Acknowledge God

Acknowledge God

November 19, 2017 Morning Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: We mustn’t forget to acknowledge God in our lives.

Focus Passage: Deuteronomy 8:1-18

Supplemental Passage: Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB)

Introduction: Don’t you just hate it when somebody takes credit for something you did? Well, God feels the same way. (Give personal example.)

I. Acknowledge God for your Past (vs 1-6)

a. He brought you through hardship

b. He provided for you

i. When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. (Exodus 16:15 NASB)

c. He used those experiences to make you who you are

II. Acknowledge God for your Present (vs 7-10)

a. God is in Control

b. God has plans for you

c. Trust God

i. "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:31-34 NASB)

III. Acknowledge God in your Future (11-18)

a. When you succeed, don’t take credit for it

i. Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." (James 4:13-15)

b. When you succeed, acknowledge that it is God Who has brought you this far

i. "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:18 NASB)

ii. If you start thinking to yourselves, "I did all this. And all by myself. I'm rich. It's all mine!"-- well, think again. Remember that GOD, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors--as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8:17-18 MSG)

iii. I believe our country has done this very thing. It is God who gave us strength and wealth; we have forgotten Him.

c. Give glory to God!

i. The people kept crying out, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12:22-23 NASB)

ii. "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. (Isaiah 42:8 NASB)

Application/Invitation: Have you acknowledged God in your life? Do you do it regularly? Have you stolen credit from God or others? Do you need to forgive someone for stealing your thunder? In this time of Thanksgiving, let’s be grateful for all the things that God has brought us through and for all the things He has yet to do!