[0:00] Take your Bibles and go with me to Proverbs chapter 3. I love it when you worship the Lord. And I just thank the Lord for that.
[0:15] I want you to look at Proverbs 3, 1 through 10. We read it a minute ago. And I want to talk to you. I entitled it How to Succeed. So the first thing I want to do is take Proverbs 3 and I want to find out what success looks like.
[0:28] When the wise man talks to his son. When the wise man talks to his son, he says to him, he gives him what I would suppose would be some pretty reasonable opinions of everybody in this room about what success looks like.
[0:46] So go with me if you would to Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 2. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 2. The Bible says for length of days and long life.
[0:58] I think most people kind of think that living a long time is a good thing. Most of us don't like the idea of dying very young. We're a pastor that spoke Thursday night at our church.
[1:11] His wife died at the age of 25. His first wife. The Lord has blessed him with another wife. I cannot imagine being 27 years old and having my 25 year old wife die.
[1:24] I've been married 47 years. So I think that would have been a very great shock. But when Solomon talks to him, he says, now, you know what? What I'm about to tell you will give you a long life.
[1:36] A long life. A lot of days that you'll be able to live. But that wouldn't be enough by itself. But in verse 2, notice what else he said. And peace. Now, living a long time in a bad place might not be so much fun.
[1:50] But living a long time in peace, that'd be good. Amen. Why don't you put a circle around the word peace. They shall add to you. If you'll do right, God will give you a long time to live.
[2:02] And God will let you live in peace. Now, I'd be remiss, I think, if I didn't remind you that you need to be praying for your political leaders. And you know what?
[2:13] Whoever they are, we're to pray for them. You know what we're to pray for them about? That we can live in peace. That we can live in peace and serve our God. That we can continue to have church. We can have the chance to serve God.
[2:25] So Proverbs 3, 2 says, length of days, long life, and peace. That sounds pretty successful to me. If you're a grandparent in this room, you realize that something happened one day.
[2:37] You've got to be a grandparent. You're like, boy, it's a lot more fun than it was just having to always do all the stuff. You know, used to, you had to do all the work. You had to discipline the kid and feed the kid and clothe the kid.
[2:49] And you had to spank the kid, if you're biblical. And you had to do all that. Now you're the grandparent. And you don't have to do none of that. Amen. They just bring the kid to you.
[2:59] The kid hugs on you and kisses you. Says sweet things to you. And you wouldn't have got that if you hadn't lived a while. Look at Proverbs 3, verse 4.
[3:10] He named something else, I think, is a definition of success. He says, so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
[3:22] How about living a life that pleases God? Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't it be nice to know that what you're doing is pleasing to God?
[3:33] That you have found his favor. That he is smiling on the way you're living. And that you're living with like a person who really understands what's going on. I've separated this into two.
[3:46] Because it's the same verse. But I want you to circle the word God. You see, I know God loves me. But I want God to be pleased with me. Not just out of mercy and grace. But because I am honoring him.
[3:57] And I am obeying him. And he says, if you'll do what I'm going to tell you in this, God will be pleased. And then you need to circle the word man. You realize that men will be pleased with you.
[4:08] In my Sunday school class, we're in the book of Daniel. We were talking in Daniel this morning. It was brought up several times. How Daniel's got an excellent spirit. Doesn't matter which king comes in.
[4:18] Everybody's like, that Daniel's a good guy. And David was a good guy. And he behaved wisely. And Joseph had a good spirit. And it says here, boy, wouldn't it be something if men recognized you as just being a man that was favored.
[4:32] A man that we love. A man that we esteem. And Daniel got in trouble today in our Sunday school class. He got in trouble because everybody liked him so much. And they said, we can't find anything wrong with him.
[4:45] Unless it's about how he serves his God. And they had been chosen. There was 120 people put over the country. And above all 120, there were three. And of the three, Daniel was the king's favorite.
[4:57] And he found favor. He found favor in the sight of God and in the sight of man. How about chapter 3 and verse 6? That's another picture, I think, of success.
[5:08] He says, and he shall direct thy paths. How would you like to know, boy, the Lord's leading me in my family dealings. The Lord's leading me in my business dealings.
[5:20] The Lord's leading me in everything I'm doing. God's directing my path. I mean, if you'd like to have that, say amen. I'd call that success. I'd call it success.
[5:30] I think God has been very good to all of us. But in my personal testimony, God directed me to a place where I met my friend and my wife for all these years.
[5:41] God directed my path. God directed my path when he brought me to you. God directed my path. And all these things, that's a pretty wonderful success story. But he doesn't leave.
[5:52] I mean, it's funny now. If I was a prosperity preacher, I'd just love his passage. I mean, we could just say this first point would be the whole message. Guess what else he promised them? He promised them good health.
[6:03] Look at verse 8. He said, it shall be health to your belly button. Health to your navel. Look at that. Is that in your Bible? Health to your navel. And morrow to thy bones.
[6:15] And you'll stay young. And you'll be energetic. I don't know if that healthy and able means you'll have good digestion. Not sure about that. But you're going to be healthy.
[6:26] And then in verse 10, he said, you're going to be financially blessed. Look, if you would, in verse 10. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty. And thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
[6:38] You'll have so much stuff, your barns will be full. And when you're harvesting your grapes and you're doing that, you're going to mash so many grapes. You're going to be just overflowing with that.
[6:50] Now you say, what's that got to do with us? To be blunt and honest, you're living in 2021. You just finished 2020. And lots of things don't look so good.
[7:01] But I don't know how things looked in any other time in the Bible. I would like to remind you that there have been troublesome times all through your Bible. And God has got his people through every one of those trials.
[7:14] Amen. I hate to throw my Sunday school. If you don't come to Sunday school, you're messing up. You need to go to somebody's class. There's a bunch of them going on around here. This morning in our Sunday school class. You know what Daniel did when the king made it against the law to worship God?
[7:28] He just did what he always did. Because it ought to be your habit to worship God. Amen. You ought to be at church on Sunday morning. You ought to be at church on Sunday night. You ought to be at vision on Thursday night.
[7:40] You ought to be having your Bible reading and your prayer time. You ought to be serving God no matter where you are. It ought to just be your habit. And then when he got in trouble for it, you know what happened? He was just prepared to suffer if he had to suffer.
[7:52] He was prepared to suffer. They said, if you do it, you're going to be putting the lines in. He said, well, that's fine. I just do what I'm supposed to do. Make all the rules you want to do. I'll make them. He was prepared to suffer.
[8:02] But then somebody came in and rescued him right in the middle of it. He got put in the lines then. He got put in the lines then and he got in trouble. God can help us succeed in troublesome times.
[8:14] God can help us succeed when whatever's going on in Washington is going on. God can help us succeed when whatever's going on financially and internationally whatever's going on.
[8:24] God can bless his people. Now you may think I'm a tad out of place to say all of that about blessing. But if you read Proverbs chapter 3 verses 1 through 10 with me, every other verse was about a blessing.
[8:39] And I just went back through them with you. Every other verse was about a blessing. So God wants to bless his people. If you understand that, say amen. He wants to bless them. But in this passage he tells us, let me just go ahead and give you the secrets to success.
[8:54] I ought to write a book about this. Everybody writes about the secrets to success. I find them right here in Proverbs chapter 3. Go back with me to chapter 3 verse 1. Now he said, this is how I'll bless you.
[9:04] And he said, this is how you'll get the blessing. See, the verses I read was how you get the blessings. The verses you read were the blessings you were going to get. Look at chapter 3 and verse 1. My son, forget not my law.
[9:17] You need to write down there somewhere. You need to learn and memorize the Word of God. Now read the verse. My son, I want you to remember what I said.
[9:32] My son, I want you to remember what I said. Did you know I often hear it said that you're not supposed to read your Bible every day? And the Bible never commands you to. And I'd have to say that's probably true. But he told the king of Israel, you go write yourself a copy and read in it every day.
[9:46] So he did tell the king to. And a lot of the other people might not have been that good of readers. They might not have afforded a copy. But you can afford a copy. Amen. And you can read the Bible. And you ought to be remembering what the Word of God says.
[9:57] You want the success, then you don't forget the Word of God. And then it says, let thine heart keep my commandments. I want you to think on that a second.
[10:08] A lot of us do what's right, but not in our heart. See, you might not sleep with another man's wife, but you do in your heart. You might not steal another man's money, but you do in your heart.
[10:21] You might not kill another man, but you do in your heart when you hate him. If you ever read the New Testament, you know Jesus said, it ain't about killing the guy. It's about wanting to kill a guy. It ain't about sleeping with the other woman.
[10:32] It's about wanting to sleep with the other woman. Is that true or not? Amen. Now, you want to succeed. Here's how you succeed. Proverbs 3, 1. Solomon said, now, son, listen to me.
[10:44] You need to remember the Word of God. You need to do it in your heart. You need to remember the Word of God, and you need to do it in your heart.
[10:54] See, it's not about outward conformity. It's about inward transformation. It's not about what I do so you think I'm a good guy. It's about, boy, I'm in love with God.
[11:05] You want to succeed, get the book. You want to succeed, get the book in you. You want to see it succeed, remember that tomorrow when you're making a decision. You want to succeed, you remember what the Word of God says today and tomorrow and everything you're doing.
[11:20] The Word of God ought to be a part of everything you're doing. So you put it into practice. You put it into practice. Look at chapter 3 and verse 1.
[11:32] It says, let thine heart keep my commandments. It's not, you know, I worry. I'll just be honest with you.
[11:43] As the old man, I worry. I worry about the young people in our church. Boy, I love them. And I sit there in my seat and I watch them sing. I watch them share their five-minute messages.
[11:55] And I'm excited that they know so much. But no one's not the key. Doing's the key. And I watched two beautiful young ladies sing a song today.
[12:06] And I thought to myself, well, that's wonderful. That is so beautiful. They're singing that. I just hope it's in their heart. I hope it's real. And I hope 40 years from now when I'm long dead and gone that it's still the same stuff because they keep his commandments.
[12:22] I learn them. I put them in my heart. And I keep them. I don't know if you see that. But if you want to succeed, it's about the word of God. Now, when you obey God, you get those great promises you just found in Proverbs 3, 2.
[12:37] So let's just real quickly look back over them. You see, it's context. In chapter 1, 3 and verse 1, he said, don't forget my law. Do it in your heart. Keep my commandments. So look at verse 2.
[12:48] Chapter 3 and verse 2, he says, because you know what I'll give you? Long life and peace. You do what the Bible says do.
[12:59] And you obey God. Long life and peace. The word of God said. Go with me if you would to verse 3. We're to live in truth.
[13:10] But that's not about self-righteousness and judgmental, hypocritical Phariseeism. It's not I'm better than you. Because in chapter 3 and verse 3, he said, now, son, I want you to learn the Bible.
[13:23] And I want you to put it in your heart. But I want you to go ahead and get some mercy. Look at that. Are you reading it with me? Let not mercy and truth forsake thee.
[13:35] I don't know enough about Hebrew to find a Hebrew food place. But let me tell you, mercy is the first word in that. Mercy then truth. Mercy then truth.
[13:46] Sometimes people that are Christians get truth so much and they don't mercy. And the way they treat people is just totally out of place. But Sodom says to his son, I want you to learn the word of God.
[13:57] But I want you to do it from your heart. I want you to put it in practice. But son, I want you to tie mercy and truth to your heart. Don't you let them get away. Mercy and truth.
[14:09] Let not mercy and truth forsake thee. And then he says, just look at it. I mean, I'm just reading. It's all I know how to do. Tie them around your neck. Tie them around your neck.
[14:21] Everywhere you go, you're going to walk around going, boy, I'm full of mercy and truth. I'm full of mercy and truth. I'm full of mercy and truth. Here's my sign. I'm wearing it.
[14:31] I got mercy and truth. Sometimes people that get truth and independent Baptists kind of been famous for it. They walk around with truth and they're just like judge, judge, judge, judge, judge, judge, judge.
[14:43] But Solomon said, son, you want God's blessings. Don't be like that. If anybody ought to judge, it would have been Jesus. He was truth walking.
[14:53] And they caught a woman taken in adultery. And he said, watch the mercy. He said, watch the mercy. There will be a part of us.
[15:05] And that combination of truth and mercy produces even greater blessings and success. Look at verse four. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
[15:21] Now, brother, if you could take me back to verse three. I just want everybody to look at verse three. We need to get these in the order. He's writing. See, look, watch. Now, son, you hang on to mercy and truth.
[15:32] Don't ever walk away from it. You tie it around your neck and you write it on the table of your heart so that you are a merciful person. You're a kind person. You're a gentle person.
[15:44] And when you do that, verse four, watch verse four. Are you ready? So, because you got peace or you got mercy and truth, boy, you're going to find favor and good understanding in God's sight and in man's sight.
[16:00] That'd be pretty good prosperity. That'd be pretty good success. If you think so, say amen. That's what we're to do. It'll please God. It'll please man. And we'll have good understanding.
[16:13] I'll tell you that in Hebrews chapter four, I won't take the time to show you the passage of scripture. But when God was having the Old Testament people choose the high priest that would lead them, he said, I want you to be chosen from among you.
[16:30] See, he knows y'all. He understands y'all. He understands how you live, understands where you are. And he wanted them to understand people. And that's what makes you find favor.
[16:43] Truth sets people free. Truth changes lives. But sometimes the way we present truth drives people away. Go with me if you would down to three, five.
[16:56] Now we can get some direction in our life. How are we going to navigate 2021? Now if you'd ask us that in January of 2020, we'd have said, looking like a good year.
[17:09] My family was on vacation. And we took a bunch of them down to Florida. I don't know, it was 20 something of us in the house. And they heard Barbara Walter say 2020.
[17:23] And so the way she said it from then on, that was what everybody said in the house. This is 2020. And we didn't know that this is 2020 was going to become a, this is a really bad 2020.
[17:34] We didn't know daddy was going to be sick and almost dying. 2020. We didn't know that churches were going to be shut down. 2020. We didn't know all this 2020 junk was going to go on.
[17:45] But wouldn't it be good to have God direct you? I don't know what's going to happen in the future. People send me stuff all the time. Boy, tragedy here. And this is going on. All this bad stuff. And heavy, heavy hangs over your head.
[17:57] And clouds are everywhere. Boy, can you believe what's going on? But I'll give you an answer. Proverbs 3, 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
[18:11] Stop right there for a minute. Trust in the Lord. Look at it. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. What in the world does that mean? I don't know why our missionaries can't get to the field, but I have an answer for you.
[18:29] Trust in the Lord. You say, they won't open the borders. They won't let me in. This COVID is messing us up. I know. Let's just trust in the Lord. I don't understand what's going on in the political system of our country.
[18:41] I'll just trust in the Lord. Well, I'm not sure about if everything was fair and everything was done right. I got an answer for you. Trust in the Lord. That's what it says in the Bible.
[18:51] Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. You know, what's really funny is y'all trust it with your Sunday morning heart. At 1030, y'all walk in here going, no, we love Jesus.
[19:02] Let's worship. And at 1130, we walk out door saying, Chuck, the Jesus trust in heart, pick up the doubt, doubt in everybody heart and live in fear till we get to church again. I know what it says is trust in the Lord with all thine heart.
[19:17] That means, I think, you can take this any way you want. You ought to start off every day in Bible reading and prayer. I mean, if you was trusting God, you know what you'd do?
[19:28] You'd check in with the boss. You know? You know? If daddy was in charge and I was a kid and I was trusting that daddy was going to take care of us and the enemy was out there trying to hurt us and the rapers and the killers and the plunderers are outside and they got guns and they're about to attack us.
[19:51] I'd run in and say, daddy, what are we going to do today? And then daddy would be like, I got it under control, son. Just trust me. But most of us take no time to go talk to daddy. We're like, there are thieves outside the windows and there's things going on that shouldn't be going on and we're all upset about it.
[20:09] Come on, be honest. You won't be honest. I know you won't. Because you're in your trust in the heart right now. But by Monday morning, you'll throw that one away. You ain't going to pick it up till Thursday night if you come on Thursday night.
[20:21] If not, you'll pick it up again next Sunday or the next, whenever it is you come back. It means you'll lay all your plans and you ask the Holy Spirit to show you whatever you're doing that he doesn't agree with.
[20:34] Now you might say, how do I know what he agrees with? He wrote it down for you. He wrote it all down for you. Do you understand you do not feel yourself to doing right?
[20:45] You obey to doing right. You don't feel to feel good. You obey to feel good. You don't feel good to succeed. You obey to succeed. You don't worship because you feel like worshiping.
[20:57] You worship because you're supposed to worship. And so you start off a day and you say, I think I'll just spend a little time with God and say, God, a lot of junk going on out there today. I'm going to need you. So I spent a lot of time in the book of Proverbs full of wisdom.
[21:10] I look at chapter three, verse five. Now he said, trust in the Lord. And he ends the verse by saying, and don't trust you. Now, wait a minute.
[21:22] I graduated from college. Now, I don't have this, but some of y'all do. Oh, PhD. I got a post hole digging degree. I got a PhD.
[21:36] I'm a successful business person. I'm a millionaire. And Solomon's like, son, don't talk about money. I got more than everybody. He says, don't talk about being smart.
[21:48] I'm the smartest guy there is. God said he made me the wisest. Is that true or not? Come on. He said this. He said, so here's what I want you to do. You trust the Lord. And don't you trust you.
[22:00] Just read a verse with me. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine understanding. Now, I don't know any Hebrew, but I'll tell you what I think lean not means.
[22:12] I think most of you would say, well, I trust the Lord. I just kind of lean towards thinking this. Did he say that? What you leaning towards that?
[22:24] Why are you leaning towards that? He said, I want you to trust God. But I heard the Queen of Sheba say this. I said, trust God. I do trust God, but you understand.
[22:36] I'm a, I'm a, I'm a economics professor. I understand budgets and I understand where the country is. I'm a financial wizard. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a constitutional person.
[22:48] I understand all these things. And, and so therefore it's a little hard for me to just trust God when I know so much. You're mad at me, right? I'm just reading the Bible.
[23:00] So your battle's not with me. It's with the book. And it says, trust the Lord and don't lean on your own understanding. It's pretty easy to lean on your own understanding. That's what you do when you rush out the door without praying.
[23:19] That's when you pick up your Bible on Sunday morning and dust it off. Or you don't even have to do that. You just pick up your phone. You hadn't opened that Bible up since last week, but you, I got my Bible with me.
[23:30] Always got with me. It's my chatting app too. Be doubtful about the ways you think might work and ask him for guidance.
[23:44] Verse six. Are y'all still with me? Are you mad at me right now? I'm just reading the Bible. How many of you would agree? I'm just reading the Bible. I mean, I'm, I'm really not a very smart preacher.
[23:55] I just know how to read in all thy ways, acknowledge him in all thy ways, acknowledge him.
[24:06] What's that mean? Well, I think it means at work, you don't leave God home at school. You don't leave God at home. When, when you're in your bedroom, you don't leave God at home.
[24:21] Uh, when you're at the bank, you don't leave God at home. When you're watching the news, you don't leave God at home. It means in all thy ways, acknowledge him everywhere you're going and everything you're doing.
[24:33] You're thinking about the God of heaven. And you're like, God, what you got in mind here? You see, the whole idea is I'm recognizing that you know what you're doing. I don't know what I'm doing.
[24:44] And I'm willing to publicly say that. I'll just say a couple of things real quick, make you really mad. But typically our success is ours. Unless we're at church.
[24:56] At church, we'll say stuff like, well, God's blessed me. But at work, we're like, I am smart, ain't I? I mean, you know, look, got all the right degrees.
[25:08] Got all the right work. Got all the money. Pat me on the back. Most of us need to go to a chiropractor to fix our arm that pats our back. How about this?
[25:24] If you acknowledge him, you make no plans without thinking about him. Amen. You make no decisions. You make no purchases without asking him for guidance.
[25:39] And then you get this wonderful promise in the same verse. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[25:49] In our Sunday school class this morning, it's just funny. Daniel heard about the decree that if you prayed, like he'd done every day, all through his life, you'd go to jail.
[26:01] You'd go to a lion's den. And Daniel's like, well, if I don't pray, I'll go to a lion's den.
[26:14] But I got to acknowledge Jesus. So he just went out there and acknowledged Jesus. And then they came and got him. In all your ways, acknowledge him.
[26:27] If you seek him and honor him, he promises to guide you. If I was a young person in this room, you know, you're at the biggest crossroad of your life. You start getting to be a late teenager.
[26:41] 14, 15, 16, you're starting to get a little older. You ought not even talk to boys without acknowledging Jesus. You ought not talk to girls without acknowledging Jesus. People get hurt when they get married wrong.
[26:56] You ought to acknowledge Jesus. It doesn't mean you don't think. It just means you diligently ask him for direction and you believe he will guide you.
[27:08] As long as you're in agreement with the scripture. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 7. He's going to say it again, but let's just read it.
[27:19] Don't trust yourself. Be not wise in thine own eyes. I have a problem with that often. Personally.
[27:31] I mean, you don't get to be 66 without thinking you've done something. I made some really good decisions. I'm pretty smart cookie. People even tell me I'm smart.
[27:45] And Solomon said, well, I am the wisest guy in the kingdom. According to the word of God. But everybody knows he's the Bible says that, right? God said, you ask me for anything you want.
[27:57] I'll give it to you. He could have asked for money, but he asked for wisdom. And God said, all right, I'll give you wisdom and I'll give you money too. And he said, but I shouldn't be wise in my own eyes. Even though I'm the wisest guy.
[28:09] I got a promise from God about that. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Don't think that you know what you're doing. If the truth be known, we go to work and leave God at home.
[28:25] We figure God's in charge of the spiritual aspect. And we don't want to mix church and state. Or church and business.
[28:36] Be not wise in thine own eyes, but fear the Lord. Right beside the word fear, reverence and respect the God of heaven and his word.
[28:53] Reverence and respect. That's what fear means here. I don't mean this foolishly at all. But this is not a regular book.
[29:05] Not a regular book. It's got paper and ink. Leather. But it's not a regular book. This thing right here has got the word of God written on it. Boy.
[29:18] You didn't hear what I said. It has the word. Of God. That means it's got God's words written in it. Reverence.
[29:30] It means to really believe he's there. And he has the wisdom and the power. It means to believe that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. Like it says in Hebrews 11.6.
[29:46] Depart from evil. And don't do whatever it takes to get ahead. Look at verse 7. Be not wise in thine own eyes.
[29:56] Fear the Lord and stop doing wrong. Well I need to do a little cheating here. Need to do a little lying here. Get rid of this dichotomy that exists in our thinking.
[30:09] Church is church and business is business. You know if you're succeeding in business. You're a born again believer. You ought to realize God's what's been blessing you.
[30:21] If it was your own crookedness. You ought to just repent of it and get out of it. Realize that true believers honor God in everything. That they're doing.
[30:32] Let's go to Proverbs 3.9 if you would. We ought to honor the Lord. I want you to look at the verse.
[30:43] And I want you to just pay attention to it. Honor the Lord with thy substance. Let's just stop and talk about honor the Lord. I need to acknowledge him.
[30:56] I need to fear him. I need to respect him. I need to reverence him. But talk's cheap. Talk's cheap.
[31:09] And it's easy to hold on to your money. Because you know better how to use it than God does. But he told him in Proverbs 3.9. Richest man in the world told his son.
[31:19] Honor the Lord with your money. Honor the Lord with your business. Honor the Lord with your farm. Honor the Lord with all your stuff. Honor the Lord with your stuff.
[31:31] Substance. Everything you got. What keeps you alive. Honor God with it. Honor the Lord with the substance. And with the first fruits of all your increase.
[31:44] God gives you a blessing. You give to him first. I'd say that's what's. Word of God's got in it. If you agree with that, say amen. Look there. Honor the Lord with all thy substance.
[31:55] And with the first fruits. See, I want to honor God. I want to honor God. I want to say, God, it all came from you. And I want to honor you. Not just with a little bit of it.
[32:06] Not just with 10% of it. I just want to say, boy, God, I wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you, God. I wouldn't be married to this wonderful lady I'm married to if it wasn't for you.
[32:17] I wouldn't have these healthy kids and grandkids like I wasn't for you. I wouldn't be able to go to church and worship with those people in vision if it wasn't for you. I just want to honor you. Oh, God, you are good.
[32:30] But not just praising, but paying. You know, you can think a girl's cute. You can say all kinds of sweet things, but you marry her, you'll pay for a long time.
[32:44] That's how you'll honor her. When I got married, they told me that two could live as cheap as one. But what they meant by that was you had to eat half as much. They said to live off love.
[32:58] But that ran out pretty quick. I wouldn't have got fat if it hadn't been some other stuff. My father-in-law brought Betty to me. He said I've had her eyes checked, had her teeth fixed.
[33:09] I've had her to a medical doctor. She has a clean bill of health. All your problem now. He only kept her 19 years. I've had her 47. Honor.
[33:22] Use what he gives you to honor him. You know, if you've got a talent to sing, you ought to be singing. You've got a talent to pray, you ought to be praying. You've got a talent to teach, you ought to be.
[33:33] Whatever he gave you, use it for him. Get to him first. That's true honor. Don't get yours first.
[33:46] It's first fruits. First fruits. I would be in Peru. And they would invite me to some very poor person's home to eat because I was preaching a revival out in another city hours and hours from Mariquippa, my home.
[34:05] And they'd invite me out. And I was sitting there at the table. And they fixed me a big old chicken breast. I mean, it's like what I'd have gotten at home.
[34:18] And I looked around. There was a wing. And there was a leg. And there was a thigh. And so I was like, man, I don't have to have this. No, no, no, no, no. Awful.
[34:29] When I sat at the table, I was the only person at the table with a glass glass. Everybody else had a metal or a plastic glass. But the missionary is here. The preacher's here.
[34:39] You honor him. I finished the chicken breast. And I said, man, thank you all so much. And she comes out and she goes, pastor, I fixed you another one. I said, oh, no, no, no.
[34:51] Please, let's divide it up and let everybody eat it. She said, no, we've already had enough. I watched her. She had a wing. And her husband said, give it to me. I'll take it. That honor only went so far.
[35:04] I got it all. Honor the Lord. Amen. Amen. When you realize why he wants to bless you and accept you, then he can bless you.
[35:15] Look at Proverbs 3.10. Promise. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty. And thy presses shall burst out new wine. You heard an offering devotional this morning.
[35:29] And David said he was all in. Very good. Great devotional. Great truth. He said, if God's going to do all that for you, you couldn't give God 10%.
[35:43] It's amazing. Verse 10 said, man, I'll fill your barn up. Verse 9 said, but you put me first or I ain't going to fill your barn up. You want to succeed in 2021?
[36:01] You can. And here's your formula for it. In Proverbs chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. But it all starts with this. It's a brand new year. How much Bible do you put in your life every day?
[36:15] Amen. I'm sincerely asking you. How much Bible do you put in your life? How many times do you say, hey, God, before I get the day started, could we just have a few minutes?
[36:27] I'd like to hear from you in your word. I'd like to talk to you from my heart. How often? The bad thing about a church like ours is we know, but we don't do sometimes.
[36:43] That's what the Pharisees were guilty of. You know, the Pharisees knew everything. You want to hear a wild one? The devil knows the Bible better than any of us in this room. He don't do none of it. He even believes in God.
[36:57] But not the kind of way we do. I don't want to do that. I want it to be real in my life. Father in heaven, would you touch hearts today? There are some people here that may not even know you as their Savior.
[37:09] And I ask you to save them. I ask you to help them know for sure that if they died, they'd go to heaven. And there are some Christians here, dear God, that have not been taking time in your word.
[37:21] They have not been taking time to seek you, serve you, honor you. And I'm asking you to touch us today. God, do a work in our lives. God, show your power here.