Real Commitment

1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. Hear the word of the Lord.! Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding. And today I just want to preach for a little bit on this thought, real commitment. Lord Jesus, I thank you, God, for the word that you've given me today.

God, help me do a good job and present that to your people today, God. God, I pray, Lord, that you give us the ears to hear it, the spiritual ears. Lord, open them. God, that we would hear it and receive it today in good spirit.

In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Always abounding. In the Bible, that means to always have more than enough to accomplish the task that's set before you.

And really, isn't that the goal in life? We want to have more than enough to accomplish the tasks that are set before us. Everyone wants to be successful in whatever it is, whatever endeavors that we pursue in life.

Whatever it is that we're trying to do in life, we want to have more than enough to accomplish the goal. We want to always be abounding in that.

But the thing we should want to advance, the thing that we should want to be successful in above any other endeavor in life is that we should want to always be abounding in our spiritual growth, in our spiritual maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen. All of us are on different parts of that race, that journey, in our spiritual growth, in our spiritual maturity.

And if we want to abound, always be abounding and be successful in anything, it needs to be recognizing that we need to always abound in that.

It is your work in the Lord that you need to prioritize in your life. Amen. The greatest need you have today is to be successful in living for God.

Amen. You can be successful in all kinds of different things in this world, but if you fail to be successful in living for God, you've failed. We're busy people, and we all have goals in life that we want to accomplish, but those things need to take a back seat to the kingdom of God.

Amen. The kingdom of God needs to be in the front seat of our lives. Amen. Amen. We need to get off the throne in our lives and let King Jesus sit on the throne in our lives.

Amen. Amen. I've tried being the king of my life, and I've messed that up. Amen. The more I realize that I need to get off the throne and let King Jesus on the throne, the better my life is.

Amen. If you're born again, if you're a born again disciple of Jesus Christ when you repented, and when you were baptized in Jesus' name, you made a commitment to God and his kingdom. Amen.

That doesn't come lightly. Don't think that when you make a commitment to God that you're going to turn away from the world and you're going to walk in a new direction that conforms to this book right here, this Bible and his word.

Don't take that lightly of repentance. Don't take it lightly that you would be baptized in the name of Jesus or that you have been baptized in the name of Jesus. You took on the blood of Jesus Christ.

God, our Savior, robed himself in flesh and came to this earth to die for our sins. And you are taking upon a great commitment. Amen. That was the greatest commitment we could ever have from our God was for him to get off his throne in glory and come and make himself low as a human and be tortured and to be beaten and to be murdered and to be spit upon and his beard to be plucked and the crown of thorns placed on his head and to go through Pilate's court and all the beatings and everything he went through for us.

Amen. All the blood. He shed his blood for us. And when we go down in his name, we're applying that blood to our lives. We should don't take that commitment for granted. Amen. If you've been there and you've been down in Jesus name, do not take it for granted.

Today, you're going to, Sister Isabel, you're going to be baptized in Jesus name. Praise God. But don't, please understand the gravity of what you're doing. You're applying the blood of Jesus, our Savior, to your life.

Amen. Amen. You made a commitment to God and his kingdom when you were reborn. Your priorities are supposed to change. The desires of your heart are supposed to change.

It doesn't matter anymore what you had planned for your life. It doesn't matter what your childhood dreams were. It doesn't matter what you went to college for or what you thought you'd be focused on in your life.

When you repented and you went down in Jesus name, your personal plans from before were to be left behind. Amen. And now your personal plan should be to plan on growing and advancing in the kingdom of God and serving, amen, King Jesus.

Amen. And what I had desired for my life is no more. Now I want to know what does God desire for me. Amen. And whatever God desires for me, that is what I want to desire to.

My new desire is to desire the things that God desires for me. Amen. My life is not my own. Amen. To him I belong.

When you repent and when you are baptized in his name, you are making a commitment to God. And when he baptizes you with his spirit and you are filled with his spirit, you are to let that spirit lead and guide you on the path that he wants you to go upon.

Amen. Amen. Amen. It is a real commitment to the Lord and to his kingdom to walk after the spirit that leads and guides you. Amen. Once you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

And so what is it with commitments today and in this age and in this world? Because when I look around, I don't see any signs of real commitment anymore.

I have to search far and wide to find evidence of people that have real commitments.

Do real commitments even exist anymore in this world? What happened to commitment? Real commitments. What happened to people really being committed to something?

There's a decline in long term real commitments in the world. world and it is a worldly problem. It's not supposed to be a problem in the kingdom of God.

It's a problem in the world. Amen. It's not supposed to be a kingdom of God problem. This modern culture of individualisticness and there's not to be individualistic mindsets in the kingdom of God.

Amen. There's supposed to only be sacrificial mindsets. Amen. With Jesus as our perfect representation and example of the sacrifice that he made. We're supposed to live a life of sacrifice under the Lord.

Amen. Not have some individualistic mindset. I'm going to do what I want to do and I'll just ask, be less concerned or ask God about it later. No. We're not supposed to have that kind of mindset in the kingdom of God.

Amen. That's the worldly problem that should not be in the church. The world has a selfish culture that should not be the culture of someone in the kingdom of God. The world says, what can I get out of it?

How can I benefit? What's in it for me? That's a worldly mindset. The world says, I'm only going to be committed for as long as I'm receiving what I want or what I think I need.

Amen. Amen. That's a worldly mindset. The world says, real commitment. You know, it's just too restrictive. I'm not going to lock myself down into some kind of commitment to in a relationship to my spouse or whatever.

I don't have to be committed to anything. I'm not going to lock myself down and restrict myself through a real commitment. That's a worldly mindset. That's not a mindset that's found in the kingdom of God.

Amen. Amen. I may actually have to be restricted in doing whatever I want to do if I make a real commitment. That's just a fact. That's why the divorce rates are as high as they are.

They make vows and commitments, but for too many, they're not real commitments. And it's all in all areas of life in this world, no real commitments, no real commitment to anything, but they expect to be successful.

Amen. Well, I hate to burst anyone's bubble today, but if you aren't going to be committed to your spouse, your marriage is not going to be successful. If you're not going to be committed to your family, guess what?

Your family is going to fall apart. Amen. If you're not going to be committed to your employer and hard work, guess what? You're not going to have a career. You're not going to be financially successful. And that same principle is in the kingdom of God as well.

Amen. If you're not committed to the kingdom of God, you're not going to make it to heaven. Amen. Heaven's not going to be your home. Jesus said, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

What things? All these things that you seem to get concerned about every single day. How am I going to feed? How am I going to bring money in? You know, what job am I going to do? How am I going to do this?

How am I going to do that? You know, who am I going to marry? Who am I? Who? You know, how many kids am I? Everything you have to worry about in your life. Amen. All those things will fall into place if first you put the kingdom of God first.

Amen. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you. Putting the kingdom of God and his righteousness first, that involves putting God first in your finances.

Putting God first in your relationships. Putting God first in your schedules. Amen. Trust in him to handle your concerns rather than worrying and trying to fix your concerns yourself.

Amen. Get your hands off of your problems. Let God deal with your problems. Amen. Get your hands towards God and let God deal with it. Amen. It means a whole lot of things, but it's really simple, really, as having a real commitment to the kingdom of God.

If you have a real commitment to the kingdom of God, then everything else will fall into place for you. Amen. Going to church is more important than going to work. I'm telling you, coming to church, being faithful to church is more important than going than going to work.

But there's people that have, you know, well, let's just say if they attended work as faithfully as they, if they attended church as faithfully as they did work, that would be good.

But if they attended work as faithfully as they do church, they would probably get fired. Amen. But the point is, there cannot be more commitment to the things of the world than the things of the kingdom of God.

But notice what the word of God says. I'll read it again. Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Amen.

In the work of the Lord. It is what you do for the kingdom of God that matters most. And the thing I want to point out is the requirement for always abounding.

Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The requirements for always abounding, for always having that more than enough to accomplish the task before you in the kingdom of God.

Those requirements are to be steadfast and unmovable. To be steadfast and unmovable. We need to have steadfast and unmovable commitments to the things of God.

Steadfast and unmovable. We need to, steadfast means to be firm, to be settled consistently. There's consistency.

Unmovable means to be not shaken by circumstances. Not shaken by the things that come against us in life. Not shaken by being tired and weary all the time.

And worrying about this and worrying about that. And working ourselves into the tire. Steadfast and unmovable means stability. It's real commitment.

Steadfast and unmovable is real commitment. My beliefs are firm and settled. My beliefs are not going to be shaken by anything that comes up in life. Amen. I have real commitment to the kingdom of God.

Amen. I have real commitment to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm not going to move on my belief that I need to live a life that's holy and separated from the world. Amen.

Amen. I have to be holy and separated from the Lord. God calls us to holiness and separation from the way the world is. Amen. I'm not going to move on that belief. I'm not going to move on the belief that there's only one God and his name is Jesus Christ.

Amen. I'm not going to believe. I'm not going to move on my belief that marriage is to be between one man and one woman. Amen. And I'm not going to move on my belief that sex outside of marriage is fornication and it's a sin.

Amen. I'm not going to move on my belief that I need to live a life of sacrifice and obedience to God's word. Amen. I believe that. And I'm not going to move on my belief. No circumstance that comes in this world.

No temptation. Nothing the devil in this world can dangle out in front of me of money or any other type of situation is going to move me or make me unstable in my belief that I need to conform to this word of God first.

Amen. And put it first before I do anything else. Amen. I'm not going to move on my belief that I need to pay my tithes and my offerings to support the work of the Lord. Yes, it takes finances to take care of everything.

Amen. And I'm not going to move on my belief that it's biblical principle that I should pay my tithes. Amen. The first 10% belongs to the Lord.

Amen. But we pay our governor better than we pay our tithes because the taxes come right out of our check. But what do we give God? Amen. Whatever's left over at the end. Amen. I'm not going to pay my governor of this world better than I pay my God.

Amen. Read the Bible and learn about tithes and offerings. Amen. And I'm not here to, you know, take up another offering or anything like that. It's not about money, but it's about where you're the condition of your heart when it comes to money.

Amen. I'm not going to move my beliefs on that. I'm not going to move my belief that I need to be in church on Sundays before I'm anywhere else in this entire world. I don't care. Unless it's an emergency or, you know, someone's in a hospital or something.

Why wouldn't you be in church on Sunday? It's your one day of the week to show your commitment to the Lord. Amen. Amen. My beliefs are firm and they're settled. I'm not shaken by circumstances.

I'm not shaken by the things that come against me. I'm not shaken by being tired. Amen. And weary. I'm not going to trade one little bit of my commitments to the kingdom of God for some personal endeavor that I'm going to try to go on.

I'm talking about real commitments today. And I have real commitment to the advancement of my apostolic lifestyle and living for God. Amen. My apostolic lifestyle and living for God should be advancing.

It should not be stagnant. It should not be staying in one place. It shouldn't be going backwards either. That's called backsliding. Amen. If you used to have more commitment to God last year than you do this year, then you're backslidden.

You need to pray through and get right with God. Amen. But my apostolic lifestyle should not be going backwards or staying in one place. It should always be abounding.

Amen. Steadfast, immovable, and always abounding. Amen. Always going forward in advancement. Amen. Amen. So what is the level of commitment we have to the Lord?

That's a question that we need to answer honestly today. See, God tested Abraham's commitment. And Abraham proved his commitment. He was willing to sacrifice his promised son.

God tested Daniel's commitment. And Daniel proved his commitment. He was willing to be thrown into a den of lions before he would stop keeping his commitments to God.

God tested three Hebrew boys. Their names Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. And the three were willing to be thrown into a fiery furnace before they would bow any knee to any idol.

Amen. They had real commitment. They were steadfast, unmovable. And because of that, they always came out on top. Amen. Amen. They always came out on top.

Abraham became the father of many nations. Daniel was saved from the lion's den. Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego came out of the furnace, the fiery furnace, with not even a little burn or even the stench of fire on them.

Amen. Amen. Because of their steadfastness and because they were unmovable and because of that, they always came out on top victorious over the circumstances in their life. And you can find it story after story and example after example in this book.

Amen. So what is your level of commitment to God? What is your steadfastness? What are you unmovable on? Here's another question that has to be answered. See, can God trust you?

I don't know about you, but I want to be able to be trusted by God. God's been more faithful to me than I've been to him, 100%.

I'm not going to sit here and say that, you know, I'm some perfect saint or something. Yep, even pastors fail because we're human.

And usually when we do, it's a bigger mess because we're, you know, supposed to be special, but we're not.

We're just as human as anybody else. But the question does need to be answered today. Can God trust us? What can God trust us with?

Do you want to be able to be trusted by God? You go, how many, over the course of the thousands of years that are recorded in this Bible, how many people did God have to pass over before he found an Abraham that he could trust with a promise?

How many people were passed over before King David could be found? How many people had to be passed over before he could find someone that could be trusted?

Amen. James, the brother of Jesus, said in James 1 and 8, a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. If you're double-minded with no real commitment, you can't be trusted.

There's no stability there. You're unstable in all your ways. God knows if you're really committed or not. Frankly, most people around you know too.

If you don't show real commitment, you're double-minded and you're unstable. And that is not someone God can trust for use in his kingdom in any large way.

Amen. God has great things planned for each and every single one of us in this building today. Amen. If God had his way, we would all be walking exactly inside the realm that God wants us walking in in his kingdom.

Amen. And every single one of you today, God has something specific that you can accomplish in his kingdom. There's people in your lives that only you can reach. There's people in your lives that I can't reach.

Taylor can't reach the people in your life, Haley. Haley, there's people in Hannah's life that you can't reach. God has, there's people in every single, and if we don't reach them, nobody's going to reach them.

God has something specific for each and every single one of us that he desperately wants us to get our acts together and start making real commitments to him so we can walk and be used in the way that he intends for us to be used.

And that we can find our self-realization in the fact that we're being used according to God's purpose, a vessel that he forms with his hands, perfect for his use and his intent.

Amen. We all have that. Every single one of us. But God knows if we're committed and if he can trust us or not with those things. And as long as you show a lack of real commitment, God's not going to trust you with the things that he has planned for you.

Amen. If you're walking, I'd rather, I'd rather, I'd rather be in the worst situation in the world as long as I'm in the will of God than in the best situation in the world outside of the will of God.

I want the will of God for my life. Whatever God wants to do in my life, I accept it. I want, that's what I want to do. Amen. Amen. Being steadfast, being unmovable, having real commitment.

That's the foundation for a stable life. All the rockiness of life and all the unsettleness of life, a lot of it for us as disciples of Jesus Christ comes because we're unstable ourselves.

Real commitment brings the always abounding promise that we read. Always abounding, having more than we need to accomplish what it is that's in front of us. Real commitment is what brings that.

The steadfastness, the unmovable, that's commitment. Be firm and unsettled in your faith. Be firm and unsettled in your core commitments to God. Don't let daily pressures or your wavering emotions or the many different opinions of others, like non-faithful family members or other changing circumstances in life shake you.

There's a lot of voices in our lives. There's a lot of voices in our lives that can give us all kinds of advice. But what kind of advice should we be looking for? Don't get your life advice from people that don't even have the Holy Ghost.

How foolish would you be to be in this church and ignore your pastor and follow the advice about your next steps in life from someone outside of the church that doesn't even have truth?

The only reason you would do such a thing is because you're hearing what you want to hear and you don't want to put the kingdom of God first. That's the only reason why you would do such a thing.

Someone needs to have some non-negotiables when it comes to being with the things of God. Amen. Non-negotiable. This isn't negotiable for me.

There's no negotiation. That thing is not even an option for me because of what it will affect and how it will affect my walk with God. Amen.

Decide once and for all on your kingdom of God non-negotiables. Amen. I'm going to support the kingdom of God with my tithes and offerings. I'm going to support the kingdom of God in work and whatever it is that we're called to do.

Whatever God would have me do, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to have a daily prayer life. I'm going to read and study my Bible every day. I'm going to come into church before anything else on my schedule.

Amen. I'm going to be faithful in my marriage that God has ordained. Amen. For us in here that are married, that's ordained by God.

We took vows. Amen. Before God. And God said what God has joined together, let no man set apart. Amen. Our marriages are important to God.

We have to make sure we get our marriages right. Amen. God needs to be in our marriage. I'm going to be faithful in my marriage that God has ordained.

I'm going to live holy and separated from the world that God has delivered me out of. God's delivered us out of the sloppiness and the ugliness and the simpleness of the world.

And given us opportunity to walk in holiness and righteousness with his blood covering and his spirit inside of us. Amen. I'm committing to that. I'm committing to be holy and separated from the world that God delivered me out of.

I'm going to be steadfast. I'm going to be unmovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord because I know that my labor will not be in vain in the Lord. Yes, I will be rewarded for that.

That's not why I do it. I do it because I love God. I love the word of God. Amen. And I thank God for giving me the opportunity to work in his and be and serve in his kingdom and to have salvation.

Amen. Amen. And I know God sees my real commitment. I said this many times over this podium in the last six months. I'm going to say it again. I have felt that this year was going to be a year of decisions for the people of this church.

I said it in the very beginning of the year. I've said it multiple times. And I just want to say this again. God keeps a good record. Amen.

Every decision that we've had to make since the beginning of the year and even before and to now and decisions we have to make every day going forward. God keeps a good record.

I know God sees every time I make a decision that puts his kingdom first in my life. I know he does. I know he keeps good record.

And I know it pleases him when I do that. Amen. Can I get an amen? God keeps good records. And every time we show God that we can be trusted.

But when we're presented with the decision on what to do in life, we first go to God and say, God, how is this going to affect my relationship with you? Is this really what you want me to do?

Or is this what I want to do? And I know God sees every time we make a decision that puts his kingdom first. Amen. And we will be rewarded for that with his trust.

Your everyday faithfulness is not in vain. God uses steadfast people to shine brightly in this wavering world. In a world where there's no real commitments. In a world that's always wavering.

In a world where people are double-minded. In a world where people don't keep commitments. Amen. But we're not of this world anymore. I have repented and walked in the opposite direction of the world.

And I have been baptized in the name of Jesus. And I have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus. Amen. I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. Amen. You can take this whole world, but give me Jesus.

Amen. That's all I want is to have Jesus and to please the Lord. Amen. He's more important than my career. He's more important than my 401K. He's more important than getting a bigger house.

He's more important than anything I can pursue in this world. Amen. You can have it all. Take everything. I would rather be homeless under a bridge somewhere and have Jesus than have the biggest mansion and the best job and the biggest 401K and not have Jesus.

Amen. Amen. Take it all, but give me Jesus. Let's all stand. Let's all open our Bibles. Grab your Bible. Let's open our Bibles to Acts chapter 2. Amen. What would it profit us to gain this whole world and lose our soul?

If I could gain you, first of all, there's nobody. Elon Musk is the richest guy in the world and he hasn't gained the whole world yet. None of us in here are going to gain the whole world, but if we could, it still wouldn't be worth losing our soul for.

What does this world have to offer us that is worth giving up, having eternal life with Jesus? There's nothing. And so my real commitment is to the kingdom of God.

Acts chapter 2, verse 38. Acts chapter 2, verse 38.

Read along. Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For the promise is unto you and unto your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. Here it is, verse 42.

And they continued, say it. And they continued, say it. What's the next word? Steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

This year, the vision that the Lord gave me for our church is together, serving, and winning. Amen. And the way that you can do that is by looking at your life and making the adjustments necessary now while you can.

Make the real commitment while you can that the decisions that you make, are they going to contribute to being together, or are they going to take you further away from the body of Christ?

Is it giving you an opportunity to serve in the kingdom more, or is it taking away opportunities for you to serve in the kingdom of God? How do the decisions that you're making affect us being able to be together and to serve together?

Amen. Because if we're together and we're serving, then we're going to be winning. And it's the same thing as steadfast, unmovable, always abounding.

Amen. Amen. Always winning. Always having what we need to accomplish what it is that God sets before us. Because our real commitment to being together with the body of Christ in fellowship and at church, it's in your real commitment to serving the kingdom first is your steadfastness.

And your real commitment in those areas is going to determine if you're going to be winning winning against all the things that come in this life or not. And if you gain real commitment to the things of God, then you will, in the name of the Lord, be saved.

Amen. And be in the will of the Lord for your life. Amen. And always be abounding. Amen. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Amen. Before we head out of here and go to baptize Sister Isabel, I just wonder if we could one more time just lift our hands and begin to pray and ask God to help us out today.

Amen. Amen. Amen.