Week #32 - Stop Sabotaging Yourself

Self-Sabotage, Corporate-Sabotage
June 20th, 2020
Pastor Wendi Wood

Continuing in the theme, Possessing the Land Today: How do we overcome self-sabotage individually, and corporately?

  1. What is self-sabotage? It is the act of preventing or even destroying ourselves deliberately so that we do not achieve a goal or a success that we have set before us. (Not possessing the land just as the 1st generation of Israelites failed to do)

    • Job

    • Diet

    • Relationships

      • Friendships

      • Working Relationships

      • Family

      • Romantic/Marriages

    • Any promise that Yahweh has given us.

  2. Deliberate-does it mean we are always aware of this? Do we recognize our patterns? In Numbers 13, were the Israelites intentionally setting out to sabotage the Promised Land? Where did they miss the mark? How were they deceived? Hebrews 3:7-10

    • Doubt

    • Discouraged each other

    • They did not hold fast to the promise given them

    • They hardened their hearts

    • Walked in fear

    • Ultimately disobeyed and rebelled

  3. Why do we allow it?

    • We don’t believe we are worth it

    • It gets hard

    • We don’t see the results we were expecting soon enough and we lose heart

    • We just want to do it our way

    • We complain about the process that Yahweh has ordained for us

    • This usually leads to commiserating with others

    • We start to reason out the instruction that Yahweh has given us. (Genesis 3:1 “. . . Is it true that Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of every tree of the garden?’”)

      • The enemy casted doubt

      • Caused her to question Yahweh’s plan

      • Genesis. 3:4 “And the nahash said to the woman, ‘You shall certainly not die.’”

      • Blatant rebellion

      • Justified the reasons behind it (saw it was good for food, pleasant, and desirable for wisdom-lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, boastful pride of life). 1 John 2:16

      • Genesis 3:7 Their eyes were opened, they knew they were naked, and they now had to cover themselves.

    • Numbers 14:1-4 The Israelites despair, complain, then doubt some more, and they talk about appointing a leader to take them back to Egypt. (they rebel and have to cover themselves)

  4. How do we recognize when we are self-sabotaging?

    • We ignore sound counsel from those we once respected and held in high esteem, from those we trusted, from those we even love. Numbers. 14:7-10; when we walk in rebellion, we seek to shut up the voice of Yahweh’s Holy Spirit.

    • We want to go back to what we know and what is comfortable. Numbers.14:3

    • We start thinking about making alternative plans than what we originally set out to do. Numbers.14:4

    • The Ark of the Covenant and the Moses stayed in the camp, but those who rebelled left the camp. Numbers 14:44 Two witnesses: Spirit and Truth; we don’t have peace and we feel the loss of His presence.

  5. What does self-sabotage have to do with the success of the Body of Messiah?

    • If we are the parts of the body, do we not contribute to the function of the body as a whole?

    • You might think that what I do in my home has nothing to do with anyone else.

    • Does your private, thought-life contribute to your actions and interactions with others? (It is no different than this.)

    • The fear, the doubt, the dissent began in the individual minds of each of the 10 spies and finally someone spoke it out loud.

    • From there, it spiraled. It affected the whole camp. It brought a plague on those who spoke the evil report.

    • It caused them to instigate more rebellion in the camp which led to further destruction.

    • On the converse, we have the ability to cause people to inherit the land too by our encouraging words and actions. Joshua 1-2

  6. How do we succeed?

    • Believe instead of doubting

    • Encourage one another to prevent the hardening that comes from the deceivableness of sin Hebrews 3:13

    • Hold fast to the promise, the goal, the dream that Messiah has given us all the way from beginning to the end-if we are true partakers in Messiah, we will do this. Joshua 2:24

    • Do not harden our hearts-this is sin

    • Obey-otherwise we are walking in rebellion

    • Encourage each other

    • Recognize that Yahweh has already given us the victory; it is for us to trust Him& walk in it. Joshua 2 & 3

  7. Reflection:

    • Did the Israelites just suddenly become fearful and self-sabotaging in this isolated incident?

    • Did they have a pattern of this?

    • How do you think this affected their children?

    • Didn’t Yahweh already give them the land? Numbers 13:2

    • Yahweh was merciful and wanted the next generation to go in. Numbers.14:31

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