“Don’t Dare Take This With You Into 2023!”

Pastor Jim Lowe III

Sunday Morning,  9:30am Stream

12/11/22 (1st Sunday Message)

 

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{All scriptures are NIV84 unless stated}

 

1 Corinthians 10:23

23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive.

 

Everything is permissible.

 

Our choices…our decisions…our moves…

 

Is it permissible of beneficial?

 

2022 is almost over!

 

Meaning we have either been doing what God purposed for us.

 

 or the things we purposed for ourselves.

 

Have You Spent 2022 Seeking God Or Yourself?

 

With all the choices we’ve made this year…how often have we checked those things with God?

 

How often did we pray?

 

Go to church?

 

Serve somewhere?

 

Serve another person?

 

Show love?

 

How often have we been following God’s plan this year?

 

This goes into our expectations for 2023.

 

Question from last week:

 

Why Do We Expect 2023 To Be Better Than 2022?

 

What makes 2023 different than 2022?

 

What makes it different than 2020?

 

2015?

 

2010?

 

If You Do The Same Things You’ve Done Before, You’ll Get What You’ve Always Gotten!

 

You can’t expect to do the same things you did this year…and expect 2023 to be better!

 

So if we want better…

 

If we want more…

 

We should DO something different…

 

We should TAKE some things with us…

 

And LEAVE some things behind.

 

As We Get Ready For The New Year, Some Things Need To Stay Behind In 2022!

 

If you carry anything into 2023…make sure it’s going to strengthen your relationship with God.

 

What can strengthen your relationship?

 

Last week: Remembering the promises of God…

 

This week: Things You need to leave in 2022.

 

Today’s Title:

“Don’t Dare Take This With You Into 2023!”

 

So what should we leave in 2022?

 

Things To Leave In 2022:

Fear And Anxiety

 

2 Scriptures To Start Out With:

 

Joshua 1:9

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

 

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

 

There are many times we use fear.

 

When it comes to our gifts…

 

our purpose.

 

our calling…

 

our personal projects

 

There’s always a reason to put it off.

 

That fear doesn’t come from God.

 

2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)

7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

 

God did not give us a spirit of fear…

 

 being timid…

 

 cowardice…

 

 craven and cringing and fawning fear.

 

Fear can stop us from moving forward.

 

Many of us know what God wants for us.

 

Fear has stopped many of us from stepping out on faith.

 

Fear has stopped us from walking in ministry.

 

Fear has stopped us from walking in God’s purpose.

 

Fear has stopped us from starting that business.

 

Fear has stopped us from making that investment.

 

And when you REALLY think of how long ago God gave us some of these things.

 

Fear has stopped us over and over and over.

 

Fear Has Become So Familiar To Some Of Us It’s A Comfort.  It’s Time To Leave It Behind!

 

Many of us our comfortable in our fear.

 

We keep it around like nothing else!

 

 Our fear is loyal to us more than ANY dog!

 

Our fear becomes our crutch…

 

 and it’s literally eating at us.

 

But 2 Timothy tells us what God equips us with.

 

God Didn’t Give Us A Spirit Of Fear, But A Spirit Of Power!

 

This means God is with you!

 

God has given you HIS power…

 

 NOT Fear!!

 

As I was preparing for this message…

 

I was on the internet and found an article that talked about how we destroy our own success.

 

It mentioned things we tell ourselves that actually work against us.

 

Turns out these things are fear.

 

I’m going to mention a few of them and show how those things not only keep us from stepping out on faith…

 

But they also keep us living in fear.

 

Lies We Tell Ourselves To Keep Living In Fear:

1. “Everyone Will Laugh/Criticize/Shame Me…”

 

This is built on the fact that we want to be accepted.

 

No one likes being embarrassed.

 

No on likes being made fun of.

 

But because we are afraid of that…

 

 We will allow that to keep us from doing anything.

 

We Can Put Our Dreams On Hold Based On The Opinions Of Others

 

This means we now have to figure out how to find courage to step out on Faith.

 

All for the sake of someone else.

 

Not Everyone Will Appreciate Your Gift, But You Aren’t Living For Everyone!

 

You are living for God.

 

What did God say?

 

Isaiah 51:7-8

7 “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.”

 

This means that those people will die.

 

Their jokes will grow old.

 

They probably will move on from talking about you before they die…

 

But either way…they won’t last.

 

But God will.

 

Matthew 5:11-12

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Let the people talk…

 

It means God is going to bless you more.

 

Don’t fear them…

 

 

 

Lies We Tell Ourselves To Keep Living In Fear:

2. “I Am Going To Fail/It Won’t Work…”

 

How do we judge those standards?

 

Is this thing something God told you to do?

 

If it is God’s standards…how do we know it will fail?

 

How Do We Know It Will Fail? Because It Takes A Long Time??

 

Genesis 6:11-13

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

 

God tells Noah to build an Ark.

 

God says that he will bring a flood.

 

He says EVERYthing on earth will die.

 

Except Noah and his family.

 

Genesis 6:22

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

 

Noah listened when God gave him purpose.

 

But what we don’t know is how long it took to do it.

 

Bible scholars have estimated that it took Noah 100 years to build this ark.

 

God told Noah the flood was coming…

 

 but it seemed like eternity before it came.

 

5 years…no flood.

 

10 years…no flood.

 

30 years…no flood.

 

Yet Noah was still working…

 

How long would we continue the plan?

 

How long before we give up?

 

We might ask:

 

“Did God Really Tell Me To Do This?”

 

What if Noah gave up?

 

 He would have died with everyone else.

 

Because he either didn’t believe what God said…

 

 Or he was too lazy to work it.

 

But the truth is if God said it…

 

You can do it.

 

Joseph had a dream as a child of what he would become.

 

It took Joseph 30 years for it to take place.

 

Even If You Have Failed Before, Don’t Give Up On God!

 

God promised Abram a son in Genesis 12.

 

Abram was 75 years old then.

 

Sarai was around 65.

 

They had no children.

 

You’d think when you’re promised a child…you’ll get to working on it!

 

Yet months later…nothing.

 

Years later…nothing…

 

Decades later…nothing.

 

Yet God still says he’s going to do it.

 

But Sarah doesn’t just pop up pregnant…

 

They have to keep trying.

 

Don’t Let Fear Stop You From Trusting And Acting On What God Said!

 

If you fail…take the L as a Lesson and keep going!

 

Don’t look at others who tried it and failed.

 

If God told you to do it…you can do it!

 

Don’t Compare Someone Else’s Journey To Yours!  God Is With YOU!

 

God chose you for a reason!

 

God picked you for a reason!

 

God Chose You Because He Knew You COULD Do It!

 

Even if that thing creates enemies against you.

 

God Is With You!!

 

Encourage yourself…

 

Let the old stuff go…

 

If God Is With You, It Will Turn Out The Way It’s Supposed To!

 

#3!

 

Lies We Tell Ourselves To Keep Living In Fear:

3. “It Will Make Some People Not Like Me…”

 

God didn’t give you purpose concerned of what others will think of you.

 

Why??

 

Because God said he would be with you!

 

Deuteronomy 20:1

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

 

When you go up against others who seem like they have more than you…they really don’t.

 

People may have more people on their side than you.

 

Others may have more money than you.

 

But if God is on you side…it doesn’t matter!

 

Psalm 118:6

6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

 

What can any one person or group of people do to you?

 

Just like with Noah…no matter what the whole world told him…

 

 God promised him safety.

 

All You Need To Be Successful In Life Is To Have God With You!

 

 

 

 

Lies We Tell Ourselves To Keep Living In Fear:

4. “I Am Too Young/Too Old To Do This…”

 

We already covered being too old.

 

Noah was 600 when the flood started.

 

Abraham was 100.

 

Jeremiah 1:4-8

4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

 

Jeremiah was called a child.

 

It doesn’t matter the age.

 

If You Know What You Need To Do, Now Is The Time To Get Going!

 

John 9:4

4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

 

WE must do the work of God.

 

As long as it is day…

 

That means there is limited time here.

 

Now is the time to start…it’s time now!

 

Don’t fear…because God is with you.

 

How Do We Get Rid Of Our Fear?

 

We said it last week:

 

Realize that God is bigger than all our problems.

 

Including our fear.

 

God gave us a spirit of power, love and sound mind.

 

 

God Didn’t Give You The Fear, But He Can Deliver You From It!

 

Psalm 34:4

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

 

When I am in fear…God can deliver me if I seek him.

 

When I seek God…he can deliver me from fear I didn’t know about!

 

Seeking God Is Always The Answer To Fear!

 

Psalm 46:1-3

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.  Selah

 

God is our refuge…our hiding place.

 

God is our strength…

 

God is our EVER present help in trouble.

 

So we don’t fear…

 

if the earth falls apart and the mountains into the sea

 

 if the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with surging…

 

 if that’s hard to imagine…they wrote “selah”

 

 

Psalm 56:3

3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you.

 

Make sure you leave your fears in 2022.

 

Take only the things you need to build your relationship with God to 2023.

 

Fear can only hold you back.