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Dismiss Your Thinking Ideas Acts 9:10-17
Acts 9:10-17 Now there was a believer[a] in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied.
11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers[b] in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”
15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is MY chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
I wanted to name this sermon – Dismiss your thinking
- Dangerous because – you might apply that to other parts of your life
Idea – formulated thought or opinion
Thinking – the process of using one’s mind to consider or reason about something
I have a strong opinion about lots of stuff- Like chocolate …Its really nasty, its smells and taste gross – Not sure how they can create a whole industry that is profitable out of this gross stuff. That I can avoid …however, when it comes to God, whom I love dear, in order for me to live in His will, I have to dismiss my opinion of who He is.
When Moses saw the burning bush and spoke to God. God said I AM WHO I AM
Exodus 3:13- 14 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
14 God replied to Moses, “I am who i am.[a] Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.”
Commentary (“I am that which I am.” My nature, i.e., cannot be declared in words, cannot be conceived of by human thought. I exist in such sort that my whole mysterious nature is implied in my existence. I exist, as nothing else does—necessarily, eternally, really. If I am to give myself a name expressive of my nature, so far as language can be, let me be called “I AM.”)
But my nature, my fresh and everything around me …tries to tell me that I need to know. I have to analyze and quantify …then compare and then draw a conclusion so that I can make the best decision that will affect my next move. (Painful)
I choose to live my life under Matthew 6:33- 34
But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
When I read this story of Saul being transformed, I have to look at it from God’s point of view because when I look at it in my own eyes and understanding ….
There are a few things I would not be ok with.
- Why you gotta go and show a murderer a vision.
Acts 9: 12 – 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
I know I have been praying for you to reveal yourself to me Lord. A dream, a vision, an answer to a prayer. I have been faithful- I come to Faith and Victory every Sunday, I serve, and I read your word. Lord why can’t you speak to me- This guy is against your people. I am pro – your people?
I want God to give power to those that I choose …and preferably start with me. Because some of the people Lord, they have been really bad and don’t deserve visions. Why don’t you start with the faithful?
His name tag says “GOD”
Exodus 33:19 – The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,[a] before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.
- Acts 9: 15 –15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is MY chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.
Lord are you serious. This guy is evil. Why can’t you choose someone else? There is no way he can be used Lord. Have you seen his past? I think he is far gone.
My mind tells me that Saul has messed up so bad that there is no return. Lock him up and throw away the key Lord.
Do you remember what He has done? We can let him just come to church but we are watching him. We got to make sure someone is watching him.
I love that God tell Ananias, that Saul is My chooses instrument
This evening, it doesn’t matter what you have done – Our God loves you, the bible say that God spoke to Jeremiah in
Jeremiah 1:5 and said, before you were in your mother’s womb, I knew you and before I set you apart
If only you could turn away from your sins and come to me and let me put you back on the path that I already set out for you.
God is not like man. We forgive and then we hold grudge against someone for a long time.
Isaiah 43:25 – “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.
Hebrews 10” 16-17 – This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day,[a] says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Then he says “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.
Psalms 103:12-13 – as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
- Acts 9:17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Brother Saul (he is a brother now?) – we need to watch Him before we can invite him to the inner circle.
Regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit -wait a minute not so fast! You just gave this guy sight and now you giving him more.
But God can’t you like give him his sight back but wait to see how he does before you add the Holy Spirit. Lord, he just gave his life to you, why he got to be on the worship team, or leading a small group
This evening, I want to remind you that God is God. He created the universe and human beings and He has the right to do what He wishes
I believe that most of us today, have put God in certain box. Merciful God, vengeful God, Provider God- And yes, He is all these things AND MORE!
But we don’t get to define Him. He is Who HE says He is and He does what He wills. – We are in the porters hands!
Today I am inviting you to Dismiss your thinking of who God is and What He is required to do.
We have lost the reverence of who God is.
What and How God uses His people is up to Him. Why He chooses to punish some and save others rest only in His thinking.
Isaiah 55:8-9 – My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
- Stop assuming that God will only do certain things the way you want them to be done
- Stop thinking that you have gone too far. God can use you- it doesn’t matter what you have done
I can identify with what God has done here- He shows me that I am sinner and deserve death, yet, there are others that never made it
He can restore. He can heal. He can completely change your life.
The only thing we are guaranteed that God is going to do is keep His promises
Numbers 23: 19- God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
Our mere obligation is to Obey Him. That it. He leads and we follow.
Exodus 22: 1- 13
Sometime later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
I was watching a movie about Abraham – God had promised Him as many decedents as the stars and now God is asking him to sacrifice the same son He had given him after a long wait.
- He cries and obeys
- He prays for strength
- We don’t read it from a dad’s perspective …. But He obeyed!!
- It didn’t make any sense to Abraham but He obeyed!
Are you going to try make sense of what God is doing …or are you going to just obey!
Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJ) – casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Romans 12:12 – Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 1:28 – Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done