We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last several weeks, and by the posts I am seeing on social media, this series has you thinking, digging deeper, being challenged, etc. Success! I want, and even better, God wants you to embrace the more you were made for. But what will you do with that more we’ve been talking about?

1 Chronicles 4:10
Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that I will not cause any pain.” And God granted what he asked.

Jabez prayed the prayers we pray. God, bless us, keep us safe, keep your hand on me. But in his prayer we see his heart: that he might not cause pain. Some translations say, “so that it might not bring me pain.” Hebrew: biltee ahtsav - that I might not cause pain. This is an important distinction. One way is inwardly focused. The other is outwardly focused.

This leads me to a very important question:
Why would God enlarge Jabez’s territory? You have to look down the road to get this answer.

While Jabez was a person in the Bible who only gets 2 verses,
the history that followed tells the tale of Jabez. In Jewish history, Janez was a influential teacher who impacted generations of people who studied the law. While Jabez the man only gets 2 verses, we know historically that he was so influential that a town was named after him.

1 Chronicles 2:55
The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez

Jabez was known as the place where the scribes lived and worked. These were the people whose primary role was to “recount the events of God and declaring his works to the people.”

So why would God enlarge Jabez’s territory?
Because of the generational impact that would result. Interestingly enough, while the town of Jabez was gone by the time Jesus was born, most scholars agree that another town was built upon the ancient site of Janez. That town was called Bethlehem. That is why God enlarged Jabez’s territory.

What about you? Why would God enlarge your territory?

The most important thing you could give to God is your heart. That is your life, your hands, your future, your motivation, your why.

Jabez’s motivation was being a blessing. Solomon’s motivation when he asked God for wisdom was for the people. Mary’s motivation was to be a vessel, Paul’s motivation was to be poured out. As a result, God expanded the territory, blessed, gave more.

What is your motivation for more?
Is it just to be blessed, or is it to be blessed to be a blessing? God always give more out when your motivation is to pour out.

Today I want to ask you three main questions. These three questions are designed to open your eyes and hearts to how you would utilize that more you were made for if God gave it.

Let me go ahead and give you these questions up front so your mind can be processing them, and I’ll break each one down as we go.

1. What would you do if you had more influence?
2. What would you do if you had more power?
3. What would you do if God gave you the desire of your heart?

1. What would you do if you had more influence?
It is probably good to define influence first. Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.

We have to be careful with influence. It can be intoxicating. This is one of the main reasons it is so important as a pastor to realize you are a human being, flawed, broken, just as in need of saving and forgiveness as anyone else. It is easy to become drunk with the power of influence.

Rick Johnson
“Whether you like it or not, people will hang their lives on what you say from a pulpit.”

That kind of influence is terrifying. As a pastor, I better do my homework, but even more than that, I better do my spiritual development work, too.

Christine Caine
“If the light that is on you is brighter than the light that is in you, the light that is on you will destroy you.”

Too many pastor, leaders, find themselves in a place where their influence has outgrown their character and the result is a fall. As a pastor I have to be careful about this. I have to be careful that as my influence grows, my character does, too.

And while I have to be careful, YOU DO TOO. I am not the only one God wants to give more influence to. He wants to give you more as well.

But why? Why does God give us influence? I know I referenced Joseph last week, but goodness, this story fits here, too.

God gave Joseph very specific gifts, talents, and abilities from the womb. Every time he encountered someone in this story, we see him use these gifts, talents, and abilities And in every scenario, we not only see him use these things, but gain influence.
- Have you wondered why the slavers decided to sell Joseph specifically to Potiphar?
- Have you read how impressed he was with Joseph, giving him influence over the entire entire household?
Genesis 39:21-22
21 But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. 22 Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison.
- Have you read how his influence with the prisoners got him to the cupbearer, and then finally to Pharaoh?
- Have you read how Pharaoh recognized something incredible in Joseph and gave him influence over the entire nation of Egypt?

But why?
Something you have to see in this story and in so many other stories in the Bible is that God never gives influence for the benefit of the influencer, but for the benefit of others.
- God did not make Abraham great for his own sake.
- God did not make Moses great for his own sake.
- God did not make Deborah great for her own sake.
- God did not make Esther great for her own sake.
- God did not make David, Solomon, Elijah, Peter, Paul, Mary, and the list goes on great for their own sakes
- God did not make them influential to benefit them.

Influence is never about you. It is always about others.

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

But here's the Catch-22: Until your character and spiritual development can handle it, your influence will never grow.

If you want an easy way to determine whether or not a persons character is ready for more influence? If they ask, "yeah but what about me," they aren't ready. They are not ready in their character, and they are not ready in their spiritual development. Remember, God won’t give it if you’re gonna hoard it. When you water, that's when you’re watered.

A person whose character and spiritual development is ready for more influence understands that if God is going to use them to meet somebody else's need, he cares enough about them to meet their own as well.

Based on your current character and spiritual development, would God be willing to enlarge your territory and give you more influence?
If the answer is, yes, praise God, and keep growing. If the answer is no, your story does not have to end with that.

If you will commit yourself to him completely, if you will grow in your spiritual development, if you will allow God and God's people to help develop your character, you will find that you don't have to go looking for influence. God will simply give it.

But he loves you and he loves others too much to grow your influence if your character and spiritual development are not strong enough to support the weight of it.

Is there somebody in your life right now that trusts you, who knows you are trying to live for the Lord, but they are either lost, distant from God right now, or badly broken? God has allowed you to have influence over that person. Why? Let's take 15 seconds right now and allow the Holy Spirit to tell you. Now let's take 15 more seconds and allow the Holy Spirit to tell you what he wants you to do next.

If you had more influence, what would you do with it?

2. What would you do if you had more power?
Now let me explain what I mean by power. I don't mean, what would you do if you had godlike power over other people. Have a feeling some of us would devolve into revenge pretty quickly.

When I first started on this point, the word I originally used was anointing. I switched the word to power because I want you to understand what I'm talking about here because many people don't understand precisely what the anointing is. Most of us have heard that word used in ultra charismatic circles and so there is some confusion about it, but I also wanted you to understand that I mean more than just anointing here, but the power of God.

I think we are all pretty familiar with what I mean when I say "the power of God." This is the power of the Holy Spirit, who according to 2 Peter 1:3 gives us everything we need to live a God of life. This is the supernatural ability to do what we are incapable of doing in our flesh.

We heavily encourage you being filled with the Holy Spirit. Whether you think it happens at salvation or a second experience, I could care less! Ask God to fill you with this Holy Spirit right now, every day!

Why do you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Because:
- There are things that are gonna happen this week that you are incapable of handling without the power of the Holy Spirit.
- There are going to be temptations that will require the Holy Spirit to be active in your life.
- There are paths God is gonna want you to take that require you being led by the Holy Spirit.
- There are people who are going to cross your path this week who need something from God and that something is going to specifically come through you.
- and if all of that isn't enough, it's gonna be real hard for you to become everything God created you to be without the Holy Spirit active in your life.

Hopefully you get what I mean by power, what do I mean by anointing? Biblically, the anointing is a divine selection and empowerment for a specific purpose.

Jesus was anointed. Luke 4:18-19
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

What about you? Are you anointed for this? Matthew 28 tells us to go make disciples. We are repeatedly encouraged to be a blessing, to speak life, to preach the gospel, to help others.

Would anything change in your heart concerning God’s specific mission for you if you knew that he not only called you to it, but divinely selected and empowered you for that purpose?’

I believe we are too often guilty of putting all the emphasis on us and so little of it on the Holy Spirit. This causes us to be paralyzed into inaction because we feel like we are not capable, when it is the power of the Holy Spirit that does the heavy lifting anyways.

I understand it might be difficult for you if I called you up here right now and asked you to share what the Gospel was. But I bet it would be really easy for you to tell me just one time where God showed up and did something incredible.

Often as you share a testimony like that, you will feel your skin crawl or you’ll start crying because you remember how it felt when God showed up.
Family, that's the anointing. That's the power of God. That's him, empowering you to speak it, to share it, to encourage and build up somebody else.

My question to you this morning is what if God gave you more of that, what would you do with it? Would you bottle it all up or would you tell it? With tears running down your face and hands trembling, would you passionately tell somebody about what Jesus has done?

And do you want to know why it's so important? In Isaiah chapter 10, Isaiah is prophesied to the people that God was once again going to recover the remnant of Israel, that they would return, and God would be their God.

Isaiah 10:27
And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the anointing.

I know some translations say the word fat, but the word in Hebrew is shehmen and it is the same exact word the Bible uses to describe the anointing oil and the Holy Spirit himself.

Some of you in this room right now, the reason you're saved is because someone was speaking to you under the anointing of the Holy Spirit to the point where you realized your need of Jesus, and that anointing broke the yoke of sin and death in your life as you said yes to him. You realized in that moment that you were made for more than sin and shame and darkness. Not only your life, but your eternity will never be the same.

I want you to know that God wants to do the same thing with you that he did with the person that shared it with you to begin with. He wants you to become the person, who, under the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, speaks life over people so that the anointing breaks the yoke of sin and death off of them.
- He wants you to give that word of encouragement,
- He wants you to call out that weak spot in them so you can help them fix it,
- He wants you to lay hands and pray healing into their body,
- He wants you to curse rejection and fear and anxiety in them.

- I know you might feel in adequate.
- I know you might not think that you have the qualifications to do any of this.
- I know you might get in front of that person and get so confused that you just look at them and say, "Jesus good, sin bad.”

But God has used liars, murderers, adulterer, deniers, terrorists, and even a donkey to speak. He can use you! And don't forget, it ain't you! It's the anointing! Aren’t you glad God using you isn’t dependent on your perfection!?!?!

What would you do if God gave you more anointing?
Can I lovingly ask you what you're doing with the anointing he's already given you?

Let me give you a little bit of homework this week:
- Make it a point that every single week you share with just one person something God has done in you or for you.
- And for extra credit, when you do, tell us about it in the Facebook family feed.

3. What would you do if God gave you the desire of your heart?
I'm not sure if anybody told you this whenever they were sharing the gospel with you, but Christianity is all about service and sacrifice, not self.

Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Matthew 20:26
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant

1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

But the Bible also clearly talks about how God will give us our hearts desire. Namely Psalm 37:3-4
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

I have learned in over 40 years of being a Christian is that my heart is fickle, deceitful, but the closer I get to him, the more my heart changes
to where it stops wanting what it wants and begins desiring what God wants.

So let me ask again:
What would you do if God gave you the desire of your heart? Perhaps you would still want 10 acres, a barndominium, and some chickens.

What do you think desire of God's heart is for you?
Do you think there's more in his heart than for you to be comfortable and cared for? Is there something greater, more meaningful, more eternally impactful, than peace, prosperity, and safety?

Do you know what your purpose is? Do you know why God put you on this earth? Do you know why you are breathing air right now in this moment? If you do, are you doing it? Because if that desire benefits the Kingdom, God will do it.

If you don't, then let me ask you a question for you to chew on this week:
If money was no object and you were guaranteed success, what would you do for the kingdom of God?

I'm gonna end here. That question alone is a lot to think about.

Jabez prayed for God to enlarge his territory, to expand the borders of his tent. If God gave you more room in your tent, would you absorb the extra space? Or would you do something more eternal?
- Like make room for more people in the kingdom?
- Like invite people in to share your testimony?
- Like using your gifts, talents, and abilities to bless others?
- Like allowing God to take your life story and, by the anointing, break the yoke off of others?

I don't know what you would do with more influence, with more power, or if God gave you the desires of your heart. But maybe today you have not realized any of these because you need to make some changes, some commitments.

Maybe your influence hasn't grown because your character and spiritual development haven't. That's OK. We can start today! In fact, sign ups are open for Meetups. Grow spiritually with alpha. Ask those tough ones in the Questions meetup. Jump into a DGroup.

Maybe you're not walking in the power and anointing of God Almighty, and you want to. Choose to be led by the Holy Spirit. Trusting in his power, not your ability. You need to take the first step today and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you haven't been able to achieve your heart desire because God is wanting to refocus those desires. The only way I know how to respond here is to simply give him your entire life. Your hopes, dreams, expectations, all of it.

What do you need to do today?
Do you need to make a decision today to start or to get serious about your spiritual development?
Do you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit or make the choice to be led by him?
Do you need to go all in with God to truly begin living for him?

You're gonna have an opportunity to respond right now.
Let's pray.

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

How does he want you to respond?