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At the end of the year, we usually try to see which party we will attend, don't we?
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Where will you celebrate it this year? The answer is obvious. In the presence of the Lord!
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It is very good for us, every 31st of December
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to spend some time thinking of what we have achieved during this past year.
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We are about to enter a new year: "Let me look back. What have I managed to do so far?"
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"What have I achieved in my life?"
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"Can I be happy? Can I be proud of something
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and say that I indeed achieved a number of things this year?"
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Or do you just see your mistakes looking back?
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Do you just see the wrong decisions you made looking back?
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You see the people you hurt looking back.
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As a child of God, it is dangerous to look back to your past.
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"But why, brother, you just told us to look back on our achievements!"
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Yes, we should look back only for the glory of God.
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Why is it dangerous to look back as a child of God?
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Because looking at your past is a trap of satan!
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He is trying to remind you how good you were and what you are missing now.
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He is trying to remind you the good time you had with your friends doing anything you wanted,
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but now you only spend time with the Christians.
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Then, you start thinking where you would be if you were not in God's presence.
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With these few words we shall come to the title of today's message, which is,
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"YOUR APPROACH TO LIFE"
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As a child of God, your approach to life must be different from the worldly people.
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What is your approach to life?
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Lot's wife paid her disobedience to the Word of God with her own life!
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Even though she knew the Word of God,
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even though she knew the instruction in righteousness given by God,
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she insisted doing her own thing, and it cost her life, like many of us do today.
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Knowing the Word of God will not save you.
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The devil also knows the Word of God, even better than you!
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When the devil came to tempt Jesus Christ, he told Him "It is written".
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What audacity!
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The enemy of man's soul went to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and told Him,
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"Look, it is written! God said it, so You need to do it!"
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He tried to use God's words to point out to Jesus Christ what to do!
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You think that because you know the Word of God, you will go to Heaven one day!
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Many of us do the same thing. We have our own way.
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We know the Word of God, we read the Bible, we know what the Word of God says,
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but we have our own way!
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We obey with our own way!
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We do what the Word of God says in our own way.
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Lot's wife obeyed the Word of God in her own way.
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She was following her husband. Isn't this what the Bible says?
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It says that Lot was walking, and his wife was following him.
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Like many people today, the man comes to church and the wife follows.
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Your coming to church following your husband or wife will not save you.
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The obedience to the Word of God will save you!
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Jesus Christ knows how undeserving of His grace we are,
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that is why He has decided to brush aside our past in order to determine our future!
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Take note, the exit of Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah is symbolic.
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It symbolises yours and my exit from the life of sin and into the life of righteousness!
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From the life of unrighteousness to the life of holiness.
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Many of us, whereas we made the decision to walk with the Lord, with Jesus Christ
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in the middle of the journey, we say, "What is wrong with smoking a single cigarette?"
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When we try to excuse our mistakes, we mention grace.
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When we want to judge someone, we say, "The Word of God says this and that,
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why are you acting this way?"
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"You are such a hypocrite!"
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There is no grace in this case. You know the Word of God and you use it in this case!
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We are called to follow God, in God's way, not our way!
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God's way is in here, in His Word.
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If you want to succeed in life, you have to learn to look forward
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in your spiritual fight alongside Jesus Christ.
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Because it is by looking forward that you discover new things, new horizons
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and new opportunities you would not have ordinarily dreamed of!
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Do you know why God gave us His Word?
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He gave us His Word to teach us His wisdom so we do not become victims of our ignorance.
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The Word of God says that, "My people perish because of lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)
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We want to solve today's problems using yesterday's knowledge.
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Using yesterday's approach.
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This is not possible!
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If yesterday's approach could solve your problems, your problems would be solved today!
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Many of us are in a desert now, we are in a dry land.
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We are in a place where there is no way, without a way out, and we feel lost.
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The Word of God is telling you today that if you do not look back,
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if you do not look back on the past, God will do a new thing in your life.
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This new thing is that He will make a way where there is no way!
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[♪ Music ♪]
