Paul Benger continued our excellent series ‘If’ this morning. He brought a great message about what it means to be ‘called by God’s name’.
2 Chronicles 7:14 – Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land
Little steps can make big changes in our lives. God is a builder and often does small incremental things in our lives. We need to respond to those little things and not just wait for the big things to happen.
Proverbs 4:23 - Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life
Success is not what we have but who we are in Christ and what we do for him. He is a big God who will do incredible things in our lives. Right-size our God so that we can right size our own lives.
What if? If we are called by his name…God is big enough to meet all our needs, to lift people’s lives, to set them free!
‘Names’ mean things. Names mean a lot us when we name our children. They mean a lot to us when we purchase items. Names that mean reliability etc.
God has revealed things to us through his name, and we are called by that name. The name that means strength, faithfulness and reliability.
Some of the names of God…
Elohim – the plural from EL meaning strong, mighty one. Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
He is the strong creator. He makes a way when there is no way! Proverbs 18:10 – The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe
El Shaddai – God Almighty
El Elyon – The Most High God, stresses his strength, sovereignty and supremacy.
El Olam – Everlasting God
Yahweh – ‘I am’, or ‘I will be what I will be’
Yahweh Jireh – The Lord will provide
Yahweh Nissi – The Lord is my banner, victory
Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is my peace
Yahweh Sabbaoth – the Lord of hosts
Yahweh Maccaddeshcem – the Lord is my sanctifier
Yahweh Ro’i – the Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 23:1)
Yahweh Tsidkenu – The Lord our righteousness
Yahweh Shammah – the Lord is there (God with us!)
He reveals who he is to us, his might and power so that we can live by his name!
3 questions that God asks us so that we know we are called by his name…
What is in your hand?
Exodus 3:11 – But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
We haven’t got to try and be like someone else. Be faithful with what God has put in your hand.
Genesis 26:1-12 – Isaac sowed in the land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold!
Sow what is in your hand and you will be blessed! Our confidence is in God and his character. Let us use what God has put in our hand.
What is in your house?
2 Kings 4:2 - Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil."
Her problem was her need, she was in debt. Yet she was able to us what she had and see incredible miraculous blessing! God wants to build our lives and he uses what we have. Take up the challenge to build your house.
What is in our house…our church? God wants to see us building it together. He will reveal more to us the more we build. Let us build this house. We have a big God who has given us a big vision.
What is in your heart?
He loves our hearts. He looked at David and saw his heart not his outward appearance.
Have we got a heart for our church to prosper? To see lives healed and set free, for people to come to Christ.
Do you have a heart to see your marriage blessed, relationships made stronger?
We can sometimes act against what is in our hearts.
Let us allow God to help us use what is in our hands, house and heart…to fulfil what God has called us to!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
If - Big People
We’re in an excellent series at church at the moment called “If”. Paul Benger brought the second part this morning all about being ‘big people’.
2 Chronicles 7:14 – Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land
God wants to do so much in our lives; he puts the ONUS on us to respond to him. ONUS (On us) – meaning load/burden. The onus is on us today to not only believe that God will do but to also take the steps of faith to see it come about. Let us carry the thought that we do make a difference! Don’t view onus as a negative thing.
We are Big People because we are His People!
Who do you think you are?
Ever tried to go back and discover your ancestry? It’s not wrong to research your ancestry, but letting your ancestry influence or determine your life now and your future is wrong.
1 Timothy 1:13-14 – As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work—which is by faith.
Don’t get tied down by your history, instead give yourself to God’s work by faith.
Titus 3:9 – But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless
You are not the product of your ancestry. Your life is not determined by their actions. Don’t miss out on what God has for you because we blame our past.
Proverbs 23:7 – For as he thinks in his heart, so is he
What do you think about you?
You are not the product of your history
Your life is not determined by your postcode or where you were born.
Grab hold of God’s work/will for your life by faith…whatever your past whatever your background. You can still live in a small place but have a big impact!
We can be in God’s household but still not grab hold of all that he has for us!
Appreciate who you are in Christ individually and as a church.
You are a new creation! 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
You are not reformed
You are not rehabilitated
You are not re-educated
You are not re-programmed
You’ve been re-created...made anew! This allows us to now live for Christ. With different passion, different culture, new love, new purity.
Our postcode has changed…Heaven is our home! Transferred from kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light!
Yes our bodies still wrestle between old thinking and new thinking. Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me
God will grow us bigger as we realise who we are in Christ. God has taken this life and made it new…re-created in Christ. “taken this old skin and made it new again!”
Let us be a bigger person!
We are the people of God
He will do for our neighbours what he has done for us. The onus on us, the people of God, to believe that and to take action!
Acts 2:42 – They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer
His people are ‘devoted’ people
His people are ‘preachers’ – God is a preacher! “Light be” and light was. In the beginning there also came another preacher to deceive and to cause man to fall. There are many preachers today vying for our attention to distract us from what God is saying.
His people are in fellowship
His people break bread
His people pray
2 Chronicles 7:14 – Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land
God wants to do so much in our lives; he puts the ONUS on us to respond to him. ONUS (On us) – meaning load/burden. The onus is on us today to not only believe that God will do but to also take the steps of faith to see it come about. Let us carry the thought that we do make a difference! Don’t view onus as a negative thing.
We are Big People because we are His People!
Who do you think you are?
Ever tried to go back and discover your ancestry? It’s not wrong to research your ancestry, but letting your ancestry influence or determine your life now and your future is wrong.
1 Timothy 1:13-14 – As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work—which is by faith.
Don’t get tied down by your history, instead give yourself to God’s work by faith.
Titus 3:9 – But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless
You are not the product of your ancestry. Your life is not determined by their actions. Don’t miss out on what God has for you because we blame our past.
Proverbs 23:7 – For as he thinks in his heart, so is he
What do you think about you?
You are not the product of your history
Your life is not determined by your postcode or where you were born.
Grab hold of God’s work/will for your life by faith…whatever your past whatever your background. You can still live in a small place but have a big impact!
We can be in God’s household but still not grab hold of all that he has for us!
Appreciate who you are in Christ individually and as a church.
You are a new creation! 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
You are not reformed
You are not rehabilitated
You are not re-educated
You are not re-programmed
You’ve been re-created...made anew! This allows us to now live for Christ. With different passion, different culture, new love, new purity.
Our postcode has changed…Heaven is our home! Transferred from kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light!
Yes our bodies still wrestle between old thinking and new thinking. Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me
God will grow us bigger as we realise who we are in Christ. God has taken this life and made it new…re-created in Christ. “taken this old skin and made it new again!”
Let us be a bigger person!
We are the people of God
He will do for our neighbours what he has done for us. The onus on us, the people of God, to believe that and to take action!
Acts 2:42 – They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer
His people are ‘devoted’ people
His people are ‘preachers’ – God is a preacher! “Light be” and light was. In the beginning there also came another preacher to deceive and to cause man to fall. There are many preachers today vying for our attention to distract us from what God is saying.
His people are in fellowship
His people break bread
His people pray
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
No Condemnation
At our evening service over the weekend Mark Wilkins spoke on the subject of ‘No Condemnation’ in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Condemnation – critiscm that can stay with us forever. Condemned Buildings – that are not safe, useless, dangerous. Food – gone bad, poisonous.
We’re no longer in that place of condemnation because of God’s grace. However some people still live in that place, they can wear it as a badge. But GRACE is the interrupter of our lives, changes how we feel about ourselves.
Grace interrupts and changes the rules. You can change your situation – you are good enough.
Here are several things that should be interrupted by grace...
1) Burden Carrying
When issues have already been dealt with, healed, complete, finished, because of what Christ has done – don’t pick those things up again.
Put down the burdens and let grace interrupt!
2) Shame
Ashamed of who we are, of what we’ve done. But God has set you free. He’s not ashamed of you, he’s exactly the opposite.
Shame can be taken from us as we allow his grace to interrupt our lives.
Woman caught in adultery – Jesus interrupts her life with grace. He removed the shame. She was forgiven.
3) Having a ‘work-like’ theology
When we’re constantly working to please God. Striving to make him love us more. We’ve forgotten what grace is all about.
Grace is not a loophole in your relationship with God. It’s the only way! Yes work for God, but from the position of Grace. Relational.
Grace is not just a one-off but a constant daily thing.
Some symptoms of us allowing these three areas to govern our lives...
We fail to show grace to others – we find ourselves condemning other people.
They sap our ability, our energy and life. We become harder, less giving, less fun. Cold and religious. We feel like we’ve lost control, no longer in charge of our lives.
There is another way to live, where we’ve stopped thinking we’re no longer fit for purpose.
We are loved. Inhabited by the Holy Spirit. God lives in us.
Romans 8:2 - because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death
The opposite of being condemned and feeling condemned – we now have a life-giving spirit. Not striving in our own strength. Able to boast about what God has done for us. We give life to others as a result of this. We remain teachable – we learn and grow.
Romans 8:6 - The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace
Let the Holy Spirit control our lives – not allowing sin to reign. Let him be our compass. So when we stray from the map He guides us back onto the right track.
How do we ensure we live an uncondemned life? Knowing grace on a daily basis.
Be constantly thinking of grace. Grace is at the forefront of the Apostle Paul’s thoughts. “Grace and Peace to You…” - Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3, Philippians 1:2
Grace was his starting point, his default position. Grace was the reason for everything he did. Made it his mission to share the good news of God’s grace.
Let all of our words and actions be shaped by grace.
This is our life assignment, to live in his grace and to share this with others – the reason for being.
What would a review of our grace life reveal? Our grace map?
Let his grace be visible in our lives and in every area. Let it be the forefront of our lives, our mission in life. As we live lives full of grace we will bear good fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law
Romans 8:1 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Condemnation – critiscm that can stay with us forever. Condemned Buildings – that are not safe, useless, dangerous. Food – gone bad, poisonous.
We’re no longer in that place of condemnation because of God’s grace. However some people still live in that place, they can wear it as a badge. But GRACE is the interrupter of our lives, changes how we feel about ourselves.
Grace interrupts and changes the rules. You can change your situation – you are good enough.
Here are several things that should be interrupted by grace...
1) Burden Carrying
When issues have already been dealt with, healed, complete, finished, because of what Christ has done – don’t pick those things up again.
Put down the burdens and let grace interrupt!
2) Shame
Ashamed of who we are, of what we’ve done. But God has set you free. He’s not ashamed of you, he’s exactly the opposite.
Shame can be taken from us as we allow his grace to interrupt our lives.
Woman caught in adultery – Jesus interrupts her life with grace. He removed the shame. She was forgiven.
3) Having a ‘work-like’ theology
When we’re constantly working to please God. Striving to make him love us more. We’ve forgotten what grace is all about.
Grace is not a loophole in your relationship with God. It’s the only way! Yes work for God, but from the position of Grace. Relational.
Grace is not just a one-off but a constant daily thing.
Some symptoms of us allowing these three areas to govern our lives...
We fail to show grace to others – we find ourselves condemning other people.
They sap our ability, our energy and life. We become harder, less giving, less fun. Cold and religious. We feel like we’ve lost control, no longer in charge of our lives.
There is another way to live, where we’ve stopped thinking we’re no longer fit for purpose.
We are loved. Inhabited by the Holy Spirit. God lives in us.
Romans 8:2 - because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death
The opposite of being condemned and feeling condemned – we now have a life-giving spirit. Not striving in our own strength. Able to boast about what God has done for us. We give life to others as a result of this. We remain teachable – we learn and grow.
Romans 8:6 - The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace
Let the Holy Spirit control our lives – not allowing sin to reign. Let him be our compass. So when we stray from the map He guides us back onto the right track.
How do we ensure we live an uncondemned life? Knowing grace on a daily basis.
Be constantly thinking of grace. Grace is at the forefront of the Apostle Paul’s thoughts. “Grace and Peace to You…” - Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3, Philippians 1:2
Grace was his starting point, his default position. Grace was the reason for everything he did. Made it his mission to share the good news of God’s grace.
Let all of our words and actions be shaped by grace.
This is our life assignment, to live in his grace and to share this with others – the reason for being.
What would a review of our grace life reveal? Our grace map?
Let his grace be visible in our lives and in every area. Let it be the forefront of our lives, our mission in life. As we live lives full of grace we will bear good fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Living from a Place of Agreement
Great time in church today. We heard an excellent message from Pastor Brian Houston, Hillsong, about living from a place of agreement.
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 – I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul?
There will be things we will always disagree on…but there are things we can all agree on. Our faith in Jesus Christ being the main one.
The Apostle Paul was encouraging the church to agree, he’s talking about the church building fellowship and connection as they agree with one another.
So often we live small lives because we live out of disagreement and not from a place of agreement. A positive place to live where the name of Jesus is exalted. Disagreement can be destructive in families, at first it might start as a quiet rumbling that we feel and sense until it becomes visible. People can allow disagreement run their soul and to ruin their lives.
On the other side, the place of agreement will have an incredible impact on our lives and on the lives of others.
Three things about agreement:
1) Agreement is built around a common focus
Agreement was vital for the early church, bringing focus for the body of Christ, which was so important for their future. This is still true for us today.
In life it is powerful to live from a place of agreement. Example – a football match where the crowd share a single focus and yet they are all from different backgrounds.
Matthew 18:18-20 – “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
As we gather together around the name of Jesus sharing the same single focus in agreement we will accomplish great things.
We can get so locked into what we disagree about we lose focus and get nowhere. The opposite is true when we are in a place (like the church) where we can focus and agree.
It makes a difference in our lives as we live from a place of agreement, it opens doors, makes us new friends, makes us influential.
(Message) 1 Corinthians 9:19 - 23 - Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralised—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
Experience things from their point of view.
2) Agreement is not weakness or compromise
Paul kept his bearings in Christ. Jesus wasn’t weak…
Luke 11:37 – When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table
‘Go to the table’ – it’s not weakness but ‘meekness’. Humility is the secret of agreement, pride is the secret of disagreement.
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life. (AW Tozer)
We don’t lose our bearings in Christ, we don’t compromise and we are not weak when we live from a place of agreement.
3) Agreement places value on people
Luke 19:1-5 – Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."
Jesus didn’t speak down to Zacchaeus he spoke up to him and went to his table.
Never speak down to people in the way we live our lives. Speak life to them!
Philippians 4:2-9
Live out of prayer and thanksgiving and agreement, not from a place of disagreement. Live lives that value humanity, lifting the lives of others.
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 – I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul?
There will be things we will always disagree on…but there are things we can all agree on. Our faith in Jesus Christ being the main one.
The Apostle Paul was encouraging the church to agree, he’s talking about the church building fellowship and connection as they agree with one another.
So often we live small lives because we live out of disagreement and not from a place of agreement. A positive place to live where the name of Jesus is exalted. Disagreement can be destructive in families, at first it might start as a quiet rumbling that we feel and sense until it becomes visible. People can allow disagreement run their soul and to ruin their lives.
On the other side, the place of agreement will have an incredible impact on our lives and on the lives of others.
Three things about agreement:
1) Agreement is built around a common focus
Agreement was vital for the early church, bringing focus for the body of Christ, which was so important for their future. This is still true for us today.
In life it is powerful to live from a place of agreement. Example – a football match where the crowd share a single focus and yet they are all from different backgrounds.
Matthew 18:18-20 – “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
As we gather together around the name of Jesus sharing the same single focus in agreement we will accomplish great things.
We can get so locked into what we disagree about we lose focus and get nowhere. The opposite is true when we are in a place (like the church) where we can focus and agree.
It makes a difference in our lives as we live from a place of agreement, it opens doors, makes us new friends, makes us influential.
(Message) 1 Corinthians 9:19 - 23 - Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralised—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
Experience things from their point of view.
2) Agreement is not weakness or compromise
Paul kept his bearings in Christ. Jesus wasn’t weak…
Luke 11:37 – When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table
‘Go to the table’ – it’s not weakness but ‘meekness’. Humility is the secret of agreement, pride is the secret of disagreement.
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life. (AW Tozer)
We don’t lose our bearings in Christ, we don’t compromise and we are not weak when we live from a place of agreement.
3) Agreement places value on people
Luke 19:1-5 – Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."
Jesus didn’t speak down to Zacchaeus he spoke up to him and went to his table.
Never speak down to people in the way we live our lives. Speak life to them!
Philippians 4:2-9
Live out of prayer and thanksgiving and agreement, not from a place of disagreement. Live lives that value humanity, lifting the lives of others.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Finding Grace
We heard an excellent message in church yesterday. Paul Benger spoke about 'Finding Grace'.
2 Timothy 2:1 - You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
John 1:17 - For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
It is an amazing fact that Jesus can balance grace and truth. He can speak truth into our lives while still loving us.
The definition of grace:
Favour (undeserved); A gift given; A supernatural enabling or position.
The truth is that we as humans find it easy to be strong in accepting condemnation, but difficult to be strong in accepting God’s favour.
Hebrews 4:14-16 - Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Jesus completely understands us. He understands our temptations and there is no challenge that we face that Jesus didn’t face too. He overcame so that we could receive grace.
3 things that help us to find grace:
1) Keep our confession (v.14)
We need to keep our confession that Jesus is Lord. Jesus actually anticipates being Lord of our lives therefore we should have no other gods in our lives. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Master.
Hebrews10:23 - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Because he is faithful we should keep our confession.
2) Let us draw near (v.16)
Are you drawing nearer to God today?
Let us draw near and find more supernatural enabling in our lives.
3) Let us have confidence (v.16)
God loves cheeky boys and girls – not disrespectful but passionate and fiery. When we need something God likes us to come with an attitude of expectation.
We all face challenges, but the champion spirit picks itself up and moves forward.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 - Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
2 Timothy 2:1 - You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
John 1:17 - For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
It is an amazing fact that Jesus can balance grace and truth. He can speak truth into our lives while still loving us.
The definition of grace:
Favour (undeserved); A gift given; A supernatural enabling or position.
The truth is that we as humans find it easy to be strong in accepting condemnation, but difficult to be strong in accepting God’s favour.
Hebrews 4:14-16 - Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Jesus completely understands us. He understands our temptations and there is no challenge that we face that Jesus didn’t face too. He overcame so that we could receive grace.
3 things that help us to find grace:
1) Keep our confession (v.14)
We need to keep our confession that Jesus is Lord. Jesus actually anticipates being Lord of our lives therefore we should have no other gods in our lives. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Master.
Hebrews10:23 - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Because he is faithful we should keep our confession.
2) Let us draw near (v.16)
Are you drawing nearer to God today?
Let us draw near and find more supernatural enabling in our lives.
3) Let us have confidence (v.16)
God loves cheeky boys and girls – not disrespectful but passionate and fiery. When we need something God likes us to come with an attitude of expectation.
We all face challenges, but the champion spirit picks itself up and moves forward.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 - Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
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