TOOLS FOR DAILY LIVING
Teachings from the Sunday Services at Speak the Word Church International
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Today we will continue our journey to progress toward a more wholesome life. Here is a question for you: 

What motivates you to wake up in the morning to live another day? 

It's your desires. Our desire is the fundamental motivation behind all of our human emotions and actions. Desires lead us to do things that we want to do with our lives. Our foundation scripture is found in Proverbs 13:12. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." 

Desire is a longing or hope for something that is possible. Therefore our desires have to be in the realm of possibility for them to produce for us. We desire things that are outside of the realm of possibility when we desire to do what someone else has the skill and ability to do. This form of desire falls under the category of lust which can take on many forms. We shouldn't believe that we can do everything we want to do. We can only function and excel in the areas of our gifting. For example, I may have the ability to bounce a basketball, but I don't have the skill to be a professional basketball player. A desire that is beyond our ability is more easily influenced by lust or covetousness, which is wanting something belonging to someone else. Many times lust leads us into the realm of the forbidden. 

Today we will continue our study to enable us to attain "A Perspective on Positive Desire."

Your pastor and life coach,
 
Randy Morrison
    


Remember: Spiritual Success begins on Sunday Morning!   
LUST LEADS TO NARCISSISM
 
When we allow lust to take control of our desires, we can fall into the arena of 'narcissism.' This arena is a trap in which a person is consumed with self-interest. Those who are narcissistic think mostly about themselves. When we are wrapped up in extreme selfishness we are a very small container that has no room for others. 

In Luke 12, Jesus makes reference to a man who was preoccupied with himself and had no room for others. He desired things for the wrong reasons. In Luke 12:16-20, as this man's wealth grew, he grew more covetous in the process. His desire for wealth turned into lust and became the symbol of his identity. Eleven times you find him saying "I" and "my". This man became imprisoned by his own lustful desires. His possessions seemed to hinder him more than help him when it came to his relationship with God and others. This man had a wrong perspective on desires.
 
REMEMBER: When we are self-absorbed, relationships are not important to us, particularly our relationship with God. 
SELF-INDULGENCE DOES NOT INVEST IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF OTHERS

The worst thing in life is to have the earth's resources and have no one to share them with. We live in a culture that is self-absorbed. We are witnessing the fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 which describes the perilous times that will be prevalent in the last of the last days. Men will love themselves and money, they will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, and they will deny the god who gives us the power to get wealth. Covetousness has a way of turning us away from God's will for our lives.

When we die, will we be remembered more for our possessions or for the contribution we made to others while we were alive?
 
"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall 
give you the desires of your heart." - Psalm 37:4

God is only obligated to the desire that is tied to His will. If we are believers, we don't have desires of our own when it pertains to our relationship with God. Like Jesus we will be selfless rather than selfish. Jesus prayed, "...not my will but thine be done." When we have God's desires, life is no longer about us. 

Christianity is not about hoarding. 
It is about sharing our resources with others 
in the process of making the world a better place.
WHEN OUR DESIRES ARE CONNECTED 
TO THE THINGS OF GOD, 
CONFIDENCE IS CREATED INSIDE OF US

1 John 5:14-15 reveals that this confidence manifests in our prayers. 

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 
that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 
And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, 
we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." 

God's word is His will. When we experience the illumination of His word, we can pray that word with confidence. When our asking (or desire) is based on God's word we can wait for the answer with confidence, because it is His will and desire for our lives.
 
"...we know..." When we align our desires with God's desires, we can know that we have the petitions we have asked of Him. This is the confidence we can experience when we allow the word of God to shape our prayers.

 

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