October 5 2014 Accepting Our Duty

Accepting Our Duty 

Ephesians 5:15

Three Foes Of Personal Duty

1. The “rights” mentality: “I demand my rights.”

2. The ‘victim’ mentality: “It’s not my fault.”

3. The ‘entitlement’ mentality: “I deserve it.”

Ephesians 5:15 – Live life with a sense of responsibility, not as those who don’t know the meaning of life, but as those who do.

Why Accept Our Duty

• BECAUSE God is watching MY LIFE.

Hebrews 4:13 – Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is open before Him and to Him, we must explain the way we have lived.

Romans 14:12 – Each of us will have to give a personal account to God.

• BECAUSE others are effected BY MY LIFE.

1 Corinthians 10:24 – People should be concerned about others and not just about themselves.

• BECAUSE God rewards it.

Dueteronomy 28:2 – You will experience all of God’s Blessings if you obey the Lord.

How To Accept My Duty

• By saving my money.

Proverbs 21:20 – The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.

Ecclesiastes 7:4 – The fool thinks only about having a good time now.

• By controlling my reactions.

Proverbs 29:11 – A fool expresses all his emotions, but a wise person controls them.

Matthew 12:36 – People will be responsible for every careless word they’ve said.

Romans 12:21 – Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.

• By guarding our minds.

Proverbs 15:14 – A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.

• By admitting my mistakes and sins.

Proverbs 28:13 – A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.

Hosea 4:4 – Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame!

Romans 3:23-24 – All of us have fallen short, yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’ if we trust in Jesus Christ, who freely takes away our sins.

March 30 2014 Don't Waste Your Life

Don't Waste Your Life

Ephesians 5:15-17 (NLT)“Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

THREE BASIC QUESTIONS

1. WHAT DOES GOD WANT? MY WHOLE LIFE.

Romans 6:13 (NLT) “Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

Deuteronomy 10:12 (NCV) “This is what the Lord your God wants you to do: Respect the Lord and do what he has told you to do. Love him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being.”

Matthew 6:24 (NIV) "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Proverbs 3:6 (LB) “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” 

2. WHAT DOES IT TAKE? DISCIPLINE.

1 Timothy 4:7 (NASB) “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”

1 Timothy 4:7b (LB)“Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit.”

Hebrews 12:1b (NLT) “Let us strip off every weigh ts tihna tth salto swos e uas idlyo whnin, deesrpse ociuarl lpyr tohger ess.”

Luke 10:40-42 (NRSV) “Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but there is need of only one thing and Mary has chosen the better part...”

Philippians 2:13 (TEV) “God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.”

3. WHY SHOULD I DO IT? THE CROSS.

2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV) “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Ephesians 1:7 (GW) “Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.”

Romans 12:1 (GW) “Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God's compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him.”

2 Corinthians 6:1 (Msg) “We beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us!”

Habakkuk 3:2 (NCV) “Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days.”

October 27 2013 Building A Life Of Intention

BUILDING A LIFE OF INTENTION

Ephesians 2:10 – God is our Maker, and in our union with Christ, He has created us for a life of good works, which He has already prepared for us to do.

Acts 13:36 – David served God’s purpose in his generation.

Acts 20:24 – (Paul) I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me, in order that I may complete my mission and finish the work the Lord Jesus gave me to do.

THE BENEFITS OF LIVING AN INTENTIONAL LIFE

1. It will reduce frustration.

James 1:6-7-A doubtful mind is unsettled as a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

James 1:8 – The double minded man can never keep a steady

Isaiah 49:4 – I’ve labored to no purpose. I’ve spent my strength in vain and for nothing.

2. It will increase my motivation.

Job 7:6, 17 – My life drags by, day after hopeless day, I’m tired of living, my life makes no sense.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, they are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Ephesians 3:20 – God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of.

3. It will allow greater concentration.

Philippians 3:13 – I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: forgetting what is behind and looking forward to what

Ephesians 5:15-17 – Pay close attention to how you live. Make good use of every opportunity you get, find out what the Lord wants you to do.

4. It will attract cooperation.

Ezra 10:14 – Tell us how to proceed in setting things straight, and we will fully cooperate.

5. It will prepare me for God’s evaluation.

Romans 14:10, 12 – We will all stand before God’s judgment seat. So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

∙ Believe God has a purpose for my life.

Proverbs 16:4 – The Lord has made everything for His own purpose.

∙ Receive God’s Son into my life.

Ephesians 1:4-5 – Long ago, even before He made the world, God choose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us, His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family be sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to!

∙ Live in Christ each day.

Colossians 2:6 – So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him.

Acts 20:24 – Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus.

I Corinthians 6:20 – Use every part of your body to give glory to Him.

∙ Use your treasure in view of eternity.

I Timothy 6:18-19 – Use your money to do good, always being ready to share whatever God has given you. By doing this you will be storing up real treasure for yourself in heaven.

Luke 16:9 – Use worldly wealth to make friends who will welcome you into eternal dwellings.