October 11, 2025 • 50 mins
This month on the Blue Chair Podcast Pastor Jared and Charles invite a special guest and talk about what it means to find God's will for our lives. Is it a big plan that God has made for us to follow or is it as simple as taking another step? Check out this episode to find out!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:16):
Welcome and thanks for joining us on the Blue Chair
Podcast, brought to you by FreshWind Church.
Each month, we discuss thelatest sermons from the
perspective of the Blue Chairs.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Hello and welcome to the Blue Chair Podcast.
I am Pastor Jared, and with me,as always, we have Charles
Magar.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
How's it going?
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Good.
And today, as our special guestand a special treat for
everybody, we have Mrs.
Katie Curtis.
Say hello.
SPEAKER_03 (00:43):
Hi, everybody.
SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
You know, when I told Allison you were gonna be
on the podcast, her reaction waslike to shoot her head up and
look at me, and she was justlike, that is a great idea.
SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
Yeah, Erica said the same thing.
SPEAKER_03 (00:54):
Wow, these expectations are high.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
Yeah, so you better come up with something real
good, maybe super theological orsomething.
SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Absolutely.
You know what?
I will speak my heart.
I can give you that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03):
Good deal.
So what we're talking abouttoday is the lot the series that
we went through in September, Ibelieve.
Do I have my months right,Charles?
SPEAKER_02 (01:12):
Yeah, September.
SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
Um, so our September series, it is called God Just
Tell Me.
And so what this whole series isabout, just a quick overview of
it, is finding out what God'swill is for you.
How do we do that?
Um, how can we mess up at that?
What's the what's the realquestion we should be asking
when we're searching for God'swill?
And honestly, I think um PastorTim and Ryan did fantastic.
(01:38):
I think they kind of pulled usto the main point um that we
need to keep an eye out for whenwe are trying to find God's
will, and that is not so muchwhat we're doing, but how we're
doing it and who we are whenwe're doing it.
Right.
I say that, then Charles juststares at me.
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
I didn't know if you were going somewhere with that,
if that was leading intosomething else, or no, just
open-ended.
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
But um, the to kick us off, let's look at week one.
Uh, Ryan kind of explained to usthe four aspects of God's will.
So God has sovereign will.
Um, it is God's unstoppablemaster plan for creation.
So, whatever God is saying, thisis going to happen, Jesus Christ
dying, resurrection, um, himcoming back, that's all God's
(02:28):
sovereign will.
There's nothing on the planet orin heaven or on earth that can
stop that from happening.
And then we have moral will.
Moral will.
That's gonna be a hard one forme to say this entire time.
Um, it is revealed in scripturefor how we are to live and treat
others.
This is also unchanging, right?
It doesn't matter what's goingon in our lives, it doesn't
matter what the fat is, um, itdoesn't matter what society says
(02:52):
is good or bad, God's moral willdoes not change.
And I think that's the one.
Let's discuss that a little bit,because I think that's the one
that everyone kind of tends toget hung up on, especially if
they're new to the church.
They're coming to the church,they think things are all right,
they think who really cares ifsomeone does this or lives this
way or does these things, butGod says it's wrong.
(03:14):
And so that change in thought iswhat I think a lot of people
might get hung up on, puttingGod's will before our own.
SPEAKER_03 (03:23):
Okay.
So scripture teaches us that umin this area, especially, uh,
there's obviously some clear-cutthings the Bible says, you know,
do not do this, do not do that.
We also need to remember thatthe Bible says that what we're
doing is leading our brother tostumble, that we need to be
cautious in that area of ourlives too.
So I hate to say that it can beup and down on how moral will is
(03:46):
addressed in our lives, but foran instance, you know, if if you
have a brother that's strugglingin an addiction to something,
um, he's telling me to movecloser to the mic, but I have a
pretty big mouth.
So I'm looking at your way fromit.
You can't hear me.
Um so you know, if someone'sstruggling with addiction, I may
not go and um participate indrinking a drink of wine, right,
with that person.
(04:07):
So um I I think there's veryclear-cut things in moral will.
And I think our society today umreally lacks that moral will.
Um, we've more and more, I thinkit's the enemy's plan, right?
To sneak in all these justlittle adjustments of it's okay
to do this, it's okay to dothat, oh, a little bit more of
this.
You know, it's it's okay to, youknow, be tipsy, right?
(04:28):
It's okay to do this.
I know we're hitting right onalcohol, which is a big topic.
Um, but um, whatever the areais, what we always have to do is
go back to scripture and say, iswhat I'm doing, is it honoring
God?
And is it honoring God'ssovereign will and plan for my
life, right?
Which is the one we talked aboutbefore this, which is to to love
God and to tell others aboutGod, right?
(04:49):
And to to spread the word.
That's that's really theultimate of God's sovereign will
is that Jesus came to save andredeem the world, right?
And so am I loving God and am Itelling others about God?
And that goes into how is mymoral will representing who
Christ is and who I am.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
And so um Tim kind of touched on that.
Uh, I think that was can'tremember which one he talked
about it on, though.
Um, where when you we're talkingabout sin and um how sin with
like personal sin, right?
That there are some things thatGod might call you away from
that aren't necessarily a sinfor everybody else, right?
(05:28):
Like so you could be perfectlyfine having a beer, and you're a
grown man, you have a beer,you're good, great.
Um, but someone else might haveone beer and they can't stop
there.
And so God might call them awayfrom that for that reason.
And that doesn't mean it isterrible for that one person to
(05:49):
have one beer, but what it meansis God might put something on
your life, give you somethingthat's a sin, or explain, put it
on your heart that something isa sin, and you're called to stay
away from that.
And kind of what you said, dear,um, don't make a brother
stumble, it just made me thinkof it.
My mom used to like whisper tome whenever I was doing
something stupid growing up,don't eat the meat.
And it was like a little pointerto I think it's 1 Corinthians,
(06:13):
where Paul's writing and saying,Hey, if you can eat meat on
sacrifice on idols, it doesn'tmatter, it's just meat.
But if it's an issue forsomebody else, don't do it.
You'll be fine without it.
Eat the other meat, you do whatyou're supposed to do.
So I think that's some reallygood insight right there.
SPEAKER_02 (06:28):
Yeah, I think uh me and Erica just had this
conversation the other daybecause it's our society today
is like all about self.
So it's you know, if it's notimpacting me, what does it
matter if I'm doing it aroundthis person?
Because that's not me.
So if it's not bothering me, whyshould I quit doing it?
Um and for me, it's you know,like she mentioned with the
(06:50):
stumbling blocks and what youjust clarified as well, is that
even if it's not a stumblingblock for me, it is for them.
So why, like what benefit is itfor me to do it if it's causing
them to stumble?
And ultimately, in in the grandscheme of things, it would be
way more beneficial to if youwant to do that thing and you
want to do it in the comfort ofyour own home or you know, when
(07:13):
that person's not around,there's more benefit to that
than to cause your brother,brother to stumble.
Sorry, I'm so congested, I'mstruggling so hard right now.
But no, I agree with that.
That's that's good.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
So one that staying on this four aspects of God's
will, the permissive will.
God allows free will, evendisobedience, but it works
toward his purpose.
That's one that's I think can beconfusing.
So let's let's dive into thatone if everyone's interested in
it.
SPEAKER_03 (07:46):
First of all, thank God that we have a merciful
father, right?
Yes.
So um we are a failed mankind,right?
We I make mistakes all the time.
I have to go and apologize andpick them up.
There's times when I've madechoices in my life that in
hindsight I look back and say,wow, that probably wasn't the
best choice, right?
I'm sure we've all kind of beenin that situation.
(08:08):
Um, but because God's plan isalways to restore us to Him,
thank God, right?
Thank God His mercy is so mightybecause I, you know, I joke
around all the time that if Iwas God, I probably would have
just taken out everything a longtime ago and just burned out the
whole world, right?
Because I'm just this the truth.
I think God his mercy is sowide, because we do fail.
(08:28):
He knew that we are going to bea people from the very
beginning, from that pluck ofthat apple from the tree, that
we are going to um to have thesefailures in our lives, including
some of these decisions andguides that are big choices in
our lives.
Uh, but because of God'spermissive will and his mercy,
he can always redirect andreplan back into those when we
(08:50):
come to him, when we confess,when we truly turn away and
choose to follow his way and hiswill, um, that we do have a
direction back towards hispurpose.
And he can use that rather it bea painful learning experience or
it be um you know a redirection,a correction even sometimes to
where we need to be with him.
(09:10):
I will say that we tend to uh inthose moments of despair in our
lives, we tend to grow closer toGod.
It's much easier in thosemoments uh because we realize
that we are a feudal man, right?
That we don't have um theability to do this on our own.
And so thank God for thatpermissive will of God, because
without it, I I would personallybe in a lot of trouble.
SPEAKER_01 (09:32):
Oh, for sure.
And I think I think it wasmentioned in this one how with
this comes along free will, andwe have the opportunity to not
follow God at all.
We can choose to, from thebeginning of our lives, to
reject God and run away fromhim.
And that seems like why would aloving God give people an
opportunity to never know himand the outcome being eternal
(09:56):
separation and how?
Well, what I think is superimportant that they pointed out
was that if you don't have freewill to choose to not choose
God, then you don't actuallylove God if you choose God.
Like if you're forced to lovesomebody, it doesn't mean
anything.
You're a robot at that point,and you have no, there's no like
genuine significance in yourlove.
(10:18):
And it's like when you your kiddoes some something mean and
they're not sorry, but you tellyour little four-year-old, go
say sorry, and they walk overand they're like, sorry, like it
doesn't mean anything.
Everyone knows it doesn't meananything.
You're just teaching a kid that,hey, when you you should be
feeling sorry right here.
That's the main thing thatyou're teaching.
And so with this with thispermissive will, that's where
(10:45):
our like that's the root of ourrelationship with God.
The choice that we have in that.
And I think it's our I am it.
Thank God for that permissivewill.
All right, let's jump around.
What do you got, Charles?
You always got something weekfour out of nowhere.
SPEAKER_02 (11:04):
Yeah, no, I mean, most of my comments are spread
all over the place, but uh Ithink the one I gotta find it.
Um I think it was Bear with me.
No, actually, I think it wasweek four.
Maybe that.
Um I think it was when when Ryanwas giving the three points.
(11:26):
Um, but the one point was weover-spiritualize God's will,
uh, that we expect everything tobe this big spiritual event
instead of just trusting in hissovereign will as it is.
But then he made the commentthat we all ask for an open door
while we're sitting here withclosed Bibles.
Like that that phrase rightthere just punched me right in
the throat a little bit.
SPEAKER_03 (11:46):
I remember that one too.
SPEAKER_01 (11:48):
And then he started singing.
SPEAKER_02 (11:49):
Yeah, I wasn't gonna bring up the singing.
Um but actually, you know what?
SPEAKER_01 (11:54):
At least he's not tone deaf.
It didn't sound terrible.
Yeah, it's significantly betterthan if I was singing for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (12:00):
Yeah.
Um, but I I think that just thatone phrase that we're all asking
for an open door, like this bigsign that he's real, but we
we're sitting here with ourBibles closed.
SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (12:11):
Um, a lot of times I find that the the troubles are
you know, troubles, struggles,whatever it is that we're going
through, like just opening upthe Bible and reading through it
a lot of times in his own word,he's gonna lead you to the
answer in that.
And instead we just sit here andask him, like his examples are
funny, but like the whole makemy door open a little bit, you
know, rattle the blinds on mywindows.
(12:32):
It's silly, but people ask forstuff like that all the time
when the answer's right here.
We just don't open the book longenough to find it.
SPEAKER_03 (12:40):
That's good.
You know, the word of God saysthat faith comes from hearing
and hearing from the very wordof God, right?
So um it really is the realityof how we grow and understand
and are able to connect withGod.
And you know, I I say this tothe students back in uh
children's ministry at the time,just like any other
relationship, if you're notinvesting in that relationship,
(13:00):
you're not going to know them.
And really knowing God's will isis knowing his heart, knowing
what he has to say to us.
And that is his love story.
You know, I people used toalways say the Bible is your
guidebook, which it a hundredpercent is, but really it's his
love story to us of hiscompletion of all that he's
doing and going to do until weare restored fully in him,
right?
(13:20):
And so uh a hundred percentagree that you know, with
without opening up the word ofGod, without talking with him,
you know, I always tell thestudents, you know, who's your
best friend?
You know, and they'll say,whoever it is.
And so you guys don't talk forlike a year, no, don't see each
other, don't you know, get onthe phone together.
Maybe every once in a whileyou'll run into each other or
(13:41):
hear a couple little thingsabout them.
Are you really best friends?
You know, no, of course not.
And that's the same thing withour walk with with God.
We we will our faith, ourability to understand what God's
purpose and will for our life isall connected to how much time
we're spending with him, howmuch we're reading his word, how
much we're investing in ourrelationship with him.
(14:02):
So a hundred percent.
Um hundred percent a kiddo justjumped in here, which is my
favorite part of podcasts whenthere's the interruptions.
Um so uh yeah, I I I that'sreally I think where God's will
is understood is as we know hisheart more and what he wants for
us, and where that thatcondemnation and that daily, you
(14:22):
know, am I doing what is rightkind of decreases as well
because the closer you are toGod's heart, you're going to be
doing the things that he wantsyou to do.
You're going to be following hisdirection, you're going to be,
you know, avoiding some of thoseroadblocks that are coming in
front of us.
SPEAKER_01 (14:37):
And what it's and he points it out all the time, uh
in the entire series, Tim andRyan both, that it's not a
specific thing that God istrying to necessarily get you to
do.
Right?
Like God doesn't care if you'rea dentist or a soldier or a
stunt double, like it doesn'tmatter.
But what are you doing in thatposition?
Like, are you going to thedentist and like as a dentist,
(15:00):
are you going there and are yousharing the gospel?
Are you treating your employeeswell?
Are you doing all of thosethings that God is calling us to
do and how he's calling us toact?
Same thing with any otherposition, uh, any other job that
you may have.
Like, are you, no matter what,have some sort of pedestal
because of people you know?
And are you using that pedestalif you're using that opportunity
(15:21):
to share the gospel, to drawpeople closer to God, to help
others discover more in Christ?
Or are you not doing any ofthat?
Or even worse, are you neglenegative to negative to the
words negligent negligent ornegatively affecting people's
walk with God?
And so we we focus so much onthe what.
(15:46):
And this series kind of reallybrought home that it's not the
what, it doesn't matter.
And I remember I um was lookingat master's programs, and I
talked to Tim about it, and Iasked him, I was like, which one
should I do?
Should I do the like traditionalMDiv?
Or I was thinking about doingthis other thing, and he's like,
Oh, that doesn't matter.
I was like, What?
(16:06):
Like, what do you mean itdoesn't matter, Tim?
He's like, it's a master's.
You got the bachelor's, peoplealready know you know stuff.
Just get to the master's youthink would be more interesting
because that's all 90% of thepeople.
Like, you got to find a realniche group of people to be
like, well, it's not quite an Mdiv, it's more of a it's it's 42
credits rather than 45.
(16:28):
So and so um Tim's been tellingme that forever.
It doesn't matter what you do,just follow God and do what
you're supposed to be doing.
SPEAKER_03 (16:36):
Yeah, and in the end, I think that is the
conclusion of our lives.
We're gonna stand before God andHe's not gonna say, What, what
did you accomplish in this,this, this, and this in the
world of of our you know, ourworkplace or our you know, our
accomplishments.
It's going to be, did you dothose purposes of loving me and
bringing others alongside andloving me?
(16:57):
You know, and I have to remindmyself on a regular basis
because it is there's so much inthe world that you know you the
expectations of of what you'regoing to do and become and
what's the next step.
It's just really what this wholesermon series is about is making
sure you're in the will of God,right?
In what you're doing.
Um, and and making sure thatyou're understanding that that
doesn't necessarily you you kindof said earlier, Charles, that
(17:21):
we are you can get so caught upin the mechanicals of all of it,
the mechanics of all of it, thatwe miss the whole purpose.
That really just being in God'swill is walking in unison with
him and understanding his heart.
You know, and uh this worldtells you you have to have this
much, this type of car, this,you know, a house, this
(17:41):
accomplishments, this degree.
But really, when we stand beforeGod, all of that is futile,
right?
All of that means nothing.
And so I really think that'seven an employee of the enemy to
bring in anxiety and frustrationand um really uh that that
sinful nature of always wantingand not having enough, you know,
in our lives.
(18:01):
And we do have to check back andhere it says a spiritual reality
check on this paper I'm lookingat, but it really is a spiritual
reality check is is this God'sheart for what my life is going
to be?
And you know, by all means, Ithink we need highly educated,
you know, uh Christian workers.
We need highly educated people.
Ryan was joking around and said,we need rich people, you know,
we need we need people that areaccomplishing and being good.
(18:23):
And I 100% believe that Godwants to provide that into
people's lives so that thechurch can move forward in in
the projects and the stuff thatit needs.
But in the end, when we standbefore God, those the questions
he's going to ask is, you know,did you love me and did you
bring others to me?
You know, and so we I think thatcan give us a uh just uh ability
(18:44):
to relax and take a deep breathat times because all this stuff
is just, you know, if iftomorrow we were gone, none of
that would matter.
SPEAKER_02 (18:51):
Yeah, you know, yeah, and I like what you said
because it ties into what Ryansaid.
Um sorry to stick on week four,but that's just where it's at.
He uh brings up Colossians, um,I think it's Colossians three,
but when he's talking about ifwe walk out God's word doing
everything in the name of theLord Jesus, it will lead us into
(19:11):
God's will for our lives.
And then he goes on to talkabout how it's not always an
open door leading us into God'swill, sometimes it's a closed
door.
And then he makes, you know, thejoke about sometimes it's
slammed in your face.
Yeah.
And I I think even in my earlierwalk as a Christian, a lot of
times you are just asking for anopen door.
But if you're not doing thingsin the name of Christ, he's
(19:33):
gonna shut doors in your face.
And quite frankly, like weshould be asking for him to shut
doors in our face.
Like, there's things in ourlives that we need to purge out
and that we need to steer awayfrom.
Obviously, we can't always dothose things on our own.
Sometimes we should be on ourknees asking him, like, there's
an area of my life that I needto close this door and like show
this to me, close the door in myface, let me know.
Um but I thought that wholesection was powerful just
(19:56):
because it is.
It's we get caught up in the me.
Like, I need this, I need that,I need you to just do it for me.
Open this door, but and we'renot asking for what door should
be closed, and we should bedoing that on a more daily basis
too.
SPEAKER_03 (20:08):
Yeah, that's that's really good.
Um, and again, remembering thatthose times of closed doors are
sometimes times of this learningand growing, and God saying, you
know what, right now you'redepending a little bit more on
yourself, you know, on thissituation or on this blessing
than you are on knowing that Iam your substance, you know, I
am your ability to be and existand have joy and peace.
(20:31):
And so uh 100% I believe Goddoes, you know, sometimes even
close doors to help us bereminded that we need to be
drawn back to him and to knowthat he's the one that can give
us all those things that weneed.
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
Oh, for sure.
Yeah, I have to remind myselfit's not rejection, it's
correction.
Like he's not rejecting thething that I want, he's
correcting me to what I need.
SPEAKER_01 (20:54):
Yeah.
I know there was a season in mylife where I had a job where I
just for the life of me, Icouldn't get along with my boss.
Like genuinely struggling withit.
And I was talking to Ryan aboutit, and I must have talked to
him about it too much because helooked at me one day and he was
just like, you know what?
30 days.
I was like, what?
(21:15):
30 days, you just say yes and doit.
Do it his way, switching taskafter you get set up for one, so
what?
Do it, do it his way, don't doanything else.
I feel he's like, I feel likeGod is teaching you just to
submit.
Work, he's working something outof you, and it's good.
(21:36):
And that whole time, likeleading up to that point, I was
just struggling with like I knowI could do more than what where
I'm at.
Like, I know I have more things,and God wants me to do more.
But why am I here?
Like, why are all why is it whyis the door out of this
situation shut?
And right there, I was afterthose 30 days, I was really mad
at Ryan because it was not a funthing to do.
(21:57):
But at the same time, God'slike, I'm gonna work this out of
you because that's not somethingfor me.
That's something from you thatyou're you have pride, you have
whatever, that you need to workout and get out of here because
you need to be able to listenand you need to be able to be
led so that you can lead, and sothat you can be an example to
other people and things likethat.
And um it is it is so important.
(22:23):
It kind of brings intocontentment, right?
We want we want so much more, wewant the big grand job, or we
want the nice car, and we wantall these things, not because we
can give more to the church, wewant those things because they
make us feel good, they showother people that we we're
successful, we're good at whatwe do.
And that's again, that's likekind of like you said, like
(22:44):
there God doesn't care aboutthat.
You're gone tomorrow.
None of that's coming with you.
The only thing that matters iswhat you're doing for God while
you're on earth.
How what job you may have, whatvocation you may have while
you're on earth, doesn't matternearly as much as how you're
doing it.
And like, sure, I think thereare some instances where God has
(23:06):
called people to be a preacher.
And you Tim even got into it,like, right?
God calls you to be a preacher,but you are stealing, or you are
uh just mean all the time.
It's like you go home and yourkids can't stand you because
you're mean all the time.
Is that what God is calling youto do?
Is that the example God iscalling you to set, or are you
(23:26):
discrediting the the callingthat God may have put on your
life?
And I don't know, I'm ramblingat this point.
SPEAKER_02 (23:35):
Well, I liked what you said like about your boss,
because I think I think it wasRyan who talked about it where
he said uh God has placed peopleinto our lives to lead us down a
better path, ultimatelyfulfilling God's plan for us.
But every time it's inconvenientto us that that person's been
placed in our path, we just denyit.
Because like, how could that beof God if it's inconvenient for
(23:57):
me?
But it's understanding thatsometimes those people are put
like we've had this conversationbefore with I forget who it was,
something about they werefilling up bags of food.
I can't remember your wholestory.
But it's the things that in yourmind are people that you've
built this conception that youcan't stand this type of person,
whatever.
But they're constantly being putin front of you in your life.
(24:18):
That's God working out theproblem you have, it's not the
person.
SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
Oh, I see what you're saying.
I know what the story is.
SPEAKER_02 (24:23):
But it's it's the problem that you have.
So there's a problem in you thatGod's placing these people in
front of you over and over againbecause that's the problem you
need to work out.
It has nothing to do with thatperson, it has to do with
something that's in you thathe's trying to work out of you.
SPEAKER_01 (24:36):
Um or in all honesty, it could just not be
God necessarily putting them inyour life.
It could be you're in acommunity or you're in an area
where those be you're gonna runinto those people and it you
just default back to do whatyou're supposed to do.
Love people.
SPEAKER_03 (24:52):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (24:52):
Help others discover more in Christ.
It doesn't matter if it isbecause God's putting them there
or if because it's happenstance.
God's putting people in front ofyour life, and it's your job is
to love people and lead peopleto Christ.
And if there's anything in yourway that is stopping that,
you're running away from God'swill.
Because that's ultimately God'swill.
SPEAKER_03 (25:12):
Exactly.
And it's also remembering thatyou know, we live in a world
that we have these preconceivednotions, and I believe as we're
given more and we have and wehave more blessings, it's easier
for us to look on to things oronto people who don't maybe have
that much.
Um, and sometimes it's becauseof their own choices and their
own behaviors.
And that could be a struggle.
But what's really helped me isto remember that this, you know,
(25:34):
we are we are not at war withone another.
You know, there is a spiritualelement that's in this world,
and and quite literally, youeither belong to him, to our
king, or you do not, right?
There's there's no in middleground with him.
You know, there's no there's nouh warm, you know, we're either
hot or we're cold.
And so remembering that, youknow, some of these things are
(25:55):
also spiritual afflictions thatare happening in people's lives.
They are uh I hate these world,but generational uh teachings
that they have in how they'reliving and how they're they're
breathing, how they're doing,and quite literally, even
spiritual 100% afflictions ofthe devil that are either of you
know oppression or evenpossession of spirits that are
(26:17):
not of our world.
And so I always try to step backand say, all right, God, let me
look at them the way that youwould look at them.
And that's hard sometimesbecause some of these people
just in my mind, again, we youknow made the comment earlier,
if I was God, you know, we'd allbe in trouble, you know, because
we just are so undeserving anddo so many that this world is
just such an awful place, right?
(26:37):
Um, but you know, Jesus wasalways one who went to the most
broken, filthy, dirty person,the most unwanted and and you
know, disliked, and with it withthe plan to restore, once again,
his whole life plan for us torestore us to him.
And so, really, if we're talkingabout what happening in the will
and in the heart of God, that isexactly the people that God
(27:00):
should be bringing us over.
And you know, and sometimes ithas to come back to us saying,
God, help me love and look atpeople the way that you do.
And let me tell you, there'stimes when I've done that, and
that is hard, so hard.
And and and really, if youreally mean that, be ready.
Because I mean, because thedevil, the devil is not all all
knowing, he's not, you know,omnipresent.
(27:22):
But trust me, when you aresaying those prayers, especially
out loud or in a podcast withother people, he's hearing those
things and he's like, all right,I got you.
You know, like I we'll we'llcome in and we'll we'll test
this theory here.
You know, um, and so I I thinkit's just again that submission
to God to saying, you know what,not my will but yours.
(27:43):
Not my will but yours.
And so whatever that means, thatmeans, you know, I I had a uh
pastor growing up, awesome man.
He's he's head of a salvation umarmy right now in New York City.
Um, and I mean I think heactually might came back local,
but either way, he uh he wouldgo and he would give money to
the homeless.
He would feed them.
We would go out on weekends andtake out food trucks and feed
(28:04):
them.
And and there are people in thechurch that'd be very disturbed
that he would go up and give adrunk man, homeless person, food
or money or you know, orwhatever.
Like, why are you doing that?
They're gonna go spend it onalcohol, you know.
And he would say, you know what,that is that that is not my job
to tell him how he's going tospend his money.
My job is to feed him.
My job is to make sure that ifhe has a need, that I'm helping
(28:25):
him meet that need.
And I don't know how God's gonnaconnect or use this, but what I
know his word said is for me togo and to reach these people and
to touch them and to pray overthem.
And so it opened upopportunities, obviously, as he
continually served these peoplewith addiction and with with you
know these terrible situationsin their lives where he was able
to lead and bring several ofthese uh brothers and sisters in
(28:48):
Christ into him.
But if you if you would haveseen that dirty, nasty, possibly
drug-infested, you know,homeless person on the street
and just avoided him or her,there there was no chance that
they were ever going to find thekingdom of God.
Right.
Um, and so I I always thinkabout my that pastor when I'm
looking back on how God lovedpeople, because that is exactly
(29:09):
how the heart of God lovespeople.
And uh it can be difficult againbecause it's all about us,
right?
Because it comes back to us, ourdiscomfort, our dislike, our
whatever, um, towards the peoplewho are around.
SPEAKER_01 (29:24):
Yeah, I mean, it's to pretend that one being a
Christian is easy is a fallacy,and to pretend that evangelizing
and getting in the muck is likealways enjoyable.
Like there are 100% moments thatare fun and great, and you can
(29:46):
see the joy and you can see thechange and things like that, but
you're gonna be uncomfortable.
And I talk about I talk about itwith the youth and stuff when
we're when we're worried aboutwhat other people are doing,
like at school.
It is unfair to put the law onpeople who don't know Christ.
(30:08):
If all they have is 85 years onearth and they don't believe in
Christ and they're gonna spendeternity separated from Christ,
obviously they're going to doeverything they can to make
themselves feel good and havefine pleasure and have happiness
on earth because they thinkthat's it.
The only like the only thingthat changes our hearts to not
(30:29):
do that is Christ.
If we didn't know Christ, we'renot going to be following the
law.
And so when we look at peopleand see them living in ways that
are wrong, that are hurtingthemselves in the long run, that
are um not beneficial, that areagainst God.
We need to keep in mind that ifthey don't know God, they're not
(30:51):
just going to accidentally startfollowing the Ten Commandments
to a T.
Like it's it's just not going tohappen.
We can't have that expectationof people.
Now, what you would do isexactly what you said, where we
go and find them where they'reat and we love on them.
And man, I have also struggledwith that.
I'm gonna give this guy mymoney.
What is he going to do with it?
(31:12):
Like I could buy, I could buyanother Red Bull, or I can get a
pizza and have pizza with thekids today or something.
Like, yeah, we're gonna miss outon some of those things.
But what we also need to keep inmind, it's not our money.
We're not we're not tithing,we're not giving out our money,
we're giving back what God letus have.
All of it's from God.
And so when we get something,we're just returning that to God
(31:36):
when we when we either tithe orwhen we love on people and get
them something.
It's if we are content and wehave that faith that things are
gonna run.
No, I'm not saying go and giveaway your paycheck or anything.
You have to be smart and be agood steward.
But how much more can we give?
Not and I'm not even saying tothe church, although, like Ryan
said, we could definitely usesome rich people in the church,
(31:58):
start donating.
But how much can you givethroughout the week at work?
Buy someone, buy someone youknow goes to church lunch, buy
someone you know who doesn't goto church lunch, those things
like that, and ask people why.
Or when people ask you why, youcan address that and be like,
because I just feel like God'sleading me to do that right now.
I feel like God and that canbring so many opportunities.
(32:21):
You can create a change insomeone else's church that leads
them closer to Christ.
You can make a change in someoneelse that doesn't know Christ
and bring them to church andhave that opportunity.
But if we are wrapped into beingcomfortable and in our bubble,
we're never gonna have thatopportunity.
SPEAKER_02 (32:38):
Well, I know all these all these sermons kind of
hit me this week.
Just in general, just uh youknow, I was telling you at Life
Group, you know, a guy I workwith, uh not gonna say any
names, but his mom health-wiseis hasn't been doing very well.
And listening to all these andreading through these notes that
I've had and understanding thatif we're not following Christ,
(33:02):
if we're not in his word,understanding what it is that
we're called for and we're notfollowing him, like what are we
what are we giving others?
And honestly, when he startedtelling me about his mom, I am
not I'm a very uh I get nervouswhen it comes to putting myself
in the spotlight.
And I I wouldn't even feel likeI was following Christ if I
(33:24):
didn't offer to go and be withhim and his family during that
time.
And as hard as it was for me todo it, like I texted him and
said, Hey, if you need someone,like either I can come or I can
even, you know, talk to one ofthe pastors from the church and
have them come.
But these are things like I I'vebeen telling Erica that it just
I got drawn to text him thatbecause I feel like if we're not
(33:45):
doing these things, like how canwe say that we're following
Christ or following his word andand understanding how we should
be, even for someone who's anon-believer, we should be
showing the light and we are thesalt, we are the you know, we
should be spreading thesethings.
And for me, it's there's a lotof times in my life where I
realize I'm not doing enough ofthese things, and then when
something like that comes up, Imean it's like a conviction
(34:06):
thing.
You're sitting there all night,like, man, I should really
probably be texting him, andlike if you need me there, I'll
be there.
But it like sometimes westruggle with it, and I struggle
with it.
And then the night that I textedhim, I felt like it was just
getting pounded into my head,like, no, you really need to
text this guy.
And but you know, all thesesermons are all leading to the
same thing.
Like, in order to know him andto understand, like, we need to
be in his word.
(34:27):
And you know, I think it was Timor Ryan said the whole like we
want a map laid out, but he'sgiving us a lamp, and all we
need to do is just followChrist.
And so for me, it's like, Idon't need the map, just light
my path, tell me where I need togo, and I'm I'm gonna follow it.
SPEAKER_03 (34:43):
And really, it's just taking that next step,
right?
Just God, what like that, thaturging of that Holy Spirit to do
something and being obedient inthe little things and in the big
things, maybe sending a text.
No matter what where you are inyour faith walk, you know,
you'll hear Christian andnon-Christians say, you know,
yeah, that your actions speaklouder than your words.
(35:04):
And and that is a hundredpercent the problem we have in
our in our society with the waypeople look at the Christian
community right now, becausesometimes our actions and our
words just don't match up,right?
Um and that and that makes itreally complicated to be a good
steward of who God has calledyou to be, which is again to
bring you know uh others to him,to do more in Christ, right?
(35:28):
There you go, Ryan.
A plug for you.
Um to do more in Christ, to toto love God and to to bring the
world alongside with you.
And um, if our actions aren'tmatching up with the words that
we're saying or the things thatwe're preaching, you know, in
our workplaces, in our, youknow, wherever we're we're we're
going, in our kids' games, thenyou're just going to be looked
(35:49):
at as another hypocriticalChristian, right?
And so that is where we can onlywe can only do those things when
we are walking in what God wantsus to do.
And that comes through thatfaith of hearing his word,
growing in his word, andspending time with him.
I mean, it you you we need to bebroken.
You know, another thing I alwayssay to our kids, ultimately sin
(36:10):
is us simply thinking we'rebetter than God, right?
That our needs are bigger thanwhat God says we need, that are
from the very, we see it in ourchildren from the very young age
of going up to that plug and andand you know, and wanting to
play with that, you know, thatplug and no, no, no, no.
But oh, they want to do it,right?
They're gonna do it, right?
They they they think that theyknow more than you do.
(36:32):
And that's really what it comesdown to our that area of sin in
our lives.
And um, we have to have thatconstantly be broken.
And the only way I think we cando that is by getting closer to
God on a regular basis.
You know, uh it's corny, but mypastor used to say you grow
daily or you die gradually.
And that really is who we are inour and how it is in our faith.
(36:52):
We are either gonna grow orwe're or we're going to die
gradually because we have toconstantly be pulling closer to
him and to his spirit and to thekingdom, or the the devil's
gonna take every opportunity tocome in and there's another book
I recently read, you know, don'tgive the devil a seat at your
table, right?
Um, and uh or or the devil'sgonna come in and take a seat at
(37:13):
that table, right?
If we're not if we're notallowing God and and his Holy
Spirit and and the words ofChrist and that time with him
into our lives, the devil'sgoing to put whoever he can at
that table to pull you away.
My kids get sick of it because Isay things like that to them all
the time too.
Um, but you know, ultimately,are we doing, are we honoring
God and what we're doing withour actions?
(37:35):
Are they matching up to thewords that we say with our
mouths?
Because if not, you know, it wearen't going to be a good
example.
We aren't gonna be able to be inthe will of God because we can't
be a witness to this worldwithout those things connected.
SPEAKER_01 (37:51):
The small things matter so much, and it's the
will of God isn't some massive,and they I think Tim talks about
it where it's it's not this big,massive orchestrated Jared's
going to do this thing.
Like it is the small thingsadded up because you have a lamp
(38:14):
and you can see the next step.
And so that might be tellingyour kids 5,000 times, don't
give Satan a seat at your table.
And so that kid grows up knowingthat and walking in a way that
is that is reflective of that.
And so then that kid can go andshare the gospel with other
people, and that but thatmultiplies the gospel and
multiplies the number of peoplegoing to hell.
SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
I really like that by the way.
I'm gonna take it and use it athome.
Well, I don't give a phrase.
I like it.
SPEAKER_03 (38:39):
I I say that to them, and then I I say things
along like, is what you're goingto do, does it honor God?
Is it kind and is it gonna getyou in trouble?
And this works for adults too.
What you're doing with whatyou're about to say is gonna
honor God, is it kind?
Is it gonna get you in trouble?
And if it's not doing any ofthose things, then you need to
step back from your situationand reapproach.
(38:59):
And so they get really annoyedabout that too.
But that's another thing I sayto them all the time because and
really it convicts me too,because as I'm repeating it to
them, I'm hearing it in my ownmind, right?
Um, you know, is is what I'mdoing ultimately, is it
something that's going to bringjoy to my father?
Is it going to bring a smile toGod's face?
Because if it's not, I need tostep back.
(39:20):
And again, it may not even be asimple thing, right, that you're
doing, but is it something,especially the get you in
trouble part with kids?
You know, is it are you beingdisrespectful with the words
you're saying?
Are you raising your tone?
You know, whatever.
Um, but I there's times whenthat the Holy Spirit brings that
back to me to remind me, am Ibeing again, am I putting those
(39:42):
actions behind the words that Ithat I say in my life?
SPEAKER_01 (39:46):
Because they see all of it, they know it.
They do when you're telling themto do one thing and you act
different, they're they'remaking mental notes and they
know that.
And it's not always that thatstudent or that child is going
to throw it in your face, butwhat you're your actions are
showing them that what you'resaying doesn't really matter.
(40:06):
And it only matters, and theonly reason they're supposed to
be doing that is because yousaid, and when they no longer
have to do what you say becausethey don't live in your room
under your roof, it creates amassive problem that they can it
doesn't matter.
What mom taught me doesn'tmatter.
SPEAKER_03 (40:18):
This goes in your marriage too, you know.
In your marriage, are you whatyou're saying, the investment
that you're making in your inyour spouse who God has called
you to love second to only him,right?
Is are your actions and yourbehaviors doing exactly those
things too, you know?
And so every relationship in ourlives, we can apply um those
(40:38):
aspects too, you know, andultimately again, it comes back
to our whole thing that God'swill is simply loving him and
loving others and bringing themto him, right?
And so um all it always comesback to are we loving God the
way that God would want us tolove people, right?
And again, I'm not saying any ofthese things are easy because we
and we're gonna fail, you know.
(40:59):
Thank God, thank God again, thatpermissive will of God we talked
about earlier, that when wefail, we we have a roadblock,
you know, no, it's not apermanent roadblock, we have a
way back to Him, um, you know,which is that twofold part
though.
Remember, it's it's not justsaying with our words, I'm
sorry, or I made a mistake, it'sturning away, repenting, you
know, actual a whole you know,turnaround.
(41:21):
Um, and that's the other part Ithink as as Christians is
sometimes we get so caught up inour words of, you know, oh I'm
sorry, or I messed up, or I'mreally good about that
confessing side, but thatrepentant, you know, that
repenting side is the harderpart of all of it.
Um, but really it's alwaystwofold in the word of God and
when we're coming and we're andwe're you know coming to him and
(41:42):
giving things over to him.
It's the words are only onething if we're not having that
action, right?
You know, our actions speaklouder than our words.
It's really what God put in theword in his word, you know.
So hey, look at that.
He he actually put that planright there in front of us.
SPEAKER_01 (41:58):
It is, and I think they they talk about this in the
uh in the series as well.
It's like it's like there beingthe Ten Commandments and then
Jesus changing and putting it onour hearts.
It's not about oh, you didn'tkill that person, but did you
insult them?
Like that's just as bad.
(42:18):
Like, that's not the will ofGod.
The will of God is to love andto show kindness and to call
people higher.
And like we say all this, but wealso don't mean not say to avoid
hard truths.
There's truth in love, and somethings you say they may not love
to hear.
But are you are you saying thosethings because you're trying to
hurt them and tear them down, orare you trying to say those
things because there needs to bea conversation, right?
(42:41):
Like we've we're all married,we've all had conversations with
our spouses where it's like,hey, this isn't gonna be a fun
one, but we need to have it sowe can address this thing.
And maybe it's telling someonewhen after they went to work all
day, like, hey, um, before we goout to eat, like your shirt's
inside out.
And like it's gonna be awkward,but you're gonna keep them from
that embarrassment of realizingit later.
And it is it all comes down tomy my mind just lost the
(43:07):
thoughts that were in my headentirely.
It all comes down to followingGod and loving him, and it's
like it's like micro wills, micwill micro plans.
It's not the big plans thatwe're gonna do these, um, you're
gonna be leading a church of5,000.
It is, are you leading thatchild good in this situation?
Are you loving your wifeproperly in this situation?
(43:30):
Are you doing those things dayin and day out that are going to
add up to something bigger thanyou can possibly imagine?
And that's the will of God.
And you only figure that out,and you're only capable of doing
that when you are spending timein the Word, when you are
praying with Him, when you areworshiping, when you're having
those spiritual disciplines thatdraw you to God, and so you can
(43:53):
see the perfect and pleasingwill of God.
SPEAKER_03 (43:55):
That's good.
And that brings you back to thepoint that Ryan said, you're
focusing on your character overyour choices, right?
So all those things you talkedabout is the character, who you
actually are on that regularbasis.
Uh, not that our daily choicesdon't matter, but in the end,
we're again we're gonna havemoments when we bite off our
spouses' heads or we say thingsthat are hurtful.
We're gonna do those things, butultimately is our character, is
(44:18):
our goal.
Um, and by the way, our kidslearn so much too from in our
failures and how you approachthat failure.
If you bite your child's headoff, if you say something wrong
and inappropriate to them, ifyou do, and you come back and
you're saying, you know what, Iam sorry.
I messed up.
That is going to be a teachinglesson that will stick in their
heart, knowing that, you knowwhat, first of all, this person
(44:40):
that I hopefully respect, right?
Also is making mistakes andlooking how they're responding
to that mistake that they made.
You know, and this starts as avery young, even as a small
child, it's important to go toyour kid and be like, you know
what, I'm sorry.
You know, I was angry and Iresponded poorly in that
situation.
Or I did, and that's hardbecause you know, you're the
parent, you know, you'resupposed to have it all
together.
But you know, those those arethat is teaching the heart of
(45:00):
God, that is showing yourcharacter to your kids and
hopefully the character thatthey want to reflect later in
life, you know, and so umdefinitely focusing on our
character over our choices,working on being and becoming
the person that God is wantingus all to be.
SPEAKER_02 (45:17):
No, I like that.
I like what you said um alsoabout going back to the Ten
Commandments and looking at thelooking at the New Testament,
because we've talked about thisin the past where it's not that
anything changed, theaccountability has been raised.
So when you look at the OldTestament and they were
hyper-fixated on the TenCommandments, but they it wasn't
(45:39):
the deep core meaning, it wasjust what was written.
So you're saying, you know, notto murder, but Christ says just
you know, hate in your heart ismurder already.
So for me, it's something thatwe do, you know, like Christ
told the Pharisees that theyshut the door to the kingdom in
people's faces.
So if we're coming out of hatetowards somebody that's
ultimately steering them awayfrom God spiritually, we've
(46:02):
already killed them becausethey're we shut the door in
their face, they're not evengonna look to God anymore.
So I mean, deeply I think aboutthose kinds of things because
it's not just the letter of theTen Commandments.
Christ reminds us that the depthof it is love.
And are we walking that love outevery day?
Are we showing that love toeveryone every day?
SPEAKER_03 (46:20):
So I love that you said that the accountability
just increased because that is100% what it is.
But I I also think that it'sawesome because God didn't just
leave us in that accountabilityincrease.
He gave us the Holy Spirit.
You know, when he left, hedidn't say, You here you go, I'm
no longer walking with you.
He gave us this empoweringability to be obedient to those
(46:42):
things.
Um, and and you know, and ouragain, our faith comes from
hearing and hearing from theword of God.
Our faith is going to grow bygrowing in him, by talking with
him, which is simply just havinga conversation.
You know, sometimes we takeprayer into, and I have no issue
with you when read, you know,there's always these
pre-established I do the Bibleapp, you know, prayers in there.
And honestly, if you I I canpray those at times and they
(47:04):
they can be heartfelt with yourmeaning, what you're listening
reading, right?
Other times it's just talking toGod, like we're having this
conversation right now, and justsaying your heart.
And sometimes when I'm talkingto God, it is not pleasant.
It is not, it's God, I am upset,I am angry.
Why did you?
We had a terrible situationhappen um when we were pastoring
years back, uh, where a smallchild had passed away in our
(47:25):
church, um, just a terriblesituation.
And I remember driving to thehospital and literally screaming
and crying at God because I wasso upset, you know.
And people might think, like,oh, that's terrible.
But God knew in my heart in thatmoment that we were having that
conversation.
God had to work out something inmy own life.
And see, I get I'm an emotionalperson.
(47:47):
Um, it was it was a uniquesituation, obviously, that you
that face in life, but um like Ican still remember that moment,
and God did not condemn me andmy emotions, He loved on me, you
know?
And so I it's important to knowthat we can um come to God in
our and prayer doesn't have tobe something that's uh things
(48:07):
that we you know sound not holyand have all the right things to
say.
Prayer is simply having aconversation with your daddy,
just like you would want yourkid to crawl up on your lap and
talk to you if they're having abad day, or um, you know,
communicate with you if they'restruggling in something.
God loves you that very way.
He's a daddy who wants to wraphis arms around you and help
(48:30):
guide you through life, youknow, and so um that should be
comforting that we have the HolySpirit to empower us, don't mind
me.
Um that we have the Holy Spiritto um, I'm a very passionate
person um to uh empower us tothose obedient, you know, things
that God are asking us to do,those ten commandments.
We're not alone in this walk,and so we should be encouraged
(48:52):
in that the devil has alreadylost, right?
We already are in a winningbattle.
SPEAKER_01 (48:58):
And so all right, guys.
On that note, I don't thinkthere's a better way to end it.
We need to crawl up on ourdaddy's lap and talk to him and
get to know him, and he'll tellus what to do.
It doesn't need to be a hugething where you have your whole
life planned out.
He'll lead you in the next stepand grab your lamp and keep
walking.
Um, because he's got greatthings for us, and those great
(49:19):
things are a bunch of smallthings added up, and that's
that's pretty great.
And so we love you guys.
We'll talk to you next month.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for joining us, Katie.
We love to have you.
We'll talk to you later, guys.
Welcome and thanks for joining us on the Blue Chair
Podcast, brought to you by FreshWind Church.
Each month, we discuss thelatest sermons from the
perspective of the Blue Chairs.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Hello and welcome to the Blue Chair Podcast.
I am Pastor Jared, and with me,as always, we have Charles
Magar.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
How's it going?
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
Good.
And today, as our special guestand a special treat for
everybody, we have Mrs.
Katie Curtis.
Say hello.
SPEAKER_03 (00:43):
Hi, everybody.
SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
You know, when I told Allison you were gonna be
on the podcast, her reaction waslike to shoot her head up and
look at me, and she was justlike, that is a great idea.
SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
Yeah, Erica said the same thing.
SPEAKER_03 (00:54):
Wow, these expectations are high.
SPEAKER_01 (00:56):
Yeah, so you better come up with something real
good, maybe super theological orsomething.
SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Absolutely.
You know what?
I will speak my heart.
I can give you that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03):
Good deal.
So what we're talking abouttoday is the lot the series that
we went through in September, Ibelieve.
Do I have my months right,Charles?
SPEAKER_02 (01:12):
Yeah, September.
SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
Um, so our September series, it is called God Just
Tell Me.
And so what this whole series isabout, just a quick overview of
it, is finding out what God'swill is for you.
How do we do that?
Um, how can we mess up at that?
What's the what's the realquestion we should be asking
when we're searching for God'swill?
And honestly, I think um PastorTim and Ryan did fantastic.
(01:38):
I think they kind of pulled usto the main point um that we
need to keep an eye out for whenwe are trying to find God's
will, and that is not so muchwhat we're doing, but how we're
doing it and who we are whenwe're doing it.
Right.
I say that, then Charles juststares at me.
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
I didn't know if you were going somewhere with that,
if that was leading intosomething else, or no, just
open-ended.
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
But um, the to kick us off, let's look at week one.
Uh, Ryan kind of explained to usthe four aspects of God's will.
So God has sovereign will.
Um, it is God's unstoppablemaster plan for creation.
So, whatever God is saying, thisis going to happen, Jesus Christ
dying, resurrection, um, himcoming back, that's all God's
(02:28):
sovereign will.
There's nothing on the planet orin heaven or on earth that can
stop that from happening.
And then we have moral will.
Moral will.
That's gonna be a hard one forme to say this entire time.
Um, it is revealed in scripturefor how we are to live and treat
others.
This is also unchanging, right?
It doesn't matter what's goingon in our lives, it doesn't
matter what the fat is, um, itdoesn't matter what society says
(02:52):
is good or bad, God's moral willdoes not change.
And I think that's the one.
Let's discuss that a little bit,because I think that's the one
that everyone kind of tends toget hung up on, especially if
they're new to the church.
They're coming to the church,they think things are all right,
they think who really cares ifsomeone does this or lives this
way or does these things, butGod says it's wrong.
(03:14):
And so that change in thought iswhat I think a lot of people
might get hung up on, puttingGod's will before our own.
SPEAKER_03 (03:23):
Okay.
So scripture teaches us that umin this area, especially, uh,
there's obviously some clear-cutthings the Bible says, you know,
do not do this, do not do that.
We also need to remember thatthe Bible says that what we're
doing is leading our brother tostumble, that we need to be
cautious in that area of ourlives too.
So I hate to say that it can beup and down on how moral will is
(03:46):
addressed in our lives, but foran instance, you know, if if you
have a brother that's strugglingin an addiction to something,
um, he's telling me to movecloser to the mic, but I have a
pretty big mouth.
So I'm looking at your way fromit.
You can't hear me.
Um so you know, if someone'sstruggling with addiction, I may
not go and um participate indrinking a drink of wine, right,
with that person.
(04:07):
So um I I think there's veryclear-cut things in moral will.
And I think our society today umreally lacks that moral will.
Um, we've more and more, I thinkit's the enemy's plan, right?
To sneak in all these justlittle adjustments of it's okay
to do this, it's okay to dothat, oh, a little bit more of
this.
You know, it's it's okay to, youknow, be tipsy, right?
(04:28):
It's okay to do this.
I know we're hitting right onalcohol, which is a big topic.
Um, but um, whatever the areais, what we always have to do is
go back to scripture and say, iswhat I'm doing, is it honoring
God?
And is it honoring God'ssovereign will and plan for my
life, right?
Which is the one we talked aboutbefore this, which is to to love
God and to tell others aboutGod, right?
(04:49):
And to to spread the word.
That's that's really theultimate of God's sovereign will
is that Jesus came to save andredeem the world, right?
And so am I loving God and am Itelling others about God?
And that goes into how is mymoral will representing who
Christ is and who I am.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
And so um Tim kind of touched on that.
Uh, I think that was can'tremember which one he talked
about it on, though.
Um, where when you we're talkingabout sin and um how sin with
like personal sin, right?
That there are some things thatGod might call you away from
that aren't necessarily a sinfor everybody else, right?
(05:28):
Like so you could be perfectlyfine having a beer, and you're a
grown man, you have a beer,you're good, great.
Um, but someone else might haveone beer and they can't stop
there.
And so God might call them awayfrom that for that reason.
And that doesn't mean it isterrible for that one person to
(05:49):
have one beer, but what it meansis God might put something on
your life, give you somethingthat's a sin, or explain, put it
on your heart that something isa sin, and you're called to stay
away from that.
And kind of what you said, dear,um, don't make a brother
stumble, it just made me thinkof it.
My mom used to like whisper tome whenever I was doing
something stupid growing up,don't eat the meat.
And it was like a little pointerto I think it's 1 Corinthians,
(06:13):
where Paul's writing and saying,Hey, if you can eat meat on
sacrifice on idols, it doesn'tmatter, it's just meat.
But if it's an issue forsomebody else, don't do it.
You'll be fine without it.
Eat the other meat, you do whatyou're supposed to do.
So I think that's some reallygood insight right there.
SPEAKER_02 (06:28):
Yeah, I think uh me and Erica just had this
conversation the other daybecause it's our society today
is like all about self.
So it's you know, if it's notimpacting me, what does it
matter if I'm doing it aroundthis person?
Because that's not me.
So if it's not bothering me, whyshould I quit doing it?
Um and for me, it's you know,like she mentioned with the
(06:50):
stumbling blocks and what youjust clarified as well, is that
even if it's not a stumblingblock for me, it is for them.
So why, like what benefit is itfor me to do it if it's causing
them to stumble?
And ultimately, in in the grandscheme of things, it would be
way more beneficial to if youwant to do that thing and you
want to do it in the comfort ofyour own home or you know, when
(07:13):
that person's not around,there's more benefit to that
than to cause your brother,brother to stumble.
Sorry, I'm so congested, I'mstruggling so hard right now.
But no, I agree with that.
That's that's good.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
So one that staying on this four aspects of God's
will, the permissive will.
God allows free will, evendisobedience, but it works
toward his purpose.
That's one that's I think can beconfusing.
So let's let's dive into thatone if everyone's interested in
it.
SPEAKER_03 (07:46):
First of all, thank God that we have a merciful
father, right?
Yes.
So um we are a failed mankind,right?
We I make mistakes all the time.
I have to go and apologize andpick them up.
There's times when I've madechoices in my life that in
hindsight I look back and say,wow, that probably wasn't the
best choice, right?
I'm sure we've all kind of beenin that situation.
(08:08):
Um, but because God's plan isalways to restore us to Him,
thank God, right?
Thank God His mercy is so mightybecause I, you know, I joke
around all the time that if Iwas God, I probably would have
just taken out everything a longtime ago and just burned out the
whole world, right?
Because I'm just this the truth.
I think God his mercy is sowide, because we do fail.
(08:28):
He knew that we are going to bea people from the very
beginning, from that pluck ofthat apple from the tree, that
we are going to um to have thesefailures in our lives, including
some of these decisions andguides that are big choices in
our lives.
Uh, but because of God'spermissive will and his mercy,
he can always redirect andreplan back into those when we
(08:50):
come to him, when we confess,when we truly turn away and
choose to follow his way and hiswill, um, that we do have a
direction back towards hispurpose.
And he can use that rather it bea painful learning experience or
it be um you know a redirection,a correction even sometimes to
where we need to be with him.
(09:10):
I will say that we tend to uh inthose moments of despair in our
lives, we tend to grow closer toGod.
It's much easier in thosemoments uh because we realize
that we are a feudal man, right?
That we don't have um theability to do this on our own.
And so thank God for thatpermissive will of God, because
without it, I I would personallybe in a lot of trouble.
SPEAKER_01 (09:32):
Oh, for sure.
And I think I think it wasmentioned in this one how with
this comes along free will, andwe have the opportunity to not
follow God at all.
We can choose to, from thebeginning of our lives, to
reject God and run away fromhim.
And that seems like why would aloving God give people an
opportunity to never know himand the outcome being eternal
(09:56):
separation and how?
Well, what I think is superimportant that they pointed out
was that if you don't have freewill to choose to not choose
God, then you don't actuallylove God if you choose God.
Like if you're forced to lovesomebody, it doesn't mean
anything.
You're a robot at that point,and you have no, there's no like
genuine significance in yourlove.
(10:18):
And it's like when you your kiddoes some something mean and
they're not sorry, but you tellyour little four-year-old, go
say sorry, and they walk overand they're like, sorry, like it
doesn't mean anything.
Everyone knows it doesn't meananything.
You're just teaching a kid that,hey, when you you should be
feeling sorry right here.
That's the main thing thatyou're teaching.
And so with this with thispermissive will, that's where
(10:45):
our like that's the root of ourrelationship with God.
The choice that we have in that.
And I think it's our I am it.
Thank God for that permissivewill.
All right, let's jump around.
What do you got, Charles?
You always got something weekfour out of nowhere.
SPEAKER_02 (11:04):
Yeah, no, I mean, most of my comments are spread
all over the place, but uh Ithink the one I gotta find it.
Um I think it was Bear with me.
No, actually, I think it wasweek four.
Maybe that.
Um I think it was when when Ryanwas giving the three points.
(11:26):
Um, but the one point was weover-spiritualize God's will,
uh, that we expect everything tobe this big spiritual event
instead of just trusting in hissovereign will as it is.
But then he made the commentthat we all ask for an open door
while we're sitting here withclosed Bibles.
Like that that phrase rightthere just punched me right in
the throat a little bit.
SPEAKER_03 (11:46):
I remember that one too.
SPEAKER_01 (11:48):
And then he started singing.
SPEAKER_02 (11:49):
Yeah, I wasn't gonna bring up the singing.
Um but actually, you know what?
SPEAKER_01 (11:54):
At least he's not tone deaf.
It didn't sound terrible.
Yeah, it's significantly betterthan if I was singing for sure.
SPEAKER_02 (12:00):
Yeah.
Um, but I I think that just thatone phrase that we're all asking
for an open door, like this bigsign that he's real, but we
we're sitting here with ourBibles closed.
SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (12:11):
Um, a lot of times I find that the the troubles are
you know, troubles, struggles,whatever it is that we're going
through, like just opening upthe Bible and reading through it
a lot of times in his own word,he's gonna lead you to the
answer in that.
And instead we just sit here andask him, like his examples are
funny, but like the whole makemy door open a little bit, you
know, rattle the blinds on mywindows.
(12:32):
It's silly, but people ask forstuff like that all the time
when the answer's right here.
We just don't open the book longenough to find it.
SPEAKER_03 (12:40):
That's good.
You know, the word of God saysthat faith comes from hearing
and hearing from the very wordof God, right?
So um it really is the realityof how we grow and understand
and are able to connect withGod.
And you know, I I say this tothe students back in uh
children's ministry at the time,just like any other
relationship, if you're notinvesting in that relationship,
(13:00):
you're not going to know them.
And really knowing God's will isis knowing his heart, knowing
what he has to say to us.
And that is his love story.
You know, I people used toalways say the Bible is your
guidebook, which it a hundredpercent is, but really it's his
love story to us of hiscompletion of all that he's
doing and going to do until weare restored fully in him,
right?
(13:20):
And so uh a hundred percentagree that you know, with
without opening up the word ofGod, without talking with him,
you know, I always tell thestudents, you know, who's your
best friend?
You know, and they'll say,whoever it is.
And so you guys don't talk forlike a year, no, don't see each
other, don't you know, get onthe phone together.
Maybe every once in a whileyou'll run into each other or
(13:41):
hear a couple little thingsabout them.
Are you really best friends?
You know, no, of course not.
And that's the same thing withour walk with with God.
We we will our faith, ourability to understand what God's
purpose and will for our life isall connected to how much time
we're spending with him, howmuch we're reading his word, how
much we're investing in ourrelationship with him.
(14:02):
So a hundred percent.
Um hundred percent a kiddo justjumped in here, which is my
favorite part of podcasts whenthere's the interruptions.
Um so uh yeah, I I I that'sreally I think where God's will
is understood is as we know hisheart more and what he wants for
us, and where that thatcondemnation and that daily, you
(14:22):
know, am I doing what is rightkind of decreases as well
because the closer you are toGod's heart, you're going to be
doing the things that he wantsyou to do.
You're going to be following hisdirection, you're going to be,
you know, avoiding some of thoseroadblocks that are coming in
front of us.
SPEAKER_01 (14:37):
And what it's and he points it out all the time, uh
in the entire series, Tim andRyan both, that it's not a
specific thing that God istrying to necessarily get you to
do.
Right?
Like God doesn't care if you'rea dentist or a soldier or a
stunt double, like it doesn'tmatter.
But what are you doing in thatposition?
Like, are you going to thedentist and like as a dentist,
(15:00):
are you going there and are yousharing the gospel?
Are you treating your employeeswell?
Are you doing all of thosethings that God is calling us to
do and how he's calling us toact?
Same thing with any otherposition, uh, any other job that
you may have.
Like, are you, no matter what,have some sort of pedestal
because of people you know?
And are you using that pedestalif you're using that opportunity
(15:21):
to share the gospel, to drawpeople closer to God, to help
others discover more in Christ?
Or are you not doing any ofthat?
Or even worse, are you neglenegative to negative to the
words negligent negligent ornegatively affecting people's
walk with God?
And so we we focus so much onthe what.
(15:46):
And this series kind of reallybrought home that it's not the
what, it doesn't matter.
And I remember I um was lookingat master's programs, and I
talked to Tim about it, and Iasked him, I was like, which one
should I do?
Should I do the like traditionalMDiv?
Or I was thinking about doingthis other thing, and he's like,
Oh, that doesn't matter.
I was like, What?
(16:06):
Like, what do you mean itdoesn't matter, Tim?
He's like, it's a master's.
You got the bachelor's, peoplealready know you know stuff.
Just get to the master's youthink would be more interesting
because that's all 90% of thepeople.
Like, you got to find a realniche group of people to be
like, well, it's not quite an Mdiv, it's more of a it's it's 42
credits rather than 45.
(16:28):
So and so um Tim's been tellingme that forever.
It doesn't matter what you do,just follow God and do what
you're supposed to be doing.
SPEAKER_03 (16:36):
Yeah, and in the end, I think that is the
conclusion of our lives.
We're gonna stand before God andHe's not gonna say, What, what
did you accomplish in this,this, this, and this in the
world of of our you know, ourworkplace or our you know, our
accomplishments.
It's going to be, did you dothose purposes of loving me and
bringing others alongside andloving me?
(16:57):
You know, and I have to remindmyself on a regular basis
because it is there's so much inthe world that you know you the
expectations of of what you'regoing to do and become and
what's the next step.
It's just really what this wholesermon series is about is making
sure you're in the will of God,right?
In what you're doing.
Um, and and making sure thatyou're understanding that that
doesn't necessarily you you kindof said earlier, Charles, that
(17:21):
we are you can get so caught upin the mechanicals of all of it,
the mechanics of all of it, thatwe miss the whole purpose.
That really just being in God'swill is walking in unison with
him and understanding his heart.
You know, and uh this worldtells you you have to have this
much, this type of car, this,you know, a house, this
(17:41):
accomplishments, this degree.
But really, when we stand beforeGod, all of that is futile,
right?
All of that means nothing.
And so I really think that'seven an employee of the enemy to
bring in anxiety and frustrationand um really uh that that
sinful nature of always wantingand not having enough, you know,
in our lives.
(18:01):
And we do have to check back andhere it says a spiritual reality
check on this paper I'm lookingat, but it really is a spiritual
reality check is is this God'sheart for what my life is going
to be?
And you know, by all means, Ithink we need highly educated,
you know, uh Christian workers.
We need highly educated people.
Ryan was joking around and said,we need rich people, you know,
we need we need people that areaccomplishing and being good.
(18:23):
And I 100% believe that Godwants to provide that into
people's lives so that thechurch can move forward in in
the projects and the stuff thatit needs.
But in the end, when we standbefore God, those the questions
he's going to ask is, you know,did you love me and did you
bring others to me?
You know, and so we I think thatcan give us a uh just uh ability
(18:44):
to relax and take a deep breathat times because all this stuff
is just, you know, if iftomorrow we were gone, none of
that would matter.
SPEAKER_02 (18:51):
Yeah, you know, yeah, and I like what you said
because it ties into what Ryansaid.
Um sorry to stick on week four,but that's just where it's at.
He uh brings up Colossians, um,I think it's Colossians three,
but when he's talking about ifwe walk out God's word doing
everything in the name of theLord Jesus, it will lead us into
(19:11):
God's will for our lives.
And then he goes on to talkabout how it's not always an
open door leading us into God'swill, sometimes it's a closed
door.
And then he makes, you know, thejoke about sometimes it's
slammed in your face.
Yeah.
And I I think even in my earlierwalk as a Christian, a lot of
times you are just asking for anopen door.
But if you're not doing thingsin the name of Christ, he's
(19:33):
gonna shut doors in your face.
And quite frankly, like weshould be asking for him to shut
doors in our face.
Like, there's things in ourlives that we need to purge out
and that we need to steer awayfrom.
Obviously, we can't always dothose things on our own.
Sometimes we should be on ourknees asking him, like, there's
an area of my life that I needto close this door and like show
this to me, close the door in myface, let me know.
Um but I thought that wholesection was powerful just
(19:56):
because it is.
It's we get caught up in the me.
Like, I need this, I need that,I need you to just do it for me.
Open this door, but and we'renot asking for what door should
be closed, and we should bedoing that on a more daily basis
too.
SPEAKER_03 (20:08):
Yeah, that's that's really good.
Um, and again, remembering thatthose times of closed doors are
sometimes times of this learningand growing, and God saying, you
know what, right now you'redepending a little bit more on
yourself, you know, on thissituation or on this blessing
than you are on knowing that Iam your substance, you know, I
am your ability to be and existand have joy and peace.
(20:31):
And so uh 100% I believe Goddoes, you know, sometimes even
close doors to help us bereminded that we need to be
drawn back to him and to knowthat he's the one that can give
us all those things that weneed.
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
Oh, for sure.
Yeah, I have to remind myselfit's not rejection, it's
correction.
Like he's not rejecting thething that I want, he's
correcting me to what I need.
SPEAKER_01 (20:54):
Yeah.
I know there was a season in mylife where I had a job where I
just for the life of me, Icouldn't get along with my boss.
Like genuinely struggling withit.
And I was talking to Ryan aboutit, and I must have talked to
him about it too much because helooked at me one day and he was
just like, you know what?
30 days.
I was like, what?
(21:15):
30 days, you just say yes and doit.
Do it his way, switching taskafter you get set up for one, so
what?
Do it, do it his way, don't doanything else.
I feel he's like, I feel likeGod is teaching you just to
submit.
Work, he's working something outof you, and it's good.
(21:36):
And that whole time, likeleading up to that point, I was
just struggling with like I knowI could do more than what where
I'm at.
Like, I know I have more things,and God wants me to do more.
But why am I here?
Like, why are all why is it whyis the door out of this
situation shut?
And right there, I was afterthose 30 days, I was really mad
at Ryan because it was not a funthing to do.
(21:57):
But at the same time, God'slike, I'm gonna work this out of
you because that's not somethingfor me.
That's something from you thatyou're you have pride, you have
whatever, that you need to workout and get out of here because
you need to be able to listenand you need to be able to be
led so that you can lead, and sothat you can be an example to
other people and things likethat.
And um it is it is so important.
(22:23):
It kind of brings intocontentment, right?
We want we want so much more, wewant the big grand job, or we
want the nice car, and we wantall these things, not because we
can give more to the church, wewant those things because they
make us feel good, they showother people that we we're
successful, we're good at whatwe do.
And that's again, that's likekind of like you said, like
(22:44):
there God doesn't care aboutthat.
You're gone tomorrow.
None of that's coming with you.
The only thing that matters iswhat you're doing for God while
you're on earth.
How what job you may have, whatvocation you may have while
you're on earth, doesn't matternearly as much as how you're
doing it.
And like, sure, I think thereare some instances where God has
(23:06):
called people to be a preacher.
And you Tim even got into it,like, right?
God calls you to be a preacher,but you are stealing, or you are
uh just mean all the time.
It's like you go home and yourkids can't stand you because
you're mean all the time.
Is that what God is calling youto do?
Is that the example God iscalling you to set, or are you
(23:26):
discrediting the the callingthat God may have put on your
life?
And I don't know, I'm ramblingat this point.
SPEAKER_02 (23:35):
Well, I liked what you said like about your boss,
because I think I think it wasRyan who talked about it where
he said uh God has placed peopleinto our lives to lead us down a
better path, ultimatelyfulfilling God's plan for us.
But every time it's inconvenientto us that that person's been
placed in our path, we just denyit.
Because like, how could that beof God if it's inconvenient for
(23:57):
me?
But it's understanding thatsometimes those people are put
like we've had this conversationbefore with I forget who it was,
something about they werefilling up bags of food.
I can't remember your wholestory.
But it's the things that in yourmind are people that you've
built this conception that youcan't stand this type of person,
whatever.
But they're constantly being putin front of you in your life.
(24:18):
That's God working out theproblem you have, it's not the
person.
SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
Oh, I see what you're saying.
I know what the story is.
SPEAKER_02 (24:23):
But it's it's the problem that you have.
So there's a problem in you thatGod's placing these people in
front of you over and over againbecause that's the problem you
need to work out.
It has nothing to do with thatperson, it has to do with
something that's in you thathe's trying to work out of you.
SPEAKER_01 (24:36):
Um or in all honesty, it could just not be
God necessarily putting them inyour life.
It could be you're in acommunity or you're in an area
where those be you're gonna runinto those people and it you
just default back to do whatyou're supposed to do.
Love people.
SPEAKER_03 (24:52):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (24:52):
Help others discover more in Christ.
It doesn't matter if it isbecause God's putting them there
or if because it's happenstance.
God's putting people in front ofyour life, and it's your job is
to love people and lead peopleto Christ.
And if there's anything in yourway that is stopping that,
you're running away from God'swill.
Because that's ultimately God'swill.
SPEAKER_03 (25:12):
Exactly.
And it's also remembering thatyou know, we live in a world
that we have these preconceivednotions, and I believe as we're
given more and we have and wehave more blessings, it's easier
for us to look on to things oronto people who don't maybe have
that much.
Um, and sometimes it's becauseof their own choices and their
own behaviors.
And that could be a struggle.
But what's really helped me isto remember that this, you know,
(25:34):
we are we are not at war withone another.
You know, there is a spiritualelement that's in this world,
and and quite literally, youeither belong to him, to our
king, or you do not, right?
There's there's no in middleground with him.
You know, there's no there's nouh warm, you know, we're either
hot or we're cold.
And so remembering that, youknow, some of these things are
(25:55):
also spiritual afflictions thatare happening in people's lives.
They are uh I hate these world,but generational uh teachings
that they have in how they'reliving and how they're they're
breathing, how they're doing,and quite literally, even
spiritual 100% afflictions ofthe devil that are either of you
know oppression or evenpossession of spirits that are
(26:17):
not of our world.
And so I always try to step backand say, all right, God, let me
look at them the way that youwould look at them.
And that's hard sometimesbecause some of these people
just in my mind, again, we youknow made the comment earlier,
if I was God, you know, we'd allbe in trouble, you know, because
we just are so undeserving anddo so many that this world is
just such an awful place, right?
(26:37):
Um, but you know, Jesus wasalways one who went to the most
broken, filthy, dirty person,the most unwanted and and you
know, disliked, and with it withthe plan to restore, once again,
his whole life plan for us torestore us to him.
And so, really, if we're talkingabout what happening in the will
and in the heart of God, that isexactly the people that God
(27:00):
should be bringing us over.
And you know, and sometimes ithas to come back to us saying,
God, help me love and look atpeople the way that you do.
And let me tell you, there'stimes when I've done that, and
that is hard, so hard.
And and and really, if youreally mean that, be ready.
Because I mean, because thedevil, the devil is not all all
knowing, he's not, you know,omnipresent.
(27:22):
But trust me, when you aresaying those prayers, especially
out loud or in a podcast withother people, he's hearing those
things and he's like, all right,I got you.
You know, like I we'll we'llcome in and we'll we'll test
this theory here.
You know, um, and so I I thinkit's just again that submission
to God to saying, you know what,not my will but yours.
(27:43):
Not my will but yours.
And so whatever that means, thatmeans, you know, I I had a uh
pastor growing up, awesome man.
He's he's head of a salvation umarmy right now in New York City.
Um, and I mean I think heactually might came back local,
but either way, he uh he wouldgo and he would give money to
the homeless.
He would feed them.
We would go out on weekends andtake out food trucks and feed
(28:04):
them.
And and there are people in thechurch that'd be very disturbed
that he would go up and give adrunk man, homeless person, food
or money or you know, orwhatever.
Like, why are you doing that?
They're gonna go spend it onalcohol, you know.
And he would say, you know what,that is that that is not my job
to tell him how he's going tospend his money.
My job is to feed him.
My job is to make sure that ifhe has a need, that I'm helping
(28:25):
him meet that need.
And I don't know how God's gonnaconnect or use this, but what I
know his word said is for me togo and to reach these people and
to touch them and to pray overthem.
And so it opened upopportunities, obviously, as he
continually served these peoplewith addiction and with with you
know these terrible situationsin their lives where he was able
to lead and bring several ofthese uh brothers and sisters in
(28:48):
Christ into him.
But if you if you would haveseen that dirty, nasty, possibly
drug-infested, you know,homeless person on the street
and just avoided him or her,there there was no chance that
they were ever going to find thekingdom of God.
Right.
Um, and so I I always thinkabout my that pastor when I'm
looking back on how God lovedpeople, because that is exactly
(29:09):
how the heart of God lovespeople.
And uh it can be difficult againbecause it's all about us,
right?
Because it comes back to us, ourdiscomfort, our dislike, our
whatever, um, towards the peoplewho are around.
SPEAKER_01 (29:24):
Yeah, I mean, it's to pretend that one being a
Christian is easy is a fallacy,and to pretend that evangelizing
and getting in the muck is likealways enjoyable.
Like there are 100% moments thatare fun and great, and you can
(29:46):
see the joy and you can see thechange and things like that, but
you're gonna be uncomfortable.
And I talk about I talk about itwith the youth and stuff when
we're when we're worried aboutwhat other people are doing,
like at school.
It is unfair to put the law onpeople who don't know Christ.
(30:08):
If all they have is 85 years onearth and they don't believe in
Christ and they're gonna spendeternity separated from Christ,
obviously they're going to doeverything they can to make
themselves feel good and havefine pleasure and have happiness
on earth because they thinkthat's it.
The only like the only thingthat changes our hearts to not
(30:29):
do that is Christ.
If we didn't know Christ, we'renot going to be following the
law.
And so when we look at peopleand see them living in ways that
are wrong, that are hurtingthemselves in the long run, that
are um not beneficial, that areagainst God.
We need to keep in mind that ifthey don't know God, they're not
(30:51):
just going to accidentally startfollowing the Ten Commandments
to a T.
Like it's it's just not going tohappen.
We can't have that expectationof people.
Now, what you would do isexactly what you said, where we
go and find them where they'reat and we love on them.
And man, I have also struggledwith that.
I'm gonna give this guy mymoney.
What is he going to do with it?
(31:12):
Like I could buy, I could buyanother Red Bull, or I can get a
pizza and have pizza with thekids today or something.
Like, yeah, we're gonna miss outon some of those things.
But what we also need to keep inmind, it's not our money.
We're not we're not tithing,we're not giving out our money,
we're giving back what God letus have.
All of it's from God.
And so when we get something,we're just returning that to God
(31:36):
when we when we either tithe orwhen we love on people and get
them something.
It's if we are content and wehave that faith that things are
gonna run.
No, I'm not saying go and giveaway your paycheck or anything.
You have to be smart and be agood steward.
But how much more can we give?
Not and I'm not even saying tothe church, although, like Ryan
said, we could definitely usesome rich people in the church,
(31:58):
start donating.
But how much can you givethroughout the week at work?
Buy someone, buy someone youknow goes to church lunch, buy
someone you know who doesn't goto church lunch, those things
like that, and ask people why.
Or when people ask you why, youcan address that and be like,
because I just feel like God'sleading me to do that right now.
I feel like God and that canbring so many opportunities.
(32:21):
You can create a change insomeone else's church that leads
them closer to Christ.
You can make a change in someoneelse that doesn't know Christ
and bring them to church andhave that opportunity.
But if we are wrapped into beingcomfortable and in our bubble,
we're never gonna have thatopportunity.
SPEAKER_02 (32:38):
Well, I know all these all these sermons kind of
hit me this week.
Just in general, just uh youknow, I was telling you at Life
Group, you know, a guy I workwith, uh not gonna say any
names, but his mom health-wiseis hasn't been doing very well.
And listening to all these andreading through these notes that
I've had and understanding thatif we're not following Christ,
(33:02):
if we're not in his word,understanding what it is that
we're called for and we're notfollowing him, like what are we
what are we giving others?
And honestly, when he startedtelling me about his mom, I am
not I'm a very uh I get nervouswhen it comes to putting myself
in the spotlight.
And I I wouldn't even feel likeI was following Christ if I
(33:24):
didn't offer to go and be withhim and his family during that
time.
And as hard as it was for me todo it, like I texted him and
said, Hey, if you need someone,like either I can come or I can
even, you know, talk to one ofthe pastors from the church and
have them come.
But these are things like I I'vebeen telling Erica that it just
I got drawn to text him thatbecause I feel like if we're not
(33:45):
doing these things, like how canwe say that we're following
Christ or following his word andand understanding how we should
be, even for someone who's anon-believer, we should be
showing the light and we are thesalt, we are the you know, we
should be spreading thesethings.
And for me, it's there's a lotof times in my life where I
realize I'm not doing enough ofthese things, and then when
something like that comes up, Imean it's like a conviction
(34:06):
thing.
You're sitting there all night,like, man, I should really
probably be texting him, andlike if you need me there, I'll
be there.
But it like sometimes westruggle with it, and I struggle
with it.
And then the night that I textedhim, I felt like it was just
getting pounded into my head,like, no, you really need to
text this guy.
And but you know, all thesesermons are all leading to the
same thing.
Like, in order to know him andto understand, like, we need to
be in his word.
(34:27):
And you know, I think it was Timor Ryan said the whole like we
want a map laid out, but he'sgiving us a lamp, and all we
need to do is just followChrist.
And so for me, it's like, Idon't need the map, just light
my path, tell me where I need togo, and I'm I'm gonna follow it.
SPEAKER_03 (34:43):
And really, it's just taking that next step,
right?
Just God, what like that, thaturging of that Holy Spirit to do
something and being obedient inthe little things and in the big
things, maybe sending a text.
No matter what where you are inyour faith walk, you know,
you'll hear Christian andnon-Christians say, you know,
yeah, that your actions speaklouder than your words.
(35:04):
And and that is a hundredpercent the problem we have in
our in our society with the waypeople look at the Christian
community right now, becausesometimes our actions and our
words just don't match up,right?
Um and that and that makes itreally complicated to be a good
steward of who God has calledyou to be, which is again to
bring you know uh others to him,to do more in Christ, right?
(35:28):
There you go, Ryan.
A plug for you.
Um to do more in Christ, to toto love God and to to bring the
world alongside with you.
And um, if our actions aren'tmatching up with the words that
we're saying or the things thatwe're preaching, you know, in
our workplaces, in our, youknow, wherever we're we're we're
going, in our kids' games, thenyou're just going to be looked
(35:49):
at as another hypocriticalChristian, right?
And so that is where we can onlywe can only do those things when
we are walking in what God wantsus to do.
And that comes through thatfaith of hearing his word,
growing in his word, andspending time with him.
I mean, it you you we need to bebroken.
You know, another thing I alwayssay to our kids, ultimately sin
(36:10):
is us simply thinking we'rebetter than God, right?
That our needs are bigger thanwhat God says we need, that are
from the very, we see it in ourchildren from the very young age
of going up to that plug and andand you know, and wanting to
play with that, you know, thatplug and no, no, no, no.
But oh, they want to do it,right?
They're gonna do it, right?
They they they think that theyknow more than you do.
(36:32):
And that's really what it comesdown to our that area of sin in
our lives.
And um, we have to have thatconstantly be broken.
And the only way I think we cando that is by getting closer to
God on a regular basis.
You know, uh it's corny, but mypastor used to say you grow
daily or you die gradually.
And that really is who we are inour and how it is in our faith.
(36:52):
We are either gonna grow orwe're or we're going to die
gradually because we have toconstantly be pulling closer to
him and to his spirit and to thekingdom, or the the devil's
gonna take every opportunity tocome in and there's another book
I recently read, you know, don'tgive the devil a seat at your
table, right?
Um, and uh or or the devil'sgonna come in and take a seat at
(37:13):
that table, right?
If we're not if we're notallowing God and and his Holy
Spirit and and the words ofChrist and that time with him
into our lives, the devil'sgoing to put whoever he can at
that table to pull you away.
My kids get sick of it because Isay things like that to them all
the time too.
Um, but you know, ultimately,are we doing, are we honoring
God and what we're doing withour actions?
(37:35):
Are they matching up to thewords that we say with our
mouths?
Because if not, you know, it wearen't going to be a good
example.
We aren't gonna be able to be inthe will of God because we can't
be a witness to this worldwithout those things connected.
SPEAKER_01 (37:51):
The small things matter so much, and it's the
will of God isn't some massive,and they I think Tim talks about
it where it's it's not this big,massive orchestrated Jared's
going to do this thing.
Like it is the small thingsadded up because you have a lamp
(38:14):
and you can see the next step.
And so that might be tellingyour kids 5,000 times, don't
give Satan a seat at your table.
And so that kid grows up knowingthat and walking in a way that
is that is reflective of that.
And so then that kid can go andshare the gospel with other
people, and that but thatmultiplies the gospel and
multiplies the number of peoplegoing to hell.
SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
I really like that by the way.
I'm gonna take it and use it athome.
Well, I don't give a phrase.
I like it.
SPEAKER_03 (38:39):
I I say that to them, and then I I say things
along like, is what you're goingto do, does it honor God?
Is it kind and is it gonna getyou in trouble?
And this works for adults too.
What you're doing with whatyou're about to say is gonna
honor God, is it kind?
Is it gonna get you in trouble?
And if it's not doing any ofthose things, then you need to
step back from your situationand reapproach.
(38:59):
And so they get really annoyedabout that too.
But that's another thing I sayto them all the time because and
really it convicts me too,because as I'm repeating it to
them, I'm hearing it in my ownmind, right?
Um, you know, is is what I'mdoing ultimately, is it
something that's going to bringjoy to my father?
Is it going to bring a smile toGod's face?
Because if it's not, I need tostep back.
(39:20):
And again, it may not even be asimple thing, right, that you're
doing, but is it something,especially the get you in
trouble part with kids?
You know, is it are you beingdisrespectful with the words
you're saying?
Are you raising your tone?
You know, whatever.
Um, but I there's times whenthat the Holy Spirit brings that
back to me to remind me, am Ibeing again, am I putting those
(39:42):
actions behind the words that Ithat I say in my life?
SPEAKER_01 (39:46):
Because they see all of it, they know it.
They do when you're telling themto do one thing and you act
different, they're they'remaking mental notes and they
know that.
And it's not always that thatstudent or that child is going
to throw it in your face, butwhat you're your actions are
showing them that what you'resaying doesn't really matter.
(40:06):
And it only matters, and theonly reason they're supposed to
be doing that is because yousaid, and when they no longer
have to do what you say becausethey don't live in your room
under your roof, it creates amassive problem that they can it
doesn't matter.
What mom taught me doesn'tmatter.
SPEAKER_03 (40:18):
This goes in your marriage too, you know.
In your marriage, are you whatyou're saying, the investment
that you're making in your inyour spouse who God has called
you to love second to only him,right?
Is are your actions and yourbehaviors doing exactly those
things too, you know?
And so every relationship in ourlives, we can apply um those
(40:38):
aspects too, you know, andultimately again, it comes back
to our whole thing that God'swill is simply loving him and
loving others and bringing themto him, right?
And so um all it always comesback to are we loving God the
way that God would want us tolove people, right?
And again, I'm not saying any ofthese things are easy because we
and we're gonna fail, you know.
(40:59):
Thank God, thank God again, thatpermissive will of God we talked
about earlier, that when wefail, we we have a roadblock,
you know, no, it's not apermanent roadblock, we have a
way back to Him, um, you know,which is that twofold part
though.
Remember, it's it's not justsaying with our words, I'm
sorry, or I made a mistake, it'sturning away, repenting, you
know, actual a whole you know,turnaround.
(41:21):
Um, and that's the other part Ithink as as Christians is
sometimes we get so caught up inour words of, you know, oh I'm
sorry, or I messed up, or I'mreally good about that
confessing side, but thatrepentant, you know, that
repenting side is the harderpart of all of it.
Um, but really it's alwaystwofold in the word of God and
when we're coming and we're andwe're you know coming to him and
(41:42):
giving things over to him.
It's the words are only onething if we're not having that
action, right?
You know, our actions speaklouder than our words.
It's really what God put in theword in his word, you know.
So hey, look at that.
He he actually put that planright there in front of us.
SPEAKER_01 (41:58):
It is, and I think they they talk about this in the
uh in the series as well.
It's like it's like there beingthe Ten Commandments and then
Jesus changing and putting it onour hearts.
It's not about oh, you didn'tkill that person, but did you
insult them?
Like that's just as bad.
(42:18):
Like, that's not the will ofGod.
The will of God is to love andto show kindness and to call
people higher.
And like we say all this, but wealso don't mean not say to avoid
hard truths.
There's truth in love, and somethings you say they may not love
to hear.
But are you are you saying thosethings because you're trying to
hurt them and tear them down, orare you trying to say those
things because there needs to bea conversation, right?
(42:41):
Like we've we're all married,we've all had conversations with
our spouses where it's like,hey, this isn't gonna be a fun
one, but we need to have it sowe can address this thing.
And maybe it's telling someonewhen after they went to work all
day, like, hey, um, before we goout to eat, like your shirt's
inside out.
And like it's gonna be awkward,but you're gonna keep them from
that embarrassment of realizingit later.
And it is it all comes down tomy my mind just lost the
(43:07):
thoughts that were in my headentirely.
It all comes down to followingGod and loving him, and it's
like it's like micro wills, micwill micro plans.
It's not the big plans thatwe're gonna do these, um, you're
gonna be leading a church of5,000.
It is, are you leading thatchild good in this situation?
Are you loving your wifeproperly in this situation?
(43:30):
Are you doing those things dayin and day out that are going to
add up to something bigger thanyou can possibly imagine?
And that's the will of God.
And you only figure that out,and you're only capable of doing
that when you are spending timein the Word, when you are
praying with Him, when you areworshiping, when you're having
those spiritual disciplines thatdraw you to God, and so you can
(43:53):
see the perfect and pleasingwill of God.
SPEAKER_03 (43:55):
That's good.
And that brings you back to thepoint that Ryan said, you're
focusing on your character overyour choices, right?
So all those things you talkedabout is the character, who you
actually are on that regularbasis.
Uh, not that our daily choicesdon't matter, but in the end,
we're again we're gonna havemoments when we bite off our
spouses' heads or we say thingsthat are hurtful.
We're gonna do those things, butultimately is our character, is
(44:18):
our goal.
Um, and by the way, our kidslearn so much too from in our
failures and how you approachthat failure.
If you bite your child's headoff, if you say something wrong
and inappropriate to them, ifyou do, and you come back and
you're saying, you know what, Iam sorry.
I messed up.
That is going to be a teachinglesson that will stick in their
heart, knowing that, you knowwhat, first of all, this person
(44:40):
that I hopefully respect, right?
Also is making mistakes andlooking how they're responding
to that mistake that they made.
You know, and this starts as avery young, even as a small
child, it's important to go toyour kid and be like, you know
what, I'm sorry.
You know, I was angry and Iresponded poorly in that
situation.
Or I did, and that's hardbecause you know, you're the
parent, you know, you'resupposed to have it all
together.
But you know, those those arethat is teaching the heart of
(45:00):
God, that is showing yourcharacter to your kids and
hopefully the character thatthey want to reflect later in
life, you know, and so umdefinitely focusing on our
character over our choices,working on being and becoming
the person that God is wantingus all to be.
SPEAKER_02 (45:17):
No, I like that.
I like what you said um alsoabout going back to the Ten
Commandments and looking at thelooking at the New Testament,
because we've talked about thisin the past where it's not that
anything changed, theaccountability has been raised.
So when you look at the OldTestament and they were
hyper-fixated on the TenCommandments, but they it wasn't
(45:39):
the deep core meaning, it wasjust what was written.
So you're saying, you know, notto murder, but Christ says just
you know, hate in your heart ismurder already.
So for me, it's something thatwe do, you know, like Christ
told the Pharisees that theyshut the door to the kingdom in
people's faces.
So if we're coming out of hatetowards somebody that's
ultimately steering them awayfrom God spiritually, we've
(46:02):
already killed them becausethey're we shut the door in
their face, they're not evengonna look to God anymore.
So I mean, deeply I think aboutthose kinds of things because
it's not just the letter of theTen Commandments.
Christ reminds us that the depthof it is love.
And are we walking that love outevery day?
Are we showing that love toeveryone every day?
SPEAKER_03 (46:20):
So I love that you said that the accountability
just increased because that is100% what it is.
But I I also think that it'sawesome because God didn't just
leave us in that accountabilityincrease.
He gave us the Holy Spirit.
You know, when he left, hedidn't say, You here you go, I'm
no longer walking with you.
He gave us this empoweringability to be obedient to those
(46:42):
things.
Um, and and you know, and ouragain, our faith comes from
hearing and hearing from theword of God.
Our faith is going to grow bygrowing in him, by talking with
him, which is simply just havinga conversation.
You know, sometimes we takeprayer into, and I have no issue
with you when read, you know,there's always these
pre-established I do the Bibleapp, you know, prayers in there.
And honestly, if you I I canpray those at times and they
(47:04):
they can be heartfelt with yourmeaning, what you're listening
reading, right?
Other times it's just talking toGod, like we're having this
conversation right now, and justsaying your heart.
And sometimes when I'm talkingto God, it is not pleasant.
It is not, it's God, I am upset,I am angry.
Why did you?
We had a terrible situationhappen um when we were pastoring
years back, uh, where a smallchild had passed away in our
(47:25):
church, um, just a terriblesituation.
And I remember driving to thehospital and literally screaming
and crying at God because I wasso upset, you know.
And people might think, like,oh, that's terrible.
But God knew in my heart in thatmoment that we were having that
conversation.
God had to work out something inmy own life.
And see, I get I'm an emotionalperson.
(47:47):
Um, it was it was a uniquesituation, obviously, that you
that face in life, but um like Ican still remember that moment,
and God did not condemn me andmy emotions, He loved on me, you
know?
And so I it's important to knowthat we can um come to God in
our and prayer doesn't have tobe something that's uh things
(48:07):
that we you know sound not holyand have all the right things to
say.
Prayer is simply having aconversation with your daddy,
just like you would want yourkid to crawl up on your lap and
talk to you if they're having abad day, or um, you know,
communicate with you if they'restruggling in something.
God loves you that very way.
He's a daddy who wants to wraphis arms around you and help
(48:30):
guide you through life, youknow, and so um that should be
comforting that we have the HolySpirit to empower us, don't mind
me.
Um that we have the Holy Spiritto um, I'm a very passionate
person um to uh empower us tothose obedient, you know, things
that God are asking us to do,those ten commandments.
We're not alone in this walk,and so we should be encouraged
(48:52):
in that the devil has alreadylost, right?
We already are in a winningbattle.
SPEAKER_01 (48:58):
And so all right, guys.
On that note, I don't thinkthere's a better way to end it.
We need to crawl up on ourdaddy's lap and talk to him and
get to know him, and he'll tellus what to do.
It doesn't need to be a hugething where you have your whole
life planned out.
He'll lead you in the next stepand grab your lamp and keep
walking.
Um, because he's got greatthings for us, and those great
(49:19):
things are a bunch of smallthings added up, and that's
that's pretty great.
And so we love you guys.
We'll talk to you next month.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for joining us, Katie.
We love to have you.
We'll talk to you later, guys.
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