Acts 3:1-10 I preached out of these ten verses last week and there are like 10 different sermons I want to preach from it So many angels The angel I want to take today is - Born with it but not stuck with it Born w/a birth defect Born lame No fault of his own We have this in common with him We all have a birth defect that is no doing of our own We were born in sin We are born with feet ready to run from God We touched on this last week though In Acts 4 we learn this man was 40 years old plus we know he went there everyday and was crippled from birth This presents a problem with some views in our circle It is almost certain during 3.5 years of Jesus ministry he went through the Gate called Beautiful and it is certain that Jesus saw this crippled man and ignored him Why did Jesus pass this man by and not heal him? God has a timing for his healing Timing is just as important as His will Purpose and reason for this man's healing being delayed But what about the transition period from Jesus healing sick people to Peter saying get up and walk Can you imagine the thoughts this guy must have had He is a child of Abraham, an heir according to the promise Jesus healing all kinds of diseases among the Jewish people But Jesus keeps passing this guy by Imagine the voices that spoke to his mind: one voice says - Jesus can heal while another says but He obviously isn’t going to heal you Ever feel like you have a devil on one shoulder and angle on the next The devil really talks when find ourselves in the transition time between being born with something and the time we are set free from it Can I tell you that no matter what you were born with or have come bound to that you can experience true change The story of the lame man reminds me of a prison outside San Francisco Alcatraz island is 1.25 miles from shore They could see everything they wanted but their chains would never allow the, to make that journey So many of us see the freedom we have but never believe the chains we have will allows us to get there We constantly have 2 voices speaking to us just as I imagine the lame did From these voices you catch faith or fear, anxiety or peace What do we do before the miracle while we are stuck in our situation? 2 Voices You might be under attack and maybe this will help you Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Rejoice IN all things not for all things Even in the attacks we still rejoice The voice of the enemy has one goal = to manipulate you emotionally 99% of the stuff we worry about never happens but it paralyzes us Paul is going to show how our emotional well being begins with rejoicing in Him Emotional well being is important because we are interconnected Verses 5-7 I read this and I'm really encouraged because Paul says in every situation Every situation includes the problems I go through My problems are welcome in God's presence You can bring your mess to God and will never shock Him; He has seen it all Paul says, "If you come to God in prayer then the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds." Guard is a military term To guard is to keep the enemy out Your Heart = Emotions Your Mind = Thoughts Your thoughts precede your emotions Your thoughts trigger your emotions Before you experience the emotion of anxiety there is first the thought of worry Before the thought is a voice Ever wonder how did I think that? Devil and God both whisper Can I take you to one of the oddest stories in the Bible? I like to take New Testament principles like what Paul is saying in Philippians 4 and tie them to OT stories because principles are informative, stories tend to be transformative 1st Kings 16:29-30 Ahab caused so many problems; he was literally the worst 1st Kings 20:1-4 Interesting how easy he gave up He makes an agreement with the enemy to try and protect himself Ahab never involved God 1st Kings 20:5-8 The Elders say something I believe God wants you to receive today: "When the enemy attacks don't listen to what he says and whatever you do be sure not to enter into an agreement" The voice you hear does not determine your destiny The voice you listen to and agree with does