Why Don't I Always Feel God?

Intro:

Why don’t I feel the presence of God? Why do good things happen to bad people? Why am I here? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?

The scripture says if you will seek your Heavenly Father, you will find Him. And He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. So, oftentimes you feel so close to God, why is it at other times you feel like He’s so far away?

Today, we’re starting a brand new series. It is called, “Why?” Next week, we’ll deal with the topic, “Why does it seem like God doesn’t answer my prayers?” Everybody else prays, and their prayers seem to get answered, but often it feels like mine are hitting the ceiling. Today, though, we are going to deal with the question, “Why don’t I always feel the presence of God?" Now let's try this... how many of you would say that at some point in your life, you honestly believe you've felt the presence of God? Ok... so how you do you know? Some people would talk about goose bumps while others would say they cried. But we get those feelings when watching a movie or cutting onions. And for those of us who haven't felt God's presence in a while, who's fault it that? Is it His? Is it ours? Did God look down at us and say, "I'm going to reveal Myself to everyone else but you"?

We’re going to look today at some Biblical reasons as to why, perhaps, you are not experiencing the presence of God. Now these reasons are certainly not a complete list; it's just a few things I want to throw out because I've dealt with these things myself. Why don't I always feel God? Let’s talk about some possibilities.

Maybe you're oversensationalizing it. John 6:29-30
The first one is this: Maybe for you, like others, you occasionally are over sensationalizing it. Take a look at John 6:29-30. Notice how Jesus answers their question by pointing out that it's belief, not miracles, that's important. But they still kept pressing Jesus to "do a sign" to prove Himself to them. They didn't get it! Course, aren't we always demanding a sign from God? "God, if you want me to do this, then give me this sign..."

Now, let me say here that God can and does suprenatural acts, miraculous things that get our attention and let's us know He's real. And we can experience Him that way. The burning bush experience that Moses had can still happen today. But we can't fall into this trap that we must always "feel God." A charismatic jump with twirling ladies and people jumping pews, aka. Red Bull Church, has the same experiences with God that a traditional, formal, ARP or Methodist church. The end point being this - don't look for those outward signs and supernatural acts that prove God is or isn't working with you.

Maybe you haven't been obeedient. John 14:21
You might have some unfinished business with God. God showed you something that He wanted you to do and you haven't fulfilled what He called you to do. Look at John 14:21 where Jesus it talking. Notice this - He says, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them." And here's the cool part - we obey those commandments, that shows we love Him, and who loves Him is loved by the Father, and "I will show Myself to him."

He who obeys, Jesus reveals Himself to. If you disobey, you may miss out on some of the presence of Jesus. When God says do this, and we don't, then we lose some of that intimacy that we have with Him. Think about Moses. If Moses had said no when at the burning bush, I honestly believe he would have lost a great deal of intimacy with God. Because when we say no, when we disobey God, it's simply moving Him out of center stage and moving us into that place. We, the i am nots, try to become the I AM.

Maybe you've built a wall of sin. Isaiah 59:1-2
Just like you can build a wall between you and someone else here, you can build a wall between you and God. Isaiah says, "Your sins have hidden His face from you." So how do we build a wall of sin? Well, brick by brick, as we don't confess and turn away from our sins, we build that wall. And I'm not talking biggies either. Maybe you told a little bitty white lie earlier today - there's brick one. And then you were driving down the road and looked over at the car next to you, a really nice luxury one, and became a little envious of that person. You really wanted that car, no matter what it takes to get it. And then you drive down the road a little bit farther, someone cuts you off, and you start shouting "Holy Blessed Moses" at them. Brick after brick is being built here. Anger, greed, lust, and a whole host of other "little" sins that start stacking up into one big wall. And this wall cuts us off from God's presence. It cuts us off from that intimacy.

To tear the wall down is real simple - confess them and turn away from doing those things. The Word tells us that if we confess our sin, and turn from those ways, then God is faithful and just to forgive your sin.

Presence Promises. Jeremiah 29:13-14 , Matthew 18:20
Now, shifting gears for a moment, take a look at these verses. God promises His prsence to us through these. God's not trying to play some hide and seek game. For those that want Him, you will find Him. His presence is promised!

The New "WHY?" Series

New Series - "WHY?"

Ever wondered why you don't feel the presence of God when other people claim they do? Ever had an unanswered prayer? Wondered why God would love you? Or why He would let bad things happen to good people?

If you've ever wondered why...this may be just what you are looking for.

Your Vision & Purpose

Text: Proverbs 29:18 // Exodus 3

Intro:

So know vision is important. Remember the Frisbee fiasco thing from last week? Well, for sake of old memories, and for the laughs that are sure to follow, I'm going to bring it out again. I need yet again 2 people smart enough to take part in my surprises. So you on that side of the stage and you on the other side of the stage. Throw the Frisbee a couple of times to get used to it. Ok. Now I'm going to give each of you specific instructions. *Person A should throw the Frisbee so Person B can catch it; Person B should avoid catching the Frisbee at all costs.*

That's how vision and purpose work when it comes to the individual. Sometimes, our individual purposes don't line up with those around us, like in the case here, and we get nothing accomplished other than causing, lets call them issues and situations, around us. But when it comes to us a Christ followers, something beautiful happens. Our individual vision and purpose will line up with the community of Christ followers we're in, which in turn will line up with the vision and purpose of the overall Church. So do you remember the Church's vision and eXodus's vision? Check here and here for refreshing.

Remember Proverbs 29:18 tells us that vision is crucial. "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves." Without vision and purpose in your life, you're going to stumble all over yourself as well as others. So let's go back and look at Moses one more time.

Part I.

I'm sure Moses had everything planned out before he encountered that burning shrub. I'm sure he figured that he could live out the rest of his days as a shepherd, working for his father-in-law Jethro, taking care of wife and son. Kinda like you, like me, like us. He was just living life and wandering through the story. Moses even named his son Gershom, which means Sojourner, saying, "I am a sojourner in a foreign country."

And then God steps onto the stage and the story changes drastically.

Moses is out in the wilderness, watching some sheep, and then God's voice starts booming from a bush that's blazing away and calling his name. During that moment, God chose Moses and laid out His plan for freeing the Israelites from pharaoh. Failure was not an option. It was happening with or without Moses. But God had chosen him as a partner in this mission.

Immediately, the questions and doubts gushed out of his mouth. "A stuttering man like me? You want me to go to pharaoh? How? He'll kill me!"

Note that God didn't respond with a pep talk. He didn't send Moses to the Center for "You Can Do It" Training in an effort to boost his confidence. God didn't waste anytime - not one second - trying to pump Moses up for the task. He doesn't inflate Moses' self-esteem by filling him with a boatload of "Come on Moses, you can do this! I believe in you - you've just got to believe in yourself" encouragement.

Instead, God answers Moses with these life-shifting words: "I will be with you."

Part II.

"I will be with you." See, when God invites you into His Story, assigning us various roles that are seemingly too big for us to carry out, His affirmation is always the same - I will be with you. It's as if He was saying to Moses, "Don't worry about who you are, just focus on the reality that I'm going too. And if I go with you, trust Me, everything's going to work out fine."

Bottom line: God and anybody else is an overwhelmingly powerful team.

When it comes to our individual visions and purposes, it's not really about us at all. God holds center stage while we act as supporting actors. If you take Zazu out of the Lion King movie, the show can still go on. But what happens when Simba doesn't show up for curtain call? The show comes to a grounding halt. God doesn't need us in this story - He wants us in His Story.

And a lot of times, we take that to mean it doesn't even matter if we show up, if we we committ to a ministry, if we dedicate, sacrifice, and do whatever it takes to see the story through to the end. Imagine if Moses had only went halfway in his purpose; imagine if Moses stopped after the 3rd or 4th plague. I'm sure God would have still succeeded in getting the Israelites out but what would've happend to Moses?

You have a vision, a purpose, a calling on your life. God has specifically assigned you a role in this story, a task to perform. For some of you, it's being the link between the Church and your school. For others, you might be the next leader of a nation like Moses with the Israelites. And the cool thing is when God called you to do this, He knew you could do it. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites, not Jethro, not Aaron, not anyone else but Moses. Doesn't that speak volumes for how much faith God had in Moses? Moses wasn't even sure of himself but God redirected his attention to where it needed to be, not on his own lack of experience or qualification or skill but on to God's abundance of these things.

Close:

Some of you know your calling, what your role in this story is supposed to be. Don't let the fact that we're all supporting actors for the Main Actor deter you from throwing everything you have into your purpose, your calling. Don't go halfway and stop. Don't just show up sometimes when you're not tired or have some other excuse. Remember that you're God's partner in this and you're desire to bring glory to Him alone should propel you into diving deep into your individual calling.

Others of you have no clue yet as to what part of the story God has assigned you. Or you may have only the slimmest of ideas. Come find me, or Bro. Robert, or any of the other leaders. That's why we're here - to help you find out why you're here. Like Moses, you might think you have your life planned out and God's simply waiting to drop the bomb on what He wants you to be doing. Somewhere in your soul, I think each of us knows the direction God wants us to be heading. Find one of us leaders so we can help you find where and what you're supposed to be doing on the stage of life.

For all of us, never cease in throwing yourself into God and His Kingdom here on earth. Later in that chapter in Exodus, God tell's Moses what to call Him, His Name. And it was "I AM." I AM the center of everything. I AM running the show. I AM more than enough. I AM.

And this let's us know what we're not. I AM NOT the center of everything. I AM NOT in control. I AM NOT the solution. I AM NOT calling the shots. I AM NOT.

He's I AM and we're i am not. But the great I AM chooses us to be His partners. How cool is that...

Our Vision - What and Why

Text: Proverbs 29:18 // Exodus 3



Intro:

How many of you would say that vision is kinda important? I mean, let's try a test. I need two people to come up here. One you stand here and the other stand over there about 10 feet from us. Now here's a frisbee. I want you both to toss it back and forth. Try it out... pretty easy right? Now let's take away the vision part and see what happens. Kinda poor results that time around but at least no one died or got hit...

Our vision is pretty important to get through life. Now, it's not absolutely critical and there are lots of people even here in Fayetteville that excel at life despite poor or non-existent eye sight. I mean, I'm really blind without my glasses but can fumble my way to the bathroom at 2 AM without them and only hit the dog once or twice. But it's a heck of a lot easier when I can see clearly where I'm going.

Proverbs 29:18 tells us that vision is crucial when it comes to the Church. "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves." Think about that - when we have no clue what God has set before us to do, we just stumble all over ourselves. Solomon kinda nailed that one on the head didn't he? When we get our lifes completely wrapped up in ourselves, we forget that God is the centerstage of this thing called life. And that He did call us and give us a mission, a dream, a vision to accomplish while we can.

Remember last time how we look at the vision of the Church - to go and make disciples, to train Christ followers? This time we're going to take a look at the community we have here at eXodus and the vision God's called us to. But first, lets look at a guy in a situation similiar to us.




Part I:

At the end of Exodus chapter 2, we find the king of Egypt dead and the Israelites, God's people, cying our for relief from their slavery. The Word tells us they were groaning under their chains. And God heard their cries, saw what was going on with Israel, and it says simply "God understood." Now on a side note, isn't that awesome how God not only saw but understood what was going on with Israel? That God sees the current state of Fayetteville, of America, of the world, and understands something must change?

So from God's point of view, you're people are in chains in Egypt yet you have a redemption plan, a deliverance mission, and you're looking for a spokesman to take your agenda to the most powerful man in the most powerful empire on Earth; who do you choose? And how do you train them? And then He notices this stuttering shepherd with little to no self-esteem on the downslope of life who for years had been on the run from the one man you need him to talk to. That's right... you guessed it... God chose Moses. And that bush starts shooting up flames.

Now that He had Mose's undivided attention, God laid out His vision, His plan. "I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them and bring them into a good and spacious land. The cry of the Israelites has reached Me and I have seen the way the Egyptions are oppressing them." Notice all the first-person pronouns... the I thing? God's mind was set. His plan was in motion. Failure was not an option. God had sized up Pharaoh and decided to use him as a pawn in His story. The redemption mission would go on as planned. Mark it down - it was going to happen.

And then, without taking a breath, God added, "So now Go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of bondage." Wow.. so all of a sudden, the first-person God is going to do something amazing through someone else, someone small, someone as in Moses. The I and Me evaporate and become marching orders for Moses: "Now you go." As if God was saying, "I am going to do this with or without you Moses but I've been searching for just the right partner, a regular guy who will believe that I am able to do exactly what I have said I will do. You just need to get on board with My plan and watch Me go. Don't deviate from the course; trust Me, follow Me, without fear of any man. This is going to be amazing! Oh, I could do it all by Myself but I'm choosing to use a human vessel. And I'm choosing you Moses so GO!"




Part II:

Just like God chose Moses, a regular guy, who turned out to be just the right partner for this mission, God chose us here at eXodus to do something amazing. The things we're going to finish talking about are huge things but that's because we believe that God is a huge God with huge plans for us. He's going to do it with or without us but for me, for every leader here, we are excited that He wants to use us, mere flesh and blood, to bring these things into reality. You know how things turned out for Israel and Egypt - simply put, God + anybody else = an overwhelmingly powerful team.

So let's talk about the vision here for eXodus. Remember, just like it took time for Israel to reach the promised land, especially after having to spend 40 years in the desert, these things will take time, dedication, and God to bring these dreams into reality.

Our Core Vision for Exodus is to see God transform us into a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope. See 1 Corinthians 13:13. So let's break that one down a little bit.

First, we want to see God transform us into a community of followers of Jesus Christ. One where we act as a community, relying on each other, supporting each other, helping each other. Life isn't something we can get through alone - there are no individuals as a solitary island. Second, we are committed to live by faith. No matter what we go through, no matter how fortified the city or large the opposing forces, we live by faith that God will enable us to go where He's told us to go. Third, to be known by love. To actually show the love of God through our actions each and every day from serving in soup kitchens to shipping water to hurricane victims. And last, to be a voice of hope. Fayetteville desparately needs a voice of hope, that single solitary cry that it can and will get better. We need to be that voice of hope.

This is the Core Vision of Exodus - the one that serves as a foundation and guideline for our direction. The rest of our vision falls under that core.

We envision a place where faith, love, and hope take priority in our lives.

We envision a place where the hurting, the lonely, the confused, and the depressed can find love, hope, forgiveness, guidance, and encouragement.

We envision spreading God's Saving Message throughout the Middle Tennessee area.

We envision training and developing Christ Followers for frontline Kingdom work.

We envision sending out leaders into the domestic and foreign mission fields.

We envision focusing on the individual with the belief that one changed life can impact another and ripple outwards.

We envision building a training center with facilities including a worship center, a counseling and prayer center, classrooms for training, housing for those that need it, and a resource center.

We envision starting "mini-gatherings" in local communities that will serve as life groups.

We envision creating "change agents" throughout the community that possesses wisdom, understanding, and training to have the maximum impact in the community and the Church.

Closing:

I know these things seem like a lot. Even overwhelming at times. But imagine how Moses felt standing before that bush, feeling the spirit of God on that mountain side, seeing the flames leap higher and higher without consuming the bush itself, all the while knowing that God had just chosen him to face the one man he'd been running from for large portion of his life. Knowing that he was to be the Creator's spokesman even though he stuttered to now end. He must have felt overwhelmed by this mission, this vision that God had just laid out for him.

We all know what it's like out there beyond these four walls. That's why God has chosen us to be His spokesman (and spokeswomen). That's why we're chosen to be agents of change throughout our lives. That's why we've been brought together as a community of Christ followers, one that is committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be that voice of hope in the wilderness. This is the mission, the vision, for us here at eXodus.

Vision Series

For the next few weeks, we're going to be looking at vision, purpose, direction, identity. We see in Matthew 28 how the Church has one mission - go and make disciples, Christ Followers.

But we fit into this bigger picture differently; each of us has a unique, specific purpose. Like a mosaic, we all fit in differently to the bigger image.

You have a specific vision, dream, and purpose for this life.

Let's find it!

Design our Logo!

The Need for Vision

Intro:

Last time, we look at Jesus at the Garden in Gethsemane, one of His most intimate moments with God. And we saw how Jesus remained steadfast in His determination to finish the mission God had laid out for Him. His Father had set before Him a specific mission, a purpose, that directed every action and moment of His life.

After His resurrection, Jesus gave the Church a simple mission, found in Matthew 28:18-20. It's widely known as the Great Commission and it gives a purpose and direction for the Church as a whole. It gives them an identity. READ MATTHEW 28:18-20.

Pretty simple, right? The Church is to go and make disciples, baptize them, i.e. bring them into the Church, and train them as Christ Followers. But let's look at what Paul encounters as he is pursuing this direction, this mission, this vision from God.



Part I.

Let's take a look at Acts 16 starting in verse 6 and running through verse 10. READ ACTS 16:6-10. Paul and Silas started out with a great idea. They knew the Commission that Jesus had given the Church and so they decided to take the Message to Asia. It seemed like a great plan that lined up with the vision and purpose of the church. Right idea, wrong place.

See, as they traveled over land towards Asia, the Holy Spirit told them not to go there at this time. So Paul turns towards Bithynia, but again, the Spirit of Jesus stopped them from going. Imagine Paul, traveling along, simply wanting to spread the Message, and finding that every idea he got turned out to be the wrong one. I imagine him telling Timothy, "I thought we were supposed to go to Asia but lets go to Bithynia!" And they get close and Paul says, "Wait Timothy, it's not Bithynia either. On to Troas!" And they end up in Troas, that place where we go when we have no idea where else to go.

Alot of us are in that spot right now. We thought God said go this way only to have ourselves stopped. So we go that way only to have ourselves stopped again. So we resign ourselves to going to Troas to wait and see what's going on. And where we're supposed to be heading next. We all have our Troas, this place we go when we have no where else to go. And that's where it gets interesting...



Part II.

READ ACTS 16:9. Paul is in Troas, no clue as to where to head next. And what happens? He has a vision. A dream. No we all have dreams. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night after having a dream. And you run to your parents or your spouse and tell them, "Look, I just had a dream that laid out my vision, my mission, my identity. I'm supposed to go out west, buy a farm, and become a potato farmer!" At that point, whoever you just told would probably look at you and say, "That's great. Now go back to bed and have a different dream..."

This idea of God giving Paul a vision, a dream that explains his next steps goes against every grain and fiber in our body. We want plans, outlines, step-by-step programs that lay out the next year, two years, or five years. Paul tried that. He laid out the plan for his second journey that was supposed to head to Asia. But that turned out to be the wrong plan. And he ended up in Troas for it. Waiting and watching for God.

So Paul goes to bed and God gives him this vision, this dream, of a Macedonian man saying, "Come here and help us!" And the passage wraps up with Paul telling his ministry partners of this dream and they "concluded" and "decided" to go to Macedonia at once. Now that word "decided" translates in a way that means they reasoned, they intellectually concluded. So they rationally concluded this was the plan from a very irrational starting place - the dream. How ironic is that?!



Closing

Too many of us not only here at eXodus but in the Church at large seem to be stuck in Troas with no sense of where to go from here. We keep plugging away trying to do good things but we don't know if this is what God has placed in our souls as our vision.

Like Paul, we keep taking the Message to new places that need it but it seems like God steps in and turns us in a different direction at the last moment before we reach our destination. So for the next few weeks, we're going to be look at vision, purpose, direction, identity. We saw at the beginning how the Church has one mission - go and make disciples, Christ Followers. But we fit into this bigger puzzle differently with unique purposes. Like a mosaic, we all fit in differently to the bigger image.

You have a specific vision, dream, and purpose in this life. Let's find it.

Even Jesus Craved God

Intro
Last week we talked about how our lungs crave air. Just like our lungs with air, our soul craves God—Fresh, life-giving. . . God. We ache for an encounter with Him. Tonight, we’re going to look at an intimate moment between Jesus and God, one in which Jesus shows us that He too craved God, just like we do.

The Word:
Mark 13: 32-42 – In the Garden of Gethsemane

Part I:
Luke says that it was Jesus’ custom to come here regularly. It was familiar to Jesus, a favored place to come to enjoy the fellowship of his Father. It was a place to plead with the Father for his disciples and the other riff-raff that Jesus drew to himself.
But Jesus was under a very different burden on this night. “He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake” (verses 33-34).

If you have gone through the experience of losing someone close, you know that grief is a “whole body” experience. It’s your mind and emotions and body and soul experiencing the searing pain of having a piece of yourself ripped out.

Jesus’ intimacy with the Father was being torn apart at Gethsemane because the Father was laying on the Son the sins of all humanity. Jesus was taking onto himself the anger of God aimed at you and me. Every unkind thought and word and deed ever committed by humanity past, present and future was being ascribed to the Son of God as if he had done them all.


“And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want, but what you want.’” (verses 35-36).
Notice that word 'Abba.' When we translate that into English, the closest we can get is with our word 'Daddy.' Not father or dad but daddy, a word that emphasizes the most intimate of moments between a child and their father.

So imagine that scene. Jesus desperately craving more time with His Father, knowing the intense separation that was to come, under such distress that His blood was mingling with His sweat and tears, and He cries out with everything in Him. "DADDY! ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH YOU! TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME!"

But then He adds at the end of His prayer, "Yet not what I want, but what you want." Not my desires but Yours. Not my wants but Yours. Not my plan but Yours. Not my will but yours.

Even at this point in Jesus' life, His cry was still YOU WILL BE DONE.

Your Soul Craves God

Intro

Ever held your breath until you were so desperate for air that your toes twitched; your cheeks became balloons and your eyes bugged out? Overpowered by deprivation, did you sip air in all proper like, or did you swig down big gulps like a scorched vagabond at a thirst-quenching oasis?

Try it now. Close your eyes. Imagine yourself in the middle of a swimming pool. Now take a deep breathe… hold it… and submerge yourself under the water. Hold that breathe for as long as you can. Do you feel the sense of urgency as your body screams out to you that it needs air and it needs it now? Now, out of breath, you rush to the surface, break the water, and what do you do? Do you take little breaths of air or do you gulp it down and breathe in as much as possible?

Our lungs crave air. Our soul craves God—Fresh, life-giving. . . God. We ache for an encounter with Him. Do you know what it feels like to yearn for, to long for, to covet God?

The Word:

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life." [Ezekiel 37:5 (NIV)]

“O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 (NLT)

“At night, my soul longs for you. Indeed, my spirit, the soul within me, seeks You.” Isaiah 26:9

Part I:

It’s hard to define the things inside my heart. Have you ever wondered if you’re the only one who feels what you feel and wants what you want. Am I the same as others in this mass of humanity, or am I alone in my experiences?

In a culture of entertainment, loudness, busyness and constant triggers that steal our attention, I fear that the typical person is becoming more and more distant from God. The irony is that we have more books than ever in history, more Bibles available to us in every style and translation you could ever wish for, more conferences, more seminars, more churches and more technology that one would assume it would make it easier to grow closer to Jesus.

But in the midst of this age is a drought of passion and desperation for God. Even Christ Followers are living disconnected from God aimlessly wondering around in no-man’s land and trying to figure out why the life that Jesus promised seems so distant.

King David echoes the heart of those that crave for more of God when he said in Psalm 63:1:

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

Comparing his dry, arid and parched surroundings, David used that image to describe how he longs for God just as the dry and thirsty ground longs for water. Just a moment ago, we saw how our bodies crave air to merely just survive. Last week we saw how God craves us. Could our souls crave Him just as He craves us?

Part II:

We were created for God and we cannot live without Him. If your soul is disconnected from its source, it will die.

Our soul longs to be connected, to find a place to belong, to find love, to find God.

We strive to find love but it is maddening when we are running from God and yet searching for love. For God is love.

I want to finish this with a look at Jesus in one of His most intimate moments and we’ll also connect this with what we’re looking at next week. Read Luke 22:39-48.

At this moment in His life, Jesus craved for time with the Father.

God Craves You

God Craves You!

“What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are.” – 1 John 3:1 MSG


“I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” – Romans 8:38 MSG


Intro:

They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death… everyone. The weight of a stack of nickels, the weight of a chocolate bar, the weight of a hummingbird. At the moment of death, we grow 21 grams lighter – our life, our human spirit, our very soul leaves this mere flesh and blood.

See, beyond my flesh, beyond my mind, beyond my heart, there seems to be a place where my deepest and most powerful cravings lie. And they do not lie silently. My soul, it seems, always desires and demands, and no matter how I try to satisfy it, it always craves more. More of this God that is my Creator, my Savior, my Abba Father.

It may be hard to accept, but you are the object of God’s love. You were created out of love by him, and though you may not yet realize it, your soul longs to know this love. You are the object of His craving.


Part I

So often, we describe this love, this craving, as something so thin and without substance that pretty much anything qualifies as love. If we really know love, if we knew deep, profound, unending love, maybe we wouldn’t love chocolate. While I’m sure God appreciates all these things, after all, he is the Creator of all that is good and perfect, creation is not the object of His affection. When it comes to love, you exist in a unique category. You are unique and irreplaceable. You are the object of God’s love.

In Solomon’s sensual Song of Songs, he describes a lover pursuing the one who has won her heart. He captures the hopelessness that one feels on this desperate search for love.

“Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover.
I wanted him desperately. His absence was painful.
So I got up, went out and roved the city,
hunting through streets and down alleys.
I wanted my lover in the worst way!
I looked high and low, and didn't find him.
And then the night watchmen found me
as they patrolled the darkened city.
so I asked them, “Have you seen my dear lost love?”

– Song of Songs 3:1-3 MSG

Solomon is describing the desperation that comes when we seem unable to capture the heart of the one we love. I wonder it ever occurs to us that God feels like this. But if God’s love is immeasurable and unending, as the Hebrews describe Him, how deep and profound must be His sense of sorrow and rejection. If anyone knows the pain of a love unreturned, it must be God.

Part II

We talk so much about how God showed this awesome craving for us through His sending His Son for us. But lets look at it in a different light.

A friend of mine met a girl and he fell in love. This innate craving began to form in him for this girl. So he pursued her with his love and pursued her with his love until he felt that his love had finally captured her heart. So he asked her to be his wife and she said no. He was unrelenting and asked her again, and again, and continued to outpour his love for her until she said yes. See, he didn’t send his brother, nor a friend, or anyone else to go for him. For in issues of love, of desire, of craving, you must go yourself.

This is the story of God: He pursues you with His love and pursues you with His love, and you have perhaps not said yes. And even if you reject His love, He pursues you ever still. It was not enough to send an angel or a prophet or any other, for in issues of love, you must go yourself. And so God has come to us. This is the story of Jesus, that God has walked among us and He pursued us with His love. He is very familiar with rejection but is undeterred. And He is here even now, still pursuing you with His love.

God desires us. He thirsts for us as we do for Him. The closer we get, that thirst will fade, because we are supplied with what we need. God doesn't need us, He wants us. He desires our company, our fellowship, our trust, our love, our safety in Him. He wants, He desires, He longs for, He yearns, He CRAVES. He gave us a calling. He wants us to fulfill it. He doesn't need us. He doesn't need anything. He can have it all with just a thought. But, He chose us. He craves us. I'm wanted by the King of Kings

He wants us to want Him as much as He wants us. He wants us to seek Him. He wants us to find, to spread, and bring more to Him to want Him like He wants us. We are His. He is ours. An honor above all honors. To be craved by the King of Kings.


(notes and ideas taken from author as well as Kat Cherry and Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus)

What do you crave?

" This thing that haunts you, that never seems satisfied, the cravings in your soul that you are unable to satiate through all the success that the world can bring - this is your soul screaming for God." - Erwin McManus

Crave - verb: to long for, desire earnestly // to require or need

Crave is a relative worship experience that focuses on what each one of us possess: an innate, natural craving that screams out for God. And we want to express that craving in as many ways as we can from song to poetry to drama to prayer.

So if you need to satisfy this craving, join us this Tuesday for a Crave Worship Experience at eXodus!

Every Tuesday at 7PM.

Rule 4: Keep in Contact with Your Commander-in-Chief

A Warrior’s Devotional Life – Prayer

“Never stop praying.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you type the word “prayer” in Google, you come up with almost 89 million different hits on the web. Everything from songs to articles, movies to websites, the Web offers a ton of information on this concept of prayer. But is the Church still even interested in it?

Currently in the Church

Prayer in most parts of the Body is simply dull, dry, and boring. Now I’m not saying you have to go to the extreme with zeal and sensationalism nor should you go to the extreme with dullness. Imagine the Lords Prayer said in the most dull and boring of manners. Now imagine it said with hype and sensationalism. How you say it isn’t the point, but we’ll get to that later.

Most church’s say a prayer before service starts, before a meeting starts, and especially before offering is taken up! (Please God let there be money the Pastor is inwardly praying…) But most “Christians” get tired of praying after 5 or 10 minutes. That’s a far cry from 1 Thessalonians! Prayer meetings are virtually non-existent at this point. I even know of some so-called pastors who don’t pray at all! One told me that since God was all-knowing, then he shouldn’t have to tell the Father what he needs!

Prayer as it’s Supposed to Be

R.A. Torrey, “Prayer can do anything that God can do…” And God can do anything and everything! Why wouldn’t we be praying? Saint Augustine said that prayer is the occupation of the soul.

Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

When we desire to have a group that is part of His Church and after His Purpose, then prayer must be at the heart and core of us. We cannot function without prayer. For a Follower of Christ not to pray is like having a computer programmer who refuses to use a computer in their job. Our prayers must not be just an obligation or a thing to get through.

Take a look at the Acts Body of Believers. Prayer is addressed more often than any other activity or subject with those chapters.

§ 1:14, “they all joined together constantly in prayer.”

§ 1:24 “they prayed” before choosing one to replace Judas

§ 4:24 “they raised their voices together in prayer to God”

§ 12:12 “many people had gathered and were praying” for Paul in jail.

§ 13:3 “after they had fasted and prayed” they sent leaders to work

§ 14:23 “with prayer and fasting” they appointed new leaders

The daily planner for the early Church established prayer first! When we do not desire prayer, we do not desire Christ in our mist, or in His Church, or in our lives. So our call is to proclaim the Gospel and further His Kingdom and the primary work of it is prayer. Prayer will enable us to be transformed to do the task that we cannot possibly do on our own or collectively as a church. We do not have the strength, knowledge, or ability to do squat for our Lord, but through prayer, we can do all things that He is willing for us to do, beyond our imagination!

Prayer is the key to start the power engine of God that enables us to do His work, the key that empowers us with His presence to proceed in His will and His plan. So what we are doing is activating God’s power for our lives and ministry that we do not have by ourselves!

Prayer is the instrument and means that God has chosen to communicate and direct His will in our lives. Prayer must be a priority in the church, in the leaders, and in the individual Christians daily planner. Yes, God will accomplish His means without our prayers and devotion, but where does that leave us? Bankrupt and useless! How can we be the people of God without getting direction to do the work of our God? We cannot!

God is acting through our prayers with Him and with each other. God works through us, we are His tools, we are the plungers and He is the plumber, and the world is a leaking toilet. Our plumber chooses us! God can choose whatever tool He wishes, He does not need to use us, but He chooses too. This is the incredible beauty of our relationship with Christ.

PRAYER IS A MUST! A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST AND A BODY OF BELIEVERS CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT IT!

Spiritual Warfare Series

"We live in a perpetual battlefield... The wars among the nations on earth are mere popgun affairs compared to the fierceness of battle in the spiritual unseen world. This invisible spiritual conflict is waged around us incessantly and unremittingly. Where the Lord works, satan's forces hinder; where angel beings carry out divine directives, the devils rage. All this comes about because the powers of darkness press their counterattack to recapture the ground held for the glory of God..."

- Dr. Billy Graham, Angels

As Followers of Christ, we are spiritual warriors and we are continually engaged in warfare regardless of if we realize it or not. And just like warriors in the physical, worldly sense, we must be trained in the art, tactics, and strategies of this spiritual war.

Join us every Tuesday night as we investigate the war waging around us and train ourselves so that we might stand our ground and even advance the Kingdom here on earth.

We'll be posting our series here on this blog starting with Rule 4. Rules 1-3 can be downloaded at http://www.exodusfayetteville.org/downloads.htm

What Are You After Today?

"And when they had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will." - Acts 13:22

David was known as a man after the heart of God. What are we after today? Are we after the heart of God? Are we after spiritual things? What are you searching for in your life today? Is our focus and mind on the kingdom of God?

It seem that we are after other things such as relationship, material things and the list goes on and on. There is nothing wrong with that but we must also desire to want more of God in our lives. We should be hungry and thirsty for God. The cry of your heart should be your all I want, your all I need.

What are you after today? What is the thing or things your longing for? What got your attention now? God want us to go after him just like we go after other things. The same way we go after the latest sneakers or clothes and the things that are popular today, we should also go after God. The bible also say to seek ye first and the kingdom and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). I encourage you to go after God. Go after his heart. I guarantee you that you won't be disappointed.

All Out War

"We live in a perpetual battlefield... The wars among the nations on earth are mere popgun affairs compared to the fierceness of battle in the spiritual unseen world. This invisible spiritual conflict is waged around us incessantly and unremittingly. Where the Lord works, satan's forces hinder; where angel beings carry out divine directives, the devils rage. All this comes about because the powers of darkness press their counterattack to recapture the ground held for the glory of God..."

- Dr. Billy Graham, Angels

As Followers of Christ, we are spiritual warriors and we are continually engaged in warfare regardless of if we realize it or not. And just like warriors in the physical, worldly sense, we must be trained in the art, tactics, and strategies of this spiritual war.

This Tuesday night, we start a new series called "All About War: Investigating Spiritual Warfare." We're going to be looking at every possible aspect of this spiritual war that we're engaged in. Join us in learning the art of spiritual warfare!

Tuesdays at 7PM

For more info, check out our website!

The Opening Battles

"I am the Lord your God.

I have rescued you and redeemed you.

You are mine and I am yours."

- God / Exodus 6:6-7

So, eXodus Fayetteville officially opened last Saturday and wow what a day that was! The morning was spent finishing up the final touches to the remodel of the building, i.e. painting, cleaning, sound setup, etc. But the best part of the afternoon was the worship service the leaders held before we opened the doors.

Chad led us in worship in a way that seemed to take us into the throne room of God Himself. We experienced worship as it should be, with no distractions, no outside problems, just our complete focus on worshipping our Creator.

Chase also took the opportunity to share the things God had placed on his heart for that night. He talked about the actual exodus of the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt and how we were experiencing the same thing. Perhaps the one statement that sums everything up was when he said this: "I don't know exactly where God is leading us. But this I do know. He's calling to us from out in that wilderness to come follow Him. I don't know what's in that wilderness but I DO KNOW that He is there. And that's where I want to be. With Him."

After we opened the doors at 7:30 that night, the teens that came through were excited about the new ministry. We had quite a few that expressed interest in serving in this ministry so we are excited about that. The artists were amazing - The Caldwell Brothers, After the Rain, and Jamison. Jamison led us in worship again and it was truly awesome for lack of a better word. Overall, on that Saturday, God came down and flooded this place with His love and grace; we couldn't have prayed for anything more.

With all that being said, the leaders here at eXodus are excited about what's coming up in the months ahead. As always, keep us in your prayers because the opening battles are already happening. And most importantly, pray that we will continue to be bold, new, and real!

bold.new.real.

"Lord, give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.
Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders
be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

- Acts 4:29-30

It was something bold... something new... something real. The Council hauled Peter and John in because they were doing things that were audaciously bold, strikingly new, and so very authentically real. And after the Council had their say, Peter and John rejoined the other Followers of Christ and prayed for great boldness to keep doing what they were doing.

This is the new Church at its finest. Not worried about having the biggest building, best technology, smoothest service, or abundant wealth. Their ministry focused on one thing: boldly speaking this new and real Message.

This is our prayer and desire here at eXodus. The Savior, the Message, the Church, the Servants and everything related to these things are called to be BOLD, to be NEW, and to be REAL. For too long the churches of our nation have been timid and relied too much on tradition while hiding behind the masks.

THIS MUST STOP!

With this first blog, I wanted to make sure everyone knew clearly what the ministry here at eXodus is about: we are about our Father's business. We are living in the generation that will see the Second Coming of Christ. Our time is drastically running out. This generation needs for us to do whatever it takes to reach them. They need to hear the Message of God's love and saving grace. They need to know that a modern exodus is possible, one out of those chains that bind them everyday.

They need us to be bold. new. real.