Introduction: At the beginning of the year many of us fast & pray, in an attempt to hear from God concerning His vision for the year. The goal being that we:
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Accomplish what the Father ordained for us to accomplish in the year.
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That we fulfill His Kingdom plans and purposes.
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That we get incrementally closer to God’s overall expected end for our lives.
With that in mind there are a few things I will discuss tonight:
1. God made plans for us before the world began.
2. God will reveal those plans to us, but He does it in a way that is incremental and progressive.
3. Like Jesus, we should expect to hear from the Father on a continual basis.
4. Being connected to the right church and hearing the right Word is critical.
5. God has already given us everything He was going to give us by Grace. Our job is to find out what He has given us an access it by faith.
1. God made plans for us before the world began.
1. God made plans for you before the foundations of the world… by Grace:
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1. God CALLED you by Grace.
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(Gal 1:11-16)
(v.11) Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning.
(v.12) I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.
(v.13) You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.
(v.14) I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.
(v.15) But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him
(v.16) to reveal his Son to mee so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.
When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.
Paul said…
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I thought I was doing the right thing
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I thought I was pleasing God
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I persecuted the church with every ounce of zeal I had
But when God got a hold of me…
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He revealed His assignment for my life through His Son Jesus the Christ directly
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When Jesus talked to me He told me that…
God did not just forgive me of my sins
God did not just save me from hell
But God called me from my mother’s womb
Well before I ever took one step, or spoke one word, or did anything right or wrong
God called me by His Grace
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Undeserved
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Unmerited
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Unearned
To reveal His Son in me!
And I could not consult with flesh and blood
Flesh and blood would have tried to disqualify me from what God had already qualified me for BEFORE the FOUNDATIONS of the WORLD!
*** Like Paul, you too were chosen and called from your mother’s womb, BY GRACE!
What God did for Paul applies to all of us:
(2 Tim 1:9 KJV) Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
God saved you AND Called you.
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If it was only about being saved and going to heaven you would be dead.
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If Jesus only came for Fire Insurance, you would be gone.
With a HOLY CALLING
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God wants to be the Central Character in your life’s story.
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You were born because He has an assignment for you!
NOT according to your OWN WORKS
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Not because you were good enough
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Not because you prayed long enough
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Not because you gave enough
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Not because you have been faithful
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Before you ever did anything RIGHT or WRONG
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God called you!
According to His own Purpose and Grace
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God will never give you the Purpose with the Grace to accomplish it.
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Whatever He expects you to do, He equips you to do.
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Divine provision is contingent upon Divine Vision.
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Your prosperity is locked up in YOUR PURPOSE.
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When you find your PURPOSE, you will access the GRACE.
Before the world began
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You are not a mistake!
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God made plans for you before the world began!
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God finished you before you ever got started!
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GOD IS IN ETERNITY & WE ARE IN TIME.
GOD IS OUTSIDE OF TIME.
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(Ecc 3:11 AMP) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
· God (who is in eternity)
· Places His eternal purposes in you (in time)
· In your heart & mind
· So that you will never be satisfied until you complete your assignment!
(Ps 139:16 MSG) Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.
· All the days of your life were prepared before you ever lived one day.
God always speaks in the ETERNAL NOW!
That’s why our PRESENT is Heaven’s PAST!
*** By Faith we find out about it and we then access the Grace!
The Plan is given by Grace, it was birthed before the foundations of the world by God’s love, and once it is revealed to you, you then pursue it by faith!
Until it is revealed to you, that it’s already yours, you are not even authorized to operate in faith for it!
To the level that you are able to receive revelation of God’s grace towards you, is the level that you will be authorized to operate in Faith towards Him!
Faith requires revelation: (You must hear from God FIRST!)
· Abraham did not come up with the plan!
· Moses did not come up with the plan!
· Paul did not come up with the plan!
· *** And you can’t come up with the plan either!
***Watch this:
· If you come with it, it will be too small for God!
· When God comes up with it, it will be too big for you!
· God’s plans always require God’s supernatural involvement.
Purpose cannot be develop (you cannot come up with it).
Purpose must be discovered!
1. Your purpose is fixed and it was established before the foundations of the world.
2. You are born without carnal knowledge of your purpose, but you are born pre-disposed to your purpose.
3. God allocated you the Grace for your purpose before the world began.
4. Once you are Born-Again, and God’s Spirit is IN you, you are then in position to receive revelation concerning your purpose.
5. When you make an alignment with your divine assignment, you position yourself to receive an abundance of Grace!
2. God will reveal those plans to us, but He does it in a way that is incremental and progressive.
Vision:
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Vision is more insight than it is sight.
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Vision is being able to see beyond where your eyes can look.
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Sight is common, vision is rare.
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Vision is foresight, birthed from insight, with the benefit of hindsight.
(Prov 29:18 NIV) Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.
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People with Vision don’t do everything.
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Their vision restrains them.
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Their vision keeps them focused.
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Their vision makes their life simple.
(1st Cor 6:12 NIV) “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
(1st Cor 6:12 MSG) Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.
Just because you CAN do something, it does not mean that you should. People with vision know what they should do and they focus their efforts therein. People without vision are people that fail to operate in discipline, because they lack to the direction to make the right decisions.
3. Like Jesus, we should expect to hear from the Father on a continual basis.
Jesus was Spirit-led 24/7/365:
(John 5:19,20) Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
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Jesus was God, but he was operating as a man.
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As a man, He could do nothing without hearing from the Father FIRST!
(John 5:30) I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
(John 6:38) For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
(John 8:23, 28, 29) And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
(verses 28,29) Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
(John 12:49) For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
(John 14:10) Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Golden Nuggets:
1. Jesus was in this world, but hearing from another world (and so can we).
2. Jesus could do the supernatural because He received supernatural instructions (and so can we).
3. Jesus understood that the Father only blesses what He wants to do. So instead of doing something and saying, “Father, bless what I’m doing,” Jesus said, “Father, what are you blessing? Let me do that!”
4. Being connected to the right church and hearing the right Word is critical.
(Hosea 4:6 KJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
(From the Message Bible)
(v.1) Attention all Israelites! GOD’s Message! GOD indicts the whole population: “No one is faithful. No one loves. No one knows the first thing about God.
(v.2) All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex, sheer anarchy, one murder after another!
v God spoke a Word.
o No one was faithful.
o No one was operating in Love.
o No one was following after God!
o Cursing, lying, killing, loose sex, murder!
o These were God’s People!
(v.3) And because of all this, the very land itself weeps and everything in it is grief-stricken– animals in the fields and birds on the wing, even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless.
v God says the entire land was weeping.
v Even the fish were affected!
v What could cause such a thing?
(v.4) “But don’t look for someone to blame. No finger pointing! You, priest, are the one in the dock.
(v.5) You stumble around in broad daylight, And then the prophets take over and stumble all night. Your mother is as bad as you.
v The priests and the prophets – the modern 5-fold ministry – were on the blame line.
v No one was receiving any PROCEEDING WORD! No revelation!
v NO WORD = DESTRUCTION!
(v.6) My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true. Because you’ve turned your back on knowledge, I’ve turned my back on you priests. Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God, I’m no longer recognizing your children.
(v.7) The more priests, the more sin. They traded in their glory for shame.
v Today this role is fulfilled by the 5-fold ministry.
v The 5-fold ministry, within local church, is governed by the Pastor!
v The Word you get from Your Pastor is a Word designed to keep you from destruction.
v It is a Word designed to protect you from failure.
v It is a Word designed to promote your wellness in every area of your life.
v This Word is critical.
v We are to live by this proceeding Word!
v As faithful servants, we must ensure that the Pastor has ample time to get before God and receive a Proceeding Word.
v Nothing should be more important that the Word!
5. God has already given us everything He was going to give us by Grace. Our job is to find out what He has given us an access it by faith.
6. Many believers live in frustration, asking God to bless something that is not theirs to have.
7. Faith is NOT you telling God what to do. Faith is NOT you trying to get God to put a “yes” on your plans.
8. Faith is you submitting to God’s will. Faith is you putting a “yes” on God’s plans.
9. Revelation of God’s plans and purposes positions you to operate in faith. And by faith you access the Grace.
10. Grace takes the focus off of you.
11. Once the focus is off of you, and your limits, you will have free access to the SuperNatural.
12. God is a God of NO LIMITS.
Closing thoughts:
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When you find Jesus you are able to find yourself
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When you find yourself you will be able to discover your purpose
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You don’t come up with your purpose, you discover it
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When you discover your purpose you will receive incremental vision
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When you walk in accordance with God-given vision you will experience divine provision and favor
But just remember,
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If the vision came from God, the provision will come from God.
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If the vision came from God, the opposition will come from satan.
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Instead of getting discouraged by the opposition, get encouraged!
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Satanic opposition is proof that you are heading down the right road!
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What satan means to destroy you can actually help validate your assignment!
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The only way you can lose is if you quit!
