“Learning How To Forgive”
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Luke 23:32-43

Introduction: As Christians we have to learn how to forgive. We must become masters of forgiveness. If we can’t forgive, we will suffer. It will not only affect us individually, but it will affect the church as a whole. That is why we are told in the Bible, in Matthew 6:14-15 by Jesus, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
And isn’t this the pattern that Jesus taught us? Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything that He Himself didn’t do. He lived out what He teaches us. And so in our time together this morning, I want us to look at Jesus’ example, and seek to understand how we are to forgive, and why it is so important to forgive. This teaching, I believe is transformational for our lives, and for our church as we seek to daily be followers of Jesus Christ!

I. The Negative Word- Have you ever had a situation where someone comes up to you and tells you
about something that was said about you, something negative, but then they tell you that they have your back and they stood up for you? The problem is, even though it seems like they are there for you, that negative word that was said about you sticks in your mind and bugs you. You can’t stop thinking about it. You can’t believe people would say those negative things about you behind your back!!
EXAMPLE- This happened to me at my last church. We had a group of women who would meet together and sew blankets, similar to our Binky’s. I was new to the church, and I had to reprimand our youth pastor for doing something that we had agreed she wouldn’t do. So this youth minister was not happy with me. At one of the sewing meetings, she started to bad-mouth me. One of the other ladies began to stick up for me, and tell the group that she shouldn’t be saying that. Later this person came up to me to tell me what happened. I thanked her and told her that God would take care of it.
And in the end God did take care of it. But the negative word was still out there; in the brains of the other people, and in my brain. So the important factor for us here, is to understand that we need to forgive people when they speak that negative word about us. That doesn’t mean that we don’t think what they did is wrong, but what it does is remove it from our needing to deal with it. It helps us to move forward and continue on in our lives. If I have the opportunity to talk to them about it, I will, but until then, I need to let it go and give it to God.

II. The One- (Philippians 4:8-9)
This then leads us to the next issue, which is how that negative word has power
in our lives. The truth is, we can hear nine good things about us. We may receive compliments throughout the day. Your friends may forward you an e-mail that reminds you of how important you are to them as a friend or how wonderful you are as a person. They might text you. They might say nice things to you. But then you get one negative comment. What happens? We remember the ONE negative comment, right? We can have all these positive words said to us, but that ONE comment will stick with us.
Even more than that, this one comment hurts us deeply. And often times it doesn’t even matter who says the negative comment. Because the truth is, most of the time these negative comments come from people who aren’t that important to us anyway. But still, that comment hurts, and that comment roots itself into our brain, and it is difficult to get out.
This is why the apostle Paul says to us in Philippians 4:8-9, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely or admirable, if there anything excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things…and the peace of God will be with you.” The only way we can get past this ONE word dwelling in our minds and affecting our lives is to dwell on those things which will bring peace to our lives. We have to go overboard on the true and pure and excellent to combat that ONE negative comment!

III. Rumors- (Acts 21:37-39)
The third point I want to talk about is “rumors.” Now there are rumors that are
true, and rumors that aren’t true. While rumors in general are not good to pass on, it is the rumors that aren’t true that can hurt us the most. And more often than not, when these untrue rumors come around, you really just have to laugh. You still probably need to address it, but you can’t let it bother you or cause you to think negatively of those who are speaking it.
In Acts 21:37-39 we read of a rumor spoken about Paul: “37As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, ‘May I say something to you?’ ‘Do you speak Greek?’ he replied. 38’Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?’ 39Paul answered, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.’”
Even though it wasn’t true what they were saying about Paul, he was angry that they would think he was an Egyptian, and falsely accuse him of leading a revolt. This was setting up a false perception of who Paul was. And the rumors about us that aren’t true can cause us some hurt as well. These we need to leave behind and not seek to dwell upon them.

IV. That Which Wounds- (Ephesians 4:29)
In life, like in relationships, it is the small issues that can wound us the most. There is a saying that helps us to understand this more; it goes like this: “Broken by papercuts.” If you have ever had a paper cut, you know that it is so small you can’t even really see it. But it hurts terribly. Even though it is small, it is very painful. And there are so many small issues in life that wound us in this way.
If we were to think of some, they might be…….a friend getting mad at us because we were late picking them up…OR someone forgetting our birthday…..OR a friend just saying a rude remark to us…..
Ephesians 4:29- “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” We often forget that these actions and words, though small, can create a wound that might not be noticeable at first, it then grows and grows until the wound is deep.
In this situation, like in the others, forgiveness is needed. Obviously communication is always important, to share what you think and feel, but forgiveness is just as important so we don’t let this small issue fester and become a much bigger issue in our lives and in our relationships.

V. Passion-
Passion is an important part of life; an important part of who we were created to
be. God gave us the capacity to experience passion, because this is what drives us to live out our calling. But our lack of forgiveness can lead us to lose our passion. There are at least three things that happen when we don’t forgive:
1. We hold back. When we don’t have a forgiving heart, then we hold back,
because we don’t want to get hurt. We are concerned that if we put ourselves out there, someone will hurt us again. So we hold back in the ways that we give ourselves to others. This can be true of situations as well. Maybe you feel that you are taken for granted in your efforts. This causes you to hold back in how you give and limits your passion!
2. We develop lists and we label people. A second thing that unforgiveness
does for us is that it causes us to create lists and labels. We actually become judgmental of people when we do not forgive. We label people right away when they see them, because we have created categories for which people fit. But how can we be passionate when we are in this mindset?
3. We might even seek revenge. Sometimes when we don’t forgive, we get
bitter about those situations or people who have hurt us. This can lead us to want to seek revenge to get back at the person. Often times this is done in a subtle way, like speaking about them to another person. We don’t think we mean to harm them in this way, but it can, because we are coloring the perspective of the person we are sharing with.
Passion comes from giving ourselves over to who God created us to be. When we hold back, develop lists, or seek revenge, not matter how subtle, we cannot be passionate, because our focus is on our unforgiveness.

VI. Not Forgetting- (Proverbs 26:11; Titus 3:10; Luke 12:13-14)
In all of this talk of forgiveness, I need to put out there that we can’t forget what
has happened. Forgiving others is not about forgetting. Proverbs 26:11 says, “As a dog returns to its vomit so fools repeat their folly.” To forget what has happened to us can cause us to let it happen again. God does not want us to be foolish in this way. The forgiveness helps us to let go of the wounds, and to move forward. The remembering helps us to set healthy boundaries to protect ourselves from future pain. It is like what Titus 3:10 tells us, “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.” We may forgive, but we protect ourselves from future harm.
In Luke 12:13-14 we read: “Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed…” In this passage the brother is trying to get Jesus to interfere on his behalf. Jesus sets the boundary to show that it is not His place to be the arbiter for them. We can get pulled into many situations that are not good for us to be in. We too need to set good boundaries that help us to avoid the pain before it happens, or learn from our past pain.

VII. Absorb the Pain- (luke 23:34)But more than all of this, we need to understand that there is one who has set us the ultimate example of forgiveness. This was our main reading for the morning, Jesus on the cross. This puts all the points together. The disciples thought they had Jesus’ back for Him, but when it came time, they disappeared. There were many false rumors and negative words spoken about Jesus at His trial. His passion was put to the test in the Garden of Gethsemane when He questioned about going to the cross. He didn’t really set boundaries, because He allowed the people to hurt Him in many ways. And now He found Himself on the cross.
What words does Jesus utter in this time? Listen to Luke 23:34- “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” Jesus offers forgiveness to all who have caused Him pain. And in doing this, He has given us the example of how we are to forgive others as well.
He has also given us the means by which we can forgive. Because Jesus took the pain, absorbed the pain of our sin, and bore the penalty, He has allowed us to receive forgiveness from God. We now know what it feels like to be forgiven; to not have our sin counted against us. Because of this, we can know the importance of being forgiven. God tells us to pass this on to others. Not because they deserve it, but because it is the best way to live, free from that burden, free from bitterness, free from resentfulness, free from having to get revenge. AND free from the pain!!

Conclusion: Coming full circle, I say again, we need to become masters of forgiveness. As people who have learned how to forgive, we are in a place where others don’t control us; God does. As people who have learned how to forgive, we are able to concentrate on those areas we are passionate about, not on those areas or people that have caused us pain. As people who have learned how to forgive, we are able to follow the example of Jesus, who taught us that forgiveness isn’t something that is earned, but a gift that is given. Who do you need to forgive? Where do you need to move forward? Let us give ourselves over to God, receive His forgiveness, and then seek to pass it on. In doing this, we will follow Christ’s pattern, and display that pattern of behavior to those around us. Amen.

The Ride of Your Life
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Exodus 15:19-26


Introduction: This is from a web-site news release several years ago:
SANDUSKY, Ohio, Jan. 9, 2003 – “Cedar Point will race full speed ahead toward the future of thrill-riding when the famed amusement park debuts the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world for its 2003 season. Named Top Thrill Dragster, the $25 million steel scream machine will be Cedar Point’s 16th roller coaster – more than anywhere else on Earth – and will be one of the largest single investments in the 132-year history of the park.
Top Thrill Dragster will be a coaster of epic proportions: with an extraordinary 420-foot-tall first hill at a 90-degree incline, speeds of 120 mph over 2,800 feet of track and a twisting first drop of 400 feet at an imposing 90-degree angle, this colossal thriller will wow riders with its dramatic world-record-breaking dimensions. Termed a “strata-coaster” for its monumental height, Top Thrill Dragster will be the first and only roller coaster in the world to break the towering 400-foot-tall milestone.”
I don’t know how you feel about roller coasters. I personally love them; Tami loves them somewhat; Tyler and Tiffany are really coming to love them. But many people don’t. They choose to walk by roller coaster’s without a second thought. They choose to not participate in the ride, even though there is a crowd of people standing in line. Wouldn’t it be great if we had the ability to make those kinds of choices in life? To walk by those scary parts of life?
Life can be dangerous; life can be exciting. Life can be a thrill ride. And we usually don’t have a choice about what life will bring us.
When we ask: “Why are these things happening?”, we are actually asking the wrong question. They happen because that’s life. The question that we need to be asking ourselves is: How am I going to deal with this situation that is happening? As followers of Jesus Christ, we have the advantage of not only having a God who cares and will aid us through the storms of life, through the thrill rides of our life, but we also have a book (the Bible) that contains many words and examples of how to deal with life’s issues.
This morning we are going to look at four lessons to be learned from this Old Testament story in Exodus 15.

I. The Proving- (Exodus 15:23; Proverbs 14:10; Deuteronomy 8:2)

Marah experiences- The Israelites have just escaped from Egypt, and start their journey to the Promised land. But this journey will not be easy, and will last for 50 years. Right off we see one of the challenges before them; finding water to drink. For 3 days they could not find water. Then in Exodus 15:23, we read that Moses and the Israelites came to Marah, but the water was bitter. They could not drink the water because it was bitter.

Marah experiences come to us all in life. Times of bitterness. As Proverbs 14:10 states: “Each heart knows its own bitterness.”/ When we come to these times of bitterness we should be asking the questions: Why has God brought me here? And, what is His purpose for me in this? How should I respond?
It is important to understand that in this story in Exodus 15, the children of Israel were being led and guided by God. He was testing them. He was shaping them to become the people they needed to become. It was here in the wilderness that God would set up the rules and procedures. The testing started right away; in Marah. Israel had come out of years and years of slavery, and they were needing to learn how to survive on their own; they were needing to learn how to provide for themselves, and govern themselves.
Now it may make you a little uncomfortable to think that God seeks to test us in this way, but we must understand that God has the whole picture in mind, and what happens in the many events in our lives, are meant to make us better and more prepared for life!
Deuteronomy 8:2 says, “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert for forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”
We must come to expect that there will be things that happen in our lives, which will test us beyond our own strength. In fact, we may learn the ultimate lesson of life through these testings, that God made this world and He controls it. The fact is, He has given humanity a lot of freedom and we have not done real well in following Him. God gives us commands on how we are to live, and yet so many people make decisions that they think will be best for their life, but in doing this they are not doing what God would have them to do, but they are doing their own thing.
We are like the Israelites, trying to follow God, trying to get to that Promised land God has promised to us. And yet, part of the journey is that we will experience bitter places along the way. We should not be surprised when we experience these bitter places. These bitter places are meant to make us stronger, to test us, to make us ready, to prove that we are strong enough in our faith and trust to be able to go to that place where God calls us next, and look to God for direction.
You’ve probably heard the old adage: Are you bitter or better? This is a good question because it is so easy for us to let the bitter times of life make us bitter. But, if we agree that there will be times of proving and challenge, then we must learn how to walk through those times so that we will be better. This is what God desires; this is how God has designed for it to be.

II. The Peril- (Exodus 15:24; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13)

The people in this story acted in a very unfortunate manner. They were upset and began to complain against God’s servant Moses, and of course against God Himself because of the peril they found themselves in. It is understandable in one sense, because they knew they needed water to live, but couldn’t find any. They were fearful…It is a fatal tendency on the part of humans to grumble and complain. Some of us do it better than others but we all have a tendency to do it. But it is unfortunate, because they are already forgetting how the Lord has freed them from their slavery. They are failing to understand that life in the wilderness will not be as convenient as it was in Egypt, but they will be free; they will no longer have to live as slaves!
In 1 Cor. 10: 1-13, the apostle Paul is instructing us on the importance for us to learn from Israel’s history. Right in the middle of that passage, in verse 10, he says, “Do not complain as some of them did, and they were destroyed by the destroyer.” Complaining is never a helpful thing. It destroys ourselves, it destroys others, it keeps us from focusing on God’s vision, and it keeps us from believing in what God will do.
I know we sometimes need to express our frustration, and it is okay to tell God what we are feeling, but we must do it with an understanding of WHO we are talking to. Are we going to let the battle destroy us, or are we going to let God get us through the battle and work out His plan?
If it is just me and the problem; I will lose. I can’t deal with it on my own. The way to win doesn’t come by whining about the situation we are in. The way to win is to place yourself squarely in God’s hands. We cannot and must not allow ourselves to get to the place where all we do is complain about how miserable and horrible our life is. Nothing good will ever come of that, and as I said before, in doing this we keep God from being able to act on our part!
If I have observed anything in my Christian life, it is that this life is a roller coaster. You have your ups, and you have your downs. Christians are not immune to the downs. To be normal is to have these ups and downs in life. Don’t think that you will be immune to them. The Bible is full of normal people who go through these down times of life.

But what is most impressive, is when you meet people who have gone through a great amount of downs, and maybe are even in a down right now, and yet their spirit is full of life. They somehow find joy in life in the midst of these downs. They don’t complain, they praise God!! They find a way to experience the presence of God even more fully in their down times. They don’t whine, they let God lead them to the win.
The bottom line is, we must find a way to keep ourselves from grumbling and complaining and place our trust back in God who leads us.

III. The Procedure- (Exodus 15:24; 1 Samuel 1:10-17; 2 Kings 4:18-37; Isaiah 37:14; Daniel 6:10-11; Acts 12:5. 16:25; Matthew 26:36-46)

If the peril we must avoid is complaining, then how do we do that?
It is easy to talk about how we should not complain, but we need to know how to handle things that overwhelm us in ways other than complaining. Moses did not punish the people for their complaining, or tell them how lousy they were. He went immediately to prayer.
He did what is a repeated pattern over and over in the Bible. It is right in front of us. In fact it is so practical that I think sometimes we forget about it or discount it.
He prayed. The procedure for overcoming bitterness, for overcoming a negative attitude, for overcoming the desire to complain, is PRAYER! We see this time and time again in the scriptures:
In 1 Samuel 1:10-17 we see how when Hannah was without a child, she prayed.
In 2 Kings 4:18-37 Elisha was in great need because he met a woman whose great

desire was for him was to heal her sick son. What did he do? He prayed.
In Isaiah 37:14 we see King Hezekiah in trouble from the imminent attack of Assyria, so he immediately goes to prayer.
When Daniel was threatened to be punished if he were to keep praying to his God,

in Daniel 6:10-11, he prayed.
We see in Acts 12:5, when Peter was in prison, the church prayed.
Acts 16:25, when Paul and Silas were in jail, they prayed and worshipped God.
When Jesus was in the bitterness of Gethsemane, He prayed. (Math. 26: 36-46)

Story after story in the Bible we see how God’s people prayed in times of trouble!

Example- On the lighter side, there is a true story of a woman who was single, but wanted to be married. So she went and purchased a pair of men’s pants, just the right size, and hung them up on her bedpost. Every night before she went to bed she would get on her

knees and pray this prayer: “Father in heaven, hear my prayer, and grant it if you can.

I’ve hung a pair of trousers here; please fill them with a man.” This woman

is now married and has lived to raise 12 children! (Amusing Grace, p. 37, #82)
As the saying goes: “Satan laughs at our words, mocks at our toil, but trembles when we pray.”This is the way of victory. This is the way to overcome. This is the procedure. We trade our sorrows for the joy of the Lord by prayer.

IV. The Prescription- (Exodus 15:25-27; Jeremiah 23:5; Proverbs 17:22)

So we have the proving, the peril, and the procedure. Lastly, we have the prescription.

After his prayer, Moses was led by God in what to do. We read it in Ex. 15:25,
“God pointed him to a stick of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and the water turned sweet.”
Moses picked up a branch and threw it into the water. This is a description of the literal act he did, but it also is symbolic. The Bible is full of symbolism. Not only is this a description of how God answered Moses’ prayer, but it is also a reminder that God does this for us as well.
Who is our righteous branch? Jer. 23:5 says, “ The days are coming declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch.” The righteous Branch referred to here in the book of Jeremiah is Jesus. Jeremiah is prophesying about the coming of Jesus.
The only remedy for our problems is Jesus. He is the One who will enable us to endure the long nights. He will give us the ability to keep our heads above the flood. He will make the roller coaster rise up again, and take us to the top of the ride.

Jesus, and only Jesus can help us to find joy in the midst of bitterness, answers in the midst of life’s questions, purpose in the midst of turmoil, promise in the face of despair.
When people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they go from bitterness, to sweetness. This happens in many ways: for some it is in the ability to overcome their addiction; for others it means that they receive healing in their life; for others it has happened through the gaining of new purpose and meaning; and still for others (like me) it meant beginning to go down the right path. A path that has delivered to me blessing after blessing, and a path that has taught me how to experience joy in all circumstances.

Whatever it has been for you, or those around you, Jesus

is a righteous branch making the bitter water sweet.

A powerful book that I’ve read a couple of times is a book entitled “You Gotta Keep Dancin,” by Tim Hansel. It is a book about the author, Tim Hansel, who was rock climbing one day when he fell and landed on his back. It didn’t paralyze him, but it caused a severe, constant pain in his back that will never go away. Being a Christian, Tim Hansel was able to look to the Lord and see how God can still bring blessings to his life. He didn’t allow this experience to cause him to be bitter or to complain.

Here is a short excerpt from one of his journal entries: “We are never right in ourselves, but only in response to/ and as a result of God working in and through us.”
Then he writes in his book: “I enjoy laughing. I believe laughter is a sacred sound to our God. As Proverbs 17:22 says- ‘A cheerful heart is good medicine.’ Are you fun to live with? He asks.” (p.81)

And then he writes some funnies in his book as well. For example, he writes: you know it’s going to be a bad day when…You call your answering service and they tell you it’s none of your business….OR….You put your pants on backwards—and they fit better….. OR….Your horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell’s Angels on the freeway. (p. 83)

The prescription for life can be seen in letting God bring joy to our lives through Jesus!

Conclusion: The bottom line is, don’t think that you will be exempt from tasting bitter water. We all will have times of bitterness. This is what makes up the roller coaster ride of life. This is what life is about, the highs and the lows. But know that God can work great things out of the lows, out of the bitter water, and prepare us all the more for life.
Remember, what makes a roller coaster exciting is that it goes up AND it goes down.

How are you doing on the ride? Are you riding alone or is God riding with you? I hope that you are letting God work in your life no matter what is going on! I hope that you are turning to prayer, instead of grumbling and complaining. We all need prayer, and we all need to pray more. Whether it is to get through some ordeal you are going through; or maybe you need prayer to overcome your bitterness in life; or maybe you need prayer to understand your current situation better. Please, if you feel God prodding you, pray for yourself in this, and ask someone else to pray for you as well; that includes me. I pray for everyone each day, and when I have specifics, it makes it even better. Pray for God’s presence and power to come into your lives, as you experience the ride of you life. Amen.

Who Controls Your Mind?
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Romans 12:1-2

Introduction: A war is when two forces come together for combat. A war is usually caused
when two forces are fighting to possess the same thing. You may not realize this, but when
we express faith in Jesus Christ, we automatically are enlisted in spiritual warfare. As a Christian soldier, we must not allow ordinary affairs of life to become our main object of existence. Our desires should be to please the one who enlisted us; God. The Bible says our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The enemy, Satan, wants to come in and take control of our lives, control of our minds. The mind is the doorway to the heart. The mind gives commands that the body follows. This morning we are going to talk about how there is a war going on in the battlefield of the mind between good and evil. But we are also going to talk about how through the work that was done on the cross, God has given us what we need to win the war in the battle for our minds!

I. Renewing of our Mind- (Romans 12:1-2; Proverbs 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:16)

a. Adjusting our thinking- Romans 12 talks about the “renewing of your mind.” Renewal happens when our spiritual vision and thinking adjusts to the mind of God, which is designed to have a transforming effect upon our lives. It is the need to transform our will to the will of God. As Jerry Bridges says in his book The Pursuit of Holiness: “…it is the will that ultimately makes each individual choice of whether we will sin or obey. It is the will that chooses to yield to temptation, or to say no. Our wills, then, ultimately determine…whether we will be holy or unholy in our character and conduct.” (The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges, p. 125)
Our mind is the place of reflective consciousness, making up the faculties of perception and understanding, and the place where a new nature can be born.
Illustration: “New Medical Student,” Amusing Grace, p. 16, #29- There is a story of a new medical student who was having trouble fitting in at the hospital where he was assigned to the maternity ward. But he actually enjoyed the maternity ward more than the other wards. One doctor asked him why. He responded: “When I worked in surgery, I was sure I was suffering from brain tumors and appendicitis. Then I switched to the cardiac unit and began to have chest pains. Finally, they assigned me to the psychiatric ward, where I was sure that I was losing my mind. Now that I work in maternity, I’m feeling just fine.”
Our mind is powerful, and can lead us in many directions, most not good. We must have a mindset that focuses on God and the things of God, not the things of this world or the things of Satan. So it is the word of God that can truly direct and guide us to the right places. Once our mindset gets focused on God’s word, a transformation takes place. The Greek word for transformation is metamorphoo and means to “change into another form, to undergo a complete change which, under the power of God, will find expression in character and conduct; an inward change.”

b. Gain wisdom, understanding and discretion- King Solomon told us that wisdom, understanding, and discretion will guard us from the evil way. These are qualities of the mind. Proverbs 2:6 tells us: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” It is from the Lord that we will gain wisdom, understanding, and discretion, but to get these from the Lord, we must seek the Lord with all of our minds. We must choose to immerse our minds into the things of God, into the Word of God.
So we renew our minds in God, and in doing so, we come to know what God’s will is for us; for this world we live in. We can transform our minds into what God would have for us by dwelling on the Lord.
For Example: (1)There are times in our lives when we dwell on our past failures, or when we feel discouraged or depressed, or when we feel doubt. How do you transform your mind in these times? You encourage yourself in the Lord. You remember how much God loves you, you remember how Peter was forgiven by Jesus even though he denied him three times, you remember how God has given you special gifts, and you focus on how you were carefully and wonderfully created in God’s image!
OR (2) Sometimes you might be in a confused state. What do you do then? You seek to be in tune with God. As 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”/ Because we have accepted Christ, we have full access to Christ, and we can know the mind of Christ. But to know Christ’s mind we must seek Him intently, because there are too many forces in the world that can draw us away from the mind of Christ.
When our minds are renewed in this way, transformation takes place!

II. Renewing of our Body- (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

a. The body as a temple- Along with the renewing of our minds, we need to seek to renew our body as well. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works. So Paul urges us to offer our bodies to God; offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. The word sacrifice here comes from the Greek word thusia, which means “the continual act of offering.” We are called to continually offer our bodies to God so that we might honor God with our bodies; honor God in our behavior. This needs to be a daily event (sometimes even a minute-by-minute event).
We get our example of how to act in our bodies by looking at the life of Jesus Christ. One of the reasons God came to us in human form, in Jesus Christ, was to show us how we are to live; to give us the ultimate example. The body is a vehicle in operation, whose only purpose should be to do the will of God. But all too often we don’t seek to do God’s will in our bodies because we haven’t renewed our mind. As we make strides forward in renewing our minds, as we talked about in the first point, we then can begin to renew our bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that because the Holy Spirit resides in our bodies, we are then to understand that… “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”

b. Holy and acceptable to God- Jesus died on the cross so that through Christ we could have power over temptation and sin. By dying for us, Jesus paid the price and purchased us. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are accepting the fact that we are not our own, but we belong to Christ. Since we belong to Christ, we then choose to humble ourselves to follow Christ. This is always the best way to live!
As we live this way we will indeed be holy and acceptable to God. We will be able to serve God, and worship God, and please God, and honor God and live for God.
Example- “He Who Loses His Life,” Illus. Unlimited, p. 445, #6. There is a story of a man named Sadhu Sundar Singh who was traveling with a companion one day through a high pass in the Himalayan Mountains. At one point they came across a body lying in the snow. Sundar Singh wanted to stop and help the man, but his companion did not, saying, “We shall lose our lives if we burden ourselves with him.” Sundar Singh was adamant about helping this man, and so his companion bade him farewell. Sundar Singh lifted the frozen man onto his back and with great exertion continued on his journey. Gradually the heat from Sundar Singh’s body began to warm up the frozen man, and in time the man was revived and walking side by side with Sundar Singh.
Many people believe that taking on Christ will actually be a burden to their life. But the truth is, Christ begins to warm us up to real life, and soon we have renewed our bodies and find that we are walking side by side with Christ, and we are living the way God created us to live!

III. Renewing of our Nature- (2 Corinthians 4:16, 5:17; Romans 7:14-15, 8:6)

a. Rejoice in life- So we renew our minds, and we renew our bodies, and in doing
this we come to have a new nature. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, behold the new has come.”
Example- Peanuts Comic Strip (The Gospel According to Peanuts, by Robert L. Short, p. 97-98)- In a peanuts comic strip we see Snoopy bouncing around. In the background Lucy is shouting at Snoopy: “Floods, fire, and famine. Doom, defeat, and despair.” She pauses for a moment…..sighs….and then says to Charlie Brown: “Nothing seems to disturb him!”
A new nature means to rejoice in life, and not let the frustrations of life get you down or let the evil of life get to you. Like Snoopy, you keep moving with joy in the midst of all that life will brings you.
To be a new creation in Christ, to have a new nature, we have to let the old-self die. There are some things in your life that God doesn’t want there. Right? You have to begin to let go of these things. You have to live in the Spirit, not in the flesh. How do you do this? You let the Holy Spirit live in you, guide you, teach you, and empower you to be new. And you have to remind yourself of this need each day.
POEM- TWO BOXES
I have in my hands two boxes which God gave me to hold
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black, And all your joys in the gold."
I heeded His words, and in the two boxes. Both my joys and sorrows I stored.
But though the gold became heavier each day The black was as light as before.
With curiosity, I opened the black I wanted to find out why.
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole by which my sorrows had fallen out.
I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud, "I wonder where my sorrows could be."
He smiled a gentle smile at me. "My child, they're all here with me."
I asked, "God, why give me the boxes, Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, The black is for you to let go."

b. New desires- It is also about letting the Holy Spirit give you new desires. As
Romans 8:6 says, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” So, the old way of worldly thinking is to be put away, and a new spiritual mindset is to be received; which is of life and peace. And yet, there is still a dilemma. Example: In Romans chapter 7, we see the apostle Paul dealing with this dilemma. Verses 14-15- he says, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Can you relate to this? You find yourselves still desiring, still doing things that you know God would not approve of?
Paul goes on to tell us that victory is found in Christ. But even more than that, we can be renewed in Christ daily. As we are told in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” The key is to keep seeking God daily, and God will renew your spirit and your mind, which will keep you seeking to live in this new way of life each day. You will have the right perspective, and the right motivation, and the energy and strength to do it.
In time you will find that what you desire to do will change, and that you will indeed desire to separate from the ways of this world, and more and more you will be seeking to do the will of God.
1 John 2:15 challenges us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world…” and also
Ps. 37:4 encourages us: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Conclusion:
The key to all of this is that we were given life to glorify God; to honor God with our lives. But we cannot do that on our own. To do this we must start with renewing our minds; get the things of God into our mind! I cannot stress this enough. Second, we need to begin to make decisions that will bless God with our actions. Pray to God for strength, and seek God for wisdom. We need to draw on God’s power and unlimited resources. When we do this, we will walk in a way that is pleasing to God. And lastly, we need to seek to delight in the Lord so that our very nature itself will be new.
There are three keys for knowing God’s will: A transformed mind, a yielded body, and a separated life. When we try to depend upon God, we will experience spiritual growth and produce good fruit. We will be in control of our minds, because God is in control of our minds! Satan is deceptive. He will seek to pull you away from God in ways that you aren’t even aware of. Don’t leave this to chance. Let God be in control of your mind. Amen.

Advice for the Traveler- Part 2
Sunday, 9/13/09- Psalm 84:1-12

Introduction: “Practice, Practice,” Illus. Unlimited, p. 317, # 14- There’s a story of a man named Hank, a landscape contractor, who got his first job doing some landscaping for a farmer. As he arrived for his first day of work, he realized that his first job would be to blast away some stumps with dynamite. Not wanting to appear to not know what he was doing, especially with the farmer watching, he went to some length to measure out the fuses and set the dynamite. But the problem was that he didn’t know exactly how much dynamite to use. When he thought he was set, he breathed a prayer that he had enough dynamite to do the job, but not enough to blow them to kingdom come. The moment of truth came. He looked over at the farmer trying to give him a look of confidence, and then pushed down the plunger. The stump rose high in the air and began flying towards his truck, landing right on the roof of his cab, demolishing it. The farmer looked at Hank and said: “Son, you didn’t miss by much—just a few feet away from the cab. With a little more practice you’ll be able to land those suckers in the truck bed every time!”
So often we are like Hank, walking around wanting to appear like we know what we are doing, afraid to seek out advice from others. Last Sunday we began to look at some verses in Psalm 84 talking about the 4 Keys for a Successful Passage through Life. To review/ the first 2 keys for a successful passage through life were: Look to God alone for your strength, and put your whole heart into the journey.
We are indeed on a journey, a pilgrimage through life. 1 Peter 2:11 says that we are aliens on a pilgrimage. We are passing through this world, our destination is “The Heavenly City” - God’s Eternal Presence. And we do well to remind ourselves of this every day, so that we might keep our priorities straight and true.
Let us now look at the final 2 Keys.

I. SEE THE OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY TRIAL- (Psalm 84:6; Romans 8:28)

a. From weeping to blessing- Up to this point, in verse 5, the Psalmist has said: “Happy (blessed) are those whose strength is in the Lord, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” Then the psalmist continues in verse 6- “As they go through the valley of Baca…” The Hebrew word “Baca” comes from a root word which means: “to mourn, wail, or lament”.
“The Valley of Baca” is literally: “THE VALLEY OF WEEPING”.
The 3rd key to having a successful passage through life is NOT to pretend trials don’t exist ... but rather to SEE TRIALS AS OPPORTUNITIES. The Bible talks about trials on nearly every page. The Bible talks about them a lot, because they are common to every person on the face of the earth, from all times of history, in all walks of life. And if some well-meaning person has suggested to you that Christians aren’t supposed to have trials – that we won’t ever experience sadness or loss, that we won’t ever feel financial pressure - then they haven’t read their Bible very carefully, because even Christians have trials, problems, struggles, and heartache. The difference between the Christian and non-Christian is the way the Christian is to handle their trials.
Haven’t we all passed through some Valleys of Baca? Some Valleys of Weeping?
The psalmist reminds us that if the Lord is our Strength, and if our heart is set on the journey, we can see the Valley of Weeping become a spring. What to others is a place of bitterness can to you and me become a place of blessing; a place of growth.
Someone once said: “Faith dares to dig blessings out of hardships!”
It might not always be apparent, but the opportunity for growth and blessing is always right there in the middle of the trial. It’s not always easy, but with God’s help, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, we can use trials as OPPORTUNITIES.
**Opportunities to prove that God is with you, working for our benefit; opportunities for growth; opportunities to be a shining testimony to others.
[EXAMPLE]: …The Tardy Oxcart, “Dr. R. A. Torrey,” p. 253-
Dr. R. A. Torrey, founder of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, lost his 12-year-old daughter in an accident. The funeral was on a rainy day. At the funeral of course was all of the family. At one point Mrs. Torrey leaned over to her husband and said: ‘I’m so glad Elizabeth is not in that box.’ The next morning Dr. Torrey got up to take a walk, and during the walk a wave of grief came over him from the loneliness he was feeling due to her absence and knowing he would never laugh with her again or see her grow. This grief caused him to stop and lean his head against a light post and he began to pray. Here are his words of what he experienced: ‘And just then the fountain, the Holy Spirit, whom I had in my heart, broke forth with such power as I think I had never experienced before. And it was the most joyful moment I had ever known in my life! It is an unspeakable glorious thing to have within you a fountain ever springing up, springing up, springing up, ever springing up 365 days in every year, springing up under all circumstances.’
That’s digging blessing out of hardship! The Valley of Weeping had become a spring for him! This is the truth of scripture. Just this last week we had sad news when we found out that Les St. Royal died. Last Sunday he was at church; the next morning he was dead! The good news is that he didn’t suffer in his dying; and even more, that he is en heaven. We can be grateful that there is life beyond this life and there is the promise that we will see those we love again.

b. From blessing to growth- So God can comfort us and give us some blessing in the midst of trial. But from where does the growth come? How can fruit be born out of the trials? Well, while mountain top experiences are nice, you don’t find much fruit growing up on the mountain tops. THE FRUIT GROWS IN THE VALLEYS! And it’s those trials in our lives that God can use best to build into us by His Spirit. But for this to happen we must have the right attitude.
WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE ? Do you see trials as opportunities? Are your trials going to make you bitter or make you better?!
Someone once wrote: “Faith digs wells in the driest places and finds living water.”
Did Joseph see the whole picture of the opportunity that presented itself by his trial - sold into slavery by his brothers - carried off to a foreign land all alone - accused by Potiphar’s wife and wrongfully imprisoned?! Could he have imagined in his wildest dreams that it would ultimately lead to him becoming Prime Minister of Egypt, and the savior of his entire family? I’m quite sure he COULDN’T have seen how God was going to use all his hardship to orchestrate such a wonderful outcome. He couldn’t have foreseen how much he would grow and mature and turn into a great man of God through his trials. But I do know that Joseph’s attitude was that he trusted God. He had confidence in the One who is over all things! He did not have a copy of the New Testament - it hadn’t been written yet - but He trusted in the eternal truth of God that we read about in Romans 8:28-“All things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose”!
We live in a world that is full of problems. It is a challenge to live in this world. Illus.- There is a story of an interviewer who tried to simply ask people if they were happy, and most of what he got was rudeness and negative attitudes. People didn’t want to be bothered by this question, because so many people were not happy… But being happy is not just a matter of not having problems. Everybody has problems, and yet not everyone is unhappy. Being happy is also not a matter of not having material wealth. Most people do not have material wealth, and still there are many who are happy.
It is about understanding that in the midst of trials, in the midst of being in the “valley of Baca,” in the midst of being in a dry and barren place, God can well up for us a spring, and cause blessing and growth to occur in our lives! As I said before, the third key to having a successful passage through life is SEE THE OPPORTUNITY in every trial.

II. REMEMBER THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL- (Psalm 84:6-8; 2 Corinthians 3:18;
2 Timothy 1:12) a. Let God direct your steps- Lastly, we need to remember that God is ALWAYS in ultimate control. He will never surrender His position on the throne to any person or any thing. He cannot be defied; He cannot be overcome!
Here is the promise of God. The promise of Him who sits on the throne, far above all! If I am….looking to God alone for my strength, and….if I’ve put my heart into the journey, and if ….I’m looking to see what opportunity God might have for me in every trial, then the sovereign God will do two things for me:
1) He will direct my steps in strength, and
2) He will bring me right through to my eternal destination.
We see that in verse 7, where it says, “They go from strength to strength.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 says it to us this way- “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
This is the work of God in a person’s life. When we allow the Holy Spirit free reign in our lives, we will go from glory to glory; we will grow from strength to strength until the image and likeness of Jesus Christ in seen in and through our lives. Submit to Him, and see how God can bring to you fullness of life because God is in control; not you. I urge you to start doing this today.
Example- There is an Aesop fable which talks about a group of frogs who wanted a leader. They bothered the dog, Jupiter, until he tossed them a log into the pond. For a while the frogs were happy to have a leader. But after some time they found that they could jump up and down on their leader and run all over it. So they bothered Jupiter some more, who proceeded to bring them a stork for a leader. This was even better, because the stork was tall and had the good appearance of a leader. He also walked around making a great amount of noise, which brought great attention to the frogs and their pond. But then their joy turned to fear as the stork attempted to eat the frogs./ This fable reminds us of our usual tendency when we try to be in control, and or try and control who will lead us and how they will lead us.. Either we are passive and don’t attempt to do much with our lives, or we are aggressive, trying to do too much and in so doing end up abusing others. We create more of a mess than we started with. (Illus. Unlimited, p. 313, #8)
It is important for us to let God direct our steps, then we will be living in confidence and strength!
b) He will bring them through to their destination- But secondly, the goal is to be successful in life all the way up to the final destination, which is heaven! It is important for us to understand that this life here on earth is not all that there is. In fact, this life here is really just the starting point; a training ground for when we get to heaven. When we die we will live for eternity in heaven with God, and in God’s presence. Just think about the few years we live here on earth, 80 or 90 or maybe even 100, compared to eternity in heaven. As C. S. Lewis puts it in The Last Battle, one of his stories from the series The Chronicles of Narnia:
“The semester is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning….all their life in this world…had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle)
Then verse 7 continues, “They go from strength to strength until each one appears before God in Zion (the Holy City)”
As I said last week, this pilgrim Psalmist is just longing to get to Jerusalem - to the House of the Lord; the House of the Lord in Jerusalem, but also the eternal House of the Lord in heaven. And here is the assurance - God will bring him through, safe all the way. Verse 7 is telling us that God will continue to give us strength, continue to guide our way until we appear before God in the Holy City, which is in heaven.
Can you be sure that you’re going to make it all the way to Heaven? Can you really know? ABSOLUTELY. God IS the Author and the Finisher of our faith! Paul, in the last days of his life, wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith - not words of uncertainty - but a powerful declaration in 2 Timothy 1:12: “I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that (Eternal) day.”
One of the things that sets Christianity apart from other religions, one of the things that is there to give us hope and strength, is the fact that through Jesus Christ we have the opportunity to spend eternity with God. We have the opportunity to be in God’s glorious presence, and experience the full love of God in our lives. We will get to be with our creator in an unbelievably wonderful environment, beyond anything we could possibly imagine!
So, if this is true, then we should let ourselves trust this God of eternity with guiding and controlling our life while we are living here on earth.
The fourth and final key to a successful passage through life is: REMEMBER THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL!

CONCLUSION:
There is a German proverb which says: “It doesn’t depend on size, or a cow would catch a rabbit.” (Illus. Unlimited, p. 34, #1) Sometimes the size of the advice is not so important, as is the impact of the advice. I’m sure that what I have talked about these last 2 weeks is not earth shattering advice. It might not even be new advice to you. But if you put it to practice, you will see big results. You will see God giving you the ability to live as you were created. You will see joy and hope abound in your life. You will see growth and promise happen as you let God turn your trials into blessings, and you will not have to feel the stress and anxiety of making everything happen.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just limp through life - by the grace of God I want to go from strength to strength! With faith in God I believe I can outgrow my difficulties. I believe YOU can outgrow YOUR difficulties.
LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH; PUT YOUR
HEART INTO THE JOURNEY; SEE THE OPPORTUNITY IN
EVERY TRIAL; And REMEMBER THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL. Amen.

Advice For Travelers- Part 1
Psalm 84:1-12
Sunday, September 6, 2009

Introduction: Illus. “How To Improve Your Memory,” Amusing Grace, p. 197, #693. Michael Angus, the chairman of Unilever talks about the importance of having a good memory. He confessed that he had been having memory lapses, and so he ordered a book entitled “How To Improve Your Memory.” When the book arrived he took it over to the bookcase to put it in the section reserved for unread books. When he got there he found another book entitled How To Improve Your Memory!
This sermon is titled “Advice for Travelers.” However, advice is only good if you use it. Too often we stick it on a shelf for a later time and then find that we have already filed similar advice away before. This morning we look at Psalm 84, a “psalm of pilgrimage,” to see what words of advice the psalmist has to give to us.
This psalm is a very well-known and well-loved Psalm. Every year crowds would flock to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. They would make the journey from every part of the territories occupied by Israel. They would make their pilgrimage to the Holy City to worship at the Temple.
This Psalm is the thoughts of one who is making this pilgrimage as he makes his way up to Jerusalem. His desire is to get to God’s house - to be in the company of God’s people, worshiping. We read about it in vss. 1-2: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.”
DO YOU HAVE A LOVE LIKE THIS - A LONGING FOR GOD’S HOUSE? A passionate desire to be in His presence night and day?! It is in having a desire like this that will allow us to be able to put this advice to practice. The advice comes from verses 5-8, and so these are the verses we will be focusing on this morning. In these verse we will see 4 keys for a successful passage through life.

I. LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH- (Zechariah 4:6;
2 Corinthians 11:23-28, 12:9; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Isaiah 40:29-31)
a. Glad for our weaknesses-
("Blessed is the one whose strength is in You."), Psalm 84:5 starts out…
The Christian life is impossible without God’s strength. YET so often our greatest battle is about learning to trust God instead of trying to do it on our own. ZECHARIAH 4:6 says- “God said to me, ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’”/ It is not by our power or effort, but by God’s power that we will live successfully; and by successfully I mean the way God desires and has designed for us to live.
The Apostle Paul knew this as well. He had a particularly tough life which included great labor for the Lord, imprisonments, floggings, he was beaten for his faith and stoned, he was shipwrecked, and often found himself in danger on his journeys. He had times of sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, and he continually felt anxiety in regards to the many churches he oversaw. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28 is the passage that tells us of this). But in the last days of his life he was able to say in 2 TIMOTHY 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Paul knew what we need to know, as God says through Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-
“….‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”/ Now it may sound crazy to boast in our weaknesses. We usually want to forget our weaknesses, ignore our weaknesses, keep our weaknesses hidden. But it is in understanding our weaknesses that allows us to trust in the power of God!
This is the only way to beat “burnout”. This is the only way to overcome the struggles of life. This is the only way to rise above the mundane of our existence. We do NOT have enough resources to make the whole journey. Christians burn out because they strive in their own strength! On your own strength you can only get so far, but you’ll never finish well without God’s strength.
b. Living in God’s strength-
ILLUSTRATION: There’s a story of a man setting out across the Nullabor desert with just half a tank of gas - thinking that it will be enough to get him all the way home. “If I just drive a little slower,” he thinks, “I can make this gas last.” But there are simply not enough resources, and the inevitable happens, he runs out of gas and he is stuck by himself in the desert!
We think such a man is crazy to embark on a journey, especially a journey across the desert, without enough gas, without enough resources. At some point there has to be refueling; refilling. And yet, so many/ are just as crazy because they believe they can live the Christian life on their own strength - on their own resources.
Most Christians will agree that you can’t make it on your own strength. Yet so many do not take steps to ensure God’s strength for themselves. Why is this? Well, it is sometimes caused by indifference, or by busyness, or by not knowing how to do it. The first 2 you have to determine yourself to change; seek God who will give you enthusiasm for life, and seek to slow down in your life. Now is the time to start taking your Christian faith seriously. In regards to not knowing how, Isaiah gives us some help in Isaiah 40:29-31. In this passage Isaiah tells us that we will be strengthened if we live in God’s strength by waiting on God (meaning we don’t try to do it on our own because of our impatience when we don’t see God working), and by having a daily prayer and Bible reading time.
So often we look for God to give us these “spectacular insights” - the hidden mysteries - about how to defeat all our enemies and move the mountains in our lives, but the truth is/ if you discipline yourself by getting down the BASICS of the Christian life (Bible reading, prayer, worshiping at church, telling others about Jesus) our ENEMIES will FLEE AND our MOUNTAINS will CRUMBLE! Why? Because in doing these things, you start to live daily in the Lord’s strength! Simply, but powerfully, being built up and led by God. I believe that if you keep to the basics consistently - do them often enough - God will get blessing to you!
**As Psalm 84:5 says- “Happy (blessed) are those whose strength is in God…” The first key for a successful passage through life is: LOOK TO GOD ALONE FOR YOUR STRENGTH.




II. PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY- (James 1:5-8; Revelation 3:15-16)
a. Make the right preparations-
Then verse 5 continues- “…Whose heart are the highways to Zion,” or as another version says, “Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.”)
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to stop when I have to drive a long distance. (Just a couple of weeks ago we drove to Fresno to visit my aunt on the way to Sequoia. Even though the drive is only about 4 hours to Fresno, we chose to stop about an hour and a half into the journey to have lunch. In many ways I would prefer to drive straight there.)
When I get in the car, my heart is set on the destination point;
set on the journey; set on the pilgrimage!
The psalmist tells us that it is important to have our hearts set on the journey. How do you know if your heart is set on the journey? First, you make the right preparations.
Second, you don’t get side-tracked.

1. Illus.- When you go on a trip, what do you do before you leave? You pack, right? You make sure that you have all the necessary things for the trip so that you will be prepared. You make sure you have the right clothes, and that you have the accessories needed for the trip. It makes the trip difficult if you find out along the way that you haven’t packed what you need, if you find that you aren’t prepared. And for us, when we go on trips, to be prepared means to have drinks for the kids, as well as the DS games and books for them to read so that they will be able to stay occupied!
God wants us to be prepared spiritually, and the first essential of being prepared is to be into this journey with our whole heart. You know, God loves wholehearted people. People who throw themselves into life. In fact, He has some things to say about half-hearted people, doesn’t He?!
James 1:5-8- “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”
And James 4:8- “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
To be double-minded is to not be whole heartedly seeking and trusting God!
Revelation 3:15-16 says it even more strongly, as Jesus says, “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
b. Don’t get sidetracked-
Example- In one of the Olympics, in the Marathon race, there was a runner from Tanzania who was hours behind the other runners. By the time this runner entered the stadium, the drama of the event was long over. As he approached the finish line, he was limping, and grimacing, and his appearance was very ragged. His knee was bleeding from an earlier fall, and the remaining crowd began to cheer him on to the finish line. After the race he was asked: “Why did you stay in the race?” His answer: “My country did not send me 7,000 miles away to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it.”
He endured exhaustion, pain, and potential embarassment/ all for the purpose of just finishing the race. He was able to do this, because he was not sidetracked during his journey, but kept his eyes on the goal.
God didn’t give us our lives to just start the race. He gave us life to finish it. We are to put our whole heart into the journey. MAKE OUR LIFETIME COUNT! We shouldn’t be people who are just letting life pass us by - being dictated to by our circumstances - “waiting out” our time until Jesus comes - we must have our eyes on the finish line, with our energies, our heart, our hands and feet, occupied with making the journey count - living for Jesus . Paul wrote: “For me to LIVE is Christ”.
It can be easy to get sidetracked, because there is so much in this world that calls out to us to follow. There are so many things we can do other than live for Christ. So many things to do other than come to church or read our Bible or pray to God or serve others. But the things of the world will not make our journey more meaningful; letting God be our strength and being prepared for the journey will.
THE PROCESS IS IMPORTANT. What you learn and achieve here on earth with the life God gave you is important to God.

“Happy are those whose strength is in God, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” The second key for a successful passage through life: PUT YOUR HEART INTO THE JOURNEY.
Don’t wish your life away. And don’t just let it pass you by. Make it count for God’s glory. Grow. Learn. Be committed.

Conclusion: There are two more keys I want to share with you from this great Psalm, which I will do next week. But reflecting on this morning, we remember that we aren’t designed to live by our own strength. In fact, if we admit it, we realize that we have many weaknesses that cause us to stumble along. But the good news is that God has given us His strength to draw upon. This really comes to us by living out the basics of the Christian faith and regularly putting them into practice in our lives.
Along with this, God wants us to be sure that we are prepared for life. So God wants to guide us in the preparations that we make: daily, weekly, monthly, for our lifetime. God knows that if we are well prepared, then we will live a full life filled with joy. And to make sure we do this all the more, we need to stay focused. I don’t know if you are like me at all, but when I am at work I might start one project, then something else captures my attention, and then something else, and the next thing I know I’m working on 5 different things! I have gotten sidetracked. I finally have to stay enough is enough, and concentrate on one at a time until I finish all five!!
By starting each day with our eyes focused on Jesus, we can be more sure that we will get through the day successfully. Let us receive God’s strength this day as we seek to put our whole heart into this journey of life God has given us. Amen.