Truth That Changes Lives on Oneplace.com

What is it that we're basing our joy on? Are we basing our joy on having all of our personal expectations met? About the safety, the comfort and the security of our life? Or are we basing our joy on our relationship with God and our relationship with one another?

When we encounter trials and opposition and persecution in the Christian life, if we are not prepared for understanding how God uses that to grow us up spiritually, if we are not having the big picture of understanding it accomplishes God's kingdom purposes, if our trust is not in God's resources in the midsts of those trials, you know what they easily become, they become the leverage point for the tempter to tempt us!

God's game plan for us is not just to fight and to have a neutral result against spiritual opposition. God's game plan is to fight and win the spiritual battle!

For any one of us who wants to move forward in our relationship with God; for any one of us who wants to do something spiritually significant in our lives; we are going to encounter opposition!

God is calling us to be world changers! God is calling us to call one another to be world changers! We have a roll in speaking into peoples lives the truth and grace of God! To motivate them to take their next step in following after Jesus Christ!

You see, in the spiritual realm, success or failure is not primarily measured by results! It's measured by obeying what God tells you to do! When we obey God in what He tells us to do, it's a success, whatever the results might be! When we obey God in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is a success whatever the results might be because God is the one who produces results!

It's when we humbly receive the word. When we read it, and study it and memorize it and seek to do what it says. It's that humbled attitude of dependence upon it that literally will change us, and that's what Paul observed in the folks at Thesolanica. And he says you welcomed the message of God's word with the joy of the Holy Spirit!

In fact, he says over in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, that "when you receive from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men but for what it really is, the word of God which performes its work in you who believe"! You know when we welcome God's word into our life and we believe it; it performs a work in us, it changes us! God's word has that kind of life giving power!

My hope, my goal, my prayer for this sermon is not that you'll know more about prayer; it's that you will pray!

Thanksgiving aligns our heart with God! Thanksgiving makes an acknowledgment that God's God and we're not! Thanksgiving shows that we have an awareness of who God is and what He's doing in our lives!