Actions Speak Louder than Words - Lesson 12 - How do you Rate?

I believe we are caught between the person we are and
The person we want to be.

Most of us either live in the past
Or are trying to live in the future.

How consistent are we in our actions?
Are our bad habits more consistent than our good habits?
Have we yet to develop those good habits?

I end most classes with the comment…
I want us to be stronger today than yesterday
And stronger tomorrow than we are today.

Can anyone give testimony of this?

If not I expect an honest confession of how you are working on this.
I don’t want to think of this class as a waste of time.





It appears as if we struggle more than others.
We see others driving nicer cars,
Living in better homes,
Their children appear to be in order,
There spouse seems to admire them.

Is this a façade or are they really this prosperous?

Job 8:20-21, ‘Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers; Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.’

It says He will not cast away a perfect man,
Will He however cast us away?





Illustration of a boxer in the ring with his enemy.


Now are we honestly in the ring with the enemy?
Or are we hurting ourselves?
Are we developing self-fulfilling prophecies?
Are we setting ourselves up for the big fall?

Proverbs 11:7, ‘The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubeleth his own flesh.’

As I don’t like definitions, here are some synonyms for cruel
Unkind, mean, nasty, brutal, pitiless, malicious, spiteful and vindictive.

Your thoughts…





Testimony of my personality.


I mentioned self-fulfilling prophesies,
We spoke before about the thoughts in our head preceding our actions,
Either intentional or subliminal.
How are our words programming our actions?

Proverbs 15:7, ‘The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.’

Our thoughts are more powerful than you know.
The brain cannot tell the difference between what someone says about us,
What we say about ourselves,
Or what we think about ourselves.

Elaborate on this point.

Once again how are our words programming our actions?





Matthew 7:24-27, ‘Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.’

The book of Job tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust.
The rain should not bother us.
Substitute rain for your biggest trouble.
The rain should not bother us.

Verse 24 says the Lord will liken us.
Are we letting Him or are we getting in the way?





Possibly illustration of passing the hat.

Quiet times.
How are you when the Lord is silent?
Is He silent because you need to cleanse yourself?

Is He silently waiting for you to stop being the boss and let Him take over?
Possibly you said, ‘I gave it to the Lord.’
But did you.

Possibly His is silent because He knows you are capable of handling this one on your own.
Here is my supporting verse for that statement.

2Chronicles 32:31, ‘Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.’

Expound on this verse.


If you are waiting on the Lord,
Than wait on Him.
Whether it is finances,
Work,
Your spouse,
Or your children.

As you are waiting read and search your heart.

Isaiah 40:31, ‘But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’

See that we are renewing our strength.
Not the Lord supernaturally giving us a recharge.
If we are truly waiting we will be growing by searching His word.

Let’s read that again.

Your thoughts…





Then we see our action words in that verse,
We are to be running and if we cannot run we better be walking.
Rather than beating ourselves up so bad that we are just going to sit and sulk.
Possibly take it out on our spouse or children.
Possibly sin, that will make us feel better, only if for a moment.

Galatians 6:9, ‘And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.’


Illustration of the runner who falls.





Conclusion

Are we tired because of all our well doing?
Are we holding others to a higher standard than ourselves?
Are we holding ourselves to a higher standard than God has laid out for us?

Are we living in the past by relishing on how things used to be,
Either good bad or indifferent.

Are we living in the future
And saying things will be different when…

Here we are today.
The past is behind us
The future is before us.
It is mostly up to us what happens to us
It is all up to us as to how we react to it.

Thank you for letting me share these series of lessons with you.

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