AGS Kentrikos, Robertson

This last while the Lord has been talking to me a lot about the will of God. And last week we learned how the Will of God is found in the framework of the word. And the last while the Holy Spirit is starting to challenge me about the idea, do I have peace in the will of God?
Because many times we pray for the will of God to be done and for the Lord to do what He wants to do, but if we are honest, we have already created a picture in our heads around what we want to happen. And when it doesn’t play out that way, then we get disappointed, or we start to think that the Lord is against us. So the question is, how do you respond when God’s will and your will differ?
Because the truth is, many times what we want is very self-centered, it revolves around ourselves, my happiness, my plan, my purpose. And the will of God is much more Kingdom oriented. And with this in mind the Holy Spirit leads me to Acts 16.
Because we read about Paul in Philippi, but before he went there, he had an idea, Paul wanted to go to Asia, and then after that he wanted to go to Bithynia
And we read this in

But for both of them, the Holy Spirit prevented them from going, the Holy Spirit said no and closed the door. And I wonder what closed doors you can thank for today, what we can't be thankful for today. Because there were times when the Lord stopped us from doing something He wasn't in.
Because the Spirit stopped Paul and showed him in a dream, to go to Macedonia, which is in Europe today. But the point of this is, Paul understood something about being a follower of Jesus

He is a witness, he is an ambassador. He understood that when he gave his life to Jesus, he gave everything, he gave his dreams, his plans, everything to the Lord and surrendered. There was complete surrender. Why? Because there was a trust in the plans of God
Because the Lord's plans are not like our plans and we can trust him with that because the Bible says in

God's plans are higher than our sense, it's Kingdom oriented and it is shown to us in Acts 16, because up to that point, the gospel of Jesus Christ had not yet been preached in Macedonia. And the Lord sent Paul to a city called Philippi in Macedonia
See Paul's plan was, he wanted to take the gospel to cities that were around him, but the Lord wanted to use him to take the Gospel to a new country. To go and win ground for the Kingdom.
And Paul went, he and Silas, and they came to Philippi and they converted a woman named Lydia, and they baptized her and her whole household, and one day Paul and Silas were walking and there came a woman with a spirit of divination in her, so she could predict the future and there were men in the city who used her to make money, and she was following Paul all the time and shouting that these men were preaching the way of salvation and the Bible's

And it leaves me with this thought, that when we start walking in the will of God, we just know, there will be opposition.
Because after Paul cast that spirit out of that woman, they go and accuse him.
And that's what I learn from this, that as soon as we start gaining ground for the Lord, the enemy starts accusing us, why, because he will do anything, to stop the work of God. He will say anything to get you and me to stop. As soon as we start putting points on the board for the Lord, the enemy tries to stop us. But this is not something to be afraid of, but on the contrary it should give us courage, because it shows us, something is happening.

We can take heart, because it means the Lord is busy working.
And there is a specific word for someone today, which has been weighing on my heart all week and it is this
You must get your joy back
The enemy is busy stealing your joy, and because of that, you are losing your peace.
Because look at Paul

They are in prison, and still they sing and they pray.
And I want to encourage you to start paying attention this week to what determines your joy.
Because we can find joy in money, in family, in friends, and all of these things have their place, but that place is not first

Our joy is in the Lord, that is our strength. And there are times when you are going to have to sing and pray until your soul catches up. Let me tell you there were times in my life when things were going hard, and I didn't always feel like singing, but I got in that car and I sang on the way to church, why, because sometimes that's all you have left. Is to sing and force yourself to focus on the goodness of God instead of your problems. Why? Because my joy, is my job

The Lord has already made the day, He has done His part, our part is to rejoice in it and be glad.
Why is this important, because when we start doing this, we break the enemy's momentum
My brother and sister you can't stop a believer who never stops praying
And beware of the trap of
"I will pray, sing, rejoice, when"
Because then we start putting it off and after a while we put it off
My brother and sister we can't wait to worship, we have to worship in the middle of
Paul and Silas praying and singing in prison
But I realize something, as I read this this week I realize the Romans made a mistake
Because they put Paul and Silas in prison together
See if they, separated them, isolated them, then they might start looking around and start getting discouraged
But there is something when you get around the right people, there is a power there that can make a difference
Because the bible says

That's why it's so important to come to church, because there is power when people come together in Jesus' name and just coming to church isn't going to get you to heaven, but let me tell you, it's going to help.
And that's what's so amazing about this word of Jesus because we can come together at home during the week and Jesus is there, we can come together at work in Jesus' name and He is there
Even in prison Jesus was there with Paul and in your darkest times He is there, the problem is, we don't see it

These two men are in prison and they start praying
And I wonder all week what they pray, and I have an idea, because I think if it were me, I would pray Lord get me out of this. But remember, Paul surrendered everything. Paul knew God sent him here
So I think his prayer wasn’t
Lord get me out of this
But rather
Lord show up in this.
Show me Lord, what You want to do here, make me aware of Your presence in this darkness
I think of the story in

So there come times my brother and sister, where we need to start praying, Lord make me aware of Your presence. Because all I see is the enemy around me, all I see is the darkness
And I wonder to myself, how can they start singing in this moment?
Because I want you to quickly live with me in this.
Sing along if you know the song?
Why could you sing along? Because you know the words, you know the rhythm, you know how it goes
So if this is true for that song
Maybe Paul didn't just start singing them because they know a song, but they started singing because They know Him
They could sing, because they know how the Lord works. They know that they prayed, and that He will come through for them. My brother and sister I want to tell someone today maybe you can start singing in your darkest times, because you Know Him.
Because in a moment the earth begins to shake, and the prison doors open, and the chains fall off, and the prison guard wakes up and he thinks they have run away, and he wants to take his own life because he knows if the people above him find out they will kill him but look at verse 28

Why did they stay?
I think they realized the work was not yet finished
Because as Jesus walked into that prison, look how beautiful this is
As Jesus walked in, He left a door open for the jailer to come in.
My brother and sister, when Jesus walks into our situation, He opens a door for you and me to be a witness to the people who are standing outside.
We are called to be a witness for Jesus Christ and if we will begin to take that role, we will begin to gain ground for the kingdom of God.
I want to tell you today
That it doesn't matter how long you go, you remain a witness. Through Paul and Silas who fulfilled that role, a man is saved and he and his entire family are baptized, and the first church in Europe is planted.
And I wonder what the Lord will do in your life if you remember, that no matter how long you go,
You remain a witness. Amen.