My Relationship with God

Psalm 11:3 NKJV

3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?

Pray

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith!

Introduction

Vince Lombardi

the Legendary Coach of the Green Bay Packers walked into training camp of the Green Bay Packers many years ago and stood before 36 professional athletes who, just months prior, had watched their championship dreams slip through their fingers. He stood before them with something in his hand that the all knew and said

“Gentlemen, this is a football.”

In five words, he communicated his point: if you want to be successful, we’re going to remember the basics and make sure we’re executing the fundamentals.

This Is A Bible

I agree that as Christ Followers we never graduate past the basics. We just build on the basics

John Wooden, Coach of the UCLA Bruins

One of if not the greatest college hoops coach ever said this

“I believe in the basics: attention to, and perfection of, tiny details that might be commonly overlooked. They may seem trivial, perhaps even laughable to those who don’t understand, but they aren’t. They are fundamental to your progress in basketball, business, and life. They are the difference between champions and near champions. For example, at the first squad meeting each season, held two weeks before our first actual practice, I personally demonstrated how I wanted players to put on their socks each and every time: Carefully roll the socks down over the toes, ball of the foot, arch and around the heel, then pull the sock up snug so there will be no wrinkles of any kind.”

Back To basics

The first thing we must have is a foundation of Confidence in Jesus Christ!

Proverbs 3:5 NKJV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

A. By “confidence” I mean that simple, childlike faith and trust we had in Christ when we first accepted Him as Savior.

“We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts, we must believe he is able and wise to do what is best.

If you depend on yourself , you are like a scrawny thin branch - the moment you try to lean on that branch it will break!

Fundamentals are hard for us.

We live in a christian culture that worships the extravagant!

Everyone wants the overnight blessings,

They want to hear sermons on how to get everything they want from God and not change their lives

They want to see the praise and worship demonstrated with deep emotion

They want to see - legs and arms restored immediately

They want big wins in church

They want the rags to riches stories

We forget about the fundamentals =

like daily reading of the Bible

We Forget about daily worship

We forget about daily praying

We forget about the little decisions that we make that impact our future

Trust does not come from the head but from the heart. It is not the result of reasoning; it is the result of believing. The fundamentals of trusting in the Lord moment by moment day by day is found in the scripture

Titus 1:1–2 NLT

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. 2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.

Hebrews 6:18 NLT

18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

Trust in the Lord - Why - Because God Does Not Lie

This basic trust is all or nothing

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.”

Partial trust is not trust at all.

Either God is trustworthy, or He is not.

If He cannot be trusted with all, He cannot be trusted at all.

Proverbs 3:5 NKJV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Back to Basics

God says to us Trust Me and don’t depend on your on understanding of situations and circumstances

The New King James Translation uses the term lean on

To lean on means to support yourself on something or to rely on something.

So Go is admonition us here to not rely on or depend on our own understanding.

We have to make a choice: we can follow our own understanding or trust in a God who is greater than our understanding.

What you and I must recognize is that our understanding is not trustworthy:

Here is what I mean

Abraham is the father of faith

Three times in the bible it is recorded where Abraham believed God

Romans 4:3 NKJV

3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Galatians 3:6 NKJV

6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

James 2:23 NKJV

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

When Abraham trusted God things went well

now there are times where Abraham did not trust God

When Abraham leaned on his own understanding

Specifically when Abraham is talking to the Lord in and the Lord says to Abraham and Sarah, because she was listening

Genesis 15:1–6 NLT

1 Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” 2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” 4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” 6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Then in ...

Genesis 18:9–12 NLT

9 “Where is Sarah, your wife?” the visitors asked. “She’s inside the tent,” Abraham replied. 10 Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!” Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. 11 Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. 12 So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”

But here is where Abraham and Sarah begin to lean on their own understanding

Genesis 16:1–4 NLT

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.

God never told Abraham hat him and Hagar where going to have a child - He told Abraham and Sarah, they were to have a child within a years time

Now basic trust - When God tells you he is going to do something - Trust Him

Back to Basics - If God says it that settles it!

Psalm 11:3 NKJV

3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?

If things are chaotic in your life

If things are confusing and you don’t know what to do

Go back to the basics

Trust God with all your heart and don’t depend on your own understanding

So I ask God, why can’t I trust my thoughts and views.

he took me to the Book of Ephesians 4:18

Ephesians 4:18 NKJV

18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

many of us go to Church, but we are not the church and the reality is, because of this hard life and many disappointments our hearts have been harden, we don’t see spiritually and because we constantly deal with sin that impacts our thoughts and actions!

So we must Trust God and submit to God when he tells us

Isaiah 55:8–9 NKJV

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

And what the scripture reminds us in

1 Corinthians 1:25–29 NLT

25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. 26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

So We must get back to basics

Proverbs 3:6 NKJV

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

That word acknowledge means to know God intimately and personally

everyday spend time getting to know God intimately and personally in everything you do!

Allow God to speak into your heart, Allow God to direct Your Path, moment by moment, day by day!

It’s challenging,Yes, but anything worthwhile is worth working for!

When people ask you - just tell them I’m going Back to Basics

God Bless You and God Keep You is My Prayer