Why Am I Here? Part 2

To recap on “Why Am I Here? Part 1,” we are created for Connection.

Connection with God First, and created for connection with others second.

God created us for connection and relationship with Him. We read in Genesis how He made us in His image and His likeness and would walk in the Garden of Eden with Adam.

But it was also very important to God that we be connected with others as well.

Genesis 2:18 (MSG) God said, “It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.”

God saw, right away, that it was good for Adam to have a companion, someone to connect with.

Many people, appreciate connection with others, but than there are also those people that you would call “loners.” Those who always seem to keep to themselves, that human interaction is just not that important to them.

That would have been true for Adam in the beginning.

He had no choice! He was the only human on the planet.

But I think it’s unique and says a lot. That after God put Adam into a deep sleep, removed his rib, and created Eve, that Adam, even though never having seen another human, let alone actually have a relationship with one, immediately felt connection and knew that this was good and right.

Genesis 2:23-24 (MSG) The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.

And even now we find that God wants to have connection with us and us with each other.

When Jesus was preparing to leave us here on earth to go back to his father, his final charge to us was this:

Matthew 28:18-20 (MSG) Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

As He is connected to us, we are to go connect with others and connect them with Him.

It’s our commission. Its what we were made for.

We were created for “connection.” Connection with both God and people.

Who DO YOU THINK You Are?

We talk about “who God says we are,” a lot.

–        What our worth is in him.

–        What we are capable of.

–        What and who we are called to be.

But so often, we hear and talk about it and never really connect the final dots, which actually change us to being who we are supposed to be.

“Connection” is so important for the lives of believers. By “Connection” I am talking about the interaction and relationship that we were created to have with both God and people.

However, if we are not aware of who we are or who we are perceived to be, we will greatly miss out on the quality and depth of “connection” that we were created for.

Likewise, if you do not have a good grasp on who you really are, then people will never get to connect with the “real” you. How could they when you really aren’t even connected, with the “real” you?

There are many reasons why we believe and think about ourselves the way we do.

–        How we were raised

• Our Parents.
• Our siblings.
• Our teachers.

–        Our Job

• How our boss’s and colleagues treat us.

–        Our Friends

–        Our Mentors/Icons

• How we match up to them

All through out our lives, we struggle with being defined by so many other people, other standards and others images, which tend to be different than what we were made to be defined by, resulting in poor self-images.

One thing we should remember is that:

Your viewpoint of yourself will directly affect everything you do.

–        Choices

–        Relationships

–        Success

–        Dreams

So the question is: Who DO YOU THINK You Are?

Though God called Moses to lead His people out of slavery, Moses thought he was in adequate to accomplish the task.

Though God told Gideon that he would conquer an army of 180,000 with just his 300 men, Gideon swore he was to weak and afraid to walk it out.

It took a lot of convincing from God to make these men believe in themselves…the way God created them to be.

They had allowed themselves to be defined by there heritage, surroundings, perceptions, standards of others, etc.

What we believe about ourselves will determine the outcome of our lives.

I do not mean, what you believe about yourself and only yourself, but what you believe about yourself and God in you, working out in you what He created you to be.

Ephesians 1:11-14 (MSG) It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the over all purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it, found yourselves home free-signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

We are all in this life, learning how to be who we were created to be.

Everything we do in life is affected by this very principal.

If you do not find out, understand, believe, and accept who God says that you are, you will never reach your fullest potential.

–        Your relationships will suffer

–        Your dreams will suffer

–        Your self-image will suffer

–        Your ministry will suffer

I hope this sends you on a journey to really find this out for your self.

So I want to ask you again…Who DO YOU THINK You Are?

This book, the Word of God, is full of scripture, revealing to us, who we truly are as a result of Christ in us.

It’s our job to open it up, study, learn, and discover who we really are.

KNOWING GOD

A few months ago I was asked to speak at the Salvation Army in Sarasota. I brought a team of about 10 people with me to minister and we had a great time.

We saw God move in powerful ways as we prayed for people in the areas of salvation, healing, freedom and intimacy. In the end we saw over 50 people give their lives to the Lord.

We talked about intimacy with Christ and the difference in knowing about God and actually having a relationship with Him.

There are many times when someone might approach you, and they may think they know you better than they actually do. I remember someone coming up to me at the mall one day and saying,

“Hey Bro I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

I was pretty sure I had never seen him before and then he said, “Where do I know you from?”

I said, “I am not sure. I am a pastor at Church on the Rock.”

He said, “You’re a pastor?” and then he quickly made an excuse to leave.

Maybe you’ve had people think they know you, or claim to know you, but in the end here is no real relationship at all.

We see this with God a lot. People have one way conversations about God; claiming to know him, claiming relationship, but having no intimacy.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Here is a group of people that gives us many examples of what looks like a relationship, they list all these things that they have done for God, but in the end God says, I never knew you. In other words, you did all these things, but you were so busy, you never took the time to have an actual relationship.

Today amidst the busyness of life, make sure you focus on having a relationship, and not just going through a ritual each morning.

God loves you, take some time today to love Him back!

Pastor Israel Jane

THE GOD OF BREAKTHROUGH

Jesus’ birth was equally as miraculous as his resurrection. He broke through all time and space to enter humanity.  He sits above all that we know and understand in regards to life.  He came to earth – to a physical location. He had to break through the barriers of a heavenly, spiritual world and come into a defined existence.  He broke through logic and physical capabilities entering the world with a virgin birth.  He broke through all the laws of royalty and was born in a measly stable.  He broke through all physical realms and was born as a baby, with the mind and body of a human even though He embodied all of who God was.  His purpose in coming was to break through all sin so that we could be in constant relationship with Him.  His love broke through all eternity to capture our hearts even today.

He is, most certainly, a God of Breakthrough.

There are many of us today that find ourselves in need of a breakthrough.  Maybe your breakthrough is needed in your health.  Maybe you are looking for a breakthrough in your finances, or in your dreams, or in your emotions.  God is The God of Breakthrough.  Some people, today, are looking for a breakthrough mentally, spiritually, in relationships, in your dreams.  God is faithful.  Some of you have been praying for prodigals to come home.  Some of you have been seeking God for the lost to be saved.  Your heartbeat is His heartbeat.  He longs to be in relationship with the lost and the prodigals.  It’s why he came.

Many times, we struggle through things in our lives.  The struggles are important because they develop some positive things in our lives.  But sometimes you have stood in the face of adversity, had faith against all odd, prayed and believed even when there have been no results, done what was right even when nobody else would, and served faithfully despite the circumstances around you.  You have stood – and after you have done all you could do to stand – you persevered and stood some more.

When we have done everything we can do on our part – we have to look expectantly and desperately to our God of Breakthrough.  He is faithful.  He will come through.  I believe we are entering into a day of breakthrough.  For those who have worked diligently – your harvest is coming and will be plentiful.  Our God will not be silent.  He will do what only He can do.  He will break through with power and authority.  He will come through with force and defy all time and space.  Nothing is impossible with Him.  He will break through all logic and physical capabilities.  He will break through all the warfare in the spirit realm.  You will see answers in the physical realm.  He will break though everything that others told you were impossibilities.  Your breakthrough is coming.

Isaiah 42:13-14, 16 (NLT) “The Lord will march forth like a mighty hero; he will come out like a warrior, full of fury. He will shout his battle cry and crush all his enemies.  He will say, “I have long been silent; yes, I have restrained myself.  But now, like a woman in labor, I will cry and groan and pant.
  I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things;
  I will not forsake them.”

God hasn’t left you or forgotten about you.  He is going to show up in your situation right in the nick of time. Don’t give up or give in.  Our mighty hero will breakthrough.  Trust Him.  Hold on.  He is coming to your rescue to do the supernatural in your life.  He is faithful.  Today is a day of breakthrough.  Your breakthrough is coming!

Pastor Shelly Riker

BIG FAITH = BIG RESULTS

In life we have opportunities before us constantly.

Opportunities and choices to become greater, get worse, to be complacent, to settle, to promote, to lose, to win, etc.

We serve a God who is greater than any problem we ever come across, yet we allow our fear of failure to stop us from becoming great constantly.

Our level of success and greatness in this life will be a direct reflection of how big our faith really is.

Nothing in this life that is truly great will come out of anything other than big faith.

This is such a hard thing for us, because we love security and comfort so much. Many times we can’t move forward because we can’t let go of what we already know.

We constantly stick with things that we don’t even like, just because at least its familiar to us and we find comfort in that.

We will stay at the same dead end job, the same piece of junk car, the same abusive relationship, not because we don’t want better, but because we are to afraid to try something new, or let go of what we already know.

It’s this fear of failure that will keep us from ever really succeeding.

Jesus said,

Luke 17:32, 33 (MSG)  “Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get life on God’s terms.”

We need to have the courage to let go of our plans and thoughts in order to embrace Gods.

Sometimes in life you need to take risks, risks that will take big faith.

Big Faith brings big results. Small faith brings small results.

But remember, when you take risks and leaps of faith in your life, people will tell you that you are crazy. They will tell you that you are foolish and you are wasting your time.

Following God and your calling is always a promotion no matter how you look at it! And people don’t have to agree with you.

You are never more safe than when you are in the center of God’s will, but God will ask you to step out on big faith many times in order to stay in His perfect will.

It builds your trust and relationship with Him.

So if you satisfied with little and average, than use little faith with no risks.

But if you want Gods, best and all He has to offer you, take big risks, with big faith and let God do what only God can do!

Pastor Steve Bolles

IN ALL…

If you are following along with your pastoral staff reading the One Year Bible, you will find yourself in I Thessalonians 5 today.  And as I read through it, I found verse 16 interesting.  You have to remember the story of the Apostle Paul, the great lengths that he went to proclaiming the Gospel.  He found himself beaten, shipwrecked and in prison much of the time.  In fact, I wonder how we would view such a minister today… Would we receive him as a man of God, or dish shame on him… Hmmmm… makes you think…

His life certainly embraced great difficulties and horrible circumstances.  But knowing this… we read today…

Be joyful always;

 pray continually;

 give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thess 5:16-18 (NIV)

 

Be joyful always!  SERIOUSLY???  OK, “pray continually” that sounds spiritual enough… we can embrace that… after all, we should always pray as Christians… right?  Next, “give thanks in all circumstances…”  Again… REALLY???  “in ALL???? Circumstances???

But we have to understand that Paul is NOT writing from a place of tranquility, everything going right, no opposition…  rather, he is writing from a place that many can relate… perhaps you…  he found himself in situations beyond his control, and was still able to maintain his relationship with God, stay focused on God’s will for his life and as a result…  kept his joy…

I find it interesting that verse 16 is a command… if you remember back to your English classes… you will recall that when you have a statement like this, it literally is saying “YOU” at the beginning… so it is “You be joyful always.”  Not only is this a command, but it reveals that we have a choice… and he is saying “Choose JOY!”

But I do not believe that you can attain to this “high road” if you are not doing the second part… “PRAY CONTINUALLY” – not a pious, religious, outward show… but truly devotion to your Father, Jesus and the Person of the Holy Spirit!  Communion with God… A RELATIONSHIP!!!

Next, again a choice… “give thanks in all circumstances…”

I was speaking with one of my children recently who was frustrated and said, “EVERYTHING is horrible!”  To which I began to ask questions…

“Has the sky disappeared?”

“Have you lost the ability to breathe?”

“Is the blood not pumping through your veins?”

“Does your daddy not love you anymore?” 

My child did not see the humor in my questions, oddly enough… 🙂  But as we continued to talk, I found that there was a situation with a sibling and sharing time on a friend’s ipad.  Feeling like an injustice had occurred and 10 minutes was lost… meant “EVERYTHING” was horrible.

Another “Life Lesson” ensued.  I discussed how we can easily lose our focus when we face difficulties, we can only see the issue that is being presented at the time.  But in fact, there is ALWAYS MORE good remaining in our life than any temporary difficulty.

But isn’t it the same for us?  We can find ourselves in situations, by our faults, decisions, or by injustices and that is ALL we can see.  Many would only be able to see the despicable prison that the Apostle Paul found himself in…  only focus on “how unfair it was” to be beaten for trying to minister to people…  YET Paul gives us an example to follow… “In all circumstances…”

“Father God, I pray for my brothers and sisters as they read this, that you will enable them to rise to the challenge that we find here in Your Word.  I pray that we all will cause our mind, will and emotions to obey Your Word… we choose JOY, PRAYER and THANKSGIVING in all circumstances!  Holy Spirit, I ask that we follow Your leading, prompting, and directing to follow the will of God for our lives.  I pray strength for those reading this, a renewed focus for today, and I bless them in the Name of Jesus Christ, AMEN”

Pastor Kevin Behrens

 

KNOW GOD FOR YOURSELF!

I have had the privilege of traveling to many beautiful places around the world.

I love to travel to places I have never been before.

I enjoy experiencing new adventures.

Whenever you return from new adventures and experiences you try your best to relate those experiences to your family and friends. Sometimes it is very difficult to properly convey what you have seen and done.

You simply have to say….. You would have had to have been there!

To fully experience or understand what I saw or did you would have to experience it for yourself.

How can you relate adequately the experiences of the Swiss Alps, The Italian Amalfi Coast, South African Safari’s, The Holy Land, The Far East or even the beauty of Alaska or Hawaii?

The truth is ……  I don’t want to be relegated to hearing the wonderful experiences of others. I want to experience them for myself!

When it comes to your experiences and adventures with God, He never intended for you to have to hear what He is like through the experiences of others!

God never intended for you to simply hear someone else’s story.

He doesn’t want you to just see the pictures.

He wants you to experience Him for yourself.

He wants you to encounter His presence.

He wants you to engage in His power.

God can be approached.

2 Cor. 3:16-18  (NLT) But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

There is a huge difference between knowing about God and knowing Him personally.

It is the difference between spending eternity in heaven or hell!

You don’t go to heaven because God is in your head.

You go to heaven when you have personally invited Him into your heart!

God is a living Spirit!

He has a personal presence.

We need God!

We need power not words.

We don’t need another argument.

We don’t need more scholarship.

We don’t need more opinions about God.

We need God!

We need His Power!

We need His Love!

Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul:

I Cor. 2: 1-5 (NLT) When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

Don’t merely go after an experience!

Go after God!

In Genesis 32: 24-30, we read the story of a man named Jacob that had a personal encounter with God.

Three things happened in that story that can happen to you.

1)   God will give you a new strength.

Jacob became an earthly limper, but also a spiritual powerhouse.

2)   God will give you a new identity.

Jacob received a new name. The old things in his life were done away with a new future was established for him.

3)   God will give you a new joy.

With a God-given strength and with a God-given new identity, you receive a God-given joy!

Ps. 16:11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.

What is your personal story in relationship with God?

Know God For Yourself!

Pastor Tad Mathews