What Does God Want from Me?

Hey, welcome to Self Talk. It's me, Ray Self. So glad you're listening. I got a good show today. I'm happy about this show called, What Does God Want? And I want to give you that answer. You know, I appreciate you listening. Uh, show sponsored by the International College of Ministry, icmcollege.org. You know, we've got a lot of resources on this website. One of the cool ones is you can get a free evaluation. “You know what? I might want to go back to college someday, but I don't know what it would take or how many credits I can get.” Well, we give you that for free at icmcollege.org. Check us out. So, let's get ready for my 238th episode of Self Talk. God bless you. Thank you for listening. Well, as a minister, many times I get asked a question. What does God want? What does He want me to do? What am I supposed to do? You know, what is God's will? And so, I've been pondering that question, and I want to give you an answer, about what does God want? And I can tell you what God wants. I can tell you exactly what He wants because the Bible is very clear on it. 

There's a very famous scripture, John 3:16. Perhaps you know this scripture. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, here's the deal. A lot of people don't understand who God is. Now, I mean, nobody perfectly understands God, but there's one thing I do know. God is perfect. God is holy. God is just, and He's also a righteous judge. So we have a perfect, holy God who created this perfect, perfect, wonderful creative being called man and woman so He could have a relationship with us. He wanted us to love Him, to be His children. And He gave us this incredible world to live in called Earth. Beautiful world. Just got back a couple days ago from the beach, uh, up around the Florida Panhandle. Man, that's beautiful. Beautiful emerald green water. Crystal clear. Dolphins jumping. Uh, white sand. It's gorgeous. And I thought about, you know, God gave me this, and He gave you this. 

So God so loved the world. You see, there's a problem because God, in His perfection, cannot have a relationship with sin. And all of us have a tendency to sin. We all have a sin nature. So we know the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. And they sinned. They ate the forbidden fruit, rebelled against God, and immediately they got a separation in their relationship. As a matter of fact, God came down and said, "Adam, where are you?" And they were ashamed, and they had to cover up. You know the story. It's called the fall of man. And so, God started this elaborate plan in order to reconcile the relationship with mankind. And the Bible records this plan. You see, the Bible's a story of God's plan of redemption. What does redemption mean? Redemption means to buy back. It means to purchase back. God wanted us back. You see, God had an intimate relationship. The Bible says that Adam walked with God in the garden. God wants that back. He wants the relationship with you back. What does He want? A relationship with you. What's the answer? What's God's will for you? It's you. God wants you. And you see, so we, we have the old covenant, the old testament. 

So God had to go through some steps, you know, man uh, He delivers man, you know, He allows man to suffer consequences and women to suffer consequences for their sin. Then God gives us the law. It was an amazing law. He gave it to Moses. 630 requirements for righteousness. And one of the laws in the, in the law was if you disobey any one of the 630 laws, you're disobedient, and you're actually under a curse. So God gave us a law that was destined for us to fail. Matter of fact, if you say you've always obeyed the Ten Commandments, no, that's not true. You, I'm sure you've violated some of the Ten Commandments, but God gave us this law. And Paul, who was an expert in the law, the Apostle Paul said the law of God gave us a knowledge of sin. That's why He created this law. The law of God was this– perfect requirements that God had for us. And the requirements were so tough that nobody could perform them. It was interesting. And Israel worked hard to try. They built the temple, and they built, and they had the Passover. They built the temple, the outer court, the inner court, and the holy of holies. Everything they did in the old covenant was symbolic and prophetic, pointing to the need for a savior and the coming of Christ. 

You see, folks, what the law does and all 630 laws, a matter of fact, the Pharisees added another 2,000 to them. And the Jews still try to observe some of the laws, but they're not observing all of the law, which is interesting. What the law did was gave us knowledge of our failures and also gave us a clear picture that we needed help. We needed help. We needed a savior. But you see, God knew there was going to be a plan for our redemption. He gave us the law, which clearly pointed out our inability to measure up, gave us the knowledge of Him, knowing that we could not do everything that's required to be righteous, to be holy, to be deserving of a relationship with Him. And so the Holy Spirit was not inside everybody. He would touch certain people at certain times. Some of the prophets, they prophesied. So the entire Old Covenant was actually a prophetic picture of Christ to come. He gives us the Passover. You know, that's a prophetic picture of Christ. The blood on the doorpost represents Christ, the angel of death passing over. That, that's redemption. So all this prophetic picture in the Old Testament was pointing to Jesus. God wants you back in an intimate relationship with Him. And He has gone to a lot of trouble, and I mean a lot of trouble, and taken a long time. And the Bible explains all of this very well in order to redeem you and His people. 

So God finally– Jesus comes to earth. God has a plan. His Son comes to earth in the form of a man. Why did Jesus become a man? Well, for one reason, He was to be a mediator. He was a mediator. Jesus represented God to man, and He represented man to God. He was the perfect mediator. Jesus was between us and God. But you see, the law is tough, and the, obedience, excuse me, the punishment for disobedience to the law is death. The wages of sin is death. So, in order for the price to be paid, for me to pass the test, to get back in relationship with God, and to do everything, to face all my consequence, a price had to be paid. But Jesus, who loved us so much, was willing to pay the price for me, for you, for your family, for anyone who would accept Him. Jesus, when He died on the cross, what He was doing was He was making a way for us to have a relationship with God again. After all these centuries of being separate from God, Jesus perfectly made a way for us to have a relationship with Him. 

What does God want of you? He wants you. He wants you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to talk to you. He wants to fellowship with you. He wants you to talk to Him. He wants you to fellowship with Him. He puts His Spirit, when you get saved, He puts His Spirit within you so He can be in you and be close to you. God went to all this trouble throughout the Old Testament. The whole Old Testament was a plan to restore our relationship with Him. What does God want? He wants you back. He wants you. He wants your attention. He wants your, He wants to hear your voice. He wants to, to guide you. He wants to counsel you. He wants you to talk to Him. He wants to talk back to you. God wants relationship with you. You know, um, my daughter lives in another town, and about a couple times a week she calls. Usually, it's on the way to work, and I love it when she calls. I just love hearing her voice. She calls, and she goes, "Hey, Daddy, how you doing?" And she gives me a little update on her life, and it's like a highlight of my week. I love it. You know, my daughter's, you know, she's mature, and she's got children, and my grandchildren, and I love it when my daughter talks to me. Why? Because I'm in a relationship with her. I'm her father. And you see, God loves you more than I love my daughter. And I love my daughter. And I want a relationship with her. And I– my son. I want a relationship with him and our two other sons. I want a relationship and I want, I want to spend time with them. I want to spend time with my children and my grandchildren. I want to talk to them. I want them to talk to me. I want to be close to them. And you see, this is what God wants with you. You are His child. He wants a relationship with you. 

I want to read this one scripture to you, which points this out so, so clearly. I don't want this to seem like a Captain Obvious-type of podcast. This is very, very serious because this is what Jesus did for us. Jesus died and rose again on the third day for one reason. It was to restore us, to give us a way to have a relationship back with God. The relationship that was lost by Adam and Eve has been restored by Jesus, and we have that. In Matthew, um, 27:50, Jesus is on the cross, and He's come to the point of death. And Matthew 27:50, I'm going to read 51. And it says, "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit.” Jesus gave His life. Now, I want to interject something here. It's very important to understand. Jesus gave His life. Jesus was not murdered. Jesus was not forced to go to the cross. Jesus voluntarily did. Matter of fact, He told Pilate, He said, "No one takes My life from Me. I have the power to lay it down, the power to raise it up again." Jesus did not have to do what He did. He could have summoned thousands of angels to defeat the Romans right there. He could have wiped them out, but He didn't do it because He knew that a price needed to be paid. So you, my listener who's listening to this podcast, so you could have a relationship back with God.

So Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit. Listen to verse 51. Matthew 27:51. “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” What is the veil of the temple? Well, in the temple, which was symbolic of Jesus and God, even symbolic of us, there was an outer courtyard, an inner courtyard, and a place called the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant, and that's where the presence of God would be. And that area of the temple was separated by a veil. This was no ordinary veil. This was a curtain. This was a very, very, very heavy curtain. And I've heard it said that this curtain was, what, I forgot how much, how tall, 15, 20 feet tall, and was 6 inches thick. That's how thick it was. And this separated the Holy of Holies from the outer court. This separated the priest and those making the sacrifices and doing the rituals, which was all symbolic. It separated them from the presence of God. But when Jesus died, and the veil of the temple was torn in two, that was a prophetic moment that says now the Holy of Holies has been opened. The presence of God has been given access. We have access to the presence of God, to God Himself, because of what Jesus has done.

What does God want? He wants you. He wants you. He wants you to have a relationship with Him. Now, He's here. He's around. He hears you. He knows what you're doing. But are you spending time with Him? He just, He wants to hear you, He wants to hear your prayers. He wants to, you to think about Him. Of course, He loves praise. He likes it when you sing praise songs to Him. He loves it when you listen to Him and learn how to recognize His voice. Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice." God went to a lot of trouble. I mean, a lot of trouble so He could make a way with His Son, Jesus, for you to have that close relationship with God. Please don't take this for granted, what Jesus did. Do not underestimate it. It was an enormous sacrifice, an incredible plan in order to reconcile you, to reconcile your relationship. You see, our relationship was broken before Jesus came, and now our relationship is mended and we have a relationship with God. But relationships take work, do they not? Now, God's here, but so many of you, He's waiting on your prayers. He's waiting for you to talk to Him. He's waiting for you to think about Him. He's waiting for you to read His word. That's what God wants. 

Now, now we all have a purpose and a plan. You know, I've talked about purpose and the schemes of the enemy and finding your promised land and all that kind of stuff. Well, you see, your relationship with God is preeminent. And out of this relationship with God, you find your purpose. You find your promised land. You find ways to defeat the schemes of the enemy against you and your family. You find your prosperity. In this relationship with God, you find peace. You find abundance. You find victory. You find healing. It's all there. It's all coming from God. And it's all stemming from your relationship with God. God went to a whole lot of trouble so you could have a relationship with Him. What does God want in the year 2025, or whenever you're listening to this? God wants you. He wants you. He wants you. And He made a way. The Bible says in Romans 10, if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart, Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved. You see, the only condition that God has is for you to accept the fact that Jesus is God. He's the Son of God, and He sacrificed Himself on the cross for you. And He rose from the dead on the third day for you. And you say, "Lord, I believe that. I accept that. I accept that into my life. I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I ask for your Holy Spirit to come into me now. I ask you, Father, to redeem me, to restore me, to recreate me.” That's called salvation. And because of your salvation, God wants you to have a relationship with Him. 

I want to tell you something. I love my kids. And nothing can change that. But there's times when I don't hear from them for a long time, and I feel separate. Although I'm not separate from them, but I miss them. God misses you. He made a way through salvation and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for you to have that relationship. Don't, don't neglect it. Do not neglect God. Do not neglect God. This is more than going to church. This is about you and God talking, fellowshipping together. Amen. Amen. 

Well, this is Dr. Ray Self, and this is Self Talk with me. I hope this show has been a blessing to you. Don't forget to go to the website for the show. We have all the episodes there. You can like and subscribe. The website, the easiest way to get to the website is this little um, this link, icmcollege.org. icmcollege.org/selftalk takes you right to it. There's also some links in the show notes. If you'd like to give, we– I am part of a 501 (c) (3). I definitely appreciate that. God bless you for listening to Self Talk. This is me, and I pray right now for you, those listening who are convicted, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you and guide you and help you to boldly come to the throne of grace. Lord, touch everyone listening to this show right now with your Spirit and forgive us for not spending more time with you, our, our heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen and amen. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you very much.