February 15 2015 Perseverance Under Pressure

Perseverance Under Pressure

Seven things to give us perseverance under pressure:

1. Realize we are strangers in this world.

Verse 1 – To God’s elect, strangers in the world scattered.

John 17:15-16 – My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

Don’t drive the stakes in too deep, you’re moving up in the morning.

2. Realize we are chosen.

Verse 2 – Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.

Three things about being chosen:

1. Our salvation is not haphazard.

2. God is willing to take risks.

3. We have value.
 
3. Realize the power of the resurrection.

Verse 3 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  In His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:19 – If only in this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Psalm 33: 13-22

4. Realize the riches of our inheritance.

Verse 4 – An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you.

Four facts about our inheritance:

1. It’s untouched by death.

2. It’s unstained by evil.

3. It will not fade away.

4. It’s reserved, set aside, for you.

5. Realize the protection of your salvation.

Verse 5 – Who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of Salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Three meanings of protection:

1. You have a guard out front.

2. He identifies the problem.

3. He communicates the danger.
 
6. Realize the positive results of pressure.

Verses 6-7 – In this you greatly rejoice through now for a little while you may have had to suffer all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Suffering brings out the gold in life.

Four things about suffering:

1. It’s seasonal.

2. It’s necessary.

3. It’s revealing.

4. It’s sanctifying.

7. Realize you have present power.

Verse 8 – Though you have not seen Him, you love Him.

October 6 2013 Called To Be Loved

CALLED TO BE LOVED - Live Your Calling: What On Earth Am I Here For? – Part 2

“Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT) 

• The first purpose of my life is be loved by God

“This letter is from Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who are CALLED TO LIVE IN THE LOVE OF GOD the Father and in the CARE of Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:1 (NLT) 

• My first calling is I’m called to enjoy a relationship with God! 

“Dear friends in Rome, God loves you dearly, and he has CALLED you to be his very own people.” Romans 1:7 (NLT) 

• That relationship is to be  His son or his daughter!

“What an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we should be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are!” 1 John 3:1 (Amp) 

“I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how WIDE, how LONG, how HIGH, and how DEEP his love really is. May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.” Ephesians 3:17-19 (LB, NLT) 

WIDE ENOUGH to be everywhere.

LONG ENOUGH to last forever

DEEP ENOUGH to handle anything.

HIGH ENOUGH to overlook my sinsWHAT CHANGES HAPPEN IF I STAY AWARE OF GOD’S CONSTANT LOVE FOR ME? 

1. I feel accepted rather than ashamed.

“By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God.” Romans 5:1 (CEV) 
 
“If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed!” Romans 8:33-34 (CEV) 

2. I am bold in bringing my needs to God.

“All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God! So, you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family—calling him ‘Father, dear Father.’ ... And since we are his children, we will share his treasures—for everything God gives to his Son, Christ, is ours, too.” Romans 8:14-15, 17 (NLT) 

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

3. I have peace in pain I don’t understand. 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV) 

4. I gain the courage to take risks.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” 1 John 4:18 (NIV)