How Much is All?

How Much is All?

by David Brenneman 

"Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:  “How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?  Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.  Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord.  They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof.  So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices.  For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.  But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.” Proverbs 1:20-33.

How much of a percentage of all do you consider as being all?  75 percent? 85? 95? 98?  Actually all 100 percent?

The opening verse starts with "Wisdom shouts in the street".  Does the Spirit need to shout at you to get your undivided attention?

Our world is overrun with teachers teaching people what their itching ears want to hear.  Within the Church and outside of it. Public schools are heavily involved in indoctrinations towards the end that there are no absolutes. 

The Bible teaches otherwise.  

The Spirit is to be OUR Teacher.

It's not for us to be walking with Jesus and for us to keep putting up a hand to silence Him and His wisdom for us.  

It's been an amazing time catching things this go-round reading through the Bible that I haven't seen before.  A sermon a week ago triggered a thought to look for things in the book of Chronicles. 

I think I mentioned it a few days ago.  Seems that today we're to look at how much is your all?

Does your whole heart really get God's attention?  Do you obey God in all your ways?  Do you even try to?

Do you ever say but don't say "this is my time! It's me time" to God?

When the Disciples followed Him, they gave of all of themselves towards the teachings of Jesus Christ their Master.   In time they came to know Him as Lord of all. 

Not Lord of some.

Our world has no lack of ways to ensnare people in compromise.

Wisdom cries out to people and just when it gets our attention, we see something glittering and off we go to chase it down. 

It it ok to have a room in your heart that doesn't belong to Jesus?  

Rhetorical question I know.  The Biblical answer is no.  

Is it ok to teach a little one to not pursue giving their whole heart to God?  Jesus said it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and be cast in the depths of the sea.  

Parents, family, friends, teachers, supervisors, all those in your life are either going to point us towards Godly wisdom or away from it. 

For as known as he was...even Paul was fact-checked by the Berean Church.  By what means?  By comparing Scripture with Scripture.  They looked up in what they had, which was the Old Testament, to see if what he said aligned with the Word of God.

They used Biblical wisdom to see if these truths were so.

Our world wants people to rely on the world for truth.  Not to look at God's Word.  Not to take the word of Godly men but to trust in our circle of 'advisors'.  

Call me crazy, but, when I read in so many dozens of places the percentage of the hearts of Kings following the Lord Jesus like His Servant David...we see clearly that Jesus indeed is sifting the hearts of mankind.

In Genesis we read that before the great flood that the Lord Jesus said that the thoughts of mankind were evil continually.  

How far are we away from that being true today?  

We're told to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.  The first steps to living the righteous life that God desires for us is to start with seeking out His wisdom.  James says he gives it freely to all who ask.

Seems that most people toss up a hand to say "stop" to the Spirit's wisdom and say to Him "I got this. I don't need your help".

Do you love the world and the things of this world?  Do you love inanimate objects?  Do you love sports teams?  Movie stars? Political figures?  Are there things you know more about, are more passionate about, than your relationship with Jesus?  You either seek out wisdom to grow in Christ or to grow in something else.

Do you have the mindset that what God gets of your life is on Sunday morning's, maybe Sunday evening's or maybe Wednesday night's? That the rest of your time is yours?

Do you not realize that the Bible is not just a book, but a love letter written to humanity? 

It is the only book you will ever read where the Author is present when you read it.  

You cannot get Spiritual wisdom by osmosis.  It's not something to absorb.  You must spend time with Jesus.  Must be spending time in your Bible.  Must be talking to and listening very closely to the Lord Jesus Christ your Savior and Lord. 

Look at what you enjoy so much. 

Does it bring you more joy than your relationship with Jesus?

When someone slanders what you love in this world, do get upset more than you do when someone says something about Jesus that's wrong?  

How much of your heart REALLY belongs to God?  I encourage you to go read the book of Chronicles. Look specifically for where how much of the king's heart was following Jesus as His servant David.

Spiritual Warfare is all around us.  

Satan's ever seeking those who he may devour.  To silence the truth. To silence those who are following Jesus Christ with a whole heart. 

There's nothing in your life that you will take with you when you die.

Your deeds done in the body are all that will go with you.  The deeds done in your life that were indeed what God wanted for you will survive the trial by fire, all the rest will be burned up. 

Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.

ALL Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 

Seems easily enough to understand that as many times as the Spirit repeated saying it that your whole heart is what Jesus desires of you. 

Whole as in 100 percent. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.