Who's in for a great year, this year? Let me give you a secret... It will be what you make of it! If you're going to change, it's because you decided to change. I love it when people have decided they're going to grow and change.
I'm going to share with you a series of messages called “The Making of a King”, about the life of David.
Revelations 5:9-10 – “…You have redeemed us to God by Your blood. Out of every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation, You have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on earth”.
Where shall we reign? Where shall we have our dominion? Where shall we have impact? On Earth!
The Bible tells us of an event in heaven, and it speaks of a multitude of people, and they're declaring and thanking God. These people have come out of every tribe, every nation, every people, every kindred - every kind of people that you could imagine. God has drawn them out, and made them His own family, and destined that once we've become family, He calls us kings & priests.
You are a king. You are a priest. Now you don't have to try and make yourself that. When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God entered into you. You were automatically placed into the family of God, with true important privileges…
1) The capacity to come into the presence of God, on behalf of yourself, and on behalf of others, to begin to intercede, pray and receive blessing from heaven. That's everyone's privilege! You can use that privilege - you can begin to grow and learn how to function in that area… or you can neglect it! If you neglect it, the blessings that God has intended will never be yours, because blessings must be taken hold of. What will you take hold of, from God, this year?
2) He's privileged us to be is to be Kings. A king is a person who has dominion. A king is a person who has a realm, over which he rules. Now we are called to represent God, to advance His kingdom; so every one of you has a region of influence, starting with your own life. Start with your own life. If you can't rule your own life, you won't be able to rule much else; but every one of us, God calls us to advance His kingdom, like a king.
That means, to reach the people around you, to shift the cultures, shift the hearts of men and women, shift young people, shift them into the kingdom of God. Everyone is called to that. You are called to have an influence in your generation. Now, if God called you to do it, then He will provide all that we need to do it. It's our responsibility to discover the heart of God, and begin to learn how to take hold of it.
We're going to look now at a king that everyone knows - King David. But first, I want you to look in Acts 13, so we see that when we get born again, we're positioned to be kings and priests. It's a language that we don't readily take hold of, but we're called to be winners - we're called to win in life. We're called to touch, impact, and influence the people around us – to change them by the power of God. We're called to bring God from heaven into the earth - His life and power. Everyone is called to do that.
We're going to look at the life of a man that God chose to be king - a man who actually shifted the whole generation he lived in. What was in this man, that enabled him to arise, and have such an impact? I'm called to be a king; and He was called to be a king; but He's got something in his life I can learn from.
Acts 13:22 – “And when He had removed Saul, He raised up David as a king, to whom He also gave testimony and said ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all of My will’”.