Who is God to me? (8/13/17 standalone)

ATTN: Our children will be joining us for the service. Once a month, we asked them to join us in our service to worship together. I started out in ministry teaching children’s Sunday School. I taught 3rd-4th grade sunday school for several years, while also helping out with the youth ministry at the same time. So, I love the young people. They are precious in Jesus’ eyes and they are precious to me. And I’m so glad that we have young children and teens running around everywhere. That’s a sign of life! And I am so thankful for the teachers who work with them week in and week out.

        Today, hopefully, I won’t bore them too much with the message that should speak to them as well as to the adults.

TRANS: I titled the message, “Who is God to me?” There are 4 things I want to share from Ps 16: 1) God is our safe place. 2) God is our reward. 3) God is our friend. 4) God is the source of our happiness.

Psalm 16: 1 My God, keep me safe. I go to you for safety. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord. Without you, I don’t have anything that is good.”

1. God is our safe place.

God is a person we can go to when we are afraid, worried, and especially when we have failed. Why is that? Because in verse 2, it says, “Without you, I don’t have anything that is good.” What do you mean David? You have the palace, you have the guard to keep you safe, you have treasures in your treasury, aren’t they good things? Why are you saying without God, you don’t have anything that is good? I think David means that God is so much better than all those things that in comparison, they are like nothing. Even the best things in life would be like nothing compare to God. Besides, God is the only one who is good forever. People change, even families change, toys break, apps stop getting updated, but God is good all the time, so even when times are hard, even when people are mean to us, when our friends betray us and even when the church is disappointing, God is good and He is there and so we can always go to Him as a safe place.

ILL: I remember when I was in 5th grade, I had to leave my family and go live with my aunt. It wasn’t because my family didn’t want me, but it was because my mom wanted me to go to a bigger city and go to a better school. And even at that age, I understood that my parents were making sacrifices for me. So, even though I was very sad to leave my friends, I consoled myself by thinking, “As long as my parents love me, everything will be okay…” They were my safe place. They have always been there for me from the beginning and I knew that they wouldn’t let me down. But some of you either do not have parents with you or your parents got a divorce and so you don’t have them around… then what? Who’s there for you all the time? Where could you go when you feel lonely, down, or feel like a failure? God!

Adults: You thought when you get married, have kids, you won’t be lonely anymore. But you are finding out that that’s not true. Where do you go?

Teens: When your best friend doesn’t act like one anymore, your parents are fighting and it seems like they might get a divorce, God is a safe place for you to go to.

Children: When you fail, when you do something wrong, bad, God isn’t angry with you. You see, He likes it especially when we go to Him after we have done something wrong. He will always forgive and will never turn us away. God is a safe place for us to go to.

5 Lord, you alone are everything I need. You make my life secure. 6 I am very pleased with what you have given me. I am very happy with what I’ve received from you.

ESV: I have a beautiful inheritance. Inheritance is like a reward that you receive by being with God.

2. God is our reward.

Notice that I didn’t say, God gives us a reward. But God is our reward. That means God gives himself to us as a gift. And it also means everything that belongs to God will be ours. “Everything is yours.”

ILL: Years ago, I asked the teenagers what they remember as the fondest memory growing up. And almost all of them said family trips, or the time they spent together as a family. None of them mentioned a gift they received. Why? Intuitively we know that when we give our time, we are giving what’s most important. When we give time, we are giving ourselves. It’s the difference between receiving a gift and a giver. And children, teens, and adults alike know that there is no substitute for time. The most precious gift we can receive is the giver himself.

        When Jesus came to earth, God was giving us Himself because Jesus is God. “God so loved the world that He GAVE His one and only Son…”

        So, God gives Himself to us as an inheritance. But what does that mean? Does that mean Jesus is going to be our roommate in heaven and follow us everywhere we go? A man named C.S. Lewis says this and I paraphrase: God is more than a person. So, the picture of Jesus being our reward is going to be more than just a person staying with us and going with us everywhere we go. And other things like great riches, feast, ruling cities, or being given the earth itself, and becoming like Christ are added to give us a more complete picture.

        All I know is that having God as our inheritance will finally fill our hearts. We will no longer think, “only if…”,  “I wish…” And we won’t be tempted to sin because we are perfectly and completely satisfied. God-shaped hole in our heart will finally be filled.

Vs. 7-8.7 I will praise the Lord. He gives me good advice. Even at night my heart teaches me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord. He is at my right hand. So I will always be secure.”

        He is our companion. He goes with us.

3. God is our friend.

        Well, who do we have access to 24-7, even at night? Not our teachers. But our friends. So, God is like our friend in that He is always there for us. We can go to Him no matter where we are in the world and no matter what time it is. He’s a friend that will never leave you nor forsake you. Ps. 27:10 My father and mother may desert me, but the Lord will accept me.

When we are young, it is the parents that have the greatest influence on us, but when we are older, it’s actually our friends. If you want to know what you are like, just look at the people around you. We talk like, dress like, drive similar cars, and spend money like our friends. It’s not just teenagers that live and die by their friends. Adults do the same. Without knowing, we become like, and measure ourselves against  those around us. But imagine if God was our best friend. We will stop trying to measure up because we will never measure up to God. But He accepts us as we are nonetheless, and therefore, we can be ourselves and stop pretending to be who we are not.

ILL: One of the benefits of being a little older is that I don’t really care what people think of me anymore. When we were on our vacation two weeks ago, I had a fanny pack on my waist and holder strap on my sunglasses, and a big camera on my chest. I was the picture of a nerdy tourist. I didn’t give a rip. But I don’t think it’s only because I am older that I don’t care. I’d like to think it’s also because I care more about what God thinks than what people around me think. If God is my best friend, then I don’t really care what other people think about me as long as I know what God thinks of me. So, that will affect what I preach about, how I spend money, how I deal with strangers, and pretty much everything else.

Jesus said, “I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father.” John 15:15. So, it’s not just me who thinks he’s my friend, but He think I am His friend. He really is my best friend. He’s the only One who has been with me and will be with me to the end. Even death won’t do us apart.

11 You always show me the path of life. You will fill me with joy when I am with you. You will make me happy forever at your right hand.

4. God is our source of happiness.

Happiness is something all of us pursue – adults, teens, children, whether you were born in America, Korea, Thailand… We try and try to find happiness in people and things eventually they fall apart. They leave us, die on us, or we get bored of them. But God is infinite, we can never exhaust Him, in Him lies the source of our happiness because we were made for Him.  When you are stressed or sad, and you go to Him as a safe place, you feel secure, you feel happy. When you hear of reward, good things coming for you, you feel happy. And friendship brings happiness. God is for our happiness and permanent pleasure. Sin11 doesn’t bring happiness in the long-term. Like drugs, brings temporary pleasure, but ultimately ruins everything that bring longer lasting and permanent pleasure.

        God is the source of all good things, pleasurable things – like clean water when we are thirsty, a rainbow after the rain, or rain after 54 days of straight dry weather, like cute cuddly puppy, and strawberry shortcake ice cream. Ever thought why we are given 5 senses – so that we can see God’s beauty in his nature, hear the echoes of heaven, smell the fragrance of his mercy, touch the tenderness of his love, and taste the sweetness of hope in him.

        How do we have this God? Jesus. We ask Jesus to be our safe place, reward, our friend, our source of happiness. I would love for our children to learn this early on and make it a lifestyle to go to Jesus. Spend 5 minutes in the morning during this Summer time. Ask your parents to buy you a devotional that will help you spend time with God everyday.