December 30, 2018
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I stand with great excitement and expectation for all that God has in store in 2019. Please remember that the journey we all are on is one of identity and not destination. Its One of discovery of Who God is for us and who we are to Him. So as we begin a new year let’s not fall into the trap of listing all the destinations we want to get to and instead begin to put our focus on something greater. Who we are becoming in Him and what God is revealing to us about Himself.
It takes the pressure off of achieving and allows us to REST in Him. This is not an inactive REST that I am referring to, but a place of RECEIVING, EXPECTING and BELIEVING the amazing things God has in store for each and everyone of us.
If He promises you something, He expects you to take Him for granted. To believe what He said.
Its time, Today, to close the door on 2018. And allow God to mold us, to upgrade us and to pursue us in 2019
I had a picture of us stepping into 2019. Like someone entering into a brand new built home.
My hope with this message is to get you to see beyond your circumstances what happened negatively in 2018 and begin to see what God truly and willingly has for you.
1Corinthians 2:9-10 (TPT)
9 This is why the Scriptures say:
Things never discovered or heard of before,
things beyond our ability to imagine[n]—
these are the many things God has in store
for all his lovers.[o]
10 But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit.[p] Yes, he has revealed to us his inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things.
Maybe you’re here today and you lost your expectation of God’s goodness and Favor.
I hope to reignite your faith over the next few weeks and build your expectation of What God has in store for you. Personally and for your family.
It is time for us to align with who we really are in this world. Sons and daughters of the most high. Ambassadors. We represent Jesus on this earth. We are a light to this dark world because the light himself dwell within us.
How many have been to a chiropractor before? You go there for an adjustment right?
And I believe we all could use a spiritual adjustment at times to help get us realigned. Because Life has a way of moving us off of the place where we need to be with God.
And that’s why I love the beginning of a new year.
A new year gives all of us an opportunity for a fresh start.
To SEE things from a new perspective.
To start with a clean slate so to speak.
To gather ourself and embrace a new adventure. And although its with the same scenery or set of circumstances it with a different mindset.
Heb. 13.20 (NLT) And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, EQUIP you with all you need for doing his will. May he PRODUCE in you, through the POWER of Jesus Christ, all that is pleasing to him. Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting covenant, signed with his blood. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
That word EQUIP actually means to align or to put back into proper position. I spent the last two and half years of my life being spiritually realigned and realizing it was for the purpose of doing His will.
Is. 30.21 (NKJV) Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
Remember If God doesn’t speak Initially he will speak eventually
When the Lord is getting ready to do something He begins to reposition us and realigns us with our true identity and our God-given mission. God not only wants us in the right place but also in the right mindset to do what He has planned to do.
a• lign• ment = The arrangement of something or in an orderly position relative to something else;
Jesus said, We are in the world but we are not of it.
We are in this world, but we belong to a completely different King and kingdom..
We cannot draw our thinking, our behavior, our practices from the world around us. We must draw them from the Kingdom that is already within us.
There is a higher way of thinking, a higher way of seeing, and a higher way of being that propels us to great things in 2019.
A New Year is an opportunity.
To SEE like our father sees.
To THINK like our father thinks.
To LOVE like our Father loves.
To FORGIVE like our Father forgives.
To RECEIVE all the promises our Father freely gives us.
And
To BELIEVE the Gospel in its fullness.
We cannot afford to be double minded about the gospel and its power working in our lives.
Either it is the greatest news ever that brings great joy or its the biggest con that was ever given to mankind.
But It is time to get ourselves realigned with the the reality of the finished work of Christ in 2019. It could have a profound impact if and when we do.
And if we are to be realigned then that means that we realign according to God’s true nature. And our father happens to be the most loving, peaceful and joyful person ever.
No one comes close or compares to Him.
He is the absolute personification of love and peace and joy. He is the happiest person you’ll ever know. This is why the mark of one who has received the gospel is pure JOY. That Is what I look for and measure in my own life.
In His presence is fullness of Joy. Where does God dwell? Within me the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore Joy should be overflowing In my life. And when its not, I know my focus is on self and not God.
And this is why Paul exhorted us with the revelation that changed His life,
Gal. 2.20 (NLT) I myself no longer live, but Christ lives IN ME. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Gal. 3.1 (NLT) Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross.
Paul said, “Who bewitched you?” This is really strong language. Who demonize your thinking is what he is saying. Who lied to you? Who tricked you into believing this functional christianity? The flesh cannot ever produce the level of righteousness that God requires to be in union with Him. Function and religion always appeal to the flesh and we have to resist both. How do we do that?
Consider yourself dead to that stuff and let’s just love being alive to God.
Gal. 3.2 (NLT) Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ.
Gal. 3.3 (NLT) Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
It is dangerous to believe that salvation is a free gift but our sanctification is earned by our performance. It has crept into all our lives. Our Functional way of thinking about the gospel has often trumped Jesus’ work in our lives.
To believe that you are saved by grace (which is relational) but perfected by the flesh (functional) is a well developed strategy of the enemy to MISALIGN believers.
It purpose is to get you looking at yourself and what you’re not; to get you looking at your own behavior to get you looking at what you can’t do and then bringing you into condemnation because there is no way that you can ever perform your way into the bigness of all that God has got for you.
And so you know what we do when we enter a new year. Go to work on fixing ourselves. Look at our weaknesses and start examining what we need to fix and work on.
The New Year is traditionally a time of reflection where we examine where we are, where we are going and what we would want life to be like in the near future.
We think about change and then we make a wish list of resolutions that usually fails to make it beyond January.
I think it fails because we make the wrong sort of list for the wrong motives. We usually make a list of what we most want to change about our situations or ourselves. Most of the items on that list are negatives.
Our difficulty is that when we focus on a negative we become drawn into its ugly cycle. We become obsessed by what we are not. We fall back into the pit from which we are trying to escape.
We cannot change a negative by being involved with the negativity. Our lives can never be distinguished by the absence of something. When we focus on a negative we make a feature of an identity that is in itself debilitating. It is easier for us to repeat a defeat, step into denial, and disagree with our own potential.
So, I pray that this year we will learn to Partner with God. in what He is calling us Up into.
Being available to His forming us and molding us.
Because Here’s the truth. God is not dealing with your old man and the sin you were or may be bound to; He’s already dealt with it on the cross. He’s not saying, “there are things we need to fix as you enter 2019”. No He is saying, “Are you ready to step into and explore who I have made you to be?”
Realize, You don’t have to live with Anger because peace dwells within you.
You don’t have to live with depression because the Joy of Jesus dwells within you.
You don’t have to be bound to sin, because you are dead to sin and its power has be broken.
You don’t have to live with fear, because God’s perfect love has been shed abroad in your heart and perfect love casts out all fear.
You don’t have to live with anxiety, because Jesus has given you His rest.
2Cor. 1.20 (NKJV) For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
Do you see how 2019 can be different than all the other years of have a resolution to be a “better’” person or “better” this or that. How about commit to learn who you are in Christ and to practice being your new man. What kind of year would that be?
Choose to embrace the promises of God and don’t be swayed by how you feel, what you see or what is happening around you. Have the courage to BELIEVE. To believe what God said. Then and only then will those very promises overtake you and cause you to become who you were intended to be!
God wants to partner with you in 2019.
He wants to lead you and guide and define who you.
He wants to infuse you with His promises and watch you soar to great heights.
Look at these words as we come to a close…
2Peter 1:3-4 (TPT)
3 Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion[a] to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon usthrough the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness.[b] 4 As a result of this, he has given you[c] magnificent promises[d] that are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises[e] you can experience partnership[f] with the divine nature, by which you have escaped[g] the corrupt desires that are of the world.