Prov #2

Northside Church

Proverbs #2

7\4\2021

Jamey Mills

Sermon series slide here… I don’t have it.

Good morning… I don't get to say that very often. My name is Jamey. I am the lead pastor here at Northside… I’m glad to be with you all here or online…

Happy 4th of July… I hope that you all have a great time celebrating the wonderful and beautiful country we live in… it is truly something to be thankful for…

We are in the second week of our sermon series on the book of Proverbs… which is largely attributed to King Solomon… we talked about how in 1 Kings 3 the Lord came to Solomon in a dream and said… ask for any one thing and I will give it to you… and Solomon did not ask for hair, money, women, stuff… he asked for godly wisdom… and it was given to him. He became the wisest person to ever live… and people would come from around the world to sit at his feet and hear the wisdom that God had poured out into his life…

And it got me thinking…

If you could have just one question answered by God, what would it be?

What day and time will I die? Are aliens real? Is global warming a thing? Who really won the election?

If you ever want to have an interesting conversation, ask a pastor what the weirdest questions he’s ever been asked are… I have had some pretty interesting ones… but some of the most consistent ones are things like this…

What is it you really do for a living?

Do you really believe this stuff?

As a youth pastor… what is the smell in the van, Are you going to call my parents, and did the police really show up? Were big ones too.

And there are some really good and hard questions too…

Sometimes when people die, their loved ones look for confirmation of heaven… and have some really hard questions about just how much grace God offers.

Sometimes people have questions about whether or not they are forgivable… with everything that happened in life… and the answer is yes to that.

When people are looking to justify stuff in their lives… I’ve had people ask if it's really that bad, which really is the wrong question. If you’re aiming at what you might be able to get away with, we found the actual issue…

But if I had to pick one question that I have probably heard more than any other since 1994 when I started in ministry… it would be some variant of this question….

How do I know what God really has for my life or what he really wants me to do?

Although I understand where that question comes from… and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to wrestle with… there are a few passages that have always jumped into my mind with it…

Micah 6:8 (NIV)

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

He's already shown you what he wants… it is not a mystery, He has made it clear...

To do what is right (according to Him), To love what is good, and to walk with Him daily. It is a freeing thing to be reminded that God has not made His desire for you a mystery… He has already told you what it is He desires.

Another one is

Romans 12:1–2 (NIV)

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1–2 (The Message)

1–2 12 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

God is using the apostle Paul to teach us… we will never understand what God has for us, if we live for ourselves…. That literally… placing all that we are… and all that He has provided at His feet with a heart that is grateful and longs to be faithful… that realizing we cannot just mindlessly live in this culture and see what it is that God desires for us… Don’t be selfish… don’t walk through life mindlessly… let God’s truth renew or change the way that you think… and the result is… being able to see what it is that God has for you.

And I have found this thought incredibly healthy…

Sometimes… God does call people to play a specific role… in a specific place… at a specific time…

But… understand that every single one of us has a role to play… and we need to be faithful with what it is that God has made clear… what it is that we know… and trust that if God wants to use you in some other way… just like He has for all those who came before you… HE WILL MAKE IT CLEAR.

I was talking with Matt about it and this is what he said…. It’s like we see and want to change the macro… all of this… and what we don’t realize… and what Jesus and the gospel speaks so clearly about… the most effective way to bring real change to a community and a culture… is by being faithful with the things Jesus continually calls every single one of us too… in changes us… the community… and the culture…

And when it comesto that… that there is one passage that speaks to me more than any other.

Proverbs 3:1–4 NLT

My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.

Proverbs 3:1–4 (NLT)

1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

Store my commands in your heart.

2 If you do this, you will live many years,

and your life will be satisfying.

3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!

Tie them around your neck as a reminder.

Write them deep within your heart.

4 Then you will find favor with both God and people,

and you will earn a good reputation.

Solomon points out the importance of keeping God’s word fresh in your mind and heart… and tells us that it leads to a long and satisfying life… not easy… but one that is anchored in truth and sort of bears the fruit of it in your life…

He’s saying life goes better when we understand the wisdom of the life that God desires for us… when we keep his commands realizing they are FOR US…

He says never let Loyalty or Kindness leave you… and basically… He is echoing what Jesus taught in the greatest commandment… wise living is anchored in…

Matthew 22:37–40 NLT

Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37–40 (NLT)

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus is saying that the heart of all that God desires for and from you… are summed up right there…

LOVE God devoutly… be firm in your faithfulness to Him and in your obedience to Him out of love…

Love others well.

That's what those words mean… Loyalty… this steadfast commitment… and kind… seeking and investing in God’s best for those around you whether they deserve it or not.

Solomon says it's how we find favor with humanity and with God Himself. God’s favor is huge… the favor of humanity in the right way… is also huge for a lot of reasons, but it's critical we get the order right… while valuing both.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take.

This is another one of those passages… if you really want to know what it is that the Lord has for you… here it is, laid out in pretty clear terms… and what we learn in this is that God’s desire for you… and expectation from you (which is really for you)... hasn’t changed.

Trust in the Lord with ALL of your heart…

Trust… has to do with security… confidence… and being sure… Are you confident that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He’ll do? Are you secure… Do you believe in His promises… and this is huge. Way bigger than we realize…

What are some of the signs that you might be trusting God in areas of your life?

What are some signs that you might not be?

Signs that we are trusting God: Patient, secure, confident, hopeful, joyful, obedient (we do what He says), we are at peace, we pray,

Some signs that maybe we aren’t where we want to be when it comes to trusting God…

Worry, doubt, not waiting, leaning on our own understanding or not obeying, not praying, not spending time in the word,

And part of the reason I bring that up… is to help us realize that trusting in God… is hard. There are reasons why trust is hard… and throughout history… we’ve read about it. And I hope that hearing some of those things helps you identify areas in your life for growth when it comes to trusting the Lord.

Solomon says we trust God with all of our heart… just to clarify, what do you think he means by all?

The words Solomon chose helps us to understand that he's not talking simply about behavior modification… one author said it like this…

it’s not just an academic idea… or simply cognitive. It gets into our hearts and has this reordering sort of influence in our lives… moving us from fear to faith, from worry to confidence and security… from the shallows of worldly pleasure and into the depths of godly purpose.

That same author suggested that an accurate motto for life in this culture might be… “circumstances beyond my control” and one of his goals is to begin rewriting that in his own life to… “trusting God right where I am”.

Lean Not in your own understanding…

It’s a foolish thing to come to this place where you think you know it all…

And every single one of us faces it… and probably struggles with it.

Those moments where we will decide if we will trust what God says, in His wisdom… or… if we are going to do what sounds good in the moment… or what seems right to us without even praying or seeing what it is that God has to say about it.

There was a pastor that told the story,… there was a guy that was on a train and enjoying the solitude… and all the sudden at one of the stops a guy with four kids got on board… and the solitude was destroyed by 4 kids bouncing off the walls and a father who seemed at best… somewhere else.

Eventually the man had enough… and decided to confront the father and tell him to get his kids under control… and it was like a hard jolt back to reality when he suddenly locked eyes with him and said… i’m so sorry… yes, I should do something about that… forgive us… My kids just watched their mother die of cancer, and I suppose none of us know how to handle ourselves at the moment.

And that is the danger in relying on your understanding… you don’t see it all. You don’t know it all. I don’t…

Learning not to lean into your own understanding within situations, within your estimation of people… or your own way of thinking… leaves us open to see people… and even see wisdom for what it is.

Those areas in our lives where we don’t trust God, where we leave Him out of it are the areas we lean on our own understanding.

and are the areas that we are and will be most vulnerable in life… inviting all sorts of things with it.

Seek his will in all you do… or acknowledge Him in all of your ways

Solomon seems to use the word all a lot…

What do you think it means to acknowledge the reality of God in all of your ways?

One translation uses the language submit… this “all in” mentality of seeking His will and wisdom for your life.

Are you open to submitting every area of your life to Him, knowing… believing… trusting… that God really will lead you into the life you were created for?

… FULL of those things that bring real life and FREE of those things that rob us of it.

What does all mean?

ALL… means in our dating life, in our marriage, raising kids, in finances, internet habits, your attitude, how you spend your time… maybe even the music you listen to or the movies that you watch… and I know there is some contention with some of those with people… but I’d say this… have you honestly asked Him with a willingness to change it if He convicted you to do so?

Are you seeking Jesus… His way… His wisdom in all that you do…

Solomon says that the result in trusting in God like that, not leaning in your own way of thinking, and acknowledging Him, surrendering to Him in all of your ways leads to what?

Because Solmon says the result of that… the result of that sort of Trust in who God is and what God says… that wisdom of not leaning on what you think or in your understanding without seeing what God has to say about it… of acknowledge Him… seeking HIM in ALL of your ways….

Is that he will make your path straight… He will show you the way… he will show you what path to take.

He will bring clarity…

And that doesn’t mean life will be easy…

One author said… it saves us from the painful wandering… that often hijacks life and keeps us from progressing into the depths of fullness and freedom that we were designed for… and that God desires FOR you.

It seems like so many of us… sort of struggling through life wondering what it is that God would have us do… while almost refusing to accept what He’s already told us He’d have us do… almost like we dont believe Him… we don’t trust Him or where He is leading us…

SOlomon… the wisest dude to ever live… said… it can be summed up like this…

Trust Him with all you got…

Don’t rest on what you think or your understanding of things…

Acknowledge the Lord and His truth in all you do…

And He will lead you into the life that He has desired for you all along.

Communion: Claudia Lee

Closing and instructions