WEBVTT - Abiding in God 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.120 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.920 It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:15.280 with Jesus. Well, I've got converted to hallmark movies. 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.240 Converted? Uh, how long did that take? Yeah, really? 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.240 It took a little while. I mean, it took a 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.319 while for her to get me around the corner. My 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:29.040 bride did, though, and now I actually enjoy these things. 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.480 Okay, so, um, what's your. Do you have a favorite one? 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:34.600 Not that there's there's much difference. 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:38.960 The the beauty with hallmark movies is if you've seen one, 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:42.280 you know, the plotline. Yeah. In fact, in the first 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.159 five minutes, it's a precious movie, so I don't want 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:46.800 to denigrate it. In fact, I'm going to use it 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:48.880 for launching off to an interview that we have with 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:53.920 Erwin Lutzer coming up here. But it's a classic situation. 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:59.040 It's it's always a theme where either the girl or 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.030 the guy. Usually the girl kind of moves back to town. 0:01:02.070 --> 0:01:02.990 Oh, yes. Yeah. 0:01:03.030 --> 0:01:06.869 And kind of marries high school sweetheart or something like that. 0:01:06.910 --> 0:01:09.310 She leaves the big hustle and bustle of the city 0:01:09.310 --> 0:01:12.110 and her architectural firm and all that, and comes back 0:01:12.150 --> 0:01:15.830 and does the thing. But it's not. What was really 0:01:15.830 --> 0:01:20.750 cool about this one was I was blown away. The 0:01:20.750 --> 0:01:26.670 setting is at Grace Community Church in some fictional town somewhere. Huh. 0:01:26.709 --> 0:01:29.590 That's kind of. Oh, yeah. Scriptures on the wall and everything. 0:01:29.630 --> 0:01:33.390 And I'm like, for crying out loud, what's going on here? Okay. 0:01:33.430 --> 0:01:37.270 And the girl that's featured in this movie, it was 0:01:37.270 --> 0:01:40.030 really done. It's done well, and I'm only halfway through it, 0:01:40.030 --> 0:01:42.550 but I know how it's going to end, right? Because 0:01:42.590 --> 0:01:48.030 I've watched hallmark films. So she's. She's a heartbroken girl 0:01:48.030 --> 0:01:50.390 who's an artist, and she keeps flashing back to the 0:01:50.390 --> 0:01:54.230 times that for four years of marriage, when she had 0:01:54.230 --> 0:01:56.670 her man with her and they were doing art and 0:01:56.670 --> 0:01:59.580 studio in a studio together, and it actually got me 0:01:59.580 --> 0:02:01.420 choked up at one point. And I'm like, oh, for 0:02:01.420 --> 0:02:04.940 crying out loud! But she was heartbroken over the loss 0:02:04.940 --> 0:02:08.139 of her husband, and she started going to a grief 0:02:08.139 --> 0:02:11.220 recovery group at this Grace Community Church. Are you guys 0:02:11.220 --> 0:02:14.020 with me on this? This is on like hallmark. So 0:02:14.500 --> 0:02:18.700 I'm like, I'm blown away by this. But it it 0:02:18.740 --> 0:02:22.980 led me to a universal conclusion and that is that 0:02:22.980 --> 0:02:26.180 no one and this is you two this morning, wherever 0:02:26.180 --> 0:02:32.980 you are, nothing inside us wants to stay stuck experiencing 0:02:33.020 --> 0:02:36.420 too little. God has put within our beating heart a 0:02:36.419 --> 0:02:39.299 desire for more. That's why the whole world's on this, 0:02:39.540 --> 0:02:43.780 on this chase. Either getting platformed or, you know, getting 0:02:43.780 --> 0:02:46.940 enough money or driving the right car. And the guys 0:02:46.940 --> 0:02:50.180 commuting in this morning, man, they are driving way too fast. 0:02:50.220 --> 0:02:53.300 Well, you think about every sort of product you buy 0:02:53.340 --> 0:02:58.450 from toothpaste to a new car. The advertisement appeals to 0:02:58.490 --> 0:02:59.250 your desire. 0:02:59.290 --> 0:02:59.570 To. 0:03:00.090 --> 0:03:02.250 Have more. Do you want whiter teeth? 0:03:02.290 --> 0:03:03.770 By the way, how am I looking? 0:03:03.770 --> 0:03:03.890 Good. 0:03:04.090 --> 0:03:04.690 Looking good. 0:03:05.010 --> 0:03:06.490 Could your smile be brighter? 0:03:06.530 --> 0:03:09.450 Could it be brighter? Could the wrinkles go away? 0:03:09.690 --> 0:03:11.649 Could your car get better miles. 0:03:11.650 --> 0:03:11.810 Per. 0:03:11.810 --> 0:03:15.169 Gallon? I mean, everything appeals to your desire. Am I 0:03:15.210 --> 0:03:18.690 am I getting everything I could out of. Yeah. Fill 0:03:18.690 --> 0:03:19.330 in the blank. 0:03:19.889 --> 0:03:22.649 Yeah. And. And here's the beauty of this. And I want. 0:03:22.690 --> 0:03:24.890 I want to put a stake in the ground. And 0:03:24.889 --> 0:03:26.730 I want to put a vision in the air. Hi. 0:03:26.770 --> 0:03:31.250 For you. Our God is a God of abundance. And 0:03:31.250 --> 0:03:33.410 you might hear that. And you might think. I don't 0:03:33.410 --> 0:03:37.410 know if it's for me. Something has you stuck. Something 0:03:37.410 --> 0:03:39.690 has you held back. And you don't have to go 0:03:39.690 --> 0:03:42.250 far in the Word of God to find abundance everywhere. 0:03:42.290 --> 0:03:45.050 And it's not even just in the New covenant of 0:03:45.050 --> 0:03:48.490 the New Testament. It's throughout the Word of God. The 0:03:48.490 --> 0:03:51.570 blessing of God is there. Look at the book of Joshua. 0:03:51.610 --> 0:03:54.160 You meditate on these words day and night you will 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.480 have success and prosperity wherever you go. Psalm one one 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:02.040 through three. Favorite three verses for me in the Psalms. Man, 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.200 you get away from fools, mockers, scoffers. You meditate on 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:09.920 this word and you will have success in fact. Your 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.760 leaves will never wither. You'll be like a tree planted 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.280 by streams of water. Your leaves will never wither in 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.320 all you do. You will prosper. Okay, so you got that. 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.719 And then you go to John 1010 and you find 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:26.080 that he came our Savior to give abundant life. The 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.520 thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. And by 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.279 the way, quick curveball here. The thief there is not 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:36.159 primarily Satan. It's shepherds that have came before him. Impostors, 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:42.200 false prophets, false teachers, religious people that put all kinds 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:44.680 of weights on people, but they didn't really want them 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.000 to have liberty. And then you go to John 15 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:52.040 and you find, wow, Jesus teaching. I'm the vine, you're 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:54.500 the branch. If you abide in me, you will bear 0:04:54.500 --> 0:04:59.940 much fruit. Get this. It's to God's glory that you 0:04:59.940 --> 0:05:04.060 bear much fruit. And it's easy to get stuck, isn't it, Ali? 0:05:04.060 --> 0:05:07.580 And to almost forget the promises of God. 0:05:07.620 --> 0:05:10.700 Because as much as we look at product commercials and 0:05:10.700 --> 0:05:14.539 desire more, sometimes we overlook the more that's possible in 0:05:14.540 --> 0:05:19.300 our spiritual life. Yeah. And we stop even longing for that. Yeah. 0:05:20.020 --> 0:05:21.940 I feel prompted out of the blue to pray. I'm 0:05:21.940 --> 0:05:23.620 going to do it right now. Father, I pray that 0:05:23.620 --> 0:05:27.260 anyone listening today that feels like they've been in a 0:05:27.260 --> 0:05:31.460 rut sometimes ten years, 20 years, going through spiritual motions, 0:05:31.460 --> 0:05:36.180 some some stuck in the pain of loss of a 0:05:36.180 --> 0:05:43.860 loved one, some heartbroken over a wayward kid. Some are angry, 0:05:44.540 --> 0:05:48.220 some are wanting some hope somewhere. But Lord, all of us, 0:05:48.220 --> 0:05:51.289 you've etched in our heart that there is more. And God, 0:05:51.290 --> 0:05:55.089 I praise you that your word is just replete with 0:05:55.089 --> 0:06:00.010 evidence that you are a God of abundance. And so, God, 0:06:00.010 --> 0:06:03.770 we don't want to get all whacked out on some 0:06:03.770 --> 0:06:07.410 pursuit that's in our own strength, but we really do 0:06:07.410 --> 0:06:09.650 want to take hold of what you have for us, 0:06:09.650 --> 0:06:12.570 and we pray it. In the name of Jesus. We 0:06:12.570 --> 0:06:16.409 pray it. Amen. We're going to have Pastor Lutzer coming 0:06:16.410 --> 0:06:17.529 up not too long. 0:06:19.089 --> 0:06:22.090 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:06:23.050 --> 0:06:26.450 Well, C.S. Lewis said it. It would appear that we've 0:06:26.450 --> 0:06:29.770 settled for too little. And when we say those words, 0:06:29.770 --> 0:06:31.650 it's almost hard to get your mind around, because I 0:06:31.650 --> 0:06:34.490 think most Christ followers would say, oh, I'm wanting too 0:06:34.490 --> 0:06:37.529 much from God. C.S. Lewis says, no, we've settled for 0:06:37.529 --> 0:06:42.250 too little. That is irony, but I think he's spot on. Ali. 0:06:42.650 --> 0:06:45.250 You know, and you think about it. Yes. How could 0:06:45.250 --> 0:06:49.120 we ever ask too much of God? That premise doesn't 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:51.520 even make sense. But we live like it. Like, somehow 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:53.520 we could overextend God. 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.000 Yeah, and if you look at the, as C.S. Lewis 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.839 called it, the unblushing promises of God like abundance, they're everywhere. 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:04.560 Pastor Erwin Lutzer, what do you say about the promises 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.440 of abundance? Have we settled for too little? 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.720 Well, you know, as you introduce the subject, I'm reminded 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.440 of a woman who said to her, pastor, should I 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.960 just ask God about the big things in my life 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.440 and not the small things? And the pastor wisely said, 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:25.000 you have to understand for God, your big things are 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:26.880 very small things. 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:27.280 I love. 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.840 It. So yes, of course, oftentimes we are in a 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:35.520 situation where we simply don't ask God for enough. But, 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.560 you know, you think of the abundance of the promises. 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.559 You think, for example, the words of Jesus in John 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:45.200 chapter ten, I am come that they might have life 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:49.350 and that they might have it more abundantly. And in 0:07:49.390 --> 0:07:54.390 that context, what Jesus talks about is being a shepherd 0:07:54.390 --> 0:07:58.630 and how that his sheep follow him. So we need 0:07:58.630 --> 0:08:02.590 to enter into these promises, Carl, in such a way 0:08:02.870 --> 0:08:05.710 that we learn that we can abide in Christ. We 0:08:05.710 --> 0:08:09.510 can be fruit bearers even in the midst of a desert. 0:08:09.550 --> 0:08:12.470 Doctor Erwin Lutzer, our guest right now, pastor emeritus of 0:08:12.510 --> 0:08:15.910 Moody Church. He's host of Running to Win. Now, as 0:08:15.910 --> 0:08:18.670 we look at this passage in John ten, there is 0:08:18.670 --> 0:08:21.830 the contrast between the thief who comes only to steal, 0:08:21.830 --> 0:08:25.150 kill and destroy, and then the good shepherd who comes 0:08:25.150 --> 0:08:27.590 that we would have life and have it abundantly. Talk 0:08:27.630 --> 0:08:31.870 about the set of opposites one takes and one comes 0:08:31.870 --> 0:08:35.069 to give. Somehow we don't take hold of all that 0:08:35.070 --> 0:08:35.750 we could. 0:08:36.110 --> 0:08:39.510 We don't. And C.S. Lewis, I'm just struck by what 0:08:39.510 --> 0:08:43.990 you read. He said it's so properly, namely, that we 0:08:44.030 --> 0:08:49.179 don't expect from God the fulfillment of his promises. You know, 0:08:49.220 --> 0:08:51.500 since we're talking about the abundant life, I have to 0:08:51.500 --> 0:08:53.740 tell you that recently I've done a bit of a 0:08:53.740 --> 0:08:57.660 study on the 17th chapter of Jeremiah. I know that 0:08:57.660 --> 0:09:01.940 we go from John to Jeremiah, but Jeremiah says this 0:09:01.980 --> 0:09:04.820 cursed is the man who trusts in man. He shall 0:09:04.820 --> 0:09:08.620 be like a shrub. And then he says this blessed 0:09:08.620 --> 0:09:12.740 is the man who is planted by water, for he 0:09:12.740 --> 0:09:17.540 shall bear fruit in his season. It's almost like Psalm one. 0:09:17.700 --> 0:09:20.579 But here's the thing if we want to have the 0:09:20.580 --> 0:09:24.100 abundant life that we're talking about, we need to be 0:09:24.100 --> 0:09:28.020 planted in the right place where there is water. Not 0:09:28.020 --> 0:09:30.820 only that, but we have to be planted to the 0:09:30.820 --> 0:09:35.460 right depth so that we're able to access this water. 0:09:35.660 --> 0:09:38.860 And then we have to bear the proper fruit. No 0:09:38.860 --> 0:09:41.460 matter where you look in the Scripture, you have the 0:09:41.460 --> 0:09:45.530 very same truths over and over again, which we frequently 0:09:45.530 --> 0:09:49.650 have to hear over and over again. Namely, that we 0:09:49.650 --> 0:09:54.689 can access available strength from God in the midst of 0:09:54.690 --> 0:09:59.250 our situation, and we can be like an oasis in 0:09:59.250 --> 0:10:02.809 the midst of the desert that is around us. And that's, 0:10:02.850 --> 0:10:05.530 of course, the calling of every believer. 0:10:05.809 --> 0:10:08.650 Love it. Doctor Lutzer is our guest right now. Coming 0:10:08.650 --> 0:10:13.690 up here, pastor, I want us to tackle the definition 0:10:13.690 --> 0:10:16.370 of abundance. And we go to John 15. We find 0:10:16.370 --> 0:10:20.490 it's to God's glory that we bear much fruit. I 0:10:20.530 --> 0:10:24.090 wonder if we even know what that fruit is coming 0:10:24.090 --> 0:10:25.569 up with. Pastor Lutzer. 0:10:26.410 --> 0:10:30.970 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:10:31.410 --> 0:10:35.410 Super dei is in the crew. It's Colin Crew on 0:10:35.410 --> 0:10:36.490 Moody Radio. 0:10:36.530 --> 0:10:39.609 Doctor Erwin Lutzer is our guest right now, pastor emeritus 0:10:39.610 --> 0:10:43.560 of Moody Church right here in Chicago and loved across 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.560 the nation. Running to win is his show that you 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.440 have a privilege to listen to wherever you are, and 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:53.120 we're grateful that you're with us today. Pastor Lutzer I, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:56.000 as a young follower of Jesus, looked at John 15 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.200 and I saw a couple of things stood out to me. 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:01.040 Apart from him, we can do nothing, but it is 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:06.640 to God's glory that we bear much fruit. No apologies necessary, 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.640 but it's almost like we redefine or need definition of 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:12.960 what that fruit is. What do you say? 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:18.760 I want to comment on Hudson Taylor's take on John 15. 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.880 He said to himself, if I could only abide in Christ, 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.360 how do I get into him so that I can 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.679 abide in him? And then suddenly he had this revelation 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.880 that as a believer, he was already in Christ. He 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.600 didn't have to worry about how to get into Christ. 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:42.069 He was already in Christ. What he had to do 0:11:42.070 --> 0:11:46.950 is to learn to abide in Christ. And that abiding 0:11:47.230 --> 0:11:50.830 takes an attitude of total dependence. As you mentioned, without 0:11:50.830 --> 0:11:53.670 Christ we can do nothing. It takes an attitude of 0:11:53.670 --> 0:11:58.030 total dependence upon God daily. You know, even as I 0:11:58.070 --> 0:12:00.470 sit at my computer, as I was doing a few 0:12:00.470 --> 0:12:07.150 moments ago, I'm continually dependent on God for what I write. 0:12:07.429 --> 0:12:09.550 And that's the way in which we ought to live 0:12:09.550 --> 0:12:13.590 in all areas of life. And what is the fruit? Well, 0:12:13.950 --> 0:12:18.670 the fruit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness. 0:12:18.830 --> 0:12:23.030 And you remember in that passage, Jesus goes from bearing 0:12:23.030 --> 0:12:28.189 fruit to bearing much fruit for the glory of God. 0:12:28.590 --> 0:12:33.670 And so what an exciting life. We have resources that 0:12:33.670 --> 0:12:36.350 we don't access them. And one of the things that 0:12:36.350 --> 0:12:39.220 we have to do to be able to access them 0:12:39.220 --> 0:12:43.460 is to deal seriously with those issues that are keeping 0:12:43.500 --> 0:12:48.460 us from the privilege of abiding, namely, sinful issues. And 0:12:48.460 --> 0:12:52.620 we need to deal with that ruthlessly. We need to, well, 0:12:52.660 --> 0:12:57.180 to use an expression, we need to kill sin. I 0:12:57.179 --> 0:13:00.740 mentioned that because I've recently read the book that you 0:13:00.740 --> 0:13:04.820 wrote entitled Killing Sin, and you know it is sin 0:13:04.820 --> 0:13:09.100 that really hinders us from that abiding life. So I 0:13:09.100 --> 0:13:10.940 say to all those who seem to be in a 0:13:10.940 --> 0:13:15.780 wilderness today, you can bear fruit where you are. If 0:13:15.820 --> 0:13:19.579 you access the resources that God has given to us 0:13:19.580 --> 0:13:21.020 in Jesus Christ. 0:13:21.059 --> 0:13:21.579 Amen. 0:13:21.620 --> 0:13:24.140 Doctor Erwin Lutzer, our guest right now, you know, for 0:13:24.140 --> 0:13:27.820 many people listening right now, they've heard that verse. They've 0:13:27.860 --> 0:13:30.780 maybe taught on that verse if they're in some sort 0:13:30.780 --> 0:13:33.940 of leadership capacity. But what I feel to ask you 0:13:33.940 --> 0:13:38.370 is to give an encouragement to those who have grown weary. 0:13:38.890 --> 0:13:42.850 They've been at it a while, but they're tired. And 0:13:42.850 --> 0:13:46.290 so the slipping or the drifting that they're encountering, it's 0:13:46.290 --> 0:13:51.090 not some big major issue. It's that they're tired. Give 0:13:51.090 --> 0:13:53.650 an encouragement to those who are just tired today. 0:13:54.050 --> 0:13:58.010 Yes, I would say rest. The Bible says that we 0:13:58.050 --> 0:14:00.930 can rest in the Lord. And, you know, to all 0:14:00.929 --> 0:14:05.089 those tired Christians out there, and we've certainly all been there. 0:14:05.130 --> 0:14:08.370 What we need to do, like Jesus said to the disciples, 0:14:08.370 --> 0:14:12.770 you remember, let us go aside for a time in 0:14:12.770 --> 0:14:17.290 quietness and rest. And you know, there is such a 0:14:17.290 --> 0:14:22.930 thing as resting in God even when you work. Abiding 0:14:22.930 --> 0:14:26.410 in Christ, resting in God so that your heart is 0:14:26.410 --> 0:14:29.690 at peace, even though your body may be hard at 0:14:29.690 --> 0:14:33.570 work now, all of us fail. We're all on a journey, 0:14:33.570 --> 0:14:35.710 and so what we have to do is to say 0:14:35.710 --> 0:14:39.030 we need time for God, but also we need to 0:14:39.070 --> 0:14:43.790 make sure that our dependence is totally on him. And that, 0:14:43.790 --> 0:14:47.510 I think, may speak somewhat to the question that you 0:14:47.550 --> 0:14:51.510 are asking, which of course has been our experience and 0:14:51.550 --> 0:14:56.030 is our experience even now, as we are inundated with 0:14:56.030 --> 0:14:59.790 so much to do. But God helps us, and there 0:14:59.790 --> 0:15:02.390 is a rest for the people of God, and that 0:15:02.390 --> 0:15:05.950 also is connected with abiding in Christ. 0:15:06.390 --> 0:15:08.590 Love it. Pastor, I got one last thought here. In 0:15:08.590 --> 0:15:12.230 the last few years, the Lord has really impressed upon 0:15:12.230 --> 0:15:15.390 my heart and I've been been exercising this a bit 0:15:16.350 --> 0:15:19.350 that the cry of David is one of the great 0:15:19.350 --> 0:15:24.430 spiritual disciplines that's lost. It's that quiet discipline. I know 0:15:24.430 --> 0:15:27.510 we can go to Bible reading and study and service 0:15:27.510 --> 0:15:30.870 and giving and all the other disciplines. Those are really 0:15:30.870 --> 0:15:35.540 the outflow pastor of this resting. It's that introspection, it's 0:15:35.540 --> 0:15:38.780 quietness before God. Just speak to that for a moment. 0:15:38.780 --> 0:15:41.460 It feels like it's a lost discipline to even be 0:15:41.460 --> 0:15:43.300 quiet and rest before the Lord. 0:15:43.660 --> 0:15:46.580 Yes. And of course, with social media and a thousand 0:15:46.620 --> 0:15:50.300 other things that impinge upon us, we are really driven 0:15:50.300 --> 0:15:55.500 by other forces. Unless we consciously take time to rest 0:15:55.500 --> 0:15:58.740 in the Lord and to refresh ourselves in him. You know, 0:15:58.780 --> 0:16:03.540 everybody knows the life of Mueller in England, who began 0:16:03.540 --> 0:16:07.420 so many different orphanages just by prayer. But you know 0:16:07.420 --> 0:16:11.860 what he said the chief responsibility of the Christian is, 0:16:12.340 --> 0:16:16.260 he said, the first responsibility of the Christian is to 0:16:16.300 --> 0:16:21.380 find happiness in God. So he said he began every 0:16:21.380 --> 0:16:28.540 morning reading, meditating, praying, and would not leave until his 0:16:28.540 --> 0:16:33.450 soul was happy in God. And that's the way he 0:16:33.450 --> 0:16:37.290 approached his day. Is it any wonder that he opened 0:16:37.290 --> 0:16:41.410 so many different orphanages and had such a great ministry? 0:16:41.610 --> 0:16:42.690 That is powerful. 0:16:42.730 --> 0:16:45.210 Doctor Erwin Lutzer, thank you so much for being with 0:16:45.210 --> 0:16:48.010 us this morning. Always appreciate your time and your wisdom. 0:16:48.570 --> 0:16:51.250 Your shot of hope to help you through the day. 0:16:51.530 --> 0:16:54.610 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:16:55.010 --> 0:16:56.930 Well, if you look at the scriptures, guys, they are 0:16:56.930 --> 0:16:58.930 loaded with promises, are they not? 0:16:59.210 --> 0:17:00.170 Absolutely, yes. 0:17:00.290 --> 0:17:01.130 Chuck, from. 0:17:01.610 --> 0:17:02.370 Start to finish. 0:17:02.410 --> 0:17:07.570 From start to finish. Tears wiped away. Rev 21. I mean, 0:17:07.609 --> 0:17:10.130 then you go backwards. It's kind of like a pert chart. 0:17:10.369 --> 0:17:11.850 You know what, a pert chart. Anyone know what a 0:17:11.850 --> 0:17:12.570 pert chart is? 0:17:12.609 --> 0:17:13.730 I have no idea what that is. 0:17:13.770 --> 0:17:17.209 Pert pert p e pert chart. 0:17:17.250 --> 0:17:17.609 No. 0:17:17.650 --> 0:17:21.050 Okay. All right. There's a couple of. There's a couple 0:17:21.050 --> 0:17:24.010 of us old senior guys out there. Know what a 0:17:24.010 --> 0:17:26.570 pert charge chart is? A cool way of organizing any 0:17:26.570 --> 0:17:28.610 kind of planning you're doing. You begin with the end 0:17:28.650 --> 0:17:31.440 in mind. So you paint a vision for this is 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.800 what we want to have happen. And then you work 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.240 backwards from there. In a lot of planning you start 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.000 at this front. You go forward. But a Pert chart 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:43.119 actually the scriptures a Pert chart. You go to revelation, 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.000 you look at that and you go, whoa, look at 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.920 what we're destined for here. This is cool. And then 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.280 you back up. And in true form, it's just dawning 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:53.920 on me whether you go to the epistles or then 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.119 you go to the Gospels. Well, let's not miss the 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:00.080 book of acts in the core theology of Romans. But 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.040 then you go to the Gospels, then you go to 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.960 the prophets, minor and major, and then you back up 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.120 from there, and you start seeing narrative of the way 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:12.720 God worked in the nation of Israel and great stories 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.240 of great women of faith, great men of faith. All 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:19.080 you see are all these people through history in time, 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:23.840 journeying toward this great thing. And I think sometimes we 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:26.359 banked on this great thing that's coming, you know, and 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:28.389 we call it heaven, or I love to call it 0:18:28.430 --> 0:18:31.310 what it is, the New Jerusalem. And that's going to 0:18:31.310 --> 0:18:35.470 be an incredible day. But what about today? I mean, 0:18:35.510 --> 0:18:37.630 isn't that the point? What about today? 0:18:37.670 --> 0:18:40.990 Yeah. Our our God says he is present in all 0:18:40.990 --> 0:18:43.390 of it. So we can't just say, okay, I'm saved, 0:18:43.390 --> 0:18:46.070 I'm good. I wait till heaven. Everything around here is 0:18:46.070 --> 0:18:48.870 kind of unchanged and the way it is. No. God 0:18:48.869 --> 0:18:50.350 wants to change your today. 0:18:50.390 --> 0:18:54.510 Yeah. This. Get your ticket. Fire insurance as some call it. 0:18:54.550 --> 0:18:58.670 I never did enjoy that term. No, because I'm convinced 0:18:58.670 --> 0:19:00.470 of this too. And we're going to be dealing with 0:19:00.470 --> 0:19:04.950 this next week. This fire insurance. Christianity is no Christianity 0:19:04.950 --> 0:19:08.270 at all. No. In fact, I don't know. I leave 0:19:08.270 --> 0:19:11.670 some room for the fact that God can, in fact, 0:19:11.670 --> 0:19:14.990 use the fear of the future to regenerate hearts. But 0:19:14.990 --> 0:19:18.550 by and large, people are broken over their sin, not 0:19:18.550 --> 0:19:23.070 the prospect of horrible things to come. That's how God 0:19:23.070 --> 0:19:26.150 calls us. But once we're called out of darkness into light, 0:19:26.150 --> 0:19:29.380 we light. We got this golden opportunity to lean into 0:19:29.380 --> 0:19:31.980 a relationship with God that takes hold of promises that 0:19:31.980 --> 0:19:34.780 are just flat out amazing. And I think if there's 0:19:34.780 --> 0:19:36.780 one thing that we'd love for you to get today 0:19:36.780 --> 0:19:39.740 is a greater vision of look what God has for 0:19:39.740 --> 0:19:42.260 me and not settle for too little. 0:19:42.300 --> 0:19:46.500 What do you think causes us to settle for too little? 0:19:47.060 --> 0:19:49.460 I mean, because we've all done it from time to time. 0:19:49.940 --> 0:19:52.780 It's a great question. I think there's a couple of things, Ali. 0:19:53.420 --> 0:19:57.700 I think that there's we're functional atheists, so we do 0:19:57.740 --> 0:20:00.060 get a kind of a basic idea of that God 0:20:00.060 --> 0:20:02.060 loves us and he's got good things for us, but 0:20:02.060 --> 0:20:04.180 we need to get the Word of God opened and 0:20:04.180 --> 0:20:07.900 get a visual heart picture of what that is that 0:20:07.900 --> 0:20:10.780 God has for us. We've already hit him today. This 0:20:10.780 --> 0:20:13.300 I came to give you life and life more abundant. Guys, 0:20:13.300 --> 0:20:18.260 we got to get that life. Zoe Greek word for abundance. 0:20:19.060 --> 0:20:21.340 I came to give you life and life more abundant. 0:20:21.859 --> 0:20:26.490 It goes into John 15. I'm the vine. You're the branch. 0:20:26.490 --> 0:20:28.770 You abide in me. You will bear much fruit. Ready 0:20:28.770 --> 0:20:32.050 for this? It's to my father's glory that you bear 0:20:32.050 --> 0:20:32.929 much fruit. 0:20:32.930 --> 0:20:35.530 So if you reverse that, then a lack of abiding, 0:20:35.890 --> 0:20:38.610 a lack of being in the word. 0:20:39.690 --> 0:20:41.690 I think a lack of being in the word and 0:20:41.690 --> 0:20:45.050 knowing those promises is one. And then the the. We're 0:20:45.050 --> 0:20:47.850 in a constant spiritual war. Satan's trying to kick us 0:20:47.850 --> 0:20:49.689 in the teeth and drag us into the mud of 0:20:49.690 --> 0:20:53.170 not believing those things. Right, guys? Every day, every day, 0:20:53.369 --> 0:20:55.410 there's a classic quote and I got to read this 0:20:55.410 --> 0:20:57.729 to you. This is maybe one of my most people, 0:20:57.730 --> 0:21:00.090 I think, that have read C.S. Lewis would say this 0:21:00.090 --> 0:21:02.330 is their quote. In fact, can you take it away, Ali? 0:21:02.330 --> 0:21:03.970 I might get too emotional here. 0:21:04.010 --> 0:21:08.129 It says if we consider the unblushing promises of reward 0:21:08.210 --> 0:21:11.490 and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, 0:21:11.490 --> 0:21:14.250 it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not 0:21:14.250 --> 0:21:18.050 too strong, but too weak. We are half hearted creatures, 0:21:18.050 --> 0:21:21.530 fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite 0:21:21.530 --> 0:21:24.600 joy is offered us like an ignorant child who wants 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:27.359 to go on making mud pies in a slum, because 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:29.800 he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:33.800 a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:35.119 Boom! 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:36.040 Wow! 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:37.520 Is that rock? Anyone else? 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:42.520 Far too easily pleased. We're satisfied with too little mud pies. 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:47.480 Normal's not enough guys. That's the point. If we look 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:51.000 at the landscape of Christianity, especially here in the West, 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:52.520 all we have to do is look around and go. 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:54.840 Hold it a second here. There's a whole lot of 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:57.040 people going to church, but is the quality of their 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.119 life taken hold of the promises of God, or are 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:01.320 we doing mud pies? How do you call it? Mud 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:02.160 pies in a slum? 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:03.639 Mud pies in a slum? 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:07.840 Are we really taking hold of what God has for us? 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:10.520 And here's the kicker. I want you to know this. 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.120 Some of you are held back from what God has 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:16.520 for you. Because there's some deep pain in your life, 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:20.520 a betrayal, loss. You got a wayward kid that's just 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:22.870 kicking you in the teeth. It just breaks your heart. 0:22:23.190 --> 0:22:25.510 You ever notice that things like that can actually hold 0:22:25.510 --> 0:22:26.230 you back? 0:22:27.070 --> 0:22:27.990 Very much so. 0:22:30.470 --> 0:22:33.470 For some of you, you've let some stuff settle into 0:22:33.470 --> 0:22:35.790 the shadows of your life, and you're getting kicked in 0:22:35.790 --> 0:22:38.710 the soul, man. Satan's got you. He dangled the bait, 0:22:38.710 --> 0:22:46.590 and now he's beating the snot out of you. Pornography. Gossip. Anger. Self-righteousness. 0:22:47.230 --> 0:22:50.230 Lack of good time. Redemption. Not saying that to beat 0:22:50.230 --> 0:22:52.949 anyone up. Sometimes you got to identify those things so 0:22:52.950 --> 0:22:55.150 that we can deal with them by the grace and 0:22:55.150 --> 0:22:58.270 power of God, and go get some promises that he 0:22:58.270 --> 0:23:03.550 has for us. Man, we want you to win, don't we, Ellie? Yeah. 0:23:04.070 --> 0:23:04.629 Yeah. 0:23:05.869 --> 0:23:07.910 We want it for us. We want it for you. 0:23:09.950 --> 0:23:13.670 We are far too easily pleased. Do you believe? That's right. 0:23:14.230 --> 0:23:14.870 Yes. 0:23:15.590 --> 0:23:16.470 It's true, isn't it? 0:23:16.750 --> 0:23:21.500 Yeah. It's why we can, you know. And I speak 0:23:21.500 --> 0:23:24.300 as one who does this, too. Sometimes it's it's why 0:23:24.300 --> 0:23:26.220 we can sit down in front of a TV for 0:23:26.220 --> 0:23:29.379 five hours and let time go by because we're we're 0:23:29.380 --> 0:23:32.179 too pleased with the things that really don't do it 0:23:32.180 --> 0:23:32.820 for us. 0:23:33.540 --> 0:23:35.780 Yeah. And the interesting thing is, it's not necessarily a 0:23:35.780 --> 0:23:36.379 five hour. 0:23:36.420 --> 0:23:37.900 Netflix doesn't have to be. 0:23:37.940 --> 0:23:39.060 It could be a one hour. 0:23:39.100 --> 0:23:39.660 Could be. 0:23:39.660 --> 0:23:42.459 Because it can that one hour that God says, I 0:23:42.460 --> 0:23:44.260 want to redeem this in a better way. 0:23:44.300 --> 0:23:46.700 Yeah. And we say, no, I'm good with this. 0:23:47.900 --> 0:23:49.620 Or we sit in the pain of that loss that 0:23:49.619 --> 0:23:52.060 we have, and we sit there and it's like the 0:23:52.060 --> 0:23:56.820 hallmark film that I'm halfway through with my bride, the girls, 0:23:56.980 --> 0:23:59.459 and she's wrestling so well because she's wrestling with the 0:23:59.460 --> 0:24:02.659 loss of a husband and my heart. I'm getting wrapped 0:24:02.660 --> 0:24:04.820 up and I know how the hallmark films going to end, 0:24:04.820 --> 0:24:05.820 because it always. 0:24:05.820 --> 0:24:07.220 Ends the same way. 0:24:07.220 --> 0:24:09.340 It always ends the same way. The guy that showed 0:24:09.340 --> 0:24:12.020 up in the first five minutes, I knew, I said, 0:24:12.020 --> 0:24:14.420 there's the guy that's going to fill the void down 0:24:14.420 --> 0:24:15.220 the road here. 0:24:15.500 --> 0:24:16.260 That's so good. 0:24:17.140 --> 0:24:18.679 But God has so much more. 0:24:18.880 --> 0:24:19.200 Amen. 0:24:19.240 --> 0:24:23.480 And sometimes it's right under our nose. I want to 0:24:23.480 --> 0:24:28.040 tell you about that coming up here. Sometimes it's right 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:31.160 under our nose. It can be the word of God. 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:35.080 It can be the promises of God that just need 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:37.920 to be peeled back a little bit to see what 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:39.959 he has for you. We're going to paint a picture 0:24:39.960 --> 0:24:40.600 coming up. 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:44.200 He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then 0:24:44.240 --> 0:24:48.600 he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:50.360 and crew on Moody Radio. 0:24:50.560 --> 0:24:52.840 Sometimes we find ourselves dancing on the grave that we 0:24:52.880 --> 0:24:56.879 once lived in, celebrating. And it's right. The victory over 0:24:56.880 --> 0:25:00.320 sin and death, which is powerful. But there is there more. 0:25:00.359 --> 0:25:01.640 That's really the question. 0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:05.720 And there's the kind of a hard wired desire to 0:25:05.760 --> 0:25:08.359 you think you think about some of the existential questions 0:25:08.359 --> 0:25:11.040 of life. One of the big ones is, is there more? 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:13.760 Is there more? And everybody's asking, is. 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:16.629 This, is this it? There's got to be more. 0:25:16.910 --> 0:25:22.389 Every flick, every movie, every product sold, every fill in 0:25:22.390 --> 0:25:25.070 the blank is cast in a vision for something more. 0:25:25.109 --> 0:25:28.470 That there has to be more than what I'm currently experiencing. 0:25:28.670 --> 0:25:32.710 Sometimes it's right there and we just got to see it. 0:25:34.030 --> 0:25:35.909 So I got to take you to Alaska. I'm a 0:25:35.910 --> 0:25:39.709 little kid. I was born in Homer, Alaska, raised in Anchorage, Alaska. 0:25:40.910 --> 0:25:44.070 Even ran a thing called the Iditarod Trail Race when 0:25:44.070 --> 0:25:46.189 I was 18 years old. If you've ever heard of 0:25:46.190 --> 0:25:50.990 the Iditarod. Crazy people do that who have a lapse 0:25:50.990 --> 0:25:53.550 of judgment for long enough to get a dog team 0:25:53.550 --> 0:25:56.470 together and then compete in this crazy thing. But when 0:25:56.470 --> 0:25:58.550 I was a young man, I was an outdoorsy guy, 0:25:58.550 --> 0:26:00.790 and I ran with guys that were outdoorsy guy. If 0:26:00.790 --> 0:26:02.270 you're not outdoorsy in Alaska. 0:26:02.350 --> 0:26:04.030 You say, is anyone in Alaska not. 0:26:04.190 --> 0:26:07.790 You're in the wrong place. So we went up to 0:26:07.830 --> 0:26:11.350 Mount McKinley or Mount Denali, however you call it now. 0:26:11.869 --> 0:26:15.140 And we went. Not with the intention of climbing that thing. 0:26:15.140 --> 0:26:17.500 I've got a few friends that have summited Mount McKinley. 0:26:17.500 --> 0:26:20.780 I never have, but to just get up there and 0:26:20.780 --> 0:26:23.140 do some camping. And I was young. How how old 0:26:23.140 --> 0:26:25.860 was I? Probably 11. 12 years old. Something like that. 0:26:25.859 --> 0:26:26.500 Pretty young. 0:26:26.820 --> 0:26:27.340 What grade? 0:26:27.380 --> 0:26:28.780 What grade in school is that? 0:26:28.820 --> 0:26:29.859 Sixth grade. Sixth grade. 0:26:29.900 --> 0:26:33.139 Yeah. So needless to say, we didn't drive. Somebody drove 0:26:33.140 --> 0:26:35.659 for us. No, we were with we were with a 0:26:35.660 --> 0:26:38.780 couple of, uh, couple of men. One was my buddy 0:26:38.780 --> 0:26:41.180 Calvin and his dad and a couple other guys, and 0:26:41.180 --> 0:26:44.220 we just took our fly fishing rods and our spin 0:26:44.220 --> 0:26:46.340 cast rods and all of our gear, and we drove 0:26:46.580 --> 0:26:49.740 off the highway into the park all the way to 0:26:49.780 --> 0:26:53.620 Wonder Lake and Wonder Lakes, the last campground nearest to 0:26:53.980 --> 0:26:56.859 Mount McKinley. Now, guys, I gotta tell you something. Mount 0:26:56.900 --> 0:27:01.340 McKinley is unbelievable. I mean, it's it's such a big mountain. 0:27:01.340 --> 0:27:03.500 It creates its own storms. 0:27:03.500 --> 0:27:05.100 That's wild. Crazy. 0:27:05.140 --> 0:27:09.740 It's just behemoth 20 plus thousand feet. So we're fishing 0:27:09.740 --> 0:27:12.260 at Wonder Lake, and we're, you know, we're doing a 0:27:12.260 --> 0:27:15.090 little bit of catch and release, but not much. And 0:27:15.090 --> 0:27:17.169 so what are a couple of young kids to do? 0:27:17.530 --> 0:27:20.210 We take off and we said we looked at each other. 0:27:20.250 --> 0:27:22.210 Cal looked at me. He says, Carl, let's go. Let's 0:27:22.210 --> 0:27:25.929 go explore, see if we can find some rivers out there. Now, 0:27:25.930 --> 0:27:28.290 I don't advise this. If you go camp at Wonder Lake, 0:27:28.290 --> 0:27:30.330 don't do this because there's a lot of bears out there. 0:27:30.330 --> 0:27:32.770 And we weren't packing a gun or anything. We didn't 0:27:32.770 --> 0:27:36.970 even have bear spray. So we're walking through this tall grass. 0:27:36.970 --> 0:27:40.570 Now imagine this. It's like 830 in the morning. The 0:27:40.570 --> 0:27:43.850 sun is coming up. It's coming up over Mount McKinley, 0:27:43.850 --> 0:27:47.930 and we're walking through this tall grass and we're making noise. Hey! Singing, 0:27:47.930 --> 0:27:49.050 whacking whatever we. 0:27:49.050 --> 0:27:50.090 Can to keep the bears away. 0:27:50.170 --> 0:27:52.969 Keeping the bears away. And they don't want to attack you. 0:27:52.970 --> 0:27:55.090 But you don't want to stumble up on a cub 0:27:55.090 --> 0:27:58.410 that's sleeping. And because mama's going to be happy. 0:27:58.690 --> 0:28:01.130 Very unhappy with Mama Bear, for sure. 0:28:01.330 --> 0:28:03.810 So we're whacking away at this thing, and we're walking 0:28:03.810 --> 0:28:07.369 and walking and walking toward the base of Mount McKinley. 0:28:07.609 --> 0:28:10.570 You feel that with me? Oh, I'm feeling it myself. 0:28:10.570 --> 0:28:15.720 I remember it like yesterday and I'm making a step 0:28:15.720 --> 0:28:21.359 and instinctively I'm like, whoa! And here's this creek in 0:28:21.359 --> 0:28:24.840 the middle of this huge prairie at the base of 0:28:24.840 --> 0:28:28.320 Mount McKinley. And I'm like, wow, there's a creek here. 0:28:28.560 --> 0:28:30.680 And you couldn't even see it because the grass was 0:28:30.680 --> 0:28:32.600 growing up now, and it's so tall, it's starting to 0:28:32.640 --> 0:28:35.840 lay down over the creek. So we start pulling the 0:28:35.840 --> 0:28:39.240 grass back, and we're kneeling down beside this creek. And, guys, 0:28:39.240 --> 0:28:41.400 it is crystal clear about a foot and a half, 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:45.040 two feet wide, cut out of bedrock, about six, eight 0:28:45.040 --> 0:28:50.880 feet deep. And I mean pristine clear water. And I 0:28:50.920 --> 0:28:52.760 look at Cal, I said, Cal, there might be some 0:28:52.760 --> 0:28:55.520 grayling in here. Grayling are kind of a variation of 0:28:55.520 --> 0:28:57.640 a trout. They got a big, tall dorsal fin. They're 0:28:57.640 --> 0:29:00.520 beautiful fish. So I pull out a fly, a dry 0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:03.320 fly and I tie that thing on. And how are 0:29:03.320 --> 0:29:05.000 you supposed to fly fish in a stream that's a 0:29:05.000 --> 0:29:06.840 foot and a half wide? You don't stand back 20ft 0:29:06.840 --> 0:29:08.320 and try to drop it on the. 0:29:08.560 --> 0:29:09.190 No, not so much. 0:29:09.230 --> 0:29:09.590 You know what. 0:29:09.590 --> 0:29:09.709 You. 0:29:09.710 --> 0:29:12.270 Do when you're a little kid. You straddle the stream. 0:29:12.270 --> 0:29:13.989 You got one foot on one side and one on 0:29:13.990 --> 0:29:18.030 the other. So we're standing there with our legs split wide. 0:29:18.030 --> 0:29:21.990 And I dropped this dry fly on this creek. Pick 0:29:21.990 --> 0:29:26.190 it up. Drop it again. Pick it up. Drop it again. Bam! 0:29:27.190 --> 0:29:31.750 Out from the shadows in this little clear creek comes 0:29:31.750 --> 0:29:34.750 this huge grayling. And grayling don't get big. So I'm 0:29:34.790 --> 0:29:37.230 not talking something that could eat you I'm talking something 0:29:37.230 --> 0:29:40.470 like pan fry, like ten, 12in long. But it was 0:29:40.470 --> 0:29:44.590 a good sized grayling. We had the best time. We 0:29:44.590 --> 0:29:47.590 did catch and release for probably an hour and a half. 0:29:47.910 --> 0:29:50.630 And we're just catching these grayling, taking those little flies out, 0:29:50.670 --> 0:29:53.510 releasing them back into the river or creek. It's not 0:29:53.510 --> 0:29:57.870 a river. It's just barely bubbling down the down the stream. 0:29:58.310 --> 0:30:01.150 And we're. And then Cal man he'd get one on 0:30:01.150 --> 0:30:04.670 and man, we're cheering together. This is great. We're far 0:30:04.670 --> 0:30:06.750 enough away from camp. They can't hear us. But all 0:30:06.750 --> 0:30:08.620 the bears within the county. They heard. 0:30:08.620 --> 0:30:08.820 Us. 0:30:09.260 --> 0:30:13.580 So they're all away. It came time to head back 0:30:13.580 --> 0:30:17.860 to Wonder Lake, to the camp and we turned, got 0:30:17.860 --> 0:30:21.660 our tackle boxes, got our stuff together, and I got 0:30:21.660 --> 0:30:26.979 my fly rod. And I turned to head back and 0:30:26.980 --> 0:30:30.940 I stopped and I could cry thinking about it. I 0:30:30.940 --> 0:30:36.820 looked down, not to many ten, 11, 12 year olds 0:30:37.620 --> 0:30:40.940 are this aware, and I certainly wasn't, except that God 0:30:40.940 --> 0:30:44.979 made himself so clear to me. I said, Cal, come here. 0:30:45.740 --> 0:30:48.460 He said, what's going on? I said, kneel down here 0:30:48.460 --> 0:30:52.540 on this side of the creek with me and guys 0:30:52.540 --> 0:30:54.500 in that little foot and a half to two foot 0:30:54.500 --> 0:31:02.700 stream on that pristine, clear, ice cold water, absolutely smooth 0:31:02.700 --> 0:31:11.170 water was a reflection of 20 plus thousand feet of 0:31:11.170 --> 0:31:13.810 Mount McKinley reflected back to us. 0:31:14.730 --> 0:31:15.770 How beautiful! 0:31:16.770 --> 0:31:21.170 I said, look at that, Cal. He said, Carl, that's amazing. 0:31:21.170 --> 0:31:21.770 Huh? Wow. 0:31:24.570 --> 0:31:33.010 The promises of God. If you stop to kneel, ponder 0:31:33.570 --> 0:31:42.490 and consider are so robust, so huge, so powerful, so mighty. 0:31:44.010 --> 0:31:46.930 And I want you to stop today. And don't be 0:31:46.930 --> 0:31:50.050 in a hurry. Going through the thickets of life, fending 0:31:50.050 --> 0:31:53.690 off the brown bears around you, so to speak, that 0:31:53.690 --> 0:31:59.770 you miss the grandeur, the the hugeness. Can I make 0:31:59.770 --> 0:32:03.210 up words here? The the bigness of God. 0:32:04.640 --> 0:32:05.640 Because he's here. 0:32:07.240 --> 0:32:08.920 And that God loves. 0:32:08.920 --> 0:32:09.320 You. 0:32:12.000 --> 0:32:12.480 He loves. 0:32:12.480 --> 0:32:12.760 You. 0:32:14.160 --> 0:32:21.000 Don't be too easily pleased. Stop and consider the goodness 0:32:21.000 --> 0:32:25.320 and the greatness of God. He wants to meet you. 0:32:26.440 --> 0:32:29.800 He wants to minister to you. He wants to heal you. 0:32:29.800 --> 0:32:34.640 And he wants you to walk places you haven't believed 0:32:34.640 --> 0:32:39.240 him for. And he wants that begin afresh today. 0:32:40.000 --> 0:32:42.920 You're listening to curl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:32:43.360 --> 0:32:46.800 Unspoken. What he says about you. It's everything, guys. Matter 0:32:46.800 --> 0:32:49.040 of fact, I'm wondering if we ought to do it. 0:32:49.080 --> 0:32:50.960 I wonder if we ought to give that truth. Blog. 0:32:51.000 --> 0:32:53.880 Hang on here a second. It's Carl and crew helping 0:32:53.880 --> 0:32:56.120 you take your next step with Jesus. Let me paint 0:32:56.120 --> 0:32:57.640 a picture for you, and then we're going to go 0:32:57.640 --> 0:33:00.640 back to this. Why? What God says about you is 0:33:00.640 --> 0:33:07.190 so important. Your spiritual identity. I'm talking. This is top shelf. 0:33:07.230 --> 0:33:11.310 Got to have it. We're too low shelf. When we 0:33:11.310 --> 0:33:14.750 think in terms of the spiritual life and vitality, and 0:33:14.750 --> 0:33:16.550 how are we going to take hold of all that 0:33:16.550 --> 0:33:19.310 God has for us? You know, if I could put 0:33:19.310 --> 0:33:23.990 our morning show into a creed, if I could just bang, 0:33:24.030 --> 0:33:25.750 just kind of whittled it down. Because when we talk 0:33:25.790 --> 0:33:28.510 about helping you take your next step with Jesus, we 0:33:28.550 --> 0:33:30.910 got to take a we got to get a snapshot 0:33:30.950 --> 0:33:32.990 of where in the world are we going? So we're 0:33:32.990 --> 0:33:36.310 taking our next step to where. Sure. So I would 0:33:36.310 --> 0:33:38.510 say the gospel is this come as you are and 0:33:38.510 --> 0:33:40.950 experience him. Anyone glad that we don't have to get 0:33:40.950 --> 0:33:43.110 all cleaned up? Scrubbed up? 0:33:43.310 --> 0:33:45.030 I'd never get there if I had to get cleaned 0:33:45.030 --> 0:33:45.510 up first. 0:33:45.550 --> 0:33:50.190 Anyone glad for for God calling tax collectors and sinners and. 0:33:50.830 --> 0:33:52.150 Amen and amen. 0:33:52.190 --> 0:33:52.590 Yeah. 0:33:52.670 --> 0:33:54.910 And I mean the woman at the well who was 0:33:54.950 --> 0:33:58.750 absolutely ostracized from the community. Anyone else glad that God 0:33:58.750 --> 0:34:01.730 calls the people that don't have their act together. 0:34:01.770 --> 0:34:02.610 The outcast. 0:34:02.650 --> 0:34:05.130 Woo! We got four of us in here saying that. 0:34:05.410 --> 0:34:07.410 Super die. Are you glad for that, grace? 0:34:07.450 --> 0:34:09.090 Beyond glad. Gracious. 0:34:09.130 --> 0:34:10.530 I'm just grateful and grateful. 0:34:10.570 --> 0:34:11.330 Just doing a spot. 0:34:11.330 --> 0:34:11.650 Check. 0:34:11.690 --> 0:34:13.410 Here. Young Thunder, are you glad for that? 0:34:13.450 --> 0:34:15.890 You know, I think I'm pretty glad about that. Yeah, 0:34:15.930 --> 0:34:18.610 I'm one of them, so I probably should be pretty glad. 0:34:19.770 --> 0:34:22.290 And, Ali, I know she's glad. We're all glad that 0:34:22.290 --> 0:34:26.370 God just called us out of this mess as we are. 0:34:26.370 --> 0:34:30.489 So come as you are. Experience God. Overcome what seems impossible. 0:34:30.530 --> 0:34:31.450 Do you believe it? 0:34:31.770 --> 0:34:32.650 Yes, yes. 0:34:32.690 --> 0:34:33.410 I've seen it. 0:34:34.130 --> 0:34:37.529 But do we believe it? I mean, sometimes we get 0:34:37.570 --> 0:34:38.290 weak in the knees. 0:34:38.330 --> 0:34:40.969 That is true. That is true. And it's funny because, 0:34:41.010 --> 0:34:44.649 like I said, I've experienced the impossible being done in 0:34:44.650 --> 0:34:48.169 my life. But there are some times where maybe it's 0:34:48.170 --> 0:34:50.649 a couple years down the road and a new, quote 0:34:50.650 --> 0:34:53.890 unquote impossible comes into my life. And I go, yeah, 0:34:53.890 --> 0:34:56.089 I don't know about that one. And it's it's a 0:34:56.090 --> 0:34:58.959 need to be reminded again and again that our God 0:34:58.960 --> 0:35:02.080 is powerful enough to take care of every impossible. Not 0:35:02.080 --> 0:35:03.879 just this one over here or that one over there. 0:35:03.920 --> 0:35:06.840 All right, be cogitating on it. Some of one person 0:35:06.840 --> 0:35:09.680 here has an impossible thing that God's grace and power 0:35:09.719 --> 0:35:12.200 got you past. But let's talk about those impossible things. 0:35:12.200 --> 0:35:15.320 What are they? While someone is being prompted of the spirit. 0:35:15.320 --> 0:35:17.040 And I know he's working in your heart here, but 0:35:17.040 --> 0:35:20.040 what are those impossible things that we face in life 0:35:20.040 --> 0:35:21.799 that we go, man, I don't know if God can 0:35:21.800 --> 0:35:22.680 overcome that. 0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:26.040 I mean, a lot of times it's some sort of diagnosis. 0:35:26.080 --> 0:35:27.000 A diagnosis. 0:35:27.040 --> 0:35:27.759 Challenge. 0:35:27.880 --> 0:35:28.279 It's a big. 0:35:28.280 --> 0:35:28.560 Deal. 0:35:28.600 --> 0:35:29.920 Addiction crisis. 0:35:29.960 --> 0:35:31.120 Addiction, huge. 0:35:31.320 --> 0:35:32.239 Wayward kid. 0:35:32.280 --> 0:35:33.600 Wayward kid. Huge. 0:35:33.600 --> 0:35:35.960 Maybe it's not an addiction, but it's something as simple 0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:40.239 as gossiping. You know, a sin struggle that that feels like, oh, 0:35:40.239 --> 0:35:41.960 that's been there forever. I don't I don't know if 0:35:41.960 --> 0:35:43.320 I can resist that urge. 0:35:43.320 --> 0:35:45.480 Somebody saying, well, you could have left that one alone. 0:35:45.520 --> 0:35:47.839 Young thunder, super die. What do you. 0:35:47.840 --> 0:35:49.799 Say? I say just past trauma. 0:35:50.120 --> 0:35:52.759 Childhood trauma that even carries into adulthood. 0:35:53.200 --> 0:35:54.600 Betrayal in adulthood. 0:35:54.640 --> 0:35:55.280 Big time. 0:35:55.320 --> 0:35:55.560 Yeah. 0:35:55.640 --> 0:35:56.280 Big time. 0:35:56.560 --> 0:35:58.870 I'll tell you what God has done in my life. 0:35:58.870 --> 0:36:02.190 The impossible. One of the many impossible things he's overcome 0:36:02.190 --> 0:36:05.149 for me is before Christ. I was a liar. I 0:36:05.150 --> 0:36:07.390 was really good at it, too. Uh. 0:36:07.430 --> 0:36:08.910 Which is? Hold on. Time out. 0:36:09.110 --> 0:36:09.350 So. 0:36:09.710 --> 0:36:15.710 Bulletin. Bulletin here. Young Thunder cannot. He dragged me out. 0:36:16.710 --> 0:36:18.629 Do you remember last week when he comes in and says. 0:36:18.630 --> 0:36:20.589 I need to talk to you? Do you remember that 0:36:20.590 --> 0:36:21.109 when he came. 0:36:21.110 --> 0:36:21.230 In. 0:36:21.230 --> 0:36:24.510 Here? So we go marching out. Walk around the corner 0:36:24.510 --> 0:36:26.710 into the call screener room, and he sits down and 0:36:26.710 --> 0:36:29.750 he goes, I got something to tell you. And it's like, 0:36:30.030 --> 0:36:31.469 all right, bro, you're okay. 0:36:31.910 --> 0:36:32.270 I mean. 0:36:32.310 --> 0:36:35.990 If Young Thunder hints at maybe I kind of shaded 0:36:35.989 --> 0:36:38.630 the truth, it's like, shut her down. We got to 0:36:38.630 --> 0:36:41.069 get this cleared out. Anyway, you had a you were 0:36:41.070 --> 0:36:42.070 really good at lying. 0:36:42.110 --> 0:36:43.830 Yeah, I was really good at lying. I was I 0:36:43.830 --> 0:36:47.110 was born into a Christian home, but I was living 0:36:47.110 --> 0:36:49.430 a double life, so I was really good at looking 0:36:49.430 --> 0:36:52.310 like a Christian to people who went to church. And 0:36:52.350 --> 0:36:54.230 I was really good at not looking like a Christian 0:36:54.230 --> 0:36:56.980 to people that didn't and did it did. 0:36:57.020 --> 0:36:58.020 Exhausting living that. 0:36:58.020 --> 0:36:59.779 Way. No it didn't. 0:37:00.020 --> 0:37:00.940 You had it mastered. 0:37:00.980 --> 0:37:03.100 I had it mastered. I mean, it didn't. It really 0:37:03.100 --> 0:37:05.379 didn't bother me at all. Yeah. There were some times 0:37:05.380 --> 0:37:07.779 where I felt some anxiousness that I might get caught, 0:37:08.060 --> 0:37:12.460 but I never felt bad about what I did or 0:37:12.460 --> 0:37:14.620 what I said because I was like, well, this is 0:37:14.620 --> 0:37:17.140 what I have to say to get what I want. 0:37:17.420 --> 0:37:20.540 And so it didn't matter to me. There was no 0:37:21.580 --> 0:37:27.580 consciousness objection to what I was doing. But through the 0:37:27.580 --> 0:37:30.980 power of Christ and being saved by him, Carl is correct. 0:37:30.980 --> 0:37:35.620 When I cannot tell a lie, it it bothers me 0:37:35.620 --> 0:37:36.580 to my core. 0:37:36.620 --> 0:37:37.020 Wow. 0:37:37.260 --> 0:37:40.780 And and I have to make it right if I. 0:37:40.820 --> 0:37:42.980 If I have done it, if I say something that 0:37:42.980 --> 0:37:44.940 maybe I've extended the truth a little bit or I 0:37:44.980 --> 0:37:48.339 exaggerated something, I usually end up coming back and going, okay, hey, 0:37:48.380 --> 0:37:50.500 you know what? I said this. That wasn't quite accurate. 0:37:50.500 --> 0:37:52.980 I want to adjust that a little bit because God's 0:37:52.980 --> 0:37:56.010 done that in me, and through his grace I don't 0:37:56.010 --> 0:37:56.530 lie anymore. 0:37:56.570 --> 0:37:58.450 All right, I gotta double down on this. I got 0:37:58.450 --> 0:38:02.730 a buddy of mine that was overcoming constant stretching stories, 0:38:02.969 --> 0:38:05.529 not fabricating a lot, but just embellishing. 0:38:05.770 --> 0:38:07.330 Just embellishing stories. 0:38:07.489 --> 0:38:10.689 Sure, it's the constant. It's the proverbial. The fish was 0:38:10.690 --> 0:38:15.850 this big story. Um, so he was so convicted that 0:38:15.850 --> 0:38:17.689 he's asking the Lord what to do in the Spirit 0:38:17.690 --> 0:38:20.009 of God. He felt just told him, you got to 0:38:20.010 --> 0:38:23.529 start confessing this the minute you do it. So he 0:38:23.530 --> 0:38:26.010 was in one meeting with a group of guys, like 0:38:26.010 --> 0:38:31.170 a business meeting. And this is at his workplace, and 0:38:31.730 --> 0:38:34.690 he walks out of the meeting. Spirit of God says, yeah, 0:38:34.690 --> 0:38:38.650 you were totally stretching the truth there, man. He's like, oh, man. 0:38:39.330 --> 0:38:41.930 Turns around, walks back in and says, hey, guys, I 0:38:41.930 --> 0:38:44.569 just need to say something I was just telling you about. 0:38:44.570 --> 0:38:46.450 I forget what the issue was. I was telling you 0:38:46.450 --> 0:38:48.890 about this issue and I just need you to know something. 0:38:48.890 --> 0:38:51.330 I stretched the truth and I never want to do 0:38:51.330 --> 0:38:55.080 that again. So here's the truth about the situation. I said, 0:38:55.080 --> 0:38:57.960 what was the room like? He said, Stone quiet. 0:38:59.000 --> 0:39:02.520 Don't even know. Stone quiet. 0:39:02.960 --> 0:39:05.759 And here's why. There's a few other stretchers. 0:39:05.760 --> 0:39:07.280 In the room. Yeah, sure. 0:39:07.840 --> 0:39:10.720 So come as you are, experienced guy, to overcome what 0:39:10.719 --> 0:39:15.680 seems impossible. Can God overcome the impossible? Yes, yes he can. 0:39:15.719 --> 0:39:17.560 And by the way, what do we have to do 0:39:17.560 --> 0:39:18.280 with that? 0:39:18.280 --> 0:39:18.840 Nothing. 0:39:19.040 --> 0:39:19.719 Nothing. 0:39:20.239 --> 0:39:21.000 Not a thing. 0:39:21.040 --> 0:39:22.200 Apart from him. We can do. 0:39:22.200 --> 0:39:22.960 Nothing. 0:39:23.840 --> 0:39:27.280 And then live as we never imagined. We want that 0:39:27.280 --> 0:39:31.080 for you. God wants that for you. If you consider 0:39:31.080 --> 0:39:33.640 what God says in Scripture over and over again, I mean, 0:39:33.680 --> 0:39:37.320 it's just vision after vision for let's go live this way. 0:39:37.960 --> 0:39:41.239 And that's a beautiful thing coming up here. We're going 0:39:41.280 --> 0:39:44.000 to anchor it in Scripture, and we're even in this hour, 0:39:44.000 --> 0:39:45.640 we're going to have Rob West here. And if you 0:39:45.640 --> 0:39:48.960 don't know Rob West, he's going to help us identify 0:39:49.000 --> 0:39:51.790 things that can hold us back. 0:39:52.070 --> 0:39:54.190 Yeah, he's really good at that one. 0:39:54.590 --> 0:39:55.230 Very good. 0:39:55.270 --> 0:39:58.430 One. Big one in particular. We're going to break it down. 0:39:58.430 --> 0:40:01.870 We're also going to give you that resource. Oh you mentioned. 0:40:01.870 --> 0:40:02.150 It. 0:40:02.989 --> 0:40:03.350 All right. 0:40:03.350 --> 0:40:05.189 We got a resource coming up. 0:40:05.230 --> 0:40:06.750 Yep. Hang on. We'll give it to you. 0:40:07.430 --> 0:40:11.990 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke Ali is 0:40:11.989 --> 0:40:15.669 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:40:15.830 --> 0:40:18.549 We made a promise early on here, and we want 0:40:18.590 --> 0:40:20.710 to fulfill this. But before we give this link. And 0:40:20.710 --> 0:40:22.190 by the way, one of the things that we love 0:40:22.190 --> 0:40:25.270 to do here you are, the boom crew. This is 0:40:25.270 --> 0:40:27.630 Carl and crew. You're the boom crew, meaning this is 0:40:27.630 --> 0:40:30.550 your show. And we do everything we can to help 0:40:30.550 --> 0:40:34.149 encourage you in your walk with Jesus Christ. Now we 0:40:34.150 --> 0:40:36.509 see a lot of people surrender to Christ here on 0:40:36.510 --> 0:40:39.270 this program, which is awesome, by the way, a cool 0:40:39.270 --> 0:40:42.470 little stat you need as you're going through your life today. 0:40:42.469 --> 0:40:45.910 You ready for this? Estimates are over 30% of the 0:40:45.910 --> 0:40:49.460 people listening to this show at any time are in 0:40:49.460 --> 0:40:53.180 the shadows spiritually. They don't know and experience the love 0:40:53.180 --> 0:40:55.860 and the grace and the power of Jesus Christ. Meaning 0:40:55.860 --> 0:40:58.779 they're not yet born again, but in the last, I 0:40:58.780 --> 0:41:00.739 don't know. I'm trying to get the numbers right here. 0:41:00.739 --> 0:41:02.660 I don't want to be the bigger fish guy. 0:41:02.820 --> 0:41:03.100 Sure. 0:41:03.140 --> 0:41:06.780 So I would say, realistically, in the last four years 0:41:06.780 --> 0:41:11.180 we've seen, well, we know thousands of people have surrendered 0:41:11.180 --> 0:41:14.970 to Jesus Christ, and probably now upwards of 4 or 0:41:14.969 --> 0:41:17.940 5000 people. Big numbers of folks have surrendered to Christ 0:41:17.940 --> 0:41:19.980 here in the last number of years, which is awesome. 0:41:19.980 --> 0:41:24.060 And we give links out to people who surrender to Christ. 0:41:24.100 --> 0:41:25.980 And it's one of the most awesome things, because then 0:41:25.980 --> 0:41:28.939 we find out six months later, two years later, five 0:41:28.940 --> 0:41:31.859 years later, we get stories back going, God called me 0:41:31.860 --> 0:41:33.860 out of darkness during the morning show. 0:41:33.900 --> 0:41:34.260 Yeah. 0:41:34.580 --> 0:41:39.260 Which is so awesome. But that's not it alone. Because 0:41:39.260 --> 0:41:41.860 once you've been born again, now you're on this journey. 0:41:41.860 --> 0:41:44.460 And I tell people all the time, when God calls 0:41:44.460 --> 0:41:47.489 you out of darkness into the light, There's a whole 0:41:47.489 --> 0:41:51.890 new fight coming your way, and it's big. And one 0:41:51.890 --> 0:41:54.009 of the ways that we want to help you is 0:41:54.010 --> 0:41:56.969 give you links to resources that are going to anchor 0:41:57.010 --> 0:42:00.089 you in truths that it's like, man, I got to 0:42:00.130 --> 0:42:02.049 hold on to that. Boy, have we got one for 0:42:02.050 --> 0:42:02.530 you now. 0:42:02.570 --> 0:42:04.450 It's our truth blog. This is one of our most 0:42:04.450 --> 0:42:07.290 popular resources and it is just right from the Word 0:42:07.290 --> 0:42:10.370 of God bullet points. Who are you in Christ? What 0:42:10.370 --> 0:42:13.049 is the Word of God say about you? I am 0:42:13.050 --> 0:42:15.529 loved as much as anyone has ever been loved. I 0:42:15.530 --> 0:42:19.290 repeat that so many times. Do you to my son, 0:42:19.489 --> 0:42:22.649 usually before bed. And he's like, is that from that 0:42:22.650 --> 0:42:23.850 thing that Carl wrote? 0:42:26.370 --> 0:42:28.330 Tell him it's from the Bible, the Word of God. 0:42:28.370 --> 0:42:29.049 But yes, it's. 0:42:29.050 --> 0:42:33.810 From that resource. He actually asks, are we doing that? Yep, 0:42:33.810 --> 0:42:36.330 we're doing it again. If you want this resource, read 0:42:36.330 --> 0:42:38.930 it over your kids. They'll love it. They'll start to 0:42:38.930 --> 0:42:42.529 repeat it themselves. Just text the word truth to 800 0:42:42.570 --> 0:42:47.319 555 7898. Print it out. Do whatever you need to do. 0:42:47.360 --> 0:42:52.880 Post it on the refrigerator. Text truth to 800 555 7898. 0:42:52.920 --> 0:42:55.960 You never outgrow your need for it, and even sometimes 0:42:56.000 --> 0:42:57.920 authors need to reread their material. 0:42:57.960 --> 0:42:58.359 Oh boy. 0:42:58.400 --> 0:42:59.960 Do you know how many times I've had to go 0:42:59.960 --> 0:43:03.840 back to this? Go! All right. Boom! Anchored. Yes. I've been. 0:43:03.880 --> 0:43:06.480 I've been called out of darkness into the light. Made 0:43:06.480 --> 0:43:09.799 with the purpose to glorify God. Nothing can separate me 0:43:09.800 --> 0:43:12.920 from the love of God. Boom boom boom boom boom. 0:43:13.280 --> 0:43:16.120 So I'm telling you, grab this. I think I put 0:43:16.120 --> 0:43:20.120 at the bottom of this blog. An exercise. Is this 0:43:20.120 --> 0:43:21.320 the 121 days? 0:43:21.360 --> 0:43:21.640 Yes. 0:43:21.680 --> 0:43:22.080 Morning and. 0:43:22.080 --> 0:43:22.319 Evening. 0:43:22.360 --> 0:43:26.000 Two times a day for 21 days. And see what happens. 0:43:26.040 --> 0:43:27.319 Watch what will happen in your life. 0:43:27.360 --> 0:43:27.600 Yeah. 0:43:27.640 --> 0:43:32.880 Just grab it. Just text the word truth to 855 five, 78, 98. 0:43:32.920 --> 0:43:38.120 Wherever you are. Text truth to 855 five, 78, 98. 0:43:38.160 --> 0:43:40.480 We'll shoot this right out to you. Hang on. 0:43:41.120 --> 0:43:43.860 You can take him out of Alaska, But you can't 0:43:43.900 --> 0:43:47.700 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:43:47.940 --> 0:43:50.500 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:43:50.660 --> 0:43:55.740 Okay, here's the reality. When we are radically transformed by Jesus, 0:43:55.739 --> 0:43:59.300 and I like to use those descriptive words because nothing 0:43:59.300 --> 0:44:01.900 less than radical will do when it comes to being 0:44:01.900 --> 0:44:04.540 born again. You move from darkness to light. You're born 0:44:04.540 --> 0:44:07.180 with your back to God. He turns you around. This 0:44:07.180 --> 0:44:10.460 isn't about going to church. This is. This is not 0:44:10.460 --> 0:44:13.140 about going to church, man. Next week we're going to 0:44:13.380 --> 0:44:17.060 just hammer down on Matthew seven, Matthew 13, Matthew 25. 0:44:17.060 --> 0:44:19.500 We're going to see over and over again in Scripture 0:44:19.500 --> 0:44:23.020 this great hallucination of salvation. There are so many in 0:44:23.020 --> 0:44:27.020 the United States of America. Canada, beyond this Western world, 0:44:27.020 --> 0:44:32.460 is plagued with this great deception, thinking that spiritual activity 0:44:32.700 --> 0:44:37.260 equals spiritual new birth. And it doesn't, but I digress. 0:44:37.260 --> 0:44:38.940 We're going to get into that next week, and we're 0:44:38.940 --> 0:44:42.010 going to unpack it left and right and forward. but 0:44:42.010 --> 0:44:45.170 on this journey of faith that God calls us into, 0:44:45.610 --> 0:44:48.490 he casts before us this vision over and over again. 0:44:48.489 --> 0:44:51.050 I'm so grateful to God. It's my to my glory 0:44:51.050 --> 0:44:55.129 that you bear much fruit. John 15. It's you. Go 0:44:55.130 --> 0:44:58.130 to Matthew 13. Let me just go there. Parable of 0:44:58.130 --> 0:45:03.730 the four soils. You got hardpan soil, and Satan comes 0:45:03.730 --> 0:45:05.610 and grabs that seed, takes it away. You got a 0:45:05.610 --> 0:45:08.410 heart that receives that truth with joy and boom goes 0:45:08.410 --> 0:45:10.129 up for a little bit, and then boom, a little 0:45:10.170 --> 0:45:13.410 bit of opposition. Persecution comes. Falls over. Then you got 0:45:13.410 --> 0:45:19.049 another one growing in the thicket of thorny ground. The 0:45:19.090 --> 0:45:22.210 worries of this world, deceitfulness of wealth, desire for other things, 0:45:22.210 --> 0:45:25.250 make it unfruitful. And you could get discouraged. Except for 0:45:25.250 --> 0:45:28.969 here comes the roundhouse from Jesus. And he says, but 0:45:28.969 --> 0:45:32.970 some falls on these heart conditions that produce a crop 0:45:32.969 --> 0:45:38.609 ready for this 30, 60, 100 fold. Now, if you 0:45:38.610 --> 0:45:42.680 look at the promises of God. I miss C.S. Lewis. 0:45:42.719 --> 0:45:45.000 It would seem that we're far too easily pleased. But 0:45:45.000 --> 0:45:47.560 then the question is, is it that we're just too 0:45:47.560 --> 0:45:51.520 easily pleased, or that we're deceived, or that something's gotten 0:45:51.520 --> 0:45:53.280 in the way? Or all the above. 0:45:53.880 --> 0:45:56.600 All the above? I think at different times. 0:45:57.640 --> 0:46:01.640 What gets in the way, guys? What are some of 0:46:01.640 --> 0:46:03.399 the things that get in the way? And I don't 0:46:03.400 --> 0:46:05.319 want you to go where Rob West is going to go, 0:46:05.320 --> 0:46:06.960 because we're going to take him there in a moment 0:46:07.000 --> 0:46:09.160 here in this next half hour. But let's just let's 0:46:09.160 --> 0:46:10.799 just get after it. By the way, if you got 0:46:10.800 --> 0:46:16.080 some feedback here, let's go. If you got some thoughts 800, 555, 78, 0:46:16.120 --> 0:46:21.000 98 just text us. What impedes our ability to journey 0:46:21.000 --> 0:46:24.640 on and take hold of all of God's promises? 855 0:46:24.680 --> 0:46:27.640 five 7898. You can text us. We can't read them 0:46:27.640 --> 0:46:29.399 all all the time, but we'll get as many as 0:46:29.400 --> 0:46:29.920 we can. 0:46:29.960 --> 0:46:34.240 You know, I think for me, it's sometimes looking too 0:46:34.239 --> 0:46:39.350 much at myself and not enough at God. And what 0:46:39.350 --> 0:46:42.069 those promises are, because I get sometimes I get so 0:46:42.070 --> 0:46:46.110 frustrated with myself, I feel like I should be further 0:46:46.110 --> 0:46:49.790 along by now. I shouldn't have this struggle anymore, and 0:46:49.790 --> 0:46:53.990 I can get so defeated in my spirit of feeling 0:46:54.030 --> 0:46:57.310 like that. Not that I can share, but just like 0:46:57.350 --> 0:47:00.990 feeling like I want to be better than I am, 0:47:01.030 --> 0:47:03.670 like I don't, I want to be better, I want 0:47:03.710 --> 0:47:06.149 to be better than I am. And I think that 0:47:06.150 --> 0:47:08.549 that can keep you kind of stuck. 0:47:08.710 --> 0:47:08.990 Yeah. 0:47:09.030 --> 0:47:12.390 Because you're like, you see this gap and you're like, oh, 0:47:12.550 --> 0:47:14.470 instead of looking at God, I'm looking at me. 0:47:14.510 --> 0:47:16.870 Yeah, yeah, a lot of us feel that way. The 0:47:16.870 --> 0:47:20.590 question is, are you willing to look at it and go, okay, 0:47:20.870 --> 0:47:25.149 two things exist. This thing in me is not glorifying God, 0:47:25.150 --> 0:47:29.230 and it's impeding my growth. And yet, rather than fixating 0:47:29.230 --> 0:47:32.430 on that thing that's impeding my growth, let's go for 0:47:32.430 --> 0:47:33.270 it with God. 0:47:33.310 --> 0:47:36.940 Yeah. I think something that I see in today's culture 0:47:36.980 --> 0:47:39.540 a lot, and it's so easy to fall into for 0:47:39.540 --> 0:47:42.780 every single one of us, myself included. Is is just 0:47:42.780 --> 0:47:48.940 distraction falling into distraction through specifically entertainment. You know, our 0:47:49.060 --> 0:47:53.700 living rooms are centered around and and kind of arch 0:47:53.739 --> 0:47:57.739 around the TV. I think everybody's living room does, or 0:47:57.739 --> 0:47:59.900 at least 99% funny. 0:47:59.940 --> 0:48:03.780 Yeah. It's like we've got our our own personal Molek 0:48:04.100 --> 0:48:05.379 or Baal right there. 0:48:05.420 --> 0:48:06.100 And by the way. 0:48:06.100 --> 0:48:07.259 I'm not that crazy. 0:48:07.300 --> 0:48:07.460 A. 0:48:07.460 --> 0:48:08.300 Guy. Oh, of course. 0:48:08.500 --> 0:48:11.540 Because there's great stuff to consume. But you're right. 0:48:11.580 --> 0:48:14.860 Yeah. And so I think that just like we center 0:48:14.860 --> 0:48:17.180 our living rooms around it, sometimes we center our lives 0:48:17.180 --> 0:48:19.620 around it, and we get so focused on on what 0:48:19.620 --> 0:48:21.940 we can be distracted with because it's fun and it 0:48:21.940 --> 0:48:26.219 feels good. But when we allow ourselves to be distracted 0:48:26.219 --> 0:48:29.060 to the point where we're missing out on what God 0:48:29.060 --> 0:48:31.580 has for us, then we fall into a bigger problem. 0:48:31.620 --> 0:48:35.089 Isn't it interesting how good things can become idols, and 0:48:35.090 --> 0:48:36.690 then they get in the way of God. 0:48:36.730 --> 0:48:37.130 Yeah. 0:48:37.489 --> 0:48:39.370 I mean, one of the greatest gifts that I have 0:48:39.370 --> 0:48:44.290 in my life is my bride. I've been married to 0:48:44.290 --> 0:48:47.570 her for a few decades, and she's an incredible gift. 0:48:48.290 --> 0:48:50.529 But two things can happen. I'm going to talk to 0:48:50.530 --> 0:48:54.330 you men right now. God can give you this incredible gift. 0:48:54.330 --> 0:48:56.489 And men are great hunters. We know what to say 0:48:56.489 --> 0:48:59.290 when we're dating, man. We're great at that. We know 0:48:59.290 --> 0:49:01.569 how to woo them. We know how to find a 0:49:01.610 --> 0:49:04.529 bouquet of flowers at a grocery store. And put some 0:49:04.530 --> 0:49:07.570 baby's breath in there and wrap it up with some cellophane. 0:49:08.170 --> 0:49:10.450 But sometimes we can go down this path and we 0:49:10.450 --> 0:49:15.609 can forget what an incredible blessing this person is. And 0:49:15.610 --> 0:49:19.930 believe it or not, presumption that, hey, she's been there. 0:49:21.090 --> 0:49:26.610 She's done that without looking back and going, boy, look at, 0:49:26.650 --> 0:49:29.090 look at the advantage I have in my life because 0:49:29.090 --> 0:49:32.130 of my bride. My bride has been my greatest life coach. Period. 0:49:32.560 --> 0:49:36.960 Full stop. My bride does not. What's the old term 0:49:36.960 --> 0:49:40.560 give you? Quarter or let's just be real. She didn't 0:49:40.560 --> 0:49:42.319 let me up for air. If she sees something in 0:49:42.320 --> 0:49:45.960 my life that needs to change, she'll flat call it out. 0:49:47.360 --> 0:49:53.000 And I've had to constantly come back to an appreciation 0:49:53.000 --> 0:49:56.520 for that because I've often thought, man, Lord, I've got one. 0:49:56.560 --> 0:50:01.280 Holy spirit, do I need another? But when the Lord 0:50:01.280 --> 0:50:03.600 works through my bride, it's a beautiful thing. But one 0:50:03.600 --> 0:50:06.359 of the things we can do is begin to neglect 0:50:06.360 --> 0:50:08.760 or ignore the people that God has in our life. 0:50:09.040 --> 0:50:12.399 We can forget how beautiful it is that God's brought 0:50:12.400 --> 0:50:14.319 people in our life that love us enough to tell 0:50:14.320 --> 0:50:17.040 us the truth. We can get resentful and pretty quick. 0:50:17.080 --> 0:50:20.600 There's barriers to our forward growth with God. I've never 0:50:20.600 --> 0:50:23.480 known growth with God. That wasn't difficult. 0:50:23.840 --> 0:50:27.640 Well, because growth usually happens when there's challenge. 0:50:27.880 --> 0:50:31.230 It's a fire man. It's a furnace. It gets hot. 0:50:32.469 --> 0:50:35.189 Do I like it when my wife confronts me and 0:50:35.190 --> 0:50:37.950 my bride was telling someone the other day goes, oh my, 0:50:37.989 --> 0:50:41.189 my my, my. She calls me bub and I call 0:50:41.190 --> 0:50:44.029 her bub. Receives what I say to him so well, 0:50:44.030 --> 0:50:45.030 I go, no, I don't. 0:50:45.190 --> 0:50:46.510 Come on, let's be real here. 0:50:46.750 --> 0:50:49.189 Because here's classic Carl and I'm going to be shoot 0:50:49.190 --> 0:50:53.470 it to you straight. She'll say something to me now, outwardly, 0:50:53.469 --> 0:50:56.670 in my first years of marriage, I would kind of resist. Now, inwardly, 0:50:56.670 --> 0:50:59.310 I resist. And it's like. And I'm wrestling. You know 0:50:59.310 --> 0:51:00.350 what I'm talking about. 0:51:00.350 --> 0:51:01.190 I'm wrestling. 0:51:01.270 --> 0:51:04.510 It's like, God, what about her? 0:51:04.950 --> 0:51:05.910 What about. 0:51:05.910 --> 0:51:09.310 Her? And then the Lord, by his grace, calms me 0:51:09.310 --> 0:51:13.190 a little bit. And boom! If by his grace I 0:51:13.190 --> 0:51:16.030 can own what she's said to me, I'm a winner 0:51:16.030 --> 0:51:21.069 for it. So what gets in the way and impedes 0:51:21.070 --> 0:51:25.790 our ability to really grow and go with God? What 0:51:25.830 --> 0:51:29.379 impedes our ability to really take hold of God's promises. 0:51:30.180 --> 0:51:34.020 Don't settle for too little today. Bust through those barriers. 0:51:34.900 --> 0:51:37.940 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:51:37.940 --> 0:51:42.180 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew, its 0:51:42.180 --> 0:51:44.460 curling crew on Moody Radio. 0:51:44.980 --> 0:51:47.020 So I went to a go kart track back in 0:51:47.020 --> 0:51:47.500 the day. 0:51:47.820 --> 0:51:49.980 I don't know if I could imagine you at a 0:51:50.020 --> 0:51:50.580 go kart track. 0:51:50.620 --> 0:51:51.380 Oh, yeah, you can. 0:51:51.420 --> 0:51:51.819 I guess. 0:51:51.820 --> 0:51:54.420 So. Can't you? Yeah, I was crazy. Go kart. 0:51:54.540 --> 0:51:55.540 I see that totally. 0:51:55.580 --> 0:51:58.140 And up in up in Alaska, where I was raised 0:51:58.140 --> 0:52:01.899 and lived. Born in Homer, raised in Anchorage, lived in Alaska, 0:52:02.180 --> 0:52:05.420 did a lot of Alaska stuff. We had great go karts. 0:52:06.020 --> 0:52:11.300 They were like, no regulations on the go karts. Oh, boy. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Down. 0:52:11.300 --> 0:52:13.620 Just went down here in the what we call the 0:52:13.620 --> 0:52:16.460 lower 48. A lot of regulations. 0:52:17.540 --> 0:52:18.900 Some for good reason. 0:52:18.980 --> 0:52:21.620 Well, yeah. Not good enough for us when we were kids. 0:52:21.820 --> 0:52:23.739 One of my least favorite things about go karts that 0:52:23.739 --> 0:52:26.339 they do is that they can slow you down from, like, 0:52:26.340 --> 0:52:27.730 a computer on the side. 0:52:27.770 --> 0:52:28.850 Most frustrating thing. 0:52:28.890 --> 0:52:31.330 And I'm like, I just got going, dude. Wait, let 0:52:31.330 --> 0:52:32.410 me keep going. Yeah, they. 0:52:32.410 --> 0:52:35.730 Can put a governor on you. So in which thwarts 0:52:35.730 --> 0:52:38.410 the ultimate purpose, which is to whack your friends so 0:52:38.410 --> 0:52:41.530 hard it puts him into a tailspin. Okay, so we're 0:52:41.530 --> 0:52:43.969 we're out there, and we get, get down to this 0:52:43.969 --> 0:52:46.810 go kart place. And I mean it. It's not anything 0:52:46.810 --> 0:52:49.770 like these go kart places nowadays that are indoors and 0:52:49.770 --> 0:52:52.810 well kept and everything, and even the outdoor ones are pristine. 0:52:53.130 --> 0:52:56.210 Ours look like it was something out of, I don't 0:52:56.210 --> 0:53:01.250 know who knows what. It was just. It was just. 0:53:01.290 --> 0:53:03.489 It was just a bumpy road and a bunch of 0:53:03.489 --> 0:53:06.330 guys out there that are spitting Copenhagen all over the 0:53:06.330 --> 0:53:08.489 ground that are firing up those go karts. They got 0:53:08.530 --> 0:53:10.010 grease all over their pants. 0:53:10.050 --> 0:53:12.050 They're like, I sit in there. 0:53:13.290 --> 0:53:16.049 But I loved it. We we'd get off work and 0:53:16.050 --> 0:53:19.650 we'd go down there and bam, we'd nail it and 0:53:19.650 --> 0:53:22.250 we'd get these coupons where you like, you get ten 0:53:22.250 --> 0:53:24.450 rides at a go and we'd go ten rounds. But, 0:53:24.489 --> 0:53:28.710 I mean, we're blasting one another, like almost causing injury. 0:53:28.710 --> 0:53:29.710 Oh, yeah. No joke. 0:53:29.750 --> 0:53:32.069 Well, that's why they have those governors now to slow 0:53:32.070 --> 0:53:33.550 you down so you don't do that. 0:53:33.989 --> 0:53:39.350 So go down there and walk away with my friends. 0:53:39.350 --> 0:53:41.790 We go down the road to get some pizza, and 0:53:41.790 --> 0:53:44.110 I reach for my wallet and it is gone. 0:53:44.510 --> 0:53:44.950 Uh oh. 0:53:45.110 --> 0:53:48.870 And guys, this is I'm old enough to remember when 0:53:48.870 --> 0:53:52.629 money didn't get transferred into accounts. It got. It was 0:53:52.630 --> 0:53:54.589 given to you in a cheque. Do you know what 0:53:54.590 --> 0:53:56.069 those are, young Thunder? Yes a. 0:53:56.070 --> 0:53:57.870 Cheque. Yeah. I used to check that. 0:53:57.870 --> 0:53:58.910 You go cash at a. 0:53:58.910 --> 0:54:00.630 Bank. Yeah, I used to. Okay. I'm just making. 0:54:00.630 --> 0:54:03.190 Sure you got it. I mean, he's young, so I 0:54:03.230 --> 0:54:06.110 call him Young Thunder. Um, so. Yeah, I go cash 0:54:06.110 --> 0:54:09.150 this thing. Guys, I have $420 cash in my wallet. 0:54:09.190 --> 0:54:09.629 Now it is. 0:54:09.630 --> 0:54:10.470 Gone. Oh, no. 0:54:10.510 --> 0:54:11.190 Oh that's horrible. 0:54:11.230 --> 0:54:13.989 I go, I'm panicked, man. I go back to the 0:54:13.989 --> 0:54:18.509 track and I'm scouring around and I'm yelling at the 0:54:18.510 --> 0:54:20.629 guys and going, guys in that car right over there 0:54:20.670 --> 0:54:24.380 and and, well, wouldn't you know what happened? One of 0:54:24.380 --> 0:54:28.299 my Copenhagen spitting pit crew buddies that worked there. I 0:54:28.300 --> 0:54:30.500 don't know who got it and I couldn't pin it 0:54:30.500 --> 0:54:33.819 on anyone, sure, but they saw it and they grabbed it. 0:54:33.860 --> 0:54:36.100 And I just said to him, look, if you have 0:54:36.100 --> 0:54:39.380 it handed in anywhere, you know, if you could reach 0:54:39.380 --> 0:54:41.380 out to me, I'd give him a home telephone number. 0:54:41.380 --> 0:54:45.140 But I knew that was never going to ring. And 0:54:45.140 --> 0:54:50.540 it was. My heart sank. Guys, that was all my cash. 0:54:51.420 --> 0:54:52.260 400 plus. 0:54:52.260 --> 0:54:52.740 Dollars. 0:54:52.780 --> 0:54:54.740 Yeah, for a couple of weeks now. It's gone. 0:54:54.820 --> 0:54:56.660 Well, I think that was a week. Yeah, yeah, or 0:54:56.660 --> 0:55:01.899 something like that. But it was gone. And I was 0:55:01.900 --> 0:55:04.700 heartsick and I was broken about it. Now there's some 0:55:04.700 --> 0:55:08.100 realism in that. That is you got to pay for 0:55:08.100 --> 0:55:12.180 some other stuff, right. But it's amazing how money can 0:55:12.180 --> 0:55:15.180 become such a focal point that you don't even have 0:55:15.180 --> 0:55:17.819 to lose a big sum to be fixated on it. 0:55:17.860 --> 0:55:20.580 Oh, yeah. I mean, you think about the the amount 0:55:20.580 --> 0:55:24.529 of things that people do that are solely motivated by money? 0:55:24.570 --> 0:55:30.170 Yeah, and money is a great resource, but it makes 0:55:30.170 --> 0:55:36.649 a horrible God. It never works. It's bad to bow 0:55:36.650 --> 0:55:39.450 down to. And the question is, how do you take 0:55:39.450 --> 0:55:43.130 this resource called money and not let it consume you? 0:55:43.170 --> 0:55:46.450 That's the question is you whether you have a lot 0:55:46.489 --> 0:55:49.890 or a little. That desire, it's the desire in the 0:55:49.890 --> 0:55:53.450 driver of money that can become problematic. 0:55:53.489 --> 0:55:56.290 Yeah, man, even you can have a great budget and 0:55:56.290 --> 0:55:58.770 it can get out of whack. Rob West coming up. 0:55:58.770 --> 0:55:59.850 He'll get us straightened out. 0:56:00.969 --> 0:56:05.050 Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. 0:56:05.370 --> 0:56:09.010 Super die is in the crew. It's curl and crew 0:56:09.090 --> 0:56:10.330 on Moody Radio. 0:56:10.610 --> 0:56:13.810 By the way, have you seen the Faith fi app? 0:56:13.850 --> 0:56:14.770 This is awesome. 0:56:14.770 --> 0:56:17.730 The Faith fi app is the bomb. 0:56:18.090 --> 0:56:19.530 Do people still say that? 0:56:19.530 --> 0:56:20.049 I think so. 0:56:20.090 --> 0:56:21.120 I heard it yesterday. 0:56:21.160 --> 0:56:21.960 Carl just did. 0:56:22.000 --> 0:56:25.480 Of course, the guy was 82. Actually. No joking. I 0:56:25.480 --> 0:56:29.560 heard a message yesterday and the pastor said, that's the bomb. And. 0:56:29.719 --> 0:56:32.360 And I'm right. He was in he's in his 70s. Okay. 0:56:32.400 --> 0:56:36.799 So to be fair, Ali, what is the new hip bomb? 0:56:37.080 --> 0:56:39.320 I'm trying to think. Um. 0:56:39.360 --> 0:56:40.239 That's bussin. 0:56:40.480 --> 0:56:42.040 Bussin? That's old, isn't it? 0:56:42.080 --> 0:56:42.600 Is that old. 0:56:42.640 --> 0:56:43.080 Stigma? 0:56:43.520 --> 0:56:46.640 I hear a lot of words that my 15 year 0:56:46.680 --> 0:56:48.680 old and 12 year old use, and I don't understand 0:56:48.680 --> 0:56:50.399 a lot of them. I know that if you say 0:56:50.400 --> 0:56:53.680 something is no cap, you're questioning whether or not someone's 0:56:53.680 --> 0:56:56.239 telling the truth, right? If something's mid. 0:56:56.480 --> 0:56:57.920 It's a it's mediocre. 0:56:57.960 --> 0:56:58.560 Mediocre. 0:56:58.560 --> 0:57:02.120 But here's here's what's really cool. The word cool is 0:57:02.120 --> 0:57:03.719 still used everywhere. 0:57:03.760 --> 0:57:04.520 Cool is cool. 0:57:05.080 --> 0:57:10.160 Thank the Lord some things stick around. Rob West money 0:57:10.200 --> 0:57:14.440 is a great thing, but it is a battle to 0:57:14.480 --> 0:57:16.960 keep it from becoming a God, isn't it, my man? 0:57:17.240 --> 0:57:19.990 Oh, it is such a battle. Listen to what Paul 0:57:19.990 --> 0:57:22.790 David Tripp says. He says money is one of God's 0:57:22.790 --> 0:57:26.670 good creations. But this good thing becomes a bad thing 0:57:26.670 --> 0:57:29.990 for you when it becomes a ruling thing. And I 0:57:29.990 --> 0:57:33.070 think that's what we all encounter. Talked about the parable 0:57:33.070 --> 0:57:34.830 of the sower. We don't want to be the third 0:57:34.870 --> 0:57:37.550 soil people. Right. The weeds come in and choke out 0:57:37.550 --> 0:57:42.350 that 3060 hundredfold return. And then later the 12 are 0:57:42.350 --> 0:57:45.110 asking him, can you explain that? And he says, all right, 0:57:45.350 --> 0:57:47.230 here we go. So it's the what were they? 0:57:47.230 --> 0:57:50.190 There were worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth 0:57:50.230 --> 0:57:53.270 and the desire for other things, which all three can 0:57:53.270 --> 0:57:54.670 be related to money. 0:57:54.710 --> 0:57:56.669 Yeah. I mean, I don't want to embellish maybe two 0:57:56.670 --> 0:57:59.590 and a half, but. Okay. You know, but yeah. 0:57:59.630 --> 0:57:59.710 I. 0:57:59.710 --> 0:58:02.310 Mean, that's the point, you know, and and what we 0:58:02.310 --> 0:58:05.950 have to understand is that this thing can compete. It's 0:58:05.950 --> 0:58:09.710 it's going to be a rival for our hearts. Uh, 0:58:09.790 --> 0:58:12.670 the late Tim Keller, in his book Counterfeit Gods, he 0:58:12.670 --> 0:58:16.510 said the most common counterfeit god is money. He said, 0:58:16.510 --> 0:58:20.300 I've had every sin confessed in my office, save one. 0:58:20.300 --> 0:58:22.980 It was the sin of greed. And that's where we 0:58:23.020 --> 0:58:26.140 find ourselves. And it gets even more challenging when we 0:58:26.140 --> 0:58:28.260 have an abundance, when we have a lot of it. 0:58:28.300 --> 0:58:30.900 Here's what C.S. Lewis said. One of the dangers of 0:58:30.900 --> 0:58:32.700 having a lot of money is that you may be 0:58:32.700 --> 0:58:36.420 quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give, 0:58:36.580 --> 0:58:40.340 and so fail to realize your need for God. If 0:58:40.340 --> 0:58:43.900 everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may 0:58:43.900 --> 0:58:48.580 forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God. 0:58:48.900 --> 0:58:49.900 And that's the truth. 0:58:50.140 --> 0:58:50.540 Wow. 0:58:51.060 --> 0:58:53.140 Wow. Rob West, our guest right now, host of the 0:58:53.140 --> 0:58:58.340 nationally syndicated program Faith and Finance Live Money can absolutely 0:58:58.380 --> 0:59:01.500 tell us to our need for God. But you can't 0:59:01.500 --> 0:59:03.940 live life without money. You can't. 0:59:03.980 --> 0:59:04.540 It's impossible. 0:59:04.580 --> 0:59:05.540 It's absolutely. 0:59:05.780 --> 0:59:08.060 You know what? Here's the problem with money, Rob. It's 0:59:08.060 --> 0:59:10.260 kind of like food. So I've got friends that have 0:59:10.260 --> 0:59:12.420 challenges with food. And you know what? A couple of 0:59:12.420 --> 0:59:15.140 them said I got to eat. I don't, you know, 0:59:15.370 --> 0:59:18.290 that's my problem is I have to eat and we 0:59:18.290 --> 0:59:20.730 have to have some kind of currency. So how do 0:59:20.730 --> 0:59:24.250 you how do you slay this thing so that it 0:59:24.250 --> 0:59:26.410 doesn't slay you? Rob. Yeah. 0:59:26.450 --> 0:59:28.730 So it starts with an understanding that God owns it all. 0:59:28.730 --> 0:59:31.370 You and I are money managers for the King of Kings. 0:59:31.370 --> 0:59:34.050 That is a high calling. And so then we have 0:59:34.050 --> 0:59:37.370 to accept our role not as owners, but as managers, 0:59:37.370 --> 0:59:39.810 as stewards. We translate that word in the New Testament 0:59:39.850 --> 0:59:44.450 Oikonomos household manager. So we're walking into the home. Everything 0:59:44.450 --> 0:59:47.330 we see, we know it's not ours, it's his. And 0:59:47.330 --> 0:59:50.730 so our task is to be found faithful in managing 0:59:50.730 --> 0:59:53.890 the King's resources. So we have to know the king's heart. 0:59:53.890 --> 0:59:55.410 So we got to get into God's Word. And we 0:59:55.410 --> 0:59:58.410 realize that money is a good gift for us to 0:59:58.450 --> 1:00:01.690 give and even to enjoy. I think God smiles when 1:00:01.690 --> 1:00:05.770 we use money as a tool in a joyful celebration. Yes, 1:00:05.810 --> 1:00:08.530 but it's also to invest. But here's the other big 1:00:08.530 --> 1:00:12.650 idea is a rival for our hearts. It is dangerous 1:00:12.890 --> 1:00:15.320 and so we've got to put it in its proper place. 1:00:15.360 --> 1:00:18.240 God is our ultimate treasure. Money is a tool to 1:00:18.280 --> 1:00:21.760 accomplish God's purposes, and when we live within it, we 1:00:21.800 --> 1:00:25.480 save it appropriately. We hold it loosely. We give it generously. 1:00:25.480 --> 1:00:28.240 All of a sudden, it becomes a powerful force for 1:00:28.240 --> 1:00:31.160 good in our lives and the lives of others. But 1:00:31.160 --> 1:00:32.080 it's not easy. 1:00:32.120 --> 1:00:34.520 Rob West, our guest right now. Coming up, let's talk 1:00:34.560 --> 1:00:37.840 about what are the warning signs that money is not 1:00:37.840 --> 1:00:38.360 a tool. 1:00:38.400 --> 1:00:38.800 Anymore. 1:00:38.840 --> 1:00:43.120 But something maybe that's starting to rule me again. More 1:00:43.120 --> 1:00:44.560 coming up here on Carl and crew. 1:00:45.000 --> 1:00:47.720 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 1:00:47.720 --> 1:00:51.240 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 1:00:51.240 --> 1:00:54.560 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 1:00:55.080 --> 1:00:57.120 Sometimes you got to get out of the car, go 1:00:57.120 --> 1:00:59.560 around to the front and get that thing that's in 1:00:59.560 --> 1:01:02.440 the road that's impeding your ability to go forward without 1:01:02.440 --> 1:01:04.360 destroying your car and get it out of the road. 1:01:04.400 --> 1:01:04.920 Yes. 1:01:04.960 --> 1:01:08.439 Well guess what? As we journey down this road of faith, man, 1:01:08.440 --> 1:01:10.040 there's things that can get in the way. And what's 1:01:10.040 --> 1:01:13.590 wild is money can move from a great resource to 1:01:13.630 --> 1:01:16.590 a molek. A Baal, a god that gets in the way. 1:01:16.630 --> 1:01:19.590 Isn't that weird? Because one moment it's a resource. We 1:01:19.590 --> 1:01:23.350 know it's from God. Next moment, about a bang, we're 1:01:23.350 --> 1:01:24.430 getting wiped out by it. 1:01:24.470 --> 1:01:26.590 Rob West, our guest right now, host of Faith and 1:01:26.590 --> 1:01:30.950 Finance live. So how can you what are some warning signs, 1:01:30.950 --> 1:01:35.110 some indicators that maybe money has slipped out of its 1:01:35.110 --> 1:01:36.990 proper place in your life? 1:01:37.030 --> 1:01:38.950 I think one of the big ones is just a 1:01:38.950 --> 1:01:42.710 lack of margin. And, you know, interestingly, we know the 1:01:42.710 --> 1:01:46.350 data about how often money is that source of conflict 1:01:46.350 --> 1:01:49.310 in marriage. The studies say, though, the way we overcome 1:01:49.310 --> 1:01:51.750 that is, yeah, we got to communicate and yeah, we 1:01:51.790 --> 1:01:53.910 got to live within our means. But it was the 1:01:53.910 --> 1:01:56.470 biggest one was do we have margin? Do we have 1:01:56.470 --> 1:01:59.990 something left over at the end of the month? And 1:01:59.990 --> 1:02:02.510 if we're going beyond that, that leads to the second 1:02:02.510 --> 1:02:06.150 warning sign, which is debt. We're living outside of God's 1:02:06.150 --> 1:02:09.350 provision and we're taking on more and more debt. It's 1:02:09.350 --> 1:02:12.860 not sustainable, but I think a big one. Ali is 1:02:12.980 --> 1:02:16.300 the comparison trap. I mean, you know it well. Here, 1:02:16.340 --> 1:02:19.100 go with me for a second. Jesus hits this head on. 1:02:19.260 --> 1:02:22.060 You remember in Luke 12 he's traveling to Jerusalem for 1:02:22.060 --> 1:02:25.500 the last time before his crucifixion. There's thousands. Somebody steps 1:02:25.500 --> 1:02:27.500 out of the crowd and asks him to settle an 1:02:27.500 --> 1:02:30.860 inheritance dispute. And he doesn't take the case. But he 1:02:30.860 --> 1:02:34.260 addresses the heart of the matter, which is covetousness. Right? 1:02:34.300 --> 1:02:37.580 Another way to say the comparison trap. And here's his warning. 1:02:37.620 --> 1:02:42.020 Take care. Be on your guard against all covetousness, for 1:02:42.020 --> 1:02:46.380 one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 1:02:46.420 --> 1:02:50.420 Now that's a startling statement in his time and in now. 1:02:50.420 --> 1:02:54.180 And it begs the question, if material abundance isn't what 1:02:54.180 --> 1:02:58.660 makes life satisfying and full, what does? And we know 1:02:58.860 --> 1:03:01.060 the answer is in John ten, I am the door. 1:03:01.100 --> 1:03:04.220 If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. He 1:03:04.220 --> 1:03:06.940 will go in and out and find pasture. I am 1:03:06.940 --> 1:03:10.360 the good shepherd the good Shepherd, lays down his life 1:03:10.360 --> 1:03:12.840 for his sheep. So here's here's the bottom line. Here's 1:03:12.840 --> 1:03:16.880 the truth the Lord is the only source of true abundance, 1:03:17.080 --> 1:03:20.720 and not just the source of abundance, but the actual 1:03:20.720 --> 1:03:22.080 abundance itself. 1:03:22.480 --> 1:03:25.400 Yeah, and reining that in and bringing it under lordship 1:03:25.400 --> 1:03:28.840 to him and then talking with him about it is huge. Rob. Um, 1:03:28.880 --> 1:03:32.200 five years ago, I give credit to my bride on 1:03:32.200 --> 1:03:34.480 this one. I was the I was the dad that 1:03:34.480 --> 1:03:36.520 if a kid needed something, I'd flip him a 20 1:03:37.040 --> 1:03:40.840 and we were just busy. Ministry was cooking. We're seeing 1:03:41.400 --> 1:03:43.400 pastor in a church in Alaska and things are just 1:03:43.440 --> 1:03:45.720 on fire, and I'm just. I got no time, you know? 1:03:45.760 --> 1:03:47.280 So I'm doing this and this and this. And my 1:03:47.280 --> 1:03:50.160 bride came to me, and she is a phenomenal asset 1:03:50.160 --> 1:03:51.560 in my life. And she said, Bob, we got to 1:03:51.560 --> 1:03:53.160 get a budget. We got to get this reeled in. 1:03:53.160 --> 1:03:56.479 We don't know where it's going, what's going on. And 1:03:56.480 --> 1:03:59.640 we got on this old model where you get these 1:03:59.680 --> 1:04:02.120 envelopes and you put cash in it for every month. 1:04:02.120 --> 1:04:04.680 And at first I'm like, oh, this is the most 1:04:04.680 --> 1:04:08.990 constraining thing. And let me tell you something. Nothing is 1:04:08.990 --> 1:04:12.630 more liberated. Our ability as a couple to leverage resources 1:04:12.630 --> 1:04:15.229 toward kingdom stuff and to find joy in it, than 1:04:15.270 --> 1:04:18.270 having a budget that we could follow. And when I 1:04:18.310 --> 1:04:21.230 found out that Rob with Faith five built a budget 1:04:21.230 --> 1:04:25.710 that's basically a digital envelope system, I'm like, get me 1:04:25.710 --> 1:04:29.630 that tool. Right, Rob, remember that day we had that combo? 1:04:29.710 --> 1:04:31.950 Remember it? Yeah. And you said, hey, I've got all 1:04:31.950 --> 1:04:33.750 these envelopes and it's worked for us. 1:04:33.750 --> 1:04:37.110 But why does it work? Why does it work? Why? 1:04:37.110 --> 1:04:38.030 Why does it work? 1:04:38.110 --> 1:04:40.270 Because it's the only way to reign in your spending. 1:04:40.270 --> 1:04:42.190 You see, what so many people do is they create 1:04:42.190 --> 1:04:44.390 a budget on paper and they stick it in a 1:04:44.390 --> 1:04:46.310 drawer and they say, oh, we did it. And guess what? 1:04:46.310 --> 1:04:48.669 We made it balance. And then that's the last time 1:04:48.670 --> 1:04:50.830 they look at it. Or perhaps they wait till the 1:04:50.830 --> 1:04:52.310 end of the month and pull it out and say, 1:04:52.310 --> 1:04:54.910 how bad did we do? Well, it's too late. Then. 1:04:54.950 --> 1:04:57.830 You see, the envelope system, whether it's digital or physical, 1:04:57.830 --> 1:05:01.270 is the only way you make real time decisions during 1:05:01.270 --> 1:05:04.070 the money or during the month when you look into 1:05:04.070 --> 1:05:07.900 the eating out envelope or the entertainment envelope or, you know, 1:05:07.940 --> 1:05:10.580 I've got an envelope for my daughter Emma, who loves 1:05:10.580 --> 1:05:13.300 to buy new clothes. And when the money's gone, it's gone. 1:05:13.700 --> 1:05:16.460 Bless his heart. I want to take a love offering 1:05:16.460 --> 1:05:18.300 for Emma because daddy's cutting her short. 1:05:18.340 --> 1:05:19.060 No. I'm kidding. 1:05:19.420 --> 1:05:22.220 No, but. And you know what you're teaching Emma? And 1:05:22.220 --> 1:05:25.220 every kid needs this. All of God's kids need this. 1:05:25.460 --> 1:05:28.340 Some need to be given some latitude. So maybe Johnny 1:05:28.340 --> 1:05:30.660 needs to be told no, you can actually go get 1:05:30.660 --> 1:05:34.140 some new jeans, bro. Those are nasty. Yeah. And yet. Yeah, 1:05:34.180 --> 1:05:35.780 it's kind of. This is sweet. 1:05:35.820 --> 1:05:39.220 It's the Faith fi app. If you want more information, 1:05:39.220 --> 1:05:44.020 just text money to 800 555 7898. This will get 1:05:44.020 --> 1:05:45.900 you linked up. So you can check out that app 1:05:45.940 --> 1:05:49.300 available wherever you get your apps. So just text money 1:05:49.300 --> 1:05:52.860 to 800 555 7898. 1:05:52.900 --> 1:05:56.100 Yeah, yeah. Do it would you? And this is a treat. 1:05:56.100 --> 1:05:58.419 And I know there's some people out there fearful right 1:05:58.420 --> 1:06:00.419 now because I know what this feels like. Rob. It's 1:06:00.420 --> 1:06:04.410 like do I. And I was there. Do I dare 1:06:04.810 --> 1:06:08.090 put myself under these constraints? What do you say to 1:06:08.130 --> 1:06:09.090 that word, Rob? 1:06:09.130 --> 1:06:12.490 Well, you've got to start somewhere. And here's the reality. 1:06:12.490 --> 1:06:15.930 Until you know where your money's going, you're going to struggle. 1:06:16.090 --> 1:06:18.530 And so that's the beginning point. Not trying to fix anything. 1:06:18.530 --> 1:06:22.330 I just need understanding. Where am I at today? And 1:06:22.330 --> 1:06:24.570 then you can start working on the changes. And if 1:06:24.570 --> 1:06:26.850 you're married you come together. The budget will be the 1:06:26.850 --> 1:06:29.730 instrument of peace. It doesn't have to be constraining. It 1:06:29.730 --> 1:06:32.850 doesn't have to rein you in. It just tells the truth. 1:06:32.850 --> 1:06:34.330 And it gives every dollar a job. 1:06:34.370 --> 1:06:36.330 It's beautiful. All right, Ali, let's get it. 1:06:36.530 --> 1:06:41.689 Takes money to (800) 555-7898. No emojis. I know there's lots 1:06:41.690 --> 1:06:44.250 available that you could use, but just write out that 1:06:44.250 --> 1:06:47.570 word and leave everything else out. Text money to 800 1:06:47.570 --> 1:06:50.050 555 7898. 1:06:50.090 --> 1:06:52.930 Yeah. Our goal is to help you take hold of 1:06:52.970 --> 1:06:55.650 God's promises. God wants to do that. And sometimes you 1:06:55.690 --> 1:06:58.530 got to remove what's in the way. Don't let money 1:06:58.530 --> 1:07:02.290 become a God. Get God's help to get it under control.