Job 11:7-9 NCV “Can you understand the secrets of God? Can you search the limits of the Almighty? 8 His limits are higher than the heavens; you cannot reach them! They are deeper than the grave; you cannot understand them! 9 His limits are longer than the earth and wider than the sea.”
Joshua 1: 3 “I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘WHEREVER YOU SET YOUR FOOT, you will be on land I have given you.”
4 things about NEXT. 1. Next can be KNOWN.
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
I Corinthians 2:9 “No eye has seen no ear has heard, no mind had conceived what God has prepared for those who love him…”
John 16:33 “when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth”
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Verse 12-13 “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
2. Next is not always NEAT.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who i have been called according to his purpose.”
3. Next doesn’t have to be so NARROW
Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Psalm 37:23-24 “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”
4. Next can start NOW.
Psalm 119:105 “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Ruth 1:16 - 17 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 even death separates you and me.” 2 things
How do you know when you should stay…
You should stay when the reason you want to leave is all about you.
In Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.
How do you know when you should stay…
You should stay when the reason you want to leave is all about comfort.
(Ephesians 4:22-24 MSG). "Take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you”
James 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
2 Peter 1:5-8 5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How can you be a person who stays? 1. Experience Community
2. Express Gratitude Epheisans 5:20 Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Samuel 12:24 But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
3. Embrace Servanthood Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”
We want to change last years REGRET to next years REALITY! Romans 7:19-24 “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. … 21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am!”
2 Peter 2:19 “A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.”
Denial
2. Delay
3. Defense
4. Dependence
Romans 8:9 “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.”
4 things…
Own it
Psalm 32: 3-5 LB “ There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was.[a] But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. 4 All day and all night your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day 5 until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess them to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Proverbs 28:13 NCV “if you hide your sin you will not succeed but if you confess and reject it you will receive mercy.”
2. Eliminate it Proverbs 13:20 “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Colossians 3:5 "So put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust and evil desires. Don't be greedy for a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world, but now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander and dirty language."
3. Confess it James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
4. Surrender it Galatians 5:16-25 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Successful people do consistently what most people do occasionally.
3 reasons we have a hard time with new habits:
1. We have strong DESIRES but weak DISCIPLINES
I Corinthians 9:24-27 “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
2. When results are DELAYED we get DISCOURAGED
A. We start to think small bad decisions don’t matter much.
B. We start to think small good decisions don’t matter much
Galatians 6:9 “let us not grow weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we DO NOT GIVE UP.”
3. We have plenty of DO GOALS and very few WHO GOALS
