06-13-10 AM - Leave Boldly

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1 Cor. 3:12-14

“There is no wasted motion in the Kingdom of God.”

Matthew 6:20 - 21
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

1 Corinthians 3:12-14 
"If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward."

1.  CONVICTIONS.

Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever."

Matthew 7:26.  MSG.
"But if you just use My words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach."

James 1:22-26
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.


Now, let's just say that you came up to me and you gave me this book called Arnold Swarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Body Building and you said, Joe, I know you're exercising
A belief is something you hold on to, but a conviction is something that holds you.
You see, a conviction is an anchor from Gods word

2. CHARACTER.

Romans 8:29.
"God knew what He was doing from the very beginning.  He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son . . ."
Romans 5:3-4
3 …we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

His plan is to build my character and there area couple of tools that He uses.

First is Problems.

1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

The second tool, God uses is People

3.  COMMUNITY.

Luke 10:40-42
'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?  Tell her to help me.'  But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things: but there is need of only one thing and Mary has chosen the better part . . . '"

Sand sculpting experts said the number one question people ask them,
"Don't you get discouraged that you're building something and you are working so hard on something that's just going to be torn down?
And they said, it's not the finished product that's so satisfying, it's the process.  It's doing all the creative work and feeling so satisfied and using our gifts. And it's the relationships and the fellowship - we have so much fun together on our team."  They said that's what gives us the most joy.  So we could care less that it's going to get knocked down.