The King Is Looking For You

Pastor Joel @ Lakewood Church

It's easy to live guilty sitting on the sidelines in self pity. God is not in the condemning business, he's in the restoration business.

• MEPHIBOSHETH
• 2 Samuel 4
• Son of Jonathan, David's best friend. She dropped him and he became cripple.
• Sometimes in life well-meaning people can put you at a disadvantage.
• They tripped but we have to pay for their mistake.
• It's easy to make excuses especially when it wasn't your fault.  But you have to take the hand that you were dealt and make the best of it.
• A lot of times people aren't giving you something because they don't have it.
• Mephibosheth ended up living in poverty.
• Your location doesn't change your identity.
• When you gave your life to Christ you were made royalty.
• Revelation 1:6 NIV 
• ...and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 
• 2 Samuel 9
• Years later David (the King) went looking for Jonathan's son.
• Luke 15: Parable About the Lost Sheep
• Jesus's parable about the lost sheep.
• In the natural you're lost but the shepherd will leave the 99 to come looking for you.
• David gave all of the land back to Mephibosheth
• He was restored.
• Religion can make God mean but God is not looking for you to condemn you,  but to restore you.
• Luke 4:18
• “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,    because he has anointed me    to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners    and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free....
• Mephibosheth had settled in Lo Debar
• It's easy to settle in place of no pasture and/or communication.
• Mercy is all about God not giving us what we deserve.  God doesn't write us off when we make mistakes.
• Prodigal Son
• The younger son asks for his inheritance before the father dies, and the father agrees. The younger son, after wasting his fortune (the word "prodigal" means "wastefully extravagant"), goes hungry during a famine, and becomes so destitute he longs to eat the same food given to hogs, unclean animals in Jewish culture.
• He then returns home with the intention of repenting and begging his father to be one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely severed. Regardless, the father finds him on the road and immediately welcomes him back as his son and holds a feast to celebrate his return, which includes killing a fattened calf usually reserved for special occasions. 
• John Osteen's first marriage didn't work out and his church wrote him off so he left the ministry for 2 years.
• Romans 11:29
• God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
• God knows where you are and he's not going to stop until he puts you back where you're supposed to be.
• Psalm 147:3 NIV 
• He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 

Victoria Osteen @ Lakewood Church

On the phone with son who thanked her for something that she did for him and then shared something that he did because it would make her happy. He thanked her with his actions.

• Hebrews 13:15-16
• Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
• The closest thing to God is helping hurting people. That's how we express our gratitude with our actions.
• Let's show God that we want to please him.

• We're blessed to be a blessing.

Jentzen Franklin @ Lakewood Church

The Gates

• Acts 3:2 NIV
• Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 
• http://bible.com/111/act.3.2.NIV
• The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. 
• Psalm 87:2 NIV 
• http://bible.com/111/psa.87.2.NIV 
• A wall keeps people out but a gate is on henges to let people in.
• The henges represent a choice.
• Joshua 24:15
• But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord ." 
• The Tree of Life
• Genesis 2:9
• The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• The tree of life could have been put outside because he wanted them to decide for themselves.
• God will always provide a place of refuge.
• Numbers 35
• City of Refuge
• v 6. "Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 
• v.9-15 When you cross the River Jordan into the country of Canaan, designate your asylum-cities, towns to which a person who accidentally kills someone can flee for asylum.
• Psalm 91:1-2
• Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord , "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 
• Psalm 37:7
• Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
• Don't let someone talk you out of the King's protection
• 2 Samuel 3:6-38
• Abner had crossed the River Jordan into the city of refuge
• David negotiated a treaty with Abner via messenger.
• Even when negotiating, Abner did not leave Asylum until an agreement was reached.
• David sent Abner safely on his way
• v. 22-26 But just after David had sent Abner away in safety, Joab and some of David’s troops returned from a raid and found out about the treaty
• v. 27 When Abner arrived back at Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gateway as if to speak with him privately. But then he stabbed Abner in the stomach and killed him in revenge for killing his brother Asahel.
• v. 33 Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner: “Should Abner have died as fools die? 34 Your hands were not bound; your feet were not chained. No, you were murdered— the victim of a wicked plot.”
• All Abner had to do was stay in the city of refuge and he could have lived.
• He removed himself from the King's protection
• Don't be lured through the gate away from God's protection.
• Cecil the Lion
• He was lured out of refuge with a dead deer.
• He took the bait.
• Cecil's brother, Jericho went looking for Cecil.
• This speaks to the phenomenon of influence.
• It doesn't take long to mess your life up.
• Heaven, Hell, and God's Presence all have gaits.
• Psalm 100:4-5
• Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
• Revelations 21:21
• The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
• Matthew 16:17-19
• ...“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
• The praise that costs the most counts the most.
• You have to get victory over your personal enemies before you can fight God's enemies. David fought the lion and the bear before he defeated Goliath
• Whatever it is that gives you entrance into the place that God has delivered you from is a gate that needs to be removed.
• The music, the internet, alcohol, etc. There's no joy with one foot in the city of refuge and one foot out. Quit explaining it and get rid of it.
• Judges 16:3
• But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. 
• You make your choices and your choices make you.

Be Real

Victoria Osteen @ Lakewood Church

• The moment you pray, the tide of the battle begins to turn.
• Put a date on your prayer to remind yourself that God is working in your life.
• The work of a believer is to believe.
• Part of believing is trusting God.
• Doubt takes your emotions all over the place and causes you to be all over the place.
• James 1:6
• ...when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind;
• Feed your faith.
• What ever you feed is going to grow. If you feed your faith, your faith is going to grow. Doubt wants to take over and if you continue to feed it.
• The word is your food.
• Hebrews 4:12
• For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Joel Osteen @ Lakewood Church

• It's easy to go through life wearing a mask.
• Some people have a mask for every situation: work, church, this friend, etc...
• In order to get well, you have to get real. Take that mask off and get honest with yourself.
• When you're honest, you open the door for God to come in.
• Your inner life is more important that your outer life.
• Matthew 6:5-15
• 5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
• Matthew 5:8
• Blessed are the pure at heart.
• Facing truth can be uncomfortable.
• Look inside and get honest so that you can overcome the things that are holding you back.
• 2 Corinthians 4:2
• We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
• Prodigal Son
• Luke 15:17 When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!
• He came to his senses and went back home.
• Luke 15: 18-20
• I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
• His father was looking for him.
• His father came running to him.
• His father restored him.
• David & Bathsheba
• For a year David was miserable. Until he finally took off the mask.
• Psalm 51:5-10
• Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
• The first step of recovery is to admit it.
• You can't pretend and have God's provision at the same time.
• God isn't holding any mistakes against you.
• The price has already been paid.
• Sometimes we're more concerned about what people are going to think than what God thinks.
• Everyone is struggling with something, there are no perfect people.
• James 5:16
• Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18
• But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
• You can't see God if you don't take off the mask
• God doesn't change you from shame to glory, but from glory to glory.
• Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
• Luke 19:1-10
• Tax collectors were notorious sinners.
• He climbed a tree to make up for his weakness, being short.
• Jesus called him by name.
• God knows who you really are.
• Zacchaeus had to come down from the tree to let Jesus into his house.
• The people who get the help are the people who are real.

The Secret Place

The holy of holies....

• Leviticus 16:2-34 describes a place that had strict rules of entry.
• There should be a place like that in us.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

• Proverbs 4:23 NIV
• Peace is a position of power.

"In your anger do not sin" : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

• Ephesians 4:26 NIV
• Ships don't sink because of the water around ships sink because of water within.
• Acts 20:24 KJV
• But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Philippians 4:8 KJV

• 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.

Job 8:22 KJV

• They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

John 14:1 NIV

• "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God   ; believe also in me.
• Don't put your circumstances on the thrown.

Psalm 68:1 NIV

• May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.

Lavish Love

Ed Newton @ CBC

• John 21:14-19
• 1. Love chases.
• This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
• John 21:14 NIV
• 2. Love comfronts.
• When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"  "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
• * What are the "these" in my life?

• John 21:15 NIV
• 3. Love Convicts
• The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
• John 21:17 NIV
• 4. Love Calls
• Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
• John 21:18-19 NIV
• Forgiveness is the only thing that can motivate a man to live with conviction.
• If You Could See What I See

It's Your Heart That Matters

We don't have to have be perfect for God to use us.

• For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war."
• 2 Chronicles 16:9

You may make mistakes but God is looking on the inside.

• Eg. Pharisees
• "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
• Matthew 23:27

Even if I don't feel like I'm measuring up,  I'm in a state of glory!

• But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:18

• God doesn't expect us to be perfect but he does expect us to keep trying.,
• Stop taking inventory of all of your faults.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Ephesians 6:14

• God can approve you without approving of your behavior.
• Your value comes from your who not your do. Your do has been set by the creator of the universe.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."Jeremiah 1:5

• Don't let guilt and condemnation keep you from your destiny. God is not focused on my mistakes.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you James 1:5

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." Luke 7:47

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8