Latest / Andy Stanley Sermons / Andy Stanley - The Beginners Guide to Predicting Your Future Part 4 Appealing Is Revealing

Transcript

Andy Stanley - The Beginners Guide to Predicting Your Future Part 4 Appealing Is Revealing · Andy Stanley Sermons

0:01
Speaker 1: So here's something that we all have in common. This
0:03
Speaker 1: isn't like a religious thing or Christian thing or non
0:05
Speaker 1: Christian thing. This is just a thing thing. This is
0:07
Speaker 1: just a human thing, and we all have this in common.
0:10
Speaker 1: Our worst decisions, my worst decisions, for sure, our worst
0:13
Speaker 1: decisions were fueled by something with strong emotional appeal. There's
0:18
Speaker 1: a you know, a breakthrough thought. Right, duh? Right? I
0:21
Speaker 1: mean your worst decision, my worst decisions that weekend you
0:24
Speaker 1: wish you you know that first marriage, that you know
0:26
Speaker 1: that purchased that least that whatever it was the reason
0:29
Speaker 1: you made that decision. To read, the reason I made
0:31
Speaker 1: that decision, or that series of decisions was whatever it
0:34
Speaker 1: was that caused me to decide, it had strong emotional appeal.
0:37
Speaker 1: It was so appealing. You bought it. It was so appealing,
0:40
Speaker 1: You ate it. It was so appealing you leased it.
0:44
Speaker 1: It was so appealing you moved there. You know it
0:46
Speaker 1: was so appealing you dated it and moved in with it.
0:50
Speaker 1: You know it was so appealing you took it. It
0:52
Speaker 1: was so appealing, you smoked it. It was so appealed.
0:54
Speaker 1: I could go on and on and on, right, I mean,
0:57
Speaker 1: the reason you have regrets, the reason we look back
0:59
Speaker 1: on that, Oh my gosh, what was I thinking? That
1:01
Speaker 1: there was something on the path that had strong emotional appeal? Right?
1:05
Speaker 1: And then something very strange happened. It lost it's appeal.
1:10
Speaker 1: In fact, you don't even know where it is anymore.
1:12
Speaker 1: In fact, you couldn't wait to sell that thing. You
1:14
Speaker 1: couldn't wait to get out of that lease. You couldn't
1:16
Speaker 1: wait to you know, you just you couldn't wait for
1:18
Speaker 1: him to leave or her to leave you. Just it
1:19
Speaker 1: was like, what was I thinking? It? Just it was
1:21
Speaker 1: so appealing at the moment, and then it lost its appeal.
1:24
Speaker 1: And then for some of you, if you're honest, and
1:26
Speaker 1: today's going to be a little bit heavy, so you know,
1:28
Speaker 1: buckle up. For some of you, what began as appealing
1:32
Speaker 1: over time became a prison. What started off as just
1:36
Speaker 1: sort of a past time you discovered, oh it's a
1:38
Speaker 1: pathway and I can't get off this path. And what
1:43
Speaker 1: began is just appealing became sort of a prison for you.
1:46
Speaker 1: It turned out it was poisoned to you. And now
1:48
Speaker 1: there's a habit you can't break, or an addiction that
1:50
Speaker 1: you're struggling with. So I got an idea, we'll keep
1:54
Speaker 1: this short. Let's not do that anymore. Okay, all right,
1:58
Speaker 1: let's not do that anymore. You're dismissed. Okay, take off.
2:00
Speaker 1: We just won't do that anymore. Right, Don't you wish
2:02
Speaker 1: it was that easy? But it's a common experience to
2:05
Speaker 1: all of us, right, the things that get our attention
2:07
Speaker 1: to the things that get us off track, the things
2:09
Speaker 1: that we regret. Ah, there's something always emotionally appealing. So
2:12
Speaker 1: let's not do that anymore. And that's what we're going
2:14
Speaker 1: to talk about today. But before we get to that,
2:16
Speaker 1: a quick review of where we've been. The title of
2:19
Speaker 1: this series actually has a promise built in the Beginner's
2:23
Speaker 1: Guide to predicting your own future or predicting your future,
2:25
Speaker 1: which means we believe you can predict your future. And
2:28
Speaker 1: if you've been with us during this series, I think
2:30
Speaker 1: we've convinced you, to some extent, you can predict your future.
2:33
Speaker 1: And the reason you can predict your future to some
2:35
Speaker 1: extent is because this entire series is built around one
2:38
Speaker 1: simple idea or one simple principle. And remember, a principle
2:42
Speaker 1: is not something you apply. A principle is something that
2:45
Speaker 1: applies itself to you. It's not something you have to
2:48
Speaker 1: stick with. It's something that's going to stick to you.
2:51
Speaker 1: And the principle that drives this entire conversation, we call
2:54
Speaker 1: it the principle of the path. And the principle of
2:56
Speaker 1: the path says that direction determines our destiny. Direction determines
3:02
Speaker 1: the destination. The best way to predict your future is
3:05
Speaker 1: to pay attention to the path you are currently on.
3:09
Speaker 1: And we know this is true when it comes to
3:11
Speaker 1: driving and hiking and walking and running. But what we
3:14
Speaker 1: forget sometimes is the same principle applies to finances, to
3:18
Speaker 1: how you date, to your morality, to your parenting skills,
3:22
Speaker 1: to what's going on with school, to every arena of
3:24
Speaker 1: your life. That the direction you're on will ultimately determine
3:28
Speaker 1: your destination. You always end up for the path you're
3:30
Speaker 1: on takes you regardless we said of your intention. In fact,
3:34
Speaker 1: the intention thing is such a big deal we added
3:36
Speaker 1: it to the definition. We said in the second week,
3:38
Speaker 1: the direction, not intention, determines our destination. And oftentimes there
3:43
Speaker 1: is a big disconnect between what we intend to become,
3:47
Speaker 1: where we intend to end up, and the path that
3:50
Speaker 1: we're on. And the problem is direction. Trump's intention every
3:56
Speaker 1: single time, intention does not determ and destination. Direction always
4:02
Speaker 1: determines destination. Now, this explains why parents can't help but overreact.
4:08
Speaker 1: And we talked a little bit about this last week.
4:10
Speaker 1: So if you're a student, teenager, or you're you know,
4:13
Speaker 1: listening to your parents, or your parents are kind of
4:15
Speaker 1: interfering with your business and you're like what you know,
4:17
Speaker 1: you know, chill out. Here's the reason parents can't help
4:20
Speaker 1: but do that. Parents react, and I think we're supposed to.
4:23
Speaker 1: Parents react to where their kids are headed, not where
4:27
Speaker 1: their kids are, to where their children are headed, not
4:30
Speaker 1: where their children are. That's why we ask ridiculous questions
4:33
Speaker 1: like well does he have a job? Well does it matter?
4:36
Speaker 1: I'm in love, great, you're in love now, but I
4:39
Speaker 1: want to know what's going to happen later? Right? Is
4:41
Speaker 1: he in school? Is she in school? What's her family? Like?
4:44
Speaker 1: It's like, what's with all these questions? Because parents know
4:48
Speaker 1: it's not about now, it's about where this is headed.
4:50
Speaker 1: And if you don't get anything else out of this
4:52
Speaker 1: talk today, please don't miss this. Relationships are dynamic. Every
4:57
Speaker 1: single your relation, every single relationship you're and is headed somewhere.
5:03
Speaker 1: And our tendency in relationships is to look at the
5:05
Speaker 1: now until it's too late. But the people who love
5:08
Speaker 1: us the most have a tendency to look at where
5:10
Speaker 1: the relationship's headed. That's why they ask all those pesky questions,
5:13
Speaker 1: That's why they get all up in our business. Right. So,
5:16
Speaker 1: your parents, your parents are more concerned about where the
5:19
Speaker 1: relationship is headed than where it is right now. And
5:22
Speaker 1: perhaps your heavenly father is as well. Both God and
5:28
Speaker 1: your Mama do not want you to wake up someplace
5:32
Speaker 1: you don't intend to be. God and your Mama do
5:35
Speaker 1: not want you to wind up in life, whether it's financially, relationally, academically, whatever,
5:39
Speaker 1: it might be, in a place other than where you
5:41
Speaker 1: intend to be. So this is a really big deal.
5:45
Speaker 1: So as we wrap up the series, I want to
5:47
Speaker 1: go back and I want to talk specifically about things
5:50
Speaker 1: with strong emotional appeal, the power of appeal. And here's why,
5:55
Speaker 1: And again, this is what we have in common. The
5:58
Speaker 1: path or the paths to be avoided is always paved
6:02
Speaker 1: with strong emotional appeal. There's no way to avoid this.
6:06
Speaker 1: This is just a reality we all face, and we're
6:08
Speaker 1: all challenged with that. The path that is to be avoided,
6:11
Speaker 1: whether it's financial, relational, whatever it might be, is always
6:14
Speaker 1: paved with something with strong emotional appeal. Newer, faster, bigger,
6:21
Speaker 1: twenty five percent return. Honey, it's a guarantee twenty five
6:25
Speaker 1: percent return. And she's like, that's our college money, okay,
6:29
Speaker 1: that's our kid's future. You know, that's what we're saving
6:32
Speaker 1: up for a vacation. I know, but it's guaranteed, and
6:34
Speaker 1: all of it. You know, Suddenly there's conflict, you know,
6:36
Speaker 1: twenty five percent return, romance, desire, acceptance, attention, adventure, security, right,
6:43
Speaker 1: I mean, the path the wrong paths are always paved
6:46
Speaker 1: with want or more of these things, and especially the
6:49
Speaker 1: security thing. The security thing's tricky. I mean, do you
6:52
Speaker 1: really love her? She's got a great job, I know,
6:57
Speaker 1: but do you love her? Do you really love well?
7:02
Speaker 1: I'm not getting into younger right, And to be clear,
7:07
Speaker 1: these things aren't bad. In fact, these things are all good.
7:10
Speaker 1: These things aren't bad. These things just aren't enough. These
7:16
Speaker 1: things aren't wrong. These things just aren't enough when it
7:20
Speaker 1: comes to making decisions in life and choosing the pathways
7:23
Speaker 1: that we choose. Because shiny things and appealing things do
7:29
Speaker 1: two things to all of us. They lower our defenses,
7:33
Speaker 1: and they raise our defensiveness. These things always lower. It
7:39
Speaker 1: lowers our defenses. Off shiny, new appealing things lowers our
7:43
Speaker 1: defenses and raises our defensiveness. And friends come along. Boyfriends
7:48
Speaker 1: come along, spouses come along, and they say, wait, wait, wait, okay,
7:52
Speaker 1: do you realize where this is headed? Do you realize
7:55
Speaker 1: where this is going? And we won't listen. In fact,
7:58
Speaker 1: it's like we can't listen. And here's why confirmation bias
8:03
Speaker 1: kicks in. Do you know what confirmation bias is? Confirmation biases.
8:07
Speaker 1: I see what I want to see. I hear what
8:09
Speaker 1: I want to hear. I see what I want to see.
8:11
Speaker 1: I hear what I want to hear. Any information that
8:14
Speaker 1: confirms what I want to do, I see any information
8:18
Speaker 1: to the contrary, it's hard for me to see. It's
8:21
Speaker 1: hard for me to hear. In fact, when confirmation bias
8:24
Speaker 1: kicks in and we get locked in emotionally on something,
8:26
Speaker 1: our IQ actually drops. Do you know how I know this?
8:31
Speaker 1: Because every one of you has looked back on a
8:33
Speaker 1: decision and you said this, These are your words, not mine.
8:35
Speaker 1: You said, maybe to yourself or out loud. How could
8:38
Speaker 1: I have been so stupid? See your IQ? Dropped. You're like, no,
8:44
Speaker 1: it didn't, Yes, it did. You admitted it. How could
8:47
Speaker 1: I have been? I've got some great news. Here's the
8:48
Speaker 1: positive news. You are not stupid. But when you get
8:53
Speaker 1: fascinated with something that's fascinating, and when your emotions get
8:57
Speaker 1: locked in on a something or a someone, well you
9:02
Speaker 1: said it. Okay, anyway, So not only does your IQ drop,
9:05
Speaker 1: you know what else drops? Your EQ, your emotional coach,
9:08
Speaker 1: your e i Q all but just disappears. Now I
9:13
Speaker 1: just want to talk about this for one second. Then
9:14
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're gonna move on. If you are currently
9:18
Speaker 1: if you are currently in an ongoing conversation with someone
9:23
Speaker 1: maybe and this person you know in your heart they
9:25
Speaker 1: have your best interest in mind. They've been your friends
9:27
Speaker 1: since high school. It's your mom, you know you know
9:30
Speaker 1: your mom has your best It's your older brother, it's
9:32
Speaker 1: your younger sister, it's it's somebody at work, it's a teacher,
9:35
Speaker 1: it's a coach, it's somebody that you you know they
9:38
Speaker 1: have your best interest in mind. But if you were
9:40
Speaker 1: in an ongoing conversation with somebody who has your best
9:42
Speaker 1: interest in mind, and whenever a specific topic comes up,
9:48
Speaker 1: you get defensive. You need to pay attention now. Granted
9:53
Speaker 1: they're not approaching it the right way. I say that
9:56
Speaker 1: because that's how we get out of those conversations. Well,
9:58
Speaker 1: I just don't like their attitude. Great the they have
10:00
Speaker 1: a terrible attitude. They don't have all the information. Granted,
10:03
Speaker 1: they don't have all the information. They don't see it
10:06
Speaker 1: the way I see it. Granted, they don't see it
10:07
Speaker 1: the way they haven't even met him yet, they haven't
10:10
Speaker 1: even met her yet, granted all that for sure. If
10:14
Speaker 1: when that topic comes up, you become unusually defensive, pay
10:22
Speaker 1: attention to what's going on inside of you, and please
10:26
Speaker 1: do not use their lack of information, their odd attitude,
10:31
Speaker 1: they're incorrect approach as an excuse to miss something that's
10:35
Speaker 1: on your path that they can see that you can't.
10:43
Speaker 1: Because if you are distracted by what's on the path,
10:49
Speaker 1: if you are distracted by what's on the path, you
10:51
Speaker 1: will be distracted from where the path is taking you.
10:56
Speaker 1: And they have an advantage. They are not emotionally involved
11:00
Speaker 1: with it him her, They are it. If you're distracted
11:06
Speaker 1: by what's on the path, you will be tempted to
11:08
Speaker 1: opt for appealing over satisfying, which isn't satisfying. And we've
11:15
Speaker 1: all lived long enough to know this. Now here's the
11:21
Speaker 1: amazing thing, or not the amazing thing for if we're
11:23
Speaker 1: if you're a Christian, what may be amazing to you
11:26
Speaker 1: if you're not a Christian is that the Apostle Paul,
11:30
Speaker 1: who wrote a lot of the New Testament, actually talked
11:32
Speaker 1: about this two thousand years ago. Now you know, most
11:35
Speaker 1: of you know, but if you don't quick update, the
11:37
Speaker 1: Apostle Paul stepped onto the pages of history as someone
11:40
Speaker 1: who hated Christians, who had decided to single handedly end
11:44
Speaker 1: the Church. You may be a person who really doesn't
11:46
Speaker 1: like Christians and you kind of wish he'd been successful.
11:48
Speaker 1: You know, darn it, he was not successful. In fact,
11:52
Speaker 1: not only was he not successful, he actually became a Christian,
11:54
Speaker 1: a spokesman for a Christianity, and he planted churches in
11:57
Speaker 1: non Jewish areas around the Mediterranean realm, and then he
12:00
Speaker 1: would visit these churches, preach to these churches, and then
12:04
Speaker 1: write letters to these churches. And we have several of
12:06
Speaker 1: these letters that make up the documents of the New Testament.
12:09
Speaker 1: And in his letter to first century Christians living in Galatia,
12:13
Speaker 1: he talks about this topic, but he talks about it
12:15
Speaker 1: in different terms, and his terms aren't our terms. But
12:18
Speaker 1: I want to read you what he said and then
12:19
Speaker 1: sort of put it in our terminology so that you
12:22
Speaker 1: can understand because what he says is powerful. And this
12:24
Speaker 1: is the coolest part to me, and you'll think I'm
12:26
Speaker 1: a total geek for this. He makes a statement in
12:28
Speaker 1: this particular passage that is one of my favorite statements
12:32
Speaker 1: in the entire New Testament. I'll tell you when we
12:34
Speaker 1: get there, so you'll just go like, really, that's it. Okay,
12:38
Speaker 1: So anyway, here's what the apostle Paul says, and I'll
12:40
Speaker 1: sort of explain this as we go. He says you
12:43
Speaker 1: he's talking to Christians. Now, if you're not a Christian,
12:45
Speaker 1: that's okay. You get to pick and choose which parts
12:47
Speaker 1: of this you like, dislike and want to do or
12:49
Speaker 1: not do. And to let you know we have and
12:51
Speaker 1: I have specifically no right in the world to tell
12:53
Speaker 1: you what to do, Okay. I get that we have
12:55
Speaker 1: a different worldview, different belief system. So I'm not telling
12:57
Speaker 1: you what you should do. I'm just inviting you in
13:00
Speaker 1: on a conversation between Christians. But you're gonna like part
13:05
Speaker 1: of this, so hang on. Here's what Paul said. He
13:07
Speaker 1: said to you, my brothers and sisters, talking to believers, you,
13:11
Speaker 1: my brothers and sisters, were called to be free, which
13:15
Speaker 1: is amazing because you see, if your version of Christianity
13:19
Speaker 1: isn't liberating, you have the wrong version. If you were
13:24
Speaker 1: raised on a version of Christianity that wasn't liberating, you
13:27
Speaker 1: were raised on the wrong version. If you left a
13:32
Speaker 1: version of Christianity that wasn't liberating, perhaps you left the
13:37
Speaker 1: wrong version. And I would like to invite you back.
13:41
Speaker 1: But we'll talk about that more on another day. He
13:43
Speaker 1: says this, He says, but you're called to be free,
13:46
Speaker 1: but do not use this freedom that you have to
13:49
Speaker 1: indulge the flesh. The flesh now I know it's a
13:52
Speaker 1: kind of a Bible word, and so it seems kind
13:54
Speaker 1: of ominous. All he's talking about is something that you
13:57
Speaker 1: experienced every single day that you were appetit right. What
14:00
Speaker 1: you see, what you hear, what you taste, what you touch,
14:04
Speaker 1: and what you see taste to hear, in touch that
14:06
Speaker 1: elicits desire inside of you, something we all experience. He says.
14:11
Speaker 1: Don't allow that dynamic. Don't don't don't feed that dynamic
14:16
Speaker 1: to the point that it gets you in trouble. Don't
14:18
Speaker 1: say yes to every impulse. And here's why. And you
14:21
Speaker 1: know this. If you say yes to every let's use
14:24
Speaker 1: his term, every fleshly impulse, you will lose your freedom.
14:29
Speaker 1: If you say yes to every temptation that you know
14:31
Speaker 1: it lits some desire that's elicited in you because of
14:33
Speaker 1: what you see here, taste your touch. You don't gain freedom,
14:37
Speaker 1: you lose freedom. And not only that, and here's the
14:40
Speaker 1: worst part. He's going to get to this. Not only
14:42
Speaker 1: do you lose your freedom, you infringe on someone else's freedom.
14:47
Speaker 1: Not only do you hurt you, you hurt someone else.
14:52
Speaker 1: And at the epicenter of the New Testament Ethic christian
14:56
Speaker 1: what Christianity is ultimately all about relationally, is how you
15:00
Speaker 1: treat other people. So the apostle Paul says, look, you
15:03
Speaker 1: are free, but don't use your freedom to harm you,
15:06
Speaker 1: and don't use your freedom to harm anyone else. He says, Rather,
15:10
Speaker 1: here's the contrast. Here's what you're supposed to do with
15:12
Speaker 1: your freedom. Rather serve one another. Humbly. We're gonna come
15:16
Speaker 1: back to that later. Humbly in love. That is, leverage
15:21
Speaker 1: your freedom for the sake of others. And here's a promise.
15:23
Speaker 1: And some of you've lived long enough to know this.
15:25
Speaker 1: Others of you will figure it out. I just hope
15:27
Speaker 1: you don't figure it out too late. That leveraging your freedom,
15:31
Speaker 1: leveraging your freedom for the benefit of other people, leads
15:34
Speaker 1: to a very satisfying life, and leveraging your freedom to
15:40
Speaker 1: the neglect of other people leads to a very dissatisfying life.
15:47
Speaker 1: And Christianity is an invitation to freedom and satisfaction. Then,
15:53
Speaker 1: moving along, the Apostle Paul takes a play from Jesus'
15:55
Speaker 1: playbook because he knew Peter and he knew John, and
15:58
Speaker 1: Jesus had revealed himself to the Apostle Paul on the
16:01
Speaker 1: Damascus Road. That's why we call it a Damascus Road.
16:04
Speaker 1: The experience or I saw the light that all came
16:06
Speaker 1: from this experience with the Apostle Paul. And he says this,
16:09
Speaker 1: quoting Jesus. He says, for this is an amazing statement
16:12
Speaker 1: for or because the entire law and he's talking about
16:17
Speaker 1: two things here. He's talking about the Jewish Law, which
16:19
Speaker 1: was six hundred and thirteen different commandments, the entire Jewish law.
16:23
Speaker 1: And I think because of context, he's talking about law
16:26
Speaker 1: in general, for the entire law, for the entire rule book,
16:30
Speaker 1: for anything that you would teach your kids, or hope
16:32
Speaker 1: your husband does or your wife doesn't do, all of that.
16:35
Speaker 1: He says, for the entire law is actually fulfilled in
16:39
Speaker 1: keeping this. And I want us to all say this
16:41
Speaker 1: next word out loud together, because this is remarkable. In
16:44
Speaker 1: keeping this one more time? How many now? This is remarkable.
16:51
Speaker 1: This is why Christianity is liber rating. He says, the
16:56
Speaker 1: entire law, any rule you can come up with, actually
17:00
Speaker 1: fulfilled with one rule, the one Commandment. You don't even
17:07
Speaker 1: need a whole tablet. You just need like a three
17:09
Speaker 1: by five card, the one Commandment. Right, It's like, really, yeah,
17:13
Speaker 1: it's all fulfilled with this one commandment. Here it is
17:15
Speaker 1: drum roll, you've heard it before. Love your neighbor, how's yourself?
17:20
Speaker 1: This is the New Testament ethic. Get this right. You
17:24
Speaker 1: don't need everything else. Embrace this is a lifestyle. You
17:28
Speaker 1: really don't need everything else. And if you get this right,
17:32
Speaker 1: and if this becomes the driving ethic of your life,
17:34
Speaker 1: you tend to know what to do. In other words,
17:37
Speaker 1: if it infringes on their freedom. I'm not gonna do it.
17:41
Speaker 1: If it's not good for her. I'm not gonna do it.
17:43
Speaker 1: If it's not good for them, it's a sin. If
17:45
Speaker 1: it's not good for him, it's a sin. How do
17:48
Speaker 1: you know what sin is? Well, how does it affect them?
17:51
Speaker 1: If it negatively affects them, if it infringes on their freedom,
17:53
Speaker 1: if it sets them up for problems in the future,
17:56
Speaker 1: if it undermines their future, their success, their future relational success,
18:00
Speaker 1: then absolutely not, because I'm not gonna use my freedom
18:04
Speaker 1: to infringe on theirs. I don't need a verse, I
18:06
Speaker 1: don't need a quote. I don't need to remember what
18:08
Speaker 1: my mama or my daddy said. I can't remember half
18:10
Speaker 1: that anyway half the time. But love my neighbor as myself.
18:13
Speaker 1: And then Jesus would take it to a whole new
18:14
Speaker 1: level at the end of his ministry when he said, no,
18:16
Speaker 1: it's even bigger than that. You're to love each other
18:20
Speaker 1: the way I have loved you. Wow, he keeps going,
18:24
Speaker 1: he says, So I say, Paul, keeps going. So I say,
18:27
Speaker 1: walk by the spirit, which sounds like you know you.
18:31
Speaker 1: Hear strange music in the background that seems so intangible
18:34
Speaker 1: and do I look up and as you know as
18:35
Speaker 1: something spooky going on. No, this is very simple. It
18:38
Speaker 1: means to live or to walk in sync with the
18:42
Speaker 1: internal nudgings of your heavenly Father through his spirit. That
18:45
Speaker 1: God will always nudge you toward others firstness. God will
18:50
Speaker 1: always nudge you towards sacrificing for the sake of other people.
18:53
Speaker 1: God will always nudge you toward never ever ever infringing
18:57
Speaker 1: on their freedom and sacrificing yours instead. And the outcome,
19:02
Speaker 1: he says, is this, And if you will give into
19:06
Speaker 1: the internal nudgings of God's Spirit in you, you will
19:09
Speaker 1: not gratify or say yes to the desires of the flesh.
19:13
Speaker 1: Maybe a better translation for us is you will not
19:16
Speaker 1: fulfill selfish desires. You will not follow through on selfish desires.
19:21
Speaker 1: You will see shiny things and appealing people, and you
19:25
Speaker 1: will not act on what you see. You will not
19:27
Speaker 1: act on what you hear, you will not act on
19:29
Speaker 1: what you touch, and you will not act on what
19:31
Speaker 1: you taste. Because you've decided to say yes instead to
19:34
Speaker 1: the internal promptings of the Holy Spirit that always puts
19:37
Speaker 1: other people's futures first, you will be far less susceptible
19:44
Speaker 1: to the emotionally appealing things on the paths that criss
19:49
Speaker 1: cross your path. He's not done. He's so good, he's
19:52
Speaker 1: so thorough. Before he says, let me explain it further.
19:54
Speaker 1: For the flesh, We've explained that. For the flesh desires,
19:57
Speaker 1: what is contrary to the spirit? Now again, this is
20:00
Speaker 1: a human thing. This is the New Testament version of
20:03
Speaker 1: what you experience every single day. There is a war within, right,
20:07
Speaker 1: there's a conflict within. I know what I ought to do.
20:10
Speaker 1: I know what I want to do. Now isn't it
20:14
Speaker 1: interesting that ought to and want to are in conflict?
20:17
Speaker 1: Isn't it interesting that there is an internal law inside
20:21
Speaker 1: of you that conflicts with your bodily and fleshly to
20:25
Speaker 1: use his terms desires, now, why isn't that? Why is
20:28
Speaker 1: that it seems like they would be in sync. It
20:29
Speaker 1: seems like I should want to do what I ought
20:32
Speaker 1: to do. But if you always did what you ought
20:36
Speaker 1: to do instead, if you wanted, there wouldn't even be
20:39
Speaker 1: dessert on menus because nobody would order it. There wouldn't
20:44
Speaker 1: even be I shouldn't start listing things or I'll get
20:46
Speaker 1: in trouble with companies that I appreciate. So let's just say,
20:49
Speaker 1: there would just be a whole lot of things that
20:51
Speaker 1: don't even exist in the world, right, because if I
20:54
Speaker 1: always did what I ought to do. But there's a battle. Now,
20:58
Speaker 1: if you're not a Christian or a religious person, or
20:59
Speaker 1: maybe from a different religion, I hope you have an
21:02
Speaker 1: explanation for that battle within. I mean, you experienced the battle,
21:07
Speaker 1: you should have an explanation. The New Testament says, there
21:10
Speaker 1: is a law in our hearts written by God because
21:12
Speaker 1: you've been made in the image of God, and it
21:14
Speaker 1: is in conflict with oftentimes with what has strong emotional appeal.
21:19
Speaker 1: He says, they are actually, here's his word, conflict. They
21:22
Speaker 1: are in conflict. They are in conflict with each other.
21:25
Speaker 1: So that you are not to do whatever you want
21:29
Speaker 1: or desire. You are not to embrace and chase everything
21:33
Speaker 1: that is appealing to you, which means, and I hope
21:38
Speaker 1: you know this, but let me just state it in
21:40
Speaker 1: terms that we can all kind of get our hearts
21:42
Speaker 1: and heads around strong emotional appeal, even though it is
21:47
Speaker 1: part of the goodness of life when in its proper context.
21:52
Speaker 1: But strong emotional appeal is actually a red flag, not
21:57
Speaker 1: a green light. That is, when something is emotionally appealing.
22:02
Speaker 1: Instead of leaning in immediately, we should step back immediately
22:06
Speaker 1: and say, you know what, this may be a great thing.
22:08
Speaker 1: She may be the one, He may be the one.
22:10
Speaker 1: This may be the job. This may be a good investment.
22:13
Speaker 1: This may be a time to lease a carr. This
22:15
Speaker 1: may be time to move. This may it might. It may,
22:17
Speaker 1: it might, it may it might. But you know what,
22:19
Speaker 1: there is such strong emotional appeal. I'm gonna be wise
22:23
Speaker 1: enough to step back. It is a red light. It
22:26
Speaker 1: is not necessarily a green light. It is a red flag,
22:31
Speaker 1: not necessarily a ghost sign, he says. But now he's
22:35
Speaker 1: coming back to those of us who are Christians, he says.
22:37
Speaker 1: But if you're led by the spirit again, this isn't spooky.
22:41
Speaker 1: This is just paying attention to that internal nudge that
22:44
Speaker 1: God's gonna kind of nudge on your conscience and kind
22:46
Speaker 1: of He's not gonna yell, he's not gonna scream. It's
22:48
Speaker 1: a still small voice. It's more like a am you
22:51
Speaker 1: ever get one of those? It's like you go, honey,
22:54
Speaker 1: was that you nope? Dad? Was that you nope? That
22:58
Speaker 1: was just inside of you that internal thing that will
23:01
Speaker 1: here's the thing that will always nudge you. It will
23:03
Speaker 1: always nudge me toward reigning in my freedom for the
23:08
Speaker 1: sake of other people. He says, You're to be led
23:11
Speaker 1: by the spirit, and if you do, you're not under
23:13
Speaker 1: the law. This is an amazing statement. Why because the
23:16
Speaker 1: reason you're not under the law is because Jesus has
23:18
Speaker 1: given you one command. And when you live by the
23:20
Speaker 1: one command, you are no longer accountable to. In fact,
23:22
Speaker 1: you don't even need the law. And if you submit
23:25
Speaker 1: to that, to Jesus one command, and you can take
23:28
Speaker 1: either version you want. Love your neighbor as yourself or
23:30
Speaker 1: the bigger grander when love other people like I've loved you,
23:32
Speaker 1: he says, if you embrace that as a lifestyle, if
23:35
Speaker 1: this becomes the marching orders of your every single day life,
23:37
Speaker 1: the way that you parent, the way that you relate
23:39
Speaker 1: to people, the way you do school, morality, dating, if
23:42
Speaker 1: that becomes your marching orders, then you will know instinctively
23:48
Speaker 1: what to do. You will know instinctively which path to choose.
23:52
Speaker 1: You will know instinctively which path to avoid. Because Jesus
23:57
Speaker 1: one command always brings us back to this terrifying but
24:02
Speaker 1: clarifying question, and it's this question, what what does love
24:08
Speaker 1: require of me? What does love require me? What does
24:11
Speaker 1: other firstness require me? What does selflessness require me? What
24:15
Speaker 1: does lay down my life for a friend require me?
24:18
Speaker 1: What does love require of me? Well, if it's not
24:21
Speaker 1: good for him, it's a sin. If it's not good
24:24
Speaker 1: for her, defer If it's not good for us, why
24:27
Speaker 1: would I do it? If I have to hide it?
24:30
Speaker 1: If I hope they never find out? What does love
24:34
Speaker 1: require of me? It's appealing, but does this run the
24:40
Speaker 1: risk of undermining our relationship? It's appealing, but does this
24:44
Speaker 1: set us up for conflict later? It's appealing, but why
24:49
Speaker 1: is that? I hope my children never find out. Then
24:53
Speaker 1: he goes on as if he hasn't said enough. He says,
24:55
Speaker 1: this is let me be clear, And then basically he's
24:57
Speaker 1: about to tell us. I'm going to tell you something
24:58
Speaker 1: you don't need to know because you already know it.
24:59
Speaker 1: But tells us anyway. He says, the acts of the
25:02
Speaker 1: flesh are obvious. Selfishness is obvious. Nobody needs to give
25:08
Speaker 1: you a list of what it looks like to be
25:10
Speaker 1: self centered, right, Nobody needs to give you a list
25:12
Speaker 1: of all the things that distract you from the things
25:14
Speaker 1: you should do. Right. In fact, if he gives us,
25:18
Speaker 1: he gives us the list anyway, I guess he just
25:19
Speaker 1: thought in case we didn't know. And here's the interesting
25:21
Speaker 1: thing about his list. We're not going to look at it.
25:23
Speaker 1: By the way, if we were to, if we had
25:25
Speaker 1: a smaller group here and we were all sit around
25:27
Speaker 1: a table, and I would have said, Okay, let's list
25:30
Speaker 1: all the things that are expressions of selfishness. List all
25:33
Speaker 1: the things that are expressions of things that undermine other
25:35
Speaker 1: people's freedom and take away other people's future, and you know,
25:38
Speaker 1: temporarily satisfy my desire but hurt people later and then
25:41
Speaker 1: ultimately hurt myself. Let's make a list of those things.
25:44
Speaker 1: We would come up with virtually the identical list, the
25:46
Speaker 1: same list that the apostle Paul gave us two thousand
25:49
Speaker 1: years ago. Because you haven't changed, and I haven't changed.
25:55
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to show you his list. But
25:57
Speaker 1: I'm going to show you three things on his list.
26:00
Speaker 1: And this is going to be a little tough for
26:02
Speaker 1: some of you. But you know what, only the people
26:04
Speaker 1: who love you tell you hard things. Right. Besides, I
26:07
Speaker 1: get to get in the car and go home anyway.
26:09
Speaker 1: So only the people who love you tell you the
26:12
Speaker 1: hard things. And this is why this is such an
26:14
Speaker 1: important This is a life changing message for somebody today,
26:17
Speaker 1: maybe some somebodies, because somebody has already tried to point
26:22
Speaker 1: out what I'm about to point out, and you have
26:25
Speaker 1: just had such tunnel vision and you have just given
26:28
Speaker 1: in to you hearing what you want to hear and
26:30
Speaker 1: seeing what you want to see. So the Apostle Paul says,
26:33
Speaker 1: let me, in case you've missed it, let me tell
26:35
Speaker 1: you what following the flesh looks like as opposed to
26:39
Speaker 1: saying yes to God's spirit in you. And he gives
26:42
Speaker 1: us this list. I just want to show you to
26:44
Speaker 1: give you three off the list. Here's three sexual immorality, selfish, ambition,
26:50
Speaker 1: and envy. Now, if you're not a Christian, maybe one
26:54
Speaker 1: of the reasons you left the church. I left Christianity
26:56
Speaker 1: was this right here. It's like Andy, that's the problem Christians.
27:00
Speaker 1: They're always trying to climb up in everybody's bedroom and
27:02
Speaker 1: tell them how to conduct themselves sexually. And it's none
27:05
Speaker 1: of your business. And I have some great news for you.
27:07
Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul who gave us this literature. The Apostle
27:10
Speaker 1: Paul himself catch this in another letter, actually asked the
27:13
Speaker 1: question that you think we should ask. He asked this question,
27:16
Speaker 1: what business is it of mine, talking about himself as
27:19
Speaker 1: a Christian in the church, what business is it of
27:22
Speaker 1: mine to judge those outside the church, to which you
27:26
Speaker 1: would say, it's none of your fill in the blank business,
27:30
Speaker 1: and the Apostle Paul would say, you are exactly right,
27:34
Speaker 1: it is none of our business to tell you how
27:37
Speaker 1: to conduct your sexual life or your morality. It's none
27:40
Speaker 1: of our business. Paul would agree with that. So when
27:44
Speaker 1: Paul talks about sexual immorality, he's not trying to tell
27:47
Speaker 1: everybody in the world what to do. He's trying to
27:49
Speaker 1: answer the question, what does it look like for a
27:51
Speaker 1: Jesus follower? What does it look like for someone who's
27:54
Speaker 1: decided I'm going to embrace others firstness? What does it
27:58
Speaker 1: look like for a man or a woman to decide
28:00
Speaker 1: you know what, I don't want to do anything that
28:02
Speaker 1: undermines my freedom, and I don't want to do anything
28:05
Speaker 1: that undermines your freedom. I don't want to do anything
28:08
Speaker 1: that undermines my future relationships and I don't want to
28:11
Speaker 1: do anything that undermines your future relationships. I don't want
28:15
Speaker 1: to be mastered by anything or anyone, And I don't
28:20
Speaker 1: want you to be mastered by anything or anyone. That
28:26
Speaker 1: is the essence of the New Testament sexual ethic. And
28:31
Speaker 1: so of course he's gonna talk about sex. Come on,
28:34
Speaker 1: let's face it. When someone comes to see a pastor privately,
28:39
Speaker 1: when someone comes to see a counselor privately, and they
28:42
Speaker 1: sit down with a look of remorse and regret and
28:46
Speaker 1: shame on their face, and they whisper, they can barely
28:49
Speaker 1: say it out loud, pastor or counselor or you know, father,
28:53
Speaker 1: I want to tell you something I've never told anyone.
28:58
Speaker 1: It is rarely about a parking violation. It's rarely about
29:06
Speaker 1: I didn't fill out my expense report properly. No. Ninety
29:13
Speaker 1: something percent of the time it's something sexual. Because Paul
29:18
Speaker 1: knew what, you know what I know what. We know
29:22
Speaker 1: that when it comes to our sexuality, when it comes
29:24
Speaker 1: to expressions of sexuality, nothing is more. Nothing has the
29:28
Speaker 1: potential to undermine your future in other people's future. Nothing
29:31
Speaker 1: has the potential to complicate your life and complicate other
29:33
Speaker 1: people's life like sexual activity. So of course your heavenly
29:39
Speaker 1: father has an opinion about this, Because if God really
29:44
Speaker 1: loves you, is he gonna stay silent on a topic
29:47
Speaker 1: that has the potential to make your life amazing and
29:49
Speaker 1: at the same time make your life in some cases unbearable.
29:55
Speaker 1: Of course he's gonna talk about it. So the Apostle
29:58
Speaker 1: Paul says, come on just about every day of your life,
30:00
Speaker 1: if you're an adult and you have a job and
30:02
Speaker 1: you're out in the marketplace, or if you're a student
30:04
Speaker 1: or a college student, or in a fraternity or sorority,
30:06
Speaker 1: just about every day of your life there is going
30:09
Speaker 1: to be a path with strong emotional sexual appeal. I mean,
30:13
Speaker 1: it's just a part of life. But what's appealing is distracting,
30:19
Speaker 1: and so it's not a green light, it's a red flag.
30:24
Speaker 1: And it's a red flag that most of us have
30:26
Speaker 1: lived long enough to know we wish we had paid
30:28
Speaker 1: attention to earlier. So, of course, the New Testament and
30:32
Speaker 1: of course the Apostle Paul specifically is going to put
30:36
Speaker 1: this on his list, not because he's against you, because
30:41
Speaker 1: he's for you. And besides this, my hunch is if
30:46
Speaker 1: all of us could go back and erase an event,
30:48
Speaker 1: a weekend, a week, a season of our life. For
30:52
Speaker 1: most of us, it would have something to do with
30:55
Speaker 1: how we expressed or mismanaged our sexuality. Of course, God
31:01
Speaker 1: mentions it. He loves you, and it's very Have you
31:05
Speaker 1: noticed this, It is very emotionally appealing. You should say
31:10
Speaker 1: amen to that. Okay, so selfish ambition, the same thing.
31:15
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get ahead. I know it's not legal. I
31:16
Speaker 1: hope my boss doesn't find out. I hope the president
31:18
Speaker 1: of company doesn't find out. I hope my wife doesn't
31:20
Speaker 1: find out. I hope my husband doesn't find out. How
31:21
Speaker 1: my parents don't find out? You know, of course it's
31:24
Speaker 1: appealing envy. I'm gonna catch up with her. I'm so
31:28
Speaker 1: jealous of my brother, my brother in law. Envy. I
31:30
Speaker 1: want what they have. I'm gonna do whatever it takes
31:32
Speaker 1: to get and I'll be appealing. And it's so appealing
31:34
Speaker 1: to me because then they'll look at me and they'll
31:35
Speaker 1: have respect for me, and they'll want to be like me.
31:37
Speaker 1: I mean, envy. Envy is trying to catch up with
31:39
Speaker 1: somebody that doesn't even know you're trying to catch up
31:41
Speaker 1: with them. That's what's so crazy about envy? I made it.
31:44
Speaker 1: They didn't even notice. She noticed. Uh huh wait, I
31:48
Speaker 1: broke the law and empty my bank account. You didn't
31:50
Speaker 1: even notice. What are we talking about? I mean, it's
31:52
Speaker 1: just crazy. Why because there's just something we just get
31:55
Speaker 1: so locked in emotionally strong emotional feel Then then he says,
32:00
Speaker 1: next is so disturbing, and I'm not even going to
32:03
Speaker 1: try to resolve this. So you may be mad at
32:05
Speaker 1: me about this, but we don't have time today, and
32:06
Speaker 1: we'll come back maybe some other day. But I don't
32:08
Speaker 1: want to skip averse just for the sake of making
32:10
Speaker 1: the sermon easy. Right, It's been so easy so far. Anyway,
32:14
Speaker 1: he says this, He says, I gotta be honest. I
32:19
Speaker 1: warn you because I remember he's been to Galatia. They've
32:21
Speaker 1: heard him say all this. This is a letter just
32:23
Speaker 1: reminding them. So there's so much more detail, he says,
32:25
Speaker 1: I warn you. This is in the letter. I warn you,
32:29
Speaker 1: as I did before, not the first time you've heard this,
32:31
Speaker 1: that those who live like this, that those who make
32:34
Speaker 1: it a lifestyle of chasing what's appealing to the neglect
32:37
Speaker 1: of how it affects other people. The person that chases
32:40
Speaker 1: what's appealing to the neglect of how it undermines their
32:43
Speaker 1: own future, their own conscience, their own mind, their own heart,
32:45
Speaker 1: their own future. For the person, he says, who consistently
32:49
Speaker 1: neglects and ignores God's prompting within. To that person who
32:54
Speaker 1: lives like that, they will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
33:02
Speaker 1: There is loss. There's not simply consequence of sin. There's loss.
33:09
Speaker 1: There's you'll never experience the Kingdom of God in this life.
33:13
Speaker 1: He's gonna explain what that looks like in just a minute.
33:15
Speaker 1: To hang on. You're not gonna You're not gonna experience
33:17
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God in your marriage, or in your relationships,
33:21
Speaker 1: or in your finances, or in your conscience or in
33:23
Speaker 1: your're You're not gonna experience the Kingdom of God in
33:26
Speaker 1: this life. And you're not gonna inherit. And this generally
33:29
Speaker 1: looks at the life to come. You're gonna miss out
33:32
Speaker 1: on something in the life to come. Now, some people says,
33:34
Speaker 1: I think this means you won't go to heaven. I
33:36
Speaker 1: don't think it means that. I think if it meant
33:38
Speaker 1: you don't go to heaven, he would have said, you
33:40
Speaker 1: don't go to heaven. Let's just be clear, right, that's
33:42
Speaker 1: not what he's talking about. I don't think some people
33:44
Speaker 1: think it is. Some people think that if you live
33:46
Speaker 1: continuously in sin, you will go to Hell for living
33:48
Speaker 1: continuously and sin. I hope they're wrong, But a lot
33:50
Speaker 1: of people think that, believe that the apostle Paul, I
33:54
Speaker 1: think is pointing at something else. And I'm not gonna
33:56
Speaker 1: tell you what I think he's pointing to, but I'll
33:57
Speaker 1: tell you this much. If you never sense anything in
34:02
Speaker 1: your conscience when you do something that benefits you short
34:06
Speaker 1: term and hurt somebody long term, if you're able to
34:10
Speaker 1: just chase all the emotionally appealing shiny things and it's
34:13
Speaker 1: never a matter of conscience, it doesn't even bother you.
34:17
Speaker 1: If you never sense the divide between perhaps what God
34:21
Speaker 1: wants for you and what you know you ought to do,
34:24
Speaker 1: you should wonder, You should be a little worried. You
34:29
Speaker 1: should look up. You should use a Bible word repent,
34:34
Speaker 1: or use my word, which is longer. You should begin
34:37
Speaker 1: living in a different direction, the direction of yes to
34:45
Speaker 1: God's promptings. Within living in the direction of yes to
34:50
Speaker 1: when God nudges you in a different direction, it's time
34:55
Speaker 1: to opt for satisfying over appealing, which is are more satisfying?
35:03
Speaker 1: How satisfying you say, Paul says, let me tell you
35:06
Speaker 1: what it looks like. And if you're not a Christian,
35:08
Speaker 1: this is the invitation. This is the carrot on the stick.
35:12
Speaker 1: This is the try it, you'll like it. This is
35:15
Speaker 1: the promise, this is the liberty. This is the part
35:17
Speaker 1: maybe they didn't tell you about growing up in the church.
35:19
Speaker 1: You grew up in. But the fruit of the spirit,
35:22
Speaker 1: in other words, the outcome, the outcome of saying yes
35:25
Speaker 1: to God, the outcome of saying yes to that internal nudge,
35:30
Speaker 1: is exactly what you are after in this life. It's love,
35:38
Speaker 1: it's joy, it's peace, it's patience, it's kindness, it's goodness,
35:44
Speaker 1: it's faithfulness, it's gentleness, and it's self control. Single people,
35:49
Speaker 1: it's who you want to marry, it's who you should become.
35:57
Speaker 1: It's what God has invited you into. And then here
36:03
Speaker 1: it is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament.
36:06
Speaker 1: It's not even a whole verse. It's just a phrase. Okay,
36:08
Speaker 1: don't judge me against such things. There is no law.
36:16
Speaker 1: See I knew. It's like that's it. What about John
36:21
Speaker 1: three sixteen. Don't you like that one better? Okay, let
36:24
Speaker 1: me tell you why this is so brilliant and so inspired.
36:27
Speaker 1: Listen to what he's saying. Okay, he's saying, against the
36:30
Speaker 1: against immorality, against envy, against jealousy, against lust, against all
36:34
Speaker 1: those things. You have to set up laws. You have
36:36
Speaker 1: to set up restrictions or you will self disrupt, you
36:38
Speaker 1: will become addicted to all the wrong things. You have
36:40
Speaker 1: to have all these rules, all these laws, he says,
36:43
Speaker 1: when you embrace the one command, when you embraced others first,
36:47
Speaker 1: when you embrace love people like God through Christ loved you,
36:51
Speaker 1: he says, the result is this, and there are no
36:54
Speaker 1: laws against this. In other words, let me illustrate. Hey,
36:57
Speaker 1: you have too much peace. Let's tone down the peace.
37:01
Speaker 1: Hey could be so patient. You know the problem with
37:04
Speaker 1: my wife is she's so ridiculously patient. She needs counseling. Hey,
37:09
Speaker 1: not so Hey, the kindness, kids, kids, knock it off
37:12
Speaker 1: in the backseat. You're being too kind. You have overdone
37:15
Speaker 1: the kindness. You're too good. And you know what the
37:18
Speaker 1: problem with my husband, he's just so faithful. I trust
37:20
Speaker 1: him all the time. He goes on trips I never wear.
37:22
Speaker 1: He writes me love notes, He sings me songs, he's
37:25
Speaker 1: put still puts together music on a CD for me
37:27
Speaker 1: to listen to it or know how much I love.
37:29
Speaker 1: I mean, he's so faithful. I mean, somebody pray for us.
37:35
Speaker 1: You can't. This is this is the beauty, this is
37:37
Speaker 1: the invitation. You can't overdo any of this. You can't
37:41
Speaker 1: have too much self control. You can't over Paul says,
37:44
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, this is the freedom you've been invited into.
37:48
Speaker 1: You don't need any laws, you don't need any rules.
37:52
Speaker 1: It's powerful. It's it's a life of one rule, no regret.
38:00
Speaker 1: It's a life of one rule where you don't create regret.
38:05
Speaker 1: It's a life of one rule where you don't become
38:08
Speaker 1: somebody's regret. Why why wouldn't everybody be a Christian? Why
38:18
Speaker 1: would you resist that you steel any I've never heard
38:21
Speaker 1: it explain that way. I'm so sorry. That's people like
38:23
Speaker 1: Mu's fault. Right. The best way to predict, the best
38:28
Speaker 1: way to predict where you're going to end up. The
38:31
Speaker 1: best way to predict your future is to pay attention
38:35
Speaker 1: to where you're headed. Right, So let me ask this
38:41
Speaker 1: awful question, And remember only people who love you ask
38:45
Speaker 1: questions like this. And if this brings to mind a
38:49
Speaker 1: conversation you've been having with somebody else, please you know,
38:52
Speaker 1: just stay with it. Have you become so enamored? Have
39:00
Speaker 1: you become so enamored with something or someone on your
39:05
Speaker 1: path that you have failed to recognize where the path
39:08
Speaker 1: you're on is taking you? Have you become so enamored
39:13
Speaker 1: it's so appealing? Have you become so enamored with something
39:16
Speaker 1: on your path that you fail to recognize where the
39:19
Speaker 1: path you're on is taking you? Have you lowered your defenses?
39:24
Speaker 1: And have you elevated your defeniveness? And are you willing
39:31
Speaker 1: to change course? Are you willing to change paths? Are
39:36
Speaker 1: you willing to begin living in a different direction? Now
39:42
Speaker 1: this has been kind of a negative sermon of people,
39:44
Speaker 1: say well, is there a way back? Yes, there's a
39:45
Speaker 1: way back. It's the principle of the path. It's a principle.
39:47
Speaker 1: It works for you or against you. The principle of
39:50
Speaker 1: the path is a principle. Direction, not intention, determines your destination.
39:55
Speaker 1: This is why if you change your direction, things change.
40:03
Speaker 1: God has given you the ruby red slippers. You could
40:05
Speaker 1: have gone home at the beginning of the movie. He
40:07
Speaker 1: didn't have to, you know, wander around with the crazy
40:09
Speaker 1: people and do the whole two and a half hour
40:11
Speaker 1: thing and then end up back in Kansas. You had
40:13
Speaker 1: the ruby red slippers the whole time. You sow, and
40:18
Speaker 1: you reap your way back, just like you sewed, and
40:20
Speaker 1: you reaped your way. But the choice, you know, this
40:25
Speaker 1: choice is yours. And I hope, and we hope your
40:30
Speaker 1: heavenly Father hopes that you will opt for satisfying over appealing.
40:39
Speaker 1: We hope your heavenly Father hopes that you will begin
40:42
Speaker 1: as a habit of life, giving in to that internal
40:45
Speaker 1: nudge of the God who loves you. And we hope
40:49
Speaker 1: and your heavenly Father hopes that you will embrace a
40:53
Speaker 1: life of following Jesus. He will take you exactly where
41:00
Speaker 1: you ultimately want to be. Anyway,