Live Free with Josh Howerton - What Your Heavenly Father Thinks of You | Ep. 430 | Friday, September 27, 2024

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

What does the Bible say is actually true of God and true of me? In Christ… You are a child of God. (1 John 3:2) You are a friend of Jesus. (John 15:14) You are chosen by God. (Deuteronomy 7:6) You are God’s own possession. (1 Peter 2:9) You have died with Christ and raised with Him. (Romans 6:8-11) You are saved and set apart for God’s purposes. (Deuteronomy 14:2) You are free forever from condemnation You’ve received the Spirit of God into your life. You have been crucified with Christ - it’s no longer you who lives, but Christ in you This is what is true of you. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, hey guys, welcome to our daily drive. If we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I get to be a part of the pastoral team here at Lake Point. And we get to hang out this week for a few minutes every day as we dive into the Word of God together.

And I love that we get to do this. And this week, the name of the series has been deeper because we're going deeper every day on one particular aspect of our lives and our relationship with Jesus. And if you weren't here with us, you need to check out the other episodes. Monday, we spoke about going deeper in intimacy. Tuesday we spoke about going deeper in holiness. Wednesday, we spoke about going deeper in courage. Thursday, we went deeper in trust. And today we're exploring how we can go deeper in truth.

And what the Bible says is actually true of Him, of God, and true of you. So check out Galatians chapter 2, verse 16 with me. This is what the word of the Lord says. we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. Because by the works of the law, no one will be justified. Hey, recently I was invited to speak at a church in San Diego and my older brother was able to to join me on this trip.

And my brother actually travels a lot for work. So when he travels, he's got all these credit cards and access to all these airport lounges that are kind of fancy and exclusive. And on our trip, we had a little bit of a wait. And so he says to me, instead of waiting at the gate, why don't we just go to a frequent flyer members lounge and go hang out there? And so we did. And before entering this particular lounge, there was a big gentleman in a dark suit

checking credentials to make sure that only certain people could get in. So he goes ahead and he checks my brother's card and he's like, you're good to go. And then he turns to me and he says, where's your card? In other words, he's basically saying, I need to see a card with your name on it that says that you're allowed to be here or else I cannot let you in. And at that point, I said, actually, I don't have a card. but I looked at my brother and at that point my brother says oh yeah he's good and then he says this he says he's with me to which the gentleman looks at my brother then he looks at me then he looks at my

brother's card and then he looks at me again and then he says all right you're good come on in and I start there because there's a sense in which that's a little bit of what Paul is describing in this verse in Galatians when he uses the word justification. This word simply means that you and I have a right standing with God, not because of our own capacity, but because of what Jesus did at the cross when he died in our place so that today I can experience an abundant life with God. In other words, if somebody were to ask me, how do you get to experience the grace, the favor, the salvation, the love, the forgiveness of a good and faithful

God, I cannot say, oh, it's because of my own merit or because I go to church a lot or because I try to be a very moral human being. I can't say that I can't speak in the first person. I can only look to Jesus and say, I'm with him. And that alone, faith in Christ alone is according to Scripture, makes me justified. Listen, when you are in Christ and you are justified, it's just as if you've never sinned. The Father looks at you and says, you are my child. You bring me joy. Nothing can separate you from my love.

Listen, you're good. Now, here's what a lot of people don't realize. Justification is not just a church thing. It's a human need. Deep in our souls, we all long. for justification. Everybody's seeking to be justified by our jobs, how much money we make, what other people think of us. People today, they want to be affirmed by other people with all their life choices, decisions, identities, and they get very hurt and offended when they're not because

why? They're looking for justification. It's a human thing. But this is what you need to know. You can either be justified by Christ and live a life. of freedom from the need to be justified by anyone or anything else, or you can seek to be justified by the world and live a life of endless striving, fear, anxiety, and failure. Let me ask you this. What are you most often anxious about? Where do you spend your money on the most? Who are you jealous of?

What's that thing in your life that you really want to? want it, but if God were to say to you, you know what, you actually never have this, that might actually make you feel miserable. What's that thing that today, you say, man, if only I had that, if only that situation became this, or if only that person would just go away, or if only then I would finally be happy, then I would finally find peace in my soul, then my life might be complete. could it be possible that you might be seeking justification from all those things? And if so, you might be believed in a false gospel that if only you got the relationship you always wanted,

the career you always dreamed of, the approval of those people that you work with, the quote unquote success that you've always desired, maybe the perfect family that you always wanted, then you would be okay. then you would feel justified, only then you would be at peace. Listen to what First Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4 says about this. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people, but God who tests our hearts.

Listen, if you're in Christ, you have been justified by Christ. you have been approved. You don't need that one thing. You don't need that person's approval or that situation to turn out this way or that way. You don't need anything else. You have already received the approval and the acceptance and the embrace and the justifications of the one who created you. You are already good. And so let me wrap our week with a brief reminder of what being justified in Christ means for you.

today. In Christ, you are a child of God. You are a friend of Jesus. You are chosen by God. You are God's own possession. You have died with Christ and raised with Him. You are saved and set apart for God's purposes. You are holy and dearly loved. You are chosen a people for God's own possession. You are free forever from condemnation. You have received the Spirit of God into your life so that you can live for the glory of God. You are sealed by God in Christ, given the Holy Spirit as a pledge, guaranteeing your inheritance to come. You have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer you who lives but Christ in you. Blessed with every spiritual blessing. This is what is true of you. And thanks for joining us this week and we'll see you next time.

Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.ch slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.