#19 UNDERSTANDING LOVE: THE ROLE OF A MAP...
EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH A PLAN AND PURPOSE...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Discuss how a map or directions can help individuals?
TEXT:
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what
he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. 2 And the LORD answered me,
and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry,
wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
CHARACTER: the willingness to fulfill your commitments long after the mood in which you made
them grows cold.
LOVE UNDERSTANDS YOU NEED A MAP TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING...
An old man asked me to take him to the drug store to "pick up his pills?"
I agreed. He does not live in our town, but I would be in his town. So I drove and picked
him up and we left for the drug store.
He could not remember the name of the drug store, but he knew how to get there. So as
I drove he told me where to turn, and I turned. He said the store is on the right side.
We drove down the road and passed a long row of stores. The drug store was not there.
We drove back down the road and we just could not find the store. The third time we
drove even slower. We could not find the drug store.
So we went back out on the main road and he gave me directions again.This time
we ended up in a different place. We drove up the road, then down the road. I could not
stop and asked directions because he did not know the name of the store in this large
city?
We tried again and we could not find the store. I felt so stupid looking for something
I did not know what it was nor did I know where it was.
Finally an hour later we found the beloved drug store, it was by accident we found it.
I pulled in the parking lot and the drug store was closed.
The old man told me, I did not know it was this late? (7:30 PM)
We went out to eat and I took the man home.
LOVE UNDERSTANDS THAT BEING IN GOOD COMPANY HELPS DURING STORMS?
DO WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING?
WHAT IS OUR PRIMARY FOCUS?
HISTORY ONLY HAS THE RECORD OF TWO PEOPLE WALKING ON WATER...
JESUS AND PETER...
Matthew 14:29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on
the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
AS LONG AS PETER KEPT HIS EYES FOCUSED ON JESUS ---
HE COULD DO THE IMPOSSIBLE...
THE THUNDERING STORM WITH BOISTEROUS WAVES HAD A WAY OF:
1. DISTRACTING THE ATTENTION
2. DISTORTING THE FACTS
3. BIRTHING FEAR
4. THE SINKING FEELING
5. RE-FOCUS ON THE PLAN...
OBSTACLES ARE WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR FOCUS OFF THE GOAL.
LOVE MUST UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF ATTITUDES TO PROBLEMS...
TWO SONS? TWO ATTITUDES?
Matthew 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said,
Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented,
and went. 30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir:
and went not. 31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus
saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of
God before you.
LOVE UNDERSTANDS WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THIS...
IS THIS WHERE I WANT TO GO?
Do you ever evaluate your:
1. YOUR WORDS
2. YOUR ATTITUDES
3. YOUR ACTIONS
Proverbs 13:3 (KJV) He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips
shall have destruction.
Proverbs 13:3 (NIV) He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to
ruin.
Proverbs 13:3 (MSG) Careful words make for a careful life; careless talk may ruin everything.
Here's a key to self-preservation... The wrong things that we may say will hurt us more
than the bad things that others may say about us.
LOVE UNDERSTANDS NELGECT CAN KILL YOU AND YOUR LOVE...
MY DAD ALWAYS SAID: FRIENDS CAN KILL YOU AS DEAD AS YOUR ENEMIES...
Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began
to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
THINK ABOUT:
1. Perhaps someday we will realize all the prayers we could have prayed?
2. All the Bible we could have read?
3. All the lives we could have touched?
With just a little more effort and PLANNING and a little more of giving our time?
Regret is a dying persons disease. I never heard a dying person say: I did too much?
They say I see I could have done more?
Why not change that today? Invest you time, talent and energy in people not just the
TV and the computer?
LOVE UNDERSTANDS WE NEED A MAP, A PLAN A PURPOSE
WE CAN NOT DO LIVE OUR WAY...
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Please hear my heart. There is a burning within me that I need to share. You all can argue
over the political system that we are now facing and it does not help. Let me tell you something
very plainly. I wanted tell you it will not be the White House the changes the United States of
America.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;
but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
It will be God's house that changes people, that changes families, that changes hearts ..
that changes lives. We need to return to the house of God and be faithful every service.
I'm sorry if this is offensive the anybody.
But I'll tell you something I'm old enough to know we need God.
There is something about spending time at the altar to ventilate our hearts and Minds.
WE ALL KNOW: THE MAIN THING IS TO KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING!
BUT I AM HERE TO ASK: WHAT IS THE MAIN THING?
CONCLUSION:
LOVE UNDERSTANDS THAT CHAMPIONS ARE MADE FROM SOMETHING DEEP
INSIDE OF THEM, A DESIRE BEYOND ACCEPTING THE NORM, AN UNDYING DREAM,
AND A CLEAR VISION.
The closer you are to God the more you see your faults!
The farther you are from God the more you
see other's faults? He who is perfect has the right to throw stones... the rest have lay down their rocks.
PS: Don't expect apples from poison ivy vines.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
