Fully Trusting in God's Plan for Our Lives

Thank you, Lord, for today. This is a day you made and choose to rejoice and be glad in it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I was meditating this morning on some things and I too had a song in my heart down. The song I don't even like, but it was in my heart and had to do with love and the encouraging thing is I took from it that the Lord, he cares in the midst of what we're going through and he knows. My prayer this morning was, Lord, it's good that I was afflicted because before I was afflicted, David said, I went astray, but now I keep your word.

We can't always see when we go astray but we just busy ourselves with the cares of life and our love for the Lord waxes cold or gets put on the back burner. We would never say that we're neglecting our duties to serve the Lord, but when you get in busy seasons and you can get your eyes off the Lord and get your eyes on to natural things. And in doing that, the Lord has his ways of getting our attention in the same way we as parents have our ways of getting our children's attention when they become foolish and rebellious.

Psalm 73 Verse 1, truly God is good to Israel to such as are pure in heart. It's important for us to understand that God has a desire for us to keep a pure heart. You know, we think of that song, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Having a clean heart and a pure heart. I had a brother text me a couple days ago. He was confessing sin, confessing where he's at.

And the Lord's heavy hand is on him to bring him to the end of himself and he's confessing this. I said cry out to the Lord until the tears run clear. There's a lot of filth in our hearts.

A lot of times we cry because we're going through hard things. But we need to cry out until the tears run clear. Like filthy water coming out of a tap, you know, when you drill a well and they purge that well and they start to shoot that water out.

It comes out all murky. But after a period of time and they let it flow for 10-15 minutes. The water becomes fresh and becomes clean.

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. The brother here says truly God is good to Israel to such as are pure in heart.

It says the pure in heart shall see God. You know, and what it means by to see God is to know God. Job said I have heard of you with the ear.

He was a righteous man who did all the right things. He made sacrifices and when his kids had a party. If they maybe they say curse God in their heart or said things that weren't right.

He made sacrifices not just for himself, but for his kids. You know, he did all the right things he was a very diligent that even when Satan came and the Lord presented Job to Satan to say notice my servant Job. There's he's upright and there's no uncleanness in him.

But you know when the Lord began to take Job through some trials he began to speak proudly. He began to defend himself before his brothers. Who were accusing him saying surely God doesn't do this if you're pure in heart.

You know God doesn't afflict willingly. Something's not right in your life confess it now be open with us, you know, and Job was holding to his integrity. And eventually through that process he began to become angry with the Lord bitter towards the Lord and saying, you know, the Lord has afflicted me unrighteously.

You know, and then the Lord began to show Job his majesty and he began to show Job that he was a mosquito. In comparison to the almighty God and When he got the revelation that That he was vile And that the Lord is holy Even doing all the right things. He had to have a revelation that he was self-righteous and proud And that he was willing to speak to God this way.

Like why did you do this unjustly to me? He said i'm going to shut my mouth now. I'm going to stop speaking Because I am vile and you are holy And the Lord has his ways of showing us that what we think holiness and purity and righteousness looks like There can be self-righteousness there and that self-righteousness is what took satan out of heaven and brought him cast into the earth like lightning Thinking ourselves to be something when we stand by the grace of God and his mercy You know In this world we're going to have trouble but we need to rejoice because Jesus said we have overcome the world If you've been born again If you have Christ as your anchor for your soul And we have an inheritance Not in this life, but in Christ incorruptible and undefiled Prepared for us in heaven. This is not our home.

Our anchor is here on the earth But our anchor is also in Christ And so while we're in the earth Christ has to be our anchor So whether we have or have not Whether we enjoy the blessings of this life or we suffer not having the things that we need We know That Christ is our inheritance Not the things of this world And if we set our hope in something that's not Christ. He's going to shake it because he said Yet now once more he's gonna shake not only the heavens But also the earthly thing not only the earth, but also the heavenly things, sir So that that which is unshakable may remain sometimes even it says that in hebrews Even he has to shake the things in the soul in the spirit You know, it says heaven is his throne and the earth is his footstool and it says we're seated with him in heavenly places and so He shakes the footstool even though it's in heavenly places because god's Footstool is in our hearts You know, where is the house you'll build for me? Where is the place of my rest? He shakes those things because even he wants to purify our souls and our spirits Through going through some things because we can have an unpure in uncleanness or impurity in our spirit You know, he searches the motives and the intents of the heart We don't even know our own motives and intents. Sometimes we think we're doing things for god, but we may be doing those things for ourself And god sees it We don't see it speaking of pure pure and heart There's two types of wisdom There's worldly wisdom that comes from human reason from the wisdom from the brain And there's godly wisdom which comes through the word of god And many times We have a mixture We've received wisdom through our education.

We've received wisdom From our parents. We've received wisdom from our teachers from our counselors from others And some of that stuff if we're getting it from godly People in our life. That's why it's good.

It says in the multitude of counselors. There's safety Right, and so when people have gone through some things we're able to receive and glean wisdom from them But we also have to test The source of the wisdom when we hear it James says wisdom That comes from above Is first pure Then it is peaceable Wisdom that comes from above has to pass the purity test Does it pass the purity test? And then it's peaceable if it doesn't pass the purity test then it divides And this is where a fellowship can break down between christians and christians because one person is Seeking to have a pure heart and to walk in righteousness before god and another christian Has no desire And it has no necessity of these things but puts their trust in worldly wisdom I'll give an example When we were worldly in carnell before we were regenerated we thought That we would teach our teenagers to practice safe relations use protection You know, maybe the girls should use some birth control And we thought this was wisdom We thought this was wisdom to teach our children that they should do these things because we never believed that abstinence was possible Because we never were able to overcome sin in our youth But now we understand the power of god and the grace of god that purity is possible And so we I look back and I loathe The advice that my wife and I thought we would give our oldest children Because that wisdom was earthly sensual and demonic But the wisdom from above is first pure and so if you have two families and one says, you know, just do things responsibly, you know Use protection and all this and that and another one says abstinence Keep yourself holy and pure until marriage This is the way to go and there's grace for it. If you walk with the lord your foot will never stumble These are the ways in which this kind of wisdom divides Because it doesn't pass the purity test And so if your your friends have this wrong understanding of what wisdom is Your paths are going to divide And we have to understand That wisdom god is the source of wisdom the word of god.

Jesus himself is wisdom He is unto us. He has become unto us wisdom and power and knowledge and life Getting into this passage the brother said but as for me My foot had almost stumbled I'd nearly slipped Because I became envious of the proud and the boastful I saw that the the wicked were prospering They were doing good It seemed as though everything would go good for them They would make their investments and they would seem to always be getting ahead You know, they their kids would always be succeeding whether it be in school or in sports Or in whatever they would do. It seemed as everything that they would do.

Everything was perfect And we as believers Were afflicted the lord's dealing with us because we're sons He's not letting us unrestrained go wild and do all those things that can be in the heart to do I'm going to tell you that the heart is deceitful. Jeremiah 17 says the heart is deceitful and it's desperately wicked Who can know it? It says I the lord search the heart. I test the mind To give everyone according to the fruit of his doings You know Some people watch these hallmark movies i've seen them in the times past And you know the the main theme is follow your heart Follow your heart Well, that's demonic wisdom Because if you follow your heart you will find yourself in a dark place away from christ I would say follow christ follow jesus I you know, we sing this song.

I have decided to follow jesus. No turning back. It's not i've decided to follow my heart Your heart will lead you astray 10 out of 10 times Jesus will lead you to repentance every time A man who confesses and forsakes his transgression Will be blessed You'll come to know true wisdom It says he saw the prosperity of the wicked He's being honest when he writes this song he says there is no pangs in their death But their strength is firm.

They have a confidence a self-confidence the worldly They are not troubled as other men There is they are not played like other men therefore verse 6 pride serves as their necklace You know You know My sons at a certain time, you know, I give the daughters a necklace at 16 And a purity ring at 14. It's our tradition It doesn't say it about anything like that in the bible, but that's what we do And my sons say well, what about me? I want a necklace I remember When tyler got his and necklace and josh got his Whenever they were walking around with that necklace on I could see the pride The boys when they're wearing their necklaces I could see the pride Into walking around like peacocks pretty soon. I pray for them and necklaces would go in the drawer And they stopped wearing them They still have one 18 year old he's wearing his necklace walking around like a peacock And i'm praying for him You can say no.

We're not going to give you these things But sometimes you got to look in the mirror and say you know what pride serves as my necklace I don't need this. I need jesus This brother said pride serves as their necklace He could see it violence covers them like a garment their eyes bulge with Abundance, you know, there's It's one of the seven things the lord hates is a haughty eyes proud look You know when your eyes are full of lust and full of abundance and wanting more It's the eyes are like an open grave They never have enough You know, it says how shall a young man keep his way pure it says by taking heed according to the word But you know a lot of men get caught up in internet things that are unclean And their eyes bulge with an abundance and it doesn't matter how much you look you want more And this is a snare and a trap for the young people today. Not just boys, but all young people And we have to teach our children The right way so that they don't become ensnared With the with the traps of the wicked You know the devil he doesn't put a trap somewhere in the bush where there's no trail we never catch anything He puts it off the off the main the main way On a trail where the animals will go to water or will go to feed That's where he puts his trap And when a young man gets off the the narrow way of the lord and he goes on a trail And he decides he's going to just travel by some young girl's house There's this trap waiting for him there It says that in a proverb seven You know a youth lacking understanding and wisdom He goes by her house You know and and there's a trap waiting for him there and the end of that is he does not know it's going to cost him his life Because he's devoid of understanding.

He lacks wisdom This is why we need to teach our children the way of the lord So they will stay on the narrow path and they will not take that trail Through the bush that leads to her house Because the end of that is death Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than heart could wish speaking of the ungodly they scoff Their markers they speak wickedly They speak loftily they set their mouth against the heavens their tongues walk through the earth Therefore his people return here and the waters of a full cup are drained by them You just get around a bunch of proud unbelievers or unbelieving christians which gives it doesn't give such a thing, but There's a lot of them in circulation And you just feel like drained spiritually drained when you get around that You feel like you're a loser and they have everything together and what's wrong with you You feel like a speckled bird when you get in a certain environment Just they pick away at you And they wear you down. That's the devil's tools But you know what? Don't be afraid of that and don't be Don't be discouraged by it because the lord We're his special ones.

You might feel like a speckled bird, but you're one of his special ones They say how does god know is their knowledge with the most high verse 12 behold, these are the ungodly who are always at ease They increase in riches surely this is what this writer says I have cleansed My heart in vain I've kept myself pure in vain. Look at how's it gone for me? It's only gone tough for me. My life has been tough And look at the unbelievers.

It's going good for them And me trying to keep myself pure i've missed out on all the passing pleasures of sin and now I I have nothing I just get picked on but brother sister Trust in the lord with all your heart. Don't trust your heart Lean not on your own understanding lean on the word of god and in all your ways acknowledge jesus Even if you you have a hard life He will bring a blessing to pass you will see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living You will see it He said i've washed my hands in innocence and all day long. I have been plagued and chastened that's disciplined chastened every morning the lord Disciplines the children of god that he loves every son That is chastened is loved by the lord I discipline my children because I love them They get to a certain age.

The lord has to discipline them because he loves them I'm hard on my workers when i'm running a business i'm hard on them because I know there's more for them I know that they can do more. I know that there's more in the tank. I push them I treat them like my own son When you have a boss that's hard on you and pushes you don't despise it He loves you like a son The day that he stops being hard on you, that's the day That he realizes that you're leaving and you're going to do something else and he's looking on indeed for somebody else to hire The day that he leaves you alone and he backs off That's the day you should worry not the day when he calls you at 10 at night and he's hard on you You should thank him for that because he loves you like a dad He sees there's more for you And that's how the lord is for us.

He's hard on us Because he knows that that he doesn't see what we are but he sees what we will be He doesn't see us as some ore and and some and some mineral he sees refined gold Which is more precious Our faith being more precious than gold which perishes he sees us as diamonds in the rough And he knows how brilliant one day we will shine If we will only yield to his discipline and to his correction The writer here is speaking of when he did not know and he did not understand the lord's dealings in the lord's ways He said when I said I was going to speak this way or that way He said I would have been untrue to the generation of your children And when I thought how to understand all this it was too painful for me until When you get home, you can circle that word until Because Sometimes we're kept in the dark on certain things You know When I had guys that worked for me Guys that were just doing labor jobs. They were like servants. I wouldn't tell them why We were doing certain things I would just say move that dirt from here to there I would say shovel that hole and go two feet down and so wide and so long I would and I just say just don't ask questions.

Just do it and they never understood why But you know what When my sons got older I would say son we're doing this because if we don't prepare the ground properly We don't put the good material there. Then the house is going to sink Right, and then we're going to have major major problems if we don't do this the right way When you're young in the lord, you don't understand why the lord says hey, you shouldn't date before you're married Hey, you know what? You need to obey your mom and dad. You don't have to know why You have to trust Even though you don't see But you know what? until One day you will see and you will understand That it was for love's sake that mom and dad tried to restrain you and just say just trust me Just do it our way.

It'll go well with you When you have godly parents He said until I went into the sanctuary of god when you get your own revelation from god When jesus begins to speak to you directly not just through mommy and daddy not just through the bible stories that they teach you But the holy spirit begins to teach you And then you begin to understand why? Jesus said I no longer call you servants. I call you Friends he said you're no longer call you servants He we becomes like sons He said a servant doesn't know what his masters are doing But he he shows his his sons his friends he tells them everything that he's doing He said until now i've not told you anything, but now i'm speaking to you plainly And it's important for us to trust the process as the lord deals with us He said when I went into the house of god when I got into Right relationship with the lord when I got my eyes off of what everybody else was doing and I got my eyes on the lord Then I understood their end That their time was now but our time is not yet Their time is temporary Our time is forever Is eternal? And he said it this way. He said you set them up in slippery places Speaking of the ungodly You cast them down to destruction Oh how they are brought to desolation As in a moment and they are utterly consumed with terrors as when a dream comes and one awakes So lord when you awake You shall despise their image being their proud image How they conducted themselves the way that they wanted and they didn't choose the fear of the lord Now the brother is getting light on himself in 21.

He says thus my heart was grieved I was very vexed in my mind in verse 22. I was so foolish and ignorant Because of the way that he had done things. I was like a beast before you Nevertheless, I am continually with you.

Sometimes we can become like the wild animals. We just Our natural desires drive us on you know when the lord is trying to restrain us and and You know show us a way of reason And eventually the light turns on and we realize like jacob When he's wrestling with the stranger in the dark and he realizes when the light dawns and he's fighting the lord He's wrestling the lord and he's trying to get the lord out of his life You know when he's got a face as he saw he feels everybody's against him and the lord is trying to get his attention The light come on for the brother He said nevertheless, you're continually with me. You hold me by my right hand.

The lord was always with this guy He was guiding him in the dark he was directing him and he's with you and he's guiding and directing you You may see where you're going by now, or maybe you don't But trust in the lord You will guide me with your counsel godly counsel And afterward you will receive me to glory This is something that we need to all say In our serious time with the lord who have I In heaven, there's none upon the earth. I desire besides you My flesh and my heart may fail But god is the strength of my heart God is my portion forever. Jesus is our hope For indeed those who are far from you shall perish You have destroyed all those who desert you For harlotry, what does that mean harlotry? James 4 4 says you adulterers and adulteresses.

He's not speaking of sexual things there He's speaking about not being faithful to the lord friendship with the world Is hatred toward god? Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world it says in james 4 4 makes himself an enemy of god And the lord Destroys all those who desert the lord And have other gods they they love the world. They love money. They love pleasure They love everything else and they love the lord.

Also the lord is jealous. His name means jealous He's jealous for his people and for his children. He doesn't want to share us with all the worldly things.

In fact, he won't And he says he destroys those Who desert the lord? with a divided heart harlotry But it is good for me To draw near to god. He went from it's useless to serve god To it's good for me To draw near to god many of the men of god have said that jeremiah said it It's vain that you know And the psalmists have said it it's vain to wake up early and and to do all these things He said so he gives his beloved rest Because unless the lord builds the house they labor in vain Unless the lord guards the city the watchman watches in vain, but he said it's good for me to draw near to god I have put my trust in the lord god Can you say that this morning? I have put my trust in jesus That is where our hope lies Jesus, even though we don't see him yet. We trust him because we know him You know when when a boat sets an anchor down You know you have a revelation you see the anchor and all of a sudden you don't see it Like john the baptist.

He saw the son of man and he said you are the christ And and he saw him and then later on he was questioning. Are you the christ? There's times in our life where we question because the circumstances in life are rough But know this that the boat is still anchored We're still secure We're still steadfast in the lord Immovable and unshakable We don't see him, but we trust him I have put my trust in the lord That I may declare all his works You know, that's why a testimony is important. It keeps you going when you don't know how you're going to see your way through a dark time He has delivered us from so great a death that's what second corinthians 2 says dan was reading from Chapter 1 Second corinthians 1 It says he has delivered us from so great a death.

He was going through paul was going through terrible things And he does deliver us It says he was despairing even of life And I like this one and he will yet deliver us he has Delivered us he does And he will yet deliver us. That's why a testimony is important. I will declare all your works You know, so when you get discouraged sometimes I look in the mirror And I speak to myself and I say why are you downcast on my soul? Why are you disheartened? Come on, man, put your hope in god I shall yet praise him I shall yet praise the lord Not because you feel like it But because he's good and he's worthy to be praised May the lord encourage you Not to go by what you see faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god There is wisdom in the counsel of many Many of those who fear the lord Who trust in the lord whose hope is in the lord? That's the one who is like a tree planted by the rivers of water Not getting watered from the rain from the sky but from the roots that are tapped into the source of life itself It says when things are dry The leaf remains green in the year of drought Because christ is our source We cannot be fair weather christians our faith when it is shaken it cannot fail us And so we need to pray for one another as jesus prayed for peter And said i'm praying for you.

Not that you would fail but that your faith won't fail May the lord help us that when we go through hard things our faith will not fail Because our faith has to be tested and tried seven times in the fire So that it can be purified So that it can be seasoned iron has to be seasoned forged in fire If you want the lord to fulfill a purpose and a call in your life Then you're going to need a backbone of steel and a face of flint In the generation in which we live like ezekiel He said i'm going to give you a backbone of steel and a face of flint in order to come to that place You have to be that backbone of steel has to be forged through trials Forged in the fire to become hardened So when they start saying things and mocking you and making lies up about you You're not soon easily shaken in mind or troubled Because you know in whom you believe And you're expecting it. May the lord give you grace For the day to overcome and the joy of the lord may it be your strength in jesus name. Amen