WHAT IS YOUR MOUNTAIN?

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”  (Mark 11:23-24)

What is your mountain that you are facing today?  Is it sickness, disease, finances, addiction?  What is keeping you from receiving victory over your circumstances?  Doubt, fear, or hopelessness?  Let’s discover what each one of these barriers is to a victorious life in Christ Jesus.

1.      Doubt – it is uncertainty or distrust as it pertains to God and His Word.  It is like being in between belief and disbelief; a double minded person is like riding on a see-saw.  The Bible says in James 1:8, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”  So, how can you get rid of this doubt and double mindedness?  “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”  (James 4:8)  You must make a choice to trust God and His promises.  Repent and ask God to forgive you for doubting what He said.  Surrender to Him by allowing Him to purify your heart and mind with His Word.

2.      Fear – it can be a distressing and paralyzing emotion that is aroused by a perceived threat.  Our basic response to fear is to flee from the perceived danger.  Fear is almost always related to the future.  So many people are afraid to surrender all to God (self, money, possessions, family, etc.) that they will stay in their current situation no matter how distressing and unhealthy it may be.  They become comfortable in their mess because they know what the outcome will be.  This is bondage.  2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.”  To overcome fear, we must submit our will, emotion and our mind to the Spirit of the Lord so that we can be transformed into the men and women He has purposed us to be.  We do this by learning about Him and His character.

3.      Hopelessness - The despair you feel when you have abandoned hope of comfort or success.  Hopelessness is not having a confident expectancy that God will do what He said. The Bible states that we should have hope because it comes from God.  “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”  (Romans 15:13)  Conquer hopelessness by having confidence that God will do what He has promised and not wavering. 

Know that God desires us to not just operate from a position of hope, but a position of faith.  We conquer in faith.  “That's because everyone who is a child of God has won the battle over the world. Our faith has won the battle for us.”        (1 John 5:4) In faith, we are not waiting for God to accomplish His promise.  In faith, we believe and know it is already done!  We must see things with our spiritual eyes and not our natural eyes.  That mountain that is preventing you from receiving His promises, believe and know that our God is bigger than that mountain.  You can speak the Word of God and call those things which aren’t as if they already are. (Romans 4:17)

What do you see when you look at your mountain?  Do you see it being removed into the sea or do you see something that cannot be conquered?  What your eyes behold forms in your mind.  You need to get a new picture!  Stop focusing on your circumstances and focus on the Word of God (His Promises).  Stop being afraid to let go and allow God to lead you.  You’ve tried everything else (sex, drugs, alcohol, etc.), and where did it get you?  Surrender to the Lord your mountain and allow the faith of God to remove it into the sea. 

I want you to literally, take a photo, draw a picture of yourself being victorious over your circumstances and speak to that picture everyday that this is who God intended for me.  Speak God’s promises daily.  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”  (Proverbs 18:21a)  “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  (Proverbs 23:7a)  This isn’t “mind over matter” or believing that you can move mountains all by yourself.  This is obeying God in all things and allowing His power through His Word to accomplish its purpose.  Since God is faithful and good, His Word will not come back void.  It will accomplish what He said it would.  (Isaiah 55:11)  Claim the blessings of God because you have surrendered and obeyed Him. 

Blessings for Obeying the Lord:   

“Make sure you obey the Lord your God completely. Be careful to follow all of his commands. I'm giving them to you today. If you do those things, the Lord will honor you more than all of the other nations on earth. If you obey the Lord your God, here are the blessings that will come to you and remain with you.   You will be blessed in the cities. You will be blessed out in the country.  Your children will be blessed. Your crops will be blessed. The young animals among your livestock will be blessed. That includes your calves and lambs.   Your baskets and bread pans will be blessed. You will be blessed no matter where you go.  Enemies will rise up against you. But the Lord will help you win the battle over them. They will come at you from one direction. But they'll run away from you in seven directions.  The Lord your God will bless your barns with plenty of grain and other food. He will bless everything you do. He'll bless you in the land he's giving you.  The Lord your God will make you his holy people. He will set you apart for himself. He took an oath and promised to do that. He promised to do it if you would keep his commands and live exactly as he wants you to live.  All of the nations on earth will see that you belong to the Lord. And they will be afraid of you.  The Lord will give you more than you need. You will have many children. Your livestock will have many little ones. Your crops will do very well. All of that will happen in the land he promised with an oath to your fathers to give you.   The Lord will open up the heavens. That's where he stores his riches. He will send rain on your land at just the right time. He'll bless everything you do. You will lend money to many nations. But you won't have to borrow from any of them. The Lord your God will make you leaders, not followers.  Pay attention to his commands that I'm giving you today. Be careful to follow them. Then you will always be on top. You will never be on the bottom.  Don't turn away from any of the commands I'm giving you today. Don't turn to the right or the left. Don't follow other gods. Don't worship them.“ (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

If God has all of that for you, why are you still afraid to surrender and obey?

“MOUNTAIN, YOU ARE CAST INTO THE SEA!!!””