NOW AND LATER
(Week 1)
Sunday, May 28th 2023
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT) Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then (LATER) we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Matthew 11:2-6 (NIV) When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
HOW DO WE LIVE IN THE NOW AND TRUST GOD FOR THE LATER?
Matthew 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.
IN THE DOUBTS OF TODAY WE TRUST IN HIS TOMORROWS.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ephesians 5:17 (NLT) Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.
4 PRINCIPALS TO FOLLOW NOW THAT WILL GET YOU TO THE LATER:
KNOW GOD’S WORD
COMMIT TO DOING GOD’S WILL
TRUST GOD’S WAYS
ASK FOR GOD’S WISDOM
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Genesis 24:1-14 (NKJV) Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac." 5 And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?" 6 But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 For the LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my offspring. He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a young woman there to be my son's wife. 8 If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath. But under no circumstances are you to take my son there." 9 So the servant took a solemn oath that he would follow Abraham's instructions. 10 He loaded ten of Abraham's camels with gifts and set out, taking with him the best of everything his master owned. He traveled to Aram-naharaim and went to the village where Abraham's brother Nahor had settled. 11 There the servant made the camels kneel down beside a well just outside the village. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water. "O LORD, God of my master," he prayed. "Give me success and show kindness to my master, Abraham. Help me to accomplish the purpose of my journey. 13 See, here I am, standing beside this spring, and the young women of the village are coming out to draw water. 14 This is my request. I will ask one of them for a drink. If she says, 'Yes, certainly, and I will water your camels, too!' — let her be the one you have appointed as Isaac's wife. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."