The Great Exchange
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Handout
Handout
Have you ever felt burdened, weighed down with a burden, maybe we would call it STRESSED Out.
Although i hear that if you spell Stressed backwards it spells Desserts....so maybe we are just looking at things backwards???
STRESSED = DESSERTS
I’ve got GREAT NEWS for you, you can change that RIGHT NOW if you choose to participate in the GREAT EXCHANGE with Jesus!
The Great Exchange is a complete exchange of life and way of living through Jesus Christ.
The Great Exchange is a complete exchange of life and way of living through Jesus Christ.
Many people say, “I’m just a sinner, saved by grace.”
But..
We cannot be both a sinner by nature AND saved by grace.
The Bible shows us that we have to choose Jesus by allowing the sinner to die and letting the righteous child of God live instead!
Listen to these powerful verses about the righteous child of God:
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
We must exchange our level of righteousness!
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Our freely-received, totally-unearned, Life-to-the-Full, Jesus-bought victory is what gives our God glory!
Can we tolerate having no attention and no glory for our victory?
So how do we actually start this participating in this great exchange?
We must Come to Jesus and actually make the exchange
We must Come to Jesus and actually make the exchange
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
Coming to church is not necessarily coming to Jesus!
I think sometimes we want Jesus to take our STUFF, but we want to keep the parts of our life (past or present) that get us the most attention, rather than giving it all to Him and living in a victory that isn’t actually OURS.
Have you ever tried to make a trade and the other person just doesn’t have the exact trade you want? Trade plus cash, etc.
We must boldly choose which life we want!
We must boldly choose which life we want!
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Double-mindedness leads to instability & constant defeat!
Jesus came to give us undisputed, uncontested victory in this life.
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” 4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
Our beauty, joy, & garments of praise glorifies God
We cannot have both beauty & ashes, Oil of Joy & Mourning, Garments of praise & Heaviness coexisting at the same time.
Well, Pastor Jake, you sure are making light of things that have been ruinous in my life and where I have had tremendous pain.
My friend, I would NEVER do that intentionally!
I simply believe that Jesus is BIG ENOUGH to handle and heal EVERY blow the devil has dealt to our life!!!
Simple≠Easy
Someone needs to hear this:
If you examine your heart you will find that you doubt that if you give it to Jesus, that Jesus will REALLY come through and handle it for you.
I don’t know what else to tell you except that the alternative of not-at-all or partially giving it to Jesus makes it CERTAIN that He will not handle it for you.
Let Jesus ALONE be your Savior
Let Jesus ALONE be your Savior
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times;
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
That means that we cannot run to the name of entertainment, or alcohol, or drugs (prescription or otherwise), or distraction, or relationships, etc to find rescue from the burdens.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
When we try to keep what Jesus died to take & carry, I believe we cheapen the cross and cheapen His death payment.
Just One Thing:
Just One Thing:
Let’s give EVERYTHING to Jesus & let Him alone be our Saving Grace
Let’s make some bold declarations together:
I will trust the Lord with ALL my heart
Jesus I want to make the GREAT Exchange with you right now
I WILL NOT CARRY the things that you said YOU would carry
I refuse to pay for the things you already paid for!
I have my mind and heart SET to do things God’s way ONLY
Discussion Questions:
Discussion Questions:
What was the best thing that happened to you today?
What does it mean to you to “Come to Jesus!”
Read 2 Corinthians 5:21. Share what this verse means to you and how it currently impacts the way you live.
What is currently the most difficult area in your life to give to Jesus & make the great exchange? Please pray with your group to have the trust and strength to make the trade with Jesus.