“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11
There is a wish in the heart of all humanity: From the atheist to the most religious, everyone wants to find God! All of us want to find God!
There is a cry for God within the heart of man. Billions of dollars are spent annually to gather information about the universe, the creation, they try to find the answer of what came before humanity, of what will happen in the future, and who is the architect of all things! Everyone wants to meet God!
In the beginning, God would talk to with Adam and Eve, every day! They had a beautiful relationship. The bible shows that everyday God had an encounter with Adam and Eve, in the cool of day, a specific time.
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”” Genesis 3:8-9
When mankind sinned against God, by disobeying Him, that beautiful relationship with God was broken. Before that, God walked on earth to find His children, but now the sin separated us from His love and if you pay attention, if you are in silence, you will be able to hear God’s voice saying: Where are you? I’m waiting for you. Come and spend time with me!
The bible says:
“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy 4:29
Moses wrote this to show we can find God again. We can be restored by him, if we look for him with all our heart and soul. We have to give everything to find him! We have to give our time, our strength, our desires to know more about him!
After sin came, we were separated from God. But he never gave up of us. There was a gap between us and God, and Jesus came to connect us again with the Heavenly Father!
Now, we can experience God through Christ. He is God! He is the saviour, the answer of all doubts, the answer for all desires of our heart!
And, Did you know the whole bible speaks about Jesus? We can be found by God, but we can also find Jesus in the bible and by the way we lead our lives.
Watch this short video and know Who is Jesus in all books of the bible.
Link:
Hallelujah, Jesus can be found in whole bible. He is the King of kings, Everlasting father, Prince of peace.
When we know Jesus and we have an encounter with Him, everything changes in us.
He is perfection! He is good! There is no way keep leading the same old life after meeting him.
Today, we will learn about the transformation that Jesus does in us when we find Him!
The title of our message is: Find God and you will never be the same!
In the bible, everyone who found God, were never the same afterwards. They changed completely. They were bad people, full of anger, idolatry, fears until they looked to God!
The bible says: “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:22
Today We have 3 examples to learn from what happens when we find God! Everything changes in us. Do you wanna check it out with me?
1- Do you remember Abraham?
The bible says in the book of Joshua that Abraham’s father worshiped false gods, but Abraham found the true God.
The bible says: “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:1-2
-Find God and forget your past!
Abram received a new name, he was called Abraham, he was called to get out of his land, his family and start a new life, new adventure with God. He became Father of a great nation!
What we can learn from it?
Abraham could have followed his father’s path. His father lived in a land of idolatry, he worshiped false idols, he was blinded by this world. Abraham could have done the same thing.
Usually, we look to our parents, to their wrong actions, wrong words, bad thoughts and we think: I won’t be able to be different. If my parents lived a bad life, I’ve to live in the same way… It is in my blood.
It’s so easy to see it. If the parents had a bad marriage, they would fight all the time, get into arguments in front of the children…when the children grow up, they repeat the same wrong things…
If parents usually drink too much, if they have issues with drinking, what happens? Their children grow up and struggle with the same thing…
But the bible says that God appeared to Abraham, God wanted to be found by Abraham. God had a different purpose to Abraham’s life.
His father died and many dreams died with him, But Abraham was alive! He could live a new life!
Abraham choose to follow God’s plan, He abandoned the life he led before in his home, his childhood, to follow God’s voice, He believed in a good life in the future!
Abraham found God and his life was never be the same! Even his name was changed!
Dear brother and sisters!
Maybe you had many troubles in your past, in your family, you received words of condemnation, and you are now afraid of the future. You had a bad example in your home, probably when you think about the past, it hurts you, but God is calling you: Forget the things of the past! I’m doing a new thing in your life! If you hear God’s voice and obey him, you will be able to live a new life, a new beginning, be ready to find God completely. You will be able to live a different life from your old past!
The bible says to you:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19
2- Do you remember Moses?
Most of us know the story of Moses. He was Hebrew but his mom had to hide him not to be killed and because of that he went on to live in the palace in Egypt. After that, He saw a soldier beating up a Hebrew and He killed him. He ran away to the desert, losing his identity, he didn’t know who he was, he got into a mental crisis. He became a shepherd in the desert. One day, he was out minding the sheep when He found God. God found him!
The bible says: “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
Exodus 3:1-4
We know the story. Moses was a killer, He was a fugitive, but when he had an encounter with God, everything changed! From a fugitive he turned into someone who faced the enemy face to face, From killer, he became a strong leader, He became a saviour of many lives, he delivered them from Egypt, From Man of fear, with no identity He became a man of God, From Fugitive He became a liberator of his people!
That is what happens when we find God! Hallelujah!!!
There is hope for you. If you are having an identity crisis, if you don’t know who you are, be ready to find God. He will show you who He thinks you are!
Doesn’t matter if you were in jail in the past, from the jail God can transform you in a liberator to many people!
Doesn’t matter if you were a killer, maybe a killer of dreams, you killed your dreams, you killed the dreams of people around you. God can transform you into a Dreamer, an inspiration to the people around you!
Doesn’t matter if you were a fugitive of your calling. You Knew what you had to do, but you didn’t do it. From now on, God is calling you to not to run away any more. He is asking you to live your calling! Your heavenly calling!
The bible says:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5
Listen me, my friend: You are God’s chosen one, you were chosen by God. He has separated you since your birth. Please, Have an encounter with God, understand, know who you are, your identity, your calling, be set free of what is holding you, and become a liberator, a dreamer, an inspiration. All of this will only be possible if you have an encounter with God today!
3- Do you remember Peter?
Peter is a perfect example to see what God can do in us, when we encounter him, and we allow him to do whatever He wants to do. He is good!
Look at Peter’s life.
Peter was a fisherman. When he heard Jesus and found him, Peter became a fisher of men. He was impulsive, He liked to revenge and protect everyone.
Peter had a strong personality. He had no control of his tongue.
He spoke whatever came to mind. He doesn’t think before he speaks. Do you know people like that? Surely these people are not here today, I’m sure! We are all normal people… Not like Peter. rss…
While he used his mouth to profess the perfect truth that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, in the next moment He was professing lies, being used by devil. He rebuked Jesus when He mentioned the need for his death, He said he would be beside Jesus until the death… But Jesus rebuked him…
Peter walked next to Jesus for 3 years, but he was not a true believer.
Look what Jesus told him:
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:31-32
Peter was walking with Jesus, He was listening to truths from Jesus, He experienced miracles, he himself was used to perform miracles and signs, but at this point, Jesus says: Peter, you have to be born again, you have to allow God’s will to come upon you. Satan was trying to put Peter down, but Jesus was praying for him.
Think about yourself now: Are you impulsive? Do you have a strong personality? Do you want revenge? Do you find hard controlling your tongue? Do you say whatever comes to your mind all the time?
Jesus is telling you: Satan asked to sift you as wheat. But I’m praying that your faith may not fail. And after that you will be able to strengthen your brothers and sister, your family.
Sometimes, we think we found God, and that we had an encounter with Jesus, but we didn’t allow him to do his great work in us. You were touched by Jesus, You listened to him, you saw his miracles, but you didn’t allow him to change you completely. You are a believer, but there are some areas of your life you haven’t opened to God’s will. You want to have the control of all them.
But Jesus is waiting for you, He is your Saviour and as a saviour He wants to protect you and transform you, in all of your ways.
The bible says:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:1-
Be a living sacrifice, be transformed by the renewing of your mind!!!
This is the right time to be changed by Jesus!
Do you remember the video I showed you?
Jesus is our Helper, Redeemer, Rescuer, He is our friend, He
is our Saviour! He is able to change us completely! He is able to fix what needs to be fixed in us, He can enter in all areas of our emotions, personalities, our past, He can do anything new, he can create a new character in us!
When Peter denied Jesus in the last night, sadness overcame him, he went back to his old life, he back to fishing again. He didn’t trust in God’s work on him anymore. He gave up. He walked with Jesus, saw him performing miracles, but he made a big mistake and decided to give up.
But, God is good, God is good! Jesus is love!
When we find Jesus, he won’t give up of us. He still will come before us and show his grace, his love!
The bible tells Peter was fishing after Jesus’death, and Jesus resurrected and went to find Peter.
God has a desire to fulfil his purpose in us. He had started a plan in Peter’s life and he would keep his work.
Look at God’s love for Peter:
When the women went to the grave, the angel them a message from Jesus:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ””
Mark 16:6-7
Go, tell his disciples and ??? Peter? Why did he mention Peter’s name?
He knew about Peter’s disappointment. He knew Peter was giving up on his calling. Jesus wanted to fulfil his purpose in Peter’s life.
Can you hear Jesus calling you name today?
Jesus is calling you, He is telling you that you have To find him and allow God to work in your life.
You are here in the church, maybe you are already in a ministry or not, maybe you have been feeling disappointed in your Christian path, but Jesus is calling you to look to him, he is calling you to find hope in him! He won’t give up on you, but you have to open up your heart today.
The book of John shows us how Peter found Jesus again.
He was fishing with the other disciples, and they realized that Jesus was on the beach talking to them and blessing them with a great fishing.
Look what Peter did to find His saviour again!
“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.”
John 21:7-8
As soon Peter heard Jesus, He left everything and He jumped into the water, he didn’t think of the consequences, he didn’t stop to consider that if he swam out to Jesus, he would end up losing his catch. What Peter wanted was find Jesus again! He wanted to see Jesus again, hear his voice, feel his goodness, his mercy!
To find Jesus, we have to leave everything behind us. We have to jump into water, we cannot think about the net full of fish we are leaving behind. Run to Jesus. Run to find him, today!
After that, Jesus restored Peter. Jesus’ love restored Peter. Peter found Jesus. Jesus found Peter.
Today is your day to find Jesus!
As Abraham, Find God and forget your past! Have a better life than your parents.
As Moses, Find God and go from a sinner to a Liberator. Allow God to prepare you to set many people free!
As Peter, Find Jesus, jump into the water, be restored by Jesus’ Love, and you will never be the same!