Morning Star Studio City

Happy New Year! 2009 Is going to be a great and glorious year in God! I believe it is going to be a year when we all break through barriers and into new levels of grace, fruitfulness and power in Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14 God’s Word Translation says, “But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ…” Notice that Paul says that God always leads us in victory – not sometimes - not just once or twice in our lives we’ll have a glorious victory or a godly breakthrough!

Most people have heard of the legendary pilot Chuck Yeager. Chuck became a test pilot after World War II, and set it in his heart and mind that he would break the sound barrier. Experts thought that breaking the sound barrier would be impossible or at least so difficult that you would die in the process.
After three glide flights in the X-1, he flew it to a speed of 0.85 Mach on his first powered flight on August 29th, 1947. He encountered severe buffeting and sudden nose-up and -down trim changes during his next six flights. Then, during his eighth flight on 10 Oct., he lost pitch control altogether.

Two nights before the scheduled date for the supersonic flight, he broke two ribs while riding a horse. He was so afraid of being removed from the mission that he secretly received treatment from a veterinarian and told only his wife, as well as friend and fellow project pilot Jack Ridley. On the day of the flight, Yeager was in such pain that he could not seal the airplane's hatch by himself. Ridley rigged up a device (really just the end of a broom handle, used as an extra lever) to allow Yeager to seal the hatch of the airplane. But on October 14th, 1947 after many trials, Chuck Yeager became the first man to decisively break the sound barrier. Not only did he break the sound barrier, he went on to break several speed records over the next six years.

How does Chuck Yeager’s story relate to me and you? If we are going to break through barriers in our lives, it will not just happen by wishful thinking. We’ll need to pay a price and go through test, trials and treacherous moments. Like Yeager, we’ll probably experience great “buffeting,” shaking and perils in order to break through to a new level and greater fruitfulness in Christ.

Thankfully, we’re not left to ourselves to attain breakthroughs and victories that we so desperately desire and need. God is the God of breakthrough. 2Samuel 5:20 NAS says, “So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; and he said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters." Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim. (Which means “The Lord who breaks out or breaks through)

David had been running as a fugitive from king Saul for years. Just a little while earlier he became king over Israel after Saul and Jonathan died in battle against the Philistines. Now the same Philistines who killed Saul are trying to decimate David and his army. David is the greatest threat, and his enemies knew it. Think what would have happened if David had not defeated his enemies here at Baal Perazim!

The Philistines were a constant problem to the people of Israel during David’s life. The Philistines represent the chronic problems in our lives that seem to never go away. They consistently come against us to wear us down, put fear in our hearts, plague our minds with dark thoughts, steal what is rightfully ours and just try to make our lives miserable.

God doesn’t want us to be down, discouraged, depressed – living under the circumstances – allowing our situation to get the best of us. He wants us to believe his word, fight the fight of faith, and trust God to see godly change in our marriage, family, workplace, job, career, relationships, etc.

In his book “When You Don’t Desire God,” John Piper notes, “Far too many Christians are passive in their fight for joy. They tell me about their condition of joylessness, and I ask about the strategies they have pursued to defeat this enemy, and they give the impression that they are a helpless victim. Well, God does not mean for us to be passive. He means for us to fight the fight of faith! And the central strategy is to preach the gospel to yourself. This is war. Satan is preaching for sure. If we remain passive, we surrender the field to him.”

How did David experience Godly breakthrough?

David went down to the stronghold. That stronghold was the place of safety, security, protection. It was a place where David and his armies were least susceptible to attack. Every one of us needs a stronghold in our lives – a place where God’s protective presence is real and lasting.

Verse 19 says that David inquired of the Lord. That’s where the battle is won – not in the fighting, but in the seeking. When we go to God in prayer, fasting and seeking Him, we’ve already won! There’s no way to lose. The only way to lose is to walk away from God or choose to not seek Him.

The Lord answered (paraphrased)“Go David – they’re yours – you own them.” The way we win is to Go – the great commission is to go. When we go in the name of the Lord, the gospel is declared and the nations become our inheritance!

David had a breakthrough in 2 Samuel 5, but that breakthrough started way back when David was a shepherd boy defending the sheep from lions, bears and wolves. The breakthrough started with David’s relationship to God. It didn’t happen overnight. It was "incubating" in years of faithfulness and devotion.

How does breakthrough happen in our lives? David gives us a pattern here for breakthrough. He trusted in God, he came boldly before God to receive mercy & grace. He had a plan, he prayed, and then he went out and fought the fight of faith. Breakthrough can happen in a moment, but it requires a lifestyle that we see modeled by David. This means that we have to take practical, small steps to work towards our goals.

Small steps towards breakthrough:

1. Believe
Ephesians 2:6 By grace you are saved through faith

2. Pray
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

3. Plan
Prov. 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

4. Fight
2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Paul is basically saying “You have to fight to break through barriers.”

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you.” George Lucas

I could go on for pages with testimonies of people in our church who broke through depression, failure, debt, addictions, marital division, eating disorders, chronic pain and sickness, police records and just about everything else by the grace of God and are living in a new level of freedom, faith and fulfillment.

God always leads us into victory – not defeat, depression, failure, misery or mediocrity. There are areas in all of our lives that need breakthrough – and God is the God of breakthrough. As we cooperate with Him and respond to His gracious overtures, the power of God is available to us. As we Believe, Pray, Plan and Fight, God brings breakthrough in greater ways.

There was a group of people thousands of years ago that literally changed the course of history. They actually believed what Jesus said, and they responded by obeying Him and putting their faith into action. Supernatural healing happened, blind eyes were opened, and people were even raised from the dead. Yet from my vantage point, an even greater miracle occurred in Luke’s writings of the Acts of the Disciples:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

To get a diverse group of Jewish believers together in one heart and mind, not claim their own possessions but share everything they owned – priceless! (and amazing). I don’t believe Luke was using hyperbole. I don’t think he was waxing metaphorical. As a historian par excellence, he was simply and clearly stating that he witnessed a group of genuine followers of Jesus Christ living in harmony and love for each other. He saw them demonstrate it not once or twice, but continually! They were ecstatic about caring and sharing.

The power of share is that when we are introduced to Christ with His love, grace and kingdom, we can follow suit in sharing what He has blessed us with in sharing our life with others. Pouring out our time, talents and treasure for our brothers, sisters and beyond becomes the norm instead of the exception, and the domino effect begins to occur. God so transforms the hearts of His followers that we become Christ-centered instead of self-centered, and Word-controlled instead of worldly-controlled. Once spiritual transformation begins to take root, nothing short of societal impact is the result!

The power of share is that when share the little that God has shared with us, the ripple effect can literally change the course of history.

John’s gospel gives us a snapshot of a young boy who believed in the power of share. Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
John 6:1-13 NIV

Maybe this boy was commissioned by his mom or dad to go to town and get some food for dinner. Maybe he had caught a few fish and was just about ready to have lunch. Whatever the case might have been, he didn’t hoard it – he shared it. He took the little that was in his stewardship and offered it up to Jesus. Jesus blessed it, gave thanks and distributed it to the five thousand men (the equivalent of 15-20 thousand people in total).

What if everyone would offer up their little piece of pie for His purposes? What could be the collective power of all God’s people sharing like this sweet child? The world would be impacted by the name of the one who blessed the fish and broke the bread. The name of Jesus and the Gospel of our God would surely go out in an intensified, glorious way and have innumerable ripple effects for years to come. That’s the power of share.