IglesiaBautista.org Sermons : Conquer Yesterday

Conquer Yesterday

Author: Josué Mora Peña

Conquer Yesterday

Some people, at the beginning of every new year, make new resolutions, new desires to do better in the coming year. I'm one of those individuals. Every year I want to excel in what I do and as I grow older I want to become better in everything I do, especially in serving God. The words of the Rev. Max Lucado comes to my mind, "your last years can be your best years." I don't know why some people sometimes ask me how old I am and I respond the way a TV actor responded when asked how old he was: "I'm, forty years old with 25 years of experience." With the new year I'm also reminded of a little poem that I learned many years ago. It is called, "New Day", and of course I think of it as the new year. It goes like this:

"This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to do as a please.
I can use it for good or for evil.
What I do today is important because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving something in its place I have traded for.
I want it to be good, evil, success, not failure.
Something worthy of the price I paid for it. "

Today's sermon, "Conquer Yesterday" has to do with making the most of the days God gives us. When we talk about yesterday, that's really nothing that can do about it. Yesterday is gone. It is history. We can not correct the mistakes we made yesterday. We can not even make better the good things we did yesterday. And again, I emphasize, yesterday is gone. It is gone forever. It took the wings of the morning and disappeared in the vast firmament, but there is something that we can do with yesterday, learn from our past mistakes and also, to conquer it.

Robert A. Beck, Director Emeritus of Prudential Insurance Company in the United States, says "The best way to be successful in life is to do what you like and doing it right." So to conquer yesterday means to "do today more and better than what you did yesterday." If we procrastinated yesterday, let's not do it today. If we failed in a project, let's start all over again. If we were negligent yesterday and did not read our Bibles and prayed, well, let's do it today. Do not deprive yourself from God's blessings. Conquering yesterday means not only doing what you were supposed to do, but doing it better, consciously knowing that it is to please God. Beck also mentions six more thinks that are very important in order to be successful in life:

2) Success does not come automatically.
3) Be a good example
4) Get involved
5) Make out of your studies and your work something pleasant
6) Show your feelings
7. Success is easier than failure.

We will elaborate on conquering yesterday.

We pray that the year 2007 will be a better year, even in the midst of wars in several parts of the world. We want to make sure that we are not at war with ourselves. Some times we are our worst enemy. We need to be at peace with God, our Creator. God wants to pour down His blessings during the new year. In other words, He wants us to prosper and one way is by conquering yesterday.

We read in the Third Letter of John, verse 2 that, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." Let us analyze this verse, but first, let us see what we do understand for "success". According to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, success is

Outcome, Result;
a) degree or measure of succeeding;
b) favorable termination of a venture; specific.- the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence."

I have another definition of what success means: "to be successful is to do what God asks us do do". In other words, we are successful when we obey God and do His will. Nothing else will bring you satisfaction. There are people who are very successful money wise. They have riches and fame, a notorious name but they failed in other things, in their marriage for example. Some of them hardly know their own children; others are famous for being great counselors but nevertheless are not successful in everything they do. One can be very successful in the eyes of the secular world but not in the eyes of God. Only those who do His will are truly successful in life.

There is a renowned evangelist who says that the lives of many movie stars are unhappy. They are successful, yes, to the world, but inside they very miserable. There is a Spanish poem about a clown who made everybody happy. His name was Garrick. Everyone who went to see him turned his sadness into joy. Kings and Queens and people from all over the world, went to see Garrick. The poem ends telling about a man who went to see the doctor, complaining that he was very miserable in life. The doctor gave him several suggestions and the man said that he had tried everything he had suggested. Finally, the doctor told him, "There is still another solution for your sickness. Go see Garrick the Clown. He'll make you laugh so that you will forget all your suffering. The man answered and doctor and said. 'That is indeed a very good remedy, doctor, but change it. I am Garrick. ' " How many people wander throughout the world smiling on the outside but crying on the inside, even people who are very successful in life. Let's go back to our Bible verse.When the Apostle John says to Gaius in v.1, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth," he means precisely that. John is telling Gaius to prosper in everything he doesphysically, materially, economically and above all, spiritually. You see, your soul needs to prosper in order for your health and finances to prosper also. God is more concerned about your soul than anything else.

There's a Spanish chorus that says, "To lose your possessions is too much; to lose your health is even worse; but to lose your soul is such a loss because it will never be recovered." Yes, God wants to prosper you, but He's more concerned about your soul than your physical condition and your secular prosperity. If your soul prospers, everything else in your life will prosper. There is an admonition in Ezekiel 18.4, says, "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." Feed your soul daily with the Word of God. Read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize some Bible verses, pray to God daily. He loves you and wants to help you in everything you do. Give God a chance to prove His love for you. Let the year 2007 be the year when you will experience God's blessings to the maximum. Come on! You can do it. God is on your side.

Conquer yesterday!

Pastor: Josué Mora
Address 7907 Stagecoach Dr.
San Antonio Texas, 78227

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