Part 2 - A Profitable Walk

Opening

About a year ago we were wanting a feral cat that would stay outdoors to take care of the critters that none of us really care much for. Mice, rats, snakes, spiders, etc…. We inquired with our good friend Evie who rescues cats, to keep an eye out for us. In the mean time we had a female cat that would hang around the house some. She didn’t stay around all the time, and I really think the only reason she was around when she was is to get fed. We named this cat Purpose. The only reason I kept feeding Purpose was because she served a purpose. I wanted her to take care of the critters and serve her purpose. But she wasn’t around all the time… so it defeated the “purpose.”

Our friend Evie called about 5 months ago and said that she felt she had found the right cat for us. Once again, this cat would serve a purpose. So we took this cat in, named him Sox, because he has 4 white socks on his feet. He is an awesome outdoor cat, who wants to be an indoor cat. He is a great hunter. I’ve watched him take care of many critters since we got him. He serves his purpose well.

We were intentional about getting the right cat for our home. And because we did this with intentionality, it has turned out to be profitable for us. Sox stays around the house. Loves to hunt. Get’s along with our dogs… well bully’s our dog is more like it. Lol. And he is friendly and playful. Now, his playfulness can come across as aggressive and mean behavior but he just likes to play. Never the less, Sox has been profitable.

Last week we started this Surrendered Life series. I equated it to a walk, because we are walking out our Christian life, and a Christian life done well is a life walked out intentionally. So we talked about an Intentional Walk.

Have you ever had great intentions to do something specific with your day, and when the day is over, you look back at what you accomplished and realize, with all the interruptions in your day you did not get done anything that you wanted to accomplish? You had the intentions… you had the time… you had the engagement… but things hindered your profitability, and now your day feels as if you were not productive. It didn’t profit anything.

This week I want to talk to you about walking this Surrendered life with profitability. Just like we want our day to be profitable, we want our life to be profitable.

Scripture

Mark 8:34-36

34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Body

What does a Surrendered Life accomplish or profit? To evaluate a Surrendered Life that is profitable, it must be looked at in 3 different ways…

3 Ways A Christian Walk is Profitable

1) Upward

a) Glorifies God

i) This is the part of your purpose that is to Love God. You walk this life intentionally, and one of the first things it should profit is to show love to God. To glorify God. This is the greatest reasons we live a Christian life.

ii) Isaiah 43:7 “…Everyone who is called by my name… Whom I have created for My glory.”

iii) 1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

iv) ... To glorify God is not to bestow glory on God or add to His glory, but to recognize and acknowledge His glory

v) What is glory? To take great pride or pleasure in…

b) Brings Joy

i) It seems as though God took pleasure—He found joy—in His creation. Repeatedly in Genesis 1 we find the expression, “and God saw that it was good” (see verses 4, 10, 12, 17, 21, 25, 31). I believe Moses was indicating God’s pleasure by repeatedly telling us that God saw His creation to be good. When someone serves us a piece of homemade pie and we say, eeww weee! “This is good!” we are expressing not just our approval, but our pleasure. Often, when I “create” something in my garage, I find myself going back to it several times in the next few days taking pleasure in what I have made. The Father seems to have joy in what His hands have made.

ii) A Surrendered Life brings joy to God as He watches us walk this life, make our choices, lean upon Him for help, trust that He is with us, sing songs of joy to Him, worship Him, praise Him…. Our walk brings Joy to God!

iii) But just in the opposite… our walk can grieve Him also. He is watches us, not to judge, but to be pleased and love you, but if your walk is not pleasing to the Lord then you are grieving Him. It hurts God.

2) Outward

So this is the second greatest reason we walk a surrendered life. To love people. Outward… to those around us.

a) Influence

i) Our surrendered life is profitable because others will see the result of our walk! We will have positive influence to those that we are around.

ii) Influence by your actions, words, attitude, temperament, parenting, work ethic, business practices.

iii) Your surrendered life will help to influence others to also lead a surrendered life.

b) Disciples

i) Your influence and example will cause others to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

ii) Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;

iii) Julie asked me a few weeks ago. David, what is the one thing that you would want to change about The Ridge Church. If you could change anything… what is the one thing that you would want to change.

(1) My answer: That every person that calls TRC home would daily:

(a) Live a Surrendered life that glorifies God

(b) Affectively share the gospel with others

(c) Regularly invite others to TRC

3) Inward

a) Change Happens

i) This relationship will change the way you live your life, not because someone has twisted your arm to follow a set of rules, but because you love your partner and know that showing that love, keeping them first in your life and being faithful to them, is how you remain in that relationship.

And change happens in some areas immediate and others over time. There are some areas that will be noticed right away. But there are areas that are more stubborn to each of us. And those areas may take more time than others.

But as we continue to walk surrendered, those desires of our past will continue to get weaker and weaker as our desire for God grows stronger and stronger.

b) An Open Heaven

In order to share what an open heaven is I need to explain a closed heaven.

i) Closed heavens is when there is a barrier between heaven and earth. It is when the “prince of the power of the air” has dominion and the power to suppress us from being able to connect with God and receive from Him.

This makes it hard to pray and get answers. It’s hard to experience God’s presence in worship. In short, it just makes life hard and deficient of God’s strength. It makes it feel like a religious life is primarily perseverance via our own strength. It is a lucky break when God decides to show up Sovereignly to help.

This has been the state of the entire world due to all having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The sin of fallen mankind has created a barrier that separated earth from heaven.

ii) Open Heaven - Jesus has brought heaven to us!

When He was baptized in the water and came back up, “the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Jesus)” (Matthew 3:16).

When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened!

Hebrews 10:19-22 further tells us how Jesus’ crucified body has become the new and living way into the throne room of God. This means, all the more, open heavens for us.

Whatever God opens, no man can shut (Revelation 3:7-8). No sin, evil motive, rebellion, demon or principality can cause the heavens to close again!

After Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended, Jesus was seated once again where He belongs—on His throne in heaven at the right hand of His Father! And this is far above all principality, might and dominion, and every name. All things, even that which created a barrier, have been placed underneath His feet. (See Ephesians 1:20-22).

Here is where this gets awesome!

For those of us who are believers in Christ and His cross and resurrection, by some mysterious way, we are now In Christ.

Because of this union, Ephesians 2:6 says that God has “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Wow! We are seated in heavenly places by being in Christ! And He is on His throne at the right hand of His Father.

We who are in Christ are open heavens!

What does this mean for us? It means that we have complete access to God and every resource that He has promised us. Heaven is not on hold for you. It is ready for you to access now.

You don’t have to break through a barrier to get to where God is in your pursuit for Him. Where He is seated is actually your starting point in your pursuit for Him!

c) Eternal Life

Closing

Altar