An encouraging word on renewing your mind and taking charge of your thoughts.

People like to say, “You are what you eat.” However, I’ve never understood that one: I eat a lot of beef and don’t look like a cow. But the Bible gives us a different, far more powerful saying: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

You are not what you eat. You are what you think.

The things you allow to occupy your mind are the things that dictate the decisions you make throughout your life. What you think about, you become.

The Picky Dad Who Taught Me a Lesson

Growing up, my dad had a collection of sayings and little rules that used to drive me absolutely bonkers. He was picky about the smallest things.

One time I got caught doing something I shouldn’t have, and I tried to explain that I did it unintentionally. I said, “I did that on accident.” He nearly flipped his lid.

“So you mean you were having an accident, and you did this on top of that accident? You should say by accident, not on accident.”

At the time, I thought, What difference does it make? An accident is an accident. But I made sure I never made that mistake again — because I concentrated on getting it right. And decades later, whenever someone says “on accident,” I still hear my dad’s voice in my head.

That’s the principle: concentration brings conformity. The things you focus on are the things you become.

Present Your Body — It’s Just Reasonable

The Apostle Paul picks up this same thread in Romans 12:1–2:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Notice that word — reasonable. Presenting your body as a living sacrifice doesn’t make you a superstar Christian. It doesn’t earn you a trophy. After everything the Lord has done and continues to do for us, it’s simply reasonable — like holding a door for someone and expecting a “thank you.”

And just as it’s unreasonable when someone doesn’t say thank you, it’s unreasonable to God when we refuse to present ourselves to Him.

Don’t Be Conformed — Be Transformed

Then Paul gets to the heart of it:

“Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

The world system is in opposition to God. It tells you not to sacrifice for anything that doesn’t bring you pleasure or personal benefit. When you refuse to live that way, you’re making an intentional decision to not be conformed.

But notice how the transformation happens: by the renewing of your mind. Your mind is the battlefield. The things you think become the things you love. The things you occupy yourself with become the things that take first place in your life — and the Bible tells us that first place belongs to Jesus.

The world keeps your mind filled with everything else, keeping you occupied with things that pull you away from the Lord.

You Can’t Hide from the World

I’ll admit — my dream is to be Grizzly Adams. Just live up in the mountains, have a pet bear, not worry about people or the internet or the news. Sounds peaceful, right? (Minus the being-falsely-accused-of-murder part.)

But that’s not what we’re called to do. We’re supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. You can’t seclude yourself and study your Bible 24/7. You have to live among people, deal with culture, and navigate the noise.

So what should we do?

The List: What to Think About

The Apostle Paul gives us a practical filter in Philippians 4:8:

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

And then he says: do these things. Put them into action. And the God of peace will be with you.

Second Corinthians 10:5 reminds us to bring our imaginations into captivity and obedience. We’re in charge of our own minds. We’re too quick to blame the media, the devil, and everyone in between for what occupies our thoughts — but the truth is, we’re concentrating on the wrong things far too often.

The Encouraging Word

Be intentional about the things you allow to occupy your mind. What you concentrate on, you conform to. So concentrate on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.

Think on these things.

In first Corinthians chapter number three, we’re going to look at some, of what I expect to be pretty familiar verses and passages, for you Christians. But I want to take a look at this here as we are transitioning from, Thanksgiving into, the Christmas season. Now, I know Walmart and Kroger and all those folks, you know, they already transitioned to the Christmas season about two months ago. But in reality, that’s that’s what we’re we’re heading into. So just some things to encourage you through this season because people get awfully discouraged,this time of year. And it’s easy to get discouraged. I understand it, I mean, I fall under the same, you know, pressures and everything as everybody else, you know, and all that as far as, you know, wanting to do good and do things for people and and all that. And that requires, you know, money and then, you know, it’s the end of the year. So money is always tight at the end of the year anyway, just because it is what it is. And,it can get stressful and depressing for some people because they can’t do all that they want to do, for other folks and things like that.

And, you know, I mean, I agree, you know, right? Christmas has become way too materialistic and all that. But,  it’s not even for me really about that so much. It’s just you like to do things for people and stuff now, I always I never Christmas shop until like, Christmas Eve. Anyway. because that’s when you get the really good deals. Now. I’m kidding. You don’t get any good deals when you wait that long. but it’s because I. I can’t buy something in, like, not give it to people. Right? Like, I bought something for the preacher, and I couldn’t wait to give it to him. And after I gave it to him, I was like, I should have waited till Christmas. So give it back and I’ll regift it. So, as we transition into that, some things I want to encourage you, with.

1 Corinthians 3:9–15

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

And what I want to talk to you this morning is about the melting point. The melting point. He says here, and he has a list of some things that are going to represent your life at the judgment seat of Christ. That’s what’s being dealt with here. So, as Christians, when the Lord comes back to rapture out the church, we’re going to go to the judgment seat of Christ.

And that’s where these things are going to be judged. The works that you have performed since you have been saved are going to be judged at that, at that judgment. And if they make it through that judgment, through that fire, then you’re going to receive a reward. And if not, then they’re going to amount to nothing for you. And so he gives a list of some things, that he is associating with those works here in verse number 12 he says, if you build on your foundation, I mean, first and foremost, you got to have that foundation set or else none of the rest of it even matters. But if you build upon that foundation, gold, silver, precious stones and then he says wood, hay or stubble. So it’s two different classifications of types of things that he’s dealing with here. And I’m going to take the latter first and talk about the wood, hay and stubble. You know, they all burn. They all burn. And if you want to have a campfire or something and you need some kindling, that’s the kind of stuff that you want to get together. And in order to light it up, if you apply a flame to it, it’s going to catch on fire and it’s going to provide some heat and some light For a while, but then it’s going to burn up. And is going to be gone.

You know, if you’ve ever been at a campsite or even if you have a fireplace at the house, I don’t mean, you know, those gas ones that are fake and those are the electric ones that everybody has now that are all fake. I mean, a real fireplace that you put wood in and you actually have an actual fire. I think they still put those in houses. Every house that I’ve ever had that had a fireplace had a gas insert. In it instead. But, if you’ve ever done that or you had a wood stove of any sort or something like that, you know that you have to keep feeding the thing because the wood and, the hay, the stubble, the straw, all that kind of the paper, all that stuff you put in there, it burns up and it burns really hot. Really good for a while, but it’s going to burn down and it’s not going to last. It’s not going to last. That’s what he’s talking about here.

What kinds of things are you building in your life? What kinds of things are you pursuing in your life? Are they going to matter for something? are they just going to make you feel good for now, for a little while? And, and then they’re just going to pass away and, and they’re going to fade away, and they’re going to be for nothing.

I mean, how many times in your life have you gotten something in your mind that you just couldn’t live without? Something, whatever that thing is or was? It might be a car, it might be a toy, it might be a relationship for all that matters. Whatever it is, it’s something that you just think you just can’t live without this thing. And you do everything you can, and you dream about it, and you daydream about it and everything, and you just plan for it and everything else, and you finally acquire that thing, whatever it is. And then it’s like eh! Well and all that great after all. I guess you know wasn’t any better than the last one I had. It doesn’t last.

That’s that wood, hay, and stubble and things. So what kinds of things are you? Are you,  Pursuing in your life? The trials that come in life, are going to consume the worthless parts of our character and our activities and our spending habits and all that stuff. It’s just going to melt away. It’s just going to burn up.

But on the flip side, he says, here you got, gold and silver and precious stones. Now, if you put enough heat and enough fire on gold, silver, and precious stones, they don’t just burn up.

They don’t burn up. They change like gold and silver. Both work similarly.  you heat them up. And the dross, all the impurities rise to the top, and then they’re able to knock the impurities out. And then you’re you’re left with either pure gold or pure silver. Precious stones work similar to that, but they don’t really actually melt down and, create a dross or anything but what they do. Usually precious stones when you get when they get all heated up, they fracture. They fracture, they split and stuff, and then they reveal the real beauty that’s inside them. And if you build the right things into your life and you concentrate on the right things in your life beyond all the distractions, all the wood, hay, stubble, all the stuff that’s trying to pull you away, it seems like it’s the thing that’s going to draw you to it. You’re going to keep you warm and satisfied, but it’s not going to last. Instead, concentrate on the things that are going to help to remove that stuff out of your life and concentrate on those things, and on what the Lord would have you to do and stay encouraged through this Christmas season.

Because if you’re not intentional about staying encouraged during the Christmas season, you’re not going to stay encouraged.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

Let’s do an encouraging word today out of Proverbs chapter eight. Take a look here in Proverbs chapter eight and Look at this here in relationship to seeking God.

Proverbs 8:1–17

1 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?

2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.

6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

12 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.

17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

And that’s what I want to talk just for a couple of minutes this morning about that verse right there where it says, I love them, that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me.

Did you ever play hide and seek as a kid? Play hide and seek and your buddy or your, you know, brother or sister, whoever you know, they maybe sometimes they get a really good hiding spot and, it’s hard to find them, but you just don’t want to give up. You want to keep looking and looking and looking until you finally can find them. And, sometimes people feel like that’s the way it is with the Lord. Maybe. But the thing is, the Lord’s not hiding from you. The Lord is not hiding from you.

Now. I’m always complaining,  about my wife’s cat. And it is her cat. Make no mistake, no qualms about it. It’s her cat. 150%. I almost got rid of it when we moved. I’m not going to do any harm to the cat on purpose with witnesses, right? but, you know. Hey, you know, Kirk left the door open, and we thought that the cat ran away, and I was like, oh, darn. Kirk’s like, I think your cat ran away. And I’m like, really? My wife wasn’t too happy about that. And then I was over there a couple of days later cleaning up and everything. Even though the apartment complex says that I didn’t clean up afterward and wanted to charge me, you know, a ridiculous amount of money to clean what I’ve already cleaned. I’m a professional cleaner. That’s what I do. But anyway. Neither here nor there, in there, cleaning up and everything. I go to grab something and clean it up around the bottom of the stool in the bathroom. And that stinking cat is hiding behind the toilet. And I thought for a second. I thought for a second maybe I didn’t really see that be somebody else’s problem. But then I was like, I just can’t do it. I just can’t do it.That cat is really good at playing hide and seek, but I found it.

I found it and I complain about it all the time. I was actually complaining about it this morning because it doesn’t matter what. I have a closet. I hang my suits and stuff up in there. It doesn’t matter what I do. This cat, somehow its fur always finds and clings to me no matter what I it’s it’s a conspiracy. It’s a cat conspiracy fur everywhere. No matter what her cat; Does she have fur on her jacket? Of course not. Just me. Just me.

It’s always there. I can’t seem to get away from it no matter what. And that’s something I want to get away from. And that’s probably a really terrible analogy. But the Lord’s word is like that. You’re not going to get away from the Lord’s word. It’s always there. It’s always available. He’s always trying to show you things. He’s always trying to speak to you about things. He wants to be found. Unlike the stupid cat that doesn’t want to be found. Right. Your friends when you’re growing up that really didn’t want to be found until it was too long. Then they got nervous and then they decided they wanted to be found.

The Lord wants to be found. He wants you to find him. He wants you to understand him. He wants you to know him. And that’s why we have his word.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

Thank you for joining us for today’s encouraging word, turn in your Bibles to the Book of Psalms, chapter number 55. And then we will also be going to look at something in First Peter as well. So you might get that primed and ready to go. But I want to start off here in Psalms chapter 55. Here’s a psalm that David wrote and it says:

Psalm 55:1

1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

It’s good for us to recognize it for what it is

It’s good to serve a God who inclines his ear unto us. Who doesn’t hide himself from our requests and the things that we need. It’s good to know that, but it’s also good, as David does here. It’s not like God was not going to listen to David, that God was going to hide himself from David’s supplications. But oh, but David asked me not to, so I guess I won’t. That’s not what’s going on here. It’s just David recognizing the fact that the Lord was going to listen to his prayers, that the Lord doesn’t hide himself from his requests, from his needs. And that’s David making a recognition of that fact. And it’d be good for us to recognize that when we pray, we’re not just praying to the ceiling that’s just bouncing off the ceiling. It’s it’s not a speech that we say just with our eyes closed or something like that. It’s a conversation that you’re having with the Lord. He gives us that opportunity. He gives us that blessing that we’re able to do that. But it’s good for us to recognize it for what it is. It’s not just something that we do. It’s not for nothing.

He goes on here in verse two he says:

Psalm 55:2–6

2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.

Now go ahead and turn over to First Peter chapter five. But before we get to First Peter chapter five, I want to tell you a little story. It is not so much of a story, because stories have the implication of something that I’m getting ready to tell you is something that’s make-believe. You know, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. That’s my favorite fairy tale. My wife’s favorite fairy tales usually start with Once Upon a Time, but this story isn’t so much a story as something that actually occurred.

So there were these two people and at some point early in their marriage. They decided it’s not me and Catherine, so just don’t. Don’t be distracted. Sometime early in their marriage, they had two little boys and they decided that they didn’t want to live in the big city anymore, instead they wanted to live out in the quote-unquote country.

So they built a house out in the suburbs, and they built the house. They bought property and they built a house, and they put that house up, and they raised their boys in this house. And the boys, you know, got married and moved out and all this kind of stuff and everything.

The man and wife stayed in the house. For all these years. And over the course of time, they accumulated. Some things. Right, and they didn’t accumulate them all at once. It was just a little, little something here, a little something there. And it just slowly but surely piled up. They have a two-car garage that you can’t walk through. They have an outbuilding that you can’t walk through. And more importantly, to this discussion, they have a specific room in the house that used to be at one point in time, their eldest son’s last place where he was allowed to sleep before he moved out the front door. He got kicked out of the bedroom because I think there was a dark room or something in there, I don’t remember. I mean, somebody doesn’t remember. Anyway,, over the course of time, the wife, ended up being the president of the Indiana Lupus Foundation. And so they made this room into what we reverently referred to as the Lupus room.

Not because if you go in there, you’ll get bit by a wolf. That’s why they call that disease lupus. Because it looks like a wolf bite. The blotches on your skin and stuff looks like a wolf bite. Okay. Anyway, Eventually The foundation dissolved. They no longer have an Indiana Lupus Foundation, so the organization was dissolved so that room was no longer needed for office space.

So then whenever the kids moved 15 different times into 28 different houses or whatever it is that they’ve done, and the kids grow up and this and that and all this stuff ends up over at Grandma and Grandpa’s house or whatever. And it’s like, well, we got this room we’re not using, so we’ll put a little bit of it in here and we’ll put a little bit of it over here. We’ll put a little bit of over here until eventually over the course of time. And this took years for this to occur. But over the course of time it became where this entire room that was a living room at one time, you could not even put one foot into this room. It was packed wall to wall, almost all the way up to the ceiling, all the way through. There’s no way that you could even know what was in the back of this room. Just packed full of stuff. Just sat there for years and years and years. Just holding on to all this baggage. Holding on onto all this stuff, all this burdensome stuff.

Just holding on to it. Just keeping it there. Just letting it sit there and letting it reside there and not doing anything with it and seeing that it’s an eyesore and just kind of acting like we don’t see it, and we just kind of move along and everything else. Well, eventually, for whatever reason, they decided, you know what? It’s time to empty that room out. So they proceeded. Over a few days time of going through, they got a huge, big, gigantic roll-off dumpster out in the front yard and everything else, and they’re just going through and to throw everything out.

Now me. Some of you have moved with me or helped me move. Help me move. Some of you have moved with me, but most of you haven’t. We know this because we’re still friends. Me? I’m like, if I don’t know what’s in that box. And if I don’t know what’s in there, I’m not going to miss it if it’s gone. Just get rid of it. I just, throw it out. Kirk about has a heart attack Every time he helps me move. He’s like, just let me know when you’re ready for stuff to go in the vehicle. I’ll show up. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to be involved in the decision-making process.

Not so with the wife of this couple, though. She has to go through every single box, every single envelope, in every single box to see what it is, to see whether it’s his keep or throw out.

So it’s a long process and everything else because she just wanted to hold on to some stuff. And I know you’re wondering to yourself, what does this have to do with Psalms chapter 55 or First Peter chapter five? I’ll explain it real soon. Real soon. Okay. They were holding on to all this stuff. Didn’t want to let it go, or Whatever. Finally, she gets rid of the majority of the stuff.

Well, here’s the thing. So all this stuff was piled in this room for years and years and years and years and at least 20 years, at least 20 years, maybe longer. Now you go to walk into that room and you step in there and you almost fall down to the crawl space because there was so much burden on that floor that the floor joist was actually broken underneath. You’re looking at me like you think I’m making this up. I’m not making this up. I got there and they would say, hey, come on in here or whatever. And I’m like, what’s the trick? And well just come on in. And I stepped in and It was like a big hill of a roller coaster. I was like, whoa, whoa, what is going on? The floor joist is cracked under all that pressure.

Okay, so David, back here in Psalms chapter 55, he’s talking about all these burdens and everything that he has. And if I could just grow wings and be like a dove and I could just fly away and get away, then I would be at rest. Well, here’s the thing. You don’t have to grow wings to be like a dove to get rid of the burden. And you don’t have to let the burden break you down and tear you up and ruin your foundation. You don’t have to allow that to happen. You can just simply follow the prescription that we have over here in First Peter chapter five starting in verse six. Where the Bible tells you:

1 Peter 5:6

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Humble yourself. Don’t ever ask the Lord to humble you. He can and he will. You don’t want anything to do with that. Take my word for it.

Verse seven is what I want you to notice for the encouraging word today:

1 Peter 5:7

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you! So you don’t have to let all those burdens build up and pile up. You don’t have to hold on to them, and you don’t have to allow that just to be tearing up your foundation and tearing you down and weighing you down and putting all that pressure on you. It doesn’t have to be that way.

All you need to do is pray and cast those burdens. Cast all those cares upon the Lord because he cares for you.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

This morning we’ll be in Ephesians and chapter number three. And really. Going to key in on, this morning, verse Number 20. But I’m going to start up here. In Verse 11. And work our way down to verse. 20 and 21, really down to the end of the chapter. But what I want to speak to you this morning about is just going above and beyond, going above and beyond. Here in verse number 11. Apostle Paul is building up, down, through here. And he says:

Ephesians 3:11–12

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

We have boldness and access,

• not because we’ve done more right than wrong,
• not because we’re good people and we follow all the rules,
• not because we came to church this morning or any of those other reasons.

But we have access and boldness because of the faith that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In verse number 13 he says:

Ephesians 3:13

13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

He’s just reminding the believers here that you will go through tribulations. That’s within an “S” tribulations. You’re going to have tribulations in your life. You’re not going through the great tribulation. You know, if you read a lot of things, you see that a lot of folks say:

Well, you know, the Christians are going go through the Great Tribulation because the Apostle Paul said, in lots of places, this being one of them that you know, that he was going through tribulation. And that’s not at all what it means.

He just means that you’re going to go through some trouble in this life. And really, of all the promises in the Bible that we love to cling to, that’s one that we don’t like so much, but it is a promise of the Bible. You’re going to go through some tribulation and things, and I don’t even know why that’s such a surprise to Christians and things. I don’t know, some way. Somehow, at some point in time, Christians decided that they deserve better in their life than the Lord Jesus Christ had in his earthly ministry.

And that just doesn’t make any sense. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He went through tribulation, didn’t he? He went through troubles and all that, and he did it all for us. He could have. He could have gotten out of it any time that he wanted to. Which just makes it even more miraculous that he didn’t. If you think about it, but, you know, we don’t deserve to have a better way of going and to go through life without enemies and without people lying about us and twisting everything that we do and say.

We don’t deserve better than that than the Lord Jesus Christ had. This is ridiculous to even think. We don’t deserve better. And we’re going to go through some tribulations. In verse 14 he says:

Ephesians 3:14–19

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Those are the things that the Apostle Paul was praying for these folks here. And these are good things to be prayed for. But then he says here in verse number 20:

Ephesians 3:20–21

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

He says there that the Lord is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

That’s how great our God is. He’s able to do abundantly more. So much more than we can ask or think. And some people are thinking, I don’t know. I can think of an awful lot. Right?

He’s able to do more. He’s always able to do more. He always goes above and beyond. And his word promises us that he not only can go above and beyond but that he is willing to go above and beyond.

So whatever tribulations and whatever troubles and trials and all that that you might be going through in your life, just know this and be encouraged by this, that the Lord can do abundantly more than you could ever ask him.

Brother James said that you have not because you ask not.

James 4:2

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Now, I’m not saying that you’re going to get everything that you ever ask for. Because a lot of things that we ask for, we ask, we ask for, for the wrong reasons, for the wrong motives. But if you’ll do your best to have a close and personal and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will ask things according to his will, he promises you those things. You’ll have the desires of your heart. If your heart’s right. You will have the desires of your heart.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the man.

The encouraging word today is from the Book of Jeremiah. We’re going to look at a couple of verses here that will hopefully be encouraging to you this morning. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 17, and we will pick up here in verse number seven because I just love it when it says blessed is the man.

Any place I can look in the Bible where it tells me how to be blessed of the Lord. That’s someplace I want to pay attention to, whether it’s in the Old Testament or New Testament or anywhere… I guess there’s really not anywhere in between, but either one, Old Testament or New Testament to tell me how to be blessed, I want to pay attention to it. So it says here, verse seven:

It’s good to be able to put your hope in something that is steadfast. It’s good to be able to put your hope in something that is worthy of you, putting your hope in it. You know the government and the systems of the world are not worthy of your hope, because they’re going to let you down whenever it meets their purposes. But the Lord will never let you down.

Jeremiah 17:7–8

7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

It says it spreads out its roots by the river. The heat won’t bother it. It says the leaf shall be green and it won’t be careful. In the year of drought that just means full of care. Because if you have good roots, even in a time of drought, those roots still hold that moisture that you need. And I was looking at this and it just caused me to think about a garden.

Now, if you know me, you know that typically you do not want to take gardening advice from me. I tried to grow a garden a few times. We have a backyard again now, so maybe I’ll try again. Maybe. But I’m not really good at gardening and things and I don’t know why. I’m just not. I’m really good at killing things; Just not really good at growing things.

So anyway, having said that, I do know the principles behind gardening and I do know what you’re supposed to do. But like most things in my life, just because I know what I’m supposed to do doesn’t mean that’s what I actually do, right? And that’s probably really my main problem with gardening is I know what I’m supposed to do, but it’s a lot of work.

You know, you got to prepare the ground and you have to pull the weeds and you have to water it appropriately. And that’s what I want to key in on here this morning for, a few moments, is that watering aspect.

Because watering your garden seems like one of the easy parts, right? You just go out and you just water the garden. That’s what’s so hard about that. And but a lot of people, do it wrong. And I may even be one of those people who’s done it wrong. I don’t know, but a lot of times people will go out there and they will water their gardens incorrectly.

You may be thinking, I didn’t know there was a correct or an incorrect way to water your garden other than to do it or not. But there is. There’s a right way and there’s a wrong way. And if you do it the wrong way, then you’re going to you’re going to train those plants, and you’re going to train the roots of those plants to grow incorrectly.

So in other words, if you just go out in the evening and you just sprinkle a little water on each plant for a few minutes and things, and that’s all you ever do, what you’re doing is you’re teaching and training those roots that in order to get water where they get all their nutrition from, their sustenance from the minerals and everything else that they need, you’re training that plant what it needs to do in order to get all that stuff is they need to stay up close to the top. And then when they’re up close to the top, that’s when the sun can beat down and dry them out and cause all kinds of problems. If there is a drought or you’re like me and you just forget to go out and water them one night, then they don’t have any moisture because they’re just looking for moisture up here.

But if you’ll use something like a soaker hose. I never understood what the purpose of a soaker hose was. I’m like, aren’t you just wasting a bunch of water? The soaker hoses make a lot of sense with gardening because you put a soaker hose out there, and that just continuously puts some moisture into the ground, and that moisture goes deeper and deeper and deeper.

And then the roots know that they need to go down deep to get that water. Then those roots will grow deep. And then when there’s a drought or what have you, it’s not going to affect them because they’re not getting their minerals. They’re not getting all the things that they need to survive from the top. That’s why you want to use something like a soaker hose.

What does it have to do with anything? Well, God’s word is your soaker hose. This is your soaker hose. You need to soak yourself into God’s words.

Not just at a high level where you skim through here or there. Or you hear somebody talk about the Bible on the radio by accident while you’re flipping through the channels, or maybe you come to a church service, you know, even weekly, even multiple times a week. That’s great. And that’s awesome. And you ought to do that.

But that should not be the only time that you expose yourself to God’s Word. If you do, your roots are never going to grow deep. And you need those deep roots. Those deep roots will provide you the stability, nourishment, the refreshment. and the foundation that you need. And if you don’t spend time reading and studying the Word of God, you’re going to miss out on that.

So I want to encourage you today. Just simply don’t miss out.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

Take your Bible and turn to the Book of Psalms, Chapter 119. And we’re going to read. Versus 97 Down through verse 105. Psalm chapter 119. Of course, the biggest book in the Bible. found in the middle of the Bible, and. It’s all about the Bible. So we’ll take a look at this here and these verses specifically for the encouraging word here today:

Psalm 119:97–105

97 MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

And that’s the verse that I really want to talk about here for a few moments.

As you go through life and you’re just minding your own business, doing your own thing, change is going to happen. Change is just a part of life. A lot of folks say they don’t like change, and that’s because we get accustomed to things, we get used to things, and they’re comfortable for us. And when we get comfortable, we just assume to stay comfortable. Right. You wake up in the morning and maybe it’s in the middle of the winter or what have you, and maybe the house or wherever it is that you’re staying is a little nippy in the morning, and you’re nice and snug like a bug in the bed under the covers and everything else. And then you just really don’t want to change that situation because that’s very comfortable. Right? And you just really don’t want to get up out of the bed. Maybe that’s just me. I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s just me. We like to be comfortable. We like to stay comfortable. We don’t like to be uncomfortable. And change is unsettling. Change isn’t very comfortable. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re old or young, rich or poor if you’re married or single. Change can be unsettling for you. Not only that, but change can also be exciting. It can be exciting because it brings with it the unknown.

Although that could be a little unnerving, that could be a little scary sometimes it could also be exciting just seeing what is coming around the bend. We all face changes. And as we’re facing changes, we’re facing decisions. And we’re just living our lives. We’re going through these things. A lot of times the path ahead looks dark and twisted. It’s dark. It’s hard to see. You can’t really see the end of the path, so to speak. We squint and strain to see down the road. We just can’t see it clearly. But the truth is, we don’t always need to see into the distance. We don’t always need to see into the distance. Now, I saw this Facebook meme this last week. A whole bunch of times. And so a lot of you probably saw it too. It says something like this:

It says I’m really tired of all these LED headlights. Right? I mean, I’m glad that you can see 92 miles down the road, but now I’m blind!

Thanks, but no thanks. Right. Because we think we need to see as far into the distance as we can go. But we don’t really need to see that far in the future. We just need to take it one step at a time. We need to take one step and then another step and another step.

When the path is obscure, you can turn to God’s Word. His word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. That’s how you’re going to see where you’re going to go. You don’t have to stumble around the dark and step on Legos. I don’t even have kids living in my house anymore. And somehow I still step on toys. Well, they leave their little, little, little surprises around the house for me so that I can find them in the middle of the night. And things, You don’t have to fumble through life that way, though, because we have a light source. We have a light source, and the Lord is going to show you what you need to see. The Lord is going to show you what you need to know. His word will light your way. He may not tell you exactly what’s going to happen a year from now, or even a month from now, or a week from now, or later today, necessarily. But if you depend on it and you follow the guidance he’s given, his word will act as a roadmap for the path ahead.

There’s a song that’s called The Bible. I’m using the Bible for my roadmap. Don’t worry, I’m not going to sing it. That makes me think of that. Using my Bible for a roadmap.

Mac Weisman: Lyrics:

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I’m using my Bible for a road map Ten Commandments they tell me what to do The twelve disciples are my road signs And Jesus will take me safely through There’ll be no detours in heaven No rough roads along the way I’m using my Bible for a road map My last stop is heaven some sweet day

We have God’s word so that we can have that roadmap. When you follow a map, it allows you to see the lay of the land. It allows you to see and expect some things that are going to be coming down your way. It may not. The map is not going to show you the chuck hole that’s in the middle of the road. I mean, that’d be a really updated map if it did. Right, but it’s going to show you the way to go. It’s going to show you the direction you need to be moving in. They’re still going to be obstacles. They’re still going to be pitfalls here and there. But it’s going to get you going in the right way. It’s going to get you in the right direction.

That’s what the Bible will do for you. It’ll keep you from stepping off the cliff. It’ll keep you from falling over the edge. When we rely on His word and follow it, we can trust. The goodness of God. Even when the future is unclear, even when changes are coming, and maybe some of the changes we’re looking forward to, maybe some of them were not. But we can still move ahead with confidence, knowing that the Lord will lead us. To the best place for us. And his goodness will stick with you and stay with you every step of your journey.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

Today’s encouraging word will be taken from the Book of Esther. Esther, in chapter number four, we are really only going to read a couple of verses here to get to the point of the encouraging word. But you remember roughly the book of Esther.

THE significance of the Book of Esther is that it testifies to the secret watch care of Jehovah over dispersed Israel. The name of God does not once occur, but in no other book of the Bible is His providence more conspicuous. A mere remnant returned to Jerusalem. The mass of the nation preferred the easy and lucrative life under the Persian rule. But God did not forsake them.

C. I. Scofield, Ed., The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments, (New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1917), 558.

The Book of Esther is basically broken up into seven parts: in chapter one you have the story of Vashti, the Persian queen, the Gentile queen, if you will, and she gets taken out of the way. And then they begin the process of finding a new queen. And of course, Esther ends up being that queen, being a Jew. So the Gentile queen is replaced by a Jewish bride. And we won’t get into all the types and things about all that stuff. We don’t have time for that in an encouraging word, but then you have the conspiracy of Haman, and that’s here in chapter four.

That is what we have here with Haman, he was jealous of the Jews. He was more specifically mad at Mordecai, which was Esther’s uncle; because he wouldn’t bow down to him and give him the honor that he felt he deserved and had actually received a royal writ for, that he was supposed to receive. Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him. But, you know, it was more than just that, because Haman wasn’t just trying to take out Mordecai, he wanted to take out all the Jews. That’s what you have going on here. And of course, back in these times, you know, you couldn’t just come up and talk to the king just because you wanted to. You know, you see all these shows now, you know, they have you know, the king sits in his big room and all these people come in, you know, with their chickens and their sheep and their goats and, and their complaints and, and all this stuff and everything. But, you know, you couldn’t just approach the king without being summoned to the king. If you did, then he could quite literally take your head off. So it was a big thing. So Mordecai gets wind that Haman has talked the king into writing this decree out that on a specific day, they were going to have everybody in every province across the kingdom, and they were going to attack, obliterate, and kill the Jews.

Mordecai got wind of this and Long story short, he ends up getting a message to Esther. And tells Esther what she needs to do is she needs to go and speak up for her people to the king. And of course, she was afraid to do that, and she was afraid to do that because of the reasons that I just mentioned. She hadn’t been called to stand in front of the king or to be in his audience, so to speak, for quite some time. And she couldn’t just show up just because she was a queen. She couldn’t just show up and just say, well, I’m the Queen. I’m going to do whatever I want. You know, she wasn’t Cersei Lannister. Couldn’t just do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She had to be called. And she hadn’t been.

So she was afraid to do that. So she’s like, you know, I don’t know about all that, Mordecai. I mean, I mean, you’ve never steered me wrong before. You took care of me my entire life and raised me like your own daughter and gave me good counsel and everything. And I ended up in the position that I’m in now. All because of your counsel and everything. All right. You got wind that somebody was going to try to kill the king, and you got that message through, and. And you saved the king’s life. And I know all these things about you, Mordecai, but this time I’m not so sure. And that’s where we find ourselves here in Esther chapter four. And we’ll look at verses 13 and 14 specifically here this morning.

Esther 4:13–14

13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: …

So he’s saying, well, you know, if you keep quiet and you don’t do what God has is commanding us for you to do, and you don’t do what his will is in your life, the Lord will find another way to get it done. But you’re going to pay a price for not doing what you were supposed to do. Okay. That’s what he’s telling her in a nutshell here.

And then he says this. And this is what I really want to key in on here for a few moments:

Esther 4:14

14 … and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Mordecai’s reply to Esther’s was straight to the point. It was straight to the point. She’s not going to escape when the rest of the Jews were slain, if she were to keep her mouth shut, even though she was a queen if she refused to act, somebody else would be lifted up to deliver the people. But she would still have to suffer those consequences. And maybe this is why she was put in the place that she was put in in the first place.

And those words in verse 14 should challenge each and every single one of us, because who knows whether we are come For such a time as this. Who knows if whatever it is that you’re going through in your life. You weren’t put into the position that you’re in, whether it’s a leadership position, whether it’s you’re talking work or you’re talking relationships or you’re just talking about situational whatever situation you find yourself in. Who knows? If you weren’t put into that position just for such a time as this.

And that’s really the question. Look, it’s easy to tell other people not to worry about their circumstances. You tell people, don’t worry about things. You know, God’s in control, and God will take care of you and all those things. It’s really easy to tell other people that. It’s easy to tell ourselves that too, when things are going good. But when things aren’t going so good, it’s really easy to lose sight of that. It’s easy to get all bogged down and and just just quite honestly, just to be fearful about some things and be worried about some things.

Proverbs 29:25

25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

We worry and we fret and we complain about different financial situations or work situations, health situations, whatever it might be. Whatever storm that we happen to be going through. We get all discouraged and worried and just wish that there was just some way that the Lord would just miraculously just transport us out of this, this situation now out of this time and and transport us to a different time and just pull us out of this storm and things.

A lot of Christians say that they’re happy and they can’t wait for the rapture. But the problem is, the reason they’re happy and can’t wait for the rapture is because they’re looking at that as their escape plan. They just want to get out of this mess. They’re not looking forward to the rapture because of what it actually means and what it actually represents and what it actually is going to allow to occur. That’s not why they’re looking forward to the rapture.

They’re not looking forward to the rapture because the Lord’s going to call his believers out, and he’s going to be able to set up and prepare for him to be able to take the kingdom which is rightfully his, which is the actual theme of the entire Bible. You know, the theme of the Bible isn’t your salvation. The theme of the Bible isn’t Gentiles. The theme of the Bible is the fact that the Jewish king is going to get the kingdom and rule and reign in the kingdom.

That Jewish king, of course, being the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the main theme of the Bible. And that’s why we should be looking for the rapture and seeking for his return, not just so that we could get out of our mess. But that’s most of the time because we’re selfish. That’s what we’re thinking, you know, why can’t the rapture happen, you know, in the next couple of seconds? Because I want to get out of this mess. Well, first of all, yeah. Please, Lord. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. But understand what that is and what you’re praying for. And don’t forget the fact that you know, as soon as you are together with him in the Lord in the air, and shall so forever be with the Lord in the air and all that, you’re going to the judgment seat of Christ. Okay?

I’m not trying to scare you away from the rapture. I’m just telling you, we want the Lord to transport us out of here and get us out of the mess. But maybe we’re in this mess. Whatever that is, for such a time as this. So that we can stand up and we can accomplish something that the Lord puts in front of us to accomplish. So instead of looking for a way out of the mess all the time, how about we look for how it is that the Lord is working through that mess? And how can we join in the fight?

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.

For today’s encouraging word, we will be in Joshua, chapter one. We will read about the first nine verses You see something here in these first nine verses, and specifically at the end of verse eight, there in Joshua chapter one, we’ll build up to it and get down there to it, But here you have where the Lord tells Joshua: then thou shalt have good success.

People are. Overly preoccupied with the idea of being successful. And I mean, you go to the bookstore and you get reams and reams and reams of books on how to be successful and what success means and all those types of things. I have numerous books that I have. I have one shelf of my bookcase, maybe two. I think it’s this one, though, right now, but I have another bookcase in my office at work. It’s got stuff on it too, about how to be successful, you know, in business and how to lead people properly and, and all these kinds of things. And I’ve read books, you know, that are mostly, you know, allegorical or whatever. And I’ve read books that are, just like, you know, basically like reading a textbook or what have you, and all this stuff. It’s a success, success, success, success. We, as people, are just overly occupied with success and how to become successful, and what it means to be successful.

I’ll just tell you that, you know, God’s not all that concerned about your success. You say? Well, what do you mean by that? I mean. He mentions it once in the entire Bible. Success comes up once in the Bible. That’s it. One time. Now I’m going to talk about what it’s going to take for you to be successful. Having said everything that I just said. But my point is, that the overreaching theme of the Bible is not, how you can be successful. The bottom line is if you want to be successful, you need to follow the book.

Spoiler alert, If you follow the book, you’ll be successful. You can go home now. You can’t, That was a joke. You can’t go home. We’ll chase you. I won’t chase you because I don’t run. I have other ways of making sure you don’t get away. But somebody will chase you. But my wife Catherine was watching this goofy show yesterday over at my mom’s house. Maybe my mom was watching, and Catherine was just a victim, but I don’t think so.

There’s some, Christmas story about some old guy who had a Christmas tree farm, but he doesn’t actually sell the trees. He gives them away for free because his dearly departed wife thought that everybody in the world should have a free Christmas tree. So they got millions of trees on this farm.

And there’s this family that’s down and out. This dad lost his job, got another job, lost that job, lost like 3 or 4 jobs. He’s just like a loser. You know, lost everything. Homeless doesn’t have anywhere to go. And this tree farm guy, you know, invites them onto the property and into his house and all this stuff. And early on in the show, I said, look, here’s what’s going to happen. The old guy is going to give them the house. He’s going to give them the farm. The only thing they’re going to have to do is they have to continue giving away Christmas trees for free. Change the channel. But oh no, we have to watch the whole thing. And what happens? The old man dies. He leaves them the farm. They have to continue to give away Christmas trees for free. I could have saved her two hours of her life, Spoiler alert. But, The journey is fun.

Joshua 1:1

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

That’s something good to be remembered for, being the servant of the Lord. There are lots of things that Moses could have been remembered for, that the Lord could have remembered Moses for, and not all of them good. But the way the Lord puts this and leaves it is that the thing for him to be mostly remembered for is that he was a servant of the Lord.

Joshua 1:2

2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Joshua 1:3–9

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

God clues Joshua in on a few things here and by extension, he clues us in on a few things here as well. He clues Joshua into some things that Joshua needed to know because he was now the leader of God’s people. And there are some things he needed to know about that. The Lord tells Joshua that everywhere that he would walk, everywhere that he would step whatever land his foot touched, that God had already given it to him. He tells him that in verse three.

Now we know today to to apply this to ourselves. Devotionally or what have you? We know that we’re already victors in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that if we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we trust him and only him for our salvation, that we are saved. We have Heaven as our home. Is done. It’s finished. Jesus said when he was hanging on the cross, it is finished. He didn’t say it is started. Tag in. It’s your turn. It’s not a tag team championship. He said it is finished. It’s a done deal.

God tells Joshua here that he can’t be defeated. And sometimes You might feel like you’ve been defeated, but you can’t be defeated. You already have the victory. Christians all the time walk around like they’re just beat up and torn down and oh, life is so awful. Life is so terrible. And you look at their Facebook posts and their Twitter or “X” posts, I don’t even know what you’re supposed to call it anymore. Everything is just so awful and terrible and my life is just in ruins and life isn’t fair. And my boss is mean to me and I’m not making what I should be making and join the club. Big deal.

But you know what? we’re supposed to be presenting To the world that we have something that they don’t have. But most Christians don’t. Most Christians social media posts, and conversations with their coworkers friends, and everybody. Show that they are no different than anybody else.

We’re supposed to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. But nobody can ever see that there is any such hope that they’re going to ask us where it comes from, because you forgot that you have everything that you need to be successful.

You forgot that you can’t be defeated. You forgot that you already have the victory. So I just want to remind you of that today. God said in order to have success. You need to speak, think about, and obey God’s Word. And if you do those things, you will have success.

Are you going to have success the way the world measures success? Maybe. Or maybe not. But if not, just hold on because they’re going to change their definition in a few weeks anyway. Because they have to change their definition.Because their definition of success isn’t based on a final authority. It’s not based on anything solid. It’s based on society, and it’s based on all these feelings and how much money is or isn’t in the bank and all those kinds of things.

Our success is based on a final authority. And if we will follow that, if we’ll read it, if we’ll meditate upon it, we’ll think about it. If we’ll obey the things that it says. Be doers of the word, not hearers only. What James said, if we’ll obey it; Then the Lord will show you His definition of success. And at the end of the day. That’s the only one that matters.

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.