“But God” – EP35 (1 Peter 4:1)
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1 Peter 4:2
As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God
Hi, Pastor Bob here welcome back to the Men of Valor and Daily Living podcast. The verse for today is from 1 Peter, chapter 4 verse 2. It states, “As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
"‘I would do that, Lord, but…’"This week's message really touched me and many other people in so many ways. Pastor said our ‘buts’ separate us from the will of God. The more He gives us, it seems the more often we use a phrase similar to, ‘I would do that, Lord, but I have this big job to do.’ Or, ‘I would do that Lord, but I have so little personal time for myself.’ ‘I would do that, Lord, but I'm saving for this thing.’ ‘I would do that, Lord, but this is a big game for our kids coming up.’ Or, ‘I would do that, Lord, but I'm uncomfortable speaking to people I don't know, and actually, I'm even uncomfortable speaking to the people I claim to love about You, Jesus Christ.’ ‘I would, Lord…” but, but, but.
I've heard it said many years ago: Old age is when regrets take the place of dreams, and the ‘yeah buts’ turn into ‘if I’das.’ I know from being older, age isn't the only thing that necessarily makes you lose your dream or makes you wise. I’ve known many 20 to 30 year olds with no dreams, and have known very many old people that are not wise but actually very ignorant.
"God comes in, and our life is suddenly free..."A young man told me the other day, ‘We learn from our mistakes,’ and hopefully you do! However, I will share something I was taught a long time ago: The truly wise man learns from other people's mistakes, then they don't have to make the same mistakes! For example, when we were younger and had children, we pursued so many worldly things for them. Sports were number one, probably followed by pursuing the pleasures of the world - and then we gave them just a little God to make us feel good. But, God in His mercy, has graced us and we have seen our sins in our lives as we progressed and the Lord opened our eyes. We have shared things with others who are raising children now, and sometimes they ignore our sin and do exactly the same thing we did. We’ve heard it said, ‘Insanity’s doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result,’ - but, unless God graces them, they will probably end up with the same outcome we did.
The same holds true of not putting God first in everything. The truth is, it's pretty obvious if God is first in your life or your children's life, isn’t it? That you can see it in others very easily, but do you really want to see it in your life? Another lesson I learned? A true believer should never fear failing - he should only fear succeeding at something that doesn't matter. But how many times, as we are busy running our own life hamster wheel, running and running and running - and getting nowhere - do we tell God, ‘I would do that God, but I'm busy pursuing my education, I’m busy pursuing my career, my money, my kids, my sports, and just my pleasures of this world.’
"So let's get the ‘buts’ out of the way that hold us back from God, and open our hearts to what Scripture says..."Sometimes though, as we're going through our ‘me world,’ the grace and love of God touches us, and but God, but God but God! He changes everything - He opens our eyes, and we see everything so differently. We see that outside of His purpose, there is no purpose. Our dream of only having comfort is replaced by the dream of only serving the Lord - and having died to self, our lives are completely transformed.
Think about this: What do we need the Comforter the Holy Spirit for, if we live our life every day in our comfort zone? But God comes in, and our life is suddenly free to be radical for Him - because life in Christ becomes a reward for those who serve Him. You lose that fear of giving something up - something that you see holds you back - because all you want to do is serve Him and thank Him for sending His Son Jesus for you. Chasing comfort leaves - and chasing Him becomes your dream. And when you find Him, there's such freedom - because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
So let's get the ‘buts’ out of the way that hold us back from God, and open our hearts to what Scripture says in Philippians that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, and in 2 Corinthians 3, where it says, we are not competent in ourselves, but our competence comes from God, because we know He can do anything. And we know He will use a donkey, or even each one of us if necessary, to get His desires accomplished.
Father, we ask You to grace us today, so that our ‘but I cant's,’ would be replaced by, ‘but God can do anything, and I give You my life to do Your will Lord.’ Then get ready for one exciting transformed life. God bless you all.
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