Part Five
You Are Who You Are
We should know tonight that we have much to be thankful for.
We have a purpose in the Lord that we often take for granted.
We are easily distracted from what He has for us.
God is sovereign in everything He does. This is easy to see when we consider the heavens and the earth. All of His glory.
What we forget is that each of us are an integral part of His plan.
Someday we will realize that there is a lot more to this plan than we see and understand.
Text: Ephesians 1:11 and 12 NIV
In order for us to fulfill our Destiny, we have to first commit to our future with the Lord (and many of you have done that in the recent weeks). Secondly, we have to accept our past and everything He has done (or tried to do) in our lives.
This can be difficult. The first few series have been easier to deal with than what the next couple of series will be. Accepting the former things and moving on to the future is where many people give up on themselves. They don’t give up on God, necessarily, but they do often give up on themselves.
Both steps require faith, but the second step requires more.
You should know that there was a lot going on in your life before you got saved that caused you to get saved. Can you see that?
Likewise, there is a lot going on right now preparing you for your next growth in faith. God has a lot invested in each of us tonight.
A lot of grace and forgivenes, mercy and patience…
The problem is that many Christians consider themselves tainted with their past. But the Lord has chosen to use everything in your life to make you what He wants you to be. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Why is all of this important? Because we need to accept where we are right now in the Lord. We need to stop kicking ourselves.
Text: Ephesians 1:11 – 12
The Greek word for “workmanship” is actually the same word we get “poem” from. It literally means to be carefully thought out and well planned. Your life does have rhyme and reason.
I cannot write poetry, but the Lord has made each of our lives like a poem. Yes, there are the rough edges, but He is having His way with you. Everyday.
Does this sound strange/unusual to you? To most people it does.
That is because you still have things that you have not let go of.
Text: Psalms 139:13 thru 17 NIV
It is time that a lot of us stop beating ourselves up with our past.
We need to
Stop remembering what the world has said about us all our lives.
Start listening to what the Word of the Lord has to say about us.
You are who you are because god has created you to be the exactly the way you are. He did not create you to sin and live in disbelief.
He created you to be who you are.
Why would He create me the way I am? Because He wants you to be a functional part of His future.
You are unique and you need to realize that God doesn’t want you to be like anyone else. When you understand that you will easily see your Divine Destiny in His awesome plan of redemption.
The problem is that most people try to change who they are to be like someone else, but they always choose the wrong person.
They pick some one they admire. They look for a mentor and not the Savior.
This is where they fall out of the plan of God for their lives.
My friend, God did not make a mistake in creating you.
God is the One Who can change you better than you can change yourself. Once you accept yourself for who He has created, you will learn to love the plan He has for you.
Why do so many people struggle with this?
It is the culture we live in. This day and time exalts personalities.
There are people everywhere trying to dress like, talk like, walk like and be like someone other than themselves.
This kind of thinking is heresy to what the Bible tells us in Psalms 139. We can be tainted by what the world thinks is acceptable.
Even in Christianity we see this happening with big name preachers, singers and entertainers to appease the world.
(This is why I am so careful with Christian music that simply entertains when it was created to inspire.)
The world we live in often dictates to us what we should think how someone should act. This is not correct. It can only be Christ.
For example, a new believer will often pick up personalities from other Christians. Before long they start acting like everyone else in the congregation. They act holy, because they did not choose to be themselves in Christ Jesus.
This is the reason why many Christians are not comfortable with other Christians from other denominations. They are saints of God, but they cannot relate because they are different.
Many Christians can learn to become stoic and religious in their appearance. And yet the Lord never called them to be that way.
God wants you just the way you are!
You have something that God wants to use.
Consider this -
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
You get saved and God wants you trained up in the way you should go. Not necessarily the way He has sent someone else.
Each of us are unique.
Many of our problems are a result of our not knowing who we are.
We often see what the world has to offer and we pursue it.
But we need to see ourselves for what God has created.
Because of Christ, we are above the junk we allow in our lives.
The Bible has called Christians to be a part of what He has designed in Ephesians 4:11 thru 15.
Apostles – sets things in order; boundaries
Prophets – everything is right or wrong, no gray areas; very bold; sometimes legalistic and narrow minded
Evangelists – big talker of great things to come; emphatic
Pastors – relational with everything; compassionate with the simplest of things; people oriented; willing to consider all of the options
Teachers – instructional with things; very technically minded; communicator; negotiator
All of us have one or more of these traits to one extreme or another. We have to learn how to accept our individual traits just the way the Lord has created us.
Another example is how some people are more emotional than others. Some are more stoic. Some are more sensible and demanding.
God has made us all different for His purpose.
The problem often is that many of us have hard time accepting ourselves; and even more trouble understanding everyone who is not just like us. This causes problems in any church.
This all will help us to relax in the big picture that God has drawn for us.
The story of Mordacia and Esther.
Esther 4:14
Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Closing:
Acts 17:26 thru 28
