Peace in Surrender
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Who here like video games?
I love them.
What console do you play, Nintendo, PlayStation, X-Box, etc.
If you aren’t Nintendo/PlayStation, we can’t be friends( Just kidding of course)
In a video game you are constantly looking to get stronger right?
What is this called?
Leveling up.
Most of us want to level up fast so we can be overpowered.
We do not want the work that comes with it.
There are usually many quests and bosses/mini-bosses that we must overcome.
Are there similarities to real life?
Do we have things that are like leveling up?
What are they?(Listen to some examples.
Getting good grades.
graduating high school.
Learning different skills like communication, computer, leadership, etc.
These level ups come with a lot of time and energy.
There is a lot that we need do and plan to get anywhere in life.
A lot of this comes with great anxiety, and stress.
There are real consequences and there are tons of unexpected things that can happen.
This usually causes a fight and battle to keep striving, but unlike in a video game, but we feel everything and there are no re spawns.
The life that we have is full of so much friction trying to make something of ourselves, that most do not find peace.
They constantly feel the grind.
We need to produce and grow, but there is so much pressure keeping us down.
There are things that can come and
The main question we need to ask is what is the way we should level up?
Well, let’s pretend that this life is a video game, and God is the programmer.
Imagine if you could hear from the creator the way to level up?
This would be like a video game character having access to the guide.
God has given us the manual and it is called the Bible.
If we could get those skills that we need to be the best in the game is what will take a way a lot of stress as to what we need to be or know.
Let’s look and see what the trick is...
Turn to John 15.
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Jesus is making a picture.
He is telling us that His Father is the programmer.
He created plants and reality and the rules of the game.
Games have a programmed nature, and so does everything.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Jesus says that He is the true vine, which means there are false vines.
False ways and methods that are not true.
We need to make sure we understand this, because if there is a false way, I do not want to follow it.
I do not think you do either.
Imagine a false video game tutorial.
Imagine the frustration when you follow it for nothing.
So it does matter what the source is.
Jesus describe a relationship:
Between a vine and the branches.
To me, they are the same thing, but Jesus makes a big distinction.
I love Jesus for making me think about things more in depth.
He makes one dependent upon another.
If you don’t know what the word dependent means, it means one needs and relies on the other.
Like you are dependent on your parents for a lot of things.
What does Jesus say He is in this picture?
The vine.
What does He say you and I are in this picture?
The branches.
Which one is dependent upon what in the picture of a vine and it’s branches.
The branches are dependent on the vine.
What do the branches do? What is their main purpose?
To grow fruit.
That is their main function.
Growing fruit is the part of the plant that is useful to something other than itself.
Humans and animals a like love fruit.
They are God’s natural dessert.
The fruit needs the help of the vine to do what it was meant to do.
The vine provides the life and nutrients for the branch.
What happens to a branch if it is separated from the vine?
It withers and eventually dies.
This is because it loses it’s source.
Who here, seeing a random branch, all shrivelled up would be open to eating the fruit?
I would not.
Why? because it is not healthy.
Jesus says that we cannot do anything without Him.
Jesus says that we cannot do anything without Him.
This is the key to the game.
Without Jesus, we can do nothing.
This does not mean that we can not eat, or breath, or learn, or anything without Jesus.
It means that we cannot do anything meaningful without Jesus.
We cannot play the game of life in a meaningful way without understanding Jesus.
Living life without Jesus is like running around in circles in a video game wasting time.
What does it mean to do things with Jesus?
What does it mean to do things with Jesus?
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Jesus says that is a branch does not abide.
What does abide mean?
It means to remain, to stay, to cling to.
There is a word that we get the root from for our word to abide, and that is the word abode.
This is another word for a home or house.
Another word for abide means to reside, or love in.
The branches have life and produce fruit by just staying attached to the vine.
Notice how their is no mention of the branch having to strive, work, or exert energy to produce fruit.
They just cling to the vine, and guess what?
They get all of their energy and ability from just existing with the vine.
I am really grateful for this illustration, because I think about how much I went through life without meditating on these things.
Jesus, if we listen to Him, has some awesome things to say, and if we apply them to our lives will find the keys to our purpose.
We will find the keys to the hidden gems and abilities that the game programmer
Jesus says we need to live in him.
This is the key.
This is the formula.
If we just remain in Him, we will live and have the benefits that we were designed for.
What does Jesus say we will produce?
We will produce fruit!
We will produce fruit!
Not just fruit, He says much fruit.
Who here likes very little fruit on a branch when you are picking them?
It will be desirable.
Now what is this fruit that Jesus says we will have?
I like to think of them as us leveling up.
The skills and categories to build upon, like in a video game.
They are the armor, abilities, and skills that you and are are meant to have in life.
Lets’s see what they are?
Lets’s see what they are?
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
That is right, we are not talking about grapes, or raspberries, or apples, etc.
We are talking about traits and characteristics.
These are the skills and abilities that the Lord has designed for you to have.
Can anyone point out one that fits our theme this week?
The fruit of peace
The fruit of peace
Peace is something that we all desire and wish we can have.
We want it consistently.
The problem is that in life, we will never truly have what the world defines as peace.
The world thinks that peace means living a life absent from conflict and stress.
The world thinks that peace means living a life absent from conflict and stress.
This problem is that there will never be a world free of these things until Jesus comes back.
This is because humans and satan are in control.
They think that the way to achieve this is to keep on working and fighting.
This is the same as a video game, where it is always a constant challenge.
Jesus tells us it is not the key.
Jesus tells us it is not the key.
He say the key is to remain in Him.
The world is telling us to constantly to keep moving forward, but the key is to stay planted in Jesus Christ.
Think about this...
Think about this...
Vines and branches go through storms.
They get blown, pushed, tangled, flung, swayed, and feel pressure every which way during a storm.
Do the branches let go?
Some do.
Those that do, are separated from the vine or tree.
They lose the very thing that gives them ability.
They cannot endure the storm or continue on after the storm.
The vast majority do not, and do what they are designed to do… abide.
They remain in the vine and cling on.
They are still connected and have a peace in the storm.
That is the only way they can have any chance of being fruitful after the storm.
They are able to get through it and remain.
The key is surrender to God’s will for you and His design for you as a character.
The key is surrender to God’s will for you and His design for you as a character.
Not to be someone fighting the design.
Constantly working in your own efforts.
This is very important because you are going to be told and pressured to try and be a branch trying to fight the storm by yourself, to prove yourself.
That is not the game , or character we were designed for.
One final thing to think about...
One final thing to think about...
Nobody wants to go through a storm.
They are scary right.
They bring uncertainty, and a lot discomfort.
The one thing we do not realize as much is that they bring a lot of water.
They bring a lot of it.
Water is what is needed for the branches to keep on living and growing fruit.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
God has a plan and a method for us to become the character he has designed us to be.
The key is to not try and work in our own efforts, but to surrender to Him.
All He asks us it to remain, and trust in Him, and we will level up with awesome skills and abilities like love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, etc.
We will have peace in the storm, not try and flee the storm.
There is a hidden treasure chest by doing this, having more water and can continue to grow fruit.
How does Jesus end this example?
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jesus says that our joy will be full.
He wants you to have joy and peace.
How awesome is this.