1100 : Learning to Talk His Talk
March 12, 2006
Series: 24: A Day in the Life of Jesus
*****(Show video clip of ‘24’ characters being interrogated…)
This morning I want to ‘get you to talk’… now hopefully you’re not going to force me to resort to the methods you just saw in scenes from ‘24’. In the episodes we just viewed, time is running out. Jack Bauer only has 24 hours to stop terrorists from using nuclear power plants to destroy the U.S. As you can imagine, he has very little time and very little patience… to make the people (who have the information he needs)…to talk! This morning, (whether you realize it or not)… YOU have the information people desperately need, to avert disaster in their lives! You have the words of life! But they can’t help people, if you don’t talk! In today’s episode of a 24 hour day in the life of Jesus, Jesus begins to share the words that will ultimately save the world!
Last week we looked at the 1st thing Jesus did during this pivotal 1st day of ministry. He choose His disciples (people like us), who would someday represent and spread His good news to the world. We talked about the “5 Marks of a True Disciple”… things like
· the ability to FOLLOW and take instructions.
· FREEDOM from the ‘nets’ that try and entangle our lives…
· 3rdly, true disciples are interested in the lives of others… they’re FISHERS of men.
· Then we said that disciples, instead of having a ‘religion’, have a relationship with the Master. So the 4th mark of a true disciple of Jesus is “FRIENDSHIP”
· And then lastly, you can tell a true disciple by their ‘FELLOWSHIP’ with other disciples.
The 2nd thing Jesus begins to do in this 24 hour period of time we’re looking at… is he begins to teach. I want you to read Mark 1: 21-28 with me… (READ)
When it comes to communicating God’s Words… there was no one better or more effective than Jesus Christ Himself… Jesus was an amazing communicator! The bible tells us in Mark 1:21 that after choosing his disciples, He walked into the local Jewish synagogue and began to teach. But it also tells us the reactions that the crowd had to his teaching…”they were amazed”! Jesus wasn’t your ‘run-of-the-mill’, average, boring preacher…He was AMAZING! In Mark 11:8 after teaching the people, he tells us that “…the people were so enthusiastic about Jesus’ teaching”. -Mk.11:18 (LB) Another version translates Mark 11:18… ”the people were SPELLBOUND by His teaching”.-NRSV People had never heard a person speak like this. There’s never been a greater communicator (before or since) than Jesus Christ!
I want to speak to you this morning about ‘talking like Jesus talked’. See, the ‘words’ you use everyday, have incredible power! I once said 2 simple words…(I DO!) and it changed my life radically! (for the better I might add!). The avg. person has 30 conversations a day, and will spend a 5th of their lives talking. In one year alone, your words would fill 66 books of 800 pgs. each. If you’re a man, you speak an avg. of 20,000 words a day. If you’re a woman, you speak an avg. of 30,000 words a day. Which explains why when we men are done talking, our wives still have 10,000 words to go! It’s like the guy who was asked, “Do you mind that your wife always has to get the last word?”… He said, “Heck no! I’m just glad that she got to it!” Some of us are born with a silver ‘foot’ in our mouth! (I think I just swallowed mine!)
We always seem to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Sometimes it doesn’t take but a few words to really get yourself in trouble! Maybe you heard about the guy who joined the “Trapist Monastery” ...and for 3 yrs. he was given a probation period where he couldn’t speak at all. But at the end of each year… he was allowed to utter 2 words.
So at the end of the 1st yr. (he hadn’t said a word), and so he walks into the Father Superior’s office and says… “BED HARD!” He turns and walks out, and for another year he goes without a syllable… He comes back at the end of the 2nd yr. and the Father Superior asks, “All right my son, what would you like to say this year?” So he says only 2 words… “FOOD COLD!” Finally, the 3rd yr. comes around and he walks in with a disgusted look on his face and blurts out the only two words he’d spoken that year… “I QUIT!” The Father Superior looks at him and says, ‘Well, I’m not surprised, all you’ve done since you got here is COMPLAIN!”
The words we say can have a powerful effect on the direction of our lives… and too often it only takes a few words to cause major problems. That’s why it’s so important to use the words you speak to make a difference for God. The words Jesus spoke changed lives, and the words you and I speak can change lives too!
You never know how what you say is going to impact another person. Bible says that we will be accountable for every word we speak. Why? Because our words have such enormous ability to influence people for either good or evil, heaven or hell. You don’t know, if simple act like encouraging your waitress at restaurant will be the one thing that kept her from giving up! Your words can have an eternal influence on somebody’s life. Jesus’ words changed the world. And so if we’ll learn to talk like Jesus talked, and ‘speak’ like Jesus spoke…everyday… we can change our world!
Let me give you “5 Characteristics of Jesus’ Words”, as a way of challenging you to ‘talk His talk’ everyday…
1st Jesus spoke…
1. Truthfully
Jesus spoke the truth…and you know what? There’s nothing more powerful than the truth!
You can try and deny it, ridicule it, discredit it, cover it…etc., but in the end it has a way of outlasting and even exposing the lies! For example…For yrs Dr. Benjamin Spock told us in his books on child rearing that “to discipline a child would somehow damage their fragile self-esteem, and that “negotiation” not discipline was the key to raising children”. That we need to ‘verbalize’ the child’s feelings in a moment of conflict…
· ‘You want the water…but you’re angry because I brought it too late”
· ‘You don’t want mommy to take the water back to the kitchen.”
· ‘You don’t like mommy because I make you take naps’
· ‘You wish you could flush mommy down the toilet!”
But it didn’t work… no ‘heart to heart’ talk could resolve a ‘nose to nose’ confrontation! Millions of parents became slaves to their toddlers temper tantrums. Recently (before he died) Dr. Spock came out and admitted that his ideas on child rearing were a mistake! In fact, they don’t work! (Well duh!) Unfortunately, the millions of parents who raised their kids under that destructive philosophy, don’t get another chance with their kids! The bible was right all along! Abundant love and firm discipline are the keys to successful child rearing. Jesus said in Luke 7:35 that “wisdom is proved right by all her children.” , In otherwords, God’s truth is justified by it’s results. That’s lit. true in this case!
Someone called into Dr. Laura recently and asked…”Dr. Laura, why don’t you have any compassion?”. Dr. Laura responded, “I have lots of compassion, I just don’t put it in the wrong place”. Some issues don’t need compassion or mercy… they need truth! She understands that! I’ve heard her cry over abuses to children. She makes jewelry to raise money for children who’ve lost parents in the war. She has lots of compassion, it’s just not misplaced. Jesus is the same way!
Compassion doesn’t mean you try and make everyone feel good about themselves. Sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do is tell people the truth! (homosexuality, promiscuity, etc.)
Some people have this picture of a “Prozac Jesus” walking around calmly reassuring people that whatever lifestyle they choose is “okay with Him!” He understands, and he gives a wink of approval ‘because they’re different!”. The truth is, Jesus was compassionate, but his compassion was rooted in truth! –John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus was the perfect balance of grace & truth… truth and mercy came together perfectly in HIM! Like a Reese’s peanut butter cup… the perfect blend of peanut butter and chocolate!
The fact of the matter is, truth is going to ruffle some feathers sometimes. Because we don’t want to be confronted with it. It’s more comfortable to live a lie…so when we hear the truth, instead of listening…our natural reaction is to strike out! As Jesus was teaching, all the sudden, there was a loud shout and commotion from the back of the congregation. A man possessed by an evil spirit began to yell… “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!” (tell me that wouldn’t spice up a church service!) There’s no doubt in my mind that the unclean spirit in this man was reacting to the teaching of Jesus. He couldn’t stand it! The insight Jesus was sharing that morning was so piercing, so revealing…that the demon was lit. tortured with truth! And so he broke out in this angry interruption. Have you ever been “tortured with the truth”? I have! (You think getting shocked with a cattle prod is bad? These characters in ‘24’ had it easy!) The bible says in Heb.4:12 that, “…the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
God’s Words are a ‘two-edged’ sword. In otherwords, it cuts both ways. If you accept it, you get in on it’s benefits… but if you reject it… you experience it’s penalties. The words in this book aren’t like your average novel. They’re ‘powerful and active’. ! Word ‘active’ in grk. N.T. means… ‘stinging’. Do we have anyone hear today who is allergic to bee stings? I am! I get one bee or wasp sting…and I swell up like a basketball! The word here for ‘sting’ can be used in two different ways depending on the context…
1. ‘Stinging’ like a ‘snake bite, or a bee’… would sting….OR…
2. ‘Stinging’ like ‘powerful medicine’… when you take the medicine, there’s a little bit of a burn, but it eventually brings healing.
According to this vs. God’s ‘words’ are like that… they’re living & ‘stinging’. When our lives are out of sink with God’s words, as we read or hear it, it ‘stings’ us… because we realize we’re off base. …we’re doing something wrong. Our consciouses are pricked, and we know it! We can try to avoid it, or rationalize it away… but if we’re really honest about it… we know! How many of you have ever been stung a little from the words Jesus spoke? I have! It’s a convicting sting. However, if we need help, (we hurt, or others hurt…) we read the words of Jesus , and it’s like strong medicine… with the ability to comfort and heal us! When you speak God’s truth with love and compassion, don’t be surprised if sometimes there’s a reaction. But don’t worry, if it really is God speaking through you, …that’s expected! Eventually it will bring healing! Don’t take it personally…eventually just like in the case of the demoniac, Jesus will silence Satan… and the truth will change lives!
2nd, Jesus spoke…
2. Authoritatively:
One of the reasons that there is so much confusion in the world today is that people listen and accept too many different authorities.
To the pt. that many are asking… “Who’s right?” “Who can we trust?”
For example in medicine… conflicting reports are constantly coming out as to what does or doesn’t cause cancer…Doctors disagree! Economists disagree…
Politicians all claim to know the answers to our societal woes… but they disagree. Everyone (whether they realize it or not) has what they depend on as an “authority” in their life. For some people “Psychology” is the ultimate word of authority in their lives. Whatever the psychologists say is ‘gospel truth’. Actually it’s not! Now, I’m not against psychology, (in fact at one point I was a Psych. Major in college), but there are a lot of things in modern psychology that are opposed to what God says in His Word.
At one time, psychology told us that the way to rid yourself of anger is to “Open up and let it all hang out”… They said, “Letting the anger out is a protective measure for establishing an equilibrium between mind and spirit. Yelling is a ‘cleansing’ experience”. Later, they found out that that advise was all wrong! Harvard Med. School pub. a study that found that ‘letting it all out’ is bad for you. When a person gets angry, cardiovascular changes occur, leading to increased risk of heart disease! Now, God’s word told us that a long time ago! ‘Don’t let the sun go down on your anger!” Don’t store it up in your heart and let it fester, or it’ll cause more problems. See, the problem with trusting “man-made” authority is they’re constantly changing, and most of us are unaware of the follow-up studies! That should be a sign to us that we don’t know what the heck we’re talking about! Our understanding of the human race is limited and full of holes.
For the Christian, ‘God’s Word’ becomes that reliable source of authority. In fact, I’d be willing to venture that a lot of the problems you may be having right now, are the result of basing your choices on unreliable authorities. Whether it be
· culture (“everyone’s doing it”)
· tradition (“We’ve always done it that way! That’s how I was raised”),
· reason (“It seemed like it was the right thing to do at the time!”) or…
· emotion (“It just felt right!”).
The problem with those authorities is that they change about as often as the weather!
What we need is a reliable source of truth, that’ll never lead us astray. Jesus is that authority! When Jesus spoke he made no distinction between his own words and God’s. Mark’s amazed at the comprehension, the scope of his knowledge, the insight into humanity and life…that Jesus had. He didn’t teach like the scribes.
They were used to hearing: "Now, Hillel says this, and Gamaliel adds this, while other authorities contend..." No! Jesus didn’t reference any authority other than himself! Yet his words were so insightful, so true to the experience & the inner convictions of the men and women there… that they nodded their heads, "Of course! That’s it!" They knew what he said was true! His words had that ‘ring’ of self-authenticating truth that corresponds to the inner conviction every one of us has! They were amazed that Jesus knew the secrets of the human heart. That’s important, because it means we ought to measure every teaching by what Jesus said about the subject. “Truth” is what you find in the teachings of Christ. Our psychology and sciences are only correct when they agree with Him. That’s why, there in the synagogue at Capernaum, they were astonished at the teaching of Jesus. I don’t know about you, but as I read through the Scriptures, and see the things that Jesus said, I’m absolutely dumbfounded at the amazing wisdom and insight he had! That’s why in a day when ‘mans wisdom’ is promoted…we desperately need the insights of this amazing man!
Jesus’ authority was verified in vs.25 when it says that when Jesus cast the evil spirit out of the man… they responded, “What’s happening here? This man is teaching something new, and with authority. He even gives commands to evil spirits, and they obey him.” And the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the area of Galilee. –Mark 1:25-28 NCV That evil spirit didn’t have a chance! You know, films like, “The Exorcist” “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” show little girls possessed by evil spirits and what the priests have to go through to get rid of them. But that’s not the case with Jesus! Just 7 words… and it’s gone! It doesn’t want to go, so it shakes the man and crys out… but it’s no contest! He’s overwhelmed by a superior power!
That’s a good thing to remember… because it’s the truth of God sets men free… not drugs, not psychiatric methods…but God’s authoritative truth. This situation was so remarkable that Mark says, "…at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee." Not in a few days or weeks… “at once”. In otherwords, within hours the news of Jesus’ power spread like a flame through the area. To the point that by evening people were bringing the sick and demon-possessed into the city to be healed by Jesus. But that’s for next week! All you and I need to know is that when we speak God’s truth with conviction and authority, it has the power to change lives!
3rdly… Jesus Spoke…
3. PLAINLY
Jesus used to communicate truth was simple language. He didn’t use the classical Greek language of a scholar (although he could of)… instead he spoke in Aramaic, (the street language of the day). He taught profound truths in very simple ways. I have to admit… a lot of times we preachers do the exact opposite… we teach simple truths in profound ways! We think we’re being ‘deep’, when actually we’re just being ‘muddy’! Sometimes teachers and preachers like to show off their knowledge by using greek words and academic terms. Every Sunday they speak in unknown tongues and they’re not even charismatic! Chuck Swindoll once said that ‘An overuse of Greek & Heb. word studies in preaching actually discourages confidence in the English text.’ I agree. If you’re always quoting the Greek, people begin to think they can’t understand Jesus without knowing Greek! That was never His intention. Most people communicate with a vocabulary of less than 2000 words and rely on only about 900 words in daily use. So if you want to communicate to people… keep it simple!
I find that people who are always using big words are hiding even bigger insecurities! Einstein, one of the most brilliant men to ever live once said, “You don’t really understand something unless you can communicate it in a simple way.” In a lot of ways, it’s more difficult to teach children than it is adults, because it takes a lot of preparation and thought to communicate profound truths in simple ways. Satan would love us to complicate the message of Christ. In II Cor.11:3 NLT the Apostle Paul was concerned that… ‘your minds would be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” Listen to how Paul described his own preaching & teaching… I Cor. 2:1 … “When I came to you, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed.” J.B.
In I Cor.2:4 (L.B.) Paul writes…”My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” -I Cor.2:1-5 Paul was more concerned with showing the power of God’s word, than his own preaching. ‘Simple’ doesn’t mean ‘shallow’… it means you’re being clear and understandable. If you’d come up to me and say, ‘You’re such a simple’ preacher”, I take that as a compliment, because I’m more interested in seeing lives changed than I am impressing people with my vocabulary. When we talk to people about the things of God, we shouldn’t try to impress them with our knowledge of the bible, we should explain to them the truth in the simplest way possible without using what I call ‘Christianeeze’…using words and terminology that only Christians understand. Kind of like what this guy experienced…
"Have you ever been saved," a wide-eyed young fellow questioned me as we walked toward the bus. He handed me a booklet with the picture of hell on the front. "Sure," I responded. "Once when I was 9, I was swimming at Jones’ beach on Long Island, and a strong undertow began to drag me out to sea. My uncle heard my call and... ?" "No, no, no," he interrupted. "I mean redeemed. Have you ever been redeemed? You know, reborn? Washed in the blood?" "What, in the world are you talking about?" "Convicted," I mean. "Have you ever felt convicted?"
"Well, of course not. I’ve never been in trouble with the law." He looked at me square in the eye and said, "I think you need to be delivered." "Delivered? I was just waiting for the bus home….but thank you very much." He looked at me like I was speaking another language. "Can we have lunch together sometime?" he asked. "I work just down the street." "Sure, that’d be fine." He looked like a harmless fellow to me, but I must admit, he was unusual and quite difficult to understand. That Wednesday, I had lunch with Ed. He was a little late, but he explained he was having a quiet time. I said, "Quiet time? What does that mean?" "Well, each day before lunch, I get in my prayer closet."
"You pray in a closet? At work?" "Oh, no, it’s my car." "You have a closet in your car?" He changed the subject like the first day I met him. Again he left me confused. “This Ed is quite a unique fellow” I thought. As we parted that day, Ed gave me a little book that explained how someone could come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I read it and understood enough, and knew that was exactly what I needed. And so that night I submitted my life to Jesus, was born again (as it stated in the booklet). Two days later, I told Ed. He was overjoyed. The following week we got together again, and he strongly urged me to find a good body. Now I was surprised at this suggestion, but it sounded good to me. So I took his advice and began to comb the local health clubs for an attractive body. When I met Denice, I knew she was just the one. We began to date and soon, she became a believer too. Ed rejoiced, and told us it was crucial that we get planted so that we could grow together. I said to Denice, "Sometimes this guy’s hard to understand." I told Ed I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by planted. He responded, "Committed. You know, both of you need to be committed."
"Now wait a minute," I protested, "just because I don’t understand what planted means doesn’t mean I’m nuts. Anyway, I think to trust in Jesus is probably the most sane thing I’ve ever done." Well, it was obvious that Ed’s patience was growing thin. Regretfully, I had to miss worship the next Sunday out of town. But Ed and I had breakfast together later, and he filled me in on what had happened. He said, "God really moved yesterday." "Where did He go, Ed? I was just getting to know Him and now He’s gone?" "No, no, Bob, God hasn’t gone anywhere." I was relieved. "It’s just that so many people were stepping out and moving in the gifts." "You mean people were leaving the meeting? And what’s this about presents?" "No, no. It’s the gifts. The gifts were really flowing," he said.
Changing the subject, he said, "Hey, Denice was there, and boy, was she on fire!" "Fire? Denice got burned? What happened? Is she OK?" "No, Bob, you don’t understand." "Boy! that’s an understatement," I thought. He said, "Denice is just fine. It’s just that I believe she’s really called, and God really wants to use her." Things were not getting any clearer. "Did Denice mention she was getting too many phone calls or something? And what’s this about God wanting to take advantage of her?" Ed sighed. He just shook his head. I don’t know what it is…sometimes it seems Like Ed and I have a hard time communicating. Now it’s been 2 years since I was saved and delivered, plugged in, planted, committed to a good body. God’s been moving, and I’ve been stepping out in the gifts. I can hardly believe how God’s been using me. I do have one new problem, however. It seems that all my friends can’t understand me any more. When I share about my redemption, I’ve been washed in the blood as white as snow, that I desire to follow the Lamb… they just tune me out. I guess they’re just convicted when they see me on fire.
You can understand the problem when we speak in ‘Christianeeze’. If we’re going to impact people with the truth of God’s word, we’ve got to find a way to communicate it without using ‘code’ words. Jesus used words that His hearers in an agricultural society would understand like (sheep, fields, wineskins, etc.). I’m sure that if He was in our society instead of agricultural terms he might use computer terminology…instead of sheep, he’d probably talk about rams!
4. Jesus spoke INTERESTINGLY
The crowds loved to listen to Jesus speak… Later in Mark 12:37 we read that “The large crowd listened to Jesus with pleasure.” The N.I.V. says that they listened with ‘delight’. A Gallup poll a few years ago said that “according to the unchurched, the church is the most boring place they can think of to be”. To the unchurched, dull, unimaginative, uninspiring teaching is unforgivable. Truth… poorly delivered… is ignored!
What’s amazing is that many times people will listen to absolute foolishness… if it’s interesting!
If you doubt that… just turn on your T.V. late at night and you’ll see the most bizarre collection of psychics, wacko’s and weirdoes ever assembled!. I personally think it’s a sin to take the most exciting book in the world and bore people to tears with it! See, when God’s Word is taught in an uninteresting way… people don’t just think the teacher is boring… they think GOD is boring!!! Jesus captured the interest of large crowds using a few simple techniques that ever person given the resp. and privilege of teaching the bible can use… Jesus was a master story teller. But He told stories to make a point… (Read Mt.13:34) He’d say things like, “Hey did you hear the one about the farmer who had a field?…” and then tell a great story with a real ‘zinger’ of an ending. The bible is a book of stories because God knows that stories hold attention, stir emotions, and help us to remember. Jesus chose to use stories to communicate His Word to human beings. So if you want to influence people for God… tell your story! The Bible says that your testimony…”your story” is a powerful tool and nobody can say it’s wrong, because it’s yours!. There’s no such thing as a bad testimony. You are a witness whether you like it or not.
A personal testimony of what God has done in your life is still the most powerful form of communication known today. That’s why so many commercials are based on personal testimonies. “I’ve tried Tide for ‘ring around the collar’ and I no longer have ring around the collar. You ought to try it too!.” Why do they still use it? Because it works! The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Did you know that the Bible never, ever tells you to ‘share your faith’? It says ‘share your hope’. Why? Because faith is what you believe. Hope is the benefit of it. You’re to share the difference it’s made in your life. People don’t care if you’re a Christian or not. They want to know… “So what”? Before they know how you became a Christian they want to know why you became a Christian.
They want to know the difference it makes. Is there any solution to any problem that might help me? Are there any advantages or benefits to becoming a Christian? What’s the purpose of it? So when you share your story… you share the hope!
Lastly,
5. Jesus spoke WISELY… and so should we!
The wealth of wisdom of Jesus’ words found in this book is boundless! Know what wisdom is? It’s not intelligence, believe it or not. It’s possible to be smart intellectually, and a 1st grade drop-out in the area of wisdom. I heard of a nationally known professor (brilliant in physics)… who one weekend asked to speak on the E. coast, and decides to drive his car. After seminar, took a cab to airport and bought a plane ticket home. When get to airport, calls wife for ride and she asked, ”Where’s our car?” Uh… ohhh! See, wisdom is applied knowledge. It has very little to do with learning and everything to do with living.
Read James 3:13-17 James is telling us that if we want to find out who’s wise and who isn’t, don’t look on their wall for a degree… look at their life! If you’re wise, then the rela. around you, (wk, hm, ch, relatives) will reflect your wisdom. They’re healthy and getting better. On otherhand, unwise people are surrounded by conflict, strife, & disharmony in their relationships. A lack of wisdom causes all kinds of problems. James says, “Wherever you find bitterness, jealousy, selfish attitudes, and confusion… you’ll find a shortage of wisdom.”
Personally … many of the problems I’ve dealt with in life, trace their roots back to a lack of wisdom on my part. Some unwise actions (or reactions) I took in dealing with a situation or person. Everyday in every relationship we’re planting seeds… sometimes we plant seeds of anger or resentment in our kids or spouse. We’re either planting seeds of insecurity or confidence…Seeds of peace or strife, encouragement or discouragement…And what we sow, we will reap in our relationships!
When we treat people FOOLISHLY, (whether spouse, assoc. at work, kids, parents…) those rela. will eventually backfire! So, everyone of us need wisdom. Want to be wiser than enemies? Teacher? Parent? Want to know how to reap positive results from negative problems? Seek Wisdom! Wisdom isn’t just given to anyone… it’s given only to people who value it enough to pursue it. They pursue it first in their attitude… It’s an attitude that admits, that “No man, (including myself) comes by wisdom naturally”.
Nobody knows “instinctively’ how to have a great marriage, how to raise great kids, how to be successful in rela., how to benefit from trials…ect. NOBODY! We’re all in the same boat here! We have to admit that by ourselves, we are ignorant about how to live life to it’s fullest. And so if we’re ever going to gain wisdom, it’s going to have to be from a source outside of ourselves. Jesus’ teachings were filled with practical everyday wisdom. Do you want to speak with wisdom of Christ? James 1:5 tells us the way to get it is to simply ask God! “If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to all people, so he will give you wisdom.” God’s promises to give you wisdom for any and all situations…but He doesn’t promise instant solutions.
Real life isn’t like these ‘soaps’, where hopelessly complex prob. are unraveled and resolved one hour and 10 commercials later.
Life just doesn’t work that way! It takes time to gain wisdom. Many times God’s wisdom doesn’t eliminate the trial, it helps us to get THROUGH the trial. His wisdom will give you the ability to turn your trials into ‘teachers’. Jesus is the source of wisdom!
One of the best signs that you’re not living in wisdom this morning, is that no one asks you for advise on their problems. See, just like we don’t ask plumbers how to re-wire our homes…people don’t ask 5x divorcees how to fix their marriages. They don’t ask parents who are raising screaming brats… how to raise kids! So if you want to influence people around you for good and for God… 1st seek wisdom from God yourself… next… live wisely… and then when people notice you have something they don’t, you’ll have an opportunity to ‘speak wisely’.
Want to have the kind of influence on others that Jesus had? Learn to talk His talk…Ask Him to help you speak…
1. Truthfully
2. Authoritatively
3. Plainly
4. Interestingly
5. Wisely
