HERE AM I SEND ME!
By Angel Maldonado

Isaiah 6:1-8
-Describe the scene. According to John 12:41, Isaiah saw Jesus up on the throne.
-I want to help us understand how we can get this heart and what can happen when we get it.

1. WE SHOULD BE HUMBLED WHEN WE COME INTO CONTACT WITH GOD.
-He saw God and was humbled and convicted of his sin. Will the same thing happen to us on judgment day? It is a recurring thing in the O.T. that when people came into contact with God they would break down and be cut to the heart.
-Isaiah saw Jesus face to face, nowadays we see God in the scriptures. If you are not studying your Bible, you are not coming in contact with God! Don’t tell me you have a relationship with God. One of the most important things in a relationship is two-way communication. We talk to God through prayer and He talks to us through his Word.
-Isaiah was a sinner like the rest of us, but he did not let that stop him from carrying out God’s mission. We can’t let Satan harden our hearts when we sin. We need to be broken about it, we need to confess it to God and to each other and we need to repent and move on!
-It’s scary when you don’t know it and you think that being a good, moral person will get you to heaven. I knew I was lost. I don’t know how many times I joked around that I was going to hell with my boys…and laughed about it! But it is no laughing matter. When I studied the bible, I was humbled by what Jesus did for me. -This coal that was used represents the blood of Jesus. Our sin separates us from God and unless we have come in contact with the blood of Jesus at baptism, we are separated from God and we are going to hell.
*Isaiah 59:1-3
*Romans 6:23 and 3:23
*2 Timothy 2:19. Everyone who confesses must turn away from wickedness.
*Colossians 2:11. Our sins are cut off and we get to be one with God.

-How do we respond to this?

2. HUMILITY AND GRACE LEADS US TO SERVITUDE.
-To serve God, we must be surrendered and obedient. The Lord was searching for someone to represent Him. Isaiah’s guilt was just taken away and his sins were forgiven…he was fired up about that! He understood this gift and out of gratitude was willing to surrender his life to be God’s prophet. He made a commitment. God sent him to go preach the word! He had good days and he had bad days but he did not go back on his commitment.
-In the same way God is still searching for those who will be fully committed to him and will carry out his mission. As Jesus’ disciples, we do what he did while he was on Earth. He preached, served, loved, taught and many other things. Today, God is saying the same things…are you going to respond like Isaiah did? This world is in need of Jesus and in need of his salvation but we cannot wait for the next person to do it. Isaiah says me! I’m right here, send me! Too many of us are pointing fingers… “He’ll do it”.
-Mark 8:34. When we become disciples, we make this commitment to God. This means we will go anywhere, do anything and give up everything for Christ! You can’t hold on to your life and live one for Jesus. That’s called a double life. Too many people sprinkle Jesus into their own lives without having a clue of what Jesus desires. “Well bro, that’s a lot to ask for”, well Jesus did that and much more. If there is anything that you would not do for Jesus, you need to repent.

-How do we get surrendered? By FAITH!

3. WE MUST BE FAITHFUL IN ORDER TO BE SURRENDERED.
-2 Chronicles 16:9. Here it is again. The Lord is searching for fully committed disciples so he can strengthen us! That means we get weak but we don’t get uncommitted. We have to believe this if we are going to be on the edge as a disciple and living a committed and righteous life.
-Faith at its core is being surrendered to God. Believing enough in God that we put our lives in His hands and we trust that all things work for the good of those who love him. Being surrendered on an emotional level takes Faith. We can do all these things, but if we don’t trust that God is going to bless it, we are going to ungrateful and anxious. It’s easy to know this intellectually, but if you are anxious and worried all the time, how much faith do you have? It’s time for us to gain deep conviction on being men and women of Faith! When we get this conviction, one, you will have the peace that transcends all understanding and, two, you will be able to see God do amazing things in your life and the most impossible prayers will be answered.
-Mark 11:22-26. But this is impossible, how is a mountain going to throw itself into the sea? Imagine Stone Mountain growing legs, walking over to Lake Lanier and diving in head first. That is impossible! That’s the point Jesus is trying to make! The key to this scripture is vs. 23 “…it will be done for him.” But there is a clause in this and you can find it in James 4:3. You better check your motives. Our prayers should be unselfish. All of our prayers should be about building God’s Kingdom. We can pray for ourselves if we’re trying to become better and advance God’s Kingdom. We can pray for a million dollars if we’re praying to further God’s Kingdom. Those are the prayers God answers the fastest.
-Pray the impossible prayers and don’t doubt. Doubt is a powerful tool used by Satan. Before I went to the conference, I was struggling hard with this, until I realized that I was self reliant. I was praying for God to work but I kept trying to do it all myself. I did not let God work. When we doubt God, it’s easy to try to do things ourselves and that will get us nowhere.
-At the conference, I was inspired to get back on praying the impossible prayers after hearing them being answered in other people’s lives. Troy Kriss’ grandmother became a Christian at 85 and she was religious all her life. Also, he prayed for a disciple to be the student body president at the University of Florida and that came true. And in Africa, there are over 500 campus students who are disciples and are preaching the Word of God because of men like Blaize, their evangelist, who had vision and faith!
-Matthew 8:13. Jesus says it will be done just as we believe it will be done. We must believe that God can do anything. We must believe that God can use us powerfully to help the people of Atlanta get to heaven. The more disciples we make, the less divorces there will be, the less children without parents and out on the streets, the less drug addicts and rapists and pedophiles. Do you want to make a difference in this city and the world? Get out there and do something with the Faith that moves mountains. Let’s make an eternal impact in the lives of lost souls. Let’s believe that God is in control and is waiting for us to prove to him we are serious about this thing. Then you will start seeing miracles in your lives. We will see impossible prayers get answered! We will become men and women of deep conviction! And we will win this city for Christ! PRAISE BE TO GOD!