Latest / In the Stillness Podcast / Staying Strong in a World That Drifts

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Staying Strong in a World That Drifts · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to the podcast.
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  Happy Monday. It is the first pod that I'm
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  doing in March, so I'm super excited.
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  I hope that y'all the best weekend and just especially
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  after being out of town, I love traveling, but I also am so
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  grateful to come home and reset. So I'm praying that this Monday
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  feels fresh for you. A new week, a new month, new
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  mercies, and new opportunities to walk closely with the Lord.
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  So today we are going to be in First Thessalonians 4 verses one
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  through 8 and I will go ahead and read it for us.
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  As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you
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  how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living
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  now. We ask you and urge you in the
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  Lord Jesus to do this more and more, for you know what
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  instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
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  It is God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should
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  avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to
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  control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not
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  in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God, and
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  that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage
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  of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those
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  who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before.
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  For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
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  Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject
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  a human being, but God, the very God who gives you his Holy
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  Spirit. All right, so we talked a lot
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  about in the past couple chapters how Paul has really
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  been encouraging this church. We see that they are standing
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  firm and that is super motivating, not just for us, but
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  it gives Paul hope and encouragement in the suffering
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  that he's experiencing at the time.
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  But now we are looking ahead to practical ways that we learn how
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  we can please God. But here's the main idea that
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  stood out to me. We live in order to please God.
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  And Paul says you are living this way, but do it more.
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  And I love that he's not correcting chaos because they
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  were actually doing so well. But he still says increase, keep
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  going. Don't just plateau or get
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  stagnant. And that word urge, it comes
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  from urgency because it's communicating that this is
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  serious, because it's possible to start strong and then to
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  drift. Paul also says in 1st
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  Corinthians 1012 through 13, So if you think you are standing
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  firm, be careful that you don't fall.
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  No temptation is overtaking you except what is common to mankind
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  and then to another church. In Galatia chapter 5 verses 7
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  through 8 in Galatians, he says you were running a good race who
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  cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
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  So this underlines for us. You can be running well but
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  slowly get distracted and even just a little compromise, it can
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  spread. It can affect us because in
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  First Corinthians 5-6 it also says that a little yeast works
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  through the whole batch of dough.
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  So drifting usually is not dramatic.
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  It's gradual and that's why it's such a slippery slope.
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  And as long as we're on this side of eternity, we will face
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  temptation. Jesus himself says in Matthew
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  2641, This spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
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  That's real because if you love God, you want to obey.
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  But we still have our flesh that is pulling at us, which is why
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  we are called to crucify the flesh, not just manage it.
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  Crucify is an intense verbiage and we have to be made new in
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  the attitude of our minds, like Ephesians 422 says.
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  So here's the picture that came to mind while I was reading this
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  passage. I thought it was a cool vision
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  and I think it can help a lot of us Just think more about this.
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  Think about when you're cooking something in the oven.
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  For me, I was thinking of a casserole.
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  So you've got all the ingredients laid out.
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  The ingredients for us would be like God's Word.
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  We have the Holy Spirit, we have community for accountability, we
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  have prayer. It's all assembled in the pan,
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  but it's not finished yet. It has to be cooked.
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  And in Philippians 1/6, it says he who began a good work in you
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  will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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  That means that we're still being formed.
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  God's not done working on our hearts.
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  And sometimes, y'all, God is going to turn up the heat.
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  Malachi 3 calls him a refiner. And refining it requires fire
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  intensity. So the heat, sometimes it is not
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  punishment, it's purification. It's making you more into the
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  image of Jesus. But here's what really struck me
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  as I was thinking about this. When something is in the oven,
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  you don't just leave it and forget about it.
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  Or at least I don't. I set a timer and for us
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  spiritually you have to check and evaluate your life because
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  if you don't, you risk burning daily evaluation asking God,
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  Lord, search my heart. Show me where I might be
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  drifting. Correct me through your word.
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  Psalm 90 verse 12 says teach us to number our days and just like
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  with a timer, the numbers are ticking down.
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  This image. It reminds us that time matters.
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  Jesus is returning. Therefore we live with urgency.
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  That's why Paul uses the word urge.
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  So also, what does Paul get practical about?
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  First he mentions self-control over your own body.
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  Now notice he doesn't say other people's too.
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  It's not culture standard. It's your body, the one that God
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  gave you. And he says to learn to control
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  it in a way that is holy and honorable.
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  In First Corinthians 618, Paul says flee from sexual
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  immorality. All other sins a person commits
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  are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually sins
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  against their own body. That is so powerful because it's
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  not just external behavior, it's personal.
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  It affects you deeply and living under Christ's control, it's not
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  just better, it's safer. It protects you, but it also
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  protects others. And I think a lot of the times
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  we don't think about how our personal decisions can also
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  largely impact others around us. So I just want us to ask
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  ourselves, how am I honoring God with my body today?
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  Am I excusing sin or am I extracting it?
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  Because the bottom line is that wrong desires eventually will
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  lead to wrong actions, even if you're not acting outwardly, so
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  to speak. Like dwelling.
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  You could be dwelling on lust or replaying impurity.
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  Maybe it's even obsessing over people's approval of you.
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  But this still affects your intimacy with God.
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  And here's the deeper why. Like I said in the beginning, we
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  live in order to please God, to bring him glory. 1st Corinthians
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  1031 whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
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  That's the purpose. And honestly, living how God
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  designed it doesn't just bless His name, it blesses us.
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  And there is a season in my life where vulnerably and frankly, I
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  had to confront this because I was really struggling with body
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  image. And if I'm honest, I didn't want
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  to admit this, but I didn't want to fully change.
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  But The thing is, I didn't realize it wasn't just affecting
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  me physically or mentally and emotionally.
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  It was harming me spiritually because it was keeping me from
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  the freedom that Jesus died for. So living holy, It's not
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  restriction, it's actually freedom.
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  So I'm going to leave y'all with a few reflection questions just
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  to think about. What did you struggle with when
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  you first became a believer, or maybe even a year ago?
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  Are you stronger now? Are you more determined to live
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  in Christ's victory even though we will still face temptation?
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  Have you grown a greater desire to live, conquering that and
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  conquering your flesh through the blood of Jesus?
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  And if you're still stuck in something, have you truly
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  surrendered it? Have you admitted that you want
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  the Lord to come in and heal your heart?
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  Or are you halfway pursuing holiness?
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  Because y'all, we live in order to please God.
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  It's not for performance, it's not for approval, but it should
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  be because we love Him and we desire to obey Him in all areas
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  of our lives. OK, so with that, let's go ahead
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  and pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
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  that you do care how we live. Thank you that holiness is not
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  about shame, it's about true freedom.
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  God, we need your help. We admit we cannot do this on
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  our own. We do not want to drift.
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  Would you make us alert? Would you refine us?
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  Even when it's hot and pressing, at times it's uncomfortable?
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  Would you search our hearts? Would you renew our minds?
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  Lord, just as scripture says, the Spirit is willing, but the
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  flesh is weak. And so strengthen us where our
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  flesh is weak. God empower us by your Spirit to
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  walk in self-control, to walk in purity and to pursue it.
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  We want to glorify you with our bodies, with our thoughts and
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  our daily choices and decisions more and more in Jesus name,
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  Amen. All right friends, Well, that is
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  what I have for you guys today. Praying that the Lord speaks to
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  your heart and that you can reflect on some things and just
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  go to Him. Ask God what he wants to
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  continue revealing. And I'm praying for all of you
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  guys and I hope you all have a great rest of your Monday.