Sunday 5th January 2020

Sunday 5th January 2020

Last week I asked you two questions: 

1.   What do you think is possible for you in the New Year? 

2.   What does God think is possible for you in the New Year?

The answer to the (pic of fruit of the Spirit) second question is connected to the fruit the Holy Spirit produces in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. So, if you're struggling with addiction right now and you need self-control, Jesus says it's possible. If your relationships are in trouble right now because you're impatient and harsh, then patience and gentleness are possible. If there's anger or bitterness in your heart, Jesus says love and kindness are possible. If worry and anxiety or depression are pushing you down and battering you, Jesus says peace and joy are possible for you. I keep hearing people talking about being their best self, but you can only be your best self when your life is rooted in Jesus – the way, the truth and the life.

What we think (pic of roadsign) is possible for us in 2020 will be linked to where we are in our relationship with God. If we’re walking closely with God, he will give us dreams and visions, and the passion, enthusiasm and courage to go for them. But, if God has been relegated to somewhere in the background of your life, how do you hear? How do you know what God has for you? How are you going to become more like Jesus?

So, how is Holy Spirit going to produce his fruit in us? Listen again to the reading from a different version (The Passion Translation): As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. 

We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

So consider carefully how Jesus faced such intense opposition from sinners who opposed their own souls, so that you won’t become worn down and cave in under life’s pressures.

We are expected to be able to ‘run life’s race with passion and determination.’ Not only that, there is a path that has been marked out for us. 

Imagine a running track with its lines – it takes two lines to keep you in your lane. In part, that is what we talked about last week – growing more like Jesus is one part of the path. There is no getting round it. As we look back and compare where we are now we should be able to see some progress. Is there more Holy Spirit fruit in my life now as compared with last year or ten years ago. People have been putting current and ten year old pictures together on Facebook to note the changes. If we did that spiritually would we look and act more like Jesus than we did 10 years ago?

Note also that it is our race, not somebody else’s. Many of us can’t run our race because we’re so busy trying to run someone else’s race. We constantly compare ourselves with other people, and it’s easy to try to run just a bit faster than them. To be a little bit better than them. Maybe you’re trying to keep up with someone but all you’re doing is exerting a lot of psychological, emotional and spiritual energy trying to compete with someone you were never called or created to be.

Those comparisons we make are used by the devil against us. That’s why he was kicked out of heaven – he began to compare himself with God and decided to exalt himself rather than God. He uses comparison to steal, kill and destroy. When we’re too busy comparing ourselves with others we can’t be who God has called us to be.

2 Cor 10:12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

It is not wise to compare ourselves with other people. Every one of us has a call that God has placed on our lives. This is not for (run your own race pic) special people, or particularly holy people, no, every one of God’s children has their own calling. It is not random – it is unique and specific. It is designed for you and nobody else. You are in your place because God has put you here for this time and this place and those people with whom you have a connection. You may be the only Christian some of your friends know.

God has already given you all you need to fulfill the call. Somehow we always think we need more talent or skills. In Exodus 3, Moses did the same. When God told him to go and free the Israelites from Egypt, he started with “I’m nobody.” Then it was, “What will I tell them?” Then, “What if they don’t believe me?” Then, it was, “I don’t speak very well!” Lastly, it was, “Please send someone else!” God’s answer was: I will be with you and I’m sending someone to help you.

We need to learn from that and stop complaining about those things we think we don’t have. You and I have been carefully created and meticulously made by a God who is obsessed with you.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

God is a strategic God, and even before you were born, he had marked out a race for you. What we need to do is get in the lane and keep our eyes on Jesus. It sounds great and it sounds easy but we find it so difficult. It’s like when you’re in traffic and the other lane seems to be moving faster than yours. So, you move over, only to find the one you were in is now moving faster.

Two lines make a lane. Two lines mark out where you have to run. As believers, we all have two destinies: the first is universal and it is that we become more and more like Jesus every day. But we also have another destiny and that is to become unlike anybody else God ever created because each of us is totally unique. So every day we are to become more like Jesus and unlike anybody else God ever created. 

That’s why we need to stop saying, “I am just….” “I’m just a teacher.” No, you are God’s representative in the classroom. “I’m just a student… social worker…housewife..
That’s your lane. 

Saul had been running his race: he looked like a king, he was good looking, talked like a king and was chosen as king. God blessed him. But, when the brightness of the blessing blinds you to the blesser, the blessing itself becomes a curse. Saul was more concerned with being the king than worshipping the King. David, out on the hillside with the sheep, was concerned with being in the presence of God. He is called a man after God’s heart. He wasn’t looking for fame or recognition. He ended up fighting Goliath because he was offended that Goliath ridiculed God. That was a destiny moment for David. In that moment David’s life changed because he was running his race. At that moment Saul also had a destiny moment – and he started comparing himself with David. He couldn’t bring himself to rejoice with David. He didn’t thank God for the victory. When he heard those women saying that he had killed thousands, but David tens of thousands he was offended:

1 Samuel 18:9 He took it as a personal insult. He said, “They credit David with ‘ten thousands’ and me with only ‘thousands.’ 

That’s where the downward spiral started for Saul. He took his eyes off God and started with the ‘and me’ attitude and comparison. That attitude will keep us from our lane and our race – and we end up getting nowhere and feeling frustrated and defeated. 

God has plans for you and if you don’t run your race you will suffer, and so will we, and so will our community. How do you know what God’s call on your life is – ask him, and don’t stop until he tells you.

Doesn’t matter what age you are, or how qualified you feel. You are unique and you need to become more like Jesus and unlike anyone else. I don’t know what God’s unique call on your life is – only you and God know – but when you start living it out we’ll all know. It might not be as dramatic as David’s fight with Goliath but we’ll know. Let’s pledge to become more like Jesus and follow our unique call as we go into 2020.







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