[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Alright, take your bibles if you would, and turn with me to Exodus chapter 3.
[0:12] Exodus chapter 3. I'm excited to get to take you into this chapter. Excited to get you to take you into one of the most exciting stories of all the Old Testament. This is the story of Moses and how God uses him, and how Moses is so much like us.
[0:28] In chapters 1 and 2, about 40 years transpired. Moses was born, a little bit over 40 years, Moses was born. So the story starts prior to that. It tells us the story of 400 years that they've been in bondage, and Moses is born.
[0:43] And that's mainly where the story centers itself, on how the midwives are killing the babies. And Moses, for 40 years, lived in Egypt. In 40 years, he grew up learning all the things of Egypt.
[0:54] At the age of 40, for some reason, maybe manhood struck him or whatever. Moses decided it's time to do something for God that counts. And he went out and decided to live with his people.
[1:07] He was a Jew. He'd been raised like an Egyptian. The Jews were God's people. The Egyptians worshipped false gods. Maybe mama's teaching came back to deal with his heart. I'm not sure.
[1:17] But at 40, he decided, I'm going to go out and do something. As he steps out to do something, he gets in the flesh. He does what he wants to do in his ability, and he ends up killing a man and burying him in the sand.
[1:32] And he thinks that he can get away with it the next day. When he sees two Jewish guys fighting, he says to them, guys, what are you doing fighting? And they said, who do you think you are? Who made you the ruler over us?
[1:42] What in the world? Well, why do you think you get to tell us anything? And so now he said, you're going to kill us like he killed the other guy? And so old Moses decided, I've got to get out of town.
[1:53] And he ran for his life. And he goes from the palace down to being a shepherd of sheep. He goes out in the desert, finds a place to hide, sees the ladies with some sheep, helps the ladies with the sheep, goes home, ends up getting married.
[2:08] And now, before we get to chapter 3, another 40 years have passed. He is 80 or so years old now. And he's had 40 years of monotony.
[2:19] 40 years of getting up every morning, going to work. 40 years of getting up every morning and taking care of sheep, watching baby sheep be born. Taking care of the little lambs, watching everything go on.
[2:31] And watching life go by. And he's 80 years old. And he comes to a crisis moment in his life, a radical moment that's going to change everything. It's going to change his future.
[2:42] It's going to change him from here on out. Take your Bible, and I'm going to scan with you Exodus chapter 3. Maybe you can underline some things as we go through. And then we'll get to some things, I think, that apply to us from chapter 3.
[2:56] Chapter 3, verse 1. Moses kept the flock. Circle his name so you know who you're talking about. And Jethro, that's his father-in-law. Jethro, his father-in-law, was a priest in the land of Midian.
[3:06] And he led his flock. In verse 2, you have the angel of the Lord appearing unto him in a flame of fire. The angel of the Lord appears and speaks to him. In verse 3, Moses says, I'm going to go by and see this bush that's burning.
[3:21] Verse 4, the Lord said unto him, God called. He turned aside to see God called unto him out of the mist. And he says, here am I. Verse 5, he takes off his shoes.
[3:31] Verse 6, the voice that says, God said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
[3:42] And Moses was afraid and he hid his face. In verse 7, he said, God said to him, I've surely seen the affliction of my people and I've heard their cry. Verse 8, you need to underline this.
[3:53] I am come down. God said, I'm here, buddy. I'm fixing to start moving and I'm going to start doing some great things. I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the hand of the Egyptians.
[4:05] That's a key verse, by the way. Verse 8, you might want to put an arrow there because you've got to remember this. When Moses hears God the first time, God doesn't say, Moses, I'm thinking about doing something.
[4:16] Moses, I'll run a plan by you. I want to make a discussion with you. I want to see what you can do. That's not what he said. He said, I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
[4:27] Skip down to verse 10. I will send you. I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people. He said, Moses, I got a plan. I'm fixing to do it.
[4:38] I'm here to do it. And I'm sending you and I'm going to get it done. In verse 11, Moses said to God, well, who am I? I mean, why would I get to be there? And verse 12, God said, I will be with thee.
[4:50] I have sent thee. This will be a token. I have sent thee. Verse 14, I am that I am. Moses said, what's your name? He said, I am that I am. And you tell them when you ask you who it is, you say, I am has sent me.
[5:04] That's a tremendous truth. A whole worthy of more than one sermon. God is that I was and I am and I will be. Yesterday I am. Today I am.
[5:14] Tomorrow I am. I always have been. Always will be. I am God. Verse 17. And I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt under the land of the Canaanites.
[5:25] I have said, look at this, underline in your Bible, another very key verse. I will bring you up. I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt under the land of the Canaanites.
[5:37] And verse 17, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. I have a big plan. I'm going to do a great work. And so he goes and he says, the Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us.
[5:49] And verse 19, God tells him, I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go. I am sure. God already knew that Pharaoh wouldn't let him go.
[5:59] Another key verse. Mark it. Verse 19. I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Verse 20. I will. God says, I will stretch out my hand. I will do in the midst of them.
[6:11] Verse 21. I will give this people favor. And then everybody will borrow and spoil the Egyptians. This is a great chapter. I hope you'll go with me through it. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, touch our hearts.
[6:24] I pray, God, that there'll be some crisis moments even tonight. Some moments where we decide it is time for me to step up and do and be who I'm supposed to step up and do and be.
[6:34] And I pray, God, that we wouldn't just live ordinary lives, common, everyday things, but that we would accomplish great things with ourselves, with our lives. That you would accomplish it through us, that we would yield ourselves.
[6:46] I pray, God, you'd help us to see above the stuff all around us, above the house, above the car, above the job, above the money, above the comfort, above the joys, above the fun of earth.
[6:57] And see a purpose bigger than us. I pray you'd call us out and send us forth and do something big with us. I'll give you praise for all you do. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Lord, I call your attention back to verse 17.
[7:10] Verse 17, I hope you marked it down. God will take them out of the land of their affliction. God is promising them a land. In verse 17, major mistake when you and I don't see what God is wanting to do.
[7:23] See, God's got a plan. And God's at work. And he has something he's doing. We hardly ever ask him what he wants to do. Most of us in our lives pretty well like, if you do your thing, I'll do my thing and we'll all get along. We hardly ever say, God, I don't know what you got in mind.
[7:37] I don't know how I can get involved in it. But I'd sure like to get involved in it because I know you're real and I know you're working. I'd like to do just more than just be a regular guy. God knows exactly what's going to happen tomorrow.
[7:47] He told him, he said, Pharaoh's not going to let you go. I know that. I am sure. By the way, I wish you'd underline that in your Bible. I am sure he lets him know, I know what's going to happen. Doesn't necessarily say he made it happen.
[7:59] That would be an interesting discussion for you to have sometime with somebody. The Holy Spirit tells the story. God promises in verse 20 that he's going to do big things. God's always getting us ready to do something for his honoring glory.
[8:14] God's at work. Right now, God's at work in your life. You don't even see it. You don't even realize it. You really think everything's just happening. But God is at work in your life. I'd like to take you to verse 21 and 22. Before I ever get to the message.
[8:25] And I'll work you through that. Look at verse 21 and 22. He is going to speak to the Egyptians. He's going to do a work in the Egyptians' lives. And they're all going to give them.
[8:36] Listen to this. This is the wildest story. Check this out with me. You ready? Listen. God's going to build a tabernacle. He knows it. You've got to understand, God knows. We just passed. We're in chapter 3.
[8:47] 80 years have gone by. Three chapters. But with God, it's like, blink, it's done. So yesterday and tomorrow and today are all like, right now for God. He is the God of I am.
[8:58] And he knows what's going to happen. And what's really wild, if you're a Bible student and a Bible reader, is that when they leave Egypt in just a few weeks and months here, after all these plagues come down on them, he tells them, I am going to see to it that Egypt gives you big money.
[9:16] I'm going to make you rich. You're going to rob Egypt blind. And when they left, the slaves left Egypt, they left very rich.
[9:28] Now, you won't know this until you get to Exodus chapter 35. So we'll be there in a few weeks, but something really wild is happening. Do you know why? When they leave Egypt, you know what's happening? They leave Egypt in Exodus chapter 10 or 11, right in there.
[9:40] They're going to leave Egypt. And when they leave Egypt, they leave rich because Exodus 35 is coming. God didn't give money so they'd have money. God gave money so they could pay for the tabernacle.
[9:52] And you're going to get that story. Look, if you would, in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 21. I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass that when you go, you shall not go empty.
[10:03] But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor and of her that sojourneth in her house jewels of silver and gold and raiment. And you shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters. And you shall spoil the Egyptians.
[10:14] They're going to take it out. They're going to walk out with big money. Here's a wild story. I hope you learn as you read the Bible, you can see things. If you're watching the video, if you're watching the movie of this, you just see them getting rich right now.
[10:27] And you don't realize that God already knows what he's got planned in Act 3 over here or Act 4 over here. He already knows that over there, he's going to come to them and say, Hey, y'all happen to have anything you could give to build me a tabernacle?
[10:38] And they're going to be like, I happen to have a whole bunch of stuff. He's going to be like, yeah, I know you do. I gave it back to you back in Act 2. I gave that to you because I knew Act 5 was coming.
[10:49] That's a wild story. I don't know if you can get that. Do you ever think that maybe God's blessed you and given you stuff because God knows he's got stuff he needs done? And he wants done. He wants the gospel preached around the world. He wants ministries going.
[11:00] He wants to come. He didn't spoil Egypt so they'd be rich when they walked in the desert. He spoiled Egypt so they'd build a tabernacle when they got in the desert. Big difference.
[11:10] Big lesson. Big message. All right, here you go. Let's go with me if you would. Write these four things down if you would. God has a purpose for your life. Moses, God has a purpose for your life.
[11:22] His purpose is bigger than you could ever imagine. God wants to show his power through your life. Here was the purpose of Moses' life. Look, if you would, in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 7.
[11:34] Exodus chapter 3 and verse 7. He said, the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I've heard their cry, and I know their sorrows. I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
[11:47] I've got a promised land I'm going to send them to. I've seen the oppression, verse 10, and I will send you. You may come forth. You may come forth. What God's going to do is God wants to say, Moses, I am fixing to show the Egyptians and the Israelites and the world that I am a great and powerful God.
[12:06] By the way, that's still his goal right now. That's exactly what he wants to do with my life. I don't know if you ever consider this, but God doesn't want me living in my nice little house on 4760 Anseline. He doesn't want me living in my house and driving my vehicles and living my life so I can have a great life.
[12:21] He wants the world to know he is a great God and he's at work and he's proving himself and he's showing himself. Amen? He's at work in our lives. It is that God wants to show his power through Moses' life.
[12:34] And by the way, God will do the work himself. Chapter 38, verse 8, he said, I am come down. I am going to do it.
[12:44] If you saw all the verses, it is I am and I will and I'm going to. I. It's a big word. The big word in chapter 3 is I. I am.
[12:55] That's the big word. I am. That's who's going to do it. God has a purpose for your life. Would you look at me just a second and listen to this? Man, I don't know how. I don't know. I mean, I don't know where you live and I don't live in your house and I don't know what your thoughts are.
[13:06] I don't know where you are. But it's shocking to me that so many people live like they're random objects or their lives of their own or they're supposed to do what they want to do or life's about them.
[13:19] It's just a wild and different thing. Most of us never consider God has a big plan and I have that plan. He wants to use me to magnify himself.
[13:30] Moses is 80 years old now. For 40 years he thought he was somebody. For 40 years he thought he was nobody. And now God says, now that you know you're a nobody, I'm going to do big stuff so everybody know I'm a somebody and I'm an everybody and I can do a great work.
[13:43] So God has a purpose. How can I say this to you? Man, when I'm dead, I want to know that my life accomplished something for God here on this earth. I want to know I didn't live for me.
[13:55] Let me tell you, my lost neighbor can live for himself. My lost neighbor can live for himself. My lost neighbor can spend his money any way he wants. My lost neighbor can do anything he wants to do. But God has a plan for my life.
[14:05] God has a plan for your life. Moses, God has a plan for your life. So let me show you what happens. As soon as God starts speaking to Moses, people make excuses.
[14:16] Second thing you can write down, people make excuses. Look at the excuses that people make. Look at the excuses Moses made. First thing we do, we make excuses from our past.
[14:26] We say stuff like this. I went out in the flesh and I killed a man and I was working in my own ability. I made mistakes and I don't know if God can use me because I have messed up in the past.
[14:38] We have failed. I killed an Egyptian. I blew my opportunity. As I look at my past, I know that I can't. I know I had a chance that God was going to use me, but he didn't. And it's over.
[14:48] And I'm just an extra. I'm sitting on the bench. That's a lie. That is a lie. That's not true about you. That's not true about the way God works with us. God has a purpose for your life.
[15:00] God's purpose is to glorify himself through us. And your past is not a good enough reason. Second thing that Moses has is present. Look, if you would, in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 11.
[15:10] He said, I am not able. I can't. First, you can think about his past. Then you can think about his present. Moses said unto God, who am I that I should go into a road that I should bring for the children out of Egypt?
[15:26] Underline, who am I? Moses said, God, you are speaking to me out of a burning bush and you want me to go back into Egypt. You want me to get the children of Israel and you want me to bring them out of Egypt. And I don't know who you're talking to.
[15:36] I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I can't do it. Who am I? You should talk to somebody else. You should get a hold of somebody else. He said in chapter 3 and verse 13, I don't know what to say if I do it.
[15:49] Moses said unto God, behold, when I come into the children of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me unto you. What they shall say to me? What's his name? What shall I say to them? I don't even know what to call you.
[16:00] I mean, I could tell them I was out in the desert and the bush was burning. And while the bush was burning, the bush started talking to me. And the bush told me to come back and tell you guys that we're supposed to leave Egypt. He said, who in the world am I supposed to even tell them is sending me?
[16:12] And Moses is looking for an excuse. Just like you and I look for an excuse. We want to figure out how to live like lost people, though we're saved. We want to figure out how to spend our money, spend our lives, raise our children, enjoy our lives like we were lost.
[16:28] We want to live like this world was the only world there was. That's where old Moses was. Moses said in chapter 4 and verse 1, they won't listen to me if I go. Look at what it says in Exodus chapter 4 and verse 1.
[16:39] Moses answered and said, but behold, they will not believe me. They won't hearken to me. They won't listen to me. For they'll say, the Lord hasn't appeared to you. They'll say, you're crazy, Moses.
[16:50] Nothing has happened. In chapter 4 and verse 10, he said, God, I don't even speak well. Now, don't forget he's been trained in the greatest schools in the world. He's at 40 years of age.
[17:01] He's like a prince in Egypt. This guy had the best training. This guy knew how to sit at a state dinner. This guy knew how to handle his silverware. This guy knew how to deal with dignitaries.
[17:12] This guy was a family member of Pharaoh by adoption. And he said, I'm not eloquent in verse 10. Chapter 4, verse 10, I'm slow of speech. I'm slow of tongue.
[17:23] I'm insecure. I don't believe God can use me. I would say to you that this message comes out of my own life. I look at my past. Man, I see so many failures. I wonder, how can God use me?
[17:36] I look at my present. I see so many weaknesses. I see how things aren't what they ought to be and how I'm not eloquent and I'm not able to do things. We've all got good excuses. Moses says, wait a minute.
[17:47] I've got a future. I've got a future. My future is all mapped out. I'm doing pretty good. I mean, I lost everything. The crisis happened and I lost everything. I had to run from my life and I'm out in the desert.
[17:59] And I'm living out here in the desert. I'm just now back on my feet. So look at what he says in chapter 3, verse 1. He says, my future. I have my plans. My future letter. But Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, and the priest of Midian.
[18:12] He led the flock to the backside of the desert. He came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. He says, man, he doesn't have to feel any pressure or worry. He's going to own the family business. What's going to happen to his family?
[18:24] He's got it laid out. I mean, he was a big shot back in Egypt, but he lost all that. But he's really built it all back again. Now his dad's a big shot. The father-in-law's a big shot.
[18:35] He runs the family business. He says, he's the man, God, don't mess with me. Don't mess with me. Don't ask me to step out. Don't ask me to risk my life. Don't ask me. And so he prays.
[18:46] And he said, send somebody else, not me. Look what he said in Exodus chapter 4 and verse 10. Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou has spoken unto thy servant.
[18:58] I am slow of speech and a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who has made man's mouth? Who makes the dumb or the deaf or the seeing of the blind? Have not I, said I the Lord?
[19:08] Now therefore go and I will be with your mouth and I will teach you what to say. And he said, O my Lord, I pray thee. Send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom you will send. All right, God.
[19:20] Send who you're going to send. And I mean, the guy doesn't want to do it. I'd like to stop and just say to you, you know, this church is a lot about big things happening.
[19:34] People surrendering to be missionaries, people going overseas, people giving big money, big steps. We're just not your typical mom and pop church. But, and we even begin to feel like, well, if I'm not a missionary and I'm not a pastor, maybe I'm not that important.
[19:49] I don't really fit in the plan. But I really don't think that's a Bible scriptural answer. God has a plan for your life. But you want to say, whoa, whoa.
[20:01] You know, those missionaries, they make me uncomfortable because they're calling on me to make steps I don't want to really make. I mean, they're foolish. They forget their future. They forget their present.
[20:11] And they overlook their past. And I just don't feel comfortable doing that. And that's where Moses is right now. This is a crisis moment. Moses is like, I don't think I want my life.
[20:25] I'd just rather stay with the sheep. Let somebody else go do it. Let somebody else go do it. Let somebody else go do it. But then God shows his power.
[20:35] Look, if you would, in Exodus chapter 4, verse 2. He does it with the rod. And you know the story as well as I know the story. In Exodus chapter 4, verse 2, the Lord said unto him, what's in your hand?
[20:45] And he said, my rod. And he tells Moses, he said, throw your rod on the ground. He throws his rod on the ground. The rod becomes a serpent. And then he said, now grab the rod by the tail and pick the rod back up. And he picks the rod back up or the snake back up and it becomes a rod again.
[20:58] And God says, look what I can do. And later on, by the way, the witch doctors and the sorcerers and all the wicked people there, the false priests are going to be able to do the exact same thing.
[21:11] But Moses' snake will eat all their snakes and then Moses will pick it back up again. God was saying to Moses, I am God. And I do big things.
[21:22] I am God. And I do big things. So God, Moses, says, God says to Moses, I want to work in your life. I want you to trust me by picking up a snake by his tail.
[21:36] That's trust. Because you don't pick up a snake by his tail. But he's saying, Moses, I'm God. And I'm going to do big stuff in your life. I'm God. And I'm going to do big stuff in your life.
[21:47] I have a plan for you. Then he tells Moses, he said, all right, you don't think that's enough? You don't think that's enough? He says, take your hand. And chapter 4, verse 6 and 7, and stick it in your clothes. And when he stuck his hand in his clothes and he pulled it back up, it was white with leprosy.
[22:00] His hand was about to rot and fall off. And that was a scary thing. Leprosy was like the worst disease. It was the AIDS of their day. He looks down, he's got AIDS, and he's going to die.
[22:11] And then he sticks his hand back in, and it's healed again. The point was, God was saying, Moses, this isn't really about you. You forget what I said in chapter 3.
[22:22] I said, I am come down. And I am going to get the children of Israel out of Egypt. And I am going to do stuff. And I will, and I will, and I will. Hey, Moses, I could turn a rod into a snake and a snake back into a rod.
[22:37] I can give your hand leprosy. And I can take leprosy away. God is working in your life, Moses. Wake up. Moses says, I don't think I can do it. Then he tells him in chapter 4 and verse 9.
[22:50] He tells him to take of the water of the river and pour it on the dry land. And the water which you take out of the river shall become blood. He would reach down and scoop up water in his hand. And as he'd let it drip back out of his hand, it was in blood.
[23:01] He was just saying to Moses, I'm God. I'm God. And I'm able to do big stuff with you. He's going to defeat Pharaoh.
[23:12] He's going to provide everything that Moses and his family needs. It is God that does the work in his life. To me, this is like the most tremendous story in the world.
[23:23] But it's my story, and it's your story. We've spent 40 years in the wilderness. We've spent 40 years taking care of sheep. We've spent 40 years of living normal life.
[23:36] And sooner or later, there needs to come a crisis moment in our life. And I really believe God tries to bring those crisis moments in your life. And it's like God said, wake up and face me.
[23:47] Wake up and realize I've got big plans for you. Wake up. I want to do something with you. And yet you and I come up with all of our excuses. We begin on our past, and we talk about all the failures that we've had.
[23:59] We talk about all the mess-ups we have. We know we couldn't do it because I remember how I messed up on that last time. I still remember the first time I preached.
[24:09] My pastor asked me if I could preach on a Sunday morning. And there wasn't any training. There wasn't any help. And so he gave me the whole Sunday morning service. We had about 100 people in our church. And on Sunday morning, I went out, and I went up to the pulpit, and I had prepared several pages.
[24:24] I don't know, 7, 8, 10 pages. It was against the rules back then to carry paper to the pulpit because nobody should ever think about studying. God was supposed to give you what to say. And so I had the papers hidden in the back of my Bible, and I came down to preach.
[24:37] I pulled them out, and I was reading them and getting my notes, and I had about 30 or 40 minutes to preach, and within 8 or 9 minutes, they were all gone. And I looked down, and I said, that was the last page.
[24:48] And I can't sit down. I mean, you can't do that. If you do that, God ain't with you. And I'm 15 years old, and, man, I don't know how I ever got to the end of that. I don't know how I got to 12 o'clock, but I can remember when 12 o'clock got there, I was shouting as loud as any of them.
[25:03] I was so glad that clock moved so slowly. And the next time you get a chance to preach, what do you say? I tried, and I blew it. You messed up financially. You messed up in a Sunday school class or a place you had an opportunity to do ministry, and you have plenty of good excuses about why you can't do ministry.
[25:20] And the sad truth is, make you mad. I'm fixing to quit for you, but let me make you mad. Here it is. You've given up on even thinking that God might have a plan for your life.
[25:32] The fact is, in a way, vision's a nice church, because the only way God has plans is when it's really big, like going to Thailand. That's God's plan. That's God's plan. But me giving up my money, me going witnessing, me building a Sunday school class, me discipling somebody, that's not really what God wants out of my life.
[25:49] And so it's either like you either got to be a big shot and play in the NFL, or you don't get to play at all. The rest of us just sit here while all of them go off. We give them a little bit of money. Pay to watch them play. No, that's not the plan.
[26:01] Moses is in a crisis. And Moses has to decide, will I surrender my life? Will I allow God to use me? I'd just like to say, we're not reaching our community. I'm not talking about going to Thailand.
[26:15] I'm not talking about going to India. I'm not talking about going to South Africa. I'm talking about going across the street. I'm talking about inviting people. I'm talking about people that go to work with me. I'm talking about people that live around me.
[26:25] I'm talking about inviting folks at the restaurant. I'm talking about inviting people and telling them about Jesus. I'm talking about Christmas on the north side. There's some time when we've got to sit up and say, you know what? I really do fit in the plan.
[26:37] Maybe I'm not one of the big shot missionaries, but I can invite people. I can share the gospel. I can see people get saved. My Sunday school class is more than you thought it was and more than I thought it was.
[26:48] Maybe it's time for me to come to crisis and say, I'm just not an accident. My dad said to me when I was a boy, he said, son, God didn't just have a will.
[26:59] For preachers. Because all my life, it was like God had this special plan for preachers. There were two breeds of people. People and preachers. I mean, that's the way it is. There's preachers.
[27:09] There's men of God. And there's people like you people. Y'all are just regular folks. My daddy said, that ain't the way it works. My daddy was an ignorant man. Ninth grade education. He got his GED, but he was just an ignorant man.
[27:21] But he had a lot of wisdom. He said, that's not God's plan. That's not God's plan for you. So I'll just ask you a couple of questions. When's the last time you looked at God and said, God, how do you want me to use my time this week? Because I use my time all the time to make sure I take care of me and my wife and my kids and my house and my car and my future and my vacation.
[27:38] I do that all the time. But what do you want me to do for you that's not about me, that's all about you? What do you want me to do? How do you want me to use my time? Because we rarely have time for Bible reading and prayer. Tell truth.
[27:49] We rarely have time for discipleship. We don't even have time to make all the services. Let's just be honest. It's a problem. My time. God, what do you want me to do with my talents?
[28:01] You did give me this amazing ability. I work at my job and I'm pretty good at my job. But I never use that in your line of work. I never use that to invite other people. I never use that to disciple people.
[28:11] I never use that to extend the kingdom. I don't do anything like that. Maybe it's time for Christ this moment. What about your money? When's the last time you looked at God and said, You gave me $10.
[28:22] How do you want it used? When's the last time? We need to say, I don't care how much I've messed up. I don't care what failures I've had in the past. From today until I get to heaven, I want my life to count.
[28:39] I am not waiting on dying. I'm waiting to be used. I want God to use me today. I want my life to count today.
[28:50] I want to make a difference this week. If it's all over for me this week, I want to make a difference. I want my life to count. Time for a crisis. Time for you to say, I'm tired of playing games.
[29:03] It's time for me to mean business. My money's not my money. My time's not my time. My talents aren't my talents. It's time for me to say, God, here am I. What do you want me to do? How can I serve you?
[29:14] Father in heaven, I pray you'd magnify yourself. I pray you'd work. I pray you'd show your great power. I'll give you praise and honor and glory for all that you do. I love you. I thank you so much for the chance to share your word.
[29:25] I pray, God, that it helps touch our lives and impact us and draw us close to you. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.