Taking Your Life Back  

Life Worth Living
Decisions determine direction, and direction determines destiny

Prosperity for You 
• Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the purposes which I am purposing for you, says the Lord; purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Prosperity in Your City
•Jeremiah 29:5-75 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.

•7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. The Lord lovingly advised these captives. The Lord wanted the Israelites to be stronger than when they were taken into exile. When people are exiled and taken captive their world usually collapses.

 Elimelech Bad Decision
• Ruth 1:1-2  And it happened in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.  (2)  And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came to the fields of Moab and stayed there.

• Elimelech – God is King, Naomi – Pleasant
• Mahlon – weakness Chilion – distress

Ruth’s Right Restoring Decision
•Ruth 1:16-17  And Ruth said, Do not beg me to leave you, to return from following after you. For where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  (17)  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Jehovah do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.

 Look In, Look Out….

• Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. Look in
•  Look In, Look Out….
• Look out – with eyes of fire, holy eyes, see as Jesus sees
• Look up – Help from the Lord, under the Lordship
• Look back – How Jesus Helped, lessons learnt
• Look around – your mission field, life work
• Look ahead – Godscope, directed path

Quantity & Quality of Decisions
• The quality of your decisions determines the quality of your life
• Why Do We Struggle to Make Good Decisions?
• We are overwhelmed with choices
• Decision Fatigue – As volume of decisions increase—Quality of decisions decrease

Indecision
• We’re afraid of making a wrong choice. (Missing God’s will)
• Perfect school—Job—House—Marriage!
• Indecision is a decision!
• Indecision is the enemy of progress

Emotional Decisions
• So often the emotional decisions that hurt us most!
• Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.
• One of the best ways to live forward-looking, people-loving God-glorifying life Decide before what you will do later.
• The Power of Pre-Deciding!
• Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Prov 16:3

When your values are clear, your decisions are easier
• You make your decisions, and your decisions end up making you. – What do you value? Integrity?   Faithfulness? Purity? Generosity?
• When your values are clear, your decisions are easier
• I am ready. I am consistent. I am devoted. I am generous.
• I am faithful. I am a finisher.
• Impulse buying, addictive eating, road rage, show your anger, take revenge, eye on lust

 Range of Decisions
• Accept Christ as Saviour
• Marriage
• Friends & Community – affect choices & character
• Children’s future & Godscope, spirituality of kids
• Seek first God’s kingdom – Church, Time for God, Ministry – family & mission outside Matt 28:19
• Work field, Finances & tithing
• Major purchases – house, vehicle
• Minor purchases
• Unholy Ambitions, migration

Benefits of Godly Sorrow Rectify Consequences of Bad Decisions
2 Corinthians 7:9-11

Forward Favor
• (11)  For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you:
• what vindication of yourselves,
• what indignation,
• what reverence,
• what longing,
• what zeal,  what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

Life Ground not brought under God’s Rule
• Fallow ground – unploughed – not allowing God’s righteousness to plough you
• Hosea 10:12-13  Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.  (13)  You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors,

 Commit to the Lord whatever you do.
• Proverbs 16:3 says, that, Whatever you do, scripture says, commit it to the Lord. “Commit to the Lord whatever you do.” If you’re dating somebody, commit your dating relationship to the Lord. If you’re married, commit your marriage. If you’re parenting, commit your parenting and your children to the Lord.

• If you’re making financial decisions, commit your financial decisions to the Lord. If you’re making professional decisions, relational decisions, friendship decisions, what to wear decisions, what to eat decisions, commit everything to the Lord,

Cultivate Faithfulness
• Psalm 37:3-7  Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land – Elimelech & Lot migrated out of God’s blessing
• And cultivate faithfulness – faithful to God, faithful to what God gives you (thanksgiving), faithful in relationships.
• (4)  Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. – when desire is right, many hurts are avoided

When Evil Obstructs You – Rest Patient
• Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
• Psalm 37:11  But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
• Work on the basis that God will come thru & thru bad He will fulfil His best for us
• Rom 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 Consistent & Devoted
• What are you? I am…- Consistent.
• In a world where people often stray from God and lose their passion, and the devil tempts them to take God for granted, not be students of his Word, not be glorifying him, we will be devoted to God. What are you? I am…-  I am Devoted. –

Generous & Faithful
• In a world that tends to be selfish, we’re gonna be God-honoring. We will choose ahead of time that what I have belongs to God, and I’m going to be generous. What are you? You are… Generous.
•  We’re gonna decide ahead of time, in a world where unfaithfulness seems be the norm, as followers of Jesus, we are not the norm. We are faithful. What are we? We are…faithful

1 why was it difficult for exiles to take hope?
2 what’s your refractory time between anger & repentance when you reap results from bad decisions & ” God didn’t get it right”
3 How does hope for enemy solve our stagnation?
4 Explain Elimelech bad decision.
5 Explain Ruth restoration –  how she got life back
6 Please list 3 new year good decisions