Today we will learn that You arent defined by what you do, you are defined by what God calls you to. In the third week Marcus, or Subject Three, defined himself by how well he played basketball. That was his thing–what he thought he was good at. Thats who he thought he was. But he learned that he isnt defined by what he does, but rather by what God calls him to. We saw in todays video that Marcus was defining himself by how well he plays basketball that was his thing, that was who he thought he was. What is that for you? Is it playing music, school, computers, sports? Tell your neighbor about your favorite hobby or thing to do. Etc. For me, its these three things:
Now that weve told our neighbors about our favorite hobbies and things to do, we have to see what the Bible says about that.
16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he calledhis holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. (Ephesians 1:16-18)
To find our purpose we must PRAY CONSTANTLY. If youre not praying constantly, you may be going in the wrong direction and not even realizing it. Have you ever gotten lost? Do you know why people get lost? They get lost because theyre not paying attention. Prayer is a way we pay attention to God. I know when I do not pray more than two or three times a day, Im spending most of my day lost. I forget who I am and where Im going and then I make decisions that are totally wrong and bad for me. Lets underline that in our notes. We have to ask God for SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND INSIGHT. We have to ask God for UNDERSTANDING THE CONFIDENT HOPE. Tell your neighbor about what you know God called you to. About 13 years ago, I was in college and I was praying that God help me pass calculus. Calculus is math without the numbers. I learned that Im really good with math when there are numbers, but when I have to do math that involves letters, I am so bad. So I was praying to God to give me wisdom and insight into math without numbers when deep down in my prayers, I knew that God was calling me to do something else other than becoming an engineer. God said in my heart, you are not good at this because youre heart is not into it. You need to study really hard and pass and do your best, but there is something, Jonathan, that I want you to do and its better than you would ever thought It was there that I decided one day I would become a pastor.
19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of Gods power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at Gods right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything elsenot only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. (Ephesians 1:19-23)
The reason we pray constantly for understanding and wisdom and insight is so that we can witness how Gods power is moving in our lives. Lets look at what it says in verses 19-20: This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead. UNDERLINE THAT. When you are called to do something not only are you supernaturally good at it. You are discovering things you never knew was inside of you. Let me give you an example of this: when I was a kid growing up, around youre age, I was so bad musically my parents told me, Son, lets talk youre awful at music, its time for you to quit. My parents never told me to quit anything, except music. But when God called me to be the pastor of this church, He gave me a mighty power to play an instrument and sing. I cant even sing in the shower, but God gave me power that raises the dead to life and it allows me to sing! God is calling each and every one of you, it doesnt matter how old you are, or how much money you have or who you know, to do something so absolutely incredible that people everywhere will know that Jesus is giving your life purpose that cannot be hindered or denied. YOU ARE CALLED BY GOD WITH A DIVINE PURPOSE. Lets go to our memory verse today. This is one of my most favorite verses in all of the Bible. It comes form the book of Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5 and it goes like this: Before I made you in your mothers womb, I chose you.
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