The Will of God—Part III

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Thanks. [00:00:01] Speaker B: Hey, guys. Welcome to Midweek. How you doing? I love midweek. Some days I feel like it's harder to get here than a Sunday. Any amens on that one? It's a little harder to get here. [00:00:14] Speaker A: But something about just being here. I just. [00:00:16] Speaker B: I love it. I love it. We have been in a series. Bread, everybody. Thank you, sir. We've been in the series on discovering the will of God for our life. And I think for a lot of. [00:00:34] Speaker A: Us, we have questions and we want. [00:00:36] Speaker B: To truly follow God and we want to be in his will. [00:00:40] Speaker A: But sometimes it's like, okay, but how? [00:00:43] Speaker B: What does that look like? [00:00:44] Speaker A: What does it mean to do that? [00:00:46] Speaker B: And so we've been kind of discovering. And a couple weeks ago, we talked about the idea that really it is. [00:00:51] Speaker A: The will of God for us to. To seek him first in all things. And always last week or two weeks. [00:00:58] Speaker B: Ago, we talked about the idea that. [00:01:01] Speaker A: It is not behavior modification. [00:01:04] Speaker B: It's not us trying to do all. [00:01:07] Speaker A: The right things, but instead it's spiritual transformation. [00:01:11] Speaker B: You see, Behavior modification. [00:01:13] Speaker A: My husband gave me this line. He said, behavior modification, Sarah. [00:01:17] Speaker B: It's like behavior modification says, I do spiritual. It's gonna be one of those nights. [00:01:29] Speaker A: Spiritual transformation says, I am. And so it's about who we are becoming. [00:01:35] Speaker B: And so today we're gonna wrap up. [00:01:37] Speaker A: This series with looking at. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Something a little bit deeper. And I'm gonna pray to get us. [00:01:46] Speaker A: Started, and then we're gonna go for it. I'm gonna do some teaching tonight, if that's okay. I wanna I tonight and be like, I have at least one thing I can try. So this is going to be very practically heavy tonight. [00:02:00] Speaker B: So there won't be a lot of like, hallelujah. There's going to be more a lot of like. [00:02:04] Speaker A: Okay, I'll. Let's see if I can try it. [00:02:06] Speaker B: Okay, now that you're really excited, let's pray. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Dear Heavenly Father, you are mighty, you are powerful, you are awesome, and you are good. It is my deepest desire that we draw closer to you, Father. I want it to be less of me and more of you. So I pray that you give me clarity of words, clarity of speech, and you help this sermon come to life in the way that you so profoundly spoke it into my heart. In your mighty son's name, we pray. Amen. [00:02:39] Speaker B: Okay, so Jacob and I did a thing most of you might know already, but last Tuesday, we got a puppy. Her name is Honey. Isn't she gorgeous? She is so beautiful. I love her. I told you, all my kids have like, moved out and left me. And I'm an empty nester. So what's an empty nester supposed to do except get herself a puppy? You know what I'm saying? So Jake really did not want to do this. I mean, he really did not want a puppy, but because he is handsome and loves Jesus and loves his wife and wants to serve her. Can I get an amen? Daddy went and got mommy a puppy. Okay? And she is beautiful, she's smart, she's all the things. But I was like, so rusty. Our oldest dog is 13. [00:03:36] Speaker A: So I haven't trained a dog in 13 years. [00:03:38] Speaker B: And I loosely use the term, like. [00:03:41] Speaker A: I loosely trained the older dog. [00:03:45] Speaker B: But I really, really, really desired this. [00:03:48] Speaker A: Puppy to be like a companion of mine. [00:03:50] Speaker B: Like, I envision her riding in the. [00:03:52] Speaker A: Front seat with me. Not with me, but next to me. [00:03:56] Speaker B: I envision her. You know those people that have dog. [00:03:58] Speaker A: Leashes just around their waist and the dog is so perfectly walking next to. [00:04:02] Speaker B: Them and not like pulling them. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Like, I envision honey to be that kind of girl. Okay? [00:04:08] Speaker B: And so like, my desire is I want to train this dog. So I have been watching hours worth of YouTube video training. If you saw my time on my phone, you would judge me hard, okay? You would judge me hard. Because the YouTube videos are hours of hours upon hours. Every free second I have, it's like, how do you train a puppy to not bite? How do you train a puppy to go potty? How do you train a puppy to sit, to come? So it's like all the things. So I just, I've got it in. [00:04:43] Speaker A: My head, she is going to be heaven. She's broke right now. She broke. [00:04:47] Speaker B: That dog broke today. But there's days like yesterday she came to church with me to work. [00:04:53] Speaker A: She showed off to everybody. She didn't have one accident. She came every single time I called her. She was so, so, so good. [00:05:03] Speaker B: But the one thing that every video. [00:05:06] Speaker A: I've watched has in common is that you control how well behaved your puppy is. They don't control it. You control it. And so like, I had to switch my mind frame from, like, she's so. [00:05:21] Speaker B: Cute and I just want her to sleep in bed with me and sleep snuggle. You know what I'm saying? To no, I really want her to. [00:05:27] Speaker A: Be a good girl and I want her to be well behaved. So to be a good girl. She can't sleep in bed with me until 5am okay? [00:05:34] Speaker B: I'm not cruel. So. So I've been trying to train her the right way. [00:05:40] Speaker A: Because I am in control of what this dog is going to be. And when I was thinking about my life, I was thinking we are in control of. Of what our life is now. Don't get me wrong. There's a lot of things that happen in our life that we cannot control. [00:05:58] Speaker B: There's a lot of things that happen in our life that if we could. [00:06:03] Speaker A: Change it, we most likely would. But we are in control of what happens in our life because our life is won or lost in the brain, in the mind. Everything that we go through is an idea of how we think about it. And what gets me is there are so many statistics that really show how much our mind can be against us. I was listening to a lot of psychology this week to prepare for this sermon, and some neuroscientists, and they've got some statistics, but some of them range really high. And I was trying to, like, find their source so I could be sure what I'm telling you. [00:06:50] Speaker B: And I couldn't really find their sources. So I'll tell you what they said. [00:06:55] Speaker A: And then we'll leave with an idea. [00:06:57] Speaker B: So they said 80% of the thoughts. [00:07:00] Speaker A: That go on in our head lean negative. 80% of the thoughts that you think lean negative. So I couldn't find what source was 80%. But here's what I'm saying. The majority of our thoughts lean negative because we have a negativity bias in our head. So a lot of what's going on up here is leaning towards unhealthy without anything. [00:07:28] Speaker B: Without anything. [00:07:29] Speaker A: It's just leaning towards unhealth. [00:07:31] Speaker B: You happy about that? 90% of your thoughts are the same. [00:07:35] Speaker A: As yesterday because they're automatic and they're habitual. [00:07:40] Speaker B: So the majority of our thoughts, we. [00:07:42] Speaker A: Thought yesterday and we thought the day before. And for some of us, we have thought for years and years and years and years, and we've not put it to a test to see if what we're telling ourselves is actually even true. So what that means is that neuroscientists said this by 95% of who we are by 35 is memorized behaviors, emotional reactions, unconscious habits. So let me say this. If 95%. And again, let's say that's a really high statistic. Let's just say the majority of what's going on in our brain is habit. It's not even thought about. It's unconscious behaviors. It just happens. [00:08:29] Speaker B: Like right now I'm moving my hands. [00:08:31] Speaker A: And not thinking about it. [00:08:32] Speaker B: It's just a habit. [00:08:34] Speaker A: You're welcome. But what happens Is okay, so if I want to change something, then that means 95% of my brain is most likely gonna be fighting against me. [00:08:50] Speaker B: Okay, that's huge. And let's say those numbers are off. [00:08:54] Speaker A: Again and they're just bending towards that, then how do you fight what's set up against you? [00:09:02] Speaker B: I heard it. Like, a man said it like this. He said, I want you to imagine. [00:09:05] Speaker A: A forest that is dense and there's. [00:09:08] Speaker B: Pieces you can walk through, but the. [00:09:10] Speaker A: Majority of it you can't walk through because it's so dense that there's, like, bristles and briars, and you can't walk through it. Can't walk through it. [00:09:19] Speaker B: And someone took the time to whack it all down to weed. Whack it, burn it, do all the things. [00:09:25] Speaker A: And they created a path. And over time, animals have used the. [00:09:30] Speaker B: Path and people have used the path. [00:09:32] Speaker A: And it's worn down, worn down, worn down. This is like our brain, when we think thoughts, it is like a path that has been cleared out. [00:09:44] Speaker B: And our mind easily goes to the path. [00:09:48] Speaker A: It easily goes to the walkway. Because it's worn down, we're used to traveling it. [00:09:54] Speaker B: So let's say I have a thought. [00:09:59] Speaker A: Oh, gosh, this is so stupid. And it's the only thing coming to my head. It's so stupid. We'll say it. Forgive me. Don't feel sorry for me. It's so dumb. I already hate that I'm about to say this out loud. [00:10:14] Speaker B: When I was a little girl, a boy in my class got up close to my face, and he was like. [00:10:20] Speaker A: You could do connect the dots on your face, because I have a lot of moles on my face. What grade was I in? Third grade. [00:10:28] Speaker B: Thank you for coming to me right now in this moment. So I've had a thought in my. [00:10:34] Speaker A: Mind, like, don't get too close. You have a lot of moles on your face. People. It looks weird. Like, dumb, Dumb. So dumb. [00:10:42] Speaker B: Okay? But Mama has traveled that path. Okay? I have traveled that path. [00:10:46] Speaker A: And it's been an insecurity in my life. It's so stupid. [00:10:49] Speaker B: Stupid, but the path is worn. Okay, let's say it's something like your. [00:10:57] Speaker A: Parent would say something to you growing up. Like, it was a dad who said you weren't good enough. [00:11:02] Speaker B: And so everywhere you go in life. [00:11:04] Speaker A: You have traveled that path in your brain, and that brain creates this path that is clear, easy to connect, easy to walk through. [00:11:14] Speaker B: And now we're saying, okay, I want. [00:11:17] Speaker A: To change these lies or these dumb. [00:11:20] Speaker B: Things that a Third grade boy told. [00:11:22] Speaker A: Me, why is that affecting my life? I want to change it. Now you're back at square one. Now you're saying, okay, this groove, this path is easy to walk down. I could go down this path, but now I'm going to take a different path. And so what happens is you've got to have some grit, you've got to have some persistence, because everything inside of you is going to be telling you it's uncomfortable, it's hard. Don't clear out the path. Just go back to what you know. And this is why habits are very, very, very hard for us to change. Because our brain is conditioned to go back to what's comfortable. And even though it's hurtful, it's what we know. And so there's some comfort in it. And I don't believe it's the will of God for us to live broken and messed up thought lives. I believe and know. And this is what we're going to get to today. It is the will of God for us to renew our mind. Okay, and we're going to look at Romans 12, and we're going to start at 1 and 2. We're going to make it real easy. Two verses today. Romans 12, 1. [00:12:32] Speaker B: I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, I want to stop there because that, therefore. [00:12:40] Speaker A: Is showing us that something came ahead. So I appeal to you, therefore. [00:12:45] Speaker B: So what is. [00:12:46] Speaker A: Why is he saying therefore? Well, the entire first chunk of this book is the idea of. [00:12:53] Speaker B: This is like a theology word. [00:12:55] Speaker A: But we're smart and I'm going to. We're going to learn it together. And it's called justification. So the first chunk of Romans is. [00:13:01] Speaker B: This idea of you are not saved because you're good. [00:13:06] Speaker A: You're not saved because you've done all the right stuff. [00:13:09] Speaker B: You're not saved because. [00:13:13] Speaker A: You said the right thing. And you're not. Not saved because you're bad. [00:13:18] Speaker B: You're not saved because you messed up. [00:13:22] Speaker A: And did the wrong thing. The whole first chunk of Romans is saying, you are saved because Jesus Christ is our grace. He loved you and he gave his life for you. And it's a free gift, and it is grace. And so all this comes before. [00:13:37] Speaker B: And so now we're here and it's saying, okay, now I urge you, therefore. [00:13:42] Speaker A: Because Jesus Christ has loved you because he's given his life for you, it's. [00:13:49] Speaker B: Not what you can do, but it's. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Because of who he is. I urge you, it says, I urge you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, first time I have ever connected this line in my life when I was reading the scripture. I've probably read the scripture a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot. I've been reading the Bible every year. I read the New Testament several times and I never connected that. What he's saying here starts with the mercy of God. It's important because it's life altering and I don't want to walk past it. The mercy of God is this idea that mercy really what it is when it boils down to it's this idea. [00:14:38] Speaker B: That. [00:14:40] Speaker A: It'S showing compassion to someone in distress. Mercy is showing compassion to someone in distress. So the idea of mercy is often tied to our misery. It's this idea that God has a great compassion and he meets us in it. And when our thought life is beating us down, when our thought life is telling you what an idiot you are or helping you remember so easily the stupid things you've done, when your thought life is messed up and crooked and all those things, here's what the scripture is saying. I urge you, by the mercy of God, I urge you because God is compassionate to you in that misery. He doesn't want you to stay there. He wants something richer and better for your life. He says, so I urge you therefore, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. I literally, when I was studying this, I was like, I have to break apart every word because I'm so like, I've heard this verse a hundred times, but I'm now I'm like, okay, what's a living sacrifice? See, in those times, people would have been really clued in on what a sacrifice was. They would have known what it looked like to give a sacrifice. It would have been normal worship for these people. And so they would have known worship is sacrifice. And you would take an animal or. [00:16:16] Speaker B: You would take, God forbid, other horrible. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Things if your God was messed up. And. But they understood the animal of a sacrifice. And the idea was sacrifice died. And so here he's saying, I want. [00:16:29] Speaker B: You to have a living death. [00:16:32] Speaker A: And it's like, well, what do you mean by that? And so the idea in this is, is this living peace is every single day, moment by moment, week by week, we are saying, God, I'm yours. The idea of sacrifice then is something has to be put to death. Paul's making a point. Something has to be put to death. And what's dying is the idea that I know better, that I know best. So the idea of a living sacrifice is I am day by day, moment by Moment, seeking God and saying, I don't know best. I'm trusting that you do. Day by day, when my mind's running and it's saying all the things and it's doing all the things, I told you what a psycho I was a couple week ago. So you know some of the psycho thoughts that my mind goes. [00:17:37] Speaker B: But you reassured me you were with me. You reassured me that you were equal. [00:17:40] Speaker A: Psychos in your thoughts. [00:17:42] Speaker B: So I appreciate that. Thank you everybody who came up to. [00:17:45] Speaker A: Me and said I was not alone in that. [00:17:48] Speaker B: But here's the deal. [00:17:49] Speaker A: So we are by the mercy of God, in his great compassion, he meets us. In his great compassion, he meets us in our misery and he shows us a compassion. And now, because of who he is, now I want to say, okay, I want to live my life differently. I want to be set apart from this world. I don't want to conform. And this is where the scripture goes on. It says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Do not be conformed to this world. This is where we're going to spend the rest of our time. Okay, what's filling your mind? If I'm honest, I have awesome things filling my mind. I have great morning habits that I spend time with God when I get up, I'll take vitamins, I'll clean up the house, and then I'll kind of go sit in my sunroom and. And I will saturate myself with Bible reading. I'll listen to worship. But if I'm honest, before I get out of bed, I'm scrolling. [00:19:10] Speaker B: Any amens? Okay, come on, people. [00:19:13] Speaker A: Don't leave me up here hanging. [00:19:15] Speaker B: Mama is scrolling. And so now the very first thing. [00:19:19] Speaker A: That'S happening in my head is what's happening on my newsfeed, what's happening on my Instagram. And I'm filling my head and my thoughts with something. [00:19:33] Speaker B: And then I go out through the day, and then we get home and I am tired. [00:19:38] Speaker A: When I get home, I cannot wait to put comfy clothes on, get comfy. [00:19:43] Speaker B: On the couch with Daddy, watch some Netflix. Like, I can't wait. [00:19:48] Speaker A: But the problem is, what is filling my mind? What am I consuming? What thoughts are going in? [00:19:58] Speaker B: And so, too often, too many of us, we are conforming to this world because without even knowing it, the world is forming us without really even having a say. We just blindly do. We often don't even Think about what. [00:20:16] Speaker A: Our downtime looks like. We're just chillin', you know what I'm saying? [00:20:21] Speaker B: And so our mind is getting filled with thoughts. What music you listen to, it fills. [00:20:29] Speaker A: Your mind with thoughts, you know? [00:20:32] Speaker B: I am a music lover, so the music that pumps me up, I'm in it. We dance in our house, okay, we are in it. But the majority of the music I listen to now, maybe it's because I'm 43, but it's worship. In my 20s, it was not the majority. I wasn't, like, blaring worship, mainly because. [00:20:51] Speaker A: It sucked back then. [00:20:53] Speaker B: And now it's just so good. [00:20:59] Speaker A: But what I'm consuming, what I'm hearing, it matters. And so now our house is like, worship is happening. The guys will be working out. Worship is pumping. It is. What are you consuming? Not even paying attention, because it matters. It shapes us. It forms us. [00:21:21] Speaker B: And so when I was looking at. [00:21:23] Speaker A: This, I really wanted to understand, okay, so don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed. I have to tell you one really cool idea, because it stuck out so cool. There's something called the transfiguration in the Bible. And it's this moment where Jesus went to a mountaintop, brought some friends, and it was he transformed. And the word here is the same. And what happened was he shone like light. Everything was the brightest of white. And these transformed words, this transfigured, it's the same concept. And so there's something holy here. There's something spiritual here. This is not something that we can just do on our own. This is something that God does. [00:22:18] Speaker B: It is the work of God in us. [00:22:21] Speaker A: So when we are thinking about transforming our mind, I'm gonna give us some solid tools, and we're gonna work it, because we are in control of our life. [00:22:31] Speaker B: And everything rides or is won or lost up here. [00:22:36] Speaker A: So we are in control. But there's this idea, too, that ultimately this transformation is because God is working in us first. [00:22:48] Speaker B: So when we think about how do. [00:22:49] Speaker A: We transform, we're going to think of it in five ways. I always bring this whiteboard up here, and I'm so bad at it. But we'll try to stick with it. So the first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna ask in prayer, how do you renew your mind? You're gonna ask your best friend in prayer. You're gonna go to God. There is a verse in Psalm 119, and it says, lord, open my eyes that I might behold wonderful things. Lord, open my eyes that I May behold wonderful things. And I heard a pastor say, he prays this every single time he goes to spend time with God. Open my eyes so that I might behold wonderful things. I started praying, God, I want my desires to be your desires. Because there are desires inside my heart that I hate. There are things that I want that hurt me, that do not benefit my life, that do not benefit my family. And I idly go by in day and week and month, year after year. I'm doing these dumb things because my desires aren't aligning with God's. And so I'm going to ask, I'm going to ask my very best friend, father, will you please help my desires align with your desires? Because what happens if it's won or loss up here and my desires start to become God's desires, then my life slowly and surely starts to become more like him. My life slowly and surely starts to be something that is different. And people notice and they're saying there's something different going on here. The younger you are. There's so many young people in this room right now. If you can master this, your life trajectory is unstoppable. And we have the power of a living God inside of us. [00:24:56] Speaker B: You hear me? You have a God who is for you. You have a God who wants something better for your life. You have a God who has given you everything. And we just, we let our thoughts rob us of the life that God wants for us. And so it's time to start asking God, God, let my desires be your desires. God, open the eyes of my heart. Because everything is connected, right? Like everything flows from it. [00:25:26] Speaker A: So we're gonna ask in prayer. And listen. Be specific, be specific. [00:25:34] Speaker B: If there are things that you know. [00:25:37] Speaker A: That you're desiring that aren't of God, maybe it's your anger. Like everything comes out in anger. And so you're processing things angrily. [00:25:48] Speaker B: You're blowing up at your family or your kids or your co workers or. [00:25:52] Speaker A: Your friends, or be specific about it. [00:25:56] Speaker B: If it's your desires sexually and you're. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Struggling with lust and you're struggling with pornography and you're going to things time. [00:26:05] Speaker B: And time and time again. [00:26:08] Speaker A: And you're left feeling shameful and crappy every single time, then you be specific and you ask God to shape your desire to let your desires be like his. [00:26:21] Speaker B: If it's honestly it's just the way. [00:26:24] Speaker A: You are thinking about yourself and it's stopping you, then you be specific and say, God, I feel like a loser and I'm sick of it. Will you let my desires be your desires because you say that I am more than a conqueror. I am not a loser. [00:26:40] Speaker B: You say that I am yours and. [00:26:43] Speaker A: That I am loved and that you are for me. [00:26:46] Speaker B: And so can you help me? [00:26:47] Speaker A: Can my desires be your desires? Be specific. [00:26:51] Speaker B: The next one we're going to look. [00:26:53] Speaker A: At is to renew your mind. You have to replace the lies with truth. But here's the problem. I don't want Internet truth. I don't want self help truth. I want the truth that comes from God. And so when you're replacing the truth, replacing. [00:27:17] Speaker B: We're gonna replace the truth with some lies tonight, okay? In the name of Jesus. Oh boy. Replace the lies with truth. [00:27:30] Speaker A: And we're gonna use scripture. [00:27:32] Speaker B: Now a lot of us go to. [00:27:35] Speaker A: One of two things. [00:27:36] Speaker B: You're a reader or you're not a reader. [00:27:38] Speaker A: Show me your hand if you're a reader. [00:27:40] Speaker B: Show me your hand if you're not a reader. [00:27:42] Speaker A: Okay? [00:27:43] Speaker B: Literally 50, 50 split, maybe the majority, not a reader. [00:27:47] Speaker A: What happens is we go to one of two things. [00:27:50] Speaker B: So I say let's replace the lies with truth and let's use scripture. [00:27:54] Speaker A: You readers are like, yes, let's do it. [00:27:57] Speaker B: And I'll read chapters a day and I'll get lost in it. And there is just something knit in. [00:28:02] Speaker A: You of intelligence and beauty. [00:28:04] Speaker B: And then you non readers are like, girl, I don't read, okay? You're like, I do not read. And I have tried that and that. [00:28:10] Speaker A: Is not making sense to me. So that is just not going to happen. [00:28:14] Speaker B: So we have to live within our. [00:28:15] Speaker A: Gift set but not give up on the concept, okay? [00:28:19] Speaker B: I was not a reader. I never read a book. When I was in high school, all those things, I, I don't even know what I did. But listen, I did not read, okay? My 20s year girl did not read. I was like forced to read here. [00:28:34] Speaker A: At the church because I was on. [00:28:35] Speaker B: Staff in the kids ministry. So I'd like have to read. [00:28:37] Speaker A: My dad would give us like things. [00:28:38] Speaker B: And I'd be like, where are the Cliff Notes? You know what I'm saying? And he would force us. And when I was little. [00:28:47] Speaker A: I love. [00:28:48] Speaker B: Him, but he was, he was smart. [00:28:52] Speaker A: It came easy to him, okay? He was knit with intellect. [00:28:55] Speaker B: And we were little and he would give us articles, then we'd have to read the article and then we'd have to write a paper and share it around the table, you know what I'm saying? Like, that is my dad. He is hardwired for intellect. Your girl was like this is boring. [00:29:11] Speaker A: Okay? [00:29:12] Speaker B: So then I had to find ways to learn, because I will not let let how I'm hardwired stop me and. [00:29:20] Speaker A: Be my glass ceiling. [00:29:21] Speaker B: If we're not readers, then how do we learn? [00:29:25] Speaker A: I'm very visceral. I like to see things. I like to touch things. [00:29:28] Speaker B: So I learned a lot about leading by doing it. I learned a lot about leading by. [00:29:33] Speaker A: Being around great leaders and spending time with them and asking questions. [00:29:37] Speaker B: I learned about leading by reading because. [00:29:41] Speaker A: I did some of the things I. [00:29:42] Speaker B: Didn'T want to do, because I only know so much, and you can only go as far as you know. And so what was annoying was I wanted to know more, but my excuse was, I'm not a reader, and so I had to find ways around it. I'm in ordination studies right now. To become a pastor, you have to know theology. The theology book is like the books I have to read. I have to reread a paragraph more. [00:30:13] Speaker A: Than I can get through. Okay. [00:30:15] Speaker B: It's just like, I don't understand that. [00:30:16] Speaker A: Reread, re, reread, reread. [00:30:18] Speaker B: So I found podcasts that are people. [00:30:20] Speaker A: That I trust and know that talk about theology. [00:30:23] Speaker B: And so now I can learn theology differently. I'm still reading. I'm still going to that book. [00:30:29] Speaker A: But I listen to the podcast because it's good, it's understandable, and it's people helping me digest it. [00:30:35] Speaker B: I go to an ordination studies class. [00:30:37] Speaker A: Where we talk and we learn and we ask questions and we digest. [00:30:41] Speaker B: So we have to not let things just be. [00:30:46] Speaker A: I don't do it. [00:30:48] Speaker B: Deal. I want God to work in us. I want him to renew us. I don't want to be the glass ceiling for my family or my kids or my friends or my future. I want to learn new ideas so that my life can be something bigger and better. So if you're not a reader, listen to it. They have cool voices. I think you can listen to the Bible in Australian. I think my dad listened to Johnny Cash read the Bible one year. Like, you can listen to it, you choose, but don't let it be a glass ceiling because of how you learn. Find ways around it. I am queen of it because I learned very differently than the majority of. [00:31:28] Speaker A: The brilliant people I'm around. So don't let it be your glass ceiling. [00:31:32] Speaker B: So if scripture is how we renew our mind and we learn truth, then find ways to digest it. But here's the deal. I don't want us just to read. [00:31:42] Speaker A: Scripture and check it off. Like, check. I want us to Engage in it. I want scripture to come to life for us. I want it to be, like, all encompassing when I'm reading. And so what happens is when I'm reading scripture, sometimes I do one and two together. Sometimes I say, I'm gonna pray some scripture today, and there will be ideas like lamentations. It says, his mercies are new every morning. And sometimes I get to that part and I'm like, can you help me feel that, Father? Can I feel your mercy? New this morning, there will be scriptures. [00:32:27] Speaker B: Like, by this, people will know that. [00:32:31] Speaker A: You are my disciples. It's how you love, that you love one another. And so then I say, father, can you help me show people who you are? Can you help me to love other people like you? Okay. Am I being boring? [00:32:47] Speaker B: Are we bored? [00:32:48] Speaker A: Are we engaged? Are we tired? Okay. [00:32:56] Speaker B: Should I. Should I hurry? [00:32:59] Speaker A: Okay. Am I insecure when I'm preaching? [00:33:04] Speaker B: The path has been paved, people. [00:33:08] Speaker A: Okay. The number one tool when you are stuck. [00:33:13] Speaker B: Psychology reports it. People have reported our whole life. [00:33:15] Speaker A: This is nothing brand new. [00:33:17] Speaker B: You have heard it your whole life. But I bet a lot of us don't do it. [00:33:21] Speaker A: The number one tool to get you unstuck when you're stuck in your head, to renew your mind. The number one tool is journaling. [00:33:31] Speaker B: Anyone know it? [00:33:33] Speaker A: Who journals in here? [00:33:35] Speaker B: If you're online, type in, I journal. I see pastors do that. [00:33:39] Speaker A: You know what I'm saying? It's fun, though. But our online audience is like double what we have in the room. [00:33:48] Speaker B: So it's the only service we do. [00:33:50] Speaker A: Where online is larger than in the room. So I think it's cool. [00:33:56] Speaker B: So engage with us, you online beauties or whatever camera I'm supposed to be looking at. [00:34:03] Speaker A: We live on autopilot, so most of our life is comfortable. What happens is big things happens and it gets uncomfortable, and that's when we can get stuck. And when you take out a journal and you write down just expressing your thoughts and your emotions, but what I. [00:34:24] Speaker B: Do is I write it to God. [00:34:25] Speaker A: I often write in my journal as a prayer. And listen, your girl, It'll be like January 1st, and then it'll be like April 23rd. Okay. I think. [00:34:35] Speaker B: I think my last journal entry, it. [00:34:37] Speaker A: Was like four months had gone by, and I was like, we're still showing up. We're still trying. We're still doing it. But it's the number way to get yourself unstuck. You don't worry about punctuation. You don't worry about spelling. You are expressing your heart and Your thoughts to God. We got these journals because next week is the week of prayer. Has anyone ever come to the week of prayer before? Okay, so every year, twice a year, we dedicate a week where we say we're going to show up and we're going to pray and we're going to pray as a church. And we offer three times. So we offer six in the morning, noon and 6pm so there's really a time for anybody. And so what we ask is that you just come once a day, dedicate some time to praying, to asking God, to helping him show you the desires of his heart, maybe praying with other people. We'll have sections where you can pray alone. We'll have sections where you can pray together. We have sections where just come. You don't even have to say anything, but you can be around prayer. And this year we're gonna hand out journals. So if you come to the week of prayer, you'll get a journal and you can write in this gorgeous Christchurch journal for free. Yeah, Rachel, is she back there? [00:35:55] Speaker B: She did all the ordering. Nice work. And the idea, our girl. [00:36:02] Speaker A: Journaling, the number one way that gets you unstuck too easy. Am I right? Okay, we're going to go really fast. [00:36:10] Speaker B: Four, Define your why you can read a good book and it'll tell you all about that. I highly recommend the Power to Change. [00:36:21] Speaker A: I talked about this last time. I think he's got some really good. [00:36:24] Speaker B: Thoughts on that and he is awesome. [00:36:27] Speaker A: At helping you create habits that will stick. Power to Change. Craig Groeschel. Okay, one that I want to talk about, because here's what's happened is the last one is we talked about it last time and it's the compound effect. This is changing my life right now. The compound effect is you make one small smart choice plus consistency plus time equals radical change. So the idea is every day you make one small smart choice. This is why it's changing my life, because it feels very doable. So I chose, instead of watching a couple hours of TV at night, I'll often go on a walk and listen to a book. And so I am walking about an hour more than I would most days. And I'm learning a lot faster than I would because that time is now with something good. And I'm going to do it consistently. So sometimes it's at night, sometimes it's in the afternoon. It just depends what my day looks like because of my schedule. But it's the compound effect. One small smart choice plus consistency plus time equals radical difference. The problem Is. And you all know this. Here's the problem. This is what happens. This side. [00:37:57] Speaker B: We're going to say our results. [00:38:01] Speaker A: This is from James Clear book and this is time. [00:38:06] Speaker B: What we expect is let's use exercising. [00:38:09] Speaker A: And losing weight because this is relatable. Unless you're young and strong, then you just wait. Ok? [00:38:19] Speaker B: I'm joking. [00:38:20] Speaker A: You're gorgeous. Okay. [00:38:22] Speaker B: We think that over time our results look like this. So what we expect is we expect. [00:38:29] Speaker A: To see this gradual change. [00:38:31] Speaker B: But what happens is results actually look. [00:38:33] Speaker A: A lot more like this. And so in this in between, he has a name for it. It's called the Valley of Disappointment. That is a name, isn't it? In the valley of disappointment where we are not seeing change, where we're praying but we're still struggling, where we're trying. [00:38:55] Speaker B: To read scripture but it's hard to understand and we've done it for two weeks and now nothing's changing. Your heart's feeling the same. In fact, maybe stuff's gotten worse and. [00:39:06] Speaker A: You'Re in the valley of disappointment because what you're expecting is gradual change that happens like this, but it doesn't happen like that. And this is where everyone quits is in the valley of disappointment. You define your why. Because here's what happens. We are on call in this one life. We are on mission by God. You get one beautiful life. [00:39:33] Speaker B: You get one chance at high school. You get one chance at junior high. And I wish I could go back. And I wish I could be more. [00:39:40] Speaker A: Bold in my faith. [00:39:42] Speaker B: I wish I could be kinder to people. I wish I could have represented God in a better way. [00:39:47] Speaker A: But I had one chance. [00:39:49] Speaker B: You have one chance in your twenties where you're trying to explore and find your own way and find your own like, okay, that was my parents thoughts. [00:39:57] Speaker A: But now what's my thoughts? [00:39:59] Speaker B: You've got one chance. So don't idly live by. Don't be conformed by the world. Sometimes we have to give up what doesn't feel good. No, sometimes we have to give up. [00:40:11] Speaker A: What feels good right now for what. [00:40:14] Speaker B: We truly want later. Okay, I want a Big Mac every. [00:40:18] Speaker A: Day of my life. [00:40:19] Speaker B: I wish I didn't. I wish it was disgusting. I love it. I want it. Okay, But I have to give that up. Because what I want later is a healthier life and a healthy heart. I want to live for my babies. I want my granddaughter to have fun. [00:40:33] Speaker A: And roller skate with me one day. [00:40:36] Speaker B: We got her roller skates. [00:40:37] Speaker A: Da Zaster. Okay. She's two, just turned two and what. [00:40:45] Speaker B: Happens is we give up on the. [00:40:48] Speaker A: Short term because we're not seeing results from fast enough. [00:40:51] Speaker B: We give up, but our mission is too big. Our God is too powerful. Our life is too short to sit on the sidelines. I do not quit because my why is I am his in all things, in all ways, I am His. So I want him to renew my mind. Do I think about quitting a lot? You better believe it. But there has gotta be something that we say, okay, this path has been grooved, but I am going to fight. [00:41:22] Speaker A: To groove this path. [00:41:23] Speaker B: I'm going to fight to have a thought life that is honoring to God. And every day I'm going to make one small, smart choice, and I'm going to be consistent. And I'm just going to seek God and I'm going to pray or I'm going to journal, or I'm going to engage in Scripture and let it be real to me. [00:41:45] Speaker A: And then the question is, what's the end goal? See, my end goal is not specific. My end goal is I'm his. And here's where the will of God comes in. I don't know what it looks like. I don't know what five years from now will look like, but I am his. And every day I seek him and every day I try to follow him. And every day I let Scripture be real to me, engage with it. And so then no matter what happens in my life, I'm his. No rug can be pulled out that's going to take me out because I am his. And so whatever door I take, this is the freedom of Christianity. This is the freedom of following God. There's no one real path. The path is, you are his. And so the renewal of the mind is a following after God. It's a following after God that says, I will not quit because I am chosen. My daughter sent me, or my. My daughter sent me a picture of my granddaughter. And she was lifting with her daddy. And the picture was live, so you can press and hold it and you can watch it. And she was lifting with her daddy and my son Christian. And you could hear the boys counting her reps because she was actually going like this. And you could hear the boys encouraging her like, you got this. [00:43:25] Speaker B: You got this. Go, Selah, go. And so I asked if we could. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Play it live, but I couldn't figure it out, how to do it. But what was interesting is this little girl thought she had all the power. [00:43:35] Speaker B: This little girl, that smile on her. [00:43:37] Speaker A: Face of lifting, of maxing out, you. [00:43:43] Speaker B: Know what I'm saying she maxed out. That was a weight she could not carry. [00:43:47] Speaker A: But it was her father who held the weight. It was her father who helped her do the reps and church. When we renew our mind, it is God's power within us. When we max out, it is his power we cling to. It is his power that helps us produce more reps than we're capable of doing. So don't you dare quit. It is the will of God in your life for you to know how pleasing and good and perfect he really is. Pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you make this come to life. I pray that there is one tool that not just some of us, but every single one of us will try differently. I pray when our mind is an ugly place to be that you will help us, Father. That you are a God of mercy and you meet us in the dark valleys and places of that mind and you show up with compassion. I pray, Father, that you will help us to seek you in a fresh way. We'll ask for your help, that you will transform our mind, that you will renew us, Father, and that our desires will be more like yours. I pray that we won't let anything be our glass ceiling, but we will find ways to learn and grow in your scripture. I pray that our why will be defined because we are yours. I pray that we will do this compound effect and just choose one smart choice every single day. And Father, I pray that your name will be glorified in us. I pray that the world will be changed through us. Because it's in you we trust. It's in you we bow down to. It's in you we surrender that we. [00:45:55] Speaker B: Are a living sacrifice that day in and day out, I come to you. [00:46:01] Speaker A: And I bow down and I say. [00:46:03] Speaker B: Father, I die to myself because I do not know. [00:46:05] Speaker A: So I trust you and your ways guide us. I love you so very much. In your son's name we pray. Amen.