Sunday Service – House on the Rock Church | Pastor Paul Adefarasin | Water Walkers Part 16: What Is That Next Move?

Acts 3:4-11 He’s laid daily at the gate, impotent at his feet and ankles only, he’s lame only in a small part of his body but it affects his whole life. There’s been a power move of God in Jerusalem at this time, led by Peter. Don’t just see yourself in the text, but also see our country NIgeria, in the text, because this country was lame from its mothers womb. Two cannot walk together except they be in agreement and we have over 200 tribes trying to work together as one, but except you fix the foundation, nothing can work. 

Our amalgamation on both sides was a fraud. Until we fix our foundation, our nation will never truly work. It needs true leadership to transform. 

In our text, Peter asks the lame man to focus on them, though he was expecting to receive alms from them, but God is going to increase what you’re expecting to get. Peter tells him that 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 but nothing happened. This was Peters proposition but the lame man had given up trying and didn’t want to push himself anymore. The pains in his hands and feet were too much to move him to rise, so he didn’t want to try anymore, so he created an ecosystem of subsistence. So Peter takes him by his dominant hand, in his own dominant hand and heaves him up to his feet, and as he rises, Peter lets go of him and he leaps to his feet. And as he raises him up, in obedience, power came to his bones and he rose, leaping up and praising God. And as the lame man who was healed, held (join with, adhere to, cleave to, accepting to be a protégée because he was the only mentor he knew), power came back to his bones and he was able to what he had never done before. 

Colossians 1:27 to whom God had made known what is the riches of the mystery of ….. 

Unbelief stifles and stagnates people from moving into Gods promises for them and the antidote is faith. How can you believe the God that you don’t have conversations with. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH AND EVIDENCE THEREOF. Our generations believed on the word, by faith.

Culture determines our norms and drivers. Culture is one of The seven mountains. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Cultural axioms we have embedded affects how we behave. God is omnipresent and manifests himself where he wants to be. He’s everywhere in all times, his omnipresence is nuance and different from his manifest presence. 

If you’re waking with God, it is because he’s omnipresent in your life. 

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How do you have conversations with God when you don’t speak the same language? A woman speaks emotional, she’s wired to feel things. Man speaks vocationally, because he was created to grow the garden and work it. He sees things through monetary values. He expresses his love by handing her some. He’s HAND-SOME. He looks after her with his wealth and resources. YOU HAVE TO SPEAK GODS LANGUAGE- THE BIBLE. Get yourself contemporary translations that you can understand. The Bible is not a historically accurate book but is a book of patterns. It deals with every issue in life through patterns. The law has no power to make you righteous but only reveals your flaws to you and shows you that you need a savior. You need to understand God to believe him and to know the power in his word. 

Unbelief can keep you stuck, beaten, broken and bound, where God wants you to be free. Work out your own salvation with awe and sensitivity. It is God who’s at work in you both to will and to desire. 

Faith is the opposite of unbelief, it sets you free and reveals to you Gods glory which sets you free and transforms you.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 - Where the spirit of God is, there is liberty …. But we all seeing him, are changed ….. Jesus presented us blameless to God. Romans 12:2- do not be conformed to the cultures of this world but be ye transformed …..

Proverbs 23:7- as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. 

The lame man in our text has been in his lame condition for more than 40 years, coping with his infirmity. Every day, he’s assisted to go to the gate beautiful to beg for alms for his sustenance. This is his regular routine and to get him out of that lifestyle will take serious transformation.

HOW DO YOU UNSET A MINDSET THAT IS STUCK? It is difficult to change a persons mentality. More money doesn’t make you rich, it’s your mindset that transforms your circumstances and your life.

The man in our text, goes to his daily routine, unbeknownst to him, he has no idea what is about to happen to him, that his life will change forever. God is moving in my life to settle me. The man is waiting at the gate, looking for people to give him money to survive. Here comes Peter and John, Jesus authorized agents, and empowered to use his name to do even greater miracles than he did, because they are certified, unlike the seven sons of Shiver who didn’t have agency when they tried to cast out demons in Jesus name. We see this in Acts 19:14-15. Peter and John, empowered with agency, walks up to the lame man, asks him to focus on them and tells him that they don’t have money to give him, but such as they have they will give to him, then he proclaims the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and commands him to walk. Nothing happens. The power of God is present, but is not manifest. Then Peter reaches out and grabs him by the hand and lifts him up, the man is probably afraid that he might fall, but as he obeys, power rushes to his feet and he leaps up. Power is always on the other side of obedience. Acts 1:8- you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ……

Romans 1:16-17 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation 

Romans 8:2- there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I may fall many times but I’ll always rise up because I can’t stay down. If you have faith, you can get things you don’t deserve.

Luke 24:49 ….. until you are endued with power from on high - this is the promise of God. 

⁃ John 14:16 and I will pray the father, and he shall give you another (THE ALOS - one of the same kind) Comforter, that He may abide With you forever 

⁃ He has modeled us life, Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

⁃ Then He has washed you in his blood. 

What happens as you listen to Peter's proposition, commanding the lame man to rise. Asking him to do something he has never done before. He then made him arise by physically assisting him. Why did Peter have to physically help him to walk? Why couldn’t he do it at Peter's command? It was because he had not done it before, he has resigned himself to his limitations and that’s where Peter met him - his obstacle was his mindset, which has tricked him to believe that his condition was in perpetuity. 

1. Omnipresence - God is everywhere present in time and space, at the same time. God speaks to you from his omnipresence, by his foreknowledge, which is not necessarily his will. It is not experiential until you get there. Keep moving.

2. Manifest Presence - is when God shows up to prove to you that he is there. By his manifold presence, he distinguishes you from others. 

Power assistance was necessary to complete the lame man’s miracle. When God does his miracles, if shall be forever. God’s words will meet you sometimes halfway after you obey. The lame man is healed and he’s leaping up, praising God for something others take for granted because he was walking for the first time in his life. Your usual may be my absolute total. 

Grace in Latin language means both thank you and favour. The importance of praise- God sits on the praises of his people, when you praise, me manifests his glory. He moves from his omnipresence to his manifest presence. 

New life requires new mindsets. You can’t take your old mindset with you into your new life or you’ll get stuck again in this new life. Some people don’t want to look at people in need so they don’t have to hand them some. 

Create a system in your life to give back to the truly needy of society.  Acts 3:11- and as the lame man which was healed …….

IT'S ALL IN THE MINDSET. You can’t ruse without discernment. When you progress, people on your level before (for leaving them behind- send them a seed and do good to them) and the level you’re rising to (for catching up with them), will not be happy with you. Give seed to those who hate you and you will disarm their hatred to be of no effect to you. DON’T GO BACK TO GATE - that comfort zone I was hiding at. Gates are where you fly through and not stay at. It is your opportunity to go to another level. Both the gate and the plane are transitions to where you’re going. Sometimes God sends you to better circumstances but they are redirections from God. Don’t step out of purpose or you’ll step out of manifest power of God.

1. You must know Gods plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 I know the plans that I have for you, plans of good and not of evil, to give you an expected end. John 10:27 my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Proverbs 20:12.

Power follows God's words. He confirms his words with signs and wonders.

 

2. The seeing eye and the hearing ear, God has made them all. He’s talking about mind sight not eyesight. God gives you glimpses of direction, skill sets that only fit into a specific purpose and all these forecasts your future. God doesn’t change the skills, he changes the elements. God gives you recurring ideas, until it is clear to you that he’s the one speaking to you. He gives you passion. Glory and grief go together so you have to learn how to handle one while enjoying the other.

God says to Jeremiah, I have already ordained you from your mothers womb. 

David, God works with him and the Bible came alive in his life. God will call you what you’re not yet until you become it. God chooses him as king, rejects Saul and anoints him king but anointing and appointment are not the same. After anointing, you must be tested before the appointment comes. The trials are just camouflages. Preparation is not only your responsibility but it is also Gods responsibility. God can wrestle power out of anyone’s hands and use anyone he chooses to use. David slew a bear, then a lion, all in preparation to slay a giant. He was only 16 years old, yet he had the bravery and courage from God, that was his gift. He had courage developed through his relationship with God. 

The principle in that concept of knowing God’s plans is - the purpose is revealed together with power, progressively, as you walk in obedience with God’s plans. The higher the level you get to, as closer you get to your finish line and to reach your purpose, you must be ready for the next level. Only those who get ready attract opportunities. Only when you’re prepared will you recognize and optimize opportunities that come your way. 

If you don’t quit, you can’t lose, if you dint stop, you’ll complete the race.