Psalms 119:44-45 (4/17/24)

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Psalms 119:44-45 (4/17/24)

Experiencing Freedom

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 42:13-17 (5/1/24)

May 1, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Jeremiah 42:13–17

- Craig Groeschel has some great teaching about momentum. - Newtons law of momentum – an object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. - Momentum is something we should always have in our lives in business. - If you have momentum, you should keep it unless you do something to kill it. - Four factors that kill momentum: - When things get difficult, we default to doing what’s: - Safe - Easy - Known - Comfortable - This is what many in Israel were faced with after their friends were deported to Babylon. - Nebuchadnezzar let many of them stay in the now Babylonian-controlled Israel. - But there were threats from the surrounding nations, and the people were scared. - Being in the center of danger in the middle of God’s will is the best place to be. - Jesus said “I send you out as sheep among wolves.” - Jeremiah gave them this word: - vs 9-12 - “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land.” - If you’ve been following the Lord and delighting in Him, then wherever you are is your Promised Land. - It may not be pleasant but stay there. Don’t leave. - God will show you when it’s time to go. - You'll know it's time for a move when the doors open easily and you don't have to push. - Faithfulness where you are paves the way for you to be faithful where God will take you. - God outlined what would happen if they chose to go to “greener pastures.” - vs 13-17 - “But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die.” - God was very clear about what would happen if they didn’t stay put. - But a false prophet arose (in chapter 43) and told the people that Jeremiah had prophesied a lie. - They liked the easier message, so they chose disobedience, and it cost them dearly. - Note - run from the prosperity preachers! - So here’s the question for you - what is your Egypt? - What is your default when things get tough? - You need to define it so you can overcome it. - EX: You know you need to lose 50lbs, so you start eating the right way and you feel momentum. - Then it gets really hard. - What habits do you default to at that point? - Write them down, then define new habits you’ll do whenever you want to default back to those. - If you go back to them, you’ll lose your momentum! - EX: I defaulted to ice cream, so I replaced it with dark chocolate. - EX: Buddy struggled with porn, so he replaced it with holding the Bible. - Don’t default to what’s safe, easy, known, or comfortable or you’ll lose momentum.

Psalms 119:23-24 (5/1/24)

May 1, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 119:23–24

* "Meditation is to your inner person what digestion is to your body." —Warren Wiersbe * Your body must process food to extract nutrients, which fuel and repair your body. * Your brain must process thoughts to extract truth, which fuels and repairs your soul. * Meditation Definition: * “think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.” * “to think deeply or carefully about (something).” * Satan wants you to clear your mind so it stays empty. * God wants you to clear your mind so He can fill it! * This is why you must meditate on God’s Word. * Truth will fill you and fuel you. * vs 23 - “Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.” * David cultivated a practice of meditation. * Few things are better than timely advice in a situation where you desperately need wisdom. * This is the beauty of reading God's Word every day. * Just watch how you will read something on the very day you need it most - something will just pop off the page and explain things in a way you didn't see before. * You may have read the verse 100 times before but now that you're in a new situation you see it differently and it really speaks to you. * The result: * vs 24 - “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.” * This is how God's Word becomes our delight - we realize that what we're reading has the answers to ALL of life's issues. * It's literally the road map to living life to the fullest. * David meditated before he experienced delight. * When you meditate you think deep, and when you think deep patterns begin to emerge. * This helps you process through situations so the next time they come up you have a plan in place to get through it in power! * So don’t just read the Bible, meditate on it and watch what happens.

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!!!!