When you have the presence of God, you need nothing more, you should settle for nothing less.

What will rob you of the presence of God in your life?
1. Direct Disobedience (32:7)
(I John 4:13; Rom. 8:16; Eph. 4:30; I Thess. 5:19)
When you grieve and quench the Spirit, God ceases to be real to you.
John 14:21-24- clear connection between your relationship to God and your keeping of His commandments.
There are plenty of religious leaders who will give you a pass to disobey God.


2. Divided Devotion (32:4)
They deliberately fashioned an idol.
Is there something you love more, fear more, serve more or trust more than Almighty God?
“God's throne is not a duplex”


3. Displaced Dependence (32:7-8)
They gave credit to their idols for bringing them up out of Egypt.
People forget to acknowledge what God has done and start to exalt themselves.


4. Determined Defiance (32:9)
“They are a stiff-necked people.”
We do not want the discomfort of turning in the direction God is calling us to go.

When you know the Lord,
1. You have a whole new approach to life. (vs. 1-2)
When you follow Christ, you begin to see the difference between right and wrong much more clearly.
It is not a matter of personal choice or opinion, it is a matter of God's truth.


2. You have an affect on the people around you. (vs. 3-4)

When you live in the light, people are drawn to the light.


3. You develop a greater appreciation for life. (vs. 5)

Even the common things of life become filled with meaning.

a. Your relationships are gifts from God.
b. Your job is God's calling on your life.
c. Hard things are God' hands as a Potter.


Because we have experienced God's love, we recognize our tremendous responsibility to share His love
with others.

The only way to have a healthy and accurate self-esteem is to know Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior.


1. The secret of good self-esteem can be found in our IDENTITY.
(vs. 17) everyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
(Romans 6:5, 8)


2. The secret of good self-esteem can be found in our MISSION.
(vs. 18-19) Your mission is to be involved in helping the world to be reconciled to God.
The fact that God values you enough to include you in His plan indicates that you have tremendous worth to Him.


3. The secret of good self-esteem can be found in our POTENTIAL.
Old label                                   New label
1. Sinner                                    Saint
2. Condemned                           Forgiven
3. Dead in sin                             Alive in Christ


Romans 8:1; Hebrews 10:10; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 1:22
(vs. 21) We have the potential to become the righteousness of God.

How to be prepared to respond to Christ
​
1. an atmosphere of repentance (3)
repentance=going in one direction and changing radically to go in another direction

There is something that we all could repent of this very moment.


2. a lifestyle of repentance (4-6)
the process of keeping soft before the Spirit of God

You don't wait until your life falls apart.

Repentance is not just and attitude of sorrow, but a lifestyle of actions.


3. Repentance results in specific actions. (10-14)
a. stewardship- the fruits of repentance begin to emerge when you do business with your possessions and
your money.


b. becoming a sensitive person to the needy people around you


c. use your possessions properly, do your job rightfully, handle people carefully and justly.