Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Where do you need courage today? Do you need
courage to have a hard talk with one of your
children? Do you need courage to say, today's
the day I quit alcohol or drugs? I mean, honestly,
where do you need courage today? Today on Living
on the Edge, we're going to learn how God can
develop courage in your heart to help you take
the step you know you need to take. Stay with
me. Something's blocking your breakthrough. Maybe
it's religious traditions that have nothing to
do with scripture. Maybe it's a deep sense of
unworthiness. Or maybe you simply don't have
the resources you think you need. Well, today
on Living on the Edge, we continue our series
called Experience Breakthrough. Chip Ingram examines
how Jesus systematically removed every barrier
his disciples faced. Through miracles, hard conversations,
and unforgettable lessons, he showed them that
courage is the catalyst that unleashes God's
power into impossible situations. Here's Chip
Ingram with his message, Courage, the Catalyst
to Breakthrough. What? Keeps us from taking that
sort of dynamic step that causes the chain reaction
of God's power to come into our life. Barrier
number one. Courageous steps that overcome this
barrier. Our first barrier is our traditions.
We open it up in Mark chapter 7. Now you can
scan the passage, but I'm going to tell you what's
in it. Seven times the word tradition is there.
And Jesus says, your traditions nullify the truth
of the word of God. Actually, the barrier of
your tradition keeps you from obeying what God
actually says. 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. 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.
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. And then we get the
fourth barrier. It's not just our deafness, but
it's our lack of resources. I wonder how many
times those of us, God shows us a need. Need
at a local school. 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. The fifth is blindness. He's going
to heal a blind person. 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. 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.
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. See, they weren't sincere. They were
trying to manipulate. They came to test him.
And then notice the disciples, because these
are the people I think I identify with. You know,
by now, I mean, isn't there part of you that's
thinking, if you were walking around with Jesus,
5 ,000 people, 4 ,000 people, a deaf guy, a blind
man, I mean, at some point, wouldn't you think,
hey, I believe in this guy. I mean, if he says
it, let's do it. And yet, we pick up the disciples'
response, picking up verse 14, chapter 8. The
disciples had forgotten, so, you know, they leave
the Pharisees, they're in the boat. They've forgotten
to bring any bread except for just one loaf.
And Jesus, he's always teaching like we're supposed
to teach our kids and help one another. They're
in the boat. And he says, now be careful of the
yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. You know,
a little lesson as you're seeing all these miracles,
I want you to trust me. I want you to be courageous.
I want you to step out. But you need to understand
there's a yeast. A yeast is something that starts
small and, you know, infiltrates. And the yeast
of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. Guys, you've got
to guard. It's easy to go there. The yeast of
Herod's is power. And you can get intoxicated
with that. I mean, and sometimes we make these
Bible stories. Can you imagine what it would
be like to be a part of the entourage? I mean,
you know, just picture you and me right here.
So you guys with Jesus? Yeah. How's it going?
We had 45 ,000 at the last one. Yeah, yeah, you
know, we see a few people healed, a couple raised
from the dead. It was a pretty good week. So
do you like talk to him like up close? Oh, yeah,
I cook a fish. Yeah, Jesus, me, we're tight.
You know what Jesus is saying? Don't go there.
Don't get intoxicated with the power and the
people and the public. And he's trying to guard
their heart from what can happen and then aware
of their discussion. Look in your text. Look
at the Bible, verse 17. Jesus asked him, why
are you talking about having no bread? Do you
still not see or understand? Are your hearts
hardened? The answer is yes. And in the Bible,
a hard heart is unbelief. Do you have eyes but
fail to see and ears but fail to hear? And don't
you remember when I broke the five loaves or
the 5 ,000? How many basketfuls and pieces did
you pick up? And I think in unison they all said
12. And when I broke the seven loaves for the
4 ,000, how many baskets or pieces did you pick
up? And they said, seven. He said, do you still
not understand? The most encouraging part about
this is you can have that much experience and
be that close to Jesus and see those many miracles
and still have your heart hardened. They're still
not willing to step out. They're still not courageous.
And they still don't believe. They don't have
enough bread for a little trip from point A to
point B. Oh, what are we going to do? But how
many times do we do that? Isn't that a barrier?
There's some of us, I've been there, I have begged
God in ICU for the life of one of my sons. I
mean, begged God, oh God, don't let my boy die.
Don't let my boy die. And God answered. I have
begged God when my wife got cancer. I have begged
God. I've been at times where the bills were
this big and the resources were this big and
I was on my face before God with my closest friends.
Oh God. And I watched him. And yet, I can turn
around two weeks later and have a financial need
or a relational need or a big health issue and
find myself paralyzed by fear. Oh, God. Oh, God.
And it's like, you know, Ingram, when are you
going to kind of like... It's like I get a spiritual
lobotomy. And I forget. How about you? What about
your track record? God wants you to step out.
When's the last time you said, okay, forget none
of his benefits and you start listening. He did
this, he did this, he did this, he did this,
he did this, he did this, he did this. I mean,
go back as far as you need to. Can that God take
care of this problem? If the answer's yes, courageously
step out and trust him. It's the catalyst. It's
the catalyst to breakthrough. The final barrier
we're going to uncover when the disciples get
close, and now it's sort of exam time, the barrier
of self -interest. And I do pray that you'll
dig in and spend some time reading slowly from
chapter 6 all the way through chapter 9. The
self -interest goes something like this. He gets
the disciples along, which is his pattern. Miracles,
teaching, small group disciples, explanation.
Checking, small group disciples, explanation.
Specific questions to see what they're learning.
And so as we flow through the text at the end
of chapter 8, Jesus says, so who do men say that
I am? Well, some think John the Baptist, others
Elijah, others the prophet that's to come. Now,
the author has just told you that the disciples
are blind. They see, but they don't understand.
And so Jesus heals someone who sees partially,
and then the next question helps them see fully.
And so he's picturing for us the process. And
so, yeah, you're pretty close. A prophet, Elijah,
John the Baptist. But who do you say that I am?
And again, this is Peter. He just steps up, inspired
by the Spirit of God. You are the Messiah. You
are the Son of the living God. Peter, A plus,
and you didn't get that. God gave that to you.
The Father revealed that to you. And by the way,
that's how this works. We take steps, but the
Spirit of God will powerfully and supernaturally
confirm and reveal inside your heart the reality
of who He is. And so as you take steps of faith,
He'll let you know, I'll support, I'll show up.
But then something happens because as God begins
to work in our life, then Jesus begins a little
bit of the truth. And the truth is, men all prophesied
through the Old Testament is, yes, the Messiah
will come and reign. But before he reigns, he's
going to be a suffering servant. And the text
says, he began to explain to them plainly that
he would die and rise on the third day, that
he would be betrayed by the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law. And he was trying to prepare
them. And as he's preparing them, does anybody
remember what our great hero Peter does? Peter
takes him aside. Hey, Lord. I don't know what
you're thinking, but you need to cut that one.
That is not the right message. Look, we got thousands
of people. The money's rolling in. These miracles.
I mean, you are the man. Rome's going down. Pharisees
going out. You're the big dude, and we're with
you. So, I mean, that was their view. And after
being the hero who heard from God, you're the
Messiah. What's Jesus say to him? He says the
harshest words that any human being I think has
ever heard. Get behind me. Not Peter, Satan.
See, Satan's the father of lies. But then what's
the explanation? For you do not have on your
mind and heart the things of God, but the things
of men. In other words, you want to use me. You
don't want me to fulfill the Father's will. You
don't care about anyone else, Peter. You want
to use me. You don't want the price. All you
want is the product. You're not willing to follow
me and to suffer and realize this is God's plan.
You really want Jesus to be sort of your little
self -help genie to make your life work out your
way. Anybody else other than me struggle with
that? It's a barrier. It's a barrier. I mean,
you think of this passage, who experienced breakthroughs?
I mean, if you went down through, who experienced
the miraculous, the breakthrough? Unlikely people,
right? Unworthy women, deaf guys, blind people.
Who didn't experience breakthrough? Religious
people, disciples. What did they do? What did
the Pharisees do? Criticize, feel threatened,
trying to figure out a way to manipulate the
situation. What did the disciples do? Worry,
uptight, concerned about them. The people that
got breakthroughs, what did they do? Passionately
came to Jesus and said, literally, I beg you,
I beg you, I beg you, I beg you. Five times they
come and say, I just need help. I'll do anything.
You're the answer. I don't care what people think.
I'm not unworthy. I'm trusting you. I don't see
clearly. I know I don't completely hear. I know
I've got self -interest, but I will. And what
happens to them? Bam, bam, bam. God's power,
courage is the catalyst for breakthrough. You're
listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram,
and we'll continue our lesson in just a minute.
If you've missed any part of this series or want
to dive deeper into the principles we're learning
about, everything is available at livingontheedge
.org. You'll find the complete message library,
small group resources, and practical study tools,
all designed to help you experience the breakthrough
you're seeking. It's all there, waiting for you
at livingontheedge .org. Well, now let's continue
with today's message. What lessons did he want
him to learn? If you went through each one of
these, he wants them to learn God's word, not
tradition, is what you go by. God's love, no
respective persons. God's power, available in
impossible situations, even when you're deaf.
Might be dim and deaf. God's provision is always
available. And that God's demands... Here's the
hard part, are for your good. See, Peter unconsciously
thought he knew what was best for his future,
his life, and his relationships. And again, he
forgot about God's goodness. There are things
God will ask you and me to do in following him
that are hard, that are unpleasant, and that
are scary. And what we have to remember, he's
a sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory.
And there's nothing good that he withholds. In
fact, look at chapter 9. Because there is a question
that every one of us will have to answer. There's
a path that we must take and a vision to inquire.
And what he does here is he helps weak people
get courage. I mean, the whole goal of what's
happening right here is he wants these followers
to be infused with courage. And so when he asks
them, here's the question he asks them, but he
asks us, who do you think Jesus is? Is he like
a good moral character? Is it a biblical worldview?
Is it try hard to be a nice person? Or has the
living God died for you, risen from the dead,
the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the one
to whom all people of all time, every knee will
bow, every tongue confess, and he's invited you
to a personal relationship to follow him. That's
a lot different than I believe in God and Jesus
paid for my sin and I kind of live my life and
I squeeze him in when I can. And the path, what's
the path? Look at verse 34. He says to them,
if any man, if any woman would come after me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me. He's saying power is resurrection power.
But the only way you experience resurrection
power is when there's a death. And what you have
to die to, and this is the hard part, is your
agenda and take your future and your relationships
and your finances and your kids and your uncertainty
and your work and your dreams and you offer them
to God and say, I'm all in, I'll follow you.
And when we say that, what the enemy whispers
is, Well, then it'll be hard. It'll be terrible.
You'll never get married. You'll never have any
money. It's going to be really rough. And all
that is like, oh, so God, he's willing to die
for you and loves you that much, but he really
wants life on earth to be just a real pain in
the rear. That's how we act. And so what does
he say? Afterwards, he tries to help his disciples
with his arm around him saying, guys, don't you
understand? This is the path I will follow. I
will die and I will rise from the dead and I'm
going to blaze the trail. Because unless a grain
of wheat fall into the earth and die, it remains
by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears forth
much fruit. For what will it profit a man or
a woman if you gain the whole world but you forfeit
your soul? He said, I've got your best interests.
There are some things that are hard, but you
want deep relationships. You want my blessing
in your life. You want to have a connection with
your kids. You want my hand of power and blessing
upon your work. Take up your cross. Follow me.
Because what will it profit you if you cut corners
and neglect me and one of your kids gets in Stanford
and another in Columbia and they have high SAT
scores and your company finally goes public and
then you get that really good raise and you not
only get this house but you get to remodel your
kitchen and then a little piece in the mountains
or maybe in the beach and you work, work, work,
work, work, work, work, work. And then you're
this lonely person alienated from God and you
have all these toys and all this stuff and you
realize it's empty. Now, they may be blessings
that God would use. He's not saying those things
are wrong. What he's saying is they're bad, bad,
and they might be a blessing that could be used
and enjoyed. But as you follow the trail, well,
how does this all work? How do we move from...
this vision that Jesus is who he said he is,
that he's the Lord, he's the son of God, he's
a good shepherd, he's a Messiah, he's a savior,
you believe him. And you get to where when you're
afraid, you can take a step of courage and begin
to see him work. So I'm gonna take everything
we've talked about and I wanna walk through and
give you a very linear, specific path and game
plan to apply it. Because if you'll take a step
of courage, you will see God show up in you and
through you like never before. Here's the path,
the analysis. Fear keeps us from stepping out
to unleash God's power into impossible situations.
Fair? We're all afraid. But it keeps us from
stepping out. I know I should, I know I ought,
but we don't. Two, stepping out requires courage.
Courage is the power to act despite our fears.
Courage is birthed in us when we see God for
who he is and therefore the size of our God becomes
greater than the size of the obstacles, our problems,
and our fear. Courage is birthed when our circumstances
are so impossible and we're so desperate that
we step out and seek God's help because we've
exhausted all other options. Have you ever noticed
that the biggest times in your life where God
showed up was when you didn't bring anything
to the party? You were desperate. Can I just
tell you and me, we're as desperate today if
your circumstances are good. As you were when
your kid was in ICU or someone you love has cancer.
But boy, no one had to teach me how to pray when
my wife had cancer. No boxes to check. I was
begging God. When's the last time you came before
God with urgency and passion and begged him to
intervene in something in your life or something
about your character or something, a habit that
you have or a relationship that you know has
got to turn around instead of, I hope it works
out and I'll try this and I'll read another book
on that and maybe if I talk to her who talks
to him and then she'll get this turned around
or maybe we try some different medicine. I'm
all for all the doctors, all the wisdom, all
the counsel. But God does the impossible. Courage
then demands faith that God will do what he's
promised. I mean, I don't step out. I'm not Peter
until I believe if he said come, I can come.
So do you have faith? Well, where do you get
faith? Faith is a result of seeing Jesus up close
for who he is. And so did you notice in chapter
9, verse 2? He has them on this journey. He wants
them to have courage. You know, his courage comes
through faith. He wants them to step out. How
are they going to get faith? He takes his three
key guys, James, John, and Peter, up on a mountain.
And remember, what did he say? You see, but you
don't understand. You hear, and you don't get
it. And so he takes them up with his mountain
of transfiguration. And it wasn't a light from
heaven, contrary to movies. The light came out
of Jesus. He pulled back and they saw the glory
of the Son of God. And I mean, it was bright.
And then all of a sudden, two people show up
that these guys trust. Moses. What was Moses?
Moses was the greatest revealer of God's truth
in the Old Testament. Elijah is the greatest
revealer of God's power. And these three guys
with all their doubts, all of a sudden, this
is who Jesus is. I see it. And here's the testimony.
And then a cloud comes and they actually hear.
They're not deaf anymore. This is my dearly loved
son. Listen to him. And those three guys will
believe. And they'll be courageous because they
believe. And Jesus took them up so they could
see him for who he is. And notice we can in our
day, and here's how, prayer is God's invitation
to see Jesus up close and believe he will do
what is impossible for you. You need to totally
revamp how you think about praying. Okay, five
minutes, eight minutes, 10 minutes, 12 minutes.
Okay, I think I'm supposed to do, okay, thank
you, God, thank you, God. Help me, I'll see you
later. You know, I'll catch you in the car. God
wants a relationship. What do you really want?
What do you really want? Intentional, passionate,
focused. God, I want you to restore my marriage.
God, I would like a husband or a wife. God, I
want you to turn one of my kids around. God,
I think this kid has this opportunity. I want
you to do something inside there. I want you
to open this avenue. Lord, I want to build a
great business, and I'm telling you on the front
end, you can do with it whatever you want, but
this is what I'm asking. Are you praying like
that? God, I'm mad. God, I'm ticked off. God,
I can't take this anymore. I don't understand.
The raw, real you before the living God. Because
what God honors is truth. Not these plastic little
bless here and now I lay me down to sleep and,
you know, help us do this and help us do that.
You don't really want help. God, I'm scared to
death. And you spoke to me about taking a step.
And if you don't show up, I'll sink like Peter.
And for some of you, if you're like me, you feel
like you don't have time. So our final point
is fasting is choosing to remove whatever distracts
us from seeing and experiencing God for who he
is. And by the way, for some of you, food is
the last thing in the world you need to fast
from. It's a good start. You need to fast from
your phone. You need to fast from Facebook. You
need to fast from your hobby. You need to fast
from every moment of every time of how much football
you're going to watch or how many fantasy leagues
or how much time you shop. Whatever it is, some
of you need to fast from a relationship. This
person is no good for your spiritual, emotional,
and intellectual health. You need to fast for
them and get away from them for two or three
weeks. Now, if it's your marriage partner, that's
not what I'm recommending. But do you understand?
Do you realize how many of us, you have traditions
and habits and you want God to really work and
you do this and do that for a couple hours and
then you sit afterwards because you're exhausted
and you're exhausted because you didn't eat very
well and you don't work out because you don't
have time. You don't have time because you're
sitting in front of a TV for two or three hours
at the end of every day and you keep doing it
and doing it and doing it and doing it and you
come like here and you get all fired up and then
you go, it doesn't work. Create space. And then
if you do, you won't last two or three days.
You can never sustain any kind of discipline,
I mean, apart from people in your corner saying,
will you help me get there? No one does the journey
alone. No one can keep their commitments alone.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
What a powerful reminder that breakthrough requires
community. Chip will be back in a moment, but
if you want to revisit or share this important
message with someone you know, just go online
to our website. livingontheedge .org. As you
think about which barriers are holding you back,
let me tell you about a resource designed to
strengthen your spiritual foundation. It's Chip's
free 10 -day devotional series called Psalms
of Hope. These psalms speak directly to the struggles
we face when seeking breakthrough. They reveal
how to stay anchored when life feels overwhelming,
how to hear God's voice above the noise, and
how to trust His provision when resources seem
scarce. Psalms of Hope is completely free and
available right now online at livingontheedge
.org. Just look for Psalms of Hope and start
building that daily habit of study, contemplation,
and prayer. You know, this ministry and resources
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wherever you are, whenever you want. Well, now
here's Chip with some final thoughts. As we close
today's program, the last section of the teaching
time answered the question, how do weak people
get courage? And I walk through how Jesus taught
his disciples. And then I did a little analysis.
And I give you six very specific things that
talk about fear and stepping out and courage
and faith and prayer and even fasting. I can't
develop all of those. Can I encourage you? Those
are really powerful. They come right out of Scripture.
Go to the website, livingontheedge .org. Download
the notes for free. Ponder those. Pray over them.
And then act. And God will give you courage.
What if the biggest breakthroughs start with
the smallest steps? I'm Dave Drewy, inviting
you to join us tomorrow on Living on the Edge.
Today's program is produced and sponsored by
Living on the Edge.