Don't Shrink Back | Steve Carey | 6th December 2020

This week Pastor Steve Carey speaks with a title ‘Don't Shrink Back’. His word from God is like a set of antibodies similar to a vaccine to kill off disease in our lives and release back faith.

In Hebrews 10 verse 32, we read how the Hebrew believers were starting to ask questions about life as we might do now in 2020. The scripture goes on to tell us not to throw away our confidence which has great reward. We likewise must not shrink back in our lives.

In Numbers 13 the Israelites are on the edge of inheriting the Promised Land and send in spies to check things out…Caleb and Joshua come back positively, but the rest came back with reports saying the opposite – that the people inhabiting the land were stronger and not able to be defeated – they felt like grasshoppers among giants. They had shrunk back!  - In vision, faith and speech. Do we feel like them in 2020? Are we facing seemingly impossible mountains? Let it not be so. Let us not shrink back and be empowered by the word of God and power of His Spirit. Some key things…Let us Believe Big, God has not changed in 2020, He is faithful, loving, pure and true, unlimited by anything including Covid! His plans are not limited, shrunk, interrupted, socially distanced etc. Ephesians 3 verse 20 tells us how He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above anything we ask or think! Heaven is not bankrupt!

In Proverbs 23 verse 7 we are reminded how we are what we think. This is challenging….maybe we need to think about what we think, taking our thoughts captive as per 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5. Let us not forget the basics.

Now let us speak big, not complaining, criticizing, not limiting what God can do through us. Great practical tip here is to speak the word of God out loud, declaring His truths and promises.

Also, let us Live Big again. Let us not shrink our lives, our social circles, our contributions to our church. Let us be givers rather than receivers only. Let us concentrate more on living what is best for Jesus, putting ourselves aside. The world of the generous get larger and larger… the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller (Proverbs 11 verse 24). Living with a generous spirit will cause our lives to change and we will not shrink back. Do we look to how God can bless us or how God can use us? The latter will cause the former. Let us this week set out to bless a few people in the ways we can and not shrink back in believing, speaking or living.