Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
April 4, 2010 - W1014

New Beginnings

April 3, 2010

By Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

Jesus used the potential of only twelve people – his disciples – to change the world. There will be 23000 people at this weekend’s New Hope Easter services. With only the potential of 12, Jesus changed the world so with the potential of 23000 people we could change Mars or maybe the universe. Think of what God can do with the power and potential of so many of you.

The Bible says that we are the salt of the earth and that we should be careful to keep our flavor. Christians might not be the majority but we do have influence. It is like when a little pinch of salt can change the overall flavor of a turkey.  So we many not be the majority but we can have tremendous influence. That is why the Devil wants to take away your potential.

We just had Good Friday and Good Friday the Event leads to Easter. But remember, Good Friday is the Event but Easter is the hope beyond that event. No matter the bad circumstances there is always hope. Nothing takes God by surprise. God gave us all the potential we need to be who we were created to be and our potential is our treasure.

And I have got good news for you. You can leave Neal Blaisdell Center knowing that God has a plan for you. If every one of us lived up to our full potential then we could change the world. So do not let the enemy steal your potential.

God knows that there is more inside of you. He knows because He put it there. As the Bible says,  "'I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'Plans not for your calamity, but for your welfare, so that you may have a future and a hope!'" (Jer. 29:11) God was saying that He knows the potential inside of us. He has factored in all the circumstances of the world. God prepared things before hand. The Bible says that His works were finished before the world began. How can that be? It is like an auto show. Those cars did not start on the showroom floor, they ended there. They actually began and were finished in the engineer’s imagination and design room. It is very similar to the way our lives began in God’s design room. God determined then what would be best for me or you. It was like He put our potential in powder form into our hearts. He also gave us a choice. We could squander that potential or use it. That potential is ready to break out even if we do not know how to get to our final destination. As it is written, "He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end" (Eccl. 3:11 NLT).

God put the potential in my heart in powder form. If I need help in using that potential, God will give me help if I go to Him.

We can play an imagination game. Who would you like to be? Athlete, politician, American Idol finalist? But life does have a catch – you cannot be somebody else. Playwright George Bernard Shaw was once asked, what he wished he could become. He replied, “I would be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been but never was.” Shaw was saying that we all could have done more with our lives but we could not have been someone else. Robert Browning said, “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” So do not squander the God potential in you!

Our God given potential is limitless but we should be wary that the Devil wants to steal that potential. He wants to steal our treasure of potential. That is why Satan tells us to give up on our marriage, ministry or dream when times are tough. But you should always remember that …

1. What you are is a gift FROM God... and what you make of yourself is your gift TO God.

You have a great God given potential. You may not know what you are going to do but rest assured that God will guide you. As it is written, "Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right or to the left" (Is. 30:21). In other words, the Holy Spirit will warn you when you stray from your righteous path.

There is a dream inside of you. Do not let past failures and past events steal your future. You should pray for help and guidance and God will guide you. Remember, Jesus used the potential of 12 people – His disciples – to change the world. One of the biggest tragedies is giving up on your potential.

The Devil hates you but knows that He cannot take away your salvation because Jesus has already secured that for you. So he wants to take away your potential and future. Satan will tell you that your accomplishments have not been, your talents are not and your finances never will.

How does the Devil do all that? Well, I once took my son Aaron to the carnival and gave him $40 to spend on everything – including food. He became distracted by all the junks they were selling so he spent all his money and at the end he had no money left for food and by then he was very hungry! So remember …  

o    The greatest enemy of our soul is not destruction. It is DISTRACTION.

God builds a roadway for us to all sorts of treasures and potentials. There is influence, joy and abundance along the way. But as we go along that roadway we can easily become distracted by things that take us off that road. We can get distracted by sex, money or drugs. We end up spending our time, energy and potential off God’s road as we chase after these other things. Hopefully, we always find our way back to God’s road. But as you can see, if we had simply stayed on the path we would have gone so much farther and done so much more in God’s plan if we had not been distracted. So what does a distraction do?

It steals the POTENTIAL of a God preferred future.

So why doesn’t God simply remove those distractions? Because the Devil would come up with some other distraction. And God does not want to isolate us. He wants our hearts. God wants us to see that what He has is so compelling that we will choose His path over the distractions.

We need new beginnings, again and again to get us back along God’s path.

2. In order to be all we can be, we will require... NEW BEGINNINGS.
   
   

As the Bible says, "repent and return in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Remember, when we stray from the righteous path, there are …

• Two necessary actions: REPENT & RETURN.

The Devil cannot stop you from being saved but he can stop your influence. So the sooner you stop, repent and return, the better it is for you and the world. The sooner you do that, the sooner you will have new beginnings.

It is written, "The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out" (Prov. 17:14). Stop yourself before you go too far off the path and you will be better off. The Bible says of the Prodigal son, "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating...but when he came to his senses..." (Luke 15:16-17). The Prodigal son had left his family, God’s path and let things become so bad for himself that he longed to even eat the pig’s food. In other word, do not wait too long before you repent! So when is the best time for you to repent?

• Best time? Before you reach the PIGS!

Repent before you have your eighth marriage, third arrest or tenth fight.  Stop, repent and return to God before you reach the pigs! If you go all the way to the pigs, you will usually have to pay very heavy consequences but you can avoid that by repenting early!

Some of you have already been to the pigs or really have been off God’s righteous path very far and very long already. So you feel used up and that your potential has been squandered already. But take heart, God says that He has given you all that you need to return to Him. God Himself will carry you the rest of the way if you let Him. It is not too late but …

3. New beginnings must start TODAY.
   
   

Remember, "Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation..." (2 Cor. 6:2). We all need new beginnings, again and again to get us back on God’s path and plan for us. So start again. Repent and return and God will welcome you back with open arms and heart.

Years ago, I was touring California and I stopped to ask for directions. The directions were very complicated and confusing so I stopped again and asked again.  The directions were still difficult to follow. Fortunately, a man overheard and said that he lived at my desired destination and all I had to do was follow him. So I thankfully followed him all the way and it was very simple and safe all the way to where I really wanted to go. That is the way it is with Christ in real life. Just follow Him and you will be safe all the way home.

Study Suggestions

1.   Where does your potential come from?

2.   What is your gift God?

3.   What are your distractions?

4.   How will you deal with your distractions?

5.   What is so bad about being distracted?

6.   What will your new beginning be?

7.   What will you repent about?