Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. In Psalm 37, 3 through 4, we find five life habits that God calls us to, followed by the promise that God will give us the desires of our hearts. That's a lot to pack into two verses.
What are the five habits? And if you follow them, will God give you whatever your heart desires? Let's listen as Pastor Rich unpacks these two verses in a message titled, Living by Faith, Faithfulness. This is part two of a message first preached on January 27th, 2019 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To invest himself in us, to lead us God word, to make it possible for us to come to God. That's the mind of Christ. So doing good, trusting the Lord and do good means behaving with the mind of Christ, but also with the love of Christ. Our theme for 2019, who can tell it to me?
Thank you. Romans 5-5, God's love has been poured into our hearts. Romans 5-5, say it with me. God's love has been poured into our hearts. And how does God love? God loved, so he what?
Gave. It's not talking about feeling good about somebody. God loved, so he gave. So trust in the Lord and do good.
It's acting with the mind of Christ and behaving with the love of Christ that you invest your life. Why? Because life is a stewardship. Because life is a stewardship. It's not yours.
It's a stewardship. You have been entrusted with this thing called life that's full of relationships and time and opportunities. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Act with the mind of Christ and the love of Christ. And some of you might be saying, well, you know, Rich, I'm kind of broken and my life is a mess right now. And I just, I'm just not in a position to help other people like that. That's not true.
That's not true. Trust in the Lord and do good is not contingent upon how good my life is going right now. You don't read that in the scriptures, do you? I want to read to you very briefly an account of the statement of Chuck and Susan in this book called The Church of Irresistible Influence by Robert Lewis. Chuck and Susan had a very challenged marriage and they came from a life with all kinds of history in it, if you know what I mean. And they recognized the brokenness of their lives. But they said this, there is a mysterious satisfaction in experiencing the love of God and then in whatever small and inadequate way you can demonstrating that love to others. Underneath the pain and sacrifice of ministry are even greater surprises of healing grace and tenacious joy. Serving others has served well. In fact, serving others helped Chuck and Susan's marriage, Robert says, even at a point when most everything else they tried to do caused it to crumble, says Susan.
We need to focus on somebody else besides ourselves, says Chuck. I could wallow in my self-pity and self-circumstances forever and never get any better or I could go out and try to serve someone however lamely I might do that. And here's the point, in the very act of serving has come the greatest amount of freedom and growth. Christians learn that. Your life doesn't have to be in perfect shape before you can start investing yourself in others. And when you start investing yourself in others, you will find it spiritually emotionally therapeutic. You will find it soothing and healing when you act with the mind of Christ and the love of Christ, trust in the Lord and do good.
C.H. Spurgeon says, there is joy in holy activity which drives away the rust of discontent. It's a good statement and holy activity. That's not high and holy worship stuff, right? You know, it's not church activity, but it is the activity of the church. Church being God's people. Holy activity is God's people. It is kindness and love. It is showing the mind of Christ. It is living out the love of Christ.
That's holy activity. And you can't do that wallowing in your own self-pity. You can't do that fretting.
They are mutually exclusive behaviors and attitudes. Trust in the Lord and do good. Spurgeon also says this, doing good is a fine remedy for fretting. That's a good one. Write that down. Stick it in your pocket. Put it on your rearview mirror or on your vanity at home. That's a good word for that. Isn't it a vanity? Doing good is a fine remedy for fretting.
You can go a lot of places with that. What are you fretting about? Some of you are fretting this morning.
What are you fretting about? Then I would encourage you to go out and show the love and compassion of Christ and invest in yourself as you perceive others more significant than yourself. Trust in the Lord and do good. First imperative, trust in the Lord. Second imperative, do good.
Number three. Third imperative, dwell in the land, it says. Dwell in the land in verse three. The word dwell means to settle down, speaks of quiet rest and the land speaks of the promised possession of God for his people that he promised them where he leads them to this place of get this rest. We read in Deuteronomy 30 where God is promising them you're going into this land to possess it. It is a place of rest.
It is a place where he places his presence. Now bring that over to the New Testament. You know what Psalm 73 says by the way?
And we read it this morning in the scripture. The Lord is my, you remember what it says? The Lord is my what?
My portion. The Lord is my portion. This is speaking of God's very presence with his people. Do you know how to dwell in the presence of God? You say rich God's everywhere.
I get that. Do you know how to dwell in the presence of God? It is a virtue to exercise, to practice, to obey and dwelling in his presence is much much better than dwelling on what seems unjust and unsure. Dwelling in his presence is much better than fretting.
That's the whole point that David is making here isn't it? Practice the presence of God. You say rich I'm too busy. Then you're too busy.
Stop. Practice the presence of God. And the presence of God is not just in this building. The presence of God is not just in that half hour in the morning or in the evening when you're doing a quiet time.
If you even do that. The presence of God is where? New Testament believers where is the presence of God?
The presence of God. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Practice the presence of God. The Lord is my portion.
That's a good statement for you to remember and to rehearse over and over again. Practice the presence of God. That's why again his self-disclosure needs to be your constant companion. That is the reason for meditating on the word of God. Not only does his self-disclosure need to be your constant companion but you need to understand that his spirit is your inner strength and guide which is why we Christians are called to walk in the spirit.
Keep in step with the spirit. Practicing the presence of God. The Holy Spirit is the inner witness of your sonship. The fact that you are a child of God.
Get this Christians. God places his spirit in you to witness with your human spirit that constantly reminds you, you are my deeply and dearly loved child. That's the main message of the Holy Spirit for you who is in you. And the Holy Spirit in you is even better than Jesus Christ walking beside you.
Which is why when he was on earth he said to his disciples, it's necessary that I go away so that another can help her, another helper can come. He will be with you and will be in you. Practice the presence of God. Hone the craft of walking with God. It's communion with him.
You say, you know isn't that kind of a quantum leap when the Bible says dwell in the land and you're talking about dwelling in the presence of God. Listen to Psalm 73 26. My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. That word portion is a word that means attract. A plot of ground.
It means territory. Let me put it this way. Your element, the very air you breathe is God. I'm not a pantheist, don't go there. Do you know how to practice the presence of God?
The Lord is my portion forever. Can you say that? You can't say that while you're fretting.
But it's a great remedy for fretting. So five imperatives. We've talked about three of them so far. Trust in the Lord. Number two, do good. Number three, dwell in his presence. The Lord is my portion. Dwell in the land.
And here is the fourth one and this one is kind of curious because some of the translations say different things but of course I'm reading from the ESV and I think frankly not because I'm reading it because there's sometimes I've disagreed with it but I think they have done an excellent job of translating it. This part of the verse. Dwell in the land and here is the fourth imperative, befriend faithfulness. And by the way it is an active imperative in the Hebrew.
Okay. And the word there is to tend or to graze. It's nuanced as to associate with as a friend.
So associate with as a friend, associate with what? The object of that phrase is faithfulness. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
