Pastor Herk continues his sermon message stating that the year 2021 coming in without Christ in your life offers little change or hope. Our hope is not just in Jesus Christ, but also that Jesus Christ is our top priority. In that, what part do we play in the change and hope of 2021? 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The key words of this verse are “in Christ”. You have to be in Christ; in an active intimate personal relationship with the risen Lord, not just to know Christ or know of Christ. Because of Christ’s substitutionary death on the Cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead to conquer sin and death, He offers to us eternal life and we become a new creation in Christ, when we repent and receive Him as Savior and Lord.
The problem for many is that they know of Christ, but are not willing to live in Christ and for Christ. One is living for the sinful flesh and the other is living for the Spirit of God. Those who are living “in Christ” should be leaving their old sinful and unproductive ways behind in hope of the redemptive change that God wants to make in us. God desires improving change and maturity in His Children. If we are willing to pray, meditate and pray, listen and hear from God then we’ll find out what those desired changes are. Included in your prayers, we need to ask God to take away the things in our life that we know are harmful. In 2021, leave resentment, worries and failures behind.
(1) What is resentment? The excitement of passion which proceeds from a sense of wrong offered to ourselves, or to those who are connected with us; anger. Resentment usually involves unforgiveness. We are not designed or meant to carry unforgiveness from one year to the next. Hurts are meant to be given t the Lord, not carried around with us. Cut resentment off. (2) What is worry? To tease; to trouble; to harass with importunity, or with care and anxiety. There is no positive outcome from worrying. 90% of the things that we worry about never happen. Two things that we need to worry about are (a) the things that we need to change (realizing that some things cannot be changed), and (b) have the Lord show you how to deal with them. The Lord will help you. (3) What is failure? A failure is a failing; deficiency; cessation of supply, or total defect. An omission; non-performance. Decay, or defect from decay. A breaking, or becoming insolvent. In the life of a Christian, we only fail if we do nothing and don’t try. When we are “in Christ”, we are not failures. No matter how many setbacks we have, Christ puts us back on our feet.
If we have drifted away from our steadfast faith at all, we need to repent in confession and be reconciled to God, re-establishing and strengthening their relationship with Christ. Allow God to be active in your life in 2021. Put on the full armor of God and stand firm. Change the things that you can change and trust God in those unavoidable times that you do not see change. He will see you through it. Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Our attitude determines whether we are going to depend upon our own strength or on the strength of the Almighty Lord. Trust God because He is in control of all things.
In finding God’s will for 2021, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s Will is as it applies to your life. Think back on what you accomplished for the Lord in the year 2020? God promises to us that we will know His Will for our life if we seek Him and listen to what He has for us. If you want to be in God’s Will and doing God’s work, then look around you and see where God is working and join in there. The world worries, is saturated with negativity and full of anxiety, so prioritize things, but put God first. Is God first in your life? Is Christ first in your life? Are you trusting the Lord?
God has to be a part of our decision-making. Prayerfully, take it before the Lord. Ask God for direction in your life; where He wants you to go and what He wants you to do. As this in prayer until you get an answer. Are you willing to change, if Christ asks you to? In God We Trust.
In Christ, Brian
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