Who Do You Say I Am? Part 2

Dale McDonald: Welcome back. if you haven't heard part one, I really encourage you to go back bring yourself up to speed We are in a series or we you know, I say we because it's me, you, Holy Spirit. If you don't know me, I'm Pastor Dale with Atlan Family Church. we're online and we're local as well. certainly encourage you to stop in, say hi if you happen to be in Atlanta have a coffee or tea, a snack maybe. very informal. But you are most welcome. let's get back to our message. So part two today. in the first message I'd talked about relationships, the question of who do you say I am? I really believe that we need to ask ourselves that as well. and that way we can really know that we're not trying to be somebody we're not. we could be putting on a show for everybody and that gets draining after a while. but when you were truly who you are in public as when you're at home, you can enter the rest that God talks about in the Word. getting back into today's message, most people. Have a what I call a hole inside. If they're not where they need to be within the path that God has for them, there's something missing. I'd mentioned an itch you can't scratch. Right? It's like there, but I don't know. and really that hole, Jesus is the only one that can fill that hole. And being on the path that He has for you, the blessings he has for you. he he has a plan for each and every one of us. We have to seek him to find out what that is, and that's where that rest comes from that I mentioned, is being exactly where he wants us to be, doing what he wants us to do and interacting with the people around us. I'm not sure if I'm speaking to you today, but if you've got that that missing piece, imagine a puzzle and there's one piece missing. Well there's only one piece that'll fit in and that's that one that the hole was designed for. And if it does describe you, and that's what your life feels like. It's like, ugh, I just what is it? I and I maybe got a raise and that didn't do it. I maybe tried a new job and that didn't do it. Whatever it may be. God has the answer for you. it's up to us to slow down, to develop the relationships around us, to find out what that is. Primarily the relationship between you and God. So, let's move on beyond our label. I went over that a lot in the last session, if you've missed it again, go back. because that's not really who you are. It's just the title of what you're doing in life. and nowadays with the internet, and I'm the same way. I'll go on if I there's something I would like to know and I search. So you search online or some people hang out with people unfortunately if they're equally lost in life, or the information that they they have is wrong, you've just got the blind leaving the blind, right? because there's so much information out there, some of it actually can sound like truth. Especially if you're not aware of all the things that God wants for you, there's a lot of things that sound like, okay, that might be the answer. That might be what I'm searching for to fill that hole. If we don't know the truth, we won't recognize when we're being led astray. I've met a few people, maybe you have too, they just think, I've got life figured out. I've got all the answers. I've even heard some people say, and this one hurt a little bit, I don't want to hear you preaching. I have my own belief system. I base what I believe about Jesus and about life in the Bible on wait for it. On what I've heard or what I've experienced. I just shake my head when I hear that. it unfortunately is too common. And and all I can say is like wow, what a dangerous situation or mindset to be living in. No, I'm gonna get real. the very practice of willful ignorance in action. I know that might sound rude, but the definition of ignorance is not knowing. Just one in case you're you're wondering. but it's willful ignorance in action because you're you're choosing to not know the truth and then act on it. You know, the reality is the Word of God has the answer to every question that you'll ever have. But if you think you know more than the creator of the universe, you will never ask the right questions or you'll never seek the truth. Can you see where that a very dangerous place to be. and reality is if you don't get it right, it's still going to affect you whether you believe it or you don't. Because it's the truth. it's a reality check for for some people. but the truth is your life experiences may not be the truth. It's just what you experience. But it will, as I mentioned, it'll affect your eternity, really, where where our spirits will reside. based on what we believe today. our belief system is critical as a Christian where our spirits go and that's a whole nother teaching I'll get into another day. But there's heaven and hell. I'm just gonna put it real quick. Heaven and hell and what we believe today and what we confess believe in our heart and confess with our mouth will determine where we'll as a as a spirit spend eternity. So It is life or death. It'll affect our life today on earth and not living to our full potential. And then there's a ripple effect of all the people that we couldn't be a blessing to because we had our thinking wrong. it's the relationship aspect, getting our belief system aligned to what is real, what is truthful, and that being the word of God, and not based on our wrong experiences or our wrong information. If you have wrong information or experiences that are not from God, you, like most people with this mindset, still believe you have life under control and maybe that's all there is to life and then you die. I've heard that too. But there's a lot more to life and after death. Trust me. The word the word is very clear on that. the problem, I'm gonna put this out there, the problem with deception is that you're deceived. But you believe you have life figured out. And you'll even argue with people. I've had people argue with me. It's like, you don't know what you're talking about. you know, again, like I mentioned, don't preach to me. Because when you're deceived, you feel you have the truth. But it's your truth, not the truth. Capital T, capital T. Big difference. people who are deceived by wrong information, wrong messages, other deceived people. including some pastors, unfortunately. here's the key. If you don't know the word of God for yourself, again, I think I mentioned this earlier in this message or maybe in the last one, but you can be easily led astray. It it can sound good, maybe they're a great speaker. really, motivational or whatever. But if it isn't the truth of God, it's leading you in a direction it could be contrary to what he would have you go. So keep that in mind. when we're deceived, we will live and act based on that information. it can change who we are. When we have a have wrong information, we start to have different morals perhaps where our integrity may change. we may not have the patience that we used to with others. It can really mess things up. over time, especially as you build your truth, it can take you further and further away from the truth of God. As I mentioned. I can't keep stressing that enough. It is so important to be in a church that teaches the truth of God's word, and that be in the Bible. And not church rules, man's tradition, religion. All those things will lead you away from Christ. and then the thing is when you know the truth, you'll start to develop a confident assurance of your hope in Christ. okay, so what's a confident assurance? Confident assurance It to define it, it's a feeling of standing on solid ground. It's fully knowing what to expect. It's trusting that you can handle whatever life throws at you. here's a test, does your belief system based on what you've heard or experienced give you the position in life? Or give you that position in life? Like do you have that confident assurance? I do. I'll back up I don't always know what's coming or what we're gonna be facing in life, but I always have the assurance that God is with me and that whatever life throws at me I'll come out okay. even if whatever comes at me I die, I still end up with him. It's a win win. You know, as Paul said, to be absent of the body is to be present with our Lord. so it develops that confidence. Some people have said some Christians are so arrogant. No, it's it's confidence. It feels like arrogance perhaps to you because it's coming across in or the it's information that you've chosen not to hear, perhaps. Or it goes against what your truth is. it starts to make you think, well, phew, maybe I missed it. That's why it comes across as arrogance. When I'm speaking with people, I'm speaking in love, I'm speaking in confident assurance, and my heart and desire is that you would get it, that you would understand that God loves you, that you would understand that there's more to life than what you've experienced to that point in your life. that's what pastors and teachers are all about is to, locate where you are in life and help you along or up, towards him. That's that's our whole calling. And alone is a dangerous place to be. It's all about relationships. And that again takes time build that relationship. we have to get beyond world labels, titles, misinformation. and this is true whether it's a a person or misinformation concerning the word of God. spoken by Jesus and it's recorded for our behalf. But some people will misquote it. They'll misteach it. we need to know it for ourselves. make this if you're writing notes, when we know the truth of God's word, it's easy to recognize a counterfeit message. if you're reading the Bible on your own, studying your on your own, you're you're following teachers and maybe you're online following us the more you hear the truth of the word then if you go to another church or another setting and you hear a different message, you can go, wait, that does not line up with God's word. That is counterfeit. even though it may sound very motivational, as I mentioned, we need to be able to filter all this information that's coming in so that we can live in the safe zone. I think I mentioned this in our first session. If you've ever been mislabeled by someone, it hurts. But you know what? We're in good company. Jesus was also mislabeled and actually by many people. So reality is if you get it wrong when you're thinking you truly know me, it'll probably not create a life and death situation. you may miss the blessing that our ministry could have or our friendship could have. but here's the thing, if you get it wrong as to who Jesus was or is today, as he's alive today as he was back in in Scripture and in his ministry, if we get that wrong or we get his word wrong, it'll be devastating. Not just in this life, but for eternity. I'm slowing it right down because that's where the rubber meets the road, really. we need to know the truth. Jesus, as I mentioned, was mislabeled during his ministry, still is today. it was relatively speaking, it was very few people That actually knew who Jesus was. or believed him during his ministry. I mean, he had a lot of people that well tried to kill him. he did end up being crucified, but they tried to kill him before his time. there was a lot of people that didn't believe him, didn't believe his message, didn't believe he was the Son of God, as he's said many times. and so we can get it wrong today if we're under wrong teaching or we misunderstand the word of God. who Jesus was and he is, So, looking at the same concept in the word and seeing that the blessing that we can have, we can all access it when we recognize and know who Jesus was. You know, I've been talking about who I am, I'm no example to Jesus, obviously. I am Christ like, I am growing and striving to be all I can. Within Jesus, but Jesus was God. so in Matthew sixteen is is a scripture I'll read today, verses thirteen through nineteen. And it reads, When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? Well, they replied, Some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Can you see how people who didn't know Jesus had a label for him? Just like I'd mentioned with myself. if they they got it wrong as to who I was, they would put a label on me just to he's that guy, And these people that mislabeled Jesus, they seemingly only went by what they heard, or they perhaps made assumptions. Maybe they believed what other people said, as far as slanderous information. I don't know for sure, but I do see examples of where those people that mislabeled him missed out on the blessing that his ministry offered many, many people. we see the result in the crowds that followed him that did believe, and the result that they got The blessing they received during his ministry was the opposite. When people mislabeled him, they didn't receive anything. When people sought after Jesus because of who they believed he was and who they knew he was, the result is, we read it time and time again, he healed them all. Well, because they believed in him, they could receive from him. Are you getting this? If you mislabel someone, you could miss a blessing that God would have through them. If you mislabel Jesus, that's on a whole new level. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it well it's gonna put your life on a completely different course. The a great example of this of this is I will read in Luke six nineteen. as far as the people receiving that believed him and believed his message. Luke six nineteen NLT version Everyone tried to touch him because healing power went out of him. And here it is, he healed everyone. So wow, the connection of that relationship, of knowing his anointing, believing that anointing, receiving what you needed or they needed at the time. It all works together. But like I mentioned, those that labelled him as a prophet, labeled him as, maybe Mary's son, or he was just a carpenter, the door was shut they maybe walked around with the same sickness and disease the other people in the crowd did that did receive the healing, but because they mislabeled him or believed wrong information, the door was shut. So reading on in Matthew sixteen, Jesus then asks the question the most important, life-changing, grounding, reality check. I know I put a lot in there. question. It is a reality check. And I feel, everyone should ask that question. Who do you say I am? With that, I'm gonna finish for today. I have more to do in the next message, this is the place that I really want you to get it, so I'm gonna slow it down and start again in the in the next session. So again, thank you for joining me today. if you have any questions, Atlanfamily Church dot ca is the best way to connect with us. we meet every Sunday here in Atlan if you're local. we're traveling to Outland DC. Just come on in. Ten o'clock in the morning, which is BC time, which is matching Yukon time we meet here, have a coffee, very informal. come as you are, as they say. So we will see you again in the next session. God bless.