Prosperity, Hope, the Future?
Thesis: God promises us that if we call on him, come to him and pray. Then He will listen to us, prosper us, gives us a eternal hope and a wonderful glorious future.
Introduction:
Commencement is always a time filled with relief and joy as you have conquered another milestone in you life. It is not just exciting for you the graduates but for your families, friends, teachers, and others who have encouraged you toward this cherished day. I know that all around you are individuals who are very proud of your achievements and I want to join them in congratulating you on this step into the future.
Yes, graduation is a completion of your high school years and ending but it is also a step into the future. This step as your parents and teachers are well aware of is a step into a different dimension of this world. The society you live in and will become more involved in is far more complicated than the one I knew when I was your age. There’s war, there is terrorism, there is economic instability, job insecurity, immoral pressures pressing against you on all sides, and there are false belief systems which desire to lead you away from Jesus Christ and His word. There is a redefining of what is right and wrong. There is an upside-down view of what’s moral and immoral, acceptable and unacceptable.
That’s the way it is in our society today in the year 2004. But I want to impress into your well learned minds that you need to fear not. I want to compel you to grab a hold of this thought “You can make a difference for God in this world!”
Bill Bright the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ stated at a graduation ceremony:
“There are three things first love God with all your heart, soul and mind. Be sure you understand who the God is you’re loving…and then trust God. One college student came to me and said, ‘I want to become a believer but I have great plans for my life and I’m afraid if I become a Christian, God will change my plans.’ And I said, ‘I hope so.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’ And I said, ‘Can you imagine this great Creator who flung a hundred billion or more galaxies into space, who holds it all together with a word of His command having an inferior plan for your life to yours? I’d be scared to death to go back under the old control of Bill Bright.”
Many of you here today are asking questions about your upcoming prosperity status, your future hope and dreams and your future in general. It could be career wise, college wise, education wise, and most important spiritual wise. I believe many of you are asking these questions to yourself to others and hopefully more important to the Lord.
With all these questions seeking to be answered in your life and your future I would like to highlight some of these questions and may be some you have not considered:
How are you picturing your future prosperity?
How are you picturing your future hopes and dreams?
How are you picturing your future in general?
How are you today looking down the path of your life at these three dimensions?
Are you looking at the path ahead of you through the lens of God and His Word?
Are you looking at the path ahead of you through the lens of what our current society says?
Are you looking at the path ahead of you through the lens of what Hollywood says it should be?
Are you looking at the path ahead of you through the lens that life is all about me?
Are you looking at the path ahead of you through the lens that “I can do it on my own with no help?”
Are you looking at the path ahead through the lens of “I don’t care?”
Are you looking at the path ahead of you through the lens of “I want to be a success?”
Are you looking at the path ahead through the lens “I want to make a difference in this world?”
Are you looking at the path ahead at all?
The truth is to be a success, to have true prosperity in life, to have a hope of a glorious future. You must understand that the source of life abundant life lies in your willingness to incorporate the Lord into your life right now.
If you want to find real purpose, real prosperity, real hope and an eternal future you must begin now with the Lord as your guide for the future.
Colossians 1:16 - The Message states, “For everything absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him…”
Rick Warren states, ‘The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.”
Your prosperity, your hopes, your future only becomes meaningful and powerful when you invite God to become the author of it.
Thesis: God promises us that if we call on him, come to him and pray. Then He will listen to us, prosper us, gives us a eternal hope and a wonderful glorious future.
In the Old Testament there is a theme verse which has spoken to my heart over the years. In a sense it has been a guiding light in my life. I have discovered that the Bible - God’s Word is a guiding light and it always answers my questions about the future.
Scripture Texts:
Jeremiah 29:11-13: NIV
11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13: The Message
I’ll show up and take care of you as promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.” When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.” Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.
Our Word today reveals some guiding light to us today. But to truly understand the text let’s review what it meant to those who first heard it from the prophet Jeremiah the nation of Israel – God’s people.
In our text from the book of Jeremiah we have a very sad scenario of God’s people Israel. The chosen people of God have over time decided that they did not need or want God involved in their lives, in their careers, in their prosperity, in their hopes and dreams or even in their future.
The sad result was their lives ended up in captivity and in destruction. They had decided at some point in their lives that they no longer needed or wanted God involved in guiding their lives. They had decided to build their lives around themselves, their pleasures, their wants, and their lusts. It really became all about them and not about Him. Therefore their lives spiraled out of control and their lives ended up being unfulfilling, burdensome, meaningless. This condition of the individual life did impact the society they lived in and impacted their nation. The condition of “apathy” and “It’s all about me mindset” led to the demise of their nation and to its collapse.
Kerby Anderson stated, “Almost every great nation has fallen from within. What was happening in the nation of Israel (prior to their fall) is happening today in our nation today. There were five different challenges that the nation of Israel had to face that you, too, will have to face…
1. The Israelites were a nation of skeptics…I haven’t seen God so I don’t believe He exists…
2. They were a nation of deviants…individuals who were willing to call evil good…
3. They were prideful, wise in their own eyes…pride bordering on arrogance, pride that says ‘I did it all by myself, I didn’t need help from my parents or God.’
4. They were drunkards or to be politically correct, they were users of ‘controlled substances’…
5. They were purveyors of injustice…Does that sound like the United States? (Graduation Moments, 51).
The nation of Israel’s collapse occurred because they lost sight of God’s role in their lives. Their choice to do things their way cost them the good way. Their choice to exclude God from their decision making process cost them. It led to the breakdown of the family unit, to the breakdown of their society and to their nation’s demise.
Truth is life without God leads to no life – it leads to no prosperity, no hope and no future.
Yet, in the midst of their rejection of God and His ways God speaks. God cries out through the prophet Jeremiah and offers them a promise. He pledges to prosper them, to give them a hope and a blessed future. He lets a light flood into their lives of future captivity and destruction. His light opens up a light at the end of the dark tunnel they are proceeding down, His light gives them a promise of prosperity and not poverty, His light says I am your hope and your future. But for me to deliver you, to bless means you must do three things.
Jeremiah being led by the Holy Spirit tells us and the Israelites how to be set free from a life filled with bondage and captivity. He tells us how to find prosperity, how to achieve our hopes of the good life. And he also points us toward what our future should look like? He enlightens our minds to the fact that we can not attain any of these three things without God being first in our lives. Our future, our hopes and our prosperity is only possible from Him.
T.S. - So lets first define the three dimensions of life prosperity, hope and a future.
I. The three dimensions of life spoken about in our text tonight are the following.
a. Dimension #1 - Prosperity (that will last forever).
i. It’s the state of - to succeed, to thrive, to have genuine success, to live a life that has continual prosperity in-spite of your income, to be well off, to really live the good life.
ii. When I use the word prosperity it does not just denote money. Listen class of 2004 money does not buy a contented and fulfilling life.
iii. Prosperity genuine prosperity is only found when God is the pilot of your life and you are the co-pilot.
iv. 1 Timothy 6:17: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
b. Dimension #2- To have a lasting hope - A feeling that what one desires will come to pass. Having an expectation of something in the future that is awesome and amazing. This expectation can only be accomplished by the One who created all the awesome and amazing things in this world.
i. The truth is God’s plan for you is far greater than what you could come up with on your own.
1. The one who created the mountain ranges and the sunsets has a grandiose plan for your life. The choice is will you allow Him to give you the revelation for your life and follow His plan?
2. Psalm 62:5 “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.”
c. Dimension #3 - To have a future - means an indication of a time that will come, the prospective or potential condition of a person’s position in time ahead.
i. How will you achieve a splendid- awesome-marvelous future?
1. Truth is it only comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
ii. Jesus promises not just a future here on earth but and eternal future in heaven. This life is the preparation ground for how you will spend eternity.
1. Proverbs 23:18: “There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”
T.S. – We have taken a brief moment to explain the three dimensions of life but now we have to understand and internalize that to receive fulfillment in these areas requires that I do three action steps.
II. In our Scripture text the Lord reveals to us the steps each one of us needs to take “To be all that God wants us to be.”
a. First we must call upon the Lord.
i. Call-means to pick up the hotline to Heaven and call to the Lord for help and advice for the path we are to proceed down in our life.
1. We need to admit in our lives that we need help. We cannot do it on our own.
2. We need to call the Lord and ask Him to tell us what He desires us to do with our lives.
a. We need to ask Him to define for us what our purpose is in life.
b. Lord, “What is my destiny?”
3. We need to ask Him to show us what really matters in life.
a. Lord, “What is the most important lessons I can learn from you?”
4. Here is a warning to all past graduates, today’s graduates and the future graduates. If you choose to define life outside of God’s realm then you set yourselves up for no prosperity, no hope, and no future.
a. This means no eternal hope!
b. This means no eternal success!
c. This means no prospects for eternity!
i. Rick Warren states, “How you define life determines your destiny. Your perspective will influence how you invest your time, spend your money, use your talents, and value your relationships” (41).
b. The second action we need to implement in our life is to come – move toward God.
i. What does it mean to come?
1. To come means to move from a place thought of as “There” to or into a place thought of as “Here.”(Webster)
2. It is the action step of moving under the umbrella of God’s care and protection.
a. It’s the idea of realizing “I can do nothing without Christ therefore I am asking Him to become actively involved in my life.”
b. It’s the act of surrendering our will for our lives for God’s will for our lives.
c. Its saying, “Lord I give you my life use it for your glory and make me what you want me to be.”
i. It’s saying, “I choose to lose to myself and allow God to be my guide!”
3. It’s declaring, “Here Lord is my life, my career, my dreams, my future I give to you! Use me for your divine plan and purpose.”
a. Really it’s the most sensible thing you could ever do!
i. 1 John 2:17: “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
ii. Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
4. Rick Warren states, “You cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life while focusing on you own plans” (83).
5. Really coming to God is about surrendering to God. It is the best way to live you life and to have a fulfilling life.
a. Rick Warren, “Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works” (83).
c. The third action step we need to incorporate into our life is we need to pray to the Lord.
i. This means we choose to communicate with Him.
1. Just like you would carry on a conversation with your best friend you chose to do this with God.
a. It means you commit to talk to Him along the path of life.
b. It means you ask the Lord for advice the rest of your life. You say, “Lord, which way do you want me to turn today?”
c. It means when you face trials, tribulation and obstacles in your path of life. You seek His counsel, and help.
d. You learn the importance of prayer and ask for the assistance of Him to conqueror the obstacles.
2. In other words become best friends with the Lord because the truth is He desires to communicate back to you just like a best friend does.
a. He has your interests in the fore front of every decision.
b. His way is always the best way for you.
3. Prayer is really a two way conversation with the Lord.
a. Rick Warren notes, “Your relationship to God has many different aspects: God is your Creator and Maker, Lord and Master, Judge, Redeemer, Father, Savior, and much more. But the most shocking truth is this: Almighty God yearns to be your friend” (85).
i. Friendship is developed through frequent conversation with the one you desire the relationship with.
ii. Take the time daily in your journey of life to communicate to God and He will lead every step you take through your life.
d. God promises that if you do the above 3 actions in your life He will fulfill his promise to prosper you, to give you hope, and to give you a future.
T.S. – There is an added bonus to committing to these three action steps in you life.
III. No only does God promise to prosper you, to give you hope, and to give you a future. He also says you will get two added bonuses in life.
a. When you call on God, come to God and pray to God He will actually listen to your prayers.
i. Amazing isn’t it the God of Heaven will quite everything down at the throne of Heaven and listen to your prayers.
1. This thought still blows my mind!
2. Yes, The God of Heaven - The Creator of this world will listen to Michael McCartney here in Polk County, Wisconsin!
b. But here is another added bonus from the Lord - If you do the above process you will actually find Him.
i. Yes, you can personally discover God for yourself and I guarantee you it will be the greatest day of your life.
1. It was the greatest day of my life.
2. To discover God personally intimately. There is nothing like it! Nothing matches this spiritual high! This encounter is the most amazing love encounter you will ever experience.
Summary Point: “And the amazing truth is it’s available to all who call on Him, come to Him and pray to Him.”
Rick Warren, “Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works” (83) Jesus proved this point!
Conclusion:
So graduates and future graduates start with God on this new adventure. Call on Him for His counsel and direction. Then come to Him by giving up your ways for His ways. Then I challenge you to develop your relationship with Him on a daily basis.
You will discover that you can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens you. You will discover that you can do the impossible because with Him all things are possible.
You will find true spiritual prosperity in life which is the abundant life filled with purpose, success and joy.
You will receive a hope that will never fade away.
You will experience a future that will last for eternity.
My closing thought comes from and Old TV show I use to watch. It was called “Hill Street Blues.” Every week I would watch the sergeant tell his officers after they received their daily assignments to “Be careful out there.” Remember the world system is trying very hard to get you to abandon the ways of Jesus for their destructive ways don’t do it- Decide that you will live for God with you whole heart mind and soul. So that at the end of your life you here these words form the Lord, “Well done thou good and faithful servant!”
