God’s Destination for Your Life

Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. 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. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 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. 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 that you can hear birds singing and that's little sun rays coming through and it's illuminating your Bible and you know I'm that saying but I am saying this I want to read the word but there's a battle before 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 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. Strangest 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 Coenania. 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. 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 Coenania. Have you noticed that you've met somebody who's a Christian and there's something like oh no that this you don't know anything about them you just know I don't know let's wait and see it's very listen the first time I ever experienced that in power is just early 1992 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 immediate bond and they're a believer God does that regardless of race by the way that's 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 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 looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus unto eternal life that's his coming his rapture or death if you're going 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 is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you fault this before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy this and Christian not only you're 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 gonna be amazing Ephesians 2 verse 4 but God who is rich and mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses that is 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 is that amazing it simply means this you guys you know when you walk by a jeweler store and the display rack or whatever it is is 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 I mean you could put like a coke bottle there and it'd 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 verse 8 says for by grace this is God's gift you have been saved past tense isn't that crazy is that amazing I'll explain in a moment and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works less than 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 why watch this God in his theology you and I are living our life out right now in this world in this 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 they chose to rebel against God God made you the ability to choose and to pick and to love or to hate and you've been you're the only thing in the universe created in this image he has a beginning and the as an end and what's being played out right here is a real issue of relationship how's it going to 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 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 a kitchen table and you're looking does that ant have any idea that you're watching him not a clue and that end is there and you do one or two things you walk up and you just go with your thumb and he doesn't know anything it happens so quick it's over he's not like in eternity what happened bugs life gone kaput over or what if you put your finger down in the little ant crossed on your finger and you take him outside in the backyard and you put him on a rose bush rapture heaven it's like how does happen he doesn't know what happened I tell us what happened I was on a kitchen table that's all I could see and then all of a sudden I found myself being picked and taken into paradise God's got to begin and God's got an end and if you would think about that ant lifting up its front legs saying pick pick me up right I want to know you God or you're so busy about living your life that you have no time for God be very careful 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 recicitation there's resurrection what does that mean this is awesome did you know that if you if you got bit by a shark burned in a burned a 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 the molecules that made up your flesh and your bones and your liver and your kidney it's all there so man this I mean it's gonna look as big that's right that's about that's about it look at me I'm an animated piece of flesh a lot a lot of moisture but when that when listen when 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 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 it's for eternity you should be comforted by that first Corinthians 15 verse four starts or 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 Jesus said bury me in three days I'll be resurrected 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 believing in me you'll live forever okay you know what that's 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 in 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 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 but glory be to God 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 want you to be living a resurrected life now that's why the Bible speaks to us in the past tense you have been saved 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 and 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 if you had Advil before he came to church this morning yeah I should have we should have invested in 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 bed yet the inward man is being renewed day by day isn't that awesome the inside of you is growing while the outside have used diminishing man that's exciting 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 it was in water but I 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 them I lay in my back because I'm just laying on my back and I can't go anywhere I can't 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 the the tide going out stopped and then it hit equilibrium and then I swim in and they've 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 how I'm out there and I'm walking and people are running up to me it was so it was so impressive that the sand where my feet were was it was red and people were are you okay are you okay you're bleeding are you okay I'm fine thank you fine why the whole thing was this I 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 I finally wanned 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 gonna 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 this like really that's it and now you win this prize that's it if you're at a new car and you like worship the thing but God's got your washing is not even dirty your 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's I'd like I'm serious I don't know how this happens but you can be so careful and angel shows up with this wing it goes 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 card of push shopping cards 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 gonna abandon you we've all been abandoned he'll never abandon you he'll take care of you this jack hips podcast as well as all the broadcast out reach opportunities are listeners supported will you consider partnering with us through a special gift go to jackhybs.com to learn more and stay connected this episode is brought to you by progressive insurance do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash progressive makes it easy just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home 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