Pastor Phil

All You Can Eat 1

2012-02-13T07:52:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This week we are continuing in our series “Having Your Cake and Eating it Too” secrets for abundant living.

Remember that this whole series is based on 3 very important principles.
1. God has a plan for your life - Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.

2. There is a battle engaged for your life - Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

3. Too many of God’s people are losing the battle - Marriages, children, finances, life. Matthew 9:36 - “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Over the last 4 weeks we have looked together at our first seven ingredients.
• 4 Questions - Who are you? What are you? Where are you? What do you really want?
• It’s your recipe. Own It! Take responsibility for and control of your life.
• Embrace Positive Change!
• Make a Plan!
• Work your Plan!
• Start with the Spiritual
• Do it Gods way - you can’t cheat and win.

We are almost there - at least we’re headed down the home stretch. Today I want to share with you the next secret for Having Your Cake And Eating It Too. “All You can Eat”!

John 10:7-15 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹²But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. NKJV

Abundantly (Perissos in the Greek)- means both superabundant in quantity but also superior in quality.

Next Ingredient – “All You Can Eat” - What does it mean to live a life of abundance?

When Jesus says to us that He came that we might have life and have that life abundantly - what does He mean?

The world around us defines abundance in fortune and fame. In fact the church has even gotten into the act. We are Going to Redefine Abundance.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-02-10T07:26:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

The just SHALL LIVE by faith. HOW CAN A MAN FIND LIFE BEFORE GOD? What did Paul mean by "live"? The commentary on the whole Bible says "to live" means to stand accepted before God. There is nothing worse than to find out that the One who loves you deeply (that is God) is now somehow dissatisfied with you or you are somehow unacceptable to Him. Now there is something you must DO to get back in His love & acceptance. This is not spiritual "life" that Paul speaks about. You are accepted in Him based on Christ’s finished work. There is nothing you can do to stop Him from loving and accepting you. Man has always searched for a way to be accepted by God. By the Mosaic Law Nobody was ever saved by the Law. It can’t save – it only shows us our need for a Savior. By Good works Problem: How do you know when you have done enough? If by works and not grace – you have no need for Christ. Man always wants to say that he had something to do with it.
Listen: We stand accepted by God based on CHRIST ALONE. The Just shall live BY FAITH DOES FAITH JUSTIFY COMPLETELY AND FINALLY? Do we need to continue to work to be justified? Rom 5:1 (NAS) Therefore having been (past tense) justified by faith, we have (present, continuous) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, You don’t need to work to stay justified. Example: You get a speeding ticket, you pay the judge. 1 month later - "I feel guilty, I want to pay again" There must be something I can do.You go back to court. The Judge says – "the fine is paid – go home”. The price has been paid; we have been justified by faith. One writer on Romans said: We have been saved from the penalty of sin, (justification) We are being saved from the power of sin, (sanctification) We will be saved from the very presence of sin (glorification). The Just – we are justified based on Christ’s finished work alone. Shall live – we are accepted by God based on Christ’s finished work. By faith – not based on anything we can do.
Greater Things Are Still To Come!
Pastor Phil

2012-02-09T06:57:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

The 2nd implication of just. – RESTORATION TO FAVOR

Illust. – When someone who has been released from prison tries to establish their life, society calls them an (X-convict) :

That term has a stigma

They can’t find work

Their wants or needs causes them to commit a crime

When they are tried their old charges are evidence of bad character, which brings an increased penalty.

Listen! God forgives us and restores us to His favor.

Justification is more than forgiveness, it is restoration to favor.

The 3rd implication of just is – THE IMPUTATION OF CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS

Imputation is to charge to one’s account.

David spoke of imputation in:

Psalm 32:2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.

In the New Testament we find double imputation:

1) Our sin is imputed to Christ.

2) His righteousness is imputed to us.

You owe $60,000 dollars Christ says put it on my account.

Christ has $600 trillion dollars He says put in on your account.

WOW what a deal!

2 COR 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Greater things are still to come!

Phillip Sears

2012-02-08T06:54:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE JUSTIFIED?

Justification – Easton’s Bible Dictionary - "...it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law."

1st implication of just: – REMISSION OF PUNISHMENT

REMISSION is the cancelation of a debt.

Some think we are punished for our sins – impossible. Christ took the full wrath of God.

There is no way we can "make up" for our sins

– No purgatory, penance, reincarnation, human efforts.

We may be disciplined but not punished.

We are forgiven for our sins – past, present, or future.

The remission of punishment is defined in 3 terms :

PERSONAL TERMS: We are released from the CONDEMNATION that sin deserves.

God is no longer angry with us.

Ro 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

We are reconciled to God and have relationship with Him.

ETHICAL TERMS: a release from the GUILT of sin.

When the Father looks at us He sees only Christ’s righteousness.

Positionally we are as righteous as He is.

We still live as moral of a life as possible.

Ro 3:8 Paul was accused of preaching– Let us do evil

Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved.

LEGAL TERMS: We are released from the PUNISHMENT of sin due to the LAW.

The requirements of the law are not set aside but fulfilled.

Rom 10:4 (NAS) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

God doesn’t declare us innocent, He declares us Just.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-02-07T11:04:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

THE JUST shall live by faith

WHAT ARE THE GROUNDS FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION?

What is the difference between justification & sanctification?

Justification is (Positional) & sanctification is (Progression)

People want justification but without sanctification.

JOB 25:4 How then can a man be righteous before God? Or how can one born of woman be pure? (NIV)

What are the grounds to be just?

Does Good works + faith = justification? Any works that you would think add to justification are evil.

Obedience + faith Ro 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

WHAT PLACE DO GOOD WORKS SERVE?

St. Augustine said: "All who are justified through Christ, are righteous, not in themselves, but in Him. GOOD WORKS FOLLOW AFTER A JUSTIFIED PERSON, THEY DO NOT GO BEFORE, IN ORDER THAT HE MAY BE JUSTIFIED. . . . We are "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works," for man can work no righteousness, unless be first justified."

The Cross plus nothing equals salvation.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

The Just Shall Live By Faith 1

2012-02-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Romans 1:17

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

I read about a monk in Germany almost 500 years ago.

He struggled with guilt, he did pilgrimages, penance, masses, prayer

– if a monk could be saved by his monkery it was him.

After long hours of study this truth of Scripture leaped out at him –

“The Just Shall Live by Faith”.

Romans 1:17 – Was the Basis for the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther said - For I hated that word "righteousness of God,"... with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.

He realized it was not what he could do but what Christ had done that justifies us.

The truth of Hab 2:4, Ro 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38 is "The Just Shall Live by Faith".

Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (KJV)

Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. (KJV)

Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (KJV)

Romans 1:17 as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Question: Is the thought or the doctrine of justification practical ?

If you don’t understand this you will always doubt your position.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-02-03T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

If you want to live abundantly if you want to have your cake and eat it too you have to do it God’s way.

You cannot go your own way, do your own thing, and make your own rules and then expect God to bless it. God has given us His instruction manual for life – His Word - read it, know it, live it and your way will be abundant.

His Word gives us the rules for marriage, for purity, for raising children, for living - and we ignore those rules to our own destruction.

I want to tell you today that no matter how many people you get to agree that something is right and ok - if God says it’s not ok - He’s right!
• The world thinks that living together outside of marriage is ok - God says it’s not - who wins?
• The world says sex outside of marriage is a given - God says it’s not - who wins?
• The world says that little white lies never hurt anyone - God says Thou shalt not lie. Who wins?
• The world says underreporting your income on taxes is smart - God says render unto Caesar what is Caesars - who wins?
• The world says he who dies with the most toys wins - God says seek first the kingdom and His righteousness - who wins?
• The world says if it feels good do it - God says the body is not for immorality but for the Lord - Who wins?

Your answers to these and many other questions will determine the course of your life.

Do you want abundance - are you tired of losing - are you tired of having less than God planned for you?

God says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

Do you want to live an abundant life - do you want to live in the potential that God made for you? Are you tired of the slop that’s in the pig pen you are in?

It’s time to find your purpose in life, time to make a change - a positive change - time to develop a plan and work that plan - it’s time to start focusing on the Spiritual and living in accordance with God’s plan.

Do you want abundant life, an abundant marriage, an abundant life for your children - it’s time to start winning this battle.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

P.S. Today is Teresa's Birthday go to her face book are e-mail her and give her your condolences. (OK best blessings)
teresa.sears@yahoo.com

2012-02-02T08:59:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Next Ingredient - Do Life God’s Way –

II Timothy 2:1-5

¹ You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. ³ Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. ⁵ Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.

You cannot cheat and win. “…he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”

You know it’s not a popular position today to remind people of God’s RULES.

We live in a world that sets its own rules for living.

Look around and see what living by our OWN rules has gotten us.

Almost ½ of all marriages end in divorce, approximately 1/4th of all pregnancies end in abortion, almost 50% of our teenagers are sexually active before they graduate High School; more than 1 in 4 children under the age of 18 are living in single parent homes.

The stats go on and on and on and on. What has all of this free living, making our own rules, going our own way gotten us?

Do we live in a better world?

Are we safer, more secure, or happier?

Are our families better off?

Still the media and the world around us say, “Keep it up we are only just breaking out of these restrictive Moral Values.”

God spoke to Joshua when He called him to lead the people into the promised land and this is what he said, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

Paul said “…he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” It all means the same thing.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

Master Chef 3

2012-02-01T07:02:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Listen! It ALL starts with Him. It ALL finishes with Him!

Look with me at Matthew 7:21-27.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Jesus after offering the harshest rebuke of all scripture tells us where life is to be founded.

This is what I’m saying to you today - It starts with the Spiritual.

If you want an abundant marriage- it starts with your Spirit.

If you want abundant life for your children - it starts with the Spirit.

If you want abundance in life - it starts with the Spirit.

Christ is the foundation for all these things - and unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it. Abundant life begins with “fanning into flame the gift of God, which is in you…”

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-01-31T11:30:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Today let’s look at II Timothy Chapter 1:1-7.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Paul is writing in the latter days of his life to his beloved son in the faith Timothy.

Timothy is ministering in Ephesus and dealing with many hardships.

Paul always the spiritual mentor writes from prison in Rome - encouraging Timothy with the foundational principles of life - and calling on him to come to Rome to be with him in his final days.

In this letter Paul shares our next two ingredients for abundant living.

Start with the Spiritual - Paul says to Timothy - “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you …”

If you want to live an abundant life it starts with the Spiritual. It’s amazing to me that we pay such little attention to the Spiritual aspect of our lives.

We spend great amounts of time on work, health (exercise), sports, and recreation - but so little time on the Spiritual side of life.

Cultivating our spirits becomes a job for the time that is left over or at best a job for Sunday mornings.

Cultivating our spirits has become like weight loss drugs - Eat all you want, suck down all the deserts you can hold - go to sleep and loose 150lbs in two weeks with Fatgo - our miracle weight loss pill.

Except it looks like this - live any way you want to live, watch whatever you want to watch, fill your heart with the filth of the world - and in two short Sundays you can look like this on our new miracle spiritual growth formula - Churchgo.

Spend just one hour a week inside these walls and all the trash of the world will fade into history - Just take Churchgo and all your problems will disappear.

Spend ALL the time you want on anything you want and with miracle Churchgo you’ll find the abundant life that Jesus has promised.

Oh nobody would admit that’s the way we live life, but it is.

Everything else in life is more important than the Spiritual things.

God gets what’s left over after everything else is finished.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-01-30T07:32:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This week we are continuing in our series for the New Year – “Having Your Cake and Eating it to” or, ingredients for abundant living.

2. There is a battle engaged for your life - Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Over the last 3 weeks we have looked together at our first five ingredients.

• 4 Questions - Who are you? What are you ? Where are you? What do you really want?
• It is your recipe Own It! Take responsibility for and control of your life.
• Embrace Positive Change!
• Make a Plan!
• Work your Plan!

Greater Things Are Still TO Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-01-26T11:49:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

David faced other giants before he ever faced Goliath. Here are some of David’s Other Giants

THE GIANT OF COMFORT

I Samuel 17:20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.

He Left the Sheep
He left His role of being merely a shepherd
He left his place of security and comfort
He left what he was most experience with

He had to defeat the mentality that said I’m comfortable in my little field.
He had to conquer the giant that said don’t challenge me to do something I’ve never done before.

I got it easy here. I’m doing what I’ve always done why do more?
He had to step out of the average, mundane, the usual, tradition, ritualism.

If you ever really trust and have faith in God-you’ll begin to do things that make you feel uncomfortable- you’ll begin to go places that challenges your faith.

You’ll begin to step out of boats and walk on stormy seas!

WHEN YOU WALK BY FAITH-IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE-IT’S CONTRARY TO WHAT THE FLESH TELLS YOU

YOU WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT!!

THE GIANT OF FEAR

I Samuel 17:11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

FEAR SEES THE SICKNESS AND NOT THE SAVIOR
FEAR SEES THE DIFFICULTY BUT NOT THE DELIVERER
FEAR SEES THE WIND BUT NOT THE WATER-WALKER
FEAR SEES THE FIRE BUT NOT THE FOURTH MAN IN THE FURNACE
FEAR SEES THE LION BUT NOT THE LIBERATOR
FEAR SEES THE VALLEY BUT NOT THE MOUNTAINS ON BOTH SIDES
FEAR SEES THE MEAN, SCREAMING GIANT BUT NOT THE BIG UGLY FOREHEAD

DAVID NEVER DIGRESSED TO THE LEVEL OF CALLING HIM A GIANT…BUT HE LABELED HIM AN UNCIRMCISED PHILLISTINE

You can glamorize the devil by what you call him
“OOOO he’s a ROARING LION!” “He’s a vicious dragon” “The prince of the air”

Can I set the record straight…

HE’S A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF LIES,

HE’S A FALLEN ANGEL,HE’S A COWARD, A CHEATER AND A THIEF, HIS MOTHER IS UGLY AND DRESSES HIM FUNNY,

AND IN MY BOOK IT TELLS ME I’VE GOT POWER TO TREAD UPON SERPENTS,

HE’S ALREADY BEEN DEFEATED!
GREATER IS HE THAT IS WITHIN ME THAN HE THAT IS IN THIS WORLD!

THE GIANT OF CRITICISM & RIDICULE

I Samuel 17:28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

THE GIANT OF SELF

I Samuel 17:38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

2012-01-25T12:51:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Next “Ingredient” - Work Your Plan - A plan is only as good as your commitment to making it happen.

I shared with you a couple of weeks ago a principle I believe in whole heartedly. “Stop letting life happen to you.”

Most people simply drift through life hoping when they run aground somewhere that it will be a good place.

We let our marriages, our children, and our lives just simply drift around hoping for the best - the problem is that it becomes a game of pin the tail on the donkey with people’s lives at stake.

Pin the tail on the donkey is a fun kid’s game but it’s no way to run your life, your marriage, or raise your children. So how do you work your plan?

• Set right priorities - take control of your life - stop living by everyone else’s schedule, rules, and priorities - take control of your life.

It never ceases to amaze me that people want to be strong in Christ - they want a deeper relationship with Him –

but they spend a total of an hour and half on that relationship each week and most of the time they are here they want the service to be over so they can go home.

We want our children to think Christ is important to their lives but we treat sports, band, TV, and everything else in life as more important than worship and Christian training.

We want them to be committed but only if it doesn’t interfere with our stuff.

Stop just living life, wasting time and letting life happen to you and around you - take control of life and set your priorities.

• Make better decisions - Life is an accumulation of the decisions we make. Every decision, from the house we buy and the car we drive to the words we choose and the time we spend.

Every decision either moves us closer to our goals or further away from them.

I talk to people about this all the time. You made the choices that led up to it and you made the choices in the middle of it.

Are you moving toward your goals or away from them?

• Work smarter not harder - sometimes you need to cut back and commit to doing a few things well instead of a lot of things poorly.

THINK your way through life - don’t feel your way through life. Thinking makes good decisions no matter how you feel.

Don’t just add things on to the priority list - make a new priority list. Make a commitment to your goals and live that commitment.

If you want to live a more abundant life in Christ it’s not going to happen by accident - it takes planning and commitment to the goals that He establishes for life.

If you want Godly children, a Godly marriage or to obtain the plan of God for your life - you have to Plan your Work and Work your Plan.

And you have to dedicate your whole self to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Greater Things Are Still TO Come!

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-24T07:05:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

In Nehemiah 2:1-8 we seen in our series Ground Zero that Nehemiah was a planner.

¹ In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; ² so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid, ³ but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

⁴ The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, ⁵ and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

⁶ Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

⁷ I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? ⁸ And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

I love the beginning of this story of Nehemiah. God has called him to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem the problem is that Nehemiah is a slave in Susa, in Babylon, 900 miles away from Jerusalem.

Here are some keys for you in making a plan. These hold true whether you are trying to build an abundant marriage, work with your children, or building a career.

• Know where you are and where you are going. - Nehemiah is 900 miles from where he wants to be - he’s a slave - has NO resources - I’d say the odds are against him.

I told you last week though that if God wants you to go somewhere He will take you there - all he needs is your cooperation.

You have to know where you are and what you want!

• What are your resources - what are you starting with? It may be nothing it may be a lot - but know what your resources look like.
• Count the costs - know what it’s going to cost you - and be willing to sacrifice whatever it takes.
• Prepare - Plan your route - set out the goals, benchmarks, and roadways for success.

For Nehemiah this started in November 1:1 - and he talked to the King in April 2:1 - but when he did he knew everything he was going to need. He planned.

• Wait for God - When He says go - don’t hesitate - go - but don’t get ahead of Him or lag behind.

Greater Things Are Still To Come

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-23T05:12:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This week we are continuing in our series for the New Year –”Having Your Cake and Eating it To” or secrets for abundant living.

2. There is a battle engaged for your life - Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Let’s get right to it.
1) Ingredient #4 - Make a Plan - It really follows logically from the first three steps.

Step one was about finding out what life is supposed to look like. Answering the questions Who am I, what am I, where am I, and what do I really want.

The answer to those questions helps to identify what God made you and what He is calling you to be. Remember God has a plan for your life.

Next we talked about owning it, it is your “Recipe” - taking responsibility for life - realizing that we have the POWER through the Spirit of God to be anything He is calling us to be - no matter what obstacles are placed in our paths.

We also have to embrace positive change - we will never get anywhere new without change.

The next piece of the puzzle is to make a plan. If you know where you want to go - and you know where you are - the next step is to make a plan to get there.

Until Tomorrow

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-20T15:16:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

How many of us need to understand that it’s better to be a slave in the Fathers house than eating the slop of the world?

I say we need change but notice that I said POSITIVE change. All change is not positive.

The prodigal son could have decided that it was better to be a thief than to work with the pigs.

That would not have been positive. But the change that he made was a positive one - ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.

It’s then that the blessing begins - God only needed his cooperation - from that point it was a ring and a robe. God’s blessing began to flow.

Church are you living in God’s abundance?

The essence of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expect different results.

It’s time to try a new approach.

Today come to grips with the idea of owning our lives it is your recipe (taking responsibility for who and what we are) and coming to our senses and returning to the plan of God.

Does your marriage need to come to its senses?

How about your parenting?

How about your life patterns?

How about your choices?

It is your RECIPE YOU ARE THE ONE THAT ADDS THE KEY INGRIDEINTS.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Another ingredient for having your cake and eating it to is embrace positive change. Jesus asks the man at the pool “Do you want to get well?”

The truth is, not all of us want to find abundant living. Oh we like it as a concept but when the rubber meets the road we just aren’t that interested.

You see:
Sometimes it’s easier to be a victim than to be a victor – Takes work, change, commitment, discipline, and energy to be a victor.

Sometimes being a victim becomes an excuse for not trying – instead of being an encouragement to try. It is an Excuse Not To Try

Sometimes being a victim gets us attention – people pay attention to us, show us they care

This idea of positive change always reminds me of the parable that Jesus tells about the prodigal son in Luke 15. You know the story.

The life of this young man changes when Jesus says “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!”

You know something that I have observed about people “We change when the pain of remaining the same outweighs the pain of change.”

You see the pig pen we know is better than the home that we don’t know.

It’s easier to stay in the pig pen that we know than to risk the change.

When will we come to our senses and understand that anything less than God’s best for us is slop.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-18T07:36:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This week we are continuing our series for the New Year – “Having Your Cake and Eating it TOO” the main thought is secrets for abundant living.

Remember that this whole series is based on three principles that come from three of my personal life verses:

1. God has a plan for your life - Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.

2. There is a battle engaged for your life - Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

This verse is one that I have based my ministry on.

The first secret to living this abundant life was answering 4 of life’s most important questions. Who are you? What are you? Where are you? What do you really want?

Today I want to keep us moving through these ideas so let’s get to the next ingredient.

It’s MY Recipe – in other words “own it”.

This is perhaps the most counter culture idea that I am going to share with you during this series.

I want you to understand that to move into the life of abundance that God wants for you, you have to own it. Own what? Own YOU.

We live in a world that says failure is someone else’s fault. My pain, my failure, my hardship is all someone else’s fault.

If my behavior is bad it’s because YOU didn’t do enough to make me better.

Well here’s the hard part for you - Owning it means taking responsibility for your life. It means waking up and realizing

“I am where I am because of the choices I have made.”

It’s MY recipe!

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-18T07:35:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I want you to understand that I am not saying that other people’s sins don’t affect our lives.

The things that other people do can make our journey much harder - but ultimately you must understand that no one is responsible for you but you.

To do otherwise is to make yourself a perpetual victim and give unlimited power to the person who persecuted you.

Understand that God is on your side - and with Him all things are possible.

John 5:2-7 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Jesus stands in Jerusalem by the pool of Bethesda and looks down at a man who has been sick for 38 years. He asks him a simple question “Do you want to get well?”

He starts making excuses. The question that faces each of us is simple:

Do you want to get well?

Do you want to be what God made you to be?

Do you want to live in abundance?

Then own it. The only person who can stop you from becoming what God wants you to be is YOU.

The only person who will stand before God and give an account for your life is you! Own it!

Greater Things Are Still TO Come!

Pastor Phillip

2012-01-05T07:09:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

The 2nd step to embracing the new thing what God wants to do in your life is to:
CLARIFY YOUR FOCUS -- DISCOVER WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

Perceive [GR yada’, yaw-dah’ prim. root]: to know by seeing; care, recognition, acknowledge, aware of, understand.

What do you see when you view your life? Do you see possibilities or problems? Notice what God said:
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

The children of Israel had a choice. They could view their past and the problems of their present, or they could focus on what God wanted to do in their lives.
Way -vs- Desert
Streams -vs- Wasteland

In order to discover what God wants for you, ...
You Must First See Yourself as God Sees You

The children of Israel felt as though they were getting just what they deserved because of the way they had lived. Some even believed that God would never have anything more to do with them. But they were wrong!!!

You may feel like your past has made your life a wasteland but in God, your life can become a stream of life.

Romans 8:1- 2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 1:21,22 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight

In order to discover what God wants for you, ...
You Must See Your Possibilities as God Sees Them
I am making a way in the desert ...

God is able to transform the desert areas of your life into fields of blessing and abundance. God can take a dried up useless life and trans-form it into a life of purpose and grace:

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Greater Things Are Still To Come in 2012!

Pastor Phillip
Follow me on Twitter @PastorPhil316

2012-01-04T08:47:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Secondly, in order to move on to new things in Christ you must know that ...
You Cannot Allow Your Past Failures to Possess You

Isaiah 43:18b ... do not dwell on the past.

The children of Israel had failed God miserably. Every time He blessed them with good things, they returned to Him evil things:
1. God gave them the Temple - they gave Him idol worship
2. God gave them truth - they lived and proclaimed a lie
3. God gave them His commands - they lived like they were suggestions.
4. God gave them wealth - they used it to abuse the poor
5. God gave them Himself - they gave Him nothing except rejection.

The children of Israel did not deserve to receive anything from God. Yet He still loved them and He wanted to help them change. Notice God’s Message:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!

God was not condemning them for their past, they could do nothing to change it. Instead God was holding out the hand of hope. He is in effect saying: Forget about your past -- I am giving you an opportunity to start over.

Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

If you are going to get anywhere in your spiritual life you must understand that...
You Cannot Live on Yesterday’s Faith

The children of Israel had experienced great blessings throughout their history. They had seen the hand of God at work in and through their lives. Yet their faith in what God had done was doing nothing to deliver them from their present situation.

Their old faith was not sufficient enough to de-liver them from their present problems. They needed new faith, a new vision for what God could do.

Psalm 85:6-8a Will You not revive us again, That Your people may re-joice in You? Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will speak,

Greater Things Are Yet To Come In 2012!

Pastor Phillip

Follow me on Twitter @PastorPhil316