When I Move, You Move....just Like That!

I want to begin my sermonic presentation by making a clear cut statement that I believe everybody needs to know and believe—and that is God has created everyone of us to live by faith. And as a consequence, every child of God is wired to perform and live by faith. Now what that means is that if God created you to live by faith—that means no matter how good you get at becoming a Christian…no matter how much you’ve got your stuff together for real…if you don’t keep your faith moving you will not be able to please God. Because the Bible declares in the Book of Hebrews 11:6 that ‘without faith it is impossible to please God.’

Don’t get me wrong—I believe in church attendance/studying the Word of God/learning/laying prostrate before the living God—but God ain’t impressed with my being able to quote His Word back to Him; God is not pleased by who has the best memory; God is not impressed by virtue of the fact that you come the Sunday School. No…God is pleased by faith.

And what that means is that if you THINK that you are pleasing God because you are living a good life, come to church, sit, perform all of the ritualistic things that are involved in looking holy—if it is void of faith—you ain’t pleasing God. Some of us come to church and look so deep. (Look so deep that folks are afraid to touch you in church). Just because you are looking deep doesn’t mean that you are pleasing God. Just because you’re looking holy doesn’t mean that you are pleasing God.

God is pleased—not by how holy I look/by me looking like I’m deep. God is pleased when I walk in faith in Him. When I believe Him enough to follow where He guides me just because I know Who He is—that He is that He is.

That is one the reasons why I believe that God allows obstacles to enter into our lives (it is not an accident)—He allows them to enter into our lives because He is setting up every available opportunity for Him to teach us how to please Him. (Ya’ll missed that)

One of the reasons that the Lord does not allow us to have anything easy is because God needs to orchestrate, navigate and arrange opportunities for us to please Him. So He puts obstacles in my way along the way so that in the way we learn how to please Him.

Because every time I turn an:

• obstacle into an opportunity

• a burden into a blessing

• a problem into a possibility

• junk into jewels

• trash into triumph

• my mess into my message

• hell into hallelujah

Every time I DO THAT…I find a way to please God.

Is there anybody in the room who is interested in pleasing God? Where what makes your liver quiver is you know that you are pleasing your heavenly father.

Now the reason that should have made some of ya’ll shout is because you thought that some of the obstacles that you were facing was because you didn’t have any faith; you thought some of the obstacles that you were facing was because you weren’t holy. NO. (Sometimes that is true—but I am talking to the remnant who know that they haven’t arrived yet…their not perfect—but striving) You are facing some of the obstacles that you are facing because God is trying to provide an opportunity to teach you how to please Him!

Because you don’t please Him just because you can quote the Bible, speak in tongues, your great granpappy laid the cornerstone in the Brook in the Pickett Fence Baptist Church of God in Christ in 1875—you please Him when you walk by faith and not by sight.

That is—Can you celebrate Him broke like you celebrate Him when you have money in the bank? That’s faith.

Can you lift Him up when friends walk away and loved one’s criticize you like you lift Him up when everybody pats you on the back? That’s faith.

Can you give to Him when you’ve got more bills then you’ve got Benjamins and your money is shorter than your month? That’s faith.

Can you give Him His props and His accolades when you have to catch a ride and take the bus like you give Him props when you have a good source of transportation, riding on 30’s? That’s faith.

After all—anybody can praise Him with money in the bank; anybody can have faith in Him with the 3 and 4 car garage and the plasma screen.

• Can I talk to you? I am convinced that God will leave some stuff OUT of the equation that you would need IN the equation in order for you to believe Him BY reason so that you’re believing Him by FAITH ALONE.