716. Scripture Verses that can Guide Your Life - (#11) - I can do all Things Through Christ that Strengthens me - December 30, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:22] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them.

[00:00:35] In addition, I pray that everyone listening today would have favor with both God and man. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:00:45] The words of Agur, the son of Jaiki, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Eucal,

[00:00:55] Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom, nor have knowledge of the Holy One.

[00:01:09] Who has ascended into heaven or descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?

[00:01:24] What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know? Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

[00:01:44] Two things I request of you. Deprive me not before I die. Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches.

[00:01:58] Feed me with the food allotted to me, lest I be full and deny you, and say, Who is the Lord? Or, lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.

[00:02:15] Do not malign a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.

[00:02:22] There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother.

[00:02:28] There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness.

[00:02:36] There is a generation, oh, how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up.

[00:02:44] There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and whose fangs are like knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

[00:02:58] The leech has two daughters, give and give.

[00:03:02] There are three things that are never satisfied.

[00:03:05] Four never say enough.

[00:03:09] The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire never says enough.

[00:03:18] The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his mother.

[00:03:24] The ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it.

[00:03:29] There are three things which are too wonderful for me.

[00:03:34] Yes, four, which I do not understand.

[00:03:38] The way of an eagle in the air.

[00:03:41] The way of a serpent on a rock.

[00:03:43] The way of a ship in the midst of the sea.

[00:03:47] And the way of a man with a virgin.

[00:03:50] This is the way of an adulterous woman.

[00:03:53] She eats and wipes her mouth and says,

[00:03:57] I have done no wickedness.

[00:04:00] For three things the earth is perturbed.

[00:04:03] Yes, for four it cannot bear up.

[00:04:07] For a servant when he reigns.

[00:04:10] A fool when he is filled with food.

[00:04:13] A hateful woman when she is married.

[00:04:16] And a maid servant who succeeds her mistress.

[00:04:20] There are four things which are little on the earth.

[00:04:24] But they are exceedingly wise.

[00:04:26] The ants are a people not strong.

[00:04:29] Yet they prepare their food in the summer.

[00:04:32] The rock badgers are a feeble folk.

[00:04:36] Yet they make their homes in the crags.

[00:04:39] The locusts have no king.

[00:04:42] Yet they all advance in ranks.

[00:04:45] The spider skillfully grasps with its hands.

[00:04:49] And it is in king's palaces.

[00:04:52] There are three things which are majestic in pace.

[00:04:56] Yes, four which are stately in walk.

[00:05:00] A lion which is mighty among beasts and does not turn away from any.

[00:05:06] A greyhound, a male goat also.

[00:05:10] And a king whose troops are with him.

[00:05:13] If you have been foolish in exalting yourself.

[00:05:17] Or if you have devised evil.

[00:05:20] Put your hand on your mouth.

[00:05:22] For as the churning of milk produces butter.

[00:05:26] And wringing the nose produces blood.

[00:05:29] So the forcing of wrath produces strife.

[00:05:34] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 5.

[00:05:39] And Proverb 30 verse 5 tells us this.

[00:05:44] Every word of God is pure.

[00:05:48] He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.

[00:05:53] Friends, we will come back and revisit that verse prior to closing today.

[00:05:59] But what I'd like to do is to close out my study on scripture verses that can guide your life.

[00:06:07] Now I have been in this study for about three weeks.

[00:06:11] And prior to closing today, I will review each of the verses that I have covered in these 11 podcasts.

[00:06:21] But I really wanted to close out the year kind of on a strong note.

[00:06:26] I wanted to close out the year giving everyone a strategy for trying to resist the devil when he comes into your life.

[00:06:39] And when he tries to throw you off the path that you are currently on in life.

[00:06:46] We do have an adversary.

[00:06:48] And he is doing all that he can to make sure that your life is not successful.

[00:06:56] That you are frustrated.

[00:06:58] That you are angry.

[00:06:59] That you're not content and doing the will of God in your life.

[00:07:04] The last thing he wants is that you have an abundant life.

[00:07:10] Which it tells us in John chapter 10 verse 10 that God and his son Jesus want us to have.

[00:07:18] So today I'm going to close with three verses that I think most of you probably are familiar with.

[00:07:27] You may just not know exactly where they are found in the Bible.

[00:07:33] So the first passage of scripture that I would like for you to jot down and hopefully write down.

[00:07:40] This verse 10 verse 10 is found in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

[00:07:46] And once again I'm going to ask that you write down not one verse but two verses.

[00:07:54] Because these two verses go hand in hand.

[00:07:58] So we're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

[00:08:01] Let's take a look at verses 16 and 17.

[00:08:06] Rejoice always.

[00:08:10] Pray without ceasing.

[00:08:12] In everything give thanks.

[00:08:15] For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

[00:08:21] So friends my first point of the day.

[00:08:24] Rejoice always.

[00:08:26] Pray without ceasing.

[00:08:29] In everything give thanks.

[00:08:32] Now you have to write a little bit more than that.

[00:08:37] But the point is the gist of this verse is that we should always be rejoicing and praising God.

[00:08:46] I like the second part of this.

[00:08:49] Pray without ceasing.

[00:08:51] Friends throughout the day you have two choices.

[00:08:55] Are you going to pray and be in communion with God talking with him?

[00:09:00] Or are you going to be fearful and anxious?

[00:09:05] It's basically one or the other.

[00:09:07] Are you going to be satisfied?

[00:09:09] Are you going to be happy?

[00:09:11] Are you going to do the right thing?

[00:09:14] Or are you going to be miserable and make your life a mess?

[00:09:19] The third thing in everything give thanks.

[00:09:24] Notice I didn't say for everything.

[00:09:27] I said in everything.

[00:09:31] And there is a huge difference between those two.

[00:09:35] Now friends there are going to be things in life that come our way and throw us a little bit off kilter.

[00:09:42] We're going to go oh my gosh I didn't see that coming.

[00:09:44] But you can still be happy.

[00:09:48] You can still give thanks in that situation.

[00:09:53] Not for it.

[00:09:55] But you can still give thanks to God.

[00:09:59] Now let's go to my second point of the day.

[00:10:02] And this is such a very important one.

[00:10:05] Because sometimes as we are walking in our life.

[00:10:09] If we're doing things it's very easy sometimes to get distracted.

[00:10:14] Sometimes we forget that we are to do good.

[00:10:18] And that if we are at work we're to follow instructions that are given to us.

[00:10:24] And we're to do what we are told.

[00:10:26] But sometimes it's like we just go through the motions.

[00:10:30] And sometimes our attitude may take a right or left turn.

[00:10:36] And all of a sudden we're not in a cheerful mood anymore.

[00:10:39] We're not doing what it said in our first point.

[00:10:42] We're not giving thanks.

[00:10:43] We're not rejoicing always.

[00:10:45] And a matter of fact sometimes we might even get grumpy.

[00:10:49] And we say oh gosh I really wish I could go.

[00:10:52] I've got things to do.

[00:10:53] You know I've got Christmas things on my list.

[00:10:55] I've got things I've just got to do you know.

[00:10:58] And you kind of lose your focus.

[00:11:00] So I want to key in on Colossians chapter 3 verse 23.

[00:11:05] But I'm also going to add verse 24.

[00:11:09] This is Colossians chapter 3 verse 23.

[00:11:14] And whatever you do.

[00:11:16] Do it heartily.

[00:11:18] As to the Lord.

[00:11:20] And not to men.

[00:11:22] Now listen to verse 24.

[00:11:24] Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

[00:11:31] For you serve the Lord Christ.

[00:11:36] Now friends that is so vital that we key in on verse 24 as well.

[00:11:42] Because that is our purpose on earth.

[00:11:46] We are to please God.

[00:11:48] And we serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:11:53] So my second point of the day is whatever you do.

[00:11:57] Do it heartily as to the Lord.

[00:12:00] And not to men.

[00:12:02] Now friends there may be some of you listening today.

[00:12:05] And you don't like your job.

[00:12:08] You know you go to work.

[00:12:10] A lot of times you're frustrated.

[00:12:11] You don't even look forward to going to work.

[00:12:14] It's not what you want to do.

[00:12:16] And you don't like your boss.

[00:12:18] You don't like some of the people you work with.

[00:12:21] And it's almost like you're in a strained or a just a hostile environment.

[00:12:27] You're not at peace with your job and what you're doing.

[00:12:31] And this verse is for you.

[00:12:34] Let me read it one more time before we get to our third point.

[00:12:37] Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men.

[00:12:43] Friends remember, we are not here on earth to please men.

[00:12:48] You know, we are to please God in all we do.

[00:12:53] The third point I'd really like to bring up today.

[00:12:57] And this kind of goes along with the point we just went over.

[00:13:02] And number three is I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

[00:13:10] Friends, that is so vital to remember that point.

[00:13:14] And what I'd like to do, that is found in Philippians 4.13.

[00:13:19] But what I'd really like to do is go back to 11.

[00:13:23] And it says,

[00:13:53] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

[00:13:59] And friends, this third point goes hand in hand with the fact that we are to do everything as unto the Lord.

[00:14:08] We are to do everything as unto the Lord.

[00:14:11] And because we have Jesus himself dwelling on the inside of us,

[00:14:18] we now have the power to do things that we otherwise might not do.

[00:14:25] Because we don't have the right attitude to do it.

[00:14:30] So, before we close today, what I'd like to do is go back to our 30th proverb.

[00:14:37] And I'd like to review verse 5.

[00:14:40] And this is such a lovely verse.

[00:14:42] It says,

[00:14:43] Every word of God is pure.

[00:14:46] He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.

[00:14:52] And friends, we are to put our trust in God.

[00:14:57] Friends, every time we open the Bible,

[00:15:03] we need to be reminded that every word that we're going to read in the Bible is pure.

[00:15:12] Every verse of the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

[00:15:18] And the Holy Spirit talked to certain individuals,

[00:15:22] the authors of the books of the Bible.

[00:15:26] And they inspired people to write these words.

[00:15:33] Friends, anytime you read the Bible, you're going to be blessed.

[00:15:38] Now, before we close today's podcast,

[00:15:41] I'm going to call this my call to action.

[00:15:45] I am going to review all of the verses that we went over on this study.

[00:15:52] So, if you have something to write down,

[00:15:55] I encourage you to write it down in a notebook.

[00:15:57] But you may just want to write these down on a scrap paper for right now.

[00:16:01] Those of you who are just joining me today or have missed a few episodes,

[00:16:06] I'm going to write down John 3.16,

[00:16:10] 1 John 4, 17-19,

[00:16:17] the Gospel of Matthew 4, 4, 4,

[00:16:22] 1 Peter 5, 8,

[00:16:26] 1 John 2, 15-17,

[00:16:33] John 10, 10,

[00:16:38] 2 Timothy 3, 16-17,

[00:16:43] the Book of Isaiah 55-11,

[00:16:50] Proverb 3, 5-6,

[00:16:54] Matthew 6,

[00:16:58] and I want you to put in parentheses

[00:17:00] verses 24-34.

[00:17:04] Now, I don't want you to write this entire passage down,

[00:17:08] but I want you to remember that verse 33

[00:17:11] is in context with this entire story.

[00:17:16] Next, 2 Timothy 1-7,

[00:17:20] the Book of Philippians 4-6-7,

[00:17:26] Isaiah 41-10,

[00:17:30] Hebrews 11-1,

[00:17:33] the same chapter,

[00:17:36] Hebrews 11-6,

[00:17:39] the Book of Romans 10-17,

[00:17:43] and 2 Corinthians 5-7,

[00:17:49] 2 Chronicles 7-14,

[00:17:53] 1 Peter 5-6,

[00:17:58] the Book of James 4-6,

[00:18:02] Proverb 18-21,

[00:18:06] Genesis 1-3,

[00:18:10] Mark 4-39,

[00:18:14] and yesterday we went over the Great Love chapter,

[00:18:18] and I'd like for you to consider writing each of these down.

[00:18:22] 1 Corinthians 13-4,

[00:18:25] 1 Corinthians 13-8,

[00:18:28] 1 Corinthians 13-11,

[00:18:32] and 1 Corinthians 13-13,

[00:18:35] and let's review our three from today,

[00:18:39] 1 Thessalonians 5-16-17,

[00:18:43] the Book of Colossians 3-23-24,

[00:18:48] and the Book of Philippians 4-13.

[00:18:54] 1 Corinthians 13-14,

[00:18:55] Now, friends,

[00:18:56] this is my last podcast of the year.

[00:19:00] Now, tomorrow is the 31st,

[00:19:02] and I've already pre-recorded my testimony for tomorrow,

[00:19:07] so I will not see you back until New Year's Day,

[00:19:11] two days from today.

[00:19:13] Of course, I'll be having a podcast on that day,

[00:19:16] and I would like for everyone to listen to my initial podcast

[00:19:20] as I am beginning my fourth year of doing this podcast.

[00:19:25] But I would like to say a prayer for everyone listening today.

[00:19:28] I pray that everyone listening would have a peace about the fact that we are completing the year 2024.

[00:19:39] I pray that you remember the good times,

[00:19:44] and cherish the good times that you've had throughout the year.

[00:19:49] And I also pray that the things that did not go your way,

[00:19:54] that you will have an easy time not dwelling on those.

[00:20:00] I ask that God would bless you as we enter in to a new year.

[00:20:06] I ask that you be at peace,

[00:20:09] and that you understand that God is sovereign.

[00:20:14] He knows everything you do,

[00:20:15] and He will continue to bless you.

[00:20:19] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:20:23] The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:20:27] The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:20:33] Friends, tomorrow is Testimony Day.

[00:20:37] Please join me and a special guest as we further explore wisdom today.