What’s Next? | Reflecting on God’s Goodness | Pastor Rodney Thrift
Rodney Thrift   -   January 2, 2022

What’s Next
Reflecting on God’s Goodness…

Soul Tattoo: Before we look at “What’s Next”, we need to know where we have been and where we are.

What’s Next?

  • Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
  • Habakkuk 2:1-3 (ESV) I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Where have I been?

  • Psalm 77:11-12 (TMSG) Once again I’ll go over what God has done, lay out on the table the ancient wonders; I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts.

Where am I today?

  • Psalm 46:10a (ESV) “Be still, and know that I am God.

Prayer and Fasting…

  • Matthew 6:16-18 (NLT) “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will suspect you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in secret. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.

Soul Tattoo…PRAYER is connecting with God; FASTING is disconnecting ourselves from the world.

FIRSTS THINGS FIRST…

WHAT KIND OF YEAR WAS LAST YEAR FOR YOU SPIRITUALLY?

  • _____ Spiritually Apathetic
  • _____ Spiritually Inconsistent
  • _____ Spiritually Consumed 

Matthew 6:33 (NIV) But seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

FIRST OF THE DAY: SEEK GOD

  • Psalm 63:1 (NKJV) …O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. 
  • Mark 1:35 (NIV)Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

FIRST OF THE WEEK: WORSHIP

  • Acts 20:7 (NIV) On the first day of the week we came together to break bread…
  • Hebrews 10:25 (NIV) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…

FIRST OF THE WEEK/MONTH: TITHE

  • Leviticus 27:30 (NIV) A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.
  • Matthew 23:23 (NLT) Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

FIRST OF THE YEAR: FAST & PRAY

  • Joel 1:14 (NIV) Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
  • Matthew 6:17-18 (NIV) But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

STEP 1: Set Your Objective…

  • 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT) Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

STEP 2: Make Your Commitment…

  • Matthew 6:17 (NIV) But when you fast…

STEP 3: Prepare Yourself Spiritually…

  • 1 John 1:9 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
  • Mark 11:25 (ESV) And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
  • Luke 11:4 (ESV) and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.
  • Luke 17:3-4 (ESV) Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.
    • Make restitution as the Holy Spirit leads you.
  • Ephesians 5:18 (ESV) And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…
  • 1 John 5:14-15 (ESV) And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
    • Surrender your life fully to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master; refuse to obey your worldly nature. (Romans 12:1-2).
  • Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
  • Meditate on the attributes of God, His love, sovereignty, power, wisdom, faithfulness, grace, compassion, and others (Psalm 48:9-10; 103:1-8 & 11-13).
  • Psalm 48:9-10 (ESV) We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
  • Psalm 103:1-8 (ESV) Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
  • Psalm 103:11-13 (ESV) For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
  • Begin your time of fasting and prayer with an expectant heart (Hebrews 11:6).
    • Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
    • Do not underestimate spiritual opposition. (Galatians 5:16-17). 
  • Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV) 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

STEP 4: Prepare Yourself Physically…

STEP 5: Put Yourself on a Schedule…

  • Philippians 2:13 (NIV) for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

STEP 6: End Your Fast Gradually…

STEP 7: Expect Results…

  • Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

Soul Tattoo: PRAYER is connecting with God; FASTING is disconnecting ourselves from the world.