We’re now 2 weeks into “The Advantage!” Trust me when I say you don’t want to miss this week, when David meets Goliath…you’ve got giants in your life and when you run up against one of them, you’ll be glad you joined us for Week 3. In case you missed last week or just want a refresher, here’s the highlights from last Sunday’s message:
- God will bring good out of the worst experience.
Satan will do whatever he can to ruin your life and convince you that God’s abandoned you and you’re all alone. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Romans 8:28 tells us, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God never promises us that He’ll take away all the bad parts of life. He does promise us that He’ll take the worst experiences and weave them into something good that reflects His Kingdom. In 1 Samuel 16, Saul has rejected God and gone his own way (a bad thing) but God uses that rejection as an opening to bring David to the throne (a great thing). With the cross, Satan took the opportunity to have Jesus killed (a bad thing) but God used the tomb to defeat death and return to life (a great thing). In your life, it might seem like everything’s falling apart right now, but trust that God will use the opportunity to usher in a great ending to the story!
- If we’re going to claim that something is from God, it ought to be good.
God is the creator of everything good, so if something is from Him, it better be good! If we claim to be living as a follower of Jesus, a Christian, someone who is “in” Christ, then our life ought to reflect that statement. Our words, our actions, our emotions, our decisions should reflect the goodness of God. We’re not perfect, but if we’re going to claim to be from God, we better be working to resemble Him!
- God works through what you work on.
“If you want weeds, it will take you days. If you want tomatoes, it will take you weeks. If you want oaks, it will take you decades.”
Before God will work THROUGH you, He’s going to first work IN you. Being a Christian isn’t a free pass to heaven. Being a Christian is a ticket to a life of surrender, of discipline, of letting the Father mold what’s inside of us. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul wrote, “No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Let’s get to work today, so we’ll be ready for God to use us to slay giants tomorrow!
- Your uniqueness is what makes you effective.
No one else is quite like you…so no one else has quite the same potential you have. Like John Maxwell says, “You have to be comfortable in your own skin.” So, stop trying to be someone you’re not and be content to be uniquely effective as God created you to be! Work on the potential He put in you instead of trying to grow in the potential He gave someone else.