Well, good evening. I'm glad y'all are here. We're going to sing out a blue hymnal tonight. And we're going to sing number 229. 229. Tell me the old, old story of unseen things, Tell me the story simply as to a little child For I am weak and weary and helpless and defiled Tell me the old, old story ♪ Tell me the old, old story ♪ Tell me the old, old story ♪ Of Jesus and his love ♪ Tell me the story slowly ♪ That I may take it in ♪ That wonderful redemption ♪ God's remedy for sin Tell me the story often, for I forget so soon. The early dew of morning has passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the whole old story of Jesus and His love. Tell me the story softly with earnest tones and praise. Remember I'm the sinner whom Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always If you would really be In any time of trouble A comforter to be Tell me the old, old story Tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love. Tell me the same old story when you have cause to fear that this world's empty glory is costing Yes, and when the world's glory is dawning on my soul, tell me the old, old story, Christ Jesus makes thee whole. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. I like that song. Y'all like that song? I like the thought of it. You know, this morning, of course, the world celebrates Easter, and we call it Resurrection Sunday. And really, you're just preaching the same old story, but I gotta tell you, I kind of enjoyed studying for it anyway. Kind of good to see how many people knew Jesus Christ was alive, amen? And that might be an old story, but boy, it's a glorious story, amen? I'm glad we have a living Savior, amen? Number 178, 178. ♪♪ The Bible stands condoned amidst the raging storms of time. Its pages burn with the truth eternal, and they glow with the lights of love. The Bible stands, though the hills may tumble, it will firmly stand. When the earth shall crumble, I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, for the Bible stands. You know what? You can't sing this sitting, can you? Let's all stand here. Here we go. Let's stand. Here we go. The Bible stands like a mountain towering far above the words of men. Its truth Why none ever was refuted, and destroy it they never can. The Bible stands, though the hills may tumble, it will firmly stand. When the earth shall crumble, I will plant feet on its firm foundation. The Bible stands, and it will forever when the world has passed away. By inspiration it has been given, all its precepts I will obey. The Bible stands, though the hills may tumble, it will firmly stand. When the earth shall crumble, I will plant. feet on its firm foundation, for the Bible stands. The Bible stands, every test we give it, for its author is divine. By grace alone I expect to live it, and to prove it and make it mine. Amen. Brother Ron, open this in prayer, please. Yes, Lord. Thank you. Yes. Amen. Please do be seated. Well, I'm glad y'all are here and man, what a beautiful day. Amen. I love this time of year and Seems like this day has come a little bit later in the year than usual, so we get to enjoy it a little bit. But do be in prayer, you already heard us, do be in prayer for the Welter family, and they're gonna be traveling a little bit, and so just pray for them, their needs for safety and just for encouragement, and been a very difficult time for them, especially for Leslie. I don't know how many of y'all know, but Leslie was an only child, and so, And it's very difficult to deal with that. And so just do keep them in your prayers, if you would. I think you know everything. Today's the last day to sign up, and we got quite a group going. We might have to arrange some things. Driving and stuff like that if we want to get everybody there and not so sure about the van right now Vans not really in that good of shape. And so we'll have to take and coordinate some riding with us and By the way pray about that. I'm kind of hoping to get a free van freeze a good price in it. I Like free and and so I don't it's just kind of one of those things. It's a potential possibility, but I'm keeping my eye on it and so hopefully we'll do that and And then, please do be ready for maybe kind of a late notice on that AED training. Now, anybody know why we got an AED back there? Because we needed it one time, okay? And if we ever need it again, we need people who are certified and qualified to actually take and use it. We will, of course, you know, call the fire department and get an ambulance here and stuff like that. But, uh, we need to, the sooner you use them, the more effective they are. And, uh, so we do need that kind of training. Can I ask this? How many of y'all already have the AED training? Okay. All right. Are you current Wade? So you're, you're with everybody else. Okay, so what we're planning on doing is either a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon. And I'm thinking if we do the Sunday afternoon, the reason we're doing that is to accommodate our teacher. Our teacher will either have to teach us late Saturday night, because that's their schedule, it's a nurse, or Sunday between the services, which would accommodate them a little bit better. So we can bring in some food, maybe have a day of fellowship and have the training. But we do need to get everybody recertified on the AED at least. And I don't know if we'll have time for a full CPR class, but maybe we can arrange one of those in the future also. Okay? Yeah. Yeah, I think the last time I talked to her, she could do at least 12. And because it's AED training, she could probably do more. It's the CPR training where you're limited because of these, I don't want to call them dummies, you know, because plastic people have feelings too. But anyhow, that's what limits the other, okay? Yes, ma'am? everything but the skills portion, you can now do online with the American Red Cross and the other. You can do all of that online and it's like a split class. And then you can just meet and get registered in your skills. That is excellent advice. That's awesome. In fact, you have to. Can you research that for me? Okay. Sounds good. All right. Thank you very much for that. I'm glad you reminded me of that. Okay. All right. Well, do be in prayer for us. We're going to be taking off after church here tonight. If you haven't done your taxes yet, you might want to start early. How many of you all remember doing taxes in high school? Remember how many pages it was? I mean, how many pages was for you? One or two. Yeah, do your taxes now. It's all the worksheets and everything. We literally had to do like 20 pages for Abigail's. That's insane. Sorry for complaining on open mic night, but anyhow. I mean, honestly, it's almost designed for you to make a mistake, because you're doing all you can not to make a mistake, and anyhow. If I look a little stressed, that's why. It was tax day today, so please forgive me. Yeah, let's take the offering, now that I've talked about needing money. No, I'm joking about that. But please do be in prayer for us, not only for our travels. We are going to a preacher's meeting. And just so you know, preacher's meetings are about fellowship, but they're also about networking and encouraging one another. And so I really do want to be an encouragement and a help, and I wouldn't mind if that got returned. And so do be in prayer for us, as a number of you have shared very nice wishes for us to have a good vacation, and we're very thankful for that. And so we just ask that the Lord would bless this time. Jim, if you would, ask the Lord's blessing, please. I'm so thankful to meet you. We do pray our hearts be open and receptive to what you have for us, and your Holy Spirit will truly do the work that I need to do in our lives. And we do pray for pastors. He's going on at this conference. I pray, Lord, that you give him traveling mercies. I do pray for him, as he talks about the networking areas and such. I pray he would get some good opportunities there and make some new contacts. And just to have some new friends he can have contact with there. Pray you just bless this offering. Just bless, give and give. Jesus, I pray you. Amen. And if you would, please do keep Daniel and his family in your prayers. They're still sick. And so just pray for their recovery. We're going to sing number 161. 161. O spread the tidings round, wherever man is found, wherever human hearts and human woes abound. Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound, The Comforter has come, the Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father's promised gift. Oh, spread the tidings round, wherever man is found, the Comforter has come. The night is past, the morning breaks at last, And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast. As o'er the golden hills the day advances fast, ♪ The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come ♪ ♪ The Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father's promise given ♪ ♪ O spread the tidings round, wherever man is found ♪ ♪ The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come ♪ With healing in his wings To every captive soul A full deliverance brings And through the vacant cells The song of triumph rings The Comforter has come ♪ The Comforter has come ♪ ♪ The Holy Ghost from heaven ♪ ♪ The Father's promised gift ♪ ♪ O spread the tidings round ♪ ♪ Wherever man is found ♪ ♪ The Comforter has come ♪ ♪ O boundless love divine ♪ How shall this tongue of mine To wandering worlds tell The matchless grace divine That I, a child of hell, Should in His image shine? ♪ The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come ♪ ♪ The Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father's promise given ♪ ♪ Oh spread the tidings round, wherever man is found ♪ ♪ The Comforter has come ♪ Thank you very much, amen. And I'm doing my devotions this year a little bit different. So I'm probably a little bit off of schedule if you guys are on schedule somewhere. But I've been doing my devotions in Second Chronicles, excuse me, First Chronicles this month. First Chronicles this last week. Did I tell you I'm getting ready to go on vacation? First Chronicles chapters one through nine. You guys familiar? So-and-so begat, so-and-so begat, so-and-so begat, so-and-so begat, so-and-so begat. And I will tell you this, that matter of fact, I just bought a new study Bible. And one thing that I have done over the years is when new study Bibles come out, quite often I'll buy one if I think it's got any value to it, just to analyze it. Because a lot of times people come up to me and they say, hey, I'm looking for a Bible. Which Bible should I buy? And to be quite honest with you, I've really enjoyed this last one that I bought, because it really focuses on pulling out words. Say, hey, study this word, and it kind of drives you, and it gives you the narrative of the Bible. And at the end of First Chronicles chapter nine, one through nine, it talked about how most people just skip that portion of the Bible. But if you actually take the time to take and to study through there, you might be able to find some really neat stuff, okay? And I've preached this a number of years ago, but it was something that was on my mind, and I was been thinking about it, and then I read it this week. And it was that prayer of Jabez. And so I kinda wanted to look at that here tonight. So 1 Chronicles chapter four, and in 1 Chronicles chapter four, if you're familiar with the context, which we probably aren't, to be honest with you, unless you gotta study Bible there, this is the family of Judah, okay? The tribe of Judah, and it's talking about the different families. And by the way, if you wanna study something interesting, study the lineage of Judah. It's actually kinda confusing, because, you know, a number of odd things happened in that line there. But it was actually kind of interesting to study. But then you come to 1 Chronicles 4 9 and just out of the blue it starts talking about a man named Jabez. And so 1 Chronicles 4 9 the Bible says this, it says, And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. If you'll read above that, it says, and so-and-so begot, and so-and-so begot, and so-and-so is the son of, and so-and-so is the son of, if you will. And then just out of the blue, there's this narrative about a man named Jabez. We don't know anything from the books before, and we don't ever hear anything about him in the books after. And so he stood out to the author of 1 Chronicles. By the way, again for context sake, When was Chronicles written, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and by whom? Most people believe that 1 and 2 Chronicles were written by Ezra whenever they came back from the captivity. Because of that, they were very interested in the lineage of the king, the lineage of the high priest, the lineage of the temple servants, if you will. And so that is why that they're giving this chronicle or this lineage of all these different people, okay? And so why this person stands out, I don't know, other than this man's life and testimony would give us, if you will, the tools that we need to be better ministers in the world in which God's given us to minister. And so 1 Chronicles 4 again in verse 9, the Bible says this, it says, And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called his name Jabez, because I bear him with sorrow. Okay? And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested. By the way, we just got done with a week of revival, you know, a few weeks ago, and the challenge was given to us every night that God is willing to grant all of our prayers. Amen? Wasn't that the challenge? God would grant all of our prayers, and we learned, essentially, that if we pray according to God's will, that God would grant all of our prayers. And so if you will, it's incumbent upon us to take in to seek God and to know His will and ask Him to do it. And then He will do it because it is His will. And the Bible says God granted Him all His requests. You know what that means? That means He prayed according to God's will. And if you will, you take and you look at this, you could think, well, this might be somewhat of a selfish prayer. I don't think so. I think if it was a selfish prayer, it would have never made it into the Bible. You know, there's many model prayers in the Bible. Jesus gave us one, and then, of course, the testimony was that John taught his disciples how to pray. And so, if you will, there is some importance and the need for prayer. And so let's see what we can learn about this man Jabez here. And the first thing is, the Bible teaches us that he was born in sorrow, not privilege. In verse 9, that's really all that it's saying there, in verse 9, is the Bible says, and Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called his name Jabez, because I bear him with sorrow. Now, what was the sorrow? It could have been the mother's condition when he was born. It could have been their status, if you will. Maybe, if you will, you know, today we're teaching our children that they're victims because of how they were born. By the way, I don't know if you know this. Have you seen what's going on in California, just a little bit? They're trying to pay reparations to African Americans. And if I saw right, if I remember right, the proposal was to give each of them $5 million. Did I get the number right? And some people are claiming it's not enough money. Yes, sir? Plus 96,000 a year. Oh my, it was worse than I thought. Can I just say this? Somebody's trying to take advantage of a situation and they're saying these poor people are born like this and we need to help them out, need to help them to recover and everything. But the thing about it is we're many generations removed from the actual victims. And so, five generations from now, we're gonna have to do it again. And I'm not trying to be critical in this sense, but we have a victim's mentality in this world, amen? And the sad truth is, is we need to overcome that. If we were born in a bad situation, then God can use that in our lives to take and to minister to other people in difficult situations. And if you want to take and feel sorry for yourself, sometimes read an account of the lives of children in India sometimes that live their entire life and never leave the block that they were born on. Can I just tell you this? We're excited. We're getting excited to go to Maine. We've never been to Maine before. And so we're kind of getting excited about that. But think about that, living your whole life and not leaving the block that you were born in. Life is so hard, would you trade? And so if you will, I mean, she said that, she named his name Sorrow, but we don't know if that was her condition, his condition, the world's condition in which he lived, we don't know. But if you will, Jabez prospered because of his honor. He wasn't, if you will, he wasn't overcome with how he started. And by the way, I try to teach this to anybody who's listening, it's not how you start a race, it's how you finish a race. And I've seen all kinds of people with advantages to start way up front, but because of something, they don't ever finish the race. But I've also seen other people. It always encourages me when you see a disabled kid at camp. that everybody else is running, and if some kid can't win, sometimes they'll quit in the middle of the race. Ah, I'm not going to win. And then you'll see this other kid just, and just chugging on until he crosses that finish line, he or she crosses that finish line. And I got to tell you, that gives my heart joy. Why? Because they're not concerned about where they started. They're just looking at the finish line. And by the way, who's at the finish line for our race? Jesus Christ. To be absolute of the body is to be what? present with the Lord, we're going to finish our race in the presence of Jesus. Amen. And I don't know about you. I don't want to slump off like this running my race. I want to run in my race like this, even if I'm not very fast and I'm not near as fast as I used to be when I could circle the base twice or one home run. OK, some of that I think might have been embellished, but I really appreciate that you did that for me. Well, hey, man. Amen. You know, His honor, why he was so honorable, was in how he rose above his circumstances. And I say this, anybody in America that thinks your circumstances are awful, read a book. Read a book. Anybody who's ever been overseas has seen it. I will give you this. Everybody who's been overseas is going like this. And I remember going to Panama one time, literally seeing families that had 20 people in the family live in a house about the size of that closet over there. And if you think that's an exaggeration, I'll be glad to take you to the place. I mean, they literally were stacked on top of each other, but they had a real nice TV. I don't know about that. It was kind of funny, but anyhow. Go, if you will, to Psalm 40. I want you to see this. Keep your place here, because we will come back. Psalm 40. And look at verse 1. The Bible says, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry, and brought me out also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even the praise unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. I want you to think about this, no matter where you started in life, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, can I just tell you this? He brought you up out of a horrible pit. I am always inspired, and I tell you, I don't cry, and I'm not the type of person that cries. I mean, if I smash my finger with a hammer, I don't cry. And by and large, I don't cry when other people cry, okay? But every once in a while, something will just touch your heart. You know what I'm saying? And the stories that touch my heart is when people overcome hard circumstances. And it's always taken and touched my heart because I love people who aren't quitters, amen. They bring honor to the God that they trusted in because they're willing to say, hey, you brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of miry clay. You set my feet upon a rock. You almost want to start singing the song, don't you, amen? and He has taken and given me confidence, and promises, and just hope. And we talked about that this morning. And so if you will He was born in sorrow and not privilege, but that's not how He did His life. The Bible says He was honorable amongst His brethren if you will, because He overcame the sorrow of His early life and His birth. And then in verse 10 what do we see about Him? Go back to our text 1 Chronicles 4 again. And verse 10, he was bold in his prayer. And I gotta be honest with you, I'm almost afraid, and as a pastor you don't see this, but I will tell you this happens behind the scenes, okay? But a lot of times when a preacher wants to preach something really spiritual, okay? maybe cutting edge type spiritual stuff, okay? A preacher will ask you, is it okay if I talk about this, okay? And Brother Briney did that with me. He says, I wanna talk about some things in prayer. Is it okay if I talk about these things, you know? Why, because there's some bold promises. Think about this. Could somebody misconstrue if you said God will answer all your prayers? You could certainly misconstrue that, but he made it a point to say he will answer all your prayers, but here's what he wants from you, okay? He will answer all your prayers, and he will answer them good, okay, in a sense. And so if you will. If, think about this, here is a man that is teaching us boldness in prayer. Lord, that you may bless me. Is that bold? I mean, think about it, a lot of us are afraid to take and to pray that, because we don't wanna be selfish, and we don't wanna consume it upon our lust, and we wanna be kinda spiritual in our prayer life, and so sometimes we're afraid to ask what we really want. Can I just confess, anybody else? Every once in a while you're just afraid to be bold in your prayer. But folks, this young man here, or this man, I don't know if he's young or old, but if you will, this man here was bold, if you will, in his asking to be blessed. Again, look at verse 10. The Bible says this, it says, And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed. I want you to think about this. What is a blessing? Talk to me for a second here. What is a blessing to you? Everybody's being real quiet here. Is it bold to ask to be blessed? So what's a blessing? How many of y'all would feel blessed if you got a million dollars? You know, I actually saw a couple snarls. Only a million? They're getting five in California. Pardon me? Yeah. That's right. You know, that's an excellent illustration. Wow. I don't want to go off there, but let me just say this. People who find a lot of money somehow find a lot of friends, and they find out they are miserable. because they never have a real friend after that. Amen. How many of y'all are glad to have food and raiment and they're with our content? How many of y'all enjoy your poor little hovel of a house? I think about that every once in a while. I'm so thankful for our house. Many of you know this, some of you might not, and I'm not comparing Mrs. Eden, because I don't know. But we raised seven people in a house with three bedrooms and one bathroom. Okay? Wouldn't it be cool to have two bathrooms? Now some of you are comparing back there saying, at least you had a bathroom. What does it mean to be blessed? Honestly. Can I just say this? He had a life of sorrow, did he not? But think about this. You know, being blessed is being content. Being content. Lord, would you bless me? And God did bless him. But what one person would consider a blessing, another person would turn their nose up at it. I use this illustration just because it's on my mind. But y'all like corn on the cob? Okay, now I've really got to know. How many of you all eat it like this? Savages. You and me, we're doing it. What? My family, look at this. No! I eat it like this, my family eats it like this, and we argue about it every time. But anyhow, you enjoy? Okay. She had an exchange student in high school that was from France, and they barbecued. We're Americans, we barbecue, right? And so they barbecued corn, and man, everybody's excited about corn on the cob, and they put it on the plate, and this girl from France nearly climbed out of her chair. She says, I'm not eating that. Why? She says, cows eat corn. Well help me now, who was the blessed person? Because they both were offered corn on the cob. Can I just say this, your blessings a lot of times are directly related to your attitude. Amen? I was bragging a little bit and I always do many times, many of the Atwells are very gifted with art. They're just wonderfully gifted with art. And every once in a while they'll show me some and I enjoy looking at it. But every once in a while other children who are maybe not as gifted will give me a piece of construction paper. with one crayon mark on it, and they'll say, Pastor, I made this for you. And I could say, why don't you go talk to the Atwells, they could fix this for you. I don't mean to pick on y'all. Wouldn't that be ungrateful? Because that child, if they didn't do anything else, they thought to give their pastor a gift. Well, thank you so much for that. And I used to think that was putting on, and now, no, it's the attitude. I've got a blessing right here. Thank you for being a blessing to me. And I try to hang them up, but you can't hang them all up, because eventually they get kind of thick. You have to kind of purge after a while. But my whole point is this, is the blessings that we experience in life really are directly proportional to our attitude, gratitude. I hate to use that cliche, but having an attitude of gratitude makes it so that the little things of life, the little blessings of life can truly be a blessing too. Bless me indeed, Lord. Bless me indeed. What did that mean? I don't think it had to mean give me a million dollars. It could have just meant, Lord give me the health that I need to take and get my job done today. Amen? And we ought to take and be thankful for that blessing indeed. He was bold enough to ask. You know, the Bible says in James 1, verse 17, every good gift and every perfect gift descended from the Father of lights, amen? And so any good thing that comes in our life, we ought to be grateful for. Thank you, Lord, for putting that into my life. And sometimes things that you don't think are good, you might find out are good, okay? Well, what do I mean? Well, I don't, well. I don't want to use this illustration, but take this the right way. Fertilizer's unpleasant until you want to grow tomatoes with it. And then you need it, and you want it, and you're thankful for it. You all understand? And so, really, it's just perspective quite often. You know, all things work together for good, okay, according to Romans 8, 28. And then, whosoever state, you know, what do I mean by that? I want you to see it. Go to Philippians chapter 4, look at verse 11. I see. I'm sorry, I said whosoever, I meant whatsoever things. You guys are familiar with this. When you get there, you'll see it. But Philippians chapter 4 and verse 11. says, I both know how to be a base, and I know how to abound everywhere, and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Amen. And you know when I'm talking about whatsoever things up in verse 8, talk about brethren whatsoever things are true, honest, just, ok. So, whatsoever things come into your life, amen. The Bible talks about I know how to be abased, I know how to abound, I know how to have if you will a good attitude in all circumstances. And by the way some people are rich and miserable, and some people are poor and just as happy as can be. Praise God. And so he said, I want to be blessed. It was a bold claim. And many ways, like I said, blessing is a choice. We also need to be careful in judging because God commended him for this prayer. God commended him for this prayer. He said that, and God answered his prayer, if you will. And so in that, he commended him. Yes, you can have it. I want you to be blessed, okay? I want you to be encouraged. Since we're in the New Testament, go to James chapter four. James chapter four. Look at verse 1. James 4, verse 1 says, He's talking about that internal warfare that's going on in each of us. You lust and you have not, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, you fight and war yet you have not because you ask not, and you ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust. Lord bless me, give me what I want, you know, I want chocolate candy. You don't need chocolate candy, okay, I'm gonna give you a blessing though. Okay, and so again, it's attitudinal and being thankful. Jabez wanted to be in blessed, I believe to, if you will, to pursue his other prayers. And we're gonna see that here momentarily, okay. You know, huh, I want you to think about this for a second here. David's fall, you guys know what I'm talking about? Happened at the most blessed point in his career. Amen? He had everything. He had wives, he had victories, he had wealth, he had everything. Amen? But he didn't have the neighbor's wife. Okay? And was the fall great? Oh, man. Why? Because his attitude was, well, I don't have enough. No, no. The Bible tells us having food and raiment therewith to be content. And I'm just telling you, learning to be content is one of the greatest gifts that we'll ever give ourselves. And so he said, bless me, but he's not saying it so he can consume it upon his lust. He's saying, bless me so he can answer the rest of the prayer. So let's go look back at our prayer again. So 1 Chronicles 4, verse 10. He says, bless me, okay, in verse 10, and Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed. Why? And enlarge my coast, okay? Now, you can't take a look at that and say, give me more property. No, he's literally, in a sense, I believe this. He's saying, bless me and give me greater influence, okay? The more that you have, the greater enlarged coast, if you will, more opportunities, if you will. And so I believe that's what he's talking about. It means enlarged borders meant enlarged responsibilities, okay? I'll turn there, you don't have to turn there, but in Proverbs 14, four, you can turn there if you want to. But Proverbs 14, four. The Bible says this, it says, it says, where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increases by the strength of the ox. I love that verse. You guys, how many of y'all have memorized that verse? Listen, how many of y'all love having a clean house? These stupid kids have messed up this house again. Well, don't say that, by the way. That's a bad way to say that. These children that I've been blessed with have messed up this house again. Y'all with me? But can I tell you this? Isn't it nice having kids in the house? Amen. It's talking about that. It's saying, listen, an oxen makes a mess, but think all the work you can get done with an oxen. Okay, and so, again, that attitude again. You know, we live in a day of labor-saving devices. Would to God that we would long to be used of God. What do I mean by that? Folks, we're getting to the point where everything is leisure and luxury, okay? Young folks, I'm not trying to make fun of you. You guys have to do chores. You have to do chores, do you? Good. Good. I got to ask, is there anybody in here that chores didn't mean a half an hour of work? Chores meant a half a day of work. I'm glad I didn't grow up on a milk farm, I'll just tell you this. Right? And then you have to feed them, and then you have to clean them, and then you have to vaccinate them, and then you got to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you get your chores done. They're like all good. Thank you for doing that. Now get in there and do your homework. And folks, we're living in a day today where It breaks my heart, I'll just tell this illustration, but I mow my next door neighbor's lawn. I've done it for years. I don't ask anything for it. He's a retired preacher. And to be quite honest with you, I believe this in my heart, that if I do things now when I can, that maybe the Lord will take care of me when I need it. I just believe that. I don't know if you believe that or not, but I do. And so, I've always tried to take care of their lawn for them, and they have grandkids that come over and trash their yard constantly. I'm constantly having to pick up, listen, they're too lazy to pick up their trash out of their grandparents' backyard. Now, I've got to be honest with you, if I was their parent, I could address it, but I'm not. I'm their lawn maintenance man. And they have sentences for people who discipline other people's children who are just lawn maintenance men. You all understand my point? My whole point, it grieves me to see how lazy those kids are. You know, the Bible describes a lazy person as somebody who is too lazy to lift their hand to their mouth to feed themselves. And we're getting to the point in our society, young folks, you've got to be thankful your parents make you work. You've got to be thankful for it because you're going to have a skill that most of society doesn't have anymore because people have forgotten how to work today. And so if you will, enlarge my opportunities. You know the thing about having a big garden? A lot of weeds. Y'all with me? And so what he's saying, Lord bless me, I'd love to have a big garden, enlarge my border, amen, in a sense, praise the Lord. Why? Well, so that we can eat everything that comes out of our garden. How many of y'all honestly grow your garden, hope that you get enough out of it that you have to give some of it away to the neighbors? You don't grow it like that? Okay. I have to tell a joke, please forgive me. In August, if you see a man buying zucchini, what are you looking at? You're looking at a man that doesn't have a friend in the world. You all understand? And so my whole point is he's saying, Lord bless me indeed, enlarge my opportunities, my responsibilities. Enlarge me. Listen, how many people today say enlarge me, expand my, I'm so busy. By the way, how many people say that today? Everybody says that today. we probably wouldn't want to compare with our great-grandfathers. Amen. We probably wouldn't want to compare. And so he says, expand my opportunities. And then, back in our text again, to receive. necessary help from God. Because notice what he says in verse 10, he says, "'Oh, that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand may be with me.'" Finish this verse with me, "'I can do all things through which strengthens me.'" You know what he's saying? He's saying, Lord if you're going to expand my blessings and my opportunities would you also expand my help? Okay, would you also expand my help? And I'll promise you this, if you have one child, you need God's help. If you have two, you need God's help. If you have five, y'all with me? And so the whole point is this, is I can do all things if you'll help me. Have you ever looked at the context of that verse? Philippians 4.13, let's go back and look at the context of that verse, okay? Philippians 4.13. And look, just real quick here, in verse 10. The Bible says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity, meaning you cared about me, but you couldn't help me at the time, okay? He says, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. How many of y'all think that he's living on top of the world with that million dollars in the bank account right now? No, he's saying I've learned to be content, meaning I've done without and I'll continue doing without. Okay, verse 12, he says, I both know how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere in all things. I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He's literally saying this, Lord, I've been given these opportunities, I've been giving these blessings, but it has impoverished me in some way. And can I just tell you, I've had many people today come up to us and say, boy, we hope you guys have a good time on vacation. Can I tell you how encouraging that is? I just tell you, it's been very encouraging that people come and say, man, we hope that you have a good, refreshing time on vacation. And it just encourages, why? Because man, sometimes you get tired. You all understand? I know how to abase and I know how to abound, but I gotta tell you sometimes, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, but why are you tired? Well, it's because you've got expanded opportunities. Amen, expanded opportunities. And so I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. We see here, he says, bless me, expand my opportunities, give me the help that I need. By the way, what kind of help do we need from God? More time? By the way, we all have 24 hours, but have you ever noticed that some people can fit more in 24 hours than other people? That's a gift from God. God can teach you to do that. More concern, more money, more works of encouragement. Anyhow, give me the help that I need so that I can deal with these blessings and these expanded opportunities that you've given me, because I can do nothing without him. If ye abide in me, and I'm just gonna cut to the chase, then you're gonna be attached to the root and my strength and my resources, amen? And then I'll help you to bear that fruit that you're desiring to have. Bless me and my opportunities and give me the help that I need, why? Because I wanna take and I wanna live that fruitful life. By the way, I gotta ask this. How many of y'all wanna live a fruitful life for God? Then let me ask this. How many of y'all get tired sometimes? Amen? So how many of us would it be a good idea to maybe pray this prayer every once in a while, okay? I will tell you, I, from a young age, have been in leadership and leadership training and opportunities. And essentially, when you become a leader, you're volunteering to take on more responsibility than everybody else, okay? And when I look out, I see a room full of leaders, because at the very least, how many of y'all would like to lead somebody to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? Lord, bless me, good. Expand my opportunities, good. Give me the help that I need, because I'm gonna need you, good, amen. And so this very prayer could be something that we need to pray, knowing that we can't do anything without him. And then, he says, keep me from evil. Notice what it says back in our text again. In verse 10, the Bible says, And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, that thine hand may be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. How many of y'all think that David would have benefited? By the way, is David related to this guy? The answer is yes, he's of the tribe of Judah. Y'all with me? How many of y'all think David would have benefited to have read this prayer? And maybe on the night when old Bathsheba was bathing on the roof when she shouldn't have been, he could have stopped and prayed, said, oh Lord, would you bless me indeed? Expand my opportunities. Give me the strength that I need and keep me from the evil. Amen? Because very seldom do we preach on the evil that Bathsheba did. Bathsheba was doing something wrong. You all with me? You remember, I believe it's Job said this, I made a covenant with mine eyes, why then should I think upon a maid? I will set no wicked thing before my eyes, okay? And so if you will, he could have prayed right there and said, Lord, keep me from the evil. Why? Well, folks, the devil's out there too. And he sees you're asking for blessings and opportunities and resources. And he said, I'm going to take and put something in his way to trip him up. Amen. And so, you know, do we live in a world today where you got to walk like this? By the way, sometimes I pray while I'm driving. Would you pray for me? Because I feel I feel compelled sometimes to bow my head and close my eyes, and I'm not doing it anymore. But I will tell you this, there's sometimes you just gotta say, oh God, please, take that thought from my mind and help me not to see that. And by the way, you don't wanna be blind to it. Why? You ever thought about this? You don't wanna be blind to it, why? They got a soul. They got a soul. And we could spend our whole life like this. And by the way, it's okay to just take and, you know what I'm saying? Just look them in the eyes, okay? And say, I care about your soul. Amen. But I'm also got a commandment to avoid the temptations, keep away from the evil. And folks, how often do we need to do that? Constantly. If you believe the psychology books, tens of thousands of times a day. Amen. And so, if you will, he says, keep me from the evil. And then last of all, he says this, verse 10 again. He says that that was keep me from the evil that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he, If you will, he was blessed with the heritage. He was given fruit, amen. And it doesn't really tell us much more about Jabez. But I'll tell you this, that's a prayer that the first time I studied for this was a number of years ago, a few years ago anyway. And I remember studying it and I remember for the next couple weeks, I prayed this prayer. And I didn't do it in vain repetition, okay? I don't believe in reading the verse and saying, Lord, apply this to me, no. I thought about the principles, and on a regular basis, I said, Lord, would you bless me? This is part of my prayer life. And to be quite honest with you, now that I'm reminded of it again, I'd like to incorporate it again, why? Lord, would you bless me to increase my opportunities? And if you'll help me, I'd like to bear good fruit. But Lord, to do that, you're gonna have to keep me from the evil one that it grieved me not. Amen. And Lord, let all this be done according to your will. How many of y'all think if he answered that prayer for Jabez, he'd answer it for us? and would to God that we wouldn't just take and look at that and say, oh, it's just some vain repetition, no, no, no. By the way, is vain repetition that said, our Father who is art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, is that vain repetition? Technically it is, okay, if you're just saying it to say it. But if you are thinking, Father, I know where you are, and you're a holy God, Come on now, amen? There's no other gods like you. Would you give me today the food that I need, amen, so I can serve you today? And Father, whenever humans interact, there's just an opportunity for, Friction. There's an opportunity for misunderstandings. There's an opportunity for not getting along. Lord, would you help me to have people forgive me of my trespasses as I am very faithful to forgive them of theirs also? By the way, I don't know how many of y'all went back, but would you please go back and look at that James 4.17, I think it was, where it gave us the seven pillars of wisdom, purity, and patience, and I forget all seven of them. Can I just tell you this, that ought to be something we review in our mind every once in a while too, because we can measure ourselves if we're being spirit-filled when it comes to the things of God by looking at that wisdom chart there. Hey, are these things manifesting themselves in my life? Are these the things that I'm praying for in my life? Folks, listen, I'm glad that God gave us this word. I pray that that's a challenge to you, and I pray that it won't end here, but maybe we'll take this home and apply it to our lives throughout the week. Let's all stand, if you would. Let's all stand. We're gonna sing number 240.