Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
God wants to do something great in your life.
That's right. He wants to bless you. He wants
to prosper you. He wants you to move out of where
you are today to experience breakthrough. But
if that's going to occur, he needs something
from you. Something that unleashes his supernatural
power in your life. Would you like to know what
that is? Well, stay with me. What does God need
from you before he can work through you? Today
on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram answers that
critical question. We've learned that breakthrough
follows a pattern. God works in the world, then
in his people, then through his people. But here's
where it gets personal. Making room for God requires
us to deal with the idols in our lives. Those
things we secretly believe will bring us satisfaction
instead of God. It's all part of our series,
Experience Breakthrough. Today, Chip walks us
through the specific steps of repentance and
surrender. Here's Chip Ingram with a message
titled, Making Room for Breakthrough. How does
breakthrough actually happen? How does it happen?
The answer is the pathway to breakthrough involves
God's sovereign work in the world, first and
foremost. Then we're going to see His sovereign
work in His people. And finally, a little bit
later, we'll see it's his sovereign work through
his people. Let's take them one at a time. First
of all, God's sovereign work in the world. Number
one, there's external pressure. External pressure.
Stuff starts happening. Second, it's the sovereign
work of God, not just in the world, but he always
begins with his people. When you happen to be
a follower of Christ for a while, After a while,
what we start doing is, you know the problem
is Hollywood. Or you know what? It's the government.
Or those corporations. Or it's all those lazy
people. What we tend to do is we find someone
else somewhere where the problem is to blame.
And I will tell you this. Here's God's perspective.
Repentance always begins with a household of
faith. Here's the principle. God must work deeply
in you before he will work powerfully through
you. That's always his agenda. He always starts
in us. He always puts his finger on what he wants
to do in us. And so individuals have a breakthrough
like an Apostle Paul. And then a group has a
breakthrough, like the church. Research tells
us when a city sees about 10 % of the population
converted to Christ, you begin to see a ripple
effect. then educational, governmental, corporate,
and entertainment cultures, they get transformed.
But they don't get transformed by external power
and saying, this is the way it's going to be
because we're going to say what happens in a
country. They get transformed historically and
biblically because how we live transforms things
from the inside out. The values are so attractive.
It's not you Christians against us. It's you
Christians meeting the deepest needs and living
the life. I wish I had a marriage like yours,
the way he repaired it. I wish I had a relationship
with my kids like yours. I wish my finances were
in order at a time like this like yours. I wish
I experienced peace the way I see you do. Now
here's what I want you to get. As I was studying
and praying and thinking and I jotted this in
my journal. Because I wanted to kind of get a
picture of how this works. When the consequences
of unrighteousness multiply and God's judgment
out of his compassion and sovereign plans align,
it's time. It's time for a major breakthrough.
One, he always calls individuals. Two, they first
return to an accurate view, first and foremost,
of his goodness and mercy. that leads them personally
to repentance. Three, dependency and humility
follow. Evidence by cries for help and direction
from God. Four, people seek God personally and
corporately in prayer and fasting for forgiveness
and direction. And that becomes the norm in their
experience. Adoration and praise replace consumer
-oriented prayers of fix my life and make me
happy. Fifth, a missional concern for God's love
for others and the need to demonstrate God's
love for one another, break through religious
activity into service outside the church and
the relational support and unity with tangible
expressions inside the church that cross denominational
and gender and ethnic boundaries. God's spirit
then prompts individuals to take specific steps
of repentance and obedience in their families,
in their churches, in their communities, to reach
into their neighborhoods. and to their workplaces
with an unusual boldness and sacrifice, often
accompanied then by supernatural manifestations
of God's presence and power to authenticate his
word and his work. It starts organically. It's
in an office here, a family here, a neighborhood
there. And like a mustard seed, it begins to
grow. God's favor and hand and blessing is poured
forth, resulting in renewal, revitalization.
and a massive movement of people outside of Christ
finding Christ as Savior, and a new level of
commitment and love of those inside the church.
It's God's plan. God will do breakthrough. It
starts with individuals, then groups, churches,
cities, nations. I believe God, if you look at
our world, is ready for a breakthrough. I jotted
down, would you like a quick picture of our world?
Could it be ripe? Global instability, religious
division, idolatry and corruption within and
outside the church, the sacrifice of children
in slavery, abortion, famine, infanticide, moral
decay, family institutions and family life deteriorating.
A global one -world economy, debt, class divisions,
the rapid acceleration of technology, uncertainty
and rapid national change in regions with major
shifts of power, the rise of radical Islam, the
shift of global power to China and India, America's
decline in education, economics, innovation,
and leadership. You know what? That could be
a depressing list. I don't think it is. I think
you and I are in a window of time. where we are
ripe for not just individual and group and church
and city breakthroughs. We're ripe for a time
of God doing a great work. And by the way, he's
doing it. It's happening in China. It's happening
in Korea. It's happening in Africa. It's happening
in South America. It's not happening in America.
Why? My premise, we haven't made room. Okay,
there's the big picture. What would it look like
for you? What would it look like for me to make
room in your heart, your life, and your relationships
for God to break through? You ready? Two action
steps, your personal pathway to break through.
Action step number one, right out of Mark, right
from the lips of Jesus. He said what? Mark 115.
The kingdom of God is near. But what was he saying
then? The kingdom. What's the kingdom? The kingdom
is whose king? Jesus is here with unlimited power
and his heart is full of goodness and mercy to
do good. So how do you respond to the king who
wants to do good to you and to everyone around
us? Repent and believe in the good news. The
truth, God is good. God wants to bless you in
all that you do. Do you believe that? He's good.
The first step, To break through is understanding
and believing God's goodness. Here's the question
though. Put a star by this one. The question
is from where or whom do you believe the good
in life will come? That's critical. Ask yourself,
from where do you believe, I mean the good, when
I mean the good in life, satisfaction, fulfillment,
great relationships, prosperity, however you
define that. Or from whom? And what I'm gonna
tell you is the Bible's really clear. There's
two options. There is Jesus and there is the
world system. And I think if you would stop and
pull back and say, My energy, my time, my thoughts,
and my money. Do I believe the good in life is,
man, when we go public, when I finally have kids,
when we remodel the kitchen, when I find the
right girl, when I find the right guy, I'll tell
you what, if I can keep working out and, man,
when I get really buff and look really sexy,
then, then, then, then, then. The world offers
idols. That's all they are. And the idols say,
we'll deliver for you. We'll love you. We'll
make you famous. We'll make you significant.
We'll make you happy. And instead, they make
you a slave and they put you in bondage. And
God says, believe that I'm the source of goodness.
Believe that I will give you the highest and
the best. I'll not withhold any good thing from
those who walk closely with me. I've got your
best. You're listening to Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram. We'll hear more from Chip in
just a moment. If you've missed any part of this
message or if you'd like to share it with a friend,
you can find it anytime online at livingontheedge
.org. And while you're there, you'll also discover
a full library of Chip's teaching series, small
group resources, and practical tools to help
you grow in your faith. It's all waiting for
you at livingontheedge .org. Now let's get back
to today's message. And so when you answer that
question, now we're hitting the pay dirt of where
and why and how you need to make room. Because
action step number two is make room in your life
for God's breakthrough. Isaiah 57, 15, you might
jot in the corner, is one of those interesting
passages that says that God can only dwell in
freedom and in all that he is in two places.
And it says he dwells in the highest place in
the heavens that is absolutely pure and angels
adoring him and also with the humble and contrite
in heart. Those that have a broken spirit and
a contrite heart. Those that are desperately
dependent. Those, in Jesus' words, that are poor
in spirit. Those who say, God, I'm in desperate
need of you. Those are the people that have made
room so that the spirit of God and the love of
God and the goodness of God can satisfy Didn't
Psalm 23 say, he'll refresh, he'll satisfy your
soul. What money can't do, what a relationship
can't do, what a house can't do, what a new car
can't do, what a promotion can't do, what going
public can't do, what looking younger can't do,
what a surgery can't do. He says, I'll do. Well,
how do you make room? The truth is, it's the
goodness and kindness, the tolerance and the
patience of God that leads to repentance. And
then put the next line, put a parenthesis around
it. Because it's really just a definition of
repentance. It's a change of mind that always
leads to a change of behavior. That's how you
make room. You realize, I'm thinking like this
about God. I'm thinking like the prodigal son.
I'm in the pig pen and I'm thinking, give me
my money, I'm gonna do my thing. And God, you
know, I might want a little fire insurance, but
I'll do my thing my way. And I'm gonna do my
own stuff. Repentance is the Dr. Phil question.
How's this working for you? I've royally messed
up my life. I've royally messed up my relationship.
I've royally messed up my health. I've royally
messed up my work career. I've royally messed
up. And unfortunately, most people think that
I guess I need to work my way back to getting
religious and try really hard and improve my
morality in some day, some way, somehow. And
over there, there's a father. This day, a father.
Arms open. Come, daughter. Come, son. And when
you see his goodness, no one wants to run towards
someone who's, you know, saying, okay, I'm glad
you finally came. You are a jerk. Okay, we got
that down. And you're an immoral jerk. And by
the way, you did this, you did this, you did
this. I mean, it's like, hey, I don't need that.
It's all true. See, we do that to ourselves.
God will show us our sin without condemnation.
He'll say, oh, that's true. I place that on my
son. I love you. And I'm gonna change you from
the inside out. But you gotta make room for me.
And the way you make room for God is number one,
you gotta get rid of the competitors. And then
he gives us a very clear process. Would you open
your Bibles to James? I wanna give you just a
beginning to start here. James chapter four.
The context is, this is the very first book of
the New Testament written. So, mostly Jewish
Christians, they're being persecuted, they're
spread abroad. I mean, they've lost their jobs,
they've lost their homes, some have been kicked
out of their family. Life is really hard. Chapter
1 tells them, never forget where the good comes.
Every good and perfect gift comes from above,
from the Father of lights, with whom there's
no variation or shifting shadow. Regardless of
your circumstances, the real good in life isn't
out there, it's with God. And so obey his word.
Don't live in hypocrisy. Get a hold of your tongue.
Then in chapter four, he begins to speak to them
because some of them have made a new friend.
Some of them have made a new friend that they
think will deliver the good in life. And in verse
four, it says, you adulterous people, don't you
know that friendship with the world is hatred
toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend
with the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do
you not know or think that the scripture says
without reason that the spirit is caused to live
with jealousy because he intensely cares for
you, but he says to us, and he gives more grace.
And that's why the scripture says God is opposed
to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
And so he says, you gotta make room for him in
your life. And part of it is realizing the idols
that we Christians worship that are filling our
life have to get removed. And then are you ready?
He tells us exactly how to do it. I'm going to
give you the verbs. And what you're going to
see is there's some verbs, there are action words,
and there's some promises. Notice the first command.
It's overarching. Submit, therefore, to God.
Write that down. It's a military word. Hupo tasco.
Come under your commander. It's a picture of
a captain calling his troops. They say, yes,
sir. First step to make room. You come over to
God's side. Whatever it is you're dealing with,
whatever relationship, whatever addiction, whatever
idol, And you say, reporting for duty, you are
the good, kind God. Whatever you say, the righteous
path, I will do life your way. I'm taking on
your yoke. I don't know what it is. I want you
to know I'm really afraid. But I want you to
know that it's not working for me. And you want
to do the impossible. Step one, submit therefore
to God. Then notice the next command. Resist
the devil and he'll flee from you. It's a command.
We're talking about your soul. We're talking
about a battle that's huge and you will not be
let go of lightly. And so you don't just say
reporting for duty and think, oh, it's going
to be great. No, it's going to get really hard.
And so you need to resist those lies. You know
what? You'll be single all your life if you're
living together and you move out. You know what?
You'll never rise in the company if you do that.
You know what? I know everyone's doing this and
they don't report their taxes and you'll never
build a business unless you lie, lie, lie, lie.
Resist the devil and he'll flee from you. And
then positive command. Draw near to God. He'll
draw near to you. Is this awesome? This is the
prodigal daughter or the prodigal son taking
steps toward God and before they get close, he
runs. He will run to meet you. He wants you to
have prayer times where you feel like he's in
the room. He wants to comfort you and love you
and care for you and hold you. Notice the next
verb. He says, wash your hands and purify your
hearts. Notice you double -minded. We get our
word schizophrenic. Wash your hands. It's the
activities. What specific activities are you
doing that you know are wrong? Stop it. You say,
I can't. Well, of course you can't. You choose
to stop it and you get some help. But you take
that step. But he says it's not just external
activities that you know are wrong. It's your
motives and your heart. Purify your heart, you
double -minded. See, their problem is the same
as ours. I want to be a good Christian. I want
to go to heaven. I want to be deeply loved. I
want God to bless my life and my way, my stuff,
my thought, my goals, my idol, my work, my family,
my picture. There is no middle ground with God.
He won't have competitors. And idols can be your
grandkids. Idols can be success. Idols can be
your body. Idols can be money. Idols can be the
letters behind your name or the letters you want
behind your kids' names. Idols can be the...
school they get into. It can be where they were
on the traveling team or their SAT scores. And
when you look at where your time and where your
energy and where your focus and what really matters,
that will tell you what you worship. And all
he's saying is, you know, it ain't going to be
pretty later because they're dead. They don't
give life. Make room for me. Let me love you.
And so then he Talks about the emotional level.
He says, grieve, mourn, wail. Change your laughter.
It's a picture of not like ha -ha laughter. It's
a picture of the sensual, foolish laughter. You
know, who cares, whatever. And he says, turn
it to mourning. So this isn't some little formula.
This is heart of heart. This is on a certain
day at a certain time, preferably today. And
you have a real gut check with God. And you not
only say my way's not working, you not only own
and identify what the idols are, but you come
to a heavenly father who's extended goodness
and kindness and mercy and goodness and kindness
and mercy even when we keep neglecting and rejecting
him. And in tears, you say, I'm sorry. I've been
dissing you. Have you ever betrayed someone,
another human being? I mean, really betrayed
him and be caught and then just think, why did
I do that? Notice we're called an adulteress.
You adulterous people. See, sin isn't about external
behaviors. Sin is about relationship. Sin is
about betrayal. It's us having other lovers other
than Jesus and believing those other lovers will
satisfy. It's coming to God and saying, I broke
your heart. I don't hear your voice. people don't
see the love and the light and the grace and
the purity of Jesus in me. And what he wouldn't
say is, I know. I love you anyway. Let's start
again. Last command, humble yourself under the
mighty hand of God. I mean, that's just, you
know, I give. I can't do it. And what's the promise?
He will exalt you. Literally the word, he'll
lift you up. He'll take you in his arms. He'll
fix things. He'll turn things around. Overnight,
no. Without effort, no. It'll require courage.
In fact, your assignment on the back is I want
you to take this week, and I don't want you just
to review this. I want you to, the only way you
will take steps like this, you'll begin it today,
is you need to have a shepherd that is good.
You need to have a God that's powerful. I want
you to use this. as your source of adoration.
I want you to spend two or three minutes a couple
times a day and just use this as a basis. I praise
you and I thank you that you will fill my cup.
I praise you and I thank you that you have. I
praise you that no matter what I'm going through,
the darkness and the fear out of the decision
that I've made, that you'll be with me. Make
this a source of adoration. And I will tell you
what happens. When your God gets bigger, your
problems get smaller. And he'll work in you.
Then he'll work through you. This is Living on
the Edge with Chip Ingram. Making room for God
means getting brutally honest about what's competing
for his place in our hearts. It's not easy, but
it's essential for breakthrough. More from Chip
on this topic in a moment, so please stay with
us. If today's message stirred something in you,
A desire to go deeper with God? To experience
His presence in fresh ways? Let me point you
to a powerful tool. It's chips -free, 10 -day
devotional called Psalms of Hope. Over 10 days,
you'll explore three life -changing psalms with
Chip as your guide. Psalm 1 reveals the source
of true blessing and prosperity. Psalm 15 shows
you how to live with stability when life gets
chaotic. And Psalm 23 offers the comfort and
assurance that God personally cares for you as
your shepherd. If you're ready to make room for
God, these psalms will guide you on that journey.
Best of all, Psalms of Hope is yours free at
livingontheedge .org. Search for Psalms of Hope
and begin today. We can freely offer resources
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Well, now here's Chip with one final thought.
As we close today's program, the title of this
message is called Making Room for Breakthrough.
You have to make room. God is willing. He's good.
He loves you. He wants to pour out grace, goodness,
goodness to your soul, all areas of your life.
But you have to make room. And the way we make
room is of one word. It's called repentance.
It's a change of mind. It means you look at your
life. You look at what God has to say. about
your speech, about your relationships, about
purity in your heart, about how you use your
money. And you say, God, I want to do life your
way. And in any area where it's not being done
his way, you say, I'm sorry. I want to trust
you. You're good. And so I repent and I turn
from my way to your way. And that's a big step
and it's scary, but God will provide. But if
you don't make room, you will not see a breakthrough.
Decide what that is and then find the person
who loves God the most, who's the most mature,
and tell them what you're doing and ask them
for help. Because no one does breakthroughs alone.
Repent and then find a friend. What barriers
keep us from experiencing breakthrough? I'm Dave
Drewy, inviting you to find out Friday on Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Today's program
is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.