1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: Let us pray. My flesh and my heart faileth. But 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever, 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: Psalm seventy three, twenty six. Dear Father, thank you for 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: looking beyond my faults and loving me unconditionally. Thank you 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: for your unfailing love for me. Enlighten my mind with 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: your truth to day. Help me to face every storm 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: with confidence, knowing that you are in control. Give me 8 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: eyes to see the needs of others and show me 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: how to help them in a way that pleases you. 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: Flood my mind with your word when my thoughts begin 11 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: to wander in a negative direction, Be my strength and 12 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: help me honor you in all my ways. Amen. Thank 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: you for listening to today's daily prayer for more inspiration 14 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: and an incredible message from our feature pastor. Stay tune 15 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: to prey dot COM's Sunday Service. Welcome to prey dot 16 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: COM's Sunday service sponsored by our trua Health Share. Follow 17 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: this podcast and listen weekly to receive godly wisdom and 18 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: practical advice for daily living. Stay tuned for Sunday service 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: coming up. After a quick word from our sponsors, there's 20 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: an innovative, better way to find healthcare. We are our 21 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: true a Health Share, an affordable and flexible way to 22 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: take care of your family. We're a community of like minded, 23 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: health conscious individuals who share in each other's medical needs, 24 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: and you can customize your healthcare your way. Without true 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: a Health Share, you can build your membership based on 26 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: your season of life and your family's needs. Head to 27 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: my share dot org to find out more. That's my 28 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: share dot org out tu a health share where we 29 00:01:47,760 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: care for one another. Shall we give the Lord of 30 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: clamp offering church hallelujah. It is joy to see you 31 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: through this video and to study the Word of God together. 32 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: Psalm seventy three is what we are going to focus 33 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: on today. It starts with a God encounter. Let's read 34 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,399 Speaker 1: verses one and two together. The Word of God says, 35 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: truly God is good to Israel, to those who are 36 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had 37 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. I want you 38 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: to pay attention to this two verses. Truly God is 39 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: good to Israel and to those who are pure in heart, 40 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: but as for me, my feet had nearly stumbled. I 41 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: want you to listen to me carefully in those days 42 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: when the psalm writes a song, it is sung throughout 43 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: the nation people who would take that song and sing 44 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,799 Speaker 1: it in different villages. But imagine this with me at 45 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: their as they are hearing a psalmist sing this, Truly, 46 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: God is good to Israel, they will say amen to that. 47 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: But when it comes to verse two, but as for me, 48 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: there is a contrast there. It will be almost like 49 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: a jarring to their years, isn't it. I want you 50 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: to listen. Why is there a contrast here? What could 51 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: be the contrast? See? I already established this with you. 52 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: When you study the word, study look for the contrasts. 53 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: There are three possibilities of contrast here. Contrast number one, 54 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: God is good, but I'm not good. So the psalmist 55 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: who pens this his name is Asap. He could have 56 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: realized that God is good, but I'm not good. That 57 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: the contrast or the second contrast is they are pure 58 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: in heart, but I am not pure in heart. Or 59 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: the third contrast could be God is good to Israel, 60 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: but God is not good to me. See, I want 61 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 1: you to realize this. The first two is a contrast 62 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: between God and God is good a goodness of God 63 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: and myself? That I'm not good the purity of the 64 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: Jews and my purity. But the third one is about 65 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: the religious cliche and my personal experience. So what do 66 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: you think is the contrast here? The contrast here, I 67 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: believe is the religious cliche. Everybody understands and everybody says, 68 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: Amen to God is good to Israel. But as for me, 69 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: it is not my experience. Why do I say this 70 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: is the possibility of the contrast, because look at how 71 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: the Psalms end. This Psalm ends in verse twenty eight, 72 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: and this is what it says. But for me, it 73 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: is good to be near God. It's the same language. 74 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: But as for me, he's talking about his personal experience. 75 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: So here is a ssamis who is going through something 76 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: and he says that God is good to Israel. But 77 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,039 Speaker 1: that is not my experience. My personal experience is otherwise, like, 78 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: for example, if I say to you God is good, 79 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: what would you say? You would reply by saying all 80 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 1: the time. It's like a religious cliche. But how many 81 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: of you truly believe that God is good all the time, 82 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: in every moment of your life, even when you go 83 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: through challenges. That's exactly what the Psalmist was feeling. So 84 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: the reason why he was feeling this way is given 85 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: to us in verse three. Verse three, the Bible says, 86 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw 87 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: the prosperity of the wicked. Look at that. There was 88 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,600 Speaker 1: a struggle that was going on within him his heart 89 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: there was an inner struggle, and in his mind there 90 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: was a depression. And the depression is caused by this 91 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: inner struggle. They say inner conflict. And the inner conflict 92 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: is because he says, I saw the prosperity of the wicked, 93 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: Therefore I was envious. For the word starts with for 94 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: that's the reason I want you to pay attention to this. 95 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: This is a million dollar questions and people have always 96 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: wrestled with it. What is it? The question is this, 97 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: why do good people suffer and bad people prosper? Isn't it? 98 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: I believe the Psalmist in this case, his name is 99 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: Asap watched the wicked in Jerusalem prosper, But the good 100 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: go through suffering, suffering in pain. And his question, the 101 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: perplexity that he was going through, cast him to have 102 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: an inner conflict, and this was his struggle. As a result, 103 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: The Bible says, he elaborates what he are among the wicked? 104 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: What did he see about the wicked? Verse four On 105 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: the way Verse four all the way to verse twelve 106 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: explains what he saw about the wicked. There are three 107 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: things he sees about the wicked. The wicked were prosperous, 108 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: The wicked were proud, and the wicked were powerful. Look 109 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: at this. In verse four, he says, for they have 110 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. 111 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: Hunter line that their bodies are fat. Now, you can't 112 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: go to someone and say you're fat, they will slap you. 113 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: But this is the Middle Eastern idiom. The idiom is 114 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: they are fat, meaning they are prosperous, just like in 115 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: the Chinese, even in the Indian some cultures when they 116 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: when they see somebody a little put on a little 117 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: bit more weight, they would say, oh prosperous, isn't it, 118 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: Or there's some good things happening in your life. Listen, 119 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: that's exactly what he's saying. They bodies are fat, meaning 120 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: there is they are going through prosperity. Second lean verse six. Therefore, 121 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. 122 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: Look at that pride because they are so prosperous. They 123 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: are wicked, and they are prospering pride. That means they 124 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: think that nothing can bring them down, and so as 125 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: a result, they are proud. Third le, in verse eight, 126 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: he says, they scoff and speak with malice loftily. They 127 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: threaten oppression. In other words, they are violent towards the 128 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: weak and the poor and the marginalized. In other words, 129 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: they threaten oppression. That means they are powerful. So three things. 130 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: He looks at the wicked. Why he was envious? Why 131 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: he was looking? Why he was envious of the wicked? 132 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: Because they are prospering, they are proud, and they are powerful. 133 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 1: And this almost stumbled him. That's what he says, So 134 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: just passed there and recollect what we just read. First 135 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: two verses says God is good to Israel, but for me, 136 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: that's not my experience. Why because I was looking at 137 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: the wicked and I was envious at heart? What did 138 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: he see about the wicked? That the wicked is powerful, 139 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: the wicked is proud, and the wicked are prospering. So 140 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: he wonders, what is the point of this all? So 141 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,959 Speaker 1: they say inner churning, there's a churning within. I want 142 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: you to embrace those two words. You will hear us 143 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: talk about it in some of the lessons in this series, 144 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: the churning within. In other words, the inner life is 145 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: so churned. There's some bitterness, there's there's some angst, there's 146 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: some concerns, there's some problems. And he's saying, how am 147 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: I going to deal with it? Now? Why would I 148 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: say that he had two inner struggles? Because he lists it. 149 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: Look at this in verse thirteen, he says, all in vain, 150 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,199 Speaker 1: have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands 151 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: in innocence? In other words, he's basically saying, what's the 152 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: point of me being religious? What's the point of me 153 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: doing all these righteous things and then go through suffering 154 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: when the wicked are prospering? What's the point? What's the 155 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: point of serving God and doing all this? At the end, 156 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: I didn't get the promotion. What's the point of doing 157 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: all this? And my marriage failed? What's the point? I 158 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: want you to listen to me carefully. All in vain, 159 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: have I kept my hands clean and washed my hands 160 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: in innocence? So basically is in a struggleless I want 161 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: to give up. But the problem is he can't give up. 162 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:32,679 Speaker 1: So That was his inner struggle. I want to give up, 163 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: and yet I can't give up. Why Look at verse fifteen. 164 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: If I had said, thus, I will speak thus, I 165 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: would have betrayed the generation of your children. Look at 166 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: what the sammist says. If I had said like that, 167 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: I want to give up, I would have betrayed an 168 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: entire generation of your people. What does that mean? It 169 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: means this, this Psalmist is not just any ordinary psalmist. 170 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: This Salmist, Asap is the worship leader for the higher 171 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: nation of Israel. He's the worship leader of King David. 172 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: So if he had stood up and said I give 173 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,079 Speaker 1: up on being religious, I give up on pursuing God, 174 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: what would have happened? A whole generation of young people, 175 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: the whole generation would have been stumbled. That's why he says, 176 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: I want to give up, and yet I can't give up. 177 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: Can he feel the tension? You know? A story was 178 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: told on a Monday morning in his kitchen. The mom 179 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: calls the son and says, son, get ready for school. 180 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: The son says, mom, I don't want to go to school. 181 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: The students hate me. Son get ready for school, and 182 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: the sun says, mom, I don't want to go to school. 183 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: The teachers hate me. Son, Get ready for the school. Mom, 184 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: I don't want to go to school. You have to 185 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: go to school. You are the principle. I want you 186 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: to listen to me. You have no other choice but 187 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: to step up and do what you don't enjoy doing. 188 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: Why because there is a responsibility. That was his struggle. 189 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: You know, God has given me grace to journey with 190 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: so many church leaders and pastors all around the world. 191 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: Sometimes they are going through a dry spell in their life. 192 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,679 Speaker 1: They are disillusioned or disappointed, or going through a despair 193 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: or discouragement. This is what happens. They just go through 194 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: the motions, but there's no real life in what they do. 195 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: That's exactly what he was feeling. There was in a conflict. 196 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: What he was doing on the outside meant nothing to 197 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: him on the inside. What was a second in a struggle? 198 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: The second in a struggle is I want to understand, 199 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: yet I can't understand. Look at this, he tried to 200 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: reason it out where sixteen says, But when I thought 201 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: how to understand this, it seemed a very same task. 202 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: Look at what he says. When I tried to understand this, 203 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: analyzed it, I want to do. I wanted to study 204 00:12:57,520 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: it and I want to make sure that I understand 205 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: why AM going through all this? He said it was 206 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,319 Speaker 1: a wary some task. In other words, it was too much, 207 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: too difficult for him to handle. So here is a 208 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: man of God who is going through an inner struggle 209 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: and churning within, but he doesn't know how to handle it. 210 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: He wants to give up, but he can't give up. 211 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: So what's the solution. I want you to see. Whenever 212 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: you read the scriptures, I want you to pay attention 213 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: to these lenses. Whenever you see the story building up, 214 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: there is a biblical tone. I want you to pay 215 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: attention to the tone in which things are said. Secondly, 216 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: I want you to pay attention to the biblical tension 217 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: in the narrative that is building up. Every good story, 218 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: there's a tension, isn't it not only that? Wait for 219 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: a biblical twist every narrative. There is a narrative twist 220 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: that happens. But finally, every good story ends with a 221 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: theological purpose, biblical theology. So why for the tone, the tension, 222 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: the twist, and the theology. In this case, there's a twist, 223 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: and the twist the tension is building up. But there's 224 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: a twist happening, and you know where it happens. In 225 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: verse seventeen, Verse seventeen, the Bible says, everything shifted once 226 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: a Sap entered into the century of God. Look at this, 227 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: Until I went into the century of God, then I 228 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: discerned their end. Who's there, the wicked's end. The Message 229 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: translation says it like this. Eugene Peterson wrote, until I 230 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: went into the century of God, then I saw the 231 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: whole picture. I want you to pay attention to this 232 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: because until I entered into the century of God. That's 233 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: why I want you to catch this principle. Church, everything 234 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: changed when Asap the Psalmist entered into the presence of God. Hallelujah, 235 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: everything shifts. You know how many times we mutter and sputter, 236 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,840 Speaker 1: we fume and we spurt, and our ego gets hurt 237 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: when all we know is that we need a moment 238 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: with Him. That's all we need. We need to go 239 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: into his presence. The moment you go in his presence 240 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: with the Word of God and with prayer. When you're 241 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: enter into his presence and empty your soul, that's when 242 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: everything shifts. So here in verse seventeen. The Bible says, 243 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: he enter into the century of God and everything shifted. 244 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: What shifted? What happened in the presence of God. I 245 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: want to ask you this fundamental question. What did the 246 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: psam Is learn in the presence of God that turned 247 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: his desperate struggle into an absolute surrender and gave him 248 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: a spiritual compass for his pilgrimage. That's the key question 249 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: I want you to ask. And you know what was 250 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: the answer? The answer is three profound lessons the psam 251 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: Is learned. Sam Is learned the three profound lessons? What 252 00:15:55,480 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: are they? Number one? His evaluation of life was from 253 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: the wrong perspective. First thing, he recognizes that his evaluation 254 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: of life was from the wrong perspective. I want you 255 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: to pay attention to verse eighteen. In verse nineteen, he says, truly, 256 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: you set them in slippery places, you make them fall 257 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: to ruin. Who are they? They are the wicked? He 258 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: comes into the presence of God. Suddenly his perspective is 259 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: now shifted because he was evaluating life from a temporal 260 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: perspective rather than an eternal perspective. And so when he 261 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: comes into the presence of God, his perspective shifted as 262 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: a result. He says, truly you, meaning God, you have 263 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: set them in slippery places, and you make them fall 264 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: to ruin verse nineteen, how they are destroyed in a moment, 265 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: swept up away utterly by terrors. In other ways, the 266 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: destruction of the wicket comes suddenly upon them. It's almost 267 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: like they are walking in marble floors, and floors have 268 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: oil on it, so it's slippery. I want you to 269 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: listen to me carefully. Many times we view life from 270 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: a temporal point of view, temporal perspective. That's why we 271 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: get so churned on our inside. We look at the arrogant, 272 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: we look at the wicked, and we say, how can 273 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: they prosper like that? How can the righteous suffer? Because 274 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 1: we are looking at temporal viewpoint? Can I humbly say this? 275 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: Believers ought to always evaluate what perspective we function from. See, 276 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: the problem with us is there are two There's a term, 277 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: theological term ontological inversion. God created as as spiritual beings 278 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: and then he placed us in a physical body. But 279 00:17:54,800 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: we are first a spiritual being that have physical experiences. 280 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,120 Speaker 1: But you know we have inversed it. We have now 281 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: become more of a physical being who have spiritual experiences. 282 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: Every now and then, when you come to a life group, 283 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: you're having a spiritual experience, but when you go back, 284 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: you're back to your physical being. A physical being. That's 285 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: the antological inversion that happened because of the fall of man. 286 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: But can I humbly say this your first and foremost 287 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: a spiritual being. That's why you need to understand eternity. 288 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,880 Speaker 1: You have been created for eternity. You need to see 289 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: everything through an eternal perspective. And the Bible says when 290 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: you come to that place of embracing an eternal perspective, 291 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: you recognize this world, along with all its desires, will 292 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 1: pass away and it's temporary. That's exactly what you and 293 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: I need, isn't it. Otherwise if we don't catch that 294 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: this world and is temporary, we will be crying for 295 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: things that do not need to be cried about. A 296 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: little boy came back from pre school. He has a 297 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: dog named Paddy. He usually plays with the dog after 298 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 1: he comes back preschool, but on that day, the Paddy 299 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,439 Speaker 1: ran into the road and it was struck by a 300 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: car and the Paddy died. So the mother wasn't sure 301 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: how to tell the little boy that his dog died. 302 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: So when the little boy came back home, he said, 303 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: mummy wears Paddy, and the mom said to him, Paddy 304 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: died today. And the boy said okay, And then he 305 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: went to the backyard to play, and the mother thought, wow, 306 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: he took it well. A few minutes later he ran 307 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: back into the house and says, Mummy, west Paddy. And 308 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: he says, boy, I told you already, Paddy died. And 309 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: the boy started screaming and crying and wailing. So the 310 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: mother paused and asked him, what happened. The first time 311 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: I told you, there was no reaction. Second time you're 312 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,199 Speaker 1: yelling and crying. What happened? He said, I thought you 313 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: said daddy. I thought you said Daddy died. I want 314 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: you listen to me. Many times we cried for the 315 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,399 Speaker 1: Paddies of this world, and we failed to recognize the 316 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,439 Speaker 1: cry of our own father. The father who loves you 317 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: is calling for you. That's why I embraced the eternal perspective. 318 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: So he evaluated his evaluation of life was from the 319 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: wrong perspective. Secondly, his goal in life was of the 320 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: wrong pursuit. Read with me verse twenty one and verse 321 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 1: twenty two. The Bible says, when my soul was embittered, 322 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:37,159 Speaker 1: when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. 323 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 1: I was like a beast toward you. Look at what 324 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: he says. My soul was embittered and I was pricked, 325 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: he says, and as well as I was senseless and ignorant, 326 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: I was a beast. I was like a beast. When 327 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: you ask yourself this question, what is he What does 328 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: he mean by that my soul is embittered? In other words, 329 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: he had wrong desires, wrong pursuits. He was measuring life 330 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 1: with the wrong measuring yachtsticks, and as a result, there 331 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: was so much fatal attractions, sinful desires, and unworthy loves 332 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: and pursuits in his life, and they were causing him 333 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: to be like a beast, he says. Why would he 334 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: say he's like a beast? A beast doesn't know the 335 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,199 Speaker 1: difference between right and wrong. A beast doesn't think is 336 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: this wise or unwise? Is this essential or non essential? 337 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: Is this valuable or not valuable. The beast doesn't think 338 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,959 Speaker 1: like that. The beast just does what it feels like 339 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: doing the indulgences. That's exactly the beast always moved by instincts. 340 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: And that's what he's saying. I was moved by all 341 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: these wrong, sinful fatal attractions and sinful desires. You're on 342 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: Mark chapter four, in verse nineteen, Jesus said this, the 343 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the 344 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: pride of life, or the desire for other things. They 345 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: choke in and they remove the word from us. These 346 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,200 Speaker 1: are the fatal attractions. We need to evaluate our heart. 347 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: Is our heart longing for the things of the world. 348 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: Is there a desire for other things? Is there a 349 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: desires for the cares of this world? The deceitfulness of riches? 350 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: And that was the language he was using. I was embittered, 351 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:31,199 Speaker 1: I was senseless, I was pricked, and I was like 352 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: a beast. In other words, he needed to shift his 353 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 1: not only his perspective, but he needed to shift his 354 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: pursuit from material to spiritual. He needed to shift in 355 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: his pursuit from material to spiritual. In our sometimes we 356 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 1: don't take time to really evaluate while we are learning. 357 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,920 Speaker 1: We don't evaluate how is our life be longing? Where? 358 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: What is our What are we yearning for? What are 359 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: we longing for? We don't take time to evaluate. Sometimes 360 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: you're going after the wrong thing, hoping that this thing 361 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: will satisfy. But then you recognize, even if you get 362 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: everything you desire, he doesn't ultimately satisfy. Story was told 363 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: of a pastor who went to an asylum, and in 364 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: a mental asylum, he was taken into the asylum by 365 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: the chaplain, and he went from one corridor to the next, 366 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 1: and in one of the corridors he heard a man 367 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 1: was yelling Lulu, Lulu, And so the pastor asked the 368 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:46,440 Speaker 1: chaplain's what happened to him? He said, Lulu jolted him. 369 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: So he went to another corridor and another guy was 370 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,159 Speaker 1: also yelling Lulu Lulu. What happened to him, Oh, he 371 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: also was jolted by Lulu. Then they went into the fastility, 372 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: even further in deeper in where there are severe cases, 373 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: and there was one guy banging his head on the 374 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 1: door and the end and scratching his fingers on the wall, 375 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: and he was yelling Lulu Lulu. So the pastor said, 376 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: did Lulu jolt him? The chaplain said, no, he married Lulu. 377 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: In other words, just because you get what you desired, 378 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: sometimes it doesn't satisfy. Recently, I was having a chat 379 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: with one of the one of the very successful business owners, 380 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: and this person, during the time of our meal together, 381 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: shared with us how even though successful in business, lost marriage, 382 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,479 Speaker 1: failed in marriage and as a result, what's the point? 383 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: I want you to listen to me carefully. Sometimes you're 384 00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: pursuing things without realizing what is it costing us on 385 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: the other aspects of our life. So we need to 386 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 1: take time to evaluate. Are we pursuing material things? Are 387 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: we pursuing spiritual things? Are we looking at life from 388 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: a temporal viewpoint or an eternal viewpoint? Thirdly, he talks 389 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: about his foundation in life was in the wrong place. 390 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: Look at what he says in verse twenty three and 391 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: twenty four. Nevertheless, I'm continually with you. You hold my 392 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:32,880 Speaker 1: right hand. Nevertheless, you're continually with me, and you hold 393 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: my right hand. I love that. It's an idiom again, 394 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: you hold my right hand. What does it mean to 395 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: hold my right hand? It's an idiom for sponsorship. That 396 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: God is the one who sponsors you. He protects you, 397 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: he provides for you, and he says, behold, you're with me. 398 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,120 Speaker 1: You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you receive 399 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: me to glory. Hallelujah. I want you to listen to me. 400 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,879 Speaker 1: Here is the dilemma that this man of God was 401 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:05,360 Speaker 1: going through in the first sixteen verses. If you read 402 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: it carefully, a lot of the word that is repeated 403 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: is the word I. Mark every time you see the 404 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: word I, you would see that it was all about self. 405 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 1: It was all about him, me, myself and I. But 406 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 1: when it came to this in the shift happened in 407 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: the presence of God in verse seventeen. From verse eighteen onwards, 408 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,879 Speaker 1: you will see the shift that it's all God's perspective. 409 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: He shifts his perspective from God's perspective, and he says 410 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: you you you again. You read here it says you 411 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: hold my right hand. You will lead me into glory. 412 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: In other words, God, you have become my foundation. Earlier 413 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: it was self, but now the shift has taken place, 414 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: a shift of foundation from man to God, from self 415 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: to God. Now this is one fundamental and vital for us, 416 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: you and I. We need to understand that the psalmis 417 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: went through three shifts, and these three shifts for us 418 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: are very vital. So read with me the verses twenty 419 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,359 Speaker 1: five all the way to verse twenty eight. When you 420 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,719 Speaker 1: read verses twenty five to twenty eight, you will see 421 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: how he makes these shifts. Verse twenty five says, whom 422 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: have I in heaven but you, And there is nothing 423 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: on earth I desire besides you. My strength and my 424 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: heart may fail, but God is the strength of my 425 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,199 Speaker 1: heart and my portion forever. And then in verse twenty 426 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,880 Speaker 1: seven he says, for behold, those who are far from 427 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who's 428 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: unfaithful to you, hallelujah. And verse twenty eight, But as 429 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,239 Speaker 1: for me, it is good to be near God. I 430 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 1: have made the Lord God my refuge that I may 431 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: tell of all your works. Praise God. So whom have 432 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: I in heaven but you? There is nothing on earth 433 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 1: I desire besides you. He's talking about a shift in 434 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,120 Speaker 1: his desire in his pursuits. Look at the next verse. 435 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is 436 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: the strength of my heart and my potion. In other words, 437 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: my foundation is no longer in myself, but it's in God. Thirdly, 438 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: he talks about, you will deal with the wicked. Those 439 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: who are far from you will perish. You put an 440 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. Can you 441 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: see the picture. There's a shift in his desire, There's 442 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: a shift in his pursuit and his perspective, and also 443 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,399 Speaker 1: in his foundation. I want you to listen to me. 444 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: There are three shifts that you and I need to 445 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: make constantly in our journey as a disciple of Christ. 446 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: The three shifts are we need to shift in perspective 447 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: from temporal to eternal. We need to shift in our 448 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: pursuits from material to spiritual. And we also need to 449 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: make the shift in the place of foundation, place of hope, 450 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: from man to God, from self to God. Listen to 451 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: me carefully. Why don't you take this time in your 452 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: life groups to evaluate how is your foundation? Is your 453 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 1: foundation on earth or in Heaven? Is your foundation of hope? 454 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: Is in Man or in God? Is your pursuits, the 455 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: fatal attractions, the desires of your heart? Is it of 456 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 1: material or is it spiritual? Or is your perspective very 457 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: temporal or is it eternal? How do you evaluate life? 458 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: I want you to take a moment to do that, 459 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 1: and that's why I'm giving you fine things for you 460 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: to consider. So not only in this in this life 461 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: group session, you do this but also during this week, 462 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: take some time to do a think time. What is 463 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: a thing? Time? Think time is where you dedicate a 464 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: chunk of time. It could be half an hour or 465 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: it could be three hours. A chunk of time where 466 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 1: you are going before the presence of God, and you're 467 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: evaluating your own life. And you go before God and 468 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: you say, would search within me? And you are able 469 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: to go through this five steps that I'm giving you here. One, 470 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,880 Speaker 1: recognize the true state of your inner life. What is 471 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 1: the current state of your inner life? Is it filled 472 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: with fatal attractions, unworthy loves, ungodly pursuits, sinful desires? Evaluate it. 473 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: If we don't take time to do this, we will 474 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: continue to do life the same way. Secondly, repent of 475 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: all those things that are not glorifying to God. Repent 476 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: of all those things that doesn't please God, the sinful desires, 477 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: the fatal attractions, the unworthy loves. Even as I'm saying this, 478 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 1: I sense in my heart there are some chats you 479 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: need to delete in your WhatsApp. There are some things 480 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 1: that you're receiving some person that with whom you are 481 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 1: communicating you shouldn't be. You're playing with fire. These are 482 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: fatal attractions that would destroy your marriage, destroy your life, Repent, 483 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: come back to God. How do you repent? You remove 484 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: all temporal viewpoint and worldly values. Thinks that the Lord 485 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: is earmarking in your life, thinks that he's been pointing 486 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: you remove them. You can't. You need to remove them, 487 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: and then you'd replace them, replace them with what with 488 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: eternal viewpoint and biblical values. And finally you renew your 489 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: commitment to bring order to your inner life. This I 490 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: will recommend that you not only do this coming week, 491 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: take some time to do it intentionally, but also as 492 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: a life group, keep each other accountable to be able 493 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: to do this. But every now and then come back 494 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: to this and do this in your think time. I 495 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: pray that the Lord will speak to our hearts continually 496 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: and he will continue to transform as from the inside out. 497 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: So let us not be people who are churned on 498 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: the inside, but rather we are rested on the inside 499 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: because we are fully surrendered before God. We have an 500 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: eternal perspective, we have a spiritual orientation, and our foundation 501 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: is in heaven. It's in God. Hallelujah. Let's pray Father, 502 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: We thank you so much for this moment. Thank you 503 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: for speaking to our hearts through Psalm seventy three. Indeed, 504 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: Mighty God, that we will turn to you, and by 505 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: having an encounter with you, that our lives will truly 506 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: be transformed. I pray that you bring these necessary shifts 507 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: in our hearts. And we give you the glory, the praise, 508 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: and the honor in Jesus name. And people of God said, 509 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: Amen and Amen, we love you God. Bless you have 510 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: a blessed life group session. The podcast The Bible in 511 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 1: a Year with Jack Graham is a moving and inspiring 512 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 1: Biblical audio experience that will help you master wisdom from 513 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 1: the world's greatest book. In each episode, you'll learn to 514 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:56,040 Speaker 1: apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Each cinematic episode is 515 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: a journey through the Bible's most profound stories that will 516 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: strengthen your appreciation of the Word and inspire you to 517 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,239 Speaker 1: keep alerting. Listen to The Bible in a Year with 518 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: Jack Ram on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get 519 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: your podcasts.