I've changed and it's all Gods Fault!
There are a lot of people in the world today with a lot of problems… We see everything from people wanting to join radical groups...to new sub groups of Young people known as the millennial's trying to rewrite history and the Constitution on a daily basis!
And the results are… No respect for one's self… And lack of respect
for anyone else…not the police, not the church, virtually no respect for anything!
Just as the greatest generation was shaped by what technology was available and what their parents told them…as the baby boomer generation was shaped by their era...This generation has been shaped by their parents, Technology and the culture that they live in...
All the generations that is ever been born to this world… Have shared at least two, denominators.
1. They all needed to have God in their lives and a personal relationship with his son Jesus.
2. They were all plagued by sin and the accuser… And have been bombarded nonstop by the accuser on a daily basis…with every angle and possibility for their demise.
And the same conclusion has been uttered by many over the years…
There has to be some change take place…Or were all going to be in trouble
This world's going to hell in a handbasket!
They said it in the 20s, they said it about the hippies in the 60's, about generation X and now about the millennial's… And should the Lord tary, they will probably said about the next-generation as well.
We need to get back to the basics… A love for and a dependency on God!
Because that alone… Has been the overcoming factor to every attempt
that the accuser has ever made against society.
The change that takes place in a life filled with Gods goodness...
is one that transforms from the inside, starting with the heart.
Little by little like the transformation of a butterfly...God gentle molds you into the person you were always meant to be. The miracle takes place and its a beautiful thing and even more so...when you realize you had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Romans 12:1-2 MSG.
1-2. So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
3. I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
So many people go through life, thinking its all about what they can do or say themselves, to affect the outcome in the situations of their life....And then,
when things seem like there taking to long to happen, they become discouraged.
Discouragement… Is ones of the greatest tools that the accuser has
in his bag of tricks!
It's a generational thing…
Mama was discouraged,
mamas mama was discouraged,
That's why I'm discouraged…
Mama always said there would be days like today...
Repetitive words and phrases just like those, as innocent as they seem...
have ensnared, trapped and condemned people for generations!
A lot of people today don’t realize that the reason they’re not happy...
the reason they’re not enjoying life is...because they’ve been taught
for generations....to have their mindset be that of the World!
The Apostle Paul had it right when he said;
God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating,
going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
So often, we say don’t put God in a box!
In retrospect...most Christians are really the ones...who are in the box.
Gods not the one in the box...we are
Because we know in the box...it seems safe and we can or at least
we think we can...control what happens in our life by what we think is safe.
When we do that what we really do...is limit what God can and wants to do in our circumstances,
We basically tie His hands and then we wonder why its taking so long in our lives...for things to happen and when they don't happen on our timetable...
we then somehow end up blaming Him when they don't!
That’s really some crazy thinking, wouldn’t you agree?
Like that is going to get us where we should be in our relationship with God...
it's times like that we should grateful for His Unmerited Grace...
because when we deserve it the least..
He still gives it to us!
So many of us, go through life on auto-pilot...Even when things don’t happen like we think they should...we still just keep thinking subconsciously that there has to be something else that I can do and we say or think to ourselves...
If I just keep trying..I’ll come up with something...there just has to be a way!
And little by little discouragement, doubt and defeat creeps in...and those negatives become a standard way of living and cheat you out of every blessing that God has for you!
Its called mediocrity and once it slips in...so does the mindset of "I guess that's just the way it is." You know momma told me...there would be days like this!
God doesn’t want you to have a negative mindset...He wants you to be positive
about your life and your situation! Living life shut up on the inside the box...
with nothing but the worlds influence all around..will beat you down Continually,
We need to start living life outside the box...with maximum exposure
to the benefits and blessings of God and what He wants to do for us!
Jerm. 29:11 HCSB.
11. For I know the plans I have for you”— this is the LORD’s declaration—“ plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
While there are many verses that will encourage you when discouragement rears its ugly head...this one throws it right smack dab back in his face...
I would encourage you to memorize this one and remind the accuser as often as needed of the powerful message it exudes!! Weekly..Daily..Hourly...
even sometimes on a moment by moment basis if needed.
Praise God for His declarations...because just like His mercies, I believe they are new for us, each and everyday!
Praise the Lord, Thank You Jesus, Great is Your Faithfulness!!!
TBS. When you fix your attention on God’s Grace and what He can do in your life,
Instead of what your capable of, you'll be changed from the inside out, which is something only God can do!
Matt. 11:28-30 MSG.
28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
His yoke is easy, His burden is light...
We are the ones who make it difficult...
TBS. to Readily recognize what he wants from you...and quickly respond to it.
Make God and what He wants for you..your first choice in every situation in your life,
Realize that there are things you have to let go of... Even some things that bring give you comfort... Those things were never designed to comfort you, they were designed to bring you down and eventually harm you...
God can take care of all those things… If you have some faith and just
let God do what He does best...Things that you could never do in the natural
but God can do them easily in the supernatural realm from the inside out..in your life.
Pretty soon your attitude will go from can’t do anything..to can do everything
and it won’t be from your doing...but what God has done on the inside of you first,
By the time that you become aware of it on the outside..He will have already
woven it into the fabric of your soul...and will have made a lifelong difference in your life..something lasting and permanent instead of something only temporary that would just fade away!
TBS. The only way to truly understand ourselves....is by what God is and by what he does for us on a continual basis...not by what we are and what we do for him.
No one shows that better than the apostle Paul... Once a terrorist in a murder
to the disciples in the followers of Jesus all in the name of religion.
Paul was a very powerful Pharisee...The religious man of his day, capable of doing anything he wanted, to anyone he wanted, anytime he wanted...
He did not think he needed any changing, he had been taught at a very young age and all through his life… What, how and why to think what he thought about religion.
As far as the rules, he knew them all and he knew everything there was
to know about them...until one day he realized he didn't know anything
about the One whom he thought he knew everything about.
It was that day that Jesus got a hold of him… And Paul never let go.
From that moment on it became about what Jesus could do through Paul...
instead of what Paul could do on his own.
Paul once said that he was the chief of all sinners...but the grace of God
took a willing vessel and changed him from the inside out.
And the rest of the story is even more amazing… Paul went on to bring the story of the Amazing Gospel and Grace of Jesus to the Gentiles that we still enjoyed today.
He went on to write nearly 2/3 of the New Testament, started churches everywhere and fulfilled the great commission that Jesus gave to all… And that is to go into all the world and preach the gospel...what he preached is still reaching the world.
"I think Paul's legacy is above all the story of his life"
It's a story about a bad man turned around for good through grace
Only God could have turned a life around like He did Paul's.
And the same can be said of All our lives...all of us each one changed
from the inside out, when we are willing to let God be God in our lives! Amen??
TBS. “The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is
and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”
God did an amazing work in the apostle Paul's life...As a result countless thousands upon hundreds of thousands and millions of lives have been affected for the kingdom of God.
All made possible by the Grace and Unmerited Favor...extended
and freely given to all of us...by Jesus finished work on the cross.
Romans 1:16-17 MSG.
16-17. It's news I'm most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God's powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God's way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: "The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives."
The Apostle Paul had many great things happen in his life...even his worst critics
would have defined him as successful.
But he never experienced true success and the life changing forgiveness he sought...until he put his trust in Jesus and let Him change him
from the inside out! Amen?
Do you Know Him today, or do you just no about Him?
I would pray, that you would get to know Him intimently and give Him
free reign to start the work in your life...from the inside out.
As I heard Ann Graham, Billy Graham's daughter refer to her own life
and relationship with God..."always Under Construction"
The same should be our motto.
Eph. 1:15-19 MSG.
15-19. That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!
What is God calling you to do for the kingdom?
God is not a respecter of persons...Paul did amazing things
for the Kingdom of God and what an amazing redemption story his was.
He was no different than you or I...
he just said yes to the work that God had for him.
Say yes to the Lord today and He will do miraculous things in your life too...
He will take you places you never dreamed of and amaze not only you...
but everyone around you..when you do!
When God calls you to do something and its outside your comfort level...just trust Him and remember..if He has called you to do it...then rest assured He has already Provided the Provisions to accomplish the task He has called you to do!
Amen?
Let's pray
