Latest / Heart Check Podcast / How to Get Back to God (When You Feel Far Away)
Transcript
- 0:00If you're in a season of life right now where you feel like
- 0:02you've drifted so far from God that you have no idea how to get
- 0:05back to him, this episode might be for you.
- 0:16Yo, what's up everybody? Welcome back to Heart Check
- 0:18podcast. I'm your host Pastor Los you.
- 0:23Let's go. I'm so excited to be with you
- 0:27guys again. We are on week four of our Heart
- 0:30Check series, so this is our final week, which is crazy.
- 0:33But this week we get to wrap everything up.
- 0:36And so today we're going to dive into if you are in a place where
- 0:39maybe you've drifted far from God, that you're struggling to
- 0:42get back to him, that you've been so deep in this center,
- 0:45you've gotten so far off His path for you that you have no
- 0:50idea how to get back. That you have those thoughts of,
- 0:53does God even want me back? Am I really his child?
- 0:57How could he love somebody like me?
- 0:59I've made all these choices over and over again.
- 1:02I've continued to sin. I've continued to struggle with
- 1:04these things in my lives. There's no way that God is going
- 1:08to want me back. There's no way.
- 1:09There's grace and mercy and love for me.
- 1:12And I want you to hear right now that's not true.
- 1:14And that's from the enemy that we don't choose to just continue
- 1:17to live in sin, but that we recognize it, we realize it, we
- 1:21become aware of it, that we are real and reveal that sin, that
- 1:25we repent of it. And we reset ourselves and we
- 1:27focus on the King of Kings. And we allow Him, through the
- 1:31power of the Holy Spirit, to realign us to His will, to
- 1:34redefine who He calls us to be, to show us that we are His son
- 1:40or daughter, that He has a plan for us, that he planned long
- 1:44ago, that He is a good father and He is here to care for you,
- 1:48That He loves you, that he has not forsaken you, that He has
- 1:51not left you alone. And so I hope today in this
- 1:54episode, you are reminded that you have a God who created you,
- 1:58that you have a God who loves you, a God who has purpose for
- 2:01you. And so you might need to
- 2:04challenge yourself to stop trying to listen to the lies
- 2:07that you think define you rather than the God who designed you.
- 2:10Because the God who designed you has a call and purpose over your
- 2:14life. And he calls you his
- 2:15masterpiece, as we'll dive into. But I know at times in my life I
- 2:20have drifted from God. I've allowed my heart to drift
- 2:23from Jesus, sometimes through disobedience, sometimes through
- 2:27conscious disobedience. Decisions I'm making that I know
- 2:30I'm not supposed to make. But sometimes it looks like I
- 2:33drifted from Jesus just due to distractions.
- 2:36I've always said this, that Satan sometimes doesn't even
- 2:39need to throw our temptations our way, he just needs to keep
- 2:42us busy and distracted from the King of Kings.
- 2:45That we can get caught up in being so distracted that we
- 2:48drift so far from God. And I just want to encourage you
- 2:52that when you've gotten into this place, maybe you're in this
- 2:54place right now, that you're starting to maybe lean on your
- 2:57own understanding, lean on your own will, lean on your own
- 3:00power, your own strength. That you just keep coming up
- 3:03short. You're feeling exhausted, you're
- 3:05wore down, you're beat up, and you're wondering why it might be
- 3:10that you are trying to be in control of your life when you're
- 3:13not the one who is in control of your life.
- 3:16That you maybe need to be reminded that you've given your
- 3:18life to Jesus, that He bought you with a price.
- 3:21That He has a purpose for you. And when you're trying to make
- 3:24your own purpose happen, when you're trying to do things on
- 3:26your own accord, you wonder why you continue to feel drained and
- 3:31stuck where you're at when you're not following the One who
- 3:34lights your path, the One who has plans for you.
- 3:37The One who created you with purpose, on purpose.
- 3:41When we trust and surrender our way, God straightens our past.
- 3:44He guides us. He leads us to where we're
- 3:46supposed to be. Not stuck in that sin, Not stuck
- 3:50in that regret. Not stuck in those mistakes.
- 3:53But focused on the one who has washed you clean.
- 3:55Focused on the one who redeems. Focused on the one who saves.
- 4:00Focused on the one who has so much more for you.
- 4:04So to realign our hearts back to God's will means to get back in
- 4:08rhythm with Him, to get in his word, to get in our prayer
- 4:12closets, to spend time with Jesus on the daily, to not just
- 4:15say, oh, I'm gonna get to that when I can.
- 4:19Oh, I'm gonna get to my word. But man, I just got so many
- 4:22other things to do. No, no, no, Jesus number one,
- 4:25time with him right away. Wake up, fall to your knees,
- 4:28Thank Jesus for another day. Get in your word.
- 4:31Do not let days go by without feasting on the bread of life.
- 4:37Because when you're wondering why you're starving spiritually,
- 4:40there's no coincidence when you haven't even been eating on the
- 4:43bread of life, When you haven't been feasting on God's word,
- 4:46when you haven't been getting filled up by him and him alone,
- 4:49but rather on things of the world, rather on things that you
- 4:52think are going to do it for you but never will.
- 4:55And so my challenge to you is make sure if you want to get
- 4:59back realigned with his will, get back realigned with Jesus,
- 5:02get back realigned to him being number one in your life.
- 5:05You got to make him #1 in your life, you got to make Jesus
- 5:08priority. He needs to be #1 on that deaf
- 5:11chart. He needs to be the one that
- 5:13you're focused on. Whatever those other things or
- 5:15other people that are kind of taking his place, pray through
- 5:18that. Have those conversations, make
- 5:20those changes that need to be made.
- 5:22This week we'll take time to ask God where I have drifted.
- 5:26Where are the areas in my heart that I've allowed myself to
- 5:28drift from you, Jesus. To say, God, I don't want to be
- 5:33far from you anymore. I don't want to be continuing to
- 5:35just lackadaisically fall away from you.
- 5:38To be on, as I've said in my own life, to just be on autopilot
- 5:42with my walk with Jesus, to just be kind of going through the
- 5:45motions, to just be stuck in this blah place because I'm just
- 5:50letting sin control my heart. I have so much guilt and shame
- 5:54because I'm living in this sin that I'm not recognizing and
- 5:57realizing and being real and revealing and repenting of to
- 6:01reset, to focus on Jesus, to find his purpose in my life.
- 6:07So I want you to pause. I want you to listen.
- 6:09I want you to let him uncover what you've been blinded to or
- 6:13what you've been hiding from this week.
- 6:16To let yourself realign to God's will for Him to define you, to
- 6:21redefine who you are in Him. Because it's all about who He
- 6:25says you are, not what the enemy says, not what you even say.
- 6:29But I hope you start to change the words you do say over you
- 6:31because the words that He says over you in His word.
- 6:35You know, life can pull us in so many different directions that
- 6:38we can get so caught up in things of this world and focused
- 6:42on what's happening in the here and now that we lose focus of
- 6:46Jesus and what God intends for us.
- 6:48Realigning encourages you to pause, to evaluate where your
- 6:52heart and priorities may be off and allow God to guide you back
- 6:56to His path. Redefining is the next step.
- 6:59Let God's Word remind you who you are in Christ and how you
- 7:04are called to live, think, and act according to His purposes
- 7:09over your life. A passage I love that helps us
- 7:13understand what it means to be aligned to God's will is
- 7:17Proverbs 3 five through 6 where it says trust in the Lord with
- 7:20all your heart. Do not depend on your own
- 7:25understanding. Seek His will in all you do and
- 7:29He will show you which path to take.
- 7:33Listen to that. Again, trust in the Lord with
- 7:37all your hearts. How did we start this heart
- 7:41check journey? That the heart is the central
- 7:45factor of who we are, where everything we say, think, or do
- 7:50flows from. Right?
- 7:51Guard your heart above all else, because everything you do flows
- 7:55from it. If that's true, who and what are
- 8:01you trusting all of your heart with?
- 8:05Are you trusting the Lord with all of your heart or are you
- 8:09trusting in your job with all of your heart?
- 8:12Are you trusting in your academics with all of your
- 8:14heart? Are you trusting in your
- 8:15boyfriend with all of your heart?
- 8:16Are you trusting in your girlfriend with all of your
- 8:18heart? Are you trusting in your own
- 8:23wants and desires, your own pursuits with all of your heart?
- 8:28Are you in a place where you're feeling like, man, if I don't
- 8:32get this, I don't know what I'll do with my life.
- 8:36I don't know how I'll survive because I need this.
- 8:39If this is not Jesus, you're trusted in something else with
- 8:45all of your heart rather than in the Lord.
- 8:48And so First things first, if I want to be aligned with God's
- 8:51will in my life, I need to first and foremost trust Him with all
- 8:56of my heart. Not in the things that I want,
- 9:00not in the things I want to pursue.
- 9:03Not in the person that I wanna be with.
- 9:06Not in the things that I'm looking to reach.
- 9:09Not that goals and trying to achieve goals are a bad thing,
- 9:13but if goals become more important than Jesus, then they
- 9:16are a bad thing. If needing to have that thing or
- 9:20that person comes before Jesus, trusting in them before him,
- 9:25then that is wrong. Priorities.
- 9:29So first and foremost, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
- 9:33All of who you are trusts in Him and do not depend on your own
- 9:39understanding. Cause guys, our minds plays
- 9:42tricks on us. Our flesh wants us to think
- 9:46things that aren't from God wants us to think about stuff
- 9:49that isn't really who God calls us to be or who we are.
- 9:54And so when we lean on our own understanding or think that,
- 9:57man, I got this figured out, man, I'm wise, I'm smart, man,
- 10:00you're trying to give me this advice, man, I got it.
- 10:02I know what I'm doing. We start to get big headed, as
- 10:07you may have heard that as I, we get told by my big sister
- 10:10sometimes when I was young and I didn't like it.
- 10:12You start to get big headed. You start to think that you know
- 10:15it all, that you got it all figured out, that you don't need
- 10:18to trust in the Lord with all your heart because you got it,
- 10:21you know it. I can make this happen on my
- 10:24own, and that is a very dangerous place to be.
- 10:28That might be why you get to a place of drifting far from God,
- 10:32because you think you don't need God.
- 10:35So why would I be near to Him and seeking Him and sitting at
- 10:39His feet when I trust in myself and I trust in my own
- 10:44understanding? Secondly, seek His will in all
- 10:49you do. Seek the Lord's will for your
- 10:54life. Have you even prayed with God
- 10:57about that job application you just put in?
- 11:00Have you even prayed and talked with God about that girl you
- 11:04want to date or currently dating?
- 11:07Have you even asked God? Is this your will for me?
- 11:11Have you even sat on that decision you're trying to make
- 11:15of which college to go to? Have you even sat on, Is this
- 11:19the right career path for me? Have you even sat on asking God
- 11:25what His will is for your life 'cause I think a lot of us just
- 11:31kind of get the ball going. We start to take our own steps,
- 11:35we start to seek our own will. We start to trust in ourselves
- 11:40and we start to depend on our own understanding because we're
- 11:42wanting to do what we want to do.
- 11:46All of us can get caught up in this.
- 11:48I have gotten caught up in this. I will never, ever forget 2012
- 11:58to 2013 after my sophomore year in college.
- 12:03I remember not knowing what was next for my life, and I remember
- 12:09it was a time where I needed to kind of just pause and listen
- 12:14and actually ask God for his will for me to seek him.
- 12:19Because at one point I was. And there was a decision that I
- 12:22was feeling God was telling me to make.
- 12:25But I decided to kind of step back, trust in myself, depend on
- 12:32my own understanding, seek my will, and I walked my path.
- 12:39And I'll never forget that year for me, because it was chaos.
- 12:45Everything that could go wrong went wrong that year.
- 12:48For me to be in a place where the sport I loved and grew up
- 12:53playing my whole life. That I eventually would even
- 12:55have a chance to play a little bit of professional baseball at
- 12:58one point. A sport that I always felt like
- 13:02I had had a gift in that I never really even struggled in.
- 13:08And not to say I was always perfect in it, 'cause nobody is.
- 13:13But that it it came natural to me to be in a season of baseball
- 13:18and just struggling and so confused to what was happening.
- 13:23But even my social life, to be getting so filled with partying
- 13:29and smoking and drinking and doing whatever I wanted to do,
- 13:35that I was so far from God and I didn't know how I got there.
- 13:40And now as a 34 year old man and I, I look back on it.
- 13:44I always remember now that I sit back and pause and listen and
- 13:48evaluate that year in my life. This was a year that I trusted
- 13:52in myself with all my heart, that I depended on my own
- 13:55understanding, that I sought my own will, and I walked my own
- 13:58path. And that path led to
- 14:02devastation. That path led to chaos.
- 14:06It left to it led to bondage. It led to regrets.
- 14:10It led to guilt and shame. It led to decisions that I made
- 14:15that I never should have made in my life.
- 14:20And not to say that was on anybody.
- 14:21That was on me. And the chaos that ensued on
- 14:25others because of where I was is something I've had to own up to
- 14:29and have moments to apologize to others too.
- 14:32Because Carlos was not in a good place.
- 14:35I was in a very unhealthy place. And at that time I didn't know
- 14:39why. And I wanted to blame anything
- 14:41and everyone else because it was their fault.
- 14:43They weren't doing what they were supposed to do.
- 14:45They were reacting wrong, They were making the wrong decisions,
- 14:48when in reality, it was all me. I was trying to choose my own
- 14:54path, make it happen for myself, do what I wanted to do, and I
- 15:00totally forgot to seek the will and understanding of the One who
- 15:05knew me the best, the One who created me and crafted me and
- 15:11called me the one who chose me, My Heavenly Father.
- 15:16I didn't even seek His will. I didn't even take time to
- 15:19pause, to pray, to listen, to seek His understanding.
- 15:23Because at the end it says when we do those things, when we
- 15:26trust in the Lord with all our heart, that we depend on His
- 15:29understanding, when we seek His will and all that we do, He will
- 15:33show you which path to take. He will guide you.
- 15:37He is with us. And that is something we can
- 15:42never forget. When you're feeling like you're
- 15:43far from Jesus or you're feeling like you are right now, you're
- 15:47never too far from God #1 #2 are you trusting in the Lord with
- 15:55all your heart? Are you trusting in you and
- 15:57other things? And ask yourself, do you depend
- 16:00on His understanding or your own?
- 16:01Are you seeking your own will and your own wants and desires
- 16:05and motivated just by your own things?
- 16:10Or are you seeking His will? And I promise, if you arrange
- 16:16those things in a biblical fashion, that you listen to this
- 16:19passage and you obey it, you will start to see.
- 16:21He will show you which path to take.
- 16:24And it doesn't mean it's gonna be perfect, doesn't mean you are
- 16:28'cause you never will be. But it will be the path that
- 16:32you're supposed to be on because it's his path and not yours.
- 16:37Another way for us to align ourselves to God's will to be
- 16:40who he calls us to be. It says in Romans 12/1 through
- 16:44two one of my favorite passages. It says in so dear brothers and
- 16:47sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because
- 16:53of all he has done for you. God bought you with a price.
- 16:58Paul goes on to say let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the
- 17:03kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship
- 17:08him. Don't copy the behavior and
- 17:11customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
- 17:15person by changing the way you think.
- 17:18Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is
- 17:22good and pleasing and perfect. Give your bodies as a living and
- 17:30holy sacrifice to God. What does that mean?
- 17:33That this is that God will find that acceptable.
- 17:36And we let our bodies, let all of who we are be a living and
- 17:41holy sacrifice for Him. That this is truly the way for
- 17:45us to worship Him. As Romans 12/1 says, that means
- 17:49all of who you are, all of what you do, that everything you eat,
- 17:57everything that you drink, everything that you read,
- 18:00everything that you listen to, everything that you talk about,
- 18:03everything that you do, you do it in a way that honors and
- 18:09glorifies Jesus in your life. That you say, God, you have all
- 18:14of me. That I'm not just giving you
- 18:17parts of my heart, but I'm giving you all of my heart.
- 18:21I'm trusting you with all of it. That I'm not doing this half in,
- 18:26half out lukewarm Christianity anymore.
- 18:30That I'm sold out for you, Jesus.
- 18:35That I'm giving up my ways to follow your ways.
- 18:39That I don't wanna continue to have this facade of a
- 18:43relationship with you, Jesus. I don't wanna be a double agent
- 18:46Christian, talking like I'm one way, acting like I'm one way.
- 18:51In reality, I'm only giving you bits and pieces of me, and I'm
- 18:55letting the world and others have parts of me as well.
- 18:58Still giving your bodies to God is saying, God, you have full
- 19:03authority over me, that I'm giving all of me to you, to your
- 19:08way, to your will, to your desires, to your purpose over my
- 19:13life. And the way we do that is we
- 19:17don't copy the behavior and customs of this world.
- 19:21If what's around you is nothing but worldly, that's not what
- 19:26you're supposed to reflect and copy.
- 19:29If what's around you and your friend group is going to the
- 19:32bars, going to the clubs, getting drunk, smoking weed,
- 19:36watching movies that just glorify sex, having
- 19:40conversations that are just talking about temporary
- 19:42satisfactions and pleasures. If all the convos are about what
- 19:47girl you slept with, what girl you're sliding into the DMS,
- 19:50what you're trying to get popping this weekend, and not in
- 19:53a good way. If those are the behaviors and
- 19:57customs that you're copying, then you're going to start to be
- 20:01a carbon copy of that. You're going to start to clone
- 20:05that, reflect that, be like that.
- 20:10When you're wondering why you're thinking and acting the way that
- 20:12you are, it might be because you are copying the behavior and
- 20:16customs of this world because that's what you are consumed by.
- 20:21How can I be a living and holy sacrifice for the Lord when I'm
- 20:25being a sacrifice for things in the world as well?
- 20:30When I'm giving my body over to things that are not God, but let
- 20:36God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
- 20:41think. Paul says in Colossians 32 to
- 20:48think about things of heaven, not things of earth.
- 20:53That there is a war that wages in our mind in Romans 7, as Paul
- 20:57says, that the enemy wants to have control of our minds.
- 21:03That when we pray to God in Philippians 4, it says pray and
- 21:08petition to find God's peace. That's beyond understanding that
- 21:12He will guard our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.
- 21:16To say to Jesus in 2nd Corinthians 5, where I say
- 21:20Jesus, take these thoughts captive and make them obedient
- 21:23to you. Any thought that goes against
- 21:27your will, your goodness as Romans, as Romans, as
- 21:33Philippians 4 talks about, think about things that are admirable,
- 21:37honorable, worthy of praise, excellent, pure and lovely.
- 21:45Paul says fix your thoughts on those things, think about things
- 21:49that are Christlike, and we'll dive into this in episodes to
- 21:55come. An episode to come for sure.
- 21:58What are you listening to? What are you engaging in content
- 22:03wise? What are you consuming?
- 22:08Because what gets your attention will eventually get your
- 22:12affection and what consumes you will eventually control you.
- 22:19So if I'm, if I'm being consumed, if I'm just consuming
- 22:22these sexual images, if I'm just consuming these sexual Tik Toks,
- 22:27if I'm just consuming the sexual LED music, then I'm going to be
- 22:31controlled by sexual thoughts, sexual decisions that go against
- 22:38who God caused me to be. If I'm consumed by a lifestyle
- 22:43that isn't godly, then my life's going to reflect the world, that
- 22:49my behavior will copy the customs of this world and the
- 22:53behaviors of this world. Choose Jesus, Let him have full
- 23:01control of your thoughts. Let him transform you into a new
- 23:04person by changing the way you think.
- 23:07Then you will learn to know God's will for you when you let
- 23:11God have control of your thoughts, when you give your
- 23:15body all of who you are over to Jesus, when you let him have
- 23:20full control of you to be the Lord of your life, full Lordship
- 23:27over your life. That Jesus, I follow you, that
- 23:30I'm a servant of you, that you have all of me, all of my heart.
- 23:35When you do that, it says you will learn to know God's will
- 23:39for you and you know what God's will is good and pleasing and
- 23:43perfect. That was not what that year was
- 23:47for me when I was outside of the God's will.
- 23:50It was not good and it was not pleasing.
- 23:52It was not perfect, but I love that Scripture tells us no.
- 23:55If you're discerning and learning God's will for you, it
- 24:01will always be good and pleasing and perfect, 'cause it's His
- 24:04will, not your own. So align yourself to trust in
- 24:10the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
- 24:13To trust Him with all of it, to give yourself over to Him to to
- 24:18give your body as a living and holy sacrifice, to let God
- 24:22transform you into new person by the way that you think.
- 24:25Let him have control of your mind.
- 24:27Think about him, think about things of heaven.
- 24:30Think about godly things, not worldly things, because if you
- 24:35do, that's gonna be what controls you.
- 24:39But I love to this thoughts of how we realign to God's will.
- 24:46Jesus tells us in Matthew 633. Super simple one verse, but
- 24:49powerful. Jesus says seek the Kingdom of
- 24:52God above all else and live righteously and he will give you
- 24:57everything you need. What we're called to do as
- 25:02followers of Jesus. If you feel like you've gotten
- 25:04far from Jesus, drifted from him, don't know how to get back
- 25:08to him, seek first above all else.
- 25:13The Kingdom of God. Kind of sounds like what we just
- 25:16talked about too. To think about heaven, to think
- 25:21about the Kingdom, to seek that first above all else and live
- 25:26righteously. Live as He calls you to, to live
- 25:31set apart as a chosen people and he will give you everything you
- 25:35need because he is good, because Jesus is on the right hand
- 25:42throne of God. Jesus is in heaven.
- 25:44We focus on Jesus. His will will be done and it is
- 25:49good and it is pleasing and it is perfect always because he is
- 25:53the same yesterday, today and forever.
- 25:55God ain't switching up. When we switch up, God's
- 25:58character don't change. So don't be, don't be.
- 26:01I like to say this, don't be questioning God's character when
- 26:03it's your character that's in question.
- 26:07We switch up, we're fickle, we're Luke lukewarm.
- 26:10We we go hot and cold. We play the hokey, pokey
- 26:13relationship. 1 foot in one foot out and God is the same
- 26:17yesterday, today and forever. He's faithful, he's just, he's
- 26:21good always He is, he is and was and always will be.
- 26:25He's the alpha and Omega. We're the ones that are fickle.
- 26:31And so I'm encouraging you today, stop being hot and cold.
- 26:38Stop switching up, stop being in and out.
- 26:42Trust the Lord with all your heart.
- 26:44Realign to His will so He can define you, so you can be who He
- 26:49called you to be, who He created you to be, to walk out the
- 26:52purpose He has for you over your life.
- 26:57Let Him direct your steps. So what does this look like for
- 27:02us to now live out God's will? Cause when I've asked this
- 27:09question I work with I work with young adults.
- 27:13I have been serving in a local church in a young adult's
- 27:16ministry with 18 to 2425 year olds.
- 27:19Now work 18 to 29 year olds. I've worked with youth high
- 27:23schoolers for a long time as well.
- 27:25Do you know what the number one question is?
- 27:26I get asked all the time since working with youth and young
- 27:29adults, what's God's will for me or how do I know what God's will
- 27:37is for me? And of course, that's a question
- 27:41that's at the top of the list. You're at a stage in life where
- 27:44it's what's next? What am I supposed to do?
- 27:48Why am I here? What's God's will for me?
- 27:51What's his purpose for me? I feel like sometimes I'm just
- 27:54kinda drifting or I'm floating or I'm on, I'm on autopilot.
- 27:59I'm just kinda going through the motions and I think this is a
- 28:03good question. It's one that all of us ask and
- 28:07it doesn't even stop in young adult ages, times when we're in
- 28:10our 30s, forties, 50s, and we're thinking what's God's will for
- 28:14my life? And so this isn't a bad question
- 28:18to ask. It's a good question.
- 28:20And I believe God has an answer for us in his will.
- 28:26His will is what will guide us, and I believe God has an answer
- 28:33for us in His Word. And even even as we just read,
- 28:38God's will is good and pleasing and perfect.
- 28:43And So what is God's will for us?
- 28:47Well, I'm gonna answer that in two ways.
- 28:49Number one, God has an overall will for all His children.
- 28:54Do you guys wanna know what that is?
- 28:58God's will for all His children who know Him is to love Him with
- 29:05all our hearts, minds, soul and strength, and to love our
- 29:09neighbor as ourselves. That is God's will for all His
- 29:13children, to love him with all our hearts, minds, soul and
- 29:16strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
- 29:20And then to also go out and live out the Great Commission, To
- 29:25therefore go and baptize all nations in the name of the
- 29:29Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- 29:31To now tell other people about Jesus, to meet people where
- 29:36they're at, Love people so well that they can't help but wonder
- 29:40who loves us, that they will know we belong to Jesus by the
- 29:44way we love one another. To live out the will of who God
- 29:48calls us to be the Kingdom on the earth.
- 29:52To be so united as brothers and sisters in Christ that others
- 29:55wanna know who we know to spread the good news that is God's will
- 30:03for you is that you are here to be an ambassador for Christ.
- 30:08That's why I love these couple verses.
- 30:11First, Peter 29, Peter says, but you are not like that, for you
- 30:15are chosen people. He's speaking to followers of
- 30:19Jesus, people who've put their faith in Jesus.
- 30:21Peter says you're not like that 'cause you are a chosen people,
- 30:24you are royal priest, a holy nation, God's very own
- 30:29possession. As a result, you can show others
- 30:32the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into
- 30:37his wonderful light. If you've put your faith in
- 30:42Jesus, you are chosen by Jesus. You are chosen people.
- 30:45You are, as Peter just called us, royal priests, a holy
- 30:50nation. We're set apart by God for a
- 30:53purpose. And I think you need to hear
- 30:57that today. There's purpose that God has for
- 31:01you, that you have an identity in Christ, that you are a royal
- 31:06priest, that you're not a just a drifter or just a Randall, that
- 31:12you're just here kind of going through the motions.
- 31:14No, God has a will for you that he wants to use you to reach
- 31:20other people. But God's gonna do what God does
- 31:24'cause his purpose gets done. But we get to come alongside
- 31:29him. We get to be a part, a
- 31:31participant in his Great Commission because as Jesus
- 31:35says, the workers are few, but the harvest is plenty.
- 31:40That we can go out and be one of the workers to reach those for
- 31:44Christ to participate in the Great Commission is an
- 31:48incredible thing. And I think sometimes as I'm
- 31:52sitting here on the mic, it's like, yeah, but Pastor Louis,
- 31:54you're a pastor. That's what you're supposed to
- 31:57do. No, if you've put your faith in
- 32:01Jesus, that's what you're supposed to do as well.
- 32:05You are a royal priest. You are 2nd Corinthians 520.
- 32:11We are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal through
- 32:16us. We speak for Christ when we
- 32:18plead. Come back to God.
- 32:23Everyone who's put their faith in Jesus as a royal priest is an
- 32:27ambassador for Christ, is a representative of the Lord Jesus
- 32:31while you're here on earth. So what's God's will for all of
- 32:36his children? That we love em with all our
- 32:39heart, mind, soul, and strength. And we love our neighbor as
- 32:42ourselves. That we go out and love them so
- 32:44well that we're baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son,
- 32:47and Holy Spirit, and they're coming to heaven with us.
- 32:48Why? Because we're royal priests and
- 32:50we're ambassadors and we're representatives of Jesus and we
- 32:53are set apart and we're a holy nation and we're chosen people.
- 32:57That we're not called to just go through the motions, that we're
- 33:00not called to just be randoms in this world that just randomly
- 33:04got put together. And there's no purpose, no
- 33:06designer to it. No, there is, like I said
- 33:09earlier in this episode, stop letting the lies define you
- 33:12rather than the God who designed you, 'cause he has a purpose for
- 33:16you. You are chosen.
- 33:17You are set apart. You are God's masterpiece,
- 33:23Ephesians 210 for we are God's masterpiece.
- 33:26He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good
- 33:30things He planned for us long ago.
- 33:33Hear these words, guys. I'm, I'm, we're, we're spitting
- 33:37right now. God's word.
- 33:38Listen to this. Let it soak, man.
- 33:41Marinate on this man. It gets me emotional when I hear
- 33:44these things, 'cause this is God's truth over your life and
- 33:49we all need to be reminded of this.
- 33:51You are not here to just be in blah, to be in chaos, to be out
- 33:57of purpose. You're not here to go through
- 33:59the motions. You're not here to just look
- 34:01like the world. You're not here to copy the
- 34:03behaviors and customs of the world.
- 34:05You're not here to give your body as a living sacrifice to
- 34:08worldly things. You've been bought with a price
- 34:12and Jesus has purpose for you. Jesus has a call for your life.
- 34:17He has a will for you. That we get to put action to our
- 34:22faith and know that He is with us.
- 34:26And that when we trust in His will, that when we give Him all
- 34:29of our hearts, that the Lord says my will for you is good and
- 34:33pleasing and perfect. That is incredible.
- 34:35That we can join each other and lock arms as brothers and
- 34:38sisters and go out into a Dark World that desperately needs
- 34:41hope. And we carry it.
- 34:45It indwells us, lives inside us, has transformed us, has renewed
- 34:52our minds. That is who you are if you've
- 34:58put your faith in Jesus. Stop letting the enemy get you
- 35:02distracted and drifting and discouraged because that is what
- 35:10he wants. He doesn't want you to live out
- 35:13God's will for your life because He knows a heavenly family
- 35:18that's equipped, that's excited, that is on fire for the Lord,
- 35:22that is being royal priest, that's being ambassadors,
- 35:25representatives, representatives of Jesus, that's living out His
- 35:28will, is gonna change a world for the Kingdom.
- 35:36Be world changers 'cause that's who God calls you to be.
- 35:42Be a world changer because you are God's masterpiece.
- 35:47He created you long ago so you could do the good things He
- 35:53planned for you long ago. He already knew you before you
- 36:01were you. Jesus knew when you would be
- 36:04born. He knew how many hairs would be
- 36:07on your head. He knew what your name would be.
- 36:10He knew you because He created you and He has plans for you.
- 36:17Walk with Him. Give up all this junk that's
- 36:21worthless garbage compared to Jesus.
- 36:26Recognize and realize your sin. Repent of it.
- 36:31Be real and reveal it. Put it to death so you can be
- 36:35aligned with God's will in your life to walk out who He created
- 36:40you to be and cause you to be. But that was the first part of
- 36:46that. The second part is that's God's
- 36:48purpose for all of us. But each of us have a specific
- 36:52call in our lives. And my specific call was to be a
- 36:55pastor in a local church, to help teach others about Jesus,
- 37:00to be a teacher of His Word, to disciple others.
- 37:04But again, you also are called to be a disciple maker yourself.
- 37:10And so I want to encourage you first seek the Kingdom of God
- 37:15above all else. Live righteously and He will
- 37:17give you everything you need. Seek His will.
- 37:20Trust in Him with all your heart.
- 37:22Get lined up with Him first and then start to pray and walk with
- 37:29him into who he created you to specifically be in your calling.
- 37:36Ask your brothers and sisters around you.
- 37:38Ask your church body, the community you're connected to.
- 37:41Start to ask them to pray for that for you and then start to
- 37:45listen to them. Hey, I really see in you this
- 37:51start to listen to your godly counsel.
- 37:53I had those people in my life who would say, Carlos, man, I, I
- 37:57can see you preaching, man, I can see you being a preacher.
- 38:01I can see you being a pastor. I would get those encouraging
- 38:04words in it. It was cool because I know it
- 38:07wasn't from the enemy or from the world, because it was coming
- 38:10from my brothers and sisters in Christ who had the Holy Spirit
- 38:12in them. So to hear God's encouragement
- 38:14through them over my life just reminded me of who He created me
- 38:18to be to, to step into the calling He had for my life.
- 38:22But first, we live out the purpose all of us have as
- 38:26followers of Jesus, to love the Lord God with all your heart,
- 38:28mind, soul, strength and love our neighbor as ourselves.
- 38:32We are called to be ambassadors, royal priests, chosen people set
- 38:37apart. We are God's masterpiece.
- 38:41We're not just a random creation.
- 38:46We are here for such a time as this.
- 38:50And I pray that you start to walk out God's purpose in your
- 38:55life. That you stop just drifting and
- 38:58being distracted and being discouraged.
- 39:00That you start to walk and purpose and walk with Christ and
- 39:04let Him guide your steps. That you seek Him with
- 39:07everything that you give him. All of you surrender to His
- 39:11lordship over your life's a Jesus I I surrender it all.
- 39:15I surrender the sin, I surrender the addictions.
- 39:17I surrender my wants, my desires, my selfish motives.
- 39:20God, I give you everything 'cause I want to walk in your
- 39:24purpose for me. Lord Jesus, you are what matters
- 39:29most. My God, give everything to Him.
- 39:36Following Jesus is simple but not easy and it's always worth
- 39:42it. Let me pray for you guys so we
- 39:45can get up out of here. Lord Jesus, I love you and God I
- 39:52praise you. You are so so good God, and the
- 39:58fact that you call us your masterpiece is incredible.
- 40:02To be called that by the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Creator of
- 40:05the universe, God that you dressed the lilies, Lord.
- 40:11But you care for us more. That's incredible.
- 40:15God, I just thank you. I thank you for your love.
- 40:18I thank you for your purpose. I thank you for your will.
- 40:21And God, I pray that we start to walk it out, that we trust in
- 40:24you with all our hearts, God, that we seek your understanding,
- 40:27that we trust in your will, God, and that we trust in the path
- 40:30that you have for us. I love you, Jesus, move.
- 40:33Let others see you in US. Let others join our heavenly
- 40:37family to put their faith in you.
- 40:38God and I pray for us to not be scary in our faith and be bold
- 40:43and be loving and be kind and reflect you Jesus and everything
- 40:46that we say, think or do. We love you.
- 40:48We pray all this in Jesus name. I love y'all.
- 40:52God bless.