Transcript
Hello everyone. Thanks for joining with me on another Helping You Become podcast.
I pray it's a blessing to you. Turn in your Bibles please to John chapter 16 and
I'm going to start part 6 of our series. The series that we've been looking at
regarding navigating through the obstacles of life. How did Jesus do that?
How did he deal with the flesh side of things, but also how did he deal with the
"big things" that were on the planet, the political world, the financial world?
How did he deal with all of that? Because in John chapter 16 he talks about,
in verse 33, "These things I have spoken to you, to the disciples, that in me you
might have peace. "In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world." Let's just pause for a moment and bow our heads and pray
and ask the Lord to help us with today's study. Father God, we just so appreciate
your goodness. Holy Spirit, thank you for the revelation knowledge and your wisdom so
far. Lord, thank you for leading us and guiding us into the truth of Your Word.
And Lord Jesus, as we honor You today, as we lift up Your name, Father I just
pray that you draw all people toward Jesus. So Lord as we discuss this today I
thank you for actionable intelligence, pieces of information, revelation, knowledge,
understanding that we can take and apply to our life Lord so that we can have
divine intervention, divine interpretation exploding in our natural surroundings and we
thank you for these things in Jesus' name. So John chapter 16 verse 33,
these things I have spoken into you that in me you might have peace. Jesus is
saying in Him we have peace. Now remember in Colossians chapter 2 verse 3 in Christ
are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now if we're going to have
peace in Christ. What else is in Christ? All of the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. So to me, there's some kind of a correlation there. The two must go hand
in hand somewhere along the line. In the world you'll have tribulation, but be of
good cheer. You be happy in this. In your situation of being in the world, be
happy. Don't let the situations and circumstances of the world overpower you and
cause a thing called sadness, lack of joy or disappointment or depression.
Yes, those things are there, they're alive in the world, absolutely very alive in
the world, but they are not to triumph over us. We are to be of good cheer,
for Jesus has overcome the world. So strong. Discussed last week with us all,
out of Deuteronomy chapter 4, some quite remarkable scriptures. Behold,
I have taught you statutes and judgments in verse 5, even as the Lord my God
commanded me. Moses is talking to the people, the Lord his God has commanded him
and now he is commanding the people. That you should do so in the land where you
go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them. What? The statutes and the judgments
of God. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding
in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these things, they'll hear all
these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
That's a remarkable couple of verses there out of Deuteronomy 4. Jesus, the Word,
became flesh dwelt among us, in Christ in the Word are hidden all of the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge, we see that in Christ, in Him, in Jesus,
we have peace and that He has overcome the world. So we should be happy in that.
Tying all of this together, it's very obvious that the wisdom of God come through
the statutes and the judgments and the Word of God. All of these things become our
wisdom and our understanding before all of the nations and before all of the other
people. Quite remarkable. Now as you turn over to Proverbs chapter 4,
we see even more things about wisdom and how powerful and important wisdom is.
And I read last week from chapter 2 and in verse 6 of Proverbs chapter 2, "For
the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He lays up
sound wisdom for the righteous. Here's the buckler to walk."
situation. God's intention for my marriage, God's intention for my social life,
God's intention for my financial life, God's intention gets expression in my day -to
-day affairs and that's very important because Jesus said if it's possible let this
cup pass from me, let this particular offering, not come towards me. Let it pass me
by, not my will. My preference is that I don't have to go through this,
but I understand that not my will, but Father God, yours be done." And that's a
remarkable thing that Jesus says in Luke there, I think it's about chapter 22, verse
41 -42. And he says, "Not my will, but yours be done,
so God's desired intention for the situation,
the divine outcome, that the Father wanted, Jesus wanted also,
and He was prepared to lay down His life for that to come to pass. Now that's
quite remarkable. Now we see that Jesus navigated through all of the Obstacles that
came his way he dealt with his own flesh if you be the son of God you turn these
stones into bread Oh, no, man does not live by bread alone But by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God so Jesus had to deal with his own flesh
Situations, but he also dealt with the financial side of things He was very
respectful towards Caesar you render unto Caesar that which is Caesars and you render
unto God that which is God's and also he was very respectful and I think somewhat
assuring to Pilate when the Jews were crying out crucify him crucify him Pilate
turns around and says well you crucify him you take him and crucify him because I
don't find any fault in him and then he and Jesus went to one side and they spoke
and Pilate said if you're really the Son of God I mean you need to tell me here,
what's going on?" And Jesus said, "No, no power is given to you, except it be
given to you by my Father." So it's okay to continue down this pathway, Pilate.
That's my interpretation. He then said, "Now be aware that the person who delivered
me to you has the greatest sin." So he was actually having a very comforting
discussion with Pilate saying, "I'm not holding this against you." We see Jesus,
his own interactions with the financial world and with the political world, were very
respectful. This is a big point because I believe that the more criticism that we
have in ourselves, the more it affects our ability to discern accurately,
motive and agenda in the world that's going on and how we should deal with that.
Jesus said, "In the world you're going to have tribulations, but don't you worry, be
of good cheer, because I have overcome the world." Now he didn't overcome the world
with a critical spirit, with a critical mind, with a critical heart. He came to
bless people. It is not the Father's will that any man should perish.
So Jesus came, he said, "I come that you have life and that you have this life
more abundantly." So he wasn't coming here to criticize and tear down,
you know, the existing situations, either politically or financially. Why do I keep
referring to the political and financial worlds? Because the political and financial
worlds today in this present age are in chaos.
Absolute chaos. Pretty much the same as they were in Jesus' day. You know,
there's nothing new under the sun, is there? We've seen terrible situations and
enormous human cost on the table of life over the last few years,
all around the world, wars, pandemics, shortages, famines,
supply chains breaking down. We see a house divided against itself shall not stand
as the principle behind so much of the spiritual turbulence and tumult that's going
on. There's the, you know, the vaccination people and there's the anti -vaccination
vaccination people. All is that. That's just a house divided against itself will not
stand. You have the left wing. You have the right wing. We have the people that
are pro -climate. We have the people that are anti -climate. Once again, a situation
of a house divided against itself will not stand. These sorts of things are going
on in the world. They're going on around us, around to surround us every day, every
day, every day. And we have to be able to successfully navigate through the
obstacles of life. Enormous human cost is on the table of life.
It's on offer, on the table of life every day. And if we get things wrong,
if politicians and bankers get things wrong, then it's people that pay the price,
and it bothers my heart immensely. Now turn in your Bibles please to Psalm 119.
I'm just moving back from Proverbs for a minute, and I just want to show you some
things in Psalm
119 and verses 97 to 100. Because I'd like to bring this study to a close today,
I think I've provided enough information for you now to go and do your own
research, and you work out how to navigate through the icebergs of
all the day is that something that you and I can cry out oh how I love your law
well maybe that part it is my meditation all the day wow that's a big sentence it
is my meditation all the day man I got so many things going through my head just
constantly busy busy busy it's just so much and I'm you know I'm suggesting that
quite likely you're the same. It's a busy, busy, busy, incredibly volatile,
fast paced world that we live in now. But yet the psalmist, he's saying here,
and remember the Scriptures are literally priorities laid out for us,
good ones, bad ones, and different ones, but they're all laid out for us that are
held by the various people, and we get to glean and discern what that meant at the
time.
Verse 97, "Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all day. You,
through your commandments." This is what we're getting back to about the, remember
the statutes and the judgments in Deuteronomy chapter 4, God's statutes and judgments.
In Colossians 2, in Christ, Are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge?
Wisdom is a gift from God in Proverbs 2 verse 6, Proverbs 4 verse 7.
Get wisdom, and with all you're getting, get understanding. Wisdom is the principal
thing. You, through your commandments in verse 98 of Psalm 119,
"Make me wiser than my enemies, for your words are ever before me. I have better
understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers, because your testimonies are my
meditation. I understand more than the aged because I keep your precepts, hearing,
receiving, loving and obeying them. How strong is all of that?
That's in Psalm 119. The Word of God is our delivering source of wisdom.
it??
tragedy and disaster. He outthought Satan himself. He outthought demons.
They were a piece of cake. Okay? So he constantly was wiser than his enemies.
I see the scriptures, wisdom in the scriptures. It's giving us the ability to
understand difference. It gives us the ability to discern difference.
We looked at this a a couple of weeks ago in Proverbs 2, we see that wisdom gives
us the ability to understand difference between God's decisions for my life and my
decisions for my life, which then leads me to the thinking and the thought processes
that the gospel now comes in two parts. We see Jesus,
the word, the Word of God, the wisdom, the statutes of God,
the principles of Jesus, but we also have the person of Jesus,
because the person of Jesus, no one comes to the Father but by me,
the person of Jesus prepares us for eternity. The principles of Jesus,
prepare us for earth. And this is such a big thing that I think we need to think
through if we consider the person of Jesus who prepares us for eternity and his
behaviour and the way he discussed things, the way he treated people, the way he
respected authority, all of those sorts of things relative to the principles of Jesus
that are literally pretty black and white. "Thou shalt not kill." Yes? These sorts
of things are pretty clear. So the principles of Jesus prepare us for earth,
and earth is the place where the icebergs live. As we sail through the sea of
life, we need to navigate between the icebergs. "The person of Jesus creates our
peace. In me you shall have peace." Remember in John 1633,
"In me you'll have peace. In the world you'll have tribulation." But be of good
cheer, I've overcome the world. So the person of Jesus creates our peace, the
principles of Jesus, they decide our prosperity and our longevity. It's very important
that we grasp these things as we negotiate and navigate our way through the
obstacles of life. And I believe, this is my personal opinion so please be clear on
this, I believe that the period of time from 2020 to 2040 is going to be one of
the most challenging periods of time that the it has ever seen. We're talking
nations that have astronomical debt levels,
mind snapping debt levels. We see the decline and the rise and the rise and the
decline of empires, you know, America, China, Russia, these places,
these countries are going through more and more and more testing of each other than
ever before. These things are very alarming. We've seen a pandemic that's decimated
supply chains, global supply chains all around the world. There's shortages of many,
many things. And now, shortages are not just limited to one country because we're a
global economy. the landscape and the dynamics of the planet aren't changing.
They have already changed. And what unfolds over the next 20 years is going to be
really, really fascinating to watch. But we don't just sit both beside watch and be
fascinated. No, no, no. We actually have to be wise. We have to be proactive. We
have to be discerning God's will for the time, we have to be able to latch on to
and hold and retrieve from the Spirit God's intention, His desired outcome for the
situations around us, and we need to be able to release that, or the Lord is able
to release that through us, willing, obedient, submissive servants to be able to
create God's intended outcomes on the planet. And this is really important.
How do we do it? In Christ are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. Very, very important that we stay in Christ and deliver God's outcomes.
So the Word of God in Psalm 119 verses 97 to 100,
the Word of God is our delivering source of wisdom. You have made me wiser than
all my enemies. Now just look in Proverbs chapter 13 verse 20.
I'll just turn over to there very quickly. "He that walks with wise men shall be
wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Proverbs 13 and 20,
"He who walks with wise men should be wise, but a companion of fools shall be
destroyed. Our relationships dramatically affect our wisdom.
He who walks with wise men will be wise." Yeah, that's really important. Okay?
Our relationships dramatically affect our wisdom, either increase our wisdom or
decrease our wisdom. So what does that tell us? Be part of the solution. Help
alleviate the growing human cost. Jesus and His Word contain all of the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge, and we can be led by the Holy Spirit into decisions we love
to remember. So important. Now in Proverbs 16,
just turning over a page here, and in verse 16, how much better is it to get
wisdom than gold and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver?
Now remember, silver and gold were incredibly important,
critical, critical items of currency and wealth, and wealth storage in their day.
So to say something is more important than gold and silver, I mean that's enormous.
That is a very, very big impactful sentence for these people of this time.
So that is what the writer of Proverbs, when Solomon and the Holy Spirit had him
record these things. And remember Solomon was the wealthiest man that's ever been,
okay? How much better is it to get wisdom than gold and to get understanding rather
to be chosen than silver from the richest man on the planet? And that was his
perspective on this. This is so important friends. Look, we're out of time for
today. Thank you for joining with me around this study about navigating through the
obstacles of life. I pray that it's wetted your appetite. I pray that it has just
given you a little glimpse into the importance of understanding and discerning and
learning the wisdom of God through the Word of God. God bless you.
Have a great week and make sure you get to church somewhere. Thanks for joining
with us on this podcast. We are dedicated to helping you become all you can
possibly be in Christ Jesus. Please do check out the resources at livingsuccess .org.
That's livingsuccess .org. God bless.
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