Its so good to have you back home..
Father,
thank you for all the marvelous things You have already done today.
Thank you for Your love that You have revealed to us,
And for the love that we share together as your body.
We pray for all the words that You are about to sew into our hearts this day.
May we be awakened today to Your promptings
as we live in Your endless love for us
Amen
Today, we begin a two part series I've called;
Creating Your Personal Breakthrough.
My hope and desire today in sharing with you this message, is to help equip you with knowledge and inspiration so that you can create your own personal breakthrough.
I want to bring this message home on a personal level so we can grow beyond where we are right now.
"And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Mark 2:1-5
Its a mistake for us to sit back and expect God to do everything that needs to be done for our breakthrough. God wants us to take some action that will bring about our much needed breakthrough!
First of all, what we need above all else, is to always have Jesus in the house. We need Him in the personal house of our body, the home we live in, this sanctuary, and our places of business.
Pay attention to verse 5:
"When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Mark 2:5
I would propose that these four men carried this sick person by faith.
To create your own personal breakthrough, you must surround yourself with people who have faith.
That is what the church is all about!
Look at verse 4;
"And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying."
Mark 2:4
There is a formula here that we are going to delve into today.
Travel with me in the imagination station because this passage seeks to teach us a vital understanding in our pursuit of God:
If they tore off part of the roof, they uncovered the roof.
Now we don’t know much about roofs in Capernaum 2000 years ago, and unless we have an archaeologist in the house, we are really better off drawing an analogy from our current day roofs that we know much more about. But for this message, allow me that license if you will.
We don’t know much about the actual construction of the roof that was on this house that Jesus was in, but we do know that it was in fact a roof. We do know that it was a physical impediment to the presence of Jesus Christ, him being in the flesh at the time.
You couldn’t have an audience because you couldn’t get in through traditional means. You couldn’t walk in through the front door. You couldn’t sit down and have a conversation because the house was so full.
My question for us today is:
Are you willing to do something nontraditional, if you can’t get by in the traditional means?
We are not here to insult anybody, but we are here and God is here to motivate somebody!
If you can’t get what you need by walking through these doors, after you park your car and sit yourself down, and stay for an hour, and walking back out basically the same way. Are you willing today to try something you haven’t tried before to get something you haven’t had before?
You see, these were guys who essentially said,
“We can’t get in by the traditional means, and the only access I know of is up there, Lets go for it!”
So Jesus is down there teaching and the roof starts breaking up overhead! Building materials start falling down from the ceiling!
Let me talk for a moment about YOUR roof.
We are used to the modern day plywood, overlaid with tar paper, then fiberglass shingles. Some people still like the wooden shakes, others prefer red clay tiles. There is obviously more than one way to do a roof. Many commercial buildings have metal roofs such as a gymnasium. Many buildings have a neat blanket style of a rubber roof.
Whatever type of outside roof a building has, it is held up by the wood or metal trusses and ceiling joists which are under the decking. It is there that you have your attic.
Below that is your ceiling, made of sheetrock or some type of tile. Below that is empty space, and if you have ever been in an attic, you know the nervous feeling that you get when you know one slip could cost you a trip to the floor of the living room.
Have you ever seen a mud job done by somebody who did not know what they were doing? Anybody can go to the same Lowe’s, Menard’s, or Home Depot that the Pro did and purchase the same material, so what is the difference?
Skill! Knowledge! Patience!
It pays to get some information from a pro, because it won’t cost you as much in the long run to do it right the first time,
In fact, it could wind up costing you more in the future if you settle for a sloppy job.
Follow with me:
Have you ever seen a job done by somebody who have very little knowledge, and there were 50 nails where there should have only been 4 nails?
Ignorance of a matter and poverty go hand in hand.
As long as you don’t know what your doing, your going to keep doing it wrong! As long as your doing it wrong, nobody is going to hire you to do it for them. So you can either choose to stay broke and ignorant, or you can get some professional training and learn to do it right.
We want to do things right for the glory of God!
As you increase your knowledge and information and your skills, you increase the demand of your value.
We all go through financial binds from time to time, but if you have taken the time to sharpen your sword in your area of ministry, you won’t stay spiritually broke for very long, just as in the natural realm!
"My son, eat honey because it is good,
And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;
So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul;
If you have found it, there is a prospect,
And your hope will not be cut off."
Proverbs 24:13-14
Knowledge of wisdom that brings understanding is power!
A vital key to the breakthrough you are searching for is in gaining new insight and knowledge in that specific area. Attend a seminar, read books, listen to tapes, and get as much wisdom and knowledge on the subject as you can.
Breakthroughs don’t always happen overnight, but in order for it to come, you must start somewhere!
Jesus said:
"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
Luke 11:52
Some religions seek to suppress their people from gaining knowledge, but we encourage you to gain all the knowledge about God that you can, why?
Because the right kind of knowledge is a vital key to your spiritual breakthrough.
Truth is truth wherever you find it, and it is found in the process of pursuing a loving, holy, and perfect Creator, Jesus Christ!
There is something to be said about pursuing your much needed breakthrough until you reach a place of total satisfaction with the person you are as a child of the King:
You can either pout that you got laid off and do nothing to better yourself, or you can go attend some classes while you are laid off:
The point being: Start looking at your rough spots in the road as opportunities for your breakthrough: Could it be that what you may think is a trial could actually be an answer to prayer and a blessing in the making?
I have had this happen many, many times in my own life:
At first a situation may have looked bleak, dark, but God gave me a sense of inner peace that passed all understanding.
As time went on and the after effects of the situation unfolded, I began to see the blessing that was tucked away inside the outer shell of my hardship!
In order for your breakthrough to come to pass it will require you to see your situation with different eyes, a different and fresh perspective.
I need a fresh perspective!
Say that with me,
I Need A Fresh Perspective!
Sometimes to gain that new perspective, you not only need to give the situation time in prayer, but you also need to break the strongholds of emotion through prevailing prayer and fasting.
Church, Isaiah 58 gives us the perfect picture of what God wants to accomplish through us:
Let's look at the text..
"Cry aloud, spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And exploit all your laborers.
Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
Is it a fast that I have chosen,
A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?
"Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
And exploit all your laborers.
Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
Is it a fast that I have chosen,
A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?
"Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words."
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words."
In closing...
I want to close by bringing us back to the basic and vital need for exercising basic risky faith in each of us pursuing to
Create Our Own Personal Breakthroughs
This whole business of going through the roof to get to Jesus simply could not have happened if the four men did not have risky faith! They risked being mocked, rejected, laughed at, stoned, ridiculed, hated, envied, jealousy, and misunderstood, but when you are so passionate for helping somebody get to Jesus, none of that matters anymore!
Faith:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."
Hebrews 11:1-3
It is the unseen wind that uproots the seen tree!
What is it that you want God to do for you and it will require a spiritual and emotional breakthrough in order for it to come to pass in your life?
Do you have the faith to trust God to take the steps He is going to lay out for you when you seek His face and get the necessary information through His word and through wise instruction from those who have been there?
Don’t listen to those who tell you that you can’t accomplish your goal for God, but listen to the promise of His word that says
“You can make it!”
As your pastor, I want each and every one of you to know...
I have confidence in you!
I believe that each of you has what it takes to apply these very simple steps to Create Your Own Personal Breakthrough!
Through these Four Steps:
1. Atmosphere of Faith
2. Gaining knowledge and wisdom
3. Prayer and Fasting
4. Taking the necessary steps of sometimes "risky faith."
YOU CAN DO IT, IF YOU JUST BELIEVE!
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries