Encounter @ the Chapel
Pastor Joshua Goodin
Acts 9:26-31 (NIV)
“The Power of Connections”
It’s not always easy to come out of your shell with people, because you wonder, can they be trusted? You’re all born again, baptized believers, you should be able to trust them, but there are some people that cannot be trusted. Some people cannot handle your truths, some of the places that you’ve been in life, decisions that you’ve made, and what your life used to be. Because they can’t handle it, they miss out on connections. If you only realized how many connections you missed, that would have helped you to be farther than you are today, but because you couldn’t get past your own insecurities and hang-ups, or because of what you knew about the person, you decided you did not want to connect with them.
*Your full ride was connected to that person, but now you’re paying back student loans. Sometimes you miss out on some great blessings because you’re judging people by their character and how they look, but you don’t understand how connected they are. If God presents you with an opportunity to make a connection, take it. Don’t worry about what people think of them, if God put them in your life, he put them there for a reason and purpose. Allow them to fulfill the assignment God has sent them for in your life. Isn’t it amazing that you don’t want to connect with certain people, but you get into relationships that you should have run away from. You find yourself entangled and they have not benefited you or grown you, and all they’ve done is take from you. People that are not supposed to be in your life, are blocking the connections God wants you to make, so you can go to your destiny. It doesn’t matter how long you have
been connected to them, if they are not growing, pushing, and motivating you to be your best, then you must learn how to let them go because they’re standing in the way of your connection. For some of you, the vision God has given you, is tied to a connection, but you’re worried about people not liking you, You will learn you don’t need people to like you, you just need them to fulfill their assignment. You don’t like your enemies, but the bible says God will make them your footstool, so you will learn to appreciate them because God uses them to elevate you. Connection is not about feelings and emotions.
*When you do business with people, you’re
familiar with, you don’t hold them accountable because in the back of your mind you’re thinking they’ll never get over on you, because you’re cool, they will do what they’re supposed to do. Sometimes doing business with someone close to you, can put you in a place of uncomfortability, but you do business with strangers.
*Even when you're not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, or you’re in a place you should not be, the Lord still speaks to you. When you’re not walking in obedience, he still speaks to you. You can’t run away from the voice of God. If you’ve been burdened with an assignment from God, you will have moments when you’ll want to give it back to God.
**God will use people who don’t believe you’ve been changed to connect you to where he’s trying to take you. You don’t have to be there for a long time to make a great impact. Sometimes you can be somewhere for so long that you lose the fire to serve where you’re at. You need to get some fresh fire, some new life, and bring them into the fold to help shift the atmosphere. Sometimes you need a new fire to spark the old wood. The worst kind of wood to have is the kind that puts out its own flame.
**The power of connections understands opposition is not a sign to turn away. You will allow one no to make you stop trying. When you do something, God tells you to do, and you don’t come out victorious in your own eyes you become discouraged. Sometimes your greatest lessons are not in your wins but they’re in your losses. One no should not discourage you from keeping pursuing the assignment God has on your life. Some of you are where you are because you accepted the no as a final determination. It’s not a final determination, the no is just a redirection. Ask God if that isn’t the yes door, to redirect you to the right door where the yes is waiting for you. Some of you aren’t waiting on the blessing, the blessing is waiting on you, but you must walk through the right doors. Be careful of the door that leads you to more thickheadness and ego. There are some doors people will open for you, just so you can get a big head about things.
**People don’t have to see your change to know you’ve changed. Your change is not for others' visual aid, God brings change in you. If you never look like you’ve changed, it doesn’t matter, because you know what’s happening on the inside of you. When people question your change, they’re also questioning your calling. You don’t have to defend your calling to anyone, they can just watch your evidence. If you ever want to question someone’s calling, start with yourself. There are so many people that just go and were not sent.
**The power of connections when God has placed you on a journey to fulfilling your assignment, he always knows how to move on the hearts of the right people who would defend you. Thank God for the right connections that said you were the one. You can’t get in your feelings when God sends people to help you. Their connection is intentional because God is using them to take you to places you can’t get to by yourself. Connections are important, because not only are people supporting you, but they’re putting their names on the line for you. Some of you have been operating in connections for a long time. When you say yes that means what you don’t do, your connection now becomes responsible. When God sends a connection into your life that is coming to push you where you’re supposed to go, but if you don’t do it, they’re putting their name on the line. One of the ways that God is going use to get you to your next destination, he’s going to connect you with the right people. They may not look like you or be saved, but if your fire and light are shining the way it’s supposed to it will rub off on them. One reason you don’t want to make connections is that you’re comfortable where you’re at.
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