Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / Understanding the Power of Focus

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Understanding the Power of Focus · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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When you look at life and circumstances, do you
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tend to look at the positive, the upside, or
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do you tend to look at the negative side? You
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may not think it makes much difference, but after
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today's broadcast, you might learn it makes all
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the difference in the world. Stay with me. You
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know, so often it seems like our lives are dictated
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by what's happening to us. But today on Living
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on the Edge, Chip Ingram shows us that our focus
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has far more impact than our circumstances. We're
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in the middle of a series called Free at Last,
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How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle.
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And today, Chip introduces a simple formula that
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can change how you experience absolutely everything.
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And in case you missed an earlier message from
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this impactful study, let me remind you that
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you can always get caught up by going online
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to livingontheedge .org. Well, now here's Chip
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with his message, Understanding the Power of
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Focus. You know, it's pretty easy to choose joy
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when things are going well, but it is pretty
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tough to choose joy when circumstances are very,
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very difficult. And what we're going to learn
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in this series is that it really is a choice,
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that God will give us everything that we need
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regardless of how devastating the circumstances.
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Tell you what, when it's really, really hard,
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it's just easy to look inward, to fall into self
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-pity, and to just watch your life spiral down.
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And what we're going to learn, it doesn't have
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to be that way, but we're going to talk about
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the power of focus. I brought a little pitcher
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of water, and if we took a little contest, and
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if I said, is the pitcher half full, or is the
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pitcher half empty? The answer is yes. Right?
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Some people will spend their entire life, no
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matter what's happening, focused on what they
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don't have, what's wrong, what they wish were
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better, on and on and on with what they don't
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have, what God hasn't provided, and what they
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think would bring joy and happiness. Other people
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have learned to focus on what they do have, and
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they recognize that everybody's life has some
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emptiness. Everybody has struggles. Everyone's
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going to suffer. Everyone has some problem relationships.
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Everyone eventually will have some health issues.
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Everyone has struggles at work. They either define
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you or... You learn how to focus and to think
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and to trust God in such a way in order to choose
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joy. Pull out your notes, if you will, and I've
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got to tell you a true story that at times I
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can hardly believe it's true. He was a neighbor.
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He was a friend. We got pretty close, got to
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talk about a lot of things. In private conversation
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at this point, he wouldn't care that I share
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this. He was a backslidden Christian. I mean,
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he knew God. He used to go to church regularly.
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He used to serve in a church. And he kind of
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had slidden away from all of that. And poor guy
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got, you know, his new neighbor was a pastor,
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me. And so we get to know one another. And he's
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a great guy, very gregarious. He just lived right
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across the street from Teresa and myself. And
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so he was out in the yard. We got to know each
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other well. And I'll never forget the day that
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he got a phone call, walked out in the yard,
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and he had found out that someone had, he was
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a cabinet maker. And I mean, top of the line
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cabinet maker and put in these, I mean, super
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expensive cabinets into these super luxury homes.
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And he had hundreds of thousands of dollars of
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his cabinets that he'd already made that he was
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going to be putting in these homes along with
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his material and someone arsoned his warehouse.
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He lost everything and had no insurance. And
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I saw him out in his front yard and he looked
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like someone literally had just died. And he
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went into clinical depression. He ended up having
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to go to the doctor. I remember I would take
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walks around the block and he had a big bay window.
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And if you've ever seen someone like sit in a
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chair like this, I mean, life was over. He had,
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I mean, it was everything he had was gone. Fast
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forward three and a half years, he's a pretty
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resilient guy, quite the entrepreneur. And so
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he built his business up again and got another
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big contract, made a bunch of money again. And,
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you know, there's people that kind of have this
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gift. And so he's got, you know, 12 or 14 master
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craftsmen. And he's got another big set of super
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luxury homes. And he has a big warehouse again.
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Are you ready? You guys, anybody feeling what's
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coming here? So one of his employees, you know,
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they really love him. He's great to get along
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with. So he goes in to help out. And so he sweeps
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up all the salt. dust, and then there was one
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of those things that you torch, you know, whatever
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you call it, you know, when you weld things,
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and he was cleaning some stuff out, and so he
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lit that to empty something, and it sparked,
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it hit the sawdust, and within minutes, everything
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he had again was gone. His wife, I still remember
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the morning, I think it was a Sunday because
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I was pulling out, and she comes out, you know,
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and this is what's happened, and he had a tiny
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bit of insurance. He didn't get clinically depressed
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this time. He said, I heard the news. I've been
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through this before. My whole life was about
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things before and I realized they couldn't satisfy.
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And he says, everything in me just wanted to
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break down and I just decided, I told my wife,
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stay right here. I'm going to walk around the
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block. He said, I started to walk around the
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block and I don't know why, but this came into
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my mind. Naked I come into the world and naked
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I will return. The Lord gives. The Lord takes
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away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And he
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said, for 30 minutes, I kept walking. I started,
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thank you. I have a wife that's loyal, that cares
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with me. Thank you for my son. Thank you for
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my grandson. He said, I just started choosing.
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And all I did was for 30 or 40 minutes, I just
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focused on what I actually did have. Before his.
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Other workers were, everyone was discouraged.
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Everyone was out of work. Within 48 hours, he
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had found jobs with his competitors for all 12
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of his craftsmen. I'll never forget out in the
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front yard less than a week later when before
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he was in a kinetotic state of just depression
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and he was out in the front yard playing with
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his little grandson who was about three or four
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at the time. And I said, Gary, how are you doing?
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He goes, you know, it's hard. And then he looked
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at me and he looked down at that little boy and
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he said, But I got a lot. I got a lot. What's
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the difference? Fire number one, his focus is
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inward. Fire number two, it's upward and then
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it's outward. Question, where's your focus? How
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do you deal with the tough circumstances in your
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life? Notice on the front, there's a little divine
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equation. The divine equation is C plus P equals
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E. I mean, I want you to get that. Some of you
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might, you know, write that somewhere, put it
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on a card, put it in lipstick on a mirror. C
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plus P equals E. Circumstance plus perspective
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equals your experience. Living above my circumstances
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occurs when my perspective interprets my circumstances
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rather than my circumstances determining my perspective.
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It's true, isn't it? Either I look at life. Through
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the lens of this is my circumstances. When they're
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kind of good, I'm kind of happy. When they're
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kind of bad, I'm kind of sad. Or I look at my
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circumstances through the perspective of the
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lens of God's promises, God's power, the lens
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of a sovereign God, a good God who's going to
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take even the worst and most difficult things
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and he's going to use them for my good. The fundamental
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question is how can we develop the kind of perspective?
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that transcends our circumstances. How do you
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do that? I'm going to suggest that it's going
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to be C plus P equals E. And we're going to learn
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from a man who models this for us like nobody's
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business. Key number one, jot the word in, focus.
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The question is, where is your focus? Now, I
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want you on the left side of your notes, I want
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you to put a little box and I want you to imagine
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that's a whiteboard in your mind. And I want
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you to write one or two words. And if you're
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next to someone that happens to be the problem
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that goes into that box, I would maybe not do
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that right now. But what I want you to do is
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actually think of what's the most difficult,
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challenging circumstance or relationship that
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you have right now. I mean, what is it that gets
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you down that if you could say, God, either fix
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it or take it away, what would be in that box?
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Have you got it? Now, we're gonna look at Philippians
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chapter one, but before we read it, I want you
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to get the circumstances of the author. It's
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AD 62, 63. He's in a Roman prison. He's a little
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past midlife. He has already been beaten three
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times. He's been overnight in the sea. He's been
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stoned and left for dead once. He got some revelation
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in Arabia. He is taking the gospel and his mission,
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his plan, his circumstances are God has called
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me to take this message to the whole Gentile
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world. And instead of going to the whole Gentile
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world, he's stuck in a cell. which what we know
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is he ends up writing a lot of letters that reach
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the whole world, but he doesn't know that. All
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he knows is God told me to do this. I wanted
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to do that. Every time I try and do it, people
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beat me up or they stick me in prison. And you
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would think Paul would be discouraged. And he
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would be if he looked through the lens of circumstance.
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But his perspective is not that. Follow along.
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Paul's circumstance, Paul and Timothy bond servants
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of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus
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who are in Philippi, including the overseers
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and the deacons, grace to you and peace from
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God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So
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this is a church that he has a real heart connection
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with. And they've heard you're in prison and
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they're concerned about him. And so they sent
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a financial gift through one of their members,
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Epaphroditus, and this is really a thank you
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letter and they wanna know, well, how are you
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doing? And so Paul's gonna explain his circumstances
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here. He says in verse three, I thank my God
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in all my remembrance of you, always offering
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prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.
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Well, why? In view of your participation in the
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gospel from the first day until now. For I'm
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confident of this very thing, that he who began
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a good work in you will perfect it until the
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day of Christ Jesus. I'd like you to circle the
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word thank. I'd like you to circle the word remembrance.
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I'd like you to circle the word prayer with joy.
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I guess that's a phrase. Circle the phrase prayer
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for you all. And then circle the word confident.
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This is Paul's upward focus. He's in jail. His
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circumstances. Where's his heart? Where's his
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mind? He says, I pray. Did you notice how? I
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pray with joy. I'm remembering what it was like
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with Lydia. I remember when the little church
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was birthed. I remember that night when that
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jailer was ready to kill himself. Stop, don't
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do it. Stop, don't do it. We're all here. And
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we went into his house and he cleaned me up and
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his whole house was baptized. And we don't know
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all the story, but it's a church where God did
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a great thing. And he says, I pray with joy in
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all my remembrance of you. And it wasn't just
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what he did. He says, in view of your participation
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in the gospel, we were in it together. We saw
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God work in that Roman colony in Philippi. And
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his just focus is, God, thank you for them. And
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then his focus is still about them. I'm confident
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of this. You know, God's in control. Where's
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his concern? His concern isn't, well, it's really
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tough. There's a lot of rats. I'm chained to
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this guy. It wasn't really fair. I'm completely
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innocent. There's no blaming. He doesn't blame
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God. He doesn't blame people. His concern is,
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I'm confident of this very thing that he, Jesus,
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who began a good work in you, he's gonna perfect
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it until he comes back. Where's his focus? It's
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upward and it's outward. Notice his focus continues.
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Paul's outward focus. He says, for it is only
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right for me to feel this way about you all.
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Why? Because I have you in my heart. Since in
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both my imprisonment and the defense and confirmation
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of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace
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with me. For God is my witness how I long for
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you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. I'm
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gonna ask you to do Bible study one more time
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here. Circle the word feel. Then circle the word
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heart. Circle the word partakers. It's a Greek
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word that means people are connected to one another.
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Circle the word long and then circle the word
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affection. And what I want you to get is, can
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you imagine someone, maybe in our day, in bondage,
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in a hellacious prison, maybe in another country,
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who's discovered they have cancer and you write
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to ask how they're doing. And you get this letter
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back. Oh, every time I think of you, I'm praying
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for you. I remember when we spent this time together.
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And then to say, I long for you all with the
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affection of Christ Jesus. I memorized this passage
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many, many, many years ago. And I remember praying,
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Lord, I don't know that I could ever say that
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to anyone, but I would love to be able to say
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that somehow, someday. To love someone, to long
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and care for someone. In the same way that Christ
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cares for me. This guy is filled up with his
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love for other people so much so he just seems
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to be almost unaware of the difficulty of his
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own circumstance. Finally, out of his outward
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focus and love, notice he prays for them. So
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he takes his concern and he goes, and this I
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pray that your love may abound still more and
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more in real knowledge and all discernment. And
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then there's, what? A result. So that. Put a
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little box around the so that. It's very important.
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So he says. Here's what I'm praying. I'm in prison.
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My focus isn't on me. It's on God, but it's on
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you. And when I'm praying for you, I want you
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to know this is what I'm praying. I'm praying
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that your love and your relationship would grow
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deeper and deeper in the, it's a really powerful
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word, in the epigonosco. In other words, in the
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experiential knowledge of God and that you would
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have all discernment. In other words, that you
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would get so close to God in the midst of this
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corrupt Roman empire and all the junk coming
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at you. So that, why? You could approve the things
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that are excellent. In other words, so when the
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world's coming at you, you would know this is
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right, this is wrong, this is true, this isn't
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true. So you would have discernment to know how
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to live your life. And then there's a purpose
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clause. In order that you can be sincere and
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blameless until the day of Christ. Underline
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sincere and underline blameless. We'll come back
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to this just a little bit later. Having been
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filled with the fruit of righteousness which
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comes through Jesus Christ to the glory of God.
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So all I want you to see, Paul's circumstances,
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I'm guessing, are as bad as anybody's in this
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room of any kind. In fact, what we're gonna learn
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a little bit later is he's sort of right on the
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crossroads of am I gonna be executed or not executed?
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He doesn't know. And in the midst of imprisonment,
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facing execution, upward focus, God, I thank
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you. Outward focus, I'm confident of this. I
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remember you. God's for you. I'm praying for
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you that you become the kind of followers of
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Christ that understand what's wise, what's unwise,
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and that your lives would be so transformed.
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Outward focus. Now what I want to do is kind
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of roll up our sleeves and ask ourselves two
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or three questions to help us get, hey Paul,
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I'm glad you can look at it that way. It's pretty
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tough for me, right? How do you develop an upward
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focus? And I'm going to suggest right from this
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passage, number one, it's a choice. It's a choice.
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And the choice is gratitude. And the way you
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do it is you choose to remember, and you thank
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God for significant relationships. In the mornings,
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our whole staff comes down here and we have a
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prayer time. And different pastors, actually
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different people on the staff lead it. And we
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all sit here and he goes, here's what we're gonna
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do for the first 20 minutes. I want you to write
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on these three by five cards everything that
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you can possibly thank God for in 20 minutes.
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Just don't stop writing. I filled out five. God,
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thank you that you forgave me. God, thank you
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for your word. Thank you that your spirit lives
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within me. Thank you for Teresa. Thank you for
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Eric. Thank you for Jason. Thank you for Ryan.
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Thank you, right? God, thank you for this church.
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Thank you for the people I get to work with.
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God, thank you that, you know, in the midst of
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a crazy world, this is where we live. I mean,
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it was easy. I had five of these filled front
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and back. And I had this weird experience afterwards.
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I had a great attitude that day. It's just a
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weird experience, you know? It's just like, you
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know, hey, you know? Why? Here's why. I spent
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20 minutes focusing on what God has provided
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instead of my humanness like yours is to always
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focus on what is missing. Second, it's an action
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prayer. Prayer. By the way, remember he said,
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I willfully chose, willfully chose to remember
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the past youthfulness and the partnership. See,
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I think we think prayer is always gonna be some
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ooey gooey feelings and these wonderful great
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connections with God. Part of my rehab on this
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fusion on my back was walking, walking, walking,
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walking until I could walk for an hour. That's
19:16
a lot of walking. And I just have to tell you,
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there's times when I didn't wanna walk. Two,
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I bummed out. And just, I mean, honestly, a little
19:25
pity party. Hey, God, you know, why me? Trying
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to serve you with all my heart. Wimpy, wimpy,
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chippy, chippy, you know. Just like you guys
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do. And then I remember, I walk in and I listen
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to some worship songs and I pull out those earplugs.
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Father, I thank you. And I started quoting verses.
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And then I started praying for people. I just
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started praying for people. I started praying
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for a lot of you. I prayed for our staff. I prayed
19:51
for the city. All of a sudden, I realized, you
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know, this isn't the best time praying I've had
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in a lot of years. Why? Because I had to walk.
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I don't know what you're going through, but it's
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not an accident. You can develop an upward focus
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by choosing to give thanks and by the action
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of prayer. And third, there's an attitude, and
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the attitude is confidence. You know, I remember
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like toward the end of my walks, what I realized
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was, you know, I've been through a lot of hard
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times. I'm getting older. And I've had God's
20:25
promises and God's character, God's promises
20:27
and God's character. And, you know, I have these
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little packets where I've memorized verses over
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the years. And I started reading some of these
20:33
old verses and I found one, 1978, God's promises
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for Chip and Teresa. I mean, that was like a
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month before we got married. And God gave me
20:44
this passage, this Old Testament passage. And
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I was reading through that and I thought, like,
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are you kidding me? I mean, my life is like 100x
20:53
better than I ever, ever, ever dreamed. But it
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doesn't matter how good it is because if I have
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a really great day today left to myself, I just
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want it a little bit better. Right? And so do
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you. But I want you to know that you choose,
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you choose joy by being grateful. By being prayerful
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and being confident of the future, not because
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you've got it all together, not because your
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circumstances are going to change, but there
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is a God who put his spirit within you who says,
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I'm confident of this very thing that he who
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began a good work in you has promises and character
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that he's going to see you through. And I don't
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want to be morbid, but the very worst thing that
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could happen is you die and end up in the presence
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of Christ with no more pain and the best atmosphere
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forever and ever and ever. Say our hope isn't
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in this world. There's three observations that
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I see out of this passage that have been both
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helpful and convicting to me, so I want to share
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the wealth. Observation number one from verses
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seven and eight are that difficult circumstances
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reveal our true affections. Fire number one,
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he was depressed because he lost his stuff. And
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he was a believer, but he got caught up in stuff
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and money and prestige and flying to Vail and
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skiing and luxury vacations. And fire number
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two, he had a different set of affections. Second
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observation is living above our circumstances
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occurs when our hearts are so full of people,
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there's no room for self -pity. That's what happened
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in fire number two. 48 hours later, all 12 of
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his master craftsmen had jobs with his competitors.
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Paul, when you squeeze Paul, Paul's like a sponge.
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You squeeze Paul with pressure and chains and
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difficulty. And what oozes out is who he really
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was. And who he really was was a man who loved
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God with all of his heart and cared so deeply
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about people. When pressure and difficulty and
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circumstances, whether it's work or health or
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problems in your family, when the vice of pressure
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and circumstances come into your life, whatever
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oozes out, that's who you are. That's who you
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really are. If you're negative, if you're critical,
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if you're blaming, If you're down on everyone,
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I mean, it's easy to have a great attitude when
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things are going great. God uses affliction sometimes
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to allow adverse circumstances to realign our
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affections. I mean, we all want to change, right?
23:44
This whole deal I've been with on my back, if
23:47
you would have asked me before all this, I would
23:51
have said, you know, I'm working on some things.
23:54
But God revealed some blind spots in my life,
23:57
and I'm so glad he did. And actually, my wife
24:02
was very kind the way she did it, and my children
24:06
as well, and a couple friends. Basically, these
24:10
new revelations I had about these blind spots
24:12
that I needed to address, they kind of looked
24:14
at me like, oh, really? You just found out? So
24:18
you just got that you're driven, over the top,
24:21
productivity centered, nuts, in a loving kind
24:25
of way? You know, sometimes God loves you so
24:28
much that you're praying, oh God, take it away,
24:31
take it away, take it away, take it away, take
24:32
it away. He's going, no. My goal isn't to make
24:37
your life comfortable. My goal is to make you
24:39
holy. And the only way you'll ever really be
24:42
happy is if you're holy. And the only way you're
24:44
holy is if you see what needs to be addressed
24:46
and allow me to forgive and cleanse and empower
24:49
you. The summary on the first portion of this
24:54
section was that our feelings always follow our
24:57
focus. In case you missed that. Our feelings
25:01
always follow our focus. So how you are emotionally
25:05
is always going to be determined on what you
25:08
focus on. And then here, our focus always follows
25:11
our affections. See, my focus is my affections.
25:16
My affections were, and not uniquely, but my
25:20
blind spot was my affections were around that
25:23
being productive is what gave me value with God
25:27
and people. Not solely. I mean, it wasn't like
25:30
I was just completely in left field. But there
25:33
was a lot more of that than I ever dreamed. And
25:36
what I want you to know is that God is not down
25:41
on you and the difficulties that we have in our
25:44
life and the circumstances in a fallen world.
25:47
In a fallen world, there's storms, there's tsunamis,
25:50
there's earthquakes. The issue will be what do
25:53
you focus on and how do you respond? As I think
25:58
about saying, okay, Lord, I want to choose joy.
26:02
I understand I need to have a upward focus and
26:05
an outward focus. And I get to have an upward
26:08
focus. I need to choose to be grateful. I need
26:11
to talk to you. And I understand that there's
26:15
some things that adversity reveals. But here's
26:18
the last question I want to address. It's this,
26:20
is how... Do you develop this outward focus?
26:24
How do you get where under pressure you're praying
26:28
for other people the way Paul prays for other
26:30
people? How do you do it where it becomes a habit,
26:33
where it becomes who you are, not just a thought
26:36
under some pressure? And I'm gonna suggest that
26:39
the Apostle Paul is going to address that in
26:42
verses nine through 11 specifically. Number one,
26:46
think about those who've loved you the most.
26:50
When you are really discouraged and really down,
26:54
just think, who are the people that have loved
26:58
me the most? It's what he does in verse three.
27:02
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.
27:06
They've just sent a financial gift. And you know,
27:08
when you're in prison back in those days, they
27:10
didn't like serve food. If you didn't have friends
27:12
to bring you food, you'd just die. And he was
27:15
just, you think about the people that have loved
27:17
you the most. Instead of the people that rip
27:21
you off the most. And then here's something interesting.
27:24
You pray for those you think about the most.
27:29
And put a big circle around prayer. And by the
27:34
way, there's a couple different ways to pray.
27:37
I had a good friend who really struggled with,
27:40
if this was this full, he could focus on that
27:44
much being empty. I'm not a very good counselor,
27:47
but I gave him a few shots, you know, and tried
27:49
to help him. And so I just said, well, are you
27:52
praying? He goes, yeah. And so I said, well,
27:54
he goes, it doesn't help. I said, well, let's
27:57
pray right now together. I'll never forget this.
27:59
And if you've heard this story, you need to hear
28:01
it again because it was like, are you kidding
28:03
me? And so it was in my little apartment. And
28:07
so Bob and I both get on our knees. I said, Bob,
28:10
you pray first and then I'll pray. And so Bob
28:12
gets down. Oh, God, you know the terrible childhood
28:16
I had. You know how bad my father was. You know
28:19
how the kids teased me all my life. You know,
28:22
and I mean, he went on and on and on and on and
28:25
on. I mean, he didn't pray at all. He was whining
28:27
in the presence of God. I mean, at one point,
28:29
I just opened my eyes and go, like, for real?
28:33
You know, and you know that, you know, I haven't
28:36
been able to hold down a job, and I think everyone
28:38
doesn't like me. And then finally, hey, Bob,
28:40
Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, let me, let me, can I cut
28:42
in here? God help Bob. Amen. Okay. I said, Bob,
28:48
that's how you pray, right? He said, well, yeah.
28:50
I said, I got news for you. You can pray till
28:53
the cows come in. God's not answering that one.
28:55
Bob, that's just, that's not prayer. That's you.
28:59
You're telling God all this. You've told me this.
29:02
And I've heard it once or twice or three times.
29:04
And now, have you noticed that people in this
29:05
fellowship, like when you come around, they start
29:07
going, yeah, it's terrible, isn't it? I said,
29:09
there's a reason, Bob. He said, what's the reason?
29:13
I said, you're like a recorder. All you do is
29:16
whine, complain, whine, complain. We try to help
29:18
you once, but he said, Bob, okay, let's try a
29:22
different prayer. Pray something like this. And
29:25
this I pray. God, would you help Bob's love,
29:29
his passion, like never before, to understand
29:33
who you really are, how much you love him, and
29:36
have discernment about what truth is in life.
29:39
In order that, Bob could approve the things that
29:43
are excellent. He might know what are the best
29:46
things for him and the people and the things
29:48
that are worse for him so that his life could
29:51
be blameless. The word means tested by sunlight.
29:55
Sincere, tested by sunlight. Take that back.
29:57
And blameless means morally pure. In other words,
30:00
what Paul prays and what we can pray, I pray
30:04
this for my kids. I pray this for me. I pray
30:07
this for Teresa. I pray this for our staff. I
30:10
mean, sometimes I think we have these prayers.
30:12
God help so -and -so, help so -and -so, help
30:14
so -and -so, help so -and -so. God knows all
30:15
that, and I'm not saying we shouldn't do it.
30:18
But when Paul prays, Paul prays, this is what
30:21
I'm praying. I pray this for my adult kids. Lord
30:24
God, would you give them an experiential, genuine
30:27
knowledge of you where they feel you and experience
30:31
you like never before in such a way that in the
30:35
world and all the pools that are coming at them,
30:37
they would understand, I don't want to go that
30:39
direction, but I want to go this direction. And
30:42
God, that each one of my boys, that you would
30:44
keep them pure in their hearts and their minds.
30:46
And each one of my daughter and my daughter -in
30:48
-laws would have such a love for you and understanding
30:51
that, Everyone tells them they ought to be this
30:53
and ought to be that. That when you look like
30:55
sun coming through a pane glass window, they
30:58
would be pure before you and morally pure so
31:01
that they would be the kind of men and women
31:06
that would love one another and honor you and
31:09
create an environment so my grandkids could see
31:12
Jesus in their life. And if you look at this,
31:15
he has a request. Then he gives the reason for
31:20
the request. And the last phrase, he gives them
31:22
the resource, having been filled with the fruit
31:26
of righteousness. It's what's called a passive
31:29
perfect participle for those of you that are
31:32
English majors. Passive means the action is upon
31:34
you. Perfect is something that happened in the
31:37
past that continues on into the future. And what
31:40
he's saying is, Philippians, it's a hard world,
31:43
but let me tell you something. I'm praying that
31:47
you'll know God like never before. And I'm praying
31:50
you'll get it so crystal clear that all the trash
31:53
and all the temptations that you'll see, that
31:56
is not the way I want to go. And that instead
31:59
you will walk with God in such a way because
32:02
when you received Christ, The old man died. The
32:07
spirit of God came into your life and the righteousness
32:10
that he purchased, the fruit of it, this is how
32:13
God sees you now. And it's not about trying hard
32:16
to be a good person. You actually possess the
32:19
righteousness of Jesus Christ. And by faith,
32:23
you live out what's already operating in you
32:25
until the day of Christ, which is when he returns.
32:29
And so it's a deeply theological and personal
32:32
prayer. You start praying that kind of prayer
32:36
for people you care about and your self -pity
32:40
will go, and your woe is me will go. And it won't
32:45
just be, you know, some of our prayers are, oh
32:47
God, help them sell their garage, help them sell
32:49
their house, help their back to get better, help
32:51
this to get better. We think that sometimes when
32:55
I listen to myself pray and some of you is that
32:57
the only goal is that God would make life better
33:00
or easier. What if the bigger goal is he makes
33:03
us more like Christ so that we are actually change
33:07
agents that change everything and everyone around
33:11
us. C plus P equals E. Question is, where's your
33:17
focus? I mean, okay, in that box? When you think
33:25
about that box, is your focus upward God? What
33:28
do you want to do in and through this? And is
33:31
it outward God? How are you going to use me?
33:34
Or what's happening in other people's lives?
33:37
I got a tough situation, but maybe at work. Or
33:40
maybe the unwed mother. Or maybe the lonely person.
33:43
or maybe a relative, or maybe there's someone
33:45
I know in this body whose difficulty and challenges,
33:49
you get your heart filled with loving other people,
33:53
and I will tell you, joy. Joy. Not because things
34:01
got better. It's because joy is the evidence
34:06
of Christ's presence operating freely in your
34:09
heart. It's a gift of the Spirit. You're listening
34:15
to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a
34:18
message titled Understanding the Power of Focus.
34:21
It's part of our current series called Free at
34:23
Last. And there's more from Chip in just a minute,
34:26
so keep listening. Our feelings always follow
34:29
our focus, and our focus always follows our affections.
34:33
And that's precisely the territory Chip's book,
34:36
Yes, You Really Can Change, was written to map
34:38
out. Chip walks through the actual mechanics
34:41
of change straight from Scripture, identifying
34:44
the specific barriers that have kept you circling
34:46
the same struggle, and then the process of putting
34:49
them off, renewing how you think, and putting
34:52
on something new that actually holds. Order a
34:55
copy today and we'll send a second one free so
34:57
you can work through it side by side with someone
35:00
else who's ready to see real change. Just go
35:03
online to livingontheedge .org slash offers.
35:07
If Living on the Edge has ever helped pull you
35:10
out of your own head and toward God, would you
35:12
help make sure that happens for someone else
35:14
too? Every gift, whatever the amount, goes directly
35:17
toward reaching more people with this kind of
35:19
practical biblical teaching. Give online at livingontheedge
35:23
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35:29
also reach us by mail at Living on the Edge,
35:32
P .O. Box 3007, Sewanee, Georgia 30024. Remember,
35:38
you can also stay caught up on these daily messages
35:41
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35:44
That way you get each message downloaded automatically
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every day. And the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast
35:50
has every sermon in full, unedited from start
35:53
to finish. Find it wherever you listen. Well,
35:56
now here's Chip. As we wrap up today's program,
36:00
I wish we could sit down literally and have a
36:03
cup of coffee. And you could tell me, hey, Chip,
36:07
you know, here's what I'm going through. And
36:09
here's a couple of relationships that are really
36:11
difficult or my work or a health issue. And I
36:14
could really, really listen and ask a few questions.
36:17
And then I could turn around and tell you, hey,
36:21
you know, here's some things I'm going through
36:22
right now. And then at the end of our time, I
36:25
think we would go back to what we heard taught
36:27
today, that difficult circumstances really do
36:31
reveal our affections. You know, the Apostle
36:35
Paul, you see the core of his attitude. He's
36:38
going through horrendous circumstances, but his
36:42
focus is so upward. His confidence is, you know,
36:45
God's going to use this for good. And they're
36:48
outward. Now, he thinks to himself. You know,
36:50
this is really hard on me right now, but think
36:52
of the impact it's going to have for other people.
36:55
One of the things that hit me about this was
36:57
the truth that our feelings always follow our
37:01
focus. You know, when I'm looking at things half
37:04
empty and that's my focus, my emotions go downward.
37:09
But then the next thing we learned was that our
37:12
focus is always determined by our affections.
37:16
Paul's affection was... God's heart, God's agenda,
37:20
God's will. And what I want to confess to you
37:23
is when I really struggle with perspective and
37:26
when I get down, what I realize very subtly is
37:30
my affections are around my happiness, my agenda,
37:34
my plans, and what I want to happen for me. And
37:38
I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but I
37:41
would just ask you, as we study Philippians chapter
37:44
1 together, Could your affections have drifted?
37:48
Could some of your challenges, your emotions,
37:51
your negativity really be centered around that
37:55
your affections have gotten a bit off of following
37:57
and honoring Christ and a bit more on you and
38:01
your happiness and what you want to happen? And
38:04
if so, could we pause today together and say,
38:07
Lord, will you help us? You know everything about
38:10
us. We want our affections to be on you. Would
38:13
you help us to look upward and outward? And would
38:16
you give us your perspective today for your glory?
38:19
In Jesus' name, amen. We'll see you next time
38:22
as we continue our series called Free at Last,
38:25
How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle,
38:27
right here on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
38:34
Today's program is produced and sponsored by
38:36
Living on the Edge.