Regaining Lost Ground

Shane Idleman: God’s word is like an anchor. It helps set the course. I might not know the direction, but I know who I’m trusting in the direction. I know who I’m trusting in the storm. God has encouraged me. He will continue to guide me. And a lot of times it has to do with my timing is not God’s timing.

Overcoming the sin of prayerlessness. I said it. Prayerlessness is a sin. No time for God. As we apply God’s word, we must be men and women of prayer. Do you know how many people are misled just with the word of God, but no time for prayer? They don’t know God’s character. Many cults start with the word of God.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear part one of the message titled, How Does God Lead Us, and is taken from the scripture in Genesis 24.

Proverbs 20:24 informs us that a man's steps are from the Lord. The scripture then asks the question, how then can man understand his way? Please join us as Pastor Shane gives us this clarifying message of hope, encouraging us that through life's inevitable trials, when we trust in the Lord completely, we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Regaining Lost Ground is sponsored by the generous supporters of the Ministries of Westside Christian Fellowship. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast, and please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idleman.

Shane Idleman: In July 1776, during what many have called one of the greatest historical events of all time, I would not disagree with that. Of course, Jesus was the primary one, but there's a lot of things that were pivotal in world history. The Continental Congress of the United States of America officially declared independence and its reputation as a great country was born.

Despite the beliefs of some, early Americans were not all renegades and rebels. For decades, the colonists tried to cooperate with the king, but as time passed, it became evident that change was necessary. Great Britain needed to relinquish her oppressive control. And although controversy surrounds the biblical justification for the American Revolution, the founders did not initiate the conflict and thus they believed that they had biblical justification for their actions.

The founders viewed the Revolutionary War as a defensive conflict rather than an offensive war. After peaceful and legal redress had been exhausted, they moved toward independence from King George and independence on God. And that's what we do celebrate with Fourth of July. A lot of people, especially the young adults, are getting a lot of misinformation about our nation and about the heritage.

And I personally believe we can be a proud American as long as we're not prideful. There is something, it's okay to be, look at what God did. Look at what God did. Now, in the midst of that, there was evil, there was perversion, all kinds of things because the light was being diminished by the darkness. That's normal. But I think it's okay to say, hey, we're just blessed. We are thankful for that.

We thank God for our military. We thank God for the blessings that we now enjoy. Now we just need to steward it correctly. So don't be fooled into all these terms out there now, nationalism, American pride. Now, it gets dangerous when that's your hope and not Jesus Christ. When you're proud and you're angry and you're arrogant and you put country above God. We don't drape the cross with a flag. Absolutely not.

But you can be proud, blessed by what how God has blessed you and your children and your prosperity and your posterity. I mean, that's biblical. They were proud to be Israelites. They were proud to be many nationalities are proud to be that nationality because they were born and raised and see how God sustained them. So it's all really a reflection of the attitude.

So what I want to talk to you about this morning, and as this message grew and grew and grew, hoping I can get through it, but you know me, it might turn into part two next week because I don't want to rush this topic. We are in Genesis. Many of you know we're in Genesis 24. The message is, how does the Lord lead us? How does the Lord lead us? Anyone need help in this area?

Lord, is that your voice? Is that your will? Is that really you or is that me? Is that an open door or is that the enemy opening a door? Is that really you orchestrating my circumstances or is that just basically life happening? And I believe God is sovereign and so I don't believe in luck and things like that. But obviously, God allows some things to happen. I don't think he wants us, he's going to direct us to turn right at every stoplight instead of left.

There's principles to live by. And that's where the big phrase free will comes from. How does God operate in his sovereignty but also man is given the ability to make choices and how does that work inside of God's will? Well, theologians haven't figured it out, so we probably won't figure it out this morning. That's a heavy debate. I just know that both are true. I know that God is sovereign and his plans will prevail.

But I also know that man is responsible for his actions and his actions can change the course of certain things. We see that even in the Bible, that Hezekiah when he humbled himself, God relented. Josiah humbled himself, the nation was spared judgment. What about Nineveh? In 40 days, I'm going to destroy Nineveh. Well, they diverted that judgment for about 150 years until the prophet Nahum came on the scene.

So how does the Lord lead us? And of course, we're talking about God's will in Genesis 24. And basically, pursuing God's will boils down to one question that you need to answer this morning. This will help a lot of people. Are you willing to follow him? Are you willing to follow God? Are you willing to remove things from your life that are pulling you away? Are you willing to remove distractions? Are you willing to stop making excuses?

And just saying, Lord, whatever you want me to do, I want to hear your voice in this area and then truly mean it. That's really a lot of us get confused and God's will becomes difficult when we're trying to fight it. When we just flow in God's will and allow God to teach us and direct us, it doesn't become as challenging. So where we left off last week, I should probably bring some of you up to speed.

Abraham sent out his servant to find his son a wife. And he went to the land of Israel, where, not really land of Israel as of this point yet, but where Abraham was from, where there were people who from his family loved the Lord. And we talked about that last week. So now we find Abraham's servant found out that she was a lover of God. Her name is Rebecca. He bowed his head and he worshipped the Lord.

And he said, "Blessed be the Lord of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his mercy and his truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way to find a wife, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren." The Lord led him to the right location. Wouldn't you like that in your life? The Lord just led you to the right location. And he does that more than you think.

We have to remember though, just because it's difficult doesn't mean you're out of God's will. Sometimes it can be. And hopefully that maybe next week I'll talk about the storms as we get into more chapters here in Genesis. The storms of being in God's will. And I still remember that was probably one of my biggest wake-up calls when I came back to the Lord is I thought being in the center of God's will, now life's going to be a breeze.

Man, I'm in God's will, I'm walking on clouds, every decision will be blessed and this will be wonderful. Because we hear it on TV, your most popular books out there talk about this wonderful, great, encouraging life. And on one hand, it is wonderful and you are encouraged because you're walking with the Lord. But the enemy does not like you now that you're fully on God's side.

And so he can put something in someone's heart to go and harass you, to critique you, to challenge you. Or challenges come up and it's just all hell can break loose even in the center of God's will. And so how do we know if we are led of the Holy Spirit, led of God? And that's what I want to talk about from this story.

Key number one, worship, humility, and thankfulness lead us to the heart of God. And so we see here that even before this point, this servant was a worshipper. He was humble. He was thankful to God. And those three areas, they actually line you up with the heart of God. And so that's one secret to knowing God's will, even though it isn't a secret obviously it's in his will.

But if I line up my heart with his heart, if I'm aligned with his heart, that direction makes a lot more sense. I go in the direction he wants to go because I'm worshipping him, I'm thankful, and I'm not grumbling and complaining. Lord, my heart is for the things of God. And so that lines up and like a magnet, it pulls you in the right direction. If I don't get my heart right, can we really discern God's will that clearly?

Just scroll through the Old Testament, see what God has to say about grumbling and complaining. We posted something on social media and it's just funny to watch the comments. Like, we still love California, she's worth fighting for, and you get all these people, "God led me get out of here, I hate that place." Hold on now. Grateful, thankful, shouldn't we be thankful? I want to encourage Californians right now.

Shouldn't we be encouraged instead of, you want to go live in North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Iraq, Syria, most of Africa? We can keep going. And so getting that spot of, we can be concerned, but we still should be thankful. And then once you line up your heart with God's heart, then he will, may direct people to move. He may direct people to do different things. But now your heart's lined up with him and you're going in his direction.

It's much easier to lead someone who wants to be led. I've given this example many times, but how many of you have tried to get your kids somewhere they don't want to go? Kicking and screaming. You're getting in this car seat! And they're just fighting that car seat and it's so hard. You're still coming with me. Don't make this so hard. Versus the child who says, okay, where are we going? Sounds great, let's go.

Boy, that was nice. See, it's much easier. Same thing applies with God and us. It's much easier to direct those who are not fighting him. 1 Thessalonians, got a lot of scriptures for you this morning, 5:18. Give thanks in some circumstances. Did you catch that one? That didn't even sound right. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God.

So many of you, Lord, what is your will? Lord, what is your will? Well, you know this is his will, to be thankful. Because I'm just telling you, thankfulness changes my heart. Joy comes in, peace comes in, gentleness comes in, long-suffering, the fruit of the spirit comes in. And so I think the enemy can really sidetrack us when we're disgruntled and when we're not happy and we're not giving joy in all circumstances.

It doesn't mean we should be excited about difficulties. We don't rejoice in difficulties, but there's a thankfulness as we go through them. Psalm 25:9 promises that God will guide, lead, and teach the humble his way, his direction. God promises he will do that. And that's the Idleman version, I'm paraphrasing, that God promises in that verse that he guides, leads, and teaches the humble.

And then we have key number two. This is very important. How often do I talk about this? The word leads us. The word leads us. And I'm going to talk about this until the day I die, so get used to it. We have to remind people, the word leads you. Can you imagine not having the word of God? It would be ugly. I think this, and I think that. Well, that's what's happening in our nation right now.

I think this and I think that. This feels good. Why don't we just allow people to do whatever they want? There's no gauge of truth. There's no gauge of morality. So the word will lead you. God leads you through his word. 2 Timothy 3:16, I'm giving you again a commentary version. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and it teaches us to do what is right.

You cannot know God's will without looking at his word. And this isn't the time to answer the question, but there are answers for those who are truly seeking. A lot of people say, "Well Shane, I can't trust his word. It was put together by men to dominate people. And how can it even be trusted?" If you truly want to know, there's information out there that is mind-boggling, how consistent scripture is.

That's why we call it inerrant. It is the inerrant, inspired, authoritative word of God, bar none. Nothing is a close second. No papacy, no leader, no group can change it or override it. It stands alone. That's why that great calls of the Reformation, on faith alone, through Christ alone, the scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone. And there's truth in that. And sometimes it's good for the church to go back to that truth. So let the word guide you.

I'm amazed at how many people are confused in God's will, but they're not reading his word. Because see, I can be confused in God's will, and I live there sometimes, let me tell you. I'm confused, Lord, I don't know your will in this area. I thought this, but now this is happening. However, I'm strengthened as I'm reading your word. I'm encouraged as I'm reading your word.

So now my confusion gives way to peace and joy because I'm trusting God. I'm camped out in the Psalms. I'm obeying the Proverbs to the best of my ability. Nobody obeys the scriptures perfectly. If you think you do that, we've got some scriptures we'd like to share with you. And so God works through dependent vessels, not perfect vessels. And so even though I'm confused, God's word strengthens me and I get encouraged and clarity in his word.

Even though the situation is still confusing, does that make sense? I don't understand this situation, this prayer request that's been 15 years, seems like it's not happening. I'm so confused. I thought you put that on my heart. I thought you gave me scripture. But then you get in God's word and it gives you clarity and direction to just hold the course. Or it will give you a lot of clarity and directions. We talked about last week, who to marry.

It doesn't say who to marry, but it gives you principles to follow. It doesn't tell you where to work, but it gives you principles to follow. It doesn't answer every circumstance or illustrate every circumstance you'll ever go through. It doesn't talk about cars in the Bible. Should I buy a new car, a used car? Boy, that has changed a lot, huh? Now used cars are up like 25%. Anyway. Should I buy this? Should I do this? It doesn't give you every single circumstance, but it gives you every single principle.

So as you live by the principles, God will guide you. If not, you're just kind of like the boat out in the ocean without any direction, without any motor. It just kind of goes wherever the wind, one day it's going north and the next day it's kind of northeast and south and it's just blowing around. The Bible even talks about that unstable man or woman blown around by the trickery of men and deceitfulness of false doctrine and they're caught up in all these different things.

They're like, ever meet those people that aren't very solid? Because they're just drifting around way too much. And so God's word is like an anchor. It helps set the course. I might not know the direction, I'm confused in the direction, but I know who I'm trusting in the direction. I know who I'm trusting in the storm. God has encouraged me that he will continue to guide me. And a lot of times it has to do with my timing is not God's time clock.

Are you ever on God's time clock? Because our time clock is things are ticking, I've got to get moving, let's get this going. God's like, no. How many times have I heard this? "Why are you rushing to get married? Married! My biological time clock is ticking. I don't care if they're not a Christian. My biological time clock is ticking, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. My time." I could go there for a little while, but I'm not going to.

Let's just go to key number three. Overcoming the sin of prayerlessness. I said it. I said it. Prayerlessness is a sin. Prayerlessness, no time for God. As we apply God's word, we must be men and women of prayer. Do you know how many people are misled just with the word of God, but no time for prayer? They don't know God's character. Do you know many cults start with the word of God?

Ever heard of David Koresh? When I was out there in Waco, Texas, it was pretty close by. Started with the word of God. Then he says, God says I can marry lots of women. Oh, okay. And have lots of kids and do things secretively and manipulating the text of scripture. Cults start with a portion of God's word, but they don't look at the totality of God's word. And they're not people of true prayer and brokenness and humility because that type of person God will lead.

I'm amazed at how many people think they can adequately determine God's will without devoting much time to prayer and fasting. Even Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before he chose the 12 disciples. Prayer was the catalyst and the sustainer to knowing God's will. Because as I'm praying about a certain situation, I thought we're going north, but often God shifts that in the prayer closet because my attitude gets a little better.

Anybody have bad attitudes and not praying with the right spirit? Just me? Just your pastor? Okay. I'm too transparent sometimes. No, I do, right? We go get them, God. Go get them, God. God said, no, you love them. Let me work on your heart. Or prayer requests of I can't even get into the all the different things over the years where God has really changed my heart and changed course, not in a complete different direction, but he just kind of takes it a little bit.

Now that the heart is more pliable, and so you have to become men and women of prayer. Do you know how many, I don't know, every time I do this I feel like I'm convicting people, but it's okay. Fill and Carrie told me it's okay to do this, so blame it on them. But a lot of times at morning worship, the reason we push that a lot is you'll see people with their Bible sometimes and they're journaling. God is speaking to them, they're writing down stuff.

I'll go up and add stuff to my sermon three, four, five times just in that morning worship time. And God just takes things in a different direction. Clarity becomes, things become crystal clear on things I've been stressing about. I just after an hour and a half of worship I'm like, you know what? I got it. I'm not going to worry about it again. Lord, you show me when it's your time. Thank you.

So how many people are not getting clear direction from God because they're not spending time in prayer, seeking his heart? And that's why we do have early morning worship before the services. Not for our benefit, maybe a little because we like it too, but it's for the congregation to come and be encouraged and fed. And how many marriages have been restored at this altar? How many have fallen apart not here? And there's a consistent pattern. How many addictions have been broken, how many relationships restored when we become men and women of prayer.

And be careful because people say, well I've got the word. Okay, you need the word with prayer, gentleness. The spirit gives life. And people are sometimes confused about that verse that talks about the letter kills. The letter of the law kills. What they mean by that is you just giving somebody the law, Phariseeism and legalism, look at what the word says, and you kill them. You have to bring life with the spirit. Let the spirit of God and the word of God, they complement each other. There are churches that have the word in their church, but they have another book or another book. And it's one of many things. So that word is killing because it's falling on deaf ears, the spirit of God is not there.

Hello, this is Pastor Shane Idleman. I wanted to let our listeners know that due to budgeting issues, we will be removing Regaining Lost Ground from some of the radio stations that we currently air on. Therefore, to continue listening to the sermons, I want to encourage you to follow me and Westside Christian Fellowship on YouTube and Rumble today, as well as other social media platforms.

Again, due to budgeting issues, we will be removing Regaining Lost Ground from some of the stations that we currently air our program on. Therefore, to continue listening to the sermons, I want to encourage you to follow me as well as Westside Christian Fellowship on YouTube and Rumble, and also follow us on all other social media platforms as well. If you have questions, please reach out to us at westsidechristianfellowship.org. Again, that's westsidechristianfellowship.org.

Guest (Male): Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily, times change, truth does not.