The question we have been asking is if I were to draw a circle around your feet, is what is inside that circle enough?
Is it enough for you?
Enough for your family?
Enough to fulfill God’s purpose for your life?

We have talked about how stepping outside the circle is where we find growth, we become willing to be poured out, we find real change. Its where sacrificial service becomes a lifestyle and not a chore.

It’s living out John 15:5

I am the vine and you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing.

We talked about this last week, WE NEED HIM. But we don’t just need Him we need to look like Him. We need to walk like Him. We can desire to be like Him, talk like Him, have relationship with Him but until we step outside our circle and take action we don’t really know Him.
We need to know Him because sheep know their shepherds voice. And we need
To know His voice so we don’t fall victim to the enemy. We can have the desire, urgency, and need for Him. We can have relationship with him. We can be stepping outside the circle and finding more of Him but that doesn’t change the fact that we have an enemy that is out there looking for an opportunity to keep us from Him.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Peter says to be sober minded, watchful. We have to make sure we are making God the priority. We need to love him with everything so our mindset can be filled with Him and His ways. We have to be aware that the enemy is going to look for opportunities to try and trip us up. He isn’t going to go quietly.

Matthew 12:43-45
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Just because He leaves for a few days doesn’t mean that we are done with Him. He is going to try and come back and put us right back in that circle. He is going to try and get you wrapped up in insecurity, fear, inadequacy, and reluctance.

He wants to do anything possible to keep you inside the circle, he wants you stay where you are comfortable.
Pastor Jason said this in week one:

“Be weary of Growth without breaking.”

In order to erase the circle completely, we are going to have to wrestle with the accusations the enemy hurtles at us. BUT HERE IS THE KEY:
We don’t fight for victory, we fight from victory.

The victory is in Jesus hands! All power and authority is His! We get to walk freely in the blood of Jesus.

If this is the case, then why do we fall victim to a defeated enemy?
He wants us to lose with him. He wants us to join him in that eternal separation.
How is he going to do this? By any means necessary.

Lets take a look at Moses. We know where he ended up, leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, getting the ten commands from God, setting up the tabernacle, and thats real just scratching the surface. But in those moments of crisis decision making Moses had a choice;
- listen to God or follow my desire.
- Faithfulness or Sin
- Life or death

But how did it all start? I am sure that some of you are familiar with it but lets take a look:

In Exodus chapter 1 we see that the Pharaoh commanded the people that every Hebrew son was to be cast in the nile. Moses mother put him in basket on the nile and Pharaohs daughter found Him and she adopted him. He grew up in Pharaohs house. One day when he was grown he saw an Egyptian beating a hebrew. And he killed the Egyptians and buried him in the sand. He fled to Midian. He was keeping his father in laws flock and came across the burning bush.

This was an outside the circle moment. He had a decision to make. Do I mind my own business or do I go see whats going on.

This is what Exodus 3 says:

“I will turn aside to see this great sight, why this bush is not burned up.”

It was in this moment where he stepped outside His circle. Just like we talked about last week, he was looking outside of the circle to see opportunities.

What happens? He encounters God in a life changing way!

Exodus 3:4-6
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

When Moses turned God began to speak.
What if everything that you are desiring in life, the purpose, the more, the fulfillment is waiting on you to respond to what God is doing outside the circle?

I know this is something that we have been repeating but it’s because it’s so important. We have to be able to see outside of our circle.

The enemy will try to isolate us, he will try and get us to feel like there is nothing else but the circle.

He will do what ever it takes to get you to focus on what you think you need.
When Jesus was led into the wilderness to fast by the holy spirit, Satan showed up and tried to twist scripture to get Jesus to succumb.
Jesus resisted the devil and submitted to God and he fled.

As God was talking to Moses we see 4 key thought process that the enemy was trying use to get Moses to stay inside his circle. Moses ability to step outside of the circle started when he stepped towards the bush but wasn’t finished until he confronted these four thoughts.

Exodus 3:11-13
11 But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’ 12 So He said, ‘I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a children of Israel out of Egypt?’ 13 So He said, ‘I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.’”

Who am I?
This is insecurity. Insecurity is what the enemy will use to keep you trapped inside the circle. But this is a question I feel that at one point or another we have all asked or are going to ask.

“Who am I to deserve God’s grace?”
“Who am I to have such a blessed life?”
“Who am I?”

We have a hard time just receiving the love, grace, and mercy of God’s purpose for our lives. We can’t believe that he wants to use us. We begin to ask questions like:

“Doesn’t he know how broken I am?”
“Doesn’t he know how I have messed up?”
“Doesn’t he know that I can’t do this on my own?”

Thew answer is a RESOUNDING YES!
He does know, yet He chooses us anyways.

Let’s go back to what Pastor Jason said week 1;

“What if your growth was being held up because you’ve focused so intently on what is inside your circle that you miss the nutrients God set aside for you outside of your circle? WHAT YOU NEED TO GROW IS NOT IN YOUR CIRCLE.

The getting trap is that if you don’t take take take you won’t have it.
That is ORPHAN MATH. Not God math.

Proverbs 11:25
25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

THAT’S God Math.

Here’s a paraphrase:
You focus on giving and God will take care of your receiving.

So why go outside the circle? TO GROW.”

The orphan in us tells us “God got it wrong.” The son/daughter in us wants to please our father. The problem is we allow the remanence of the orphan to win out because we don’t want to disappoint, so we stay on the side lines. And thats when the enemy has helped us lose.

Staying on the sidelines, not getting in the game, thats how he keeps us down.

You can’t view yourself through the lense of how you see yourself, but you have to look through the lense of how God sees you.

How does God see you?

- Son/Daughter
1 John 3:1
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

There a lot of things the Bible tells us about how God views us but being a son/daughter is the most important. Because everything else flows from Him being our father.

So who are you? A son. A daughter. You are not just some person that god decide might be able to do this. You designed with plan and purpose. Your were given gifts that the father knew you would need to fulfill that purpose. You are a son and daughter on purpose.

What if they?
This is fear. When God calls us to something, when we find purpose, we are eager until the whispers start.

The enemy comes in and starts planting these seeds of doubt.
“Thats not really God.”
“Why would God want to use you?”
“They won’t accept you.”

There are a lot of people that are keeping themselves from God’s best for their lives because they’re concerned about what people think all the time. We have to overcome the fear of man.

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

We need to remember what 2 Timothy 1:7 says
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Fear wants to make you feel like you are out of control, that you have no power, and you don’t have access to love.

Fear wants to steal those things from you.

Power
When we are being fear driven we lose the power of Christ victory. We begin to be focused on whats going on inside the circle. We try to control everything to get the result we want.

When we understand that there is nothing to fear we get to walk in the power of christ victory.

Love
When fear is driving us we react out of self preservation. We begin to look at how everyone is treating us. We begin to focus on the deficits of life rather than the blessings. That is inside the circle because inside the circle there is only room for what benefits you.

When we understand that fear is broken, that all we have to do is shine the truth of god on it, then we begin to walk in compassion and love for people. We begin to forgive without provocation. We are able to be an extension of God on this earth.

Self-Control/Sound Mind
Fear wants us to make impulse decisions that we think are best for us. It doesn’t want us to think about consequences. It wants us to be trapped in the circle. We talked about this earlier, the enemy is roaming like a lion seeking who he can devour. If we aren’t of a sound mind we will be devoured.

When we realize fear is vanquished then we don’t have to worry about taking the step of faith. We know that God has brought us here so he will take us there. He is for us so who can stand against us. When the enemy comes knocking we know we have a way of escape. We kjnow that we can resist him.

I have never…
The enemy wants us to feel inadequate. He wants us to deny our gifts and purpose.

God is famous for calling you to something that you’ve never done, because He’s always going to require you to take some kind of leap of faith! This is good because it keeps you dependent upon Him.

Moses was concerned that he wasn’t qualified. He felt that he has qualities that disqualified him.

Exodus 4:10 NLT
10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

He was worried that his physical limitation was going to limit his ability to have the desired impact. But here is the thing

God equips those that he calls.

Just because we see a limitation in the physical doesn’t mean it translates that way in the spiritual. We have to remember that we are a spirit with a body. Everything is spiritual. So if God calls you in the spirit, you have already been equipped.

Romans 11:29 NLT
29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.

Psalm 139:14 NLT
14
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Look at David, he wasn’t the most physically astonishing man, we see that as Samuel is looking at His brothers. The difference was that David had a heart after God. God knew that even when he would make a misstep he would come back into relationship with God. God equipped David for Goliath through the lion and the bear. He equipped David for Absolem, the son that try to over throw him, through his relationship with Saul. He was able to sooth Sauls torment because of the worship in the field.

Every thing that we have done or will do can be preparation for our purpose if we are willing to look outside the circle and find what God has for us.

Moses spent 40 years in Egypt, he spent 40 years in the dessert before God directed him to go back and set the people free.

Each season prepared him for what he was about to face. Moses wouldn’t have been comfortable with speaking with Pharaoh with out the first 40 years. He wouldn’t have known what to do.

He wouldn’t have been able to lead the people in the wilderness with out his time with Midian.

Don’t forsake a season because it’s uncomfortable, it might be the very thing that God will use to see you fulfill your purpose.

Use someone else….
This one hits little different for me. After all that God has said and done he is still reluctant.

Because Moses had just seen God turn his staff into a snake, he put his hand in his cloak and saw it become strikes with a skin disease. He out his arm back in his cloak and he was healed.

YET, when it came time for Him to step fully outside the circle he disqualified himself and asked God to use someone else to talk to the people.

While Moses was built to be the moth piece not only to Pharaoh but to the people as well he allowed what was comfortable to keep him in his circle.

This is the biggest challenge we will face. We maybe able to get over the first three issues but we have to make sure that we are sured up in who God says we are and trust Him.

This is the avenue that the enemy will use to try and get you right back in your circle.

Your life will never really make sense, until you’re doing something in your life that really makes a difference.

If you are reluctant to obey what God asks, you will never step into it.

Ecclesiastes 11:4
“One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.”

The biggest issue with waiting to step into what God has for you is not that your purpose will be delayed. It is that it could possibly be missed. We want you to step into everything God has for you!

Maybe today you have been thinking about stepping out side that circle but you have had insecurity, fear, inadequacy, or reluctance keeping you from erasing that circle for good and moving forward.

Well good news, you are in good company. This is just a you issue and the longer we stay isolated within it the longer the devil can manipulate us.

Isolation is the devils playground.

We have to have community. Maybe the first step for some of you to erase the circle is coming to mens or women’s group. Maybe its signing up for a group.

We have to be careful that we aren’t letting the lies of the enemy keep us in a place where our purpose passes us by.

I need to tell you one more thing about the good Samaritan that we simply can’t overlook:

Look at verse 33 one more time:
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

Did you see it? “and when he saw him.”

We get hyped about his inventory, his compassion to help, but it all started with his willingness to look outside the circle around his feet.

When we are focusing inside the circle, we are blind to what is outside of it.

This idea plays a pretty huge role in this story of the good Samaritan, but it started 800 years earlier.

In 2 Kings 6, the King of Syria, enemy of Israel, was frustrated because God was telling Elisha every move before he made it.

He wanted to kill Elisha, who was in Dothan with his servant.
This is where we pick op the story.

2 Kings 6:14-23
14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

This is huge and something you need to embrace.

When all you are focusing on is inside the circle, you miss the blessing of what is outside of the circle. The servant was thinking inside, but Elisha was thinking outside. WHY? Because unlike the servant, Elisha knew that his help didn’t come from inside, it came from outside.

Inside the circle thinking makes you blind!

But there is more to this story…

18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.

19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

Elisha led them back to Samaria – the capital city of the kingdom of Israel and an unfriendly place for a group of Syrian soldiers, but also the very home of the good neighbor we’ve been talking about this whole message.

20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.

Instead of killing these enemy soldiers, Elisha instead commanded the king of Israel to treat them with kindness and generosity. This practice of answering evil with good successfully changed the policy of free-lance raiders from Syria.

Imagine with me for a moment that our Good Samaritan was simply operating by the same kindness and generosity that stopped the raids 800 years before.

My point is this:
We know exactly what inside the circle does in you.
Selfishness. Idolatry. Castle-mindedness. Ignoring those in need.

But we also know what outside the circle does in you.
Compassion. Concern. Service. Selflessness.
And kindness, not revenge.
Generosity, not greed.
Vision, not blindness.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?