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HOW TO BE USED BY GOD
Part 1 of 2 03-27-11 Sermon
Last week I told you how you can become a highly ineffective Christian. Hopefully none of you want to be like that, so this week I want to begin a two part message on how you can be used by God.
You were not put on this planet by accident. God made you. God formed you. God created you. God designed you for a purpose. You’re not here by accident. God has never made anything He didn’t have a purpose for and He has a purpose for you too. God told Jeremiah this in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work.” The same is true for you. Before you were born, God made plans for your life. He has a special work for you to do. He has a special purpose for you to fulfill and only you can fulfill that purpose. If you don’t do the special work God made you to do it won’t get done because you were uniquely made for that work.
The word for that special work that God has for your life is your mission, your life mission. And every person has a mission in this world from God. In John 17 Jesus said, “In the same way that you (God, the Father) gave Me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world.” There’s no greater thrill than fulfilling your life mission. And there is no greater feeling than the feeling of being used by God to make a difference in someone else’s life and in this world.
Unfortunately, most people never experience that feeling. Most people do not fulfill their mission in life. They don’t even discover it. They go all through life wondering, “Why am I here? What am I here for?” Why is that?
Because God's mission for your life is not automatic. You must choose it. In fact, the Bible says there are three conditions for being used by God. Three conditions for fulfilling the mission that God put you here on this earth to fulfill.
Today we’re going to look at them. How to be blessed and how to be used by God.
I. I must abandon ALL DISTRACTIONS.
That means all the things that are unimportant in life, I’ve got to shove them to the side and focus on what’s really most important in my life. Jesus said this in Luke 9:62 “Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” There are a lot of distractions in life that can keep you from God's best, God's purpose, God's mission for your life. Thousands of distractions in life. But it boils down to four really big ones. These are the four biggest distractions in life that will cause you to miss God's plan and purpose for your life.
1. The desire to get rich. If you make that the primary goal of your life you will miss God's plan and purpose. Jesus said real clearly “You cannot serve God and money at the same time.” He didn’t say you couldn’t be wealthy. He just said you can’t make that the number one goal of your life. If your number one goal in life is to make a lot of money and retire, you have already missed God's purpose. He didn’t put you here just to get rich. He didn’t put you here just to retire. He put you here to fulfill his plan and purpose for your life.
2. The second biggest distraction in life is wallowing in past mistakes and failures. We all make mistakes. We remember the past and we rehearse it over and over. You can’t focus on past mistakes – guilt and shame and all of that – and focus on God's plan for your life at the same time. God says, “Let it go. Get over it. I want to forgive it and let’s get on with My plan and purpose for your life.” You cannot wallow in past hurts and past guilt. Let it go.
3. The third thing that will distract you from God's plan is worrying about what other people think. The Bible says that’s a trap. In fact, it’s a big waste of time because when you start worrying about what other people think you start comparing – America’s favorite indoor sport. We compare everything. God says don’t do it because: first, you will find that you are doing better than some people and you get full of pride and ego, or two, you find people who are doing better than you and you will get depressed or discouraged, envious, jealous. Don’t do it. Don’t compare yourself. You are unique. And God has a unique plan for your life and you will miss it if you’re always looking at what God is doing in everybody else’s life.
4. The fourth distraction that keeps you from discovering God's plan for your life is your plans. Your plans can be a distraction from God's plans. Your dreams, your wishes, your goals, your ambitions, all your hopes and desires. You think if you figure out what you want to do with your life and you do it, you’ll be happy. Wrong. You’ll be unsatisfied until you find the purpose for which God made you. And God knows that only in fulfilling the niche for which He wired you will you find ultimate fulfillment, ultimate meaning. You can make all the plans in the world and they won’t ultimately satisfy you. God's mission for your life is not something you can add on to your great goals and ambitions and dreams.
We need to pray like David did in Psalm 119 “Turn me away from wanting any other plan but Yours.” Have you ever prayed that prayer? Have you said, “God, I don’t want anybody else’s plan for my life. I just want Your plans.” Because the main reason people miss their mission is they’re unwilling to give up their own plans. They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to serve God and self at the same time. It won’t work that way.
Hebrews 12:1 says this “…We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back.” Anything that gets in the way. Do away with it, discard it. Abandon it. Let go of it. Anything that would keep you from being what God put you on earth to become.
That brings up two very important questions:
1. How badly do you want to be what God meant for you to be? How badly do you want to fulfill the mission that you were created to fulfill? “I’d like to do it in my spare time, when it’s convenient...” No. How badly do you want it? Do you want it more than anything else?
2. What are you willing to give up in order to get it? Because you will have to give up something. You cannot do God's mission for your life and hold on to everything else that everyone around you wants you to do. You can’t fulfill everyone else’s dream plus do what God wants you to do. You will never experience the blessing of God in a great way until you totally abandon yourself to His will, His call, His purpose, His mission for your life. You just say, “I’m selling out, God. You made me so let me do what You put me here to do on this earth.”
Why in the world should I do that? Why should I choose to abandon all these other things that are not important and choose God's will for my life? Because it’s the only way to really live.
Jesus said, “Only those who throw away their lives (there’s the abandonment part) for My sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live!” If you want to live the life that you’re meant to live you’ve got to give up your plans and abandon it all for the sake of His call on your life.
If I really want God’s blessing on my life, and I want Him to use me and I want to fulfill my mission, first of all I have to abandon all the trivia, the stuff that the world thinks is very cool but ultimately isn’t going to last. I abandon all distractions.
II. If I want God's blessing on my life I must Adopt GOD’S PURPOSE.
I have to adopt God's purpose for my life. That starts with a personal commitment. I say, “God, more than anything else I want Your will in my life. More than anything else I want to be what You made me to be. I want to do what You created me to do.” It starts with a complete commitment.
The Bible says this in Romans 6 “…give yourselves completely to God- every part of you… for you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for His good purposes.” When you adopt God's purpose for your life, your values and your priorities immediately get switched around. They change radically. Once you say God, “Your purpose is number one in my life.” All of a sudden the things that I used to think were really important are not so important any more. They all become secondary. It’s not like I’m forgetting them. They’re just secondary. And all the things that God values most become most important to me. What He says is important, I say is important. Everything else takes a back seat.
One of the best examples of this radical change in values is seen in a guy in the Bible named Paul. This is a guy who turns from a religious terrorist to becoming a follower of Christ. He was a Christ hater and he became a Christ follower in just an instant. And Paul understood the difference between what really matters and what doesn’t. He knew the difference between what was important and what was unimportant. He could clearly see I don’t want to give my life to something that’s going to last 10, 20, 30 years. I want to give my life to something that’s going to last for eternity.
Acts 20:24 Paul says, “The most important thing (there’s the priority) is that I...” get to retirement. No. That’s not what he says. “The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work the Lord Jesus gave me-- to tell people the Good News about God's grace.”
Notice what’s the most important priority in God's book? Once I become a follower of Christ, what’s the most important priority? To tell other people. If you have discovered that God has a plan and purpose for your life that He loves you and wants a relationship with you, God says, I want you to make as your priority telling that to other people. We are the ones who are to pass it on. Listen--Somebody told you. You’re supposed to tell other people. Telling the people the Good News about God.
As a parent you learn a very important parenting tool called repetition. If I want the kids to remember something you have to say it more than once. You have to repeat it over and over and over if you really want them to remember some instruction.
In the Bible Jesus has something so important to say that He says it five times. He says it five times in five different ways in five totally different settings. And it is recorded in five different books of the Bible - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts. It’s called the Great Commission. There are actually five great commissions and they all boil down to this phrase – go and tell. If I am a Christian, I am to share the Good News with other people. A non-sharing Christian is a contradiction. Kind of like jumbo-shrimp. How can you be big and small at the same time? How can you be a non-sharing, non-caring, non-witnessing Christian? Everybody in this room, if you’re a follower of Christ, you are a witness. The only question is are you a good one or are you a lousy one? You are representing Jesus Christ if you claim to be a Christian.
We have the greatest message in the world. It’s the Good News. Here’s the Good News that we’re supposed to share. 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 “Through Christ, God has made peace between us and Himself, (God is not mad at you. Because of what Jesus Christ did, God is not mad at you. That’s Good News.) and He gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with Him… So we have been sent to speak for Christ.” God has never made a person that He didn’t love. If you’re alive, He loves you. If you’re alive, He wants you to know Him and love Him. And because God cares, we must care. We must pass on this Good News so others can have a relationship with God. Everybody matters to God. Jesus Christ died on the cross. He let them stretch out His hands and nail him to the cross so He could say “This is how much I care. This is how much I care about you. And I want you to know it.”
You need to remember that all the people around you, your relatives, your neighbors, your co-workers every one of them have a God-shaped hole in their heart and only God can fill that hole. They may not know it but they have a hole in their heart that only God can fill. We try to fill that emptiness in our lives with a lot of things – sex, being popular, money, achievement, getting well known, all kinds of things. We try to fill the emptiness in our lives with something to give our life meaning but none of those things ultimately satisfy.
On the outside people may say, “I’m not interested in Jesus. I’m not into God.” But inside there is a hole in their heart and it’s a universal hunger. One thing I know is that every person I’ve met has a universal hunger for God. They may just not know it. It’s true all around the world and it doesn’t matter what background you were brought up whether you were religious or not. It’s there. It’s wired into your being.
You need to realize that no matter how resistant people seem to be, inside there is a hunger for God. You want to make your life count? Let me tell you the best investment of your time, the best investment of your money. The best investment of time and money is getting people into heaven. That’s going to make a difference not for ten years or fifty years or even a thousand years but for eternity. There is nothing more significant that you can do with your life. There is nothing more you can do to help a person than to get out of hell and into heaven. If you have helped one person get into heaven, your life has meaning because you have made an eternal difference in someone’s life. Nothing else you’re going to do in life, no achievement, will ever equal getting one person into heaven because they’ll be grateful for the rest of eternity.
Luke 16: 9 “Jesus said, ‘Use your worldly resources to benefit others and to make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven.’” What’s He talking about here – use your money to make friends. He’s not talking about buying a bunch of friends. He’s talking about making eternal friends. You use your time, your money, your energy, your efforts to help people find a relationship with God and in eternity you’re going to enjoy that relationship forever.
Our problem is we forget how good it is to be followers of Christ. We forget how good it is to feel forgiven, to have a purpose in life. We forget how lousy we felt when we were unbelievers.
When you don’t have Jesus in your life you’re constantly plagued by things like bitterness and anger and depression and loneliness and worry and stress because you’re living totally on your own strength and you don’t have anybody else helping you. You weren’t made to live that way. We forget what a good deal we got in on when we were forgiven and given a purpose for living and a home in heaven.
Nothing changes lives like Jesus Christ. This is why we abandon all distractions. This is why we stay focused because nothing is more important than the eternal destiny of people. What makes the difference is that one individual life that still needs to go from hopelessness to hope, from guilt to forgiveness, from bitterness to love, from no purpose to real purpose. That brings us to our third key.
If you want to be used by God, if you want God's blessing on your life you put out the trivia in your life and say God, Your purpose is what I’m going to adopt and then...
III. I must anticipate GOD’S HELP.
Whenever God asks you to do something He’s going to give you the power to do it. You can expect it, you can count on it, and you can depend on it. You should anticipate God's help.
Matthew 6:33 “God will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern.” In a crowd this size there are a lot of needs. No doubt. There are physical needs here, emotional needs, spiritual needs, relational needs, many needs in this room today. Do not focus on your need. Focus on God's purpose and plan and mission for your life. God says, “ If you put that as your primary concern I’ll take care of all your needs.” That’s His promise. And God does not lie.
You can do one of two things. Either you can work on meeting your needs or you can let God meet your needs. Who do you think will do a better job? You need to say, “God, I’m not going to focus on my needs. I’m going to focus on putting You first in my life, living for You, fulfilling my mission,” and God says, “Ok. Then I assume responsibility for all the needs in your life. If you give Me your life then all the responsibilities come with it and I will assume the needs of your life because you are putting Me first.”
God told Jeremiah this, “…Go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. Don’t be afraid of people for I will be with you. And I will take care of you.” You want to know why most people don’t fulfill their mission? They’re afraid. You want to know why most people never tell anybody about Jesus Christ? They’re afraid. “What will other people think?” God says, “I'll be with you,” and you lose your fear when God is near. When you realize the importance of sharing your faith you will lose your fear too. Love always triumphs over fear. If you really love people you don’t care about the fear. You tell them.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing something in spite of your fear. Courage is doing the thing you fear the most. Are you afraid to tell your neighbors about Christ? Do it anyway. Because you love them and you love God. Are you afraid to invite somebody at work to church or to our bible study, do it anyway. Because you love them and you love God. Love always beats fear. And they will be eternally grateful.
You don’t have to be a superstar for God to bless your life. You don’t have to be a superstar for God to use you. God uses very ordinary people. But you do have to do the thing that you fear. You have to move against your fear and you have to be persistent and share the Good News.
Lost and missing children flyers always get me. You can see bunches of them on the bulletin board as you go into Walmart. When I think of the parents whose hearts must be breaking, their children, their lost children are lost and not found.
God has millions of these in Tennessee alone. Lost children that He loves and He wants found and He wants brought home. In the next 365 days, 2.3 million Americans will die. And many of them will go into an eternity without hope. In the next 365 days, 54 million people from around the world will die and many will go into a Christ-less eternity.
On September 11th the people in the towers of the world trade center did not plan on what happened. The 300+ firefighters who went up the stairwells of the towers did not expect they would never see their colleagues or family members again. Neither did the many police who perished. God only knows how many were lost for eternity. We have no guarantees that our lives will not end just as abruptly someday. But we can have a guarantee that we will not be lost.
Prior to September 11th no one knew the name Todd Beamer. Since that infamous day, his name has become synonymous with heroism and faith. In the final moments of his life, this 32 year old businessman acknowledged his dependence on God by calling out to Him in prayer, a practice that for Todd was as natural as drawing a breath.
Even though his mom had taught Todd to pray the Lord’s Prayer when he was but a toddler, even though Todd had a bookmark with the Lord’s Prayer on it in his Tom Clancey novel, even though his home fellowship group was in the midst of a study of the Lord’s Prayer, the reason why Todd Beamer chose to end his life praying this most famous of all prayers was because it allowed him to seize the moment and acknowledge that the Lord was in control even though his personal world was as out of control as it could be. Todd abandoned all distractions, he adopted God’s purpose for his life, and he anticipated God’s help.
The Good News is only Good News if it gets there in time. When you start thinking about the eternal destinies of other people all of a sudden a lot of problems just seem kind of petty and pretty shallow. When you think about eternity in the balance, people need the Lord. You’re going to be in heaven, if you’re a believer, because somebody cared enough to tell you. Have you cared enough to tell anybody else? Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you? Will anybody say, “Thank you! I’m here because of you.” You are the only Christian some people know. God has intentionally put people around you that He wants you to share with about Him. Share the Good News. And part of your mission is to invite them into God's family.
The Bible says that God is looking for people to bless. God is looking for people to use. 2 Chronicles 16 “The eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward Him so that He can show His great power in helping them.” Will you be one of those people? Will you? Will you say, “Yes! I'll willing to abandon all the trivia, focus on adopting God's purpose for my life and expect God to help me.” Will you be one of those people? If so, God has made an incredible promise to you. If you’re willing to abandon what isn’t important and put His goal first in your life this is what Jesus said, “Let Me assure you (that means God guarantees it) that no one has ever given up anything (abandoned anything) for the love of Me and to tell others the Good News who won’t be given back a hundred times over. All these will be his here on earth and in the world to come he shall have eternal life.” God says anything you give up for Him, for His plan and purpose and for sharing the Good News with others, you will be rewarded one hundred times over. There is not a stock in the world that can give that kind of return. It is by far, the best investment of your life.
Prayer:
God wants to use you. That’s why He brought you here. You’re not here by accident. He wants to use you in this world to make a difference. You have four possible responses. Like Moses you can say, “Who, me?” Like Habbakuk you can say, “Why me?” Like Jonah you can say, “Not me!” Or like Isaiah you can say, “ Send me!” What’s your response going to be? What is distracting you from really being used by God? Will you abandon all distractions? Will you adopt God's purpose for your life? Will you anticipate His help? If so, pray this prayer,
“Father, God, I want You to bless me. I want You to use me. I want You to use me in greater ways than ever before. I want to abandon all distractions, focus on my mission. Help me to know what that is. I want to adopt Your purpose for my life as my top priority. What’s important to You is going to be important for me from now on. I thank You in advance that You’re going to be with me. I invite You to bring people into my life that You want me to tell about You. Make it natural and unpressured. Help me to be sensitive to the needs of others. I want somebody to be in heaven because of me. Help me to reach one more for Jesus. Here am I, send me. In Your name, I pray. Amen.”
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