“THE GOD IS” SERIES
GOD IS ETERNAL AND
IMMUTABLE – GOD IS FOREVER AND UNCHANGABLE!
·
THE BIBLE SAYS GOD IS _________________(ETERNAL)
– MEANING THAT HE HAS ALWAYS EXISTED AND ALWAYS WILL!
Isaiah 44:6 says:
6
"This is what the LORD says—
I am the first and I am the last;
apart from me there is no God.
1
Timothy
17Now to the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:8
says:
8"I
am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was,
and who is to come, the Almighty."
·
THE BIBLE SAYS GOD IS ______________(IMMUTABLE) – MEANING GOD NEVER
CHANGES HIS NATURE AND CAN BE COUNTED ON TO BE THE SAME FOR ALL ETERNITY.
·
God never changes in his nature or attributes.
·
The Bible contains thousands of things that God has promised to do for
those who belong to Him.
·
He can be trusted to keep his word.
Psalm
102:27 says:
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
Hebrews
1:11-12 says:
11They
will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end."[a]
James
17Every good and perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not
change like shifting shadows.
Hebrews 13:8 says:
8Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.
·
There has never been a time when God did not exist.
·
He has no beginning and He has no end.
·
Being eternal God is not bound by time.
·
Having always existed, He sees the past and the future as clearly as the
present.
·
God does not see time in a finite way like we do.
·
To the Lord a thousand years is like a day.
2
Peter 3:8 says:
8But do not forget this one
thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day.
·
With this perspective, God knows what is best for our lives.
·
Knowing this, we should be willing to trust Him with our lives.
Proverbs 3:5-6
says:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight. [a
Isaiah 55:8-9
says:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the
earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Ecclesiastes
7:13-14 says:
13 Consider what God has
done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future.
Matthew 7:24-27
says:
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and
puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and
beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on
the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house
on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
TO BUILD MY LIFE
ON SOLID GROUND THAT DOES NOT SHIFT UNDERNEATH ME, I MUST:
1) CONTINUE TO
________________(PRACTICE) THE “_______________(SPIRITUAL)
________________”(DISCIPLINES) OF PRAYER, BIBLE STUDY AND MEDITATION.
1. Pray for Guidance and that God will speak to you through his Word.
2. Read the Word.
3. Meditate on what the Lord showed you.
4. Thank and Praise God by faith that He will help you to live out the
truth He showed you in your quiet time.
2) OBEY AND __________(ACT) ON WHAT YOU ____________(READ) IN THE BIBLE.
James 1:22-27 says
22Do not merely listen to the
word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says
is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately
forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks
intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not
forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep
a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless
is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world.
·
Often times we need motivation to obey God and do the things He asked us
to do.
·
Throughout the pages of Scripture we see that such motivation is provided
in making a covenant with God.
3) MAKE A ________________(COVENANT) WITH GOD.
Genesis 28:10-22 (pg.
20) says:
10
Jacob left
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely
the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17
He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other
than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed
under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with
me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to
eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my
father's house, then the LORD [d] will be my God 22
and [e] this stone that I have set up as a pillar
will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a
tenth."
·
There are TWO Parts to the covenant Jacob made with God.
PART ONE OF THE
COVENANT – JACOB SPECIFIED WHAT HE _________________(WANTED)
GOD TO HELP HIM ACCOMPLISH: Prosperity, guidance, peace of mind, reconciliation
with his family. Genesis 28: 20-21
NOTE: IN THE NEW
TESTAMANT COVENENANT THAT CHRISTIANS HAVE WITH GOD TODAY, THIS ELEMENT OF __________________(SPECIFYING) WHAT YOU ____________(WANT) GOD TO _______(DO)
FOR ___________(YOU) IS STILL AN _________________(ACTIVE)
___________________(STIPULATION)!
John 15:1-17 pg.
(764) says:
1"I am the true vine,
and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch
in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to
you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch
can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear
fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain
in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are
picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If
you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that
you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now
remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands,
you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and
remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my
joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My
command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater
love has no one than this, that he lay down his life
for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I
command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed
you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you
whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command:
Love each other.
PART 2 OF THE COVENANT - JACOB
SPECIFIED WHAT HE WOULD _______(DO) FOR GOD: ___________(TITHE). Genesis 28:22
NOTE: IN THE NEW TESTMANENT
COVENANT THAT CHRISTIANS HAVE WITH GOD, THIS ELEMENT OF _______________(OBEYING) THE WORD IS ________(STILL) AN ACTIVE STIPULATION
FOR TODAY!
2 Corinthians
9:6-15 (pg. 820) says:
6Remember
this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should
give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is
able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every
good work. 9As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."[a] 10Now
he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and
increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be
generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in
thanksgiving to God.
12This service that you perform is not only supplying the
needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to
God. 13Because of the service by which you have proved
yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession
of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with
everyone else. 14And in their prayers for you their
hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
·
In Part one of the Covenant the person states
what they want God to do for them.
·
In part two of the covenant, the person states what they are going to do
for God.
ILLUSTRATION:
Examples of people who have made covenants with God.
·
Often we are inclined to tell God what we want him to do in our life, then we selfishly stop there.
·
Often times, we do not go all the way and agree with God on what we would
do in return in appreciation.
·
A “covenant” is a solemn agreement, usually between two people, to do specific
things and achieve specific results.
·
But such a covenant doesn’t do much unless both parties do their part.
·
Jacobs covenant worked.
·
God granted him far more than he sought.
·
When he returned to his fathers house years later he returned in peace, a
very wealthy man.
·
Yet at the time Jacob made his Success Covenant in that desolate place,
to all appearances he was asking for the impossible: Prosperity, protection,
guidance, and reconciliation with his family.
·
Under the circumstances, his request seemed preposterous, since he was
out of favor with God and man.
·
But Jacob took no chances.
·
After making his large request in Part I of his Covenant with God, Jacob
then did what most people overlook.
·
In Part 2 of the Covenant he stated what he would do for God and he got
busy fulfilling his part of the covenant.
·
He did not wait around to see what God was going to do for him.
·
He took it for granted that as he fulfilled his part of the agreement,
God could be trusted to produce what he sought and needed in his life.
·
Over the years God granted him far more than he ever sought in his
covenant.
·
At the end of his journey, or at the end of a difficult task, the person
who vowed a vow gives a thank offering or a tithe in appreciation for answered
prayer – Jacob did this after returning to his homeland to live.
·
Writing out a covenant with God could prove to be a beneficial exercise.
·
Even in ancient times, people placed great power in the written word.
They felt that by putting in writing how they wanted their lives to be, they
reached past all fear and uncertainty into a higher realm of accomplishment.
·
Through your definite written words, you dissolve all obstacles and
barriers on the visible planes of life. Your written words,
go out into the ethers of the universe to work through people, circumstances
and events, to open the way for your desired god to come to pass.
4) FULFILL YOUR
COVENANT OBLIGATIONS BY______________(TITHING) YOUR
INCOME TO THE
Malachi 3 (pg.
676) says:
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you
rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and
offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole
nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the
whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in
this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the
floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room
enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring
your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says
the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will
call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD
Almighty.
13 "You have said harsh things against me," says the
LORD.
"Yet you ask, 'What have we said
against you?'
14 "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did
we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before
the LORD Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant
blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God
escape.' "
16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and
the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his
presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.
17 "They will be mine," says the
LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. [a] I will spare them,
just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18
And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked,
between those who serve God and those who do not.
MATTHEW 6:19-34 (pg.
685) says:
19"Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are
good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if
your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light
within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the
one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and Money.
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or
store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much
more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can
add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies
of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I
tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was
dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes
the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the
fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So
do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What
shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.
5)
FULFILL YOUR COVENANT OBLIGATIONS BY USING YOUR _________________(TALENTS) AND SPIRITUAL ______________(GIFTS) GOD
_____________(LENT) YOU TO ADVANCE THE
1
Corinthians 12 (pg. 813) says:
1Now
about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were
influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3Therefore I
tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be
cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy
Spirit.
4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works
all of them in all men.
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for
the common good. 8To one there is given through the
Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of
the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another
miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between
spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of
tongues.[b] 11All these are the
work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he
determines.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and
though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or
Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do
not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of
the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I
am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason
cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were
an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear,
where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has
arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body
be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need
you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be
weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think
are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are
unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while
our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the
members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that
its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If
one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every
part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a
part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first
of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles,
also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts
of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets?
Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have
gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31But
eagerly desire[e] the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent
way.
CLOSING:
GOD IS ETERNAL AND NON-CHANGING AND HE OFFERS AN ___________________(UNCHANGING) COVENANT THROUGH _____________(CHRIST) THAT
CAN BE TRUSTED FOR ETERNITY.
Hebrews 12:18-29 (pg.
853) says:
18You
have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire;
to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to
such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word
be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what
was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be
stoned."[a] 21The
sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."[b]
22But you have come to
25See to it that you do not refuse him who
speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on
earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from
heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but
now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also
the heavens."[c] 27The words
"once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is,
created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and
awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."[d]