Lined Up With God Matt. 11: 6 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
It is easy to be lined up with God when what you want to do and what God wants you to do are the same thing. You usually get out of line with God when what you want and what God wants for you aren’t the same thing. We’re going to study this truth and look through the Bible to find out how to stay lined up with God. To stay lined up with God:
You can’t get offended – Matt 11:6 – John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecies of Is 40:3 and Mal 3:1. When he started he was lined up with God. He was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb [Lk 1:15]. He obediently lived in the wilderness and ate locusts and wild honey [Matt 3:4]. He preached the words of God with power and without apology. He called the multitude who came to be baptized a “generation of vipers,” [Lk 3:7]. While what God wanted him to do was what he wanted to do, he was lined up with God. But then he was thrown in prison for preaching against the marriage of Herod and Herodias. And suddenly, what God wanted him to do wasn’t what he wanted to do and he was offended. The same thing can happen to you and you will no longer be lined up with God. Don’t get offended when doing God’s will costs you. You stay lined up with God when you don’t get offended by the cost of doing God’s will.
You can’t demand your way – Matt 26:33-35 – From the time that Peter first heard the Lord describe his death, Peter was not on board with the plan [Matt 16:2123]. The more Jesus told the disciples how his life would end, the more adamant Peter became that the king of the Jews wasn’t going to die; not on Peter’s watch. Peter demanded his way and attempted to enforce it with a sword in the garden, the night of Jesus’ arrest. Yet, when the Lord rebuked Peter for striking off Malchus’ ear, Peter was forced to concede and he got out of line with God. He denied Jesus Christ. When the scripture clearly shows you how to do a thing, like the scripture clearly showed the death of Jesus and the scattering of the disciples [Matt 26:31], you better not demand your own way. You will get out of line with God. You stay lined up with God by forsaking your own way and going God’s way.
You can’t serve another master – Matt 6:24 – when it comes to a mate or money, you can have trouble staying lined up with God. When you grow up in church living at home, just about everything God wants you to do is exactly what you want to do. Church is fun and home is good. But when you are first attracted to a mate or you start making your own money, you can get out of line with God in a hurry. That job can take you right out of fellowship with God. You can start serving that money. And that mate can take you right out of fellowship with other believers and drag you into a mess with God. When you want money or a mate that God doesn’t want you to have, suddenly the Christian life isn’t as much fun as it used to be. You stay lined up with God when you serve him and you don’t serve the demands of money or the demands of your mate. If they don’t line up, then you have the wrong job [Demas] or the wrong mate [Delilah]. You stay lined up with God when your job and your mate are in line with God.
You can’t follow the wrong preacher – Titus 1:10-11 – the pure words of God taught by the Spirit of God are the guide for your life [Ps 119:105]. When a preacher is lined up with God and with God’s words, he can lead you along the right path with God. And you will be lined up with God. But when the preacher isn’t lined up with God and God’s words, you will get out of line with God if you follow that preacher. You might ask, “But how will I know whether he is in line with God?” It’s easy to tell whether he’s lined up with God or not; check him out with the Bible. You stay lined up with God when you stay lined up with the right pastor.
Conclusion: these are some simple, and yet profound, truths. Follow what they say and you will stay in line with God.