Sermon Central
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How High Is The Bar?
Contributed by Charlie Roberts on Jun 7, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: He wants us to awake with great expectations every morning, with Him right smack dab in the center of them... Not only meeting..but exceeding those expectations!
How High Is The Bar?
Ephesians 2:4–-7, NKJ
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us...raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”
What a God..
What a Word....
what a promise to those of us
who are in Christ Jesus! (repeat)
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us...raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
He took us..He loved us...
when we were nobodies...He made us a somebody
"Say I'm Somebody" and you are somebody this morning....
Because He has made you SOMEBODY! Amen??
He adopted us and treated us...not like step children
but like we were one of His own children and gave us a seat,
right by His own Son...in fact it says made us sit together in Him!
Does anybody remember when they were a little child… And your mother made you sit by someone that you didn't want to sit by?
That's what God has done… Because even when you don't feel like it,
even when you don't feel worthy to do it...
God has a designated that that's where you belong, that's where you are entitled to be and it's where he wants you!
Why? I'm sorry did you say WHY?
So that in the ages to come...
That means from here on out....
to eternity
He might show the exceeding riches of His grace...
That means to shower...
To Blanket...
To Encompass...
To inundate...
To bombard you with a never ending supply....are you getting the picture here?
You see I'm not talking about just a little welfare check amount of grace each month...but a lifetime supply of His amazing Favor and Goodness towards us!
I want you to think for a moment about the richest person you can think of in the whole world and what their fortune is...
that amount does not even compare to what God is willing to do for you in your own life… If you can only believe and receive his promises and what he wants to do for you!
Did You know...some people have just as hard of time getting past the victories as well as past failures in this thing we live..called life?
Its true, they hold on to them like the present and future depends upon the remembrance of them,
The next statement I'm about to make…
Is truly a to him who has the years let him hear statement....
We can expect each day to be better than the one before, when we are serving and doing Gods work...and if were not
Then shame on us!
2 chronicles 16 says....
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him
MSG says it this way...God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.
It's like a big radar screen covering the whole universe…
And God's favor is constantly looking for something
Or someone that it can bounce off of...and be a blessing to! Amen??
If we couldn't expect tomorrow to be better than today...
What incentive would that give us to look forward to...the future???
TBS. His mercies are new every morning, Great is His faithfulness!
That means 100% of the time...we can look for Gods Goodness and Faithfulness participating in our lives if we want them to!
The bible records the most amazing miracles throughout history
and we should always be willing to acknowledge
what God has done in the past.
But don't miss the blessing of the right here and now and what is to come...
Because in your mind you can't figure out how it could be greater
than the one you received yesterday!!!
It's like He wants you to realize...if you think past blessings are amazing
He would have me tell you..."you ain't seen nothing yet"
A lot of people don't realize this...but
God is a progressive God, both in thinking and action...and He wants us to be the same way!
And if we're not we're cheating ourselves
out of what God wants to do for us!
We should wake up every morning with an expectant heart...willing to pursue what God has in store for us..each day He gives us!
In our text, Paul was talking about and looking towards the future, not the past
TBS. (the Bible says) that “in the ages to come” God would do things that far supersede anything He’s ever done before.
