zone for each of us. It’s up to you, which zone will it be and how deeply are you going to allow God to access your life and how ready are you to respond. Don’t be like the children in the desert. Don’t be like the armies of Israel. Be ready to run, like Peter or Joseph.
You can either believe your situation is locked in, or that the Angel is waiting at the door to lead you by the Holy Spirit.
Are you grounded in the word and prayer and ready to respond and move?
For the full message which includes Dave’s stories and real-life testimonies, click here.