May 24, 2024
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." - Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
This week we wrap up our breakdown of this scripture with taking a closer look at verse 8. If we look back at the first three verses, we can conclude that today's verse will be a result of applying the others to our lives. Here's a recap of them: Trust in the Lord and not ourselves, acknowledge HIM in every area of our lives, fear HIM and turn away from evil.
If we do those things, then we can have the healing and nourishment that we need. What we don't realize is that HIS desire for us to live Godly lives far outweighs the life that we desire for ourselves. We must come to the realization that spiritual growth is what matters to Him the most. All the early accomplishments and successes will fade away and won't even be an afterthought when He returns for His bride. He's not opposed to us having a good life here on earth, but if our focus is on worldy things instead of HIM, then it becomes a problem. So have fun, go on trips, have a wonderful life, but do not let those things become your priority. Instead, seek God, put your faith and trust in Him, include Him in every aspect of your life, and be obedient to Him first and watch what He will do in you and through you for His Kingdom.
Blessings,
Pastor Ryan
May 17, 2024
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." - Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
This Friday we take a look at verse 8. The first part of it says, "Be not wise in your own eyes..." This is a good reminder that God knows that we couldn't possibly understand all things and know what is best for ourselves as He does. This scripture is instructing us to rely on Him. In every season, in every decision we make in life, and with full confidence in Him, we should heed His advice. Why? We are human and we make bad decisions. Not just once or twice, but repeatedly we make bad choices and that is because we depend on our own wisdom and discernment when we should, instead, be dependent upon Him. We take matters into our own hands, not because we are maliciously disobedient, but rather because we don't fear Him. If we don't have a fear of someone or something, we will not react to it by putting our trust in that person or thing. We feel like we know better and, thus, we depend on our own selves. We don't truly believe that God can handle whatever we are facing. In reality, trusting Him is hard, but it is necessary in our walk with Him. We can say we believe and trust in Him, but if we do not put it into practice, do we really?
Remember how this portion of scripture started? "Trust in the Lord with ALL..." If we are to live a life worthy of being called a son or daughter of the King then we must TRUST Him, ACKNOWLEDGE Him, and FEAR Him.
Blessings,
Pastor Ryan
May 10, 2024
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." - Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
Last week we learned that it is vital for us to TRUST in GOD and NOT in OURSELVES. We should do this for many reasons, but the main reason is stated best in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
This week we will focus on verse 6 in Proverbs Chapter 3, "In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." There's that word again--ALL. It doesn't say in some of your ways or part of your ways, but in ALL of them. So in everything you say and do ACKNOWLEDGE Him, ask or inquire of Him, seek Him, and find out what He thinks of the situation.
Again, if we say His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, then we are saying that He knows what we need more than we do. That verse finished by giving us the assurance that, if we ACKNOWLEDGE Him, He WILL make our paths straight! We must realize that His idea of straight may not look the same as the path we feel is the straightest and best, but again, we must SURRENDER to HIS WAYS. Let's do our best to acknowledge Him fully and watch Him make our crooked paths straight.
Blessings,
Pastor Ryan
May 3, 2024
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." - Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
There is so much to unpack in these few short verses. There are multiple things to consider. We'll look at them over the next few Fridays, but for today let's look at verse 5.
The very first word brings us to action-TRUST! We all know what it means, but most of us find it hard to do. We are self-reliant people so it is difficult to take our hands off of something and let someone else take care of the situation, but that is exactly what the Bible instructs us to do. It goes even further by instructing us not only to trust in the Lord, but to do so with ALL of our heart. The word ALL brings another obstacle that we must face. I believe He says ALL because He knows that if we have any control, that we will likely try to take full control back and then we will be back in the same place in which we began. I'm not speaking of a sinful place, but rather a place of uncertainty. So it is important that we put complete and total trust in God so that we can become the person He desires us to be.
The last part of that verse instructs us that we should lean not on our own understanding. This is key for us to realize in our walk with God. He has purpose for us. He has plans for our lives and if we aren't fully reliant on Him, then we can't pursue Him as we should. We will never accomplish the things for the Kingdom of God that He sets before us to do if we are worldly-minded. In order to be pleasing to Him and accomplish His will for our lives, we must lay aside our own desires and we must TRUST in Him in every possible way.
Blessings,
Pastor Ryan