A vulnerable look at how Christs treats us in failure and how it makes us want to “know Him” and Love Him like He loves us!

Oklahoma Family Retreat 2014: Key of Promise

<p>A vulnerable look at how Christs treats us in failure and how it makes us want to “know Him” and Love Him like He loves us!</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Restoration International

Tom Waters

What I Want

And I'm excited about what I'm going to be sharing today because it's all about what I want.

Because before I tell you what I want, I want you to think for a few moments, a few seconds.

I wish I could give you moments, but you'll have to do that later.

A few seconds, I want you to think, what is it that you really want, young people?

Something you've never had, maybe something you've always wanted.

And just let's pause and you think about it.

You see, sadly, For all of us, not most of us, for all of us, we have spent most of our lives, other than maybe the littlest toddlers in arms, those little babes in arms, Most of us have spent too much of our lives wanting what self wants.

If I can just have my way, if I can just have all the toys.

And we started off pretty young, where it starts showing itself, thinking that if we can just justify, no it was he started it, that we will be justified and therefore somehow we can be happier if we can get what I want and preferably now.

And really, I hope most of us as adults, I mean, I hope all of us, but particularly those of us here today that are adults, have been finding out that just getting what self wants is killing our Christianity.

It's killing our real happiness because the end of selfishness has only been experienced by well, those who we might think could really get it all.

That really have enough money to really get it all.

And he didn't ask for lots of money and he didn't ask for long life.

What he asked for was to be a wise king and that's what he desired and God said, oh, that was good.

But unfortunately he turned inward to self.

And we know the history of that great king who could get it all.

He could get all the concubines he wanted.

He could build all that he wanted to build.

So, very few of us will ever have the opportunity to have every car that we might have thought would make us happier.

Or all these other things, because we spend our lives somehow thinking if I can do it my way I will be happy.

That is coming from the adversary, the 1 who said I will set my throne above the throne of God.

And so today, even those of us who are professing to be crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live, but it's no longer us living, it's Christ living in us and the life we live.

Even those that are saying that, believing that, wanting that, surrendering to that.

I'm gonna read a list of words here that we are experiencing too often with what we profess.

Irritation, frustration, anxiety, lust, secret sin, anger, love of fashion, being controlled by technology, negative thinking which leads to depression.

Many children today are, me first, I want it my way, and the world is making it politically incorrect to help them see that having your way is going to kill you.

We see it on airplanes now and it's a tragedy.

It's sad to see in the little children that they're being encouraged in whatever they want, indulged, don't keep your hands off of them.

1 mother out of frustration After doing everything she could do to get her child in the seatbelt, because you can't fly until the seatbelt is on, no matter how much of a tyrant that child has become through the indulgence of their parents, She gave that little 1 a smack On the behind so quiet it got here That's because you know what's politically incorrect on an airplane today And you also know that it's gone way too far.

And when that door opened on that airplane, there were agents on the other side of that door who took that child away from that mother.

Yeah, That's the world we're living in today.

Because somehow we think that if we can get my way or give our children their way, they're going to be happier.

And 1 of the deadliest things that professing Christians have to face is pride.

And the deadliest form of pride is spiritual pride.

So why do we resonate with all these things?

Now you didn't resonate with all of them, but you didn't have to think, huh, is that me?

No, because the Holy Spirit brought it to our minds just like that.

I don't want to do that, but you found yourself somewhere in those categories.

And if you found yourself saying, I don't do any of that stuff you might be in the deadliest form of all and that's a tragedy and it's very hard to get our attention when we're there.

And I'll tell you as I have been looking at my own life and looking what God has done and what He's trying to do and how He woos and draws and all these things, I'll tell you what my conclusion, at least the 1 I can say to you today in a short phrase, it's because we don't really know God.

Jesus said in John 17 3, this is life eternal.

Not just up there, but life eternal which begins where?

This is life eternal, to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Friends, to know God is to love God more than myself.

This is what God is trying to help me understand.

To really know God is to really love God and to love God actually so much that I want to love Him and serve Him more than I love and serve myself.

That is the great controversy boiled down to 1 human being and his God.

And when we love him enough, when we know him enough, it sends chills down my spine.

We will love him more than we love our selfishness, more than we love ourself, more than we love being right and making our wife know that we are right and she is wrong.

So, what I want, and What I have been putting my energy into over this last year plus, is to know Him, to know this God.

And so in my studies over the last year, It's been an amazing journey.

I love it because I'm going through the Bible in a completely different way now.

Going through the familiar stories to find out all about how God responds to all these sinful people, every 1 of them.

But I'm going through the stories and finding out, and I'm going to talk about 2 of those people today.

And it's the story of Elijah, just 1 little piece of his life that we're gonna talk about today, and the story of the prodigal son.

Elijah was a man who had a connection with God.

Elijah had a connection with God and we're gonna be looking at 1 Kings.

Okay, so if you wanna get your Bible ready, we're gonna be looking at 1 Kings and we're going to be just focusing on chapter 19.

And don't start reading it because I know what it's like.

You'll want to start reading it and remember the story.

But please, I've got a very special direction.

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What I Want

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