Crystal Sparks' Podcast

187. [Philippians Study] Be a Paper Plate

• Crystal Sparks

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What story are you telling about the painful chapters of your life? In this powerful exploration of Philippians 1:12-18, we discover how Paul transformed his imprisonment into a platform for the gospel.

The apostle who endured five brutal whippings, multiple beatings, stoning, and three shipwrecks didn't view these as obstacles but as opportunities to blaze new trails for God's kingdom. His secret? The "paper plate perspective" - seeing his life not as precious china to be preserved but as a disposable vessel meant to serve others and carry something far more valuable than itself.

This mindset shift changes everything about how we navigate suffering. Rather than seeing ourselves as victims of circumstances - whether economic hardship, relational difficulties, health challenges, or workplace struggles - we recognize our true identity as "prisoners of Christ." We don't get to choose what happens to us, but we absolutely control the story we tell about our circumstances.

The way through suffering isn't escaping it but worshiping through it. When we maintain this focus, our praise becomes louder than our prison walls, and what others see isn't our pain but a beautiful place of sacrifice. Are you china or a paper plate? Your answer might just change everything.

My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to another part of my Philippian study that I have been doing with our staff at Staff Chapel. If you haven't listened to the other parts, you might want to go back deeper into my podcast. Check out those episodes and catch yourself up to join where we're at today. Check out those episodes and catch yourself up to join where we're at today. Guess what book we're in? Philippians Hebrews. If I just like, skirted over to Hebrews. Wouldn't that be funny. I'm like JK Hebrews.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we're picking up in Philippians, chapter one, and we're going to pick it up in verse 12. And we're going to try to get to verse 18. If the Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll be able to do it. So he starts out in verse 12 by saying but I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. And then verse 13,. It says so that is become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains, they're in Christ. And so this is uh beautiful, because in verse 12, when he says, that hits the emphasis on the furtherance of the gospel.

Speaker 1:

And I even wrote in my bible um, what is the story around bad things in my life. Like Paul, he's like what's happened to me it's actually for the furtherance of the gospel and I don't get to choose what happens to me in this life. I don't get to choose whether or not good things or bad things happen. The Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust, so you're going to get rain at some point. I don't get to control what's going to happen. I don't get to control where I'm going to be at in a year from now or what's going to happen in my life. But I do get to control the story I tell. And when you think about he says that the things which happened to me, like we have to question like what are the things he's talking about? And what he's talking about is he spent a two year imprisonment in Caesarea.

Speaker 1:

He was whipped five times. And when we think about this it like always moves me, because if you've ever seen the Passion of the Christ, you saw the beating that Christ received before the cross. I want you to think about that. Paul endured that five times, that five times, five times. Each time he was whipped he would be healed again to go to another city and have it happen again.

Speaker 1:

How many of us, after one time of somebody pushing back on what we say for the gospel, shut down, like, like I can't share the gospel with my family, like I can't share the message of Jesus, I can't post this on Instagram, it's too bold. No, he was whipped five times. This would have been 195 lashes he endured. So he was beaten three times and one of the times they drug him out of the city thinking he was dead. So imagine being beaten to the point that everybody's like your haters, the people that are beating you are totally convinced that you're dead. They drag him out of the city. He's dead.

Speaker 1:

He was stoned once and then he was shipwrecked three times. And I don't know about y'all, but if somebody was shipwrecked three times and I saw them getting on a boat, I wouldn't get on the boat that they're getting on. And I mean like for real. If, like, you're getting on the boat and you like, see the passengers line up and you see Paul, you're like, oh hell, no, like I'm gonna, I'll wait, delay me, I'll take the next ship. I'm good, because three times he was shipwrecked. Okay, the dude had bad luck.

Speaker 1:

It's made me think of there was a guy that holds the Guinness world record of being struck by lightning the most times. It's actually awful. His name is Roy Cleveland Sullivan and he was struck by lightning seven times. He was a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park. You can look this up lightning seven times. He was a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park. You can look this up. It's for real. The first time that he was struck by lightning he was in the watchtower at the national park and the watchtower got struck by lightning, and so he runs down out of the tower. He was running to his truck, and as he was running to his truck he got struck by lightning. Another time he got struck by lightning and it blew off his toenail, his big toe toenail. It was so intense.

Speaker 1:

And then it says, in the spring of 1972, sullivan was working inside a ranger station in Shenandoah National Park and he was struck again. It set his hair on fire and he tried to smother the flames with his jacket. He then ran to the restroom, but he couldn't fit his head under the water tap, and so he used a towel and said although he was never a fearful man, from that point forward he always carried around a can of water to put the flames out if he got struck again. On August 7th 1973, while he was out on patrol in the park, he saw a storm cloud forming and he drove away quickly. He was convinced that the cloud was following him, but finally he thought he had outrun it. He decided it was safe to leave his truck. Soon after he was struck by a lightning bolt. Sullivan stated that he actually saw the bolt that hit him. It blew out his knee. He set his hair on fire.

Speaker 1:

Still conscious, sullivan was able to crawl to his truck and poured the can of water over his head to put out the fire. The next strike on June 5th 1976, injured his ankle and he reported that he saw a cloud and thought it was following him. And again he tried to run away by foot. But he was struck anyway and his hair was again caught on fire. Pretty bad right. So I said that because we probably needed a comedic relief after thinking about all that Paul just endured. We needed to laugh a little bit, you know. But I mean shipwrecked three times, so it's a lot.

Speaker 1:

So he's saying that the things that happened to me were for the furtherance of the gospel. He was in house arrest in Rome, and when he's writing this he's believed to be currently imprisoned in Rome, and the term furtherance is a prokopeion, which was used in the Greek speaking world to describe a blazing trail before an army. Paul therefore saw the events as him blazing a trail for God. It was propa chaon, like do you see in your life the bad things as you blazing a trail? I think if we'll be honest, if I would have been shipwrecked once, if I would have been whipped once, if I would have been rejected once, I probably would have said it's just not worth it, but he saw it as him blazing a trail. Can I just encourage you that maybe the things that you're calling closed doors and as obstacles, god's calling it's you blazing a trail. Like, if we get a different perspective, it would change everything. So what do we see our lives?

Speaker 1:

I was thinking about this as I read it, because he says that it actually things which happened to me actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, and so he saw his life and I kind of was thinking about how, whenever Pastor Lee was here, he said like something in a sentence in one of the services I can't remember if it was first or second, but he just like said it in passing, he's like, how do you view your life? And he's like I don't know about y'all, but I want to be a paper plate. And then he just kind of moved on and I just can't stop thinking about that. And so I was curious, like what was the most expensive China dish that's ever been sold? And it's actually this one, and it was the most expensive Chinese bowl ever sold in the 18th century was sold for $25 million in the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong in April of 23. So this is like an expensive piece of China. And you think about it as I thought about it, like how do I view my life?

Speaker 1:

Am I a paper plate or am I China? And like, when you think about it, a paper plate. The glory of the paper plate is just that it's used Like it's. It doesn't. You can use this paper plate at a beautiful wedding. You can use it at your kid's backyard barbecue. You could use it on Christmas. You could use it on Thanksgiving, or you can let it roll around in your car, cause you made breakfast on your way out the door and you throw it on a paper plate. But the thing about a paper plate it can be used for anything, but you throw it away when it's done. Nobody like has a memorial service for the paper plate.

Speaker 1:

No, and in fact whatever is on the paper plate is more valuable than the paper plate. Like, whatever it's serving is more valuable, the person it's serving is more valuable than the plate itself. And I began to think about China. The difference in China is you save it for special events, like maybe you grew up in a house where they had special China and you never used it because your mom always said we're going to use it for a special event and a special event never happened. But and it's used with care. You usually can't put them in the dishwasher, you have to hand wash them, they're passed down generation to generation, they're sold for tons of money and whatever is on it is never as valuable as the plate itself.

Speaker 1:

And I'm thinking about Paul. He didn't view himself as China, he viewed himself as a paper plate and even though he had been whipped, abused, whatever he's like, it's fine. I'm just a paper plate because the people I'm serving and the God I'm serving is more valuable than the life I have. And I think a lot of us are holding back from God because, if we'll be honest, we see ourself as more valuable than the people we're serving. We see our life, our gifting, our talent as more valuable than how we could be used. But Paul says everything that you put on me, it's going to be more valuable than my life, because I view my life as a paper plate. Take it, use it wherever you will for God's glory.

Speaker 1:

And so what is the redemption story for the pain that you're suffering, when you're going through a difficult time, when you're going through a season of rejection or you're going through a season of hurt? I don't think any of us, even the biggest one-upper, can't one-up Paul. You know, when you get around a one-upper, they always have something better to tell you. I don't think anybody can one-up Paul. But he got to choose the redemption story. What's the redemption story to the heartache? What's the redemption story to the loss? What's the redemption story to the team member that left? What's the redemption story to the loss? What's the redemption story to the team member that left? What's the redemption story?

Speaker 1:

And if I'm a paper plate and my life is in the hands of the master, the master is more valuable than me and whoever I'm serving is more valuable than me. I'm just a plate, so take me, use me, and that's what Paul's saying. You can whip me, you can shipwreck me, you can imprison me, and that's what Paul's saying. You can whip me, you can shipwreck me, you can imprison me, but I'm not imprisoned and I'm not shipwrecked and I'm not going to be stopped because my life's just a paper plate, and paper plates are made to be used. St John Christum says that take then thyself the same provident care for her as Christ takes for the church Yea, even if it shall be needed for thee to give thy life for her. Yea, and to be cut into pieces 10,000 times yea, and to endure and undergo any suffering whatever, refuse it not.

Speaker 1:

I love that because he's saying is there any limit to your obedience of what you're willing to do for Christ's bride? Like does our obedience? Does it have limits? Are you China? Are you a paper plate? Do you have limits of like? God, I'll do this, but I won't do that. God, I'll go here, but I won't go there. God, I'll serve these people, but I won't serve these people. Are there people that you've written out of God's story?

Speaker 1:

And what's crazy, is the very people that kept rejecting Paul, because his biggest obstacle was not the Roman government, it was actually the church. And yet every time he went into the city, the first place he went was to the very people that kept rejecting him. And a lot of times what we do, if we're being honest, because we're China, we save ourselves for special occasions and when the right people come in I'll serve them when the right team members show up, when the right opportunity presents itself. But Paul says I'm just a paper plate, so keep putting me in the synagogue with the very people that reject me. I'll be rejected and then I'll go serve the ones who will eat from my plate.

Speaker 1:

So then he goes on in 13 and 14 says so it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. In other words, I'm not a prisoner of Rome. Rome didn't imprison me, and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. I think this is beautiful, because Paul's letting us know he wasn't a prisoner of Rome, he was a prisoner of Christ. No one controlled his future beyond what Christ could providentially prevent or allow. This is like something that I wrestled with, but even the things that I don't want in my life are still God's providence at the end of the day. And he's saying you may call me a prisoner of Rome, I'm not a prisoner of Rome, I'm a prisoner of Christ. My life belongs to him.

Speaker 1:

And Paul knew well and good that if God wanted him out of a prison, he would open the doors. But there's never once recorded Paul asking for the prison doors to be opened. He always trusted. Wherever God had him, he always trusted. So how often do we see ourselves as a prisoner of things? We see ourselves as a prisoner of circumstances, the economy, people's opinion, our employer diagnosis we can keep going down the list. You're not a prisoner of those things. You're a prisoner of Christ, and that's where our power comes from is when we realize that if God wanted me out of this job, he would open a door to another one. If God wanted me out of this circumstance, he would open a door to another one. If God wanted me out of this circumstance, he would open the door for another one. If God wanted my financial situation to turn around, he would open the door for another one. If God wanted this diagnosis to turn around at some point. I'm a prisoner to him, right, I'm not a prisoner to the diagnosis, I'm a prisoner to Christ. And so in Ephesians 3.1, he again reiterates the same point.

Speaker 1:

But there's two effects of Paul's imprisonment that we see here. Number one the guards heard the gospel and it says it was the palace guard, and the palace guard was like the highest ranking Roman officials, and so the palace guard would have been the equivalent, would be like the Navy SEALs today, like these are the most trained, most learned, they have to go through the most rigorous training. And he's saying hey guys, like the way I'm enduring this, the palace guards are hearing the gospel. And so I want you to think about this. Like there was other prisoners that were in the prison but their lives didn't show a testimony of anything the palace guard wanted, were in the prison but their lives didn't show a testimony of anything the palace guard wanted.

Speaker 1:

And I want to say that, like in our life, I think that people watch the way that we suffer, they watch the way we endure hard times. Anybody can worship when everything's good, like anybody. Like when you have an amazing legacy Sunday and you're like praise God, amen. Like anybody can rejoice God when you see the end. But can you see it when we had our first Miracle Sunday? That's a banger Like. But it's like he's saying like there's lots of prisoners there but none of them had a testimony. What's your testimony? In the midst of suffering, like, what's your testimony? Number two there is an impartation of boldness to the other prisoners. There's these other prisoners that are like wait, I've been holding back because I'm afraid of persecution, but here you are still bold, in the midst of persecution. And it makes me want to be all the more bold. Like there's something our culture, our world is longing to see bold Christians, bold faith. And so there's something that happens when you stand up other people. You may stand up first by yourself for a little while, but you won't stand for long because other peoples are going to come around you.

Speaker 1:

I love this quote by Therodot. He says that my chains have themselves become the source of courage to others. They can easily see that I bear the adversity with joy, so they come to preach the divine gospel. I love that so much, and he's writing that out of his own personal experience. So, moving on from there, we go into Philippians 1, 15 through 17. And he says Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice.

Speaker 1:

So, reasons people preach the gospel that aren't the right reason right, even today we see this. Reasons that people preach the gospel that aren't right. We have people that preach the gospel for financial gain. Come on, preachers and seekers, right? People that just want to. Like they're looking for a monetary gain. How about virtue signaling? We're doing things where we are just going with what's popular sayings but we don't actually live it out. So we're saying things that are going to get the applause and the following of other people, but deep down, it's not actually who we are.

Speaker 1:

So an example of this would be posting that you're praying for our nation, but you spent more time crafting the post than you do actually praying. When everyone stands up for something, you finally stand up for it because you don't want to be left out, like you want to do the right thing. And so what is that? That's preaching the gospel for like wrong reasons. Right, it's standing up for, maybe, something that is rooted in the gospel, but you're doing it for the wrong reasons. How about religious pressure? It's the right thing to do. Right, it's the right thing to do. I should do this, but your heart isn't aligned with it at all.

Speaker 1:

How about moralistic, therapeutic deism? And this is basically when we believe in God and when we want to live for him, but we don't want to change our life. So we keep adding things on with a dualistic deism, meaning I want to worship self, but I also want to worship God, and so, instead of surrendering the areas of my life that I don't want to surrender to God, I'll just add on godly things to mask my carnality. And what is it? It's dualistic deism. I'm actually worshiping to God self and God and and there's people that do this right. Reasons why they weren't preaching the Christ here, reasons they were preaching Christ here that Paul notes as being wrong is for strife. You know they're doing something good, but their heart was to cause division, like they actually were just trying to get a bigger following than Paul.

Speaker 1:

We want to be seen as good or better than the actions of others. How about envy? You don't feel called to the position. You're just envious that they have what you want and so you're doing the good things, but it's just out of an envious heart position. How about selfish ambition? You just want to be seen or be known. I say this story often, but it's worth repeating because it's just still that good.

Speaker 1:

There was a girl that met with me one time and she was like I want to do what you do. And I was like oh, you want to do what I do? She's like yeah. I said what does that mean to you? And she's like I want to preach. And I said okay, great, tell me about your Bible read. She's like oh, I don't read my Bible. I said and you want to preach? And she's like, yeah. And I was like well, the starting line is like reading the Bible. Okay, well, what about your prayer time? Oh, I don't pray, like for real. She was like I don't pray. And I said oh, you just want to be famous. Don't be a preacher, then we don't need another preacher. That falls. And she goes well, can't you just go on YouTube and take people's messages? And I was like yeah, but there's no anointing on it because you can say what I say. I could even give you my notes and you can say what I say, but there's no power behind it. And what is she saying? She's like I want it out of selfish ambition, I just want to be seen, I want to be known, I want to be on this platform.

Speaker 1:

And Paul's saying guys, there's people that are preaching Christ and they're doing it with these wrong things. I found these because these are a few just memes that were out there. If one's motives are wrong, nothing can be right. And I see somebody probably sharing this maybe not with this terrible graphic, but I could see somebody sharing this. Or how about this? Uh, wrong motives equal unanswered prayer. Um, I've heard people say some things like that. That's what we would say right.

Speaker 1:

Typically, we're like if your motives are wrong, then you're not going to get anywhere. And Paul's like letting us know that there's people preaching the gospel and they have wrong motives. And so culture would say if your motives are wrong, then there is no good or fruit that will come. But the kingdom works like this If your motives are wrong, god is the one that produces fruit, and sometimes we get so judgmental about people's motives that we don't celebrate the good that's happening. And Paul's letting us know there's people here that are preaching for the wrong reasons, but he doesn't rebuke them, he doesn't even stop them. He says this, he says, the later. I love knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel. What, then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, christ is preached, and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice.

Speaker 1:

He's letting us know hey guys, like yeah, there's people that are going to come along and do the wrong things. I will just say this Are there people that are probably gonna stand on our stage out of a wrong motive? Yes, because I have, you have, we all have. Has there been people that are gonna serve on Sunday put on a dream team badge, and their motive is that it's a dualistic deism, that they're trying to appease God but while also keeping their carnal nature? The answer is yes. You know why. I know it's yes Because I've done it and you've done it right.

Speaker 1:

There's wrong motives, and culture would say if your motives are wrong, there's no good fruit that you're canceled. We got to push you out, we can't have anything to do with you. And Paul's like I'm not worried about it, because they're preaching the gospel. He's like hey, guys, if they're not against us, they're for us. That's what Jesus said. And he's like I'm not worried about it, cause here's the thing is, at the end of the day, god's going to judge their heart, and I don't know where their heart is, I don't know if fully where their motives are, but God's going to take care of that. I'm just going to keep doing what God's called me to do, and I think so many times if we're just can I just like talk to you for a second? I think we get so hung up on the motives of others that we haven't yet put ourselves our own motives in check. Like we're so busy weighing out Mamaw's motives and Ava's motives and Maya's motives, and we're spending all this time and here's the deal is Mamaw's going to stand before God and answer for mamaw on her motives. But here's the thing is I'm going to stand before God and answer for me, not for her. And Paul's like listen, guys, I'm not worried about their motives because, at the end of the day, the fruit is that the kingdom's advancing. The fruit is that we're moving forward. The fruit is that, and so I'm just going to focus on the things that matter the most.

Speaker 1:

So Philippians 1, 15 through 18, we have a little inclusio, and this is my drawing. Thank you, I feel like it was good. So this because I wanted to continue our paper plate theme. I thought this sandwich could be served on a plate. So it kind of looks like a boat, maybe like a cap size boat. It's one Paul's on. It's definitely getting shipwrecked.

Speaker 1:

But the plate I put as rejoice and I put by the bread as the gospel being preached. And on the inside, what kind of sandwich are we going to? Blt, okay, okay. Well, trent said first BLT, okay, so we're gonna go, let's go double bacon. And then we'll go lettuce and tomato. Is that good?

Speaker 1:

And so, uh, the motives for preaching here. And then we have this, uh, selfish and strife. And then we have love and defense of the gospel. And so he's saying he's basically like at the beginning and the end, the main point defense of the gospel. And so he's saying he's basically like at the beginning and at the end, the main point is that the gospel is being preached. He spends more time talking about the gospel being preached than his own suffering. He spends more time talking about how lives are being changed than his own personal problems. He spends more time talking about how the kingdom is advancing. And I thought about this because, at the end of the day, the reason why his plate is like the sandwich is being served on the plate of rejoicing, is because where his focus is, his focus is right. His focus is, at the end of the day, god is winning.

Speaker 1:

I love this, are you guys? Okay, I might go just a few minutes over. Do I have permission? Okay, great, whenever we went to Rome, we went to Mamertine prison.

Speaker 1:

Mamertine prison, and if you go, is an underground prison, and so this is believed to be where Paul was in prison, and now they have a beautiful little staircase that it's like a circular staircase that you go down and where you can go inside Mamertine prison. But at the time you would be lowered down through a hole and so you would be literally tied onto a rope and suspended down into this hole. There was no light down in the prison and so it was underground and the food was so disgusting that, unless people brought them food, they literally would starve to death because of what they were being fed. The city sewer would run through the bottom of that prison and you think this is where Paul's writing, when he writing, when he pins sitting, where he, when he pins the word, I am now seated in heavenly places. I talk about perspective. This doesn't feel heavenly at all. All you're, you're blocked out from everything. In fact, one of the government officials at the time, uh, said this, uh of the people in manor manor time prison. He said they did not deserve to be a part of this world and were confined to the underworld like they. Literally, it was like their way of making them assimilating an experience similar to hell, and so they put them underground to suffer until their final execution.

Speaker 1:

Christians would later buy Mamertine prison and made it into a church that is above ground. It's actually on top of the place that Paul was in prison. And what's crazy is is when, when we walked in to come to Mamertine prison, I was like this doesn't feel like we're in a prison, I feel like I'm in church, and you're almost unaware that it's literally on top of the prison. And so you go down this way and then you go to the left and there's a little staircase that takes you down. You wouldn't even know you could go there and worship and have no idea, literally, the suffering that was right underneath your feet, have no idea of the pain that was right underneath your feet. And this is exactly what Paul is saying. It may look like a prison, but it's a church. It may look like chains, but it's actually praise. It may look like suffering, but it's actually praise. It may look like suffering, but it's actually a place of sacrifice.

Speaker 1:

I have chills from my head to my toes and I will say, when our perspective stays right, this is what the world sees, while you know, under the surface of all that you've been through, all that you've done and here's the thing is that in Mamertine prison, the only way you got in was to be lowered down. But the only way that you got out is that up is to go up. And I want to encourage you that the way out of our suffering, the way out of the problems, the way out of the difficulty, is up, through praise. Like that's the only way I'm going to get out of this is I'm going to there's, not going to. God's not going to rapture you out of there. You're not just going to wish the problem away, but God. I'm going to keep my perspective up because I want the praise to be louder than the prison and I want people, when they see my life, all they see is this beautiful place of sacrifice. All they see is this beautiful place of worship. All they see is this they have no idea that underground there's so much pain, there was so much difficulty. But because I chose God to take me up, I'm going to keep my perspective up, I'm going to keep my eyes up.

Speaker 1:

So a secularized Christianity says this suffering doesn't exist. But the gospel says the way through our suffering is worship. And and secularized Christianity doesn't know what to do with suffering. That's why we avoid books like Job, that's why we avoid books like Ecclesiastes, because we don't want to be confronted with the reality that bad things happen to good people. But the gospel message is literally this the way through my suffering is worship, the way that I'm going to get through this difficult season, the way that I'm going to get through this.

Speaker 1:

And Paul says listen, there's people that are down here and they're trying to take the church and, like, spin it off into their own thing. They're rivaling like you want what I have. Like do you really want what I have? That's fine. You're doing it out of envy and strife. I'm not worried about it, because the kingdom's advancing, and so I'm going to rejoice. Yet even will I rejoice? He says it twice. So if you're on your joy count, you want to circle those because we just threw in joy a couple more times. And he's letting them know here that rejoicing is the doorway out, even if you can't get out physically. And I'll end this on a Spurgeon quote, because Spurgeon's always fire. Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. It is the best book in a minister's library. If paul wasn't in prison and chose to have a different perspective, we would be missing so many of the gospel accounts that we read today, the books that we go to. So I'll I'll end.

Speaker 1:

And how we began Is what is the story Around the bad things in your life that you're telling? What's the story you're telling? You don't get to choose what happens to you, but you do get to choose what's the story. Am I a paper plate or am I china? God, make me paper plate, take me, use me. Let the people I serve be more valuable than me. Let what you put on me and how you, the hands that are holding me, that they're the most valuable thing.

Speaker 1:

So, father, we just thank you that the way through God, everything that we walk through Lord, is in rejoicing. So, father, we say, like poet Paul, we will rejoice yet even more will we rejoice that Lord, our praise will be amplified. Lord, let our praise be louder. Lord, let our praise be stronger. That God.

Speaker 1:

I thank you that you're building, god, something beautiful on the top, lord, on the top floor, a praise On the top floor, a level of sacrifice. That God, our perspective is shifting, our life is shifting. That Lord. We're not looking at the bad things that life is happening to me, but, lord, let us have a viewpoint of life is happening for me. So, god, here's our life, take it, use it, do with it what you will. We're a paper plate in the hands of amazing Savior In Jesus' name, and somebody who believed it said amen, amen. I love you guys. We'll keep going. Thanks so much for hanging out here on my podcast. Do me a favor and hit the subscribe button if you haven't done so already, so you never miss out on anything here on my podcast. Also, one of the best ways for us to begin to reach other people is by you sharing. So if you do me a favor and share this podcast with a friend, family member or maybe on your social media, help us get the word out so we can help others.