A Solution to Your Resolution

Resolutions are a good thing. A resolution is something you set out to do, something that you resolve to change, something that you set your mind too. As Christians any resolutions that we make should be rooted in ultimately bringing honor and glory to God. If our resolutions are God honoring then we can expect His help in seeing our resolution come to pass. In Jn. 14:14 Jesus said, ask anything in my name and I will do it The problem with most resolutions, that people make, is that the resolution is not rooted in bringing honor to God, but rooted in bringing honor to ones self. God is not interested in helping us to bring honor and glory to ourselves. God is not willing to share his glory with any man. Heres the Solution to your resolution: Make your resolution God centered and you can be sure that it will come to pass. Why? Because Jesus said ask anything in my name and I will do it, and Jesus can't lie. That means asking anything that's according to God's will. Jesus always prayed that God's will would be done. As Christians our resolution each year should be the same. To become more Christlike. But many of us are like the little boy who got a new baseball and bat for Christmas. As he walked out in his backyard he said to himself, I'm the worlds greatest hitter, he tossed the ball in the air and swung and he missed the ball, strike one he said. Then he tossed it up again, this time he swung harder but the same result, he missed, strike two he said, now I'm ready he said to himself ; this balls going over the fence. So the little boy tossed the ball up and swung with all his might and Strike three!! Most kids would become disappointed at this stage, but not this little boy. After strike three he said to himself, I know what the problem is, I can't hit the ball because I'm the worlds greatest pitcher!! Many of us Christians are like this little boy, we don't see ourselves as we really are, therefore becoming more Christlike is not our top priority, it's not our New Years resolution. But it should be! Christian growth should be our top priority. The apostle Paul gives us three steps in achieving spiritual growth, he teaches us how to grow up as Christians. Why was Paul so concerned about spiritual growth? I believe it was in part because he was concerned that the new believers in the churches, that he had planted, would fall prey to false teachers. There were many false teachers in Paul's day, and there are many false teachers today. Theyre so bold they will come right to your house.

Paul didn't want anybody to be able to rob them of the joy they had in Christ. Paul didn't want anyone to rob them of the freedom they had in Christ. Ultimately Paul wanted these Christians to become defenders of the faith as well as Participants in spreading the gospel message Here's something you need to know as a Christian. Spiritual growth is different from physical growth. It's not automatic. You need to work at it. Paul told the young pastor Timothy in 2nd Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth . Paul was telling him study the word! In the physical realm babies naturally grow up, if you give a baby milk and baby food they grow. Keep feeding them and letting them get a little exercise and after a while they'll be feeding themselves. Sometimes you might even think theyre going to eat you out of house and home. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way in the spiritual realm, you can be a Christian for 20 years and still be a baby in Christ. Unfortunately many Christians have never developed a healthy appetite for the word of God. That's one of the reasons that Sunday school attendance in most churches only consists of about 50% of the membership or less. Ive heard Christians that have been saved for 15 or 20 years say Im not getting fed at the church! Now if you saw a grown man or woman that was 20 years old and they could not feed themselves you would assume that something was wrong, you would probably call a doctor. Or if you saw someone who didn't have an appetite you would know that something was wrong with them physically. Let me tell you something friend, if you don't have an appetite for the word of God something is wrong with you spiritually, you need to do some soul-searching. God wants us to grow up as Christians. In his letter to the Church at Corinth, Paul addressed the spiritual Immaturity. Listen to what Paul had to say to the believers In Corinth. First Corinthians chapter 3:1-2 Paul says, And I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able. These believers had been saved at least three years. Paul Was discouraged because the believers there at Corinth were not progressing in the faith. Spiritual immaturity is manifested in many ways, but one of the main ways that it shows up is through people gossiping, arguing and creating division over things that don't really matter. That's exactly what was happening at the church in Corinth. That is how Satan works, that's how he gets in the church, he works through weak minded

spiritually immature Christians to create division. Jesus's half-brother James, in his epistle wrote, that where there's strife and envy there's confusion and all works of evil. Paul tried to be an encourager to the churches that he had planted; we see a great example of that in his letter to the church at Philippi. Paul breaks down the keys to spiritual maturity. Paul Wanted to be an encourager to the believers in the church at Philippi, They had been of much help to Paul, and they had been participants in helping him spread the gospel message, so he gave them some great advice as to how to continue to grow up spiritually. This same advice applies to us today Listen to what Paul tells us: Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus is also laid hold of me, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul started off by saying; this one thing I do. Notice Paul says one thing, we all know that Paul did many things, for example we know that Paul was a tent maker, Paul was a church planter, Paul was a Bible scholar, Paul was a pastor, Paul was a friend to many and Paul was a great encourager. What is this one thing that Paul is talking about when he says this one thing I do? This one thing that Paul is talking about is the process of becoming more Christlike. That's why God saved us. That was Paul's main objective. To be more like Christ. God saved us that he might sanctify us, the word sanctify means to set apart! God saved us and set us apart for a Special use! God chose us for the furtherance of his kingdom and to bring honor and glory to His wonderful name. We're God's ambassadors. The church is a lot like a foreign embassy. It's like a home away from home 1- The first thing Paul teaches us as we desire to be more Christlike is that we need to have our priorities right. A right priority comes out of a right understanding of what God's plan and purposes are for your life. I know this might sound kind of simple, but the way that we come to understand God's plan and purpose for our life is that we read the instruction book, the Bible. The Bible establishes order in a persons life, for example the Bible says to put God first. The Bible also teaches us to love thy neighbor as thyself. What if you and I could start off this year with this resolution, to put God first and love others more, to treat others as we want to be treated? To be more like Christ, to always do

that which pleases the Father. Thats what Jesus did, and that's what Paul was trying to do with his life. Jesus said I did not come to be served but to serve. What if our resolution this year included being a better servant? Do you think this would be pleasing to God? This is what Paul was talking about, this is the one thing he was talking about when he said, but this one thing I do. Paul was talking about dying to himself that he might live to God. So where do we get the power to change our priorities, so that we desire to put God first in our lives? Paul told the church at Rome: be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In order to have a new mindset we need to see things from Gods perspective and not the worlds perspective since they are contrary to one another. The renewing of our minds needs to be our top priority. It reminds me of a story I heard the other day of a professor in a university who was trying to teach his students, in his business class, the importance of time management He set a big wide mouth glass jar on top of the table Then he proceeded to put big rocks in the jar until it was full. Then he asked his students If the jar was full? The students replied yes. Then the professor proceeded to put smaller gravel in the jar to show the students that the jar was not full. Again the professor asks the question, is the jar full? The students responded no! The professor responded you're catching on. Then the professor proceeded to fill the jar with sand. Again the professor asked is, the jar full? The students responded I don't think so because you could probably put water in it. The professor asked a question, What is the point of this experiment? One of the students replied; no matter how busy you are you always have time to put one more thing in your schedule. The professor responded, No that's not the point, the point is this, you have to put the big things in first or else you'll never get them in! Don't let the small things in life keep God out, put God first, always make room and time for God. This mindset only comes out of a commitment to the study of Gods Word. Time spent alone with God is the best investment you could possibly make this New Year. So number one Paul teaches us to seek the fulfillment of Gods will for your life. His will for your life is found in His Holy Word. Study it every day. Commit, resolve, reserve, and prioritize to have the mind of Christ and to grow spiritually. 2- Paul's second key to spiritual maturity is a big one: Forgetting those things which are behind; Paul is saying you have to make peace with your past.

Far too many Christians are in bondage to the past, Jesus said you shall know-the truth and the truth shall set you free. Then he went on to say, and whom the Son sets free shall be free indeed! The first thing we need to come to understand is that we cannot change the past, thats a fact. But here's another fact, even though you may be a product of your past, you do not have to be a prisoner of the past. If you've accepted Christ as your Lord and savior, God forgave you of your past sins. The slate has been wiped clean, youre a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. God said: I will remember your sins no more, He goes on to say I'll separate you're sins as far as east is from the west. Not only did Jesus die to save us from our past sins but he always lives to keep us saved, we have an advocate in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints! Listen to what the author of the book of Hebrews says Concerning Jesus Christ as our high priest Hebrew 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them. This means we're only saved as long as Jesus lives, so how long does the scripture say that Jesus lives? Always. The apostle John says in first John 2:1 "my little children these things I write to you so that you may not sin, and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" The word advocate can be translated "Lawyer or Attorney" My friend, Jesus has never lost a case. And in first John in the first chapter and the ninth verse the apostle John goes on to say that If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many Christians have done things in the past that we re ashamed of, but God can use those mistakes for his glory, do you believe that? For example, a former drug addict who's come to know Christ as savior, can help a current drug addict because you can identify with what he's dealing with you know what he's going through. Or perhaps you've been mentally or physically abused by someone you trusted or even loved. God can use that, as awful as it is, for you to be able to minister to someone who is trying to make sense of it all. God can use you because you have personally experienced it, you can identify with what the person is going through, you can bring comfort and clarity into that person's life. Let me tell you something friend, if Satan has the power to mess you up, then God certainly has the power to fix you up, Amen!! The Bible says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, do you believe that? Paul believed it.

If you think you have a messed up past I want you to consider the apostle Paul and his past, Paul had a zeal for persecuting the church, a passion, a determination to stomp it out! Paul was there at the stoning of Steven, the churches first martyr, Paul was on the way to Damascus to bring back more Christians to be persecuted when he first met Jesus. Paul was trying to destroy the church! Paul as a Pharisee hated the Christians, How does your past stack up against Pauls? Have you ever killed any Christians? Let me ask you a question if God could use Paul, who was a persecutor of the church and did everything within his power to stomp out the church, do you think it's in the realm of possibility that God could use you also, in spite of your past? God chose Paul to write most of the New Testament, so it should become very apparent that God can use those with a checkered past for his glory. Those that are misguided.

A Solution To Your Resolution part two

Our text this morning is found in the book of Philippians chapter 3:12-14 We're going to pick up where we left off last week, Paul had sent a letter to the church at Philippi, Paul's intention as usual was to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ. That's my intention this morning to encourage you. In this part of his letter Paul wanted to encourage them to continue to grow in their Faith. Paul gave them three simple steps in progressing in the faith, we covered the first step last week, and we will touch on it this morning. PRIORITIZING Your life! Remember Paul said, this one thing I do! This one thing that Paul did was pursue a life of Christ likeness. Most people aren't like Paul they have their priorities all mixed up. Many, most of us get our needs mixed up with our wants.. It reminds me of the story of a Wealthy man who had crashed his Mercedes-Benz His whole life was busy with pursuing wealth and the things of this world, he had run off the road and when the policeman showed up the policeman said, come on let's go , and the man said wait, wait, my Mercedes where's my Mercedes, and the policeman said don't worry about your Mercedes, you've got more important things to worry about, your Left arm has been severed beneath the elbow The wealthy man said oh no !my Rolex !my Rolex! Some of us need to get our priorities right.

Paul says the first step is Being Christ like, putting God first others second and ourselves last that's what Christ did. Putting God first runs directly contrary to what the World view teaches, which is to put yourself first. The worldview teaches us that it's all about us. Christianity teaches that it's all about God and others before ourselves. The worldview is rooted in pride, Christianity is rooted in humility. The worldview is self-serving the Christian view is God serving. The worldview is, my will be done, the Christian view is Thy will be done. The worldview teaches you that you're the king; Christianity teaches that God is the king?

Theres one thing the world can never give the world never offers. PEACE! Paul starts off by saying this one thing I do, Paul's main focus was to become more Christlike. Paul teaches us, that our main priority in life should be the same as his, to become more like Christ. That's what Paul is talking about in verse 14 when he says I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. To become more like Christ Look what Paul says in verse 17 he says, brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk, Christ was Paul's model, but Paul says follow me and my example. Hes saying follow me as I follow Christ

Paul is saying watch how I live my life, sometimes we need to see living examples so that we can learn from those that are further along in the faith than we are, that doesn't mean that we put our faith in man, it just means that we can learn from others that are further along in the faith. . People like Billy Graham who's committed his life to serving Christ. If I wanted to be a professional carpenter, I would want to work alongside a professional carpenter and see how he done it. Paul is saying if you want to be a better Christian watch how I live my life, Let me show you what a Christian looks like and how he does it. How he acts, how he responds to difficulty, how he treats people, always esteeming others better than himself. You and I can learn from those that are further along in the faith. Paul understood the importance of his testimony; He knew that both Christians and non-Christians alike were watching him. That's why our testimony is so important as Christians, because people are watching how we live. Your testimony exemplifies the power of God and how he can change

lives. So Paul says Prioritize your life put God first in all you do and live your life to please God and not man. This allows us to pick up where we Left off last week, Paul says this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind. Pauls Second point in teaching us how to grow up spiritually is that we need to make peace with our past. Paul could've never became the man God called him to be or accomplished all the things God had in store for his life if he didn't first reconcile with his past.

You and I can never become all that Gods called us to be if we don't first reconcile with our past. Our past can eat us up. It reminds me of the story of a man, a true story about a man that was flying over Saudi Arabia, and all of a sudden he noticed a sound that terrified him. It was coming from behind the cockpit Jesus Christ came to earth to reconcile sinners back unto God. Romans 5:1says, therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God. If you have given your life to Christ, the wars over, you are no longer at war with God, youre now a child of His. Paul, who was one of the greatest enemies of the church, came to realize this truth, and you and I need to realize this as well. God loves you. And God can use you for his glory In case youre not sure that God uses imperfect people, to accomplish His work on earth, I would like you to consider the following list. We've already talked about Paul and his shortcomings last week, now let's look at some of the other men and women that were imperfect that God used in mighty ways. There're quite a list, the list includes but is not limited to, people who were, liars, adulterers, schemers, deniers of Christ, prostitutes, and even murderers. These same people became spiritual giants in the Faith. Abraham, The patriarch of Israel, Abraham lied about his wife, he told the Egyptians that she was his sister when she was his wife to save his own neck.

Abraham took Hagar as a wife so that he could have a child with her even though God had promised him a child with his wife Sarah. God chose Abraham as the patriarch of Israel; he's the father of all of those in the faith. Moses, Moses killed a man while he was in Egypt when one of the Egyptians were abusing one of the Hebrews God used Moses to deliver his people out of Egypt after they had been in bondage there for over 400 years. The Bible called Moses the most humble man on the face of the earth in the book of Numbers. Something we can all learn from Moses is that God had to work in Moses before He could work through Moses, that process of making Moses the man he needed to be took 40 years. That's what God is doing in our lives today he's working in us so that we may become all that he's called us to be. Moses was prideful in Egypt but after 40 years of Herding sheep in the desert Moses became a very humble man, God could not use Moses until Moses humbled himself before the Lord, God cannot use you or me until he brings us to this point of humility in our own lives. Humility and holiness go hand-in-hand. The Bible says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. God showed incredible grace towards Moses, The Bible says that God spoke to Moses face-to-face. God would later call Moses his faithful servant.

David, David was called a man after Gods own heart. David was the King of Israel When he sinned greatly against God.

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then he called her husband in from the front lines and tried to get him to drink with him so that he could send him home to sleep with his wife so that he could cover up the adulterous affair that he had had with his wife, When that didn't work David sent him out to the front lines and then told the commanding officer to withdraw from him So that he would be killed. Later David paid a terrible price for his sin and David went on to repent and asked God to forgiving him, God did forgive David and later God made a covenant with David and told him that from his seed the Messiah would come and would rule on the throne forever. Jesus came through the line of David.

Paul, Paul tried to destroy the church, but God used him as the apostle to the Gentiles Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament. Peter, Peter denied Christ three times even though he had spent three years with Christ, but God used Peter as his apostle to the Jews, He was also one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem and Peter wrote two books in the New testament. Mary Magdalene was a former prostitute, yet she was the first one that the resurrected Christ revealed himself to. I'm trying to show you that your past does not have to affect your future, because you're a new creature in Christ! Get that in your head. Because there's great power in the blood of Christ. And just as Christ has changed your life, and forgiven you of your sins, He can do the same thing for those that you love.

Please turn your Bibles to Philippians 3 verses 12 through 14. Read! Philippians 3:12-14 A Solution to your resolution Part 3. Becoming more Christlike Just to refresh your memory the first two parts of our sermon titled a solution to your resolution Dealt with number" One" our priorities, getting our priorities right. That involved "1"-Putting God first, others second and, ourselves last.

2- Making peace with our past. . We're going to be talking about the third and final instruction that Paul gives us in the message today that we are to live in the present.

But first; I want to pick up where we left off last week when we were discussing how God can use people who have made some very poor choices in life, to later on become champions of the faith!

Anybody have a junk room in their house, or a junk drawer? You know what I'm talking about; its the room you close the door to when people come over! When I first started my business we ran it out of our house and my office eventually turned into a junk room, it was a room where stuff just piled up. It looked so bad because it's where I put all the stuff that I didn't want to deal with. One day I got so discouraged with the junk room that I decided I was going to clean it out, I didn't just clean it out, after I cleaned it out I painted it, and bought some nice furniture to put in it. Now, a room that I was ashamed of I am now proud of. Dealing with your past is like cleaning out your junk room, once you clean out the junk you're not ashamed anymore, and you can go On to be all that God has called you to be! Some of the greatest men and women in the Bible are people who had to clean out some junk, We talked about Abraham and the poor choices he made, then we talked about Moses and how he had murdered a man while in Egypt, We discussed David and the adulterous affair he had with Bathsheba, We talked about Paul and how he had tried to stomp out the church, and then we talked about Peter, how he had denied Christ three times, and we finished off talking about Mary Magdalene, and how she had been demon possessed and even a prostitute, But yet Christ appeared to her first after his resurrection and told her to go tell the disciples that he had risen. I'm sure many people had given up on Mary Magdalene, but Jesus never did. That's why Mary was there at Jesus's tomb that Sunday morning, she could never forget how much Jesus loved her and where she had come from!

When the American hostages came home from Iran on January 20, 1981, the first thing they did when they got off the plane was kiss the ground. No matter what star or achievement they had earned in the armed services, when they hit the ground from Iran, They bowed down. Home sweet home! Putting their clean lips on that dirty tarmac they kissed it. They went down. Because they knew where they had been and they knew where they were now. Do you know why people stop bowing? Because they forget where they've come from. They forget that they have been hostages in Satan's territory, and now they have been made free.

Just Like those that have come before us, like these heroes of the faith, we as Christians are to understand that God is in the business of delivering us from our past and setting us free, He is our deliver. He is our strong tower, He is our shield, and He is our strength. Hasn't God delivered you? Aren't you now a new creature in Christ? I bet you don't talk like you use too! I bet you can't sin like you used too! Why? Because God has delivered you. God is in the business of setting people free, to give you a peace that passes all understanding.

That's why you never give up, and you continue to pray for the Black sheep in your family, or for that wayward son or daughter. Because God has the power to change peoples lives. The Bible says the prayers of a righteous man Availeth much! Satan wants us to believe that God cant use us, because of our past mistakes. That's a lie. Here's one of the ways that Satan works. He works through people. Just as God Works through people, Satan also works through people. Satan will send Discouragers your way. These are people that tell you what you can't do. Satan will work through people to tell you that you're never going to amount to anything. They want you to believe that your past determines your future. Sometimes these are even people in your own family, but we need to cling to the truth, and remember that we have been bought with a price, and that we are now children of God. That we can do all things thru Christ who strengthens us! The Bible says that we're a royal priesthood, those that have put their faith in Christ are identified as Saints in the Bible. The Bible says that we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in the book of Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. This is in the past tense; it's something that's already occurred. God has already gave us everything He's going to give us in the spiritual realm, all we have to do is claim what He's already gave us!

We were spiritually bankrupt but now we are rich in Christ. Not only did Christ take away our sins but he went a step further and imputed his righteousness towards us in, other words he put his righteousness to our account. When God sees us now He sees us as perfect, He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His Son, the Bible says that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He sees us standing before His throne worshipping Him; God has the capacity

to see us in our finished state. At one time we were at war with God but now were at peace with God. The Bible says in Romans 5:1 therefore having been justified by faith we now have peace with God.

Let me tell you something, people who try to hold you down by continually bringing up your past, are trying to exercise control over your life. They don't want you to experience the peace of God. They're miserable and they want you to be miserable with them. We need to pray for those types of people, because if they were right with God they would be thanking God that you're not like you used to be. That God has delivered you. People that are right with God are encouragers not Discouragers. People that know God, forgive people because they understand how much they have been forgiven. They understand Grace. Jesus teaches us that forgiving others is very important, because He says; forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. For some of us to be able to make peace with our past we need to forgive someone whos hurt us. Alfred Nobel, I Swedish physicist created dynamite. His intentions were awesome when he created dynamite, He wanted to create an explosive that could move rock to build roads and get things out of the way to build buildings. He wanted to create a force that was powerful and that would make life better. The problem is that people took his creation and used it for destructive purposes, to kill people and to make war. So depressed was Mr. Nobel that his good intention was being used in a wrong, destructive way, that he took $9 million dollars put it in an account, and begin to award people for promoting peace. We call it the Nobel peace prize. What motivated him was the fact that what he intended for good was being used for wrong. He wanted to award those who were doing what his intentions were. When these people get the award, they become internationally known as Nobel peace prize winners. They are called by that name because they make peace instead of making war. God is looking for some Nobel peace prize winners, Folks that are looking to promote peace instead of war, Folks that are willing to forgive people of their trespasses, folks that are willing to turn the other cheek. Remember Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers for theirs is the kingdom of God. . When you hold resentment and forgiveness towards someone it's like you taking poison and hoping they get sick. It only destroys you!

Let me share something with you as we conclude this point of the importance of making peace with your past, Please consider this monumental TRUTH, if you weren't worth anything to God, if He wasn't capable of forgiving us of our sins, He would not have created us in the first place, and Jesus Christ Would not have hung on the cross and died for Us! God loves you and don't you ever forget that! That's the truth John 3:16

I love 1st Corinthians 1:27-29 The Bible says: But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, And God's chosen the weak, things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, And the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, That no flesh should glory in his presence. As you consider your past I would like you to consider this. Nothing in your life ever happened without God first allowing it to happen. It has to pass by God first, he has to approve it. , The Bible says that all things work together for the good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose Our God is a sovereign God, That means he' all knowing. And all powerful The Bible says that God knew you before you were in your mothers womb, God allowed everything that happened in your life to happen for a reason, that he might make you the man or woman that you are today, that we might worship him and bring honor and glory to his name.

As a Christian we need to understand that the scars that we carry are "wounds "that have been healed, a scar is a place where there used to be a wound, its a place where healing has occurred, God allows us to remember our past failures to remind us of the great healing power of Jesus Christ.

But God doesn't want us to live in the past. He saved us to a glorious future, and for the furtherance of His kingdom. This brings us to our third Key point that Paul teaches us about progressing in our spiritual life. (3) Paul teaches us to live in the present, He says this one thing I do; Paul doesn't say this one thing I have done. Or this one thing I am going to do, No, he says this one thing I do, speaking of the present.

Remember what Jesus said in the Lords Prayer give us this day our daily bread. God wants us to live one day at a time. None of us are promised tomorrow. God wants us to live in the present, how many of us have worried about things that rob us of life, things that never came to pass? What good comes out of worry? Nothing.

Worrying about tomorrow Rob's you of today. Jesus said take no thought for tomorrow for tomorrow will take thoughts of the things of itself. Where there's worry there's a lack of faith. What is worry? Worry is a feeling of helplessness, the feeling of losing control.

People worry when they feel like they've lost control, or could lose control

People that are right with God understand they've never been in control, and furthermore they don't have to be. Therefor they don't sweat the small stuff. After all any problem we have is small stuff to God, right? People that are right with God don't worry because they know that God is in control. Let me share this with you, you're never going to be all that God's called you to be until you come to understand that You're not in control. You have got to come to a place of surrender in your life. Trust Him! I love what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, He said consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin, yet I say to you, that even Solomon arrayed in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these. Then he says, if God so clothes the Grass of the field, Which today is and tomorrow is cast into the fire, Shall He not much more clothe ye, oh ye of little faith? Jesus is saying look around you, look at these wildflowers, nobody planted them, nobody waters them but they come up every year, because I take care of them, and arent you more important than a bunch of flowers, after all I created everything for you to enjoy. I gave you dominion over all the earth. Jesus is trying to teach us to quit worrying that he's in control God also wants us to live in the present, so that we're good stewards of our time and quit putting things off till tomorrow that could be done today.

Do you know what the busiest day of the year is? Some people think it's Christmas some people think it's Thanksgiving some people think it's Black Friday, but the busiest day of the year is Someday! You'll never find someday on any calendar, because someday never comes it never exist. Many people that are confronted with the gospel message respond to themselves by saying, someday I'll make a decision for Christ. The problem with that type of thinking is that nowhere in the Bible are you promised tomorrow. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. Let's sum up the message we've been on for three weeks,, The apostle Paul taught us that number one, that we need to have Our priorities right Seeking to understand God's will for our lives and we do that primarily by spending time in his Holy Word which Leads us to become more Christlike. Secondly Paul taught us to make peace with our past. We make peace with our past first by asking God to forgive us of our sins, secondly, whenever possible, we ask those that we have offended to forgive us as well. You can't drive a car looking out the rear view mirror. God wants you to look through the windshield of life. If God was finished with you, you wouldn't still be here breathing His air. God's not finished with you yet, we need to focus on finishing the race well, Paul says I press on; Like Paul we need to strive to be all that Christ has called us to be. You'll never see a sprinter looking backwards while running. Why? Because he wants to finish well, because he wants to win the race. Number three Paul teaches us to live in the present, Were not to worry about the past and we're not to worry about the future, Paul is the one who said that he counted it all joy, Paul while he was in prison with Silas in that Philippian jail would sing praises to God. He could write incredible letters of encouragement while he was in prison. We need to learn like Paul to give thanks in all things, and we need to remember that this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it! Right priorities, reconciling with the past, and remaining in the present these are the three keys to spiritual growth and becoming more Christlike These three keys are the solution to your resolution if your resolution is right this year.

To become more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!