Trusting the God You Believe In | Tony Evans Sermon

Several years ago, during a family vacation, I drove from Dallas to California to take the kids to Disneyland, but we decided to go to San Francisco first and then continue on to Los Angeles. If you have taken that route, you know that there are several options, but the scenic option along the California coast, route one is wonderful and at the same time treacherous, route 1 is a very winding road on one side of the mountains and then into the other, the other cliffs leading to the ocean along the route are signs that will help you navigate safely through the twists and turns and oncoming vehicles for one false move reward an inadvertent turn.

It could cost you your life. It's a beautiful thing to see but it's a dangerous road to travel well. I thought about that, I thought about life, it's full of twists and turns, it's full of uncertainties and many times we don't know what's coming around the corner. corner, like if you've lived here long enough, you know it can be difficult to navigate a lot of us. All of us here today would love the chance to start over because we've already hit rocks, but what you have on the Route one, God has it in your life's path and that our signage design helped you and me successfully navigate this thing called life.

The question I want to address today is why are so many vehicles stopped on this road called life? Why are there so many with their hoods up unable to move forward? and then the question becomes more intriguing when we want to know why so many of these are Christians who find themselves unable to navigate through the twists and turns of life. Can I suggest to you probably no more better words than what I can give you today? Many of us, as

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rs,

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in a God we do not trust. Everyone here today affirms the existence of God and of course if you are a believer you affirm the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for you and yet there seems to be a disconnect from my faith in Christ to take me to heaven and my trust in Christ to guide me on earth there seems to be a disconnect and I would like to suggest to you that the disconnect is that many of us perhaps even most of us do not trust it, the book of proverbs is a book of wisdom, wisdom is the ability to navigate life and wisdom is the ability to perceive the true nature of a thing and if you implement the will of God regarding it, wisdom is the ability to perceive the true nature of a thing, what is really happening and then having the ability to apply God's will regarding that perception.

He has been called the art of living skillfully. The ability to effectively apply truth to everyday decisions. Solomon understood the importance of it when he praised the Lord. don't give me Richard give me the book it opens with a shout for a father to teach his son the importance of acquiring wisdom in fact it says in chapter 1 verse 20 that wisdom shouts in the street she lived her voice in the square among all the noise that surrounds wisdom says please listen to me what it says in chapter 1 verse 33 he who listens to me wisdom will live safely and will be calm from the fear of evil many of us would not be where we are today if back then when we took the decision we had more wisdom you didn't need more money you needed more wisdom you wouldn't have made that decision at that moment regarding that situation if only you had something with if it left you with the thought would this be to start living the rest of your life wisely how Do you do it only in the Lord with all your heart? okay, what do you mean faster? do not lean on your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your paths that verse says three things those two verses proverbs 3:5 and 6 are those three things that I want to share with you now number one trust completely in God the first thing you need to know if you are going to gain wisdom, which is the way to navigate life successfully, you must trust completely in the Lord, the word trust means to let it go or it has the idea of ​​putting all of one's weight on it or it is very similar to what you are doing right now when you are sitting on the bench when you are sitting on the seat and all your weight rests on the capacity of the bench on which your city supports you, now relying on the bench to support you would not be much if the The kiss of the bench gave you holds, but you must possess something.

You've assumed that the bench can hold you and the reason I know it can't is because you told me, because I'm looking, maybe not and with all your weight, in fact, you. You are so sure of the banks ability to hold your weight and everyone who is there with you, they are not even helping me. I don't see anyone sitting down, but pushing themselves up in case this bench fails to hold. I want to make sure I have a little bit of myself here because if the bank can't make it, it says trust in the Lord with all your heart, that's not out of place with the order, trust in the Lord, the reason why the order is critical is because when it comes to navigating our lives, most of us start with ourselves and return to God, in other words, we start with what we think, what our perception is, what our orientation is and when that doesn't work, We say, try God, there would be many things. less pain in life if you started with God and did not think with you or with me I would start with myself the proof that we do not trust in God although we declare that we believe in him is that we first go to other sources to address the problems of life What you trust That's where you go first, right, Jimmy?

You can always figure out what you trust because you go there first. That's what you're counting on and you're

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in what you think will be the best to help you, so that's where you go first, so if you want to know if you trust in the Lord, answer the question: Where do I go first? Why should I trust in the Lord first? There are so many Scriptures that we could turn to and time will not allow us to turn to all of them, but I love the way Romans 11 puts it when it talks about the nature of God's wisdom because in communicating this the apostle Paul said that of This way in Romans 11:33 all the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable they are. his unsearchable judgments his ways who is known the mind of the Lord and who was his counselor or who has given him first that was not returned to him again because from him through him and to him all things to him be glory forever Amen , he says that the reason you should trust in the Lord is because his wisdom is beyond your ability to conceive.

At some point when you return home, you should read Joe 28, verses 12 to 33, where Job says: I am seeking wisdom, where can I? Find it he says I look at the people I didn't find it just now look into the depths of the sea I couldn't find it there I looked up to the sky I couldn't find it there he says I couldn't find wisdom among the living nothing around me could give me wisdom but You, oh Lord , you know, the reason why you should trust in the Lord and why his wisdom is infinite infinite wisdom his ability to coagulate and cross coordinates all the events of history from time to eternity his resumption and experience his omniscience and basis of information says to go to him first is beyond discovering the Bible says that God be true Romans 3:4 and every man a liar God says he wants you to come to him and then go to men and his men by saying what What he said are wrong, not him, there is no exception, that every man is a liar, unfortunately what we have done is call God a liar and call people the truth, created beings who fell like you, we call them the truth, the We call The Creator is a liar and we don't use those words, we just don't go to him first to understand this thing of

trusting

the Lord with all your heart, that is a simple way of doing things totally or completely, the hot constitutes your inner core sometimes. refers to emotions sometimes refers to intellect sometimes refers to will but sense could refer to any of the three simply means that you are trusting the Lord completely in every aspect of your life your knowledge intellect your decision making will and your feelings, emotion, so that's it, you at the heart of who you are, trust in the Lord, how do I know if I'm trusting in the Lord?

Simple, you are not leading to your own understanding, give the other side or the negative of trusting in the Lord human understanding is flawed by sin human understanding is limited and fueled by finitude you said and I hear this all the time people He says well, God expects me to use my brain, doesn't He? God has given us all common sense. Not well? If it were that common, we wouldn't be where we are. Yes, God expects you to use your brain under his supervision. He does not expect you to use your brain apart from Him because we are limited by finitude and are flawed and tainted by sin, therefore decision making will always be questionable unless governed within the Lord's standard, Paul says. in Philippians 3:3, do not trust in the flesh, do not rely simply on your human ability to make the right decision.

We are not that good and in 99.9% of the cases the only answer we can give is amen and amen, we are not that good if we were, we would not do what we thought was our own understanding when we first did it. the decision was good, it seemed that for us the problem is that our line of struggle is limited now let me tell you what we do because we are Christians, we know that we have to trust in the Lord because that comes with the job description so we know that we have to bleed these things from God we have to take the Bible seriously you know we have to go to church so we know we have to trust in the Lord but then we have this other side of us like the real world we have the real world part and in the real world, come on, you have to be practical in the real world.

Okay, the Bible was written many years ago by men far away, so let's get to the real world, so this is the most important thing. of us look at this, I go somewhere, we mix the two, so we mix them, you could see that we have to do Christian things because we Christians, but we live in the real world, so we have to do real world things and we mix the two now the Bible has a word for mixing the two it's called double-minded double-minded when you mix the sacred and the secular because you want the secular to help the sacred it's called double-minded or thinking with two minds James 3 says there are wisdom from above that comes from God and then says and there is a wisdom from below that comes from earthly thinking and says that the wisdom from below that comes from the natural way of thinking comes from hell so it doesn't say that wisdom comes from hell it says that wisdom comes from the earth but the wisdom that comes from the earth comes from hell so to think like a natural man is to join the way of thinking of the devil when you mix the two you lose the wisdom of God James 1:5 If any man There is a lack of wisdom that asks God.

If any man needs guidance to make a decision to be able to live a skillful life that asks God and guess what one of the great promises of the Bible says, the one who gives it generously should send you with him if he wants to give them wisdom. , he wants to give them instructions, he wants to give them, guys, can he give them a lot of wisdom, but then he goes on and gives them the warning that he says, but when they ask him, he is faced with not doubting for a The double-minded man is unstable. in all his ways look at this, here is the curse, don't let that man think that he will receive something from the Lord, music, but I prayed about it, but if God saw a double mina, He will not answer your prayer.

I received counseling about but if it was based on a double mind, the mixing of the secular and the sacred and by mixing the secular and the sacred, a non-Christian worldview trying to mix with a Christian worldview, the Bible says that denies me, so we actually like this. cancel sunday usually every monday most christians cancel sunday on monday because then they go to a secular view that is natural or unchristian and try to mix it with sunday and god says man will receive nothing from the lord oh no, this is explaining why we don't see answers to prayers because God said I see you mixing things up the plane was flying higher the plane needs a control tower control tower nearby when you have a plane plane is cloudy you can't see it and them accounts but I think okay, you don't have that ability, you are limited, that's why you need a control tower.

What you think now is irrelevant, not because your brain is irrelevant, your brain is absolutely critical to navigating the plane, but you can't see your fight. so you need to adjust your brain to what the power says that many of us are canceling out by trying to do something human and divine with them, that may not sound as profound as it is, but if you are mixing it up, God says I can't. help you I can help you I didn't get flooded I haven't been God for billions of years to need help my son Jonathan developed this new hobby in college raising pit bulls I don't know where this comes from I can't I can't conceive where this idea comes fromof raising pit bulls, but it has become his hobby in college.

He's had like six or seven pit bulls and I guess he has a business mindset because they each EADS themselves and maybe I'm not making enough money. university or something, but that's his thing. He comes home on the weekends and brings it to the pit bulls. It's not a happy situation in my house. He connects these pitbulls to this cord that they can't break and they are In the yard, so these two pitbulls are quite friendly and all the events are not like he is a violent guy, but they are pitbulls. I went out to the patio last weekend.

I was walking in the yard and the particular friendly one in the queue, what is it? the play wants to jump wants wants some activity when he comes to play with me he goes in the opposite direction around the tree so I wound the rope around the tree. I'm trying to get it to come back the other way because that's the way it's going. He's getting tangled up, but he doesn't know better. I'm trying to get him back this way once he thinks. I'll be playing with him the next time he thinks I don't know what I'm doing, so go on with his own understanding, continue with his own way now, not that he wasn't sincere, he was.

It's not that he wasn't dedicated, he's just not under the null value, so he doesn't understand and moves on. He always tried to back off and now he resists because he thinks I don't know what I'm doing. He wants me not to bother him, he wants me to leave him alone but not in his opinion, the only thing he does is get more tangled. When we finish the exercise, he cannot move because he has rested so many times around the tree that he is now trapped. Suddenly he realizes that he didn't know what he was doing so now the dog that wanted to be independent and do his own thing is now gone.

Mady is crying suddenly. Now I am significant. Now I am important, now I am strategic because he even got involved here not because he is a dog not because what we do in our bestial way of thinking is insist on our own way and we even have pushes without him so we go this way until we have gotten involved in the circumstances of life and now we want to talk about our trust in the Lord with all our hearts and that means don't leave it to your own understanding no if he doesn't say don't have it, he says, don't lean on it, you can have your thoughts , but those thoughts have to be measured against us and God told Peter, don't cast your net on that side, cast it on the other side, the problem was that Peter was a professional.

The fisherman Pedro knew where to cast the net when the net was cast. Peter said Jesus, look, we have been here all night, so we are not hiding, Jesus, look, I know where to cast the net. I grew up in a family of fishermen. I am president of the Zebedee Fishing Corporation. I know how to fish, but Peter says, for humor, let me go ahead and do what you say so you can see that you really should keep preaching. Be the fish, you know, the

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s stick to that. the bible says the net became so full it dragged the boats underneath she loved her own understanding he would have cast it mary didn't understand how this thing could be jesus how can this be since i'm a virgin how can i'm pregnant the angel says , well, there is nothing impossible for God, so she says that B and I have the one that my own understanding cannot understand, however, if it is you who speaks, let God send Abraham to a place he had not gone .

My face goes searching for a city whose builder and maker with God did not act according to his own understanding or else it would not last. Moses, I mean, Moses, we're talking about a man raised in the house of Pharaoh, we're talking about Mackay's Holly Edge today. We are talking about a guy who has been trained, we are talking about a guy who had wealth, we are talking about a god who had everything, who did not need divine information except that he made the decision to suffer what God's people because he was going to use your baby.

I am NOT suggesting that you don't get your undergraduate degree, but you must understand that when you get your BA MBA PhD, all you get is information and the information does not automatically transfer the wisdom you might have gained. From being an uneducated fool to an educated fool, wisdom is the ability to use it correctly when making decisions in life. Let me tell you one of the key ways you will confront this question of wisdom. It's when you face a test. Through this, it is always our natural tendency that allows us to get out of this because we do not understand that God is doing something with it.

You have to take the perspective of the joke. Even if he kills me, do I trust that you will see that everything is falling apart? on my part now it's killing me but I'm still going to trust him I'm going to rest completely and trust him completely to deal with this I'm not going to get out of this my human way, that's a way that's not prescribed by him, but you can't force it, you can't have Church and your horoscope today, we can forcefully cancel it and you don't have to go to a horoscope, all you have to do is come to human understanding, you know.

You're going to go to Scientology, go to ology, all you have to do is go to the human point of view and cancel the wisdom of God, so with all your heart, that means completely, without exceptions, you have to lean on God and not in you or in anyone. You know that you have to lean on what God is giving you, whether it comes to your mind or someone else's brain, secondly, you must trust God intimately, first of all, you must trust him completely, with all your heart, now you must trust him intimately, he says in all your ways recognize him in all your ways recognize him now recognize the word here now that doesn't mean a quaint recognition like um if I walk into the room and you say good morning have you recognized my presence the absent is talking about recognition the word recognition here has to do with an intimate response based on knowledge and relationship through which pleasing that person becomes your goal to recognize who he is in relation to who you are how Do we illustrate this when a woman gets married, perhaps one who has been single?

For a long time, a lady who has been used to making her own decisions, managing her own life, being her own independent person, but now that she is getting married, there is an adjustment that she must learn to make now, when it comes to her decisions, Their decisions are no longer decisions. about her, now you have to acknowledge someone else in the relationship you have, you acknowledged the fact that there is someone else whom I need to consult even before making this decision or else I have to consult him because I know him very well. I can go ahead and do it because I know they would be okay with it or if there's any question about it, she has to say now, well, let me check with my husband first and I'll get back to you, that's recognition, recognition is all about with having the leader intervene before the decision is made, even because you know what their decision would be, so you don't even have to talk to them about it or you don't know what the decision should be, so you have to talk to them . about it, that is recognition, how broad is this recognition, well, I think the first in all your ways, in all your ways, God wants to be involved in the details of your life, how many of them, all, all, he wants to be a partner. in this relationship, actually the leader of the relationship who is consulted about anything related to the relationship when you write a check.

I hope you checked with the bank first. Now there are two ways you can check with the bank when writing a check. you consult intuitively or you personally consult intuitively because you just know you have it there, you just know that I deposit my check and I have my offer or whatever the bill is that you pay, so I know it's there, so I'm consulting, but it's a intuitive query. I don't have to call the bank. I don't have to log in because I just know that it's been deposited there, so it's a query, but it's intuitive.

If there are any questions, you connect or call. to the bank to make sure you can cover the charge, but in all cases, if you are a responsible adult and borrow some rare miscalculation exception, you always have the bank's mentality in mind when you write the check because you know that the resources are there. cover it so that the bank is directly or indirectly always on your mind God is saying that when it comes to the direction of life and the negotiation of life he is the source of your resources make sure the account can support the decision we make decisions that our spiritual account can support and we ask ourselves what keeps our lives in balance how to consult with God how to recognize him in all things it really is quite simple the word in prayer the word in prayer I am surprised how many of us do not use the word when it comes to the decision of life we ​​come to hear a

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but we do not use the word when it comes to a decision of life and there is a principle or a precept for every decision in life in the Bible in the Bible which is a principle or a precept for every decision you make there is a principle to be pre-established about who you should marry principle a precept about having children there is a principle of precept about choosing work and work there is a principle and precepts about how to get out of debt there is a principle and a precept on how to invest money there is a principle and a precept on how to handle illness I have been preaching for over 30 years and yet in 30 years of ministry I have had a situation at my desk in my ministry where it has not been a biblical principle or please take a step to address it.

I haven't been one and I've dealt with a million different scenarios and there's always a beginning, I appreciate that, he says, but the Bible maybe doesn't give me the details that it gives me, sometimes it gives me. I generalize it but I need something more specific so it has to be the Word of God and prayer because the job of the Holy Spirit is to apply the Word of God to your personal situation the job of the Holy Spirit is to take what may be a general principle and now make it your principle for your situation that's why it is spirit and word spirit and truth in all your ways consult it don't just do it because you think that's the way it is do it because you like it do it because all your friends do it that's not recognizing it, that's discarding it .

I had a husband and wife company one time the husband got bothered and the husband got angry because he says my wife asked all these other men what they think about something that is a decision and then she comes to me, she says when she comes to me, I don't want to talk about it, not because it's not a word, the discussion, but you don't go and talk to five other guys and then you come to your husband, you come to me first. and the whole path to recognize myself could be the other way around, the point is that it is simply the state in which God says I want to be first, I do not want to be mixed with anything that does not suit me and I want to be consulted in all your ways, you are the trust in God completely you are the trust in God intimately finally you must trust God progressively and he will straighten your paths Wow straighten your paths he will straighten your paths listen that slowly he will do it, that is, you will not do it I have to she will straighten your paths there is nothing better no one here crooked life is crooked finances are crooked marriage is crooked single life is crooked the future is crooked he says he'll straighten your path now a path means you're going somewhere a path is always connected to a destiny, so something is that you are going somewhere, at least you are trying to go somewhere, you are supposed to go somewhere or maybe all of you are going somewhere, you are going in circles.

Oh, because there are a lot of people I go to. circles, they are not going anywhere because they have a wild step and a crooked path and they are here today and they had a Morahan, they don't know where they are, she says he will if you do it this way, trust them completely, trust in it intimately. and then trust him progressively the word straighten your path the concept had use of traveling safely by leveling a path to remove obstacles for the traveler to reach the goal you say every time I try to go somewhere I have this rock I have people who prevent me I have circumstances that prevent me I have money that prevents me I can't seem to get out of the penny I can't seem to get where I'm supposed to go I don't I don't know what to do God says He will remove the rocks, get rid of the obstacles and make may your path go towards its intended destination for you, to put it another way, it says that wisdom allows you to experience God's plan for your life chapter 3 verse 2 says because the length of the days and years of life and peace will be to you added verse 24 says you will go to bed and have no fear when you go to bed your sleep will be sweet whoa by the time you sleep through the night again if you will take wisdom seriously you won't need those sleeping pills related to the directions and decisions of life, he says, I will make your sweet sweet, the Bible says and the Lord makes his beloved sleepy because he is cleaning the rocks, you stay awake because you try. to figure out how to move forward, but he says if you put it online like this, guess what I'll move them for you, you listen to the traffic report or the reportweather, you turn on the radio and you hear someone looking at a photo that you can't see God says he rewards passing and a judge removes obstacles so you can reach your intended destination every time I travel people pick me up or they send a car to pick me up, never if I'm going on a ministry trip earn a car the reason I don't drive a car is because I don't know where I am and I don't know where I'm going, okay, for another pass, invite you to a church or a conference and I accept the compromise, they picked me up, they are the same as us and we invite our guests here, we pick them up if they want us to, I let them pick me up because it was a place I had never been before.

I want to go through all the headaches looking at the map and trying to drive and read the map and go through all that when there's someone who lives there and knows the way, who's been the way before you know what I do. on the passenger side and let them live me on the way to my location why kill myself when there is someone who already knows how to get there while we are waiting in line? Why go to the additional edition? What when do those women do? It's not someone who already knows it, even though I know the way.

And I take the way. If there is something blocking the way, I don't have time to look for the entire part of the route, but if they already live there, they know where to get off, where to go up. They know the side street. Let me tell you something. about God he knows the alternative route to get you to your destination God wants you to start trusting him so you can start living again God wants you to trust him completely he wants your complete unmixed trust he doesn't want a non-biblical no- The Christian worldview will no longer be integrated into your thinking.

He doesn't want the feminist movement to tell you, ladies, how to be a wife. He doesn't know what guys who don't know God tell them the definition of a man. He doesn't like Wall Street. giving you the ethics of business yes, he doesn't want Fifth Avenue to tell you what you have to buy and what you have to own, he doesn't want a mix, he wants to control you completely and he wants to be intimately involved with the process and then he says It will progressively take you where you need to go, we don't have time, flower and understand, so what God wants to know is if you are just going to believe in me or trust me in the movie Titanic.

There was one thing that interrupted everyone, it was the feeling that was repeated over and over every time the movie or the movie clip was shown, this thing was there and it wasn't the Titanic sinking, that wasn't watching another scene, your name. it was pink and Rose is living an empty, meaningless and fruitless life she is living large she is what Uppercross she has notoriety she is engaged to a great guy she is all this is happening but deep down the roses hot she is empty on the road Jack Jack doesn't have all the fancy things that she has, but Jack loves her, she goes up on the deck of the boat and when she gets on the deck of the boat, Jack is on the deck and he throws coils towards the bow . and he says take my cats, he left all his hands to Rose and he leaves Rose on the bow of the ship, he says, close your eyes, she closes her eyes and she's ready to talk, isn't she?

It's a close as she holds on to the pole on the bow the bow and Jack says let it go, let it go I'm hanging over the ocean he says she's afraid to let go she's nervous to let go she's terrified to let go because this is her safety he He said let it go and then asked her do you trust me if you trust me let it go she lets go of her hand leaving her hands totally at the mercy of Jack she lets go of your hand jack says open your eyes she opens her eyes and is hanging over the bow of the boat in the breeze looking out at the ocean on the water and she says I'm lying I'm lying something you have to let go you've been holding on to your own way of thinking old way of living all the way operating just one feeling all the way accent oh well conjugating everything in your life and while you come to church come on come on you go back to your oh wait and God is saying come on yes you say yes but no I don't understand, I've held on to them, let's go, but your dog is the one that lets you go, but God , do you trust me?

And God has said that if you let go, you can fly again, you can get your life back, it's time.