So last week we finished up our first series here in the Fire Hall on joy, which was a lot of fun if you ask me. We spent a lot of time looking at what joy is and what joy isn’t. We looked at where joy is found and where it is not found. We had a lot of fun looking at the Christmas story maybe from a brand new perspective where we saw that this God story that Mary and Joseph stepped into wasn’t quite as clean or easy as we may have thought. We saw how they responded to some really challenging and painful moments along the way, and how they could find joy even as their lives seemed to be very challenging. Which was an important thing for us to talk about as we step into the idea of walking through life with God because life will keep happening and it won’t always be easy, or clean. This means that how we respond to life is a big deal because life will continue to happen. When we have a life centered on God we can have a life filled with joy which is so huge, it leads to peace, real rest for our souls, and we find an ability to respond well in good times and bad times, because we are walking through all of the moment’s life throws at us with God.
Now if you remember, and you may not because it was a whole decade ago as the series was coming to a close, we hit a verse in Scripture that I can’t get out of my mind, and it’s one that I think we need to look at very closely today as we start 2020…remember this?
1 John 5:2 The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? 3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. MSG
There is so much here for us to look at and I can’t wait to jump into this with you, because we see a way to understand if we are allowing God and His love into our lives or not. So today I guess you could say we are starting the New Year with what our Scriptures call “The Reality Test.”
One of the things that you really need to understand about our faith, is that it is all about life change. Becoming a Christian is so much more than just showing up at church on a Sunday morning and doing some nice things from time to time. It’s about real life change, and that is what we here at MRC are so passionate about. God’s love pouring into us in such a way, that we see true life change because of our encounter with Jesus. We want to lead you to this life change, to true transformation, which happens through God’s amazing love for us. I could take you all over the place in scripture to show you this, but I was really drawn to the prophet Ezekiel, and some words He gives us that will tie us right back to this Reality Test that we are checking in on today.
Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. NIV
God is speaking through the prophet here and look what He is saying, I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you…removing our hearts of stone and giving us this soft heart full of His love! That is life change, true transformation as God’s love shapes and molds us into the people that God would desire us to be! So just for fun, let’s look at the same verse, this time in the Message version, this is something I do as I study scripture and I think it can really help us see something really important here about this new heart and new life we can find through God.
Ezekiel 36:26 I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. MSG
Wow, we need to see this, the heart that God gives us is God-willed, not self-willed which really reminds me a lot of what we are looking at there in 1 John 5. Oh man this is getting fun and most definitely gives us something to talk about today, but let’s get into this whole idea of the New Year for a moment. It’s this life change, this transformation that I would like us to really focus on as we step into the New Year. I don’t know if you notice but I pray each and every week that everything we do here at church is real. Well, it’s this life change that make it so real…it’s this change of heart, from my will to God’s will that literally shows the people around you that you are a Christian!
John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ESV
As God loves pours into you, and you walk with God, and He gives you this new soft heart to replace your heart of stone, this heart that shares God’s will over your own will, you literally are letting everyone know that you are His disciple. This is real Christianity, this is fun, this is a life centered not on our own will but God’s will, this is love…maybe better said this is life change, which once again is what this is all about! So we talk for a month on joy, which is leading us into this idea of life change. So here as we start a New Year, I would like you to make a commitment to step into this God life in a real way. That your faith would go beyond a Sunday morning moment, but that God’s love would be part of your life in such a way, that your life is forever changed…for the good.
This is the challenge I have for you today, making a commitment to life change, to making this God life real for you personally in 2020 and beyond. How do we do this, we do this as we wrap our minds around God’s love for us, it’s that love pours in removing that heart of stone. The more time you spend with Jesus the more this happens, so really what we are doing is pushing you to a relationship with Jesus that leads to actual change in your life. That is what makes this whole thing real…and fun, it’s the life change that we read all through Scripture. This is a really big deal to us here at MRC, life change matters to us and I will tell you why. It’s because everything the Bible teaches, everything we believe is that a life in Christ is more than just words on a page and doing church services on Sunday morning…everything we believe should be changing us from the inside out. If this God stuff is compartmentalized and doesn’t become a part of your everyday life, but stays on Sunday mornings alone, this isn’t real and frankly this whole Sunday morning thing is just a waste of time, and we don’t want that for you, or for us either! We want this to be real, and pray daily that you would be encountering Jesus in a real way! So this is where we are at today, making a commitment to engaging God’s love in 2020, which makes it real, tangible, touchable, and changes our reality of what church is and could be, which is a really big deal and a pretty cool way to kick off the new decade if you ask me!
Now it’s pretty popular this time of year for all of us to make promises for a better 2020 or life right? It’s a big thing to make our New Year’s Resolutions which many of us have a tradition of making and announcing to the world around New Years. But frankly, if we are really honest a lot of these resolutions are very passionate promises we make for a better year whether it’s to lose weight, or read more, or whatever it is for you but for a lot of us they really start to fizzle out as the year goes by. They always say how packed with people the gym and fitness centers are in January and as the year goes on they slowly empty out. For many of us we this is what happens we have good intentions, but let’s just say, the passion or energy we had for that resolution as sincere as it was, and important to us in the moment as it is to us, that passion and energy can fade away the further we get away from January 1st. I think there is something similar that can happen to us as it pertains to our faith. We come to church and hear the beautiful worship songs, and we see the awesome videos, and we hear the sermons and we are all in, but the further we get from those moments we have together, the more that passion or God focus can fade, and by like Wednesday of each week, we are just trying to make it through the week again, which should not be. We do not want that for you when it comes to this commitment to life change in 2020 and I think a lot of our ability to stay with this idea of God’s love, is allowing God all the way into our lives…which isn’t easy but really stands out to me as we look at this reality test we see in 1 John so let’s go back and really think this all through.
1 John 5:2 The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? 3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. MSG
We talked about this last week some and I told you I think this is so essential that we really needed to spend some time on it today as we start this new decade. What has your experience been with this God stuff? Is it filled with life and energy and passion or is it troublesome? Personalize this for a moment, you know in your heart where you are at with this stuff. What is your relationship with God like? Is it marked with passion, freedom, and joy? The kind of joy that says, ‘I am walking in spiritual freedom. I know God’s loves me and I am free from a life of anxiety, fear and guilt and shame.’ How about this one, Is your relationship with God about worship? The kind of worship that says, ‘I can’t wait to worship on Sunday! I want to be with others and stand in God’s presence.’ When you hit the pillow Saturday night you are filled with excitement because Sunday is coming! Let’s keep thinking this through…Is your relationship with God about giving? The kind of giving that says, ‘Here is my first, here is my best, here is all of me, my time, my energy, and my resources.’ Is that your experience with this God life? Or is your relationship with Go kind of a pain? It’s one more thing to do in a long list of things to do? Is your relationship with God, your church experience, your life in Christ life giving or is it troublesome?
I know I hit that pretty hard last week but I want you to understand something that is really important…I was not trying to make you feel bad last week if this church stuff is troublesome…no I was trying to show you something really important, and that is that the reason things are so hard for you is that you are still wrestling with God for control of your life. You have a divided heart that is pulling you in two directions…that is why this God stuff is so hard. You want to do your life your way, but you are starting to see that God may have a better way…but part of you still wants to do things your way. This is why you struggle to worship, or serve, or enjoy life with Christ…because in the end, you still want to do what you want to do, when you want to do it…and can I tell you something, you are not alone in that. Many of us struggle with this battle of wills in our lives…let’s go back to the reality test and then tie it right into God’s words in Ezekiel…
1 John 5:2 The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? 3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. MSG
So this is our test, the proof that we love God comes when this God stuff isn’t troublesome…this God stuff is all about life change, where God gives us a new heart and a new spirit, remember what that new heart is and what it is not? That new heart is God-willed, not self-willed.
Ezekiel 36:26 I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. MSG
Well now we are getting somewhere, I will know if God is transforming my heart and life by whether or not I find the things He asks me to do hard or not. It’s troublesome or difficult because our hearts are self-willed, not God-willed. Life change comes as we stop wrestling for control, stop trying to live for our own wills and accept this new life in Him, this God-willed heart and spirit in us. Do you see it? Do you feel this tension in your own life? Because that is what that phrasing of troublesome really is…it’s tension in your life and I want you to understand something, you can love God and still feel this tension, and still be working through this in your life. This is part of every person’s spiritual growth process…the more time we spend with God the more we get in step with His will over our own.
Are tracking with me today? Do you feel this tension in your life? Can I tell you something, that tension that makes things so troublesome isn’t just found in your Spiritual Life…I bet you face it in other areas of your life too. I will give you an example from personal life, I have four teenagers, who all have different activities, sports, events, and extracurricular activities that they are involved with that matter to them greatly. They also have emotional needs, spiritual needs, and hearts that need my love and leadership as their father. So it is very important right now in my life that I’m fully present for them in every way. I’m able to stay fully present because I have let go of somethings that I would want to do right now, so that I can give my time and energy to them! I talk to a lot of young parents, who really struggle to get on their child’s page. They feel so much frustration and tension when they sit on the sidelines of a soccer game, or at their child’s musical, or events. They feel tension, their parenting is troublesome…and I will tell you why. They would rather be doing what they want. They haven’t fully committed to parenting right now, and it’s this tension that makes it hard. My advice is always to be where your feet are and enjoy your time as a parent but not everyone can do that, because they still have this fight in them to do what they want, it’s this self-will that makes parenting hard for them. It’s no different than what you and I deal with spiritually, and if you are wrestling with this idea of your God life being troublesome, I want you to know that you are not alone. We all feel it, I think it’s part of all of our growth process, even great men like Paul who was an Apostle and wrote most of the New Testament for us dealt with this wrestling match…we all do because we all struggle with this thing called sin. Check this out…
Romans 7:15 I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. 16 I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. 18 I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. 19 When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. 20 But if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. 21 It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. NLT
So Paul helps relax a bit here because we see here a man who loves God, is a great man of faith, who plants churches and writes large chunks of the Bible talking about this same idea. He loves God and He wants to do the God stuff well, but still has a will of his own, that is pulling him to do what he wants…he feels this tension too. What I love about this is that Paul also helps us see our way through…and that way through is Jesus. Paul knows he will never defeat his sin nature on his own, but he also understands that he doesn’t have to because Jesus can, did, and does defeat sin for us all! This means that we do have a way through…we don’t have to always sit in the middle of this tug-of-war over God’s will verses our own will. We can find victory, and freedom, and energy through Jesus. Transformation can be your reality, but it will only happen through Jesus. Did you pick up on that?
Romans 7:24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. NLT
The answer is Jesus! We have an answer to this dilemma that we all face…even Paul faced, we can find true healing, true transformation and life change…and it’s found in Jesus. Let’s go back to 1 John 5 and read past the reality test…
1 John 5:4 Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. 5 The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God. MSG
So we see a theme building, Paul told us that he can’t win against the sinful nature inside himself but thankfully He doesn’t have to because He has Jesus…and what do we see here? That every one of us can conquer the world’s ways. What are the world’s ways? The world lives for itself, tells you to focus on yourself, and to do the opposite of what God would ask of you. The power that wins this fight is our faith in Jesus, which is amazing if you think about it because this power is ours by simply believing in Him. We don’t have to go on a huge quest, or jump through a thousand spiritual hoops to find it, this power is our gift when we simply believe in Him. And I think this is so big…we win by simply believing in Jesus. Let’s let that soak in for a moment. We all fight this battle, where the God stuff of our lives can feel so troublesome. We all struggle with this tension because as much as we love God and want to do what He desires, we have our sin nature in us that pulls us the other way. It’s frustrating, and makes us feel pulled in two directions at once…and the answer is so easily attainable, the power is in our faith, Jesus defeats it all for us. As I write this it’s hard not to think about this popular verse…
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” NIV
So it’s the start of a brand new year…a brand new decade! This can be an exciting time in our lives where we make new commitments and resolutions to have a better life. A new year means new beginnings and a fresh start, and my prayer for you today is that you can think through what this God life is all about, and hopefully you see that what makes Christianity so meaningful and real is the life change.
That is why I want you taking this reality test that we find in 1 John 5 to start off the new year because it can help us see whether we are allowing God’s love to change us from the inside out…
1 John 5:2 The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? 3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. MSG
It’s hard to watch people fight and struggle to engage God, when there is so much their for us if we can simply submit to God’s will and follow Him. It’s hard to watch people labor to engage their Heavenly Father who only wants to walk in a loving relationship with us all. It’s hard to watch people call themselves disciples while they look so miserable and frustrated. It’s hard because we know what could be, if we simply get to a place where we stop fighting and wrestling for control.
Ask yourself is this God stuff troublesome? Is it just a pain to get up and spend time with God? Is it frustrating to serve, to worship, to do the church thing, or to give to God? Can you see why something as simple as loving on some children in Children’s ministry, or moving some chairs in the morning can feel so difficult? It’s because you are in this spiritual wrestling match for control of your life. And I believe every person who comes to know Christ will walk through that tension, some never get out of it, and their spiritual life looks so hard and frustrating…some figure out something really important that leads to joy, peace, and God’s love pouring in and out of them…that the way through is to simply believe in Jesus.
Romans 7:25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. NLT
The answer is Jesus! This means that your entire life as a Christian does not have to be frustrating and hard. There is an answer to this battle that we all face, we can find true healing, and true life change in Jesus. The power to conquer this fight that seems so hard, is Jesus…it’s found in simply believing in Jesus.
1 John 5:4 Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. 5 The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God. MSG
It’s all there for us, life and life to the full…joy, peace, love, power, victory…and it’s not hard to find, we just simply believe in Jesus.
Have you ever asked Jesus into your life? If not maybe today is that day for you.
If you have asked Jesus into your life and you find your life with Jesus to be troublesome it may be time to let Him all the way in. The reason you struggle still isn’t because you lack love for God, you do love Him, it’s because you are still trying to run the show, and it’s time to repent of that and to believe fully in Jesus, that is where the power is found that brings this world to its knees…it’s found in your faith in Him.