Consumed by God: Letting Go of Idols

So the question for this morning, the question I think that we need to think about more than we care to admit, The question that I think our students need to ask themselves when they ask where is God is this, what idols are keeping you away from the one true God? Yes. You may not be able to hear him or feel him or see him, but are you making room for him to do any of that for you? Are you making room for him to be seen, to be heard? We need to make space. We need to make time for God to consume us. [00:50:10] (42 seconds)  #MakeRoomForGod

And for those who know Jesus, and if you don't know Jesus, I would invite you to to get to know him and accept him into your life. But once you know who Jesus is and you accept him in your heart, you confess with your mouth and you believe in your heart that he did those things, that he died on the cross and rose again, you do not have to wait. The Holy Spirit dwells in you immediately. There isn't this pause time. This isn't where you're just waiting and seeing when it's gonna happen. No. As soon as you do that and make that decision, he dwells in you immediately. That means that you're changed. [00:44:57] (35 seconds)  #HolySpiritWithin

God is still a consuming fire, but what we're trying to get you to understand in this part of the New Testament is that he, when he dwells in you, he consumes you. He gives you identity. He gives you purpose. He gives you approval. He is all that you need. He is a consuming fire, and he wants all of you. And the thing that I want you to know today and the thing that I so desperately want our students to know is this, is that God loves us so much that he sent his son who made the ultimate sacrifice for leaving us from the punishment of sin. [00:45:56] (45 seconds)  #GodGivesIdentity

When you accept Jesus into your life, this is still true. We still experience guilt. We still experience pain. We still experience shame, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suffering that comes as a result of sin in our lives. Unfortunately, from the very beginning with Adam and Eve, sin has wreaked havoc in our world. We can't escape it. But this is where hope comes in. When we choose, we have to make the decision. When we choose to give those idols over to God, he can change our perspective to see that the those things, those idols, those things that we put before him no longer consume us. [00:47:41] (52 seconds)  #HopeOverSin

If we can be open handed to what God has in store for us so we can get on our knees and pray, if we can say out loud some of the things that we're struggling with, if we can surrender some of those things that have a stronghold on us, God can enter into our lives and consume those parts that we don't understand, consume our lives in a way that he will take care of it. We don't need to, but I promise you that the things on Instagram, the things on Snapchat, the things that you're looking at with your friends late at night, the things like drinking and vaping and all all those I promise you, those things will not fulfill you, satisfy you, or provide you the type of joy, hope, peace, faithfulness, love, and everything else that God can provide us. [00:48:33] (50 seconds)  #SurrenderIdols

And the point that I'm getting at though is if we take the time to learn about God, if we take the time to get rid of some of the noise that we consume our time and energy with, if we spend a little less time on our phone, if we spend a little less time with that group of friends we know we shouldn't be hanging out with, if we spend a little less time watching the things we shouldn't be watching anyway, if we spend a less well, a lot less time at work and spend more time at home, we open up our minds and more importantly our hearts to what God has to say. Almost immediately, just like my mind changed when I learned about those trucks, your mind and your heart and your posture can be transformed if you make space, you make time for God. [00:43:28] (55 seconds)  #QuietTheNoiseForGod

again, you may be sitting here and maybe I didn't touch one of those things that you're consumed by, but there's no doubt in my mind of this that we are worshiping something. We are putting something ahead of God. We're allowing something, some things, or someone to take the place of God. Go to the next slide for me, please. He is not our priority. And, ultimately, when we're really thinking about this and breaking it all down, what it comes down to is that we're worshiping something else, and, ultimately, it turns into idolatry. [00:32:29] (38 seconds)  #IdolatryCheck

And my hope, my prayer, and what we work so hard in this student ministry to do is to make sure that these students are prepared and have a foundation to understand that they have a God who is all consuming if they let him in. If they can put aside the things that they think it takes to cope, if they can say no to the things that catch their heart, if they can say no to those friends, if they can do things differently, I promise all of you that God will consume you and change your life. He is all that you need. He will provide you everything that you need. [00:51:37] (48 seconds)  #PrepareStudentsForGod