Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your

ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5,6).
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans shall succeed
For most of our lives we go about doing what we want to do, and when we want to do it.
When someone tries to tell us what to do, immediately we say, who are you? Nobody
tells be what to do.
Tonight we need to make a commitment to change, last night we prayed that Christ would
come in and be our personal savior, but tonight we need to access whether or not we
really want him to be our Lord. This is the other side of love, where Christ says, if you
love me then keep my commandments. You made a vow in the heat of emotions, but if
you were real about it then there are some things that must change.
The first thing that needs to change is the way we view ourselves. Now I know a lot
about this lack of self-esteem philosophy (and there may be some good to it) but for the
most part our problem is that we love ourselves too much.
Living for Christ involves the realization that it is no longer I that lives, but Christ that
lives in me. Jesus explains this in Luke 14:25-27 It reads, Large crowds were traveling
with Jesus, and turning to them he said: if anyone comes to me and does not hate his
father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot
be my disciple.
We must realize that we have nothing good in us, we have nothing to offer God. There
was a man that entered the NV program, had been in several programs accoss the U.S.,
that felt God had called him to our program to help these men who were much worse off
than he.
Its this kind of denial that keeps us sick, and unable to change. We even want to take
credit for coming to the mission to get ourselves together, and on and on.
10 years ago when I was downtown selling abra-ka-dabra on 2nd ave, I had no intentions
of changing - I was going to use that money to come up on some real dope.
Introduction - you did not find God, he found you. He drew you, you were set-up, it was
a Holy Ghost ambush. Now it is time to surrender.
Commitment defined - There is no limit to what God can do through the man who is fully
committed to Him.
Commitment to change involves 3 things - Awareness, Decision, and Action
Awareness = admittance
Decision = acceptance
Action = following a plan

Sometimes we enter programs so that we can have a roof over our heads for a little
longer, so we go along with the program, but our commitment is not heartfelt.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 gives us warning, it says, Walk prudently when you go to the house of
God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know
that they do evil. Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything
hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be
few. For a dream comes through much activity, And a fools voice is known by his many
words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasures in
fools. Pay what you have vowed - Better to not vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let
your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say befor the messenger of God that it was an
error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For
in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.
In other words, dont fake the funk. Be where you are at!
Jesus confirms this principal in Luke 14:28-30, he says, Suppose one of you wants to
build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough
money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone
who sees it will ridicule him, saying, This fellow began to build and was not able to
finish. Jesus teaches that we should count the cost before we commit.
Jesus also teaches us that our level of commitment increases with our faithfulness in small
tasks. He says in Luke 16:10, Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted
with much, and whoever will be dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with
much.
Lastly, Jesus teaches us to make the commitment and leave the results to God. But seek
first his righteousness and his kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Lets talk about making the commitment - the process is so well described in John 5:1-15
Read & describe 4 Steps involved
Conclusion - What areas of your life need to be changed? Is it your language (cursing,
negativity, loquaciousness). Is it the crowd you hang out with? Is it your behavior
(manipulative, angry, controlling, isolation, lying, stealing, afraid). How about your
personal life, your family life, church life, or your business life. Think about it. Will you
make the commitment to change in those areas? After a moment of silence - Read My
Christian Commitment - by a young African Pastor who was later martyred for his faith.