How God sees you. God never calls you to earn his love. He gives you lavishly his love. And then in telling you who you are in Christ, he calls you to live at the level of what you are. He literally says, because you’re the righteousness of God in Jesus, you’re better than that. What are you doing going back to the gutter? What are you doing going back to the pig trough? What are you doing going back to a broken system? You’re better than that. Jennie, you got to control the horse. Sorry. Levi and Jennie Lusko and we want to talk to you for just a moment before the teaching. Again. What? He’s on my pants. Hey, Levi and Jennie Lusko here and we’re going to jump into the teaching from God’s word in just a moment. But really quickly, I wanted to cast some vision about this Firebrand year end offering we’re a part of. We are going to turn in our bibles to the Old Testament book of Malachi. Malachi Chapter 1, if you don’t know how to get to Malachi, it’s the last book of the Old Testament. So the easiest way is to find Matthew and then just to take one step to your left. Because Malachi, while he is the second to the last of the Old Testament prophets, according to Jesus, he is the last book in our canon in the Old Testament. So next is Matthew, but that’s more than you needed to know. Malachi 1, I want to talk to you today about how to address self-sabotaging tendencies in your life. Self-sabotaging tendencies in your life. That’s, of course, a pattern of behavior that gets in the way of your goals, of your dreams, of your progress. A pattern that just seems to show up again, and again, and again. That gets in the way of where you want to be. It’s really you getting in your own way as you try to move through life, noticing the same theme and thing keeps popping up. It could be procrastination. It could be an addiction. It could be a tendency to continually fall for people that are bad for you, to surround yourself with friends who are toxic to you, or a tendency whenever you feel like people are getting close that you need to armor up, and push them away, and end up lashing out at those who actually do love you, while you are drawn to people who treat you like trash. It could be a knack, or a habit, or a way of just when life is about to get good, just when you are about to maybe get a promotion, or get a job, or get an opportunity that you’ve been longing for for a long time that seemingly, out of nowhere, you do something stupid and all of a sudden it’s like, wait a minute, why, from the outside looking, it’s like why did that happen? It was just, there were just about, I just don’t understand. It’s self sabotage. It’s getting in your own way. It’s a pattern. And if this is something that resonates, as I say it, for you or for somebody you love, I hope and pray that this message will speak to you and be used by God to open your eyes because we are going to look at some people trapped in just such a pattern, the nation of Israel. And God speaking of the nation of Israel, he says, “My people have committed two evils”, Jeremiah 2:13, “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters. And they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water”. How’s that for self-sabotage? You got living water. What more could you want? How could you be thirsty? What could you look to parch your thirst more than living water? And you’re going to go build yourself a busted, old, dirty drinking fountain full of sludge? Why would you ever need to look for anything else to wet your whistle when you got God? And yet he says my people they keep cheating on me, playing the harlot. That’s language he uses because he likes to describe his people as a bride because there’s no greater love than you could possibly compare to, the your relationship with someone to, than your wife, your bride. And God says my people have been unfaithful to me. They’ve done so again, and again, and again. They keep running into the arms of a love bombing, manipulative lover, who’s cruel, who only seduces them with the temptation of pleasure but then treats them terribly on the back end. And so what I want to speak to that person who’s struggling, who feels like, man, this is for me. My message titled today, that I feel like is from God, is this, you’re better than that. Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. That’s right. You’re better than that. Hear me. I don’t say it with sarcasm. I don’t say it with contempt. I don’t say it with derision. I don’t say it with scorn. I don’t say it trying to make myself feel like I’m better than you. I say it with love. I say it with compassion. I say it with mercy. I say it from the truth. You’re better than that. You’re better than that. You have two courses of action when you want to sit down with someone and have, not a pep talk, there’s another kind of talk you can have with somebody you love. They call it a come to Jesus. Why do we say that when we really want to show our intentions? We want to have a come to Jesus with you. I could choose one of two things. Parents, you know. You’re always trying to coach yourself when you sit down with your kid to have one of those come to Jesus moments because what you don’t want is to end up giving a variation of you should be ashamed of yourself. Right. Because that only ever serves to push the person further into the behavior that caused the problem. Because shame doesn’t say you did wrong. You do want them in that moment to see that they did wrong, but shame says you are wrong. So that causes you to be actually in a time bomb, time delay situation end up further into self-sabotage. It reinforces the narrative that created the problem. So your goal or, some of you are like need to write that down, you said that to your kid this week? We all have those moments. But our goal isn’t to say you should be ashamed of yourself, but our goal is for them genuinely to hear, and to see, and to have their eyes open to the fact that they are better than that. They’re better than this moment. You’re better than that. Yeah. That’s as gospel as I can get. That’s the gospel. That if you’re in Christ, if you’re in Christ positionally and his righteousness is on you, then whatever low level living cistern hooking up with your doing today, you truly are, if you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you are better than that. What business does light have with darkness anymore? Because the gospel isn’t do enough good things and God will eventually say, all right, you’re OK. Just pay your dues and be quiet for a while. No, the gospel is you deserve nothing, Jesus did everything. God gives it to you in Christ based on nothing you did. And we don’t, it’s not on us them to keep through good behavior what we did not earn through good behavior, nor to fear that we’re going to lose through bad behavior what was not ours to win through good behavior. The gospel is not you do to be. It’s he did, now you are. So literally the transformation that happens when we trust Jesus for salvation is him saying to us because of me in you, Christ in you, the hope of glory, you quite literally are better than that. Yes. The message of sanctification is not due to be, it’s be what you are. So I’m going to live at the level of my calling, not seek to bring my conduct enough up to a level that God will finally declare me OK. Some of us are living for approval we’ve already been given because we don’t understand that it’s not about a righteousness that’s based on us, it’s a righteousness that’s placed on us the moment we trust Christ through faith and tap into God’s grace. By grace you have been saved, not through works because you could boast otherwise. So you’re better than that. You’re kings and priests. You know that’s what you are? You are kings and priests today. I need a reference. I don’t know about that. It’s a hard sell. I work at Burger King. I’m not a king or a priest. Actually, you, Peter said, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people brought out of darkness, into marvelous light, that you might proclaim his praises. Hello, royalty, kind of a big deal. Yes. Did you earn it? No. So how do we get out of the pig trough we end up back in when we backslide? How do we stop being drawn to these toxic people, these self-sabotaging tendencies? Why, how do we get, listen, we have to choose to live at the level that God has chosen to speak about us as. Walk worthy of the calling with which you are called. How good of him to put his name on us because that’s what he did when you were saved. He branded you. He branded you. He marked you, Ephesians 1:13 says. When you believed in him you were marked in him with a seal, not just any seal, the promised Holy Spirit. That’s your firebrand, marked with the fire of God, the power of God, that God could not give you a better thing, himself. He gave you himself marked with his love. So with all of that, why do we settle? Why do we slide back? Why do we end up hooking up with other gods that can’t help us? Why do we go back to Sid’s house when we got Andy written under our cowboy boot? The treatment’s much better from Andy than Sid. Number one, we’re scarred. We are scarred. This is the truth. We end up back in Sid’s house because the effects of living on a fallen planet leave their toll. And we do truly end up traumatized. We do end up avoiding the bumper cars because we don’t want the bee sting. We end up living out of that wound. If we’ve been hurt by emotionally overbearing or by emotionally unavailable people at formative moments in our journey, we ironically can end up seeking out that very same treatment because we think that’s all we’re ever going to get. And so we can either end up trying to do the exact opposite, so you end up going into the arms of even more abuse on the other side of the spectrum or we seek out the very same thing that hurt us, playing a part in a self-fulfilling prophecy of the story we think our lives are going to be. We also can end up projecting onto other people the hard things we haven’t yet processed in a biblical healthy way. And what does that look like? That causes us to make the people in our lives pay for sins that they didn’t commit. And we lash out at them for the things that other people did to us at some other point in our journey. Number two, why do we self-sabotage? Because we’re scared. We’re scared. We’re afraid that we can’t live without the drugs. We’re afraid that we can’t live without the alcohol or the porn. We’re afraid that if we try to get clean, we might fail. Or maybe, even more, we’re afraid that we might try and succeed and that we will know how to handle the success or that we’re unworthy of the success or the blessing that might come. We are scared. And that fear is what makes us procrastinate on a project and torpedo our chances of doing well at it, sitting there watching Netflix episode after Netflix episode. It’s, you have this thing to do. Why am I self-sabotage, I’m afraid. That’s why we keep people at arm’s length who are actually there trying to love us. We’re afraid if they get close enough to see us, they’re going to abandon us just like someone else did at some other point along the way. And we treat God, we look to God and we impose on him all of the baggage that other people’s hands have done to us. And we’re afraid that he looks at us with this arms crossed performance mentality saying, what have you done for me lately? And we’re afraid to go all in and burn the ships and trust him fully with everything because we just suspect that deep down someday, somehow, some way he’s going to discover all the ghosts in our past, and all the skeletons in our closet, and he’s going to want nothing to do with us. But I got news for you. God sees the end from the beginning. And before the world was even made he knew every sin you’d ever commit and he chose to make you anyway. He chose to send Jesus anyway. He chose to cause Jesus to rise out of the grave anyway. He came into your heart knowing everything you’ve ever done. Yes. Yeah. We’re scared, we’re scarred, we’re unsure about our worth. We don’t truly understand our value. Created in the image of God, trusted with the Holy Spirit, how valuable that makes us, a dwelling place for God in the spirit? But misunderstanding our value, we believe the lives that have been spoken over us when we were told we were no good, when we were told we’d amount to nothing, when we were told that we’re dumb just like everyone in our family is dumb. We’ll make nothing of ourselves just like our dad and our father before him. We’re going, you’ve going to be an alcoholic till you die because that’s what happens in our family. No one’s marriage goes the distance in our family. You start to believe those lies and then again you start to play your little part in a self-fulfilling prophecy. And you end up looking for the love you think you deserve. It’s because your soul doesn’t understand its true worth. Now, every single one of these things I’ve already talked about, you could find in 1,000 psychology articles, journals, and blogs, and tips, and, that’s because everything worldly-wise about self-sabotage all links to one thing, insecurity and low self-esteem. Insecurity and low self-esteem. And I would agree with you on every single one of those things except the conclusion that many times the world would come to has us then looking to ourselves to fix our own problem, Right. Right. ,and being the answer which only leads us further into spirals of shame. You see the bible would say every single one of those things is true, insecurity about our worth, and the difficult things we’ve gone through, and the fear that we all feel inside, but the conclusion is different when we come to the gospel. Yes. That’s right. Because the gospel doesn’t say, well, then look more at yourself, and try harder, and just try and forgive yourself. Instead that would lead us just to more pride. Because we think of pride as just this mountain of I’m wonderful. Guess what? I’m terrible’s pride too. It just, what’s a chasm? It’s just an inverted mountain. So I’m amazing and I’m worthless, and garbage, and terrible. It’s pride. CS Lewis said that humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s actually thinking of yourself less. So our solution to all of the low self-esteem and all the insecurity, which admittedly scripture would say does drive us further into self-sabotaging behavior, isn’t to have more eyes on our self but to look at him and understand what he says about us. Yes. And if that’s true, then guess what? You’re pretty valuable. Because how do you get the value of something? You have to figure out what someone’s willing to pay to get it. That’s its value. Hey, I got a wheelbarrow, it doesn’t work. You want to buy it? Give you $10 for it. Amazing. That’s a $10 wheelbarrow. Whatever the market will allow? Correct. You don’t price stuff on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace just willy-nilly. It’s the most you think you’re going to get for it. Guess what? You were headed to hell. What was God the Father willing to pay to save you? The blood of his son, Jesus. Yes. You are worth Jesus to God. Yes. Oh, come on, take a second and let that set in. Your value indisputably precious and priceless to God, not with the blood of bulls and goats, or gold or silver, or any corruptible thing, but with the precious blood of his son. God was willing to ransack heaven of the greatest treasure in the universe and outside of the universe and anywhere else to purchase you out of your sins into God’s family so he could set his seal upon you. So the solution to the low self-esteem and insecurity that drives us further into self-sabotaging behavior, it’s to look at him and to understand his love for us and to be defined more by that than anything we can do or anyone else can do for us. Oh, come on, take a second and just thank God for the unshakable, immovable way that the gospel grounds you into what can’t be taken away. Because if you were I can give ourselves the worth of our soul, that can be given that can be taken. But if it comes from something that’s from him, that’s why we sing every Christmas when he came the soul felt its worth in seeing what God did in Jesus coming to save me. I understand the value of my soul in his eyes and that changes how I look at everything. And so number four reason we end up self-sabotaging we forget that God is our source. And if he’s our source, if he’s got the living water, I’m not Messing with any other drinking fountain. I’m not looking to anything or anyone else to give me what he has given to me, which is what Peter said. He said, where else am I going to go? You only have the words of eternal life. And this is what Malachi is going to seek to speak to this people who keep running back to the broken cisterns. Let’s read starting in verse 6. And I’m half tempted to read the whole book of the bible to you because it’s so good. But then I had this epiphany, I said Levi you could just tell them they could read the book of Malachi in their own time. It’s only four chapters. It’ll take them a third of an episode of whatever show on Netflix they’re going to watch 12 of this week. So just cut into 1/10 of your TikTok time today and you could read the book of Malachi. It’ll be half an episode of Bluey. And you could read it while your kids watch Bluey in the same room. It says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I then am the Father, where is my honor? And if I’m a Master, where’s my reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise my name. Yet you say, in what way have we despised your name”? Now pause right here. I promise I will not break in more to the reading of God’s word except for one other time and say this, what makes Malachi, whose name means messenger, and we’re not, we’re not sure if that’s his title or name. It’d be like a milkman named Milkman or a UPS driver named UPS Driver. We’re not sure because he does that, but some thinks he is that too. We’re not sure. But what makes his style so unique is that he uses questions on behalf of those that he’s writing to what he thinks they’ll say and respond, in response and then he answers the hypothetical question that he’s not even for sure they’re going to ask, but it’s like playing chess with someone who’s got 55 moves ahead and you’re like what the heck? It’s just amazing. But this specific portion of it is addressed to the priests, which I bring up because that’s how God sees you, king and a priest, so your eyes should be like, wait a minute, this is for me because there’s a priesthood of all believers. All of us in the body of Christ are priests in God’s eyes. All right, so verse 7, “You offer defiled food on My altar,” God says. But then you say in what way have we defiled your altar? By saying the table of the Lord is contemptible. Those things defile my altar, God says. “‘And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?’ Says the Lord of hosts”. “‘But now entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?’ Says the Lord of hosts”. “‘Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,’ says the Lord of host”. I got to interrupt one more time, just this last one. The translations differ in this verse and I think this one verse you would be better served to look at a different translation because others really shed light on the fact that what he’s really saying is I would rather have you shut the doors to the church than continue with all this nonsense. Wow. That’s really what he said there. “‘For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles. In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering. For My name shall be great among the nations,’ Says the Lord of hosts”. “‘But you profane it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; and its fruit, it’s food, it’s contemptible. You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!'” Oh what a drag that we even have to give it all. Oh, “‘And you sneer at it,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick.'” This is how you bring an offering? “‘Should I accept this from your hand?’ says the Lord. ‘But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male'”, a better animal, “‘And takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished, for I am a great King.'” Yes. “‘I’m a great king’, he says, says the LORD of hosts, ‘And my name is be feared among the nations.'” God is calling his people out, and he’s saying guys, I’m better than this. I’ve loved you better than this. I deserve better than this. And he’s saying, you’re better than this too. I’ve put my name on you. Now, to catch us up, the nation of Israel ended up in captivity for 70 years because of 490 years of not putting God first. They lived in the land of milk and honey, and they had not put God first. Everything else was more important to them than God, and so God said, I’m going to take my blessing off of you. This is what’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. You’ll never be forsaken as my people, but you’re going to have to deal with discipline and the consequences of not putting me first. And as promised, they ended up in Babylon, and 70 years was going to be how long they were in in total. But just before the end of it, around 536 BC, God brought out a contingency, a remnant. It was prophesied it would happen, and it was even prophesied, through the words of Isaiah, the name of the ruler who would allow them to come home. His name was going to be Cyrus, which Isaiah prophesied about before there was ever a Cyrus. But he said, Cyrus is going to be in charge, and he’s going to say you can come. And this literally was shown to the man named Cyrus after he had given the order, and he marveled. So 50,000 came with Zerubbabel, a governor, as well as Haggai and Zechariah, and they came to focus on getting the temple built up with these 50,000 Jews so that when the whole nation was allowed to come back it would be ready for them. And they’d be ready to come back into the promised land and put God first this time and not put themselves ahead of God and to trust him fully and to live by faith and all the things. Well, they got the foundation laid. Then they got discouraged. And so 16 years went by, and they did almost nothing. Zechariah and Haggai wrote to say, come on, let’s finish what we started. Let’s trust God. We’re doing the same thing that got us into trouble. We’re putting all the money into a bag with holes. We’re not getting any of the blessing God wants us to have here. Well, good news. Four years went by. From 520 BC to 516 BC, in that four-year sprint, they finished the temple. And then Nehemiah, you’ve heard of him, right, Nehemiah? Yeah. Shortest guy in the Bible? Knee-high-miah? That’s how tall he was. He was knee-high. There’s one guy shorter. There’s a guy in the Bible named Bildad the Shuhite. He’s a little smaller, the shoe-height. Those are very good jokes. It’s the best I got. They both had this song they would sing all the time, Nehemiah and Bildad, and it was, I wish I was a little bit taller. If I had a girl that would look good, I would call her, rabbit in a hat, a 6-foot bat, 6’4 impala. And under Nehemiah, the walls were rebuilt. They, in an incredible 52 days, did what no one thought could be done, and the walls of Jerusalem protecting this great city were rebuilt. So Nehemiah, who had promised the king of Babylon he would go back to his day job as cupbearer, he said, I’m only going to be gone for a while. I know you want me in your court, so I’ll go, let me go. We’ll get the walls built, get everything restored, make sure the people are in full-tilt revival because that’s what happened at the end of the walls being built. They’re like, we’re going to live for God. We’re going to honor God. We’re going to keep the Sabbath, yay, all the things, and we’re going to put God first. So he was like, all right, great, you guys good? Literally they’re like, God is the greatest, no one is better, idols are stupid, we will follow God. It’s unbelievable. Nehemiah is like, yeah, I am so proud of you guys. All right. Great. I’m going to go back to Babylon. 12 minutes later, it had gotten bad. You’re like, how bad could it have gotten? It’s believed that by the time Malachi writes, the year is 450 BC or so, 66 years after the temple is finished. Now the walls are finally up and around, that the spiritual pulse of the nation of Israel was at as low of an ebb as ever in their history. Divorce? Rampant. Men dumping their wives, the wife of their youth, doing great treachery and falling for pagan women who didn’t even believe in God but you were younger or were looking for someone richer or whatever it was, it’s just rife throughout the community. The failure to honor and observe the Sabbath? Happening. Sorcery, witchcraft? Popping up. All of these things are happening, and then, of course, the issue that Malachi focuses on in the passage that we read where it’s affecting their money, because these are two things that are always, always, always going to pop off when your heart’s not right for God, your finances and your family life, your money and your marriage. And you can’t outlive your heart, and your heart has a rudder, according to Jesus. Let me read it to you. This is Luke chapter 12. “For where your treasure is, there your”, say it with me, “your… heart… will be also”. Amen. So the acid test of where your heart’s at is where your money goes. Follow the flow of your money, and you will discover where your heart’s actually at. This is an irrefutable principle. You care about what you invest into. You check up on, you think about where your money’s at. And for every one of us it’s different, and this is large and small ways. But if I sat down with your bank statement or you sat down with mine, you would know what I care about, and it would seem crazy to you to see what, for me, money just flies out of my life towards. All of us have those things, and it seems so funny when it’s other people. Like, I can’t believe they would just spend money like that. It’s just crazy. You get paid, and it’s like, poof. The Bible says money makes itself wings and just flies away. Where it flies to, newsflash, is what you care about. So you’re like, I can’t believe you care about horses. Their tack is so expensive and stable fees and, do you know what a custom saddle costs? And then you’re like, wine collection, rosé all day, hooray. And the person who’s like, ooh, the wine, how disgusting, oh, and horses, so stupid, oh, my 401(k), more, more, and more, why? You’re finding security in securities. That’s right. And you don’t spend. You stockpile because you want to be in control of your future, control, clothes. Oh, I’ll come for you. Give me time. I’ll get you. I’ll get you. Fishing trips, guided fishing trips, your money flies. Like the Orvis logo, oh, you just, there it goes. Hunting lodges, rifle, we all have passions, and Jesus said, follow them. That’s your heart. Your heart goes where your money goes. And so in this day, the sacrifices, all of the financial idea of investing in God’s work in the world, it had fallen into such disrepair that by the time Nehemiah comes back, OK, so imagine Nehemiah’s horror. Have you read the Book of Nehemiah recently? There are three primary enemies to the work of the wall building. Their names are Tobiah, Geshem, anybody know the third? Sanballat. These three are like, they’re literally like the three stooges because they’re comically bad. You know what I’m saying? You could literally see them on the internet researching “Acme anvils” to drop on Nehemiah’s head. It’s that bad. They’re so bad. But they try everything they can to stop the Jewish people from getting this wall around the city, and so the whole book, you’re like, oh, my gosh, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. These three are incorrigible. All the things they do, so by the way, throughout the 52 days, God’s people are forced to build the city with a shovel in one hand and a sword in the other. And so it must be for us to do any of the great things that God would call us to do. There’s work, but there’s also disgorgement. You’re trying to build the walls, and people keep driving onto your sign and breaking your sign down. And, too soon. It’s all too soon. And then Geshem’s kicking the creative door in and plundering and stealing all the things and breaking the windows and all of disgorgement. But they get the job done. And Nehemiah, who has been away for a while, plans a trip, gets his PTO with the king of Babylon, and is like, I need to, hey, Nebby. That’s what he calls him. Hey, Nebby, I want to go back and check on how the Jews are doing. They’re, no doubt, loving God and worshiping the Lord. Oh, it’s going to be so great. I can’t wait to see how they’re honoring their marriage vows, and it’s going to be a quiet day on the Sabbath. I’m going to read it to you. This is one little passage, Nehemiah 13. So he gets to town. It says, “before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah. And he had prepared for him a large room where previously they had stored all the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the tithes of wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers and the offerings,” all the things that kept the ministry taking place. And when Nehemiah gets there, he finds out that the literal Joker is renting an Airbnb inside of the temple of God. His eye twitches. But the devil is always trying to get into our storerooms. Right. The devil is trying to erode our passion for God, and one of the easiest and quickest ways to get it there is to cause us to love money more than we love the God who allows us to possess money as stewards. He wants to get us to a place of worshipping money as God instead of worshiping God with our money. And so it’s comical to see Tobiah literally sleeping in the place that there should be tithes. But no one’s giving tithes, and so there’s room for him to sleep there. And why would the enemy care so much about us? If he can’t get you to hell, he’ll want you to not lead anyone else to coming to know God so that they don’t go to hell. And it’s the resources that enable that to keep happening, and he can dull the impact of our lives here on Earth by pulling on the strings of our purses and wallets. And judging from the quiet, awkward silence in the room, I’m assuming there’s toasts that are being stepped on and good because quite frankly, I talk about it far too less considering how important of an issue it is in our hearts and lives. And because we are priests, too, let’s think about these words that Malachi wrote to the priests in that day and ask this question. What should characterize our giving so that we don’t end up one day, which, by the way, it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a slow slide. But we don’t want to end up with Tobiah living in our storeroom, amen? Amen. So what should characterize our generosity and our faithfulness when it comes to giving? Number one, our giving should be wonderful, wonderful. I feel like God just put that word so squarely on me because it’s not a word you would generally think about. But next time you write your giving out on the website or you’re about to give it in the offering in a moment or we come to a year end and we come around expansion, we come around outreach, before we put it in there or hit Send, we should just stop and pause and ask the question, is this a wonderful gift? Why? Because we’re trying to be like God, and God’s a giver of really good gifts, and the best gift anybody ever gave anybody, well, his name shall be called… Wonderful. God gave you a wonderful gift in Jesus, just what you needed. Oh my gosh. What’s under the tree for me this year? A Savior, just what I needed, just what I needed, a Wonderful, Counselor, just what I needed, a Prince of Peace, just what I needed, the Father of Eternity, just what I needed, the Ancient of Days, just what I needed, just what I needed, a sin offering, a shame-bearer, a prophet, priest, and king, just what I needed. Have you ever been given a gift and you thought to yourself with your teeth clenched, does this person know me at all? Do they know me at all? Buy me a book on the flat earth theories. Do you know me at all? Have you ever had a time when someone gave you a gift and you had to say to them, you shouldn’t have, but you literally meant it? You just knew they ran through their house regifting something because they forgot to get you a gift. Do they know me at all? Like, a big bag of pistachios, you have a life-threatening pistachio allergy. You’re like, oh my, thank you? I think? This might be a veiled death threat. But contrary to that, have you ever received a gift that just stopped you because it was so beautifully wonderful? Yes. My wife gave me a gift like that a couple of years ago. I unwrapped a box, and I was floored because it said “Leatherman” on it. And I think Leathermans are awesome. Some of you might know I have a whole sermon, I’ve preached around the starting of this company, the difficulty and rigors that the founder went through to get it off the ground out of his garage face, how many times he almost gave up but how invested he was financially and in every other way to seeing it happen and how through his invention of the Leatherman lives literally, not figuratively, literally lives have been saved, specifically two individuals named Larry and Chrissy. I preached a sermon called “Fight Like a Wolf” in our “I Declare War” series. It’s been preached around the world more times than I can possibly imagine. It’s unbelievable. Other pastors, myself, it’s gone out in ways that, so to get a Leatherman for my wife meant so much to me. And then to turn it over and see it say “Dear Levi, best wishes from Tim Leatherman” and his signature, and then he says “and happy birthday from Jennie on it,” I was like, oh, girl. What the heck? And to find out she writes the CEO of a company and explains to him that I’m the biggest fan of their company and I’ve told his story around the world. And she sends him a clip of me preaching it so he can hear it and that he’s so excited by it he sends me not only for me but for her also a Dremel tool engraved, Leatherman, that on the blade says “To Levi, happy birthday, from Tim Leatherman”. And I have in my possession a gift that was wonderful, wonderful gift, that’s a wonderful gift. That’s such a good gift, creative, thoughtful. Bury me with this box in the casket, not the knife. Lennox can have the knife. I want the box in my box, just the empty box in a casket with my corpse. Too much, too dark, shift gears. When you hold your giving in your hand, you should pause before you flippantly give to a God who gave so wonderfully to you is this gift in kind. Is it wonderful? Have I thought through all that I have, all that I’ve been given as I give my gift? Tim Keller, he likes to say, when you figure out your giving, specifically, he was talking about end-of-the-year giving, he said, don’t pick up your calculator, pick up the cross. Pick up the cross. Is it wonderful? These guys were giving gifts that were terrible. They would find the sickest cow in their flock and bring that. They were honoring God with their lips but their hearts were far from him. And then secondly, their gifts were not sacrificial. Did you notice I had it in my left pocket the whole sermon? I’m growing, guys. My trauma is not my template. Their gift, is our giving sacrificial? Second question, is it a sacrifice? Because if it’s not, don’t use the word. The definition of “sacrifice” is something you are not doing because you want to do something more. Is it a sacrifice to you to give it the love of your giving? For some of you I’ve said this for years. It would be a joke for you to give a $20,000 or $30,000 gift. That’s what you’re spending on landscaping in a year. You won’t think about that. You won’t feel that. There’s no pinch. There’s no bite. There’s no sting. For it to be a sacrifice, there has to be a sense of, OK, I could do this, but I’m not going to because I’m going to do this instead. He was saying, you’re giving, you keep the best back, but you’re not giving your best. It’s not a sacrifice, so don’t use the word. David said, I will not give to God that which costs me nothing. He’s better than that. Amen. Amen. He’s better than that. God, you’re better than that. I’m going to give you something costly to me because then and only then can I use the word “faith,” and without faith it’s impossible to… please God. God is not looking for, you think he’s interested in our money? No, no, no. He doesn’t need our money. We need his blessing, and the only occasion for any blessing is for there to be faith. So for there to be faith, so he has the actual opportunity to give us the blessing he wants to. There needs to be sacrifice. That’s why God rejected Cain’s and accepted Abel’s. It needs to have faith. My family and I watched Rudy the other day because I needed a good cry. Nothing can make me cry like the movie Rudy. Rudy’s career, was it big? Played one game, one moment when they’d already had it in the bag. But he had skin in the game, blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice. He breathed Notre Dame. So that moment, it was precious. It was significant. It was sacrificial. It was proportional. “Proportional” is our third word. The coach says, I wish you had, I wish you had half the heart of Rudy. He has no ability to speak of, no size to speak of, but heart. But God’s not looking for the size of the gift. He’s looking at the faith it takes to give it, which is why there’s power in knowing our giving is always meant to be proportional, proportional, proportional, above and beyond giving but also just the normative giving of tithing. Because if we Rob operational Peter to pay visionary Paul, we’re not any further ahead in what we are called to do. So it’s the ongoing consistent, proportional giving. That’s tithing, which Randy Alcorn in his book The Treasure Principle, which if it’s been a while, it’s like a 50-page book, it’s worth a reread, he says tithing is actually the training wheels of giving, which most Christians don’t tithe, which he says is like the cute, that’s great. You just got the bicycle going down the street with the little wheels on the side of it. The true giving is over and above and beyond that, but all giving is meant to be proportional. That’s why Malachi 3 says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me in this”. Just watch. You put it out there with faith. See if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing you cannot receive. And I’ll rebuke the devourer for your sakes, all the things cutting into your joy, cutting into your peace. I’ll seal up the holes in the bottom of your left pocket. I don’t know, Levi, that’s Old Testament. I don’t like Old Testament. Oh, you don’t like creation? That’s Old Testament. Well, you like murder? We’re told not to murder in the Old Testament. Your mom’s sick. You’re going to read Psalm 23 to her. Ah, I shouldn’t. That’s Old Testament. But let’s go to the New. “But this I say,” Paul said, “he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,” “he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”. This has been called the Malachi 3 of the New Testament. So let each one who gives as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. “And God is able to make all grace abound towards you,” open up the windows of heaven above you, “always having all sufficiency in all things,” that you may have an abundance for every good work. This is superlative after superlative. This is the language of blessing for faith. Luke 6:38, in case you’re like, I like Jesus better than Paul, bro, OK, great, “Give, and it will be given to you, good measure, presssed down, shaken together,” “running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure you use it will be measured back to you,” proportional, in proportion to what you have. So don’t say, well, I’ll let the rich people give because it would hurt me more. No, no, don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity to walk in the blessing of God and have ownership in what God’s doing through his church. And the story of Fresh Life Church has been 16 years of modest gifts given with faith in the hands of Jesus that can feed the multitude. We have always been doing more than make sense. This is the five loaves. This is the two fish. Don’t you want your little piece of bread inside Jesus’s hands for him to multiply, for him to do this as he’s doing it? Our giving should be global is number four, global. Otherwise, it’s off-brand. See what I did there? Off-brand. That’s why twice he chided them in Malachi 1 and said, my house is meant to be for all nations. My house is meant to be for, they were oppressing the foreigner, and the people who needed the generosity, that when the storehouse was full, they were able to bless the poor and help the poor. And by leaving the margins of their fields unploughed and not doing second gleanings but leaving that there, by not living in greed and caring so much about the bottom line, it was the foreigners who were being hurt, who should, through the mercy of God, being loved, though it made no sense, have their eyes open to a God who would love them. And so their giving was not global, thus off-brand. Can you imagine my surprise if I had opened this box and there was a Swiss Army knife in it? Chick-fil-A open on Sunday, you’re like, whoa, whoa, whoa. You crack a Coke, and it’s Pepsi. You go to drink coffee, and it’s decaf. Like, what the, what are we even doing here? Off-brand, right? Our faith, if not global, doesn’t line up with a God who for all eternity will be worshipped by every tribe, every tongue, every language, every nation, every people, the whole world. Our hearts should beat for it too. Amen. Jesus said, but “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come,” which is why you will always see in our outreach initiatives, in the dreams in our hearts not just local, in the cities that we live in, but also international things that we want to see God do that will touch the world with mercy, touch the world with his love, touch the world with his kindness. And guess what. That prophecy from Jesus about the gospel going out in the whole world is happening right now. Every single week, we pulled the numbers this week as a random audit. 66 nations we preach to last week. I can’t name 66 nations. But we’re preaching to 66 countries right now. “Eternal” is the last word. It’s with eternity in mind eternity, eternity in heart, an eternal perspective that we should give our gifts. Jesus said to the disciples, who were like, well, we left all these things to follow, he’s like, you’re going to receive hundreds fold-plus eternal life. You see, the idea is, and Jesus literally, I wish we could go into it. Maybe we will in another week. But he says to the disciples, he’s like, you should give in such a way where there’s a long list of people in heaven wanting to invite you over for a coffee to thank you that the only reason they’re there is because you helped open up Glory Bell Church in Waco, Texas. Come on. Just think about that, eternal giving. This is, you know what? Looking at stocks going up and down and, you want securities? There’s nothing security about anything on this Earth. At any moment one of us is going to drop dead of a heart attack. What’s security? Eternity. What’s security? Forever. What’s security? God’s kingdom. It can’t be shaken. It won’t be stopped. It has no end. It has no limit. It has no rival. He has no equal. So in our living our lives, it’s with that mentality of eternity. It’s not just seeing what happens here and now. Look at Malachi 3, verse 16. Just flip one page over. “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on his name,” firebrand. Malachi is all hypothetical objector. Now he’s hypothetical responder. What if you hear this word? What if you listen? What if you talk one among each other and you fear God? The love of God will keep us from religiosity and legalism. The fear of God will keep us from the other ditch. Well, we can just sin all we want, and God will forgive us and just sleep around get drunk, do whatever. God will forgive us. God will forgive us, cheap grace. God will, the fear of God keeps you out of that ditch, and the love of God keeps you out of that religious ditch. We need both. We need both grace and truth. Then those, what if we got together? I need to live this out. I need to live this. He said, God will be watching from heaven if that happens, and he’ll say, somebody write this down real quick. A book of remembrance was written before the Lord. et me just, he has such a good memory. I don’t think this is necessary to state the obvious. But he’s like, I don’t want to forget this. Write it down. Write it down. He’s referencing the whole thing that is a contemporary moment to this, Mordecai, who does a good deed, and the king remembers it later. That happened at the exact same time in Persia, by the way. Oh, I called Nehemiah’s king Nebby a moment ago. It’s actually Artaxerxes, Xerxes, sorry, so just correcting my own history as I preach. This is on the fly. It just would have bothered me. I’d lie in bed tonight, bothered by that, and questioning my value on this earth because of it, just to be honest. Mordecai saved the king’s life. And later on, the king couldn’t sleep, so he was having read the book of remembrance of his reign. And someone brought up Mordecai having saved his life, and he goes, what did I ever do to reward him? It says, you didn’t do nothing. Oh, we’re going to fix that. God’s going to write down about your giving and my giving. Let’s give him something to write about, first of all. Yeah, yeah, amen. And we can be sure now or in eternity or both God’s going to say, what did we do for him? What did we do for her? What did we do for that family that sacrificed impulsion, for the word to go out and reach someone in Cleveland? We didn’t do nothing yet, Lord. Well, we’re going to do something about that. I love it. Verse 17, “They shall be mine,” mine, mine. We write names on things we buy. This jacket belongs to Clover. My kids fight all the time. That’s mine. God says of you, you’re mine. That’s why he put his name on you. On that day, I make them my jewels. I think if we want to be lifted out of the self-sabotaging tendencies we do need to be lifted up from our low self-esteem but not by doing better and trying harder, that just leads to more shame, but from looking to the one who treasured us and made us his jewels with the blood of his cross and in response saying, God, I’m not giving you lip service, I’m not giving you a tip, I’m giving you all of me. Because you’re better than that. You’re better than that. God, you’re better than that. I give you all of me. I give you everything that I have, every breath for your glory, everything for your name, everything for your kingdom. Use me, God. Take me, God. Seal me, God. Well, I wish I could say Malachi finished his little four chapters and the nation of Israel started honoring God with the Sabbath, giving like crazy, loving like crazy, but they didn’t. This book was written so they would clean house, that Tobiah would stay out. But because they didn’t listen and give God anything, he got no writer’s cramp from writing down all their good works. Jesus came, as predicted, and he did clean house. And on his first real public phase of ministry in Jerusalem, he went into the temple, and he flipped over tables. He drove out money changers, kicked out Tobiah 2.0. Why? So that his house might be a place of prayer for the nations. This is what God wants today. This is what God wants in our lives, for us to lose ourselves as starring in the role of center of the universe and to recast ourselves as extras in the story of his glory. The good news today is we can be healed where they chose not to be. Malachi 4:2, I speak it over you today, who says, God, I need your help. I’m scarred. I’m scared. I don’t know my value. I’ve looked to other things to give me source of life instead of you. Well, God says, “to you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings, and you shall go out and grow fat…” this is my verse for the winter, “…like stall-fed calves”. Anybody thankful for the healing of the wings of God, that the God today smothers you with kindness? He doesn’t speak shame. He speaks healing. He speaks freedom. He speaks kindness. He speaks a better word. So come on. Let’s treasure the one who treasured us. Let’s live for the one who died for us. Amen. Every head bowed, every eye closed, if you would say, “I needed this today, I needed healing, I needed God’s touch”, could you just raise your hands up, raise your hands up, raise your hands, every location, church online. Father, we need you. We need to look at you and look at other people through that lens and not to look at you based on the lens of other people. We’ve been abandoned. We’ve been hurt. We’ve been wronged, and we’ve done wrong too. We have failed, and others have failed us. But you never will, Lord. So heal us now, Father. Help us, Lord, to know, deep down in our souls, that there’s nothing and no one almighty but you. The dollar is not almighty, but you are. And so we join our souls to the cry of the angels, who say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Would you be true and let everything else be a liar? We tear down our idols, God, and the high places in our hearts. We don’t want Tobiah in our storerooms. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for the healing taking place even now. We are amazed by your kindness. You can put your hands down. And if you are here today and you’ve not trusted Christ for salvation, we want to give you a moment to make that decision. There comes a moment in time in your life, at least one guaranteed one. Will you be sensitive and open to hear the Holy Spirit? What does it sound like? It sounds like knocking. It sounds like need. It sounds like guilt. It sounds like fear. And in those things there’s the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. And we can push it away, and if you do, it will get quieter. Or you could open the door and let God come into your life. Let Jesus forgive you and save you, not through anything you do, for his own purposes and grace. And if you’re here listening all across our church and you’re ready to trust Christ for salvation, I’m going to pray a prayer. I want you to pray it out loud with me. Church family, pray with us. I need all the priests in on this prayer: Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. Thank you for sending Jesus. I trust in you, the blood of Jesus, his resurrection from the dead for my salvation. Thank you for new life. I give you mine. In Jesus’ name. www.freshlifechurch.org.

The Bible contains many commands to pray for our leaders—national and local, secular and religious. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:1–4, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” God told the Israelites in exile to pray for Babylon: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7). Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Paul requested prayer “for all the Lord’s people” and for himself that he would speak the gospel boldly (Ephesians 2:18–20). Praying For The Government 1Tim 2:1…………Heavenly Father, I give thanks for our government. 1 Tim 2:2………..I pray for all men and women having authority over us in any way. Prov. 1:23……….Pour out Your Spirit upon them and make Your Word known to them. Ps 25:21………..Cause them to be men and women of integrity, obedient concerning us, 1 Tim 2:2………..that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty. Prov. 2:10……….Let wisdom enter their hearts, and let knowledge be pleasant to them. Prov. 2:11……….Let discretion preserve them and understanding keep them, Prov. 2:12……….to deliver them from the way of evil and from evil men. Psalm 1:1……….Make their hearts and ears attentive to godly counsel, 2Chr 20:32………doing what is right in your sight. Prov. 2:21……….Let the upright dwell in our government. Heb 12:27……….Cause there to be a shaking in all areas. Prov. 2:21……….Let those complete and blameless before You stay. Prov. 2:22……….and cut off the wicked. Let the unfaithful be rooted out. 1Cor 4:5…………Bring to light what is hidden in darkness, 1Cor 4:5…………and expose the secret aims of the hearts. Rev 2:5………….Let this nation remember from where they have fallen, Rev 2:5………….repenting, and returning to doing their first works, 1Chr 22:19……..setting their hearts and their souls to seek the Lord, 2Chr 7:14……….humbling themselves, praying, and turning from their wicked ways. 2Chr 7:14……….Then hear them, O Lord, and forgive their sins and heal our land. Acts 26:18……..Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. Heb 3:13………..Soften the hearts that are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Ps 107:20……….Deliver them from their destructions. 2Pet 3:9…………Father, You have been longsuffering toward us, 2Pet 3:9…………not willing that any should perish, 2Pet 3:9…………but that all should come to repentance. Isa 49:22………..Raise up a standard in this nation. Zech 10:1……….Cause the rains of Your Spirit to flood this land Hab 3:2………….and revive Your work in the midst of us. Isa 59:16………..Raise up intercessors for this nation 2Cor 10:4……….to pull down strongholds over this land. Isa 40:5…………And let the glory of the Lord be revealed!

The aged prophet Isaiah showed up at the bedside of the middle-aged king. Hezekiah was only about 39 years old and terminally ill. But the prophet was not bringing good news, “Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover” ( Is. 38:1 ).   The weak king cried out to God, “’Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight’. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” ( Is. 38:3 ).   Just as God heard Hezekiah’s cry and saw his tears: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears” ( Isa. 38:5 ) so too God indeed hears your prayers and sees your tears. Isaiah returned with good news, “Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city” ( Is. 38:5-6 ). God one ups Hezekiah’s beseeching prayer! God removes his impending death, then he looks beyond Hezekiah’s personal crisis to the deliverance and defense of the city.   As if the promise of physical healing and protection lacked sufficiency in convincing Hezekiah, God also offers to perform a supernatural miracle as confirming a sign: ““This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.” ( Isa. 38:7-8 ). As God miraculously turns back time, even so he turns back the clock on Hezekiah’s life – a dramatic sign to wow the king’s heart to trust and belief.   The king arose with gratitude. A song exploded from his mouth, “The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD” ( Is. 38:20 ).   As if two miracles were not satisfactory for the king, Hezekiah receives a third promise from God for healing in the form of a medicinal application: “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” ( Isa. 38:21 )   A life well lived extended by God’s grace. Cut credits.   Not so fast.   Two verses later the prince of Babylon sends his envoy with letters and a present to Hezekiah to congratulate him on his recovery. Hezekiah was flattered and thrilled by the attention of his powerful guest whom he looked to impress: “And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them” ( Is. 39:2 ). Hezekiah is preening for the Babylonian throne. And in his posturing, he exposes Israel to an untrustworthy ally.   On the heels of this miraculous healing and a dramatic reversal of supernatural phenomenon, Hezekiah fails miserably because of his unbelief in God. Isaiah returns and sternly prophesies, “Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and all that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD” ( Is. 39:6 ).   Ninety-nine years after his death, Isaiah’s prophecy would come true: Judah would be pillaged and overthrown by the Babylonians.   Even after receiving a word from the Lord that Israel would be rescued from Assyria and the accompanying confirmations of his miraculous healing, Hezekiah still sought out the back-up plan of Babylon’s protection. And he paid for that back-up plan with the deed of the house of Israel. [i]   Like Esau, Hezekiah sold his birthright for a pot of stew. Both chose the immediate blessing over the ultimate blessing, forsaking the one from whom it came in the process ( Heb. 12:16-17 )   The pillaging might have taken several generations, but we can trace it back to Hezekiah’s hands. And are we not tempted to lack belief and trust like Hezekiah? ·       We know that our Good Shepherd promises life abundant ( Jn 10:10 ), but we push back our conscience to enjoy that sexual sin just to make sure we don’t miss out. ·       We know God’s assurances that he is sovereign over life ( Ps. 139:13 ), but we utilize ethically problematic birth control or infertility treatment to direct our ·       We know that the Kingdom of God is in God’s hands and is advancing ( Lk. 10:9-11 ), and yet we make ethical compromises politically to try to ensure the outcomes fit what we think best protects us. ·       We know that we are to live for an audience of one ( Matt. 6:1-8 ), and yet, we become like chameleons, speaking half-truths and false peace to gain the approval of others.   Beware the danger of Hezekiah’s pillaging. Knowing the promises of God is not enough, we must hold to them. [i] Russell Moore makes this point in Losing Our Religion and initiated my reflection in this post. You May Also Appreciate: Nonviolence and the Christian: the Old Testament www.thebeehive.live

Whether you’re aware of it or not, your job as a parent just became a little more difficult on January 1, 2014. If you’re drawing a blank, perhaps the mere mention of Colorado will stir your memory. It does, however, have everything to do with marijuana. Ah, yes – that was the first day in American history where people could walk into a retail store in the United States and legally purchase recreational marijuana. Twenty-five states have approved marijuana to some degree.. Many teenagers try marijuana and some use it regularly. Teenage marijuana use is at its highest level in 30 years, and today’s teens are more likely to use marijuana than tobacco. Many states allow recreational use of marijuana in adults ages 21 and over. Recreational marijuana use by children and teenagers is not legal in anywhere in the United States. Today’s marijuana plants are grown differently than in the past and can contain two to three times more tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient that makes people high. The ingredient of the marijuana plant thought to have most medical benefits, cannabidiol (CBD), has not increased and remains at about 1%. Big deal? Nothing has changed regarding underage use. It’s still against the law in all 50 states for anyone under 21 to purchase or consume marijuana. Well, the problem, as I see it, focuses on one word PERCEPTION. Teenagers across America are fully aware pot has been declared LEGAL in certain states. And, in their minds, since prescription marijuana is sold legally in 25 states (and D.C.), it must also be SAFE. Therefore, it’s easy for a teenage brain to put those two words together – LEGAL AND SAFE and automatically think: Let’s Party! Here’s another concern regarding PERCEPTION. When teenagers perceive there’s a low risk factor, usage typically goes up. But when they perceive a high risk factor, usage goes down. Tobacco is a great example. Our society has done an amazing job over the past few decades teaching us the dangers of tobacco. Through television, billboards, radio and classrooms – students have been bombarded with a message, “Tobacco is hazardous to your health.” As a result, the risk factor has steadily climbed while the use has gone down. 20 years ago 62% of high school seniors had smoked cigarettes. Today 38% have smoked cigarettes. The exact opposite is being played out right before our eyes. As the media focused on the benefits of medical marijuana and voices across the country declared pot as harmless, the use among teens has been rising. 20 years ago 35% of high school seniors had used marijuana. Today 46% have used marijuana.[i] What Teenagers Need to Know It’s your responsibility as a parent to teach your children the truth about marijuana. Perhaps the following facts might make for some interesting dinner-time conversations. 1. THC, the primary ingredient that causes the high in marijuana, has steadily climbed over the past four decades. In fact, the average THC potency: In the 1970s was 1% In the 1990s was 4% Today is about 13% and climbing[ii] 2. 17 percent, or about 1 in 6 teenagers who use marijuana, will become addicted. That number goes up to 25–50 percent among daily users.[iii] 3. Most people who use marijuana will never use harder drugs. However, nearly every person who uses cocaine and heroin started with marijuana and/or alcohol. “Never once, after dealing with thousands and thousands of addicts, have I ever dealt with a heroin addict, a cocaine addict or anybody else that didn’t start with marijuana.” Dr. Fletcher Brothers, Director of Freedom Village: Home for Troubled Teens 4. Short-term effects of marijuana include problems with memory, concentration, motivation, judgment, learning and anxiety. When alcohol or other drugs are included, the effects can be far more serious. “I didn’t have to become drug czar to be opposed to legalized marijuana. As Secretary of Education I realized, given the state of American education, the last thing we needed was a policy that made widely available a substance that impairs memory, concentration, and attention span. Why in God’s name foster the use of a drug that makes you stupid?” Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education and the Nation’s first Drug Czar. 5. Marijuana affects skills required to drive safely: judgment, alertness, concentration, coordination and reaction time. So it’s dangerous to drive high or ride with someone who’s been using marijuana. And combining even a small amount of alcohol with marijuana greatly increases the risk. “Smoking marijuana has a very negative effect on your ability to operate a motor vehicle… It’s quite dangerous to you, your passengers and others on the road.” Gil Kerlikowske, Current U.S. Drug Czar “Law enforcement officials say traffic fatalities in Colorado decreased 16 percent between 2006 and 2011, while deaths involving drivers testing positive for just marijuana increased 114 percent.” Dan Freeman, Houston Chronicle, Nov. 8, 2013. Note: In 2007, Colorado legalized storefronts for medical marijuana.[iv] Facts about Marijuana : 1. Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant. 2. It’s usually rolled into a marijuana cigarette called a joint. 3. It can also be smoked in a water pipe called a bong or a cigar called a blunt. 4. It can also be mixed into food or brewed as tea. 5. Standard urine tests can detect traces of THC several days after use. In heavy users, THC can often be detected for weeks. The Teen Brain: A Work in Progress Thanks to MRIs, we now know the final stage of the human brain development takes place during the teenage years and concludes in the mid-20s. It’s during this critical time of brain development where a young person will learn to plan, set priorities, control impulses and weigh the consequences of their actions. Just as pregnant women are told they must avoid drugs and alcohol to protect the health of their developing baby, this same message should be shouted from the rooftops to teenagers as a means to protect their developing brains. When teens use marijuana, alcohol or other psychoactive drugs, it can damage critical brain connections. As a result, habits and behaviors associated with the use of these drugs at a young age can become ingrained in the brain and remain for a lifetime. Therefore, young people are at far greater risk of addiction and permanent intellectual, social and emotional damage due to the effects of drugs than any other age group. Question: Do your children know your Family Values regarding the use of marijuana? [i] http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/13data/13drtbl1.pdf [ii] http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/09/health/weed-potency-levels/ [iii] www.drugabuse.gov/publications/marijuana-facts-teens/some-things-to-think-about [iv] http://sensiblecolorado.org/history-of-co-medical-marijuana-laws/ re-printed from www.aimforsuccess.org.

Hey, growing up in our home, and I bet your home was similar, there were certain words that were off limits in our home. And again, I grew up in a different generation than some of you, but here was one of the big ones. In fact, I, it’s hard for me to even say this out loud in church, okay? Darn. I was like, you know, this was like, not being able to say this word was a fence rule. A fence rule is a rule that keeps you from breaking a worse rule. And so in our home, we didn’t wanna say the word that sounded kind of like darn. Not yarn. Start with D anyway. And so if my parents thought, if we don’t say this word, you know, the kids won’t drift over to another word. Because the ultimate rule was no cursing or we didn’t say cussing. I don’t know if that’s a southern thing or not, but no cursing or cussing, either one. So we had kind of these fence rules around some words. And the threat was, this is really going to show you something. So the threat was if you cuss or curse, if you say one of these words, especially that word, you’re gonna get your mouth washed out with soap. Now I think my parents only said that because their parents said it and their parents said it. Well, I don’t know where that began. Because what is that, you could probably be arrested today for mouth, washing a child’s mouth out. But so, but that was the threat. Now in our family, Sandra and I, we raised our kids a little bit different. She, I used to say we, but let’s just be honest, she homeschooled our kids. And the goal was to put ’em into public high school. To go from home school to this big five, eight, you know, public high school. I don’t know if that’s a good parenting approach, but that was what we were gonna do. And so to prepare them for that, I actually had to teach all of our kids the bad words, okay? Because we didn’t talk like that in home school, you know. Nothing kind of slipped out that I’m aware of. I was at work most of the time. But anyway, so I had to teach them all the, you know, the bad words. And after that I said to ’em, that I’m saying it, but you don’t say it, which is weird. And then later, Sandra circled around and taught ’em all the combinations. But I let her do that. Anyway, back to my story. So sure enough, we lived in Miami at the time, so that meant I was in the fourth grade or younger. We had a little tiny house, a little sidewalk that went out to the the sidewalk that connected all the houses in the row. And I’m standing out there. I still remember this. And my friend had knocked his bicycle over and I’m on my bicycle. We’re just riding up and down the little sidewalk there. And I stopped and I said, “Get that darn bicycle outta my way”. And I looked up and literally my mom, I don’t know how moms do this, she was standing on the front porch. I, no lie, she’s standing on the front porch. I look up and she gave me that, you know, thing, you know. Now, later she confessed to me, she had no idea what it meant to wash a child’s mouth out with soap. This was just a thing people said, you know. Since the bad words come out, we’re gonna wash your mouth out. So she took me in our little tiny bathroom and she took my toothbrush and rubbed it in a bar of soap, and she brushed my teeth with soap. And so and thus began my lesson or continued my lesson with what we call these days, behavior modification. She was modifying my behavior. It was cause and effect, right? I learned to monitor my behavior to avoid certain unpleasant effects. And I continued to do that through my childhood. And we’ve never met in most cases, but you continued to do that through your childhood as well. You’ve modified your behavior. We all have. Why? Well, because we want to get dates and we want to get second dates, and we want to get invitations, and we want to be invited back and we want to do get jobs. So we, you know, modify our behavior for job interviews. And it goes on and on and on and on. As a pastor, just to be personal for a moment, this is really important for me. There are behaviors that I could do that would cause me to lose my job that might get you a promotion where you work, okay? So we all kind of have to figure this out, you know, in terms of our environment. But we’ve all gotten pretty good at monitoring our behavior. But as it turns out, that is not enough. And we’re gonna come right back to that in just a minute. Today we are in part two of our series if you’ve been keeping up or if you haven’t been keeping up. “Living with Yourself, 3 Habits to Safeguard Your Soul“. Three habits to ensure, this is kind of the theme, three habits to ensure that the self you’re living with internally is the self that’s on display to everybody else. These are habits to ensure that what people see is what they’re actually getting. That there’s integrity between who you are on the inside and who you are on the outside. And we set this up last time by saying we’ve all had the experience of hearing about somebody in culture, somebody popular, or maybe someone we know who they’ve been living a double life. And suddenly, you know, they, it comes out that they’ve been living a double life. They got something else going on. They were not the person everyone thought they were. And they get caught and they get caught in a lie. And the family’s devastated. Maybe a career’s devastated. And when that happens, and we hear about, wow, this has been going on for years, and nobody knew, we either think or say, “How could they, how could they live with themselves? How could they carry on for so long with that going on in the background”? And the assumption of course is, hey, if it was me, I couldn’t live with myself. I could not have the double life and keep it a secret or, you know, have such variation on the themes of my life the way that they did that. That my conscience or my integrity would not allow me to do that. We think I couldn’t do that. But the truth is, you could. You could do that. Now, you couldn’t live with your current self. But if left unattended, as we said last time, your current self may not be your future self. And your future self might become, might be someone that you wouldn’t even recognize, that you wouldn’t even respect. In fact, maybe that’s the situation you’re in today. You have slowly over time become someone you never intended to be. And you’re carrying a secret that no one knows you’re carrying and you’re thinking to yourself, how did I get here? Well, the reason nobody thinks this will happen to them is because nobody thinks this will happen to them. And the reason people, this happens to people is because the assumption is, well, it can’t happen. But it does. And it happens all the time. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it could happen to you and it can happen to me. And the best way to as keep it from happening is to, number one, assume that it can. And number two, to take steps to ensure that it doesn’t. And that’s what this series is all about. Three habits to safeguard your soul. And when I say soul, I mean your inner life, your interior life, that part of you that no one sees, but the part of you that you go to bed with every night and wake up to every single morning and that you face every single morning in the mirror. Now the theme or kind of the big overarching principle, and whether you’re a religious person or not, this is just true. So this is something to take into consideration, is simply this, that the health of your soul or the health of your interior life, the health of your soul determines your capacity for duplicity. Now, duplicity is, and you know, the traditional way of thinking about duplicity is somebody, is someone with this group of people and they’re someone entirely different with another group of people. And if those two group of people ever got together to discuss that person, they would think they’re talking about two different people. There’s duplicity. But the other version of duplicity is when someone is something publicly and something entirely different privately, and your, the health of your soul, what’s going on on the inside day in and day out, determines your capacity for duplicity. And here’s what I mean specifically. It determines how wide the gap between who you are and who you pretend to be. It determines how wide the gap between who you are and who you pretend to be grows or can expand before your conscience just can’t take it anymore, before your guilt just can’t take it anymore. Or between, or to the point that you’re eventually found out that the health of your soul determines whether you close the gap immediately. That’s what we’re gonna talk about today. The health of your soul determines whether you close that gap immediately or if you decide to manage that gap indefinitely. And as we manage the gap, it always gets wider and wider and wider and wider. So I’m suggesting these three habits to ensure that that gap gets closed immediately, quickly, and stays closed. Now, the last time we talked about the first habit. First habit was surrender your will, specifically surrender your will to your Heavenly Father, to wake up every single morning and in some formal way to present yourself to God. Your hands, what you’re gonna do. Your feet, where you’re gonna go. Your eyes, what you’re gonna look at. Your ears, what you’re gonna listen to. Your mind, what you’re gonna think about. Surrender your resources. Surrender your opportunities, your hopes and dreams, and say, Heavenly Father, I am 100% you. I’m giving all of me to all of you. I trust you because I know you are for me. Basically, you’re taking, you know a little snapshot of Jesus prayer when he taught us how to pray. We’re saying, “Your will be done through me today”. And Jesus says this needs to be daily because that little prayer and that recentering every single day, do you know what it does? It sensitizes your conscience for the rest of the day. You have just surrendered yourself to your Heavenly Father. And when you begin to think in a way, move in way, look in away, you know, act in a way that creates that division between who you wanna be and who you find yourself becoming, the alarm bells go off because, oh, I’ve already dealt with this and I need to take action and close that gap. So today we’re gonna talk about the second habit. And to set it up, I wanna tell you a little story from the life of Jesus. So one day, Jesus and his disciples, and this is a general term for the general Jesus followers. They’re going along and the Pharisees who are constantly dogging Jesus and sort of in a running conflict, running tension with Jesus everywhere he goes, they issue a complaint and they say, “Jesus, your disciples, the people who are following you, they don’t observe the tradition of the elders. They’re not observing the tradition of the elders”. Now I gotta explain what that is for this to make sense. The tradition of the elders, or the other phrase that you sometimes hear, the Oral Torah, was a list of fence rules that essentially God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and God gave Moses the civil law, all this detailed civil law, for the nation of Israel. And it was written down, but supposedly, supposedly God also gave Moses an oral law that he did not allow to be written down. And Moses passed that on to Joshua and Joshua passed it on to the priest. And this got passed along generation after generation after generation in parallel with the written law. Now nobody knows if this is true or not. There’s no way to prove it or disprove it because, well, it wasn’t written down. But what we do know is that these unwritten laws were generally fence laws to protect the written laws so people didn’t accidentally break the law of God and defile themselves and put themselves at odd odds with God. Here’s an example. For example, the written law said no business on the Sabbath. You can’t conduct business on the Sabbath because for ancient Jews and for modern Jews, it’s a day of rest. We get that. The tradition of the elders or the Oral Torah said you’re not allowed to touch money on the Sabbath because if we don’t allow you to touch money on the Sabbath, you won’t accidentally do business on the Sabbath. Well, you can see over time these, the Oral Torah, which again, you know, they were just kind of making it up as they went along, generation to generation kind of tweaking, as you know, things became more civilized and as civilization advanced. This became so onerous. I mean the law was difficult enough to keep. We know from the testimony of first century Jews. But to add to it this Oral Torah that you never really, you were never really sure if you were doing something wrong until the Pharisees showed up and said, “Oh yeah, that’s in the Oral Torah”. Like, you can’t do that. That’s the tradition of the elders. So that’s the tension that Jesus finds himself in with these, with the Pharisees. And on this particular, in this particular instance, this had to do with how they washed their hands. The written law, as you know, for Jews had a very strict dietary guidelines. We know that. So that was the written law. The Oral Torah, or the tradition of the elder said to ensure that you don’t accidentally put something unclean in your body. There is a specific way to wash your hands. Some say up to your elbow, some say further, but there’s a very specific way you’re supposed to wash their hands. And they had made hand washing in this specific hand washing as much of a law as don’t put certain things in your mouth based on the written dietary restrictions in the Torah that God gave Moses. So this is the tension. So they come to Jesus and they say, “Jesus, your disciples aren’t following the tradition of the elders. They are not washing appropriately”. Now you need to know, and this is helpful. Jesus had nothing good to say about the tradition of the elders. He was not a fan of the Oral Torah. He saw it for what it was. These are fence rules and you’re using these to control people. And you’re using these to keep people in a constant place of guilt. They never know how to get it right. They never are at peace with God. They’re constantly, you know, on the outs with God because you guys basically just tweak these things and make these things up and maybe your motives are good, maybe they’re not. But Jesus was not a fan of the Oral Torah. So when the Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples, Jesus decides to use it as a teachable moment. And it’s kind of funny. And so here’s where the text, here’s where we pick up with the story. So Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand”. In other words, I’m about to tell you something and I’m about to explain something that you need to know. And this was for us, this is like a big duh. But for the first century, his first century audience, this was so groundbreaking. He says, “I just wanna be clear. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them”. For first century Judeans and Galilean people who were adhering their lives or you know, defining their lives by the Mosaic law. This was like what? Jesus is like, yes. What you eat does not, this was the important part. What you eat does not put you at odds with God. That’s what it meant to be defiled, to be at odds with God. I’ve done something that’s, you know, I’ve put me at odds with God. Jesus is like, “What you eat doesn’t put you at odds with God”. And he says this, but what comes out of their mouth, talking about the Pharisees specifically, what comes out of their mouths or what comes out of a person’s mouth, that is what puts them at odds with God. And then this is the coolest part. After he kind of drops this bomb, the text tells us, this is in Matthew and Mark, he just walks off. Listen and learn. I’ve just said something that is so offensive and is gonna drive the Pharisees crazy. And he says, “Come on guys”. And he just literally walks off. And the, you know, disciples are following him. One of the apostles says, “Jesus, hey, you really offended the Pharisees”. Jesus is like, this is my concern. Look, okay, I’m, I don’t care because, and here’s why this is so important. If you’re not a Christian or a Jesus follower, this is so important. You see, Jesus understood something that they had missed in the first century, that the law was not given in order to please God. The law was given to protect people. The law was for people. And the Pharisees got it backwards. And he would say to them look, you’re like a couple who buys a little bicycle and says, “Wow, we need to have some children so there will be someone to ride the little bicycle”. He’s like, that’s not how it works. The law, people are not for the law. The law is for people. And when you use the law to hurt people, divide people, and to create enmity between God and people, you are misusing, you are abusing the law of God. Now if you’ve lost faith in the past, you grew up in church and walked away, you know, as I always say, if I heard your story, I bet I’d say, “Woo, me too. I think I would’ve gone with you”. If that, you know, based on your experience with the church, if you had a bad experience and if you grew up in a church or maybe even a family or a religious community of any type where you felt alienated from God because of the way people use the rules, that you got the impression that there’s God and there’s the rules and I am less important than the rules. I’m less important than the law of God. You need to know Jesus would side with you because that’s not what he taught. It’s not how he acted. And that was not the original intent of Torah. It wasn’t the original intent of the Ten Commandments because God is for you. And like a good parent, when God established a law or a rule, it was for the good of the people he established the rule or the law for. So anyway, so Jesus walks off, the disciples are following him, and they’re like, Jesus, you, oh you, you know, you just offended them. And then one of the apostles says, “And by the way, that might have been clear to you, but what, that’s not clear to us either”. So Jesus decides to have another teachable moment. Sits ’em all down. And this is kind of funny. Like this is Jesus humor. We’re afraid to laugh cuz it’s Jesus. But this was meant to be funny. So maybe you’ll get this. He sits him down, he says, “Are you still so dull”? I mean that’s kind of funny, isn’t it? I imagine Jesus saying to you, “You’ve been with me for a couple years, you still don’t get it. Are you still so dull”? Jesus asked them, “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and out of the body”? They’re like, we see that every single day. Okay, what? We’re dull but we’re not that dull. What is your point? And then Jesus goes a little deeper. He says, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them”. Not what goes in. What comes out is what puts them at odds with God to which they’re thinking. So using the bathroom was offensive to God? I mean, what are you talking about, you know. He’s got their undivided attention. Like I have your undivided attention. This has been the most interesting part of any sermon you’ve ever heard or talk, you know. Jesus smiles. Now gets to his point. He says, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come”. It’s not what goes in that defiles you. It’s what comes out of you that defiles you. It’s what comes out of you that sets you, puts you at odds with God. And so then they’re like, “Okay, so we’re not talking about our bowels. We’re talking about, wait, evil thoughts”? Wait, an evil. This was a new idea. An evil thought can put us at odds with God? And Jesus would say yes. Because everything harmful and everything harmful to other people begins as a thought. And then he gives them a list of examples. Here’s the kinds of things that come from within. They’re exhibited in the real world, but they begin from within. They begin with the heart. He says, for example, here’s some of the things that come out of a person’s heart. “Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance”. I mean just listing these things off. And your English text says folly. We don’t even use that word anymore. But essentially it means bad judgment. It’s making bad decisions that impact yourself and impact other people. And here’s what they thought. This is so important. When they hear this list, they think, wait a minute. Those are behaviors directed toward other people, not God. I thought we were talking about being at odds with God. I thought we were talking about what defile a person or puts a person in bad relationship with God. To which Jesus would say, “It’s exactly what we’re talking about”. Because hurting another person, disadvantaging another person, puts you at odds with God. You cannot be right with God and mistreat another person. This isn’t about this kind of vertical thing I have going on and I can treat all my horizontal relationships any way I want to, but boy, me and God we’re cool. God’s going, I don’t know where you got that. That’s not in the Old Covenant. That’s not gonna be in the New Covenant. You just made that up. That’s what the Pharisees think. They think they can be right with God and mistreat people at the same time. But you are defiled. You are at odds with God when you mistreat another person and anything on the inside of you that begins as a thought, that becomes a behavior that undermines the integrity of, or hurts or diminishes the value of another person, you are not right with God. This was a huge, huge shift. But this would characterize or was supposed to characterize the New Kingdom that Jesus had come to establish. All these evils, he says, “All these evils come from inside” and that’s what defiles a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not. Now the implication of this, hopefully is so obvious, I don’t even need to state it, but I’ll state it anyway. Here’s what he was saying. Here’s what he was saying to you and to me. He’s saying pay attention. Pay attention to what’s within. Pay attention to what’s going on inside of you because it doesn’t stay there. We leak. You leak. I leak. And most of the time, we don’t even know that other people know what’s inside of us because we leak in such a way that we’re not aware of it. We think we’ve covered it. But they people walk away and go, “Wow, what’s up with her? What’s up with him”? And the reason I know that is because you do that all the time about people. It’s like he or she thinks that we think they’re fine, but they are not fine. And it is obvious to us because we all leak. Our behavior will eventually reflect. Here’s a Jesus’ point. Our behavior will eventually reflect the condition of our hearts or our souls. So just for an uncomfortable minute, I want us to look at that list again. I kind of spread it out. Look at it a little different. Immorality, adultery, theft. Just look at that list a second. I’m gonna ask you a question. Do you know anyone or know of anyone and certainly you’ve read of someone who lost their family, lost a job, lost a career, lost a reputation, maybe over time, lost their mind over any of these things? The answer is yes. And in some instances, not all. In some instances, remember how shocked you were? Like not them. I mean they were so kind and they were so nice and this whole time, and I mean, how did that come out of them? I mean, they were just like the nicest people, who’s the nicest guy, nicest woman. I grew up with him. I grew up with her. Went to school with them, you know. Went to grad school with them. Used to work with them. What happened and how did they live with themselves? And the answer is simple. They just did not tend to their soul. They ignored what was going on in their heart because whatever it was that embarrassed them and wrecked their home and caused such damage, it came from within. These were people or that’s a person who was managing the gap instead of determining to close it. And they became a different self. A self they never intended to have to live with. Now if I can just, you know, make you a little bit more uncomfortable, some of you. For some of you, you look at this list, that’s not somebody you read about or know or a neighbor or someone you used to work with or go to school with. This is you right now. And you, I mean, you always prided yourself on your integrity and telling the truth and you know, you were that man, you were that woman you could always trust. Yes is yes and no is no. And you have created a web of deceit and lies that you’re living with right now. And it is, you are spending expending so much energy to keep that gap going. You’re managing that gap. And every once in a while, there’s a break. In fact, today may be a break for you. Every once in a while there’s a break and you’re honest with yourself and you ask, “How in the world did I get to this”? This is not what I envisioned. Or you remember when you, when you said I do, you meant I do and I will forever and really until death do us apart and you’re the only one for me. And when you would hear people who were running around their husband or wife, you thought, what losers, and I could never live with myself. I would never do that. And now you find yourself in an emotional affair, actually a physical affair. And here I am talking about it in church and you feel like everybody’s looking at you. They’re not. Everybody’s looking at me. You’re fine. But you just feel that. And here’s the thing. I don’t know your story, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt. That was not your intention. You meant it when you made that decision. You meant it when you entered in that covenant with her or or with him. You were so sincere. And now there’s something on the outside and Jesus who’s, you know, compassion personified, is saying to you, “Yeah, but let’s be honest if we’re gonna fix this”. It started on the inside. You, there was a gap and you didn’t close it. You managed it and it got wider and wider and wider. So this is a big deal, right? This is a big deal for our future. This is a big deal for some of us right now. So the second habit, again, I don’t even need to say it. Now you know what it is. It’s to monitor your heart. It’s to monitor your heart. Pay attention to what’s going on inside. I don’t have to tell you to pay attention to what’s going on on the outside. We’re really good at that. We modify our behavior. I mean, again, you’re sitting here in rows staring at me. I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but you’re so well behaved. I actually think you’re listening to me. I mean, you are so good at this and your mind might be a million miles away, but it’s not like you’re sitting around talking to each other, right? I mean we’ve, we’re good at that. Jesus says, look, hey, congratulations on your modified behavior. Everybody’s behaving. But come on, I love you. I want you to pay attention to that part of you that has the potential to divide you from yourself and the people you love the most and the people who love you the most. Pay attention to what’s going on inside. And specifically, I wanna give you four things to look at when it comes to monitoring your heart. We talked about these several years ago. I don’t mind coming back to ’em every once in a while. Guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy. Guilt, anger, greet, and jealousy. These four because you know exactly what they are and they have the potential as much or more than anything to rot your soul. They will, to use a Jesus word, they will ultimately defile you. They will ultimately put you at odds with God. And if you don’t close the gap, these four things have the potential to ultimately define you as well. Because you leak. Because they leak. They hurt the people around you. Guilt says, you know what guilt says? Guilt says I owe you. I owe you. I got a secret. And I owe you the truth. I owe you an apology. I owe you restitution for what I took. And you may or may not know I took it, or you may know I did, but I’ve argued and made excuses. But the truth is, I’m living with guilt because I owe you. I owe you an apology for what I’ve done. I owe you an apology for what I’ve said. And the solution? You won’t even need to write this down. To confess. And when you confess, you’ll make a mess. We talked about that last time. And you don’t wanna make a mess. Let me just say something to you real quick. You’ve already made a mess. There’s no getting around the mess. The question is, are you gonna put a period on the end of that mess and move forward? Are you gonna keep making a bigger mess? And as long as you manage the gap, you’re just making a bigger mess and somebody already knows. I mean, you’re good. You’re just not that good. The people closest to you, they know something’s off. Something’s wrong. They just don’t know what it is. Or maybe they do know what it is, but eventually they’re gonna find out what it is. So it’s either gonna leak and you’re gonna have to make excuses and eventually fess up. Or you can stand up straight, invite your Heavenly Father into this area of your life and hold him by the hand and say, “I’m going in. I’m gonna confess. I’m gonna get this out. I’m gonna deal with a mess. I want this to end. This is not who I wanna be. This is not where I intended to be in my relationships, in my marriage, at work, with my reputation, whatever it is”. You confess. And when you do, you begin safeguarding your soul. Anger. The driver behind anger is you owe me. You owe me. Your anger. Whenever you’re angry, it’s cuz you’re not getting your way. Whenever you’re angry, it’s because something’s been taken from you. You’re not getting what you deserve. You’re not getting what you want. But in the big anger, the anger that seeps, that free flowing anger that follows people throughout their lives. Somebody took something big. Took a marriage. They took your first marriage and you can get remarried. But you took my first one. You were unfaithful to me or the way you treated me. And I, and now I can’t go back. I can’t be 27 again. They took your first marriage. They took your childhood. You are still your thirties, forties years old and you’re still, you’re dealing with stuff from your childhood because somebody, the way they treated you, did to you, mom or dad, you’re, they stole your childhood, your self-respect, maybe your reputation. And they owe you and they really owe you. This isn’t imaginary. They owe you cuz they took it. But here’s what you know. This isn’t helpful. They can’t give back to you what they took even if they wanted to. Even if they apologized. We can’t go back in time. We can’t rewind time. You can’t be 18 again. You can’t have a first marriage again. You can’t, you know, bring that first baby home from the hospital again. You, it’s gone. So you’re stuck and you’re angry and you leak. And the solution, I, we all know the solution. It’s to forgive. And yes, I’ll just own this. It’s easy for me to stand up here and say ’cause I don’t know your story. Now look, most of you, the only version of me you know is the stage version where I’m smart and I know everything and I’m so dogmatic and Andy knows what nobody else knows. But he knows, you know? Well, you know, because of that. Yeah, thank you. Completely wrong, but thank you. I appreciate it, okay. So let me just, if the people who know me would tell you, okay, if it was just the two of us we’re sitting across the table and you told me you’re story, my inclination would be to give you a pass. So you know what. Everybody else has to forgive, but not you. You get over here. You get a pass, okay? God understands. I’ve heard your story. Now I’m angry at him. I’m angry at them. I’m not sure I can forgive him. They don’t even do anything to me. But based on what you’ve been through, I might give you a pass and say, you don’t need to forgive. Forgiving them is giving them a gift they don’t deserve. But your savior who loves you more than I ever could is not gonna give you a pass because he knows what that resentment is doing to your soul. And he says come on, you gotta cancel that debt. You gotta forgive. It’s rotting your soul and you leak. And people know something’s up and they, there’s just an edge. You gotta forgive. Greed. This is something no one’s ever admitted out loud. Can’t even see it in the mirror. We have so many excuses. We have so many other names for this. And it’s, greed is fueled by the consumption assumption. That, we talk about that. The consumption assumption is this. If it comes to me, it’s for me. If it’s placed in my hands, it’s to stay in my hands. If I earned it, if I inherited it, if it was given to me, if it comes to me, it’s for me. Greed says, I owe me. I owe me everything that comes to me. And it forces people to compete with your stuff. And we have so many ways around this. We say, “I’m not greedy, I’m just careful. I’m not greedy, I’m just responsible. I’m not greedy. I just like nice stuff. I’m not greedy, you know, I’m just preparing for the future. I’m again, I’m responsible”. And what greed does is it actually empowers you to excuse a lack of generosity. And by generosity I don’t mean, you know, you roll the window down four inches and slip a $20 bill out the window to the guy and go, man, you feel good. I gave $20. I’m not talking about that. That’s not generosity. That’s something else. A generosity is when you realize everything that comes to me isn’t necessarily for me. And I gotta figure out how to get it to the people God wants me to give it to, percentage wise, systematically, organized. I mean just generosity. We’ve talked about that. And greed. Greed will rot your soul and it trickles out and it triangulates with other people and other things in your life and impacts people. And it puts you at odds with God. You know what the solution is? It’s like ripping off a bandaid. The solution is to give extravagantly, consistently with a plan to something that’s making a difference in the world. It’s your way of saying to your stuff, stuff, you don’t own me. I own you. I’m gonna give till it hurts. I’m gonna give until it becomes easy to give. Greed, you are not the boss of me. You’re not the king of me. My stuff doesn’t own me. Yes, I like nice stuff and yes I want to be, yeah, but you know what, those are excuses. Greed is not gonna reside in my heart. It’s not gonna reside from within because eventually it’s gonna come out and it’s gonna come out on the people closest to you. It always is. Jealousy. This is the ugliest one of all. Ugh. You celebrate when other people fail. I mean, not out loud, just like inside. You feel like you’ve made, I mean not you. We, I, all of us. We feel like we’re making progress sometimes because somebody else fails. That is ridiculous. That is so ugly. When you see it in your kids or grandkids, it’s like it bothers you. This will rot your soul, celebrating other people’s failure. And you know what we do? We compete with other people in our head and they don’t even know there’s a competition. They’re just living a happy life and we’re just mad. And the more happy they are, the more angry we get. We’re like, yeah, but you know, and do you know what drives this? It’s this assumption that you need to root out. It’s a lie. Life owes me. Life owes me. Life owes me. And then when you scratch beneath the surface, do you know what you unearth? God owes me. Cuz he could have made you prettier, taller. He could have made, give you opportunities to be richer. He could’ve had you born into a different kind of family to give you more opportunities. He could’ve made you smarter. He could’ve made you smarter than your older brother or your younger sister who you finally find yourself just competing with constantly. He could’ve done that and he didn’t. So admit it. I think God owes me and I don’t wanna live that way anymore because God has done enough for me. And you know what the antidote or the solution is or the process that eventually gets us to where we need to be? It’s to celebrate. Celebrate what God has given you and celebrate what God has given others. And sometimes you gotta be super overt. You gotta be the first person to the front of the room to tell her or to tell him what a great job they did even though it’s something you should have been able to do. You just gotta be intentional. I am not gonna allow jealousy to reside in me. I’m gonna celebrate their successes and I’m gonna celebrate mine. There’s this old song that was, you know, it’s kind of corny but it’s true, the sentiment is true, is count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done. You ever heard that song? It’s kind of corny but you know it’s true. It’s waking up every day saying, you know what, I’m not worried about them right now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So bringing guilt, anger, greed and jealousy into the light. It diminishes their power over you. So monitor your heart and root these things out. Be on the lookout for these four villains. And as soon as you identify ’em, you don’t manage that tension. You say nope. You talk to ’em, right? You say, “Hey, there is no room for you inside of me. I already have a boss. I already have a king. I have a king who is for me. The only thing you four guys do is take stuff from me”. So as we close, I want to take you in a little brief exercise that I used to do with my kids, Sandra and I would do with our kids when we put ’em to bed at night. ‘Cause I want you to know there’s a ancient proverbs that says, “Watch over your soul for from it flows all the issues of life”. That you know, the the heart or the soul is you gotta watch over it. And we would talk about how do you teach kids to monitor their heart? I mean we’re teaching ’em behavior modification constantly, right? How do you teach ’em to monitor their heart? So we just made this up. When we put ’em in bed at night and I’d say, “Andrew Garrett Alley, is everything okay? Is everything okay in your heart”? Just ask them. Then go through a list of questions. You know, you mad at anybody? You celebrating anybody’s failure? Does anybody owe you an apology? Just go through these questions. So let me ask you do, do you owe anybody an apology? You got 20 reasons why you don’t need to, but do you owe anybody apology? Are you mad at anybody? Are you secretly celebrating somebody’s failure? Or maybe you didn’t so secretly celebrate someone’s failure with a group of people and maybe you’re a Christian, you did it like this. We need to pray for Frank. They’re having a tough time. Isn’t that sick? Yeah, I don’t know who would do that, yeah. Is there somebody whose success you need to celebrate publicly just to prove to jealousy you don’t control me, you’re not the boss of me. Do you need to write an uncomfortable check or some uncomfortable checks. Maybe get rid of some stuff. Maybe you got some really nice stuff and you’re like, “Really nice stuff, you don’t control me anymore. I’m selling all of you and I’m giving all the money away. Take that”. There are some people in your family, they would be like, “Huh. Thank you cuz we’re afraid to come to your house. We’re afraid we’re gonna break something, you know. We don’t ever ask you to borrow anything. You just give us money cuz you don’t want us to touch your”. Come on. You wanna live that way? You don’t wanna live that way. Say to your stuff, “I own you. You do not own me”. Is everything okay in your heart? And here’s the thing. If you want, and I know you want this, whether you’re a Christian or a religious person or a different person, a different faith, you want this. If you want the self you live with to be the self you present the folks around you with, you gotta get this right. You gotta monitor your heart. And parents, you gotta help your kids get this right. Let me, parents, kids who are healthy on the inside, children who are healthy on the inside, are best equipped to resist pressure from the outside. Kids who are healthy on the inside are set up to be able to resist pressure from the outside. So monitor your heart and surrender your will. And don’t miss part three where we talk about habit three of “Living with Yourself, 3 Habits to Safeguard Your Soul“.

I remember even being at school, I was the little ethnic kid. You know, my parents came from Egypt into Australia after the overflow of king Farouk. And there was a lot of shame because I didn’t look like the other kids, I didn’t speak like the other kids. I had a very strong accent. I didn’t speak English really until I was five. And so I felt, I knew there was something different. And shame kind of makes you feel like that there’s something wrong with me, there’s something not right with me, and our culture does not help. You are standing in the supermarket aisle ready to put your groceries through the checkout, and you’ve got magazines shaming you left, right and center, whichever way you look like, even just the covers of them telling you that you do not look pretty enough, you’re not thin enough, you’re not smart enough, you’re not celebrity enough. It’s sort of like everything is telling you, you are just not enough. And then with the advent of social media, it’s taken it to a whole new level. Like there’s no doubt about it. The shaming that happens on the internet is absolutely unbelievable to me, the way people just shame other people in public, and rather than covering people, and being gracious and being loving, and sometimes you can just get literally sucked into the culture without even realizing it that just the way we interact with each other, instead of covering and bringing love and bringing grace and bringing mercy, we are heaping shame on one another. And shame is so destructive, you know, you could be on the other side of that screen, and even as I’ve said that word shame, you’re cowering and the hair stood up in the back of your neck because that’s all you have ever known. That’s all you’ve ever known, people have told you that you are not enough, you are not good enough, or you are too much, couldn’t you just tone it down a bit, you’re just too much, you’re just too this or too that, or not enough of this or not enough of that. And a lot of us we carry shame into our life. And shame causes you to pull back, it causes you to cower, it causes you to feel inadequate. You never bring your full self to the table because you’re really worried about what people are going to think. And maybe they’re going to think that I’m too much because my parents or someone at school said you know, you’re just too strong, you’re just too bossy, you’re just too this, and people are smiling here in the crowd because obviously someone has said that to many of us. And you’ll find that the enemy will often come and try to shame you in the very area that God wants to use you, to catapult you and propel you into God given destiny and your God given purpose. So we are on assignment to get rid of shame. And the world would continually say, shame on you. And I’m here to declare and decree over the next three weeks, shame off you, in Jesus name, we are going to set people free from shame. We’re going to get back to the beginning because I like to go to the beginning when we look at this. And sometimes you’ve got to go back to the start, to find out how you got here, to find out how you even came under this cloud. Genesis chapter one, verses 27 to 28, the scripture says, so God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God he created them male and female. He created them, God blessed them, and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground”. I love it that in one version, it says, “And you can have dominion over every creeping thing”. I just want you to know that we have that dominion right here. But why I wanted to talk about that scripture is we see right from there in the Word of God, that you and I are created in the image of God, whoever you are, I want you to know that your great great grandfather was not an ape that went to the hairdresser and had a cut, shave and blow dry. You were made on purpose, for a purpose. You were created in the image of God, you are filled with God given destiny, you are filled with God given purpose.

Solomon observes that there are two sides to wealth: God-blessed abundance and the insatiable grasping for riches. God has laid out a solid plan to manage our resources. Tithe the first portion of income to God, pay taxes, meet family needs and pay debts. Saving for the future and faithful management of income will yield a surplus. Solomon, one of Israel’s wisest kings, shares principles on how to save and manage money.

Did you like your siblings when you were growing up? Do your kids like each other?   Every parent wants their children to be friends. One of the best gifts of my childhood was my friendship with my sister. The gift of a playmate and a confidant, of someone to walk through life’s ups and downs with you, is incalculable.   Over time I’ve realized that the gift of my friendship with my sister, Sarah, has paid enormous dividends in my life. It was that friendship that taught me how to navigate conflict, how to apologize and reconcile, how to comfort, and how to navigate long-distance friendship. My relationship with Sarah has always been a touchstone of learning and growth. Looking back on my friendship with Sarah, I realize that is where I learned to be a husband as well.   But how do you raise children who are friends? Many parents are exasperated by the constant bickering, the endless disputes and competition between siblings.   I thought it would be beneficial to get my kids’ perspective on it: a view from the trenches, as it were. One of the first things people comment on about my kids: Camille (20) and Soren (18), is what great friends they are. It’s true. It’s not a show. They have always been best friends. They have navigated their share of difficult seasons, of changes, and have remained fast friends through it all.   Kids and parents alike can benefit from their list of how to be best friends. Their list is italicized with a few comments from myself added underneath.   1.      Find common ground for friendship. This is great advice: every child is going to be unique and your children’s interests will have natural place of divergence. Working hard to find common ground is important. As our kids’ interests have diverged more and more, they still share a love for Jesus and a love for music. 2.      Treat it like any other relationship. Isn’t this true? We don’t expect our relationships with our friends to grow and flourish without intentionality. We don’t expect our friendships to be conflict-free. Realizing that our friendship with our siblings isn’t exempt from the realities of any relationship is important. 3.      Never leave things unsaid. Bitterness and unforgiveness fester in the hurt we bury. 4.      Work out issues on your own. Parents are usually too involved in arbitrating conflict between siblings. That ultimately hurts those relationships and your children’s ability to navigate conflict on their own. Teach them now to negotiate reconciliation, model it, and then try to pull back. 5.      Give each other space but don’t make them feel ignored. This is the flip side of the advice about finding common ground. Healthy friendships allow space for friends to pursue their unique interests and that we all need some measure of time alone for reflection. 6.      Be there for each other. So simple and yet so important. Have eyes to see when your sibling is going through a hard day or a difficult season and be present. 7.      Have fun living life together. You can’t underestimate the importance of fun in a relationship. Make memories! Do crazy things! The home should be the place where you laugh the hardest and act the silliest. 8.      Get to know each other. As people we are ever-changing and ever-growing. Don’t expect your sibling to remain static. On the contrary, lean into them with the expectation that they are growing and create space to listen to what they are learning, to their dreams, and their fears. 9.      Learn how to compromise. Compromise can be a bit overrated. The ultimate posture should be of selfless servanthood. Compromise, when done out of a selfless heart, and not a “I’ll give you what you want only if you give me what I want” heart, is an invaluable skill. 10.  Respect one another. Every human being deserves respect. And friendship chokes out when respect isn’t present. Sometimes those we are closest to are those we struggle respecting the most because their flaws loom large to us. Make sure you see and affirm what is worthy of respect in your sibling. thebeehive.live

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.Hebrews 12:28 How is your awe? Right now? On a scale of 1-10? Could you use a little boost? Or is a major work of restoration needed? No matter where you are, I pray you find these creative ideas helpful in your worship of the Only One Who is Worthy. 50 Creative Ways to Express Worship Stir a sense of awe. Before you pray, sit a minute or so in silence. Quiet your mind and turn your thoughts toward God. Enter His presence reverently. Gaze in awe at “I Am.” Read a Bible passage such as Psalm 139 and respond with words or art. Create a “Wonder and Awe” playlist. Choose songs that celebrate the perfect character and incredible deeds of God. Then turn the music up! With your focus on God, perform an act of service for someone else. What gives you goose bumps? Make a list of those things that stir a sense of awe in you. Take your list to the Lord in a prayer of thanksgiving. Change things up. Go outside and worship Him in the beauty of creation. Pray. Praise God for who He is. Celebrate the wonder of His glorious name. Confess your misplaced focus. Thank Him for His extraordinary acts, both historical and personal. Ask Him for eyes to see. Intentionally quiet your mind and prepare your heart before leaving your home for your church gathering. Before speaking to anyone, say a short, silent prayer as you enter your church building. Even if it is uncomfortable, join in when your church family sings together. Sing for an audience of One. Direct your song to God. Carry your Bible to church, read along, and take notes on the sermon. Serve others by taking part in church ministry. Be a greeter, set up the coffee, rock babies. At the close of service, before leaving your seat, offer thanks to God. Say thank you to at least one person at church. Be specific in your thanks. Sit by someone who is sitting alone. Practice a cross-centered day (preach the gospel to yourself, read Scriptures about the cross, listen to music with the message of the cross, etc.). Go for a praise walk thanking God for everything you see. Visit someone who is ill. Set the timer on your watch to go off every hour to remind you to think of Him. Sing Scripture songs with your children as you put them to bed. Play worship music or a sermon podcast while you work out, do household chores, or drive your car. Play your musical instrument as an act of worship. Write a letter to God. Write a poem about God. Give up a favorite food for a month to remind yourself of His worth. Stay alert to God’s surprises throughout each and every day. Forgive those who have wronged you. Make a list or scrapbook of the things God has done for you. Go through the alphabet naming an attribute of God for each letter. Wear a special piece of jewelry that will remind you of Jesus. Do something sacrificial and don’t tell anyone about it. Don’t listen to gossip. Praise others daily. Take a walk outside. Before you go, read the first chapter of one of Paul’s letters and write down a verse or two you want to meditate on while you walk. Sing a classic hymn and concentrate on the words. Let the message of the Gospel nourish your soul and draw you into God’s presence. (Some wonderful old hymns of the faith are “Amazing Grace,” “Be Thou My Vision,” “Come, Thou Fount,” “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and “It Is Well with My Soul.”) Stand and sing your favorite worship song at the top of your lungs. Raise your hands in worship. Move your feet. Simply rest. Recharge your body and spirit. Read Jesus’ invitation to rest: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30). Try the Palm Up, Palm Down Centering Prayer. Sit comfortably and start by placing your hands palm down on your legs. Release all your worries, doubts, and anxieties to God. Then turn your hands palm up and receive God’s love and blessing. Remember the words of Psalm 31:19: “Oh, how abundant is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You.” Pray the words of Scripture. Try Psalms 16, 25, or 42. Put the Psalm or Scripture into your own words. Insert your own name into the Scripture. Pray from a posture different than the one you usually assume. Focus on your invisible and often overlooked inner life. As you search your soul, ask your loving Heavenly Father to show you which attitudes, expectations, beliefs, or plans are holding you back from intimacy with Him. Identify your Spiritual Markers. Working in chronological order, make a list of all the major events in your life. Circle each event where you saw God clearly at work in your life. Reflect on what you learned about yourself and about God from each of your Markers. Be creative. Use your creative gifts to express your love for God. Play the piano. Sketch a portrait. Write a poem. Sew a garment. Whatever you do, do it in praise to the One who gave you your abilities. Create a photo journal. Take a walk in nature and snap photos of things that remind you of God. Later, create a slide show or photo book of the photos captioned with prayers of thanksgiving. Meditate on God’s wondrous works that are recorded in the Bible. Create a list of the blessings that are yours because of Christ’s work on the cross. Construct a timeline of God’s work in your life. Choose one remembrance and share it with a friend or family member today. Spend some time with Psalm 105:1 or any favorite verse of Scripture. Create a verse map, read it in several other Bible translations, rewrite it in your own words, meditate on it, pray it. Begin a Mighty Deeds of God journal. From time to time, record all the many ways God has been at work in your heart, your life, and the lives of your family. As an act of remembrance, designate regular intervals for reviewing the entries in your journal. Choose a location that you do not normally associate with worship – the shower, washing dishes, mowing the lawn, driving down the highway, the golf course. Worship God in that place today. www.deborahhaddix.com

Spiritual Discernment – 1 John 4:1-6 In this short, yet powerful book written by the the disciple John, we can prepare to be challenged to live out our faith in obedience towards God and love for others. Throughout the chapters, he implores his readers to “walk in the light” in a world that is increasingly dark. We trust God will whisper to each of us as we spend some time examining His truth and study 1 John together. The Apostle John, having now reminded us to grow in our family resemblance of being a part of the family of God, calls us to prove this identity via our love for one another. It’s the call from the beginning, it’s not new, but it has an ongoing and lasting impact. We’re to love others – it’s to be our standard, not exception. We’re to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus. (we covered 1 John 3:11-18) 1 John 4:1-6 ESV 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. What is true? What is false? These questions we’re sorting out with discernment at all moments in our lives and in all areas. The Apostle John challenges us to live with spiritual discernment as we navigate life to determine what is real, what is fake, who is telling the truth of God and who is just spewing the ways of the world. As followers of Jesus we’re to think critically as we stay focused on following after him. The Greek word for “spirit” (pneuma) occurs 7x in the Greek text in 1 John 4:1-6. In the context of this paragraph, John uses the word “spirit” to refer to the animating force of a person. John has already taught that there are only two groups in the world: those who are the children of God and those who are the children of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:10) – people of God and people of the world. So, every person is a voice either for God or for the world. Therefore, the “spirit” behind each person is either of God or of the world/the enemy.… – we’re to use spiritual discernment to determine who/what we should listen to as we follow Jesus. Believers must “test the spirits.” to determine whether they are speaking from God or from the perspective of the world or the enemy… Think Critically. Think Biblically. Examining the Content of Their Teaching (4:2-3) -John’s test is Christological. That is, the test by which truth can be discerned from error has to do with what is taught about the Person and Work of Jesus. The person teaching by the Spirit of God affirms that Jesus is fully God and fully Man in one person. (Doctrine of INCARNATION matters) Examining the Character of Their Lives (4:4-6) Christians should be critical thinkers, we’re not meant to be blind sheep. Critically evaluate the things you hear. Grow spiritual DISCERNMENT… Study God’s Word well enough to determine whether a claim or philosophy or religious teaching is true or false. God’s truth permeating through someone surrendered to Christ will bear good and godly fruit through their character and life. John 16:7-14 ESV 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. This Scripture reminds us, in no uncertain terms, that we have the power of God within us (the Holy Spirit). So when adversity knocks on our door, We shouldn’t lose heart. Because the same God who created the universe, who holds the stars in His hands, lives in us. The Spirit of God longs to communicate with our spirit the truths and teachings of Jesus, continuously. Everyone has a set of exclusive beliefs and Christianity has exclusive beliefs. “Take moralistic religion into the center of your life, and you’ll feel superior to the secularists. Take secularism into the center of your life, and you’ll feel superior to all those stupid religious people. Take the gospel into the center of your life, and you’ll be humbled before people who don’t believe what you believe. You’ll seek to serve the people who don’t believe what you believe, and you’ll know a man who loves people who don’t love him is what your whole life is built on.” -Timothy Keller CLOSING THOUGHT: Examine what and who you are paying attention too – pay attention to what you’re paying attention too. Is it from God? truthful? Beneficial? does it help you in growing as a follower of Jesus?

As Westerners, we have a unique view of reality through which we filter most of our experiences. We have what is called a “guilt-righteousness” point of view. This means that are concerned with issues of right and wrong. When we are offended, when we see certain behaviors, we usually think in terms of who is right and who is wrong. We think about the acts of morality rather than their effects.  In general, most of the world’s cultures are organized around one or more of three systems. Most of the Western world is organized around guilt-righteousness. Most of Africa is organized around the power-distance or power-fear perspective. And the Middle East has a shame-honor system. Asia has a mix of these. For our purposes, Israel, during David’s time, was organized as a shame-honor system.  The scriptures show all three ways of organizing societies. The scriptures have elements of the guilt-righteousness perspective, but they also reveal two others: the Power-Distance perspective and the one we are concerned with today, honor-shame. What does it mean to be part of an honor-shame system, and how does that impact our relationships? Allow me to provide one example of an honor-shame situation from the scripture and see how this perspective teaches us about our relationship with Christ. It is the story of King David and King Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth. There was a time during David’s reign when he wanted to find a relative of Saul, his predecessor, to whom he could show kindness. Mephibosheth was the son of David’s best friend, Johnathan, whom David made a promise with to show kindness to Johnathan’s descendants. However, because of a terrible accident, Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet and could not get around on his own. Notice that early in their relationship, Mephibosheth referred to himself as a “dead dog” (II Samuel 9:8). He wasn’t simply being humble, or perhaps, falsely humble. Rather, he was describing his shame. He was from the family of David’s enemy. He was crippled and could do nothing on his own. He lived as an outcast. Do you see the shame-honor system at work? Mephibosheth was truly a “dead dog.” But David was about to pay him great honor.  When David met Mephibosheth, he did something interesting. He made his servant, Ziba, and all of his family Mephibosheth’s caretakers and gave all of Saul’s property to Mephibosheth for Ziba to manage on his behalf. Then came something remarkable. He ordered that Mephibosheth eat with his family every day and for the royal house to care for his needs. This elevated Mephibosheth to be like one of David’s own sons. This was a great honor to pay him when Mephibosheth had done nothing practical to earn David’s favor. Years later, when David’s son Absalom usurped the kingdom, Ziba provided supplies for David and his men as they fled, and he told David that Mephibosheth did not come because he was hoping the kingdom would be restored to him. In David’s eyes, this made Mephibosheth a traitor in spite of all of the goodness that David had shown him. Ziba used deception to give false honor to David by giving him supplies. David was tricked into giving Ziba all the land. By giving Ziba, a servant, all of the land that once belonged to Saul, he elevated the honor of Ziba above Mephibosheth and all of the people.  Now we come to crux of this story. After Absalom had died, David was returning to Jerusalem as king again. Let’s take the rest directly from scripture.  “Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. For all my father’s house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” And the king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.” And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all since my lord the king has come safely home” (II Samuel 19:24-30 ESV). Most Westerners are concerned with the question of who lied to David, Ziba or Mephibosheth? But that is a guilt-righteousness perspective. There’s nothing wrong with that. Certainly, someone in this story lied and did wrong. But that is not the passage’s chief concern. What is happening here is a type of shame-honor dance. Let’s take a look at the relevant portions of our passage that reveal the shame-honor dynamic.  First, notice what Mephibosheth actually said, “He has slandered your servant.” In other words, Ziba did not just lie; he brought shame upon Mephibosheth, portraying him as a traitor to David. The lie is important, but the slander is more important. Then, notice what Mephibosheth says, “My lord the king is like an angel of God.” This goes back to David saving Mephibosheth from poverty and shame when they first met. He is paying honor to David. Then he contrasts himself to David, saying that he ate “at your table.” In other words, You made me a part of your family, the royal family. This is remarkable because David was known to have not liked the lame (II Samuel 5:8). The earlier account said that David “hated” the lame. But he made Mephibosheth like a son! Now look at what Mephibosheth says. “What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” Here, Mephibosheth places himself at David’s mercy, resuming his original status. He is nothing compared to David.  At this point, David decides to give both Ziba and Mephibosheth the land, to divide it between them. That’s when we hit the climax of this passage and Mephibosheth says the one thing in an honor-shame system that speaks volumes. He says, “Oh, let him take it all since my lord the king has come safely home.” Let me paraphrase this. Let Ziba have it all. I only want you!  Keep in mind that David did not want to be shamed either. That had already happened, so David needed to reclaim his honor, so he issued a quick order to divide the land. Some commentators say this is like Solomon who ordered the baby divided to determine its true mother. Something similar may have happened with David. This is David’s way of dividing the land so the truth of who lied can be known. But this wasn’t about the lie. It was about honor. Mephibosheth shows he wants to protect the honor of David as well as reclaim his honor with the king, who had made him like a son. His honor and David’s honor are tied together. The order to divide the land revealed the true loyalist: Mephibosheth.  Mephibosheth is a model in this passage about what we should be like. Mephibosheth wasn’t concerned with the land, the riches, and the status. He was concerned that David viewed him with shame. He wanted his honor with David restored, and he paid honor to David. This is how we should be with Christ. We get to have many benefits by being part of the kingdom. Indeed, the scripture says that we are co-heirs with Christ, and Jesus has become as a brother to us. However, our desires should not be focused on the benefits of the kingdom but on the king of the kingdom. Let me paraphrase it this way: Lord, let the world have it all. I only want you!  You have been redeemed by Christ and the Father places great value on you. He has made you part of his house. You have been given great honor as a child of the king. Do you focus on the benefits of the kingdom? Or do you focus on the king? If we only read this passage through the lens of guilt-righteousness then we will only be concerned with the right and wrong perspective. We want to know who lied and who is guilty. In one way, that’s necessary. But once seen through the honor-shame perspective, the culture in which David and Mephibosheth lived, we see something more important from the immediate meaning of the text all the way to its application in our lives. I have a header on my Facebook page that spells out the attitude I want to have about Jesus. It says, “The Bible is my constitution, and Jesus is my king.” I want Jesus to be the supreme affection of my life. This was the perspective of Mephibosheth. How about you? guywithabilble.com.

TAKING DOWN A NATION SKIP HEITZIG Would you turn in your Bibles, please, to First Kings Chapter 12 in your Old Testament. First Kings, find that book, First Kings Chapter 12. A few years ago, I was doing a series on the 10 Commandments. And it was the second week where I was speaking on the Second Commandment. And you know that commandment, it says, you will not have any graven images. You will not fashion for yourself any graven images. And it was interesting, because that was my birthday week. And a friend of mine sent me a present. And I opened it up and it was essentially a graven image of myself. It's a bobble head Skip, look. On a motorcycle even. So I just found it strange that the very week I'm speaking about idolatry and graven images I get this in the mail. You don't have to worry, no one worships it. Trust me. When it comes to the Bible, you know that God takes idolatry very seriously. In fact, God predicted, if you turn from me, I am the Lord, your God. You will have no other gods besides me. If you turn from me to other gods, to idols, it will bring the nation down. He predicted that would happen. A few years ago, for the last 15 years up until this year, one of the most popular shows on television was called American Idol. And it's produced some heavy hitters like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. But I read an article about American Idol that was called, "It Doesn't Always Pay to Win." And the article, essentially, was saying, it's not always the first place, but it's often second, third, and fourth runners up that go on to have successful careers. In fact, some serious stars like Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott never even made it past the audition on American Idol, but went on to see some great fame. Well, it certainly doesn't pay to win the idol contest in Israel, because Israel's God always had a problem with it. From beginning to the end of the scripture, we find that in the Old Testament, the word idol, idols, idolatry appears 111 times. But the one who won the contest, the idol contest, was a King by the name of Jeroboam. And Jeroboam is the one we're going to read about today. Of Jeroboam, it is said 20 times that he made Israel sin. He brought the nation down. He caused the nation to sin. In fact, a couple of chapters after this, in First Kings 14, God says, you have done more evil than all those who were before you. How would you like that on your tombstone? You have done more evil than all those who were before you. That is said of Jeroboam. So let's begin in Chapter 12, for our purpose today, Verse 25. We read then, "Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim. And he dwelt there. Also, he went out from there and built Penuai. And Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the Kingdom may return to the House of David. If these people go to offer sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their Lord Rehoboam the King of Judah. And they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam King of Judah.' Therefore, the King asked advice. He made two calves of gold, and said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go to Jerusalem. Here are your Gods, O, Israel. What's brought you up from the land of Egypt?' And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on the high places. He made priests from every class of people who were not of the Sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained to feast on the 15th day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah. And he offered sacrifices on the altar, so he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel, he installed the priests of the high places, which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel on the 15th day of the eighth month and the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense." Now who is this guy, Jeroboam? Jeroboam is the son of a man by the name of Nebat. That's why when you read of him, it's almost always Jeroboam, the Son of Nebat. He was from a little town in the central part of the land in the tribe of Manasseh. He worked for King Solomon. And King Solomon saw him as a young, capable, industrious man with a lot of energy. So Solomon gave him a raise, and placed him in charge of his labor force, or at least part of his labor force. Later on, Jeroboam gets involved in politics. And at first, it's that he wants social reform and economic reform. But the reform turns to a rebellion, as we have just read. Now it's going to be helpful for me to tell you how Israel has worked up till this point. There have been three kings so far there. Has been King Saul, followed by King David, followed by his son, King Solomon. Those first three kings, for 120 years, the established a united monarchy. There was no division. There was no civil war. It was the united monarchy for 120 years until Solomon died. When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam, now I know this gets confusing because you got Jeroboam. You got Rehoboam. And you think, are they related? Are they the Boam brothers? You've got Jerry Boam and you've got Ray Boam. But no, they're different families all together. Rehoboam is the son of Solomon. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, a whole different family. So when Solomon dies, Rehoboam, his son, is in charge of the Kingdom. He's young. He's inexperienced. And the people come to him, and they say, look, as the new King, we request that you would ease up on the tax burden a little bit. Your dad has been very oppressive to us. We'll serve you if you do that. Well, at that point, he decides to consult his ambassador. So he goes to an older group of men, people who knew the ropes. They were wiser. And the older group of men said, we agree with the people. We think you should ease up on the tax burden, not be so oppressive. The people will be loyal to you. After that, he goes to his contemporaries, young men, young bucks, lot of energy, not so much wisdom. And they give him the opposite counsel. They say, no, in fact, put your foot down. Show them who's boss. And don't ease up the burden. So it's Inauguration Day. The first State of the Union Message that the new King, King Rehoboam, gives, part of it is mentioned in First Kings 12, Verse 14. This is what he says, "My father made your yoke heavy. I'll make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips. I will scourge you with scorpions." Well, the minute he said that, there's a turning point, a turning point in Israel's history, a civil war, a split in the Kingdom ensues. And 10 of the 12 tribes go north under Jeroboam, and two of the tribes, Judah and Benjamin, under Rehoboam. It is a civil war. And they really don't recover from it. The Northern Kingdom, under Jeroboam, as you have just read, gets involved in idolatry for the next, get this, 200 years, until they are taken captive in 722 BC by the Assyrians. That's Jeroboam. The question is, why? What causes Jeroboam, this Israelite, this one of the tribes of God's people, what causes him to get involved in idolatry, this great, heinous sin? It's because he made four mistakes. And I want you to see them. First mistake he made is he feared losing power. Look at Verse 26, "Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the Kingdom may return to the House of David. If these people go to offer sacrifices in the House of the Lord to Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their Lord Rehoboam, the King of Judah. And they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam, the King of Judah.'" This guy has a lust for power, and it's always seen as a weakness, never a strength, a lust for power. Walter Youngquist noted that of all the human attributes responsible for more misery, death, hopelessness, war, and starvation than anything else in the world, one is the lust for personal power. And Jeroboam is an insecure leader. He goes into panic mode. Oh, no, when they're down in Jerusalem worshipping at the temple, their hearts are going to be drawn back to Rehoboam in the Southern Kingdom and I'm going to lose my Kingdom. Whenever you're afraid of losing power, you have forgotten that it was God who gave it to you to begin with. And he has forgotten that. Power comes from the Lord. Your sphere of power, your sphere of impact and influence, is all given to you by God. Romans 13, Verse 1, "There is no authority except from God." Psalm 62:11, "Power belongs to God." Remember that dream that Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, had when Daniel came into interpretive form, that wild image that he saw? Daniel said, when he interpreted that dream, he said, "God changes the times and the seasons. He removes and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding." And because that's true, you know what that means? It means you never really had any power to begin with, none. The power you have is delegated power. The authority you have is assigned authority. And it's been delegated and assigned by God. But power intoxicates men and women. When somebody is drunk with alcohol, he can recover. When somebody is drunk on power, they seldom recover. It grips a person until death, fear of losing power. Now associated with that fear of losing power is the fear of losing control, the power to control situations. According to Psychology Today, the fear of losing control is one of the most prevalent fears that people have. This is the fear, that if you don't manage to control the outcome of future events, something terrible will happen. And this article said, the key to overcoming this is to let go of the demand for certainty. Easier said than done, the demand for certainty. Our culture even has a designation of controlling people. What do we call them? Control freaks. Says, she's a control freak. He's a control freak. Have you seen that commercial, National Car Rental commercial, where the guy's walking through the airport with this cup of coffee, very staid and very controlled. And he's walking through, and he says to the camera, I've been called a control freak. But I like to think of myself more of as a controlled enthusiast. Jeroboam was a control enthusiast. He liked to control situations. Here's the problem. There are so many things that are out of your control. You might like to control them, but you cannot. They're out of your control. There are some things you can't control. There are some things you can control. For example, you cannot control the length of your life. But you can control the depth of your life. You cannot control the weather, but you can control the moral and spiritual atmosphere that you allow yourself to have around you. You cannot control another person's fault. You can control your reaction in response to those faults. So here's the deal. Here's the best deal. You control the outlook and let God control the outcome. How's that for a deal? Isn't that a good one? You control your outlook. Lord, if this comes or doesn't come, if this happens or doesn't happen, I'm just going to control my outlook. You control the outcome. But this King, he feared losing power. That was his first mistake. Here's the second mistake. He failed trusting God. Go back to Verse 25, "Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim. And he lived there. Also, he went out from there and he built Penuai." Now most people read this verse, skip over it. It looks insignificant. I suggest it's very insightful, not insignificant. Jeroboam's first move as the new King of the North is to fortify the cities that control the caravan routes north and south. Why? According to CF Kyle, Old Testament scholar, he said, it's to defend his sovereignty over the North against hostile attacks. You say, what's wrong with that? That's what kings do. That's normal, kingly procedure, have strong defenses. I would agree with you, except what this really means for this King, for Jeroboam, is that he has failed to trust God. Why do I say that? Because God made this King a very specific promise, which we haven't read yet. Before the event of him becoming the King of the North, the 10 northern tribes, God personally gives a message to him with a promise in it. And I want you to see it. Go back one chapter, Chapter 11. Look at Verse 35. This is God speaking to Jeroboam by some means. God says to him, "But I will take the Kingdom out of his son's hands, that's Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and give it to you, 10 tribes." So God says, I'm going to give it to you as my gift to you. "And to his son, I will give one tribe." That's Judah, later on, becomes two tribes. "That my servant, David, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there. And so I will take you. And you shall reign over all your heart desires. You shall be King over Israel. Then it shall be, now watch this, if you heed all that I command you, if you listen and you do what I say, if you walk in my ways, do what is right in my sight. Keep my statutes and my commandments, as my servant David did. Then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house as I built for David. And I will give Israel to you." How's that for a promise? How's that for a blank check? Hey, I'm God. And I'm giving you a kingdom free. Here's the check. Go cash it. You know, it's funny. If you were to come up to me and ask me to write you a check for a million dollars, I'd do it. Your problem would be when you go to the bank. I'd be happy to write you a check. If you want one afterwards, I'll write you a check. But you go to the bank, they're going to laugh at that, and go, pft, there's nothing to back it up. Insufficient funds, that's what it'll read on the computer. Now I know people who could write you a check for a million dollars, and they have the money and more in the bank. God gives to Jeroboam a promise of an enduring kingdom. What was his failure? He didn't take it to the bank. He didn't cash the check. He didn't trust the promise that God gave him. You can always tell how mature or immature a Christian is by how they treat the promises of God. Ask a person, what do you do with God's promise in the Bible? And if their best answer is, I underline it in yellow, you know you've got a problem. If their answer is, I take them to the bank, then you know you've got something. A fearful, nervous believer filled with anxiety speaks volumes. They don't believe the promises of God. A person who is calm, and confident, that person also speaks volumes. I'm taking God's promise to the bank. Psalm 20, David writes, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God." Jeremiah 17, Verse 5, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord." Jeroboam's heart departed from the Lord. And it is shown by his failure to trust God's promise, which begs the question, if he failed to trust God's promise, what did he trust in? That takes us to his third mistake. He feared losing power. He failed trusting God. His third mistake, he followed his own heart. Look at Verse 26, "Then Jeroboam said, what? In his? You've got your Bible open, right? He said, "in his heart. Jeroboam said in his heart." Stop right there. Here's a guy mulling it over in his own heart, in his own mind, thinking about what he wants to do. It's all inward. So he said in his heart. Then go down to Verse 28, "Therefore the King asked advice." Before he made the two calves, he's asking people. So he takes it out of his head, out of the little heart. He's kind of thinking what to do. Now he takes it and he asks advice, not of the best people, because he makes two golden calves. So he takes it out to them. Go down to Verse 33, "So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel. On the 15th day of the eighth month, in the month which he had, watch this, devised in his own heart." Listen, Jeroboam was doing whatever felt good to him instead of what God said was good for him. You see the difference? How many times have you heard people say, well, you got to follow your heart. You just got to do whatever is in your heart to do. Can I just say, that's bad advice. It's always bad advice. Why is it bad advice? Jeremiah 17:9 declares, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it." Doing what is in people's heart has caused all of the problems in this world. Everybody feels something different, does something different. There's clashes, and wars, and, I want this, and the other person wants that. It just means a person does what he wants to do. The human heart needs to be steered by the divine will. My heart needs His head, His headship, His direction. One of our favorite verses of scripture, you probably memorize it within the first month that you are a believer, Proverbs Chapter 3, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him. And He will direct your paths." Well, this is especially true in the area of worship. Because effectively, Jeroboam changed the whole system of worship for the nation of Israel. And one of the most insidious ideas in the world is that we can worship God as we see fit. Because the only worship God accepts is the worship that God directs. God has told us who he is. And God has told us how he is to be responded to. And God has told us how he is to be worshipped. That's why he said, "I am the Lord, your God. No other Gods before me. No images, et cetera." He spelled it all out. The worship that God accepts is the worship that God directs. So he made three mistakes so far. He feared losing power. He failed trusting God. He followed his own heart. And he did a fourth, which always must follow third. If you're already doing the third, you're going to do the fourth, and that is, he forsook God's word. That is, God laid out how to be responded to, and he forsook it. He goes from divine revelation to human imagination. He makes it all up. Notice, he changes the object of worship. Verse 28, "Therefore the King asked advice. Made two calves of gold, and said to the people, 'it's too much for you to go to Jerusalem.' Here are your Gods, O, Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt." Does that sound familiar? Have you heard that before? You know what that sounds like to me? Exodus 32, guy by the name of Aaron. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai getting the 10 Commandments and he comes down, there's this golden calf. And Aaron said, "This is the God, O, Israel that delivered you out of the land of Egypt." Same thing, does the same thing. He moves from worshipping the invisible God, changes the object of worship to two golden calves, one in the middle of the country, and one in the north of the country. Now here is always the problem with making an image of any kind in worship of God. There is no image that could ever be made that truly reflects the personality and glory of God. Can't do it. Can't be done. As soon as you cast some image to remind you of some capability, or some attribute of God, it only shows you that one, not the others. So why a calf? Why this? Well, in Egypt they had worshiped Apis the bull, the calf God, which was a symbol of strength. So when they did that in Exodus, and they did it again, the idea of a calf is that when you look at it, it would remind you of splendor and strength. You say, well, what's wrong with that? If when I look at an image and I'm reminded of God's strength, what's wrong with that? Here's what's wrong with it. It tells you nothing of God's love, God's forgiveness, God's forbearance, God's acceptance. All the other moral attributes are hidden by an image. So an image of any, there's no artist alive that can capture God. So God just says, don't do it. Isaiah 40, "To whom will you liken God?" It's a good question. What are you going to like him to? "Or what likeness will you compare to him?" Answer, none. So he changes the object of worship. Notice also he changes the place of worship. Verse 29, "He sets one up in Bethel and one in Dan." So the middle of the country way up north. Instead of going to Jerusalem, the temple, there's two new worship places. Why does he do it? It's convenient, that's all. It's just easier. It's just easier. You don't have to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. You can stay home right here, which is interesting, you know. Instead of asking, is it right? He asked, is it easy? I'll do what's easy instead of what's right. Well, Bethel is one place I do understand, because Bethel had already a rich spiritual history to it. Bethel was the place you will remember when Jacob was running from his house, and he laid down at night, and he slept, and he saw this dream, this vision, of a ladder going up to heaven, the angels of God coming down, and going back up. And he was so overtaken by it, the next day, he names the place Bethel, which means that the House of God. It's a great experience. So Jeroboam thinks, instead of going to the house of God down in Jerusalem, we have the house of God here. This is the original Beth-el House of God. We have our own heritage. So it changes the object and the place of worship. Notice also he changes the means of worship. Verse 31, "He made shrines on the high places, and he made priests from every class of people who are not of the sons of Levi." Well, that's for saying God's word, right? Because God's word said, there's only one tribe where the priest come from, and that's the tribe of Levi. But he goes, why? Why can't anybody be a priest? Why do you have to belong to the tribe of Levi? Why can't anyone who feels led to be a priest be a priest? Now the day he said, anybody can be a priest, you got to know that he made a lot of people happy, who were going, yeah, why should the Levites have all the fun? Why did they get to hang out in the tabernacle in the temple? Whenever you lower the standard for those who lead worship, for those who do ministry, for those who serve the Lord in any capacity, when you lower the standard, you will have all the unqualified ones pouring in. He changes the means of worship. And finally, he changes the time of worship. Did you notice, Verse 32, "He ordained a feast, watch this, on the 15th day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah. And he offered sacrifices on the altar, so he did a Bethel sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel, he installed a priest of the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel on the 15th day of the eighth month in the month which he devised in his own heart." Why did he do this? Well, he's competing with the feast down south. The Feast of Tabernacles took place exactly one month prior, the seventh month. So he goes, well, I'll do the eighth month. Why? I feel led. It's in my heart. It's in my heart to do it. Now on the surface, we go, what's wrong? One month is the same as another month. Which is true, unless God said, I want that month. So if God says, I want you to get together in October, and you go, no, I'll do it in November, you've just disobeyed God, right? So if God says, meet every week on the first day of the week to worship me, and you go, no, Christmas and Easter is good enough, you've just disobeyed God. He changed the times of worship. The only worship God accepts is the worship God directs. Do you recall that Jesus Christ said, God, the Father, is actually looking for a certain kind of worshipper? Remember? He says, the Father is seeking those who worship him in spirit and in truth. So he wants spirited worshippers who put truth and the intensity of their own spirit into it, that's what it means, but also in truth. And the way we know truth is by the revealed word of God. Jeroboam forsook the word of God and followed his own heart. And one always requires the other. There's a phrase in the Bible. If you read the Bible at all very much, you've seen this phrase about 80 times all together. It's the phrase, "It is written." It's one of Jesus' favorite phrases. When somebody comes to him, or the devil attacks him with a temptation, he'll say, "It is written. It is written, 80 times, it is written." Now I can only think that when God repeats something 80 times, it's pretty important to him. And why is that one so important to him? He must believe that what is written, what he has superintended and preserved in this Book, that we ought to take our cues from that for everything in life. And always loved Billy Graham, as you know. I came to faith by watching Billy Graham. One of Billy Graham's most famous phrases in all of his sermons is, the Bible says. He said that a lot. All of his great messages and the Bible says, boom. And the Bible says, and he'll quote it. And that's because there was a time in his life where he struggled with what the Bible says. And he was a young man wondering, should I believe it all? Is it all God's truth and God's word? And when he finally came through that wrestling match, and said, I'm going to declare your word as being truth, that's when he saw thousands of lives changed. Jeroboam made these four mistakes. And it led the nation to idolatry. Let me ask you a question. Do you think idolatry is just an Old Testament problem? Certainly not. As I mentioned, First John Chapter 5, last verse of that book, John, in the New Testament, says, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." So the First Commandment, "I am the Lord, your God. You will have no other Gods besides me or before me." And John, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Shows that it's a problem in every generation. Well, what is it exactly? What does idolatry mean? That you have Skip bobble head, is that idolatry? No, I don't think so. Idolatry means you place something in the place of God. That's what it means. That's the easiest way to think of it. Idolatry is letting anyone or anything occupy the supreme rightful place that only God should occupy as the one in charge of your life. By the way, that can be inward, doesn't have to be outward. You can want something. You may not have, but you want it. You want a person, you want an object. Listen to Paul in Colossians Chapter 3, Verse 5. He said, "Put to death your members which are on the Earth like fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, listen to this, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Covetousness, which is idolatry." If you want a person or a thing more than you want God, it could be a girlfriend. It could be a boyfriend. It could be the approval of people. It could be a hobby. It could be a number of things. That can be idolatry. Always starts inwardly, but it always grows outwardly. So I wanted to close with two things. I want to ask you a personal question. I want you to ask yourself this question. Then I'm going to ask you to make a personal choice, personal question, personal choice. Here's the personal question. What do you think about in quiet moments? Mull that around. What do you think about in quiet moments? What is your mind naturally, when left alone, gravitate to when you're all alone? Because your mind is a lot like a compass. You can take a compass, and jostle it around, and move it around, but when you set it down on a desk, and you leave it to settle, that needle always points true north, one direction. And your mind can be occupied by a number of things during the day, like mine is, but when left to settle, what direction does it point to? Because the Bible says, in Proverbs 23, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." That's who you are. What do you think about in quiet moments? That's the personal question. Now for a personal choice. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. He'll love one, and hate the other, hold to one, and repudiate the other." No man can serve two masters. Which one will it be, God, or something else? Joshua said to the people, "Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord." Some of you are thirsty. And I don't just mean physical thirst, like, hurry up, finish the sermon so I can get a drink of water. That may be true as well. But I'm talking about that inward, nagging, unfulfilled vacuum that nothing or no one, up to this point, has ever been able to satisfy and quench. Some of you are thirsty. There is nothing or no one who will satisfy you like the love of God, the sweet love of the living God. Are there any rivals in your heart? That's an idol. Is there a rival in your heart? That's why you're restless. Augustine said, "We are restless, Lord, until we find our rest in Thee." If there's a rival in your heart, that's what's causing the restlessness. We opened up speaking about American Idol. I suppose if there were ever on American idol, the quintessential American idol would be none other than Elvis Presley. I even had one person for a service say, Amen, to that. I was like, OK, we have an Elvis fan. Yeah, I'm Elvis. I'm the king. But do you know that Elvis was interviewed by a reporter six weeks before he died? And the reporter said, Elvis, when you began your career, you said there was three things that you wanted in life. Number one, you wanted to be rich. Then you said you wanted to be famous. Then you said you wanted to be happy, rich, famous, and happy. Elvis, are you happy? I know you're rich and famous, are you happy? Without any hesitation he said, no, I'm intensely lonely. The great Elvis Presley, the American idol, intensely lonely, not happy. In fact, those who knew him and were close to him would often say, that's the attribute that stuck out the most. He seemed so lonely. Are there rivals in your heart? Anyone competing for the love of God? Then choose this day whom you will serve. Because no one can serve two masters. Our Father, as we bring this short little series to a close, we have considered those who crashed and who have burned. They're living examples to us, people who have really lived on this Earth, of mistakes made, choices made. And we learn from those mistakes. We learn, by looking at those who have fallen, we learn how to fly. We have seen different reasons for the crash and burn, but here we've discovered a man who not only did so, but caused a nation to do so, brought down a nation because of it. And we think of those who have brought down corporations, or families, or marriages by making mistakes. And we think, when it really comes down to it, it's because there is a rival that occupies the throne of the heart that must be pushed off. And you must be allowed to be who you are. The incomparable living God, living in us, calling the shots, where we don't follow the dictates of our own heart, but we follow the dictates of Your word perfectly preserved, totally inerrant, absolutely authoritative for human life. Every word of God is pure. And we want to live by what the Bible says, by what You have said. I just pray for those who have gathered who are thirsty deep inside their soul, and they want that to end. That's the best news. It can end. And it can end in this life. It can end by a choice that we make to let You be You in our lives, the Lord, the Master, The King. We think of the promise you gave Jeroboam. Jeroboam, if you only heed me, if you only listen to me, I'll do this for you. And we think of the promise made to us, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." I pray that some would. As our eyes are closed, and we're thinking about us, we're thinking about what we have heard. We're evaluating who we are, where we're going. My prayer is that you will consider the repeated offers made in scripture to you and I from the Divine to the human condition, the promise to change, the promise to have new light, new life, new hope, forgiveness of sin. And I pray that you would choose, this day, Christ as savior and Lord. Some of you, for the very first time, you have come to church. You've been religious. You have a spiritual side to you. But you've never said personally yes to Jesus Christ as Master, and Savior, and Lord of your life. Others of you maybe remember something that happened in your past, at an event, a concert, a crusade, a church service, where you felt something, and you maybe even did something. But today, right now, as it stands, you're not following Christ. So you need to come back to Him. So whether it's for the first time, or you need to come back home to him, if you're willing to receive him, and commit your life to Him, I'd love the opportunity to pray for you. But I need to know who I'm praying for. So as our heads are bowed, I'd like you to just raise your hand up in the air if you're willing to give your life to Christ, and end the fight with God, and the thirst that's in your soul. Raise it up, so I can see. God bless you and you. Right up here toward the front in the middle to my left. Just raise that hand up. Right there, in the middle. A couple of you right here on the right. Anyone else? Raise your hand up, please. Right there, awesome. Awesome. Anyone else? Right there, yes, thank you. Thank you. God bless you in the back. I see your hand. And over here to my left. If you're in the family room, I can see through the glass. Just raise your hand up. Say yes to Him. Awesome. Even in the balcony, just raise that hand up. Sat yes to Him. Father, we thank you for all these hands that have gone up. Thank you for these lives that You have touched by the revelation of your word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Only You can do that. Only You can do that. These hands going up it is a work of God, because it's a decision that is being made to say yes to the Lord of this universe and the King of hearts. I pray for each one. I pray, Lord, that you would just give them that settled, peaceful feeling that this is right, and this begins a whole new journey in their future. I pray you would change their lives. I pray you would fill them with hope. Our prayer for them, Lord, is they would grow in grace, grow in knowledge of you, that their view of God would be ever-expanding. They would become calm and confident believers, those who trust in Your promises. Strengthen their lives. Strengthen their families in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please stand? We're going to sing our final song. And as we do, I'm going to ask those of you who raised your hands to find the nearest aisle and come walk up to the front and stand up here where I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Jesus called people publicly. And you're going to find a great show of support when you say, yes, and you come, and you stand up here. I want to lead you in that prayer to receive Christ. And I'm going to ask you to do it publicly like Jesus called people. And you're going to find, again, a lot of support, a round of applause, as you say yes to Him. We're going to cheer you on. I'm so glad that you're coming forward. And I would just hope that it wouldn't end with just a raised hand, and then you're out the door, but that you would come. You'd kind of step out of the shadows and into the light and, say, this is the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Some of you might be kind of waiting around thinking, well, how do I know this real? I've seen this stuff before. I'll tell you one thing, you'll never know if it's real by just doing nothing. Take Jesus at his word. See if he's not the Lord, and the King, of the world, and the King of the universe. And see if he can't change your heart, your life. Try him. Test and see. Give your life to Christ. I've seen so many people kind of wondering about it. And then they've had their lives dramatically changed by God. Be one of those people. So as we sing this through one more time, God is calling you. Respond to it. This is a holy moment. You respond to it. You say yes. You come out from where you're standing, and you join those who are up here. Those of you who have walked forward, I am so glad to see each and every one of you guys. This is better, right? No we're just way up here. So I'm going to lead you in a prayer. And I'm going to ask you to say this prayer out loud after me from your heart. And you say this to the Lord, OK. Let's pray. Say: Lord, I give you my life. I know that I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I trust him with my life. I believe Jesus died on a cross, that he shed his blood for my sin, and that he rose again from the dead. I believe he is alive today. I turn from my sin. I repent of it. I turn to Jesus as my Lord and my Master. It's in his name I pray. Amen.