First Baptist Church Cross Plains

When you choose to see things from God’s perspective it change show you feel.  The only thing keeping your old negative feelings in place is your thinking. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Pr 23:7) . When you start thinking the right way, your life starts going the right way. But remember, you didn’t become negative overnight and you won’t become positive overnight. So how do you start? (1) Replace your negative thinking with thoughts that are ·praiseworthy’  (Php 4:8  NIV). Deal with destructive thoughts the way you’d deal with flies at a picnic-shoo them away. With practice and persistence you can do it. You have that choice! (2) Remember: Before you take on the future, recall God’s goodness to you in the past. Shakespeare said, “Let never day nor night unhallow’d pass, but still remember what the Lord hath done:  David said·:  1 would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart· (Ps 27: 13-14 NKJV). We don’t have more problems than other people, we just think about them more often. Stop and reread that last sentence! What you think produces how you feel. If you don’t believe that, try feeling angry without first having angry thoughts, or feeling sad without first having sad thoughts. To experience a feeling, you must first entertain the thought that produces it. That’s life-changing information- and it will change your life as you act on it!

God gave His people an interesting command: ‘Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel.I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory,and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord (Ex 34:23-24 NIV). Imagine that! Three times a year they were to stop working and spend time with the Lord worshiping Him, seeking His guidance, and getting direction for the future. Can you imagine what would happen if you did that? Note the words ·1 will enlarge your territory: Instead of losing- you’ll gain, and instead of going backward-you’ll go forward. Note also the words ·1 will drive out the nations before you: While you worship God and wait on Him, He will fight your battles. And the difference between you and God is that you risk losing, but He’s never lost a battle. Note also the words “No one will covet your land: You don’t have to worry about the competition getting ahead of you. God used this three-times-a-year pilgrimage to teach His people this principle: “If you wait on Me in worship, I will work on your behalf’ His Word says, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles,they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isa 40:31 NKJV). So here are your choices: Keep stressing out, or draw the strength and strategy you need from God by spending time with Him.

When you’re in a doctor’s waiting room there are things you shouldn’t do- like try to treat other patients, or have them treat you. Or ask the receptionist for a stethoscope or a blood pressure cuff. And it wouldn’t be wise to ask the person sitting next to you,’ What prescriptions are you taking? Perhaps I could try them: It’s called a waiting room because you’re supposed to wait. But we don·t like to wait. We weave through traffic looking for a faster lane. We drum our fingers on the counter top while the microwave heats our coffee: -Come on, come on: We don ‘t like to wait for anything, including God. Over and over in Scripture when it !.pea about our relationship with God, the word·  wait’ keeps showing up. And here’s what we fail to understand: While we are waiting, God is working. Jesus said,’ My Father is always at his work· (Jn 5:17 NIV). The sign on God’s waiting room reads · Be still, and know that I am God’ (Ps 46:10). You can be still because He is active, and you can rest because He is busy. To wait, biblical speaking, is not to assume the worst or worry, or fret, or make demands, or take control. Waiting is not inactivity. Waiting is sustained effort lo stay focused on Cod through prayer and faith. To wait is to·  resin the Lord, and wait patiently for him…not fret:  God is the Great Physician. You are in His waiting room. He knows what ails you better than you do, and He has a prescription to fix it. So trust Him, and wait.

World champion boxer George Foreman was raised in a Christian home, and eventually he came back to his roots-but not before he tried the world of gangs,   drugs, and violence. Recognizing not only his physical prowess, but also his potential a friend suggested he join a local gym to work out his aggression in a more constructive way. That led to his becoming a world heavyweight champion boxer, and making millions of dollars. But the career of a world champion boxer is relatively short, and eventually Foreman, aging and overweight, reached the place where the only fights he could get paid just a few thousand dollars. He desperately needed to lose weight and get back in shape. A friend introduced him to a healthy diet, and part of his new eating regimen involved using a little grill. One day Foreman’s wife suggested that instead of simply using the grill for himself, he should put his name on it and others would buy it. And they did! Over 100 million George Foreman grills have been sold, and people are still buying them. Think about it. George Foreman made more money with his little grill than he made as a prizefighter. The Bible says that when the Holy Spirit empowers them,  your old men will dream dreams.”  So regardless of your age, it’s not too late for you.  Just get down on your knees today and pray, “Lord, all that I have and all that I am, I give fully to You.  Use me as You see fit.” And when He answers, be prepared for Him to take you in a whole new direction.

The famous inventor Samuel Morse dreamed of one day becoming a great painter.  He even traveled to Paris in the pursuit of his dream. Years before, his preacher father, Jedediah Morse, had counseled him, using the words of the Earl of Chesterfield:  ‘ Attend to one thing at a time. The steady, dissipated attention to one object is the sure mark of a superior genius:  As a result, Morse threw himself into painting. But after a series of setbacks, he finally abandoned it. The crushing moment came when he lost the appointment to paint a historic mural at the capital in Washington, D.C., and he gave up painting entirely. Writing about Samuel Morse in his book The Greater Journey, historian David McCullough says:’ He must attend to one thing at a time, his father had preached. The ‘one thing· henceforth would be his telegraph… Had he not stopped painting when he did, no successful electromagnetic telegraph would have happened when it did, or at least not a Morse electromagnetic telegraph: Relatively late in his career, Samuel Morse gave up painting to focus on inventing the telegraph, and, eventually, a language called Morse code that transformed how the world communicates. The Bible says, ‘The Lord your God…is the one who gives you power to be successful And here’s the good news-there’s no age limit with God! He can give you success at the beginning, in the middle, or at the very end of your life. But in order to grasp the thing at which you will succeed, you must be willing to let go of the thing at which you have failed.

When you listen to people who have had near-death experiences they’ll tell you things worth remembering:’ Life is fragile and precious. I’ve decided to spend less time at work and more with my wife and family. I have a new compassion for people, more understanding and sympathy. I’ve come to know the Lord in a deeper and richer way than I ever thought possible Instead of asking, ‘ Why, Lord?” they asked, ·what do You want me to learn from this experience?” It’s not that we are slow learners, we’re just quick forgetters. That’s why God told His people,’ Remember today what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with Him: So instead of asking God to improve your circumstances, ask Him to use your circumstances to improve you. Life is a required course, so you might as well do your best to pass it. God is at work in your life, whether you know it or not.’ He takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way (La 3:33 MSG). God does not delight in your sufferings but He delights in your development.’ God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished”  (Php 1:6 NCV).  He will not fall.  Why? Because He cannot fail!  He will work in us what is pleasing to him  (Heb 13:21 NIV).  Every challenge, large or small, is equipping you for the future God has in mind for you.

Halftime in the game is for rest and assessment. It’s a time to regroup,-to evaluate how things have been going and decide what adjustments need to be made for the rest of the game. Often a team may look like they’re losing at halftime. but by the time the game ends they’ve turned things around and won. Until the final whistle sounds. the game is still up for grabs. And the same is true in life. If you’re still here. the game of life isn’t over tor you. Your clock is still ticking. You have a life yet to live. Not only that. but the first half doesn’t have to determine the outcome of the game. Maybe you’ve made mistakes, experienced disappointments and failures. Maybe life has dealt you a harsh blow here or there. But you are still here-and as long as you are, the whistle hasn’t blown and it”s not too late for God to take you straight to the plan He has for you. You see. God looks at your future while the Enemy tries to keep you focused on your past. God says, ·you can. in spite of what’s been done!’ But the Enemy says. you can’t, because of what you’ve done.’ God will never define you by your past. whereas the Enemy will try to control and confine you by using it against you. Whether the good, the bad, or the ugly dominated your first half. Satan’s goal is to keep you chained there. God, on the other hand, wants you to learn from your past-not live in it.

  For months Eric Liddell trained with his heart set on winning the 100-meter race in the 1924 Olympics.  Most sportswriters predicted he would win.  At the games however, Liddell learned that the 100-meter race was scheduled to be run on a Sunday. This posed a major problem for him, because he didn’t believe he could honor God by running on the Lord’s Day. He bowed out of the race, and his fans were stunned. Some who had praised him in the past, now called him a fool. He came under intense pressure to change his mind, but he stood firm. Then a runner dropped out of the 400-meter race, which was scheduled on a weekday, and Liddell was offered the opportunity to fill the slot. This was not really “his race.’ The distance was four times as long as the one he’d diligently trained for. Even so, he crossed the finish line as victor and set a new record of 47.6 seconds in  the process. He earned an Olympic gold medal and made an uncompromising stand for his faith, and his story was told in the Academy Award-winning movie Chariots of Fire. But Eric Liddell has an even greater claim to fame. He went on to become a missionary in China, where he died in a P.O.W. camp in 1945. He·s like Jephthah, who said, ·1 have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it’ (NKJV). The lesson that comes through loud and clear from this man·s life is-stand

by your convictions, and God will honor you.