LoveKey Church
His Child First
Hello and welcome to LoveKey Church! Today we continue our series called "First" and our message today is "His Child First". https://linktr.ee/lovekeymission info@lovekey.co.za
Locations & Times
Somerset West Primary After-Care Facility
2 Short St, Audas Estate, Cape Town, 7130, South Africa
Sunday 9:30 AM
LoveKey Church
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Be encouraged, inspired, and challenged with our LoveKey Church Message of the Week, and our Love Unlocks Live Sessions.Please subscribe and write a review.
https://linktr.ee/lovekeypodcast
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What is LoveKey Church All About?
Our name comes from the fact that we believe that the KEY to salvation (giving your life to Jesus, becoming a reborn Christian) is the revelation of how much God LOVES you. And the KEY to living the life He has for us is to LOVE him back. That’s why LoveKey Church is a local expression of a part of the body of Christ with a focus on creating a place, opportunity and atmosphere where all people can encounter God, align with His purposes in order to reign in life, and help others to do the same.
ENCOUNTER, ALIGN REIGN, HELP OTHERS DO THE SAME - easy way to remember it.
We believe the Bible is the word of God and we commit to be obedient to it with the leading of the Holy Spirit
We believe that marriage and family is God’s idea and His way of doing it is the right way and the best way. We want to see marriages thrive and families be healthy in Jesus. Because healthy families build a healthy nation - notice I didn’t say “perfect” families, I said healthy - whole in Jesus, reconciled in Jesus, redeemed by Jesus, focused on Jesus.
We stand for unity in the body of Christ - we can be diverse but not divided, and celebrate our different gifts and roles in the greater body of Christ. We really resonate with Jesus’ prayer in John 17 where he asks that the Father will make us all one as He and the Father are one so that the world will know that He sent Him. Our biggest evangelical tool is unity!
We want to help eradicate fatherlessness and shine a light on the crisis of cultural Christianity - South Africa has a physical fatherlessness rate of 62% and other forms of fatherlessness in the remaining percentage - it truly is a huge problem.
Cultural Christianity is where people grow up in a so-called Christian home or culture and believe that that makes them a Christian, when in fact it is very possible that the culture they’re in has adopted a version of God that is convenient, made it apart of their culture and they’re actually worshipping their culture.
We want this to be a multi-generational, multi-cultural church that lives to know Jesus and to make Him known.
ENCOUNTER, ALIGN REIGN, HELP OTHERS DO THE SAME - easy way to remember it.
We believe the Bible is the word of God and we commit to be obedient to it with the leading of the Holy Spirit
We believe that marriage and family is God’s idea and His way of doing it is the right way and the best way. We want to see marriages thrive and families be healthy in Jesus. Because healthy families build a healthy nation - notice I didn’t say “perfect” families, I said healthy - whole in Jesus, reconciled in Jesus, redeemed by Jesus, focused on Jesus.
We stand for unity in the body of Christ - we can be diverse but not divided, and celebrate our different gifts and roles in the greater body of Christ. We really resonate with Jesus’ prayer in John 17 where he asks that the Father will make us all one as He and the Father are one so that the world will know that He sent Him. Our biggest evangelical tool is unity!
We want to help eradicate fatherlessness and shine a light on the crisis of cultural Christianity - South Africa has a physical fatherlessness rate of 62% and other forms of fatherlessness in the remaining percentage - it truly is a huge problem.
Cultural Christianity is where people grow up in a so-called Christian home or culture and believe that that makes them a Christian, when in fact it is very possible that the culture they’re in has adopted a version of God that is convenient, made it apart of their culture and they’re actually worshipping their culture.
We want this to be a multi-generational, multi-cultural church that lives to know Jesus and to make Him known.
Offer to Serve
Offer to Serve Link
OFFER TO SERVE INVITEIf you feel led by God to be a part of this vision and mission, please contact us at info@lovekey.co.za or fill out our Offer to Serve form on the Church Center app, or online:
https://forms.gle/2rArnCEZJF6YsW5S6
Please Pray for our leaders, members, marriages, families and our nation
Partner with LoveKey Church
What You Partner With:
Thank you for partnering with our ministry so that we can: 1. reach more people with the gospel message 2. Positively impact marriages and families 3. Play a role in eradicating fatherlessness 4. Shine a light on the crisis of cultural Christianity 5. Minister Unity to the body of Christ 6. Sow into what we hope to be future social justice projects in our local community 6. Sow into trusted organizations preaching the gospel in Israel to Jews, and helping Jews relocate to Israel.- FIRM Foundation and One For Israel
https://lovekeymission.com/partnerEFT: Banking Details: LoveKey NPC, FNB, Current Account Number: 62824888525, Branch code: 250655
Card Payment link: https://pay.yoco.com/lovekey-npc
PayPal: partner@lovekey.co.za
Card Payment link: https://pay.yoco.com/lovekey-npc
PayPal: partner@lovekey.co.za
Ways to Partner
"First" Series
His Child First
MAIN MESSAGE:
FIRST - “HIS CHILD FIRST”
Main SERIES scripture:
Matthew 6:33: 'But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.'
Introduction:
Today our message is called “His Child First”. And we are going to look at how that core identity establishes our:
1. Position
2. Purpose,
3. Promises,
4. Provision,
when we are adopted as a child of God by being born again, born of God.
(1) Position:
I’m sure we’re all painfully aware of the class system in our nation and in other nations around the world. Some people are born poor, some are born rich. And for most, where you are born is where you will stay. Every now and again there will be a rags to riches story of someone who was able to rise above his station in life by working hard and catching a big break.
Similarly, we are all born spiritually poor. And if we are not born again, if we do not encounter the living God, give our lives to Him, align with purposes, we will not reign in this life the way we are created to reign. And you can’t give what you don’t have, so you won’t be able to help others.
True salvation positions us as children of God - it is definite, permanent and sure. We can and should have confidence in the fact that as born-again believers we are indeed children of God.
II Corinthians 6:16-18 - 'And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”'
John 1:10-13 (NLT) - 'He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. '
1 John 5:1-5 (NLT) - 'Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. '
In Christ we are His Child First - before my race, before my culture, before my status in life, my class, my background, my work, before I’m a spouse, before I’m a parent.
Galatians 3:26-29 - 'For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.' (also under promise)
Before I am white I am a son of God. Before I am a man, I am a son of God. Before I am Afrikaans, I am a son of God. Before I am a South African, I am a son of God. Before I am married, a father, a pastor, a singer, a songwriter, I am a son of God.
My identity is in Christ first. I am a son of God first. Because then my identity is sure and cannot waiver when my culture is attacked, when my marriage is in trouble, when I mess up as a parent, when I lose my voice, or only write bad songs, if I never have another hit song... Those things do not define my core being. Jesus does.
What is on your list that you need to make sure does not define your core identity?
Where do I live from? Do I live from this absolute certainty that I am a son of God? When I do, - Hebrews 4:16 - 'Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.'
As a child of God my position is on the altar…
Romans 12:1-2 - 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'
Dying to self did happen at salvation, but it is a daily choice to stay dead to self and alive in Christ. If we keep doing that, we will be more and more transformed into the image of Christ. We need to mindful to stay in this position of being a child of God. Stay a living sacrifice. Don’t change your position.
We have delegated authority given by Jesus:
Matthew 16:19 - 'And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”' (We spoke on this in our Reign In Life Series in the The Keys of the Kingdom messages)
We have access to powerful, supernatural weapons that are mighty in God:
2 Cor 10 and Eph 6
(2) Purpose:
As children of God we ALL have been given the same purpose of sharing what Jesus has done for us with the world. We find it in the so-called great commission in Matt 28 and Mark 16.
Matthew 28:18-20 - 'And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.'
Mark 16:15-18 - 'And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”'
You can hopefully see that we are given purpose and position in terms of delegated authority again
Are we getting up every day with this mission in mind? In March we are starting a series on our fourth value “Helping Others to do the Same” - where evangelizing will be part of our series. I’m trusting God to show us how we can effectively live out Matt 28 and Mark 16 in our context.
We have work to do, we have a mission that has been pre-destined by God for us to live out in relationship with Him.
John 15:16 - 'You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. '
Ephesians 2:10 - 'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.'
I believe these works include the specific purpose we each have. Works that God have designed us for. He has given us each natural and spiritual gifts and our unique personality, temperament, passions and dreams and it all helps us discover our taylormade purpose on this earth.
So do you see - we all have the general calling of discipling all nations and then within that broader calling we each have a specific way in which we are called to do that.
Do you know what yours is? Do you know your Why as Simon Sinek puts it?
We will help all our members answer these questions. We want to put all members through a membership course which will include a process of personality and gift testing that will help each of us to identify our purpose in life and in this church.
Our purpose is to praise God with our lives. We live to worship Him, adore Him, praise Him and thank Him daily. Revelation gives us a glimpse of what heaven will be like- we will be singing Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come, for eternity! We should start practising now already.
Many, many Psalms call us to praise God - do yourself a favour and read Ps95-100, one Psalm every day, out loud with passion and see what it does to your spirit man. This is just one example:
Psalms 95:6-7 - 'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:'
I Peter 2:9 - 'But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; '
And this ties in with the great commission because part of our praise is to others about our God - we tell them of His goodness, His love, and the salvation that He offers. And we testify about it.
We also instructed to live a life worthy of the calling/the purpose on our lives:
Ephesians 4:1-3 - 'I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. '
We are instructed to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called - so we need to know what the calling is, and then we need to be intentional in walking it out daily. Otherwise - we will be disobedient and we will miss out on what God has called us for - that which he has predestined us for.
(3) Promise:
When we are positioned as God’s legitimate children and we follow our purpose we can know that there is the promise of everlasting life with God in heaven. Jesus did what He did the way he did it for the glory that was set before Him. We can also know that there is a glorious day when we will step into eternity with our Father in Heaven, His son Jesus and Holy Spirit!
John 3:16-18 - 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. '
We have a promise that we will overcome this world by our faith in Jesus:
1 John 5:5 - “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?'
We have access to the covenant promise God made with Abraham:
Galatians 3:29 - 'And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.'
The promise of having peace in Christ despite experiencing the trouble of this world:
John 16:33 - 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”'
(4) Provision
God is our provider, Jehovah Jireh. He is the all-sufficient supplier of all things.
Matthew 6:31-34 - '“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.'
Ephesians 3:20-21 - 'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.'
II Corinthians 9:6-8 - 'But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. '
If God is able to give above and beyond, what would prevent Him from not doing it? From this scripture, I believe it is an attitude of the heart from our side. It ties in beautifully once again with our main series message - am I putting God first? Is he my first love? If He is, then I will lovingly obey and sow and be generous. And that heart position of obedience and generosity toward God, unlocks His ability to do far above what we can ask or think.
We have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places:
Ephesians 1:3 - 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, '
Part of our God given provision as children of God, we have part of the divine nature and this ties in with the promises of God again:
II Peter 1:3-4 - 'as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.'
In Jesus we have access to life, and life in abundance:
John 10:10 - 'The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
In Summary:
When we are saved, born-again believers, we become legitimate children of our Father in Heaven, and we need to live life from this truth - that I am “His Child First”. As His child I have:
1. Powerful Position
2. Pre-Destined Purpose
3. Precious Promises
4. Plethora of Provision
REFLECT AND RESPOND
FIRST - “HIS CHILD FIRST”
Main SERIES scripture:
Matthew 6:33: 'But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.'
Introduction:
Today our message is called “His Child First”. And we are going to look at how that core identity establishes our:
1. Position
2. Purpose,
3. Promises,
4. Provision,
when we are adopted as a child of God by being born again, born of God.
(1) Position:
I’m sure we’re all painfully aware of the class system in our nation and in other nations around the world. Some people are born poor, some are born rich. And for most, where you are born is where you will stay. Every now and again there will be a rags to riches story of someone who was able to rise above his station in life by working hard and catching a big break.
Similarly, we are all born spiritually poor. And if we are not born again, if we do not encounter the living God, give our lives to Him, align with purposes, we will not reign in this life the way we are created to reign. And you can’t give what you don’t have, so you won’t be able to help others.
True salvation positions us as children of God - it is definite, permanent and sure. We can and should have confidence in the fact that as born-again believers we are indeed children of God.
II Corinthians 6:16-18 - 'And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”'
John 1:10-13 (NLT) - 'He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. '
1 John 5:1-5 (NLT) - 'Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. '
In Christ we are His Child First - before my race, before my culture, before my status in life, my class, my background, my work, before I’m a spouse, before I’m a parent.
Galatians 3:26-29 - 'For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.' (also under promise)
Before I am white I am a son of God. Before I am a man, I am a son of God. Before I am Afrikaans, I am a son of God. Before I am a South African, I am a son of God. Before I am married, a father, a pastor, a singer, a songwriter, I am a son of God.
My identity is in Christ first. I am a son of God first. Because then my identity is sure and cannot waiver when my culture is attacked, when my marriage is in trouble, when I mess up as a parent, when I lose my voice, or only write bad songs, if I never have another hit song... Those things do not define my core being. Jesus does.
What is on your list that you need to make sure does not define your core identity?
Where do I live from? Do I live from this absolute certainty that I am a son of God? When I do, - Hebrews 4:16 - 'Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.'
As a child of God my position is on the altar…
Romans 12:1-2 - 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'
Dying to self did happen at salvation, but it is a daily choice to stay dead to self and alive in Christ. If we keep doing that, we will be more and more transformed into the image of Christ. We need to mindful to stay in this position of being a child of God. Stay a living sacrifice. Don’t change your position.
We have delegated authority given by Jesus:
Matthew 16:19 - 'And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”' (We spoke on this in our Reign In Life Series in the The Keys of the Kingdom messages)
We have access to powerful, supernatural weapons that are mighty in God:
2 Cor 10 and Eph 6
(2) Purpose:
As children of God we ALL have been given the same purpose of sharing what Jesus has done for us with the world. We find it in the so-called great commission in Matt 28 and Mark 16.
Matthew 28:18-20 - 'And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.'
Mark 16:15-18 - 'And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”'
You can hopefully see that we are given purpose and position in terms of delegated authority again
Are we getting up every day with this mission in mind? In March we are starting a series on our fourth value “Helping Others to do the Same” - where evangelizing will be part of our series. I’m trusting God to show us how we can effectively live out Matt 28 and Mark 16 in our context.
We have work to do, we have a mission that has been pre-destined by God for us to live out in relationship with Him.
John 15:16 - 'You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. '
Ephesians 2:10 - 'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.'
I believe these works include the specific purpose we each have. Works that God have designed us for. He has given us each natural and spiritual gifts and our unique personality, temperament, passions and dreams and it all helps us discover our taylormade purpose on this earth.
So do you see - we all have the general calling of discipling all nations and then within that broader calling we each have a specific way in which we are called to do that.
Do you know what yours is? Do you know your Why as Simon Sinek puts it?
We will help all our members answer these questions. We want to put all members through a membership course which will include a process of personality and gift testing that will help each of us to identify our purpose in life and in this church.
Our purpose is to praise God with our lives. We live to worship Him, adore Him, praise Him and thank Him daily. Revelation gives us a glimpse of what heaven will be like- we will be singing Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come, for eternity! We should start practising now already.
Many, many Psalms call us to praise God - do yourself a favour and read Ps95-100, one Psalm every day, out loud with passion and see what it does to your spirit man. This is just one example:
Psalms 95:6-7 - 'Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:'
I Peter 2:9 - 'But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; '
And this ties in with the great commission because part of our praise is to others about our God - we tell them of His goodness, His love, and the salvation that He offers. And we testify about it.
We also instructed to live a life worthy of the calling/the purpose on our lives:
Ephesians 4:1-3 - 'I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. '
We are instructed to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called - so we need to know what the calling is, and then we need to be intentional in walking it out daily. Otherwise - we will be disobedient and we will miss out on what God has called us for - that which he has predestined us for.
(3) Promise:
When we are positioned as God’s legitimate children and we follow our purpose we can know that there is the promise of everlasting life with God in heaven. Jesus did what He did the way he did it for the glory that was set before Him. We can also know that there is a glorious day when we will step into eternity with our Father in Heaven, His son Jesus and Holy Spirit!
John 3:16-18 - 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. '
We have a promise that we will overcome this world by our faith in Jesus:
1 John 5:5 - “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?'
We have access to the covenant promise God made with Abraham:
Galatians 3:29 - 'And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.'
The promise of having peace in Christ despite experiencing the trouble of this world:
John 16:33 - 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”'
(4) Provision
God is our provider, Jehovah Jireh. He is the all-sufficient supplier of all things.
Matthew 6:31-34 - '“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.'
Ephesians 3:20-21 - 'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.'
II Corinthians 9:6-8 - 'But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. '
If God is able to give above and beyond, what would prevent Him from not doing it? From this scripture, I believe it is an attitude of the heart from our side. It ties in beautifully once again with our main series message - am I putting God first? Is he my first love? If He is, then I will lovingly obey and sow and be generous. And that heart position of obedience and generosity toward God, unlocks His ability to do far above what we can ask or think.
We have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places:
Ephesians 1:3 - 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, '
Part of our God given provision as children of God, we have part of the divine nature and this ties in with the promises of God again:
II Peter 1:3-4 - 'as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.'
In Jesus we have access to life, and life in abundance:
John 10:10 - 'The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
In Summary:
When we are saved, born-again believers, we become legitimate children of our Father in Heaven, and we need to live life from this truth - that I am “His Child First”. As His child I have:
1. Powerful Position
2. Pre-Destined Purpose
3. Precious Promises
4. Plethora of Provision
REFLECT AND RESPOND