GOD Is Sovereign

We serve a loving GOD. HIS love is agape love, meaning the highest and deepest form of love, charity;

HE is an omnipotent GOD, meaning having unlimited power;

HE is an omnipresent GOD, meaning widely or constantly encountered…EVERYWHERE!!!

AMEN?!?

HE is Emmanuel, meaning GOD with us. We know who HE is. Do we know what HE is to us? Or said differently..What GOD should be to us!!!

Let’s start by knowing what being sovereign is.

Being Sovereign is the full right and power of a governing body over itself, without any interference from outside sources or bodies. In political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme legitimate authority over some polity (which is a form of government or organization).

Sounds like GOD to me. He does as he chooses and doesn’t need anything else to do as HE pleases to. Which BTW, usually is for our good. But let’s go sideways with this...

If we were to call ourselves sovereign, we would not need GOD because we would be self sufficient and need no one or thing else to guide us teach us, intercede for us, teach us wisdom…to fear!!!

OR, when we do not include GOD in all we do in our lives, we think we can figure it all out!!!

How’s that working for you?

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We need to recognize who GOD is...

Psalm 99:1...The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble; HE is enthroned above the cherubim**, let the earth shake!

AMEN!!!

We are GODS children, those who choose JESUS as their Lord and Savior, amen

We must know that GOD knows what is good for us, amen?

We must know that GOD takes care of HIS children, amen?

GODS children love HIM, hopefully fear HIM, and abide in HIM. We who profess JESUS as our Savior, are HIS children. AMEN!!!

Oh, and to clarify a belief that many brothers and sisters have…satan does not have the same power that GOD has and is a fallen cherubim. ** GOD knows our hearts…satan sees our emotions and puts images in our minds that create fear, anger, and anxiety..angst. He steals, kills and destroys.

That clears up satans power. He feels he is sovereign. he is still within GODS control.

Psalm 111:2-3...Great are the works of the Lord ; They are studied by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is HIS work, And HIS righteousness endures forever.

AMEN!!!

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We then need to be obedient to GOD…

1 Samuel 3:1-10...Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was, that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him. So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

Has this happened to you? We don’t always reply or become obedient right away. We want to wrestle with the callings and urgings from our Father.

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What do you feel called to do? The next time you feel the urge to do something that you wouldn’t normally think to do, pray on it. If if will glorify GOD, DO IT, whether you want to or not!!!

A side note…3 times is a thing in the Bible. Peter denied our Savior 3 times when approached after JESUS was arrested, JESUS asked Peter 3 times if he loved HIM when he returned after the third day, and Peter was told to eat 3 times before he ate what GOD told him to eat.

3 is a sifnificantly used number in the Bible. Father Son Holy Spirit…3.

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We need to discern what glorifies GOD when we do or say things. The wisdom that GOD teaches us helps us to know whether something is fleshly or GODLY.

1 Timothy 6:13-16...I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

Paul encourages Timothy to be obedient while recognizing the sovereignty of GOD.

A story... A man, a christian man and his a wife, have a nice house, by their standards, 2 nice cars, young kids. Things are going well in his life. They have great friends and, they go to a great Christian church. They are involved with the goings on and they love their church family. They see the fruits of their works for the Kingdom and always verbally thank GOD for HIS grace, mercy, and love, and without them, they would be nowhere. They are what they are according to GODS need and purpose.

They understand the sovereignty of GOD.

GOD is merciful and remembers HIS promises...

Genesis 8:1-3...God remembered Noah, as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water began to subside. The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped. The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the water had decreased significantly.

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GODS mercy is immeasurable. Think of where you were before being born again. Scary, hopeless, no truly knowing love or joy.

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Have you ever made a promise and not done it, remembered that you didn’t do it, then felt bad that you didn’t do it…and then apologized for not doing it…and still after you apologize for not doing it, not do it? YEA, ME TOO!!! I think its a human thing, but that’s not an excuse for not doing the promise.

a promise is also called a covenant.

Our Father never forgets HIS promises or covenants. We are told that we are never alone, that JESUS is with us. Yes, HIS Holy Spirit is with us always. When 2 or more are gathered, JESUS is with us through HIS Holy Spirit, as he promised HE would be.

Have you seen a rainbow? That is GOD reminding us that HE has not forgotten his promise to Noah.

Genesis 9:16-17...“When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

PRAISE GOD!!!

Now, after all this to help us understand and digest, what is the sovereignty of GOD?

The Sovereignty of God says God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control. God is the sovereign Lord of all by an incontestable right [as the] creator . . . owner and possessor of heaven and earth. Sovereignty is an Attribute of God based upon the premise that God as the creator of heaven and earth has absolute right and full authority to do or allow whatever He desires.

We need to worship GOD...

Psalms 113:1-3...Praise the Lord ! Praise, O servants of the Lord , Praise the name of the Lord . Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the Lord is to be praised.

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Psalm 96:1-3...Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

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Psalm 99:5...Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He.

When we are amazed by what GOD does, do we always do this first? Yea, truth be told, we may not say ‘Praise GOD for this’. True worship means that no matter what is happening, we thank GOD for it.

YES, that is hard to do at times, seeing GOD in bad things, hard times, bad goings on, but, as lovers and believers of JESUS CHRIST, we must try to do this all the time. None of the body of CHRIST on the earth do this all the time. But be encouraged that you may do this going forward from now.

To conclude...

1 Chronicles 29:10-12...So David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever. “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.

If GOD is for us, who can stand against us? AMEN?!?

Have you accepted JESUS as your Lord and Savior as HE is the only way to GOD? You will receive immeasurable love, amazing peace, overwhelming joy, and see hope that is not seen in this crazy, out of control world.

Or maybe you want to recommit your life, your dreams, your hopes to GOD. Sometimes we can get “stale” as a dear brother mentioned last night and you want a restart or reset your focus back to JESUS.

Romans 10:9-10 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

If you want to do this now, as it is your choice, please come up and we’ll pray for this together.

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Let’s pray...