GOD'S POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)

VIDEO LINKS TO GOD’S POSITIONING SYSTEM

BY PASTOR MARK TAYLOR

GOD’S GPS - PART ONE

GOD’S GPS - PART TWO

GOD’S GPS - PART THREE

GOD’S POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)

I Kings 19:11-16

By Pastor Mark Taylor

“Then God said unto Elijah, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a still small voice spoke unto him.” (I Kings 19: 11-16).

The verses above are about a prophet who loved God and lived for God with all his heart.  But he allowed fear and anxiety to overcome Him.  Elijah was hiding in a cave afraid that the wicked queen, Jezebel was going to kill him.  Then God spoke to Elijah in a way that He wants to speak to you and I today - in a  “small still voice”.

In today’s technology, we have the GPS (Global Positioning System) to give us physical directions to get from one place to another.  And being directionally challenge, I appreciate and use it frequently.  

God has given each of His children a unique way to follow Him.   It can also be identified as a GPS system which some have called “God’s Positioning System”.  We know that this is the Holy Spirit who is that “still small voice” that guides His children throughout their lives. Even before we accept Him as our Savior, the Lord guides us toward Him.  This is also called “grace”.  He gives us an internal navigational package that divinely aligns us with people and events that helps us reach our destiny that God has given us.

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, and skillfully made in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 114:13-15)

There are times when you meet people who change your life.  There are times when you choose to drive a different direction and you miss a terrible accident.  Something just told you to change directions and go a different direction.  When you begin to see these things as God directing your life, you can understand that your life is not an accident at all.  You are not just a life full of random events.  You are not just “lucky” or “unlucky” in your life.

So, how do we engage this GPS (God’s Positioning System)?  How do we get it to operate for us?  The best way to find the “on” switch is to simply start talking to your Heavenly Father through prayer.  You talk to Him the same way you would talk to your father, your grandfather, or your best friend.  

You have His permission to talk with Him about anything.  “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you ask, and it will be done for you you.” (John 15:7).    

 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.  And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us[a] commandment. (1 John 3:22-23).

While God may not chose to let you become rich in this life time, God answers prayers that are for your benefit like giving you health, keeping you and your family safe from harm, or allowing you to keep your job when others are losing theirs.  These are true riches you cannot buy with money.

For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  Luke 18: 25

You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:3) 

When you leave this world you will be rich and you won't have your sin nature to use your richness and power in a selfish and hurtful way.  When you live and rule with The Lord Jesus Christ on this world for a thousand years, you will be richer than you could ever imagine. 

His “words” in you is the programing of your GPS system.  You will understand what to ask for and to also pray for God’s will to be done in your requests.  “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

Prayer is cooperation with God, a consent that opens the way for grace to work.  Prayer is not our achieving contact with Him, but is is a gift of Him coming down to us from on high like a meteor, rather than up like a rocket.

Prayer exerts an influence upon God’s action.  That is what the word “answer” means.   God has chosen a different style of governing the world, a partnership, which relies on human agency and choice.  The partnership binds so tight that it becomes hard to distinguish who is doing what, God or the human partner.  God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to you and me.

Prayer is the power by which that comes to pass which otherwise would not take place.

After it is engaged or turned on, listen to the “small still voice”.  Often we have loud external voices all around us that overpowers the inner voice of the Holy Spirit.  You need to find the volume control of those voices and turn them down, and turn up the “still small voice” within you.

The events in our lives are not random.  When we walk with God we have a destiny built in us.  God has given us each free will, and it is up to us to program ourselves to find His will for our lives.  The Holy Spirit will continually place opportunities , events, and people along each of our paths to help get us to where we need to go.  But if we sit by the side of the road waiting for our destiny to come to us, nothing will happen.  

It is important to get the right directions from God as for the plans He has for you.  As the Cheshire cat said to Alice, In Wonderland, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

We have all been inspired by the children’s book “The Little Engine That Could”.  We admire how he reached way down inside himself to find the belief, the commitment, and the persistence to get a train full of toys to children waiting on the other side of the mountain.  Many people have become  “The Little Engine That Should”.  We should be going up the mountain, but we are still at the train station doubting ourselves and God.  God has people and events all along our journey positioned to help us get to our destiny.  But starting your engine and going forward is part of that “free will” God has given you.

There is a “small still voice” speaking to you as you read this message from the Lord.  He is asking you to turn on your GPS (God’s Positioning System) and let the Holy Spirit put people and events in your path.  You have “Path Power” and you have choices.  You can choose the path that leads to destruction or the path that leads to the happy abundant life.  Jesus put it this way:  “The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Matthew 7:14).  You need the Heavenly GPS (God’s Positioning System) that God wants to give you.  Begin by asking Him for it today, and then allow Him to help you use it.  “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.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

(Thoughts and information for this sermon comes from Divine Alignment by Squire Rushnell - A great inspirational book)  For more sermons by Pastor Mark go to: www.sermonstotheworld.blogspot.com )

HANDS THAT ARE TOO FULL

“HANDS THAT ARE TOO FULL”

By Pastor Mark Taylor

Parable of the Great Feast

15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet[a] in the Kingdom of God!”

16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

ECCLESIASTES  9: 10

WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND ABILITY.

Suppose a father wants his son to do something for him .  The son replies: "Father I have something in my hands, when I am finished with what is in my hands I will do what you want me to do."  If the son really cares about His father's needs, He will put down the something's in his hand

 It is hard for God to find someone who does not have His hands full.  Your hands can only hold so much stuff.  Therefore if there are already things in our hands, we cannot take up new things without putting down the other things.

  

A man's strength is limited.  No one has an unlimited supply of mental or physical energy.  A man's emotions are limited.  We cannot continue to use up our emotions on things we cannot change.

If a person uses up all their physical strength, emotions and mental energy for causes that mean nothing, then there is nothing left for God when He is in need of your service to Him and others.

We are all here because God has been good to us.  He has given us health.  He has given us good careers and good spouses to enjoy our ives with.  He has given us an abundance of financial blessings in which to enjoy our lives in comfort, and to be able to relax and enjoy the company of others who are good and decent people.  He has given us the opportunity to escape the drama and chaos of the world.

So our Heavenly Father has also put in us gifts and abilities that other people are still trying to develop, or will never develop.

There will be times when our Heavenly Father asks us to do something for Him within those gifts and abilities He has given us.  Sometimes it may be something as simple as giving a cup of cold water in Jesus's name - some small act of kindness.  Or it may be something that requires a good deal of effort and energy on our part.  Often the request from Him is something that only we can do, and if we do not do it, it will not get done.

So how do we respond?  Do we do like the young man did, because he had too many things in his hands?  Do we tell our Heavenly Father that we will get around to it when we our hands empty?  Or do we lay down those "other things" and pick up the important things our Heavenly Father needs us to do? There will always be "other things".  

If you have ever asked The Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and asked Him to come into your life, you are a child of God.  But you or even more than that.  God does not work on Earth to accomplish His will outside of using His Children.  You or the hands, feet, and mouth of God to your family and friends, and to others God might send into your life.

Sometimes you are like a fireman at the fire station.  The Lord wants you to just sit around at the station until there is an emergency and then He sends you out on a call.  Sometimes He gives you daily assignments to reach out and be the person who encourages others as they go and fight the fires.  Sometimes you are the mechanic who makes sure everything is working properly, so when there is a fire, people can get the help they need.  Sometimes you may be the dispatcher who gets the right information to the people who need to help others.  Regardless, when The Lord needs you, you have to put down those other things that are in your hands to help God accomplish what He wants to do for others.  

Sometimes our opportunity to walk and talk for God will be an individual task.  Other times God will use a group of people of which He wants you to be a part of.  There will be times we can combine our resources, talents , and abilities to make a difference in the lives of others.  This can be done through a church, a club, or a group of concerned people.

God wants to help a lot of people in this world, but He will not do it without people who love Him. He will not do it without you.    We can limit what God wants to do in the lives of our families, our friends, and others if we do not put down the things in our hands and pick up the things that will help our Heavenly Father.

The important thing for us to remember is that God loves us and has chosen us to serve Him while we have good health and good resources.  There will be times God wants us to relax and renew ourselves, and we should not feel guilty about that. Then there is a time to "be about our Father's business".

What is in your hands today?  Will you put those things down long enough to help your Heavenly Father help others.  Each of us will be asked to do different things according to our gifts and abilities.

Remember you are doing it for your Heavenly Father, not for those who deserve it, or for those who do not deserve your time and energy.  Some people will not say thank you and some may not even accept your offer of love or help.  But that is ok.  God appreciates your obedience and sacrifice.  He will both reward you with blessings from Heaven, and use others to be a blessing to you in your time of need.

"What ever your hand  finds to to do, do it with all your might". Ecclesisasites 9:10.

It is good to have an idea in our heart but it would be much better and useful if, instead of just talking about something that we would actually do it.

One good deed is worth far more than 1000 brilliant ideas never done.  We should never simply sit and wait for big opportunities or for a different kind of work to come along. We should each and every day do the things that God puts in our hands.

We have no time in which to live but the present for the past is gone and the future has not yet come.  No one ever served God by doing things tomorrow.  It is what we do today that generates blessings and brings honor to Christ.

Don't give Christ a little halfhearted work done every now and then but when you serve him “do it with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” Deuteronomy 6:5.