Getting Better As You Grow Older

Getting Better As You Grow Older

(Be confident - Part 2)  Psalm 37:3

Intro: I am getting older and I intentionally want to get better and more like Christ. I am going for the goal. At the end of my life on earth I don’t want any gas left in my tank. I am going to pour out my life in serving the Lord wherever and however He leads.

Review- “Fret not” = because you see evil people doing better than you. 2 Corinthians 10:12 says,
But they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

-      Friend was watching big time TV ministers and said to me. You could have been one of them – world wide ministry.

-      God knows where I live. He has my cell number and besides that we talk every day throughout the day. Right now I am right where I am suppose to be and doing what He wants me to do. Don’t start comparing yourself with others – God has a plan for you!

Be calm. Last weeks message.

One of the ways we can measure if we are getting better is Patience.

 Patience fruit Spirit. “Let patience have her perfecting work, that you may be mature and fully developed (with no defects), lacking nothing.” Jas 1:4 Amp.

“Ruthlessly attack hurry.” Ill. Good book: Unhurried Life

Give God thanks for stop lights for helping you to slow down instead of getting frustrated all the time! “Have you ever noticed that people driving slower than you are idiots, and people driving faster than you are maniacs?”

          Ill. Minister bought used lawn mower at a yard sale. When he got it home he could not get it started and brought it back complaining it wouldn’t run. “It’ll run” said the man at the yard sale. “But you have to curse at it to get it started.” The minister was shocked and said, “I have not uttered a curse word in 30 years.” The yard sale man said, “Just keep pulling on the starter rope – the words will come back to you!”

As we get older we should be growing in patience because we walk with God who is love. He is with us and teaching us in everyday circumstances how to get better by growing in patience.  The older you get the more experience you have to get better at life.

          Ill. I hear older people say the older I get I don’t have the patience I use to have. That should not be! All your life you should be growing and maturing in the fruit of the Spirit. Your fruit should get sweeter with age not more bitter. You actually have control over whether or not you have more patience. “Let P have her . . . “You have to be intentional about this or you will naturally default to mean and grumpy.”

Inspection – Correction – Direction

Some practical things: Practice smiling more at people. Be aware of your face is a billboard. Does it say I love Jesus and I am going to heaven, or does it say, I don’t like anyone and get out of my way.

          We all should be getting better as we walk with God who is love.

Our hearts should be characterized and covered with CPR.

C – confidence
P – peace
R – rest

Today in part 2 of getting better as you get older I want to talk to you about one thing. CONFIDENCE

“Trust and BE CONFIDENT in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and FEED SURELY ON HIS FAITHFULNESS, and truly you shall be fed.”  Psalm 37:3

The longer we have walked with Him the more unshakeable trust we will have as a result of a close walk.

ill. What was lacking in that first generation of children of Israel that did not make it into their destiny of the Promise land?

Confidence in God and in themselves. Psalm 78:41 “they turned back and tempted God and “limited the Holy One of Israel.”

Unbelief manifested as lack of confidence.

An unbelieving heart from a believer that walks with God???

It is not that you can’t believe but that you refuse to have confidence in God that you can’t see to put your confidence in things you can see.

          That is no different from an atheist. We have believers who are practicing atheist.

Have you heard the news? April 1st is now an official holiday – National Atheist day.

“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” Psalm 14:1

He is refusing – resisting the truth – no God for me.

Believers do the same thing when they do not exercise confidence in God.

Confidence is like fuel in an airplane. Without it you crash.

You can see confidence on someone when they walk in a room.

          Jesus modeled it. Don’t have to be loud, pushy, demanding.

          Quiet confidence comes from letting God be in charge!

“In returning to Me, and resting in Me you shall be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, but you would not.” Isa. 30:15 Amp.

The more dependent we are on God the more confident we become in Him. The older I get the more I lose and have to let go of things in this life and depend upon the Lord.

          You may lose your spouse. You may lose strength. You may lose ability to work and make the money you use to.

God may be weaning you to learn to let go of things and come to Him and ask for His help and depend upon Him for what you need.

“Feed on His faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3 Amp.

Be Calm and be confident.

If you can’t be confident in God, then you will only have self confidence.

Self confidence without God confidence is pride.

“God resists the proud.” I Peter 5:5

I must grow confidence in God and confidence in myself.

Don’t mistake low self confidence for humility!

Low self confidence usually comes from low self worth.

“I don’t think I can, rises from a deeper, I don’t think I am.”

-         If you quit and give up to quickly = low self confidence.

-         If you fear failure and won’t try = low self confidence.

-         If you care too much what others think of you =  ‘’  ‘’ ‘’.

I must grow in confidence in God and confidence in myself.

You should come out on Wednesday nights for Bible study. The teaching is on knowing your true identity in Christ and teaching about the Father’s love for you.

You grow confidence in God by life experience with Him and feeding on His faithfulness. You grow self confidence by experiencing what God can do with you when you are yielded to Him.

What gave teen ager David such confidence to face GOLIATH?

Gen. Douglas McArthur and his army was surrounded by the Japanese on the Philippines. He gathered his leaders and said these words.

Pic Douglas MacArthur

“Men, we have intelligence that reports the whole Japanese fleet has surrounded us. The enemy is in front of us, the enemy is behind us, the enemy is to the right and to the left of us. Then he took a long pause and then said, They can't get away this time!”

 

1.    Confidence will create the creativity in you to solve problems. Teddy Roosevelt said, “Anytime anyone asks you if you can do a job tell them, ‘Certainly I can.’ Then get busy and go find out how to do it.”

2.    Confidence in God will grow courage with God.

3 things confident people have:

1.    Humility – they understand their place in life with God and others.

2.  Authenticity – they are comfortable in their own skin.

3.  A calling from God – a purpose that is bigger than themselves.

A calling from God does not mean you know how everything is going to turn out. In fact, most leaders live with great uncertainty about their future and dreams. For example, the Apostle Paul.

 I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

Acts 20:22-24 MSG.

Fear and faith always compete with each other. The one that is strongest at the moment will always win.

   Feed your faith and starve your fears!

Hell is after your confidence in God!

       The devil knows he cannot beat a confident Xn.

-         He attacks your finances to affect your confidence in God’s provision – so you will back down off tithing and offerings.

-         He attacks your health, your family, anything to get you to back off your confidence in God or His Word.

“Cast not away your confidence, which hath great compensation of reward. For you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. . . Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”  Heb. 10:35-36, 38

Concl: Every change in your life begins with a decision by you. You only have today. Past is over and future not here yet. Heb. 4:7 “Today” = God keeps resetting the promises for you every day in hopes that you will say “yes” today to Him and start living with confidence in His promises to you. When God says “Today” it means it is still a live promise for you to grab hold of today and experience Him.

Those of you who know you have received X but have not been following Him. Today HS is calling you to change that.

Change begins now! Get back to your place in God. Repent at this altar and let God do heart surgery on you now. Come.

 

Those who have never received X as Lord and Savior and want to receive God’s forgiveness of sin and be made clean with God – come.

You are getting older – but are you getting better?

God wants you to let Him have His way with your life. HE wants you to be like Jesus. Be calm. Be confident in God and in yourself in His hands.