Heart Vs Head: Renewing The Mind

Purpose, Peace, And Longer Days

Kindness, Truth, And Favor

Trust God, Not Your Own Wisdom

Honor God With Wealth

SPEAKER_00 0:06

All right, welcome back. I wish I could just say it's real simple. All you gotta do is hear from the Lord, do what he says, and that's the whole definition of Proverbs. But we need to grow in our belief that this is true. So let's look at what we receive when we do behave that way. Chapter three has all kinds of positive reinforcements. We'll start with chapter three verse one through two. My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. All right. Pinging off of what we said at the beginning here about hearing the voice of the Lord and obeying, at the very beginning of this chapter when he says, Do not forget my teachings, the word teaching means directions, instructions, or law. So you want to hear his directions and what he teaches you, and you want to count it as law, to be honest. In other words, don't go outside these perimeters. But then Solomon goes on to say to let your heart keep his commandments. It doesn't say your head. So when you hear the Spirit speak to you, and you're growing in this, your heart will be steadfast, but your head will try to talk you out of it pretty much all the time, until you grow stronger. Then you start defeating your brain and deciding this way or that way. But at first, your mind will just always fight against you. I think that's why the Bible talks about there's always a war going between the spirit and the flesh, and another scripture that talks about you gotta renew your mind. So when the spirit talks to us, our mind is just gonna say, What are you talking about? and try to prove your spirit wrong. And then you have to decide. You gotta either be stronger in the spirit or flake out and go with what your head says, and then you'll see the end results, and then you'll learn that following the leading of God's Spirit is the correct path. Don't get down on yourself when you choose wrong. Just realize I've got to quit listening to what my head tells me and listen to what the Spirit is telling me in my heart. So that's what Solomon is trying to tell us here in the first verse. For if you do this, we're talking about another if where if you do this, length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Now, when it's saying that'll give you length of days and years of life, what if you're somebody who dreads the day and doesn't really even want to deal with life all day long? And that's where when you dig into what it actually meant in the Greek, and it's saying it'll give you longer days, but they will be filled with purpose. You'll be excited for the day, you'll feel like you're more whole because you got a goal, and it isn't like you're just wasting the day and waiting for the next one. It means that you'll be excited what's coming ahead of you. And I can say it is true, because when you have a calling and you hear his voice and you start working in it, and you see things coming around, you wake up with more purpose and more direction. It's like the scripture that talks about he doesn't put a heavy burden on you, and that's what I love also. It's the world that puts a heavy burden on you, but God gives you space to grow into it. So when you get a direction from him, it doesn't necessarily mean it needs to be done by five o'clock. You just keep working at it and working at it. He just keeps blessing you, and then you go to bed at night with peace as verse two ends, and peace will be added to you. It doesn't mean we won't have any hardships because we are living in this world, but it means you'll feel solid inside like you did the best you could. You're good with God, and you and I can deal with the next day when it comes, but you feel whole. You feel like you're accomplishing something that nobody else can, and you have joy in your heart because of it. I hope that makes sense. Now verse three says, Do not let kindness and truth leave you. Find them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart, so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man. Now first look at this. You think, all right, I gotta be nice today, and then you get trampled all over. That isn't what it's saying. What it's really saying is God is the one who brings the kindness. You got to hear from him. So you will hear from the Lord the truth, for God is truth, he is kind and he is truthful. Then when you hear from him, don't let it leave you. Or let me put it another way, you keep hearing a lot of things like, oh, you're a sinner, oh that's happening to you because God's after you. Absolutely not. That's why he sent Jesus to clear all that out. So we're all cool with him now. So don't forget he's uh kind and he's going to be truthful. In other words, what he says is going to make your life better. If you start thinking that, oh, God is mad at me or he's out to get me, that then you just let kindness leave you. Don't let the kindness of God leave you. Always remember that, no matter how rough it gets out there. Remember God's on your side. If it's getting really hairy, take a break. Get away alone and listen to him what he has to say, and just walk into that. Because it'll get you out of the mess that more than likely you and I created for ourselves. It's not like it's a one and done thing. This is a daily walk. To paraphrase all this, God is good and he loves you. If you start thinking he doesn't, then you got the enemy telling you the wrong things here. And in doing this, chapter three, verse four says, So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man. Now here's more good news. Listening and obeying what he's telling you, you'll find favor and good repute. That means, well, you know what favor is. Good things come your way without you having to push for it. And repute is another way of saying success or discretion or wisdom. Or another description that I like is insight and understanding. I mean, there's just so many good things here. Makes me want to step away and spend some time with the Lord and get some more instructions as I'm teaching this. How fun. Now in verse three, verse five through six is one that most of us all know. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. It's kind of like what I've been saying, that mind is going to beat on you, but it says do not lean on your own understanding, and that's a tough one. That's why the world keeps saying, Oh, we're so smart, because we can rehearse all this information that we've been taught in schools or at the job, but you really want to change kingdoms. You got to hear the kingdom of God, which Jesus kept saying, seek his kingdom first, not the kingdom of the world. I would start first with the kingdom of God. And if he leads you to learn something, then you gotta dig into the books and learn, but you want the his insight. What you really want is to hear what's going to happen in advance, so you can be ahead of the game, ahead of the curve. Now in verse seven it goes on to say Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. What I like here is what has been already said a thousand times. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Just be wise in hearing his voice, like Jeremiah nine twenty three to twenty four mentions. Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the strong boast of their strength, or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this, that they have the understanding to know me. I also like where it says fear the Lord. Basically, when you hear him speak to you, put God's word first and act upon it. When it talks about turning away from evil, that's a good thing. You don't want to deal with burdens and suppressions and heartaches. You want to turn away from that and believe in God's voice. And in acting in this way, your life's outcome becomes more positive. It'll be in verse eight, it says, It'll be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones, so you'll be stronger and healthier, you'll have long days, you'll have a purpose, you'll have peace. I mean, oh my goodness, what more can we say? Our whole goal is to seek God and hear his voice. I would make that priority a one, and don't give up until you hear from him, because once you hear from him, then you get all these things working for you. But it's a struggle at first. I'm telling you, I don't know how to make it any more plain. Your brain just says this isn't working. But don't quit. Now let's look at verse nine. It says to honor the Lord with your wealth and the first of all your produce, so your barns will be filled and your vats overflow. We need to get this right because a lot of people trip up here and miss the point. It's not telling you to just give your wealth away. There's a massive difference between giving something away and honoring God with it. Basically it means putting him first. He needs to be first in your heart, first in your thoughts, and first in your credit. You're acknowledging that he is the source, the provider, and the one who made everything possible in the first place. Some people try to put a spin on this. You'll hear churches say you have to give your ten percent right here, but that's not what the text says. It says to honor him with it. That means you recognize him in it, and you give him his rightful place as the source of your life. There's nothing wrong with being generous, but that's not what this specific verse is commanding. This is about relationship. You listen to his voice, and he personally leads you on what to do with what you have accomplished. And don't worry, God isn't trying to send you to live under an overpass just because you're doing his will. That's not his heart or his design. He wants his glory and his goodness to be visible and evident in your life for everyone to see. He wants people to see his provisions so you can point back to him as the source. When you get a beautiful house or a car and people say, Wow, that's awesome, you can tell them, yeah, the Lord made this possible. He opened the door. In that moment he is honored and glorified. You're honoring him with your wealth, not by losing it or being separated from it, but by acknowledging that it all came from him. It's like when that king tried to give Abraham a bunch of stuff. Abraham said, No, thanks, I don't want any man to say he made me rich. He wanted it to be crystal clear that everything he had came from the hand of God, not from some earthly system. The Lord wants to be lifted up through your words and your testimony. When he pours out abundance on you, it gives other people a clue that he is real, he is active, and he is involved in the lives of those who actually follow him. The world is out there chasing money and status, while at the same time there's this lie that Christians have to stay poor. That is a total misunderstanding of God's nature as a father and a provider. Don't fall for it. Keep the truth deep in your heart. When you follow his voice and put the kingdom first, all the stuff starts falling into alignment. He's a good God. He's not trying to take from you, he's trying to lead you into the life he designed for you. Now in verse eleven it says, My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof, for whom the Lord loves he reproves, even as the Father, the Son of whom he delights. Don't be afraid of the word discipline here. In the Hebrew is the word check, and I like that one. Cause as I'm cruising throughout the day and I decide to go a certain direction, all of a sudden I feel something inside. Like let's say I'm not hearing his voice clearly because I have a ton of things on my mind, but something in my heart is like, don't go that way. That's what it means by he's checking, he's guiding you. Whereas we're used to the world's idea about discipline, basically, well, the way I was raised, you get your bumper spanked, but that's not what it's saying here. It's saying he's guiding you as a good father. Remember kindness and truth. He'll check your heart. You're like, I shouldn't go down there. And then if you do go down there, you'll see the consequences on the back end, and then you gotta pray your way out of it, and it'll happen to you. It's called growing. I don't know how much grace you will need, because as you're growing in this, you'll fail. But the righteous will fall seven times and rise every time. You'll get back up, and then you'll learn and say to yourself, I'll never do that again. Let's pray you don't. It seems like, well, in my case I seem to do it again. Now verse thirteen, let's read for a while and hear about all the blessings we get listening to him. Starting in verse thirteen, how blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding, for its profit is better than the prophet of silver, and its gain than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand, and her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he established the heavens, and by his knowledge the deeps were broken up, and the skies drip with dew. My son, let them not depart from your side. Keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul, and an adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down you will not be afraid, when you lie down your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. That's all the way up to verse twenty six. Those are pretty much self explanatory about all the blessings and goodness, and I love verse eighteen where it says she is a tree of life to those who take hold of her. Remember in Genesis where the tree of life was first mentioned, and we couldn't get to it because we got kicked out of the garden because we did the opposite of what God said. Well, now since Christ has risen from the grave and the Spirit has been given to us, we now have access to this tree of life. I don't know how to make it more clear that his voice is eternal life. You need to hear his voice, because that's what will last forever. And in verse twenty five through twenty six it says, Do not be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes. It's saying the world is going to come up against you and give you trials. It does everybody. So you're not singled out just because you're a Christian. It's like who's the devil's after? He's after everybody. But the difference is you got the Spirit of God in your heart, and you can listen to him and know you'll come out victorious, but you still have to go through it. But at least your sleep will be sweet, because you know God's truth always comes to pass. Now let's pick up in verse twenty seven. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. And do not say to your neighbor, Go and come back, and tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you. And I love that verse. It's like it always teaches me because sometimes I just say, Well, I'll pray for you when I do have something to give to someone to help them out. And it's kind of like what we're learning here. It's like we're not separating God's kingdom from what is happening here on this earth. He wants to bring his kingdom to earth, bring it into today's world. So if somebody comes and you can help them, then help them. That's acting like God. And let's do a little spin in your heart with that. It's like, hey, how much bigger is God compared to me? And he has everything. So expect him to help you because he is asking you to. He isn't a do as I say, not as I do type of God. No, he loves to give. And he's teaching you to be that way. So if you start thinking, Oh, God's holding out on me, trust me, he's not. He wants to give, he's a giver. In verse twenty nine it goes on to say, Do not devise harm against your neighbor while he lives securely beside you. Do not contend with a man without cause if he has done you no harm, and do not envy an evil man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways. For the crooked man is an abomination to the Lord, but he is intimate with the upright. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Though he scoffs at the scoffers, yet he gives grace to the afflicted. The wise will inherit honor, but fools display dishonor. That's the end of chapter three. And we'll get more deeper into verse thirty one where it says, Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways, because later on in Proverbs it talks about how that is what steals a person's peace, and they can't sleep at night, and they have a miserable life, even though they might have temporary prosperity, trust me. And I've mentioned this in the previous podcasts. I've seen this personally, they cry out for peace, but it eludes them. They can't find it and they can't change because they're so wrapped up in their violence that they think that's how you're supposed to live. They were influenced by two many movies like The Godfather, thinking that's how you become successful, or all the other things they show on TV with that kind of theme, that the evil wicked people are the ones that rule. But it's not true. It's the Christians who are rising up and starting to control because this is God's desire. He wants to bring his kingdom back to our earth. Well, thank you for staying with me through another podcast. This was fun and deep. We got so much more goodness to hear, but I like to end it the way I started it. Fine God, you got to hear his voice. Don't quit. Love you all and have a great day. Before we close, I just want to mention that if today's teaching resonated with you and you'd like to go deeper in learning how to recognize God's voice in everyday life. I've written a book called God, Why Won't You Talk to Me, written by Edward L. Carpenter. It's available on Amazon and it's very practical, no hype and no theory, just real everyday tools to help you understand how God speaks and how to respond with clarity and peace. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible.