Latest / #Faith4TodayPodcast / #Faith4TodayPodcast – Planted, Loyal, and Renewed - Ep 69

Transcript

#Faith4TodayPodcast – Planted, Loyal, and Renewed - Ep 69 · #Faith4TodayPodcast

0:00
What if the key to thriving in life isn't just doing more
0:03
things, but rather being planted in the right place?
0:06
In this episode of the Faithful Radio podcast, we're going to
0:08
walk through Psalm 92, talk about the a consecrated life, a
0:13
life Thanksgiving and loyalty, and healthy rhythms.
0:16
We're going to unpack how to resist the patterns of the
0:19
world, build a life that actually renews you, and stay
0:22
steady even when growth feels slow.
0:25
If you've ever felt stuck, distracted, disconnected, I
0:28
think this episode is going to to help you get stable and
0:32
rooted yet again. Are you ready?
0:34
I let's go. Welcome to episode 69 of the
0:42
Faith for Today podcast. My name is Matthew.
0:44
I am your host and I am delighted to have you with us
0:48
today. We're going to look at a recent
0:51
sermon. We're going to kind of share a
0:54
little bit of a bonus content, and then I'm going to respond to
0:56
some questions, all in an attempt to help you not just be
0:59
inspired in a Sunday, but integrate the truths into your
1:03
everyday life. And so that we have faith today,
1:08
even on a, on a Thursday or a Wednesday or Saturday, whenever
1:12
it is that you're watching and listening to this one.
1:16
Let's get into it on on Sunday, we kind of walk through Psalm
1:19
92. It's kind of a special day for
1:21
our church consecration Sunday, a special day of ceremony and
1:26
celebration and just kind of re centering our lives around all
1:30
that God is inviting us into. And we looked at Psalm 92 and we
1:36
saw some reminders of who God is and who we belong to.
1:41
And I talked about how it's good to give thanks, not just
1:44
casually, but ongoingly, intentionally calling to mind
1:48
God's faithful love in the morning and his faithfulness at
1:51
night. Even when it looks like the
1:53
wicked are winning, God is still on the throne.
1:55
He's still just, he's still at work.
1:58
And it may not end all that well for them.
2:01
And the picture we get is that those who are rooted in him
2:05
don't just survive, they actually begin to flourish.
2:08
They grow. They, they're fruitful and
2:10
faithful, they're planted, they're steady, and they're
2:13
still bearing fruit over time. I think that's the heartbeat
2:16
behind this idea of consecrating ourselves.
2:20
It's, it's a time of celebrating God's redemption, of recognizing
2:24
the resistance that we step into in a way that helps shape his
2:28
renewal in our, in our lives. Kind of I broke down the, the
2:33
Psalm into kind of three movements, if you will, 3
2:36
stanzas talking about 1st that it's there's this element.
2:41
It's a song of consecrated thanks where we actively
2:44
remember, even embody what God has done in our lives.
2:48
Second, we talked about how it's a, a consecrated loyalty.
2:51
It's a song of, of giving our life to loyalty where we
2:55
actually choose sides and align our lives with him.
2:58
Not not halfway following God, but we want to be like full
3:01
court followers. We want to fully obey, fully
3:04
follow, fully surrender, because that's where ultimately
3:07
resistance begins. The resistance to the way of the
3:10
world begins with our surrender and consecration to Christ.
3:15
And and 3rd, we looked at this a rhythm, a consecrated rhythm of
3:19
Sabbath, Sabbath as a spiritual act of resistance.
3:23
It's an act of worship. It's an act of dependence on
3:26
God. And it's us setting apart a day
3:29
or a portion of a day to delight in God and to renew our minds to
3:33
think like him. We we tied it all together with
3:37
Romans chapter 12, verse one and two, reminding us that this is
3:41
really about offering our whole lives as worship to God,
3:44
resisting the patterns of the world and being transformed by
3:48
his spirit. The end of the day, my desire in
3:52
the message was to help us see that our lives become this
3:55
anthem, this declaration that God has redeemed me, that we
4:00
belong to Him and he's at work renewing who we are and so we
4:05
stay faithful to Him. All right, let's talk a little
4:08
bonus content. I didn't get into it a whole
4:10
lot, but I wanted to point out in Psalm 92 where it says this
4:14
in verse 2, it says to declare your faithful love in the
4:17
morning and your faithfulness at night with the 10 stringed harp
4:20
and the music of a liar. And we talked.
4:23
I kind of jokingly said that it's really OK to use
4:25
instruments and worship. And I'm not trying to make a a
4:29
jab at other denominations or other persuasions.
4:32
People have convictions differently.
4:34
I just have found myself believing that scripture is
4:37
fairly clear on on the use of instruments and New Testament
4:40
even carries that into itself. Music is a part of life.
4:44
It's a part of expression. It's a part of the way in which
4:46
we interact with the world around us.
4:48
And in some ways, music helps us make sense, sense of expressing
4:54
the angst and the desire that we have in life.
4:56
And so music is a powerful force.
4:59
But what I love is that the psalmist says, in the morning,
5:02
I'm going to remember your, your faithful love.
5:05
And at night I'm going to remember your faithfulness, in
5:08
other words, your faithfulness to protect, your faithfulness to
5:11
preserve us. And that's an important thing.
5:13
If you're, you know, a Bedouin, if you're living out in a tent
5:16
somewhere there, these often would be in fields and you know,
5:22
the fortresses of the walls maybe weren't yet build up in
5:25
certain cities and places. And so you think back
5:27
biblically, men, there's a real need for protection at night.
5:30
There's a real need for God's faithful love showing up in a in
5:35
the morning where it's like, hey, there's a new day.
5:36
There's something happening here.
5:37
But what I love is that it talks about this rhythm of morning and
5:40
night, morning and night, morning and night.
5:42
And I think that we can be intentional about those moments
5:45
in our day, about inviting God and setting a moment apart,
5:50
whether in the beginning of our day and at the end of our day
5:53
that belong to the Lord. Like, what are the rhythms of
5:56
gratitude and Thanksgiving and worship?
5:59
Worship and prayer in the morning and in the evening I
6:03
think are really helpful and vital for a healthy soul.
6:06
So what does it look like to be remembrance of the day with
6:11
gratitude at the end of your day?
6:12
What does it look like in the morning to begin with praise and
6:15
worship, singing into the Lord. I think both of those are
6:19
important. Here's why.
6:20
Because worship and prayer, especially gratitude types of
6:23
prayer, they really reset our perspective.
6:28
In fact, later in the Psalm, it says you lift the like like a
6:32
like the ox whose crown is lifted.
6:34
In other words, the horn is lifted of the ox.
6:36
The instead of looking down and grinding all day, you look up as
6:41
the ox. The Scripture here, it talks
6:43
about lifting the head of the ox and then the oil coming down.
6:47
And I think that the more we lift our head towards the
6:50
heavens and we allow the the oil of the presence of the Holy
6:55
Spirit to fill us through song and worship and just turning our
6:59
attention to God, I think that there is something of a
7:03
perspective shift that begins to happen now, resetting your
7:06
perspective, your gaze to the Lord, your trust in the Lord
7:10
through song and worship doesn't negate or minimize the real
7:14
realization of real trouble. In fact, in the Psalm it, it
7:18
says you've lifted my my up my horn like that of a wild ox and
7:23
I've been anointed with the finest oil.
7:25
My eyes look at my enemies when evil doers rise against me.
7:28
My ears hear them. In other words, he's not
7:31
ignoring the trouble, the evil doers that are coming at him,
7:35
the combative nature that's happening.
7:37
What he's saying is that the Lord, your presence and my
7:41
rhythms of worship to you like you lift my head up so that I
7:45
see a different perspective and you anoint me with your oil so
7:48
that I find courage and strength in the Lord to face the
7:54
conflict, the trouble, and the the the hurdles of my day.
7:58
Faith is not a denial of the reality of the situation that
8:02
you're in. Faith is about having loyalty
8:06
and trust in God, even in the face of trouble, of, of hard
8:10
circumstances of adversity coming your way in.
8:14
The psalmist is reminding himself, my eyes are lifted up,
8:17
my head is lifted up. I don't have to be downcast.
8:19
My head can come up. I can receive the anointing of,
8:22
of God and I can move forward even in the face of some really
8:27
challenging situations. And I think songs that we sing
8:31
and, and the, the, the corporate readings that we say, right,
8:34
like this consecration Sunday, we had a lot of like liturgies
8:38
that we stood and we read together readings together,
8:41
corporate readings. And these weren't to be legal.
8:45
These weren't even to be ritualistic even they really
8:49
were about us reframing our thoughts, renewing our minds and
8:53
confessing the truth of God's word from our mouths and our
8:59
life and death in the power of the tongue, right.
9:00
Like we want to speak life. And, and in fact, at the
9:03
beginning of most of our congregational readings,
9:06
corporate readings, at the beginning of our service, we
9:08
have this intro that says, we read these things to remind
9:13
ourselves of where we're going, which is towards, towards Jesus,
9:16
allowing the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to form a fidelity
9:20
of allegiance to him alone. And so we read these things and
9:24
we read these things and we sing the songs that we sing to help
9:28
reiterate the anthem of our heart, which is Jesus is our
9:33
king. There is no other, no one else
9:36
is worthy. No one else is, is, is, is, is
9:38
worth our time and our effort this way, like Jesus gets our
9:41
sacrifice, Jesus gets our best. Jesus is the one that filters
9:46
through our lives and our thoughts and our lives look more
9:48
like him. And so the rhythm of
9:49
Thanksgiving, morning prayers and an evening praise, morning
9:53
prayer and evening prayer, these rhythms in our life, if we can
9:58
set them up as as benchmarks, bookmarks to our day, beginning
10:02
with God and ending with God. I think that in that moment we
10:06
find a healthier soul and our perspective remains towards God
10:10
and we can receive fresh anointing, fresh oil, fresh love
10:14
of God's Spirit and presence in that moment.
10:18
And so I think it's really it's, it's, it's great to think about
10:23
those things. Have a bookend moment in the
10:24
day, in the morning and in the evening.
10:28
Another thing that I wanted to point out and and I kind of
10:30
mentioned it in the in one of the messages for sure, but like
10:33
it says this, that though the wicked sprout like grass and all
10:37
evil doers flourish, they will be eternally destroyed.
10:41
In other words, I think it's important to know that not all
10:44
external success is a mark of God's like blessing or
10:48
Providence. In other words, not everyone who
10:52
is a success is godly, much the same as not everyone who is
10:56
struggling to succeed means that they're ungodly.
11:01
That's not that's not an indicative.
11:03
It can be evidence of God's blessing, his favor, his work in
11:07
our life, the the, the things that God is growing because of
11:10
the things that we're sowing unto him.
11:13
It can mean that, but it doesn't exclusively mean that.
11:16
And it doesn't mean that just because someone feels like
11:20
they're succeeding in life that they're actually going to
11:24
experience life eternal with God.
11:27
I've often kind of quipped that when you stand before God on
11:31
judgement day, he doesn't really care how much money you made.
11:34
He doesn't care what your kids battering average was and how
11:37
many tournaments they want. He's not going to ask you, hey,
11:39
did you do a good job with that presentation at work that you
11:43
skipped out on small group to go work on a president?
11:47
Like God's not going to ask you that, but he is going to ask you
11:49
how loving were, how kind were you, How gracious were you?
11:52
How you know he's going to ask us and examine us in light of
11:55
kind of the things that he's given us to help us grow others
11:59
and to be faithful to the assignment that he's given to
12:02
us. And, and the assignment of, of
12:05
the, the people of God, the, the people around us rather that
12:08
we're helping them grow in the way of God.
12:11
And so there are some things that we look at as like that's
12:13
the excess. That's the definition of, of the
12:16
American dream. Well, that may not be the, the
12:20
exact, just because you're living the American dream
12:23
doesn't mean you're living in the fullness of God or that
12:26
you're living in right relationship with God, or that
12:29
your life is righteous. Just because you do good things
12:33
doesn't make you righteous. And I, I think it's really
12:35
important to look at that, that some people look at people who
12:39
have it. At the same time, I think it's
12:41
important to notice this, that just because you have success in
12:43
your life doesn't mean you're evil either, right?
12:47
Just because you have wealth or, or you have a good marriage or
12:52
you have, doesn't mean like you're doing wrong.
12:54
Like, like it's possible to flourish in your life to be
12:57
whole in who you are, to be aware, socially aware, have an
13:01
emotional intelligence, be emotionally healthy.
13:03
Like it's possible to do those things and, and to be loved by
13:07
God and be right with God. And it's possible for, for some
13:09
people who experience some growth in their life and they
13:11
not be centered on, on God. And so it's important to not
13:15
look at that as the marker for everything, anything, nor do we
13:18
need to ignore those things as signs of something being
13:23
unhealthy in our room. In other words, I think there
13:26
are some people who can put together and live according to
13:29
principles that exist within the world, within the way God set up
13:34
the world, that we can tap into the general grace of God and
13:37
experience good things. And just because you experience
13:41
good things and there's a general grace of God that people
13:44
are tapping into doesn't mean that like they have God's
13:48
approval or that they're, they've been adopted into the
13:50
family of God or that they are those things.
13:53
That's it doesn't necessarily mean that.
13:56
It could mean that, but it doesn't always mean that
13:59
anything. That's part of the thing.
14:00
The psalmist is saying that just because evil people prosper for
14:05
a while doesn't mean they're going to prosper in the end.
14:09
And I think that's important for us, that just because we might
14:13
be financially well off, it doesn't mean our soul is well
14:17
off. Just because our kids are really
14:19
good at sports doesn't mean everything in our inner world
14:22
and our spiritual life is good like, like those there.
14:25
There is often a tension that we we have to wrestle with a little
14:28
bit. And I think that's an important
14:30
thing to to note and that the that the psalmist is noting.
14:35
And the last thing that I wanted to say was that that being
14:39
planted in the House of God, being planted and and the
14:44
righteous are like a palm tree planted in the House of the
14:47
Lord, right? Like that's what the Psalm says.
14:49
I think it's important to to recognize that that requires
14:53
commitment and consistency, right?
14:55
Like to be planted somewhere conjures up understandings of
15:01
stability. It conjures up being stable in
15:06
place, like a vow of stability, of commitment, of staying put.
15:13
And I think that kind of that kind of consistency produces
15:18
results in the long run and it produces the best results,
15:22
right? Again, think about a plant.
15:25
If you're always uprooting and moving from place to place,
15:28
thing to thing, relationship to relationship, you know, trying
15:31
this thing to that thing to that thing, and you're just always
15:34
switching things around. I think you often will find
15:37
yourself short circuiting your ability to have fruit long term.
15:44
There's something about being planted in the House of God with
15:47
the people of God into the practices of spiritual life that
15:52
allow for us to find some sure footing in a world that has
15:57
shaky ground. I think in an ever evolving,
16:02
ever changing, ever uncertain climate in our world, it's
16:07
really important to make some vows of stability, to make some
16:12
commitments that allow you to be planted, engaged, anchored into
16:18
some things. I think that's one of the things
16:20
that the writer of Hebrews is getting at when he says, hey,
16:23
don't forsake gathering together as somewhere in the habit of
16:27
doing. And he's writing about it so
16:30
that we don't drift away, we don't fall into perdition, we
16:33
don't walk into apostasy. It's, it, it's not that all
16:37
people who don't go to church regularly are apostates, but all
16:41
people who apostate all stop going to church at some point.
16:47
And, and so I, I think one of the, the stabilities about
16:50
gathering is that the Sunday gathering for God's people is an
16:53
anchor point for us. I, I don't know what my life
16:57
would look like if I didn't have that consistency in my life.
17:02
The consistency of gathering, of worshipping, of serving, of
17:06
giving. Like these ongoing practices
17:10
become an anchor points for our life that give me something to
17:14
tether to, to anchor to not in a way that holds me back, but in a
17:18
way that prevents me from drifting in the wrong direction,
17:22
that prevents me from I'm going astray.
17:25
It, it anchors me in place so that as I'm planted, I'm
17:30
growing. It's kind of like we talk a lot
17:34
in the formation course towards the end of the course, all about
17:40
a rule of life. And this rule of life becomes
17:43
like these a set of a plan to practice your spiritual life in
17:50
certain ways. That's all it is.
17:51
It's just a, a plant, it's a guide.
17:53
It's, it's like a trellis for a vine, right?
17:56
That trellis allows the vine to grow healthy, but it provides
18:00
stability. We just had a lot of storms roll
18:03
through our area, right? And some of those young trees
18:07
have stakes on each side of them.
18:09
And then they've got the ties down and kind of anchoring in
18:12
the small tree so that it has stability as it's growing.
18:16
Well, I think as our roots are developing and being planted in
18:20
the House of the Lord, I think we need some anchor points, some
18:23
tether spots, some support support systems to help us grow
18:27
healthy and to grow strong when the high winds start raging
18:31
among us. I think that's that's what the
18:34
Bible's trying to tell us. I think that's what James tells
18:37
us about a double minded man as unstable as on his way.
18:40
So so if your commitments are wishy washy, if if you're
18:43
unstable and how you think about God unstable, inconsistent in
18:47
your practices in like you can easily get duplicitous in your
18:52
mind and double minded as to what is the priority?
18:55
What is your source of hope? What is your source of
18:57
provision, where your trust is? And if you're always switching
19:01
what you're trusting and it's really hard to develop strength
19:05
in that process. And I think about our, our
19:10
vision statement and, and kind of our mission as a church to
19:14
bring faith to life. And this radiant life of faith.
19:17
We've kind of identified as this ongoing circle of where we keep
19:22
circling around a radiant life by pursuing the presence of the
19:25
Spirit, by practicing redemptive formation and partnering
19:29
together in the essential mission.
19:30
And, and these, these things that we just keep circling, we
19:34
keep doing, they're just consistently repeating again and
19:38
again in our life. That's actually what brings us
19:40
stability. It's what helps us grow strong
19:44
in our faith. And, and it helps this
19:46
consistency so that we grow and flourish no matter the age and
19:51
stage of our life. And, and I love that promise
19:54
that even in the in their old age, they'll be healthy, green
19:58
and bearing fruit. I think that's what I want in my
20:00
life. I think that's what you want in
20:01
your life. That we would be healthy, we
20:03
would be vibrant, we would be fruitful and productive for
20:06
God's Kingdom, allowing the fruit of the Spirit to be
20:10
evident in our lives. The more we ongoingly practice,
20:13
when we stay consistent, we grow in stability.
20:17
Staying consistent with the practices of our faith anchor us
20:22
so that we grow in stability. With our faith no matter the
20:27
winds and the waves that come that come at us, Let me share a
20:32
few responses to some questions. Here's the first one that says
20:35
what does consecration actually look like for just a normal guy
20:39
during the week, not just on on a Sunday?
20:43
Great question. I think consecration throughout
20:47
our week looks like having anchor points with God.
20:50
It looks like having praise in the morning and praise in the
20:53
evening, prayer in the morning, prayer in the evening.
20:56
It's actually developing a life of consistence.
20:59
I think a life of consecration means that there are times
21:03
within your day that you set apart just for God.
21:08
Maybe it's that there are areas in your life that you take some
21:12
time. You have a rhythm of confessing
21:14
of sin to another brother, to another man, to another husband.
21:18
Like you just have this time of just confessing and lamenting or
21:21
sharing and encouragement, even prayer together.
21:24
I think it is time apart like, and the reason I mentioned
21:28
confession specifically as a practice of spirituality is that
21:32
I think for a lot of guys, we just kind of live our lives kind
21:36
of ignoring the bad and trying to push through to achieve
21:39
something good. And I think at the end of the
21:41
day, we need to be really honest with our lives.
21:44
And the more we can be honest with our lives, the more it is
21:47
that we can stay humble before God.
21:50
And for most of us, we just need to kill our pride a whole lot
21:53
more. Because if there's one thing I
21:54
know, it's that with pride in your life, you are on the at
21:59
odds with God and his presence in your life.
22:01
You're not going to experience God's presence, you're not going
22:03
to experience his grace and His power as long as you remain in
22:07
your pride. And we have many, many, we have
22:11
many, many ways in which our pride shows up.
22:14
And I think confession of sin is one way that we just keep
22:16
ourselves humble and on the altar of offering our lives to
22:20
God as a living sacrifice where it's set apart for him and him
22:24
alone, because we don't want any sin to to contaminate us.
22:27
We just want to live a life holy unto to God.
22:30
And then finally, I would say, you know, consecration looks
22:33
like doing acts of spiritual protest.
22:35
So we talk about these things that form us and there are
22:38
certain spiritual practices or practices that we can do that
22:42
allow us to experience God's grace because we offer them to
22:46
God. We give them to God and we
22:48
invite him to to be a part of that practice or that action
22:52
with us. And so whether it be fasting,
22:54
food, times of prayer, scripture reading, doing something healthy
22:58
for your body, resisting the, the gluttony, resisting the, the
23:04
laziness, doing something with your physical body to steward
23:07
it. Spiritual acts of protest, doing
23:09
things financially to, to go against selfishness, to, to give
23:13
and be generous, like spiritual acts of protest are a great way
23:16
to live consecrated on to God. And we have 5 that we
23:19
recommended for everybody in our church to do this year, just
23:22
five acts. These are the only kinds of of
23:25
ways you can consecrate your life.
23:26
But we gave 5 out. And if you're looking for them,
23:29
you can find them on our website or hit me up and I can, I can
23:32
send those five to you. But it'd be one way to keep
23:35
doing that, you know, not just on Sunday, but throughout
23:38
throughout your days and weeks. Next question, How do I know if
23:41
I'm truly loyal to God or just going through the motions?
23:47
I think one, it's important to know that feelings are not the
23:50
only barometer for your loyalty to God.
23:54
I think that you need to recognize that unless you are
23:57
intentionally choosing to sin, your acts before God are
24:01
righteous and devoted to him. Anything that you do as unto the
24:05
Lord, right? The Scripture says whatever it
24:09
is that your hands find to do, do it with all your might as
24:12
unto the Lord. So do it with all your strength,
24:14
with all your ability, with all your skill as unto the Lord.
24:16
So surrendering everything to God is, is an important way of
24:20
being loyal to him. And at the end of the day,
24:23
you're going to see fruit growing in your spiritual life.
24:27
That's how you know like there's a real true loyalty.
24:30
You're not just kind of like trying to earn something from
24:32
God, trying to please other people.
24:35
I think another way to to look at this is like the fewer
24:39
secrets you have, the more sincere you are.
24:43
I'll say it again, the more, the more secrets you have, the less
24:48
sincere you are, or the fewer secrets you have, the more
24:51
sincere your love and devotion to God is.
24:54
And so I think part of being quick to repent is having fewer
24:58
secrets, which allows your sincerity to God to grow.
25:02
And at the end of the day, being loyal to God looks like pursuing
25:06
God in all the things that you're pursuing, prioritizing
25:10
God in all the things you're pursuing, and checking and
25:13
submitting everything that you're doing unto the Lord and
25:17
allowing him to balance that out and set course for your life.
25:22
Here's the next question. What are some real practical
25:25
ways to start practicing Sabbath without it feeling forced or
25:29
unrealistic? I would say start where you are
25:33
and focus on what you can do, not what you can't do.
25:37
Well I can't do a full day, but can you do a half a day?
25:40
Can you do 1/3 of the day dedicated, set apart to God and
25:46
then I I would say begin that time whatever time you you want
25:50
to commit to God, whatever time you want to set aside as your
25:52
Sabbath of stopping, of resting, of delighting and of worshipping
25:58
to God. Those four things is kind of
26:00
what makes Sabbath Sabbath. Begin it with a prayer and end
26:04
it with a time of prayer. So Lord, it could be as simple
26:07
as Lord, as we enter the Sabbath, we invite you to come
26:11
and be with us as we set this time apart to you, right, Simple
26:14
prayer, end of the day, or thank you for allowing us to spend
26:18
this time unhurried, just receiving of your blessings.
26:23
We're grateful. Amen.
26:24
Like a simple prayer, beginning and end that you would pray to
26:27
yourself. Maybe you pray with your family,
26:29
pray it all on your own, but it's just something I pray by
26:31
myself. I don't we don't gather our
26:34
whole family to do it, but it's something that I personally do.
26:36
It's just a something that helps me mark this time is beginning,
26:40
this time has ended. And then I would encourage you
26:43
to begin to write a list of two ways in each of these
26:47
categories. Two ways you could two things
26:50
that you can do to delight in the blessing and the life that
26:53
God has given you. Two ways that you can worship.
26:57
Two ways that you could just stop doing something that is
27:00
work for you and, and two ways that that are restful for you.
27:06
And, and, and once you identified those actions in each
27:09
of those categories, just do those things. 2468 things that
27:13
you're going to do. Well, six things you're going to
27:15
do and two things you're not going to do.
27:17
So it's six things you're going to do. 2 things you're not going
27:20
to do in those categories. Delight, worship, rest, and then
27:23
stop. So I would start in that way,
27:27
putting together a plan for what it looks like to just be with
27:30
God on a day. Set a day aside and dedicated to
27:33
God. Here's the next question.
27:36
Where's the line between living in the world and actually
27:39
resisting the world? So living in the world is
27:45
automatic. Resisting the world takes
27:48
intentionality. So I would say if you're not
27:50
doing anything intentional to live more like Jesus, you are
27:55
living in the world and being formed by the world.
27:57
It's automatic for you. How are you practicing and
28:02
living specifically doing things that help you grow and live more
28:07
like Jesus? If you're always doing
28:10
everything that you're in control of, you're not really
28:12
trusting Jesus. If you're always doing things
28:14
that you're comfortable with, you're not really growing and
28:17
trusting in Jesus. If you're always doing things
28:19
that only benefit you, you're not really growing in the way of
28:23
Jesus. If you're going to really look
28:25
at the list, man, check out things like Ephesians 4 and
28:30
Ephesians 5. Look at places like Galatians 5,
28:34
Galatians 5 is it gives you a list of what does it look like
28:37
to grow in the way of God versus grow in the way of the flesh.
28:41
And so if your life looks more like fleshly driven things, then
28:46
you're not being formed by God, you're being formed by the
28:48
world. And so how do we actually resist
28:51
it? Where's the line with the line
28:53
is, is actually really, really kind of clear.
28:56
What is it you're doing to grow towards God and what are the
28:59
things that you're just naturally doing because that's
29:01
what you've always done or that's the life that you're
29:04
looking for? I think resistance is about the
29:07
distinct acts of formation toward Jesus.
29:10
So what are your spiritual practice?
29:12
What are the disciplines, the spiritual life that you're
29:15
doing? What are the non negotiables
29:17
that are helping you grow to be more like, more like Jesus?
29:20
Then finally, here's the last one.
29:22
If I haven't really seen much growth lately, what does it look
29:25
like to get replanted and start thriving again?
29:29
I think you have to 1st admit it, then you can confess it, and
29:32
then cut out the actions of selfishness that have produced
29:35
that in you, that have kept you from growing.
29:39
I think that's a big part of it. And then just start again.
29:43
Like the forgiveness of God doesn't mean you have to start
29:45
from the beginning. It just means you have to resume
29:48
where you were. So start again, restart the
29:51
practices, develop them in your life, invite other people to
29:53
grow with you and grow again. And remember, what you sow, God
29:59
can grow, but if you're not sowing into a spiritual life,
30:03
you will not be growing in your spiritual life.
30:07
God will always bring a harvest on seeds that are sown.
30:11
So we have to sow into the life of God and we can reap the life
30:15
of God in that way. And the Lord is the one who
30:17
grows it and brings the increase all around.
30:20
But just redo, just start again doing the things that you once
30:24
did. You can go back to that first
30:26
love, go back to that moment and watch God grow those things in
30:29
your life. All right, everybody, that's
30:31
going to wrap up today's episode of the Faith for Today podcast.
30:34
Thanks for exploring Psalm 92 and what does it mean to be
30:37
planted and loyal and experience the life of God yet again?
30:42
I love you and I'll see you. See you next week.