Latest / Fifteen Minutes With Fritz - Where Scripture Meets the Sidewalk / It can't be that simple!

Transcript

It can't be that simple! · Fifteen Minutes With Fritz - Where Scripture Meets the Sidewalk

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning everyone and thank you for tuning in to 15 minutes with Fritz, where Scripture meets the sidewalk.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: We are probing God's songbook, the Book of Psalms, seeking to find encouragement for the daily grind of life.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: We are seeking to overcome feelings of hopelessness and despair that we sometimes have when we lay our heads on the pillow at the end of a long day.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: We want to replace those feelings with hope, biblical hope, God's hope.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to simply sugarcoat our situation by putting our heads in the sand and ignoring the challenges of life.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: We want to discover how to live beyond them.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we began with the very first psalm which reads like this Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever he does prospers.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Not so the wicked, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous, for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Now last week we talked about compromise, not the compromise that comes from seeking ways to find common ground with those who disagree with us.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now the Psalmist is referring to the compromise that comes from lowering our standards, from letting things creep into our lives that draw us away from God.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: That slippery slope that we allow ourselves to start down and before we know it we find ourselves deep in the murky mire of sin.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Notice the warnings from the opening verse.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Today I want to look at a real life example of someone who fell into this very trap.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to look at a man who had everything going for him wealth, prosperity, power.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: But he made choices, conscious choices, bad choices, as it turns out, that eroded his foundation and ultimately led to his downfall.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: We pick up the story in Genesis chapter thirteen.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Abraham had just left Egypt, a wealthy man with enormous quantities of livestock, silver and gold.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: He traveled about the land with his wife and his nephew Lot.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: The Bible tells us that these two men were so wealthy they had so many flocks and herds that the land couldn't support them.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: And quarrelling arose between Abraham's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: So Abraham proposed a solution.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Let's not have any quarreling between you and me or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Let's part company.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you go to the left, I'll go to the right.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you go to the right, I'll go to the left.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: The story continues.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out towards the east.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: The two men parted company.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Abraham lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now what follows is the first clue that Lot was starting to compromise.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now why was this a problem?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because the Bible records that the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And it was in this city where Lot chose to set down his roots.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't take long before we discover that Lot was now living in Sodom.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: He no longer was pitching his tents near Sodom, he was now living in Sodom.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And a few chapters later we find him sitting in the gateway of the city.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now he was keeping company with the leaders of Sodom, joining them in a position of authority.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: This was Lot's slippery slope.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: He started by pitching his tents near the cities on the plain.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Soon he was walking in the council of the wicked, he was standing in the way of sinners, he was sitting in the seat of mockers.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: These choices ultimately led to his demise.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: The city where he was living, where he was part of the leadership group, was destroyed with burning sulfur that rained down from heaven by God because of their great sinfulness.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: And not only that he lost his wife because she longed for the lifestyle they enjoyed in Sodom, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he ultimately impregnated his own two daughters, and they gave birth to sons who were the ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites, bitter enemies of Abraham's descendants.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: This was a sad ending for a man who started strong but allowed himself to be compromised.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: He walked in the counsel of the wicked, he stood in the way of sinners, and he sat in the seat of mockers, and he paid a huge price for his decisions.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Lot's story makes it pretty clear what we shouldn't do.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: But we're supposed to be looking for encouragement here.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: So what should we do?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: How do we find encouragement when life's challenges just seem to be overwhelming?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: How do we find blessings when all we get are burdens?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: And most of all, how do we prevent ourselves from sliding down the same slippery slope that Lot did?
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, before we talk about how to get there, let's make sure we agree with the destination.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, is the blessed life something we really want?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: After all, if we don't like the final destination, there's no reason to embrace the process.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: So how does the Psalmist describe a blessed life?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And is it something that we want?
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Look at verse three.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: The one who is blessed by God is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: These words paint the picture of healthiness and vitality someone who is growing stronger with each passing day, someone who drinks in the nourishment around them and provides fruit for those around them.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't stop there.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Verse three goes on to say whatever he or she does prospers, or as another translation puts it, he succeeds in everything he attempts.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think we can agree that this is how we picture a blessed life.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is what most of us want our lives to be like.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: We want to be blessed by God, we want to be healthy and strong, and we want to be successful in life.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, how do we get there?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the Psalmist describes the process clearly in verse two.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't exactly what I expected.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: I was looking for something with more meat on it, for maybe some self-help exercises or some practical tips that would improve my outlook on life.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe some grounding techniques that would calm my anxieties or asking me to tackle some real challenge for God that would lead me to Him blessing me.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: But all I got was read your Bible.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: The request just doesn't seem to match the reward.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before we throw the baby out with a bath water, I think we're selling the psalmist a little short.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: To be fair, it doesn't just say read your Bible and everything will be okay.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: So let's let's take a closer look.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: It tells me I have to meditate on God's word.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, I th I thought meditating was a bad thing.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, to be honest, it can be, because secular meditation involves emptying the mind in order to allow some other external force to control us, and that can be dangerous.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Biblical meditation is different.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Biblical meditation isn't emptying the mind, it's filling the mind with God's truth.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Listen to this quote.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Meditating on God's law does not mean emptying the mind.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: It means filling the mind with God's revealed truth, considering his character, promises, commands, and warnings, and allowing them to correct one's thoughts and conduct.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: The blessed person is inclined towards God's word and seeks its influence rather than the influence of ungodly people.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Biblical meditation means thoughtfully dwelling on God's revealed word so that it shapes one's heart, choices, and obedience.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that sounds a little more involved than simply reading God's word.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Notice that it goes one step further.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: It tells me I have to meditate on it day and night.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: So this isn't a one and done thing, it's something that I need to put into practice each and every day.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: This is a habit I need to develop.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: And when I do that, notice what happens.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: I will find delight in God's word.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, it won't be a grind that I look to avoid with the smallest of excuses.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: I will start to find pleasure in the pages of Scripture, and my life will be blessed.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now before you dismiss this as something much too simple, let me remind you of the story of Naaman.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Naaman was a great military leader in the Old Testament.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: He was held in high regard because he was a valiant soldier and scored many victories for his king.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: But he had leprosy, and this of course presented many challenges for him.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: He was excluded socially as well as religiously.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: He suffered public shame and humiliation, and he had to live separate from friends and family.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: His servant girl convinced him to go see Elisha, who was a prophet of the Lord, because she said he would be able to heal Naaman.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Naaman travelled to Elisha's house, expecting him to call out to God, wave his hand over the leprosy and heal him.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: But Elisha didn't even come out of his house.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Instead he sent a messenger to Naaman saying, Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be cleansed.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: This made Naaman mad, and he stormed off in a rage.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: This was far too easy to get relief from this dreaded leprosy.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: But his servant said to him, If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: How much more then when he tells you wash and be cleansed?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: So Naaman decided to give it a try.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: He went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored, and he became clean like that of a young boy.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Naaman was blessed with the washing away of his leprosy by before a simple task that seemed too easy.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: And now I'm asking you to do the same if you want to be blessed by God.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Meditate on his word day and night.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before we finish today I have a few closing points to make.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: This solution meditating on God's word day and night applies to all situations.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter if you're facing a major challenge at work or if you were just overwhelmed by the pile of laundry.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: You should still meditate on God's word day and night.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter if everything in your life seems to be going wrong and you can't get ahead of things.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: You should still meditate on God's Word day and night.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And even if your life is on a good trajectory, and you are happy and content, you should still meditate on God's word day and night.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's number one.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, there is no mention of the problems going away when we follow this path.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: We live in a fallen world because of sin, and Jesus warned us in John's gospel that in this world you will have trouble.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thankfully, however, the verse doesn't end there.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: But take heart, Jesus said, I have overcome the world.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, even though our problems remain, Jesus gives us hope and gives us strength to see the problems through.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And number three, God often works through trials to mature and sustain us.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Remember how the Psalmist used a tree to paint the picture of a blessed life?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: He said it's like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Notice that the tree was planted.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was placed in a specific location to accomplish God's purposes.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: The same holds true for our lives.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: We are right where God wants us to be, and He will use that location to teach us what He wants us to know.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I encourage you to place your Bible in a prominent location that you can get to easily.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I encourage you to open it each and every day, and meditate on it each and every day, and you will find encouragement for the daily grind.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for keeping things simple for us.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Move in our hearts today, beginning today, and help us to drink in the nourishment of your truth.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: And may you continue to keep your promise to speak to us and bless us through the power of your word.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: To your glory we pray.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: May he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.