January 4, 2015
Morning Worship
Text: Proverbs 16:1-3
Subject: Resolutions
Title: Whatever You Say!
Happy New Year. OK, so I have to ask. We are 4 days into 2015… how many resolutions have you broken?
I read some great quotes about resolutions.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin
Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
Helen Keller
Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing. Believe in yourself. And believe that there is a loving Source - a Sower of Dreams - just waiting to be asked to help you make your dreams come true.
Sarah Ban Breathnach
I stopped making resolutions for the New Year. But what I have done is to commit myself to live in the presence of God every day of my life. And if I am going to commit to that then I must also commit myself to believe that He has my best interest in mind and that He has given me everything I need to be faithful to my commitment.
Proverbs 16:1-3 (NIV2011)
1 To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue.
2 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I resolve to live it out beginning today…
God wants the best for your life beginning today.
I. You have to have a plan in order for God to honor it. 1 To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. How many of you would say that you have good plans for the coming year? Last week we look at what it meant to be committed to the Lord and what you could expect to happen if you were committed. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV2011) 9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Now I believe that Christians everywhere would consider themselves committed to the LORD. Sometimes more so than at other times. But I think the key to that verse is the adverb that comes before the word “committed”. And that word is fully. The LORD is look for people to strengthen and yet many Christians miss out on what God wants to do in their lives because they just haven’t committed to Him at the necessary level. We have to be committed to God not only in that we believe that He is able to do something for us, but that His desire is to do for us and to give us the desires of our hearts. When we stumble at that point we hinder the work of God in our lives. C.S. Lewis gave us the following insight: Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV2011)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Every Christian believes the first part of that verse – that God exists. But millions of Christians around the world and throughout the history of the church have missed out on the second part – that He rewards those who earnestly or diligently seek Him. That’s talking about being committed isn’t it? Do you have a plan for your life for the New Year and really for the rest of your life? Do you expect God to do anything with it? … from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. God will honor the things that you say when you agree with what He says about you. You know, more and more Charlotte and I find ourselves doing this when we feel a sickness or some affliction coming on us. “NO! NO! sickness is from the devil and healing is from the LORD and I claim what God has for me instead of what the devil has for me. I just hear on Thursday that the flu epidemic is becoming worse and worse and only 1/3 of those who have received a flu shot are being protected. So all over the media we are being bombarded with “Get ready! You’re probably going to get sick”! But do you have to receive it? Psalm 91:1-7 (NKJV)
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Sickness may try to bombard me. Financial woes may try to overwhelm me. Family relationships may try to drag me down, but I will not be afraid. Though a thousand fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand it will not come near me. To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. My plan is to live my life out according to what He wants for me.
II. In order to receive from the LORD you must be in His will. 2 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Whenever you make a New Year’s resolution or have a desire in your heart for change isn’t it always for the better? How many of you have ever said, “I want to put on fifty pounds this year?” Or, “I resolve to start smoking this year?” No, we always strive to improve. And when we ask for something from the LORD it is so we can improve. Whether it’s healing, or provision, or more of the Holy Spirit, or deliverance, whatever it might be, it is always so we can be better. Somebody prayed, “LORD, let all the people around me gain the 50 pounds that I tried to lose last year so I feel better about myself…” All the good things we desire are connected to verse 1, from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. In other words, to receive we need to not only agree with our mouths what the LORD wants for us, but we also have to ask. James 4:2-3 (NIV2011) 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Receiving is directly connected to asking. Do you remember the series I did a couple of years ago (I know you do) about receiving from God? Step 1, Knowing His will… 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV2011) 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. Is go hearing you? If you are not sure then you have to stop and ask yourself the question, “Am I asking according to His will.” You see, in James 4 James talked about asking with wrong motives… verse 2 in our passage today, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Your intentions for asking may seem pure and right to you. You pray for healing for others and for blessing and provision and power and authority to be manifest in your life, but you just aren’t seeing the results you think the bible says you should see. Why is that? John 15:4-8 (NIV2011) 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. So what wrong motives do we have when we ask? We ask so we can receive for our own benefit. But Jesus said that we should ask and we should produce fruit that glorifies God. So the motives of our hearts should first and foremost be, “LORD, be glorified…”!
III. Once you ask you must trust the LORD to do it… For 13½ years now we have been expecting the LORD to do great things in our midst. We pray for revival, we wait for healing, we long for the manifestations of the Spirit. And now we see the final piece of the puzzle set in place. … 3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Once again this takes us back to our passage from last Sunday. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV2011) 9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Are you able to stay fully committed to Him until you receive His promise? Are you able to walk by faith and not by sight so … when the enemy comes in… whenever the promises of God look like they may never come to you so that …like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. In all that we have talked about this morning there is that one word that keeps coming back to us – the word committed. Webster dictionary says that committed is, feeling dedicated or loyalty to a cause… to be wholeheartedly dedicated. So verse 3 today brings us full circle. If you are committed enough to believe God’s word, to trust His word, to speak His word, and to ask according to His word, and then commit it to Him to bring it about for His glory, then He will establish your plans. Do you see the cycle that is established here? Making plans and asking according to His will and then committing those plans to His ability to bring them about will result in the Lord giving you more plans.
So many times we ask the LORD and then think we are trusting Him, only to be found later trying to figure out what we can do to make it happen.
Years ago, Monroe Parker was traveling through South Alabama on one of those hot, sultry Alabama days. He stopped at a watermelon stand, picked out a watermelon, and asked the proprietor how much it cost. "It's $1.10," he replied. Parker dug into his pocket, found only a bill and said, "All I have is a dollar."
"That's ok," the proprietor said, "I'll trust you for it."
"Well, that's mighty nice of you," Parker responded, and picking up the watermelon, started to leave.
"Hey, where are you going?" the man behind the counter demanded.
"I'm going outside to eat my watermelon." "But you forgot to give me the dollar!"
"You said you would trust me for it," Parker called back.
"Yeah, but I meant I would trust you for the dime!"
"Mack," Parker replied, "You weren't going to trust me at all. You were just going to take a ten-cent gamble on my integrity!"
Haddon Robinson.
1 To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue.
2 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Are you committed enough to trust Him for all things?
