True North on the Compass of your Life
There is a magnetic north, which is not true north.
You can navigate with magnetic north for short trips. It will get you in the general vicinity.
But to navigate accurately, especially for long trips, over long distances and time; you must be able to ascertain true north.
Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
As Christians, we should all have a vision or goal to which we are working.
And this goal should come from the Lord.
We are never without purpose.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
For we are His workmanship, molded into the character of Christ Jesus, for good works: For which He has made full provision, so we might walk in them.
This is our purpose.
If we are to navigate our life through this wicked world; from here all the way to heaven, we need to find true north.
So, what is true north for each Christian?
The True North for each of us is making Jesus Christ, Lord of our lives.
And He is not Lord of us, until we determine to obey Him.
If we were talking about a car; His Lordship is the power in the engine, and our obedience is the wheels which is the motion.
And of course He is driving.
John 7:17 “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whither it be of God, or whither I speak of myself.”
John 7:17 (LNT) “If any of you really determines to do God’s will, then you will certainly know whether My teaching is from God or merely My own.”
I rarely use any other translation but the King James Version. But this translation in the LNT describes what I have found to be so: We need to “really determine” to do God’s Will.
“If any man will do His will” also describes it; it is, of course by our will, which is the action to do anything. We need to will it.
But for myself, at least, this is a picture of digging in and that: “I’m going to do this no matter what it cost me” determination.
That is what making Jesus Christ our Lord takes.
We know His will by doing it. If we do it today, then tomorrow when we seek His Will, it will come easier.
(And of course, if we hesitate and put it off, tomorrow it will be harder to find it)
The world’s influence, and our old selves, and the devil are against us.
The old me will tell me, “Well, if I was still in charge, I would not require you to pray so much. After all, we’re busy. God knows what we need.”
And the world will say, “Why not laugh at that joke? So what, it was a little “bad”. A little won’t hurt.”
But if Jesus is Lord to me, it is not what I would do, or what the world says is OK, but where He leads, and how He would have me to go.
It is a process. I believe you can commit yourself to the Lord, as Lord; but then it is a matter of putting everything in our lives in His order.
No, it is not a list that is handed out; but a conviction from the Holy Spirit within which shows us the way.
This is His order:
Philippians 2:12-13 “Wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling:
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
Notice that we are to work out what God works in. We are to work out the salvation from sin that Christ Jesus works in us, by His Holy Spirit.
Then we have that true north on the compass of our lives; and we will surely get safely to our destination.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 