DON’T BELIEVE THE LIES

How to Live the Extraordinary Life

Part 11

This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. (Romans 1:17 (NLT)

…We pray…for you, asking God to ...fill up any little cracks there may yet be in your faith. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 (LB)

TRUTH: YOU ARE EXTRAORDINARY ROYALTY BECAUSE

1. GOD SEES ME AS HIS OWN CHOOSEN PEOPLE

... you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

He (Jesus) lets us rule as kings and serve God his Father as priests. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 1:6 (CEV)

For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

Romans 8:16-17 (NLT)

2. WE ARE EMPOWERED TO DEFEAT THE LIES OF THIS WORLD

Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 1 John 5:4 (CEV)

For we live by believing and not by seeing. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)

A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.

John 10:10 (CEV)

Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings. Romans 5:17 CEV)

3. YOU DON’T MAKE EXCUSES. YOU LIVE BY FAITH IN GOD

“Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. Acts 3:16 (NLT)

But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe… then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong. Romans 14:23-24 (TM)

God keeps his word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth. Scripture says the same:

Your words stand fast and true;
Rejection doesn't faze you.

Romans 3:4 (TM)

¹⁷When the banquet was ready, he sent a servant to tell the guests, "Everything is ready! Please come."

¹⁸One guest after another started making excuses. The first one said, "I bought some land, and I've got to look it over. Please excuse me."

¹⁹Another guest said, "I bought five teams of oxen, and I need to try them out. Please excuse me." Luke 14:17-19 (CEV)

JESUS LOVES YOU

DON’T MAKE EXCUSES! START LIVING THE LIFE TO THE FULL, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD.

IT’S ALL ABOUT BELIEVING GOD’S WORD

How to live the Extraordinary Life

Part 10

Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel! 11And I tell you this, that many Gentiles (non Jews) [like this Roman officer], shall come from all over the world and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven… 13Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened!” And the boy was healed that same hour! Matthew 8:10-11, 13 (LB)

“But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. Jeremiah 17:5, 7 (NLT)

YOU ARE EXTRAORDINARY!

1. DECIDE TO LIVE SOLID IN GOD’S FAITH

FAITH – Believing that God will do what He says.

Faith produces actions of obedience.

Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua and Caleb, tore their clothing. 7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”

10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. 11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? Numbers 14:6-11 (NLT)

2. YOU ARE NOT ENSLAVED TO BE ORDINARY

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

19I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 1:18-20 (NLT)

We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow. 4Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory.

1 John 5:3-4 (CEV)

3. NO MORE EXCUSES

But if a person has doubts … he is condemned because he didn’t act in faith. Anything that is not done in faith is sin.

Romans 14:23 (GWT)

Faith in Jesus' name put this man, whose condition you know so well, on his feet—yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes. Acts 3:16 (TM)

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. Philippians 3:12-14 (TM)

JESUS LOVES YOU

HOW TO ACCESS GOD’S GRACE

How to live the Extraordinary Life

Part 9

…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)

We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. Hebrews 4:1-2 (TM)

THE PIPELINE TO GOD’S GRACE IS GOD’S FAITH

1. GOD GIVES THE FAITH TO LIVE IN HIS GRACE

FAITH – Believing that God will do what He says.

Faith produces actions of obedience.

Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 6:23 (NASB)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)

We conclude that a person has God’s approval because of faith, not because of his own efforts. Romans 3:28 (GOD’S WORD Translation)

2. THE PROOF OF FAITH IS LIVING LIFE PLEASING TO GOD

Anyone who doesn't breathe is dead, and faith that doesn't do anything is just as dead! James 2:26 (CEV)

Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. Romans 4:19-25 (TM)

VERB It's what you do

3. FAITH IS A VERB

It is something we do; it is an action word - it involves action.

Don’t you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did, when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the alter? 22You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to ; his faith was made complete by what he did , by his actions, his good deeds. 23And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, that Abraham trusted God, and the Lord declared him good in God’s sight, and he was even called “the friend of God.” 24So you see, a man is saved by what he does, as well as by what he believes.

James 2:22-24 (LB)

It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (TM)

JESUS LOVES YOU

Bottom line: I was trying to live a godly life without the power of God’s grace, and it just can’t be done