Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Did you know that God has a dream for your life?
A very specific, positive, and wonderful plan?
You want to know what it is? Stay with me. We're
going to unpack that today. Welcome to Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm your host,
Dave Drewy. And today we're launching a powerful
series called God's Dream for Your Life. Using
Romans chapter 12 as the roadmap, Chip shows
us what authentic Christianity looks like. Not
religious striving, but relational transformation.
You'll discover three missing ingredients in
most Christians' lives, power, peace, and purpose.
If you've been trying hard but feeling stuck,
if you know you're born again but lack the vitality
you thought Christianity promised, this message
changes everything. Well, here's Chip with today's
teaching. I want you to know that every parent
has a dream for your child. I want you to think
back, if you're a parent, if not, just listen
and think about this is what your parents were
thinking. Every parent, I want you to go back
to that firstborn. You didn't have any kids and
your wife was pregnant or you were the wife and
you are pregnant. And you thought about all the
things that went through your mind about what
this little boy or what this little girl might
be like. The dreams and the thoughts and the
hopes and the aspirations. And what I want to
tell you is that God has a dream for his children.
But what we do is we get that sort of theological
over there. And somehow we think he's more like
the transcendent force out there someday, some
way. And there's rules and standards to live
up to. And so for you to capture the emotion
of how God feels, I want to share a very brief
and personal story. about when I understood how
deeply God plants desires and dreams for us,
for our kids. It was our firstborn for Teresa
and myself. We were at a banquet. Middle of the
banquet, Teresa says, Chip, it is time. I said,
Teresa, let's go. You know, you don't know what
you're doing. The contractions had been about
three hours. We go home, get things set up. We
go to Baylor Hospital. For the next 27 hours,
Teresa and I will be together. It's a long labor.
There's complications. For a number of reasons,
they can't take the baby. They find out something's
wrong. They put a monitor on this little boy
inside of my wife. And I sit next to her for
27 hours. And that little monitor, if you know,
a baby's heartbeat goes like this. Beep, beep,
beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
beep, beep, beep, beep, right? And then she would
have a contraction. And it would go beep, beep,
beep, beep, beep. Beep. Then doctors and nurses
would run in. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. And
we went through that. About three times in 27
hours, about every eight hours, we just stopped
and we prayed and we cried and we gave that little
boy back to God. And I thought, we may have him,
we may not. Then I started thinking about Teresa
and I may not have her. What's going to happen?
And with 27 hours, I had a lot of time to think
about all the dreams I had. for that little boy
that came to the surface that I thought I might
lose. And I want you to know that something deep,
deep inside of me was so fearful and grieving
at what I might lose. And then when that little
boy was born, 27 hours later, that nurse wiped
him off. Teresa was wiped out. I think she said
hi. And then they put that baby in my arms. It
was one of those places where they really thought
the dad was important, and I got a half hour
with my son. And I held that little baby, and
I just, I held that baby with tears streaming
down my face, thinking I didn't know if this
was going to happen. And I thought of all the
dreams I might have lost. And I still remember
it was a linoleum floor and I had such a sense
of gratitude. I remember getting on my knees
on a linoleum floor and holding that little boy
and just crying and thanking God. And I want
you to know why. Because I'm made in the image
of God and embedded in the heart of a father
and embedded in the heart of a mother is a dream
and a desire for your kids because God made you.
And that's how he feels about you. And for many
of us, when our kids are small, the dreams, and
we're sort of young, immature parents, we have
dreams like, I hope he's a baseball player, or
I hope she's musical, or it'd be great if she's
athletic or artistic. And then as you get a little
bit older and they go through some stages in
life, then you will hope they get a good job
and hope they do well in school. And a lot of
the dreams are about kind of what they do. Then
the older you get and the older they get, you
get to where I don't care what they do. I just
want a kid that loves me, loves God, tells the
truth. Your dreams turn into what kind of person
will this be? And you'll notice on your notes,
I want you to know this, is that our heavenly
father has a dream for every one of his children,
and God's dream is to make you like his, write
the word, son. Be ye mature, or fulfill your
design, Matthew. Chapter 5, verse 48 says, be
ye perfect even as your heavenly father is perfect.
In Romans 8, 29, he says God uses every circumstance,
every up, every down, every relationship, everything
we ever go through to conform us to the image
of his son. He says in Ephesians 4 that the whole
purpose of the church is designed so that Through
the relationships that we have and the gifts
that God places in the body is that we would
all grow up to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ. You need to understand,
primarily your life with your heavenly father
is not about what you do, not about what you
accomplish, not what kind of job you have, not
how many points you're scoring spiritually. His
primary dream is the kind of person you become,
the kind of relationship you have with him. He
wants you to be a loving, kind, gentle, holy
person who walks in integrity. I think it's the
greatest need in the world today is for Christians
to live like Christians. And here's what's exciting.
It's not guesswork. It's not about trying hard.
It's not about being religious. God gives us
a very... clear picture of what his dream is
for your life in Romans chapter 12. God's dream
for every child is to become a disciple or a
follower, and you can write it in, a Romans 12
Christian. That's his will. Are you ready? His
will for every child of God on the face of the
earth, regardless of background, nationality,
gender, denomination, God's desire, God's will
for every single follower is that they would
become a Romans 12 Christian. Now, I'm not saying
that Romans 12 is all there is to being a disciple,
but here's what I'm saying. I'm saying it is
the executive summary. It's the snapshot. It's
like this amazing mind that God gave the apostle
Paul. He takes all the teachings of Jesus, and
for 11 chapters, he writes about the work of
Christ and the sin of mankind, all that God has
accomplished, and how much he loves people. And
then in chapter 12, he stops, and he gives us
a snapshot. And he gives us this very quick kind
of cliff note snapshot. What we're going to learn
as we go through it, number one, are you ready
for this? It's relational. And if you have a
pen, circle a few keywords just as we go through
the passage. All we're going to do is give an
overview and we'll dig into each of these sections.
But circle the word. It says relationship with
God. Circle the word God. Verse 1 is going to
talk about what's the snapshot of spiritual maturity,
of true spirituality with God. Then go down,
it says, look, it's the relationship with the
world. Circle the phrase, the world. There's
a world system that we're going to learn about.
A world system that's anti -God, that's energized
by the enemy of your soul, seeking to seduce
you away from your love for Christ. And then
it's going to talk about your relationship with
yourself. Circle the word yourself. We're going
to learn a little bit later that God wants you
to have an accurate, Sober self -assessment.
Then notice that we talk about relationship on
the second page, relationship with believers.
Circle the word believers. There's a way that
spiritually mature, authentic followers relate
with other Christians in a way that does amazing
things in them and amazing things in others.
And then finally, circle the last one. It's a
relationship with non -believers. There's a way
that people that love Jesus, where His Spirit
lives inside of you, respond to the harshest,
most difficult, painful evil that comes into
your life. You're listening to Living on the
Edge with Chip Ingram. We're halfway through
today's message, so don't go anywhere just yet.
Today's insightful lesson comes from our series
called God's Dream for Your Life. Want to dig
deeper into these truths? Well, the full series
is ready for you online at Living on the Edge.
Well, now let's rejoin Chip with today's message.
The second thing you learn about a Romans 12
Christian is that it's practical and it's measurable.
Okay, this isn't just a ooey -gooey spiritual
feeling. Follow along, if you will. Notice what
it says in verse 1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers,
in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
This is your spiritual act of worship. Well,
look at this. But this word for offer is at a
point in time. And what he's going to say is
that here's what you can know practically and
measurably. A spiritually mature, authentic follower
is surrendered to God. On a certain day, at a
certain time, on their spiritual journey, a man
or a woman or a student has realized how great
and how powerful God is and that his will is
good and you have bowed the knee and bowed the
heart and said to God, I'm all in. I will do
whatever you want me to do. Your word will be
the guide of my life. I want to arrange my life,
my relationships, and my priorities around whatever
you say. And that answers one of the biggest
questions. that you'll ever face in your life.
And that question is this. How do you give God
what he wants the most? Have you ever thought
about that? God is a person. He's not some invisible,
transcendent, impersonal force. He's a person.
And if you have a good friend, and they have
a birthday, don't you ask questions like, I wonder
what he or she would want for their birthday?
Or if you're married, you say, I wonder what
my mate would want the most? Or if you're a parent,
I wonder how I could really help or bless my
kids the most. Have you ever asked yourself,
I wonder what God wants the most from me? And
you know what you're going to learn? He wants
you. He wants you. My observation is in most
Christians' life, there's a missing ingredient.
And Romans 12 not only is relational and practical,
It answers this big question and it also gives
us the missing ingredient in every relationship.
And the missing ingredient in most Christians'
lives, and you just jot this on the side of your
notes, is power. We're anemic. So many Christians
try really, really hard. We've had tens of thousands
of small groups in America and around the world
go through this material. So I've got like research.
And there's still one email that I remember reading
and thinking, wow. The lady said I was at the
kitchen sink doing the dishes. And that morning
I woke up and I felt kind of distant from God.
I've been a Christian about 22 years. And for
some reason I just thought about, I wonder if
any friend described me, if they would even use
the word good Christian or someone who really
loves God with my name. And she said, you know,
I've tried, failed, tried, failed, tried, failed.
I know that I'm born again. I've been a Christian
22 years. I have an alcohol problem that I presently
have right now. And I have an immorality problem
and a porn problem. And I don't like me. And
those thoughts that... guilt because of how I'm
living were popping up and I'm doing the dishes
and the radio was on and this message comes on
about becoming a Romans 12 Christian and it was
the one on surrender. And she said, as I was
doing the dishes, the tears just started streaming
down my face. And she said, I never heard that
before. I never understood that before. And she
talked about drying her hands, going to her bedroom,
kneeling by her bed, and telling God, I can't
do this. I can't live this life. I surrender
to you. And the rest of that email was, that
was four and a half months ago, and let me tell
you what God did in my life since then. Power.
You know, if you've ever been in one of those
water fights in the backyard, and someone starts
with a squirt gun, right? And if you're smart,
what do you do? You get the hose. And so they
got one of those guns and you get the hose. But
what does someone really, really smart do if
you get the hose? They go over here and they
grab the hose and they kink it. And when they
kink it, how much water comes out? None. What
I want you to understand is you can be a legitimate,
sincere, born again believer in Jesus. And if
your hose is kinked, If your life isn't surrendered,
you don't experience his power. And so all it
becomes is this moralism and attempts to live
a life that's absolutely impossible. Becoming
a Romans 12 Christian begins in your relationship
with God by being surrendered to him. But notice
beginning in verse two, it says, do not conform
any longer to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you'll be able to test and improve what
God's will is, that which is good and pleasing
and perfect. There's a negative and a positive
command, and we're going to develop this and
talk about it. But in essence, what he says is,
with regard to this world system that tells you
that money and stuff and sex and power and prestige
will deliver on security and significant and
great relationships, he's saying, you've got
to live separate from the world's values. You
can't let it, but notice he doesn't say try hard
to be a good Christian. He says, let your mind
be transformed. Then you'll test, you'll experience.
You know the question, the big question in life
this verse answers? How do you get the very best
from God? How do you get the very best from God?
Verse one answers, how do you give God what he
really wants? Verse two says, if God really loves
me, He died for me and he rose from the dead
and he has a plan for my life. How do you tap
into that? We'll explain from this verse exactly
how it works. And the missing ingredient I find
in the great majority of Christians that I talk
to is not just lack of power because of an unsurrendered
life, but a lack of peace. There's Christians
that can't come in. You got to turn on the TV.
You got to go to the refrigerator. When you get
in the car, you got to put sound and music on
because absolute dead, deathly quiet times make
you very uncomfortable. There are few positions,
I think, in all the world that are more miserable
than a legitimate, born -again follower of Jesus
in whom the Spirit of God lives, who lives with
one foot in walking with God and the other foot
in the world system. I happen to be an expert
on this. I've done extensive personal research.
I know what it's like to be at Bible study on
Thursday night and hit every bar on Friday night.
I have been over here where I've, oh, Bible study
and talking about sexual purity and lusted like
crazy over here and telling God I'll never do
this, this, this or that again. And I will tell
you, I was the most miserable Christian in the
world for the first three years. That is the
place the great majority of believers live. And
we forfeit God's peace. We're going to learn.
Are you ready? We're going to learn how to break
that cycle. How God's spirit and God's power
can help you live the kind of life that you long
to and that he wants for you. And we'll learn
that's how you get his best. Beginning in verse
3 and through 8, we learn that in our relationship
to ourselves, God desires a sober self -assessment.
Notice the little phrase, for by the grace of
God. What I want you to hear in all where he
sort of sets the bar of holiness and righteousness
and what it means to have true spirituality,
I want you to hear behind it this compassionate
heart of love. For by the grace of God, I say
to every man among you, don't think more highly
of yourself than you ought to think, but think
as to have sound or sober judgment, as God has
allotted to each a measure of faith. He talks
about, How you get that and how you're a part
of a body. And we'll discover that he's deposited
a supernatural gift. If you look at verses six
through eight, we'll cover all those later. But
he wants you in your relationship to yourself
to look in the physical mirror and to look in
the spiritual and the relational mirror and say,
I like that person. God made them. That personality,
that gifts, that height, that eye color. Those
struggles, that family background, and the sovereignty
of God. He wants you to have an accurate, sober
view of yourself. In that one verse, that word
sober, think, think, think, four different times.
God wants you to see yourself the way he sees
you. Dearly loved, valuable, precious, forgiven.
And you know the big question this answers? How
do you come to grips with the real you? I mean,
do you realize how much time and energy and money
and posing and image management we do? Just as
normal human beings, even as Christians, to try
and project to all these different people that
I'm like this and I'm like this and I'm dressed
like that and I'm cool like that and I know this
and did you know I know so and so and this is
how many people report to me or my son or my
daughter, they got this on their SAT scores and
he hit two home runs and I want you to know I
went to an Ivy League school and this purse,
it's not a knockoff, it's really real and this
watch, it really is and I got promoted and yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you spiritualize
it all and you get in a Bible study. Well, according
to so -and -so's commentary, when I was reading
the Greek text a little bit earlier in preparation
for this, we do it, we do it, we do it, we do
it. This section will teach you how to come to
grips with the real you and then it supplies
the missing ingredient. Verse one supplies the
power when you understand it. Verse two supplies
the peace. And verse three supplies your purpose.
Because see, God made you specifically. You are
his workmanship. You're created in Christ Jesus
unto a good work, which before the foundations
of the earth. So guess what? He's gifted you
to do something specific. In his sovereignty,
he has you in relationships that have been difficult
in some ways and empowering in others. But God
has a purpose for your life. When you're always
pretending to be someone else or comparing yourself
with someone else and not accepting, these are
my strengths, these are my weaknesses, these
are my gifts, this is my background, this produces
some difficulty and dependency, this produces
some great things. Until you get a sober self
-assessment, you end up playing games your whole
life. You try to fulfill your mom's purpose or
your dad's purpose or the culture's purpose or
the company's purpose or what other people think.
Do you know how freeing it is to understand this
is why I'm here. My purpose is this. And this
is what I'm good at and this is what I'm not
good at. This is where I need help and this is
where I need to step out and let God use me.
It's revolutionary. It's absolutely revolutionary.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Today we launched a foundational series called
God's Dream for Your Life. In this teaching is
what Living on the Edge is all about. Chip will
wrap up in just a moment. For over 30 years,
Living on the Edge has existed for one purpose,
to help Christians understand what it really
means to follow Jesus. Not religious performance,
not endless striving, but authentic biblical
Christianity that transforms how you relate to
God, yourself, and others. Today's message from
Romans chapter 12 is the heart of our mission.
We believe every believer needs a clear, practical
roadmap for spiritual maturity. That's why we
create resources, develop small group materials,
and produce daily teaching that comes alongside
you, helping you live out God's dream for your
life. This ministry reaches millions because
partners like you believe in this mission. When
you give to Living on the Edge, you're helping
believers move from confusion to clarity, from
frustration to freedom, from merely knowing about
God to genuinely walking with Him. Your support
makes that possible. Will you join us in this
mission? Partner with Living on the Edge today
by giving online at livingontheedge .org or call
us at 888 - 333 -6003 to give right now. Or write
to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta,
Georgia, 30024. And don't miss the Chip Ingram
Sermon Podcast, a new feature on the Living on
the Edge podcast. Every sermon, complete and
unedited, now available alongside our daily broadcasts.
Subscribe to the Living on the Edge podcast today.
Now here's Chip. As we close today's program,
I want to remind you that the Christian life
is not complex. Jesus taught in a way where the
common people heard him gladly. And the Apostle
Paul takes all the Christian life and gives us
a summary and boils it down to those five significant
relationships. And in our relationship to God,
what do we learn? It's being surrendered to him.
In relationship to the world, it's being separate
from the world's values. In relationship to ourselves,
it's having a sober self -assessment. And in
relationship to believers, it's learning to serve
one another in love. And then in those difficult,
painful times when evil comes our way. It's supernaturally
responding to evil with good. As you learn by
God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit
to respond the way the Apostle Paul has outlined
the Christian life, you will experience something
in you that's fresh and through you that changes
all the world around you. Stay with me on this
series. This is going to be a great ride. I expect
God to do great things in you and then through
you in the next couple weeks. Ready to discover
the missing ingredients most Christians lack?
Power, peace, and purpose? I'm Dave Drewy. Join
us tomorrow as Chip Ingram continues God's dream
for your life, right here on Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram. Today's program is produced
and sponsored by Living on the Edge.