Study Notes

I.      Jesus says being hooked to Him is easy; “Life is hard was never God’s plan.”-Matt11:28-30

A.    Genesis 3:17-19-This sorrow-pain, toil, hardship entered in after mankind fell and hardness and heaviness and sorrow wasn’t in God’s original plan

1.       Life just got hard for man; the ease that was present before the fall has lifted

a.      Genesis 2:8,16-Before the fall there was an ease on their lives; even though they had work to do, to dress and keep the Garden and expand it, nothing was toilsome and hard and heavy

2.       Deut28:65,Gal3:13-You shall find no ease; part of the curse that you’ve been redeemed from; KJ-And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest

3.       Psalm 25:12-13-God’s interested in injecting ease back into the life of people who will look to him and do what he says; (What man is he that fears the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.)

B.     Jesus bore the hard, toilsome, uneasy life for you

1.       Thorns are representative of a hard graceless life; working in your own effort-Gen3:19

2.       Jesus had thorns on his head showing you I’m baring this hard, graceless, works-filled life for you so that you can live a life full of grace and ease-John 19:5

II.     ***Grace is the entity that brings ease to your life-Matthew 11:28-30***

A.    When you’re talking about God’s grace being on you you’re talking about his strength, his power, his ability empowering you and enabling you to do what you couldn’t do, making what was hard for you easy

1.       2 Corinthians 12:9-My grace is sufficient-possessed with unfailing strength

2.       1Cor15:10-But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

B.     ***There’s enough grace in God to make even the hardest stuff easy***

1.       Genesis 18:14-There’s nothing too hard for him; everything is easy to God and when His grace comes on you hard stuff gets easy

2.       We’ve looked at like with God’s grace we can struggle through, but not so

a.      Grace (isn’t just the forgiveness of your sin) is the empowerment to experience sweatless victory

3.       God’s able to make all grace abound towards you-2 Corinthians 9:8

a.      With all of God’s grace abounding towards you, whatever you’re facing immediately becomes easy

C.    Jesus, even in the most difficult times of his life, there was an ease with Him it is because he was full of grace-John 1:15

1.       John 8:51-He’s surrounded by people who want to kill him, and ease was there

2.       John 8:1-They asked him a tough question and there was an ease there

3.       Matthew 14:14-Thousands of people need to be fed and there was an ease there

D.    The grace that was on Jesus and produced this ease in his life is available to you and me today-1 Corinthians 16:23

III.   When life has become hard it’s because you’re trying to get something done in your own effort (Take my yoke upon you means hook to me because you’re not)-Matthew 11:27

A.    Jesus is calling those for whom life has become hard; those who have been laboring with wearisome effort to get something done in their own ability, power-Mt11:27

1.       The very people he is addressing are ones who aren’t hooked to him and trying to work things up in their own effort (Define: Labor and Heavy Laden)

B.     When stuff is hard and you’re tired and laboring, there’s a lack of grace

1.       If this life is hard, you aren’t doing it right

2.       Faith among many things is rest and if you really are in faith then you are resting

C.    He is grace and when he says get hooked to him you’re getting hooked up to grace himself an you’re going to find that an ease comes on your life-John1:14, Heb10:29, 1Pet2:3

1.       People get tired and weary because rather than looking to God and yielding to what he says (humility and meekness) there trying to do things in their own power

2.       I’m convinced many Christians are trying to live without being hooked to him; they aren’t looking to him and yielding to him

3.       It’s pride to think you can pull it alone

IV.   Meekness and humility are the two ingredients that will tap God’s grace and produce an ease on your life (Humility looks to him, meekness yields to Him)

A.    Jesus said to find this rest, to find this ease, to find this free and light life, to find this grace you need to 1) Come to him 2) Join to him 3) Learn meekness and humility

B.     ***Grace will be lacking where meekness and humility are not present***

1.       How did this hard life, this hardship enter into the life of man? It was result of Adam’s not being meek and not being humble-Humility looks to God, meekness yields to him

a.      When meekness and humility are removed grace is lifted and life will be hard

2.       A life of looking and yielding will be one full of grace and ease

a.      There’s nothing to yield to if you don’t look so why aren’t we looking more? PRIDE

C.    ***To walk in humility you need to get hooked with reality (2 Corinthians 12:6)***

1.       People who in pride are in deception because they have an untrue estimation of themselves (Obadiah 3-The pride of your heart has deceived you)

a.      Pride has to do over estimating yourself, your abilities; you believe something about yourself that is not true; you’re deceived-Proverbs6:17-AMP

2.       Humility centers on reality; Four “in-me” realities; not trying to be humble, just reality

a.      In yourself you are nothing-Galatians 6:3; In Him you are something-1Jn4:17

b.      In yourself you know nothing-1 Cor 8:2; In Him you know all things-1 John 2:20

c.      In yourself you have nothing-1 Cori 4:7; In Him you have all things that -2 Peter 1:4

d.      In yourself you can do nothing-John 15:5; In Him you can do all things-Phili 4:13

3.       Humility requires God in all that it does because it has a revelation of reality and it’s this: I can do nothing of myself-Jn5:19,30,8:28

a.      Humility recognizes its inadequacy apart from God & its total dependency upon God

b.      Jesus walked in humility because he had a revelation of reality and he knew that he could do nothing of himself and he was totally dependent on God

c.      Not only had Jesus learned to yield to the Spirit, he knew how dependent He was upon Him

4.       Pride doesn’t recognize it’s need for God; Pride believes it is self-sufficient

D.    ***Eyes that are lifted reveal humility of heart and those same lifted eyes will always see grace being poured down-1 Peter 5:5, Matthew 14:19, John 11:41***

1.       Humility keeps you looking to God because it knows “I can do nothing of myself”

a.      You never see Jesus trying to work anything up in his own effort that’s pride; All you see the master doing he is looking to the Father and doing what he says

b.      How humble you are is not determined by how humble you say you are, but it’s determined by how dependent you are on God and how much you look to Him

c.      Humility is measured in how much you are looking to Him

2.       People aren’t looking to him because they lack humility and that’s why there’s no grace and that’s why their lives are so hard

a.      The more you recognize your dependence on God, the more you’ll look to him and the more you look to Him the greater grace you’ll have on your life

b.      The humble get the grace because they seek the grace and grace makes it easy

3.       2 Corinthians 12,11:27-He had a thorn in is flesh, life had become hard, and there is a lack of grace; He took the care of the churches, his in pride, his eyes weren’t lifted in regards to that; when meekness and humility are lacking grace will be missing; He’s trying to carry something that he can’t carry

4.       Moses was the meekest man of his generation and he had the greatest grace on his life and was the most used man of his generation-Numbers 12:3

a.      1 Peter 5:5-The proud get resisted, but the humble get the grace

b.      Your grace/your anointing can’t be any greater than your humility

c.      Your grace/your anointing will be capped by your humility

d.      The cap on your grace/anointing is your humility

e.      Just how much will you look up? it will determine the amount of grace you see

E.     Humility looks to Him and meekness yields to him; Humility is I have to see and hear first or I can do nothing, meekness is doing it and these characteristics added and ease to his life; Jesus lived an unforced life-Matthew 11:28 MSG

1.       When you begin to live a life where you so dependent on God that you look to Him before you do are say anything and then do what He says, you will tap His grace in such a way that you’ll experience a supernatural ease, in the midst of the hardest situations

2.       Jesus simply heard and spoke and saw and did and then the Father would work through and great things would happen; these are the unforced rhythms of grace

V.    Jesus’ease

A.    Matthew 4:1-4-He faces a situations where he has to resist temptation

B.     Matthew 4:23-25-He faces a situation where he has to preach on the gospel of the Kingdom, then he has to heal the sick, then he has to cast out devils

C.    Matthew 5:2-He faces a situations where he has to teach the word

1.       Matthew 7:28-He taught with such grace that people were left astonished

D.    Matthew 8:2-3-He faces a situation where a leper questions his will being healing

1.       He’s been lying on hands, but this is a leper; do I touch him?

E.     Matthew 8:5-7-Now he faces the centurion’s servant

F.     Matthew 8:14-He faces Peter’s mother-in-law being sick (somebody he’s close to)

G.   Matthew 8:16-Now they bring him a bunch of demon possessed people

H.    Matthew 8:19-Now he faces someone following him having to lead them

I.      Matthew 8:24-He gets in the boat and faces a storm of hurricane proportions

J.     Matthew 8:28-He gets over the water and gets out of the boat and faces two of the meanest most demon possessed guys anybody had ever seen

K.     Matthew 8:34-Now he preached the world, healed the sick, cast devils out of people and the whole town wants him to leave

L.     Matthew 9:4-Now he’s being questioned by the experts

M.  Matthew 9:18-Now he’s faced with a dead person (This is a loaded situation)

N.    Matthew 9:27-Then two blind guys followed him and wanted to be healed

O.   Matthew 9:32-Now he’s faced with those two blind guys brining him a dumb guy who can’t talk and his demon possessed and everybody is watching

P.     Matthew 9:33-34-Now he’s faced with one group of people that would die for him and he has to not get into pride and he’s faced with another group of people that want to kill him for doing good works and he has to not get in strife with them

Q.   Matthew 9:35-Now he’s faced with teaching and preaching and healing

R.     Matthew 10:1-Now he has to manage and lead a whole team of people

S.     Matthew 11:2-6- John the Baptist, one of his closest friends being offended at him

T.     Matthew 12:1-Now he faces more questioning about the Sabbath and every time they question him his ministry is on the line

U.    Matthew 12:10-He got done with that & the man w/ the withered hand is before him

V.    Matthew 12:22-He is faced with the blind and dumb

W.   Matthew 12:24-He has to stay in love b/c the Pharisees accuse him of having a devil

X.     Mt 12:46-50, Mk 3:21-His friends & family not coming to his meeting thinking he lost it

Y.     Matthew 13:54-Now he goes to his home hometown, preaches the word and they get offended at him and show him no honor

Z.     Matthew 14:13-Now his best friend his brutally murdered and he goes to be alone, but the people father him

AA. Matthew 14:14-Now there’s no food and they are in a deserted place

BB.  Matthew 14:24-Now the ship left so he’s faced with walking on the water

CC.                  Mt 14:34-He’s gets to Gennesartet & they bring him everybody in the town who’s sick

DD. Mt 15:1-3-Now the experts are back to question him & they’re trying to discredit him

EE.   Matthew 15:12-Now he’s got to deal with the fact that he offended somebody

FF.   Matthew 15:22-Now a woman, who is not the seed of Abraham, comes to him b/c her daughter is vexed with a devil & he had to turn her away to be obedient to God

GG.                 Matthew 15:30-Now they bring to him those that can’t walk, those who can’t see, those you can’t talk, and those who are missing body parts and cast them at his feet

HH. Matthew 15:34-Now he wants to feed the multitude but he’s face with the reality that he only has seven loaves and a few fish

II.     Matthew 16:1-Now he’s being tempted by the Pharisees to show them a sign

JJ.   Matthew 16:22-He knows he’s going to the cross, his soul is having to deal with all that’s going to take place there, and then one on his own team is trying to get him to feel sorry for himself and not do what the Father said

KK.  Matthew 17:15-Now he faces the Father who’s son is vexed with a devil

LL.   Matthew 17:17-Now he has to deal with the fact that after all he’s taught the disciples they still aren’t walking in it the way he wants

MM.               Matthew 17:27-Now he’s faced having to pay taxes

NN. Matthew 19:3-The experts are back to tempt him about divorce

OO.                 Matthew 20:31-Now he faces 2 more blind men & everybody is watching again

PP.  Matthew 21:12-Jesus goes in the temple & finds them doing unrighteous things there

QQ.                 Matthew 21:14-15-Shortly after the blind and lame come to Jesus and get healed and it made the Christians mad

RR.  Matthew 21:23-He’s preaching the word and get’s interrupted to be questioned

SS.   Matthew 22:15-They are trying to catch him in a lie and get him to say the wrong thing  (V22-They marveled at him)

TT.   Matthew 22:23-First the Pharisees and no the Sadducees

UU. Matthew 22:34-Now the Pharisees and Sadducees joined together

VV. Mathew 26:9-The woman with the Alabaster box sows it into Jesus and now he has to deal with the disciples who are so “holy”

WW.                Matthew 26:33-Now he has to deal with Peter telling him he’s wrong again

XX.  Matthew 26:36-Now he’s under extreme pressure about going to the cross; he’s experiencing extreme mental pressure he’s sweating blood and he’s got to resist

YY.   Matthew 26:41-At the most difficult time in his life he asked his own team to pray with him and his own team couldn’t be counted on

ZZ.   Matthew 26:53-Now he has to deal with fact that he has the power to stop this at any moment and not use it

AAA.               Matthew 26:67-The spit in his face, hit him, mocked him