Fwd: Abraham's Faith Shadows

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Begin forwarded message:

From: ryanjaustin@comcast.net
Date: November 28, 2012 4:44:59 PM EST
To: ryan austin <ryanjaustin@comcast.net>, Ryan Austin <ryan@southpointcc.com>
Subject: Abraham's Faith Shadows

Holy Spirit give me eyes of faith tonight. Help me to see what you see.

 

I.              ABRAHAM OBEYS

 

-       God calls Abraham to go to an unknown land. He goes. God tells him he is going to be the father of many nations. Abraham believes. At 99 he gives birth to Isaac (the promise). God tells him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham again obeys!

 

-       When was the last time God told you to do something that seemed impossible and you obeyed without asking? It is easy to obey when you know what lies ahead. But what about when you have no clue? This "unknown" and "unseen" territory that God has called you is different for all of us.

 

o   Respecting mom (Isaac, Brandon). Me leaving Texas & later believing for God to give me a wife. Friends & Bible (KJ).

 

II.            WHAT WAS THE KEY TO ABRAHAM'S OBEDIENCE??

 

-       (Hebrews 11:8-12) "By Faith…"

-       Abraham had no Bible, no church, no history to lean upon, yet he walked into unknown territory abandoning everything to obey the word of the Lord. He had magnificent faith!

-       I believe one of the keys to living an obedient life in God and reaching the destiny that God has for you is living by faith.

 

III.         WHAT IS FAITH?

 

-       (Hebrews 11:1-3) 2 part definition.

-       (Hebrews 11:13) Faith welcomes from a distance

-       Magic eye

 

1.    "Evidence": Faith is the spiritual seeing or perceiving of the fingerprints of God on things he has made.

 

The Magic Eye:

 

-       Some all they can see is chaos and colors. Others look deeper and see what's really there.

-       (skies, rivers, valleys, trees—chaos or something much more?)

-       Abraham saw something different. He saw something others didn't. Faith isn't making up things in your mind like wishful thinking. It is seeing the reality of what's really there! (For Ex: Empire State Building. God. I know because I have seen both).

 

2.    "Substance of things hoped for" Faith is a kind of spiritual tasting of what God has promised so that we feel a deep, assurance of things hoped for.

-       (Hebrews 11:13) pulls the future and brings it to now. (This is how we stay pure)

-       It is the "substance" or smell of the steak cooking that keeps you from eating the BS!

 

IV.          DON'T LET YOURSELF BECOME TOO SMALL!

 

When Abraham was being tested and he didn't have a son til 99, those years of waiting could have made him really really small. When you are waiting for the promise of God and it seems like it will never come into existence it can become really easy to start thinking of God's destiny for your life as small. The promises of God will start to look small and you might even start seeing yourself as small, as someone that isn't really going to change the world. You stop seeing yourself as set apart and begin to see yourself as a part of the crowd (no different than the rest of the world). YOU ARE DIFFERENT! YOU WERE MADE TO BE DIFFERENT! YOU WERE MADE TO REWRITE HISTORY NOT BE THE NORM IN HISTORY!

 

 

 

 

 

Shadows of Joseph

Shadows: Joshua and Caleb (Courage)

 

Shelby and I were watching one of our favorite movies the other night, We Bought a Zoo. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Matt Damon is talking to his son about having courage. He tells him, "All's it takes is 20 seconds… 20 seconds of insane courage, of feeling horribly uncomfortable, and you can change everything."

 

As I was thinking about this I thought, "You know this is true. 20 seconds of insane courage could create a miracle. 20 seconds of asking your friend if they want to come to church. 20 seconds of sharing the gospel with your teammate. 20 seconds of insane courage to walk up to one of your teachers and ask them if you can start a prayer group in their class room."

 

When you first give your life to Jesus everything seems nice and pleasant. The first 3 weeks are easy. But as you journey further along into the promised life that God has for you courage becomes a big requirement. It takes courage to leave the comfortable life you are used to. What happens when your friends start questioning your new belief system?  When they start rejecting you for being a Christian? When that boyfriend or girlfriend that you adored so much tells you that you need to come to the party and hang out with your "real" friends and not be a weird religious freak? It's then that the line is drawn in the sand. You now have a choice. Will you have the COURAGE to leave that old life and follow Jesus?

 

A STORY OF COURAGE

 

In Numbers 13 God tells Moses, "Send men to spy out the land I am giving them. Choose a chief from each tribe to go explore." Why would God, who is all knowing, tell Moses to send men to spy out the land? It can't be so God could know how amazing the land is. It had to be for the Israelites. I believe God wanted to give them a glimpse of the land so that he could see if they were willing to have the courage to follow him. It was basically a test. In other words, God has promised each of us a life filled with hope, full of joy and fulfillment. But it is going to take courage to take the life God has for us and follow him obediently into the unknown. God has showed each of us, "Look at the life I have for you! But it's going to take courage to get it!"God is waiting to see if we will have the courage to follow him into the promised land.

 

So Moses chooses twelve spies. These twelve spies, who were strong chiefs (not wimpy guys), were sent to see what the land had to offer. After 40 days of spying the land they returned with a report: "We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there." (Numbers 13: 27-28)

 

Just like so many of us these men saw the wonderful life God had for them: "Man this life that God has for me is incredible! Look at the blessings, the joy, the hope! Check out the fruitfulness, the success he has for us! Oh look over here! What is this? Check out this! These trees are producing the largest most delicious fruit I've ever seen! Hey Joshua come over here look at this… can you believe it!" But then in the middle of all this excitement one of them saw something they didn't expect to see: "Hey guys!Shhh… Come over here! Be quiet… Look… is that what I think it is? It sure is. It's a giant of Anak! The giants ofAnak are here! We'll never be able to take this land!"

 

Do we not do the same? We are offered this life full of fruitfulness and can't wait to have the blessing until we see the giants of Anak: "Wait, I have to give up that?? You want me to forgive her? You want me to love him? Share the gospel with who? Really!? There's no way!" And because of fear of what we will lose we decide the wonderful life God has for us is too difficult. (Numbers 13:30) "No we can't there are giants! There are mighty fortresses!...Let's just go back to Egypt!" (Numbers 13:31-14:4). We even begin to think to ourselves, "Man, I was better off before I was saved. Egypt—the old life of being a slave suddenly becomes more appealing to us.

 

But not everyone shrinks back in fear. There were two spies that were courageous and believed that they could get what God had promised: "Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes and said to the congregation: 'The Land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them."

 

Every man saw the opportunity, but only two seized it.Courage is more than seeing the opportunity. Courage is seizing it.

 

In verses 26 through 35 God brings judgment on the people by putting to death those who grumbled against the Lord and refused to take the promise land but promises to give Joshua and Caleb the land. Because of the Israelite's disobedience God makes them wander in the desert for 40 years until all those who grumbled died. Only Joshua and Caleb inherited the promise land. Joshua and Caleb had to have courage for 40 years! Can you imagine them coming up to the promise land boundary line in Joshua chapter one?  "All this I'm going to give you! Only be strong and courageous." It takes being courageous not just once, but every day of your life to get what God has for you.

 

WHY WE MUST HAVE COURAGE

1.

Joshua 1:6 "You will lead these people to inherit the land…" God hasn't just called you to have courage to walk into the land, but to bring your friends with you.

2.

Joshua 1:7 "To do everything written in God's Word." It takes courage to live out God's Word

 

HOW WE BECOME COURAGEOUS…

 

1.

Joshua 1:5. Caleb (Numbers 14:24) and Joshua (Numbers 27:17-18) were both filled with God's Spirit. If we are not filled with the Spirit we will cradle. Are you allowing God to fill you up in prayer and the word? If God is with you, who can be against you? How close you are to God will determine how courageous you are to live out the life he has for you (Joshua 1:5).

2.

Joshua 1:8 Obedience produces courage

3.

FRIENDS. Caleb and Joshua had each other.

 

 

 

 

 

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SET APART TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Fwd: Blog Set Apart to Be Great

SET APART TO BE GREAT

 

Paul, in 2 Timothy 4:9-10 addresses Timothy by saying, "Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessolonica." Paul is making a very important point. John Piper says that Paul is warning Timothy about how the love of this world destroys your ability to minister. He says, "There is a love for this world that makes ministry impossible. There is a love for this world, this present age, this God ignoring, God distorting, God demeaning products of culture that is mutually exclusive with real, deep love for Jesus."

 

God chose Demas for greatness. He chose him to be the apostle Paul's right hand man to change history. But because he loved the world, he turned his back on the greatness that God had for him.

 

God has called you to be set apart for greatness. He saved you to live for him and rewrite history on your campus, in your family, with your friends. He designed each of us for greatness. But there is a love for this world that makes this impossible. There is a love for the world that makes being sold out for God impossible.

 

KING SAUL SET APART FOR GREATNESS…(WHAT HAPPENED?)

 

In the book of I Samuel the Israelites ask God for a king to rule over them and protect them. Even though the Israelites were going against God's leadership, God decides to give them a king to rule over them. God uses the prophet Samuel to choose the man who shall rule the Israelites as king. This young man is Saul, a normal man that God anoints who soon becomes extraordinary because of God's anointing. This story starts in 1 Samuel 9:

 

"Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me." (1 Sam 9:16) "As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the Word of God. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, "Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage…Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hands finds to do, for God is with you" (1 Samuel 9:27-10:1,6,7).

 

Saul soon becomes very successful. He has a golden touch on everything he does. He is winning victory after victory, walking out the greatness that God has for him because of the anointing God has placed on his life. But we discover in chapter 15 Saul go south as the greatness of God is stripped from his life. What happened?

 

In Chapter 15 God tells Saul to completely destroy the wicked Amalekites. So Saul musters up his men and God begins giving them the victory once again. Saul starts to destroy everything…but then he sees a few things that him and his men like a little too much to destroy. So he decides to only destroy the things that are bad, but keep the things that are appealing.

 

When God sees that Saul has not fully obeyed him, he decides to take away his kingship and give it to another. God confronts Saul through the prophet Samuel, "Saul, did you fully destroy the Amalekites like God told you? Did you obey him?" "Of course I did… I killed the Amalekites like God told me." "Then what, Saul, is this sound of sheep that I hear? What is this cattle I see?" "Oh we saved these because they were still good. We could give them to God. Maybe they could be used for God's purposes…you know…" "Does the Lord like sacrifices and offerings more than obedience, Saul? To obey is what the Lord wants! You were not keeping these for God. You were keeping these for your own selfish ambition. Because of this God has taken away your kingdom!" "You're right, I've sinned…I feared man more than God. I wanted affirmation from them more…"

 

Saul could not let go of this world and because so he saw God's anointing or greatness stripped from his life. Do you want to be famous or do you want to be great? God designed you for greatness! How many of us come to God, ask him into our lives, are excited about the greatness he has for us, but then the love of the world keeps us from following God's commands?

 

God tells us: "Chris, I'm going to use you to save Sandalwood. Ben I have chosen you to bring revival. Andrew, I have called you to lead. I've placed my anointing on you, my greatness, to rewrite history!" We get all amped up. God starts giving us success, destroying the Amalekites and bringing us victory through our lives… BUT THEN…

 

"Billy, give up these friends holding you back. Chris, throw that God demeaning music away. Andrew, step out of your comfort zone" "But wait, wait… I can't destroy that! It's not going to hurt anything…" God replies, "What's this bleating of sheep that I hear?" I.E. "What's this music I hear? What's this habit? What's this thought I see? Is that pornography? What's this party you went to?... I WANT FULL OBEDIENCE!"

 

AND BEFORE OUR VERY EYES WE ARE STRIPPED OF OUR GREATNESS. Have you been stripped of the anointing, the greatness of God on your life because of a love for this world? There is more to life than that! Demas in love with this present WORLD lost EVERYTHING!" Are you obeying God…FULLY?

 

WHAT TO DO PRACTICALLY:

 

YOU ARE A NEW CREATION (2 COR 5:17). THEREFORE, PUT ON THE NEW SELF (COL 3)

 

-       (Col 3:2-4) When you give your life to Jesus you are a new creation. Why should we set our minds on above and not worldly things? Because you died to the world! (last week). Your life is not hidden/found in status, popularity, athletics, scholarship, the crowd, in being accepted and the "cool kid." It is found in God!

 

The reward in this is when Christ returns and ALL the things in this world perish, and He is ALL that is left in this dead world, you too will appear with him in his glory! (WOW!! It's worth it to lay down the world for Jesus! –that boy, status, pleasure…)

 

-       (Col 3:5-8) What do you need to put to death?

-       (Col 3:9-10) Your life is now defined by Christ! Don't go back to letting the world dress you!

-       (Col 3:12-17) What you need to put on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUNGER GAMES "Guard your Heart"

HUNGER GAMES: "Guard your Heart" 

 

WHY IT'S MOST IMPORTANT TO GUARD YOUR HEART

 

Proverbs 4:22-23 says, "Above all else guard your heart with vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." God tells us in his Word that the heart is the most important thing to guard. Why? Your heart is the deepest part of who you are. This proverb says, the springs of life flow from it. In other words, your heart is what pumps life to your spiritual body. Looking at how a physical heart works, this makes sense. A physical heart is at the center of who you are, and when working properly works as a pump pumping blood, carrying oxygen to your organs and muscles. It literally pumps "life" throughout your body. Likewise, when your spiritual heart is working properly it is pumping life throughout your spiritual body.

 

Whatever is in your heart is what is being pumped throughout your entire body. The human heart pumps blood throughout all your veins and vessels to feed your organs and muscles the oxygen it needs. If the enemy can make your spiritual heart impure, he can destroy your whole self. If your heart goes bad, then your whole self goes bad.

 

THE ENEMY'S PLAN IS TO CORRUPT THE HEART

 

This passage in Proverbs says that from your heart flows the springs of life. Back when this was written springs in Jerusalem or any city were extremely important. The springs were where the people got their most important resource for survival—water. Today we take water for granted because it is so easily accessed in America. Go to a foreign country that does not have a water system like ours, and you will understand what I am talking about. There is a reason civilizations migrate towards water. It is essential for survival.

 

A few years ago I went to Israel and had the opportunity to go beneath Jerusalem into the secret spring fed water tunnels of king Hezekiah built thousands of years ago. These tunnels were strategically built for protection from foreign army attacks, not so the people could escape, but so that the city could have an alternate supply of water for when the enemy attacked. What they told us is that when a foreign army attacked, the first objective of the foreign army was to stop up the springs so that the people in the city being attacked would have no water and eventually have to come out and surrender. These tunnels prevented Israel's enemies from doing this.

 

Likewise, the enemy is doing everything he can to corrupt our hearts with impurity. He understands that from your heart flows the springs of life, and if he can just slip in through a crack of compromise then he can wreck your entire life. If he can just get a little compromise—lust, pride, bitterness, jealousy, insecurity, or a desire to be lusted after, then he can stop the life flow. You will dry up and your heart will be hardened. You will face spiritual dehydration and the enemy will then take over your entire life just like an army takes over a city.

 

We must, therefore, learn to guard our hearts!

 

WHAT ARE SOME SIGNS THAT OUR HEARTS HAVE BECOME HARD?

 

Here are some signs of a hard heart that my sister wrote about in her blog A Women that Wins: 20  Signs That You Might Be Losing Your Step. (Some I have changed or added to)

 

1.     You haven't read your Bible in a few days, but you don't miss it.

2.     Going to church is now a tough decision that you have to make every week.

3.     Good things have replaced God things in your pursuits but you can't tell the difference.

4.     Sarcasm is your humor of choice.

5.     You are afraid of silence.

6.     You assume that asking a lot of questions means that you are searching for the truth.

7.     You now proudly dawn a "Coexist" sticker on your ride.

8.     It takes a lot to make you laugh deeply.

9.     Prayer is not the first reaction to a crisis.

10. You show up late and leave early to youth relational gatherings.

11. You are letting feelings of deep loneliness and emptiness go undealt with.

12. You haven't seen a "red flag" flying for quite some time.

13. You now find yourself questioning the idea of absolute truths.

14. You struggle with authority figures.

15. You are always the victim and are quick to exit tense relationships.

16. The escape seems worth the risk now.

17. You're looking for love in all the wrong places.

 

 

HOW TO GUARD OUR HEART

 

Going back to Proverbs 4, Notice how the author commands us to guard the heart, then begins to explain HOW to guard the heart. He says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot from evil."

 

1.      "Put away from you crooked speech and devious talk from your lips" (v 24). Watch what you say!

 

James 3 says that what you say can set you whole world on fire. It's like the rudder of a ship. It directs your whole life. What you say can either nourish your heart or destroy it. A negative word, a bitter comment, a jealous remark, a perverted statement will start off as a small spark but in the end lead to a wild fire. It's not just the crooked and devious speech that creates an impure heart. It is an impure heart that produces impure speech: "From the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." So yes crooked speech will corrupt your heart. But it is also a sign that your heart is bad. It's not just speaking impurely that corrupts you. It is also listening to impure words. My lost friend the other day was talking about how he was checking out girls. I knew the enemy was trying to distract me so I told him, "My eyes are for my wife." He just laughed but it shut him up about talking about girls. We must guard our hearts from crooked and devious speech! It's interesting how the enemy starts off with words to get your heart curious for sin. It may be at your lunch table, with friends at the beach that don't know God, Facebook conversations, etc. Just make sure you keep away from this talk!

 

2.     "Let your eyes look directly forward" (v25)

 

In other words, look ahead like a vigilant watchman. Don't be distracted by the decoys or activities of a non-soldier. If you have ever seen any movies with castle attacks, you will notice that the army attacking the castle almost always tries to distract the watchman on the towers so they can sneak into the city. Kyle and I did this the other night in our staff game Agency. When we returned from Islands of Adventure Doug and Bryan sabotaged us. We ran and hid and then Kyle hid behind the bushes while I lured Bryan in as the bait. Bryan completely focused on me did not see Kyle 10 feet away from him. When Bryan came for me, Kyle was able to shoot him. There are billions of lustful temptations trying to distract you saying, "Just look over here!" "Or he's looking at you! Acknowledge him!"

 

The enemy is very smart. Do you think it is coincidence that those cute guys are looking at you? Do you think it is coincidence that those pretty girls are put in your path and dressed like that? Some of us may think, "Man I must be good looking or have a great humor because it seems like everyone is attracted to me!" Let me just say something, it is not because you are good looking or have a good humor. It is because you are the enemy's target! 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that the devil disguises himself as an angel of light. In other words, that cute guy or girl is a trap! It looks all innocent (angel of light) but it is the enemy's plot.

 

John Bunyan, in Pilgrim's Progress, tells a story about how the main character Christian is introduced to Mr. Worldliness. Mr. Worldliness is very nice and has three gorgeous daughters named Lust, Pride and Crave that everyone wants to marry. Mr. Worldliness, who appears very nice, asks Christian if he wants to marry one of his three beautiful daughters in exchange for coming to his house and doing some chores. Christian can't believe it and decides he is going to go and work for one of these girls. Upon arriving to Mr. Worldly's house he discovers hundreds of young and even old men working in the fields and thinks, "Man Mr. Worldly has quite a few workers." Then Christian sees something he never expected. As he gets closer to the workers he discovers that they are all wearing chains and are bound. Christian realizes just in time that Mr. Worldly has been using his three daughters Lust, Pride and Crave to ENSLAVE the young men. He escapes just in time.

 

It is no different with us. The enemy, like Mr. Worldliness, has come dressed as an angel of light, offering you all the pleasure you can handle only to enslave you! It's just like the movie TAKEN. Two teenage girls go to Europe and are distracted by a cute guy who is actually a decoy to put the girls in sex slavery. This really happens today in the physical. But it happens even more in the spiritual realm. Are you enslaved today? Has the angel of light deceived you and distracted you? Looking is the first step to slavery!

 

3.     "Ponder the path of your feet" (v26)

 

In other words, make a conscious step-by-step path to where your decisions will lead you. If you go alone to look at that YouTube video where will it lead you? If you just for a second glance at that girl, where will it lead you? If you go to that party with those friends, where will it lead you? If you watch that T.V. show, where will it lead you? If you look up that guy's or girl's Facebook, where will it lead you? If you listen to that radio station, where is it leading you? If you look at that picture, say that word, think that thought, read that magazine, walk in that direction, look over there, give into that jealous thought, go along with that crowd where will it lead you?

 

4.     "Do not swerve to the left or to the right."

 

Don't even swerve! Even a little compromise, a little resting the eyes, a little giving in to the flesh because you are tired, gives the enemy a crack to enter in! Aaron and I were biking a couple months back and Aaron moving along at a quick pace of 27mph slightly swerved and was tossed from his bike, flipping and shattering his helmet. I tiny swerve was almost disastrous. Aaron has horrible road rash and shoulder pain from this spill.  We think a little compromise won't hurt us: "Just a quick glance won't hurt. Just a few minutes of the computer in my room, just one song on that station won't hurt... I'll make sure I turn it right off…Or not stare just see if I know that person…" It is these little deceptive compromises of the enemy that lead to disaster. Joseph in Genesis responded correctly to temptation by not even swerving a single bit. He did not hesitate for a single second to even think if it was wrong or not. He simply ran! We need to run when we see temptation. Go the other way! The enemy is after our hearts and we must do everything we can to protect them. If you know there could be temptation where you walk, then you are going the wrong way. I will purposely walk in a different direction if I know temptation is there.

 

WHY A PURE HEART IS SO IMPORTANT

 

A pure heart is able to love God more. Matthew 22:37 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart…" Matthew 5 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Purity helps you love more and experience God's love in your life. What you must realize, is nothing in this world can satisfy that longing you feel in your heart but Jesus. God wants all of you! If you allow him to fill your heart, you will experience a life filled with more joy and excitement and pleasure than you could ever imagine. But it takes you repenting from impurity and allowing God to change your heart.

 

If you have a bad heart tonight. If any sort of impurity has slipped in, God is willing to give you a new heart: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will put in you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). He is simply asking you to humble yourself just as David did Psalms 51 (READ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fwd: Hell (Godtest)

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: ryanjaustin@comcast.net
Date: May 30, 2012 5:25:38 PM EDT
To: ryan austin <ryanjaustin@comcast.net>
Subject: Hell (Godtest)

Fwd: Godtest paper

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: ryanjaustin@comcast.net
Date: May 15, 2012 3:16:43 PM EDT
To: ryan austin <ryanjaustin@comcast.net>
Subject: Godtest paper