Blessed to be a blessing XI

Review last week.

Abram stayed in the desert for a long time. Like all the people that God called and sent to the desert, it was for a reason. “CHANGE”

I will make you… becoming a millionaire.

I said we would begin to look at how God makes or begins to change us, to prepare us for our destiny.

The Faith of Abraham Faith includes the ability to change and keep changing along the way.

• A sign that we have faith is that we keep following God through changes
• We don’t get stuck in disappointment, discouraged and bitter.

Romans 12:2 Do not change yourselves (be conformed, pressed into a mold) to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. 3 Because God has given me a special gift, I have something to say to everyone among you. Do not think you are better than you are. You must decide what you really are by the amount of faith God has given you

God said “Abraham LOOK! If you can count the stars!” Gen. 15:5 count them…

Count the possibilities not the impossibilities. Begin to plan for success, count the joy (Heb 12:) what will you do when it happens?

            Why wouldn’t he be able to count the stars? No faith, hope, pessimism, didn’t feel like it would make a difference, etc…

• Don’t settle for information when you can have transformation. Transformation happens by choice.

o   To be conformed just do nothing.

1.            You have the Choice

• True change comes because of choices that we make.
• True change happens as we apply our choices by FAITH!
• We must believe that what we choose will make a difference.
• We cannot always control what happens to us, but we can always choose how we react or respond to what happens.
• True change happen from the inside out.

2.            Faith operates best in an atmosphere of Freedom

1 Corinthians 6: 12 “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

• This is the essence of freedom that we must learn.

• We must learn to live with our new found freedoms. Spirit, soul and body!

• We are allowed to do anything? Yes! OK I will. Go ahead, but you will soon discover that “anything” is not good for you!
• The Bible helps us to take the short cut. To discover without the pain what will not be beneficial to us.
• This has been the hardest thing to understand for people who have only known bondage. Either by a government, belief, or anything else.

• The USA is one of the places in the world where we don’t have a problem of people wanting to leave, but it is a place where people want to come.  
• Finding what is beneficial to get to our goals in life and what is not.
• For example when we became married we willingly submitted to a reduction of our freedoms to be able to receive the benefits of the marriage relationship.
• There are things that I gave up the freedom to do. To continue to practice these freedoms even though I am married will guarantee the destruction of this relationship.

Christianity is my submission to a relationship of love with God and included in this is my will submission to limitations of my freedoms for the benefit of myself and others. True freedom is not anarchy. Freedom is not unrestrained liberality at the cost of self and others. The choice is there in true freedom, but spirit, soul and body rebel against the destructive nature of total selfish pursuit.

• True freedom is exercised by giving that freedom away to someone else in love.

Letting Children Free to Develop?

 A minister was once talking with a man who told him that he did not believe in giving little children any religious instruction whatsoever. His theory was that the child’s mind should not be prejudiced in any direction, but when he came to years of discretion he should be permitted to choose his religious opinions for himself.

 The minister said nothing; but after a while he asked his visitor if he would like to see his garden. The man said he would, and he took him out into the garden, where only weeds were growing.

The man looked at him in surprise, and said, “This is not a garden! There is nothing but weeds here!”

 “Well, you see,” he answered, “I did not wish to hinder the liberty of the garden in any way, I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself and to choose its own way.”

God wants to be your Gardner. But you must give him the freedom to trim the bushes and cut the grass. Plant what he wants and remove what he doesn’t. You must chose to give your life to him so that you will find it.