Sunday, December 9, 2007

Help For The Insecure

SERMON NOTES FROM TODAY'S CELEBRATION SERVICE...

A Season of Hope
Help For The Insecure

Joyce Meyer said… our worth is not based on anything we do but in what God has already done. The opinion we have of ourselves affects all our relationships – with people and with God.

One of my most favorite books is Max Lucado’s: God Loves You Just the Way You are, but He doesn’t want to leave you that way He Wants to make you JUST LIKE JESUS…

1. God’s Love Drives Out Insecurity

1 John 4:19…We love Him, because He first loved us…

Mark 12:31…You shall love your neighbor as yourself…

People who think their right standing with God is based on how much progress they make toward overcoming their flaws think they have worn out God with their failures and messes. We can’t wear out God. Love can’t be worn out, and we can’t cause God not to love us. Love isn’t something God does – it is WHO HE IS…(1John 4:8)

2. Celebrating The Positive will Overcome Insecurity

Philemon 1:6…That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus…

Proverbs 18:21…The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit…

1 Corinthians 2:16…But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes of His heart…

Once we come into peace with ourselves, we will begin to come into peace with other people. If we ever learn to accept and like ourselves, we will begin to accept and like others. The more able I am to accept and like myself in spite of my weaknesses and flaws, the more able I am to accept and like others in spite of theirs…

Speak Scriptural Confessions

Philippians 1:14…Speak and publish fearlessly the Word of God…

God might be leading you to make a list of scriptural confessions regarding your own life…
Make the effort to dig around in the WORD for yourself, you will find gold in there…

Believe in Yourself – in what God Can Do Through you

1 Corinthians 12:7…Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…

Jeremiah 29:11…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…

Psalm 139…For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well…

Focus on potential, not limitations

If you always look at weaknesses in yourself and others instead of strengths…life will quickly become unbearable!

Philippians 4:13…I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency…

If we just pull that Scripture out of the Bible, it certainly looks like we ought to be able to do anything we want to do!
If we pick out the verses we want, we can make the Bible say anything we want it to say. But let’s read this passage in context and see what it really says…

Open your Bible’s to Philippians 4
Verse 10, 11, 12

There were times when Paul did not have everything he wanted, times when his circumstances were not the way he would have liked them to be…
HELLO, he wrote most of his contributions to scripture from a prison cell!
Paul’s message was not that he could do anything he set his mind to, but that he had learned the secret of making the best of whatever situation he found himself in!

Leave it in God’s Hands
Ephesians 6:13…And having done all…stand…

Remember, if God has called you to do something, do your part and then stand firm. When you have done all you can do, leave the situation in God’s hands and go on about your business. If He does not do His part, then it is not time, it is not right, or it is not for you…
Or maybe you need to stop Coveting what God is doing for someone else and be thankful for what He has done for you!

Don’t keep doing what you Don’t do well
Psalm 127:1…Except the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it…

Look for the Anointing
1John 2:27…But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides (permanently) in you; (so) then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. For He teaches you all things, and he is the Truth…

Remember, The Holy Spirit is our Helper
John 14:6…And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever…

3. Learning to Cope with Criticism Drives out insecurity

Galatians 1:10…Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah)…

Ephesians 6:6…Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart…

Have the Courage to be Different!

As believers, our sense of worth has to be rooted and grounded not in the opinions of men but in the love of God!

1 Corinthians 4…Moreover, it is (essentially) required of stewards that a man should be found faithful (proving himself worthy of trust). But (as for me personally) it matters very little to me that I should be put on trial by you (on this point), and that you or any other human tribunal should investigate and question and cross-question me. I do not even up myself on trial and judge myself…

How far do you think Jesus would have gotten if He had worried about what people thought?
Philippians 2:7 says Jesus purposely “made himself of no reputation.”

Discover the True Source of Confidence
Philippians 3:3…For we (Christians) are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence (on what we are) in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances…

Proverbs 3:26…For the LORD shall be your confidence, firm and strong…

Again Joyce Meyer hit the nail on the head with her Ten steps to Building Confidence:
1. Never speak negatively of yourself
2. Celebrate the positive
3. Avoid comparisons
4. Focus on potential, not limitations
5. Exercise your gift
6. Have the courage to be different
7. Learn to cope with criticism
8. Determine your own worth
9. Keep your flaws in perspective
10.Discover the true Source of confidence

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for printing the Sunday message on your blog. I can listen better with only writing down the scriptures knowing that I can print what I need from your blog.