Introduction: (Proverbs 1-3)
Dremel Rotary Tool: This product not intended for use as a dental drill.
Vidal Sassoon Hair Dryer: Do not use while sleeping.
Rowenta Iron: Do not iron clothes on body.
Baby Stroller: Remove child before folding.
Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush: Do not use for personal hygiene.
How Do I Get Wisdom for My Walk?
- You have to go after it Humbly (Prov 1:1-6).
- You have to go after it Reverently (Prov 1:7).
- You have to go after it Urgently (Prov 2:1-11).
- You have to go after it Totally (Prov 3:5-6).
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:43-00:50
These are actual warning labels on actual products.
00:50-00:51
I get a kick out of these.
00:52-00:54
These are actual warning labels on actual products.
00:55-00:57
The Dremel rotary tool, we have one of these.
00:57-00:59
Do you know there's a warning label on that?
00:59-01:05
The warning is, this product is not intended for use as a dental drill.
01:07-01:10
I wish I would have read that before I started using it.
01:11-01:15
I was really enjoying the dental savings we were enjoying at our house.
01:18-01:20
So the Vidal Sassoon hair dryer.
01:20-01:21
I love this one.
01:21-01:22
There's a warning on it.
01:22-01:23
Do not use while sleeping.
01:25-01:30
It's like, look, I'm really busy, and that's really the only time I have to dry my hair is while I'm sleeping.
01:33-01:34
But I love this.
01:34-01:42
The Rowenta Iron has a warning label on it that says, "Do not iron clothes on body." It's like, "Why don't have an ironing board?
01:42-01:47
"It's just easier to, you know." And here's the thing with these things.
01:47-01:48
We have a couple more, but here's the thing with these things.
01:50-01:54
There's a reason these warning labels are on these packages, right?
01:55-01:57
And you know what the reason is.
01:57-01:59
Somebody tried this stuff.
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What's the next one?
02:01-02:03
This is on a baby stroller.
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What's the warning on a baby stroller?
02:05-02:07
Remove child before folding.
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And finally, I say the best, this is my favorite one of the ones. I read a bunch of these this week, but this is my favorite of the group.
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Scrubbing bubbles, fresh brush.
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Do not use for personal hygiene.
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Alright, so you're scrubbing the bathroom, scrubbing yourself, don't use the scrubbing bubbles, fresh brush for personal hygiene.
02:36-02:45
And again, these warning labels are on these items, they're on there for a reason, and the reason is, you know somebody tried that.
02:45-03:02
You know somebody called the Scrubbing Bubbles Company and said, "I got a horrible rash, "but I smell great, but I got a horrible rash "because your scrubbing bubbles irritated my skin." And they're like, "Well, you realize those aren't supposed to be.
03:03-03:11
"No, I didn't know that!" Well, who's ready for some real, helpful wisdom?
03:12-03:13
Who's ready for that?
03:13-03:22
Well, open up your Bibles to the book of Proverbs because the next two months we're going after some things that are going to be real and going to be helpful.
03:25-03:26
Proverbs 1.
03:27-03:31
While you're turning there, "Proverbs? What are Proverbs?" Here's a definition for it if you want a definition.
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Proverbs are timeless truths in the form of short and simple illustration that expose a fundamental reality of life.
03:44-03:50
Timeless truths in the form of short and simple illustration that expose a fundamental reality of life.
03:50-03:58
I heard a preacher this past week say, "Proverbs is God's Twitter account." I'm like, "Oh, that's brilliant, right?" It's God's Twitter accounts.
04:01-04:05
Hebrew for Proverbs, the word "Proverbs" is literally this.
04:05-04:13
It's "instead of words." Now, that doesn't mean numbers instead of words.
04:13-04:17
It's "instead of words." These are instead of words.
04:18-04:19
That's what Proverbs are.
04:20-04:27
their comparisons with the purpose of observation and instruction.
04:28-05:03
You're like, "Well, why are we going into Proverbs right now?" Well, we spent this past year in Revelation in a series called "Coming Soon," and the question I wanted to ask ourselves as a church and answer from God's Word is, "How shall we live while we wait?" Proverbs gives us the wisdom to navigate through daily life, equipping us to make the best decisions, making choices that honor God and bless me and bless others.
05:06-05:09
That's what we're going after the next couple of months - wisdom.
05:09-05:10
We're going after wisdom.
05:12-05:18
And it's important for us to understand, church, that wisdom is different than knowledge.
05:20-05:24
And I think a lot of people in the church are messed up because they don't understand the difference.
05:25-05:30
You have knowledge and you think you have wisdom, and you can't figure out why you can't get it together.
05:31-05:34
Well, knowledge is having the right information.
05:35-05:37
That's knowledge. It's just having the right information.
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And we live in a world of easy access knowledge, more so now than at any other point in history, right?
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because most of us carry in our pockets a little television screen that has access to all of the information that we could possibly want in every aspect of life.
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The information is everywhere, even in the church.
06:05-06:21
We can subscribe to a podcast, or we can get online and get a sermon transcript, or listen to a sermon online, or we can get the daily devotionals from your favorite pastor sent to your email, for those of us that still use email.
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The knowledge is everywhere. So what's the problem?
06:28-06:34
Knowledge by itself doesn't benefit you at all.
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That's where wisdom comes in.
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You see, wisdom is knowing how to apply knowledge.
06:47-06:54
Wisdom is, you know, knowing how not to fold your baby up in the stroller.
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There was one person who said, "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." But wisdom is the application of knowledge.
07:14-07:15
Think of it in terms of health.
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I know how to be healthy.
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And the reality is, you do too.
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And I think, honestly, I think, I really think everybody, deep down, they know how to be healthy.
07:31-07:34
The problem is we don't apply that knowledge.
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Because being healthy, there's nothing new under the sun.
07:40-07:41
It's the same old thing, right?
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You eat right, and you what?
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Exercise, right?
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And that's how you are healthy.
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We know that, but most of us just don't apply that.
07:56-08:04
Knowing what I should eat, what vitamins are in what food, and what exercises I should do, knowing that isn't going to make me healthy.
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I only get healthy when I do it.
08:08-08:12
I only get healthy when eating right and exercising, you're actually a part of my lifestyle.
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So it is with knowledge and wisdom, church.
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God wants you to not only have the right information, that's knowledge, He wants you to live it out.
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That's wisdom.
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And I don't know about you, but I desperately need wisdom for my life.
08:31-08:34
I desperately need wisdom for my life.
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I mean, think about it.
08:37-08:43
The areas of life that some of us are in, like, for example, marriage.
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You're living with a person that you're called to love like no one else.
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How do I do that?
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I need wisdom.
08:53-08:59
Those of us that have children, I'm responsible for raising this child to succeed in life.
08:59-09:01
How do I do that?
09:02-09:04
Neither of my kids came with an instruction manual.
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Did yours?
09:06-09:06
No.
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OK, so we get a problem.
09:08-09:10
We've got to raise this kid.
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How do we do that?
09:15-09:15
We need wisdom.
09:18-09:18
Conflict.
09:19-09:22
I have a damaged relationship that must be addressed.
09:22-09:23
How do I do that?
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Money.
09:25-09:31
I'm entrusted to manage a certain amount of stuff that passes through my hands, how do I do that?
09:34-09:46
What about when that person at the office is flirting with me and I think there might be something going on there and I know I shouldn't do it, but I could probably get away with it and how do I navigate through that?
09:49-09:56
What do I do when I'm offended, when somebody says something and just that, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
09:56-09:57
How do I handle that?
10:00-10:03
On the same line, what do I do when I'm about to lose my temper?
10:05-10:08
What about when my kid deliberately disobeys me?
10:10-10:19
Well, Proverbs gives us wisdom for all of this and so much more covering every single aspect of life, every arena of life.
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You're going to find it in the book of Proverbs.
10:21-10:39
So before we get into some specifics over the next two months, I felt like church we should probably get a little on-ramp and sort of remind ourselves why we're so desperate for wisdom and how to get it in the first place, right?
10:40-10:45
So in your outline, the question we're going to be looking at today, how do I get wisdom for my walk?
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How do I get wisdom for my walk?
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For those of you that have it all figured out, you can be dismissed.
10:54-10:56
Maybe you can work in a kids ministry, you don't need to hear this.
10:58-11:05
But for the rest of us that are still trying to figure stuff out, how do I get wisdom for my walk?
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We're going to be doing a drive-by through the first three chapters of Proverbs.
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I want you to get this.
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Number one, first of all, write this down.
11:17-11:18
You have to go after it humbly.
11:19-11:21
How do I get wisdom for my walk?
11:22-11:24
You have to go after it humbly.
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Look at Proverbs 1. Look at the first six verses.
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It says, "The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.
11:35-11:37
To know wisdom and instruction.
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To understand words of insight.
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To receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity, to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth.
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Let the wise hear, and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
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Let's stop there. How do I get wisdom for my walk?
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Well, first of all, you have to go after it humbly.
12:12-12:13
You have to go after it humbly.
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I want you to see the very first thing the Proverbs says about the need for wisdom.
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Look, it's in verse 2.
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"To know wisdom." The Hebrew word for "know" is "yada." Yada, yada, yada. Right?
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And that Hebrew word for "know" isn't just knowing about something.
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It's a word of intimacy and experience.
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That's what yadah is.
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For example, my wife Erin.
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Most of you know about her.
12:55-12:59
You could recognize her seeing her walk in the church.
12:59-13:08
"Oh, that's Pastor Jeff's wife Erin." You know her, maybe you know some things about her, but you don't know her the way that I know her.
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Why? Because I experience life with her.
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We live together.
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We are constantly interacting together.
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We are experiencing this journey together.
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And we, church, are called to know wisdom.
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It's seeing the world as God sees it.
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It's judging every scenario correctly.
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It's following the best course of action.
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And when you do that, when you live that way, you're living in a real relationship with wisdom.
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You don't just know about wisdom, you know wisdom.
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That's further explained with a synonym here.
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Look down at verse 4.
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The word "prudence." That's a word we just don't use anymore.
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You know, I was thinking about this this week.
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You know the last time I heard somebody use the word prudence?
14:05-14:06
You know the last time I heard somebody use that word?
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Was when they were, they used to make fun of the first President Bush, right?
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George Sr.?
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"It wouldn't be prudent at this juncture." Do you guys know what I'm talking about?
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Come on, don't leave me up here.
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How many of you know what I'm talking?
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Okay, thank you.
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I think that's the last time I've heard somebody use that word, prudent.
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but it is such a beautiful word.
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Prudence is this.
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Prudence is doing the right thing in the right way at the right time for the right reason.
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That's prudence.
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And that's wisdom.
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It's not just knowing what to do.
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Like, okay, this is the wise thing to do.
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It's not just knowing what to do, it's also knowing how to do it.
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Okay, so I see what I need to do, this is how I do it.
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But it's not just that, it's knowing when to do it.
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What's the right time to pull the trigger on this?
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And it's knowing why we do it.
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We're gonna talk about motivation here in a second.
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Verse three says to receive instruction.
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That's humility.
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Receiving instruction, it's awareness that I don't always know the best course of action.
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That's humility.
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You and I are born with a bent to sin.
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You and I are born with a bent towards selfishness.
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And the Bible says that our hearts are deceitful above all things.
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So when it comes to making decisions in your life, a lot of wisdom that people give, they say, "Just follow your heart.
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Just follow your heart." Listen, that is horrible advice.
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You know why?
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Because my heart is deceitful above all things.
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It is a big fat liar, and it is going to lead me down a wrong path.
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So just follow your heart business, not wise.
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I am bent, and I have to acknowledge this, I am bent towards always choosing the most self-serving option for me.
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That's reality, and you're the same way.
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You're going to choose by nature, by sin nature, you're going to choose the most self-serving option.
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We've got to recognize that.
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We need to recognize that God has provided wisdom in His Word that we must receive and apply.
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Now listen, through the glorious power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He transforms you.
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He changes you. He gives you a new heart.
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And that is absolutely true.
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His Spirit dwells within you.
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But Christian, you are still dwelling in a body of sinful flesh.
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And as Christians, we are a strange dichotomy.
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God's Spirit is indwelling this fallen body.
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So sometimes it's hard for me to discern what's true godly biblical wisdom How does me just choosing what's going to be the best option for me, how can I navigate through that?
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God gave us His Word so that we might know wisdom.
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Right? But it starts with humility.
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Receiving instruction requires, you know what God, you're right.
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I don't know a thing, and I need to know what you say about navigating through all of this.
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So you have to go after it humbly.
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Secondly, you have to go after it reverently.
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You have to go after it reverently.
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Look at verse 7.
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Verse 7 is like the thesis of the entire book of Proverbs.
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You're like, what's Proverbs about?
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Verse 7 is what Proverbs is all about.
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It says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
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Fools despise wisdom and instruction." Meaning this, if you want God's wisdom, I have to go after it reverently.
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When we talk about the fear of the Lord, that doesn't mean I'm scared of God.
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Like, I hide under the bed because I'm afraid He's going to lose His temper and start throwing lightning bolts and hellfire and brimstone on my head when He gets mad.
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That's not what the fear of the Lord is.
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The fear of the Lord is reverence for God.
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It is standing in awe of God.
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You say, "He is the awesome and majestic and transcendent, holy One of the universe!" But the fear of the Lord is also something else.
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I want you to write this down.
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It's living in the active awareness of His constant presence.
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Living in the active awareness of His constant presence.
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That is the fear of the Lord.
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The act of awareness of his constant presence.
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And that is what motivates us to live wisely.
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We sort of understand this.
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How many of you have been driving?
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I'm not gonna ask how many of you.
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We've all been there.
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If you drive, this has happened to you.
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You've been driving down the road and a police officer pulls behind you.
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And you know, what's the first thing?
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You have that feeling where your heart sort of comes down and like bounces off your liver.
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You know that feeling I'm talking about?
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And what do you do when you see the cop behind you?
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What's the first thing you do?
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Shout it out.
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Yeah, you hit the brakes, slow her down, slow her down.
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And then, and then you see the cop doesn't put his lights on, okay?
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He was just pulling out because he was pulling, it had nothing to do with you.
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And then you get that feeling of relief, right?
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And I've seldom had that, because usually when the police were behind me, their lights were on.
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I'm just confessing, I went to college in Ohio, and I got so many tickets when I lived in Ohio, that when I moved back here for ministry, the Ohio Department of Transportation sent me a card.
20:32-20:39
It was like, "Jeff, thank you for your support all these years, All your persistent donations.
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That's a joke.
20:43-20:44
But I got a lot of tickets.
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What was I talking about?
20:48-20:49
I don't any more of that.
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I slowed down a little bit since then.
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OK, so the couple's up behind you.
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He doesn't put his lights on.
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That's what we're talking about.
20:59-21:05
OK, so you hit the brakes, and you don't put the lights on, and you're like, oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, God.
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Thank you, God.
21:07-21:08
But that cop's still behind you.
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So what are you doing while the cop's behind you?
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You're not like, oh, OK, he didn't put his lights on.
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And then you start pulling out your phone and texting and one arm's out the window.
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No, no, no.
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What are you doing?
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Your hands are at 10 and 2.
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Right?
21:24-21:26
Make sure your seat belt is on.
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Checking the speed.
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You better not be going too fast or he might change his mind and come after me.
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And why?
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You realize there's police everywhere, so why all of a sudden are you so diligent about how you're driving?
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It's because His presence put fear in you.
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I'm driving the best I can because I'm being watched.
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It's sort of like that with the fear of the Lord.
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Maybe the police analogy isn't the best one.
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The better analogy is, it's like a child knowing that his dad's watching.
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I don't want to disappoint dad.
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I know he's watching me, and I know he told me how to do this, and I want to do the best I can because dad's watching me.
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That's the fear of the Lord.
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You see the difference between knowledge and wisdom is the same difference between believing there is a God and fearing the Lord.
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It's the difference between knowing some facts about Jesus to "I personally receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior for salvation." You see, if we just believe in God, That's sort of an acknowledgment that He's up there somewhere.
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But the fear of the Lord is, "I know He is with me every single moment of every single day.
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He's constantly with me and He knows the choices that I'm making." So the fear of the Lord is not only the motivation for going after wisdom, It's the starting point for getting it.
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Look back at verse 7 in this thesis statement.
23:28-23:37
It says, "Fools despise wisdom and instruction." You know that guy.
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Nobody tells me what to do.
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Nobody's going to tell me how to spend my money.
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Nobody's going to tell me how to raise my kids.
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Nobody's going to tell me how to handle my marriage.
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"Hey, hey, hey, you have that option." God says you're a fool if that's your attitude.
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You have to go after this reverently.
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Thirdly, you have to go after it urgently.
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Jump over to chapter 2.
24:10-24:11
You have to go after it urgently.
24:13-24:14
Look at the first four verses.
24:15-24:24
"My son, if you receive My words and treasure up My commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding.
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Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures.
24:41-24:44
See, wisdom comes to people who desperately want it.
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"I've got to have it! I've got to have it!
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How do I get it?" The Bible says you search for it.
24:49-24:51
Well, you search for hidden treasure.
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Right?
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Imagine if I gave you a treasure map.
24:56-24:58
And I said, "Look, this isn't a joke, this isn't a hoax.
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If you follow this treasure map, you're going to find a treasure that's worth over $300 million.
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Not a joke.
25:08-25:15
This map will lead you right to it." And you take the map and you open it up and you find that it's written in Spanish.
25:16-25:18
How many of you would learn Spanish?
25:19-25:34
All of God's people said, "Si." All of God's people said, "Si." I just don't know what Spanish is for "Amen." But you would learn Spanish in a hurry.
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And you see, that's how you have to go after wisdom.
25:40-25:45
Verse 5 says, "Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
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For the Lord gives wisdom.
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From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
25:50-25:52
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright.
25:53-26:01
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of His saints.
26:02-26:16
Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path, for wisdom will come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul "Discretion will watch over you.
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Understanding will guard you." When you passionately go after it, when you passionately go after it, you see that twice, verse 5, verse 9, then, then you will get it.
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Then you will understand.
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Because, verse 6, "The Lord gives wisdom." The New Testament talks about that.
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James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, Ask God, who gives generously to all without reproaching it, will be given him.
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You see, you have to be humble enough to know you need it, you have to be reverent to fear the Lord to get it.
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You have to go after it urgently.
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And you have to go after God for it.
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See, you could leave here today and say, "You know what, Pastor Jeff, you're right. I've got to get wise.
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Got to get wise. Got to get wise.
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And I'm going to go home and start reading.
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And hey, reading is a great thing.
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But wisdom comes from the Lord.
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You have to ask Him for it.
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And you have to be desperate to go after.
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Many, many years ago at the previous church in which I served, there was a lady in our church that said, "Hey, I have some family members who are going through some really hard marriage stuff.
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Would you talk to them?" I said, "Sure, I'll talk to them." So the couple came to talk to me, and I could tell the wife was really interested in what the Bible had to say, and the husband I would put in the category of "not so much." Alright? So they come to talk to me, and again, I knew their family member, I didn't know them, and they came to talk.
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I said, "Biblically, here's the key to marriage." I'm going to give you the short version.
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I said, "Husbands need to love their wives like Christ loved the church." a self-sacrificing servant leader type love.
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That's how husbands love their wives.
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And wives need to submit to their husbands and respect their husbands the way the church does to Jesus Christ.
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And I explained that whole dynamic in Ephesians 5.
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And I explained the whole thing to them.
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This is the way you grow in marital love and intimacy.
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And I kind of laid out the whole Ephesians 5 thing.
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And when I was done, the husband looked at me.
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He said, "Is that all you got?" And I said, "Yeah." I said, "Yeah, that's all I got." That's all I got.
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But let's examine how doing things your way has worked.
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You're miserable.
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Your wife is miserable.
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Your marriage is miserable.
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And you're so hopeless that you are sitting and talking to a complete stranger because you don't know what else to do.
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And when you're offered wisdom to save your marriage, you just scoff.
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Go ahead.
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Just keep doing what you're doing, since it seems to be working out so well for you.
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Here's the point, church.
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If you don't recognize the treasure, the true wisdom is, if you don't recognize how it benefits you, then you're not going to pursue it like you need to.
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So what about you?
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Do you come to church and maybe even acknowledge, you at least acknowledge that God's word is true and then God's word is right, and then you leave church and you stumble through the rest of your week trying to do things your own way.
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And then you come back to church on Sunday wondering, "Why is my life so difficult?
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"Why is my home so rough?
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"Why is work so miserable?
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"Why can't I get it together?" I'm going to tell you why.
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It's because you're not searching for wisdom the way you'd search for the hidden treasure.
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You aren't asking God for the ability to live as he intended.
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You have got to want it more than you want anything.
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Like Solomon, you remember God showed up to Solomon and said, "I'll give you whatever you want." Wow, could you imagine?
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Do you remember what Solomon asked for, by the way?
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Wisdom.
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God says, "Because you asked for that, "I'll give you everything else." And that's the truth about wisdom.
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If you get that, you're going to get everything else.
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But you have to go after wisdom first.
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So what degree? Number four.
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Drop this down. You have to go after it totally.
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We're going to jump to chapter 3.
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Chapter 3, verse 5.
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A lot of you probably have this memorized.
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"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
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In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
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You have to go after this totally.
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You have to go after it totally.
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This isn't about keeping a checklist.
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This isn't some mechanical three steps to a better you life hack.
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Wisdom is a heart issue.
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It's a heart issue.
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He says, "Trust in the Lord." How much of your heart has to be in it?
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You see that in verse 5?
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"Trust in the Lord with..." what? What's your Bible say?
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All your heart.
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Then look at verse 6.
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The question is, "In what ways must you acknowledge God?" Tell me.
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All, right? You see that?
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Circle the word "all" in your Bible.
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In all your ways acknowledge Him.
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See, this isn't why I trust God with the church stuff, but when it comes to work and money and hobbies and eating and drinking, all that Monday through Saturday stuff, I got that covered, Lord. I got that covered.
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You know, trusting the Lord is just like my ministry church stuff.
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That's incorrect.
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It is trusting the Lord in all your ways.
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All your ways.
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Acknowledge Him.
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Do not lean on your own understanding Because every single scenario that you face in life, you have a choice.
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Every single scenario, you have a choice.
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And your choice is this, I can lean on my own understanding, or I can trust in the Lord with all my heart.
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Every choice.
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Your wisdom, or the Lord's wisdom.
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couple examples. Maybe you find yourself in this scenario. My co-worker just said something that really ticked me off. He meant to. It wasn't like an accident. He's picking a fight with me. You have a choice.
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You could lean on your own understanding and say I'm gonna give him a piece of my I am going to light him up.
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I am going to put him in his place.
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He is going to regret the day he messed with me.
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That's leaning on your own understanding.
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Or, you could say, you know, Proverbs 15.1 says, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." So instead of going back after him with harshness, Maybe I can go back after him with a soft word, because God says that diffuses the situation and doesn't escalate.
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But you have a choice whose wisdom you're going to follow.
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Here's another scenario.
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I see a family in church that has a serious financial need, like, serious financial need.
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You can lean on your own understanding and say, "You know, I'm not really a rich person." Somebody else can help them.
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I mean, who's going to look out for me?
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Right? Who's going to look out for me?
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That's leaning on your own understanding.
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Or, you could turn to God's Word for His wisdom and apply that.
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Proverbs 19.17 says, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him." You have a choice.
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One more.
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My friend is making some terrible choices in life, and I need to have a hard conversation with him, and I need to say things that he may not like hearing.
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We've all been there, haven't we?
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We could lean on our own understanding, and say, "You know, it's not really my business." I mean, I don't want him being mad at me.
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I don't want to risk the friendship, so I'm just going to let it go.
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Or, you trust in the Lord.
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Proverbs 27 and verse 6 says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." That a true friend loves somebody enough to confront them.
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Even if it hurts.
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and we're going to save them from self-destruction.
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So if you're humble enough to receive wisdom, if you have a true reverence for the Lord, if you urgently want to grow in wisdom, and you want wisdom to mark your total life, then these next two months are going to be life-changing for you.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, just now we cry out to You for wisdom.
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Father, we are so used to doing things our way.
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We're so used to receiving advice and wisdom from all kinds of sources.
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I pray, Father, that we would turn a corner in our hearts as we approach Your Word.
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It would be the resolve of "I only care what God says.
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I want to take the fatherly advice that my heavenly Father has given.
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He is the one. He is the one who has true wisdom.
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Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters here.
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We would pursue wisdom over these next two months as we look at some very specific areas of life.
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Let us regard your word as the ultimate wisdom.
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Let us not just know about wisdom, let us know wisdom.
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Let it be an experience for us.
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Let it be a part of our very lifestyle, the very fabric of our being, seeking you for wisdom.
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You promised to give it, Father.
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So we're asking You for it.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Proverbs 1:1-7, 2:1-11, 3:5-6
Define wisdom. How is wisdom different than knowledge?
What is “the fear of the Lord”? Why must “the fear of the Lord” be your motivation to seek wisdom?
How is wisdom a protection (Prov 2:7-11)? How are you “in danger” (unprotected) when you don’t walk in wisdom?
BREAKOUT
How much have YOU been seeking wisdom, Monday through Saturday?
In what areas of your life, right now, do you need wisdom? How are you going after it?