God’s Destination for Your Life

00:00 - Speaker 1 Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. 00:09 - Speaker 2 The Holy Spirit in the life of somebody who will repent and look to Christ will heal this nation and, I might add, it's the only thing that will heal this nation. The answer is not going to come in the next election or in any other location, or from any other power on earth. This nation is doomed without God. It's evident. Look around for crying out loud. 00:35 - Speaker 1 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com Today. If this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us that's like saying Amen or yes. Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. 01:04 - Speaker 2 When God moves, when God works in our lives. I like to think of it this way For every single one of us, god's got a destination for our lives. That's important, especially when you think about the Holy Spirit being our guidance system, our GPS, and that is this. That God's destination for us is more like this, that you and I would have a heart to seek after God more and more. Did you know that's God's destination for your life, that you and I would seek God? So ask yourself this question Do you have a heart that's seeking after God? Do you want to read his word? I'm not saying listen. I'm not saying do you want to read his word? Because you wake up and you can hear birds singing and that little sun rays coming through and it's illuminating your Bible. And you know I'm not saying, but I am saying this. I want to read the word, but there's a battle before I even get to my Bible. That's 20 feet away from me. It's almost like it's a war zone. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? I know I should read it. I want to read it. I know he loves me. I love him. I'm going to go read it. 02:15 And how is it that between here and there, the phone rings five times. There's somebody at your door and your back door and everything's going crazy. What in the world is going on? A spiritual war is taking place. Listen, if you don't believe a word I'm saying, I promise you this make an appointment with God today that you're going to get on your knees alongside your bed, or whatever you do, and you're going to pray to him. That's all I'm going to ask you to do. The opposition will prove to you that God exists. That's the most interesting thing. But for God's power, he wants you near, he wants you seeking him, and another thing is he wants you to draw closer to other believers. Did you know that it's called Koinania? Isn't it amazing? Listen, I'm laying this stuff out there for you to judge yourself if you're of the Spirit of God or not. 03:08 Believers love to be around other believers, and God, the Holy Spirit that's in us it's a remarkable thing is where you and I can meet someone and know them for five minutes and if they're really a true Christian, you feel like you've known them forever. It's called Koinania. Have you noticed that you've met somebody who's a Christian and there's something like I don't know about this, you don't know anything about them, you just know. I don't know. Let's wait and see. It's very listen. 03:39 The first time I ever experienced that in power is just early 1992. I landed in Moscow and got to the streets the next day and gathered together some translators and we had crates and we stood up on these crates and we were going to preach the gospel because Gorbachev had torn down the wall that Reagan told him about and it was just it was absolutely crazy in Russia and preaching the gospel. And then somebody comes up and they don't even speak English and you're talking with them through a translator and there's an immediate bond and they're a believer. God does that, regardless of race. By the way, that's the healing of our nation right here, right now, is the Holy Spirit living inside of you instead of you living inside of you. The Holy Spirit in the life of somebody who will repent and look to Christ will heal this nation and, I might add, it's the only thing that will heal this nation. The answer's not going to come in the next election or in any other location, or from any other power on earth. This nation is doomed without God. It's evident. Look around for crying out loud. And then what about this? The destination of the Holy Spirit is to unlock the Word of God to us. 05:09 Jude, chapter 1, verse 20,. Jude 1 20 says this everybody, but you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God. Be looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus unto eternal life. That's his coming, his rapture or death. If you die, or if the rapture were to happen today, be looking for the mercy of the Lord Christ or Jesus Christ, unto eternal life. Verse 24,. Now to Him, not us. Him who was able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Listen, christian, not only are you going to make it, because the Holy Spirit will see to it, when you arrive, you're going to be very happy and excited about it. It's going to be amazing. 06:01 Ephesians 2, verse 4,. But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love, with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses that is, a sinner made us alive together with Christ, for by grace you have been saved For verse 6, and raised us up together and made us sit together. Notice the past tense. This is wild past tense. He loved us, he made us alive, he raised us up. We sit together with Him in the heavenly places Verse 7, that in the ages to come, he might show this is forever the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. Isn't that amazing? It simply means this you guys, you know, when you walk by a jeweler's store and the display rack or whatever it is, it's draped in black but it's lit up with bright lights and you see the diamonds there. In fact, the lights are so bright and the background is so black you can't tell if they're diamonds or not. Whatever it is, you could put like a Coke bottle there and it would look amazing. That speaks to my heart, because that's the meaning of that passage of that verse. Right, there is that for all eternity, god is going to display His work that he worked in you, this marvelous work. It's absolutely amazing. 07:21 Verse 8 says for, by grace, this is God's gift. You have been saved Past tense. Isn't that crazy? Isn't that amazing? I'll explain in a moment. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. You're not going to go to heaven. By being good, you're going to get to heaven, just like Nicodemus was invited to go to heaven, and that is Lord. I can't save myself, save me, but notice the past, tense, past tense, always past tense. 07:51 Why Watch this God in His theology? You and I are living our life out right now, in this world, in this time. Are you with me? You guys awake? Okay, I just need a little bit of. So listen, this is God in eternity, this is life happening now and this is the end or eternity. Right now, you and I are here. God is eternal and this world had a beginning and this world will have an ending, but the God of eternity is on both ends, as two bookends. Think about that. And right now, you and I are living our lives out, having to choose between two worlds that were thrust upon us the world of darkness and evil that came to us by our original mom and dad, adam and Eve, because they chose to rebel against God. God made you the ability to choose and to pick and to love or to hate, and you're the only thing in the universe created in this image. He has a beginning and he has an end, and what's being played out right here is a real issue of relationship. How's it gonna go? Are you in God's forever family? Have you chosen God? Does the Spirit of Christ live in you, and what are you doing with what he's given you at this time? So watch this all along the way. He sees all, he knows all. 09:20 Imagine for a moment your kitchen table and there's an ant on the kitchen table walking around. The earth is flat. The earth is flat, that's what he thinks. He's on the kitchen table and you're looking. Does that ant have any idea that you're watching him? Not a clue. And that ant is there and you do one of two things you walk up and you just go, pfft with your thumb, and he doesn't know anything. It happens so quick, it's over. He's not like in eternity. What happened? Bug's life gone kaput over? Or what if you put your finger down and the little ant crawls on your finger and you take him outside in the backyard and you put him on a rose bush Rapture, heaven glory. It's like how does it happen? He doesn't know what happened. Tell us what happened. I was on the kitchen table, that's all I could see. And then, all of a sudden, I found myself being picked up and taken into paradise. God's got a beginning and God's got an end. And if you would think about that ant lifting up its front legs saying, pick me up, or I wanna know you, god, or you're so busy about living your life that you have no time for God. Be very careful. 10:51 We also look at eternity when we see in verse 11 that he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. This is awesome. Mortal bodies meaning resurrection. Christians do not believe in reincarnation. That's an unbiblical view. There is no resuscitation, there's resurrection. What does that mean? This is awesome. 11:15 Did you know that if you got dead, if you got bit by a shark, burned to death in a fire, turned into dust, we bury you at Rose Hills? 35 years later, we go back and we pick you up and there's nothing in there. There's big wooden box and dust. Where is he? Did you know that? Every part of you but water is there. Did you know that? All of the molecules that made up your flesh and your bones and your liver and your kidneys, it's all there. It's you man. That's I mean. It's only like this big. That's right, that's about. That's about it. Look at me. I'm an animated piece of flesh, a lot of moisture, but when that listen, when my body dies, it turns to dust. Scientifically, your molecular structure never changes. Molecules are still there. Is it a wild? Even though you can't see them, perhaps? Or you can see a cluster of them. 12:17 When God resurrects, he reassembles the actual parts of who you are. This body of mine, this body will be glorified. It's this body that will be resurrected. This body will be changed. It doesn't go away. I don't get a new one like a new one. I get a new one that's refashioned, but it's not anything less than resurrection. Why? Because you're a virgin. You should be comforted by that. 12:45 1 Corinthians 15, verse 14,. Excuse me, if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty, verse 17. If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins, verse 20. For now, christ is risen from the dead. Think about that for a moment. Jesus is resurrected from the dead. He rose from the grave. You can't take a neutral position on this. He raised this body on the dead and Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And he was resurrected from the dead. Bearing me, in three days I'll be resurrected. 13:22 And people say well, he was an enlightened one, he's one of the great sages or gurus of all the religions of the world. Really, when Jesus said, if you die, believe it in me, you'll live forever? Okay, you know what? Those are the words of a lunatic. Unless the third day happens, jesus says believe in me and your sins will be forgiven. I'm going to die on the cross for your sins. Friends, listen, if you say that he's a good prophet, if you say that he was a good person, frankly, friend, you don't know what you're talking about. Because if he didn't rise from the dead, he's the most mean, wicked person that's ever lived, because he gave promises of the ultimate false hope. Glory be to God. 14:14 On the third day, the Bible tells us that not only God, the Father raised him from the dead. Go figure this out. God the Father raised him from the dead. The Holy Spirit raised him from the dead and Jesus said if I lay my life down, I will raise it up again. God did that. Friends, what an amazing thing, and that will transform your life. God wants you to be living a resurrected life now. That's why the Bible speaks to us in the past tense you have been saved. 14:46 Well, my goodness, if that's true, then I don't need to walk around terrified or questioning or wondering if I'm going to go to heaven or not, or what I should do about this or that. Do the right thing. He'll give you the power to do it. You recognize the right thing. Do it, but it's not popular. Do it Truth. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16,. Therefore, we do not lose heart, don't, don't give up, even though our outward man is perishing. Isn't that true? How many of you had Advil before you came to church this morning? Yeah, I should have. We should have invested in that. When I was younger, I should have bought stock in that company. I didn't know things were going to go this way. I thought Christ would come back before my back hurt this bad. Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. Isn't that awesome? The outside of you is growing, while the outside of you is diminishing. Man, that's exciting. 15:47 Every time, I feel the pain or I'm wondering is this it? It's like oh no, I'm serious. You guys Listen. I don't know what it is. Man, something about me and water. Three times I almost died and three times I was in water, but it doesn't keep me from going to the water, but swimming. I told you this before swimming in Hawaii, snorkeling around, and I should have known better. But the tide I was in a shallow harbor or a shallow bay, and that's not a good prescription. When the tide is lowering, you never want to be in a shallow location because it's like a Venturi effect. When the water begins to drain, it drains fast in shallow water. So I'm swimming back to shore and I'm going backwards and I'm probably 200 yards from shore and I'm not going to make it Now. I'm so tired. I just said Lord, this is it. Take care of my wife, take care of my kids, my grandkids. God, you've been so good to me. I'm just talking to him. 16:51 I lay on my back, because I'm just laying on my back and I can't go anywhere. It's just not working. It's just pulling me out. And the next thing I know I'm just dragging and scraping on a reef that was just below the surface and there's blood everywhere. Seriously, I got let's just, and I was so happy. I'm bleeding and it's like I don't care, I'll a shark come, I'll put you out. And then I had to wait for the longest time. 17:22 The tide going out, stopped and then it hit equilibrium and then I swam in and I got to the beach and I'm on the beach and I'm walking back to Lisa. She's like this. She knew nothing about. I'm out there and I'm walking and people are running up to me. It was so impressive that the sand where my feet were, it was red and people are going are you okay? Are you okay? Your blade? Are you okay? I'm fine, thank you fine. Why? The whole thing was this? It's not that I got saved by the reef that God allowed me to be placed on. It's the fact that this is what I was rejoicing about. Wow, lord, I came that close and it's okay. You and I are okay, it's good. Peace in that moment. Listen, you want to know for sure you've got peace in that moment. You want to make sure that's certain. 18:15 Finally we end with this in verse 11, is that and that is the spirit of resurrection is the spirit of glory, glory I know this sounds weird and we're too humble, falsely to say I want glory. Well, you're going to have glory, god style, and it's nothing like this world. Does you know? This world does glory for a little bit and, by the way, the glory that the world gives. It's like, really that's it. And now you win this prize, that's it. 18:45 Have you ever had a new car and you like, worship the thing, but God's got your wash in it? It's not even dirty. You're washing it again and you know you got the bug when you park it way out in the parking lot of the mall. It's way out there and somehow God will send an angel to dent the door, or he'd. I'm serious, I don't know how this happens, but you can be so careful. An angel shows up with this wing and goes, boom, and you get out there and just like, oh no. And then, like, three days later, you get over the trauma and then you're using the car to push shopping carts out of the way and you don't care anymore. It's over. That's the glory of the world. It's fleeting, right, it's fleeting, but the glory that God gives, it's forever. It's through His Spirit who dwells in you. The Spirit of God that dwells within you will never leave you. The Bible says he's never going to abandon you. We've all been abandoned. He'll never abandon you. He'll take care of you.