Are you soaring?
1 John 5:18-19 (NIV)
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
We must be aware that Spiritual Warfare is going on all around us and there is only one way to guard ourselves, in Christ. Are you a person with confidence in yourself? As you go through each day each one of us has an inner conversation always going on?
My question is “What are you saying to yourself?”
Are you thinking positive thoughts, empowering thoughts, affirming thoughts, or do you go around thinking negative thoughts? I’m not that talented, I’ve made too many mistakes. “You can’t soar as an eagle if you’re living spiritually as a chicken!!” This is one reason so many people do not soar as Christians.
They simply aren’t having a positive outlook on their lives. Don’t listen to negative thoughts and if that’s all that’s playing, learn to put on a new recording. If you are a Christian, God sees you as His Champion!
Who am I? - is the question I would like you to examine about ourselves today. Am I a Christian? No? Then your life is in shambles, your life needs help. (My life is fine, not your spiritual life.) Jesus said in talking to Nicodemus
John 3:3 (NIV)
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
Christian and non-Christian alike must get our thoughts and actions moving in the right directions if you truly want to become better.
(In the Book Devil Demons and Spiritual Warfare by Tom Brown) he says “Recognize that nothing is greater than God! Satan has power but not divine power.
God’s mercy is greater than sin!
God’s provision is greater than lack!
God’s wisdom is greater than confusion!
God’s love in your heart is greater than any bitterness you can feel!
If you think your problems are greater than God’s ability to solve them, then you will be overcome with fear!”
I want to look at 2 examples in the Bible of Great Christians, leaders of God’s people that had to discover who they really were before they could accomplish God’s task.
Judges 6:12-16 (NIV)
12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
God told Gideon I will be with you, Am I not sending you, but Gideon could only see his limitations and he made excuses, he failed to see who he truly was and let God work through him.
Like Gideon we are called to serve God, but many times all we see is our limitations and we make the same excuses.
As Christians we must create in ourselves a great self image. You will never rise above the image you have of yourself in your mind. God wants us to have healthy positive self images to see ourselves as priceless treasures. If you are a Christian you are one of God’s children!
Answer the question-Who Am I? Weak, fearful, insignificant? Not to God. God sees us as strong, courageous men and women able to move mountains. So we need to stop making excuses and start stepping out in our faith and doing what God wills. God knows we are not perfect, but God loves to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
Moses had the same problem. God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and called him to lead the Children of Israel out of bondage.
Turn in your Bibles with me to:
Exodus 3:11-12New King James Version (NKJV)
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Who Am I? -I will be with you, why is this not sufficient?
Romans 8:28-31New King James Version (NKJV)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
By ourselves we are insufficient, we fall short, but with God we can accomplish anything.
Exodus 3:13-15New King James Version (NKJV)
13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’
Many times we try to excuse ourselves saying our knowledge of the Bible is inadequate but God has specifically told us what his message is.
Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV)
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
We have our message, but we stop short and say, who am I Lord?
Moses does not stop with excuses
Exodus 4:1 (NKJV)
4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Many Christians hesitate to share the gospel for the same reason. Fear of failure.
A man had a simple friend and he was always telling him he was a failure. His simple friend bought a puzzle and he laughed you can’t do that. So for 8 weeks day and night he put this puzzle together and called his friend over to see. I could have put that together in 10 minutes he said, what makes you believe that 8 weeks isn’t a failure when I could have done it in 10 minutes. He grabbed the box smiling and said you couldn’t have done it in 10 minutes, I know. I also know that 8 weeks was really good because the box says 1-3 years on it.
Failure also reminds me of the little boy that brought home his report card with all Fs. His mother said you have failed every subject and the little boy said “yep, but you sure know I’m not a cheater!”
We know how the story of Gideon and Moses turned out. Gideon, a farmer, delivered Israel from Midian, and Moses, a Shepherd in exile, lead Israel out of bondage.
God is calling us out of the world and into service today and as he does we should not focus on what we think our weaknesses are, but we need to focus on our strengths, a Christ filled life.
If you say I’m a sinner saved by God’s grace don’t let your life fall short of the actual work of the cross. The gospel makes you alive, it makes you a new creation. God does not want to see the same old you nor does he simply want to see a sinner saved by grace. God wants you to know who you are, a new creation living by grace!
Who Am I? Let us answer a Christian at work, serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Or maybe you are hear this morning and you want to be a child of God won’t you come hearing, believing, repenting of sins, confessing Jesus and desiring baptism to wash you’re sins away!
