How To Stay Young And Useful All Your Life – Dr. Charles Stanley

as long as you and I alive we have the responsibility of being fruitful all the days of our life and I wonder sometimes if some people shorten their life because they're not useful they come to the opponent life and they say well I'm 55 and I've got 62 let's see I got seven more years to live and then I'm finished let me tell you something when you tell you about it that you have finished your body begins to break down [Music] four decades ago we started in touch ministries to lead people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ throughout the years we've seen God's greatness his love and his blessings in such awesome ways that we just want everyone to know him so let's open God's Word and seek Him together next on InTouch how to stay young and useful all your life how does they young and useful all of your life that's what I want us to talk about and somebody says well is that a drink no is it a pill no is it like course of exercise no well what is it that's what I want to share with you and I want you to turn to the 92nd song and in this 90 second song I think the Lord lays out for us an idea of how we can indeed live young and useful all of our life many people just want to live long if you're not useful what's the use of living long how do you remain useful and young all the days of your life well look at this 90-second Psalm and let's begin in the twelfth verse the scripture says the righteous man will flourish like the palm tree he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord they will flourish in the courts of our God they will still yield fruit in old age they shall be full of set and very green to declare that the Lord is upright now I believe in this passage of Scripture is a key to being useful at any age in our life and you'll notice how he begins this he says the righteous man not just anybody the righteous man will flourish like the three what does it mean by righteous that is a person who is godly not just anybody but a person who's godly will flourish that is will be abundant in whatever's going on in their life like the palm tree like a cedar in Lebanon now the palm trees that they were talking about we're date-palms and they'll go 50 or 60 or more feet high and if you'll think about a palm tree that reduces dates it has fruit and they use the leaves to bill fences that be part of a house on the roof of the house and so forth and then the Cedars of Lebanon will grow and can grow up to 120 feet tall 30 feet around and all of their limbs are straight out it's a majestic sight to see one of those trees so he says the righteous man will flourish like a palm tree grow like a cedar in Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord they will flourish in the courts of our God that means there will be abundance there's something going on awesomely going on they'll still yield fruit in old age and they shall be full of SAP and very green they're going to be growing and they're not going to look all that old full of SAP and very green speaking of strength and fruitfulness and healthy to declare that the Lord is upright so the question is how many of you really believe that God expects you to be useful all the days of your life all right so how do we do that what I want to do is I want to give you what I believe is the key to making that truthful so I want you to jot down these simple phrases I'm going to give you and I want you to think about them in your own life so I don't want you to think about this is a sermon I want you to think about it is a word of instruction how you can live longer and be more useful now I know that God is the one who makes the fire decision about how long we live and some people not meant to live as long as others but let's just say you who you are and you don't know when you're gonna die and so as long as you're in our life we have the responsibility of being fruitful all the days of our life and I wonder sometimes if some people shorten their life because they're not useful they come to the point in life and they say well I'm 55 and I've got 62 let's say I got seven more years to live and then I'm finished let me tell you something when you tell you about it that you have finished your body begins to break down because your mind sends your body a message in seven years I'm finished finished doing what God created you and me to be fruitful all the days of our life ever how long that is and I do believe that if you are fruitful it's gonna lengthen your life humanly speaking so the question is what is essential to making your life useful all the days of your life and the first one is very important that is keep learning when you cease to learn you cease to grow when you cease to learn you sort of begin to decay a little bit you are to learn to how to stay healthy and you say well how do I do that it will the proper diet and exercise and rest that's part of it there was we're not healthy by accident it's by learning some key things in life that really make a difference and when we keep learning something happens in our life for example you're not living in an age when we've had to keep learning because when I was born there were no computers that I knew of in 1900 and 32 so we go back and you look at your life and think about all the things that you've had to learn that your predecessors and your church your parents didn't have to learn because they didn't even exist so if you if you're gonna be useful all the days of your life you've got to be willing to keep learning so I would simply say that a lazy brain is an aging brain you don't want to learn what happens you start decaying and so there's something interesting and exciting about learning things in life no matter who you are and no matter what your age might be so I would say at the top of that list is learning the Word of God learning to quote a verse of scripture if you can't doing the better just to learn this one jesus wept if you can't learn that what you can't learn anything so the first step this remember we talk about remaining useful all the days of your life number one keep learning secondly keep loving love is a very important part of our life and in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy God says commands us to love Him we can't wait to love God with all of our heart all of our soul with all of our strength and Jesus talked about loving one another and I believe that the very experience of loving someone it's like a flow that's in your life and it's like loving isn't it it's an expression of something on the inside of you that you don't ever want to stop for example if there's no love there's bitterness resentment hostility or hatred all of which damaged a person's emotional and their mental life God made us to love one another he made us to love him loving is a very important part of staying young all the days of your life and of having the spirit that promotes a good health then of course there is the whole idea of keeping laughing there's somebody says what does that have to do with being useful when a person is laughing something's going on on the inside of them it's like everything flows and when you laugh for example you just laugh from your belly hohohohoho you laugh and laugh and laugh in what happens if something happens to you and when there's laughter and there's love and there's joy your body is going to respond accordingly but if you're uptight and you you you you're not laughing and if you'll just think about what happens to your whole nervous system when you can't laugh and somebody says well I don't have anything to laugh about well yes you do if you think about it you do there are times we don't feel like laughing but there ought to be the joy of the Lord in their life when you have the joy of Jesus in your life you've got a lot to laugh about in fact Christians have more to laugh about and you think about all the good things that God has done in your life and is doing in your life you can count some tough things but there's much to be laughed about but if you can't laugh but this way if you can't laugh I'm not too sure you've got many friends who wants to be around a grouch all the time always frowning there's always something wrong and when you say well let me tell you something good happen to me I'm not interested well when people have that attitude I believe your nervous system is affected your whole system is affected I think there's some simple things God placed in our life and the process of exercising them will live longer now you say can you prove that or so far I can so far I can and and one of the things I love about my friends is we are always jabbing each other and one of my friends and all I think all of us sitting here there's more not all my friends but we are always Japanese other bets on we're always laughing and I think that frees up your nervous system so you may say well I don't have any laugh about well make something get something going and watch something that will help you laugh and you find people sometimes who just they just if it's like they think it's a sin to laugh Christians ought to be the happiest people in the world because we've got more to be grateful for and then there's another one and let's keep leaving you say well leaving what that's very important keep leaving your cares behind don't drag yesterday's problems in today and don't drag situations in circumstances and conversations and incidences that have been in your past I can think of things in my life that we're not the most pleasant of all but you don't have to you don't have to think about it and I love what Peter said in that first chapter of the fifth chapter and the seventh verse in first Peter he said for example cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you in other words God says when you have cares and burdens and heartaches or whatever it might be he says cast them up cast them upon the Lord in other words just lay them down and so when we talk about leaving there are people who live with the rear view mirror in their life well let me tell you what happened they can always bring up something I think often times they're looking for sympathy or whatever it might be well back yonder all of us can bring up some junk in our life but we had to live everything with that behind us we don't have to think about that God doesn't want us thinking about all the difficulties and hardships there may be times when word of testimony about how God's brought you through that but you don't drag it along with you so I'm asking a question is is there something in your past that you that you drag with you if you do it slows you down it affects your attitude it affects your whole emotional system and I believe it affects your health God intended for us to leave our burdens behind then of course not only keep leaving you but keep longing what in the world do you mean by that well simply this you got to keep dreaming a person who doesn't know how to dream it's not gonna enjoy life very long you've got to keep dreaming that is about the future and never stop somebody says well you know at this point in my life I don't see anything to dream about we'll start thinking about it it's a matter of attitude nobody can keep you from dreaming and you say well I just don't think I can do this and so well why don't you stop thinking about that and thinking about the things you can do and it's not a matter of just having a positive attitude it's a matter of being watch this a child of God you would agree with that amen and you're in trouble the Holy Spirit amen so all power exists within you amen so don't live in the past thinking about what you can't do you can do anything God called you to do and don't underestimate God if you agree that the Holy Spirit is living within you if you agree that God is within you then don't chalk cut off as to what he can't do because he can do anything and everything that it is his will for you of somebody says well that's not the will of God for my life how do you know it's not have you asked him now around my computer I have all these little sayings that have impressed me and affected me and and I count them everday and had 25 well here's one of them you are young and useful listen that you're young and useful at any if you're still planning for tomorrow you know write that down yeah listen you're young and useful at any age if you're still planning for tomorrow because that means you're dreaming that means you're planning it means you're looking ahead and so whatever the ages don't give up don't stop don't quit just think about what what would I like to do what what do I believe God would have me to do so you keep longing and then keep looking well you say what looking at what will look your best you've heard me say they look your best do you best be your best I think that in other words watch this if you think you look your best you are going to act differently right ladies is that true or not absolutely do you think your hands just right and you've got them just right you're looking just right you're gonna act differently so you look your best do you best be your best then of course keep laboring that is keep working and one of my favorite the seminary professors was teaching in his night early 90s I loved it my first time I saw the men I loved him and because he just kept going now he didn't run he'd walk slowly but he was an awesome man III godly man and here he was at that point in his life and I remember Bertha Smith who was a missionary to China for 40 years when she was in her late 90s she heard a head on her calendar times that she was gonna speak up to the age of a hundred and five and I know that to be absolutely true I tell people that shouldn't retire if that means you stop doing nothing had changed something in the Bible only the priest could retire they started 25 and that 50 that whatever they're finished but the Bible doesn't teach retirement the Bible teaches us to be fruitfulness we said all the days of our life and life if our life is to be counting for something in somebody's life and so we keep laboring when you say in your mind and you think it and you say well that's it I quit no more work I'm just gonna have you send your body a message and that message is it's all over I don't need to function the way I've been functioning that's not of God we're to live it out through the last day of our life and so keep laboring is a very important part and if you'll think think about this the longer you live if faith should be greater that confidence should be stronger the things that we do we would do may be better than we've ever done before so laboring keep laboring and then of course keep leaning and we lean on the Lord which means we rely upon him which we trust in him he answers our prayer he answers their needs we keep leaning on him that is we should live every day trusting him depending upon him and acknowledging the fact Lord I'm trusting you for today what you're saying is I'm leaning on you to give me wisdom and direction for my life and guidance and so when I when I think about that and think about what the Bible says in the 37th Psalm three times fret not fret not fret not as believers we have Christ living within us through the Holy Spirit we do lean on him we do rely upon him we do trust him so that's what God wants us to do he wants us to lean upon him he wants us to rely upon him he wants us to trust in him he wants us to come to him acknowledging that we had depended upon him because he wants to be everything for us that we need in their life and then of course keep listening and this is one of the most important ones keep listening learn listen to God and many people go through their life saying well y'all never said anything to me yes I did you may not have listened you may not have obeyed he did not speak to you audibly but God speaks to us and he wants us to listen to him for example how do you find the will of God you have to listen to him how do you know what to do in making critical decisions in your life or simple decisions you listen to him and how do you listen to him you be quiet how do you listen to him you get in the word and you ask God to speak to your heart and I think it's the most important lesson in the Christian life is learning how to listen to God and know that you get a direction for your life the confidence to know what to do next learning to listen to him is absolutely essential to living a godly life a useful life a profitable life listening to him and I've reached a number of sermons about that and if I should ask you do you know how to listen to God you can know some of these other things but learning to listen to him what is God saying how is he giving me direction for my life at this point learning to listen to him and so if I'm gonna stay on the right path I bet watch this if I'm gonna walk in the will of God I gotta listen to him if I'm gonna make wise decisions I gotta listen to it if I'm gonna have right relationships with other people I'm gonna listen to him if I'm going to if I'm going to avoid yielding the temptation I'm gonna listen to him if I'm gonna have my needs met I'm gonna listen to him you can ask any question you want to but learning to listen to God is absolutely the basic one of all how you going to be saved you're gonna be saved by listening to the conviction of the Holy Spirit who convicted you of your sin and said that if you die without Christ you're gonna be lost you listen you got saved you you listen to him when it came to convicting you about your sin and you want to go to heaven when you well we listen to him about everything and when you start the day off every morning you should be listening to him Lord speak to my heart give me guidance whether they make me sensitive today that what's going around me make me sensitive Lord to the people I meet how to respond if there's a need it's something I can sell do Lord help me know how to listen so that some things I need to avoid learning to listen to him is absolutely essential because you see you don't have a discerning spirit really unless you know how to listen to him should I do this or should or not listening to him and so we're talking about being useful all the days of your life learning to listen to God is absolutely essential because what happens well for example let's say you're married how you going to build an intimate relationship with your wife or your husband you learn to listen to them how you want to raise godly children you learn to listen to them and teach them to listen to you and teach them to listen to God listening is essential to every single aspect of our life and certainly if we're going to be useful all the days of our life we're going to learn to listen to God because he's gonna tell us what to do and what not to do what to avoid and what to pursue God is always speaking to his children and in light of what we said look at this verse the righteous man will flourish like the palm tree date-palms grow grow strong like a cedar in Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord they will flourish in the courts of our God they will still yield fruit in old age they shall be full of SAP and very green that is strong and fruitful and healthy to declare that the Lord is upright and I've simply said to you today I do believe this is the way you stay strong and healthy as possible and useful all the days of your life it doesn't make a difference where you are now you can start today and ask God Lord I want you to I want you to make me sensitive every day to all of these attitudes because that's what I want in my life it's a decision you make and it begins with trusting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior that's the beginning that's when you start learning to listen right then and if you've never trusted him as your Savior you probably not even going to attempt what I share with you this morning but asking the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins surrendering your life to Him and then saying Lord I want my life to count every day I want to be useful all the days of my life show me how to do that and I trust that if you've never trusted him as your Savior you'll be wise enough to make a decision this morning Jesus forgives all sin he will take you right where you are and if you will trust him as your personal Savior today and listen begin with this list today your life will change beginning today if you're willing to allow him to work it in your life amen and father how grateful we are that you're more than willing they give us your best I pray that every person who hears this message will remember carefully listening to you and obeying you that's the key to life and it's very best no matter who we are so we want to say we love you and praise you for being patient with us for guiding us for helping us but providing for us and giving us this awesome indescribable gift of eternal life we say bless your holy name Jesus amen if you've been blessed by today's program please visit us at intouch.org II in touch leading people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and strengthening the local church this program is sponsored by in touch ministries and is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts you

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 307,790

Keywords: How To Stay Young And Useful All Your Life, Charles F. Stanley, InTouch, In Touch, Ministries, God, Prayer, Sermon, Bible, Preaching, Dr Stanley, Pastor, Church, Sunday, Christian, Faith, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Charles Stanley

Id: _qz5ya4D_nQ

Length: 27min 2sec (1622 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 27 2017