March 31, 2019
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Each of us in this room are on a journey of Faith and trust with our Heavenly Father. I mentioned before, but this journey we are on is not one of destination but one of development or transformation. He is growing us individually and collectively into His people who are called by His name who represent Him wherever we go.
It’s a journey of discovery & intimacy. Of Who He is for us and who we are to Him.
My hope over this past 1st year of New Day is that the pressure to perform, to earn and to impress God is lifting from your life. And that you are beginning to KNOW God and enjoy His presence.
That we would seek Him not because of what happens if we don’t, but because we are starting to realize that He longs for a relationship with each of us. That He actually delights in you. That He has Joy when he thinks about you.
Psa. 139.17 (NKJV) How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
Psa. 139.18 (NKJV) If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
He is relentless in pursuing you and has done everything to set you up for success with a relationship with Him.
Total access.
Total forgiveness.
Total redemption.
Total freedom.
He has given you His Word.
He has shed His sons blood for you.
He has release His Spirit in you and upon you.
He has made available His Wisdom.
God, By His Spirit, Desires To Transform His People… Everyone Of Us… From A People Who “Try To Earn” His Love To A People Who “Live In Response” To His Love…
I realize more than ever that there are some who actually don’t believe God truly loves them. Or let me say it like this, “they don’t believe God can or wants to love them”
But He does.
And please don’t let KNOWING in your head that He loves you keep you from BELIEVING it in your heart!
A thriving relationship with God and a fruit bearing life hinges on two words “Deny Self”
Many who came asking Jesus to follow Him,
Mark 8.34 (NKJV) When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Self = “I have a right…” to live by my feelings
TO BE HURT.
TO BE BITTER.
TO HARBOR UNFORGIVENESS.
TO WORRY.
TO PROTECT MYSELF BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE HURT ME.
TO RETALIATE.
TO HOLD ON TO THE PAST.
To be ashamed.
Think about this for a moment –
RELIGION is so attractive and also destructive because it is self-centered. The betterment of self & the condemnation of self.
CHRISTIANITY is Jesus (the lamb) centered. The death of our old self and the new self made alive In Christ.
God is TRANSFORMING us into His people.
A chosen people.
A royal people.
A holy people.
A special people.
He is transforming us into mature Sons and daughters and ridding all of us of an orphan SELF-sin conscience mindset. So we can carry His presence into the world He has sent us into.
2Cor. 2.15 (NKJV) For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Romans 8:14-16 (TPT)
14 The mature children of God are those[j] who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit.
15 And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,”[k] leading you back into the fear of never being good enough.[l] But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,”[m] enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!”[n]
16 For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”
No longer do we have to live with a sense of fear of rejection and disapproval but are confident that we are fully accepted and deeply loved without condition, strings or hoops.
No longer do we have to strive to earn a place in God’s kingdom.
But are learning how to rest in the place that has been freely given to us.
No more self preservation because we are not sure who is going to care for us and thus we fend for ourselves.
Into sons and daughters who are dependent upon their Father because they know He is there shepherd.
we are no longer out to prove something – “that we are good enough” & or “We can do this on our own”
But we can rejoice because we have been chosen.
God is breaking down the walls we have built that surround and protect us from being hurt. So we can live and abide in His love.
Rom. 1.17 (NKJV) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
That phrase “From Faith to Faith”… means from a young faith to a maturing faith. This new life in Christ begins with faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection and is then lived out daily by trusting in the finished work of Christ and now holds on firm to the end.
Faith is…
embracing Him the author and perfector of our faith,
holding on to & standing firm in our Father’s perspective.
RESTING in God’s love…
Faith is responding to who God is for us and to what Jesus did for us.
When we walk by faith it produces…
A true Joy that is not dictated by our circumstances
a Peace that is not moved by the winds and the waves of life.
Causes you to overcome and conquer fear, anxiety & worry once and forever.
My faith is a responsive to God Love for me. It always translates into REST of my soul. Free from the weight of worry, stress and pressure.
Hebrews 4:9-11 (TPT)
9 So we conclude that there is still a full and complete “rest”[a] waiting for believers[b] to experience. 10 As we enter into God’s faith-rest life we cease from our own works, just as God celebrates his finished works and rests in them.[c] 11 So then we must give our all and be eager to experience this faith-rest life, so that no one falls short by following the same pattern of doubt and unbelief.
We now Rest from works and Rest in Grace…
Rest from… striving to make right with God
Rest from… earning a place with God
Rest from… Wondering how you and God are
Rest from… pressure to Perform for God
And we are to REST in in the finished work of Christ… no more striving to earn.
REST in your sonship… confident in who you are.
REST in your forgiveness… no more remembrance of my past sin
REST in God’s Love… no strings. No hoops.
REST in God’s care for you…
We are to Become Rest-minded, Not Circumstance-minded.
Rest is something we all must practice every day.
It is something I personally work at each day of my life.
The enemy cannot penetrate your attitude of rest if you are practicing it as a lifestyle.
Remember, /REST is relational.
Ps. 23:1-6
The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd.[b]
I always have more than enough.
2 He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love.[c]
His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quiet brook of bliss.[d]
3 That’s where he restores and revives my life.[e]
He opens before me pathways to God’s pleasure
and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness[f]
so that I can bring honor to his name.
4 Lord, even when your path takes me through
the valley of deepest darkness,
fear will never conquer me, for you already have!
You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way.
Your authority is my strength and my peace.[g]
The comfort of your love takes away my fear.
I’ll never be lonely, for you are near.
5 You become my delicious feast
even when my enemies dare to fight.
You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit;[h]
you give me all I can drink of you until my heart overflows.
6 So why would I fear the future?
For your goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life.
Then afterward, when my life is through,
I’ll return to your glorious presence to be forever with you!