Mercy and the Formula to Freedom by Brother Duke Hansen

         Situations and opportunities in life dictate your measure of trust in life. What you experience and react towards over the course of your life can increase or decrease your level of trust in not only to other men or rulers and lawmakers, but to God himself. In a race that's not a sprint but a marathon, people, more specifically Christians, feel like they won first in the race though they finished 10th place out of 10 runners. When we look at figures in the Bible, Solomon was the wisest man. The book of Proverbs is intimidating to some people given its structure because Solomon can drop a word of wisdom in one chapter and readdress it several chapters later. We are going to be in Proverbs chapter 3 this morning. We are going to read the first 7 verses, with our focus verse being verse 5.

        1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

        2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

        There are plenty of examples where God asks the people not to forget his word. God is looking for his followers to do his word. Now, there's a lot of people both believer and non-believer who know of his word. There are numerous times in the gospels where Jesus would tell his disciples and others if you love me, keep my commandments. Think of it like this, if you are bound to the word of God, you won't be bound by things of the world.

        3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 

        An example of God showing you mercy is when he does not give you a punishment you deserve in life. If you allow God to move, God will begin to reveal truth through his mercy. Another truth of God which is hard for man to follow through is that you must forgive others to be forgiven. Onto verse 4;

        4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

        5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

        6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

        7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.

        What did God talk about through the writing of our scripture this morning? Keep the word, following the word, mercy and truth, finding favor with both God and man. Back in verse 5 it was trust in the Lord with all thine hear and lean not unto thine own understanding. Doing God's will in our life does not come natural to our flesh, because we are preset to do our own will. Our flesh wants to be the end all be all of  existence. When you are in school, some of the subjects will make sense to you almost immediately. If you can grasp the concept of math and can apply it as a foundation to your life, you can see and point out faulty problems. How much more formidable would our walk be if we had the word click with us like our favorite school subject? The apostle Paul is the best example of growth. He started in Acts as someone with presence, character and authority in the world of that time. We watch him grow in God over the course of his missionary journeys where he speaks of humility and peace. We set boundaries to our character in our own mind. We put up the defenses and guardrails causing us not to fulfill our full potential. 

        In order to keep the word we have to learn it. Differences and outcomes in life affect our measure of trust in things. It is up to us if we want our character truly changed. We can have longevity of life living upright and for God. If you do not have conviction in your walk when you get into things you know is not pleasing to God, the lack of that twinge or pinch is a sign you're losing your relationship with God. If you are stumbling or falling short, going to dark places and don't feel that conviction, you may not even have a relationship with God. If you don't know it works, you can't grow in your faith. There are a lot of times when God wants you to help someone and you don't want to. That's a sign God is wanting to work through you, when your flesh is at it's most resistant. You need to discern when God wants you to step up in some situation or step back.

        When you read the story of Abraham, he heard God's voice and command, picked up his things and wife as instructed. By the time he got to Egypt, Abraham started to move away from his trust in God and into fear. He was afraid he would be killed and his wife would be taken away, so as a means to fix the moment, he declared Sarah his sister. Fear is always going to cloud good judgement and disrupt your connection with God. Being born into or knowing the faith is not an automatic pass into glory. It's working and doing in the faith daily, putting it into action. If you don't know the principles of the word, God cannot do anything. You need to discipline in your walk to build your trust and with that it will change your character. The best people to share the word with or your testimony to are people who God is working on. You can spot them if you look close enough. 

         God will not only give you favor in your walk but also in understanding. If God shows you mercy and truth when you are searching yourself and discover something hidden or a flaw, and you demonstrate discipline in working to overcoming it, God will help you overcome it as well. Tests, whether they be in school or in real life, ultimately reveal knowledge of what you know. Trials are not tests, but we confuse the two frequently. We go through trails to arrive at the test. If you fail the test, you sometimes have to back to the trial. We have to really pay attention through our trials in order to learn the lesson. Not only learning the lesson but applying patience by waiting on the Lord. I'm not waiting on God if I follow the world's advice and not the scripture. If you have faith, true faith, you are going to read and study the word, pray and cry out to God, seek his face. The results may vary, but God remains the same. Mercy, truth, discipline plus trails will eventually lead you to a test. Don't sit and say you love God and do the opposite of what he wants you to do. 

            Be careful in what you trust, what you listen and read in seeking advice. Be not wise in your own eyes, another way of talking about our pride. If there is no fear of God in life, you don't believe the truth. You swallowed the lie.

        We are going to go to Matthew chapter 22 and start with verse 37.

        37 Jesus said unto him, Though shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

        38 This is the first and great commandment.

        39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

        40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

        

        When you are in a truly committed relationship with another, you give your all, your everything to each other. God wants everything from you. Your time, your thoughts, your efforts. Quit treating him like a middle school crush where you have feelings for him, but 2 seconds later you are crushing on someone else. Commit yourself with a whole heart and not halfway. You phoning in your commitment is phony in the world, how much more offensive is it to God? Most people are blind about God but have an active imagination to determine who Jesus is in their life. God doesn't talk to you in conversation face to face. He does it through his word. Where you read a passage and a revelation is opened to you through the Holy Spirit. What you had read over and read over where they're just words on the page become something different and life changing. You have access to it. While you are going though a trial, don't rush through it, sidestep it, fight it, or mistake it for a test. In the last 6 verses of Matthew 22 Jesus asks the Pharisees and asks some of you today if he's the son of God or son of David? He's referencing Psalm 110. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost that Jesus was the son of David, he knew that the crowd assembled knew that. That had been taught that through life. Peter also references Psalm 110 to the crowd. In the spirit the right hand of God is authority and power.

        Mistakes lead to growth and understanding. You have to have determination and discipline to see results in your walk. To reference last Sundays message, if you will prune your own tree, God will not. If you can cut the dead limbs from your tree, God won't have to do that. Learn to let go at times and fall. A mistake will not kill you. How can we correctly fear the lord and depart from evil? When we pray God take this from me! Will he do that? No. We need to recognize what is evil and remove ourself from it. How do you know what's evil? Its in the Bible. Points to a lot of things you need to steer clear from. Mercy allows two things. Mercy provides a chance and offers direction. Two things truth gives us in knowing who we are and who God is. It takes discipline to deny your flesh. Don't ever get to a place where you can be deceived. We all are capable of getting to that place. God wants to heal more than just your flesh, he wants to heal your mind, you soul, and to make you whole if you just open your own understanding.