MOVE FORWARD

2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

In Christ, and because of Christ, we are new. We are restored. We no longer need to be bound by our previous ways of thinking and acting. That is what saved is.

Think of it this way:

Imagine you are drowning in the ocean. Along comes a boat. The people in the boat pull you FROM the water and INTO the boat. We think we were saved FROM DROWNING and yes, that's true, but why don't we think we were saved TO THE BOAT?

We have been saved, in Jesus, from our old ways (and maybe drowning in them), but aren't we actually saved to something new?

Wouldn't it be foolish if that drowning person decided it was too cold in the boat and jumped back into the water, somehow not considering they were drowning just a few minutes ago?

The boat was taking you to a safe place – to the land based environment in which you were created to live. But, because it required a change in your circumstances, you decided the water, in which you were losing everything, was a better choice – because the boat, MOVING YOU FORWARD, created some discomfort in you.

Galatians 5:7-8 - “You were running well. Who prevented you from being persuaded regarding the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.”

Perhaps you jumped out of the boat because you thought you didn't care for the shore the boat was moving you toward. You wanted another shore. The prettier beach. The way that was different/better from the thing you believed you wanted. The people in the boat knew where you would be safe – where you could be cared for. But you jumped back in the water because you persuaded yourself that the direction was not what you wanted.

You had a mindset. A self-aware thought process. You wanted a particular quality of life and experience. Your persuasion to leave the boat was based on your perception, not the knowledge and the plan of the boat that just saved you.

God has a plan for us to be a new creation. He has a plan for us to bear fruit on HIS shore, not the one we want. And that fruit is spiritual, not earthly (what we know). It's not the way we think it might be. God wants us to MOVE toward His plan.

Have you ever rejected what you saw God doing because you were thought it would not secure a physical blessing for you? It looked and felt like the “wrong” thing to do.

The Spirit of God is not an earth-based blessor. Being a new creation brings us into the Spirit of God, not the spirit of self. We, just like the Jewish people of Jesus's day (including some of His closet followers), want a physical kingdom. A kingdom where our wants are satisfied. They wanted the government overthrown. They wanted a lack of oppression and injustice, in which they felt they were drowning.

Jesus was bringing an entirely different kind of kingdom. That is why, even in the living midst of earthly oppression, He could say, “The Kingdom is at hand.” It is here. It is now. It is present. It is not based on this earth. We can experience that kingdom but only if we keep moving to the safety (spiritual safety, by the way).

It is no small matter to become confused and distracted, thinking that our physical “kingdom” is the same as God's Spiritual kingdom.

The kingdom of God offers:

A hunger for things of His plan. Hunger drives us to do – to move in that direction.

Understanding that the fruit we are to bear is not for us. Spiritual fruit is intended to be a blessing of God that simply passes through us. We are the conduit, the vessel, because we care about how God loves others, just as He loves us. When I “cut in” on running the race (the plan of God) aren't I actually cutting in on God?

I learn that my security comes from moving in and at HIS direction, not the one I figure out.

We have an opportunity to give rather than receive. Acts 20:34-35 – Paul said, “You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me. 35 “In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Do you need to hear it from Jesus? Matthew 10:8 - “Freely you received, freely give.”

We talk about how the accuser has a grip on this world. That the earth is his kingdom. Do I choose to love in that kingdom or in the alternative that God has provided for us? It's an important choice that affects every aspect of our life, and not just spiritually. Every part of us - physical, mental, emotional - is connected to the kingdom in which we place our citizenship, our trust, and our hope.

Philippians 3:20 -”Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

So which kingdom are you moving toward?

Are you moving?

Does God need to poke you with a stick?

We are free to move forward. That is why we are made a new creation. It is what we are saved TO.

When we are focused on God, His plan, His kingdom, we find we are:

• Dying to ourselves daily. No longer craving the “other shore”.

• Empowered by the Holy Spirit to do His Works lead by Him. The Sprit of God that is in us.

• Seeing the lost found. We can be in the boat that saves those drowning in the water.

• Seeing the wounds of the broken-hearted healed. We are being taken to the shore where we can be part of the rescue of God – part of seeing others become new creations.

• Seeing the captives set free. The freedom we have is not just for us. We are meant to be the conduit of the freedom God has for everyone. Even to those held captive by “religion”.

• Seeing the orphans belong and thrive. 'Orphans” being anyone who does not have the blessing of our spiritual Father.

• This is where He wants us to be. It is where we are saved TO. And where we should be rowing together with others.

So revel (celebrate, engage joyously) in giving, allowing your self to be uncomfortable for God's service. Embrace the opportunities that cross your path. You have to be moving to have a path. The choice is yours. God has a plan for us to “do something”. That is His will and His way.

Thomas, the one with the doubts and questions, asked Jesus, John 14:5 - ““Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way? ”

Jesus then said to Thomas in John 14:6-7 - “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 “If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

You don't have to know anything but know the Father. Just get on board and get moving where He takes you.