But God

Ephesians 2:1-6
Notes on verse 2: “Ye walked…” means, you lived. The word course signifies all the tendencies, thoughts, pursuits, and deeds of our character.
No one can say that they have not done anything wrong. As sure as we breathe, we have all walked the path of sin.
The Prodigal Son- Luke 15:11-16
This young man took his destiny in his own hands and tried to do it his own way. How many of us has tried to do something without waiting on God? Luke 15:16b says, “no man gave unto him”. When the world sees that you have lost it all, they will desert you. But all the while, when he was trying to find a friend out in the muck and the mire of sin, his father was home looking out over the fields hoping to see his son return home.
We have a heavenly Father that cares. The reason someone tries alcohol and drugs or can’t seem to find any happiness anywhere is because they’re looking for something, and they don’t know what it is they are looking for. The song says, “I searched for Him, and knew not what I searched for…”. They are physically trying to resist the urge to do what the body was spiritually made to do and that is worship. God is just trying to get you to do what you were made for. The Bible says that if we don’t praise Him, then the rocks and mountains were going to.
So, when you resist this urge, a heaviness becomes prevalent on you. That is the unhappiness that you feel. It’s the tug on your very soul that is connected to God. Our spirit knows when God is calling out to us. There comes a time in everyone’s life when God calls out to us.
-He called the children of Israel out of Egypt. He didn’t go in there and get them, the Bible says that He met them in the wilderness. God is not going to go into your sins and pull you out. It requires action on your part to physically withdraw yourself from the sin. The Israelites had to come out of Egypt on their own; and sometimes you have to do it with the enemy right on your heels trying to pull you back in.
Psalm 23:6
The passage says ALL the days of your life. It doesn’t say it will start to follow you when you get saved. These guys are on the job right when you take your first breath of life.
Goodness- another name for it is grace. God’s grace will work miracles in your life. You say that you have done some bad things and you don’t know how God could save a sinner like you! But you can’t have sin without having grace!
Romans 5:20 “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Much MORE! No matter how far you run, grace will always be there! Get this, a great sinner has that much more grace surrounding him! Grace is unbiased and without judgment. Jesus said that He didn’t come here to condemn the world, but to expel grace out of Himself so that you and I might be saved. Not only do you have the promise of grace, but you also have a Savior that is willing to hunt you down and call you out of your situation! Now that’s a Savior worth having!
Ephesians 2:4- Paul is talking about us as sinners. He could’ve ended the chapter right there, because that is true of every one of us (v. 1-3). However, Paul doesn’t leave us hanging. He followed those scriptures with, “But God…”. Now, through God’s grace, we are able to put everything that we have ever done in past tense.
Its hard for some people to let go of the past. Sometimes, in the flesh, we can’t comprehend the change that takes place in our lives. We tend to point fingers at each other and whisper among ourselves about some of the things other people were guilty of. We forget that we were once a sinner too!
Now we can say:
· I used to be a drug addict- But God
· I used to be an alcoholic- But God
· I used to do this or do that- But God
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound! Grace was there when you were in Hell’s kitchen, and you barely escaped coming out of there with smoke on your clothes! The war between sin and grace is no contest! Your stuff is in the past and don’t allow yourself to be discouraged when the enemy tries to bring it up! You’ve got to remember…But God!
The grace of God is an expression of His goodness towards the undeserving. You and I didn’t deserve grace…But God.
But God- These words in v. 4 shows God’s response to man’s sin. The way this sentence is used in the English language proves that some sort of action is taken by God on our part.
1 Corinthians 13:11- Rearrange this Scripture: “When I was a sinner, I spoke as a sinner, I understood as a sinner, and I thought like a sinner: BUT, when I became a Christian, I put away those sinful things.” That one little word changes the whole sentence structure. It tells the reader that they can forget about everything before the word “but”.
Verses 1-3 shows how we were as sinners, it shows how each of our lives didn’t mean anything. However, v.4 turns the viewpoint around 180 degrees.
The enemy already knows that you have him defeated. His power comes from making you think that you aren’t victorious! If he can get you to forget those two little words and get you started thinking about Ephesians 2:1-3 then he has you right where he wants you! The devil doesn’t mind if you go to church and clap your hands. All he is concerned with is keeping you right where you’re at, letting you think things like “I’m not good enough” and “if they only knew this about me”. Don’t let the enemy bind you with things that you’ve done in your past, because you already have a key to that lock!
If it had not been for the Lord on my side where would I be?!!
Job- The devil came to Job and told him all of his children were dead, his wife had left him, and everything that he had ever worked for was gone! But Job looked at the enemy and said, “Because I’m not what I used to be, the Lord may give, and the Lord may take away, and even though He may slay me, I’m still gonna say. ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’”.
The enemy has got some of us bound down with thoughts of what we used to be, but you are more than conquerors through Jesus! Its about time we stop taking a beating from the devil and stand up for ourselves! We need to go into the enemies camp and take back what he stole from us and claim the victory! You are more than conquerors! That means that not only did you win the battle, but you also got your stuff back!
You need to fight with everything you have in you! I’m not afraid of you devil! You’ve walked on me long enough, now its my turn!
Ephesians 1:22- “And hath put ALL things under his feet…” Get your stuff back! Get your desire back! Get your prayer life back! Be active in the house of God! Don’t let the enemy get you down by reminding you of your past! Tell him…”But God!”.