Breakthrough - Courage - The Catalyst to Breakthrough, Part 2

Where do you need courage today? Do you need courage to have a hard talk with one of your children? Do you need courage to say, today's the day I quit alcohol or drugs?

Do you need courage to tell your spouse that you have a porn addiction? I mean, honestly, where do you need courage today? Well, today we're going to learn how God can develop courage in your heart to help you take the step you know you need to take.

Stay with me. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge features the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram, helping Christians live like Christians.

I'm Dave Drew. And we're in our series called Breakthrough, unleashing God's power into impossible situations. Chip's already given us the first steps to breakthrough and how to make room for breakthrough. So if you missed any of those messages, they're available online at livingontheedge.org or on the Chip Ingram app.

In this program, Chip's talking about overcoming barriers that get in the way of breakthrough. So let's join him now for part two of his message as he picks it up at the fifth barrier, our own blindness. The fifth is blindness. After he gives a little reproof to the Pharisees and to the disciples, I'll come back and touch that in verses 8, 11 through 21, he's going to heal a blind person. They came to Bethesda and some people brought a blind man and are you getting a pattern here? Begged Jesus to touch him. And he took him off to the side and he put his hands on the man's eyes and he says, do you see?

And the man says, I see people who look like trees walking around. In other words, he prays and he gets partial sight and he sees things but it's blurry. And then he prays for him again and then he sees everything clearly. You have to understand the literary genius and why Jesus does what he does, not only for the disciples but for us. Because just like there was an actual deaf man, the disciples can't hear God. I mean the disciples see the miracles but they don't understand. And so sandwiched in between these barriers, Jesus is going to have a little talk with his disciples and he's going to say, I've shown you miraculously hearing and seeing and you can trust me. And yet, they don't get it.

In fact, notice the two groups that don't get it. Skip back up now to verse 11. The Pharisees came and began to question him. All these miracles are happening, right? I mean, traditions are blown out of the water, this unworthy woman comes, this deaf man can hear, you know, 4,000 people and I mean there's a buzz. And so the Pharisees come and they're thinking, this is really getting out of hand. Allah, we're losing control.

He's getting way too famous. And so they come, not to hear, not to learn, not to grow, what's it say? They came to test him and they asked him for a sign from heaven.

And he sighed deeply. Why does this generation ask for miraculous signs? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given.

And then he left them and got into the boat. See, here's people that really think they've got it wired. And this is how we do with God sometimes. You know what, I'm kind of hearing this stuff, God. When you restore my marriage, get me a good job, I get my house back and my kid's life turns around.

And by the way, I've had this chronic pain, take care of that too. When you do all that, then I think I'll believe. Let me tell you Jesus' response. He sighs deeply and says, you know, faith isn't you seeing all the things and then faith is choosing to step out of the boat when you feel afraid and believing what I've said. See, they weren't sincere. They were trying to manipulate.

They came to test him. And then notice the disciples, because these are the people I think I identify with. You know by now, I mean, isn't there part of you that thinking if you were walking around with Jesus, 5,000 people, 4,000 people, a deaf guy, a blind man, I mean, at some point wouldn't you think, hey, I believe in this guy.

I mean, if he says it, let's do it. And yet, we pick up the disciples' response, picking up verse 14, chapter 8. The disciples had forgotten, so, you know, they leave the Pharisees, they're in the boat.

They've forgotten to bring any bread except for just one loaf. And Jesus, he's always teaching, like we're supposed to teach our kids and help one another. They're in the boat and he says, now be careful of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. You know, a little lesson, as you're seeing all these miracles, I want you to trust me, I want you to be courageous, I want you to step out, but you need to understand there's a yeast. A yeast is something that starts small and, you know, infiltrates. And the yeast of the Pharisees is hypocrisy.

God, you've got to guard. It's easy to go there. The yeast of Herod's is power. And you can get intoxicated with that. I mean, and sometimes we make these Bible stories. Can you imagine what it would be like to be a part of the entourage?

I mean, you know, just picture you and me right here. So you guys with Jesus? Yeah. How's it going? Ah, we had 45,000 at the last one. Yeah, yeah, you know, I was, ah, we see a few people healed, a couple raised from the dead.

It was a pretty good week. So do you like talk to him like up close? Oh, yeah, I cook a fish. Yeah, Jesus, me, we're tight. You know what Jesus is saying? Don't go there.

Don't get intoxicated with the power and the people and the public. And he's trying to guard their heart from what can happen. And then, aware of their discussion, look in your text, look at the Bible, verse 17.

Jesus asked them, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? The answer is yes.

And in the Bible, a hard heart is unbelief. Do you have highs but fail to see and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember when I broke the five lows or the 5,000, how many basketfuls and pieces did you pick up? And I think in unison they all said 12.

And when I broke the seven lows for the 4,000, how many baskets or pieces did you pick up? And they said seven. He said, do you still not understand?

The most encouraging part about this is you can have that much experience and be that close to Jesus and see those many miracles and still have your heart hardened. They're still not willing to step out. They're still not courageous.

And they still don't believe. They don't have enough bread for a little trip from point A to point B. Well, what are we going to do? But how many times do we do that?

Isn't that a barrier? There's some of us. I've been there. I have begged God in ICU for the life of one of my sons. I mean begged God, oh God, don't let my boy die.

Don't let my boy die. And God answered. I have begged God when my wife got cancer. I have begged God. I've been at times where the bills were this big and the resources were this big and I was on my face before God with my closest friends. Oh God.

And I watched him. And yet I can turn around two weeks later and have a financial need or a relational need or a big health issue and find myself paralyzed by fear. Oh God, oh God. And it's like, you know, Ingram, when are you going to kind of like, it's like I get a spiritual lobotomy and I forget. How about you?

What about your track record? God wants you to step out. You know, when's the last time you said, okay, forget none of his benefits and you start listening. He did this. He did this. He did this. He did this. He did this. He did this. He did this. I mean, go back as far as you need to. Can that God take care of this problem?

If the answer's yes, courageously step out and trust him. It's the catalyst. It's the catalyst to break through. The final barrier we're going to uncover when the disciples get close and now it's sort of exam time. The barrier of self-interest.

And I do pray that you'll dig in and spend some time reading slowly from chapter six all the way through chapter nine. But the self-interest goes something like this. He gets the disciples alone, which is his pattern. Miracles, teaching, small group disciples, explanation. Checking, small group disciples, explanation.

Specific questions to see what they're learning. And so as we flow through the text at the end of chapter eight, Jesus says, so who do men say that I am? Well, some think John the Baptist, others Elijah, others the prophet that's to come. Now the author has just told you that the disciples are blind. They see but they don't understand. And so Jesus heals someone who sees partially and then the next question helps them see fully. And so he's picturing for us the process.

And so, yeah, you're pretty close. A prophet, Elijah, John the Baptist. But who do you say that I am? And again, this is Peter.

He just steps up inspired by the Spirit of God. You are the Messiah. You are the son of a living God.

Peter A plus. And you didn't get that yourself. God gave that to you. The Father revealed that to you. And by the way, that's how this works. We take steps but the Spirit of God will powerfully and supernaturally confirm and reveal inside your heart the reality of who He is. And so as you take steps of faith, He'll let you know, I'll support, I'll show up. But then something happens because as God begins to work in our life, then Jesus begins a little bit of the truth. And the truth is, men all prophesied through the Old Testament is, yes, the Messiah will come and reign. But before He reigns, He's going to be a suffering servant. And the text says, He began to explain to them plainly that He would die and rise on the third day. That He would be betrayed by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. And He would kind of prepare them. And as He's preparing them, does anybody remember what our great hero Peter does?

Peter takes him aside, hey Lord, I don't know what you're thinking but you need to cut that one. That is not the right message. Look, we've got thousands of people, the money's rolling in, these miracles. I mean, you are the man. Rome's going down. Pharisees are going out.

You're the big dude and we're with you. So, I mean, that was their view. And after being the hero who heard from God, you're the Messiah. What's Jesus say to them? He says the harshest words that any human being I think has ever heard.

Get behind me. Not Peter, Satan. See, Satan's the father of lies.

But then, what's the explanation? For you do not have on your mind and heart the things of God, but the things of men. In other words, you want to use me. You don't want me to fulfill the father's will.

You don't care about anyone else, Peter. You want to use me. You don't want the price.

All you want is the product. You're not willing to follow me and to suffer and realize this is God's plan. You really want Jesus to be sort of your little self-help genie to make your life work out your way. Anybody else other than me struggle with that? It's a barrier. It's a barrier. I mean, you think of this passage, who experienced breakthroughs? I mean, if you went down through, who experienced the miraculous, the breakthrough? Unlikely people, right? Unworthy women, deaf guys, blind people.

Who didn't experience breakthrough? Religious people? Disciples? What did they do? What did the Pharisees do? Criticize? Feel threatened?

Trying to figure out a way to manipulate the situation? What did the disciples do? Worry? Uptight? Concerned about them?

The people that got breakthroughs, what did they do? Passionately came to Jesus and said, literally, I beg you, I beg you, I beg you, I beg you, five times they come and say, I just need help. I'll do anything. You're the answer. I don't care what people think. I'm not unworthy. I'm trusting you. I don't see clearly. I know I don't completely hear. I know I've got self-interest, but I will.

And what happens to them? Bam, bam, bam. God's power, courage is the catalyst for breakthrough. What lessons did he want them to learn? If you went through each one of these, he wants them to learn God's word, not tradition, is what you go by.

God's love, no respect of persons. God's power, available in impossible situations, even when you're deaf, might be dim and deaf. God's provision is always available. And that God's demands, here's the hard part, are for your good.

See, Peter unconsciously thought he knew what was best for his future, his life, and his relationships. And again, he forgot about God's goodness. There are things God will ask you and me to do in following him that are hard, that are unpleasant, and that are scary.

And what we have to remember, he's a sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory, and there's nothing good that he withholds. In fact, look at chapter 9, because there is a question that every one of us will have to answer. There's a path that we must take and a vision to inquire, and what he does here is he helps weak people get courage. I mean, the whole goal of what's happening right here is he wants these followers to be infused with courage. And so when he asks them, here's the question he asks them, but he asks us, who do you think Jesus is? Is he like a good moral character? Is it a biblical worldview?

Is it try hard to be a nice person? Or has the living God died for you, risen from the dead, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the one to whom all people of all time, every knee will bow, every tongue confess, and he's invited you to a personal relationship to follow him. That's a lot different than, I believe in God, and Jesus paid for my sin, and you know, I kind of live my life, and I squeeze him in when I can.

And the path, what's the path? Look at verse 34. He says to them, if any man, if any woman would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

He's saying power is resurrection power, but the only way you experience resurrection power is when there's a death. And what you have to die to, and this is the hard part, is your agenda, and take your future, and your relationships, and your finances, and your kids, and your uncertainty, and your work, and your dreams, and you offer them to God and say, I'm all in, I'll follow you. And when we say that, what the enemy whispers is, well then, it'll be hard, it'll be terrible, you'll never get married, you'll never have any money, it's going to be really rough. And all that is like, oh so God, he's willing to die for you and loves you that much, but he really wants life on earth to be just a real pain in the rear.

That's how we act. And so, what does he say? Afterwards, he tries to help his disciples with his arm around him saying, guys, don't you understand? This is the path I will follow, I will die, and I will rise from the dead, and I'm going to blaze the trail.

Because unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies, it bears forth much fruit. For what will it profit a man or a woman if you gain the whole world, that you forfeit your soul? He said, I've got your best interests, there are some things that are hard, but you want deep relationships, you want my blessing in your life, you want to have a connection with your kids, you want my hand of power and blessing upon your work? Take up your cross.

Follow me. Because what will it profit you if you cut corners and neglect me, and one of your kids gets in Stanford, another in Columbia, and they have high SAT scores, and your company finally goes public, and then you get that really good raise, and you not only get this house, but you get to remodel your kitchen, and then you get a little piece in the mountains, or maybe in the beach, and you work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And then you're this lonely person alienated from God, and you have all these toys and all this stuff, and you realize it's empty. Now, they may be blessings that God would use. He's not saying those things are wrong.

What He's saying is they're bad, bad, and they might be a blessing that could be used and enjoyed. But as you follow the trail, well, how does this all work? How do we move from this vision that Jesus is who He said He is, that He's the Lord, He's the Son of God, He's a good shepherd, He's the Messiah, He's the Savior, you believe Him, and you get to where, when you're afraid, you can take a step of courage and begin to see Him work. So I'm going to take everything we've talked about, and I want to walk through and give you a very linear, specific path and game plan to apply it. Because if you'll take a step of courage, you will see God show up in you and through you like never before.

Here's the path, the analysis. Fear keeps us from stepping out to unleash God's power into impossible situations. Fear, we're all afraid, but it keeps us from stepping out.

I know I should, I know I ought, but we don't. Two, stepping out requires courage. Courage is the power to act despite our fears. Courage is birthed in us when we see God for who He is, and therefore the size of our God becomes greater than the size of the obstacles, our problems, and our fear. Courage is birthed when our circumstances are so impossible and we're so desperate that we step out and seek God's help because we've exhausted all other options.

Have you ever noticed that the biggest times in your life where God showed up was when you didn't bring anything to the party? You were desperate. Can I just tell you and me, we're as desperate today if your circumstances are good as you were when your kid was in ICU or someone you love has cancer. But boy, no one had to teach me how to pray when my wife had cancer.

No boxes to check. I was begging God. When's the last time you came before God with urgency and passion and begged Him to intervene in something in your life or something about your character or something, a habit that you have or a relationship that you know has got to turn around instead of, I hope it works out and I'll try this and I'll read another book on that and maybe if I talk to her who talks to Him and then she'll get this turned around or maybe we try some different medicine.

I'm all for all the doctors, all the wisdom, all the counsel. But God does the impossible. Courage then demands faith that God will do what He's promised.

I mean, I don't step out. I'm not Peter until I believe if He said come, I can come. So do you have faith? Well, where do you get faith?

Faith is a result of seeing Jesus up close for who He is. And so did you notice in chapter 9 verse 2, He has them on this journey. He wants them to have courage. He knows courage comes through faith. He wants them to step out.

How are they going to get faith? He takes His three key guys, James, John, and Peter, up on a mountain and remember what did He say? You see but you don't understand.

You hear and you don't get it. And so He takes them up with His amount of transfiguration and it wasn't a light from heaven contrary to movies. The light came out of Jesus. He pulled back and they saw the glory of the Son of God.

And I mean it was bright. And then all of a sudden two people show up that these guys trust. Moses, what was Moses? Moses was the greatest revealer of God's truth in the Old Testament. Elijah is the greatest revealer of God's power. And these three guys with all their doubts all of a sudden, this is who Jesus is. I see it. And here's the testimony. And then a cloud comes and they actually hear. They're not deaf anymore. This is my dearly loved Son.

Listen to Him. And those three guys will believe. And they'll be courageous because they believe.

And Jesus took them up so they could see Him for who He is and notice we can in our day and here's how. Prayer is God's invitation to see Jesus up close and believe He will do what is impossible for you. You need to totally revamp how you think about praying. Okay, five minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes, twelve minutes. Okay, I think I'm supposed to do a little. Okay, thank you God, thank you God. Help me, I'll see you later.

You know, I'll catch you in the car. God wants a relationship. What do you really want? What do you really want?

Intentional, passionate, focused. God, I want you to restore my marriage. God, I would like a husband or a wife. God, I want you to turn one of my kids around.

God, I think this kid has this opportunity. I want you to do something inside there. I want you to open this avenue.

Lord, I want to build a great business and I'm telling you on the front end you can do with it whatever you want and this is what I'm asking. Are you praying like that? God, I'm mad. God, I'm ticked off. God, I can't take this anymore. I don't understand.

The raw, real you before the living God because what God honors is truth. Not this plastic little bless here and now I lay me down to sleep and you know, help us do this and help us do that. You don't really want help. God, I'm scared to death and you spoke to me about taking a step and if you don't show up, I'll sink like Peter. And for some of you, if you're like me, you feel like you don't have time so our final point is fasting is choosing to remove whatever distracts us from seeing and experiencing God for who He is. And by the way, for some of you, food is the last thing in the world you need to fast from.

It's a good start. You need to fast from your phone. You need to fast from Facebook. You need to fast from your hobby.

You need to fast from every moment of every time of how much football you're gonna watch or how many fantasy leagues or how much time you shop. Whatever it is, some of you need to fast from a relationship. This person is no good for your spiritual, emotional and intellectual health. You need to fast for them and get away from them for two or three weeks.

Now if it's your marriage partner, that's not what I'm recommending. But you understand, do you realize how many of us, you have traditions and habits and you want God to really work and you do this and do that for a couple hours and then you sit afterwards because you're exhausted and you're exhausted because you didn't eat very well and you don't work out because you don't have time. You don't have time because you're sitting in front of a TV for two or three hours at the end of every day and you keep doing it and doing it and doing it and doing it and you come like here and you get all fired up and then you go, it doesn't work.

Create space. And then if you do, you won't last two or three days. You can never sustain any kind of discipline. I mean apart from people in your corner saying, will you help me get there? No one does the journey alone. No one can keep their commitments alone.

Chip will be right back with his application for today. But just a quick reminder, this message, Courage, The Catalyst to Breakthrough, is from his series Breakthrough, Unleashing God's Power into Impossible Situations. Now maybe your impossible situation is a relationship, an addiction, or a painful event in your past.

Well, here's the truth. Breakthrough isn't something we sit around and wait for. It happens when we trust God for the impossible and start cooperating with Him to make it a reality. In this series, Chip helps us take the first steps toward breakthrough in our relationships, our habits, and our attitudes. Breakthrough resources are available in both audio and video formats, including online streaming with a study guide. For previews and ordering details, check out Breakthrough at livingontheedge.org, special offers on the Chip Ingram app, or give us a call at 888-333-6003.

Chip, I can tell you want to jump in here. As we're talking about breakthrough, before we continue today, here's what I want to tell you. Honesty at the heart of breakthrough, real connection, God showing up is honesty. Psalm 145 18 says this, The Lord is near to those who call upon Him.

Then here's the condition. Those who call upon Him in truth. Now, all I want to say is this very, very clearly. It's really, really hard to be honest with ourselves when we have unresolved anger, when we have bitterness, when we have fear, when we have overwhelming anxiety. One of the things that has helped me the most, because some of the things that I have thought or struggled with or fear, I don't even want to say to Teresa, my wife. I mean, it's just so ugly, or it's like I can't get my arms around it. What I do is I open my journal, and I pray no one will ever read them ever, and I write out as raw as I can, this is what I'm feeling, this is what I fear, this is what I'm anxious about, this is what I'm ticked off about.

I get honest, I mean raw. I read it, and here's the deal. It gets out, and I can see it, and the enemy can't play with it in my mind, and now I know those are my real feelings, and the tool to be honest for me is a journal that's private, that's clear, and it lets me take that step of honesty. If you have never tried journaling, let me encourage you, give it a try, and Dave, I think we have a brand new resource that might be a real help.

Could you tell them about it? Happy to, thanks. Well, it's easy to be excited about our new prayer journals because they're so well done. They're beautifully bound in a couple of different colors with embossed gold or silver trimmings, and inside, it's even better. Chip's given you a few of his journaling tips. There's a dedication page if you want to send it as a gift, and there's tons of room for you to do your own personal journaling. For a limited time, our brand new prayer journals are discounted, so I hope you'll check them out today. You'll find all the details at livingontheedge.org.

App listeners will find them when you tap special offers, and for more information, just give us a call at 888-333-6003. Well, now here's Chip with a final thought. As we close today's program, the last section of the teaching time answered the question, how do weak people get courage? And I walked through how Jesus taught his disciples, and then I did a little analysis, and I give you six very specific things that talk about fear and stepping out and courage and faith and prayer and even fasting. I can't develop all of those. Can I encourage you? Those are really powerful.

They come right out of Scripture. Go to the website, livingontheedge.org, download the notes for free, ponder those, pray over them, and then act, and God will give you courage. As we wrap up today's program, just a quick but important thought. Living on the Edge depends on listeners like you to help us continue programming right here in your area. And would you consider partnering with us on a monthly basis so people around you will continue to benefit from the ministry of Chip and Living on the Edge? Now, to set up a recurring donation, call us at 888-333-6003. Tap the donate button or go to livingontheedge.org. And thanks in advance for doing whatever God leads you to do. We'll be with us again next time when Chip continues his series, Breakthrough. Until then, for everyone here, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.