Absolutes of God's will for your life

Have you ever heard someone say, “God moves in mysterious ways”? I sure am glad that statement isn't true. The will of God doesn't have to be mysterious. 

Here are some things you can absolutely count on.

1. God’s will is salvation. 

1. Our heavenly Father desires that all of humankind have eternal life with Him. 
2. That includes you.
1. Titus 2:11 "For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."
3. God's will and desire is that all will be saved, He has revealed that to the world.
4. The church, Christianity's sole mission is to share that great news with all. 
1. Christ gave His life to free us now we need to totally commit our life to doing good.

2. God’s will is dominion. 

1. Dominion simply means control. 
2. God wants you to apply His Word and take control of your body, thought life, attitude, and future.
1. Many think they will never be able to find God's will, God's purpose, or God's plan when in fact He told us to rule or have dominion over all the earth.
1. 1 Peter 4:10 "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen."
2. All dominion is God's to give and He gave authority to mankind to rule the earth.
3. God gave His son Jesus Christ all authority, all power, and all dominion forever and ever.

3. God’s will is discipleship. 

1. We are to grow in our walk with Christ. 
1. Growing is a sign of life.
2. Stagnation, decay, or rotting is a sign of death.
1. Many think they are living when in reality they are dying through religion, traditions, attitude, rebellion, operation in the flesh, or in battling their sin nature. 
2. Jesus came to give us life and that life abundantly. 
3. As we mature we are to help others do the same.
1. Every "disciple of Christ" should be making, creating, "disciples of Christ."
2. Who are you mentoring?
3. Who are you bringing closer to God?
4. Who are you encouraging and sharpening in their faith?

4. God’s will is unity. 

1. Your words and actions must be united with God’s Word.
1. God's Word is our measuring apparatus, not people, programs, ideas, or structure. 
2. Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable."
1. With each of  us being accountable to God for every action, every word, and every deed, who else matters? 
1. Respectfully, if you refuse to live life to it's fullest because you are rejecting God's plan, God's way, God's heart, or God's rescue then what a sad life to live. 

5. God’s will is stewardship. 

1. We are to take proper care of our time, money, abilities, and all God has entrusted us with.
1. Stewardship-a person who manages another's property or financial affairs. 
1. God has entrusted me to manage His things, His finances that He blesses me with, His children that He has blessed me with, His resources that I manage for Him. WOW!
2. This is such a powerful opportunity, and weighty responsibility that I do not want to fail in. 
3. Luke 16:10 "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities.11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?12 And if you are not faithful with other people's things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?"
1. What a responsibility Christianity has, what an enormous responsibility the global church has. 

6. God’s will is relationships. 

1. Through the power of relationships, you will be able to accomplish things that would be impossible if you were alone.
1. Galatians 6:1 "Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer* is overcome by some sin, you who are godly* should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.2 Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important."
   

7. God’s will is progressive. 

1. God has a plan for your life that will be completed one step at a time, not in leaps or bounds.
1. Grow in Him daily! 

Join us at Youthrock for our upcoming services to students every Wednesday night 7pm: 

With us 2 lead us

Exodus 33:12 “Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'  13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." 14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

1.  What is the presence of God worth to you?

a.  What are you willing to give up too get it?

b.  I love that in vs. 15 Moses expresses the great value that he had for the presence of God. When God said vs. 14 “My presence will go with you”, he caught with the purpose of, as that which he could not live and/or move without. 

15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

c.   Then speaks here as one that dreaded the thought of going forward without God’s presence, knowing that their marches could not be safe, nor their encampments easy, if God had not been with them.

d.  Knowing they will not get to God’s desired location for them.

Now we skip back to vs. 11 “Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.”

e.  Joshua stays behind while the presence of the Lord was there I believe because he was hungry for more of His presence.

                                                           i.      Are you willing to lag behind hoping for one…more…encounter?

                                                        ii.      Are you willing to holdup/delay hoping to hear God’s next step for you.

f.     These men of God modeled for the church how to get things done.

                                                           i.      On your face before God.

                                                        ii.      Following this model is our struggle.

                                                     iii.      We look for programs, conferences, the right speaker, the right theme, the right worship team, when in fact our sole reliance should be on Him.

Illustrate here: God’s presence is always in attendance the only thing that ever changes is our awareness and our conscience ness of it.

2.  I will not take no for an answer.

a.  I can’t.

b.  Observe how intense Moses is in this matter, he begs as one who would take no denial.

c.   Pay the price of getting into the presence of God or more importantly getting it into you.

                                                           i.      I believe our intentions are right but our injections are wrong.

1.  It’s like we worship God out of a fear that we’ll miss His blessings or receive His punishment instead of worshipping Him because He loves us and died for us.

2.  This is not what He envisioned when it comes to relationship with us.

John 3:30 “He must increase, I must decrease.”

d.  There is no steroid for spirituality.

                                                           i.      There is no steroid shot for my relationship with God.

                                                        ii.      There is no steroid shot for the presence, passion, or purpose of God.

                                                     iii.      The real injections come through discipleship, bible reading, worship, attending His house, fasting, and praying.

e.  We have to say God I will not move until I’m guided by you to do so. I refuse.

3.  Set apart.

Exodus 33:16 “If you don’t go with us, how will anyone ever know that your people and I have found favor with you? How else will they know we are special and distinct from all other people on the earth?”

a.  He knew of a distinction.

b.  Some things can only be accomplished in the supernatural.

c.   What sets you apart?

                                                           i.      I believe God’s people still do the impossible.

                                                        ii.      I believe God’s people are still holy, consecrated, live right, and I believe God’s people stand out.

                                                     iii.      There is a distinction that I believe lives in and through men and women of God.

d.  I don’t want to stand and declare to the world that I am different, that I am highly favored, that I am blessed, that I am set apart yet I’m actually on the same level as the rest.

                                                           i.      Moses basically says God you led us here and we’ll be lost if you leave us.

                                                        ii.      He is “with us to lead us” and I don’t want to move forward in my life or ministry without Him. I won’t. I can’t.

Isaiah 42:5 “God, the LORD, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is he who says, 6"I, the LORD, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.”

4.  You have to position God first place in your life.

a.  In the first steps/days of my Christian experience I had enthusiasm/passion without knowledge but do I now have knowledge with no enthusiasm/passion?

Exodus 34:14 “You must worship no other gods, but only the Lord, for He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you.”

b.  God told the Israelites not to join in religious rites with the sinful people around them, but to give their absolute loyalty and exclusive devotion to Him.

c.   Pagan worship simply cannot be mixed with the worship of the Holy God.

As Jesus pointed out, “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money.” Luke 16:13

d.  Love of money is the god of this age, and many Christians attempt to make a treaty with this enslaving god.

                                                           i.      Making deals with God, “God if you’ll just make me famous, rich, influential, inventive, then I’ll do great things for you.”

1.  Are you trying to worship two gods at once?

2.  Where is your first allegiance?

Illustrate here: Boards (sheets of foam or plywood to represent-sin) that come between us and God show us the practical ways that sin will destroy our relationship with God.

e.  When this happens it creates distance between us and God.

f.     The human race can not continue to create distance we need to know the ways that draw us closer and immediately respond.

g.  I hate to be away from my wife and sons.

                                                           i.      I loathe, hate, and can’t bear being away from them.

                                                        ii.      They are fun, they are encouraging, they are lovable, they are funny, and they are my favorite people in the whole world to be around.

                                                     iii.      Separation from them is punishment.

                                                     iv.      Take away anything, you can have anything but you will not, can not, better not try to take them away from me.

h.  God’s love for you is much, much more passionate and personal than mine could ever dream of being.

i.     God’s love for mankind is much more protective than mine.

j.     God’s love is eternal, and infinite.

k.  Eternal separation from God and His presence is the real punishment of hell.

                                                           i.      When this happens it creates hearing problems between us and God.

                                                        ii.      When you stack up all the sin, all of the disobedience, all of the disrespect, you can’t hear God’s voice clearly.

                                                     iii.      His voice becomes clouded, distant, soft that it makes you feel isolated and cut off from heaven.

                                                     iv.      You say I want to know God’s plan for my life and He’s speaking to you, you just can’t hear and recognize that it’s Him.

l.     He’s trying to get your attention and you are ignoring the Creator of the Universe cause your hearing is stopped up like a dirty toilet.

                                                           i.      No clarity of His guidance, no clarity of His direction, no sign of Him speaking to you at all.

5.  When this happens it creates visual problems between us and God. 

a.  God wants you to see His plan for your life.

b.  God wants you to see His mission for your life.

c.   When we stack up all the barriers between Him and us how in the world can we see where He wants us to go or what He wants us to do.

6.  Finally when we say God be with us so you can lead us it means in every aspect of our lives.

a.  I believe God’s people are led in their job placement, in their relationships, in their school work and activities, in the places they go, the things they watch, listen to or speak, and in the way they live life every day.

God is “with us to lead us.” 

Psalm 91:1 "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. 7 Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you these evils will not touch you. 8 Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. 9 If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.”

What is the presence of God worth to you? 

Go ahead join the conversation...

Reach, Impact Now

The greatest risk you can take in your life is to risk nothing with your life. The potential to do something great for God’s kingdom will always outweigh any potential downfall the Devil may throw at you.

If you want bible results, (miracles, signs, and wonders) in your life then you have have to live bible principles.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. [20] Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

The great commission.
Commission means: an instruction, command or duty given to a person or group of people.
There are 4 verbs in this verse we need to pay attention to:
Go.
We are to go.
Go where they are.
Sometimes that is a dark place.
Don't wait til Wednesday night at Youthrock or Sunday's Solid Rock service to go.
You should be fully aware and prepared to lead people to Jesus wherever you are.
Preach/teach
Make disciples means to "win them."
Go tell them how to be saved.
Win them over to understanding, and belief in Jesus Christ.
Don't be argumentative, hateful, rude or debate just be real in your relationship to them and Christ.
Baptize.
Follow in Jesus' footsteps in baptism.
Baptism symbolizes purity in that you have asked Christ to forgive you of your wrongdoing, (death to sin) a new life belief, (burial of your old life and ways) and resurrection into a Christ honoring life.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NLT)
"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! [18] And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. [19] For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. [20] So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!" [21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

4. Teaching.
Teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.
Observe-watch carefully and attentively.
Being an example to all people.
Follow Christ so close that your life is a reflection of Him.
Teach with your life.
All followers of Jesus are supposed to be doing, living out the great commission.
Be soul conscious. Recognize the least, the last, and the lost.
People need you.

Illustrate here: use a city or state map. Hold up the map and ask the question: What does a map do?

I love this excuse: Pastor Mike I just don't know a lot of scripture so I don't even try to win people to Christ.
The great thing about being a Soul Winner is that you don't have to know a lot of scripture you just have to draw a map.
Turn to Romans 3:10
Write beside it Romans 3:23
Write beside it Romans 5:12
Write beside it Romans 6:23
Write beside it Romans 5:8
Write beside it Romans 10:9-13
There is your map to follow.

7 simple points:

2 Questions:
If you died right now, do you know that you would go to heaven?
Would you like to know?

1. Romans 3:10 (NLT)
"As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous- not even one." We are all sinners, we have all done wrong.

2. Romans 3:23 (NLT)
"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." We are all sinners, we have all done wrong.


3. Romans 5:12 (NLT)
"When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned." Price of sin, death.

4. Romans 6:23 (NLT) "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Price of sin, death.

5. Romans 5:8 (NLT)
"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Jesus paid the price.

6. Romans 10:9-13 (NLT)
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. [11] As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced." [12] Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. [13] For "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

7. Pray.

Illustrate here: Rescue video from Impact Now DVD

Jude 1:23 (NLT)
"Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives."

Rescue those that are on fire, lives on fire, relationships on fire, finances on fire, situations on fire.
Jesus took a step toward the ungodly, embracing the worst this planet had to offer with acceptance, love, and forgiveness.
Go Reach, walk across the yard, walk across the street, walk across the room, walk across every element to build a bridge into the lives of others.

Luke 19:10 (NLT) "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."

Jesus is saying I did this, now you do.
Love people, serve people, reach people.
Everyone gives their lives for something what are we giving our lives for?
What are you giving your life for?


Admit-That you are a sinner.
Believe-Believe that Jesus Christ died for you.
Confess-If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.