5 Principles to Stimulate Spiritual Growth

Well, according to the Gregorian calendar, we are about to enter a new year, called 2024. I just remember when we were turning to 2000, and some people thought it was going to be the end of the world. Remember that? Computers could not properly use the year 2000, and they were going to collapse, and our economy was going to collapse, and all these kinds of bad things were going to happen. So here we are 24 years later. It's going to be an interesting year. Having a number of wars going on at the same time, and it being an election year, and in a very divided United States of America, I think this is going to be a doozy of a year. But today I'm not going to talk about those things. I'm going to try to be a little bit futuristic, and I'd like to talk about today, I'd like to focus on some things that we can do as individuals to grow and prosper as we long for spring. We're ahead of us the next month or so. There's going to be dark, dreary days. That's why the pagans and the ancients looked forward to the days getting a little longer. Around this time of year, they sensed that, and they created rituals, and they created all kinds of things to celebrate the fact that the days were getting a little longer, and they knew a revolution had occurred, and that eventually springtime would occur. They could plant crops, they could live, and they could thrive in their groups and their tribes. But we know it's a little differently today because we primarily long for God's calendar and the things that it teaches us, and we long for the spring holy days coming up. By the way, they're just a little over 16 weeks away, and that may seem like a long time, but it'll seem more like the blink of an eye, and the holy days will be upon us. So today, I'd like to get us to start thinking about change. We're turning over a calendar. That's going to be a change. We have to write a new year down. If we're still writing checks or we're doing things, it will have to write down, memorize, and write down 2024. So that's a change, and I'd like to get us thinking about change. So in order to do that, today I'd like to discuss five simple, little-known principles that can stimulate growth in your life.

Some of these you may have never heard put quite this way before. Some of these principles, they're used in coaching, they're used in various ways to try to help people to take another step in their lives, to create change in their lives. So let's cover them, and they're all biblical, and I'll refer to scriptures to highlight all of them. The first one is called the do-over principle. Number one is the do-over principle. Let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 25 beginning in verse 1.

Here we're going to see the example of a fine woman who's going to try to attempt a do-over in place of her cranky, foolish husband who's just about to get himself killed.

So in this case, she's doing the do-over for her husband, and we can also do do-overs ourselves in our own lives for things that we do that may not be good or happy or healthy. Let's again take a look at this biblical story. 1 Samuel chapter 25 beginning in verse 1. Then Samuel died, and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him and buried him at his home in Rama. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Puran. He is being chased by Saul. Some would call him an outlaw. Some would just say that he's trying to preserve his life and a group of people who also are enemies of Saul. They've gathered around him and created this group and looked to him as their physical leader. So it says, David arose and he went down to the wilderness of Puran. He's trying to avoid Saul, avoid being captured because he knows he would be killed. Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. And he had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and he was shearing the sheep in Carmel. The name of the man was Nabal. And Nabal means, literally in Hebrew, it means adult. That's not a word we use a lot in English. A fool, someone who is stupid. Imagine your parents giving you a name like that. They had high hopes and you didn't name. But in spite of the fact he might be a fool, he's a rich fool. He's done something right because he's quite wealthy. And the name of his wife was Abigail, and she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance. But the man was harsh and evil in his doings, and he was at the house of Caleb. When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep, David sent 10 young men. And David said to the young men, go to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. So make sure he knows that it's David who has sent you, because David had a reputation. He was well known at that time. And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity, peace be to you, peace to your house, peace to all that you have. Now I have heard that you have shearers. The shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them. Nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. So you're shearing your sheep. We'd like to remind you that we guarded your sheep. No marauders came in and stole your sheep while we were there.

No wolves came and eat your sheep while we were there. We were like protectors for your flock.

And I want to remind you that now that you're shearing your flock, because we have a favor to ask of you. Verse 8, ask your young men, and they will tell you so you can confirm it with those who are out in the fields. Therefore, let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast today. Now we don't know what feast day this was, but that was part of the reason they were there. They obviously wanted a little extra food and so on so they could celebrate the feast day.

Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David. So give as you were able. Give according to the amount of gratitude that you feel, considering the fact that we protected your sheep from marauders and wolves and anyone else who tried to take your sheep.

So when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David and waited. Then Nabal answered David's servants and he said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. Of course, he's implying that he's rebellious against Saul. That's his accusation here towards this man whom he claims he doesn't know who he is, but he has an accusation immediately towards him. Verse 11, Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men when I do not know where they are from? So David's young men turned on their heels, didn't talk back, didn't get smart, didn't threaten him. They just turned on their heels and they went back. And they came and they told him, David, all these words. Verse 13, Then David said to his men, Every man gird on his sword. So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about 400 men went with David. That's a lot of men, and I'm sure more males than little Nabal had in his plantation or wherever his land was. 400 armed men who were experienced in war are ready to give a very strong message to Nabal. And, aside from the 400, 200 stayed with the supply. So 200 stayed back. Now, one of the young men told Abigail Nabal's wife, saying, Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master and he reviled them.

But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them. And we were, when we were in the fields, they were like a wall to us both by day and night, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. Now, therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household.

For he is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him. That's not a compliment, by the way, regarding Nabal. He is such a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him. You can't tell him anything. He knows it all, is basically what they're saying. So again, in Hebrew, the name Nabal means adult or foolish or being stupid, and his poor communication with David's ten ambassadors proves that his parents were pretty good at naming their children for what they are or for what they were. David's group had protected Nabal's sheep from theft and wolves and predators, and his response was insulting. And it showed a lack of respect for David, and it showed a lack of gratitude for the fact that they had not lost any sheep while David's men were around in that area. Let's pick it up now here in verse 18. Then Abigail, by the way, Abigail in Hebrew means of father's joy, which I think is a pretty sweet name, Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seas, that's about nine U.S. courts each sea, of roasted grain and 100 clusters of raisins, 200 cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Verse 19, and she said to her servants, go on before me, I'm coming after you, but she did not tell her husband Nabal. She knew he would probably attempt to stop her. He wouldn't allow her to do what she knew needed to be done. Why? Because you can't tell him anything. He's an all-at-all. He thinks he's smarter than everyone else. So go on before me, I'm coming after you, but she did not tell her husband Nabal. And so it was. As she rode on the donkey, she went down under cover of the hill, and there were David and his men coming down towards her, and she met them.

Now David had said, surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness. Why did I do that? I don't get any appreciation back. The man lost not a single sheep. We protected them. Why in the world did I do this? Continuing so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him, and he has repaid me evil for good. So you can see that David is still steaming here. Actually, to be honest with you, and he'll come to say this himself, David's overreacting. He certainly was insulted, and he was offended. But to go and kill every male, think of all the innocent people in Nabal's group who had nothing to do. Why should they die? So David's overreacting here, and again, he'll admit that in a little while. May God do so, and more also to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light. Now when Abigail saw David, she hastened to dismount from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at his feet and said, on me, my lord, oh let this iniquity be. That's good psychology, because she's pretty.

She's obviously innocent. She hasn't been arrogant or haughty. And she humbly comes to David and says, I accept the blame. I take the blame. Well, how's he going to blame her? She's cute.

She's obviously a wonderful, kind, humble woman. How's he going to blame her for this?

And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant, verse 25. Please let not my sword regard this scoundrel, Nabal, for as his name is, so he is.

Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. I wasn't there, or I would have intervened earlier, is what she's implying. Now therefore, my lord, is the Lord lives. And as your soul lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present, which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. I want to do a do-over. I want to give these young men the gifts of food, the gratitude that should have been given to them the first time when they appeared before my husband. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. Again, she accepts blame. How can David blame her? For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days. So again, what's Abigail doing here? She's doing it right the second time. She's humbly responding to David the way Nabal should have the first time the 10 young men came before him. Now David speaks, verse 32.

And then David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. And blessed is your advice. What was her advice?

Don't be a hothead. Don't overreact to this situation. There's innocent people involved here, and they shouldn't be harmed or hurt. You're bigger than that, David, is what she's saying. God is on your side. You represent God. You're bigger than petty revenge.

And that's the point that she's trying to give him. Blessed is your advice, and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. You've kept me from overreacting to a situation and causing bloodshed. Verse 34, For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to navel. So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.

Good advice you gave me, and I respect you for the courage for you to come here and take the blame yourself and to do a do-over and respond the way it should have happened the first time.

What's Abigail doing here? She's doing a do-over. She was humbly asking David for a second chance.

In this case, in this story, she's asking for a do-over on behalf of her foolish husband. But do you realize that we as individuals can ask for a do-over for our own actions? This simple principle is actually an extension of repentance. Let's take a look at biblical repentance. What do we do?

We have God's Spirit. We say something. We do something that's sinful or stupid or silly, offensive to someone. We go to our Father and we ask forgiveness. We repent, which means we are going to work very hard not to do that again. We are asking God, in essence, repentance for a do-over. Jesus Christ accepts our sin. It's put upon Him. We are forgiven. We are given another chance.

Well, we can also do that in relationships. Ever do anything or something really dumb and within minutes or perhaps seconds you wish you could call it back? You say something to your spouse. You say something to a church member and you do something. And as soon as you do it, you think, oh, that was bad. I shouldn't have done that. Well, instead of allowing yourself to get swallowed up in guilt, shame, self-pity, or instead of trying to justify what you did, take a few minutes to think about how you should have handled the situation. Then go back to the person and ask for a do-over. Ask for a second chance. You say something to your spouse that's offensive, sharp, hurtful. Say, I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that. You know, I have a client, a Medina, a man that I'm his business coach, and he sets such a good example that I've seen over the years because he does not string sentences together really well. He's a wonderful man, big heart, but his words always come out harsh or kind of offensive. But he usually catches himself and he says, I'm sorry, let me rephrase that because he realizes what he said came across wrong. In other words, he oftentimes is asking for a do-over and then he will rephrase what he should have said or what he intended the first time. And if we send out an email that's sharp or offensive, if we say something to someone at work or someone in the faith or someone in our family that's hurtful or offensive, there's nothing wrong with saying, I'm sorry, I want to take that back. Let's rewind the clock a minute. I'd like to rephrase that and put that in a different way, in a better way. You'd be amazed at how well this works. It's almost like having your own personal time machine that gives you the power to go back and make something right that was wrong or soothe over something that could have been taken offensively and make it better. So I think it's important for us to think about a do-over and try to begin demonstrating do-overs in our life when, again, and usually it doesn't take long, more than a minute or so, we think about something we said or we think, just go back to that person immediately and say, you know, I'm sorry, I'd like to take back what I said and I'd like to rephrase it in a different way. I'd like to make it right. And if we're willing to do that, we can save most of our cherished relationships and we can build upon them, especially if we're like a nayball and we say something foolish, or if we're like a David and we overreact, as many of us do as husbands sometimes, ask for a do-over if you've said something that's harmful or hurtful and take it back and then rephrase it in a way that's far better and will help the relationship. So again, that was principle number one, the do-over principle. Principle number two is the simple principle of good decision-making. Good decision-making. Let's go to Genesis chapter 39 and verse 4. Genesis 39.4.

The simple principle of good decision-making. Now we're picking this up here. Joseph was a slave and he'd already been through a number of experiences. Eventually he ends up at Potiphar's house who's an overseer to the Pharaoh, a very important man, and he is promoted to be the overseer of his entire home, his property, the man in his home. He is so good, so organized and so efficient. He's basically doing everything for Potiphar. He doesn't have to remember a thing. He doesn't have to worry about a thing. He is the ideal manager of Potiphar's household. So Joseph found favor in his sight. Of course, God granted him favor. In spite of the trials and afflictions that Joseph's going through, God continues to bless him with favor over and over again. Then he made him overseer of all his house and all that he had put under his authority. And so it was from time to time from, I'm sorry, so it was from the time that he made him overseer of his house and all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for David's sake. And the blessing of the Lord was in all that he had in his house and in his field.

Verse 6, Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Again, Joseph can do it all. His manager par excellence, organized, he's got every need taken care of. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, and it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph. And she said, lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, look, my master does not know what is with me in this house.

He has committed all that he has to my hand. In other words, my master trusts me.

He's everything in this house. I'm allowed to manage and control. There's one exception, and that is you or his wife. But he trusts in me, and I'm not about to violate that level of trust.

Verse 9, There's no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? Remember, this is long before the Ten Commandments are given in Mount Sinai. God's law is eternal, and the act of adultery is spiritually represented by worshiping false gods, other than the true God. But in a physical sense, we know the act of adultery is when someone who is married commits a sexual act with someone who is not their partner, not their spouse.

So again, I want to emphasize the Ten Commandments weren't forced long before Moses was ever given the Ten Commandments. Adultery was a sin long before it's mentioned in the Ten Commandments. And so it was as she spoke to David day by day that he did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her. We can say that he was smart enough to know that he shouldn't be hanging around her.

Now, it doesn't say what her appearance was, but I think it's fair to say that if she was the wife of someone who was at a high level like Potiphar, that she was probably a pretty attractive woman. Also, being a woman of wealth, I'm sure she had the finest lotions smathered all over her. Smathered? Is that a word? The finest lotions rubbed all over her. I'm sure she had servants who took care of every need. I'm sure her clothes were immaculate. I'm sure she smelled like a bed of roses, was probably a very beautiful woman. So she had to be very tempting for this young redheaded blood, this young... what's the word I'm looking for? This young Hebrew male who it says was handsome in form and appearance. Now, if you've ever been forced to make a difficult decision in the face of temptation, like he did, or adversity, if so, you might have discovered the truth of this particular small piece of wisdom. And here it is. Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion. I'm going to repeat that. Never, ever make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion. Now, I'm sure he was attracted to her, but he took himself out of that environment. He got to the point where it says that even though day by day she would... Oh, hi, Joseph. You want to play Parcheesi? You want to play Yahtzee with me today? He got to the point where it says that he refused to even be with her, and that was because she was tempting and he didn't want to make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion, like physical attraction, like love or like lust. This simple principle of decision-making can be applied by never making a major decision either under stress. That's one way, because that's an emotion.

When we make a decision under stress, it's a temporary emotion, and it's probably going to be a poor decision. After a bad day, you have a bad day, everything went wrong. That's not the time to make a permanent decision. How about when you're tired or when you're hungry? You know, in major food stores, the suppliers of food pay big bucks as a premium near the checkout aisle to have their foods on the shelf. Why? Because people who are shopping, who are hungry, will overbuy more than they need. They will buy more than they were planning on buying because they're hungry.

That's a temporary emotion. And oh boy, this looks good. Yeah, I'll just add this tonight. Oh yeah, these donuts really look good, so I'll add these 48 to my shopping list. So an example, again, is even when you are hungry to make sure that you're not making a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion. You know, there's a lot of wisdom to the old saying that I'm going to sleep on it before I make a decision on something. Because when you sleep on it overnight, that emotion, when that offer was made to you, when something could have been done spontaneously, but you halted it, that night's sleep will change your perspective. When you wake up the next morning and you're no longer experiencing that temporary emotion of when that offer was made on this car deal, I'm going to give you a one-time take-it-or-leave-it one-time deal on this car, and it'll never be offered again, except for 10% less tomorrow morning when you come back. But again, the point is never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion. When you sleep on it, tomorrow it'll be separated from that emotion, and things will look very different. Another bit of wisdom, by the way, is when you were very angry at someone or something, always allowed 24 hours before you get something off your chest. Because if you say something that if you're just really fuming, if you're furious, if you're peeved, if you're really angry and you're about to say or do something, you may be making a permanent decision based on the temporary emotion of anger.

Give yourself 24 hours, and surely, if it needs to be addressed, talk about it, and bring it up again in 24 hours. But the point is, is after 24 hours, as David learned, we'll cool off a little bit. What we might say is strong, but it won't have the same hurtful edge as it will when we're spontaneously responding back to someone out of anger or frustration.

So allow 24 hours before getting something off of your chest. So again, that's the simple principle of good decision-making. Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion. Give it a little time. Pull yourself out of that emotional state and be rational and think about the consequences before you sign on the dotted line. All right, the third is the principle of changing your glasses. This is a metaphor, not literally changing your glasses, but the metaphor of changing our glasses. 2 Kings chapter 6 and verse 11. If you'll turn there with me, 2 Kings chapter 6 verse 11.

In this biblical account, the king of Assyria finds out that Elisha is telling the king of Israel all the plans that the king of Syria has been thinking about. The prophet's going in and he's saying the king of Syria is going to do this, he's going to do that, he's going to do this. So he's considered a spy by the king of Syria and he decides to send troops to seize Elisha. He's going to take care of the spy, probably kill him. Verse 11. Therefore, the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing. Another episode where like a piece is on a chess board, the king of Israel, always knew ahead of time what the king of Syria was going to do.

And he called his servants and said to them, will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? Who's the spy? Won't you tell me who's leaking what I'm going to do to the king of Israel?

Verse 12. And one of his servants said, none, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet, who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.

Now, wow! I don't know if he had a harem or not, but that could be quite dangerous. Verse 13. So he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and greet him. And it was told him, saying, Surely he is in Dothan, and therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there. He's going to seize Elisha, bringing him back to the king of Syria, probably be questioned, tortured, and killed.

It says, And they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of the lord rose early and went out, there was an army surrounding the city with horses and chariots.

And his servant, Elisha's servant, said to him, Alas, my master, what shall we do?

And so he answered, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed, and he said, Strike this people, I pray, with blindness. And he, that is God, struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. You see, the servant of Elisha was not seeing things clearly. He was missing out on a spiritual dimension. He was like most people who live on earth today. They see the world like cyclops, one dimensional. The only thing they see and understand in this world is the physical, the secular. It's what they can determine through their senses. For you to be able to see life in existence in stereo, you have to not only be able to accept reality and physical perceptions, but you also need to have a spiritual dimension.

You need to have a connection with God, and that's what gives you the full totality of the meaning of life in your existence when you see things in stereo. And that's exactly what's happening to this young man here. He only saw things from a physical, secular viewpoint. He needed to change his perspective. He needed to change his glasses. People who wear glasses, and I certainly did for most of my life, know what a change in prescription can do. Sometimes it's required.

And, you know, we have the same glasses for two or three years. Pretty soon we're not seeing things as sharp as we used to. We go to the doctor, and he's going to crank up the prescription a little higher for us to be able to see clearly. Sometimes that's required to allow us, if we wear glasses or corrective lenses, to see more clearly. Sometimes we need to do the same thing mentally. We need to do the same thing spiritually. Your thoughts and emotions may cloud your judgment and your vision. And when that's the case, and you sense that you're not seeing the world clearly, or you're not seeing a situation clearly, you need to, again, this is a metaphor, change your glasses. That is to change your perspective. This technique is rooted in something called cognitive psychology. And you can apply it by writing down your thoughts, by saying, I'm going to write down, I'm going to take some time here in a piece of paper, and write down what I'm feeling and why I think I'm feeling this, and the questions I have, and the things that I'm struggling with, that can be very helpful. That's why some people keep a journal. You can also do this by talking to someone you trust, by getting a reality check, sitting down with someone you're very close to, and saying, I want to open up with you that something that's bugging me, or a perception that I have that may not be right, it may not be biblical, it may not be balanced.

Here's how I feel. Here's what I'm experiencing. Here's my perspective. What do you think?

Is it good or not so good? Is it healthy or is it destructive? So we can talk to someone that we trust for a reality check. Another thing we can do is amazing things happen when we begin to fill our mind with positive thoughts, rather than dwelling on negative self-talk, as so many people do. So again, by occasionally changing your glasses, you'll learn to remain balanced and optimistic, creating healthy emotional consequences. Okay, let's take a look at principle number four, a short one. The principle of recognition. Principle of recognition. Matthew chapter 16 verse 13.

Matthew 16 verse 13.

Years ago, a gentleman named Ken Blanchard wrote a very popular book. It might have been the 1960s, which I know I know is before many of you were born, so go ahead and rub it in.

But the book was the one-minute manager, and the whole theme of the book, the real crux of the book, was when you're a manager, walk around the office and catch people doing something right.

Instead of being like the usual manager, critic, always pointing out, you know, everything they do wrong, find them doing something right and compliment them on it. Let them know that you noticed. And this is the principle that Jesus followed, in this case with Peter, when Jesus came to the region of Tiseria Philippi. He asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, some Jeremiah, one of the other prophets. He said to them, But who do you say I am?

Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered, and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, who is in heaven. And I also say this to you, that you are Peter, and on this rock, Jesus is referring to himself, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So he's telling Peter he's going to have a significant part to play in the early foundation of the church.

The principle of recognition is simple and is highlighted in this scripture. The default setting most people have is to focus on what a person does wrong. But when you practice the principle of recognition, you focus on what a person does right, and you make a point to commend the person for those positive actions sincerely and specifically. And Jesus knew all of Peter's faults. As a matter of fact, a few verses later, he does chew Peter out for something Peter says that is wrong. So Jesus Christ had that capability when it was necessary, but by default he practiced the principle of recognition. Why should we do that? Because it encourages people to build positive behaviors. It builds trust. They feel safe. They appreciate being in your presence. It makes it easier for the person to receive constructive criticism later on, because they see you as someone who's looking out for them. As someone who's helpful, not harmful, they know that you have the best intentions of your heart because usually you're complimenting them. So you have credibility when occasionally you have to sit them down and say, we need to talk about something. So look for the good in others and practice the principle of recognition rather than always being a critic or too judgmental. All right, the fifth principle, final principle, is called the Great Pyramid Principle. The Great Pyramid Principle. Let's go to 1 Kings chapter 5 and verse 13. 1 Kings 5 verse 13. Solomon is building the first temple in Jerusalem.

I'm using this as an example because the Great Pyramid is not mentioned in the Bible, but I will mention why it's called that principle in just a few minutes. This is a good parallel, though. In a smaller way, it parallels the same principle. Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel, and the labor force was 30,000 men, and he sent them to Lebanon. So this is just 30,000 that are rotating in the Lebanon where there are cedar trees and there's other things that are being sent. This is, you realize, the temple was an international build. People from Syria and Tyre and Lebanon were involved, as well as the people of the nation of Israel. So he sent 10,000 out of that 30,000 a month in shifts, where there was one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adiram was in charge of the labor force. Solomon had, this is on top of the 30,000, 70,000 who carried burdens. Those were the people who just did what we would call today the grunt work, and 80,000 who quarried stone in the mountains. That was more of a skilled, high-level job. And besides 3,300 from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies who supervised the people and labored in their work, 3,300 managers or supervisors, supposedly. Verse 17, and the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, hewn stones, and the latest foundation of the temple. Verse 18, so Solomon's builders, high rooms builders, and the Gleeviites, that's a Syrian port, that was known for its stone masons, quarried them, and they prepared timber and stones to build the temple.

So we can see here that building the temple is a pretty massive undertaking, isn't it? If my math is correct, over 183,000 people, according to these verses, worked on the temple, and this included, again, international help from Tyre and Lebanon and Syria.

So they're all involved in the building of the temple as well. They all had talents that King Solomon tapped into. All right, chapter 6, verse 1. And it came to pass in the 400th and 80th year, after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month that he began to build the house of the Lord.

Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was 60 cubics, its width 20, and its height 30 cubits. Let me translate that into some things that we might understand a little better. So the inside ceiling was 180 feet long. That's quite long. 90 feet wide, 50 feet high. The highest point in the temple was about 20 stories, or about 207 feet. So I tried to translate that from cubits into something that we might be able to relate to. So Solomon, in the fourth year of his reign, was when the building began. So how long did it take?

Let's drop down to verse 37. In the fourth year, the foundation of the house was laid in the month of Ziv, and in the 11th year, in the month of Bull, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details, according to all its plans.

So he was seven years in building it. But Solomon took 13 years to build his own house. So he finished all his house. So we're talking about 20 years total. We have seven years to build the temple, and then we have, I'm sorry, and we have 13 years to build his own house. That doesn't mean his own house was bigger or better than the temple. He just didn't work on it as feverishly as he did to finish the temple.

Interestingly, even though it's on the Temple Mount, his palace, it's debated where it is so demolished that scholars debate where it was located on the Temple Mount. There's no evidence that this beautiful palace that he built, very close to the original temple, I mean, at least we have remnants of the original temple and then the temple that was built on top of it before it was destroyed. But Solomon's palace is a mystery, even though it took 13 long years to build.

So chapters five and six detail all of the planning and work that was required to build the original temple in Jerusalem. Again, it took seven years to build the temple, took another 13 years to build his own palace, a total of 20 years of building between those two structures. That's a long time. And the temple was completed about 957 BC, or about 2980 years ago is when that first temple would be completed. So I wanted to bring that this kind of a small analogy to what I'm about to talk about regarding the Great Pyramid and this principle of thinking about the Great Pyramid.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid, and it served as the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the fourth dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It was built about 2570 BC. That's 4,594 years ago. That's a long time. Whereas the temple, the original temple was built 2980 years ago, the Great Pyramid is much older. It was built 4,594 years ago, and it took 27 years, not seven, not 20 including the palace, but 27 years to complete.

The Great Pyramid is the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the only wonder that has remained largely intact. The other six of the seven ancient wonders of the world, they're not there. But this is still there. You can go and see it, and your jaw can drop as you look at the immensity of this Great Pyramid of Giza. It consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks. Think about how many that is. Approximately 5.5 million tons of limestone, 8,000 tons of granite, 500,000 tons of mortar were used in its construction.

As to the question of how over 2 million blocks could have been cut within Khufu's lifetime, there's a stonemason named Frank Burgos who conducted an archaeological experiment based on something that was discovered in 2017. In 2017, they discovered an abandoned quarry of Khufu that literally had an almost completed block for the pyramid and tools used for cutting it. They had been discovered including copper chisels and wooden mallets and ropes and stone tools. Now that's important because for many, many years people said, oh, aliens had to create the pyramids, right?

Aliens came to earth and some supernatural thing they did created the Great Pyramid because it was impossible for human beings. Well, the discovery of this site shows an actual workshop where this was actually taking place.

So what this gentleman did is, Frank Burgos, in an experiment, he created a replica of these blocks and he cut a block weighing about two and a half tons, the average block size that was used in the Great Pyramid. And to do that, it took four workers four days with each working six hours a day. It must have been modern people because I'm sure you didn't work that little in ancient times. Anyway, it took them four workers four days each working six hours a day to make a block. So initially, the slow progress was then sped up six times when the stone was wetted with water. So duh, they cut a lot easier. I mean, if you're cutting metal, you usually use an oil to make the metal cut faster so it doesn't get overheated. They discovered that rather than that when you put water on it, you go, it cuts a lot faster. So that's on this get six times as fast when it was wetted with water. Based on the data, Burgos extrapolates that about 33,500 quarrymen could have produced 250 blocks a day needed to complete the Great Pyramid in 27 years. Well, that's a lot of information, I realize that. But what is the Great Pyramid Principle? Here it is. Whenever you start a new project, I want you to think of Solomon's Temple or think of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Here's the principle. Great work can't be rushed. Now, this principle, the Great Pyramid Principle, doesn't excuse laziness.

It's not saying, oh, something should take a long time, so I'm going to procrastinate to the last minute, right? Or I'm just going to take 50 years to do something that would take me 20 minutes to do.

That's not the point of this principle. Rather, it's a reminder in the kind of world that we live in today of instant gratification, instant coffee, instant breakfast, quick fixes. I see articles and behavioral hacks, seven hacks to make your day better, meaning quick, cheap little tricks to try to make your day better. We lived in that kind of world. Everything is instant. Everything is a quick fix. Everything is a hack. Everything is some trick. This principle reminds us that it can be tempting to try to move quicker than you should, but we need to realize again that great things take time. And instead of trying to do things quickly, half-fast—I wanted to make sure I pronounced that correctly—half-fast, or seeking something instant, or a quick fix, then instead of that, we should realize that great work that endures—like the Great Pyramid—cannot be rushed. And that includes your life and your growth in Jesus Christ. It can't be rushed. Instead of looking for quick fixes and tricks and hacks, we need to schedule sufficient time for the project. And that means prayer and Bible study, Sabbath attendance—because we can't fellowship. It's just sitting on Zoom all the time. Zoom is a great tool, and I'm glad that we have it for those who need, who are not feeling well, or for legitimate reasons can't attend with us physically. But there's nothing like fellowshiping with one another. There's nothing like actually being here during a church service.

So scheduling sufficient time for that project, whatever it may be—it may be a project you have in your life—to break it down in the manageable parts. Did you know that's why most goals fail?

People don't take goals and break them down into manageable parts. They just declare a goal. They might even write it down. They started it. Oh, it seems, oh, so overwhelming. They get started, and they quit. Quit within a week. Think of the millions of so-called New Year's resolutions that will be made shortly. I'm going to lose 30 pounds, right? I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that. And virtually all of those will absolutely fail these resolutions because people will start, and they'll get discouraged that they don't see instant results because they didn't break it down in the manageable parts. Stepping stones. You do one small thing. You feel satisfied. You got that done. Then you step onto the next stone, and you do it one step at a time, and pretty soon you've got that large project licked, and you've totally got it done. And this also principle reminds us to start as early as possible on any personal project that we have so that you can continue building on it and improving it and tweaking it to make it as good as it can be, especially if you have established a deadline for that project. Well, brethren, I'd like to read a final scripture in closing the sermon today. I'm going to read Colossians chapter 1 verses 10 through 12 from the new international version. So here it is. This is what Paul wrote, and we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. So as we prepare to go into this new secular year called 2024, let us do so enthusiastically, even though we have some rather ugly winter days ahead of us. Let's stay positive. Let's continue focusing on our growth. Let's continue growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord as we prepare down the road for the spring holy days and begin thinking about the things that God wants us to ponder and meditate on. So I wish all of you a wonderful and fulfilling Sabbath day.