WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.830 --> 00:00:06.629 You know, probably the most common greeting that you hear, 2 00:00:07.230 --> 00:00:10.869 particularly among believers, is God bless you. And we say 3 00:00:10.910 --> 00:00:14.029 it not just when people sneeze, we say God bless you. 4 00:00:15.130 --> 00:00:17.370 Have you ever thought, what in the world does that mean? 5 00:00:18.550 --> 00:00:19.289 What's a blessing? 6 00:00:20.539 --> 00:00:23.780 How do you define a blessing? Would you know a 7 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:27.160 blessing if it slapped you in the face? I mean, 8 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:30.219 the Bible says that sometimes a problem is a blessing. 9 00:00:30.899 --> 00:00:32.640 So when you say, God, bless them really great, you say, 10 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:36.280 given a bunch of problems? Really, what in the world 11 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:38.960 is a blessing? And if you pray for God to 12 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:41.619 bless somebody, how do you even know if it's happened 13 00:00:41.689 --> 00:00:43.770 or not if you don't know what a blessing is? 14 00:00:45.659 --> 00:00:52.109 The word blessed in the Bible is the Greek word makarios, makarios. 15 00:00:52.750 --> 00:00:55.049 And makarios is the word for. 16 00:00:56.549 --> 00:00:58.119 Happy, happy. 17 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:02.539 It is the word for happiness. To be blessed is 18 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:05.439 to be happy. To have a blessing is to have 19 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:09.540 happiness in your life. And when Jesus talks about you're 20 00:01:09.579 --> 00:01:11.340 blessed if you do this, you're blessed, he's saying you're 21 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:13.719 gonna be happy if you do this. It's the exact 22 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:20.379 same word. Now today we're gonna begin quite a long 23 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:24.840 series through Jesus' most famous sermon. It's called the Sermon 24 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:28.480 on the Mount. And Jesus begins the Sermon on the 25 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:32.420 Mount by talking about eight ways to be blessed by God. 26 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:37.980 Eight ways to receive God's blessing on your life. You 27 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:42.280 could call it eight ways to be happy. The truth is, 28 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:45.780 I want you as your pastor, I love you, I 29 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:49.120 love you. And I want God to bless your life. 30 00:01:50.060 --> 00:01:53.359 I want him to bless your relationships. If you're in school, 31 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:57.340 I want you to bless your studies. If you're married, 32 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.519 I want you to bless your marriage. I want him 33 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:02.200 to bless your finances. I want God to bless your health. 34 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:06.180 I want God to bless your talent. I want God 35 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:10.289 to bless your future. So I'm extremely interested in how 36 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:15.349 to receive the blessings of God. Now, as we study scripture, 37 00:02:15.389 --> 00:02:18.430 we find that the problem isn't with God, the problem 38 00:02:18.509 --> 00:02:21.530 is with us. God wants to bless your life, you 39 00:02:21.569 --> 00:02:25.960 just have to get blessable. And a lot of us 40 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.840 don't live lives in ways that God can bless. God 41 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:32.280 isn't gonna bless sin. God isn't gonna bless arrogance. God 42 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.379 isn't gonna bless indifference. There are a lot of things 43 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.590 God will not bless. And so when Jesus starts his 44 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:41.729 most famous sermon, the first thing he begins with, I'm 45 00:02:41.750 --> 00:02:46.069 gonna teach you the eight conditions for receiving God's blessing 46 00:02:46.409 --> 00:02:49.659 in your life. And for the next eight weeks, we're 47 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:53.099 gonna look at each of those eight conditions in detail. 48 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.909 We're calling it the P's to a blessed life. 49 00:02:56.610 --> 00:03:00.169 Now let me read the first verses. In Matthew chapter five, 50 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:02.409 this isn't on your outline, but the Sermon on the 51 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:05.340 Mount is in Matthew chapter five, chapter six, and chapter seven. 52 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.900 We're gonna go through all three of those chapters verse 53 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:11.979 by verse in the days ahead. And chapter five starts 54 00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:15.860 like this. When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up 55 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:20.780 on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples 56 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:24.139 came to him and he began to teach them. And 57 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:30.319 he says this, blessed are the poor in spirit, for 58 00:03:30.419 --> 00:03:34.199 theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now that doesn't tell 59 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.520 me a whole lot, because I don't understand most of 60 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:38.900 the words in that verse. First, I don't know what 61 00:03:38.939 --> 00:03:40.919 poor in spirit means, and I don't know what the 62 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:44.490 kingdom of heaven is. So we've gotta unpack this for 63 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:47.990 you to understand the benefit to your life. First, what 64 00:03:48.050 --> 00:03:52.009 is the kingdom of heaven? Is that different from the 65 00:03:52.050 --> 00:03:55.780 kingdom of God? Well, I'm gonna ask you to hold 66 00:03:56.020 --> 00:03:59.330 your questions on this because I promise you, in this series, 67 00:03:59.729 --> 00:04:02.770 we're gonna deal in depth with this issue. We're gonna 68 00:04:02.789 --> 00:04:05.689 look at what is the kingdom of God and why 69 00:04:05.710 --> 00:04:08.689 it is so incredibly important to your life and why 70 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:11.500 you definitely wanna be a part of it. And we're 71 00:04:11.509 --> 00:04:13.819 gonna go into that in detail, explaining what is the 72 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.360 kingdom of God. But this week, as we start the series, 73 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:19.920 I want us to look at just the first six 74 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:25.000 words of Jesus' most famous sermon And the first six. 75 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:27.779 Words he starts with, the first word he starts with, blessed. 76 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.220 Now I like that. God starts teaching with a blessing. 77 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:34.779 He doesn't start with, let me give you eight curses. 78 00:04:36.230 --> 00:04:38.730 He gives you eight blessings. That's my kind of preacher. 79 00:04:38.750 --> 00:04:40.389 And he says, let me tell you eight ways to 80 00:04:40.430 --> 00:04:43.689 be happy. That's the first thing Jesus talks about in 81 00:04:43.730 --> 00:04:44.529 the Sermon on the Mount. 82 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:45.910 Here's what he says. 83 00:04:46.449 --> 00:04:49.110 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the 84 00:04:49.149 --> 00:04:52.050 kingdom of heaven. So the first word out of his 85 00:04:52.089 --> 00:04:54.410 mouth to you is a blessing. Now, what does it 86 00:04:54.470 --> 00:04:59.040 mean to be poor in spirit? Well, he's not talking 87 00:04:59.069 --> 00:05:02.720 about physical poverty. He didn't say blessed are the poor. 88 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:05.879 He says blessed are the poor in spirit. He's not 89 00:05:05.939 --> 00:05:10.480 talking about economic poverty. He's not talking about material poverty. 90 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:15.709 He's not talking about physical poverty. He's talking about spiritual poverty. 91 00:05:15.990 --> 00:05:20.370 He's talking about maintaining a certain kind of attitude. For 92 00:05:20.410 --> 00:05:22.439 you to understand this, I put there on your outline 93 00:05:22.750 --> 00:05:26.139 several other translations of this verse so you could actually 94 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:29.360 see a fuller understanding of what it means to be 95 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:33.519 poor in spirit. For instance, the New Living Translation says, 96 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:38.579 God blesses those who realize their need for him. The 97 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:42.819 God's Word Translation says, God blesses those who recognize. 98 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:43.800 They're spiritually helpless. 99 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:49.379 The Common English Version says, God blesses those who are 100 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:51.970 who depend only on him. 101 00:05:53.050 --> 00:05:54.689 You can see a pattern developing here. 102 00:05:55.009 --> 00:06:00.389 He's saying, I recognize that I am inadequate to live 103 00:06:00.449 --> 00:06:04.209 my life without God. Without God in my life, I 104 00:06:04.269 --> 00:06:09.009 am spiritually poor. Without God's help in my life, I 105 00:06:09.069 --> 00:06:10.149 am spiritually poor. 106 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:11.170 I am inadequate. 107 00:06:11.629 --> 00:06:16.129 A good verse that helps clarify this is Psalm 146. 108 00:06:16.129 --> 00:06:20.279 There in your outline, verse five. The Lord blesses everyone 109 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:24.170 who trusts him and depends on him. Circle the word 110 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:27.449 trust and the word depend. This is the first condition 111 00:06:27.750 --> 00:06:30.569 for God's blessing on your life. You gotta trust him. 112 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:33.829 You've gotta depend on him. And that's what it means 113 00:06:33.889 --> 00:06:35.790 to be poor in spirit. In fact, let me give 114 00:06:35.810 --> 00:06:39.230 you a definition. Why don't you write this down? To 115 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:42.360 be poor in spirit, which is the first condition for 116 00:06:42.389 --> 00:06:47.439 God's blessing on your life, means I humbly depend on 117 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:49.529 God instead of myself. 118 00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:51.250 That's what it means. 119 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:55.189 To be poor in spirit means I humbly depend on 120 00:06:55.290 --> 00:06:58.649 God instead of myself because I know I'm inadequate to 121 00:06:58.709 --> 00:07:02.870 handle all the problems that face me in life. So 122 00:07:03.389 --> 00:07:07.829 if I want God's blessing on my relationship to my girlfriend, 123 00:07:07.850 --> 00:07:11.089 my boyfriend, my husband, my wife, or anybody else, then 124 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:15.410 I've got to be dependent upon God. If I want 125 00:07:15.449 --> 00:07:18.990 God's blessing in my work, in my career, in my studies, 126 00:07:19.649 --> 00:07:22.910 if I want God's blessing in my finances, in my health, 127 00:07:23.689 --> 00:07:29.600 I have to humbly depend on God instead of myself. 128 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.560 So then the question becomes, how do you do that? 129 00:07:34.579 --> 00:07:38.220 How do I actually depend on God on a daily 130 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:42.000 basis and on a moment by moment basis? Well, this weekend, 131 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:45.069 I want to give you Five practical ways to do 132 00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:48.399 this from the word of God. And these are five 133 00:07:48.459 --> 00:07:51.500 practical ways. You can practice every one of them this week. 134 00:07:52.259 --> 00:07:56.060 And if you practice these, you will become a woman 135 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.720 or a man who is poor in spirit, which means 136 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:01.819 you depend on God rather than yourself. 137 00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:05.850 You understand your need for God in your life. 138 00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:08.990 And then that's the kind of woman, that's the kind 139 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:12.649 of man that God says, I like to bless. So 140 00:08:12.670 --> 00:08:14.029 let me just get right into it. You might write 141 00:08:14.069 --> 00:08:17.430 this first one down. Five ways to express my dependence 142 00:08:17.529 --> 00:08:20.490 on God. Number one, to be blessed by God, first, 143 00:08:21.149 --> 00:08:26.589 I depend on God's wisdom, not mine. I depend on 144 00:08:26.910 --> 00:08:31.779 God's wisdom, not my wisdom, not my own. In other words, 145 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:33.700 I listen to what God says, I follow what God 146 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:36.320 says to do, and I do what he says to do. 147 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:39.919 Now let's look at some verses together from the Bible. 148 00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:46.570 Proverbs chapter 14, verse 12 says this. There is a way, 149 00:08:47.750 --> 00:08:52.129 there is a way that seems right to a man, 150 00:08:53.389 --> 00:08:57.120 but in the end, it leads to death. Now circle 151 00:08:57.139 --> 00:09:01.200 the word seems. There's a way that seems right to us, 152 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.659 to human beings, but in the end, it's a dead end. 153 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.250 He said our ideas often lead to dead ends. It 154 00:09:08.289 --> 00:09:11.789 leads to death. Have you ever in your life had 155 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:17.159 this feeling that something was so very, very, very right 156 00:09:17.340 --> 00:09:20.279 and you just knew it was the right thing to 157 00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:23.360 do and you felt it with all your heart and 158 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:26.620 then you did it and it ended up being so very, 159 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:32.529 very dumb or very, very wrong or it became a 160 00:09:32.610 --> 00:09:34.429 total fiasco and a failure? 161 00:09:36.190 --> 00:09:37.509 That's what this verse is all about. 162 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:40.639 There's a way that seems right to us, but it 163 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.980 often ends, he says, in a dead end. And every 164 00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:47.299 one of us could give a testimony on this, where 165 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.210 you've had this feeling, this hunch that this is the 166 00:09:51.269 --> 00:09:54.570 perfect job, and it ends up being a dead end. 167 00:09:55.769 --> 00:09:59.970 This is the perfect relationship, the one I've always needed. 168 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:03.950 the one I've always wanted, and that relationship ends up 169 00:10:04.470 --> 00:10:08.590 a dead end. This is the perfect person that I 170 00:10:08.669 --> 00:10:11.470 should marry, and I know this is the person, and 171 00:10:11.509 --> 00:10:15.450 we all know people who've made that decision, and it 172 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:20.570 flopped miserably. Parents will often think, I know this is 173 00:10:20.590 --> 00:10:23.590 the right thing to say to my kids. And then 174 00:10:23.629 --> 00:10:26.429 it has the exact opposite effect on the kids and 175 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:30.350 actually harms them rather than hurting them. It happens in friendships. 176 00:10:30.690 --> 00:10:33.149 It can happen in investments. I know this is where 177 00:10:33.169 --> 00:10:35.309 I should put my money. This is a sure winner. 178 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:37.549 This is a big deal. I know if I invest 179 00:10:37.610 --> 00:10:40.649 in this, man, I'm gonna clean house. It's gonna be great. 180 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:45.490 And then it just totally flops. You could probably, and 181 00:10:45.509 --> 00:10:47.169 we could probably spend the rest of the night doing this, 182 00:10:47.549 --> 00:10:51.870 Think of painful examples where you wish that you would 183 00:10:51.909 --> 00:10:56.710 listen to God instead of your gut. Because God is 184 00:10:56.750 --> 00:10:59.090 filled with truth and your gut is. 185 00:10:59.029 --> 00:10:59.740 Filled with pizza. 186 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:05.980 So your gut's often wrong. Just because you think it 187 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:08.860 doesn't make it right. And just because you feel it 188 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:11.019 certainly doesn't make it right. 189 00:11:11.340 --> 00:11:12.110 Feelings lie. 190 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:16.049 Lie. They lie to you all the time. I mean, 191 00:11:16.090 --> 00:11:19.870 there's an old country western song that says, how could 192 00:11:19.909 --> 00:11:22.509 it be wrong when it feels so right? 193 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:24.529 Are you kidding me? 194 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:27.360 There are a lot of things that are wrong that 195 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:28.799 feel so right at the moment. 196 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:30.340 Are you kidding me? 197 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.399 That's about the most immature, stupid thing you could say. 198 00:11:33.419 --> 00:11:34.980 Because a lot of. 199 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:39.330 Stuff feels so right, and it ends up being so bad. 200 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:43.210 And Six months later you're saying about that relationship, what 201 00:11:43.269 --> 00:11:46.169 was I thinking? How in the world did I get 202 00:11:46.250 --> 00:11:48.379 messed up in that one? How did I get my 203 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:51.840 life so tangled in something so stupid and so dumb 204 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:55.139 and now I'm scarred and I'm hurt and I'm burdened 205 00:11:55.179 --> 00:11:56.279 and I'm going, am I gonna. 206 00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:57.120 Recover from this? 207 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:02.169 The Bible says there's a way that seems right but 208 00:12:02.230 --> 00:12:03.470 it ends in a dead end. 209 00:12:03.929 --> 00:12:05.389 So the first way to. 210 00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:08.110 Get God's blessing in your life is I depend on 211 00:12:08.269 --> 00:12:13.029 God's wisdom not my feelings, not my thoughts, not whatever 212 00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:17.120 else is telling me. I depend on God's wisdom, not mine. 213 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.620 Do you know someone who's graduating this year? Maybe it's 214 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:37.110 your son or daughter, a grandchild, or perhaps a neighbor 215 00:12:37.169 --> 00:12:41.409 or family friend. As you celebrate this important milestone and 216 00:12:41.470 --> 00:12:44.450 they begin the next phase of their journey, they need 217 00:12:44.490 --> 00:12:47.840 to know that God created them, loves them, and has 218 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:51.059 a plan for their life. That's why Pastor Rick created 219 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:55.740 a special resource just for graduates called The Purpose Driven 220 00:12:55.820 --> 00:12:59.970 Life Selected Thoughts and Scriptures for the Graduate. Filled with 221 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:05.309 inspirational scripture, biblical wisdom from Pastor Rick, and beautiful imagery. 222 00:13:05.740 --> 00:13:09.879 This unique hardcover gift book provides a priceless reminder of 223 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:13.360 the bountiful life God has planned for your graduate, and 224 00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:16.779 it will inspire them to seek his unique plan and. 225 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.100 Purpose for their life. 226 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:21.779 Don't miss this opportunity to minister to the graduate in 227 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:24.529 your life today. We'll send you a copy to say 228 00:13:24.629 --> 00:13:27.110 thanks when you give a gift to Daily Hope to 229 00:13:27.149 --> 00:13:30.649 help share the hope of Jesus Christ with people around 230 00:13:30.690 --> 00:13:31.129 the world. 231 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:38.610 If you wanna have fewer dead ends in your life, 232 00:13:38.629 --> 00:13:42.269 if you wanna have fewer defeats, fewer failures in your life, 233 00:13:42.730 --> 00:13:45.820 the next verse is for you. Proverbs 3, five to seven. 234 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:52.200 Trust the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend 235 00:13:52.700 --> 00:13:54.659 on your own understanding. In other words, don't depend on 236 00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:57.120 your wisdom. Don't depend on what you think is the 237 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.500 right thing to do. Don't depend on your hunches and 238 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.700 your feelings. Those are often, lead you astray. 239 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:04.929 Do not depend on your own understanding. 240 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:09.460 Seek his will, God's will, in all you do, in 241 00:14:09.549 --> 00:14:11.220 everything you do, how you spend your time, your money, 242 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:16.039 your relationships, everything. And he, God promises, he will direct 243 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:22.360 your paths. He's saying don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, 244 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:27.379 respect the Lord and turn your back on evil. So 245 00:14:27.990 --> 00:14:29.990 if I really want God's blessing, the first thing is 246 00:14:30.429 --> 00:14:33.750 I depend on God's wisdom Not what my feelings say, 247 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.110 not what my gut says, not what my friends say, 248 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:39.649 not what I think, but I trust in the Lord 249 00:14:39.669 --> 00:14:42.309 with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding. 250 00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:45.750 Now, how do I get God's wisdom? Two ways. 251 00:14:46.509 --> 00:14:51.470 You pray and you read. You pray, you talk to God, 252 00:14:51.590 --> 00:14:53.629 and you read the Bible, you let him talk to you. 253 00:14:54.269 --> 00:14:56.970 And that's how you get God's wisdom. Look at this 254 00:14:57.070 --> 00:15:02.250 next verse. The Bible says in James chapter one, verse five, 255 00:15:02.850 --> 00:15:05.830 If any of you, if any of you lacks wisdom, 256 00:15:06.970 --> 00:15:10.950 you should pray and ask God who gives it grudgingly 257 00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:17.029 and sparingly to all. That's not what it says. If 258 00:15:17.149 --> 00:15:19.190 any of you lacks wisdom, you should pray and ask 259 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:22.620 God who gives it, read it with me, generously and 260 00:15:23.220 --> 00:15:26.200 graciously to all. Now, notice he gives it to everybody. 261 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.360 All you gotta do is ask for it. You don't 262 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:31.460 have to be qualified for it. All you have to 263 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:33.929 do is ask for it. You see, God doesn't want 264 00:15:33.980 --> 00:15:36.360 you to be stupid. God doesn't want you to make 265 00:15:36.419 --> 00:15:39.039 dumb mistakes. God doesn't want you to hit dead ends. 266 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:41.620 God doesn't want you to go through failure after failure 267 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:43.360 after failure after failure in your life. 268 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:45.879 God wants you to succeed in your life. He wants 269 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:46.960 you to be wise. 270 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.090 He wants you to make smart decisions with your time, 271 00:15:50.129 --> 00:15:54.129 your money, your relationships, and everything else. And it's not 272 00:15:54.190 --> 00:15:57.889 like you're waiting on him, he's waiting on you. God's saying, hey, 273 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:00.850 I'm here, and I'll give you wisdom, and I'll give 274 00:16:00.889 --> 00:16:04.389 it generously, and I'll give it graciously, I'm not grudging 275 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:06.409 about it, I love to give you, I wanna. 276 00:16:06.210 --> 00:16:09.009 Make you wise, but you just gotta ask. 277 00:16:10.269 --> 00:16:15.009 Now, how do you know when you are living on 278 00:16:15.110 --> 00:16:18.470 God's wisdom rather than on your wisdom? How do you 279 00:16:18.529 --> 00:16:21.690 know if you're really depending on God's wisdom? You're talking 280 00:16:21.730 --> 00:16:25.549 to God throughout your entire day, and you're reading his 281 00:16:25.610 --> 00:16:29.080 word on a daily basis. If you're not talking to 282 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:32.009 God throughout your whole day, God, I'm getting ready to 283 00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:33.549 go into this meeting. I'm getting ready to go into 284 00:16:33.570 --> 00:16:35.629 this class. I'm getting ready to go meet with some friends. 285 00:16:36.149 --> 00:16:37.509 What do I do? What do I say? 286 00:16:37.590 --> 00:16:39.429 And you're not talking to God like that all day. 287 00:16:39.450 --> 00:16:42.789 And if you're not reading God's word on a daily basis, 288 00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:47.820 you are depending on your own wisdom. You're just fooling yourself. 289 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.980 You're not depending on God's wisdom. You're depending on your own. 290 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.419 And it's why you have so many problems and why 291 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.659 so many things fall through and why you end up 292 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:58.000 with so much pain in your life. Because you're not 293 00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:02.139 depending on God's wisdom by reading the book and talking 294 00:17:02.539 --> 00:17:06.880 to the author. Would you write this down? God's wisdom 295 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.980 and God's will are in God's word. God's wisdom and 296 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:18.190 will is in God's word. They're in God's word. God's 297 00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:21.950 wisdom and will are in God's word. And if you're 298 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:25.150 not in the word, you don't know God's will. And 299 00:17:25.190 --> 00:17:27.450 if you're not in the word, you don't have God's wisdom. 300 00:17:28.670 --> 00:17:31.730 And if you don't have God's wisdom, you can't be blessed. 301 00:17:32.750 --> 00:17:35.470 So that's the starting point. I gotta pray, talk to 302 00:17:35.509 --> 00:17:36.970 the Lord, and I gotta let him talk to me. 303 00:17:36.990 --> 00:17:39.210 Let me give you another one, number two. If I 304 00:17:39.230 --> 00:17:42.170 really want God's blessing on my life, and not only 305 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:47.710 depend on God's wisdom, I depend on God's strength, not mine. 306 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:53.869 I depend on God's strength, God's power, God's energy, not mine. 307 00:17:54.069 --> 00:17:58.160 Now you've probably noticed that you often get tired. In fact, 308 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:01.509 you're tired a lot. And at the end of the day, 309 00:18:01.549 --> 00:18:04.750 you're kinda worn out, and you run out of energy, 310 00:18:05.170 --> 00:18:07.410 and the reason why is real simple. You're a human being. 311 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:14.049 Your strength is limited. God's strength is unlimited. Your strength 312 00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:20.109 is finite. God's strength is infinite. Your strength is exhaustible. 313 00:18:20.170 --> 00:18:25.319 That's why you get exhausted. God's strength is inexhaustible. God 314 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.740 never runs out of energy. God never gets tired. And 315 00:18:28.829 --> 00:18:32.529 so I need to depend on God's strength, not my own. 316 00:18:32.569 --> 00:18:34.849 Let me show you some verses. Psalm 84 verse five. 317 00:18:35.849 --> 00:18:39.750 God says, you bless all who depend on you for 318 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:42.910 their strength. You want God's blessing in your life? You 319 00:18:42.930 --> 00:18:46.470 need to depend on God for your strength. Now what 320 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:48.990 do you do when your strength evaporates? You're at the 321 00:18:49.029 --> 00:18:50.150 end of the day and you go, I'm just out 322 00:18:50.190 --> 00:18:51.890 of steam, I'm out of energy. I don't have the 323 00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:54.160 energy to go into this next week. I got too 324 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:56.539 many things to do and not enough energy to do it. 325 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:02.259 Here's a good promise, Isaiah 40, 31. Those who trust 326 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.069 in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. 327 00:19:07.730 --> 00:19:10.650 They will rise on wings like eagles. They will run 328 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:13.750 and not get weary. They will walk and not grow weak. 329 00:19:15.150 --> 00:19:17.569 Now let me just say this. In the darkest moments 330 00:19:17.690 --> 00:19:21.890 of your life, when you cannot see your way forward, 331 00:19:22.170 --> 00:19:24.410 and doesn't matter what they are or where they came from, 332 00:19:24.670 --> 00:19:27.710 in the darkest moments of your life, you need God's 333 00:19:27.789 --> 00:19:32.599 strength to get you through. And the reason why most 334 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.380 people never get through it is they don't have God's strength. 335 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:40.619 I've seen people go through a divorce and they never recover. 336 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:46.140 I've seen people go through a breakup and they never recover. 337 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:51.380 I've seen people go through a major illness. I've seen 338 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:55.019 them go through a bankruptcy or getting fired or getting 339 00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:57.980 laid off or getting arrested. I've seen people go through 340 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:03.819 all kinds of different things, abuse, and they never recover. 341 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:04.059 Why? 342 00:20:04.299 --> 00:20:07.140 Because they're depending on their own strength. You're not going 343 00:20:07.160 --> 00:20:07.700 to get through it. 344 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:09.200 On your own strength. 345 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:13.299 You're gonna get stuck at that stage and you get 346 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.859 miserable the rest of your life. The only way you 347 00:20:15.900 --> 00:20:19.720 get through the darkest days of your life is on 348 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:24.380 God's strength. You gotta depend on him. Now I put 349 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:27.039 down here a couple verses that I would encourage you 350 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.119 to memorize. One of them is for when you're young 351 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:32.960 and another one is for when you're old. But the 352 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:35.640 first one, everybody can memorize this, it's only one sentence, 353 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:39.859 Psalm 71 16, look at this verse. I walk in 354 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:40.920 the strength. 355 00:20:40.930 --> 00:20:41.599 Of the Lord. 356 00:20:42.140 --> 00:20:45.900 I walk in the strength of the Lord. That's an affirmation. 357 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.119 Now here's what I encourage you to do. Write that 358 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:51.779 verse on a card and read it over and over 359 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:53.660 and over until you got it memorized so you can 360 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.700 say it 10 times a day. And here's what you do. 361 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.920 You make it the most important affirmation. 362 00:20:59.380 --> 00:20:59.859 In your life. 363 00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:02.880 And when you get up in the morning and you 364 00:21:02.900 --> 00:21:06.190 wanna go right back to bed, And you're worn out 365 00:21:06.210 --> 00:21:08.009 and you go, I don't even have enough energy to 366 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:11.029 get started today. You sit on the side of your 367 00:21:11.069 --> 00:21:14.089 bed and you say, I walk in the strength of 368 00:21:14.130 --> 00:21:17.599 the Lord. And then when you get up and you 369 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:19.420 go to school or you go to work or whatever 370 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:22.660 you're doing and you have that first conflict with somebody, 371 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:25.859 you say, I walk in the strength of the Lord. 372 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:28.900 And later in the afternoon when you get a phone 373 00:21:28.940 --> 00:21:32.000 call and it's bad news and it's terrible and you're 374 00:21:32.430 --> 00:21:35.460 You're frustrated and you're scared and it creates anxiety and stress. 375 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:38.960 You say, I walk in the strength of the Lord. 376 00:21:40.099 --> 00:21:42.019 When late in the day you're just running out of 377 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:44.400 energy and there's still a whole lot more to do, 378 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:45.440 you say to. 379 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:48.640 Yourself, I walk in the strength of the Lord. 380 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.480 And when you go to bed at night, as you 381 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:54.180 put your head down on the pillow and all of 382 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:56.500 the things that you didn't get done and all of 383 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:59.099 the worries and the fears and loneliness and any other 384 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:00.960 thing that tends to pile in, you say. 385 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:01.619 I walk. 386 00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:06.119 In the strength of the Lord. That is the kind 387 00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:10.039 of woman God blesses. That is the kind of man 388 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:14.160 God blesses. I walk in the strength of the Lord. 389 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:17.220 I don't just depend on God's wisdom and do the 390 00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:20.539 right thing. I do the right thing with the right power. 391 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:22.920 I'm not doing the right thing under my power. I'm 392 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:26.769 doing the right thing under God's power. God, I need 393 00:22:26.789 --> 00:22:28.529 you to give me the energy. I need to plug 394 00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:33.950 into the power When you get older, you're gonna face 395 00:22:34.549 --> 00:22:39.069 the pains and problems of aging. And that gets pretty frightening. 396 00:22:39.109 --> 00:22:41.880 Just talk to somebody who's getting up in age and 397 00:22:41.990 --> 00:22:44.460 ask them that. And here's a good verse for then. 398 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.680 When maybe your body isn't working like it should and 399 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:49.519 your mind isn't as sharp as it used to be 400 00:22:49.539 --> 00:22:51.799 and maybe you're starting to get a little Alzheimer, a 401 00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:57.650