How To Gain Wisdom

Good morning, Salt Church. Apparently, the elementary school kids were not dismissed. If there's any more left in here, go on, go to class, you're out. All right, there we go.

So, they wanted me to speak about wisdom today. You know, wisdom is being knowing which week you're supposed to preach on, and I was planning on preaching next week, and then about Wednesday, I was like, oh no, I got this wrong. So yeah, that's why they brought me out. This is one of those messages you get to preach, and you can point your finger at everybody, but there's more coming back at you, because I got to learn some wisdom myself, and talking to Pastor Leon beforehand, we were going over how there's a lot of challenges in the book of James. I don't know about you, but I'm really enjoying it.

I don't think I've ever, I know I've never gone through it quite like this, and really dissecting it. So, of course, they brought the old guy out to preach on wisdom. But last week, Miranda spoke on taming the tongue, and you know, one way that we can tame our tongue is to apply wisdom to our words, because we don't always need to show how smart we are. That's sometimes a problem, because, you know, we're in conversation. We want to get in with people.

We want to, you know, I got something to say here, and I'm, you know, I'm intelligent, intelligent, and sometimes the smartest thing we can do is, shh. You know, years ago, lots of Christians used to walk around with those WWJD bracelets. I had one, and I wore it for a while, and it was a good reminder of what would Jesus do, and you applied that. You tried to, anyway. You tried to apply that, and what you would do, and what you would say, what would come out of your mouth?

Would Jesus say this? And it was, it was a good check to have, have with you. And I think anything that we can learn from the last year in politics is Jesus wouldn't say a lot of stuff that's been said on social media in the last year. And Jesus wouldn't say what a lot of Christians have said on social media in the last year. I try not to get into it.

I try, I try, I try, but sometimes I do. Maybe I'm not, I'm using wisdom the way I should, and you can use your own check on yourself to see if you are. You know, we're not, we're called, as Christians, we aren't called to be a doormat for anybody, but by the same token, we're not supposed to pick up our Bible and beat somebody over the head with it. A lot of Christians like to do that, because they want to show you how smart they are, and how much they know the Word, and that's what they end up doing. They end up using their Bible like a weapon against somebody, and you know, some, the Bible is, is there to defend us, but we shouldn't be smacking anybody over the head.

We're not going to win anybody to the Lord by smacking them over the head with a Bible. I, I'm a computer guy. I'm an IT guy, and the joke I make when I, when I come home, people say, well, what'd you do, you know, my family say, what'd you do today? And I go into detail about what I did, and I'll get this look, huh? Because it's, it's what I do.

And if, if I sat down, you know, maybe with, with, with Seth, and he, he was telling me about different, and Miranda about different law things going on, I would be like, huh? Because they know things that I don't, and that's knowledge, and that's wonderful, but that, that's not the same as, as godly wisdom. Before we go any further, I always forget this. I tend to start running. Let's go ahead, let's go ahead and pray real quick.

Heavenly Father, we praise you. We thank you for your Word, Lord. I pray that today you just make it a light into our feet, Lord, and just, and let it shine through for everyone just to take, take home some, some wisdom today, Lord. We praise you. We thank you.

In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So we go to James 3, 13 starts out, who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. So we said early, knowledge is, is facts and information and skills acquired, maybe by schooling, learning, reading, whatever it happens to be, but it's not necessarily wisdom.

Wisdom is the quality experience and good judgment. You know, there, there are some folks in this world, and by, by the world standards and book smarts, they may not be the smartest people in the world. They may be very uneducated, but they may be incredibly wise by the things that they've gone through, by the things they've, they've, they allowed the Lord to pour into them, and they apply to their lives. So it's not always the, the smart one who is the wise one. Wisdom is shown by someone's life, by their actions, their deeds, how they apply the, what the Lord has given them to their everyday lives.

They live it out, they walk it out. It's part of them. It's not just, you know, I, I memorize, I memorize this, and oh, look how smart I am, and I can tell you all about this, and look how smart I am. You know, it's not even memorizing scripture. There are people who know scripture in and out.

They can, they can stand up here and go verse by verse over the Bible, but they've never applied it. And again, they're, they're picking up their Bible, and they want to smack somebody with it, because in every situation, they seem to know something that is somewhat condemning and judgmental. That's not what we're here to do, folks. So let's talk about earth's wisdom. Going ahead in the scripture, but if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is earthly and spiritual of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. I'm telling you, folks, I've, I've seen people use the Bible in really unchristian, unspiritual ways, and they, they think they, they think they're taking the moral high ground, but they're just using it to condemn. We are not here to condemn anybody. That is not our job.

Our job is to be a bridge for folks, to, to teach them that, take people in the world to, to, to love on them, and to let them know about Jesus and the love that he has for us. Because, you know, uh, I'm an ordained minister, went to, went to, uh, took schooling and whatnot to get, to get to that point. But you know what? That doesn't mean that you all aren't ministers. By being a Christian, we are ministers and it's our responsibility to love on people, to minister to people.

And that's what it comes down to. Cause you know what? Nine times out of 10, um, pastor Leo is not going to come to work with you and help that, that person that's going through a struggle. He can't do that. He's got other things to do.

That's going to be your job. That's going to be your job. Uh, this, I've got a lot to go over. I got to watch how much I really digress here. Uh, and we as Christians now more than ever have to make sure that we live free from hypocrisy.

Uh, non-believers, they love to watch everything that we do, everything that we do. And you, you know, I remember hearing guys on, you know, working construction and they literally would hammer to the thumb and the non-Christians, is he going to cuss? Is he going to, you know, is he going to say something bad? Cause they're, they're, they're waiting for this, but you know, What folks also notice the grace we have through the Lord when we do go through a struggle and they may not say anything about it, but they notice it and suddenly that person who was difficult, they're going through a struggle and they might come to you and ask for prayer and they may not even really believe in the Lord, but it's funny how they believe in prayer. So they might come to you.

I worked for four years at Region University. That's an interesting place to work. And there are people who walk around at Region University and think it's such a great place to work and there are great people there, don't get me wrong, but there are people also walk around and I like to call it the spiritual thermometer. Well, let me check this Christian and how far along he is and let me check this one how far along he is and she is and so on and so forth and it's like, you know, that's not your job. It's not your job to measure someone's Christianity and someone's walk.

That's their job. That's my job. That's your job for you. This is a walk, folks. It's not a destination.

You know, sometimes we see people that are well along in their years and they think, well, I've gone as far as I've gone in, you know, my Christian walk. That is so not true. As long as you're taking air into your lungs, you're to continue to learn more about the Lord, to live more for the Lord, to help others. So earth's wisdom. Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is the way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

I love Proverbs because Proverbs puts it out there. It's nice for me because it's short and sweet. I'm a little ADD, so it just gives it to me quickly and I get it. But in the end it leads to death. So earth's wisdom is worldly.

It's influenced by the world. We live in this world. We shouldn't become of this world. And that's what the world really wants to indoctrinate everybody into the world's beliefs. You can see it by just what we see on television.

They want us to believe that way. And if we don't believe the way the world believes, then there's something wrong with us. That's not right. That's the world's wisdom, folks. We can't allow that to filter into us and become part of us.

We are part of the Lord's world. We are part of Him. We need to be more Christ-like in everything that we do. What would Jesus do? And sometimes, here's the problem though.

Sometimes we get to a point and we can become prideful in our Christianity. Because, you know, we learn stuff and we know so much. I've seen lots of preachers that were so much smarter than I will ever be. And they get up here and they'll, not up here, other churches down the road, down the road. But they'll get up on their platform and wheel their Bible around.

And in the end, you're like, okay, that guy was smart, but I don't know that he really taught me anything. I don't know that he helped me anything in my walk. I understand these couple of verses here, but how do I apply that to my life? And that's what we need to do. That's what we need to do in our faith every day.

How do I apply what the Lord is teaching me? What am I going through now in this season of my life that the Lord wants me to apply and gain wisdom from? Sometimes you see people who are witnessing for the Lord. And they, and they, they honestly, they honestly really want to win hearts to the Lord. But again, they're doing it in such a heavy handed manner that it's, it's not helping the kingdom.

It's not helping the kingdom. But I don't know, 10 or 12 years ago or so, there was a preacher who would be down at the ocean front, literally on a box. I may have told the story before, literally on a box, evangelizing. And I say evangelizing, he was yelling and yelling at everybody. And I, and I'm sure in his heart, he wanted to lend, win souls.

He wanted, he wanted to help the kingdom of God. But honestly, even as a Christian coming through, I was like, he's pretty scary. That's not, that's not helping the kingdom. That's not that we need, we need to be gentle. 1 Corinthians 1, 20 says, where is the wise person?

Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? So earthly wisdom is also sensual. It's based on our, it's, earthly wisdom is based on senses.

How do we, how do we feel about it? What was the thing not that long ago? Hey, if it feels good, do it. I'll try anything. Once it feels good, I'll do it twice.

You know, these, everything that people went into, it was all about how does it feel? How does it make me feel? Um, you know, you should just, you know, trust, trust your feelings, you know? No, no, no. We need to weigh what we're doing against God's wisdom.

Not, not on the earth's wisdom. Titus, I have a lot of verses for you today, folks. Titus 3, 3. At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God, our savior appeared, he saved us. Earthly wisdom can be demonic, folks. It's the same selfish, prideful spirit that came when Lucifer was cast out. The same spirit that the fall of man. And Genesis 3, 4 says, then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die.

For God knows that in the day you eat of it, you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. It's foolish wisdom. Go back to social media again. People can be brutal on there. Just nasty.

Just nasty. You know, over the last election, I heard friendships being broken, people not following, people literally not being friends in real life anymore because of everything that went on. That's not what any of us are here to do, no matter what your political side of the way you swing. It doesn't matter. You know, we're supposed to be loving folks.

We're supposed to be, we shouldn't allow things like that to separate us. Because everyone gets offended. It's the big meme. I remember Matt saying, or Matt or George saying they want to see a whole sermon on memes. But the one that I love, hey, good morning.

What are we offended by today? But that's the way we've gotten. Everybody gets offended by something. We hate, we care only about ourselves. We gratify our desires.

Again, that sensual part of it. What do I want to do? You know, and that's, again, that's just not what we should be doing. As Christians, we shouldn't be acting that way. Again, that's the demonic side.

And here Jesus is speaking to the Jews, talking about our enemy. You are of your father, I'm sorry, John 8, 44. You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires, which are characteristic of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks of falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him.

For he is not true. For he is not true. For he is not true. For he is not true. for He is a liar himself and the father of lies and all that is false."

I always go back to a lot of movie things and there was this great quote out of a movie one time, the greatest lie that the devil was able to convince the world of is that he doesn't exist. And when we think about that, there's a lot of people, they don't, they don't believe in the devil. They don't believe in God, they don't believe in the devil. So how do we gain wisdom? That's what we're here for, right?

Again, I love Proverbs. Proverbs 4-7. Wisdom is supreme, therefore, get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding. Therefore, get wisdom.

That's pretty much, that's pretty much laying it on the line, even I can understand that one. Gaining wisdom springs up from godly principles. And again, we're talking about God's wisdom, not earth's wisdom here. James 3-17 starts out, But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. Skipping over 1 John 3-3 says, All who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure.

Pure doesn't mean perfect, but in integrity. What is, let's look at the definition of integrity. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness. Integrity is something I always like to kind of go back into a lot of my messages because I feel the world is so devoid of basic integrity. You say something and that's the way it is.

Your word is solid. There's a, we're going to play a quick movie clip here. It's real quick. We want to set it up for you. And it has to be, it has to be something that maybe you'll, you'll come in contact with it sometime when you're at work.

And now you're called to do something that doesn't, doesn't line up with God's wisdom. But, you know, in business, some things are done in a certain particular way and the world's like, that's, that's business. That's business. But it's not God's wisdom. It's not God's wisdom being applied.

And sometimes you may be asked to do something that isn't truthful, isn't, just isn't right. And it's really up to us to make the decision on our own. Are we going to do it? If you could roll that clip. Back, back to my movie Courageous.

I love Courageous. You got to watch it. That's, that's sometimes the way it's looked at. I need you to do this for me. And this is the way it's going to be done.

And you know what, you don't, it's, it's a tough call. I'm not there with you in your job. I don't know what you do exactly. I'm, I'm very blessed, you know, that I don't have to do anything like that. I'm never really called upon to do anything that might be questioning my job on the line.

Because that's, that's a gut check. That's, that's a real gut check. Gaining wisdom acts with godly motives. James 3.17 goes on to say, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

Again, sincere. If you say something, are you sincere in what you're saying? Are you truthful in what you're saying? God calls us to be of a higher level. We're in a hurting world, folks.

A hurting world that desperately needs the Lord. And we, you always hear, oh, people need the Lord more than ever. And I, I do believe, as time goes on, people need the Lord more than ever. And that's where we come in. That's what we're supposed to do.

Like, like I said earlier, we're not going to win anybody to the Lord by, by thumping them on the head and throwing scriptures at them and condemning them. We're going to win them to the Lord by loving on them. By coming alongside them. When we see they're struggling, we, we know when people are struggling that we work with. Like, we see, we see things, most people, and you can come alongside them.

You know, how, how are you doing today? You know, and you know what? You can even, you know, I thought about you this weekend. I prayed for you. And it might be, didn't ask you to, but it doesn't matter.

We need to show folks love and compassion. As Christians, we need to be different to look, think, and act like God. Going back again, what would Jesus do? And do you know, some folks have considered living for the Lord, living a Christian lifestyle as an alternative lifestyle these days. When I heard that, I was like, what?

What? But being a Christian is an alternative lifestyle? Well, you know, I guess it is because if you look on television, there really aren't any positive evangelical Christians on television, any of the scripted television shows. And it's kind of funny when you, when you think about that, because the only ones you ever see are the ones who might hit somebody upside the head with a Bible or be condemning or be some crazy zealot on criminal minds or something like that. You don't see someone showing love, showing God's love, and really wanting just, just to help folks along.

So that's, that's one of the reasons, again, this is the perceptions the world has of Christians. I once saw, I love these videos, I once saw a video that did a man on the street. Hey, what do you think about Jesus? What do you think about Jesus? And it was positive.

These are non-believers. Jesus was this, Jesus was that. Positive things. What do you think about Christians? Hypocrites.

What do you think about Christians? Condemning. Unloving. You know, that's, that is what a lot of folks think about us. They think we're a bunch of crazy people who meet in a school, apparently, and, and don't love folks.

We just want to condemn them. And that's why we need to go, again, take that extra step to show folks, that's not who we are. That's not who Christians are. That's not who Jesus wants us to be. We need to stand out in a way that those around us see that.

They see that grace under fire. When you, they see when you go through something and you, and you, and you've, you've risen up and gone through it well. People will notice. And we're not Christians because we think we're perfect. That's the old bumper sticker.

We're not Christians because we think we're perfect. We're Christians because we know we need the Lord. Philippians 2.1 starts out, So, therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. And I bolded this in here so I remember.

Do not, out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, excuse me, do nothing, out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Jesus, humility, humility.

Another thing a lot of Christians struggle with because they get kind of puffed up. Well, I am blessed and highly favored. And then they make you feel like, or the world feel like, you know, you're nothing. I am blessed and highly favored and you're not. And that's not, that is not what we're here to do, folks.

I may be blessed and highly favored, but you know what? So can you. So can you. And I will tell you how you can do it. One of the things that impresses me about Salt Church, and we have to remember this, as we grow, I think one of the things that we'll have to constantly gut check ourselves with is keeping focused.

So. I'll see you next time. Focused on not here, but out there. So easy to do. I've seen other churches do it.

They start out in one way, and then they kind of just forget what they're there for. We're really not here for everybody in this room, guys. We're here for the world. Mission field starts at the door. James uses these words in 317.

Peace-loving. Instead of stirring it up, why don't you just stop with that? There's a lot of folks... I go back to social media because I just see so much of it on there. These folks who just want to get in there and stir it up and cause division.

There's nothing wrong with having your views, but why are you putting it out there? Is it just to stir it up, or is it to show love? We don't need to be a part of division and conflict. And you know, this used to be a little honesty thing here. This used to be a big thing of mine.

If I was to get into a conversation with somebody, something negative going on, I'd be right there with them. Yeah, I can't stand when they do that. What is that with them? That's nothing more than gossip. Come on, guys.

Come on. And we do that. We think we're being right because we're... And we may be talking about something that was done incorrectly, but if we get into that division and conflict thing, we're not helping anything. And again, this goes back to me, too, because I'm pretty...

That was the thing I can still struggle with sometimes. Consider it. Consider others. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Person you come in conflict with who smashes your cart in the Walmart.

You don't know if they just came from the doctor's office and got a bad report. Or a bad report for their child. Or just lost their job. We don't know what people are going through. And again, this is...

This is me, too. I got to watch these things because I tend to react a little too fast sometimes. You don't have to go yeah with that so quickly there, babe. I'm getting more amens about stuff like that. Yeah.

That's right. So everyone's fighting a battle that you may know nothing about. So we just need to... What would Jesus do? He would be kind.

Jesus wouldn't be a doormat. But he would strive to be kind. We need to be submissive. Willing to yield. Willing to listen.

Willing to listen and really hear. What does they always say? A lot of people when they're listening, they're just formulating their reply. They're getting ready for when they get a chance to speak. We need to really listen to people and understand what they're saying.

Be open to people. Don't be intimidating and hard to approach. And I tell you, if you're wearing one of these shirts, not only easy to approach, but maybe you should approach somebody else who's new. We always say that. I come out in the front and I want to talk to Bobby for a while.

I want to talk to Chris or Pastor Leon. We want to talk amongst ourselves. And we really should be, well, let's break up the shirts and go talk to somebody who's maybe new, who doesn't know anybody, who's here all alone and feels a little. So we need to kind of go the extra steps sometimes. We need to be full of mercy and good fruit.

James chapter two says, mercy triumphs over judgment. You can be completely right about something and be completely wrong at the same time if you're doing it in a judgmental way. First Corinthians 13 says, love keeps no record of wrongs. We need to learn to forgive and move on. There's going to be a time when someone offends you and they hurt you.

Forgive them. Because if you hold on to that, they probably have no idea. They probably have no idea. So, you know, you're holding on to this. I'm going to hold on to this and I'm, this person did me wrong and I'm going to hold on to it.

And I see them and, and I'm not doing, that doesn't do any good. Just, just let it go. As Elsa would say, let it go. Romans 12 says, bless those who persecute you. What was that?

Bless those who persecute you. That's a tough one right there. I should just stop there. That's a tough one. Bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Oh, that's an easy thing to do. I can rejoice with those who rejoice. 14 says, I've got to bless those who persecute. And weep with those who weep.

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. I'm a legend in my own mind. Don't be, that's, that's our earthly wisdom.

That's right there. Wise in your own opinion. When you start thinking you're wise, maybe you're not. First Peter, love covers a multitude of sins and it really should. It really should.

And we don't, we don't allow it to do it. Let us be people who forgive because we need forgiveness ourselves. What did I say earlier? The world looks at Christians as judgmental and non-loving. Kind of like, oh, those Christians, they're into their own little social group.

And it's a, it's a club. It's a club. And we, we need, we need to, we need to break that perception down. We need to get rid of that and really be outward focused. Impartial and sincere.

Excuse me. Both those in the, in the Greek come from the word hypocrite. You can tell I have notes here from Pastor Leon has Greek in it. A Greek actor, same actor wearing different masks. When you think about, I know Miranda knows this, but that, that old, uh, Greek masks, the tragedy and comedy.

Thank you. I knew there were two. And the same person playing different roles. Don't be fake. Be real.

Why do we do that sometimes? I'm blessed and highly favored. Oh, it hurts so much pain. And that's what some Christians are. And we don't need to be fake to folks.

If you're going through a struggle, let a brother know, let a sister know. Tell somebody, you know, you don't, you, we do not need to carry this on our own. We, cause it was sometimes we think, well, you know, that guy over there, he's, he's, he's going through some stuff. He must not be very strong Christian. Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho.

Do not be that way. Do not be that way. Allow folks to come alongside you, help you, pray for you. We need to be a peacemaker. The Lord wants us to bring peace, not strife.

You can bring peace to an otherwise chaotic world. What am I doing? Um, I don't even know what time I'm supposed to go to. Uh, life giving. These are the positive things to help folks along.

Godly wisdom is intent on serving godly purposes. That's our ultimate job to serve godly purposes. Be peacemakers, bring life to things, not bring death to things. Again, are you walking around that spiritual thermometer? Are you, are you knocking people down when they need to be picked up?

Fix things that are broken, those, those that are hurting. Come alongside them, pray with them. Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers, Matthew 5, 9, sorry. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. I might be at theFi.

Let's pass them. I may be gleanелей, byids, for we go home. At one point, you must Again, peacemakers are not the ones taking to social media and stirring things up. Matthew 5.16 says, In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

So how do we gain wisdom? Psalm 111.10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. One more time, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Reverence to God.

That's the way we start. We just have reverence to God. Begins with him. James 1.22, going back, says, But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

What did we talk about? I talked about a minute ago. So many people who know the word so much better than I'm ever going to know it, and they don't really follow it. They don't really apply it to their lives. They know it.

They can preach it at you, or are they applying it in their own lives? We really have to want the wisdom of God to fill us up. We, it's one of those things we should be striving for in our walk each day. Lord, what can I do to be more like you, to be more wise as you would have me be each and every day? That's another one I need to, I think I need to put that on my wall.

James 1.5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and will be given, and it will be given to him. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. I think that's saying, pray about it. Pray about it and commit it to prayer, and commit it to, Lord, this is who I want to be for you.

Not because, ooh, everybody's going to look at me and say, ooh, that John, he's so wise. No. We need to work on being closer to the Lord. We don't just get to know God by just studying him, gaining knowledge, and again, being all Bible smart. But we truly know what the Lord wants of us, wants for us, and wants us to do with our lives.

We each have a mission in life. The Lord has given us that. Spend time with him in prayer. Spend time with him in praise and worship. I try to have a Christian station on, try to sing along, and a lot of you are probably glad you're not in the car with me when I'm doing it.

But just, you know, enjoy our time with the Lord. That's how we get to know him. We spend time with him. Again, what would Jesus do? Measure everything that we do against what he would do in that situation.

It's a gut check. It's a gut check because sometimes we realize, well, Jesus wouldn't have done what I just did. The final statement here is knowledge comes from education, but wisdom comes from God. Knowledge comes from education, but wisdom comes from God. Colossians 2.

2 says, I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The mystery is that it's not about, by knowing him, studying him, or doing the right things to find favor with him. It's about being close to him.

You know, when you're close to the Lord, when you get really close to the Lord, suddenly you don't have to, it's just more, everything is just more apparent of what you're supposed to be doing in a particular situation. So being, being a Christian and striving for God's wisdom is truly to be, truly wanting to be more and more like him. Each and every day, each and every day, I'm going to get a little further today. And today, okay, yesterday wasn't a good day, but I'm going to strive to be, go a little further today. And I'm going to work a little harder today because I didn't get where I wanted to.

And I'm going to try a little further, and every day, and then we look at a year from now, and I was like, man, I was there a year ago, and now I'm over here. Sometimes it's made so much about religion, you know, the Lord doesn't want that. He wants the relationship. He wants you to be close to him. He wants you to call out to him, father, father.

That's why he gave us his son. Not so that we could, we could do it all in our own strength and everything that we want to do. So that we could do it for him. Let's pray. Heavenly father, we praise you.

We thank you, Lord. I pray that we all learn to walk, to strive, to learn more about you so that we can grow in our godly wisdom. So we can set back the earthly wisdom, the thing that the world finds so, so powerful, Lord. But we can strive to be more like you each and every day, to gain wisdom, to grow stronger in our faith, to do more for you, to love more for you, to touch those around us more for you, Lord. I just pray that everyone in the sound of my voice, Lord, that they've heard this, and they're committed now to step forward each and every day.

To try to gain more and more wisdom, to learn more and more about you and be more like you so that it doesn't become a challenge anymore. It just becomes part of who they are. I praise you. I thank you. In Jesus' precious, holy name, amen.