You Decide
Tonight I’m want to continue to talk about decisions we can make, to make this year a great one – to end up, next year at this time, saying, WOW! This was a great year.
Make decisions that are going to change your future and your loved ones futures. What are your decision for Growth. Personal Growth, and corporate growth. Growth as a family, Growth as individuals etc.
If your happy were you are and want to come to the end of 2012 the same as you are today, then I guess do nothing. But I would say, are you pushing yourself. Are you going deeper?
“Launch out into the deep.” Lk 5:4 Dr. Robert Schuller’s hobbies include raising koi fish. Asked why some grow big while others stay small, he replied, “If a koi fish lives in a small tank it will never grow longer than two or three inches. In a larger pond they can grow up to ten inches long—in ponds the size of mine they’ll get to be eighteen inches long—but if they live in a huge lake where they can swim and stretch, they can grow up to three feet long. The size of the pond determines the size of the fish. Similarly, little ideas in little-thinking minds produce little achievements. But little ideas embraced by big-thinking minds produce enormous achievements.” Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Mt 9:29). The size of your faith and your vision determines the outcome of your idea. Edison had to install electric lights for free in an office building before anyone even came to look at them. The first sewing machine invented was destroyed by a mob in France. Morse waited for ten years before the world showed any interest in his telegraph. And when the idea of traveling by railroad was introduced, people scoffed because it was widely believed that traveling at thirty miles per hour stopped blood circulation in the human body. Ronald E. Osborn said, “Undertake something difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try something beyond what you have already mastered, you’ll never grow.” You attain in direct proportion to what you attempt, which is why Jesus said to His disciples: “Launch out into the deep.”
Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
Remember, our choices are going to affect us, our family, our co-workers, our church, etc.
Joshua made the people take a choice. But he gave them the answer also.
Joshua 24:15-22 (NKJV)
15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
16 So the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods;
17 for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.
18 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."
19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good."
21 And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD!"
22 So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses!"
Think about this, What choices have we made at home. We can choose peace or strife and again it will affect our lives and our family.
Prov. 13:22 (AMP) A good man leaves an inheritance [of moral stability and goodness] to his children’s children…
Again, we decide what our homes are like. Good peaceful homes don’t just happen, they happen with a decision, a choice. When I hear people say, no it just has to be that way. NO IT DOES NOT.
Proverbs 15:1 (NKJV)
1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1 (MSG)
1 A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.
I decide, am I going to be a yeller, because my mom was or my dad was, or am I going to be a person of peace.
Matthew 5:9 (NKJV)
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
Colossians 3:8-10 (NKJV)
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
Colossians 3:8-10 (MSG)
8 But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9 Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire.
10 Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.
Blessing always come from obedience, and obedience always takes a decision. We need to decide to obey God’s Word.
Matthew 7:24-27 (NKJV)
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
James 1:22-25 (NKJV)
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
When God our Father gives us an assignment, He expect obedience and obedience is a descision.
1 Samuel 15:1-31 (NKJV)
1 Samuel also said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD.
2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.
3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
4 So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
10 Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
11 "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.
12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal."
13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD."
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
15 And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on."
17 So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?
18 Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?"
20 And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."
22 So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD."
26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."
27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
28 So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.
29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent."
30 Then he said, "I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God."
31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
So I’m just going to talk about a few things we can do!
1. Decide to acknowledge God throughout the day. Make Him your first thought in the morning and just think about Him throughout the day. Talk to Him.
Psalm 25:14 (AMP)
The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.
2. Read some of the Bible everyday – feed your spirit man.
The Kingdom of God is like planting seeds. You won’t see the results tomorrow perhaps but you need to keep sowing because you will see the results.
Mark 4:26-29 – it’s growing
Isaiah 59:21 (true spiritual children)
3. Change your attitude in some key areas. Decide what you are going to think about.
Phil. 4:8 – You decide what you are going to think about
Psalm 68:19
a. Walk in love – decide not to be touchy, fretful, or resentful
1 Cor. 13:4-8 (AMP)
b. Walk in forgiveness – decide not to be easily offended
Psalm 119:165 (AMP)
Great peace have they who love Your law; nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.
c. Walk in peace –
Psalm 4:8
Prov. 1:33 (AMP)
But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.
Isaiah 26:3-4 (AMP)
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
d. Walk in joy –
Psalm 16:7-9, 11
Psalm 97:11 (AMP)
Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].
Jer. 15:16
e. Decide not to worry
Psalm 55:22 (AMP)
Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).
1 Peter 5:6-7 (AMP)
Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
4. Do some things this year out of your comfort zone.
a. Be friendly
b. Witness more
c. Attend church more regularly
d. Get involved in some area in your local church
