Remove the Choke Hold
Dear Friends,
Isaiah 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs.”
Enlarge means to be wide, spacious, open wide, to expand. Making room for more. To stretch out is to extend. We need to stretch ourselves, extend ourselves, stretch out. God is near, He is just beyond ourselves, our flesh, our carnality. When we step beyond self, we find Him. We can curl up into ourselves or extend ourself into Him. The Holy Spirit lives within, but we must go beyond our self to Him. Hook up with Him in the spirit within Stretch out to a place of freedom.
Spare Not- do not withhold, restrain, hold back, keep in check, or refrain. Do not forbid it, or spare not by thinking in weakness of faith, “It is good enough as it is; it would be too large.” God is a too much God. He is extravagant, and excessive, but not wasteful. Don’t think things are too much. Spare not!! Do not hold back, refrain from, or be restrained in normal, natural things or in spiritual, supernatural things. Making room for more.
Without a renewed mind a poverty mentality will manifest in our personal life and in service to God. A failure image will manifest in all I do. Fear in me will dominate everything I try to accomplish. (Fear can come in the form of embarrassment, inferiority, and cause things to not work). These things hold us back, restrain us. We need to make room for more, to enlarge, and stretch out to freedom.
Stretch out the curtains of your dwelling. We are to dwell in the secret place (Psalm 91) There are many dwelling places (John14). Jesus prepared one in us in order to abide there. Stretch to dwell with Him more continually, and dwell with Him in more areas of your life (1John 2:27 …as He abides in you, so you abide in Him)
Enlarge our borders! We could say “Remove the choke hold”. Where is our choke hold? In finances, health, confession, expectancy, relationships, forgiveness? Where do we open wide and where do we shut down? Where do we say, “Well that’s enough?” “That’s just a bit much!” “This is being carried just a bit too far!” “God couldn’t have said that and here’s all the reasons why He couldn’t have said that.”
1. My condition -In my condition the Word can’t work. The woman with the issue of blood was in no condition
to fight the crowd to receive her healing. Gideon was in no condition to be in charge, David was in no condition to be king, Mary was in no condition to bear a son. Where is our choke hold? They got through theirs by spending time with the Lord. Faith came and they chose to receive the spoken Word. This Word brought them beyond their condition.
2. My finances – My finances don’t allow me. There was no way the Macedonians could give(2Cor8). Isaac couldn’t expect a harvest in times of famine (Gen 26:12). Elijah had no means to feed himself during drought (1Kings17:4). The widow of one of the sons of the prophets had no money to pay creditors (2Kings4). Jacob crossed the Jordan w/ only a staff in his hand and became very rich (Gen 32:10). Where is our choke hold? These people followed the leading of God beyond their own lack and into His supply.
3. My education – I don’t have enough education to accomplish anything. Peter & John were not hindered by a lack of it. (Acts 4:13), Paul decided to lean on the Holy Spirit instead of his education (1Cor 2:2-5). Education is good but it can’t take the place of or be put above the Holy Spirit. We cannot even let a good thing like education become a choke hold that keeps us from turning to the Holy Spirit. Instead of leaning to their education, they leaned to the Holy Spirit and had the results of the Anointing.
4.- My confession, expectancy – I can’t say that, it won’t happen for me (Phil 1:19), Don’t get hopes up to high, don’t talk so confidently (Hebrews 11:1; 1John 5:14). If we believe what God says, we can say what God says. He watches over His Word to perform it.
Where is your choke hold? Where is it enough? There is need to spend time in that dwelling place. Press in. It is not about your condition, or your finances – it is all about the Holy Spirit! Look beyond your limited natural self, and into His limitless realm of possibilities.
Expand, stretch, remove the choke hold. Start in the simple things of obedience. Start with & in church (the training center), then let it flow into your life, and then touch another person’s life.
You may be led by the Holy Spirit in dancing, tithing, freewill offerings, coming to church, singing praises & worship to Him, believe God for children’s needs to be met in church. Stretch, enlarge, remove the choke holds.
This is not a thing of personality, but of obedience. Allow the Holy Spirit entrance into your life to touch you, increase you, promote you, to give you the land of His kingdom. It is not out of reach. It is just beyond ourselves.
Have a Wonderful Resurrection Celebration!
Pastor Bob
