I recently read a story about a young man named Jeffry Silverman
I recently read a story about a young man named Jeffry Silverman. He was a very successful Wall Street broker. In fact when he graduated from college he was the youngest person ever invited to join Wall Street.
He lived in a very expensive home in Manhattan with his wife Lisa who was an Olympic champion. They were building another expensive home in The Hamptions. They had never seen the inside of a commercial jet, though they traveled all over the world. He was very generous and had been known to cross the street to give a poor person some money. He even tipped a coat check person when he had no coat, saying she should not suffer just because he had no coat.
IN the terms of the world they had it made until one day Lisa was checking her messages and received some horrible news. Jeffery had left her a message which told her where she could find his body. He had committed suicide.
His friends said he had over spent and was in financial difficulty.
Jeffery had measured his self worth by his net worth.
I submit to you that there are only 2 kinds of people in the world today. The ones who have found peace and purpose in life and those who are seeking peace and purpose in life.
Which are you, have you found purpose for your life, or are you still searching, but don’t know where to look. Perhaps you have thought about your relationship with God but have said I can handle that at a later date. Why not get real this morning and deal with this issue now, before it becomes too late.
God has the answer and I would like to share that with you this morning.
Turn with me to Psalms 37 and look at 7 steps to a life with purpose and peace.
The first step deals with the issue of trust. In order for us to have a meaningful life I believe that we must find that life in God.
The question arises, how do you build trust in someone? You build trust as you spend time with someone and begin to know that person intimately. We can
Build trust only when we have a personal relationship with someone. Therefore in order to trust God with our life we must have a personal relationship with Him.
How can we do this? We do this through the person of Jesus Christ, who in John 14:6 said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh to the Father except by me.”
We first trust God for forgiveness of our sins:
Romans 3:23
Romans 5:6
Romans 6:23
Romans 10:9
Psalm 1 wants us focus on God and not what the world around us is doing.
Satan will always offer us what appears to be a better deal if we will take our eyes off Jesus. Satan wants to rule our life by making us envious, tempting us to focus on what non Christians are attaining in the world+1 John 2:15-17.
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in them. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts: but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
Step 2—Psalms v3 Think of others before ourselves.
Step 3—Psalms v4 Delight ourselves in the Lord and our desires become the desires that God has for our lives. Our lives take on a new direction headed in the direction God would have us go.
Step 4—Psalms v5 Commit to follow the path that God has laid out for us. Versus 23 and 24 “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One holding his hand.”
Step 5—Psalms v7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not get ahead of God by becoming self reliant. Remember Abraham and Sarah and the trouble they started which persists today in the Middle East.
Step6—Psalm v8 don’t get angry when things don’t go our way. Have self control. Anger is only one letter away from DANGER.
- Step 7—Psalms 37—Have peace in your life, because has given you a purpose and meaning.8/14/20062.33