Right Values Lead to the Future You Want

Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →
A lot of people think that since God designed us with a purpose before they were born that every detail of their lives is preset and that there is nothing they can do about it… we have no choice in the matter.
That’s not true. That’s not what the Bible teaches.
Yes God has a plan and a purpose for your life, but the Bible reaches repeatedly that God will not force his plans on your lives. God will not force you to go along with his plans for you. So most people are lacking purpose in their lives and because of that, they waste their lives away.
He gives you a choice to accept his plans or to reject his plans for your life.
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
God says that he has good plans for our lives, but we have to accept those plans or reject them.
Before Moses took the Israelites into the promised land, he told them the following and he says the same thing to us today...
Deuteronomy 30:15–16 GNB
15 “Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. 16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy.
He is giving them a choice to make.
God is giving a promise to the Israelites, but more than that, he is giving the promise to you and I. He says if you listen to me… obey me… and follow me, you will be successful.
This is what I want for you! For you to be successful. I want you to succeed as a parent… a worker… an employer… as a person. God gives you this choice between life and death… success and disaster through obedience or disobedience.
He says that if you do these things you will be successful But then he gives a warning in vs. 17
Deuteronomy 30:17–19 GNB
17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, 18 you will be destroyed—I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. 19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God’s blessing and God’s curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life.
The thing that sets us apart from other animals is that we can choose. It’s the greatest gift there is… we get to choose. You are not a puppet where God the puppet master is pulling the strings. We would never mess up or sin if God were pulling the strings like a puppet master. There would be no evil in the world. But God gave us this gift… the ability to choose.
Not everything negative that happens to you is your fault… I know that. But we live in a fallen world and while you may do good, others do not. Other people often choose to do the wrong thing and people get hurt. We will get hurt.
But what happens to you in life is not nearly as important as the way you choose to respond to it. Because for some people they go through a bad situation and it builds them up, and other people, it breaks them. For some people it's a stepping stone. For other people, it's a stumbling block. Two people… same situation… same pain and two totally different outcomes of their response.
People always ask how do I change something? Well the way you change anything is to change the value of it. If you want to change your home, change what you value at home. If you want to change your health, change what you value in your body. If you want to change your business, change what you value at work. If you want to change your community, change your job, change the values in that situation, and it will change the circumstances.
Only the right values will give you the right future. The choices you make today determine your tomorrows. Ask yourself, what do you need to do today to get you to where you want to be tomorrow?
God gave the Israelites the choice between life and death… failure and success. He said you can choose life or death. You can choose success or failure. You can choose happiness or sadness. I'm giving you the choice. Blessing or curse, success or failure, I'm letting you choose. I'm not going to force my plan on your life. But long before God gave his people the choice, he gave the leader a choice. Who was the leader? The leader in this case happened to be Moses.
Moses is one of the greatest leaders in the Bible, but he would not have been if some choices had not been made. To be a leader, you have to be willing to make choices before everyone else does.
Let’s look at ...

Moses 4 Life-Shaping Choices

Hebrews 11:23–27 NIV
23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

1. Refuse to be defined by others.

Hebrews 11:24 NLT
24 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
Romans 12:2 NCV
2 Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
Exodus 23:2 NIV
2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT
4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
John 17:16 The Message
16 They are no more defined by the world Than I am defined by the world.
I resolve to no more be defined by anyone except God.
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

2. Choose short term pain for long term gain.

Hebrews 11:25 NIV84
25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
God will use your pain to help you grow.
Romans 5:3–4 NCV
3 We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. 4 And patience produces character, and character produces hope.
God will reward you in heaven.
2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT
17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV84
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

3. Choose what God values, not what culture values.

Hebrews 11:26 NIV
26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Things the World Values

Popularity, Prestige & Power
Pleasure
Possessions
1 John 2:17 NLT
17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Things God Values

God’s purpose is more important than popularity.
People are more important than pleasure.
Peace of Mind is more valuable than possessions.

4. Choose to live by faith, not by fear.

Hebrews 11:27 NIV
27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
Galatians 2:16 NLT
16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more