What does a life look like when you decide to “sell out to God”? Some people call this being a fanatic for Jesus, but as my pastor would always say, “A fanatic is just someone who loves Jesus more than you.”
Our verse for today is 2 Corinthians 5:15 which says…
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2 Corinthians 5:15 KJV
If you’re anything like me, you really want to follow God, but maybe you feel like there is something holding you back. For me it was pride – I just didn’t realize that that was what it was. I wanted to follow the Lord. I wanted to preach, but I didn’t want to be seen. (How’s that for logical!)
I started this blog because God told me to, but I didn’t really want my friends or family finding out because I didn’t want the criticism. My heart was full of pride whether I realized it or not.
And that’s really the thing that stops many of us from taking the first steps in walking after God. We can call it uncertainty or fear or “I’m just not a people person” or whatever else you want to mask it as, but when it really comes down to it, for many of us it’s just pride.
God might be talking to you to go do something that seems too hard or big. It is on your own, but the good news is that you aren’t on your own if you’re a Christian!
Story Time
God specifically spoke to me to write these blog posts and through this process I have gained more revelation of God’s Word than in all my other years on this earth combined. I found out that STUDYING isn’t the same thing as casually reading the Bible.
And I wrote last week’s blog post all about that topic. If you missed it you should check it out!
Matthew 4:4 | Man shall not live by bread alone … STUDY!
Selling out to God simply means doing everything you know to do when you know to do it.
Such a simple definition, but that’s where the simplicity stops. God’s expectation for each one of us as Christians is to sell out and live our lives for Him.
Some people will say, “Well we aren’t ALL preachers…”
WRONG!
We aren’t all pastors that’s a five fold ministry position, but we are all preachers of the gospel.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Corinthians 5:18 KJV
We are all able ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been reconciled to God and given the ability through the Holy Spirit to bring others into the kingdom of God. Not just through our actions but by our testimony and words (Actions speak louder than words).
A few weeks ago we discussed how it’s not about hearing God better it’s about doing something with the Word of God that you KNOW (Hearing Better or Doing Better?).
I’m talking about selling out and completely doing what you know to do immediately. We are each called to minister the gospel to those we come in contact with. Not necessarily as a pastor, but for sure as a preacher and minister of the gospel.
#1 Your Purpose brings true Happiness and Joy… not your Job
Today, I simply want to remind you of why you are on this earth – to tell of what God has done for you! If you are breathing God has a plan for your life. That plan includes preaching.
He wants you to be happier than you’ve ever been before. The sad truth is that most Christians and non Christians alike never truly experience this kind of joy and peace for any extended period of time because they haven’t learned this truth.
True happiness comes from dying to yourself and pressing into God’s call for your life.
#2 Revelation feeds your spirit man … not passively hearing the Word
I was self deceived before I started this process of writing blog posts each week. Why?
I thought that because I went to church and heard people around me talking about God that I truly knew God.
Don’t get me wrong I spent a lot of time in the secret place for myself worshipping and praising God, but I didn’t spend all that much time actually STUDYING God’s Word because let’s be honest that takes WORK. I spent even less time trying to reach out to those around me and show God’s love.
I’d pray in tongues and sing songs and even read my Bible and sing until the anointing of God was so strong that I couldn’t stand up sometimes, but that didn’t mean I was growing up in God. In many things I was just stagnant because I wasn’t living my whole life for God.
I’d stir all that up many times to get peace in my heart because I knew that I wasn’t doing what God wanted me to do. (Remember how David sang to Saul to calm him? …exactly)
I was constantly seeking God for selfish reasons. It wasn’t about others it was about what He could do for me, for my job or my problem. I was self deceived.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 1:22 KJV
What’s the secret? STUDY & ACTION.
Selflessness is truly “selling out” and living for God
There is ALWAYS an element of selflessness in living for God.
Jesus never did anything for Himself. He never spent a single second of His life on this earth for Himself.
In fact, His ministry left Him hungry at times, without sleep at times, without a place to live, and ridiculed. That sounds like anything but a comfortable life to me.
EVERYTHING He did was for someone else.
Remember our calling.
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2 Corinthians 5:15 KJV
We are supposed to live out every second of our life for someone else too!
MAKE NO ROOM FOR OURSELVES
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 13:14 KJV
I, Nathan Zimmer, died. We don’t ask someone who is dead what their opinion is of life. I won’t ever go to a cemetery and ask the person buried what they think of how I live my life and yet we will do that every day when we take time to listen to what our flesh wants to do.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 KJV
Story Time:
I often think about my own life. I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed being up in front of people. The first time I had to play and sing in front of a crowd I was 8 and I can remember vividly the conversation I had with my father about it the day before.
And yet I have spent most of my life on a stage somewhere singing or playing music or preaching, and while I enjoy it, it seems the moment I get comfortable is the moment God asks me to do something further out of my comfort zone – that’s life with God.
9/10 times the things your flesh doesn’t want to do is that thing God wants you to do.
And since Christ died for us that we might have life. Our responsibility is to spend that life for Him.
Wrapping things up
This is our entire purpose on this earth – TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS THAT JESUS IS LORD.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2 Corinthians 4:3-5 KJV
Don’t you see? It’s not our job to have it figured out. It’s our responsibility to take the first step that God tells us to do. The next step will always feel a little bigger than the last, and I promise you in a year or two your life will look completely different when you sell out to God.
Like I said before, it can’t be the Nathan show (insert your name there). I pray that as you read these blog posts that you would be inspired to study the Bible for yourself in a deeper way and would begin to hear God for yourself in a greater way.
The way you learn to follow God better is to start with what you know to do and take the first step.
I will leave you with this one scripture to remember.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13 KJV
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