Lean not on your own understanding...He will direct your steps (sermon notes)

Like to start with something funny:
This hasn’t much to do with today’s sermon but I couldn’t pass it up…
Top 10 reasons God Created Eve:
10. God worried that Adam would always be lost in the garden because He knew men would never ask for directions.
9. God knew that Adam would one day need someone to hand him the TV remote because men don't want to see what is on TV; they want to see WHAT ELSE is on TV.
8. God knew that Adam would never buy a new fig leaf when the seat wore out and therefore would need Eve to get one for him.
7. God knew that Adam would never make a doctor's appt for himself.
6. God knew that Adam would never remember which night was garbage night.
5. God knew that if the world was to be populated there would have to be someone to bear children because men would never be able to handle it.
4. As Keeper of the Garden Adam would never remember where he put his tools.
3. According to Scripture, Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when God caught him hiding in the garden.
2. As the Bible says, "It is not good for man to be alone", he only ends up getting himself in trouble.
And the NUMBER ONE reason...
1. When God finished the creation of Adam he stepped back, scratched his head and said, "I can do better than that."

Please have patience with me as I struggle through my final sermon series as your pastor…
Because Rogue River is home, every decision, every activity, good or bad has been rather emotional these past almost 6 years…
I truly believe this change is under the Lord’s direction.
It’s the right timing for my family and for our church.
It is time for me to get out of the way, the Lord is preparing a new pastor to take you further in your new beginning…

When the Lord led me to pastor my home church I preached a sermon series based on my mission verse:
1 Timothy 4:12…Let no one despise thy youth, but be an example for the believers in word, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (it applies to old people too)
Today I continue my final sermon series based on my life verse: Proverbs 3:5&6…Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps.

Today we focus in on: Lean not on your own understanding…He will direct your steps!
Let’s go ahead and turn together to Proverbs 3 in our Bibles…

I could preach for months out of this chapter!
SO MUCH FOOD FOR THE SOUL
He will direct our steps when: 1. we trust in the Lord with all our heart 2. we lean not on our own understanding and 3. in all our ways acknowledge Him…

2 weeks ago when I did the word study on trust, batach, we learned so much (by the way it’s on my blog if you missed it) …
I decided to look into the Hebrew word for lean:

sha’an:
…lean oneself upon, rest against, pertaining to being in a resting position, because one is in a stance or position of reclining, lying or standing often against an object for support, pertaining to being in a certain place, rely on, rest in, depend, have trust and belief in an object to the point of being in jeopardy if the object of trust fails…
Man, does that preach or what!?
I have so much security in knowing that my Jesus never fails! I can lean on Him unreservedly!

this Hebrew word is also linked to sha’ah:
(this is very interesting)
immediately, suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a point of time immediately after a prior point of time, implying a virtually simultaneous action…
If that doesn’t crank your tractor, your feelers broke…

Think about it,
Leaning not on your own understanding when following the Lord Jesus should be something natural or virtually instaneous, a trust so secure that in the worst of situations, you only know how to lean on Jesus…

Look again with me at prov 3 verse 9 &10
Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; SO your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine

Anybody need some overflow?
I’m ready LORD
But, what was the first step to overflow?
Honoring the Lord with your stuff, with His stuff, remember we’re just stewards, it all belongs to Him, Has He been receiving your firstfruits?
Don’t complain about your lack... if your not obeying his clear direction with your checkbook and calendar…

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious: Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

Leaning Not on your own understanding is Letting the Lord make a Giver out of you…this world doesn’t need anymore takers, this American ideal of entitlement is killing our country…

Back to Prov 3, vs 11 & 12… My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights…
I’m thinking this needs to be preached from every street corner! What’s going to happen to the next generation if parents don’t discipline? We have already seen some effects of such "enlightenment."

Leaning Not on your own understanding is Letting the Lord Discipline you and making a good parent out of you…

Nathaniel, bless his heart, is learning how to drive his Daddy crazy! Whoever named it the terrible 2’s forgot about the terrible 1’s…
I wonder if we drive our Father in Heaven crazy by ignoring his pleas for better behavior! No, seems to come out of my mouth constantly… I understand a little better why my heavenly father says thou shalt not so much!
I just love the words in verse 12…for whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights…
Setting boundaries is the greatest expression of love and delight! Wow, I should tour the states with that sentence, glory to God!
(Nathaniel's pumpkin story, Holly's Gparents 60th)

Calder Hendrickson writes: There was once a little boy who lived in a little town in Kansas. It was soon to be Halloween and this little boy was very anxious to go with his parents to get pumpkins. He loved carving different faces in them. So one cold Saturday morning in October his parents took their son to a pumpkin patch near their home. They arrived, and the boy jumped out of the car and went on his search for his perfect pumpkins. There were so many to chose from. The boy finally found three perfect pumpkins and he brought them into his arms and he gave them to his mother so she could buy them and he could take them home. He was so excited to go and carve these pumpkins.When he arrived at home, he asked his mother if they could start on these pumpkins. His mother replied sure.The little boy had the biggest smile on his face. He and is mother started on the first pumpkin, they took out all the seeds out of the middle and then they started to make a face. They did the same thing for the next one. But while they were starting on the last pumpkin the little boy stopped what he was doing, and he looked at his mother and said something his mother would never forget. He said mommy, these pumpkins are like us before we were Christians. His mother was very interested in what her boy had said. So she asked him to explain what he meant. The boy replied, well you see we are like these pumpkins, we are all dirty and we have all this sin inside before we accept Jesus into our lives. You see, God goes out like we did and picks us out of the whole patch and brings us into his arms and cleans us off and takes out all the junk and he puts a smile on our face and he shines through us, like when we put a candle in these pumpkins were making. God does the same thing. After all this his mother was amazed with what her son had said. She just held her son in her harms and wept. The mother never looked at pumpkins the same way again.
I’ve never been a fan of Halloween, not into celebrating evil, but God specializes in turning what was meant for evil into good, so maybe we can shine Jesus with a Halloween pumpkin…

Let’s look one more time at prov 3, this time verses 13 & 14:
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold…
Leaning not on your own understanding is how you find REAL wisdom and happiness…

Our society teaches that degrees hanging on your wall or money in the bank brings wisdom and happiness, but the truth is found in our God, leaning not on your own understanding, leaning on Jesus, that’s wisdom, that’s happiness…
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps…