Overcoming Discouragement

By Tony V. Hammack

Abundant Life Today Media
	Podcast: Play in New Window | Download To watch the video, click here.

These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video. 

What causes discouragement?
How to prevent it
How to overcome it

Thesis: Overcoming discouragement is a battle we all fight at times and when we do what we’re supposed to do we will be victorious.


Causes of Discouragement

1.  Proverbs 13:12a
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,…

2.  Disobedience = Discouragement
Sometimes discouragement comes when we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing.   Some people create a false reality to appease their disobedience.  This makes it very difficult to overcome because the false reality masks the true problem, even defending the disobedience.

Disobedience can come in the form of doing more than God asked you to do or less.   You are responsible for being faithful and obedient to what God has told you.  Nothing more, nothing less.

You have to obey the written word of God for the believer but in the specific activities of our lives you must hear the spoken voice of God for yourself.  Trust the Lord to direct your life perfectly.

I believe ultimate joy and fulfillment is found in extending God’s kingdom.

Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

Galatians 6:7-10
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

3.  Discouragement from the Flesh.

When we sow to the flesh we can reap discouragement.  We must not give up because the harvest God has for you may be on it’s way.  Be encouraged!

2 Thessalonians 3:11-13

11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

4.  Discouragement from Others.

People can tire of doing good because they are around people who are idle, disruptive, and  busybodies.  When we’re around people who are like this, we can get discouraged.

Preventing Discouragement 

1.  Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!

Philippians 3:13,14
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.      

2.  Trust that God loves you and wants to bless you.

Matthew 6:26
 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Overcoming Discouragement

Proverbs 13:12b
…but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Sometimes all we need to overcome discouragement is patience.  The answer is on it’s way we just need to wait for it.

Daniel 10:12-14
12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

Hope against hope

Romans 4:18
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

What has God told you to do?  If He told you to do it, He is somewhat responsible for the results.  You are responsible to be obedient and faithful to do the task He’s given you.  Once you do this you can rest!  Do what you can and leave the results up to God.

Hebrews 4:9-11
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Consider Joseph

Joseph means, “may he add”.  Rachel was a woman of faith believing for another son even as Joseph was conceived.

Joseph has a great dream where his brothers and parents subordinate themselves to him.  His brothers conspire to kill Joseph then sell him to Ishmaelite traders.

He becomes a slave in Potiphar’s house and is falsely accused of sexual assault and convicted to the kings prison.  He get’s promoted to being the head guard of the prison.

Joseph correctly interprets the dream of the cup bearer and the baker.

Pharoah puts everything in the land of Egypt under Josephs control except the actual throne.

How did Joseph maintain himself through all these challenges?  The Lord was with him but in addition to that, Joseph had an awareness that the Lord was with him and inside of him.  Joseph held on to the dream the Lord had given him.   He would one day be a ruler over his family.

What about us?  Do we know the Lord is with us?  If we don’t, why don’t we?  Maybe we’re using the wrong criteria to measure His presence.

How about the dreams God has given you.  Are you living the dream?  Are you working toward the dream?  Have you given up on the dream?

My dream is to win souls and make disciples and when I’m not doing this I get discouraged.  When the Lord uses me in this way I get encouraged.

Let's dream, get a goal, and work towards it!

Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V.
If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.

Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124




  View Larger Map

Recognizing God's Coming

By Tony V. Hammack

Luke 19:41-44 
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it ⁴² and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”  

     What a powerful passage found in Luke 19.  The people in Jerusalem were oblivious spiritually to what was going on around them.  The old saying, "ignorance is bliss", hardly applies in this situation or in any situation.  God himself, in the form of Jesus Christ, was attempting to reach out to a spiritually blind and stubborn people.  Because they didn't have spiritual eyes to see or spiritual ears to hear they rejected the Anointed One!

Slow Down and Take some Time with God

     How about you today?  What is Christ trying to convey to you?  Have you taken some time today to listen for his still small voice?  I encourage you to block in some "me" time for just you and God.  I know he has plans and purposes for you but if we can't hear what he wants to do then we may just find ourselves "hemmed in on every side, dashed to the ground".

     Comparing the two realities I'd much rather spend some time in God's presence discerning his voice and will. I believe that in our country today there is a good possibility that we're being faced with the same realities not only on an individual level but on a national level.   As a nation have we received Christ, rightly recognizing who he is?  I believe there will always be a remnant of believers that God has reserved for himself but to think that the spiritual climate in our nation is acceptable to God would be false.  As a nation, we must repent and turn to God.  Share your faith with someone today, release the kingdom of God that's within you, and be an agent of change.  We can turn things around one heart at a time!

Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V.

If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.

Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124




 View Larger Map

You Have Purpose

By Tony V. Hammack

Abundant Life Today Media
	Podcast: Play in New Window | Download To watch the video, click here.

These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video.
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The Vision of Jubilee Family Church is to
*Win
*Consolidate
*Disciple
*Send

But this vision can further be simplified to
*Win Souls and Make Disciples

How much time did Jesus spend on soul winning in the modern sense of the word?  Culturally, Jesus had a tremendous advantage over the modern day discipler.  It was the highest honor, to be called, in the Jewish culture, by a Rabbi.

Very little of Jesus ministry was spent trying to reason with people to become saved.  I actually don’t know of one single instance.

John 6:44
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

The signs and wonders that were manifesting in Jesus' ministry and the ministry of the early church as recorded in scripture did an excellent job of drawing people to hear the teaching from the ministry.

I would argue that there is not a program man can devise that could rival what God has planned for his Church.  Rather, the majority of Jesus' time and focus was on raising up his disciples.

Another cultural hurdle we have to deal with is the concept of the Hebrew educational model in the middle of a Greek imprinted culture. 

I would challenge the idea that we’re here today to only learn something.  I believe we’re here today to become something.  Yes, this in some ways involves learning, but it’s much more than that.  We are here to be renewed and invigorated by a Holy Spirit that loves and challenges; guides and empowers.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

I believe the gospel transcends culture.  Should we change our methods away from what Jesus did in order to accommodate cultural changes?  Some things may not be sacred and we can adjust.   However, some things may be sacred and we mustn't change them.  I believe having real relationships with real people is a sacred component to fulfilling the great commission.  To me the great commission should not be changed or altered.  It must be obeyed.

Matthew 28-18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We have delegated authority to accomplish the mission.  The mission is to make disciples.

My challenge to you today is, who are you teaching to obey everything the Lord Jesus has taught you?  Can you envision a church where everyone in the room has a new believer or two they are helping raise up to become a fruit bearing follow of the Lord?

I believe this is what Jesus meant when he told us that we were to be fruitful.

John 15:5
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Your Purpose
Why didn’t Jesus “beam you up” after you came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus?  I believe he left you here to bear fruit in the form of reaching people and helping with their spiritual maturity until they are ready to do for another what you have done for them.

I believe not only is this the reason the Church exists it’s also the reason you exist.  This is your purpose. Now it can be articulated in different ways but I believe it’s central and of utmost importance to spend time developing other people for the Lord.

What are the only things that last for all eternity?  It’s the souls of men and women.  When everything passes away we’ll have the Word of God and the souls of people.  Relationships with one another should be the highest priority in our lives; on a very similar level with our own relationship with God.

Mark 12:28-31
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”

I think the best way we can love one another is to lead one another to a closer walk with the Lord Jesus.

A Word of Caution
I admonish you to pursue relationships with a few people that you can pour your life into.  Pray first about who this is and remember…

Matthew 7:6
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs.  If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Let’s make 2012 the year when our mission statement comes off the wall, enters our hearts and becomes a reality.  It doesn’t do any good on the wall if it doesn’t really happen in our lives.

Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V.
If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.
Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124





View Larger Map

The Jesus Vaccine

By Tony V. Hammack

Abundant Life Today Media
	Podcast: Play in New Window | Download To watch the video, click here.

 
Introduction:
In praying and preparing for today’s message I want to consider a few different possibilities before I get into the direction I want to take things.   I have to take a principled stand at times that I realize may not make me very popular with some people.   As a man of God, I choose to obey God rather than the pressure of some people.

The first direction is the direction people have commented on to me. Being injected with a fresh dose of Jesus causing us know him, feel him, and obey him.   Kind of like a shot of life.

The second direction I’d like to take today’s message is to say that I believe in some senses of the word a little Jesus may be better than no Jesus at all but I don’t believe this is the best option, hence the message today.   It’s not an either or proposition.   You don’t have to settle for a powerless Jesus.

So this takes us to today’s message the way I originally intended to share it with you.

Thesis: Jesus, when misrepresented, will cause a deception which predisposes the person to rejection of the real Jesus.

Body:
A vaccination is a really amazing concept that has almost eradicated several very damaging diseases from many parts of the world.   Not everyone is “pro vaccination” and I’d encourage you to do some research for yourself regarding this subject.

A Vaccination consists of a dead virus or a dead part of a virus that’s been blended up with some protein and sometimes mercury.   This makes up the vaccination.   What it does is it causes your body to react to the virus like it’s alive.   This reaction causes antibodies to rise up and elevate preventing the real infection from ever afflicting the person in the future.

Sometimes people say, “Once you get chicken pox, you’ll never get it again.”   This is because the chicken pox virus activates the antibodies in the person causing a resistance to the viral attack again.

Antibodies in your system will prevent you from getting the same cold 2x’s but the cold virus mutates rapidly enough to fool your immune system frequently.

I wanted to lay a little groundwork about virus' and now talk about what I think could be one of the biggest enemies to revival in America today.  I believe it's a Church that thinks it’s in revival or it doesn’t need revival.   I’ve often wondered why some camps of Christianity call a series of meetings that last 3 or 4 days a revival?

When I think of revival I think of sweeping spiritual and social changes, many come to know the Lord, drug dealers repent, bars close, sin is repented of, people are called into the ministry, the saints of God reconcile hurts, etc.






Also, when I think of revival I don’t think I can schedule it in.   I think I can pray for it to happen, believe and declare it but God ultimately initiates revival through his people.

Matthew 23:15
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

I’m sure these were very troubling words to the Pharisees.   My point is that not everyone that thinks they are doing God’s work is actually doing it.

The biggest enemy of Jesus’s earthly ministry was not the prostitutes, tax collectors, Romans or sinners.   It was the religious establishment that wanted to maintain their status quo.   These human systems with their origins in the law were the biggest enemy of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that one of the ideologies of the last days is there will be a people that have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof. (2 Timothy 3:5)

I believe we’ve been in the last days since the ascension of Jesus and I also believe that today in our time there are people that have a form of Godliness but deny the power.

I operate from a position that the Church of Jesus Christ in the United States of America is not O.K.   I believe it needs to be awakened to become the powerful, holy and influential Bride she once was!

How do you convince people that the Jesus that lives in them is powerless to do anything in the world?  Teach them that miracles have ceased!

Power manifestations are dependent on faith and it seems to be difficult for most to walk in a faith that produces manifestations of God so a new “normal” is created and everyone goes along with it. This new “normal” is very similar to the world system so it comes naturally for people. It can be justified because it can be packaged in a very appealing message.

2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Numbers seem to be another justification for presenting a powerless gospel.   Salvation is segmented away from the other kingdom expressions. People in these systems will often say, “Salvation is the greatest miracle!”  They are right and it would be even better if they had some of those “lesser” miracles operating around them but they don’t.

Mark 2:9
Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?

I want to make the point that some have an image of the Jesus that lives in them as powerless.   The Jesus that lives in Heaven can do anything but the Jesus that lives in the Church is very weak.  

I find this to be an error of the worst kind.   This image of a powerless Jesus living in his Church will not only make the person faithless in many areas but it will also prevent the real Jesus from finding an expression through that believer.

Another pet peave of mine is when the saints of God call themselves sinners.   This plays nicely with the whole weak Jesus living in his church concept.

John 9:16
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” but others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?”  So they were divided.

Embracing a lifestyle of sin is not the way a Christian should see themselves.   They should see themselves as saved, righteous and holy prepared for every good work.

My main point is that when people have been injected with a Jesus that is powerless or dead they will repel the real Jesus!

What I mean by that is this, this message will really tick certain people off.   Instead of them saying, “Gee, Hammack is right!  We should believe that Jesus lives in us and wants to do great things through us.”, they’ll think, “I wish that guy would shut his mouth.”

Jesus was not a “nice” guy. Many in the Church today are “nicer” than Jesus was.   He was very polarizing and I believe if Jesus lives in us we also will be polarizing.

Luke 6:26
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.


Religion is the biggest enemy of the living Jesus.   If the devil can get you into a system that isn’t relationally centered on the Jesus Christ of the Bible you will repel the powerful Jesus.   You’ll think he’s something foreign and resist what he wants to do in you and through you. You may even draw conclusions that things described in the Bible as being a manifestation of the Holy Spirit are actually from Satan himself.  Ridiculous, but many very intelligent, trained and well intentioned Christian leaders proclaim this error.  God help them. 

While in Africa I noticed there were many miracles that happened and I concluded that “Jesus was Alive” in his Church.   Yes, he’s a alive in the heavens but he should also be alive in the people of God.

Conclusion:
Have you been vaccinated against the living Jesus?   If you think you have, please spend time studying the New Testament.   No matter what anyone has told you, the Word of God is the final rule for faith and practice.

Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V.

If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.
Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124

View Larger Map

In Christ, Christ In

By Tony V. Hammack

Abundant Life Today Media
	Podcast: Play in New Window | Download To watch the video, click here.

These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video.

John 14:20
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

I’ve heard myself tell several people this week what matters is that you know who Christ is, in you, and who you are in Christ. This is in relationship to walking in the authority of Jesus.
This relates specifically to deliverance and healing. When Jesus ministered in either one of these areas he used authority.

Many don’t seem to care if they don’t minister in these ways. If that’s you, this message today will be irrelevant. However, if you’d like to minster in a way beyond anything humanly duplicatable this message is for you!
Let’s bring focus to some areas today
1. If you don’t have a clear picture of Jesus…
2. If you don’t have a clear picture of Jesus in you…
3. If you don’t have a clear picture of yourself dying to self and losing yourself in Christ …

…you won’t express the Kingdom of God through your life in authority.
A Clear picture of Jesus
Jesus Christ is the perfect representation of God, doing everything with perfect obedience. Jesus Christ took authority over unclean spirits and diseases. These were considered components of the kingdom of darkness and needed to be dispossessed as evidence that the kingdom of God had come. Jesus knew where he stood in relationship to death, sickness and demons. Because he understood his position he dealt with these issues accordingly.

There is nothing the enemy would like more than to facilitate a mis-representation of the Lord Jesus in the minds of people. We must allow the Scriptures alone to define for us who Jesus was and is.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Hebrews 4:15
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Mark 1:27
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”

Luke 11:20
But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
Jesus in You
1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Colossians 1:26,27
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

John 15:4
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.


The things I’m sharing with you today are in the Bible but they have come to the forefront in my mind because of the Holy Spirit! Therefore not everyone will have these subjects on the forefront of their minds. However the significance of this subject can not be dismissed, minimized or ignored in favor of some other methodologies to reach a lost, hurting and dying world.
Deep Things of God
1 Corinthians 2:9-11
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”[b]— the things God has prepared for those who love him—10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

John 14:26
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The Spirit guides us into all the Truth
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
We must lose ourselves in Christ

John 3:30
He must become greater; I must become less.”

Mark 8:34
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Romans 6:11
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

When we see clearly the supremacy of Christ it becomes much easier to loose ourselves, our dignity, our selfishness. We need to clearly see Christ for who he is, realizing he lives in us creating for us a way to minister in healing and deliverance using his deputized authority. When we do this the Kingdom of God is established in the Earth!


Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V.
If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.

Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124

View Larger Map