Accepting the Lord

Accepting the Lord’s Plan for You: A Word of Encouragement
Or
2 steps to getting right with God Almighty


Given to all believers by a fellow servant in Christ Jesus



Introduction

If you were to ask me about four months ago whether I would give up everything I had, that I felt comfort in, that I gained acceptance through, that made me who I thought I was, I would have looked at you like you hit the same rock I did… But God had a different plan for me. It took losing everything I had - and truly His hand served to humble me – for me to accept that Christ was truly Lord over all my life. A great servant of God summed it all up perfectly for me. Humility is akin to the greatest humiliation you could possibly endure. Think about being stripped stark naked and led out into the middle of a large city. God wants you to be humiliated, to see that you are nothing, before he endows you with great gifts that will glorify His kingdom. He wants you to see, through Him all things are possible, but without Him, nothing is possible. He wants you to be able to boast in Him, not in yourself. As Isaiah 64:6 says:

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

All of the works that are great in our eyes, that we take pride in, that even make us feel righteous and good, God looks upon as a filthy rag… This may sound harsh but really it is filled with a beautiful truth; God is SO righteous, so clean, so pure, that even the most righteous act a human can do on his own, is like that of a filthy rag in God’s sight! How awesome that we all have a chance to serve this Most High God! Are you ready to accept what God has in store for you?


Step 1
Learning the Truth: You are NOTHING

In the introduction we learned that through God all things are possible, but if we attempt to stand alone – on our own works – we will most certainly fall. To truly be ready to accept the wonderful things God wants to grant you, you must realize this difficult truth. You are nothing! When you realize that you will see that to attain any sort of blessing from God, you must align yourself with His will. You can pray for a billion dollars ‘til your blue in the face but unless you truly want that money, to glorify the Father, you aren’t going to receive it. Why would God give a billion dollars to a believing junkie, when He knows that he’ll just snort the whole thing right up his left nostril?
You see, my belief is this; God will truly grant you any desire of your heart, instantly! But there is a catch. In order to receive such blessings, you must first align yourself with God’s will. When Jesus left us in the physical sense, He “prayed the Father” to send “a helper”. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit! And what a glorious gift it is. It is His job - and yes He is a He – is to convict you of the sin in your life, to exhort you to turn away from the earthly things and look to the Heavenly things. All you have to be willing to do, is accept His precious gifts. Just like God wouldn’t give a junkie a billion dollars, He isn’t going to give a proud man any gifts of power. First you must submit to Him and truly know in your heart, you are nothing without Him.
I also believe that there is a HUGE difference between being saved, and knowing Christ Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. There is a difference between believing that Christ came, was crucified died and was buried, and on the third day rose again for the forgiveness of our sins and completely giving your life over to that same Christ. Jesus wants to use every believer in a mighty way for the glory of His kingdom! What an honor! To be selected, or chosen by the Most High God, to be used for His glory! If you are a Child of God, which you are, STAND UP! What do you have to lose? We know we are nothing! Stand up! Become something for the betterment of God’s coming kingdom! To glorify His name! To show that He truly exists, because you reflect the light of Christ!
In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus is exhorting the people to walk as He would and to call on the Father! Have faith in Him, because even though we are Satan’s child from birth, The Father is ready and willing to renew us and call us back to Him. If we, even through our evilness, know how to give good gifts to our children, do you not think that God the Father, has so much more to give us? He says:

“7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Are you ready for God’s immeasurable blessings to be poured out upon your life? Are you ready to become a living sacrifice for the glory of God? Are you ready to admit that without Him you are dust? When you are, He’s ready to bless you with everything he has saved for you since the creation of this universe!


Step 2
By Your Faith It Will Be Measured Unto You

In another one of Jesus’ great speeches, He reveals yet another beautiful truth! Luke 6:37-38 are two incredibly powerful verses, together summing up the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, and again exhorting you to strive to be like Jesus! He says:

“37Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

How glorious! If we live for Jesus, not only will he give us a peace and joy that makes us feel good about ourselves in a righteous way, but the more we live for him, or follow in his footsteps, the more blessings will come our way. David says gives an amazing and inspiring testimony to this beautiful truth in Psalm 23:6,

“6Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

David knew it before Jesus had even been born! If you give over your life to the will of God, and become a living sacrifice, there is nothing other than the favor of God. He protects you, empowers you, strengthens you, lifts your head high, and most of all uses you! What an honor! Praise god!

If you are ready to give your heart over to the divine will of God Almighty, all you have to do is believe that He is ready to take it! And boy, does he want to! He is waiting on you! The Most High God is waiting on you! Give it up! You can do nothing on your own but through Him, the power he awakens is limitless as long as it aligns with His will! Accept what God desires to give you! Stop running! Take it! Be obedient! His hand is outstretched and in it sits the key to happiness and all of the gifts of His Spirit he wishes to give you that you will use to glorify him. All you need to do is reach out and take them! Stop running and just rest in Christ Jesus…

I tell you these things not to condemn you, not to make you feel bad about who you are or where you stand at this moment, but to encourage you, to motivate you, to make you strive for the glory that God has in store for you! I know because not three days ago I was with you! I was lost, I was running, I was holding on to the things I thought I needed to be happy and to remain me. But it is a horrible lie! A great deception by Satan! He keeps whispering in our ears, “You need this, you need that, don’t let go of that or you won’t be you…” It is a vicious lie, made to hold you back from attaining the glorious gifts that by His grace, the Most High yearns to give you! It is only by this same grace, that I am able to see clearly enough to tell you these things now. It is only by God’s grace and unmerited favor that I have been and will continue to be delivered and sanctified by God Almighty. Now it is your turn! Are you ready?




A Prayer of Deliverance and Encouragement


Most Heavenly Father, it is by your amazing grace that we can come to you at all, and for this we are eternally grateful; Lord, we ask that you deliver us from the clutches of this Earth and the Earthly things all around us; We ask that you strengthen us and continue to anoint us with every breath we take with your Holy Spirit; That goodness and mercy truly do follow us all the days of our lives, Lord; And that Satan and all of his minions cannot even stand in our presence but flee in terror, seeing Christ Jesus dwelling within our soul, spirit and body. Lord, give us the ongoing strength to become true children of God, and the men and women we were chosen from the beginning to be; We thank you for your immeasurable grace and mercy and faithfulness to those who love your laws and live with you as true Lord over every aspect of their lives, and your desire to touch every person on earth that you first breathed that precious breath of life into; Lord grant us the wisdom and the knowledge to know your Word and to carry it with us in our hearts. To equip us fully in the Armor of God, to fight this seemingly insurmountable battle of spiritual warfare, that plagues every creature on earth, every second of every day. Give us the heart to love others as you love us, Lord. Thank you!




In Jesus’ most precious name, AMEN