CONSIDER CONSISTENCY



This is a season of expectation and it's a season of preparation. Christmas reminds us that God comes to us when we need him. Some of you need him desperately to come into your life. Jesus wants to enter your existence. Just like he came into a world that needed him so badly 2000 years ago, he is ready to enter your world, too. If your life is cold and empty, he wants to fill it with joy and passion. If you feel like your life is going nowhere and will never be merry and bright, he wants to guide your path so that you're going somewhere. Let this be a time in which you prepare your heart to receive the promises of God.

There are people who will flock to hear a good sermon or a great teacher or a talented worship leader — and they come for the entertainment value, and they leave without ever confronting the need for change in their lives. You prepare to receive the promises of God by stop playing religious games and get serious about living a life devoted to God. The way you prepare your heart for the coming of the Messiah is to practice being the same, day after day after day. If you're really serious about turning your life over to God, then be serious every day. Practice consistency.

“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” (Luke 3:8)

That’s the message you need to hear. If you're waiting for God to do something in your life, if you're living in a season of expectation, you need to prepare yourself for God's blessing by practicing consistency, day after day, hour by hour. Say to yourself: “I am serious about wanting to experience the power of God in my life, so I will be as consistent as I have the power to be. I will do what I can to produce fruit in keeping with my repentance.”

That means you don't live by your emotions, you live by your commitments. When you hear a word from God, you follow it. When the Spirit convicts you of sin, you turn from it. When you have an opportunity to do good, you take it. Day after day, live with increasing consistency in your walk with Christ and your Christmas will be merry and bright.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 80-20 Rule

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.   Although this rule was first applied in Italy when Pareto was looking at the dispersal of wealth, it has since become a rule of thumb for many businesses.   It has been said that 20% of your workforce does 80% of the work, or 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.   I think this law comes into play in our lives as well.   Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% what you make of it. There are tons of stories about people who come out of difficult situations — gang life, in and out of jail, drug addiction, broken families, abuse – yet still seem to rise to the top.   And of course, there are many stories of those who have been given...
Read more

Control Yourself

When it comes to our life, we have nothing to say about our birth and little say about our death, but in between these two events most of the decisions are ours to be made. Are you letting life and circumstances control you, or are you controlling your own life and destiny with God’s help. Don't let life pass you by when you have the God-given ability to make things happen. I've heard it said: You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its use. You can't control your facial appearance, but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather, but you can control the moral atmosphere that surrounds you. You can't control the distance of your head above the ground, but you can control the height of the contents in your head. You can't control the other fellow's annoying faults, but you can see to it that you do not develop similar faults. Why worry about things you cannot cont...
Read more

Bounce Back

As a 7th grader in junior high school, I was devastated when I was cut from the starting 8th grade football team and sent to the second team.   I felt disappointed, embarrassed and dejected.   Latter that week, I spoke with my grandfather who passed on these words of wisdom, “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce back that matters.”   I took those words to heart. The Bible says in Proverbs 25:11, “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.” I valued his wise words and committed to doing my best for this second string team, instead of pouting and complaining over my sense of failure. I committed to working hard, giving my all to bounce back. It served me well as I entered high school and played on two state championship teams. I learned that day that what happens to me in life doesn’t count as much as how I react to those things.   I had a choice the day I was cut from the team—I could wallow in misery and quit the team, or I ...
Read more