Page 24 - Demo

24Those are the kind of fears that keep people from committing. Now, if that includes you and those fears have kept you from being what God wants you to be, let me tell you what the source of those fears is, aside from the old devil himself. The source of the fears is you don't understand the character of God. Either you don't really trust His wisdom, or you don't really trust His love. Sadly, I think for too many people, it's the latter.Folks, I want to tell you God is not some cosmic killjoy in the sky waiting to deal you a bummer. He said, \(Jeremiah 29:11) Every father, every parent can identify with this. If your child was to come to you and said, \way you want me to live it.\child and say, \here on out. No more ice cream%u2014spinach, artichokes, and anchovies for you. I'm going to break your play station. You're going to sit in that corner and wear a dunce cap the rest of your life and never go out.\concept many people have about their life if they commit it to God. He's going to put me through some obstacle course to make me miserable.I want to tell you what, if my son walks up to me and says, \your purposes and goals, I want to be the son you want me to be.\everything in my power to make his life as wonderful as it could possibly be. God, our Father, says, %u201cI want to do the same.%u201d That's why Jesus said, \God and His righteousness, and I'll add all these things to you.\Look at Psalm 37:3, \Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this:\committing my life to Christ. Life is going to be more wonderful than it could be otherwise.Why we need to commit to Christ.How do I respond with commitment to Christ? Obviously, if you're not a Christian, you need to put your trust in Christ and obey the gospel. Obviously, you need to recognize Jesus as who He is, the Son of God. You need to come to Him on you knees saying, \His name. You need to be immersed into the death of Christ being buried with Him, baptized into Christ, for the forgiveness of your sin. That is the means by which one accepts the grace that God has offered. But some of you have already done that. You've already obeyed the gospel. You have put on Christ having been buried with Him in baptism. Some of you assemble with a church regularly, but if the truth is known, you've yet to really commit your life to Christ. You've yet to really step on His power and grace saying, \