January is a time of new beginnings, and an appropriate response is one of celebration and praise for life with all of its opportunities. The theme of my series to start the year of 2023 is “Celebrating the Life That Christ Makes Possible.”
The Christian life is a supernatural life, an exciting adventure that begins with a life-changing, spiritual birth. Supernatural living begins with faith and continues as a work of faith.
Isaiah 54:2 NIV “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
In our text the Lord is calling for Israel to expand, their vision, to look beyond just their tents. The Lord wanted them to do this in preparation for their restoration. Which would come after their release from exile. For us today, it’s like saying look beyond your front door, beyond your neighborhood, beyond your city, beyond your nation. Don't limit yourself to the same hum drum life.
Our prayer, as we start this new year, should be for the Lord to stretch our vision, enlarge our faith, and expand our goals. If we are to experience the adventure of supernatural living, there are four things we must do this year.
Learn to think supernaturally
Learn to plan supernaturally.
Learn to pray supernaturally.
Learn to claim supernatural resources.
Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 54:1-17 NLT “Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,” says the Lord. “Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities. “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you back from your grief— as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God. “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. “Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you. “O storm-battered city, troubled and desolate! I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations from lapis lazuli. I will make your towers of sparkling rubies, your gates of shining gems, and your walls of precious stones. I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace. You will be secure under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away. You will live in peace, and terror will not come near. If any nation comes to fight you, it is not because I sent them. Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat. “I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals beneath the forge and makes the weapons of destruction. And I have created the armies that destroy. But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!
Text:
Isaiah 54:2 NIV “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
Introduction
January is a time of new beginnings, and an appropriate response is one of celebration and praise for life with all of its opportunities. The theme of my series to start the year of 2023 is “Celebrating the Life That Christ Makes Possible.”
I want us to start this year by celebrating supernatural living. I want us to realize and experience the fact that the Christian life is a supernatural life, an exciting adventure that begins with a life-changing, spiritual birth.
John 3:1-3 NIV Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NIV So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Supernatural living begins with faith and continues as a work of faith.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Living the supernatural Christian life this year can be a celebration!
Let's look at our text again.
Isaiah 54:2 NIV “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
In our text the Lord is calling for Israel to expand, their vision, to look beyond just their tents. The Lord wanted them to do this in preparation for their restoration. Which would come after their release from exile.
For us today, it’s like saying look beyond your front door, beyond your neighborhood, beyond your city, beyond your nation. Don't limit yourself to the same hum drum life.
Our prayer, as we start this new year, should be for the Lord to stretch our vision, enlarge our faith, and expand our goals.
A faith vision is one in which we visualize what God intends to do and act in harmony with it.
Hebrews 11:1-3 NIV Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11 includes a list of people, some named, some unnamed who had a faith vision they walked by faith in God’s promises.
Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
They had a faith vision.
If we are to experience the adventure of supernatural living, there are four things we must do this year.
Learn to think supernaturally
Learn to plan supernaturally.
Learn to pray supernaturally.
Learn to claim supernatural resources.
First we must learn to think supernaturally.
Isaiah 55:9 NIV “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We must strive to have the mind of Christ, so that we can control our thoughts and actions.
How can we do that?
First, we can saturate our minds with God’s Word.
Romans 12:1-2 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
You renew your mind by a continuous reading and study of the Bible, God’s Word. When you do that you will be able to think of spiritual things, not just material things.
Colossians 3:1-3 NIV Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Think worthy thoughts, faith thoughts, and thoughts of praise, worship, and thanksgiving. Finally, think about the attributes of God—his goodness, greatness, generosity, and glory.
Philippians 4:8 NIV Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
In other words, think supernaturally! Think about who you are spiritually. You are No longer a servant, but a son or daughter of God. No longer lost but found. No longer an alien, but a citizen of the kingdom.
1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Think of your spiritual heritage—the hope of your calling, the riches of Christ’s glorious heritage, and the abundant greatness of his power for believers.
Hebrews 3:1-6 NIV Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Think like children of the King!
Galatians 4:4-7 NIV But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
When we start to think like children of God we stretch our vision. Knowing who you are in God and knowing Him for who he is will change our lives. We start to think from God's perspective which is an eternal not temporary perspective.
II. When we think supernaturally, we learn to plan supernaturally.
Supernatural planning includes our personal lives, our families, the church, our business, our studies, or whatever else is appropriate for planning.
A. There is nothing wrong with planning in fact ws should plan but remember to include God in your plan because He will cause our plans to succeed in the best possible way,
Proverbs 16:9 NIV In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
God has plans for our lives.
Psalms 139:16 NLT You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Romans 8:28-30 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
B. Let God reveal his vision, His plan for you to you.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 MSG And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time. * * *
In Habakkuk's day things were to get worse before they got better, and he was called to live by his faith and to trust the Lord Who is faithful to rescue His people and true to His Word. And that same principle is true for us today. This really becomes the basis of our faith. We believe and trust God in everything we do.
Ask God to reveal His vision and goals for you and when we act on them then our goals will match His goals for us.
C. When our goals match His goals for us then prepare and get ready for the fulfillment, the accomplishments of his goals.
I want to warn you that in the process our faith will be tested, but God is faithful when we trust and obey him. Our obedience to God requires supernatural planning—planning by faith.
D. Supernatural plans are big plans, God-sized plans.
The plans and goals God gives have two consistent elements: they have a wide scope of influence and they have lasting impact.
God’s goal for Adam and Eve was to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it”
Genesis 1:27-29 NIV So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
God’s goal for Abraham was not just to have a son, but to start a nation and to be a blessing to all people on earth.
Genesis 12:1-3 NIV The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Jesus’ goal for the disciples was for them to be witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:4-8 NIV On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
God-sized plans are big plans, supernatural plans. If our are so small that we can fulfill them ourselves, they aren’t God-sized.
My Pastor, Dr. John Tunstall, who preached at my installation service here is an example of someone with a God size plan. His church, when it was founded, Abundant Life Christian Church, first met in his home then it moved to a theater. He saw a church on the corner of 35th and Normandie that was for sale. Abundant Life, at the time, had very little money and very few members. I don't have time to tell the entire story but I can tell yo that they were miraculously able to buy that church and campus and now one of the buildings on that campus has been leased for 20 years by a Charter School. So they went from scrimping for every penny to now being flush with money they are using for ministry in an area of town that really needs it. This happened because the Lord touched the heart of one man to believe God for great things. He had a God-sized plan.
III. This year we need to think supernaturally, plan supernaturally and we need to learn to pray supernaturally.
God gives us the faith to pray for something, and as we pray, he causes our faith to grow and to pray even greater things for him.
1 John 5:13-15 NIV I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
God loves it when we trust Him to pray big prayers and not limit our prayers by what we think is possible. We can never ask God for too much if our hearts and motives are pure and if we pray according to the Word and will of God.
IV. And finally we must learn to claim supernatural resources.
We are not ordinary people. We already read that we are a special people, a royal priesthood. Our lives are joined with the one who spoke the world into existence. We belong to him who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and He dwells in us in all his resurrection power.
Romans 8:9-11 NIV You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Because of this power that is within us we can claim what is says in
Philippians 4:13 NIV I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Scripture tells us that if we don’t trust God by faith that He is not pleased.
Hebrews 11:6 NIV And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God; in fact, we cannot even begin to approach the Lord and experience a personal relationship with Him without it. We are called “believers” because we are continually putting our faith, trust, and confidence in God. By faith the Christian life begins, and by faith it perseveres until the end.
So remind yourself of God’s power that is available to experience and celebrate supernatural living.
Conclusion:
I am convinced that it is God’s will for our lives and for the church in 2023, to;
think supernaturally
plan supernaturally.
pray supernaturally.
and claim supernatural resources.
O God, our Strength, we put my trust in You. You have never forsaken those who seek You. You have never let us down. We know that You never will let us down because our lives so far has been a testimony of Your greatness. Mold us into Your image and hold us close to You. Show us how to mature as Christians and improve our walk of faith. Steady our trust in You so that it never wavers, no matter what battles we face on this earth. We declare that our faithfulness to You will be strong at all times. Amen.
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