What does Jesus want for Christmas– Spiritual Stamina

Three Seasons Community Church– 12-9-07

What does Jesus want for Christmas? Holiness and Spiritual Stamina

Clean Hands = a clear/ clean conscience

2. We need a pure heart.

God can do tremendous things through people who don’t care who gets the credit.

3. We must remain humble.

4. We must be honest.

The true measure of a man is what it takes to discourage him!

Joshua 14:1 (NLT) The remaining tribes of Israel inherited land in Canaan as allotted by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders.

Joshua 14:10-12 (NLT) [10] "Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise-even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. [11] I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. [12] So I'm asking you to give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the Anakites living there in great, walled cities. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said."

Joshua 14:9 (NLT) So that day Moses promised me, 'The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your special possession and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.'

Joshua 14:14 (NLT) Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.

This is clearly a key to Caleb's spiritual success.

But what does it mean to "wholly follow the Lord"?

It means that you must fully follow our Lord not halfheartedly, but completely. One hundred percent. Laurie

Are you wholly following the Lord your God?

If you are not, you will be picked off eventually. It is only a matter of time until you become a casualty in the race of life.

At the risk of being personally ostracized, Caleb took a stand for what was he knew was true. He knew he needed to be more concerned with God's approval than man's. And he was rewarded.

Joseph almost bowed to public pressure and societal norms at the time when he was going to quietly divorce Mary because she was pregnant.

Matthew 1:19 (NIV) Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

As you walk with the Lord, you will face many temptations!

Be different! Don’t do what everybody else does!

If you are going to fully follow the Lord, then, like Caleb and Joseph, you must stand firm-seek God's pleasure, no one else's.

3. Take God at His Word.

Caleb didn't win immediate entrance to the promised land.

Joseph lived an unsettled life until he settled in Nazareth, probably 2 years after Jesus was born.

There are many things we can do something about– and those things we need to change with God’s strength and power.

However there are many things we cannot change. Situations and circumstances where we realize we’ve become either willing or unwilling participants in what God is doing.

The question is will you trust God and be a willing participant?

Caleb and Joseph trusted God!

Am I willing to take God at His Word? Am I willing to trust God?

Am I willing to follow the Lord – 100 percent?

Am I willing to stand firm? To seek God's pleasure and approval, not the approval of others?

Am I willing to take God at His Word? Am I willing to trust God?