Be Connected

At the heart of every person is the need to be connected. Without connections, nothing of importance has ever been accomplished. God made His desire for us to be connected from the very beginning, connecting us with Him through His image and likeness for the purpose of fellowship and being connected. God created the family for us. Breaking these God-given connections is the means by which the enemy has been able to destroy people.

1. You were born to be part of something greater than yourself. Think of how many things have been created to fulfill our need for connection, most of which serve only as distractions from what God intends. God created His family for every single person. You have a need to contribute as well – it’s abnormal to just receive – yet this is what society tells us we need.

Galatians 3:26 – “Son” by definition means you are part of the family.
John 1:12 – becoming a part of a family isn’t automatic. You become a member of the family not at conception, but when a parent assumes responsibility for the child – when there is reception. Everything we do is a shadow of God’s kingdom.
Ephesians 2:19 – any person can come to God and be granted the legal right to become a child of God through adoption. Once you come through Christ, you are no different from the saints, a member of God’s household. Religion (man’s way) tells us that a saint is a position, voted in (or out) based on works! If God met your need to be part of something larger than yourself, specifically God’s family, then why would you allow someone to convince you not to be connected to the Body of Christ?

2. God supplies nearly all you need through His family. I say “nearly” because some things are outside the family that will come to family by legal right. But realize that you can’t have the benefits of being part of a family under your own terms. We’ve learned that another name for a family is the Body. Just like jewelry is an enhancement to the Body, it isn’t part of the Body, or a necessity.
Ephesians 4:11-16 – The work of the leader is to equip and edify the Body for order, design, and purpose. God instructs to look at the fruit of the leader to discern for ourselves if that person is truly a leader and following God’s purpose. Any gift that God has given won’t be afraid of your questions, poking or prodding! We are all knit together to supply other parts of the Body. Being a producing member of the Body is your protection and your guarantee of provision. Just as in the physical body, not every member plays the same part; you shouldn’t mistake the child for the parents. No matter how long you live, a child can never close the gap that should exist between children and parents.
1 Peter 5:1 – Ministry gifts were given by God to men to answer the needs of, provide oversight, and to serve as an example to the people of God. No one can make it alone. Don’t use the excuse of being burned by church once as a reason for not finding another church Body to be part of!

It's for You

You are called by God – answer! Believers should look like, act like and live like Jesus did in the world (John 17:18 NKJV). All believers have been called to preach the Word. It is important for believers to know where the call comes from. First, the call to preach comes from God (Matthew 28:18-20). God is calling believers to preach His Word. You have all the authority and power to answer the call because God is with us always, all the time.

Second, the call to preach comes from the unsaved (Acts 16:9). There are people in the world who want to get out of the condition they are in – they want to be delivered, they are looking for truth and they are looking for answers. This is who believers should spend time with preaching the Word. “Preaching” is simply telling your story. Don’t try to pick the fruit that is not ripe. You should pick the fruit that is ripe or ready to receive your testimony.

Third, the call to preach comes straight from hell (Luke 16:19-31). The Word says come now and don’t delay. In torment, the rich man who was in hell recognized the beggar who was carried into Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man cried for mercy for himself and his family – but it was too late. People who are not saved are taking a huge gamble on tomorrow. They risk eternal blessing by thinking they have the next day or the next year. Believers will have to answer to the Lord for their failure to answer the call. The question that comes from God is: What have you done with what you’ve heard? This is the power by which people get saved.

All believers are called to preach (Romans 1:14). Believers should not be ashamed to preach the Gospel of Christ because it is the power of God. The rich man knew the power of the Gospel of Christ. Believers have the power of God in us right now. We have the power of God in our mouths. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation. Salvation is healing, deliverance, preservation, safety and soundness. This is the cure for all of the woes in the world right now. We who are saved have the power of God in our mouths now to cure any and every woe in the world right now. Everyone needs salvation. Salvation has to do with us being delivered now, as well as in the time to come. Salvation is the power to change people’s lives right now.

The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation to everyone. You are to testify that what God did for you, He can do for anyone else. Your job is to open your mouth and let the power of God some out, and once you do that, people will get help because they will receive the power of God in them for salvation. Every single believer is called, anointed and appointed to preach. Believers should be telling people that if God did it for me, He can do it for you. Your job is to open your mouth and let the power of God come out, and then people will receive the power of God in them for salvation and deliverance.

It is the body of Christ’s job to preach to the world (Acts 8:1-4). It is the ministry gift’s job to teach the Word. If believers do not answer the call to preach, people will not know that there is more to life than what they know, and they will not know that they can live by faith and not by sight. A believer telling his or her story to the unsaved is what peaks people’s interest and provokes their curiosity. It makes people think that what God did for you He can do for them too.

God’s plan for salvation cannot happen without us (Romans 10:13-15). The people in hell are counting on us to save their loved ones. If you are in Christ, you will be about making life better for those around you. You are not called to give sermons; you are called to tell your story. You do not get people saved; they are saved by the Holy Spirit. Your call is to preach your own personal story. Your story gives the Holy Spirit something to work with. You are the message; you don’t have the message.

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:20). God has given us the Word of reconciliation, so we have to leave the judging of sin in others alone. The Bible says that “we are ambassadors for Christ.” This means that we represent Christ, but we don’t do it on our own power. Christ makes the way for us. God is using the Christ in us to reconcile the world back to Him. Your message has nothing to do with sin -- it has to do with healing, deliverance, preservation, safety and soundness.

Who do you say that Jesus is? Believers represent God based on who we say Jesus is. We have to operate like we are the only Christ that people in the world are going to see. Is God in trouble? Are we representing God falsely or correctly? In other words, as ambassadors for Christ, we have to assume that we are the only God people can see in their lives because then it is on us to demonstrate God’s power to all who see.

God is not the problem; Satan is the problem (Acts 10:38). Believers are here to make life better for people in the world. You are equipped just like Jesus. You have the same power as Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in you with the power to make life better for people. The answer is the power of God in you, which is your story. In order for believers to answer the call, we must have God firmly established in our lives. We must sanctify God in our hearts (1 Peter 3:15). Believers are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13-14) We make people hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. Believers are the message (Acts 1:8). We are the light of the world, and light destroys darkness.

Sitting Pretty

What comes to mind when you hear the term “sitting pretty?” Someone described sitting pretty is being in the “catbird seat.” Essentially, we are seated in a position in which we could literally go no higher. Ephesians 2:4-6 tells us we have been made alive together through Christ, raised up together into a vaulted, highly exalted position. We weren’t given a choice; God doesn’t ask our opinion about it!

1. Being in Christ is a position of advantage and favor. If God has placed you in this position, you must realize that you’re not sitting there along, or on your own merit, because you did something to deserve it. If you accept this reality, it will change the way you operate, think, speak, and act, and move you toward operating in the Word. Advantage is having the upper hand, but favor is only from God. “Favor” defined is God exercising His divine, holy power in our hearts so that we can live like Him (the life of God). The moment you enter a relationship with Christ, we are at the table of position and favor!
Ephesians 1:19-23 – Jesus’ resurrection power is present and in us. What is the connotation of Jesus’ being “far above all things?” When Jesus was sat at the right hand of God in the seat of authority and power – we were sat there, too! God sees us seated together with Christ in heavenly places, it doesn’t matter what limitations we see! The biggest obstacle to this position lays in our own acceptance.
Revelations 3:20 – This passage is often directed toward sinners. Reading further, we actually see the call is directed to the churches. Jesus seeks intimacy with us, as joint heirs.

2. Christ frees us to glorify God [by the way He walked and lived]. Get busy receiving and accepting this rightful position! We are no longer in bondage to the conditions around us. As ambassadors for Christ we are able to walk freely and unencumbered, able to glorify God so that others can see and be drawn from darkness into light.
Romans 6:4 – We are supposed to live and walk in the newness of life just as Christ did.
Exodus 33:1-3; Numbers 13:26 – God wanted the people free to worship Him. Throw off the victim mentality! God told the children of Israel up front that there were inhabitants in the land. But he also said not to worry; He would take care of all.

3. Exchange your focus and attitude for God’s.
Psalm 1:1-3 – start looking down on your conditions – not in a condescending way, but set above and triumphant over any challenge.
1 John 2:6 – Too many people claim to be Christians but never come to know Him.