[0:00] Well, good evening to everybody, and I would like to ask you to open your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter number 4. Proverbs chapter number 4. And I want to say that we admire you, Tracy, very much.
[0:13] Very thankful for you. You are a great example. And praise the Lord for all that you're doing. Many times when a young lady will come here, we kind of point them, at least my wife and I, we'll point them towards certain people and say, there's a good example to set your eyes on and watch.
[0:31] And Tracy, you are a person who loves the Lord, is humble, who has a servant's attitude. You're always working, and we appreciate you very much. Proverbs chapter number 4. And let me just give you one thought for this evening as we're gearing towards sending Tracy off and excited and proud of her.
[0:48] And the thought would be simply this, that you are not, and this would be all of us, we're not responsible necessarily for what happens to us, but we are responsible for how we respond to what happens to us in life.
[1:00] And Proverbs chapter number 4 and verse number 23, of course, the book of Proverbs is a book of sayings, the majority that are written by Solomon through the inspiration of God, and throws out all these sayings about how to walk as a wise man.
[1:11] Covers every issue that you can imagine here. Proverbs chapter 4, verse number 23, and it says this, And very quickly, allow me to say this. First of all, it says, with all diligence. That simply means with hard work.
[1:31] You know, you've heard somebody say, he's a diligent or she's a diligent worker. In other words, they work very hard. They give it their all. They're really going at it. Well, the Bible says that you are to keep your heart. You're to guard your heart.
[1:42] You're to, you know, watch that seed of emotions and that everything that happens there. And then it says this, for out of it, out of your heart, come all the issues of life. What are the issues of life? That's our emotions. That's our thoughts. That's everything that happens to us.
[1:58] Really, it's the motherboard of the computer, at least of your life, right? And out of your heart, you know, many times they said, Lord, this person's wrong. He said, no, no, no, no. It's from the heart come all those different, you know, it's just not the mouth that's the issue or the eyes that's the issue.
[2:12] It's the heart that, you know, that's born from all these things that happen to you in the heart. That's where our, whether it's the anger, whether it's discouragement comes from the heart, joy comes from the heart, bitterness comes from the heart, etc., etc., all these different things.
[2:24] So keep your heart, you know, strong, daily, working hard at it, because out of your heart comes all the other things that happen to you. And Proverbs chapter 16, just a couple of verse, chapters over, it says this.
[2:37] Proverbs chapter 16, verse number 32. He that's slow to anger is better than the mighty. And then it has this semicolon. It says this. He that rules his spirit, that he that takes a city. Now imagine, at least I imagine, that someone taking a city, that's a Joab.
[2:51] You remember maybe in the Old Testament, Joab, the right-hand man of David. And he would go out there and they would say, you know what? These Jebusites, they're not, boy, David, or, you know, Joab just went at it. He pulled out a sword.
[3:02] He was a man's man. I mean, he was just a, just some kind of character. You know, I mean, not afraid of absolutely anything. Joab, I mean, he could conquer a city. And the Bible says, let me tell you who's even stronger and better and wiser and greater than someone who can even conquer a city.
[3:18] I mean, what a, what an amazing fate just to conquer a city. So let me tell you someone who's greater than that. Someone who can really control his own spirit. That seat of emotions. Now, Tracy, life is full of pressure, right?
[3:30] I mean, pressure, it just really boils down. It, it, it shows who we are, right? And that's for good or for bad, you know? None of us enjoy that pressure. I certainly don't enjoy pressure. If I could live in a bubble room, I'd do it, you know?
[3:41] Nobody enjoys pressure. But life is like a pressure cooker. And buddy, it just comes always. And it might come in the form for you, Tracy, getting back over to jump back in language school. It might come out in that.
[3:52] And you say, I've said it three times. What do you want me to say it again? I said it right. And they look at you and say, you didn't say it right. You're like, I'll show you what right it, you know? And here it comes, you know? Boy, it's all coming out.
[4:03] All the issues of life, right? Or maybe another missionary says, or maybe somebody that you're trying to help, or somebody criticize, whatever it may be. Here comes all these things. The pressure cooker of life just really comes at you.
[4:14] So let me ask you just a few questions. And let me remind you this. You are, first of all, you're responsible for your own joy. You know, nobody else is responsible for your own joy. In fact, we that are married, our spouse is not responsible for our joy.
[4:27] That would be called idolatry, wouldn't it? The Lord's responsible for our joy, and we're responsible to go to the Lord. Psalm 16, verse 11 said, in his presence is fullness of joy, right? And so you're responsible for your own joy.
[4:39] No, but thank the Lord for those who can say kind words and good words and lift you up. But you're responsible for your own joy. We all are. Secondly, you're responsible for your own decisions. And so as a Christian, you must be slow at making a decision.
[4:52] You must be wise at taking a decision. You must use the Word of God as your filter to make those decisions. But you're responsible for your own decisions. Sometimes we don't like the, you know, maybe the results of the decisions. But ultimately, you make those decisions.
[5:04] You're an adult. You're a Christian. And third of all, you're responsible to what God allows to happen in your life. Stay close to God. Tracy, we love you around here.
[5:16] We are thankful for you. God is good to you. And it's very obviously that you love the Lord. You love people. You love serving. You love a whole lot of things. We love to hear you sing and everything. I mean, you're just a blessing.
[5:27] Just remember that your responsibility, God might throw a lot at you, but you're responsible for it. So keep your heart. There's some decisions that are once and forever, right? Maybe that decision like, I accepted the Lord.
[5:38] That's forever. You know, I'm forever in his hands. And praise the Lord for that. But most other decisions, we have to renew those decisions all the time. Keeping your heart, you know, your emotions.
[5:49] That's something that we have to do daily. I mean, practice that. Discipline yourself. Say, Lord, I'm in a bad mood today. May I not leave? May I get first cup of coffee right before I walk out the door, right? Or whatever it is that helps you out.
[6:01] And you know what? Every day you must say, Lord, help me and get out there and serve the Lord. Keep your heart with all diligence, with all the work that you can. Because out of your heart comes all the issues of life.