I Am, I Can, I Will — Answering God's Call

During the worship this morning, it was incredible worship, as last week was incredible worship.

But this morning I was thinking, you know, we regularly have pauses in our worship

where there's no singing, there's just instrumental. And it's a good time to

listen, listen for what God's saying to you.

In the Psalms, there's a very common word in Psalms, and it's called Selah, S-E-L-A-H.

And it basically means pause.

And it's for the musicians to know, you know. But as we do, Selah,

but as in prayer, worship is also a time where we need to listen.

You know, prayer is a dialogue. It's not a monologue. It's not a one-way thing.

Worship's not a monologue. It's an opportunity for us to say what we want to

say, pray what we want to pray, worship the way we want to worship,

and then to listen for what God's going to say in response to us.

And very often, I'll rephrase that, He always responds.

He always responds if we listen. So we need ears to listen.

And what I'm going to talk about this morning is related to what we've been

doing on a Wednesday night over the last few months, probably hasn't.

It's been a little while with breaks in there as well.

And we've been doing a course on the calling, being called, knowing what your

calling is, what God wants you to do.

And, you know, I'm inspired by people like Kelly and Peter who have a calling to go to Thailand,

to be called to go to Thailand, and their response is,

I am, I can, and I will.

And they do that. and even people like Richard and Wendy are calling on their

life to adopt two awesome kids.

And their call was clear to them, I know.

And their response was, I am, I can, and I will.

And now they get to celebrate with one of those kids today, their forever day.

So I'm inspired by you guys. And you need to think,

You know, and what we've been learning is callings on our lives have a lot of

different meanings, a lot of different things we're called to do.

It's not necessarily to stand up here and preach, although if anyone would like to, come on up.

But it's things like that. It's to be parents.

It's to be people who can provide for the needy.

You know, it's parenting is a calling.

And we've learned a few things over this course. And one of them is you just

don't know what your calling will provide.

You know, you might think, well, I'm just a parent.

Yeah, you're just a parent who has provided for their children,

who could then provide for somebody else and so on and so on.

So our callings are particularly important.

So when we have times during worship where there's quietness or when you're

praying, pause and listen, because very often you're going to get a calling

right there and then, just as these guys I know did. So, yeah,

so that's the title of my message this morning.

I am, I can, and I will.

Okay. So let me read from the Bible as we start. Deuteronomy 2 verses 1 to 3.

Deuteronomy 2:1–3

I've preached on this message, on this passage before, but it's going on a little

bit of a different journey today.

And it says in Deuteronomy 2, 1 to 3, then we turned around and headed across

the wilderness towards the Red Sea, just as the Lord had instructed me.

And we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.

Then at last the Lord said to me, you've been wandering around in this hill

country long enough. Turn north.

Turn north. And the Lord was referring to the children of Israel.

And they'd actually been wandering in the desert for 40 years.

It wasn't just a long time. It was 40 years on their way to the promised land.

And what he was saying to them was this, I have something better for you.

I have something better for you.

Aren't you getting tired of the same old thing yet?

Haven't you been walking around this wilderness for long enough?

Don't you want to experience a change in the scenery?

I have in store for you a promised land that has been waiting for you all this time.

You've circled this mountain long enough. Turn north.

Turn north. Can you imagine wandering around the wilderness,

wandering around in circles in the desert for 40 years?

For 40 years? As hard as it is to imagine that actually happening,

it really did happen. They wandered aimlessly around the wilderness for 40 years.

And you see, they never sought the change that they should have sought.

They never heard or listened out for the calling that God had on their life

that was necessary for them to experience all that God had in store for them.

You know, when we speak, when we speak, when we pray, when we worship,

sometimes we need to pause and listen for the response. Amen?

So instead of the children of Israel saying, I am, I can, or I will,

it was more like, I'm not, I can't, and I won't.

Does that touch anybody this morning?

Sad thing is, there are still people today just like the children of Israel were.

I'm not, I can't, and I won't.

Reluctant to make a change in the course of their lives to experience all the

blessings that God has in store for them.

Blessings so close that they could actually reach out and touch them.

Like, it's like, who loves coffee? I love coffee. I'm a coffee man.

Who loves fresh coffee beans?

What's it like to open a bag of fresh coffee beans and to smell?

So good. But what would it be like if you open that coffee, Bainz,

you got the awesome smell, but you couldn't actually taste it?

The word of the Lord said, you've been in this place too long.

You've been in this place long enough.

And God said it then. He's the same God. He said it then, and it still holds true today.

It's time to change your circumstances.

It's time to listen for the calling of God and to change.

And you can, you know, you can, because God's word says it's possible.

It is possible. It's time to set a new course, a new plan of action.

It's time to realize that a change is going to do you good. Who needs some victory today?

Yeah, come on, victory today.

Jesus is ready to deliver whatever you need this morning because he has already

been victorious over every situation in your life,

every situation you have encountered or you ever will encounter.

He's already been victorious over it.

There's nothing, repeat nothing, that can stand up to what he did when he died

on the cross for you and for me and for each and every one of us.

There's nothing that can stand up to it.

Is anybody ready for a change in their life today, this morning?

Is anybody sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Yeah. Is anybody ready to take back what the enemy has been stealing from them for far too long?

Is anybody ready to make some proclamations this morning?

What about this proclamation? Say this after me. I am, I can, and I will.

Keep repeating. I am ready to make changes in my life.

Am ready to make changes. Are you?

That the Lord wants me to, so that I can enjoy the abundant life and good things He has promised me.

Amen. Amen. Jeremiah 29, I preached on this a few weeks ago.

Jeremiah 29, 11 to 13 says this, for I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.

They are plans for good and not for disaster To give you a future and a hope

And in those days when you pray I will listen If you look for me wholeheartedly

You will find me And you might say Tim,

you use that scripture a lot Yes, I do And I believe every part of it And every

word of it I love what it says You see, I love talking about God's plan for

our lives for each and every one of us.

That's right, for all of us, all of us, even those that don't feel worthy of him.

The accuser may tell you you're not worthy of God's goodness and blessings,

but that's not what God's word says.

God's word does not say that about that situation, does it? It doesn't.

Let's go a little bit further. It says, for I know the plans I have for you.

Did you know that making plans takes some planning?

It takes some planning. God's, you know, making plans requires a lot of thought,

especially when you're making plans for somebody else.

Okay. You might've made plans for your two beautiful children.

It took some time to make those plans. It took some thoughts to make those plans.

But God, God's word doesn't say plan singular.

It says plans, plural.

So it takes a lot of work for us to make plans.

Think of God making multiple plans for all of us. That's just incredible. It blows my mind.

What that means, God has thought long and hard about multiple ways,

using multiple streams of blessings to provide you with a hope and a future. What an awesome God.

Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God.

When God said he wants you to have an abundant life, he has promised, he means it. He means it.

So many aren't willing to make the change in their way of thinking and just

accept it at its face value. So many are willing.

Abundant life are God's words, not man's, okay?

Don't be the one to cheat yourself out of what God has planned for your life.

If you're not living the abundant life that God promises, don't blame it on God, okay?

Do a little bit more listening and hearing.

Get out of God's way and let him start giving you all that he has for you. Okay.

So say, I can, I can.

The Bible says in Philippians 4.13, what does the Bible say in Philippians 4.13?

Correct. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The message, I got message written here for, anyway, whatever I have,

whoever I am, I can make it through anything in the one who makes me who I am.

I think that's the message version. That's why I've got message.

People can do and are capable of a lot of things, aren't they?

We can put a man on the moon.

Yeah, I'm going to be a rocket man. No, I'm not. We can put a man on the moon.

We can accept and are willing to try new inventions in our lives and medicines

all on another man's report, can't we?

We can do all of that stuff. But when it comes to the things of God and for

the things that He wants us to do, the word can suddenly has a T put on the

end of it, an apostrophe T put on the end of it.

That word can't actually isn't part of God's vocabulary.

Okay? He was a can-do type of guy, and we can be the same because God's word says we can.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Say, I will.

I will. I will be faithful to the calling.

Say that. I will be faithful to the calling that God has called me to.

In 1 Corinthians 12 verses 27 to 28, it says, all of you together are Christ's body.

1 Corinthians 12:27–28

So we are Christ's body and each of you is part of it.

Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church.

First are apostles. Second are prophets. Third are teachers.

Then there are those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing,

those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership,

those who speak in unknown languages.

There's so much to be done in God's kingdom, so much, and so few are willing to get involved in it.

In Isaiah 6 verse 8.

Isaiah 6:8

It says this, I love this verse. This should be the response in all of our lives.

Then I heard the Lord asking, whom should I send as a messenger to this people?

Who will go for us? I said, here I am, send me.

Exactly what you guys would have said when you had the calling to go to Thailand.

Here we are, send us. We are ready to go.

Here I am, send me. God is looking for men and women today who will stand up and say, I will, I will.

I'll do whatever needs to be done to further the cause of Christ in this place.

I will be what Jesus wants me to be.

I will go where he wants me to go.

Is anybody fed up with their situations at the moment and they want things to change in their life?

Anything in their life that needs to change? Anyone here?

Yep. Yep. Let's change it. Let's change it.

You say yes, but you don't understand what it would take to make the changes

in my life that need to be made.

Maybe not, but I know somebody who does.

I know a God who knows how to change things in our lives.

I know the master of all possibilities, all possibilities.

The one who is in the life-changing business, praise God.

He's our God. God said you've circled the mountain long enough.

It's time to go through it. Praise God. It's time to change.

I know somebody here needs to do a U-turn in their life.

The good news is God is able and wants to help you do that U-turn in your life.

We serve a God of endless possibilities.

Amen. If he can breathe life into dry bones, he can take care of every situation

that you come across. If you ask him, nothing is too hard for him.

Is anybody ready to step out of your old life and into a new one God has waiting

for you? Well, you all should be willing to say, yes, that's me.

Yes, I am. Yes, I am.

What's your need this morning? Whatever it is, God has the capabilities to do it with ease, with ease.

Isaiah 48 verses 18 and 19 says, but forget all of that.

Isaiah 48:18

Forget all of that. It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do.

For I'm about to do something new. See, I've already begun. Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wastelands.

Can you imagine a river in a desert?

God can. God can.

You see a lot of people. Yeah, it has. You see, a lot of people believe God

can turn any situation around for anyone, but they have a problem with when it's for them, okay?

They need the turning around done in their life, okay?

The scripture tells us God is doing something fresh and new,

but the condition and the requirement for receiving the new is to let go of the old, okay?

The only one who can keep you from your blessing is who?

You. You, not me, you.

God stands ready to bless you. He wants to bless you. The Bible says he loves to bless you.

He loves to bless his children. It gives him great pleasure to bless his children.

Jesus has already done everything that could be done for us to receive his Father's

blessing. Jesus has accomplished it all.

There is nothing that we will ever come up against in this life that he has

not already provided for.

He has abundantly provided for. He is a God of more than enough,

not a God of barely enough.

He's a God of provision. When you stop and think about it a little while,

he could not have made it any easier for us. Amen?

The solutions to our problems have always been there waiting,

just waiting for us to step into them and use them.

Josh, come on up for me. We're going to do some more declaring, okay?

Just do some more declaring and start believing the declarations that we're making.

So as we close, if you're ready for changes in your life, if you're ready to

hear the calling of God in your life, to make some changes in your life, why wait any longer?

It's my question to you, why wait any longer?

Start walking in all that God has given you.

Start enjoying everything that Jesus died for. That just blows my mind.

Everything that's available to us, every change that we need in our lives, God died for it, for us.

To make the possible, the abundant life that God has promised for you, Jesus died.

Jesus died. And soon you will see, and if you start enjoying everything that Jesus died for,

start enjoying it to make possible the abundant life that God has promised for

you, soon you will start seeing God's goodness and you will be shouting from the rooftop.

Who loves to shout from the rooftops? Has anyone ever shouted from the rooftops? Yes. You have?

Multi-story big building rooftops all

right yeah shout it out god is good god is good all right let's stand together

come on three very quick declarations i want us to make this morning to call

out shout from the rooftops and believe okay three very short things i want

you to repeat after me. Okay. Here we go.

I am able.

I can do all things. I will be faithful.

I am, I can, and I will.

Do you believe it? Do you believe it?

Yep. Then receive it today. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for that, Lord.

We thank you that your desire, your love for us that we heard about this morning

from Elaine, Lord God, your incredible love for us and the love that you want

us to provide to others is ready for us to claim.

All we have to say are those three things, Lord. I am, I can, and I will.

And Lord, we stand here now in thought and prayer, listening for your response

to us as we cry out, I am, I can, and I will.

What is your response to us right now, Lord God? And we will listen right now.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, as you're speaking to us.

Thank you, Lord, as you're confirming things to us. Thank you,

Lord, as you're nudging us in a new direction.

Thank you, Lord, as you're lifting us up above that situation.

Thank you, Lord, that you're not only lifting us up, but you're moving us away

from that situation into abundance and blessing in our life, Lord God.

Thank you, God, that you love us so much that you sent your son for us so that

we could claim what is rightfully ours.

And we claim that this morning, Lord. We claim the love and the blessing of

Father God this morning in our lives.

We claim it, Lord. We hear it. We wait for it. And we claim it in Jesus' name.

Lord, we declare, I am, I can, and I will in response to your calling on our

lives, Lord God. If we want a new change in our life, then, Lord, you will provide it.

If someone's crying out to you now, Lord God, for a change in their life,

then let their response to your direction in their life be, I am, I can, and I will.

So, Lord, give us those instructions this morning.

Give us that direction this morning. Give us those plans that you have for us,

Lord God. Let us listen and let us put it in place, Lord God.

And we do it because Jesus made provision for that for us. And we bless you, Lord.

Lord, I bless every person here now in Jesus' name with a calling on their life

that they will not only recognize and receive, but also declare.

I am, I can, and I will too.

Lord, I bless every person here this morning with that response.

I bless them, Lord, with knowledge of your will in their life.

I bless them, Lord, with knowledge of the calling in their life,

Lord God, a calling that you have called them to do and succeed in.

And you will provide, Lord, for them. I bless them with that,

Lord God, God's provision on the calling in their life.

And I bless them all in Jesus' name. And Lord, I thank you for your word,

for your encouragement, for

your many messages of love and hope for each and every one of us, Lord.

And we receive them in Jesus' name. Hallelujah.

And everyone said, amen. Amen.