#281 2017 Best Year Yet!!

#281 2017 — Best Year Yet!!!
By: Pastor Karl Thomas

Jay Leno – “Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average, which means you have met your New Yearʼs resolution.”

2 Chronicles 26:5  “He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…”

Psalm 20:4 “May He grant you according to your heartʼs desire, And fulfill all your purpose.”

“A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning.”

New yearʼs resolutions demand willpower. Your brain cells that operate willpower are located in the prefrontal cortex,

PICTURE BRAIN

Dr. Baba Shiv   Stanford experiment by Prof.

A group of undergraduate students were divided into 2 groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember. The other was given a seven-digit number to remember. Then, after a short walk through the hall, they were offered the choice between two snacks: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit. What’s most surprising: The students with 7-digit numbers to remember were twice as likely to pick the slice of chocolate compared to the students with the 2-digits.

The reasoning of why this happens? According to Prof. Shiv, it’s very obvious:
“Those extra numbers took up valuable space in the brain—they were a “cognitive load”—making it that much harder to resist a decadent dessert.”

So your pre-frontal cortex that handles willpower is like a muscle, that needs to be trained, If you decide to train that muscle at the start of the new year with a resolution to quit smoking, start going to the gym, or lose lots of weight, that’s the equivalent of a 300 pound barbell you want to lift without any previous training.  It’s no surprise that your brain can’t do the heavy lifting.

3 Directives For 2017      1. Be Planted    2. Live Intentionally     3. Display Confidence

1. Be Planted

Psalm 92: 13-14  “Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God.They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,…”  

PICTURE OF BEAN PLANTED IN SOIL!!!

John 15:5, 8 “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing …By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;…”

You have to go down to go up.     You have to be hidden.        You have to remain.

You can know God without community and get to heaven without community, but you canʼt mature or manifest Godʼs fullness.

Luke 22:31 “Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, Iʼve prayed for you in particular…”

2. Live Intentionally
Jesus lived intentionally
Luke 2:49 “I must be about My Fatherʼs business.”

Luke 4:43 “I must preach the kingdom.”
Luke 19:5   “I must stay at your house.”
John 4:4    “…needed to go through Samaria.”
John 9:4   “I must work the works of Him who sent Me…”

It was never someday or almost!    NEVER GOOD ENOUGH!!!

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NKJV)

“Watch, (Be Alert AMP) stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.”

“Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all youʼve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.” (The Message)

“Many are alive but few are conscious.”

Conscious:– alert and awake; not sleeping or comatose aware of one’s surroundings, one’s own thoughts and motivations, etc…

3. Display Confidence

Proverbs 3:26 “For the Lord will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.
Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high.”
Confidence :— (with, faith/belief) full trust; belief, assurance, boldness.
Parrhesia:— (All and to pour forth, or utter) boldly freely speaking.

Hebrews 10:35 “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.”

3 Directives For 2017
1. Be Planted
2. Live Intentionally
3. Display Confidence

281 2017 Best Year Yet!, PowerPoint Slides

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