Heaven to Earth Sunday 3.2.25

The WALLS!

◦ Impact Stone- We deal with the REINS: We allow God to deal with the things holding us back, and we work together to endure difficult periods and to prepare ourselves for the plans and purposes God has for our lives.

✓ Psalm 7:9 (KJV) “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.”

✓ Jeremiah 17:10 (NIV):“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

◦ Reins: The deep parts of our life, our feelings, and our emotions.

✓ Psalm 139:8 (KJV) “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”

◦ God Is always there! Now is the time to Correct, Perfect, Fine Tune and Repair those areas of our lives.

◦ Preparing you for what He has prepared for you. If that’s what you want then you have to allow Him to go into those DEEP parts of your life!

✓ The famous quote “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this WALL!” was delivered by President Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1987, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, Germany.

◦ It’s the invisible WALLS in our lives that will keep us from stepping into what God has for us!

◦ Impact Connect Groups are away to help us tear down those WALLS in our lives!

◦ In those groups we deal with the Reins: the deep parts, feelings and emotions. Those invisible WALLS of fear anger insecurity connectivity (you don’t want people to get close to you)… you’ve been burned before! Shame regret unforgiveness

✓ Joshua 6:1 “Now Jericho [a fortified city with high WALLS] was tightly closed because of the people of Israel; no one went out or came in.”

◦ This verse emphasizes that Jericho was a heavily fortified city, locked down in fear of the Israelites. It sets the stage for God’s miraculous intervention in the Battle of Jericho, where the WALLS would fall after the Israelites followed His instructions.

◦ A WALLED city in the path of the promise land. To get to your purpose then you have to get through the WALLS!

◦ If you want what God has prepared for you then you have to allow God to work in those DEEP parts of your life! The WALLS must come down in your life.

✓ The WALLS you built to protect you from the pain is now blocking you from your purpose. They become WALLS of self-imprisonment. DON’T DO LIFE ALONE! You stay in isolation long enough, you yourself will crumble.

◦ You have to decide…Because you’ve lived so long behind the WALLS, either I stay where is comfortable (safe zone) or I’m going to break through for what God has for me!

◦ Matthew 14:29 (AMP) “He said, ‘Come!’ So Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.”

◦ Peter could have stayed where he was comfortable and safe in the boat. Peter is teaching a lesson. “If it’s you God then I’ll take a step!”

◦ I’d rather walk on the water with Peter than rock in the boat with Thomas. “Get out of the boat!”

✓ *”You can’t be who ‘you are going to be’ and who ‘used to be’ at the same time!”

◦ Exodus 17:13 (NIV):“So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.”

◦ Joshua 6:3 (NIV):“March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.”

◦ We don’t use the sword any longer. That’s how we used to do things.

◦ Joshua 6:5 (NIV):“When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the WALL of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

✓ Exodus 17 is who you used to be…Joshua 6 is who you’re going to be!He is dealing with the Reins in your life.

◦ BUT here is the small conflict: Some of us are stuck in-between Exodus and Joshua. Your Fight is in-between! You want to use the sword (because that’s how you feel and dealt with things)but you want to sing, pray and praise “This is how I fight my battles”.

◦ One minute you have the sword and the next you’re trying to preach His Word. It’s the struggle of being stuck in-between.

◦ Abraham is Stuck…Genesis 21:8-14, where Abraham is caught in a difficult position regarding his son Ishmael (Hagar’s son) and his wife Sarah‘s request to send Hagar and Ishmael away.

◦ Paul is stuck…Romans 7:15 (NIV):“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

◦ Paul is talking about the struggle with sin that believers face, even after receiving salvation. He describes the tension between the desire to obey God and the temptation of sin. Paul acknowledges that, even though he desires to do good, he still often falls into actions that he knows are wrong. This inner conflict highlights the battle between the flesh.

◦ Tear down the WALLS.

◦ This is why we have Impact Connect Groups! 60 minutes a week is not going to fix it. Step out of the boat and register for an Impact Connect Group!