How to be addicted, Part 2
Good Morning
Stand with me and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name
God is good and His word is true. God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19)
So I encourage you to lay hold of all the promises God has made to His children. Even though the enemy is fighting you and you may feel defeated and discouraged, I have good news for you; Victory comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)
This is a good story that encouraged me in knowing that God is always close by, but wants us to be submitted to Him and follow His leading. We can't do anything successful if we do not allow God to lead us in the paths that He sees fit. Always remember that God's ways are better than our ways. (Isaiah 55:8)
I hope you enjoy the story.
HEARING GOD
The young man had lost his job and didn't know which way to turn.
So, he went to see the older pastor at his church.
The pastor asked him what was wrong.
Pacing about the preacher's study, the young man ranted about his
problem. Finally, he clenched his fist and shouted, "I've begged
God to say something to help me. Tell me, Pastor, why doesn't
God answer?"
The old pastor, who sat across the room at his desk, spoke something in
reply -- something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young
man stepped across the room. "What did you say?" he asked.
The pastor repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a
whisper. So, the young man moved closer until he was leaning on
the pastor's chair. "Sorry," he said. "I still didn't hear you."
With their heads bent together, the old pastor spoke once
more. "God sometimes whispers," he said, "so when we realize that, we will move closer to hear Him."
This time the young man heard and he understood.
We all want God's voice to thunder through the air with the
answer to our problem. But God's is the still, small voice. . .
the gentle whisper.
Perhaps there's a reason. Nothing draws human focus quite like
a whisper. God's whisper means I must stop my ranting and move
close to Him, until my head is bent together with His. And then,
as I listen, I will find my answer. Better still, I find myself closer
to God.
Turn with me to the book of Hebrews.
Let us go to chapter 13 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Let us read starting at verse 1 and continue to verse 8.
1. Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
2. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
3. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
5. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”[a]
6. So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]
7. Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and intimidate their faith.
8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Things have changed in the world we live in and in our lives over the years and we may not be following any or all of the things that we have just read.
Why?
We become addicted to things of the world.
I hope the second part of this series and this message encourages and inspires your heart to become addicted to the ways of God and to take life one day at a time doing the right things that will elevate your life and bring blessings that will make you glad that you stayed faithful no matter what.
As we spoke in part one of this series, we learned that so many times, because of the trials and tribulations of life we think that we can’t make our life useful again.
We think about the past struggles and failings and we no longer see ourselves as a people who are meant to be triumphant in life.
What we must all remember and keep in mind is that everybody falls short at one time or another. Nobody goes from victory to victory without facing some sort of defeat in the process. None of the famous generals or leaders of armies throughout time were perfect at what they did leading the army they were responsible for.
Napoleon made mistakes, George Washington made mistakes, and MacArthur and Patton made mistakes. I make mistakes. But they all learned from them as we do.
It is normal to fail, it is normal to falter, but what we must keep at the forefront of our thinking is that we will stand up again after we have failed, we will try again after we fall short and we will continue on for as long as God gives us breath. We will then be able in the end to stand in who God envisioned us to be when He created us.
Turn with me to Romans 3:23-24 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
Let's read together;
23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24. and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
If you are feeling overwhelmed because the obstacles in your path seem too great to overcome, I would encourage you to just take it one step at a time.
That is what a good addiction is known for. There are not many that we hear about but they are available if we choose them.
Fortunately, there is an addiction that you don’t want to recover from.
Being addicted to Jesus.
We need to remember that nobody goes from start to finish in a single step.
Becoming addicted to a life with Christ we need to remember what it entails.
It is a process, a journey and a learning opportunity to become better, wiser and stronger than we were before those obstacles came our way.
A famous motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar says “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”
It is the learning that elevates our life to greater heights. It is the things we fail at that teach us what we didn’t know before.
When I first became a Christian, I heard people say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
I thought that was a little crazy but I have learned that if we put things that we battle with in the Lord’s hands, we can do a lot more than we ever thought we could do.
As a true believer and follower of Christ who has made a personal commitment to Him, we must be humble enough to allow the Lord to shape us and mold us into a better version of who we are in our walk here on earth.
Turn with me now to the Book of Job, Chapter 23 and say, “Amen” when you are there. Let us go to verses 10 and 11.
Through all of the suffering that Job went through, he still had a trusting and faithful heart because in Job 23:10-11 he says “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.”
Job knew that his later end of life would be much greater than the trials and tribulations that tried to make him curse God and forget the many wonderful blessings that he had once been bestowed with.
I believe if we follow Job’s example and trust the Lord and stay addicted to Him, that we too will come forth as gold after the trial, after the trouble, and after the heartache.
We will receive blessings that will make us glad that we stayed faithful to the end.
And we will become addicted to that way of life.
However, we need to remember that becoming addicted to Jesus Christ requires a true commitment to put Him first in our lives and realizing that when we do that He does live in our heart.
We must realize that He is a big part of our life if we get in the addictive habit.
I have shared before that I try to say, “Hello Lord” in the morning when I wake.
Is that silly.
Not at all. I know who gave me the breath of air needed to start my day. It may not end up to be a day that I had hoped for but, I know who is in charge.
What about you?
Is that something you realize and can do?
Being truly addicted in Christ requires change.
A couple of tips are that you might want to remember.
1. Acknowledge that you are new every day in your walk with God through Jesus Christ your savior, and are blessed with the indwelling of the Spirit of God in that walk.
2. Remember that He gave you the purpose that you pursued when you decided to get out of bed this morning.
Amen?
Let us go to Him in prayer.
