Sunday night of this past week the Lord sent a prophecy concerning FUEL. Let me tell you how it happened. My sister was at church Sunday night and an evangelist who receives prophetic words from God called her up to the front of the church and said this to her: You’re standing here for your brother. Your brother is a pastor, right? She said yes. His church is in a storefront, right? Again, she said yes. He then said to her, you go tell your brother that there is about to be a shift into deeper waters and that little room he is in, is like a boat, but he needs to get ready because that boat is not going to hold all the fish that are coming. So I am here to tell you this morning that we need to get ready, because there are more people on the way, than this boat can hold. I’ve been praying for the last several days about what this means for our future. I need you to join me. These people need the word of God. Some of them will come because the Holy Spirit has drawn them for salvation and others will come that are already saved and the Holy Spirit has brought them to wake them up to what God has called them into. My sister called me Monday morning and told me and Laura about this word from God, so we prayed over that word before I left to go to the church. When I arrived at the church I found a piece of mail that was delivered and put under the door. I picked it up and opened it. It was a card from someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. They said God impressed on them that FUEL would be doing a great work in these soon coming last days. There was also a thousand dollar check included to support our efforts.
Then while I was beginning to write a message to the person who sent the card, a guy came in who watched the message online last week and just felt like God wanted him to come tell me that what I was teaching needed to be taught everywhere and he just wanted to encourage me to keep doing it. He didn’t know if I was at the church, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to come and see if I was here to tell me. So within the first 2 hours of my day Monday, God used 4 different people to send His word to me. And this is the word... We are going to need a bigger boat. Now I don’t know specifically what this bigger boat is supposed to look like and I don’t know how many people it needs to hold, but I know that God said we are going to need it. You know what a bigger boat is called? A ship...but not a cruise ship, built for our comfort. I understand what our mission is, so we can begin our search based on what will move us forward in that. Our FUEL “ship” will function like an aircraft carrier. We will send and support those who will attack the enemy on his territory. That’s what an aircraft carrier does. You don’t use an aircraft carrier close to your home country, you send it close to the enemy’s homeland so you can attack it. It is an attack vessel with powerful long range weapons...these weapons work from the air. We are seeking to gain air superiority. If you control the air over a battlefield, you can control the battlefield. Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
We are in a spiritual battle against evil forces in heavenly places. The prince of the power of the air is our enemy and that’s where he operates, so that’s where we will go to take the fight to him. We are a “top-gun” school for training pilots and equipping them with the most lethal weapons at our disposal for this battle. An aircraft carrier is not a defensive weapon. It’s sent to destroy. Your part in this battle are the good works I was talking about last week. Each of you has a specific mission to accomplish in order for us to achieve victory for our King. Ephesians 4:11-16 “11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” This passage explains our job here as leaders in this body. It is to train and mature you for the work of the ministry, so that the body will grow and be built up in love. That is why it is so important that you understand and put into practice these concepts and kingdom principles we teach. The word of God is your weapon in this battle.
Some of you will be pilots, trained to deliver the truth bombs to destroy the enemy’s lies. Some of you will never leave the ship because your job is aircraft maintenance and you keep the weapons delivery systems flying at peak performance. Some of you will be support staff to ensure the smooth operation of the ship. Everyone has a part to play, the pilots are not more important than the support staff. Everyone is necessary in order to carry out our mission. Today we will begin to look at how we can defeat our enemy. We have to begin by understand his tactics and strategy. You have to study your enemy so he will not be able to surprise you with an attack. Why do you think that sports teams study film of their opponents previous games? They study it so they will know what their opponents are good at, and also to identify where their weaknesses are. I’ve said before, if you know the nature of a thing, its behavior will never surprise you. We have to know the nature of our enemies, so that their behavior will not surprise us. We will expose their strengths as well as their weakness. 1 John 4:18 “18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” Now, why did I use this verse to discuss the nature of our enemy? Because it describes Satan’s Achilles heel. It’s fear. Satan, is afraid. Why do you think he tries to motivate us by fear? It’s because he himself is motivated by fear. If you are feeling fear, it is from the enemy. Fear is one of his most powerful weapons against us, and it is also his most prevailing weakness. His fear is his driving force.
But what is he afraid of? It is described in that verse. Look at the middle of the verse again. “fear has to do with punishment” He is afraid of his punishment that God has declared. When God’s plan is completed it includes the final punishment of satan. He works against God’s plan for His kingdom to come, because he knows that when God’s ultimate plan has been fulfilled, he will be punished for his rebellion against God. Believe it or not, satan can read the Bible too. Ask a matter of fact, I bet he knows it better than you. He knows he is doomed. It’s not that he’s stupid and thinks he can actually defeat God, but he is trying to hold off God’s plan as long as he can. Because when God’s plan is fulfilled, it includes his final punishment in hell...the lake of fire. Revelation 20:7-10 “7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” The final words of Jesus before he ascended to the Father in heaven was the great commission. This is the plan of God to usher in His kingdom to come on the earth. It is our battle plan for defeating the enemy. If the enemy can get us to stop doing what Jesus said, he can hold off his punishment.
Matthew 28:18-20 “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” God has chosen to use man to fulfill His plan on the earth, so that is why satan fights against man so hard. This spiritual warfare requires us to fight against the fear that satan and his followers try to get us to agree with. As long as you are operating in fear, you will be ineffective in the spiritual battle for the kingdom to come. Maybe he’s using a family member to speak fear into your life. Maybe he’s using a co-worker to seek fear into your life. Maybe he’s using a doctor to speak fear into your life. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, God’s word says that perfect love will cast it out. Are you walking in love or agreeing with the fear? Why is fear so bad? Because fear is the external manifestation of internal doubt. If you are afraid in a situation, you are doubting that God really has your best interests in mind. It will make you stop and rethink your actions. Remember last week when I said that your actions are the evidence of your faith? If satan can get you to doubt God’s motives, then he can get you to stop your actions, which nullifies your faith. That’s how he wins the battle. Fear can keep you away from what God wants for you. Look at what happened when the nation of Israel came to the edge of the promised land. Remember, God had caused Pharaoh to release them from slavery, He parted the red sea so they could cross and
He destroyed the Egyptian army by allowing the red sea to swallow them as they chased Israel. That wasn’t the only miracle they had seen. God had sent mana in the morning and quail in the evening for them to eat. God consistently supplied what the needed...even though they complained...a lot. Israel had seen some major miracles, so you would think they would have had faith in God’s ability, and trust His motives for their good. But just as they arrive at the land God said He would give them, God told them to send some guys to evaluate the situation. They were to send a chief from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. This is the report the brought back when they returned. Numbers 13:25-27 “25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Well, the land was everything God said it was. The grapes they brought back were so large that one cluster had to be carried on a pole between two of the men. This was the level of blessing God had prepared for them. But something got in the way. Numbers 13:28-29 “28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
What they saw caused them to doubt God’s ability to give them the land. There were already people living there, and they would have to be displaced...and Israel would have to do it. There are things God wants you to have, but you will have to go take it. Your faith in what God has said will require you to take action. The problem Israel has, was that the people who were in the land were descendants of Anak. What does that mean? Let’s read on and we will see. Numbers 13:30-33 “30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” It was the Nephilim, the giants we discussed a couple weeks ago. These were the product of fallen angels and human women. When 10 of the spies saw the giants, they doubted God’s ability and it caused them to be afraid. Only two of the spies came back and reported that Israel was “well able” to overcome the giants. And why did they believe that? Because they believed what God had told them, when He said the land was theirs. The majority ruled and Israel didn’t go forward to take the land. And as a result of their doubt and fear God caused them to wander in the wilderness 40 years until the spies who doubted had died.
What has God said belongs to you? What has He called you to do for Him? Are you letting the “giants” you are currently looking at cause doubt and fear to control your actions. There is no reason to doubt God’s motives and fear the outcome. Don’t let what you see paralyze you spiritually. Have you not experienced His goodness already? If we are willing to look back, what we see in our past can be a motivator for our faith. But if we only attempt to look ahead, what we think we see up ahead of us can be a fear factor. That is why we are not allowed to look beyond today. Focus on the task today and stop worrying about tomorrow or next week. Even after everything they saw, the 12 disciples of Jesus had fear. This next passage takes place right after Jesus feeds the 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. They had just witnessed a great miracle, which should have instilled great faith in them. Matthew 14:22-27 “22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” When they saw Jesus walking on the water it freaked them out, so He immediately identified Himself and told them not to be afraid. Now remember earlier that evening they had witnessed the feeding of the 5,000, but Peter questions His word. In the
next couple of verses Peter shows great faith and then quickly reverts to fear because of what he sees. Matthew 14:28-33 “28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Ok, so I guess they learned their lesson and doubt would no longer be an issue for them. I wish that were the case. Remember that battle plan, the great commission that Jesus gave just before He ascended? Well, just before he said that, here is the description of the disciples. Matthew 28:16-17 “16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.” But some doubted. What? They were standing there actually looking at the resurrected Messiah...but some doubted. This is amazing that they were all worshiping, but some of them, even while they were worshiping, were doubting. Is that you today? Have you come to a worship service with doubt that God really is who He says He is? Do you doubt His love for you? Are you afraid of what tomorrow holds and what “might” happen?
2 Timothy 1:7 “7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Has the enemy convinced you to live in fear? Fear is never from God. God has not given you fear. God gives power, love and a sound mind. Remember, satan is afraid of his punishment and he wants you to join him in his fear and ultimately in his punishment. The choice is yours. You don’t have to live in fear. You can have the power, love and self control that comes from God.
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