A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION TO SEEK GOD

NEW YEAR S WISDOM On New Year s Eve an optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. New Year's Day - Now is the accepted time to resolve your regular annual good intentions. Next week you can begin paving the road to hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain Dear God, my prayer for 2017 is a fat bank account and a thin body. Please don t mix these up like you did last year. My New Year s resolution is not to shovel snow. Since I'm gonna be in Florida, I feel pretty good about it. May your troubles last no longer than your New Year's resolutions do.

A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION TO SEEK GOD Why it s beneficial to seek God Three ideas that can help us get past some mistaken thinking about seeking God Just a little about what happens when we seek God And a bit about how to seek God

WHY SEEK GOD? I seek God because I want to be the person God made me to be, but I can t.

Willpower will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. Emmet Fox writes, "As soon as you resist mentally any undesirable or unwanted circumstance, you thereby endow it with more power power which it will use against you, and you will have depleted you own resources to that exact extent." Heini Arnold concludes, "As long as we think we can save ourselves by our own will power, we will only make the evil in us stronger than ever." You see, by dint of will people can make a good showing for a time, but sooner or later there will come that unguarded moment when the "careless word" will slip out to reveal the true condition of the heart. If we are full of compassion, it will be revealed; if we are full of bitterness, that also will be revealed. When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is God's work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the Kingdom of God; it is a grace that is given. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, pp. 5-6.

THREE TRUE IDEAS ABOUT SEEKING GOD True Idea 1: There s nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there s nothing we can do to make God love us less.

ROMANS 5:6-11 (NLT) 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

THREE TRUE IDEAS ABOUT SEEKING GOD True Idea 1: There s nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there s nothing we can do to make God love us less. True Idea 2: The only real reason to seek God is because we love him (because he first loved us).

1 JOHN 4:16-19 (ESV) 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-17 (NLT) Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SEEK GOD? We find him He changes us He proceeds at his own speed It s a lifelong journey, and then some

HOW DO WE SEEK GOD? Spend time and effort... Upcoming classes God will show you Leaders will help

CHALLENGE: MAKE A NEW YEAR S RESOLUTION TO SEEK GOD Maybe that means seeking God for the first time. Maybe God is challenging you to seek him in new ways or more intentionally or intensively than before. Maybe your challenge is to just continue doing what you re doing when it comes to seeking God. Pray about it, and resolve to seek God however he leads you to.

A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION TO SEEK GOD