Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim

Guidance for 2004 and Beyond
Proverbs 3:5-8

Introduction
Most of us have made New Years resolutions, and benefited from them. Most of us have made resolutions and have broken them within a month. We should make some resolutions to expand and improve ourselves.

Make a resolution Physically:
    I am going to lose 10 pounds, My doctor say 6 pounds would make a difference.

Make a resolution Mentally:
    I am going to learn to type, and not have to sit and peck.

Make a resolution Spiritually:
    I am going to be a more disciplined person of prayer.

All of us need guidance from the Lord enabling us to accomplish goals or resolutions we make but some direction comes from God's word.
 
 
 

1. Guided with . . Positive Responses. v 5a & 7b 

A. The . . Reason of the Positive Responses.
        "Trust in the LORD"

B. The . . Registry of the Positive Responses.
        "with all your heart"

Ps 119:2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!

Ps 119:69 The proud have forged a lie against me, But I will keep Your precepts with my
                whole heart.

Jer 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
 

C. The . . Recognition of the Positive Responses.
        7 ". . . Fear the LORD. . . "

Illustration
I was in the Soldiers' Home at Eric, Pa. I had spoken to the old soldiers in the chapel. As I came down from the platform, the gentleman said to me: "There is one room I want not to visit. We have had in this institution the captain of the old Merrimac. He came into this institution an atheist. He never would come into the services, and when he was asked to read the Bible, he just scorned the thought of it. When he was in his room here, before he died, I brought in a Bible and said, 'Captain, would you like to read this Bible?' and he scorned the proposition; it looked as though it was useless to say anything more to him. But I said: 'Suppose you read the Bible and see whether there is anything in it that you could believe, and if there is not, you tell me so. But as you read, whenever you find anything that you think you might receive, suppose you mark it with red ink.' He thought that was a good way to prove there was nothing in the Bible for him. I had him begin with the Gospel of John. He read two chapters without marking anything. He began on the third chapter and read fifteen verses without being moved. He began on the sixteenth verse, and then the old captain marked the verse red. He could receive a text like that."

By this time we had reached the room where the old captain had died a few weeks before and there was the pasteboard anchor the old man had cut out for himself, and the words were his own, printed in red ink, "I have cast anchor in a safe harbor." The very floor seemed to be like holy ground. They sent his Bible home, but they tell me you would have a hard time to find a page without red on it. He had come to receive the whole book. That is the work of the spirit. His work was just that. The old captain would have nothing to do with a minister, and he would have nothing to do with a person who spoke of Jesus Christ; he didn't want to have anything to do with Christ. It was the work of the Holy Ghost. By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

Application

Guided with . . Positive Responses. v 5a & 7b

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,. . . " NKJV
7 ". . . Fear the LORD. . . "
 
 
 

2. Guided with A . . Prohibitions. v 5b & 7a

A. A Prohibition toward Our . . Leaning. v 5b
        5b ". . . And lean not on your own understanding."

B. A Prohibition toward Our . . Learning. v 5b
        7a " Do not be wise in your own eyes;. . . "

Illustration Understanding
A miner in one of the Western mining districts, who had been most successful in his operations, invited all his friends to a house-warming, and in the midst of his sumptuous feast, thinking of something that he wanted which was not on the table but in the cellar, he called an attendant and ordered him to procure it. Taking a lighted candle he descended the steps into the cellar, and soon returned with the article, but without the candle. "Where is the candle," said his master, and the careless answer was, "I left it sticking in a barrel of sand."

You see he leaned on his own understanding. The master of the house rose instantly, walked quietly to the cellar door and when it was closed after him sprang down the steps and hurried across the cellar floor to snatch the candle which was flickering, not in a barrel of sand but of blasting powder. A minute more and an explosion would have occurred which would have shaken the very foundations of the mountain. The feast of the sinner is very much like this. The net sin may settle the question of his eternity, the next sin may snap the cord that binds him to God. The Word is right when it declares there is but a step between me and death. -- J. W. C. By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

Application

Guided with A . . Prohibitions. v 5b & 7a

        ". . . And lean not on your own understanding."
        7a " Do not be wise in your own eyes;. . . "
 
 
 

3. Guided with A . . Plea. v 6a & 7b

A. The . . Positive Portion of the Plea. v 6 a
        "In all your ways acknowledge Him, . . ." NKJV

B. The . . Negative Portion of the Plea. v 7b
        ". . . and depart from evil."

Illustration
Among those who sought Christ in New London, was one of Connecticut's ablest lawyers, who prided himself on his intelligence and rare eloquence. He had no confidence in what are called measures, yet he was very anxious about his soul's salvation.

In a large meeting I proposed instead of an inquiry meeting, or coming near the pulpit for prayer, that every person who was able should kneel down by the seat they occupied. That each person who kneeled should put his or her honor and veracity in the act as far as they knew. That it should be fully understood between themselves and God that when their knees touched the floor it should be the token of a full surrender of their wills to God, never to be taken back, as far as knowledge went, just as far as they understood themselves. That no one should kneel this time except those who meant it as a token of a full surrender.

This would be signing the deed with their knee. This lawyer began to move his foot slowly and after a great struggle his knee reached the floor. He declared the moment his knee reached the floor, with his veracity in the act, he felt the witness in his heart that he was born again. This action of the will unbolted the door of the heart so that the Spirit entered and imparted life to the dead affections. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings," published in 1888

Application

Guided with A . . Plea. v 6a & 7b

        "In all your ways acknowledge Him, . . ." NKJV
        ". . . and depart from evil."
 
 
 

4. Guided with . . Promises. v 6b & 8

B. The Promise of . . Durability. v 8
        "It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. NKJV

Illustration He shall direct. Depend on the Father.
Some years ago I read an account that went like this: A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps in search of new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both sides. To get the flower someone had to be lowered over the cliff on a rope.

A curious young boy was watching nearby, and the scientists told him they would pay him well if he would agree to be lowered over the cliff to retrieve the flower below.

The boy took one long look down the steep, dizzy depths and said, "I'll be back in a minute." A short time later he returned, followed by a gray-haired man. Approaching the botanist, the boy said, "I'll go over that cliff and get that flower for you if this man holds the rope. He's my dad." Our Daily Bread, April 8, 1996

Application

Guided with . . Promises. v 6b & 8

        "And He shall direct your paths." NKJV
        "It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. NKJV