We Live On

Tonight we dive into what we are calling house habits… specific habits or routines that help us to maintain a firm foundation in our lives.

And the habit we are going to look at this evening is CRITICAL to the rest. In fact, if this one is missed, the rest just about become meaningless. The name of our habit tonight or goal of our habit is… WE LIVE ON.

We must make a choice. All habits are choices that become lived out actions. The choice we are looking at tonight… is to live on… not give up… not throw in the towel. It is the choice to remain steadfast in our faith no matter the season we find ourselves in.

Paul spoke of the seasons he faced in life. In doing so, he penned one of the most quoted Scriptures of our time. He reveals the secret of making it through any season… and we need to pay close attention to these words of truth.

Philippians 4:12–13 NIV

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Paul had been on the mountain top high… and in the valley low… and his secret to living on was not found in what he had… but rather in who He served. His outcome was not determined my his circumstance… but by His Savior. He made the choice to keep His eyes on Jesus.

You see… the core to living on is choosing, in advance, that quitting is not an option. Quitting on what specifically? QUITTING ON FAITH. Why does this decision need to be made in advance? Let’s play it our using Paul’s words.

Paul knew what it was to have plenty. IF the decision to live on was made in that moment… that would be an easy decision to make. No pressure, no need, of course I will continue in my walk of faith.

Paul knew what it was to be in need. IF the decision to live on was made in that moment… it might be a more difficult decision to make. Why? Because the pressure is on, the temptation to quit is lingering, emotions are weary, and your stomach is hungry.

Again, like we said last week… IF we wait for the storm to arrive BEFORE we work on any foundational weak points… then we will likely experience failure. Storms will find and utilize those weak points to bring us down. Jesus wants us to have decided long before the storm ever hits to live on… to not be overcome… but to trust in the One who is the overcomer!

And I get it… it is easy in this moment to say amen here tonight and to agree that we can truly do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

But then we walk through those doors and… life happens. Trouble comes our way. Not every day will bring trouble, but Jesus promised us trouble will come.

So when our emotions are on overload and our minds are trying to process what is going on and our bodies are feeling the pressure… I PRAY that our spirit will be resolved… to live on in our faith.

And this evening, we are going to look at some practical things to consider as we predetermine to live on… no matter what. JESUS IS THE KEY in every single one of these practical steps.

IF we try to live on… without Jesus central to HOW we live on… then our faith will fail. Why? Because our focus will be divided.

Think about it. No one wants to give up… so we do our best to cope with the situation at hand.

Maybe we escape to a hobby… or bury ourselves with work. Maybe we try to ignore the trouble or sweep it under the rug. Maybe we to smother it in substance use, alcohol, relationships, and so on.

These things we leave you short… in lack. In fact they often escalate the trouble at hand.

Paul’s focus was fixated upon Jesus… that was his secret to contentment… the secret to his ability to take a hit… and keep going.

So we are going to call these points practical steps to living on in Christ Jesus.

Live on With a Sense of Mission

What do I mean by a sense of mission? I’m not talking about the mission for the church or the mission for your work… I’m talking about the mission for your life. What spiritual mission or vision do you have for your life… for your home… and for your family?

The term mission… might be substituted with the word goal… but this is more than setting goals. This is living each day with a sense of purpose and direction… that we get from the Lord.

Some of us might be struggling in the storm simply because we have no vision of what tomorrow will look like. You are simply trying to make it through each day. If your mission is simply to survive the next 24 hours… you will struggle to make it through the storm.

And I’ve been there… I’ve walked through seasons that included difficult daily battles. I’ve had those nights when all I could do was cry out in frustration. Those days can be overwhelming and difficult… and in no way am I belittling the intensity of the struggle.

Jesus… doesn’t want us getting stuck in the struggle. Jesus doesn’t want our foundation to give way. THE STORM WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. Therefore… we keep our eyes on the mission.

For me… that mission has been grounded in Joshua 24:15

Joshua 24:15 NIV

15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

As for me and my household… we will serve the Lord… even if the rest of our culture goes a different way… we are going to go God’s way. And from this we have lived by a simple statement in our home: FINISH STRONG. We have made the decision to follow Jesus… we will remain strong in that decision to the finish line.

Your storm… that struggle… IS NOT THE FINISH LINE. It is merely an obstacle or a hurdle you must overcome. BUT REMEMBER PAUL’S WORDS: you do not have to overcome that obstacle through your own strength - you can do ALL things through CHRIST who will strengthen you.

Our ability to finish strong has little to do with what we can do and has everything to do with what Christ has done!

When you come face to face with a problem… your mission will help you see that problem in a different light.

Without any sense of mission… that problem… might be seen as a pit… as a place to get stuck. It might be seen as a situation that will drain the life out of you.

However, when we set a mission and lean on God’s purpose… that problem can be viewed not as a pit… but as a project - something to learn from, grow from, and gain from. And someone might ask WHAT IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE TO GAIN FROM THE PROBLEMS I FACE?

James 1:2–4 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Living on through mission locks us into God’s purpose.

We all know that God has a plan for our lives… and that plan… is bigger than you. What do I mean by that? Church, I think we sometimes forget just how big our God is and how big His plan is.

Too often… we become narrow minded in our thinking and faith. We make it too much about us and not enough about what God has in store. Your mission, shouldn’t just have you in mind… it should have what comes after you in mind as well. Our God… is a generational God and yes… He wants your legacy of faith to impact the generations to come.

God refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in passages like Exodus 3:6. God moves not just through one generation… but through multiple generations.

Take this church, for instance. This is not the result of one generation… but multiple generations who said yes to what God wanted to do here in the heartland. 2028 in our 100 year anniversary and it’s been a great hundred years! And we need to be setting this thing up for the next hundred years should the Lord not return sooner!

My point is… I pray that my faith will not only live on in me… but in those who come after me! I pray that my family will understand the importance of not giving up on God… because He will NEVER give up on us.

Our purpose extends well beyond our 70 year life span here on earth. Our purpose… our God-given purpose… will have eternal results. WHY DO YOU THINK THE ENEMY WANTS TO KEEP YOU FROM LIVING OUT GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE?

Living on with a sense of mission means we have our eyes set on the finish line.

Paul certainly had his eyes set on the race God had laid out for him. And when he neared that finish line… look at what he said...

2 Timothy 4:6–8 NIV

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

When I get there… I want to be able to say the same thing. I want to finish strong for the Lord… therefore… I must choose to live out His purpose for my life, daily.

Live on in the Face of Failure

Oh boy… this one is not a fun one. Why? Because it is going to cause us to face something that can drag us down. That something is… failure.

I’m curious… how many in the room have ever… failed? I mean you messed up BIG time.

Maybe it was at work, in your marriage, with your kids, with your finances, with a decision, or even in a direction. You thought it was the right thing to do… or maybe you even knew it was the wrong thing to do… and you did it… and it blew up in your face. You got caught OR you paid the consequence. YOU FAILED.

NO ONE likes to fail and no one sets out to fail. I cannot think of a single person who has ever had the mindset of wanting to fail.

Failure is something that can happen in every decision we make. There is a consequence for every action… some are good… and some are bad… and some are REALLY BAD. Church… what we do in failure is probably more important that what we do with success.

David was a man that knew both success and failure.

Perhaps the most well-known success story for David is when he faced the giant in the valley and took him down with a sling and a stone. David’s success wasn’t rooted in his own strength… it was rooted in his faith. David knew the God would deliver him.

1 Samuel 17:37 NIV

37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

David’s faith was firmly placed in the God of deliverance.

But David is also know for succumbing to a different giant of sorts… one he didn’t see coming. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was skirting his responsibilities as king… and he failed… BIG TIME.

Her name was Bathsheba. She was married. She was bathing. And David was watching.

2 Samuel 11:4–5 NIV

4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

In one book, David is slaying giants! In another he surrenders to a giant - the giant of lust! HE MESSES UP! And what he does in the face of that failure… only makes matters… worse.

He tries to cover up his tracks and fails at that. So the next thing he does is send Bathsheba’s husband to the front line of battle so that he would be killed.

DAVID FAILED… and the storm of failure intensified as he tried to deal with his mistake on his own terms. In fact, it wasn’t until the prophet Nathan rebuked him that David came to his senses!

But David isn’t known for his failure in Scripture… He is known as what? A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART. David didn’t give up after his failure… he confessed his sin, he faced the consequences of his actions AND KEPT THE FAITH

And once those sins are confessed… the moment we call out for forgiveness… those sins… those failures are washed by the blood of the Lamb.

Yes… we may endure earthly consequences for our actions… but those consequences will not be the end of us. Spiritually, our sins are forgiven… nailed to the cross through Jesus and buried in the tomb once and for all.

Jesus didn’t walk out of the grave carrying the weight of our sins and transgressions.... all of that was left in the grave! The new life we have in Christ is a forgiven and set free life! But some of us… aren’t walking in that freedom… some maybe trying to carry some of the baggage of past failures with you.

Jesus is calling your name tonight… to bury that failure once and for all. Some of us are struggling to make it through today, because you are still carrying the weight of your mistakes from yesterday, or last month, or last year.

Living on… means letting go. It means finding freedom through repentance and forgiveness. The Lord wants to heal some hearts in this… He wants you to know you are not defined by your failure and it is time to start living in your redeemed future.

God wants to strengthen us tonight. He doesn’t want us giving up in a moment… He wants us to remember that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus! He wants us to remember that He is for us. And if God is for us… WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? So lastly, as we close…

Live on With a Strong Foundation

There are four quick things I want us to remember that will help us in both points we talked about this evening. These are the foundational things that will help us to live on with mission and to live on through failure.

One, We STAND on the truth of Christ.

His truth is the ONLY truth that can set us free. His truth is the ONLY truth that can withstand the test of any storm. We must stand on His truth alone.

Two, We LISTEN to the convictions of the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. He will convict us, guide us, in the ways we should go. Conviction is… convincing. The Spirit will convince us WE CAN KEEP GOING so long as we keep going God’s way.

Three, We HEAR the truth of our testimony.

We don’t win on our own. We aren’t forgiven by our deeds. We will never earn our salvation. WE have a testimony of grace because it is by grace we are saved. WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT TESTIMONY! That testimony is part of how we overcome the enemy!

Revelation 12:11 NIV

11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Four, We REMAIN in community.

Choosing to live on will require the encouragement from others who have made that same choice. The community we have within the body of Christ is a resource to lean on, not hide from, when we face struggles in life.

Tonight I want to encourage you to make the choice… to live on… to remain STEADFAST in your faith. To not give up, to not give in, and to find your strength in Jesus.

Again… HE MUST BE CENTRAL IN ALL OF THIS. For Paul, Jesus wasn’t just a source of strength… He was THE source of Paul’s strength. Anything or anyone else… will fail… but Jesus WILL NOT FAIL.

Maybe you need a reminder of your mission.

Maybe you need to let go of some failure baggage.

Maybe you need to strengthen that foundation a bit.

My prayer is… you will choose to serve the Lord… no matter what. If that is your desire… stand to your feet.

Secondly, if you need help in one of these areas, let’s take time to pray and ask God to help us develop this house habit… this choice to live on. He will give us the strength we need.