“Promises, Promises”

Intro:

          A woman bought a parrot to keep her company. She took him home, but returned the bird to the store the next day. “This bird doesn’t talk,” she told the store owner. “Does he have a mirror in his cage?” asked the owner. “Parrots love mirrors. They see themselves in the mirror and start talking.” The woman bought a mirror and left. The next day she returned. “He’s still not talking.” “How about a ladder? Parrots love walking up and down a ladder. A happy parrot is more likely to talk.” The woman bought a ladder and left. Next day she was back again. “He’s still not talking” “Does your parrot have a swing? If not, that’s the problem. He’ll relax and talk up a storm.” The woman reluctantly bought a swing and left. When she walked into the store the next day, she looked very sad. “The parrot died,” she said. The pet-store owner was shocked. “I’m so sorry. Tell me, did he ever say a word?” “Yes, right before he died,” the woman replied. “He said, ‘Don’t they sell any food at that pet store?’” – Something was missing, that was for sure but she kept buying the wrong stuff.

          Have you ever felt like that? Something is missing so you keep trying to get, attain, and lay hold of what you think will change everything only to find yourself getting the wrong stuff. You hear me say it a lot in January. This is the month for change. Let’s get the right stuff that we need to improve our life. You may call them resolutions. I’ll call them promises, promises. I knew it would happen the gym was full this week of people who decided to resolve to exercise, diet, lose weight, etc.  It is good to set goals for ourselves. Let’s find the right missing pieces in our lives and make resolutions to excel in every area of our lives this year. Here are some promises hat will improve your life this year.

1.     Promise to live in God’s Purpose for your Life:

I’m sure you’ve heard or read something about President Zachary Taylor, a former United States President. Before he became president he was a military general. He was really cut out for military life. He fought in the war of 1812 and became a general after that. In 1840 when we fought the war against Mexico he was the one that led the troops against Mexico at the border. Even though he was outnumbered 4 to 1, he outmaneuvered them and won the war. It was then that Taylor was elevated into the National Spotlight. He was a hero. After that war he was about 63 or 64 years old and decided to end it all and retire in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and slow down the pace. When he rode his horse back to Baton Rouge he found his front porch literally piled up with mail. Fan mail. There were no telephones back then so people had written him just to tell him, “Great job, you are awesome.” Because the Post office was just getting started back then most of the mail had come with insufficient postage. He really had to decide what to do. There was hundreds of letters and a lot of postage due. After reading a few he decided they all said the same things, “Good job, nice job, etc.” He sent the majority of them back to the dead letter office in Washington D.C. That would have been the end of the story except he was having coffee with a friend 3 weeks later. His friend asked him if he had received that letter from Washington D.C. “Well, I might have but I sent a whole bunch of letters back because so much money was due because of insufficient postage.” His friend said, “There is one letter that you really ought to read.” As you may know he finally had someone go to Washington and fish it out. That letter came from his political party asking him to consider running to be the next president of the United States. He was elected and the rest is history. He almost missed his calling! The problem? He had been swamped with too many voices. (All those letters) That’s not the end of the stoy. Zachary Taylor was a devout Christian man. His inauguration was supposed to happen on Sunday March 4^th. Sunday however, was his day of worship and he did not want to be inaugurated on Sunday. He said, “We’ll do it on Monday at noon.” So the United States was going to be without a president for 24 hours. The constitution forbade James Polk from serving one more day as president so the senate called a special meeting and decided to appoint James Rice Achison as president for a day. Can you imagine being president for one day? 24 hours. So, he took office but the last week of the Polk administration was so heavy that he was just beat. So in the wee hours of Sunday morning he told his land lady, “Do not wake me up for any reason!” He went to sleep at one in the morning figuring he’d wake up at 10 or 11. Well, he slept all through Sunday morning, all through Sunday afternoon, into Sunday night and all the way to Monday and woke up about 2:30PM. He slept through his entire presidential term! Hard to believe isn’t it? Although we have seen others sleep through it too, haven’t we? These two pieces of history I just shared are vivid analogies of our calling from God. We are either bombarded with too many voices, (Zachary Taylor’s letters) voices of distraction, voices of option, voices of flattery etc. Or like James Achison, we are too beat. Keeping the mortgage up, the kids fed, we miss our calling. We live defensively instead of offensively. Make a promise to yourself and to God. Promise to live in God’s purpose for your life this year.

·        Is it possible in the rat race that we live in, for someone to live their life on purpose? To play offense; not just defense? To be proactive about their life instead of just living their life as it is thrown at them. Here are 5 foundations for God’s purpose in your life. I’m giving these to you just to make sure we’re on the same page.

1.     We all have been given a specific purpose for our lives. It’s not just the ordained clergy. Romans 11:29 says, “The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. He places them on us and never takes them back.

2.     We are most fulfilled when we are fulfilling our purpose. I want you to let that sink in. The deeper the sense of fulfillment you feel inside, the closer you are tying in to your God given purpose. In other words, it’s a guage.

3.     Not everyone uncovers their God given purpose. This is probably the scariest of all. Some believe that it will be automatic. “If I just stick with this for 30 or 40 years, I’ll get the gold watch and zap! I’ll know my purpose and live in it.” No! I know people who have been in church all their lives, they started attending 9 months before they were born and have still not uncovered their God given purpose. They’re still playing defense. Whatever life throws at them! Remember the parable of the talents in Matthew 25? To the first two, the master said, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” To the last guy who did nothing with what he had, (his talent) God got angry. In no other parable do you see God getting more angry with someone than with that last servant. He didn’t lose his talent; he just buried it! God got angrier with him than with any prostitute, thief, or murderer. It is more serious to God than all of the above.

4.     Our purpose is built from our personal inward make-up. In other words there are some ingredients that if you sift through them you can know your God given purpose. God will use you in some of the areas that are very much a part of you. Some believe, “If I really enjoy doing this, I must not really be called to it.

5.     We will be judged on our obedience to our God given calling in life. Here is a little theology. I hope you understand that the bible talks about two judgements. One is called the great white throne judgement.  It is for sin. Those who are not in Christ will be judged according to their deeds. If you are saved you will not be judged for sin. Jesus took that punishment upon himself for us. For those who are saved however, there is another judgment that awaits us. It’s called the judgment seat of Christ; It’s not for sin, it is for works. It is for the things we did after our conversion. Did we walk in the Spirit? Remember the wood, hay and stubble passage of scripture in the bible? (1 Corinthians 3:12) that all has to do with you pursuing your God given calling and obeying in the Spirit.

2.     Promise to get your Finances in order:

Most people think they are too young to start thinking about retirement. One woman gave me her definition of retirement: “Twice the husband and half the salary.” Get yourself on a budget and stop overspending. Christians stop trying to keep up with the Jones. They are hard to keep up with. If you do catch up they refinance everything and start again.

·        Getting your finances in order means putting God first! Tithing is not just a good idea it is an established principal of God.

·        In Genesis 28:22, Jacob promised to give God his tithe.

1.     At that time he was fleeing from Esau because he had defrauded him. He made this promise when he had little to give.

2.     There is never a perfect time to begin tithing to the Lord. It’s something you just begin doing. Eccl. 11:4 says, “He that observeths the wind will not sow.”

·        God’s thoughts about tithing.

1.     Abraham began it. (Genesis 14:20)

2.     Jacob continued it. (Genesis 28:22; So should we)

3.     Malachi commanded it (Mal. 3:10) Blessing or curse, you choose.

4.     Jesus commended it (Matthew 23:23)

·        Does tithing apply to Christians? Some just don’t understand it. A little boy who graduated to wearing a tie like his daddy to church got worried and clung onto it, turned to his pop and said, “Dad, why did the Pastor say they are going to collect our ties and offerings?”

1.     It is clear that we are to systematically give a portion of our income. (1 Corinthians 16:2)

2.     It is not part of the law that was done away with. Tithing was established before the law. It is part of the Abrahamic covenant which applies to those who are Christ’s. (Galatians 3:29) A covenant is a pact with God. You keep your part, he keeps his.

3.     This is the easiest place to let God down. Your heart is either on earthly material things or on heavenly things. (Matthew 6:20-21; Matthew 6:24)

4.     It is also one of the most practical areas to prove your faith. (Luke 6:38)

5.     Note the challenge of Malachi 3:10. [read it]

6.     See how the Lord rewarded Jacob. (Genesis 32:10) He also rewards those who give to his Kingdom. Who put the kingdom of God first. (Matthew 6:33)

This is a truth for everyone. Young people too. Promise to get your finances in order. Giving to God is first.

3.     Promise to Keep your Dream alive:

Don’t let anything or anyone steal your dreams, goals and God-given ambitions! Keep them alive.

·        Keep it alive with prayer. Remember our prayer week this month! Remember the prayer box in the lobby for someone to agree with you.

·        Share it with people of faith. We are a body don’t try to go at it alone. There is power in agreeing with someone who can believe with you. (Matthew 18:18)

·        Fuel it by learning more of God’s word. Remember Sunday School and Wednesday night bible studies, they are powerful.

·        By disconnecting from negative people and circumstances.

Monty Roberts.

There was a young boy who when he was in school had a teacher in High School whom he called a dream stealer. This kid, when in high school was an itinerant. He moved around in the back of a truck. His dad was a trainer and he never lived in one place more than a couple of months. He’d never go to school anywhere more than a couple of months. He had a dream though, he wanted to grow up and raise and train thoroghbred racing horses. The teacher at this school asked the kids to write an essay, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” He got very excited because here was a chance to really go for his dream. He wrote his dream of having a 200 acre ranch and a 4,000 square foot home. He drew a diagram of his dream and added the diagram plans to his essay. He worked hard on it with a lot of passion. He drew where the rooms would be, racetrack and all. He drew where the bunkhouses would be, the administration office and all this stuff. He was so excited as he handed it in. He got it back a week later with an “F” and a note that said, “see me after class”. He was shocked. He asked the teacher why he got an “F”. The teacher said, “I’ll tell you why you got an f.” You’re a poor kid living off the back of a truck. Do you know what land sells for down here in the valley? Do you know what it costs for breeding and stud fees? This just isn’t a realistic dream for a young man like you. There’s no way you could ever achieve this and my job as a teacher is to make sure you don’t grow up to be disappointed. I want you to write a more realistic dream for yourself and I’ll give you a higher grade.” He went home and talked to his dad and asked, “What should I do?” His dad said, “It’s your life, I can’t tell you what to do, but I’ll tell you this. Whatever you decide is going to affect the rest of your life so you should really think about it.” He thought and thought and after a week he went back to the teacher and handed him the exact same paper. He said, “Keep your F, I’m keeping my dream!” That man is Monty Roberts. He is a premier raiser and trainer of thouroughbred horses and has a 204 acre ranch, a 4,000 square foot home and last year his income was over six million dollars.”

Your dream is not only to have stuff for the sake of having it. But to accomplish great things for God and to let him do great things through you.

(I will continue this message in two Sundays.) For now let us make promises to God and keep them let us begin this morning.