Our purpose / His Purpose For Us

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• Prayer

. . . —Luke 18:31, 34 and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.’ . . . But they understood none of these things . . . —Luke 18:31, 34

1. God called Jesus to (in human terms) absolute disaster – triumph in His eyes.

a) disciple saw events unfold and take place, didn’t understand at time.

b) Jesus (God) called Paul to same

3. God’s purpose is never same as man’s purpose

3. God’s purpose is to be a Father to all of His Creation (us)

Give us benefit of His Wisdom –

1 Cor. 3:19

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

James 3:17

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

2. God’s call comes to our lives as well

1. don’t confuse call with end purpose

2. purpose is never understood (at time – Jacob)

3. call requires obedience

4. obedience requires faith - God has given all “measure of faith” – Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

5. All faith given equally – “more highly” / like God saying “you’re no better”

6. faith requires relationship with Him – renew you mind / Rom 12:1&2

3. no one hears, or recognizes unless that person has a prior relationship with Him

1. Oswald Chamber put it this way –“ The call of God is like the call of the sea— no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him.”

1. We MUST know Him as our Lord and savior
2. We must have know Him I – have relationship renew your mind – Rom 12:1-2
3. our purpose and God’s purpose must be one in same
4. we must let God be God – Word says to “lean not to our own understanding”
5. Prov. 1-4 particularly address

6. Let God and His Word guide every phase of our lives

God’s Word is very practical (every chapter, James in particular) and should be the determining standard for every question we have or compare every answer the world gives us.

When we know and rely on Him for Wisdom and we let him truly be our dad, only then will His Word be the standard that we compare everything to with confidence. Look at spiritual Father the same way we look at our earthly father

God the Father intended to be the template for fatherly behavior on earth (the way He treats His kids to be way we treat ours)

Wise As Serpents

Text -

Matt 10:16

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Read Matt :11–17

Reference today – Bible, Sparking Gems From The Greek

Jesus getting ready to send disciples out to witness – preach the Gospel –start the church as we know it. Think of that … a vital part of God re-establishing His Kingdom.

• No punctuation early Greek. I have to believe Jesus Knew this would be written down for you and me to take instruction from. So what He said is translated verily, verily.

• He was telling them and us to LISTEN UP! - WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY IS IMPORTANT.
• Whenever we see verily, verily or in some versions, truly, truly listen carefully to what He is going to say, it’s important!
• Jesus gave at least 6 instructions and some consequences for the

disciples and the people for listening or not listening to them.

• Get to vs 16 and tells them to be “wise as serpents”

In this verse, Jesus instructs His disciples (and us) to be “wise as serpents.” The word “wise” is the Greek word pronimos, which means prudent, careful, cunning, discerning, thoughtful, intelligent,

or sensible. This word perfectly depicts the behavior and actions of snakes. They are very careful, discerning, intelligent, and prudent in how they act. The Greek word for “serpent” is the word ophis, which is the normal Greek word that refers to a snake.

It is a fact that Jesus told us that we need to be “wise as serpents”! The Greek literally means we

need to be as prudent, discerning, intelligent, thoughtful, and careful as snakes! There is obviously something Jesus wanted us to learn from the behavior of snakes, so I took the time to think about this subject. Finally, I understood exactly why Jesus used this example and how it applies to all of us regarding

our families, businesses, ministries, or any opportunity God places before us in life.

• Snakes blend in with their surrounding

• They are in any particular place for one reason, that reason is survival.

First, when serpents move into a new territory, they don’t announce their presence. Instead, they lay low, stay quiet, and blend into the environment. In fact, you can walk right past a snake and not even realize it! Snakes have the ability to be nearly invisible. They are designed to be camouflaged. This camouflage serves as a protective covering. The vilest aggressor can walk right past, but the serpent is not noticed because it has blended so well into the landscape. That camouflage gives the serpent latitude to move about freely as it finds its way around new territory. As snakes evaluate a new situation, they see what kind of opportunities are in the area. They identify places of shelter. They find “hiding places” to protect themselves from attack. They observe to see where they can find the easiest prey. When all these facts are assimilated, the serpent is ready to act. But this “settling-in” period is a key time for a serpent.

And Jesus said there is wisdom in a serpent’s behavior from which we need to learn! When God calls you or me to do something new — to move to new territory or to seize a divine opportunity — it is wisdom for us to move carefully and slowly into that new phase of our lives.

A common mistake is to act too fast. Acting hastily before all the facts are gathered and assimilated can lead us to bad decisions based on incomplete, or even worse - false information. In fact, one serious mistake can cause us to lose an opportunity altogether. I can testify to you about this firsthand.

It is better to lay low, stay quiet, and blend into the environment for a while, learning from the sights and the facts we observe.

We need to apply this to every phase of our lives – we have to be sensitive to The Spirit so we can gather facts and information : Most serious mistakes are avoidable when moving to a new situation or environment. I strongly advise you to take your time and be sure of the actions you take before you ever act.

I would suggest that you first:

• Learn the landscape of your new environment.

• Locate places of spiritual shelter for you and your family.
• See what kind of attacks could potentially come against you.
• Take time to really understand the opportunities around you.
• Take advantage of your preparation time before you announce great and glorious

plans, making sure that you are completely informed of all the facts.

Once we have gathered all the facts and know who and what the dangers are we must act and seize the moment!

• Don’t let fear or conventional “wisdom” rule (lean not your own understanding - Proverbs)
• Be sensitive to The Holy Spirit’s leading
• New ventures God springs on us are always scary – remember: you must rely on Him “where God guides, He provides”. (Pastor Dan)
• But, how do I know it’s God? –

1. listen – spend as much time listening in quiet time as talking when praying. Do you like someone who talks all the time? Do we learn more by listening or talking?
2. get to know Him – thru His Word / Renew your mind (Rom 12:1&2, Josh 1:8)

3. When we act. we must act in faith – “without faith it is impossible to please Him” Heb 11:6

4. diligently seek Him

What if I miss it?

• Everyone misses God from time to time

• Rom 8:28

• don’t miss God on purpose, because you think He is going to bail out of your recklessness, but know that by doing something, it is easier to change course and make adjustments than miss an opportunity altogether because of being afraid to act. (example of stationary car harder to turn steering wheel than one moving). Take this in context.

• Diligently seek Him

Diligently seeking Him is always the answer, whether we are in good circumstances or bad.

John 3:1 -18

• Pray
• Text passage John 3:1-18

John 3

Born from Above

2. There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."

• Pharisees num. About 6000 in Israel
• Very important to them to show outward religion (fasting, praying, ceremonial washing –etc)
• Knew messiah coming
• Very opposed to Jesus
• Jesus very critical of them
• Many theories on why he went at night but I think so no one would see him
• Evidently, the Pharisees had drawn a conclusion about Jesus.
• Called him teacher out of respect / I think he knew who Jesus was (John 7:50,51 & 19:39)

3. Jesus said, "You're absolutely right (about being a teacher – knowing more than you). Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom."

• No kidding
• Very well could have taken the attitude of “don’t even try to think of yourself as equal, but I believe Jesus Knew Nic. knew who Jesus was.
• Everything Jesus did pointed to God’s Kingdom & He wanted to get across not only to Nic. But to you and I that we must accept the salvation God is giving to us. Eph 2:8-9

        "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"

 5-6 Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation,(Gen. 1:1) the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

 7-8 "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."

 9 Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"

 10-12 Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God?

 13-15 "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert (a type of Jesus Num 21:6-9 )so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

 16-18 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. (Message)

God’s purpose now is to re-establish Kingdom, in doing, He, sacrificed His Son to “buy back”

- Jesus came 1^st time as a Savior not a Judge

• Jews in those days believed Messiah would judge mankind – they had reason to believe that (Psalm 98:9, Isaiah 3:13)

they rejected Jesus, so salvation had to come from non-Jews (gentiles)Jews did not see Church age (we are in now) – Gospel supposed to come through Jews:

16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God ⁾did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

• notice He does not save by love – He saves by belief - loves all unconditionally - saved or not: God will love us even going to hell.

He saves by Grace – His Grace comes by faith in His Word Eph 2:8-9 – you must be born again (John 3) by accepting and relying on His Word

Ephesian 1:5-6 – He chose us to be adopted sons through (because of)Jesus

John 14:6 – way, truth , light

Heb 2:9-11 - Captain = Gr. archegegos >author >take the lead

Jesus makes it clear that only through Him can we enter into God’s family (children of)

18 "^(AC)He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(AD)the only begotten Son of God.

- You never surprise God

- penalty is always (with God) pre-determined

(NKJV)

Romans 10:9-11

9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."^[

Draw Near To Him

                                                                    

·      

        

                        1.    God Chooses to draw near to us – 
                                 up to us.
                        2.     We crave for what we eat. Devour 
                               Word

3.    determine what you eat - meditate on Word daily.    -  Prov. 4:23 …guard your heart                 (issues of life)

4      We need to want to be in God’s presence because of who He is – not what He can do.

5.            We need to have holy reverence – the fear of the Lord

·        Humility

Our text scripture has been James 4:8 – but let's look at what God says to us through James before and after this verse – the entire passage.

James 6-10   6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.  10 10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

 Let's also look at Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

1.            God loves humble people

2.            hates pride

         ·        Most have a misconception of Godly humility – 

3.            as used here means to make oneself lower than the other person on purpose

           a)    Blessed are the humble (Matt 6)

           b)    He who is first will be last
           c)    Defer to others-

           d)    We are supposed to put other’s needs as a priority – help people – James calls this                  “true religion”

·        Let’s  take a look at another form of Godly humility –

4.        

            agreement with God – being in tune with Him : example 1 Sam 17:26-28      

many confuse being in agreement with God with being conceited

1.            Little Shepard boy arrives on scene bringing supplies

2.            finds mighty warriors of Israel hiding behind rocks

3.            finds all are afraid of Goliath

4.            who is this uncircumcised Philistine? – (what is going on here?)

5.            Brother’s reaction

6.            God calls David man after His own heart

David not conceited – standing up for Lord out of love for God, God did not need David’s help but used David to help His people because David:

·        David humbled himself before God (God knew his heart)

·        David stood up for god

·        David’s humbled himself to Saul (God’sking) brought supplys

other examples:

1.            Moses – Numbers 12:3

Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)

Who wrote Numbers? – Moses!

2.            Jesus – Matt 11:28-29

28 Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Humbleness here consistent with the idea of

1.            obedience  - Jer. 29:11 -  links obedience and humbleness

2.            dependence on Him – 2 Cor 3:5 – 2 Cor. 12-9-10 – giving all the credit to God

3.            our view of ourselves – 1 Cor 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Humbleness and fear of The Lord the aspect of Christian life that God is looking for –

If we know nothing else, but truly Seek His Presence showing these two things: you automatically will – be obedient in truth – because of who He Is,

You will be in agreement with Him.

Proverbs 22:4-5 tells us He will then reward us with His presence:

            4 By humility [and] the fear of the LORD [are] riches, and honour, and life

5 Thorns [and] snares [are] in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

         

(Amp says He will reward with his presence)

If you want to be in agreement with God, you must get to know Him, much easier to agree with someone when you know them.

-         Meditate on Word – Josh 1:8

·        End meeting in prayer

John 3:1-18

• Pray
• Text passage John 3:1-18

John 3

Born from Above

1-2   There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."

-          Pharisees num. About 6000 in Israel

-          Very important to them to show outward religion (fasting, praying, ceremonial washing –etc)

-          Knew messiah coming

-          Very opposed to Jesus

-          Jesus very critical of them

-          Many theories on why he went at night but I think so no one would see him

-          Evidently, the Pharisees had drawn a conclusion about Jesus.

-          Called him teacher out of respect / I think he knew who Jesus was (John 7:50,51 & 19:39)

3     Jesus said, "You're absolutely right (about being a teacher – knowing more than you). Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom."

-         No kidding

-         Very well could have taken the attitude of “don’t even try to think of yourself as equal, but I believe Jesus Knew Nic. knew who Jesus was.

-         Everything Jesus did pointed to God’s Kingdom & He wanted to get across not only to Nic. But to you and me that we must accept the salvation God is giving to us. Eph 2:8-9

4     "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"

  

 5-6 Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation,(Gen. 1:1) the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
 7-8 "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
 9 Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"
 10-12 Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God?
 13-15 "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert (a type of Jesus Num 21:6-9 )so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
 16-18 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. (Message)

God’s purpose now is to re-establish Kingdom, in doing, He, sacrificed His Son to “buy back”

          - Jesus came 1^st time as a Savior, not a Judge

-         Jews in those days believed Messiah would judge mankind – they had reason to believe that (Psalm 98:9, Isaiah 3:13)

they rejected Jesus, so salvation had to come from non-Jews (gentiles)Jews did not see Church age (we are in now) – Gospel supposed to come through Jews:
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God ⁾did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

-          notice He does not save by love – He saves by belief - loves all unconditionally - saved or not: God will love us even going to hell.

He saves by Grace – His Grace comes by faith in His Word, Eph 2:8-9 – you must be born again (John 3) by accepting and relying on His Word
Ephesian 1:5-6 – He chose us to be adopted sons through (because of)Jesus
John 14:6 – way, truth , light
Heb 2:9-11   - Captain = Gr. archegegos >author >take the lead
Jesus makes it clear that only through Him can we enter into God’s family (children of)

 18 "^(AC)He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(AD)the only begotten Son of God.

- You never surprise God

                        - penalty is always (with God) pre-determined
(NKJV)

Romans 10:9-11

9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."^[