I am of an age now where age matters to me!
It’s a sobering thought that the minute we are conceived, not born,
we begin dying. There is that inevitable decline.
In the decades that follow
· the eyesight begins to go
· the aches and pains become more prominent
· the muscles are not as strong as they used to be
· the mind is not quite as sharp as it once was
· weariness becomes a more common companion
and rest and sleep become highly sought after
Trying to ensure long lasting physical health is like trying to stem the tide with a pitch fork! - a scarey image!
It’s not like that for our spiritual bodies though! Thank God!
It is possible to get better and better with age!
That’s what
“…we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day”.
In this sense, the older you and I get, the better we become!
Those who believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, the church, grow stronger day by day by day.
Getting better with age involves getting spiritually fit.
We must invest in our spiritual well being by digging deep into God’s Word.
God’s Word is the foundation on which we must build our earthly lives.
God’s Word is more than just a bunch of written words.
Those words have life.
John tells us in his Gospel news that The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
He also says God created life itself through the Word.
That Word is, of course, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
our Lord, our Master, our Saviour, our friend and brother, our God.
Jesus Christ is the foundation on which we must continue to stand.
The closer we become to Jesus, the more we will be like Him.
Paul speaks of it as “changing into His glorious image” (2 Cor
The more we become like Him, the more He expects of us as we live on this earth.
This close relationship with Christ will enable us to finish all that we have been called to accomplish.
Our eye sight will improve with age, not get worse.
And so, our eyes will be open to heavenly plans, and we will know just what to do.
With the Holy Spirit’s help, we will begin to see supernaturally as our eyes maintain focused on Jesus.
Our vision and focus will not be on problems but on solutions.
That is why Paul says in verse 18 :
“…don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, let’s fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen…divine things which will last forever”
When we do this our outlook will change from negative to positive,
and from hopeless to hopeful.
Let’s use the story from 2 Kings 6:15-20 as an illustration of what I mean.
READ ….
Elisha had supernatural vision to see the hills full of heavenly horses and chariots of fire, ready to do battle.
If we could see supernaturally what is happening all around us, we would never have cause to fear.
As Elisha said to his servant,
“Don’t be afraid… those who are with us are more than those
who are with them”.
Elisha’s servant was given supernatural vision, and his faith grew exponentially!
God wants us to be victorious in this life too.
He will give you and I supernatural vision through the power of the Holy Spirit as we live our lives founded on Jesus Christ.
John 15:5ff – see small card given as a gift to you this morning… He is the Vine and we are the branches…
I want to help you see with supernatural eyesight….
Once you see something in the Spirit, your faith will grow.
Thinking about the next 12-18 months in the life of CPAC, if God would answer only ONE of your prayers for CPAC, what would be your prayer?
(attached)
I want you to spend the next week waiting on God for that ONE prayer.
Then next week I want you to have written that prayer down and hand it in at the service.
Then all the prayer themes will be collated and assessed by our leadership team and we will see and hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, to CPAC.
And we will build those insights into our strategic plan for the next 18 months.
You might get that one prayer in the next 5 minutes, or 5 hours or 5 days.
Time doesn’t matter here. Even if you get a prayer in the next 5 minutes please continue to hold it before God for the next week… then hand it in at next Sundays service.
What matters here is that God will give you and I His vision to see with supernatural eyes what His will is for CPAC.
Over the last two or three months our CPAC leadership team have been waiting on God for His vision for us.
I don’t want to divulge any of the detail of those goals this morning because I don’t want to influence your visioning as you press into God in prayer over the next 7 days.
Let’s see what God wants to reveal to you.
Believe that He will reveal something to you.
I expect to see some common themes coming through all of our prayers.
Please ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to show you the way ahead for CPAC. Don’t be nervous about using a personal prayer language in your private prayers ie the gift of tongues. God knows what you are praying even if you don’t! The best way to begin using the gift of tongues is to literally make a “babble” like a child learning to talk the first time. It will feel and sound strange and weird at first. But because you are doing it in faith and trust in God, and for His benefit, it is legitimate and very biblical (eg 1 Corinthians 14). Have ago and keep persevering. You are learning a new language, a divine language. It will benefit your personal prayer life immensely. In my quiet times I like playing some favourite Christian music as I pray like this.
As you begin seeing supernaturally, your faith will be ignited!
Then we will have a God-given strategy and momentum to accomplish that which we have been called to do as a church.
The greatest victories come from the most difficult battles.
Remember, the war has already been won by Jesus Christ on the cross of
But the battle still rages for God’s church.
The god of this world, Satan, is not totally overcome, yet.
So we must be determined as a church to play our part in this spiritual battle.
We must set our faces like a flint toward God,
asking for His help and guidance, and never turning back from the calling He has placed on our lives, through this church, CPAC.
You and I can do it, because we have God on our side.
We can accomplish what seems impossible because with God all things are possible.
All things are possible.
Believe it!
Be encouraged!
As Elisha prayed, let me pray for you now…
“O Lord, open the eyes of your people and let them see…. “ Amen.
