Today’s Sermon in 10 Tweets

1.Our lives are perfectly designed to give us the results we’re experiencing.
2. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. (Matthew 6:33)
3. We must make every effort to bring our behavior into conformity with our spiritual reality.
4. Many of us have uphill desires, but downhill habits.
5. Every action you take is will either move you toward or away form the type of person you wish to become.
6. Michael Hopf writes, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
7. The short-term easy often results in the long-term hard; whereas the short-term hard leads to the long-term easy.
8. You must realize that at first we make our habits and then our habits make us.
9. Your habits may be either the best of servants or the worst of masters.
10, Great necessities call out great virtues. – Abigail Adams

Today’s sermon at https://churchatlifepark.org/ is from 2 Peter 1:5-11. If you want to go deeper, here is Rick’s preaching outline:

Introduction

As we stand on the precipice of a new year, we have the opportunity for a fresh start – a tabula rasa, a blank slate before us. The month of January derives its name from the Roman mythological figure Janus. As the god of transitions and dualities, Janus is portrayed with two faces—one facing the past, and one facing the future. So it’s natural for us to consider making New Year’s resolutions. What improvements can I make in this new year, but then we think, “Why should I set myself up for failure?” We’ve all made new year’s resolutions only to see them fail a few weeks later. Most people quit on the second Friday of the month, according to Strava, a Running and Cycling tracking app. They named this day “Quitters Day”. Here are the most popular resolutions people make:

1. Lose weight
2. Stop a bad habit
3. Keep to a budget

Our resolutions are difficult because we attempting to do that which does not come naturally to us.
Our lives are perfectly designed to give us the results we’re experiencing. Every system is perfectly designed to get the result that it does. W. Edwards Deming
Breaking one habit and starting a new habit requires willpower and your willpower is not going to dramatically improve because the date on the calendar has changed.

So what are some new year’s resolutions you can keep?

1. Gain weight
2. Watch more TV, surf the internet
3. Spend more money

We can keep these resolutions because they fit with our natural proclivities.

We must become the type of person for whom our new habits are automatic.
Making changes in our lives requires discipline. Telling an undisciplined person to become more disciplined is like telling a broke person to get more money.
All change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and beautiful in the end.Change starts with the realization that in my own strength I can’t, but with God’s strength I can.

My prayer for you is that this may be a great year for you. We need to be the type of person who consistently does what is right. Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit refers to a particular type of habit that he calls keystone habits. These, he says, are “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives”. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus reveals the key to victory:

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. (Matthew 6:33)

Main Idea

We must make every effort to bring our behavior into conformity with our spiritual reality.
Why is this necessary? Many of us have uphill desires, but downhill habits.
We love to hear a great musician or see a superior athlete, but what we do not see is the overall preparation of mind and body that enables a superior performance. This training provides a foundation for automatically responding with excellence.
Every action you take is will either move you toward or away form the type of person you wish to become.
We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training. – Archilochus

How do I bring my behavior into conformity with my spiritual reality?
You can bring your behavior into conformity with your spiritual reality by following the advice of the apostle Peter.

Background

The churches of Asia Minor were not just struggling with the persecution and suffering addressed in Peter’s first letter; they also had strife and dissension within their ranks. In an effort to stem the tide of heresy and false teaching among the Christians, Peter emphasized the importance of learning and clinging to the proper knowledge of God. This concept was so important to him that the word knowledge appears—in one form or another—some fifteen times in the span of this short, three-chapter letter. Peter’s theme in his second letter is a simple one: pursue spiritual maturity through the Word of God as a remedy for false teaching.

1.You must make every effort to add to your faith

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

The reason that Peter alludes to is our new identity in Christ. In the preceding verses, we see that God has given us a new nature:

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

Illustration of being given a check, we must cash it use it.
Charles Spurgeon reminds us, “God sends every bird his food, but He doesn’t throw it into the nest.” May we be diligent to work out what God has worked in.

What is it in your life that receives your maximum effort? There are many worthwhile endeavors that garner our attention, but are we focusing on the best? The Apostle Peter teaches us that the key to a useful and fruitful life is to diligently work on the quality of our character. It starts with our faith, God must be at the center of our lives.
Illustration of running the last lap of a race.

Before there can be spiritual growth, there must be spiritual life. Do you know God?
We cannot do what only God does and God will not that which is our responsibility. We cannot give ourselves a new nature, that is God’s responsibility. God however, does not give us habits of good character, that is our responsibility. Peter says we are to add habits of virtue to our faith.

Let’s look at these seven character qualities that Peter lists so that we can be the type of person who seeks after God.

Goodness

The first characteristic mentioned is goodness. This is a significant word in the Greek language that conveys the idea of moral excellence, virtue, and realizing one’s full potential. This word is mentioned along with the cardinal virtues in the deuterocanonical book Wisdom 8:7 – “And if one prizes righteousness δικαιοσύνη, the fruits of her labors are virtues ἀρεταί. For she teaches temperance σωφροσύνη and prudence φρόνησιν, justice δικαιοσύνη and fortitude ἀνδρείαν, and nothing in life is of more value for men than these.”

If we are to be good, we must know what is good, so that leads to our next character quality . . .

Knowledge

The people who know their God will be strong and do great exploits (Daniel 11:32b)

How do we know God? The written word reveals the living word. One of the problems in our self-sufficient society is that we don’t know God because we don’t think we need God.
We don’t realize that God is all we need until God is all we have. The more we learn about God and what He expects from us, then we realize our need for . . .

Self-control

When we learn what God expects from us, then we learn our need for self-control. Change is hard, this is why so many N.Y. resolutions fail.

It’s normal for us to have desires, are we able to keep them in check? Fast food is created to foster desire – do we keep it in moderation.

Illustration of returning from overseas. going to McDonald’s – salt, oil, and sugar are addictive, “Bet you can’t eat just one”
Brene Brown reminds us that you can have comfort or you can make a difference – but you can’t do both.

We must walk by the Spirit, so we ill not carry out the desires of the flesh. Self-control involves saying no to our fleshly desires and that’s why we need . . .

Perseverance

Self-control has to do with the pleasures of life, while perseverance often relates to the pressures of life. This is a compound word in the Greek language that literally means to remain under the pressure, we need to hang in there.

Illustration – In the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City John Akhwari came in last. No last-place finisher in a marathon ever finished quite so last. Injured along the way, he hobbled into the stadium with bloodied and bandaged. It was more than an hour after the rest of the runners had completed the race. The sun had set and only a few spectators were left in the stands when Akhwari finally crossed the finish line. When asked why he continued to run despite the pain, Akhwari replied, “My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me here to finish.” That’s perseverance. What is a situation you’re facing in which you want to give up?

Michael Easter in The Comfort Crisis points out that we’re losing our ability to persevere. Our military is not meeting their quotas and one of the reasons is people can’t pass the physical fitness test. We need to do something hard every day.

Michael Hopf writes, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” This is revealed in the book of Judges. Could it be that our comfort and affluence have made us weak?

Godliness

God does not want to make us perfect specimens of mankind, His purpose is to make us one with Himself. Our training is not simply to make us better, but godly. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) Godliness reflects the greatest commandment, Peter then addressed the second commandment that we are to have . . .

Mutual affection

How will other people know that we are Christ’s disciples? It’s by our love for one another.

We grow spiritually when we’re connected relationally, small groups are a great place for mutual affection. Peter then referred to the greatest of the Christian virtues . . .

Love

This is the greatest of the Christian virtues. Is your life characterized by love? We are able to love others because He first loved us. John 13:34-35 – Jesus has given us a new commandment.

2. You must possess and grow in these qualities

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

I don’t know anyone who plans to be in be ineffective and unproductive, but if we’re not growing in these qualities in we will be ineffective and unfruitful.

Peter says that we’re nearsighted and blind, we forget our cleansing from past sins. When I was a young boy there was a cartoon character named Mr. Magoo. Because he was nearsighted, he reaped a whirlwind of mayhem and trouble and was oblivious to the consequences.

Myopia can also be a spiritual condition. When we are nearsighted we don’t see the long-term consequences. It can be tempting to take the easy way rather than the hard way. We must realize that the short-term easy often results in the long-term hard; whereas the short-term hard leads to the long-term easy. Wayne Corderio teaches that we have two teachers in our lives – discipline and regret. Discipline is hard at the beginning, but rewarding at the end. The easy way is appealing, but it may result in regret at the end. The pain of regret is always worse than the pain of discipline.

Don’t fall back into the bondage from your former way of life – you’ve been set free. Go and sin no more. God’s commandment is His enablement!

3. You must make every effort to confirm your calling

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort (AAImv) to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What do you work hard at? The greatest thing you can do is seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

Conclusion

You must realize that at first we make our habits and then our habits make us. Take some time and listen to God about the changes that He wants you to make this upcoming year.
Your habits may be either the best of servants or the worst of masters.

Abigail Adams to John Quincy Adams 1/19/1780

These are times in which a Genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. Great necessities call out great virtues.

If we are stand for Christ, then we must reflect Christ in our everyday lives – may Christ be magnified in me.

Rick Higgins

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark