ARE YOU LIKE POPEYE?

#1) Is this all you’ll ever be?

A) How many of you remember the Popeye cartoon?

- I believe Popeye was a very defeated and sad person.

- His most famous saying is, “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.”

- I’m afraid to many of God’s children have this same idea of themselves.

If you think you’re beaten, you are.
If you dare not try something, you wont.
If you like to win, but think you can't, it’s likely you wont.
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve already lost.

- Are you like Popeye, is you’re motto “I am what I am and that’s all that I am?”

- This isn’t God’s desire for you at all, God wants much more for us.

B) 1 Corinthians 15:10 Popeye and Paul were absolute opposites of one another.

- Popeye is a defeated personality and Paul is a victorious personality, Popeye is depressed Paul is filled with God’s great joy.

- Paul mentions God’s grace three times in this one verse.

- I want us to consider each time Paul mentioned grace in this single verse.

- First Paul realizes that it is God’s grace alone that has made him what he now is.

- When Paul says, “I am what I am”, Paul’s referring to his being a CHILD OF THE KING.

- How often do you think of yourself in that respect?

- God’s word says we are sons and daughters of God the creator.

- If you want to be happy and overjoyed think of whom Gods grace has made you.

- If you’re here today and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your savior you can also be a child of the King.

C) Secondly Paul then says he knows that this grace was not bestowed upon him in vain.

- God shed upon us His grace so that we could be saved and enjoy the wonderful gift of Jesus.

- God hasn’t saved us so that we would live a depressed life but a joy filled life.

- My prayer is that who I am right now isn’t who I will be a year from now.

- Paul says in Romans 12:2 that we should not be conformed by this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

- God’s grace isn’t bestowed upon the saved in vain but so that we can become a new creature, a new person.

- For Paul God’s grace completely changed him.

D) Thirdly Paul realizes that it is God’s grace that has labored to make Paul a new joy filled creature.

- Paul no longer believed “I am what I am and that’s all that I am”, he know has a new understanding.

- Paul’s new understanding is; Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

- We need to also have this same understanding as Paul did.

#2) His glory is greater than you’re gloom.

A) We must stop believing that this is all that I am, that this is all I can be, God has much more in store for us.

- 1 Peter 5:8-10 Gods will is for us to be perfect, established, strengthened and settled.

- This is what God wants us to be, He doesn’t want us stuck in a rut of self-defeat.

- God wants us to be overjoyed with our savior.

- God wants us to realize that we can be and do anything for the cause of Christ.

B) Romans 8:28-29 If you’re saved you are destined by God to be like Jesus, we should try right now to be like Him.

- Don’t you want to believe that through Jesus you can do all things?

- Don’t you want to drop that attitude of “this is all I’ll ever be?”

- God’s trying to give us a victorious life; all we must do is take it.

C) You have one of two choices.

- One is to be content with living the life of “this is it, this is all I can be.”

- The second is to grab hold of all God’s put before you and live in light of God’s power.

- Psalms 118:19
Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them,
and I will praise the Lord:

- This morning God has opened a gate before you, a gate to righteousness and victory.

- Will you walk through that gate today?

- For some this may mean receiving Jesus as you’re savior.

- For the saved it may be realizing that I can be better tomorrow by God’s power than I am today.

- God has opened a gate for you today, what will you do?