Troy A. Brewer's Blog, page 306
February 1, 2018
MAKING MUCH
I love it when abide in my provision. I own the cattle on a thousand hills and enjoy sharing My riches with you. Your reliance on Me not only strengthens our relationship, it is a shining light for all to see.
MAKING MUCH
I cannot say it enough – dependency is a really big deal to Father God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed their good daddy and said, “We’re going to do things our way, thank you very much,” it broke Father God’s heart. He loves to take care of His kids!
Here’s the kicker: if you don’t learn to depend on God, the trapdoor will continue to fall out from under you. You will end up back in the wilderness over, and over again and wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Seems like I’ve been here before.” You have and there’s a lesson you have to learn before you get your Promised Land upgrade.
In his book “Radical,” David Platt said something in the chapter titled, “The Importance of Relying on God’s Power” that really rocked my world:
“God delights in using ordinary Christians to come to the end of themselves and choose to trust in His extraordinary provision. He stands ready to allocate His power to all who are radically dependent upon Him and radically devoted to making much of Him.”
Man, that’s powerful to me. I read that over and over again, and I’ve been thinking, “Lord, I want to be, and remain, so radically devoted to making much of You. I want to make a big deal out of You in every single part of my life, Lord. I want to make a big deal out of You in my thinking, my want life, my finances, my travel, how I associate with and relate to people – King Jesus, Sir, I want to make a big deal out of You!”
When you are dependent on your father, you don’t take credit for what he provides you. You don’t drive his car then say, “I paid for this and it is mine.” That would be crazy! You would let everyone who asked know it’s your daddy’s car and he makes the payments, keeps it clean, and in good working order, thank you very much!
In the same way, make much of what your Abba in heaven has given you. Stop fighting and let Him be your provider, your source. Brag on Him so others will see you are a beloved child of the King.
From my sermon series MILK AND HONEY
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January 30, 2018
PUT A BAG OVER IT!
Like moths to a flame, people are attracted to My presence in your life. I’m so pleased when you carry My presence wherever you go. Be filled with my Spirit and testify of My love and redemption.
PUT A BAG OVER IT!
When the Bible says to let your light shine before all men, it ain’t kidding! Moses is the poster child for this verse. Check this out…
“Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.” – Exodus 34:29
When brother Moses came down from the mountain of God, his face glowed in the dark! And here’s the deal: Moses never saw it on himself. Everybody else saw it on him, but Moses couldn’t see his own radiance from being in God’s presence.
He glowed so much, they asked him to put a bag over his head. That is in the Bible. Read it! Exodus 34:30 says his own brother was afraid of Moses’ shine.
Can I tell you something? God’s not impressed with people who want you to put a bag over your head because you look too much like Jesus and they just can’t be comfortable around you. The people of God need to stop making it taboo for you to have an extraordinary walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why is it offensive to them? Because of this: How you live in private manifests in public. You don’t think they can see it – you don’t see it, but people can see what you’re like behind closed doors, and they don’t like seeing people who are not like them.
They’re in the shallow end of the Jesus pool and they want company. Run from these people! They want to hold you back so they can feel comfortable.
Moses was surrounded by people who wanted to be comfortable and keep God at a distance. Not Moses. God talked to him as one talks to a friend – in person. Because of this, all through Moses’ life, God’s approval and favor showed up on his skin. That blows my mind!
Do you want to look like Jesus? Do you want His favor and blessing to shine like a beacon from your life? Those in darkness are attracted to the light. Don’t put it under a bag for anybody!
From my sermon series EXODUS
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January 29, 2018
PASSION OR POTLUCK?
You were created to accomplish My vision. Not only do I have a plan for you and your life, I’ve planned how you will uplift others and glorify My name. Partner with me to bring this plan to fruition.
PASSION OR POTLUCK?
If you are not surrounded by people who love you, celebrate you and recognize you as a person of God, get away from those people. They are toxic to your advancement in Jesus.
Give them the left foot of fellowship and tell them, “I will see you on the Great Day. I will love you, but I will love you from a distance.”
I spent most of my life surrounded by people who didn’t understand me. How many times did I hear, “You’re just not like us…” I wanted them to love me. I wanted to fit in and tried to be like them, but I just wasn’t. To them, I was weird.
Today, I know that everyone is weird, especially you. Yes, you are weird. You’re unique, but believe me, there is a calling on your life only you can do and a tribe that is perfect for you.
As your pastor, I say, “Permission granted for you to be you, and do what you do!”
If the place you want to serve God, or how you want to serve God, has not been traditionally recognized in the Body of Christ, go anyway. Take the Spirit of the Living God into the streets, ditches, jungles, suburbs – all four corners of the earth.
You have something amazing to offer that nobody else does. Those who tell you otherwise are whack! They are not part of your tribe. Yes, there are other people who think like you. Find them. Go after your passion and leave the frozen chosen to their potlucks.
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” – Colossians 3:23
From my sermon series I LOVE MY TRIBE
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January 28, 2018
TURNING THE TABLES
I see the thief at your door and the fox in your vineyard. I long to chase them away. Let go of your self sufficiency. Any kind of “self” is about you, and not about Me. Let me be sufficient to fight your battles. I am a Man of war and I never fail.
TURNING THE TABLES
When Jesus showed up in the temple in Jerusalem and He turned over the tables, He ran off the thieves. He corrected things.
Think about this: He’d been to the temple a hundred times and had never done that. Why not?
He didn’t do that until they treated Him as a King. They lined the streets and they cheered, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
If you’re sick and tired of the little thieves in your life, you know – the things that steal your peace, relationships, money and ministry – and you’re wondering why Jesus won’t run these things off, it’s because He needs to be your King.
It’s only as King that He runs off the thieves and turns the tables over.
When you turn the table on something, it means you change the momentum from what is against you to the thing that is for you. That’s called Jehovah Nissi – “the Lord is our Banner.”
The banner refers to the flag on a battlefield. King Jesus is a warrior king. He likes to scrap it up for your sake. In fact, He considers fighting for you to be just plain glorious!
Do you know Jesus as your King? Is He your Banner – your warrior king? Trust in Him to fight your battles today. Turn those tables!
Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”). He said, “They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.” – Exodus 17:15
From my sermon series JESUS UNVEILED
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January 27, 2018
RADICAL DEPENDENCE, RADICAL LOVE
Do not doubt that I call you friend – that you are family to me. My love for you is immeasurable and I love it when you call on Me for help. You are not a burden, but My beloved child. Trust Me with your failures and faults. I will lead you out of captivity.
RADICAL DEPENDENCE, RADICAL LOVE
What you and I learn in the wilderness is to radically depend on King Jesus. We don’t just depend on Him sometimes. We depend on Him all the time – again, radical dependence.
In the wilderness we learn…
We are nothing without Him.
We are safe with Him.
He is our provision.
He is our healing.
He is our life.
He is our cloud by day, our fire by night.
Think about your own wilderness experiences when you ended up in places you didn’t want to go. When you went into situations you thought would kill you, but God was so good to you in that place and it changed your life.
Radical dependence was a game-changer me and it can be for you as well. For the rest of your life you will say, “Oh, I get it now. Whatever the problem is, it’s not God.” You learn that in the wilderness because in the wilderness, the only thing you have going for you is God.
We all go through those times in life where everything we’re familiar with is gone, the green of life is gone and now we’re in this barren place. However, God is so good to us through that trial, that when it’s finished we say, “I am the friend of God. I’m family with Him and that means there’s no limitations on my life whatsoever.”
When you can say that, you cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. That’s where God gives you the green light. Be backs you up and says, “Sic ‘em!”
Know this: your Promised Land is coming! Whatever wilderness you’re in – your marriage, health, rebellious kids, addiction, financial hardship, depression – it doesn’t matter to Jesus. He’s there. Lean on Him in radical ways. He will envelope you with radical love.
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. – Psalm 27:13-14
From my sermon series MILK AND HONEY
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January 26, 2018
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS JUST LIKE THAT!
You don’t have to leave the kingdom for your own desires. Because you are in love with Me, learning of Me, and going after My heart, the desires of your heart are quickly becoming kingdom desires because of My influence in your life.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS JUST LIKE THAT!
King Jesus is a master at teaching deep, spiritual, Kingdom truth by paralleling it to something that everybody recognizes. It’s Jesus saying, “See that? The Kingdom of Heaven is just like that!” The Bible calls that a “parable.”
In Mark 4:3-9, Jesus tells the parable of the sower. The sower – God – spreads seed in all kinds of soil – people – and it’s up to us whether we’re going to grow and flourish, or wither and die.
You and I are His harvest.
Let me tell you what your harvest is going to do. It’s going to spring up. It’s going to increase, and it’s going to produce. Jesus actually later explains to the disciples that the seed is the Word of God. He says, “This is what happens when the word of God comes into your life and it produces a harvest.” God gets His way within your life.
You need to hear God speak through the parables going on in your everyday life. They are there if you look for them. There are situations going on where you instantly know God is speaking.
He speaks through the timing of things, how things line up, and understanding how things work. What’s cool is, it’s like you can’t get away from the word God is speaking to you concerning one subject! Do you hear Him?
Start paying attention to the parables in your life and you’ll start seeing that “the Kingdom of Heaven is just like that!”
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. – Matthew 13:10-12
From my sermon series LORD OF THE HARVEST
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January 25, 2018
ALIGNED FOR BATTLE
Put everything you’re involved in right now down at the feet of Jesus. He will tell you the things He’ll handle Himself and the ones He wants to help you with as you seek Him.
ALIGNED FOR BATTLE
Alignment for assignment is all about fighting the right battles.
Open Door Church is called to fight the battle of poverty and hunger through our food bank and homeless outreach. We are called to fight the battle for freedom from slavery. We do that through Answer International. We are also called to give orphans a new family name – Christ-ians – through our SPARK Worldwide orphanages.
There are a lot of other great things out there – Kingdom things – that we could be involved in. However, we would be out of alignment because we were not specifically called to do those things. When I say called, I mean God has placed a holy hatred for that thing in my heart as the pastor and in our hearts collectively as a congregation.
I don’t want to fight the wrong battles. That never ends well because God didn’t give me the grace to win on that battlefield.
It’s easy to be fascinated with things that are not your assignment. Ministries other people or churches are doing, and doing well, are their assignment. Don’t go coveting what they have. Why? Because God has a personal, specific purpose for you.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10
Yes, your purpose is yours alone. Line up with it and leave your hands off the good things others are doing!
So what is your assignment? What has God put before you and given you grace to conquer for His Glory? If you don’t know or aren’t sure, ask Him for a word of confirmation. Let Jesus show you how He wired you to win the war against Satan.
From my sermon series: EXODUS
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January 24, 2018
FREE TO GROW
It is for freedom’s sake that I have set you free. Walk in the knowledge that I will never try to control your thoughts or actions. I like your uniqueness and revel in every stage of your progress. Keep moving forward toward My destiny for you.
FREE TO GROW
Listen, our entire walk is not suppose to be about us getting saved. It’s about saved people bringing the Kingdom to a lost and dying world.
If you’re saved, you do not need to earn your salvation over and over again. It’s time to move forward and learn to grow up. These steps are called “rites of passage.”
Baptism is very much a universal, Body of Christ, rite of passage. Baptism is where you say, “I’m leaving some things from my past in the water. I’m coming out on the other side of this, and things are different from now on.”
God will honor that. He really will.
Another rite of passage is raising your hands in worship. I know there are a lot of churches where people who raise their hands are shunned or looked at as showoffs of some kind. That’s so not true!
Christians raise their hands for the same reason unsaved people do: surrender, celebration, victory or reaching up for our Daddy to pick us up. When you get to a place where you understand the significance and are comfortable doing that in church, it’s a big deal.
The frozen chosen have been telling people how to do church for too long. It’s time to thaw out. There are some things unique to this tribe, OpenDoor Church, that don’t make sense to other tribes in the Body of Christ. One of them is freedom.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Just like God – who is love – does not demand His own way, but gives us free will to choose Him, this tribe operates in freedom. Like Jesus, we’re not about controlling anybody. We’re about freedom to be who you’re called to be, even if you’re weird. We like weird.
We’re not going to shun you for being a drop-dead, sold-out Jesus freak. Be who God has called you to be and walk in the gifts he’s given you because in this tribe, you are free to grow!
FROM MY SERMON SERIES: I LOVE MY TRIBE
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January 23, 2018
DO YOU NOT PERCEIVE IT?
Do you hear it? Jesus is calling you into new and deeper places. He is ultimately personal with you, knowing your fears and desires. He is asking you to come closer. Do you hear Him?
DO YOU NOT PERCEIVE IT?
The Bible is very clear: God never changes. He stays the same yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow of turning in Him. He is a rock, a fortress and our strong tower. These are incredible attributes.
So if He is constant, how does He always manage to show up in our lives in new and different ways?
Because He is amazingly personal with each of us. He is so amazing that He’s indescribable. That’s what Paul called Jesus in 2 Corinthians 9:12 – an indescribable gift.
Paul understood there are not enough words to describe Him. As a matter of fact, the tripped out cherubim who endlessly fly around His throne each have four faces. As they circulate, these four faces see new and different attributes of God and are constantly amazed, crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty.”
There are not enough words to describe the endless ways He speaks to us.
The voice of the Lord is on the waters, the voice of the Lord is on the many waters. – Psalms 29:3
Circumstances, nature, His Word, friends, the stars, numbers, music or today’s headlines – all are ways the Lord to speaks into our lives. He speaks to us in endless ways, innumerable voices.
What is Jesus calling you into? Are you believing Him for a miracle? Maybe He’s speaking to you about upgrade, a new ministry or a plan to prosper your life.
Know this: just because you’ve never heard God speak to you about this subject or in the voice He’s using to get your attention, does not mean He’s not speaking. He is doing a new thing! While He never changes, He loves to surprise us. Listen for His voice and perceive it!
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43:19
FROM MY SERMON SERIES JESUS UNVEILED
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January 22, 2018
PROMISED LAND PARTNERSHIPS
I am counting on you to testify to My goodness. I have put people in your life who will only hear the truth from you. I have trusted you with influence. Use it to bring those you care about into My house.
PROMISED LAND PARTNERSHIPS
In the wilderness, you survive. You fight for victory. In the Promised Land, you are an overcomer and fight from victory. The big difference between the wilderness and the Promised Land is partnership.
A partnership between you and God is when heaven wants to invade earth and God Almighty makes Himself vulnerable to us. It’s an amazing thing.
In the wilderness, we make ourselves vulnerable to God. In the Promised Land God actually makes Himself vulnerable to us. He says, “Here’s the deal, cowboy. I’m going to empower you to walk in the promises and take it to the next level. This is My heart and I’m counting on you to fulfill your mission.”
Think of it as a marriage because you and I are the Bride of Christ. Amen.
This is covenant stuff here. This partnership isn’t just us counting on God. He’s counting on you and I. He really is. He has people He wants delivered from addiction and shame. He has people who need saved and His plan is for you and I to reach them with our testimony.
I think there’s been way too much of us breaking His heart when He’s given us opportunity to do incredible things and we fall out or lose focus.
Don’t do that! God is counting on your to partner with Him. That means this relationship is a two way street. He always keeps His end of the bargain. Can you do the same?
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. – Philippians 2:13
From my sermon series MILK AND HONEY
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