Are Those God's Instructions? (Pt.3) (309) - August 2 2025

In the world today there are so many sources of information and instructions. As believers in Christ, we need to ask if these instructions are from the Lord. We also need to use wisdom and  understanding to determine how to carry out God's instructions. We must apply the Word of God, which itself is full of Wisdom, to navigate through these times.
 
This program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): Proverbs 4:4-6, Zachariah 4:10, John 8:31-32, Ephesians 1:3-5, Isaiah 55:6-9, Proverbs 3:4-14, Proverbs 9:10-11, Proverbs 4:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
 
Pastor Catrice teaches on this topic this week.

Transcript

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) And welcome to another broadcast of Touch of God. My name is Catrice. I'll be bringing the message to you today. And we are continuing with part three of Are Those Gods Instructions? For those of you who want to follow along with the Bible, we use the Amplified Classic. So Are Those Gods Instructions? And in this part, part three, it's in search of wisdom. So instruction is wisdom waiting to be understood and used. The dictionary defines wisdom as sense, common sense, judgment, wisdom, means, ability to reach intelligent conclusions. This, of course, is the world's definition. When we believe in the Lord, the definition changes because we are subject to Jesus. Jesus is Lord. Now, the biblical definition of wisdom is different. We're going to go ahead and look in Proverbs 4, verse 4 to 6. These are the words of King Solomon, who was known for wisdom at that time. So again, Proverbs 4, verse 4 to 6. He taught me and said to me, so this is Solomon talking about his father. Let your heart hold fast my words. Keep my commands and live. Get skillful and godly wisdom. Get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation. Do not forget and do not turn back from the words of my mouth. Forsake not wisdom and she will keep, defend, and protect you. Love her and she will guard you. To me, that's a lot of benefits. And so when we are looking to see if that's God's instructions, the first thing that we have to do is look for wisdom. As we can see in Proverbs 4, verse 4 to 6, that there's many benefits to wisdom to help us to get to God's instruction. So let's talk about seeking wisdom and direction from the right source. So we already discussed what wisdom is because we're trying to get to God's instruction, but now we're seeking God's instruction and direction and making sure it's from the right source. So I have a little story for you guys. I once heard a story of a woman who wished to be beautiful. Her wish was granted and she became beautiful, but then she became blind. If we go to the wrong source for a blessing or freedom, we can receive the reward of what that person is or a statue or other idols we serve. Some have paid a price for what they are seeking. The price they paid is not always a good thing. We can see that the woman from the story received what she asked for, but she also received a curse from the person who she served. What good is a blessing if you can't use it? We need to see things for what they are. Are they giving life or are they giving death? What is the source of the blessing? Was your source a popular thing people do, an icon, social media? Know the source of where your blessings are coming from. Is Jesus your Lord, your source for everything, or are you just simply going to every person who says they can do whatever you want? We have to use wisdom to know the source of where we're getting our blessings from or our information or whatever it is that you're looking for. This plays a great role in your life. You have to use wisdom. When we're seeking wisdom, we have to look at everything. We're going to be seeking wisdom now in all the little things because we're seeing that just going anywhere is not the blessing that we're looking for. We have to examine every little thing. We have blessings in our lives that are sitting there untouched. God has made a way for some. If it is not done how they want, when they want, and the way they want, they don't even see small blessings. Something small can grow into a larger blessing. Small blessings could be the beginning of something greater if you water that seed of what you are given from the Lord. Zechariah 4 verse 10 says, Who with reason despises the day of small things? So we're talking about getting a small blessing and understanding that it is a blessing, being able to identify that it is a blessing, and looking at it as such. When something is small or insignificant to us, we may not pay it any attention because we don't see the blessing or appreciate the thing that might look like a small blessing. Some don't want to do what it takes to access what we have been given, no matter how small the blessing is. A young girl is given a car. She complains that it is not the car she wanted. The car sits in a parked space gathering dust. The girl is constantly late because she is having to walk somewhere, wait for a bus, or get a ride from someone. Her stubborn pride has blocked a blessing in her life because what she wanted was not given to her. How she wanted her gift. She never received a gift. She never learned how to drive the car. She never benefited from this blessing. Blessings come in many different forms. Without wisdom to take advantage of that blessing, many can sit idle and might say, I am waiting on God to bless me. When we know God's Word, we will know His promises and what He has done for us already. The truth is God has blessed you. Many have not received or considered the many ways in which God blesses people. Wisdom from the Bible allows us to know the truth and the truth sets us free. John 8 verse 31 to 32. So, Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, if you abide in my word, hold fast to my teachings and live in accordance with them, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So, we can see here that God's giving wisdom. He's giving instructions. He's telling us what to do in this process while we're seeking wisdom and trying to see is this God's instructions. He's saying abide in my word, hold fast to my teachings, to His teachings, not to everyone else's, but to His teachings. That means we have to be reading the word. We have to be abiding in His teachings, learning and understanding and memorizing His teachings and live in accordance with them. So, it's not enough to just abide in the word. We have to apply the word to our life and do what it says. Then you are truly His disciples. Verse 32, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So, according to this verse, it looks like we can know a lot of things, but when we know the truth, only the truth is going to set you free. So, if we're going through something and we have not been set free and we're trying all kinds of different ways, but not God and not reading His word and not getting to the truth, that's why you haven't been set free. Going to church, hearing a good preaching is good, but you have to be seeking that knowledge, seeking the truth. It's not enough to just sit in church, because that's not going to change you. It's not enough to stand up and clap and lift your hands, because that's not going to change you. But as we can see, John 8, verse 31 to 32, but it's abiding in the word. It's holding fast to the teachings and it's living in accordance with them. This is the wisdom that God is giving us and only by doing these things, by reading the word and doing it, that we'll be able to hear the truth and be set free. You know, there's a lot of benefits to wisdom. Only truth sets you free, not evil covered in truth, not truth and a little evil, but straight truth and sets you free. We learned from John 8, verse 31 to 32, that knowing wisdom has benefits, that abiding has benefits, that going to God's teachings has benefits. And when we do these things, when we live this way, our lives are going to get changed and we become disciples, true disciples of Christ. For those who have not accessed God's word to find out how you are blessed, here is a scripture for you. So before I read this scripture, as we're seeking wisdom, trying to find God's instructions for our daily lives, we're understanding that we have to be reading the Bible. So if we're not reading the Bible, we're not listening to the instruction, we're not applying the instruction to our lives and living the way God says for us to live, we're missing out on the wisdom that God has left for you to give you direction if you're looking for direction. Ephesians 1, verse 3 to 5, may blessing, praise, laudatious, and eulogy be to the God and Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual given by the Holy Spirit, blessing in the heavenly realm. So God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm, but we wouldn't know this wisdom if we're not reading the Bible, if we haven't come across that verse. And that's okay, because we have to slowly read the Bible to get the understanding. And when we get to that verse, it's good, but how delicious is the reward when you do get to that verse? Let's go on to verse 4. Even as in his love, and this is talking about God's love, he chose us, actually picked us out for himself as his own in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, consecrated, set apart for him and blameless in his sight, even above reproach before him in love. Verse 5, for he has foreordained us, destined us, planned in love for us to be adopted, revealed as his own children through Jesus Christ in accordance with the purpose of his will, because it pleased him and was his kind intent. That's so good. So as we're learning this, we're gathering knowledge, we're going to the Bible because that's where God's wisdom and instruction are. And we're understanding that when we're obedient to God's wisdom and instructions, and we carry out what it says, then we can reap the blessings of what he says. But if we don't follow those instructions, just like a parent tells their child to pick up their things or to do whatever it is the parent is telling the child to do, if they don't do those things, they're not going to receive what the parent has for them. Or in some cases, it's just the reward of living in a clean home. And we want to look at that. But sometimes when we receive wisdom and we receive what God is saying, there might be a time where maybe we don't understand it. And we're looking at the perspective, how we're seeing things. So let's look at the perspective of wisdom. So the definition of perspective is view, viewpoint, perception. Perception definition implies quick and often sympathetic discernment. How does someone perspective interfere with what the Bible says? If God's ways are higher, according to Isaiah 55, verse six to nine, and let's read that. So we're looking at perspective and we have what we're thinking, but then there's what God's word says. And remember, we're looking for God's instruction. It's okay for us to have our own thoughts, but when we're looking for God's instruction, we want to hold steadfast to what he's saying. So Isaiah 55, verse six to nine, seek, inquire for, and require the Lord while he may be found, claiming him by necessity and by right, call upon him while he is near. So there's some wonderful nuggets in that, that we have to seek. We have to inquire and require the Lord of necessity. That means we have to need the Lord. God is looking at us and he can see if we need him or why we're coming to him. He can see our heart posture. Verse seven, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man, his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord and he will have love, pity and mercy for him and to our God for he will multiply to him his abundant pardon. Wow. So the Lord is going to pardon us. Verse eight, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. Verse nine, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So God is telling us we can be looking at perspective and we can be looking at what we think, but the way we have to think about it, or at least the way I think about it is, let's say we're ants in an anthill and our perspective is to go a couple of inches to get this food. But if we put our trust in the Lord, then we say, okay, Lord, do you want me to go over there and get this food? And if God says, no, we just have to be obedient and to do it because we understand that he is God and he knows more. So if you look at God's perspective, God is way higher up. He can see for miles around. He can see if we're in danger. He can see if something's coming that we shouldn't even be near. God can see all of these things. And so when you're dealing with God, you have to know that he knows far more than we ever could. He created us. He knows our thoughts before we can even ask or think them. And we have to look at that perspective like we would look at any other perspective and believe and know that God is. So we're going to go ahead and look at Proverbs 3 verses 4 to 14. So shall you find favor, good understanding, and high esteem in the sight or judgment of God and man. Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. So like remember when we were just talking about the ants, right? And if we were ants and we're asking the Lord, if he's our Lord, then we have to trust in him, right? We have to lean on him and not lean on our own understanding because his thoughts are higher. We just learned God's thoughts are higher. His ways are higher. He has more knowledge. He was here before we were even here. He created everything and we have to honor that with reverence. Verse 6, in all your ways, know, recognize, and acknowledge him and he will direct and make straight and plain your paths. So when we're looking for God's instruction and we're trying to seek out wisdom, when we look at God's word, God is clearly telling us as we read these verses that when we know, recognize, and acknowledge him, he's going to direct your path. He's going to make your paths straight and plain for you. Verse 7, be not wise in your own eyes. Reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn entirely away from evil. So we can't lean on our own understanding. We have to turn completely away from evil and we have to be looking to the Lord. If you're wanting God's blessings and you're wanting to be under God and God's protection and God's provision, then we have to be looking to the Lord in reverence for everything that he wants us to do, not what we want to do, but what God wants us to do because we're looking for his wisdom and not our own, right? We're looking for his instruction for him to guide and to lead us. Verse 8, it shall be health to your nerves and sinews and marrow and moistening to your bones. Verse 9, honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency from righteous labors and with the right fruits of all your income. Verse 10, so shall your storage places be filled with plenty and your vats shall be overflowing with new wine. Verse 11, my son, do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord, his correction by punishment or by subjection to suffering or trial. Neither be weary of or impatient about or loathe or adhore his reproof. Verse 12, for whom the Lord loves, he corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. Happy, blessed, fortunate, enviable is the man who finds skillful and godly wisdom and the man who gets understanding, drawing it forth from God's word and life's experiences. Verse 14, the gaining of it is better than gaining silver and the profit of it is better than fine gold. Wow, clearly it just doesn't get any better if you are drawing wisdom from the Lord. Let's go ahead and look at Proverbs 9 verses 10 to 11. The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning, the chief and the choice part of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding. For by me, wisdom from God, your way shall be multiplied and the year of your life shall be increased. So if you're sitting in this place and you're just like, Lord, I got to grow. I need to grow. I don't know what to do. I need direction. Begin to start reading Proverbs 4, Proverbs 3. The Proverbs are filled with wisdom and direction for you. And as you can see from all the verses that I read, when you are obedient to just the word, no one else has to be around you. Just stay in relation with the word and talk to the Lord and pray about the things that you are seeking. You don't have to be searching for hundreds of people to get their opinion. You can literally be led by God by yourself. And that's it. To me, that's amazing. So Proverbs 4 verses 1 to 2, hear my sons the instruction of a father and pay attention in order to gain and to know intelligent discernment, comprehension, and interpretation of spiritual matters. For I give you good doctrine. What is to be received, do not forsake my teaching. So I wanted to read this verse again because it's so important what God is telling us and what we need to live by. Now I'm just going to go through some examples. So let's practice applying wisdom. When we are praying and things are not working, is it God doing something wrong or lack of wisdom? Here are some examples we can think about. Step one, are those God's instructions you are following? Step two, look up the topic you are trying to understand in the Bible. Step three, apply what the Bible says to your life by praying over yourself and the benefits or instructions of the scripture. Do what the scripture says to do, declare the scripture out loud during prayer time. Place your name in with the blessings or instructions. Example, the word says, I have the mind of Christ. You can put your name in the place of I and say, Amy has the mind of Christ, just for an example. So let's just look at another situation so that we can just apply wisdom to it. Example one, every morning Sally walks to work. This particular morning, Sally fell while trying to get across the street. Immediately Sally says, why did God do this to me? Then she looks down and her shoelaces are untied. Is that God's fault or is that something that Sally should have done and was blaming God? Can wisdom be used in this situation to know what we are responsible for over our day? Praying over your day before the day begins can help. Reading the word before the day begins can help. Hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit daily can help. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17, be unceasing in prayer, praying perseveringly. Lastly, repent to the Lord for blaming him for you not tying your own shoe. So these are just examples of wisdom and applying wisdom to our daily lives. In the next one, we will be going over more examples of how to apply wisdom. But I pray that you got to see some of the scripture. You're beginning to apply different things and you're understanding that you don't have to go places and wait for someone to speak to you. You can grasp wisdom and knowledge and understanding for yourself if you dedicate yourself to God's word, to praying and seeking his face. In Jeremiah 29 12, it says, if you seek me, you will find me. If you seek me with all your heart, right? So God is waiting to be sought. God is waiting to give you instruction and now's an opportunity for you to glean from what God has. God has never left you. He won't leave or forsake you. And it's up to you to pick up the word, to read the word and to know what God has said, to hear it, to take it in, to meditate on it, to memorize it so that you can prosper as your soul prospers. So many people are wanting to prosper during these times, but without wisdom and understanding and equipping themselves with the right tools, they're basically walking around making wishes, but there's instructions to everything. Even if you want to drive a car, you have to read a manual. We have to have wisdom because the word says my people perish because of lack of wisdom, lack of knowledge. We don't want to be in situations where we could have wisdom and knowledge, but because we're just not doing the work. We've all been there. Life is what it is, but Jesus came and died for us to bring us hope, to bring us a future. He has plans for us, and he has plans for me and you and everyone who believes. Everyone is seeking God. Thank you, Lord, for your presence. Thank you, Lord, for your hand upon us. Thank you, God, for making a way for us in these moments. Lord, people are so desperate for you, God, that you would bless everyone at the sound of my voice. And of course, if you haven't taken Jesus as your Lord and Savior, do not forget that at any time you can reach out and ask the Lord to come into your heart, repent from your sins, and forgive all of those around you. And remember that Jesus died for you, paid the price for your sins and your healing, and rose again in three days. And that can be for you should you accept him now in Jesus name. Amen.