21 Sep HAPPY NEW YEAR! (ARE YOU ADDING ANOTHER YEAR TO YOUR LIFE, OR LIFE TO ANOTHER YEAR?): PART 23

Posted at 10:39h in Uncategorized by

 

Over the last few months we began our teaching series with the following “Three Plan Principles”:

  1. Acknowledge that God has a plan for your life (Jer. 29:11).

     “Three Acknowledge Axioms”:

  1. ) God has a wonderful plan for your life…not a wonderful life for YOUR plan!
  2. ) Destiny is not to be decided.  Destiny is to be discovered.
  3. ) What you were created for is connected to who you were created by.

2. Accept God’s plan for your life (Mark 8:35).

      “Eight Accept Axioms”:

  1. If we always do what we want to do, we may end up where we don’t want to be!
  2. If you get whatever you want now…you may not get what you really want later.
  3. Never trade in the ultimate for the immediate.
  4. Never trade in the valuable for the natural.  
  5. When you get older, you will want the respect of your adult children.
  6. Will your children choose to be with you when they don’t have to be with you?
  7. No thing or fling is worth losing everything!
  8. God only wants something from you because He wants something for you!

3. Ascertain God’s plan for your life (Col. 4:17).

“Four Fascinating Facets to Find the Will of God”:

1.) Biblical Principles (Col. 3:16)

                                               “5 Biblical Barometers”:

  1. God will not reveal the unknown will of God until you begin to do the known will of God.
  2. When you don’t know what to do…do what you know to do.
  3. God’s unknown will, will never contradict His known will.
  4. God’s direction will never contradict His instruction.
  5. Ask yourself, “Does God’s Word prohibit or permit what I’m about to do?”

 

2.) Wise People

      “Six Counsel Concepts”:

  1. When we are messing up, we tend to run to permission instead of correction (John 3:19-21).  
  2. You can always get the counsel you desire by who you run to for counsel.
  3. You can always get the counsel you desire by what you choose to share with them.
  4. Wise people seek the counsel that they need…not the counsel that they want.
  5. Counsel provides angles and prevents blind spots (Ps. 119:24).
  6. Solomon, the man who needed counsel the least…received it the most!

3.) Spiritual prompting (Rom. 8:14-16)  

 

4.) Inner Peace (Col. 3:15)

  “Two Peace Principles”:

  1. The will of God will never lead you where the peace of God can’t keep you.
  2. Don’t mistake losing your peace for losing your nerve.

“Four Fascinating Facets to Follow the Will of God”:

  1. Relinquish your body (Rom. 12:1)

This month let’s conclude our series….

2. Renew your mind (Rom. 12:2)

Here the Scripture says, “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  

In this verse the Greek word translated “world” is kosmos, which means “world system.”  It could be paraphrased “culture.”  The Greek word translated “transformed” is metamorphao.  “Meta” means “change” and “morphos” means “form or shape.”  The Greek word translated “acceptable” is eucharistas which means “well pleasing.”  Lastly, the word translated “perfect” is telios which means “mature.”  

Put all these together and this powerful verse tells us “Don’t be conformed to this world system or culture.  But be transformed (change your mind, form or shape) by the renewing of your mind so that you can prove what is the good, well pleasing and mature work of God.”  

Please remember the Bible tells us to renew our minds not remove our minds!  Have you ever met what I call a Star Trek Christian?  Boldly going where the Bible has not gone before!  These Christians are so far out that they are completely unrelatable.  May I encourage you to stand out…don’t blend in.  However, please balance that with…if people don’t respect you, they won’t receive you!

3. Receive Desires (Ps. 37:4)

Here the Bible tells us, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  The Hebrew word translated “delight” literally means “soft or pliable.”  One of the greatest ways to follow the will of God in your life is by following God-given biblical desires.  However, please notice they must be biblical desires not fleshly or fleeting desires.

You only become a candidate to follow biblical desires when you are delighting yourself in the Lord.  This is a person who keeps a soft, pliable, tender heart towards Him.  This is someone who is a regular Bible student, a regular prayer and a regular church goer!  

Over the years I have had all kinds of fleshly desires come and go, but I compare God-given desires to trying to push down a fully inflated beach ball in the pool.   No matter how hard you push it down, biblical desires just keep popping back up!  

When we were in Knoxville, Tennessee before I was a pastor, I was fishing one day when God dropped in my heart the small seed of a desire to eventually pastor.  Over the next several months and year the desire grew and grew.  No matter how much I tried to push it down, it just kept popping back up.  Today I have been pastoring for over 18 years!

 

Join us next week for our final point in this series…