Thrive pt 2
Thrive • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsTo "thrive" in our walk with Jesus means moving beyond simply existing or surviving; it’s about experiencing true growth, strength, and abundance in our lives. Psalm 1:1-3 captures this idea perfectly, describing a life rooted in God's Word as being "like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."
Notes
Transcript
The thriving ascent
The thriving ascent
Loved us too much to leave us where He found us
Thriving is us realizing we are living for Him not us
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
(Tree analogy, empty and hollow)
Before we can thrive, we need to have a foundation and a source of nutrients
Prepare the soil
Provide the nourishment
Produce the growth
Preparing the Soil
Preparing the Soil
(Building a foundation)
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
His word is key in building our foundation.
In this verse the word meditate is referring to a spoken muttering, proclaiming.
The Hebrew word translated “meditate” speaks of what a cow does after grazing all day. As she chews the cud over and over again, she extracts every nutrient. In other words, to meditate means to ponder a section of the Word day and night, extracting more from its inexhaustible supply each time. (John Courson)
Its not just reading, its waiting and praying over what you have read.
14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
When you are planting a tree and prepping the soil, you are doing so with HOPE.
There is an expectation of good coming.
In regards to personal devotions it comes down to prayer and reading
Seek
Pray before you read
seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal what He has for you
Starting with prayer and worship lets us understand who we are communing with.
Study
Read the text, more than once, the more the better, let it marinate
Commentary's are also a good thing to refer to
Stillness
Wait on the Lord, let Him speak to you
stay in that time with him
remove distractions
Surrender
Giving God His due worship and reverence
Surrendering what I think I know and perceive
I can get in the way of God speaking to me by not allowing Him to change my perception
Let Him challenge your thoughts and ideas
3 Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.
When we are in prayer and reading we need to have a mindset of expectation.
God will reveal His word to you
Sometimes it takes some time throughout the day for something the Lord has revealed to you to sink in.
Be patient
Providing the Nourishment
Providing the Nourishment
(Getting fed)
Delight in the word
174 O Lord, I have longed for your rescue, and your instructions are my delight.
Realizing that His word gives life, nourishment and hope for our lives.
You grow to really delight in His word when you see the direct effect it has on your life.
You have to be in it to see the effect, it takes time for us to realize the profound changes it makes to our way of thinking and how much it heals our hearts and minds.
The Word of God gives us hope
4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
So many times in my life when I feel hopeless and lost, it is hard to know where to start.
Starting simply by reading and praying does wonders in grounding me again, and gives me hope.
Hope and reminders in God’s promises to me, His love for me, and His will for my life
Also it gives me hope when I dive back into His presence and He always meets me, comforts me and gives me peace.
I don’t feel so alone
Obey God’s commands
3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
Like with my kids, when I give them commands, it is not to hurt them, it is to help them succeed and keep them from harm
True freedom is living in this truth
We are free to live life to its fullest within the boundaries that God has given us.
I would rather live free in boundaries that are designed for my best interest than live “free” in a world where I am left out in the wilds on my own protected from nothing and on my own.
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.
Fellowship
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
We are relational beings, we will have people in our lives, it is how we work, so let us find the people who will encourage us to grow, challenge us and are perusing the same goal. To be like Christ!
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
If we are living in the light, if we are perusing Christ, we will desire to be around others that are in the light as well.
we will naturally be drawn to others who are a reflection of Jesus and are waking with Christ.
Producing the Growth (Thriving)
(Thriving) (focus section)
(Thriving) (focus section)
This section is an accumulation of the past two we talked about
You need to prepare yourself so that you can be ready to provide nourishment and receive it, which then produces a rich and Thriving faith and relationship with God.
The more I realize that I need Jesus and let Him take control the more I grow, the more I can Thrive
The first law is the law of surrender. If you do not surrender, it will be totally impossible for the Lord to do anything for you.
A. W. Tozer
Thriving is not emotional
When trials appear in our lives, does that mean we are not thriving?
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Trials shape us and help us rely and surrender to Christ all the more
In turn giving us more freedom and hope!
How do we fight the “feeling” of failure or that we are stuck.
Being grounded in the word
Making sure we are truly being fed.
Surround yourself with believers that will give you fresh perspective and help you grow.
Being alone can be detrimental to our faith, we can easily get false ideas in our heads and let them grow into what we perceive as truth.
What do we look for in our lives that can help us see where we are really at?
Things that tie our minds to the reality of our relationship with Christ
Staying away from getting caught in the emotions of life
Are emotions bad? No just the reliance on them.
What does it look like to thrive?
What changes are in our lives when we are truly thriving?
Healthy reactions
Healthy habits
How we are interacting with others and who we are in fellowship with.
Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Chapter 1
One of the ways we know we have fellowship with the Lord is that we have fellowship with other people. That is, if we’re truly in the light, our hearts will be full of joy. Therefore, we won’t gossip about, find fault with, or put down others.
When is growth apparent in our lives?
Thriving becomes apparent when we look back at our lives over a certain time period and see how much we have changed
What we have been delivered of
Progress regarding sin
Does not mean life is perfect, it is the progression of our relationship with Christ, not our outward circumstances
Our mindset and reaction to these circumstances.
Thriving is us realizing we are living for Him not us
What is holding you back from thriving?
Sin
Comfort
Fear
Lack of trust
Friends
Relationships
Change
