Joy For Today, Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what your insecurity is. I am is all you need for every single day. He doesn't need your ability. He needs your availability.

See, that's what he needs. Look, I'm not trying to make you feel small. I want to tell you, you are small. We're all small. You see, that's what God is saying. This isn't about you.

This is about me. I am. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. You ever think about that with the Lord? When you give it one of your can'ts, you just can't. Who am I? I don't have anything to say. I don't have authority. I don't have any ability.

I can't do it. I'll talk in a minute about why I think the anger of the Lord is burning against Moses. Notice what God says here, though.

Things I skipped. Let's go back to chapter 3 and verse 12. Because he's not just saying this to Moses. He's saying to you and me. And he said, Certainly I will be with you and this shall be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt. And you shall worship the God on this mountain.

Well, I will be with you. Notice what God didn't do. None of the Dale Carnegie positive thinking.

Let's get it. You're a better man than you think. You've got to dig down deep. You've got to be positive. Look yourself in the mirror and tell him you got it, Moses.

You can do it. There's none of that with God. God doesn't waste time talking about something like that at all. He says, Moses, look. You have my presence. So you have my presence. I'm here.

Look at 317. He said, So I said, I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt, the land down Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hittite and the Jebusite to the land flowing with milk and honey. I will do this.

That's God speaking. I will be with you. I will do this.

320. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles, which I shall do in the midst of them. And after that, he will let you go. I will do this. Verse 21, I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be that when you go, you will not leave empty handed. You'll get the plunder of the Egyptians.

I will do this. 411. When Moses said he had no ability to speak at all. God said to him, Who has made man's mouth or who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I? I created your mouth for this job. You think I made a mistake?

You think I don't understand you? By the way, what's interesting about that is we know that Moses is lying. We do that often.

We want to have a bad day. We find out from Stephen and in Acts Chapter seven that Stephen says that Moses was raised in Pharaoh's household and he was a man of great power of word and deed. God wasn't buying any of this law.

There's something else here, though, that's so interesting. Look at Chapter three, verse 14. Here's God's final answer. God said to Moses, I am who I am, and he said, Thus I shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent you. Yahweh. Most holy word to the Jews never spoke it, even by the time you get the Jesus Christ, no Jews use these words. You don't say those words. Whenever a scribe was writing the Old Testament and he saw Yahweh, he had to every time he came to the word, use a new quill and bathe himself. Sometimes you'd have to do that often just in one paragraph.

Every time new quill bathe yourself. This is Yahweh. I am who I am. I wasn't. Not that I was. Not that I will be. I am. That's who I am.

That's my name. God says. You see what's going on with Moses?

The same thing goes on with us. A complete misunderstanding. Moses said, look, I don't have authority. I don't have a message. I don't have ability. And you know what God says? I don't need you to have any of those things.

I have all those things. See, Moses, I'm doing this. I don't need that. I don't need your ability.

You see, I don't need that. I have all the ability that exists. I'm God. I'm not very skilled. I am.

I'm not sure who I can trust. I am. Nobody's listening to me. I am.

Why can't we get pregnant? I am. Hey, they stole my retirement savings from me. I am. Everybody thinks I can't do it. I am.

What if I fail again? I am. I don't think I can hold on. I am.

I need a fresh start. I am. I feel so alone. I am. It doesn't matter what your insecurity is. I am is all you need.

For every single day. He doesn't need your ability. He needs your availability.

You see, that's what he needs. Look, I'm not trying to make you feel small. I want to tell you, you are small. We're all small. You see, that's what God is saying. This isn't about you. This is about me.

I am. This becomes so important. Go with me to John chapter 6. Gospel of John chapter 6. You can follow along with this.

I'm going to go right through this pretty quickly. John 6. The Gospel of John written by the great apostle has one goal in mind. It's an amazing book. Probably the book that most of us would always recommend a new Christian read first. Or a person considering whether to be a Christian should read.

The reason for it is John's goal in this book is one thing. Jesus Christ is God. That's what he wants to say. Jesus Christ is God.

And he says it over and over. But the structure of the whole Gospel hinges on seven statements that Jesus makes. Seven is the perfect number of completion from God's point of view. And seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus says, I am. Just like he spoke as the angel of the Lord through the bush.

Notice verse 35. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger.

And he who believes in me will never thirst. Now, in Greek, that's written, ego, I mean. And a lot of people say, yeah, but Jesus spoke usually in Arabic. And then it was the writers wrote in Greek.

That's true. But I believe that every time Jesus spoke this and he spoke with the Jewish audiences, every time he says I am in John, I think Jesus says Yahweh. And boy, they hated him to say that no one speaks those words. Yahweh. I am, he said, the bread of life. Look at Chapter eight, verse 12. Then Jesus again spoke to them and said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

The bread of life, the light of the world. Look at Chapter 10. And verse nine. Jesus says there, I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Chapter 11, verse 25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this? Chapter 14, verse six. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the father but through me.

Chapter 15 and verse five. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. Of all the I am's, that's the one that most applies to you and I in this message.

I'm the vine, you're the branches. You just abide in me. If you don't, you can't do anything. You won't rejoice in me glad in your days. You don't have that capacity. I am, I have that capacity. That's what Jesus says over and over again. He has no limitation. You're sinful. He has unlimited righteousness.

You're powerless. He has his supernatural strength. You are afraid and he says, I'll be your refuge. You're empty and he says, I can be your fullness. He said, your past is full of disappointment. He said, but I will give you a living hope. See, the conclusion is I am not enough.

But he is. It's such an important fundamental truth of our faith. As a child of God, please follow this. As a child of God, when I say I can't, I can't deal with today. I can't deal with them. I can't deal with that news. I can't deal with that diagnosis.

I can't deal with it. As a child of God, when you do that, you know what you're doing? You're taking his name in vain. This isn't you hit your thumb with a hammer and you say a God word. This is truly taking his name in vain. I can't.

He's like, you're a child of mine. I can. I can. Not I can't. He said, well, of course you can't. Apart from me, you can do nothing. See, that's his point.

Wow. His name is attached to us. We are believers in Jesus Christ. All through the Bible, you see people who are dysfunctional become complete. People who are deficient become sufficient. People who are doubtful become faithful. People who are sinful receive his grace. People who are weak become strong.

What a difference this makes for all of us. And just as Moses is an example that can happen to all of us, the apostle Paul is the example that it doesn't have to. Go with me now to Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four. And verse four. Philippians four and verse four. Imperative mood.

It's a commandment. Amazing. Rejoice in the Lord always. How about if I again? I will say rejoice.

Doesn't that sound a little bit like the song? This is the day the Lord has made. We were rejoicing, right? Paul says, rejoice in the Lord always. Neutral days, great days, bad days, terrible days. Rejoice in the Lord always.

I can't say no, no, no, no, not these days. He said, no, I'm telling you to rejoice always in the Lord. He said, let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Great way of looking. He's right here. By the way, where is Paul? Always in jail. And he's waiting to find out if he's going to be beheaded or not.

And he said, yeah, rejoice in the Lord always today. No, no, Paul, you don't understand. You don't have any control over this. Caesar's going to decide whether you live or die.

No, he's not. God will decide that. You see, I can have joy in this. No, I'm not saying I have no concern at all. Notice he said, be anxious for nothing.

Again, a commandment. How often have you ever fulfilled that verse? Usually what we say is, I'm getting better at it. I don't worry as much as I used to. I used to worry about 80% of my thinking time.

I'm down to about 60%. I'm doing better. But the standard is be anxious for nothing. Well, that doesn't make sense. It does if you're a child of God, and he is I am.

What are you anxious about? You see, is he sovereign? Yes. Does he love you? Yes.

Is he good? Yes. Then Paul, Romans 8.28, I think all things work together for the good, don't they? So I can rejoice today.

Well, I'd like to have, but I got a really bad news here. You see how this works? Over and over again for us, we find ourself in the same trap. He says then, look, in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Pray your heart out.

That word supplication I've told you before is one of my favorites. Pour out your emotions. Lord, this is hard on me. Lord, I'm struggling.

He says, go ahead and do it. But notice I've always said this. The key to the whole prayer life of someone who has joy in every day is with those two words, with thanksgiving. No matter how bad the day appears to me, when I pray to God and pour out how terrible it is, I do it with thanksgiving.

You know why? Because this is a day you have made. And I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it.

You see how this works. That's such an important thing for us. And if you don't do it with thanksgiving, and most of us are great, we're good at giving thanks after today. And when he answers, if he answers me the way I want next week, I'll say, isn't God good? Listen, folks, God is good every day.

The best days you've ever had, the worst days you've ever had. He doesn't change at all. He's immutable. He said, when you do this, the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. You have supernatural peace. He said, finally, brethren, how about this? Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there's any excellence in anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Let me paraphrase that. If you want to think, think about Jesus. You want your mind occupied, think about him. Who he is, what he's like, what he's done. Because he is certainly, without question, true, honorable, right, pure, lovely.

He's all those things. He said, the things you've wanted to receive and heard in me, practice these things. The God of peace will be with you.

What did God tell Moses? I'm going to be with you. There's never a time, nothing, Paul says in Romans, can separate you and I from the love of Christ.

He's always going to be with us. He said, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. And now, at last, you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were not concerned before, because you lacked opportunity.

Not that I speak from want. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. How to get along in humble means, I also know how to live in prosperity. And in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. You know what that secret is? You see, you know what the secret is? To rejoicing every day, the next verse. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. There's the secret. I can deal with great days and terrible days, good days, bad days.

I can be in prison or a palace. It doesn't make any difference to me at all, because he's with me. He's near. And I can do all things through him who strengthens me. This is the day the Lord has made. We should rejoice and be glad in it. The choice is yours. You can choose to live in the I can't world. I can't deal with it. I just can't deal with it. I just can't. Look, that's a true statement.

You can't. We're not designed for that. But when you live in that world, your life is full of worry and anxiety and turmoil and despair.

That's the world you live in. Or for today, you can say, God can. God can. His power, his perspective, his promise, his strength, his peace, his grace, God can. I can't.

You can. With every day that we face, he is in us. He is for us. He is with us.

Right to the very end. You know the great words out of the 23rd Psalm. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. For us, what a terrible day that must be. He said, I will fear no evil.

Why? For you are with me. Even in that day, I'm with you.

I'm right here. You see how this works. This is such an important thing for our perspective of life. So tomorrow, whenever you wake up, just try this. When you wake up tomorrow, say to yourself first thing, this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

You start stringing those together, you might be amazed at the results. Let's pray. Father, sometimes the word of God is so clear, and no matter how clear it is, we completely miss the message anyway. I don't know why, Father, but so often we choose to live as far as our joy and happiness and peace are directly related to the circumstances of our lives and the day that we face. But Father, that is a fool's perspective, because inevitably, living on a cursed planet, we are going to have very difficult, evil, terrible, bad days.

Some of our own doing, and some of it were victimized by the doing of others. But Father, you say we can rise above that, and every day, every day, can be this day, because we know you made it, because we know you're with us, because we know you'll sustain us. Father, I pray that this perspective is one we own for our own lives, because if we do, what a difference it would make for each and every one of us.

Lives that are filled with joy and peace and hope, rather than lives of worry and fear and anxiety. Father, convict us of this truth. You've already given us the ability to obey it through your spirit and your word. Father, I pray that we can apply it to our lives for our good and for your glory. In Christ's name, amen.

Amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .