HNC 04/16/2006, 11-15-2009 Accomplishments That Last

I hope our time of worship this afternoon is a time to reaffirm our faith in God,
a time to receive encouragement and exhortation from our brothers and
sisters, and a time to be reminded of God’s blessings and promises. And
hopefully it is a time to be lifted to a higher plane spiritually.
Read Ephesians 3:12, 14-21 and 4:1.
As you look back on your life are you satisfied with the things you have
achieved?
We read in the Bible that Solomon was a very wise man. Solomon
discovered that even the greatest accomplishments that we might
achieve do not bring fulfillment if God is not a part of our lives. With his
life mostly lived and behind him, Solomon in the Old Testament book
of Ecclesiastes looked at the world as he had experienced it between
the horizons of birth and death. Death is the final horizon of life,
beyond which we cannot see. In Ecclesiastes Solomon sees man in
mad pursuit of one thing in life, and then being in pursuit something
else—laboring as if he could master the world; laboring as if he could
lay bare its secrets, break through the bonds of human limitations, and
be master of his own destiny. Solomon sees man vainly pursuing hopes
and expectations that are in reality meaningless, as he says in
Ecclesiastes 1:2—“Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

Solomon summarized his search for the meaning of life in this Old
Testament story of God’s values in accomplishment in Ecclesiastes
2:10 & 11—“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my
heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was
the reward for all my labor. {11} Yet when I surveyed all that my
hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was
meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the
sun.”

Paul affirmed that only God’s power enables us to accomplish great

things for His kingdom in the verses I read from Ephesians 3, especially
verses 20 and 21—“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work
within us, {21} to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Jesus reveals that God’s values for our lives are the opposite of the
world’s values for accomplishments in our lives in Matthew 10:37-39
—“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy
of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me; {38} and anyone who does not take his cross and follow
me is not worthy of me. {39} Whoever finds his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Jesus says that only those things achieved by God’s strength have
lasting value. Jesus turns the values of the world upside down! Jesus
taught that those who lose their lives will find them, the first will be
last, and the last will be first, and those who humble themselves will be
exalted. As we approach the end of our life, comparing our self to
the world’s standard, we may not measure up, and we may feel that
we have accomplished very little. But if we have lived our life in
obedience to God, and we have attained the Christian graces listed in
2 Peter 1:5-7: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance,
godliness, brotherly kindness and love, then I proclaim to you that we
are a great and glorious success!

You may feel you are a failure by the world’s standard! Yet,
according to God’s standard you stand tall! You are head and
shoulders above the world’s standard! If you have these things in your
life, these Christian graces or virtues, then regardless of how little your
bank account is, or how little the house you used to live in was, or how
small your pile of earthly possessions is; you are rich in God’s grace!
The things you have accomplished because of God’s power working
through you have lasting value—they will stand the test of time! Jesus
said in Matthew 6:33—“But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

As you go through life living for God to the best of your ability and you
get to thinking maybe I haven’t accomplished much in my life, just
keep walking with God and remember the words of that grand old son,
“Each Step I Take.”

EACH STEP I TAKE MY SAVIOUR GOES BEFORE ME,

AND WITH HIS LOVING HAND HE LEADS THE WAY
AND WITH EACH BREATH I WHISPER: "I ADORE THEE"
OH WHAT JOY TO WALK WITH HIM EACH DAY

AT TIMES I FEEL MY FAITH BEGIN TO WAVER

WHEN UP AHEAD I SEE A CHASM WIDE
IT'S THEN I TURN AND LOOK UP TO MY SAVIOUR
I AM STRONG WHEN HE IS BY MY SIDE

I TRUST IN GOD NO MATTER COME WHAT MAY

FOR LIFE ETERNAL IS IN HIS HAND
HE HOLDS THE KEY THAT OPENS UP THE WAY
THAT WILL LEAD ME TO THE PROMISED LAND

EACH STEP I TAKE I KNOW THAT HE WILL GUIDE ME

TO HIGHER GROUND HE EVER LEADS ME ON
UNTIL SOMEDAY THE LAST STEP WILL BE TAKEN
EACH STEP I TAKE JUST LEADS ME CLOSER HOME
Remember Jesus words in Matthew 6:19-21—“Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in
and steal. {20} But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth
and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. {21}
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Let us always remember the things that really last!