The Gift Of Life

I'll greet the blessing group together Thank you, brother. Yeah, it seems like the Lord has a way of directing Directing his words and maybe we could say directing his vessels those of us wanting to serve I'm surprised how often the church service and it seems like the Lord speak But yet a similar message or a similar burden throughout the whole service You can always say that oh this this came together. It's like God was God was Trying to write a service for that morning and it all worked together.

It came out together. I Don't want to say that always needs to be that way But it often does and I feel like this morning is one of those This morning is one of those that again it comes together How many of us have How many of us woke up this morning rejoicing? Do we wake up rejoicing? I'm gonna try to get us thinking together here Did anyone sing a song this morning before as you're getting ready somebody sing a song good Did any of you question why whether or not you were healthy this morning? Did you wake up confident? You were healthy good strong anyone unhealthy. Okay.

Well yeah each day and Maybe it's as we get older. I'm not sure but each day that goes by I think of God's goodness and giving us another day I don't remember it ever being so much part of my thoughts Than it has been in the last year honestly, I would say I don't remember having the repeat thought of Gratitude for a blessed day like I've had in the last while and again, I don't know why that is but very much so I feel like each day you wake up in the morning and You have a heart of gratefulness. It's not always Circumstances aren't always good for that day But what a blessing it is that God decided to provide it for us for another day He's giving us given us health for another day.

I heard us a conversation of an older man An older man who was talking about him getting ready to die I think he was in his 70s and He was Yeah, he's had a very adventurous life and so on and he was explaining a little bit about How his body was starting to not Not work together. It wasn't harmonizing. There was needs in the body and so He's sharing some thoughts on what it feels like First being part of an adventurous life Very athletic and then starting to realize there's nothing you can do But your body just starts a what would you call it in the plant world when the when the plant starts to Get ready.

Yeah, the body starts shutting down So yeah, that's something that was an interesting thought for me to have where he's sharing about how he's preparing knowing He's gonna die any of us have those thoughts Not yet too young for that too young to think of wanting to Prepare to die. I will say that I found that to be I don't know not a not a very enthusiastic conversation and I wouldn't listen to it with with high interest either It'd be easier to listen to his adventure than it was for him preparing Just realizing that he was You know, he was aging a lot and that he felt like he was at his end of his days So we have life this morning. I trust each of us.

We have Life we have life this morning if you want to check if you have life pinch yourself See if you can feel it you have life this morning we have life this morning Genesis 2 verse 7 it says actually before I before I I'll just reference the verse here. Genesis 2 7 tells us that God gave us the breath of life and Listening to the sharing that we've heard already this morning There's I had a thought even with the song service even with the song service I Felt like there was a so even with the song service. I felt like there was a common theme That would be for us this morning so if I were to say if We were to think about what has been shared this morning.

We would put it all together As the information that's been given to us the words that we have heard I would like to say that the thought that came to me is The Lord would like to tell us this morning that he loves us and and I say that in mind of what brother Abe was sharing and Even some of the songs and what brother Ben referenced. I say that where The Lord has the Lord knows us. He knows what we go through So even in light of going through the stresses the Lord is speaking to us and saying That he has a love for us that he loves us and it reminded me of Jesus where he says, it's Matthew 2337 Reminded me of where Jesus says that he let's just I'll just be 2337.

It's the last part of the verse So this is what it reminded me of Where Jesus says how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings And at the end here, he says to those that he was speaking to it says and you were not willing so I'd like our minds to race this morning. I'd like our minds to really plug into some thoughts here So I would like for you to just meditate quickly on this thought about We have the picture of the chicken the hen that calls for chicks and if you've had chickens you've probably observed some of this where if something if there's a predator comes or a hawk flies over an eagle and The hen will make a sound and the chicks run under it this morning. I would like for us to think about The Lord is a refuge and he calls for us and he's calling for us to run are we Would we find comfort to run under his the message that I the title I gave the message for us this morning is the gift of life and it's an interesting thought here I Want to I'm it's going to be not too in-depth, but just going over a phase here thoughts about the gift of life God giving us life and I'd like to build a little bit on our thoughts and we're going to include there this this aspect of where God cares for us and he calls us under his wing and I also want to use the picture of an umbrella and for that I was thinking I might draw some things on the board here The idea of being under God's umbrella God wants to protect us.

God wants to guide us. God wants to draw us and Yeah, God is calling us. I Didn't wasn't sure if I would share it or not but an interesting an interesting dream last night I have no idea where it came from either and Wasn't happy that I had it But whatever it is those two seconds and they make a difference in what your thoughts are but in other words The only thing I know of this dream and it relates to what I'm sharing here.

I Had a dream last night. It was vivid. It was real.

It felt it felt real Basically, someone took my life That's all I know. There's something that seemed to be There was yeah, the dream literally starts where there is a big there's a big It's a noise drama and just like that. It was over and then I woke up.

Well, that's Maybe has to do with the different activities. We were part of the boys and I with Dave Berg's son Maybe the whole thing just kind of compiled there but odd enough it was and just following my thoughts here I'm like, wow, that was just it was kind of hard to shrug off. You're like, oh, that's That's strange.

So again just thinking about us and having this thought You have life. Do you have life? Do you enjoy life? Are you thankful for life? Okay in Genesis 2 7 it tells us that God gave God Created us and he gave us the breath of life So what we want to want to acknowledge as we already know That God is the author of life. He is the one that is going to be the judge over life He created you and I if we were to think about this morning And I would ask each one of you and there's two things that will come out in our in our mind in our heart If I were to ask you this If I would go to Elijah and I would say Elijah For a lot well, maybe Elijah's age it might be three but the older ones they would probably be only two But if I said to Elijah Elijah Who is your authority, you know what when I say authority do you know what that means? Authority is someone that's kind of like boss over you.

Who is your authority now there we're thinking of there's gonna be three authorities for you One you're gonna say Oh God is right. God is your authority God is the one who created you he gets the highest authority then for Elijah. There's mom mom and dad They're my authority and then the one that's probably the most Feeling good the one that we like the most is probably I'm the boss Right, we can all relate to that Life God gave us life.

God gave us a choice and if someone said said, okay so-and-so in your life who's in charge and Honestly, I think for most the instant answer is I'm in charge Often even at work you're at work and someone who is not in charge at all and They act like they're in charge People love to be in charge But one thing we want to settle this morning, which we know we know it by word, but do we know it? as by faith and accept it and that is God He is in charge All of us here. We could all separate today. I could say brother Abe.

You're not allowed to go home and He would say sorry. You have no authority to say that or I could say Philip you got a home with us and Philip would ask his dad his dad would say no again. I have no authority I don't have a lot of charge.

The only thing I can decide is where am I going? I'm going home that's my decision I can do that and so Authority is in different structures and it's very limited But God I heard a message and I really appreciate how he said it there. So God is in charge He's in charge over all things you and me Now we often do live our life day to day in such a way where we don't really think about that But God is in charge if God said this morning well We're going to God wanted to call ten of us home That would be it. There's absolutely nothing we could do if God said someone would die Let's use Nebuchadnezzar as an example.

God says to Nebuchadnezzar you're gonna eat grass Can you imagine? The king sitting in his chair with all the gold and all the things that he thought he had made all his soldiers around him No one would dare Maybe the king would say if you enter my room without me saying you can I'm gonna Take you out Nobody and God says to Nebuchadnezzar You're gonna go on hands and knees And you're gonna eat grass. I Can only imagine that would have been a thought Nebuchadnezzar would have been like that's not possible and it is God's in charge We think of Daniel the king throws Daniel into a lion's den God's in charge lions do nothing The wicked men get thrown in the lion's den it says before they hit the bottom all the bones are broken God's in charge So for us this morning God's in charge mind you we do have that struggle If we were to ask each other, hey, are you is it are you fully? Okay, like you never have thoughts. Can you honestly say that you're letting God be in charge? If you would ask me that I would say there's oftentimes I struggle with that My flesh does struggle with letting God be in charge But that doesn't change who God is.

It just means there's consequences that are coming if I'm in charge Well, there's consequences that can come this morning. God is in charge when God created Adam and Eve I Want to give us just a picture When God created Adam and Eve We're gonna say this circle we cannot put a ring again around God we cannot contain God God does not to I would draw nothing and then more God cannot be put in a circle But the idea here is as an example God and then there's me Okay, when God created Adam and Eve this being Adam or Eve I Want to say in spirit they had not sinned and So right in the beginning When God created Adam and Eve they were with God They were they were with God. They were they were together.

They would commune together Yeah, they were with God. That's how God wants it to be. God wants us with him and It is sin.

It is sin that separates us from God. So Um Here I'll write man. Oh and Today we're gonna say it's more like this.

God is here and this is how we're born. Okay God is there and we are separated and that's the term. We'll just highlight It's not that we're outside of God that doesn't work.

God is everywhere. But just for the picture's sake We were born where there is a separation There is a separation between me and God that's how I was born and God had a heart For me when I was born and the first thing God had a heart for is that I would acknowledge God we're separate It wasn't like it was in the beginning for Adam and Eve For Adam and Eve there was no draw in the beginning before they had sinned. There wasn't a draw for sin There wasn't a challenging of authority.

There was a togetherness out Adam and Eve before they sinned wouldn't have had the the The pressure from within to want to rebel or do their own thing and not obey God But this is how I was born separate from God and as I was separate from God I Sinned Okay double and I sinned now one of the reasons that I sinned is because I Was separated from God I Didn't choose when I was born I didn't choose to be separated from God But the way it works and as a Buddha would share with fruit if he were to plant a pepper He gets a pepper We know that after Adam and Eve sinned They were separated from God and in their separated state. They had children which then are automatically separated Maybe it's like a plant if I had a plant in here and it would grow fruit all the plant would be in here That would be with God, but if I took that plant and I went to a different building and put it in there Now we're separated now that plant is in there and that plant in there is bearing fruit Where is that fruit and here or in there? The fruit is in there and the other building we are separated so I was born separated from God and I sinned and There's two reasons. I need God one.

I'm separated from God and two because I sinned Or I have I am a sin. Yeah, I'm a person of sin or sinful nature. I need God Okay, so that's that and what does it mean to be and this is not in the flesh but in spirit What does it mean to be born again? Okay, so we have born again to be born again means two things one it means that I Repent I receive Christ I believe in Christ and God and What happens here is the two things one is that Jesus forgives me my sin Okay, so that I can be brought back within the fold of God So being born again is me accepting that Jesus should forgive my sin and that I would be brought back into the fold With God, here's me This is God So now it's that simple being born again, I have sinned Jesus forgave me my sin and I acknowledge that I was separated from God and because I acknowledge that and allow God to bring me back into the fold I can be with God and Again as Jesus said that as a hen calls its chicks together So does so it is here that we are called to come back to be with to be within the fold of God now, I Want to read us a definition and it's the definition for life So here I want to share with you why I'm sharing what I'm sharing.

What would I like to share with you this morning? My heart and what I want to share with us and it's actually a bit different but yet the same it's in the same thread Maybe it's in the same blanket but different thread as what's been shared. I was pondering what to share here with us this morning and Praying Lord. What would you have me to share? And as I already said With what I've heard.

I feel like the Lord is saying like a mother hen The Lord is saying I want to take you in. I love you and What I'm going to say next is going to be an extension of that and the extension is So I gave it the title the gift of life and we want to go over a bit of a timeline but my thought this morning is That you and I That you and I would have joy in Christ in our life now not just having You know waking up on a Monday morning with a lot of problems and circumstances and having joy while you're dealing with all the circumstances That's a joy and it's good and right But I'm actually I want to have us think about a joy that goes deeper than that joy. It's a joy where Can I say that circumstances cannot reach that level? Do I always have it? No, I don't I I have much to learn here But the joy I want to us to think about is a joy that can be in God's presence Where it's a fellowship joy If my joy is often based on circumstances Then I check my surroundings and then I decide whether or not I can be, you know, if I'm rejoicing or joyful That we're gonna call a shallow joy.

That's fine in its place. It's a shallow joy But I've often wondered what is it that takes our joy away so quickly and I think it is because our joy is shallow. It's not in Christ And so my thought for us this morning is as we think about life and all the things that are part of life I would like for us to have a drawing thought That would be am I in the joy of the Lord more so am I That chick that Jesus calls in and that as we see the chicks Very satisfied and content to be under the wing of the hen Do I have this joy that I want to be under the umbrella of God? So the definition of life What something that was already shared is the thought about having purpose and hopefully as I share We're going to reach that point where we're going to mention that talk that thought again of an overview of purpose Of our timeline in life, but the idea of life When we think about life we can have two thoughts about life that I'll highlight here one is As We think about life.

Maybe you think in your mind I would like my life to be and then you could give an explanation all the things you'd like life to be Exciting all the things you want to do in life and so on That's uh, that's fine. It has its right place But we want to highlight one One thought this morning that we want to use and can in having our minds as we think about life The thought is this If God is an authority if God is the creator God is in charge Then he has a reason why you and I are here. Does he not God has a reason why we're here, right? Or maybe it's just for me to accept Christ and live long enough till I die and go home It's like good with the explanation.

I just gave to you. What's missing and here's what I'm gonna say is missing a Relationship with God is missing the idea that I would live as a Christian and just live life and Die and go to heaven That's a relationship bliss Christianity God wants far more than that and Again, we're not just wanting and I'm hoping I hopefully can bring this out so we can come to this point But I'm not referring to Okay, then God wants me to go through all the trials and do that cheerfully I actually want to go to a higher level and I want to call it a higher level than the circumstances. So God has a call for us here and it's a work that it is But I want to have us think about a higher calling than the work That's how I want to phrase it God has a higher calling for us than just the work that he has for us So he does have a work for us 100% But he has a higher calling for us than the work so We could look at a relationship You know I'm not sure what example to use here But if you had an example like the project prodigal son You have the father who appreciates the work of his son, but it's not just the work that he appreciates It is the son that he appreciates God has a love for the son and One of the fruits of having this relationship with God and son is the work the son does for his father so the higher calling for us this morning is a Relationship with God.

I'm going to read this definition here of life So life in its simplest sense This word refers to existence so we are here as opposed to non-existence or death Life life refers to existence. The Bible does not divide human life into physical intellectual and spiritual compartments as we tend to do but views it as a unity the total the totality of activities and Experiences of an individual or a community to be sure we read of soul and spirit But these are these are to be understood as the principle of life and personal identity Not unlike that in animals when the soul or spirit leave a man He cannot be said to continue to exist in a disembodied form Thus the soul and spirit as well as the body are mortal and the present life is life unto death Now to continue that definition, there is a life which is higher than this mere existence Okay here. I want to pause and just ask us the question which I already know the answer from many of you There is a life which is higher than this mere existence.

So for you and me this morning What is the part of life? That's higher than our mere exist. Is the is it? Yeah, is it could it be? That the part that would be more than just existence. Could that part just be the things we get accomplished? and I want to say this morning that if life was simply living and Even including all the things we could get accomplished in this world Life would be a Solomon's vanity.

There is nothing for life to live and to Gain and to die There is no point We know that to be true because there is a reward There is there is a place being prepared on the opposite side of this life okay, there is a life which is higher than this mere existence a life nourished on obedience to the Word of God Jesus came that we might possess this life which is life indeed as a consequence of his redemptive activity Our lives are transformed by faith from lives of rebellion and pride to lives of grateful surrender to his will In contrast to natural human life, which ends at death this new True life is indestructible In fact the blessings we now enjoy as reborn men are but an installment of the life which is to come Isn't that a neat thought our life and as we know it For the Christian his life cannot be destroyed He will not just vanish For those for the not for the unbeliever the one who has not accepted Christ His life as the Bible calls it will be destroyed But yet not vanished He will have to his choosing eternity of consequences in a negative consequence But his life is not vanished. It's not gone So that should give us good reason to think about life and to wonder what is life about? I guess one of the biggest questions the unbeliever and believer can ask himself is What is after death? What is after death? Well, I believe in this argument as we ask ourselves what's after death a key part that we would consider is Who's in charge? Who's in charge of after death? Because if I'm in charge Then possibly I can make my own arrangements If I'm not in charge Then the arrangements will be made Who is in charge? God is in charge So if God's in charge and here we're going to go over this timeline is not it's not long doesn't work But if God's in charge and that goes on for forever The Bible tells us that this is but a vapor. Our life is but a vapor.

All right, we are born I am born. I'm born in a state Where I am separated from God so in this time frame at best We're gonna say here. It's a hundred and ten.

Maybe it's even 120. We'll give it 120 120 years so at best we have a hundred twenty years and We are considering What is after this big? Step Something is coming and it's coming for all of us and it is When we're done here in this world, I put this little mark here and that is Timeline for born again, that's Just as a thought here I'm born and for the first 12 years Well, maybe not 12 years but anywhere from anywhere from 8 to 12 8 to 14 for the first 8 to 14 years We were innocent I was innocent I was learning I didn't have an accountability you know, I thought I did what my parents taught me and Instructed and you know if I got consequences for not doing it and after my consequence then that was gone I would say before the age of accountability. I was innocent Then there came that age of accountability and it would be neat story To hear from each of us, but I remember This point before I got born again.

I want to say Before I gave my life to the Lord. I went through a season of revolt Would that make sense to say it like that a season of revolt there was a huge struggle and that struggle was between one of two and We could call it God's way or my way God's way or my way and I've told you the story my testimony part of I Would be bold-headed and broken and crying on the inside And if someone wanted to help me just this struggle and the question comes back to us and says well There is seeds that I had to sow that started that was gonna be sowing and they were going to lead down a path and that path was going to determine where I was going and so Back to the question if God is in charge and that's what I was afraid of. I had a lot of A lot of weight on my shoulders because I knew God was in charge This is about the heaviest point of this timeline and I hope that's like that for all of us I want to share that with us that way.

I hope that's the heaviest point because it is a struggle. It is a true struggle a Struggle where you realize I give up my will and I'm gonna let God be in charge because he's in charge Anyway, if I don't let God be in charge, then I have judgment coming If I do let him be in charge, then I have forgiveness coming and what a difference I want to be forgiven and not judged. So that was the hardest point now the part I want to highlight is after that That's what we want to focus on for the rest of the morning After I gave my life we are back in the fold with God The burden that I was that I have as I was thinking about us And I'm not sure where this comes from but the way of saying it for me is I Am I have and maybe am I Have struggled with finding joy and I do feel that One of the reasons that we see so much evil attacking God's church is to get rid of that Think with me if you can the idea that we struggled and we could go through hundreds of examples of What we all go through each individual mind struggle up to the large struggles Maybe it's struggles between more people than just me but all the struggles we go through and there seems to be a highlight that God gives to us, which is There's a highlight in this walk with God and that is when we are fully surrendered Surrendered to God surrendered to his will so I would like for us to think about as a child of God and As there's a lot of troubles and circumstances around us.

I want to highlight for us this thought It doesn't come naturally and I found that interesting that I think it was you Ben that said it that How many you know, how many have taken the time? How did you say this to to write the gospel or to preach the gospel? and But how or the gospel of peace? But how there was no peace, isn't that shocking that is a struggle and maybe that's part of my battle as well The idea that I want to find joy in the Lord in my flesh fights it all the time and so the thought where Dirk Williams a man of peace gets killed He wanted peace Why should he give his life? And that's how that came about a man of peace and he gets killed and so that is that life struggle we have that But I want to again bring us back to this thought That we would find joy in the Lord We could read and I know we don't have the time But I was actually very blessed by reading through Ecclesiastes and going through this I went through a lot of different parts of Ecclesiastes and Reading Ecclesiastes from beginning to end. It's like saying I think it's like a story of the immature Learning until he's found wisdom at the end and he says all is vanity but living for the Lord that's unique Solomon's Examples of I've done great mighty things I've had all the money and I've you know all the fame and everything else and he says but all of that was the vexation of spirit and he comes back to the simple Fact of you know what when my flesh has tried all things is still not content But then he finds purpose And he says to be to walk with the Lord That is where the reward is and I know we've shared on that a few different ways But the idea again of someone offering you a great prize Would you take the prize or would you take your relationship Ecclesiastes 2 1 to 11? We're gonna read a few parts. I don't know how much will get read but let's turn there Ecclesiastes chapter 2 starting at verse 1 and let's let's read along with with Solomon here and See how our flesh knows exactly what he's talking about.

We haven't had all the money We haven't had all the fame, but we certainly have had the temptation of wanting it and not been able to attain it But let's read with him and see what he is saying Ecclesiastes chapter 2 1 to 11. I said in my heart come now. I will test you with pleasure Enjoy yourself, but behold this also was vanity Okay, pleasures were vanity.

I said of laughter. It is mad and of pleasure What you I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine My heart still guiding me with wisdom and how to lay hold on folly Till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life I made great works. I build houses and planted vineyards for myself I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees I bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house I had also great possessions of herds and flocks more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem that's how much Solomon had I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and Provinces I got singers both men and women and many concubines the delight of the sons of man How many a man could find himself guilty how many a person Could find himself guilty of what the world brings out as a delight So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem Also, my wisdom remained with me mind you as far as I understand this wisdom is both bad and good It's the understanding and the experience of sinful choices and good choices It's it's knowing, you know drinking alcohol and having the experience of what it does when he's drunk It's also knowing that he shouldn't drink alcohol.

He should be sober He has the wisdom of both and whatever my eyes desired. I did not keep from them I kept my heart from no pleasure for my heart found pleasure in all my toil and This was my reward for all my toil then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in in doing it and behold all was vanity and a striving after wind and There was nothing to be gained a vanity of self-indulgence is what that is called the vanity of self indulgence The saddest thing about the vanity of self-indulgence is Those that have not experienced the level of self-indulgence think there's always something to gain Maybe it's like the fisherman who's gone fishing for a week and can't get a catch a single fish The person that just shows up to start fishing. He would ask the other fellas.

Hey, have you caught any fish? He says nope, not in the whole week Maybe there is no fish in the in the lake and the one that just showed up Well, he hasn't tested it for a whole week yet. He goes. Oh, I'm sure I'll catch one There is a vanity of thought though.

I haven't experienced the level of self-indulgence There is a defrauding of the mind that thinks well I think I will find a reward and let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 3 just a few verses here Yeah, we can read this here verse 9 and to 15 Ecclesiastes 3 verse 9 to 15 The the caption of the verses here is that God given task What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with He has made everything beautiful in its time Also, he has put eternity into man's heart yet So that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceive that there is nothing better for them For them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live Also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. This is God's gift to man I perceived that whatever God does endures forever Nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it.

God has done it so that people fear before him That which is already has been that which is to be already has been God seeks God and God seeks what has been driven and here I want to go to chapter 8 before we read here So there are lesson for us is this That we would learn and that's part of my burden for us in this timeline of this time frame that we have I am someone who puts a lot of my How I feel about whether I enjoyed the time or didn't enjoy time a lot of my focus is put on the stress on Circumstances maybe as God puts stress into my life and wanting to teach me and help me to live for him I tend to take the time and just focus on the stress He's putting putting into my life and I think the better thing here and that's what I was thinking about The better thing here is except the stress which is the low joy So that you can enjoy the deeper joy, which is living for the Lord We as believers though we go through our trials We want to learn to live in the joy of the Lord So our joy isn't short-lived our joy isn't subject to change but rather As we have an understanding of the full overview of what God has for us We have an in-depth joy that understands where we are going We experienced joy on a on a on a balancing act, which is not a positive thing We experienced a lot of joy on a balancing act, which is our flesh gets a lot of good feelings So that's on the one side and then what God wants for us on the other side and so we're always struggling with life that We struggle to keep them separate and we struggle to put the Better value on what God wants So I could go through my day and have a lot of good things happen I could prosper and I feel joyous that's on the shallow side. It's okay to prosper and it's okay to rejoice in prospering But that's the lowly one. That's the little one Some for some of us that's the only one and that's the sad part.

It should not be the only one So we have a shallow joy, which is in the in that area of prospering Then the deeper joy the far greater joy The joy where you would say like Job. I will I'm willing to let go of everything Everything I have all the flocks all the funds everything For the sake of the bigger joy, which is Christ Many of us as Christians we actually live for the Lord and then we measure it by our prospering. Okay, I'm living for the Lord Yes, now I'm prospering Wow.

God is good. Now. We're doing really well.

And as soon as we are going through a really tough time Oh, man, things aren't going so well. Now, that's why that's how I do it. So I was enlightened I feel to try and to Desire to live my life knowing whether or not I prosper I am in the Lord and want to have joy in the Lord So Ecclesiastes chapter, there's a part that we're not going to read where Solomon talks about I'll just read the one verse Ecclesiastes 8 verse 2 It says I say keep the king's command because of God's oath to him, but he does go and gives a bit of a detail on Being obedient Listening to the chain of command so he goes through some of that So I'm actually going to go turn to chapter 11 of Ecclesiastes here chapter 11 verses 8 to 10 Here is this blessing.

So you go through that trial and As Solomon did you know if we can if we can have our hearts at a place though? We're young an older senior person can always understand this easier. I Don't know if you've ever wondered but you watch someone who's 85 years old and they're sitting in a rocking chair and wondering It makes it look like they're just having a great day. You ever seen that you know When I was I don't know 20 and I'm looking at the senior the three hours straight that's being on the rocking chair I felt like I'd paralyzed if I had to sit in there.

There's no way But for the older man who's you know, his energy has been in the past His strength was in the is in the past Now he is a lot weaker with a lot less energy for him to sit in that rocking chair is just pleasant So we can't really relate Younger souls struggle to relate to Solomon Because Solomon is in his senior years with everything in the past and he can relate to the past For us being young Being strong and energy. It's like the old man. It says to me, you know You should try sitting in a rocking chair all day and I'd look at him say, you know, please don't punish me with that.

I Can't I can't sit there that long so We want to acknowledge that as a young person strong mind lots of energy and strength We struggle to relate to Solomon when Solomon says all is vanity Our heart would still tell us or our mind would still be tempted with was it really do you think it's all vanity? That's where we would find ourselves But Solomon is giving us wisdom from having experienced all these things having reached the end of that road And he says guys, there's nothing there. There's nothing there So Chapter 11 and look what he says here chapter 11 verse 8 So if a person lives many years Let him rejoice in them all But let him remember that the days of darkness will be many All that come all that comes is vanity Rejoice Oh young man in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes But now that for all these things God will bring you into judgment Remove Vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body for youth and the dawn of life are vanity Let's look at that a little bit here So if a person lives many years let him rejoice and we pray for many years and we want to rejoice in The days that God gives to us Let him remember that the days of darkness will be many and another way of saying that the trials the trials and the stresses Will be many all that comes is vanity Rejoice Oh young man in your youth. It is good that you are strong that we are strong It is good that you are zealous.

You have energy and Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth That is good we want to take that within the context of Solomon's experience It is good to be strong But knowing what Solomon is saying, what should we be strong in and here? I want to draw out some very practical things. I won't give a lot of examples, but we'll just start and One that comes to my mind frequently here now more recently is strength of character Be strong it reminds me of the option of Actually reminds me of what we've seen here in the last two days you have a lot of screaming and fighting that goes on in the streets and a comment that one of my boys made was How shall we use this say the words It's sad and we don't believe this to not in not in a labeling way But you go into a city and you see how they live and you honestly feel like Your mind looks at them thinking that they're not all the way there What I don't have what's a proper healthy way to say it. So Yeah, it's just sad to know, you know again the idea of being in an apartment and Everyone that we met in that apartment, we wouldn't say homeless because they had a home But it was strange They were in an apartment Yet it was like they're homeless No vision, you know, the one man looks like a man on the street.

But one thing he did have is his hands full of beer The other man he's got his smokes, but it's so sad so dark Purposeless nothing there. How do we get there? And as Solomon says sin vanities That's how chasing vanities and A lot of training isn't there and one generation after another it's sad of what we become without purpose But when I think about this growth that Solomon would encourage us I do want us to use it in a practical way across our life whether it's Purpose vision the idea of character whether it's following God's will for our life You know if God has a calling for us Whether it's in your everyday life at home at work being a man of God being a strong man Rejoice oh young man in your youth. Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth walk in the ways of your heart Again, knowing what Solomon says all things are vanity What will be in your heart? What would be in my heart and in the sight of your eyes? What do my eyes look for what am I wanting? then he says but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment and So judgment, but here it can be good and bad Judgment for the sin that we would commit but blessing and reward for the choices we make Where we follow God And I'll try to close you just shortly Ecclesiastes 12 1 to 2 Remember also your creator now having made a bit of a full circle here God God is in charge Remember also your creator in the days of your youth Before the evil days come and the years drawn near of which you will say I have no pleasure in them Before the Sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain We could keep reading but we won't there in these verses Yeah, there's just there's a few other examples here of before before this time comes but let us remember the creator of our youth and then going down to verse 12 to 14 and Here is kind of where this is where what speaks to us this morning My son be aware beware of anything beyond these of Making many books.

There is no end and Much study is a weariness of the flesh The end of the matter all has been heard And we're gonna add into here everything that has happened will happen again and everything will happen has already happened All has been heard look at his conclusion Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole do of all the things we could do in life Fear God keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing whether good we have and We want to think about this as a as a as a bright thing a highlight Imagine that we had a scope and we could look into our timeline We're gonna look into our timeline from beginning to end With what we have just read about Solomon all the things that are vanity and within that vanity he talks about how he makes all the work and effort makes a lot of money gets a lot of gold and All he can do is pass it on to the next person who's gonna go and squander it What a vanity he says work hard make make money someone else will will squander it So the idea of just having this vision of what's all vanity all of life is vanity Eating sleeping getting up in the morning. Whatever we do. It has a very short season of what we'll call fun And then it's vanity.

It's gone. And when we turn to being a hundred I can't speak of experience maybe 120 The I'm not sure if there's anyone alive today that's older than 120 But whatever at the oldest age that it can be We would look back and that's where we want to use that scope Today, we want to use that scope in two ways one What would we say if we were 120 looking back in two? Wherever we are at right now in life If we had a scope of choice that could tell us what the rest of that would look like What do we want it to look like and here's what I want us to focus on What do we want the timeline to look at? There's two things the number one thing that we want this timeline to look at look like with God All the other details don't matter And I was trying to think of examples and so examples like the farmer the farmer before he's converted He's without God. He's a farmer good good thing that he's a farmer But be a farmer with God Then you have a named example, whatever you want to put in there all of life Solomon does highlight here He highlights that we could live life and enjoy life enjoy our labor There is a good and right season for that that we would labor and enjoy our labor but let's and so I Was thinking about if I were to you know be able to put a lot of little details on there what we did in life That there would be one over overwhelming strong Title being I did everything with God Then the second lesser Important part would be the things that I did.

What did you do? What did I do with God? I want to give this just that next step of explanation here. I don't know where you find yourself And as I said in the beginning, I feel the Lord is At least he is to me and I trust to all of us Speaking to us that he is the hen calling the chicks under his wing and As I observe and if you are like I am observing myself We see the continuous struggle of Finding that blessed contentment in the Lord and I guess it's like being in water If you're in water and you have these float devices You know you how many of you have tried it I'm not sure what they're called it's that fiber fiber board You stand on the fiber board. Some of our boys tried it You put this fiber board on the water you jump on that board.

What happens? You know the board goes flying out and they fall into the water so the example I was thinking of for here is the idea you're on this fiber board and you have many of them and We want God to be on the top But the way life is all these other things all these other fiber boards keep trying to come to the top What do we need to do? So that we can have God on the top and the rest of life underneath God And I just want to say if We are here at this place as was said we are at a place of peace. We are very blessed but I wonder and just for myself I Wonder if God would have us to know as we are living day to day That we are blessed we can be grateful for what God has given us But that we would remember that God would be first and I say that with a burden realizing how many struggle To have God the end of the matter all has been heard Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing whether good or evil In my last thought here if I could leave a meditating thought with us we are all striving to serve the Lord and You know much wisdom is even just in the middle of us here If I could leave a lasting thought with us and that would be this I'd love to hear a heart study from you and from me if I were to take the time to do a study of myself How can we? effectively Live for God be that chick under the hen When we go through life and trials my highlight that I would I would like to know from us the thought that we want to meditate on is our Tendency is to rejoice that the conflict got taken care of good that has its place But how can we do it make this our after-lunch discussion? How can we go from there and And trigger the tendency to be or at least that our heart would be that our joy is in the Lord regardless of the circumstance, right so We're in a trial We feel the stress and then I use these words praise God. He took care of that Correct, but my relief is that that was taken care of you follow me praise God That that was taken care of and my relief is Whatever was taken care of and my thought is what can we do that when I say praise God? That my relief is God The thing of lesser value is oh that was taken care of you follow.

I'm saying that's my heart. That's my burden That if we remember anything of my sharing this morning is This how can we go through life and say praise God and then say God took care of that for me Instead of praise God. He did that and that is my highlight.

I don't want that to be my highlight I want God to be my highlight. May God add his blessing