Who OWNS you?

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.n1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

A DISCIPLE is a fully devoted follower of  Jesus Christ

• “A true disciple has committed himself or herself without equivocation, without reservation to Jesus Christ the Savior”  – AW Tozer 
• A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
  Luke 6:40 (NKJV)
  

You need to be a STEWARD of God’s Resources

Stewardship involves managing what someone else owns. A steward is like the trustee of a fund or organization: Others trust him or her to wisely manage assets on their behalf. Because God bought us with the blood of His Son, all that we are and have—including our lives and possessions—belong to Him. As those who are accountable to God, we should become responsible stewards of our time, money, gifts, and bodies. – Navigators Designed for Discipleship Volume 6

The greatest resource you have been given to invest for Jesus is YOURSELF

Are you a faithful steward that will be REWARDED? (see Matt 25:14-30)

What do you do with your 168 hour weekly time allowance?

It’s time to focus on Jesus priorities and desires in your life

It’s time to LIVE WISELY

• So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:15-16 (NLT)

It’s time to DO GOD’S WILL

• Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:16-17 (NLT)

It’s time to BE LED BY THE SPIRIT AND SING

• Do NOT be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁹ singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. Ephesians 5:18-19 (NLT)

It’s time to BE THANKFUL

• …give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:20-21 (NLT)

It’s time to PRAY & PROCLAIM

• Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. ³ Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. ⁴ Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Colossians 4:2-4 (NLT)

It’s time to LIVE WISELY

• Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Colossians 4:5-6 (NLT)

It’s time to WORK HARD

• Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ⁸ Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. Ephesians 6:7-8 (NLT)

Studies show American Creativity is Declining!

We are to serve with and care about Jesus other followers

Jesus expects me to spend time with His other disciples

• But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13 

• ³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 (NLT)

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 

We are to use our Spiritual Gift(s)  see Rom 12, I Cor 12, Eph 5

• Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 

Jesus expects us to care for our BODIES

• Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1 

Jesus expects us to care for our BODIES

• Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

1. You Dress modest and proper enough
2. You Eat healthy and exercise enough
3. You Rest and recreate enough
4. You’ve had enough with harmful habits
5. Jesus expects us serve Him with money

• “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24 
• For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:10 
• “Some of us have looked into the face of our idols and found that one of them is money. Though we, along with millions of other churchgoers, are saying that Jesus saves, we ask ourselves if we are not in practice acting as though it were money that saves. We say that money gives power, money corrupts, money talks. Like the ancients with their molten calf we have endowed money with our own psychic energy, giving it arms and legs, and have told ourselves that it can work for us. More than this we enshrine it in a secret place, give it a heart and a mind and the power to grant us peace and mercy. —Elizabeth O’Connor,
  Letters to Scattered Pilgrims
• Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 
• Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10 
• Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. ¹⁸ I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:17-19 

• I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. ¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? Luke 16:9-12 
• “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 

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