Learning and Using God's Power by Brother Duke Hansen

         This morning, we will be in a couple of places in the scripture. We are first going to the book of Psalms. Psalm 116 and we will begin to read from verse 1.

        I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

        2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him, as long as I live.

        Out of the many people in the Bible, no one knew praise more than King David. Not only did the man write psalms to the Lord, he also made instruments to play for the Lord. David was many things in his life before he became king. He was a shepherd, a battle tested warrior, a fugitive. Because David was many things before he would take the throne, and other people of faith did many things in their life, many christians today elevate these people. Man is never content to be satisfied by what is in scripture and to move from it, but, lift up these men and women into almost a superhero status. Think of the Avengers. A supergroup for man to hold up and revere. The common trait with many people of faith was not just their walk to holiness, but their obedience to God. If you are sitting here today and truly wanted to storm the kingdom, there would be no one to stand in your way if you have a made up mind. Wherever the calling of God is, there is resentment and hatred close by. In his life David had to run from Saul, taking his men from battle, mercenaries who would join along the way, as well as some of his family. They all travelled together. 

        Now, in our culture there is this misconception that an outward sign of grief, especially from men, is a sign of weakness. We should abandon that false idea. Don't mistake David's emotion in scripture, especially when he was confronted with his sin, as weakness. David displayed strength at his lowest, because despite his broken and contrite spirit, he had the strength to go before God and ask for forgiveness. David was about proving things on earth. Let us continue with Psalm 116.

        3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

        David had no easy life. There was pain and struggle.

        4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord, and righteous: yea, our God is merciful.

        There are passages where David would pray to God before heading into battle with an enemy. David knew the value of prayer in all occasions. Now, there were many titles which were assigned to God in the Old Testament, yet, the name given was Jesus. That name today is known throughout the world. David knew throughout his life the power in prayer. Not only did he prove God in prayer, he knew the power of God in his life. God is no respecter of persons as he treats everyone the same.

        5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

        6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

        You and I make life too complicated. We don't have the fixed mindset of simple, of good and evil. Our life requires us to muddy the simplicity with various shades of behavior and what if thinking. Our flesh will always muddle and dull divine clarity.

        David learned three things in life. The power of prayer, power of God's name, and power of the simple prayer. If God gets you started, if you come to true repentance, the rest of your walk from the start point is on you. It's on you, your understanding, and your decisions moving forward. How you walk, what you say, where you go to church even says a lot about the closeness of your walk with God. We are going over to Luke chapter 9. Let's look at verse 20.

        20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.

        23 And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

        Jesus knew about suffering when he was here because he allowed it.

        24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

        You will know Jesus through suffering. You need to follow the command in verse 23 and deny yourself every day. Your way and my way without him will not work. We cannot do this on our own. The ignition in your walk is your level of trust in God. If you examine your life this morning, is it honoring God? Or is it honoring you? If you are always catering to your flesh man, your spirit man shrivels and dies. 

        25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself,  or be cast away?

        26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man shall be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

        Jesus himself will cast you away if you feel shame of him and his words. The biggest question to ask yourself is "Who is God?" Are you living for him or yourself? Are you working for his glory or yours? Now let us go back to Psalm 116.

        7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

        The rest David writes about is God's rest. God's rest is so much better than just sleep. It is peace and contentment in your life. Because you pray and do it correctly, God listens.

        8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

        9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

        You know, before your true conversion you walked around among the dead. As you grow more closer to God, you will want to be around among the living. An example of keeping things simple, look at the story of Elijah when he wanted to confront King Ahab and the people practicing worship of Baal. Look up the story in 1 Kings chapter 18. Sometimes the afflictions and hardships you go through are not of your own making from poor decisions. Sometimes, they are chastisement from God. As a parent disciplines their child for wrong doing, God does the same with his people.

        Our last stop to read is going to be in the book of Luke chapter 19. We will start with verse 35. Jesus has entered into the city of Jerusalem before his death.

        35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.

        36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.

        37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen;

        38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

        39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto them, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

        40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

        Look at verse 36 again. The crowds read their clothes in the way. These weren't just cloaks, or tunics, no one piece of clothing. It was their whole garments placed in front of Jesus on the colt. This is an example of true worship. True worship isn't closely watched by a clock or men who are afraid to show any emotion as the created to the creator. True worship isn't cut off emotionally or rigidly structured. We put a lot of money and time into clothing and fashion, when we don't realize that we are already exposed before God. Don't tell me there is no need for emotion in worship. In verse 38, the crowds fulfilled the word of God. The hypocrites, or Pharisees, in 39 always followed close by Jesus with a haughty appearance and thought themselves better than him. You should not be content of where you are in your walk if a rock is cry out in your place. It is a shame if you don't want to cry out. Some people go through their life carrying their garbage on them because rather than examine themselves, they chose to point the finger at the devil. If you are truly his, you have the capability of not only to remove and leave that garbage behind, you can also rebuke the devil to flee in Jesus name.