Let's step into a new adventure with the Gifts that our Lord has given us.

Pastor Dean Kashiwabara is a Newly Ordained Pastor. This is his Testimony of how he came to know the Lord. He speaks of how he once feared death and if there was an afterlife. Now knowing Jesus, he fears nothing but Power and Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be blessed.

All through the day the power of "Self or "I " is at work. We make a mistake; we blame ourself or say"I am so clumsy".

Face it, we judge ourselves everyday…We look in the mirror; We might say "I don't look as young as I used to".

We may see somebody more talented than we are; and think "I am so average". We get stuck in long lines; then it's "I am so unlucky".

Brothers and Sisters in Christ…Many times we use the power of "I " against us.

But…I am here today to tell you that you don't realize how it's affecting your future.

Let Your Future Outweigh Your Past.

Or shall I say Allow God to Lead your Future as You as He leads you to Let go of your Past.

I want you to think about this…..

If you add up all the negative things that happened in your past and put them on a scale, for some of us, it could possibly outweigh the Positive. Face it …for the majority of people and even for some of us here the negative is much heavier the positive.

After all, this past year alone, we've had to deal with the stress of the Covid19 pandemic, as well as other illnesses.

And Unfortunately, some of you suffered through a loss of a loved one, or you may have had a setback in your finances. And list goes on and on.

It's easy for the suffering to look at what they've been through and get discouraged, lose passion and even lose sight of their position as a child of God.

The problem is, we're only weighing our history,

we're only looking at the negative things that have happened.

And what happens then…is it clouds our vision.

Our God-given vision.

Our vision of what God has in our future.

If you're basing your value off of your achievements, how much you make, what you drive, the title behind your name, then if something happens and you don't have that position, your business goes down, then your value don't feel good about themselves 'cause they've made mistakes in life, they're not where they thought they would be.

Now, they're living insecure, feeling inferior.

They're basing their value on their performance.

Here's the key. Your value should be based solely on the fact that you are a child of the most high God.

We all have times where we feel like we've reached our limits, we've done our best at work, we worked hard, we stayed in faith but the dreams seems too big, the challenge too strong, the medical report is not good, we've come to the end of our ability.

If we only had more talent, more stamina, more favor, more creativity, then we could accomplish the dream, then we could defeat the giant. God knew there would be times like these where on our own we can't fulfill our purpose, by ourselves we're at a disadvantage, the giant is bigger, the opposition is stronger - we don't have the endurance to withstand what we're up against.

As a teenager when he saw Goliath his reasoning said, "You don't have a chance. He's twice your size".

David had a good heart, he was faithful, but he was limited. He didn't have the size, the strength, the experience.

But David knew a secret, he said in Psalm 103:5, "You have supercharged my life so I can soar like an eagle flying in the sky".

John 21:15-17

“15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' Peter said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs' (John 21:15, ESV).

“16He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.'  He said to him, 'Tend my sheep' (John 21:16, ESV).

“17Jesus said to Peter the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.'  Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep'” (John 21:17, ESV).

Matthew 4:19

19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

We do not walk alone....we walk in His presence. It is He who leads the way to His Heavenly Treasures here on Earth!

I want to talk to you today about how God is a rewarder.

When you put God first place and you make it your highest priority to please him, then you can expect to live a blessed, fulfilled life.

That's what it says in Hebrews 11:6, "God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him".

People who halfheartedly seek him, people that only think about him when they're having a problem, people that only come to church when something special is going on.

You and I know that It's great when people believe in us and cheer us on and make us feel valuable.

Face it, we love when our spouse compliments us or a friend is there to give encouragement or our co-worker stays late to help us on a project.

And I surely know that God uses people to help move us toward our destiny.

It's easy to become addicted to compliments, addicted to encouragement, addicted to them cheering you on.

Like a drug, if they don't keep you fixed, meet all your expectations, you get discouraged, feel inferior, work overtime to try to win their approval.

Your worth, your value, doesn't come from another person. It comes from your Creator, and if you rely on people you'll be disappointed.