You Have To Get God Right. Here's How.

Don't be intimidated. We're going to read this chunk now. And um, I, I spent with the introduction, uh, laying down the ground rules of the very book of Proverbs. And so today, as we look to this, by God's grace, and I'm looking at the clock, uh, verses, uh, 1-19 today. And so I'll pick verse one. If you guys would read out loud verse number two all the way down to verse 19. Uh, it goes this way.

The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, >> to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, >> to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity, >> to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. >> A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel >> to understand a proverb and an enema. the words of the wise and their riddles. >> The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. >> My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother. >> For they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. >> My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. >> If they say, "Come, let us lie and wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. >> Let us swallow them alive like sh and the whole down to the pits. >> We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. >> Cast in your lot among us. Let us all have one curse. >> My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path. For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. >> Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. >> But they lie and wait for their own blood. They l secretly for their own lives. >> So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owner.

Father, we pray that you, by the power of your Holy Spirit, the word of God open before us. We seek to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. And God, we thank you that our ultimate goal is to be wise in this world until we get to heaven. So Lord, make us a wise people, a Bible people. And Lord, we pray that we would be transformed today. And Lord, obviously, this is a very, very practical book. And we pray Lord that from the oldest among us to the youngest among us that all of us Lord would experience the supernatural deposit, the uh bestowing of the spirit of God in this area of wisdom. We ask in Jesus name and all God's people said >> amen. You may be seated.

Today's message is titled getting God right. Getting God right. The Bible says, and listen to this. Not only does the Bible say if you have uh any sense of perception whatsoever, uh, you can agree with this that um, the things that God has assembled together uh, speak about God knowing what he's doing. Uh, look at nature, look at creation. Uh, God knows what he's doing. Even if even though it's fallen, you and I live in a fallen world. There's death and mayhem. But with all of that fallen uh witness that you and I experience, uh, you and I know no matter who we are, you can be an atheist right now. You know right from wrong. You know good from evil. And how do you know that? You know that because God has put that in your heart. Even though you may not even believe in God, God has put within you. The Bible tells us a sense of morality that he's written his rules upon your heart. You have been created in the image of God. the Bible says. And this is vitally important. And by way of uh, us diving in uh, to our time together in this uh, portion of the book of Proverbs, chapter 1, we want to make note that we all get the definition of wisdom down one final time. And of course, we'll hear it throughout the entire book. Look at the Greek word uh, if your name is Sophia, that is the Greek word for wisdom. That's beautiful, isn't it? Sophia. Wisdom. Sophie. a skill at being wise. The word means the ability to use knowledge. A right. That's a good way to remember it. That wisdom is the proper use of knowledge. You can have, as we mentioned last week, you can you can have all the PhDs and all the knowledge, but if you don't have wisdom, you will use that information, you know, wrong. We know a lot about that in our world today. a God- ordained ability to both learn and to apply what has been given, learned, taught. And that's the definition the Bible tells us.

By the way, when the church was just getting started in Jerusalem, look what God said. The church is just getting started. Uh, people by the thousands, by the way, are coming to be uh, believers in Acts chapter 6:3. By the way, the backstory to this is there's so many people attending church and there's ministry taking place and uh, the disciples are be the apostles are being asked uh, you know, can you guys take out the trash? Can you study? Can you pray? Can you give sermons? Can you mop the car uh, mop the floor? Uh, can you clean the windows? Can you preach a me? AND THEY SAID, "WAIT A MINUTE. WE'RE CHRISTIANS. WE'RE GOING TO GIVE OURSELVES TO PRAYER AND STUDY. WILL PREACH AND BUT SOME OF YOU NEED TO DO SOME OF THIS OTHER WORK." That's why, by the way, this church is so healthy because so many people do all the work of this church. >> I'M JUST A BIG MOUSE standing up here teaching the Bible. Listen, God could use a donkey. And my name's Jack. I'm halfway there. Uh, it's the Bible that will transform you. You're the church. You're the one doing the doing. I'm the one that's called to equip. You guys make it happen. It's amazing. But look at this. This is what the scripture says regarding those who are going to wait on tables. So we need guys to wait on tables. Acts chapter uh, 6:3 says, "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men good of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and what? >> Wisdom." Wow. All that just as uh, wait on tables in the Bible. But you know what? That's great because God would have from us our very best. Here's the great thing. We present ourselves to God and he gives us the very best. You and I cannot offer up anything to God that is the very best. But when the Holy Spirit gets a hold of us, he infuses into us the very attributes of God's work that needs to be done for that very task. I don't need to get into this. You can look at it later. But did you know when the temple was being built in Jerusalem, the Bible says for example, the Holy Spirit came upon Bezale. He was a guy and God gave him the spirit of wisdom to be a stone cutter. >> The Bible also says that there were the women of Israel WHO THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAME UPON THEM AND GAVE them wisdom to do the embroidering. Can you imagine the Holy Spirit comes upon a woman to embroider things that I'm guessing I'm thinking it's not a stretch must have been amazing. Something about it was done so well like the temple and all things involving it that God did through people by empowering them. It's absolutely awesome.

So as we dive into this, you saw the introduction part. Some of this will be familiar. Getting God right is this is being in awe of God. Can you write that down? The number one place that we begin, we talk about wisdom, we talk about knowledge, we talk about uh, knowing God and the fear of God. What where do we begin? Verses 1-7 is being in the in awe of God. We have to nurture that. And we get to do that by the way if we apply ourselves. And getting God right is becoming a rarity in the world uh, in which you and I live in. A lot of misunderstandings about God. Getting God rights. A lot of people relegate God down to feelings or emotions, and that's not who God is. A lot of people think that they can make up theology. Can't do that either. God has revealed to us his word, the Bible. And um, this week I'm going to probably overdo it, but I I was infused with excitement all week long as I watched the astronauts again as they have obviously successfully returned and now they're on a media tour and the things that they're saying. Are you following these guys? Are you hearing what they're saying? I tell you what, we we thank God for uh, Victor Glover, the commander of that uh, ship. And you guys know he's a born again believer and he's the one that gave the Easter greeting from space and uh, right before he was catapulted off this earth uh, into space uh, uh, tweeted that everybody needs Jesus if you're in space or if you're on earth. Uh, and by the way, I got to meet part of his family. THEY CAME TO CHURCH on that Sunday. I didn't know that. I didn't know they were coming. But uh, they they came here and I got to meet them. Uh, he's a he's a local guy and uh, QUITE AMAZING. BUT HIS WITNESS HAS SH HAS SPREAD TO OTHERS. And they were in that one press conference. And I forget who the other astronaut was, but the other ASTRONAUT SAID, "WELL, I'M NOT A MAN OF FAITH. I'M NOT A I'M NOT A A CHRISTIAN, BUT WHEN WE GOT OUT THERE AND THE SPACESHIP TURNED AROUND AND WE LOOKED BACK AT EARTH, I'VE CONCLUDED THIS. Uh, NONE OF THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED BY AN ACCIDENT." >> That was HIS TEST. HE'S A scientist and he's he's honest ENOUGH TO SAY, "I'M NOT A BELIEVER YET, BUT I KNOW THIS. the stuff I believed previously. AS SOON AS THAT SPACESHIP TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED BACK AT EARTH, something changed within me. And then of course, the next line was V from Victor. Uh, he says, "Well, I am a believer and this is what I believe." And and I love that. I love that being in awe of God will completely affect your life in a great way.

Number one, mark it down this way. It's found in verses 1-4. And that is getting uh, God right and being in awe of God is by is for you and I to consider who he is. Obviously, where do we start is that we get to know God. We've got to know God. The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. And here it comes. To know wisdom and instruction and to perceive the words of understanding. All of these things are given to us by God. Watch this. Verse three. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity. All the things all the things that our world says they care about. Have you noticed that? WE WANT JUSTICE. WE WANT EQUITY. NO. NO. ACTUALLY, YOU DON'T. YOU'RE YOU USING THE SAME WORDS, BUT YOU'RE USING A DIFFERENT DICTIONARY. >> God is the one who will determine equity, justice, understanding. Listen, this is God's universe. We're only visiting. >> We're not here for a long time. >> God's eternal. And there's going to be a day when he sets his plans in order and redeems and reclaims. But how do I become? That'd be a good question is how do I become more in awe of God? Start with this. Genesis 1 verse one. We all know it. But do we meditate on it? In the beginning that is of the physical universe, all things physical, God created. God bless you. Thank you for coming today. Have a great Sunday. That's enough. >> IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED. AMEN. >> You listen, you get past Genesis 1:1, the rest of the Bible's downhill. >> He created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. By the way, this is fun. The light that God created over the physical universe predates the creation of the sun. Why? God is >> light. Awesome. Remarkable considering the awe of God. We're going to go through some things. You guys okay? You ready for this? >> Job chapter 28. You can't talk about the awe of God with without going to the book of Job. And for good reason. You know, poor Job. Uh, you know, we say poor Job and none of us would want to go through what he went through. But we want to be as close to God as he was, but without paying the price. Of course, God used the man Job because he could. He was usable to teach Satan a lesson. Every time I think about the book of Job, I have to ask myself, how willing am I to be a true witness for God in anything? If God were to ask us this morning, "Do you love me?" WE WOULD ALL STAND UP AND SAY, "YES, WE LOVE YOU." AND THEN GOD SAYS, "OKAY, GREAT. I'M SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT I DID WITH JOB?" "YES, I KNOW. I READ THE BOOK. I'M GOING TO do the same thing with you." "YEAH, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT." REALLY? Can you ask the first question all over again? Don't you think that's how Peter felt when Jesus said, "Do you love me, Peter?" "UH, YES. FEED MY SHEEP. DO YOU LOVE ME, PETER? YES. MORE THAN THESE FISH? YES. DO YOU LOVE ME, PETER? YES. FEED MY SHEEP. AND THEN PETER SAID, LORD, WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING ME THIS? YOU KNOW THAT I FILEO YOU. I PHILADELPHIA YOU. PETER WAS BUSTED. PETER WAS CONFESSING, "MY LOVE FOR YOU IS ABOUT AS BEST AS I HAVE FOR MY BROTHER." THAT'S ABOUT THAT'S ABOUT AS BIG AS IT IS. PETER'S CONFESSION SHOULD BE OUR CONFESSION. LORD, I LOVE YOU, BUT I NEED TO LOVE YOU MORE. AMEN. >> How does that happen? Be in an awe of God. God alone understands the way of wisdom. He knows where it can be found. For he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. He, that's God, decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall. Think of that. He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning. Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in a place and examined it thoroughly. And this is what he says to all humanity. The fear of the Lord is true worship. To forsake evil is real understanding. Those things go hand in hand. You know, and the next passage, we'll jump to the next one. It's Job 37. Watch this. Pay attention to this. Job, stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God. Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds? I love when God talks like that. In other words, none of it's an accident. None of it's an accident. Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill? Translation. If God wants to move water so that it rains in Colorado or the Sierra Nevada or Chino Hills, how does God do it? God, listen, God brings water up from the ocean, right? He separates fresh water from salt. He raises it up and he puts it into a cloud. And then he sends wind and he moves the cloud. Think about it. AND AN AIRPLANE CAN FLY THROUGH THROUGH THE CLOUD no problem. And then at THE FINGER SNAP OF GOD, the condensation takes place to such a level that the cloud can dump millions of tons of water THAT YOU CAN WEIGH. IT CAN EVEN BE A FLOOD. HOW DO YOU FLOAT SOMETHING OVER SOMEWHERE AND THEN CREATE A FLOOD? YOU EVER STOP TO THINK ABOUT THE AWE OF GOD? HE'S AWESOME IS WHERE we get that from. Amen. >> If God wants it to rain in the desert, he just floats the rain over and then drops it. That's our God. All of a sudden, he ought to be, Listen, we ought to be in awe of him because he can take care of our lives. Even when we as his children get in trouble, I think about uh, you say, "Well, that's great. I DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT GOD FLOATING A CLOUD OVER THE DESERT. I CAN'T MAKE MY MORTGAGE PAYMENT." Friend, listen. If God can take care of your sins on the cross and float a cloud of water over the desert, turn to God. Give it all to him and he will begin to do a work where that's no longer a problem. And I don't know what that means for you, but he'll work with you. He doesn't give up. He doesn't quit. Verse 17. When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wet or sana winds blow and everything is still, he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Did you know that is a scientific fact right there? Atheist, agnostic, doubters. Take take a picture of verse 18. That is literally a meteorological scientific fact. How did Job know that? Well, God's the one speaking here, so he knows it. So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments. Should God be notified that we want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused? Verse 21. We cannot look at the sun for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds. Verse 22. So also golden splendor comes from the mountain of God who is clothed in dazzling splendor. We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty. But even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us. No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence. And all God's people said, >> Job 38, this is my favorite. WHEN THE LORD ANSWERED Job from the whirlwind, this is what he said. Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? You imagine, Lord, speak to me. Lord, SPEAK TO ME. WHO ARE YOU speaking to me in such ignorant words? Did that make you feel about that big? Brace yourself like a man because I have some questions for you and you must answer. Wow. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me. I like verse four because when people tell me that the earth is 400 trillion billion quadillion years old, here's what I here's what I ask them. How do you know? Were you there? It's a big guess, you know. All the science has applied. By the way, side note, you can't get the scientists to agree on the age of the Earth. Did you know that? The the the astrophysicists say that the universe is much younger than what we thought. And the geoysicists say, "No, it's much older. It's got to be older." Some people argue that the Earth is older than everything else because what's on the Earth is so complex. No, no other body that's observable has complex life like we do. So, if you're going to have an evolutionary THEORY, IT'S GOT TO BE SUPER OLD. older than Jupiter, older than Venus. No, no, YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT. THIS GROUP BEGINS TO ARGUE WITH THAT GROUP. And the Christians in the middle, we we never got degrees in physics. We just said, you know what? God said, he did it. And Job, you weren't there. So, how do you know? Wow. So, where were you when it was I laid the foundations there? Tell me if you know so much. Uh, you determined its dimensions or or who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? Uh, what supports its foundations and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang? That's a reference to angels together. And all the angels shouted for joy. Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb and as a clo as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness. For I locked it behind barred gates. Watch this. Limiting its shores. Think of that. The vast ocean and you can go down to Newport or Huntington and stand at the beach right there. And God says, waves, you can go that far. Great ocean. You can go that far, but you can't go past there. You stay right there. We take these things for granted. Verse 11. and said, "Thus far and no further you uh will you come here. Your proud waves must stop. Have you ever commanded the morning uh to appear and cause the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth?" Oh, wow. You guys, we're look, this is a book that's over 3,000 years old. Listen to this. science to bring an end to the night's wickedness. As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal. It is robed in brilliant colors. The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? Do you know, by the way, you know that more water comes from under the sea up into the sea, that's fresh water, than we've ever imagined. And here, the Bible told us 3,000 years ago, DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE GATES OF DEATH ARE LOCATED? Have you seen the gutters of or the the gates of uh, utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know. Verse 19, where does light come from? And where does darkness go? Isn't that neat? Darkness, by the way, never puts an end to light ever in any realm. In all of physics, darkness never puts light out. >> Amen. >> That's why you can have, listen, you could imagine if you had a little candle that was burning darkness, black. Imagine the flame being black. It would not quench the light. But if you have a little candle that's light, it invades the darkness. >> That's awesome. Um, verse 20. Can you take uh, each to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all this for you were born before it was all created and you are so very experienced. Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? I have reserved them as weapons for the day of trouble or the time of trouble. Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind? Who created a channel for the torrent of rain? Who laid out the path for lightning? Who makes the rain to fall on barren land and in the desert where no one lives? Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew? Who is the mother of of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? Verse 30, for the water turns to ice as hard as rock and the surface of the water freezes. God says he does all this stuff. >> He does all this stuff. I I didn't I didn't load the picture. I didn't want to show you guys without Lisa's permission, but this this weekend, Lisa, I got a picture of Lisa. She's sitting in the chair. She's got her robe on and just sticking out of there, sticking right at the top of her robe just below her earlobe is a little two-day old duck. A little duck that was wandering around and that thing just wanted to just be right there and I pulled it away and I put it back to her neck and it's just like you look at that stuff AND IT'S LIKE WOW this is amazing. Everything that God does is amazing. >> Why do we worry about stuff? Why why do we fret? AND LISTEN, WHY NOT EMBRACE the wisdom of God? He did all these things, taking care of it. We study what God has done because to us it's a mystery. Final thing with Job, I think for the rest of the day is Job 40 verses 3 and 4. Then then Job ANSWERED THE LORD AND SAID, "BEHOLD, I'M VILE. WHAT SHALL I ANSWER YOU? I LAY MY HEAD OR HAND OVER MY MOUTH. But God had told them, "I'M GOING TO ASK YOU QUESTIONS and you're going to answer me." And Job Job says, "I can't do that." THAT'S AN AWE OF GOD. FRIENDS, WE NEED TO BREAK OUT OF OUR CYBER WORLD AND WE NEED TO GET TO THE RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON AGAIN. TAKE A VACATION, TAKE A TRIP, CLIMB A MOUNTAIN, CLIMB A TREE, >> GO DOWN TO THE SHORES OF THE SEA, CRACK OPEN THE BOOK OF JOB, AND GIVE GOD THANKS. AMEN. >> You you realize that the the respect and the awe of his greatness.

The other thing is this in being in awe of God is verses 5 to 6 and that is remembering who we are. We need to remember who we are. The Bible tells us that we are just dust. Which by the way again figure that one out. We didn't find out till thousands and thousands of years later through scientific DISCOVERY THAT WE ARE DUST. Humans are made out of dust. Isn't that something? We're rearranged than that dirt claw that's outside your window at home, but we're made of the same stuff. Have you ever noticed, you guys? You ever thought this through? Get ready. I told my granddaughter of this and she goes, quote, "That's deep." Have you noticed evolutionists will say, "Look, everything is evolved BECAUSE WHEN EVERYTHING IS EMBRYONIC, IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME." Have you seen an embryonic dolphin? Have you seen an embryonic monkey? Have you seen an embryonic human? Have you seen an embryonic elephant? They all look the same. THE EVOLUTIONIST WHO SAYS THERE'S NO GOD LOOKS AT THAT AND SAYS, "WE'RE ALL THE SAME. WE'VE ALL COME FROM THE SAME." EXCUSE ME. THAT DOESN'T PROVE YOUR POINT. THAT PROVES MY POINT. >> My point is he's the same architect. He's the same designer. He starts out this way, but just because that thing is really little doesn't mean it turns in from an elephant to a human. >> It doesn't go from a lizard to me. It's the signature of God. >> This is in fact every every Ford car that comes out of Ford, they may be different looking cars, but they got the Ford logo. Listen, GOD'S WORK HAS GOT HIS FINGERPRINT on it. It can be a bird or it can be a whale or it can be you. God's the design architect and he brings it forth. Remember who we are. We are created in the image of God, but we are fallen creatures and we need to get back to him. That's why Jesus came to bring us back to him.

The Bible says in verses or Proverbs 1:es 5 and 6, a wise man will hear and increase learning. I hope you I hope you want to learn something new every day. I hope I hope that describes you. If not, change that today. Learn something new every day. And a man a man of understanding will attain wise counsel. Don't listen to your own counsel. You know when you get together with you yourself and or me myself and I and we have a meeting, we always wind up concluding that this is what I want to do. And uh, the majority wins, which is always in my favor. Watch out for that. Talk to other godly people. Of course, the ultimate answer after you seek counsel is taking it before the Lord. That verse six goes on to say to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. So how do I become this person regarding the awe of God? That's where we begin. Because the wisdom and the knowledge comes from a God. A God who is one who we are aruck by. Your instructions come from your creator. He knows exactly what to do with your life. You and I do not. This is a humbling statement. We have taught ourselves to become so dependent upon ourselves. Well, aren't we celebrating America's 250th birthday of independence? I think you might want to read our founding documents over. They all speak about God. From the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution, God is the one who's at the epicenter. And above all things, God is. I wish we had the time to play that clip when Ben Franklin informed Congress. How is it that we've got to this place without consulting WITH OUR GOOD FRIEND IN heaven who got us through the war and now we think we can pull it off? He said, with human ingenuity. He said, I think we need to stop and pray. Ben Franklin. The Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 14:12, by the way, you're going to find out many times through this book, we're going to have to borrow from Proverbs to explain Proverbs, which is a good thing. By by the way, people, the Bible should always be the commentary on the Bible. Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." You know, we can get out there and start doing the what we think is the with the the right thing to do with the best intentions and it's the way of death. I pray for our nation as you are praying. Have you forgotten we're at war? >> Hundreds of thousands of our young people are in harm's way and we don't know how this is going to go. Now, right now, I would imagine I'd get push back from people who are saying, "That's ridiculous. We're the most strongest army on the face of the earth." That's the problem. We claim to believe in God, BUT IF WE TRUST IN OUR OWN STRENGTH, THE God who we claim to believe in, listen, if we do believe in him will humble us. >> There's nothing wrong with having the greatest military might on the face of the earth. BUT IF WE GO INTO military activity without God's blessing, it will end in demise. I pray that our our nation will be led by God. >> Yes, God governs in the affairs of men, but it's also equally true that when we call out to him, now I think, is it today or tomorrow? Someday, whatever day, President Trump is going to be reading 2 Chronicles chapter 7. You know, it's the Is today the day? Is it the today? The Bible reading day >> and Trump's going to read from 2 Chronicles 7. I was told if that if that's true, I pray God speaks to him >> and that we walk humbly and rather than carry a big stick, we walk humbly before our God >> as a nation. >> AND MAY GOD GIVE US VICTORY FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. >> NONE, nobody likes wars. You'd be an idiot if you liked wars. That's why we want the Prince of Peace to return. >> But there will be wars. Jesus said there's going to be more wars, but in this world until Christ comes, God actually uses war to establish nations and to take nations away. We just need to be careful as Americans. We think America will always be. We need to be a nation that follows God.

I want to show you this just just to have you know that I'm not making this up. It came from this uh September 2nd, 2024 uh post, 10 steps to making decisions you'll never regret. This is from Psychology Today. I thought I'd throw this out there. We're going to be talking a lot in this book about psychology, human psychology. And uh, with that, I want to read you this quote. Are you guys okay? >> Okay. Each day, this is from the article, you can read it yourself later. Each day we make hundreds of decisions uh that all shape our reality, identity, and story. Too often we are oblivious to the feelings, thoughts, emotions, and sensations that drive our actions. This is not a Christian publication. I'm telling you, mindful decision making requires pausing and following these 10 steps. I I I agree with that part. But let's watch because listen friends, the Bible tells us that there's a wisdom of this world that is very, very displeasing to God. And then there's the wisdom that's given to us from above. I hope I I speak for all of us from here over to here that we want the wisdom of God. >> Okay, watch this 10 10 things that author gave us. So number one is this uh number one is make time and clear your mind. So I I it's man says or I wanted to survey says make time and clear your mind. All right. Bible says Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and he SHALL STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART. WAIT, I SAY on the Lord." >> OKAY. SO PSYCHOLOGY CAN ONLY TAKE YOU SO FAR. Psychology will never mention God. But psychology knows enough that you need to clear your mind. YOU CAN CLEAR YOUR MIND. LISTEN, WHAT'S INSIDE THERE? NOTHING. You can hear crickets. God says no. Wait on me and I'm going to strengthen your heart. Number two survey says identify the challenge before you. Know what you want to achieve. Hello. Most of the time we as humans know we want to achieve based upon what we want. But how do we know that what we want is what God wants? Bible says Jeremiah 29:11, God says, "I for I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." All God's people said amen to that, right? Survey says, number three, determine goals both short and long-term. Okay, nothing wrong with that. But how are you going to do that without God? Bible says Proverbs 3:es 5 and 6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths." That's way better. That's way better. Number four survey says, "Get smart." Some of us are old enough to remember get smart. Who was anything but smart? Bible says Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principle thing. Therefore, get wisdom and in all you're getting, get understanding." You can be I don't remember we talked about this last week. I don't care how smart you are. It doesn't h that doesn't save my life. You being wise can save my life and your life and the whole group. There's a lot of smart people doing very bad things with their smarts. Yes. >> But if you're wise, you will not do bad things. >> Survey says number five, acknowledge your biases. We all have them. It's true. That's why I can't trust myself. I was talking to somebody recently. I don't I don't remember where, but I I reminded them of something or I told them what I always have to remind myself. I'm the worst part about me. I am my greatest danger. Oh, Satan is going to Satan. Satan. Sure. But hey, here's the deal. I think Satan is saying, "Let's just let Jack make his own decisions for a while. This would be great for us. If I'm thinking on my own, it's a disaster. Lord, what do you want to do?" So, yeah, we have our biases. Our biases are always self-leaning. And people say, "I disagree with you because I hate myself, pastor. I just hate it's I'm not biased. I hate myself. I hate myself so much. I I wish I didn't live anymore. I hate myself. Why? I'm so ugly. I don't have any I If you hate yourself for these reasons, you should be happy about it. If you hate yourself for these reasons, think about it. If you hate yourself, that means you're saying about yourself, I deserve nothing good, nothing right. I should be ugly, mean, and gross because I hate myself. It's a dog take chasing the tail. Stop with your bias and realize this. Even while we WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. >> LISTEN, BEFORE YOU EVER KNEW HIM, he knew you. before you were ever born. He knew he knew all about you and he loves you anyway. Spurgeon said, the great Charles SPURGEON SAID, "I'M SO GLAD THAT GOD CALLED ME INTO HIS FAMILY before I was ever born because he wouldn't have called me after I was born." Of course, he was joking because that's not biblical theology, but it was cute. Matthew 6:32 and 33 says, "These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. But your heavenly father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously." That mean that simply means do the right thing and he will give you everything you need. >> Survey says number six, take stock of your values. All right, that's nice. But your values different than my values. But God's values never change. Galatians 5:1 16 starts by saying, I say, then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lust against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another. Lord, I want to walk in the spirit. >> My values, I don't trust them. My values can change. God never changes. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. >> Survey says number seven, explore your options. Now, that's a great thing. That's great counsel. Explore your options. That's good. But listen, again, without godly guidance, it could be a disaster. What if your options all What if all your options are very, very limited? Bible says in Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Here it is. Here, this is the awe of God. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Here's what happens when the world says, "Well, you've got options on this." And the Christian drives the world nuts because the Christian goes like this. Thank you very much for that information. Those are my options. Yes, those are your options. I tell you what, I'll get back to you tomorrow. I'm going to pray about it. >> I remember being very, very young, about 22 years old, and I was offered a job that was way beyond me, but I was offered a job by a global corporation. It was amazing. 100 or 200,000 employees just But they said, "You're the right man for this job." I didn't I didn't believe so. I didn't think so. But there all these other people were applying for the job and all these people were being interviewed. Uh, the series of interviews would have killed most people. The only reason why I survived it is because I didn't think they were going to hire me. So I didn't take it seriously. In fact, at the end, six hours of total interviews at the end at the end I said uh and he and the well his name was Mark. He said, "Okay." And so that's it. And uh, I said, "That's it." So are we all done? >> Yeah, we're done. And I said, "Okay, well, here's actually the reason why we've been having these interviews. Has nothing to do with this job because I'm not qualified for this job. It must be because God wants me to tell you about his son, Jesus Christ." And I told him up one side, down the other, that guy sat there and then his response was this. I used to go to church. >> I don't go anymore. I got hired. I got hired. I was there 13 years. We became friends and he wound up accepting Christ and HE'S BEEN WALKING WITH JESUS. And so here's your option. AND SO LISTEN, BUT I I looked at the punch line. The punch line was this. He said, "You're hired." And I said, "I'm going to pray about it with my WITH MY WIFE, LISA." WHAT? So then they called the next day. Mr. Hibbs. That's how nice of the place it was. Mr. Hibs, who me? Mr. Melanch has made his decision. He'd like you to make uh, your your decision. And I said, "We're still praying about it. There are people in line to get this job. >> I knew I wasn't supposed to have it. Then it became super obvious. I got to trust God because all these other people that are super qualified and I'm not, they want me to take this position. when I took the position. The rest of that, I'll tell you some other day. It was insane. For 13 years, it was amazing. I cried the day that I left. I left. The day that I resigned, I cried all the way home because it was such an amazing ministry. Because what happened here was this church was growing and I couldn't do both jobs. It was KILLING ME. WHAT'S YOUR OPTIONS? I'M NOT INTO OPTIONS ANYMORE. GOD, I AM GONNA STAND HERE AND YOU SHOW ME WHAT TO DO. I'M GONNA DO THE GIDEON THING. I'M GONNA LAY OUT THE FLEECE. I'M GONNA GO THIS WAY, THAT WAY, THIS WAY, ALL KINDS OF WAYS. GOD, I LOVE GIDEON. PEOPLE MAKE FUN OF HIM. YOU SHOULD NEVER MAKE FUN OF GIDEON. LORD, IF YOU WANT ME TO DO THIS, MAKE THE SHEEP SKIN WET IN the morning and then it's wet. LORD, TOMORROW MORNING MAKE IT DRY. AND THEN IT'S DRY. AND THEN HE SAYS, CAN YOU MAKE IT DRY AND WET? WET, DRY, DRY, WET. AND GOD DOES ALL OF THAT. YOU KNOW WHAT? GIDEON JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHAT GOD WANTED. I LOVE THAT MAN. DON'T YOU? >> BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. THE BIBLE SAYS, "WAIT upon him. YOU'LL NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME." Survey says number eight, "Consider the consequences of each action." That's that's good. Psalm 39 139:23 says, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties and see if there's any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Wow. Survey says number 10. Check in over time if appropriate. If appropriate. >> Oh, nine. Oh, I wanted to Did I skip nine? >> Oh, I wanted to get to 10. make your decision and commit to taking action. Um Psalm 32:8, listen to how beautiful this is. God says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will guide you with my eye." I love that. Are you I mean, this is the starting point of awe and then you already know 10 check in over time. I'm so glad we don't have to do that as believers. Excuse me, God. I'll check in with you in a few weeks. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 1:17, please get this everybody. Pray without ceasing. >> You know what that means? So, how am I going to go to work? How am I going to eat if I'm just praying all the time? That's not what it means. It means you live your life and your think about think about your dish like like like your radar, your TV thing or a television station or SpaceX. Think about your head having a dish on it in contact with God constantly talking. WHERE ARE YOU? I'M AT WORK. WHERE ARE YOU AT THE BEACH? WHERE ARE YOU EATING? WHERE ARE YOU GOOFING OFF? WHERE ARE YOU? Always talking to him. >> I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE, I'M GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN. IN A WAY, life for the believer, THERE SHOULD NOT BE AN amen until we're all done. I mean, done with life. OUR WHOLE LIFE WHEN WE BREATHE. LOOK, I GUARANTEE YOU THIS. YOU ARE GOING TO BREATHE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE UNTIL YOU DIE. at the end of your breathing. That's the a amen. That's the amen to God. Why? Because in the meantime, WE ARE IN A CONSTANT state of communication with God at all times.

Verse 7 tells us, being in awe of God, getting God right by knowing who we can become. Verse seven, as it is in verse 15, it's one of those theme verses. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Listen to Albert Barnes, the wonderful pastor, theologian, Albert Barnes of early America. In biblical theology, God ordained wisdom is an evidence of true religion. Think about that for a moment. People who know God walk in levels of wisdom ever increasing. By the way, just as godliness, piety, the knowledge of God, and the fear of God, and the sincere and uniform obedience to God will be seen by all. This is the wisdom of God which is from above, Albert Barnes. Isn't that beautiful? You'll you'll detect that in people's lives. And well, did Barnes speak? Because in light of the words of the Apostle James, listen to what James says. James 3:13. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. >> But if you have bitter, Listen up everybody. If you have bitter envy, I know people like this. You know people like this. You can't stand to be around them because when you're around them, you feel like you need to go take a shower. They're really hard to be around because they're filled with envy. They can't stand that someone else got the promotion and they're bitter about it. Or they hear somebody being blessed by God and they just grind their teeth. That's a wicked heart. They have bitter envy, self-seeking in your hearts. Do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. And where envy and SELF-SEEKING EXIST, CONFUSION, AND EVERY EVIL thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of

Mercy, good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Wow. God, make me like that, church.

Listen, we all need to grow in wisdom. Lord, we're asking you right now that you'd give us that kind of wisdom. The wisdom from above. That's what we need. I want to show you these things. Um, I'm not doing good. We have seven minutes to do this. Point number two. Didn't I tell you we were going to do a chap the first week? I said we're going to do a chapter a week. So then I was going to tell you guys we're going to do a chapter every two weeks. Now, we're getting right back to our previous habits in the book of Romans, where we'll do a few verses a week. As long as we get wise.

Worldly wisdom sounds like this. Uh, look out for number. Absence makes the heart grow. You don't sound too enthusiastic about these things. You only live if you can't beat them. He who dies with the most toys. He had it. A woman's work is never done. If you can't always get what you and I never heard this one before. Have you heard this one before? A golden key can open any door. I never heard this. Have you heard this one before? Raise your hand. That guy has those those two. Well read right there. I've never I didn't even know I don't I've never heard that. I don't know anything about that. That's what the world says. Hey buddy, get all the gusty you can, man. You only live once. He who dies with the most toys wins. Wins what? Drive your Ferrari around in hell. I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think so.

And all of these things, wisdom matters. Wisdom. We're in the 21st century. You know that doesn't rattle God. Did you know that right now the only hindrance to you and I experiencing the wisdom of God which is not from this world is you? Is me. It's us. The God who's eternal is still the God who is eternal. We are his children.

Listen by an ancient theology. How are you saved? Christ went to the cross and died in our place because we owed God a payment. You said, "What? What payment?" Adam and Eve sinned. I didn't even know them. Of course, we've not met them, but their DNA is inside of us. They sinned then, and it's written in the Bible. Yikes. You and I sin just like them. When the world knocks on the door and offers us this, that or the other, do we seek our own counsel? That's what Eve did. You know, she might have stepped back. I don't know. I don't know. I put my hands in my pockets. She didn't have any pockets. She might have stepped back and she's very amazing. She's talking to the serpent and she has no problem. She didn't say, "Yikes, a talking snake. This is weird." She's talking to the snake. By the way, the snake stood up in those days. That's weird. That's creepy. How'd it walk like that? Like a like a pencil walking. And so the snake talks to her. I don't I don't think the snake when it spoke to her, remember it's Satan speaking through the snake. He like possesses the snake. Satan enters the snake and the snake says, "Hey, Eve, what's up?" Yo. She goes, "Yeah, hi snake. Have you considered the the tree over there?" She didn't think anything was wrong. Does that mean we can talk to little baby ducklings? Of course we can. I did it all day yesterday. Then didn't you want to know what your dog's thinking? Isn't it funny how we as humans, we'd love to just find out. Do worms yawn? Well, I need to know in courage, right? We need to know this. I think God put that in this. She's talking to the snake and the snake says, "You ought to you ought to go over there and get that fruit. Well, God said enough to have that fruit. The day that we eat of it, we're going to die." And the snake says, "Uh, you shall not surely die." Translation: Has God said it? Really? Maybe you ought to exercise your options, girl? You ought to think about yourself more often because here's the thing. If you do that, you're going to see that it's really good, tastes fantastic, and it's going to provide for you um a lot of self-assurance and pride, and it's going to make you wise. Isn't that interesting? That was one of Satan's lines to her. If you do this, you're going to be three times blessed. Most important, you're going to be wise. And the Bible says when she heard that and then looked at the tree, she concluded, I'm going to do it. That's where she sinned.

By the way, if you were here Wednesday night, how did Satan, Lucifer was his name, how did he get booted out of heaven? He exercised his options because all those who are able to worship have options. You know that angels and humans have the option to worship God or not. You can't have real worship without real choice. You can't have real love without real choice. That's why God says today, choose today whom you'll serve. Choose. And somebody might say, "Well, you know what? I just it's hopeless. God predetermines and I have no say in the matter." Excuse me. You need to back up and read your Bible again. The Bible tells us based upon God's foreknowledge, he knew in advance the decision you were going to make before you were ever born. He's not waiting around to see the score. He already knows. You don't and I don't.

So today, you might be here today saying, "Well, I want Jesus as my Lord and Savior because if I inherited that kind of debt, have you ever had somebody die on you and they left you debt? That doesn't seem fair, does it? You can have all of your debts paid and then somebody dies on you and then you inherit their debt. That's not right." Listen, Adam and Eve sinned. We inherited their debt. But the difference is we're just like them. But we can choose to worship Jesus and get away from ourselves. And when we do that, we with all due respect, we cash in on what great purchase he bought for us. And that is the salvation to have our sins forgiven by Almighty God because God paid the price. And then he turns around because he's the only one.

Listen, I know in our lives, each of us, every one of us have hurt people on our life's journey. It's called sin. And we hurt people. But listen to this. We listen, we all collectively have hurt God the most. You didn't sin so much against those people you sinned against. Who was it ultimately? David said, "I have sinned against you and you only have I sinned." Meaning, where does it all begin? God is holy. God is pure. God is just. God is love. And we sin against him. That's what makes it so so damaging. And damning and condemning.

But when we turn to him and say, "Lord, I'm vile. I'm selfish. I'm self-focused. I I've lived my life for myself. And God, I see that the wisdom of God is a completely different world than what I've ever known before. And I cannot go down to the wedge and change the height of those waves one moment. I cannot go to the mountains of Arrowhead and cause it to snore not, but you do, God. And you're giving me the very breath I have right now to breathe. And so I choose today to give my life to you and to live for you because I'm done living for myself." I tell you what, man, that is a wise decision by God's grace.

Father, we praise you. We give you all the thanks and all the glory and all the appreciation because you and you alone are mighty and wonderful. In fact, church, let's stand as we keep in prayer. And Lord, as we are ready to be deployed into the world around us to be salt and light to represent the kingdom of God, we will continue, Lord, to lift this up before you. Father God, I pray over this beautiful congregation. Jesus, you said that if your word abides in us, we may ask what we will and it will be done. For therein is your father glorified and that we go about from here bearing much fruit. And Lord, you told us to pray and to believe that you want to bless us and keep us. You want to make your face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. You want to lift up your countenance upon us and give us peace. Wisdom cries out and says, "Lord, have your way. Thy will be done. Lord, that we leave this building deeper in love with you than when we came in. And may those who experience our life, believer or unbeliever, know that we've been with the most high God. In Jesus name, all God's people said, Amen." God bless you, church. See you Wednesday night.