Eating that delicious slice of cake:

1

• Eating that delicious slice of cake
• 3 minutes of satisfaction

2

• Watching the must-see movie
• 2 hours of satisfaction

3

• The premature relationship that
• ended with a broken heart
• 6 months of satisfaction

4

• Discovering that right now
• your satisfaction can only be found in
• Christ priceless

5

• There are some things that satisfy you now. For
  everything else, theres the Masters card

6
Delayed Gratification

• When is the right time?

7
The point here is

• As a Christian I should discipline myself to wait
  for a later prize and not go for instant worldly
  gratification because of 3 truths
• There is a time for everything
• Later is the attitude of a mature person, Now
  is the attitude of a child
• Gods plan unfolds over time but it is the BEST
  plan for me

8
Now or Later?

• Its a fact of life that there is a time for
  everything
• Ecclesiastes 31-8

9

• There is a time for everything,        and a
  season for every activity under heaven  
• a time to be born and a time to die,        a
  time to plant and a time to uproot,
• a time to kill and a time to heal,        a
  time to tear down and a time to build,
• a time to weep and a time to laugh,        a
  time to mourn and a time to dance,
• a time to scatter stones and a time to gather
  them,        a time to embrace and a time to
  refrain,
• a time to search and a time to give up,       
  a time to keep and a time to throw away,
• a time to tear and a time to mend,        a
  time to be silent and a time to speak,
• a time to love and a time to hate,        a
  time for war and a time for peace

10
Now or Later?

• You cant eat fruit off a tree before the fruit
  is ripe and ready
• If you do eat it, it tastes sour and bitter, and
  you dont enjoy it to its full potential

11
Now or Later?

• Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead
• Mary and Martha were worried and wanted Jesus to
  come NOW
• Jesus waited for a LATER time because it was done
  for the glory of God
• Salvation for Adam
• God was patient in granting salvation
• If salvation was given directly after the fall,
  its value would be diminished

12
Now or Later?

• A Child who doesnt get what he/she wants NOW
  will cry and will feel like he/she cant wait.
• LATER is the attitude of a mature person

13
NOW NOW NOW!!!!!

• We tend to think that we know whats good for us
  NOW and we dont want to wait
• Its a fast-paced world and being patient is hard
• What some people dont realize is that the person
  you are NOW isnt the person you will be LATER
• Youre not the same person you were 10 years ago,
  and you wont be the same person
• 10 years from now

14
Relying on Gods plan

• How many of us spend our nights worrying about
  what will happen tomorrow?
• Matthew 634
• Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
  tomorrow will worry about
• itself. Each day has
• enough trouble of its
• own.

15
Relying on Gods plan

• King David
• He was anointed to be king at a very young age
  yet he did not receive the kingdom until he was
  much older
• If he had said, I want the kingdom NOW, Saul
  might have killed him
• Instead, he was patient because he knew that God
  had a much better plan for him

16
Relying on Gods plan

• Joseph
• Potiphars wife
• Joseph was a slave and was in a bad position
• Joseph remained patient and relied on Gods plan
  for his FUTURE
• Proverbs 169
• A mans heart plans his way,       But the LORD
  directs his steps

17
Marshmallow Experiment

• Walter Mischel the marshmallow test

18
Focusing on God Now!

• NOW is the time to do metanias
• Take advantage of your youth
• Focus on QUALITY time with God

19
Focusing on God Now!

• Build your relationship with God first, and all
  other relationships will fall into place
• TRUST that God has a plan for you which is much
  better than you can ever imagine
• Take the time to know God, and through this you
  will know yourself

20
Keep Working Look Ahead

• I keep working toward that day when I will
  finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and
  wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I
  am still not all I should be, but I am focusing
  all my energies on this one thing Forgetting the
  past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I
  strain to reach the end of the race and receive
  the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is
  calling us up to heaven. Philippians 312-14

21
Therefore

• As a Christian I should discipline myself to wait
  for a later prize and not go for instant worldly
  gratification because of 3 truths
• There is a time for everything
• Later is the attitude of a mature person, Now
  is the attitude of a child
• Gods plan unfolds over time but it is the BEST
  plan for me

22
Lets recap

• Religious or Spiritual
• How am I attached?
• Whos the boss
• Delayed gratification

23
1. Spiritual or Religious
Spiritual discipline

• Helps us effectively run the race

• Focusing our spiritual goals

• Making us spiritually fit

• Striping away the nonessentials

24
2. How attached am I?

• We should NOT love the world because
• If we love the world, we dont love God
• If we love the world, we will perish with the
  world
• If we love God instead of the world, we will do
  Gods will and live with God forever.

25
3. Obeying Gods Authority?

• Every Christian should accept being under
  authority for 3 simple reasons
• There is authority no matter where we go, that is
  a fact of life
• We are under authority because we are not perfect
• Straying from authority is a result of pride and
  pride leads to loss

26
4. Delayed Gratification

• As a Christian I should discipline myself to wait
  for a later prize and not go for instant worldly
  gratification because of 3 truths
• There is a time for everything
• Later is the attitude of a mature person, Now
  is the attitude of a child
• Gods plan unfolds over time but it is the BEST
  plan for me