Life is what you make it. Life is being alive in the moment. Life is more than an existence. All those who live will die but not all those who died have truly lived...We’ve heard all the statements there is on life and now James throws us a curve ball and says ‘whose life is it anyways?’ He responds by telling us to submit it to God and then he asks us ‘what is life?’ and reminds just how fleeting it really is, it’s a mist and reveals to us to the characteristics of a spectacular life lived out in the will of God!
And when we get there, we won’t be able to stop talking about the adventure!
Life, decision, plans, it is always before us especially at this time of year, when we look forward to a new year with bright hope and big expectations. God has big plans in store for us at Southside. Do you believe it! We have talked a lot about potential, potential was why I was drawn to this place 8 and a half years ago. Well, I am praying that this is the year of realizing our God-given potential!
We are not here by accident, but by the sovereign plan of God. To each of you personally, you are part of God’s plan for this place and He has a plan for every single person’s life…it doesn’t matter what circumstances or situation you grew up in. Jer 1:5 is a promise for all of us to claim. ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. It is true for all of us…He knew us before we were born and He has a plan for us.
Jeremiah 29:11
Ps 139:16 your eyes saw my unformed body.All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. …He knows the length and width and height of our life…you are not an accident. If we look to Him, He has a definitive purpose for us.
Ephesians 2:10
We have to work out that tension between him looking to work out His will in us and for us to listen and walk confidently in it. Let's look at James 4
I It is a life bent on seeking God first ! v1-6
We saw the opposite yesterday. read v1-3
Sharon and I received some gift certificates for Christmas and decided to hit Square One yesterday with them….make them go further on a pastor’s budge and wowzers, it was crazy! First of all I have never seen a mall packed out as much as it was. Then at the end of the night violence broke out right around us as. There is no news as to what sparked the incident, but James wasn’t probably too far off with desires that battle within, coveting, quarrelling. When self is worshipped, when self is exalted, it raises its ugly head and demands its way no matter what the cost. Apparently the altercation involved 10 people but it drew in at least 20 Peel regional officers and the same number of security staff and we knew it was time to go when they told the Zellers employees to not open their tills and began to guard all the exits.
Oswald Chambers (Jan 6) says that “Worship is Giving God the best that He has given you.” “Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship.”
"The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him."
Matthew 6:33 Seek first the kingdom of God
- It is the opposite of dissension
- It is a life that goes against the flow v4-6
Friendship with the world is compared to adultery and the Jewish believer would readily recognize the warnings of prophets from the past like Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Hosea when Judah was rebuked for her sins. The nation committed spiritual adultery when they adopted the sinful ways of other nations and worshipped their gods. What are the gods of Canada? The god of tolerance, materialism, hoarding wealth.
Come back to Matthew 6:33
Proverbs 3:5,6 Here’s the bent – complete reliance on God, not self
Psalm 37 Commit your way to the Lord
II It is a life that follows with unconditional surrender. v7-11
Submit – is a military term meaning unconditional surrender and that is our only way to complete victory over our enemy, Satan.
Resist the devil -
Don’t let Satan entice you or tempt you. He often gets in our way when we want to draw near to God (e.g., the telephone rings, knock on the door, etc.)
Come near to God and He will come near to you – Jeremiah 29:13 We have as much of God as we want… hunger and thirst after righteousness…
Wash your hands and purify your hearts-
Be cleansed from sin. Replacing your desire to sin with God’s purity
Is there any areas of your life that you are holding back from God
Ephesians 4:27 It is a life that is tight with God, there is no light of day for the enemy to seek, kill and destroy.
God will graciously deal with us as we get serious about the sin in our lives.
Psalm 51:17
Grieve
The problem is when we take sin lightly or we laugh about sin and God says to us do you not know how you grieve the Spirit of God, have you forgotten that my Son went to hell to pay the price for those very insidious acts that you commit.
Paul would phrase it like this – Romans 6…shall we keep on sinning??
He will not be kept at a safe, comfortable distance. He is a jealous God and He will not share us with anyone or anything. He wants complete control
Humble
Put the government of your life on his shoulders and let Him reign supreme as your Prince of Peace.
III It is a life that rests in the will of God v13-17
The illustration of a businessman who has it all figured out.
Anticipation v13
- I have a whole life ahead of me Lamentations 3:23. We only have today. God is concerned about the everyday, the here and now.
The foolishness of plans without God
It is absolutely foolish to move ahead without listening, seeking, sensing the Lord.
We have two major resources – our time and our money
Now listen – the root word here is logic. He is telling us to reason with him and here is how not to do life…
There is a really strong assumption about their life…There is this complete disconnect about the reality of how much control we really have over our life.
We would expect unbelievers to do this, but not believers – many Christians live their life like it is their life…I can pick the time, location…when, where I want, how long I want…. They even believe that they are in charge of whether they will make a profit…a + b = c
Can I not have a plan, can I not think??….Yes its good to plan, but the problem is what not is mentioned…no mention of God….there is no flexibility with this plan, no thought given to …what about saying what if the Lord wills, what is God’s plan?
Proverbs 27… do not boast about tomorrow, you don’t know what a day may bring forth…We don’t know what a year holds, we don’t know what a week holds, we don’t even really know what a day holds…life is a complexity of people and events. We might think we know, but we really don’t know.
WE DON’T KNOW!
We know generally what is going to happen biblically
V14 it is the berevity of life… an affirmation
- We are not guaranteed tomorrow. We don’t get to sign contracts with God about the age we will live to. What season is your life in?
We are all told to just remember how fast life passes. (20th Anniversary / home videos)
You don’t know what is going to happen this year, this week, even later today. We may have a good idea
What’s on your agenda today? Who here has been in a car accident? …life is very fragile
We can’t see the future and we are foolish to plan our life without consulting God. A lot of things can go wrong. I’m not telling you to live in fear, I’m telling you to consider God
Job 14:1
There is flexibility needed to walking with God…there needs to be a submitting to the Lord
v15 Aspiration
Realize that your life is in His hands . Genesis 18:25 Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? He is the potter, we are the clay
The issue isn’t so much the words…Lord willing, but the attitude behind them. If you need to keep saying ‘Lord willing’ then do it!
What does God’s will include…my life is bound up in Him, it’s all about Him. We can’t do one thing to add a day to our life. He knows what we will accomplish, what will take place.
He bends our will to conform us to His purposes to make it the most spectacular life ever.
Proverbs 19:21 many are our plans…
We are not sovereign…you are weighing things before the Lord…but hold those plans loosely. Sharon’s plan was to never marry a pastor, but God changed all that!
We think we know what will make us happy, give us the greatest joy…but the greatest joy…not problem free, but there is joy in the journey.
Some of you think you know the plan better than God and it grieves his heart.
God if you will, I will do this
Psalm 37:23 the Lord delights in every detail of their lives….every detail, every part, He is interested in the tiniest details of our lives.
There is a God who cares about all the decisions of our lives.
V16 Don’t leave Him out of your plans
Ecclesiastes 11:9 Remember God in the days of your youth.
Admonition v17 Remember that it is not all that you possess, your achievements but what you become by it – that will be your highest reward. Matthew 6:21
elf willed, selfish pride, self ambition that says bless God, I’m going to do what I want to do when I want to do it, but you are missing out on what God absolutely wants for you.
v17 therefore… what is the right thing to do…God, You’ve created me for a purpose and whatever it is You want to do my life, I’m all about that!! That is the right thing to do.
To know the good and not to do it, is sin!
3 different groups of people
You are missing something that comes after salvation… you are missing out on the purpose that God created you for. He has a purpose for you, with an intent in mind and you’ve given no thought to it. There is more to life than earning a living and raising a family. Non Christians are doing that
2. You are weighing out the pros and cons…be very careful …we need to walk with a sensitivity and a flexibility to the Lord..Show me what you want to do in my life and I’ll walk it
3. This is all new to you… wow, this is new, this is different…you are new to God, you want to get back on track…principle …you can’t do the unrevealed will of God until you know the revealed will of God. I just want to know the will of God for my life… Well, here is where it starts for every single person -
2 Peter 3 come to repentance…it is the beginning of knowing the will of God in your life in a way that you can’t even imagine.
If He wills, we will live, we will do this, we will accomplish that. If He wills, we will
If we live with that heart and mindset, it will move us forward into a powerful life of living out His purpose
Born again
‘Seize The Day’ Carolyn Arends
I know a girl who was schooled in Manhattan
She reads dusty books and learns phrases in Latin
She is an author, or maybe a poet
A genius but it's just this world doesn't know it
She works on her novel most every day
If you laugh she will say
Seize the day, seize whatever you can
'Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand
Seize the day, pray for grace from God's hand
Then nothing will stand in your way
Seize the day
Well I know a doctor, a fine young physician
Left his six-figure job for a mission position
He's healing the sick in an African clinic
He works in the dirt and writes home to the cynics
He says "We work through the night so most every day
As we watch the sun rise we can say
Well I know a man who's been doing some thinking
He's as bitter and cold as the whiskey he's drinking
He's talking 'bout fear, about chances not taken
If you listen to him you can hear his heart breaking
He says "One day you're a boy and the next day you're dead
I wish way back when someone had said
Well one thing I've noticed, wherever I wander
Everyone's got a dream he can follow or squander
You can do what you will with the days you are given
I'm trying to spend mine on the business of living
So I'm singing my songs off of any old stage
You can laugh if you want, I'll still say
What is the will of God? Why do I choose this path because
God is not willing that any should perish, but come to the knowledge of the truth. Time is of the essence and when we get right down to it God longs for us to take every opportunity we have to share his love, grace, truth with others, Our business should be like Paul in Philippians 1:22 yet if I live that means fruitful service for Christ
And the greatest joy is seeing someone come to faith in Christ, not necessarily that you did the reaping, but that you were part of God’s organic garden!
Questions To Ponder
1. What does the Bible mean when it says a war is raging inside of us?
2. What promise is given to those who draw near to God?
3. How can we trust God’s will for our lives?
4. When have you been convinced that you knew God’s will for you? What convinced you?
No comments:
Post a Comment