It’s Not About You
Pastor Carolyn J. Blue
Zechariah 4: 1-7
KJV
And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
NLT
1 Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep
2 “What do you see now?” he asked.
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks.
3 And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.”
4 Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?”
5 “Don’t you know?” the angel asked.
“No, my lord,” I replied.
6 Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’[a]”
It’s Not About You!
According to our good friend Google, when someone uses the term “it’s not about you,” they typically mean that the situation or context of the situation that’s being discussed shouldn’t be taken personally or that the focus should shift away from you.
It’s a way to redirect your focus and encourage a more inclusive or objective mindset.
So today, we are going to shift our mindsets off of us, and focus on Jesus Christ and the finished works that He did! Because it’s not about you!!
Look at your neighbor and say, It’s Not About You!!!
Rick Warren a well renowned author of the book a The Purpose Driven Life stated that God is always more interested in why you’re doing what you’re doing than He is in what you’re actually doing.
He cares about the motivations of your heart. Why you’re doing something always determines how long you’re going to do it.
If you’re motivated by selfish ambition, that will never be good enough. You’ll eventually get discouraged and quit.
He says but when you’re motivated to do something because of how it advances the Gospel and glorifies Jesus, you will have the encouragement you need to see it through.
It’s Not About You!
In this walk that we are on, sometimes God has to remind us that it’s not about us!
Yes, you may be operating fully in your gifts and people are being saved, delivered and set free! You are experiencing miracles, signs, and wonders!
But today I came to serve notice that it’s not about you!
Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ who is the Author and Finisher of your faith!
If we don’t keep our eyes on Jesus, we can easily over a period of time think that it is all about us and that we are the ones making this happen or making that happen. But it’s not about you.
In our lesson today we see that the Bible says that the same angel that came to Zachariah before visits him again. And the word says that he woke Zachariah up as though he was in a sudden sleep. It was like he startled him.
The scripture says that the angel asked him to tell him “What did he see this time?”
And Zechariah answered that he saw a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. And he said around the bowl he saw seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks, and two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.”
Zechariah saw the vision but didn’t understand what it meant. What he saw was simple but unusual – a lampstand with lamps supplied with oil directly through pipes coming from two olive trees.
It was unusual to him because it wasn’t about him!
Zechariah saw something that was never in the temple – The two olive trees that supplied the seven lamps with oil through seven pipes.
In this vision, he saw “self-filling” lamps that fed directly from two olive trees.
In other words he saw a continuous flow!!!
This vision piqued his curiosity and led Zechariah to ask the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?” which in the fifth verse causes the angel to question him again and ask him “Don’t you know?” But he didn’t know!
It’s Not About You!
The angel made sure that Zechariah knew that he must come to understand the meaning of this vision.
Then he said to Zechariah, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Zerubbabel was the civic leader of Jerusalem and had the responsibility to finish the work of rebuilding the temple. The work had stalled, and Zerubbabel needed encouragement to carry on the work.
Is there anyone here today that’s been working on a project and it seems like you are in a place that you haven’t been able to complete it and could use some encouragement on today?!
I stopped by to tell you that it’s not about you!!! Go ahead and finish the task because you are holding someone else up. It’s not about you.
God spoke to Zerubbabel earlier about the issue of purity.
But how many of you know that purity alone is not enough to accomplish the work of God – the work of God also needs resources, and not the resources of human might or power.
Might focuses on collective strength, the resources of a group or army.
Power focuses on individual strength. God says, “not by the resources of many or one, but by My Spirit.
The most important resource for God’s work is the Holy Spirit and God promised Zerubbabel a rich resource in the Spirit of God to accomplish His work.
It’s Not About You!
When we trust in our own resources – whether they be small or great in the eyes of man – then we don’t enjoy the full supply of the Spirit.
When the work is done through human might or power, we can take credit for it, but when the work is done by the continual supply of the Spirit, then it is all of grace and to God’s glory.
Remember: It will not be by your cleverness, your ability, or your physical strength that the temple will be rebuilt, but by the Spirit of God.”
God wanted Zerubbabel to know that the Holy Spirit would continually supply his need, just as the oil trees in the vision continually supplied oil to the lamps on the lampstand.
And just as He wanted Zerubbabel to know this, He wants you to give you a continuous supply of everything you need. He wants to give you a continuous flow of the anointing for everything that you need to accomplish.
God wants His supply and your reliance on the Holy Spirit to be continuous flow.
God is saying to you today that He the Holy Spirit will give you a continuous flow of His oil for everything you need on this journey.
He says Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, would stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it would become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel set the final stone of the Temple in place, the people would shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!
We see that the work of rebuilding the temple was so massive that it seemed like a great mountain. But God promised that by His Spirit, that the great mountain would be leveled into a plain.
God assured Zerubbabel that not only would the work be finished, but Zerubbabel – himself– would finish it, setting the capstone and declaring that it is all a work of grace.
God has no respect of persons and He will do the same for you at Greater Praise Tabernacle! God will do the same for you Solid Rock Ministries!
You will finish the work that has to be finished but it will not be by power nor by might! It will be a continuous flow of His Spirit!!!
All you have to remember is that it’s not about you!!!
F ollow His Word
L et Your Light Shine
O il Will Continue
W atch God Move