JOURNEY 2010: LIVING IN THE WILL OF GOD: WHAT ABOUT GOD'S WILL FOR ME? Journey 2010 is about having a church comprised of people who have individually decided to follow God's Will in their daily lives. INTRO Most people are on guard when they spend private face time with their Pastor. Especially if you are a bit older and have been in church a few years. You may have known a pastor who used your or a friends situation as a sermon illustration. You may have experienced the judgmental statements of a pastor. So we normally treat a visit with the pastor as an interrogation at the local police precinct. We watch what we say and what we do. We make sure everything is put up, nothing lying around that shouldn't be. Personally I would rather visit people when they are lying on a gurney waiting to be operated on. They tend to be more honest. You can tell if they are anxious. Transparent honesty is such a rare thing anymore. We wonder about our politicians, our church leaders, our teachers. We grow up learning to question, exactly because we have seen so much dishonesty I know some of you question the truth of God's will. To most everyone under the age of 35, the subject of God's Will is strange, foreign, and for the most part irrelevant. We believe that live happens. God rarely has anything to do with it. Let me assure you, whatever your concept about the importance of the will of God, what you think is not truth. We are easily deceived into believing any old lie the world or the devil wants us to believe. What matters is the Word of God! This Word is Life, not just for after you are dead, but it is Life NOW! It is health, it is forgiveness, it is peace, it is hope, it is safety, it is security, it is the most powerful force this world has ever know. I can say this because this word says that Jesus Christ is the Word. No other person in the Universe ever lived a sinless life, ever faced Satan one on one and defeated Him, ever stared death in its face and defeated it! If you fail to give your life totally to Jesus Christ, you are robbing yourself of real Life. You are robbing yourself of the very presence of God! You are robbing yourself of ever being a part in the will of God. You may think you know God, but you are believing a lie. Your mind is dark, you are confused and stumbling over the falsehoods of your mind. One day instead of waking to an eternal life of joy in the presence of God, you will wake in the agonies of Hell, screaming in torment for all eternity, ever sorrowful because you knew the truth but you rejected it. There will be no second chance. WHAT IS GOD'S WILL FOR ME? We are looking at what the will of God for me is. And number one, the will of God for you is to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. He doesn't want part of you, even three quarters of you. He doesn't want to be just one of your beliefs, and share space with Hinduism, Buddhism, humanism, or even you ism. He must be your GOD! Anything less and your mind is fooling you. You are lost in a lie. You will never know God's Will. This is because you put your will first. So what is the will of God for me and for you? It is to put Him First! It is to Trust completely and confidently in Him. Now I know you are thinking how much easier it would be if you could sit down at Applebee's and have a nice long lunch with Jesus. I assure you that football would not be the topic of conversation. Who is going to win the Super bowl would be the farthest thing from your mind. You would want to know what He thinks of your life, if you are going in the right direction. You would want clarity on His will for your life. You would want to know what you should be doing for Him. If life was only that simple. So many decisions we make. We make decisions and then our decisions make us.  Should I go to college? Which one? What should I major in?  Should I get married? Which one?  I can't stand my job. Should I look for another, or should I just quit and hope something pops up?  A friend of mine wants me to share a place with him. Should I? Should I live at home?  I'm getting ready to retire? Can I afford to? Where should we live?  We have two children. We’re thinking about having a third. Should we have another one? Or should we think about adopting?  I feel like God is wanting me to go into the ministry. What does He want me to do? Missions, Youth, Pastor? I told each of my children that in order for them to get married, they had to go to college. I also did not want them to go to state colleges. I also wanted them to live on campus. No state college because I wanted them to apply to colleges that were a bit more difficult to get into, so it made them work harder on their grades. Live in the dorms because I wanted them to grow up faster, face decisions on their own, what types of friends were best for them, how to manage money, how to do laundry, all the things they need to learn to live on their own. So our children moved away, Pepp