TUG OF WAR OR PULL OF LIFE (7 OF 7)
Scripture: PHILIPPIANS 2:12-13
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Tug of War or Pull of Life (7 of 7)
Series: Home Improvement
M. Kenneth Lyon
Philippians 2:12-13
June 6, 1999
OK, I don't want you to mention any names, but is there somebody in your circle of relationships that you would like to change? Is there an Amen in the house? Notice I did not say EXchange but change. Most of us do have a person, if not more than one, whose lifestyle, attitude, etc. the way they relate to us, relate to others is something of a consternation to us, and we wish that we could wave that magic wand or hit 'em up side the head with it one and get 'em to change what they're doing. Well, the truth is no matter how much I want to I can't make them change, and neither can you. But in fact, my best opportunity, my best chance, my best shot, at getting them to change is by changing how I relate to them. To create a different atmosphere because if I keep doing the same things I've always done with them, if I keep relating in the same way I've always related with them, I'm probably going to keep getting the same results.
That's why today's passage of Scripture is so important to us from the Apostle Paul. He talks about working out our salvation. Now does that mean that this is some kind of works righteousness that we earn our salvation? No, not at all, but it does mean that when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, that is the first step on a lifelong journey that is the adventure of a lifetime. In fact, when we embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, we begin a reclamation project that is a joint effort between the spirit of the Living God and our own self-will. Let me illustrate with two things. If we were to look at an apple orchard and there is a spring apple, a summer apple, and it is doing just what a spring or summer apple is supposed to do. It's hanging there on that stem. It's taking the nourishment from the rootage of the tree upon which it hangs, It's doing all the things it's genetically it's designed to do, but that apple canno ...
Series: Home Improvement
M. Kenneth Lyon
Philippians 2:12-13
June 6, 1999
OK, I don't want you to mention any names, but is there somebody in your circle of relationships that you would like to change? Is there an Amen in the house? Notice I did not say EXchange but change. Most of us do have a person, if not more than one, whose lifestyle, attitude, etc. the way they relate to us, relate to others is something of a consternation to us, and we wish that we could wave that magic wand or hit 'em up side the head with it one and get 'em to change what they're doing. Well, the truth is no matter how much I want to I can't make them change, and neither can you. But in fact, my best opportunity, my best chance, my best shot, at getting them to change is by changing how I relate to them. To create a different atmosphere because if I keep doing the same things I've always done with them, if I keep relating in the same way I've always related with them, I'm probably going to keep getting the same results.
That's why today's passage of Scripture is so important to us from the Apostle Paul. He talks about working out our salvation. Now does that mean that this is some kind of works righteousness that we earn our salvation? No, not at all, but it does mean that when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, that is the first step on a lifelong journey that is the adventure of a lifetime. In fact, when we embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, we begin a reclamation project that is a joint effort between the spirit of the Living God and our own self-will. Let me illustrate with two things. If we were to look at an apple orchard and there is a spring apple, a summer apple, and it is doing just what a spring or summer apple is supposed to do. It's hanging there on that stem. It's taking the nourishment from the rootage of the tree upon which it hangs, It's doing all the things it's genetically it's designed to do, but that apple canno ...
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