Series: Overflow
Message: Jesus. All.
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Japhet De Oliveira
Live Wonder: Jessyka Dooley
Live Adventure: Jessyka Dooley
Live Purpose: Vanessa Rivera
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Revelation 4:8-11 in The Message (MSG). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: Every day we ask you, as part of the Daily Walk, to read the biblical passage before you read the reflection. Not everyone has the time to do that, so not everyone knows that every day we change the version we read the text from. Sometimes, such as today, we read from a paraphrase, and sometimes we use a translation like we will tomorrow. I believe this really allows us to experience fresh insights into God. Today you might feel the desire to find God’s will for your life.
David Platt, in his book Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live, suggests seven methods we use for discovering God’s will for our lives.
Random finger method: You’re not quite sure what to do, so you simply open the Bible and hope the text will speak to you. Or you read the morning watch or a devotional book and hope that it will speak directly to your choice of investment in the markets or your choice of boyfriend or girlfriend.
Astonishing miracle method: You hope for a burning bush moment that will allow you to know God’s will
Striking coincidence method: You’re not sure what major to choose at university and one night you wake up at 2:22 a.m., the next night you randomly get up at 3:33 a.m., and the night after that you get up at 4:44 a.m. Of course—math is the major you should be taking!
Cast the fleece method: This is where you test God by asking Him to provide signs to help inform your decisions.
Still small voice method: You are super patient and you just wait for God to say something to you (anything!).
Open door method: You look at your life and figure everything lined up pretty well so you assume that it must be God’s doing.
Closed door method: If you face obstacles or difficulties, you conclude that the path you are on must not be God’s will.
Platt offers this perspective:
With good intentions, we try hard to use various methods to find God’s will. But what if God’s will was never intended to be found? In fact, what if it was never hidden from us in the first place? What if God the Father has not sent His children on a cosmic Easter egg hunt to discover His will while He sits back in heaven saying, “You’re getting colder . . . warmer . . . colder . . .”? And what if searching for God’s will like this actually misses the entire point of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus? (pp. 127-128)
The more we are drawn into the wonder of Jesus, the more we want to belong to the family. Being part of Jesus’s family means living not in our will but in Jesus’s will. Jesus’s mission. Jesus’s call.
This is one of the many reasons we decided to call a One project gathering together again. Today, more than ever, our hearts should be drawn closer to experiencing Jesus. All. . . . or as I prefer to put it, Jesus (full stop) All (full stop).
Recalibrate: Jesus inspires us to reimagine a new world. What small or large dreams have you contemplated lately?
Respond: Pray for space to dream and vision great things.
Research: Read Revelation 21:1-5.
Remember: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8, NIV).
Japhet is senior pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, and is co-founder of the One project. Originally from southeast London, he served in the South England Conference for nine years—as a pastor and later as conference youth director—before moving to the United States in 2006. He and his wife Becky have two sons, one at university and one in high school.
What does it mean to worship? Where do you worship? How do you worship? This section of Revelation shows us what worship looks like when we just can’t help but praise God. Has your kiddo ever gotten so excited that they just can’t help themselves? Create an exciting moment for them today and then explain that worshiping Jesus is just like that. When we feel God’s love, we can’t help but say, “Holy, holy, holy!”
Try to make a song out of the words, “Holy, holy, holy!” Maybe use your hands to clap and make a beat or even find an instrument you could use. Ask your friends or family to join your band and make a song to worship God. Include things like what you’re thankful for, what things you think are super awesome about Jesus, and how much you love Jesus. Sing your song all day. Ask God to keep that happy song you wrote in your heart!
I was 15 years old when I received my first cellphone. You’re wondering which iPhone I had, right? Well, we need to rewind to a time when the iPhone did not exist. It’s what my friends and I would refer to as a “brick” phone back then . . . because it looked like a brick. No really, imagine a brick. OK, now imagine it’s made out of plastic with a black and white screen and a number keypad. You have now imagined my first cellphone. No apps, no games, not even Siri—just good old phone calls and text messages. Although it had its limitations, such as 500 text messages a month, I loved that phone. I was always on it! I’m not even sure what I was doing, but somehow it engrossed me. So it was horrible when my parents realized that I was getting distracted with my phone so much (with its two major functions) that I was not allowed to have it in church. I was so upset. “It’s not fair!” I would argue every so often. “None of my other friends have had their phone taken away. Why are you going to take mine away? What if I turned it off? What if I pinky promise I won’t use it?” My parents did not budge. They did not budge until I went to college. (Oh, you think that’s bad? One day I’ll tell you all about how I couldn’t have my phone past 10 p.m. It was torture.) Want to know the most ironic thing about this story? As I’ve grown older, I have become my parents. Not only do I not like using my phone in church, but I minimize any other distractions as much as possible. I’m a very chatty person, so for me to cut out side conversations was quite the challenge. I realized I needed to cut out all distractions in order to be fully in a spirit of worship. I want to be fully focused when I’m singing. I want to follow along with whomever is praying up front. I want to actually pay attention to the message. I’d encourage you to try this. The next time you go to a worship service, minimize as many distractions as possible. Turn your focus towards Him. I’m sure you’ll notice the difference.