What if this past year was just a year where God was making sure your heart was ready? I’m not talking so much about God testing you but preparing you. Even if you think you utterly failed in how you responded to this past year maybe God had used a season of waiting, mourning and praying to push you to your limit to make you more durable for the road ahead.
We’re to rejoice over another day to breathe. We’re to give thanks to God because His steadfast love is enduring and will continue to be so forever. We’re to rejoice and be glad because God alone does great wonders.
You see, maybe in order to do the Lord’s work, to produce the fruit of the Spirit, we must stop trying in our own strength. We must make the conditions right for growth. Is it possible that in order to see God grow what He desires for us to produce we must let it go and stay out of His way?
I have been united with Jesus. I am free: I can find grace in time of need. I have not been given a spirit of fear but instead one of power, love and self-discipline.
Jesus wants to make you and I truly free. He wants to free me from dependence on what other people think or say or do. He wants me to be free from addiction to money, power or material possessions He wants me to depend on nothing but Him alone. Only then will I be truly free.
Do you recognize when God speaks? If He were speaking to you right now would you have ears to hear what He was saying to you? We sit in Church, read our Bible and think we know what God’s voice sounds like but do we really know how to recognize when Jesus is speaking to us?
You and I can rest assured that God is always at work behind the scenes, working things together for the good of those who are called by Him according to His purposes. Notice that doesn’t mean that we will always be comfortable and happy or that life will always smell like roses.
Before someone can search for happiness or purpose or fulfillment, they need to have a certain amount of security in their life. Much the same way before I can really be free to pursue joy in Jesus or rest in my Savior, I need to be at peace regarding my security in my place in Him.
We let our faith and belief be shaped by what we see around us and what we feel as well as whether this whole “doing” thing is working. We’re Americans after all. If it doesn’t work, why bother to keep trying? But being a Christian is far more than what you do. In fact, I’d argue that being a Christian has far more to do with your identity in Jesus than with what you’ve done.
We are addicted to sight. We are addicted to needing to know. We are addicted to control. Some of you plan way in advance. Some of you do tons of research before you even think about buying something. You might get nervous before you travel. You worry that something might not go according to plan. I don’t think a single one of you wants to live a boring life.