Sermon Reflections from The Way Forward Starts With God | Alex Hardt | August 25
Assuming you know Jesus as Savior, then how do we move forward with God? God imprints His truth into our lives as we pray, study and fellowship with other believers. We grow to know God and learn about his character or attributes. For example, knowing God is faithful, we can seek to apply that to our lives. We can trust He will always be faithful to us. God is love. Knowing that, we can reach out to Him and ask for and feel His loving care in our lives. God is all-knowing, so we can ask for His wisdom and guidance in our lives. The more you know about God- the greater your faith will grow and expand. You will see Him more and more in your life as your eyes are opened to Him. Look for these attributes of God this week: guide, gracious, Father, provider, and merciful are just a few. You can look them up in your concordance and seek out scripture verses that will help you to better understand them. As I mentioned on Sunday, seek out various translations to help you understand more fully.
When you want to know which way to go, what reference do you consult? If I’m driving, I use GPS. If I’m looking for how to solve a math problem, I go to the Internet or ask my friends, Jose and Stephanie! Knowing who to go to is an important step in getting the right answer. When you have spiritual problems, relationship challenges or you want to know how to respond with godly behavior, (and many more things too), you can go to God’s Word. His truth is imbedded within the 66 books found in the Bible. You could also pray about your problem and ask for His direction and guidance. Actually you could do both! God’s Word is filled with wisdom and guidance as stated in Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.“
God’s wisdom comes from trusting Him and believing what He says in His Word. He asks that we trust Him, not just a little, but all the way. We need to be all in and depend upon Him not in ourselves. The Message translation puts it this way, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.” God promises to guide us but – you have to put your trust in Him! Pastor Alex also mentioned that when we ask God for guidance we have to be open to what He says or how He leads. You cannot be arrogant trying to do it on our own. Humility is called for and what He promises is to keep us on track and we trust in Him, His way and not our way!
Pastor Alex’s final point is that listening to God’s voice leads to confidence because his voice always bring peace, purpose and presence. Have you seen this truth play out in your own life? When I first started blogging for Lent (that is 40 days of writing and posting each day), I worried that I would have nothing to say about half or ¾ of the way through. Each day I prayed and began writing and 1 day lead to another until I had written completely for 40 days. The next year I worried, but less. Now after having done this for 10+ years, I am confident of God’s faithfulness and know He will be with me each and every day. That is just one tangible example of how God has grown my faith as I stepped out in trust to begin writing for Him.
As I meditated on Pastor Alex’s sermon, I concluded that I need to pray more, read God’s Word more and seek His guidance in my daily life. The famous evangelist and manager of orphanages in 1900 England, George Mueller, said “In order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer, is, to continue praying; for the less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.”
I pray that we, at Crossroads, will be people of the Word and prayer so that we will continue to desire to do it even more and that our joy would be complete in Him! Let us not fall behind in reading and praying- make a plan and commit it to Him. Let God be your motivation and your guide. Trust Him- remember He is faithful!
Linda
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Linda is a member of Crossroads church and regularly blogs about her faith.
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CROSSROADS CHURCH
Discovering God is a fresh look at how God is moving in our lives. Rooted in the Crossroads Church community, we reflect on sermons, share stories, and explore everyday moments where God invites us to grow. Join us as we take steps toward Him together. Learn more at www.wearecrossroads.church.
Discovering God is a fresh look at how God is moving in our lives. Rooted in the Crossroads Church community, we reflect on sermons, share stories, and explore everyday moments where God invites us to grow. Join us as we take steps toward Him together. Learn more at www.wearecrossroads.church.
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