Transformative Journey: Closeness to God and Grace

the further away you get from God the more trouble you're going to have in your life the more trials the more difficulties The more stress the more things are going to go wrong because you're not cooperating with your creator you're not following God's plan for your life and the Bible says the way of the unrighteous is rough it's full of thorns it's difficult it's a rocky rocky road the further I get away from God the more trouble I'm going to have in my life [00:00:00]

on the other hand the closer I get to God the more my life is going to be transformed and we can see this all through scripture that uh Paul when he finally met Jesus Christ face to face he was radically transformed from a literally a terrorist he was a religious terrorist into the Apostle of Love who wrote the most beautiful poem on love ever written or pinned by man Isaiah was transformed from a depressed person into a courageous person when he met God when he got close to God [00:00:35]

now doctors will tell you that every so often you need to go and get a checkup and you need to have your heart checked every so often and you had need to have your colon checked every so often that's a fun one anybody want to give a testimony on that right now okay anybody have you know personal story from this week yeah okay uh but you have to get regular checkups why because if something's growing wrong in your body you want to know sooner not later [00:02:14]

right and the same is true with your your life if sin starts growing in you it can become a cancer it's better to nip it in the bud like Barney F would say before it gets really big you got to you got to do this spiritual checkup on a regular Bas basis a and where do you do it you do it in your thought life it's a checkup from the neck up and you got to think about your thoughts [00:02:49]

I have a spiritual checklist that I use to evaluate myself and I've used it for now almost 40 years the Bible says that you can test test yourself and here are five areas that you can test yourself worship and fellowship and discipleship these are the purposes of God for our Life Ministry and evangelism I would encourage you to sometime this week do that personal evaluation okay you know how we're talking about setting a spiritual goal each week [00:03:21]

well here's your goal for this week that you're going to do a checkup today or this week and you're going to do it at least every 6 months that would be a good goal and then you can write down what your score is and you can write down what do I need to do and how am I going to get a partner to help me with it and then what progress have I made on it that's a good uh spiritual um habit that you need to do the habit of owning up the habit of checking your life [00:03:50]

transformation it doesn't happen overnight God is still working on me on this one and it's going to be your entire life he's going to work on you it's never instant but there is a decision that starts the process 2 Corinthians look up here on the screen 2 Corinthians 3:18 says this we reflect the Lord's glory and are being transformed that means a continuing process we are being transformed not just once but on a ongoing basis it's a process we're being transformed into his likeness [00:08:12]

metamorphis does that sound like anything you know metamorphosis it's the word we get met what's a metap orphosis it's when a butterfly goes from a caterpillar to a pupa a chrysalis and from a puper chrysis into a butterfly that's metamorphosis it hadn't happen overnight in fact there's that stage where it's sitting there in that crysalis it forms that little cocoon it's pretty ugly you ever seen one of those things doesn't look very beautiful to me but when it breaks out that butterfly is stunning [00:09:08]

I so badly want to be that and I want you to be that I want you to be transformed from the lowly caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly that is what transformation is all about it is metamorphosis it is going from you know when you're caterpillar what can you do not much except munch on leaves and you're stuck on the ground and I'm sure and caterpillars have looked in the air at butterflies go you never get me up in one of those things God made you to be a butterfly God Made You to soar [00:09:51]

God made you to be beautiful not ugly beautiful but you've got to go through the transformation process and the transformation process is number one get fed up with the way you've been living and then own up get honest to God God I admit it I have been living for myself I've been doing it my way and do that checkup and then offer up myself transformation is a process but the starting point is what the prodical son said make me that's offer up make me transform me change me God [00:10:39]

I don't want to live the rest of my life the way I'm living right now change me have you ever noticed that the world has ever changing so-called answers to your relationship struggles solutions to your financial troubles and explanations to your search for meaning but what the world offers often leaves us empty and searching for more the good news is God's word contains Timeless truths that can transform every area of your life [00:11:29]

the father celebrated he had a celebration not a condemnation a celebration when the son came back home I'm fed up and I'm owning up and I'm going to offer up and now I lift up my praise and we're going to party and we're going to celebrate and we're going to sing let's bow our heads for prayer father when we think of your grace we are overwhelmed it makes our hearts want to sing there's no way that we deserve this kind of reaction this kind of Celebration this kind of welcoming when we come home [00:22:44]