Living for God’s Glory in a Self-Glorifying World

We wrestle with why glory belongs to God alone and how that truth frees us from chasing applause. From sanctification to service, we show how peace and joy arrive as byproducts when Christ stays first and the adjectives fall away.

• resting salvation in Christ alone
• sanctification as God’s work in us
• merit culture versus grace culture
• algorithms and the pull toward self
• tuning the heart through surrender and trial
• joy completed through obedience to Jesus
• Colossians and Christ above all
• dropping adjectives before Christian
• serving without recognition and hidden faithfulness
• suffering as a place to reflect His glory
• Soli Deo Gloria as a daily practice
• prayer for courage and steadfast hearts

We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast@afreshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering you resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321.

Chapters

• 0:00 Series Wrap: Reformation Roots
• 1:40 Sanctification And The Thief On The Cross
• 3:00 Merit Culture Versus Grace
• 5:15 Algorithms, Attention, And The Self
• 7:30 Climbing Off The Stage: Glory To God
• 10:20 Tuning The Heart: Guitar And Spirit
• 12:30 Why God Withholds Our Glory
• 15:00 Faithfulness Without A Fan Club
• 17:10 Forrest Frank, Awards, And Conviction
• 20:00 Joy Made Complete In Obedience
• 22:40 Colossians: Christ Above All
• 25:20 No Adjectives Before Christian
• 28:00 Quiet Lives, Real Glory
• 30:10 Peace And Joy As Byproducts
• 32:10 Encouraged In The Lord
• 34:10 SDG: Living For God’s Glory
• 36:40 Prayer And Closing Calls

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:09

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast, brought to you by Fresh Wind Church. Each week our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

SPEAKER_02: 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined again with Pastor Tim and uh Tim this Sunday we wrapped up our uh October series, Reformation Roots. And man, I I I had such a a great time studying and preparing for this, just diving back into some of really the the foundational truths of our faith.

SPEAKER_01: 0:51

I think when we talk about so many different issues, you know, the Bible covers just about everything, but when you get back to uh what salvation is all about, uh the just resting in what he's done for you. This sermon series has been great for that. We you know, we get so tied up in trying to be the right guy for God, trying to be effective, trying to be usable. Um, you know, do these things so that you uh do not uh become useless in your knowledge of Jesus uh that uh Peter talks about. We uh we need a chance to to sit down and say, uh, it's just Jesus. Right, you know? Yeah. It's not me, it's just him. We were talking uh about sanctification. Last night we had Charles was teaching us sanctification. I asked him at the end, and I said, So what did sanctification look like for the thief on the cross? Because he came to Jesus right then. And uh the answer is Jesus is gonna take care of that for you. And it's oh well wait. Sanctification is where I work. You know, I got good works to do, I got growing to do, I got these things that I gotta do unless Jesus does it for you, which is what happens at the end anyway.

SPEAKER_02: 2:28

Right. Yeah, God is working in you to give you both the desire and the power to do what pleases him. He's he's working out this salvation and sanctification thing, you know? And it is, it's easy to to fall back into especially this kind of American mindset that you know we're the self-made man, and I gotta uh stomp my feet down in my boots and I gotta I gotta do this thing. Meritocracy. Yeah, and then Jesus comes along and is like, uh, actually, you're gonna screw this up. I'm gonna I'm gonna take care of this for you.

SPEAKER_01: 3:00

Right. Um like you said yesterday, the uh yeah, we're doing this podcast on Monday, it comes out on Wednesday. Sorry about that, guys. Um, but what you said yesterday about getting up on the stage with them, it starts with that meritocracy you're talking about. You know, I need to be the man. God wants me to be the man, and he does. He wants you to to be the man, but it's not good enough. So he's gonna he's gonna take you a little bit further, and we're like, well, wait a minute, can I can I just get a little credit for trying so hard? And Jesus says, I'll take that credit. You know, it's my glory that we're working on, and you just reflect it. Yeah, and uh it's it's it's a tough thing to get around because it's our whole culture thought, you know, it's just you know, I gotta be, God wants me to be Have and uh I'm trying my hardest. Can I get a little pat on the back?

SPEAKER_02: 3:57

I mean, we we start young, man. I mean, as soon as your kid does something, you know, learns to walk, we're all excited, clapping for him, going crazy. Um, you know, LA's flag football team, they just won the championship and we're giving out medals. The trophy, I'm not kidding you, it's almost as tall as Ellie. I'm like, good night, people. Does it have to be so big? Um, and and listen, all of that is great. And I'm not saying we shouldn't hand out trophies and medals to people. We you should be excited when your kids do something great. That's not what I'm saying. But I mean, we learn at a young age, like, look at me, look at me. Come come watch what I've done. Right. And then we come to our relationship with God, and man, it's especially if you know, if you serve in ministry at all, this is an easy thing to fall into because you're working for God, you know, you're getting ready for sermons, or you're preparing a study. You know, we you you've we we man, and how exciting this. We got some guys in the church wanting to step up and start teaching. And so I know you've been working a lot with these guys, helping them start to put those things together. And so you're doing all this stuff. And you think about you know, the fall fest and Anisa and her team and all the people that put all that together. It was a great event. And you and you do all this stuff and it's it's for God. And then someone comes along and says, Hey, that was awesome. And you're like, Oh, that felt good. Yeah, and all of a sudden it's like, well, it's for God, but I mean, it's it was a little bit, I did do a good job.

SPEAKER_01: 5:28

Um We live in an age where everything points back to us, yeah, to our brand, um, our followers, our goals. Uh but life actually works better when it's not centered on us at all.

unknown: 5:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 5:44

And then centering on other people. And then you get accolades for not being centered on yourself, and then you got to go through that fight again. Very narcissistic society, even the algorithm online, who's watching you? Your algorithm is a little bit different than mine. If we look up the same thing online, they're gonna feed you this, they're gonna feed me something else. But even that algorithm is about you. You know, what do you like? What do you what can I get you into, and then feed you some ads to get you to buy this thing. And so we are being manipulated towards back to ourselves constantly.

SPEAKER_02: 6:26

And this has nothing to do with the podcast, and so uh hopefully I don't throw you off your thought here, but that algorithm is so smart, they can change pricing for people based off what that algorithm algorithm thinks you're gonna pay, what you're willing to pay on that item. How many times have you looked up that item? How long has it been saved in your cart? And so you might go one day and it's like, no, the price just jumped because we know you really want it.

SPEAKER_01: 6:54

Right. You looked at this a lot. And you know, that's happening to us uh 24-7 now with uh carrying your phone around. You might not know it, uh, but that's what's happening that algorithm's all about you. And we want things to be about us, even church sometimes. Hey, you preached that sermon and uh felt like you were talking exactly at me. And it's like, no, no, I wasn't. I wasn't. It just feels that way because we're in a culture that feels that way 24-7.

SPEAKER_02: 7:30

Right. Yeah, it's definitely easy to to get into this idea where it's about me and wanting to be on stage. Um and man, I I don't know how we we fight back against that sometimes, but um, you know, on Sunday, just really encourage people, man, if this is really gonna be Christ alone, we have got to we've got to climb off the stage, you know. And you know, I kicked up my my Walmart boots and tried to get them in the spotlight, did the hokey pokey. Um, because man, that's who we are, right? Like just God, I want this to be about you. I just need a little bit of it. Right. Um, and that feels so good. Um, and you know, I I don't I don't know. I'm I'm going way out here, but you know, I I think experiencing that um that little puff of pride that we get, that you know, just a glimpse of what what true worship must feel like for God, you know, when we really worship and he feels in, I don't, I don't know how to say this in theological concepts that would make sense, but I mean when God gets our true worship, um, I mean, scripture says he is seated on the praises of his people. Um, and nothing we experience down here is going to come anywhere close to that. And then to know, man, when we take that, we're we're robbing him of that glory, you know. This is supposed to be about him. And it's it's hard to climb off that stage and lay flat on the ground and say, God, this is all about you.

SPEAKER_01: 9:12

It's it's hard, but what I what God is, he's he's like, I, you know, I existed and I was happy and I loved and I got praises, and I never needed you at all. So why does God selfishly stand on that stage and says, I get all the glory? Well, it's because you were created to give the glory. And if you're ever gonna be at peace or in tune spiritually, uh Charles had a great example last night as he was teaching on sanctification. He was talking about a guitar that has to be tuned. It's the tension on the guitar, on the guitar string that puts you in tune with the Holy Spirit. And so we're gonna have that tension he's gonna teach us. That's what sanctification is all about. Being in tune with Jesus in every situation. It was a great example. And uh so that's that's what we need to be, we need to be in tune with how God created us to be, and that to be in tune, you have to quit trying to take some glory or be filled with pride and give that glory to the Lord, and then you're in tune spiritually to where it leads to satisfaction and peace and all those other things that the Lord wants to dump in your lap.

SPEAKER_02: 10:43

Well, here's the thing if if you receiving glory was what was best for you, you better believe God would give it to you. Right. He withholds no good thing from his children. Scripture's clear on that. And so if it was in your best interest to receive glory, God would give it to you. Right. He would allow you to receive it. But he knows it is it is a cancer within us. When we start to get that, then pride and all these other things begin to build up in our life. And the best thing that we can do is give God glory. And then it does exactly what you talk about. It starts to bring peace in our life. Because I'm not I'm no longer chasing the applause of man. You know, I I'm going through my life saying, man, if I if I lived faithfully for Christ today, I've done it. I've done it. Um, and I don't I don't need anybody to recognize that. I don't need I don't need a fan club. Right. Years ago when uh I was the youth pastor, Dave Meyer was one of my adult leaders, and the students in the the youth group created a Facebook page back when teenagers were on Facebook called the Dave Meyer Fan Club. We don't need a fan club. You know, we're just man, I am I'm living for God's glory, and I get peace and I get contentment and all these things that I what you are what you really need. So the best thing for you, and God knows this because he created you, is not that you receive glory, but that you reflect glory. When people look at you, they see him. And that's the that's the only way we ever really find peace, that we ever really find contentment, that we ever experience true joy, true joy, is when I am a conduit through which God gets glory. Um and until that point, when we make it about us, then anytime someone um says something, you know, I don't know if that was one of your best sermons. You know, um, anytime a podcast comes out and the the you know listener count goes down, we're not doing it, you know. Um everything becomes contingent on those things. And you know, it makes me think, I I I don't know Forrest Frank personally. I don't, I don't, I think I've only listened to three or four of his songs in total. Um, and I hate holding up any one person as a model because as soon as you do, it seems like so many of them fall. Um, but this guy That was encouraging. Yes. This guy, man, he seems and all I get is what's online, right? But he seems to be the real deal, man. Um I was I was I saw this video um of another guy talking about his how he had prejudged Forrest Frank off of you know some conversation or something, and then actually got to meet this guy in person. He's like, no, he is totally legit. Um but they had the Dove Awards um a couple weeks ago, last month, whatever. And Forrest Frank was nominated for like three, four, five different categories, best song, artist of the year, all this stuff, and decided not to go. Um, and all these people started throwing an absolute fit, you know, how could you not go? And blah, blah, blah. And he is and I'm not saying it's wrong to go. I'm not saying it's wrong to go and again get the trophy because you work really hard, you made some great music, and people want to recognize you for that. I'm not saying that's wrong. But here's a guy who said, Man, that that's not for me. All of that was was for my king. And how can I go and grab that? And and I appreciate that he stuck to his conviction on that. And then there was um there was another artist, I don't even think he's a Christian artist, but commented, like, oh, so you won't take you know Jesus' trophy, but you'll take his money, you know, because you he gets paid for making these songs, right? And then Forrest Frank comes out and makes this video, and he's like, Hey, I'm glad you asked that because this is what I wrestle with every day of my life. And and here's here's how I I process those ideas. And he goes, Man, I'm a safe place. If you want to talk more about, I would love for you to challenge me on this. Call me, text me, like, let's talk this out. And I was like, How often do you hear that in the music industry or in the influencer industry? Right. You know, someone's saying, Ask me those questions because that's what I'm wrestling with. How do I make sure that as my fame and my increase and my um influence and all these things expands? How do I make sure that God still is the one getting the glory?

SPEAKER_01: 15:27

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 15:28

Um, man, such a tough thing because you know, we we want to be the Christians who are putting out the great music that everybody's listened to and the viral videos, and we want the successful podcast, we want to write the books, we want all that stuff. And here's a guy, like I said, it's I'm always scared to to put anyone up, and I don't want to put any more targets on Forrest Frank's back because Lord knows he's got plenty. Here's a guy standing up for Jesus, the devil hates that. Um but man, I I I I just pray that God would continue to to use him in that way to say, man, I I I enjoy all of this stuff and it's all great, but this is all for God's glory. Um, and as soon as it's it's not, I need to sit down. And so he tells, he made a video saying something along the lines like, Don't follow me, follow Jesus. And if if you're coming to my music and it doesn't point to Jesus, then just stop listening. I was like, man, that's so good.

SPEAKER_01: 16:24

Yeah, and everybody who takes an award every now and then doesn't mean that they're trying to steal God's glory or anything like that. Um but we have seen um Hollywood and make fun of people who say, I wanna I wanna thank my Lord Jesus Christ. And um I think sometimes we we get bitter because the Lord wants it all. And and what you just said prior to that was well, I want it all so I can give you all you can take. And right now you can't take much. But if you learn to give me it all, then I can fill you up. Do you want to be filled up? And I love that uh about Jesus. You know, he is the image of the invisible God that we can't see, something that we can uh grab a hold of, we can uh see, we can read about him, we can see how he reacted as he was uh uh walking this earth, and we see that man, this guy loved me, gave his life for me, and then so now that I trust him, he says, I want you to give me all the glory so I can make you into what you were created to be. And we don't connect those things uh all the time, but he came down here so he we could learn to trust him, and when we place our faith in Christ, that's what we're doing. We're trusting who he is and what he did for us, and now he's like, now listen, give it all to me so I can give all me to you.

SPEAKER_02: 18:14

Yeah, that's that's so good, so important. If we could grab a hold of that, that God saying all the glory is mine is not because God doesn't want you to be happy, you know, and that's what God, why are you so selfish? You know, why why can't why can't any of this go to me? Um when that's our attitude, man, it's always gonna be a battle. Um, but when I realize, man, God, God's doing this because it's it's not what's best for God, it doesn't complete God anymore. Right. You know, you giving God glory doesn't make him any more glorious. He is God, he is glory. Um and nothing you can do, can add or take away to that. And so when I realized, man, the the point of this is not punishment, it's not because God's selfish, it's because God knows what's best for me and he wants to give me those things. You know, he wants to fill me up. He said, I came that you would have life and have it more abundantly, or that you would have it to the full. I think the NLT says a rich and satisfying life. Well, if that's true. And I think it was Pat Selvi when he came one time. He said, Man, when scripture says it, it's either true or it's not. It's either true or it's not. And so if it's true, and I believe God's word is true, then the best thing for you not not for God, he's still God, but the best thing for you is that God gets all the glory. And then when you do that, like you're saying, then he can fill you up with all the things that you can handle.

SPEAKER_01: 19:50

The sacrifice of Jesus kind of opens the door for us to to see this a better way. I think God is asking you to sacrifice your pride and give him all the glory, sacrifice your life to give him all the glory, sacrifice what you want for what he wants to give him all the glory, and it's just exactly what he did for you. That's right. The cross flips the world's definition of gl definition of glory upside down. Strength through surrender, victory through sacrifice. And Hebrews chapter 12 us he re what did I just say there? Hebrews chapter 12 tells us I I think I made that all into one word. Um don't don't rewind and look at that. So Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that for the joy set before him. And so Jesus is saying, Look, I went to the cross, I was accused, I dealt with the shame, all that kind of stuff for the joy that's set before me. And I'm gonna ask you to do the same thing, to sacrifice your life, your wants, your uh ambitions, your pride to give me glory so that you can have the same joy as me. So we're talking about the creator of the universe, talking about what his joy is. I want you to have that same joy, and his joy was in us, and he says, You will find your complete joy, your completeness, your satisfaction in me. So he's just reversing what he's already done for us and asking us, look, this was great, it was awesome. Now you sacrifice, you surrender, and then you can have that same experience that I had.

SPEAKER_02: 22:08

Yeah, I mean, Jesus comes right out and says that in John chapter 15. He says, If if you keep my commands, you will remain in my love just as I have kept my father's commands and remain in his love. And he says, this, he says, I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. And there is this link between my joy being complete and keeping Christ's commands. And he says, Listen, I've I have done this so that my joy can be in you and that your joy may be complete. And we think joy is found in all these other things, getting success, getting people to notice us, more likes on our Instagram post, more followers on you know Facebook or X or whatever. Um we're we're constantly chasing some sort of validation. And if I think if I can get enough people to tell me that I've made it, then I'll be okay.

SPEAKER_01: 23:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 23:08

And he says, Man, this is what this is how your joy is complete. When you begin to remain in my love and you keep my commands, then your joy is complete. It's all about him, and thank God he sent Jesus to model the way for us.

SPEAKER_01: 23:23

Absolutely. We would be lost, um literally, if it wasn't for Jesus coming, and and we were talking earlier about how Jesus uh responded He was God, he could have done anything he wanted to, but He He placed Himself in man and He laid aside His glory and His power and He did everything that um in life the way that you and I as a Christian should do it. He prayed, he asked the Father, he got his guidance from the Father. He didn't need it, he didn't have to do it that way, but he chose to. And this is um the amazing thing about our Father, our great Redeemer is look, I'm gonna show you how and then I d I just want you to do greater things than me. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02: 24:18

Yeah, what a statement, right? Um we're supposed to do even greater things, Jesus said. Um Paul, when he he's writing to the Colossians, that's where we were at Sunday, um he he he just pulls back the veil and lets us see Christ in his divine glory, you know. Um he is the image of the invisible God, he is the firstborn over all creation. All things have been created by him, for him, through him. I mean, all he says everything about this is about Jesus. Don't you see he alone is at the top? And man, I I just think when it comes to to God's glory, if we could, if we could grasp a hold of that and say, man, this is this is all about Jesus. And and we quit trying to add things to it. And I mean, really, that's what was happening with the the Colossian church. You know, people had gotten in there and they were trying to to add all this thing, all these other things to Christ. You know, it's Christ plus, well, you got to keep the the Old Testament law, it's Christ plus this new philosophy or idea, it's Christ plus this, you know, New Age spiritualism thing that they got going on there. Um it's all this stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 25:36

And Paul's like, no, no, it's none of that. We do it, we do it now. Um, the adjectives that we throw in before Jesus. I'm a conservative Christian. No. No. If you put conservative in front of Christian, then the meat of what you're saying is on the conservative. It's not on Christ.

unknown: 26:03

That's right.

SPEAKER_01: 26:04

And it if if Christ now suddenly has to be subordinate to your conservatism, then then it's not Christ. It's not Christ alone. There's no such thing as a conservative Christian, it's just not in the Bible. There's no such thing as a gay Christian, it's just not in the Bible. There's no such thing as a liberal Christian, a Democratic Christian, a Republican Christian, whatever title that, and I know I said all the political titles, but it doesn't matter what you're saying and what you think you are, it comes after Christian.

SPEAKER_02: 26:40

Right. That's so important.

SPEAKER_01: 26:42

I'm a Christian who happens to be a liberal. I'm a Christian who happens to be a Republican. I am not, it's Christ first. And and a lot of times when you put Christ first, those other things don't ever come up.

SPEAKER_02: 27:00

Well, no, because now when Christ is is first, then everything I is an outflow of that instead of the other way around. Exactly. You know, I I begin to vote the way that I believe Christ, the stances that he would take on those issues. Right. Um when it comes to life, I know Christ is about life. So I vote that way. Are you conservative or are you liberal? What does that matter? Right. This is what I believe Christ would do. I know he's about life. And so it it changes everything. And you know, I I read that quote from Charles Spurgeon, and I know I quote him in so many sermons, but he was the preacher's preacher, man. Man, he's awesome. So good. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Yeah. But he said, if Christ is not all to you, he is nothing to you. It is Christ plus nothing. And and what you're saying is so important because yeah, I I want to define myself um this way. And no, if if you're a follower of Christ, that's who you are. Um, and then everything that you do should be an outflow of that, never the other way around.

SPEAKER_01: 28:05

And that that in conservative circles, we still try to fudge it a little bit. I'm an evaluational Christian. No, you are not. You are not. Christ comes first. Well, I'm I'm I lean to reform theology, and uh that's how I view things. Well, it doesn't matter. Christ has got to be first. I I go to this church, and uh so now I'm a Baptist or I'm a Pentecostal. No, you are a Christian first. That should be the first thing out of your mouth. I believe that Jesus died for me and I have received what he has done, and I am saved by him and him alone. It doesn't matter what my church is, it doesn't matter if I'm in a prison cell and I haven't been out in 11 years, it doesn't matter if I've um I'm rocking at the top of the evangelical whatever, and I've got lights and lasers and smoke and all that kind of stuff before I preach. Jesus comes first.

SPEAKER_02: 29:13

That's right.

SPEAKER_01: 29:14

And that's how we gotta live. And when you learn to live that, um we have this idea that to live that is to give up just a little bit too much of ourselves. And when we because I want an identity, and Christ says, Look, I've come to live inside you. I've taken your identity take mine. And let's live in communion together. And that's that's what we're that's what we're all about. It it's hard to, you know, Charles Spurgeon said that um you said this if Christ is not all. To you is nothing to you. That's what you just said. And that is that is the biggest. I don't know how to explain it. My wife can explain it better. She came to me and read this thing about a guy who was in prison in the gulag and he was there forever and no light. A guy showed up with food every now and then. I mean, it was just him and Jesus. And he said, I want to be a nothing so that Jesus can fill me with him. I don't want to um I would I just want to be a vessel, a clear vessel with nothing in it but Jesus. And you know, Teresa and I it changed the way we prayed about being filled with the Holy Spirit. Because the first thing we do is empty us completely out and then fill us with the Holy Spirit. Because you're not filled with Jesus if there's something else in there. Even if it's a speck of something else, you're not filled with him. And uh it's influenced the way we prayed. This this idea of uh Christ is not all to you. If Christ is not all to you, he's nothing to you. And and it is an influence. It's the way we got to look at every situation. You know, how is Christ? Fill me with your Holy Spirit, tell me what to do in this situation. And that's tough when you're hurt or you're embarrassed or you're you're struggling, if you're questioning God's decisions on things, it's hard to say. I release it to you, yeah, and I will I will reflect your glory even in this situation.

SPEAKER_02: 31:49

Such a tough concept to grab a hold of, man, because Jesus taught some pretty, I mean, pretty rough things. He said, if if you love your mother or father more than me, you're not worthy to be my follower. I mean, it our love for him should make the love that I have for my wife look like hate. And it's like, whoa, whoa, hold on. One guy said, you know, hey, I just need to go back. My dad died. I just need to go bury him. Um, and then I'll come follow you. And she said, let the dead bury the dead. You come follow me. You're like, whoa, whoa, Jesus, why are you so rough on this stuff? Um, this whole idea that, man, it is him alone. Him alone. Him plus nothing. And we just we think we need all these other things. I need, I need him plus all these followers. I need him plus a good retirement package. I need him plus, you know, car that doesn't break down all the time. Right. I want Jesus. I just need these other things to be complete. And then Charles Spurgeon comes along with a sledgehammer. Right. No, no, no, no. If he is not all to you, he's nothing to you. And that ultimatum, man, it feels it feels tough. And it's like, man, how do I how do I live that out? And until we realize it's for our good. It's for our good.

SPEAKER_01: 33:28

Yeah, I think um applying this to real life is first of all, in salvation. It's it's Christ alone. And you can rest in that. You don't have to worry about keeping it, hanging on to it. It's it's in him alone. And there's freedom there if people can grab a hold of that. And and when we serve the Lord in service, it's about working without recognition. You know, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. And uh work for the Lord. It's about you and him. And uh we we uh I was walking around church the other day and there was uh something laying on the floor. It was white. I didn't get close, I didn't go over and pick it up and throw it away, which I'm confessing.

SPEAKER_02: 34:27

And that's what I had to pick up on the floor the other day.

SPEAKER_01: 34:31

So I was uh I was waiting. I said, I wonder how long it takes for someone to pick that up. And someone swept in, picked it up, threw it in the garbage, and went on to whatever they were doing, and didn't break a sweat, didn't look around to see, you know, hey, I'm picking this up. And uh, but I I confess there's some times here when I've been on digging a hole at the church or doing something that I've called you and said, I just want you to know. I've gotten quite a few of them. And somebody was out here sacrificing, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 35:08

Yeah, he'll he'll call me God. I just need you to appreciate me.

SPEAKER_01: 35:14

So, and then then the tough part, uh serving without recognition, the tough part is then in suffering, trusting his strength when you're hurting and still saying it's you, it's about you. And we sh the scripture teaches it, and we don't preach on it a lot, it's tough. It's like one of those tough steaks, you know, when Fligner's has them on sale and you're like, how can be that be that cheap? And then you cook it and you're like, Oh. That's why that's why you can chew on it all day. Uh those are those are tough sermons, but the Lord wants you to, in your suffering, to tune yourself to his suffering. Uh turning that guitar, and what would God do if he was suffering like me in this? That's why the scripture says he he's gone through it all. And uh now he's living in people all over the world, and he's gone through it all. And he wants you to take that suffering and you become one with his. And that's that's a tough, that's a tough stake.

unknown: 36:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 36:32

And then in worship, we have to make more of Jesus, not ourselves.

SPEAKER_02: 36:41

That's what John said, right? He must become greater, I must become less. Um that's that was the challenge on Sunday. You know, I told people it's we try to get on stage and play the hokey pokey, put our put our arm in there, our leg in there, just something. Give me a little bit of this spotlight, a little bit of this glory. Um John said, Man, I gotta become less and less so that he can become greater and greater. And so we gotta get off the stage. You know, we gotta climb down and quit trying to steal it.

SPEAKER_01: 37:12

Um This is the beginning of wisdom to fear the Lord, which means you're living in the presence of him all the time.

unknown: 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 37:24

When you go to bed at night, when you wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom, you're in his presence. When you're greeting your family in the morning or when you're picking uh your boy up after detention, you know, you're in the presence of the Lord. Who are you gonna be? And uh when he alone is your audience. Right. That's that's wisdom.

SPEAKER_02: 37:50

And I know if you've showed up to clean the church and you do it on a day, nobody's here, nobody sees it.

SPEAKER_01: 37:57

And the pastor's kids has ran through it with their muddy boots on.

SPEAKER_02: 38:01

I was gonna leave that part up. Um, are you you're back in the nursery, you know, wiping kids' snotty noses and picking all their Cheetos or whatever they got back there up off the floor.

SPEAKER_01: 38:12

And you're wondering how long this cold's gonna last that you probably just got.

SPEAKER_02: 38:17

Right. All those times, and you're like, does anybody care? Does anybody see? Does anybody notice? And it's it's I I get it. It's hard to say, man, I I get God's glory alone and I want to live that way, but just someone recognize what I've done here. And and then to look at the you know, the the worship team or or your pastors and say, well, yeah, but I mean you guys are out in front, everybody sees how how awesome you guys are. Um I man, I want you to know God has not missed a single thing. And when you begin to to work for the Lord and not for human recognition, and I know people might not give you all the thanks that you deserve. One, I want you to know as your pastors, we see it. Yeah, we notice. But more importantly than that, God sees it, He knows your faithfulness. Um and when you you say, Man, I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna do it. And even if nobody knows, even if nobody cares, um, I'm I'm gonna do it because I'm serving my king. Man, I believe that God blesses that level of faithfulness. That is you giving him the glory. And um I I believe I believe none of that none of that gets wasted.

SPEAKER_01: 39:38

None of it. This is this is what it's like to live for him and not adding yourself to it at all. You know, what can Jesus give me? He can give me peace. So I gotta work at this to get peace. No? Live for him, and peace is the byproduct. Um joy. Um well, I am so depressed. I just need some joy. I need to live for Jesus to get joy. No, you live for Jesus, and joy is just the byproduct of that. And I think that's what he's trying to teach us all. Um very deep uh emotional things came out of the Reformation that I I don't think we realize. But this Christ alone is freedom. Yeah, that's true. It's freedom. His glory and not my own, I don't have to worry about that anymore. He is gonna give me my accolades, he is gonna give me my reassurance. Um when David uh got all his uh buddies, his little group in the old testament, his warriors, got all their wives captured and their children taken away. They were like, I'm sick of this guy. And they were his best friends. And David had to encourage himself in the Lord. And that's that's where we are sometimes when we're trying to live in Christ alone, where it's where He is the object of everything, is we have to encourage ourselves in the Lord. I guarantee you every thought that you have said, I am not gonna think about that. I am not I'm not gonna waste my brain on thinking uh about that woman or about the lottery or about all these other things. I'm gonna focus on the Lord. Even those thoughts God is paying attention and when you stand before him, he's gonna remind you. And so this is a this is a tough thing to crack because we look at um how people grow up in the church and they become you know, this star on stage for Jesus, and and we think, well, that's what God wants us all to be. No. Paul says it twice for sure. Uh live a quiet life and work with your hands. What what are you doing?

SPEAKER_02: 42:17

And and no, is there is there is nothing that man is ever gonna give you that's gonna mean more than what God has prepared. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can even conceive what God has prepared for those who love him. There, no followers, no book deal, no viral podcast or video, none of that is gonna compare to what God has. Continue no matter what, just live faithfully, live for his glory. You know, I I talked about that um Johann uh Sebastian Bach at the end of each of his compositions, SDG, for the glory of God alone. Man, live that way, solideo gloria. Every part of your life, just mark that there. And at the end, you can know, man, I have I have fought the good fight, I have finished my race, and now I get to step into and receive all that God has prepared for me, and it's gonna far outweigh anything you could have ever chased or received down here. So just keep pursuing him, live for his glory, and God is going to do immeasurably more.

SPEAKER_01: 43:30

Get rid of your adjectives, even the ones in your mind, and just remember Christian starts with Christ, and he is the focus, he is the king, and everything you do should be doing it exact the way that he would do it, and for his glory. And once you get there, everything else starts to the shine goes away, and you realize what you're created for, and you can live in peace and in joy.

unknown: 44:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_01: 44:03

Doesn't mean you're not gonna struggle, but that struggle is just another chance to give him glory. Let's pray.

SPEAKER_02: 44:11

Father, I thank you so much. Um Lord, I thank you for the the reformation. I thank you for Martin Luther, and and it wasn't just him, it was all these guys who who had got together and said, Man, this something's something's not right. We've we've missed the mark here. And they called us back to faithfulness, scripture alone, Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone, for your glory alone. Father, it revolutionized the world and Father, it's changing lives and hearts today. And so, Father, I pray that you would plant, um, plant these truths deep in our hearts so that we can we can rest in your faithfulness, not our effort, not our merit, but in the goodness, the grace, and the mercy of God. And Father, give us the courage that we need, the stamina and the fortitude that we need. Amen. To live for your glory alone. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen and amen.

SPEAKER_00: 45:06

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at a freshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering you resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.