I Want God!

Jeremiah 29:11–14 The Living Bible

11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest. 14 Yes, says the Lord, I will be found by you, and I will end your slavery and restore your fortunes; I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you back home again to your own land.

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith!

Intro:

This is a letter from Jeremiah the prophet sent to the children of Israel who were in exile!

Exile

To be in exile means to be away from one's home, while either being explicitly refused permission to return or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return.

So the children of Israel had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon

Jeremiah wanted to encourage them by giving them a message from God.

See some of us are going through difficult times!

Some of us are going through the severest trials imaginable!

Some of us have lost everything!

Some of us feel so far away from God - that it feels like you have been exiled

But God is sending them a message of encouragement!

In the middle of my storm, in the middle of my mess, in the middle of recovering from a loss, in the middle of having to make tough decisions , in the middle of the trial, in the middle of not knowing what to say or do!

What happens when you lose everything:

What happens when you lose your job,

What happens when you lose your home

What happens when you lose your property

What happens when you lose a loved one

I Want God!

Why because God has a plan!

If ever their was a need for encouragement for the real people of God - it is today!

When you can’t see a way out God has already created the plan

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Won’t he do it!

God understands and knows what you are going through!

God’s ultimate purpose is to make his children his richest blessing!

To all who truly trusted Him, the Lord gave four wonderful promises

The Lord promised to restore the nation

To bring His people back to the promised land But their return would not take place until after seventy years

For us - that means - what if it takes a while for things to change! What if they way we were use to worship - never goes back to what it use to be for a while!

What if these masks stay with us for years

What if the vaccine, becomes annual

What if you have to reinvent yourself to get a job

I want God

God said he would restore his children!

The Lord promised the people that His plans for them were not to harm them, but rather to bring them peace and prosperity

God’s plan offers a very bright hope and future.

We must put our trust in God

The Lord promised to hear the prayers of His people

Jeremiah 29:12–13 NKJV

12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

However, we must call on him first! We must pray!

We must seek God with all our heart

God wants you and I to soften our hearts, to break our hearts to the point that we cry out to him

Cry out for God’s deliverance from your situation

Man, hear is what i believe - if things turn around too soon, many of our hearts would still; be hard and stubborn towards God!

People will trust their own power—the power of the flesh— and say that’s what made the change

People would return to their wicked ways, false worship, religious orders and false gods

Now, I am begging God to save us,

Now, I am recommitting my life to serving him!

You must ask God to save us

You must recommit your life to serving God

That’s what must happen - a commitment to serving God! No excuses!

A dedication to following God through Jesus Christ and obeying the Word of God

The Lord promised that He would set us free!

Jeremiah 29:14 NCV

14 I will let you find me,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place, but I will gather you from all the nations, from the places I have sent you as captives,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back to this place.”

But keep in mind the condition for being set free: we have to seek the Lord with our whole heart.

When our hearts are truly broken before Him, He will gather us from all the nations and bring us back to the promised land.

I Want God!

God instructs us to make the most of our circumstances no matter how bad they are.

Whatever hardship or misfortune you confront, you must stand strong for the Lord

You must be a witness to the strength he places within us.

God will always provide for His people.

God will always give us the strength to conquer whatever confronts us.

Even when we make mistakes and bring bad circumstances upon ourselves, if we truly turn to God in repentance and renewed commitment, He will deliver us from the crushing weight of the suffering.

God is encouraging each of us through the Word to be both content and more than conquerors in whatever circumstances we face

Romans 8:35 NKJV

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:37–39 NKJV

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 4:10–12 NLT

10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. 11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 12 We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us.

So you and I must change our attitude!

I come to realize my attitude towards God

towards Jesus

towards the church

towards the people of God

will impact my trust in God and my worship of God

Understand that your attitude is much deeper than just a few thoughts you might think or not think.

Your attitude comes out of the core of your being.

Your attitude represents your disposition, your outlook, your very character!

I Want God!

Eric Thomas says

When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful. Eric Thomas

When you want God as bad as you want to breathe then your attitude reflects!

Proverbs 23:7 NKJV

7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

The Bottle Of Water

If I turn a bottle of water upside down, or shake it like life does to us–what’s going to come out of it?

Water–Why,because that’s what’s inside of it–Whatever is inside is what’s going to come out!

Matthew 15:17–20 The Message

17 Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. 19 It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. 20 That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

I Want God!

Your attitude always become your actions or reactions

I want God - I want God in my heart!

I don’t want religion -I want God!

Proverbs 8:17 NCV

17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

James 4:8 NCV

8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure.

My attitude creates a Heart Condition

That’s a condition of the heart.

Jesus instructs us to love God with all of our heart.

The wants of our heart are the things we seek.

Seeking God requires a change in attitude

I want God

Romans 8:28 NKJV

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

God is calling us to a place of surrender!

God is calling us to a place of repentance

God is calling us to a place of seeking him

God is calling us to a change in attitude

God is calling us to a place of trust in him

God is calling us to his plan!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Next Steps: Week 8 - Reading Thru The Bible Sunday - Rom 15-16 Monday - Gen 28-31 Tuesday -Judges 12-16 Wednesday - Ps. 21-23 Thursday - Job 15-16 Friday - Isa 40-44 Saturday - Matt 20-22