How Big is God to You?
This morning I want to speak to you in a continuation of the series we just completed. A message that will help you as you put to practice the steps we have talked about the past 5 weeks about making Godly decisions and seeing 2010 become the best year of your life. This is completely possible if you make the right choices and live your life the way God would have you to live… with Him first.
As I was praying this past week for the church, for your family as together strive to live this overcoming life… you know what I mean? That life change you always wanted to make and this year decided to make, to really get serious about your walk with God. Let me tell you first of all, that the thought you had to change your life, that tugging and drawing on your heart and mind was not created by you. It was the Spirit of God causing you sense the time was now for a change. That God would love you so much and that He would desire to have a closer relationship with you… now that is special.
Now it is awesome to have a desire for God to have more priority in your life… to begin to pray more, read your Bible more, get plugged into church more and so on. But the thing to always remember in the course of life, that you need to keep things centered on God. He must remain the focal point. As we talked about the last few weeks, everything must be done through Christ and through Christ we can do everything.
Right now take a moment and think about plans you have for your life, goals that you have set for yourself, perhaps something that you are working towards… no matter what it is that you are planning, thinking about or dreaming of… God needs to be in the center of it all. Your dream needs to revolve and evolve with God in the center of it all. If God is not in the center of your dream then it is just a vain imagination. If God is not involved in the mix then something is wrong. Now please be honest with yourself on this right now, have you prayed about this? Have you asked God for His advice and counsel? Have you given Him the glory for it all? Now if you have not done this it does not mean that you have to throw it all out the window. You simply re-center everything around God. But no matter what, refuse to be part of anything that God is not in.
Now with God in the center and you being properly positioned before Him you ready to possess the land. You are able to have all that He has declared that you can have. But there is something you need to know and you need to put into practice… your success comes as you Glorify God. It is vital that you daily glorify Him.
11 No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love. 12 Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates and blessed your children within your walls. Psalm147:11-13
(Jason, Leave scriptures up for a while for people taking notes)
This verse 11 declares that God delights in those who fear Him… those who put all of their hope in His unfailing live, His live that never ends, His love that does not run out, His love that is way beyond what you could ever imagine… IF you put all of your hope in Him. That is who the promise is to… now if that is you then you need to do your part.
Verse 12 says to Glorify the Lord, Praise God! Glorify the Lord is often translated as Magnify. O magnify means to make something larger. So do you put your hope in God? Then you need to magnify the Lord with your Words, your action and life. No you cannot God bigger than what He is, but you can show God to the world in a much larger manner than you have done in the past and you can proclaim His love and power to those around you.
Why? Because verse 13 tells us that He has strengthened the bars of the gate or in other words He has become your strong tower, He has set angels around you, He stands outside the door of your house… and listen to this. He not only guards the outside of your home but He blesses the inside as well. He blesses your children, He blesses your marriage, He strengthens your health, He fills you with joy, He floods you with peace and on and on.
Do you want another reason to magnify the Lord? You see in the world we live in the world is constantly enlarging our problems. Economist are telling you that financial times are bad and you are broke. Doctors are telling you that you have allergies, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and more and you have no choice. All around you your problems are being magnified, that means being made to appear bigger than they are.
Do you know what is happening to Christian today? They are buying into it all. As the problems seem bigger their God seems smaller. Why? Why do your problems seem so big? Because you are not keeping God as the focal point of your life. You are not magnifying God each and every day. You need to be glorifying God daily, you need to be praising Him daily, you need to be proclaiming His love and power to those around you. How will they know how big God is if you do not tell them. How will your children know how much God means to you if you do not live it and proclaim it?
Do not let your problems appear bigger than they are. It is a trick if the enemy to get you to think your problems are more powerful than they are. No matter what you are facing today… God has something to say and here is all you have to do. Just repeat what out loud what God says. You just believe what He tells you.
Have you ever read a shampoo bottle? It says to lather, rinse, repeat… well my advice to you is simple. Read the Word of God and see what He says. Then you declare what THE Word of God says about your life and God’s involvement. Do this every day, do this every time a problem appears, this is everyday to keep God in the center of it all…. So it is read, declare and repeat… read, declare and repeat… did you get it? Read, declare and repeat… magnify God.
No matter what your problem is, no matter how big the world has made it seem, it is not bigger than God. In the world just remember… “Objects may appear larger than they are”
Look at this verse:
5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.” Heb 13:5
(Remember leave scriptures up for a while unless I have another scripture or point )
Your resource is not money, your hope is not money and having more of it will not fix everything… but did you see what God has said? More importantly do you see what God is saying to you right now. Some of you have been praying for any answer from God and here it is… HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU, HE WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU
So do you have a problem today? Well remember it is read, declare and repeat. We read it now declare it and then repeat it. Are your finances trying to tell you it is hopeless, are they trying to magnify themselves to appear a larger problem? Just magnify God right now…
I thank you Lord that delight in my life, I thank you Lord that your Word declares you strengthen the bars of my gate, you watch over me, you not only protect but you bless my coming and my going. I thank you Lord that your Word declares that you will NEVER fail me nor abandon you. You are my answer!
Right now you need to make that declaration in your heart, confess it to God, profess it over your problems. Do not just accept something because the world says it. God has said something totally different and I choose to believe Him. I choose to magnify Him as He is so much larger than any problem I might face.
Having trouble believing this but you so desperately want to? Just ask Jesus if He can meet your need and see His response… I can tell you what it is.
23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”Mark 9:23
Anything is possible if you just believe. Your life is up to you, you can have all that God has said you can have. Get your life centered, give Him full rights in your life. Commit to Him right now… make your life valuable to Him. Give Him your heart, your time and your dreams. 2010 will be awesome if you will embrace His promises.
