Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Thanks for tuning in to join us for this broadcast of Power Walk. The Impossible is our current series brought to you by Pastor Paul Cannings. So how do we deal with the impossible in our lives? Do we become embittered, anxious, or do we just give up by finding our escape in entertainment, sports, or even self-destructive ways?

It may even be that sometimes our faith gets shaken and we become apathetic towards God. Well, encouraging and equipping us to understand how we can persevere in faith, Pastor Cannings brings us this message: When Faith is a Challenge. Let's listen.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Years ago, I decided not to tell my mom anything about my college experience in terms of money. College was financially stressful for me. I remember working one time in the summer, three different jobs, having two to three hours sleep per night. And then my car broke down and I had to jog to one job that was 15 miles away. I never forget that, just constantly thinking of money and books.

But I decided not to tell my mom anything about it because every time I shared with her, her first kid to go to college, I remember watching her at the bus stop one time and it drove me crazy. I'm coming home and my mother is at a bus stop and I'm looking around going, "What in the world?" So I turned around, got my car, turned around, and I go, "Mom, get in the car."

She goes, "Oh no, no, no, son. You got things to do. You got this to do." That's my mom, that's how she talks. I said, "No, mom, you're not listening to me. I'm begging you. Please get in this car. Please, I got traffic coming here." So she eventually looks around and realizes. She got in the car. And she says, "You don't need to go. You're going to use your gas." And she's going through all these things.

I said, "Mom, I'm taking you to work. Why are you working again? You just not too long got home." "Son, I want you to finish school." See, that day, I recognized that this person loves me so much she doesn't think about herself anymore. This person is that source that I lean on. The reason why I can go and focus the way I am is because she made this a passion in me for school.

I realized I am who I am because of her influence. She's constantly talking to me: "You need to just put me down. I know what bus to catch." "Mom, you have to catch two buses. You just said it. You're not catching two buses for me. I'm driving you here. And as long as I'm home from school, you're going to do this." And that day I decided no more am I putting this on this mom who loves me that much.

Understanding the source made me not mess with school. You couldn't get me to do anything but what I had to do on campus. It didn't matter if I was dating somebody and they distracted me, that didn't happen anymore. I was that focused because in that day, even though I've seen it my whole life, in that day, it was captured by the way she was talking.

I was listening because she was just talking and fussing about me being distracted right now. I'm going, "You're at a bus stop in the winter." No, I couldn't say that to my mom because she's my mom, but I wasn't turning back. Many times we forget the source that we have and the passion that He has for us.

His death on Calvary's cross, His willingness to invest the Holy Spirit in our lives to make sure we have Genesis to Revelation in front of us and to have a Spirit that illuminates it. And he sits at the right hand of the Father when He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He manages the entire universe. All things are through Him, for Him, and by Him. Everything is below His feet.

But yet He sits at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us after dying on a cross, a brutal, ugly death. And He would not turn His back on what the mission of God was, no matter what they did to Him. It showed the level of determination that Jesus Christ had. The more they beat Him, it showed the determination. The more they spit on Him, it showed His total commitment to what God is saying.

The more they put Him on the cross and nailed Him—it didn't matter. A thief on the cross could mock Him. It didn't matter. People on the bottom mocking Him. It didn't matter. "Father, forgive them." So it only proved how deeply committed He was in His love for us because nothing could move Him from doing what He said He's going to do.

That determination in the source of our walk with God that keeps us strong is what He is saying we need to depend on in Luke chapter 17, verses 5 through 10. We've made our way through many things this week. We are now in these last two parts. How do you deal with the impossible? How do you deal with situations that just continually are impossible so you don't even wear out because it's not going to change?

They're telling you this is not going to change. The person you've been married to hasn't changed in about 40 years. So what are you going to do? You're going to give up. In those impossible situations, we've dealt with many things, but today, we have to focus on why it's just a seed. Why would He say a seed?

Jesus Christ could have said to them that's going to write the Bible, because it said apostles here in verse 5. It didn't just say disciples; the apostles are the writers of the scripture. In John chapter 17, He would tell them from verse 13 on, He would say to them, "You will be the ones who record the scripture and write it down."

So He should have said a whole lot more than the mustard seed. These guys are going to be writing. Peter's going to be influencing Luke in what he writes. You've got Matthew writing a narrative of what Christ is doing. John Mark is going to come out of this group and they are living out stuff. They are walking in powerful ways.

He's going to meet Paul on the road to Damascus, and he's going to write half the New Testament. So why are you talking about a mustard seed of faith? Are you serious? Let's talk about a whole bag of mustard seeds. No, just one. I just need one mustard seed of faith. And you could move a sycamine tree, a mulberry tree. You could move it.

It's impossible to move a mulberry tree. The roots are everywhere and deep and spread everywhere. And He's saying you could move that and it would obey you. But just one mustard seed. He wasn't dealing with the quantity of what we know. He was dealing with the quality of how it operates, the vitality of how it functions. That's what He's after.

When we come to verse 7 today, the reason why it's just a seed is because we must maintain this mindset in how we operate. Here is the mindset. Look at verse 7. He says, "But which of you, having a servant plowing and feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he comes from the field, 'Go sit down to meat'?"

Watch carefully now. He's saying watch how hard this is in a dry climate, hot environment. He says, "Which of you having a servant..." There are three definitions to a servant: they don't have their own agenda, they're told what to do by their master, and the disciples called Him Lord. Secondly, they don't own anything. And three, there's a day of accountability.

In other words, they don't get to say when the job stops. They don't own anything. When they finish, they go in the back room or the servant quarters or they go back to their house. Nothing they take. And then the person could go out to the fields and say, "You didn't do that right." What?

Understand, He picks this word servant, which is one of the lowest words you could pick—basically a slave. So He's saying, "I'm giving you the worst of the worst of the work: plowing." You ever think of plowing in their day? In a hot, dry climate, it is physically demanding. Not some wonderful John Deere going down the field. No, this is a mule with a plow on the back of it, and you got to steer the mule.

Not only are they plowing, they're feeding the cattle. That's hard work. You could say to this person, "Hey, you know what? Thank you, I'm glad you're here. Now feed me." What? That's what He's saying, though. Think about it for a minute, folks. He's keeping it real. Go ye into all the world, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. I ain't sending you no donkey, no money bag, no nothing.

That's why I sent you out in twos, saying if somebody blesses you, bless them. If they don't bless you, dust the sand off your sandals. This is the real world you're going to live in. If I'm sending you someplace and I'm telling you foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, and the Son of Man has no place to lay His head, what am I giving you? And the man who had the money died with it.

So this is impossible, Jesus. I'm going against Pharisees, Sadducees. Sadducees were the well-to-do. I'm going against people who have power, high priests, Sanhedrin. The Roman government turned the authority of running the Jews to them except for death penalties. So Jesus Christ, go into all the world and when you have gone, I'll pay you in heaven.

He's already addressed that in Matthew chapter 19, verse 27, when they say, "God, what do we get for all of this?" "I'm going to bless you in heaven." They're not getting the blessing on earth. It's not happening. He tells them that. When faith takes you to the hardest things that God wants you to do and you do it faithfully, never complaining, never grumbling.

This is a faithful servant that is going out because He's Lord, because he is in His house, and because he finds pleasure in pleasing his master. Whatever the master asks to do, that servant is going to do it because the servant understands, "That's my source and that's what I believe in."

Years ago, my kids talked me into having a dog. I raised a dog, and I understand what it took to deal with a dog. From a puppy up, I raised a dog. So I understood it. I said, "I don't think they're responsible enough." I tell my wife, "I don't know, baby. I don't want to not do it, but they're looking at Sesame Street. They don't even understand a dog. They're looking at dogs from Sesame Street. They're not getting this." "Oh, baby, I'll help us."

I said okay, we'll get this dog. We got the dog, and I had to do some traveling. I come back home and there's dirt and dust on the pans for the dog. And I'm going, "Hey, y'all didn't feed this dog." But they played with the dog, and this dog would run up to them and this dog would just wag its tail and jump up and down.

When I show up, the dog would run to me and I'd play with the dog for like two seconds and then I've got to go feed this dog and I'm fussing like, "Y'all can't do this. You have to feed the dog." "Okay, Daddy, we'll feed the dog." A day go by, whatever, and you could tell the dog is kicking the pans around the yard or licking the water hose. I'm going, "This is ridiculous. You can't do this."

You see, that dog kept wagging its tail. That dog kept jumping up and down because that dog, being raised from a little dog and being treated well from a little dog until I started traveling, was the dog. You see, folks, sometimes we got to be a dog for Christ. We just got to believe He's the source and that every day He has our backs, and His word never returns void.

Every day He is the focus of our lives. Fix your eyes on me. Run the race that is set before you. Trust me each and every moment of the day to get things done the way I said I will. And I believe Him with all my heart He would do it. Now I'm exercising faith. And that's the kind of faith, He says, that can do the impossible.

I see so many people today dealing with so many impossible situations and they move from faith to logic. He's saying that's not going to work because we have to trust the Lord with all our hearts or our ways, if we don't trust Him, will become crooked. Faith keeps our path straight. Logic makes it crooked and unproductive, and then we struggle with God more.

When we struggle with God more, after a while, we don't depend on Him anymore. When you see God do the impossible and Goliath falls, oh yes, folks, you will believe God more. You'll trust Him more, and you will fight to do whatever you have to to bless His name.

You see, that day, I moved from being a boy to a man because of the love of my mom. She taught me to be a man. She taught me by her love to be strong because of the sacrifice she was willing to make. Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose from the dead. I want Him to teach me to be His disciple forever. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Amen, Pastor Cannings. With God, nothing is impossible. Folks, be sure to join us tomorrow for the concluding message in this series. And please visit us online at powerwalkministries.org to obtain any of our ministry resources. That's powerwalkministries.org.

In particular, I'd like to recommend the daily devotional by Pastor Cannings, Power Up With Jesus, as it helps you to grow in your faith daily. For this or any other information, call us at 281-260-7402. That's 281-260-7402.

We are grateful for those of you who pray for and contribute to Power Walk Ministries. Would you consider making a one-time or ongoing contribution to help us fulfill our mission? Our mailing address is P.O. Box 920517, Houston, Texas 77092. And as we leave you, keep in mind: our faith, even as small as a mustard seed, is pleasing to the Lord. And then His power and resources are limitless to work on our behalf.