CHRIST HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER

Colossians 1:15-20

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels - everything got started in him and finds it's purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

He was supreme in the beginning and - leading the resurrection parade - he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds it's proper place in him wihtout crowding. Not only that. but all broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, and animals and atoms - get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

Enough Said!

GOD'S NEW PLAN OF ACTION

Does it sound like we're patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our


authority? Well; we're not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you.


YOU yoursleves are all the ENDORSEMENT we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can


read by just looking at you. CHRIST himself wrote it - not with ink, but with GOD'S

LIVING SPIRIT; not chiseled into stone, but CARVED INTO HUMAN LIVES - and we publish it. 

We couldn't be more sure of ourselves in this - that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our


letter of recommendation.We wouldn't think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves.


ONLY GOD can write such a letter. His letter AUTHORIZES US to help carry out this NEW PLAN


of action. The plan wasn't written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal

footnotes, killing your spirit. It is written with SPIRIT ON SPIRIT, his life on our lives!
2 Corinthians 3:1-6


This is the oath that I will live by; which will keep me motivated through out the completion of God's


Plan.

 He who began a good work will carry it on to completion Philippians 1:6

- Don't let your present condition rob you of the joy of knowing Christ or keep you from growing


closer to him

 "It is our job to be pioneers in the area of our faith; In God We Trust." Dominic Carter 

For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.....you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

"It is our job to be pioneers in the area of our faith; In God We Trust." Dominic Carter

REALITY CHECK

Jesus describes 4 types of people.
I am going to break them down in Scripture, in Translation, and from the Message Bible.
The "seed" represents the Word of God. The "soil" represents types of people.

Scripture

Luke 8:5-8

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed,

Some fell along the Path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.

Some fell on Rocky Ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.

Other seed fell among Thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.

Still Other seed fell on Good Soil (It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown)


Translation

"Path" people -like many of the religious leaders, refuse to believe God's message

"Rock" people, like many in the crowds who followed Jesus, believe his message but never get around to doing anything about it

"Thorn patch" people, overcome by worries and the lure of materialism, leave no room in their lives for God.

"Good soil" people, in contrast to all the other groups, follow Jesus no matter what the cost.


Message Bible

Seeds on the road - people who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved.

Seeds in the gravel - people who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn't go very deep. It's only another fad for the moment when there's trouble it's gone.

Seeds that fell in the weeds - people who hear, but then the seed is crowded out and nothing comes of it as they go about theit lives worrying about tomorrow, making money, and having fun.

Seed in good earth - good-hearted people who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there is a harvest.

After reading about the 4 different types of people: Which of the charcteristics could you relate to?

Hopefully you now have a good idea of the 3 W's
 Where you are.
 Where you aren't.
 Where you would like to go

THE CURE FOR EVIL DESIRES

Comes from James 4:4-6

It is not a sin to be tempted. The sin is when we GIVE IN.

The cure for evil desires is HUMILITY. Pride makes us self-centered and leads us to conclude that we deserve all we can SEE, TOUCH, or IMAGINE. It creates greedy appetites for far more than we NEED. We can be released from our self-centered desires by humbling ourselves before God, realizing that all we really need is his APPROVAL. When the Holy Spirit fills us, we see that this world's seductive attractions are only cheap substitutes for what God has to offer. WOW! GOD IS SO GOOD!

WHAT GOD THINKS

Isaiah 55:8-11

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and acheive the purpose for which I sent it.

ASB Breakdown
The people of Israel were foolish to act as if they knew what God was thinking and planning.
His knowledge and wisdom are far greater than man's. We are foolish to try to fit God
into our mold-to make his plans and purposes conform to ours. Instead, we must strive to
fit into his plans.

My Thought:
We often believe that we know what's best. We are so used to being in control of our life, or feeling like we're in control, that we struggle with relinquishing our grip to God.
Our old nature fights to remain in control. But the fight is not ours, it's the Lords.
What God wants from us is to believe; that who he is and what he has done is more than enough.

WE, THOUGH, ARE GOING TO LOVE

The Scriptue of The Day is: MSG 1 John 4:18-19

In The message bible it says this: There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life-fear of death, fear of judgement-is one not yet fully formed in love. We, though, are going to love.
POWERFUL!

Here's what stood out to me:

Why do we question if we will be forgiven and if Christ is really living in us? Because we forget that Jesus is fully God and fully man. ASB verse 4:2
He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He opened the portal between God and man. He stands in the gap.

Love is a choice and an action. God's love always invloves a choice and an action, our love should be like this. ASB Verse 4:7

How do we know that we're living in God and he in us? MSG 4:12-15
1) If we love one another, God's love becomes complete in us-perfect love
2) When we state openly that God sent his son as savior of the world and that Jesus is the son of God

When we love one another, the invisible God reveales himself to others through us, and his love is made complete ASB 4:12

Love explains ASB 4:9-10
1) Why God creates-because he loves, he creates people to love
2) Why God cares-because he loves them, he cares for sinful people
3) Why are we free to choose-God want a loving response from us
4) Why Christ died-his love for us caused him to seek a solution to the problem of sin
5) Why we receive eternal life-God's love expresses itself to us forever    

We should rely on the Holyspirit to give us power as we reach out to others. As we do so, we will gain confidence. ASB 4:13

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made in perfect love. ASB 4:18

What can we do if we realize that we have fear? ASB 4:18
We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing him to love others through us.
His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence

God's love is the source of all human love ASB 4:19

THE POWER OF CONNECTION

Genesis 12:1-6 13:1-5

God finds a man or women and releases an extra measure of his Glory

Someone that is hungry and thirsty

Once he finds that they are trust worthy and faithful

He will begin to release to that person for the lives of the people around him (to bring people out of darkness and bondage)


In my case that person is Bishop Daniel Robertson of Mt. Gilead, but yours may be different


Whoever they are to you, they will be used as a vessel for the Glory Of God

So people will be FREE in salvation

There may be things that try to distract you and pull you away from his connection

We need to stay connected and fully connect

Honor those in authority

Stay Humble

Work the principles

Make adjustments in your journey to stay in line with God's Will

Putting up a wall limits the potential of the power that is available from God

Ultimately what the enemy wants us to do is not be in position

*These notes were taken from the Mt Gilead men's morning Wake Up Call in extension of Bishop Daniel Robertson's Message*