WEBVTT - Beth Jones - Oct 24 - 7:30 pm 0:00:01.030 --> 0:00:04.510 Hi guys, I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to The Basics 0:00:04.590 --> 0:00:06.390 with Beth, where learning. 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:07.970 God's Word is a joy. 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:11.600 In every message, we will do our best to teach 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.500 you the Bible basics in such a way that it 0:00:14.660 --> 0:00:20.480 strengthens your faith foundation. In addition, I want to empower 0:00:20.579 --> 0:00:24.099 and equip you so that you have confidence to share 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.850 these Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen 0:00:28.890 --> 0:00:31.310 with your heart. If you'd like to know more about 0:00:31.490 --> 0:00:36.570 our ministry, just go to thebasicswithbeth.com and get all the scoop. 0:00:37.290 --> 0:00:41.910 With all of that said, now let's jump into today's message. 0:00:43.890 --> 0:00:46.610 We are here starting a brand new series, six week 0:00:46.650 --> 0:00:50.089 series called What to Do When You Feel Blue. And 0:00:50.130 --> 0:00:53.030 so our goal is to not be a Debbie Downer. 0:00:53.530 --> 0:00:56.390 Our goal is to tap into joy, tap into God's gladness, 0:00:57.430 --> 0:00:59.190 and see how things are for us at the end 0:00:59.210 --> 0:01:01.250 of six weeks. And we're trusting the Lord. We're going 0:01:01.270 --> 0:01:03.730 to come into some good stuff. And we know everybody's 0:01:03.770 --> 0:01:06.080 in a different place, you know, spiritually and in life 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.440 and in your season. And aren't you glad God's word 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:13.140 covers it all? So let's pray. We're going to jump 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:14.360 right into it. So let me pray and then we'll 0:01:14.380 --> 0:01:17.420 get into it, okay? Father, thank you for this great 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:19.970 group of people. Lord, and thank you for your word. 0:01:20.990 --> 0:01:23.250 As we get into this series, what to do when 0:01:23.270 --> 0:01:26.070 you feel blue. Lord, we're so glad that your word 0:01:26.110 --> 0:01:28.810 tells us what to do. We're so glad that Jesus 0:01:28.910 --> 0:01:31.810 came so that we could have fullness of joy. And Lord, 0:01:31.830 --> 0:01:33.930 I ask you during tonight's message and during all of 0:01:33.990 --> 0:01:36.810 the messages, I ask you Lord to anoint us with the. 0:01:36.930 --> 0:01:37.950 Oil of gladness. 0:01:37.970 --> 0:01:41.640 I pray Lord on the inside, every single one of 0:01:41.740 --> 0:01:44.840 us will be anointed with the oil of gladness. And Lord, 0:01:44.860 --> 0:01:47.850 then we'll be obedient and cooperate with your word. to 0:01:47.910 --> 0:01:51.810 tap into all that you have for us. Thank you 0:01:51.850 --> 0:01:55.090 for what you'll do tonight and in every session, Lord, 0:01:55.170 --> 0:01:59.710 in Jesus' name, and everybody that agreed said amen. So 0:01:59.730 --> 0:02:02.970 we're in week one. Week one is, this whole series 0:02:03.030 --> 0:02:04.860 is based on a bite-sized Bible study book that I 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.780 wrote called What to Do When You Feel Blue. Imagine that, 0:02:08.060 --> 0:02:12.320 same title. And so chapter one, the first week, chapter one, 0:02:12.700 --> 0:02:15.660 is called When the Sky is Not Blue. We're going 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:16.860 to kind of talk about that a little bit and 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:20.419 just identify when the sky's not blue. Why isn't it blue? 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.320 Are there reasons that the sky is not blue? So 0:02:23.340 --> 0:02:24.540 we're going to get into it. We'll look at some 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.260 of those components here in just a minute. But I 0:02:26.300 --> 0:02:28.880 want to read you guys a fun little story. This 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.150 is kind of a spoof. This is a bricklayer's accident report. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:34.690 And this is a little bit of a spoof on 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.790 his accident. Sent in to an insurance company. Dear sir, 0:02:38.889 --> 0:02:41.450 I am writing in response to your request for additional 0:02:41.510 --> 0:02:45.320 information in block number three. of the accident reporting form. 0:02:45.810 --> 0:02:49.610 I put poor planning as the cause of my accident. 0:02:50.010 --> 0:02:52.570 You asked for a more complete explanation, and I trust 0:02:52.610 --> 0:02:55.910 the following details will be sufficient. I'm a bricklayer by trade. 0:02:56.350 --> 0:02:58.560 On the day of the accident, I was working alone 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.440 on the roof of the new six-story building. When I 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:03.480 completed my work, I found that I had some bricks 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.380 left over. When they were weighed, it was found to 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:10.590 be 240 pounds worth. Rather than carry the bricks down 0:03:10.630 --> 0:03:12.730 by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel 0:03:12.810 --> 0:03:14.910 by using a pulley attached to the side of the 0:03:14.950 --> 0:03:19.850 building at the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, 0:03:19.889 --> 0:03:21.880 I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, 0:03:21.910 --> 0:03:24.350 and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:26.919 and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:30.320 slow descent of the 240 pounds of brick. You will 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.320 notice on the accident reporting form that my weight is 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:39.230 135 pounds. laughter Due to my surprise at being jerked 0:03:39.390 --> 0:03:42.410 off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of 0:03:42.460 --> 0:03:43.190 mind and forgot to. 0:03:43.180 --> 0:03:43.880 Let go of the rope. 0:03:44.700 --> 0:03:46.980 Needless to say, I proceeded up the side of the 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.420 building at a rapid rate of speed. In the vicinity 0:03:49.500 --> 0:03:52.920 of the third floor, I met the barrel, which was 0:03:52.990 --> 0:03:56.750 now proceeding downward at an equally impressive speed. This explains 0:03:56.790 --> 0:04:00.490 the fractured skull, minor abrasions, and broken collarbone as listed 0:04:00.510 --> 0:04:05.480 in Section 3 of the accident reporting form. Slowed only slightly, 0:04:05.660 --> 0:04:08.660 I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.030 of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley, 0:04:11.830 --> 0:04:15.430 which I mentioned in paragraph two. Fortunately, by this time, 0:04:15.530 --> 0:04:18.650 I had regained my presence of mind and was able 0:04:18.690 --> 0:04:20.950 to hold tightly to the rope in spite of the 0:04:20.990 --> 0:04:25.190 excruciating pain I was now beginning to experience. At approximately 0:04:25.230 --> 0:04:28.070 the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the 0:04:28.110 --> 0:04:31.520 ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now, 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:36.230 devoid of the weight of the bricks, The barrel weighed 0:04:36.250 --> 0:04:37.950 approximately 50 pounds. 0:04:39.110 --> 0:04:40.570 I refer you again to my weight. 0:04:41.570 --> 0:04:44.930 As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down 0:04:44.990 --> 0:04:47.430 the side of the building. In the vicinity of the 0:04:47.470 --> 0:04:50.860 third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts 0:04:50.890 --> 0:04:54.560 for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth, and severe lacerations 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.440 to my leg and lower body. Here, my luck began 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.500 to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.020 slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell 0:05:04.100 --> 0:05:08.180 into the pile of bricks, and fortunately, only three vertebrae 0:05:08.220 --> 0:05:11.919 were cracked. I'm sorry to report, however, as I lay 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.880 there on the pile of bricks in pain, unable to move, 0:05:15.660 --> 0:05:20.460 and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, I 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.060 again lost my composure and presence of mind and let 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.680 go of the rope. Well, how many of you know 0:05:27.740 --> 0:05:31.040 he was having a blue day? He was having a 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.340 downer day. And we're going to talk about what to 0:05:33.380 --> 0:05:35.520 do when your skies are not blue. What to do 0:05:35.540 --> 0:05:37.200 when you feel like the bricklayer. What to do when 0:05:37.220 --> 0:05:39.680 things aren't going your way. And are there some specific 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:41.960 things that might cause it? Are there some specific things 0:05:42.020 --> 0:05:44.540 we can do and need to do to cooperate with God, 0:05:44.580 --> 0:05:47.100 with his word, to tap into everything that he's promised? 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:49.920 And so, like I say, we'll get into it. We'll 0:05:49.940 --> 0:05:51.920 talk about those details. Let me just say this kind 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:53.440 of as we begin. How many of you know we 0:05:53.460 --> 0:05:57.020 live in a society that's not, that you wouldn't describe 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:02.099 as happy? This is a society, a culture where, you know, 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.210 there's a lot of folks milling around that are depressed. 0:06:05.950 --> 0:06:08.489 Bummed, blue, heavy. 0:06:08.510 --> 0:06:11.890 A lot of folks that are having to take things, 0:06:12.089 --> 0:06:14.789 take drugs and pills and all kinds of things to 0:06:14.830 --> 0:06:18.650 get a pick-me-up, right? A lot of people dealing with depression, right? 0:06:19.890 --> 0:06:22.309 A lot of people dealing with bipolar. They're either really 0:06:22.490 --> 0:06:26.040 up or really down. And so we live in a society, 0:06:26.070 --> 0:06:29.310 we live in a culture where this subject is really important. 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:31.800 And thankfully, how many of you are glad? I mean, thankfully, 0:06:31.820 --> 0:06:33.940 there's some things that can be done in the natural. 0:06:33.980 --> 0:06:37.440 There's some help, some aid, some medicine, some therapies. There's 0:06:37.460 --> 0:06:39.300 some things that can be done to help people. And 0:06:39.339 --> 0:06:41.440 so praise the Lord for that. But what we're going 0:06:41.460 --> 0:06:44.720 to get into is this. Jesus has the best way. 0:06:45.580 --> 0:06:47.140 This isn't taking God by surprise. 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:48.740 Right that we. 0:06:48.660 --> 0:06:50.300 Would be in a culture that we would be in 0:06:50.339 --> 0:06:52.539 a in a season and in a time living on 0:06:52.580 --> 0:06:55.100 planet earth where people would be tempted to be depressed 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.060 and blue and bummed and so we're going to get 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:59.440 into some things here just kind of by way of 0:06:59.500 --> 0:07:02.350 introduction at the beginning you know when the skies are 0:07:02.370 --> 0:07:04.550 not blue we want to get at least established and 0:07:04.589 --> 0:07:06.570 okay what is god's will i mean you know is 0:07:06.589 --> 0:07:08.210 that the deal is it just going to be you 0:07:08.230 --> 0:07:09.750 know some days you're up and some days you're down 0:07:09.770 --> 0:07:13.570 is that just the deal you know just pray that 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.970 you have more up days than down days What is 0:07:16.030 --> 0:07:19.010 God's will for us? Where's the bar set, so to speak, 0:07:19.230 --> 0:07:20.870 according to God's word? And so let's look at some 0:07:20.890 --> 0:07:23.110 verses here and we'll see where it's set. If you'll 0:07:23.130 --> 0:07:26.810 go over to John 15, 11, and we'll kind of 0:07:26.950 --> 0:07:29.880 start by talking about this just for a minute and 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.300 set our sights where God has them set. And so 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.540 John 15, verse 11, Jesus said this, all right? 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:37.320 So these are his words. 0:07:37.460 --> 0:07:41.960 He said, these things I've spoken to you that my 0:07:42.060 --> 0:07:46.330 joy that my joy may remain in you and that 0:07:46.470 --> 0:07:50.310 your joy may be full. So that's that little last 0:07:50.350 --> 0:07:52.150 phrase is what we want to focus in on. What's 0:07:52.210 --> 0:07:54.350 God's will? I mean, really, what's his highest and best 0:07:54.410 --> 0:07:56.830 for us? His highest and best is that we tap 0:07:56.890 --> 0:08:01.660 into his joy and that our joy, your joy would 0:08:01.700 --> 0:08:03.200 be full, that our joy. 0:08:02.980 --> 0:08:03.600 Would be full. 0:08:03.620 --> 0:08:05.860 And I want to give you some definitions about what 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.660 that means, full and what joy means, because, you know, 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:10.580 we all kind of want to have a working knowledge 0:08:10.620 --> 0:08:12.340 of what exactly is it that God wants for us. 0:08:12.950 --> 0:08:16.530 The word joy is also, you know, translated in the Bible. 0:08:16.570 --> 0:08:18.470 Some other words are. 0:08:18.470 --> 0:08:19.510 Used to define joy. 0:08:19.540 --> 0:08:21.750 And it's things, you know, once we talk about it, 0:08:21.750 --> 0:08:23.260 you'll kind of go, oh, yeah, you know, I've read 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:23.800 all those verses. 0:08:23.820 --> 0:08:25.800 I see those phrases all the time. 0:08:25.820 --> 0:08:29.780 And it's such a redundant theme. Joy is such a 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.380 redundant theme in the Bible. And so it's so important 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.300 for us as Christians, it's so important for us to 0:08:35.340 --> 0:08:35.960 tap into this. 0:08:36.780 --> 0:08:38.520 How many of you know joy is the mark of 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:38.980 a Christian? 0:08:40.370 --> 0:08:42.130 You know, sometimes people think that the mark of a 0:08:42.150 --> 0:08:45.000 Christian is to be really serious and really intense, you know, 0:08:45.030 --> 0:08:48.560 and just really, ugh. No, the mark, the sign of 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:50.540 a Christian, I mean, if you want to be recognized 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.980 as a Christian, marked as a Christian, the true mark 0:08:54.020 --> 0:08:56.860 of a Christian is joy. You know, the Bible says 0:08:56.940 --> 0:09:00.200 Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness more than 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:05.690 anybody else. So Jesus was a very joyful, very happy, 0:09:05.809 --> 0:09:09.010 very glad person. You know, sometimes we see these pictures 0:09:09.050 --> 0:09:11.010 of Jesus as if he wasn't, as if he was 0:09:11.030 --> 0:09:14.069 some somber, serious person. I think a lot of times 0:09:14.110 --> 0:09:15.730 in our heads we think that must be how God is. 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:18.240 You know, God the judge. 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:21.780 Sometimes we don't really see God in light of his 0:09:21.820 --> 0:09:23.520 word and we really need to get our minds renewed 0:09:23.540 --> 0:09:26.200 to it. His will is joy and that it's full. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:28.199 And other words that the Bible uses are words like this. 0:09:28.660 --> 0:09:32.800 The Bible uses the word gladness. Serve the Lord with gladness. 0:09:33.500 --> 0:09:37.310 Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness. The Bible 0:09:37.370 --> 0:09:41.000 uses words like rejoice or rejoicing. You guys know, remember 0:09:41.020 --> 0:09:43.780 the song back in Sunday school? Some of you that 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:45.320 heard this, learned this way back when. 0:09:45.420 --> 0:09:46.040 Rejoice in the. 0:09:46.020 --> 0:09:50.360 Lord always and again I say. Rejoice in the Lord 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:55.710 always and again I. Rejoice, rejoice. 0:09:57.610 --> 0:09:58.610 You guys faded on me there. 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.480 How many of y'all sang that in rounds remember that 0:10:02.500 --> 0:10:04.740 okay you all start then you guys come in and 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:06.819 you know we actually should do that one of these 0:10:06.860 --> 0:10:11.820 weeks we should do like no take us back but 0:10:11.940 --> 0:10:13.320 but why does the Bible say that why does the 0:10:13.340 --> 0:10:17.699 Bible say rejoice in the Lord always There's something about joy, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:22.429 something about gladness, something about rejoicing. And God wants it full. 0:10:22.470 --> 0:10:25.189 He wants us to be full of it. Literally. He 0:10:27.170 --> 0:10:29.189 wants us to be full of it. Another word in 0:10:29.210 --> 0:10:32.830 the Bible is the word mirth. The Bible says make mirth. 0:10:34.230 --> 0:10:35.429 This is the word in the Bible. I think that 0:10:35.490 --> 0:10:38.030 word is funny. Like that word tickles me. Mirth. We're 0:10:38.050 --> 0:10:41.079 supposed to make mirth. And mirth is a picture of 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:44.989 joy and rejoicing. And so that's where the bar is set. 0:10:45.030 --> 0:10:48.339 That's what God wants for us. It's not his will 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.770 that anybody's singing the blues. It's not his will that 0:10:50.820 --> 0:10:54.800 anybody's having days that are really cloudy and really stormy. 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:57.980 And so we're gonna talk about when those days are 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.780 like that, when the sky's not blue, what are we 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:01.420 supposed to do? 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.860 All right, so with that in mind. 0:11:05.100 --> 0:11:09.020 Here's the five clouds that we're gonna talk about today 0:11:09.059 --> 0:11:12.040 because when the sky is not blue for us, it's 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.530 because there are some clouds. And so what are those clouds? 0:11:15.610 --> 0:11:17.170 What are some of the clouds that come into our 0:11:17.230 --> 0:11:18.930 world and we need to identify what they are? So 0:11:18.970 --> 0:11:21.110 here's five that we're going to look at. There probably 0:11:21.230 --> 0:11:23.790 are others, but this little cotton ball that you received 0:11:23.830 --> 0:11:26.170 when you came in, everybody got their little cotton ball? 0:11:26.809 --> 0:11:29.030 This is a little symbol for you, a little reference point. 0:11:29.090 --> 0:11:30.730 This is going to represent a cloud. 0:11:31.530 --> 0:11:33.650 And we're talking about when the sky's not blue, it's 0:11:33.690 --> 0:11:35.609 because of a cloud. And so as we go through these, 0:11:35.730 --> 0:11:38.170 locate yourself. Maybe you're going to recognize one or two clouds. 0:11:38.990 --> 0:11:40.969 And as we talk about these things and sort of 0:11:40.990 --> 0:11:42.460 begin to see how to get rid of these clouds, 0:11:42.500 --> 0:11:44.560 how to, you know, Get the clouds out. 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.220 Get the clouds out of your scenery. 0:11:48.500 --> 0:11:51.500 Kind of isolate and locate yourself. Analyze maybe if one 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.340 of these things might fit you. And the reason it's 0:11:53.380 --> 0:11:55.959 important is this. And the reason we're tackling this first, 0:11:56.860 --> 0:11:59.080 it's this. A lot of the stuff we're going to 0:11:59.100 --> 0:12:01.980 get to is fun and, you know, we have to 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.219 choose joy. Who knows happiness and joy is a choice. 0:12:05.900 --> 0:12:08.000 And there's a lot of really fun things I believe 0:12:08.020 --> 0:12:10.060 that God's going to teach us and have us do. 0:12:10.540 --> 0:12:12.780 But you can't, we can't just expect God to like 0:12:12.860 --> 0:12:17.420 touch us with the Tinkerbell joy dust. You know, like 0:12:17.860 --> 0:12:21.400 maybe you were hoping, oh good, for the next six 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:22.969 weeks we'll just go and God will just touch us 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.030 with this Tinkerbell dust and I'll just be so happy. 0:12:25.790 --> 0:12:27.290 But we're going to find out it doesn't work that 0:12:27.330 --> 0:12:29.410 way because you know the saying, if it's not broke, 0:12:29.429 --> 0:12:30.020 don't fix it? 0:12:30.870 --> 0:12:33.809 Well, the opposite of that is true. If it is broke, 0:12:34.190 --> 0:12:34.650 fix it. 0:12:35.350 --> 0:12:37.589 And these clouds that we're going to talk about, sometimes 0:12:37.610 --> 0:12:40.470 these clouds that we might experience in our life, it's 0:12:40.490 --> 0:12:43.309 an indication that something's broken. And we need to fix 0:12:43.410 --> 0:12:47.600 it so that we can have sustained joy, sustained gladness. 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:49.540 Maybe some of you have struggled with that. 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:51.300 You've thought, you know, I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.980 be full of joy. But you kind of fight sometimes 0:12:54.020 --> 0:12:56.900 up against these clouds. So if it's broke, fix it. 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.470 And if you identify that one of these clouds fits you, 0:12:59.500 --> 0:13:01.130 then I believe God will help you to know how 0:13:01.150 --> 0:13:03.770 to fix it. All right? So with that said, let 0:13:03.790 --> 0:13:05.410 me talk about two different kinds of clouds that come 0:13:05.450 --> 0:13:07.510 into our world that would cause us maybe not to 0:13:07.550 --> 0:13:08.330 feel so much joy. 0:13:09.470 --> 0:13:10.110 Make us feel blue. 0:13:10.700 --> 0:13:12.840 First kind of cloud is sort of like, who knows, 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.730 there's times in our lives or in people's lives. Because 0:13:15.750 --> 0:13:18.770 we live in a fallen world and because of the 0:13:18.830 --> 0:13:21.610 nature of this world that we live in, how many 0:13:21.630 --> 0:13:24.870 of you know sometimes a storm will burst onto the 0:13:24.910 --> 0:13:27.929 scene of your life? You were just sailing along. It 0:13:27.950 --> 0:13:30.990 was blue sky days. You weren't expecting anything. And suddenly 0:13:31.030 --> 0:13:33.410 it seems like a cloud, a big storm cloud, a 0:13:33.429 --> 0:13:36.890 big storm just burst onto the scene. And so here's 0:13:36.929 --> 0:13:38.689 the good news in that case. We live in a 0:13:38.710 --> 0:13:41.429 fallen world. Sometimes these things happen. The good news for 0:13:41.450 --> 0:13:43.570 you as a Christian is the end of the story 0:13:43.610 --> 0:13:46.160 for you is still joy. The end of the story 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.920 is still blue skies. Weeping may remain for the night. 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.620 There may be a time to weep or to mourn. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.140 There may be a time for grief. But joy comes 0:13:56.179 --> 0:13:58.070 in the morning. And, you know, and so we don't 0:13:58.090 --> 0:14:00.950 want to dismiss that. And, you know, because there may 0:14:00.970 --> 0:14:03.370 be people here that you've lost a loved one. You've 0:14:03.390 --> 0:14:05.350 been through some kind of a tragedy. You've been through 0:14:05.370 --> 0:14:07.170 something that, you know, it was a pretty big storm. 0:14:07.620 --> 0:14:10.099 Just burst onto the scene. Maybe it was a bad 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:11.760 doctor's report that just burst. 0:14:11.580 --> 0:14:12.260 Onto the scene. 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.300 And just know this. Just know there's a time to weep. 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.240 There's a time to mourn. There's a time to kind 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.200 of go through some things. But joy comes in the 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:25.800 morning for you too. Skies are blue again for you too. Amen. 0:14:26.740 --> 0:14:29.120 And then this other category of clouds, it's just kind 0:14:29.140 --> 0:14:30.010 of like day-to-day living. 0:14:31.050 --> 0:14:32.370 And some of this we have to choose. 0:14:32.410 --> 0:14:33.670 We have to choose if we're going to live in 0:14:33.710 --> 0:14:35.770 partly cloudy or partly sunny. 0:14:36.610 --> 0:14:37.850 And I know for me, I had. 0:14:37.770 --> 0:14:40.530 A season in my life back earlier when I was 0:14:40.580 --> 0:14:41.900 a Christian a number of years ago. 0:14:42.420 --> 0:14:43.200 And that was my life. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:46.380 My life was kind of like partly cloudy, partly sunny. 0:14:47.130 --> 0:14:48.670 And I've shared this with some of you before, but 0:14:48.930 --> 0:14:51.120 I remember distinctly I was seeking the Lord about that. 0:14:51.140 --> 0:14:53.440 I was like, Lord, you know, I'm supposed to be full. 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.080 Of joy, and, you know, I see all that stuff 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.780 in the Bible, but I'm just kind of like partly cloudy, 0:14:57.820 --> 0:15:00.560 partly sunny. And I remember I was driving to Florida. 0:15:00.580 --> 0:15:03.340 I was helping a girlfriend move to Florida. We're driving 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:05.690 through the mountains in Tennessee, and it's really, you know, 0:15:05.710 --> 0:15:07.470 as you guys know, it's mountainous and all. And this 0:15:07.510 --> 0:15:09.990 was a partly cloudy, partly sunny day. And so the 0:15:10.070 --> 0:15:11.550 sun would peak out, and then it would go behind 0:15:11.590 --> 0:15:13.850 the clouds, and then it would peak out. And I 0:15:13.890 --> 0:15:16.150 just thought, man, does this describe my life or what? 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:18.240 I'm in the top of the mountain, and then I'm 0:15:18.260 --> 0:15:20.390 in the valley. And the sun's shining, and then it 0:15:20.420 --> 0:15:22.450 goes behind the cloud. And it was such a picture 0:15:22.530 --> 0:15:24.489 for me that day. It was such a picture of 0:15:24.550 --> 0:15:26.950 my life. And I got a little song. I was 0:15:26.990 --> 0:15:28.370 singing kind of to the Lord. And I got this 0:15:28.390 --> 0:15:30.440 little song, and it kind of went like, you know, 0:15:30.500 --> 0:15:32.000 partly cloudy, partly sunny. 0:15:32.300 --> 0:15:33.980 Some days are like that. Isn't it funny? 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.120 And the Lord told me in this little journey to Florida, 0:15:37.140 --> 0:15:38.540 he told me that I was going to be going 0:15:38.580 --> 0:15:41.450 down to Florida under the clouds, through the mountains and 0:15:41.470 --> 0:15:43.609 through the valleys, and to help my girlfriend move to 0:15:43.670 --> 0:15:45.650 Florida but when I flew home I was gonna be 0:15:45.740 --> 0:15:48.360 flying home in an airplane he told me that when 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:50.600 I flew home I was gonna be flying above the 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.960 clouds in the blue skies any let me know before 0:15:53.980 --> 0:15:56.040 I got to Florida he let me know I wanna 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.660 teach you some things in Florida that are gonna help 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.680 you in your life to not live this roller coaster 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:04.320 partly cloudy partly sunny life but it's gonna help you 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.300 to live the blue sky life so not just you 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.170 know not just flying in an airplane but spiritually There's 0:16:10.190 --> 0:16:11.710 some things you can do in terms of flying in 0:16:11.750 --> 0:16:13.810 the blue skies. And some of what we're going to 0:16:13.850 --> 0:16:15.730 get into in this series, some of what we're going 0:16:15.750 --> 0:16:18.410 to get into is, in part, lessons that I learned 0:16:18.450 --> 0:16:19.170 in that season. 0:16:19.950 --> 0:16:21.690 How to fly above the weather. 0:16:21.970 --> 0:16:25.050 A lot more than you're flying under the weather. And 0:16:25.070 --> 0:16:28.030 I can say that's been my testimony. I've not had 0:16:28.170 --> 0:16:30.220 every day in the blue skies, but I've had a 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.180 whole lot more days in the blue skies than under 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.280 the weather. I can tell you that from the lessons 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:36.160 I learned, from some things I learned in that season. 0:16:36.740 --> 0:16:38.720 So that's where we're heading. That's what we're going to 0:16:38.740 --> 0:16:41.620 talk about. And the five clouds we're looking at are these. 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.340 The cloud of disconnection, the cloud of discouragement, the cloud 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:51.430 of disobedience, the cloud of disappointment, and the cloud of dysfunction. So, 0:16:51.450 --> 0:16:53.090 you know, storms of life come. We live in a 0:16:53.130 --> 0:16:56.170 fallen world. And sometimes those kind of traumatic things happen. 0:16:56.670 --> 0:16:58.630 Most of us here are not going to experience that. 0:16:59.050 --> 0:17:01.910 We're going to have to deal with just the day-to-day clouds. 0:17:02.270 --> 0:17:03.570 And that's what we're going to talk about really for 0:17:03.590 --> 0:17:04.280 the rest of the time. 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:05.580 Just those day-to-day clouds. 0:17:05.660 --> 0:17:07.840 How do you deal with some of those things? All right, 0:17:07.859 --> 0:17:09.970 so cloud number one. that we're going to talk about 0:17:10.010 --> 0:17:13.590 is this cloud of disconnection. We're answering the question, why 0:17:13.670 --> 0:17:16.390 wouldn't the sky be blue? And one reason is there's 0:17:16.410 --> 0:17:20.659 a cloud of disconnection, and specifically a disconnection between us 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:24.240 and God. And that's true for a couple different groups 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:26.520 of people. That's true if you're here and you don't 0:17:26.540 --> 0:17:29.000 know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you don't 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.270 have a relationship, a personal relationship with God, then there's 0:17:32.290 --> 0:17:35.790 a big disconnect. He's just God out there somewhere, you know, 0:17:35.830 --> 0:17:36.810 beyond the solar system. 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:38.560 And there's a big disconnect. 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.639 And so you feel this void on the inside. And 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:43.680 you can be the most successful person with the most 0:17:43.790 --> 0:17:46.449 gorgeous family, with all the bells and whistles and toys, 0:17:46.590 --> 0:17:50.869 and still inside, you are unhappy. And you can't shake it. 0:17:51.450 --> 0:17:53.230 And you keep saying, I should be happy. 0:17:53.250 --> 0:17:54.770 I mean, look at my life. I should be happy. 0:17:54.790 --> 0:17:58.270 How come I'm not happy? How come there's this internal 0:17:58.310 --> 0:18:01.130 thing in me that I'm not a happy person? Well, 0:18:01.170 --> 0:18:03.760 it's because there's a disconnect and God doesn't allow us 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.300 to be happy. He doesn't allow us to have joy 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:08.820 and gladness until we really make the connection with him. 0:18:09.660 --> 0:18:12.159 And then it's also true. Sometimes it's also true of 0:18:12.220 --> 0:18:13.080 us as Christians. 0:18:13.609 --> 0:18:15.790 You are a Christian. Jesus is the Lord of your life. 0:18:17.450 --> 0:18:21.469 You know, technically you prayed the prayer, but sometimes when 0:18:21.490 --> 0:18:25.210 there's a disconnect with our fellowship with God, you know, 0:18:25.450 --> 0:18:27.590 we're not feeling tight with the Lord. then you can 0:18:27.670 --> 0:18:31.350 feel that sense of just frustration and discontent and sadness. 0:18:31.670 --> 0:18:34.450 So let's look at a couple of verses, and we'll 0:18:34.470 --> 0:18:37.899 look at the remedy. In 1 John 1, verse 3 0:18:37.900 --> 0:18:41.459 and 4, John wrote and said, That which we have 0:18:41.580 --> 0:18:45.980 seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also 0:18:46.030 --> 0:18:51.790 may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship or friendship, partnership, 0:18:52.460 --> 0:18:54.659 is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 0:18:55.140 --> 0:18:58.500 And these things we write unto you that your joy 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:04.270 may be full. Then another verse, 1 Peter 1, verse 8. 0:19:04.270 --> 0:19:07.590 Though you have not seen him, that fits most of us. 0:19:07.609 --> 0:19:09.850 We've never seen him in the flesh. Though you've not 0:19:09.950 --> 0:19:13.070 seen him, you love him. Even though you do not 0:19:13.150 --> 0:19:16.090 see him now, you believe in him. You have a 0:19:16.150 --> 0:19:20.530 relationship with him, and you are filled with inexpressible love 0:19:20.890 --> 0:19:22.540 I mean, this is a really great description of joy. 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:26.780 You're filled with inexpressible and glorious joy. 0:19:27.420 --> 0:19:28.800 So I want to talk about that just for a minute, 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:30.000 this cloud of disconnection. 0:19:30.540 --> 0:19:33.060 Because, you know, whether you know the Lord personally or 0:19:33.100 --> 0:19:35.020 whether you are a Christian, but your fellowship with the 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.940 Lord isn't the greatest, this disconnection can be resolved. 0:19:39.060 --> 0:19:39.960 There can be a connection. 0:19:40.340 --> 0:19:42.619 And how many of you know there's just, you really, 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:44.679 it's hard to describe it, and you really can't put 0:19:44.700 --> 0:19:47.080 your finger on it exactly. But how many of you 0:19:47.100 --> 0:19:50.340 just know when you and the Lord are tight, when 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:52.480 you have talked to him and he has talked to you, 0:19:53.619 --> 0:19:57.320 there is a sense of internal joy. You might be 0:19:57.359 --> 0:19:59.179 facing the storm of your life on the outside, but 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:04.920 inside there's joy, inexpressible joy. Can't express it, but you've 0:20:04.940 --> 0:20:05.980 got it on the inside. 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:07.340 And so there's a couple things. 0:20:07.380 --> 0:20:09.320 Maybe if you're in that category, you're just like, you know, 0:20:09.420 --> 0:20:11.200 I'm just feeling distant from God. What do I need 0:20:11.220 --> 0:20:14.020 to do? How do I make that connection? Once again, 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.020 let's look at a couple verses on this. Go over 0:20:17.140 --> 0:20:21.629 to Psalm 119. Because here's why it's important. One of 0:20:21.650 --> 0:20:24.550 the verses in the Bible that says this. It says, 0:20:24.730 --> 0:20:29.290 we have been called into fellowship with his son. So 0:20:29.330 --> 0:20:31.489 people go, what's my calling? 0:20:31.750 --> 0:20:36.350 God, what is my calling? Here's your calling. Here's my calling. 0:20:36.450 --> 0:20:42.310 Our number one calling is we have been called into fellowship, 0:20:42.550 --> 0:20:46.709 friendship with God. And there's just no way to describe 0:20:46.730 --> 0:20:50.100 it other than joy. Here's some verses that articulate it 0:20:50.140 --> 0:20:56.320 a little bit. Psalm 119, verse 28. My sad life's dilapidated. 0:20:56.340 --> 0:21:00.399 This is when we don't have the connection. A falling 0:21:00.460 --> 0:21:03.410 down barn. Build me up again. 0:21:03.250 --> 0:21:03.930 By your word. 0:21:05.260 --> 0:21:08.560 Jeremiah 15, 16. When your words came, I ate them. 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:12.360 They were my joy and my heart's delight. Psalm 16, 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.060 verse 11. You've made known to me the path of life. 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.640 You will fill me with joy in your presence. 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:19.900 What are we talking about? 0:21:20.060 --> 0:21:22.400 We're talking about when there's a disconnection, when this cloud 0:21:22.420 --> 0:21:25.379 of disconnection is there, the way to remedy that. And 0:21:25.420 --> 0:21:27.889 I remember when I was in college, I remember I 0:21:27.930 --> 0:21:30.290 was a pretty new Christian and I was still a 0:21:30.330 --> 0:21:32.969 lot in that partly cloudy, partly sunny season. I used 0:21:32.990 --> 0:21:36.080 to call it the mentals and the blocks. Couldn't really 0:21:36.100 --> 0:21:37.580 describe it other than, you know, you just kind of 0:21:37.619 --> 0:21:40.720 felt just discouraged in your thinking and emotionally just kind 0:21:40.770 --> 0:21:44.209 of block. So I called it the mentals and the blocks. 0:21:49.230 --> 0:21:52.310 And I could understand that. I could understand the mentals 0:21:52.369 --> 0:21:55.210 and the blocks. And when I would find myself feeling 0:21:55.250 --> 0:21:57.330 that way, what I would do is I'd always go 0:21:57.350 --> 0:22:00.930 to Psalm 119 because I saw this verse in Psalm 119. 0:22:00.930 --> 0:22:05.889 It said, revive me according to your word. revive me 0:22:05.910 --> 0:22:07.889 and I took that when I read the word revive 0:22:07.950 --> 0:22:09.830 me I took that Lord fill me with joy again 0:22:10.369 --> 0:22:12.930 revive me and there's something about the Bible I don't 0:22:12.950 --> 0:22:15.540 understand it but the Bible is living and active and 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.159 there's just something about it when you feed on the 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:19.940 word when you listen to it when you read it 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:22.379 when you soak in it I don't know how it 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:25.500 works but there's something about it that if your tank 0:22:25.540 --> 0:22:29.359 is on E then here's the question have you been 0:22:29.400 --> 0:22:32.090 reading the Bible I mean honestly have you been reading 0:22:32.109 --> 0:22:36.100 the Bible my skies are not blue have you been 0:22:36.140 --> 0:22:39.659 reading the bible reading the bible opening your bible and 0:22:39.700 --> 0:22:41.929 reading it have you been doing that have you been 0:22:41.950 --> 0:22:45.210 listening to the bible on tape that one verse psalm 0:22:45.210 --> 0:22:48.790 16 says lord in your presence is fullness of joy 0:22:48.810 --> 0:22:52.490 i mean this is like so basic you know we're 0:22:52.510 --> 0:22:53.990 kind of like oh god i want to be happy 0:22:54.150 --> 0:22:56.170 oh where can i find happiness and he's like hello 0:22:57.410 --> 0:23:01.639 in my presence is fullness of joy he said And 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:05.520 here's the thing, you know, God is not depressed. God 0:23:05.580 --> 0:23:09.960 isn't ever even slightly down. He's not moody. He's just 0:23:10.140 --> 0:23:14.470 never blue, ever. Like he knows everything that's happening in 0:23:14.490 --> 0:23:14.929 the world. 0:23:15.490 --> 0:23:17.990 He knows all about the terrorists. He knows all about. 0:23:17.869 --> 0:23:21.030 Wars and rumors of wars. He knows our country's about 0:23:21.050 --> 0:23:28.680 to have an election. And he's not even depressed. He's not, 0:23:28.780 --> 0:23:33.790 I mean, he never gets blue. God is full, full 0:23:33.830 --> 0:23:34.310 of joy. 0:23:34.330 --> 0:23:35.670 I mean, he's happy. 0:23:35.890 --> 0:23:37.910 The Bible says from heaven, he sits on his throne 0:23:37.950 --> 0:23:41.270 and laughs. I mean, God is like a happy God. 0:23:42.210 --> 0:23:44.210 And he says, in my presence is fullness of joy. 0:23:44.410 --> 0:23:46.800 Like if you hang out with me, it's going to 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:50.120 rub off on you because that's the kind of person 0:23:50.180 --> 0:23:53.920 he is. You hang out with, you hang out with God. 0:23:55.460 --> 0:23:57.040 You can't help but get the joy of the Lord. 0:23:57.119 --> 0:23:57.820 The joy of what? 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:00.760 The joy of the Lord. The joy of who? 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:01.740 The joy of the Lord. 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:02.739 He's joyful. 0:24:03.660 --> 0:24:06.300 Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness. 0:24:07.310 --> 0:24:10.510 There's nothing like depressing about God. And so many times 0:24:10.570 --> 0:24:12.230 people as Christians, you know, they try to be all 0:24:12.270 --> 0:24:13.690 spiritual and they're like, get really. 0:24:13.710 --> 0:24:15.370 You know, stoic and holy. 0:24:15.730 --> 0:24:17.490 I mean, I just wonder if God in heaven, I 0:24:17.510 --> 0:24:18.570 wonder if he's like, hey, angels, come here. 0:24:18.590 --> 0:24:19.270 I got to show you something. 0:24:21.810 --> 0:24:22.859 Check out these people. 0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:26.260 What's the deal? 0:24:26.520 --> 0:24:32.060 Hang out with God and there's joy. And all the 0:24:32.100 --> 0:24:35.240 people said, so the number one cloud is a disconnect. 0:24:35.280 --> 0:24:37.420 And if you're sensing that at all, then listen, here's 0:24:37.460 --> 0:24:40.919 your assignment. Read your Bible, read Psalm 119, put in 0:24:40.960 --> 0:24:43.680 a worship tape. I'm a music person and I love 0:24:43.740 --> 0:24:46.280 music and I'll just scan through my iTunes thing. I'll 0:24:46.300 --> 0:24:48.060 listen to the beginning of a bunch of songs until 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:50.790 one hits me. If it doesn't hit me, I move on. 0:24:51.500 --> 0:24:53.439 And I have one song right now that's hitting me. 0:24:53.660 --> 0:24:55.740 It's like I hear this song and bam, I'm. 0:24:55.680 --> 0:24:58.610 Right in God's presence. And I get filled with his joy. 0:24:58.619 --> 0:25:00.650 I was working on my sermon last. 0:25:00.530 --> 0:25:02.810 Night and I've got that song playing and I'm sitting 0:25:02.830 --> 0:25:04.409 at our dining room table and Jeff had gone to 0:25:04.810 --> 0:25:05.610 pick up Luke, I think. 0:25:06.030 --> 0:25:08.369 I was home all by myself and I'm working on 0:25:08.410 --> 0:25:10.010 the message and I put in this song. I love 0:25:10.050 --> 0:25:14.050 this song. It's called, what's it called? Here, Here You Are. 0:25:14.070 --> 0:25:16.770 It's by Joy Williams. I forget the title. 0:25:16.810 --> 0:25:19.600 Here We Are or Here You Are by Joy Williams. Now, 0:25:19.630 --> 0:25:21.040 that song may not hit you at all, but right 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:23.460 now that song is hitting me. And I hear that song, 0:25:23.500 --> 0:25:25.980 and I'm sitting there at my table working on my computer. And, 0:25:26.000 --> 0:25:27.620 you know, nobody's at home and just me and God. 0:25:27.660 --> 0:25:30.100 And I'm just like, oh, God. You know, I praise 0:25:30.119 --> 0:25:31.679 you for a little bit, and I get back to working. 0:25:32.240 --> 0:25:33.050 Well, what's that all about? 0:25:33.190 --> 0:25:35.869 I don't know. I'm having a connection with God. And 0:25:35.890 --> 0:25:38.709 I'm full of joy about it. And his presence is 0:25:38.750 --> 0:25:41.429 fullness of joy. So, you know, dance at home if 0:25:41.450 --> 0:25:43.050 you need to. Raise your hands to the Lord at 0:25:43.090 --> 0:25:45.629 home if you need to. Get in your little quiet 0:25:45.650 --> 0:25:50.650 place and put your iPod on. Get the connection. amen 0:25:50.670 --> 0:25:56.270 all right number two number two cloud would be discouragement 0:25:56.770 --> 0:25:59.490 the number two cloud is discouragement proverbs 13 12 it 0:26:01.930 --> 0:26:05.850 says hope deferred makes the heart sick but when the 0:26:05.950 --> 0:26:08.389 tree but when the desire comes it's a tree of 0:26:08.450 --> 0:26:11.270 life hope deferred makes the heart sick but boy when 0:26:11.290 --> 0:26:14.490 the desire comes it's a tree of life hope deferred 0:26:14.770 --> 0:26:16.250 so i want to talk about that a little because 0:26:16.790 --> 0:26:18.990 you know everybody's experienced that probably at one time or 0:26:19.040 --> 0:26:27.610 another Who's learned that your timing and God's timing don't 0:26:27.700 --> 0:26:31.090 always sync? Y'all ever notice that? And have you ever 0:26:31.130 --> 0:26:33.149 noticed that if anybody's going to be slow, who does 0:26:33.190 --> 0:26:37.170 it usually tend to be? Yeah, sometimes, you know, we're 0:26:37.190 --> 0:26:39.330 just anxious and eager and, you know, just, oh, God, 0:26:39.390 --> 0:26:39.669 do this. 0:26:39.730 --> 0:26:41.250 I pray in Jesus' name, now do it now. 0:26:42.869 --> 0:26:45.230 And so that it doesn't happen in our timeline or 0:26:45.270 --> 0:26:48.000 even the way we thought or how we thought. And 0:26:48.080 --> 0:26:51.980 so if your expectation is in a certain place, and 0:26:52.030 --> 0:26:54.310 if it's not really congruent with God's. 0:26:54.109 --> 0:26:55.330 Word, here's what will happen. 0:26:55.350 --> 0:26:58.870 We'll set ourselves up with some expectations that it wasn't 0:26:58.910 --> 0:27:04.810 maybe necessarily 100% God's will or God's desire. I mean, 0:27:04.830 --> 0:27:06.889 generally it might have been, but it may not have 0:27:06.910 --> 0:27:09.690 been specifically. And if we set ourself up, if we 0:27:09.750 --> 0:27:11.590 set the bar in a certain place, and then if 0:27:11.630 --> 0:27:14.669 it doesn't happen, who knows, you can get really discouraged. 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:17.840 I mean, people go into like a slump, a major slump. 0:27:18.140 --> 0:27:24.120 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, sad, depressed, blue. So 0:27:24.200 --> 0:27:25.520 what do you do? Okay, so what do you do 0:27:25.540 --> 0:27:28.439 in a situation like that? You know, we faced that. 0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:31.369 We started the church, you know, back in 1991. 0:27:31.369 --> 0:27:36.590 You know, we had high hopes. We had high hopes. 0:27:37.570 --> 0:27:39.410 Again, I'm sure that God in heaven said, angels, come here. 0:27:40.430 --> 0:27:43.830 I got to show you these two yahoos. I've got 0:27:43.869 --> 0:27:46.449 to show you what they're hoping for. So, you know, 0:27:46.470 --> 0:27:47.870 we had high hopes that the church was just going 0:27:47.890 --> 0:27:50.430 to grow like just gangbusters, you know, and just start 0:27:50.450 --> 0:27:52.720 this church, and bam, it's just growing, and we're reaching 0:27:52.740 --> 0:27:53.820 all kinds of people and stuff. 0:27:54.160 --> 0:27:56.500 Well, you know what? Praise the Lord, 16 years later. 0:27:58.109 --> 0:28:02.110 Absolutely. God's doing amazing things here. But I'll tell you what, 0:28:02.150 --> 0:28:04.850 year one, year two, year three, year four, we had 0:28:05.010 --> 0:28:07.270 one year, we actually laugh about it now. We had 0:28:07.410 --> 0:28:09.409 one year, we are working as hard as we know 0:28:09.450 --> 0:28:11.440 to work, pedaling as fast as we know to pedal, 0:28:11.740 --> 0:28:14.879 believing God as much as we know to believe, praying, 0:28:14.940 --> 0:28:17.800 you know, all the stuff. We grew by five people. 0:28:19.520 --> 0:28:24.000 I was like, get the gun, you know, bam. We 0:28:24.060 --> 0:28:24.760 are not called. 0:28:25.080 --> 0:28:29.650 It's obvious, you know, you could be discouraged. In fact, 0:28:29.670 --> 0:28:30.530 there was a season. 0:28:31.350 --> 0:28:32.850 Now this is how bad it was in one season 0:28:32.869 --> 0:28:36.250 of our life. A verse that actually encouraged us was 0:28:36.270 --> 0:28:39.750 Psalm 1610. And the verse says, thou shall deliver my 0:28:39.810 --> 0:28:46.479 soul from hell. like that verse comforted us. I mean, 0:28:46.510 --> 0:28:49.180 that was a season we went through where hope deferred 0:28:49.220 --> 0:28:50.140 makes the heart sick. 0:28:50.830 --> 0:28:51.500 Well, so what are you going to do? 0:28:51.530 --> 0:28:53.210 Just quit? What are you going to do? 0:28:53.210 --> 0:28:53.910 Crawl in a hole? 0:28:54.650 --> 0:28:56.550 You know, grow out your nails, grow out your hair. 0:28:56.570 --> 0:28:58.950 I mean, what are you going to do? You got 0:28:58.970 --> 0:29:02.770 to live. So you have to recalibrate. You have to 0:29:02.830 --> 0:29:04.270 recalibrate your hopes. 0:29:04.990 --> 0:29:06.370 You have to get back in the word. You have 0:29:06.390 --> 0:29:07.550 to say, okay, God, come on here. 0:29:07.590 --> 0:29:09.910 What's your will for me? What are your desires? What's 0:29:09.930 --> 0:29:14.160 your timeline? You have to recalibrate. You may need to 0:29:14.200 --> 0:29:16.940 lower the bar a little bit in some things. Give 0:29:16.960 --> 0:29:19.370 some more time to something. You know, years ago we 0:29:19.400 --> 0:29:21.090 took our kids to Disney World when they were little, 0:29:22.790 --> 0:29:24.810 which is a great place to take your family. And 0:29:24.890 --> 0:29:26.270 so we took our kids there. Well, one of our 0:29:26.330 --> 0:29:29.210 kids said to us afterwards, they said, you know, Mom, 0:29:29.950 --> 0:29:31.630 Disney wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. 0:29:32.770 --> 0:29:37.250 And I said, honey, it doesn't get any better. This 0:29:37.310 --> 0:29:39.070 is as good as it gets for kids. I mean, 0:29:39.670 --> 0:29:42.480 it's pretty much it. I don't know where else to 0:29:42.520 --> 0:29:46.460 take you. I mean, Disney's like, woo, right up there. 0:29:47.020 --> 0:29:48.240 And they were saying that, you know, it wasn't as 0:29:48.260 --> 0:29:50.260 much fun as I thought it was going to be. 0:29:50.280 --> 0:29:52.000 And so I was praying. I said, Lord, you know, 0:29:52.480 --> 0:29:55.430 how do I help my child here? Because that's not 0:29:55.450 --> 0:29:58.690 a good sign. And so the Lord said to me, 0:29:58.830 --> 0:30:02.290 help him to lower the bar. If a person thinks 0:30:02.310 --> 0:30:04.850 that everything in life is going to be a 10, well, 0:30:04.890 --> 0:30:08.470 who's learned everything in life is not a 10? Some 0:30:08.490 --> 0:30:10.110 things are a 10. Praise the Lord for things that 0:30:10.130 --> 0:30:12.890 are a 10. Occasionally, you're going to hit a 2. 0:30:12.890 --> 0:30:17.200 But who knows? Most of life is like 6 or 7, 8. 0:30:17.200 --> 0:30:19.780 Between 6 and 8 is like most of life. And 0:30:19.800 --> 0:30:20.800 so set the bar. 0:30:20.940 --> 0:30:25.360 Recalibrate your hopes. Set your hopes in congruence with God's Word, 0:30:25.900 --> 0:30:28.870 but set your hopes in a realistic place, so to speak, 0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:31.300 And then let God be God. 0:30:31.340 --> 0:30:33.080 And if it's a 10, hallelujah. 0:30:34.060 --> 0:30:39.720 If it's a two, hallelujah. And all the people said, 0:30:41.100 --> 0:30:46.620 praise the Lord. All right, cloud number three. Disobedience, let's 0:30:46.640 --> 0:30:48.900 talk about this one. We're talking about why would the 0:30:48.940 --> 0:30:51.960 sky not be blue? Well, because there's clouds. And here's 0:30:52.280 --> 0:30:55.620 cloud number three, disobedience. And you could talk about lots 0:30:55.660 --> 0:30:58.340 of areas of obedience. The Bible says, if you're. 0:30:58.200 --> 0:31:00.950 Willing and obedient... You'll eat the good of the land. 0:31:01.410 --> 0:31:03.110 So yeah, you could talk about a lot of areas 0:31:03.150 --> 0:31:05.270 of obedience, but I'm going to zoom in on one 0:31:05.390 --> 0:31:07.970 area because probably for a lot of us, this is 0:31:08.010 --> 0:31:10.910 like if we cleared up this area, the skies would 0:31:10.930 --> 0:31:14.340 get real blue and real sunny real quick. So this 0:31:14.420 --> 0:31:20.380 area here, John 13, verse 34. Jesus said this. He said, 0:31:20.520 --> 0:31:24.760 a new command. Talking about disobedience is this cloud. A 0:31:24.840 --> 0:31:29.070 new command I give you, love one another. as I 0:31:29.110 --> 0:31:31.560 have loved you, so you must love one another. So 0:31:31.840 --> 0:31:34.140 you guys know this, right? The command that we're to 0:31:34.280 --> 0:31:38.960 obey these days under the new covenant in the New Testament, 0:31:39.000 --> 0:31:41.120 the command that we're supposed to obey is the command 0:31:41.160 --> 0:31:43.920 to love. God said, listen, I'm gonna summarize it. You 0:31:43.940 --> 0:31:46.600 don't even have to remember 10 commandments. You don't have 0:31:46.620 --> 0:31:49.200 to remember thousands of laws under the old covenant. I'm 0:31:49.220 --> 0:31:51.180 gonna just boil all of this down. I'm gonna give 0:31:51.220 --> 0:31:54.020 you one commandment. Love the Lord your God with all 0:31:54.060 --> 0:31:56.550 your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor 0:31:56.680 --> 0:32:00.070 as yourself One command, the law of love. 0:32:00.750 --> 0:32:04.210 Just like, do that one. Who knows, that's like, you know, 0:32:04.230 --> 0:32:08.690 it's a life project to do that one command. 0:32:09.410 --> 0:32:12.330 And so if we violate that command, we're going to 0:32:12.390 --> 0:32:15.510 find out that our skies get quite cloudy. Jesus said this, 0:32:15.570 --> 0:32:18.950 John 15, verse 9. Jesus said this, he said, If 0:32:18.970 --> 0:32:22.350 you keep my commands, you will abide in my love, 0:32:22.410 --> 0:32:24.490 just as I have kept my Father's commands and abide 0:32:24.510 --> 0:32:27.510 in his love. These things I have spoken to you 0:32:28.040 --> 0:32:32.000 That my joy, talking about joy, that my joy may 0:32:32.060 --> 0:32:36.560 remain in you and that your joy may be full. 0:32:37.360 --> 0:32:39.360 That your joy would be full. How would our joy 0:32:39.400 --> 0:32:42.180 be full if we keep this command? If we keep 0:32:42.220 --> 0:32:44.680 this law of love? And so how does that play 0:32:44.740 --> 0:32:45.200 out in life? 0:32:45.800 --> 0:32:47.320 It's a big one. It's a really big one. 0:32:47.440 --> 0:32:49.300 As a Christian, we have to make a decision to go, 0:32:49.320 --> 0:32:49.700 you know what? 0:32:49.810 --> 0:32:52.090 I'm just going to walk in love. That's just what 0:32:52.190 --> 0:32:54.170 I'm going to do. Lord, help me. 0:32:54.270 --> 0:32:56.510 I'm going to choose love. I'm going to choose to 0:32:56.550 --> 0:32:59.690 walk in love. I'm not going to be bitter. Somebody 0:32:59.790 --> 0:33:03.510 disses me. Somebody hurts me. Somebody uses me. Somebody's mean 0:33:03.570 --> 0:33:06.990 to me. They say bad things. Will my feelings get hurt? Yeah, 0:33:07.010 --> 0:33:07.770 they'll probably get hurt. 0:33:07.810 --> 0:33:08.430 But I am. 0:33:08.530 --> 0:33:11.950 Choosing to walk in love because love believes the best. 0:33:13.230 --> 0:33:14.880 I'm not going to get bitter. I'm not going to 0:33:14.910 --> 0:33:18.040 get offended. I am not going to hold unforgiveness. Now, 0:33:18.060 --> 0:33:19.660 who knows? This is a lifelong lesson. I mean, we 0:33:19.680 --> 0:33:21.360 know this in theory, but now we have to walk 0:33:21.400 --> 0:33:25.100 it out. We walk out this law of love, and 0:33:25.220 --> 0:33:26.820 I'll give you some specifics here in just a minute 0:33:26.880 --> 0:33:28.200 as to why this is so important. 0:33:29.000 --> 0:33:30.040 But Jesus promised. 0:33:30.060 --> 0:33:33.280 He said, listen, if you'll do this commandment, my joy, 0:33:33.340 --> 0:33:35.800 the joy that I have, remember, I'm like really a happy, 0:33:35.860 --> 0:33:39.860 anointed with gladness kind of God. And my presence is 0:33:39.900 --> 0:33:43.140 fullness of joy. My joy can be yours in full 0:33:43.960 --> 0:33:46.650 if you'll obey this command. So as a Christian, we 0:33:46.690 --> 0:33:49.010 just have to make that our choice. Some people go, well, 0:33:49.030 --> 0:33:51.940 you know, but that just ticked me off. And I'll 0:33:51.980 --> 0:33:57.160 tell you what, and I'll tell you another thing. We sometimes, 0:33:57.180 --> 0:33:59.630 I mean, it is America. We do have a right 0:33:59.670 --> 0:34:01.110 to say what we want, to think what we want. 0:34:01.290 --> 0:34:04.969 But as a Christian, we don't have the right. And 0:34:04.990 --> 0:34:07.110 sometimes we just think we can just say anything we want. 0:34:07.150 --> 0:34:08.350 We can just spout off. 0:34:09.610 --> 0:34:10.330 Well, you can. 0:34:10.350 --> 0:34:12.160 I mean, like I say, free will, we can do 0:34:12.180 --> 0:34:12.640 what we want. 0:34:12.980 --> 0:34:16.000 But only if you want cloudy skies. If you and 0:34:16.020 --> 0:34:18.419 I want blue skies, we can't say anything we want. 0:34:19.260 --> 0:34:20.980 We have to put a guard on our lips. Do 0:34:21.020 --> 0:34:24.219 not let any unwholesome words proceed out of your mouth, 0:34:24.260 --> 0:34:27.320 but only that which is to the use of edifying 0:34:27.360 --> 0:34:29.520 that it may minister grace to the hearer. 0:34:30.820 --> 0:34:36.640 Well, that will like eliminate a lot of words. People 0:34:36.680 --> 0:34:41.440 might think you're mute. What happened? 0:34:42.620 --> 0:34:45.420 Well, you're going for blue skies. That's what happened. You're 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:47.730 going for the blue skies. Look over at this verse. 0:34:47.770 --> 0:34:50.770 This verse really does affect a lot of Christians, a 0:34:50.790 --> 0:34:57.299 lot of believers. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 28, says, speaking 0:34:57.340 --> 0:34:59.420 about us as believers, it says, this is why you 0:34:59.440 --> 0:35:04.560 should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from 0:35:04.600 --> 0:35:07.180 the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink 0:35:07.219 --> 0:35:09.799 the cup, speaking about the Lord's Supper, if you eat 0:35:09.840 --> 0:35:13.920 the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the 0:35:13.940 --> 0:35:17.430 body of Christ, you are eating and drinking judgment upon 0:35:17.469 --> 0:35:20.430 yourself that is why many of you are weak and 0:35:20.530 --> 0:35:23.660 sick and some of even died but if we examine 0:35:23.700 --> 0:35:27.000 ourselves we will not be examined by god and judged 0:35:27.560 --> 0:35:29.380 in this way so i want to talk about this 0:35:29.420 --> 0:35:31.440 just for a minute because it probably does fit some 0:35:31.480 --> 0:35:31.759 of us. 0:35:31.760 --> 0:35:35.040 As christians we have to make a decision at some point. 0:35:35.400 --> 0:35:39.390 To say jesus This is your body, the body of 0:35:39.489 --> 0:35:41.630 Christ we're talking about. Now, what is that, the body 0:35:41.670 --> 0:35:43.759 of Christ? Well, it's a picture of a number of things. 0:35:43.989 --> 0:35:47.460 It's talking about the Lord's Supper here in context. It's 0:35:47.560 --> 0:35:52.000 also a figurative picture of the body of Christ, the believers, 0:35:52.060 --> 0:35:55.600 the church, individuals that make up his body. He's the head. 0:35:56.060 --> 0:35:56.940 We are the body. 0:35:57.640 --> 0:35:59.360 And so at some point, you have to say, Jesus, 0:35:59.500 --> 0:36:01.460 I'm going to love the body of Christ like you do. 0:36:02.380 --> 0:36:04.339 This is your body. I'm not going to speak evil 0:36:04.390 --> 0:36:06.830 about your body. I'm not going to speak evil and 0:36:06.850 --> 0:36:09.390 I'm not going to walk in unforgiveness or bitterness towards 0:36:09.469 --> 0:36:11.910 anybody else in the body of Christ. Specifically in the 0:36:11.950 --> 0:36:14.009 body of Christ. I'm going to honor your body. I'm 0:36:14.050 --> 0:36:16.589 not going to say anything bad about other churches, about 0:36:16.610 --> 0:36:18.590 other spiritual leaders, about other. 0:36:18.489 --> 0:36:19.390 Members of the body. 0:36:19.469 --> 0:36:23.359 I'm just not entitled to it. I'm just not going 0:36:23.380 --> 0:36:25.500 to do it. I want my skies to be blue. 0:36:25.739 --> 0:36:29.840 I want to be filled with joy and gladness. And 0:36:29.880 --> 0:36:34.879 that bitterness and that opinionated critical spirit and that gossipy thing. 0:36:35.610 --> 0:36:37.810 that will cloud up your skies and you won't have 0:36:37.910 --> 0:36:40.670 joy and you'll go wow whatever happened to my joy 0:36:41.170 --> 0:36:42.529 well did you hear about that church down the street 0:36:42.550 --> 0:36:45.290 I'll tell you what if I was running that thing 0:36:45.770 --> 0:36:49.430 you realize what they just did well no you guys 0:36:49.450 --> 0:36:50.890 have heard it if you've been around here much you've 0:36:50.910 --> 0:36:52.989 heard it we are not as a church and as 0:36:53.030 --> 0:36:54.950 leaders of this church we are not going to say 0:36:55.090 --> 0:36:58.450 anything negative about other churches in town about other leaders 0:36:58.489 --> 0:37:01.180 in town about other Christians in town if we are 0:37:01.320 --> 0:37:03.720 in the body of Christ we are brothers and sisters 0:37:04.060 --> 0:37:09.069 end of story love believes the best now does that 0:37:09.130 --> 0:37:11.090 mean there aren't occasions where you have to speak the 0:37:11.130 --> 0:37:13.850 truth in love and have some pointed discussions with individuals 0:37:14.030 --> 0:37:17.130 absolutely you have to speak the truth in love sometimes 0:37:17.170 --> 0:37:21.299 with people but you don't evil speak about people love 0:37:21.340 --> 0:37:25.500 does no harm to its neighbor love seeks the other's 0:37:25.600 --> 0:37:29.529 best interest love prefers the other I mean, there have 0:37:29.550 --> 0:37:30.880 been times, we could tell you stories, there have been 0:37:30.900 --> 0:37:33.760 times where we have gone over and above the call 0:37:33.780 --> 0:37:35.239 of duty in trying to be a blessing to some 0:37:35.260 --> 0:37:39.779 people over the course of 16 years in ministry. Over 0:37:39.820 --> 0:37:41.739 and above the call of duty in trying to be 0:37:41.760 --> 0:37:44.049 a blessing to people. And we have still ended up, 0:37:44.510 --> 0:37:46.669 when all the chatter happened, we've still ended up looking 0:37:46.690 --> 0:37:47.410 like the bad guys. 0:37:48.610 --> 0:37:50.150 And you know what we've decided? We're going to walk 0:37:50.170 --> 0:37:50.469 in love. 0:37:51.710 --> 0:37:53.380 We're going to still say good things. We're still going 0:37:53.390 --> 0:37:54.799 to be a blessing. We're still going to try to 0:37:54.840 --> 0:37:57.700 be generous. We're just not going down that road. And 0:37:57.719 --> 0:37:58.540 you know what the result is? 0:37:58.980 --> 0:38:02.000 We get joy. We get blue skies. And so do you. 0:38:02.940 --> 0:38:05.540 And all the people said, what are we talking about? 0:38:05.560 --> 0:38:09.390 We're talking about clouds. When the sky is not blue, 0:38:09.430 --> 0:38:12.190 it's because there's clouds. And so that was one of 0:38:12.210 --> 0:38:17.210 the clouds that we just discussed. Let's look at number four, disappointment. 0:38:17.770 --> 0:38:20.330 This is a cloud. And this is an interesting one. 0:38:21.489 --> 0:38:23.509 We'll get into this a little bit next week as well. 0:38:23.550 --> 0:38:27.090 But this is an interesting one, disappointment. It's a cloud. 0:38:27.570 --> 0:38:31.819 And sometimes we'll find ourselves facing our biggest disappointments either 0:38:31.940 --> 0:38:35.920 right after a major failure, you know, sometimes after a divorce, 0:38:35.940 --> 0:38:38.500 somebody goes through a marriage failure, a divorce, and they're 0:38:38.520 --> 0:38:42.110 very discouraged and they're disappointed and they're depressed, or a 0:38:42.180 --> 0:38:44.210 business fails or a bankruptcy or things. 0:38:44.070 --> 0:38:45.550 Like that, you know, that happen, a failure. 0:38:46.130 --> 0:38:50.009 And obviously there's a great temptation in that season to 0:38:50.030 --> 0:38:53.770 be very disappointed and very blue. But also there's a 0:38:53.870 --> 0:38:56.729 huge temptation to be disappointed and And to. 0:38:56.630 --> 0:38:58.770 Be blue after a great victory. 0:39:00.530 --> 0:39:02.580 Look at this verse, this passage in the Bible. Go 0:39:02.640 --> 0:39:07.000 over to 1 Kings 19. And this is an interesting one. 0:39:07.640 --> 0:39:11.239 And maybe some of you have experienced this. This is 0:39:11.300 --> 0:39:14.310 a story of Elijah. And Elijah had just won a 0:39:14.410 --> 0:39:17.770 great victory. You know the story where there was kind 0:39:17.790 --> 0:39:22.610 of a contest between Baal and all of the gods 0:39:22.989 --> 0:39:27.129 of the culture, and then Elijah's God, the Most High God. 0:39:27.170 --> 0:39:29.009 And I won't go into the whole story, but the 0:39:29.030 --> 0:39:32.439 end of the story was... our God, Almighty God, won 0:39:32.480 --> 0:39:36.819 that victory. It was a grand performance by God in 0:39:36.930 --> 0:39:39.750 demonstrating who he was. And so Elijah had just won 0:39:39.770 --> 0:39:42.230 this major victory in front of all kinds of people, 0:39:42.270 --> 0:39:44.870 just really proved who God was and who he. 0:39:44.810 --> 0:39:45.850 Believed in and so on. 0:39:46.590 --> 0:39:50.040 So Ahab... who was his enemy, Ahab, in verse 1 says, 0:39:50.200 --> 0:39:54.739 Ahab reported to Jezebel, his wife, everything that Elijah had done, 0:39:54.780 --> 0:39:58.770 including the massacre of the prophets. Jezebel immediately sent a 0:39:58.790 --> 0:40:01.589 messenger to Elijah with this threat, the gods will get 0:40:01.630 --> 0:40:03.410 you for this, and I'll get even with you too, 0:40:03.969 --> 0:40:04.350 and your. 0:40:04.270 --> 0:40:09.150 Little dog too. No, just popped out. 0:40:10.450 --> 0:40:13.330 By this time tomorrow, you'll be as dead as any 0:40:13.370 --> 0:40:16.969 of those prophets. When Elijah saw how things were, he 0:40:17.090 --> 0:40:20.509 ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south 0:40:20.550 --> 0:40:22.319 of Judah. He left his young servant there and went 0:40:22.420 --> 0:40:24.380 to the desert and so on. He came to a 0:40:24.460 --> 0:40:28.279 lone broom bush. You can see it's starting to get 0:40:28.320 --> 0:40:31.060 blue here. And collapsed in its shade, wanting in the 0:40:31.100 --> 0:40:33.450 worst way to be done with it all, to just die. 0:40:33.840 --> 0:40:35.690 Enough of this, God. Take my life. 0:40:36.130 --> 0:40:39.569 I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave. exhausted, 0:40:39.610 --> 0:40:42.650 he fell asleep under the lone broom bush, and suddenly 0:40:42.670 --> 0:40:47.340 an angel shook him awake and said, get up and eat. Well, 0:40:47.360 --> 0:40:49.000 what is that story all about? Here he had just 0:40:49.060 --> 0:40:52.319 experienced an amazing victory. And you know, sometimes maybe you've 0:40:52.340 --> 0:40:55.200 had like this thing on the horizon for you, this 0:40:55.300 --> 0:40:58.020 big victory, this big event, you've been gearing up for 0:40:58.040 --> 0:41:00.140 it and planning for it and praying for it, and 0:41:00.590 --> 0:41:04.730 it was a grand success. And afterwards, if you're not careful, 0:41:04.770 --> 0:41:07.509 you can be tempted to One, you know, who knows, 0:41:07.570 --> 0:41:12.850 sometimes one little negative comment will outweigh all the positive comments. 0:41:13.910 --> 0:41:16.229 You know, we've talked about it with many of you before. Sometimes, 0:41:16.250 --> 0:41:16.589 you know, you. 0:41:16.530 --> 0:41:19.810 Get 10 really nice emails from y'all that say, hey, 0:41:19.870 --> 0:41:21.650 great message, you really blessed me. And then you get 0:41:21.890 --> 0:41:24.390 one email that says, you know, you big loser, what 0:41:24.410 --> 0:41:28.700 are you doing up there? And that one little note 0:41:28.739 --> 0:41:31.239 can just really send you into a tailspin if you're 0:41:31.280 --> 0:41:34.580 not careful. After a great success, you can be tempted 0:41:34.600 --> 0:41:38.490 to to be very discouraged and very depressed and here's 0:41:38.510 --> 0:41:40.640 the reason why a lot of times sometimes people set 0:41:40.680 --> 0:41:43.540 their vision on I like one goal and then when 0:41:43.560 --> 0:41:48.100 they achieve it they're kinda visionless Scott well now what 0:41:48.600 --> 0:41:50.900 alright I guess we got married we had a honeymoon 0:41:50.940 --> 0:41:56.879 okay well why I don't like being married you know 0:41:56.900 --> 0:41:58.500 our we have a baby to go to the whole 0:41:58.540 --> 0:42:00.700 nine months in the prep in the delivering all this 0:42:00.739 --> 0:42:03.219 great stuff you have this baby and how many women 0:42:03.260 --> 0:42:08.140 go into a postpartum depression right after a great victory 0:42:08.920 --> 0:42:10.760 so you have to guard against that and be very 0:42:10.800 --> 0:42:14.529 careful statistics show that oftentimes when pastors are in a 0:42:14.550 --> 0:42:17.649 building program you know and this absolutely will not happen 0:42:17.690 --> 0:42:19.650 here we're not expecting this and not believing for it 0:42:19.690 --> 0:42:22.250 at all but this does happen if there's not more 0:42:22.330 --> 0:42:24.850 vision beyond the building there's not a vision to reach 0:42:24.910 --> 0:42:27.910 people that the building is just a tool sometimes and 0:42:27.930 --> 0:42:31.070 statistics will show that oftentimes after a building program a 0:42:31.140 --> 0:42:35.900 great successful building program more pastors leave the ministry After 0:42:35.920 --> 0:42:37.739 a building program than it just about at any other 0:42:37.780 --> 0:42:40.540 time What you would think after a great success you'd 0:42:40.560 --> 0:42:44.480 be all fired up should be got to recalibrate your 0:42:44.500 --> 0:42:47.660 vision So disappointment is the cloud and you got a 0:42:47.680 --> 0:42:49.759 guard against it That's why it's so important to go 0:42:49.800 --> 0:42:51.919 back to you know that calibration of your hope set 0:42:51.960 --> 0:42:57.450 the bar in the right place last one number five 0:42:59.050 --> 0:43:05.890 fifth cloud is dysfunction So let's talk about this one 0:43:05.910 --> 0:43:07.989 a little bit. This isn't dysfunction like you normally think 0:43:08.030 --> 0:43:11.350 about it. This is dysfunction in this sense, that you're 0:43:11.370 --> 0:43:16.310 not functioning in your God-given place. You're not functioning in 0:43:16.350 --> 0:43:19.310 the place for which you were born. And that can 0:43:19.330 --> 0:43:21.530 be on the grand scheme. That can be your life calling, 0:43:21.790 --> 0:43:25.890 you know. You're not functioning in your destiny. You're dysfunctioning. 0:43:26.390 --> 0:43:28.150 You're not in your destiny. You're not in your purpose. 0:43:28.670 --> 0:43:32.130 You're on a parallel track. You're on a 90-degree track. 0:43:32.270 --> 0:43:34.920 You're not in your purpose. That can be true on 0:43:34.940 --> 0:43:36.759 the grand scale. It can also be true just in 0:43:36.800 --> 0:43:40.250 little components of our lives, in specific areas. Maybe you 0:43:40.270 --> 0:43:42.950 just know as a wife, you're just not on track. 0:43:43.430 --> 0:43:45.149 As a husband, you're just like, oh, I'm just not 0:43:45.210 --> 0:43:49.450 on track. As a mom, as a dad, as a friend, 0:43:49.530 --> 0:43:52.360 as an employee, as an employer, you know, whatever the case. 0:43:53.060 --> 0:43:56.560 And here's a verse, Ecclesiastes 3, verse 11 says this. 0:43:56.600 --> 0:43:59.900 It says, he has made everything beautiful in its time. 0:44:00.500 --> 0:44:04.230 He's also planted eternity in men's hearts and minds. a 0:44:04.270 --> 0:44:09.710 divinely implanted sense of purpose, working through the ages, which 0:44:09.890 --> 0:44:14.569 nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy. Now, 0:44:14.590 --> 0:44:16.510 this is a really important one. We've talked to people, 0:44:16.550 --> 0:44:21.190 so have you. They are depressed. I mean, they are 0:44:21.230 --> 0:44:25.310 just going through the motions of life. They've put in 0:44:25.489 --> 0:44:31.180 several decades at a job they hate. They're just going 0:44:31.200 --> 0:44:34.380 through the motions. They are just living life. They're in 0:44:34.480 --> 0:44:38.239 dead relationships. They're in a dead job. They feel dead 0:44:38.300 --> 0:44:40.879 on the inside. What is wrong with that picture? That 0:44:41.020 --> 0:44:44.410 cannot be God's highest and best. Not if Jesus said, 0:44:44.450 --> 0:44:47.990 I have come, that you could have fullness of joy. 0:44:49.450 --> 0:44:51.870 So what's the deal on that one? The deal on 0:44:51.910 --> 0:44:54.319 that one is we need to line ourselves up with 0:44:54.360 --> 0:44:59.460 God's destiny, with God's purpose, a divinely implanted sense of purpose. 0:45:01.210 --> 0:45:04.570 And for every season, there's a purpose. Every area of 0:45:04.610 --> 0:45:06.690 your life, there's a purpose. There's a way to do it. 0:45:06.739 --> 0:45:08.299 God's divine ways to do it. 0:45:09.380 --> 0:45:10.380 Congruent with his word. 0:45:10.420 --> 0:45:12.420 And so let me give you some thoughts on that one. 0:45:13.180 --> 0:45:14.520 Because like I said, we've talked to a lot of 0:45:14.560 --> 0:45:16.540 people over the years. And here's the deal on this one. 0:45:16.560 --> 0:45:18.620 I'll just tell you this up front. The deal on 0:45:18.660 --> 0:45:21.320 this one is you may have to make a really, 0:45:21.500 --> 0:45:24.960 really tough decision to get this one lined up right. 0:45:25.320 --> 0:45:28.680 To get this cloud out of the skies, you may 0:45:28.719 --> 0:45:32.170 have to really make a tough decision. It may cost 0:45:32.210 --> 0:45:34.950 you something in the short run to get this one right. 0:45:35.250 --> 0:45:37.890 But Jeff and I can tell you from experience, we 0:45:37.930 --> 0:45:40.180 know we are smack dab right smack dab in the 0:45:40.219 --> 0:45:43.600 middle of God's destiny and purpose for our lives. 0:45:44.040 --> 0:45:45.020 Have we done it perfectly? 0:45:45.100 --> 0:45:48.080 No. But we know we are right smack dab in 0:45:48.120 --> 0:45:51.040 the middle. And so even though you do face some storms, 0:45:51.060 --> 0:45:53.970 you do face some trials and challenges, there is still 0:45:54.010 --> 0:45:58.410 this internal joy. There's not a sense of disappointment. There's 0:45:58.450 --> 0:46:00.580 not a sense of discontent. There's not a sense of, 0:46:00.610 --> 0:46:02.890 oh my gosh, I'm like wasting my whole life. There's 0:46:02.989 --> 0:46:07.029 not that. There's not regret. Now, yeah, are there some 0:46:07.050 --> 0:46:09.270 things you'd do differently if you had it to do over? Sure, 0:46:09.510 --> 0:46:11.049 all of us feel that way, I would think. 0:46:11.670 --> 0:46:12.590 Would you parent different? 0:46:12.610 --> 0:46:17.550 Probably. Would you, you know, maybe decorate your house different? Yeah, okay, probably. 0:46:18.650 --> 0:46:20.550 You know, from the minor things to the major things. 0:46:21.610 --> 0:46:26.089 But when it comes to this divinely implanted sense of purpose... 0:46:26.200 --> 0:46:29.180 Why are you on the planet? If you never connect 0:46:29.219 --> 0:46:34.239 with that at any given level, you will not find 0:46:34.280 --> 0:46:37.219 the skies to be very blue. And that's why I'm 0:46:37.260 --> 0:46:38.710 saying it might require a tough decision. 0:46:38.730 --> 0:46:41.009 I mean, you know, I don't know. There could be 0:46:41.030 --> 0:46:41.330 people here. 0:46:41.350 --> 0:46:43.770 You're called to the ministry. And God's been talking to 0:46:43.790 --> 0:46:45.330 you for years about that. And it's time for you 0:46:45.370 --> 0:46:47.910 to pack the bags and get to Bible school. That 0:46:47.950 --> 0:46:51.969 could be the plan for you. Quit dilly-dallying. There could 0:46:51.989 --> 0:46:53.879 be others of you. God has talked to you about 0:46:53.920 --> 0:46:56.730 some things that are your purpose. And you need to 0:46:56.770 --> 0:47:00.930 be about doing it if you want blue skies. So 0:47:00.950 --> 0:47:04.609 a couple of scenarios, because, you know, there's seasons, there's 0:47:04.650 --> 0:47:05.790 a pace for some. 0:47:05.690 --> 0:47:06.230 Of these things. 0:47:06.250 --> 0:47:09.589 I'll give you a couple scenarios. One scenario would be 0:47:09.930 --> 0:47:13.180 the person that's 180 degrees in the opposite direction of 0:47:13.219 --> 0:47:16.280 God's will. God is going north, and you are going south, 0:47:16.480 --> 0:47:20.739 and you are 180 degrees apart. Well, you're definitely not 0:47:20.760 --> 0:47:22.000 going to have joy and gladness. 0:47:22.020 --> 0:47:23.180 You're going to have the other. 0:47:23.960 --> 0:47:26.070 And so you've got to do a 180. In some cases, 0:47:26.110 --> 0:47:28.489 it's a repentance or it's a choice to change and 0:47:28.510 --> 0:47:30.190 do a 180 and go, God, I'm going to quit 0:47:30.270 --> 0:47:33.009 running from you and running from your will and your 0:47:33.050 --> 0:47:34.870 plan and I'm going to run to you. 0:47:35.590 --> 0:47:36.969 And man, it'll be a liberating day. 0:47:37.270 --> 0:47:41.750 You'll just sense freedom making those decisions. Secondly, maybe you're 0:47:41.770 --> 0:47:44.250 a person and you're not 180 degrees opposite, but you 0:47:44.290 --> 0:47:48.890 are in transition. You've been going along, sailing along in life, 0:47:48.969 --> 0:47:51.470 but God's been saying to you, listen, I've got a purpose. 0:47:51.489 --> 0:47:54.860 I've got a track for you. And so you've sensed 0:47:54.900 --> 0:47:57.200 a grace all along in this area. It's been great. 0:47:57.260 --> 0:48:00.890 The skies have been blue. But suddenly you're discontent. Suddenly 0:48:00.930 --> 0:48:03.350 the skies aren't so blue. You don't love this anymore 0:48:03.390 --> 0:48:05.290 like you used to love it. What's the deal on that? 0:48:05.730 --> 0:48:08.530 Probably what's happening is there's a grace change. The grace 0:48:08.590 --> 0:48:11.489 is lifted from that. And God's moving the grace to 0:48:11.530 --> 0:48:15.700 another place, another situation. And you don't know yet what 0:48:15.739 --> 0:48:19.120 that new grace is. You're still not certain what that's 0:48:19.160 --> 0:48:22.259 all about. And so in between this, and Jeff and I, again, 0:48:22.300 --> 0:48:25.420 we've been in this position several times in our lifetime. 0:48:26.060 --> 0:48:29.739 This is an interesting place to be because you can 0:48:29.780 --> 0:48:33.650 be tempted to be blue, to be discouraged, to be depressed. 0:48:34.969 --> 0:48:36.170 And so what do you do? What do you do here? 0:48:36.230 --> 0:48:36.710 Here's what you do. 0:48:36.810 --> 0:48:39.870 Stay steady and keep seeking God. Lord, where's the grace? 0:48:39.910 --> 0:48:42.630 Where's my place? What's my destiny? What's my purpose? 0:48:42.710 --> 0:48:43.569 What's the deal here? 0:48:43.590 --> 0:48:48.410 Where is this? And just stay steady and follow the Lord. 0:48:48.969 --> 0:48:51.030 And you'll get there eventually. It won't take forever. 0:48:51.130 --> 0:48:53.430 But there is a season. This is a season sometimes. 0:48:53.840 --> 0:48:55.700 In one of the situations we faced, this was about 0:48:55.780 --> 0:48:59.300 an 18-month season for us of knowing the grace was lifting, 0:48:59.560 --> 0:49:01.080 not quite knowing for sure where it was, and then 0:49:01.120 --> 0:49:04.259 realizing within about an 18-month period of time. Well, in 0:49:04.300 --> 0:49:07.200 this season here, you want to make sure that you 0:49:07.239 --> 0:49:09.940 don't get discouraged, you don't get depressed, you don't get disappointed, 0:49:10.380 --> 0:49:15.660 you don't dysfunction. And then there's another one, there's another 0:49:15.719 --> 0:49:18.030 scenario along this line, and that's this. 0:49:18.530 --> 0:49:20.430 You are on the right, track. 0:49:20.690 --> 0:49:22.310 You're in the right place, and you've got the right 0:49:22.370 --> 0:49:25.390 grace and all of that, but you're getting antsy. You're 0:49:25.410 --> 0:49:30.670 doing one of two things. Either you're getting way too antsy. 0:49:30.770 --> 0:49:32.990 You're just way ahead of God, and you're just anxious 0:49:33.030 --> 0:49:36.170 and pressuring and pushing and all of that, and God's like, 0:49:36.310 --> 0:49:37.510 slow it down. 0:49:38.590 --> 0:49:40.850 Slow down. I've got to work some stuff in you. 0:49:40.890 --> 0:49:42.010 I've got to position people. 0:49:42.050 --> 0:49:43.609 I've got to position some situations. 0:49:43.630 --> 0:49:44.129 You'll get there. 0:49:44.150 --> 0:49:46.530 Just relax. Stay steady. 0:49:46.630 --> 0:49:50.500 Don't get ahead of me. Some people are over-eager, maybe over-anxious, 0:49:50.520 --> 0:49:52.719 you know. And so God, you know, allows us to 0:49:52.760 --> 0:49:56.060 go through a process of just dying to self and 0:49:56.100 --> 0:49:58.860 dying to ambition and dying to how we see it 0:49:59.260 --> 0:50:02.540 and let God just develop it the way he sees it. 0:50:03.370 --> 0:50:04.029 You all out there? 0:50:04.610 --> 0:50:07.069 That's a scenario. Another scenario, maybe you're not the one 0:50:07.090 --> 0:50:10.120 going too fast. You're going too slow. The Lord's like, 0:50:10.160 --> 0:50:13.680 come on, come on already. Pick up the pace. Get 0:50:13.700 --> 0:50:15.379 the pep step going. I've been talking to you for 0:50:15.460 --> 0:50:18.339 years about some stuff. Let's pick up the pace here. 0:50:18.719 --> 0:50:21.020 Make a phone call tomorrow. Do something. 0:50:21.860 --> 0:50:23.440 He's been talking to you for a long time. The 0:50:23.460 --> 0:50:26.980 clock is ticking. The clock is ticking on some of you. 0:50:28.120 --> 0:50:30.399 You know, you've only got a couple decades left. Get 0:50:30.460 --> 0:50:32.250 with it. Do it. 0:50:32.440 --> 0:50:34.819 Just do it. Some of you. 0:50:36.320 --> 0:50:38.780 Because if you want blue skies, you want that joy 0:50:38.800 --> 0:50:42.859 and that freedom and that yes thing, you've got to get. 0:50:42.820 --> 0:50:43.360 In your place. 0:50:43.880 --> 0:50:46.860 You've got to determine that divinely implanted sense of purpose 0:50:47.560 --> 0:50:51.259 and follow it. And then finally, what is God's route? 0:50:51.280 --> 0:50:53.540 What is God's route to this divinely implanted sense of purpose? 0:50:53.900 --> 0:50:55.540 Ultimately, ultimately, it's this. 0:50:55.640 --> 0:50:57.560 Once you're on track, you kind of have determined, yep, 0:50:57.660 --> 0:51:01.620 I'm on. Lord, we are on track. Yay for that. 0:51:02.560 --> 0:51:02.920 Now what? 0:51:03.200 --> 0:51:04.120 Here's how it works. Faithfulness. 0:51:04.140 --> 0:51:09.219 Faithfulness. Now what do you do? This is like really exciting. Faithfulness. 0:51:09.820 --> 0:51:10.620 You just be faithful. 0:51:11.120 --> 0:51:13.160 You be faithful with what God has put in front 0:51:13.200 --> 0:51:15.299 of you, the place he's got you, the doors he's 0:51:15.360 --> 0:51:18.900 opened for you, his divinely implanted sense of purpose. 0:51:18.920 --> 0:51:19.980 You be faithful with it. 0:51:19.989 --> 0:51:24.270 And the Bible says when God counts you faithful, he 0:51:24.310 --> 0:51:26.310 will promote you. He'll take you on to the next step. 0:51:27.010 --> 0:51:28.770 He will put you in the ministry or in the 0:51:28.790 --> 0:51:31.489 vocation or in the destiny or in the calling, the 0:51:31.530 --> 0:51:34.440 next step or the next leg of your journey. And 0:51:34.460 --> 0:51:36.750 I'll tell you what, that That's the way to live life, y'all. 0:51:36.790 --> 0:51:40.110 That's the way to live life. Get on the path. 0:51:41.450 --> 0:51:44.430 Get on it, you know, get to go. And then 0:51:44.469 --> 0:51:48.770 just be faithful with God and just walk the journey. 0:51:48.850 --> 0:51:53.330 And man, I'll tell you, no way to put words 0:51:53.350 --> 0:51:56.569 into that. What are we talking about? We're talking about 0:51:56.710 --> 0:51:59.890 what to do when you feel blue. When the skies 0:51:59.930 --> 0:52:01.600 are not blue for you, what do you do? And 0:52:01.620 --> 0:52:04.799 I think hopefully you've identified maybe a cloud in your 0:52:04.840 --> 0:52:08.020 life that's been clouding things up. And we'll trust God 0:52:08.080 --> 0:52:10.020 over the next five weeks to get into some more 0:52:10.060 --> 0:52:13.060 details on this. And at the end of our series together, 0:52:13.080 --> 0:52:14.460 we are believing, God, that all of us are going 0:52:14.480 --> 0:52:15.779 to have more. 0:52:15.840 --> 0:52:16.700 Fullness of joy. 0:52:16.719 --> 0:52:18.799 Amen. 0:52:18.820 --> 0:52:20.480 We're going to walk in it to a greater degree. 0:52:21.480 --> 0:52:22.359 Praise the Lord. Let's pray. 0:52:23.100 --> 0:52:26.200 Father, thank you so much for your word. Thank you, Lord, 0:52:26.260 --> 0:52:30.120 that your word is true. We eat your word, Lord. 0:52:30.160 --> 0:52:34.239 It's the joy and the rejoicing of our heart. Father, 0:52:34.260 --> 0:52:36.160 we thank you for all that you've spoken to us tonight. 0:52:36.200 --> 0:52:38.060 I pray, Lord, that you'll water all the seeds that 0:52:38.100 --> 0:52:41.300 have been sown. Lord, help all of us to identify 0:52:41.320 --> 0:52:44.060 and isolate these clouds and then to not just be 0:52:44.100 --> 0:52:47.640 hearers of the word but doers also. And we thank you, Lord, 0:52:47.660 --> 0:52:50.300 that we'll be blessed in the doing. We give it 0:52:50.320 --> 0:52:53.070 all to you in Jesus' name and everybody that agreed 0:52:53.120 --> 0:52:55.150 said amen. 0:52:55.210 --> 0:52:55.790 Praise the Lord. 0:52:56.110 --> 0:52:58.149 Let me do this before we go. Let's close with 0:52:58.330 --> 0:53:01.440 one final prayer. Maybe earlier when we talked about that 0:53:01.600 --> 0:53:05.200 cloud of disconnection, not having a relationship with God and 0:53:05.239 --> 0:53:08.489 feeling that sense of disconnect, if that fit you, if 0:53:08.510 --> 0:53:11.210 you've never personally invited Jesus Christ to be the Lord 0:53:11.230 --> 0:53:13.230 of your life, you can't think of a time where 0:53:13.250 --> 0:53:14.890 you ever said, Jesus, come into my life, be the 0:53:14.969 --> 0:53:18.270 Lord of my life, then we'll close with this prayer 0:53:18.290 --> 0:53:20.610 because this will be your chance to go from disconnected 0:53:21.050 --> 0:53:24.570 to connected and let God fill you with his presence. 0:53:25.100 --> 0:53:27.879 in his joy, in a relationship with Jesus Christ, all right? 0:53:27.900 --> 0:53:30.359 So let's pray this together. If this fits you, then 0:53:30.719 --> 0:53:33.060 go ahead and say these words with us, all right? Say, 0:53:33.100 --> 0:53:37.720 dear God, I do believe that Jesus is your son. 0:53:37.739 --> 0:53:42.410 I do believe that you raised him from the dead. 0:53:43.550 --> 0:53:47.450 And I've been disconnected, but today I'm making a decision 0:53:47.469 --> 0:53:54.440 to be connected to you. Jesus, I invite you Come 0:53:54.580 --> 0:53:59.760 into my life. Forgive all of my sins. Lord, make 0:53:59.820 --> 0:54:04.330 me the person you've called me to be. In Jesus' 0:54:04.390 --> 0:54:09.870 name I pray. Amen. So I want to say once again, 0:54:09.890 --> 0:54:13.630 thank you so much for your generosity. It is your 0:54:13.730 --> 0:54:17.530 donations and financial help that enables us to make this 0:54:17.660 --> 0:54:21.980 podcast and all of our resources available for free, taking 0:54:22.040 --> 0:54:24.220 the gospel basics to the whole world. 0:54:24.719 --> 0:54:26.260 So I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. 0:54:26.320 --> 0:54:28.840 I can't wait to see you next time right here 0:54:29.320 --> 0:54:30.510 on The Basics with Beth.