Not just another make over!
As I was thinking about what I was going to speak on this week, I thought about a lot of things.
But clarity for me from God, didn’t all finally come together until late Saturday afternoon.
You see, I have been re-doing this little convertible, it’s a 66 Rambler American with very cherry red metallic paint,
At least it is now, as you might have guessed it, I changed the color along with several other things,
Like the top, the carpet, the wheels, the rims, the radio and well you name it, the list continues to grow.
I went to see it, after it has been at the body shop, lets see…I guess its been about 2 months now, to see the new paint job.
And all I can say is wow! It is going to be so nice when it is finished!
But while I was admiring the new paint job, I couldn’t help but notice now…
That the seats don’t look quite as good as they did before, now that it has been painted
And the rest of the interior now just doesn’t do justice to the new look I’m trying to achieve,
The old saying is, with enough time and money, anything is possible…but I can say, I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel
and it will be finished soon and it will be very nice,
however, even with all the new things and the new look,
Its still going to be an old car, only with a new look.
now don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to have it and be fortunate to redo it,
And I have been asked many times already, how much and would I like to sell it
But it still will never be new again, like it was in 1966.
And I say all this, because on the way home I was in that secret place,
You know the private moments you acknowledge, reflect and talk to God about your day and how things went,
And you begin to thank Him for the blessings He gives to you and how good He is to you.
And I was thinking how thankful I was for Him to allow me to have the desires of my heart.
You know sometimes, our lives parallel the example of fixing something up,
We all know our strength’s and our weaknesses, and sometimes we like to think,
Our strength’s are enough to see us through in the changing of our weaknesses
that we can take what’s wrong in our lives and change what needs to be changed on our own
and we think that somehow if we try hard enough and don’t give up, that it will happen.
And if by some reason we are able to make progress, it doesn’t take long to realize,
Its just the tip of the iceberg and hard as we may ever try, we will never be able to melt the iceberg on our own,
that’s the same thing the children of Israel thought when they ask Moses for some guides lines to live by,
They thought that if they could keep a few laws and commandments and then everything would be just fine,
You see they were used to everything being just fine, cause God had took care of them for so long,
But the moment they became completely responsible for their own destiny was the moment,
Even though it would take years to realize, that they would never see what God had already prepared for them!
You see God already had a new life waiting for them, not some old fixed up version of life, with a new paint job waiting to be applied
But a brand new life, in a brand new land,
Where there was no need of focusing on trying to do it themselves, cause God was willing to do it all for them.
Thus the covenant of the law was created,
Thus began the “never mind God, I don’t need your help, I can do it on my own way of life”
As we who are Christians, who have a relationship with God, our heavenly Father, ponder what they did for just a moment realize,
What a miserable existence it must have been for them, that they had created for themselves!
Can you imagine thinking, that you could and would be able to keep the ten commandments?
I challenge anyone to name them all, who is in this room right now!
Sure most of society thinks that they are a great guideline to live by, and they are that,
But few can even name them all, let alone keep them all.
And there are over 600 other laws the Children of Israel were expected to keep as well,
Its no wonder they wondered around for 40 years and still never made it to the promised land,
And when the 12 spies came back, from scoping out the land,
The majority of the people said they couldn’t go in and possess the land, and guess what, those people never did possess it either.
What God had prepared for them to simply walk into, now they couldn’t even walk in on their own because they knew, they weren’t capable of doing it on their own.
They could have had it all and trusted God, who was willing to do it all for them.
But instead chose to trust in themselves and ended up with nothing.
He knew they had problems in their lives, as He knows we all do, but He wasn’t just interested in doing some bodywork and cosmetic work in their situation,
It wasn’t about changing out a couple of worn out parts, throwing on some new tires and changing the color with a new paint job in their lives.
He wanted to give them a brand new start, in a brand new life, in a brand new land he had prepared for them.
A land that had fields already cleared, with abundant crops already planted waiting to be harvested, with houses already built ready for occupancy, none of which they had done to deserve.
It was and is called the “promised land”
A land that was a mere 2 week or so journey form Egypt, that the majority of the people walked around many times, but never made it too!
How sad!
I'll tell you what is sad, He is still willing to do the same thing today, for who-so-ever will believe on the name of His one and only Son Jesus, and still has few takers, or participants that want to inhabit the promise land.
He has made the way and
Grace is what makes it all possible
Gods Redemption At Christ Expense!
Once again, its not about what were capable of, but what has already been done for us and has been provided for us!
But still the same mindset, is still running rampant all over the world today!
With so much at stake, it makes you wonder why?
Duet. 28:1-10 MSG.
1-6. If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:
God’s blessing inside the city,
God’s blessing in the country;
God’s blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God’s blessing in your coming in,
God’s blessing in your going out.
7. God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.
8. God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
9. God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.
10. All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.
God knew all the blessings He had in store for those who would trust and Believe and obey Him for them.
That’s why He listed them for everyone to see them, that’s also why in the second half of this chapter He explained what would happen if you didn’t obey,
If you broke just one commandment, or failed to keep even one law, you were guilty of breaking all of them.
And you see, Gods nature is to give, to bless His Children, to take care of us….not for us to try to do things on our own.
that’s why He sent Jesus to redeem us from the law of sin and certain death.
Because He knew Jesus was the only one who would ever be capable of Keeping all the laws that had been set in place,
and would ever unlock all the goodness and blessings He had been longing to give to all His children.
that’s why the scripture in
1st John 4:13-16 MSG. has so much significance to our Christian walk, or at least it should!
13-16. This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.
1st John 4:17 NKJ
17. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
as He is, so are we in this world.
He is the only one who ever kept the law and because He did, He enjoys all the blessings that God has to offer,
And because of our intimate relationship with Him, He is the one who qualifies us to be partakers of the same things He enjoys
as He is, so are we in this world!, those words, that god inspired the author to write for us to enjoy, are a direct promise to us!
They ought to make all of us, want to jump up and down and shout it from the rooftops,
Jesus is Lord and I have what He has,
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Ephesians 1:3-10 NKJ.
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6. to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8. which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9. having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
10. that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
as He is, so are we in this world!
2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJ
17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
We who believe, are not just some reconditioned, made over version of ourselves, because if we were, that would still be about us, only with a new paint job.
No that’s not what the scripture says, TBS.
“if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
isn’t it about time we lay hold of what God has had for us long enough and quit wondering around in the desert of life,
Only dreaming about the promised land, isn't it time to finally go in and possess all that he has prepared for us.
How many more paint jobs will God have to put on your house, or for whatever it is He has in store, waiting for you,
before you are ready to possess it, to go in and inhabit it,
maybe you cant see yourself doing that, guess what, its never been about you doing anything on your own anyway,
its only made possible in the first place, by the faith it requires in His ability alone, to provide it for you?
I’ll close with this story;
"You are familiar with Albrecht Durer’s famous painting "The Praying Hands," but do you know the story behind it?
The painting was inspired by the sacrificial, loving acts of a friend.
Durer and an older friend were struggling to make a go of it, as artists.
Recognizing Durer’s talent, the older man took a job to provide for both of them until Durer could complete his art studies.
The work was labor intense, but he did it gladly for his friend.
Finally, Durer made a sale and the money was enough to care for both of them for several months.
Now his older friend could resume his painting, but the older man’s hands had become so stiff from the hard labor that he was unable to paint anymore.
One day when Durer returned home, he found his friend in prayer, his work-worn hands folded reverently.
And Durer painted a picture of these hands, capturing them for ages to come as a memorial to the love and sacrifice of his older friend."
I would tell you though this morning, that No ones hands, have worked harder, or taken more abuse for others, then the hands of Jesus,
His nail scared hands serve as a constant reminder of what He did for all of us on the cross,
When he willingly laid down His life for all mankind,
So that whosoever would believe, would not perish, but would have eternal life.
And that one benefit alone, would have been enough reward and is amazing in and of itself.
But the overpayment, of the debt of sin the whole world owed,
entitled us not only to eternity, but also to everything else in heaven and on earth, that He has available to Him as well! Praise God!
That’s how much God loves you this morning,
He didn’t just want to make part of the blessing He has available for you,
He wanted to make it all available to you and for you.
Do you believe what His word has spoken to you this morning?
Do you believe you can do, what it says you can do?
For you see, once you believe those things and put them to practice in your life, you will never be the same again.
Amen? amen!
Do you receive it this morning, I trust you do?
Lets pray!
