Going Up - Experiencing something different
Ezra 10 4, Rise up take courage and do it.
Mark 1 - 17
Don’t you want to experience something different in 2016?
Do you want to go up not down?
Well I want to assure you life will be different but I want to tell you you have to choose between up and down – like when you hop into a lift the buttons ask you a question do you want to go up or down. I mean some mechanised lifts say –
“Going up keep back from the closing door.” A lot of people are caught up in the closing door they want to stay in last year in yesterday and living in yesterday will kill you.
One of the most quoted scriptures in recent years has been this one – Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11.For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord – Plans for a future and a hope. We know God has plans but many people choose to remain where they are to not move forward. I know a woman who I met 35 years ago – we met her recently and to our horror she hasn’t moved a step further in her walk with God. She probably thinks that she is still on the ground floor but actually she is now stored in the basement and what she is doing is irrelevant and disasterous all because she chose to not go forward with God.
The thing about Jesus is when he says follow me it always involves staying in his company and that often means continuous movement.
But what Jesus is saying when he calls his disciples is it means immediate detachment from their particular calling. You see you can’t move forward if you are attached. ”you need to detach” – In a very real sense to these fishermen they are being called from being fishers of fish to being fishers of men. In other words they are being called to go up in their calling. So are you..God is calling you up into your calling this year!!
You can’t go up in the elevator if you are still attached to something in the foyer.
When I was a young salesman we sold a very heavy piece of office equipment to Dalgety’s in Invercargill. My assistant salesman at that time was a man called Bruce Von tunzelman and he thought it would be very funny if I was left to carry the trade in machine and he followed me carrying the cord attached to the machine. I lugged this monsterous machine past all the people in the office put it down in the lift and pushed the down button expecting my colleague to follow. As the doors closed – to my horror I saw him grinning still standing in the office holding the attached cord. The office workers looked on with interest. As the elevator moved down my very heavy machine became airborne and dangerous – the cord unwound and the machine went airborne in the lift it crashed into the ceiling and the elevator stalled. The cord like a piece of demented spagetti was sucked into the lift and stopped when the plug would not fit through the gap. When the plug could take the pressure no longer it simply fell off and the Gestetner model 366 smashed to the floor. Eventually the lift returned to where it came from and sat there forlornly opening and shutting it’s doors and would not stop. We left and the bemused workers stared on in disbelief. The moral here is You can’t move on until you have disconnected from the past it will pull you back.
Luke 9:62 But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.
The first key to experiencing something more in 2016 is don’t look back look forward.
This is an enduring Christian message. For example if we consider Lot’s wife - Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at the town of Sodom that God had decided to destroy. Sodom stands for immorality and impurity and ultimately rebellion against God.
Lot’s wife is said to have looked back and commentators say – longingly back at her old life. At the ways of the world. It cost her her life. God was raining down sulphur on the 5 cities and getting out and away was the only option
One source says
Whatever happened to Lot's wife seemed to freeze her in her tracks. She was possibly covered with a sulfurous explosion which included a great quantity of salt. A sulphurous rain of salt and molten sulphur which covered her and froze her in her tracks, leaving a statue of salt behind.
Certainly what is involved here is divine discipline. Her continually looking back and stopping to look back was not one out of wonder and amazement concerning God's judgement of the five cities, but one of longing and desire. Her spiritual life was over and probably had been for some time. The message is don’t look back. Particularly longingly back at the bad things that have been part of your life.
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 12 says New Living Translation
So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.
The Jews do that to Moses – on a grand adventure of faith they complain to Moses.
Numbers 14Common English Bible (CEB)
The Israelites’ complaint
14 The entire community raised their voice and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites criticized Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we had died in this desert!
In the end their refusal to not look forward and trust God cost them their inheritance.
Lets not give away ours!!!!
Secondly Understand where you are going.
You know when I was a kid and went on holiday I remember distinctly as an eleven year old going north to Timaru. I had never been out of Southland – I remember going through this city called Dunedin and the tall buildings and on to Timaru – I didn’t know much about where I was going but I trusted my Father. You can trust yours.
(I found these keys from Chris Russell on the internet.)
In order to discern God’s will you might find these steps helpful.
1) Walk with God.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
2) Surrender your will to God’s.
Before God will begin to reveal His will to you, you must be committed to doing whatever it is that He desires for you to do. God will likely be slow to show you His plan if He knows you will likely not do that plan anyway.
Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Jesus was willing to die for us, so shouldn’t we be willing to live for Him? When we surrender to Him, that is when He really begins to direct our steps.
3) Obey what you already know to be God’s Will.
(1 Thessalonians 4:3).
If we do not obey the things that God has shown us clearly to be His will, why would we think He would reveal any further information regarding His plan for our lives? Obedience is an important first step.
4) Seek godly input.
One key component to finding God’s will is to seek the input of godly advisors in your life. If you don’t currently have 3-4 godly mentors, then I would highly recommend that you seek them out right away.
Proverbs 11:14
Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
The church is designed to help you greatly with this. I would encourage you to be in church every single time the doors are opened. The more you involve yourself with a community of believers, the greater your chances will be of finding godly men and women who can help you discern God’s will.
5) Pay attention to how God has wired you.
God has created you to fulfill a specific role in this world. There is no one else who can achieve completely what God has purposely created you to do.
The Apostle Peter gives us this admonition:
1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
God has gifted every one of us to perform a special mission for which we alone were created. How amazing is that? Wow!
So, when you seek to discover God’s will for your life, pay attention to how He has gifted you. His plan for you will always be directly related to the gifts that He has bestowed upon you. The great news is that you will automatically be good at whatever it is that He has called you to do!
6) Listen to God’s Spirit.
I experienced a major turning point in my own prayer life when I learned simply to shut up while I was praying. That may sound odd to you, and it seemed odd to me at first.
You see, I used to do all the talking when I prayed to God. But then, several years ago, I read Bill Hybel’s book, Too Busy Not to Pray. That book completely changed the way I approached God through prayer. Since reading that book, I have added a significant component to my prayer life: listening. I take time to listen to what God might have to say to me.
Practically, the way I go about this is to bring a notepad with me when I sit down to pray. Then I write at the top of several pages things like the following:
• “What is the next step in my career?”
• “What is the next step in my ministry?”
• “What is the next step for my family?”
• “What is the next step for my marriage?”
• “What is the next step in my education?”
• “What is the next step in my finances?”
During my prayer time, I meditate on questions such as the above. Often, God will start flooding my heart with ideas and information regarding one or more of those questions. I write as fast as I can as He speaks to my heart. What a glorious experience that is to sense His Spirit on me, guiding my thoughts and words.
Through experiences like this, He has shown me many times with great clarity what His will is for my life. I long for those experiences when He speaks to me like that. Those times are truly life changing.
John 10:27
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
7) Listen to your heart.
In addition to listening to the Spirit, I also recommend listening to your heart. To understand my point here, consider the following passage:
Psalms 37:4-5
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (NKJV)
8) Take a look at your circumstances.
God often clearly demonstrates His plan for our lives by lining up circumstances in obvious ways.
Over the years, I have discovered that God is pretty good at opening and closing doors. He even did that for the Apostle Paul and his enterouge in Acts. Take a look at this passage:
Acts 16:6-10
6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.
7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
So, even Paul had to face closed doors in his ministry. God often uses closed doors to show us clearly what He does NOT want us to do. And He also uses open doors at times to show us what He DOES want us to do. Of course, this does not mean that every open door is definitely God’s plan, but it does help to give you some basic direction.
Thirdly Understand who you are journeying with. – You are going on a 365 day journey with the Lord of Lord’s and the King of Kings.
Jesus is a great travel companion Who you travel with makes such a difference.
1Corintihians "Bad company corrupts good character." ... 15:20-34
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Jesus is a good friend because he promises to be our guide
Lo I am with you always even to the end of the age.
When you journey with Jesus you need to understand that you are journeying with the Son of God.
He cares for your situation – he knows your location and he has plans for your vocation – In fact in psalm 139 it says He knows you full well –
But not only does he know your situation, Location and vocation but he also has in hand your education he will use your life experiences to teach you lessons about the world, about heaven and about the Kingdom – if every situation is explored from his point of view you will become wise – experienced and learned in the character of God and the ways of the world.
But he not only cares for your situation, location and vocation he also cares for your salvation – in fact this is pivotal to everything in your life and you can not minimise the work of the cross in your life. Approximately 2000 years ago Jesus Christ, God’s son, died for your salvation as it says in the Bible – 1 Peter chapter 2 verse24
"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."
Your future is assured – if you have accepted Christ and follow him you will spend eternity at his place. His place is called heaven and you will be in it.
So Jesus is God’s son and you can trust him for your situation, Location and vocation education and situation.
Such knowledge will give you the courage to go to the top floor to the very heights of what God has called you to.
The view in the cellar is depressing but the view from the top of say the Empire state building is breathtaking
Such a view will produce zeal in your life such as was experienced by Johnathon Edwards.
. Jonathan Edwards was a shining example of these qualities. He was not a very good preacher, and he read his messages. However, many of his sermons had an overwhelming impact upon the people. His message Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God moved hundreds to repentance and salvation. It is said to have caused the “Great Awakening.” Few knew the spiritual preparation involved in that sermon. For 3 days he did not eat anything. For 3 nights he did not sleep one wink. Over and over again he was heard to pray “Lord, give me New England!” When he arose from his knees and went into the pulpit that Sunday, he looked as if he had been gazing straight into the face of God. Even before he began to speak, conviction fell upon the audience.
In this year God is calling you to rise up
Let us conclude by considering these words from a old hymn.
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.
Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!
Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!
