Own Your Faith

God instructed Moses in the ordination of Aaron and his sons to serve him as priests in Exodus 29. But in Exodus 28 he instructed Moses in dressing them for the occasion. In that scene they had clothes that were fit for their holy calling. In the NT and today we have been fitted with clothes appropriate for our holy Christian calling as a priesthood. Those "clothes" are love, humility, the new self, the armor of God, etc. Dress for the occasion.

Sometimes we get in our own way by getting ahead of God and assuming positions and roles that God has not given us. God is a God of order. We bring confusion to our circumstances when we take matters into our own hands as opposed to trusting God's ways and God's timing in our lives. Leviticus 10:1 | 1 Corinthians 14:33

A close look at the struggle Jesus had in the garden of Gethsemane. He agonized for a moment as he prayed and neared the time of his betrayal, arrest, beating, and crucifixion. His famous words in that struggle was to choose to do the Father's will above all.

As we seek God's will for our lives we must understand that what God desires for us is part of a bigger plan for the body of Christ, for all of humanity, and for the whole of creation. In order for God to accomplish his will for creation we must be willing to mature. That is God's will for each of us individually and collectively, that we mature. In order for us to see more poured out into our lives we must mature so that we can be good stewards of what God blesses our lives with. 1 Corinthians 14:20 | Ephesians 4:11-17

To know God's will for us as individuals and for all of humanity and creation we need only to read the 7,000 + commandments in biblical Scripture. Without combing through all of those commandments in this message we do know the desire of God that takes precedence over all others, that we know God and reverence God with our lives. 1 Timothy 2:3-6; Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11; Jeremiah 9:23-24; and Exodus 20:1-11

In order to discern the will of God we must have God's perspective of who we are. Too often we see ourselves as less than how God sees us. When this happens we begin to expect less of our lives, we expect less from God, and we certainly do not discern what God's will is for our lives. When we come into agreement with who we are in Christ we begin to live differently, think differently, and understand the world differently. Ephesians 5.

One of the reasons many people cannot discern God's will for their lives and for humanity as a whole is because of the insidious nature of pride. Pride will always orient a person toward self-interests. Paul writes to the church in Rome that they must "not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the RENEWING OF THE MIND" (Romans 12:2). One way to renew the mind is to acknowledge the pride that may be consuming and spiritually debilitating.

God desires for us to be redeemed and transformed. Sometimes we get in our own way trying to discern God's desires for us. In this message Pastor Byron encourages us to invite God to search our hearts. Sometimes what blocks our ability to discern God's will is not what's going on around us, but what is going on in us.

The will of God is hidden and yet God wants to reveal it to us and through us. On our own, in our natural mind we can't fully understand the things of God. They must be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. In Psalm 51 David confesses his sins regarding his affair with Bathsheba and asks God to not remove the Holy Spirit from him so that he can teach God's ways to others. In order to teach God's ways he needed the Spirit to even understand God's ways. Let's begin a four-week journey learning how to discern the will of God. Psalm 51:10-13

He is risen indeed! Jesus knew what had to happen to fulfill the Father's will. He knew his role and the depth of the suffering even unto death. He was also certain of being raised from the dead. He had no doubt in God's good plan was for him. As we glean from Jesus' actions in those last days before and after the resurrection, can we too say, "no doubt" about God's good plan for our lives individually and collectively? John 20:1-23