VISION SUNDAY – But God
In the words of King Solomon ‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven’ Ref: Ecc 3:1
Solomons point in this writing, is that God has a vision for all people to be a part of, in all seasons. When we have a personal proximity, an activated faith, and a willing alignment with God, we will access the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to outwork the ‘But God’ vision we are all called too!
PERSONAL PROXIMITY
Matthew 9:20 Jesus heals a bleeding woman.
Just then, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
To access all that God has for us, there is a requirement to live in personal proximity with Him. Some of us can live our lives and carry the label of a Christian, but not be in proximity with God, and because of that we never experience the fullness of life He planned for us to have. To experience the fullness of life God has for us, we need to have a personal proximity to Him.
What’s incredible about the story of the bleeding woman, is that not only was she in a close physical proximity to be able to reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak, but she had a close personal proximity of knowing who Jesus was, and the promises he had for her, and because of that, it caused her to push her way through a crowd and physically get close to Jesus and touch the cloak of his garment.
In Hebrew culture at the time, the hem of a cloak had tassels attached that represented Gods promises for his people – including healing REF Numbers 15:37. The tassels didn’t have the healing; they were a visual reminder of Gods vision for His people. Before the bleeding woman even touched Jesus, she had a personal understanding of the nature, and promises of Jesus, which then caused her to reach out for a closeness in physical proximity. And scripture says that this is the faith God is looking for in us! A faith that pushes through and has a hope that we will live in God’s vision, plan, and purposes for us.
When we have a personal understanding of God’s word, his nature and how he works, we have a boldness to push through any crowd or situation that comes before us. We can stand firm in Gods promise through the highs and lows we face in life and be confident that God will work all things together for good; that he makes all things beautiful REF ECC 3:11.
- God desires so much for us to live out his best plan for our life. This requires us, like the story of the bleeding woman, to have a personal proximity to him and a knowing of his nature and word. How would you describe your personal proximity to God? Is there an area you would like to get closer to God?
- What’s standing in your way of closeness with God? Are there times we hold back because we’ve failed before, are distracted by the crowd, have been disappointed in the past or simply think it just won’t work? Take note and pray for one another throughout the week in areas we feel held back in our closeness with God.
ACTIVATED FAITH
Luke 18:6-8 The persistent widow
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the son of Man comes, will He find this kind of faith on earth?
Bold/Persistent defined: The word to describe this woman’s faith in this scripture in Hebrew is the word Chutzpah (Hootsz-pa). Perhaps one of the most famous Jewish statements out there, Chutzpah means audacity (a willingness to take bold risks) but is also commonly used to describe admiration for an individual’s boldness and in this widow’s instance, her bold faith.
This is the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for – bold, undeterred, persistent, and activated faith!
This kind of faith challenges the injustices in the world and wears the enemy down. Scripture doesn’t say the timeframe that this widow continued to persist until justice be given to her, so we can assume that time is not the focus. We don’t need to get caught up in how long we should or shouldn’t pray etc… The main point and focus on this scripture are the motive of having bold faith, persistent faith, and that we can be assured that God hears us and will answer us!
When we have close proximity to God and are confident in his ways and promises, the result of that is that we have an activated faith that doesn’t stop when things seem impossible, rather we press on, push through, and expect to see what seemed impossible, made possible.
- Do you have an area of prayer that you are believing God to move in? Share with each other how persisting, being bold and activating faith looks like for you.
- When we know and are confident that God hears us and will answer us; how does that change the way we look at challenging seasons?
- God desires us to have an undeterred, bold faith to stand in the gap and see justice in the lives of others. Who in your world can you be praying for and encourage that God hears them and will bring restoration, healing, etc… into their lives?
WILLING ALIGNMENT
Numbers 20:11 Moses
Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy, you will not bring this community into the land I give them”.
The Lord had told Moses to speak to the rock; however, Moses struck it, not once, but twice. By striking the rock, Moses disobeyed God’s direct command and dishonoured God in the presence of His people and the consequence was that they didn’t experience the full promise God had planned for them.
And for us today there can be times in our own life, that we miss out on living out the full plan and promise God has for us, simply because we disobey God. To avoid that, we need to have a willing alignment that desires to live the way God shows us. God isn’t going to force us to do His will; it is our choice. And God wants to bring the supernatural in us and through us, but he’s asking us to do our part. It’s not about knowing all the answers and working it all out on our own, rather it’s about having a heart and attitude of saying yes and trusting God with the outcome. And in this next season, God is calling us to have a deeper dependency and leaning on the Holy Spirit like never before. But it will take us to do our part, to stay close in proximity, activate our faith and have a willing alignment.
- What does it mean to have a willing alignment to you? How can we know we’re making the right choices and having a ‘yes’ response to what God calls us too personally and collectively as the church?
- Church is God’s plan. Church is a place to belong, believe and build. Belong – A place that everybody can call home. Believe – We are all called to make a choice to follow Jesus and who He is. Build – A commitment to live on purpose. Talk about these values in your group time and share what they mean to you and your journey with God.
Sundays Message
Listen to Sunday’s message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idTTCQF__o
Coming up at Life
Easter Production
https://www.easteratlife.com.au
RESOURCE REF: NIV Bible, Bible Hub Definitions, Life message