Called and chosen - our DNA in Christ | Navaz D

This message was preached by Navaz at Word of Grace Church on August 4th, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Ephesians 1:3-5

 ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he^[b] predestined us for adoption to son ship^[c]through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

AMP VERSION

 ⁴ just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight. In love ⁵ He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will—

This is not a complete exegesis of the text rather a pulling on the main thoughts on this passage and looking at how it applies to us.

We are going to look at How and why we have been called, and what implications does our new DNA in Christ have on how we live.

VERSE4a     For HE chose us

Our salvation story starts in Jesus. He selected us before we were even thought of by our parents. He decided we would be born and on the day we would become His. In His loving-kindness, He drew us to repentance Rom 2:4.

Yes, we responded. We have a responsibility to respond to the call. Predestination is a huge topic and a difficult one I do not want to get into. 

There are many passages in scripture to support this. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. You did not choose me but I chose you. Those whom he called, He justified and so on. We do not understand it fully.

The point I am getting at is this. Rejoice in the truth that God chose YOU. Thank God for this great salvation given to us as a gift.

When we received Christ, God became our Father.

Our life as a Christ-follower starts and ends with God at the center of our very being. We are “in Christ”. Where is Jesus right now? At the right hand of the Father. So if we are in Christ, we too are seated in heavenly places in Christ.

We are blessed and have access to unlimited divine favour because we belong to Him

.

Some of us Christians live like this: Thank you God for this gift. Now let me prove to you that I deserve it. You get saved by grace and then you get into religious graceless faithless works trying to win God’s favour that you already have.

A true son does not work to win favor with his father, he works hard because he is loved and his hard work is a response to love not for love.   Do you see the difference?

Paul says in Col1:10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

VERSE 4b- To be holy and blameless in His sight

The question of purpose is answered here. Why did God choose us?

In the amplified version it says – consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven. Blameless is our standing. Jesus paid the debt for our guilt so that we can live shame-free, blame-free lives. This is huge.

VERSE 5- In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. NEW IDENTITY

This brings me to the realization that before Christ’s death on the cross I was not a child of God! God is not everyone’s Father. Not anyone can call him Father.

John 1:11-12 – He came to that, which was His own, but they did not receive Him, yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Paul is laying a great foundation for us to understand our new identity in Christ. This is who we are. We are sons and daughters of God. We can call Him Father.

2 Cor 5:17 says: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” we are new creations in Christ.

New= never before created. You are one of a kind image-bearer of God. No one gets to be you.

 We have a new DNA, that of Christ. DIVINE NATURE ACTIVATED

DO not make the mistake of calling yourself a Sinner. That is no longer your identity. You were a sinner before you knew Jesus. You are now a Saint. You were an orphan, you are now a child of God. When you sin, you sin as a saint. It does not alter your identity.

Something miraculously alters in our very being. We now have the mind of Christ but we just do not tap into it.

We renew this mind by washing it with the Word of God 

When we attempt to change without the heart and mind transformation, we only have behavior modification that cannot be sustained for a long period. That is why some of us fall back into old patterns of behavior and thinking.

Some of us try living the Christian life under the bondage of religious duty and not from a place of relationship and delight in the Father. WE fall back into law instead of living out of grace.

We focus too much on what we ought not to do instead of focusing what the great Hope and calling we have

Today I want us to look at our Sonship in God.

In order to know the truth, you study the truth first, and then you look can spot the lie.

So let’s look at some truths about us today that are a part of our DNA as children of God.

SO WHAT DOES THIS NEW IDENTITY AND DNA GIVE US?

1.    GOD is your Father.Do you know and believe that he is truly a good, good Father?

The starting point of knowing who we are is knowing whose we are.

2.   The Supernatural is our new nature. We need to know that we live from a place of victory, therefore, nothing is impossible for us with God. So I can take leaps of faith.

 Jesus conquered everything on the cross. Therefore, I can dream big because God’s assignment for us is huge and encompasses all of our lives.

2b - I can trust God because He is good and can do the impossible, and all His promises are “Yes and Amen”!.

My new identity gives me access to all the spiritual blessings.

Its all in my account but not yet in my possession. ( Bill Johnson)

 I have to cash the cheque so that I can use that favour of access to be a blessing to others and fulfill God’s mandate for me on this EARTH.

When we realize how much we have access to, it increases our responsibility because to whom much is given much is required.

3.   He chose me, therefore, I am significant not in an arrogant self-obsessed way. I am significant to God’s plans and purposes

He has chosen us in order that the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord even as the waters cover the sea.

How you may ask? you and I as we are being changed from one degree of glory to another. Glory – we are meant to share in His glory and bear His glory. Imagine that!!!

If we realized this, we would not indulge in some of the things we do.

4.   Your identity as a son and daughter is covered in Royalty. You are a Prince/princess.

One thing the devil really trembles at is when Sons of God come into their full identity, operate in that anointing, and power.

He wants to keep you from fulfilling your purpose and destiny in life. HE wants to set us free, from shackled thinking and a wrong identity.

1 Pet 2:9 – 10 We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

 A good King and royalty live for the benefit of their subjects. Our King Jesus laid down his life for us so that we could enjoy unlimited favour. 

We are blessed to be a blessing. We have favour in order to use it to bring blessing to others.

Therefore, since we know that we have a good God who can do the impossible because of the finished work of the Cross-we can take leaps of faith and serve him whole-heartedly, faithfully and diligently as sons and not as orphans or hirelings.

An orphan or hirelings in last in and first out. They do not care about their Father’s business but only look out for themselves.

When you have understood your place and identity as a son in the house of God, you will take on responsibilities with joy just as Jesus did. He laid down his life for his friends for the JOY set before him.

When we live in the goodness of our identity in Christ, we become a light to the world around us.

When we live in the awareness of the significance of God’s choosing of us,  that he has invested into us when He put the holy spirit inside of us; we will carry ourselves differently and conduct ourselves differently. You will not get involved with potty stuff.

There will be a shift from living a life to please me to living a life of service. Just like our Servant King, Jesus; knowing the Father has placed everything beneath him, He could serve with a towel and basin.

First, do you see yourself as a son or do you behave as an orphan or a hireling?

Do you know who you are and what you are called to and that you are chosen by God? Are you living out of your new DNA?

We will look more into this the next time.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

The Art Of Being A Good Friend | Navaz D

This message was preached by Navaz at Word of Grace Church on August 4th, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here

Lots of people claim to be loyal and loving, but where on earth can you find one? Proverbs 20:6 ( The Message translation of the Bible)

This book was written in 700 B.C , that is nearly 3000 years ago. The issues that mankind faces is the same. Why? Because the heart is the same.

Today’s topic is about Friendship, how do I be a good friend, and how do I find a good friend.

 We all live in a very mobile society. Where you were born is not necessarily, where you will live for the rest of your life. we have to learn how to navigate a very fluid society

The way we can navigate all this is:  We need to have some parameters or a grid /point of reference that is constant from which we can view things.

The starting point to having good friends isis to be a good friend.

To be a good friend you first need to understand yourself. Do you know who you are? How would you describe yourself? 

Self-awareness is key to becoming a good healthy friend. If what I do is who  I am then when that changes, my core will get shaken.

But, if what I do does not describe who I am, then circumstances can change around me by my core stays constant.

Do you know that you are created by design? When you know you have been created by design, you will know that you have a purpose. The Bible tells us that even before the world was created, the Creator of everything thought of you and me and had a plan for our life.

At the heart of good friendship whether it is being one or finding a good friend is

Authenticity, vulnerability, trust, respect and listening.

HOW DO YOU FIND A GOOD FRIEND?

We all have friends at different levels. We have acquaintances, close friends, and deep heart friends. We need to know the distinction between these and not mix them up.

AUTHENTICITY

People show up in different ways. We show up in different ways. Our aim is to be authentic in who we are, how we show up and how people experience us.

100% - What you see is what you get. There are no two faces to you. You are not one person in public and another in private.

75% - Is a person who can be 100% but sometimes will not show all of themselves to you if trust has not been established or they are not feeling safe in a situation.

50% -  Are people who walk in the shadows. You are not really sure where you stand in relation to them and you are unclear about who they are?  You are often confused by them because their talk and walk don’t match.

 25%- These people have huge masks and walls. They do not let anyone into their heart.  They can be fake or very frozen and robotic when it comes it interpersonal relationship.

There are many reasons why we show up this way – it could be past hurts, abuse, someone let you down really badly, family/cultural norms of distrust etc. If we have not experienced healthy love and affection as a child that can affect our bonding as adults. It affects our grid from which we build relationships.

TRUST

 Trust is earned, respect is always given. Healthy friendships take time to develop.  

Trust is built in the small moments – John Gotham.  There are opportunities to build trust and betray it at the same moment.

It all depends on how you respond. Is what I share with you safe with you? Can what others share with me be safe with me?

A person cannot move from acquaintance to deep heart in an instant. That is when most disasters take place because a false sense of intimacy/closeness is created where trust has not been fully established.

Good friendships say I want to give you strength in me to help you be successful, to pull out the gold that is in you.

Can we be trusted to keep confidences?

Trust is at the heart of every relationship. You take that away and you don’t have a relationship anymore. It violates the person just as physical violence does. This is assassinating a person’s character. Its murder undeveloped. Think about it.

Gossip is like bits of paper that are thrown in the wind. Who knows where it goes and can anyone gather all of it back?

“If you reveal your secrets to the wind,
you should not blame the wind for
revealing them to the trees.”

― Kahlil Gibran, The Wanderer

VULNERABILITY

The willingness to share something that needs to be safe with you. The willingness to show up 100% with no masks, no lies or pretense.

For this to happen I need to be non-judgmental for others to be vulnerable with me.

I can fall apart and will not be judged by you.

RESPECT

R esist patronizing

E xercise self-responsibility. Take care of yourself and let people take care of themselves

S uspend critical judgment. Don’t shame or jump to conclusions

P ractice – love, patience, kindness, goodness

E xtend yourself appropriately. Have good boundaries.

C onsider confidentiality

T take one another seriously- don’t be sarcastic or joke about a person’s problem. It can be hurtful

LISTEN

We often communicate to convince someone else about our point of view to win a discussion. The aim of listening is to understand. To have an accurate understanding of how the other person is feeling about a situation.

Sometimes all a friend wants you to do is to  listen with warmth and empathy.

Reflect back what the person is saying

SOME SIGNS OF AN UNHEALTHY FRIENDSHIP

• •You are being manipulated and controlled
• •Fear is used to get you to do something
• •Untrustworthy
• •Insecure about your other friendships
• •Unloving
• •Ego clashes
• •Mean
• •Verbal and /or physical abuse
• •Make you feel “less than”
• •Jealous
• •Agendas
• •Blows hot and cold leading you to feel confused
• •Fake
• •Secretive
• •Holds grudges and makes you pay by withdrawing affection.

LAST WORDS

Be careful of people who only take from you. We need a balance in our lives. Do you have friends that refresh you as well? Are you one that seeks to refresh others? Are you a giver to taker?

When your life is out of balance, you make wrong decisions. You trust the wrong people. You cross boundaries by overextending yourself in a friendship or allow someone to invade your boundaries.

 So make a list of people in whom you want to invest your time and energy.

Make a list of people of whom when you talk to you feel invigorated. You are important too.

CONCLUSION

If you start putting this into practice you will develop that constant strong core in you that will help you no matter where life takes you. You will be a better person and you will attract the right kind of people in your life.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

The Future Will Write Your History | Navaz D Cruz

This message was preached by  Navaz D'Cruz at Word of Grace Church on  January 6th 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here.

THE FUTURE WILL WRITE YOUR HISTORY

INTRODUCTION

I have a message, the burden of which has been increasingly growing in my heart as each year goes by. This year I have felt that God has laid this as a prophetic message for Word of Grace and maybe even beyond.

I believe there is something in this message for everyone – a new believer, a not so young Christ follower and a seasoned Christian like myself.

This is also in line with the series that Colin is taking us through but coming from a different angle.

TEXT

Proverbs 29:18  Where there is no revelation/vision, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction.

 2 Tim 4: 7-8 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Phil3:12 -
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me

The title of my message today is this : The Future will write your history.

What will it say about you?

 Last Sunday we heard about Jim Elliot. The whole of Christendom knows about him. His famous quote is “ He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose!”

Such amazing passion, dedication and fixed focus. We may never become a Jim Elliot and that does not disqualify us or excuse us from living with purpose, passion and a perspective that ends in eternity.

What legacy will you leave behind? You will leave one behind either unintentionally or by design.

To answer that question we first need to recognize that:

1.    We were created on purpose for a purpose.

 A creator who has a design in mind created you.  You are not here by chance or by an accident. You are not a mistake.

Psalm 139:14-15 13For You formed my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother’s womb.14I will praise You,for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Eph 1:11 -In him we were also chosen,^[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Eph 2:10 ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This is critical to your purpose. Unless you are reconciled to your creator, you will never be free from a useless existence and be able to begin to live this purposeful life and fulfill your God given destiny here on the earth.

As Christians, we too can live like this – carelessly, without vision/purpose and a revelation of why we are here on the Earth.

Being saved is only just getting off the starting block of this eternal relay we are all running in. How then do we run this race? Many Christians sadly have lost their first love; their hearts have grown cold, distracted with the cares of this world. One day we will have to give an account for how we have lived.

 1 Cor 3:12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

Proverbs 23:4 warns us not to wear ourselves out in trying to get rich.

2.    The second issue is sustainability.

Finishing strong is vital. Can we keep the fire burning after 2 years, 5 years, 10 years twenty 40?

If I do not stay connected and rooted in Jesus my spiritual fervour, can wither off and die.

3.    Building a legacy is in God’s DNA.

 Apart from the fact that God created you for a purpose, we need to understand the character and nature of God. He has put the same DNA in us as we are “His image bearers”.

We have been created to create, care for and contribute to the earth.

The command that God gave Adam to steward and multiply still holds good today.

We are still commanded to create and care and contribute. This has to do with every area of our life: personal, at work, in the home, our marriage, children, neighbourhood, our material possessions, our spiritual life, church community.

Jesus spoke a lot about stewardship and multiplication. Just look at the parable of the talents, the wise manager etc etc. God is always looking for ROI( return on investment)

It is there in Genesis and is there is Revelation 22:12"Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ, you are serving.

More than 40 verses talk about rewards. Look it up. This must be important.

Before we get it twisted. We know that we have been saved by grace.

We have not been saved by works bur for works

We function from acceptance not for acceptance

We lives from the identity of sons and not to get identity

We have been blessed so that we can bless

We live from victory and not for victory

When we know our identity, we will know our destiny.

SO NOW WHAT?

 What version of Christianity will your children or grandchildren enjoy because of what you invested into the kingdom?

Will it be a diluted version or even better than what you have known and experienced.

Our ceiling should be the floor that the next generation stands on. Legacy builders think about the quality of their life not so that they can enjoy a good life on earth but so that generations after them can reap the fruit of it too. Are you a legacy builder?

Mature sons and daughters in the house of God will learn to broaden their shoulders and be burden bearers rather than be a burden.

When we know that, we are children of God bought at a high price we will realize that our lives are about stewardship and not entitlement.

This is a difference between stewardship and Entitlement. Which column do you have more ticks?

STEWARDSHIP – A child of God with good identity	ENTITLEMENT- A child of God with poor identity.
Surrendered life	Self-centered life
Seeks to serve	Wants to be served
Contributors	Consumers
Gratitude	Feels entitled
Wants to please God	Wants God to please them
Blesses others	Seeks to be blessed
Generous	Stingy
Multiplies resources	Depletes resources
Giving	Demanding
Involved	Disconnected
Submitted	Independent
Handles resources in a kingdom way	Handles resources in a self-indulgent way
Others oriented	Self-focused
Satisfied	Always needy
Dependable	inconsistent

Word of Grace can be like a greenhouse- as long as you are in this church you thrive spiritually or may appear to thrive.

This is because the external environment is influencing you and acting upon you. But if you move away from WOG will you continue to burn hot for Jesus?

How much you internalize of the values you enjoy at WOG depends on your capacity to absorb and put into practice and make it your DNA.

You have to forge your own history with God.

Everyone’s character will be put to the test in the crucible of crises. Will you come out as pure gold?

This, will be tested when the storms of life hit us and they will. Will we be like the wise builder or the foolish one?

My prayer is that we like Paul will be able to say I have fought the good fight, I have run the race and now there waits a crown for me.

HERE ARE SOME KEYS THAT WILL HELP IN YOUR LEGACY BUILDING.

1.    PRESENCE – I cannot emphasize this more. That is why the first phrase in our tag line is Enjoying God. Apart From Him, we can do nothing. We need to stick close to Jesus every day. Practice his presence as a lifestyle.

"Relying on God has to start all over everyday, as if nothing has yet been done."  –C. S. Lewis

2.    PROVIDENCE – Know that God’s favour rests upon you. He is your provider and will give you more than you can ask or imagine. “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” –Hudson Taylor

3.    PERSPECTIVE – Do not live just for today or for the next 5 years. Where do you see yourself when you are 70? Where do you see yourself in eternity? "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." –Jim Elliot

4.    PURPOSE – Do not be a drifter. Before you know it, 5 years have done by ad you will have little to show for it. Have goals. IF you fail to plan, you will plan to fail. Have goals personal, professional, family, spiritual. God is interested in all of our lives “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” –Francis Chan

5.    PASSION – Put your might behind everything you do. Do it as unto God. “If you can’t fly, then run, If you can’t run, then walk, If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” –Martin Luther King Jr.

This passion can only be sustained and fueled, in the presence of God.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Col3:23

1Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them— yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

So let us life this life worthy of our calling in Jesus. Let us fight the good fight of faith and not give up or get tired of doing good, because what we build will be a legacy that will last forever and one day the future will bear witness to it. LET’S PRAY

DISCUSSION POINTS FOR GYM MEETINGS

. Do you recognize that you have been created by design? What unique gifts and talents has God blessed you with?

. HAve the core values we talk about at Word of Grace become yours? Or is it an extranl influence?

What are some of the goals you have for life?
. Are you a legacy builder? 
What will you change to become more focused and live purposefully? Do you have a year plan and a 5-year plan?
. What will you do differently in your Christian calling to leave a legacy behind?

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.