icon__search

1 Chronicles 17:1-3 (7/22/21)

How to Build Your Squad

July 22, 2021 • Benham Brothers

* Abe Lincoln once said, “If you give me six hours to chop down a tree, I’ll take the first five to sharpen my axe!”
* If you want to achieve something of significance (like build a business), one of the best ways to “sharpen your axe” is to build your squad!
* We become like the people we hang around the most.
* “According to research by social psychologist Dr. David McClelland of Harvard, the people you habitually associate with determine as much as 95 percent of your success or failure in life.
* But it’s even bigger than this - it’s not just your immediate friends - it’s your social network as well.
* Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler examined the data set from the Framingham Heart Study, one of the largest and longest running health studies ever, when they realized that it covered more than just the heart health of the participants. They were studied for all sorts of medical conditions, and during interviews they were probed with all sorts of demographic questions, including questions about family members and friends.
* So they started analyzing the data to see what the effects of family members and friends were on something fairly easy and objective: obesity. According to their results, if a friend of yours becomes obese, you yourself are 45 percent more likely than chance to gain weight over the next two to four years. More surprisingly, however, they found that if a friend of your friend becomes obese, your likelihood of gaining weight increases by about 20 percent — even if you don’t know that friend of a friend. The effect continues one more person out. If a friend of the friend of your friend develops obesity, you are still 10 percent more likely than random chance to gain weight as well.
* They found that if your friend smokes, you are 61 percent more likely to be a smoker yourself. If a friend of your friend smokes, you are still 29 percent more likely to smoke. And for a friend of a friend, the likelihood is 11 percent.
* Perhaps the most telling study was of happiness. The two researchers found that happy friends make you happier — no surprise there. If your friend is happy you are 15% more likely to be happy. A friend of a friend being happy gives you a 12% chance of being happier as a result. A friend of a friend of a friend gives you a 6 percent greater likelihood of being happy yourself. 
* Why is all this important?
* Because it shows the importance of building your squad!
* David, the most famous and arguably the most successful man in the Old Testament, shows us the value of your squad!
* And it starts with your closest confidant.
* Vs 1 - David told Nathan first! Good move.
* Vs 2 - Nathan empowered David to do what was in his heart! Good friend.
* Vs 3 - God spoke to David THROUGH Nathan!
* David never got rid of Nathan after the rebuke (he even named one of his kids after him).
* Imagine if David shared this vision about the temple with Hiram first - he would’ve activated a plan to make it happen.
* But Nathan didn’t start planning, he started praying.
* Who are your closest friends? Do you have a Nathan in your life?
* The only way to achieve true success is with a squad.
* Even Jesus showed us this.
* Three things about your squad:
* 1) Surround yourself with people who make you better.
* 2) Surround yourself with people who will give you hard advice.
* 3) Surround yourself with people who are more concerned about the burden than the benefit.

1 Chronicles 3:5 (6/14/18)

June 14, 2018 • Benham Brothers

* The prophet Nathan was the one who rebuked David for his sin with Bathsheba. * How did David reward him? * First, he kept Nathan as a private advisor. * Second, he named one of his sons whom he had with Bathseba, Nathan! * One of Solomon’s older brother’s was named Nathan! * That’s true honor.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (7/10/14)

July 10, 2014 • Benham Brothers

Jabez made a simple request of God, and God granted it to him. So who was Jabez? Observe: 1) He was the right WHO - he was honorable, which meant he lived in such a respectful way that he was distinguished among his bretheren. Honorable people concern themselves more with WHO than DO - they want to BE the right person and not just DO the right things. 1 Sam 2:30 - "http://...if you honor ME I will honor you...." He knew WHO he was - Jabez means "sorrow, trouble." His mom named him this because she didn't want him to forget the pain she went through to give him life! Jesus did the same for us - He endured death to give us life! Psalm 78:9 - "The men of Ephraim turned back on the day of battle because they FORGOT" 3) He asked for a blessing - he knew his history! He remembered God giving Abraham a blessing. He aspired to be a part of God's blessing, because he knew that apart from God's blessing his life would be worthless. He knew that God's blessing was for a purpose - for God to be honored! 4) He wanted God's presence - he knew about Moses denying the Promised Land if God didn't go in with them. Jabez didn't want the blessing without the God of the blessing. He wanted God more than His blessing. We often times go for the blessing but miss the God behind the blessing in the process. 5) He wanted to be clean - he saw how dirty Solomon got even though he was the wisest man ever. He didn't want God's blessing if he was going to end up living a dirty life. 6) He got what he asked for - because he asked with the right intentions. 1 John 3:22 - we will get what we ask for when we ask with the right motives. Why? When we seek to honor God we will live honorably, and when we live honorably we will make honorable requests - and God will never say no to an honorable request! It happened for Jabez and it will happen for us! It's all about HONOR!

1 Chronicles 5:20 (9/20/23)

September 20, 2023 • Benham Brothers • 1 Chronicles 5:20

* Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey.    * It all starts with Trust (security).  * 1 Chronicles lists the names of leaders and the number of fighters in each tribe.    * It was written to encourage those who were in Babylonian captivity to Trust and Obey.  * Couched in the middle of all these names, we learn about three of the tribes and how God rescued them from an insurmountable army.  * Vs 18-20 - “The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men ready for military service—able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle. 19 They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. 20 They were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.”    * The Hagrites had over 100k troops.    * How would God rescue them?  * Notice three things:  * 1) The trained for battle - they sharpened their skillset.    * God gives ability, but we have to turn that into skill.    * God didn’t make these guys good with the sword - they had to train for it.  * 2) They trusted God - they didn't fully rely on their skills or weapons.     * They relied on God for deliverance.     * Whatever it is that you use in your day-to-day life (your tools, your gifting, your friends, your software, whatever) you must not rely on those things, you must rely on God.      * I USE my tools but I TRUST in God.       * If you're a farmer you use your tractor to plant crops but you trust in God to bring the harvest.       * An insurance salesman uses his ability to connect with people to sell policies but he trusts in God to provide for him financially.     * Victory comes when God knows that we trust Him more than the stuff He's given us to use.       * We USE stuff but we TRUST God. * 3) The battle was the Lord’s - God ordained it because He had a plan for it.    * Two types of battles:      * Ones we cause - because of sin.      * Ones God causes - so He can do stuff!   * God allowed this battle because He was going to destroy the Hagrites and enrich the Israelites.    * Vs 21-22 - “They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand people captive, 22 and many others fell slain, because the battle was God’s. And they occupied the land until the exile.”    * How else would the Israelites get this stuff except through a fight?  * Think of your life, the battles you face.    * Is it from God?    * If so, then He’s probably sharpening you, dealing w/the person, and enriching you both on the other side!