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Transcript

Strengthen The Weak Spots · The Reality Is

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: People would go, hey man, you okay?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm fine.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and in the meantime, you're you're being eaten inside.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the same thing happens spiritually.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: We we we get beat down, we we get caught up in stuff, and instead of just strengthening what is weak, because that's what that command is, we don't let anybody speak into our life.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: We don't let anybody strengthen what is weak in our life.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: We just keep saying, I'm fine.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and that those are some of the most deadliest words that can be spoken.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: The reality.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: When the real life meets real fun.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: The reality.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: When the real life meets real fun.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the reality is podcast, where we're here today to talk about real life and real faith.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: My name is Joey.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: This is Richard, and we want to ask you to do us a favor.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like, subscribe, share this with your friends, and ring the bell so that you don't miss another episode of the Reality Is Podcast.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Today, we are going to be in the third part of a series that we started, talking about building a life that stands and what does that look like?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Last week we were talking about the foundation and the building.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: This week we're going to be talking about, okay, I've got it built.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Look at this.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: I've I've I've built my house.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: But as we said at the end of last week, there are homes that, if they aren't secure, can be broken into.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: There are weak spots that people can find their way to get into.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: So we want to talk about where are people vulnerable in their spiritual life that's allowing the enemy to come in and attack.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: And and for me, sometimes it's not.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: I think you said this probably a year ago, maybe even longer, being in law enforcement.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: You said to me, Joey, it it's the thieves look for the easiest spot.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like they go to, oh, oh, look, there's an open window.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna go there.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like if all the windows were locked, they aren't trying to break it in.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's a ruckus.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: They're causing a ruckus.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's just, oh look, you left a window open.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: So guess what I'm gonna do?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna sneak in.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think spiritually, a lot of us are allowing ourselves to have this open window, and we don't realize that we left the window open.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes we do realize, oh, well, it's a nice breeze out.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna leave this window open.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: And the enemy's just gonna sneak right in and take everything that I've worked so hard to protect.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I know that's a weak physical illustration to something that's serious in our spiritual life, but I'm sure you're gonna be able to break all that down for us and say, here's what we can do to start setting up protections in our lives.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so you're talking about we make it easy for the enemy.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And kind of thinking about our construction theme of our foundation and building our walls.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you move into your new house, and uh one day you you say, This door won't stay open.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: And and so, you know, you kind of it just sort of you open it and it just sort of falls back in and and then you look up and you notice there's a little crack just just above the corner of the door, right?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And and you just ignore it.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: You go, it'll it'll be okay.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: It it's it's not a problem.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what's happening is there's something structurally going on, and and the signs are there that there's something structurally happening, and we're not doing anything about it.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so before long, what would have been a minor fix uh becomes a major renovation.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: And and that is what happens in our spiritual life.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: What what we could address and fix as we go turns into major renovation most of the time.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we talked about that, I think, a couple of weeks ago in the first episode we were talking about this, where I have a leak.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, look, there's a leak happening.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's just a little trip.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, we need to get that fixed, but it doesn't rain.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so you don't see the leak and you forget about it, or you just put it off and then it rains again, and then oh, there's more of a leak happening this time, and then you just keep letting things build up when you should have taken care of it the minute you saw there was a problem.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, and so you're looking and and you're going, okay, well, I've got foundation, you know, I'm faithful in church, but but I struggle with anger at home.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: I know my scripture, but I struggle with pride.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm consistent in my prayer life, but I'm full of bitterness.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I genuinely love the Lord, but I have a habit of temptation that I allow to repeatedly get the best of me.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: These are the structural issues, we're vulnerable in those.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if we don't do something about those, the whole, the whole dwelling will collapse.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have to think about uh what's going on.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so today we want to answer that question about what are you doing to strengthen those areas?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: In Hebrews chapter 12, verses 12 and 13, we read these words Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees, make straight the paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather healed.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then in Proverbs, Solomon writes these words in Proverbs 25, 28, whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you hear those two definitions, one is a weary person that can't keep going, and the other is a careless person that has lost all protection.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: Not doing anything to protect himself.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I guess the real question is where are you in that moment?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like which one are you?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Because you're most likely listening to this right now, and prayerfully you've gone back and listened to the other ones.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: If you haven't, I would definitely tell you, pause right now, go back, listen to one, listen to two, because this is the the third in the series, because you'll have a more honest view of where you're gonna land when you ask those two questions.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so the first question we have to honestly begin to evaluate in ourselves is where am I vulnerable?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, the the Bible's clear that we're not guilty or we're not uh ignorant of Satan's devices, right?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: We we know first Corinthians 2.11 says, you know, right now, Joey, I don't have to tell you where your areas of vulnerability are, right?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: You you know what they are, and and yours and mine are different.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And and so not all of us can say, well, this is the problem, fix it, right?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying we don't share some common, of course, but again, Proverbs 20, 25, 25, and 28.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: If you have no rule over your own spirit, you're like a city with broken down walls.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, understanding that in Solomon's day, walls were not decorative.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right, it serves one purpose.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: That was a matter of life and death.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, right.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you didn't have walls, you you you literally were vulnerable.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and he says, here's here's what your problem is.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: If if you if you have no control over your own spirit, otherwise, if you have no self-discipline in your life whatsoever, he said it's like broken down walls.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: You're just vulnerable to every aspect in your life.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: And the the whole point is building them and and checking them and protecting them because wherever that weak area is, that's where the enemy's gonna get in.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: And we've seen that throughout scripture.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, exactly.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And when he says no control over your spirit, he's talking about the person who is governed by impulses, emotions, appetites, desires, and they just leave themselves spiritually exposed.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because they've developed no discipline in their life.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: Discipline.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's one of those words that we don't like to use often.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: No, it sounds like such a harsh word.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Discipline.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: But when you get into a discipline of doing the things that you know you're supposed to do, and when you're doing good things and you're disciplined about doing the good things, good rewards will come with that.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And and the problem with discipline, especially self-discipline, is I'm really good at pointing out faults in other people.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to, we'll do a podcast and I can point out your faults.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Can we go back and forth?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: But but I've got a list of yours.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I bet you do.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but when it comes to mine, right?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: All good, all clean.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm straight.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it I may not be, but I'm good at clean.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I ain't gonna tell you.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, okay, that may be true, but right?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that may be true for others, but for me, yeah, right.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: I this it's a small area, right?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so we explain it, we justify it, we minimize it, and and and when we do that, there is no discipline whatsoever in our life.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: And this is the part where I think most people are gonna be listening going, well, and I say this all the time.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm all good, I'm all good, I'm straight, I'm good, but you're not.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of you listening right now know you're not good.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: You're not straight.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: And there's an issue that you keep bringing up that we just don't want to deal with.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the problem.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: We don't want to deal with it.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: But if you don't deal with it, you're gonna run into a problem.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, we we we do things such as I don't struggle with anger, I just have a strong personality.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Very strong.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't worry about stuff, I just believe in in looking at every possible avenue before I make a decision.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know those people.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I've been accused of gossip, but I just care about people and I just I just I just want to share what's what's best for them.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we can't pray for them if I don't tell everybody what's going on in their life so we can know how to pray for them.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I absolutely don't have bitterness in my life.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I just haven't forgotten what they did to me.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so it it's explaining a weakness, and that is not the same as strengthening our walk.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's where we're what what we want to do today.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: First Corinthians 10 12 tells us, therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: So if anyone listening, including the one sitting at this table, think we're not vulnerable, then take heed lest he fall.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fall.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: And and the thing about it is, I've said so so often, you are one bad decision away from what you say you'll never be.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: That could be a decision in the past.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when when you look at people on a path that you're looking at and you're going, there is no way I would do that.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhere in their life, there was a decision made that started them on that path.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: They said the same thing.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: How did that I would never do what that person did, and then years later you end up in that same place.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: And now here's somebody's talking to you about what you said you would never do.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: One bad decision.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's all it takes.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: And and when you begin to understand that, you you understand what Paul's saying.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: You better take heed lest you fall.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um when vulnerability isn't always the result of a sinful habit.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and and I want to say that first.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's how we live our life.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: God created these bodies to need certain things, right?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: He created us to need rest, he created us to need honestly recreation, he created us to need healthy diets to eat healthy peanut butter.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's a vegetable.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and so when you stop and you look at that, so I would argue the first vulnerability sometimes, while we could argue that it's sinful to abuse our our bodies, but it it is the fact, for instance, my irritability, my frustration, my lack of control, a lot of those things may just simply be connected to lifestyle.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Joey, we have filled our lives so full today that there is zero margin in our life.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Zero.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and when you have no margin in your life, I'm gonna tell you there's nothing left but irritability.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, there's nothing left but frustration.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I hear you and I agree with you.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: And because I've I've got a calendar stacked up and this and this and that.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we were challenged even at the men's retreat.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, you know, don't just ask somebody how they're doing, but find out what their definition of good is.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: Or what's, hey, I'm fine.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, really?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: What does it mean that you're fine?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, talk to them.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: But we don't have time for any of that.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: We just walk away.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: How you doing?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: Good, great.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: And you just keep on going.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: And even you were saying this, Joey.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: I have been talking about yourself, more intentional about stopping and talking to people.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Good for you.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Up there.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna try though.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna try.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: But and you're talking to a guy who like I like people, like I actually love interacting with people and have, but even I find myself just too busy to sit down and spend time with anybody because of how busy I am.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: And all that busyness is really not doing anything for me.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: So so I would argue the first area of vulnerability that we all need to look at is what have we built into our life?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and now we're gonna get into the spiritual side of it next.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and but I I would I would absolutely say I can't start making spiritual corrections in my life until I address my calendar, until I just say I cannot keep filling my life, even with good things.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because before long, there there's no time for me just to hear from God.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah amen.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: And the only time you get to hear from God is when you take a vacation.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like now, you should be hearing from God every day, and you should really have some time set aside where you are literally in conversation with your father and you are in the word to listen to what the father has to say back to you.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it it I mean, think about it.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't have the only track that people do this with, but like when I a couple of weeks ago I took off a few days, uh, Joy and I to get away.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I got to work twice as hard for two weeks leading up to do everything that would need to be done the week I was here.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And and then I get up every morning and and spend a couple of hours working before we leave the motel room, and people go, Well, you shouldn't do that.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Well, who is going to do it?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: And and and so, but whose fault is that?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and and so that would be my first thing.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's then from there we have to open ourselves to God's correction, amen.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and let him begin to work in our life.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 12, 12, therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you go back to the beginning of Hebrews 12, he begins uh with laying aside the weights that hinder us.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and he gives the picture of a runner and uh a runner that's loaded, and he goes, Lay that aside, put it, put it down, get rid of it.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then he comes up to to verse 12 and he says, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Think of the picture that he's painting for us.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: I know spiritually I've been like that in my life, where I'm I'm just weakening, hands hanging down, I I just don't know what to do.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then, and you say be open to the correction without losing heart.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's key because I have the correction, but I wasn't open to it.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I wasn't willing to hear what that person had to say to me at that time.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: Later on, you look back and you go, hey, what that guy actually said uh was true, it was good advice, and you apply it.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: My my challenge and and what I would say to anybody listening is please don't disregard what the Lord is trying to say to you through correction.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Don't disregard a good, godly brother coming into your life and trying to steer you in the right direction.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Don't be so prideful that you say, I don't need to hear that right now.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm all good.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: You're wrong.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Here's the one you always use.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: You just don't understand.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: Now they do understand.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I know this guy who was speaking into my life understood to a T what I was going through.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: I just didn't want to hear it.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we don't want to hear it because we know they're right.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: And we don't want to admit you're right and I'm wrong.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: Again, it's a prideful thing.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I find myself to this day when I'm trying to help a brother out, explaining to them, look, I'm not just judge, I'm telling you from a place that I have been.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: I've been in your situation.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Somebody came into my life, helped me through it, and now here I am trying to do that with you.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: But it's amazing to see, like me, so I can't get mad at them, but it's amazing to see how they go, man, you just don't get it, man, you don't understand, and they don't want to hear the correction.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it it really boils down to we think more highly of ourselves than we are.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: And scripture warns us about that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I I kind of you know go back to to my former career.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the things that we were part of, some of the things that we saw, it it well, things man shouldn't see, right?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: To put it simple.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And and when you look at that, people would go, hey man, you okay?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good, I'm fine, I'm good, right?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: And and in the meantime, you're you're being eaten inside.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the same thing happens spiritually.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: We we we get beat down, we we get caught up in stuff, and instead of just strengthening what is weak, because that's what that command is, we don't let anybody speak into our life.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: We don't let anybody strengthen what is weak in our life.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: We just keep saying, I'm fine.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: And and that those are some of the most deadliest words that can be spoken.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: And and please don't let pride stop you from just being open to hearing what the Lord wants to say to you.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: We we hide it, we withdraw when we're challenged, and then we become convinced that change isn't possible.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: And and when we develop that, then then we're spiraling and it think about the picture of the runner, arms dangling, feet so heavy, you don't get another foot up.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the warning.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it it is.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And uh sad to say, that's where I let myself get.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: I I allowed myself to think, man, this is never gonna change.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's impossible.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: This is who I am, this is all I know.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: I've never known myself to be anything else.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: And and God has to step in and say, No, that's not who I created you to be.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's a lie, it's a lie from the pit, man.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and you have been fed that lie for so long that you don't believe the truth that the Bible is trying to tell you.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to believe the truth.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, correction is intended to produce growth.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not intended to make us sad.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's intended to grow us.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to, I want you to think about a coach, okay?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and that's a coach in any area of life, whether it's an athletic coach or a professional coach or or whatever.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a good coach doesn't help you by pretending everything is fine.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: A good coach doesn't say, well, you know, uh, your technique isn't much, but they don't take and say, here's how we take a bad technique and survive.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: They say we got to get rid of the bad technique and put the right technique in its place.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I I took golf lessons one time and and and I took one, right?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: And and because I had been playing for for a couple of years and and I I played pretty good.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I I wasn't great, but you know, I carried a bunch of golf balls with the same number on them.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: I never lost a ball.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I could always find mine.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's better than most.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it I went to the golf coach and the golf coach said, Well, the first thing we have to do is work on your swing.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, There's nothing wrong with my swing.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: And he looked at me and he goes, There's nothing right with your swing.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Seriously, right?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're really bad.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: I chalked that up as$80 well spent and left.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Look, he was trying to make me a better golfer.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: But what I had done, Joey, is I had taken bad habits and I had learned to make those bad habits.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Bad habits look good.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I played well enough.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: I again I wasn't on TV, all right, but I played well enough that I could play with most people.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's intended to produce growth and make me better not to take my bad habits and teach me to work with those.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'll use that same golf illustration spiritually.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: I can't play golf for the life of me.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: I swing the thing like a baseball bat.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm terrible.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely terrible.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: But you know what I was good at?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: I could dress the part.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I had the shoes.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: I had the pants.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: I had the oh, oh, and the hat with a little clip on it.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't even know what the clip was for.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm telling you, I went out golfing and I was handed one of those clips to stick on your cap.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, oh, great.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a coin.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, somebody hands you a challenge coin.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, now I've got a golf coin.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Had no idea what they're doing before.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: But boy, I sure look good out there.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: I look good.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I think spiritually, a lot of people can look good at all.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: And have absolutely no idea spiritually how bad you actually are at what you're supposed to be doing.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly, which would tell us, you know what, we can't confuse the conviction of the Holy Spirit with an attitude of hopelessness.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: If the Holy Spirit's putting his finger on you and saying, okay, so you dress the part, now let's live the part.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Instead, we we look at that as hopeless.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we go, well, I can't get better.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you can.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I really couldn't.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give you that.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh well, spiritually I can't.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Spiritually I can't.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Golf, sell your clubs.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, self-control isn't a matter of simply developing a stronger personality.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's a matter of letting the Holy Spirit have control of our life.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's not a matter of me putting more checklists in my life of things I need to do and not do.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's a matter of me establishing boundaries within the work of the Holy Spirit in my life and letting the Spirit of God direct me in those.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so, you know, I have the responsibility to obey, I have the responsibility to make wise decisions, I have the responsibility to establish boundaries.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: But Joey, I can do none of that apart from Jesus Christ.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: You're probably gonna kick me off the air for saying this and say, Joey, I'm never gonna do a podcast with you again.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I am tempted to say, throw away your checklist.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because your checklist is just pointless.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: If all you're doing is checking the list.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, oh, look, I did this.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, look at me, I did this.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: I would say just throw, throw that away.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: And let's get more to a deeper level.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, look, you're not kicking me off.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: Get more to a deeper level of saying, I'm doing this because like there's a spiritual intentionality behind why I'm doing it, not just to check the list off so people can look at me and go, man, look at that brother.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: Man, he went to this.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, look at that.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: Look at that golf outfit.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: Woo! He looks good.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: I bet you that brother can play.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: And they don't know the truth about me.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: Spiritually, we're too dressed up, and we're not digging deep enough to say, okay, I've I've dressed a part, but now am I playing the part?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: No, a hundred percent.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and so it it is where we're at today is we we do we've learned to make it make it look right.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it kind of goes back to the little sayings been around in the in the world, you know, fake it till you make it, right?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And the problem is we try to bring that into spirituality and it just doesn't work that way, right?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: And notice the second thing he says, and make straight paths for your feet, yeah, so that the lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Straight paths for your feet.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: In other words, pay attention to the direction you're walking, right?
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and so when I'm growing in my faith, the enemy's going to be fighting me.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And and if my checklist is is my standard of growth, the enemy doesn't care if I read 10 chapters a day.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: No, he doesn't.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't care.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: No, he doesn't.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: He cares if I read 10 verses and apply one of those.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: He cares about that, right?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so listen, make straight those paths.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Understand, know the direction you're walking.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's so important in what he tells us here.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: The enemy ain't impressed if you know scripture.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Guess what?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: He knows scripture too.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: All the way.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: He ain't even impressed if you believe in Jesus.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: But guess what?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: The demons believe in Jesus too.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what that ain't the key.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's not the point.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: The point is, I believe in Jesus and I've surrendered my life to him, and I am going to change how I live and change what I'm doing.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-oh, now we got a problem.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Now we got a problem.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, exactly.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is where we struggle as Christians.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: We have absolutely no problem admitting something needs to change, right?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: But we're not always willing to make the practical changes necessary.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: We pray for patience, but we continue living schedules that makes patience impossible.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, impossible.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yesterday morning I was up very early and I was out on the highway, and it was it was like 4 30 in the morning.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: I got behind the only 20 mile an hour driver in the entire state of South Carolina.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, I about had a meltdown.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's 4 30 in the morning.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you in a rush to get to?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: I got a better idea.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: Where was he lobbying?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: He had no desire to get in.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, it's early.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing fine.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: If he had time to drive that slow, he had time to stay home 30 more minutes.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: I bet he did.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: But we pray for uh we pray for patience.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: And God puts you in a position to say, okay, here's your opportunity to be patient.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: And what do we do with it?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: This is why I tell people, if you love me, don't pray for patience for me.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's not like, hey, guess what?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: I have patience.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: No, God's going to put you in a position to practice what you prayed for.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: We pray for purity, uh-huh, but then we don't restrict access to things in our life that we know is not going to produce purity.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it it becomes a reality.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: Lord, make me pure, make me holy, make me a man after your own heart.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'll just look at this picture.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just read this.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just this meme is funny.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just watch this show.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: We pray for it, but then we do nothing to grow into it.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: We want freedom from bitterness, but we spend our time rehearsing the way people have treated us.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Oh guilty.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm so guilty.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we all are, right?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: We pray, we we pray for spiritual growth.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: God mature me, make me, make me grow, make me more mature.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I go back to our schedules.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: We leave no room for scripture, no room for prayer, no room for fellowship.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: None at all.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and so here we are.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Eventually we have to ask myself, uh ourselves, are my choices agreeing with my prayers?
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know what?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: If they're not, then then you have to realize that all you're doing is vain repetition at that point.
• 29:46
  unknown: Yeah.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's crazy because you're right, we will pray for these things.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said earlier, God will put you in a position to actually exercise the things that you pray for.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then you go, Yeah, but that's that's not what I wanted.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like that, and and really what you're saying is, God, you didn't answer the prayer the way I wanted you to answer my prayer.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: And no, he's putting you in the position to say, hey, this is what you've prayed for.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm giving you that opportunity to exercise the discipline to do the things that you've been asking for.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: You want spiritual growth?
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, here's your opportunity.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: I'm putting you in a position so that you could grow spiritually.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: My wife says to me this morning, and I know everybody's listening to this is going to be shocked.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: She said, Wow, why were you up so early this morning?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was up at 6 30 this morning.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's shocking to everybody.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: Half the world has already been up to the street.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: You still know that came twice a day, bitch.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: No, I was like, wait, what is this time?
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: In the morning?
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's a 6-3-0 in the morning?
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just one of those things where I said, God, and literally I told her, I said, Well, well, God got me up.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so what did I do?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: I got into my study and I did my Bible study early this morning.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: In instead of the normal when I wake up later.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I said, Well, let me do that.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I was able to spend more time doing it because I had gotten into a new book.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: I started the Book of Haggai this morning, and and so I was able to just take the time.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: So God gave me that opportunity to grow spiritually, and I had a choice.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: At that moment, it was just like 6 30, man, I'm going back to sleep.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: I've got I've got another hour and a half before I'm supposed to be up.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: I know y'all are going, what, Joey?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I had that option.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: What do you do with that option when he gives it to you?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when when God shows us, you know, again, what do we do with that?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: It there there is a there is a place on the parkway.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I grew up up in that area.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so Joey and I were riding a section of the parkway that we've probably ridden, I mean, well over a hundred times, right?
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's and there's this one section and there's a sign that has been there for as long as I can remember that says dip in road, right?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: And and and it it's a warning sign because I'm telling you, it'll throw you off your motorcycle when you hit it.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Man, it's it's not a it's not a dip, it's a crater, right?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, all these years they've identified the problem, but they've done nothing to fix it.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Fix the problem, yeah.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was just gonna ask, well, why haven't they fixed that yet?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: But okay, um there's a lot of questions we could ask, but anyway.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but I want you to think about that.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: The problem is well identified, yeah, but nothing is done to fix it.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in mining your life, the Holy Spirit well identifies the problem.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: Puts the big sign up danger.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: But the Holy Spirit doesn't sit there with a bull whip and slap us every time we we reach for it.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: And and so we have to realize how important that is of what we're doing.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: So recognizing the problem is important, but recognition without action leaves the weakness in place.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I I the action I think is probably the most important thing that you're talking about.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because like like I said, even this morning, I have this opportunity.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: What am I gonna do with the opportunity?
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: And plenty of us have been given these opportunities, led by, I believe, the Holy Spirit doing a work in your life, but not, as you say, forcing you to do anything or stopping you from doing the other thing.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: What's the action that you are gonna take?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's key to I think this whole thing we're talking about.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Hebrews 12 13 ends with, but rather be healed.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: He's talking about that hunter, uh, that that runner that is exhausted, that can't take another step, that is overloaded, that is uh just and then he says, but do this that you might be healed, right?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: When I think about that, sometimes you're the healer, yeah, sometimes you're the one that needs heal.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: And and when we read Galatians 6, 2, he says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ, the law of Christ.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Love God, love others.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, sometimes you get to step into someone's life and be the healer.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you get to walk with them, you you get you get to challenge them, you you get to encourage them.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: You're the healer.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, uh God may have you in a place right now, especially for all those listening to us, that that they have that opportunity to make that phone call, to send that text, to to step into someone's life and and be able to be that healer.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: Galatians 6:1.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: If any man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Think about that word, restore.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're the healer, you know, and and and given that chance to be the healer, how many times do we walk away from that?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: A lot.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a lot.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: And and and I'll I'll admit that there was a season in my life where I loved being able to help others, but when it was my time to receive help, I couldn't accept it.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_02: No, I couldn't accept it.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: And you you bring up a very good point.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we are the healer, sometimes we're the one that needs to be healed.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: You're not always called to do the healing.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: But when you are called to do the healing, and I think that was the question you're getting to, what are you doing with that?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: Are you actually going out?
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: You've been given this opportunity.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: Somebody needs your help, and it's something you know you can do.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: What are you doing with it?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's real scary.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: I I'll never forget.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Brett was in the car with me.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: This was a few years back.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: Rhett and another guy, we were in the car, da-da-da.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I saw a brother on the side of the road.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: I pulled over to help, and they're like, What do you what are you doing?
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: I can't believe you're pulling up.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, the brother needs some help.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why wouldn't we pull over?
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like the hoods lifted, like, you know.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: I grew, I I guess it's dangerous.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: I it can be dangerous.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: But again, what am I putting my my fear or my trust or my hope in?
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: Am I fearing man or am I going, I trust God and God put it on my heart to pull over and help this guy.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: Pull over and help the guy.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: We helped them, everything was fine, no issues.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_02: And they were just like, I can't believe you did that.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: But now when they see those opportunities, I know Lily said to me, Sometimes I'll drive in the car and I think, what would Joey do right now?
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I I know your mechanic and abilities.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so all no, no.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: I all I did was give him the ride.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: All you can do is give the dude a ride.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's all I can do.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not pulling over to help him fix his car.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're not working on the car.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: No, but where do you need a ride?
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was a long walk from anywhere.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: Where can I take you, bro?
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to step into people's lives.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: But like you said, the other side of that is you cannot step into a life if you won't allow anyone to step into yours.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that was my problem.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: I did not allow anybody to come and help me.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_02: No, I'm good.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm good.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm straight.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm fine.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: Fine.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's the word we always use.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: So how do we inspect ourselves?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: And and so let me just give them a couple of questions as as we wrap up.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, ask the question through prayer, letting the Holy Spirit put light on where am I most vulnerable in my life right now?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: What are the what is the area?
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's anger, maybe it's pride, maybe it's honesty, maybe it's bitterness, fear, temptation of some kind, spiritual neglect.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: Don't explain it away.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let the Spirit of God identify it.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then ask the question: what practical step can I take to put a wall around this?
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: What boundary needs to be in place?
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then I would argue the most important follow-up on that is who can I bring into my life to walk with me?
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: I've identified it now.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm establishing the boundary now, but who can walk with me through this?
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say it takes all three, not one.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: I like that.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Strengthening our walls.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about it earlier.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a section where you're talking about if we if we don't, wherever that little crack is, that's where the enemy's gonna get in.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't help but to think about Babylon.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: You probably know exactly where I'm going.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: Babylon, I mean, biggest city, military might, everything's great.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody could do anything against Babylon.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: Until the Persians came and saw, you know what?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: There's a spot right here where the water flows.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's their weak spot.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_02: And what happened?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: One night, boom, taken over.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: Just like that.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: The enemy can do the same thing with us.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: If we aren't spiritually checking those walls and saying, this is where I have a weak spot.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: The enemy's gonna come in wherever that weak spot is, and he's gonna take you down.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it can happen like that.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: And this is the scary part for me.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: You'll never even know it's happening.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: They had no idea.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: They were so secure in their might, and now I take that spiritually.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: We're so secure in our mind and in our hearts.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: Good, straight.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_02: There's no weak spots.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: You haven't identified that there is a weak spot.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: That was Babylon's problem.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't identify there was a weak spot.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so I didn't identify there's this weak spot, and now instantly I've been taken over.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what can happen to you spiritually.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Every time.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: Man, that's scary.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you yeah, it's that time.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Can you just wrap us up real quick, bro?
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, take take us back to the picture we started with.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the the house, you're you're walking through, you notice the small crack.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you ignore it, the the small crack becomes a major problem.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: But if you notice the small crack, and and even if you do have a foundational issue, it's easy enough corrected at that point.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: But the longer you leave it, the more detrimental it becomes.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so as the Spirit of God begins to put his finger on things in your life that have no business being there, as you identify them, don't explain them away, and then begin to bring people into your life that can walk with you through that, now you're developing habits that is going to strengthen your foundation, that's going to strengthen your walls, that's going to take care of those areas that you're vulnerable in.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: We've got to do that.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's an attitude, a habit, a temptation, a relationship in your life that has no business being there.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you'll expose it to God, as the psalmist said in Psalm 139, search me and know my heart and let God do what only God can do.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_02: Any way in me that does not reflect your purity.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I love that.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, guys.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you for listening.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, our next episode, I'm kind of excited about this one because we're going to be talking about preparing for the storm before it comes.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because here's the deal like the reality is nobody knows when the storm is going to come.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll go back to my roof illustration.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know when storms are going to happen, when it was going to come.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: Here's what didn't happen.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't go up on my roof while it was storming to say, oh, let me fix this.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: Let me fix it.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: No, the storm is there.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's already happening and more damage is taking place.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: And so in the next episode, we're going to be talking about how to prepare for the storm during even those difficult seasons in our life because that's when it counts.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: We have got to be prepared for the storm before the storm comes and just destroys our lives.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you so much for listening.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for being a part of the Reality Is Podcast, where we're here talking about real life and real faith.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: Do us a favor, like, subscribe, share this with your friends, and ring the bell so that you will never miss another episode of the Reality Is Podcast.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_02: For now, we'd like to say God bless you and have a wonderful day.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: The reality.