From Colossians To Calling: Completing The Work You Received

Pride can make any of us sprint in the wrong direction. We start with a slice of humble pie and move straight into the heart of Colossians 4:17: see to the ministry you received in the Lord, so that you may fulfill it. We talk about mission as a gift, not property, and why completion matters more than clinging to a title. If you’ve ever felt boxed in by your “role,” this conversation aims a light at the exit: obedience over image, service over brand.

We walk through Paul’s journey with fresh eyes—Damascus, Tarsus, Antioch, missionary trips, letters from prison—not to glorify constant motion, but to reveal a pattern of faithful pivots. The mission stayed fixed while the plan kept changing. That distinction is crucial for modern ministry, work, and life. We share where we’ve overdefined our callings, how that led to stagnation, and what it took to surrender control. Along the way, we revisit a memorable moment about “not doing dishes” to show why true leadership serves wherever the need is. Tentmaking isn’t a downgrade; it’s a strategy that keeps you nimble and useful.

Grace sits at the center of it all. Paul’s parting words—“Grace be with you”—become a blueprint for how to endure, adjust, and finish. We apply that to the noise of current events and social media: pray before you post, hold your hot takes, and refuse the dopamine hit of instant expertise. Then we get practical about finances, contentment, and living within your means so you can respond when God says shift. To fight distraction, we recommend simple tools: write your mission, define the end state, and create reminders that keep your purpose front and center.

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Transcript

Humble Pie Cold Open

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The world is your oyster. Due to all your hard work and effort, you can't help but win. You're the best at what you do. You know it, and you let everyone else know it too. Sounds like you could use a serving of humble pie. That's right. Good old Humble Pie has been keeping folks balanced and from getting too far off track for ages. Despite the taste it leaves in your mouth, humble pie is actually good for you. It has such benefits as changing your perspective, helping you relate to others, and keeping you from self-destructing. It's also an effective weight loss item. Whenever I get too big for my britches, a good old helping of Humble Pie really does the trick. Remember, promotion cometh from the Lord, but so does Humble Pie. It's been Job tested and Job approved. Humble Pie. How about an extra slice? Everybody, welcome to another episode of the WoeFo Yo podcast with C Dub and Bones. You know, while everybody's got everything figured out right now. This is one of those podcasts we're actually going to ask some questions. We're asking it of ourselves just as much as we're asking it of you. And we're going to draw upon some scriptural references. Because we do get in the word for ourselves. Some of it we might not be citing chapter and verse and looking it all up. But if you read in the book of Acts, especially, we're we're going to. Just reached out to uh uh Sister Jacqueline Scott. We interviewed her one time in one of our WoFoyo interviews, and just relationship, relationship, relationship. And she was one of those people that no matter what she did, she'd been retired, came out, feel like the Lord wants me to do this. Kind of lay that down. Lord called her back up for something else. She was very, very usable because that relationship was always there and is. So I just reached out to her and kind of mentioned, hey, here's some of the things we got going on since we've last talked. You know, it's been a year or two, and showed her some numbers. She's like, oh, awesome. And then so I get off work from a just a weird, not a bad day, but it had a weird flow to it. And I have this message that kind of confirmed some of the scripture that I that that just stood out at me. You know, it's one of those things I've read over, I don't know how many times, but it just jumped out at me. And uh it was like right on with what she had said. At the end of Paul's letter to the Colossians, this would be chapter four, verse 17. So he's basically he's giving his shout-outs, he's giving his parting instructions, and one of the people he mentions is this guy named Archippus. Tell Archippis, see to the ministry which you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it. And she got to talking about wow, what God is doing. I don't like to read off cell phones. It's like one of my things I really hate in life, is to see somebody, and I said this, and they said that, and I said this, so here I'm about to do it. And anyway, she just said, you know, I I looked at your last message, the paraphrase, and she said, it is amazing. She said, I kind of looked over it before when you sent it, and she said, but it's amazing. She said, I am rejoicing because of what God's been able to do through you all, because you were willing to let go and pretty much let him have his way. And she said, just thanks for letting his spirit flow through you. It's a testament to God. She said, It encourages me to be willing to let go and let me like, what are you talking about, lady? You're the one that's inspiring me, you know, and uh so so you know, just a great human being, but it kind of got me to thinking, like, that this just is not a way that we're taught to look at this. And perhaps therein lies a problem in how uh things have emerged here over in the Western Church. But tell our Chippas, see to the ministry which you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it. And in other words, just be diligent. Now, there's a couple things that stand out to me on this. We've talked about before. Everybody wants to make a big deal out of ministry. Ministry means service. So, how are you serving? Who are you serving? Number one. Um, are you serving God? You're serving your fellow believers, you're you're serving those that might even be without Christ, uh, that they might be led to Christ as a testimony uh of Jesus Christ. And, you know, though those are all some pertinent questions. You know, a lot of times we're taught to do a ministry um in a way that that's marketable, or we are taught that ministry is a job rather than an assignment, and this is your reasonable service to do, because look what Christ did for you. But we had talked several times, Bones, about knowing God's purpose. Well, unless you know the purpose, you really don't know what your ministry is. Because he says, See to the ministry which you have received in the Lord so that you may fulfill it. Well, what what gets fulfilled? Missions get fulfilled. Right. Missions get accomplished. So you gotta know what the mission is. Now, anybody that's ever been involved in any kind of uh operations, whether it's military or any kind of tactical operation, uh use of force, riot control, different things like that. Uh God, I hope I never have to be in this one. Um hostage situations and having to respond to that, though they are fluid. You have a general idea of how things can go, how you want them to go, what some of the worst-case scenarios could be, and you train for those. But you really got to remain fluid and keep some very, very basic principles and fundamentals so that you're able to pivot and adjust. You know, but you don't want to get so pinpointed into this is exactly how it's going to go down, because it that's not how it's gonna go down, and you gotta be able to be fluid enough and well trained enough to be able to take that thing on and be successful.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Uh one thing I hear the NIV says say to it that you can see to it that you complete the work that you received in the Lord. It says the same thing, use a few different words. Uh I like that word complete, uh, that you complete the work. Um, but I also like that word that that you bring out, did you say uh fulfill? Fulfill.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

That's uh that's ESV.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, that's a new American standard, sorry. New American standard okay, in N A S B. Um because fulfill was the same word uh that Jesus uh used when he said, I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law and its prophets. Um so that word, you know, fulfill or fulfillment or to fulfill uh means means to bring to pass, bring to an end, uh, to complete, so on and so forth. So number one, you gotta know the mission uh and and what the end of mission looks like in order to know whether or not it's complete. And and I think it's important here to understand that you have received it from the Lord. It's it's not yours, it's a gift to you.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Yeah.

Ministry As Service Not Brand

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Um, I think that's a big thing. It can be very easy, and I'll I'll I'll circle back around in just a moment. It can be very easy to think that this ministry is somehow yours, uh, and that it's yours to protect, it's yours to to nurture and and grow and all those things. And we can get very, very process uh possessive, possessive of our of our uh our ministries. We take possession of it, we own it, yada yada. And and maybe that is true or should be true to some degree. Um, but we have to understand that ultimately it is it is God's, it is it is a gift, a gift from Him to us. Um and uh nothing more than that. Um to me, I know when when I had to when I've had to leave a ministry, when it was time to leave a ministry, it was always easier to do with the understanding that this was never my ministry. This is it was it was it was easier to understand, uh knowing that uh this is your ministry anyway, that's easy to walk away from. Um it's still hard to walk away from people that you love and and and serve and stuff like that. But overall, it's easier to walk away with the understanding that God, this is your ministry anyway. Um but understanding what the mission is um and what it what completion looks like is a big thing. Um that can get very, very cloudy sometimes. Um oftentimes we'll get confused with uh the mission statement and what end of mission looks like, uh the commander's intent, we'll get we'll confuse all of that stuff with uh execution. Uh see the plan or the execution is not the mission itself. Uh that's just the way that we're gonna that we perceive we're gonna accomplish this thing. Um, but the plan can change. Um and even though plans change and the execution of that plan may change, because like like you said a while ago, it's fluid. Um the mission itself doesn't. And understanding that that mission statement, understanding the commander's intent and what the end of mission looks like, um will help you to, I think to me, helps when that chan helps when the plan changes. Um helps you to keep from staying locked into a uh to a plan, especially a plan that's uh that's tanking and going under.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

You know, one of the things we got to discussing before we kind of went on air, because this is one of those things where it's kind of impromptu, and we were discussing this, but you know, Paul writes this letter. Paul writes some letter, Paul's writing this letter in particular in prison. Right. Uh Philippians, he's writing in prison, in Rome. And he gets to talking about, you know, I've I've I've run the race, I've finished my course in some of these letters. He's like, I know I've completed what God's called me to do in Philippians. He's like, they could kill me, they can not kill me. In either one, I win. Right. He said, for for me to live as Christ and to die as gain, I just know which one's more beneficial for you. But as for me, I'm good either way. There is a thing where Paul understood the mission. Now, you look at how things kind of started out with Paul. Paul Paul is solidars, and he's pursuing and punishing the church under the authority of the high priest. He has the Damascus Road experience. Well, what happens then? It's Ananias that Jesus Christ appears to and say, Go to the street called straight, and you're here to tell him what things he's gonna have to suffer for my sake. He he's giving him part of the mission in in addition to the healing of being able to see. So he gets that. Well, what happens? First thing he does is he's trying to go back and start preaching immediately. Gets in a bind, they lower him over a wall, right, and goes up and sees some of the elders over in Jerusalem, and they're like, to Tarsus with you. But you go sit down in Tarsus, and and it's there that he received these revelations of uh of the Lord. You know, he's talking about I know somebody was taken up into third heaven, he heard all these things, and so I ain't gonna go. And you know, it's pretty much universally agreed that he's talking about himself, but he won't he won't brag. Right. So I know somebody that did, but but even that, you know, lest I should be magnified, the Lord gave me a thorn in my flesh. So they're they're saying it's around 13 years, then all of a sudden he gets pulled back up. You know, he's not unknown, but he's kind of out in his wilderness, him and the Lord. And he gets pulled up because Barnabas sends for him to help out in Antioch. Right. You know, so so so they bring him up, and that's really we're thinking, and guess what he's doing there? He's teaching. Yep, him and Barnabas are teaching, as well as several others. That's all they're doing. This is not the apostle Paul, still called to be an apostle. From he said, from my mother's woman, I'm called to be an apostle.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

It ain't looking like that.

Mission Versus Plan And Staying Fluid

SPEAKER_02 15:38

So then they're praying, they're fasting, and then he says, Separate Barnabas, Barnabas and Saul for the work that I've assigned for them. So now they're going out on this mission, you know, the big mission. And they do a missionary trip, and guess what? They come back, and guess what? They're teaching. They're going back to the they they they get called on the carpet to Jerusalem to, hey, you're you're doing this and you're doing that. Well, well, let's have a powwow and let's see what's going on. And Peter speaks up, James renders his decision, which lets you know even Peter yielded to James. So all you Peter was the first pope, and yeah, but he answered to James, who wasn't even an apostle. Right, right. Yeah, because James the apostle was dead by then. But but you look at it, and then he goes out on this other missionary trip, but without Barnabas. Now it's him and Silas. All I'm saying is that be careful about, and this is a mistake we've made. We're we're speaking from experience here. Be careful of thinking that as soon as you know that you're called, that you automatically know what you're supposed to be doing, how you're supposed to be trained, and what exactly that mission is going to look like. Because we we try and do it out of our own ego, and then all too often, whatever denomination or non-denomination we belong to is going to try to define that for us. And it's a lot easier if you do, it's just not going to be as fruitful.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Yeah, it very easily will you get into get into a place where you uh start to define uh you start to define your gifting. Um I I wanted to define my gifting. I wanted to uh define my calling. I want wanted to define everything really. Um, and honestly, if I had something defined, if uh and really a definition was just a way to establish parameters. Um if I had something defined, then I I knew I kind of had in my own mind, uh had some kind of knowing uh or a way of knowing uh who I am, what I am, what I'm supposed to be doing, the who, what, when, where, and why. Uh but the truth is, and I think what we've learned is the mission that God calls us to is a constant shifting of the gears. Amen. It's a constant upshift and downshift. Um, we can see here in the apostles that they are moving in and out of the five-fold ministry. Uh they're teachers over here, they're prophets over there, they're apostles way back here. Um, and you can see in some places they're pastors. Uh you can see that they're moving all around in the fivefold ministry. Imagine how how incomplete the New Testament would have been if Paul would have taken the uh the notion that, well, God can't be calling me over there because that's not I'm not called to do that. That's not that's not what uh that's what that's not what an apostle does, you know, or that or that's not what uh an evangelist does, uh, you know, um because he had over-defined something. Uh it's it's very easy to do. Next thing you know, you found yourself in a situation that you've been sitting in for 20 or 30 years, wondering why you're miserable.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Well I've seen it.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yeah, it could simply be that God's been trying to shift gears on you, been trying to get you to move a little bit, um, but you're steadfast on this definition. You're steadfast on this quote unquote calling, and God's trying to move you a little bit um and show you where your where your next uh where your next rally point is, so to speak. But um, it can be very easy to overdefine something. This this the soul, the soulish man loves those definitions, sure does.

Paul’s Journey And Seasons Of Training

SPEAKER_02 20:11

It it brings to mind uh an experience I was flashing back as you would set it. Uh some friends we had. Man, we had had a church function, had a little potluck meal. Everybody's helping clean it up. Uh, the lady, and granted, we were younger, so we're dumber. Let's be honest about it. Uh, some inexperienced has some bad ideas, but all dressed up for potluck. And we're all in there busting down tables, we're moving tables, some ladies in there doing it. She said, Well, I'm called to be a prophetess, not to do dishes.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

I know it ain't funny, but man, that's funny.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

But she was serious. Uh I can't hear it. I'll do. And uh told some other people, told an actual person, confirm prophetist about it. She's she should have got her behind in there with her prophetic hands and washed them dishes.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

I can't get my eight hundred dollar dress. I can't get no no gravy on my eight hundred dollar dress.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

I was telling that to Bishop Nolan's wife, who's very prophetically gifted with with when the when the spirit hits her, and you're like, she could have taken her prophetic hands and washed them dishes, gotta be high in that kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Laid some hands on them dishes. So uh you know, but that brings to mind a couple other things. Paul, although it was recorded, some people might debate whether he had a prophetic unction or not, but you he definitely walked in the spirit and authority, but definitely an apostle, definitely a teacher. It records in Antioch. You know what he never stopped being? Which allowed him to reach just as many people? He never stopped being a temp maker. Right. So let's not pigeonhole this into well, I'm a teacher and I'm a I have a doctor of theology. Well, you know, uh one of the things I respected about old Pastor Jones out in Colorado, that ministry that really kind of lit me on fire, um, so to speak, you know, it it was an eye-opening experience. Now, I'll always say this as much as I love that ministry, the big moments happened, me alone with the Lord. Yeah. But as far as witnessing what God would do with obedience, uh, that ministry was awesome. But, you know, his dad had been an assembly of God pastor out in Arkansas, a couple different places, and he had seen some of the games that that happens when you don't preach it right. When when when they don't like the way that you preach it. Told about how, oh, I'm sorry, we just happened to get the water shut off at the parsonage. Didn't have the gall to tell him, or the nerve enough to tell him, we're voting you down. Church board simply go and shut the water and power off. And he said it was it was me and uh my brother and my sister. He said, low things can happen, but what what that caused to happen is uh Pastor Jones' dad, he said, Well, you know what? I know how to cut hair. And before any of his kids went to college or Bible college later on, he sent them to barber school. He said, You do what the Lord's called you to do, but you ain't ever going to be without a trade. Right. You'll always be able to make money, so they won't be able to control you. You can do what the Lord told you to do.

Don’t Overdefine Your Calling

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Yeah. Interesting thing about Paul. Um very interesting. There's a lot of people that think that uh he was he was Saul of Tarsus, and now he's Paul, and there's some kind of prophetic thing, and his name changed, and and there really wasn't. Um Saul was simply his Hebrew Aramaic name. Paul was his Greek name. That's all it was. That's all it was. It was just Saul was Paul was Saul in Greek, is all it is. Um but uh what I find in that is he was he was the same guy, uh so to speak. You know, he was Paul was still Saul. Um he was not, you know, his his um his actions changed, his belief system changed, you know. Um God changed the inner man just like he does inside of all of us when we're when we're changed, when we get saved. Um, I think it's interesting, something I do think is prophetic, just the fact that he was a tent maker. Um to be a tent maker, that word tent in the Hebrew is tellete, it's the same word that we translate as a prayer shawl. So was he a tent maker uh in like the Bedouin tents that you see, or was he a tent maker or like a maker of prayer shawl? Um it's hard to say, but uh I think the scripture does record that there was uh handkerchiefs or cloths that uh people were trying to get that he had prayed over, uh, you know, because miracles would happen. Yeah, demons stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Evil spirits, evil spirits get cast out by him.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Exactly. So to me, that sounds very much like probably the prayer shawls he was making. Um, what uh to me, what a prophetic inference there that uh here's this guy before he gets saved making prayer shawls. Now he gets saved, he's still making prayer shawls, but but now it's under unction of the Holy Spirit and it's his trade. Um once again, the man didn't change, the guy didn't change. Um, and we've said this too on the podcast before. I'm not so sure that God calls us so that he can change our personality, change who we are, change the thing that he created. Um, he does change our our our uh you know, he does change our inner man. Uh, you know, he does bring about repentance, he does change those things. But a lot of us think that we have to take on this new personality. Uh, we have to be this, uh, we referenced this before, this tight butt khaki wearing uh Christian that uh speaks politely about everything and I'm gonna teach you about manhood. Yeah, I'm gonna teach you about uh manhood as I see here with my legs crossed and all this thing. Well, if that's not who you were before you got saved, you're probably not gonna do very well at teaching that afterwards. Um, because God did not, I don't think God changes that part of the person. He changes the uh the sinful nature.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

If you like to drive pickup trucks before you got born again, yes, probably gonna like to drive pickup trucks after you get born again.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Exactly. You know, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

If if you like to if you'd like to ride a motorcycle before you got born again, uh as long as you wasn't caught up in some bad lifestyle due to that, you know, where that's just too heavy an association, you probably just probably want to give you grace enough to like to ride that motorcycle.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Yeah, you're just gonna do it without all the sin involved in it. You're just gonna do it without all the bar hopping and and and and uh drinking and riding and all those things that come that may have come along with it beforehand beforehand. Um but guy's got a new mission now, he's got a new mission for you. That's all.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

Well one of the things though that you know you're talking about the pivots and how things took different turns. When I went through basic training, when you went through basic training, one of the first things they give you, uh heard it get nicknamed Smart Book, is also called the Book of Common Task.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Book of Common Task.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

So it would teach you how to, hey, here's how you have a little illustration. You read how to do this. Here's what it looks like when a flare goes up. Here's what you do when a flare goes up. Here's how you set up your uh your shelter half. Here's how you combine a shelter half. Here's what you do, here's what this like me. Here, here's what blackout drive looks like when you're on the is all these little things. Now, what part of those could you specialize in? Go, well, I don't need to know this. You know, you you couldn't say I don't need to know how to dig a fighting position because you know I'm I'm gonna be in supply. Don't matter until you're not. Yeah. I don't need to know how to march or do this because I'm gonna be a tanker until it breaks down. You know, so there was all these things that that you could really get, and we we we were in back in the black boot. You know, you you can say, well, I don't need to know how to clean my weapon because I can polish my boots good. You know, that's just dumb. Because soldiering involved all of those things. And actually, as you brought out before, uh some things that I was unaware of just because you went further and did more things in the army than I did. But each one of those had a lesson that they taught you that had some battlefield application, even if it was simply attention to detail.

Serve Anywhere, Even Washing Dishes

SPEAKER_00 29:54

Yeah. Yeah. That that's what that's what drill is. And I'm not talking about just not just drill and ceremony, but the the common task manual, all that stuff in there is is considered drill. Um, we have we have battle drills uh that we learn, which are um they are just reactions to certain circumstances without thinking. They're supposed to be done without thought, they're just instinctive reactions to certain certain uh situations. Um these drills um in peacetime have a certain have certain battlefield um connotations so that you're learning. The shelter half. I never used a shelter half after basic training. Um, but what a shelter half taught me in basic training is that I needed a buddy in order to have it's a shelter half. So I needed a buddy to have a shelter. Uh taught your teamwork. Yes. Uh it taught you how to uh how to live very, very closely with somebody uh in very uh tight uh in very tight quarters, uh, which is which is what a foxhole is.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Foxhole is for two people. It's for two people, and one's one's on lookout while the other one's the while the other one's digging, and vice versa.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

So even though and we didn't stay in basic training forever. No, um, there was a time when basic training you were done, and which was interesting about basic training, I didn't realize this till afterwards. But there was no there was no pass or fail really in basic training. Um the purpose of the drill sergeants was to get you through. Um we didn't have people that that failed. Uh every got everybody made it through because drill sergeants got them through. Um that's not the purpose. When you get when you come to basic training, you have met the minimum requirement uh to come into the military. Now it's drill sergeant's turn to get you through basic. And then you go on to your units and your your uh team leader and squad leader train you up from there. Um I feel like that sometimes as an as a new Christian, as as a babe in Christ, that's the way it was. I can look back on it and say, hey, there was no, there really wasn't no pass or fail. No. God was getting me through. When I got saved, there was times where it really felt like this was a test, that was a test, and everything. And maybe to a certain degree, they were tests, but they weren't tests so that I could fail and I was out of the club.

Tentmaking, Identity, And Grace

SPEAKER_02 32:39

Yeah, I I look at it like this. You know, one of the things that you you might get recycled, yeah, but the goal was to get you proficient. Right. And you might have had to get proficient at a certain level. You know, okay, you failed a PT test. Well, we're gonna get you up to where you don't fail the PT test. Um, you're not doing good with a rifle. Well, we're gonna get you good enough to where you are good enough with the rifle. Yeah, anybody thinks, but but I look at you know what happened with Paul. I look at this, you know, like I said, you don't want to pigeonhole yourself, but at the same time, you need to know kind of what God's called you to do, but also be open enough to know when he's going, okay. I've called you to do this, but it involves this stage, and you need to be open and prepared because a lot of times what you find out is what we thought we were called to do, even if there was a mistake involved, even if we mess it up, we we got recycled, and right it led us up to something else. Now let's see if we can do this. Okay, well, well, we did that. Oh man, as soon as you get proficient in that, man, almost get comfortable, is like the Holy Spirit saying, Okay, now we're gonna we're gonna expand that comfort zone something. We're gonna stretch that and now I need you to do this. Are you willing? Do you love me? Right. And with with every one of those, it's kind of like how Paul pivots, you know. So so Paul, he's aware of it enough to know what he's called to do, but he doesn't pin himself down so that he can't adjust. You know, and that's the same way we need to be. We need to know what we're called to do, but we don't want to not be open to going, Lord, I'm gonna get proficient, I'm gonna be faithful. You know, as he he told our chippus, make sure that you're tending to the ministry so you can fulfill it. Well, okay, now I fulfilled this. We want to be open for whatever step the Holy Spirit says is next.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Right. Being open to that, to that change, that changing mission. Uh I like the last words that Paul says there in the book of Colossians. The last words, Grace be with you.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Man, I'll tell you what, to me, that jumps off the page. I actually got it underlined circled in my Bible because that just jumped off the page at me before. Um, as Paul's given his instructions and he's talking to these people and all these things, the last thing he reminds them them of is God's grace and saying, let it go with you. Because once again, it's grace that's going to pick you up when you stumble. It's grace that enables your your success. It's grace that does everything. Uh, and you've got to let the grace go with you. Um, or else, or else you might as well sit back down uh because you ain't learned anything.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

It it's that grace that empowers you. Right. Grace empowers you. So so he's speaking this empowerment. You know, grace is the unmerited favor of God. Yeah, if you want about quarter-define it, then sure, go with that.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

You know, once again, we've over-defined things.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

It's um it is favor, but it's that favor of God that's enabling you to do the mission. Because guess what? Without God's grace, you ain't doing it. You you'll fall, you'll fall flat on your face because I know we have.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

I find people that that like to use that unmerited favor of God are probably some of the most egotistical people you'll ever meet. Um, because it's false humility that um that speaks like that. It's false humility. Um, but underneath there's an ego that is so big that is uh needing to be checked. Um just be careful.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

You know, I'm seeing a lot of ego needs to get checked.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

So saw a lot of ego that got checked.

Common Tasks, Drill, And Growth

SPEAKER_02 37:05

Well, saw some of that, you know. Right now when we're recording this, you know, that we we got operations going on um over in Iran. But one of the interesting things is how everybody became a Middle Eastern expert that never commented about it before. I I guarantee you there's information that those that made those calls have that I don't. Oh, I'm also amazed at how many people became Bible prophecy experts and or theological experts to put down any reference to Bible prophecy, and this has already been fulfilled, and there's and everybody became either a theologian or a prophecy expert or the doctrinal policy hawk. I guarantee you, the Lord has let some people know what's coming. I also guarantee you this I'll I put a$10 heathen bet on it. I bet you they're not posting that on social media. Probably not. I bet you they're not. I bet you there's just a lot of people that want to feel important, give their opinion, but they haven't heard from the Lord regarding one thing or another. They might have heard it from their preacher, uh, and their preacher may or may not have heard from the Lord. But I tell you what, praying before you go proclaiming, and even and maybe even let letting that prayer meditate before you open that mouth. Um, as I have learned to do that, not that I'm always successful, but as I learned to do that, no, no, you you got there before I did, um it saves you a lot of heartache, it saves you a lot of humble pie. Humble pie that that that you end up having to eat. You know, so definitely and and I'm not saying believe me, I'd be the first to tell you well, what's going on? Pray. Absolutely pray, but also trust God.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Uh pray and trust God and and understand that you got absolutely no control of over any of it, um, other than the prayers that you prayer. And and I don't and I don't say it like that to undermine it. Um stay focused on the mission that God has given you. Uh that's the thing. Because the enemy loves to throw distractions out there. Oh man. Um, the enemy loves to get us distracted, but stay focused on the mission. Um know the commander's intent, know the instate so that you know what mission complete looks like. And don't be afraid to pivot when God says pivot. Um, those are probably some of the best advice that we can give in in times like this. Um I don't perceive days getting better. Was it said the only easy day was yesterday. Yep. Uh so I don't see times necessarily getting better. But uh knowing that God's in charge, that makes it a whole lot more tolerable though. So uh I was watching something the other day and uh I seen a term that was thrown around that I I'm not very familiar with. It had something to do with with the economy and stuff like that. And I was like, well, if you're living inside your means, then the economy is probably not as oppressive as as it could be. Um which is probably the biggest trick, if there is a trick, the biggest trick to to any type of economy is stay within your means. I've learned how in all things how to be content. That's one way to be content is to stay within your means. Uh so oh, affordability crisis. That was the that was the term. Yeah, I think affordability crisis. What's that? Holy Spirit said, Living outside your means. I was like, oh, okay, that's well, I don't know what that means.

SPEAKER_02 41:21

Yeah. Well, so and and uh I I will say this rather than it being an affordability crisis, the reason that there is an affordability crisis is because there was an educational crisis by design where finances had not been taught.

unknown 41:38

Right.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

You're going to teach gender studies in high school, you're not gonna teach how to balance a checkbook, you're not gonna teach how compound interest works, you know, you're not gonna teach about credit card rates and all that, and how they how if you're not careful, you can get your butt in a fix. You know, because though those that understand, there's the saying, those that understand compound interest know how to make it work for them. Those that don't, it's gonna work against them. Same with the same with debt and leveraging and different things like that. Is all debt bad? Well, I'm not a fan of it because my understanding isn't the greatest, you know, but there's some people that know how to leverage it and they know how to time it and make the money and and and to borrow for something that's gonna make more money than they'll ever spend.

SPEAKER_01 42:29

Right.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

You know, there's people that understand it, and if you're one of those, then praise God. But there also there's folks that don't. So you better avoid it like the plague if you're one of the ones that don't. But exactly, but when the devil has his laser pointer and you're like a kitty cat on a sucker on the wall, you know, it's the same thing with social media, it's the same thing. Hey, here's a new toy, here's a new this, here's a new that, here's that. Oh, here's the latest crisis in the news. Oh, you know, or like we mentioned uh last podcast, here's the latest sermon, there's latest sermon, that's the latest sermon. Hey, this new series, you really need to be equipped.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Rather than trusting God and learning to follow that leading of the Holy Spirit or some sound biblical principles.

Pivoting With The Holy Spirit

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Stay mission focused. Um, write it down, do something, put it on a sticky note, put it inside your wallet, uh, put it somewhere, put it on your lock screen on your phone if you need to. Yep. Um, do something. Uh nobody knows you more than you do, uh, other than the Lord, of course, but nobody knows you more than you do. So do whatever it takes to uh keep God's purpose and plan in in front of you. Uh man, I'll tell you what, I get so distracted and so space brained. I've got reminders on my phone for appointments and everything under the sun because it's so easy to get distracted and forget things. So treat treat God's mission the same way. Create these little things that you that can be used to uh to to keep you plugged in. If that's what you have to do, then so be it. But don't ever don't ever lose sight of God's mission. Or else, like you said, you'll be that cat after a laser pointer, you know, wondering wondering what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 44:29

Know your mission, attend to it so that you can complete it and fulfill it. And as Paul says, grace be with you. Amen. Wofo yo. Hey everybody, thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow. You can always check us out at woefoyo.org or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Audible, or even check us out on YouTube. Remember, folks, if you're going to grow, you gotta woe fo yo. Get in the word for yourself.