A Collection of Devotionals From Pastor Logan, Robert, Stacey, and Bianca

Good morning, men and women. Such an honor to come to you again from Life Fellowship Church here in McKinney, Texas on your screen on the Pando app in the in the facility that you're in. It's amazing. It's an I just man, I wish I had that technology when I was incarcerated. My name is Logan Williams and my TDC number is 1490218. I got four numbers after that and spent nine and a half years in and out, in and out, in and out. Couldn't seem to get this life thing right and just hopelessly addicted to drugs and all the stuff that that brings. And I just want you to know that, man, when Jesus got ahold of me, he absolutely revolutionized and changed everything. And I want to encourage you because I know some of you have been to prison four times. Some of you have been to prison more than that. Some of you are wondering what in the world is this just my lot in life? And I want to tell you, no, I want to tell you to speak against that. I want you to pray against that line of thinking because anything is possible with God. Anything's possible. And it can start right now at this moment. I want you to encourage your family to get in with you on some of these teachings and some of the spiritual walk. They can download the same Pando app that you have on their phones and you can watch the same things and talk about it and grow together as a family, even though you're incarcerated. I know that may seem like a daunting task, but but you can do that. You can lead your wife. You can lead your kids even though you're incarcerated. And don't forget to hit subscribe so you don't miss anything that comes out. We know you don't want to miss anything. And we'd love to have you as a as a subscriber. We do mean it when we say that you are part of our church family. You're part of your my heart. My heart is for inmates who are struggling that want a new life, want a better way, want Jesus and just haven't been able to to get a hold of him because that was me. And I want to tell you, man, that starting right now, it can be completely different. It can be completely different. I want to tell you about a story in the Old Testament. Many of you might have heard this story, but it's it's about a guy named Naaman. And it's in Second Kings chapter five. And I'll just I'll just pick it up. Verse one, it says the king of Aram had a great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because though through him, the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. That was a really gnarly skin disease. So at the time, the Armenian raiders had invaded the land of Israel. So they're actually Israel's

opponent. Right. And among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid, as a servant. So they just roll in, take whoever they want. And like, OK, you're a servant. You're going to work for her now. But this girl, man, was really had the spirit of God in her because she wasn't bitter. She wasn't playing the victim. She was like one day the girl said to her mistress, I wish my master talking about Naaman would go see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy. See, this girl knew that there was a prophet down there that could heal people. And even though she was she was taken and being held as a slave, she had a heart for this guy because he was suffering so much. And man, the spirit of God was in that young girl because she cared about him and was like, hey, man, if you go and see this guy, he'll heal you. So so Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said, go and visit the prophet. The king of Aram told him, I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel. So he's like, hey, yeah, you can go down there if you want to. I'll send a letter and try to kind of smooth the way for you. But yeah, if you want to do that, do that. So Naaman started out carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, 10 sets of clothing and the letter to the king of Israel, which said with this letter, I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of leprosy. I mean, if I was a king and I got that, what do you want me to do? And he he did get a little angry. He says when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, am I God that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy? It's funny. Back in. day when they would get, when they would hear some really bad news or something that angered them, they would tear their clothes for whatever reason. I'm not gonna tear my clothes, but that's what they did. Says, I can see that he's just trying to pick a fight with me. So he totally misinterpreted the whole thing and tore his clothes. But when Elijah, this is the prophet,

the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent him this message, said, why did you tear your clothes? Kind of what I would say, why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me and he will learn that there's a true prophet here in Israel. That's key, he wanted, because they were enemies, he wanted God's power to be on display. And so he's like, now send him to me, send him to me. So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elijah's house. But Elijah sent a messenger out to him with this message, go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River and your skin will be restored and you will be healed of leprosy. That angered Naaman, I wonder if he tore his clothes. Because he became angry and stalked away, he said, I thought he would certainly come out and meet me. I expected him to wave his hand over me, over the leprosy and call him the name of the Lord, his God, and heal me. Aren't the rivers in Damascus and Abana and the Parfar, I don't know, it's a weird, it's another, there's other rivers that he's talking about in his homeland and they're cleaner than the Jordan River. He's saying, aren't they better than the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn't I wash in them and be healed? So Naaman turned away, turned and went away in a rage. And so sometimes in our walk,

most of the time, God is gonna ask us to do some things that don't make sense to us. He's gonna ask us to lay down certain things. He's gonna ask us to take certain things off the throne. He's gonna ask us to do some things that don't make sense. For example, maybe you're sitting in the county jail right now and you don't even know what you're gonna get. You don't know if you're gonna get probation or if they're gonna give you prison time or whatever. And you might think, man, what I need is a lawyer. But what you really need is something completely different. You need to get a relationship with Christ. You need to learn how to walk these spiritual principles because that's truly gonna fix your problem. That's gonna be the solution to the root of your problem. Yes, right in this moment, sure, you may need a lawyer, but that's not really what you need. But it doesn't make sense to us what God sometimes asks us to do. He says, but his officers tried to reason with him. They say, sir, if the prophet would have told you to do something very difficult, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply go wash and be cured. So they're like saying, hey, come on, man. Like you come all the way out here. I know it doesn't make sense, but why don't you just try it? It says, so Naaman went down to the Jordan River

and dipped himself seven times as the man of God had instructed. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child and he was healed. I mean, can you imagine you go down there, dirty water, you get undressed, get in, one, still got leprosy. Two, let me look, still got leprosy. You know, during the process, you're probably thinking, man, what am I doing? Like this doesn't make any sense. But that's exactly what the spiritual walk is sometimes. I know God, when I came, when I got saved and I laid down all those drugs, he asked me to lay down sexual sin. And I was thinking, no one really does that, do they? It's 2021, it was 2021 at the time. Does anyone really do that? Like that's not gonna fix my problem. Like my problem is I can't stop shooting meth. I can't stop doing drugs. Like, look, can I just focus on this? And he was like, no, I want all of you. I want you to get all the way in. And then shortly after that, he revealed to me that money was an idol in my life and he wanted me to start returning the first 10% of anything I made and I wasn't making much back to him. It wasn't about the money, it was to honor him. That didn't make any sense.

Okay, I'm broke living in a sober living home. I'm cleaning houses for a lady at the church and I'm making about 60 bucks a day. And it's like, that doesn't make any sense to give 10% of it away. It just doesn't. But this is what he asked me to do. And he followed it up with a download of. Just imagine what your life could be like if you just got all the way in with me one time and so yes The thing elijah asked naman to do doesn't make sense Didn't make sense. He didn't want to do it. He wanted a uh, a solution that made sense to him He wanted him just to say be healed in jesus name. I don't know what he wanted but He humbled himself And and he followed directions And and that's what my wife and I we we lead out a overcomers 12-step recovery group i'm big Imprisoned and i'm big with working with drug addicts and alcoholics and people that are Addicted to things sexual sin and Gambling and whatever is out of control in your life And we practice the 12-step recovery with jesus At the centerpiece it's just christianity for dummies is what it is. We just look at our lives We say man, is there something out of control in my life? Sometimes it's obvious if you're on drugs, sometimes it's sin. Sometimes it can be codependency Sometimes it can be whatever it is and we're like god. I think you can help me with that I'm gonna make a decision to get all in with you And then we do an inventory a personal inventory and no one wants to do that Because that doesn't make sense to us right it's like saying go dip in there in the jordan seven times and you'll be healed I don't want to sit here and write out an inventory of myself and then you got to share it with somebody But if you just follow through with that we found

freedom comes james 5 16 admit your sins to one another confess your sins to one another and Pray for one another that you may be healed Yes, it's and then we make amends to people that we Wronged or harmed we go to them and say I was wrong. I regret it. What can I do to make it? Right? There's a process that we have that doesn't make sense when you're just coming in On drugs off the street or you're coming in And you're absolutely consumed with a sin or with something that's completely out of control in your life that you can't wish or will away and maybe some of you in the in the in the facilities that you're at now are experiencing that I know drugs are Rampant here through in texas Maybe you don't know how to stop Maybe you need to seek out a recovery program That's not going to make sense to you. Just like this didn't make sense to name in But if we can just follow through with it Even though it doesn't make sense This is the spiritual walk these these things never make sense Sometimes the things that god asks us to do the things that he asks us to lay down and we have to have that Belief system in our mind when we're doing this walk is god. What do you have for me today? So I just want to challenge you all To do some things that don't make sense to seek god. Hey, man, what do you have for me? What are some practical things I can do? I don't care if you're in County jail and you just got there or maybe you've been in prison for 20 years um Today is the day you can start And it might not make sense But I just want to implore you to pray and move and do it anyway Do it. Anyway, let me pray for you guys heavenly father. We just lift up all the men and women that are watching that are listening to us our church family that we love god we Our heart breaks for the ones that are in bondage And god, I just pray that you would meet them all right where they're at right now And let them know how much you love them

That you have a plan and a purpose for their life That may not make sense But is far greater than anything they can think ask or imagine And god, I pray that you would give them visions and glimpses of that And that you would give them hope and that that would encourage them to to keep taking these steps and doing these things Even though it might not make sense to them. I pray that you would give them just um a sense of perseverance to persevere through through Things that don't make sense or things that they don't necessarily want to do spiritual things Give them perseverance until they can see some fruits And then once they see the fruits man that they would just jump in all the way in With all the desperation of a drowning man god, we just want to chase after you with all our hearts And we just want more of you and so god, I pray that you would bless them Wherever they're at And that you would let them know you love them And that you would give them downloads and or speak to them through messages or songs and let them know what? some things that they can do To grow closer to you because we ultimately just want to enlarge your kingdom and make much of your name And we love you so much. We give you all the praise and glory in jesus name Amen. Amen. I have to have one more question for you. Who? house, God's house, let's give him some praise. Good morning my name is Bianca Rivera and I am a leader with Life Fellowship Young Adults and I just wanted to let you guys know that you are so important to this congregation you are a part of this congregation and I wanted to share some encouragement this morning that I was reading in 2nd Corinthians 10 3 through 5 about how

the battleground is actually our mind and so please open your Bibles with me if you have them to 2nd Corinthians 10 3 through 5 it reads for altogether we live in flesh we do not wage war according to the flesh since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but are powerful through God for the demonstration of strongholds we demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God and we take every thought captive to obey Christ and we are ready to punish any disobedience once your obedience is complete have you ever experienced spiritual warfare I think we all have maybe a better question is have you ever experienced overthinking or self-doubt anxiety temptation or addiction if you have then the odds are pretty good that the enemy has affected your life this warfare is present every day but we don't always know how to identify it many times behind the things we see going on in our lives are the attacks happening that we can't see at all I'll never forget the first time I recognized a clear deliberate attack from the enemy I had been awakened from a deep sleep in the middle of the night suddenly there was this loud chaotic voice several voices actually screaming and coming at me from all directions telling me that I wasn't smart enough that I wasn't good enough that I was a terrible mother and wife that I'd never accomplish anything for the kingdom of God give up you're not smart enough these voices shouted and I'd heard this voice before all of my life in fact but in the past it had always been more of a whisper as an adult I had allowed this voice to become common knowledge in my mind knowledge that I wasn't good enough that I'd never be good enough the enemy knew exactly how to get a rise for me that night because he had studied me all my life I grew up with traditional Mexican parents and as my dad's eldest daughter there was a lot of expectation placed on me I got good grades I worked as a teen I never talked back I was polite and respectful and considerate of others this wasn't good enough nothing I did was ever good enough and I convinced myself that if I wasn't good enough for the two people who were supposed to love me more than anyone else then how could I ever be good enough for anyone or

anything else the enemy grabbed hold of that line he led me into a life of sin of sexual immorality I partied I was quick to anger and eventually it led me into a physically and emotionally physically and mentally abusive relationship he tried his hardest to keep me there the rest of my life but God had other plans unfortunately as long as you're a follower of Christ these attacks are never going to cease in fact the more you pursue God the stronger the attacks will be the enemy cannot see our thoughts the way God can but he does have he does not have that power he is not omnipresent but he does have a network and what they do is they study us and then they watch our reactions to their tactics and they use those against us any negative speech or behavior is only given the evil one a roadmap a roadmap excuse me on how to ruin our day enter our heart and push us further away from God the more you walk in God's truth the less effective these attacks will be the more you stay in his word make time to sit with him and listen to what he ministers to your heart the easier it will be to take those thoughts captive and bring them into alignment with God's will as a child of the King you have authority over the darkness you are sealed and protected by the Holy Spirit you're probably in an environment surrounded by people that make that really hard to believe ask God to renew your heart give him give to give you patience and grace Whatever it is you feel you're struggling with in this season and remember that God is in control. Sometimes it may feel like the enemy has won but try to stay focused on the promise that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Maybe not every bad thing that happens for a reason but for those of us who are the Lord's he uses those bad things for his purpose. I know how difficult it is in the waiting but you can trust that God is working. Claim the victory. We already know who wins in the end. Let's pray. God thank you so much for the person watching. I pray protection over them and protection over the families that they represent Lord. Lord may we approach you in our weakness and our fears and our anxiety and our worry and thank you Lord that all of those things just create a platform for your power. Help us to stand on your word

Lord. We love you. We exalt you this morning Lord and we pray all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Hey guys my name is Stacy Hunter and I am a prison volunteer here at Life Fellowship Church. It is a privilege and an honor to be here to be able to speak to you guys today. My TDC number is two three seven seven zero six one and I have one more after that. I was addicted to anything that would keep me from feeling the pain of my past and just reality in general. So I was addicted to anything that made me feel good. Whether that be sex, drugs, money, rock and roll, you name it, men, the bad boys. I was addicted to anything that made me feel good and anything that kept me from feeling the reality of what was going on in my life which was complete destruction. But God moved in my life. In 2018 I started to come back to him. I was a prodigal and he has totally redeemed my life and restored my sanity and all the good things that he's great at and he can do the same for you too. So this morning I was in Ephesians 5 and I want to share what God shared with me with you guys. So in Ephesians 5 verses 15 through 17 it says be careful then how you live not as unwise but as wise making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil and I want to stop there. Learning to walk wisely. Well first of all God says if we want wisdom all we got to do is ask. Ask for his wisdom and that's a daily thing that we need to be pursuing is to ask God for his wisdom to be able to make wise decisions and this Christian walk is no game. It's no different than if a soldier is training for war. The soldier doesn't walk onto the battlefield without training first, without going through boot camp and learning how to defend himself, learning how to use the rifles, on building up his instincts and all the things that comes along with that. He's got to prepare for the unexpected challenges that he's gonna face when he steps on the battlefield right and just like we have to prepare for the spiritual battle that lies ahead you have to prepare for walking out that door the day that you get released because the enemy is around the corner waiting. So right now and it says making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil so right now as you're

sitting there and you have all this time on your hands why not pursue the things of God? Why not get in his word and learn his will because verse 17 says therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is and how do we understand that? By reading his word and letting his word renew our minds and so instead of getting involved in all the mess that goes on inside the prisons instead of getting involved with all the chaos and all the disorder why not be different? Why not be set apart while you're there? Because as believers we're called to be set apart from the world. Learning God's will takes active participation by reading and understanding and gaining insight into how we can apply God's Word to our daily lives. And that leads me to read Galatians 5.1. It is for freedom that Christ I say, set us free. So stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. He says, stand firm. And don't let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. And how do we do that? Self-examination. Look at your life. Look at all the decisions that you've made that brought you to where you are today. Grab a journal. Grab some godly friends that are gonna surround you and support you in this walk that are gonna be good for you. God will bring those people into your life if you just ask him. And you guys can sit down and try to make an action plan

for what you're gonna do when you step out that gate. What you do now matters. It matters. Let me pray for you guys. Dear Heavenly Father, God, we just come before you, Lord. Just so grateful for today, Lord. Thank you for waking us up this morning. Lord, thank you for your wisdom. Thank you that we can go to you and ask for it, Lord. This morning, that's what we ask for is your wisdom. Lord, I pray for everyone under the sound of my voice today, Lord. I pray that you will ignite a fire deep down in their soul, Lord, for the things of you, Lord. I pray that you will start to do the changes that are necessary in their hearts, Father God, but more than anything, that they will surrender to it, Lord, because we have to be willing. And Lord, you're the one that's gonna make the way, Lord. And we just give you praise and honor, Father God, for all that you're doing in their lives right now, Lord. I pray for open doors of opportunities for when they do step out that gate, Father God, that they will be in a place exactly where they can get the support that they need, where people can pour into them and feed them the word, Lord Jesus, and be good for them, Lord. It's been too long.

So Lord, I just pray that over them this morning. I thank you, Lord, just for being who you are, Lord. We just love you so much. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Let me tell you a story. It was August of 1959. Coach Vince Lombardi had just got hired on as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. And this is before the Packers became Tattletown. And on the first day on the job, he walks into the Packers facility and he gathers up his team and he says this. And keep in mind, the Packers are coming off 11 straight losing seasons. And he says this, he says, now gentlemen, we will relentlessly chase perfection, knowing we can't catch it, but we will relent because nothing is perfect, but we will relentlessly, and he said it with that much emphasis, relentlessly chase perfection. Because in the process, we will catch excellence. And then he said that I have remotely no interest in being average. And that was in the first season of his coaching tenure, he turned them into a winning team and eventually into multi-time champions because he had a mindset of wanting to be the best that they possibly could. When I first heard Coach Lombardi say that, man,

I wanted to build a time machine and break the space-time continuum and go play for those Packer teams until I realized Packer fans went to hell. Actually, I'm just kidding, that's reserved for Eagle fans. By the way, if you're an Eagle fan, Logan told me to say that. But that's a statement I live my life by. I just changed it up a little bit. I will relentlessly chase the perfection of Christ, knowing that I can't catch it because I have a sinful nature but I will relentlessly chase it. And in the process, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, I will catch excellence. And I feel like whenever Coach Lombardi made that statement, I feel like that was a very wise statement. Like I really could write a whole book on this, but we live in an age of endless knowledge with resources like books, sermons, podcasts, but I feel like wisdom, it feels so rare. And we're constantly being informed. Actually, check out this stat. And I came across this the other day. In a single day, the average person consumes more information than someone in 1970 would encounter in their entire lifetime. So in other words, on average, we get a lifetime's worth of information given to us every single day. The average person lives 78.4 years. So if we turn that into an equation,

if we turn that into an equation and multiply 78.4 by 365 days, we get 28,616. That means we get 28,616 lifetimes worth of information in our one life on average. Which in a vacuum is a good thing, but at what point are we putting this abundance of information into action? And I feel like in the action is where God's wisdom is activated. We live in the most knowledge-rich era in human history, yet the rates of anxiety, Yet the rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout are also at the highest levels they've ever been. So here's the conclusion I came to. We are so desperate for the wisdom of God. What's up, everybody? My name is Robert. Good morning. Man, I'm so grateful to have you guys just to be able to speak into your life. So what is information? I mean, I'm sorry, what is wisdom? Wisdom is not information alone. Proverbs 9, 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. For me, this raises a few questions. What does it mean to fear the Lord? What does wisdom look like in action? How can wisdom change the course of our lives

in a practical way? That passage of scripture tells me something foundational that wisdom, it doesn't start with information and wisdom starts with a love and a respect and a reverence for God. We often refuse knowing facts with living wisely because we can know scripture and theology and facts, but we can still live busy and unfruitful lives. We can be active yet ineffective. We can be informed, but also be misaligned. Why? Because information alone does not transform. Information that's put into application leads to a tremendous transformation. And so we have this odd thing, I feel like, where we think as long as we know it, we don't have to do it. And so we think knowing it is as good as doing it and it's not. And here's the problem with that kind of thinking. When we hear, but we don't heed, there's a little more callous that gets put on our heart. Our heart becomes a little more hardened to, our heart becomes a little bit more hardened over time and we can start to become desensitized to hearing the Holy Spirit in our heart. So that's why the scripture says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom begins when knowledge is, wisdom begins when God is rightly placed

at the center of our lives. So wisdom is not just knowing what is right, but wisdom is also living aligned with what is right. And so God's wisdom, it teaches us how to think like him. One of the greatest gifts is that we have access to the thoughts of God. In other words, God's wisdom starts in our thoughts. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he, Proverbs 23, 7. So even before we can think right, we have to have the right heart posture. We can't fear the Lord if our heart is not, is misaligned with his heart. Scripture says in 1 Corinthians that we have the mind of Christ. So thinking like God doesn't mean knowing everything God knows, it just means seeing and thinking about life through his perspective. Our natural instinctive thought patterns are to think short-term and self-protectively and emotionally driven and to be reactionary. But when we read Isaiah 55, it actually gives us a clue to how God thinks. It says this, that, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. For my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways. For as high as the heavens are from the earth, so are my ways from your ways

and my thoughts from your thoughts. At first glance for me, this could sound like kind of a harsh scripture because it sounds like God may be distancing himself from us. But whenever I kind of meditate on it and I think about it more and I bring it into the new covenant, I can realize that it's not, the scripture isn't a condemnation of us, but it's an invitation because in Christ, we are no longer the unrighteous, but we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, which means this passage, which means Isaiah 55, isn't God pushing us away. It means God is calling us upward. It's an invitation to think on his level. He's telling us to come think the way I think. So how does God think? He thinks higher. What are his ways? His ways are higher. As high as the heavens are from the earth, so are his thoughts from our thoughts. He's inviting us to think bigger. This is wisdom. Wisdom, it lifts our thinking above our fear, our emotions, our short-term reactions and our earthly limitations.

And wisdom invites us to think from heaven's perspective. It doesn't just correct our thoughts, but it elevates them. We'll see this in action later whenever I tell a story about this from a man of God that's in the Bible. So God's wisdom allows us to lift our thinking above the moment, and that's where clarity begins. Now, getting a download from heaven is great, but it's worthless until we're able to do something with it. So thinking, it brings clarity. Action leads to success. And God's wisdom lives in both. So I'll say it again. Thinking, it brings clarity. Action leads to success. God's wisdom lives in both. Clarity without action is just stagnation. Clarity, I'm sorry, action without wisdom is just chaotic and reckless. James says this, do not merely listen to the word. So deceive yourselves, but do what it says. Wisdom is always gonna move us from insight into obedience. And there's literally infinite dimensions of God's wisdom, but I just wanna look at a few because that's all I have time for. But God's wisdom is not abstract. It's actually multidimensional.

It has many different elements. When access to become, it can become the rocket fuel for our lives, for how we live, lead, decide, and grow. And so dimension number one is God's wisdom. It brings clarity. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom, Psalm 90, verse 12. So wisdom, it clarifies our priorities. It helps us stop wasting time on things that don't matter. Focus on what produces fruit in our lives and say no without guilt so that we can give our best yes somewhere else. Clarity, it doesn't mean knowing everything, but it just means that we know what deserves our attention. The second dimension is God's wisdom produces discernment. Wisdom separates what looks good from what is good. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him, James 1.5. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. That's Philippians 1.9-10. Discernment is wisdom applied to decisions. Discernment helps us ask, is this God's wisdom or is this God's will or is it just a good idea?

Is this opportunity or distraction? Is this timing or impulse? Discernment protects our future by helping us choose correctly and not just confidently. The third dimension is God's wisdom directs our steps. Wisdom, it shows us what's next. One of the most powerful dimensions is that God's wisdom doesn't just give us clarity and discernment, but it also directs our steps. This is key. Wisdom, it moves us forward. It takes what God has revealed and it turns it into action. Clarity helps us see, but discernment helps us decide and direction tells us what to do next. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths, Proverbs 3, 5-6. Notice the promise that God doesn't just give wisdom, but he gives direction. Many people assume that they're stuck because they lack opportunity, but the truth is most people are stuck because they lack direction. They don't know what step to take next. They don't know where they're headed. And when direction is missing, discouragement can set in. And that's why vision matters. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 29, 18, where there is no prophetic vision

that people quickly wander astray. In other words, when people don't know where they're going, they begin to wander away. Nobody ever drifted to a desired location. And this is where the enemy loves to trap people in a victim mindset. And I feel like a lot of us may be in a season where we think our life is done. We don't know what to do next and we've missed our opportunities. But I wanna tell you plainly that that mindset is a trap of the enemy and he wants to keep you there. God's wisdom, it calls us out of passivity and into vision. We need vision. We need God-sized dreams. We need bold. We need to pray bold prayers because vision, it restores our hope. And hope helps enable our direction. God's wisdom doesn't just help you survive where you are. It shows you where you're going and how to get there. The next dimension is God's wisdom multiplies our impact. God's wisdom doesn't just help us keep things running. It helps us increase what we've been entrusted with. And wisdom moves us from maintenance. I call it hitting the quota of expectations to multiplication. Many people are faithful to meet the quota of their responsibilities.

We can show up to work, fulfill the job description and do what's required. And all that is well and good, but God doesn't just, God didn't design us just to maintain. He designed us to multiply. I'll say it this way. If the expectations and the responsibilities placed on us are a level five, and you choose to go above and beyond those, and multiply those expectations to a 10, you've just doubled your value. And that gap between what's expected of you and what you produce, I call that like the gap of excellence. And so, does that make sense? Like this is how people grow. That's how people, that's how trust is built. That's how you get promotions. That's how you gain favor with people who have the keys to unlocking your desired future. said it plainly he who is faithful in what is least is also faithful in much and he who is unjust in what is least is also unjust in much and jesus so he's not just talking about money even though that's the main passage he's talking about stewardship and he's talking about stewardship of our priorities of our disciplines of our of our responsibilities he's saying if you're faithful where you are he will entrust you with more wisdom understands that everything we have is built on something that we've been entrusted with so wisdom is so wisdom is not going to ask how do i survive this season wisdom is going to ask how can i steward this season well that shift in mindset right there can change your whole life now let me just say something important especially for leaders church leaders

multiplication without integrity becomes destruction this is something i tell people right up front whenever i get to talk to them when you step into leadership you forfeit the idea of a private life there is no public version of you and a private version of you you live one life the next dimension of god's wisdom is is that it accelerates our growth and then god's wisdom is limitless and we can study this for the rest of our lives but the last but god's wisdom it accelerates our growth it doesn't eliminate process but it redeems the time one of the clearest pictures of this is found in john 2 when jesus turns water into wine we have to talk about this as as the first miracle but it's also something else it's also a story of accelerated growth if you know anything about wine making you know that wine it doesn't it doesn't just become great overnight the natural process takes time and patience and fermentation and aging grapes are harvested and they sit for years and generally speaking the longer the process the higher the quality of the wine so the so the time it adds depth and maturity and richness that's like the normal process for wine making but what's remarkable is that jesus jesus accelerates that process and the master of the feast says that everyone brings out the choice wine first but you have served the best till now in other words jesus didn't just accelerate the process he preserved the quality of the wine because god's wisdom doesn't just create cheap shortcuts it produces mature results without wasted time this miracle shows us something that about how god works god can do god can do in a single moment what normally would take us years without violating the purpose the integrity or the excellence by the way what did jesus do to the fig tree he cursed it in other words god and god curses things that that that god curses things that don't grow again who was faithful and rebuked in matthew 25 it was the one who was stagnant and the one that played it safe so change is inevitable but growth is optional and that's what wisdom does wisdom helps us grow wisdom is shortens learning curves it prevents wisdom is short it shortens learning curves it prevents unnecessary mistakes and it redeems seasons that would otherwise be wasted listen to advice and accept discipline and at the end at the end of it you will be counted among the wise as proverbs 1912 so wisdom allows us to to learn from instruction instead of regret from discernment instead of consequences and obedience instead of burnout but let me just be clear that god's wisdom does not remove all the process all processes it just removes unnecessary processes some lessons they just take time and

some lessons take time because we refuse to have because we refuse wisdom so wisdom it doesn't bypass character it just accelerates our maturity some of you are praying for growth but god is inviting you into his wisdom wisdom it helps it helps us avoid detours keeps you from repeating the same lessons with the same mistakes allows god and it allows god to to move you forward faster without breaking you and this is why wisdom is rocket fuel it doesn't just help us move it it helps us move well and wisely in short god's wisdom in short god's wisdom clarifies it discerns it directs and multiplies and it accelerates our lives in closing i just want to give you an example of someone who who was full of god's wisdom and the last aspect of this is god's wisdom invites us to think like heaven and we see this in acts 7 8 and 9 with the story of the first martyr stephen stephen he's arrested and he's falsely accused and he's dragged before the religious authorities and standing before there in the same crowd was a man that was named Saul. And this man would later become the Apostle Paul. But Saul is there and he's approving and enabling and overseeing what's happening. He's handing out rocks. He's encouraging people to stone Stephen. And as Stephen is being stoned, he's being tortured and murdered. He looks into heaven, not at his physical circumstances. He doesn't look at the crowd or at the stones or even pay attention to his pain. He looks into heaven because Stephen feared the Lord. So we can assume that he was a man of wisdom. He revered God. He loved God. And because of that wisdom, he was able to see beyond the moment that he was in. And instead of cursing his killers, he prays for them. And he says, father, forgive them. So Stephen was able to see future fruit while everyone else saw present violence. That's wisdom in action. That's thinking like God. That's thinking like heaven. Why? Because Stephen understood something profound that God still had a plan for the very people that were killing him. And I believe that this is important. And because the Stephen, I believe that the prayer that Stephen prayed prepared the way for Saul's encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. So in other words, a man who helped take a life would one day give his life to millions. And wisdom is what empowered Stephen to pray from heaven's perspective, not his earthly pain. So how do we access God's wisdom? Well, we, I mentioned the verse earlier, if we, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without

reproach, and it will be given to him. We access God's wisdom through number one, reverence, number two, prayer, number three, humility, number four, obedience. God doesn't, God doesn't withhold his wisdom. We often just rush right past it. So in closing, God's wisdom clarifies our priorities. It discerns what's true and what's not. It directs our steps and multiplies our impact and it, and, and it accelerates our growth. It doesn't just help us think better, but it helps us live, live aligned with the things of God. And that's why the fear of the Lord is in the end, but the beginning of wisdom. So Lord, we just come to you and acknowledge that you are the source of all wisdom. And we confess that we have often relied on our own understanding, on our own experiences, on our own reasoning, on our own pace. And today we just choose to revere you and surrender our control. Lord, we ask for your wisdom. I ask that you would just pour your wisdom upon the people that are listening, the men and women that are listening, not just knowledge and information, but discernment, not just clarity, but courage to act upon the things that you have made clear to them. And so Lord, just teach us to think like you and to see people the way that you see them, to see moments the way that you see them, to value what you value and release what you never asked us to carry. Where we've been busy, but not effective. Reorder our priorities where we've been just reaction, reactionary instead of, um, looking for discernment, Lord, help us to slow down in those moments where we've been asking for clarity, but avoiding obedience. Lord, give us willing hearts to just obey what you've called us to. And Holy Spirit, I pray that you would align our thoughts with heaven and you would direct our steps. Pray you would sharpen our discernment and multiply what you've entrusted to us. Even if it's small, help us be good stewards in the small things. We surrender our timelines, our plans, our assumptions, and we just place them under your wisdom. And we give, and Lord, we just pray that you would give us the fear of the Lord again. And we trust that as we walk in your wisdom, our lives will bear fruit that brings glory to you and blesses those that are around us. And we pray this with so much humility and expectation and faith and just declare it over our lives, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.