We are a new generation, saved by faith through grace. Never should we forget what the Lord has done for us. And let there be no doubt, our success as a church, as a people, will be determined by our obedience to God today. And our daily goal should be to get rooted in the word of God; to love and obey God, knowing that if we do, God will bless us and we will win in the battles of life. We are at the place where it is time to take the next step of faith. God desires for us to prosper, to establish His will and kingdom on earth, to be His sanctuary in the earth, to overcome all attempts of the evil one to destroy our lives. To do this we must move forward; we must step out by faith and enter our promise land. Our promise land is grace -or- living life in the Spirit of God. This is the will of God for us.

God has chosen the weak. He has chosen the poor. He has chosen the nobodies. He has chosen the lowly. He has chosen the rejected. He has chosen the fearful. He has set their lives aside and put His life in them. He has consecrated them, sanctified them, filled them with His Holy Spirit and power, preparing them — proving them, getting them ready to do the work He has called the church to do in these last days until Jesus comes again. These are they who become the royal people. These are they who God establishes as His nation. These are God’s peculiar people. They are committed to living only to God in all things.

There are people today who will tell you that you can not live holy for God in the midst of all this sin in the world. Yes you can, if you want to. When you think about the fact that you are chosen by God and the life of God flows through you by faith and that God will be your strength, power, help, and all you need to live for Him, how can they say it’s impossible? God in you will do the work, if you let Him. He will be in you what you need Him to be so that His perfect will might be done in your life. Through Him you wait. Through Him you serve. Through Him you find everything you need to live for Him in this earth. Don’t blow it now. You have come to far. God will be the strength of your life, if you let Him.

How many of you know that God’s hands have been on you for some time now? You have gone through seasons of preparation before God. Some of that has had to do with suffering, pain, failures, disappointments, and shame. Now you know what you want in life. You know that you are not perfect. Anytime you could quit or give up, but something on the inside won’t let you. You know that you have been bought with a price. You know that you no longer belong to yourself. All you live for, work for, strive for is to do the will of God and be found faithful. You have such a love for God in your heart that the slightest turn in your life style or the slightest hint of yielding to sin or disobedience brings such a strong conviction in your souls. Others can turn back with no hesitation. Others can sin and disobey God’s will and sleep good all night long, but you, the chosen, can not. You must do the will of God for your life. It would break you; yea, destroy you to know or even think that you have let God down.

Let your focus, today, be on doing the will of God the Father not on doing wonderful works. The will of God is the thing that will stand out in that day when you stand before God. The question for you is, can you say that you are the generation that God is looking for to help usher in the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you say without a doubt, I am the generation that the Lord is looking for? Can you say, I am committed to doing His will? Can you say, I will be faithful to God and to the work of His Church until Jesus Christ comes again? These are no small questions. These are strong…very strong…commitments. Those who make them are called strange, peculiar people. Why? Because they have come to love to love their own lives. They are willing to give their all. They are willing to die for Christ sake.

Die to self…die to the things of the flesh and live in the spirit with God. This is the only way that you can please God. Now for fear that some may think that I am talking about literally dying, I am not talking about that. I am talking about living free from the influences of the flesh… free from the control of the flesh. There are some who are not able to control their flesh; rather, their flesh controls them. And there is always a battle going on inside. Many are crying to be free. You can be free. Present your body to God and become a living sacrifice. Learn to say no to self…no sin…no to the world…and no to the devil and say yes to God in all things.

Romans 8:8, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Why?  Because God is spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” The flesh and spirit are contrary to each other. They lust/war against each other. The purpose: that you would walk in, live in the spirit. There is no question about your desire to serve God. There is no question about your desire to be faithful unto Him. But if you do not deal with the battle of the flesh/body, then it will keep you from doing the thing for God that you desire to do.

Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, “… the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”.  In the flesh, you can not serve. The flesh is weak. When God recreated you, He recreated you in you spirit. In fact, you have been born of the Spirit of God. You have been created after the Spirit image of God. In the flesh of man is no good thing. And no matter what you do, if you are doing it from the flesh and by the power of the flesh…originating from the flesh…then all that comes from it is death. There is no eternal life in the flesh.

You are called upon to present your bodies a living sacrifice. Some ask, what can I do to repay Jesus for what He has done for me? You can never repay Him, but you can give Him your all and present your body to Him a living sacrifice. This is what many Christians have failed to do at salvation…to give or present their body to God. And the devil is laying every trap he can to snare them in the flesh so to turn them around. Are you or are you not as faithful to God as when you first believed? Have you notice in your Christian experience a falling away. You do not have a faithful prayer life like you use to have. You are not faithful to a personal Bible study. Something is wrong beloved. God has not and will never turn His back on you. Why would you turn away from Him? Present your body to Him and become LIVING SACRIFICES. GIVE HIM YOUR ALL!

Today I am charged to call you to a more faithful walk with God. Here, walking with God is about your personal commitment to 1) be faithful, 2) to live holy, and to 3) obey God. The greatest need among Christians is to follow through with the commitment made to God when you were first saved. There will be many challenges, many difficulties along the way. But are you determined, are you committed to overcoming them? Will you go all the way? Others can turn aside, but not you. Others can put on a show, but not you. It is in your heart to be for real in all you do. Stay with God. Go all the way. Make God proud that He created you.