What inspires you? What breathes life into you? That is an important question!
Those without inspiration cannot make a maximum impact on the world of which they are a part! We considered the story of Gideon, a timid farmer whom God found hiding from the enemies of Israel. The Lord called him - “mighty warrior.” He was inspired to make a difference and went on in the new identity God gave to him to be a national deliverer!
· If you’re a mother, perhaps as you heard last week’s message the Lord stirred up a vision in you of being more than the person who washes your kid’s clothes and fixes her meals. Maybe you started dreaming of being a Maximum Impact Mom who raises godly children. Perhaps God said, “Mighty Mom, set high standards for your kids. Cause them to desire to live with excellence, so that they will leave your care someday to make a real difference in the world!” That’s a long-term dream – 18-21 years before you begin to see its realization. Without inspiration, you will soon settle back to the mess of a disorderly house, using TV as a cheap babysitter, and hoping merely to survive motherhood. The dream to be a great Mom will die under a pile of diapers and or emotional assaults launched by your rebellious teenager.
· Perhaps this week, God began to ask you to pray boldly on behalf of others; and wants to help you develop a life of prayer that is more than mumbled petitions in the morning and before bed. One way to have a maximum impact is by praying in a way that touches people’s lives. That’s a big dream, and it will take lot’s of perseverance to bring it into reality. Without inspiration, you will quit praying passionately, settling for “Good morning, Lord” and “Thanks, Lord, for being there for me today. ‘Night, Amen.”
We need to hear God’s calling, we need to know who He is desiring us to be- a New Identity that starts by knowing Christ.
This morning, I want us to plug into the second idea that we need to understand about a life that makes a difference, lived for maximum impact: We must learn to walk with God! Another way to say that is that we need to know the sustaining personal Presence of God.
Abraham is a first-rate example of a man who walked with God.
TEXT- Genesis 12:1-10 READ
Isn’t that amazing? For the rest of his life, Abraham lived in an ongoing conversation with God. Did he always get it right? No! Did he misunderstand God from time to time? Sure did! Did he always do what God asked him to do? No, but he loved God enough to change course and get back where He wanted him to be!
There are two very important questions that every Believer who wants to live for God must answer:
· Is God really PRESENT?
· Does He interact with us in our daily lives?
Millions of Christians know about God, but they do not really know God! They could pass a test on Bible knowledge, discuss ethics from a Christian worldview, but they do not walk with God as a Friend and Helper!
Theologians discuss the Presence of God using two big words — Transcendent and Immanent.
God is Transcendent meaning that He is distinct from His creation. To over-simplify, as Christians we clearly believe that God made a tree, but we do believe that He is a tree! He this universe and HE rules OVER it. If we over-emphasize the transcendence of God in our theology, we become Deists who believe He is ‘out there somewhere.’
God is Immanent meaning that He is involved with His creation, actively loving, directing, and sharing with those He has made. The Bible is largely a story of God’s work with those He created. Beginning with Adam, God sought to be with us. He came to us, was born a baby, and lived with us– Jesus Christ, our Immanuel- “God with us.” When Jesus ascended to the Father, he promised He would not leave us alone, but would send another Counselor, not only to be with us, but to be “in us.” Finally, He said that He would receive us to Himself so that we could live in His house forever!
Dallas Willard helps us with these two ideas by comparing God’s relationship to Creation with our own relationship to our bodies!
• Jerry Scott is distinct from his body. When his body dies and returns to the elements of which it is made, Jerry Scott will live on, not just in the memory of his kids, but with God, as a real person with individual identity. This is basic Christian doctrine.
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• Yet, Jerry Scott is very much involved with this body. In fact, in the here and now, you identify Jerry Scott very much with this aging container!
God is greater than His Creation, but is known by us very much through His involvement with the works He has made!
Today, we look with emphasis on the immanence of God, that He is present with us and involved with us individually, that He knows us and makes it possible, by the Spirit for us to know Him.
Some people are preoccupied with finding all the places where they cannot see God. “Where was God when my dad got cancer?” “Where was God when the tsunami swept through Thailand and thousands died?”
I will not stand here and pretend to have all those answers, nor will I tell you that God explains everything that happens in the world to me! But, I am convinced and see evidence that is He is at work all the time, everywhere around us.
Part of the reason we do not walk with Him, is that we become so preoccupied with food, drink, clothes, bills, houses .... with eyes that see only the present, we lose sight of Him! If we want to walk with Him, we will have to allow ourselves to become aware of His Presence!
Ill.- Ever notice how once you become aware of a certain kind of automobile, you begin to see them everywhere? I seldom saw a Miata until I bought one last Fall. Now I see them all the time. Are there more Miata’s on the road? No, my awareness changed! I started to see them and take notice.
Again, I quote Willard.
“The ability to see and the practice of seeing God comes through a process of seeking and growing in intimacy with Him.... Our character and understanding are increasingly attunded to the realities of God’s rule.”
The Divine Conspiracy, pg. 77
TEXT: Turn with me to Ephesians 3:14-21. Pew Bible page 1820
These words frequently find their way into the benedictions of our services. Allow them to speak to you about knowing the Presence of our Father as a part of day to day lifeThis passage is rich with meaning, so much so that as I read it, I often find myself in tears! . (READ)
Let’s divide it into bite-size pieces and digest what it says.
First - God is a Father to us all!
The first phrase from our text: “... the Father, from who his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name” tells me that God is not an absent father. The text is a greatly reassuring one that would have us see God as a wise, caring, nurturing, guiding Father.
God, our Father Creator, names us with His name and in so doing, accepts responsibility for us as His children. This phrase is a way of indicating the rich resources to which we have access because we are heirs! Take a look at 1:3-4. READ
That chapter goes on to list the many benefits that God’s kids enjoy! Included are things like:
Redemption from sin’s slavery, forgiveness, hope of a guaranteed eternal life, wisdom, insight, power!
Next, the text insists that this Father, who has so amply provided for us, can be touched, indeed, that He is WITH US! 3:16
“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you through His Spirit in your inner being...”
KEY THOUGHT– Our heavenly Father is not far removed from where we are. He is not emotionally distant, either. He lives within us by the Presence of the Spirit.
We need not ‘go somewhere’ to know the presence of God. His Spirit is here!
This is a basic concept for the Christ-centered life that is powerfully effective. Jesus said as much on the night of the Last Supper. He gathered the disciples for a final long talk. He spoke of the intimate relationship which he knew with the Father. He attributed His great miracles the John 14:10 “Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” He went on to explain that they, too, would dare to dream and live beyond any level available to them naturally because John 14:16-17 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
As we walk with our Father, our text goes on to outline three things become possible in our Christian life.
1. When God’s Presence is near, Christ’s character is created in our hearts.
The NLT helps us to understand this phrase...
Ephesians 3:17 I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.
We cannot become like Christ, merely by learning about Him or what He did. We become like Him as we are His apprentices, seeing Him at work in the world NOW! His character cannot be created us in a classroom by the teaching of lessons alone. We must walk with Him, converse with Him, and let Him transfer His life to us!
2. When God’s Presence is near, our lives are given stability and nourishment by divine love.
I have had many opportunities to see the incredible effect of deep and intimate love. A person who is raised by emotionally health parents who offer liberal amounts of love are way ahead on the road to success. A marriage where two people determine to love each other beyond romance or sex, creates a relationship of incredible worth!
When a person knows that God loves them and lives in that love, they find the key to a fulfilled Christian life!
A person who knows something of God’s love is a person prepared for anything and everything that life can throw at him!
· How can we live in terror IF God’s love secures our minds?
· How can we despair IF God’s love is our hope?
Paul prays for Christians to know the love of God in full dimensions – wide, long, high, and deep! He admits that it is a love of such magnitude that it is unknowable by purely human means. Only by means of the Presence of the Spirit can we know this love.
3. When God’s Presence is near, we are empowered to become who He created to be!
Our text says “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Paul’s prayer is that these Christians, and us, would – through the Holy Spirit – feel God being poured into them until they were overflowing! “Filled with God’s fullness” – how can finite being contain the essence of the divine? We cannot! He spills over from us and His Presence actually changes us as He flows into us and changes how others see us as He overflows from us.
Because of His power at work in us, life becomes more than scratching out a living and trying to stay safe. Life becomes an exploration of God’s will for us, an experience of His development of us. When we know He is near, we take the good times and the bad times in stride, assured that Romans 8:28 “ ... in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
After writing about the family name which God, the Father, has put on our birth certificate, the nearness of the Spirit; the resultant character of Christ created in us, the all encompassing love of God for us, and the fullness of life we know in God’s purposes .... listen to the inspiration song of praise that bursts from the apostle!
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.
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I pray this prayer for you as Paul did. I pray that you will know Him as your loving Father, that His character will be created in you by the life of the Spirit, that the love of God will become the roots from which a life full of spiritual fruit grows.
As we close, let’s think for a moment about practical ways we can begin to see His Presence in our daily lives. How can we develop a new awareness of His work and Presence, so we are inspired by the evidences of His Presence with us?
A. Be aware of answers to prayer.
Some of us would have a hard time knowing IF God answered our prayers because we haven’t asked Him for much or we have prayed only generalized and/or sentimental prayers. “Lord, bless my family today” qualifies as prayer, but how would you know exactly when or how He answered?
As we pray specific prayers for spiritual victories, for people to become open to His message, for healing, for guidance in a matter that faces us that day... we begin to see Him at work.
Keep a prayer journal. Writing down what you’re praying about is valuable in many ways. It will keep you from endlessly praying shallow, selfish prayers. And it will help you to connect answers with prayers, too.
B. Look for evidence of God’s care for you.
We easily overlook His Providence, that is, the ways in which He provides for our daily needs.
My wife and I have a little game about clouds. When I look up at clouds, I see ... clouds! When she looks up at clouds, she sees puppies, ships, angels, cars, houses, castles... you name it. Her vision is very different from mine and so is her imagination. Somewhere along the way I lost the ability to ‘see’ things like she does.
Don’t lose your ability to see the ways that God cares for you.
C. What many call ‘coincidence’ can be an opportunity to grow in faith!
A believe who walks in the Spirit as I’ve talked about in this message, can learn that with God there are no coincidences, no happen stance. Everyone of us can tell stories of when we met just the person we needed to connect with to make a dream into a reality, when we found just the connection we needed to land a job, etc. Can we begin to believe that God is working things for our good?
D. Be aware of those moments when the Holy Spirit comes along side and helps.
I write a short devotion every morning called TFTD, which I send out via email to people who request it. People often write back, “How did you know what I was going through? How do you write those everyday?” Actually, it is the Holy Spirit working through me!
As I pray and open the Scripture, He breathes His wisdom into my heart. It’s a great feeling to know He desires to use me and that He inspires me!
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God is present with you! Look for His Presence this week.
As you walk with God like Abraham, you too will start to live a life that makes a difference, one that has maximum impact in your world.
Amen
