DON’T SETTLE FOR ORDINARY

God wants to take ordinary lives and make them extraordinary.  We weren’t made to live boring lives where it’s the same old same old.  There’s more to life than living and dying.  We were made to live an exciting adventure.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Many people live dull and mundane and stressful lives, and they have no sense of lasting motivation or joy or enthusiasm.  God never intended for us to live depressed, worried, fearful, powerless, and mundane lives.  But for many that’s their normal way of life.  Maybe you feel inadequate; God wants you to live with competence.  Maybe you feel defeated; God wants you to live in victory.  Maybe you feel anxious and worried; God wants you to live confidently.

God wants to take your ordinary way of living life and transform it into a life that is extraordinary.  You were made for more than you think.  Ephesians 3:20 states, Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think (NLT).  God created you to live an extraordinary life.

The followers of Christ in the Early Church lived extraordinary lives.  Acts 4:13 states that,

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures (NLT).

How do we live extraordinary lives through days that are good, or bad, or just plain ugly?

·         Value your future resurrection.

But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Hebrews 11:35 (NLT)

Life is tough, but if you’re a believer in Jesus, Who rose from the dead, you have your own future resurrection and eternal life to look forward to.  Even now as a believer you’ve been raised from spiritual death.  You have a new life now with Christ.  You have a “new liveliness”.  You’ve been raised from the dead, spiritually.

·         Make what matters in Heaven matter most.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3 (NLT)

Because you’ve placed your belief in Jesus Christ for your forgiveness of sin, you’re guaranteed Heaven.  You’re on your way to a new life with a new body in a perfect world.  Get excited about it!  Think about it!  Focus on it!  Talk about it!  Live it!

·         Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them … Acts 4:7-8a (NLT)

To be filled means to be under the influence, to be led, to be under the management of.  If you’re a believer in Christ you have the Holy Spirit living in you.  Now make it a daily practice of consciously submitting to His leadership and take action based on what you learn from God’s Word.  God’s Spirit and God’s Word never contradict one another.

·         Live saved.

Do not let the grace that you received from God be for nothing.  2 Corinthians 6:1 (NCV)

Live it.  Love it.  Live the saved life.  Reflect often on God’s grace in your life such that your mind, will, emotions, and relationships reflect His grace.

Your salvation for whatever is on the line – your eternity, your livelihood, your finances, your family, your marriage, your heart and soul – is found in Jesus Christ.

·         Live with Jesus.

They realized then that they had been companions of Jesus. Acts 4:13 (GNT)

Peter and John had lived day in and day out with Jesus.  They were “followers” of Him.  They not only associated with Jesus, they followed Him as their Leader, and ultimately as their God and Savior.

How do we “live with Jesus?”  We live with Him “spiritually”.  We don’t live with Him physically yet.  One day we will. But for now we live with Him spiritually.  Therefore we must give a lot of attention to the spiritual dimension of our lives. Why? – Because that’s where we talk and walk with Jesus.  That’s where we live, really live.  And that’s where our lives start transforming from ordinary to extraordinary.