New Years Resolutions

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Father, thank you for this yet another sunny school class that we can come together and to To be instructed by you and we pray that the
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Word of God as we open it would be brought to us Fresh and anew
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Lord. We might be able to see insights that we had not been not that they weren't there
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But we had not really considered them We had not really taken note of what the
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Word of God says whereby it might change our behavior and we pray that in so doing in the learning in the in the digging in in the hearing of our ears this morning that it
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May reach our hearts that we may desire that we may Purpose to run in the way of the
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Word of the Lord help us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. I want to start off by saying that I Give a most of the credit to this class to a man named
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Daryl Wingard Which and I had got a study off of the Christian communicators worldwide network.
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I think it's Jim Ellis I don't know if any of you ever heard of that But every once in a while We'll stick a bulletin insert in that we get from that from that site and I'd said
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I found this article about New Year's Resolutions and that's what it's about this morning this a couple of weeks ago when the when the girls were home from college we went out to eat and we got out of Restaurant and we're getting into our car and a man comes up and he has a lanyard on and he has a little photo
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ID And he says my name is Steve something -or -other from the telegram and Gazette I'm kind of going around asking people what their
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New Year's resolutions are and he had a little camera and he stuck it right in front of Deb first and then
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Naomi and then me and then Noah and if you want if you want to giggle if you want to laugh go to www .telegram
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.com And look at videos in New Year's resolutions and my wife is as cute as a bug's ear
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She just kind of she just kind of giggles and that's the whole fun part of it But you know, we all think at this time of the year, don't we?
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about setting something new and sending something right doing something different and Is it okay to do or to make
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New Year's resolutions? What is the what does the Bible has have to say about these types of resolutions?
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Is it wrong? Is it right if we do do it? How ought we to do it? And that's the subject this morning
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I want us to help. I want to help us think a little bit more biblically about resolutions and hopefully
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Give us a proper focus as we start this new year and January 1st might be for some
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Day the purse it's the day that a person may resolve to stop overspending or Maybe stop overeating or watching too much
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TV might be that you might start want to start walking or lose weight or simplify or finish your education
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Get a new hobby learn something new travel Running lifting weights exercise.
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These are the types of things that we hear and those things are okay It was really it was really
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Interesting. I went out on the on a one of the wet a website and it's and I typed in how to keep
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New Year's resolutions Because we're gonna find out biblically how we ought to in the very first point on this website said
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And you tell me if this is Christian or not aim low First point aim low.
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I mean, come on as Those have been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ and want to serve the
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Lord We aim high right Paul said that in Philippians chapter 3 is aiming for the for that high calling that prize that goal
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That that we've been apprehended by God with by God and it's to it's to Glorify and honor the
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Lord and all all we do I mean there were some other good points and you can read some other good things out there but as Christians it might be the day that the time of year when we think of increasing our
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Bible reading maybe beginning to pray more regularly maybe getting up more early in the morning so we can have
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Devotions it might be just to start coming to Sunday school on a regular basis as adults.
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It might be Coming more regularly on Sunday nights or evangelizing more
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Maybe your purpose every day that you'll speak to somebody about Christ or maybe it might be that you might open your home
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More regularly and and be more hospitable to other people Whatever it is, or maybe it might even be having regular practice of family worship.
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These are noble pursuits But do these types of New Year's resolutions really work that's one of the first questions we're going to look at Do we find that we are frequently
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Successful in making significant and lasting changes by saying on a particular day at the beginning of the year.
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We're going to do it well, I think Some of you may have had a different experience than victory
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Or when you say that you're going to do it on the by the first day of the week and start off It seems that the reality for most people is that New Year's resolutions are universally unsuccessful
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I talked to people at work we have a lot we have a health and fitness center close by and everybody runs in joins up and You know that the those clubs they count on a certain percentage of people falling away and the people that go there
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They can't wait until March in April come because all the beginning of the year people who got all these
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New Year's Resolutions will stop using their weightlifting equipment and the treadmill and it's just too busy
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Eventually, it'll just kind of clear out from those the people who were unsuccessful And even allowing for these isolated exceptions where people might make it if we kind of look at the success rate of people who make
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New Year's resolutions It's kind of like baseball players and they might be batting someplace around zero
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And I want us to look at kind of like why does this happen? And what is the best way to do this as Christians?
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that miserable ratio of success To failure should cause us to examine the whole concept of New Year's resolutions and do it from a biblical perspective
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Now the the gentleman as I say, mr Wingard Gerd who wrote this article he kind of went off on this thing and was saying that that Christians for a
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Christian to be driven to be motivated by the calendar and the calendar is something that the
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Romans Dreamed up and it would had something to do with the names of the pagan gods and it goes back 4 ,000 years in the
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Babylonians what they first did was they think they figured that they were kind of superstitious
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They said the thing that they did on the first day of the year Would stick with them for the rest of the year and that's where kind of like some people think that that this whole notion of New Year's resolutions come from but whether it's whether it's superstitious or whether it's traditional that people do it
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I'm not knocking it a hundred percent because I'm gonna show you that from the Bible There there are the admonitions there.
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There is the example there there are even commands for us to strive to resolve
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To commit ourselves we see those types of words To desire we'll see people say
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I will do such and such who can ever forget That great personal resolve of Joshua if you'll remember in Joshua 24 15 where he says choose you this day
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Whom you will serve But then he says but as for me in my house we what what's the word that fills in that blank we?
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Will we will serve the Lord? That's resolved. We will I mean he wasn't just saying you know
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This is maybe optional. We might do this. It's kind of a good thing to do No, we will he put his foot down he put the stake in the ground my house and myself we are going to serve the
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Lord so we will see it in the Bible and in the and when we and when we look at The when we look in the
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Bible is it is it for us as believers to kind of have one day in the year?
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Where we make resolutions I would offer a better way rather than resolving to change our behavior on one day of the year
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I submit that we should resolve to do this on a daily basis. I Believe that as Christians.
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We know that we ought to live in a continual state of repentance We are to always be sensitive to the necessity for change and always pursuing holiness always
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Seeking to excel all the more For Jesus Christ who loved us and purchased us with his own blood
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And I believe that we should be always seeking to improve to obey Christ to to follow in the ways of the
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Lord And I'm gonna give you a little bit of an instruction as far as that How important it is for us to think and this is foundational and to remember that we can't do it on our own
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I mean to wait to July to wait to January 1st To kind of view that as the one time of the year where we we make what we hope will be the most
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Significant change of our whole life for the whole year that kind of means that it wasn't as a necessity on May 7th or August 19th or or September 1st
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It really is important for us or in other words as Christians I think I believe it's important for us to strive to know
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Christ more to love God more fervently To grow in the grace and knowledge of the
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Lord and to when we're talking about making a personal Resolution to modify our behavior to make a determined intentional
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Determination a resolution to modify our behavior I believe or to resolve to do that I believe that we should do that on a daily basis now resolve
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Resolution or to be a resolute person you can take out your concordance and you won't find them much in the scriptures
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They're not it's not prevalent They have very limited use in the
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Bible there the rarity of the English those that English word group in scripture, though Should not lead us to conclude however that it's wrong for us to make personal resolutions as I'm going to show you
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I believe that it as some of the scripture that we'll look at it is important It's just it just kind of simply leads us to the fact that a the personal resolution on the one day of the year
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Isn't like a catch -all to our failures or it's not like a shoe in or it's not like a Kind of like a little mantra type thing.
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It's gonna work for us if we say it at the beginning of the year It's gonna carry through to the rest of the year because we know that When we look in when we look in the scriptures, there are good examples
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Are there not there are good examples of people who've made resolve who have resolved or made resolutions and I offered up one
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Joshua how about you? What do you think when you think of all the characters the Bible characters?
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Who were people who said I will or I choose or I commit the
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Apostle Paul was one, right? Yeah, do you think of an example of what he did his missionary trips no matter what happened?
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No matter where he went if you ever look at the map and see what he did not once Twice and three times it always it always amazes me that he goes to Lystra And he gets stoned and left there for dead and on the next missionary journey guess where he goes
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Lystra I mean he's committed to get the gospel out for people to be saved and to be established in the faith
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I mean that that is commitment Vita. You thought of one. I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands
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Did you look at my notes in the backseat when they were there in my Bible over there stealing my thunder here?
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I mean, you know, no that's later on in my notes and we won't have to touch it as much day But yes, you read the
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Psalms. I will bless the Lord at all times. That's a resolution. I will bless the
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Lord at all times How about another one Steve? Excellent example another one.
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I'll have to cut out of my notes for 1st Corinthians 2 2 That's what happens when you go off your notes and you ask questions like that But that's okay because you know
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Sunday schools are good when they're when they're a bit interactive, but the word they're determined Paul said
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I am determined Not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified
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He knew what he was going to preach when he went where he went. Yes Dottie another one Daniel Oh just some great examples.
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Can you think of one thing about his life? To be to stick to be determined with what
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God had told him and not be influenced by the world around him If you look in chapter 1 It says that that he was resolved or he was determined or he purposed in his heart that he would not be defiled by the king's
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Dainties by the king's food. He didn't want to eat what what was out what was forbidden by the the law of God and He kept with the vegetables and the good stuff and God blessed him
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If you look in chapter 6 of Daniel, you remember when they passed an anti praying law
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They passed that for 30 days. Nobody could pray speak to anybody but the king and what did
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Daniel do? He purposed to go into his house open his windows and pray as he always had as he had a four -time as he always had
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He was determined to do that which was right before the Lord Let's look at one more example.
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Somebody have one more somebody Dave Nehemiah what he got for him Determined to rebuild the walls
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Nehemiah and I think when those when those enemies came after after him Remember, they tried to lure him away from building the wall
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He said he stayed and remained steadfast and he was determined to do that which what he had thought of He had it was his opinion that the wall needed to be rebuilt who put that in his heart
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God did God put it in his heart that he needed to rebuild the walls for the honor and the glory of the
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Lord Now those are good examples But we also have in the Bible Bad examples or poor examples where people failed in their personal resolved in a classic example of that We don't have to turn there because I'm gonna have you turn to other scriptures
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But if you look in you know If you want to write if you're writing notes Matthew 26 31 the night before Jesus was crucified
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He said to the disciples all of you will be made to stumble or to fall away because of me this night
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And what did Peter determined and his determination and in Peter and his resolve his response is
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Even if all if everybody falls away or is made to stumble because of you I will never be made to stumble that was
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Peter what Peter said and as we all know Peter Subsequently stumbled denying
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Jesus three times despite his personal resolution to the contrary He was determined He wasn't gonna fall away
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But he did and that is that is just a reminder to us that when whatever resolve we make whatever
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Resolution that we set down whatever commitment whatever determination whatever we say that we will do in our lives
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We're going to see that we need strength outside of ourselves Another example real quick is in in Romans chapter 7 the
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Apostle Paul Seems to be a resolute man We know we know of his life and yet nevertheless he admits failure
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He writes for what I do for what I will to do That I do not practice in verse 15
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Romans 7 15 But what I hate that I do or in other words. He also says
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I am NOT practicing what I would like to do What he had purpose to do what he had wanted to do and in verse 18
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He says for to will is present with me. He says I so desire I I want to do this, but how to perform it
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I find not he said I can't I I just don't and there'll be More on this subject as we as we go on These are some of the examples of good in the scriptures and of of Bad examples of it if you turn to Romans chapter 14,
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I'll give you I'll give you just a good New Testament reference Romans chapter 14 it's and it's just a good a good thought for us is just because People failed in the scriptures or people fail in their resolutions that doesn't mean that we should never make any because we're going to see as in Romans 14 in Verse 13
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Paul instructs Christians to make a resolution Romans 14 and in verse 13,
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I'm reading from the King James. Let us not therefore Judge one another anymore
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And that's one of those other words judge Is one of the words that you'll read in the scripture or resolve it might be resolve it might say
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Well in Romans it says let us therefore not judge one another anymore But judge this rather or resolve this rather that no man
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Puts a stumbling block or no man puts a cause to fall or an occasion to fall in his brother's way this is a this is a
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Command from the Apostle Paul to make a resolution and He's saying in the here that let us not make a
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Determination about how another brother should live or should behave but instead let us
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Make a strong and certain determination as how we will behave Don't put a stumbling block.
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Don't put an occasion to fall and he uses the word here in the King James It's judge in other translations.
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It might be resolve A judge and resolve in in in those but it says we need to resolve to do this or judge this that we don't put
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This stumbling block or this occasion to fall in our brother's way Let it instead make a strong and certain determination how we should live or in other words
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We should resolve never to do anything that would cause our brother who is convicted
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Differently than we are in this instance to stumble into sin. It's just a good example of making some type of personal resolution
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Daniel did you have a question? Yeah, decide instead that you will not put an obstacle decide resolve judge
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Determine these these types of words. These are the biblical words You won't see you know You won't see in Proverbs chapter 5 verse 10 on January 1st make that New Year's resolution and keep it all the days of that But we will see these types of words and it's important for us to kind of take this into consideration
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And at least in this one instance, this is an idea of in Romans 14 Of a personal resolution and let me define a resolution for you for those that are taking notes
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If you want to write this down, what what is this resolution? What do I mean by that? It's a personal and Determined commitment to change or improve our own behavior
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It's a personal and Determined commitment to change or improve our own behavior and we think of that That's an okay thing to do because I think as we read us as we read the
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Bible We are admonished over and over again to be a people who are examining ourselves
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Who are looking at our speech our thought life the actions things that the things that we do the ministries?
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To make sure that our motives are correct and make sure that we're doing it for the glory of God That we're doing it biblically and why not when it comes to making a resolution to to thinking about at the beginning of the year
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Maybe it's charting the course for the year I believe that it's okay to think and we ought to to to be biblical did other people make resolution sure
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I'm if you're I think I think maybe on the sheet that I gave you on the backside down the bottom
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There may be some some verses not all the ones that I'm going to say now, but some of these are
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Recorded for you on the sheet you think of Job Job spoke of a personal resolve when he said and I remember memorizing this verse when
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I was young Job said I've made a covenant with mine eyes
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That I that I would not look upon a maid or he made a personal resolve that he would not look lustfully upon young women
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Job 31 1 Vita brought it up in Psalm 119 if you want to turn there with me, please please do
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Psalm 119 we'll just take a quick quick look at this Psalm and look at some of these examples
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Psalm 119 and notice the words that we're going to see in verse 7
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I Will praise thee with uprightness of heart
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Notice in verse 8 I will keep by statutes verse 15
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I Will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways verse 16
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I will delight myself in thy statutes I will not forget thy word you see this over this whole psalm
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In fact is an expression of a love for God's Word and of a personal
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Resolve by the psalmist and really as an encouragement to us to make a personal resolve
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To make the Word of God the very center of our lives It's a resolution
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I will you can read that Psalm and the next time you do read the Psalm see how many times it says
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I Will or I shall and all throughout the Psalms you see the the same thing in the
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New Testament Even though again the language of resolution is a bit conspicuous
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It's rare the concept certainly is prevalent turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 5 and we'll see an example here of Paul admonishing us to make a
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Or he's monitoring the Corinthian Church, which then comes to us to make a personal resolve 2nd
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Corinthians 5 and in verse 9 The King James reads wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him
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In other translations you may see it say therefore we make it our aim
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We make it our aim now does that sound like resolution type language certainly it does we make it our aim
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Whether present or absent to be acceptable to the Lord or to be well pleasing or pleasing him
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Pleasing the Lord the word aim there comes from a it's a compound
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Greek word and it puts the word love and the word honor or Honorable together love and honor so it's a person
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This the idea here is is that we love that which is honorable and Paul what
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Paul is saying here Is that the Christians? ambition The Christians aim ought to be to please the
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Lord with our lives and that aim ought to be something that we Resolve to do and it's just another great example others
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Let me think I got a gun and get through this so I get through all of what I want to look at today I Think it's important for us when we make resolutions to is that we should
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While no one should neglect or minimize the necessity of faith as it relates to the
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Christians sanctification No one should forget that the Christian faith is not passive.
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I You know it does say In Galatians 2 20 I'm crucified with Christ nevertheless.
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I live Yet not I but I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me I live by faith yes
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We live by the faith of the Son of God But also The Bible speaks of and take the example of Hebrews chapter 11 is that that faith that we have is to be lived out
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It's not passive and over and over again. We see the Apostle Paul in his in his
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In his writings equate the Christian life to something else give me an example the Christian life is like is like who like a race or like Who runs in the race what type of person and begins with an a right athlete an athlete?
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Runs what else there's about three of them that I can think of Bruce Well, yeah, that's a good one someone's who's in the military others a farmer all right any others
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Hmm. What do you think about but when you see those examples?
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You don't see like when he writes about the the person who is the athlete? He doesn't say sit on the couch and get the
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Wii game out and do it that way no there's activity He's he's got this idea of pressing on right of of straining the muscles to the to the extreme
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Boxing 1st Corinthians chapter 9 fighting pressing on the person who wants to compete in the games is
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Exercises self -control is temperate and all things 1st Corinthians chapter 9 you have he says in there
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I bruise my body or I discipline my body 1st Corinthians chapter 9 and bring it into subjection
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I run I fight I box Resolving to do these things
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Paul wrote in Timothy in 1st Timothy 4 7 that we are to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness
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These are these are outright Examples of how we ought to have a personal resolve
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John wrote in 1st John 3 that that the person who is a true follower of Christ and Understands that Jesus is going to come purifies himself
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And in all of these examples, it's not like it's not like it's optional It's not like we just sit back and do nothing, but we are we are engaged and let's talk a little bit about that So that I deal with this whole issue is it all up to us
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Can we do it in and of ourselves We already heard about Peter making the resolution and failing
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We have done the same thing. There have been times when we said we were going to do something and we did not carry through I Think it's some easy to forget
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That human human effort is useless in in of Itself and unless our resolve is the outflowing of the power of the indwelling
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Holy Spirit We will fail like Peter Do we remember Jesus's words to his disciples when he said in John 15 verse 5 without me?
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You can do nothing without me You can do nothing and Paul's words to the
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Philippians if you're you're in Corinthians still just turn a little bit to the right look in Philippians chapter 2 in Philippians chapter 2 these are familiar verses
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When it comes to who and where is does the strength come from When it comes to us whenever we do anything in our lives and particularly if we resolve to do something
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Philippians 2 and in verse 12 wherefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only
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But now much more in my absence Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling so we see there in the first part
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Verse 12 that we're to work out our salvation with fear and trembling does it stop there does the does
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Paul's teaching stop there? No, it goes on in verse 13 for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure
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Paul tells them what to do work out your salvation with fear and trembling But then
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Paul is telling them to resolve to to live the way that Christians should live But he assures them that the power and the strength and even the will behind their resolve and their success belongs to God It's true.
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Is it not I mean if you look back on your life as a believer any time there has been victory any time
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There has been just a great Overcoming in your life You don't you know one of our professors in in Southern at Southern seminary
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Said when we as Christians with all that we know and I'm kind of going off in a little bit of a different subject with All that we know all the doctrine that we know when we enter into heaven and I love this illustration when we enter into heaven and walk down the
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Golden Street the pearly gate is open. We walk down the Golden Street It isn't going to be that all the
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Saints in heaven stand up and start doing this Bill and Joe and Sally you made it
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You're the one you're the one that's always been victorious and you've always known everything
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No, it's we've had our failures too. And we we need to realize that when we've had victory
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What we do is we don't kind of do one of these types of things But we do one of these types of things
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God be praised Thank you Lord for helping us to overcome or to get get the victory in our lives
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Paul is telling us that in the that in the visible and understandable realm of human experience it's our responsibility to exert the effort and to Develop essential disciplines of the
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Christian life if we are to become more like Christ, right? I mean, that's what he's saying here in verse 12 But as we resolve to discipline ourselves and to diligently pursue holiness
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We need to know that there is a deeper truth underlying and empowering our experience
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The powerful reality that God is the one enabling and Compelling and willing all that takes place in our lives turn turn out
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Ahead just one more book collages is a his kind of a related reference collages chapter 1 a great verse that kind of just pulls all this together.
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So we at least set our minds, right? Collagen's 129 Paul wrote we're into where unto
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I also labor Striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily or your your translation might see say for this purpose.
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Also I labor striving he there there's our responsibility striving laboring but Doing that according to his power which mightily works within us
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So as we think about a resolution that we could make this year Whether we want to evangelize whether we're more often we want to pray we want to just get more consistent
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We want to simplify in our lives We want to enter into the lives of other people rather we feel like we've been a little bit too selfish
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We want to be selfless this year more Do it and strive to do it and make and change your calendar and look for opportunities to do
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To do that, but we need to understand that without Christ we can do nothing and that we need the strength of the
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Lord and we need we and we need the The Holy Spirit to enable us to strengthen us within so that we can do this to the glory of the
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Lord another couple of things before we get to the sheet and I'll spend the last 15 minutes or so on that sheet, but Once we understand that everything is of God That everything is according to his purpose and that everything works together to bring him glory we should try to be certain
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When making them that our personal resolutions are compatible with his revealed will
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By that I mean in short we should be biblical when it comes to making resolutions and we should be
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Encouraged knowing that God's will accomplish those things that do please him and particularly when they're in the real
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Revealed will of God and we take these verses and And we say, you know Joshua or Daniel or the psalmist wrote these things or the
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Apostle Paul lived this way and wrote in God the Holy Spirit Had him record these things and as I'm reading my
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Bible I see that there there are things that I'm lacking and I desire to change and my behavior needs to change
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This year and I know that I can't do it by myself and and God must strengthen me to do this but it's got to be something that comes from the scripture and It needs to be it needs to be that we do things and when we do make these resolutions we do them
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And we find them in the scriptures hopefully we're gonna at least be known not knowing that we're going to be right if we're if we're looking there and one tip that mr.
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Weingart put in here. He says perhaps one reason for the general failure of Personal resolutions is our haste in making them
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We're too quick if we were to take some time He said to think to study and to pray before we hurry into another exercise in futility
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Maybe we would actually experience success God promises that his people will ultimately be successful not necessarily in worldly or vain pursuits
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But in our pursuit of holiness, he has told us that we are being sanctified We are being made like Christ, but we also know that the main tool in our sanctification is not our personal resolve
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This is important the main tool in our personal sanctification is not our resolve But rather God working in us through his word if the
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Bible is God's best tool We should make it ours as well. He concludes. I thought that was a really a really really good quote now
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Let's get into the sheet here. And maybe we can just rip through these Things I just wanted you to have something to be able to take with you and these are kind of some
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Considerations things that maybe we should think about meditate upon I'm still thinking about one of the messages yesterday from the preach -a -thon out of Philippians chapter
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For I think it was where it was that we ought to meditate on the things of God with the intent to imitate and I think it's important for us as we consider
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New Year's resolutions. The first thing here It says consider the scriptures carefully and I kind of already opened this up But some matters for the
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Christian are clearly commanded or forbidden in the Bible To love one another to pray without ceasing to gather with the church.
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Those are commanded, right? In these matters we need only to resolve that we would be obedient to Christ on other matters
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He says though here in the sheet. They're not clearly Commanded it's not it's not as clear in Scripture or they're not clearly forbidden
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What time to get up in the morning? How many chapters in the Bible to read daily? I just spoke with somebody yesterday
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There's a little group of guys in the church that are planning to read through the Bible in this year for Old Testament chapters a day and for New Testament Chapters to get through that's their that's their resolve and it's a good thing
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But that type of thing it doesn't when you read up reading the Bible it just says to read it or to study it or to love it but it doesn't tell you how much to read or Who you're going to a marry or what types of things you allow yourself to view or to read in those types areas?
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Where it's often profitable to me. It is profitable to make us a specific personal resolution.
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For example What the way that we may approach it is a Christian might make a personal resolution
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Never to view or listen to any form of entertainment in which sexual immorality is treated as humorous or affirmed as proper behavior
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In such cases where scripture is not specified in detailed We should seek the Lord's will through prayer careful consideration and related biblical practices in some cases through wise and godly
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Counselor, what do you think about this? Is it important for us as we think of New Year's resolutions?
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Is it important for us to take the Bible and and under consideration? What do you think as far as does anybody have any examples of that in your own per in your own personal life?
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Or maybe you've even thought about it for this year Charlie hmm
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That's excellent. Yeah Yeah, somebody taught me that a long time ago, too
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And I if you didn't hear it what Charlie was saying was is that when he makes Resolutions he resolves what he's going to do in certain situations when tempted or tried a trial might come or a temptation might come
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So that you'll know how you respond. It's it's too late To be ready to to react to a temptation or to a trial
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When it when you're hit with it It's too it's too late to make a resolution. I think that's the case of Daniel and Daniel chapter 1
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Taken into captivity in his heart He purposed that he would obey
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God and keep the law of God when they wanted him to violate the law of God If it and him and not only
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Daniel, but the three Hebrew boys if it meant death it meant death and Later on in his life, he's older when they when they passed the anti praying law
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He purposed that he was going to do it anyways How best can a believer kind of get ready
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For those types of situations beforehand. What is it that we could do in a spiritual discipline?
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that could help us to be ready and For when the temptation or the trial or the the allurement comes what can we do?
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Peggy Yeah, and that's and that's the key there like Joseph Joseph when when
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It was the was it Potiphar's wife Allured him and he wouldn't have any of it grabbed him got his cloak coat and what did he do he ran?
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immediately And what Peggy said was is that it's the scripture and that's that's where I was kind of going
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Paul of the psalmist said by word if I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee
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Memorizing and meditating and knowing the scriptures so that when we're in that situation We are we are resolved to obey the
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Word of God when when someone comes at this in the in business at work Or at school and tempts you to do something
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That is a violation of the Word of God your resolve your determination
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Your heart is is fixed to do God's will and to obey the
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Word of God and to run or to flee At those moments.
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I think that's that's a really good. That's a really good example anything else as far as the Word of God How is
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God for a testimony in your life? How has God used the scriptures in that type of situation or something similar anybody else?
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The trials when they come and we don't know what
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God is doing we go back to a book like Job and It's it's always amazing to me that Job's friends were always trying to convince
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Job That they knew exactly what God was doing and they didn't have a clue They had no clue what
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God was doing and sometimes we don't either and it's good for us to be able to say though He slay me yet.
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Will I trust him and I know that you know he's saying I'm gonna die But in this flesh,
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I shall see my Redeemer. I'm going to see God. Yes Karen in the back Yeah, when we're weak we can examine ourselves be honest with ourselves and see
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If we fall into the category, like I think there's a there's a proverb that says That he the person that is like hasty in spirit or Has the wrong type of spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls the enemy can come in come in like A flood so we need to shore up those walls and we do it by examining ourselves praying for asking
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God for forgiveness, but studying scripture or Memorizing verses where we fail.
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I mean where we we know that we go astray and Memorizing those so that they'll be there and the
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Holy Spirit can bring them to our remembrance at the time of need or temptation Okay, the second thing on this on the sheet
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Before making any resolution consider your other necessary duties Basically what he's saying here is before you make any personal resolution
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Ask yourself if it will affect any of your other God -given duties that you have as an example
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He said for a man to say I'm gonna get up at four o 'clock in the morning who has a full -time job every day
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I'm gonna get up at four o 'clock in the morning His job starts at seven o 'clock, and I'm gonna pray for six hours a day.
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That's my New Year's resolution six hours a day He has a problem because he's not going to be able to commit keep the commitment that he has for that job
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Or maybe he will get too tired that he won't love his wife as it says in Ephesians 5 25 through 27 that husbands love you wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself
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He can't give himself to her because he's already given himself to his resolution, and he's going to fail you see what he's saying here
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That's what this point means when examine our lives and make sure that we are Realistic and that we are not going to shirk any of our other
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Responsibilities of maybe not taking care of our family not taking care of our job and such or maybe our finances
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I mean, I'm gonna. I'm gonna pray 12 hours a day. I'm not gonna go to work I'm not gonna have a paycheck, and they're gonna repossess the house
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That's just not the way to make we need to make sure that we consider our other necessary duties Then he has this next one before me.
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Oh and in under that point there Here's here's my tip for you for this week.
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I say this to a lot of a lot of young men It's okay to give yourself permission to say no
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It's okay to say no when a lot of people are pulling at you for different things you can resolve that you're gonna be
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Realistic and that you're gonna just stick with what you know that you can do so that you can keep all of your Be a good steward of everything
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God's brought you away Before making any resolution he has this and I'll let you read the majority of this later
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But remember that you're being watched I Thought this was interesting and I can attest to this
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I know that there there are times when I will go back my wife And I will go back to Texas Deb And I will fly down there and we'll see somebody that we haven't seen for 15 years
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And they'll say do you remember the time when you invited us over to your house? And you said such and such and such and such and I watched you as a couple and I always desired you know that I could have that type of a relationship and on and on and I say
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You know in my I don't say it outwardly, but I say I don't I don't remember it, but we our lives are
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Epistle are they not the Apostle Paul said we're being read of other people and it's important for us if we make resolutions
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It's like keep it's like making a promise It's it's like we're saying that we're going to do something and if we fail
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It's good for us the proverb says that a good name is to be more chosen than fine silver
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We we just need to be careful because people are looking at us And they're following us most likely and it will affect them and some people can forgive us if we don't do it
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But I think I think maybe you know you read some of the things online and some say tell everybody what they are because then you'll
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Be accountable and some people say don't tell anybody but you just do it, and I I kind of go with the second
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Suggestion there Do it between you and the Lord just just say God Please help me this year to change in this area
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And then other people will see it in your life And they'll be in they'll benefit But you can get more out of this as you read this and then the second last point before making any resolution
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Examine your motives. I think that's so so important when it comes to anything I mean what what are we doing when what is really behind the resolutions that we're making
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Spurgeon said Sin penetrates our holy things and that and that can can happen sometimes
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We can say that we're doing this thing for the Lord But really we're doing it for ourselves to for people to make and speak well of us and in anything
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We do it should be to get the approval and the admiration of the Lord and not not for us and sometimes
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He says here in point two we might be trying to appease our conscience by doing well in one area Knowing full well that we're shirking our responsibility in another and then the last thing he says they were in number three on this second page
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He says am I? Acting defensively angrily or in a prideful response to criticism from other people or in other words
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Do I have a sort of I'll show them people that type of motive for your resolution or are we trying to outdo other people?
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Be in show -offs. We should never want to do that and then lastly Before making any resolution we should consider the cost the difficulty discomfort the self -denial or even sometimes persecution involved in the
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Christians pursuit of holiness of the very aspects that make personal Resolution necessary.
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We need to be determined people who resolve determine will to do these things and we need to consider them carefully weighing the them
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In our lives Determining that by God's strength we will endure and notice the verse that he puts here first Peter 2 19 and 21 for this is commendable if because of conscience toward God one endures grief suffering wrongfully
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For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer if you take it patiently this is commendable before God For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps
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Our personal resolutions. Okay. Yes, they're okay. Do we need to do them properly? Yes a personal resolution or a a determined commitment to change or improve our behavior.
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What have we learned? Not explicitly spoken of in the scripture, but certainly The concept is there and we see the examples there and even at times commands
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To be resolved to do certain things to strive or to will or to determine or to judge
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Not once a year, but daily We can't do it in our own strength strength But we need the strength of the
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Lord and we need to be biblical when we do it counting the cost Doing it with pure motives and doing it to glorify
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God Any questions about this subject? I know it's a real quick flyover of it
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But at this time of year is a time when we do these this type of thing and I thought it would be good Just just to be able to focus so that we might do it and maybe be
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Successful in doing it if we do it biblically with the right motive and do it it do it as unto the
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Lord any question All right. Let's pray Father.
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Thank you. Once again as we consider the year that is past We would raise an
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Ebenezer Stone of memorial we would say hitherto has the Lord helped us through 2009
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Lord there were our failures That were caused by us
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There were successes that were sourced in you you gave us the strength
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You gave us the ability to be able to strive and labor In ministry to to have spiritual disciplines
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Increased in our lives to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord to overcome sin to be able to perform
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Ministry and to give that cup of water in Jesus name. Thank you for all of the blessings of last year
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And as we consider this new year that you've given to us we look forward with an expectation of how great and mighty you will be on our behalf as The Word of God says as we read this morning that that we will strive and labor
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And yet it will be according to your mighty power working in us
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Please Lord put your hand upon us this year Help us as we strive as we minister as we live the life of a
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Christian for the glory of Christ Please help us to make good decisions and please give us the strength as we resolve and commit ourselves and are determined To serve you better and to excel all the more for the glory of Christ Please help us and we'll give you all the glory and praise in Jesus name.