Great Day to Be Great, Part 3

Today is a great day to be great And I hope that you're having a great day. I hope you had a great week. I hope you had a great year Some might say well, I don't feel very great greatness is Not attributed to your feelings Greatness biblical greatness is attributed to a fact that God has stated That the least in the kingdom is Greater than the greatest man ever born of a woman John the Baptist. That's Luke 7 28. That's where we are That's what we've been studying. We want you to understand how it is You can experience the greatness of God in your life every single day John the Baptist was great in the sight of the Lord We want you to be great in the sight of the Lord He was filled with the spirit from his mother's womb He was a man who was unparalleled in his character he was a man who was Unbelievable in his conduct he was a man who simply was Unparalleled in his courage But none of that Made him great What made John the Baptist great was the call of God upon his life?

The privilege in position that the man had to point people directly to the Messiah of Israel that they might obtain the forgiveness of sins and Jesus made it very clear that there is no man greater than John the Baptist That's ever been born of a woman Except for those who are leased in the kingdom of God because our call From God and the privilege that we receive makes us Great in the sight of the Lord So it is a fact not a feeling That you are great. And so how do we understand the facts of greatness?

We've been helping you understand that by looking at the word great G-r-e-a-t in case you have trouble spelling that word and letting you know that there are two points for each letter Letting you know that number one.

You're to glory in his person Philippians 3 3 says that the true marked person the true circumcision those who are true followers of Christ glory in Christ Jesus We glory in his person Paul said in Ephesians 3 21 let there be glory in the church from generation to generation forever and ever We are to glory in the person of Christ Not in ourselves in a society focused on me focused on You it's hard for us to understand how to glory in Christ Jesus We had a rave about him. We're to boast about him.

We are to live for his glory and for his honor We've already talked about that Knowing to you glory in Christ Jesus, but you grow in his portrait That is we are to reflect the righteous radiance of our Redeemer We are to live his life. We are to grow in how we present Christ how we portray Christ to a lost world If you're going to be great in the sight of the Lord, you must begin to look more and more like the Lord You must speak more and more like the Lord. You must act more and more like the Lord So you grow in that portrait and last week?

We gave you six principles that would help you understand that the first principle was simply this that you are To be involved in the application of Scripture Applying the Word of God to your life That is Matthew 5 19 says that those who teach the Word of God and keep that word apply it to their lives are great in the kingdom of God So greatness in God's kingdom is attributed to those who take the Word of God and apply it to their lives They flesh out the Word of God.

They live out the truth of God's Word So there needs to be the application of Scripture number two. There needs to be the or an association with the Saints You ought to be with godly people you ought to worship with godly people You ought to want to be around those who look like the Christ. And so you associate with people of like precious faith This is so important. So let me go back to that just One more time for you because I did this with our leaders on Monday night One of the great concerns that I have is that people in the church.

Listen carefully. I'm gonna say value their physical family over their spiritual family That is a problem in the church We value our physical family the family were born into More so than our spiritual family now when I say that I don't mean that you neglect Your husband or your wife or your children? I'm not even hinting at that But what I want to help you understand is that your spiritual family must be a priority in your life And for most people in the church The spiritual family of God doesn't mean that much to them But you will note the words of Jesus in Mark chapter 3 verse number 32 or verse 31 Then his mother and his brothers arrived and standing outside they sent word to him and called him a Crowd was sitting around him and they said to him behold your mother and your brothers are outside and they are looking for you Answering them.

He said who are my mother and my brothers Looking about at those who were sitting around him. He said behold my mother and my brothers For whoever does the will of God He is my brother and my sister Excuse me and my mother Jesus through his own words Put a priority on his spiritual family These are my brothers. These are my sisters. These are my mother You see Jesus understood That being born again into the family of God is a priority Is absolutely paramount That's why he said if any man come after me Let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me in Luke chapter 14 These words were spoken by Jesus when he said if anyone comes to me and Does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters Yes, and even his own life.

He cannot be my disciple It is paramount that when you enter the kingdom of God The physical affection you have for others must never be a hindrance to your entry to the kingdom of God Your loyalties are to God Your affection is to God Your aspirations are to God Christianity is about the relationship you have with God and the family of God That is so important and I'm afraid that in today's modern-day Christianity of Meism and exclusivism we have lost our identity with one another Wednesday night we had a concert of praise and prayer We have three of those a year January June and September and we know that a lot of you don't like to come to Those things I understand that well, I guess I really don't understand it, but I I get why you don't come But it's an opportunity for us to get together with the people of God and to sing praises to his name give praise to God And to pray with one another This past week's and I had a chance to sit down with the family and to pray with them Now when we broke off into little groups, they didn't know I was going to join the group And I get that it's kind of intimidating when the pastor goes and sits down with you To pray with you and you've never prayed with the pastor before I understand that that gets a little intimidating I wish it wasn't that way, but it does happen that way and one of the young ladies said Well, you know, I really can't say it like you say it And of course my response is you don't want to say it.

Like I say it You got to pray from the heart So I sat with this family they began to pray And let me tell you something the way they prayed for our church It's family.

This was a physical family a unit and the way they prayed for our church the way they prayed for their own families their unsaved family members Their husbands that didn't know the Lord and the way they communed with God was such a blessing to me. I could not Imagine being any more blessed on a Wednesday evening than I was this past Wednesday night There's an affinity with a family of God that's so unique that the early that the church misses the early church understood it the early Church got it because when you gave your life to Christ you were kicked out of your family.

I Wish that was the way it was today Because it would make us value the family of God a lot more than we do But the Jews understood that when they gave their life to Christ they were ousted from their families they knew what it meant To have brothers and sisters in the family of God They grasped that that's why the biggest and best decision you ever make is where you go to church and the worship of God in that church and Worshiping with the people of God the family of God in that church and being committed To honor God so important why because your association with godly people Rubs off on you and helps you grow in your walk with the Lord it does But we value Relationships with people outside the church more so than people in the church Not good And so we need to understand that our association with the Saints Being with them praying with them worshiping with them Serving alongside of them Does so much for my own?

growth in Christ That I could actually accurately portray the Christ to other people And then we went on talked about how there needs to be Attention to to stillness and what that means to be still to to lay still to stand still to sit still We talked about the annihilation of sin and how I need to Rid the members of my body from sinful behavior. We talked about the appropriation of spiritual disciplines We talked about the anticipation of the Savior all that helps me grow in my portrait with the Christ Gonna be great You got a glory in this person You got to grow in his portrait Number two, you got a rest Rest that is providence That God is supreme.

He rules over all and truly everything that comes your way Today throughout the rest of the year is under the providential care of a God who loves you more than you ever know and You must learn to rest in his providence To remain your Bible psalm 73 for a moment psalm 73 The psalmist had to learn to rest in the providence of God he had some difficulties and The difficulty was that the wicked were flourishing The wicked were growing The wicked had no problems and he had all kinds of problems And so he had a he had some questions for the Lord it says surely God is good to Israel to those who are pure in Heart, but as for me my feet came close to stumbling.

My steps had almost slipped. I Almost I almost fell Because of what was happening around me For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked For there are no pains in their death and their body is fat They are not in trouble as other men nor are they plagued like men or mankind? Therefore pride is their necklace the garment of violence covers them their eyes bulge from fatness The imaginations of their heart run riot They mock and wickedly speak of oppression. They speak from on high They have set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue parades Through the earth.

I don't understand this the psalmist says I don't get this. Why don't we could flourish? well, why is it why is it that I Have sought to live a pure life and and and and not flourishing but the wicked they live arrogant lives Lives filled with violence and hatred and mocking and they're living great lives. Why is that? Therefore as people return to this place verse 10 and waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say how does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked and always at ease They have increased in wealth Surely in vain.

I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence. Surely my effort to remain pure and holy before God is Empty it means nothing because the wicked They're rich And I'm poor for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning. This really bothers me the psalmist said If I had said I will speak thus behold, I would have betrayed the generation of her children When I pondered to understand this it was troublesome in my sight until Until what I Came into the sanctuary of the Lord until I went to worship God modern translation till I went to church Till I went to church Then I perceived therein Then I understood Then when I got together to worship my God in the sanctuary of God to understand my God I was able to perceive therein I Was able to understand that God Providentially was in charge of everything that was happening around about me Surely you set them in slippery places verse 18 you cast them down to destruction How they are destroyed in a moment?

They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors Like a dream when one awakes Oh Lord when a rye roused you will despise therefore When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within Then I was senseless and ignorant. I was like a beast before you Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have taken hold of my right hand with your counsel You will guide me and afterward receive me to glory whom have I in heaven, but you and besides you I desire nothing on earth. You see the psalmist learned listen carefully to desire nothing else on earth when he went to church When he went to worship the God of the universe in the sanctuary of God you see Coming to church changes your perception on the world.

It changes your perception on life. It helps you gain perspective on how to live your life The psalmist said I was left on my own devices. I woke up in the morning. I went to bed at night I was troubled by the the prosperity of the wicked. I could not understand how it is I had tried to live a pure life Innocent from sinfulness and yet it seemed like it was all empty until I went to the sanctuary of God And then I perceived not only therein. I realized that nearness to God is my good I realized that being with my God is the most important thing in all the world He says this My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever I may be frail physically, but God is my portion forever They might be rich and are flourishing, but they will be despised and they will be plundered forever But I will be with my God forever For behold those who are far from you will perish You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me The nearness of God is my good I've made the Lord God my refuge That I might tell of all your works That's just so rich That psalm psalm 73 opens up to us how it is. You we are to rest in the providence of God How we are to sit back and realize that God is a complete control of everything And when I gained the proper perspective, I realized nearness to God is my good That's my good in life To walk with God to talk with God to live with God See so important John the Baptist had to learn to rest in the providence of God That's why he sent his disciples to Jesus in Luke 7 To tell him are you the expected one?

Because my expectations are not being met and I expect you to do for me And the Lord said blessed are all those who do not stumble over the way I do my business Over the providential work of my hand blessed are all those who rest in me and trust in me and believe in me Those are the blessed people Because nearness to me is their good And so you learn to rest in the providence of God You want a great day? Every day is great when you realize that the Lord's in charge of every event every situation every process every decision in That he has Your best interest and his glory on the line You rest in his providence and the second part of that is you rely on his power You rely on his power because you can't rest in his providence without understanding the power of God to accomplish his glory So you must rely on his power That's why Paul said in 2nd Timothy 1 7 God has given us a spirit of power This is so valuable.

Listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you through the next 20 minutes or 25 or maybe 30 But listen to rely on the power of God is so crucial. Paul said God has not given you spirit of fear timidity the spirit of power Jesus said to his men you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you Paul said for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of God for it is a power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek God told Abraham I am El Shaddai John's Genesis 17 verse number one.

I am El Shaddai. I am God Almighty Walk with me and be blameless Because of my power you can walk with me and you can live a blameless life But I am the all-powerful God Paul said in Colossians chapter 1 Verse number 28 we proclaim him Admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom So we may present every man complete in Christ Jesus for this purpose. Also I labor striving according to his power which mightily works in me The power of God Paul says is mightily working in me. Let me ask you the question is the power of God Working mightily in you That's a good question Because Paul would pray in the book of Ephesians These words I pray verse 18 chapter 1 that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may So that you will know what is the hope of his calling?

What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints and what is the surpassing greatness of his power? toward us who believe Paul says I ain't praying for you in Ephesus. So somehow you will know the surpassing greatness of the power That's available to those who believe in Ephesians chapter 3 Paul says this For this reason verse 14. I bow my knees before the father From whom every family in heaven on earth derives its name That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, I Want you to be strengthened?

with his power through his spirit in the inner man He would go back in Ephesians chapter 1 and talk about how the surpassing greatness of his power is the same power that that raised Jesus from the dead. So let me ask you again.

Do you understand the exceeding greatness of his power in your life? To do and accomplish the things that he's asked you to accomplish Paul would pray in the book of Colossians the first chapter these words For this reason since the day we heard of it We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual Wisdom and understanding that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please him in all respects bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God Strengthened with all power According to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness patience Joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the Saints in light We are praying For you that you'd be strengthened with all power So you can live a joyous life so you can maintain your steadfastness in your faith So you can be patient with people and with circumstances that you can bear up under pressure We are praying that you would be strengthened with his power the power That's already in you because the Spirit of God is in you now for most people in the church That's all foreign language They don't get it They can't handle conflict They can't bear up under pressure They can't forgive their brother They can't love Those they're supposed to love let alone love their enemies They can't live the Christian life.

They they seem to act Powerless and yet God has given us the spirit of power Power When someone says, you know, I you know, I just can't do that What you're saying is that you're denying the power of God that is in your life already And so I've come to realize that the power of God in us Although what's available Although it's attainable Attainable There are things that we are doing that we don't even know we're doing that keep us from applying that power in everyday living So, let me explain that to you And this will take the rest of our time so we won't get to E this morning.

We'll get the E next week, but we'll get there and we will finish by the end of this month That's my promise to you because in February I Must begin the book of Hebrews Which I supposed to begin last January, but it's taken me a while to get there, but I'm going to start it in February That's my promise to you unless Jesus comes again, and then you won't need to know the book of Hebrews. You can live Hebrews Okay, so the bottom line is how is it I? Don't experience the power of God in my life just to make it through each day Well, turn me to book of Galatians for a moment the book of Galatians I Like what what Paul says in Galatians 3, oh You foolish Galatians who has bewitched you?

Having begun in the spirit Having begun your Christian life in the spirit by the power of God's Spirit. How is it? You now are trying to be perfected in the flesh How is it you begin this spiritual pilgrimage under the power of Almighty God, but yet set aside that power to accomplish God's work in the flesh Because so many times this is what happens so Paul in Galatians 5 Says this But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh or the lust of the flesh For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh For these are in opposition to one another So you may not do the things that you please now Paul understood this Paul understood Excuse me from Romans chapter 7 the things that I should be doing I'm not doing and the things that I'm not supposed to be doing I am doing There is this this war going on in my soul Paul got that Excuse me Peter got it too For in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 11 Peter says beloved.

I urge you as aliens and strangers To abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul there is a war going on in your soul and Peter tells these Christians that As aliens and strangers you must be aware of the battle within you There's a war going on in your soul and Paul talks about walking in the Spirit Keeping in step with the Spirit He goes on and talks about being led by the Spirit and living in the Spirit in other words taking each step of Each moment of each day under the direct power of the Spirit of God Because he says very clearly the flesh Since it sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh There is this war going on in your soul and When we lust against the Spirit or desire those things against the Spirit We then are Not able to function under the power of God And Paul lists those force He says if you're led by the Spirit you are not under the law verse 18 now the deeds of the flesh are evident Which are immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery amity strife jealousies outburst of anger disputes dissensions factions in being drunkenness carousing and things like these of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who Practice such things will never inherit the kingdom of God But the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things There is no law now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh and Its passions and desires if we live by the Spirit Let us also walk by the Spirit.

Let us not become boastful challenging one another in being one another The problem is is That we lust against the flesh. We desire the things of the flesh we desire things like dissensions and enmities and Strife and jealousy and Boasting we we tend to desire those things because they lift us up They make us better than somebody else. And so there is this Lusting after the things of the flesh that keep us from walking in the spirit So we don't fulfill the lust of the flesh Instead of the reliant upon God Then the Word of Christ dwell on us richly We tend to move toward these things and when we do Three things happen One you reject the Spirit to You quench the Spirit and number three Excuse me number three you grieve the Spirit So turn with me to first Thessalonians chapter 4 First Thessalonians chapter 4 Paul says These words Finally then brethren Request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus That as you receive from us Instruction as to how and you ought to walk and please God just as you actually do walk that you excel still more For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus For this is the will of God your sanctification that is you abstain from sexual immorality That each of you know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification and honor not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God and That no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the Avenger and all these things Just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity but a sanctification so He who rejects this is Not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you in other words Paul says When you engage in sexual sin outside of marriage you reject the Holy Spirit You reject his power you reject his work he's called the Holy Spirit because of the holiness of the Spirit The sinlessness of the Spirit the purity of the Spirit so it's called the Holy Spirit and we can actually reject the Spirit's work in our life whenever we engage in sexual sin and So many times people are not able to experience the power of God in their lives because they can't rid themselves of the desires of the flesh which Caused him to engage in sexual sin.

And then we wonder why we can't do the things that God's called us to do But we rejected the Spirit of God and the Spirit of his grace We have turned our backs on the Holy Spirit of God To reject means to set aside We set aside the spirit to engage in sexual sin Hoping to pick up the spirit the next day to live a life of holiness for the God We commit sexual sin on Saturday night, but go to church on Sunday morning hoping to pick up the spirit We set him aside on Saturday pick him up on Sunday That we might look spiritual And then realize why we can't experience the power of God in our lives Because we are so busy Rejecting setting aside the Spirit of God in our lives when we do that.

We do that because we we lust against the Spirit There's this desire in the flesh to engage in fleshly deeds There's a war going on in our soul And when we engage in those things we we set aside the Spirit of God. We reject the Spirit of God We engage in those things when we do that We do that We grieve the Holy Spirit of God turn to Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians chapter 4 in Ephesians chapter 4 Paul says these words Ephesians chapter 4 Verse number 25 Therefore laying aside Falsehood speak truth to each one of you with his neighbor For your members of one another be angry yet Do not sin do not let the Sun go down upon your anger and do not give the devil an opportunity He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor performing with his own hands.

What is good Said he will have something to share with one who has a need Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth But only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment So that it will give grace to those who hear do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God By whom you're sealed for the day of redemption Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving each other just as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven you Paul says listen It's very easy to cause the Spirit of God to weep to grieve the Spirit of God When you lie to one another when you slander one another when you are bitter one with another when you are not Tenderly forgiving one another when you're not loving one another as Christ has loved you when bitterness wells up in your soul You're grieving the Spirit of God that is within you And as long as you engage in these fleshly kind of deeds you not only reject the Spirit of God set them aside You grieve the Spirit of God As long as we're engaged in lusting against the Spirit rejecting the Spirit and grieving the Spirit There is absolutely no way that the power of God can be evident in our lives Because sin has reigned in our mortal bodies So therefore we can't rely on the power of God because of these things in our flesh that we lust for Which caused us to set aside the Spirit of God?

To reject him and to grieve him That's why Paul says be angry yet. Do not sin Do not let the Sun go down upon your anger if you go to bed Angry with your wife with your husband with your children with a friend if you go to bed angry You open the door for the devil to take an opportunity in your life You've opened the door Don't become bitter don't become slanderous be forgiving be tender-hearted Apply those things to your life put on the the new man put off the old man Renew be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you might not fulfill the lust the flesh so God says I've given you a spirit of power and yet We reject that spirit We grieve the spirit We lust against the spirit When we do that we quench the spirit turn to first Thessalonians chapter 5 We quench the spirit we we dampen the spirit we smother the spirit We stifle the spirit we extinguish the spirit we retard the spirit We quench the spirit Paul says in first Thessalonians 5 verse number 19 do not quench the spirit don't do that Now, how do you do that?

The context tells you how you stifle the spirits work in your life First Thessalonians 5 verse 12 but we request of you brethren that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charged over you in the Lord and Give you instruction and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work live in peace one with another and Paul says listen when it comes to those who Teach you who instruct you who lead you you need to appreciate that if you don't do that you will quench dampen retard stifle and smother the spirits work in your life The right of Hebrews said it this way in Hebrews chapter 13 verse number 7 Hebrews 13 verse number 7 Spirit of God says this Remember those who led you who spoke the Word of God to you and considering the result of their content imitate their faith first 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account Let them do this with joy and not with grief for this would be unprofitable Not for your leaders but for you There are a lot of people in the church who are not profiting Because they have not submitted themselves to the people God has placed over them Folks we have quenched the spirit when we do not esteem those highly Who have charged over our souls because they will one day give an account to God for how they have watched out for your soul But God has demanded that the people of the church submit to godly leadership He goes on to say this back in first Thessalonians chapter 5 these words We urge your brethren admonish the unruly encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with everyone If you don't do that, you quench the spirit you stifle the spirit if you don't admonish the unruly If you don't encourage the faint-hearted You are involved in quenching the Spirit of God in your life He's gonna say this See that no one rejects another with evil or repays another with evil for evil But always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people don't we turn evil for evil You do that you quench the spirit Rejoice always pray without ceasing and everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the spirit But examine everything do not despise prophetic utterances, but examine everything carefully hold fast that which is good abstain from every form of evil As long as you engage in the activities surrounding verse number 19 You quench the spirit You dampen the spirits work in your life So, why do I cover this Because there are so many people Who in their marriages fail They can't love their spouse they can't love their children and Yet they had the Spirit of God available to them and yet they reject the spirit.

They lost against the spirit They grieve the spirit and they quench the spirit and then they say well, it doesn't work for me What do you mean? Does it work for you? Oh, I? Just don't seem to work out in my life the way it does for somebody else But why does it work out for them and not for you when you had the same spirit within you that they have within them? Why is it one guy can quit drinking quit smoking Instantaneously upon its conversion and the other guy can't When you're both at the same spirit within you Why is it one guy is addicted to pornography and can't get off the internet and the other guy?

Gets off it that quick and you had the same spirit within you Why is it one guy lives with bitterness and jealousy slanders wants to repay others with evil? but the other guy can forgive those who have offended him and Live a harmonious life with that person And they both have the same spirit within them the spirit of power See that's because We desire the deeds of the flesh more than we desire to walk in the spirit We love our sin too much To let it go and to trust God to accomplish his will in our lives We need to rely upon the power of God it requires us to be disciplined in the spiritual disciplines of of the faith But it requires us to live and make right choices that will honor the Living God and glorify his name When Jesus Christ came to earth In the incarnation he lived a life totally dependent upon the Spirit of God totally He was a hundred percent man a hundred percent God But in the incarnation he set aside those divine attributes he didn't relinquish them didn't Not have them anymore.

He set them aside That's that great self-emptying of Philippians chapter 2 that Theological term called the kenosis where he sets aside those divine attributes and lives life as we are to live life and The Bible says in the book of Isaiah the 11th chapter the shoot or the branch will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit speaking of Messiah and The spirit of the Lord will rest upon him the spirit of wisdom understanding the spirit of counsel strength the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord the Sevenfold ministry of the Spirit of God as the book of Revelation check the one tells us Rested upon the God that same spirit of wisdom that same spirit of counsel that same spirit of strength That same spirit of knowledge.

Guess what lives? in you Lives in me. That's why it's a great day to be great Because greatness is a stated fact Not a feeling I have or don't have God says those least in the kingdom are greater than John the Baptist because I will put my spirit within them the spirit of power and They will be able to communicate to people the truths of the gospel to point people to me to live for me to honor me to grow and how they how they represent me That they will glory in me and they will be great in the sight of the Lord You see God wants us to be great for him Once it's a glorious person Grown-ass portrait rest in his providence reliance power How about you is Isaiah 40 true of you Why do you say Oh Jacob and a certain Israel my way is hidden from the Lord and the justice do me escapes in the God Why is it?

Why is it God's not near? Why is it God has forsaken? Where is God and all this? Do you not know have you not heard the everlasting God the Lord the creator of the earth does not become weary? His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might he increases power Though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men may stumble badly Yet those who wait or wrap their trust in the Lord will gain new strength They will mount up with wings like eagles They will run and not get tired and they will walk and not become weary.

Why? Because they have wrapped their trust in God They believe in God They walk in the Spirit. They are controlled by the Spirit. They live each passing moment taking each step Dependent upon the Spirit of God to accomplish his work in their lives because without me Christ says you can't do anything you need me How about you?

Will you be great today? Will you be great tomorrow? Will you be great this year? It is based on the privilege call of God in your life It is a stated fact by the Living God that those least in the kingdom are Greater than the greatest man ever born of a woman How about you? Let's pray Father thank you for today. Thank you for the chance. We have to be in your word to study it together To look at it to open it up to realize that Lord your word is inspired And your spirit works in conjunction with your word and for that we are grateful Go before us this day that we might live Your life before others in Jesus name.

Amen