**A GOOD FATHER** Part 8

PRAY FOR YOUR CHILDREN

Psalm 55:17 – “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”

You can’t be with your children all the time … God can. You can’t protect them wherever they go … God can. You can teach them right from wrong, but you can’t be there when it’s put to the test … God can.

Pray for your children! Lift them up to God to do for them what you can’t do. As parents, we aren’t perfect, and we make mistakes. If we had to do it all over again, we would do things differently. Maybe we’ve done the best we could … we did what we thought was right … we raised our children the best we knew how. 

NOW … PRAY FOR THEM … because your Heavenly Father loves them as much as you do … and He has more experience than you do. Pray that God the Father will take your well-intended efforts at fatherhood … and use them to bring your children into His loving arms.

BE A GOOD FATHER … pray for your children.

It’s not easy being a good father … BUT … it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone.... God doesn’t expect you to....God doesn’t want you to.....Don’t leave Him out of your fatherhood.

**A GOOD FATHER** Part 7

PRAY FOR YOURSELF 

1 Chron. 16:11 – “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

You don’t have all the answers to their questions … you can’t solve all their problems. You don’t have all the wisdom, love and patience to be the father you ought to be. Without God’s help, you can never be the father God wants you to be.

You need help! You can’t do it by yourself … 

BE A GOOD FATHER … pray for yourself.

It’s not easy being a good father … BUT … it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone.... God doesn’t expect you to....God doesn’t want you to.....Don’t leave Him out of your fatherhood.

**Carry The Cripple Till The Miracle Happens**

        Post from Bro Netterville

When a brother or a sister falls is not a time for anger, judgment, or condemnation. (2 Corinthians 2:5-8) "But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him." (A Spirit of Gentleness) and (Love) When we allow this to come forth from within we begin to share there burden, this requires of our time, pray, lifting up, and listing!

The lady who at the barbershop gave her testimony the other day. She said that she gave 3 days a week she would substitute with the paid care taker. Taking care of an older lady that needed a sitter she did it for free what a burden to bear. Although she did not sit with her on Sunday she would get up and go and dress this dear lady and take her to church. Our Lord Jesus Christ also was a substitute in death! He was our substitute for our sin, sorrow, and shame. If Jesus did this for us, and He did! How then we say we're too busy to help others. Thank God He wasn't. I though of this when I pickup a lady for church.

          **Carry The Cripple Till The Miracle Happens**

Acts 3

King James Version (KJV)

1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

Proverbs 17:17

King James Version (KJV)

17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

A faithful friend is good like a medicine for a wounded self-image!! 

F- ORGIVING          To excuse for a fault 

R- EAL                    True and actual

I-  NTERESTING     Holding attention

E- NTHUSIASTIC    Having and showing great excitement 

N- ICE                     Courteous, pleasant Pleasing character

D- EPENDABLE     Trustworthy, reliable, consistent 

**Disloyal friend is only a friend when everything is going great**

                           **Real Friends**  

Ecclesiastes 4:9-11

King James Version (KJV)

9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

*Accepting a Friend*

1. **Recognizing that he or she will make mistakes and forgiving them when they do*** 

2. **A true friend is not necessarily someone who agrees with us all the time**

3. ** A friend will challenge our ideas in a corrective loving way**

 4. **A friend helps us by listening to our problems and sharing our burdens as well as our joys** 

 5. **Friends are a valuable resource** 

 6. **Chosen carefully and treated with love and respect they could last a lifetime** 

                                  **The Man With 10 Legs** 

Luke 5:17-26

King James Version (KJV)

17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of  every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this  which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

It wasn't the SICK MANS FAITH that impressed Jesus but the Faith of his FRIENDS!! 

Jesus responded to THEIR faith and healed the man. 

We cannot make another person a christian, but we can do much through our WORDS, ACTIONS and LOVE to give him or her a chance to respond.

Look for opportunities to bring your friends to Christ. 

                **Carry The Cripple Till The Miracle Happens**

Acts 3

King James Version (KJV)

3 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

The Comfort of Death

Sometimes we face great loses in our lives. It's hard losing someone we care about. We must face it, people die. They die unexpectedly, they die needlessly, they die after a long battle. they die naturally.  People we always thought would be around then one day we get the news. How many of you have lost a loved one, someone close to you? Death is not an easy subject to talk about for many. Sometimes the only time we discuss or talk about death is when a loved one dies and we go to their funeral.

Hebrews 9:27 *And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.*

Although you and I can’t be fully prepared when someone close to us passes away we need to continue to live our lives the way God meant for them to be lived.  We were not made to live forever here on this earth but we were made to live forever in perfect fellowship with our Creator. God made Adam and put him in a perfect environment. But Adam had some boundaries. Boundaries are a good thing. Boundaries keep us in check and help us maintain our relationship with God. A boundary God put in the Garden was this .......

Genesis 2:16-17 *The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the free of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.*

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 *For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.*

Death is a blessed release from an imperfect world for the Christian. For those of us who hope in Christ we look forward to death in the sense that we know what is on the other side of death. It is not a mystery to us. God has made it clear. Jesus has prepared a place for us. Our hope is secure in him because Christ died for our sins. He has defeated death! One minute in heaven you will not want to come back. You will not want to settle for anything else. Christians have great hope when they die. But that doesn’t mean death is not painful. It does not mean we are not to miss the person who has passed and have a hard time with it. The Bible teaches us to,

Romans 12:15 *Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn.* 

(surround ourselves with godly people) 

When we experience loss we don’t need someone to come up to us and say, “Hold your chin up” or “Be brave.” That’s the last thing we want to hear. Sometimes we need to just show up and say, “look I don’t know what you are going through and I don’t know what to say, but I am here and I love you and we’ll walk with you through this. Remember we will see them again.............1 Thessalonians 4:16 *For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.*

**To Receive Your Crown, You Must First Drink From The Cup**

Matthew 26:36-42

³⁶ Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
³⁷ And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
³⁸ Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
³⁹ And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
⁴⁰ And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
⁴¹ Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
⁴² He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.


PAUL, means Small or little one  
    Yet no other figure in church history stands as high or has had such a far reaching influence!
****As Christ died for us, we should suffer and die daily****

Wherever Paul went you could either look for revival or a riot !!

2 Corinthians 11:23-27

²³ Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
²⁴ Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
²⁵ Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
²⁶ In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
²⁷ In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Paul endured every species of hardship. Encountered every extreme danger!
 *To receive your crown, you must first drink from the cup*

Acts 16:19-24

¹⁹ And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
²⁰ And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
²¹ And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
²² And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
²³ And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
²⁴ Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Assaulted by the populace, Punished by the Magistrates!
 **You must first drink from the cup**!!
Beaten, stoned and left for dead!
**You must drink from the cup**

Acts 13:50-51 Acts 14:5-7,21
Driven from one city he went to another and continued preaching!

Acts 9:16
*Paul was warned of many things he would suffer for Christ sake*

Paul never sighed never moaned!

Philippians 4:13

¹³ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Paul in prison, back full of open wounds, hands and feet in stocks!
 He knew he must first drink from the cup to receive his crown!!

Now today granted, at least in this country it is not common for a christian to be beaten as Paul was.  But there is still a cup we must drink from!!

You may have to walk through:
  Tear stained eyes
  Pain and Sufferings
  Dark Clouds
  Times of questioning

But remember, as you are drinking from the cup your crown awaits you!

God has a tremendous plan and a purpose for your life and it includes
experiencing the cup of Christ.

There will come a time when you will go through things, and you don't understand
what God is doing.
But *This Cup** IS ALWAYS PREPARING YOU FOR A PROMOTION, FOR THE
CROWN, FOR THE HIGH PLACE THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!

The cup always precedes the crown!

Anytime you go through a struggle (the cup represents, trials, struggles, adversities
in life) Anytime you go through this you might as well know and realize that always---He
promises if we endure the cup a crown awaits you!
We must endure to the end!!

ALWAYS BEFORE THE CROWN, THERE WILL BE A CUP!!

God uses adversity to develop us!
God is more interested in developing your character than He is solving your problems.

There will be times when you go through things and you don't understand what God is doing.
But remember the cup is always preparation for the crown!!

Matthew 26:39
³⁹ And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Matthew 26:42

⁴² He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
What Jesus was saying ........was If i could pass on this cup of pain, trials, hurt, difficulties,
sickness.......But, I'm willing to drink from this cup if it is your will and I know there is a crown awaiting!!

If Jesus our example took the cup before His crown.....We must realize that in our life
the cup must be served to us sooner or later!
This gospel has 3 parts ...DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION!
 First two parts seems like bad news but the third part is when we want to stand to our feet
and begin to shout!
But let us not forget Jesus had to drink from the cup Death and Burial before the
crown (resurrection)

This cup is the bad side before he good side
experience!

If I could just make it through the cup, I know i will soon receive my crown of victory!


Job......His cup experience!

He had everything, but in just a few short days he lost it all !!!

Lost his oxens
Fire consumed his sheep
Caldeans took his camels
Tornado wiped out his home
Health failed
Wife turned against him!

Job 13:15
¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

^{Job 23:10
10} But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

In other words ....after I drink from this cup I shall come forth as gold!!


Satan, have you considered my servant_________________?


When you are drinking from the cup ........That's when the Lily of The Valley shows up, Rose of Sharon
shows up!! JESUS rises with healing in His wings!!!
It's time to realize who Christ is, not on the mountain top but when you are drinking from
the bitter cup.

This is not a tragedy it is a trust!

(CLOSING)

Some of you may be drinking from that cup today.....Just know that God trust you just as He trusted 
Job!

God trust's you when the hedges are down!

Anybody can serve when wearing the crown...but can you serve during tough times? Difficult times? When you are drinking from the cup?

Don't quit in the middle of the cup!!

Say. I'm gonna take it all!! Because it's time fro a new level!! This cup is letting me know I'm getting closer
to my crown!!

Don't give up is what I'm preaching!! Don't give up!! Don't shut up!!! Don't sit down!! But stand up proudly and drink from the cup!!!

1 John 4:4
⁴ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

This is not a cruise ship we are on ....we are on a battleship, we are in a spiritua; warfare, we are warriors in the spiritual kingdom!!

Job said My redeemer Lives!!
              When this cup passes I'll receive my crown!!

This cup is designed to draw you close to the King!! So He can reveal to you His great Love, Mercy and Grace!!!

Are you drinking from the cup tonight??
Don't let it get you down, know tonight can be your night to receive your personal crown!!

Tonight can be your night to go to that higher place in Christ!! 

Come Receive your crown!!!!

*Give up! Just give up! Give up your guilt for His grace!*

If we could somehow step on a scale today that measured the weight of our spiritual baggage, some of us would break the machine. So many people are groaning under the strain of the baggage in their spirits. That weight is called guilt. We all have it to some degree, and some are in the super heavyweight division. Your guilt is like a cancer eating you up on the inside, unless you do something about it. Some of you have become numb to the pain and energy your guilt causes you, and you have gotten used to dragging your stuff around, into every relationship, every challenge to try something new, and every chance to move forward with your life. Guilt holds you down, and guilt holds you back. It’s kind of like wearing ankle weights at first, you’re aware of the extra weight, but after awhile, you forget that you’re wearing them, even though it slows you down. You just get used to the new normal. I'm sure there's a lot of guilt from those reading this.  I just know that to be true because we’re all human, and we all have done stuff to make us guilty. 

 

Well, here's some good news..........Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:1 (NIV) 

Webster’s dictionary says this about condemnation....... it means “to declare guilty, to inflict a penalty upon, to doom, to declare unfit for use.” The Word of God says NO condemnation for those who are in Jesus, who have trusted Him to remove their sin and guilt.

Any time you read the word therefore, you should ask yourself,  What’s it there for?  the first seven chapters of Romans lays it all out.......holy God, sinful man, coming wrath, perfect Savior, Jesus Christ crucified and risen, made right by faith, made holy by faith. Then Paul says in view of all that he sums up the message of God’s love....... Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That’s the essence of who Jesus is and what He did. That’s the foundational message of God’s love to the world. This is the good news we have. This is what we share, with everyone. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 How does that sound? I bet that sounds really good to those of us who are ridden with guilt. 

     How do you get past your guilt from your past?

1. Stop beating yourself up

You know what they say..... guilt is the gift that keeps on giving. We keep guilting ourselves, and we make ourselves feel lousy. We condemn ourselves, and criticize and berate ourselves and say, "I shouldn’t have done that!" And we condemn and condemn ourselves. We even try to pay for our own guilt, but it just doesn’t work.... it backfires. 

Psalm 38:4   For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 

  

There are a lot of forms of self-punishment. Illness is one.....you can make yourself sick. Depression can be a form of self-inflicted punishment. You wallow in your pity until you can’t get out. Maybe this is you.....you setting ourselves up for failure, because you feel this is your just reward. 

You say........ I don’t deserve to succeed. That’s saying, I’m guilty, therefore I’ll fail.  

 The ultimate form of self-punishment is suicide. Suicide is now the number one killer of college students and the number two killer of high school students. Why? Because people feel condemned even at that young age.

We have to begin by seeing that we can be our own worst enemy. Beating yourself up doesn’t fix your pain. It just reopens the wound. Through Christ, we can find the relief we’re looking for. We don’t need to beat ourselves up. Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross so you could stop nailing yourself to a cross. Jesus Christ was crucified so you could stop crucifying yourself. Ask God to help you stop hurting yourself.

2. Stop letting others beat you down

Is there one person or several in your life that is keeping you stuck in your guilt? If you have someone like that in your life, you won’t have to look far to find that person. It’ll be someone close......chances are it’s a parent, a sibling, a girlfriend or boyfriend, a spouse or ex-spouse.

You have the authority and the ability to end the misery. The may never change what they say or do to you, but you can change how you respond to them. Determine today that you will not let anyone steal what rightfully belongs to God which is the determination of your value. Only God can say what you’re worth, because He is your Creator, and He says you are His own. 

God gave His best because you are worth it, regardless what anyone says. Who are they in comparison to the Almighty God? Don’t give anyone permission to determine your worth. God demonstrated how much you are worth. He died on the cross for you. How dare anyone devalue you! 

You can decide to let other’s attacks roll right off of you. Tell yourself, That won’t work on me any more. I will not give them the ability to do what only God can do. I will not let them make me feel I am inferior. Ask God to give you a strong mind and spirit to withstand people who attack you. Ask God to give you a new response.

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Guilt and blame will try to shame, but Christ declares I’m worthy.

Maybe you’re thinking, I wish I could believe that. I feel so unworthy. I know what I’ve done.

3. Stop resisting God’s love for you

Guilt only serves one good purpose, and that is to drive us to repentance. After that, nothing else good can come of it. Instead of letting your guilt drive you away from God in embarrassment and shame, let it do what it is supposed to do: drive you to the embrace of a loving God who wants more than anything else to free you from your sin, your shame, and your painful memories.

John 3:16-17  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

It’s not about what you’ve done....it’s about what God’s done. He’s made the first move, and He waits for you to respond to His love. He knows who you are and He still loves you......that’s the amazing grace we sing about! No one deserves to be declared not guilty! We deserve to be declared guilty, but instead, there is no condemnation. Stop resisting His love for you. Stop feeling like you can’t go to Him because of your shame. What are you thinking, that you’re going to surprise Him with the dark secrets of your life?

Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

You have no chance of being declared “not guilty” in God’s eyes unless you are in Christ. You will never be able to get rid of your guilt unless you are in Christ. You will never be able to stop beating yourself up unless you are in Christ. You will never be able to stop letting others beat you down unless you are in Christ.

“Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Your life is free and clear from every thing....everything once you trust Jesus Christ to be your Forgiver and Savior.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!  (message bible)

That’s far better than living with the old guilt. So where are you? In Christ, or outside Christ? Free from condemnation, or under condemnation? You don’t have to stay under condemnation. Christ is the Way.  Christ is the Truth. Christ is the Life.

Where do you need to start today? Maybe you need to stop resisting God’s love.  Give up! Just give up!  Give up your guilt for His grace! 

Say, Jesus, I need you to take away my sin and replace it with your grace. Forgive me and heal me, even for eternity.nMaybe you need to ask God’s help to stop beating yourself up.  He’s already forgiven you, why can’t you? Maybe you need to ask God for the strength to stop letting someone beat you down. Ask God for a new vision of who He created you to be.

"Don't Let Anything Hinder You Here"

Galatians 5:1-7 

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.  Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 

Ye did run well......you were keeping to the course, you were making steady progress.

You were putting forth a reasonable amount of effort.........

Paul is saying, At one time you had taken this to be your lifes work, your goal, your ambition, That which was worthy of your best efforts.

Gal 5:7

who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

HINDER, "to cut into" was used of "impeding" persons by breaking up the road, or by placing an obstacle sharply in the path; hence, metaphorically, of "detaining" a person unnecessarily, 

For the Galatians, it was the Judaizers, who were trying to persuade them to go back to the works of the law, or the flesh, they were mixing law works with grace. 

The danger of this is, that when one believes his righteousness with God is attained by his works, he is fallen from Grace, which brought salvation apart from any works of the flesh.

Worldly enticements Hindered the escape of Lot’s wife

 Gen.19:26  But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Worldly possessions Hindered the rich young man from discipleship....

Mt.19: 16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 

22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Natural earthly concerns robbed martha of the presence of Jesus.

Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou care that my sister hath left me to serve you alone? bid her therefore that she help me

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

*****Cumbered means to........

to drag all around, i.e. (figuratively) to distract (with care): 

be driven about mentally, (b) to be over-occupied, too busy, about a thing

Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Weights, as well as sins, hinders our progress....

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

*****Weight, meaning........ a mass (as bending or bulging by its load), i.e. burden (hindrance): whatever is prominent, a protuberance, a bulk, a mass; 

hence, a burden, a weight, an encumbrance

  There're many of us who are not necessarily carrying around a load of sin, but we are trying to run this race with all the excess weight! 

We are still going in the right direction but we are letting those weights hinder us! 

Paul realizes something here and he relays it to us in the scripture **there is other things beside sin that slows us down.......

         LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT THAT'S HINDERING YOU!!!!! 

When we are slowed down by the weights that hinder us.........It takes us longer to see -THE WILL OF GOD 

                      FULFILL OUR CALLING 

                      FIND PEACE AND JOY OF THE HOLY GHOST!!!  

  WEIGHTS CAUSES US TO BE HINDERED!!!!!

Ye did run well, who or what hath hindered you?  What have you allowed to break your stride? What or who have you allowed to come between you and the lord,? What has caused you to feel as though you no longer need to give 100% 

What weights are you tolerating in your life? What excesses of the flesh have you given your permission to?

What unchristian feelings or attitudes have you given place to and allowed to harbor in your heart?

(Pride) (anger) (resentment) (self pity) (indifference) lukewarmness?

Sometimes storms come into our lives, not always as it were from the devil to destroy us, some storms are allowed by God to save us, to deliver us from the things that are holding us back, and breaking our stride, and distracting us from the goal.

Acts 27:18-19 Paul the apostle is In the midst of a Great storm.

18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;

19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. (The furniture, the utensils).

The bible says everything that can be shaken will be shaken and only those things ........ Sometimes it takes a storm to show us what is unnecessary in our lives, sometimes the things that we are the most proud of are the first things to go in the middle of the storm.

Sometimes we need to lighten the ship......sometimes we allow our hearts to pick up excess baggage and we need to lighten the ship but it’s not until we feel that it is a matter of life or death that we actually take the initiative and get rid of it. 

Sometimes the storm comes to reveal the enemies of your destiny.

If you feel like you are going through a storm, it may be time to lighten the ship.

Who hath hindered you?

What has hindered you?

There are things in this life that at times slow us down, and some of these things we have no control over.

But there are other things that hinder our progress in God that are things that we simply allow and we must choose to lay them aside and get back to running this race with a 100% commitment. 

Satan is credited with many things in the bible. He is an accuser, a murder, a liar, a sifter and yes..... He is also a Hinderer. I want to show several ways that Satan hinders us.......But remember..... we should not let anything hinder us here!!

I. Satan Uses SIN to Hinder US.

2.Satan Uses STORMS to Hinder US.

3. Satan Uses SICKNESS to Hinder US.

4. Satan Uses SASTISFACTION to Hinder US.

5. Satan Uses STRIFE to Hinder US.

6. Satan Uses SPORTS to Hinder US.

7. Satan Uses SHOPPING to Hinder US.

8. Satan Uses SELFISHNESS to Hinder US.

9. Satan Uses SEPARATION to Hinder US.

  It may be that the most tragic words on the unbeliever’s tomb will be.....I would’ve accepted Christ, but Satan hindered me.

LAY ASIDE THE WEIGHTS THAT HINDER YOU!!! 

 WILL THIS BE YOUR NIGHT TO GET RID OF THE WEIGHTS THAT ARE HINDERING YOU??? 

GOD IS READY TO LIGHTEN YOUR SHIP BY THROWING AWAY THINGS THAT ARE HINDERING YOU!!! 

WILL YOU ALLOW HIM TONIGHT????