Proverbs 29:19

Words and knowledge are not enough

You have to be willing to act

Without responding, the knowledge is useless

God has given us the answers; we just have to put them into action

God is always doing his part to meet our needs, but we need to do our part to respond

God never shuts down but we do.

Exodus 32:9-10

Stiff-necked = unresponsive

What would I do if it didn’t involve time, money, or family?

Sometimes we get too caught up in the moment and respond to the wrong thing.

It’s not always easy to respond to God, but when we do, He gives us blessings.

James 4:7

To know good and not do it is sin.

Tomorrow is a day that may not come because you’re too “busy” to respond today.

If you don’t change anything, you will never grow in your life.

Matthew 4:18-22

-They left their old live to follow Jesus CHANGE!

It is very difficult to buy a new house or car and keep the old.

God will call you to leave same very hard thing behind, just because he has something vast better in store for you.

Each year you should be in a new, better place. If you’re not, you’re not growing. If so, you need to ask God why and how to grow. To grow, you need to change.

Do nothing; get nothing.

Do noting; change nothing.

If you wait too long to make changes, you will never make them.

Be ready to change!

Proverbs 19:24

Don’t be so lazy!

Exodus 34:10-12

-God has made a covenant to do marvels beyond what has been seen before

-He would drive out the people that were doing bad things in the land

-He warned to not fall into the lifestyles of those he was driving out, lest it would break the covenant

We are in a covenant with God: We are bonded to Him in Marriage

-We need to remember this covenant

-To deviate is to break the vows of the covenant

When you make a covenant with God, He set you on a path of greatness

-We step off that path because we have trouble trusting God to drive out the bad things

-We need to trust God with our concerns

Along the path are things that concern us, but we need to push through & stick on that path

-We should not allow the surrounding obstacles to influence us

-We need to ask God to give us the strength to get through the obstacles

We need to not bow down to our concerns; we need to bow down to God

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will perfect [complete/finish] that which concerns me.

If God gives you a vision, stick with it until God tells you to leave it

Psalm 145:18-21

-God is near to all who call upon Him

-We need to continually call upon Him!

-When we talk to God, he gives us His undivided attention

-When God talks to us, do we give Him our undivided attention?

God will perfect, complete & fulfill

Psalm 143:7-12

How often do we define God’s character, rather than let God tell us who He is?

Matthew 18:23-27

-The servant owed 10,00 talents

-He asked the master to have patience with him and that he would pay his debt

-The master had compassion & forgave the servant’s debt

-It was nothing the servant did; it was the master’s choosing to forgive the debt

A child lost in a crowd views all but his parents as strangers who will harm him. We need to see God as that child views his parents.

Psalm 16:5-6

-The psalmist was anticipating what God had instore.

Genesis 26:17-18 , 22

-The Philistines plugged up the wells

-He named the well “Rehoboth,” because God made room for them

-They would be fruitful in the land

Lake 3:1-2

-Caesar, Pilate, Herod were ruling with an iron fist, but God still came to john

Luke 3:4-5

-The prophecy of Isaiah brought to John

-The rough places will be made smooth

We need to be open to and anticipate what God is going to do in us.

We can control the flow and temperature of the bathroom faucet. We need to be as attentive of the flow of the Spirit in us.

Isaiah 48:16-17

-God has not spoken in secret even from the beginning.

-He will teach us to profit.

-He will show us where to go.

-God will never hide from us, even though we try to hide from Him. (Jonah!)

-Jesus does not just teach us; He leads us forever.

-Profit is not just about money.

-Just like holding you arm over your head cuts off the flow of blood, holding yourself over the head of God cuts off the flow of the Holy Spirit.

1 King 17:1-6

-Elijah told Ahab that God would bring a drought.

-He told Ahab to go to the Cherith ravine

-He would have drink from the brook.

-The ravens would provide him food.

-Where God guides, He provides.

-When God sends you to a place, he will provide the best for you with a reasonable amount of effort.

Running with the Spirit

50% more

Commonsense

Joy for Tomorrow

Sticking with God's vision in 2011