BACKGROUND:All these faithful ones so far described died without receiving what God had promised them—the promise of the new, eternal city. But these heroes saw and welcomed the promise even though it was, as it were, from a distance. These people of faith died without receiving all that God had promised, but they never lost their vision of heaven. Their future hope was not for this earth. Thus they agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth. Their “agreement” was not passive receptivity, but an active declaration and pronouncement because of their faith in God.
The world to come will be better than this present world. These people were foreigners and nomads, but they were not seeking to return to their old homeland on earth. Instead, they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland, the country of their own that they saw in the distance. As they served God and walked with him in this land, they knew that this world was not their home, and they looked forward to that better place. Because of these people’s faith, God is not ashamed to be called their God and he has prepared a heavenly city for them.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
As I read this morning, I am made reminded of a sad truth - most people never take advantage of God's abundant resources. Ephesians 3:20 in the Amplified Version says, "God is able to do superabundantly, far over and above, all that we dare ask or think. Infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams." That's what God can do in your life. He says, "Think of the greatest thing you can think of, and I can top that." Somebody said, "God gave us atomic bomb power. He offers that to us, and we go around living firecracker lives." We never tap into the tremendous resources that God has available to us.
How do you do it? What is the key that unlocks God's great power? Matthew 9:29 - "According to your faith, it will be done to you." The key that unlocks all God wants to do in your life is real simple: it's faith. God says, "You get to choose how much I bless your life. According to your faith, it will be done unto you." This is what God has set out in His word, that is called the Law of Expectations. The Law of Expectations says that, basically, we get what we expect out of life. We tend to see what we expect to see, we tend to feel what we expect to feel, we tend to act the way we expect to act, and eventually, we tend to achieve what we expect to achieve. Your expectations influence your life far more than you realize. Your expectations influence your happiness, they influence your health. Your expectations influence your relationships.
THERE ARE TWO APPROACHES TO LIFE:
And when you boil it all down, there are really only two basic approaches to life and you get the choice. You can choose to live by fear, or you can choose to live by faith. Those are your two choices. You can be an optimist, or you can be a pessimist. By faith, or by fear.
Job was a pessimist, and in Job 3:24, he says, "Everything I fear and dread comes true." You know anybody like that? They set themselves up. They focus on what they don't want, not what they do want. And you become a victim of a self-fulfilling prophecy. "Oh, I don't think I can do it." Then you can't do it. "Oh, I knew I couldn't do it." And you set yourself up as a negative pessimist and it becomes a self-fulling prophecy. Have you ever done that?
How do you do it? What is the key that unlocks God's great power? Matthew 9:29 - "According to your faith, it will be done to you." The key that unlocks all God wants to do in your life is real simple: it's faith. God says, "You get to choose how much I bless your life. According to your faith, it will be done unto you." This is what God has set out in His word, that is called the Law of Expectations. The Law of Expectations says that, basically, we get what we expect out of life. We tend to see what we expect to see, we tend to feel what we expect to feel, we tend to act the way we expect to act, and eventually, we tend to achieve what we expect to achieve. Your expectations influence your life far more than you realize. Your expectations influence your happiness, they influence your health. Your expectations influence your relationships.
THERE ARE TWO APPROACHES TO LIFE:
And when you boil it all down, there are really only two basic approaches to life and you get the choice. You can choose to live by fear, or you can choose to live by faith. Those are your two choices. You can be an optimist, or you can be a pessimist. By faith, or by fear.
Job was a pessimist, and in Job 3:24, he says, "Everything I fear and dread comes true." You know anybody like that? They set themselves up. They focus on what they don't want, not what they do want. And you become a victim of a self-fulfilling prophecy. "Oh, I don't think I can do it." Then you can't do it. "Oh, I knew I couldn't do it." And you set yourself up as a negative pessimist and it becomes a self-fulling prophecy. Have you ever done that?
Many of you have. Paul, on the other hand, was an optimist. And in Philippians 1:20, he says, "I live in eager expectation while I'm going through all these trials." Notice he doesn't say, "I live in eager expectation thinking of my retirement plan," or "I live in eager expectation because everything's going great." He says, "While I'm going through trials, I live in eager expectation." He was an optimist. He could be cheerful even when he couldn't be happy.
Let me ask you - what are you expecting God to do in your life? William Carrie, the great missionary said, "Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God, because that brings honor to the Lord."
It increases your ability when you're expecting the best. Athletes know that the winning edge is attitude, not ability. It's how you see it. Do you know that Mohammad Ali only lost two fights in his lifetime? And both of those fights, they had one thing different than all the other fights, in a press conference prior to the fight, he said, "Now, if I lose this fight..." It's the only time he ever said it, and he lost them both.
Let me ask you - what are you expecting God to do in your life? William Carrie, the great missionary said, "Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God, because that brings honor to the Lord."
It increases your ability when you're expecting the best. Athletes know that the winning edge is attitude, not ability. It's how you see it. Do you know that Mohammad Ali only lost two fights in his lifetime? And both of those fights, they had one thing different than all the other fights, in a press conference prior to the fight, he said, "Now, if I lose this fight..." It's the only time he ever said it, and he lost them both.
When David went out to fight Goliath, he took five stones with him. Some people think, "Well, that's not much faith. I guess he was going to miss the first four times." No, you see II Samuel 21 tells us that Goliath had four brothers. I'll just take out the whole family." Super confidence! Everybody else was saying, "He's too big! We can't kill him." David was saying, "He's too big. I can't miss!" Expecting the best. Not only that, expecting the best encourages others. Optimism is contagious. It really is.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. You're saying, "Mike, I'm a born pessimist. I'd like to be optimistic, but I just tend to be naturally negative. I tend to see the bad things. I tend to see what's worse. I wish I could have more faith. I wish I could be more positive, but I'm just a worrier. How in the world can I become more optimistic?" The answer is simple - FAITH.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. You're saying, "Mike, I'm a born pessimist. I'd like to be optimistic, but I just tend to be naturally negative. I tend to see the bad things. I tend to see what's worse. I wish I could have more faith. I wish I could be more positive, but I'm just a worrier. How in the world can I become more optimistic?" The answer is simple - FAITH.
Faith is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. So, this morning, what I'd like to do is to give you some spiritual calisthenics, or, three ways to stay optimistic in discouraging times. We're in a time where the economics have been bothering a lot of people and we've been in a downturn. How do you stay optimistic when everything seems to be going wrong?
In order to stay optimistic when everything else seems to be going wrong, whether it's at work or at school or in my finances or with my relationships, number one, Start your day with faith.
Now you know, studies have shown the first ten minutes of your day sets the tone. That the way you start your day sets the tone for the rest of your day. Some of you may feel like Eeyore. You remember Eeyore? I'm quoting from that great theologian, Winnie the Pooh.
Eeyore the old donkey stood by the side of the stream and looked at himself in the water. `Pathetic,' he said, `that's what it is. Pathetic.' He turned and walked down the stream twenty yards, splashed across and walked slowly back to the other side and he looked at himself in the water again. `As I thought,' he said, `no better from this side. But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that's what it is.' There was a crackling noise in the bracken behind him and out came Winnie the Pooh. `Good morning, Eeyore,' said Pooh. `Good morning, Pooh Bear,' said Eeyore gloomily, `if it is a good morning. Which I doubt.'
Any of you identify with Eeyore? Look at Psalm 5:3, "In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice. In the morning I lay my request before You and I wait in expectation." He says, "I start my day in faith. I go before the Lord." Now, for those of you who have a sluggish start in the morning, can I make a suggestion? Don't start with the morning news. Okay? Just don't start with it, because about ninety percent of it's negative anyway. You wake up in the morning, having a hard time getting going, and you turn on Bad Morning, America. And then, while you're eating your Cheerios, you read the newspaper. And then while you're commuting to work, you listen to talk radio. It's no wonder you feel bad. Start with good news, not bad news in your morning. Read the Bible. Have a quiet time. Listen to some praise music. Put on a Christian tape. Start by hearing from God before you hear from anybody else. Start your day in faith.
Number two. Look for the good in your situation. Not everything's good, but look for the good in the situation. Romans 8:28 says, "For those who love God, who are called according to His plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good." God specializes in bringing good out of bad. What's he saying here? He's saying you can be realistic and optimistic at the same time. Now, I'm not talking about being a Pollyanna. I'm not talking about psychology, self-help, you know, psych yourself up with a phony pep talk. In fact, I think that kind of stuff gives faith a bad name. I am talking about affirming the truth. Look for good in your situation and be realistic and optimistic at the same time. What is God doing in all of this, even in the bad?
You know that when Thomas Edison was sixty-seven years old, a great fire burned down his famous laboratories in New Jersey. And not only did he lose several million dollars in his equipment, he also lost the records to most of his life work. The next morning, he walked out among the charred embers and he said this: "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew." He turned a stumbling block into a stepping stone. Look for the good in your situation.
You see, I've discovered that the things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. Things turn out the best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out. And that's your choice. That is your choice. I can't tell you how many people told me in the last month, "You know, Mike, getting fired turned out for the best in my life, cause it forced me into a whole new field, a whole new career." Look for the good in your situation.
Number three, give your problems to God. Worry comes when you assume responsibility that God never intended you to have. When you start trying to play God and General Manager of the Universe, you're going to get discouraged. So what do I do when the situation looks impossible? 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 says, "We were crushed and overwhelmed, and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves. But that was good. For then, we put everything into the hands of God. For He can even raise the dead. And He did help us. And we expect Him to do it again and again."
Eeyore the old donkey stood by the side of the stream and looked at himself in the water. `Pathetic,' he said, `that's what it is. Pathetic.' He turned and walked down the stream twenty yards, splashed across and walked slowly back to the other side and he looked at himself in the water again. `As I thought,' he said, `no better from this side. But nobody minds. Nobody cares. Pathetic, that's what it is.' There was a crackling noise in the bracken behind him and out came Winnie the Pooh. `Good morning, Eeyore,' said Pooh. `Good morning, Pooh Bear,' said Eeyore gloomily, `if it is a good morning. Which I doubt.'
Any of you identify with Eeyore? Look at Psalm 5:3, "In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice. In the morning I lay my request before You and I wait in expectation." He says, "I start my day in faith. I go before the Lord." Now, for those of you who have a sluggish start in the morning, can I make a suggestion? Don't start with the morning news. Okay? Just don't start with it, because about ninety percent of it's negative anyway. You wake up in the morning, having a hard time getting going, and you turn on Bad Morning, America. And then, while you're eating your Cheerios, you read the newspaper. And then while you're commuting to work, you listen to talk radio. It's no wonder you feel bad. Start with good news, not bad news in your morning. Read the Bible. Have a quiet time. Listen to some praise music. Put on a Christian tape. Start by hearing from God before you hear from anybody else. Start your day in faith.
Number two. Look for the good in your situation. Not everything's good, but look for the good in the situation. Romans 8:28 says, "For those who love God, who are called according to His plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good." God specializes in bringing good out of bad. What's he saying here? He's saying you can be realistic and optimistic at the same time. Now, I'm not talking about being a Pollyanna. I'm not talking about psychology, self-help, you know, psych yourself up with a phony pep talk. In fact, I think that kind of stuff gives faith a bad name. I am talking about affirming the truth. Look for good in your situation and be realistic and optimistic at the same time. What is God doing in all of this, even in the bad?
You know that when Thomas Edison was sixty-seven years old, a great fire burned down his famous laboratories in New Jersey. And not only did he lose several million dollars in his equipment, he also lost the records to most of his life work. The next morning, he walked out among the charred embers and he said this: "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew." He turned a stumbling block into a stepping stone. Look for the good in your situation.
You see, I've discovered that the things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. Things turn out the best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out. And that's your choice. That is your choice. I can't tell you how many people told me in the last month, "You know, Mike, getting fired turned out for the best in my life, cause it forced me into a whole new field, a whole new career." Look for the good in your situation.
Number three, give your problems to God. Worry comes when you assume responsibility that God never intended you to have. When you start trying to play God and General Manager of the Universe, you're going to get discouraged. So what do I do when the situation looks impossible? 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 says, "We were crushed and overwhelmed, and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves. But that was good. For then, we put everything into the hands of God. For He can even raise the dead. And He did help us. And we expect Him to do it again and again."
Give your problem to God. When it looks like it's out of your control, you give it to God. Folks, that is faith. That is how God wants us to live. Let me ask you today - by faith who does God want you to invite and bring to Easter at COV? By faith, what problems will you turn over to God? By faith, where do you need to step out and start obeying what God has told you?
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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