Sermon Central
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Happy New You! Series
Contributed by Johnny Creasong on Jan 12, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: What we really need are some New Year’s Revolutions! Here’s how to change your life FOR GOOD!
Happy New You
1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
2 and he began to teach them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NIV)
What New Year’s Resolutions did you make last year?
How many did you keep?
Resolutions may help us get started in the right direction toward a goal, but in order to really produce the life-change, a revolution must take place. We don’t need resolutions; we need something revolutionary to change us for good! It will require more than just reform! We need something transforming!
The Beattitudes, as we call them, are expressions of DESIRE producing a DARING DECISION, resulting in a DIRECTION for life, which DETERMINES our DESTINY.
We are blessed when we allow the desire Jesus highlighted here to cause us to make a daring decision to change our situation. When that decision changes our lifestyle, it causes us to travel in a new direction. And whatever road you travel right now determines where you will wind up tomorrow.
Let’s say that you make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. Too many Christmas candies have made your clothes shrink. So today you begin your diet. Your desire to lose a few pounds will require you to make some daring decisions: drinking skim milk rather that whole milk, choking down salad with no dressing rather than ladling the Bleu Cheese or Buttermilk, bypassing the beef to put a dried-out piece of baked fish or chicken on your plate. These decisions will be a daring change of direction for you (no more lingering at the bakery isle). If you want your clothes to fit again tomorrow, you’ll have to make some revolutionary adjustments to your life today!
The end result is worth the daring decision. My wife loves candles. I don’t know if she thinks that a single flame has an element of beauty to it, or if she just likes to see wax melt, or if she is a pyromaniac at heart, but she loves candles. And being the influencer she is, my daughters have all picked up on her attitude toward candles. The other day I came in and every room in the house had a candle burning in it. Since each of those candles was scented, each room had a different atmosphere. One room smelled of honeydew melon, one smelled of vanilla bean, one smelled like cinnamon, and on and on. The ladies in my house each desired to produce a change in the atmosphere of the room so they decided to strike a match and stick it to a candle wick of chosen scent. When the flame came in contact with the waxy fuel, it produced a sweet odor which resulted in changing the way the room smelled. As I walked from room to room, the ambience changed as you entered the next doorway. The place sure smelt better that my stinking feet when I removed my shoes!
Instead of just having a “Happy New Year”, wouldn’t you rather have a “Happy New YOU”?
Let me give you some realities which when recognized will produce a Happy New You in the New Year:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(NIV)
1) Do you desire to be HUMBLE?
Jesus is saying that reliance solely upon yourself and what you can do is not that way to reach Heaven. You cannot save yourself! In most respects you cannot help yourself up! In other words, Being at the end of your rope is really the best place to be!
Matthew 5:3 (Message)
"You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.”
Having nothing means that you have to rely on someone else. You have no one to trust in but God. No visible means of support, only invisible. That’s a scary place to be but it really is the only place of safety.
