The Apprentice
April 18, 2004 AM
Psalm 25:1-14
There is much talk right now about another of the reality type TV shows called the "Apprentice.
It stars Donald Trump -- the billionaire --
And it gives young men and women a chance to work under him and possibly land a really nice job.
And of course everyone hopes and prays that during the staff meetings they don’t hear the words -- "you’re fired".
The real truth is that their goal is to win money -- but if they are smart they will learn some shrewd business wisdom as they go.
I personally believe that the Bible is a great textbook.
It is a text book for almost any subject you can imagine -- including business.
There are some great principles in the word for success --
Regardless of what field or career you may be in.
What I want to do in the next few messages is to look at some principles, some basics of wisdom, that we can build on --
In other words -- I want to walk us through an apprenticeship with God.
An apprenticeship where we never have to fear hearing the words -- "you’re fired".
Let’s begin by looking at some scripture --]
(Psa 25:1 NKJV) To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
(Psa 25:2 NKJV) O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.
(Psa 25:3 NKJV) Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
(Psa 25:4 NKJV) Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.
(Psa 25:5 NKJV) Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
(Psa 25:6 NKJV) Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.]
(Psa 25:7 NKJV) Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.
(Psa 25:8 NKJV) Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
(Psa 25:9 NKJV) The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.
(Psa 25:10 NKJV) All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
(Psa 25:11 NKJV) For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
(Psa 25:12 NKJV) Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
(Psa 25:13 NKJV) He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
(Psa 25:14 NKJV) The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.
Let me share the last 3 verses from TLB --
(Psa 25:12 TLB) Where is the man who fears the Lord? God will teach him how to choose the best.
(Psa 25:13 TLB) He shall live within God’s circle of blessing, and his children shall inherit the earth.
(Psa 25:14 TLB) Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he shares the secrets of his promises.
Can I read those verse one more time from the Message Bible;
12) My question; what are God-worshippers like? Your answer; Arrows aimed at God’s bull’s eye
13) They settle down in a promising place, their kids inherit a prosperous farm
14) God friendship is for God-worshippers; they are the ones God confides in
I want to talk about being an apprentice with God --
Learning to walk in covenant, learning the secrets that come from choosing the best instead of the good.
I’m going to be blunt -- I’m going to say it the way it really is.
I heard someone say the other day that with regards to the failing apprentices, Donald Trump is brutal.
So I may have be brutal this morning.
I may kill some of your sacred cows or expose one of your favorite victim stories.
I may offend you -- you may think I am insensitive or uncaring --
But the bottom line is --
We can do it God’s way, or we can struggle everyday of our life.
But if you’re willing listen to God’s secrets,
And gain understanding and wisdom, then you’re life can change.
I want to share seven secrets to being successful in our covenant walk.
1) Secret # 1 ; The buck stops here
There was a sign on President Truman’s desk in his White House office which said "The Buck Stops Here"
The sign was made in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma.
The saying "the buck stops here" is derived from the slang expression "pass the buck" which means passing the responsibility on to someone else.
On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk sign in public statements.
In an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952, Mr. Truman said, "You know, it’s easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over.
But when the decision is up before you -- the decision has to be made.
and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here’ --"
In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953,
President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, "The President -- whoever he is -- has to decide.
He can’t pass the buck to anybody.
No one else can do the deciding for him.
That’s his job. "
Secret # 1 for success is -- "the buck stops here"
The beginning of wisdom is to accept the responsibility for our own lives.
We are responsible for our own past, for our own mistakes, our own choices,
Our own failures, our own troubles!
And until we admit that and come to grips with it --
We cannot move on to bigger and better things.
Where you are in your life right now is not your parents fault, it’s not your spouses fault,
Or your ex-spouses fault,
It’s not your bosses fault,
it’s not your friends fault,
It’s not the churches fault,
it’s not the pastors fault,
it’s not the deacons fault,
It’s not somebody elses fault,
Where you are in your life right now is not because of what somebody said,
Or what somebody did or did not do --
Where you are right now is the product of your own choices, your own actions, and your own reactions.
And you will never move on to greater things until you are willing to take responsibility for your own life.
It is not your education or lack there of that brought you to where you are.
It is not genetics, it is not circumstances,
It is not what your parents did or did not do,
it is not having bad parents,
one parent, or no parent that has brought you to where you are.
It is your won choices and your responses that have created the life you have.
One of the things which makes the show "everybody loves Raymond so funny,"
Is that his brother, Robert, believes that everything that is wrong in his life is the result of everything that is right in Raymond’s life.
And we laugh because deep down inside we like to think that all of our hurts,
All of our problems, all of our failures are someone else’s fault.
Someone else is responsible for my lack of success.
If I feel hurt -- it must be someone elses fault.
If everybody else treated me better, I would be a better person.
If you desire to be successful --
The buck has to stop here.
No one else is responsible for your life -- but you.
If you act like a victim -- you allow your history to control your future.
You see we are what we are today -- mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially --
We are what we are today because of decisions we have made.
Our decisions have always been governed by our thinking --
I want you to get this --
We are what we are because of our decisions ...
Our decisions are what they are because of our thinking --
Therefore -- we are where we are today -- mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially --
We are where we are today - because of how we think.
Let’s run through that again ....
We are what we are because of our decisions ...
Our decisions are what they are because of our thinking .
We are where we are today - good or bad - because of how we think
So to change where you are -- you have to change how you think.
(Prov 23:7 NKJV) For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
Your thoughts can either construct or destruct your today and your future.
Your mind can either live in the failures of the past or the solutions of the future.
You can either spend your time changing your future,
Or you can be comfortable where you are, allowing the past to determine your future.
Everyday and every aspect of our life is governed by our choices -- the decisions we make.
Proverbs chapter 1; (Prov 1:29 TLB) "For you closed your eyes to the facts and did not choose to reverence and trust the Lord,
(Prov 1:30 TLB) and you turned your back on me, spurning my advice.
(Prov 1:31 TLB) That is why you must eat the bitter fruit of having your own way and experience the full terrors of the pathway you have chosen.
The buck stops here --
You are where you are because of your decisions --
not because of your past,
or not because of others.
We control our thoughts -- and we control our emotions.
Not just in the good times -- but even in the challenges of life.
Every challenge presents itself with a vast array of decisions and choices that we must make.
And how we wind up on the other side of those challenges is determined by how we choose.
We can cry "why me" or we can declare "why not me".
We can see challenges as attacks, or as opportunities to learn.
The one thread that is common to every human -- great and not so great --
The one thing we all have in common is challenges -- troubles -- heartaches, disappointments -- call them what you will.
But how we respond to those challenges is what determines whether we are great or not so great.
We either live with problems, or we make choices to create changes.
It’s how we see it.
The buck stops here
And that means we must gain an understanding of how God sees things,
And how God does things.
That means we learn about God’s grace, for our own lives,
And about forgiveness for the lives of others.
The disicples had just asked Jesus how they should pray --
And Jesus had prayed what we call the Lord’s prayer --
And without breaking stride -- Jesus says "Amen" and gives this teaching;
(Mat 6:14 NKJV) "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
(Mat 6:15 NKJV) "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
I can sort of see Peter mulling this over in his head ....
And finally in chapter 18 of Matthew Peter speaks up ...
(Mat 18:21 NKJV) Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
(Mat 18:22 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Now most of us would say that Peter was being generous offering to forgive 7 times.
Because most of us write people off after 2 or three times.
We struggle to get past being offended or hurt by someone else.
But -- the buck stops here.
It’s not others that mess up your life.
It’s your response to others that has jeopardized your future.
Honey, you can play the blame game --
Or you can take control and be successful.
Your former spouse, your cheating dad, your drug addict momma,
Your mean friends, your cruel boss,
Your molesting step father, your lieing neighbors,
Cannot control your life unless you let them.
And that means we forgive and take back control of our future.
I didn’t say it was easy --
I said it is what we have to do to be successful.
The buck has to stop here.
Some of you have quit jobs you really liked -- because you couldn’t get over people.
Some of you have given up things your really enjoyed -- because your reactions to others has let them control your life.
I’m not saying you won’t be hurt again --
I’m saying you can control your responses -- and as such take responsibility for your own life.
Some of you have let past relationships poison todays relationships --
Because you refuse to forgive.
I’m not saying that you have to dredge up old events, and find lost people and stir up old troubles just so you can say you forgive them ....
I’m saying in your life, your own mind, your own spirit,
You have to forgive them, and get on with today.
Because God has designed you to succeed --
God has designed you to be an overcomer,
God has designed you to be victorious.
And you can never have victory as long as you blame somebody else for where you are right now.
Let show you something --
(2 Cor 2:10 TLB) When you forgive anyone, I do too. And whatever I have forgiven (to the extent that this affected me too) has been by Christ’s authority, and for your good.
(2 Cor 2:11 TLB) A further reason for forgiveness is to keep from being outsmarted by Satan, for we know what he is trying to do.
Let me read that from the Message Bible;
10) So if you forgive him, I forgive him. don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us.
11) After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief - we’re not oblivious to his sly ways."
Paul says look -- people are out to offend us, hurt us, destroy us.
But we’re on the same team -- so if you forgive them -- I do to.
It’s the only way we can go forward in the things of Christ --
Then he says -- the reason for forgiving others is because Satan uses unforgiveness to try and outsmart the believers.
Unforgiveness stops the Gospel, hardens the hearts, and steals the victory of God’s people.
The buck has to stop here.
You are where you are because of your own choices.
And to get where God wants you to be --
You will have to make right choices.
