Turn with me in your Bible to Proverbs 3:11-18. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be preaching about wisdom. I believe that God's people should be the wisest in all the world, not the wierdest but the wisest. The truth is if you get around enough Christians you find out that although that word "peculiar people" means that we are special and we are God's, there are a lot of peculiar people in the house of the Lord. If you're real peculiar you just think everyone else around you is weird. Glory to God.
I believe that God's people should be the wisest in all the world and I'm not just talking about "smarts" or having the wisdom that can get you into Yale or Harvard because some of the most educated people are not some of the wisest people. In America we have exchanged education for wisdom but truly wisdom is the teaching of God imparted to us.
What I want to speak to you about this morning is "Wisdom's Basic Training". Proverbs 3:11-18 says, "My son do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor detest his correction. For whom the Lord loves he corrects just as a Father, the son in whom he delights. Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies and all of the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand, riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her and happy are all who retain her.
Father, we thank you this morning for your word which is the wisdom of God, the son of God, the life of God given to us. Father, I pray that in this place your word would have its way in our lives. Father, I pray for your anointing, that as I minister this message that it would accurately be imparted into our hearts by your spirit and not by the mere words of men.
I pray Jesus that you would give us ears to hear and Lord that you would increase and we would decrease in our lives. Amen.
The thing that the Lord spoke to me about this week, the word that was burning in my heart was the word "defining moment". The defining moment happens to all of us at some point in our lives. We have these defining moments. For some it may be something you didn't bring on yourself like a car accident. A car accident can change your life in a moment's notice. For some a defining moment might be a sickness or an illness that you have or something that's going on in your life. But truly all of us in our lives really at one point or another have a defining moment when we realize we need to come to the Lord. How many remember when you gave your life to Jesus?
What I remember is that throughout my life there have been several defining moments that I have had that have changed me and what I have found is that there are many times when God is wanting to do something in my life or there is something new that he's preparing me for or that there's something going on in me that is not yet all his. There comes a time when there is a moment of change. Truly I don't believe that you can live for the Lord and not have defining moments on a regular basis in your life. Not that you set out for them and plan them but sometimes those defining moments that God gives really come on you in a split second and you realize that God is doing a work in your life.
I remember a defining moment I had when I was growing up at 13 years of age when we were at youth camp on a Tuesday night and it was a wonderful, powerful night and they spoke on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I remember growing up in church and having seen it and experienced it but finally that night I wanted it and asked the Lord to fill me with his presence and to fill me with that anointing of his, that gift of the Holy Spirit. I remember being baptized with the Holy ghost and speaking in other tongues and what a marvelous thing it was and from that moment on God began to do something unique in my life.
I remember the defining moment that I had when I decided I was going to run for ministry. There came a defining moment when something happened and I realized that I was out of the will of God completely and I needed to surrender my life back to him. From that day on my life changed. Everything that I was going to do, everything that I had planned got turned around because God had a plan.
A defining moment happened when God got a hold of my pride, getting a hold of the anger and the frustrations and the hurts that I had had throughout my life. It had just built up throughout the week and one day I had this moment where I was ready to explode and instead of exploding in anger I wound up being completely humbled in tears. I remember just seeing his face. From that day on much of the frustration that I had in my life, all the hurts from the past, all the fears, the anger and the pride that had built up to protect all those things were laid at his feet.
Defining moments. I believe we live in a time where God is doing that in his people, time and time again. How many of you recognize that we're living in the last days? I believe that we're so thankful to live in this time. People talk about the good old days. Listen, I don't think they get better than this.
The good old days didn't have running water and plumbing but today we've got it all.
Defining moments, when God gets a hold of our lives and I believe that there is something that the Lord is doing in the life of this church. A defining moment can be a time when we just need to cooperate with the Lord and what he's doing in our life.
Many of you remember the story about Paul when he was on the road to Damascus, after he had held the code of all those who stoned Steven and cheered them on and was the instigator in the whole thing. Steven gave his life and committed his spirit into heaven. Paul was on the road to persecute more Christians and found himself blinded as God showed up and said, "Paul, why are you persecuting me?" Paul went from being a very proud and dynamic man to being a man that God had to blind on his way, helpless and needed people to lead him. God sent Paul to another man of God who was going to pray for him and those scales were going to fall off of his eyes.
I believe that many of us today are going through a time when God is getting a hold of each of our hearts and lives, a defining moment so that all we have belongs to the Lord. I opened up to this verse and it said, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction, for whom the Lord loves he corrects just as a Father, the son whom he delights".
Yesterday was a great day, I was supposed to preach somewhere and somehow in the midst of getting there they had closed the road and I couldn't get to it. I offered to swim, I was in jeans and a t-shirt, it was an island that you had to take a boat to get over to and they had closed everything down. I honestly didn't know where it was so I wound up with some free time on my hands. How many know that's a good time to spend with your family? We went out to the beach and I was tossing the Nerf football. I love the Nerf football when it gets wet and you can beam that thing at your kids and when they don't catch it, it will hit them right in the gut. I was enjoying and delighting in my sons, it was wonderful. We had a good time yesterday just enjoying each other.
The truth is that even though I delight in my sons there are times when they need discipline. When you delight in your kids and you want to see good things for their life, there is discipline that comes with it. There is not always joy in the disciplining because if you are really enjoying the disciplining then many times it turns into abuse. There are times though that I do relish the fact that I am able to discipline. But I want to tell you, the thing that I've found is that God will always discipline those he loves.
Sometimes when we think of the word discipline we often think of the idea of the consequences that follow having done something wrong and that disipline is the punishment that comes with the wrongness. But the reason I asked about that discipline this morning when I was talking to the guys about basic training is because the reason why these men and women are so good at what they do in our armed forces is because they go through a period of basic training. What I have found is when God is wanting to do something in a life of a person or in the life of a church especially when it comes to helping us become more like Him, many times there is a period of discipline. Its a period of basic training that we go through so that when God is teaching us a concept or giving us an idea or giving us wisdom, that he allows that discipline to get us into shape so that we are able to live in the fulness of what he has for our life.
I used to like to run and exercise and now that I've found that I'm trying to get my body back into shape it's become a whole lot more difficult. The body is not the same as it was when I was in my late teens and 20's. People always told me when you get into your 30's you're going to find out your body doesn't quite work like it used to and I used to think they were crazy. But a decade of football and basketball and weight lifting will do things to your knees and your feet and honestly there are times when I'm getting back into shape that it's not quite as pleasant as it used to be.
The Lord just gave me a word because I didn't even know this. Some of you used to enjoy when you first gave your life to the Lord everything that God was doing in it and you used to go through it willingly and enjoy it and you used to love that feeling even when it hurt. When I used to lift weights we used to lift until failure and we loved it. Us guys would come out of there weak as anything, our bodies would be hurting but we loved it. I've noticed I don't love that feeling so much anymore. What I have noticed is that even in my walk with Christ, whenever I've gotten comfortable, when he comes to take me to the next level and makes sure that I'm still in shape and still strong, making sure that I'm still able to run the race and still able to live for Him, there is a work that he does and sometimes I'm a little more resistant to it than I used to be.
I want to speak this to us as a church, there is a work of wisdom that God is doing in our lives and in our hearts and I want to encourage you, Christian, what God started in you he promised he would finish in you.
That work is for the long haul. That work and that passion for Jesus is something that must be cultivated, it's something that must stay. I've found that when I allow God to discipline my life and I allow the Lord to bring me back into that, that it really does get to be enjoyable again. It gets to be something wonderful again and I get to see his work working in me and through me again. The Bible says that God disciplines those he loves. Why? Because he wants us to succeed.
The reason why I'll discipline my children is because I want them to succeed. They can go days and days doing very well and then all of a sudden they're going to do something. I have found in my own home that If I don't keep them in the consistency of their chores and keep them in the consistency of what they're doing, pretty soon they grow pretty slack about doing it and all of a sudden I've got to really get on them to do it again.
I'm going to talk to you about the basics of wisdom. The first step toward being wise is to put God first. I believe that the Lord brought us in here this morning and one of the things he wants us to understand is that living for the Lord is really pretty easy. You just put first things first. There's a verse in here that says, "Seek wisdom as silver and precious gold because nothing else desired can be compared with her". We always sing this song, "Lord, you are more precious than silver, Lord you are more costly than gold, but really that verse that we get it from is not just talking about God himself, it's about the wisdom that God has for our lives.
The wisdom that God wants us to walk in, his knowledge, his understanding of life, his work inside of us and that work that God is doing in us is to build us and make us strong and put within us the ability to do the things that God wants us to do and to have the things that God wants us to have. We look in here and see that "Her proceeds are better than the profits of silver. Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are paths of peace". How many know that's the kind of life that God wants us to live?
Those things that God has planned for us, everyone of them, are possible. But the main reason that I must make sure that my children are disciplined, the same reason that I must make sure that they're walking in those ways is so that when they leave my house, when they are men and women on their own, that they are walking in the fulness of all that God has and they are able to succeed and live in it. It's the same reason that God does this work in us and I want to tell you when I see what God is doing in the church today, I see many Christians who say, "I'm going through this and that, I've been struggling with this and that" but these are defining moments that happen in our life where once again we reaffirm that choice that says, "God, you are the very first place in all my life because I want you to build me".
Now listen, many of us are out trying to make a life for ourselves and trying to make a way but in Psalms 127:1 it says, "Unless the Lord builds a house they labor in vain who build it". How many know what I love as a dad is I'm going to make sure when my kids are going out that what they do with their life is not in vain. Aren't you glad God does the same thing with every one of us? This life that we're building, the things that we have, you have to put God first as our standard of living.
The other thing I wanted to talk about is this idea that one of the basic trainings of wisdom is the consistency with which we do certain things so that we always stay fit in the Lord.
Years ago I stopped exercising like I used to. I used to work out 3 hours a day. My regimen was to weight lift for up to an hour and then I would run up to a half hour, I would do sprints. I hated long distance running but I could run the 40 yard dash all day long. After that I would jump in the pool and swim about 20-30 laps in an olympic pool. I used to have ripped abs, nice lats, a fairly defined tricep and over the years I got out of that. I have very defined abs now, you just can't see them all. They're still there, just not as prominent as they used to be. When I was working as a lifeguard I used to do 100 pushups and 100 stomach crunches every hour so by the end of an 8 hour day it was marvelous. You could come up and punch me in the stomach even if you surprised me and it really wasn't a problem. I'm not sure what good it was doing. I wasn't going to be a boxer but it was great. Now I've noticed when I was playing football with my boys that even though the muscles are there I can't just let them come up and hit me in the stomach anymore because its not quite the same thing. I got out of shape.
A defining moment in my life is that I need to get a hold of that to make sure that I'm healthy and right. I won't be fanatical, I don't have the time for 3 hours of workout a day. How many know it's good to grow up? amen.
The truth is this that even in our own spiritual life there must be consistency. People all the time say, "I don't understand why my life really is not going like it should. I don't understand why things are out of control". I have parents come to me and say, "I don't understand why my kids are out of control. I don't know how to get a hold of them". The first thing that I can find out real quick is, "Is your life really consistent?" Are you consistent in your discipline at home when your kids are wrong? Do you call them on it and make sure that they're doing it? It was amazing, when we went to work at Real Life Children's Ranch, what I loved is that Dawn and I thought we were really good parents, we thought we had our kids under control and that we were pretty consistent. All it took was us to get out of our world and let other people into our world to find out that we really weren't consistent as parents. Pretty quickly there were things that I had to get right in my life to make sure as we were going to minister to those other 6 boys, as they were going to become a part of my family, that there were things that had to be consistent in my life. There had to be a time when I ate that was normal, a time where if rules were broken they were followed up on so that everyone would know the game plan. How many know God is pretty consistent?
God says in his word that he changes not. He says "I'm God and I don't change". The Bible says, "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever". One of the things that I've found out about those who become wise in the Lord, those who begin to receive the wisdom of God in their life, those who begin to receive everything that God has for them, begin to become consistent in areas in their life that for many Christians who don't have that strong walk with the Lord are not consistent.
It's important to have a consistent time in the word. How many know this book will collect dust real fast? I had set a Bible on my desk that someone had given me, it's really nice and I plan on giving it to one of my boys. What I noticed is that after I let it sit there on my desk for about a week in the same place, I wasn't going to read it because its not the Bible I use all the time, but what I found is that very quickly it collects dust. Did you know that I can go into people's homes and tell if they're reading their Bible because if they're actually reading it, it won't have dust on it. The truth is, if I don't exercise I get musty and rusty. The same happens with the word of God, if you don't know this thing and you don't keep it in you, pretty soon you're not living it.
We should have a consistent time in prayer where we seek the face of God, where consistently there is a standard of life that we live and cherish and make sure that we adhere to it. I believe that its one of those things that if we'll allow God's standard of living and we're consistent in making sure that we discipline our own life. Paul said, "I buffet my body daily". Why? Paul wasn't saying he was whipping himself or beating himself or walked up to a mirror and started punching himself because he was dirty and rotten. What he said was this, "I discipline myself daily so that I am walking with the Lord".
In basic training, that defining moment helps you get on the path where you've made the decision that you're going to continue in those ways of the Lord. How many have found that it's real easy in this world to walk away from God? All it takes is a split moment when those things can come in and distract us. But there is something about a consistent Christian, the wisdom that comes with that. It's so vitally important that we walk with the Lord. The Bible says, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction". Don't despise it, don't hate it, don't not want to go through it.
The truth is when I get on the elyptical machine now and begin to get going, the first 2 minutes are really the hardest because its all mental.
You start looking at the clock. The worst thing is the calorie counter and I want to tell you, someone is lying, because there's no way it takes a half hour to burn 300 calories. I ate that one candy bar and I regretted it for a half an hour. I want to tell all of you health and fitness people, you've got to have calories to live so don't get on the thing and get fanatical. You just need to burn some so you get in shape.
The truth is this, I have found that when I first get into it, there's a part of me that's saying, "I know I need to do this and I want to do this but my flesh doesn't want to do this". The first 2 minutes usually are the hardest but the last 2 minutes aren't the hardest. As a matter of fact, sometimes when I'm getting towards the end of my workout I'm thinking I can give it just a little more and I usually can. Those first 2 minutes I'm counting down, I never knew 2 minutes could last that long. There's a good reason to put music on or close your eyes and just worship Jesus while you're doing it.
I want to tell you, there is such benefit to it and I want to speak this into everyone's life in this room. There is a work that I have seen God doing. In discipline many times people are wondering if God is mad at them. It's not an issue of God being mad. It is an issue of God delighting in our lives so that we are in shape to be able to have all that God says we can have. As I look at the body of Christ, I see people going through stuff more than ever before and are angry at God. Christians that I know love the Lord are saying, "God, I don't like this and I don't want this, I don't need this, what are you doing?" God is saying, "There is something that I want to do in your life that is so marvelous, if you will just cooperate with me I can do it now".
I wonder how many of you in this room have had strong willed children? Those of you with strong willed children, how many have found out that it took that child more than once to learn something? How many of you have taken more than once to learn something? Someone was dealing with my life when I was going through some things one time and I just wasn't getting it and I had a faithful pastor who came up to me. He had a hard hat in his office and said, "you may want to wear this" and I said, "Why?" and he said "Because you're so thick headed and eventually you're going to start running into the wall and its going to hurt after awhile". He said, "You can put this on spiritually or you can just listen to what God wants to do and let him do it in your life". Now for some of us in this room, this might be a big deal. Some of you in this room may have actually walked away from the Lord and there is sin in your life. There is something that has gotten a hold on you that you know is not right. There is something that is going on and yes there is the consequences. How many know there are natural consequences for spiritual sin? In our home, if you do certain things you just know what's coming. And the boys, when they get it, they always look surprised.
