How far will you let God take you?

[Captain Kirk]

How far will you let God take you?
David was just a shepherd. He didn’t have the title of leader. He demonstrated a solution to a problem. He took care of Goliath. He demonstrated the Kingdom of God. Then, he found himself hiding in a cave, surrounded by a bunch of guys who were disillusioned, in debt, frustrated, and discouraged. But David showed them the Kingdom. He showed them that all things were possible. He went out without a sword and took down Goliath. And that encouraged them. They wanted to follow this man that had the faith and the courage to walk out the Kingdom. And they did. They became David’s mighty men of valor. In fact, their stories and exploits are recorded in the book of Chronicles. They completely changed their course. The Bible even tells us that they became wealthy. These broke, discouraged guys who were living in a cave gave today’s equivalent of billions of dollars to help build the temple. They had learned from David. They had changed.


Mark 9:23 tells us that all things are possible to those that believe. We hear that and we celebrate, but we’re not reading the fine print. It says all things are possible to those that believe. To those. Not to God, but to those who believe—that’s you.


Just like those guys in the cave with David, how far God can take you depends on how much you’ll let Him change you. In Ephesians 3:20, it says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” You don’t have to wait on God. He wants a lot more done than you can even think of. He wants more impact. He’s waiting for someone to rise to the challenge. He knows the world is waiting to hear your story. The world is waiting for someone who knows the truth about God. They’re waiting for someone to tell them who they are in Christ. They want to know the potential future they have.


I was a shy kid. I would duck my head down in class. I hated standing up in front of people and having to say anything. When my parents would have parties, I would hide in my room. I would even hide out during parties that were thrown for me. One time, a teacher heard me talking to someone in the hallway and said, “Well, you do talk.”


What kind of potential did I have then to do great things? None. Hiding in a room, or hiding in a cave, will get you nowhere. I needed to learn and change just like David’s men needed to learn and change.


My life drastically changed when I met my wife, Drenda. I had a 1.3 Grade Point Average. She was a 4.0 student. She worked long hours. She was capable. She knew how to get things done. She was a possibility thinker. So, I married her, and God called us to sell insurance. That’s a fantastic job for someone who is afraid to talk to people. Cold-calling people and talking about the lovely subject of dying—that’s fun stuff. I died a thousand deaths every week when I sold insurance. I would lay in bed at night shaking. It wasn’t comfortable. I didn’t want to do it. I hated it. But, I couldn’t quit because I knew God had called me to it. He was teaching me. He was changing me.


See, God has too much invested in you to let you sit on the sidelines. He’s going to make it uncomfortable for you. He’s going to call you out into the deep water. He’s going to give you vision and dreams and pull you out – sometimes KICK you out. It’s not that He wants you to have that turmoil and discomfort; it’s because He knows what you can do and how much you’re going to love it when you get out there.


When God told us to start a church, I couldn’t sleep for days. It was scary.

When he told us to host a marriage conference, I was scared spitless. I didn’t know anything about marriage other than being married. So, I’d sit in my car and listen to these marriage tapes. We paid for this conference ourselves and we had 250 people come to that little marriage conference. We did it afraid. I felt so vulnerable and insecure afterwards and I thought, ‘I am NEVER going to do that again.’


A month or so later, my brother was waiting in the emergency room for someone to get stitches and he started talking to a couple who was also waiting. When he told them his name, they asked him if he was related to me. They went on to tell him how they were nearly divorced, but that they had gone to our marriage conference and it had changed their lives.


See, there were things happening that we didn’t know about. We had ventured out into that scary thing and amazing things happened. God was teaching me some things about stepping into the impossible.


In Matthew 25, we read the Parable of the Talents. The assignments were given to them based on what the master thought their ability was. The guy who was given the five talents was given an assignment that was bigger than he was. It was a ten-talent assignment. And, because he knew the master’s heart, he embraced the harder assignment and went and ran with it. He knew the master was trying to help him. He knew he was trying to promote him. But that’s not the typical response. Most people are like the one-talent guy. They shrink back. They’re afraid. He buried his one talent. He had a wrong perception of his master, just like we have a wrong perception of God. But his master wasn’t a hard taskmaster, and neither is God.


God is a rewarder. If we take care of His stuff, He takes care of our stuff. He’s called you out to do impossible things, and with that comes reward.


I have countless examples of what happens when you change and become a possibility thinker—raising $2.5 million with only 300 people, building the Now Center, paying our builder the $1 million we owed him when the banking industry crashed, not knowing where the money would come from when God told us to start our television ministry—the list goes on.


I wish I could tell you it was so simple and so easy, but it wasn’t. There were fearful things to face and impossible things to discuss.


I wished I could tell you it was so simple and so easy, but it wasn’t. There were fearful things to face and impossible things to discuss. I’d like to say that I was so confident with God that it was no problem, that I’m the pastor and I’m so courageous – I’m just a person! All I can teach you is what I’ve walked through. In myself I have no confidence except for what He’s taught me.


God has reinforced the same lesson in my life over and over and over again—He is a rewarder.


All things are possible to those that believe. God has bigger plans for you than you have for yourself. He wants you to embrace it. I guarantee you, if you will say ‘yes’, He’ll take you farther than you ever imagined.


How far will you let Him take you?


Pastor Gary Keesee of Faith Life Church shared this message with our congregation last weekend.

[doc h fmf]

Thank You Doug I Feel Better Now. What Happened Was I Lost My Job 2 Months Ago Do To My Arthritis In Both Of My Ankles And Feet.i Am Getting Unemployment While Searching The Job Market. Anyway God Must Of Seen I Was Suffering And Wanted Me To Do Something Else.

Semper Fi And Godbless You My Brother

Stephen Doc Hansen Hm3 Fmf

[TazMatt]

Thanks again Doug for your inspiring messages that you bring.Go in peace my brother and may The Good Lord continue to use you and also continue to bless you as you carry out his will. Semper fi my Marine Brother,also my brother in Christ.

[FistFu68]

Gotta keep The FAITH no matter how Deep THE CHIT get's

[Mistybluelady]

As Always thank you Sir for your wonderful messages.... God Bless

[USNAviator]

As usual Doug, very inspirational.I look forward to these every Sunday.

Fair winds

[DanTheMan B]

Well there's no place the invisible magical sky wizard can take me. There is nothing he can do for me at all. No point in believing in something that ain't gonna help just by "praying".

~Dan

[PJones64]

hmm

[Captain Kirk]

Well there's no place the invisible magical sky wizard can take me. There is nothing he can do for me at all. No point in believing in something that ain't gonna help just by "praying".

~Dan

Dan,

I'm sorry you feel that way. I spent a year in the hospital and 43 years paying for your right to believe that.

God has done so much for so many and he still believes in you as do we all here.

Semper Fi

Doug

[Mistybluelady]

Well there's no place the invisible magical sky wizard can take me. There is nothing he can do for me at all. No point in believing in something that ain't gonna help just by "praying".

~Dan

Thats just sad.... have you never seen a rainbow or something so beautiful it takes your breath away? He answers all prayers, just sometimes the answer is no, and as far as I am concerned his grace is enough..

[DanTheMan B]

Thats just sad.... have you never seen a rainbow or something so beautiful it takes your breath away? He answers all prayers, just sometimes the answer is no, and as far as I am concerned his grace is enough..

Well when you've deployed to Iraq and seen death, destruction, and really fvcked up sh*t, and you've taken a fellow human being's life in combat, and you get severe nightmares and drink to forget, you tend to lose faith and realize that a "loving God" would not allow those kinds of things to happen. Sorry, but there is no God in heaven for me.

~Dan

[gkmoz]

I think you and Doug need to converse privately ? would be my guess ?

[USNAviator]

Well when you've deployed to Iraq and seen death, destruction, and really fvcked up sh*t, and you've taken a fellow human being's life in combat, and you get severe nightmares and drink to forget, you tend to lose faith and realize that a "loving God" would not allow those kinds of things to happen. Sorry, but there is no God in heaven for me.

~Dan

Dan I sincerely hope you are getting some help re. your situation.

No one who has seen combat up close as you have walks away unchanged

You wore a uniform so did I. We both swore an oath to defend our Constitution. Part of which is Freedom of Religion. If you chose to not have a religion or a belief in God then so be it. You were granted that right at birth

Someday you might change your mind, if you do I know for a fact God will be waiting to welcome you home into His loving arms

Fair Winds Marine

[Captain Kirk]

DanTheMan B

I sent you a PM.

[USNAviator]

Doug

Tried to send you a PM my friend, your PM mail box is full

Dan