ON does not equal IN

I can’t wait for this weekend at Soma!  We’ll be wrapping up our FOR/WITH/ONE/IN series and it’s gonna be awesome!

If I’ve learned one thing on this journey, it’s been this…  God is constantly pursuing a closer relationship with His people!

1. God is FOR His people.
2. God is WITH His people.
3. God is ONE of His people.
4. God is IN His people!

God has BEEN chasing you…  God IS chasing you…  And God will ALWAYS be chasing you!

And when He catches your heart with His Spirit, an amazing transformation happens!

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.  We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.  But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read.  It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.  Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.             -2 Corinthians 3:12-18

When you surround yourself with the presence of God, it changes you…  Your actions, your words, your thoughts and your relationships all begin to reflect the holiness and purity of God.  For.  A.  While.  And then the memory of the event starts to fade.  The excitement slips.  And new commitments are replaced by old habits.

But when the presence of God is literally IN you, you are re-created…  Your heart, your mind and your spirit begin resemble and imitate the heart of the Father.  Permanent change is slow and tedious.  But.  It.  Lasts.

When it comes to the Spirit of God:  ON does not equal IN.

Jesus Came…

Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called mighty oaks, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

If your heart has been broken, Jesus came to heal you.

If you’re a slave to sin, Jesus came to rescue you.

If you feel like you’re wandering in the darkness, Jesus came to guide you.

If you’re overwhelmed by sadness, Jesus came to bring you a smile.

If you seem to be stuck in poverty, Jesus came to provide for your every need.

If you can’t imagine the possibility of hope, Jesus came to give you a brand new future.

And because Jesus came, let your life be a monument to His glory.

Strength = Humility

Acts 3:11-13

While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade.  When Peter saw this, he said to them:  “People of Israel, why does this surprise you?  Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.”

Peter and John have just played a part in one of God’s awesome moves and everyone is ready to bow down and worship them right there on the spot.  It would have been so easy and so tempting to just stand there and hold court over the people who were so impressed.  But they took that precise moment, when they could have looked so great, to turn and point to Jesus and give all the glory away.

That is how churches get built! That is how disciples are made and that is how the Kingdom is spread.

Are you building a church or are you building you?  When you’re part of the amazing things that Jesus does, do you puff up your chest and put on your crown?  Or do you bow your head and point to your King?

Your church will only be as strong as you are humble.

Build A Legacy

Micah 4:5-8 (The Message)

Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish, picking and choosing their gods.  But we live honoring God, and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.

“On that great day,” God says, “I will round up all the hurt and homeless, everyone I have bruised or banished.  I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.  I will make a strong nation out of the long lost, a showcase exhibit of God’s rule in action, as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.

“And you stragglers around Jerusalem, eking out a living in shantytowns:  The glory that once was will be again.  Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”

A great promise for God’s people!

In 2010, try something new…  Try claiming this promise.

Live a holy life in a world consumed with sin.  Raise your kids in godly families in the midst of a dysfunctional world.  Prioritize God and His Church while your neighbor prioritizes himself and his comfort.

Make 2010 different…  And build a legacy of godliness in your life and in your family…

It won’t be easy.  But it won’t be impossible either.  Do the hard thing.  Live for the coming glory.