And about an hour into our trip I'm like I'm going to test the autopilot's true north with the actual north , the actual one that I had in my hands . And I checked it and it was off by two degrees . Now you might think , well , two degrees , not that big of a deal , it's only 27 miles . The island is 30 miles wide . So you might think well , instead of landing at Isthmus Cove , maybe you land a few coves over . But no , by two degrees being off , we would have missed the island completely . That's the thing . Your spiritual habits is a way for you to reorient your heart towards true north . And if you're off by just a little bit we were praying earlier today about small compromises If you're off by just a little bit , the long shot of your life will end up being off completely . So reorient your heart towards the glory of God through your daily spiritual habits . I love that it's beautiful .
Speaker 3What is your name ? What is your serial number ? Finish it Ray .
Speaker 2What is your rank and why do you keep hitting me when I'm asking you ?
Speaker 3these questions . That has been one of my all-time favorites , Ray . Why do you do stuff like that ?
Speaker 2It's a joke that's given me a lot of joy over the years . I've never failed to laugh at it , and you've got to build it up . This general Nazi was slapping the face , is that something ?
Speaker 3from what's that show you used to love ?
Speaker 2No , Hogan's Heroes ?
Speaker 3No , it's not yeah , no , they didn't think of it . But , friends , look , once you've heard one of ray's jokes you've heard at a thousand times in fact , we call him I call him a broken ray curd .
Speaker 2Okay , that was actually a good gadget you like that , you like that so , but just stop for a minute . That german accent didn't come across in Indiana . I didn't get commended for it , oh wow , I think that's the first time you broke away from an Indian accent ?
Speaker 3It's because you practiced it so much over the years . Ray , what did you rank ? And we're back . We're back . Yeah , okay , but yes , friends , like I said , ray is a broken Ray-Card and I'll prove it . Watch this , ray . I want you to finish these . What do you mean ? Watch this , watch this , ray . What do you do when someone touches your biceps ? What do you say ? What do you say ? You'll break your fingers . And Oscar and I printed all these out in big red so Oscar can verify .
Speaker 2As .
Speaker 3I say it please be careful , you'll break your fingers . Okay , ray , what do you say to someone who happens to stoop down in front of you ? Stand up , I'm just a man , ray . What do you say when they tell you that one of your kids looks like you ?
Speaker 2Don't say that You'll make her proud .
Speaker 3Is this right Oscar ? Word for word , ray . What do you say when they tell you that they haven't done something in their whole life ?
Speaker 2Yeah , you haven't had your whole life .
Speaker 3Ray , what do you say when you tell someone something that they weren't ? What do you say when you tell someone something and they weren't paying attention ?
Speaker 2AB Earl . What's that , mike ? Ab Earl , oh , ab Earl , right Oscar , there it is .
Speaker 1AB Earl .
Speaker 3Found there . Ray , what do you say to someone when they tell you that they committed a sin in the past ?
Speaker 2Everything's in the past .
Speaker 1Word for word .
Speaker 3Ray , what do you say to someone when they tell you that they did something wrong when they were younger ? You were younger when I met you , Ray . What do you say to ?
Speaker 2someone when they tell you they've only stolen something small Like a diamond ring .
Ray , what do you do when someone says forever I'm in ? Did you get them all ? Did you see ? There's more there's more . Okay , ray , finish this . What , okay , I'm going to impersonate here . What does that make you A liar ? Have you ever stolen anything ? Yes , what does that make you A thief ?
Speaker 2No a lying thief .
Speaker 3Okay , Ray , what do you do , what do you say when you're playing someone in a ping pong game and they call out a tied score of 2-2 ?
Speaker 2Oh , 2-2 was a racehorse , 1-1 was 1-2 . 2-2-1-1 race , 1-1-1-1-2 .
Speaker 3Remember the first time you did that ? Yeah , that's .
Speaker 2Murray Smith . I learned that from my friend .
Speaker 3Okay , ray . What do you say to people about my daughter's rare condition when you point to a photograph of her in our ministry's bookstore ?
Speaker 2She's got long almonds and seeds .
Speaker 1The amount of times I've heard that in 10 years . Seriously , that's pretty good . That is on point . He's a prophet .
Speaker 3I mean , this morning I'm sitting there thinking this . I'm like I can't believe , and this is just like scratching the surface . We need to start the book of Ray's . Seriously , the broken Raykert friend X-rays yeah , ray . By the way , I did have a question on that . Note from that last one , we did the whole grown incense . That's from Hell's Best Kept Secret , right , and I wonder how many people around the world actually think there's such a thing as grown incense .
Speaker 2Didn't you know , there is .
Speaker 3Grown insensitivity ?
Speaker 2Yes , it's when people hear you , they get it .
Speaker 3Grown insensitivity . So , ray , can you tell us why you're such a broken record , why I don't know you take so much pleasure in it too . But as you hear this , is it enlightening to you ?
Speaker 2No , he knows it Like . This is your life . I've been hearing it for 40 years .
Speaker 1That's the thing is . When someone sets him up for one of those , you see the spark come up .
Speaker 2Because it's going to make someone smile and that's great , Greatest joy of his life , seriously his whole life , is on repeat .
Speaker 3Groundhog Day , every single repeat .
Speaker 2Groundhog Day , every single day , Groundhog Day .
Speaker 3That's the autobiography Life on Repeat , In fact any time I call him in the evening after I go for about two minutes , then I basically describe every single thing that he had done up until that point in the day For the .
Speaker 2for the last , like 20 minutes .
Speaker 3That's exactly what I've been doing .
Speaker 2But I'm sews knitting scarves for the ministry , which he always does at night , and I'm watching rugby while editing .
Speaker 4Yeah .
Speaker 2And that's it . That's basically your whole life . What else ?
Speaker 3would you want to do ? That's the whole of life right there , Well friends . And cereal , oh cereal there . Well , friends , I think cereal , yeah . Well , oh wait , what happened ? Oh , that is cereal . Okay , that is the one thing . Back on the wagon . Huh mark , you know this right how many years were we familiar ? With this . Three bowls of cereal every day used to be your routine . This is the like . One of the few things you've ever broken away from . Had to wow kidney steins no , no , no , no , no .
Speaker 2I can't take wheat .
Speaker 1Oh , wheat intolerant . You're dying . What kind of cereal are you eating now ?
Speaker 2It's those round things with a hole in . Is it wheat ?
Speaker 3No , oh , Cheerios .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think they're Cheerios . Yeah , I can handle those . Ah , I swallow them whole . Why do you heat ?
Speaker 4up your milk . Because , it tastes nicer . You heat up your milk .
Speaker 3Yeah , Wait you're a bowl of cereal . Yes , he heats up his ice cream , don't you ? Why , of course I heat up my ice cream .
Speaker 2He heats up ice cream , bro , what ? Yeah , just for a few seconds . It makes it nice to eat .
Speaker 4I freeze my milk to put on my cereal . No , you can have cold milk .
Speaker 2That's good , it's like if you're . And so if it's lukewarm , no , I don't like it , but I like hot milk on my cereal .
Speaker 3It makes it taste better . You keep getting worse . Is it soup ? At that point , no Ice cream in the microwave . Who does that ?
Speaker 2Yes , a lot of people are going to write in and say they put a little ice cream in the microwave . Nobody .
Speaker 3No no no , no . I assure you , Nobody puts ice cream .
Speaker 1The whole point of ice cream is it's frozen . Do you know what I want on a hot summer day ?
Speaker 2Hot ice cream Chestnuts explode in the microwave at 53 seconds . You would know that . But , yeah , no , it's not like put it in for 10 minutes , Just put them for five , six seconds and it's easier . You can get more in your mouth because it's slightly melted .
Speaker 3No wrong .
Speaker 2You're not fighting a block of hard ice cream no wrong , all right , all right .
Speaker 3Friends , time for another one of your cool , classy comments . This is from japo7314 . Japo , yep , I thank god for you all the time . Thank you for what you do . I met ray at huntington beach Pier earlier this year and just recently what I said . I'm sorry . Oh , and just recently started listening to your podcast . I would give you 10 stars if I could . I bought my comfort as Jesus and have been reading and listening to the Bible and praying , now more than ever before , thanks to your encouragement .
Speaker 2That's wonderful .
Speaker 3And she ends it with thank you , friends . I hope it's a she , I don't know she or he . Thank you . Wow , guys , how stirred do we get when we get comments like this . They're seeking the Lord more . They're reading the gospel more . They're reading the word more , sharing the gospel .
Speaker 2That gives us great joy .
Speaker 3Yeah , it does so . Thank you , j-a-p-o . However , you pronounce that , all right friends , time for another radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by my Comfort . Is Jesus , lo and behold , falls in line with what this person had mentioned , or was it someone else ? I don't know . I thought it was maybe someone else . It was .
Speaker 2Was it ? Yeah , you got a short memory loss .
Speaker 3What happened to my memory ?
Speaker 2Oh yeah , Hi , I'm Ray .
Speaker 1Oh man .
Speaker 3Bad memory , but I was able to remember all of your little sayings .
Speaker 2Yeah , they left a special corner for you . It's a mental home .
Speaker 3Totally , you've driven me crazy . Yeah , my comfort is Jesus 365 devotional entries 365 . Ray , when you add that with Jesus in red .
Speaker 2No , no , that was morning and evening 730 . You made me do that . I did this to you .
Speaker 3Yes , yeah , I was thinking Jesus in red , but when you add this to Jesus in red , you're talking over a thousand devotional entries . Were there any other devotionals ? 365s that you did ? What ?
Speaker 4No idea To be clear devotion one simply says yep .
Speaker 1Devotion day two is right . Yep , yep , yep yep right all the way through .
Speaker 3All right , friends , my cover is Jesus . Don't forget to chug from the Living Waters mug and evidence study Bible all at livingwaterscom . All right , today we're talking about how to cultivate a diligent life .
Speaker 2Speaking of that , I read a comment last night on a YouTube channel where a guy said God told me to tell you that the law was only given to the Jews . So I wrote back . God's word tells me the law was given to stop every mouth and leave the whole world guilty . Before God he wrote back . Sorry , why do you think God told me that ?
Speaker 3No , you're joking . Wow , are you serious ?
Speaker 4I'm serious oh boy , that's a problem . Different gods yes .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's very problematic . All right , friends diligence , this is the definition Were you guys playing patty cake .
Speaker 4I was putting a long hair off of Ray's sleeve .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was probably off my chest .
Speaker 1Seriously , I wish those back hairs get everywhere .
Speaker 3I seriously wish we could take back-to-back clips of your two . Oscar and I are normal . No , no , mark's , it's Mark , we work , we do our job .
Speaker 2I'm sitting here perfect , mark's just being annoying all the time Removing hair . I removed a long hair from yours I put it there this morning .
Speaker 4What about the ?
Speaker 2one on your ear or your nose .
Speaker 3Leave them alone . Braid them together .
Speaker 4Mark , I spent most of my ministry here just taking care and protecting the way .
Speaker 2That's true . I'm trying to scrape doorposts with my ear hair .
Speaker 3Alright , stop it . How to cultivate diligence . Here's a dictionary Dictionary . That's what ? Stop it . How to cultivate diligence . Here's a dictionary .
Speaker 1Dictionary Dictionary . That's what they sell in the Middle East .
Speaker 3Definition of diligence .
Speaker 2What's in that cup ? You're drinking Eason I don't know , man .
Speaker 3This is from dictionarycom Diligence Constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken . Persistent exertion of body or mind . Could you read that again Really ? Yeah , okay , of body or mind . Could you read that again Really ? Yeah , okay , constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken . Persistent exertion of body or mind . Ray you like that definition ?
Speaker 2Yeah , it's like bulldog mentality Get hold of your teeth , was it Churchill that said that's why the bulldog's nose is slanted , so it can get something in its teeth and not let go . Keep breathing . No , and that's how we should be Bulldogs whatever we put our hand to , do it with all our might .
Speaker 3Bite them , bite them , mark , yeah , yeah . Diligence . What would we do without um ?
Speaker 2It's such a good filler .
Speaker 3Okay , I'm going to challenge you guys to not say um once , no problem .
Speaker 4Could , you Um yeah .
Speaker 2I mean , where did it come from ? Who started it ? Start ?
Speaker 3bringing this , and why ? Yeah , why is it um ? Why isn't it like fluff , fluff ? Well , it's fluff , fluff , fluff , fluff , fluff fluff that's what they say in Australia . Fluff , fluff . You know , the other day , fluff , fluff , I was why ?
Speaker 2um Seriously , man the stuff we don't even think about . It's probably some guy's mom . That's done . A mom probably needs your help .
Speaker 3Yeah . So , guys , diligence is in major short supply today . Look , is it fair to say that there are some generations where things were more prevalent than others ? Like , what , like diligence .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think so . I think the generation before ours was very diligent , kept their word , this one's very slack .
Speaker 3I mean like as an overall sort of general sense in society , right , like that , if we go back a number of generations that we would look like let's take the world war ii era right of people , then they call them the greatest generation . Well , they call themselves that . They said we are the greatest generation . But I mean , like if you were to go there and you were just to do an analysis and a comparison between people then and people now , would we see that diligence has diminished ? What do you guys think ? I mean , do you think that's probably true ? Well , these guys went around then . Oh , you're the only one who was around , right ? What was it like ? Second World War ?
Speaker 4Yeah .
Speaker 1I agree with you . You know , I'm always hesitant to jump on the bagwagon of like , ah , these youth , these youth , these youth , and I don't actually don't think it's inherent within the youth . I think it's inherent within the culture and moment in history that we find ourselves in , Because you talk about the greatest generation or any generation before that . You talk about the greatest generation or any generation before that . They simply had less distraction . You woke up in the morning and you had no immediate newsfeed , the only attention that you're . If you wanted to pay attention to anything else besides the book on your nightstand which is probably your Bible On your iPad , your wife , your kids , you'd have to walk outside grab a newspaper , and it was stagnant and still and definitive and it was it was basically old news , that's .
Speaker 1Yeah , you're exactly right , and it wasn't deep scrolling , it wasn't lost rabbit trails . So you , your mind , was able to be diligent because our world , in a good way , was limiting our attention . And nowadays , conversely again , I don't think it's so much the youth , I think , just in our cultural moment , we are amusing ourselves to death , and it's getting easier and easier . That's what Neil Postman says . Someone else said you can disappear into the black hole of Netflix , become a workaholic in pursuit of riches and fame , or simply eat , drink and be merry in the adult playground of the modern city . He goes on to say Western cultures are arguably built around the denial of death . You'd love this , ray . As Ronald puts it , we are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion .
Speaker 3Wow , that's very . That's really powerful and true . You know , mark , when we read this in the definition that diligence includes earnest effort , that it includes persistent exertion , you know we look today and we see that that's just diminished . Do you think entertainment and luxury and ease have contributed to a diminishing of diligence in our lives ? Sure .
Speaker 4But why no ? See , the thing is Easy asks the question , then he answers the question , because he thinks no , I think he's a brilliant host . No .
Speaker 3Thank you I hate him too , thank you , no , but here's the way .
Speaker 4Easy does it .
Easy has the perfect answer to his question . Just in case you don't have an answer for it , that's good .
Speaker 1I think he only does that to you , it's true .
Speaker 4Mark , would you say . Then he gives the answer yeah , no , absolutely . I mean I think that absolutely nails it . I mean , with the accessibility of everything around us and the distractions from streetlights to billboards , you know , I mean we're just so entertained into the ground . But why should ?
Speaker 2that stop our diligence as Christians .
Speaker 4It has the ability , I think more now to distract us more than ever before , and I think that's kind of what the question was here , and this is why we need to prioritize goals , I believe , right . So what I want to do and I think this is what is important is that you kind of set goals for the year , right ? These are the New Year's resolutions , if you would . But we don't need to be so strict on them that if we mess up , I think Easy . You messed up on smoking after January 3rd and morning .
Speaker 4The hookah is just so hard for you I like the smoke of the hookah , but we should have year goals , we should have quarterly goals , we should have monthly goals . What do I want to accomplish this month ? I also have weekly goals . What do I want to accomplish this week ? And I put that together on Sunday . These are all the things that I want to have done . And then the day before that night you lay out these are the things that I'm going to accomplish , that I plan on accomplishing the next day . Now it's been said , you want to make God laugh . Tell him your plans , right , because things don't always work out the way you want them to work out .
Speaker 4But I have a sheet and I actually went and gave it to my son , nathaniel , who just started here at Living Waters , and it was stuff to stay on task , right . And there's certain things that I have and then I kind of check it . For example , I'll go through a couple of these when I have an impulse , if I have an impulse to check Instagram or to check a news-related item , just if I have the impulse and I have a clock laid out , I have 8 am , 9 am , 10 am 11 am . During that time frame during the day , if I have the impulse , then I do a little check that I had the impulse to check Facebook or whatever it may be , and then I have resisted next to it . No , I need to stay on task . I need to be disciplined to stay on task and do what I'm called to do . Then I have kind of priorities . What is my priority during the 8 am hour , the 9 a ?
Speaker 2Every day . Yeah , you're making me feel like a simpleton . I don't have any goals .
Speaker 3Yeah , Ray you've been trying to tell you that Ray for years .
Speaker 2So what do you do when you reach a goal ? Yell out goal Goal .
Speaker 4And then I have things like something will pop in my mind oh yeah , I forgot , I have to call my mom , it's her birthday or whatever it may be , and or whatever it may be . And then I have a little list . I write down the don't forget about these things and then tasks that I've accomplished , and then write down did I drink water during the 8 am hour ? And I just put a little line darn water , food , snacks . Did I stretch ? Did I get up ? Did I breathe ? Encourage . So it's a little sheet that I print out .
Speaker 3It's inside my office and it's just right next to you know what I heard someone say recently , something really interesting I never thought about . They said you know , obviously it's good to have goals in life , but another thing that's good for us to do is to focus on systems Systems , Because if you have a system in place , then you're going to follow that system . That's going to help you to get to goals . In a sense , you have that mark in that you have goals , but your goals are set within a system . Your system is to create something that keeps you on task . You know .
Speaker 1The book Atomic Habits has a whole chapter on that .
Speaker 3Yeah , I think that's about is that what you're remembering ?
Speaker 1He talks about how he borrows from the business world , in which they say the results are a byproduct of your system . If you don't like your results , you have to change your system . That's good . So he talked about systematic habits that will equal better results .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's really good , yeah , so Proverbs 12 , what is in this ? Seriously , man , I yeah , it's you , oscar , you're up in El Paso , my bad Pro . Seriously man ? Yeah , it's you , oscar , you're up in El Paso , my bad . Proverbs 12 , 27 . The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting . But diligence is a man's precious possession . Right when you meet someone who really has that attitude of diligence , who's driven , who is earnest and sincere in their effort , who's persistent in exertion with their body and their mind , there's something about that that makes you say , man , having that will allow you to accomplish so many other things in life .
Speaker 4It's like you boil it down to its bare minimum , and I think that I thought we were gonna start with flu yeah , um , but um did it again , man let me just speak to us .
Speaker 2So he's got one left . What ?
Speaker 3else is there besides , um that we use they're filler words . Yeah , you know um and like Right .
Speaker 2You guys get so distracted , so easily .
Speaker 4I think it's twofold One , right , we don't want to be interrupted , we are mid-thought , and so this kind of also conveys a message to somebody that you're talking to that hey , I'm not finished , I'm still processing . I'm still processing some things , right . And the other one is you just don't know how to communicate .
Speaker 2The word is short for umbrella yeah .
Speaker 3So Titus 3.14 , and let our people also learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs , that they may not be unfruitful , wonderful , right . Fruitfulness and diligence go hand in hand .
Speaker 2Yes , I'm quitting . No , don't quit Easy . No , I totally agree Fruitfulness and diligence go hand in hand . I love this quote from Thomas Edison , who is my hero . I love Thomas Edison because he was so innovative , Incredible guy .
Speaker 4He's the one that said we don't know one millionth percent of anything .
Speaker 2Yeah that's right , he's a really humble guy .
Speaker 4There may be some people who don't know that .
Speaker 2I'm trying to get the quote out , but how does he know that he doesn't know ? He just made it up .
Speaker 3Oh real quick . Here's a really good quote by Thomas Edison .
Speaker 2That's where it came from . Okay , this is what he said . The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are first , hard work . Second , stick to it-nevis .
Speaker 3Stick to it-nevis . Stick to it-nevis . Oh man , you have to throw common sense in there somewhere .
Speaker 4Yeah , and third , thanks , mark .
Speaker 2Common sense , cheat , common sense , and that's so down to it . Oh man , you have to throw common sense in there somewhere . Yeah , and third , thanks , mark . Common sense , cheat , common sense , and that's so down to earth . Hard work , stick to it-ness , stick to it with it-ness , stick to it-ness , stick to it-ness . There it is , stick to it-ness .
Speaker 2Stay with it-ness and common sense . It's so down to earth and what he was like ? Just a brilliant guy who says there's nothing , pretend . Pretend of him what he said . Was he an atheist ? No , not , no , he wasn't , no , he wasn't . Actually . Atheists say he was an atheist , but he wasn't . I got a great quote from him about god not um uh another way another another way of you know .
Speaker 1You talk about new year's resolutions and I think that when we talk about new year's resolutions , some people can be discouraged by that , because I read a stat recently that said this is a joke . Nope , 89% of New Year's resolutions do not make it past January . 89% and it was like 90 something percent , I think it was like 97% don't make it past February , and I have found this to be true . I mean , like the first Monday of January , it's the busiest day at the gym . Everyone shows up in their brand new you know purchased gym clothes and it's like- .
Speaker 1Christmas gift . Yep , they're all scattered and gone by like mid to late February , and I think , inherently , we all know that New Year's resolutions are hard things to keep for ourselves .
I like the idea of creating a rule of life . Rule of life has become something more popular in this day and age , but it's actually dates back to a monastic tradition . A rule of life is simply I got this quote to intentionally create time and space to enjoy deep fellowship with God , so that he can reorient and direct your days to increasingly glorify him along the way . And so a rule of life is not a to-do list , but rather an accounting of our roles and responsibilities that we have in our lives and then determining what kind of way in which we wanna fulfill that role . So , as an example , one again a rule of life is not like it's been made more popular by Jordan Peterson more recently , but actually , again , it's a monastic tradition dating back to the fourth century . Reformers used it , our evangelical patriarchs used it . So three steps know your role , know your limits and plan ahead . Know your role , know your limits and plan ahead . And so you create rules of life for all sorts of areas my relationship with God , my personal life and health , my relationships , my wife , my children , the people who I work with , my church , right , and then what you would do with the rule of life is you find a scripture . Well , I'll give you an example . So for me , like for my rule of life with God , it's scripture prayer and silence and solitude . And so you find a verse , you create a vision statement For me . My verse for my time with the Lord comes from Psalm 79 , he will be my sanctuary . My vision statement I borrow from Augustine . Augustine my heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee . And so then , I set up my mornings with morning solitude , daily reading , and I set up my nights with nightly prayer . And so , in other words , like , rule of life is taking into account all of the roles that you play and then organizing your life so that you fulfill those roles with the vision in mind . And I know , Easy , you're big on vision statements .
Speaker 1And the reason why this is important is because , as we talked about earlier , our attention is being purchased by the algorithm of the life around us and distracting us from the things of God .
Speaker 1I love this quote by a book I read a number of years ago , because what you give your attention to is the person you become . Put another way , the mind is the portal to the soul , and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character . In the end , your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to . That bodes well for those apprentices of Jesus who give the bulk of their attention to him and to all that is good , beautiful and true in this world , but not for those who give their attention to the 24-7 news cycle of outrage and anxiety and emotional charge drama on the nonstop feed of celebrity gossip , titillation and cultural drivel . As if we give it in the first place . Much of it is stolen by clever algorithm out of out to monetize our precious attention . But again , we become what we give our attention to , for better or worse . The whole rule of life is reorganizing your attention to God .
Speaker 3Wow , that's so good . Yeah , creating space to do what is of prime importance . And vision statements are huge . I mean , I've shared ours before . We have it hanging up in our living room and all of our family members have memorized it to gladly and passionately glorify God in every thought , affection , word and deed , while constantly enjoying Him as our greatest pleasure and most precious treasure , and that covers every Look .
Speaker 3I live to glorify God In what , in everything I think , say , do and feel , and as I'm doing that , I'm enjoying him as my prime pleasure in life and of all my possessions , he's my greatest treasure , man . And then , you know , I had created what I would call a mission statement , and then I broke down the different things that we would do practically in order to help us fulfill our vision . You know , and so that's something that's huge , but you know , know again , it's creating that space . Morning times , I think , if possible , should be uh , prime in our lives , where we give the lord that first portion of our , of our day mark . I'd love you to comment on on this quote by george muller . He said someone may give him the quote . No , oh , what is Mark ?
Speaker 2What's the quote by George ?
Speaker 3Mueller .
Speaker 1Mark .
Speaker 3Yeah , all right , someone may ask . But why should I rise early ? To remain too long in bed is a waste of time . Wasting time is unbecoming of a saint who is bought by the precious blood of Jesus . His time and all he has is to be used for the Lord . If we sleep more than is necessary for the refreshment of the body , it is wasting time the Lord has entrusted to be used for his glory , for our own benefit and for the benefit of the saints and unbelievers around us . Anyone who spends one , two , three hours in prayer and meditation before breakfast will soon discover the beneficial effect early rising has on the outward and inward man" , and not so much the details of one , two , three hours , you know or whatever , and never sleeping in , but just the principle Mark of what he said .
Speaker 3What do you think of that ?
Speaker 4Well , I absolutely love it . This morning I'm laying there in bed , the sun hadn't come up yet , and I was simply enjoying the birds , the noises , they're singing to the Lord , and I'm just praying . I'm thinking nobody will interrupt this moment , just me fellowshipping with God . And I so enjoyed that time of just sitting there and , as is my routine , I reach over for God's Word and I study through , I read through God's Word , and then I go over and I salute and I report for duty and I take a shower . It doesn't matter what time you wake up . You showered , it doesn't Every month . He's diligent .
Speaker 4It is the first of the month I go over . It doesn't matter how tired you are if you go and get inside the shower and you put it on cold it's going to wake you up . It's like drinking three cups of coffee . Yeah , absolutely . If I drink coffee , I would be able to accurately say that was true , but it really does work . So if you had to get up at three in the morning or two in the morning , you hop in the shower , just go straight to your refrigerator .
Speaker 4In the water Cold , plunge it , you'll be wide awake .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , and look , the principle here is Proverbs 20 , 13 . Do not love sleep , lest you come to poverty , open your eyes and you'll be satisfied with bread . And the principle there , ray , is that sleep is stupid . Yeah , sleep is for the world . How many times have I heard you say that ?
Speaker 2Seriously , a third of our precious lives are in a state of unconsciousness , where we have no control over anything , including our mouths , right .
Speaker 3It's crazy . Can you imagine Ray seriously like sleeping in until like 11 , having gone to bed like at 9 , 10 , and then sleeping in 11 am Ridiculous .
Speaker 4When was the last time you slept until 11 am ? Never Ever in your life . No 10 am , no 9 am , no 8 am I'm not sure .
Speaker 1This is why Ray cut a hole in his bed , because he's got holy sleep .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's what it is . No , but we do want to encourage you , friends , now , first of all , not to be condemned and to understand that it's not wrong to have a desire for sleep .
Speaker 3Well , he gives his beloved sleep . Yeah , and sleep is a gift from the Lord . It's good . We're not it's punishment . Please , no one take this as a prescription to sleep two hours a night so you can be spiritual . Of course not . Sleep is given to us by the Lord .
Speaker 3But I think the key is to examine what your habits of life are right , as Oscar was alluding to , like if you're going to bed at 1 am every day and you're complaining that you can't get up early to seek the Lord , hey , cause and effect . So be willing to say I'm going to rearrange my life , I'm going to rearrange it so that I'm demonstrating by what I do that time with the Lord is priority . And you know , often again , we're looking at our lives and they're falling apart . We're having no effectiveness for the Lord , we have no fruit that's being evidenced in our lives and we're saying I don't know what's going on . We're not in prayer , we're not in the Word , we're not reading books that are feeding our soul , we're not in deep fellowship , we don't get accountability , we're not sharing the gospel . And then we're wondering oh , I wonder why my life is just so miserable .
Speaker 2No , go ahead . I was just breathing .
Speaker 3Wait , mark . Sorry , let me tell you what you should say before you say it real quick yes , go ahead . I telepathically sent it to you , go ahead Proverbs 21.5 .
Speaker 4Wow , the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance . But everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty .
Speaker 2Oh , Surely , surely .
Speaker 4Surely can't be serious , surely . This is why it's important to lay out what you plan on doing the next day , the night before , because you wake up with purpose . Yeah , waking up with purpose forces you to not sleep in and creates an excitement inside of you , so you can wake up early to tackle the deeds and make sure that you're sharpening the axe before you hit the trees of life .
Speaker 3Yeah , one of my favorite proverbs has always been 24 , 30 to 34 . I went by the field of the lazy man . I think do-fi is the correct Do-fi .
Speaker 4Yeah , there's two of us over here . Do-fiance , I went by the field of the lazy man . I think do fire is the correct . There's two of us over here .
Speaker 3I went by the field of the lazy man and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding , and there it was all overgrown with thorns , Its surface was covered with nettles , it's stonewall was broken down . When I saw it , I considered it Well . I looked on it and received instruction a little sleep , a little sleep , a little slumber , a little folding of the hands to rest . So shall your poverty come like a prowler and your need like an armed man . Oscar , isn't that just such a great mental image of the lazy person .
Speaker 1Yeah , and it's not just sleep , it's also we can be lazy when we're awake . Yeah , you know we like not . It's important to recognize I'm not I mean this whole time . It's important to recognize I'm not umming this whole time . It's important to recognize that our disciplines and our habits are the thing that shape our hearts and it shapes our desire to worship . Mike Cosper calls them rhythms of grace , jka Smith calls it spiritual disciplines . I like to look at them as daily liturgies . Here's the reality is that your habits , the way you shape your day and the things that you do , whether you realize it or not , you have habits right now , but if they are not intentionally created by you , then they're being intentionally created by something else let's call it the algorithm and those habits are making you follow something or someone . And if you haven't intentionally created habits to follow Jesus , then you're unintentionally walking through daily habits that are causing you to follow something else besides Christ . And this is important . Take an account of your life , man . If you're not experiencing the fullness of joy and satisfaction that EZ was talking about earlier when mentioning his vision , ask yourself why . Look at what's going on .
Speaker 1I told this story in like episode five or something like that when I was up in Washington at a high school retreat . The young sporty guy comes up to me after the weekend . He's like man , I've never been this close to the Lord . This has been so amazing . I'm afraid I'm going to lose this when I go home . How do I keep it ? And I just recognized right away man , this isn't because of my sermon , this isn't because you're on a mountaintop of experience . What did you do when you got here ? Well , we spent time in God's word , we were out in God's nature , we spent time in prayer , we went to two or three chapels a day . That's exactly right . You had a condensed three-day experience of new habits that reshaped your heart to point yourself to the glory of God . And when you get home , starting Monday that morning , you're going to open your Bible and you read it , praise God . The question is , what are you going to do on Thursday ? Are you going to open your phone and you're going to start scrolling ? Are your habits slowly going to change ?
Speaker 1And here's the best way for me to describe it is that you know , you guys know I love sailing . My wife and I used to do , and I think I've said this before in this podcast . My wife and I love to do this sailing trip from Marina del Rey to Catalina Island . Catalina Island is only 27 miles off the coast of California . We can see it from the coast of California . It's beautiful . It's a five and a half hour sail under regular wind conditions .
Speaker 1So one time we left Marina del Rey we put up our sails and I put it on autopilot . It's supposed to be at like 19 degrees or whatever the case . And about an hour into our trip I'm like I'm going to test the autopilot's true north with the actual north , the actual one that I had in my hands and I checked it and it was off by two degrees . Now you might think , well , two degrees , not that big of a deal , it's only 27 miles . The island is 30 miles wide . So you might think , well , instead of landing at Isthmus Cove , maybe you land a few coves over , but no , by two degrees being off , we would have missed the island completely . That's the thing
. Your spiritual habits is a way for you to reorient your heart towards true north . And if you're off by just a little bit we were praying earlier today about small compromises If you're off by just a little bit , the long shot of your life will end up being off completely . So reorient your heart towards the glory of God through your daily spiritual habits .
Speaker 2That's beautiful .
Speaker 3Right Proverbs 13, . Four the soul of the lazy man desires but has nothing . But the soul of the diligent will be made rich Bad as the King . James Richly supplied , yeah . So maybe someone's listening right now and saying okay , I'm whatever age and I've never been a diligent person , I've just been lazy . I don't stay consistent with anything I do . How would you advise them ? How do they change that ?
Speaker 2Read the Word daily and obey what you read and read the journal of John Wesley . Charles Spurgeon said of John Wesley's journal . The other day I saw John Wesley's diary . The good man made his days to have many hours in them , and his hours seemed to have more minutes in them than most men's hours have , because he did not waste any of them but diligently used them all in his master's service . Wow .
Speaker 3I love that . Yeah , ray Wesley was a powerhouse . He was very short . Yeah , he was short . He was still taller than you . He's 5'4" . History said I'm getting there . History said that he had this obsessive habit of saying get right , right , get , get , get , get right wherever he went and he rode a horse with a dog in the front wearing sunglasses .
Speaker 3Yeah , you know the thing about Wesley and in one of my sermons where I talk about , you know , living with an eternal mindset , I use Wesley as an example . But that guy wrote multiple books on his horse rides because he would ride his horse to go from town to town to preach the gospel .
Speaker 2He would write while he's riding he would write books while riding his horse . That's because his wife was chasing him .
Speaker 3That too , but he wrote a dictionary , he wrote medical books .
Speaker 2He wrote devotionals . It was in the family , because Charles Weasley wrote 650 million hymns .
Speaker 3Oh yeah , that's a slight exaggeration A little more than that . Chat GPT helped him out . Can you imagine they had secret Chat .
Speaker 4GPT technology .
Speaker 3It gets discovered later . But yeah , I mean , he was a man that I love . What Spurgeon said about him , he really maximized time , and Mark verses like this Galatians 6 , 9, . And let us not grow weary while doing good , for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart . 1 Corinthians 15 , 58, . Therefore , my beloved brothers , be steadfast and movable , always abounding in the work of the Lord , knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord .
Speaker 2Just before Mark answers . Can I share a thought ?
Speaker 3No .
Speaker 2I'm gonna say that thought because it's ridiculous . I think it's realizing the preciousness of time You've got . The sands of time are going through your hand . If you don't grab it , it's going to be gone forever , and so take advantage of every minute of every day . Amen , sorry , mark .
Speaker 3Yeah , not growing weary and doing good , Mark , and being steadfast and movable , always abounding .
Speaker 4Yeah , if you remember that our marching orders are from the Lord , that he has given us a work to do before he created time . Persevere , I mean just move forward . You know , spurgeon , that said by perseverance , the snail entered the ark Right . And then I got corrected when I put that on a post from somebody at AIG that says there were no snails that were in the ark .
Speaker 2Was that an earthquake ? Did we just have an earthquake ? Someone needs to lose weight upstairs . That was pretty heavy .
Speaker 4Yeah , you know yeah .
Speaker 2You think it was an earthquake yeah . So snails didn't enter the ark .
Speaker 4Correct because there's no air in the lungs . Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because , having stood the test , that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him . I can't get over that Snails don't breathe .
Speaker 2They don't breathe .
Speaker 4No , yeah , no , or snails .
Speaker 3Oh , yeah , right , All life holding their breath . Put a snail under water for 10 days . You know .
Speaker 4Spiritual Disciplines . Disciplines of a Godly man by R Kent Hughes is a great book to start off with because it's filled with all sorts of disciplines , from fasting to worship , to prayer , to how to work .
Speaker 3I mean , it's just a phenomenal book to start off with . My son Luke and I tonight are getting together . We've been going through that book and tonight we're chapter 16 , the discipline of giving , and it's one example . It just deals with so many different areas of life Discipline of church right and discipline of serving , discipline of money , discipline of fellowship . I mean it hits so many different areas .
Speaker 2And , yeah , I strongly recommend that one . Speaking of that , I got a quote from Spurgeon . That's one of the most thought-provoking quotes I've ever heard . What is it ? I'm gonna share it with you and see if you see , see if you can see what he's saying . You ready , right , excited , yep , here we go . The most useful members of a church are usually those who would be doing harm if they were not doing good . That is so re-comforted .
Speaker 4That is a great quote , isn't ?
Speaker 2it powerful . That is a great quote . I mean , what's he saying ? He's saying that the people that do things for the kingdom , if they weren't doing things for the kingdom of light because of the nature , they'd be doing things for the kingdom of darkness . I know .
Speaker 3And there's times , you know , you see like an Elon Musk , or you see someone who's just innovative , a Bezos or whatever . An .
Speaker 1Oscar Navarro .
Speaker 3Yeah , a non-Oscar Navarro . And you're like , oh , I mean if that discipline and diligence was channeled into the kingdom . Not that they don't do what they do , but they do it for the glory of God . And then they do other things directly for God's glory . You know this quote by Hugh Martin , it's so powerful .
Speaker 3He says Jesus loved the enthusiast , the man who knew what side he was on and threw himself wholeheartedly into the struggle . He liked energetic action , as in the men who climbed the roof and broke a way through for their paralyzed friend , or in Zacchaeus who forgot his dignity and swarmed up a tree . He loved the generous giver . All four gospels quote him saying he who loves life loses it . He loved the generous giver . All four gospels quote him saying he who loves life loses it . He who spends keeps it sums up his attitude to life . He praised the man who banged on the door until he got an answer . He wanted men to show that kind of determination in the affairs of religion . He praised the widow who badgered the unjust judge into doing justice . He did not like playing for safety or burying one's talent . It is the peacemakers rather than the peacekeepers whom he blesses . Goodness is a positive , active loyalty .
Speaker 2Who said that ?
Speaker 3This was Hugh Martin .
Speaker 2Well , that's one of the most neat things I've ever heard . I knew you would love that right Absolutely .
Speaker 3I'm so excited , yeah , and look , let me just say that our ministry is a byproduct of diligence , because this has been Ray's life and because of it , the whole world's being reached and it's influenced and impacted and affected us Praise the Lord for that .
Speaker 1Yeah , praise God I have one quick quote which I know raising love to , and it kind of goes back to what you just said really , really quickly . Which is like because I think you said like well , where do I start ? Okay , I'm not diligent , and I love General Patton's quote A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week .
Speaker 2Ooh , I like that , just do it . That's a good one Give it done .
Speaker 3I like that .
Speaker 2Just do it , go on , give it done . Perfectionism .
Speaker 3Do it right now .
Speaker 2Walk on water , even if you're going to sink , just do it . Do it now easy .
Speaker 3You stupid perfectionists . Listen to this by Randy Smith Christians should be the most diligent people on the planet . Sadly , this is often not the case , as we are outspent , out-thought and out-performed , oftentimes by the very opponents of the gospel . Is there any cause greater than fighting for the eternal salvation of souls ? Is there any book more accurate and relevant and thrilling than the inspired word of God ? Is there any power greater than the Holy Spirit ? Is there any God who can compare with our God ? Then , where is the diligence , the dedication , the determination of his people ? Woo , that's power man , this one by an unknown guy Following the path of least resistance , is what makes rivers and men crooked . Nice , have you heard ?
Speaker 2that before . I've used it so many times . Ah , okay . Just one other thought yeah , are you ready ? Yeah , jesus never said um , ooh , isn't that cool .
Speaker 3That is good , thomas Watson . Our work is great , our time short and our master urgent .
Speaker 4These are great quotes to put all over your office and home , amen .
Speaker 3Honestly , seriously . Yeah , that has an effect . What you put up on your wall is what you're seeing and thinking on all the time Ray has half of them tattooed onto his neck , oh .
Speaker 4Ray Underwear , your neck no not on your underwear , on your neck Neck Underwear .
Speaker 3Final quote by George Whitefield I am never better than when I am on the full stretch for God .
Speaker 2Amen oh amen .
Speaker 3Good one to end with . Well , friends , there you have it . If you've been lazy , repent and get diligent for the Lord . There is no excuse . In fact , because we live in such a technologically advanced age , we should use those things to free up more of our time . Think about the days Little House on the Prairie . They're out there milking the cow . They're getting water from the well . You know what I mean . You have so much time because you have so much technology . Stop being consumed by that technology . Use your time to be diligent , to be in full stretch for the glory of God . Well , there you have it , friends . Don't forget my comfort is Jesus , the Living Waters mug from which you can chug the evidence Bible that will make you study and smile . Ooh , now , that doesn't rhyme , bible smile
. I'm off today .
Speaker 3Make sure to check it all out at livingwaterscom . And don't forget , friends , there's a podcast at livingwaterscom with your thoughts and comments . Don't forget to give us that rating Still five stars , one of the top in the world , because God has been kind and you've been supportive . Thank you for joining us friends . You've been kind and you've been supportive . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast , where we have no idea . Yes , it's back what we're doing it's appropriate .
Speaker 2It's appropriate True .