Is this the way you want it to end
Eph 4:26
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
IS THIS THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO END?
Look to your neighbor and ask them that question.
Is this the way you want it to end?
If you said NO, then do something about it.
If you think that your life is a shambles, change it.
We have so many excuses for the way our lives have turned out. It is just mind boggling to me as to why people stay in the situations that they are in.
You have two choices people, you can marinate or you can change.
You know how a marinade works; you mix up your ingredients, put in the meat and let it soak.
Some of our lives are just like that marinade, we have gone and messed up our lives and now we just sit in the marinade having our pity me party and then we get offended because nobody wants to listen to our whining; and we get upset.
So now, we just lie in the bowl and soak.
You don’t like your situation, change it.
We can do that.
Those people just do not understand my situation,
I had a terrible home life, my parents were abusive, and my parents were alcoholics,
my parents were this or they were that,
I am the way I am because, because, because….
Take responsibility for your life.
Even the demon possessed man from Gadarene took responsibility. He knew he couldn’t live among his own people so he lived in the caves, where he was alone, except for the 6000 demons and they couldn’t destroy him.
Is this the way you want it to end; With excuses?
If you said NO, then do something about it.
Let’s torment the devil by not staying in whatever situation we are struggling with,
THE SON HAS NOT YET SET!
Change your life, be what God wants you to be.
We serve a God who can change us.
He can give you the victory.
Some of you here tonight are in the morning of your lives, and some are in the noonday of their lives while others are in the evening of their lives.
The morning people have got their whole life in front of them. They have plans, they have expectations they have dreams and desires of how there life is going to be.
Then something happens, whether planned or not their situation changes, they drop out of school, their at a party they give in to peer pressure.
They have a drink or they smoke something they know they shouldn’t, they have no idea what happened and now they have a little responsibility following them around.
What are you going to do, set around and soak in that marinade? Alright you messed up, you are not the first and you won’t be the last.
The sun has not set yet, changes your life.
Come back to the cross and look, your situation your sin your temptations are nailed there, come to Jesus He can make you what you should be.
For those that are in the noonday of your life, maybe your life is pretty much the way you hoped it would be.
Married two kids, a good paying job with great benefits, and you are in your dream home.
There is the cabin at the lake the boat, life is good and if it was any better you wouldn’t know what to do.
Then the company you went to work at right out of high school is having financial problems.
There is going to be a big layoff, you thought you were safe you’ve been there 20 + years, you have plenty of seniority, but there cutting the salary people and your one of them.
What are you going to do?
Is this how you want it to end?
Call out to God, He hears your cry, he can provide all of our needs even in our darkest hour.
The sun has not set on your situation yet.
There is still time to change your life.
For those of us that are in the evening of our lives, there are all those things we wished we had done but didn’t get around to.
Then there are those dear people that we may have offended and haven’t spoken to in years.
It could be a relative, a family member a passing acquaintance, it doesn’t matter.
They said something and we got mad at them or maybe we said something and they got mad at us.
At this point it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that we make amends that we forgive them just as our father forgives us.
Think about it, God sent His only begotten Son to die for us.
He will not do it again, and while He hung on the cross dieing He said, “Forgive them father for they know not what they do.”
Is that how you want it to end?
The sun has not set on your situation yet.
Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Did you notice: He didn’t say he kept the course, he said he kept the faith.
The course is difficult
Two Ways of Life Matthew 7:13-14
13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
and we are going to stumble.
He finished the course. He fought the good fight and he kept the faith that God would get him through.
Say I am determined to finish!
We get in situations we just shouldn’t be involved in and the next thing you know we’ve got major problems.
We were riding high, on top of the world, and nothing could be better.
Then something gets in the way of all that and we end up just spinning our wheels going round and round.
Is that how you want it to end?
The sun has not set on your situation yet.
Samson is good example of that, everything was going great then he sees a woman that he knows he shouldn’t be with and the next thing he knows he is weak, he’s blind and he is bound with chains to a millers wheel just going round and round grinding wheat into flour to feed the enemies of his God.
He can’t stand it anymore; his plight is more than he can bear.
When he is brought before the crowd of people to entertain them he says to God, don’t let it end this way. Let me feel your Spirit and have victory.
The sun hadn’t set yet on his situation.
Joshua is battling the Amorites he is having a day.
They were being victorious, but it wasn’t over, the light was starting to fade and Joshua knew if it got dark there would be no victory.
You ever notice how much better we react in the light than the dark?
Light can penetrate darkness but darkness can not penetrate the light, o how we need the light of Jesus Christ in us daily.
Joshua says I don’t want it to end this way.
He stands in the middle of his soldiers and he cries out Sun you stop and moon don’t you move.
I don’t want it to end this way I want the victory.
Now we know that the sun doesn’t move around the earth, Joshua said it wrong but God knew what he meant, we get like that we don’t know what to say and when we are excited and pray it comes out wrong, but God knows what we need in our life and when we need it.
Please stand.
Eph 4:26
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
God wants us to finish our day with no bitterness in our hearts, we are not to hold grudges and be upset with each other. The next line of scripture is pretty plain:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
You see if you carry that bitterness, that animosity, that anger you give the devil a foot hold in the doorway to your life.
IS THIS THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO END?
I don’t know what some of you may be going through; but whatever it is:
IS THIS THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO END?
No matter how you feel you have been mistreated, abused, lied about lied to you need to forgive. Get rid of that baggage.
IS THIS THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO END?
Forgive and forget is the principle. Harboring hatred and sinful feelings gives the Devil an advantage over our lives.
I don’t want to give him anything, I want to torment him.
Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,
Do something about it. We serve a God who can change us if we let Him be first in our lives.