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Jan 05, 2014

CREATING THE HOPE: Discovering the Will of God

CREATING THE HOPE: Discovering the Will of God

Passage: Romans 12:1-2

Series: Special

Category: Hope

Keywords: hope

Detail:

CREATING THE HOPE

Discovering the Will of God

 

Just the Facts

In the last week over 45% of the population of the United States have begun the process of making New Year’s resolutions…. According to the recent NBC report. Approximately 317 million people (as of today) live in the US, so over 132 million people are sitting down and making decisions with their lives..

Listen carefully… people, like you and me, are hanging goals, sharing in groups, making personal resolutions and will flood the market with monies to do so…

The number one resolution in the United States is….. Lose Weight

So all over the US people will buy into weight loss products, join local gyms, secure a personal trainer, invest in treadmills, personal exercise equipment and join weight loss programs such as Jenny Craig, Weight-watchers….

The number two resolution in the United States is….. Getting Organized

So, again all over the US people will flood the stores with goals of reducing, packing, storing, labelling stuff all over their homes… in addition the APPLICATION Market will explode on our IPODS, IPHONES, and personal computers… People like you and me will seek out those who know how to do this best, from financial gurus to the IKEA giants of our markets…

The list goes on….

#3 Spend Less, Save More

#4 Enjoy Life to Its Fullest

#5 Staying Fit and Healthy

#6 Learn Something Exciting

#7 Quit Smoking or Quit a Bad habit

#8 Help Others with Their Dreams

#9 Fall in Love or Strengthen Current Relationships

And finally, #10 Spend More Time with Our Families

 

 

 

 

 

Startling Statistics

Of the 132 million people making resolutions this year, a startling 49% will fail…

Those in their 20’s achieve well over 39% success

Those in their 50’s and older… less then 14%

Of the 132 million people making resolutions this year…

Within 6 months of making those resolutions the number wil die off from 75% or higher success to that bottom number of 45%

Introduction

The reality of dreaming, planning, envisioning hope into our lives are so often tempered by the statistics we have shared this morning… the negative influx of media, the failure of economy, the tragedy of our government has all but killed the “American Dream”.

The term "American Dream" was first used by James Adams in his book the Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states the American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement...It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6219521

Do we stop dreaming, planning, setting goals and envisioning because of the society we live in…. do we give up when all others have thrown in the towel… do we choose a life of simple existence because we have made poor decisions in our lives?

I am convinced that there is no easy answer to these questions accept that, “…a moving car is easier to guide then a parked car.”

Last week we read a passage of Scripture that speaks to this mindset in a world that would rather see you fail then succeed. Listen again…

16-18 He ground my face into the gravel.
    He pounded me into the mud.
I gave up on life altogether.
    I’ve forgotten what the good life is like.
I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished.
    God is a lost cause.”

19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
    the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
    the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
    and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: Lamentations 3:16-21

We learned last week… what HOPE ISNT… that HOPE is not mere optimism, HOPE does take it cue from circumstances and that HOPE isn’t simply wishing or fantacising something to occur in our lives.

We learned last week… what HOPE IS…

Hope is basing your Confident Expectation for the Future on the Faithfulness of God’s Action in the Past!

We learned that HOPE requires a MEMORY and that HOPE visualizes a NEW REALITY

This week I am convinced that God wants us to learn even more…. I believe that

HOPE visualizes a NEW REALITY by Taking a Closer Look at What God has already done in You

Let’s take a few minutes and look at the Tools required to make this discovery

 

  1. Erasing the MYTHS of planning (Planning Isn’t Always Wrong)

“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established” Proverbs 16:1-3 NASB

“The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” Proverbs 16:9 NASB

  1. Realize it is okay to plan… as you commit your works to God

  2. Realize it is God Who answers

  3. Realize it is God Who weighs the heart with its motives

  4. Realize it is God Who establishes and solidifies the plan

 

  1. Eradicating the MYTH of the statement, Being in the Center of God’s Will

(Controversial for Sure)

 

There is no magical center, no mystical place of blessing, no precise time when you know, no fairy dust from heaven pouring down…

 

There is simply OBEDIENCE…

 

As one comedian said years ago, “if you spend your time doing the do’s, you won’t have time to do the don’ts.”

 

Scripture is full of “center or desired will” statements… or as J. Grant Howard states in his book, Knowing God’s Will and Doing It” listen…

 

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 NASB

 

So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; Ephesians 5:17-20 NASB

 

 

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21

 

So much more can be said on this topic…. But for now… this is enough!

 

  1. Excepting the TRUTH that God Is Already Working in You!

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. Philippians 1:6 MESSAGE

 

Gifts, Talents, Abilities, Culture, History, Innate understandings, Passion… all Working in You! Waiting for you to Discover!!

 

  1. In his book J. Grant Howard spells out 7 C’s that will aid us in this Discovery. God works through life to help identify us…

-Circumstances (Ephesians 1:11)

God uses the incidents of our lives to help us find and discovery not only His will, but also our place in this world.

-Counsel (Ephesians 4:15)

Individuals will cross our paths and give us words of wisdom and insight that will aid us in walking worthy of our calling. Family, friends, professors, pastors, church.

 

 

-Consequences

Both the pleasant and the unpleasant results of our actions alert us to what God’s will is or was. God is not in the business of accidental consequence.

-Common Sense

Our ability to think intelligently and logically can be utilized to help us discover. He gave us a mind, ability to process, to know right from wrong.

-Compulsion (Passion)

Those inner inclinations to do or not do can be guidelines. What drives us? What is it we cannot let go of? Listen to the voice of the heart.

-Conscience (Black and White)

Our internal moral monitor (infused by the Holy Spirit) will be brought to play as we determine what God wants to happen in our lives.

-Contentment (Peace) 1 Corinthians 14:33)

“God is not the author of confusion but of peace…”

How we feel about some action is also an important factor in deciding if it is God’s will for us.

  1. Taking the Time to Take a Personality Inventory

To keep it quite simple, Tim LaHaye, years ago wrote a book entitled, “Spirit-Filled Temperaments”

It was his conviction that within each of us, there lies personality characteristics that have molded into us through life… i.e. circumstance, culture, experience, heredity etc… that comprises much of who and what we are in this world.

It can even be seen in the Apostles as they worked out God’s will in this world.

  1. Sanguine Personality (Peter)

  2. Choleric Personality (Paul)

  3. Melancholy Personality (Barnabas or David)

  4. Phlegmatic Personality (Andrew)

None of us are categorized as simply one but we are a composite of 1-2-3 of each with strengths and weakness from each.

  1. Listening Very Close to the Voice of God

“Be still and know that I am God… “ (Psalm 46:10)

Each of us are driven by something much deeper then we realize. In his profound book, Sacred Pathways, author Gary Thomas spells out Nine Pathways in which each person are driven in there connection with God… i.e. in their worship of God… (quickly)

Naturalist: Loving God Outdoors

Sensate: Loving God with the Senses

Traditionalists: Loving God though Ritual and Symbal

Ascetics: Loving God in Solitude and Simplicity

Activists: Loving God through Confrontation (Martin Luther King Jr)

Caregivers: Loving God by Loving Others (Mother Teresa)

Enthusiasts: Loving God with Mystery and Celebration (Thomas Aquinas)

Contemplatives: Loving God through Adoration

Intellectuals: Loving God with the Mind (Teachers, Professors)

 

Conclusion

 

Within each of us lies a myriad of gifts, abilities, talents, personality, character, temperament… that has been steeped by culture and history…. When put together we find our passion… what drives us in our faith to be different, excited, challenged…

We can let the world STOP us…. We can let our failures STOP us…

We can let others STAND in OUR WAY…

 

But will we listen to God?

For by grace we have been saved through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. Not as a result of works, no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

Listen again…

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. Ephesians 2:8-10 MESSAGE

 

HOPE visualizes a NEW REALITY by Taking a Closer Look at What God has already done in You