Expanding Self Examination, Part 5

One of the great things about the Word of the Lord is that no matter what you read, it always applies to our life today. In fact, when we look at what's happening on Wednesday nights with Daniel and Sunday mornings with what we're studying, there's a great parallel between the two.

We've looked at Daniel, and we said that in chapter one, there was a test about his walk with the Lord. In chapter two will be a test concerning his witness. Chapter three, concerning his worship. There's always a test that comes, and he was tested, he was tried, and found to be true. But he was tested in his walk with the Lord. So too are we tested in our walk with the Lord. And so, as we look at expanding the self-examination, we're looking at the quality of our walk.

What does our life look like? How do we walk with the Lord? We told you last week that 1 John 2, 6 says that if we say that we abide in Him, we are to walk even as He Himself walks. How is that? We walk in newness of life. The Bible says in the book of Romans, the sixth chapter, the fourth verse, that because we're born again, there's a new life that we have.

So we walk in newness of life. And how is that evident? Well, it's evident because we walk worthy, Ephesians 4 verse number 1. We walk humbly, Ephesians 4 verse number 2. We walk separately, Ephesians 4 verse number 17. We walk in love. We walk lovely, Ephesians 5 verse number 1. We walk brightly, Ephesians 5 verse number 8. We walk wisely, Ephesians 5 verse number 17. We walk truthfully, 3 John verse number 4. We walk intimately, Colossians 2 verse number 6. We also walk thankfully. That's also in Colossians 2 verse number 6.

We walk faithfully, 2 Corinthians 5 tells us we walk by faith and not by sight. And the question comes, do we examine our lives in light of how we are to walk? If we're new creations, if we're new creatures, then everything about our walk is going to change, and it makes itself evident. And so as we examine our lives, I wanted to bring you to this point because the Bible says that we are to walk dependently, trusting God for all things.

So the question comes for you today and for me, do we walk dependently every day upon the Lord? Do we trust Him every day when it comes to the decisions that we make, the places we go, the things that we say? Do we walk dependently? Paul says it this way, Galatians chapter 5 verse number 16, but I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. He says, for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Paul challenges these believers to walk in the Spirit so they don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh, because the lusts of the flesh provide for you all kinds of turmoil. The question comes, do we walk in the Spirit? Do we walk dependently upon the Lord? Does each step we take, is it taken under the direction of the Lord?

Each word we speak, is it under the direction of the Lord? You see, we say we like to walk dependently upon the Lord, but the test comes when there's decisions to be made and things we are to do. And we have to ask ourselves, do I truly depend upon the Lord? We are to walk in Him, Colossians 2 verse number 6 says. Because we have received Him, we are to be rooted in Him. Having been rooted in Him, we rely upon Him so that we can reveal everything there is about Him that we might rejoice only in Him.

That's what it means to walk dependently upon the Lord. But we have a hard time doing that, because autonomy and independence marks our personhood. We love to be independent, free from anybody telling us what to do, even the Lord. We love to be autonomous, doing our own thing however we want to do it. But it always leads to turmoil. Stress and difficulty. So, the Lord does something very unique in our lives. He sets out to shatter all of our independence from Him so that He might establish our dependence upon Him.

Paul would tell the Galatians in Galatians 3, oh you foolish Galatians, having begun in the Spirit, are you now trying to be perfected in the flesh? You began this whole Christian walk under the direction of the Spirit of God. Are you still trying to do what you do in the flesh? Or are you living a life of dependency, walking in the Spirit so you don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh? So, the Lord sets out to do a great and mighty work in your life and mine to make sure that we walk dependently upon Him.

That Chinese preacher Watchman Ni, who was imprisoned, ultimately killed because of his faith, said these words. He said, anyone who serves God will discover sooner or later that the greatest hindrance to his work is not others but himself. Now, think about that. Anyone who sets out to serve his God is going to realize that his greatest hindrance is not someone else. It truly is himself. We would like to think that in our marriage our wife is our biggest hindrance. She's not. Or her husband is our biggest hindrance to walking with the Lord or to even loving one another.

It's not. It's you. It's you. We like to think that it's our church that's a hindrance in my walk with the Lord. So, I go to another church. It's not your church. It's you. We so easily want to blame somebody else for our condition. That's what Adam did, very beginning, right? The woman you gave me, Lord. He wants to blame the Lord. Lord, I was great until you gave me a woman. Before that, I had no problems. You give me a woman, it must be because you gave her to me that we fell into sin. And of course, what did the woman do?

She blamed Satan. We always want to blame somebody else. We never want to look in the mirror and say, you know what? It really is me. I'm the hindrance to my marriage. I'm the hindrance to my ministry. I'm the hindrance to my church. Why is it pastors come and go so often in churches? It's not because their church is a hindrance to them. It's them. If they realize that they'll stay in their church, so they'll minister to the people, they'll go through the hard times, they'll go through the difficult times.

They just won't come and leave and leave again and come and leave again. They won't do that. They'll stay and work through the conflict because God brought them there. But so easily, we want to blame somebody else for our situation. And that's because we don't walk depending upon the Lord for everything that we say and everything that we do. The old preacher said it well, Christ is ever seldom a reality till He first of all becomes a necessity.

So what does the Lord do? He sets out to make you realize that He is an absolute necessity in your life. We come to faith, we believe in Christ, we give our life to Him, right? We embrace Him as Lord and Savior. And then we live each day as we are practical atheists. We make decisions as if God doesn't exist. We make decisions about marriage, our family, moving, the church we attend, the job we take, the school we attend. We make decisions by our own ingenuity and intellect without ever trusting and dependent upon the Lord to help us make the right decision.

And we don't even know it, but we do. And so the Lord wants to do a great and mighty work in all of our lives. So God will stop at nothing to make us dependent upon Him. Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 119 verse number 67, "'Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep Your Word.'" The psalmist said, "'Before I was afflicted, I went astray. I just did my own thing, but now I keep Your Word.'" In other words, before I was afflicted, I didn't keep Your Word. Before I was afflicted, I did my own thing, but now I hold on to Your Word.

God brought affliction into His life that He might learn to trust and depend upon the Lord. He would go on to say in verse number 71 of Psalm 119, these words, "'It was good for me to have been afflicted, that I might learn Your decrees.'" "'It was good for me to have been afflicted, that I might learn Your decrees.'" In other words, there was something about affliction that taught me something I did not know outside of affliction, and it drove me to Your Word. It drove me to my knees. It drove me into total dependence upon You.

So maybe you're here today, and you're going through some kind of turmoil, some kind of adversity, some kind of difficulty, some kind of pain. Don't think that God is absent from that. God uses those things in our lives to draw us closer to Him that we might learn to walk dependently upon Him. So important that we might truly walk dependent upon the Spirit of grace every single day. Let me show you how this worked in the life of Israel.

Turn with me in your Bible to Jeremiah chapter 29, a very familiar verse of Scripture that we so many times take out of context, but needs to be placed within the context.

Now remember, Jeremiah prophesied on the cusp of Israel's captivity. Isaiah would prophesy some 100 years before their captivity. Jeremiah prophesied on the cusp of their captivity. And then Ezekiel and Daniel would prophesy during their captivity. Very important to understand where they fall in line because of what they say. And Jeremiah was prophesying and telling them about their captivity and all that was going to take place. He makes this known in verse number 4 of Jeremiah 29. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Who sent Israel to Babylon? God did. Nebuchadnezzar thought he did. Nebuchadnezzar thought he was the victor. No, Nebuchadnezzar was a pawn in the hand of God to bring about what he wanted for Israel. Because he told them they're going to captivity and they're going to be there for 70 years, not 80, not 60, not 50, but 70. If you're with us on Wednesday night, you know exactly why it's 70 and not any longer than that. God had a plan. With that plan, there was a place. And in that place, there would become a purpose to be fulfilled in the life of Israel.

So he says, verse 10, for thus says the Lord, when 70 years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I've driven you, declares the Lord.

And I will bring you back to the place from where I've sent you into exile. God says, I have a plan for you.

And that plan simply is a plan of adversity, a plan of difficulty and hardship, so that ultimately you'll call upon me. You'll seek me. It will take you some time to get to that place, but when you do, I will listen.

I will hear. I will restore your fortunes back to you because I have a plan. The question is, what happened to Israel? What took place in Israel's life that would get them to a place where God would have to discipline them for 70 years in order to rid them of their idolatry, to get them to seek His face? I mean, after all, this is the people of God, right? God's chosen people, His light to a Gentile world. And so, if you go back with me to Jeremiah chapter 2, you begin to realize exactly what is happening.

Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 1 has been called by God. God specifically ordained him from before he was in his mother's womb, called him to be his prophet. And in Jeremiah chapter 2, it says this in verse number 5, thus says the Lord, what injustice did your fathers find in me that they went far from me? And walked after emptiness and became empty. What is it about your fathers? What is it about all those who came before you that decided not to look to me, but to look elsewhere, to look in places that were empty in order to only be empty?

What happened? And then it says in verse number 6, they did not say, where is the Lord who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of deep darkness, through a land that no one crossed, and where no man dwelt? I brought you into the fruitful land to eat its fruits and its good things, but you came and defiled my land. In my inheritance, you made an abomination. The priest did not say, where is the Lord?

And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked the things that did not profit. Why would they do that? Here I brought you to where you are now, the great land of promise. I took you through the wilderness. I took you out of Egypt. I led you all the way. You trusted me. You depended upon me. I brought you to this land. But what happened? How is it that your priests don't prophesy in my name? How is it no one asks, where is the Lord?

Why do you live as if I don't even exist? Why do you do that? So, it says in verse number 11, has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? In other words, he says, has the land of Canaan changed their gods? No. They've always worshiped Baal. They always have. And when things go bad, they don't change their gods. They still worship the same empty God. How about in Babylon? Do they change their gods? No. They still worship Baal and Marduk. Even when things go bad, they don't change gods. They keep the same gods.

But for some reason, you exchanged my glory for another God. You turn your back on the true and living God and go after other gods. This is the way it says. But my people have changed their glory for that which did not profit. You serve the true God, and yet you decided no longer to serve Him, but to serve another God, which does not profit you. You're not like the land of Canaan, the land of Babylon, who keep their gods, even though they're false gods. But you had the true God, the living God, the only God that ever existed, that's me, and you decided to exchange my glory to go after that which does not profit.

Why did you do that? Why? Verse 12, Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder. Be very desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. The Lord speaks and says, can you believe this? Stand in awe of this. The heavens will shudder. My people have forsaken Me, the well of living water, to dig for themselves cisterns that hold no water. What is evil? Is idolatry evil?

Is immorality evil? We would all say yes. God says no. Those are the results of evil. What's the evil? You have forsaken Me, the true God, to go after that which does not profit. So you commit immorality, you commit idolatry because you have forsaken Me, the true joy of your life, the true satisfier of your life, you've walked away from, and you've exchanged Me for that which cannot profit. You've exchanged Me that can bring you no joy. You stopped relying upon Me. You stopped depending upon Me, and you started depending upon other gods.

That's evil. That's what God defines evil. So He says, verse 17, have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way? You did this. I didn't do this. The greatest hindrance to your ministry is not Me, it's you. You did this to yourselves. You have forsaken Me. He goes on to say in verse number 19, your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you. For you to forsake the Lord your God, and the dread of Me is not in you, declares the Lord of hosts.

You no longer fear Me. You no longer fear Me, so your wickedness will consume you. Jeremiah knows this, right? Jeremiah is prophesying to the nation of Israel. Remember, they're right about to embark into Babylonian captivity. So, Jeremiah is going to warn them, although he's been told by the Lord, you're going to preach, and nobody's going to listen.

That's not saying you're a car builder, you're going to build cars, but no one's going to buy them and drive them. You're going to write books, but no one's going to read them. You're going to build stadiums, but no one's going to play in them. You're going to preach, and nobody's going to listen.

So, Jeremiah says this, this is so eye-opening. Jeremiah 10, 23, I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Jeremiah knew, Lord, I can't do this. I can't walk on my own. I need You to direct me. I need You to lead me. I need You, Lord, to guide me, because I can't do this. Jeremiah knows he's going to preach, and no one's going to listen, but Lord, I need You to move me in and through life. I need to depend upon You for everything, Lord. I don't want to be like my people Israel.

I don't want to live independent from You. See, I'm going to live dependent upon You. I want to follow You, Lord. Jeremiah knew that. And so, when you come to the book of Ezekiel, the 36th chapter, Israel's in captivity. They're in that place of adversity for one purpose, that they will learn dependency. If God has you in a place of adversity, if God has you in a place of difficulty, it's for one reason, that you might learn dependency upon Him. You might learn to walk in the Spirit, that you might look at how you have built for yourselves broken cisterns that hold no water, that you've gone after that which does not profit.

That's what Israel did. They stopped leaning on the Lord's leading. They stopped following their great God and Savior. And so, they forsook Him and went after false gods. So, Ezekiel tells them. Remember, Ezekiel prophesied during their captivity. Ezekiel is that hope that Israel would have during captivity. He says this in verse number 22, "'Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

I will vindicate My holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst.'" In other words, listen, I'm going to do something great, but I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for My name. I'm not doing it for your glory. I'm doing it for My glory. I'm going to do something so miraculous among you that I will receive all the glory because before you went into captivity, you forsook Me. You did what you wanted to do. I will let you know that what I'm about to do will vindicate My holiness because everything in life is about the Lord God of Israel.

It's never about you. And I know you want it to be about you. I know you do. You want it to be about you. You want your marriage to be about you. You want your job to be about you. You want life to be about you. It's your world. We're just living in it. But that's not true. It's God's world. And everything's about God. It's about His holiness. He saves you for His sake, not your sake, right? You suffer for His sake, not your sake. God is doing something great. So Ezekiel says, "'Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,' declares the Lord, when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes. And you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

You will live in the land that I give you to your forefathers, so that you will be My people and I will be your God.'" Wow. Thought about the new covenant, right? The new covenant blessing, Jeremiah speaks about it. Ezekiel speaks about it. I'm going to put My Spirit within you. It's going to cause you to walk in My statutes. You can't do this without Me. You need Me. I'm going to make that happen, not for your sake, but for My sake. So, God promises that. I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 143.

143, verse number 10, "'Teach Me to do your will, for you are My God. Let your good spirit lead Me on level ground.'" Psalmist knew. "'Lord, I need Your Spirit to lead Me on level ground, on smooth ground. Lord, I need You to do this in my life. I cannot do this myself.' But how many times do we truly wake up each day saying, "'Lord, this is a new day. I need You to take me through this day. I need You to guide my conversation. I need You to take me to where I need to be, do what I need to do for the glory of Your name, say the right things.

Lord, I need to depend upon You. I need to walk in Your Spirit, taking each step I take, dependent upon You. Each word I speak, dependent upon You. I need to walk dependently upon my God.'" Now, remember, Isaiah prophesied some 100 years before the captivity. So, turn with me to Isaiah chapter 30, Isaiah chapter 30, and listen to what God says to Israel.

Isaiah 30 verse number 1. And I want you to look at your life and examine your life in light of what God says to Israel, okay?

This is directed toward Israel. Secondary application is for you and me today. Verse 1, "'Woe to the rebellious children,' declares the Lord, "'who execute a plan, but not mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin.'" God says, "'Hold on a minute.

Why are My people rebellious? What are they doing? Why are you going to make an alliance?' And the alliance was going to be with Egypt. They're going to go down to Egypt and make an alliance with Egypt because Assyria was coming. Assyria was going to come against them. And God says, "'You're executing a plan that I never validated.

You're making a decision without consulting Me. You cannot do that. Why is it you think you can spare the nation without coming to the God of the nation?' What are you saying? And when you do, you're only going to add sin to sin. It says in verse 2, "'Who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.'" Really? Egypt's like a shadow. There's no substance to a shadow. But you're going to go down to Egypt and ask Pharaoh for refuge to protect you against the Assyrians who are going to bear down upon you.

But you never consulted Me. You never asked Me. Now think about that in your life, in my life. How many times do we make decisions without ever consulting God? Because we think it's the right thing to do. I believe that Israel thought, this is the right thing to do. We're going to go down to Egypt. Now, remember what it says in Deuteronomy 31, verse number 1, "'Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses and truss and chariots because there are many, and on horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord.

Woe to you! Cursed are all those who go down to Egypt.'" Why? Because Egypt, Egypt is the way of the world. Whenever you go down to the way of the world to seek shelter, to seek protection, to seek help, without consulting Me, you're relying upon horses and chariots. You're relying on everything external, but nothing internal. Me, and you should be cursed because of that. That's what the word woe means, cursed are you. So, God has questioned Israel. You're about to go down to Egypt without ever consulting Me.

You're going to make a plan without ever getting direction from Me. And how many times do we as parents make plans for our children without ever consulting the Lord? Make decisions for our children without ever consulting the Lord. What was the last decision that you made because you made it? And never said, Lord, is this really the wisest thing for me to do? The smartest thing for me to do? Is this best for my wife, for my children? Is this the best thing for me to do? You see, Israel was seeking shelter from a shadow.

And when you seek to do something without the Lord, you seek shelter from a shadow, that which has no substance. It doesn't last. It gets worse. Verse 3, therefore, the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation. Let me tell you something, you are going to be shamed if you do this.

If you make a choice, a decision without consulting Me, you're going to be shamed. You're going to be humiliated. You just will. I talked about this on Wednesday night. Remember Abraham? Abraham made a decision. God had led him to the promised land, Genesis chapter 12. God had called him, remember the Chaldeans, right? He was going to be a father of a great nation. God gave this great promise to him. They get to the land of promise, and all of a sudden, there's a famine in the land, a severe famine, Genesis 12 tells us.

So what does Abraham do? We're going down to Egypt. Why? There's food in Egypt. There's shelter in Egypt. We'll get taken care of in Egypt. He never consulted the Lord, never asked the Lord for wisdom. Just because God brings you into a certain place, it's like the person who gets married, and all of a sudden, the marriage wasn't what they thought it was going to be. We've all been there, right? Wait a minute, Lord. I didn't bargain for this. I didn't marry for this. Maybe I should try another wife, another woman, another man.

Who knows? It's not working out. Just because God led you someplace and there's a problem doesn't mean that God doesn't want you to escape the problem. He wants you to live through the problem dependent upon Him seeking His face. That's what God wants you to do. What would have happened if Abraham would have stayed in the land of promise and trusted in God to take care of him during a time of famine when there was no food? What would he do? What kind of testimony would that be to Sarah, his wife, to Lot, his nephew?

But instead, he went down to Egypt. One choice without consulting the Lord, one choice led to many defilements in Abraham's life because Lot learned to compromise in Egypt. That's why he chose the way of Sodom. And he compromised and his family compromised. Why? Because he learned how to compromise because of Father Abraham. And then how about Sarah? He says to Sarah in Genesis 12, hey listen, when we get down there, tell them you're my sister. Don't tell them you're my wife because you see if you do, it won't go well for me.

It's got to go good for me because I'm the father of a great nation and you're not. So, therefore, make sure things go well for me and you just tell them you're my sister. So, lie on my behalf. Compromises again, compromises again. But God protects Sarah because from her womb will come the seed of the nation. And so, God protects Sarah. It is a great debilitating skin disease that comes upon those in Egypt that makes cohabitation impossible. And Pharaoh was outraged. Why didn't you tell me she was your wife?

Now, how did Pharaoh know that she was his wife? My guess is Sarah ended up telling him that. I'm married to Abraham. That's why you got this skin disease. So, Abraham took everything back, all the livestock that Pharaoh gave him, went back to the land of promise in Genesis 13. Went back to Bethel, the house of God, and called upon the name of the Lord, but not without consequences. Because you see, Sarah learned to compromise too, didn't she? Because she would say, go into our handmaid Hagar, the handmaid we got down in Egypt, by the way.

Go into her, have sex with her, you'll have a child, that will be the promised seed. So, Abraham says, okay, I'll do that. So, he did. And the Middle East has been in turmoil ever since. See that? Nobody consulted God. They just did their own thing. You can't do that. You've got to depend upon the Lord in every decision you make, every place you go, every relationship you're engaged in. When you want to get married, you depend upon the Lord to lead you to the right person, to bring the right person to your life.

When you want a job, you ask the Lord to lead you to the right job, to buy the right house, to live in the right state, whatever it is you're going to make, you ask the Lord to direct you and lead you and guide you because you're going to walk in the Spirit. So, if you go back to chapter 30 of Isaiah, it says, through a land of distress and anguish, verse 6, from where come lioness and lion, leper, I mean, excuse me, viper and flying serpent. They carry their riches on the backs of their donkeys and their treasures on camel humps to a people who cannot profit them, even Egypt whose help is in vain and empty.

He says, listen, you're going to make a long journey through the desert. There are flying serpents, there are vipers, there are lions, there are lionesses. You're going to make this truck, this long truck down to Egypt, and you're going to suffer all the negative consequences just because you think it's the right thing to do. You're willing to hardship and heartache just to get to where you think you need to be, which is just a shadow. Won't last you, won't profit you. Because when you make a decision without me, without consulting me, it will never profit you.

But he's just bound, Israel's bound and determined to do that. They don't care what the Lord says. And so, it says in verse 8, "'Now go write it on a tablet before them and inscribe it on a scroll that it may serve in the time to come as a witness forever.'" Isaiah, write it down, put it on a plank, wear it around your neck. Write this down because everybody who comes after you has got to know how dumb my people are. So, write it down. "'For this is a rebellious people, false sons,' verse 9, "'sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord.'" They're making decisions without me.

They're rebellious. God says that when you decide to do something without consulting me, you live in rebellion.

You just do. You're not looking to me. He says this, "'Who say to the seers, "'You must not see visions,' and to the prophets, "'You must not prophesy to us what is right. Speak to us pleasant words. Prophesy illusions. Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.'" They don't want to hear from me anymore. Why? Because when you decide to make a decision without the Lord, you don't want to hear what's right. You don't want to hear you made a wrong decision.

You didn't do the right thing. Instead, just tell the prophets to say nice things about us. Prophesy smooth things. Tell us how good we are, how wonderful we are, how loved we are by God. Just tell us how much we are recipients of His grace. Just tell us about all the good things God's done for us. Don't warn us of impending judgment. Don't do that. Don't tell us what is true. Don't tell us what is right. Just tell us what we want to hear. God says, put that on a placard because this is a rebellious people.

They need to know this because there are going to come people after them who are going to wonder why they're doing what they're doing and why they're going into captivity. They refuse to listen to me. They refuse to depend upon me. They refuse to hear only my voice. They hear the voice of the world and it beckons them and they follow. So, He says, "'Therefore,' says the Holy One of Israel, "'since you have rejected the Word and have put your trust in oppression and guile and have relied upon them, therefore this iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar so ruthlessly shattered that the shard will not be found among its pieces to take fire from a hearth or to scoop water from a system.'" In other words, there will be nothing valuable about your decisions.

There will be nothing valuable about your life anymore. It's like a jar that's been shattered. You can't even find a piece to scoop up the ashes because you are so debilitated. You can't do that. So, this is what the Lord says, "'In repentance and rest you will be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength, but you were not willing.'" Simple solution. In repentance and faith, in quietness and trust, relying upon Me, trusting Me, believing what I say, following Me, walking dependently upon Me every single day, that is your hope.

But you didn't want to do that. You wanted to do your own thing. And look what it's going to get you. Nothing but turmoil and tragedy. And it did. We can look at our lives and ask, what has happened to us?

He says, and you said, no, for we will flee on horses. We're not doing that. We're not going to wait on You, Lord. We're not going to trust in You. No, we're going to flee on horses. He says, therefore, you will flee. And we will ride on swift horses. Therefore, those who pursue You shall be swifter. You think You got fast horses? Those who come after You are faster than Your horses. You think You got it made? You don't have it made. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man. You will flee at the threat of five until you are left as a flag on a mountaintop and as a signal on a hill.

That's how cities used to relate to one another, with flags on a hill, talking about whether they were in comfort or distress, anxiety, or they had won the victory, and you will be like a flag on a hill, and everybody who passes by will know of your defeat, will know of your condition, simply because in quietness and trust will be your salvation, but you were not willing to do that. How sad is that? Now, you think about that in your own personal life, in the decisions that we make. That's why the Bible says, lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your path smooth. But boy, we love to lean on our own understanding. Last summer, not this summer, summer before that, I sat down with my son-in-law, Dustin. He said he wanted to go to a coffee with me and my daughter. So, we went to coffee. You know, Dustin works for the LAPD. He said, you know, I'm going to make a decision to leave the LAPD, and we're going to move to Texas, and I wouldn't let you know that. I said, oh, okay. Can you give me a reason why?

He said, well, with all the BLM riots, and all the upheaval with the LAPD, with all the things that we cannot do now anymore, that we used to be able to do, taking authority away from us, and when we arrest somebody and put them back on the streets, with a DA that is as vile as they come, releasing all kinds of perverted people back into the streets, even though we arrest them, and they need to be in prison, and to realize that there are people who go after officers who stand for truth, and they go to their homes, and they riot around their homes, and call them out.

I don't want that for my daughter, for my wife, your daughter. I don't want that for my children. I need to protect my children. He goes, this isn't worth it. I don't need to be here anymore. I can do something that's worth it. I sure can. So, I said, I only have one question. Just one question. Make it two. I said, did God call you to be a police officer? He said, yes, He did. I said, okay. Do you believe that God called you to be a police officer in the LAPD? He said, yes, I do. I said, then you better not leave that place unless you know for certain that God has called you out of that job and out of the LAPD, because if you do, you're going to a shadow.

You're going to a place with no substance, and it will kill you in the long run. Not physically, but it will kill you in the long run. You can go, and you'll go with my blessing. I'm not trying to keep my daughter here or my grandkids here. Believe me, I've got enough grandkids here already. I don't need any more here. You know what I'm saying? So, I said, look, but just got to say, if God's called you out of here, go. But if God hasn't called you, you best not go. It will be miserable for you. I said, don't lean on your own understanding.

God can protect you. He's protected you for all these years. You think He's going to stop protecting you? He'll stop watching over you? Stop watching over your family? I said, it's not any safer in Texas than it is here. Why? It's a putter to the man who wants to die. You're going to die. When God calls, you're going to die, whether in the LAPD or serving on some farm in Texas. They'll make a difference. So, just don't lean on your own understanding. Trust the Lord with all your heart. Walk dependently.

Where's Justin today? LAPD. He's still there. I told him, you're a light. Does the LAPD need lights? Absolutely. Do you need minimal compromise? Absolutely. You need a conviction? Yes. You're the guy. God called you. God called you to do that at this time. He didn't call you after that time or cause you to live way before that time. He called you for this time. And just because it's a place of adversity doesn't mean you have the right to say, you know what? I'm out of here. You have no right to do that because you're a servant of the living God.

You serve only Him. Consult Him only. Trust Him only and let Him lead you and watch what happens. God changed his whole attitude, his whole outlook. God has given him a believing partner. They pray together when they go out. They pray together when they serve. And God has done a great and mighty work in his life simply because He decided not to lean on His own understanding. Now, does that mean it's true for everybody? No. No, not necessarily. My only thing is make sure you know for certain God is in the decision.

See, how do I know God's in my decision? If you ask the question, He's not. How's that? How do I know God is in this decision? If you've got to ask the question, He's not. Because if He is, everything smells of God. Just smells of God. And you know it. God's leading you, directing you. That's why the Bible says, I know my time is gone, but I got to finish this today.

Thy Word is the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path. Right? What does Solomon say? When you walk about, God's Word will guide you. When you sleep, God's Word will watch over you. When you awake, God's Word will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light. God's Word talks to us. God's Word speaks to us. It's a lamp. It's a light. It gives us all the direction we need so that we can say, yes, Lord, I hear. I understand. You want me to do this. This is who you want me to marry.

I understand that. This is where you want me to work, Lord. I've got that. This is where you want me to live. I understand that. Lord, this is the ministry you want me to have in the church. I know that. God has directed you because you've depended upon Him. You walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. That's all I want for you. That's all I want for me. Just trusting God day by day and watch what God does. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for today, the opportunity You give us to spend time in Your Word.

We are blessed people. We thank You for the truth that it just exudes. Everything about Your Word is truth. It's pure. It's undefiled. We thank You for that, Lord. Our prayer is that, Lord, we would be a people who walk in dependence upon You, who trust You for everything, who don't trust in shadows, in broken cisterns that hold no water, but truly trust in the true and living God. Thank You for Your Spirit that's in us, that enables us to live. Help us not to quench the Spirit. Help us, Lord, not to grieve the Spirit because You're going to walk without You.

Help us to walk with You in dependence every day until You come again, as You most surely will. In Jesus' name, amen.