Shake It Off

November 17, 2015

Tonight Sister Sharon gave us a powerful word from the Lord, the title of today’s lesson is “Shake It Off.” The lesson takes place from Acts 27:14-28, Acts also known as the acts of the Holy Spirit details the many accounts of the apostles’ missions to spread the gospel to an unknowing world. The background of this lesson is Paul was imprisoned, thrown in prison for preaching the gospel, an angel of the Lord tells Paul that his next mission is to bear witness in Rome. Like Paul God orders our steps according to His purpose and many times are steps ordered, headed directly to trouble.  

There will be storms in your life (Let them not be of your own making)à The Christian life is not easy it is difficult. God never promised His children roads absent of pain and suffering, no the Word of God guarantees troubling and disheartening times. The first principle to shaking off evils that threaten us is to know you will go through storms.

·      In verse 13-14, “When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island.” At the beginning of their journey the sailors start off guided by a gentle wind, but soon they encounter a terrifying, life threatening storm. Sometimes we let our rosy circumstances deceive us that it will be smooth sailing throughout our journey, let us not be ignorant.

·      John 16:33à Jesus, Son of God warns us, bad things will happen to you and a lot of it will not be caused or prompted. Christians, we do not walk around looking for trouble, many we experience pain and suffering, because the cross of Christ is like target printed on our backs. Followers of Jesus will experience persecution, and harassment just as their Savior has.

·      1 Peter 4:12-13à Other times we create our own messes in our lives. Make sure you did not start the storm, don’t cause your own trouble, don’t create your own evil in your life. When God says stop, listen and obey, because God is always out to protect you.

Paul’s Credentials

·      Paul endured a lot for the cross of Christ. Sometimes, as we weather our own storms we start believing we are going through this agony or no one has ever felt the pain, the loss, or the discouragement we ever felt. Wrong. Do not let Satan deceive you into thinking the storm came out of nowhere, the storm can cause you to believe you are alone. Sometimes you believe you are the only one who is going through your trouble when that is not the truth. Paul lists his own trials to remind us we are connected not only through Christ’s victory but also His suffering.

o   II Corinthians 11:22-27à Paul lists the troubles he has went through as a follower of Christ. Paul is fine for the cause of Christ, he admits he has been through every life threatening situations imaginable, however this does not exempt his willing to keep going.

Always know after the storm or in the midst of the storm there is deliverance.

There is Deliverance at the same time deliverance has a few catches:

·      Acts 27:31-44àBe aware sometimes we go where we do not need to be or see what we do not need to see, or do what do not need to do.

·      Psalm 107:20à You got to know the Word, the Word will help deliver you. Check your life season with the Word of God, do not take anyone’s word for it without confirming it to the Word of God. Learn the Word of God for yourself not for others, reading the Word is hearing the Word, deliverance comes from the Word. The Word of God needs to be in, so when the storm comes, the Word comes out of you and monitors and guides you. You put the word in you if you need healing, you put the word in you if you need strength.

·      Isaiah 43:1b-3aà God has named us. Our name aligns to the kingdom we are born into God is with us through this the storm. Notice it says “when” not “if” and it says, “through” not “stay” God’s desire is for us to go through the storm so that we might be victorious in His name.

·      Isaiah 59:19bà Sometimes, God raises a standard, and sometimes you’re the standard. When people see you, you are the standard, they see how you treat people, they witness your interactions with the poor, the elders, the way you carry yourself. People are attracted to you because something is different in you, because they see the spirit of God in them. Enjoy being different, understand you are a standard not because your perfect, but because you are redeemed by Christ. Sometimes your standard the way God uses you is a conviction unto the lifestyle of a person.

o   When you start living for the Lord then you’ll find people begin to start dropping off of your life.

·      Acts 27:44à Sometimes it is a struggle for the deliverance, sometimes we are delivered as “broken pieces” and not as wholesome as we want.

There is a refuge (shelter) in a time of storm

·      Acts 28:1à Paul knew he had to go to Rome because the Lord God told him. Paul held on to what God says, he knew he wasn’t going to die, and stayed focused on what the Lord told Him, not what the soldiers were doing. The soldiers were tempted to remove the prisoners from the boat to lighten the load, but Paul did not allow that. He told them to throw barrels and crates, because Paul understood we carry weights with us that are not exactly sins. Everything is not sin but some things are a weight for you. Let it go because it is slowing your progress down.

·      Acts 28:1-5àOnce safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. God provided an island where they could rest and be safe from the storm. God did not magically transport them to Rome but He gave them a safe haven in the midst of the storm. There, Paul was bitten by a “viper” a poisonous snake, instead of panicking Paul simply shook the snake off into the fire, believing God’s Word over the words and talk that he was going to die by the natives.

o   Like Paul our response should be the same. Shake off the snake in your life, don’t let the venom effect, don’t let the talk of naysayers and doubters keep you from doing what God has told you to do. Place your faith God, Paul is the perfect example. He was imprisoned, almost drowned from a storm, and bitten by a poisonous snake and throughout all of this. His eyes did not leave the goal God had for him. Shake the snakes off, send the snake Satan sent to destroy you, right back to Hell. Toss it into the fire.

These are the different types of snakes you will encounter in your life:

·      Pythons, boa: Slow squeeze, slow painful death (depression, rejection, different spirits designed slowly to choke the life, the joy out of you)

·      Vipers, Venomous Snakes: these snakes send poison to kill you internally

o   Neurotoxicàparalyzes, stops you dead in your tracks (fear, anger, loss, events in your life that causes you to freeze)

o   Hemotoxicàinternal bleeding, destroys tissue and they eat you alive (destroys inner life, relationship, habit or person is poisonous)

§  Some snakes make you weak, attacks you, vulnerable

The snakes are coming! You must shake it off into the fire and send it to Hell where it belongs.

Last but not least

Don’t believe your own press!

Proverbs 27:2à Compliments are not a bad thing. We all need encouragement one day or another. It is okay for someone to compliment you and it is okay for you to receive a compliment.

What is NOT okay is accepting or receiving the glory of God

Acts 14:20-24à Be quick and cutthroat to stop any praise you receive that cause people to look at you more than what you are: as a servant of God. Herod was foolish, he claimed he was God and God struck him down, killing him instantly. A guaranteed way to piss off God is to try to take His glory from Him.

Matthew 5:16: We let our light shine so people can see God. Our storms, trials, tribulations, troubles prune us, they mold and shape us into the men and women of God we are meant to be. Though deliverance is imminent or sometimes faraway, the end result is for us to be shinning examples of God’s workmanship, so that all people can see what God has done in our lives. Remember your trial is not for you, it is so others can be drawn to Christ.  

Sister Sharon’s Book Recommendation: Jentzen Franklin’s “The Spirit of Python”

            She encourages believers to buy this book to learn the schemes and attacks of the devil.

Have you ever been through a storm that seems to never end? What snakes have you encountered in your life?

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