Breakthrough Forget about God s plan for your life! (Today not Someday!!) 2/8/15. I. Forget about your life plan Respond to What God is saying Now!

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1 Breakthrough Forget about God s plan for your life! (Today not Someday!!) 2/8/15 I. Forget about your life plan Respond to What God is saying Now! Action Steps 1. Be Available Open to the Spirits leading Today! 1. Philip had a willing heart to serve 2. Philip was a servant in Acts 6 helping with the Greek Jews 3. He was an evangelist here in Acts 8 4. Be seeking to lean on the Holy Spirit every day to see how you can be used and what God would have for you. 5. Paul in Acts 16:6-10 (open to the Spirit) 6. Isaiah 6 He saw a vision and heard the need and then responded 7. David was a farmer but then saw an opportunity to defend God s honor and stepped up and defeated Goliath. 2. Be Obedient a) We talked last week about how bold obedience unleashed the power of God. Here again we see Philip is told by God to do something and we read that Philip did it! He didn t argue or complain he just did it. And the Spirit of God moved. b) The Desert Road was not an easy road. c) Philip didn t moan and complain; he didn t need to check his schedule; he didn t make excuses. Philip heard God speak and he simply obeyed!!! d) Philip was obedient to God s business/command. We know God s command to go out and make disciples (Acts 1:8) so it is when we are doing this that we will experience a breakthrough of the Holy Spirit! e) Philip was able to be obedient because He trusted in God. 3. Be prepared a) Philip understood Acts 1:8 and was prepared to carry out that mission b) Philip was prepared to share Christ with others. c) Be prepared to give a defense for what you believe d) Be praying on all occasions 1

2 Manuscript Breakthrough: Forget about God s plan for your life! How many times have you heard people say I just want to know what God s plan is for my life? How many times have you said that? I know that I have said that many many many times. But today, I want to tell you to forget about God s plan for your life! That is right. I want you to quit worrying about God s plan for your life and focus on His plan for you today. I have been wrestling with the fact that worrying about God s plan for our lives may actually be a misguided way of thinking and can actually hinder the Spirit of God in your life. Very few biblical examples of God revealing a person s life plan or even 5 year plan exist. For instance, consider Abraham. He was told to pack up his stuff and his family and start walking. That was it. There was no in depth explanation at first. It was only later when Abraham had been obedient to God that God began to reveal some of His plan. Again it was not even all of the plan, just some of it. Abraham didn t know where he was going or when or even if he would be back. He didn t know all of what we would consider the vital details (destination, how long, the purpose, the provision, etc.). He just knew that God told him to go. I believe a lot of us need to quit worrying about God s plan for our lives and start responding to what the Spirit is leading today. God cares more about our response to His Spirit today than what we intend to do in the next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly shaped by our obedience to the Spirits leading today. It is often easy to use the phrase God s will for my life as an excuse for inaction or disobedience. It is much less real or sacrificial to think about what God s will is for my life in the future than what His will is for my life in the present. It is safer to commit to Him someday than today. But God never promises us a 20 year plan rather He promises us to never leave us or forsake us. God wants us to lean on His Holy Spirit on a daily basis and throughout the day. We need to learn to be less focused on God s will for our entire lives and more focused on God s will for today. We need to learn to pray for an open and willing heart to respond to the Spirits leading with a friend, child, spouse, coworker, or decision in our life right now. This does not mean that God does not have a plan for our lives because He does. The point is that God doesn t always reveal that plan. And often dwelling on God s future plans for our lives excuses us from faithful and sacrificial living now. Too many times have I heard others say, and I have said myself, I will do that in the future or when God does this in my life, then I will do that instead of just responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit now. We can sit around and talk about what God might have for our lives instead of acting on what God does have for our lives. This is not to say we cannot dream but let us not lose sight of what God has for us today because we are so focused on tomorrow. Thinking, talking, and pondering can at times take the place of letting the Holy Spirit affect our immediate actions in radical ways. We need to develop a heart attitude that is not asking for what God s will is for the future as much as we are asking for His will for today. If we are going to have a breakthrough of the Holy Spirit in our lives then we need to focus on what God is calling us to do today not someday. Otherwise our breakthrough will come on that elusive someday and not today. Thus, today I want to look at how we can practically respond to God today and trust in God for tomorrow. To do this I want to look at how the Holy Spirit moved in a breakthrough way in the life of Philip as he responded in the moment of the Spirit s leading. Read with me Acts 8:

3 Okay, the first thing we see is that the Holy Spirit moved mightily in and through Philip and resulted in the salvation of this Ethiopian man. But if we look closely we can see a few practical principles Philip modeled that enabled the Holy Spirit to have a breakthrough experience in Philip s life. First, we see that Philip was available and open to the Spirit s leading. To better understand this, allow me to give you a little background on Philip. We read in Acts 6 that Philip is a Greek but also an available servant. In Acts 6 we read that a problem arose in the church where the Greek widows were being treated unfairly compared to the Jewish widows, since the church was comprised of both Jews and Greeks. The Apostles were brought in to deal with the situation, so they instructed the church to choose 7 men who were full of the Holy Spirit and have them settle this dispute. Philip was one of the 7 men. But here we see that Philip is again asked to do something, but this time completely different. The point I want us to grab a hold of is that Philip had now twice model a heart that is available to the Holy Spirit s leading and a willingness to be used. He was a servant in Acts 6 to the widows and now an evangelist in Acts 8. Philip didn t say, sorry, that is not my job. I am only a servant to the widows. I am already doing something. Go tell the Apostles to share with the Ethiopian. I am a church elder not an evangelist. He didn t say that. Instead he was available and obedient to what God said. One of the greatest barriers we face from experiencing a breakthrough of the power of the Holy Spirit in our life is that we quench the Holy Spirit by simply not being available or obedient. For instance, the Holy Spirit will prompt us or reveal to us an opportunity and we tell Him no I already have plans, or sorry I am already doing this/that. Perhaps we say, we will do that later, but we are busy now. But if Philip had of said to God that he was busy or that if that was not his job then he would have missed out on that miraculous experience of the salvation of the Ethiopian. Personally, I have experienced both sides. A little while ago I was checking out the surf and the Holy Spirit prompted me to go and talk to this guy who was sitting reading the Bible in his car. At first I didn t want to because I was getting ready to go surf and the waves were good and I didn t have a lot of time, and plus, believe it or not I was nervous. But then I obeyed and went and began to talk to him. And it turned out that this guy was struggling to know who God was and did not have a church home. So after we talked I invited him to OB1 and he came and was part of OB1 and God did some miraculous stuff in this guys life and I was able to be part of that breakthrough experience because I was available and open to the Spirit s leading. I can also tell you of how many times when the Holy Spirit has presented an opportunity right before me and I gave a bunch of excuses of why I was not the right person for the job, or did not have enough to share or whatever excuse. The point being is that many times I have missed out on a breakthrough experience of the power of God in my life simply because I was not available or open to the Spirit s leading. I am reminded of Isaiah who saw a vision of the Lord. And God said there is a great need among the people. Who will go and share with the people about me. And we read in Isaiah 6, that Isaiah said, Send me Lord. He heard the chance to be used by the Lord and was available. It didn t matter what he had going on or what his job title was he wanted to be the one to experience and serve God. Or how about king David when he fought Goliath and saw a need and was available to meet that need when no one else was. 3

4 In contrast, we see the opposite attitude in the disciples in the miracle of the feeding of the In this miracle, Jesus recognizes the need to feed the people and tells the disciples that they should feed them. But the response of the disciples is that the people should be sent away to the surrounding villages to get food. They were not available to Jesus because they saw the task as too big. But Jesus didn t want the disciples to send the people away. He wanted to do a miracle in and through the disciples. But they needed to change their attitude and be willing to trust and be used by God. The truth is that most of the time that God is going to move will not be on our time schedule or how we want to or expect Him to move. His leading will often even seem impossible or beyond our ability and that is because if it is from God it usually is beyond our ability. But that is what God wants. If we want to experience a breakthrough of God s power we need to be available, open and obedient to the movement of the Holy Spirit. We need to focus on what God s will is for now and today and not about what His will is for tomorrow or the future. Jesus says in Matthew 6:34, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. So ask yourself, are you available today for the Holy Spirit to move in your life? Have you already set in stone what you can and cannot do for the Lord? Are you open and available to whatever the Holy Spirit may ask you to do today? Imagine how awesome your life can be and the difference we can make when we are open and available to the leading of the Holy Spirit. If God presents an opportunity for you to share the Gospel, to love the poor, to help the needy, to carry the burdens of those hurting, will you be available or will you tell God that you are too busy or that it is not your calling? Philip could have told God that he was already serving the church by helping out the widows and thus he was busy. But if he did he would have missed out the breakthrough experience of the power of the Holy Spirit. He would have missed out on God s miraculous work in the life of the Ethiopian. Philip was not only available to God but he was also obedient to God. And there is a slight difference. Last week we studied what bold obedience looked like and how that unlocked the power of the Holy Spirit. It was bold obedience that Peter modeled that unleashed the power of God in their midst, and here we see the same principle again in the life of Philip. God told Philip what to do and we see that Philip was not only available but obedient on how to do it. God told Philip to go south on the desert road. Philip did not argue with God and say, Okay God, I am available but lets go north instead. Nor did Philip say lets pick a different road because the desert road sounds harsh and difficult. Instead what we see is that Philip did what he was told and the Spirit of God moved. The path that God often leads us on is not an easy road. Again, this is because He wants us to learn to be dependent upon Him. Too often we miss out on the breakthrough and power of God because every time God tells us to do something we are already set on how it has to happen. We want God to fulfill His promise how we want and when we want. The problem is that if we are to see God breakthrough our lives then we must not only be available but completely obedient. Philip didn t moan and complain; he didn t need to check his schedule; he didn t make excuses. Philip heard God speak and he simply obeyed! Philip was obedient to God s business/command and the power of the Holy Spirit broke through in the lives of Philip and the Ethiopian. In 1997 I had a chance to go the Philippines as a short-term missionary. I really felt God telling me to go this short-term trip and build relationships with the people. So I was 4

5 available and I went. The problem was that I had already planned on how my service to God was going to look and when it was all going to take place. At this time I was already a veteran short-term missionary for it was my 3 rd trip!!! (LOL). So I thought I knew everything, which means I knew nothing. Well date came and we all headed to the Philippines and immediately I started looking for the opportunities for me to preach, teach, and share God s word. But it never happened. All they wanted me to do was to eat and visit with people. After a couple of days all I had done was eat every two hours and some different persons house. I began to think this was such a waste. I thought it was the worst mission trip ever. I was so angry during the trip that my fellow missionaries were upset with me because I had such a bad attitude and was complaining all of the time. I wish I could say that I realized my problem and changed on the trip, but in reality it took me months of processing with God that I realized that in actuality I said yes to serving God in the Philippines, so I was available, but I was disobedient to God in how He wanted me to serve. He wanted me to simply go and learn and build relationships and be a blessing. But I had in mind something different and it had to be done my way. And because I was not obedient or listening to God s way, I missed out on the Holy Spirit moving in me and through me. King Saul is the perfect example of being available but disobedient and thus missing the blessing and power of God. God told Saul to go out and defeat the Amalekites and to keep nothing for himself, no plunder or prisoners. So Saul responded in obedience to go and fight the Amalekites but he decided to keep a small amount of the plunder for himself. Saul believed the small details of obedience was not that big of a deal. He partially obeyed and missed out on God s blessing. It is also amazing on how much God works in our obedience to the everyday small things. I often find that if we are not obedient in the small things God will not call us to do the big things. This is why we need to focus on God s will for us today and not worry about tomorrow. Philip was obedient even though it may have appeared that going on a trip for one person was not worth it. So often we focus on the big plans that God has for us in the future but we are disobedient to the small things today. I imagine Philip could have said, That is just one person. I don t need to listen to what the Spirit is saying. But Philip didn t do that. He was obedient even to ministering to one person. The truth is little faith leads to big faith. Maybe God is telling you to serve Him in a fashion that seems to small or a waste of your time, but are you willing to be obedient? The last thing that I want to share today that Philip modeled was that he was prepared to be used by the Holy Spirit. We see this in several ways. First Philip knew the scripture and was able to give a defense for what he believed. Philip was called to stand next to the chariot and then he was able to explain that passage in Isaiah because he knew the passage in Isaiah. The more we can know the word of God in our hearts the more we can share the word of God and be an instrument of God. We read that in 1 Peter 3:15 that we are called to be prepared to explain why we have the hope we have. This is not to say that we have to be biblical scholars but we must know why we believe what we believe. This is why God says hide the word of God in your heart. Second, Philip was listening. We read in Acts 8:29 that when the Spirit told Philip to go stand over by the Chariot he obeyed because he was heard the voice of the Lord. So often we have so much going on in our lives that we are too busy to hear what God is saying to us. It is a no brainer if we want to be available and obedient to God so that the 5

6 Holy Spirit can move within us and we can draw nearer to Christ then we need to be able to hear the Holy Spirit. How much time are you spending simply listening to God and asking Him to reveal His will for you today? Not His will for your future but for today? I know we all give Him are lists of wants and fears, which is not bad but actually good. However, are we also stopping daily and simply listening so that we can respond and obey? Philip was prepared to respond to the voice of the Holy Spirit because he heard the Holy Spirit. Too often I am so busy and focused on my agenda that I simply find that I am ignoring or drowning out the voice of the Lord. The Holy Spirit often speaks to us through a still small voice that if we are not paying attention we can miss it. This is why we read in Psalms 46:10 to be still and know that I am the Lord. So where are you today? Are you willing to listen and be available to what God is calling you to do? Are you willing to answer and obey exactly what He wants you to do, being faithful in the big and small things? If we are going to respond to what God is saying today and experience the power of the Holy Spirit today, we need to be available and obedient to God s call in our life NOW! Not next year, not when we think it is a good idea, but now. Philip was available and obedient on God s time schedule and in God s way and the Holy Spirit moved in power. Imagine the impact we could have on the world around us if we allowed God to have a breakthrough in our lives today by simply being obedient and available. Imagine the miracles God can do in your life, in your families life, in your work and within all of your relationships. God is looking to breakthrough and do more than we can ask or imagine in our lives. The Holy Spirit is the same today as He was in the first century. He is looking to move in our lives and in the lives of the lost, just as He moved in and through Philip and the life of the Ethiopian. But we must not get sidetracked with God s will for us in the future but instead be ready to respond today. Let us be ready to respond to the Spirit of God by being available and obedient to His call. God is going to speak to us in many ways. Quite often it is not an audible voice but a still small voice within us. Sometimes it may be through a worship song, or from a sermon, or from reading the Bible or a vision. God speaks to us in many different ways, but every command from God will always align with the Bible. God will never contradict His word given in scripture. But the real question is: are you listening? Are you available and open to God using you? Are you willing to be obedient to God s instructions? And are you prepared to be an instrument of God? Or are you telling God that you will do that in the future? God is not concerned with what you do with your future as much as He is concerned with what you do with today. I want to close with a time of simply listening to the Holy Spirit and surrendering our hearts so that we may be sensitive to what He is saying to Him. Let us forget about God s will for our lives and seek out God s will for today. Lets pray. 6

7 Scriptures for Breakthrough: Forget about God s plan for your life! Matthew 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. 1 Peter 3:15 Be prepared to give a defense for what you believe Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am the Lord 7

8 Life Group Questions 1. Read Acts 8: How did the sermon minister to you? What Did God say to you? 2. Pastor Joe said a radical statement to Forget God s plan for your life! But instead focus on God s plan for you today. Do you agree or disagree? How often has God told you His long-term plan versus His short term will? 3. If we read in Acts 6 Philip was already serving as a deacon (means a servant) to the church. Now in Acts 8 God is calling Philip on a mission trip. The success and breakthrough of the power of the Holy Spirit in Philip s life was largely due to his availability to be used by God. We see this in countless examples through out the Bible. Discuss times that God moved powerfully in your life because you were simply available? Or talk about times you feel that you have missed out on God s miracles because you were not available? Would you say you are available to be used by God now? 4. Philip not only was available to be used by God but he was obedient to be used by God. Philip did not place stipulations on God or try to change God s directions. He simply obeyed and God moved miraculously. What is keeping you from obeying God s call in your life today? 5. Read Acts 8:29. Here we read that the Spirit told Philip and Philip obeyed immediately not later. Philip did not show partial or delayed obedience but immediate obedience. But in order for Philip to obey he had to hear. How can we or do you hear God? (Life group leaders please stress the key that anything from God will ALWAYS line up with scripture. It will never contradict). 6. Take some time (20-30 minutes or more listening to some praise music and having time of group prayer. For new groups this may seem a little awkward so feel free to discuss this exercise with the group and see what they feel comfortable with. Then Discuss what God was saying to you today. 8