Scripture references from the sermon this morning...

Here's the Scripture I used in the service this morning.  My daughter told me that I blew past some of the references, so I thought I'd just post a blog with all the Scripture and references I used if anyone missed anything. 

67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
   for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
   in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
   and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
   and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Luke 1:67-75 (ESV)
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18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 (NIV)
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10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)____________________

8 I keep the Lord in mind always.  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely.

Psalm 16:8-9 (HCSB)
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31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)____________________

The story of Jesus (and Peter) walking on the water
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land,beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:22-33 (ESV)
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19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20 (NIV)

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29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

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Examples of Israel forgetting God and it leading them into sin...
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
Judges 3:7 (NIV)

33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god
34 and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
Judges 8:33-34 (NIV)

14 Israel has forgotten their Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire on their cities that will consume their fortresses."
Hosea 8:14 (NIV)

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23 23 Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
26 For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.
Proverbs 3:23-26 (NIV)

Hope that helps and I apologize if I blew past some of that too quickly.

The Unused Potential of Receiving Gifts

I happened across an amazing stat the other day that is pretty relevant for this time of year.  Ten billion of gift card money goes unused every year...$10,000,000,000 unused every year...wow.  I think there’s a lot of things I could get done with $10 billion every year, if no one really wants that.  We think that’s kind of crazy to just leave money laying there, but the reality is as Christians, we do this all the time.

All the time, God is giving us gifts of blessings.  Maybe, we’ve been praying for something to happen in our career or a situation to be resolved in a relationship or a financial situation, and then God comes through.  Sometimes, it’s more behind the scenes, and we just pass by it almost obliviously because we thought we got lucky or fortunate and don’t even consider that God did it at all.  Even at the times we completely realize the gift that God has given us at the moment, we can leave a big part of the gift unclaimed.  How?  In taking the time to reflect on it and give thanks to Him for it.

When we take time to thank God for things, it causes us to analyze all that it took to make that particular thing happen.  It reminds us that God can do things in situations that we can’t do and although, we are not in control, He is and is Someone that we can go through.  As Christians, it increases our faith in multiple ways.  Since God came through all those barriers, we can trust Him to come through on bigger things.  It increases our “faith stamina” to wait on God next time, when the answer seems longer than usual.  

So many times, the reason that we give up on God is because we’ve left millions of “gift card” dollars in blessings unrealized is because we haven’t thanked God and created a mental history list of all the things He has done.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “in all things, give thanks” and that’s not just to recognize God, but God has made it so that it builds us up in doing so.  When you have that history, it reinforces you in tough times, when the answers take longer to come, and it keeps your mind at ease, because you know, that God has a plan...just like He had a plan since the beginning of time to send His Son as His gift to the world and that’s why we are giving each other gifts at this time of year.

The next time you get a blessing from God, or a gift card, make sure you take the time to get all the dollars out of that “gift” and don’t let your blessing be a crazy statistic that goes unclaimed and unused.