40/7- 'Sup with That?
40/7
IF God loves me…
Job + Health + Relationship
GodLoves M
e
IF…
Why…?
Moralism!
He's punishing me…
He's punishing me…
(Jesus took all our punishment)
I'm not good enough…
I'm not good enough…
(Good luck with that!)
That's not fair, God!
(Who saidGod is fair?)
That's not fair, God!
Every hardship is an Opportunity to
Grow in your faithAnd become what you were
Created to be
What you don't get to choose:
What you get to choose:
Your ResponseDetermines God's activity
In your life
4 3 Reasons:
- Trial- Discipline
- Circumstances of Life
Where we gonna get grub?
Where we gonna get grub?
Jesus said this to test him, for he knew what he would do
- John 6:6
Worried, scared of the crowdAnxious about what to do
Worried, scared of the crowdAnxious about what to do
Jesus said this to test him, for he knew what he would do
- John 6:6
Peirazo- tempt, try, test
Peirazo- tempt, try, test
Satan: tempt with the goalof causing failure and sin
Peirazo- tempt, try, test
God: Test with the goal ofCausing the Growth
Of your Faith
5,000 Fed with 5 + 2
Disciples Learn:
Things are toughWe're in need
Jesus has got this!
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of
various kinds
Peirazo!
…for you know that the testing (proving) of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
The trial contains a gift,An opportunity to become
What you wish you were
Careful:
Shortcut the process
Complain my way through it
Don't turn it into a"Poor me!"
Don't get bitter
God may not have caused itBut the trial is evidence
That God is workingIn your life
Don't miss the blessingBecause you're busy
Cussing the problem
Marriage…not fair!
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives
generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith…
- James 1:2-6
Your ResponseDetermines your blessing
Don't curse what God is using to bless
Every hardship is an Opportunity to
Grow in your faithAnd become what you were
Created to be
IF you choose to Respond in faith…
3 Reasons:
- Trial- Discipline
- Circumstances of Life
The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone
he accepts as his son.
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?
If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes
discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and
daughters at all.
Proof of God's love
Which Parent…?
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!
They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good,
in order that we may share in his holiness.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it- Hebrews 12:6-11
Options
- Ignore- Get angry
- Justify
Options
- Ignore- Get angry
- Justify
Seek, Confess, Repent, Grow
…it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace
for those who have been trained by it
Willful, ongoing sinGod needs to weed it out
- Conviction- Messages- Discipline
Continued to lie to customersCustomer came back angry
Threatened to sueLost job
Repented instead of ignoring
Hardship= Search Heart
3 Reasons:
- Trial- Discipline
- Circumstances of Life
Creation:
Idyllic
Fall:
Cain kills Abel
Fall:
Cain kills Abel
What did Abel do wrong?Is that fair?
Affected by The Fall:
Free WillNatureHealth
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or
his parents, that he was born blind?”
Moralism
Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him…"
Not everything that happens Has a Spiritual reason
But everything that happensHas the potential for
Divine Purpose
…Jesus spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva.
Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to
him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”
So he went and washed and came back seeing- John 9:1-3, 6-7
Who sinned?
No specific sin
But Circumstances of LifeIn a Fallen world
Circumstances of LifeCreates Opportunity
For God to Show Up
Based on our Response
Every hardship is an Opportunity to
Grow in your faithAnd become more like
What you were Created to be
I can't control:
Their behaviorNature's brokenness
My own Fallenness
But I can choose my response
- God's not punishing you
- God's not punishing you
- It's not about being Good enough
- God's not punishing
- It's not about being Good enough
- God is absolutely unfair
For many of us
Hard times are how we Come to know Jesus