No More Lo Debar: Living in the Land of More Than Enough

Sermon outline

Those who trust the Lord and make time to commune with Him receive living wisdom for every situation and can take authority over sickness and lack, because God's people are meant to live in the overflow, not in Lo Debar.

1. Better a little with much of God

   The success of the wicked is short-lived and fades like grass clippings in the hot sun. Fix your heart on God's promises, make Him your delight, and give Him the right to direct your life; looking back you will see He pulled it off perfectly. It is better to have little with much of God than the fabulous wealth of the wicked with nothing else, and the godly will always have more than enough.

   “Many times things happen in our lives and we don't even know why, but when you look back, you'll see God is working everything out for our good.”

   • Psalm 37:1-40

2. Face the truth, not just the facts

   Pastor Adrian Sing opens in prayer, calling October the month of the Holy Spirit and the new man. The facts may say you are unwell, or the wrong colour or gender by the world's system, but the truth of God's Word sets you free and supersedes the facts. Be honest with yourself; the hardest thing is to say no to yourself. Do not take a position at the expense of the truth, because like Daniel and his friends who refused the king's food, God makes the righteous the head and not the tail. Use every opportunity, in the queue at McDonald's or a business meeting, to promote the gospel rather than chasing likes.

   Illustration: He tells of encouraging a pastor of another large church elsewhere in South Africa that morning, who had also recently been handed his church.

   “Don't face the facts, face the truth.”

   • John 8:32
   • John 8:36
   • Psalm 23:4
   • 2 Corinthians 1:20
   • Hebrews 11:6
   • Romans 1:16
   • 1 Peter 2:9
   • Jeremiah 1:5
   • Deuteronomy 28:13
   • Daniel 1:8
   • Daniel 3:25
   • Matthew 10:33
   • Psalm 1:2-3
   • Jeremiah 29:11
   • Hebrews 4:12
   • Proverbs 4:22
   • Matthew 7:20
   • Proverbs 22:1
   • Matthew 5:37

3. Make time to pray: living understanding

   Pastor Zubeda says time spent with God, the intimate fellowship of yada, gives a wisdom worth more than jewels and a living understanding that fits the very situation you are in. When you commit your whole life to Him, not only your needs, He gives you an edge that lifts you above natural reasoning, so that you surprise even yourself with what you say. Fasting does not move God; prayer and the Word in your mouth do, because what is believed in the heart is spoken out and manifests. Why live from miracle to miracle when you can live in the overflow, as kings and priests whose words the enemy fears?

   Illustration: She and the senior pastor pray every morning over a database of the members' names, and when they hear one has made a bad decision it crushes them, because they pray out of love, not duty.

   “Why must you be constantly seeking for a miracle when you can be living in the overflow?”

   • Matthew 12:34
   • Revelation 1:6
   • Romans 12:1

4. Prayer for business people and for families

   A member prays for business owners: wisdom, excellence and diligence, ethics without corruption, God ideas rather than good ideas, favour like Esther and Joseph, customers from every direction and connections with decision makers. A second member prays for families, children writing exams and generational blessing, putting on the armour of God and declaring healing by His stripes.

   • Proverbs 22:29
   • Isaiah 27:6
   • Psalm 133:3
   • Malachi 3:10
   • Psalm 121:1
   • Isaiah 54:17
   • Ephesians 6:12-17
   • Isaiah 40:4
   • 1 Peter 2:24

5. Taking authority over sickness and lack

   As she prayed that morning she felt led to come against every high thing exalting itself against the knowledge of God, especially the spirit of infirmity. Sickness has become so common it seems acceptable, but God sent His Word and healed us, so the church refuses to tolerate it, whatever genetics or age are said to excuse. The thief also attacks finances through the cost of sickness, so she comes against lack, insufficiency and 'just enough': tithers live under an open heaven, and God gives seed to the sower and wisdom to see the enemy's traps in business deals.

   Illustration: The Shunammite woman carried her dead child and still answered that it was well. So whatever we face, we say all is well.

   “We refuse to have just enough.”

   • 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
   • Psalm 109:17
   • Psalm 107:20
   • John 10:10
   • Luke 6:38
   • 2 Corinthians 9:10
   • Proverbs 10:22
   • Jude 24

6. No more Lo Debar

   She declares October a month of opened and closed doors, the right people and the right words, peace at home and at work. At communion she calls the bread the health and healing of body, mind and finances, and declares that God's people will live in a cycle of miracles, no longer in Lo Debar but in the land of more than enough.

   “No more Lo Debar. We live in the land of more than enough.”

   • 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
   • John 6:35
   • 2 Samuel 9:4

In this message