Belonging Part 4
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May 2, 2021

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Part 4 - Be Longing for His Presence

Recap

  • Part 1 – Jesus is
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    theology. He shows us what belonging looks like.
  • Part 2 – You
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    to God. We need to see that God longs to be with us.
  • Part 3 - There is a
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    for you at God’s table. How do we create an atmosphere of belonging?

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our
Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts! —Ephesians 1:3

  • The greatest blessing of all is Christ Himself. The call of Jesus to follow Him is to

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    with Him, and it has never changed.

    And He appointed twelve to

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    to be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach. —(Mark 3:14, AMP)

  • My highest calling in life is the call into God’s Presence. Being with Jesus comes

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    doing anything for Him.

Psalm 16 – The Psalm of Presence.

5 O Lord, You are  the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.
6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.
7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. —Psalm 16:5-8, 11

a) The Lord Himself is my

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(Vs 5-6). Not only do I belong to God, but He belongs to me.

b) I have

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the Lord always before me (Vs. 8). (Intentionality). Not only is He with me always; I am with Him always.

  • “
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    our eyes on Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:2)

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    your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)

  • Spiritual disciplines are

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    practices that set the Lord always before me.

c) The result: In His Presence is

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of joy (Vs. 11)

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. —John 15:11

  • Love God, grow together, and serve others =
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    , People, and Purpose.

Then they began to understand the

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Jesus had on them simply by spending time with him. —Acts 4:13 TPT

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  • Why are we call it “different”? Because we are going to

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    the difference that discipleship makes.

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    yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things. —1 Timothy 4:7b-8a

  • Notice that the word

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    is related to the word discipline.

Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an

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spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. —Daniel 6:3

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his

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open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on
his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. —Daniel 6:10

a) Daniel had an

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to his life, a routine. He had a level of discipline. “As was his custom since early days.”

b) He had a set

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that he picked to spend time with God – an upper room in his house, with his windows open toward Jerusalem.

c) He knelt down

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times a day. Maybe it was morning, noon, and night. Start of the day, the middle of the day, and the end the day.

d) He

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. He brought his requests before the Lord as an intercessor.

e) He

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. He gave thanks. He spent time in praise and worship.

  • Set aside 3 time slots each day for spiritual disciplines.
  • 5-10 minutes Morning, Noon, and Night.

Your Homework today: Take a piece of paper, or a calendar, and map out what your daily routine will look like. Spread it out over a week.

  • Intentionally opening windows of connection with God makes you more
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    of His Presence throughout the day.