Wednesday Night June 12, 2013
audio file: click to open in a new window or right-click to download
Review
1 Timothy 4:12
Your reputation matters. At home, at church, at work. Among believers and non-believers.
Am I an example? Do people see hope, joy, love in your example?
A good reputation is valuable. People should be encouraged by what they see.
Mathtew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Your good reputation is not about just you. It is so God can use you.
As you look at the persons around the room, you want them to be able to count on you.
Work on your reputation.
Proverbs 13:20 Be the one that people want to walk with to be wise.
Proverbs 22:2-3
Eventually the riches that separate us will disappear and we all have to meet our maker.
vs 3
You can tell spiritually when people are making ungodly choices, walking a bad road.
You need to think about how not to get in trouble, what to avoid to stay clean.
Being wise is an effort, not a mistake, not an accident.
Verse 17- Why do you want to follow certain people anyway? This is Christian to avoid people who are not right.
Verse 19- When you do right people talk about it.
Just like you check that a meal is fine before you eat it, it is good to do a cool check before doing something. Is it ok?
Evil people can always find something evil to do.
Instead of always trying to justify questionable actions, you should seek to do the certain things that God desires. Figure out something to do for the Lord.
Proverbs 19:20 There are many youth who think they are brilliant and never seek counsel from those with experience. If you don’t know, talk with someone with wisdom and experience.
Many people probably don’t seek enough counsel. As a person not seeking wise counsel, the answer to “How did I get here?”, is usually “By being by yourself”.
Talk to a believer about believing – to address issues in God.
A lot of times people don’t ask because they’d rather drive blindly than to know for sure that something is wrong. They avoid talking to the people that they know will give godly advice.
People ignore caution signs, yields, alerts, even flashing red lights and stop signs in order to do the things that they have decided to do.
The word actually tells us to seek counsel.
Is it true that most of what you do has nothing to do with spiritual counsel?
For many people, “I’m going to pray about it,” is code for “I’m going to do what I want to do”.
People will talk about being led or not being led to do something. But many are not seeking to do God’s will or to be led by Him anyway.
There are also people who will seek, listen and understand counsel, but not do anything with it.
The point of getting the counsel is not to make you feel better, but to make you better. The point is wisdom. Don’t be a “I wish I had listened to the good advice” person. Follow instructions now.
How can you get to wisdom if you are lost? Be honest. Really seek to please Him.
Seek counsel and follow instructions.
It is okay to need guidance. You can then exercise in wisdom and begin to see things yourself.