DECEMBER 30, 2007 – “STARTING OUT RIGHT”
TEXT: Matthew 6:33-34
I.
(v.33) START OUT RIGHT BY MAKING GOD’S KINGDOM YOUR PRIORITY
(Matthew
6:32) “For the pagans run after all these
things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
(Bob
Pierce) “We cannot decide whether we will live or die. We can only decide what
we will live for.”
(Psalm 63:1) “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for
you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
(Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf) “I have but one passion; it is He, He only.”
(Deuteronomy
4:29) “But if from there you seek the
Lord your God you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and
with all your soul.”
(Psalms
27:8) “My heart says of you, ‘Seek his
face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
(Psalm
105:4) “Look to the Lord and his
strength; seek his face always.”
(Psalm 119:10) “I seek you with all my heart…”
(Larry Crabb) “Feeling better has become more important to us than finding God."
(Acts
17:27) “God did this so that men would
seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from
each one of us.”
( “Whenever we place a higher priority on solving our problems than on pursuing God, we are immoral.”
(Isaiah 55:6) “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.”
(Galatians 2:20) “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
(Romans 12:1) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual
act of worship.”
(Hebrews 12:2) “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Matthew 5:6) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
will be filled.”
(David Wells) “…refusal to
accept as normal what is pervasively abnormal."
II.
(v.33) START OUT RIGHT BY DEPENDING UPON GOD’S CARE
(Matthew 6:33) “…And all these things will be given to you
as well.”
(Stormie Omartian) “We will not be
able to see who we really are until we are able to see God as He really is.”
(Matthew 6:26) “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away
in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they?”
(Matthew 6:32) “…and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them.”
(Matthew 7:11) “If you, then, though you are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask him!”
(Maude Royden) “When you have
nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware that God is
enough.”
(Matthew 6:9-11) “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us
today our daily bread.”
(I Kings 17:4) “You will drink from the brook, and I have
ordered the ravens to feed you there.”
(Philippians 4:19) “And my God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
(Larry Bukett) “God is our certainty
in an uncertain world.”
(I Peter 5:7) “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
(Andrew Murray) “God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.”
(Luke 10:41-44) “‘Martha,
Martha,’” the Lord answered, ‘You are worried and upset about many things, but
only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be
taken away from her.’”
III. (v.34) START
OUT RIGHT BY NOT WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW
(Matthew 6:33) “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
(I Peter 5:7) “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
(Matthew 6:34) “Therefore do not worry…”
(Philippians 4:6) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
(Proverbs 12:25) “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a
kind word cheers him up.”
(Matthew 6:27) “An anxious heart weighs a man
down, but a kind word cheers him up.” “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour
to his life?”
(Isaiah 26:3) ”You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because
he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the
Rock eternal.”
(Matthew 6:34) “…for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each
day has enough trouble of its own.”