New Year. New Faith.

Your Faith Matters in Life

Advice For the Weary and Faithful Servant

Full Unedited Transcription

Amen, amen. Take your Bibles, open them to two places, would you? I want you to open to Exodus chapter 23 and Philippians chapter two. Exodus chapter 23, Philippians chapter two, and I’ve entitled our Bible study, Greater Little by Little. Greater Little by Little.

As we head into a new year, it’s important to remember, grasp this, write it down. It may be the banner of your year. It may be the banner of how you walked in today, but grasp this, especially as we move into a new year, as you have something fresh before you, something to anticipate. Remember this, God knows what he’s doing with your life. God knows what he’s doing with your life. He knows the why and the how, the what and the when. And whatever God allows and brings into our lives, however he leads and guides you, he knows what he’s doing with you and me.

I was reminded of Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 11. So encouraging when I think of how God knows what he’s doing, where he says, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil to give you a future and a hope. Then you’ll call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. And some of your translation says, I know the plans that I have for you. God knows. And heading into a new year, God is with you. You’re not alone. He wants to encourage us to take this year as it comes and to use it for his glory, to shift our thinking right now, to begin to think differently.

You know, God is always wanting us to change the way we think. He wants us to exchange our ideas for his ideas. He wants us, if we’re believing a lie or taking, he wants us to lay the lie down and believe the truth. As we’re being conformed more and more and changed into the image of Christ, we have the mind of Christ, he’s really wanting us to shift our thinking. And if you wanna see a different year, I mean, if you wanna see something different, you’re gonna have to think differently. You’re going to have to shift your thinking. You’re going to have to lay down that which is holding you back in your thought life. You’re going to have to take every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

So as we’re planning and preparing and even dreaming and just thinking about, God, what do you want to do in my life? How will you use me? And you’re just thinking that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can think or ask. You want to remember that God wants to do something new in this new year. And anytime I do a new year Bible study, I always like to land on Joshua chapter 3. We’re not going to use it very much here, but I want to read it to you because it’s a good reminder for all of us as we look forward to a new year.

In Joshua 3, verse four, Joshua is now, after Moses, leading the children of Israel into the promised land finally. It’s the next generation. They’re gonna take what God has promised them, and he tells them to leave some space as you’re following the Ark of the Covenant. Make sure you can see it. And as you see it, do not come near it, he says, that you may know the way which you must go. The Ark of the Covenant represented the presence of God. Keep your eyes on the Lord. Make sure you see him. Follow that box. Make sure there’s a distance. Don’t lose sight of it. Keep your eye on it. And then he says, because you haven’t passed this way before.

And anything that God has for us, we have to acknowledge we haven’t passed this way before. This is a great mistake that we make because we think with all of our experience and everything that we’ve gone through, well, you know, new year, new thing. I’ve done this before. Been there, done that. Got the dessert. I know. No, no, no. Anything that’s up ahead, you haven’t passed that way before. Everything that’s up ahead. I haven’t passed that way before. Now, I may have some similarities. There may be some experience. But then we’ve memorized, haven’t we not? Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in faith all your ways, and he’ll direct your paths.

It’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible for steps of faith, for moving forward, for facing something new. For us as a church, we here at Calvary, we’re going to be celebrating our 26th anniversary as a church the day after Christmas. We started our Sunday morning services December 26th, 1999. I was thinking when we were praying about moving out here and we’re praying about moving anywhere, we’re narrowing it down to a few different places. And then when God finally narrowed it down to Aurora, he didn’t tell us what was going to happen when we got here. He didn’t lay out, well, here’s the next 25 years of what you’re going to experience, Ed. He didn’t. He couldn’t.

How could I have taken that all at once? How could I have received all of that at once? Now looking back and seeing all the things that God has done. And that’s just the things we’ve seen, not the things that we haven’t seen. God doesn’t drop into our lives the story of our lives in totality. He gives it to us in pieces. I mean, I know a lot of us, we would love to know what the next 10 years will bring. I mean, personally, I would like to know. I’d love to know what the next 10 years, but I know me, like many of you, if something bad is going to happen in the next 10 years, I’ll just worry about it until it comes. I’ll miss all the days up to it. And I’ll just think about that day. Or if something’s good gonna happen in eight years, then I’m gonna set my whole life up to experience that one.

Okay, what day is it today? How long is it gonna be? I won’t live in a day-by-day faith relationship with God. I’ll live by the events that he said is gonna happen. God doesn’t give us the whole story because he wants us to look into him day by day. He doesn’t tell us how things are going to turn out. He doesn’t show us the end from the beginning in relationship to our own personal lives. He’s not telling us right now what 2026 is going to be or how is he going to work things out. Which brings us to Exodus 23 and a very important part of our time as we prepare for the new year today.

When the children of Israel were heading into the promised land from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, it was a very exciting time. It was also a very intimidating time. It was a radical life change for them. They had cried out for a deliverer year after year after year. God gave them the deliverer and he delivered in a miraculous mighty way. Now they’re leaving everything that they have known for generations into the unknown, into a life that they yet to, we read the Bible and we kind of know what they went. They don’t know anything. They’re living life just like you are today. They don’t know what the future holds for them.

They can’t read a book and say, oh, I know how it’s going to go. And I know what’s going to happen here. I know we’re going to want, they don’t have that. They’re going into the unknown. And God is with them, speaking to them. And God tells them when they go into the promised land, it’s going to be a long process. It’s not going to happen overnight. They won’t get the land all at once. Which brings us to this verse in verse 28, chapter 23 of Exodus, verse 28. Where God tells them, I will send hornets before you which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. And here’s the phrase, little by little, I will drive them out from before you until you have increased and you inherit the land.

What is it that I want you to remember heading into the new year? God knows what he’s doing with your life. He knows what he’s doing with your life. He knows the how and the why and the when and the what. I hear his voice speaking through Moses to the people and he says, I’m not gonna do, I’m gonna do this, but I’m not gonna do it this way. I’m gonna do this, but it’s gonna happen like this. Yes, you’re gonna face the enemies and I’m gonna deal with them, but it’s not gonna happen in a year, but rather it’s gonna happen little by little. There’s a timing. Not only the process, but the process happens over time.

But there’s even a greater truth here. More important than the process and more important than the timing that you can’t miss when you’re reading the Bible. We get caught up in the processes and the hows and the whens. We get caught up in that. But there’s something in someone that you need to be caught up even more. And that’s this. God is the one doing it. Don’t ever forget that. God is the one doing it. This is the Lord’s doing. You read the verbs again. He says, I will send. I will not drive them out. Little by little, I will drive them out until you have increased. When I see what is happening, I’m going to give you more. But I’m not going to give it to you all at once.

God says to them then and to us now in the 21st century, I’m going to do the work that I want to do in your life little by little. Little by little. God’s will done God’s way will never lack God’s supply. He’s going to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. Even more important is that he’s in work in us, every single one of us right now. And as we look to a new year or a new month or a new week or even today, a new day, we must look to God first.

Circumstances, they get so big and so hard and so challenging. That’s all we see. And you look at difficult circumstances long enough and you’ll just be bummed out. Because from your perspective and your resources and all that you know, there’s no way out. There’s no way around this. And the cry of our heart is no longer how and when. It’s why, God, why? And even God knows the whys of the circumstances and situations that have come into your life. Why you’re facing so many Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites. You go, pastor, I’ve never met any of them. Oh, you have by type and picture. The Hittites, all the ites in the lands were the enemies of God. They were planted in the land and not willing to give it up.

And you think as an illustration in your own life, the promises of God and the future in your life. It’s filled with enemies, both people, but also yourself. The Hittites, the Canaanites, these also can be a picture of the flesh. The children of Israel just left Egypt, a picture of the flesh and the world system. And they’re heading into the promised land and guess who’s there? Not the Egyptians, but more problems. And God says, I’ll take care of the problems, but you have to look to me. I’m the one sending you. I’m the one driving you. And we have to look to God first.

And that is where I think most of us, if not all of us, make the big mistake. We look to the enemy and then try to do it ourselves. We measure everything up. We try to figure it out. The enemy constantly bombarding us. We fail to look to the Lord. We fail to look to his strength. I mean, if you’re not careful, if things aren’t happening the way you want, you might even become mad at God and see God as an adversary. God says, I’m going to drive the adversaries out, but you’re not able to enjoy the work of God because you see him as an adversary.

When God is on your side, he knows the thoughts that he thinks towards you. They’re not evil. The evil you and I experience in this world, the source is sin. Whether it’s our sin, someone else’s sin, just the culture that’s anti-Christ, God is not your adversary. He’s your friend by faith in Christ. Jesus said, I’m not gonna even call you servants anymore. You’re my friend. You’re my friend. Daily, our flesh is being dealt with and driven out as we look to the Lord.

As the new year comes upon us in the next few, we don’t have to wait for the new year, but as it comes upon us, I want you to think and meditate on this word. Greater. We’ll get into it more and more in our studies but God has something greater. We look to the Lord for what he is doing the greater work of his spirit which brings us to this beautiful passage in Philippians. Would you turn there with me? Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. There’s so much greater awaiting you greater victories, greater progress, greater peace, greater provision, greater faith. You’re going to see in the series of our studies of just how much God has for you in the future and how important it is for you and me to look to him and not ourselves.

This is where Paul is writing to the church in Philippi in verse 12, he says, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, again, much more is another derivative of greater, much more in my absence, “‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, “‘for it is God who works in you both to will and to do “‘for his good pleasure.'” Therefore, you see that word in verse 12, therefore? It’s a connecting word. It’s a word of conclusion. When you see therefore, you can back up a little bit from the word and see what the author wrote beforehand to bring you to this conclusion.

So this word actually connects us back to the beginning of chapter 2. Because this is a paragraph that’s dropped in the middle of a chapter, that’s dropped in the middle of a book. There is a, the Holy Spirit, as he’s inspiring, as God is inspiring the writing of the Bible, there is great order and understanding that God gives. He’s not the author of confusion. There’s clarity. So when you see the word, therefore, you come back and go, ah, verse five, verse five, notice what he says. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found, verse 8, in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth, those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, therefore, we’re connecting this next truth with the great example Jesus has given us. Jesus walked in and lived in obedience, always did what the Father’s will was. And since he was humble, and since his name is exalted above every other name, and since God’s will is for you and I to let this mind be in us, Paul says, therefore, my beloved, because of the example of Jesus and what he showed us, I want you to remember your obedience in the past, and I want you to continue in obedience in the present.

Obedience is key. Truly, as you move forward in a new year, it’s going to be little by little in obedience. Disobedience will not get you where you want to go. It will hinder and stunt your spiritual growth. And I’m speaking of the type of disobedience where you know that you’re disobedient. Not the little stumbles and falls that we have at times, but this willing resistance to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Paul says, I want you to remember, let this mind that you see in Christ, let it be in you. It already is by the Holy Spirit, but let it be in you that you have.

I know you guys know obedience, but you need to continue in obedience. And for me, the coming year is filled with opportunities to obey. In all the planning and all the preparing and all the positioning and all the readiness for what God has in the future, as you abide in him by his abounding grace, he is working in you, through you, in beautiful ways. It’s God’s work through your obedience. Isn’t that what Jesus said? Jesus said, if you love me, you will what? Keep my commandments.

Now, I don’t know how you’re going to approach the new year. It’s good to talk about it before it comes because all those resolutions and new commitments, it’s always a good thing. It’s a beautiful thing, and it doesn’t really matter to me what kind of word you use. You’ve got new commitments, new resolutions, new directions in life. One of them is going to be choosing to read through the Bible. I hope you choose to read through the Bible. We’ve got a plan up on the YouVersion app where you can follow along. It’ll give you a notification, and you can read along. Our reading plan goes through the Old Testament once, the New Testament twice, in 365 days. I hope reading through the whole Bible will be a part of your life, and I know it’ll be challenging at times, and you might get behind, but you can catch up and come along with us, and you’ll read through the Bible.

You’ll probably get a new devotional. I hope you get a devotional book downstairs and just do your daily devotions with a pastor that gives you an entry with a scripture and a thought that you can pray over and we have great devotions downstairs. But I also hope if you’ve never done this or that you have, I hope you do it again. And that is just spend time in the gospels, following, reading, listening to Jesus. I don’t believe that the gospels are more important than the rest of the Bible. The Bible says of itself that it’s all inspired of God and profitable. I believe that.

However, Jesus came very uniquely in his life, God in human flesh, and had a short amount of time, just three years of ministry in humanity, teaching and loving and caring. And then in the Bible, what is reserved for us in the red letters, you might notice, in the red letters are the words of Jesus. And I would love to hear that. The church spending time with Jesus, just following him. Like this year, I did this myself. Just spending on top of everything that I do in my devotional life, I was just spending time in the gospels. And two things kept coming up over and over again. I kept meditating on them. And you know them because I’ve mentioned them a few times in Bible studies. Birds and flowers, birds and flowers. Because the teachings of Jesus stopped me one morning. When I read and I sensed that he was telling me, Ed, look at the flowers. Look how beautiful they are. They’re more beautiful than even the clothes that Solomon wore. Yeah, very beautiful. Well, Ed, are you of much more value than the flowers? Yeah, then stop worrying. Okay, Lord, thanks for that. I wanna stop worrying. But the flowers remind me that I worry way too much.

And for those of you that might deal with anxiety and worry, you know what it does. It crowds out faith. It’s very hard to trust God and worry about the future at the same time. And then the birds. The birds. They think they own my neighborhood, own my house. How can I not think of the birds? The birds. They’re always there. I mean, they’re gone now because of the winter, but they’ll be back. Trust me. But I look at the birds. Ed, look at the birds. Yeah, I see them. They’re not worried about anything, paying mortgages or worried about insurance. They’re not worried about nothing. Yeah, I see them because I provide for them.

And Ed, aren’t you more valuable than the birds? Yes, Lord, I am. Then why are you worrying? Well, Lord, that’s a different discussion. No, look at the birds. Look at the birds because I’m going to take care of you, Ed, and I’m going to take care of that situation. I’m going to look at the birds and the flowers. You know, the Lord has something for you too. And I’m looking forward to what next thing. Lately, it’s been new wineskins and new wine is that passage I’ve been really meditating on. God wants to do something new and I need to be ready for it. I need to not approach it like I always have, but I need to be ready for what the Lord wants to do in my life. I’ve been thinking about that.

So I hope you add extra time just following and listening to Jesus as he taught in the first century. You’ll find that in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Those first four books of the New Testament. And you’ll have to have a conscious decision like I’m following Jesus and I’m listening to him like I’m with him. And those of you that are going to Israel with us, you’ll be able to be in places where Jesus taught. You’ll have the visual, actually, of being on the Sea of Galilee or being on a boat in the sea or being up on the Mount of Beatitudes or overlooking on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem. You’ll have these images in your mind where you’re like, okay, I want to hear from the Lord.

It says here that obedience is important. And out of obedience, you work out, verse 12, your own salvation with fear and trembling. You work out. The phrase sounds just like it does today. If you’re going to work out, you know it’s going to be painful. Your muscles are going to ache. The cardio is going to make you ache. Like when you work out, you are growing and deepening your muscles and your body. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to hurt. It brings pain. But this is the will of God moving forward. As he works in your life little by little, you and I respond by working out our salvation.

Mark that word, work out, out, work out. It doesn’t say, and the word in the original language means exactly what they translated in the English. It’s out. He doesn’t say work for your salvation. He doesn’t say out. That as you are working, you’re working on your salvation or working through your salvation. It says working out. It’s a mining term, actually. It’s as if you own the mine that’s filled with precious jewels. And you’re going in and you’re working it out and taking what’s already yours. You’re not creating it. You work out your own salvation, mark that word, not only out, but own. Work out your own salvation. Why is that important?

Well, each of you have your own individual personal relationship with Jesus. Your own personality, your own background, something that God is doing in you uniquely. Now I know as a church, we’re moving forward as a church, so collectively we’re the church. This is a small part of the large body of Christ that God is working through us and it’s amazing what he will do with just a building on a little corner in Aurora. It’s amazing. But what’s more amazing is the work that he’s doing in you personally, your own salvation. I’m sure you’ve met people, I meet them all the time unfortunately, where they’re so caught up in something else, someone else, everything that’s going on, and I always think, if you would just spend that amount of time on your own life, you’d be amazing. You would never be stopped.

But instead, you’re over here, you’re over here, you’re over here. Do you know the Bible actually says stop being a busybody? Did you know that? Well, thanks, Pastor, for encouraging me today. It is encouragement. Live your own life and work out your own salvation. Take care of yourself. Do what God has called you to do. If you just spend the time that you spend on other people’s lives and all the problems in the world and all the, oh, oh, oh. No, no, no. How about you? Work out, what does your Bible say? Your own salvation. Your own salvation. God’s doing something in you. He knows the thoughts that he thinks towards you. Not just collectively, us as a church, but individually in our own lives.

Paul’s speaking to believers here. Men and women with special talents and callings and gifts, when you concentrate on your own life, your own walk, your own situation, you know what you’ll do? You’ll keep your eyes fixed and focused on the prize that is set before you. Collectively, God will use us greatly. Salvation requires exercise, a strengthening and a building upon it. Obedience is what God uses to strengthen us. Disobedience puts us backwards. And he is supremely interested in our obedience. Obedience, many today in the body of Christ are looking for this new thing and that new thing. Let me give you an old thing that will put you ahead from any other thing that you ever find that somebody says is new, and that’s this.

This is the pathway to victory. This is the pathway to joy. This is the pathway to peace. This is the pathway to just about everything you truly want in your heart. You ready? Obedience. Read the Bible and do what it says. Don’t try to explain it away with some fancy theology and, well, you know this. No, just do it. I’ll give you a real easy example because we’re talking about working our salvation and God’s work in us and we’re looking to the future and some of you today are just so unhappy with your life. You’re so dissatisfied. And there might be some real reasons behind that.

Maybe a recent breakup or a financial challenge or foster care system you’ve been in and out of. I mean, on and on. There’s a lot of good reasons. I’m certainly not minimizing the fact that we have tough lives and difficult things happen to us. But to respond with a dissatisfaction that leads to the sin of complaining and murmuring, that’s something different. You go, well, Ed, where does that say that’s a sin? Glad that you asked. You’re already there. Philippians chapter two, verse 14. Do all things without murmuring and disputing, or it could also be translated grumbling and complaining.

So complaining kind of speaks of the outside. Grumbling speaks on the inside. And I’m sorry you’re dissatisfied right now and that it’s hard. And the new year could be something great and grand for you. But whatever God has, what are we learning? God knows what he’s doing with your life. He knows the how, the why, the when, the what. God knows. And don’t complain about your present situation. That’s disobedient. Don’t complain and grumble. Grumble. Find yourself in a place of surrender and obedience. Remember, therefore, my beloved, look to Jesus, his humility, his obedience, his service, his name. It’s above all names.

But you see, it’s not just working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, a healthy reverence and respect and honor for the holiness and the righteousness of God. But more importantly is not our working out, it’s his work. You see this all throughout the Bible. There’s a lot of action on our part, for sure. That’s our life, our response. But remember, God is always the initiator. We’re the responders. God is the initiator. He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And who are we? Those that responded. Placed our faith in Jesus and this blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us. We have eternal life. Why? God initiated that.

In the beginning, Ed. No. That’s not how the Bible reads. In the beginning, God, your name’s not there either. You’re laughing at me, but your name’s not there either. Everything doesn’t start and end with you either. It starts with God. At the end of Revelation, it ends with God and everything in between. We might get caught up, oh, obedience and disobedience and difficulty. Okay. But there’s a greater, there’s a greater initiator that’s in your life and mine. And I love this in verse 13. It is God who works in you. It’s God that works in you. God is at work in you. He is working in you what he has begun. He will be faithful to complete, Paul already said in Philippians 1.

David understood this when he wrote in the Psalms, God will perfect that which concerns me. God is working. As you’re working out, you’re only working out what God has worked in. And what a beautiful thing that is. Isn’t it true? Sometimes I think we just forget it’s God. We forget that it’s God. We so easily forget that he’s working, that he’s working in you.

Another person I get to meet a lot, even last night I had someone come up, and I love to be able to say this, but we’re talking about life and there’s a season right now, it’s just so hard and so difficult, and they just feel like they’re not making any progress, but I know how they walked into the door. And I know where they’ve been for the last five or 10 years. And I love the privilege of going, I know it’s hard right now, bro. I know you hit a speed bump, but don’t you know how far you’ve come? Remember how you walk. Remember the miry clay. Remember the pit that you were in. Remember what you were wrestling with. You’re not wrestling with that anymore.

God gave you victory. Yeah, but pastor, I’m wrestling with this now. I know because God will take you from glory to glory, strength to strength and victory to victory. It’s not just one victory today. It’s like, oh man, I overcame this temptation. Fantastic. It’s going to prep you for the next one. Because there’s another one coming. And you go from strength to strength, victory to victory. And just today, that may be the word for you. I know it’s hard. And I know you’ve taken three steps forward and five back. I get it. But look how far you’ve come. Look how far you’ve come. Not only is God working in you, but he highlights two ways.

I want you to note this. There are two things right now God is working in your life. Notice them in verse 13. To will and to do. To will and to do. And that word works in verse 13 is the Greek word energeo. It’s where we get our word energy. Through the Holy Spirit, God is energizing and enabling and empowering you and me to accomplish all that he has. He first gives us the desires and then the power. Right now, as I’m speaking, God is working in you to achieve things in your life. All the load and all the pressure is off of your shoulders. We learned that through our study for 26 studies and nine months. We were in the book of Galatians. We learned that. It’s Jesus’ finished work. Adding anything to salvation doesn’t have the grace of God. It’s not salvation anymore.

You and I, we have the privilege of responding to the work of God in our lives. We don’t always know God’s will and perhaps we don’t always do it, but we can take courage that God is going to show us as he works in us. And all the pains and all the setbacks and all the sufferings in this world come because of sin. So don’t beat yourself up for not living up to some standard because you see yourself falling short. God made you to enjoy fellowship with him. And he’s working in you, giving you new desires. Imagine that, new desires.

Our missionary of the week, the old Cholas. They’re serving faithfully for many, many years in Hawaii. Wouldn’t that be a great gig? Like, send me to Hawaii, Lord. Send me. I would love to serve there. Send me to Hawaii. They’re in Hawaii, enjoying, fruitful, doing a great thing. And then all of a sudden, they have a desire to go to Peru. Now, who in their right mind in Hawaii would have a desire to leave Hawaii and go to Peru? The Ochoas did. Why? Because God put that desire in their heart. They left paradise, man. It’s beautiful there and wonderful. And the weather, the weather, the weather. Unbelievable. And as they’re serving the Lord, God puts a new desire in their heart that they pursue.

I know no other reason why someone living in Hawaii would go to Peru to serve there except that the Lord gave them that desire. And they responded to it. And now we as a church support them in their new ministry in Peru. And who knows, maybe they’re praying in Peru and God gives them a new desire, but it came from him. It came from him. I think of in the church today, just a few of the desires that perhaps God has changed. You don’t even realize it yet. I mean, some of you listening to me, maybe once you wanted to be a millionaire, like that was your solution in life. I’m gonna make a lot of money and that’s gonna give me peace, that’s gonna give me freedom.

And it doesn’t have to be a millionaire. It could be any amount of money that you perceive will give you the kind of freedom and peace that you’re looking for. But then your desires changed, and no longer do you want to be a millionaire, but rather you desire to have money and to use, maybe you are very good at business and you’re going to start businesses and you’re going to make money, but not for yourself, but for the kingdom of God. Now, where would that come from? I mean, where you go from a place where I’m going to make a lot of money, I’m going to take care of my family, do everything I want to do and I travel and do it. Where did that come from now? Hey God, any dollar that I make, it belongs to you. It came from the Lord. That’s a desire from God.

Or for some of you, from a very young age, all you’ve ever wanted to be is a teacher. That’s all you’ve ever wanted to be is a teacher. And you just think, I just wanna help kids. I wanna teach them the ABCs. I want them to have a teacher that they can trust. I had a great teacher in my life. I wanna emulate that teacher. But then in the Lord, your desire changed. And now not only do you want to be a teacher and help kids along the way in their ABCs, but as a believer, you now see yourself as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, using your teaching as a vehicle to show kids the way of salvation.

You’re an ambassador at a public school system. You’re an ambassador at Christian school. I mean, I think some of you, you’re homeschooling today and you never in a bajillion years ever saw yourself as homeschooling. But guess what? You got a desire. The Lord gave you a desire. And you are living out in obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s a testimony in our home. That is something neither Maria and I ever foresaw her doing primarily and me doing alongside of her homeschooling our kids, but we homeschooled them all the way into college. And it was like, whoa, that was not easy. But God gave me a heart for my kids.

See, when I got saved, we were teenage parents. And although I could say I like my son, my heart turned as a believer to take care of my family. I mean, I had a moral obligation I kind of felt, but the Lord gave me new desires. I think of all the desires here, maybe one, maybe, and it might be still with you. You’re like, I want to be famous, pastor. I want to be famous. I want to be an influencer. And maybe some money’s tied to that. But in the Lord now, you don’t want to be famous just for yourself. You have the attitude now, if I’m ever famous, I’m going to use it for the gospel. I want to use this talent or this gift, this ability to put videos together.

I think of Nate, another missionary that we support today in Myanmar right now, he was a very famous, successful MMA fighter. And he used that avenue of what he trained. He’s still using it today in MMA. But while he was a champion, he used that platform for the gospel. And now he’s still using that, training kids, discipline, and helping them get through trials in Myanmar. Unbelievable what God will do. If you’ll pay attention, you’ll start seeing the new desires God has put in your heart. Even some desires that are way beyond you. Like you have a desire today and go, that will never happen. I don’t think that could, like you might think of Peru and like, man, maybe God might, like he gave me a desire to go to Peru. I could, that would never happen.

But God’s, the Bible says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can think or ask, which brings us to the second thing God’s doing in you. He’s not only giving you new desires to will, but he also is working in you to do, to do. So some of you view missions in Peru or somewhere, you go, I don’t ever think God would give me that desire. Or, and God will give you that desire if that’s his. And the other side of that, though, is, you know, if God ever gave me that desire, I could not do it. That’s a great place to be, by the way, because there’s truth to that. You couldn’t do it on your own strength. You couldn’t. It would be impossible. But God is working in you. He’s enabling you and energizing you and literally giving you spiritual power that you don’t currently have.

New desires, new wants, new wishes, new power through the Holy Spirit. To do why? Why is all this happening? He says in verse 13, so that your life might please the Lord. It’s for his good pleasure. And that’s why this new year is going to require you to change your thinking because there’s some things you’re holding onto and thinking that aren’t pleasing to the Lord. And you need to change your mind about them and adapt yourself to the new desires God is giving you to be open to that. I think of a new desire that’s so important. Maybe 2026 for some of you will be the year of sobriety, the year of sobriety. That’s a new desire. God has given you. He doesn’t want you to be drunk. He doesn’t want you under the influence. He wants you sober-minded. That’s a new thought. You’re going to have to exchange that fleshly habit in you when times get tough or you just want to check out, you know, it’s been a hard day or a hard week. You just want to pull the bottle or the six pack or the case, or you want to smoke the joint and all of that that is holding you back.

God had given you a new desire. I want you sober. I want you sober. I want your mind. I want your body. I want you clear-headed. I want you to follow me and obey me. And in the obedience, I’m working in you. I gave you the new desire, but I can’t do it. I can’t do it, God. I can’t do it. And God says, what do you mean you can’t do it? I’m giving you the strength to do it day by day, moment by moment. I’m giving you that strength. If you will just obey me, just obey me day by day, abiding in Christ, his abounding grace pouring on.

You say, okay, pastor, while I’m working out my own salvation, I know God’s working. What can I do practically? What’s some practical things that I can do? Turn over to Psalm 37. Let me give you 12 of them. If you were looking, let me give you 12 things you can spend some time thinking about for the new year. You don’t have to wait for the new year, of course, as we start a little early. But consider these, you might even find more than 12 in this short section, but these are, I wrote them down as I went through this text years ago, and following along with what David is writing, he gives some real good direction of what it looks like to work out your own salvation, what it looks like to respond to the new desires, what it looks like as God is working in you and you’re responding in obedience.

Here’s some things to consider in verse three. He says in Psalm 37, verse three, trust in the Lord and do good. You can do that. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. That’s good. Delight yourself also in the Lord. And notice, he shall give you the desires of your heart. Not only will he give you new desires, but the desires he’s given you, he’ll give you what you want. When your want, when what you want matches what God wants, you get it. That’s so cool. When your desires are God’s desires, that’s where answered prayer comes together. His desires, yours is so cool. You can do that.

Verse five, commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Have you been wronged? Difficulty with other people? Listen, justice is right around the corner, just like the noonday. Justice is coming, but you have to rest and be patient, verse seven. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Now, in my Bible, there’s a little space next to that. You may not have that space. You can use your margins, but you should write this down because this is what it’s saying. Another way of saying this when it says to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, here’s another way of thinking of this. Don’t take matters into your own hands.

Or don’t try to help God out. Or, and you go, pastor, I run out of space. Keep going down the line. Write it down in your notes. You should be taking notes. It’s very helpful as you’re writing down what the Holy Spirit’s telling you through the Bible study. Don’t take things into your own hands. Don’t be in a position where you’re trying to help God out a little bit. And here’s a third way of thinking about it. When you’re faced with a situation and a challenge, you try to figure it out. You don’t need to figure it out. Just rest in the Lord. Trust him. Moment by moment.

He says in verse seven, then don’t fret. Or that’s another word for saying don’t worry. Don’t worry. And then what did Jesus say about worrying? Shall I remind you? Flowers and birds. Flowers and birds. The whole chapter is about worry. Trust me. It seems as if every page on the scriptures, God is saying, trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me. Look what I did in the children of Israel. Trust me. Yeah, but it’s happening so slowly, pastor. Little by little. Trust me. It’s so hard. I know. It’s so hard. And it’s so hard. God says, you’ll look to me. I mean, as you see this, don’t fret because of him who prospers in the way.

Another way of looking at verse seven there, don’t fret because of him who prospers in the way. Stop looking at him who’s prospering in his way. Get your eyes off the circumstances and the people and get them back on the Lord. He says in verse eight, cease from anger and forsake wrath. Maybe this is the year that God deals with your anger. You finally deal a death blow to your outburst of wrath. You stop making excuses for it. You stop intimidating people in your home. You start screaming. You stop screaming and yelling and just using anger as a way to keep people at arm’s length. And you trust the Lord with your emotions. Maybe that’s it. Cease from anger. I mean, this is a pretty direct command, isn’t it?

Stop your anger. To which you go, well, I don’t know. I can’t do that. Now you have the desire to stop from anger. What comes with the desire? The power. To will and to do. To will and to do. You can look at these this year. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. Don’t fret. It only causes harm.

Which brings us back to Exodus. Would you go back to Exodus 23? It brings us back to this episode in the children of Israel as they’re coming out of Egypt into the promised land. The instructions actually don’t start in verse 28. They start in verse 20. And you’ll notice in verse 20 of Exodus 23, it says, Behold, I sent an angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Isn’t that great? God is always preparing us for the place he has prepared for us. He’s always prepared. Like the land that you’re heading into, the year that God is going to give us.

If he gives us a whole year, the year he gives us, he’s already prepared the year for us. We don’t know, but God has. God is already prepared because he’s preparing us for what he has prepared for us. Notice he says in verse 21, beware of him, the angel. And obey his voice. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. But if you indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. Now, we don’t have time to develop this, but this angel, you notice capital A in the New King James Version. Verse 21, him, his, verse 22, his, all capitalized because this is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus or what many scholars would call a Christophany.

God is sending the eternal son of, God the Father is sending his eternal son before the children so that they might follow him, listen to him, and he says in verse 23, for my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and I will cut them off. Again, if we did this study alone, it’s interesting that God will lead you straight at your enemy. Straight at it, not avoid it, just straight at it, and I’ll give you the victory, he says. I’ll take care of them. And you, verse 24, shall not bow down to their gods, don’t serve them. Don’t do according to their works, but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pagan pillars.

So you shall serve the Lord your God and he will bless your bread and your water. I’ll take sickness away from the midst of you. That’s what obedience brings, the blessing of God. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. I’ll send my fear before you, verse 27. I’ll cause confusion among all the people to whom you come and I’ll make all your enemies turn their backs on you. Now, I did not count them, but I’m sure at least 10 times God says, this is what I’m going to do, this is what I’m going to do, this is what I’m going to do, this is what I’m going to do. When you look to him, the enemies aren’t going to be a problem.

Your health isn’t going to be a problem because everything is under the will of God. And then he says, verse 28, I’ll send hornets before you. You’ll drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, the Hittite. Those hornets will take care of them. Verse 29, I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you. And what’s the word of God as we head into a new season? Greater but little by little because he knows what he’s doing with your life. He knows the how and the why and the what and the when. And although there’s a lot of activity in the Bible and a lot that was being worked out in our lives, it is God who works in you, both to will and to do. And you can trust him. Amen?

Amen. Father, thank you for your word today. May it speak directly to our hearts as we examine our lives in light of your word. And may you have full preeminence in our lives today in Jesus’ name. Amen.