The Joy of God’s Plan
Notes
Transcript
The Joy of God's Plan
Nehemiah 9:6-15
INTRODUCTION
Being in the center of God’s will is not easy. It doesn’t guarantee an easy life of happiness. But it does guarantee joy.
James 1:2-3 \
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
We need to learn to find the joy in the suffering.
After their mourning for their sin, they turn the mourning into joy.
They begin to praise the name of the Lord.
6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea,
10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.
11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.
12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.
13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant.
15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
4 Areas to Focus to Find Joy
4 Areas to Focus to Find Joy
1. God’s Creation (6)
1. God’s Creation (6)
6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
Their God is the Only Creator God
He Created the heavens= universe.
Host= sun, moon and stars.
He Created Everything on the Earth.
“Preserve all of them”= holds them all together.
Keeps everything from dying.
Ultimately this is all fulfilled in Jesus.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
All creation praises His name.
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts!
3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created.
6 And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
ILL- sunset from our balcony. Cries out to God.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Don’t miss God’s creation and how it cries out about God.
2. God’s Salvation (7-8)
2. God’s Salvation (7-8)
7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
The Calling- Go to a place I will show you.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
He went after that which he would never have. A promise to other generations.
Joy in what would come.
The Promise- The Promise Land
Abraham lived in this land as a foreigner.
The plan of Abraham was a plan for salvation of man. The coming of the Messiah.
3. God’s Provision (9-12, 15)
3. God’s Provision (9-12, 15)
9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea,
10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.
11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.
12 By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.
God has proven himself faithful to every generation.
No matter how bad things get, God will deliver.
Sometimes that is through earthly miracle.
Sometimes that is through us leaving this earth.
God showed them the way (pillar of cloud)
He provided for their needs.
15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.
Joy in God’s provision.
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.
30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
4. God’s Identity (13-14)
4. God’s Identity (13-14)
13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
14 and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant.
These rules were their part of the covenant.
God will bless them as his chosen people if they obeyed his standard.
19 “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,
20 then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21 And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’
22 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’ ”
It is what identified them different than the other nations of the world.
God has provided an identity for us a followers of Jesus.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
There is joy in identifying with God.
CONCLUSION
None of this praise was about what God’s people did.
It was all about God! “You...” “you...” “you”...
Our joy is found in God.
A love relationship with our creator.
Joy is found as we find our self in the center of His will.
Will you surrender to Jesus?
Will you surrender to Jesus?
