Everyone “craves” something - You actually have the power to ‘set’ your crave. What does a ‘craving’ for Jesus look like? It will look different for everyone because all of our relationship with Jesus is unique. He’s a good Father, He knows His kids intimately. He doesn’t love us all the same - He loves us all uniquely. But the standard for Christian living is not your neighbour or someone from another church - it’s the Word!

Romans 12:11 “Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let him fill you with excitement as you serve him.” Christianity is at its best when lived passionately. Mediocrity compromises the message. When you accept Jesus as your Lord there was a CRAVING for Him.

God wanted a close relationship with you FIRST! Do you see God wanting you? Do you see God intensely desiring you? It’s hard to have a craving for God when you don’t know that He CRAVES you. God proved His craving for you before He made the world - He did something. He chose to bless us with all spiritual blessings. He loved you and chose you in Christ to be holy, and without fault in His eyes. He decided to adopt you into His family and bring you close. He purchased your freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave all sin. He showered His kindness on you with all wisdom and understanding. When you respond to the good news of Jesus, by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that, “Jesus is Lord” these God-decisions are instantly added to you. God declares these realities over you.

What comes next? In God, and in the life of a believer, there is always something coming. You never arrive in a place where a vision for the future is no longer necessary. Living and walking by faith does not mean you will end up in a place where you no longer have needs. No, living by faith means you are going to have needs which you will depend on God for.

Moving life forward sounds like an obvious thing, but when you here many people, they always focus on the past. However, the only thing you can do about the past is thank God for the blood of Jesus which covered your past life. Now, you live by faith.

Move life forward. That is the direction life is moving in; it moves decidedly in one direction - forward. That is the way faith moves. We are instructed in the Scriptures to walk by faith - to move forward in faith.

God is the Liberator and the Forgiver. Since God is the Liberator I am the free! Since God is the Forgiver I am the forgiven. He purchased our freedom and forgave all sin. When did God decide to forgive you? When did He purchase your freedom from sin? BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. When you confess your sin isn’t when God found out about it, it’s when you got rid of it!

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Your life has an intended path, and what you do with your heart is the determining factor.

When was your relationship with God initiated? A lot of times, you may think the answer is, “The day I accepted Jesus as Lord.” But, that’s only when you maybe became aware of it. In reality, your relationship with God was birthed before the foundation of the earth - before God created the heavens and the earth.

We must keep our focus (lock in) on His Word. What was the issue for the Israelites not entering the promised land? They had a “Grasshopper Mentality.” The problem was not the giants in the land. The problem was the image that they had of themselves! WHO TOLD THEM THEY WERE GRASSHOPPERS? The greatest enemy is how you see yourself in comparison to the giants you face.

One of the greatest threats to not walking out the plan of God for our lives is looking to live a life of COMFORT. (I’m not talking living in poverty and not having nice things - I’m talking about fulfilling His plan for your existence)

Why do we crave comfort?

We like what comfort produces = predictable outcomes

What does comfort not produce? Growth / Advancement

We all have comfort zones which determine what we believe what we can and can’t do and if you are not proactive in pushing your boundaries and getting outside of your comfort zone, you are effectively SURRENDERING all of the possibilities that exist outside of your comfort zone.