Lessons on Life & Business
Jeremiah 36:7 (4/24/24)
April 24, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Jeremiah 36:7
* A merciful mindset positions us for favor with God. * If one of my kids shows mercy to their brother or sister, it makes me want to reward them! * God feels the same toward us. * James 2:13 - “For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who is not merciful…” * Jesus shows us this with the woman caught in adultery. * They wanted judgment, but Jesus taught mercy. * But He didn’t lower the standard to show it - “Go and sin no more.” * Two OT prophets - Jonah and Jeremiah. * Jonah - got mad at God when He showed mercy to Ninevah. * He wanted justice for the people, not mercy. * God did not like that. * Jeremiah - he had to deliver a harsh message to the king who had imprisoned him. * Look how he responds as he asked his assistant Baruch to carry a message to the king: * vs 5-7 - ““I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the Lord’s temple. 6 So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the Lord and will each turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the Lord are great.” * Jeremiah shows us the power of a merciful disposition. * Jeremiah 51:8 - “Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail for her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed.” * We should want our enemies to experience the mercy of God. * Not because they deserve it, but because God showed us mercy when we didn’t deserve it. * This disposition will keep us from getting bitter an angry toward others. * And it will keep us from falling prey to James 2:13!!!!
1 Corinthians 4:15 (4/24/24)
April 24, 2024 • Benham Brothers • 1 Corinthians 4:15
* We are “watchmen” not “watchdogs.” * We don’t do the “latest news.” * Our mandate from God is to expose evil and help you stand strong. * We do that by helping you think through stuff. * Five observations from the Mark Driscoll saga. * 1) The Jezebel spirit is real - it thrives on three things: * Sexual Anarchy (LGBTQ+) * Child Sacrifice (Abortion) * Murderous Spirit (Cancel Culture) * 2) A fatherly mindset is the only way to deal with Jezebel. * 1 Cor 4:15 - “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” * A pastor is a “father” - a dad doesn’t let the kids lead the home. * Pastors today are allowing creatives to take the lead. * Jehu was the one who was tasked to take out Jezebel - he was a “bad” dude. * 3) Etiquette should not be valued over purity. * Pastor Lindell should’ve addressed both issues. * 4) The consequences of private sin will affect you down the road, even after you’ve repented. * Mark’s personal sin caused him to shrink back. * 5) We have to “let the prophets speak” - because their words are hard. * Most prophets travel alone - often because they have “issues.”
Acts 13:49-50 (4/17/24)
April 17, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Acts 13:49–50
* God uses people to accomplish His will on the earth. * He uses both good and bad people. * Satan uses people to accomplish his will on the earth. * He uses both good and bad people. * Backstory - Jesus was off the scenes and now the growth of the church was the responsibility of the apostles. * Paul and Barnabas were preaching like crazy! * Jews and Gentiles were getting saved by the droves. * vs 49 - “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” * Through their witness the kingdom of heaven was advancing forcefully against the kingdom of hell. * Then something happened: * vs 50 - “But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.” * A “God-fearing” person who’s a “leader” is a Christian Influencer! * The Christian Influencers of the day were now on the wrong side of God’s Kingdom expansion! * We need to always remember the four spiritual players at work here. * Revelation 17 shows us: * Dragon - Satan himself. * Beast - Antichrist spirit (any idea that stands against God). * Babylon - (PEC) Political, Economic, Cultural system of the Beast. * The goal of Babylon is to turn people away from God. * Harlot - Religious system of Babylon that gives credence to the Beast. * The only way people will desire Satan’s way more than God’s way is if there is a religious system that legitimizes it. * That’s what happened here in Acts 13. * Satan needed good-hearted Godly people to buy into his lies and hinder God’s work. * Note - These influencers were first convinced by the “religious” leaders. * “…the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women…” * What are our pastors teaching us today? * How do we make sure we don’t get used by Satan? * 1) Wrap knowledge around our zeal. * These influencers certainly had a zeal for the Lord, but they didn’t have knowledge. * They needed a Biblical worldview to filter the lies being spoken into their ears. * We need to “study” Scripture to be intimately familiar with the truth. * We need to study it through the lense of a battle. * 2) Look and listen for the spirit behind what’s being said or done. * EX: Jesus with Peter. * EX: Stanley - teaching Christians to stay out of the “hot topic” issues. * “If you need an enemy to prop up your leadership, you’re not leading.” * People clapped - but the Bible is a book about God’s enemy. * 3) Ask God what He thinks. * Then pause and listen. * 4) Sit under leaders with a “Fatherly” spirit (and Motherly). * They’re willing to talk about all things. * They teach about boundaries.
Psalms 119:44-45 (4/17/24)
April 17, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 119:44–45
* You might have heard it said that rules without relationship lead to rebellion. * It’s true, for the most part. * But relationship without rules leads to rejection! * Love is “compassion with standards.” * If we don’t operate by the standards, we don’t have love. * It’s our commitment to following the rules that shows our surrender to the rule-giver. * God’s fences (boundaries) are not to keep you from good things, but to keep bad things from you! * Look at what David says about rules in these verses: * vs 44-45 - “So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.” * David loved God’s rules because he saw how God’s blessings were found inside of them. * Why rules? * His boundaries bring freedom! * Freedom is the greatest blessing you can have. * EX: One boundary in the Garden - don’t eat the fruit. * If they obeyed, they were free forever. * If they disobeyed, they were enslaved forever. * EX: Doctor Dobson playground experiment. * Without properly defined boundaries we don't have freedom. * When boundaries are clearly defined we can move about freely and not be scared. * EX: Balcony with no railings. * Boundaries bring freedom, and God's boundaries are the answer to our fear. * Like a kite held by the boundary of the string, so we are free to fly so long as we don't let go of God's boundaries found in His Word. * If we want true freedom, then we need to operate within God’s boundaries.
Jeremiah 4:19 (4/10/24)
April 10, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Jeremiah 4:19
- When you draw near to God, He gives you eyes to see and ears to hear. - You will see & hear the spirit. - When Jesus returns, we’ll see Him and hear Him physically. - But we can do it now if we focus our spiritual eyes and tune our spiritual ears. - We won’t just see and hear God, we’ll see and hear the enemy. - EX: Jesus calling Peter “Satan.” - All through Christ’s ministry, He talked about those who don’t see or hear. - Jeremiah shows us what it looks like. - His culture was going to hell in a hatbasket, but everyone was having a great time. - They were building their churches and having their conferences and enjoying themselves. - All while the culture was going down the tube straight to hell! - vs 19 - “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me; I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.” - Jeremiah heard something nobody else did. - He heard it because his ears were tuned into God. - He saw it because his eyes were focused on the Lord. - We must do the same. - When we see God moving and hear Him whispering, we can prepare for what lies ahead. - EX: David and I speaking at a men’s event and charging the men to be bold. - Some of the staff might not say anything - maybe even distance from us. - But other men flock to us and are ready to fight! - They heard the battle cry! - But Jeremiah didn’t simply hear the battle cry, he also heard something else: - vs 31 - “I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child— the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath…” - He was soft-hearted toward people and hard-headed toward principle! - How do you tune your ears to hear God and focus your eyes to see God? - See like a Soldier - recognize that we’re in a spiritual battle. - Soldiers are always on the lookout. - They are surrendered to authority. - Process like a Parent - your role is to provide and protect. - So you speak truth in love. - Your provide boundaries for their blessing. - Study like a Scribe - devour the Scripture. - Don’t just read, but “study.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 - “Study to show yourself approved.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (4/10/24)
April 10, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Jeremiah 9:23–24
* The people in Jeremiah’s day were prospering well. * But they started looking to themselves, which led to their boasting. * They had forgotten Isaiah 48:17 - “I am the Lord, who teaches you to profit…” * As God’s kids, they experienced God’s blessing on the earth. * Why? So they could prepare the way for the Messiah! * However, as they grew bigger and stronger they forgot their “why” and started started falling away from the Lord. * How? By focusing on themselves and no longer on God. * Same thing happened in Romans 1:21 - “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him…” * Look how God responds: * vs 23 - “This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches…” * They boasted in three things. * We have to make sure we don’t boast in these: * 1) Intellect - “the understanding or mental powers of a person.” * You see all over Twitter intellectuals arguing with each other. * 1 Corinthians 8:1 - “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” * You’ve elevated your intellect when you demand others to believe just like you. * 2) Influence - Israel had grown mighty in the world, so mighty that all the kingdoms of the world knew about them. * Social media has created “platform lust.” * People elevate Likes over Lives. * Ultimately, the platform is what keeps them silent about things that matter. * If God increases your influence, don’t forget why He’s done it. * 3) Income - Money represents your source of sustainability. * It’s not the source - God is. * Income can become your idol when impact isn’t your goal. * It cuts both ways: * Pride because of your surplus - this is dangerous because you don’t feel like you need God. * Fear because of your lack - this is dangerous because you don’t feel like God will come through. * But we are not to boast about any of these things. * vs 24 - “…but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.” * EX: What’s better to brag about, the amount of money I make or the number of houses I have or the types of vacations I take …or that I was an intimate friend of Billy Graham and traveled everywhere with him since he was a teenager? * The same is true in our relationship w/God. * Let’s not boast about our life - Let’s boast that we know the Giver of Life! * That keeps the focus on Him and not on the "things" of Him.
Psalms 109:30 (4/3/24)
April 3, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 109:26–30
* David had just unleashed an arsenal of complaints to God about his enemies. * They had accused him falsely, so he poured his heart out to the Lord concerning the matter. * This was his private prayer: * vs 26-29 - “Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your unfailing love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it. While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice. May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.” * Notice David’s reason for God to defend him. * “Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it.” * He was essentially saying, "I represent you and everyone knows it. Please save me so everyone will know how ossum you are." * He was thinking about God’s reputation more than his own. * David poured his heart out to the Lord privately, then he addresses how he’ll handle it publicly. * vs 30 - "With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise Him." * David took his negative comments about his enemies to God privately, but publicly he honored God with his speech. * David didn't complain about his enemies in front of the crowd. * He did that alone with him and God. * After he poured his heart out to the Lord he then would give praise to God publicly. * We should do the same. * If we don’t take our negative thoughts and emotions to God first, we put an undue burden on others. * God can handle the full weight of our burden. * He uses others to help us, but we have to go to God first! * Why? * Because the very act of pouring our hearts out to God lightens the load we carry. * So when we go to a friend we’re not giving them the full weight of the burden. * How do we know if we’ve done it wrong? * If you unleash your full burden to someone before taking it to God you give them the weight of your burden. * And they don’t have the grace to handle it. * If it involves another person, they’ll grow bitter toward that person. * We need to take our issues to God first, and when we do we'll find we have the peace to handle ourselves in a proper manner publicly.
Isaiah 66:2 (4/3/24)
April 3, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Isaiah 66:2
* Humility is seeing yourself through the grid of who God is and who you are in relation to Him. * Isaiah is saying that this type of person is the one whom God will look on with favor. * vs 2 - “Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” * A humble person filters everything through God's Word with a sincere heart to obey it. * A humble person is dead-set on being reverent to God's Word more than he is on being relevant to the culture. * Warren Wiersbe says, “To “tremble at God’s word” means to respect what God says and fear to disobey it. The Jews experienced this when Ezra exposed their sins, and the prophet Habakkuk experienced it when he saw the vision of God’s judgment. Saul of Tarsus trembled when he met the Lord. However, King Jehoiakim did not tremble at the Word; he tried to destroy it, and that led to his destruction. Paul urged, “Work out your own salvation [Christian life] with fear and trembling.” * To tremble is to have a holy fear of God. * He’s a lion, but He’s not a tame lion! * You do not mess with Him. * Jeremiah 2:19 - “Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe (fear) of me,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.” * Skip Moen - “The fear of Me” isn’t strong enough, particularly these days. This is not yārāʾ, the usual verb for fear. This is far more intense. Terror is the sense of it. YHVH complains that His people are no longer terrorized by His presence. Yes, He is the loving God committed to a covenant with Israel. That doesn’t go away. But He is GOD, the absolute monarch of all creation, the source of everything, the producer of good and evil, able to snatch away life in a split second. Israel forgot Who it was dealing with. The people counted on the covenant promise without recognizing the character of the Promiser. Instead of trembling, they presumed.” * “When was the last time you heard anyone speak about the dread of God? That wouldn’t attract many attendees, would it? No, instead of listening to the words of Jeremiah, we have converted a warning into a welcome. * “We have divorced wrath from mercy and gone on to proclaim the end-of-the-rainbow kingdom. We don’t think it’s possible that God would actually destroy us. We skip over YHVH’s declaration of Jeremiah’s role, “to pluck up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow . . .” * “Okay, now you can stop thinking about this truth and go on pretending that God wants to make you happy. * Do you tremble at His Word?
Psalms 107:33-38 (3/27/24)
March 27, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 107:33–38
* When we make our work worship, God responds favorably. * He opens up the land - it yields to us! * He blesses our work. * Remember two curses: * The curse of Adam - work would be hard, but still fruitful. * The curse of Cain, however - work would be hard and unfruitful. * Cain didn’t offer his best to God. * His work wasn’t worship. * If you do your own thing your own way, you run the way of Cain. * You work hard but you don’t feel fulfilled in the work you do. * EX: Mowing lawns - I knew I wouldn’t be there long, but it was fulfilling. * Backstory: * This psalm exhorts God’s people to give thanks for God’s gracious act of redeeming his people from Babylonian exile and gathering them back in the land. * It talks about the difficulties people went through on their way back to Jerusalem… * …and about what happened to the land before they left: * vs 33-34 - “He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.” * God can do whatever He wants with the place we inhabit. * If we work with a heart to please Him, He will “bless the land.” * 70 years later… * vs 35-36 - “He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.” * The land itself was ready for their return. * Matthew Henry - “The goodness of God has often mended the barrenness of the soil, and turned a wilderness, a land of drought, into water-springs.” * They got to work, and look how God blessed: * vs 37-38 - “They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.” * Imagine trying to dig a well in the middle of the desert - not gonna happen. * Now think about it in the middle of a field located between two rivers. * God is saying that if you worship Him and obey His commandments, what was once a dry land will be turned into a fertile place. * EX: REO space in real estate. * Sometimes the land doesn’t yield because you haven’t made your work worship. * But other times the land doesn’t yield because God wants to move you somewhere else. * Either way, we do Godly work, and God will respond.
Psalms 108:1-13 (3/27/24)
March 27, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 108
* The cultural seems to be getting worse by the day. * Truth is trampled in the streets. * Those who stand for truth are treated as criminals. * We’re in the middle of a major spiritual battle. * So what do we do? * This Psalm will show us. * Stephen Covey, in The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, says, “Begin with the end in mind.” * Applied to this Psalm, we need to read the last verse first: * vs 13 - “With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.” * This Psalm gives us a glimpse at the heart of a warrior and how David roused himself into fighting God's battles. * 1) He praised God (vs 1—6). * He started out by praising God for Who He is. * This roused in David's heart a strong devotion to the mighty God, a God Who could never be defeated. * 2) He listened to God (vs 7-9). * He heard God speak, and remembered God's Word that Israel was His. * 3) He rose up to conquer (vs 10-13). * David praised God and called to mind how mighty He is. * He remembered what God had said in His Word. * He then rose to tread down his enemies.
Isaiah 39:6-8 (3/20/24)
March 20, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Isaiah 39:6–8
- God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud (James 4:6). - Humble people have God as a partner. - Prideful people get God as an opponent. - Backstory - Hezekiah was a good king, but he got sick and was going to die. - So he prayed and asked God for healing. - God responded and gave him another 15 years. - Then Hezekiah got comfortable. - This grew into pride. - A sense of desperation keeps you humble. - The King of Babylon sent messengers to him with gifts. - Hezekiah showed off in front of them - displaying all his wealth. - Pride is often revealed by your need for approval from others. - Isaiah rebuked him for his pride. - vs 5-7 - “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” - What if someone told you this would happen to your kids? - How did Hezekiah respond? - vs 8 - “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.” - When pride enters your heart, discernment disappears. - The king no longer had good reasoning capacity because his eyes had been shut. - Pride does this - it blinds you to wisdom. - Prideful people do not think generationally. - KEY - either choose humility on your own or be humiliated. - Every decision of a prideful person moves them closer to humiliation. - It’s a principle as true as gravity. - Notice the punishment for his pride. It was two-fold: - 1) Possessions - All the stuff he showed the dudes from Babylon would end up in wicked hands. - God is in the business of transferring wealth. - He either transfers it to the righteous or the other way around. - Choose to be in the “right relationship” with God, and what you have will be yours forever, not to be possessed by the wicked. - 2) Posterity - He would lose his kids to the enemy, and his sons would be emasculated. (vs 7) - Pride ruins families. - If you are a prideful parent, you will lose your kids. - Is anything worth losing your kids? - Please don’t be prideful!
Isaiah 48:17-18 (3/20/24)
March 20, 2024 • David Benham • Isaiah 48:17–18
- Did you know there are more verses on money, riches, & wealth than any other topic in the Bible? - Money represents security. - True profit is not the surplus of money you have in your bank account. - True profit is anything that leads to life. - Mark 8:36 - “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?” - But there is a financial side to profit God wants us to have. - God hardwired us with a need to work and a desire for reward. - God wants us to be good at our jobs to provide for our families. - He just wants us to focus on eternal rewards more than monetary rewards. - Backstory - Israel was truly blessed by God. - They were the crown jewel of the Middle Eastern nations. - Doing things God’s way always pays off. - But Israel started to think their own strength got them there. - So God rebuked them through the prophet Isaiah. - In the midst of that rebuke, God said this: - vs 17 - “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.” - The word “teach” in this verse means “to train, to develop skillsets.” - The word “profit” means “to become valuable.” - So this verse doesn’t tell us that God will give us profit. - It tells us that God will train us to develop skillsets that make us valuable. - In Expert Ownership, we teach 4 steps - Value Creation, Marketing, Sales, Value Delivery. - Value Delivery - create solutions to problems. - Marketing - turning People to Prospects. - Sales - turning Prospects to Purchasers. - Value Delivery - turning Purchasers to Promoters. - This is where we connect people to God! - And what follows value? PROFIT! - We don’t focus on profit. - We focus on value. - When we do that, we will never fall in love with money. - KEY - Valuable people look for problems over profit. - But the Israelites didn’t do that. - They went after the money - they focused on profit, not value. - God said: - vs 18 - “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” - Which one is more important, profit or peace? - Imagine closing a deal where you make 100k in commission, but you have no peace in your life - your spouse won’t talk to you and your kids hate you for being so busy at work. - You can’t control your appetite for food or your thirst for alcohol. - Are you really going to enjoy that 100k? Nope! - What we need more than anything is PEACE! - When we focus on adding value to people through our work while honoring God in the way we do it, we will experience “peace like a river!” - vs 22 - “There is no peace…for the wicked.” - If we don’t do things God’s way, we cannot experience true inner peace. - True profit = PEACE!
Isaiah 32:17 (3/13/24)
March 13, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Isaiah 32:17
- God’s blessings are found inside God’s boundaries. - And when we honor Him through obedience, we remain “righteous.” - Righteous is being in “right relationship” with God. - Isaiah is going to show us three blessings that are ours when we are righteous. - He is talking about the coming Millenial reign of Jesus on the earth. - He talks about the blessings that we’ll have when that happens. - But whatever we will enjoy physically when Christ reigns we can enjoy spiritually now. - vs 17 - “The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.” - Notice three things we have when Christ’s justice and righteousness are on display in our lives: - 1) PEACE - we will experience total tranquility of spirit. - We’re not all anxious and fearful of what’s coming in the future. - We aren’t living chaotically in our minds. - We’re at full and complete rest. - EX: Jesus asleep in the boat. - He rebuked them for not being at peace. - When we are peaceful in our hearts, we will experience the next two: - 2) QUIETNESS - you cannot hear God speak until you are quiet. - You quiet your heart and your mind (stop all the chatter). - We don’t let loud, noisy thoughts fill our minds. - The noise on the outside does not produce noise on the inside. - As a result, we can hear God’s still, small voice. - EX: Jesus driving out the “busy-ness” in the Temple. - 3) CONFIDENCE - we have 100% trust that God can and will come through for us. - Nothing will ever harm us. - We truly believe that God will be our provider and protector. - EX: Jesus praying in the Garden - “All things are possible for you. Please take this cup from Me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as You will.” (Luke 22:42) - How do we get these three things - peace, quietness, and confidence? - God’s justice and righteousness in our lives. - Justice is alignment with God’s rules, staying inside the boundaries, and repenting when we fall out of line. - Righteousness is being in a “right relationship” with God through faith in Jesus and a commitment to following Him.
Isaiah 34:1 (3/13/24)
March 13, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Isaiah 34:1
- If we want to hear God we need to draw near to Him. - He likes whispering, and only those who draw near to Him will hear Him. - EX: Listening to the fan motor. - EX: Listening to your spouse in a crowded room (you gotta get close). - The same is true with our relationship with God. - He's speaking. He's always speaking. - The key for us to hear is that we must draw near. - vs 1 - “Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it!” - God is telling the people to draw near to Him and listen! - Five Keys to draw near and hear God: - 1) Reverence - Honor Him as king of kings and Lord of Lords. - Hearing from God always starts w/reverence. - It’s a posture of heart that says, “You are God and I am not.” - Hebrews 11:7 - “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household…” - When you’re reverent, the applause or boos from the outside means nothing to you. - 2) Repentance - we must turn from our sin and go in the opposite direction. - All through Scripture, we see God stop talking because of impurity. - To repent means to “change your mind.” - Romans 12:2 - transform your mind! - 3) Rule - let Him have authority in our lives as Lord. - God calls the shots from here on out. - Have a heart of surrender (ADS). - 4) Recognize - who God is and who you are in relation to Him. - This will keep you humble, and humility is key to staying close to God. - God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). - 5) Reorder - make it your top priority to listen to Him daily. - Put everything else after that. - Discipline yourself to have time with God every day. - Reorder your life around hearing God.
Isaiah 26:3 (3/6/24)
March 6, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Isaiah 26:3
* Do you want peace in your life? * Peace - “freedom from disturbance; tranquility; a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended.” * When it comes to experiencing peace in our life, it is a matter of our minds. * It’s the internal state of tranquility - 100% total rest no matter what’s going on on the outside. * Like Jesus sleeping in the boat amid the storm. * It’s keeping our heart rates regulated amid chaos. * So how do we get it? * Well, the answer to that is two-fold. * vs 3 - “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” * It’s a matter of Trust and Focus. * First, peace is a matter of TRUST. * Your mind will focus on whatever you trust. * Anxiety - trusting something bad will happen in the future. * Do I truly trust God? * If I do, then I have to know He will not let anything happen to me that He hasn’t first approved. * I need to know that He’s got my back, that He’s my provider and protector. * Security is our #1 core human need. * You have to feel safe before you can rest. * If you can never rest (because you’re not secure from harm) then your body will shut down, literally. * Your stress hormones stay elevated and the next thing you know you’re having anxiety and panic attacks. * So peace is a matter of TRUST. * Second, peace is a matter of FOCUS. * Once you know you can trust God, you now have to focus on Him. * “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you…” * You have to keep your mind in a state of God-consciousness where you know He’s there with you. * Your emotions will tell you everything is going to fall apart, but your spirit needs to tell your mind to focus on the truth, not the lies you’re tempted to believe. * Romans 12:2 tells us renewing your mind (focusing on truth over lies) is the secret to transformation. * It’s the secret to transforming you into a person whose internal peace cannot be rattled by external chaos. * That’s how you get peace - Trust God and Focus on Him! * Tony Evans - “Believers can claim this promise: You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace (26:3). This peace is not only valid in the kingdom age, but also for all those who tune their minds to God’s spiritual realities.”