Discovering the inner workings of God
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I will begin introducing the theme for 2020...
“Courageous followers” from .
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
These men went from the seashores of Galilee to the halls of power. They went from the fishing boat to the prison for their faith. The church needs this kind of courage. When we are courageous, we can stand in the gap and hedge up the way against the forces of rebellion, carnality and wickedness.
Why
Next year, we will attempt, by the grace of God, to find the courage of the prophets and apostles. We will study how Jesus defied convention and changed the world. We will study what made the church grow in spite of hostility and persecution. Which leads us to tonight’s passage.
As I prayed about what to share tonight, this passage came to me.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many.
We are called to pay attention by listening to the Holy Spirit. We are called to be observant to the workings of God and we are called to recognize the inner workings of God.
The courage the church needs is from recognizing what you are made of and understanding where you came from.
GOD IS WORKING ON YOUR SPIRIT.
GOD IS WORKING ON YOUR SPIRIT.
For some of us, 2019 has been a turbulent year. Turbulence in Politics, turbulence in the family who suffered death and loss, in strained relationships. Turbulence in the church. We pray for the church in White Settlement, TX, where three people were killed on the last Sunday of 2019.
For some of us, 2019 has been a turbulent year. Turbulence in Politics, turbulence in the family who suffered death and loss, in strained relationships. Turbulence in the church. We pray for the church in White Settlement, TX, where three people were killed on the last Sunday of 2019.
To enter the new year in the house of the Lord means you are of those who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord.
There is a lamentation in this passage. To pursue righteousness is to be discontent with the current. To seek the Lord is know God is the only true source of strength....
2019 was not as bad as some may think. You may have lost a loved one or suffered in your body or spirit, lost a job or lost hope, but looking back, God did some great things for you. God has strengthened your faith and you have grown. 2020 will be better than last year.
The message in this passage and the message for 2020 has to do with your inner strength.
2019 has been a year of turbulence. Turbulence in Politics, in the family who suffered death and loss, in strained relationships. This is year of transitions. Hard transitions. People leaving, moving away, turning around, walking away, giving up and some coming into the fold.
2019 was not as bad as some may think. You may have lost a loved one or suffered in your body or spirit, lost a job or lost hope, but looking back, God did some great things for you. God has strengthened your faith and you have grown. 2020 will be better than last year.
God is getting ready to fulfill his promise to the seed of Abraham, that all the nations of the earth will be blessed
He is getting ready to fulfill his promise to redeem Israel.... those who seek righteousness and those who seek the Lord
2019 was not as bad as some may think. You may have lost a loved one or suffered in your body or spirit, but looking back, God did some great things that are still unfolding for you. 2020 will be better than last year.
God is getting ready to fulfill the promise of the coming ZION... God’s kingdom is nearer now than when we first believed.
God has been at work... You have grown...
PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT GOD IS DOING IN YOU.
PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT GOD IS DOING IN YOU.
You need to know one thing.
The message to the remnant...
Those who pursue and seek...
They were away from home... their lives were inconvenient
They were reminded to pursue and seek...
Why because of how they were made... who they came from...
God made the prophet his spokes person. He spoke directly to his people Israel.
Let’s frame 2019 in terms of survival and transition.
2019 was not as bad as some may think. You may have lost a loved one or suffered in your body or spirit, but looking back, God did some great things that are still unfolding for you. 2020 will be better than last year.
Let’s frame 2020 in terms of spiritual construction.
God made the prophet his spokes person. He spoke directly to his people Israel.
God made the prophet his spokes person. He spoke directly to his people Israel.
Even though Israel was exiled and Babylon with there was no temple, no open worship, no ornaments of gold, no ephod, no demonstration of the priesthood, God still called his people to remember him.
Israel was captured by the Babylonian Empire. For the people of God, there was no temple, no open worship, no ornaments of gold, no ephod, no sacrifices by the priesthood, but God still called his people to remember him.
God upheld us this year ()
“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born.
God has something to say to those who cannot sense his presence. This speaks to an inconvenient faith
“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born.
Since it is near the end of Israel, the writer consoles the people in exile.
God has something to say to those who cannot sense his presence. This speaks to an inconvenient faith
Since it is near the end of Israel, the writer consoles the people in exile.
God has something to say to those who cannot sense his presence. This speaks to an inconvenient faith
()*. Next year will be a year of inconvenient faith. It will not be as easy getting to God or feeling his presence as it was in the past.
In some ways, the best thing to ever happen to Israel, was going into exile. They discovered their faith. It was not in the temple or the land or the culture; it was in them and their faith in God
God told them to settle down, build houses, plant vineyards, have children…
God is saying, pay attention and be observant.
God is saying, pay attention and be observant.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness. “
Those who seek the Lord are the remnant of God...
Background
The children of Israel were far away from home... They were either subject to or captured by the Babylonian Empire. Their lives were inconvenient. There was no temple, no open worship, no ornaments of gold, no ephod, no sacrifices by the priesthood, but God still called his people to remember him.
They were away from home... their lives were
Their lives were inconvenient.
inconvenient
Why because of how they were made... who they came from...
God made the prophet his spokes person. He spoke directly to his people Israel.
God upheld us this year ()
NIV
“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born.
God was speaking to those who cannot sense his presence. ().
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.
2020 will be a year of inconvenient faith. It will not be as easy getting to God or feeling his presence as it was in the past. You must press your way into the presence of God for the distractions will be tremendous.
it was in the past.
In some ways, the best thing to ever happen to Israel, was going into exile. They discovered their faith. Their faith did not rest in the temple or the land or the culture; Their faith rested in God.
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Their faith grew out of their displacement.
If you feel displaced, Good. God is working in the inside of you.
2020 make God’s will more important than success and comfort.
This is about desiring God will.
This is about desiring God will.
Listen to me, those of you who feel you are in a strange place; hearken to me, those who are not as spiritually strong as you should be or as close to God and Jesus Christ as you should be.
Pay attention to what I am doing in you, Those who seek to be more loving and compassionate, those who attempt to live by the laws of God- of justice, righteousness, those who attempt to be more courageous and holy, those who love mercy and walk by faith, when the climate is contrary.
BE FAITHFUL WHEN YOU CANNOT SEE YOUR SUPPORTS. YOU MUST BE FAITHFUL WHEN PEOPLE AROUND YOU ARE NOT!
Look to the Rock from where you’ve been cut and the quarry you came from.
Those who seek the Lord find him
Those who seek the Lord do not delay... you must seek him while he may be found and we must call upon him while he is near
Let the wicked forsake...
()*. Next year will be a year of inconvenient faith. It will not be as easy getting to God or feeling his presence as it was in the past.
Look to the Rock from where you’ve been cut and the quarry you came from.
We are made of the same stone as Abraham was made...
We are Abraham’s seed.
Our connection to ABRAHAM.
Look at the quarry you came from. (Where in the world are the extracting the most precious materials?)
You who are in Christ were not made a cheap materials.
You were made of the precious stones of God’s virtue.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
You are made of rock , a substance not easily broken- 2019 did not break you...
Buy gold tried in the fire
I shall come forth as pure gold
You are made of rock , a substance not easily broken- 2019 did not break you...
You are made of rock , a substance not easily broken- 2019 did not break you...
You came from the Rock.
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
)
You Stand upon a rock. “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness...
All the saints of God are made in the same quarry. Whether preacher or Christian, anyone who has ever been used of God or found the joy of loving companionship with Jesus Christ has come from the same rock quarry- the made the same way.
You are made the same way God made Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Gideon, David, Elijah, Ruth, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, Micah, Peter, Paul and everyone ever since.
GOD MAKES ALL HIS SERVANTS OUT OF THE SAME QUARRY AND GOD USES THE SAME PROCESS.
GOD MAKES ALL HIS SERVANTS OUT OF THE SAME QUARRY AND GOD USES THE SAME PROCESS.
God seizes them: Moses saw a burning bush… Ezekiel had a vision, for some, the word comes to them, for others it is at the loss of something, the death of a loved one, loss of a job, some failure
God anoints them… Some vision, some encounter: Samuel pours the horn of oil over David, Isaiah sees the Lord in the temple
God sends them: sometimes into hostile territory: You go out feeling insufficient but you go because you trust God and don’t fully understand what God is doing (like the eagle who stirs the nest ()
like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.
God blesses them. They have some impact for the kingdom: You come into a new life. People receive you, like Paul ()
At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
God extends their faith by removing favor… which is really favor- God ordains adversity (The winds became boisterous ()
and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
God breaks them through hardships… (you want to leave, you question everything you’ve ever known about God, ().
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
Right when you want to die, or resign or walk away from the faith,
God heals them:
They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,
They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.
God uses them on another level: The depth of love for God, the depth of knowledge and experience, the dependence upon the Holy Spirit is so authentically different, it cannot be mimicked or counterfeited. It can only be the same thing that made Paul and
God seizes the world through them…
People will turn to the Lord because you are his vessel.
Even of Jesus,
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him