June 29

Transcript

(by Turboscribe)

For your word, for your grace, for your presence, we thank you, Lord. We want to see Jesus, and only Jesus. Amen.

Last in our series, what are you thinking as we think about what we think about? So, I want you to imagine, and thank you to my good friends who gave me this beautiful chair. I want you to imagine, and I actually asked for a chair like this. I want you to imagine this chair in the carpenter's shop.

It was thrown out, and you know why. But the carpenter spotted the chair, and now it's in his shop, because he saw this chair not only for what it is, old, rickety, and really scary, but he also saw this chair for what it could be. So, he put it in his shop, and he made a drawing, put it on his wall, because according to that, he's going to restore this old, rickety chair to its former beauty.

Now, I want you in your imagination to go from my carpenter's shop to seeing a carpenter walking on the beach along the Sea of Galilee, and as he walks, he spots two fishermen. He sees them. Be quiet.

He sees them not only for what they are, two men who are fishing, but he sees them for what they could and should be made for his purpose and for a much higher purpose than just catching fish. And so, like the carpenter, he invites them into his life, and here's the story. Matthew chapter 4. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers.

Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people.

At once, they left their nets and followed him. So, just like the carpenter, Jesus sets out to restore their lives, and his plan is pretty simple. He's going to remake them into his image, and that's the exact plan that God has for you and me.

Every day, he takes this old rickety chair that was thrown out, and he works and remakes and restores and replants in this life, making me more and more and more like him to reflect his image in this world every day. That which was rejected by the world, broken by the world, slowly but surely, he restores. Because here's the thing.

No one, no one has greater plans for you. No one adores you more than your heavenly father, and he will not leave you like this. Slowly but surely, he'll change you.

And where does the change start? For six weeks now, today, I've been telling you, think about what you think about. Because listen, listen to what our brother Paul says in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 23 and 24. He says, let the spirit change your way of thinking, and then what's going to happen? And then he will make you into a new person.

Where does the change start? By what you are thinking. Think about what you think about every day of your life, because when the spirit starts changing the thinking, it gives you a new life and makes you into a new person. So, as we end the series about thinking about what you think about, can I leave you with two thoughts to think about, pun intended? Number one, will you let God love you? That's where it all starts, the whole change, letting God love you.

It's important to think about what we're thinking about, but here's the thing, the greatest thing to think about is what God thinks about. And what does God think about? Or maybe I should change the word. Who does God think about? You, me.

Can I read you what God's word says about that? Listen to this, Psalm 139. You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Boy, you saw me and then you scheduled each day of my life.

Every day was recorded in your book. How precious is it, Lord, to realise that you are thinking about me constantly. That's God.

I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I awaken in the morning, you are still thinking. God thinks about you and me constantly.

We're in his heart. We're in his mind. Never stops thinking about you.

Let that just sink in for one second. But the thoughts that God has about you are not thoughts of condemnation or criticism or embarrassment or shame. They are thoughts of love and adoration and joy and grace and care.

Please don't let that pass you by. That's what God thinks about you. That's how amazing you are.

That's who you are. Someone who is loved by God, your Father, unconditionally. Would you let God love you? There are some people who walk around thinking that God walks around ticked off at them all the time.

I grew up like that. I was so scared of God. There was nothing that I would do that I wasn't kind of looking over my shoulder.

Is God checking this out? Does God know about what I'm going to do now? I'm going to take some nails that Dad said I was not allowed to take and go build a little piece of wood thing. I was so scared of God all the time because that's what I thought God was thinking. I'm waiting for you, buddy.

You're just going to step on that line and I'm going to get you. Oh my goodness, how sad is that? You know what happens when we think about God like that? It just sucks the joy out of life and of our relationship with God and of being a child of God and living with God. It's just sucked out like an old balloon that has just got no more air left in it.

How do I replenish that joy? It's when I realise that I may replant my life. Remember we say we uproot the bad and then we replant? When I uproot my life and I replant that into the love of God. A love that smiles at me.

A love that plans my days for me. A love that says, man, I can't wait for you to wake up in the morning because you know what I have planned for you today. I've been thinking about you all day.

All the time, Aubrey. When I replant that in God's love, the joy just overwhelms my life and slowly but surely this old rickety thing starts changing and becoming that which was really beautiful where you could sit in and you could rock and you could have some joy. That's what he has planned for you.

Will you let God love you? How many of us walk around being slaves and think, who am I that God would love me? Who are you that God would not love you? It was love that changed those two men's lives. Matthew, when you go back, go read it again, says Jesus was walking on the Sea of Galilee and then he saw an Andrew. He saw them for what they were doing.

He saw them for who they were. But God also saw Peter and Andrew as how they were going to look when God transformed them into what God had planned for them. Second thought.

Will you let God lead you every day? Every day we're bombarded everywhere with things of who you are and how you should be and how you should change and what should happen in your life. But unless, unless we learn to listen to God first and let God lead us easily, we can easily be upset and overreact when we listen to all those messages. Remember the UFOs, the untruth.

Can you remember the F that leads to a false narrative? The O that leads to an overreaction. What does the world do to you? You're to this, you're to that, you're not this, you're not that, you want that, you need this. If you don't have that, you're not this.

Look at all the likes you got. Look at all the likes you didn't get. Boom.

And there go the UFOs. But if you let God lead you and you listen to him first, let me give you an example of what I'm trying to say. If God says you're forgiven, you're forgiven.

It's gone. It's over. It's done with.

You don't have to go look for this stuff again. He doesn't even know what you're talking about when you ask about it again. It's gone.

You get the whole of heaven in a tailspin when you ask for forgiveness for this thing again that is already gone because they're looking for something that they can't find. Listen. When God says, I'm giving you a fresh start.

He's giving you a fresh start. I'm gonna remake you and it's gonna be. If God says, I have written your name in the book of life and you are gonna be with me forever, nothing in this world can change that.

They can do whatever they like. Let God lead you. If God says, you will reign with me in glory in my kingdom and the devil comes and he tries to convince you of something else, you can tell the devil to go straight to and yet you can use that word for him because that's God's truth and nothing can change that.

Will you let God lead you? World says, you loser. God says, you are more than a conqueror. World says, listen, this is it.

Live your life. Do whatever you want. Mess it up because this is all you have.

When you die, you're gone. No. God says, I have so much more in store for you.

I have life everlasting, a new heaven, a new earth, a new body that's not as messed up as this old broken body. Think about what you think about because the thing is this, our thoughts precede our actions. Our beliefs precede our behaviour and if I believe and I believe godly that God is my father, that God thinks of me, that God is going to take this old chair and he's going to restore it to something brilliant.

I will start living godly and beautiful and amazing. So, what are you thinking about? Paul says, can I give you advice that'll help you do this? Philippians 4.8. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. There you have it.

So, what are you thinking about? Amen. Take a few moments of silent prayer. Holy Spirit, thank you for renewing our thoughts about ourselves, about the world, about our father, about our relationship with you, and in that, making us brand new.

Help us, Lord, not to see ourselves as this rickety old broken chair, but to see ourselves like the carpenter of Galilee would see us, beautiful, filled with your spirit, filled with your holiness, loved unconditionally by you. Help us to let you love us every day. Let you lead our thoughts that they might be of you.

We love you, Lord. With all that is in us, we love you, as we pray these things in the amazing name of Jesus. Amen.