November great time to PAUSE as holiday season rushes in

Transcription

1 PAUSE: Refuel 11/25/18 Intro Coming out of Stand in Your Love, Read Psalm a Pray November great time to PAUSE as holiday season rushes in BUT Build into our lives Realign our hearts with God Psalm 23 Being RENEWED Psalm 46 REFOCUS Psalm 77 REMEMBER As we finish the PAUSE series today, BIT OF A SHIFT looking forward Still going to PAUSE but with idea of REFUELING having what we need to move forward Psalms contain the full range of emotions, sometimes: Crying out, desperation Weeping Fear Relief Delight and thanksgiving 144 = Psalm of Battle or Victory Even though David is facing challenges, this Psalm is a picture of what it looks like to move forward with a sense of confidence and strength. 1

2 Ever run out of gas? Ever run out of gas and have to walk a long way? Even though Refuel not in the bible (not even in the MSG translation) Being filled up is Theme Verse / Memory Verse Ephesians 3.19 (NLT) May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. A Plan to Refuel: My hope is there are parts of this plan to refuel that you can begin building into your life today 1. Find your place. Psalm (NLT) 1 Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. As David moves forward, he knows his place. Sense of settled-ness about who he is and what God has made him for He knows his role. He doesn t always carry out his mission like he should, but he knows his place. Growing up playing the harp was likely his training for holding a bow and arrow, a battle axe or a sword. 2 He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. He makes the nations submit to me. 2

3 In his power, God could easily come do any job himself, but for some reason God chooses us to reach the world How did I get here? I didn t sign up for this. This isn t what I signed up for. David didn t seek his spot either, but God doesn t make mistakes Esther Jewish orphan who became Queen of Persia Was put in a place she didn t ask for Faced challenges way beyond what she ever imagined Called to a task that was beyond what she d ever known before Seeking counsel? From Mordecai, Esther 4.14 Esther 4.13 (NLT) 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this? There is a mission only you can fulfill. You hold a place in history that only you can have Whatever situation you are currently in Position Relationships Struggles I m convinced God has you there to carry out a unique purpose that only you can fulfill. You have been created at a unique time in history, With unique talents, gifts, and strengths To fulfill a unique destiny Given to you by God 3

4 You will never move forward into the life God has for you without first learning to embrace more fully the place you are right now. BETWEEN CHURCH JOBS example. Think of your current situation: What is God calling you into? What has God been training you for? What role do you have in relationships and life that no one else can fill? Find your place. Discover your calling. Own your life. Ephesians 2.10 POEIMA Oliver Wendell Holmes Most people go to the grave with their music still inside them. The plan to refuel involves finding our place Psalm 144 also teaches us to 2. Stay humble. David knew his place in the battle, but he also knew the universe didn t depend on him to keep spinning. God is not only the author of the story, he is the main character. Psalm (NLT) 3 O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them, mere mortals that you should think about them? 4 For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow. 4

5 There is something strengthening about letting go of feeling like you need to come through for everyone. You need to be who God made you to be, but you don t need to be more James 4.10 (NIV) 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. As you PAUSE and REFUEL Think about the unique place God has you, stay humble, and 3. Ask big. David s God was big. Psalm (NLT) 5 Open the heavens, Lord, and come down. Touch the mountains so they billow smoke. 6 Hurl your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies! Shoot your arrows and confuse them! 7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me; rescue me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies. I don t always pray like that. Most of my prayers are more about just getting through the day. Asking God to help make life work. I forget how big God is. Psalm (NIV) 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 5

6 People of other religions would build temples and statues of their gods on the hillside SLIDE: IMAGE of temples / foreign gods on the hillside The Psalmist is saying YOU look to the hills, I look to the maker of the hills. Atlanta You ll be hard pressed to find any story in the Scriptures in which God becomes angry because someone has too much faith thought God was too big. Questions: How have you settled for less than God has for you? How have you underestimated God? When did you give up believing that God would do great things in your life? o What would you love to see God do in your life? o In the lives of those you love? o Through your life? Brain science This passage invites us to dream big again. To pray big. Find your place, stay humble, ask big and 4. Expect opposition. Anytime you try to move forward in the life God has for you, you will face opposition. David was no stranger to opposition. 6

7 Psalm , 11 (NLT) 7 Reach down from heaven and rescue me; rescue me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies. 8 Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. 11 Save me! Rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead. In David s day: People were fighting for power Immorality was widespread His own family and those he worked with became his enemies. As you seek to follow God s plan for your life, you will face opposition. Just because God calls you into something, doesn t mean it will be easy. In fact, God s way can often be the most challenging, because in those times he is calling out of us and shaping what he s put in us. 1 Peter (NLT) 12 Dear friends, don t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. What are some of the sources of greatest challenge in your life? o People, situations, circumstances How is God using those challenges to give you what you need, to shape who you are, to be the person he s designed you to be? Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Russian playwright and short story writer 7

8 Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out. How have the hardships and heaviness of life stolen hope and joy from your soul? 5. Make room for celebration. David knew struggle, but he also knew how to celebrate. Psalm (NLT) 9 I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp. 10 For you grant victory to kings! You rescued your servant David from the fatal sword. Over and over again in the Scriptures, when people experienced victory, they stopped to celebrate. To enjoy. To laugh. To sing. To eat. Before God had even fulfilled his promise, Abraham stopped to celebrate. Genesis 12 God rescued his people from Egypt, Moses established an entire week of celebration became tradition every year. Exodus 12. When the Lord came through for Deborah, she stopped and sang a song. Judges 4-5. Job tells us that as God laid the foundation of the earth, the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy. I don t think I celebrate enough what God has done. There is something so strengthening Questions: How could you build celebration into the regular rhythm of your life? 8

9 Think what it would do for your soul to stop more often to acknowledge and celebrate God s work in your life. To be grateful. To name the things he has done. To sing. THE PLAN TO REFUEL involves: Knowing your place Staying humble Asking Big Expecting opposition Making room for celebration The plan to refuel also invites us to 6. Keep longing for home. As David faced the challenge of leading a nation Fighting for the freedom of his people he continued to image a future that did not yet exist. Psalm (NLT) 12 May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace. 13 May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands, 14 and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, no going into captivity, no cries of alarm in our town squares. 9

10 He always kept in mind that his current situation was not his final destination. We were made for another place and imagining that place Of what it looks like when all is right became fuel for his life. Our address is Eden, after we were banished from the garden 15 Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord. It s easy for us to look at our current culture and be discouraged. Keeping in mind that God is leading us to a better future becomes fuel for our lives today. Genesis 1-2 This life will bring discouragement, frustration, tears, pain Read Revelation As we consider these ideas for refueling and moving forward, which one could you begin building into your life today? Which one is God speaking to you about? A moment of quiet reflection Care volunteers - Care CONNECTION ROOM and also up FRONT May you find time this week to PAUSE, to refuel with the life and power that come from God. 10