Submitted by admin on Mon, 12/27/2010 - 7:46am
MP3 File:
The Gift We Become
This month we've been looking at "The Gift"—not only the gift that God gave to the world when he sent his Son, but the gifts that we receive, the gifts we give, and today: the gift we become.
Today's message is about potential. About the future. About what is possible when we allow God to have his way in our lives.
Phil 3:12-14 (NIV) 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Eph 1:11-12 (NIV) 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Eph 1:11 (MSG) 11-12 It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
1. What you are now does not reflect what you will become. Today does not need to define tomorrow!
Your handicaps—past or present—do not need to limit you; you can rise above your disadvantages. With God's help you can do what seems impossible to you. If you decide to follow Jesus, if you learn to listen to his leading, and if you dedicate yourself to hard work and determination, you will rise above your handicaps.
When
he was only eight years old, Glenn Cunningham was horribly burned in a school
house fire. His legs were burned so badly that the doctors thought the best way
to save him was to amputate his legs. It was 1917 and they didn't have the
advanced burn treatments available today. Glenn was so distressed by their
recommendation, though, that his parents wouldn't permit it. The doctors
predicted that if he survived, Glenn probably would never walk again—and if he
walked, he wouldn't be able to walk normally.
Glenn, however, was a determined kid.
After nearly two years of hard work and therapy, he began to walk again. He also
had faith, and his favorite verse became: "But they that wait upon the LORD
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isa 40:31, KJV).
In time, Glenn Cunningham became one
of the greatest American milers of all time. In 1932 and 1936 he became a
member of the U.S. Olympic teams. He was named the top amateur athlete in the
U.S. in 1933. He became world record holder for the mile and indoor world
records for the mile and 1500 m.
The experts said he would never walk
again. They were ready to give up.
Some people are a lot like those
experts. They look at their set-backs or problems or disadvantages, and they
don't believe there's any hope. They give up. Without asking God what he wants,
they put limits on what God might to do in their lives.
What
you are now does not reflect what you will become. God has more in store
for you than you can imagine. He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Eph 3:20).
With God in you, your handicaps do not need to limit you.
On the other hand, the advantages you currently possess do not guarantee what you will accomplishment or how successful you may become.
Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and the phonograph, said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up... What it boils down to is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration."
Any one of us can throw away wonderful, God-given opportunities if we lack the faith or the discipline to use what God has given us. We can waste all our advantages if we fail to trust God and obey him.
God offered the Promised Land to the Israelites, but they couldn't believe it was possible. The writer of Hebrews tells us: "they were not able to enter [the land], because of their unbelief" (Heb 3:19).
2. You are a work in progress. God's not finished with you yet. With his help, you can become something much more than you ever have been. And what you become is your gift to God.
You haven't yet arrived. You are on a spiritual journey. We are all on a spiritual journey! We have not yet arrived at our destination.
Along the way on this journey we are to encourage one another—celebrating each other's progress, lifting those who stumble, supporting those who grow exhausted, looking forward to the finished product.
Maybe at one time or another you've lived in an unfinished house. The basement was unfinished or perhaps the second floor. Maybe you wanted to add a bedroom. You lived in it, but it wasn't complete. This describes us as Christians—we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16). We have the presence of God dwelling within us, but he's not finished with us yet. God has great designs for us.
Phil 3:12-14. God has a purpose—a plan for your life. You have great potential because God has given it to you. God put you here on earth for a reason. You are saved by God's grace for a reason.
And so God gives special abilities. Talents. Spiritual gifts. But your call is still a work in progress. Your purpose for being is still being fulfilled.
Becoming something more than you are right now means that you have a God-given future—something he has called you to, something you can look forward to.
3. You are meant to be significant. You are called to do significant things. God's plan is that you grow and develop and mature into a place of significance and meaning.
What or who is truly significant? The human definition of significance may be quite different from God's.
If you watch ABC's Entertainment Tonight, you can catch the news on all the Hollywood stars—the movies they're making...the rehab programs they're in, the affairs they're having, the troubles they're going through. Lindsey Lohan is young and pretty and famous, but that's not what makes her significant.
Who is truly significant? Is it the politician...because he runs government programs? Is it the military general...because he wins wars? Is it the explorer...because he discovers new territories?
Those things impress the world. But the human definition of success and significance is not the same as God's. In God's eyes, every human being is significant because he or she is created in the image of God. And the more we become like him, the more eternal significance we have.
Romans 8:28-30 (NIV) 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, [NASB: conformed to the image of His Son] that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Even as Christians, we have difficulty sorting all this out. Who was most significant? Was it Charles Spurgeon? Or the anonymous praying saints who, behind the closed doors of the prayer room, interceded for his ministry? In God's eyes, both were tools in his hand, both were necessary to his plan, and both were significant!
In our limited view, however, we see only what seems more significant on the surface. And yet something seemingly small or hidden beneath the surface can have enormous impact.
History tells how Richard III of England was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field during the "War of the Roses," a civil war in England in the 16th century. It was considered a defining moment in English history. King Richard lost his horse during the battle and subsequently lost the battle and his life. A hundred years later, William Shakespeare put the story into a play. You've heard the famous line: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" [Act V, Scene 4[8] from the Shakespeare play Richard III, c. 1591.] Though history says his horse was mired in the mud, a proverb became attached to the story saying the king's horse fell because its horseshoe came off. [From Wikipedia]
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
What is significant may not always be obvious on the surface. And the significance God has in mind for you has far more to do with eternity and things unseen than what this world celebrates as significant.
4. Your faith can shape your future. You become more of what God wants you to be when you learn to trust him more. Let his life fill your heart and his words fill your head...
Prov 4:23 (TEV) Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.
As you enter the new year, you can become more than you've been in the past. You can become more loving; become more like Jesus; become more joyful; become more focused; become more self-disciplined.
At the end of your life when you stand before the throne, God won't ask you why you couldn't have been more like somebody else. He won't say, "Why couldn't you have been more like Billy Graham? Why couldn't you have been as loving as Mother Teresa? Why weren't you more like Pastor Fred?"
God won't ask you those kind of questions, but he could ask you, "Did you become the best you could be?" [Put your name in the question: Were you the best ____________ you could be?]