The last thing is we need to be able to receive grace, need to be able to receive grace. That's the kindness and help of others, the kindness and help of God, see, be able to receive it. If you're going to grow you need to receive grace. Don't beat yourself up if you've made mistakes or there's things are not right. Just face it, deal with your part of it and receive grace from God. [Come to Him, 00.38.57] say Lord help me now, give me the strength I need, give me the wisdom I need. Show me how to handle this situation. Help me again, oh God, I've blown it again. Lord, I have blown it again, I realise what I did Lord, help me - and God will pour His spirit out on a heart like that. He will enable you to get up. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. In other words God knows all about the fallings over but the Lord upholds him and gets him back up again. Why? Because of a good heart towards God and when your heart is good towards God, not superficial, not shallow, not taking His grace for granted, but when you've done something you realise, oh Holy Ghost forgive me! Forgive me for wounding and grieving, I am so distressed about this. Lord, forgive me. I'm reaching out for grace, help me to change and grow. Help me to learn the lessons and grow.
Boy I tell you something, God will come on that person. He will give grace to the humble. He will lift you up. He will help you go forward and while others are just locked where they are, step by little step you're progressing forward, growing, growing, coming up more aware of yourself, more aware of God's grace and goodness, more able to enter into the lives of other people. When someone blows it you don't stand aside and look at them and cross to the other side and say well not might fault, it's their problem, their mess. You will say God, I know I could help that person. I've got something in me that could minister into them. I've been in that place. I know what that place is like and you showed me grace. I can show some grace to this person.
I tell you when you let God work in your life there's a graciousness comes. There's a grace to minister to others and in the church and all around us there are people every day you meet who are needing God's grace to enter their life through people who know Him, people who have grown, people who have broken through. There are people in this city waiting for you to break through and if we won't take responsibility to change and grow and break through we've got nothing to give them and we just repeat an old familiar religious cycle, instead of progressing glory to glory to glory. I love it and I'll finish with this. David wrote in the word of God, it's something like this. He says Lord, forsake me not when I'm old and grey headed. In other words he's saying when I get older in life I do not want to get set in my ways, I want to continue experiencing the goodness of God and not be full or prejudice. He said in order that I might show your power to this generation and the one that is coming and raising up to replace them.
Listen, what a cry David had. He had a passion to make a difference with his life but to do that he had to become a person of the spirit, a person who built an inner world where there's not chaos and brokenness and denials and coverings. There's an authenticity with God out of which there's a flow of reality to others. We've got to grow there and I know there are many and perhaps you're stuck in some part of your life. Why don't you say God, I'm stuck in this thing. I need to do something. I need to do something different to what I've done before or I'll just be the same next year.
As we come out of this year we're coming into enlargement in this year. I felt the Lord speak a word, advance. Advance means don't stay where you are! Make decisions that in each area of your life you will take a step forward. If I was John Cleese I could do that better with those big legs he has but [laughter] you know what I'm talking about. Father, we just thank You that You're a God who moves us on. We don't want to mess around in a wilderness of brokenness, a wilderness beyond the promises of God. We want to step up into the things You have for us and we know Lord it requires we make a decision to change and to grow, make a decision to position ourselves for those things that must happen in our life for us to receive Your blessing. Father, I pray Your great grace upon my life, upon Bay City, upon every person here to enter into a season of changing and growing.