Trevor's Soul Food: April 2007

Tuesday, 24 April 2007

Are you enduring or enjoying your life?

Are you enduring or enjoying your life?

SNACK

It is difficult to tell the difference between Christians and non-believers from their countenance. Christians in the main appear to have lost their joy.

Can a Christian lose his or her joy?

My honest response, is “how many of us as Christians are experiencing true joy in our lives”? It appears to me that the issue is really why is it that so many of us as Christians seem to be enduring rather than enjoying our lives.

Joy is the second manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit that is listed in Gal 5:22.

Is the Christian to ENDURE or ENJOY life?

We get an answer from James 1: 2 - 4

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, .........

I Thess 5: 16 Be joyful always..........

2 Cor 12: 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Christian life is not without hardship. It is also definitely not without JOY!

How can a Christian restore the Joy of the Lord in his or her life?

I want to suggest a 5–step formula:

STEP 1: SELF

Re-visit how you see yourself. Enjoy is incompatible with low self-esteem; self-hate or compounded frustration.

Tips for improving your self esteem include:

a. Watching your self talk
b. Not comparing self to others
c. Using valid and reliable yardsticks
d. Being realistic

STEP 2: ADJUST YOUR PROCESSING FILTERS

We tend to put all events and developments into categories. These categories can usually be classified into positive, negative and neutral.

How we process events has a major impact on our level of joy.

STEP 3: BE FULLY AWARE THAT THE CHOICES WE MAKE TODAY AND MADE YESTERDAY WILL INFLUENCE HOW MUCH JOY WE EXPERIENCE TOMORROW AND 20 YEARS FROM NOW.

STEP 4: REVIEW YOUR OUTLOOK ON THE ISSUES OF PROSPERITY AND SCARCITY.
REFLECT MORE CAREFULLY ON THE BLESSINGS OF HAVING THE JOY OF THE LORD AS OUR STRENGTH

STEP 5: LOOK BEYOND THIS LIFE

The 5th step in the process of ensuring that ENJOY is not left out as we ENDURE is the need to look beyond this life:
1 Cor 15:19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEAL

Are you enduring or enjoying your life?

A. Can a Christian lose his or her joy?

A brother once said to me that he has never read where Jesus laughed. This observation seems to underline the outlook of devout Christians. I think it is fair to say that the overwhelming image of the Christian is of someone with a serious countenance who looks as if they have just come out of great torment.

How many of us can truly say that we and the brethren with which we fellowship are true bundles of joy?

In another discussion, the point was being made that joy was a fruit of the Spirit and therefore was gift from God. Consequently, because it is a gift, we have relatively little influence in how joy plays out in our lives.

We can tinker at happiness, it appears but joy really is outside of our sphere of influence.

The question has been put to me: Can a Christian lose his or her joy?

My honest response, is “how many of us as Christians are experiencing true joy in our lives”? It appears to me that the issue is really why is it that so many of us as Christians seem to be enduring rather than enjoying our lives.

Can we examine ourselves this afternoon and truly say under the watchful eyes of the God who hears our daily prayers and watches each and every emotion: Joy, joy my heart is full of joy?

It appears that we have forgotten that joy is the second manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit that is listed in Gal 5:22. At St. Andrew we have spent over a year preaching, studying and practicing the development of love in our lives and in the congregation ….with marked results.

[Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.]

I wonder how many of us – as congregations - would consider making that investment in focusing on joy. How many sermons have you heard in the past year that address something that is supposed to be manifested in our lives as Christians who have the fruit of the Spirit?

Is the Christian to ENDURE or ENJOY life?

We get an answer from James 1: 2 - 4

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I Thess 5: 16 Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Paul gives us further insight in 2 Cor 12:

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Christian life is not without hardship. It is also definitely not without JOY!

Can a Christian lose his or her joy? We need only to look inside ourselves and around us for the answer.

Are you enduring or enjoying your life? That is question that I put before you this afternoon.

Even as we reflect on our own lives and try to come to some conclusion, I am going to assume that some of us have less JOY in the mix than is desirable.

I am guessing that in some of our lives ENDURE has got the upper hand on ENJOY.

B. How can a Christian restore the Joy of the Lord in his or her life?

I want to suggest a 5–step formula for tipping the balance back in favour of ENJOY.

STEP 1: SELF

Re-visit how you see yourself.

Enjoy is incompatible with low self-esteem; self-hate or compounded frustration.

I state without fear of contradiction that the greater the level of discomfort with yourself the lower the chances of experiencing JOY in your life.

If you listen to your “self talk” you can establish the level of JOY that you are experiencing and that you are likely to experience.

The less you love yourself and the worse you feel about life the lower will be the fount of JOY in your life. Conversely, the more comfortable you are with who you are and the more fulfilled you feel about who you are the greater the prospects of experiencing unbridled JOY.

So, what am I saying? I am saying that whether you experience joy or not starts with you and how you think about yourself.

I am saying that JOY is not totally dependent on others and what happens outside of you. Joy is yours to grasp. You too can ENJOY life…but it starts with coming to grips with yourself. It starts with understanding who you are and respecting yourself.

This does not mean that there are not things to be fixed and adjusted. But, you can only experience JOY when you learn to love yourself – blemishes, warts and all.

Tips for improving your self esteem include:

a. Watching your self talk
b. Not comparing self to others
c. Using valid and reliable yardsticks
d. Being realistic

STEP 2: ADJUST YOUR PROCESSING FILTERS

We tend to put all events and developments into categories. These categories can usually be classified into positive, negative and neutral.

Our orientation to life and our mood tend to determine how we classify events.

How we process events has a major impact on our level of joy. The fact of stress and its management has a great deal of influence on the level of JOY in our lives.

Stress

• Stress is an integral part of our lives
• Some stress is inevitable.
• Stress can impel us to heightened performance and can be healthy and positive in that context.
• Managing the stressors in our lives to extract the positive effects and minimize the negative effects will make it easier for us to experience joy.
• Stress is neither good nor bad.
• It is merely the body’s reaction to the demands of life.
• “Stressors” are external events that cause an emotional &/or physical reaction.
• How any event affects us is a function of how we view the event - positive, negative, or neutral.
• The boss summons you – how do you view that event?
• A negative stressor for you may have positive impact on me. ----- firing for you….raise of pay for me.

Satisfaction
• Satisfaction is on the opposite side of the see-saw with stress.
• Satisfaction plays a central role in our physical and mental health and in enhancing our productivity.
• Sustaining high levels of satisfaction is as important as reducing negative stress.

Stressor management
• Identify your stressors and satisfiers
• Try to reduce or eliminate stressors and increase the impact of satisfiers
• Change your response to events

STEP 3: BE FULLY AWARE THAT THE CHOICES WE MAKE TODAY AND MADE YESTERDAY WILL INFLUENCE HOW MUCH JOY WE EXPERIENCE TOMORROW AND 20 YEARS FROM NOW

We decide that we want to go to Ocho Rios. Our reason for going is not to do the will of God. We hear on the news that Flat Bridge is flooded out.

News flash, news flash: This is the way of escape that God has promised us!

We are determined to go, so we decide to go through Sligoville.

Monday morning: “You want see the whole a mi front end lick out and mi lucky to be alive. A rock roll down pon mi and mi swerve into a crater and mass up mi car. J$30,000 worth a parts alone! I can’t even find my rent money much less.”

There are consequences to the choices that we make and they definitely influence the level of joy that we experience. Some of the discomfort and unhappiness that we feel today are as a direct result of choices that we made in the past.

We have to come to grips with that reality if we are to expect that joy will abound in our lives in the future.

The young man or woman who gives in to a moment of weakness the produces an unplanned pregnancy has a lifetime to face the consequences.

If we are to enjoy rather than endure our lives, we need to make wise choices.

2 Peter 1: 3 – 11 Making One’s Calling and Election Sure
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and a gift from God. Salvation is also a gift from God but many fail to claim it. Our life style and the choices that we make can dampen the effect of the Spirit in our lives.

To let joy abound in our lives in the future, we need to do those things that Peter promises will ensure that we will never fall.

STEP 4: REVIEW YOUR OUTLOOK ON THE ISSUES OF PROSPERITY AND SCARCITY.
REFLECT MORE CAREFULLY ON THE BLESSINGS OF HAVING THE JOY OF THE LORD AS OUR STRENGTH

It is fair to say that a significant proportion of the reasons for bouts of sadness and constant negative stress in our lives is related to money problems.

The lack of money has had a role to play in broken homes, problems among brethren, cass cass with others, poor health and in some instances acute depression.

Let me say up front that I am not here to promote the “prosperity gospel” concept that is the hallmark of tele-evangelism.

I must say, however, that I believe that because we are so afraid of that approach, we have gone to the other extreme. There is a sense in which prosperity is seen as something to avoid like the plague.

I can speak from personal experience, that I made a conscious decision years ago to dramatically curtail any drive for material prosperity on my part. I had a serious fear that I would lose my soul if I did not temper the push for prosperity. I have never recovered from it which is why I am where I am today.

I did not have the benefit of wise council from the pulpit or otherwise that could encourage me to understand that the parable of the talents had meaning for me. That I was blessed with certain talents and I should not bury them out of fear of consequences that I made up in my head.

I did not have the wisdom to understand the implications of Matthew 7:7. That as Christians we in fact have a blank cheque from God and that it is only our lack of faith that prevents us from cashing it.

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Here is the clincher: Many Christians are left to struggle on their own with a concern about maximizing the gifts that God has given them to acquire material wealth. Many would benefit from serious reflection on 2 Cor: 9:10

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

Do you think that there would be an opportunity for joy to abound if there were more brothers and sisters with substantial means that could be used to support benevolence in our congregations and in outreach programmes?

What if we could support the full-time work of dynamic evangelists in our own mission fields?

AS PART OF STEP 4, WE NEED ALSO TO REFLECT ON WHETHER THE ABSENCE OF JOY IN OUR LIVES IS NOT A CONSEQUENCE OF FAILING TO RELY ON THE JOY OF THE LORD AS OUR STRENGTH

Why are so many Christians saddled with worry to the point of depression when Christ could not be clearer in Matt 6:25
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We serve the same God as Abraham, we are a royal priesthood. Royalty is not usually associated with poverty. Let us shake off the fixation that we have with scarcity and a seeming commitment to be constantly struggling to make ends meet. Let us develop the faith to ask, seek, knock!

God has proven time and time again that scarcity is a man-made concept. Abundance is in His nature.

STEP 5: LOOK BEYOND THIS LIFE

The 5th step in the process of ensuring that ENJOY is not left out as we ENDURE is the need to look beyond this life:
1 Cor 15:19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Praise to God for a Living Hope
1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed

Heb 10: 32
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.

38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith.
-----
#33 God has not promised skies always blue, Flower strewn pathway all our lives thru… God has not promised sun without rain, Peace without sorrow, joy without pain.
But God has promised strength as our day, rest when we labor, light on the way. Grace for our trials, help from above, unfading kindness, undying love.

Tho’ we have mingled sunshine and rain, Clouds decked with rainbows, JOY mixed with pain, Let us still trust His mercies right on, And sing His praises all the day long.

Monday, 23 April 2007

Biblical Keys to Success in 2007

Biblical Keys to Success in 2007

SNACK

As we enter a new year it is traditional for us to review what we have done to date and to think about what lies ahead. I want to share with you 7 biblical keys to success in 2007.

Primary Key #1: Acts 22: 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.

We have to declare 2007 to be a NO TARRY YEAR if we want to make the best use of it.

But my reason for selecting this passage as one of the 7 primary biblical keys to success in 2007 is the second part: “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.”

The problem of sin is the number one issue facing every single human being. Sin separates man from God with disastrous results:Deut 31:17; Joshua 7:12; 2 Chron 24:20; Rom 6:20ff

Sin is our #1 problem in this world and in the next. Anything that puts a block between us and the power that created and controls the universe must be a major problem.

2nd Primary Biblical Key: Phil 4: 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

We have to face up to the reality that there will be downtimes and “learn the secret of being content in any and every situation.”

At the same time, there is so much encouragement as to what is possible in 2007 from v13: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

See also John 16: 21; James 1: 5
These passages send me a clear message. If I am a baptized believer who is walking in the light, I am empowered to deal with any situation that arises in 2007.

At the same time, I can ask God for wisdom and get it and can ask for things in Christ’s name and do everything through the strength that He gives me. AWESOME!

3rd Primary Biblical Key: Matt 26: 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

With all the empowerment that comes from being in Christ, we will only achieve sustainable success in 2007 if we submit our will to the will of God. Prov 16: 2;
Matt 6: 31ff .

4th Primary Key: Romans 12: 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It makes little sense to continue with strategies that have consistently failed us. If we are to break new ground in 2007 and become more successful we need to change our mindset and outlook. If ever there was a time for fresh thinking and new approaches it is now.

Deut 31:17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?’

Joshua 7:12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

2 Chron 24:20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the LORD's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.' "

Rom 6:20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin is our #1 problem in this world and in the next. Anything that puts a block between us and the power that created and controls the universe must be a major problem.

We take care to discourage people from directly linking the bad things that happen to them and to others to some sinful act on their part. And that is correct. If we paid the price in proportion to our sins and at the time of our sinning, the world would be a different place. I know I would not be here talking to you.

At the same time, we fool ourselves if we do not pay special attention to the fact that we pay a price for our sins, unless we repent:

Luke 13:1-5 Repent or Perish
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Our success in 2007 must include a plan to take care of sin – our # 1 problem.

The way to deal with the sin problem is set out for us in 1 John.

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

And that is the value of the first primary biblical key to success for us today – getting Christ to take care of our sins:

Acts 22: 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.

If you are here this morning and you have not been baptized to wash away your sins and put yourself in a position where the sacrifice of Christ covers over your sins, what are you waiting for?

2nd Primary Biblical Key: Phil 4: 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

The implications of this passage for success are many. I want to draw attention to the fact that life is challenging. Life in Jamaica in 2007 is likely to be chock full of problems. We have to face up to that reality. Everything is not going to be all sweet and dandy. I can almost guarantee that. We do well to prepare for the downtimes and “learn the secret of being content in any and every situation.”

At the same time, there is so much encouragement as to what is possible in 2007 from v13: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

This is especially true when one considers two other passages:

John 16: 21
A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

James 1: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

These passages send me a clear message. If I am a baptized believer who is walking in the light, I am empowered to deal with any situation that arises in 2007.

At the same time, I can ask God for wisdom and get it and can ask for things in Christ’s name and do everything through the strength that He gives me. AWESOME!

If I am wise and have powerful backing then I have every chance of achieving success in 2007.

3rd Primary Biblical Key: Matt 26: 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

With all the empowerment that comes from being in Christ, we will only achieve sustainable success in 2007 if we submit our will to the will of God.

Prov 16: 2 All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. 3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

If we are going to achieve true success in 2007, we need to ensure that we commit our plans to God and seek to do His will.

Matt 6: 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Our country is bogged down and seemingly moving backwards. Our congregation and the Church as a whole are not breaking records for growth and impact. If the truth be told, many of us have been marking time. We can’t point to any real, dramatic progress when 2006 is compared to 2005 or earlier years.

For 2007 to be different we have to bring new thinking to the process. We have to change the filters that we use to view events. We can’t continue to interpret what is happening around us in the same way. We can’t pull up the same responses to the things that we perceive to be taking place.

For example, we have to recognize that we have a great deal of responsibility for what is happening in our lives. We cannot rely on thoughts that allow us to take comfort in the fact that we are victims. We have immense influence over our destiny and we need to shift our focus on taking responsibility for our destiny.

Again, we have to pay much more attention to what we are able to achieve. We have to get rid of any tendency to doubt. We have to put more trust in God and His promises and believe as we put our prayer requests to Him. In 2007, we need to step out as confident prayer warriors as we pursue significant, high impact projects.

Be different in 2007. Think big. Be bold. Be confident. Be a DOER. Let this be a blow out year for you.

5th Primary Biblical Key: Gen 4:9: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

The reality is that we are living in troublesome times. We need the support of others. Pulling together makes it possible for each of us to achieve more. This year we have to increase our interest in others. We have to strive for more meaningful collaboration with others.

Are we hurting? No longer bottle it up. Seek counsel and support.
Do we need help? Ask for it. Forget pride. Stop playing the martyr. Ask for help.
Do we have an idea that we would like to see implemented? Why not explore an alliance with others?

On the other side of the coin, if you see an opportunity to help and to add value to someone’s life, stop holding back. Stop worrying about whether you ought to intervene. Stop being concerned about whether you will be rejected. As long as your motive is good and it is in keeping with God’s will as outlined in the Scriptures, making the offer is the right thing to do.

6th Primary Biblical Key: Ecc 1: 12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!

If the King of Israel found it fit to devote himself to study, I suggest that most of us have little excuse for continuing in ignorance. Unbridled success in 2007 must have work to develop ourselves as one of its components. We must devote ourselves to learning new things and consolidating what we already know. We are living in a knowledge-based society. People who devote themselves to study are going to be better prepared for success.

7th Primary Biblical Key: I Tim 4: 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Success in 2007 and beyond is assured if we are careful and correct about what we believe and how we live. A life that is manifestly grounded in Christ is a successful life.

What is significant here is the potential of such a life to save not only the individual living it but others. This suggests that our Christianity must be observable. We must not only live right, we must take care to appear to live right.

All too often we set up ourselves in the role of a defence lawyer. We look for technicalities that we can use to justify our questionable behaviour.

1 Cor 10:23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

1 John 2: 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

As Christians we have to be desperately fearful of Christ’s warning:
Matt 18: 5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7 "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
V7 is clear. Woe to us if through our actions we cause others to sin. We must watch our life and our doctrine carefully. We must make our lives be a witness for Christ.
People are watching us and they must see the difference in our lives. We must be careful that we do not let the attractions and the demands of the world lead us and others into sin. We have to let God’s will rule our hearts and minds.

Success in 2007 calls us to a higher standard. We must answer the call to lift up holy hands in prayer (1 Tim 2:8). We must strive to live exemplary lives rather than trying to excuse some of our actions. Remember we are called to live not only for ourselves but to be an example for others.

So, as we close we posed the question: “What are you waiting for to get baptized?” There can be no really justifiable reason. Now is the time to do it. Get up and be baptized and wash your sins away.

We also discussed from Philippians the need to be ready for whatever life throws at us. At the same time, we emphasized the possibilities that are open to us to achieve great things through the power of our connection with Jesus.

We then went to Matthew and Proverbs to highlight the critical importance of committing our plans to God and of letting His will rule in our lives.

Our 4th stop was in Romans as we linked success in 2007 to changing the way that we think. To transforming our lives by renewing our minds.

The Genesis presentation of Cain’s stated indifference to the fate of his brother Abel was used to reinforce the need for close collaboration with others in order to achieve sustainable success.

Our sixth key was supported by a look at the King of Israel’s devotion to study as recorded in Ecclesiastes. Self development is an essential key to success in a knowledge-based society.

Finally, Paul’s admonition to Timothy to watch his life and doctrine was invoked to remind us of our responsibility to live in a manner that not only ensures our own salvation but the salvation of others. Woe, woe if we cause others to sin.

Are we being the best that we can be?

SNACK
As Christians we have a responsibility to be the very best that we can be. We serve a mighty God and we cannot go about doing things in a half-hearted manner.

Numerous examples are provided to indicate that once we walk with God we need not rely on our strength but on His. And so, there can be no justifiable excuse for not performing well.

Phil 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

First key, we must establish a vision for our lives. Answer the question “Why am I here?” Matt 6:33

Second key, we ought to recognize our humanity and develop a healthy respect for the powers and principalities that war against us. Eph 6:10ff

Third key, set up support mechanisms and seek out the specific support of wise and like-minded individuals who are firmly grounded in the faith. Just DO NOT try to go it alone!!!!!

Fourth key, identify strategies for living a fulfilled life. One essential secret lies in the area of sharing and giving to others. This is the surest way to receive healing and fill vacuums in our own lives.

Fifth key, present positive images to others. How others see us is a factor in determining how successful we can become. If we send out positive vibes our chances of achieving excellence is going to be better than if people are not touched when they interact with us or if we turn them off.

Sixth key, keep our eyes on our goals. We need to be patient and focused on the long term. God moves in mysterious ways.

Seventh key, be diligent. We cannot be the best we can be if we are slothful. We must work hard and work smart to achieve our goals. We must be persistent and consistent in our efforts. To do less, is to offer less than we can.

Children of God do their best at all times.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEAL

Are we being the best that we can be?

I am still being driven by the thought that as Christians we have a responsibility to be the very best that we can be. We serve a mighty God and we cannot go about doing things in a half-hearted manner.

Numerous examples are provided to indicate that once we walk with God we need not rely on our strength but on His. And so, there can be no justifiable excuse for not performing well.

Phil 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I have a particular interest in the development of especially the younger members of our congregation. At the same time, there is an ongoing concern about whether others, especially members of the Church, are being the best that they can be. And that is the question that I pose this morning: “Are we being the best that we can be?”

I throw out some thoughts for your consideration:

Firstly, I think it is important that we establish a vision for our lives. If we are lost in a desert, the mere fact of establishing with certainty the direction in which safety lies makes the situation much more manageable. We need to bring a similar level of certainty to our lives. We have to establish some over-arching purpose for our lives.

This exercise may require us to deal with the potentially frightening question of “Why am I here?”

Acts 5: 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

From this passage, I suggest that our vision and our mission here should have God at the centre. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt 6:33

If you think back to school and reflect on how a child who would like to be the ‘teacher’s pet’ would behave. She would have to focus on the benefits of being the teacher’s pet. She would tailor her behaviour to please the teacher and would get excited about doing things that pleased her.

As children of God that we must also tailor our behaviour to please Him and get excited about doing things that please Him.

The second issue that I bring to your attention as we try to be the best that we can be is the need to recognize our humanity and develop a healthy respect for the powers and principalities that war against us.

Eph 6: 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Do not over estimate our ability to cope with the challenges that we will face. Do not put yourself in situations in which temptations are likely to arise. The devil is committed to setting up traps for us. Let us not help him – he needs no assistance. Stay clear of potentially dangerous situations.

The third issue that I raise for your consideration is the need for us to set up support mechanisms and seek out the specific support of wise and like-minded individuals who are firmly grounded in the faith.

Out in the wild animals move in closely-knit packs. This is designed to provide a solid front against the threat of predators. The strategy of the predator has consequently shifted to picking off the strays, the weak and the lame. They do not succeed in getting animals that are in the centre of the pack. There is safety in numbers.

I urge you to stay in the middle of the pack. Surround yourself with well-meaning, supportive and firmly grounded Christians. No matter how shy or private you are, take care to identify at least one Christian to whom you can look for support and guidance.

The persons you choose must be able to command your respect and be able to put themselves in a position to understand your situation. You cannot rely on persons who will let you have your own way or who will provide the spiritual equivalent of ‘take 2 aspirins and go to bed’ for every situation. If there is no one that fits the bill readily accessible to you, you should set about coaching someone to play that role for you. Work with them to bring to the required level of maturity and sensitivity.

Just DO NOT try to go it alone!!!!!

So we have looked at the purpose, our vision/mission. We have contemplated our humanity in the face of consistent challenges that would throw us off course. We have also examined the need for support mechanisms/personnel.

The fourth issue that I raise relates to strategies for living a fulfilled life. One essential secret lies in the area of sharing and giving to others. This is the surest way to receive healing and fill vacuums in our own lives. Again the teacher’s pet principle is in play, as giving and sharing produces immense personal benefits for the donor.

Sharing and giving also open up possibilities for solutions that you did not even think possible for our own challenges. Sharing and giving give rise to networking opportunities. Taking time out from moping about our own challenges to offer a kind word to someone may open doors that we did not know existed or could not approach on our own. Decide to be a giver.

The fifth issue relates to the image that we present to others. All too often, we fail to recognize the great importance of how others see us as a factor in determining how successful we can become. The fact is that people respond to the vibes that they get from us. If we send out positive vibes our chances of achieving excellence is going to be better than if people are not touched when they interact with us or if we turn them off.

In my experience, people who are well liked by others seem to have an advantage. Others seem to be more willing to help them. Others seem to be more willing to listen to them. When an opportunity arises, people think of them first. When they make mistakes people do not seem to bear a grudge for too long. Forgiveness seems to come more readily.

On the other hand, people who present low impact images are often over-looked and miss out on opportunities. The level of warmth that we exude seems to be an important factor in deciding what opportunities are open to us. To a great extent we help to influence our own destiny.

When we create negative vibes in others, we may actually set up some people to put obstacles in our way. They block opportunities from coming your way and work to hinder your progress. Turning off others and being a source of annoyance to people are certain to ensure that we are not the best the best that we can be.

Every time we move even one person from wanting to push for us to being actively working against us, we make things harder for ourselves and we find it harder to be the best that we can be.

Like it or not we need others and we had better pay attention to how we are going to get them to be on our side. Being the best that we can be means that we live our lives in a way that people will rally around us even as we rally around others. The capacity to influence others is critical for success.

The sixth issue is the need to keep our eyes on our goals. We need to be patient and focused on the long term. God moves in mysterious ways. Some times we might think that things are not going very well for us. At times, we might feel that we are actually moving in the wrong direction.

Ruth 1 6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!”
14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.

4: 13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son.” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Marc Breslawsky's parents worried their son would never amount to much. Growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s, Mr. Breslawsky admits he was a lazy kid who always got bad grades and barely made it through high school.
"My parents would come into my room to see if I was doing my homework and I'd fool them by having my books open, when I was really listening to the baseball game or music," he says.
He couldn't get into a New York state or city college. His father, a painter for the New York Fire Department, considered using the money he had saved for Marc's college tuition to open a paint store, where he could employ his son. "My dad figured that maybe eventually I could manage the store," Mr. Breslawsky says.

But he chose to enroll at New York University, a private college that at the time had easy admissions criteria. He earned mostly C's. The only subject he ever got A's in was accounting.
In the career that followed his education, Mr. Breslawsky, now 60 years old, rose to become president of Pitney Bowes, Stamford, Conn., in 1995 and last year became CEO of a spinoff called Imagistics International. "I didn't discover my ambition until I began working," he says.

The adage "it isn't how you start, it's how you finish" applies not only to athletes, artists and politicians but also to business leaders. Many strong executives were late bloomers. Rather than feel defeated by their early failures, they learned invaluable lessons. They realized that setbacks at one moment in time don't necessarily dictate the future and that the way they handle one situation doesn't determine what they can accomplish in another. And because they had to weather constant criticism about themselves and their work, they developed into independent and determined risk-takers.

Mr. Breslawsky says he has never felt crushed or belittled by his poor record in school. He felt constrained in classrooms and didn't like the assignments his teachers gave him. "Even in college, I couldn't see the relationship between what I was being taught and how it applied to my life," he says.

In three years, he became a certified public accountant, then was an accounting manager at Graphic Sciences, an early maker of fax machines that was acquired by Burroughs Corp. He was soon promoted to chief financial officer. Blunt and outspoken, he told his bosses their sales strategy was weak. They challenged him to prove his thinking and named him head of Canadian and international sales.

He had resisted learning at school, but that wasn't the case in business. As he advanced, he learned that his success depended on hiring talented people and motivating them to overcome obstacles. "No matter what job you are in or what economic period, there are always obstacles in the way of success," he says. "You can't get rid of obstacles but have to find a way around them."
He joined Pitney Bowes as a vice president in 1980 and two years later led a launch into the fax-machine distribution business, where he competed against his former employer as well as Xerox and 3M. By 1990, Pitney Bowes held 50% market share in the fax business. In the meantime, Mr. Breslawsky had made up for some of his lost education. "I love to read now and realize I probably missed quite a lot when I was young," he laments.
He became president of the company…..

In his mid-50s Taikichiro Mori founded the business that made him, for a year or two, the richest man in the world. Forbes ranked him as the richest man in the world in 1991 and 1992.

Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana. His father died when he was six years old, and since his mother worked, he was forced to cook for his family. During his teen years, Sanders worked many jobs, including firefighter, steamboat driver, insurance salesman, and he served as an Army private in Cuba.

At the age of 40, Sanders cooked chicken dishes for people who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Kentucky. Since he didn't have a resturant, he served the diners in his living quarters in the service station. Eventually, his local popularity grew, and Sanders moved to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. Over the next nine years, he perfected his method of cooking chicken that used the same eleven herbs and spices that are used today at KFC.

Be willing to open your mind to new opportunities even when it may call on you to give up almost everything that you know and have:
Gen 12: 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

So today, you might not feel like you are a star. You might not feel that you have done the best that you can. The key is to recognize that it is not too late. You can still turn it around….you can still make the breakthrough and be the best that you can be.

In order to do that, you need to be totally committed to the goal. You cannot allow yourself to be distracted or de-motivated. You need to show total dedication to the task at hand.

Also, you cannot doubt. You have to be totally confident about the outcome. There is no room for worry and fear. Abraham went to sacrifice his son as an act of faith. You have to take each step in faith. You have to know that with God in charge we can trust him and press on to success.

The seventh issue relates to the need to be diligent. We cannot be the best we can be if we are slothful. We must work hard and work smart to achieve our goals. We must be persistent and consistent in our efforts. To do less, is to offer less than we can.

Children of God do their best at all times.