"For” Life Changing Words

“FOR” LIFE CHANGING WORDS

Phil. 3:13-14

Story

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to Me.; I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose. "So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. (SermonCentral.com)

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a brother or sister in the Lord..

Paul wrote, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” [1Cor.12:26]

THE “FOR” LIFE CHANGING WORDS

I. FORGIVE (Col. 3:13) “If you want peace of heart”

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Did you catch the challenge? God in those words is challenging us to give up your grudges. That is what he means when he says forgive each other whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Grudges destroy marriages

Grudges break up families

Grudges ruin friendship

Grudges split churches

Illustration:

Studies showed that forgiveness is not only good theology, but good medicines as well. According to the latest medical and psychological research, forgiving is good for our souls and our bodies. People who forgive: benefit from immune functioning and lower blood pressures, have better mental health than people who do not forgive. Feel better physically; have lower amounts of anger and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, maintain more satisfying and long-lasting relationship.

Now, the negative things is, if you have unforgiving spirit, you will have these: high blood, unstable mental health, physically weak, always angry, depressed, unsatisfied life and lots of enemies.

I am absolutely certain that there are people here who need to giveup their grudges...

maybe somebody hurt you long time ago, your boss, your love ones, your neighbors...

But God says to you today, give up your grudges to forgive them.

If you want to change your life this year, commit yourself to give up your grudges.

II. FORGET (Phil. 3:13-14) “If you want peace of mind”

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

This beginning of 2006, if you want changes in your life, commit yourself to forget your failures.

Illustration:

DL Moody told a story of two men who are under the influence of liquor, found their way to the duck where their boat was tied. They wanted to return home. Though they rowed hard all night, they did not reach the other side of the bay. When the gray dawn of the morning broke, they were exactly the same spot they started. They did neglected to loosen the rope and raise the anchor.