Here are my notes to the message I taught on 1/13/2013 at CORE...
The world seeks to find a label for you from the moment you
are born. Society wants to categorize you and put you into a box with everyone
else like you. But God has created you with His own hands and has called you to
NOT be like everyone else.
He told Jeremiah:
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before
you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the
nations." (Jeremiah 1:5, NIV)
SCHOOL:
Growing up, you are labeled as a daughter, a son, a brother
or a sister, the youngest child, the oldest child, the only child, or the baby.
All centered around being a part of a family, which is how God sees us, being a
part of His family. But once you are in school, for many of us, this is where
we step foot into the world’s system and the world’s categories. You are
labeled as your grade, or you are smart, advanced, dumb, slow or if you didn’t
go to public school, you have an entirely different category…home-schooled. And
everyone in public school thinks you’re weird. Once in high school, you are
then put into more categories regarding your personality and what you do:
athlete/jock, cheerleader, math-geek, drama geeks, band nerds, stoners,
partiers, rich kids, poor kids, etc.
YOUR CAREER:
And on top of all of that, your entire time spent in the
education institution you are trying to figure out who you will be when you
grow up. Your whole life existence from that point is founded on one thing,
your career. And as we know, we are NOT our job position.
Those who try to find
their identity in what they do will always be searching for their ultimate
purpose and will never find fulfillment in life.
WHY?
Because there is only one position that will ever give you a
sense of purpose.
You are a child of God! You are His!
When you receive Christ as your personal Lord and Savior,
you are then ADOPTED into the family of God. But many of us continue to look
for purpose on our walk with God, working to achieve His love, instead of just
trusting in it.
John 1:12-13 (NKJV) says:
Speaking of Jesus, “But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.”
READ GALATIANS 3:26-4:1-7
WE ARE HEIRS OF GOD!!!!! WE ARE ROYALTY!!!!
Our God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and we are called
sons of God because of our FAITH IN CHRIST!
ADOPTION in Greek “huiothesia”=adoption as sons, sonship;
in NT culture a son received greater inheritance and honor, but in Christ men
and women inherit equally.
We must walk in the Spirit (which means praying, listening,
and remaining fully obedient to the Father at all times) to use our faith and
denounce any kind of worldly mentality which will only bring bondage (ROMANS 8:1-9;12-17).
When we make a decision based upon our flesh, it is going to
eventually end in death because our flesh eventually dies. But if we make a
decision based upon God’s Spirit and in Jesus, it will be eternal because in
Jesus, there’s life eternally and NO CONDEMNATION.
“…our acceptance with God has to do with nothing but
faith in Christ. God is very unimpressed with your performance, but He is
deeply impressed with Christ’s performance. When you put childlike faith in
Christ, Christ’s performance record is credited to you. Faith in Christ unlocks
the Father’s heart to you. When you believe on His beloved Son, the Father’s
heart explodes in affirmation and acceptance and delight-totally independently
of your diligence or lack thereof” (The Secrets of the Secret Place
READ MARK 1:9-11 (The Father was pleased with Him even before
He did one miracle or went to the cross. He sees our heart and sees the end
from the beginning).
You find such freedom when you finally realize you can rest
in knowing that Jesus paid for your performance (AND YOU HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN)
and by accepting that, God sees you as His daughter or son. You are so loved by
the Father. Nothing will be able to change that. (ROMANS 8:38-39) He will
always love you, but He doesn’t always agree with the decisions you have made
in your life outside of His best (His will). That’s why we must seek Him for
direction, so we remain in His will.
When we fully understand God’s love for us and that we BELONG
to Him as a daughter or a son, everything in us wants to love Him back with all
that we have. Suddenly we find ourselves longing to be with Him all the time
and be obedient to all that He asks of us. We long to sit at His feet and gaze
into His eyes and hear His voice. Our prayer life is not seen as a chore but as
a privilege. We are privileged to be a child of God in the earth and do His
will every day wherever He sends us. The earth is longing for us to reveal Him.
(ROMANS 8:18-19)
THE SUFFERING CAN’T BE COMPARED
TO THE GLORY THAT’LL BE REVEALED
CREATION EAGERLY AWAITS AND GROANS
FOR THE SONS OF GOD TO BE REVEALED
ARISE, ARISE!
MAY THE SONS OF GOD ARISE!
ARISE, ARISE!
MAY GOD’S GLORY BE REVEALED
HABAKKUK 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (NIV)
We will reveal God’s glory by standing up as an army of the
sons and daughters of the Living God proclaiming His love for the whole world
and explaining how He sent Jesus to die for them-the gospel! How will they know
if we don’t fully grasp that we have been given the RIGHT to become the sons
and daughters of God? The harvest is great, but the laborers are few because
many don’t know that they don’t have to strive or work for their position as a
son or daughter of God. They just have to believe and walk in it. Father God,
through Jesus, would never give us a command to “go into all the world and
preach the gospel” and not give us help. HE DID! We have the Holy
Spirit…another amazing gift from above! (Luke 11:9-13)
So what are you believing for? What are you asking for? Are
you coming to the Father boldly as a son or daughter? Or do you still see God
as a dog-trainer somewhere up in heaven just waiting to punish you for your
wrong? Remember, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Step into your position NOW as a daughter or son of the Most High God. He’s
waiting for you with open arms ready to tell you how much He loves you and how
proud He is of you for running this race for Him. Running without time alone
with God is the work of a slave and we aren’t slaves, we are His children!
Knowing this will fuel you to go out and tell the world about Jesus! You are
His beloved child in whom He is well pleased. Trust in that. Trust in Jesus.
Trust in His love.
Peace&Love.
Emily
