Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – Cultivating a Spirit-Con...
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: The key to successful Christian living is never realized through
- 0:12Speaker 1: trying harder. When striving for goodness becomes our method, the
- 0:16Speaker 1: results are maddening. Along the way, we get stuck in
- 0:20Speaker 1: an endless cycle of failure, followed by overanalyzing our mistakes
- 0:24Speaker 1: and confessing our shortcomings well Today, on Insight for Living,
- 0:29Speaker 1: chuckswun Daul reveals a shocking truth. We've been wrongly programmed.
- 0:34Speaker 1: Like an eagle raised among prairie chickens. We're scratching in
- 0:37Speaker 1: the dirt when we're designed to soar. God's counterintuitive plan
- 0:42Speaker 1: is beautifully laid out in Romans chapter.
- 0:44Speaker 2: Eight in the Bible.
- 0:45Speaker 1: Chuck called today's message cultivating a spirit controlled life.
- 0:58Speaker 2: It's a weird world in which we're living. Folks. You
- 1:01Speaker 2: gotta be really discerning. You have to cut through all
- 1:04Speaker 2: the pizazz, all the jazz, all the stuff that you
- 1:08Speaker 2: get from the media, from books you read, from stuff
- 1:12Speaker 2: you see on the tube, from things you hear from
- 1:15Speaker 2: the majority opinion from folks around the office. You've got
- 1:18Speaker 2: to be discerning. Listen, pay close attention, and then square
- 1:24Speaker 2: it with the scriptures. And if what you heard doesn't,
- 1:26Speaker 2: it's wrong. Otherwise you're going to be terribly confused. You're
- 1:32Speaker 2: going to be wrongly programmed. If Jesus Christ picked up
- 1:37Speaker 2: the complete payment for our sin and paid for it
- 1:40Speaker 2: all at the cross, doesn't it make sense that He's
- 1:42Speaker 2: going to now enable us, empower us to live the
- 1:46Speaker 2: life he would have us live, knowing that the only
- 1:49Speaker 2: thing we bring to it is an old nature. So
- 1:52Speaker 2: the Lord God gives us places in residence within us,
- 1:58Speaker 2: the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to
- 2:02Speaker 2: live inside our lives. Our lives become his address, our
- 2:10Speaker 2: mind becomes his mind. Our will can become his will,
- 2:17Speaker 2: our purposes or his purposes unless we rely on the
- 2:21Speaker 2: old nature. So if I look at the very basis
- 2:25Speaker 2: of it and I ask whose responsibility is it, It's
- 2:28Speaker 2: God's responsibility to empower me, and he does I cooperate
- 2:33Speaker 2: with him in choosing to do as he directs. Let
- 2:37Speaker 2: me show you for example, over in the Ephesians chapter two.
- 2:41Speaker 2: Go past the Corinthian letters, pass the Galatian letter, get
- 2:46Speaker 2: to Ephesians and find chapter two. And you know where
- 2:49Speaker 2: I'm going to have you. Turn to eight and nine
- 2:52Speaker 2: Ephesians two, eight and nine. For by grace you have
- 2:55Speaker 2: been saved through faith that is not of yourselves. It
- 2:59Speaker 2: is the gift of God, not as a result of work,
- 3:02Speaker 2: so that no one may boast, hallelujah. How good is that? Four,
- 3:08Speaker 2: Now that we're in Christ, we're not boasting. We're just
- 3:11Speaker 2: grateful for salvation. For we are his workmanship. We're his handiwork,
- 3:16Speaker 2: we're his project. We're created in Christ Jesus for good works,
- 3:23Speaker 2: which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
- 3:29Speaker 2: How good is that He prepared my salvation beforehand. He
- 3:33Speaker 2: prepared my sanctification beforehand. He is ready to empower it,
- 3:38Speaker 2: start to finish. That's got to keep the old nature
- 3:41Speaker 2: out of the picture, keep it out of the way. Now,
- 3:44Speaker 2: all of that is introduction verse twelve of Romans chapter eight. So, then,
- 3:50Speaker 2: brethren and sistern, we are under obligation not to the flesh,
- 3:54Speaker 2: to live according to the flesh. See the word obligation.
- 3:57Speaker 2: That's very important word. It means restricted to a particular
- 4:01Speaker 2: mode of life. We are not restricted to a mode
- 4:05Speaker 2: of life of the flesh. We are not bound legally
- 4:09Speaker 2: to the flesh. We were before Christ, we are not now.
- 4:13Speaker 2: We are freed from that binding, that bond that once
- 4:17Speaker 2: glued us to it. We couldn't help but lust. We
- 4:20Speaker 2: couldn't help but feel greedy. We couldn't help but compete.
- 4:24Speaker 2: We couldn't help but focus on ourselves. We couldn't help
- 4:26Speaker 2: but be selfish. But Christ has made a difference. Christ
- 4:29Speaker 2: has come in, and with Christ has come the whole package,
- 4:32Speaker 2: including the Holy Spirit, all the empowerment needed to live
- 4:36Speaker 2: a life that's different from what we once lived. Now
- 4:41Speaker 2: we could still live like we used to. Even though
- 4:45Speaker 2: it says there's a better way to live. Look at
- 4:47Speaker 2: what happens when we do Verse thirteen. If you are
- 4:50Speaker 2: living according to the flesh, you must die. What does
- 4:54Speaker 2: that mean. It means you must carry out a lifestyle
- 4:58Speaker 2: that is just like the flesh delivers. And what is that?
- 5:02Speaker 2: There's inner turmoil, there's argumentation, there are feelings of anguish
- 5:07Speaker 2: and insecurity. There's hostility, there's resentment, there's irritability, there's selfishness.
- 5:14Speaker 2: All the hallmarks of this way of life, the flesh
- 5:16Speaker 2: way of life, All of that emerges. Believe it or not,
- 5:19Speaker 2: a believer can live like that, And nothing more miserable
- 5:23Speaker 2: on the planet, even among the saved and lost, than
- 5:25Speaker 2: a believer that is carnal. A believer who is carrying
- 5:30Speaker 2: out his or her life in the energy of the flesh.
- 5:32Speaker 2: It's called death. You can live like that, and when
- 5:36Speaker 2: you do there are consequences. However, you can also live
- 5:41Speaker 2: in the power of the spirit. Putting to death the
- 5:44Speaker 2: deeds of the body. You will live a better way
- 5:47Speaker 2: to live, to have Christ in such full control of
- 5:50Speaker 2: your life. One occasion, a knock came at Martin Luther's
- 5:54Speaker 2: door several days after he had come to Christ through
- 5:57Speaker 2: his reading of Romans chapter three, and the person looked
- 6:01Speaker 2: at him when Luther opened the door, and he said,
- 6:03Speaker 2: does Martin Luther live here? And Luther said no, he
- 6:06Speaker 2: died several days ago. And then he said, well, then,
- 6:09Speaker 2: who lives here? And Luther said Christ. The guy just
- 6:13Speaker 2: kind of stared and blinked and didn't know whether to
- 6:16Speaker 2: wind his watch or spit and just kind of stared
- 6:18Speaker 2: at him. And Luther makes a point. It's obviously taken
- 6:22Speaker 2: to an extreme. Don't do that on your own. They'll
- 6:25Speaker 2: put you away. But back in those days, back in
- 6:28Speaker 2: those days, that was the way Luther handled it. I
- 6:31Speaker 2: don't live here. Christ lives here. When you start thinking
- 6:34Speaker 2: that way, Christ will become more and more it's significant
- 6:36Speaker 2: to you. It's not you kind of tagging along with
- 6:39Speaker 2: Jesus in a wagon. It's Jesus Christ living his life
- 6:44Speaker 2: through you, through your life, through his power, through his responses,
- 6:52Speaker 2: through his nature. How wonderful is that? And you will
- 6:57Speaker 2: find what that occurs. It makes all the difference in
- 6:59Speaker 2: the world. You were not any longer so focused on
- 7:03Speaker 2: the negative, your own stuff, and you're not helping God.
- 7:10Speaker 2: You know, sort of save now, pay me later. In
- 7:13Speaker 2: this salvation plan, you didn't get saved and then now
- 7:16Speaker 2: you got to pay God back out of gratitude. Doesn't
- 7:20Speaker 2: work like that. About thirty years ago, man named Larry
- 7:25Speaker 2: Christiansen wrote a book called The Renewed Mind. I dug
- 7:30Speaker 2: it out of my library and remembered it because I
- 7:32Speaker 2: had shared this over thirty years ago, and I want
- 7:35Speaker 2: you to hear it today. It's a good example of
- 7:37Speaker 2: how the Christian life is often lived, but need not
- 7:41Speaker 2: be lived. Young man named Sinner once received from his
- 7:45Speaker 2: father a beautiful, bright red convertible, which he named Salvation
- 7:50Speaker 2: sparkling new, clean, modern, powerful car. It delighted the young
- 7:54Speaker 2: man so much, especially because it was a gift he
- 7:57Speaker 2: could never have afforded it. So delighted was the boy
- 8:00Speaker 2: that he even changed his name from Center to Saved.
- 8:04Speaker 2: He polished his car every week, took pictures of it,
- 8:07Speaker 2: sent it to friends, looked it over front, back, top, bottom,
- 8:10Speaker 2: inside out, never never tired of telling others about the gift.
- 8:15Speaker 2: My father gave it to me. It was free. Some
- 8:18Speaker 2: days later, Saved was seen on the highway pushing Salvation.
- 8:23Speaker 2: An individual named Helper walked up and introduced himself and
- 8:26Speaker 2: asked if he could assist. Oh no, thanks, just out
- 8:29Speaker 2: and joined my new car. As he wiped the sweat
- 8:32Speaker 2: off his face. Just had a little trouble because my
- 8:34Speaker 2: bumper keeps cutting my hands, especially on these hills. But
- 8:38Speaker 2: a nice man helped me out. He showed me how
- 8:40Speaker 2: to mount little rubber cushions under the mumper right here,
- 8:43Speaker 2: so that now I can push for hours and I
- 8:45Speaker 2: don't even get a blister. Even helps on muddy roads.
- 8:49Speaker 2: Helper said, have you pushed the car very far? All
- 8:52Speaker 2: about two hundred miles all together. It's been hard, But
- 8:56Speaker 2: since this was a gift from my father, this is
- 8:59Speaker 2: the least I can do, and returned to thank him.
- 9:01Speaker 2: Don't forget that, since this was a gift, from my father.
- 9:06Speaker 2: This is the least I can do to return to
- 9:09Speaker 2: thank him. Now I've got to work at it. Helper
- 9:13Speaker 2: opened the door on the right side and said get in.
- 9:17Speaker 2: After hesitation, Save decided it was worth a try, so
- 9:21Speaker 2: we slid in on the passenger side, rested for the
- 9:23Speaker 2: first time since he had been given the car. Helper
- 9:25Speaker 2: walked around, opened the door, slid behind the wheel started
- 9:28Speaker 2: the car. Save said, what's all that noise, that's the engine.
- 9:35Speaker 2: Moments later they were moving down the highway quietly at
- 9:38Speaker 2: fifty sixty miles an hour. He was absolutely stunned. It
- 9:43Speaker 2: all now seemed to fall into place. It was even exciting.
- 9:46Speaker 2: He knew he needed this Salvation car to be admitted
- 9:49Speaker 2: to the gate at the end of the highway, but
- 9:51Speaker 2: somehow he felt that getting there was his responsibility. I
- 9:57Speaker 2: gave this message twice before this time. I had a
- 10:02Speaker 2: couple who have come out of Mormonism stop by to
- 10:07Speaker 2: say to me, everything you taught about salvation and sanctification
- 10:14Speaker 2: is the opposite of what we were taught our years,
- 10:18Speaker 2: and they name thirty eight years in that church. I
- 10:23Speaker 2: rarely mention another religion, but today it seemed appropriate. The
- 10:27Speaker 2: fact is most religions are based on the works of
- 10:35Speaker 2: the follower. Christianity rests remember eagles. Christianity rests on the
- 10:45Speaker 2: power on the person of Jesus Christ. He brought us
- 10:52Speaker 2: to salvation. He is the one who enables us to
- 10:56Speaker 2: live the salvation lifestyle. I yield myself to him. I
- 11:02Speaker 2: trust his spirit to take over. I rely on his spirit.
- 11:06Speaker 2: So when I come up against a tough moment, I say, Lord,
- 11:11Speaker 2: right now on my mind, I say Lord, I'm not
- 11:13Speaker 2: able to handle this. This is going to be a
- 11:15Speaker 2: tough situation. I know before I ever encountered this individual,
- 11:19Speaker 2: it was going to take me off. And I know
- 11:21Speaker 2: if I don't watch it, I'm gonna smack back. I'm
- 11:24Speaker 2: gonna come back with some clever, cute, little put down comment.
- 11:27Speaker 2: Then he'll come back, will be in an argument. So
- 11:29Speaker 2: don't let me do that. You take control. Quiet my spirit,
- 11:35Speaker 2: give me your mind, give me the right thoughts, give
- 11:38Speaker 2: me the right words, and you know what he will.
- 11:43Speaker 2: Proverb says in sixteen seven. When a man's ways please
- 11:45Speaker 2: the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at
- 11:47Speaker 2: peace with him. That an amazing thing. When I am
- 11:53Speaker 2: pleasing to the Lord in my ways, It's amazing how
- 11:56Speaker 2: often the enemy is not my enemy, and the Lord
- 12:00Speaker 2: uses it in a remarkable way to turn the situation around,
- 12:04Speaker 2: because it's now under the operation of the spirit of God.
- 12:08Speaker 2: It's not that you'll never have an argument. It's not
- 12:10Speaker 2: that you'll never have a tough moment. It's that you'll
- 12:13Speaker 2: have it and operate through it under the power of
- 12:15Speaker 2: someone that is not you. That's the spirit of God. Now,
- 12:21Speaker 2: the benefits that come our way, there are four of
- 12:23Speaker 2: them right here in fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen. I call
- 12:26Speaker 2: them internal internal changes number one, verse fourteen. All who
- 12:32Speaker 2: are led with the spirit of God, these are the
- 12:34Speaker 2: sons of God. Number one practical every day leading from God.
- 12:43Speaker 2: When I am living like this, every day, I am
- 12:46Speaker 2: led by God. Every day. I start by day saying, Lord,
- 12:51Speaker 2: if I lead myself, I'll go in the wrong direction.
- 12:53Speaker 2: Don't let me do that. I give you my thoughts today,
- 12:57Speaker 2: I give you my day. I ask you to help
- 12:59Speaker 2: me when my day is interrupted, Help me when I'm rushed,
- 13:02Speaker 2: help me when the kids make a lot of demands
- 13:04Speaker 2: on me, Help me when there's difficulty with a neighbor,
- 13:07Speaker 2: help me when I'm at work, and such and such
- 13:09Speaker 2: a help me, help me, Lord, help me through the day,
- 13:12Speaker 2: guide me, lead me, and I place myself and I
- 13:15Speaker 2: don't plan on sinning. See before it was like, Okay,
- 13:20Speaker 2: I know I'm gonna blow it today. Lord, so be
- 13:21Speaker 2: ready to forgive me. It's not like that. It's Lord,
- 13:25Speaker 2: I don't have to fall into that trap as I
- 13:27Speaker 2: used to guard me from it. Guide me, Great, Jehovah.
- 13:33Speaker 2: I'm just a pilgrim and a barren land. Here's the
- 13:35Speaker 2: second one, verse fifteen. You have not received a spirit
- 13:38Speaker 2: of slavery leading to fear again. You've received a spirit
- 13:41Speaker 2: of adoption as sons, by which we cry Abbah. Father,
- 13:45Speaker 2: look closely. When we came to Christ, we received not
- 13:50Speaker 2: another slavery, but a fearless intimacy with God. That's the
- 13:56Speaker 2: next benefit. There is a free and fearless intimacy with God.
- 14:01Speaker 2: You received a spirit of adduction. I'm a child of God.
- 14:06Speaker 2: I'm a son. You're a daughter of God. And now
- 14:11Speaker 2: I call him Daddy. That's what abba means. See the
- 14:14Speaker 2: word abba, it's Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. He used
- 14:18Speaker 2: it a gets some many, Father, forgive them. Father helped
- 14:22Speaker 2: this cup pass from me with his statement, Daddy, an
- 14:26Speaker 2: intimate calling on the father, Father Daddy. There's intimacy in there.
- 14:31Speaker 2: Before there was that sense of distance. But now while
- 14:35Speaker 2: I hold him in great respect and all, I'm connected
- 14:39Speaker 2: to him closely. He is my companion, he is my God,
- 14:43Speaker 2: and I am walking with him under his control. Now
- 14:48Speaker 2: there's a third. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit.
- 14:52Speaker 2: Notice the two s. His first one is capitalized, that's
- 14:54Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit. The other is our human spirit that
- 14:57Speaker 2: we are children of God. So the third is this
- 15:01Speaker 2: confident assurance that we belong to God. The confident assurance
- 15:05Speaker 2: that we belong to God. We're never in doubt. We
- 15:08Speaker 2: never have to wonder. We never wake up in the
- 15:11Speaker 2: morning or go to bed at night wondering if God
- 15:13Speaker 2: has kicked us out or if we're no longer in
- 15:16Speaker 2: this forever family. We have the assurance that we are
- 15:20Speaker 2: the children of God. And it gets even better seventeen.
- 15:23Speaker 2: If children, then heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ.
- 15:30Speaker 2: Here's a clear realization of our value before the living God,
- 15:35Speaker 2: a clear realization of our value. We are not only
- 15:38Speaker 2: heirs of His we are fellow heirs with His son,
- 15:45Speaker 2: the most significant thing about our lives, then, is what
- 15:48Speaker 2: God has done, is doing and will do. That's the
- 15:51Speaker 2: most exciting thing about the Christian life. Practical every day
- 15:55Speaker 2: leading from God, free and fearless intimacy with God, confident
- 16:00Speaker 2: assurance belonging to God, and then a clear realization of
- 16:05Speaker 2: our value and worth before God. So my response three words,
- 16:13Speaker 2: let God lead. That's it. It works against our nature
- 16:20Speaker 2: because we are adults, and we've had training, and we're educated,
- 16:24Speaker 2: and we're capable. And probably you have a position that's
- 16:27Speaker 2: pretty significant and you've relied on that to get you
- 16:30Speaker 2: through your career. So it comes to God. You're going
- 16:32Speaker 2: to rely. Don't let God lead, and he will lead
- 16:38Speaker 2: in ways that will be surprising. Just release your grip,
- 16:44Speaker 2: don't try to control the situation. Let God lead. Sounds
- 16:50Speaker 2: so simple. Three monosyllabic words, let God lead. I go.
- 17:00Speaker 2: I came across a little peace on the road of life.
- 17:05Speaker 2: At first, I saw God as my judge, keeping track
- 17:07Speaker 2: of the things I did wrong, so as to know
- 17:11Speaker 2: whether I merited heaven or hell. When I died, he
- 17:14Speaker 2: was out there, sort of like a president. I recognize
- 17:18Speaker 2: his picture when I saw it, but I really didn't
- 17:20Speaker 2: know him later on. When I met Christ, it seemed
- 17:23Speaker 2: as though life was rather like a bike ride, but
- 17:26Speaker 2: it was a tandem bike. I noticed that Christ was
- 17:30Speaker 2: in the back helping me peddle. I don't know just
- 17:34Speaker 2: when it was that he suggested we change places, but
- 17:37Speaker 2: life hasn't been quite the same since then. When I
- 17:40Speaker 2: had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring
- 17:45Speaker 2: but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.
- 17:50Speaker 2: But when he took the lead, he knew delightful long
- 17:53Speaker 2: cuts that a great line. He knew the long cuts
- 17:57Speaker 2: up mountains, through rocky places that break next speeds. It
- 18:01Speaker 2: was all I could do to hang on, even though
- 18:03Speaker 2: it looked like madness. He'd lean back and say, pebble.
- 18:08Speaker 2: I worried and was anxious and asked, well, where are
- 18:10Speaker 2: you taking me? He laughed and never answered, and I
- 18:14Speaker 2: started to learn to trust him. I forgot my boring
- 18:17Speaker 2: life and entered into the adventure. And when I'd say
- 18:20Speaker 2: I'm scared, then he would lean back and he would
- 18:23Speaker 2: touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts
- 18:27Speaker 2: that I needed, gifts of healing and help, gifts of
- 18:30Speaker 2: acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts along my
- 18:33Speaker 2: journey we were off again, He'd say, now, give those
- 18:37Speaker 2: gifts away to someone else. Their extra baggage too much weight.
- 18:40Speaker 2: So I did to the people we met, and I
- 18:43Speaker 2: found that in giving, I received, and still our burden
- 18:45Speaker 2: was light. I didn't trust him at first. I'm not
- 18:50Speaker 2: in control of my life. I thought he'd wreck it.
- 18:54Speaker 2: But he knows bike secrets. Not a good line, he
- 18:57Speaker 2: knows bike secrets. He knows how to make it bend
- 19:00Speaker 2: and take sharp corners, how to jump to clear high rocks.
- 19:04Speaker 2: He knows how to shorten scary passages. And I'm learning
- 19:07Speaker 2: to just shut up and pedal, and we go in
- 19:12Speaker 2: the strangest places together. I'm beginning to enjoy the view
- 19:16Speaker 2: and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful companion,
- 19:20Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore,
- 19:24Speaker 2: he smiles and says, pedal sounds like the life of
- 19:31Speaker 2: an eagle, don't it. If you're not careful, you were
- 19:34Speaker 2: programmed to be a prairie chicken. You're not careful. You'll
- 19:39Speaker 2: keep believing that nonsense, and you'll spend the rest of
- 19:42Speaker 2: your life pushing your new vehicle. You have no business
- 19:46Speaker 2: trying to push what God will energize. That's not how
- 19:50Speaker 2: it works. I have lived long enough and gone far
- 19:55Speaker 2: enough to be able to tell you something that I
- 19:59Speaker 2: that I'm free to admit. I've come to the place
- 20:02Speaker 2: in my life now where I don't fear anybody. I
- 20:06Speaker 2: don't I have heroes and mentors. I respect many people,
- 20:12Speaker 2: but I don't have a fear of them like I
- 20:14Speaker 2: used to. Used to be intimidated around certain people. You know,
- 20:19Speaker 2: like you hope they don't look at you or point
- 20:22Speaker 2: you out or next month. I want to be around
- 20:26Speaker 2: some of the hot shots inside the beltwagh and who
- 20:29Speaker 2: knows who may see a cabinet member. I'm not afraid
- 20:35Speaker 2: of a politician. I'm not afraid of a cabinet member.
- 20:39Speaker 2: I mean my fears of the awesome God who made
- 20:44Speaker 2: the stars. Also, he's the one we fear, and the
- 20:51Speaker 2: deeper we get into this understanding of true sanctification, the
- 20:55Speaker 2: more intimate I walk with him is, and the less
- 20:58Speaker 2: impressed we are with other fought folks. They just got
- 21:01Speaker 2: to put their bridges on one leg at a time,
- 21:04Speaker 2: like you do. They got needs just like you do.
- 21:07Speaker 2: They got insecurities just like you and I do most
- 21:11Speaker 2: of them. If they're real, genuine, humble people. They don't
- 21:15Speaker 2: want you to be impressed. If we lived our lives
- 21:19Speaker 2: as we should, adequately and fully and totally impressed with
- 21:23Speaker 2: the living God, it is amazing what that would do
- 21:28Speaker 2: to our whole focus in life. Amazing. You'd be free
- 21:33Speaker 2: to be an eagle, you wouldn't have to learn to cluck,
- 21:39Speaker 2: you wouldn't be grubbing for worms, and you'd say, finally,
- 21:44Speaker 2: thanks Lord, thank you for not only saving me, thank
- 21:48Speaker 2: you for living your life through me. I am just
- 21:52Speaker 2: awe struck at that, and you just every day I'm
- 21:56Speaker 2: gonna tell you every day of my life. I'm surprised
- 22:00Speaker 2: you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised. It's a wonderful way
- 22:04Speaker 2: to live, wonderful. Let's bow our heads. Perhaps you've never
- 22:13Speaker 2: trusted in the Lord Jesus, and you've heard just enough
- 22:15Speaker 2: to day to have your appetite wedding. So I'm not
- 22:19Speaker 2: going to beg you to do that. God's working on
- 22:22Speaker 2: your heart and he'll bring you to him. He knows
- 22:26Speaker 2: the time, he knows the moment. My preference is that
- 22:31Speaker 2: you'd respond right now. Just tell the Lord, you're tired
- 22:35Speaker 2: of living it your way and you want to live
- 22:36Speaker 2: at his. That you're going to trust His son Jesus
- 22:41Speaker 2: instead of trusting in yourself. Because one of these days,
- 22:45Speaker 2: my friend, you're going to die. You're going to be
- 22:49Speaker 2: like every other person who dies. You're going to be
- 22:51Speaker 2: a corpse. The Lord promises you a life beyond death
- 23:00Speaker 2: you can't provide for yourself. So just trust him now.
- 23:06Speaker 2: You can trust him on your way home. You could
- 23:08Speaker 2: trust him where you're city. And it may be you've
- 23:11Speaker 2: trusted him, but you've not operated in his strength. And
- 23:16Speaker 2: this could be a major turning point for you. This
- 23:21Speaker 2: renewed mind could become yours. How great a thought is that?
- 23:27Speaker 2: And you would begin to soar like you've never soared before.
- 23:32Speaker 2: So help us all, Lord, in this journey called life,
- 23:38Speaker 2: we have been wrongly programmed. Relearning untruth is harder than
- 23:44Speaker 2: learning for the first time great truth. So help us
- 23:48Speaker 2: to filter out the nonsense and to come to terms
- 23:53Speaker 2: with truth. And when we see it and understand it,
- 23:56Speaker 2: may we apply it and do it all for your glory.
- 24:02Speaker 2: Thank you for deliverance from the things that once held
- 24:06Speaker 2: us in their grip. Thank you for these many friends
- 24:10Speaker 2: so faithful to be a part of our ministry. Encourage
- 24:15Speaker 2: them as they put this to use in their lives.
- 24:19Speaker 2: Start with me, Help me, Lord, operate under your spirit's
- 24:26Speaker 2: control in the great name of Jesus, their Savior. And
- 24:32Speaker 2: all his people said, Amen.
- 24:43Speaker 1: This is insight for living. When we stop trying to
- 24:47Speaker 1: live the Christian life and our own power, and instead
- 24:49Speaker 1: allow Christ to live his life through us, we experience
- 24:53Speaker 1: the abundant life that God intended, soaring like eagles rather
- 24:57Speaker 1: than scratching around like prairie chickens. That's the overarching theme
- 25:01Speaker 1: of this passage in Romans chapter eight. You're listening to
- 25:04Speaker 1: the Bible teaching of Chuck Swindahl. Did you know that Paul,
- 25:08Speaker 1: under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote nearly half
- 25:11Speaker 1: the books in the New Testament, and many believe Romans
- 25:14Speaker 1: was Paul's finest work because it describes God's character and
- 25:18Speaker 1: the Gospel of Jesus Christ with depth and clarity. This
- 25:22Speaker 1: is an essential book for believers to understand both veteran
- 25:25Speaker 1: students of the Bible and brand new Christians, and to
- 25:29Speaker 1: guide you in your studies. Insight for Living offers an
- 25:31Speaker 1: interactive Bible study workbook that's part of our popular Searching
- 25:35Speaker 1: the Scripture's Bible studies. Because of the scope of Paul's letter,
- 25:39Speaker 1: our Bible study comes in two volumes. You'll find all
- 25:42Speaker 1: the details for ordering Volume one at insight dot org
- 25:46Speaker 1: slash offer. And then I want to draw your attention
- 25:50Speaker 1: to a book from Chuck called Looking in All the
- 25:52Speaker 1: Right Directions. Drawing from Paul's wise counsel to his protege, Timothy,
- 25:57Speaker 1: this book features the final five sermons Chuck delivered to
- 26:01Speaker 1: the congregation that he shepherded for more than twenty five years.
- 26:05Speaker 1: From his heart. Chuck spoke about mentoring, enduring hardship, and
- 26:08Speaker 1: using your God given gifts. You will love the Biblical
- 26:12Speaker 1: wisdom that's captured in this book and it would make
- 26:15Speaker 1: a thoughtful gift for your pastor. It's called Looking in
- 26:18Speaker 1: All the Right Directions and you can purchase a copy
- 26:21Speaker 1: by calling us at eight hundred seven seven to two
- 26:24Speaker 1: eighty eight eighty eight or go to insight dot org
- 26:28Speaker 1: slash offer. Insight for Living is made possible not through
- 26:32Speaker 1: the sale of books and Bible study resources, but by
- 26:36Speaker 1: the generous gifts from grateful friends just like you. To
- 26:39Speaker 1: send a donation in the mail. Write to us at
- 26:41Speaker 1: Insight for Living, post Office box five thousand, Frisco, Texas,
- 26:47Speaker 1: seven five three four. One of everything we've been taught
- 26:58Speaker 1: about suffering is wrong. I'm Bill Meyer. Don't miss Chuckswyndall's
- 27:02Speaker 1: clarifying message Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message,
- 27:09Speaker 1: Cultivating a Spirit Controlled Life, was copyrighted in two thousand
- 27:13Speaker 1: and seven, twenty ten, and twenty twenty five, and the
- 27:16Speaker 1: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty five by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated.
- 27:22Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
- 27:26Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited