Do you feel like there is more for you, or that you were meant for more in this life? And if so, are you confused about how to answer the call on your life? Well, knowing and understanding the plans and will of God for our life can be challenging at times.
Well the good news is through the Word of God, we can catch a glimpse into the heart, wisdom, priorities, and love of God when he requires our sacrifice. There is always a rhyme to His reason, and we can always trust that he has our best interests in mind when he asks anything of us or from us.
Won’t you join us in this eye opening Bible Study, entitled, “Everything – The Lesson of Letting Go,” and experience along with us the freedom of letting go.
Let’s start with reading…
Luke 5:11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, (business) left EVERYTHING and followed him.
Luke 5:28 and Levi got up, (left his business) left EVERYTHING and followed him.
Matthew 4:19 19 “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
I want you to know that anytime God asks something of you, He will always give you a promise of a better life to come! God is NEVER trying to take anything from us (except for our sins), but is always trying to get something better for us. We can always trust that His plans, and what He has in store for us is ALWAYS more rewarding than our plans and definitely anything we have planned apart from Him.
It’s the Father’s good will to provide for us, everything we need and everything we desire. But we must understand that He wants to GIVE US EVERYTHING, by Grace, lest we boast about our works. He wants us to know Him as a Father, and to “Follow Him,” on a journey of both self-discovery and God Discovery. It’s not long after we begin this journey that we realize that He is good, and Has already provided for us Everything we need, or will ever need!
But in order for us to experience these plans, we have to let go of our plans. We have to be willing to separate ourselves from that which separates us from him. We cannot follow our plans, and follow Him at the same time. We cannot supply our own needs and realize His supply at the same time.
“The SUFFERING of letting go,
is only a SEASONAL SYSTEM of SACRIFICE,
and is the doorway to the SUPPLY you desire.”
Let’s move on and read the following scripture…
Genesis 12:1 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.…
You can see here, once again, that God calls Abraham to leave his home, his family, his household, his source of income, and his entire livelihood as he knows it. However, he immediately follows with a great promise. You see, it’s the heart of the Father, to properly motivate us! Especially when he asks something great of us, he always promises and always provides something much Greater!
God is so good! But his priority is to grow Abraham’s faith. Did Abraham have what he needed? Yes! Then why would God take him from that? Because, intimacy, and relationship with him has always been the highest priority of God. Knowing His Love, and learning to trust Him Goodness, is his Highest Priority.
But in order to learn this, He must take us through a season of Sacrifice, and a wilderness period where we learn to trust him for EVERYTHING we need. He wants us to realize that He is our provider, and He wants us to realize that He wants to give us EVERYTHING we need, rather than us EARNING IT.
The Israelites went through the wilderness, Abraham went through the wilderness, and even Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. It’s in this place we learn to depend on him, and His provision, but not our own. It’s in this place we Sacrifice Self Sufficiency, and Self-Dependency.
You see the Power we desire, is on the other side of the wilderness, that is, this letting go period. That is why Jesus, in Luke 4:1 went in “full of the Spirit,” HOWEVER, He came out of the wilderness in the “Power of the Spirit,” Luke 14:1.
“The discipline of ‘Letting Go’
PRECEDES and PROVIDES the POWER to ‘Go’.”
Let’s move on…
Matthew 19:29 Jesus said to them, “29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
Luke 18:30 …will receive many times as much at this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”
You see Luke was a doctor, and was very specific about diseases because this was his work experience and profession, however Matthew was a Tax Collector and was very specific when it came to money. This is why he SPECIFICALLY remembers Jesus promising the 100 fold!
But you can see here, that it’s the Lord’s good desirer and will to always:
- Motivate you to let go.
- Tell you what he’s promised.
- Will give you a 100 fold return on your investment.
- Tell you when you will receive it (this lifetime)
- And then tells you even what is to come…
But in order to follow Jesus, we have to be willing to Let Go. We can’t serve money and God. Why? Is it because money is evil? No! It’s a matter of focus. We will either focus on the responsibility of making it, or we will focus on the Words of Jesus, and spend time with him. We only have so much time, and in order for God to do his work in us first, and then through us, it requires a Season of Separation, and it requires us to Let Go.
In the full context of this scripture, Jesus was speaking to the “Rich Young Ruler”, who was rich and had great wealth. But what the rich young ruler didn’t realize is that Jesus wasn’t trying to take his money, but was in fact encouraging him to invest not only his money, but to invest his time, and his life into his spiritual life which he knew would yield better returns in this life.
“God never takes good things FROM YOU (permanently),
However, He’s always CHANGING YOU,
so that he can get more good TO YOU and THROUGH YOU.
Even 100 fold.”
Let’s move on…
Matthew 19:27 Peter answered him, “We have left EVERYTHING to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
Luke 14:17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for EVERYTHING is now ready.’
The key to leaving EVERYTHING is seeing what God has in store. The key to letting go, is focusing on the Great things that are to come, in this life and the life to come! The Lord has promised us thrones, and mansions, and great things, but most importantly He has promised us Him! He has promised us new spiritual bodies and EVERYTHING WE NEED.
It’s the Lord who says, “I got to prepare a place for you…” It is the Lord who says he has given us a Kingdom. But He promises US EVERYTHING, in this Lifetime and also in the Life to come. He has already provided for EVERYTHING, and He wants us to RECEIVE it by faith now.
Are you ready to step out and answer the call, and follow Jesus? Are you ready to give up your distractions and those things that you depend on? Well…
“If you can see the EVERYTHING blessing,
you will have the motivation and power to leave EVERYTHING.”
Let’s move on…
Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
1 Corinthians 10:26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
Another key to Letting Go, is the understanding that what we have, and the life we have here is a Gift from God, but we don’t own it, but we have been assigned as stewards and managers over what is already God’s. He owns EVERYTHING, and is sharing it with us!
This understanding produces a gratefulness, and yields the power and ability to let go, and to share with others what has been provided for by God, because what we have been given stewardship over is His, and if He has shared with us, our hearts should overflow with thanksgiving and with the same love and compassion with others.
Acts 2:44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they shared everything with anyone who was in need.…
Acts 4:32 The congregation of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.
As you can see in the book of Acts, the believers let go of EVERYTHING and SHARED EVERYTHING, as a result of the Outpouring of God’s Presence, that is Him Giving us the BEST of what He had/has, that is His Son, and His Spirit, BOTH!
When the Spirit is poured out on you, and you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, you realize at that moment, that His Presence is all you need, and that if you have His Spirit, that nothing else matters, not even money.
You see our love is a result of the outpouring of His Love! We love, because He First Loved Us!
“A revelation of STEWARDSHIP
unlocks the power of SHARING.”
Matthew 10 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “… 6 Go … to the lost…. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons. 9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff,
You see, the disciples had money. They had extra clothing. They had extra sandals, they had what they needed already. But the lesson the Lord wanted them to learn is that they wouldn’t need it, because He would provide it. The Lord wanted to bring the disciples to a place of dependency on him. He wanted them to hope in His Provision, not their own. He wanted to prove to them that he had “already provided” for them EVERYTHING they needed.
He wanted to show them that the Power and Glory that was outpoured through them would provide for everything they needed. He wanted to show them that the anointing on them was all that they needed, and that it would attract the finances and provision that they needed. He wanted them to let go of their own provisions, so that he could be the one who provides for them.
Did they need the extra, yes, they would eventually, but He would be the one to give it to them! Through this wilderness training, they learned and now knew in their hearts, that if they kept the priorities of God, which was laying hands on the sick and answering the call, that EVERYTHING would be provided!
But would they have learned this if they took what they needed or tried to earn it first? Absolutely not! Which takes us to our next lesson…
SEPARATION IS SEASONAL, the SHIFT comes
to realign our hearts, once again, so that he is our SOURCE.
2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened, so that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
Oh wow! The Lord has even called us to Let Go of our own life! That is, sacrifice our self-protection, and even our own self-preservation! You see many times, even this can get in His way! Lord help us all! But the Lord wants us to know Him on every level and wants us to Know him as not only our Provider, but also as our Protector!
You can see that the Lord allowed Paul to experience and even feel the sentence of death. Why would He do this? So that we might not depend on and rely on ourselves, but only on Him, who is able to protect us, who is able to provide for us, and who is able to preserve us! To Him be the glory, forever and ever, Amen.
SEPARATION is not a jail SENTENCE,
however the tool used to SET the channel of our hearts
from SELF-PRESERVATION to a SURENESS of His SAFE-KEEPING.
1 Timothy 6:17 to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with EVERYTHING we need
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us EVERYTHING (we need)?
So what’s the lesson? The lesson is that God wants to be the one who Provides us with Everything! He wants us to know His Loving Protection, Provision, Preservation. He wants us to depend on and get to know Him who RICHLY PROVIDES us with EVERYTHING we need!
He wants us to learn to Look to Him, and not ourselves for what only He can Provide.
The Lord wants us to realize He has already given us, EVERYTHING we need, in our covenants with Him through His son, and in His son! He wants us to realize and receive all that He has done, and let go of all that we have done!
Are you ready to let go? Are you ready to learn the Love of the Father? I know I am! Let’s go! It’s time to follow the Son, and discover the Loving Kindness of our Father. Amen.
and then