See the Possibilities with God

Thoughts and notes from Dr. Jason Pettus' sermon this morning at Living Hope Baptist Church from his "Renew Your Focus" sermon series.

Passage of Scripture:
"But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away." Ezra 3:12-13

God does not need much to do the amazing.
Examples and Scripture references, Ezra 3:12-13, King David: 1 Sam 16:7 and 17:42-43, Gideon: Judges 6:15, Elijah: 1 Kings 18:22, the boy's fish: John 6:9, and the Apostles: Acts 4:13.

We have to discipline ourselves to see the possibilities with God. God can provide only to lead you in another direction. In the same way God can take away only to provide for you later. In either situation it takes faith to trust in God and go where He leads you. In Ezra 3, we see the Israelites "weeping" upon seeing the foundation of the temple, some cried because it was much smaller than the original, while others were crying in sheer joy of seeing the temple being built. Could this temple have been much larger? Sure, but that's not the point. This little temple, the house of God, which the Israelites were building, had more than enough space for God to do amazing things. It simple takes faith!

To see the Possibilities with God...
1. We have to let go of the past and get God's vision. Phil 3:13-14
2. We have to let go of our agenda and adopt God's plan. Mark 8:31-38, and Matt 11:2-6
3. We have to let go of our entangling sin and receive God's grace. Heb 12:1-2
4. We have to let go of our self-sufficiency and rejoice in God's strength. Phil 3:7-11 and Phil 4:12-13
Sin will always take you further than you intend to go, it was always give you less than it promised, and it will always cost more than are willing to pay.

"Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you." -John Owen

It's not an option for a Christian to simply accept that there is sin in our lives, we need to be killing sin daily!

We need to be very careful to not get to a place where we feel accomplished and where we feel comfortable, because God is not finished with us yet! We must not get comfortable and complacent with where we are and with what we can do. People who read God's Word and study it daily are rarely comfortable and complacent. Why? Read Hebrews 4:12-13. When you are in the Word daily, it is hard to be satisfied with where you are at spiritually. Your heart's desire should be to continuously be growing closer to God, and living every aspect of your life to bring Him the glory.