August 11, 2019
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Today I want to share a few insights that I have discovered through my journey of learning and experience with God. I find many believers (some in this room) very discontented with the season of life they are in.
I watch and observe believers who say they trust God but yet are full of anxiety and uneasiness in their present season. They are either eager to move on and enter a new and hopefully better season or they are scared of what lies ahead unwilling to take a step of faith. A step many of us know we need to take.
I know I am personally in your life as your pastor to CALL you up into who you are and all that God has called you to do.
Our Trust In God is based 100% upon our relationship to Him – Who He is to me and who I am to Him.
My trust toward God is rooted in Knowing and believing His Love for me.
My Faith works through His Love For me…
Gal. 5.6 (NKJV) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Many of us try hard to believe when we should be seeking a greater revelation of God’s love for us. Then, faith would just naturally be a response rather than a forced thing.
When I am trusting God I am simply responding to His good nature –
Luke 12.32 (NKJV) “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
He is always good,
He always has my best in mind and
He is always setting me up to Succeed in Him.
Trust = my proper response to my father’s love that allows me to follow his leading regardless of the cost or my ability to understand why…
True rest (peace) is experienced when we depend on God. (He is our source)
More Money Doesn’t Bring true and lasting Rest
More Fame Doesn’t Bring true and lasting Rest…
More Accomplishments Doesn’t Bring true and lasting Rest…
More Possessions Doesn’t Bring true and lasting Rest…
More Business doesn’t bring true and lasting rest…
Is. 26:3 (Nkjv) You Will Keep Him In Perfect Peace, Whose Mind Is Stayed On You, Because He Trusts In You.
God Is Leading Us To A Place Of Dependency & Intimacy.
Can we all agree, God’s ways are not our ways. I know we know that, but we oftentimes live contrary to that belief. Like we believe God operates and thinks like we do. No, He THINKS differently then us and He SEES differently than us. This is the reason we tend to have a difficulty trusting Him.
“Why does God allow”?
And this is why Solomon exhorts us,
Prov. 3.5 (NKJV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
Prov. 3.6 (NKJV) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Remember trust is relational. It’s all about relationship. It has NOTHING to do with circumstances. And everything to do with Who God is for you and who you are to Him.
respond to my father’s love that allows me to follow his leading regardless of the cost or my ability to understand why…
How He is going get you to where He is bringing you is different than the route you or I would take.
Think about the Israelites.
In light of this understanding it is important to understand that our Father works in seasons not destinations. Destinations are irrelevant to him. Because He is not bound by time or parameters like we are. So what He has foreseen is already done in His realm just not ours. YET!
As God leads us and and guides us along the journey He has us on, there are two unique seasons I have come to encounter. And I see them all throughout the scriptures –
1. The season of His presence/fruitfulness. (a time where He refreshes and renews our souls)
2. The season of His absence/pruning. (where He builds and strengthens our faith)
One gets us ready for the next.
Let me reassure you. One season is not better than the other. Both are necessary and both are God ordained. In fact, God is in both seasons.
And both seasons have a purpose. Each are designed by God and with God’s love. No season is ever meant to harm but to reveal – Who you are and who He is for you.
When He reveals Himself (His presence) or makes Himself known, He is blessing us. When He seemingly hides (His absence), He’s building us and allowing us to learn how to live contrary to how we may feel.
God Desires For Us To Be A People That Rest fully in Him… (Dependence)
Psa. 62:1 (Nlt) I Wait Quietly Before God, For My Salvation Comes From Him.
Psa. 62:2 (Nlt) He Alone Is My Rock And My Salvation, My Fortress Where I Will Never Be Shaken.
Psa. 62:3 (Nlt) So Many Enemies Against One Man— All Of Them Trying To Kill Me. To Them I’m Just A Broken-Down Wall Or A Tottering Fence.
Psa. 62:4 (Nlt) They Plan To Topple Me From My High Position. They Delight In Telling Lies About Me. They Are Friendly To My Face, But They Curse Me In Their Hearts. Interlude
Psa. 62:5 (Nlt) I Wait Quietly Before God, For My Hope Is In Him.
Psa. 62:6 (Nlt) He Alone Is My Rock And My Salvation, My Fortress Where I Will Not Be Shaken.
Psa. 62:7 (Nlt) My Salvation And My Honor Come From God Alone. He Is My Refuge, A Rock Where No Enemy Can Reach Me.
Psa. 62:8 (Nlt) O My People, Trust In Him At All Times. Pour Out Your Heart To Him, For God Is Our Refuge. Interlude
He is going to Lead You As Any Good Shepherd Would…
Is. 40:11 (Nkjv) He Will Feed His Flock Like A Shepherd; He Will Gather The Lambs With His Arm, And Carry Them In His Bosom, And Gently Lead Those Who Are With Young.
Psa. 23:2 (Nkjv) He Makes Me To Lie Down In Green Pastures; He Leads Me Beside The Still Waters.
Psa. 23:3 (Nkjv) He Restores My Soul; He Leads Me In The Paths Of Righteousness For His Name’s Sake.
One thing i learned is that a shepherd marks his sheep with an instrument called a “killing knife.” He makes a distinct mark in their ear that identifies them as his own and cares for them almost like children.
Marked By The Holy Spirit…
As Christians We Are “Marked” By The Holy Spirit. In Much The Same Way, Many Of The Trials And Tests We Go Through Can Be Quite Painful While “Killing” off “self”. However, The Holy Spirit Knows What He Is Doing In Us Is Working Toward Our Spiritual Maturity.
You May wander or even fall But like any good shepherd He will Pick You Up…
Psa. 37:23 (Nkjv) The Steps Of A Good Man Are Ordered By The Lord, And He Delights In His Way.
Psa. 37:24 (Nkjv) Though He Fall, He Shall Not Be Utterly Cast Down; For The Lord Upholds Him With His Hand.