The Hope and the Harvest

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Thank you so much. You happy to be here this morning? Come on. You excited to be here? Anybody love Jesus in this place? You? All right? That's what I'm talking about. Hey, we want to welcome in all of you watching online from all over the world. So come on, Harris family, give them a big, warm round of applause. We love you. We're glad that you're here. We've got a lot of you out camping. I'm honestly surprised as many of you came to this service as are actually here because the weather is so incredible right now in East Texas. Everybody in the world is outside, but I'm glad that you're here. Whether you're here with us in person, whether you're watching online, I'm glad you're here. So grab your Bibles, if you would. We're going to open up to Psalm 107. We're going to spend all of our time in Psalm 107 today. I think it's always good if you can find the old paper Bible and dust it off and like, oh, paper Bible. That's so retro. Like, trust me, you need this. It's good because we could put anything we want up on this screen. Come on, you need to read it for yourself. So Psalm 107. And as we're turning there, I want to say thank you so much for your generosity. You guys are an amazing, a generous and a giving church. And because of you, we were able to support a lot of other ministries that are counting on our support for their survival and for them to be able to push the things of the gospel and the kingdom forward. And so thank you for being generous to us. We're helping a lot of people. And so if you saw the Operation Christmas Child video, the toy boxes that we're giving away for Christmas, the collection day is today. And so if that brought you, when you saw that, if that brought you a lot of anxiety because you took one of those boxes and you're like, oh, I forgot to do that. Let me just remind you, we have another service after this. So you're still okay. But don't just head to Wendy's after this. Like, go get the gift. Go take care of this Bring it back. We'll make sure that we get it delivered. But there's a fantastic Christmas that is going to happen for thousands of kids across the planet that are in hardcore situations. And that's because you are generous. You're an amazing church also, man. You guys have been generous. We're able to support ministries like Young Life. I'll show you a little bit of what happens there. They present the gospel every week. They do homework, kind of an after school thing. They love ministry. We bought them a nine square game. We also provide a lot of meals. Let me tell you, those kids eat a lot of Chick fil a. Come on, somebody. But every single time that they gather, we are happy, more than happy to provide food for them. And, and Young Life is thriving. Lots of people are coming to know Jesus because of your generosity. So you're making a big difference. This doesn't go in my pocket, so that's not, that's not what that is. But it's going to help a lot of people all around the world. Thank you for being a generous church. So I want to bring a message today called the Hope and the Harvest. The Hope and the Harvest. And in the spirit of thanksgiving and being grateful, we've, we've turned our attention to Psalm 107. And so we've been there for the past couple of weeks of just camping out in this amazing chapter. And so last week we talked about like, who writes this psalm and why it's so important for us to understand who is writing it. Because the people that are writing this is, it's not King David that writes most of the Psalms, but this is a group of Israelites, some Hebrew people that are coming out of Babylonian exile. So 70 years before, God finally had enough. So with their, their grandparents and their great grandparents, God finally said, there's a high cost for low living. God says, you've been disobeying me. You have done all the things I told you not to do. And God said, finally, that's enough. And so God has the Babylonian army come. They, they make them captive, and for 70 years they become their slaves. But this is written after that period is over and these guys are coming back to their homeland. Let me just tell you, there's an attitude of which they come back to their homeland. And the attitude is one of gratitude. Things have changed. For those of you that are parents, you understand the difference between when a child is acting up and when you apply little discipline and then the attitude changes. Like that's what I'm looking for, right There, come on, somebody. We want that attitude to change. And this is what has happened in Psalm 107. Their attitude has changed. And so at the beginning of the chapter, they begin to share four different testimonies of how thankful they are from where God has brought them from. And we talked about that last week, all the stories about what God did for us. And as we end the chapter today, we want you to see that there's a group of people here that are, that are older, they're wiser, they've learned some things, they've grown, they're at a place where they're like, you know what, we may have made some mistakes in the past, but I ain't doing that again. And for those of you that have a little gray in your beard, for those of you that have lived life for more than 30 or 40 years, let me just tell you, you have a list of these things that you've learned. You might not realize them, you might not be able to put them in, into articulate words, but there are things that you have learned along the way. There are things that we realize now that they might have been real important at the time, not so important now, right? Some of you may remember how important it was in high school, what you wore and what your friends thought about. You remember how big of a deal that was? And some of us are wearing jinkos. You could fit a whole army inside those pants with a big old chains. Some of you still got them. Like, I'm waiting for that to come back. Keep waiting. Jelly shoes. You remember those? Oh, I have to have those. They're such a big deal. Mom, you don't understand. This is such a big deal, my friend, like 30 years later, I don't care. I wear what's comfortable, I wear what I like. Does it match? It feels good. I like it. But there's a big difference between some wisdom that you gave from high school to where you are now. Like, I don't care what you think about me. I went to my 30 year high school reunion. There's a group of people there that I used to be really impressed with. I used to really, really care what they thought about me. And now I'm like, you're kind of pathetic. Like, I'm glad I'm not the fattest one here. I'm doing all right. But their opinion used to be a really big deal to me. But as you grow and you get a little older, you get a little wiser. You're like, I don't care. There's some Things that you've learned along the way. One of the things I realized that was a light bulb moment to me was when I started. When I started with this idea of most people are just kind of making things up as they go along. They act like there's a big plan and this is what we're going to do, and this is how we're going to do it. And then you kind of get into the details and you're like, they don't know. They're kind of just feeling their way through life too. That was a big deal for me when I understood that. I'm like, oh, they're not as smart as I thought they were. They're just kind of making stuff up as they go along. Here's something else that you'll learn in your walk with. In your walk with the Lord. Your walk with the Lord is a lot like your career path. And neither of them move in a straight line. Do you remember being in high school and like, okay, I'm in high school. I know what I want to do. I'm gonna be married by this time. I have kids by this time. I'm going to college, get my degree in here, and I'm gonna become an astronaut. Are you an astronaut? No, you are not. They said I could be anything. They lied. They said, just believe in yourself. You believed in yourself. Problem is, you don't make very good grades. I'm going to be president. No, you're not. I'm going to be in the NBA. You're five foot four. There's some things that you realize over time that your. Your walk with Christ is a lot like your career path. It doesn't move in a straight line. You think it might be, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this, and I'm going to experience this. And that just doesn't happen that way. And our relationship with the Lord moves sometimes in circles because God moves at the pace of our obedience. And so the people that are coming in and writing this psalm in Psalm 107 are. They're older, they're wiser, they've learned some things, they've processed through some pain. They've understood the high price of sin. They understand what it means to be disciplined. And they're saying, we're not going to go back to the life that we used to live. We. We have some things that we. That we've learned, things that we understand God, things that we didn't know, things that our parents and our grandparents chose to ignore. Here's another thing that you'll understand as you get a little older and a little wiser, as you can absolutely move beyond the barriers of your family. You don't understand. My family's all in addiction. That does not have to be you. Here's the great thing is that you might be born into one thing, but you can absolutely be born again. And God could change the things that you thought were a barrier to your life. That's no longer you. As you get a little older, as you get a little wiser, you realize some things. There's some things that we know. We might not have said it, but we realize that. I've gone through some stuff. I've stumped my toe a time or two. I've experienced some pain. And I learned pain is a great teacher. Come on, somebody, it will teach you the first time you put your hand on a hot stove. Some of you still have the scars from grandma's wooden burning oven. You have those. I still do. Those cold days where you back up into a wood burning oven, you and the whole house smells like fajitas. Woo. You only do it once. These people are older, they're wiser, they've got some scars, they've got some stories to tell. And the whole thing comes down to this. We are grateful. We are grateful for the sovereignty of God. He was good in the good times, he's good in the bad times. When I did it right, he was still good. And when I messed it up, he's still good. And in this time of thanksgiving, these people write this story that still speaks to us so much, right where we are thousands of years later. It's. It's part of our human condition. They're speaking our language. And so they write this in the last 10 verses of this chapter. We're going to finish this up today. They're speaking about the Lord and what God has done. Pick it up. In verse 33, it says God turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground and fruitful land into a salt waste. Now, most of us, if you're going to go to church normally in a normal Sunday morning message, you're going to hear the exact opposite. God took all this that was so bad and made it so good. And he took this, that was wrong and made it so right. But this thing says the exact opposite happened. Why did things that were so good get so bad? And it answers that question with the next sentence. It says, because of the wickedness of those that live there. There's a high price to pay for low living. There's a. There's a cost to disobedience. And they say, we understand it now. We see it, we have lived it. We've had an attitude change. Why did all these things go wrong? It says, because of the wickedness of those who live there. I want to remind you. Who are they talking about? Themselves. It was our sin that did that. We had things so good, and we took it for granted. We decided to disobey and say, I built all this. Look what I've made. I created this. I am good. And God said, We don't need to obey you. I'm going to do things my way. As Frank Sinatra said. And God said, you think so? And all the things that they thought would never end. God says, done some of you, this is your story. I thought I had it all and I forgot God. And I disobeyed the Lord. I cut corners and I did things that I thought would help me. And God's like, I saw that. I see you because of the disobedience and the wickedness of those that live there. Let's move on. It says, God turned deserts into pools of water and parched ground into flowing springs. And there he brought the hungry to live and they founded a city where they could settle. Now we see the antithesis. We see the other side. The things that we thought would never get better got better. The things that we thought would never grow started growing. And it says, God gave the hungry a place and he got the. Got the weary a place of rest. It says, they sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest. And God blessed them and their numbers greatly increased. And he did not let their herds diminish. Then their numbers decreased and they were. Somebody say the next word? Humbled. That's a great word. They were humbled by what it says, by oppression, by calamity and sorrow. And he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste. That's a difficult situation. We thought we had it all and we lost it because we forgot God. We disobeyed God. We wanted to do things our way. And I'm thankful, though, that that's not the end of the story. It goes on to say this, but he lifted the needy out of their affliction and he increased their families like flocks. The upright see this, and they gotta. They gotta start rejoicing. It said, once you. Once you understand this, once you've got some wisdom, once you have a song to sing, you've got some Thanksgiving to bring. Then you open up your mouth and you start giving God praise. You start glorifying him. You start saying, thank you, Lord. Why? Because I'm older and wiser and I see that this is all about you. The upright see it and rejoice. They have something to say. They have something to praise God for. It says this, but all the wicked do what? They shut their mouths like, just stop talking. If you don't have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. Let me just tell you as the redeemed, we have something good to say. We have something good to proclaim. God's been good to us. Come on, somebody. Has God been good to you? He's been good to me. He's been good to you. It says, the wicked shut their mouths. Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord. Notice, it talks about the good times and the bad times and the times of lack and the times of abundance. And it says, look, those are loving deeds. You mean the bad times still love? The good times still love. Times of plenty love, times of want. God still loves. Why? Because he is love. It's part of who he is. It says, as the one who is wise, you need to ponder these things. You need to heed them, need to pay attention to them. Why? Because this is the lifelong experiences of some people that have walked through disobedience, the ups and the downs of life. And they're coming to some. To some profound thoughts that it's about Him. It's not about me. Let me ask you, what have you learned about the Lord in your time with him and your time spent in the Bible and your time spent in his presence and your time spent following after Him. Some of you guys have been following God for 50, 60, 70 years. Some of you might be five minutes. But you learn things about your relationship with Him. What have you learned about them? Have you thought about that? Well, these people would list a couple of things that they've learned about God. Things learned after lots of experience. And we find that those things that they've learned, we know them too. I'm going to bring you some things that are going to confirm what you already know about God. Let's talk about what we've learned. I want to give you three things. If you're a note taker, you might want to write this down. This is going to help you. Here's some things that we know to be true. Number one, he's the God who turns things around. Somebody say, amen. He loves to turn things around. And we see this in this passage. It says that he did this. And we thought this would never end. And it turned around and it ended. We thought this could never grow again. And here it starts growing. Why? Because God loves to turn things around. By the way, that shows us his personality. You think of God sometimes as an idea or some kind of lofty thing that we could never understand. He wants us to understand Him. His word proclaims his personality. God has a personality. What are the things that God likes to do? He loves to turn things around. We see this over and over and over in Scripture, Old Testament, New Testament. God loves to turn things around. Think about David, King David when we first meet him. David that kills Goliath, that becomes king. All the wonderful stories, writes the Psalms. Think about where we first find him in first Samuel. We find him on the backside of nowhere, watching sheep as a little boy. He doesn't end up there, but that's where he starts. As a matter of fact, as the prophet Samuel is coming into his father's house to anoint the next king because God had told him it's one of Jesse's sons that's going to be the next king. As he comes there, he says, bring all your sons. He brings all of them except for David, uninvited. He says, we're about to have an amazing meal. He said, is this all your sons? I mean, it's all the ones that I like. We got one that's working. You're not interested in him. He's kind of the outcast. He's the outsider, except for there's a God that has a relationship with him that likes to turn things around. And the prophet Samuel says, we will not eat until you go get him. Send somebody. David's like, but I'm not invited to the table. But there's a God that loves to turn things around. Decades later, as he's sitting in his palace and he writes the most famous psalm of all time at every funeral. Some people have it on their wall. Some Meemaw still posted about it. He writes Psalm 23. It's interesting when you know the story of David. This. This verse takes on new meaning. He says this in verse 5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I wasn't welcome. And now I'm the guest of honor. Why? Because God loves turn to turn things around. You're uninvited. You don't belong here. Yeah, why don't you guys watch me eat I serve a God that likes to turn things around. Come on, somebody, he said, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Think about Joseph. He is the turnaround champion. Everything you read about Joseph in the book of Genesis, just. There's a God that loves to turn things around. His brothers reject him, his brothers want to kill him. They throw him into a pit. He gets sent off to a far away country. He becomes a slave. And God just constantly turns things around for him. You can't keep the guy down because he serves a God that likes to turn things around. We find Joseph finally comes to the place where he's number two in all of the world, saving the world from starvation. God used it and turned his situation around over and over and over again. Finally, his brothers come begging him for mercy, begging him for food, and he reveals himself. They didn't know who he was, and they're freaked out and shocked, thinking he's about to kill them because he's the most powerful person on the planet. But he says, I serve a God who turns things around. And he's also turned things around in my heart. He says this in verse 20 of Genesis, chapter 50. He says, you meant all those things for evil, but God used it for good. God loves to turn things around. Why is that so important for us to understand? Why is it so important for us to say, I know this to be true? Because no matter what you may be facing with God. Come on, anything can turn around anything. We've seen stories happen right here of God turning things around. Things that you thought would never, ever change but God. Addictions that you thought would never break but God, why? He loves to turn things around. He loves to turn marriages around. You don't understand what we're up against. You don't understand who's in your corner. He loves to turn things into, around. And let's not forget Jesus, by the way. Tragedy to triumph. In about three days. His friends watched him be put on a cross. They watched the spear in his side. They watched them take down his body and put it into a grave, roll a stone over it. That looks pretty final to me. But we serve a God that still likes to turn things around. Even the things that we thought were dead. God brings dead things to life. He loves to turn things around. I want somebody to get that into the foundation of their theology today. God loves to turn things around. It's part of his personality. He does it Old Testament, New Testament, beginning and end. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He still turns Things around. And as we see this in this chapter, these people that are writing this story would say, I'm telling you, we know he's the God that turns things around. But notice the things that they're talking about, God's turning around. They don't all end up in great things. Some of them end up in discipline. God took the things that they thought would never end. And God says that's done today. So here's what it tells us, that God doesn't always turn things around for what we want or celebrate, but it's always right. Does God love to turn things around? Come on, somebody. Yes. Are those things always going to be things that you celebrate? No, but he's right. He is just. He's a good God. He's a good father. And his scripture tells us this, that he disciplines those that he loves. Some of us think, oh, I'm a good father because I just write checks to my kids whatever they want. That's not a good father. That's Santa Claus. There's a difference. Good dads provide, but good dads also bring discipline. Why? Because I want good things for you. And God turned things around as a disciplinary measure, and then he turned that disciplinary things around for blessing. It might not be what you want, it might not be what you celebrate, but it's always right. And it says God can dry up things that once flourished. And then it says that God can make things bloom that were barren. That's an interesting word, barren. Because that takes on a new perspective here at High Ridge Church right here in East Texas. One of the things that we've noticed that's really, really special about our church is this has kind of become a place where infertility goes to die. I don't know if you know all the stories there. There are literally a lot of stories around this place of miracles that the doctor said, you can't have kids, but God loves to turn things around. Let me just tell you, there's a lot of kids over across the street right now in children's ministry eating a ton of goldfish. We need to take up another offering for the amount of goldfish that they eat. Kids that aren't supposed to exist except for God. He had a plan. If you know my friends Paul and Ashley. So Ashley's on our staff, and Paul's actually running one of the cameras right here today. These guys are amazing people. You need to ask them their story about a God that turns things around. And it's incredible. Struggle after struggle after struggle with infertility. And let me just tell you, God didn't just provide one baby. He provided three. And there's three of the most amazing kids you'll ever see. And as a matter of fact, we were laughing a couple of weeks ago because they got their. Their school pictures back. And she's like, we had to buy new pictures because my son has the. Has the craziest pictures. I'm like, no, no, no. Only keep this picture for all time because that is the greatest picture you could ever have from any school. Let me just tell you. He's proof that there is a God that likes to turn things around. That's a miracle, baby right there, and he knows it. Come on, somebody. That is the miracle smolder right there. That's my boy. Zion, We serve a God that loves to turn things around. Come on, somebody. So we thank God not only when the river flows, but. But when the desert teaches us dependence. Dependence. That's what the desert will teach us. Dependence upon Him. Here's the thing. The miracle didn't happen when the baby was born. The miracle happened when everything said no. And we trusted God anyway. We learn to trust God when we don't see it. We learn to depend upon him and we don't feel it. That's when we see God do things that the world says is impossible. He loves to turn things around. Is that good, Somebody? Here's the second thing I want to say. And you guys aren't listening fast enough, so I'm going to have to talk faster. Here's the second thing we see. These people would tell you he's the God that provides. He is the God who provides. It says in this chapter that the hungry found a home and that the lonely found a place and the weary found rest. God provides. God provides. You need to know that. It's an important tenet of our faith. We recognize who the provider is. And here's a good thing. It ain't you. It's him. He's the God that provides. Let me say it this way. God always provides everything needed for those that choose to accept it. Many of us don't want his help. We don't want him meddling in our stuff. Why? Because he's going to mess stuff up. I have a system. God. Don't touch my system. I like my life just the way it is. Don't mess with anything. God could provide us so much more if we trusted Him. Learning to depend upon the sovereignty and the power of a great provider is a big deal. Psalm 84, verse 11 says, for the Lord God is a Son and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. No good thing does he withhold. That's saying very, very clearly, when you're walking upright, when you're putting God first, when you're honoring him above all else, God likes to give you all good things. And God's blessings and his favor, His Son and his shield, those are things that his people get. Why? Because they walk uprightly. There are things that you get to experience called the favor and the blessing of God. And you want those things. It's a beautiful thing to understand the God who provides. And so in Psalm 107, it says, God provided for us this incredible land, and the land yielded a fruitful harvest. It's easy for us to kind of skate past those words, yielded a fruitful harvest like that. Okay? It produced good things like. No, no, the Hebrew language there, by the way, for yielded fruitful harvest means not a normal return, but a massive supernatural harvest that means what? What should have come up? The, the wheat and the grain and the things that should have come, which is how they made their livelihood. This was their income. It just multiplied. It was supernatural. Did you know that? God can still do that? God can still do that. He's the God that provides. And when we trust him, when we honor him, when we love him, when we're walking uprightly, when we're doing things his way, he doesn't just give back one for one. He teaches us the law of the harvest. That means that you always reap more than you sow. You've never put one kernel of corn into the ground and got back one kernel of corn. God shows us his goodness reflected in the laws of nature. It multiplies when God blesses it. Here's what we see so clearly from His Word, that God doesn't just restore and provide for his people, he multiplies. Now, it's easy for us to get locked into a couple of different mindsets when it comes to the provision of the Lord. And one is a poverty mindset that says, you know what? If I follow God and do the right thing, I'm always going to be broken, messed up. He's going to keep me so humble, I'm barely going to live hand to mouth. That's wrong. Why? Because he's a good provider. There's also another mindset that says, God loves to bless me and he's going to give me everything I want. And it is all about me, because I am his favorite child. He's going to give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. Also wrong. Blessings were designed and given by God not to end up inside of your hands, but to pass through your hands. When God says, I can trust you, you get more. God's a good provider and he gives us more than what we need so that he can trust us to further his ideas and his kingdom. This is why God blesses his people. And look at somebody next to you and say, you are blessed. Remind somebody, you're blessed. Now look at your second choice and say, I'm sorry I turned to them first. I didn't mean to do that. It made it weird. But you're also blessed. Just not as blessed as the person on my other side. Let me tell you the difference between you working hard and building a great business or having wealth, having income, and God's blessing. Because there's two. There's. There's a massive difference. Proverbs chapter 10 tells us this. The the Lord blesses and he brings wealth, and he adds no sorrow to it. There's a big difference between your way and his way. You can work hard, you can build up amazing portfolio, fantastic business. But let me tell you this. If you're not doing it God's way, there comes a price tag to that. It's going to cost you things like your marriage. It's going to cost you things like your relationship with your children. It's going to cost you things like your health. There's a high price to pay for working and doing those things underneath your own abilities. But God's wealth doesn't bring sorrow. It doesn't come with guilt and shame. It doesn't ruin your family. That's a blessing to your family. It's healthy. And by the way, that's another life lesson that I've learned. Your health matters more than what you think it does. When you're 19, you're 19 years old. I can do anything. I can eat anything. I have a fantastic metabolism. When you're 50, like, I can't eat nothing. I can't do nothing. I have no metabolism. Here's a lesson that I've learned that you. You spend the first half of your life sacrificing your health, trying to make money. And then the second half of your life, you spend all your money trying to get your health back. Make it make sense to me. But God's blessings don't require your health. They bring health. We serve a God that loves to provide. Every blessing is evidence that God provides great Care for His people. Great care. God takes great care of us. I want you to know that today, as we approach Thanksgiving, remind yourself, God takes good care of us. Here's the final thing. I'll leave you with number three. Here's what they would tell us today is that he's the God who holds it all together. He's the God that holds it all together. It relieves so much pressure, by the way, when you accept this, when you come to that realization that he's the one that has to hold it all together. Because all the things that we juggle, trying to hold them all together will give you low grade anxiety. It's a hard thing to juggle. Trying to keep it all together, trying to keep my grades together, trying to keep my marriage together, trying to keep my family together, trying to keep my relationship with the Lord together, trying to keep my finances together. It's a lot. Try to hold it all together. Let me just. Let me just tell you, you're not enough. We know very clearly from God's word that he is the One that holds it all together. And to make things grow and produce and to work, just have to follow his lead, have to be willing to listen to him, have a relationship with Him. He can tell me what's most important, what do I work on? Lord, tell me. Show me what's important to you. He's the God that holds everything together. I want to show you this. In Colossians chapter one, it says, the Son being Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created. Things in heaven and on earth, things visible and things invisible. Whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him. And for Him. It does not say for you. It says, for He. Him said he is the firstborn. He is the image of God. All things were created by him, and for Him. You were created by him and for. Come on, it's not about you. You were created, you were designed, you were purposed not to bring yourself glory and fame and honor and riches, but to bring glory to Him. You were created for Him. That will change somebody's life. When you understand that, it changes the concept of how you wake up and how you function during the day. My job is to bring him glory today, not myself. And then it finishes up with this sentence. It says, he is before all things. He is. Say it with me. Before all things. One more time. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Everything is held together by Jesus, except for what you don't allow him to hold together. But this is what I want. I'll hold this all together. You got the whole world in your hands. I'll take this. He. He wants to be Lord of all, not Lord of most. And when we recognize that he's the one that holds it all together, we will let him drive. Jesus take the wheel is a theological concept. I'm just saying I was drawn to those words. He is before all things. He is before all things. If you don't hear anything else that I say today, hear that scripture. He being Jesus is before all things. It doesn't just mean he was born first or just he was created first. Yes, that's true, but there's more to it than that. He is first, and he wants to be first. And there are some things that happen when you learn to put God first before all things. I wonder. Let me ask you a question. What would your life look like if God truly was first? We can say that he is. And I think most of us would say, oh, yeah, I'll put God first. But is that really the case? Let me just ask you, who or what gets the first part of your day? Is the first moment of your day spent talking to the Lord, saying, thank you for waking me up. Thank you for the blessing of this day, Lord, let me bring you glory today? Or is the first part of your day spent, I've got to have coffee before I choke slap somebody. Maybe the first part of your day is, let me grab my phone and see what I missed out on in the middle of the night. I think it's important to have scripture before screens. Why? Because he is before all things. And if I don't work that out practically in my life, I can't say that truthfully. Is God truly before all things? What would your marriage look like if God was first? What would your parenting look like if we wanted to please God with the way that we raised these children that he's blessed us with? What would change? What would it look like if your business truly was built to honor the Lord first? How would that change the way that you treat people? How would it change the way that you build? What would it look like if meetings put God first? One of the things I've applied to my life is I don't meet with anyone without praying first. And I say, lord, would you put a big gatekeeper at my mouth to keep me from saying something stupid? You think I'm kidding? Not kidding. That's a big concern for me. I talk for a living. I say a lot of dumb things before every meeting. My wife knows this. Lord, please help me not to say something dumb. Please help me say what you want me to say. You are first, and you're the guy that holds us all together. I know me, and I want to honor you. What would your finances look like if you honored God first and didn't just decide at the end? If I have anything left over, then I might tip God a little bit. What would it look like if you truly gave God the first and the best of all that you have? What would change? Here's the thing. Many of us say I put the Lord first, but that's not true. We give God whatever we have left over. And these people in Psalm 107 would say, We've learned a lot and please listen to our wisdom. They finish out that line by saying, let him who is wise heed these things. Ponder the loving deeds of the Lord, because these are words to live by. These are words to remind yourself of what's most important. It's about Him. He holds it all together, not you. And what he can do with your life is better than what you can do. Doesn't come with sorrow and stress. He's a good Father and we can trust Him. Here's what we know. Putting God first in our lives brings our lives into proper order, and it positions us for his blessing. God loves to bless his kids. And when you position yourself there with your submission, with your heart posture, you recognize that God is God loves to bless me. Why? Because he can trust me to be a blessing to others. And he knows that I'm going to take the blessing that he gives me and I'm going to turn right back and honor him first. That's, by the way, one of the reasons why we have Sunday on the first day of the week. That's why we have services on Sunday morning. Why? Because it's the first of the first. It's why we give. By the way, in my own life, I give the first of every single paycheck from the gross before I take out anything else for any other bill, I God gets the first because it's the best. Let me just remind you, that's not putting more on you. It's actually taking a lot off of you. It's not about God demanding something from you. It's a question of trust. Can I trust you? Do you trust me? Let me remind you of something. When they're talking about grain and harvest, God did not need their grain, and he doesn't need your money, but they needed to learn how to trust him. And this was the life lesson that he gave them. Every single spring, when crops began to produce fruitful and abundant supernatural harvest. He says, are you going to honor me? Are you going to say thank you? Are you going to think, you sure are a good farmer? They would remind us that he's the God that holds it all together. He brings the rain, he brings the sun. He brings the good times, he brings the bad times. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I want to finish up right there, if that's okay. So you can go ahead and put away your Bibles, put away your phones, and let's just take a moment. I want to encourage you. Would you go ahead and bow your head and close your eyes as we finish up right here? I think if I've done my job correctly today, there's some things that you want to. You probably need to do. And for some of us, we're in one camp that we would say, you know what? If I'm. If I'm going to be honest, I've. I've got some things that I brought into this church today that I've been worried about, things that have made me sick with anxiety, things that I'm carrying that I've just realized today that the Lord wants those things. He wants to hold it all together. He wants to take some pressure off of me. And I want you to spend the next few moments just talking to the Lord. Give him those things. Scripture says, cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you. He cares about your marriage, he cares about your business, he cares about your health, he cares about your family. Talk to him. Spend the next few moments offloading those burdens to him right where you are. Just tell him, lord, I'm struggling, I'm hurting, I'm worried. I'm freaked out. Please help me. You're the one that holds it together. You're the one that provides. You're the one, not me. So, Lord, I lay these at your feet. Please help me. And there's some other people that might be in another camp saying, lord, you have blessed me and my family so much. I'm gonna take this time on the first day of the week with the first part of my day to say thank you. This is the best of my worship, to recall all the things that you've done and all the places that you've brought me from the stories that we have, you've kept us, you've helped us, you've delivered Us. You've healed us. You've shown up time and time again, and you've proven to us that you're the God that turns things around. Thank you, Lord, for turning it around. Father, we come here today with grateful hearts. We come here trusting in you. We thank you for what you've done, and we thank you for what you're about to do. We trust you. Can you say that with me? I trust you. Come on, say that to him. We trust you, Lord. I trust you, Lord. I trust you. I trust you with my future, with my family, with my finances. I trust you. I'm going to choose to trust. I'm taking a step of faith here. I'm going to let go and trust you. And now with heads bowed and eyes closed, perhaps you came here today and you're saying, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, man, I don't have a relationship with Jesus at all. I. I came here today and I don't have what you guys have. My friend, you are in the right place. God led you here today for a reason. There's other of us in this place today that would say, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, I was raised in church. I used to do all the things, but I've gotten so far from God, I need to come home. My friend, you're right. And God brought you here today for this moment. You do need to come home. As a matter of fact, if you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand to you, and he's saying two words to you. He's saying, come home. Come home. The only question is, will you respond? You may say, I want to do that. I'm not. I'm not sure. How do I do that? My friend, let me help you. Like somebody help me one time. It starts with a prayer. And as a matter of fact, we're going to pray this prayer out loud together. All of us are going to pray it together in this room so you don't feel singled out or embarrassed in any way. I would never do that. I'm not here to embarrass you, but you need to do this, and you know you need to do this. It's time to get right with God. It's time to start a relationship with God. So high rich friends and family. Come on, let's. Let's all pray this together. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe that you came and died, and I believe that you rose from the grave. So That I could have life, forgiveness, grace, mercy. I need it. God, please forgive me. I've messed up. I need your help. Please save me, and I'll give you the rest of my life in Jesus name, with heads bowed and eyes closed with no one else looking around. My friend, if you prayed that prayer and you meant that prayer, if today is that day where you say, pastor, I meant that prayer, can I just see just those of you who pray that. Can I just see your hands all across this place? Would you lift them up nice and high and proud? I see you. Yes. Good for you. Yes, young man. Yes, I see you good. You guys can put your hands down. If you. If you raise your hand and you might even be watching online. If you're watching online today and you say, pastor, I prayed that prayer with you, there's a number that's going to appear on the screen behind me and on the screen that you're watching, I want to ask you, if you pray that prayer, text me, text the words I prayed to that number. And what I'm going to do is send you back the link to some things that will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next. And I'm super proud of you and the decision that you just made. Good for you. Irish family, go ahead and look up at me if you would, then let's stand to our feet together today. It's been an amazing day, spending time in God's word. I hope this has blessed you as much as it's blessed me. And as we walk into the holidays, I just want to remind you, hey, don't go to jail. Judges schedules get really messed up during holiday seasons. You might be sitting there for a long time before you see a judge. I'm just saying, don't ask me how I know that. Everybody's got a past. I'm gonna invite our elders and their wives forward, and these guys are gonna stay right here to be able to pray for you about anything that you might need prayer for. Some of us are struggling and walking in here. Some of you have friends in situations where you're like, I really want God to move. Let me just tell you, we believe in the power of prayer here. God hears prayers. God answers prayers. And so we're going to stay right here as the service ends to be available to pray with you about anything that you might need prayer for, including my Dallas Cowboys today. Let me pray for you and bless you as we go. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Would you keep your hand upon them? Would you bless them? Would you multiply them? Would you use them for your glory? I pray that they would walk with you and hear your voice all week long in Jesus name and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. I hope you have an awesome week. [00:43:40] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. [00:43:51] Speaker B: If you want to be a part. [00:43:52] Speaker A: Of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.