S1: Today on Bold steps, Mark Jobe shows us how to
S1: stay spiritually charged.
S2: Well, God is telling us is examine yourself. You need
S2: to make sure that if you're going to be filled
S2: with the spirit and walk in the spirit, you don't
S2: have anything in your life that's going to sabotage your
S2: walk in God. So examine. Make sure you leave behind
S2: stuff that shouldn't be there or you will not walk
S2: in the spirit.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president
S1: of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New
S1: Life Community Church in Chicago. And Mark, here's an out
S1: of the blue question for you. Have you ever forgotten
S1: to charge your phone overnight?
S3: And there's panic the next day, believe me.
S1: Can I make it on 2%?
S3: Not as panicky as my kids get, but there is
S3: panic in my.
S1: We depend on them, don't we? But there's an analogy
S1: to being charged with the Holy Spirit, too, isn't there?
S3: There is. And I believe it was D.L. Moody that, um,
S3: was approached by a woman who said, well, why do
S3: we have to be filled over and over with the spirit?
S3: And I think in his iconic, good, gritty, D.L. Moody way,
S3: he said, lady, because I leak. And, uh, that's a
S3: bit of the idea there, is that it's not a
S3: one time filling that lasts the rest of our life.
S3: In fact, it's not really a suggestion in this scripture.
S3: It's a command. Keep being filled with the spirit over
S3: and over and over.
S1: We are in Ephesians chapter five, continuing our series. When
S1: you believe Everything Changes. Here's Mark Jobe with today's bold steps.
S2: Have you ever been in a crowded party? Or at
S2: a place where you get a cup and you fill
S2: it up and you try to make your way across
S2: the room. But people are dancing, moving. It's crowded. So
S2: you make your way across the room. They're bumping you
S2: and hitting you and spilling and knocking you. And you say,
S2: watch it and you make your way across. Someone hits
S2: you and spills a little bit. Someone bumps you and
S2: spills a little bit more, and you're just trying with
S2: all your might to keep from spilling what you have.
S2: But by the time you get to the other side
S2: of the room, there's been so many people that have
S2: bumped you and hit you that you're wearing it on you.
S2: You've you spilled it. And and your glass, when you
S2: reach the other side of the room is half empty.
S2: You started full on that side of the room. But
S2: by the time you reach this side of the room,
S2: it's half empty because you've been bumped so many times. Well,
S2: that's the way it is. Oftentimes in our spiritual walk
S2: with God on Sunday morning, many of you look at
S2: this time, you get a real fuel up experience. You
S2: get all filled up with the spirit and worship in
S2: the word and praise. And so you walk out of
S2: this place. Your cup is full. Some of you are
S2: practically levitating out of this place, walking in the spirit.
S2: God has touched you. Good things are happening. You go home,
S2: there's a smile on your face, you go to sleep
S2: and there's a big sense of, hey, God spoke to me.
S2: It's great. And then Monday morning comes. And you get
S2: up and you're a little late. You have one cup
S2: of coffee and you still feel tired. You pour that
S2: second cup of coffee, and someone's trying to get in
S2: the bathroom at the same time that you're trying to
S2: get in and someone's taking too long. And if you
S2: have kids, then they're running around trying to get their
S2: things together, and then they forget their notebook from their backpack.
S2: And then one of them says, oh, I forgot, I
S2: have homework that I forgot to do last night. You
S2: have what? And you're running around trying to get them ready,
S2: and it's just harried and fast paced, and then finally
S2: you get in your car to go to work and
S2: you're running a little bit late, get on the expressway,
S2: there's traffic and you're trying to go downtown and people
S2: are cutting you off, and it seems like everybody's in
S2: a nasty attitude. And and by the time that you
S2: get to your job a little bit late and get
S2: into work, then there's a whole bunch of work in
S2: front of you and there's bad attitudes and nasty responses.
S2: And this was due yesterday. How come it's not done
S2: by the time Monday afternoon arrives, you're on empty. On
S2: Sunday you were on full. By Monday afternoon, you're already
S2: on empty. Wishing that you could recapture that sense of
S2: fullness that you had on Sunday. And then some of you,
S2: by the time that the next Sunday rolls around, you're
S2: so empty, you're like dragging yourself into your pastor. I've
S2: had a real rough week. Let me get filled up again.
S2: And what the Apostle Paul is teaching us is that
S2: it doesn't have to be that way. We need to
S2: learn to stay full of the spirit, even though we're
S2: going to be bumped and knocked by life. So today
S2: I'm going to talk to you about how to stay
S2: full of God even when you're at your job or
S2: stay full of God, so that by Friday you're still
S2: full of God. So that's what the Apostle Paul is
S2: talking to us about. Let's begin reading in Ephesians chapter five.
S2: For those of you that are new with your Bibles,
S2: you can always look at the front of your Bibles.
S2: There's an index there. Ephesians is in the New Testament,
S2: and it was written by the Apostle Paul. And we're
S2: in chapter five beginning with verse 15. He says, be careful, then,
S2: how you live. Not as unwise but as wise, making
S2: the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
S2: Verse 17 therefore do not be foolish, but understand what
S2: the will of God is. Do not get drunk with wine,
S2: which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the spirit.
S2: Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
S2: Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
S2: always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in
S2: the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just a few verses,
S2: but very powerful verses. If you're taking notes today, I'm
S2: going to talk to you about how to stay full
S2: with the spirit. Number one, write this down. Staying filled
S2: with the spirit means that I examine. First of all,
S2: I examine the way I live. He says, be very
S2: careful then, how you live? I think it was the
S2: philosopher Plato that said the unexamined life is not worth living.
S2: How many of you know that? Sometimes we have to
S2: pause and examine how we're living? We need to stop
S2: and ask ourselves, now, how am I doing? How am
S2: I living? He says, be careful then, how you live.
S2: In other words, watch how you live. Take an inventory
S2: of how you're living. Examine your lifestyle. Be careful about
S2: the way that you're going, about your relationships and your
S2: job and your education and your thinking and your attitude,
S2: he says. Be careful, then, how you live. In other words,
S2: take a close look at how you're living. And then
S2: he tells us exactly what to take a close look at. Why?
S2: Because when we're filled with something, if we're not careful,
S2: it's going to spill out of us. It's going to
S2: fall out of us. So we got to be careful
S2: how we live. If we want to stay full of
S2: the spirit, then we have to be careful how we live.
S2: And he tells us three areas that we need to
S2: watch carefully. He says be careful how you live, not
S2: as unwise but as wise. Secondly, making the most of
S2: every opportunity because the days are evil. And thirdly, do
S2: not be foolish, but understand what the will of the
S2: Lord is. The image that comes to my mind as
S2: he says, be careful how you live. It's almost the
S2: image of, well, going to an airport, O'Hare airport and traveling.
S2: You have to go through the security process, the metal detectors. Unfortunately,
S2: I travel quite a bit with speaking engagements and missions
S2: opportunities and so forth, and every time I fly out
S2: of O'Hare airport, it's always the same routine, right? Once
S2: you wait in a long line to get through the
S2: airport security, you arrive to the to the, uh, to
S2: the metal detectors, and you have to take off your shoes,
S2: take off your belt, take out your wallet, empty all
S2: your change. Take off your watch. Take off. Uh, anything
S2: else that's in your pocket? Get ready. Get put your
S2: cell phone down there and once and take off your jacket.
S2: And then you walk through the detector and invariably it
S2: rings and you say, now what? Oh, I forgot a
S2: dime in this pocket here. And and while you're going
S2: through the detector, of course, you just left your wallet
S2: back there. People are pushing you forward, and you're watching
S2: the guy behind you, making sure he's not taking your
S2: cell phone or your wallet. And so you're walking through
S2: the security scanning. Now, why do they do all of that? Well,
S2: they do it for a purpose because they don't want
S2: you to take anything you shouldn't be taking on your journey.
S2: They want you to. They want to examine you to
S2: make sure you're not taking anything extra on the airplane.
S2: And I'm grateful they are doing that. And by the way,
S2: I would simply say that sometimes you think you're a
S2: little more safe than what you really are. I had
S2: an experience a little while back where we were in.
S2: We were in Spain, and my son, who was probably
S2: 9 or 10 at the time, he really wanted to
S2: buy a decorative knife.
S3: Had kind of this.
S2: Spanish logo in. So I said, okay, you can buy
S2: it as a decoration piece. You can put like with
S2: a little sword or something there it's going to be.
S2: But remember, son, you cannot take this on the airplane.
S2: And so he lost it.
S3: And he was.
S2: All upset about it, I lost it, I can't find it.
S2: So we went through security checkpoint. We got on the
S2: airplane in Spain. We're flying from Spain to Heathrow. And
S2: he looks at me all excited with a smile on
S2: his face, and he says, guess what, dad, I found it.
S2: And I'm like, son, put that away fast. But. I'm like,
S2: how did that get through a four inch knife blade?
S2: So we got to Heathrow Airport and they had just
S2: had a terrorist attack in Heathrow Airport. And so they're
S2: on high, high red alert. We get to Heathrow Airport
S2: and to go into the airport, we have to go
S2: through another security checkpoint. And he says, dad, what should
S2: I do? I said, just leave it there. We'll be
S2: we'll just tell them the truth. If they find it,
S2: we'll tell them accidentally we got there. So we're going
S2: through security checkpoint. He takes it on high security alert.
S2: He takes his backpack, gets ready to put it through.
S2: I'm like, okay, I'm ready for the alarm to go off.
S2: I'm ready for them to pull us aside. Nothing. He
S2: gets right through a high security checkpoint into Heathrow Airport,
S2: two weeks after a major bomb had exploded in the
S2: subway station of Victoria station. I was shocked. So finally there,
S2: I said, I'm not going to go through another scanner.
S2: I took his knife. I went to the lady and
S2: I said, you know my son. Accidentally brought this knife.
S2: She was real nice and smiled. Oh, thank you sir.
S2: And then she called security. And within moments I had
S2: guys with machine guns on me and they were like,
S2: treating us as a terrorist. But, you know, thankfully we
S2: made it through that. But the reason you have scanners
S2: and the reason that's there is so that you can't
S2: take something you shouldn't on the journey that you're on. Well,
S2: God is telling us is examine yourself.
S1: This is bold steps. You're listening to Mark Jobe, and
S1: we will get back into the second half of today's
S1: message in just a moment. Mark, you've been talking today
S1: about getting the daily recharge from the Holy Spirit. One
S1: of the ways we can do that, maybe not daily,
S1: maybe on a weekly basis, is the bold step or
S1: weekly that we put out from your office every Monday morning.
S2: Yeah, it's a little bit of a booster at the
S2: beginning of the week just to remind us. I don't
S2: know about you, Wayne, but I need regular reminders.
S1: Especially on Monday morning.
S2: Especially on Monday morning. And so The Bold Stepper Weekly
S2: is that if you haven't signed up, we've just have
S2: tons of people that are signing up. And this number
S2: is growing week over week. So we would encourage you.
S2: It's free, it's weekly and I think it will encourage
S2: your heart.
S1: So to sign up for The Bold Stripper weekly. Just
S1: visit Bold steps.org. There, you can also check out all
S1: of Mark's previous weekly devotionals, and you can even request
S1: a copy of this month's special Bold Step gift, which
S1: I'll tell you more about later in the program. But
S1: right now, let's get back into the second half. Mark
S1: titled this message Staying Filled with the spirit.
S2: You need to make sure that if you're going to
S2: be filled with the spirit and walk in the spirit,
S2: you don't have anything in your life that's going to
S2: sabotage your walk in God. So examine. Make sure you
S2: leave behind stuff that shouldn't be there or you will
S2: not walk in the spirit. Stuff like what? Well, stuff
S2: like being unwise. Sometimes we live our lives and we're
S2: unwise with how we make bad choices. Do you know
S2: the amount of people that I've been a pastor for
S2: a long time? Counseled a lot of people. The amount
S2: of people that make dumb choices. over and over. And
S2: then when they're in a really bad choice and a
S2: bad mess, they look to the heavens and they say, God,
S2: why have you done this to me? And I want
S2: to say, hey, God had nothing to do with this.
S2: You made your own choices, dug your own hole. Don't
S2: blame it on God. He's been trying to warn you
S2: about it all the time. Now, thank God he's a
S2: God of second chances and a God that digs us
S2: out of our own holes. And a God that puts ladders.
S2: Once we've made our own messes, and a God that
S2: really helps us out. But most of the problems that
S2: we face in life are problems of our own making.
S2: So he says, be wise, not unwise. Secondly, make the
S2: most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Listen,
S2: we live in a time. If you're going to be
S2: filled with the spirit, you have to make wise choices,
S2: make the most of the opportunities God is going to
S2: open doors and those doors are going to close. You
S2: need to be ready to walk through the doors that
S2: God opened, because you may not have another chance to
S2: walk through those doors. Many of us miss the opportunities
S2: that God has given to us, because we're not wise
S2: enough to see those opportunities. Listen to me, high school students,
S2: you have an opportunity to finish high school. Finish it.
S2: I don't know. I'm not learning anything important. You know,
S2: I think I'm going to go work at a 7-Eleven. Listen,
S2: nothing bad about a 7-Eleven, but listen, if you have
S2: an opportunity to finish high school, finish it. Follow through.
S2: You got an opportunity to go to college, go to college,
S2: follow through. Some of your parents are saying, I wish
S2: I would have had the opportunities that you had at
S2: this time. There are opportunities that close and open in
S2: front of us. There are opportunities to do good that
S2: open and close in front of us. There are opportunities
S2: to make choices that open and close in front of us.
S2: We live in some days. It says the days are evil.
S2: There are windows of opportunity, and so make sure that
S2: if you're walking in the spirit, you make the most
S2: of the opportunities that are in front of you, and
S2: you don't squander your life by missing all the open
S2: doors that God's trying to give you. And then lastly, thirdly,
S2: he says, therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what
S2: the will of the Lord is. Don't be foolish. Start
S2: asking God, what is your will? I want to understand
S2: what you have for my life. Don't be unwise. Don't
S2: miss the opportunities and don't be foolish. Say, God, how
S2: do you want me to live my life? Not what
S2: do I want to do? But. Oh, God. What do
S2: you want me to do with my life? How many
S2: of you know? There's a big difference in that question.
S2: Some people are asking, what do I want to do?
S2: Other people are asking, God, what do you want me
S2: to do? And when you do what God wants you
S2: to do, you will end up doing what is most
S2: fulfilling for your life because God knows you best. How
S2: do we stay full of the spirit, first of all.
S2: We examine the way we live. We're intentional about how
S2: we live, so that we can make the most of
S2: the opportunities that God has given us. There's nothing worse
S2: than wasted potential. There's nothing worse than someone with great
S2: opportunities and great options wasting their potential on frivolous, inconsequential,
S2: wasteful things. There is power in this room. Do you
S2: know that? There's talent, ability, intellect? There's gifting influence in
S2: this room? The sad thing about most of us in
S2: any congregation, in any crowd, is that most of us
S2: operate at probably about 20% of our God given potential.
S2: They tell us that most of us only use about
S2: really 10 to 15% of the capacity of our brain.
S2: And most of us think, well, I can't grasp it. No, no,
S2: you're only using about 1,015% of your brain. If you
S2: really used your brain, you could grasp it. The great
S2: majority live way beneath the power of our potential. Most
S2: of us are not living to our full capacity. Most
S2: of us clearly underestimate what we can do and what
S2: God could do through us. Most of us have greater power, intellect, talent, ability,
S2: and when submitted to God, the potential is undeniable. It's unlimited,
S2: but most of us never reach it because most of
S2: us live way beneath our calling and way beneath our potential.
S2: And Paul is simply saying, hey, You are people of God.
S2: You need to be different. You need to rise to
S2: the God given potential inside of you. You need to
S2: rise to your calling, to the gifting. Be full of
S2: the Spirit of God, because you could do things that
S2: will blow people's minds away if you just begin to
S2: live how God has called you to live. Amen.
S1: Learning to be filled with the spirit each day. That's
S1: the takeaway of our message from Mark Jobe today. And
S1: you're listening to Bold Steps. You can learn more about
S1: Mark and this ministry when you visit Bold Steps org.
S1: And when you visit our website, you'll discover our latest
S1: Bold Step gift, a thought provoking book by respected pastor
S1: Mike Fabares. We've got pastor Mike joining us in the
S1: studio today to share more about this hard hitting resource.
S1: So Mark, over to you.
S4: Proverbs tells us that envy makes the bones rot. I mean,
S4: that's a pretty, pretty direct, vivid image of rotting bones there.
S4: But a tranquil heart gives life. Mhm. Uh, you know,
S4: I went to school actually with a fellow student that, uh,
S4: we both grown up as pastors. He pastors a church
S4: in California in Aliso Viejo called Compass Church, a really
S4: dynamic church. If you live in that area, please check
S4: it out. But he's written a book called envy, a
S4: Big problem you didn't know you had. Mike, tell us
S4: what motivated you to write this book?
S5: Well, it was easy for me to look in my
S5: own heart. And like you, Doctor Joe, my son is
S5: a pastor, and I have no trouble looking at my
S5: son and hoping that he does far better than I
S5: ever have done. Yeah. Uh, and that's easy to do,
S5: because I love my son. Right. Both my sons are pastors,
S5: and I love them excelling. I found that it was
S5: not as easy for me to rejoice with my peers
S5: who do better than I do. And I realized, wow,
S5: how can that be? How can pastors look at other
S5: people doing ministry and have feelings that aren't the same? Uh,
S5: as I might have toward my own children? Of course
S5: I love God. I love the kingdom. But you see,
S5: I realize the difference is I don't love my fellow
S5: Christian the way I ought to. And if I did,
S5: I wouldn't be envious. I wouldn't start to think, well,
S5: you know, that was kind of handed to him, or
S5: he was in the right place at the right time. Or,
S5: you know, people opened doors for that guy. I would
S5: never think that about my own children. And so I've
S5: got to recognize this exists in pastors hearts, missionaries hearts,
S5: and certainly it exists in the business world. It exists everywhere.
S5: And we've got to root it out when we find
S5: it and start to realize love and real, true love
S5: is the answer. And it brings great tranquility to our hearts.
S1: And pastor Mike, you say that confronting envy allows us
S1: to experience the peace and contentment that really God wants
S1: for us in the first place.
S5: Yes, if you think about it, in the Kingdom, we're
S5: going to have a lot of different people with a
S5: lot of different kinds of rewards. A lot of different
S5: ranks of of, you know, prominence in the kingdom. And
S5: we're always going to rejoice in those things. Right? We
S5: realize there'll be no envy, no coveting, no jealousy. None
S5: of those things will be active in the eternal state.
S5: We will really rejoice as though everyone actually is our
S5: brother and sister in Christ. And we've got to realize
S5: that's a different experience. I think we all intuitively know
S5: that than we have now. So let's try and enjoy
S5: a little bit of that peace and that contentment now.
S5: And that's going to I give the answers in this book.
S5: The second half of the book is all about how
S5: to fix this problem. Uh, the first half is about
S5: diagnosing it. And I think a lot of people don't
S5: look at this book or they wouldn't pick it up
S5: because they don't think I don't have that problem. That's
S5: why I tried to title this in a way that
S5: would kind of hook them into looking.
S1: At look a little deeper, huh?
S2: So good, so good, and such a big issue that's
S2: not talked about enough. People are silent on this issue.
S2: And so thank you, pastor Mike, for writing this book. Uh,
S2: we love this topic. And I believe that a lot
S2: of people will gain a lot of insight and maybe
S2: step into contentment through it. So there you have it,
S2: a big problem. You didn't know you had envy by
S2: pastor Mike Fabros.
S1: Yes. So let us know where to send you a
S1: copy of this bold step gift today. When you give
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S1: our team today at 800 Moody or give online at
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S1: I'm Wayne Shepherd, thanks for joining us. Be sure to
S1: come back tomorrow when Mark continues this discussion on staying
S1: filled with the spirit. It's from our series When You
S1: Believe Everything Changes. And this coming up Tuesday on Bold
S1: Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of
S1: Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.