Who Writes On Your Cardboard? Gideon-David-Prodigal 4-17-09

God sees a ‘what’?! And I see a ‘Huh’?!?!

Last Sunday AM

·                    Cardboard Testimonies

·                    Enemy’s message

·                    Haunting message on our hearts

Bottom line:  Who writes on YOUR cardboard???

Negative:

‘Am I man enough’

·                    Question on heart of man

·                    ‘Do I have what it takes’?

·                    Haunting question

·                    Men try to get LOTS of things to answer it

o       To write on their Cardboard

Things they ask to write on it:

·                    Job Success—when I get that, THEN I’ll know, I have what it takes

·                    The right wife

·                    Children

·                    Enough MONEY

·                    Toys—he who dies with the most toys—wins

We hold up our sign for other people or THINGS to write on our CARDBOARS SIGNS

·                    (Our HEARTS)

·                    For our Performance to write ON

·                    For our ACHIEVEMENTS to write on

Problem is—never enough

·                    Last Olympics—Michael Phelps—Mark Spitz . . .

·                    Performance alone can’t make it happen

·                    Always will wear out—not perform enough (pioneer)

And many times, the WRONG ones get access

·                    Cursing of ID

·                    Never good enough

·                    Wuss

·                    Loser

·                    Condemnation

·                    Self-Loathing

Last Sunday shared the FRUIT of those messages:

·                    Shame—fear—brokenness

God’s Way is different:

The wrestling of WHO will write on my card

·                    And WHAT it will say—is an age old dilemma

·                    Going to look at 3 men in Bible—and show the dichotomy

·                    ?

3 Men—Two Streams of opposing messages

·                    Both set of messages marked their lives

·                    Running the Gauntlet—trying to break through the resistance

·                    Which will they believe  (maybe do a visual picture??)

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15 “But Lord,a” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”  I’m the little guy—runt—I’ve been BULLIED—I’m Hiding

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

·                    Gideon—runt of the litter

o       Family reject

o       Fearful man—intimidated by the bullies

o       Little Faith—had a hard time trusting God

o       Bullied

o       Silenced

o       Obscure—no one cares about what you think/say—so hide

·                    the Squirt

o       Scared

o        

o       Mighty Warrior

o       Not alone—I will be with you

o       You will STRIKE DOWN

Quite a different perspective—wouldn’t you say?

·                    The little brother everyone THUMPED on

·                    Forgotten—silenced

God says—‘I choose YOU, Mighty Warrior’!

·                    I see who you REALLY are—MIGHTY WARRIOR

·                    You are destined to strike down the ENEMY—Mighty Warrior

·                    It’s YOUR time

In Gideon

·                    See a picture of God NOT limited by our WEAKNESS

·                    Calls to our REAL ID—in midst of it—sees PAST it

King David

After HUGE build up over years

·                    Walked through—shepherd—giant—serving in courts of King

·                    Betrayed—hunted—injustice

·                    War—FINALLY set in as KING

·                    Crowned with FAVOR—God’s promise—King forever

·                    He had it ALL

Time when war

·                    David ‘PHONED IN’ His leadership—DANGEROUS

·                    Don’t go PASSIVE when you are suppose to be FIGHTING the battle!!

·                    The VICTORIES of before—made him PASSIVE to battle

In the midst of this the GREATEST DEFEAT of his LIFE begins!!!

One of greatest doors of temptation for men—LUST

·                    Vulnerability in the lazy—self medicate with lust

·                    David looked at naked lady next door

David is not the ONLY man of God to be taken down

·                    By looking at naked lady!

—Great Leader—weak area—Lust Door

·                    Adulterer

·                    Big Failure

·                    Did it in the most public way possible

·                    Family came unraveled before the entire country

o       Incest

o       Rape

o       Murder

o       Betrayal

o       Bad DAD

o       Infighting

·                    Compromised

·                    Publicly reaping bad harvest

o       Ever reap a bad harvest in front of others—humiliating

·                    Man after God’s Own Heart

·                    Forgiven—Clean

IN David see FALLEN leader

·                    Forgiven

·                    Who still CARRIES passion for God

·                    God honors the REAL man

·                    Carried passion for HIM

Prodigal Son—Rebellious Son—Squandered Inheritance—Forfeited Birthright

·                    Fool

·                    Worthless

·                    Disqualified

·                    LOSER

·                    Not Worthy to live in the family

·                    Take me as a servant

Best Robe—for my son

·                    RESTORED Treasure

·                    Cherished--honored

Life experiences

·                    And our FAILURES

·                    Weaknesses

·                    LABEL US!!!!

When we wear the message what it does

·                    Aim low—safer

·                    Stay comfortable

·                    Don’t try

Prodigal Son – aimed low

·                    I’m disqualified

God has a BETTER way on who’s to write on our Cardboard!

We need RIGHT ONES Writing on our cardboard

·                    God uses women—they’re good

·                    But there is SOMETHING in man that needs blessing/affirmation from other ment’

·                    Power thing

·                    That’s why—tear downs—can be dangerous

John Eldredge:  Manhood conferred on us by other MEN

Four types of Men that need to write on our sign

·                    Fathers that bless—explain/develop

·                    Brothers that speak into our lives

·                    Sons that honor—encourage—challenge

·                    Most of all Heavenly Father—‘this is my SON’

Infact, the ULTIMATE one

·                    The only one that is FIT to write on them

·                    Is what God the FATHER says about you

It used to be written into family tradition—rite of passage

Jewish Tradition

·                    Lift son on shoulders at bar mitzvah

·                    “This is MY SON, in whom I’m well pleased”

·                    This is MY Son

Rites of passage

·                    Carry the blessing of the Father wherever they went

But wrong message blocks the view

·                    David—though fallen leader—failure

·                    Prodigal—disqualified--Loser

·                    Gideon—Runt—bullied—silenced

They all saw the garbage

·                    But the Father saw the real deal

When God sees a ‘What’?!

While we still see a ‘huh’

**

So Who’s been writing on YOUR board?

The WRONG Writers:

·                    Unlawful entrance

·                    Not acceptable

·                    We allow to define/limit us

Those that SHOULD be writing

The RIGHT Writers

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a Or sir