Wisdom for the Battle Plan of Life

Did your copy of God's word and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 4 Proverbs chapter 4 the message we are caught in wisdom for the backup plan of life. Proverbs chapter 4 it reads my son the attempted to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings that do not escape from your site. Keep them within thy heart, your heart, for they are life to those who found them and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the spring of life. Put away from you crooked speech and put devious stock far from you. Let your eyes the directly forward in your gaze be straight before you ponder the path of your feet than all your ways. It will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left turn your foot away from evil. How important those words are words of wisdom for us. Suffice it to say that the entire wisdom literature contains wisdom for us and particularly that is true of the book of Proverbs. How do we know that this is the case about consider these few facts about the word wisdom.

Wisdom. First of all it comes to my EV word about many different words translated wisdom but the most common of these words occur. 151 times in the Old Testament, and that interesting 151 times the most common word for wisdom occurs.

This same word occurs 97 times in the voided books which would be Job through song of Solomon and all those 97×90 times this same word occurs in the what we call the wisdom literature, which should be Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

So we go from one 5197 and then 90 times. How, then, about the book of Proverbs in the book of Proverbs in a car is a total of 90 times. Sorry 45 times the same word occurs in the book of Proverbs. So then it is quite obvious that wisdom is important. God has given us wisdom by which we should live wisdom. Then, as we see from Proverbs teaches us how to live godly lives in this world and how one can be assured of the rewards that will come in the life to come. Godly lives in the rewards to come, then, is wisdom. How do we define wisdom, wealth, and a general sense, wisdom is the ability to discern or to judge what is true what is right, just to have common sense about something in the way we live human wisdom. More specifically, is cortisone soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience. The application of knowledge and just good judgment as a whole. How is this difference how is this similar perhaps to godly wisdom. Well, divine wisdom is given by God that enables humans to lead a good true right and satisfying life. So we might talk about just having that common sense about some things. It if you notice about life.

It seems like many around us don't really have common sense and everything. These days, we wonder about the common sense that might be displayed might not be as common as we may think it would be our should be the primary to us, particularly as believers and those of us were concerned about the word of God, divine wisdom. We understand comes from God directly from God, and it enables us to lead a good age to a right and a satisfying life. We receive that wisdom when we find that wisdom if he comes directly from God and how is this wisdom helpful to us in what I call the backup plan of life. If you're here next week. Lord will and minute talk about how to fight the battle plan for family and that's very important for us as well. We are all in some sort of tobacco we we we we we all should have a plan through which we approach life. But how are you fighting what is your plan. What is your strategy for this plan. Where do you get wisdom. Do you turn to the word you turn to your unsaved friends you turn elsewhere than in the word of God do we not understand. As Proverbs 910 reminds us that God himself is the very source of wisdom, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Wisdom is important for life.

Sabato's and so today I want to provide for us a strategy that should include five important components all about wisdom in our backup plan. So maybe you are constructing one maybe you're not so sure how you're going to live tomorrow. Maybe you're concerned about your decisions that you have made in the past. Maybe you have some huge decisions coming up my prayer is that as we look in the word of God today that you will find wisdom that will aid you in your about a plan for life.

So five things.

First of all guard wisdom. Verse 20 and 20 through 22, my son, be attentive to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings.

Let them not escape from your site. Keep them within your heart. Why for their life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh. Guard wisdom we cannot guard wisdom unless we receive wisdom. So a prerequisite to guardian wisdom is first of all to receive it. Wisdom and that's the point here is to be at 10 to give up to my words. Listen carefully receive it digested allow it to come into your heart into your very soul and allow it to permeate your life. So then it loses from your very poorest, because you are not just receiving passively you are receiving with the idea of doing put in into practice. God's word wisdom then we must receive divine wisdom.

We must also love divine wisdom. The idea here we see in the second phrase of verse 20 we are taking our ears to this sayings the wisdom that's provided from a father to a son, but ultimately from God to us. The idea of incline in our ears. There is the lien board is the lien two is the lien on to write, we are embracing something that we know is good for us and we cannot help but leaning into this thing. Wisdom we have something or someone we love. We move forward to that thing. We move forward to that person.

We lean into that person we see young couples around and I'm still in that category. Just in case you wonder you see young couples around and they gonna lean onto each other. You go man and some of us have been married for a little less handy that.so don't they was sitting in church one day and someone looked over and saw a young couple and they set them on the been married a year or so you give them time they were leaning into each other right so that we would incline your ears incline the hearts to the word of God. The wisdom that is there that we would lien into it some time to look at the Hebrew war therefore inclining our ears and interestingly every time the word incline occurs, it's always inclining our ears or incline in our hearts. So then we are to draw me a written lien into the Lord and listen to his word and in our heart also and was a lien for word to him. How do we do that we do that by pursuing him.

Verse 21. This not escape from your site, not wisdom escape from you your pursuing.

It is a constant thing that you and I are doing and should be doing as we pursuant then we must also cherish wisdom. The idea here is to keep them within your heart, you have some sort of a heirloom that's passed down from some family member, grandmother or mother or someone you you cherish it you think about it. Perhaps you pick it up. You look at it frequently.

Your cherishing that you keep it within your heart. If we so keep wisdom we so guard wisdom than what we would find is that the word of God. The wisdom, the word of God will assist us in our battle in life, we must consider then what I call a tool for rational for guardian wisdom. Verse 22, four, or because we could say they are life to those who find them and heal in to their flesh is what I call the twofold rational thought guardian wisdom it provides in life, we obtain the life it is to be noted here that the wrong form here of this word that performs provides a life in this context it has to do with that.

The nuance of this special quality of life that we have in life that is a special gift from God.

We know salvation we get as a gift from God. But this I life that it provides then also enclosed the quality of life idea here is what we put into practice biblical wisdom does impact the entity of life that we live here as believers ask questions we should live differently than others in the world, we should live a far different life. And then again it provides healing to the flesh, godly wisdom would be healed into our best to our lives, and it will bring this common and curing effects to us, but that's only if we act upon it. If we don't act upon it. Where then we don't get to reap the benefits there off and so then instead of then one's life could be cut short instead of quality of life and we stumble around in all kind of hurt and pain because we have not internalized would not live this out. I think the tsunami huge tsunami that hit Asia back in 2000 and for some of you might recall it. Perhaps some of you lived there or lived in those areas that were impacted and in some here as we learned later on after the tsunami that the elephants most of them if not all in a particular area migrated to the mountain areas they had sought high ground quite some time before the tsunami actually hit. There was something researchers began to look to see what did they hear what they know and how they wanted to save their own lives as against some of the humans within see the signs do not have felt what the elephants supposedly felt with their with their their hopes and they did upon the information that they receive from the experience they have and they went to higher ground, thereby saving their lives. If you're not open the book, the word of God and we spent a few minutes there. We don't put into practice what then were not acting on the wisdom that is there with regarding receive in the wisdom that is there.

So first of all we guard wisdom.

Secondly, we must guard our hearts guard our hearts. Verse 23. This is very important, isn't it the heart is very important. God places great significance on the heart. Here we are to keep your heart with all vigilance where to watch over our hearts as it were, why, for from it flows the springs of life guard wisdom, guard our hearts which are keep close watch over all parts. I think the description here is someone having some valuable property may need some gold. Maybe you know is is a huge home and you have these mirror security systems in place. Protect what you have.

Some may go even a step further to hire security officers to protect the things they have and if it has even greater value you go, not a step further by hiring arms armed security officers to protect what you have and you expect them to be vigilant in watching over what you what's been entrusted into their care, and so if we understand the importance of the heart.

If we value the heart even just a percentage as God values it in certain has he wants us to evaluate. We also will guard our hearts, we must be diligent we must be persistent in guarding our hearts is not enough to say that I did it yesterday or did it last week.

We must consistently guard all parts, the right to hear calls us to doing so with great diligence, which again tells us that there is something important here that we need to why we need to watch over a part of our battle plan must include vigilance over our own hearts we know the heart again that we are told is not what enters the man that defiles him, but is what proceeds out of him that the files in but also as faceted mention earlier if our hearts are right before the Lord will then everything else falls into place. I think of the psalmist and some 37 four delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Notice a priority.

Delight yourself first in the Lord and in the desires of your heart would be provided, but if we delight ourselves in the Lord. Then we have the desires or desires then take greater priority over the things concerning Christ and other stuff.

The heart is the object God is interested in the heart.

Would you know who else is fighting for hearts. The devil is right and for hearts right, but then if we seek him first. With all of our hearts.

If we lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways.

If we acknowledge him as he put promise you do. He will direct your path will direct our hearts as it were. And so therefore the rest of our bodies will go. Matthew tells us in Matthew six verse 21 that heart again that what ever we treasure our hearts naturally follow after that we treasure wisdom. If we regard wisdom regard spiritual things. If we make that lower priority before I go after that.

Then all hearts naturally follow up is also the rest of our bodies got 10 reasons as to why the heart is so important in God places us critical results time and attention on all hearts.

We mentioned these just quickly. First of all, it is because our heart is the center are the very core of our being. So it needs to be guarded is from the heart that we love him so it needs to be guarded is from the heart that we seek him so that it must be guarded is on the heart. That is the center of our faith and our belief in God.

So yes, it must be guarded is from the heart and that we obey him, and we demonstrate that obedience.

So again, it must be guarded is from the heart that we follow him is to our hearts that we praise him for hearts that we worship him that we trust him the heart is very very important. And again, the devil is after our hearts. Let's not forget the rooms around Peter first Peter 58 tells us that this roaring lion seeking we must all he will devour. We also told about his threefold ministry in John 1010 the steel took Taylor and to destroy. He is after your heart, and after my heart, what protects us in our daily lives. In our service in our walk with Christ in our living in general is guard in the hearts who can forget that the prophet went to anoint you king the second king of Israel.

He went to Jess's house in the first son passed by him.

He was kind of like you know tall strong and had some kind delight me and as he went by the prophet thought to himself that must be the man and he wasn't ready to anoint him in the Lord says no you are focus on the external the outward appearance, but I am more concerned with the heart. Yes, my brothers and sisters. God is concerned with our hearts. The devil is concerned with our hearts. The devil is after all a hearts and we must guard our hearts and not just of God are what we need must guard our hearts with all diligence do so diligently remember going to a particular place, which I believe I mentioned we turn up late at night and there was a security guard. There he was supposed to be guarded.

We got in and parked the car and we were on the Lord and then that's when he woke up and we thought, I'm not sure if they're getting their money's worth out of this one is not quite diligent but it tells us that sometimes even we ourselves might fall asleep at the wheel, but brothers and sisters understand we must be persistent and guarded in our hearts. Why, because from it flows. This range of life do you want your life tomorrow to matter. Do you want when someone looks at you tomorrow. Engage in a conversation with you tomorrow or later on today. They can say yes yes your conversation. It encourages me well on the if we are guarded in our hearts has to be then a distinction between life and death again here from it flows the springs of life. The idea here is that it is the source not on the border between life and death. But it's also the source that helps us to escape death spiritually. More importantly, we see through God's word through relationship with Christ but also physically. Many times you're looking at the news.

Maybe you're watching the video and you see a dumb decision taken by a young man or young woman that leads to a path of ruin, perhaps even physical death. Maybe even an accident dismemberment we see around us.

Don't wait. But if we follow the path of wisdom as seen in the word of God.

It is different. If you earlier versus in Proverbs chapter 4 I read from verse one here will son a father's instruction and be attentive that you may want gain insight for I give you good precepts do not seek my teaching when I was a son with my father tender. The only one in the sight of my mother.

He taught me and said to me that your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments, and what live get wisdom, get insight, do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, that is wisdom and that she will want keep you love her and she would want guard do you get in the beginning of wisdom is with God.

Guard wisdom, guard your hearts, but also guard your speech. Verse 24.

Put away from you crooked speech and put devious and talk far from you, not disappointed away from you but put it far from you.

So again, if we're going to incorporate this wisdom from the word of God that will help us in our battle plans of life we must put away crooked spirits away from us as believers, we ought not to be known as a liar is as gossips. As you know, as those who use their words to tear their own others.

Do we not understand.

Proverbs 1821 tells us, and I know some people take this out of context but it doesn't that there's our in the top right and so with the tongue we can bless with its own we can curse we must be cheerful, we must guard our speech put away from us put far from us.

The idea here is to put significant distance between us and crooked speech is not disappointed over there which can be in arms reach when you're ready to grab onto it again. Let's we be tempted to grab onto it which accosted all winter, so it far from so far that it may be out of sight that we are not constantly looking in turning aside and we see that Satan there.

Let's we be tempted to do drawn to it again.

You know some you can trust what they say. I know some in my life.

If someone say jump.

Probably not, but I do it they say law can probably go to run if they say stand them from going to sit there. Words are not trustworthy. That ought not to be among us as believers put far from you crooked speech. Why was the rationale because we as God's people.

We were present in light we been called from darkness into his marvelous light.

And because all words matter.

You are growing up use their sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Is that really so right.

All words are important that important to God they hurt. They can hurt others. If we allow them to, but instead what we ought to do. Ephesians 5 tells us that we ought we are called to to encourage one another to build up one another and not to destroy each other.

So how do we put this into practice.

We guard our mouth. Psalm 141 verse three tells us that we listen more and we speak. Bless James 19 tells us to be quick to hear and slow to speak and then what we want to do from Proverbs 15 want. We want to understand that a soft answer turns away wrath but grievous words stir up anger so what we want to practice that soft word that soft answer The Encouraging Word that shows us that we are guarded our speech and yes, at times, and there may be some disagreements among us live in our various relationships put aside and take some time to pray and think through what do you say and how do you respond to this so that we are seeing to be those who are walking in the wisdom of the word of God. We are not to be argumentative. That's a struggle for some of us, I'm sure. But again, we are to guard our speech for word to guard our eyes. After all, if we guard our hearts beat if we guard wisdom. If we guard our hearts and we guard our speech and we don't guard our eyes. We still have a problem. Don't wait. We must guard our eyes look at verse 25. Let your eyes and looked directly forward and you season be straight before you let your eyes look forward.

The idea here is, we must discipline ourselves discipline.

All eyes physically and spiritually. We must discipline ourselves, we must consider. We must, behold, we must regard, we must look great forward directly ahead of us and if the object of our seeking in the thick of a worldview is the Lord then what are we doing where looking have unwarranted with seeking the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the father. Colossians 1 then or since then you have been raised with Christ, what seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated not the right hand of the father verse to set your minds on the things above, not on the things of this earth before my eyes are set up ballpark were seeking the things about that again and everything else falls in place. Consider behold regard look straight ahead. Don't turn to the side thinks our gaze as it were. As believers we should be characterized as his people of righteousness.

We walk up rightly. We are not in lawless. That's how we should be known and it seems that just a few weeks ago season.

My girls at different ages. Of course, because you know one is a few years older than the other teaching them how to ride their bikes.

It just seems like yesterday. In fact, we were. I think we were either put in their looking for Christmas decorations are.

It might've been when we were returning her Christmas decorations that added that we found a similar instrument in the bar that we bought yes so many years ago, we still have it can tell when last I saw it, but we have this bar that we bought. I think that one of these stores and you put it on the back wheels off the bike with my girls use the right tricycle. So it's been that long and is appearing you run behind them and you hold this bar.

You keep them balanced and then there comes a time when we take on the balance wheel and you run behind them for little bit and there's so confident that their dad was holding them their own right in there so confident they're making their turn before you know it. I let go and the writing alone seems like it was just yesterday and all the older one is an adult I taught her to drive. She got her license and all the younger one I taught her to drive and she has her permit. So now she gets to drive everywhere and we sit in the in the passenger seat with one of the parents at the front. Of course every now and then she looks to the left or to the right and she realized as she does so, the vehicle begins to swerve to wherever she looks, which is problematic. You don't want that to happen because you can drift into another lane that you can cause an accident.

Stay straight ahead, keep your focus ahead enough to say I hate your drift and always because I was his gaze and there are no keep your focus ahead in the idea here for us as well is that if we remain focused turn our eyes toward Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of this are that grow strangely dim.

They are there because we are focused have unwarranted because we set our gaze on him when not bothered so much about the things of this world. One of our challenges is to seek first the kingdom of God reminder from Matthew six right.

Consider the use of the field, the birds of the air, they don't toil yet our heavenly Father feeds them, not even Solomon in all his glory is more dressed better is just better than the Lunas of the field is not more beautiful than they are wide, your heavenly father does this window you have the basic needs of life we would lay your head and what you will eat and what you will drink and what you put on your body. God knows our needs. We are told what if we seek him first. He received his righteousness, and all the things of this world that we have need of.

He will provide seek him look at him turned towards the keyboard gaze on him and it will help us in our battles of life.

It would help us stay on the course. It will help us you know you see horses, particularly those who are in competitions wearing these blinders over their eyes wide because the way the horses eyes are at the side of their head.

They can look behind them quite easily.

They can look to the side to the left or to the right and if that were to happen, particularly if you're in a race that can be quite a problem and so they put these blinders on the horse to cure the horse to look forward God has given us his word to cure all our hearts to look forward to look at him to keep our gaze on him and when we sold look at him. I'm telling you, God directs our paths and keep was where he wants us to be in every one of us know. Unfortunately, their times we take our eyes off the Lord and what happens when we do so we fall we drift into the broader world we drift onto another path.

But they're just too narrow and the broad road and we shouldn't look down some of the past because the tendency is to swerve into drift right there guard our eyes and then finally guard our feet guard our feet is always defeatist thinking is, isn't it. We can talk about screen in our hearts or minds training or eyes training our hands would ultimately our feet would take us in again wherever our heart is our treasure would be there also. And so it was hard is it looking on the things of the world and focus on the things of the Lord gets a lot more we naturally carry us there. We will destroy ourselves destroy our lives, destroy our testimony destroy our home destroy everything else around us. Guess what, that's exactly what the devil wants this exactly what the devil wants, but we should guard our feet was 26 and 27. Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure you ponder it if you take care.

You can see there. I did hear the word here is the way cheerfully the path of your feet. If you think about the next step where you will put your feet. If you have a desire to walk in the way of the Lord you will go there but if you're not ponder in the path of 4 feet because without guard in ways that were not God in our hearts were not guarding up our eyes without guarding or speech within our feet naturally follow the path of destruction and we will destroy ourselves by no we don't lose your salvation so don't think that's what I'm saying what our testimony is at stake brothers and sisters in Christ, ponder the path of your feet. We must commit all the hallways to him again. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, not just some of your heart, not just some of your decisions, not just some of our past, but all of our path.

Ponder the path of your feet.

It is his word that provides alike to us. It is his word, that is, allow them to lower fee.

It is God was called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. So he wants us to walk in light he wants us to be children of my team wants us to represent and light in everything we do. All conversations always decisions or steps to be ordered by him, but only happens if we are walking in the wisdom of the word of God. In verse 27 tells us.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left turn your feet away from evil.

Don't swerve to the right door to take careful attention to where you're putting your feet, because of where your heart is and watch where you go that idea is itself a soldier deployed in the field season battle to get up into maybes. The leader maybe is not maybes been sent to the left or to the right with a few others of his brothers and and and they are very much aware that the enemy may set some lines in that field for them so they must carefully ponder the path carefully ponder where they put each bullet each step at a time must be cheerfully done if it's heavily wooded.

Then again, it is even more critical that you go slow and use that Matata not methodologically that you follow the path of the other person was already clear that path for you. Don't swerve to the left or to the right.

Follow this particular path. What happens when we do this again, we experience the blessed and from the Lord. We must turn our feet from evil wisdom for the better plan of life is this wisdom that we should live by is this wisdom that should occupy our hearts or minds. It is this wisdom then that will be demonstrated in our actions. We are probably here and you said well you talking about all this wisdom stuff and I believe to be difficult even for me to follow. That's okay start with a relationship with Christ. Understand that you were created in the image of God, and that sin entered this world so you and I were conceived in sin brought forth in sin and were totally lost, helpless, condemned without Christ, but in him through a relationship with Christ, the 1 Who Took Your Pl. on the cross.

You can come to have a life in him by putting your faith and trust in Christ walking therefore a new life and new path in Christ, then you follow the wisdom of the word of God, you incorporate that in your life you live it out. You become like Ezra in Ezra 710 purposed in his heart to study the whole counsel of the word of God to study. Secondly, to practice it and then third to teach it again I ask you in closing, what's your plan for life. What's your strategy for your bathroom when you get up tomorrow and you think about the day you will have you think about a new week was going to help you what's going on guides you what's gonna keep you in step with the Lord God wisdom.

Guard your heart. Guard your speech. Guard your eyes and guard your feet spray about 11 him the father thank you for your word help us as we go that we will put it into practice living out your word, which becomes a life lesson in great reward for us.

Help us to remember that the devil is after us, but you came that we may have life and have it more abundantly helpless Lord to walk as children of light by guarding ourselves according to your word for this time we ask your blessing on us in Jesus name we pray