Alone with God #4-Gaining a Fresh Perspective

“ALONE WITH GOD #4-GAINING A FRESH PERSPECTIVE”

EPHESIANS 3:16-21

INTRO: Friends, when we utilize the moments we have alone by taking God’s

Word and renewing our minds, we then can become the people whom

God can reveal His heart to. Hurricane Katrina forever changed the

lives of countless thousands. Just as a hurricane’s ability to change

the force of the sea, when we are alone with God, His power has the

ability to change the force, direction, and flow of our lives for decades

to come. It is His power that changes us and transforms us into

vessels He change use to touch the lives of others. Paul wrote in

Romans 12:1-2—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of

God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto

God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this

world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye

may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

We must allow His power to work in us not only so that we might

receive a blessing, but also so we can be a blessing to someone else.

Someone said, “perception changes everything.” Friend, it is God’s

power that changes how you feel about the people you know and

interact with on a daily basis. It is God’s power that changes how you

see yourself. You will not view life and others from a human

perspective when you see them from God’s perspective. Paul said in

2 Corinthians 5:16—“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the

flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now

henceforth know we him no more.” What was Paul saying? He was

saying, “I view no man after a selfish or corrupt perspective. But I see

that person from a new perspective because of Christ’s working in

me.” Friends, spending time alone with God helps us gain a fresh

perspective. We need to see ourselves not as we are, but as we are in

the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus sees us as a new creature and His

desire is that we live as the new creation we are! Colossians 3:3 tells

us—“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Believer,

Christ is your treasure; and where your treasure is, there is your

heart. Christ lives in the bosom of the Father; as your heart is in him,

ye also sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Christ is the life of

your souls; and as he is hidden in the bosom of the Father, so are ye,

who live through and in him. (CLARKE’S COMMENTARY NT, VOLUME 6A: ROMANS –

Albany, OR).

To be the kind of person whom God can reveal His heart to you need to

gain a fresh perspective. Paul spoke of this in our text in Ephesians

3:16-19—“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,

to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ

may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in

love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,

and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ,

which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of

God.” Friends, we are now the light of the world, a city that is set

upon a hill that cannot be hidden. But we must access the power of

God and His Word to become the people God has ordained for us to be.

I want to speak tonight on GAINING A FRESH PERSPECTIVE. I want

us to see that a fresh perspective is gained when we…

(1) DON’T ALLOW OUR PAST TO DETERMINE OUR FUTURE

PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14—“Brethren, I count not myself to have

apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which

are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I

press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

A. CHANGE NECESSITATES TRUST. Friends, we will never become the

people God wants us to be if we dwell on the past and don’t trust God for

our future. Paul in Ephesians 5:8 describes our lives this way—“For ye

were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children

of light.” Friends, we are no longer in the dark but in the light. God

through grace has given us a brand new perspective. We are not to love the

world, live for the world, look like the world, nor listen to the world. Paul said

“I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward to Jesus.

I’m off and running and I’m not coming back.” Paul was trusting in the

Lord, friends! We must do the same! In the Scripture the Lord tells us to

“keep on,” “continue,” “eagerly pursue”, “cultivate,” and be “constant.” All of

these necessitate that we live a life of trust in the Lord.

The person God uses lives like Paul did with a sense of purpose and a fresh

perspective—“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God

in Christ Jesus.” This person seeks God’s wisdom, submits to God’s will,

and obeys God’s scriptural directives. He follows the command in Proverbs

3:5-7—“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own

understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy

paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

B. CRUSH NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. God did not save us for us to live lives of

negatively. His desire is that we have a positive perspective on life. Many

times we allow negative thoughts to become strongholds of evil in our lives.

Have you ever said or heard someone say, “That’s just the way I am,” or “I

am an angry person,” or “I just have a temper,” etc. Negative thoughts can

form habits of behavior. We as believers are called to be—“Casting down

imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge

of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Satan attacks us through our minds. He wants us to have a negative

outlook on life, ourselves, and others. God’s desire is that we see life,

ourselves, and others from a fresh perspective—a positive outlook. We

must not allow the sins of our past to cloud God’s purpose for us in the

future. WE must think positively. Philippians 4:8 tells us—“Finally,

brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,

whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things

are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if

there be any praise, think on these things.”

C. CURTAIL NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR. Paul said in Ephesians 5:8—“…now

are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” Because of grace the

behavior of our past does not have to be the behavior of our present.

Paul said in Ephesians 4:17-24—“This I say therefore, and testify in the

Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of

their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life

of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of

their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto

lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so

learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by

him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former

conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man,

which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

D. CONNECT WITH GOD. Jesus told us that we must deny ourselves, take

up our cross, and follow Him. As we connect with the Lord by daily

spending time alone with Him and in His Word our minds begin to change

and we gain a fresh perspective. There is no substitute for time alone with

God. Luke 5:16 tells us that our Lord—“…withdrew himself into the

wilderness, and prayed.” This time alone was where he built and fortified

His life. He stayed connected with God the Father.

E. CONFRONT FEAR. Fear keeps many from advancing in the future. Past

failures haunt many lives. Friends, the way to deal with fear is to face it

head on. We must see fear as our enemy. We must deal with it and knock

it out of our lives. How do we do that? The key is to take the Word of God

and combat our harassing thoughts of fear, anxiety, and worry. We must

put on the whole armor of God and fight! Friend, you have to fight if you

want to win! You cannot win a battle if you don’t fight. One of the pieces

of the Christian armor is TRUTH. Another is the Sword of the Spirit, which

is God’s Word. Together these enable us to rebuke the devil.

We gain a fresh perspective when we: DON’T ALLOW OUR PAST TO DETERMINE OUR FUTURE but also when we…

(2) DON’T FOLLOW THE CROWD AND FIND OUR VOICE

EPHESIANS 5:11-13—“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works

of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to

speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all

things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for

whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”

A. REAL SURRENDER INVOLVES THE WILL. If you are going to have a

fresh perspective then you are going to have to want to change so you can

be the kind of person God wants you to be. You must decide that your

relationship with God is the most important relationship you have. After

you surrender to God all things in your life will be centered on your desire

to be transformed by the renewing of your mind into the individual that

God can and will use for His glory!

B. REFUSE THE SIN OF THE WORLD. Paul said in Ephesians 5:11—“And

have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove

them.” To have fellowship with the works of darkness…is to delight in

them and to participate in them. All such association is forbidden as

inconsistent with the character of the children of light. (AN EXPOSITION OF

OR). Friends, we must refuse to allow the status quo to mold our

personalities, and the direction of our lives. We must allow God to mold our

character as we spend time alone with His Word.

C. REPLACE OLD HABITS AND FEELINGS WITH THE WORD. God’s Word

sets us free as our old lives are transformed. Sin’s hold on our lives can be

broken we don’t have to live in sin any longer. Spending time alone with

God in His Word also breaks sin’s stronghold on our future. Now because

we are becoming the person God desires for us to be we can look

expectantly to the future of the great things we can accomplish for the

Lord!

D. REJECT THE VOICE OF YESTERDAY. Friends, all of us are either

prisoners of our past or pioneers of our future. We meet so many today who

are prisoners of their past. They live in regret over past failures or else they

rehearse past victories. The problem is the one who lives in regret fears

failure while the one who rehearses the past is doing little or nothing in the

present. Friend, how long are you going to let your past keep you from

doing what God has called you to do? There is no future in any person’s

past. There is nothing there. There is nothing for you to embrace, hold on

to, or celebrate. You cannot do anything about what is behind, so let it go.

God does not give me the authority to let my past keep me from pioneering

the future He desires for me and my family. Instead of listening to the

voice of yesterday, I should with victory announce—“… forgetting those

things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are

before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in

Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14).

We gain a fresh perspective when we: DON’T ALLOW OUR PAST TO DETERMINE OUR FUTURE, DON’T FOLLOWTHE CROWD AND FIND OUR VOICE, and finally when we…

(3) DETERMINE TO MAKE GOD’S WORD THE BASIS OF OUR THOUGHTS

PSALM 119:105—“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my

path.”

COLOSSIANS 2:6-7—“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished

in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

A. ACTIONS. Friends, our behavior will reveal our heart. We can dress

nicely, be polite, or speak nice words, but especially when we are under

pressure, our behavior will reveal who we truly are. As the old saying goes,