05/25/18 DASH-CAM MESSAGES
Setting Worthy Goals
By the time you are 71, it is probably time to set goals in life.
"When I grow up, I want to be like brother Wade... when brother Wade grows up."
I joke around, but he is a worthy example for anyone.
Though I am his senior, by more than a decade, he has many commendable traits.
Growing up includes maturing, but it does not mean getting old before our time.
You never know if you have another breath coming.
We need to know who we are, what we are, where we are and the condition we are in and where God wants to take us. Having a Biblical understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you.
Everyone has to make changes.
Setting our goals includes discovering what we need.
We learn what we need in various ways.
(We learn from reading books.)
We learn from the Word of God.
We learn from the Spirit of God.
We learn from mature and spiritual Christians, including the Pastor.
We learn from our experiences.
We learn from observation of others.
We learn from bad things that happen.
Listening to God's holy word is filled with instruction in righteousness and success.
Listening to God's Holy Spirit.
But beware. Not all spirits are God's Holy Spirit. They are not always spirits from God.
Sometimes they are evil spirits masquerading as God's Spirit. They are "angels of light." In other words they are Satanic in origin. Those spirits are "the devil in disguise," or "da devil in da world."
What a BEAUTIFUL DAY. But not every day is as beautiful. I am blessed to live here, because my worst days are better than the best days that some folks ever have in some other parts of the world.
DON'T TAKE YOUR ADVANTAGES AND BLESSINGS FOR GRANTED.
Location, circumstances, time of year all impact the kind of days we have.
Some people are living in sin and therefore cause their own grief. They are living in entanglements, slavery to drugs, their own evil thoughts or bad relationships or bad habits.
Sometimes the only way to break free is through Christ. However, some people break free from some chains, without being saved. It is not that they do it on their own, but they do it without giving God the glory.
Sometimes the unsaved have more self control and self determination than those who are saved.
(lyrics)
There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright,
Than shines in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is the Light.
No matter where you live or what the weather may be, or what your circumstances or your social climate or your political circumstances, YOU CAN HAVE SUNSHINE IN YOUR SOUL TODAY, by trusting Jesus.
I am broken for those who live in countries where they are persecuted, or countries where they are starving, or where disease runs rampant. I am broken for those in our own country who are suffering because they are not getting the help they need, even if they are Christians.
But you can have Jesus. Even when this world is NO FRIEND OF GRACE. Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. You can face every problem, knowing that, "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." Through Christ you can overcome every problem you ever encounter. You can be "more than a conqueror, through Christ."
But, beware, there are spirits impersonating the Spirit of God.
SO, how can you tell if it is the Spirit of God?
If you do that which He commands (as through His word), you will know if it is Him or another spirit. Obedience to God makes us aware of God. If you do His will; if you are willing to do His will, you will KNOW what His will is.
His sheep KNOW HIS VOICE AND THEY WILL NOT FOLLOW ANOTHER.
The point is that we are His sheep, His children, if we do His will. If we do not do His will, we are not His sheep or His people.
We became sheep by believing, by calling on Him, turning from sins, by following Him, by confessing our sins and confessing Him as Savior.
The way that we become NON-SHEEP, the way we lose our SHEEPHOOD, is to go back into sin. His sheep are the ones who follow Him. When you do not follow, you are not one of His sheep.
You don't lose salvation in the sense that you misplace it.
You lose salvation in the sense that you turn lose of it in order to grab something else in the place of a relationship with God.
God primarily leads us through His Holy Bible and His Holy Spirit, but He also provides leading through His holy servants.
You may deny that we can be holy. You better re-read your Bible again. Don't believe anyone who says you cannot be holy or that God does not require us to be holy.
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.
Be ye holy, for I am holy.
We also learn from bad situations, either in other people or our own experiences.
God does not want us to learn through TRIAL AND ERROR.
But God does not intend for us to learn through bad experiences.
God tells us that we can ask of God, and He will give us wisdom.
We can ask and we will know how to live.
We can ask and we will be empowered to live as we should, because God gives us His Spirit, and then we will be empowered to be and to do that which is pleasing in His sight.
WOW.
We should pursue WORTHY AMBITIONS, WORTHY ASPIRATIONS.
We should know people, whom we want to be like.
But most of all we should want to be like Jesus.
My desire, to be like Jesus,
My desire, to be like Him.
His Spirit fill me,
His love o'er whelm me,
In word and deed to be like Him.
Oh to be like Thee, Oh to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer Pure as Thou art.
Come in Thy sweetness,
Come in Thy foulness,,
Stamp Thine Own image deep on my heart.
