God's Dream for Your Life, Part 1

I want you to know that every parent has a dream for your child. I want you to think back, if you’re a parent – if you’re not, just listen – and think about… This is what your parents were thinking. Every parent, I want you to go back to that first born. You didn’t have any kids and your wife was pregnant, or you were the wife and you are pregnant. And you thought about all the things that went through your mind about what this little boy or what this little girl might be like and the dreams, and the thoughts, and the hopes, and the aspirations.

And what I want to tell you is that God has a dream for His children. But what we do is we get sort of theological over there, and somehow we think He’s more like the transcendent force out there some day some way, and there are rules and standards to live up to. And so for you to capture the emotion of how God feels, I want to share a very brief and personal story about when I understood how deeply God plants desires and dreams for us for our kids.

It was our firstborn for Theresa and myself. We were at a banquet. Middle of the banquet, Theresa says, “Chip, it is time.” I said, “Theresa, let’s go.” You know, you don’t know what you’re doing. The contractions had been about three hours. We go home, get things set up, we go to Baylor Hospital. For the next 27 hours, Theresa and I will be together. It’s a long labor. There are complications.

For a number of reasons, they can’t take the baby. They find out something’s wrong. They put a monitor on this little boy inside of my wife and I sit next to her for 27 hours and that little monitor… If you know a baby’s heartbeat goes like this – beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And then she would have a contraction and it would go beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…beep. Then doctors and nurses would run in. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

And we went through that, about three times in 27 hours. About every eight hours, we just stopped, and we prayed, and we cried, and we gave that little boy back to God. And I thought, “We may have him, we may not.” And then I start thinking about Theresa and I may not have her. What’s going to happen?

And with 27 hours, I had a lot of time to think about all the dreams I had for that little boy that came to the surface–that I thought I might lose. And I want you to know that something deep, deep inside of me was so fearful and grieving at what I might lose.

And then, when that little boy who was born 27 hours later, that nurse wiped him off. Theresa was wiped out. I think she said, “Hi.” And then, they put that baby in my arms. And it was one of those places where they really thought the dad was important, and I got a half hour with my son. And I held that little baby and I just… I held that baby with tears streaming down my face, thinking, “I didn’t know if this was going to happen,” and I thought of all the dreams I might have lost.

And I still remember, it was a linoleum floor and I had such a sense of gratitude. I remember getting on my knees on a linoleum floor, and holding that little boy, and just crying and thanking God.

And I want you to know – why? Because I’m made in the image of God. And embedded in the heart of a father and embedded in the heart of a mother is a dream and a desire for your kids because God made you. And that’s how He feels about you.

And for many of us, when our kids are small, the dreams – and we’re sort of young, immature parents – we have dreams like, “I hope he’s a baseball player” or “I hope she’s musical” or “it’d be great if she’s, you know, athletic or artistic…” And then, as you get a little bit older and they go through some stages in life, then you, “Well, I hope they get a good job” and “hope they do well in school.” And a lot of the dreams are about kind of what they do.

Then the older you get and the older they get, you get to where, “I don’t care what they do. I just want a kid that loves me, loves God, tells the truth…” Your dreams turn into what kind of person will this be.

And you’ll notice on your notes, I want you to know this–that our heavenly Father has a dream for every one of His children, and God’s dream is to make you like His – write the word – Son. “Be ye mature or fulfill your design,” Matthew chapter 5, verse 48 says, “be ye perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

In Romans 8:29, he says God uses every circumstance, every up, every down, every relationship, everything we ever go through to conform us to the image of His Son. He says in Ephesians 4 that the whole purpose of the Church is designed so that through the relationships that we have and the gifts that God places in the body, is that we would all grow up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

You need to understand – primarily your life with your Heavenly Father is not about what you do, not about what you accomplish, not about what kind of job you have, not how many points you’re scoring spiritually. His primary dream is the kind of person you become, the kind of relationship you have with Him. He wants you to be a loving, kind, gentle, holy person who walks in integrity.

I think it’s the greatest need in the world today is for Christians to live like Christians. And here’s what’s exciting. It’s not guesswork, it’s not about trying hard, it’s not about being religious. God gives us a very clear picture of what His dream is for your life in Romans chapter 12. God’s dream for every child is to become a disciple or a follower – and you can write it in – a Romans 12 Christian. That’s His will. Are you ready?

His will for every child of God on the face of the earth, regardless of background, nationality, gender, denomination – God’s desire, God’s will for every single follower is that they would become a Romans 12 Christian.

Now, I’m not saying that Romans 12 is all there is to being a disciple, but here’s what I’m saying. I’m saying it is the executive summary. It’s the snapshot. It’s like this amazing mind that God gave the apostle Paul; he takes all the teachings of Jesus and for 11 chapters, he writes about the work of Christ and the sin of mankind, all that God has accomplished and how much He loves people.

And then in chapter 12, he stops and he gives us a snapshot. And he gives us this very quick kind of Cliffs Notes snapshot.

What we’re going to learn as we go through it, number one – are you ready for this? It’s relational. And if you have a pen, circle a few keys words just as we go through the passage. All we’re going to do is give an overview and we’ll dig into each of these sections, but circle the word…

It says, “Relationship with God.” Circle the word God. Verse 1 is going to talk about: what’s the snapshot of spiritual maturity, of true spirituality with God? Then, go down. It says… Look, it’s the relationship with the world. Circle the phrase “the world”. There’s a world system that we’re going to learn about; a world system that’s anti-God, that’s energized by the enemy of your soul, seeking to seduce you away from your love for Christ.

And then, it’s going to talk about your relationship with yourself. Circle the word “yourself”. We’re going to learn a little bit later that God wants you to have an accurate, sober, self-assessment.

Then notice that we talk about a relationship – on the second page – relationship with believers. Circle the word “believers”. There’s a way that spiritually mature, authentic followers relate with other Christians in a way that does amazing things in them and amazing things in others.

And then, finally, circle the last one. It’s a relationship with non-believers. There’s a way that people that love Jesus, where His Spirit lives inside of you, respond to the harshest, most difficult, painful evil that comes into your life.

The second thing you learn about a Romans 12 Christian is that it’s practical and it’s measurable. Okay? This isn’t just an ooey, gooey spiritual feeling. Follow along if you will. Notice what it says in verse 1. “Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.”

We’ll look at this, but this word for “offer” is at a point in time. And what he’s going to say is that here’s what you can know practically and measurably. A spiritually mature, authentic follower is surrendered to God. On a certain day, at a certain time on their spiritual journey, a man or a woman or a student has realized how great and how powerful God is, and that His will is good, and you have bowed the knee, and bowed the heart, and said to God, “I’m all in. I will do whatever You want me to do. Your Word will be the guide of my life. I want to arrange my life, my relationships, and my priorities around whatever You say.”

And that answers one of the biggest questions that you’ll ever face in your life. And that question is this: how do you give God what He wants the most? Have you ever thought about that? God is a person. He’s not some invisible, transcendent, impersonal force. He’s a person. And if you have a good friend and they have a birthday, don’t you ask questions like “I wonder what he or she would want for their birthday?” Or if you’re married, you say, “I wonder what my mate would want the most?” Or if you’re a parent, “I wonder how I could really help or bless my kids the most?”

Have you ever asked yourself, “I wonder what God wants the most from me?” And you know what you’re going to learn? He wants you. He wants you.

My observation is in most Christian’s lives there’s a missing ingredient. And Romans 12 not only is relational and practical, it answers this big question and it also gives us the missing ingredient in every relationship. And the missing ingredient in most Christian’s lives – and you just jot this on the side of your notes – is power. We’re anemic. So many Christians try really, really hard.

We’ve had tens of thousands of small groups in America and around the world go through this material, so I’ve got, like, research. And there’s still one email that I remember reading and thinking, “Wow.”

A lady said, “I was at the kitchen sink, doing the dishes, and that morning I woke up and I felt kind of distant from God. I’d been a Christian about 22 years. And for some reason, I just thought about… I wonder if any friend described me, if they would even use the word ‘good Christian’ or someone who really loves God with my name.”

And she said, “You know, I’ve tried, failed, tried, failed, tried, failed. I know that I’m born again. I’ve been a Christian 22 years. I have an alcohol problem that I presently have right now and I have an immorality problem and a porn problem. And I don’t like me.”

“And those thoughts, that guilt because of how I’m living were popping up. And I’m doing the dishes, and the radio was on, and this message comes on about becoming a Romans 12 Christian, and it was the one on surrender.”

And she said, “As I was doing the dishes, the tears just started streaming down my face.” And she said, “I’d never heard that before. I’d never understood that before.” And she talked about drying her hands, going to her bedroom, kneeling by her bed, and telling God, “I can’t do this. I can’t live this life. I surrender to You.”

And the rest of that email was, “That was four and a half months ago and let me tell you what God did in my life since then.” Power.

You know, if you’ve ever been in one of those water fights in the backyard and someone starts with a squirt gun, right? And if you’re smart, what do you do? You get the hose. And so they’ve got one of those guns and you get the hose… But what does someone really, really smart do if you get the hose? They go over here and they grab the hose and they kink it. And when they kink it, how much water comes out? None.

What I want you to understand is you can be a legitimate, sincere, born again believer in Jesus, and if your hose is kinked, if your life isn’t surrendered, you don’t experience His power. And so all it becomes is this moralism and attempts to live a life that’s absolutely impossible.

Becoming a Romans 12 Christian begins in your relationship with God by being surrendered to Him. But notice, beginning in verse 2, it says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you’ll be able to test and approve what God’s will is – that which is good and pleasing and perfect.” There’s a negative and a positive command, and we’re going to develop this and talk about it.

But in essence, what he says is with regard to this world’s system that tells you that money and stuff and sex and power and prestige will deliver on security and significance and great relationships, he’s saying, you’ve got to live separate from the world’s values. You can’t let it… But notice, he doesn’t say try hard to be a good Christian. He says, “Let your mind be transformed.” Then you’ll test, you’ll experience.

You know the question, the big question in life this verse answers? How do you get the very best from God? How do you get the very best from God? Verse one answers, “How do you give God what He really wants?” Verse two says, “If God really loves me and He died for me and He rose from the dead, He has a plan for my life.” How do you tap into that? We’ll explain from this verse exactly how it works.

And the missing ingredient I find in the great majority of Christians that I talk to is not just lack of power because of an unsurrendered life, but a lack of peace. There are Christians that can’t come in, you’ve got to turn on the TV. You’ve got to go to the refrigerator. When you get in the car, you’ve got to put sound and music on because absolute dead, deathly quiet times make you very uncomfortable.

There are few positions, I think, in all the world that are more miserable than a legitimate, born-again follower of Jesus in whom the Spirit of God lives, who lives with one foot in walking with God and the other foot in the world’s system.

I happen to be an expert on this. I’ve done extensive personal research. I know what it’s like to be at Bible study on Thursday night and hit every bar on Friday night. I have been over here where I’ve, oh, Bible study and talking about sexual purity and lusted like crazy over here and telling God I’ll never do this, this, this, or that again.

And I will tell you, I was the most miserable Christian in the world for the first three years. That is the place the great majority of believers live. And we forfeit God’s peace.

We’re going to learn – are you ready – we’re going to learn how to break that cycle; how God’s Spirit and God’s power can help you live the kind of life that you long to and that He wants for you. And we’ll learn that’s how you get His best.
Beginning in verse 3 and through 8, we learn that in our relationship to ourselves, God desires a sober self-assessment. Notice the little phrase, “for by the grace of God.”

What I want you to hear in all, where he sort of sets the bar of holiness and righteousness and what it means to have true spirituality, I want you to hear behind it this compassionate heart of love. “For by the grace of God, I say to every man among you, don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but think as to have sound or sober judgment as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

He talks about how you get that and how you’re a part of a body. And we’ll discover that He’s deposited a supernatural gift – if you’ll look at verses 6 through 8. We’ll cover all those later.

But he wants you, in your relationship to yourself, to look in the physical mirror and to look in the spiritual and the relational mirror and say, “I like that person. God made them. That personality, those gifts, that height, that eye color, those struggles, that family background.” In the sovereignty of God, He wants you to have an accurate, sober view of yourself.

In that one verse, that word sober, think, think, think–four different times. God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you – dearly loved, valuable, precious, forgiven. And you know the big question this answers? “How do you come to grips with the real you?”

I mean, do you realize how much time, and energy, and money, and posing, and image management we do just as normal human beings, even as Christians, to try and project to all these different people that “I’m like this,” and “I’m like this,” and “I’m dressed like that,” and “I’m cool like that,” and “I know this,” and “did you know I know so-and-so,” and “this is how many people report to me,” or “my son or my daughter, they got this on their SAT scores,” and “he hit two home runs,” and “I want you to know I went to an Ivy League school,” “this purse is not a knock off; it’s really real” and “this watch, it really is” and “I got promoted and”…

And then you spiritualize it all and you get in a Bible study. “Well, according to so and so’s commentary, when I was reading the Greek text a little bit earlier in preparation for this…” Ehh. We do it, we do it, we do it, we do it. This section will teach you how to come to grips with the real you, and then it supplies the missing ingredient.

Verse 1 supplies the power, when you understand it. Verse 2 supplies the peace. And verse 3 supplies your purpose, because see, God made you specifically. You are His workmanship. You’re created in Christ Jesus unto a good work, which before the foundations of the earth… So guess what. He’s gifted you to do something specific. In His sovereignty, He has you in relationships that have been difficult in some ways and empowering in others.

But God has a purpose for your life. When you’re always pretending to be someone else or comparing yourself with someone else and not accepting: these are my strengths, these are my weaknesses, these are my gifts, this is my background, this produces some difficulty and dependency, this produces some great things…

Until you get a sober self-assessment, you end up playing games your whole life. You try to fulfill your mom’s purpose, or your dad’s purpose, or the culture’s purpose, or the company’s purpose, or what other people think. Do you know how freeing it is to understand, “This is why I’m here. My purpose is this. And this is what I’m good at and this is what I’m not good at. This is where I need help and this is where I need to step out and let God use me.” It’s revolutionary. It’s absolutely revolutionary.