All In Favor? Say I
Ephesians 1:3
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,
That's gods plan for you..all of them..every spiritual blessing
Every one of them? Thats what the word says
and TBS. Gods word never returns void
Eye hath not seen, ear has not heard, nor entered into the heart of man..
what God has in store for those that Love Him..do you Love Him this morning?
All of them? Why do you think that is
It's above all we could ask..
All because of Gods Amazing Grace, that dwells within us
Vs. 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,
That's His plan and it's a good plan..a heavenly plan..every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
No mention of hell..no mention of fear..
No mention of darkness..there not in the mix
Vs. 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,
Gods plan is good..it's a great plan
It's a grand plan..full of blessings woven into every bit of it!
with no mention otherwise of anything but..His good pleasure which He wants for His children. Amen?
Good and plenty..ever had that candy?
Can you think of a better description that describes Gods plan for your life
Church..God is Love and Love makes no bad plans..there is no darkness in the Plan that God has..no death..nothing but good! Amen?
What is in Him? nothing but Grace..nothing but plans full of love and grace
And this has been His plan from day one..from the beginning
Before Adam..
Before the Devil..
Before the first sin was committed..
And He knew us..even then He knew us
He has known us..from the beginning
By our name, by our image..by our Very own fingerprints
Even then.. He saw you blessed and prosperous..because He saw you full of His Grace and favor
And He still sees you the same way..nothing has ever changed His plan for your life
With God in your life..
It's still the skies the limit for you..no matter what you've done
Or how old you are Amen?
Praise God..for the Grace and the blood of Jesus that continues to cleanse us
and make us worthy of the plans He has for us in our life
Vs. 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
His Good pleasure?
Pleasure define:
: a feeling of happiness, enjoyment, or satisfactions : a pleasant or pleasing feeling
: activity that is done for enjoyment
: something or someone that causes a feeling of happiness, enjoyment, or satisfaction
But it doesn't just say pleasure..it says good pleasure
Like more than pleasureable
Not just enjoyable..but really enjoyable
Philippians 2:13 MSG
12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
Psalm 35:27,28 NKJ
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.
Who wouldn't want to shout about the Goodness of God..
Working in, over and through your life..??
That's Gods Good pleasure..His pleasure is to prosper you and me!
It's a prosperous plan..
It's a Healing plan..
It's a redemption plan..
It's an eternal life plan..
It's a grand plan..
It's a glorious plan..
It's an awesome plan..full of life..
the abundant best kind of life plan..
It's His best plan..and it's designed especially for you
Child of God..you are a part of His plan..
Somebody ought to be shouting up in this place!
Those who favor His righteous cause?
What is His righteous cause in your life?
That is His plan for your life
That's His cause..
Cause it's His plan
Jesus went to the cross..that's His cause
He went to carry out your plan that God made you! Amen??
Not many people say it.. But we ought to all be saying..
I'm in favor of Gods plan for my life..
That sounds like a good plan to me Lord..
Work your plan in my life Lord..
God has good plans in store for me in my life..
And I'm in favor of Him working those plans! Amen??
Whatever He says goes..
He says go, I'll go..
He says jump, I'll jump..
They ain't nothing gonna keep me from receiving Gods plan in my life....
In reality..that is His righteous cause in each one of our lives..
And whatever He says to do..we ought to be about doing it
and getting it done..Amen? Amen?
Ephesians 2:1-4 NKJ
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
That's where we were… us and our filthy righteous rags
But thank God Almighty..He had a plan!
And it was bigger than all that..
No matter what we have done in our lives..
it was and is bigger than all that..
WHATEVER that is! Amen?
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Why did The Lord go to all this trouble?
Because He loves us..and wanted to re-establish a relationship with us..
and this is His plan for redemption
Vs. 7 that in the ages
(notice it says ages..it was His plan for then..
It is for His plan now..and it is for His plan for next year
And the year after that and that and that..and FOREVER!)
That in the ages..to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus
If there ever was a place to say this statement I'm about to say..now would be the time!
Not just for this age..but for ages to come!
Truly..the Best is yet to come..we're just getting started Halleujah!
Vs 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them
Who should walk in them?
We should..this is where you say your name..
You mean this is for me?
Yes..this is for you!
This is where you should be saying..I should..I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared..since the beginning, that we should walk in them
All of this..This grand and Glorious plan..
God has prepared for me to walk in..
To inhabit..
To partake of..
To live and breathe of..FOREVER! Praise GOD!!!
YES...It's your plan..it became your plan when you became a Christian
But if your going to enjoy the benefits of Gods plan..
you still have walk in and believe the plan...
Even the best prepared plan..has to be carried out to come to fruition
How do we carry out Gods plan?
1st John 4:12-16 NKJ
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
We have to..and we need to..realize the "Love that God has for us.."
but equally important.."we need to share the Love of God" that we enjoy with the others who are around us..in our lives
That's what it's all about..the 2 greatest commandments....
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, body and mind and love your neighbor as yourself
Gods Love is what make it all possible
Love that was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice as a guarantor of His plan
coming to fruition.
There is nothing stronger in this world..stronger than the Love of God
Because God is Love..
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
Love is what made it possible for us to have what Jesus has.
because as He is, so are we in this world!
Only Gods Love..
Could love us enough to give an adopted child the very same
Benefits He is willing to give His very own Son.
That's how much value He puts on you and me..
That's HOW MUCH HE LOVES US!!
We have been given so much..
Why aren't we experiencing more of what God has given us?
Illus. A young police officer was taking his final exam for the police academy and he read the following question in the exam paper:
"You are on patrol in the outer city when an explosion occurs in a gas main in a nearby street.
On investigation you find that a large hole has been blown in the footpath and there is an overturned van nearby.
Inside the van there is a strong smell of alcohol. Both occupants—a man and a woman—are injured.
A passing motorist stops to offer you assistance and you realize that he is a man who is wanted for armed robbery.
Suddenly a man runs out of a nearby house, shouting that his wife is expecting a baby and that the shock of the explosion has made the birth imminent.
Another man is crying for help, having been blown in the adjacent canal by the explosion, and he cannot swim.
Describe in a few words what actions you would take."
The young man thought for a moment, picked up his pen and wrote,
“I would take off my uniform and mingle with the crowd.”
Some of us see the Christian life in the same way.
We hear about Gods Love..
We see others experience it..
Yet we just can't seem to let ourselves be totally immersed in it!
It's time to quit standing idly by on the sidelines and start experiencing life on Gods terms..
It's a grand life..
It's a glorious life..
It's the abundant life that He has promised to all
Who are willing to walk in and experience..
God has the most glorious plan for your life..
But He will never be able to work that plan in your life..
Unless you are willing to be part of it..
It's more than just you..this decision involves everyone you know and will ever meet..
Make the decision to let the author and creator of the blueprints of
Your life..
Be the one to finish the project He has already started
He has seen your future..
He has seen the finished project..
And it is good..it is beautiful..
It is nothing short of amazing...
And it's what He has had in mind for you from the beginning! Amen?
Do you receive it?
Do you believe it?
Then apply it to your life and start living your Best Life Now!
Let's pray
Thanks to Kenneth Copeland for the outline of this message
