Three Steps To A Great Life

 Who told you that you couldn’t break your addiction?

 Who told you that you will never accomplish your dreams?

 You have been listening to Satan, haven’t you?

b) We need to come clean with God and turn our lives in a God pleasing direction.

II. ALWAYS BE GROWING IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

1. Do you realize that no one here today is the same person they were seven years ago?

a) Approximately every seven years, we are an entirely new person.

b) In that period of time, every cell, every atom, in our body dies and is replaced with new ones.

c) Not one atom in your body today was there seven years ago.

d) Someone has called this process, “the seven year switch.”

e) As long as we are alive, no matter how old we become, there is constant new growth provided by God.

f) Just as this is true of us physically, it should always be true of our spiritual growth.

2. No new growth indicates that something is dying (or dead).

a) Israel is no longer growing; in fact, it is shrinking as they continue trying to negotiate peace with the Palestinians by giving up pieces of Israel.

b) The country of Israel was not a very large place to start with if you look at a map.

c) It was not God who determined the size of their land; God’s people determined that for themselves.

d) God spoke to Moses and Joshua saying, I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Joshua 1:3 New International Version (NIV)

e) Israel is small because the Israelites were satisfied with little.

f) In the same way, we will determine the bigness or smallness of our relationship with God.

g) How much of God do you want in your life?

 All things in moderation (including God)?

 Are you satisfied with where you are as a Christian?

 If you want more of God, you can expand your borders in Bible reading and study, and in the many growth opportunities this church offers to you.

3. The Bible says if we don’t continue growing spiritually as a Christian we will begin to shrink.

a) Paul said to First Christian Church in Corinth, Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 New Living Translation (NLT)

b) Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in America today.

c) We can die from a spiritual heart condition as well.

d) The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. Matthew 13:10-15 The Message (MSG)