Have you ever thought about rhinos and their limitations. You see, rhinos can run thirty miles an hour, which is pretty fast when you consider how much weight they’re pulling. They’re actually faster than squirrels, which can run up to twenty-six miles an hour. And even then who’s worried about a charging squirrel!
Just one problem with this phenomenon, Rhinos can see only thirty feet in front of them. Can you imagine something that large moving in concert as a group, plowing ahead at thirty miles an hour with no idea what’s at thirty-one feet? You would think that they would be far too timid to pick up full steam, that their inability to see far enough ahead would paralyze them to immobility. But with that horn pointing the way, rhinos run forward full steam ahead without apprehension, which leads us to their name.
Rhinos moving together at full speed are known as a crash. Even when they’re just hanging around enjoying the watershed, they’re called a crash because of their potential. You’ve got to love that!
I think that’s what we’re supposed to be. When the church becomes a crash we become an unstoppable force. We don’t have to pretend we know the future. Who cares that we can see only thirty feet ahead? Whatever’s at thirty-one feet needs to care that we’re coming and better get out of the way.
Even with their limitations, Rhinos live a pretty satisfied life.
Every one of us desires satisfaction in life and God also wants us to be satisfied but not if the price of satisfaction is too high. Have you ever heard someone say that they were determined to be happy, even if it cost them everything? God wants me to be satisfied and fulfilled but satisfaction should not be my primary goal in life.
Fulfillment, or satisfaction is a by-product of doing what does matter most.
If I will do what matters most in my life, fulfillment will follow.
Today we’re going to see three ways that God says I need to adapt my thinking if I’m going to enjoy satisfaction.
1. I must change the way I think about God.
Look at what Paul to write to the believers in Rome.
Romans 12:1-2 READ
The process of teamwork satisfaction begins when I give my body to God because of all He has done for me. Furthermore, I let Him transform me into a new person by changing the way I think.
The Old Testament believers brought animal sacrifices to the Temple and the lives of those animals were given as an act of worship, and the animal’s blood was spilled as an example of the coming sacrifice of Jesus who shed His blood for our sins on the cross. But New Testament believers are taught to bring a different sacrifice to worship God. This sacrifice has two qualifications. It is to be “living” and it is to be “holy.”
The Greek word for “transform” is where we get our English word “metamorphosis” [describe the caterpillar]
We need to be transformed from the inside out.
This is a change in the way we think because first of all “living sacrifice” is an oxymoron, where two words are used together that seem to contradict each other. Like, “Pretty ugly;” or “working vacation;” or “jumbo shrimp.”
When we think of sacrifices we usually think of them as being killed.
Christ rose from the dead, changing the concept of true worship of God, which calls for the worshipper to offer up his/her body without killing the person
Not only is my body to be a “living” sacrifice. It is to be a “holy” sacrifice. The word holy means to be set apart for the specific purpose. It’s setting my life, my body apart from the things of this world, to be used as God sees fit.
My body becomes a “holy” sacrifice when I yield my mouth, my eyes, my hands, my feet, etc., to doing the will of God instead of doing the selfish and sinful things they are inclined to do without God’s influence.
When I give my self as a living and holy sacrifice to God I’m saying I trust Him. I believe that His rules are for my own good.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:39NLT “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”
The big problem with offering my body as a sacrifice is that I want to take it back and I do, from time to time.
So what do we do? We have to offer it every day. That could be part of what Paul meant when he said, in
1 Corinthians 15:31aNCV “I die every day.”
Every day I have to remember that this body has been sacrificed to God. And once I’ve changed my mind about God I see that offering myself to Him every day is not a bad thing. It’s really a good thing! I find real satisfaction when I do.
So The first thing I must do is to change my thinking about God, surrendering myself to Him daily.
2. I must change the way I think about others.
Romans 12:3-5
“We all belong to each other.”
I can already see there’s a problem with this. I can see all kinds of problems with people trying to belong to each other.
I have my own stuff to do so where do we draw the line between doing the things we need to do for our selves and the things God wants us to do for others?
Normal human reaction is to be selfish.
Every one of us is programmed to think about ourselves first.
But here’s the crazy thing…We want others to think about US first too!
We want to live as if the whole world and all in it revolves around us.
But when I change my thinking about God – it also affects the way I think about others who have changed their thinking about Him. “We belong to each other.”
Victor Pentz, pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, tells of attending commencement ceremonies at Stanford University, when Professor David Kennedy was speaking “of the Old West, where in the regions where the railroad had not yet reached, people traveled by stagecoach. Stagecoach lines in those days offered three levels of ticket: first class, second class and third class.
“If you bought a first class ticket, you were guaranteed (or your money back) you would arrive on time after a comfortable ride and have all the amenities. A second class ticket guaranteed arrival, but also said that in case of difficulty en route – a mudslide that might have closed the road or a broken axle on the wagon – you might be asked to stand aside by the road for a period of time until the problem was fixed. A third class ticket carried the stipulation that in case of difficulty, the holder of such a ticket would be expected to get out, go to the back of the coach and shove it through the mud, use a shovel, or lift the cargo out if need be.
WHICH TICKET WOULD YOU BUY?
“Then Professor Kennedy said, ‘Even though you have a first class education from a first class college, don’t take the first class or even the second class route through life.’ Go third class. Get out and make things happen. Put your shoulder to the wheel. Do the heavy lifting, roll up your sleeves, spit on your hands and get to work.
“Don’t think you’re better than you really are…we belong to each other.”
1. I change the way I think about God. I don’t believe the lie any more that God is out to spoil all my fun. He’s actually out to make my life richer and fuller and better. I can trust Him. I can honor His boundaries.
2. I change the way I think about others. I realize I can give to others and not have less but actually have more when it comes to satisfaction and fulfillment in life.
But there’s one final area that needs a change in thinking.
3. I must change the way I think about my self.
Romans 12:6-8
I hear so many of our folk at Elim Bible tell me how they aren’t sufficiently qualified to be a part of a spiritual team. They don’t know enough about the Bible, or they don’t read all that well, or they didn’t finish High School and on and on they go.
The Bible says different. Every person who receives God’s grace through Jesus Christ has been given AT LEAST one spiritual gift and possible even more than one.
Romans 12 gives us a partial list. Other spiritual gifts are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4.
The devil want you thinking that you are as useless as a screen door on a submarine. But
God does not want you thinking that way, so He gave each of us spiritual gifts to use in order to become vital parts of ministry teams.
Besides spiritual gifts we also have natural talents and abilities. We have a heart for doing certain things; we all have personalities and experiences in life that have made us able to carry out certain responsibilities in the body.
What the Bible is basically saying here is, “Use what God has given you and get in the game!”
"Harry Houdini made a name for himself by escaping from every imaginable confinement - from straightjackets to multiple pairs of handcuffs clamped to his arms. He boasted that no jail cell could hold him. Time and again, he would be locked in a cell only to reappear minutes later.
"It worked every time - but one. He accepted another invitation to demonstrate his skill. He entered the cell, wearing his street clothes, and the jail cell door shut. Once alone, he pulled a thin but strong piece of metal from his belt and began working the lock. But something was wrong. No matter how hard Houdini worked, he couldn’t unlock the lock. For two hours he applied his skill and experience to the lock but failed time and time again. Finally he gave up in frustration.
"The problem? The cell had never been locked. Houdini worked himself to near exhaustion trying to achieve what could be accomplished by simply pushing the door open. The only place the door was locked was in his mind."
Faith is not a complex process. It is not the result of years of education, pilgrimages, or flashy supernatural experiences. The door to belief the door to satisfaction is ready to open and is locked only in the minds of those who choose to believe it is.
Rev. 3: 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
