Treasures of the Transformed Life: Satisfying Your Soul’s Thirst for More, by Ed Mathison
Part I - Priming the Pump
Chapter 1 – The Need for More
How much money would it take to be really satisfied? Just a little bit more. – John D. Rockefeller
Psychologists tell us that most people in America today are unsatisfied.
The great pain in life comes when our heart and life are EMPTY.
We try to satisfy our “thirst” with other people, jobs, material things, nice houses and cars, relationships. That kind of fulfillment never lasts.
Sometimes we think our happiness depends entirely upon us, according to what we can accomplish.
“The most important thing you need to know is this: If your threads get tangled, call me and I’ll fix them.” Call on the One who made our lives, who made the thread, the One who knows how to untangle it and put it all back together into something beautiful.
We can get so caught up in life that we only talk to God occasionally. We are to seek – to intentionally devote all of our time, energy, and effort into going after God. (Isaiah 55:6)
If you give God more of yourself, he will give you more of himself.
This all begins with a recognition of THIRST.
Chapter 2 – God really does care
The dying Jesus is the evidence of God’s anger towards sin; but the living Jesus is the proof of God’s love and forgiveness. – Lorenz Eifert
The woman at the well, John 4:1-18: Jesus met her right where she was.
Many of us have become complacent, maybe even bored, with the idea of living a life that glorifies God.
Biblical references to water: parting of Red Sea, Noah and the floods, Jesus watching the feet of the disciples, Jesus turning water into wine.
Living water – wells up inside of us when we finally understand that WE’RE NOT THE ONES WHO CHOOSE GOD. NO, HE’S THE ONE WHO CHOOSES US. (Isaiah 43:2-5).
Faith is required.
Faith is closer to courage than it is to intellectual assent, or belief. Faith is acting with your body. Some people believe something without ever actually doing something about it. It takes courage to act on your beliefs.
Peter’s faith encouraged him to walk on water – to take a risk. (Matthew 14:22-36)
The ONLY way to walk on water is to put both feet out there and trust Jesus…letting go of security, trusting God completely and without reservation. It was when Peter took his eyes of Jesus that he started to sink.
Chapter 3 – Great Expectations
What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. – Eleanor Powell
God is committed to us; what commitment does he expect in return? ONE THAT IS REAL.
We can grow to the point that we recognize his true hand in our lives and are so familiar with who he really is that we won’t waste our time looking for something else to satisfy us.
Commitment involves establishing priorities. (Matthew 6:33)
The idea or adding something else can be overwhelming. Don’t put God on TOP of everything else, make Him the FOUNDATION.
Have you ever felt a pull from God – quiet time, giving money, read your Bible, etc.? We show our commitment in the little things.
We must be willing to sacrifice something. This means choosing to please God over pleasing other people.
Make a choice about what we’re going to believe and who we’re going to serve. No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). When we learn to put God first, He helps us balance out the rest.
Chapter 4 – Finding a niche
Certain it is that man must completely despair of himself in order to become fit to receive the grace of God. – Martin Luther
The Body of Christ – needs all parts (people) in order to function. You have a special role; you are the only one of you that God made. You are not an accident. (Psalm 139:15-16)
If we decide to live our lives according to what we want, we run the very real risk of missing God’s purpose.
Chapter 5 – Love Your Neighbor
God has not called us to see through each other, but to see each other through. – unknown
What sets a Christian apart from everyone else? John 13:34-35
Jesus’ kind of love – not in songs or movies. It is a conscious choice. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Do most of us love the other members of God’s family like that? Do we love so above and beyond the world’s definition of love that the world actually sits up and takes notice? WE COULD, if we follow Jesus’ example.
We can learn to see others as Jesus does; doing the best they can with what they’ve got to work with.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Encourage and build each other up.
Focus on helping others to succeed. We need to get our eyes off ourselves and put them on someone else.
Every one of us is either looking at life like a mirror (seeing only ourselves and what’s in it for us) , or like a window (through which God allows us to focus on those around us.
Accept others, just as Christ accepts us.
Love is not irritable; let go of the little things that people do that nag us.
Colossians 3:13
Forgiveness is a choice.
Love keeps no record of when it has been wronged. Don’t hold a grudge
When we think something is bigger than God, it becomes an idol in our lives.
If we forgive others, we’ll find that they’re more likely to forgive us.
Romans 12:16 Don’t think you know it all!
Romans 12:10
Chapter 6 – Overcoming Obstacles
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.- Viktor Frankl
Temptation – the devil will try to distract you with other things.
From the outside looking in, sin looks like a list of fun things we can’t do without getting in trouble with God.
When God asks us not to do something, he asks us for our own benefit.
Our sins actually hurt God, just as it hurts us when we ask our children not to do something and they do it anyway. By being in relation with God it is easier; we want to please Him.
The more we resist temptation, the stronger we get.
James 1:14-15 – As we grow in faith, we will be tempted and tested.
James 1:2-4 – When our faith is tested, our endurance can grow.
Three temptations
Physical appetite (Matthew 4:2-3) – what we’re tempted by won’t satisfy for long, be it sexual temptation, desire for material things, etc.
Idea of exception (Matthew 4:6) – Things can happen to other people, not me (ex. – drugs, speeding)
Power (Matthew 4:8-9) – Prestige, popularity
KEY: The next time you find yourself tempted – remember what Jesus did. He stood on the Word of God, and he told the devil to leave him alone.
Chapter 7 – Time to Commit
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. – Anne Frank
Popular phrases – “exit strategy”; “keeping my options open” = we’re not fully committed.
Commitment is the foundation on which everything else is built: knowing where we belong, knowing who is there for us, resting securely in God’s love.
For what am I thirsty?
God pursues us with intention. He wants to be involved in the major AND minor details of our lives.
You were created to be in relationship with God. Outside of that relationship, you’ll always feel emptiness.
God wants an everlasting covenant with us.
Luke 15:1-7 – parable of the lost sheep
Commitment to God – prayer, presence in a church family, gifts we share, service
What will it take for me to give God more of myself?
God wants us to be in relationship with other Christians.
Am I in a church in which I’m called or merely comfortable?
We will not like every person we meet. Love is a conscious choice. Like is an emotion. We allow Jesus to love others through us.
Who do I need to love, regardless of how I feel about them?
What is standing in my way? Am I willing to get a little more wet?
When: Monday and Wednesday, Dec. 8 and 10, anytime between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.