October16 2016 The Life God Blesses

THE LIFE GOD BLESSES

FOUR PITFALLS ON YOUR JOURNEY

1. Cultural distractions
2. The voices of doubt
3. Tempting short cuts
4. Discouraging delays

LESSONS FROM NOAH: GENESIS 6-9

1. I must dare to be different than my culture.

Genesis 6:12 – God observed all the corruption in the world, and He saw violence and depravity everywhere.

Genesis 6:5-6 – When God saw the extent of human wickedness, and that the trend and direction of men’s lives were only towards evil, he was sorry He had made them.  It broke His heart.

Genesis 6:8 – But Noah was different.  God liked what He saw in Noah.  Noah was a pleasure to the Lord.

Genesis 6:9a – Noah was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time.

2. I must listen to the voice of God, not the voices of doubt.

Hebrews 11:7a – It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see.

Hebrews 11:7b – Noah’s belief in God was in direct contrast to the disbelief of the rest of the world.

Genesis 6:9c – Noah walked with God.

3. I must do exactly as God tells me to do.

Genesis 6:9b – Noah always tried to conduct his affairs according to God’s will.

Genesis 6:22 & 7:5 – Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Hebrews 11:7b – Noah obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family.

4. Refusing to give up my God given dreams that God gives me.

Hebrews 11:7a – Noah trusted God.  When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed Him even though there was no sign of a flood.

Hebrews 11:7b – By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.

Genesis 6:8 – Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

February 7 2016 Daring To Plant In Faith

DARING TO PLANT IN FAITH

Daring Faith: The Key To Miracles – Part 5

Genesis 8:22 (NIV) God: “As long as the earth endures, there will be seedtime and harvest. . .”

Galatians 6:7a (Mes)“Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. Whatever a person plants, he WILL harvest."

GOD’S LAWS OF PLANTING AND HARVESTING

1. EVERYTHING STARTS WITH A SEED

Genesis 1:11God said, “Let the land have seed-bearing plants and trees that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their varieties.”

A “SEED” IS ANYTHING VALUABLE that I give away

2. NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL UNTIL THE SEED IS PLANTED

John 12:24 Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, it cannot reproduce. But if it dies, it will produce much fruit.”

Mark 4:26-27 (NCV) Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who plants seed in the ground. Night and day, whether the person is asleep or awake, the seed still grows, but the person does not know how it grows.”

3. WHEN I HAVE A NEED I SHOULD PLANT A SEED

Ecclesiastes 11:6 (TEV) “Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too! You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.” 

4. WHATEVER I PLANT IS WHAT I WILL REAP.

Galatians 6:7b (TEV) “You will reap exactly what you plant.”

Galatians 6:7b-8 (Mes)“The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others, and ignoring God, harvests a crop of weeds. That’s all he’ll have to show for his life! BUT the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life!”

5. I’M NOT THE ONLY SOWER.

John 4:38 “I sent you to reap where you didn’t plant; others had already done work before you, and you will gather the harvest.” 

6. I ALWAYS REAP IN A DIFFERENT SEASON THAN I SOW.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. . . A time to plant and a time to harvest. . . a time to scatter and a time to gather. . .” 

7. I MUST BE PATIENT AND NOT GIVE UP

Galatians 6:9 (LB) “Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we WILL reap a harvest of blessing IF we don’t get discouraged and give up.” 

8. I ALWAYS REAP MORE THAN I SOW.

Mark 4:8 Some seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, MULTIPLYING thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times.” 

9. I INCREASE MY HARVEST PLANTING MORE SEED.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously. Each one should give what he’s decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Proverb 11:24 (Mes) “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.” 

10. I PLANT BY FAITH, NOT FEELINGS

Psalm 126:5-6 (NLT) “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, BUT they sing as they return with the harvest.” 

11. THE BEST TIME TO PLANT IS NOW

Ecclesiastes 11:4“Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds; and those who look at every cloud will never reap a harvest.”