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Abundant Life: This Year & Beyond A Look at 2015

Dec. 27, 2015

Matthew 7 Jesus said these words: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matt. 7:7-8 Does everyone receive? Does everyone who asks receive? Does everyone who asks receive exactly what they ask for? Do we ever receive something different than what we asked for? Do we ultimately or eventually receive what we ask for? Is it possible that what we receive in the meantime may test us to see if we keep asking? Is it possible that what we receive in the meantime may prepare us to receive what we first asked for? Jesus used 3 different words: ask, seek, knock. He is showing us that this is a process, a recurring event, a habit, a lifestyle – and that it’s characterized by passion, persistence, urgency, desperation. Luke 18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. Luke 18:1-8 Jesus is talking about anything you ask God for, whatever it is. Jesus told the parable to show that we should always pray and not give up. James 4 Verse 2: You do not have because you do not ask God. 1- We need to keep asking. John 16:24 – “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.” Until NOW. Verse 3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 2- We need to ask with the right motives. Verse 7: Submit yourselves to God. 3- We need to ask according to God’s will, not just our own. Verse 7: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 4- We need to resist the temptation to stop believing or give up.

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Verse 8: Come near to God and he will come near to you. 5- We need to focus on our relationship with God more than anything. Verse 8: Wash your hands and purify your hearts. 6- We need to confess sin and anything that is hindering our prayers. 1 John 3:21-22 – We have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. Verse 10: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 7- We need to humble ourselves before God. John 16:24 – “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Good, Bad, Ugly Look at these words: health / blessing / provision / career / marriage / family / stability / growth / maturity. Are these things you would want? Are they things you would ask God for? Are they things you believe God wants for you? Are they things you believe you will receive when you ask for them? Look at these words: sickness / lack / unemployment / loneliness / tragedy / difficulty / pain / struggle / uncertainty. Are these things you would want? Are they things you would ask God for? Are they things you believe God wants for you? Do you think they might be things God has for you? Job 3:25 – “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.” A.W. Tozer: “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” Are you okay with God allowing or even bringing hurt, difficulties, trials, testing into your life? Are you okay with either receiving exactly what you ask for OR receiving what God has for you? Are you okay with trusting God with every part of your life? True Abundance True abundance is found in loving Him and trusting Him with everything – no matter what. When we ask God in faith, we may receive exactly what we’re asking for, or we may receive something different than what we’re asking for – but it’s what the Father has for us. What about you? If you haven’t yet asked God: Begin today – ask Him today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. If you haven’t yet received what you asked God for: check your motives, pray according to His will, come near to Him, get rid of anything that’s in the way, humble yourself before Him, and don’t give up. If you have received what you asked God for: rejoice, let it build your faith, start all over again! Abundant life this year and beyond is possible, conceivable, feasible, visible, receivable… and it is God’s desire for you!