Prayer & Experiencing God--Part 3

Introduction

Over the last three weeks we have looked at the first five realities of Henry Blackaby and Claude Kings’ Seven Realities of Experiencing God. So far we have looked at:God is at work around us!

God is at work around us!

Reality 1: God is at work around us!

Reality #2--God invites us to become involved with Him!

Reality 2: God is pursuing a love relationship with us!

Reality 3: God invites us to become involved with Him!

Reality 4: God Speaks by His Holy Spirit, through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances, and the Church

Reality 4: God Speaks by His Holy Spirit, through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances, and the Church

Reality #5: God’s Invitation to Work with Him ALWAYS Leads to a Crisis of Belief that Requires Faith & Action.

This morning we want to look at the last two realities of Experiencing God.

God’s Invitation to Work with Him ALWAYS Leads to a Crisis of Belief that Requires Faith & Action.

As we begin we must remember joining with God ALWAYS causes a crisis of belief. This leads us to reality #6.

We must make major adjustments in our lives to join with God in what He’s doing

The fact is we cannot keep going our own way if we are going to join with God in what He is doing. Look at

Luke 14:33 NIV84

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

This is something that we don’t like to think about. Jesus says that without giving up everything, we cannot be His disciples.

We talk about Jesus being Lord of our lives. We talk about Jesus being our Master. We even talk about Jesus being our ruler, but the question is do we really live our lives obedient to Him?

The problem with serving Jesus is that often we simply do not understand what He is doing. It doesn’t make sense to us. Look at .

Isaiah 55:9 NIV84

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The truth is we are not supposed to understand we are to live by faith.

On the night that Jesus headed to the cross, He told His disciples. . .

John 15:10

John 15:10 NIV84

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

You see, Salvation is free. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior He puts us in a right relationship with God. The “Church Word” for this is “Justification.”

A simple definition of justification is, “Just as if I never sinned.”

Many people confuse justification and sanctification. You see, justification happens at once. Sanctification takes a life-time.

Sanctification is the process of being like Jesus. This is often referred to as “discipleship.”

I have a friend, Russ Perry who says,

“Salvation is free, but Discipleship is costly.”

You see, obeying Jesus always comes with a price and it always requires that we make a major adjustment to our lives to join Him in what He’s doing. Salvation is free, but discipleship is costly.

This brings us to the seventh and final reality.

You Come to Know God by Experience as We Obey Him; & He Accomplishes His Work Through Us

Here is the key! You cannot experience God without obeying Him. So many people are happy with getting what they believe is their “Get Out of Hell Free Card.” The problem is they never experience God because they don’t obey Him.

The simple truth is without obedience to Jesus we cannot expect to see God work in our lives. Look at .

John 14:23 NIV84

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

If you and I are going to truly experience all that Jesus wants to do in us and through us we must obey what God says. Look at Matthew 12:50.

Matthew 12:50 NIV84

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

We looked at couple of weeks ago. Yet, it applies just as well here.

James 2:20 NIV84

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

So if you are not experiencing God’s work in your life. If you feel distant from him; perhaps it is because you are not living obedient to Him.

When we come to faith in Jesus, God expects us to be obedient to Him.

Conclusion

So in our time looking at these seven realities we have seen:

God is Always at Work Around Us

Question: Do you see God working around you?

We need to understand that. . .

God Pursues a Continual Love Relationship with Us

Question: How is God pursuing a love relationship with You?

So He is working around us, and Loves us so much that He. . .

Invites Us to Become Involved with Him

I don’t know about you, but it is amazing to me that God wants to involve me in His work!

Question: How is God wanting you to join Him?

The problem for many people is that they simple do not hear God. The next reality says . . .

God Speaks by the Holy Spirit, Through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances, & the Church

He speaks to us in order to to Reveal Himself, His purposes, & His Way

He speaks to us in order to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His Ways.

Question: Do you hear God speaking to you?

God’s Invitation to Join Him Always Leads to a Crisis of Belief

Because we desire to live our lives our way, by our rules we often find it difficult to believe God can do what God says He will do.

Question: What crisis of belief are you facing today?

For many it is difficult to face any kind of crisis. While the crisis is meant to turn us to Jesus, many times it turns people away from Him. That is why . . .

We Must Make MAJOR Adjustments in Our Lives to Join God in what He’s Doing

Question: What major adjustments do you need to make to join with God in what He’s doing?

You see, there is only one way that we really get to know Jesus.

We Come to Know God by Experience as We Obey Him & He Accomplishes His Work Through Us

So here’s the final question.

Question: Are you experiencing God working through you?

If there is one thing I want us to learn from this study is that . . .

Salvation is free! Discipleship is costly!

We must be ready join Jesus. Jesus says His follower must “deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

I am so thankful that salvation is truly free. But everyone of us needs to count the cost of discipleship.