Turning resolutions, into realities
We’ll here we are again, 363 days since the last time we were looking forward to going into the new year,
A lot has changed on the worlds stage this year, hurricanes-record drought-foreign leaders,
even our own country continues to change on a daily basis, right before our very eyes.
But really, the more things change, the more they stay the same,
By that I mean, people often want everything else to change around them and ffor them,
except the thing that really needs changed, which is themselves,
You know they want to change their job, their pay, their spouses traits, their car, their house, and the list goes on and on.
It seems like only around this time of year, does anyone focus inward and think about maybe making some changes in their own life.
Even though we would like to think that on new years day, some how we will wake up and by making our once a year declarations,
Change is really going to happen and this time were going to see great results for our efforts.
As much as making resolutions really makes it about our efforts, its really not about what were capable of doing,
Its all about what He is capable of doing in our lives, when we allow Him to make the changes to our lives that we need, to get the results were looking for.
Nobody likes to go through the hassle, the battle, the storm, the fire, whatever name fits your situation of change,
Of course everyone would prefer to be miraculously delivered to the victors circle.
That’s why we like to be proactive, always on the offense, always thinking that God needs our help,
But that’s not what God wants us to do, He wants us to completely depend on Him and rest in His Amazing ability.
1st Peter 5:7 NKJ.
7. casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Now some might say, if God really cared, He would just take care of everything and we wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
He could do that, absolutely, God could do that and never even blink an eye!
do you have enough faith to trust Him, that He wants to do that, in your life?
You should, that’s the great thing about Gods faith and grace He gives us, its sufficient for every need we have, we can trust Him to care of everything!
Matthew 6:25-27 NKJ
25. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Worrying equals self effort, self effort equals lack of trust, lack of trust equals fear,
but you know what the best thing is?, none of them are any match for Gods Grace!
The MSG. says it this way;
“My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”
1st Peter 5 Vs. 6 says; before you cast all your cares on Him, to
6. be humbled, then, under the powerful hand of God, that you He may exalt in good time,
In the instant technological world we live in, everyone always wants everything now,
It's way past the term microwave, that's so old school, now it's down to the nanosecond.
And they think that it’ should be the same way, with what God has in store for them, in their life
Give it all to me now God, I got to have it now
While that may be exciting to think about, fact is; there is no way anyone could began to handle everything that God has in store for them, at once
Ill. Famous scientist, discoverer and Christian, George Washington Carver, asked God to show him the secrets of the universe,
That didn’t happen, to much information, what He did show him, was the mysteries of the peanut and Carver went on discover, more than 105 food recipes using peanuts.
He also developed and promoted about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house, the farm and the world,
including cosmetics, dyes, paints, plastics, gasoline, and nitroglycerin.
1st Corinthians 2:9 NKJ
9. But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
“The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (pause) I want you to think about that for a moment,
we all know the streets of heaven are paved with gold, its walls are made of jasper and its gates of pearl.
We all know those things exists in eternity, just waiting for us to enjoy,
And scripture also says, things far beyond our imagination that no one knows about.
But I tell you He has things, in fact He puts things in this life, in this world, in our paths,
far beyond what we can think, hope, or imagine, just waiting to be discovered day after day as well
No one knows, exactly what God has in store for those that Love Him and His Son Jesus, the only way to Him in the first place!
Because Jesus, is the one who makes it all possible
John 10:10 NKJ
10. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come (talking about Jesus) that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jeremiah 29:11 NASB
11. For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
We’ll preacher, you sure like to quote those abundant life scriptures,
Yes I do, Gods goodness should be easily identified, so that we know about it and are constantly aware of it,
Like its part of are genetic makeup, part of the fabric of our soul! Amen???
Gods plans for each one of us, are bigger than just planning something way far out in the future for us,
Some one that loves to give, is truly just that, some one that loves to give,
not only now, but always in the now and in the future and forever.
We know this to be true, because The Bible tells us, we have everything available to us, that Jesus has available to Him,
TBS. As Jesus is so are we in this world
1st John 4:17 NKJ
17. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
Talk about a great new years resolution, everyday, just trying to lay a hold of what you already have, what God has already given to us.
So much to experience, so much to learn, so much to be thankful for,
Resolutions are made, because the end result we are hoping for, is for our circumstances to be affected, or changed.
Its not our circumstances that need to change, but our mindset, our way of thinking,
Because when it does, changed circumstances will be the result of it!
God is not moved, nor will He ever be affected by our circumstances, (repeat)
He is moved by our faith, which is, what we think and trust He is capable of doing in our lives.
Hebrews 11:6 NKJ
6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
He is capable of doing as much, or as little in our lives, that we can believe Him for.
Mark 5:25-34 NKJ
25. Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,
26. and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
27. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.
28. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
29. Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
30. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
31. But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
32. And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
33. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
34. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
Was He moved by her circumstances, or her faith?
For 12 yrs. She could have made resolution after resolution, in fact she probably did,
Surely this year I will find a cure, surely this year I will find a new doctor, surely this year I will, I will, I will, etc. etc. etc.
And as long as she did that, her self effort was unable to get the job done for her, it never does,
It wasn’t until she trusted in Jesus complete capability, that her circumstances changed and her need was met.
Just like Jesus took care of her need, He has already provided for every situation that we will ever come up against as well!
Sometimes we like to dwell on how big the situation seems, what we should be dwelling on is, how much bigger God is then any of our situations. Amen?
It's the constant that sustains us through the roller coaster of life, whether we're up or down, He remains the same
Hebrews 13:8-9 NKJ
8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
9. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
Don't be occupied with the diet, that the world has to offer!
God says: that it is good that the heart be established by His grace and capabilities,
and once it is, it will totally revolutionize your life.
When you make it about what you think you can do, which is what human nature wants to do, on a daily, almost moment by moment basis,
It will be full of worries and anxieties, because you are the one propping it all up!
Its a false sense of security, similar to a house of cards,
ready to crumble, without any notice, totally unsustainable, under the pressures of life
But when you depend on Gods grace, that is, His undeserved, unmerited favor, the opposite happens, your heart becomes established by it.
When you know that the only thing that qualifies you to receive Gods blessings is faith in the finished work of Christ,
your heart becomes established by it and you become aware of how precious of a gift, it really is.
God wants you to know and realize on a continuous basis, so that you know, that you know, that you know!
His righteousness, healing, protection and prosperity,
His unlimited everything is yours all the time, all paid for by Jesus, finished work at the cross.
Gods blessings are always available in your life because they are not dependent on your ability to do and live right,
If they were, we would never receive any of them!
Thank goodness, they're based on our ability to believe in His Son Jesus and that fact alone!
With all this talk of Gods goodness and grace, and as Jesus is so are we in this world, some still ask, will there be still be sin?
yes but The Grace of Jesus Finished Work, covers you completely, and you have been forgiven forever, from your sin.
Allowing you to focus more on Jesus and less on yourself and less on your sin!
So that when God looks at you, He sees Jesus Grace and doesn't dwell on your sin, and neither should you,
If your going to dwell on something, dwell on Jesus instead of yourself and your sins.
Because the more you focus on Jesus and His Grace, the less you will want to sin and the more you will strive to be like Him,
And isn't that what we really should all be striving for anyways? You know, “As Jesus is, so are we in this world”
Some in the church, would say too much grace, that’s a license to sin.
It's not a license to sin, it's a license to live, to live the abundant life God has had planed for you, since the beginning!
A life that is so wonderful, it's hard to believe that it really does exist and is just waiting for just one thing,
You, you are the one, go to the mirror, that person looking back at you, is the one who decides if you want to live there.
It makes you wonder, why more people don't? God only knows the answer to that one,
Isaiah 55:2-3 NLT
2.Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good?
3.“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life,
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
God says, “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life,
God has so many good things in store for all of us, in our lives.
The most grand life we could ever imagine, is not out of His realm of possibilities! Amen?
But unless we're willing to step out of the old life and into the new, It will never happen,
Too many of Gods people hear about the plans He has for them, but are unwilling embrace, accept and apply them, to their own life.
Gods plans, aren’t a resolution, their not an idea, their the real thing, their the real deal and their already reality!
People know that they work, they see them in other people's lives working,
But at the end of the day, they just continue trudging on through life in mediocrity, doing what they know, what their capable of,
instead of trusting in what God can do and longs to give them!
The skies the limit and they chose to only have what they can reach themselves.
Don’t look to you faith and understanding, always look to Jesus and all of the Possibilities, trusting Him can bring into your life.
TBS. in Hebrews chapter 2, that Jesus, is the author and finisher of our faith...
And when you know and trust the author, you can be sure that He wants to be,
involved in every detail of the story, that's being written about you,
with each chapter, each day and every page, every word spoken, being greater than the one before!
Don't let another year pass you by, start turning you resolutions into a reality today!
Amen, lets pray.
