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God Works in Us

11/15/2020

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For the last few weeks we have been discussing Luke 18:27; "But He said,  “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” We  have seen that with our salvation, and walk with Jesus we do not have a  chance of living a victorious life on our own. Then we saw that with God it  is possible! And, today I would like to look at how it is that God works in  us! As we consider what that means to you and me, we end up right back  at the question of absolute surrender. If we are honest with ourselves this  lack of absolute surrender is our greatest hindrance, and the need of  absolute surrender is the greatest need in our lives, and our walk with  Jesus. This is why the Holy Spirit cannot fill us, set us apart for His use,  and give us the victory in Jesus that turned the world upside down in the  early Church. This is the reason the self-life continues to control our lives,  and in turn we fight for control to feed our love of self. It is self that leads  us to believe that we have it all together when in reality we don't have a  clue what it means to be absolutely surrendered to God as Jesus was. 
I find myself wondering, can I ever be absolutely surrendered to Jesus as  my heart yearns for? Is there really hope for me? That is why I am so  thankful, "the things which are impossible with men are possible with  God." That is the thing about faith and trust; with God when we can  believe it, it is a reality! The other side of that is that if we cannot truly  believe it is true for us personally, it is not a reality! Friends, if we can take  God at His word and believe Him when He says He will make us men and  women of absolute surrender, then it is a done deal! Because our God  promises He will not only give us this absolute surrender, but He will keep  us there! 
 If we can believe our Lord is able to raise us up every morning with the  assurance that He is in charge, and He is working out our life for us. Then 
it is already a reality, even if we cannot see it yet. That is the promise of  Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for  His good pleasure." 
Some of us are weary of thinking about sanctification. We pray, we long  and cry for pure hearts, and loving, caring thoughts that truly put God and  others before ourselves, and yet it seems so far off! 
Friends, the one truth about sanctification that is totally scriptural, and  totally effective is: "The things which are impossible with men are possible  with God." It is only God that can sanctify us! Paul, tells us that God will  give us, "according to the riches of His glory." When we consider the  riches and glory of God, can you imagine just how much God is offering us  through life in Jesus; if it is according to His riches and glory? He is  offering the power of an almighty God to fill our lives! He is offering you  and me the gift of an indwelling Savior! Can our God offer us anymore than  this? 
Let me leave you with a passage from "Absolute Surrender" page 68,69 
""The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." All  around you there is a world of sin and sorrow, and the Devil is there. But  remember, Christ is on the throne, Christ is stronger, Christ has conquered,  and Christ will conquer. But wait on God. My text cast us down: "The  things which are impossible with men"; but it ultimately lifts us up high -  "are possible with God." Get linked to God. Adore and trust Him as the  omnipotent One, not only for your own life, but for all the souls that are  entrusted to you. Never pray without adoring His omnipotence, saying:  "Mighty God, I claim Thine almightiness." And the answer to the prayer will  come, and like Abraham you will become strong in faith, giving glory to  God, because you account Him who hath promised able to preform." 
As we absolutely surrender, and if we can truly believe His promise - it is  already a don’t deal.

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God Can

11/7/2020

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Last week I shared with you how I discovered that with man it is  impossible to have victory in Jesus. We are not capable on our own and  we end up in a state of helpless despair, living a wretched Christian life,  without the joy and strength and victory that We long for. This is why we  see so many miserable, angry Christians whose lives have become, either  a drudgery and gloom, or they go the legalist, self-righteous route which is  just as much a waste of time, but momentarily fulfilling because you can  compare yourself to others and have a little control that way. And all this  misery and heartache because we have not learned that we have to  humble ourselves and then learn the other vital lesson: With God all  things are possible!  
Friends, every single day of our lives, is supposed to be proof positive that  God works impossibilities; everyday of our lives can be a day where our  Lord makes impossibilities possible by His power. If that's not exciting  then we don't have a pulse! This is everything we need in our walk with  Jesus. 
We have an all powerful God that we have the privilege of loving and  worshipping. And we must learn this one lesson: We do not need a little of  God’s power so we can accomplish our desires for Him. We need all of  Jesus power and grace living in us, to give us a life of victory over what  used to be impossible for us. Then we will be overwhelmed with the love,  joy, peace and all of the Holy Spirits gifts that will fill our lives. 
 All of our walk with Jesus is a demonstration of God's unlimited power.  "With God nothing is impossible!" Look at the miracle of the virgin birth.  Consider the power of the resurrection. All of this is humanly impossible!  We don't even understand it! The apostle Paul was a good example of this 
very truth. He said: "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much  trembling, and...my preaching was...in demonstration of the Spirit and  power." If we look at this from the human side there was nothing but  feebleness, but from the divine side their was unlimited power! And this is  true of every person who gives their will to Jesus. If we can only learn this  lesson fully and give a wholehearted, undivided surrender to Jesus we will  have a life beyond anything we have imagined. Every hour and every  moment we will experience unlimited power of the Holy Spirit. 
We have a God who spoke and the earth was created. He created light out  of darkness! Can you imagine the power of this omnipotent God in the  work of our redemption? Look at Abraham. God called him to leave his  home and head out without a clue where he was headed. Then God  trained him through many trials to trust Him and see Him as the all  powerful God that would never leave him and give him a son at a hundred  years of age. We read that Abraham believed God. He trusted that God  would fulfill His promise. He made mistakes, but God stayed with him  through that as well! We have a willing patient God! 
 Maybe the greatest reason we hold God back from accomplishing what  He would love to do in our lives, is that we want to work it out partly  ourselves and then let God help us when it gets to big for us. That cannot  be! We must come to Jesus utterly helpless! As Americans who are control  freaks to say the least, we completely subscribe to the belief "that God  helps those who help themselves." But when it comes to salvation and our  walk with Jesus this could not be farther from the truth. If we can just  surrender absolutely and allow God to do His work, He will do a glorious  work in our lives. 
All throughout the Old Testament we see God's servants trusting in an all  powerful God to accomplish impossibilities when they were helpless to  defend themselves. That same God is alive today and wants to do the  same for each of us. And yet some of us continue to want God to give us a  little help, while we are still in control. That is not God's way and He longs  for us to say: 
"I can do nothing. Jesus must and will do it all." 
In worship, in work for God, in sanctification, in obedience to our Lord, we  can do nothing of ourselves; it is our part to simply give ourselves to the 
Holy Spirit and trust that He will "work in us to will and do His good  pleasure." When we can learn this all important lesson: the things which  are impossible with men, are possible with God." Then God will reveal  Jesus in our lives, and the Holy Spirit will be the one in control. It is then  that the self-life will fade away and we can glorify our Lord beyond  anything we have yet imagined. 
It is possible with God; and it is our privilege to claim His deliverance.  Let's do it now! Put ourselves in absolute surrender and let Him do the  impossible in our lives today!
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    Pastor Brad

    Pastor Brad Traxler is the pastor of the Wrangell SDA Church. Brad Traxler is the husband of forty years to Cheryl, father to Kimberly and Ryan, and grandfather to Brad, Kevin, William, Eamon, Zairhen, Seraphina, and Zeelyah. He holds a BA in Theology and has been pastoring churches for twenty years. The greatest passion of His life has been to share Jesus. 

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