Ask me anything you want?
Ephesians 2:4?-7, NKJ
?But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us...raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus?
What a God..
What a Word....
what a promise to those of us
who are in Christ Jesus! (repeat)
?But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us...raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Talk about being in the right place at the right time!
God accepted us...He loved us...
when we were nobodies...He made us a somebody
Illus. Bruno Mars lyrics
When I see your face (face, face...)
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing (amazing)
Just the way you are (are)
And when you smile (smile, smile...)
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause, you're amazing (amazing)
Just the way you are (are)
Because of Gods inexhaustible Love this morning, you are amazing, you are somebody....you are created in the image of God!
God has lifted you up and made a way of opportunity for you to be SOMEBODY! Amen??
TBS God has adopted us and treated us...not just with lip service, but with a love so great it could only come from His heart. Even when we are undeserving God treats us as though we are royalty, completely deserving as though we are His very own children, giving us a seat next to Jesus!
God has designated His desire is “that's where you belong,” not only belong but where you are entitled to be....and exactly where He wants you to be!
Do you remember asking all the why questions when you were a child? God put that characteristic nature in you and has been prepared from the moment He met you before you were even born with the answer!
God has always known the reason why He wants to spend eternity with you and to lift you up to heavenly places!
So that in the ages to come...
He might show the exceeding riches of His grace...
Did you know God owns the word liberal?
There is no one more giving than God is!
God’s nature is to shower...
To Blanket...
To Encompass...
To inundate...
To bombard you with a never ending supply....are you getting the picture here?
You see We’re not talking about just a little amount of child support each month...but a never ending lifetime supply of His amazing Favor and Goodness towards us!
I want you to think for a moment about the richest person you can think of in the whole world and what their fortune is. Is it Bill Gates, no. Jeff Bezos is and he seems to get richer by the minute!
While some in the world may find the comparison hard to realize, compared to what God is willing to give and do for you in your own life, it’s only a blip on the radar screen!
If you can only believe and receive God’s promises and what he wants to do for you, your future is unlimited!
And if that’s not the picture you have painted of your future, then I suggest you get a new outlook and perspective! Try seeing things from God’s point of view for a change, I think you’ll like what you see!
God offers us this encouraging word, because far too many have a hard time believing the future still holds the best of what is yet to come in their life!
Did You know...some people have just as hard of time getting past the victories God has for them as well as past failures in this ongoing adventure we live..called life?
Its true, they hold onto past failures like the present and future depends upon the risk of failure again! If what God is willing to do for and to give His children were dependent on our effort to deliver, then the risk of failure would be imminent!
But what God longs to do for those who believe and have faith in Him, all the blessings and unbelievable things are supplied by God alone, so there is no risk of failure only God’s promise of Victory if we can believe!
2 chronicles 16 says....
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him
MSG says it this way...God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.
It's like a big radar screen covering the whole universe…
And God's favor is constantly looking for something
Or someone it can bounce off of...and be a blessing to! Amen??
If we couldn't expect tomorrow to be better than today...
What incentive would that give us to look forward to...the future???
TBS. His mercies are new every morning, Great is His faithfulness!
That means 100% of the time...we can look for Gods Goodness and Faithfulness participating in our lives if we want them to!
The question is do we wake each morning expecting Gods promises?
Philippians 4:6-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all [a]comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The bible records the most amazing miracles throughout history
and we should always be willing to acknowledge
what God has done in the past.
But don't miss the blessing of the right here and now and what is to come...
Because in your mind you can't figure out how it could be greater
than the blessing and goodness you received yesterday!!! It will be, trust God and go with the word He has given to you!
Don’t worry about God not being able to outdo Himself! He certainly can, He certainly will and He certainly does everyday...day in and day out!
God is an over the top, progressive God, both in thinking and action...and God wants us to be the same way in our thoughts and actions towards others!
Now wait a minute preacher, you just got me in the mindset of thinking God can do these things for me in my life! And now you’re telling me that you want me to do and act and be the same way towards others with my thinking and my actions as God is with me!
That’s exactly what I’m telling you! Listen friends, If we're not thinking of God as a progressive God, we're cheating ourselves out of what God wants to do not only for us, but for others as well!
Our hands are His hands, our feet are His feet, our willingness to give to and treat people, is how others see God through us!
God is more than able to bless each and everyone of us as we bless others with what we have been blessed with. Without any fear whatsoever of never having enough to do what God ask of us!
We should wake up every morning with an expectant heart of seeing God make the impossible become possible everyday! ...With a willingness and excitement to pursue what God has in store for us..each day He gives us!
In our text, Paul was talking about and looking towards the future, not the past!
The only way to embrace the future is to let go of the past! TBS Jesus Grace and Forgiveness abolishes the past to forever to be lost in the sea of forgetfulness!
TBS. (the Bible says) in the ages to come? God would do things that far supersede anything He?s ever done before.
Can you imagine? That means over and above anything up to this point...that He has done! We referred to this earlier, “God outdoing Himself!” We really make references like this so our minds can wrap around and somehow comprehend, God just being God!
If your expectant of Him, if you are a follower of Him, you can count on Him to be a deliverer of what you ask, you can count on God being God in your life everyday of your life!
Every miracle ever read or heard about, whether it was in the days of the Bible or in days of recent memory. Everyone who has called on the Lord to provide for their need, from Moses to myself has expected God to be a God capable of delivering His Promises and willingness to do something new to meet the need of our want!
Psalms 23:1 NKJ
1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
God doesn?t want us to want, we should want for nothing...because He is our able and constant provider.
David makes a statement here, that all Christians should take to heart...
with the Lord as our shepherd, there should be no want in our lives.
He wants to meet our needs and for us to come boldly when we ask Him in faith and expecting for anything, no matter what It is.
Matt. 7:7-11MSG.
7-11. "Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?
Maybe someone hasn't told you lately… But God really is a fantastic God! Amen??
What is your image of Gods Goodness towards you?
While I'm not sure of what that image might be, I'll tell you what it out to be!
God is a God of way to much, not a God of barely get by!!!!
He?s constantly looking for new ways, for even the slightest reason, to show His favor to us and bless His Children!
TBS. in Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJ
22. The LORD?s mercies
Because His compassions fail not.
23. They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
God is constantly doing new and exciting things for all of us...
we may not see it in the natural and if we did it certainly
wouldn't require much faith to believe that he is!
but you can rest assured, He is always...
constantly working behind the scenes on our behalf!
Heres the absolute best news, we are only limited as to what He wants to do for us, by our expectation of Him!
Imagine, our faith and expectation is the only thing standing between us and the amazing Favor and Grace God wants to do for us!
Illus. C.S. Lewis
LOW EXPECTATIONS
“Indeed if we consider the unblushing promise of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.
We are half-hearted creatures like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
Romans 8:37-39 NKJ
37. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39. nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If I were to ask you the question what do you think the love of God, is willing to do for you in your life to bring about the things on your heart and that you desire, what would you say outloud for all ears to hear?
I want you to think about your greatest blessing and achievement.... I hope the image that you see right now is a happy and proud moment! I also want you to realize, that as great as that moment is for you, that moment fails in comparison to new unbelievable miracles God truly wants to do and has waiting for you to arrive at!
We can receive from God as much as we can believe Him for! Do you believe that declaration of faith, you should!
We don?t have to figure out why God loves us so much...
in fact when we do that it just consumes precious energy
that could be focused and used to believe instead of doubting...
TBS. in Jerm. 33:2-3
2-3."This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.
What are your expectations of God in your life?
If your dreams and requests don’t scare you a little bit, than your dreams
and request aren’t big enough! Because if your dreams don’t intimidate you, then that means you can accomplish your dreams without God’s help and those aren’t dreams! Those are goals, there is a difference!
God would have me tell you this concerning your dreams. Dream like you are the one, who is not gonna have to pay the bill to fulfill your dreams coming to pass!
That’s a dream! And that’s the kind of dream God stands ready to walk you through, to stand by you even if it means carrying you out the trenches, all the way to the realization of your desire becoming a reality!
