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Can You Go Beyond Your Power? · Bible Tract Echoes Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hello, friend.
• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Mike McCree.
• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: You are listening to Bible, tracked echoes.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm so thankful that you are grab your Bibles.
• 0:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you would, second Corinthians chapter 8, second Corinthians chapter 8, to each and every wonder one of you under the sound of my voice today, I greatly appreciate your investment of time.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is a privilege to be speaking to you.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to ask you to look at St. Corinthians chapter 8,
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: and verse number one.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to be talking about a subject that was a personal help to me.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it's something that I've found that I struggle with often.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you want to put your hands on a situation.
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: and you want to force it to your will.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: You want to do everything in your power to make things go the way that they should go.
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: You want things to be, quote unquote, fair.
• 0:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You want things to work out the way they should
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the problem is, at least for me, is I want to keep my hand on the wheel.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: God, as we well know, knows far more about how our life should go.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: He actually knows everything about how our life should go.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: He knows what his perfect plan, what his will is for our lives.
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: But in my haste to control every aspect of my life that I can,
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I so often try to bring things into my power to use my power and my my power my abilities They're so unneemic, so weak compared to God's power and we're gonna be speaking about going beyond your power beyond their power and we're gonna be looking at this passive scripture Saint Corinthians chapter eight verse number one the Bible says this
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: more over-reathering.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: We do you to it of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality, for to their power.
• 2:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I bear record yay and beyond their power.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: they were willing of themselves, praying us with much in treaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I'm going to read a little further on in just a moment here, but
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: You may recall about these Macedonians.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to go deep into the context, but of course the apostle Paul started to work there with the Macedonians and God did a work I should say, used Paul for that.
• 2:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he is now writing here in the book of Corinthians,
• 2:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is speaking to the people of the Church of Corinth and he's admonishing them and he's telling them how amazing of a job, how much of a blessing these Macedonians were because he's Macedonians out of the abundance of their heart, out of the
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: out of the desire that they had to pass along the yes, meager in men's eyes, blessings that they had as Paul went past them, as Paul did a work with them a short time, not not this excessively long, a decades long ministry that he had with them.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was not that, but after he did this work in the Macedonia, and he goes on to the next place, Macedonia, the church there,
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: They send gift.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: They send offerings.
• 3:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: They send we can presume money.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: They send currency for the need that Paul would have Further down the line reaching other people and they did so not just to their power.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not just with what they had But they did it beyond their power.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Verse five says sent Corinthians eight five
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: and this they did.
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God.
• 4:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: They did, yes, God's will, and they did it in a way that man's works, man's methods, man's machinery could not explain.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: They went beyond their
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: power.
• 4:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: These Macedonian believers, not just financially, but sacrificially.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: And this principle applies to every area of the Christian life.
• 4:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: God enables us, you and me, to love beyond our capacity, to serve beyond our ability, to forgive beyond what our emotional emotions should allow us to
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: To give you an example of God, working in a human's life, I could give a personal illustration of God doing things through me that I don't think I could have done it myself.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: I still, if you asked me to replicate those works, I'd say I couldn't do them the first time I can't do them this thing at the time and I'm not talking about some miracles or healing people.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just talking about normal, run of the milled Christian life.
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to show, though, a Bible illustration for a man, a man of God, doing things beyond his power.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: You may say this is going to be an interesting study here because we're going to go to the book of Jonah.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Would you find your place there?
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to find it.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of those small books of the Bible there.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit, Jermit
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: They did some things that they, in and of themselves, could not do, and by the way of illustration, let's look at Jonah here.
• 6:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jonah won one.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amatai saying, Arai is, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it for their wickedness is come up before me.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Java,
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare there.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've been went down into it to go with them on to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord.
• 6:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And there was a mighty tempest in the sea so that the ship was like to be broken.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want you to notice a few things here.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Here we see the privilege of the word.
• 6:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now the word of Lord came unto Jonah, the Son of Amitai, saying, imagine, I think about this for a moment, imagine if God spoke to you directly, the word of the Lord came to Jonah not because he deserved it, but because of God's grace, yes, to Nineveh, but God's grace to Jonah as well.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: We should not take from granted the fact that God wants to speak to us, and that He will speak to us, even as undeserving as we are.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a privilege to hear God's call, whether it's to missions, evangelism, daily obedience, think of the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 17, faith come with by hearing and hearing by the word,
• 7:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: of God.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's this word of God thing is important, but let's move on here.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're just going to a quick expository breakdown of the book of Jonah chapter one here.
• 7:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Verse number two, we see the people's wickedness, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it for their wickedness is come up before me.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You realize Nineveh was possibly at the time the most hated enemy of Israel.
• 8:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Violent, cruel, pagan, yet God was still willing to show them grace.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: God still loves the unlovable, forgives the unforgivable, redeems the unredeemable and frees the un-freeable.
• 8:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sing it Peter 3-9, the Lord is not slack and certainly is promise, but we know
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: If I will tell this, but as long suffering to us, we're not willing that any should perish.
• 8:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: And here we get to this thought of beyond their power, beyond his power, Jonah didn't have the power to give the same grace that God was giving.
• 8:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: to Nineveh.
• 8:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Look at a verse number three, the preacher's weakness, but Jonah rose up to flee unto charges.
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jonah very likely had some deep seated prejudice, personally hatred towards Nineveh.
• 8:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't, he didn't just struggle to obey.
• 8:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't like give it a week and think taught in toss and turn and think, God wants me to do this, but I just don't want to do this.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: He just ran the opposite direction.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: But think about this, often we consider our weaknesses to be disqualifiers.
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: But God's power is made perfect in weakness.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll get back to St. Corinthians 12, 9 in just a moment here.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: But like Jonah, we all have personal barriers that hinder our obedience.
• 9:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I'm not saying that we should succumb to those things.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying we should make sin easy for ourselves.
• 9:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: But think about this, we all have quirks, foibles, idiosyncrasies that make it in some ways difficult to obey what God wants us to do.
• 9:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Not all of us sit down behind a microphone and think this is exactly what I wanted to do right now.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was talked a thousands of people that I can't see their face and I wonder what they're thinking about me.
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can I tell you, even?
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's always, I've mentioned this before in the broadcast.
• 10:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's always this little, this little nag, this little voice at the back of my mind that says, Brother Mike, what do you have to say today?
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Is it really worth anything?
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: That little bit of weakness, and sometimes I sit there and I think, you know, maybe I'll do this another time.
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe this is maybe this thought isn't worth anything, and you know what happens?
• 10:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: That weakness.
• 10:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes we want to dive headlong to the weakness.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: We want to not just excuse ourselves.
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: We want to trump it our quote unquote reasons when there are nothing but excuses.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I found, at least for me personally, here I'll give a personal stretch when I actually start.
• 10:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: When I say, all right, Lord, you gave me this thought.
• 10:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: I believe it's for your people today, those that are going to listen to Bible Trek.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: That goes, God, I need your help.
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you know, sometimes in the short term, it is easier, it's not right.
• 10:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: But it is easier just to run away.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Say, I can't do the radio.
• 11:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't do it.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Too many people listening.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: and Jonah here, his issue is not just insecurity, his issue is not just no, it was hatred.
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't like those Ninevites.
• 11:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wonder how many family members had Jonah lost?
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: to ninovite incursions, incursions, I think that's the word.
• 11:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: There you go, messin' up, incursions into Israel, into their native land, how many people have been killed?
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: How much pillage had happened?
• 11:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: How many homes had been burnt?
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Jonah had good reason, but God had given him a bigger reason, a better reason.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: A more important reason.
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: And Jonah is gonna need some help beyond his power.
• 11:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what we're gonna get to tomorrow on the broadcast.
• 11:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want you to tune in.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've been a little transparent with you.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've shared a little of my heart, but I'm gonna ask you to tune into tomorrow because I believe this thought of how you and I can get beyond our power.
• 12:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I'm gonna end with this.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're probably gonna start with it tomorrow.
• 12:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: St. Corinthians 12, nine says,
• 12:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me?
• 12:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Instead of glorying in your weakness as an excuse for why you can't do anything?
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Glory in the weakness so that Christ may get the honor when he uses you in spite of what you can't do.
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wonder what weakness you have today that you glory in for selfish reasons because it's an excuse not to do the right thing.
• 12:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've been there, friend.
• 12:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: I live there sometimes too, alright?
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: But we got to change our mail address.
• 12:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: We got to say, nope, that's not me anymore.
• 12:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can't do it.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: God is too powerful.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's too good.
• 13:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: All the time.
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: For me to glory in my infirmities for my own selfish reasons.
• 13:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Toon into more as we continue this thought of beyond your power.
• 13:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have a great day from God's glory.
• 13:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk soon.
• 13:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: God bless.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for tuning in to Bible Tract Echoes, the radio ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
• 13:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Want to see our gospel tracks and other resources?
• 13:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Visit us online at BibleTracksInk.org that's BibleTracksInk.org or follow us on social media to learn how you can partner with this ministry.
• 13:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for listening.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: May the Lord richly bless you as you live for Him.