John Hagee - Solving Your Problem
The Jewish people had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years. They had been beaten, starved, dehumanized. Their sons had been drowned in the Red Sea, as a form of population control, because Pharaoh was afraid they would become too numerous and would overthrow them. By an awesome demonstration of God's power of ten plagues where God crushed the economy of Egypt. Where one dead person was in most homes in Egypt because the firstborn was killed. Moses led them out of Egypt on that passover day to break into the sunshine of freedom after 430 years of slavery. They left Egypt with ox carts full of gold and silver and fine fabrics.
In less than a week, they were standing at the edge of the bitter water of marah. They were attacking Moses, saying: weren't there enough graves in Egypt? Didn't we tell you that this would happen? Every person in this audience and thousands more watching by television across the nation and around the world are making decisions about slavery and freedom every day. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, bled and died on a blood-soaked cross at calvary to liberate you from the powers and principalities of darkness. If you don't know Jesus Christ, saint Paul says: you are a slave to sin and to satan. From Exodus 14:10, and when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians Marched after them.
So they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'let us alone: that we may serve the Egyptians.' for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness". And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today". Listen. "For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever". When God wipes your enemies out, you will never see them again. That, my friend, is solving the problem. Give the Lord praise in the house. Let us pray.
Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for your word. Thank you for this people. We have problems but we have a problem-solving God. We have a light, which is the word of God. Let us learn to obey in it and walk in the path of righteousness to receive the eternal abundance that God gives the righteous. In Jesus' name, we pray. And all of God's children said, amen.
You may be seated. How you see the problem is the problem. Say that with me, how you see the problem is the problem. A young man came home from college, wearing the latest clothes. And his father met him on the front porch, and said, son, you look like a fool. At that exact moment, miss Jones was walking down the sidewalk. And she saw joe, and said, hi, joe. It is nice to see you. You're looking more like your father every day. How do you see yourself? How do you see your future? How do you see your past? Do you see hope? Do you see a meaningless, monotonous future?
The story is told of an American Indian, who found an eagle's egg and put it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched with a brood of prairie chickens and he grew up with them. All of his life, the eagle, thinking he was a prairie chicken, did what they did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and for worms. He clucked and he cackled. When he dared to fly, it was only for a few feet, because that's what the other prairie chickens were doing. And that's what he believed that's all he could do. Their limitations became his limitations.
Years passed, and one day he looked in the sky and saw a magnificent bird in the cloudless sky, flying gracefully. And he said to the other prairie chickens, what is that? And they said, that is a mighty eagle, but don't ever think you could do that, because you're a prairie chicken. Don't dare think you can do that. You can never be like them. So the deceived, earth-bound eagle never gave it another thought, and died believing he was a prairie chicken. What he thought about himself was completely controlled by those who were around him. And his potential for what he could be was never realized. What a waste? God designed him to fly into the highest heavens. He was engineered by the divine architect of the ages: yet, he plucked for worms and scratched in the dirt, cackling and clucking, because he believed he could do no better.
You will do the same thing if you do not see yourself as God sees you. You are God's divine creation. There is within you a divine principle locked up, waiting to explode, looking for the opportunity for you to reach the divine destiny that God has for you. You have been created a little lower than the angels. The royal blood of heaven is flowing in your veins, in your veins, in your veins, in your veins. You are kings and priests unto God. You are heirs and joint heirs in an eternal kingdom that's never going to pass away.
God does not manufacture junk. And he does not sponsor flops. Your future is far greater than anything you can possibly imagine. You are destined for high flight. The Bible says: they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on the wings of eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint. Stop living, acting like a prairie chicken, clucking in the dust and the dirt. Take off for the heavens and fly on the wings of faith to the destiny that God has for you! Give the Lord praise in the house of God!
The first three problems God forced Israel to face are the same three problems you must defeat to succeed. One is fear. At the Red Sea, Pharaoh with 600 chosen chariots of war and the world's mightiest army were thundering across the desert toward the children of Israel. Exodus 14:10, the text: and they were sore afraid. Listen to what they said to Moses in terror. How many of you know people say things when they're really afraid that there really is just too much? Weren't there enough graves in Egypt? Didn't we tell you this was going to happen all the time? It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to come out here in the desert and die.
Remember how you see the problem is the problem. Moses could have taken that as a personal attack, and said, all right. You think I'm chopped liver? Just sit right here. Those guys in the chariots are going to kill every blessed one of you. He saw the real problem. The real problem was fear. He gave them three commands, fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. The two words that Jesus used most in his ministry were those two, "Fear not". Say it with me, fear not. The Bible says: fear not death. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Fear not disease. I am the Lord your God that heals all of your diseases. By his stripes, you are healed. He sent his word and he healed them.
Fear not the past: it is forgiven. It is forgotten. It is buried in the deepest sea never to be remembered against you anymore! Glory to the living God! Fear not your future! I don't know what tomorrow holds! I know who holds tomorrow! I can tell you prophetically what's about to happen: I just can't tell you when. In the twinkling of an eye, the dead in Christ are going to rise. And we, which are live and remain, shall be caught up to be with the Lord in the air. The king is coming! The church triumphant is getting ready to leave planet earth! Lift your heads and rejoice! What a day that will be! Hallelujah to the lamb of God!
Fear not your enemies. The Bible says: I will make your enemies to be at peace with you. The Lord is my light and my salvation, David writes, whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? The Egyptians, your enemies, you see this day: you will see no more forever. God says, when I start solving your problems, I solve them completely. When I take out your enemies, I take them out completely. When I knock the barrier down, I knock it completely down. When Goliath gets hit with a rock, we take his head off. It is not a partial victory that we have in Jesus. The victory is total and complete. There was no partial victory at calvary. When he conquered death, hell and the grave, he totally conquered it. Therefore, we have eternal life and we shout for joy because the king has given unto us the total victory! Give the Lord praise in the house of God!
The second problem God forced Israel to face was bitterness. God took them straight to the bitter water of marah. Exodus 15:23: and when they came to marah, they could not drink the water because it was very bitter. The question: how many of you in this room and those of you watching by television are standing in a bitter pool? You remember a bitter childhood. You remember a bitter divorce, a bitter business deal, something that was filled with deception? You remember bitter conditions in your home that destroy your peace, a bitter experience that you had in the workplace?
Here's the solution: stop complaining to Moses and start talking to God. You know you are bitter when you know everything and you believe nothing. As soon as Moses prayed, God showed him solutions. Solutions are seen when prayers are prayed. Until you pray, no problem is going to be solved. Stop blaming the circumstance. Stop blaming conditions. Stop blaming God and start talking to God. Stop blaming yourself. Stop acting like a prairie chicken, scratching around in the dirt. Conduct yourself as the eagle God destined for you to be, and fly on the wings of faith into the face of God in the highest heaven.
As Christians, there are 16 areas that the Bible mandates we have self-control. No, I'm not going to teach those right now. We are to be self-controlled simply in every area of our life. On one occasion, a very irate church member, a woman, came to me. And she said, I resent my life, because I'm so out of control. I said, are you really? And she went through her litany. I said, let's look at really all the facts and just see how out of control you are. One, you control what you do with your free time. You have the ability to control your thoughts and your dreams that control your mood and shape your destiny.
How many of you have ever had an angry thought go through your mind, and you let it park there until you were as mad as a wet hen? Let me see your hand. God bless you. You're honest today. I want to tell you that's a 99% participation. Three, you also control your attitude. For the Bible says: as a man thinketh, so is he. If you think you can't, you can't. If you think you're not able, you're not. If you think you're a loser, you are. If you think victory is impossible, it is. As a man thinketh, as a woman thinketh, so are you.
You can also control your tongue. You may not want to control your tongue, but you have that ability. You can choose to remain silent. God forbid. Or you can choose to speak. If you choose to speak, you can choose your words, and you can choose the tone of your voice. You can start a fight or you can enjoy the day of blessed hope just by what you say! You can choose your role models. You can follow Jesus Christ and the word of God, and live in a dimension of love, joy, and peace. Or you can turn on the television and follow hell's legions down a sewer pipe to the gates of hell. That's your choice. God will let you do that.
I looked at the church member and said, you've got a lot of control. You take charge of your life and stop letting circumstances control your life, and other people's thoughts about you control your life. Stop being bound by the foolish opinions of other people. What does God think about you? If God loves you, if you're standing in the purity of the word of God, hold your head up, square your shoulders, and keep on moving. Everything's going to be all right. Give the Lord praise in the house. The Bible says: he who conquers a city is not nearly as strong as the man who conquers himself. Your doubts are traitors to your dreams. Your fears strangle your hopes. Your habits are born of your freewill. They lead you to captivity or to paradise. Your choices either keep you in the problem, sometimes for life, or they lead you to the provision of the Promised Land.
Self-control is one of the Bible's most valuable lessons. David conquered Goliath. He killed a lion. He killed a bear. He fought 18 wars for Israel and won them all. But he couldn't conquer himself because of his lust for Bathsheba. It produced murder when he killed her husband, Uriah. God did not allow him to build the temple, which was his earthly dream, because he could not control himself. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the master at demonstrating self-control. In his crucifixion, he had all power in heaven and earth. At any second, he could have called ten thousand angels from heaven to atomize the earth, to destroy every human being on the face of planet earth. But he looked at his final hour on this earth to teach us what self-control looks like.
Judas sold him for 30 pieces of silver. Peter cursed and denied him. Thomas doubted him, saying: I won't believe that he is the Messiah until I touch the scars in his hand. Pilate whipped Jesus with a Roman cat-o-nine-tails with 39 stripes. Herod's men of war slapped him and spit upon him, mocking him, and placed a crown of thorns upon him. And ripped his flesh to the bone. They placed a robe upon him to compound his mockery. Roman hands drove nails through his hands and his feet. They lifted him into the air and dropped his cross into the bowels of the earth. Ripping his flesh as the cross hit the rock. They hung Jesus Christ, "King of the Jews" over his head. They laughed at him. They mocked him. They said: he saved others but he cannot save himself. It was true. He could have saved himself, but then he wouldn't have been able to save you, so he died.
Listen. Jesus that had all power had the power to smash them: yet, he said with all tenderness in the last moment of his life: father, forgive them: for they know not what they do. That is self-control. Do you have it? You better find it. It's one of the absolute essentials of getting out of your problem. Three steps in solving every problem: one, define the problem and take bold, aggressive action. When the chariots of Pharaoh came thundering across the wilderness, the children of Israel came and cried to Moses. Moses stepped up and cried to God.
God spoke back to Moses. Translation, Hagee's international version, get moving, Moses. Get moving. Quit listening to these people whine and get moving. If you've got a problem, stop dancing around in it. Cut through the fat and get to the other side of it. God will help you. God will show the answer. You know that it's not what happens to you that matters. It's your response to what happens. Do you have a problem? Solve it. Do you have enemies? Get up every morning with a smile on your face. It drives your enemies insane. And in closing, in solving your problem, never quit. They that endure to the end, the same shall be saved.
Listen to this true story about a mother who was trying to encourage her sons musical progress on the piano. How many of you've ever given your children eight years of piano, and all they could play was "Chopsticks"? I'm getting a few hands here. This mother bought tickets to the Paderewski performance. Mr. Paderewski was a world class pianist. When the mother and the son went to the performance, they found their seats in the center of the concert hall. They eyed that majestic steinway piano that sat right in the front of them. The mother saw someone come in that she knew, and she went over and started talking to them.
At that moment, her nine-year-old son bounded up on the stage, sat down on the piano stool, and began to play "Chopsticks". The crowd booed. They were horrified. The mother was mortified. Paderewski heard the racket, standing backstage. He walked out on the stage, and he sat down beside the young boy that was doing his best playing "Chopsticks". And he said, son, whatever you're doing, don't stop: just keep going. And as that boy played that simple "Chopsticks," Paderewski sat down beside him and began to compose a concerto structured around this simple child's simple playing of a simple song. It was a magnificent presentation. The crowd was caught up in the drama of what was happening. They stood and began to applaud, because what they were hearing was simply masterful as the creator of music was making something happen that should be a disaster come across beautifully.
So what's the point? Some days in life when you're doing your very best and it sounds like "Chopsticks," God, the master musician, sits down beside you, and says, keep playing: I'm going to make this thing a masterpiece. What you see is terrible. I'm going to make it beautiful. This is going to be the best thing we've ever done together: just keep on going. It's going to be all right: just keep on. Don't quit! Keep trying! I can make your worst effort look like a beautiful thing. If God be for you, who can be against you? Give the Lord praise in the house of God!
Can we stand? How many of you in this audience will say, pastor, I have a prairie chicken outlook on life. I'm living beneath my potential. I'm scratching in the dirt, ignoring the divine destiny God has given me. If that describes you, let me see your hand. Moses said to Israel: fear not. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. How many of you here say, I'm facing a problem that has robbed me of my peace of mind, a problem that fills me with worry, with fear, and anxiety. Does that describe you? Let me see your hand. God bless you. There's an area in my life that's bitter and I want to bring it to the cross today, and let the cross fall into the bitter pool of my soul, and make my life sweeter than the honeycomb. If that describes you, can I see your hand? God bless you. Pray this prayer with me. Before we receive this communion.
Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Today, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let me see myself as you see me. Take the fear, the insecurity out of my life. And let me go boldly through the problem to reach the provision that God has for me. Take the bitterness out of my mind, out of my spirit. Let the spirit of forgiveness flood my heart and mind, so that I can have the self-control that I must have to reach my divine assignment. In Jesus' name, I pray and receive these things. Amen.