Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
What is it that gives you the will to stay in
the fight when every fiber in your body wants
to quit? What is it that gives you what you need
When you're scared to death and yet you step
out and do exactly what God wants you to do.
Well, it's one word, courage. How do you get
it? That's today on Living on the Edge. What
barriers are keeping you from experiencing God's
breakthrough power in your life? Today on Living
on the Edge, Chip Ingram identifies five specific
obstacles that prevent us from stepping into
the impossible. Using powerful stories from the
Gospel of Mark, Chip shows how Jesus deliberately
taught his disciples to overcome each one. And
at the heart of it all is one word, courage.
We're in a series called Experience Breakthrough,
learning to stop feeling confined by life's biggest
barriers. If you're ready to break through the
barriers that have held you back, this message
is for you. Well, here's Chip Ingram with his
lesson, Courage, the Catalyst to Breakthrough.
Mark chapter 6, 5 ,000 people are fed. Notice
what Jesus does. He sends the disciples off.
Immediately, Jesus had his disciples get into
the boat to go ahead of him. Well, he dismissed
the crowd, and after they left, he went up on
the mountain to pray. When evening came, the
boat was in the middle of a lake, and he was
alone on land. And this, by the way, when you're
ready to take some steps for God, I mean, notice
the disciples get on the journey and there is
a stiff wind and they're straining at the oars.
That's what it's like when you start taking steps
for God. And so about the fourth watch of the
night, he went out to them and this is trying
to increase their faith. So he's walking on the
water and as he comes by and had decided to pass
by, they see him and think he's a ghost and they're
terrified. Immediately he spoke to them. And
notice what he says to them. He says to them.
He says to us. You're taking a step. You want
to do what God wants you to do. And you're thinking,
yes, okay, we're going to go to counseling. Or,
okay, oh, my lands. You know, I'm going to really
go public in this situation. I'm going to share
my faith with this person. Or, you know what,
I'm going to confront this issue with one of
my kids. And I'm scared to death because maybe
she's going to. And what's he say to them? Take
courage. It is I. Don't be afraid. Now, we're
in Mark's gospel, and Matthew, Mark, and Luke
are what's called the synoptics, and they're
speaking to different audiences. And so Mark
is written to the Roman audience, Luke to a Greek
audience, and Matthew to the Jewish audience.
And so they all tell the same story, but they
add all correctly the full picture, but in ways
that help their audience understand. And so Matthew,
during this exact same time, he adds something.
And he lets us know that right when Jesus is
walking on the water and is going to pass by,
Peter, you know, I love Peter. He's like impulsive.
Let's give it a whirl. What the heck? You only
live once. Lord, if it's you, tell me to come.
And so Jesus says, come. And so Peter takes,
you know, it's like this is amazing. He walks
on the water. I walk on the water. And then his
courage evaporates and he sees the wind and the
waves and there's fear. He starts to sink. Literally,
quick prayer, save me! And Jesus reaches out,
pulls him up. They get into the boat. They worship
him. And that metaphor, that picture of stepping
out into uncertainty, which if God doesn't show
up, you're paralyzed by your fear and you don't
do it, is courage. And Jesus is going to use
this little picture and then the author is going
to take us through a series of barriers to break
through. Because in your life, I can tell you
this, God wants you to get out of the boat, and
I don't know what the boat is for you, but he
wants you to get out of the boat of your fear
and take a step of courage, and that's the catalyst
for the power of God. The issue is not, does
God have power? The issue is not, is he willing
to help you? He wants to. But the issue is, do
you have the courage? Rooted in faith to take
the step that even when you can't see what's
going to happen, to obey and then watch him work.
What keeps us from taking that sort of dynamic
step that causes the chain reaction of God's
power to come into our life? Now, I want you
to know that sometimes, you know, when we're...
Teach the Bible, or when I read it, I'll get
into one passage and just a paragraph, and I'll
spend all of our time there. But what we miss
often is that the author has put sometimes story
after story and miracle, and he'll let you know
it all fits together, and he wants you to see
the structure of what's happening. So that's
what I'm going to do. My prayer is that you read
chapter 6 through chapter 9 a little bit later
today, and put your feet up and get a glass of
iced tea. I'll give you... the highlights, and
I'll narrate it because what I want you to catch
is the big picture. Barrier number one, courageous
steps that overcome this barrier. Our first barrier
is our traditions. We open it up in Mark chapter
seven. The context is they get out of the boat
and now you need to know that things are swarming.
Look at the very end of chapter six. If you have
your Bible or iPad, whatever you're using, look
at the very end of chapter six. Peter's walked
on the water. He's now fallen in. They're in
the boat. They get to shore. And when they get
to shore, notice this very carefully. People
are running to villages and places all over.
And every single person who brings them to the
marketplaces, anyone who touches Jesus, it says
all of them are healed. Jesus is communicating,
I am the good shepherd. He's doing these miracles
to let people know, I want to help you. And physical
healing is a way, you know, he lets them know.
I'm here. I'm the healer. I love you. I'm for
people. And so his popularity is mushrooming.
And now the religious leaders are threatened,
and so we pick up that story in chapter 7. The
Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law
who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus,
and they saw that some of his disciples were
eating with hands that were not washed. The Pharisees
and the Jews always washed their hands ceremonially.
When they came back from the market, before they
ate, in a special time. So this is not like wash
your hands for germs. This was a spiritual issue.
There was a tradition that, you know, when you
went out into the market and you were around
those Gentiles and all the evil in the world,
you should clean yourself. Now you can scan the
passage, but I'm going to tell you what's in
it. Seven times the word tradition is there.
The tradition of the elders, the tradition of
the elders, the tradition of men. Tradition,
tradition, tradition, tradition. And basically
what they say is, you know, you're not playing
by the rules. And for years and years and years,
we've been told we have these rules made by men.
And Jesus says, your traditions nullify the truth
of the word of God. And Isaiah was right. Look
in the text. What's he say? Isaiah was right.
Your lips say one thing, but your hearts are
far from me. And he said, you have your traditions.
And then he points out that you actually, the
barrier of your tradition keeps you from obeying
what God actually says. And so by that time,
the Pharisees, who were very greedy, by the way,
and very religious, so a lot of things haven't
changed, people were to support their parents
in their old age, like we're supposed to. And
what the Pharisees did is they came up with a
new tradition. Just say the money is korban,
or dedicated to God, and so you would keep the
money, and you wouldn't have to support your
parents. And Jesus just rips them. And it says,
your traditions made by men, your rules made
by men, nullify the word of God. And then he
says, you know, anything, no food is unclean.
If you're thankful for it, it goes in you because
everything you put in your mouth, it comes out
of you eventually. He's pretty graphic here.
He says, if you want to know what makes you unclean,
it's what comes out of your mouth because that's
what fills your heart. Greed, malice, envy, sexual
immorality, using people, corruption. He said,
it's the things in your heart. That's what separates
you from God. And what all of us have is we have
some baggage and traditions and rules that we
have equated with scripture over time. And it's
a barrier. It keeps you and keeps me from stepping
out and being courageous. The fear of man, because
people tell us, well, you have to do it this
way all the time. I was getting interested in
Teresa. She, many of you know, she was not a
Christian, was married before. She would find
out later that her husband was having an affair
with another woman for about a year that she
was unaware of. She got pregnant with twin boys,
and when he found out that, he left with another
state with another woman. She was, you know,
absolutely just devastated, and her boss, a few
weeks later, led her to Christ. And after multiple
attempts to contact him and bring restoration,
a couple years later, there was nothing. And
so she got a divorce and had two little boys.
And I met her when the boys were just, she came
in a Bible study. So two and a half, three years
later. And so, you know, I certainly was attracted
to her, but a young woman with two kids was not
on my radar. So I began to pray that God would
give her a husband. Prayed for two years. And
I just didn't have any idea that I would be,
you know, like the answer. And it was really
hard. Because at that point in time, I was a
basketball coach and I was a teacher. And we
were doing this college ministry. And then I
got this like, oh, my gosh, God, you've got to
be kidding. You want me to be like a pastor or
a missionary or something? And little by little,
Teresa became one of the most godly women I'd
ever met. And I got to know those kids. And God
said, okay, I want you to. This is my plan. Well,
you know, I checked with my parents and had their
support. But in that day, as is important, you
know, divorce is not like for any reason, any
time, any way. God hates divorce. He wants us
to be together. But when you're abandoned by
an unbeliever or on grounds of infidelity, God
provides measures for people who are the victim.
But I had a spiritual leader that we have now
reconciled all this, but he told me, I don't
believe in divorce. He said, if my wife died,
I would still not remarry. You get one shot,
one person. And I'd been around my spiritual
leader in this group for about seven years. And
I mean, the tradition of this group was, that's
the way it is. And I remember agonizing. We fasted
and prayed and prayed and fasted. And oh God,
I read every book on the subject. I looked at
every verse. And it was real clear what the Bible
said is, you know, she's an unbeliever. She's
abandoned by an unbeliever. It was immorality.
Here's what the Bible says, but this group's
tradition. And so this man's wife went out for
coffee with my wife and said, if you marry Chip,
you'll destroy his life. God has his hand. on
Chip's life, and he'll never use Chip's life
if you all get married. It's a lot of pressure.
And I agonized, and I just realized one day,
you know, I'm going to give an account for my
life before the judgment seat of Christ. And
it was a real breakthrough for me because that
was the beginning of a series of decisions that
said, what other people think can't dictate what
I do? The fear of man is a snare, but blessed
is he who trusts in the Lord. It's Proverbs 29,
25. And you know, there's some of you that you
know exactly what you ought to do and you don't
do it because of your tradition. You have a history,
as I've talked with one guy recently, you have
a history that, you know, your great -great -grandfather,
grandfather, grandfather, they're Buddhist or
they're Hindu or they're moderate Muslims. Or,
you know, God has been speaking to you and you
know that, you know, you're walking with him
now and you need to go public with your faith
and you really haven't. But it's, you know, I
don't want to do that because, you know, my family
or my parents, you know, they think that, you
know, I got baptized as a kid, even though I
wasn't a Christian. And God's speaking to me,
but I just don't want the hassle. My mom, my
dad, it'll offend them. You know, for others,
it's just, you know, the tradition. You know,
my faith is really private. And, you know, I
don't want to go too public with that. I don't
want to be fanatical. And that's sort of part
of the tradition in our family. We really love
God, but we're not real public about it. And
God says, go into all the world, share the gospel.
I love people, and you're my agent. And that
tradition holds you back. Jesus said, you want
courage? You want to believe? Then look at some
of the man -made rules. The second one, he says,
there's a barrier of our unworthiness. Right
after this, it's interesting, the issue was whether
you're unclean. And right after this, Jesus is
trying to get a little R &R, if you will. I mean,
he's been bombarded by all these people. All
of them, they want his time, they want his energy.
And so he gets away, verse 24, Jesus left that
place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered
a house and didn't want anyone to know it. Yet,
He could not keep his presence secret. In fact,
as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose
little girl was possessed by an evil spirit came,
fell on her face, and she begged him to heal
his little girl. And so this is a woman the author
wants to note. She's a Gentile, Greek origin.
She's a woman. She breaks in. She's uninvited.
She does everything wrong, but she's passionate.
And the conversation goes, as you read a little
bit later, and he says, look, I came for the
house of Israel, the Jewish nation. And the Gentiles
were called dogs in that day in a slang term.
And Jesus, I think, testing her says, you know,
I came for the children and not for the dogs.
And her answer of faith was, even the dogs, after
the children eat, get to come in and get the
crumbles under the table. And basically what
she's saying is, you know what, I believe in
you and I don't have any hope, but I don't care
what anyone says. I don't care. I'm coming and
I need your hand. And then the text says, daughter,
go home. You've answered well. Your faith, your
daughter's well. But you know, if I was one of
those disciples, I would say that woman is unworthy.
I mean, number one, I mean, culturally and she's
not a Jew. I mean, she rolls herself on the floor
and she begs. And you know, for some of us, you
have this little lie. Yeah, I think this is probably
true. Well, for Chip or maybe a pastor or missionary
or, you know, some Christian you think is really
hot stuff and really lives a life. Yeah, I bet
God does that, but not for me. And so, you know
what? You don't take any step out. You know why?
Your fear of disappointment. I'm afraid if I
take a step out and I'm unworthy. God, he wouldn't
do for me what he does for some other people.
And so Jesus very clearly says, you know something?
I love impartially. I'm for you. Do you believe?
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. The third barrier is the
barrier of our deafness. Right after this, we
read that a group of people come and they have
a friend who's deaf and mute. And they bring
him to Jesus. Look at your text. They beg him.
Notice the pattern. The people at the end of
chapter 6, they brought their friends and they
begged Jesus to heal. The woman comes and she
begs for her daughter. And now they come and
they beg for their friend. He can't hear and
he's a mute. And so Jesus takes him aside out
from the crowd. He heals him. Some of us, you
can't hear from God. You think, you know, I would
take a step of faith or I would have a breakthrough,
but you know what? I'm afraid because God doesn't
speak to me the way he speaks to other people.
I don't want to go public with what I really
believe and why because people will ask me questions
and I don't know how to answer them. You think
you're deaf. You think there's some special thing
that other people know about this book. And every
single day, this book... That God speaks to ordinary
people is available, and the great majority of
Christians never open it. They depend on people
like me to, you know, give you 30 or 40 or 50
minutes of a little bit of truth, and then you're
on this journey of trying hard to be a good person.
Totally missed the point. The living God who
created the world says, this word is alive. and
I'll speak to you about you and about me, and
I will give you promises, and I'll give you direction,
and I'll show you what to do with one of those
kids and work, and what to do when you're single,
and what to do when you're depressed, and what
you do when you're struggling, and what to do
at work, and when and how to do what, but you've
got to listen to me. Because see, faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And
he's saying to his disciples, because the goal
of all these things, as the author writes this,
The real goal is not just to help these people.
These disciples are going to get the ball and
the mission to take it to the world, and they
did, or we wouldn't be here. He wants them to
learn. He wants them to learn. You know what?
No one is unworthy, no matter what you think.
He wants them to learn. I'll speak, I'll speak,
and I'll open people so they can then, after
hearing, they can speak. And then we get the
fourth barrier. It's not just our deafness, but
it's our lack of resources. How many of us said,
you know, I would really do that. You know, I'd
like to go on a missions trip, but, you know,
if I take the time off, I don't have the money.
Or, you know, I see that that's a really big
need, and I would love to help people, but, you
know, I don't have that kind of money. And so
we saw the feeding of the 5 ,000 in the Jewish
arena. Now we have the feeding of the 4 ,000,
but it's a Gentile audience. It opens up in chapter
8. During those days, another large crowd gathered,
and since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called
his disciples to him and said, Are you getting
this? I have compassion. The word is splachna.
It comes from down deep in your gut. It's visceral.
Jesus sees the needs of people. Gentile, Jew,
hurting, moral, immoral. Jesus sees the needs
and something deep inside of him because of who
he is as God. He just cares. And compassion is
not sympathy. It's not like I feel for them.
Compassion in scripture 100 % of the time leads
to action that actually helps people. And so
he says, I have compassion for them. They've
been with me three days. It's like a rock concert
except different. It's like three full days and
they're hearing him teach. But there's no porta
potties. There's no food. And he says, The three
-day seminar is over, and I'm going to send them
home, and many of them haven't eaten. They're
going to faint along the way. Notice he doesn't
say to the disciples, he doesn't say, you feed
them. He just presents the issue. He just presents,
you know, here's people that have a need. We
ought to do something. And, you know, I can just
hear Peter to John. You know, he did it once.
You think he can do it again? What are we going
to do? And they go back to the same old thing
and they don't know what are they going to do.
And of course, they bring what they do have because
that's what God wants. The breakthrough comes
not when you have it all figured out, not when
if I do this, this, and this, not when everything
gets lined out, then I'm going to do it. You
bring what you do have to the supernatural power
of the living God who lives inside of you as
a follower of Christ. And you say, I'm going
to courageously step out because I believe you'll
provide. And so 4 ,000 people get fed, and then
the disciples get clean up duty again, and guess
what happens? There's seven baskets this time.
Because for the Gentile or the Greek world, the
word seven is a perfect number, and they pick
it up, and it's not lost on the disciples, and
they're realizing he's not just the Messiah for
the nation of Israel. He's a light to the Gentiles.
Jesus came to save and to forgive all people,
and he'll provide. I wonder how many times those
of us, God shows us a need. Need at a local school.
A need with an unwed mother. A need with sex
trafficking. A need with some people that can't
make their house payment. A need with some people,
and we say, you know, God, I would really help
out, but I don't have the resources. What's God
saying? Courage is the catalyst to breakthrough.
Take what you do have. Take a step and start
meeting some need. And then what you see, God
will show up. He'll draw other people. I mean,
all those great stories we have of miraculous
things that happen, they don't happen to people
that are waiting for God to line everything up.
They happen to people who step out and often
don't know how it's going to work. In fact, that's
part of making room. I meet with old and young
people and get talking. And after a while, for
whatever reason, people sort of get honest with
me, which I really like. And I've met a lot of
older people who are living together who are
not married and basically tell me things like,
you know, we know this really isn't right. We
can't believe that, you know, this is how we're
living. But if we get married, we only get one
social security check. And so, you know, it's
just a sheet of paper, you know, and God understands,
really. You know what they're really saying?
The God who created the universe and has the
power to raise the dead and take care of everything
for them, he just doesn't have the power to provide
for what they need each month. I talked to another
guy recently who was telling me about, he works
in a tough area, and the only way that, from
his mind, you can make it in this tough area,
in this tough economy, is that he pays some people
checks and some people cash so he doesn't have
to report. And he casually turns to me, and we're
good buddies, and I like him a lot. And I think
he was sort of maybe looking for a pass. You
know, in this day and age, the only way you can
do it, you know, the government's ripping us
off for all this, and I'd have to pay this, this,
this, and this, and, you know. So I got to pay
him cash because the worker's comp alone would
be XX dollars. Now, do I agree with necessarily
how much you have to pay as a business owner
and all the rest? That's not the point. But you
can trust God. You're telling me I can trust
God to forgive my sins, rise from the dead, create
a heaven, and create the world. But if I'm honest
about my taxes, there's no way he could give
me more business and take care of that. Do you
understand? God is on the edge of his throne
and he wants a breakthrough to happen for you.
And you're basically saying, I'm not taking a
step because I don't think he'll provide. And
your financial worldview has you living in a
situation where you don't experience God's power.
You don't experience answers to prayer. You know
what? God doesn't play games. He doesn't provide
breakthroughs over here when he says, now this
is true and right and this is what I want you
to do. And you say, well, thanks. I take that
as a really good opinion and I'll consider doing
that. That's not how it works. Obedience is a
channel through which blessing flows. The fifth
is blindness. After he gives a little reproof
to... The Pharisees and to the disciples. I'll
come back and touch that in verses 8, 11 through
21. He's going to heal a blind person. They came
to Bethesda and some people brought a blind man.
Are you getting a pattern here? Begged Jesus
to touch him. And he took him off to the side
and he put his hands on the man's eyes. And he
says, do you see? And the man says, I see people
who look like trees walking around. In other
words, he prays. And he gets partial sight, and
he sees things, but it's blurry. And then he
prays for him again, and then he sees everything
clearly. You have to understand the literary
genius and why Jesus does what he does, not only
for the disciples, but for us. Because just like
there was an actual deaf man, the disciples can't
hear God. I mean, the disciples see the miracles,
but they don't understand. And so sandwiched
in between these barriers, Jesus is going to
have a little talk with his disciples. And he's
going to say, I've shown you miraculously hearing
and seeing, and you can trust me. And yet, they
don't get it. In fact, notice the two groups
that don't get it. Skip back up now to verse
11. The Pharisees came and began to question
him. All these miracles are happening, right?
I mean, traditions are blown out of the water.
This unworthy woman comes. This deaf man can
hear, you know, 4 ,000 people. And I mean, there's
a buzz. And so the Pharisees come and they're
thinking, this is really getting out of hand.
Allah, we're losing control. He's getting way
too famous. And so they come not to hear, not
to learn, not to grow. What's it say? They came
to test him and they asked him for a sign from
heaven. And he sighed deeply. Why does this generation
ask for miraculous signs? I tell you the truth,
no sign will be given. And then he left them
and got into the boat. See, here's people that
really think they've got it wired. And this is
how we do with God sometimes. You know what?
I'm kind of hearing this stuff, God. When you
restore my marriage, get me a good job, I get
my house back, and my kid's life turns around,
and by the way, I've had this chronic pain, take
care of that too. When you do all that, then
I think I'll believe. Let me tell you Jesus'
response. He sighs deeply and says, you know,
faith isn't you seeing all the things and then,
Faith is choosing to step out of the boat when
you feel afraid in believing what I've said.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and
a message titled Courage, the Catalyst to Breakthrough.
Chip has one more teaching point to share in
just a moment, so don't go away. As you think
about which barrier might be holding you back,
let me tell you about a powerful resource that
can help. It's Chip's free 10 -day devotional
called Psalms of Hope. Each day, Chip teaches
for 10 minutes from Psalms. Then you spend 10
minutes alone with God, letting His Word sink
deep. Just 20 minutes a day for 10 days. These
devotionals address the very issues we've been
discussing. How to stay close to God, how to
hear His voice, and how to trust His provision.
Get started today at livingontheedge .org. Search
for Psalms of Hope and begin your journey. Resources
like this are made possible by faithful friends
who believe in what God is doing through this
ministry. Now, if you'd like to support this
work, give online at livingontheedge .org or
send your gift to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box
3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call
us at 888 -333 -6003. Well, now here's Chip with
a closing point for today's message. As we wrap
up today, I think to boil it all down, maybe
the easiest way to say it is this. A lot of things
get in the way of breakthrough. So it's understanding
those barriers. It's realizing that we have to
overcome them. Breakthroughs mean that you have
to get out of, you have to get through certain
things. And of course, that's where it requires
courage. And let me give you a picture of how
Breakthrough works. It was in my lowest moment
of the COVID virus. All of us have had probably
a couple days or a lot more where I thought,
boy, my mental health is bad. I'm thinking not
good thoughts. I'm angry inside. I'm resentful.
And in the midst of all that, it was, okay, God,
I just can't do this anymore. And the Lord said,
well, why don't you think of some people that
have a more difficult situation, get your focus
off yourself and help them. And, you know, I
was praying for a breakthrough. I was praying
for, oh, God, help me. And so to make a very
long story short, I knew that things were really
challenging in the Middle East. I scheduled a
Zoom call with the head of all the churches in
Egypt who has become a friend. I asked him how
he's doing, and he just said, Chip, we feel like
the government is doing a great job, but the
pastors are barely surviving. And in the course
of the conversation, I said, you know, I've actually
been sort of pondering a little series on the
art of survival. And he goes, oh, send it to
me. I said, no, no, no, I'm just pondering it.
I haven't even written it yet. I haven't filmed
it yet. And he goes, well, when can you get it
done? And I, out of sheer obedience, when I didn't
feel like it, I call someone to encourage him.
And as he said that, it was like a light went
on inside of me. I got in an empty room. I looked
into a camera and I did all three messages. We
put a webinar together with all those people
from all those churches. It got translated. Then
we put it in print and gave it to them. And I
thought, oh, my lands, what a breakthrough. And
then the head of international said, no, Chip,
you don't get. That's the beginning. And then
it was 300 cities in India. Then it was across
Africa. Then it was Latin America. Not because
I was smart, not because I had a great vision.
It's because I got to the very end of myself
and in my desperation, God took my weakness and
he displayed his power. And that's what he wants
to do in you. Could I encourage you, just right
now, unless you're driving, shut your eyes and
open your hands with empty palms and say, God,
I'm at the end of me. And with the positioning
that I will do whatever you say, and you sit
quietly. And as you listen to the Spirit of God,
just obey. That's where you'll find breakthrough
and power. Now, by His grace, go do it. What's
the secret to overcoming fear and stepping into
courage? I'm Dave Drewy, inviting you to find
out Monday on Living on the Edge. Today's program
is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.