Are You Following God s Agenda

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Neal Ray
6 years ago
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1 Are You Following God s Agenda I don t have a three-point sermon this morning but I believe I have a message this morning. I kept going away from it but God kept calling me back to it this morning. Exodus 13: And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Exodus 40:38 38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. Numbers 9:16 16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Phone GPS o Global Positioning System o It has always got me there It may not have gone the way I would have went but it got me there. Text story of God leading the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt to the land of Promise. o Gen. 15:13 o Exodus 12:40 o They had been in a worldly system for a long time. o God sent a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. o God wanted to lead them. God wanted them to follow them. God became their GPS system. o Explain the cloud and the fire. o He was taking them to a city. o Moses didn t make it but Joshua did. I am trying to move you from YOUR AGENDA to GOD S AGENDA. o We must understand it s not about my agenda but God s agenda. o When we do this we will see the temperature in our own families and our own lives begin to change when we take it from our agenda to God s agenda. o So many of us get weary n well doing because we begin to focus on the things going on in our own lives and we get our focus off of where God is trying to take us. The reason this church was started was because there was a group of people who wanted to please God. o Sis. Robbie Bilbrey You remember it.

2 o Sis. Barb Butcher you remember it o Sometimes as we journey along we try to make music the best that it can be and we ve got great music. o We want to greet you at the door and be nice when you walk in o We want to make church as nice as we can make it o But the bottom line is we need to be following what God wants for us and we need to be going where God is wanting to take us. When God brought me here I know it was in the will of God. o I am still here because I still believe it is the will of God for me to be your leader Your pastor. As your pastor I am trying to call you to do something that really I cannot do. In fact only God can do it. o Because as your spiritually leader, ultimately I cannot produce a spiritual change in you. I can try I want to try o Bro. Kuzma can teach and preach his heart out on Sunday morning but we cannot change you from your agenda to God s agenda. o In fact, to be truthful with you, some of you don t even show up for Sunday School. You don t even put yourself in the place where you can be taught. o Some of you never even come to church on Wednesday night. o We are living in the last days. Be mad at me if you want to I am trying hard to get you to change from your agenda to God s agenda but the truth of the matter is I cannot change you. o There s only one that can change you from your agenda to God s agenda and that is the Holy Ghost. And you ve got to allow the Spirit to become your GPS. What I am trying to do this morning is to try to get you to change your position so you can see things from God s perspective. o Your looking at time today and how things are effecting you today but if you could see things from eternity and see where God is trying to lead you I am sure many of us are bypassing God s GPS system. I remember moving to Louisville, KY in o They didn t have GPS then. o I had grown up in a small town in CA and was not really used to traffic. o When I moved to Louisville I realized that in the morning or afternoon I could just mark it down I was going to be sitting in traffic. o But I learned I could turn the radio on And they had someone in a helicopter that was above all the traffic and he was called the traffic reported. Explain trust the man in the sky. o No cell phones o No traffic reports from cars in traffic.

3 Ephesians 2:5-7 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. o You must understand you cannot judge God s perspective from the automobile of time. Ephesians 1:20 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, o Chapter 2 he is talking about raising us, and in chapter 1 he is talking about raising Christ. Notice where he put him Ephesians 1:21 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: o Jesus Christ was raised up with all power over all principality over all power over all might and over all dominion and every name that was named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: Ephesians 1:22 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Chapter 2 it says I HAVE BEEN RAISED UP TO SET WITH HIM. Let me tell you where you should be. o Let me help you change your location. o Let me help you be where you need to be. You are far above principalities and dominions o You shouldn t be down here In this world o He has taken you and set you beside Him. o You ve got your foot on the neck of Satan. o You ve got power over every dominion over every spirit, addiction You can t see where you are going You re stuck in traffic o Cares Pressures life o Get out of the car and get in the helicopter. We need to change our view our location. o The lower the devil can keep you the more limited your view is. o The closer you get to HIM You re whole outlook changes. o Some of you just need a good praying through. Facetime Grandkids o I was in Florida and talked to my grandkids. o Where am I in Florida or Battle Creek. o I was in both places.

4 o Because I was talking there but I was somewhere else. Some of you need to get your ipad out Your iphone out o You may live down here but you can get strength from up there. o You can get an anointing Why can t we teleconference with God? o Why can t we facetime with God? o What is the Spirit saying from heaven? o What is the Holy Ghost saying to YOU? Not to the church but to you? Some of you are so stuck! o Stuck in jobs o Stuck in nitpicking and nagging o Stuck in sickness o Stuck in financial trouble o Everything is dysfunctional and disjointed o You re just stuck You just need to put the headset on and get in from of the camera and say, Hey God, this is Mark, and I need you to come and speak into my life. I m tired of just hearing pastor, I m tired of hearing Bro. Kuzma, I m tired of hearing all the other voices. o Thank God for those voices and you can t be saved without a preacher Thank God for my pastor But God I ve got to hear what you are saying to me. All through the book of Acts you will find Acts of the Holy Ghost. o We need some acts of the Holy Ghost. o When is the last time you spoke in tongues? o When is the last time you had a Holy encounter with God? o When is the last time you had a Holy laugh that brought joy to your soul? o When is the last time you had a Holy shaking and God came down and spoke a word to you? When you see the Acts of the Holy Ghost you will see things like this: o And God said to them That s what I want to talk about. o How long has it been since God said something to you. o Can you get out of your car and change your location? o You re not supposed to be sitting down here You re supposed to be sitting in heavenly places with Him Where you have authority and dominion and power over all things And God said to them o Speak Lord Speak Lord o And God said to them Not what Peter said Not what Paul said o And The Lord said to them o And the third one was And the Holy Ghost said to them

5 o Another one in Acts was, An Angel said to them o They were always teleconferencing with the Spirit. o Don t take your matters into your own hands It will end up crashing on you It will end up falling on you o Don t try to work out your own life o Don t try to run in traffic and try to get out of traffic on your own driving skills o Some of you are driving on the shoulder o You need to get a hold of the MAN in the sky and let the Holy Ghost speak to you. Acts 13 says an when the ministered the Holy Ghost said unto them SEPARATE What I m saying this morning is you can t make it if you re not letting the Holy Ghost be your GPS o You can t make it if you re not reading the Bible o You can t make it if you re not studying this Word o Some of you can t tell me the last time you picked up the Word of God and said, Minister to my heart today. o We are quick to Facebook and Twitter and Socialcam but where does the Word come in? Bro. Springer you are a Scuba diver o When you go down you enter a world that you are not used to. it s an alien world. You may dress in a skin suit and put on flippers like a fish but you can t live in an alien world. o You can only stay down there for so long o You bring oxygen from another place o You can only stay down there so long and then you either die or come back up. o You must refill that oxygen before you go back down or you die. You better listen to your pastor this morning. o To save a tragedy of a life or a marriage or salvation. o You better come up out of this alien world and get the oxygen of God s presence in your life or you will die. You can t make it in this alien world going about like everyone else because you will die spiritually. o You must realize you ve got an oxygen tank on you. o It s got heavenly oxygen in it. o It s called the Holy Ghost and I need it to survive. o The Holy Ghost is my oxygen. Bro. Edward It s like a fireman going into a blaze into a fire.

6 o You can t just run into the flames and save someone you ve got to have your oxygen. o This world is on fire and you need an air supply that comes from another place. Though I m down here in this world I am not breathing what this world breathes. o I don t need gills like a fish down here I ve got the oxygen of the Holy Ghost that is breathing into me. o God, I need a refilling of the oxygen tank this morning. You may say, I m going to go on my feelings please don t do that. o That s what the devil wants you to do. o Feelings are powerful. o Feelings will wreck your life. No wonder we re running out of air. o No wonder we can t hardly make it in this life in the end times. o No wonder we are all huffing and puffing and running out of air. o We ve got to plug in not to feelings but we ve got to plug into the Holy Ghost. I m trying to move you this morning from YOUR AGENDA to GOD S AGENDA! o You need to be saying, I don t want what I want, but I want what God wants. o I don t care what I m going through, I only want what He wants for my life. That is the only thing that matters. Some people have told me, Pastor I have this dream or this vision. o That s the problem it is your dream or your vision. o We need to say God I want what you want for me. o God, you know what s best for my life. You saw me before I was born. o Jeremiah said, I was called from my mother s womb. o Now God, You have a dream for me. You have a job for me. Now Holy Spirit speak it to me right now. Who s kingdom are you building today? o Are you building your kingdom or God s kingdom? I am trying as your pastor to get you to change positions this morning. o I am trying to get you to move from your self-centeredness and your sinful desires to draw you into a relationship with God like you ve never had. It would be good if someone would walk down this aisle this morning and say, I don t care what is happening, I want to hear what God is saying to my spirit.

7 CLOSING Jesus did not seek His own plan He sought the will of the Father. Now understand I believe in the oneness but I m going to refer to the Father because the Bible does. The Father represented what was in heaven and Jesus represented what was in the earth. When you study the key to Jesus ministry was the relationship he had with His Father. o Jesus grew in wisdom and in Statue, in favor with God and man. o Notice the order. o The earthly has to connect with the heavenly. I have tried today to get you to move from your location I am trying to get you to move from your agenda I am trying to move you from what you want TO WHAT GOD WANTS. You cannot handle your life alone You ve got to have JESUS! John 5:30 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. Jesus was saying it s not about me but the will of God. If Jesus was concerned about what heaven was speaking how much more should I be concerned about what heaven is speaking to me. Even before he chose the Twelve Disciples the Bible says he spent all night in prayer. When you saturate yourself in prayer with the heavenly you can find out names, details, locations you can find out where to get a job You can find out where to move You can find out a plan for your life when you connect with God s agenda. Notice in John 17:6 before he went to the cross he said, 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. o God I got it from you and I gave it to them. Jesus prayed, If it is possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless Thy will be done. Footnote: Thank you Pastor Anthony Mangun for a great deal of inspiration for this message.

The Name Of Jesus. Philippians 2:5-11 (CHARITY )( )

The Name Of Jesus. Philippians 2:5-11 (CHARITY )( ) Governor of South Carolina at the beginning of the Civil War named his son States Rights. The Name Of Jesus Philippians 2:5-11 (CHARITY 6-24-12)(12-5-15) 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ