Pastor Wes Morris
Joel 2:12-13 (NLT) That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.
√ WE GET COMFORTABLE WHERE WE ARE.
Revelation 3:16 (MSG) I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot - far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.
√ WE ASSUME WE HAVE MORE TIME.
Joel 2:12 (NIV) “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart…”
2 Corinthians 6:2 (GNT) Hear what God says: “When the time came for me to show you favor, I heard you; when the day arrived for me to save you, I helped you.” Listen! This is the hour to receive God's favor; today is the day to be saved!
√ WE CARRY THE WEIGHT OF SHAME.
Mark 5:33 (NLT) Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.
Shame is the fear that if you are fully known, you will be fully rejected. Grace is the promise that you are fully known - and still fully loved.
I. PUSH PAST THE DISTRACTIONS.
Mark 10:48 (MSG) When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!”
Hebrews 12:1-2 (TLB) Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the race that God has set before us.
II. BRING YOUR WHOLE HEART TO GOD.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NLT) For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
Prayer is the natural out-gushing of a soul in communion with Jesus. Just as the leaf and the fruit will come out of the vine without any conscious effort on the part of the branch but simply because of its living union with the stem, so prayer buds and blossoms and produces fruit out of souls abiding in Jesus. - Charles Spurgeon
III. MAKE SEEKING GOD OUR PASSION.
Psalm 63:1 (NLT) O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 27:8 (MSG) When my heart whispered, “Seek God,” my whole being replied, “I’m seeking him!”
