1 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,280 S1: Are you addicted to? Living at a pace that makes 2 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,760 S1: you feel important? Are you drawn to a life of 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:16,799 S1: striving to achieve, to accomplish, in order to make yourself 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:22,360 S1: feel worthy? Are you chasing happiness as a goal rather 5 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,360 S1: than receiving it as a byproduct, as a gift in 6 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,720 S1: the overflow? Those are the questions our guest today has 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,680 S1: grappled well with, and we're going to do that together 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,280 S1: today at the Radio Backyard Fence. Thanks for joining us 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,000 S1: for a Tuesday edition here on smack dab in the 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,960 S1: middle of July program. From the heart to the heart 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,840 S1: for the heart. Morgan Kruger says, we have a problem, Houston. 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,599 S1: We got a problem. And the problem is we are 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,080 S1: on a cycle of self. We are born on that 14 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,800 S1: cycle of making a name for ourselves to gain status 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,560 S1: and likes. How do you break out of that and 16 00:00:59,650 --> 00:01:01,490 S1: how do you know when you've reached the place where 17 00:01:01,490 --> 00:01:06,450 S1: you no longer base your worth on performance, and simply 18 00:01:06,450 --> 00:01:10,250 S1: the relationship that you have with Jesus? Answers to those 19 00:01:10,250 --> 00:01:12,610 S1: and other important questions are straight ahead here on Chris 20 00:01:12,650 --> 00:01:17,730 S1: Fabry live online@chris.org. We thank our team, Ryan McConaughey doing 21 00:01:17,730 --> 00:01:21,130 S1: all things technical. Trisha is in the chair. Our producer today, 22 00:01:21,170 --> 00:01:23,890 S1: Lisa is helping out. Josh will be answering your calls. 23 00:01:24,410 --> 00:01:26,610 S1: And thank you, friends and partners. All this month we've 24 00:01:26,610 --> 00:01:32,009 S1: been celebrating 100 years of Moody radio. 1926 is when 25 00:01:32,050 --> 00:01:35,730 S1: Moody Radio started. And Deborah just gave a gift, uh, 26 00:01:35,770 --> 00:01:37,970 S1: a couple days ago and said this. I've been listening 27 00:01:38,010 --> 00:01:41,930 S1: to Moody Radio for well over 40 years, so 40% 28 00:01:41,930 --> 00:01:45,610 S1: of those 100 years. Moody Radio keeps me grounded in 29 00:01:45,610 --> 00:01:50,210 S1: my Christian faith. Biblical teaching, advice on relationships and wisdom 30 00:01:50,210 --> 00:01:52,370 S1: for our finances are just some of the things I've 31 00:01:52,410 --> 00:01:56,610 S1: gained from listening to Moody Radio. And because Deborah gave 32 00:01:56,650 --> 00:01:59,780 S1: a gift, guess what we're sending her. That's right, the 33 00:01:59,780 --> 00:02:03,980 S1: green book. This is Moody Radio 100 years proclaiming the 34 00:02:04,020 --> 00:02:07,860 S1: gospel by our pal Phil Shepard and Kevin Mongan's. They've 35 00:02:07,860 --> 00:02:10,579 S1: put this together. It's a pictorial history. You'll see all 36 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:14,740 S1: kinds of pictures and graphs and, uh, flyers that were 37 00:02:15,740 --> 00:02:19,060 S1: sent out in the K, Y, B club that these 38 00:02:19,060 --> 00:02:22,260 S1: were sent out in the 1920s and the 1930s and 39 00:02:22,260 --> 00:02:25,700 S1: pictures through the years. It's a gorgeous book, and I 40 00:02:25,700 --> 00:02:27,620 S1: want to put a copy of it in your hands. 41 00:02:27,620 --> 00:02:29,859 S1: If you're new to Moody Radio, this will give you 42 00:02:29,860 --> 00:02:34,060 S1: the history. If you're a longtime listener like Deborah, your 43 00:02:34,060 --> 00:02:37,380 S1: heart will be warmed with all the pictures of current 44 00:02:37,380 --> 00:02:42,419 S1: and past voices that you've heard. The people who populated 45 00:02:42,419 --> 00:02:47,900 S1: Moody Radio go to Chris fabry.org. Do not delay. Run today. 46 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:53,140 S1: Chris Fabry. Chris Fabry live dot ORG. Scroll down. You'll 47 00:02:53,139 --> 00:02:55,620 S1: see a copy of This is Moody Radio. Or you 48 00:02:55,620 --> 00:02:59,470 S1: can call 86695. Fabri. We'd love to put this in 49 00:02:59,470 --> 00:03:07,269 S1: your hands just as a thank you for your support. (866) 953-2279. 50 00:03:07,950 --> 00:03:10,590 S1: We welcome back today Morgan Krueger, who is a follower 51 00:03:10,590 --> 00:03:14,030 S1: of Jesus wife, mom, author who found her voice connecting 52 00:03:14,030 --> 00:03:18,190 S1: with women seeking biblical freedom from the brokenness of shame. 53 00:03:18,470 --> 00:03:21,790 S1: She's passionate about the redemption and joy that comes in 54 00:03:21,830 --> 00:03:24,430 S1: following Jesus. She aims to keep that at the center 55 00:03:24,430 --> 00:03:27,550 S1: of all she does, and this is exactly what she 56 00:03:27,550 --> 00:03:29,990 S1: has done in this new book that we're going to 57 00:03:29,990 --> 00:03:33,670 S1: talk about today, made to Magnify. She lives in Tennessee 58 00:03:33,950 --> 00:03:38,670 S1: with her husband. And how many children do you have now, Morgan? 59 00:03:38,870 --> 00:03:41,750 S2: I have my third boy on the way. He'll be 60 00:03:41,750 --> 00:03:43,430 S2: here in four weeks. No. 61 00:03:43,750 --> 00:03:46,510 S3: You're kidding. Yeah. Three boys. 62 00:03:46,510 --> 00:03:48,590 S1: What? How are you going to do that? 63 00:03:49,510 --> 00:03:51,790 S2: You tell me. I don't know, maybe a caller can 64 00:03:51,790 --> 00:03:54,910 S2: call in with their wisdom for me today on that one. But, uh, 65 00:03:54,950 --> 00:03:57,120 S2: my husband is six five and we joke. We're just, 66 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,600 S2: you know, over here building a basketball team. 67 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,480 S1: So very excited about it. Well, we had we had 68 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,560 S1: five girls and four boys. So we had the baseball team, 69 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,960 S1: but we had the girls first. So it was it 70 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,760 S1: was a little easier than having the boys first. But 71 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,600 S1: you're gonna you're gonna be a great mom. I know boys, 72 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:20,760 S1: I can just tell. Okay, so this this made to magnify, uh, 73 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,560 S1: this subject that we have today. This bubbled up in 74 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,480 S1: your life because. Why? 75 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,080 S2: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I will say 76 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,840 S2: it's kind of funny. Before I ever wrote any books, um, 77 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,680 S2: you know, I used to walk through Barnes and Noble 78 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,200 S2: or Target and think, oh, that's a good message or oh, 79 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,080 S2: that's a great message. I wonder how you know, that 80 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,520 S2: person thought of that. And, and now, having been on 81 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,479 S2: the other side of this, I know exactly why we 82 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,960 S2: write the things that we write. It's because we desperately 83 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,849 S2: need for ourselves in a specific season. Truth from the 84 00:04:55,850 --> 00:04:58,810 S2: Word of God. And he. And he speaks to us, 85 00:04:58,810 --> 00:05:01,330 S2: and he prunes us, and he sanctifies us. And out 86 00:05:01,330 --> 00:05:03,890 S2: of that place we write about it not from being 87 00:05:03,890 --> 00:05:07,210 S2: an expert, but being a recipient of a great need. 88 00:05:07,210 --> 00:05:10,450 S2: And so, um, made to magnify is kind of no 89 00:05:10,490 --> 00:05:13,050 S2: exception to that. Chris. A couple years ago, you know, 90 00:05:13,089 --> 00:05:15,610 S2: I just found myself in a season surrounded by a 91 00:05:15,650 --> 00:05:19,210 S2: lot of sweet gifts from the Lord. Um, with my job, 92 00:05:19,210 --> 00:05:22,970 S2: with my marriage, with, um, you know, community, different good 93 00:05:22,970 --> 00:05:25,969 S2: gifts from God. But I will say, uh, you know, 94 00:05:26,010 --> 00:05:29,529 S2: reflecting back, I wasn't careful and this natural drift to 95 00:05:29,570 --> 00:05:32,250 S2: start to put my identity in some of these things 96 00:05:32,250 --> 00:05:34,529 S2: started to creep in. And overnight, a lot of things 97 00:05:34,529 --> 00:05:36,850 S2: in my life changed. And some of those things were 98 00:05:36,850 --> 00:05:39,529 S2: stripped away from me. And I realized, oh man, wow, 99 00:05:39,570 --> 00:05:42,890 S2: I've been building my life, my identity in the good gifts, 100 00:05:42,890 --> 00:05:44,810 S2: but I've been kind of putting myself on the throne. 101 00:05:44,810 --> 00:05:46,730 S2: And now that those things are gone, who am I 102 00:05:46,730 --> 00:05:49,170 S2: really glorifying? Who am I really seeking? And that's when 103 00:05:49,170 --> 00:05:50,930 S2: the Lord started to kind of do this work on 104 00:05:50,930 --> 00:05:51,609 S2: my own heart. 105 00:05:52,610 --> 00:05:55,570 S1: And I hear it a lot. People will talk about men, 106 00:05:55,610 --> 00:05:58,490 S1: especially with men, when they are in a room. What 107 00:05:58,490 --> 00:06:00,370 S1: do you do? You know, that's the first question. So 108 00:06:00,370 --> 00:06:02,810 S1: what do you do? Justify your life, you know, why 109 00:06:02,810 --> 00:06:05,050 S1: are you on the planet? Well, I. And then you 110 00:06:05,050 --> 00:06:08,730 S1: fill in the blank. But women struggle with that as 111 00:06:08,730 --> 00:06:13,610 S1: well by placing their identity in. Well, I'm a it 112 00:06:13,650 --> 00:06:15,890 S1: could be a job. It could be being a mom 113 00:06:15,890 --> 00:06:19,290 S1: of three boys now, you know, in four weeks or so. Um, 114 00:06:19,730 --> 00:06:22,730 S1: so both men and women struggle with this, don't you think? 115 00:06:23,529 --> 00:06:26,690 S2: Oh, I think it's a universal struggle, I really do. 116 00:06:26,730 --> 00:06:28,530 S2: And if, you know, if we go back to the beginning, 117 00:06:28,529 --> 00:06:31,010 S2: we always have to, as believers, as followers of Jesus, 118 00:06:31,010 --> 00:06:32,289 S2: who believe the Word of God, we have to go 119 00:06:32,290 --> 00:06:34,010 S2: back to the beginning and we have to look at 120 00:06:34,210 --> 00:06:37,330 S2: Adam and Eve. And at their very core, they were 121 00:06:37,330 --> 00:06:40,010 S2: living out of this belief that they might know better 122 00:06:40,010 --> 00:06:43,610 S2: than God, that they might be able to identify themselves 123 00:06:43,610 --> 00:06:48,210 S2: as something bigger, greater, better than God himself, which we 124 00:06:48,210 --> 00:06:50,610 S2: know is a huge lie from the enemy. It was 125 00:06:50,610 --> 00:06:52,779 S2: a lie then. It's a lie now. But I think 126 00:06:52,779 --> 00:06:55,900 S2: that because of that, that struggle to want to identify 127 00:06:55,900 --> 00:06:59,100 S2: ourselves from something that we earned, that we do, that 128 00:06:59,100 --> 00:07:02,020 S2: we think or conjure up ourselves is, is such a 129 00:07:02,020 --> 00:07:05,820 S2: universal struggle. And, um, yeah, it's something that met me 130 00:07:05,820 --> 00:07:08,380 S2: a couple years ago and, you know, we can get 131 00:07:08,380 --> 00:07:11,860 S2: into it. But that word magnify is something that honestly, 132 00:07:11,860 --> 00:07:15,020 S2: the Lord has used to really save me, to restore me, 133 00:07:15,020 --> 00:07:18,179 S2: to kind of reorder some things in my life from 134 00:07:18,180 --> 00:07:21,060 S2: that season a couple years ago. And I'm forever grateful 135 00:07:21,060 --> 00:07:23,540 S2: for it. And I'm grateful that that word comes to 136 00:07:23,540 --> 00:07:25,300 S2: us from the Word of God. Um, we see it 137 00:07:25,300 --> 00:07:28,060 S2: throughout Scripture, but in Luke one, you know, we have 138 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:30,780 S2: this amazing moment with Mary and Mary just in a 139 00:07:30,780 --> 00:07:33,460 S2: moment where she could have had every reason to look 140 00:07:33,460 --> 00:07:37,100 S2: in and to identify herself by, uh, maybe her fear 141 00:07:37,100 --> 00:07:40,500 S2: or her doubts or, um, things in her season. She 142 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:43,220 S2: didn't do that. Right. She looked up and as she's 143 00:07:43,220 --> 00:07:45,300 S2: carrying the savior of the world, she cries out to 144 00:07:45,340 --> 00:07:48,300 S2: God and she says, my soul magnifies the Lord, and 145 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:50,550 S2: my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. And what a 146 00:07:50,550 --> 00:07:54,630 S2: beautiful cry and prayer for all of us, men or women. 147 00:07:54,630 --> 00:07:56,989 S2: And no matter what we're identifying ourselves with today. 148 00:07:57,230 --> 00:08:01,470 S1: Yeah. And she could have also said, uh, wow, God 149 00:08:01,470 --> 00:08:06,270 S1: chose me to carry the Savior of the world. I'm. 150 00:08:06,310 --> 00:08:10,190 S1: There must be something really special about me. I'm. And 151 00:08:10,190 --> 00:08:13,150 S1: she was, you know, she was special, but she didn't 152 00:08:13,150 --> 00:08:14,630 S1: do that either. Did she? 153 00:08:15,310 --> 00:08:17,350 S2: No. I love that you said that she could have 154 00:08:17,350 --> 00:08:19,070 S2: gone one of two ways. She could have leaned into 155 00:08:19,070 --> 00:08:21,830 S2: the kind of that cultural fear of. What does this 156 00:08:21,830 --> 00:08:24,830 S2: mean for my life? Or she could have, like you're saying, Chris, 157 00:08:24,830 --> 00:08:27,670 S2: she could have absolutely said, oh, I am. And she 158 00:08:27,670 --> 00:08:30,989 S2: did claim that she was God's, you know, favored servant. 159 00:08:30,990 --> 00:08:34,230 S2: She she she knew who she was in Jesus in, in, 160 00:08:34,230 --> 00:08:38,150 S2: in God, but her Savior. But at the same time, uh, 161 00:08:38,150 --> 00:08:40,150 S2: her eyes were. I just love to, you know, we 162 00:08:40,150 --> 00:08:42,709 S2: can use our holy imagination when we're reading these passages. 163 00:08:42,710 --> 00:08:46,430 S2: And I love to picture Mary again, just postured up 164 00:08:46,429 --> 00:08:52,120 S2: looking up, praising and fixated on her Savior, on God. And, um, 165 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:54,680 S2: when she could have identified herself, like you're saying, with 166 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:57,280 S2: either sides of that spectrum. She didn't do that, right. 167 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,320 S2: She wasn't focused on herself. She was focused on God. 168 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,840 S2: And that's why out of an abundance of that place, 169 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,720 S2: she used that word magnify. And as I studied that word, 170 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,480 S2: I was so captivated by it a couple of years 171 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:09,360 S2: ago when I first read it. And, you know, I 172 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,720 S2: think we can all relate with this, especially for maybe 173 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:13,920 S2: some of us who have grown up reading our Bibles. 174 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,360 S2: We can read something a hundred times. And then because 175 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,400 S2: the Word of God is living and active, it can 176 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,720 S2: meet us in a season where it almost feels like 177 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,240 S2: we are reading something for the very first time. And 178 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:24,840 S2: that's how it was for me when I was reading 179 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,360 S2: Luke one years ago. And so I started to just 180 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,000 S2: do research. What did Mary mean when she said that? What, 181 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:34,040 S2: what culturally and, you know, researching the origin of that word. 182 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,160 S2: What did she really mean? What was she trying to 183 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,679 S2: express to God? And the clearest definition I could find 184 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,160 S2: for that word, magnify just simply means to make great. 185 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,200 S2: And that kind of cut me to the heart, Chris, 186 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:46,920 S2: a couple of years ago when I first read it 187 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,730 S2: because I thought, wow, we are creatures. We are people 188 00:09:49,730 --> 00:09:52,170 S2: who are made to magnify. We're going to wake up 189 00:09:52,170 --> 00:09:54,930 S2: every single morning. We are going to magnify something. But 190 00:09:54,929 --> 00:09:57,130 S2: the question for each of us is this are we 191 00:09:57,130 --> 00:10:00,330 S2: going to magnify our own self, our desires, our comforts, 192 00:10:00,330 --> 00:10:04,010 S2: our control, our identity, our success? Or are we going 193 00:10:04,010 --> 00:10:06,530 S2: to wake up this morning and magnify the one who's 194 00:10:06,530 --> 00:10:09,050 S2: actually worthy of all the honor and praise? And I 195 00:10:09,050 --> 00:10:11,410 S2: know it's a really simple definition. It's a really simple 196 00:10:11,410 --> 00:10:13,650 S2: way to put that. But as we know, Chris, it's 197 00:10:13,690 --> 00:10:16,930 S2: way more complicated to live out. And that's kind of 198 00:10:16,970 --> 00:10:19,650 S2: what we get into with this message. And what I 199 00:10:19,690 --> 00:10:21,890 S2: have found is the greatest invitation of all time is 200 00:10:21,890 --> 00:10:24,690 S2: to kind of take that call, um, and search the 201 00:10:24,690 --> 00:10:27,010 S2: Lord in that area and see what he does with that. 202 00:10:27,370 --> 00:10:29,809 S1: It reminds me of the, the Bob Dylan song. You're 203 00:10:29,809 --> 00:10:33,929 S1: going to have to serve somebody. You're going to magnify somebody. 204 00:10:34,130 --> 00:10:37,930 S1: You can choose to magnify yourself, or you can choose 205 00:10:37,929 --> 00:10:43,410 S1: to put your full magnify magnifying. You can let him 206 00:10:43,530 --> 00:10:47,939 S1: magnify himself through your life, made to magnify as our 207 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:52,380 S1: featured resource. It's by Morgan Kruger, subtitled Choosing to Live 208 00:10:52,380 --> 00:10:55,940 S1: for Jesus when everything tells you to live for yourself. Boy, 209 00:10:55,940 --> 00:10:59,820 S1: aren't we there right now. If you go to chris.org, 210 00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:02,700 S1: click through today's information. We've got a link right there, 211 00:11:02,700 --> 00:11:20,220 S1: Chris fabriclive.org. And here's our number (877) 548-3675. Morgan Krueger is 212 00:11:20,220 --> 00:11:23,660 S1: an encourager. Words are her love language. So it's no 213 00:11:23,660 --> 00:11:26,100 S1: surprise to me that she has put some down for 214 00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:29,219 S1: you and me in the new book Made to Magnify 215 00:11:29,700 --> 00:11:32,819 S1: Choosing to Live for Jesus when everything tells you to 216 00:11:32,860 --> 00:11:37,100 S1: live for yourself, if that's what you're struggling with, or 217 00:11:37,100 --> 00:11:39,939 S1: if that's. Here's another question to kind of frame our 218 00:11:39,940 --> 00:11:43,420 S1: discussion today. Is there something that you are holding back 219 00:11:43,420 --> 00:11:46,190 S1: from doing that you feel like God wants you to do, 220 00:11:46,190 --> 00:11:49,429 S1: but you're holding back because you're afraid you won't be 221 00:11:49,429 --> 00:11:53,630 S1: able to do it, or you're afraid of what others 222 00:11:53,670 --> 00:11:57,550 S1: are saying or will think about you. The fear quotient 223 00:11:57,550 --> 00:12:00,390 S1: in there. Think about that. And I'm going to go 224 00:12:00,390 --> 00:12:03,750 S1: back to Mary, though. Made to magnify. There was a 225 00:12:03,750 --> 00:12:08,790 S1: difference between the question. Very subtle difference between what Zechariah 226 00:12:08,790 --> 00:12:12,230 S1: said to the angel when he was told what would 227 00:12:12,230 --> 00:12:15,510 S1: happen to him and his wife of old age, and 228 00:12:15,510 --> 00:12:20,590 S1: the difference between what Mary said because. And I think 229 00:12:20,590 --> 00:12:25,230 S1: part of it was Mary was just wondering, how can 230 00:12:25,270 --> 00:12:30,510 S1: this be? What? I've never known a man. How can 231 00:12:30,510 --> 00:12:34,470 S1: I give birth to the Savior of the world, the Redeemer? 232 00:12:34,830 --> 00:12:37,910 S1: How can this be? That was a different question than 233 00:12:37,910 --> 00:12:41,630 S1: the doubt that Zechariah was bringing to the table. And 234 00:12:41,630 --> 00:12:44,800 S1: I think part of what Mary was saying was there. 235 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,800 S1: There is a mystery here. There is something that I 236 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,719 S1: can't understand. I can't hang on to. But I am 237 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:59,319 S1: going to trust God and His sovereignty in this situation 238 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,440 S1: more than my ability to understand it. What do you 239 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:03,360 S1: think about that? 240 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,200 S2: I love that you just kind of broke down the 241 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:12,240 S2: difference in two people who had doubts. I think we 242 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,000 S2: can say that Mary Mary had. I will say this. 243 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,320 S2: I think doubts get a really bad rap. I know 244 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:21,360 S2: for me and maybe for some of us listening, I 245 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,440 S2: kind of referenced this before for us that grew up 246 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,640 S2: in maybe Christian atmospheres or, you know, I grew up 247 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,520 S2: in a very small Christian private school. And when I 248 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,160 S2: think about the word doubts, I think about something that 249 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,600 S2: is very was very unwelcomed to me. It was almost like, 250 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,640 S2: if you have a doubt, we're going to find a scripture, 251 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:41,120 S2: we're going to slap it on and we're going to 252 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,929 S2: move forward. But I do think what you're saying, we 253 00:13:43,929 --> 00:13:50,290 S2: have this beautiful reference for Mary versus Zechariah, where Mary 254 00:13:50,370 --> 00:13:53,290 S2: handled her doubts in such a beautiful way. I think 255 00:13:53,330 --> 00:13:56,730 S2: doubts paired with faith can lead us to a place 256 00:13:56,730 --> 00:13:59,890 S2: of magnifying the Lord, because the Lord knows that we're 257 00:13:59,890 --> 00:14:03,410 S2: going to have our questions right. She basically was saying, 258 00:14:03,730 --> 00:14:07,650 S2: I trust you, God, but help me understand more where 259 00:14:07,770 --> 00:14:11,089 S2: Zechariah was almost trying to force his hand to force 260 00:14:11,090 --> 00:14:14,569 S2: the hand of God to make everything make sense to him. 261 00:14:14,570 --> 00:14:16,610 S2: But when we're people who have such a high view 262 00:14:16,610 --> 00:14:19,490 S2: of God and we trust him, we're actually able to 263 00:14:19,530 --> 00:14:22,050 S2: bring our doubts to the one who has all the answers. 264 00:14:22,050 --> 00:14:24,770 S2: And we trust that he will reveal to us what 265 00:14:24,770 --> 00:14:26,690 S2: we need to know. And I think that that kind 266 00:14:26,690 --> 00:14:30,330 S2: of model is something that the Lord honored in Mary's posture. 267 00:14:30,330 --> 00:14:32,450 S2: And obviously, you know what I love? I love that 268 00:14:32,450 --> 00:14:35,610 S2: you did bring up Zechariah, because who is the hero 269 00:14:35,610 --> 00:14:38,170 S2: of that story? You know, it's not Zechariah. He didn't 270 00:14:38,170 --> 00:14:41,100 S2: handle it perfect, but God was still faithful to the 271 00:14:41,100 --> 00:14:44,740 S2: one that he loved. He still blessed the family of Zechariah. 272 00:14:44,740 --> 00:14:48,060 S2: He did have some discipline and some lessons in that. 273 00:14:48,060 --> 00:14:52,100 S2: But I think that over overall, what we can look 274 00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:55,220 S2: to when we look at the story of Zechariah versus Mary, 275 00:14:55,260 --> 00:14:58,500 S2: we see two people who brought different postures of their 276 00:14:58,500 --> 00:15:01,900 S2: doubts to the Lord, and God dealt with them differently. 277 00:15:01,900 --> 00:15:04,820 S2: But overall, he was still faithful. And I hope that's 278 00:15:04,820 --> 00:15:08,380 S2: a message for someone today. Um, doubts handled the right 279 00:15:08,380 --> 00:15:14,180 S2: way leads to greater faith and also, um, a posture 280 00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:16,860 S2: that really does make great the name of name of 281 00:15:16,860 --> 00:15:18,620 S2: the Lord, even in some of our doubts. 282 00:15:18,820 --> 00:15:21,860 S1: Well, it's a good word for parents too. If your 283 00:15:21,860 --> 00:15:24,940 S1: children have doubts and they're struggling with those to struggle 284 00:15:24,940 --> 00:15:28,020 S1: well with them rather than trying to quell, you know, 285 00:15:28,060 --> 00:15:30,580 S1: and to salve and soothe, it is like you can 286 00:15:30,580 --> 00:15:33,500 S1: lean into those because those questions will take you to 287 00:15:33,540 --> 00:15:37,580 S1: good places. Um, like the question of John the Baptist, 288 00:15:37,620 --> 00:15:41,150 S1: it's John and Mary and then Paul that you use 289 00:15:41,190 --> 00:15:43,950 S1: as kind of this, these three people that set the 290 00:15:43,950 --> 00:15:47,910 S1: frame for the book. John said he must increase, but 291 00:15:47,910 --> 00:15:51,910 S1: I must decrease. And look at what happened to him. 292 00:15:51,950 --> 00:15:54,950 S1: Look at the end result of what happened to John 293 00:15:55,390 --> 00:15:58,350 S1: there in in prison. And it's like, how could a 294 00:15:58,390 --> 00:16:02,270 S1: God who really loved John the Baptist, I mean, here's 295 00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:05,550 S1: the forerunner, here's, here's the one who's heralding the coming 296 00:16:05,550 --> 00:16:08,950 S1: of the Messiah. How could you let that happen to 297 00:16:08,990 --> 00:16:13,350 S1: that guy who's just said he must increase, I must decrease? 298 00:16:13,350 --> 00:16:15,910 S1: That doesn't make sense to me. What do you say 299 00:16:15,910 --> 00:16:16,470 S1: to that? 300 00:16:18,030 --> 00:16:21,630 S2: Yeah. I think that John the Baptist had this incredibly 301 00:16:21,630 --> 00:16:25,510 S2: unique relationship to the Savior, right? Even from their time 302 00:16:25,510 --> 00:16:29,190 S2: in the womb. Scripture tells us that literally there was 303 00:16:29,190 --> 00:16:33,310 S2: interaction that happened when even Elizabeth and Mary were together. 304 00:16:33,310 --> 00:16:36,270 S2: They had such an intimate special bond. And what I 305 00:16:36,270 --> 00:16:39,120 S2: will say is, um, you know, a lot of us 306 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,560 S2: here in the West, we can't even begin to identify 307 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,280 S2: with the sufferings of Jesus, much less the sufferings of, um, 308 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:49,520 S2: you know, the persecution that has happened in the past 309 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,200 S2: and even today in other parts of our world, the 310 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,720 S2: persecution and suffering that's happening for those who claim the 311 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,200 S2: name of Jesus. Um, but I think that lesson if, 312 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,720 S2: if we study that scripture, if we study the relationship 313 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,040 S2: with John the Baptist and Jesus, if we study, um, his, 314 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,040 S2: his sufferings, we can see that, um, we are promised 315 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,240 S2: suffering in this world, a relationship with Jesus. It does 316 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,960 S2: not promise earthly prosperity, but it promises something that even 317 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:18,800 S2: though it's so easy for me to sit in my 318 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,560 S2: comfortable home in Tennessee right now and say this, it 319 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,679 S2: doesn't make it any less true. When we are connected 320 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,800 S2: to Jesus, he gives us something so much greater than 321 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,640 S2: our comforts. He gives us something so much greater than 322 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,560 S2: our own desires. He gives us his presence. And I 323 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,439 S2: have got to believe from the very start, John the 324 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,640 S2: Baptist had this deep, deep connection to the presence of Jesus, 325 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,400 S2: and that is the only possible way that he could 326 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,040 S2: declare something like, I must decrease, he must increase, and 327 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,320 S2: then truly live a life that surrendered and suffered for 328 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:53,880 S2: that name that he claimed and that he believed in. 329 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,720 S2: And so, um, you know, for us, most of us 330 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,200 S2: will not even begin to understand those sufferings. But what 331 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,200 S2: I will say, I know that there are a lot 332 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,600 S2: of people listening today, myself included, that are going through 333 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,120 S2: sufferings of our own. And what would it look like 334 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:12,000 S2: to say, Lord, I am willing to forsake my comforts, 335 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:18,800 S2: my pursuits, my, um, uh, my demands for whatever you 336 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,720 S2: have for me. And again, it's so easy to say 337 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,800 S2: it's harder to live it out. But thanks be to God, 338 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,320 S2: we have the one. We have the Holy Spirit living 339 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,000 S2: inside us who does allow us to actually walk that out. 340 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,760 S2: But it's only by his power. It's only by his strength. 341 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,810 S1: The the Paul in Galatians 220, it's no longer I 342 00:18:36,850 --> 00:18:39,970 S1: who live, but Christ who lives in me. So Mary, 343 00:18:40,010 --> 00:18:46,090 S1: magnifying my soul magnifies John. He must increase, I must decrease. Paul. 344 00:18:46,090 --> 00:18:49,930 S1: Christ lives in me. I no longer live. So do 345 00:18:50,010 --> 00:18:52,730 S1: you use that? And it's like, okay, so what? How 346 00:18:52,770 --> 00:18:55,530 S1: do I live that way? And how do maybe the 347 00:18:55,530 --> 00:19:00,129 S1: the deeper question is, how do I know I'm magnifying 348 00:19:00,130 --> 00:19:04,970 S1: God rather than magnifying myself? Is there a test that 349 00:19:04,970 --> 00:19:06,969 S1: I can take? Is there, you know, can you do 350 00:19:06,970 --> 00:19:10,730 S1: a blood test to figure that out? How do you know? 351 00:19:11,850 --> 00:19:13,890 S2: Wouldn't we love that? You know, I think for so 352 00:19:13,890 --> 00:19:16,210 S2: many of us, we want to be effective people. We 353 00:19:16,210 --> 00:19:18,690 S2: want to be efficient people. We want to just be 354 00:19:18,690 --> 00:19:20,930 S2: told if we're doing it right. We want to be 355 00:19:20,930 --> 00:19:23,930 S2: told that if we're not doing it right, then, okay, God, 356 00:19:23,930 --> 00:19:25,970 S2: give us the ten steps to do it right. You know, 357 00:19:26,010 --> 00:19:29,250 S2: we we want these answers. Um, but I think so 358 00:19:29,250 --> 00:19:33,850 S2: many of us want the answers without having to do, uh, the, um, 359 00:19:34,100 --> 00:19:37,780 S2: The heart checks. The soul checks the inventory, the the 360 00:19:37,900 --> 00:19:40,740 S2: messy part. Right. And I think if we look so, 361 00:19:40,740 --> 00:19:42,980 S2: so no, no blood test. Do we know that answer? 362 00:19:42,980 --> 00:19:46,540 S2: But you know something again, um, that I continue to 363 00:19:46,540 --> 00:19:49,219 S2: go back to in scripture that can give us a 364 00:19:49,220 --> 00:19:52,300 S2: reference of where do we start with all of this? Um, 365 00:19:52,300 --> 00:19:55,220 S2: you know, Psalm 139. I know for me, I've been 366 00:19:55,220 --> 00:19:58,660 S2: to way too many women's conferences. I'm a sucker for them. 367 00:19:58,660 --> 00:20:00,260 S2: I just love them. And, and, you know, at these 368 00:20:00,260 --> 00:20:03,900 S2: conferences and these sermons, we love to talk about Psalm 139. 369 00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:06,180 S2: Women love Psalm 139, and there's a reason for that. 370 00:20:06,180 --> 00:20:08,980 S2: It's such a beautiful passage. Um, but at the end 371 00:20:08,980 --> 00:20:11,820 S2: of that scripture, King David, he says something that's so 372 00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:15,820 S2: profound and, and again, using our holy imagination, I, I 373 00:20:15,859 --> 00:20:18,460 S2: love to even just picture him maybe on his knees 374 00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:22,139 S2: and this desperate cry where he says, search me, O God, 375 00:20:22,180 --> 00:20:25,940 S2: try me, know me. He basically says, point anything out 376 00:20:25,940 --> 00:20:28,420 S2: in me that's grieving your heart and lead me down 377 00:20:28,420 --> 00:20:31,540 S2: the path of everlasting life. And I, I go back 378 00:20:31,540 --> 00:20:36,470 S2: to that passage often because it's also an invitation for 379 00:20:36,470 --> 00:20:39,270 S2: us to take that same posture of desperation of, Lord, 380 00:20:39,270 --> 00:20:41,590 S2: I need you. I need you to search my heart. 381 00:20:41,590 --> 00:20:44,869 S2: Without you, I am blinded to the ways that I 382 00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:47,469 S2: am trying to glorify and magnify my own name. It 383 00:20:47,470 --> 00:20:50,310 S2: is only by your strength. It's only by your spirit 384 00:20:50,310 --> 00:20:52,550 S2: that you can convict me, that you can point out 385 00:20:52,550 --> 00:20:55,629 S2: these ways in me that might be grieving your heart. 386 00:20:55,630 --> 00:20:58,150 S2: Whether it's my comforts, whether it's my demands, whether it's 387 00:20:58,150 --> 00:21:01,710 S2: my people pleasing, my fear of man, whatever it is, God, 388 00:21:01,710 --> 00:21:03,830 S2: I need you to do that work in me. And 389 00:21:03,830 --> 00:21:06,909 S2: that's the messier thing, because that right there, Psalm 139 390 00:21:06,910 --> 00:21:09,230 S2: is not a formula. But what I will say is 391 00:21:09,230 --> 00:21:11,710 S2: it's better. It's an invitation. It's an invitation to come 392 00:21:11,710 --> 00:21:15,070 S2: to the one who can start to rework and rewire 393 00:21:15,070 --> 00:21:18,310 S2: our hearts to care about the things that, apart from him, 394 00:21:18,310 --> 00:21:19,990 S2: we are just not going to care about. We are 395 00:21:19,990 --> 00:21:22,830 S2: going to only care about ourselves. But with him, we 396 00:21:22,869 --> 00:21:26,429 S2: are given the special invitation and opportunity to make that shift. 397 00:21:26,990 --> 00:21:33,280 S1: So this is not about, uh, image management or behavior 398 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:37,360 S1: modification that you're talking about. This is this is something 399 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:43,520 S1: much deeper than that. This dependence on on Jesus. And 400 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:47,720 S1: you don't get you get the outward change when the 401 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,560 S1: inside change changes, right? 402 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,840 S2: Yeah. And I would say you get the inward change 403 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,960 S2: when you start to fix your outward gaze. I would 404 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,879 S2: say that things start to change in us when, you know, again, 405 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,879 S2: God isn't asking us to fix our behavior, to pursue 406 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,720 S2: behavior modification and then come to him. You know, that's 407 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,640 S2: one of the most simple gospel messages ever, is that 408 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,440 S2: we are not asked to go clean ourselves up and 409 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,720 S2: then come to the one who is able to actually 410 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,000 S2: purify us of all of our unrighteousness. But we are 411 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,920 S2: called to come to him in the middle of the mess. 412 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,320 S2: But it all starts with that gaze. I love to 413 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,480 S2: say this. Our gaze where we are fixing our eyes 414 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,130 S2: is one of our greatest Weapons. And, you know, there's 415 00:22:31,130 --> 00:22:33,970 S2: that quote that so many of us love to quote. 416 00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:38,050 S2: I don't even know who originally said it. You probably do, Chris. But, um, 417 00:22:38,090 --> 00:22:41,130 S2: you know, that idea of, uh, you know, we become 418 00:22:41,130 --> 00:22:43,770 S2: what we behold. So what are we looking at? Are 419 00:22:43,770 --> 00:22:46,850 S2: we looking at our cycle of self, our fears, our doubts, 420 00:22:46,850 --> 00:22:50,609 S2: our pride, our comforts? Or are we just willing to 421 00:22:50,609 --> 00:22:53,490 S2: take that first step, that Psalm 139 kind of invites 422 00:22:53,490 --> 00:22:56,609 S2: us into, to fix our gaze on the one who 423 00:22:56,609 --> 00:22:59,530 S2: is looking back at us, who cares about us, who 424 00:22:59,570 --> 00:23:02,250 S2: wants our lives to be a beautiful reflection of the 425 00:23:02,250 --> 00:23:04,410 S2: reason that we were created, which was to magnify him. 426 00:23:04,410 --> 00:23:07,050 S2: And so our gaze is one of our greatest weapons. 427 00:23:07,050 --> 00:23:10,010 S2: And when it's fixed on Jesus, he will start to 428 00:23:10,010 --> 00:23:11,770 S2: do the work. But he does ask us to take 429 00:23:11,770 --> 00:23:13,810 S2: that step of faith, to start to look to him. 430 00:23:14,650 --> 00:23:20,570 S1: Marshall McLuhan and I didn't know it, but, uh, AI does. 431 00:23:20,609 --> 00:23:26,410 S1: Marshall McLuhan is the Canadian media theorist who popularized that saying, 432 00:23:26,850 --> 00:23:32,180 S1: but is. The line is often paraphrased from Blake William 433 00:23:32,180 --> 00:23:37,580 S1: Blake in his 1804 Milton, a poem he became what 434 00:23:37,580 --> 00:23:40,500 S1: he beheld. So now you learn something a little newer. 435 00:23:40,500 --> 00:23:44,220 S1: And I did too. Today, with Morgan Krueger made to 436 00:23:44,220 --> 00:23:47,500 S1: magnify as our featured resource. If you go to Chris fabry.org, 437 00:23:47,540 --> 00:23:50,859 S1: you'll see it right there. And I dare say what 438 00:23:50,859 --> 00:23:54,100 S1: you're saying is going to be encouraging to somebody who's listening, 439 00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:56,980 S1: who says, I have this besetting sin. I have this 440 00:23:56,980 --> 00:23:59,460 S1: thing in my life. And every time, and I think 441 00:23:59,460 --> 00:24:02,580 S1: God is so frustrated with me because I keep coming 442 00:24:02,580 --> 00:24:04,740 S1: to him and telling him I'm sorry. And then I 443 00:24:04,780 --> 00:24:08,619 S1: fall again and I slip again. And what you're saying is, 444 00:24:08,900 --> 00:24:12,620 S1: it's the that you see that you're falling, you know, 445 00:24:13,300 --> 00:24:15,060 S1: and you want to beat yourself up. You don't have 446 00:24:15,060 --> 00:24:18,780 S1: to do that. You need to give him access to 447 00:24:18,820 --> 00:24:22,540 S1: the inner life. That's where the change will come when 448 00:24:22,540 --> 00:24:25,620 S1: you look up rather than beating yourself up. Right? 449 00:24:26,550 --> 00:24:29,590 S2: Absolutely. You know, it makes me go to Matthew 14 450 00:24:30,310 --> 00:24:34,429 S2: when Peter, you know, he's so bold, right? And at 451 00:24:34,470 --> 00:24:37,390 S2: this point, Peter had already just done so many things 452 00:24:37,390 --> 00:24:38,950 S2: that I think so many of us can relate to 453 00:24:38,990 --> 00:24:41,790 S2: is kind of a knucklehead. But he just loved Jesus, 454 00:24:41,790 --> 00:24:44,909 S2: and he was just being, uh, sanctified in real time 455 00:24:44,910 --> 00:24:47,950 S2: throughout the scriptures. And, and when Jesus came to them 456 00:24:47,950 --> 00:24:50,910 S2: on the water, he said, call, you know, call, tell 457 00:24:50,950 --> 00:24:53,030 S2: me to come to you and I'll come. And Jesus says, 458 00:24:53,030 --> 00:24:55,550 S2: come and invites him out. And, um, we know that 459 00:24:55,550 --> 00:24:58,430 S2: story again, I love looking at these passages where Jesus 460 00:24:58,470 --> 00:25:00,990 S2: is involved. Who's the hero of the story here? It's 461 00:25:00,990 --> 00:25:04,070 S2: not Peter. It absolutely isn't. It says that when he 462 00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:06,629 S2: saw the wind and the waves crashing, that he began 463 00:25:06,630 --> 00:25:09,590 S2: to fear, and he took his eyes off of Jesus. 464 00:25:09,590 --> 00:25:12,150 S2: And as we look to the actual hero of that 465 00:25:12,150 --> 00:25:14,390 S2: story in Jesus, we have to say, well, what did 466 00:25:14,390 --> 00:25:18,430 S2: Jesus do with this man who was falling, who was doubting, 467 00:25:18,430 --> 00:25:21,590 S2: who had this pride, and then immediately took his eyes 468 00:25:21,590 --> 00:25:24,150 S2: off Jesus and started to fall. And, and the the 469 00:25:24,310 --> 00:25:27,240 S2: the Hebrew, the Greek word for that was you. Theos. 470 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,400 S2: It says that he immediately he. You. He reached out 471 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,520 S2: to Peter and he pulled him back up because Peter said, 472 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,240 S2: help me God. So what a what an encouragement for 473 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:37,320 S2: all of us that we can call. 474 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,679 S1: That is the kind of God you serve. That's the 475 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,120 S1: kind of God who wants to show. That kind of love. 476 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,400 S1: Made to magnify is written by Morgan Krueger. Featured resource. 477 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:50,919 S1: Go to the website. Chris Fabry live.org. Chris Fabry live.org. 478 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,720 S1: Morgan Krueger is joining us today. She's written a book 479 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:11,719 S1: titled Made to Magnify Choosing to Live for Jesus. When 480 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,359 S1: everything tells you to live for yourself, everything in the 481 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:21,000 S1: world screams at you to validate yourself through your accomplishments, 482 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,850 S1: to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make your 483 00:26:24,890 --> 00:26:27,890 S1: name great and do great. Even in the church we 484 00:26:27,930 --> 00:26:31,330 S1: do attempt great things for God, do great things for God, 485 00:26:31,330 --> 00:26:34,450 S1: make him great. And I think what she's saying is 486 00:26:34,530 --> 00:26:38,210 S1: that we've gotten that a little bit backwards with this 487 00:26:38,210 --> 00:26:42,050 S1: word magnify. If you go to chris.org, scroll down, you'll 488 00:26:42,050 --> 00:26:45,090 S1: see how you can see more about her book. We're 489 00:26:45,090 --> 00:26:47,570 S1: only going to scratch the surface of it here today, 490 00:26:48,330 --> 00:26:52,530 S1: made to magnify. So do you resonate with that whole 491 00:26:52,530 --> 00:26:57,730 S1: idea of, uh, make, make God great by you being great? 492 00:26:57,770 --> 00:26:58,969 S1: What's wrong with that? 493 00:27:01,330 --> 00:27:04,850 S2: Yeah, that's a, that's an interesting way to put that. Yeah. 494 00:27:04,890 --> 00:27:07,490 S2: Make a great by being great. Yeah. It's, it's one 495 00:27:07,490 --> 00:27:12,770 S2: of those, I think misconceptions that, um, because we are 496 00:27:12,770 --> 00:27:17,010 S2: reflectors of God because we are image bearers. Um, a 497 00:27:17,050 --> 00:27:19,290 S2: lot of times, especially for us that claim the name 498 00:27:19,290 --> 00:27:24,740 S2: of Jesus, um, we can start to, um, even do 499 00:27:24,740 --> 00:27:28,260 S2: things in the name of Jesus. Uh, but slowly but surely, 500 00:27:28,260 --> 00:27:30,860 S2: if we're not careful, and I relate with this, this 501 00:27:30,859 --> 00:27:32,700 S2: is not me pointing a finger at anybody else, but 502 00:27:32,700 --> 00:27:36,300 S2: I relate with this. I think over time, our natural tendency, again, 503 00:27:36,300 --> 00:27:38,420 S2: if we, like we've been talking about if we don't 504 00:27:38,460 --> 00:27:40,979 S2: ask the Lord to survey our hearts and search our 505 00:27:40,980 --> 00:27:44,340 S2: hearts like Psalm 139 invites us into um, over time, 506 00:27:44,340 --> 00:27:46,260 S2: we can start to think that we are the great ones. 507 00:27:46,260 --> 00:27:49,260 S2: We see this all throughout Scripture. Chris. I mean, from 508 00:27:49,260 --> 00:27:51,460 S2: the very beginning with Adam and Eve, I think about 509 00:27:51,940 --> 00:27:54,780 S2: Solomon building the temple. He did something in the name 510 00:27:54,780 --> 00:27:56,859 S2: of the Lord. But over time, you know, he was 511 00:27:56,859 --> 00:28:00,659 S2: praised for being favored by God. And he started to 512 00:28:01,020 --> 00:28:03,340 S2: make an idol out of himself. He started to receive 513 00:28:03,340 --> 00:28:06,139 S2: some of that worship that others were trying to give 514 00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:08,540 S2: to him. And, and, um, I think it's a cautionary 515 00:28:08,700 --> 00:28:11,820 S2: message for all of us, but it's also, um, like 516 00:28:11,820 --> 00:28:14,899 S2: we've been talking about as well, it's an invitation to, uh, 517 00:28:14,940 --> 00:28:18,180 S2: constantly search our hearts, um, and to stay humble. Jesus, 518 00:28:18,180 --> 00:28:20,619 S2: who could have had the most pride in the world. 519 00:28:20,619 --> 00:28:23,149 S2: He was, he was the son. He is the Son 520 00:28:23,150 --> 00:28:26,910 S2: of God. Um, God incarnate who walked the earth. He 521 00:28:26,910 --> 00:28:29,990 S2: would have had every reason, um, to make his own name. Great. 522 00:28:29,990 --> 00:28:33,150 S2: But time after time after time, he humbled himself and 523 00:28:33,150 --> 00:28:36,910 S2: he practiced, um, sacrificial love and dependence on the father. So, um, 524 00:28:36,950 --> 00:28:38,710 S2: if he did that, how much more are we called 525 00:28:38,710 --> 00:28:39,470 S2: to do that as well? 526 00:28:40,150 --> 00:28:42,710 S1: I love that moment in the it happens a couple 527 00:28:42,750 --> 00:28:45,270 S1: of places in the scripture in the New Testament where 528 00:28:45,830 --> 00:28:48,630 S1: you hear God saying, this is my son in whom 529 00:28:48,630 --> 00:28:52,230 S1: I delight. Depending on the version that you read, the translation, 530 00:28:52,590 --> 00:28:56,270 S1: I delight in him. And I've always thought, If I'm 531 00:28:56,270 --> 00:29:02,230 S1: in Christ and his righteousness is on me, then I have. 532 00:29:02,550 --> 00:29:06,310 S1: When God looks at me, he sees the righteousness of 533 00:29:06,310 --> 00:29:10,550 S1: Jesus on him. Does he delight in me like he 534 00:29:10,550 --> 00:29:13,990 S1: delights in His Son? And I think there's a theorem 535 00:29:13,990 --> 00:29:16,910 S1: or a postulate in there, some kind of a an 536 00:29:17,070 --> 00:29:20,230 S1: algorithm that says, yeah, yeah, if A and B and 537 00:29:20,310 --> 00:29:24,550 S1: then equals c. That that's true. But I think most people, 538 00:29:24,550 --> 00:29:28,790 S1: even most Christians, don't feel like God delights in them 539 00:29:28,790 --> 00:29:32,310 S1: because they feel like it's all about the performance. How 540 00:29:32,310 --> 00:29:33,830 S1: do we break out of that? 541 00:29:35,110 --> 00:29:39,630 S2: Yeah, I think about kind of riding the waves of, of, uh, 542 00:29:39,670 --> 00:29:42,950 S2: of self for a second. So we do something good 543 00:29:42,950 --> 00:29:45,590 S2: for God. We get praise from others for things that 544 00:29:45,590 --> 00:29:50,070 S2: we're doing, and we start to correlate God's delight with, um, 545 00:29:50,070 --> 00:29:53,870 S2: our performance. Right? I know that's, I'm so susceptible to that. Um, 546 00:29:53,870 --> 00:29:56,830 S2: but what happens when we do that is the next 547 00:29:56,830 --> 00:30:00,510 S2: day when we inevitably fall short or we do something 548 00:30:00,510 --> 00:30:03,950 S2: that offends someone else, or we get a report at 549 00:30:03,950 --> 00:30:06,190 S2: work that isn't in our favor, what's going to happen? 550 00:30:06,190 --> 00:30:08,310 S2: We're going to ride that wave and think that God 551 00:30:08,310 --> 00:30:11,630 S2: is disappointed in us. And, um, I think that goes 552 00:30:11,630 --> 00:30:16,390 S2: back to such the, the foundational belief as believers, the gospel, 553 00:30:16,390 --> 00:30:18,830 S2: the good news message that we have, it's not by 554 00:30:18,830 --> 00:30:22,240 S2: our righteousness. It's not by our works. Scripture tells us 555 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,520 S2: there is nothing that we could do to earn salvation. 556 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,920 S2: It's not by our works so that none of us 557 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:31,640 S2: can boast. Um, but it's by grace and faith alone 558 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,160 S2: that we are saved, that we are saved. And so 559 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,320 S2: with that, I think that, um, I think there's a, again, 560 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,880 S2: we kind of go back to this, this throughout the conversation, 561 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,760 S2: but the Jesus way, the third way of what, what 562 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,480 S2: does it look like to be people who don't place, uh, 563 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,240 S2: God's delight in us based on our failures or our achievements, 564 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,400 S2: but the fact that despite every effort to turn away 565 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,280 S2: from him, he pursued us and he called us his own. 566 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:00,040 S2: He restored us. And it's his spirit living in us 567 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,240 S2: that enables us to receive that delight. 568 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:04,840 S1: So one of the greatest things that you could do 569 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,000 S1: as a follower of Jesus today is to receive not 570 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:14,640 S1: only his salvation and his forgiveness, but to receive the 571 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:19,250 S1: the very delight of the father on you, especially when 572 00:31:19,250 --> 00:31:22,969 S1: you don't feel delightful, when you don't feel like you've 573 00:31:22,970 --> 00:31:27,490 S1: earned his delight. And you're right, and I I'm right. 574 00:31:27,490 --> 00:31:31,850 S1: I didn't earn his delight, but he's giving us that 575 00:31:31,850 --> 00:31:36,770 S1: when we receive a welcome that in and we kind 576 00:31:36,810 --> 00:31:40,450 S1: of bask in that truth, we're believing what he says 577 00:31:40,490 --> 00:31:43,530 S1: rather than how we feel. Is that how you look 578 00:31:43,530 --> 00:31:43,970 S1: at it? 579 00:31:44,970 --> 00:31:49,810 S2: Yeah, absolutely. Because I would say too, everyone's different, but 580 00:31:49,810 --> 00:31:54,570 S2: I meet way more people that are prone to self-deprecation 581 00:31:54,570 --> 00:31:57,410 S2: than are prone to constantly thinking that they are amazing. 582 00:31:57,450 --> 00:32:01,209 S2: You know, we, we are prone to, um, want to 583 00:32:01,210 --> 00:32:05,690 S2: be people that punish ourselves and distance ourselves from people 584 00:32:05,690 --> 00:32:08,290 S2: that we love when we feel like we've blown it and, 585 00:32:08,290 --> 00:32:10,410 S2: and all of those things because it's comfortable, it's, it's 586 00:32:10,410 --> 00:32:12,850 S2: more comfortable for us to feel like we either earn 587 00:32:12,850 --> 00:32:16,250 S2: something or we have to pay for something. Um, but again, 588 00:32:16,340 --> 00:32:20,500 S2: when we put our feelings on the throne of our lives, 589 00:32:20,500 --> 00:32:23,660 S2: it's only going to cause separation from the Lord because 590 00:32:23,700 --> 00:32:25,620 S2: our feelings are not. Our feelings are a gift. And 591 00:32:25,620 --> 00:32:27,500 S2: I want to say that I think again, sometimes in 592 00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:30,620 S2: Christian circles are things like happiness. Things like our feelings 593 00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:32,660 S2: get such a bad rap, but I think that they're 594 00:32:32,660 --> 00:32:35,860 S2: more of mis ordered topics than they are something that 595 00:32:36,700 --> 00:32:39,060 S2: is not from the Lord. The Lord has given us feelings. 596 00:32:39,060 --> 00:32:41,900 S2: The Lord has given us the ability to wrestle with 597 00:32:41,900 --> 00:32:45,340 S2: these things and to, to, to let them sometimes be 598 00:32:45,340 --> 00:32:47,340 S2: indicators of, of where we're at and where we need 599 00:32:47,340 --> 00:32:50,540 S2: to process what the Lord. But our feelings ultimately can't 600 00:32:50,540 --> 00:32:54,140 S2: be the ruler and the judge of our life because 601 00:32:54,140 --> 00:32:56,820 S2: those come and go. I know for me, Chris, you know, I, 602 00:32:56,940 --> 00:32:59,460 S2: I'm about to give birth in four weeks and I'm 603 00:32:59,460 --> 00:33:01,860 S2: very hormonal. So if I were to put my feelings 604 00:33:01,860 --> 00:33:04,460 S2: on the throne of my life right now, um, it 605 00:33:04,460 --> 00:33:06,700 S2: would cause a lot of separation from the Lord because 606 00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:09,980 S2: he's steady and he's faithful. And so again, they can 607 00:33:09,980 --> 00:33:13,140 S2: be indicators, but I think we need to be careful of, um, 608 00:33:13,180 --> 00:33:16,550 S2: placing God's delight based on our feelings, because they're going 609 00:33:16,550 --> 00:33:18,310 S2: to come and go, and they're going to change every 610 00:33:18,310 --> 00:33:19,990 S2: single day based on our circumstances. 611 00:33:20,390 --> 00:33:23,590 S1: Morgan Krueger is with us today. You were made to magnify. 612 00:33:23,630 --> 00:33:26,950 S1: Do you believe that? And what is the struggle? I 613 00:33:26,950 --> 00:33:30,070 S1: think I'm going to ask you the snarky question that 614 00:33:30,070 --> 00:33:31,350 S1: I told you I was going to ask you at 615 00:33:31,350 --> 00:33:33,910 S1: some point, and that is, if the one thing we 616 00:33:33,910 --> 00:33:37,310 S1: need is to depend totally on Jesus so much that 617 00:33:37,310 --> 00:33:40,910 S1: we simply spend time in his presence. We learn from him. We. 618 00:33:41,230 --> 00:33:46,030 S1: We see his beauty. We find guidance from him. Then. 619 00:33:46,790 --> 00:33:48,990 S1: Then do you need to write a book about it 620 00:33:49,030 --> 00:33:50,710 S1: with your name on it? I mean, you could have 621 00:33:50,710 --> 00:33:54,630 S1: made this anonymous in a sense. And in in that I'm, 622 00:33:54,870 --> 00:33:57,550 S1: I'm asking for a friend in that, you know, is, 623 00:33:57,590 --> 00:34:02,230 S1: is the writing about it. It sounds like this is 624 00:34:02,230 --> 00:34:05,470 S1: just second nature to you. This is how you process 625 00:34:05,470 --> 00:34:08,910 S1: your life. And we are all richer for it. But 626 00:34:08,910 --> 00:34:14,160 S1: that can also become this need that, you know, I'm 627 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,640 S1: worth something because I had a book published, or I 628 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,480 S1: sang a song and got the response that I wanted 629 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:21,520 S1: to write. 630 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,000 S2: Mhm. Yeah. I think that's where the wrestle comes in, 631 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,560 S2: you know, and I, and I think that's where the 632 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,839 S2: Lord has asked me to lead out in a place 633 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:34,480 S2: of vulnerability. And this is what I love about writing books. 634 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:38,560 S2: I've written two books. Now, neither of those books make 635 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:42,800 S2: me look very good. I'll say that I dentify I've 636 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,120 S2: mentioned this multiple times in our conversation, Chris. You know, 637 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:47,920 S2: we read these interactions, these one on one interactions that 638 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,680 S2: Jesus had throughout the Gospels. Um, and even in the, 639 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,400 S2: you know, the Old Testament and, um, the human being, 640 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,000 S2: the fallen, broken person, they're just not the hero. Not 641 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,640 S2: once are they truly the hero. And if they are 642 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,719 S2: the hero of a moment, quickly after that moment, they 643 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:03,759 S2: had a failure that they needed God to come in 644 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,600 S2: and step in and save them from. And I am 645 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,680 S2: no exception. I feel like even putting my name on 646 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,890 S2: a book or writing about these topics are is me saying, hey, 647 00:35:13,890 --> 00:35:18,609 S2: I'm just another broken person who has been saved and, um, 648 00:35:18,650 --> 00:35:22,370 S2: received the mercy from the God who is actually the 649 00:35:22,370 --> 00:35:26,410 S2: hero of every single story, including mine. And that's what 650 00:35:26,410 --> 00:35:28,529 S2: I love is that if you, you know, when you 651 00:35:28,530 --> 00:35:31,810 S2: really flip through those pages, it's me almost laying my 652 00:35:31,810 --> 00:35:34,089 S2: life down. And I don't say that in even in 653 00:35:34,090 --> 00:35:37,010 S2: a prideful way. I say that in a, um, you know, 654 00:35:37,050 --> 00:35:40,049 S2: it took everything in me to even say, God, are 655 00:35:40,050 --> 00:35:42,410 S2: you asking me to put these stories out there? Are 656 00:35:42,410 --> 00:35:45,490 S2: you asking me to share these details about my life? 657 00:35:45,489 --> 00:35:48,450 S2: And he said, time after time, yes, because it makes 658 00:35:48,450 --> 00:35:51,410 S2: me look awesome. It makes me look faithful. Me as 659 00:35:51,410 --> 00:35:54,450 S2: in the Lord. The Lord, you know, speaking that over me. And, um, 660 00:35:54,489 --> 00:35:56,930 S2: and so it, it really is one of those areas 661 00:35:56,930 --> 00:36:00,570 S2: of my own life where it is a surrender, um, 662 00:36:00,610 --> 00:36:04,370 S2: to my image, a surrender to my glory, um, to 663 00:36:04,410 --> 00:36:06,009 S2: even put my name on the book and, you know, 664 00:36:06,050 --> 00:36:09,450 S2: the book, uh, the prettiest part of those books, one 665 00:36:09,450 --> 00:36:11,700 S2: is the faithfulness of God to or the covers. Because 666 00:36:11,700 --> 00:36:13,940 S2: once you get into them, you're like, oh man, Morgan 667 00:36:13,940 --> 00:36:16,180 S2: really put it out there. Uh, and so I think 668 00:36:16,180 --> 00:36:20,219 S2: what I think to, to open this up to everyone listening, 669 00:36:20,260 --> 00:36:22,859 S2: you know, God has called you to something. God has 670 00:36:22,860 --> 00:36:25,419 S2: called you to a task. He has called you. Uh, 671 00:36:25,420 --> 00:36:28,220 S2: we all have the same purpose in life to magnify Jesus, 672 00:36:28,219 --> 00:36:30,500 S2: but our callings are going to look different and they're 673 00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:32,339 S2: also going to come and go. And so for you 674 00:36:32,340 --> 00:36:36,740 S2: listening right now, whatever you're calling and this season is 675 00:36:37,140 --> 00:36:39,540 S2: how could you see it as a call to lay 676 00:36:39,540 --> 00:36:43,460 S2: your life down and to make Jesus the actual hero 677 00:36:43,460 --> 00:36:46,420 S2: of your story? And that's not easy because especially, you know, 678 00:36:46,460 --> 00:36:49,820 S2: you briefly mentioned social media, Chris. Social media gives us 679 00:36:49,820 --> 00:36:53,859 S2: this opportunity to put our best foot forward every single day. 680 00:36:53,860 --> 00:36:57,339 S2: We could be suffering, we could be crumbling behind the scenes, 681 00:36:57,340 --> 00:37:00,380 S2: and we can portray this perfect image to the world 682 00:37:00,380 --> 00:37:03,420 S2: around us that we have it all together. And so 683 00:37:03,420 --> 00:37:06,820 S2: my challenge for myself in this season and for everyone 684 00:37:06,820 --> 00:37:10,310 S2: listening is what is your calling and how might God 685 00:37:10,350 --> 00:37:13,750 S2: be using you in that calling to lay your life down, 686 00:37:13,750 --> 00:37:16,070 S2: to let him be the true hero of your story? 687 00:37:16,750 --> 00:37:19,670 S1: What I have seen time and time again, Morgan, with 688 00:37:19,670 --> 00:37:24,350 S1: with writers, with pastors, with people who will call in here. 689 00:37:24,350 --> 00:37:27,710 S1: It's the vulnerability. It's the the thing that you were 690 00:37:27,710 --> 00:37:30,350 S1: just saying. It's like, this is this is where I'm 691 00:37:30,350 --> 00:37:33,230 S1: struggling right now. This is the place. And there are 692 00:37:33,230 --> 00:37:35,190 S1: others who will hear that. And of course, you can 693 00:37:35,190 --> 00:37:37,509 S1: go too far with that. You can just, you know, 694 00:37:37,550 --> 00:37:40,509 S1: overshare and, and I know you're not talking about that, 695 00:37:40,510 --> 00:37:45,390 S1: neither am I, but the vulnerability of people who are 696 00:37:45,390 --> 00:37:49,630 S1: talking about, um, what God's word says. And then here 697 00:37:49,630 --> 00:37:53,230 S1: is what is going on in my life that speaks 698 00:37:53,230 --> 00:37:57,589 S1: to people because it's, it's exactly where they live. And 699 00:37:57,590 --> 00:38:00,950 S1: I think it's going to really resonate in people's lives 700 00:38:00,950 --> 00:38:03,629 S1: when they dig into what you're talking about in this book, 701 00:38:03,670 --> 00:38:08,640 S1: made to magnify, choosing to live for Jesus when everything 702 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,439 S1: tells you to live for yourself. I'm going to talk 703 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:16,680 S1: more about that idea of social media and the internet. 704 00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:20,400 S1: Straight ahead is Chris Fabry live on Moody Radio. 705 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:28,680 S4: This is Chris. 706 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:31,759 S1: Fabry live on Moody Radio. I mentioned give a gift 707 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,440 S1: to Chris Fabry live. We want to send you a 708 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,040 S1: copy of this book. And I just looked at what 709 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:40,200 S1: Donna said. She said, I've been listening to Moody since 710 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,759 S1: my husband said we needed to grow in our faith. 711 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,600 S1: We started listening early in our first year of marriage 712 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:50,359 S1: around 1982. What a wonderful blessing it was, especially my 713 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:54,319 S1: great source of strength when my husband was involved with 714 00:38:54,320 --> 00:39:00,600 S1: another woman and filed for divorce. So there's there's a 715 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:04,320 S1: real struggle. And then the next sentence says, by God's 716 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:09,529 S1: grace and 175 prayer Warriors. We're celebrating our 45 year 717 00:39:09,570 --> 00:39:13,089 S1: old marriage in September. I kept Moody radio on all 718 00:39:13,090 --> 00:39:16,130 S1: day and night during that difficult time. God told me 719 00:39:16,130 --> 00:39:19,650 S1: to wait five years. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 720 00:39:19,770 --> 00:39:22,170 S1: I don't that you can't put that over your life. 721 00:39:22,170 --> 00:39:24,649 S1: And you know, just listen to Moody radio and it'll 722 00:39:24,650 --> 00:39:27,130 S1: save your marriage. That's not what Donna is saying or 723 00:39:27,130 --> 00:39:29,970 S1: what I'm saying, but I am saying there are people 724 00:39:29,969 --> 00:39:34,850 S1: who gave in the early 1980s and throughout that time 725 00:39:35,330 --> 00:39:39,370 S1: to support Moody Radio, and they've done it for 100 years. 726 00:39:39,730 --> 00:39:43,250 S1: If you go to the website, Chris Fabry live.org. Scroll down, 727 00:39:43,250 --> 00:39:46,250 S1: you'll see the book by Kevin and Phil. This is 728 00:39:46,250 --> 00:39:49,890 S1: Moody radio 100 years proclaiming the gospel. I think it'll 729 00:39:49,930 --> 00:39:52,570 S1: encourage you and I know your gift will encourage us. 730 00:39:53,130 --> 00:39:59,489 S1: Go to Chris fabry.org. Morgan Krueger made to magnify is 731 00:39:59,489 --> 00:40:01,730 S1: our featured resource today. And as you were talking in 732 00:40:01,770 --> 00:40:05,090 S1: that last segment, Morgan, I was thinking about the reason 733 00:40:05,090 --> 00:40:08,140 S1: why I like, and I think a lot of people 734 00:40:08,140 --> 00:40:12,339 S1: like to feel God's delight when I succeed, when I 735 00:40:12,340 --> 00:40:14,580 S1: do this thing for him, and I feel like he's 736 00:40:14,580 --> 00:40:16,379 S1: called me to do it for him, and I do 737 00:40:16,380 --> 00:40:20,540 S1: it well, and I get this good feeling. It's about control. 738 00:40:20,900 --> 00:40:22,740 S1: And when I do it to the best of my 739 00:40:22,739 --> 00:40:26,540 S1: ability and it falls flat, then I feel like, oh, 740 00:40:26,580 --> 00:40:29,380 S1: he doesn't like me anymore because I'm the one that's 741 00:40:29,380 --> 00:40:32,580 S1: in control. He is not. I mean, I believe he is, 742 00:40:32,580 --> 00:40:36,100 S1: but in my little sphere of influence in the island 743 00:40:36,140 --> 00:40:39,660 S1: of me, I have control over this and I can 744 00:40:39,660 --> 00:40:42,060 S1: make him like me or make him not like me. 745 00:40:42,660 --> 00:40:47,739 S1: And that that kind of thinking will leak out into every, 746 00:40:47,780 --> 00:40:52,779 S1: every relationship that you have. And it's a downward spiral 747 00:40:52,820 --> 00:40:55,580 S1: that is part of that cycle, that self loop that 748 00:40:55,580 --> 00:40:56,979 S1: you talk about, isn't it? 749 00:40:58,140 --> 00:41:02,260 S2: Yeah, it really is. And, um, I think we have 750 00:41:02,260 --> 00:41:05,740 S2: to first understand, like, why do we feel this way? 751 00:41:06,140 --> 00:41:08,420 S2: Why do we operate this way? And I will say 752 00:41:08,420 --> 00:41:12,100 S2: there are a lot of parts of our culture and 753 00:41:12,100 --> 00:41:15,700 S2: just the ways that relationships can work. Or maybe for 754 00:41:15,700 --> 00:41:19,620 S2: some of you, you've been hurt by a relationship where 755 00:41:19,620 --> 00:41:22,100 S2: you felt like you had to earn love, or you 756 00:41:22,100 --> 00:41:27,100 S2: were hurt by a church member who, um, only wanted 757 00:41:27,100 --> 00:41:29,900 S2: you around when you could add value to a program. 758 00:41:29,940 --> 00:41:32,860 S2: You know, there's so many of us who have real 759 00:41:32,860 --> 00:41:37,780 S2: stories of, um, experiencing hurt in these areas. And how 760 00:41:37,780 --> 00:41:40,580 S2: easy is it when we experience something here on earth 761 00:41:40,580 --> 00:41:43,500 S2: to not project that onto the Lord? It's our natural 762 00:41:43,540 --> 00:41:46,500 S2: tendency to want, um, you know, what is that? There's 763 00:41:46,500 --> 00:41:48,660 S2: another quote. Maybe you could look it up. Chris. Maybe 764 00:41:48,700 --> 00:41:51,859 S2: AI can help us with this, but, um, a quote 765 00:41:51,860 --> 00:41:54,779 S2: that basically says, you know, God created us in his 766 00:41:54,780 --> 00:41:58,180 S2: image and then we return the favor. And that kind 767 00:41:58,219 --> 00:42:00,339 S2: of cuts me to the heart a little bit because 768 00:42:00,340 --> 00:42:03,190 S2: how often do I create a God in my own 769 00:42:03,750 --> 00:42:06,230 S2: image based on things that I've walked through here on earth. 770 00:42:06,230 --> 00:42:07,990 S2: And I think there's a lot of grace for that. 771 00:42:07,989 --> 00:42:09,710 S2: But I think for some of us, it's a really 772 00:42:09,710 --> 00:42:12,750 S2: good place where we need to start saying, Lord, I 773 00:42:12,790 --> 00:42:14,910 S2: don't even know how to live a life where I'm 774 00:42:14,910 --> 00:42:18,430 S2: not earning love. Would you show me, um, the true 775 00:42:18,469 --> 00:42:21,549 S2: source of love? Would you show me, uh, how, how 776 00:42:21,590 --> 00:42:23,670 S2: your love for me and your delight over me is 777 00:42:23,670 --> 00:42:26,350 S2: not contingent on what I'm doing. I think that, um, 778 00:42:26,350 --> 00:42:29,550 S2: God is, is ready and willing and eager to address 779 00:42:29,550 --> 00:42:30,950 S2: some of those areas in our life. 780 00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:33,270 S1: Okay, so here's a prayer that came from what you 781 00:42:33,270 --> 00:42:36,830 S1: just said. Oh, God, forgive me for making you like me. 782 00:42:37,510 --> 00:42:42,989 S1: Make me like you. You know that that is the 783 00:42:42,989 --> 00:42:46,830 S1: prayer of surrender is like, I, I can't do this. 784 00:42:46,870 --> 00:42:49,149 S1: And the one of dependence that you were talking about, 785 00:42:49,150 --> 00:42:52,310 S1: I can't do this. There's another thing that you talk 786 00:42:52,350 --> 00:42:54,790 S1: about in the book, and that is happiness gets a 787 00:42:54,790 --> 00:42:58,390 S1: bad rap because blessed when you see that word blessed 788 00:42:58,670 --> 00:43:03,800 S1: throughout the Old Testament, especially it means means happy. It 789 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:09,120 S1: over to overflowing. But many people in today's culture, you 790 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:11,000 S1: look at the social media thing that we talk about 791 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:13,400 S1: in just a minute ago. Many people are just looking 792 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:17,360 S1: for happiness, and if they're not happy, they find what 793 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:20,720 S1: will make them happy. And that's a dead end street too, 794 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:21,239 S1: isn't it? 795 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:25,239 S2: Absolutely. And I think we kind of started this conversation 796 00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:30,360 S2: talking about, um, putting our hope and our identity in 797 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:32,879 S2: the good gifts that God has given us. And, and 798 00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:35,480 S2: we know this God's a good giver. I mean, even 799 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:39,200 S2: James says that every good and perfect gift, it is 800 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:42,400 S2: from God coming down from above, the father of lights, 801 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,440 S2: who does not change due to any variance. He is 802 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,360 S2: the unchanging God of of good gifts. But what what 803 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:51,680 S2: when we get in trouble is when we start to 804 00:43:51,719 --> 00:43:56,879 S2: put identity, happiness, hope only into those good gifts. And 805 00:43:56,880 --> 00:43:59,800 S2: so I love that you said that, you know, throughout the, the, the, 806 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,729 S2: the Old Testament, specifically the word blessed and blessing is 807 00:44:03,730 --> 00:44:06,049 S2: interchangeable with this idea of happiness. But I think we've 808 00:44:06,090 --> 00:44:09,090 S2: kind of taken this word and we've distorted its meaning 809 00:44:09,130 --> 00:44:11,410 S2: a little bit. Um, but at the end of the day, 810 00:44:11,450 --> 00:44:13,529 S2: happiness is a good gift from the Lord. I don't 811 00:44:13,530 --> 00:44:15,330 S2: think it needs to be shunned. I think even in 812 00:44:15,330 --> 00:44:18,690 S2: the midst of sufferings, there can be blessings that we 813 00:44:18,690 --> 00:44:22,050 S2: can look to. But ultimately, if we get that order 814 00:44:22,050 --> 00:44:25,530 S2: wrong and we start to put our hope in, in, uh, 815 00:44:25,610 --> 00:44:30,290 S2: happiness as the goal instead of happiness as a gift, 816 00:44:30,290 --> 00:44:32,530 S2: that's when we get in trouble. I know for me 817 00:44:32,650 --> 00:44:35,969 S2: on a daily basis, I can put my hope in 818 00:44:36,050 --> 00:44:38,690 S2: my awareness of the good gifts of God instead of 819 00:44:38,690 --> 00:44:42,410 S2: God himself. And, um, what an invitation again for all 820 00:44:42,410 --> 00:44:45,210 S2: of us to say, Lord, where is my hope today? 821 00:44:45,250 --> 00:44:48,370 S2: Is it in the the the goal of happiness or 822 00:44:48,410 --> 00:44:51,170 S2: is it the. Is it in the goal of being 823 00:44:51,170 --> 00:44:53,690 S2: in your presence? And what I will say is, I 824 00:44:53,730 --> 00:44:57,089 S2: am a way better recipient of the blessings of God 825 00:44:57,090 --> 00:45:00,020 S2: and the happiness of God and the joy of the Lord. 826 00:45:00,140 --> 00:45:03,180 S2: When my hope is in him. And so I think 827 00:45:03,180 --> 00:45:05,620 S2: for a lot of us, we, myself included, we get 828 00:45:05,620 --> 00:45:08,180 S2: that order wrong. But if we kind of make that again, 829 00:45:08,219 --> 00:45:10,299 S2: easier said than done when we make that shift, I 830 00:45:10,300 --> 00:45:11,980 S2: think a lot changes in our lives. 831 00:45:12,340 --> 00:45:12,740 S4: Yeah. 832 00:45:12,900 --> 00:45:16,980 S1: From the inside out. Morgan. That Tom called Tom. Uh, 833 00:45:17,100 --> 00:45:19,219 S1: I like what you say here. He says. I think 834 00:45:19,219 --> 00:45:23,980 S1: about magnifying the Lord, like looking at something through a telescope. 835 00:45:24,260 --> 00:45:28,419 S1: It helps us see something that's already out there, but 836 00:45:28,420 --> 00:45:32,660 S1: in a new and different way and an awe inspiring way. 837 00:45:32,700 --> 00:45:34,419 S1: That's a good way to put it. Thank you, Tom, 838 00:45:34,420 --> 00:45:36,580 S1: for your call here today. And Morgan, thank you for 839 00:45:36,580 --> 00:45:40,700 S1: sharing your heart and your vulnerability and all the struggles 840 00:45:40,700 --> 00:45:44,140 S1: that you've had. Um, and I wish you all the 841 00:45:44,140 --> 00:45:46,980 S1: best these last four weeks. May they just be the 842 00:45:47,020 --> 00:45:51,020 S1: easiest four weeks of your pregnancy and you come back 843 00:45:51,020 --> 00:45:52,500 S1: and see us real soon. Okay. 844 00:45:53,020 --> 00:45:54,420 S2: Thanks, Chris. It's been a joy. 845 00:45:55,180 --> 00:45:57,870 S1: Again, Morgan Krueger, you can find out more about her 846 00:45:58,190 --> 00:46:01,030 S1: and the new book, Made to Magnify. Choosing to live 847 00:46:01,030 --> 00:46:05,030 S1: for Jesus. When everything that tells you to live for yourself. 848 00:46:05,030 --> 00:46:08,230 S1: That's what the culture around us tells us to do. 849 00:46:08,270 --> 00:46:09,989 S1: And one of the things I really like about the 850 00:46:09,989 --> 00:46:12,190 S1: book is that she doesn't spend a lot of time 851 00:46:12,310 --> 00:46:16,029 S1: accusing the culture for baking us in it. I mean, 852 00:46:16,070 --> 00:46:19,870 S1: it does. What we need to do is look inside 853 00:46:19,870 --> 00:46:23,230 S1: ourselves and she gives you some really good help. I 854 00:46:23,230 --> 00:46:27,469 S1: love these, uh, magnet moment to magnify. At the end 855 00:46:27,469 --> 00:46:30,230 S1: of each chapter. She has this moment to magnify that 856 00:46:30,230 --> 00:46:35,190 S1: will really be helpful to you. Go to Chris Fabry live.org. Tomorrow, 857 00:46:35,190 --> 00:46:39,830 S1: a conversation about adoptees and former foster children. Many, if 858 00:46:39,830 --> 00:46:42,950 S1: you're in that group, you know some of the pain 859 00:46:42,950 --> 00:46:46,509 S1: and the struggle that comes from that conversation right here 860 00:46:46,510 --> 00:46:49,390 S1: on Chris Fabry live production of Moody Radio and Ministry 861 00:46:49,390 --> 00:46:51,190 S1: of Moody Bible Institute.