Winning in the Now!
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
No Turning Back, No Turning Back...
Those are the words to an amazing hymn. Maybe you’ve never sang those words, but if you have...what do they mean to you?
To me, they represent a lifetime commitment! One I made a long time ago, one I don’t take lightly, one I intend on keeping!
Matthew 12:35 NKJ
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
The MSG. says it this way, “Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation”
We’ve heard a lot of words over the airways, the past several weeks, months and years. The earth is cooling down, the earth is heating up.
There’s not a pandemic, there is a pandemic. Put on a mask, take off your mask. Listen up, the so called experts say if we don’t do something it will be the end of the world.
I’ve got news for them and everyone who is listening to them, the Bible states God has plans for this world beyond the realm or scope of their limited thinking and years they have left, here on this earth.
Some have panicked , some have refused, some have rebelled, far far to many have followed like sheep and for some its business as usual!
There is a real crisis, but it’s not the one being bombarded night and day on the airwaves across the globe! It’s a fight for all of humanity to the finish between life and death, good and evil. And it has been raging continually from day one of the “glorious resurrection” of the third day!
John 16:33 NASB
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus victorious resurrection, established salvation and the opportunity for peace, a way to peace that passes all understanding and the constant availability of peace!
However...in a world that should be filled with peace, there is anything but peace.
All we think we see is chaos, because the accuser has created chaos and circumstances to take our focus off of, Jesus who offers and established peace, only the Grace of God has the ability to deliver!
Philippians 3:17-21 Voice
17 Imitate me, brothers and sisters, and look around to those already following the example we have set. 18 I have warned you before (and now say again through my tears) that we have many enemies—people who reject the cross of the Anointed. 19 They are ruled by their bellies, their glory comes by shame, and their minds are fixed on the things of this world. They are doomed. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, exiles on earth waiting eagerly for a Liberator, our Lord Jesus the Anointed, to come and 21 transform these humble, earthly bodies into the form of His glorious body by the same power that brings all things under His control.
We must never forget, no matter what we may ever be told or think we see, we win! We win, in the end! And I would tell you just as important as the news is we win in the end! We also, win in the now!
Each and everyday, despite the atmosphere of uncertainty created by the bombardment of negativity and condemnation by the accuser, WE ALWAYS ARE ON THE WINNING TEAM WINNING!
It may not look like we are winning some days, it may not feel like we are winning some days, but Jesus victory over death, Satan and the gates of hell has and continues to guarantee are daily opportunity of victorious living!
John 10:9-10 KJ
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
For those of us who have entered the door of salvation in Christ Jesus, we already have access and possess what Jesus both proclaims and guarantees!
We may not realize it, we not act like it, but in no way, shape or form does it change the fact, we have been given the opportunity to live the abundant life Jesus died to bring to us!
We have the ability, if we choose to take advantage of what we clearly have been given, to win in the now!
That’s what the abundant life is, Jesus is talking about! The ability to win in the here and now! Yes we win in the sweet by and by, but just as importantly, we win in the here and now!
But the question is for the entire church, all over the globe this morning, why aren’t we choosing to win in the now? Why aren’t we are proclaiming and choosing to win in the Now!
We have the ability, we have been given the most amazing opportunity, we have been qualified, we have been provided unlimited provisional blessings!
So many people go through life, feeling as though they are stuck in a rut, day after day both accepting and making proclamations keeping them right there in the accusers rut, leaving no way of escape!
Choosing to ignore the gifts God has freely given has been ignored day after day, month after month, year after year and before you know it, an entire lifetime of mediocrity slips by, waiting for the reward of the sweet by and by!
Many writers have submitted Scripts for review and many editors have informed said writers they didn’t like the way the story ended, with the simple instructions to rewrite the ending!
In our lives, or I should say in most peoples lives, if they don’t like the way the story is going, they really wish the story would change and they have the ability to change the ending, but somehow the rewrite of the ending, never seems to happen for them.
They keep going down the same path, same old stuff and the only thing that changes in their world, is the days of the week.
Knowingly or unknowingly they accept the circumstance of the day and their words become their own self inflicted damnation and demise!
That’s not winning in the now! That’s not living the abundant life Jesus has both given to his children and expects his children to live!
Life doesn’t have to be that way and because of the cross, life doesn’t have to be lived that way! TBS. your words can be your salvation, why not start by using them for and with your own personal Salvation!
The very moment Jesus becomes your Lord and Savior, your destiny is changed and altered forever!
God left nothing out, when He introduced Grace and His Salvation Message to the world. God’s plans are precise plans! God is a God of precision!
Scientists, doctors, botanists and the list is long as to those who are still baffled by the precision God put into the creation of the world we live in and we take everyday for granted!
God‘s plan wasn’t only for you to have a golden ticket for an event to take place sometime in the future!
God‘s plan for the Grace Jesus died on the cross to deliver to you and I, was and is the plan to live the abundant life, the sweet golden life God longs to give to each and everyone of His children! Starting not only in the here and now, but for all of eternity!
Our lives, we who proclaim Christianity, have been forever altered from the ordinary and the end result is Gods Grace, Favor and Mercy, right here, right now forever and ever and ever!
Not only are we entitled to, but are also made worthy by the qualifying blood of the lamb, to partake and consume, in every way, every shape, every form, every step, all along the way! Amen?
2 Peter 1:5-9 MSG.
So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
With God in your life and the God given ability to have a relationship with Jesus, who lavishly (I just love that word) is in charge of dispersing all of the blessings and goodness God ever intended for all mankind, is a privilege!
Doing Life with Jesus is a privilege not a burden, it is a privilege! Far too many consider life to be a burden! And that my friend is exactly why you see so much to doom and gloom in the world!
There are far too many in life doing life without Jesus! And they get slapped around by the world from one circumstance the accuser has created, after another!
If your life seems like a burden, what you need in your life is more of what Jesus has to offer and less of what your continually are bringing to the table!
We who are Christians, do not have to worry what tomorrow holds for us! Because we know who holds tomorrow! And we know everything tomorrow holds for us is continually created new! Because God is a God of new, day after day!
Lam. 3:22,23 NKJ
22. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23. They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Whether we choose to partake in God’s Mercies or not, does not change the fact, they are ever present and available for us to do so in the continual availability, of here and right now!
Not tomorrow, not next week, but today and everyday we have a choice to serve God, partake of and walk in His mercies, through our relationship with Jesus!
2nd Cor. 5:17 NKJ
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
I don’t know about you, but when I get something new I like to enjoy it! I like to learn all about it, I like to play with it and learn its features, the way it works, the way it operates, how it will benefit my life.
Gods mercies are the same way, God wants you to learn all about them, to experience them, to enjoy them in your life and what they can do for you! That's why they exist!
God’s new mercies everyday are designed for our benefit, to help us enjoy the abundant life provided for us, in the availability of the here and now, moment by moment!
Friend it doesn’t get any more intimate than that! And that’s exactly how God designed His goodness and mercy for us!
So we could have the intimacy of a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, on a moment by moment basis forever!
TBS with man, Nothing is possible, but with God all things are possible!
Ephesians 2:19-22 MSG.
19-22 That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
God’s not interested in our past, when God forgives He also forgets! God will never ever bring up your past after Jesus gift of Salvation Has forgiven you! The accuser will try to remind you tirelessly, but God never will!
God is interested in our future and the building up of our future! And when you let God lead and direct your Life, Jesus will help you to rewrite the story of you, each and everyday.
God not only wants to take you to new heights, but He has also crafted great plans in great detail, for you to experience on the way to those new heights and your God given destiny, each and everyday throughout all of eternity!
Jerm. 33:3 NKJ
‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know
What do you want from God? No I mean Really, what do you want? Don’t be afraid of setting the bar to high!
If you are willing to believe God for and allow God’s will to direct your life, God has promised to show you great and mighty things awaiting you, you have no idea He has created especially for you!
I am reminded of a story where a salesman was driving through town and became hungry. He saw a sign for a restaurant and parked his car and went in.
The first thing he noticed was how dirty the windows were, and then he saw how dirty the table tops were. The waitresses were sitting at a booth looking like they were all mad at the world!
As he stood there, a foul stench came from the grill. One of the waitresses called out and asked him what he wanted. He just said, "Nothing" and left.
Several months later, he was driving through the town again, and he was also hungry again. As he passed that restaurant, he saw a new sign in place of the old one.
He slowed down and looked, and the windows were spotless. In the window was a sign that read, "Under New Management." He took a chance, parked his car and went in.
Everything was clean and in order, and the smell of delicious food came from the grill. New waitresses were there and all were professional and friendly.
He decided to take a chance, so he ordered a burger with all the fixins. It turned out to be the best food he had ever eaten. He couldn’t help but think how much better things can be when they are under new management. ...sermon central
“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know”
Each and everyday God gives us the opportunity to call on Him for guidance and direction! To operate our lives under His new management, with new opportunities, waiting and willing to bless us extravagantly each and everyday!
Isn’t about time we decided to consume and participate in what God has prepared for us and do life with Jesus?
