Weight Loss - 1

                 Weight Loss - 1

Subject – Laying Aside Things in 2024 We Do Not Need

By Rick Welborne

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NKJV)
¹  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
²  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 

--Missionary Ben Pitman shared these verses with us when he preached for our Mission’s Conference and what an amazing message. I’m sorry. Cleanse me. And Thank You! 

--When we fast I hope we are not just looking at fasting as a way to lose some weight even though that can be one of the benefits. My friend in Lakeland fasted three days every month. Was not a believer.

--I am sure most of you are aware that weight loss programs are big industry here in the United States and every year many try to start their new venture in losing weight. The gym was full in January.

--This information was out in January 2021 so it is pretty much up to date so listen to these mind blowing statistics. 

--Forty-five million Americans go on some kind of diet or weight loss program every year and there are only 330 million people in the US. About 1/8 of the population.

--I love trying to guess numbers (I don’t play the lottery) so I guessed it was probably a five-billion-dollar industry but I was not even close. In 2020 it was over $71 billion. 

--I also believe you will not be shocked about this statistic based on what I have heard many of you tell me over the last 35 years. 95% of the people who try these diets or fads fail.

--Even Christians spend ridiculous amounts of money on diets and weight loss programs when the Word of God makes it pretty clear how we can handle problems like this. 

--In our text it makes it very clear that people are watching us (surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses). The context is this…because they are watching us, we should do certain things.

--As soon as you tell people that you are a Christian, it is like saying to them…watch everything I do and observe how I live my life. 

Romans 14:7 (NLT2)
⁷  For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves.

--If you will have a good year in 2024 it will happen because you make certain choices. The first is to obey the Word of God. We must be disciples. We must be disciplined. What does that look like?

1. Look to Jesus

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) ²  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…

--I particularly like NIV with this verse because there is the implication that something isn’t right with where we are looking for our help.

--I have said many times through the years that your job or your family is not your source, Jesus is.

--If 2024 is going to be a better year and if you are going to lay aside some bad habits, get rid of sin, or, lose some weight, the first place you should look is to Jesus. He is your source. 

--Here is a novel idea for all of us when we are facing adversity, bad habits, or just blatant sin, why not take it to Jesus because He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith? One of my life verses:

Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
⁶  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

--Why not…why not make a true resolution before God that you will make it your aim for 2024 to always go to Jesus in prayer with your needs and problems.

Resolution – a settled determination.

--How simple yet profound is that? You make a settled determination in 2024 that whatever you are facing, that you look to Jesus. You fix your eyes on Jesus.

--Jesus taught us to pray and He even gave us a pattern of how to pray…just as a reminder:

 Matthew 6:9-15 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread.
¹²  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
¹⁴  "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
¹⁵  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

--Brief summary when you pray…worship God, pray for His will to be done, ask for what you need, ask for forgiveness, ask for deliverance from the enemy, and simply forgive others.

--Until you realize Jesus is your source and that you need to look to Him, you will always be struggling.

2. Look to His Word.

--We all say that we believe the Bible is God’s Word. We say it is relevant for whatever we are facing. We say every need I have is answered in the Word of God. Yet we do not go to it very often.

--I was talking to someone not very long ago about working out and about losing or maintaining their weight and I told them I weigh myself every morning and every evening.

--They quickly said to me that I could never do that because some days I would be happy with myself and some days I would be disgusted. I said to them, “Isn’t that the point of looking at the scales?”

--They said, I am confused. I said to them if I weigh myself in the morning and see that I am up a pound or two more than I was the previous day, I can manage or plan my day to do better.

--I said, if I do not look at the scale day after day, I may be getting further and further away from what my intended goal is. Sometimes looking hurts. Truth hurts but also truth sets you on the right path.

--If we are looking to the Author of our faith we must assume that He has written something. The Word of God. That can help us and we must look at it every day.

James 1:22-25 (NKJV)
²²  But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
²³  For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
²⁴  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
²⁵  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

--James says so much here about our lives and our capability in laying aside the weight and the sin which so easily entangles us. He definitely ties it to the Word of God.

--He says coming to church and hearing a sermon will never be enough. He gives a warning to us. Just hearing occasionally may bring deception instead of freedom. Wow that is crazy.

--If we just hear and do not do what it says it is like looking in a mirror and forgetting what we look like. Hear James… he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 

--It is like looking at that scale in the morning and saying, you know what I am up a few pounds but I am having pizza for lunch and ice cream for dinner…yummy! I can’t say this better than James:

James 1:25 (NKJV)
²⁵  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

3. Be Disciplined.

--Let’s face reality…we don’t lose weight or get in shape because we are not disciplined. We want the easy way. Take a pill and chill. Sadly, it does not happen like that. Maybe temporary help.

--Also, you will not lay aside the weight or the sin that entangles you unless you are disciplined enough to go to Jesus in prayer and to His Word that brings freedom.

--We hate the word discipline when all of us know that we are called to be disciples. Go into the world and make disciples. Instead we have raised up a lot of baby Christians.

Hebrews 12:5-8 (NLT2)
⁵  And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.
⁶  For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
⁷  As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?
⁸  If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 

--We want blessings but no correction…no instruction. Even when leadership tries to correct someone, their families rescue them from those mean pastors. 

--We don’t want anyone to tell us that we don’t look good. We don’t want any discipline in our lives from God or anyone else. Then, we are illegitimate. 

--For the LORD disciplines those he loves.

Poem…What’s Up!

What’s Up?

Pastor Rick Welborne

The world says “Give up!”

Your friends say “Break up!”

God says there is coming a “Shake up!”

Paul says we better “Wake up!”

Preachers are saying to the church “Grow up!”

If you can’t speak life and revival “Shut up!”

Those who believe are “Going up!”

You stay like you are and God is going to “Throw up!”

My message to you is to “Look up!”

You need to grow in the Lord and “Stay up!”

He’s not going to take the “Fake up!”

So please get rid of your spiritual “Make up!”

Get your heart right and get ready to be “Caught up!”

Because all of us who love God are “Headed up!”

So as your pastor, I thought I would let you know 

“What’s up!”