Latest / #Faith4TodayPodcast / Episode 68 of the #Faith4TodayPodcast – Brokenness That Leads to Life

Transcript

Episode 68 of the #Faith4TodayPodcast – Brokenness That Leads to Life · #Faith4TodayPodcast

0:00
What if the thing you are trying to avoid is actually where God
0:03
wants to meet you? In this episode of the Faith for
0:06
Today podcast, we're going to look at Psalm 56 and how broken
0:10
this can become the doorway to real transformation in our life.
0:15
We're going to talk honestly, honestly about humility,
0:17
confession, and why God doesn't overlook our pain.
0:21
Rather, the psalmist tells us that he captures every tear in a
0:25
bottle. If you've been hiding, managing
0:27
your image, or just trying to hold it all together on your
0:30
own, this episode is going to help you to step into the light
0:33
and experience the kind of grace that actually changes your life.
0:39
Are you ready? Let's get into it.
0:45
Hey, Well, welcome to episode 68 of the Faith for Today podcast.
0:49
We're talking about brokenness that leads to life.
0:53
My name is Matthew. I'm your host and I'm really
0:55
delighted that you are joining us today.
0:59
Our hope with the Faithful Today podcast is to help you be
1:03
inspired on Sunday and integrate those truths into a life of
1:08
faithfulness even on a Thursday. So we drop a new episode during
1:13
every midweek following a Sunday message, and I'm going to recap
1:17
that message. I'm going to share a little
1:19
bonus content and respond to some questions that has that
1:23
that people have sent in and man, our, our hope is to really
1:26
help you live a life applying God's word, integrating these
1:31
truths into how you live, how you treat people so that we're
1:35
becoming more and more like Jesus each and every day.
1:37
So now today we're going to talk about brokenness and how
1:41
brokenness can lead us to real life in Christ.
1:47
Brokenness, you know, is something we usually try to just
1:50
avoid altogether. But Psalm 56, we see that it's
1:54
often the very place where God does his deepest work.
1:57
David is on the run. He's living under pressure,
2:01
betrayal, uncertainty is everywhere.
2:03
Yet instead of kind of hardening his heart or retaliating in
2:08
anger, he turns towards God in honesty and trust.
2:13
And I think that's where brokenness now, or that's what
2:16
does when it's surrendered, it kind of strips away the illusion
2:21
of control that we have and it exposes what's really going on
2:25
beneath the surface of our of our heart.
2:27
And in that place we can discover something essential
2:30
about God, that he is gracious, he is trustworthy, and he
2:35
actually cares about the details and the outcomes of our life.
2:40
David says that God keeps track of the tears, that that's not
2:44
some poetic exaggeration, although it is fairly poetic.
2:48
It's I think something that expresses a personal care and
2:52
connection that David had with God and that we can have as
2:56
well. We're going to this becomes the
2:57
moment where kind of the story of self stops working and the
3:02
heart finally is open and ready to receive God's grace.
3:07
I don't think brokenness is the end though.
3:10
I actually think brokenness is really a doorway.
3:12
It's something God uses to form humility, honesty, and a deep
3:17
dependence on on Him. Kind of like a bone that heals
3:22
stronger at the place it was broken.
3:24
God rebuilds us in a way that we wouldn't or couldn't achieve
3:29
kind of on our own. The invitation is to stop
3:31
pretending, stop defending, and start walking in the light of a
3:37
relationship in union with Christ.
3:40
That means learning to confess quickly.
3:43
It means naming what's actually going on on the inside of us
3:46
rather than generalizing it or over spiritualizing it.
3:50
And it helps us to trust God's process even when we're
3:53
uncomfortable. Real relationship with God,
3:55
though, isn't built on some polished appearance of of
3:59
perfectionism or or appearing like we have it all together.
4:02
It's actually built on honest surrender and and when we live
4:06
that way, we don't just get through brokenness.
4:09
We're actually transformed and made new by it.
4:14
That's where we can find rest for our souls, just like Jesus
4:19
promised. All right, let's get to a little
4:20
bit of bonus content in in Psalm 56, we see David ask God to be
4:27
gracious to him. Now graciousness is kind of one
4:30
of the key characteristics of God that he is kind.
4:32
He is gracious to us that that that he his favor shows on us.
4:38
I've done a ton of teaching over the years on especially in the
4:41
last three years about how grace is the Holy Spirit at work in
4:46
us. That it's, it's the very thing
4:47
that we need. It transforms who we are.
4:49
And so, so one of the ways that God is gracious to us or he
4:52
gives us grace is by putting his favor on us.
4:55
And the thing that favors us or that that makes us favored is
4:59
actually the allows his abiding presence of his Holy Spirit to
5:02
fill our lives all through Scripture.
5:05
Favor of God looks like God's Spirit working in and on behalf
5:10
of people. In other words, So when we have
5:12
the Holy Spirit working on us, resting on us, and working on
5:17
who we are, well then that's the favor of God in our lives.
5:20
Like his favor towards us is his face and his presence shining
5:25
towards us. Like this is what grace and
5:27
God's graciousness is. Now one of the ways that God was
5:31
gracious towards David, we see in the Scripture is actually
5:36
that God brought people around David in his moment of distress,
5:41
in his moment of, of being on the run, in his moment of, of
5:44
pain. Like God brought people around
5:46
David. And I think that's one of the
5:47
ways that God is gracious to us that that God brings the right
5:50
people at the right time for the right reasons to come along to
5:54
help us walk in the right purpose of God for our lives.
5:58
And I really do believe that that that is true, that God
6:00
brings people to us as a way of being gracious to to us.
6:05
In First Samuel 22, we see a kind of of a summary intro of of
6:12
some elements of David's life. It says this it says so David
6:16
left Gath and took refuge in The Cave of a doodle.
6:20
So this is actually like right after David wrote Psalm 56.
6:26
Psalm 56 was while he was on the run and running to Gath from
6:32
from King Saul. And then what we find here in
6:34
Psalm 22 or a first Samuel 22 is David now has left Gath.
6:38
So so this is sometime after he wrote Psalm 56 and the very
6:42
first thing he asked God in Psalm 56 was be gracious to me.
6:46
So now we pick up for Samuel 22 says so David left Gath and took
6:50
refuge in The Cave of Abdullah. When David's brothers and his
6:55
father's whole family heard, they went down and they joined
6:59
him there. In addition to that, every man
7:03
who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him
7:10
and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him.
7:14
Now Fast forward. The men that gathered with David
7:18
became like these mighty men of valor and war.
7:22
Like we'll see some amazing stories as we read in Samuel and
7:27
Chronicles about David's mighty men and their exploits.
7:31
Like they were favored by God in a really unique way that God
7:34
allowed them to beat, beat giants, overcome random and
7:39
weird compelling like overwhelming circumstances.
7:44
One man beat thousands of others.
7:46
Like it's just amazing what God did through these mighty men.
7:50
But notice how it describes them.
7:52
They were desperate, they were in debt and they were discontent
7:58
in life and they rallied around him.
8:01
And I think it's interesting, you see these are the people
8:04
that God sent David. Now on the surface, it looks
8:06
like these men are like nothing. They are rejects.
8:08
They're it's the island of misfit toys gathering around
8:12
David. But but it's not God turned
8:14
these men who were desperate, these men who were in debt in
8:17
their life and these men who were discontent with all things.
8:21
They rallied around David, and because they rallied around
8:24
David, pursuing what David was pursuing and honoring David and
8:27
serving David and serving that cause, like God built something
8:31
mighty out of these men. Something happened in them as
8:36
they participated in this thing. It sounds really similar, these
8:42
descriptions of these men. It just sounds eerily similar to
8:46
Jesus saying blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the
8:50
me, they inherit the earth. Blessed are those who mourn for
8:54
they will be comforted. Like like this description of
8:58
that Jesus gives of the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5.
9:01
Kind of sounds really similar to me to these men who were rallied
9:05
around David, these men who came to David, who were broken, who
9:09
were disheartened, who were disillusioned and something
9:13
transformed formed in their life as they rallied together.
9:17
I think there is something about coming together with people in
9:20
the midst of our not in our success, but in the midst of
9:24
like the hard times and the challenges that rally together
9:28
that somehow reawakens in us this call of God and life of God
9:34
in US. It's it's transformative.
9:36
And that's what Jesus promises in in Matthew chapter 5 in the
9:39
Sermon on the Mount right and the beatitudes.
9:41
Blessed are you in other words, fortunate.
9:43
Are you like happy? Are you going to be you're going
9:46
to experience the God life when you are desperate and dead, when
9:51
you're poor in spirit, when you're hunger and thirsting for
9:54
righteousness, when when there's a a discontent inside of you
9:58
where you can't stand the evil around you and you have to see
10:01
righteousness prevail like you hunger and thirst for that
10:03
righteousness, you're going to be filled.
10:05
And so I just I can't get around this idea that that God sent
10:09
these men to David and and they were outcast.
10:11
They, they look like nothing, but yet their heart in their
10:15
disposition LED them to a place of desperation and dependence on
10:20
God that reawakened them alive in them and made them fully come
10:25
alive into who they are. Which is how we have to come to
10:27
God. We have to come to God in the
10:30
moment of desperation, in the moment of our debt and our
10:33
discontent, and in our acknowledgement that we are
10:36
helpless to help ourselves, that we cannot save ourselves, we
10:39
cannot get ourselves out of this, that we need God no matter
10:43
how successful we might appear on the outside.
10:46
And we still need to be desperate and hunger for God.
10:49
And Jesus is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
10:53
will be filled. And that's the humility we need.
10:58
And that's how our brokenness leads to some beautiful blessing
11:01
of God in our lives. And we talked about how Jesus
11:05
invites us. He he says in Matthew 11, we
11:07
looked at this verse where where Jesus describes himself as lowly
11:11
and humble. But the invitation of Jesus was
11:14
come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden.
11:17
In other words, come to me, all of you who are desperate, who
11:20
are in debt, who are discontent in life, come to me and I will
11:25
give you rest there. There is a restoring orative
11:28
nature to relationship with Jesus.
11:31
Please hear me. There is a restorative renewing
11:34
nature result when you are in rich communion and right
11:39
relationship with Christ. This is the invitation there.
11:43
There's this question that we use, I use with my staff to kind
11:50
of reflect and, and we do these one on ones kind of every every
11:55
eight weeks, 10 weeks or so. And one of the questions that we
11:59
reflect on personally, just kind of where we're at kind of just
12:02
check INS that we do is this question that says, I know I'm
12:06
resting in God when. And then there's a list of kind
12:10
of characteristics or, or or life experiences or descriptions
12:16
that they kind of select from. Like, Hey, this is true of me
12:19
right now. I know I'm resting in God when
12:21
and this list came from speed Pete Schizero And he he's
12:26
written a ton of stuff about emotionally healthy spirituality
12:30
and leadership and all these things.
12:32
It's great, great, great resources.
12:35
But but he, he says this. I know I'm resting in God when
12:39
and then he gives this list when I'm enjoying communion with
12:42
Jesus even in the midst of disappointments and storms.
12:45
I know I'm resting in God when I'm experiencing a lack of
12:47
anxiety in my body when I'm not. I'm not doing for others what
12:52
they can and should do for themselves.
12:54
I know I'm resting in God when I'm maintaining my rhythms of
12:57
being with Jesus and seasons of great pressure.
13:01
I know I'm resting in God when I'm less and less triggered when
13:06
things go awry. I'm resting in God when I know
13:10
I'm resting in God when I am present to the beauty and wonder
13:13
of those who are around me. I know I'm resting in God when
13:17
I'm enjoying a deep sense of knowing that I have nothing to
13:21
gain and nothing to lose. I only want God's will.
13:26
Another one is I know I'm resting in God and when I'm
13:30
experiencing deep contentment and caring for people around me.
13:35
Another one is I know I'm trusting in God when I'm
13:39
receiving God's gifts of limits rather than fighting, ignoring,
13:42
or denying them. I know I'm resting in God when
13:46
I'm discerning and embracing the season in which God has placed
13:49
me. These are our great kind of
13:52
articulations of what it looks like for us to be resting and
13:56
God. Remember, Jesus says come to me
13:59
and I will give you rest for your souls.
14:01
The way we come to him is with humility.
14:03
For, for me, one of the, the real indicators that I, I know
14:08
and, and it's kind of represented in some of these
14:10
lists that, that I just read. But for me, I know I am at rest
14:14
in God when I am humble and I'm being honest.
14:18
I am not at rest when I'm trying to be less than honest, when I'm
14:24
trying to cover up things, when I'm, I'm trying to pretend when
14:27
I'm trying to put on an air or or, or or or pose.
14:30
I but I also know I'm not at rest when I'm walking in pride.
14:34
Pride kind of disrupts who I am, but when I'm willing to be
14:37
humble and when I'm walking with humility, when I'm walking and
14:40
honesty, man, I know I can be at rest in God.
14:43
I, I, I don't get triggered. I this list is very true of me.
14:47
I think this list that I just read, kind of rewind it, play it
14:50
back, if you will. I want you to think about that
14:53
for your life. Where do you see these
14:58
characteristics, these these descriptors true in your life?
15:03
I think that might be an indication of where you need to
15:07
find rest or where you have found rest in God.
15:13
Again, I love this list because it really makes us think more
15:16
about like, what does rest in God look like in our daily
15:20
lives? It looks like having communion
15:23
even though you're disappointed. It looks like having less
15:26
anxiety in your body. It looks like you're able to
15:30
maintain a rhythm of being with Jesus daily, even when you're
15:35
under pressure to get stuff done.
15:37
It looks like resting God looks like it it, It is when you are
15:42
present to the beauty and the wonder of the people around you,
15:45
When you are embracing the people around you and you're
15:47
like, there's such beautiful people.
15:49
There's such wonderful people rather than annoyed by them and
15:52
frustrated by them and avoiding people like you're enjoying
15:56
being with some of the people in your life doesn't mean no again,
16:00
we're like, well, I'm an introvert.
16:01
That's great. Introverts still have people in
16:03
their life. They just don't have as many
16:05
people in their life. And again, introvert and
16:08
extrovert is more about how we recharge, not how we live our
16:12
life. So I think sometimes we think
16:14
I'm an introvert. I don't need people at all.
16:16
That's not true. You just don't need to be around
16:19
people in order to recharge. You recharge so that you can be
16:23
back around people and experience the fullness of life
16:25
there. Extroverts, they just don't need
16:27
people. They need to be around people
16:29
and recharge before they can get by themselves and experience
16:32
solitude, right? So, so we need both sides of
16:35
that. And so resting in God looks like
16:39
a life being flourished in some way.
16:41
And so how do you know if you're at rest in God?
16:45
What are the things of this list that I read that are true of you
16:48
at least at least 75% of the time?
16:51
And then then you're kind of living in a a large majority of
16:55
your time and resting in God. What does it look like for you
16:59
to be rested in God? You know, for me, one of the key
17:03
things is that I'm humble, I am honest, and I am unhurried.
17:07
Those are the things for me that I know this is an indication I'm
17:11
at rest with God. In fact, I, I, I want to, I want
17:16
to say this, that one of the things that helps me grow humble
17:22
and honest is when I experience a healthy kind of brokenness.
17:26
This, this idea that we're talking about, that brokenness
17:29
leads to something of life. In fact, healthy brokenness
17:32
usually looks and leads to humility.
17:37
Healthy brokenness leads to repentance.
17:40
It leads to honesty. It leads to our surrender.
17:45
It leads to more compassion for others.
17:48
It leads to a freedom from image management, and it leads to
17:53
deeper intimacy with God. Think about a piece of stained
17:58
glass. How it how it begins as
18:00
something broken and shattered. See, before it becomes a
18:03
beautiful window, it it is first shattered into many fragments.
18:07
It's broken sharp edges, irregular pieces of nothing.
18:12
That seems useful on its own, but if you look at each piece
18:16
shattered across the table, it would seem like just massive
18:19
damage. But in the hands of an artist,
18:23
every broken piece is organized, arranged, fit into a greater
18:28
design. What once looked ruined becomes
18:31
the very thing that allows light to shine through in breathtaking
18:36
ways. The cracks and jagged edges
18:38
aren't hidden, they actually become part of something
18:41
beautiful. That's often how brokenness
18:43
works in our spiritual lives. God takes these shattered
18:47
places, our failures, our griefs, our disappointment, our
18:51
sins and our losses, and instead of just kind of discarding us,
18:56
He redeems those very fragments and puts them together into
19:00
something that can reflect His light more clearly than ever
19:05
before. Sometimes God doesn't shine the
19:08
brightest through the parts of us that are that stayed Polish,
19:12
but rather through the places where grace had to piece us back
19:17
together again. And I think that's what God does
19:20
with our brokenness, turns us into a mosaic of stained glass
19:24
to beauty where his light shines through us.
19:27
We said this that humility is practiced every time we choose
19:31
truth over image, confession over control and growth over
19:35
self protection. And I and I mentioned in the
19:38
sermon how we need to practice quick confession and we need to
19:42
begin to just name emotions truthfully, like we just need
19:45
to, to get, we don't need to be superficial about it.
19:48
We just need to be able to say, Hey, I'm jealous.
19:50
Rather than blaming circumstances, we just need to
19:53
acknowledge the root is like, hey, I'm, I just don't feel like
19:57
I belong right now. And I feel jealous right now
19:59
where I'm really angry and upset.
20:02
I am, I'm hurt. Like we need to get to the root
20:05
and name those things truthfully.
20:08
But another element of this, I think is that we need to be
20:12
willing to invite honest feedback.
20:14
That's what humility is. It invites honest feedback.
20:17
Pride has a way of isolating us, but humility invites
20:20
perspective. So I think we need to give
20:23
trusted people permission to speak into blind spots that we
20:27
have on our. Lives maybe a spouse, a close
20:29
friend, a mentor, A-Team member, a pastor even.
20:35
And we need to be able to ask them simple questions like, hey,
20:38
how do I come across to you when I'm under pressure and stress?
20:43
How do I act in that way? Just listen for the feedback.
20:46
Maybe you need to ask questions like where do you see ego
20:51
motivating me and driving me right now?
20:55
What do I not see about myself that you think I need to see?
21:00
What am I missing here? I think that kind of feedback,
21:04
that kind of invitation that you give other people that are
21:07
trusted, then I think that helps give you perspective.
21:10
We need to invite that kind of feedback into our life.
21:13
See, honesty has a way of deepening when others expose
21:17
what we normalize. In other words, we can get more
21:20
honest about ourselves when others help expose what we've
21:25
kind of grown normal to. Or we we just think it's just
21:27
normal life, but maybe it's not. I think another thing that we
21:32
can do to be honest and humble is to replace image management
21:37
with vulnerability. This is a big one, especially
21:41
for in my life, in my world, I don't want to just share
21:44
victories, but I want to be willing to share where I
21:47
struggle. I want to share where I feel
21:49
limited. I want to share a need.
21:52
I'm not good at that. But when I can share a need,
21:55
share a limit, share a struggle, I'm practicing and engaging in
21:59
being, being vulnerable, I think that's necessary.
22:02
It's an act of humility and honesty.
22:05
That doesn't mean that we over share with everyone, but it does
22:08
mean I think that we have to refuse to build our life just on
22:12
the appearance of perfection or success.
22:16
I think a healthy habit is to tell the truth about your
22:20
process, not just your outcomes. A lot of people will see the
22:24
outcomes of your life, but they don't see the process and the
22:27
progress that you went through to get to that outcome.
22:30
They'd be willing to share the process.
22:32
I love in a couple friends that I have, they always are asking
22:36
me about my process. They're like, hey, I like I know
22:38
that you do this and you live this way, but like, how did you
22:41
get there? Like what was that?
22:43
Like? How do you know that you're
22:45
hearing God's voice, Sir? How did you know this or know
22:47
that? And they're asking process
22:49
questions. And I am willing to share my
22:52
process, the failures, the struggles, the tension, the
22:55
victories that led to certain outcomes that that I have.
22:59
Another way that I think we can practice honesty and humility is
23:03
that we we learn to serve in ways that get no applause.
23:07
Humility grows when you consistently do meaningful
23:11
things that bring you no recognition.
23:14
I think Jesus speaks to this about serving and giving and
23:17
doing things in secret not to be noticed by people but because
23:21
it's the right thing to do and you're actually trying to care
23:23
and love for people. So maybe do an unseen act of
23:28
service for someone where nobody notices.
23:30
Encourage someone privately instead of just publicly helping
23:35
without announcing it, from doing tasks beneath your status,
23:39
letting others get the credit for something that you
23:42
contributed largely to. I think these things kind of
23:46
retrain our soul from applause addiction because we're addicted
23:50
to applause. We're addicted to recognition.
23:53
We all want to win and be seen unsuccessful in other people's
23:57
eyes. And so especially in a day of,
24:00
of curated images and social media and highlight reels of
24:05
celebration of the good moments, I think we need to, to, to allow
24:09
ourselves to do things unseen and unpublicized that actually
24:14
benefit not us, but they benefit someone else without us drawing
24:19
attention to it. It's kind of like I washed the
24:22
dishes at home. I, I want to make sure my wife
24:24
notices that I did the thing or, or that I, I helped her out with
24:29
something where I lightened her load.
24:31
That's to me because I have an ulterior motive, but also just
24:34
for fun. Sometimes I just do that.
24:36
But man, what, what would it do? What would it matter if she
24:39
doesn't see it, doesn't recognize it, doesn't even
24:42
notice or say thank you, but I still do it anyways.
24:45
Well, I think that's an act of real humble service.
24:49
I I think also another way we can practice honesty and
24:52
humility is to slow down our defensiveness.
24:56
Like pay attention to your first reaction when you get corrected.
25:00
Is your instinct to explain, to blame, to shift responsibility
25:04
somewhere else, to compare your life to someone else's life and
25:08
make them feel worse than what you've done?
25:10
Do you try to justify your actions or wrongdoing?
25:14
I think you just need to pause and ask instead.
25:17
What if this criticism contains something true?
25:20
Kind of eat the meat, spit the bones.
25:23
I think our defensiveness kind of betrays us.
25:27
Our defensiveness really does reveal our pride and humility.
25:33
Gives you a moment to pause and acknowledge where a where you're
25:39
off course where you you've done things instead of shit blaming,
25:43
explaining away justify. We just need to sit with it.
25:47
Be willing to hold on to it for a little bit.
25:49
Give yourself 24 hours of reflection before you give
25:53
excuse. Give yourself 24 hours of
25:55
reflection before you give explanation.
25:58
Give yourself 24 hours before you give a rebuttal or or
26:01
explain why it happened that way.
26:03
Just sit with it for 24 hours. Sit with the correction, take it
26:07
in. And then I think that's what
26:10
perhaps James is after when he says be quick to listen, slow to
26:16
speak, and slow to get angry. So what if that applies to our
26:20
correction? Someone corrects us, they give
26:22
us feedback, it hurts, we don't like it.
26:25
Instead of being defensive, instead of feeling entitled,
26:28
instead of getting angry, what if you just sit with it for 24
26:30
hours, Give it 24 hours before you respond, before you try to
26:35
explain, before you anything, just sit with it and ask God to
26:40
show you the truth in the correction or the truth and what
26:44
they they shared. And then finally, I think one of
26:47
the ways that we stay humble and we stay honest is we just stay
26:50
close to grace. The safest people to be honest
26:55
around are those rooted in God's grace, Those who know that God
26:59
loves us, that got us for us, that he forgives us, and that
27:02
he's with us. That that that we are all in
27:05
process, but we're in process of growing towards him.
27:09
Not in process of repeating unhealthy patterns, but rather
27:12
that we're all in process trying to become more like Christ.
27:16
See, when people know our identity is secure in God, they
27:20
no longer need to protect themselves constantly.
27:22
So, So when I know that my identity, my sonship, that I'm
27:26
loved by God, I'm accepted that God has already pre decided to
27:29
forgive my sin. I don't have to hide, I can be
27:33
honest. I don't have to protect myself
27:34
from punishment because God is loving and caring and there
27:38
might be some correction, but it's going to produce something
27:41
good inside of me. He he's not trying to punish me
27:44
to to, to to remove me from a relationship, No head actually
27:47
is to bring me closer into proximity to him.
27:51
And I think the people who act that way respond that way and
27:54
live that way. They're the people that we want
27:56
to grow close to. I think that's why humility and
27:59
honesty flourish. When people regularly remember
28:04
we, we regularly remember that we're loved, that we're
28:06
forgiven, we're still being formed, and that we do not need
28:10
to be stronger than we really are because God's grace is made
28:15
perfect in our weaknesses. I think the last thing on that I
28:21
want to say is one of the reasons we want to become honest
28:25
and not and not just humble. We want to be humble and we want
28:28
to be honest is so that we can receive his presence, his grace.
28:32
We already we read the Scripture that God resists the proud, but
28:35
he'll give grace to the humble. I think honesty is a part of
28:39
that process. In fact, Jesus says that we will
28:43
worship him in spirit and in truth.
28:46
We worship Him in spirit, which is His grace that we receive
28:49
through humility and truth, which is our honesty.
28:54
Honesty is not just truly stating what we believe, it's
28:58
stating something that is true. Please hear me.
29:02
Honesty is not just truly stating something that we
29:06
believe, it's actually stating something true.
29:12
In other words, I think many people speak what they honestly
29:16
think or they honestly believe. The problem is what if what we
29:22
think, what we feel, and what we believe is rooted in a
29:26
deception? It's skewed to our own
29:30
understanding or our protection. What what if what we think, what
29:34
we feel, what we believe just isn't actually true?
29:40
I'm not saying it doesn't feel true.
29:41
I I'm not saying that it doesn't have elements of lived
29:44
experience. I'm just saying, what if it's
29:46
not actually true? What if it's just our
29:51
perception? What if it's just our rehearsed
29:55
mental skin schema? What we're where we've kind of
29:59
built these neural patterns and pathways that are well rehearsed
30:03
in this way? What what if it's not really
30:05
that bad, but we are making it out to be that bad?
30:11
I think that's why James tells us God's word is meant to be a
30:15
mirror, because we can easily deceive ourselves.
30:20
We can easily begin thinking about our own truth rather than
30:22
coming to the Scripture and say this is actually what God says
30:26
is true. I think we have a tendency to
30:29
hear God's word taught. I don't know if you're like
30:31
this, but like man, you hear hear a message and you're like,
30:34
man, I really hope Blank is here to hear this or I'm really glad
30:38
so and so is at church today because they need this word,
30:41
right? What are we doing?
30:43
We are holding up kind of a magnifying glass to someone
30:46
else. Rather than letting God's word
30:48
that we're hearing right now be a mirror to our soul.
30:50
What if instead we're like God, What are you telling me in this
30:53
message? Where do I need to humble
30:55
myself? Where do I need to get more
30:56
honest? Where do I need to receive
30:58
feedback? Where have I been operating in
30:59
pride? Like rather than thinking about
31:01
other people, what if we just said, God do a work in my heart
31:05
on this and we just worked on on, on us.
31:08
What if we stopped deceiving ourselves thinking like, man,
31:10
I've been walking with Jesus a long time.
31:12
I've heard this kind of message before.
31:13
Somebody else needs to hear this one today.
31:16
No, what, what is it God's trying to say to say to us?
31:18
See, before I ever preach God's word, I have to apply it to
31:22
myself. So I saw someone use this
31:26
illustration. It was Wayne Cordero.
31:28
He said, you know, oftentimes ministers fall, ministers
31:31
stumble. Ministers don't do the right
31:34
thing. They don't live up to what what
31:37
it is that they're supposed to do.
31:38
Because what they do is they just kind of keep searching the
31:42
scriptures to feed people. They just search it and give out
31:45
the word, search it and give out scripture, search it and give
31:48
out scripture. But what we're supposed to
31:50
actually do is search the Scripture, put it in our heart
31:53
and then share with others. Supposed to get the scriptures
31:56
and preach to ourselves, integrate it ourselves and then
32:00
share it with others. This is what I want to do in my
32:03
life. I want to be somebody that
32:05
preaches to myself more than I preach to others.
32:08
I want to integrate it into my life more than I integrated into
32:10
other people's lives. And I think honesty helps us to
32:14
do that. To be honest, not just about
32:16
what I think, what I believe, what I, what I, what I feel, but
32:20
actually be honest about what God says is true and what God
32:23
says is true about me. And let God's word be a mirror
32:27
reflecting back at me rather than living in self deception
32:30
all the time. And at the end of the day, when
32:33
we practice confession, we are practicing a posture of of
32:38
humility and we are speaking honestly of ourselves.
32:42
And confession in that way is how we walk in the light of
32:47
loving relationship with Jesus. All right, let's get to a few
32:51
questions and responses today. Here's the first question.
32:55
It says believers are to be people after God's own part.
32:58
With deep love and commitment to him, pursuing his values, and
33:02
confessing our sins with genuine repentance, we can be faithful
33:06
to God despite our imperfections and failures.
33:08
Could you please explain this disconcerting scenario though,
33:12
between a heart that deeply loves God and occasional
33:16
spiritual failures? Is it simply because we are
33:18
frail human beings? I think I mean, we are frail
33:24
human beings and we live in a fallen world that pulls us
33:28
towards the the world and it's a strong pull.
33:32
It's a normal pull. We all experience this pull to
33:35
do what we want to do or what is right in our own eyes to live by
33:39
our own way of knowledge and good of if evil not not just by
33:44
by knowing God. We want to live by knowing
33:46
ourselves. And, and so I think a lot of
33:48
times we live self-centered and we live for selfish things
33:52
because it's just the natural pull of the world.
33:54
It's the magnetic pull of the world around us.
33:58
And so there is a normalcy to it.
34:01
At the end of the day, we need to remember that part of what
34:04
God does in giving us is righteousness and adopting us
34:07
and giving us a new heart is he's giving us a new operating
34:10
system. He's giving us a new set of
34:12
desires to like want to follow God.
34:14
So I think the the danger lies when we stop wanting to follow
34:19
God and we only want to follow our sin.
34:24
I think there's a difference between being a slave to sin and
34:28
struggling with sin. Struggling with sin, I think is
34:30
part of the Christian experience that one day that struggle will
34:35
be gone when God renews all of the world and we're we're
34:39
together with him forever. But until that day comes, there
34:43
is a struggle on this side of, of eternity.
34:46
And we we need to just recognize that because we struggle, we
34:52
also need to be honest in our repentance.
34:55
We need to be quick in our confession that we we can
34:58
receive forgiveness, bringing it into the light rather than
35:01
pretending it's not there. And so when we pretend like we
35:05
don't struggle, we pretend like we're above sin, We pretend like
35:08
it's not an issue at all. Well, I think that's when we
35:11
start to deceive ourselves and we can fall into, fall into the
35:13
traps. But part of the the reason
35:16
though that we sin is because we were, we're well practiced at
35:21
it. One of the reasons you keep
35:23
going back to old ways of kind of sabotaging or your own ways
35:28
of satisfying yourself or old habits or sinful patterns or
35:32
wrong reactions or control or, or animosity and anger in is
35:38
because we're well practiced in that arrogance.
35:40
We, we've got a lot of muscle memory built up in responding
35:44
that way, in acting that way in on treating others that way.
35:48
So we have to build muscle memory in another.
35:51
We, we have well worn pathways in our mind to think that way.
35:55
So we have to create new ruts in our mind, new new train tracks
35:59
to go on, to think different, which is why the Bible tells us
36:03
to renew our mind, to meditate on God's word, to put into
36:06
practice the way of Jesus, to, to do what Jesus did, not just
36:11
believe what Jesus did, but do some of the things Jesus did.
36:16
And, and that's because there is a struggle and attention and a
36:19
pull back towards the, the, the way of living that isn't
36:23
healthier or holy. So yes, we will have like
36:26
failures at times, but that doesn't mean that it's
36:30
unforgivable or that we're wrong or that God is like so deeply
36:34
disappointed that he's disowning us.
36:37
God doesn't disown us. I do think we can reject him.
36:40
I do think we can dull our hearts to the point where we
36:43
don't even desire him anymore. That's a problem.
36:47
But, but I, but I think most of us, we desire God.
36:51
We just have built systems and built a strategic behaviors that
36:58
produce unholy results. And so we need to build systems
37:04
how structures create patterns of living that help us produce
37:08
more holy results. And so it really comes down to a
37:12
practiced life in the patterns of our life then just simply are
37:16
we good and are we bad? It's not that we're bad, it's
37:19
just that our systems are broken systems are delivering behaviors
37:24
that are trying to get us to meet a need that we can't meet
37:28
on our on our own. So it's OK.
37:31
It struggling with sin as part of it.
37:34
That's what the apostle Paul system and things I don't want
37:36
to do like I do and the things that I want to do, I don't do
37:39
like like man, what is going on on the inside of me.
37:43
Oh, wretched man that I am, and he, he's recognizing, listen, I
37:47
am a St. I'm forgiven, I'm restored.
37:49
I am righteous in Christ. My identity is a St. in God.
37:52
But man, oh man, do I still have a pull to the old pattern of
37:57
living. The reason it's a pull is
37:59
because it's a pattern. So we have to change our
38:01
patterns to lessen the pull. Here's the next question.
38:07
Can you explain the difference and effects of lament, venting
38:12
and confession to another believer?
38:15
Yeah, these these three things are, are part of our life.
38:18
And some are healthy and some are not healthy.
38:21
And here's kind of what what I mean.
38:26
I talked about how venting typically leads us to a place of
38:28
slander and inventing really isn't something that we see in
38:34
the Bible to another person near as much as it is something that
38:38
we do towards God. In fact, when venting edges to
38:42
slander or complaining against God or complaining against
38:45
something, God takes those things very serious.
38:48
Like complaining is mentioned as one of those sins that God
38:52
Israel not to inherit the Kingdom of God.
38:54
And, and Paul is letting us know like, listen, if you keep
38:58
complaining about things like you're going to erode the
39:01
goodness in your soul. You're going to live yourself
39:05
somewhere. Why is complaining such a big
39:06
deal? Ultimately, complaining is is
39:10
expression of arrogance in our hearts and arrogance is pride,
39:17
and pride keeps us resisting God's grace and God's grace from
39:23
getting in. And ultimately pride,
39:26
complaining, slander, all of it comes back to almost every sin.
39:32
I said it last week, but almost every sin we commit comes back
39:38
to, at its root, unbelief or a disbelief in God Himself.
39:44
So. So venting is a big deal.
39:45
So when I say venting, I mean ranting about problems and our
39:50
hearts are often complaining or slanderous about other people.
39:54
In other words, it's not so much the situation, but it's the
39:57
people behind the situation that that it's the other play actors
40:02
in the situation that we vent about more than the actual
40:06
situation itself. See, Ventiling normally is all
40:09
about. The other person all about their
40:12
faults and not normally about our own angst, our own pain, or
40:16
our participation in it. So we try to paint the other
40:20
person in a wrong or condemning light.
40:23
That's venting. Lament, though, is expressing a
40:27
pain, expressing A difficulty as it impacts us.
40:33
It's casting our cares to God and receiving care from God and
40:37
receiving care from from others. So to lament is to articulate a
40:42
situation and an experience in a way that that highlights its
40:48
impact on us rather than condemns the other person's
40:53
faults. See, typically when we vent,
40:56
we're condemning other people's faults.
40:59
We are not sharing its impact on us.
41:02
Lament is to share and express the pain, the difficulty, the
41:07
impact that something is having on us.
41:11
It's being honest about us. It's lamenting and casting our
41:16
cares, the things that we're carrying, the burdens that the
41:19
weight, the pain, the angst that we're experiencing to God and
41:23
sharing it with other people. And they're holding space for
41:26
that lament. They're letting us be cared for
41:29
by God and by their response and their loving presence, they are
41:34
caring for us. That is biblical lament that
41:38
always helps restore hope, not helps us wallow in pity.
41:44
Lament restores our hope. It does not keep us wallowing in
41:48
pity, venting, complaining, slander that leads us to
41:53
wallowing in pity and pain, not restoring our hope.
41:58
That's the difference. And then confession, on the
42:00
other hand, is rightly speaking about our actions and our
42:05
motives. So lament kind of expresses the
42:08
pain and difficulty of something that's impacting us.
42:11
Confession is rightly speaking about our actions, our motives
42:15
in a scenario, in a moment, it's unveiling our wrongs to God or
42:21
to others. It's it's about confessing our
42:24
actions, our attitudes or our desires that aren't really God
42:29
honoring things that are amiss or awry.
42:32
We present those as we have confession.
42:35
That is, by the way, I believe the New Testament equivalent to
42:41
bringing a guilt offering in the Old Testament again, Romans 12
42:45
offer your bodies as the living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
42:48
the Lord. So everything in the old
42:52
covenant that was primarily about people bringing a
42:55
sacrifice, people doing something sacrificial, I believe
43:00
there is a New Testament equivalent to that practice or
43:03
to that to that sacrifice. So when we make confession, I
43:06
believe as part of bringing a guilt offering to the Lord, we
43:10
are offering ourselves, sacrificing our pride and
43:14
saying, God, here is my confession.
43:16
And that confession brings about a reception of forgiveness in
43:21
our lives. And when we confess to other
43:23
people, other people need to respond with the grace and
43:26
forgiveness of God. We need to say to people, you
43:29
are loved. You are a son, a daughter of
43:32
God. And by your confession of your
43:34
sins, you are forgiven. According to the cross of Jesus
43:39
Christ, you're loved. And I think we need to do that.
43:42
And when people bring our lament, we need to hold and say,
43:44
man, thank you for sharing that. I'm holding that with you.
43:47
And I want you to know God cares for you and I care about you
43:51
too. We need to respond in a grace
43:53
filled way. And that's how the people of God
43:56
help bring healing to one another's souls.
43:59
But that's pretty much the difference that I see between
44:01
lament, venting, confession, complaining, and the and the
44:04
like. Here's the next question.
44:07
What is the difference between slander and bringing up a
44:11
legitimate concern or or complaint?
44:13
Now I just kind of described slander and complaining just a
44:16
minute ago, but let me say it this way really clearly.
44:18
Slander typically is about another persons character or a
44:23
condemnation of them. It might be true, but it's still
44:29
us condemning or slandering them.
44:31
That's up for them to acknowledge themselves rather
44:35
than for us to say around to other people.
44:39
So it's it, it's different. Concerns or wrongs committed are
44:43
about the action and their impact on us.
44:47
It is not solely about our feelings of the matter.
44:50
It's not about, but it's about the facts of the events that
44:53
occurred. Confronting behavior is not the
44:57
same as character assassination or motive assumptions.
45:02
Say it again. Confronting behavior is not the
45:05
same as character assassinations of mode or motive assumptions,
45:11
which is what slander often does.
45:13
What does the enemy do to you? He slanders you, and when you
45:21
speak the same kinds of things that Satan would say to you and
45:25
about you, you are participating in his language and his way of
45:30
speaking. Death bringing a concern or
45:34
confronting a wrong should always be done in humility and
45:39
in honesty, meant to bring repentance and restoration, not
45:44
from a place of a hurt reaction or of refense or of disgust.
45:49
I'm so disgusted by them. I just need to tell them to give
45:51
them a piece of my mind. OK, that's that's not really
45:53
humility. It's not.
45:55
It's not really in love. Restoring them to the right
45:59
place. That's more about you feeling
46:01
better than it is about them living correctly.
46:04
And that part, posture, is often the difference between bringing
46:10
a legitimate concern, legitimate sin done against you, and just
46:15
being slanderous, being complaining, and being divisive.
46:20
Our hearts matter a ton in the process.
46:24
So does our tone, and so does the harshness of our words.
46:29
Our words ought to be gentle. Our words ought to be loving.
46:33
Our words ought to be meek. Our words ought to be kind.
46:36
They can be kind and still clear around actions.
46:40
But when we get accusatory, we're acting just like Satan.
46:46
When we get slanderous of their character, trying to keep shame
46:49
on them, we're acting like Satan.
46:51
But when we're bringing real concerns, when we're confronting
46:54
an action done to us or around us that is incorrect, that's got
46:58
a negative impact. When we can do that in a matter
47:02
that is loving, kind, gracious, humble, not accusatory, not from
47:08
a hurt reaction, a reactionary or disgust or offense, but but
47:13
rather from a right place where we're not assuming wrong
47:16
motives, nor are we giving a character assassination of who
47:19
they are. We're talking about the actions
47:22
taken, not the moral character of the person.
47:27
I think those were important distinctions.
47:30
In Matthew 1129, Jesus tells us how we can find rest for our
47:33
souls. Is there any other scripture
47:36
that is similar in the way to find rest or peace for our
47:39
souls? And could this rest also be
47:42
considered as healing for our souls?
47:45
I just got to say, like there are a lot of scriptures that
47:47
talk about peace and rest for us.
47:50
Most all of them have to do with God's loving presence and our
47:55
inner life being renewed by the Spirit and by a relationship
47:58
with God. So the restoration for our souls
48:03
is definitely an element of of healing.
48:06
It's definitely part of what God does.
48:07
In fact, Isaiah 53 talks about how Christ about Christ's
48:11
coming, the Messiah coming, and that he would be bruised for our
48:14
iniquities. Bruising is inner bleeding.
48:18
It's something that happens internally.
48:20
Iniquity is the inner bent that we have toward doing wrong that
48:25
causes ourselves harm. It's what brings about like
48:28
inner bruising, inner bleeding. I think an inner formation of
48:32
rest and wholeness in Christ needs needs to come about to
48:37
help us be transformed because we bleed internally.
48:40
There are things, hurts and wounds we carry on the inside
48:43
that no one else can really see. But God sees and He wants to
48:47
bring healing and wholeness to that.
48:49
I think God's healing and wholeness is for our souls being
48:54
mended and healed. Psalm 23 He leads me.
48:58
Besides still waters. He restores my soul.
49:02
This is what the Good Shepherd would do.
49:04
Jesus came as a Good Shepherd pointing to Himself.
49:07
So all of the scriptures about peace and rest for our souls
49:09
really all point us to Jesus and point us to relationship and
49:13
point us to experiencing His love and wholeness for us being
49:18
renewed by the Spirit. Corinthians, I think, says
49:23
though outwardly we are being, we are wasting away, inwardly we
49:28
are being renewed day by day. How so?
49:31
Because our hearts are being fixed on the return of Christ
49:34
where He comes and brings renewal to all things.
49:37
So hope is being renewed in us because our eyes are fixed on
49:42
Jesus. So, So all of the scriptures
49:44
have to do with linking and being a part of Jesus and
49:47
walking in union with him that restores our souls and brings
49:52
rest to our our hearts. And what does it mean to find
49:57
rest for our souls? Well, we talked about that
49:59
earlier in this episode. Here's the final question that
50:03
says this. Can you share the thought
50:04
process from brokenness to surrender to submission?
50:08
Are the definitions of these different?
50:11
And if so, how are they different?
50:13
What does each one of these kind of look like?
50:15
And what would my actions or responses look like?
50:19
Can you give some examples of heart changes that would maybe
50:22
show this kind of growth? I know these are these process
50:25
can be very personal, even private and maybe even slow to
50:28
be evident to others. The first thing that I which is
50:32
just a great trying to get our head around like submission and
50:36
surrender and brokenness. It can can feel kind of big.
50:40
I will say this that I just posted on Facebook the other
50:44
day, a really long biblical exploration of brokenness and
50:50
how the Bible talks about it. It's kind of a long paragraph
50:53
with a lot of Scripture references, and so I'm not going
50:56
to read that whole thing, but you can go onto my Facebook page
50:59
and read about kind of some of that brokenness and what the
51:02
Bible has to say about it. I think it's important to
51:06
remember that humility is walking with a submissive spirit
51:11
because the opposite of humility is to walking with an arrogant
51:14
spirit, which means that I don't need to submit to anyone.
51:17
I, I don't need to surrender to anyone.
51:20
I am my own self. It's, it's more about self than
51:24
the the unity. And Proverbs 22 tells us that
51:29
humility is fearing the Lord and that brings great blessing in
51:33
our life, meaning that without fearing the Lord and without
51:37
humility, we don't get much blessing.
51:39
Again, the blessing is God grace in our lives when we're walking
51:43
in pride, we don't experience his grace and his presence in
51:46
our life the way that we could, the way that we should, what we
51:49
need. And so man, we, we, we, we can
51:52
be casting our cares on the Lord, but we're walking in pride
51:55
in the process. And so we're actually like
51:58
wasting our time in that in that manner.
52:00
And so I think sincerity and our humility always looks like
52:06
prolonged submission to God's ways and God's will.
52:11
When I say submission, I mean a bending of your will to allow
52:15
God's will to take over. Doesn't mean you don't have a
52:18
will, doesn't mean you don't have opinions, you don't have
52:21
ideas. It's that you yield your floor
52:24
time to God, allowing Him to be central in that same thing in
52:30
submitting one to another. Paul says that many, many times
52:34
submit yourselves one to another in humility.
52:38
Why? Because humility is prolonged
52:41
submission. If you aren't submitting to
52:43
anyone in your life, you don't have humility in your life.
52:48
Can I say it again, if there is no relationship to which you
52:52
ever submit to, you are not operating and practicing
52:57
humility in your relationships and in your life.
53:01
Well like, well, I submit to God.
53:02
Well, do you though, like, or do you just come to God and ask Him
53:07
to do things for you? Because then you're actually
53:10
asking God to bend to your will, not you submitting to His will.
53:14
If you never come repent of sin, then you're acknowledging that
53:18
you don't have sin. And first, John one tells us
53:22
that if you don't repent and you don't confess your sin and you
53:25
say you have no sin, you're a liar and you're making God a
53:28
liar because God says you got sin.
53:30
So, so if you're not walking in humility, if there's not
53:34
prolonged submission where you're, you're ongoingly
53:37
surrendering, you're not going to experience humility.
53:41
You're not living in humility. In fact, you're living in in
53:44
pride in your in your life. Brokenness is a process though,
53:49
that we definitely could walk through that is meant to produce
53:52
humility, surrender, and submission to God.
53:57
Years ago there were some things being said about me that weren't
54:01
true character assassinations on me and doesn't matter what I
54:05
said, what I did, I was in the wrong even though I was actually
54:09
doing no wrong and I am an act of just complete brokenness and
54:14
humility. Apologized for things that I
54:17
really didn't need to apologize for, but I still kind of took
54:21
ownership on everything I could take ownership for of them.
54:25
And, and and as I was apologizing and making
54:28
repentance, their response to me was this.
54:30
And I kid you not, it says I'm really glad you finally came to
54:33
see how wrong you were. And I really wasn't wrong at
54:37
all, but I was repenting, trying to like make relationship work
54:41
and they just in arrogance through it, right?
54:43
Well, you're wrong and I'm glad you finally acknowledged that
54:46
you're wrong. That's good to hear.
54:47
And I was like, what in the world?
54:52
And I felt so like everything in me wanted to rise up and throw a
54:56
spear right back at him, but I didn't.
54:59
I stayed quiet, I stayed submissive, I stayed surrendered
55:02
to God and the process that obviously I was in.
55:07
So, so humility and brokenness are about surrendering to God's
55:12
process. Remember, we send in the
55:14
message, trust the process. More specifically, trust the
55:19
process of God in your life and that will require you to stay
55:24
submitted and surrendered in your will and your heart and
55:28
your life. It's going to make you bite your
55:29
tongue when you want to just lash out.
55:32
It's going to make you hold back on on on sharing details because
55:37
you can't share a detail without maybe slandering someone else's
55:40
opinion. There have been many times I
55:42
have many details about things that other people don't know
55:45
about and they are allowed to live in the wrong assumption and
55:50
I let them live in the wrong thought of what they think they
55:54
know happened. But they are missing
55:56
information. And so they get mad at us.
55:59
They get mad at me. And as a leader that happens a
56:02
lot because as a leader you have information about things and
56:04
people that other people don't have.
56:06
They only see 1/2 and they they make assumptions and they accuse
56:10
and they slander and they gossip and they draw conclusions and
56:14
they spout on it, but they don't have all the information.
56:17
And in that process of not having all the information, they
56:21
say and do things that can be hurting and you have to just
56:23
stay quiet. I've had to stay quiet over the
56:26
years as a leader watching other leaders stay quiet with
56:30
information they had that could justify all of their actions.
56:34
But in telling that information, they would betraying their
56:37
integrity. They would be acting in slander
56:40
and they would be sharing things that other people don't need to
56:43
know and submitting to that process.
56:48
And that's really hard on your heart sometimes.
56:50
It's really gut wrenching. And so sometimes you have to let
56:54
others people think the wrong thing and you don't get to
56:57
correct them just because you have information and your
57:00
integrity and you have to stay quiet in the process of yielding
57:06
to God. And that has happened again and
57:08
again in my life. It's going to happen again and
57:09
again in other people's lives. So brokenness, surrender and
57:12
submission, they go hand in hand and how God does.
57:15
And if there is no one that you submit to ever, then you aren't
57:20
really walking in humility and surrender because we Jesus tells
57:25
us or Scripture tells us to clothe yourself in humility,
57:28
submitting to one another, Paul says.
57:32
And I think that we have to be willing to do that again and
57:34
again and again in our lives in other areas.
57:37
And so God is after men and women who who have his heart.
57:42
And God's heart is humble and gentle.
57:46
It is humble and it is meek. That is God's heart and that is
57:50
the heart we need to reflect to the world around us.
57:53
And the best way to let the heart and the light of Christ
57:56
shine through US is to be broken into pieces that he makes
58:01
together in a beautiful mosaic of a stained glass piece of art.
58:04
So his light shines through our broken lives that he's
58:08
restoring, He's renewing, and he's making us come to real life
58:13
in Christ. Hey, I hope today's episode has
58:16
been helpful. Thanks for listening all the way
58:17
through. Thank you for sending in
58:19
questions. You can do that every week
58:21
following a message. We love to hear your questions
58:24
and I'd love to answer them each and every week as we go, as we
58:28
together are learning how to have faith for today, not just
58:32
inspired on Sunday, but integrating our life of
58:35
faithfulness to Jesus the King, even on a Thursday.
58:39
Hey, I love you. I will see you next week for the
58:42
next episode. Have a great week.