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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip's son, Nate Heitzig. Matthew 6, 24 says, no man can serve two masters. The word there is a word that speaks of slavery. And the idea is that you can't be a slave to money, success and planning and also be a slave to God. You can't do both.
You have to choose one. You have to choose. Do you want to control your own life? Or do you want to let God control your life? Do you want to be a slave?
To yourself and to your own desires and your own goals and your own plans, or do you want to be a slave to God? Do you choose to do bad or do you choose to do good? Is the connotation here? We have to make a choice. Every one of us has to make a decision of who we are going to be a slave to.
Will we be a slave to the future and our plans and our desires and our ambitions, or will we be a slave to God? There's no room for compromise. If you're trying to divide your allegiance, you've already lost the battle. You have to choose one. So it comes down to not how much or how little you have, but it comes down to your attitude towards it and your recognition of the most important things to live for.
I mentioned before, generous people are not self-reliant people, and this applies to this part of scripture as well. Generous people are God-reliant people, and God-reliant people do good in the lives of those around them. God-reliant people take what God has given them and recognize that it's a gift from God and it's a gift that is meant to be shared and do good in the lives of others. And so they see good to do, and because they're God-reliant, they trust that God has led them to that opportunity and they do it without thinking. They don't worry about it.
They don't wonder what's going to happen if they give this money.
Some even give what they don't have because they trust that God's going to give it back to them because they're relying on God.
So they do it joyfully. Their reliance isn't found in what they have or what they're giving away. It's found in the one who gave it to them in the first place. But we can be so guilty of gazing so far ahead to the prospect of future fulfillment of our plans that we stumble over the needs all around us. The needs in our community, the needs with our families, the needs at our church.
We must control ourselves and bring our bodies into submission as 1 Corinthians 9.27 says. Psalm 119:10 says, With my whole heart I will seek you. Jesus says, the lamp of the body is the eye, and if therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. And James seems to be saying our ambition. where we fix our eyes And in turn, where we fix our heart, that will affect our entire life.
I asked you before, are you an ambitious person? Being ambitious isn't bad, but what are you ambitious for? Four. Because our ambition affects our whole life. A single-minded ambition to serve God will give your life purpose and direction.
A single-minded Vision and purpose and ambition to please yourself will lead to worry and anxiety and fear and heartache.
So I ask you again, do you have double vision? Are you trying to simultaneously fix your eyes on Jesus and success? Are you keeping one eye on spiritual things and one eye on earthly things? Lot's trouble began when he looked at Sodom and Gomorrah. David prayed, Unite my heart to fear your name.
Why? Because it's easy for our heart to be divided. It's easy for us to be in church and thinking about what God's saying to us, but also thinking about all the things we need to get done this week. It's easy to come to church and say, well, I need enough of Jesus so that I can be really successful at work this week. And we have a double-minded heart.
Jesus So Martha said, who had been going around in circles, you are troubled and agitated and worried. about many things. Anyone ever felt that way? troubled and agitated and worried about many things. Again, maybe you came into church feeling that way today, or simply that could be defined and translated this: Martha.
You're distracted. Let me ask you a personal question. When you come to church and you step into the auditorium for worship, how many songs does it take until you stop thinking about your own life and you start thinking about Jesus on the throne? It's first song, second song. Third song, how many songs does it take until you put aside your problems and you start worshiping Jesus?
You're like, Nate, I'm still not there. I'm actually still thinking about my problems right now, even while you're talking. We're so distracted. We can be running around in circles, worried about many things. And all the while, Jesus is saying, Hey, stop looking over there.
Look at me. Stop looking out those doors into the world and all the things that you think are problems. Stop worrying. Look at me. Just look at me, trust me, put your hope and your faith in me, trust my will for your life, let me control your life.
But we're like little dogs getting trained. We're like, but there's a cat over there in a car, and there's a toy. And the trainer's like, no, look at me right here. I have the treat. Look at me.
Focus on me. God is calling us. To not be distracted, you can't do both. You can't be looking over there and looking at God. Martha didn't know what she really wanted or what her ambition was.
Mary, on the other hand, did. She had one purpose, one aim, one goal. She would not be distracted. Paul also had this clear, singular aim. It said, This one thing I do.
forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth. To the things which are before. David as well had this clear, singular direction. He said, One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek. Do you have that clear singular aim in your life?
Are you focused on one thing or do you have double vision? And by the way, this is applicable to anyone. This isn't like a call for you to sell your business and switch careers and start working in ministry. Again, Jesus only ever called one person to sell all their things and give it to the poor. This isn't a call for you to give up everything that you are.
It's a call for you to, in everything you do, do it as unto the Lord. It's a call that if you're successful when God brings you blessings in your life, don't take credit for them. Don't become confident in the things that God is blessing you with because you didn't give it to yourself in the first place. God gave it to you.
So, find your confidence in Him, the giver of all good gifts, not confidence in yourself. Give God the glory. Give God what he's been giving to you to do good in the lives of others. To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. Remember when Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Remember that verse? Literally, that could be translated as they that seek earnestly. the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That is to say, they that are continually seeking after it, they that are really living for it, not just a casual looking for something, but something you really, really want to find. Has anyone ever lost a large sum of money on an airplane?
You lost like a hundred dollar bill, or in your seat at home, or your couch, you lost money. When you look for that money You just don't look for it casually, do you? You look for it diligently. I mean, man, if I lose a dollar, I'm up at night, like, I know that dollar is somewhere in my car. I know it's under that seat somewhere.
I'm going to find it tomorrow. But when you lose $100, you earnestly seek after it because it's important to you. And that's what God is telling us. Seek the kingdom of God like you've just lost $100,000. Seek it first and foremost in your life before anything else.
Give it your priority. Before you seek success, before you seek great things for yourself, seek God. and all these things will be added unto you. To seek his righteousness is to seek his reign. It is to live a righteous and holy life.
This should be the one thing, the aim, the purpose, the lifestyle of every Christian. And again, these things will be added unto you. I read that, and I'm a curious person.
So I'm like, what things? What things, God? You're making a promise to me, so I want to know what the bargain here is. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Well, the context that that was written in is Jesus is telling people: hey, don't worry about what you're going to eat or what you're going to drink. Don't worry about what clothes you're going to wear or where you're going to rest your head. Don't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow. It's very similar to this text in James. He says, Don't worry about those things.
Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you. That means what you eat, what you drink, what you wear. Where you work. Who you marry. What ministry you are called to, what your plans for the future are, what investments you're keeping your eyes on.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. All these things should be an after effect of a life in proper balance with God. When is the last time you sought the Lord? Not just some mechanical prayer, but a time of truly waiting on him and seeking his purpose and direction in your life, listening to what he's telling you. Asking him what his will is for your life, what his purpose is for your life, giving him control.
of the things in your life and trusting him. And when is the last time you saw it after what you wanted? Your future. Your money. Your partner, your stuff.
The psalmist wrote, I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and he delivered me from all my fears. That leads us to our third and final point, and that is that we need to let God control it all. You can't control the future. You must control yourself. Let God control it all.
Look back at verse 15. Instead, you ought to say. If the Lord wills. We shall live and do this or that. Let God control at all.
You can't control the future, so stop trying. You can control yourself and you should and you must. Let God control everything else. This isn't just a clever saying that we tack on to the end of a sentence to sound spiritual, which, by the way, I think a lot of Christians say this. And I think a lot of Christians say it because they're flaky and they'd rather blame their flakiness on God than on themselves.
It's like, hey, are you going to make it to the birthday party tomorrow? I really hope to if it's God's will. And then at like seven o'clock, hey, guys, it's not God's will for me to be there. I'm in my pajamas and I'm eating ice cream, watching some show on Netflix. It's not God's will.
No, you're just flaky. This isn't just some. Spiritual thing we tack onto the end of a sentence. To discover God's will is an act of faith. That says, I'm choosing to submit to God's lordship, God's plan, and God's will for my entire life.
You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. We'll return to Nate Heidzig's teaching in just a moment. Have you ever struggled to study the Bible consistently? or wondered how to really enjoy your time in the word? In his book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It, Pastor Skip gives you the tools and insights you need to dig into scripture with joy, clarity, and love.
clarity and confidence. This practical guide is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip. Request your copy when you give today at connectwithskip.com/slash offer or call 800-922-8222-222. Mm-hmm.
Now let's get back to the teaching of Nate Heitzig. And that's exactly how Paul lived his life as well. He meant it. In Acts 18:21, Paul said, But I will return to you again, God willing. In Acts 21:14, it says, The will of the Lord be done.
In 1 Corinthians 4:19, it says, But I will come to you shortly if the Lord wills. Why? Because we can't predict the future. Because tomorrow isn't promised. And because of those things, the believer will submit their plans and their future and the control of their plans and their future into God's hands, recognizing that he can control it way better than you ever did in the beginning.
And let me tell you something. There is no better place to be than in the hands of God. There is no better place to live your life than in the will of God. It's an adventure. It's a joy.
It brings true happiness. You know, we've all experienced happiness in a new possession, a physical thrill, a new crush. But how quickly is happiness gone, right? We can, again, live our lives trying to achieve happiness by accumulating things. And we get these things.
We get the car. We get the house. We get the relationships. We get the bank account. And it brings happiness, but only for a little bit, doesn't it?
It fades quickly. All that glimmers is not gold. The sparkle fades, and it's no longer a happy thing anymore. Happiness is easy to find, but it's hard to keep. When you hit hard times, when you're in less than perfect circumstances by imperfect people and your plans have failed, is happiness still there?
We as a society and a culture are wealthier, smarter and healthier than we ever have been in history. In the past hundred years are Wealth. Wisdom And our health has greatly increased, but has that growth equated to an increase in happiness as a culture? Over the same time, 100 years, the depression rates have soared. Teen suicide has tripled.
Divorce rates have doubled. The percentage of children born to single parents has sex-tupled. Violent crime rate has and continues to boom. The accumulation of stuff is at an all-time high, but so is the number of people who feel empty. And that's because true happiness and peace is not a superficial feeling of well-being based on life working out according to your plans.
It's not based on circumstances. It's not based on success. It's not based on popularity. It's not based on status. The world's version of happiness is dependent on what happens to you: things going your way, circumstances happening in your favor.
But the Bible gives a completely different view of happiness. According to scripture, happiness is never something that should be sought directly. According to Jesus, if you seek holiness, you'll find happiness. If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you'll be happy. True happiness is a supernatural joy based on you knowing that your life is right with God and resting in his will as you give him control.
That's where real happiness is found. We can rest easy in the will of God, trusting that God is good, trusting that he is leading us where we need to go, not fighting our own battles or leading our own way, but letting God go before us and lead us. And when we release control, When we start letting God control it all, you know what happens? We stop worrying. It's true.
And versely, when we try and maintain control and hold on to our lives. It leads to worrying. It's oxymoronic the way that it works. We think that if I hold on to control, I'll have peace, but the more we hold on to control, The more we worry, we think that if I give up control, I'll worry. But when we give up control, we find peace.
Worry is a powerful force. What about tomorrow? What about next month? What about next year? And as a matter of fact, if we Can't find something to worry about.
If we can't find problems to worry about, we'll find new ones. We'll make up new ones. Worry is never of any value. Worry never helps anyone. Worry always hurts.
Martin Lloyd-Jones says: the result of worrying about the future is that you're crippling yourself. in the present. Philippians 4:6 says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. That could be better translated as, Give your requests. to God.
Give your request to him. Don't hold on to him. Ask in his will, pray in his will, and then give it to him and let him control it. It's been reported that a dense fog extensive enough to cover seven city blocks in 100 feet of dense fog. is composed of less than one glass of water.
Think about that. One glass of water, but divided into 60 million droplets in the right form, it can cripple an entire city. In the same way, the substance of worry is nearly always small. Think about the things you're worried about right now. They're temporal things.
They're things that pass away. They're things that fade. They're earthly things that moth and rust. Will destroy, they're always small compared to the size that it forms in our mind and the damage that it does in our lives. Jesus said, Do not worry about your life.
Or a literal thought would be, take no thought. about your life. It's used to indicate something which divides, separates or distracts. And when we worry about our future, our job, our health, what others think about us, it is dividing, separating and distracting us from the will of God. But when we focus on the Lord's will, when we say, if the Lord wills, we shall live, as it says here in James, worry stops and it's replaced with trust.
So, as I asked you before, who do you trust? If you trust yourself, you'll be a worried person. If you trust God, worry will run. Do you remember what Jesus said when he said, look at the birds of the air? They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they? The point here is not that birds take no action to get their food. Birds eat, right? Birds fly around, they eat, they find food, they search for food.
Some eat seeds, some eat vegetation, some eat fish. They eat, but the point is they don't worry about it. They're not up at night in their bird nests. I wonder if I'm going to eat tomorrow. I wonder if my nest is going to be here when I come home.
They don't strive for it. They take it one day at a time. The point is: don't be obsessed with these things. Don't be worrying about these things. Do your best and commit the rest.
Let God control it all. Said the robin to the sparrow, I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so. Said the sparrow to the robin, Friend, I think it must be that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me. Let's be like the birds. Not worry and not fret.
But trust a God who cares for us. This is why we pray in the will of God, our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. Can I challenge you when you pray for specific requests, especially requests that might feel selfish?
that you lead with, Lord, if it's your will, please do this and this and this. Rather than again telling God your plans and saying, God, if you don't measure up to this, I'm gonna be disappointed in you, ask the Lord if this is in your will. Please provide this opportunity. If it's in your will, please help us sell our house. If it's in your will, help this stock or this investment to do good.
If it's in your will, let me meet this person and let this be a profitable relationship. Because if it's not in his will, you don't want it anyways. And then, when it doesn't happen the way that you thought it should, the way that you planned. You remember, hey, I prayed that prayer and I asked God if it was his will.
So it must not be as well. This text really all boils down to one question. This is where we'll close. Do you want to make yourself happy? Or do you want to give that job to God?
It's really what it all boils down to. Do you want to make yourself happy or do you want to let God do that in your life? Do you want to find peace in yourself or do you want to find your peace in God? Do you want to control your own life or do you want to let God control your life? Do you want to be reliant on yourself, or do you want to be reliant on God?
Do you want to find your confidence in yourself or do you want to find your confidence in God? It's all the same question. Who's in control? You are God.
Some people say, I need Jesus to make me happy, but I still want all the other stuff. I want Jesus to make me happy, but I still need success to make me happy. I want Jesus to make me happy, but I still need money to make me happy. I want Jesus to make me happy, but I still need possessions to make me happy. I want Jesus to make me happy, but I still need relationships or alcohol or I still need drugs or I still need my spouse.
I still need these other things to make me happy. Man cannot serve two masters: either you serve your God or you serve God. yourself.
So who's in control? You choose this day who you want to serve and who you want in control of your life. Do you serve Jesus or do you serve yourself? Do you want to make yourself happy or do you want to let Jesus do that? Do you want to control your own life or do you want God to control it?
Let me tell you something: He's going to do a way better job than you've been doing. He's going to do a way better job making you happy than you ever have in your entire life. He's going to do a way better job leading you to plans that are good, not evil for you than you have. God's plans never fall through. God's plans are never broken.
They always succeed. He will bring you the life that you don't have. He will bring you a joy that you didn't even know was possible. He will fill the void that you can't fill. I've met so many people that are successful people.
They've done all the right things. All you have to do is look at Hollywood, look at people who have reached the highest amounts of success, and look at the drug addiction, the suicide, and the depression.
So many people that put on a smile, they laugh, they look happy, they're successful, but inside they're broken. Inside they're depressed. They cry themselves to sleep when they're alone. They wake up feeling a lack of purpose. They don't want to get out of bed.
Maybe that describes you today. Maybe you're caught in sorrow. Maybe you came in here today like Martha and you're distracted. You're running around in circles. You're worried about many things.
And you try so hard to put on a mask to make your friends and your family think that you're okay, but you're dying inside. Maybe you're here today and you're done. You're done. You're done doing it. You're done fighting the battle.
You're done striving. You're exhausted. Maybe you've thought about suicide. Have you tried to commit suicide before? Maybe you came here today saying, if God can't fix this.
If God can't take control of this. and get things in control. I'm done.
So if you're here today and you're stuck. If you go to sleep. every night hoping you don't wake up in the morning. If you wake up every morning Not wanting to get out of bed, if you spend your days worrying and worrying and fretting. Today is the day to give God control and let him give you a joy that will be there tomorrow.
So I ask you one more time, who's in control? your life. What do you want in control? Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig, today featuring Pastor Skip's son Nate Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It.
This book from Pastor Skibb offers practical, encouraging help to take your Bible study deeper and get more out of every verse. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's Word with more people. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskiff.com slash offer. and be sure to sign up for weekly devotionals and get your free one-sheet how to approach studying the Bible. It's a great tool to jumpstart your time in Scripture.
Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection Make a connection. Connection at the foot of the cross and cast your burdens on his wood. Make a connection. Connection.
Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
