February 3, 2015

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside they body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body." I Corinthians 6:18

This  portion of Scripture has some significant and profound things to say about sin. It is worth of consideration.

Generally, the Bible doesn't discriminate between sins but here Paul does that. That should catch your attention. Sexual sins are a special category of sins because of the consequences these sins have at deep levels of the human psyche.

Let me illustrate this way. As I have been calling you to recall some of the regrets from your past (those areas where if you could go back and ask "what is the wise thing to do" you would have made a better decision) how many of those regrets involve sexual sins?

Do you see my point?

I am not saying sexual sins cannot be forgiven because they can! In fact, Jesus was the first and ONLY person to offer forgiveness to the woman caught in the sexual sin of adultery.

I am not saying sexual sins are regarded by God as worse than other sins.

I am saying that because of how God designed sex and the purpose He has for it, sexual sins have deeper and more devastating consequences than other sins.

Obviously, that is what Paul is referring to when he states "but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body."

Your own issues bear witness to that.

God didn't build boundaries around His most precious gift beside salvation and life itself, in order to deprive you of the joy of sex but to protect it and enhance it within the marriage relationship.

Sex is so powerful because its purpose is so personal and precious. Add that to the power of emotions, which we previously established, and you understand how vulnerable you are to the lure of sexual sins.

You live in a culture that understands the power of sex and exploits it for marketing purposes. Our culture seeks to bring you right up to the line of committing sexual sin with the implication you are missing out if you deprive yourself of enjoying it.

These things being true, what is the wise thing for you to do in this area?

Paul's word of wisdom is, "Don't flirt with the line of sexual sin but FLEE it!" 

What are you doing to build wise margins in your life that far from the line of sexual sin?

February 2, 2015

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and when you ask Jesus a question you will always get more that you asked for. After all, He IS the Answer!

Jesus did not just give them a prayer but He gave them a pattern for HOW to pray and a paradigm for how to think about God!

Yesterday I spoke about verse nine that I summarized as God desiring to make your life a living prayer that glorifies Him.

This week I invite you examine verse 10 with me and I believe that once again you will discover He has given us a lot to think about.

At first glance you notice that God has a kingdom. Why is that important? For a couple of reasons:

1)       To have a kingdom He must be the King – He is!

A King is sovereign. He isn’t elected or appointed. All authority rests in Him. He answers to no one.

2)       Since He IS the King He has a kingdom not a democracy.

In God’s kingdom you don’t vote on the rules. He makes all the rules because He is the Ruler. You either obey His laws or you break them. If you break them you will discover God is also the judge and jury and jailer!

3)       His Kingdom WILL come!

God’s earthly kingdom was wrestled away from Adam when he disobeyed God in the Garden. Therefore, Satan became the ruler of this world. But His rule is limited.

Jesus came to defeat Satan and win back the kingdom on earth by His death and resurrection. Once Jesus had come back to life and gone back to His Father He ushered in God’s Kingdom on earth through His people the Church.

God’s kingdom comes through you and through me as we make Him the King of our lives.

How do we make Him King of our lives? By serving Him. By Obeying Him. By surrendering your heart and your will to His and proclaiming Him as King of your life His kingdom comes to you. By helping to promote righteousness and to defeat evil on earth you bring His kingdom.

God is the King.

God has a kingdom.

That kingdom WILL come and no one or nothing can stop it.

Is He your King? Have you allowed His kingdom come to your heart?

February 1, 2015

"As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates." I King 11:4-11

If you have any doubts about the wisdom of listening to the advise of wise people, consider Solomon. He inherited the Kingdom of Israel when it was at its wealthiest, its highest point of influence, its most spiritually healthy and its greatest military strength. His father, David had trained him well and set him up for success. And when he came to the throne God offered to give him anything he wanted and he chose wisdom. That request pleased God and so Solomon was given great wisdom.

How great was Solomon's wisdom? It was so superior to any other wisdom that Kings and Queens came from all over the world to seek his advice. You could say that for a season of his life, Solomon's wisdom ruled the world.

But, tragically, Solomon did not end well. The verses above describe how badly it ended and all the really stupid decisions he made.

Why?

What happened to this man who was wise enough to choose wisdom when he could have chosen anything?

He made the unwise conclusion that he was so wise that he didn't need to listen to anyone else. In short, he became proud.

His pride and his arrogance brought him down. 

It was foolish enough for him to stop listening to wise people but he compounded the foolishness by listening to unwise and ungodly people. He married pagan women and they got into his ear and started giving him terrible advice. Not only did he stop listening to unwise people, start listening to unwise people but he stopped listening to God! The Bible tells us he built shrines and altars to pagan gods.

Who saw that coming?

Here's the point. If the wisest man in the world can become a fool, so can you.

Learn from Solomon. Don't let his regrets become your regrets. 

Don't become too proud to listen to wise counsel.

Don't be so unwise as to listen to ungodly people.

Don't become so foolish as to stop listening to God.

You will regret it.

January 31, 2015

"The way of the fool seems right to them, but the wise LISTEN to advice." Proverbs 12:15

When I think back on the biggest regret of my life, I realize I should have seen it coming. Once when I was complaining to God about this regretful thing that had happened to me, essentially trying to pin the blame on Him for not helping me see it coming, He began flooding my memory with the red flags I had ignored and the red lights I had run.

He was right! I had failed to listen to His gentle and persistent promptings.

So, I asked myself why I failed to heed His promptings and I came up with two pretty standard answers:

• I was too emotionally involved 
• I was too inexperienced at life and relationships (aka - "simple")

I should have listened to God and I didn't!

A big regret that led to a BIGGER regret.

Also, as I reflected back to that painful experience in my life I recalled several dear friends and a family member who told me at various times in different ways that they had seen my train-wreck coming. But not one of them had spoken to me about their misgivings.

When I asked them why not they each said, "I didn't think you would have listened."

That raised two big questions in my mind:

• What did I do to give them the impression that I wouldn't receive their concerns?
• Why didn't they at least try to share their concerns?

I'm not sure I have satisfactory answers to either question but here's my take away from those experiences:

• I will actively seek good counsel when I am facing important decisions
• I will take the risk of sharing my concerns with others I love when they are in the midst of a life-changing decision.

Will you be wise enough to LISTEN to God?

Will you be wise enough to LISTEN to the people God put into your life?

Will you be wise enough to NOT LISTEN to your emotions? "Follow your heart" is probably the worst piece of advice ever given.

January 30, 2015

“Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.” Proverbs 19:20

Blind spots. We all have them, but why? What causes them? 

Let me suggest several common causes of blind spots.

Emotionally charged moments are not ideal for decision-making. Unfortunately, most decisions are made in emotionally charged moments. Since you aren't thinking your best while you are caught up in emotions, what may normally be obvious becomes a blind spot.

When I was selling cars, I wanted to get my customers as emotionally involved with the car as I could. The worst thing that could happen for me as a salesman was when a customer held onto his objectivity throughout the process. 

Why?

Because I wanted them to be "blind" to the price I was asking for the vehicle they wanted.

No wonder hindsight is always 20/20, the emotions have passed by the time you look back on your decision.

Knowing that you don't make good decisions when you are in an emotionally-charged moment, the wise thing to do is have friends in your life who can see what is in your "blind spot".

Another cause for blind spots is pride.

When you think you know it all already, you won't be open to listening to someone who sees the blind spot.

That explains why you can always see what other people should do even when you are unsure what you should do.

It was pride that eventually brought down, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (not named Jesus).

Because you tend to be emotional at the point of big decisions you are prone to have blind spots in your decision-making.

And, if you lack the humility to seek good advice from wise people, you will be likely to miss something that would have been obvious to them.

Wise decision-makers avoid "blind spots" by "listening to advice and accepting discipline".

Are you listening?

January 29, 2015

"The  way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel....." Proverbs 12:15

When I am driving, especially on a long trip, I am glad to have someone else with me. There are several reasons for that but a big reason is because I have a pretty big blind spot. Because of an old weight-lifting injury I don't have full range of motion when turning my hear to the right or the left. As a result, I worry about changing lanes finding a car there that I didn't see.

Unfortunately, that is not the only area where I have blind spots in my life. So, I need other trusted people to share life with me. I need people who can see my blind spots and tell me to stay in my lane.

I have had enough near misses while driving at interstate speeds (or above) that I know I could have had a disaster if it weren't for others helping me with my blind spot. Not only is that true of my driving but it is true of my life.

Do you have someone like that in your life?

Do you have someone else you are helping like that?

One of my responsibilities as a father, grandfather, friend and pastor is to help those I love to be protected from their blind spots.

As I look back on the greatest regrets in my life they happened because I pulled into a blind spot. Either I didn't rely on friends or else I didn't listen when they warned me.

Blind spots are usually caused by getting too emotionally involved in a situation. Emotion almost always clouds our vision cripples our objectivity.

Emotions are powerful and add many wonderful joys to your life. But they can also lead you to destruction.

That is why wise people never travel alone. They ware well aware of their blind spots and live in fear of getting out of their lane and into a disaster. Wise people always walk through life with trusted companions and counselors.

Don't be a lone ranger and think you can ride through life by yourself. If you are doing that you are very unwise and on the verge of disaster.

God has placed people in your life who love you and who can see your blind spots and who care enough to warn you when you need to stay in your lane! Are you wise enough and humble enough to listen?

Take some time to identify those people in your life.

Take time to thank God for them.

Ask God to give you the grace and humility to seek their counsel and heed it.

January 28, 2015

"A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel...." Proverbs 1:5

As you learn to ask this question that answers just about anything, "What is the wise thing for me to do?", it can cause you to think about your greatest regret and wish you would have asked the question BEFORE you did the regrettable deed.

One of the reasons for spending six weeks on this study is to save you from future regrets by asking this question at every invitation, every impulse, every decision point and every opportunity.

When you look back on your greatest regret you may say something like, "Why didn't I see that coming?" Or, "How could I have been so foolish?"

Have you ever made that statement?

Maybe you didn't see it or maybe you did but ignored it.

Maybe you didn't want to see it.

Why were you so blind at this crucial moment?

It was because emotions got involved in your decision and emotions often cloud judgment. Making emotional decisions is what leads to regrettable decisions.

If you didn't see it coming because you were too emotionally involved, chances are there was someone in your life who saw it coming. Perhaps he tried to caution you - but you didn't listen.

That is precisely why Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived pointed out the foolishness of not seeking an objective opinion prior to making a big decision. 

Wise people seek the counsel of other wise people before making life-changing decisions.That is why wise people end up with more success and fewer regrets.

Are you facing a major decision?

Do you have some trusted friends you can turn to for counsel?

Will you listen to them!

It would be a wise thing to do!