1- Doing The Will Of My Father In Heaven
Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
POINTS TO LEARN:
The Lord has saved us and called us to His Kingdom to live in His righteousness and do His will, the reason these people who prophesied, cast out demons, and did many wonders in His Name will be cast away from God’s presence will be because they didn’t do God’s will and walked in unrighteousness.
Doing Christian things won’t save us, perhaps these people were doing these things thinking that was their ticket to heaven, the Lord wants sons and daughters that know Him and have a new heart full of His love. God is not interested in duty service, He wants our hearts, He wants a relationship with us and out of that relationship we abound in good works.
II Corinthians 5:15 NKJV
“and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
I Peter 2:24 NKJV
“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
Discuss the real Gospel and the other Gospels preached today.
Come to Jesus and everything will be ok, Come to Jesus and you will be blessed.,
These are some of the things other gospels say, the “Me, Myself and I” is in the centre. But the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is Christocentric. The old self dies and a new person in Christ is born, with new motives and a new heart, to live for God’s will and His purposes.
2- Not My Will, But Yours, Be Done.
Luke 22:39-46 NKJV
“Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.””
POINTS TO LEARN:
The Garden of Gethsemane, on the side of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, is where Jesus went to pray before His ordeal on the cross of Calvary. “Gethsemane” means “the place where olive oil is pressed”. At an olive press, olives were gathered to produce oil, and the more pressure on the olives, the more oil. The olive oil in the Bible, is a picture of the presence of the Spirit of God, the anointing flowing.
The Bible says that Jesus in that garden was troubled and overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of sweating drops of blood. Three times Jesus prayed that if it were possible the cup of suffering would be taken from Him, but that the will of the Father would nevertheless be done.
In Hebrews 12 v 2 says that Jesus “endured the cross, scorning its shame” and that He did this “for the joy set before Him”. In other words, although He was under immense pressure, and in torment at the suffering He was undergoing, He pressed on, firstly, because it was the will of the Father and, secondly, because, by faith, He knew that He would have great joy on the other side of that place of suffering. What was His joy? The joy to see many sons and daughters entering the Kingdom.
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
Even though Jesus was facing the greatest struggle in his life as a Man, He was conscious of His mission on earth, He came to earth to fulfilled God’s purpose. (See John 6:37-40)
John 6:37-40 NKJV
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.””
We have been born of God, made new for God’s purpose, in our hour of trial we must not loose faith and doubt God’s goodness and love but it’s our chance to believe God’s promises because He will show His glory and faithfulness.
Notice in the passage that an angel appeared to strengthen Jesus, the agony didn’t stopped by the appearing of the angel, in fact in His agony He sweated and the sweat became like drops of blood. Which means He could of have died right there and then, but He was kept alive to fulfil God’s purpose. No matter what we must endure, God has a purpose for our lives and will be fulfilled, take courage and stand firm in Him. Angels also come to our aid and they will strengthen us to endure, all for His glory. Let’s follow the example of Christ.
Just because sometimes breakthrough doesn’t happen straight away, it doesn’t mean God is not at work, if we are alive, then God has a purpose.
3- Perfected In Love
Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
POINTS TO LEARN:
The will of the Father is for us to be like Him, “like Father like son,” people say, the same is in the Kingdom. Through Christ we have free access to the Heavenly Father, which means we can spend time getting to know Him and at the same time the Holy Spirit works in our lives so we can become like Him.
POINT TO DISCUSS
Discuss the heart of the Father according to Matthew 5 and what we should do as His children.
We are to be connected to one another as the Body of Christ. The Kingdom of God is about us together, selfishness has not place in it.
QUESTIONS
A. How will people know we are God’s children?
John 13:34-35 NKJV
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.””
ANSWERS
A. By the way we love one another even our enemies. blessing those who curse us, doing good to those who hate us, and praying for those who spitefully use us and persecute us.
Conclusion:
Pursue love
I Corinthians 14:1 NKJV
“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”
When we pursue love, we pursue God, because God is love. When we pursue love we are ready to do God’s will. We minister to others out of God’s love.
See the goodness of the Lord around you.
Psalms 27:13-14 NKJV
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”
We will see the goodness of the Lord not only when He calls us home to Heaven, but also down here on earth, but also make sure you don’t miss the goodness of the Lord every day. Be thankful for the little things, which in reality are not little. Enjoy serving the Lord, enjoy loving Him and loving His people.
It will be a great idea to make a list of the things you are thankful to the Lord.
Pray
Pray for revival, and awaking. For the Holy Spirit to be outpoured worldwide and the nations to come to Christ. When the Kingdom of God comes, revival comes.
Karina Maile