Moments should only Change your day, not Define it

Background

I started praying about this a few months ago, probably back in July or early August. I was asking God to just let me know what I needed to say, where I needed to be. He got me the second part of that Questions quickly. Go ahead and turn to Ephesians 5:15-17. But while your doing that, I’ll finish this. God let me know this chapter was where I was going to be and also something in the book of Daniel. So I had actually prepared a really good sermon out of these two books, but something changed. I got lost and strayed away. On some Wednesday nights I’ve talked about straying away from the Lord and the path that he has led us down and will continue to lead us down. I talked about removing distractions, but distractions just keep coming in. Anybody else feel that way? Especially recently, it seems there are so many other things to be looking at or doing and it drags our attention to the wrong things. I’m guilty of it, more so than I’m comfortable admitting.

Ephesians 5:15-17

The wise vs the unwise or fools.

Before we get into any of this, we have to understand who the Wise are, and who the Fools are.

The Wise have understanding and wisdom. Fools do mischief. You can find this is Proverbs 12:23. The wise, those who walk in wisdom | wisdom being knowledge of scripture and full of true doctrine | are the ones leading the fools who are without wisdom. Find that in Colossians 4:5.

Is it better to be lead by the wise, or wise leading the fool. It depends where you are at in the faithful journey. Let me explain. A man of wisdom IS wise in truth. He can lead BOTH sides, more of the wise, and the fools, because he knows the truth. If this man had wisdom of false teachings, then he is no longer a wise man. He is a fool, leading others to a world of foolishness.

A fool being led by a man of wisdom is following the truth, it is still up to that man to except the truth and continue down a path of sanctification. A fool being led by a fool, will always be a fool. No other options, until he receives the true gospel and God’s Holy word.

Walk as the wise, not as a fool. Know your belief and why you believe in it. Is the gospel you know true, or have you been led by a fool, which would make you a fool?

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Verse 16. The time is drawing near, be wise and on the lookout for evil. Recognize evil before it happens. Jesus warns us that there is a day that he is coming, and he is taking his people with him. Are you wise enough to follow Jesus on that day? Or did you live a life as a fool, and not as the wise? I’ll get the big picture in a moment, but how can we see that there is more ahead of us, more to look forward to in Heaven, if we can’t find the grace we looking into here on Earth?

Romans 1

What does that mean? How are you going to make it to Heaven, if you don’t know how to experience grace on Earth? You’ve seen it, you’ve watched other people experience it, but somehow you don’t know what it’s like to feel Grace. Romans 1:21–22

Romans 1:21–22 KJV 1900

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Ask yourself this, this morning. Are you making it up in your mind that you know what true grace feels like? Explain what grace feels like to someone who really has experienced it. I’ll tell you, you can’t talk, the tears of joy didn’t stop falling for minutes on end. It took a long time for myself to be able to say anything because I felt grace touch my heart. I’m not saying all experiences are the same, I’m asking is your grace or your version of grace made up, or is it for real? Are you saved, or are you acting like your saved so no one will talk to you? Romans 1 goes on to say later on in verse 28-32.

Romans 1:28–32 KJV 1900

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Woah. Harsh wording, but true. Mic drop moment. The fools or those “professing themselves to be wise” are what does it say? “Who knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death”

Be careful not to be led by the fools. Roger used to always say ‘Theres a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to turn away from.’ True in every since.

“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Big picture time.

A Moment of Change, not a moment of defining

How are we capable of ruining our day, with the change of one single moment? How is that when we talk about how good some days have been don’t compare to amount of bad that happened in that same day. The bad, even if it was as small as the water never turned hot when you were washing your hands in the bathroom. I’ve seen that at work, it’s silly but it’s happened. The bad seems to always outweigh the good in our day. It’s a negative mindset we put ourselves in. It’s the distractions from the positive in our life, that pulls our attention only the negative. One moment can ruin someones day.

That moment, will DEFINE that persons day too. This is where the problem lies. It’s perfectly normal to have bad days, and to have bad things happen. That’s not just okay anymore, that’s expected. However, one moment, one thing, one instance, should not the part of your day that sticks out the most. Your day consists of thousands of other times that together will define your day.

What is a moment? A moment is a medieval unit of time measurement. This was around a minute and a half. Do you think the minute and half that you were washing your hands with soap and cold water should be the sole reason that your day is no longer okay and now you are grumpy, unpleasant to be around, frustrated, and willing to work with anyone, even God? If a moment lasts 90 seconds, that’s 960 moments in your day, and you could only focus on one of them. Now your unreachable to anybody and shut down your heart and mind from the rest of the world.

Daniel and the King’s Dream

Daniel 2 and the first two verses in Daniel 3 tell us a really good story. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and needed it to be interpreted. He asked several people to help him out but to no avail. Daniel came to the task and asked God to help him decipher it. God gave Daniel the interpretation of the dream and Daniel praised God for it. Then, Daniel went before Nebuchadnezzar and explained his dream. This is what he told Daniel in chapter 2 verse 46. “Of a truth it is, that you God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.” Keep in mind, King Nebuchadnezzar never accepts Daniel’s God, our God, as his own. But he acknowledges God.

Here we see a wise man, and a foolish man. You can pick out who is who. The wise goes to God and is granted the knowledge of a dream that was not his. The fool, looks at the man of wisdom, sees the truth and then what happens? Daniel 3:1-2

Daniel 3:1–2 KJV 1900

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellers, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

An immediate flip. An immediate change of heart almost. He never accepted God for who he is, but he saw the power, he saw the Grace provided to Daniel and then turns away from it. How stupid? Even a worldly man shouldn’t have changed like that right? That seems like magic, it’s not, but that’s sure what it seems like. Daniel said here you, heres what you wanted provided by my God himself, sealed, stamped and delivered to your front door and King Nebuchadnezzar said thank you, that was awesome, look what I’m making.

How God views it all.

Why are we so consumed in one thing that can change our day. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, he needed to know, God provided the answer through Daniel and still nothing. You got your hands dirty just by being a human, you found a sink and soap in the middle of no where by the grace of God, but it only had cold water and now you could care less is you found that sink, even though your hands are clean now.

God provides our definitions. Moments can change our lives and change our days. They cannot define them, only God can. Listen here how God defines us, because he’s already told us how he does just as humans, without the judgement come judgement day. In Isaiah 43 verse 4 God tells us we are precious. Psalm 139 verse 14 says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Made by God, in his most perfect way. 1 John chapter 3, in verse 1, we are called the sons of God. That’s our definition. We are God’s people, created by the most amazing artist there is ever to be.

So, a fool will allow something as simple as tear in a notebook, cold water in the bathroom, pinching your finger ruin their day, but the wise will turn to God looking for answers and withstanding power to finish that one moment and continue on no matter what someone else thinks.

So ask yourself these questions one more time.

Are you wise, or a fool? Are you letting one moment define your day rather than just changing it? Is your foolishness blinding you from the true light of the gospel.