Becoming Someone God Uses Means Becoming Someone God Works On (Alternate Recording)

Sermon outline

Becoming someone God uses means letting Him work on you, taking Jesus into every part of everyday life, growing from a child into a mature son with authority, and pressing in with persistent faith like the Syrophoenician woman.

1. God works on you to make you a better person

   Walking with Jesus means the Holy Spirit will teach and lead you, and one of the first things you must do is face yourself. Acknowledging your faults and failures is not easy, but God does not show them to you to bring you down; like a potter He is shaping you every day. Your faith is the ability of God inside you, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.

   “The Lord works on your heart to make you a better person.”

   • Romans 12:3
   • Genesis 1:26-27
   • Romans 8:11
   • Colossians 1:27
   • Galatians 2:20

2. Fuel your faith: success is a journey

   Christianity is not a religion but a walk with the living God, and it brings stability rather than constant happiness. When your heart condemns you, tell it to be still, because God is greater than your heart and there is no condemnation in Christ. Do not stay at a victory or at a failure; keep moving. Watching the Sunday programme and then living any old how all week will not do.

   Illustration: A car needs petrol and a working battery to get from point A to point B. Faith needs to be fuelled and energised by the word and the Holy Spirit in the same way.

   “Success is a journey, it's not a destination.”

   • 1 John 3:20
   • Romans 8:1

3. Take Jesus into the marketplace

   Put your faith where your mouth is, where your footsteps are and in your actions: in decision-making, relationships, marketing and sales. You do not have to announce that you are a child of God or be weird and super-religious. Talk to Jesus as you would to a partner or family member, with respect, and consult Him until it becomes automatic, even stepping back in a busy meeting to ask for help. Believers have a right to His benefits, but as citizens they should carry responsibility, not entitlement.

   Illustration: With an election coming, she urges everyone to go out and vote, not with a sense of entitlement but as responsible citizens, without telling them whom to vote for.

   “You need to put your faith where your mouth is. You need to put your faith where your footsteps are.”

   • Psalm 68:19

4. You are not alone: from baby steps to boldness

   Having the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and angels as ministering spirits, you need not be afraid or lonely. God will not give you more than you can handle. At first we hold on like a child crossing a road, but as victories come, betrayal and loneliness hurt less and we stop getting so agitated. Like Peter, look at the storm as an opportunity to walk on the water.

   Illustration: A small child needs a hand to cross the road; an adult looks left and right and walks across, no longer afraid of the cars.

   “As I quieten my heart down, that's when I give Christ the ascendancy.”

   • Ephesians 6:13
   • Psalm 91:11
   • Hebrews 1:14
   • Psalm 46:1
   • 1 Corinthians 10:13
   • Revelation 12:11
   • Matthew 14:25-29
   • 1 John 4:4

5. Prosperity is more than money

   Among the benefits of salvation are peace, power, protection and prosperity, and prosperity includes the ability to think and deal wisely when emotions no longer control you. It includes the ability to forgive, because your trust is in God and not in man. Give people room to fail you, and in business build a loss factor into your budget, trusting God to restore what is lost.

   Illustration: You will not win every deal or profit on every transaction. Build the loss factor into your budget and you will not feel so bad when you lose out.

   “Please don't only equate prosperity to money. Prosperity becomes the ability to think wisely.”

   • Jeremiah 17:5-7
   • Jeremiah 17:9
   • Proverbs 6:31

6. Grow from a child into a son

   It is fine to be a child of God, but every child must grow to adulthood, in wisdom, knowledge and understanding. As you mature in sonship, favour increases and the anointing grows, and with the anointing comes authority to command what once would not listen. Decide whether you want to be a child, a youth or an adult in charge.

   Illustration: A supervisor can direct a few people, a manager more, but a chief executive can set the policies and procedures.

   “It's okay to be a child, but every child has to grow to adulthood.”

   • Isaiah 10:27
   • Job 22:28

7. Persistent faith: the Syrophoenician woman

   In Gentile territory a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter cried out to Jesus as Son of David, having heard what He could do. She had no covenant right to the blessing, Jesus did not answer her, and the disciples told Him to send her away, but she was not perturbed. She acknowledged the covenant people's rights and appealed to His kindness. Do not give up when an answer does not come by tomorrow; you have a right to the benefits.

   “Don't give up just because you ask God today to answer you and tomorrow He doesn't answer you.”

   • Matthew 15:21-28
   • Romans 10:17
   • Hebrews 12:2

In this message