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Small Daily Habits Can Grow Real Spiritual Change · The Reality Is

0:00
SPEAKER_03: Here's the thing I like to tell people.
0:02
SPEAKER_03: Don't create this plan that's gonna be unachievable.
0:05
SPEAKER_04: Right.
0:05
SPEAKER_03: Because hey, I'm gonna wake up and I'm gonna spend an hour with the Lord every morning.
0:09
SPEAKER_03: And then when you start spending 10 minutes with the Lord, you're like, I'm just a failure.
0:13
SPEAKER_03: I can't do this and that.
0:14
SPEAKER_03: Start something simple.
0:15
SPEAKER_03: You know what?
0:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna spend two minutes with the Lord.
0:17
SPEAKER_03: And you'll notice two minutes becomes five, five becomes ten because it's easier.
0:22
SPEAKER_03: You've accomplished the goal.
0:24
SPEAKER_03: But start a habit.
0:26
SPEAKER_03: As long as you start a habit, it will grow.
0:29
SPEAKER_03: And now my habit is I don't start my day without doing a study.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: The reality.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: The reality.
0:50
SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the reality is podcast, where we're here today to talk about real life and real faith.
0:56
SPEAKER_03: My name is Joey.
0:57
SPEAKER_03: I'm here with Richard, and we have been in a five-part series, of which we have completed four of them.
1:03
SPEAKER_03: And right now, in the fifth one, we want to talk about walking in the spirit, which you actually tell us a lot from the stage.
1:11
SPEAKER_03: Like this is probably one of your favorite verse.
1:13
SPEAKER_03: Well, to me, it seems like your favorite verse, because you're always telling this one to us.
1:17
SPEAKER_03: But before we get there, before we get there, I have to share an experience with our audience.
1:22
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you've already known the story because I just told you.
1:25
SPEAKER_03: But for a lot of you guys, you don't know that I was in Alaska.
1:28
SPEAKER_03: And what a beautiful, beautiful place, beautiful time of ministry to work.
1:32
SPEAKER_03: And you have done that work before that I was out there.
1:34
SPEAKER_03: It's a wonderful ministry, wonderful work.
1:36
SPEAKER_03: It was great until the way back.
1:39
SPEAKER_03: Because you know where I'm going with this.
1:41
SPEAKER_03: So on the way back, we're we're at Anchorage and we're like, oh hey, your flight's gonna be delayed by an hour and a half.
1:48
SPEAKER_03: All right, we're looking hour and a half delay.
1:50
SPEAKER_03: Great, that's fine.
1:51
SPEAKER_03: Whatever.
1:51
SPEAKER_03: I still have time to get to, and it's an overnight flight.
1:54
SPEAKER_03: So, like you're supposed to get back at five o'clock in the morning.
1:56
SPEAKER_03: Now you're not getting back until seven o'clock in the morning.
1:59
SPEAKER_03: That's all right.
1:59
SPEAKER_03: My next flight doesn't leave till eight o'clock in the morning.
2:01
SPEAKER_03: I'm doing good.
2:02
SPEAKER_03: I have time.
2:03
SPEAKER_03: Well, I get to Texas, DFW, and they're like, oh, sorry, your flight's delayed by an hour.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: Okay, fine.
2:10
SPEAKER_03: That gives me more time.
2:12
SPEAKER_03: An hour later, your flight's been delayed an hour.
2:14
SPEAKER_03: Okay, that's all right.
2:16
SPEAKER_03: All right.
2:17
SPEAKER_03: I'm hungry, but that's okay.
2:18
SPEAKER_03: Hey, your flight's been delayed an hour.
2:21
SPEAKER_03: And it's like this happens four times just in Texas.
2:24
SPEAKER_03: Okay, great.
2:25
SPEAKER_03: I don't like this already because, as you know, I've got to jump right into the mids conference when I get back.
2:30
SPEAKER_03: I am so exhausted because I don't sleep on planes.
2:33
SPEAKER_03: And so all night long I haven't slept yet.
2:36
SPEAKER_03: Finally, we get on the plane after four delays.
2:39
SPEAKER_03: And then an hour and a half later, they're like, uh, we're still waiting on a clearance signature for the walkway to be, I'm going, am I ever gonna get home?
2:47
SPEAKER_03: Finally, we take off.
2:48
SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, yes.
2:50
SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm getting home.
2:51
SPEAKER_03: I'm getting home later than I thought, but I'm getting home.
2:53
SPEAKER_03: And then, because we have Wi-Fi on the planes, you know, the app can give you notifications.
2:59
SPEAKER_03: Boom, notification.
3:01
SPEAKER_03: Sorry, your luggage didn't make it on the plane.
3:04
SPEAKER_03: Ah, what is wrong with these people?
3:08
SPEAKER_03: So it was a horrible flight back.
3:11
SPEAKER_03: And I don't blame the airlines.
3:13
SPEAKER_03: I don't blame the airlines.
3:14
SPEAKER_03: Truly, it was the weather.
3:15
SPEAKER_03: But I said, okay, which is funny because talk about walking in the spirit.
3:20
SPEAKER_03: Bro, this is one of those minutes I could really be walking in the flesh right now.
3:26
SPEAKER_03: I really could be.
3:27
SPEAKER_03: And maybe I was just too tired to walk in the flesh.
3:29
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
3:30
SPEAKER_03: But it's kind of funny because you today you want to talk about walking in the spirit.
3:34
SPEAKER_03: And this was one of those moments where it's like, you know what?
3:37
SPEAKER_03: I truly believe if I didn't have the spirit of the Lord with me, I would have been one of those guys who's just complaining and yelling at the airline people and yelling at the flight attendants, and but it's not their fault.
3:48
SPEAKER_03: Like, what are they like in in honesty?
3:51
SPEAKER_03: They're doing all this to keep us safe in the first place.
3:53
SPEAKER_03: So I know what it would have looked like for me years ago, right?
3:57
SPEAKER_03: Because you and I both don't have this beautifully, wonderfully, you know, oh, look at us growing up in church past.
4:04
SPEAKER_03: There are some things and some situations I would have handled differently, but I'm so thankful that I have the spirit of God because I'm able to now look past those types of things and say, Lord, you know what?
4:17
SPEAKER_03: You've blessed me with a beautiful day.
4:19
SPEAKER_03: I still have breath.
4:20
SPEAKER_03: I am not hungry.
4:21
SPEAKER_03: Like, uh, what do we say?
4:22
SPEAKER_03: Like these problems of this world that we turn into, these big things, they aren't really big things.
4:27
SPEAKER_03: And so uh, as we get ready to talk about walking in the spirit, if you could do us a favor, if you would just kind of recap over the past few weeks, we've been talking about how sin sneaks into our lives and gets into us, and we have these dramatic acts of rebellion and then these little, like we kept talking about foxes that get into your life.
4:46
SPEAKER_03: If you could just recap all that as you set us up for walking in the spirit.
4:51
SPEAKER_02: Well, first you got to answer the question Did Did your luggage ever arrive?
4:55
SPEAKER_03: So, so I get to set up free delivery, and yes, I set up free delivery, and like, okay, yeah, we'll get your luggage to you.
5:01
SPEAKER_03: But by the time the luggage came to me, I was already out of town again doing the men's retreat.
5:06
SPEAKER_03: So I missed I I had to go and buy new toothbrush, I had to buy all these things so that I could go away again to be on the the men's conference that we were at.
5:15
SPEAKER_03: But it it came while I wasn't there.
5:18
SPEAKER_02: Well, it at least it made it.
5:20
SPEAKER_02: It made it.
5:20
SPEAKER_02: You ever had an experience like that?
5:22
SPEAKER_02: Oh, unfortunately.
5:23
SPEAKER_02: But but mine's always been on the other side.
5:25
SPEAKER_02: I'm not coming home, it's coming there.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: I lived on a mission trip one time with the clothes on my back and and uh and one other set of clothes that I had in my backpack and made made 14 days like that.
5:36
SPEAKER_02: Oh but walking in the spirit, walking in the spirit.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: So you know, as as we're looking at this, Joey, as you said, we're we're gonna talk about walking in the spirit.
5:46
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, over the past several weeks we've talked about how sin sneaks into our life quietly, right?
5:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it it uh it's normally not some huge act of rebellion where you just decide, you know, today I'm a believer, tomorrow I'm not.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: And and so we talked first of all about understanding those subtle things that Satan does.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: And then we talked about recognizing the little foxes.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: You know, the little foxes, they're they're not the ones walking through eating uh the grapes, right?
6:16
SPEAKER_02: They're they're killing your minds because they're they're chewing at the bottom.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: And then and then we talked about protecting our hearts from our habits and and from relationships, things that have no business being there.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: Last week we talked about the choices we make.
6:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh right.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: We talked about will I make a choice to conceal my sin or confess my sin.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: We discovered that when we start concealing sin, it always leads to bondage.
6:40
SPEAKER_03: Always sure it does.
6:41
SPEAKER_02: Confess sin leads to freedom.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: And so today we're gonna answer the final question.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: And and that is why it says, if I walk in the spirit, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: And you know, one of the things that is foundational to that very verse is it's not a both end.
6:59
SPEAKER_02: Okay, it is either or.
7:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:01
SPEAKER_02: Right?
7:02
SPEAKER_02: And so you are either walking in the spirit or you are fulfilling the lust of the flesh, but you are not doing both.
7:09
SPEAKER_02: And so what we want to do is we want to talk about making sure we're walking in the spirit.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: You know, uh it one of the things that uh people often ask is why do I keep repeating the same patterns?
7:23
SPEAKER_02: Right?
7:24
SPEAKER_02: They they say, I know I'm a believer, I know that I've given my life to Christ, yeah, but I seem to be repeating the same patterns.
7:31
SPEAKER_03: Well, where are you walking?
7:33
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
7:34
SPEAKER_03: Who are you walking with?
7:35
SPEAKER_03: How are you walking it?
7:36
SPEAKER_03: What are you doing?
7:37
SPEAKER_03: And this this is kind of what we were getting into before.
7:40
SPEAKER_03: It's a pattern, and and I believe you have to establish habits.
7:44
SPEAKER_03: Right.
7:44
SPEAKER_03: You're and and you're always establishing a habit.
7:47
SPEAKER_03: For me, it's either gonna be a bad habit or it's gonna be a good habit.
7:51
SPEAKER_03: But because of our flesh, it's easier to create these bad habits.
7:56
SPEAKER_03: And a lot of times people talk about, oh, you mean like biting your nails or like nervous.
8:01
SPEAKER_03: No, I'm talking about spiritual habits.
8:03
SPEAKER_03: If you have this spiritual habit of saying, Oh, well, I'm going to wake up and uh I'm going to throw up a quick prayer to the Lord, and that's not a bad thing.
8:12
SPEAKER_03: You want to wake up and thank God for the day.
8:14
SPEAKER_03: But if that's your habit and you're doing that over the years, you've never gotten deeper with the Lord.
8:21
SPEAKER_03: You haven't done anything else.
8:23
SPEAKER_03: I I've talked about this before.
8:25
SPEAKER_03: My habit was I can't wake up early in the morning, so I'm just gonna do my things at night.
8:30
SPEAKER_03: So I've now gotten into the habit of uh I still don't wake up early.
8:34
SPEAKER_03: You've noticed that.
8:34
SPEAKER_03: You've called me at 7:30 in the morning.
8:38
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what's he doing?
8:39
SPEAKER_03: Waking me up.
8:41
SPEAKER_03: But the habit is now when I wake up, I do a Bible study.
8:45
SPEAKER_03: I do a Bible study.
8:46
SPEAKER_03: And that started as a small here's the thing I like to tell people don't create this plan that's gonna be unachievable.
8:55
SPEAKER_04: Right.
8:55
SPEAKER_03: Because hey, I'm gonna wake up and I'm gonna spend an hour with the Lord every morning.
8:59
SPEAKER_03: And then when you start spending 10 minutes with the Lord, you're like, I'm just a failure, I can't do this and that.
9:04
SPEAKER_03: Start something simple.
9:05
SPEAKER_03: You know what?
9:06
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna spend two minutes with the Lord.
9:07
SPEAKER_03: And you'll notice two minutes becomes five, five becomes ten, because it's easier.
9:12
SPEAKER_03: You've accomplished the goal.
9:14
SPEAKER_03: But start a habit.
9:16
SPEAKER_03: As long as you start a habit, it will grow.
9:19
SPEAKER_03: And now my habit is I don't start my day without doing a study.
9:25
SPEAKER_02: Right.
9:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, and and it's it's very much again, we've we form habits, and whether, like you said, whether those habits are good or bad, right?
9:32
SPEAKER_02: But what does the world tell us?
9:34
SPEAKER_02: Okay, when when we have things in our life that have no business being there, they go, Well, you just need more self-control.
9:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:40
SPEAKER_02: Right?
9:41
SPEAKER_02: Or, you know, what do we find ourselves doing?
9:43
SPEAKER_02: We we we fall into sin, and then God, I promise I'll never do it again.
9:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, there's that breakable promise.
9:50
SPEAKER_02: Right.
9:51
SPEAKER_02: I'll work harder next time.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: And and the problem is is we're geared toward everything that we think we need to do is is is man-centric.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: I need to.
10:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:03
SPEAKER_02: Right?
10:04
SPEAKER_02: Exactly but everything that we should be doing is God-centric if I walk in the spirit.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you don't think that that this is a struggle that's that's been around, right?
10:13
SPEAKER_02: You go all the way back, and even in Romans 7, the Apostle Paul writing about his walk, okay.
10:19
SPEAKER_02: Now, uh the author of over half the New Testament, okay, and he goes, Oh, wretched man that I am.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
10:25
SPEAKER_02: Right?
10:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he just calls it like it is, and he goes, Who will deliver me from this?
10:30
SPEAKER_02: And and when you read through Romans 7, he goes, The things I want to do, I don't do those things, the things I don't want to do, those things I do.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: And so it is a struggle for every one of us to to maintain that walk in the spirit, but it is also a mandate for every one of us.
10:50
SPEAKER_03: Can I just say with that verse, for years, I flippantly said, oh well, this wretched man I am.
10:59
SPEAKER_03: You know, even Paul, even Paul.
11:01
SPEAKER_03: That that's not the way we want you to attack or approach this verse.
11:05
SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying.
11:07
SPEAKER_03: Well, even Paul couldn't do it.
11:08
SPEAKER_03: So, oh well, I'm I'm just no, no, no, no.
11:11
SPEAKER_03: Let's be sincere about saying, oh wow, this I'm just so wretched.
11:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm so wicked.
11:17
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I really do want to do these things, and I and I'm not doing them.
11:22
SPEAKER_03: And and these things I don't want to do, and I keep ending up doing these things.
11:27
SPEAKER_03: Don't leave it at that.
11:29
SPEAKER_03: Now, get with the Spirit, pray that this power of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you moves forward and does the work for you.
11:38
SPEAKER_03: Stop, as you were saying, trying to do this thing on your own.
11:42
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
11:42
SPEAKER_03: Your your willpower.
11:44
SPEAKER_03: Like I've got I've got the strength, and this is what I'm gonna do.
11:47
SPEAKER_03: And if I just do that, no, no, no.
11:48
SPEAKER_03: If you just go to prayer and seek God, then you'll be able to get through that.
11:54
SPEAKER_02: Well, one of the things that I think very often we miss is is that when we become a believer, the sin nature doesn't leave, but the spirit of God moves in.
12:03
SPEAKER_02: And so every believer has two natures.
12:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, and and here again, walk in the spirit, walk in the flesh.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: You you're choosing which nature you're going to walk in.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I've been asked so many times.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: Well, I I thought when I became a believer, I I would just quit.
12:18
SPEAKER_02: No, it the battle remains.
12:20
SPEAKER_02: Yes, it is.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: Right?
12:21
SPEAKER_02: The difference is before you came to Christ, you couldn't win the battle.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: All right.
12:26
SPEAKER_02: It it you literally had no way to win that battle.
12:29
SPEAKER_02: Now you have a way to win the battle, but the war is there.
12:33
SPEAKER_02: And so we know we have the dual nature.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: We know they're both there.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: And and so that's why we have to walk in the spirit.
12:40
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
12:40
SPEAKER_03: And how do you do that?
12:42
SPEAKER_03: And see, that's the part that we're gonna get into today, and and let you just really give us more practical things of how do we apply this?
12:51
SPEAKER_03: Because this is a great verse.
12:52
SPEAKER_03: Walk in the spirit.
12:53
SPEAKER_03: It's oh, that sounds great.
12:54
SPEAKER_03: Let me put that on a mug, let me hang that on the on the wall.
12:57
SPEAKER_03: This is it's a great saying.
13:00
SPEAKER_03: I'm tired of people just saying good verses.
13:03
SPEAKER_03: I need people to be applying these verses to their life spiritually so that they can truly have change.
13:09
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
13:10
SPEAKER_03: Because I'm I'm sure you've walked into people's houses before, just like I walk into all these wonderful verses on the wall, and they aren't applying any of those verses to their life, right?
13:19
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
13:19
SPEAKER_02: Well, it's nice decorations.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's all it is.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the things that we really want people to understand is Paul does not describe the the walk of the spirit or the lust of the flesh.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: It's not a peaceful coexistence, it is a conflict.
13:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: And and when you understand that you've got this war raging within you, and and and you make that choice, you decide what are you going to do.
13:43
SPEAKER_02: And I think so often we just miss that.
13:46
SPEAKER_02: And and there's a constant conflict that we've got to process and we've got to deal with.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: And and again, it's not just paying lip service to it.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: It's it's not that I've I've got this verse scrolling on my computer, so therefore all's good.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: No, it it is got to be part of who I am, and and and it's got to be constant.
14:07
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I say that, and I'm not teasing other people.
14:10
SPEAKER_03: I'm literally talking about myself, about a verse that I've had on my refrigerator, and I had a verse on my wall.
14:19
SPEAKER_03: And I went, if if somebody would say, Oh, yeah, what is that verse?
14:23
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
14:24
SPEAKER_03: Like it's been sitting on my wall, but I couldn't quote the verse.
14:27
SPEAKER_03: I couldn't tell you where it was in the Bible.
14:29
SPEAKER_03: Like, I never, like it was literally just decoration.
14:32
SPEAKER_03: One of the main ones.
14:33
SPEAKER_03: Like when we first, as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord.
14:38
SPEAKER_03: That's a great verse, Joey.
14:39
SPEAKER_03: Where was it?
14:41
SPEAKER_03: In the Bible, it says it's somewhere in the Bible.
14:43
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I know where it is now, it's in Joshua, but uh, you know, but but how long did I go having this verse?
14:49
SPEAKER_03: How long did I go?
14:51
SPEAKER_03: The verse that I always quote: God has a great plan for you.
14:54
SPEAKER_03: This is great decoration.
14:55
SPEAKER_03: Really, Joey, where does it say that in the Bible?
14:57
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
14:58
SPEAKER_03: Right.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: He has a great plan, he has a wonderful plan.
15:01
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's not until you actually say, I'm gonna take these things and I'm going to live by these verses that I have hanging on my wall or on the floor mat that everybody walks into.
15:12
SPEAKER_02: Well, other than that, like you say, they they become wall decoration.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: And and at the end of the day, too, it it becomes a part of our checklist if we're just reading through and moving on.
15:23
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I want you to think about most of us have probably experienced this this week, right?
15:27
SPEAKER_02: You wake up with every intention of I'm gonna start my day with the Lord, and another voice whispers, you don't have time to eat.
15:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I've heard that voice how many times?
15:39
SPEAKER_02: You know you've got someone you need to forgive.
15:42
SPEAKER_02: You you know you've hurt someone, so you need to ask forgiveness, but another voice says, hold the grudge.
15:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:51
SPEAKER_02: You know you need to speak kindness because your luggage isn't uh with you.
15:56
SPEAKER_02: But instead, harsh words come out.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: And so you know you should trust God.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Instead, anxiety takes over.
16:03
SPEAKER_02: I could go on and on.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: The question isn't whether the battle exists, the question is who will win the battle?
16:10
SPEAKER_02: And and when we really come down to that, then this verse begins to make all the sense in the world and everything we've been talking about.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: I've got to walk in the spirit, or or I'm fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
16:21
SPEAKER_02: And if I'm angry, if I'm if if I'm being distracted, then then I'm not walking in the spirit.
16:28
SPEAKER_03: Or even anxious.
16:29
SPEAKER_03: Like I remember talking to my wife about because the luggage problem honestly didn't start then.
16:34
SPEAKER_03: It started before I even hopped on the plane because I prepaid for my luggage, prepaid, and then it charged me twice.
16:43
SPEAKER_03: So it was like, oh, you're going from Charleston to Dallas and you're going from Dallas to Anchorage.
16:48
SPEAKER_03: But my trip was from Charleston to Anchorage and it charged me twice.
16:51
SPEAKER_03: It said, okay, we're charging you each flight.
16:55
SPEAKER_03: And so I call them and say, no, no, no, it don't worry about that.
16:58
SPEAKER_03: That's a mistake.
16:59
SPEAKER_03: You you have prepaid for the round trip.
17:01
SPEAKER_03: Great.
17:02
SPEAKER_03: So I'm looking at the app three days before I'm supposed to come back, and it says, I don't have any luggage checked.
17:08
SPEAKER_03: And so I call them on the phone with them for 45 minutes, trying to work this whole thing out, right?
17:12
SPEAKER_03: And I just remember I started like having trouble breathing.
17:15
SPEAKER_03: Like I'm just going, oh my goodness.
17:17
SPEAKER_03: Well, and I remember telling telling my wife, I'm like, it, you know, is this a trigger?
17:21
SPEAKER_03: Like, and she's like, Why is why are you letting something that you can't even control get you anxious?
17:27
SPEAKER_03: Like, why are you letting that bother you?
17:29
SPEAKER_03: Don't worry about that.
17:30
SPEAKER_03: And it's just luggage, like it's literally just your class.
17:33
SPEAKER_03: There's nothing in there that you cannot repurchase at a very small price, even, you know.
17:39
SPEAKER_03: But sometimes we let little things like that start bothering us and we start getting worried unnecessarily.
17:47
SPEAKER_03: And I know that that's just the flesh, it's the enemy just uh giving you, oh, here's here's another way to keep you distracted from the thing that you're supposed to be doing.
17:56
SPEAKER_03: Because again, I'm there for a mission, I'm there for a purpose to do God's will.
18:00
SPEAKER_03: And I'm letting something like this bag and the little app tell me, oh, your bag's not checked in.
18:06
SPEAKER_03: And I'm worried about, oh no, my bag's not checked in.
18:09
SPEAKER_03: What am I gonna do about that?
18:10
SPEAKER_03: And it's like, what does it matter?
18:11
SPEAKER_03: When you get to the airport, just check your bags in.
18:15
SPEAKER_03: That's it.
18:16
SPEAKER_03: Let them figure it out.
18:17
SPEAKER_03: Which they didn't, but that's okay.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the things that we've we've made mention of several times already is the flesh.
18:24
SPEAKER_02: And so let's just take just a moment just to let our listeners know.
18:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh the flesh refers to our fallen human nature.
18:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: Okay, we're not talking about the the skin.
18:32
SPEAKER_02: The skin that's on it.
18:33
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
18:33
SPEAKER_02: We're talking about that fallen human nature, our tendency to attempt to live independently from God.
18:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:39
SPEAKER_02: So just want to clarify when people hear us talking about flesh, because some may not know, right?
18:44
SPEAKER_02: And so when I say that I struggle with the flesh, it again, it is that tendency for me to live independently from God.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: It is that struggle for me to want to fix problems that are outside of my control to be fixed, or quite frankly, problems that have no eternal significance whatsoever.
19:03
SPEAKER_02: Like your luggage, Joey.
19:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, uh it could be, right?
19:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, I know.
19:08
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, and it's not a matter of saying, well, I've walked with the Lord long enough, I don't struggle with that anymore.
19:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: Peter walked with the Lord as closely as anyone possibly could for three years and then denied him.
19:22
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:22
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
19:23
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
19:23
SPEAKER_02: And so it it's not a matter of I'm more mature than the next person.
19:28
SPEAKER_02: Look, I I don't care where you're at in your Christian walk, you're subject to fall as soon as you walking in the flesh or you're walking in the in the spirit, right?
19:39
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
19:39
SPEAKER_02: And and so I think that's important for people to know.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:43
SPEAKER_03: And what's what's a good thing to know is when you have accepted Christ.
19:47
SPEAKER_03: So if you if you're listening and you and you don't know what we're talking about, accepting Christ, like none of this makes sense.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: But when you have accepted Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit comes in you, like right at that moment.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: Like you have this incredible power.
20:01
SPEAKER_03: And I don't think we tap into that enough.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: No, absolutely.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: And you know, it it it because God didn't leave us to fight the battle alone.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: Right.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: And and so if you read John 14 and verse 16, it says, And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: I will give you the helper.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: All right.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: Now, the same spirit who empowered Jesus' ministry on earth uh empowers every child of God.
20:26
SPEAKER_02: He convicts us of sin.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: He he comforts us when he hurt, uh, when we hurt, he teaches us God's word, strengthen us when we're weak.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the list could go on of of what he does in our life.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: And so we're never in the battle alone.
20:41
SPEAKER_02: And and that is key.
20:42
SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the things at our men's retreat this weekend, we talked about uh spiritual warfare.
20:46
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
20:47
SPEAKER_02: And and that's one of the comments that we made is when you're not in the battle alone, you you can deal with anything.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: And you know, I've been in circumstances and situations where quite honestly, you would common sense would have told you you should be terrified.
21:04
SPEAKER_02: At the moment, there wasn't time to be terrified, and I wasn't alone.
21:09
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: Right.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: And and and I knew that my buddy would die before he'd leave me.
21:14
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
21:15
SPEAKER_02: And so you're never in the battle alone, okay?
21:18
SPEAKER_02: And when you know that, then Joey, you can deal with anything.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: Sure can.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: Now, when it's over, you might think twice, but uh too late.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: But but so the question we have to ask as as we look at this if you got two natures, okay, then how do we determine which nature wins?
21:35
SPEAKER_03: It's a really, really good question.
21:37
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's evident in the life that you're portraying.
21:39
SPEAKER_03: I know that.
21:41
SPEAKER_03: But I think spiritually is where it gets really hard because yeah, we do have that spirit nature and we have that flesh nature, not our skin, but the nature that says, Hey, this is who I am, or really and in all honesty, this is who I was, and we still like to hold on to who we were sometimes.
21:58
SPEAKER_03: And then you've got this new.
22:00
SPEAKER_03: Spirit inside of you to say, Yeah, but that's but but you're so different from that now.
22:05
SPEAKER_03: Like stop doing that.
22:06
SPEAKER_03: And you are you are fighting that.
22:07
SPEAKER_03: And when you talk about which one are you feeding, well, it's like we've talked about before.
22:13
SPEAKER_03: If you have two dogs, you know which one you're feeding, right?
22:17
SPEAKER_03: Because when they go up against each other, you're gonna you're gonna see.
22:20
SPEAKER_03: Please don't hear that as I'm endorsing, just it came out of my mouth and sounded like I'm a dog fight.
22:26
SPEAKER_03: I am not.
22:26
SPEAKER_03: I'm just using an illustration.
22:28
SPEAKER_03: Wow, that sounded horrible.
22:30
SPEAKER_03: But I think you know what I mean.
22:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:31
SPEAKER_03: Like if I'm, let's say, fish.
22:33
SPEAKER_03: If I feed this fish and I feed that fish, if they're in the tank together, you're gonna know which one you're feeding because this one's healthy and strong and this one is is weak and dying.
22:41
SPEAKER_03: I think we know that.
22:43
SPEAKER_03: Truly, in our mind and in our heart, we just don't want to admit which one we're feeding.
22:47
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: And and at the end of the day, it's a daily choice, right?
22:51
SPEAKER_02: It's true.
22:51
SPEAKER_02: Walk in the spirit, walk in the flesh.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
22:55
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's very important that Paul talks about walk in the spirit, okay?
22:59
SPEAKER_02: And because there's there's one thing that just jumps out at me at that, and and that is no one accidentally takes a walk.
23:05
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
23:06
SPEAKER_02: You're intentional.
23:07
SPEAKER_02: You you intentionally get up, you intentionally move from point A to point B.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: No one accidentally walks in the spirit.
23:14
SPEAKER_02: It's intentional.
23:16
SPEAKER_02: And it is a decision you make every day.
23:21
SPEAKER_02: In every circumstance, in every situation, I make that determination.
23:24
SPEAKER_02: If I will walk in the spirit, if I will walk in the flesh.
23:27
SPEAKER_02: It's not by accident.
23:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
23:29
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes I think we miss that, that we just assume, oh, well, Joey's walked with the Lord for all these years.
23:35
SPEAKER_02: He's the worship pastor.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's a leader in our church, he's an elder in our church.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: I I mean Joey gets it.
23:41
SPEAKER_02: No, Joey makes a decision every day, not just every day, but in every circumstance.
23:47
SPEAKER_03: Yep, every situation.
23:48
SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean, honestly, sometimes I handle things very well.
23:54
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes not so much.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, it really it would be hard to understand.
24:03
SPEAKER_02: I know.
24:03
SPEAKER_02: You know, yeah.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: My my loving nature's hard to miss sometimes.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: It really is.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: Uh but but what happens is is we just man, it's it's that moment that we choose flesh over spirit.
24:15
SPEAKER_02: And it's that moment we choose selfishness over God.
24:19
SPEAKER_02: And and so it brings us back to this command and this choice.
24:23
SPEAKER_02: And so when we've talked about all these different things, right?
24:27
SPEAKER_02: Then then we've we've tried to lay out consistently that these things, the enemy's always looking for a way in.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: You make the choice.
24:36
SPEAKER_02: Leave the window up, close the window.
24:38
SPEAKER_02: The enemy is always gnawing at the vine.
24:41
SPEAKER_02: You make a choice whether you'll protect the vine or or or not.
24:45
SPEAKER_02: And the enemy is always looking for a way in.
24:50
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, as as Paul continues in in Galatians 5, if if I walk in the spirit, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
24:58
SPEAKER_02: He lays out two paths at that point.
25:00
SPEAKER_02: And we'll just encourage people to take time to read Galatians 5.
25:03
SPEAKER_02: But he says, you know what, these are the works of the flesh.
25:06
SPEAKER_02: But here's what he said in verse 19.
25:08
SPEAKER_02: Now the works of the flesh are evident.
25:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:12
SPEAKER_02: All right.
25:13
SPEAKER_02: Now I want you to listen to what he said because people say sometimes, well, how do I know if I'm walking in the spirit if I'm walking in the flesh?
25:20
SPEAKER_02: The works of the flesh are evident, right?
25:23
SPEAKER_02: You never have to justify yourself when you're walking in the spirit.
25:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:29
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
25:30
SPEAKER_02: I've told that to so many people.
25:34
SPEAKER_02: If I have to debate with you that what I'm doing is not sin, then chances are really good I'm walking in the flesh.
25:42
SPEAKER_02: And because he said they're evident.
25:44
SPEAKER_02: And then he comes after that and he says, but the fruit of the spirit is, and then he begins to lay out those attributes that need to be in our life.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
25:55
SPEAKER_02: So when we're talking about two paths and two outcomes, if I walk in the spirit, the fruit of the spirit, okay, and then if I'm walking in the flesh, that is evident.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: And that's what he tells us.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: Now there's something very interesting when you think about the fruit of the spirit, okay?
26:12
SPEAKER_02: Never do you sit around and say, grow healthy fruit, right?
26:17
SPEAKER_02: You grow healthy vines, and out of healthy vines come healthy fruit.
26:23
SPEAKER_02: Healthy fruit is evident if it comes from a healthy plant.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:27
SPEAKER_02: Right.
26:28
SPEAKER_02: And so that's what we have to understand.
26:30
SPEAKER_02: It's it's what I'm attached to.
26:32
SPEAKER_02: It's I'm never commanded to produce that fruit in myself, the fruit of the spirit.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: If I walk in the spirit, then the fruit of the spirit.
26:42
SPEAKER_02: The fruit of the spirit shows up.
26:44
SPEAKER_02: And so that's what he lays out for us.
26:45
SPEAKER_03: And I like telling the, especially, guys, you realize it's all mine of them, right?
26:50
SPEAKER_03: Like you gotta go, man, I've got love, joy, and peace.
26:53
SPEAKER_03: I'm not really good with patience.
26:55
SPEAKER_03: I'm not really good with self-control, but I have gentleness and I have no dude.
26:58
SPEAKER_03: No, stop.
26:59
SPEAKER_03: If you get the majority, the majority.
27:03
SPEAKER_03: No, you know, it's all of them together, produce, showing that you are living in the spirit.
27:09
SPEAKER_03: And you can't say I'm a loving person and have no patience with people.
27:12
SPEAKER_03: Right.
27:13
SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm very gentle, but I've got no self-control.
27:17
SPEAKER_03: Right.
27:18
SPEAKER_03: No, I don't think that works.
27:19
SPEAKER_02: No, it's it's it's the whole picture.
27:21
SPEAKER_02: It's gotta be all of them, right?
27:22
SPEAKER_02: And it it when we really stop to think about that, and that's a great point.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: You know, sometimes we we read that as fruits plural, yeah.
27:31
SPEAKER_02: And and we try to say, well, these are the attributes.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: No, this this is it, it makes up a walk in the spirit.
27:40
SPEAKER_02: And and you can't, you again, you can't say, well, I've got six of the nine, and you know, I'm good.
27:46
SPEAKER_02: I'm good.
27:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm doing pretty good on two of them.
27:49
SPEAKER_02: You know, one of them, no go.
27:51
SPEAKER_02: Right?
27:52
SPEAKER_02: No, it it does not work that way, and that's a great point.
27:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, amen.
27:55
SPEAKER_03: It's gotta be all of them, please.
27:57
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I think one of the things when he tells us that the fruit of the spirit, again, if I walk in the spirit, the fruit of the spirit, and then the works of the flesh are evident.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think one of the things that we have to understand is sin doesn't need encouragement, it just needs opportunity.
28:12
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: So it's it's not like I have to encourage you to sin.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: I I just got to give you opportunity, right?
28:19
SPEAKER_02: It's not like the enemy needs to encourage you.
28:23
SPEAKER_02: It's just the opportunity.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: And and when we begin to really understand that, then then it it we begin to realize that it it's it's not the encouragement that I'm concerned about.
28:35
SPEAKER_02: I've got to start closing the opportunities.
28:38
SPEAKER_02: And if I'm closing the opportunities, then I'm I'm closing the avenues for that.
28:43
SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
28:44
SPEAKER_03: Which is so good for everybody to recognize, realize, and know these things.
28:48
SPEAKER_03: And please don't hear us saying, Yeah, we've got this figured out, this is why we're telling these things to you.
28:52
SPEAKER_03: No, this is uh, as you say, every day, throughout the day, every situation we get in, am I allowing the Spirit to do this?
29:01
SPEAKER_03: Which I think goes back to praying without ceasing.
29:03
SPEAKER_03: If we are constantly in communication with our Father in heaven, you know, and we know that Jesus is up there interceding with us, and then the Holy Spirit is trying to do the work through us, all three parts together, working on our behalf, it's those situations where it's like, well, let me just let me let me quickly pray before I jump into this type of decision that I'm about to do.
29:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and if I'll do that, you know, then then it makes it makes all the difference in the world.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: And so the question is, how do I do that?
29:33
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and and there's a couple of things.
29:36
SPEAKER_02: Uh John chapter 15, Christ gives us the answer, right?
29:39
SPEAKER_02: And it's not a secret.
29:41
SPEAKER_02: It's not it's not something that, oh, I have to be a believer at least, you know.
29:46
SPEAKER_02: But in in John 15, he says, I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
29:55
SPEAKER_02: And so how how simple is that?
29:58
SPEAKER_02: I want you to notice where the emphasis is, though.
30:00
SPEAKER_02: It's not on producing fruit, it's on abiding.
30:03
SPEAKER_02: It's yeah, thank you.
30:04
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
30:05
SPEAKER_02: And so it's not that Christ said, I'm watching you produce much fruit, and now, no, listen to what he said.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: You abide in me, and then the the result of that is you'll bear much fruit.
30:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
30:20
SPEAKER_02: And and so abide in Christ.
30:22
SPEAKER_02: And and what do we tend to do though, right?
30:25
SPEAKER_02: When when we're talking about our faith walk, we talk about fruit.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: When we talk about that, then then we find ourselves in circumstances and situations where we point to well, Joey, I mean, I did.
30:38
SPEAKER_02: And then I give you my my laundry list of what makes me spiritual.
30:42
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
30:42
SPEAKER_02: Can you say walk in the flesh?
30:44
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
30:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh, because what am I doing at that point?
30:47
SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to take credit for self-glorifying.
30:51
SPEAKER_02: Look what look what God did with me.
30:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:54
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
30:55
SPEAKER_02: So the emphasis if I'm going to walk in the spirit has got to be I'm abiding in Christ.
31:04
SPEAKER_02: And anything outside of that is a work of the flesh, even if it's a good thing.
31:09
SPEAKER_02: It's a work of the flesh.
31:10
SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
31:10
SPEAKER_03: We were talking about that in one of our small groups at the at the men's conference.
31:15
SPEAKER_03: Uh, a lot of times we like to identify ourselves with the things that we have done instead of identifying ourselves as a child of God.
31:22
SPEAKER_03: And that's that's one of those things where, you know, I I remember bringing that up to the to the guys we were there, like, wow, yeah, we we actually do do that.
31:29
SPEAKER_03: Hey man, you know, what what do you do?
31:31
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I do this, I do this, I do this, oh how how would you identify?
31:34
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I identify as of this, as this, and so instead of saying, you know, I'm just I'm just a man who's seeking God.
31:40
SPEAKER_03: I'm a man who's attached to Christ.
31:44
SPEAKER_03: We we in some cases, especially for men, in some cases, we don't like to admit that we need to be weak in order to be strong.
31:54
SPEAKER_03: So we try to puff ourselves up and say, these are the things that I'm doing.
31:58
SPEAKER_03: Like you said, well, well, here's my Richard, here's my laundry list.
32:01
SPEAKER_03: Look it up.
32:02
SPEAKER_03: Man, I got up this morning, I did my Bible study, I sent it out to my guy.
32:05
SPEAKER_03: Like, here's all the things, and now I'm I'm here with you.
32:08
SPEAKER_03: I'm doing a podcast, we're talking about spiritual things.
32:11
SPEAKER_03: Like, like I could use a list of things to show people how good I look spiritually.
32:17
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
32:18
SPEAKER_02: I can do that.
32:19
SPEAKER_02: I I think you you've won a spiritual battle if you can just get up when it's still called morning, but anyway, so well, morning is up until noon.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying, bro.
32:31
SPEAKER_02: It really is.
32:32
SPEAKER_02: It it and Joey, if if we could get past the I've done and and live in the abide, right?
32:40
SPEAKER_02: Because if I'm living in the abide, the things that need to be done are going to get done.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:46
SPEAKER_02: Right.
32:46
SPEAKER_02: And and if I'm not living in the abide, then what's going to get done are the things that I like to do and the things I'm good at.
32:54
SPEAKER_02: But the things that are not going to get done are the things that I don't necessarily want to do, right?
33:00
SPEAKER_02: So if we're going to walk in the spirit, it begins with abiding.
33:05
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
33:05
SPEAKER_02: All right.
33:06
SPEAKER_02: But there's a second area that I think we have to focus on, and that is uh renewing of the mind.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: Romans 12, 2, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
33:18
SPEAKER_02: All right.
33:19
SPEAKER_02: So if I'm abiding in in the spirit, right, then the only thing I have to do is keep my mind renewed and not allow it to be dominated by the works of the flesh.
33:31
SPEAKER_03: The biggest battle we have is a between our ears, man.
33:34
SPEAKER_03: And I I tell that to people all the time.
33:36
SPEAKER_03: It's not, oh, look at that over there.
33:37
SPEAKER_03: Look at that.
33:38
SPEAKER_03: No, it's right here.
33:39
SPEAKER_03: Oh.
33:39
SPEAKER_03: It's right here.
33:40
SPEAKER_03: And then the real choice is what are you doing with that idea that's been put into your head?
33:46
SPEAKER_03: Because now you're determining if this is a good idea, if this is a bad idea.
33:50
SPEAKER_03: There's so much, like microseconds, and you're deciding all these things, which is why I say if you're just in constant communication with the Lord, if you are praying without ceasing, it makes it easier.
34:02
SPEAKER_03: I think a lot of times the reason you're battling in your mind is because, well, I know it's wrong, but is it really that bad?
34:10
SPEAKER_03: I know it's wrong, but will anybody find out?
34:13
SPEAKER_03: And and these battles, no.
34:15
SPEAKER_03: Renew your mind and say, I'm only gonna do what the spirit allows me to do.
34:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the things that we we we emphasized at our at our ministry treat, and and it's something that we've emphasized in many different settings, and that is everything I do begins with what I believe.
34:29
SPEAKER_02: Okay and and so if if my foundation is scripture and my foundation is to walk in the spirit, then that's where I'm at.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: But but if somehow or another I believe I'm more important or or you know I'm off on this tangent or that tangent, whatever I believe literally drives.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: And that's the reason he said the renewing of the mind is absolutely essential.
34:53
SPEAKER_02: Transformation has to start on the inside.
34:56
SPEAKER_02: All right, which brings us to the third idea, and that is yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life.
35:02
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
35:02
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I abide in Christ, I renew my mind.
35:05
SPEAKER_02: As I'm renewing my mind, then the Spirit of God is going to put his finger on stuff that has no business being in my life.
35:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
35:14
SPEAKER_02: But the real question is, are you going to pay attention to that?
35:16
SPEAKER_02: Am I going to yield to that?
35:17
SPEAKER_03: Am I listening to that, you know, spirit say, that's not what you want to do, do this instead.
35:23
SPEAKER_02: Right.
35:24
SPEAKER_02: See, what the world wants to do, and and unfortunately, it's it's just the truth, and and I wish it were not, but but they want these big dramatic moments, right?
35:34
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the work of the spirit is is this special gift or that special gift, or or you know, all the the things that are dramatic to the site.
35:45
SPEAKER_02: But let me tell you something, and and I believe I can back, well, I know I can back this up by scripture.
35:50
SPEAKER_02: Uh the work of the spirit happens quietly in your life, right?
35:54
SPEAKER_02: And it's never for show.
35:56
SPEAKER_02: And and it's never so I can make money, so I can be popular.
36:02
SPEAKER_02: It's never that, right?
36:04
SPEAKER_02: Yielding to the spirit, be filled with the spirit, he says in Ephesians 5.18.
36:09
SPEAKER_03: Yes, he does.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: All right.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: And and so it suggests an ongoing action.
36:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:15
SPEAKER_03: Continually be filled with the spirit.
36:19
SPEAKER_03: Right.
36:19
SPEAKER_03: I like how you say we we have done this to ourselves.
36:22
SPEAKER_03: I know this, but we all want to see these dramatic things.
36:25
SPEAKER_03: And so we love, and I we were praying over our children last night, and and one of my prayers was, I love the testimony that says, Yeah, I never got into anything.
36:35
SPEAKER_03: Like I grew up as a Christian, I knew the Lord, and I never really strayed away from the Lord.
36:39
SPEAKER_03: And so all my life I've been walking with the Spirit, and the Spirit's been doing a great work in my life.
36:45
SPEAKER_03: That for me is the most powerful testimony in the world.
36:48
SPEAKER_03: But we love the man, I used to do this, and you should have seen what the Lord pulled me out of.
36:53
SPEAKER_03: Praise God.
36:54
SPEAKER_03: I am so glad that the Lord has pulled you out of that.
36:57
SPEAKER_03: And yes, that is a powerful testimony, and it is dramatic, as you say.
37:02
SPEAKER_03: But how much better would it be to say, man, I grew up and my parents taught me about the Lord, and I believed the Lord so much, and I just allowed the Holy Spirit to walk with me throughout my whole life.
37:13
SPEAKER_03: And by the grace of God, I never ended up going down that path.
37:18
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
37:18
SPEAKER_02: You know, we we live in a world that unfortunately we go, Well, I need to experience it.
37:23
SPEAKER_02: Right.
37:23
SPEAKER_02: And you need to experience it.
37:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, I I remember when when I was in law enforcement and they when they first started issuing pepper spray, they said you need to be sprayed with pepper spray so you know what it feels like when you use it.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: I said, You gonna shoot me with my 45-2?
37:45
SPEAKER_02: No, I don't need to experience it.
37:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I know it hurts, right?
37:50
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, and honestly, thinking through those lines of of all that, I think we do have to remember it's one step at a time.
37:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
37:59
SPEAKER_02: No one gets to their destination without one step at a time.
38:04
SPEAKER_02: And and so we have to realize and recognize that.
38:07
SPEAKER_02: And and as we work toward the destination, as as we're doing that, I want you to notice Paul did not say run in the spirit.
38:17
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
38:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he said, Yeah, hurry up.
38:20
SPEAKER_02: Walk in the spirit.
38:21
SPEAKER_02: Walking is steady, it's consistent, it's intentional.
38:25
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
38:25
SPEAKER_02: And and so we walk in the spirit.
38:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, one foot in front of the other, man.
38:29
SPEAKER_03: That's all it takes.
38:30
SPEAKER_03: It's a daily choice.
38:32
SPEAKER_03: There you go.
38:33
SPEAKER_03: Every day of your life.
38:34
SPEAKER_03: And are you choosing to do it?
38:36
SPEAKER_03: Right.
38:37
SPEAKER_03: Are you choosing to walk one step at a time with the Lord?
38:41
SPEAKER_03: Are you trying to jump over certain things?
38:43
SPEAKER_03: Because a lot of times we just want to jump past certain things.
38:45
SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, you get saved and you're just like, oh, well, I want to jump straight to this.
38:49
SPEAKER_03: Well, no, you may want to try to walk a step at a time.
38:52
SPEAKER_03: Let's get you developed to actually do the Lord's work.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: Well, again, you know, we live in a noisy world.
38:58
SPEAKER_02: And so the question you got to answer is what am I listening to?
39:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:02
SPEAKER_02: What destination am I walking toward?
39:04
SPEAKER_02: Where am I trying to get?
39:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:06
SPEAKER_02: And and that's where we have to be.
39:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:08
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
39:09
SPEAKER_03: Like, what is right?
39:11
SPEAKER_03: What is your life looking like, and who are you allowing to shape and define who you are, man?
39:18
SPEAKER_03: I love that.
39:18
SPEAKER_03: What a good, what a good closing for this series, man.
39:21
SPEAKER_03: As we get ready to wrap this thing up, just break it all down.
39:24
SPEAKER_03: I mean, the reality is we've seriously gone through a five-part series, but all of it is one.
39:31
SPEAKER_03: Right.
39:31
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
39:32
SPEAKER_03: All of it is one.
39:33
SPEAKER_03: We just can we really spend five hours on one podcast on that.
39:37
SPEAKER_03: Well, you could.
39:37
SPEAKER_03: I could too.
39:38
SPEAKER_03: I could sit here and talk for five hours easily.
39:40
SPEAKER_03: But y'all wouldn't sit and listen and pay attention for five hours.
39:44
SPEAKER_03: But but wrap this whole thing up for us.
39:46
SPEAKER_02: You know, I I really want to leave them with three simple questions coming out of this five-part series and and really encourage them to go back and listen to it and put it all together.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: Answer the question, which voice am I listening to?
39:57
SPEAKER_02: Because you are listening to voices out there.
40:00
SPEAKER_02: And the question is, which one?
40:02
SPEAKER_02: Which direction am I walking?
40:04
SPEAKER_02: Because you are moving in a direction, and you can't deny that, right?
40:08
SPEAKER_02: Why would I why would I be walking east and expect to wind up west?
40:11
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: And so we have to realize that.
40:14
SPEAKER_02: And then what nature am I allowed to shape my life?
40:17
SPEAKER_02: Because you are either walking in the spirit or you're walking in the flesh.
40:21
SPEAKER_02: And you make that choice.
40:23
SPEAKER_02: You are deciding what shapes your life.
40:26
SPEAKER_02: And so think about what's happening here and where we're at.
40:30
SPEAKER_02: And when you do that, the reality is, is you begin making your evaluation, not based on, well, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, to what does God say about it?
40:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
40:43
SPEAKER_03: Man, I love that.
40:44
SPEAKER_03: And I hope you guys listening as we close out the series.
40:48
SPEAKER_03: I really hope one thing stays with you guys.
40:51
SPEAKER_03: What we allow in our heart, that's what's going to be shaping our life.
40:56
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
40:57
SPEAKER_03: And so, so here's what we're going to do as we start a new series.
41:00
SPEAKER_03: And again, I believe this is going to be a five-part game.
41:03
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we should do five parts.
41:04
SPEAKER_03: I mean, five parts just seem good for you.
41:05
SPEAKER_03: Who knows?
41:06
SPEAKER_02: It might be six time we're done.
41:08
SPEAKER_02: We could do a 17 part.
41:10
SPEAKER_03: But but the real question is, what are we building?
41:12
SPEAKER_03: Right.
41:12
SPEAKER_03: Right?
41:12
SPEAKER_03: What are we building in our lives?
41:14
SPEAKER_03: And so the next series, we're going to talk about building a life that stands.
41:19
SPEAKER_03: And we've got to start with if you can't stand on something that's not solid, right?
41:25
SPEAKER_03: So we need to talk about a foundation.
41:27
SPEAKER_03: And our foundation is Christ.
41:30
SPEAKER_03: And you were just talking about daily habits, like doing this daily.
41:33
SPEAKER_03: What does daily habits look like for us?
41:36
SPEAKER_03: And how does that help us grow strong?
41:38
SPEAKER_03: And so we're going to be moving forward together with this thing, learning how to guard our hearts and build our lives upon Jesus.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: Right.
41:46
SPEAKER_03: Right?
41:46
SPEAKER_03: Exactly okay.
41:47
SPEAKER_03: We're looking forward to doing that.
41:48
SPEAKER_03: Hey guys, thank you so much for tuning into the Reality Is Podcast, where we are here talking about real life and real faith.
41:56
SPEAKER_03: Faith is probably the key to this whole podcast.
41:59
SPEAKER_03: We're believing that the word of God is true and we can do these things through the power of the Holy Spirit that you were just talking about in us.
42:07
SPEAKER_03: Hey, do us a favor, like, subscribe, share this with your friends, and let other people know what's happening here on the reality is podcast.
42:14
SPEAKER_03: And if you're watching on YouTube, ring that bell.
42:17
SPEAKER_03: That way you'll never miss another episode of the Reality Is Podcast.
42:20
SPEAKER_03: For now, we'd like to say God bless you and have a wonderful day.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: The reality with a real life makes real fun.