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We're in Psalm 27 look down at your Bibles in verse number one. It says the Lord is my light and my salvation Whom shall I fear the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fell Though and hosts should encamp against me. My heart shall not fear The war should rise against me in this will I be confident one thing have I desired of the Lord? That will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple And what I want to preach on this evening is how to stay right with God how to stay right with God It should be the desire of all Christians to want to be on the right path to do the right things to serve God To please him and I think I speak for all of us to say that it's kind of hard to stay on that path consistently You know, there's a lot of distractions out in this world We have the world the flesh and the devil that are constantly fighting against us constantly opposing You know our service for God or staying right with God And so, you know the Christian life is just this constant battle Not just an inward battle within ourselves between the flesh and the spirit But even you know when we're out in the world Whether you work in the secular realm or you're dealing with unsaved family or whatever may be, you know There's this constant opposition to the Christian life and sometimes it's just hard to stay right with God and a lot of the times You know the reason why people kind of fizzle out or they get out of church or they stop reading their Bibles It's because they don't give heed to the principles that I'm gonna show you tonight. Okay now David here in Psalm 27 says one thing have I desired of the Lord That will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life And if we can sum up what our goal should be as Christians Is that we're in the house of God all the days of our life until the day that we die We have our families in the house of God, you know until the until the day we die until the Lord comes back We should have it as our goal to say, you know what my habitation spiritually speaking should always be in the house of God I never want to forsake God's house I never want to forsake it and obviously we understand that people can be backslidden in church You know, they could not be right with God maybe they have sin in their life in church, but church is a good indicator whether Someone is right with God or not because it's showing that they're making God a priority. Okay, they're making God's house a priority They're making preaching a priority They're making spiritual things a priority and again someone can be in here and not be right with God But for the most part most of the people who are here are right with God because they're obeying the command To not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is they are putting God first They're making it a priority to be in the house of God And so we see here that obviously we know that David probably had a lot of desires but one of his main desires is that he would be in the house of God all the days of his life and That should be our desire Not only that but we should desire to finish our course, right? You know Paul said in Acts 20 verse 24 But none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto myself So that I might finish my course with joy The Bible says and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God You know, basically everyone finishes their course to a certain extent Okay but some finish well and some don't finish well because the end of the course for a Christian is heaven right the end of the Course is to die and go home to be with the Lord, but some don't finish Well, some get distracted some they don't get right with God They get involved in sin or you know The cares of this life the lust of other things entering in choke the word and they become unfruitful I'm gonna give you a couple tips tonight and I do encourage you Okay, if you're not used to doing this, I encourage you to start right now and that is to write these these points down Okay, don't take what I'm saying lightly Don't take you know, even though this is something you might already know you say well I've heard this already for many preachers or I've heard you say this pastor or whatever Maybe you know write it down and make it a priority and take it serious because of the fact that you know To 2022 can be a great year for you, but it could be a bad year for you as well It could be the year that you are not right with God and none of us expect to say well, you know I'm a Christian now. I'm serving God, but you know in the next year, I'm gonna not be right with God though Like for sure, that's like one of my plan. No, we all plan to serve God to love the Lord We want to do right we have the best intentions But you know We need to make sure that we put in the right or that we're using the right methods and strategies to stay right with God In order to please him. Okay now go with me if you would to go to James chapter number four If you would James chapter number four, these are very basic principles basic advice But it's very important and often it's the basics of the Christian life that make up the Christian life Okay, so how can you how can I stay right with God? That's assuming that you're already right with God, right? Assuming that you know, you're right with God right now You're in a good place in your Christian life You're growing and you're going forward everything's kind of on the up and up in a sense And even if it's not on the up and up, but you know, you're reading your Bible. You're in church You're doing that what you're supposed to be doing. How do you stay like that? And by the way, let me just say this is that when I say right with God Let me define for you what it means to be right with God. Okay Being right with God doesn't necessarily mean that you're prospering financially It doesn't mean that you have like the best of health or something like that What it means is that you're living a life that's pleasing unto the Lord You understand you're doing what God wants you to do because here's the thing you could be right with God and just can be completely Bankrupt to be honest with you, you know, you could be right with God and you know not have anything in the bank account You could be right with God and your health can be you know, just completely destroyed It doesn't mean you're not right with God because trials and tribulations come in this life whether you're right with God or not You know, there's people out there who are not right with God They're not even saved and they still suffer trials and tribulations So we have to be able to distinguish these things and not think that just because we're going through a tough time It doesn't mean we're not right with God it could but once you examine yourself you evaluate your life and you recognize well I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to be doing well, then, you know, the trial tribulation is just part of the Christian life Okay, and so staying right with or being right with God means you're doing that which is pleasing unto the Lord You're growing in your faith you're reading your Bible like seriously read my Bible as an indication. I'm right with God. Yeah Yeah, reading your Bible is a good indicator that you're right with God So here's a good way to get right with God first and foremost is start reading your Bible if you're like, man I don't know if I'm right with God. Well, here's a good way to start open up the Bible and read it Because at that point you can assuredly say hey, I'm right with God because I'm reading God's Word because that's a command that God gives to me, okay Number one how to stay right with God number one is be proactive in The Christian life. Okay, and I've said this before but you know, the Christian life doesn't happen by osmosis You can't just come to church and expect to be a great Christian overnight just because you're in church You have to actually do something with the information that's being given to you You actually have to do something with the examples that are being shown to you by others You have to be proactive in the Christian life This is why David said one thing of I desire to the Lord that will I seek after So you actually have to seek Christian success you have to seek the Lord You have to be proactive and being right with God and staying right with God. It's not like well, I'm in church So therefore I'm just gonna keep doing this now pay attention in church not obey the commandments of the Lord not go So any not read my Bible just being in these walls is just enough for me doesn't work that way You have to be proactive in your Christian life Examine yourself and see what areas do I need to work on you understand look at James 4 verse number 7 It says submit yourselves therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Look what it says draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you So what is the equation? The equation is this what's the formula if you want to get close to God you physically or should I say? Spiritually need to get close to God. You need to draw nigh unto the Lord, right and The byproduct of that is that God will draw nigh to you now in a practical sense. How do you do that? Well, look what it says cleanse your hands he sinners and purify your hearts ye Double-minded in other words start getting sin out of your life You know Once if you want to get close to God you want to draw nigh unto the Lord You don't need to put on some CCM song to help you to get close to God because actually CCM gets you further from God Because it makes you sensual fleshly You know, it pushes you away from because here's the thing is God is the spirit So they that worship him must worship him in spirit in the truth You understand but if we want to draw nigh to God the way God Filters that is by how you clean your heart up. And how do you clean your heart by cleansing your hands? Examining your life thinking to yourself. Well, what sins do I have it? Am I regarding iniquity in my heart? Is there something in my life that I know that's not pleasing unto the Lord and seek to fix those things in your life He says draw nigh to God he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands he sinners so it's not complicated You don't have to climb a mountain to get right with God You don't have to you know, go across the sea to find the Lord. All you have to do is cleanse your hands All you have to do is purify your heart and you think of purifying your heart. It could be an attitude problem You know, sometimes people are not right with God because of their attitude They have a bad attitude towards their husband. They have a bad attitude towards their wife They have a bad attitude towards the church. They have a bad attitude towards spiritual authority Towards just the Christian life and that will cause them to not be right with God You understand because along with being right with God is knowing God's order now go to Philippians chapter 3 if you would Philippians chapter 3 Hey be proactive in fixing your life Don't expect others to fix your life for you Don't come to first works Baptist Church expecting someone else to fix your problems. We'll give you the tools We'll give you the equipment. We'll give you the preaching We'll give you the support the exhortations that you need but it requires for you to be proactive and actually implementing that what you're learning Being proactive in these things, you know if you leave here, you know from our church and you're like, I haven't grown I haven't learned anything. Well, that's not my fault You know, sometimes pastors can be like man, I wonder if I did something wrong for these people to leave I don't feel that way right now I'm like, well, I preach God's Word. I mean I preach three saturated sermons a week You know, I'm here if you have any questions, I'm not a mind reader, you know I try to help people with their problems and their issues and and whatever may be so if you walk away from our church Blaming the church for your lack of growth. That's not my fault. That's not the church's fault You have to be proactive and be a doer of the word not a hero only deceiving yourself Understand look at Philippians 3 verse 10 Paul said here in verse number 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering Being made conformable unto his death if by any means I might attain into the resurrection of the dead Not as though I have already attained either already perfect But I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus now Wouldn't you say the Apostle Paul is like an awesome Christian? I Mean this guy is like giving those end times Bible prophecy Most of the books in the New Testament are written by him We would say obviously it wouldn't be correct, but we could we would say like he's almost attained like during this time But even he himself will evaluate himself and say I have not already attained I'm still seeking after and if the Apostle Paul can say that so can you and so can I Don't ever feel like well, man. I've been at first works. I'm so involved, you know, I've already attained. No you haven't You should have the attitude that you're constantly seeking after Seeking to apprehend that which also you're apprehended of Christ Jesus verse verse 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus You know one thing I noticed with David and Paul. They always say this one thing David said this one thing I have desired the Apostle says the Apostle Paul says this one thing I do Reaching forth into those things which are before forgetting those things which are behind pressing towards the mark And so Number one, how do you stay right with God? Make sure that you're being proactive make sure you're putting in effort into the Christian life Okay and Learning the Bible and learning how to be a good wife learning how to be a good husband learning how to be a good employee Taking the principles that you learn from the preaching or from people that are discipling you and actually putting it into action Okay, but number two turn with me if you would to Ephesians chapter number three Ephesians chapter number three Talk about how to stay right with God number one. You have to be proactive but also number two develop substance Develop substance in your Christian life. What does that mean? Don't be a shallow Christian You know, don't come to church just and say well, you know, I know that we say we're we're we're King James only We're new wife be and you know one saved always saved you better learn what those things mean You better be able to prove those things in the Bible My wife should stay home bless God. Well, can you show me from the Bible though? You know, you should have a life of substance It's good to believe things by faith because you know, you've heard it from the preacher you saw it in the Bible But it's another thing to actually know it here and have it in here In other words have it be like a personal conviction of yours Develop substance in your Christian life. Look at Ephesians 3 verse 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints What is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge? That ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. What is he saying add some depth to your Christian life? A lot of churches don't have depth preaching. There's no depth in there in the pews. There's no depth to it You know, it's a 15-minute sermon with no depth in the doctrine no depth in their Christian walk You know, we should be Christians who seek these things and seek to know the love of Christ, you know throughout the years And you know what open up the Bible and learn the deep things of God Learn how to apply these things learn the deep things. You say why is that? Why should I do that? Why should I know the love of Christ the passive knowledge? Well, because the Bible says that the love of Christ constraineth us So, you know what's gonna keep you in the Christian life not me not your best buddy here not your girlfriend Not your boyfriend not mommy not daddy Jesus Will keep you in this church. Jesus will keep you in God's will why because it's the love of Christ that constraineth us the Bible says Okay, don't come for the wrong reasons So, how do I know if I come for the wrong reasons, I guess we'll find out Right, I Guess we'll find out if you're here for the wrong reasons and you know what maybe you know, you're here because What maybe one of those reasons that I mentioned? Okay. Well, it's time to learn how to stay right with God and Shift that reason to being the love of Christ And say you know what? I need to be here because I love Jesus And if my my BFF no longer comes to this church or something, I'm still gonna come to this church You know or if my girlfriend dumps me or whatever You know, I'm still gonna come to this church If everything goes wrong in my life I'm still gonna come to this church because it's the love of Christ that constrains me to do God's will not a person Not some church member not you pastor, you know about you don't have to come and tell me that Hey, I'm not here for you. Okay I'm just saying, you know, obviously these things are nice and we're thankful that we have people in our lives, you know That exhort us and it you know, the Christian life is enjoyable When you have people that you get to serve with that are also enjoyable I mean, wouldn't you say you come to church and you look forward to seeing certain people? Right you come here like man. I can't wait to see my friends I can't wait to see the brothers the sisters in Christ I look forward to conversating with them to talking with them, you know Kind of relieving some stress just kind of chatting away and fellowshipping and laughing and just talking about random stuff. It's great, right? But those should never be the reasons why primary the primary reasons why we're in God's will Well, I'm not gonna go to church because you know So and so's there or whatever You need to grow out of that. It's the love of Christ that constrains you to be in church It's the love of well, I'm not gonna read my Bible because oh then you're reading the Bible for the wrong reasons You're going to church for the wrong reasons you're reading your Bible for the wrong reasons You're going so winning for the wrong reasons if it's not for Primarily the love of Christ obviously we want to go so many because we want we want people to get saved Right want people to not to go to hell get saved. But what if what if like everyone rejects you though? Well, it better be the love of Christ that's constraining you to do it again Even though no one got saved this week or this day or whatever it may be. Okay So Have substance to your Christian life, you know, let me just say this it's good to have zeal Zeal is awesome. It's good to be around zealous Christian, but you need zeal according to knowledge my friend You see zeal is great, but it needs to be tempered by knowledge Excitement zeal Passion these things are awesome, but they need to be tempered by knowledge You need to know why it is that you're doing the things that you're doing and you need to have more depth to your Christian Life not just you know, obviously I'd rather have someone who has knowledge But a person with knowledge and no zeal no good I'm saying this person knows a lot, but doesn't seem really excited about the Christian life I mean, I thought the Bible says love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength Right, you know we should get emotional about the things of God and I'm not saying you're gonna get emotional like I do and you know start kicking and screaming and all this stuff, but you know, we all get excited about something and So have depth to your Christian life The Bible says learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widow I hope you're reading your Bibles And I hope you're not just depending on my preaching to get you through the week My preaching is a supplement to your daily Bible reading and let me just emphasize daily Bible reading you understand it's like well the Bible that I get is on Thursdays and Sundays that man you're like a You're anemic spiritually speaking You need more Spiritual food and it's only supposed to be a supplement to what you're already eating on a daily basis learn to do Well, how do you do that by reading the Bible every day? Romans 7 7 18 says for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth No good thing for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good. I Find not one of the things that will help you to stay right with God is having substance to your Christian life and Substance often carries with it maturity Grow up Hey young man grow up Okay, you know young ladies grow up Young young couples grow up Put childish things behind you start having substance in your marriage substance in your relationships substance in your child rearing substance in your walk with God substance in your zeal You know, I know we like to say fag all the time But can we get a little more substance? Come on, let me just say this. I don't like talking about fags all the time because that's disgusting It's disgusting Okay, I don't like talking about it. I only like talking about when it's necessary You say you don't like to talk about all the time. No Why would you Weird I like to like enjoy my life. There's certain things there, you know, just I'd rather not think about those things You Know and we don't need someone bringing up Sodomites in every conversation and reprobates in every conversation. It shows there's their zeal without knowledge And it shows that they have only so much to talk about So, you know what's needed knowledge added to that zeal Okay, and So add some substance to your life. This will keep you right with God Learn an array of different topics in the Word of God learn how to get excited about an array of different subjects in the Bible Learn how to get excited about Leviticus not just 2013 That's very exciting I know I know you you have it memorized up and down you can you can quote it backwards You you have a rub-on tattoo of it I Know you you know, I know but you know that there's more chapters There's a lot more in the Word of God that you should know add some substance to your Christian life And you know what people like to talk to people with substance When they have something to talk about other than just one topic Okay It's good. Amen Go to 1st Corinthians 16 1st Corinthians 16 So add some substance to your life be proactive in your Christian walk Okay number three identify and embrace the right priorities Identify and embrace the right priorities Learn to be a person of the right godly priorities Okay Bible tells us but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you God wants us to have the right priorities in other words. What's the most important thing and Once you identify what the most important things are a lot of the decisions in life are already made for you Once you realize well going to church is important There's no question that I have to be in church. Then you don't have to wonder whether you're gonna go to church on Sunday morning It's not like you wake up wondering you want to go. I Don't really want to go. I Don't feel like God my hair hurts Now because you already have the conviction and the belief that you should be in church And so when you identify the fact that God wants you to be in church you embrace it that decision is already made for you Look, I'd rather live life With decisions that are already made for me by God. I Don't have to wonder whether I'm gonna go to church obviously, especially me because you know, I'm the pastor here But Even prior to being a pastor I had to decide right Even prior to even working on staff on my the previous church that I went to I made just going to church a priority It was just a thing that I knew I was supposed to do and be there when the church doors are open without Question and look I obviously understand that to be right with God. Yeah, it's possibly right with God only go to one service But do we want to be bare minimum Christians? Because if that if if we if you could just be right with God we're just going to one service Why don't we just why don't we just have one service then? You know why it's because we know that more value and more godliness can be added to you when there's more services Right more preaching more fellowship. And so, you know identify the priorities that God makes for you and Embrace them and don't undermine them Hey so many is a priority The Bible reading priority being under authority priority identify these things and don't buck them embrace them and If you have the temptation to buck them then what you need to do is get right with God not trying to stay right with God so you got to back up a little bit and get right with God first and respect and embrace authority the authority of God's Word the authority of the church the authority of the pastor and Then revisit this step of identifying and embracing the right priorities. This is important because A lot of decisions can just be made for you. If you just already understand that there's this is done without exception If you wake up in the morning You don't have to wonder should I read my Bible today? Because if you already have that conviction if you already understand some priority, it's like this is gonna happen no matter what? This is just part of my life. It's part of my Christian life. There's no question question. What are you gonna eat? Don't question whether you're gonna read the Bible Number four develop appetites and addictions You heard right develop appetites and Addictions, I'm gonna read to you from 1st Peter 2 verse 1 it says wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings as Newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby not into salvation If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious So you do have to develop an appetite for the things of God for sure because some some of it it's just not appetizing initially The music is not appetizing. Sometimes only the hymns are not appetizing Maybe the heart preaching is not appetizing to you. You have to develop that appetite Okay, look at 1st Corinthians 16 verse 13 Watch ye stand fast in the faith quit you like men be strong Let all your things be done with charity I beseech you brethren Ye know the house of Stephanus that it is the firstfruits of Achaia and that they have what? Addicted themselves to the ministry of the Saints that you submit yourselves unto such and to everyone that helpeth us and Labor it so according to the Bible the house of Stephanus, they're a bunch of addicts Right, what were the addicts of the ministry? They were addicted to the ministry now, what is ministry someone tell me Service they addicted themselves to serving others. Okay Now this is interesting. Is it not to use such a strong word? To describe someone who is serving the Lord as being addicted Well, this is actually very much possible because I've met people where it's just like they're part of the furniture of the church It's like you just kind of expect to see them Obviously, we shouldn't have expectations of people but certain people are so addicted to the house of God to the ministry They're just a part of being here. It's like you kind of expect to see them Doing what they do every single time and by the way I'm not the only one you know people in this church that are like that as well There's some people you walk by and you just they're always in their place. They're always serving God They're always doing the same exact thing over and over and over again. And you know what? They're addicted to the ministry. Ah This is a little too much though addicted I want to have my own life Well, actually the Bible says to deny yourself take up your cross and follow him, how about that I Missed the part of the Bible that says we're supposed to compartmentalize God and Say well, I do church when I go to church, but when I go home, I kind of do my own thing I'm sorry. I don't see own thing in the Bible What I read is if any man will come after me let him take up his cross and follow me Let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me What I see is the Bible teaching us that we are to serve God and love God with all our hearts all mind and strength and You know what? I see is that who cares what our lives are about We should just serve God And you know what, you know in the old IFB serving God had a different definition Today was like serving God is like you have to be a pastor if you really want to serve God You have to be a missionary if you really want to serve God That's like the only way you can serve God So if that if we had that definition here is like the only one that was serving God would be me right now You know and you guys would I would be telling you to serve God But you wouldn't be able to like be a pastor though, you know, you gotta serve God surrender your life to full-time ministry Full-time ministry. I thought we're all in full-time ministry Right Full-time ministry means you're serving God full-time. Well, isn't that what we do all the time? Because you don't need to be on a Payroll on a church on staff to be serving full-time. You literally serve God in everything that you do Whether it's your secular job you say why well because there's commands in the Bible that deal in marriage with children at work And God says that we do it as unto the Lord So how good of an employee are you? When it comes to those matters, okay We should be addicted to just serving God at whatever capacity that we're in understand become addicted Learn to like it Okay Go with me if you went to Exodus chapter 23 Exodus chapter 23 I'm sorry Exodus 13 So, how do you stay right with God be proactive develop substance in your Christian life Identify and embrace the right priorities Develop appetites and addictions. He said why should I develop appetites and addictions because it makes it easier to serve God You know that the commandments of God are not grievous folks It shouldn't means like I'm going to church No, it should be a joyous thing to serve God I got a single come all you faithful It's like man, you know, it should be that when you sing did you sing with your hearts unto the Lord? When you come to church, you know, hey, how about this? How about having a countenance like you want to be in church? just Is it yeah exactly like bless me I dare you You should be happy when you come to church This is this is this isn't Disneyland, but it's the happiest place on earth And people are like, well, yeah, I rather be in Disneyland You know, then you need to revisit the previous point to identify and embrace the right priorities Okay, we're talking about staying right with God Now if you don't want to stay right with God if you plan on backsliding in 2022, just completely disregard everything I just said Number five if you want to stay right with God don't bite off more than you can chew Okay, don't bite off more than you can chew I'm all for jumping all-in if you know how to swim I'm all for going into the deep end if you don't need floaties I'm all for going all-in as long as you know, as long as you don't need a lifeguard to pull you out But there's nothing wrong with staying on the shallow end and just learning how to doggy paddle a little bit Until you can swim and go to the deep end. What am I saying? Don't bite off more than you can chew in the Christian life Because sometimes people get so overly zealous They just go on it They just stay all day go sowing and they do all these things which I'm not against but then you know What happens is they burn out? Because they're not used to that type of rigorous schedule. We have a rigorous schedule here our church You know when you have people sleeping at the church during the day when we have quiet time When I have to Institute quiet time at the church You know, there's people who have just they're just have a rigorous schedule, you know, they bring their kids and I'm all for it Okay, I'm all for it But I'm also for making sure you're not taking upon yourself more than you can handle because you can often burn out and And get you know disillusioned with the Christian life Now if you're like well, I'm carrying on this schedule and doesn't bother me at all. All right, they keep doing it Add some more then Let me read you're in Exodus 13 I'm gonna reach you from Exodus 23 verse 29 says I will not drive them out from before the in one year Let's the land come desk become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against him By little and little will I drive them out from before thee until they'll be increased and inherit the land He's basically telling them I will remove these people little by little it's not gonna happen overnight This is a great principle for us as Christians to learn that we need to get involved in the Christian life little by little Okay, we're in this for the long haul, right? And by the way, this is important for couples. Okay, don't leave your spouse behind spiritually speaking You need to make sure that you bring your spouse along lovingly be patient be long-suffering And you know, don't just leave your spouse in the dust You know, you're just running laps while they're just kind of struggling they can't even digest the fact that I said fag in church or something And you're just you're just you know, and your spouse is just like I can't believe you said that though, you know Sometimes you got to slow down for your spouse Okay Yeah, but you know bless God the Bible says we gotta be in church Yeah, but you know what? Your wife or your husband should be in church, too And you guys should be serving God together And be on the same page And and you'll be more effective for the kingdom of God if that's the case Look at exodus 13 verse 17 It says it came to pass when pharaoh had let the people go that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines although that was near for God said let's pray adventure the people repent when they see war And they return to Egypt But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea and the children of Israel Went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. I want you to notice that He led them out a different way because he didn't want them to see war right off the bat They get scared to repent And then they go back to Egypt. In other words, they're biting off more than they can chew now the children of Israel Was supposed to be a nation of war Because they're going out to to conquer To take over the the promised land, etc But God is God's saying here initially I don't want them to see war because they're not ready for war yet Okay So how do we apply that today? Just don't bite off more than you can chew and here's You know an example, okay And I know I keep bringing up these weightlifting examples, but I think these are great examples. Okay, there's something out there called Eagle lifting How many have ever heard of eagle lifting? Okay, eagle lifting is when guys have a tendency to want to prove something so they lift a grip of weight right You know because they want to boast their ego, but then they end up getting injured because of it You know and there's videos like this all over social media Where guys are like, you know, they're like a buck fifty and they're like deadlift. They're trying to deadlift like six hundred arch back You know slipping discs left and right Because they want to prove that they're strong, but they're getting hurt in the process You know and you know what a lot of those people probably will never lift ever again Because of that You understand because it's better to just start with the small weight and work your way up learn form Learn how to lift the light weight and build your strength until you're able to do 600 in the coming years Then try to do 600 today when you're incapable of doing it. Don't bite off more than you can chew Amen I'm gonna read 20 chapters of the bible this year. Have you read five though? Well, no, that's why i'm gonna read 20 Well, don't bite off more than you can chew And this is a good principle for you as you prepare for the new year You know a lot of us have goals amen But don't have so many goals that you just overwhelm yourself and then you end up failing in january I mean think about this I'm sure the gyms are going to be packed on january 1st 2nd and 3rd, right? You know the the new year's resolution And they're lifting and then come the next week three weeks. I mean it's going to die down real fast Right because they bit off more than they can chew We don't want to be that way You know take what you can get take what you're capable of do what you can Now when it comes to couples Obviously wives, you know if your husband wants you to be in church and you just can't handle it that much You honestly don't necessarily have a choice Because according to the bible dad's the boss The husband is the boss And you know, you should you should do a spiritual backflip that your husband wants to be in church so much. Amen. Yeah, right I mean this is a good thing If your husband's like we're going to be in the house of god when the church doors are open And and you're fighting that you know, there's an issue with that, you know Things could be a lot worse, right? What if he was at the bar when the bar doors were always open? You think about that? You know things could be way worse. It's a good thing if your husband wants to be in the house of god No matter how far they have to travel Because you want the husband to lead spiritually and if you got yourself a zealous husband Who's always in the house of god catch up? And you know nothing wrong with being honest and saying hey you're far ahead of me, but i'm i'm behind you 100 I just need your help to kind of catch up You know and husbands be patient with your wife. Don't you know expect a whole lot if they feel like they're just being overwhelmed They just can't be in church that long, you know make the trip to church enjoyable for them No, we're gonna listen to preaching and one meal rations and and we were gonna go so no sleep and just if it's like Yeah, they're gonna get burned out right you should make it enjoyable for your spouse You should make it enjoyable for your children as well You know your children want to grow up having good memories of church Like yeah, I remember when we were there all day long or it could be like I remember we're in church And we're there all day long. Daddy used to take us to go get ice cream in the afternoon every time after soul winning We used to go out to eat. It's the best memory is going to church That's what you want Okay, and we know that you're crazy and you're just for for god And you don't need you know, all the extra fluff To be right with god, but maybe maybe your family does right? Okay And you're not a compromiser if you help them in those areas You understand it's your job as a husband as a father to make serving god enjoyable Right to make it enjoyable So that so that they're not just following you because you're the boss they're falling because they want to follow you I mean, isn't that what we want? Don't we want our spouses to follow us not because they're obligated to but because they actually are inspired to Whereas like the wife's like Let's do it You inspire me to greater spiritual heights. I'm following wherever you go because you make my life exciting right And so, you know don't bite off more than you can chew Recognize that you know, some people can't digest as much as you can Okay, and by the way, don't expect others to bite off, you know bite as much as you can right You know jesus said I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now He told that to the disciples Who he spent three years with and he said there's other things I want to say, but you can't even handle it I mean think about that and then he and then he said how be it when the spirit of truth is come He will guide you into all the truth so you'll be ready when he comes I just can't tell you because you can't handle it right now. And you know, there's certain christians that can't handle Some of the teachings that we have a little too deep for them, okay Go to first corinthians chapter 10 I must hasten here Talk about staying right with god. How do we stay right with god? Number one be proactive in your christian walk Develop substance in your christian walk Identify and embrace the right priorities develop appetites and addictions to the ministry Don't bite off more than you can chew number six Here's a good way to stay right with god Familiarize yourself with the blessings of being right with god as well as the consequences of not Okay Now this is important because you know some people would err on more so like Well, I stay in church because I don't want to be punished by god, man You know, I just don't want god to kill me or something like that. I know that if I got out of church God will kill me, you know, they go to that extreme and you know what i'm cool with them believing that Because if that keeps them right with god and so be it But other people are not motivated by that necessarily as much Some people stay right with god because they know they'll be blessed of god They understand that the goodness and forbearance of god leads them to repentance But here's the point familiarize yourself with both All right Recognize I want to stay right with god because if I don't he might kill me But I also want to stay right with god because I know i'll be blessed if I stay right with god. God will bless me I'll live a much more joyful life. I have a reward to come You know, I have god's protection I can prosper as a christian i'll just live a better quality quality of life If I serve him no good thing will he withhold from them that walk up rightly the bible says I mean that's like one of my motivations If he said no good thing will he withhold from them that walk up rightly I'll take that Because that means he's not going to withhold anything That's good, that's of good quality he's saying i'll give it all to you just walk up rightly that's a great motivation to stay right with god But you know, it's also a good motivation is recognizing. Well, if you get involved in sin god might kill you God can destroy you Why because it instills the fear of god in our hearts to make sure that we stay right with god But it's good to just know both Okay, look at first corinthians 10 And verse number nine neither let us tempt christ as some of them also tempt them were destroyed of serpents Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer Now all these things happen unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall So he said hey it happened to them and it happened to them as an example, so you don't do the same stupid thing So make sure you take heed lest you fall and god has to punish you And mark it down god chases his children That's a good motivation to stay in church, right? Oh, you're using fear tactics to keep people in church Yeah, yeah I tell them that god's going to punish them if they get out of god's will That's cultish. You call it what you want. That's what god said God is a very strict god And you we can point to plenty of passages in the bible Where god chastened his children because they decided to get out of god's will they were unrepentant And he killed some and he punished others And so take heed lest ye fall, right Go with if you would to first john chapter one if you would first john chapter one So familiarize yourself with those things Keep those things in the back of your mind, you know It's good to think about the punishments of god When things are just going well, and you're just getting kind of lazy in the christian life You're like maybe i'll miss a couple days. Maybe i'll miss a couple weeks It's better to just think well, no because I don't want god to punish me You're like, is that a healthy relationship for a christian to have? Yeah, it's called the fear of the lord God wants us to fear him Well, that means reverence though No afraid Scared of him What kind of god this god the god of the bible why do you have a problem with that And here's the thing for the person to ask we shouldn't fear god that way or that's not what it means Obviously does not know the god of the bible Because the person who knows the god of the bible will the natural result of that is that they will be terrified of god Because they know how powerful he is They know his righteousness his justice They know the consequences and that god is not mocked. What's our man? So that shall he also reap right? But here's the thing we've tasted and seen that the lord is gracious as well So, you know what you and I have both experienced times that maybe we were involved in sin And god did not punish us with the punishment that we deserved We didn't get what we deserve. We experienced what's called the mercy of god and the grace of god and based upon that That led us to repentance And we were thankful for that and we prayed to the lord. Thank you so much lord for being kind to me For being merciful to me for being long suffering towards me and it motivated us to become more righteous as a christian To serve him more because we understood man. God could just Mop the floor with me if you could if you wanted to And just destroy my life if you want to but he didn't I think of this, you know the other night in in my in my uh home the air gets really dry at night And I have this thing where like I have to have a humidifier Because if not, i'll wake up like at two o'clock in the morning just choking Okay, anybody know what i'm talking about? Nobody, okay. All right here. Cool. I'm not weird Yeah, i'll wake up like literally choking from a deep sleep. It's a it's a horrible feeling But the other night we forgot to put the humidifier on there. Okay and so I had one of those episodes a couple nights ago and I remember waking up and I was like Uh And I could not breathe And it was for a couple seconds, but literally in the middle of the of that little episode I thought to myself this is what it feels like if god just wanted to remove my breath And how helpless I felt And I pray I was just like lord give me my breath You know, it took a while but you know And then when I woke up again because I passed that no i'm just kidding, you know I got it back and I remember laying down thinking like man i'm a fragile person Like I'm frail like god doesn't even have to do much. He could just like keep me from breathing You know and it just reminded me of the frailty, uh, How frail I am my frame how frail it is doesn't matter how strong I can get or how much knowledge I have the the power of god And the fact that he holds my life in his hands it caused me to just fear him more and recognize You know what? Uh, i'm right with god, but I want to stay right with god Because he could at any time just keep me from breathing And you know I die and so I don't want that Number seven how to stay right with god Here's a good one. Okay, they're all good But here's a good one. This is very important. Keep short accounts with god And with others Look what it says in first john 1 verse 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Go to matthew chapter 6 Here's a good way To make sure you stay right with god Is keep short accounts with him In other words examine your hearts Daily You know pray Thus within yourself unto the lord and ask him lord search my heart see if there be any wicked way in me Search me. Oh lord, right try me know my thoughts See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting Here's the thing a lot of us don't want to do that because that's a scary thought, isn't it? Because say lord search me is like do you really want me to search you? Right because he can see the inner recesses of our heart we justify ourselves all the time Well, I do this so, you know, i'm well, why don't you ask god to you know when you write a paper? It looks great to you, but it's it's different when you have a second set of eyes. Look And point out all the misspellings and all the grammatical errors that you have on there. It's very humbling, right? Well, you know what you may look good to yourself because every man does that which is not every man Does every man is right in his own eyes, right? But it's different when god's eyes are put on you And you say examine me oh lord, right But this is a good way to stay right with god Is that daily you confess your sins before the lord and say lord have I done anything today that has displeased you? Help me to keep short accounts with you Examine me. Try me know my thoughts and my reigns Look at matthew 6 verse 12 So we we want to ask god for forgiveness on a daily basis when we want to confess our sins Forgiveness on a daily basis we want to confess our sins, but let me just say this you also have to forgive others, right? Because if you have the discipline of confessing your sins to god But you don't have the discipline of forgiving others. You will not be forgiven That's biblical right there Okay Look what it says verse 12 and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen For if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but If you forgive not men their trespassers neither will your father forgive your trespasses folks If you're bitter towards someone you're not right with god Did you know that? If you're harboring bitterness in your heart towards people in your life, you are not right with god according to the bible How do you know well because at that point you're not confessing your sins and if you are You're not getting forgiven because the bible says you have to forgive others In order to get to this step of being forgiven. That's how it works The bible says in hebrews 12 verse 15 looking diligently lest any man fail the grace of god lest any root of bitterness Springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled A lot of christians get out of god's will not necessarily because of covetousness not necessarily because of fornication Not necessarily because of drunkenness Let me tell you one of the number one reasons why people get out of god's will bitterness They're bitter towards their spouse they're bitter towards their children. They're bitter towards a church member. They're bitter towards me They're bitter towards god bitterness They're unwilling to forgive and I don't care how much you go soul winning It's good that you go soul winning But you know what if you're not right with god in your hearts because you're bitter towards someone Don't try to use other means to justify yourself and say well i'm still right with god, I don't have to forgive my spouse No, you have to forgive your spouse Make sure you're forgiving your spouse. This is why the bible says not to be bitter towards your wives, right? Isn't that random verse that the bible puts in there? Where god says like hey be not bitter Against your wives, right? the implication there is that Your might get bitter towards your wife or she might do something that causes you to become bitter towards her right right Are we getting a little uncomfortable here? This fact right You know, maybe she might do something that annoys you or You know, you just get mad you become bitter towards her the bible says don't be bitter towards your spouse forgive them and vice versa Okay And here's the thing when it comes to the christian life we're constantly getting right and not right with god It's like you could be right with god one minute and then the next minute you're not right with god You could why because it all depends on whether you're in the spirit or not Someone can be in the spirit one moment not be in the spirit the next You're in the spirit. You're driving in the car. Someone cuts you off. You're not in the spirit anymore. You're in the flesh Right So we don't really know how this necessarily works from the spiritual realm All we know is what it takes for us to stay right with god And one of the best ways to do is make sure you keep short accounts with god Making sure that you're confessing your sins. You're getting right with god you are You know cleansing your heart And making sure you're doing right now. Here's the thing is that you say well What if I go soul winning though a lot or what if I read my bible, but I don't forgive Well, here's the thing I can't say you're not right with god Because soul winning makes you right with god reading your bible makes you right with god going to church makes you right with god But it's better to just make sure you do all these things What i'm saying is Don't think that because you go so anywhere because you go to church because you read your bible You don't have to forgive someone You understand what i'm saying? It's like well, I do all these things. So therefore I don't have to forgive My parents or I don't have to forgive my spouse I don't have to forgive the church member because I do all these things. You understand what i'm saying? Doesn't negate the fact that you should still forgive Okay And so keep short accounts with god keep short accounts with others You know, if you're bitter towards another person in our church get it, right Don't be a bitter person towards by the way, if you're bitter at me Me You have one or two choices folks You could either come get right with me or you're just going to live the rest of your days miserable in this church Because nothing's changing Like i'm still going to be the pastor here It's not only you can change anything it's like oh man i'm so mad at that pastor. He makes me so well, you know I'm going to be here next sunday So you're going to keep hearing me until you get that right? Or you can go to a different church It doesn't really affect me either way understand So it's better to just kind of Lay it out in the open and confess your faults one to another get right with god get right with your brothers Because we want to stay right with god And why would we want to just live our lives in bitterness? You understand what i'm saying? Bitter people are some of the most miserable people on this earth Yeah And I don't know if you've ever met a really bitter person I've known bitter people they will talk about an event that happened 40 years ago as though it happened yesterday That's how deep bitterness can get and i'm not joking Where it's like they were they can literally relive that event as though it happened They can describe it to you as though it happened yesterday, but it happened like years ago It's called bitterness And someone has described bitterness this way it's like drinking poison hoping that the person you're bitter at is affected by it That's how bitterness is Because most of the people that you might be bitter at they don't even know that you're bitter at them They're not even they don't even know you're mad at them. They're just like happy they're serving god. They're going to sleep They're you know, they have they're just living carelessly and you're just mad Going to bed mad Going to work mad just constantly thinking about that person. Whereas the person you're mad at for not even thinking about you, right? You guys ever seen that meme Where it's like, uh It was it's two guys and one of the guys says like He says you americans are you know are stupid or something or he says I think you americans are stupid It says europeans. That's what it is europeans That's what it is europeans and said I think you americans are stupid and the american says I don't even think about you at all It's kind of like the same thing by the way shout out to all my european listeners out there No hard feelings just a good meme But that's like the same thing with people who are bitter towards other people It's like i'm so mad at you. I think you know the worst about you And then the person they're bitter is like I don't even think about you at all Like it's not really affecting my life at all, right? So why not just forgive and move on? Okay, go to exodus 21 we're done here Let me review these points how to stay right with god number one be proactive number two develop substance in your christian life Number three identify and embrace the right priorities number four develop appetites and addictions to the ministry Number five don't bite off more than you can chew Number six familiarize yourself with the blessing of being right with god and the consequences of not Number seven keep short accounts with god and with others and lastly My last point is actually a sermon that I preached a couple years ago and the principle still applies today Number eight create a reason to stay Create a reason to stay how do you stay right with god by creating reasons to stay in god's will Obviously the love of christ constrains us, but it's good to always add to that Reasons to stay look at exodus 21 verse 1 now These are the judgments which thou shall set before them if thou buy in hebrew servant six years. He shall serve thee And in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself if you were married then his wife shall go out with him If his master have given him a wife She have borne him sons and daughters or daughters the wife and her children shall be her masters and he shall go out by himself And if the servant shall plainly say I love my master My wife and my children. I will not go out free then his master shall bring him unto the judges He shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl And he shall serve him forever. The bible says so he's here that the servant says I don't want to go out Why because I love my master and you know what? I love the wife that he gave me I love the children that he gave me. I love everything that I have here. Why would I leave? What did this guy do he created reasons to stay? So if you come into god's will and the love of christ constrains you amen add some more reasons why you should stay How about this because you influence people in our church? How about this because souls are at stake How about this you might meet your future wife here amen amen amen amen Do it for your future children Do it for your future spouse create that reason to stay and you know What will happen is when you're tempted to get out of god's will you'll say I can't Because I love my master I love the wife that he gave me. I love the children. He gave me. I love the the service that he gave I love the church that he gave me I love where i'm at. There's too many there's the reasons to stay outweigh the reasons to leave right And look if it was just jesus, that would be enough because we love our master. Amen But you know what god also encourages us to have other reasons as well Okay, and the longer you're in church the more of an opportunity you have to create more reasons to stay like I can't leave This is where I serve This is where I play instruments and i'm involved in the music or i'm involved in the soul I want to be a team leader one day. I want to I want to be a pastor one day I you know, I love my brethren I can't leave there's a young man who looks up to me. I can't leave this person looks up to me He expects to see me here. I can't leave, you know I don't want to leave my wife astray or leave my children astray create reasons to stay So that when you're discouraged you're disillusioned you're just like well i'm gonna i'm gonna stick it out anyways Because there's too many eyes on me Too many people looking towards me as an influence. I have my family with me You know There's just too many reasons why I should stay then why I should leave Create a reason to say this is how you can stay right with god And the more reasons you have the less likely it is That you'll get out Because then you just go through that list You know, you get married start having children then you're just like Like me, I mean aside from the fact that i'm the pastor, but let's say if I wasn't like I got four reasons to stay in god's will God forbid if something were to happen where I you know, i'm no longer pastoring i'm still gonna be in church Why because I got a wife and I got four little ones That I have a responsibility to raise in the nurture and the admonition of the lord Amen It's my responsibility to teach my son bruce to love the lord His god and mine with all his heart soul mind and strength I got to teach azaias how to love the lord and be zealous towards the things of god I got to teach kyla. I got to teach helen. I got to be an example to them and So they're my reason to just stay in god's will no matter what happens And so, you know, I hope your desire tonight Is to is to stay right with god I really do. I hope you don't you're I hope you're not indifferent towards that Because if you're indifferent towards being right with god, you're like in the wrong place or something's wrong with your heart Don't take this thing of being right with god lightly Okay, take it serious understand. It's a serious issue It's a serious thing and so and when you when you understand that it's serious, you'll take the necessary steps to maintain That fellowship with the lord Amen Let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word lord And we're so thankful for all the things that you bless us with lord. We have so much To whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required And you've given us such an awesome environment Such a great church a bible lord we have church members and people are blessing to us and people who are willing to invest in us and There's just the list can go on and on and on and on and on and yeah Sure, maybe someone in here has more than others in our church. But at the end of the day we have something we have someone And we all have a reason to stay and I pray that lord you'd help us to Be proactive in these areas and not take them lightly Bless us lord and help us to do that which is pleasing in your sight lord And I pray that you'd help us to be conscious about staying right with you And not to say we won't make mistakes we're sinners we make mistakes and and we we get in the flesh or we make bad mistakes or We just make bad decisions But help us to be conscious of that and to get back on the path As soon as you recognize that we're off of it in jesus name we pray. Amen