2024 is here, and while many of us are struggling to adhere to our New Years Resolutions, God is asking us to surrender this year to Him and His will! In this message, Pastor Kyle Rodgers encourages us that regardless of decisions we have made in the past, we can live the life God is asking us to live if we simply surrender everything to Him!
Notes 📓✏️:
Psalm 1:1-6 (ESV)
1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
There are only two directions our lives can go. The choice is always ours.
“Blessing is the God-given capacity to experience, enjoy, and extend the goodness and favor of God in your life—whatever form God’s goodness and favor takes.”– Tony Evans
The three actions of walk, stand, and sit scriptures use points to three actions:
Thinking – Behaving – Belonging
“Walks not in the counsel of the wicked.”
Who I walk with influences my thinking.
Are we asking the right questions to the wrong people?
“…nor stands in the way of sinners”
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Who I stand with influences my behavior.
“…nor sits in the seat of scoffers”
Judges 16:15-19 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.
Who I sit with influences where my loyalty lies.
Psalm 1:2 “…but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
A Blessed person is fully committed to God’s Word.
Psalm 119:1 “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.”
Psalm 119:93, “I will never forget your commandments, for by them you give me life.”
When living the blessed life, what you won’t find is perfection. What you will find is a posture you can pattern your life after.
Psalm 1:6 “…for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”