What Hindered You?

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One year ago...

One year ago, all of you were about to line up at the starting line. you had make mistakes in 2017 and you have learned from them. 2018 was going to be a new year with reniewed commitment and hope.
The world counted down, 10,9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1!!!
And you set off. And as your pastor I cheered you, go go go, run church run!
Galatians 5:7 KJV 1900
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
And let me tell all you are here this morning.
You ran well. I am truly very proud of you.
2 Timothy 4:7 KJV 1900
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Well Done...
But i do have one question.
Galatians 5:7–8 KJV 1900
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
That word persuasion simply means distraction.
You set out with such hope and dreams, now at the end of the year and we examine our failing and victories we dont want to repeat any mistakes so we take stock of our we ran.
My quesion to you, is in 2018, what hindered or distracted you from aching the goals you set out to atcheve?
As I look at a track, i know where i start and i know where i finish, its simple: Run from here to there, Life is simple, but from the moment the gun blasts, things tend to get complicated and our simple run goes wromg.

We are Hindered when the run is steeper that we imagined.

50m flat, no problem. 50m up side road, ill do your funeral service.
The chritian run is not easy. We face resistance all the way and we are tempted by the tempter all the time.
The steepness of the race referes to our struggle to repent and get rid of our sin that makes it almost imnpossible to run.
Hebrews 12:1 KJV 1900
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
The hill is so steep and so hard because you are trying to run with a 20kg bag os lust, a 14kg bag of addiction, a 30kg bag of apathy, a 10kg bag racism.
Drop the sin and see how much easier it is to get up the hill.
Unconfessed, habitual sin drags you down into nothing.
And its not just the sin of commision, the sin of omission is often even worse cause its conviction is felt less.
Ommisions like, failing to read your bible, pray, meditate, study attent services, tithe, serve...
All these thing weigh a person doen as much as things like, lust, lies, hypocrosy, unforgivness...
And what best is that this is not something you blame others for like Adam and Eve, then is you taking responcibility and confessing your weakness before God.

We are Distracted by the Crowd.

The shouting of the World, the Flesh and the Devil.
The bible in addition to useing a race as a metaphore also uses the life of a soldur and this is what it says:
2 Timothy 2:4 KJV 1900
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
The world, the felsh and the Devil distract you with things that dont matter. They are distractions.
Let me list a few things that really dont matter:
What car you drive, where you live. how “pretty” or how “handsome” other people thing you are. The opinion of strangers. Whether or not you are part of the in crowd. The size of your TV. The name on the label of your clothes. Where your inlaws went fot holiday. How your children parenting tequniques differ from yours. if your sport team wins or lose.
These are nothing but distractions.
Luke 12:15 KJV 1900
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Mark 8:36 KJV 1900
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
What does matter?
Do you know Jesus? Are to walking in obedience to His Word?
Matthew 6:33 KJV 1900
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We are Hindered by Other People

This is a really difficult issue. I am always reminded of Abraham and Isaac.
If this person is not someone important to your life then its simple, we remove them from our lives.
However this becomes increasingle more difficult if the people hindering us are close to us, like parents, children or siblings. Its NEVER your spouse.
The solution to theses is often not to cut them off, but rather to demote them. The only people who can hinder you are people who have authority in your life.
They should be using their authorty to encourage or to rebuke or anything that result in your forward progress. However if they use their authority to hinder you, then its time to demote them, and remove their authority.
This is not as complicated as it sounds. Everysingle one of us experiences this demotion at least once in our lives.
When children are living at home, their parents are their authority. However when they grow up, get married and move out, They are no longer under the authority of their parents, their parents have been “demoted”.
That does not mean that parents are cut off, or hated. It simply means that as the childen you no longer give your parents authority over your life, buisness or parenting. A scolding from your mother or father, no longer has the weaight it once did. You no longer answer to them.YOU NO LONGER SERVE THEM.
Demoting anyone who hinders you is exacally the same. You remove any authority you have given them or their opinion, or their words over your life.
The bible puts it like this:
Romans 14:4 KJV 1900
4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
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