Sunday Morning
Pastor Jim Lowe III
Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream
1/31/21
{All scriptures are NIV unless stated}
How many of us like to keep things?
Like old photos, many of us may have things that bring memories of good times, good friends, loved ones.
Many of us have closets full of clothes we love.
We have shirts/outfits that we paid a lot of money for!
We wear those outfits because we like them!
We feel good in them!
We want to get our money’s worth!
And then years go by.
We still have those clothes in our closet.
They may have holes in them, but we paid good money for them!
So what happens when we need to get new clothes?
We don’t have anywhere to put them.
Why?
Because our closets are full of clothes that might have worn past their usefulness.
SOME old clothes are still good.
SOME old clothes should have been gone long ago.
They’ve lost value over the years.
We have to look at our lives the same way.
As we’re seeking to fulfill our purpose God has for us.
We have to check the value of the people and things around us.
How can we make room for the stuff God has for us, if we’re too busy with the wrong stuff?
Are we keeping too much of the wrong old stuff?
Are we hoarders?
So todays’ title is:
Cleaning Your Closet In 2021
We are talking about checking value in 2021.
Certain things may have been priceless years ago.
That doesn’t mean they’re priceless today.
They might be costing you something.
We Have To Make Sure We Have The Right People In Our Corner
Genesis 12:1-3
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
God told Abram, I have a purpose for you.
I have a covenant I want to make with you.
I want to make you into a great nation.
I want to bless you.
But you have to leave where you are and those who are with you.
We Have To Make Sure Those In Our Corner Aren’t Slowing Our Blessings
God can use many things and people in our lives, but certain people just shouldn’t be there.
We have to make sure that those who are around us aren’t keeping God from showing us our purpose.
God told Abram what he was going to do with him…
…but FIRST said to get away from what will drag him down.
If Abram was okay in his country with his people…he wouldn’t have to leave.
Some Of Us Need To Look At Those Around Us
1 Corinthians 15:33
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
1 Corinthians 15:33 (AMP)
33 Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.
What is bad company?
Bad Company Is Anything That Is Wrong For You
For example:
You might have some great friends and people in your life.
But if they aren’t going to help you achieve God’s purpose.
They aren’t the RIGHT company.
We need people who are working towards the same goals we are!
Amos 3:3
3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
Amos 3:3 (MSG)
Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place?
How do you have people around you going different directions?
Either they are going the same place you are or they aren’t!
YOU are walking towards purpose!
You are walking towards what God has for you!
Why are we trying to keep others with us who aren’t heading where we are?
This doesn’t mean you have to find OGs in your purpose to make friends with.
But you DO need to make sure those around you are trying to find it.
Proverbs 13:20
20 He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
You need people going the same direction as you.
The Type of People We Need In Our Corner:
- Those Who Will Pray For Us
James 5:16
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Your prayers are powerful!
Your prayers are effective!
This is why it’s important to have people in your corner that will pray for you.
Deuteronomy 32:30
30 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?
The Lord gives this power!
You need people who will pray for you!
When you are sick.
When you are seeking God for something.
When you are expecting God to do something!
You Need People Who Will Pray For You!
What about the second type?
The Type of People We Need In Our Corner:
- Those Who Will Encourage Us
Proverbs 12:25
25 An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
This shows the power we have.
Our words can cheer people up.
Our words can inspire people.
Our words can change someone’s day.
People become anxious!
We all have bad days occasionally.
This is why it’s good to have people in our corner who will encourage us.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Even with all of us out here who follow Christ.
Sometimes we can still feel alone.
We need to encourage one another to let them know they aren’t in this by themselves!
The Type of People We Need In Our Corner:
- Those Who Will Keep Us Accountable
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
We are able to help one another!
Proverbs 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
When we hear of keeping us accountable, we think of sin.
Keeping us accountable doesn’t mean just mean stopping us from sinning.
Keeping us accountable means to help us keep pushing forward!
To consistently press towards our purpose without giving up!
It’s a form of encouraging as well!
That we have a purpose given by God and we have to go after it!
The Power Of Having The Right People With You
Joshua 6:2-5
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”
Verse 8-10
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the people, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”
Joshua gave a command to them.
Stay silent…
Stay focused…
We will be unified in what God told us to do!
Verse 12-14
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
They are following the instructions of the Lord.
Still continuing to walk in unity.
Same belief…same goal.
Verse 15-20
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.” 20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.
This is the reason we need the right people around us.
The Lord told Joshua Jericho was already delivered.
Yet the city still stood.
God told him to have his people…
Those around him to march around the city.
And unified give a shout…
and the city will come down!
Many of us may have been told by God certain things are ours.
But things are standing in the way that are blocking that.
The bible says with the right people…
Walking in unity…
You can cause things to change.
You might have a Jericho right now…
But you’ve been walking around the city with the wrong people!
You Need The Right People Around You!
Where are the people who will pray for you?
Where are the people who will encourage you?
Where are thee people who will hold you accountable?
Some of us need to look at the value of those around us to see if they need to stay or not!
What Can Happen When You Have The Wrong People With You?
Acts 19:11-13
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. 13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”
So there were groups of people who would go around trying to cast demons out.
“In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.”
They had no relationship.
They were trying to use God’s power…which they didn't have.
Acts 19:14-16
14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
Their power was non-existent…because they were the wrong people.
If any one of them wanted a real relationship with God…
Being in a group of the WRONG people had a demon jump on them.
MAYBE they had good intentions…but the wrong people.
Bad Company Corrupts Good Character
We need the right people around us.
We need to check the value of the things in our personal spaces.
We need to get rid of anything that is no longer valuable to OUR growth!
The Type of People We Need In Our Corner:
- Those Who Will Pray For Us
- Those Who Will Encourage Us
- Those Who Will Keep Us Accountable
You need people who are in your corner.
Not people who will talk about you.
People who will lift you up not bring you down.
And finally…those who will encourage you to walk in your purpose.
We are walking towards purpose.
Anything slowing that down is holding us back.
