Introduction

I have heard a lot of good music.

There is a source of comfort in maturity and experience.

There is more of an essence of what really is important.

I have loved a lot of people.

The blood of Jesus has cleansed me a lot.

My love for the Lord just continues to grow.

I look more and more to be reunited with loved ones in that beautiful morning.

1.          You can trust in the Lord.

a.          Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; an lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

b.          Where do you put your trust?

c.          Money, Family, Government, Self, education, youth, etc.

d.          Psalm 37:3-5 “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

e.          As you choose a new family

f.           Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

2.          You can rely on the scriptures.

a.          2 Timothy 2:15…Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

b.          There is no problem or situation in your life that God’s word cannot help.

3.          You need to know how to pray.

a.          Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16

b.          Pray without ceasing.

c.          Power in prayer.

d.          The day of atonement.

e.          Luke 18:1  Man always ought to pray.

4.          You need to know that you will pretty well reap what you sow.

a.       Galatians 6:7-8  Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

b.      Smoking, drinking, sexual misconduct, education etc.

c.       Peer pressure sometimes takes you places you don’t need to go. There are a lot more important things in this life than being popular and trying to please or impress others.

d.      2 Corinthians 9:6…”The point is this; he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

e.       You will pretty well reap what you sow in most things with the exception of your spiritual reward.  

5.          You need to be familiar with God’s view of money and finances.

a.          1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all evil.

b.          God expects us to be good stewards. He expects us to manage what he gives us. He expects us to work, he wants us to take care of our families, to give to those who are in need, to give to the church, to pay our bills, and again to manage responsibly the physical blessings that he gives us in this life.

c.          He doesn’t want us to be a slave to money, but he does want us to be good stewards of what we do have.

d.          Psalm 24:1 says “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness/the world and those who dwell therein.”  Everything belongs to God.  It is 100% His.  Not even a part of it is yours or mine.  It all belongs to Him alone.  But you do have a responsibility, for you are God’s steward over the possessions God has entrusted to you.  And one day you will be called upon to give and accounting of how you have managed God’s possessions; “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Cor 5:10

6.          You need to know how to be forgiven and how to forgive.

a.          People carrying a burden of hate.

b.          Matt 6:14-15…”For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

c.          Eph 4:32   “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

d.      David Jeremiah points out that in November 2002, "Detroit Schools Chief Executive Kenneth Burnley showed up at Southeastern High School with an announcement. Showing the students $100, he read a letter from an anonymous graduate of Southeastern's class of 1947. The man had sent the money as reimbursement for stealing some Hershey bars from the lunchroom 55 years ago. The man wrote, 'I am a retired professional who has been highly respected in my life. I have certainly been guilty of much greater offenses over the years, but that basic breach of trust has remained in the back of my mind.' "We all have regrets, we often need to apologize to others, and we all need pardon. But we must remember that when God forgives, He forgives wholly. Psalm 130 says: 'If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared' (vv. 3-4). "'I know God has forgiven me,' someone says, 'yet I can't seem to forgive myself.' But when we accept the forgiveness of Almighty God, He does away with all the guilt. It vanishes, as far as the east is from the west. He washes us clean. If we still struggle with guilt, we need to revisit the forgiveness of Him who promised to wash us whiter than snow."

e.          1 John 1:7-9  “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all  unrighteousness.”

7.          You need to know the qualities of a Christian life.

a.          Look at the folks around you.

b.          the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Galatians 5:22-23

8.          You need to know how to persevere.

a.          1 Cor 10:12…”Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”  “So if you are thinking you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”

b.          Wilma didn't get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces. At age 12 Wilma tried out for a girls basketball team, but didn't make it. Determined, she practiced with a girlfriend and two boys every day. The next year she made the team. When a college track coach saw her during a game, he talked her into letting him train her as a runner. By age 14 she had outrun the fastest sprinters in the U.S. In 1956 Wilma made the U.S. Olympic team, but showed poorly. That bitter disappointment motivated her to work harder for the 1960 Olympics in Rome--and there Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, the most a woman had ever won. 

c.          Don’t give up!

d.          Genius is 2% inspiration and 98 % perspiration" (Thomas Edison). Edison worked 18 hour days and practiced Herculean patience. Once he recognized the value of an idea, Edison stayed with the process until he discovered its secret. His alkaline storage battery became a reality after 10,000 (sic) failed experiments! 

e.          You need to know how to hold on to your faith in God.

9.          You need to know that you are saved and how to share your faith with others.

a.          Know that you are saved.

b.          People are searching.

c.          Matt 9:37-38   “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

10.      You need to know that judgment is a real day and that heaven is a real place.

a.          Plastic world…fairy tale

b.          1 Thess 4:16-18  “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

May God bless our nation; may God bless His church; may God bless you!