#227 Light Of The World Series# 4, Making Wise Transitions

Light Of The World #4   —   Making Wise Transitions
By: Pastor Karl Thomas

There have been some crazy Christmas gifts … Beyonce bought Jay-Z this car last year … 2 Million
(Good Morning America) you might also be interested in a new car wax that promises to give it the ultimate shine. It retails for $3,400 for an 8 ounce can.
… item she mentioned was a $300,000 gold & silver toilet seat inlaid with precious stones.
an $18,000 frisbee, get that one caught in a tree or lost on a roof.  Tog o war with Beau
a $10,000 yoyo, a $12,000 mousetrap.
And for the proud grandparent who is wondering what to buy the new grandbaby, how about a $28,000 pacifier? At 3 in the morning if we dropped that somewhere it would be me crying not the baby!

2 Corinthians 9:15  “Thanks be unto God for His indescribable gift.”  

Ware, Susan (2004). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary 5. Harvard University Press. pp. 110–111.
1952, Florence attempted to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. As she began, she was flanked by small boats that watched for sharks and were prepared to help her if she got hurt or grew tired. After about 15 hours a thick fog set in. Florence began to doubt her ability, and she told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she didn’t think she could make it. She swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out, unable to see the coastline due to the fog. As she sat in the boat, she found out she had stopped swimming just one mile away from her destination.[5] Two months later, she tried again. The same thick fog set in, but she succeeded in reaching Catalina. She said that she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam. She later swam the Catalina channel on two additional occasions.[4]

People get stuck in the FOG.
Fear:– false evidence appears real   Obtuseness:– dull, uninformed   Guilt:– self accused, inner conflict
Matthew 25:25 “And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.”

Austrian psychologist Carl Jung “Those psychiatrists who are not superficial have come to the conclusion that the vast neurotic misery of the world could be termed a neurosis of emptiness. DARKNESS Men cut themselves off from the root of their being, from God, and then life turns empty, inane, meaningless, without purpose.”

Genesis 1:2-3  “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”

Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7, 9 “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; … For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given; … Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, … The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”   

Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

What defines you determines you.
Identity is the most important power that determines our actions. We will act according to our views of who we truly are—whether these views are accurate or not. We are the light of the world!  

Psalm 65:11 “You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.”
Proverbs 4:18 {MSG} “The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.”         

Psalm 89:15 “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.”
(AMP) “…know the joyful sound [who understand and appreciate the spiritual blessings symbolized by the feasts]; they walk, O Lord, in the light and favor of Your countenance!

Psalm 102:13-16  “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come…. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”

Galatians 4:4 “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”
God is still working out His plan.  You are a part of that plan.  

Matthew 2:1-12
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6  ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”[a]
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

7 Actions For Wise Transitions.

1 Pay Attention“…we have seen His star…” vs. 2 God speaks your language!

The Wise Men recognized that an event of global significance was taking place.
Not going to be distracted by noisy negatives.

Charles Swindoll says, “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important: than facts, than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do, than appearances, than giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company. . . a church. . . a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. . . We are in charge of our attitudes.”

Two types of consciousness.
1. Automatic – Reacting     —  Same thing over and over.
2. Accountable – Responding  —   A working awareness …adjusting.
NASA to the space shuttle entering the atmosphere. Transitioning to another atmosphere demands the right attitude.

Philippians 2:5-7 NLT  “You must have the same attitude (Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, NKJV) that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave.”

1 Peter 1:13  “Wherefore gird up the loins …(Osphus:—the place where the Hebrews thought the generative power (semen) resided. Your mind is your procreative tool. Your world is shaped in your thinking. Think right) …of your mind,…”   A prepared attitude – ready mind!

2 Consumed With A Purpose “… come to worship Him.” vs. 2
“Empires of the future are empires of the mind.” Winston Churchill
Philippians 3:12 “… but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

Apostle Paul  Acts 26:19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”

3 Willing To Exert Themselves
“…at its rising and have come…” vs. 2 (AMP)
Hebrews 11:6 “…rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Romans 12:11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

4 Not Going To Give Up

“…they went their way…” vs. 9 Herod didn’t spook them. They pressed on.

Galatians 6:7-9 “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows … at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”           

5 Willing To Get Happy
“When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy.” vs. 10 Pursuing God is a joy filled trip.
Be responsible for how you feel … rule your emotions.

Caroline Leaf “The Gift In You” 143
“…an attitude is a cluster of thoughts with an emotional flavour, and every type of emotion has one of two roots — love or fear. Love and fear are the root emotions, and all other emotions grow from these. … these two cannot coexist, that at any one moment we will be operating in one or the other.” Page 146 “Love literally wipes out fear.”

6 Willing To Worship

“…fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags,…” (11) God wants worshippers who worship.

7 Willing To Change
“…departed to their own country by a different way.” vs. 12
You can’t go back the same way when you have had a genuine encounter with Jesus.

Psalm 65:11 “You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.”
Proverbs 4:18 {MSG} “The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.”        Hear what He’s saying NOW!”

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