Ep 11: Living In The World As a Christian

Richard and Pat discuss following Jesus while living in a secular world. They talk about how they have learned through experience that taking your focus off of your faith can lead to worshiping the things that the world places importance on, and how it will rob you of the life of peace, joy and happiness that God wants you to live.  

Transcript

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and welcome to the two Unlikely Christians podcast. I'm comedian Pat McCool, and now across the Atlantic Ocean to world renowned psychotherapist and addiction specialist, Richard Terrell. Thank you, pat. Not just yet, you know, but working, working, working on it. World renowned. Richard, where am I sitting? Mississippi, am I admirer of yours or do I do I do. Do I? Do I pay attention to your work? Believe you did that. Yes. That'd make you world renowned. Nice. Transatlantic, at least. Japan Atlantic and we have a, uh, we have a lot of followers in America. So your world renowned with them too. Awesome. And actually, and I have heard feedback that you have, uh, some of your information has made a difference in, in people's lives. And, uh, and we've actually added a few countries too. Uh, Italy checked in with us. I guess they, uh, they heard about my grandfather ordering a bologna sandwich in an Italian restaurant and ordering a milk of magnesia from my grandmother. And thought, we'll give these guys a listen. So yeah. Word master spread part. It crossed. Yeah. Um. Got down in the boot. Okay. Well, I know you've had a busy day, today. My week is just now starting off. So let's get to our topic today that what we have wanted to talk to, and it is a very timely, topic today. We wanna talk about following Jesus while living in the world, and that has several different, tracks in my mind. But let's start with your thoughts on this. Yeah, thanks Pat. Like for me. Like you say, there's different, um, connotations to this. Um, one is, so for me, the, the primary one that I had to work on, continue to have to work on, is not being seduced by the shiny things that the world offers. Like the comforts, the pleasures, you know, the external validations, you know, things that like I, I really pursued before as a believer. And, and fall into pursuing now, you know, money, you know, acclaim, you know, lot of stuff, things, you know, like watches, you know, a nice car, you know, not like designer clothes and all that stuff. Yeah. And recognizing that actually like my, you know, who I am and in Christ is not in any way based on those things, you know, that those things are transitory. Yeah. They don't last, you know, we don't store up treasures on earth. Yeah. Where the vermin can eat them and they become corroded actually, where, you know, we live here knowing that this isn't our home. That, you know, we have somewhere else to go, that we serve a higher purpose, and that that stuff is not, you know, that's like, that stuff's not our God. So there's, that's for me, that's the, the one that's really required some attention and some work, you know, since becoming a, a believer and sometimes it's really, I feel really kind of cleansed around that stuff. I feel like the spirit has like washed a lot of that stuff, that stuff out of me, you know? And other times not so much, you know? Yes, I, the, I'm glad you said that'cause that's the first aspect of what I was thinking because I am the poster child for that because going back when, you know, and if you read my book, you know, the subtitle was One Man's Walk Towards God, which started in a jail cell, uh, where I'm sitting there, made a complete mess of my entire life. Uh, led a miserable, unhappy life all the way up to that point. And then I turn and I start having this conversation with God. I start this walk towards God. I haven't become a true follower of Jesus, but I turn towards God. Things start changing in my life. Uh, and following God led to me meeting the woman of my dreams. I never could have imagined being as happy with, you know, with the wife that I have married 35 years, the kids, the grandkids, led me to a successful PO position with a fantastic company. I'm making more money than I had ever imagined making. Um, pretty good for a guy that, smoked half of Mexico while he was in high school and didn't pay attention and ended up in the situation that I was. So, I'm. I got everything that I could have possibly dreamed of, and it's because I've my relationship with God. So you would've thought I would've gotten up every day thanking God and focused on how I could become closer to him, correct. Well, that would be wrong. I did exactly the opposite. I bought the Jaguars, um, I the nicest house, everything. Yes, I was thanking God and thanking God on Sunday, but I immediately got immersed into the world of making money. God, everything that had brought me that happiness, that joy, that, that path to my wife and the family and the real things that gave me joy, that I didn't think were possible. I forgot about that. And I started pursuing, like you said, it was money. You know, God had given me all this happiness, but now I get up on Monday morning, every, not back then. I would get up on Monday morning, what I used to call, what I look back on is Atheist Monday.'cause I'd completely forget that I was a follower of God. I would completely forget everything that I had learned, everything I had listened to on a Sunday, and now I'm locked in on how do I, how do I. Prosper and how do I succeed in this world? Okay, I've taken this territory into the top 20 in the company. How do I do more than that? That's what my focus was, and the company I worked for was a fantastic company, but the way it's set up is their sales organizations out in the states and they're run, sometimes they're run by, by people that you don't really have a lot of respect for and a lot of ways of. Of climbing up the ladder or placing your lips on the dairy air of somebody you don't really respect, and I fell into all of that whole thing. Years go by and I am a stressed out mess believer. Believe in Jesus. Um, I'm a Christian, but I'm not reaping any of the benefits of that. I'm not really that happy. I'm happy on the service because I've got the, I'm making the money, I'm taking the trips and the vacations and, um, but I completely forgot how I got there because I had taken my mind off of God and I had turned to this, and little things seep in, like, like not telling the truth, you know, I think people lying now. You don't strike me as a prevaricator at all. But I was a pretty good one growing up. I could spin the field, but whatever. And I remember my wife one day saying, I got off the phone and she said, well, what did you just tell him? And I repeated it. She said, well, that's not really true, is it? I said, no, but I'm trying to get this deal. And she said, every time you do that, you might as well drop to your knees and go to God and just say, you know, God, I don't trust you for this. I'm not trusting you when I'm in this world. I gotta go out here and I gotta make this. And when, when things don't work out like it did earlier in my life, I'll come back to you. So that's one aspect. It's like you said, you hit the nail on the head. People get up, they're Christians, they believe in God. They, they, it's in their hearts. You couldn't change'em. But Monday rolls around and boy, they're out there throwing haymakers in the world and the world's in influencing them and they're trying to survive in the world. Instead of waking up and going, God is my peace. God is my path. God is my joy. God is why I have everything good in my life, and that's what I focus on. And when I got to the point where I went back to that, everything changed and I got back to the joy and and peace in my life. So, so yeah. Anyway, look, I really, I really get that. I really relate to that. And um, I remember being, before I came to faith, like my career had like really blossomed, you know, and I was like. In demand, you know, being kind of affirmed and, you know, picked up by, you know, various kind of like big figures in my industry. You know, like had like kind of work lying in from, you know, loads of different directions. Just like just people were just aware of my name and who I was and. All that, you know, being invited to like industry dinners and, you know, all this sort of stuff. Right. And, you know, I had a, you know, a really nice car, you know, a few watches, tiers, you know, clothes, you know, like, you know, more money than really, like, I kind of ever imagined I'd have like, not rich by any stretch to the imagination, but like, you know, like for know, a bit like you pat, you know, like kind of having ended up who I ended up. To be in that position was, you know, it was, you know, it's really quite something, right? And um, and just being miserable, like empty, broken inside, you know, and, um, stressed out that that's where I was stressed out all the time. No reason for a follower of Jesus that had, had no reason for people like me and you or anybody that God had done so much for to be all stressed out all the time. And I think it's because, yeah. We, we set God to the side once we start, once you get into the world. And I think people do that on a daily basis, don't you? Yeah, absolutely. I was listening to, um, a book called The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, like as an audio book by Brennan Manning recently, and he spoke about Christians who like give lip service, you know, like. You know, God's been kind to me. You know, it's easy to say, oh, God's been really kind to me. You know, like, you know, with my, you know, I'm very blessed, you know, you know, you know, referring to that, you know, the comfort and, you know, prosperity. Yeah. And, um, you know, in a worldly sense, but like. I mean, I, I, and I've done this, like, I don't actually mean it, you know?'cause on a deeper level, I think I've done it all, you know? Um, and, uh, yeah, it's funny. It sounds good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Praise God, man. Oh, God's been great. God's god's been kind to me, you know? Yeah. In America, that's a thing. Oh, blessed. Yeah. Yeah. Blessed. Yeah. But I don't, but I don't really mean it. But you're exactly right. People, we walk around and we say that, and that's what I did. I was a follower of God, stop reading the Bible, stop pursuing God. I stopped doing all those things and really, I think you might have said it a minute ago, but you, you're really worshiping the world. You know? Yeah. And what I was saying about, about, about telling the truth, I'm getting in a business meeting and I'm fibbing about a, you know, about something to try to win a business deal. I am completely showing a complete lack of faith that is, I have no faith in God if I'm lying to somebody about something. Yeah. And it like, it's like worshiping false idols, you know, like you see it all the way through like the biblical text. Right. Particularly in the Old Testament and, um. Building idols out of silver and gold, you know, and like, you, like, you know, Moses comes down the mountain, like, kind of tells pe you know, like the tells the, the people, you know, it's like, like, you know, the first commandment is just like, you know, worship got like me and me only, you know, God says that. And then, and then Moses kind of turns his back and they start making these idols, you know, like right. And, you know, to some extent, I guess that's humanity, right? That's what we do. But like, I know, you know, the modern idol is, you know, I know that I can, you know, in a moment of kind of anxiety or unhappiness, like sometimes I can turn to my, you know, look at my, my, the, my banking app on my phone, you know, to find some easy comfort, like, yeah, yeah, I'm. I must be doing all right. Like look at, you know, it's what you said before, it's that dopamine hit. It's just like, look, oh, I got this success. Oh, I got that show. Oh look, I did this. Oh yeah, yeah, exactly. You're looking for all these external, go ahead. Yeah, so it's like, and the way I, I think about those external things is it's like smoking crack, you know? Like there is never enough. It will feel good for a moment. Yeah. But there's a law of diminishing returns in that. Yeah.'cause the amount of time it feels good for goes down and down and down and down, and there's never enough. You are always left wanting more. You know, like whether you, you know, six o'clock in the morning, you are gonna walk halfway across town to get another 20 pound style, whatever you call it in your country, you know, 20 pound stone. Uh, you always want more. There will never be enough. It will never satisfy you, you know? And that, that's that external stuff. That's, that's how it operates. You know? Seductive though. Yeah. That, um. I remember there was a place called Destin, Florida. My wife, or we'd go down to the Caribbean and when, you know, we were starting to have all the success, having a lot of money, taking all these trips. Everywhere I went, I would always be sitting there thinking, Hey, we got a nice room, but next time we're gonna get the penthouse up there. It was always something bigger. So this was not fulfilling me. It all sounded fun. And, and you ended up doing a lot of things'cause you thought that's what you had to do. I mean, I literally bought the most expensive car I could, nicest house, I could, uh, always had to take the trip because I'm immediately just living in the world. And that's what you're worshiping and like you said, it drains you. Um, I dunno, if you recall our first conversation, you know, you were like, what? Well, you gave up this very lucrative career. What made you do that? And I said, I got to the point where it was so draining. It was just God has a different purpose. I'm not telling anybody out there to do that whatsoever. There are so many people that are doing God's purpose in their lives. But in that particular instance, I had. I had turned away from following God. All the things that had given me all these blessings, all the things that had given you all that joy. And without rehashing our stories, both of all, both of us would wake up every day and go, wow, you know, look at this. How did we get to this point? And then the phone call comes in and then you start going out and living in. And dealing in the world. And then you start trying to please the world and you start trying to fit in. And to me, it, I was just miserable. I had gotten back to being miserable, gotten back to being happy. I didn't turn to God for my peace. I didn't, pick up the Bible, read a Bible verse, stop and realize and remember all the things God had done for me. Why am I out here stressing over whether I'm gonna be the biggest and the best at this and making more money when God's taking care of me? And. I think the world's full of people that do that. I think there are Christians, I think there are followers of Jesus. I think there are people that that, that believe in God that are listening to this, that do exactly that. They get up on Monday mornings, well, I called it Aism Monday. My wife never liked the term, but for me what it was was on Sunday, I. You know, I've listened to a sermon, or I read the Bible, or I've counted my blessings. I got up on Monday and I was like, boom, now I'm in the world. All of that was completely forgotten, and now I'm out there. Now I'm stressed again. And I think there are so many people that are doing that and don't really realize that if you put your faith in, God, put your focus on God. You're gonna have peace, you're gonna have the joy, you're gonna have the happiness, which is the point of what we're doing, in this podcast. That's where you're gonna find your joy and happiness. Do you know, uh, in a, in the western world, the leading depression is more rampant in the western world. Than anywhere else on the globe. Now you would think the people that have the most, I mean in America, a person in poverty still lives better than the average person in a lot of third world countries. But depression is rampant in America, it's rampant in Britain, in the western world where we have things that are there are a lot easier, life is a lot easier. That's from not, if you are a Christian, that is including Christians, that is including believers. I know people that believed in God that committed suicide. Do you remember the episode we did where I talked, you know, where the fellow, that was going into recovery? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. The man of your. Message board football thing. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, by the way, he, uh, as of about a week ago, he's still doing strong. He still appreciates prayers. Um, praise, praise God, man. That's amazing. It's, it's not easy. Um, you know, but he's fighting the battle. But on that board, there's, there's all these people and somebody posted a thing like, does anybody know anybody that committed suicide? And I was thinking, oh, well I do, I know two or three people and I'm thinking I'm gonna be one of the few people that answer that in the positive. And a couple days later I go back on the board. That thing is pages and pages long. It's almost like everybody on there noose has known somebody that committed suicide that has, yeah, there's a stat, isn't there? One sec. Um, gimme one sec. Um. Isn't it? Is it true that the biggest pillar of men under 40 in the UK is suicide? And so have a little look at this part. Yeah. There's strong statistical evidence that suicide is one of the top, if not the top causes of death among younger men in the uk. Um, yeah. Yeah, that's, uh, yeah, I mean, it's frightening, isn't it? And you're right. Like, you know, like, I mean, in the UK as far like how we define poverty, I mean, as you know, I've spent time in South Africa, right? And, um, you know, as you come out of the airport. Right. You go past the, like the, the shanty towns, you know, the townships, which I don't think shanty towns is probably the best term, but, um, yeah, like you see, you like that's, you see like that's how people live. I remember driving, um, off the Hal Bay, which is like, um, this kind of beautiful, like bit of Cape Town, Cape Town's like a number. It's actually lots of different kind of, um, districts or actually like little towns that are sort of. Somewhat linked together, but not always. Right. You know, quite often there's like a big chunk of kind of greenery in between them and heart bays like the, the white people they're living, you know, they live very well. You know, it's, it's a, it's an affluent area. Right. And, um, I drove past this collection of shacks, like so ramshackle and run down. Yeah. And I literally thought I was in an Uber. I thought, no one, no one's living there, that must be abandoned. You know? And then I saw the clothes line, you know, with freshly, you know, obviously clothes that had obviously been put on there that, that day, you know, and I, I saw men coming out there, you know, off to, you know, what I saw a lot of men doing over there was scavenging through, through. Through the white people's rubbish, you know, not, you know, I'm not, I'm not making this about race, but that is what I observed. You know what I mean? And, um, I, we have so much in the west and yet we're so unhappy. And that is just such a, a powerful, um, like example or such a testament to. It is that we're talking about, you know, the stuff of the world, and it's like, look like the, the devil took Jesus up, didn't he? Took him up, you know, took him up high, showed him all this, you know, the, all, you know, all the stuff of the world. You know, you, you can have all of this if you just bow down and worship me, you know? And, uh. That I get, you know, that's what we're talking about, right? Because obviously we've got the flesh right, which kinda hungers for those things. But then, but yeah, we've got the enemy as well. You know, who sells us these ideas, you know, there, you know, tells us this is what we need to be. Okay. And there isn't enough of that stuff there on and off s or commas on your bank balance or there aren't online, you know, to make me feel like intent be to experience peace really, you know? Um, you know, Jesus talks as well, doesn't, he talks about the peace that makes no sense. Know, a peace that surpasses all understanding. You know, like the peace that I give you is not like, is not like what the world can offer you, you know? And that's it. I literally, with without Jesus and focusing on I'm, I'm lost. I, the moment I start, you start drifting away and letting things affect you. I bet you in those shanty towns, there's probably not a high suicide rate. People are just trying to survive. And then the more that we have, and like I said, even Christians are probably are in that number of committing suicide. Uh. H suffering through depression. When we have everything at our fingertips to give us the peace, to give us the joy. I mean, you and I know it. You know, you and I have had that conversation. We know Jesus is real. We know the peace. We've gotten that. But if you, we've gotten the joy, we've gotten the peace from following Christ, but the moment you turn your mind off. To something else is when you start getting the inner torment and you start getting away. And so what do you think are some ideas just for the average person, the average follower of Jesus? Obviously if you don't know Jesus, um. Richard and I would tell you there's your solution, but there are so many people that are Christians that are following God, that, that still find themselves fighting that battle in the world. And they're not getting the joy, they're not getting the peace, they're not getting the happiness. It's gotten fairly easy to me. I just know when external forces are starting to talk to me, that I just turn and go, okay. I just think of everything God's done for me. I start talking to God.'cause when I'm talking to God, Satan can't talk to me. So what, uh, do you have any ideas? On how you focus on God and you focus on Jesus. I'm not talking about you walking around with your Bible in your hand at every moment, but living that life where you're just, you're living with your father'cause that's what he is God. Mm-hmm. You're just communicating and it doesn't leave your mind. Any thoughts or ideas there? Yeah, yeah, absolutely man. And um, and this is stuff I've been thinking about personally recently.'cause I, I've just, as you know, I've just moved house and, you know, it's been incredibly busy month. Right. And, and, and, and my practice, you know, my, my, uh, my, my discipline. The picture for your back wall of me is on the way. I'm just waiting. Yes. I'm, I'm, I'm waiting to get it framed that be Yeah. As, as, yeah. We'll, I'm just, I, I think I missed, I missed, I missed the FedEx man. I think Pat, but, um, I want it there before the wedding. I just, you know, definitely we'll probably have it up at the wedding on my, that's, I gonna eat, that's what I was thinking on an easel. Yeah. If I can't get the passport worked out, I'd like, you know what I mean? Just right there in a chair, put a little small tux around it. Um, yeah, absolutely. Good job. No, no, you're going, you're going through all of this. Yeah, I'm going through all of this. My practice has slipped. Right. Am I praying as much as I was not, am I, am I reading my Bible as much? No. You know, like, am I talking to other believers as much as No. Right. And so I was thinking about this this afternoon, right? And it's like, you know, like, but there's a number of things I say to this, right? But it's like, it's a relationship, you know? So it's like if I'm in a, you know, like if I'm in a relationship with someone, right? And I text them now and again, and they, you know. I might, but I might not. Yeah. I'm too busy to call them. Yeah. And like if they text me, I might get back to them, but I might not, you know, like, you know, like that kind of, you know, if I, if I'm trying to build a relationship with someone and that's how I behave, like that relationship is not going anywhere. Yeah. Like, you know, so it's like having that relationship. So it's like, okay, like how, how much am I doing? To like to, to connect with, to be close to him, to be, you know, in that kind of conversation, in that contact with Jesus, like to actually like to, to rest in his love. Right? And, um. I was on a group last night online and we were talking about this. It's like, it's not about works, you know, it's about faith. We're justified through faith, like you know that, you know through. Some are in the process of coming to believe, you know, and believing that Jesus was the sons of God. Maid man walked among us, died on the cross for us. Sins rose again three days later. To sit at the right hand of the father, you know? You know, if you believe that in your heart and confess that with your mouth, you are a Christian, right? Like that's it. You're a follower of Jesus Christ and you are justified through faith, you know, and that grace is irrevocable and like, you know, like you are all encompassing, right? But it's not about works. It's about that faith. But that doesn't mean you don't have to do some work. You know what I mean? Right, right. Because it's a relat'cause it's a relationship, you know, like we're justified through faith, but then we gotta do, do some stuff and that, you know, my friend was speaking on this Believers in Recovery or our meeting last night, and he was like, you know, sometimes we can be guilty of life just resting in our salvation. You know, we experience our salvation and we just lie down, kick our shoes off, you know, and just kind of. Quarter along, putter along, you know? And, um, so it's like, what am I doing? What am I doing to have that relationship? What am I doing to, um, to help others come to him? You know, like, just like what, you know, and it, you know, we all have different gifts and different anointings. You know, some people are great evangelists, some people are, you know, gifted in other ways. But so what am I doing? What am I doing for that relationship? What am I doing to, in an effort to show my gratitude? For this, immense, for this gift I've been given. Like, that's indescribable, you know? And the other thing I just, I mean, I just, I guess, um, I wanted to just respond really Pat to like what you said about, you know, we know what the solution is. Yeah. And it's, it's like we know what the solution is, right? That's like, I don't think about, you know, it's not a thought, you know, it's not a belief, you know what I mean? It's, you know, it's like, I know, you know, because I've experienced it. Because I felt him reaching. And touch me and heal things. Nothing else had reached in touch and healed. You know what I mean? So it's like, I know, you know, but like to get to that point, like for me, I didn't come in and I didn't have a supernatural experience at the all, you know, like for me, I turned up right in a place of desperation and I kept turning up, you know, like I kept reading the Bible even when it made no sense to me. You know? I kept praying, I kept worship, you know, I kept, I kept turning up, you know, church recovery meeting, like Christian recovery meetings. It was like, for me, it's like the darkness got got chipped off bit by bit and then it hit me and it's somewhere in that experience like that was where not all of a sudden I knew. So I don't, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't believe in God. You know what I mean? Like I know he's real. You know what I mean? It's not a belief. It's like I just know, you know? So I would encourage anyone that's trying to. You know, it's like struggling. Like if you, like, if you're turning up and it still doesn't make any sense and you feel like it's not working and you're not feeling anything and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, like, that was me. But for a while, you know what I mean? But there was enough. There was just, there was enough. There was something that brought me back, you know, glimmer. That was all it was at first, for a while. It was just a little glimmer of light and then it, you know, and that's how it happened. For me, that was the same with myself. I, I didn't have that moment. At the altar of the moment when I prayed the Prayer of Salvation that everything changed for me. Everything did on the inside. The Holy Spirit gets inside of you. But yeah, well I was, that's a good analogy. It was a chisel and a chisel. I read the Bible at. It didn't make any sense. If you recall, in my book, I said, I try, started trying to read the Bible and I, and I couldn't get through what I called the tudes, which was the beginning. I was just like, I'm like, okay, I'm four pages in and, and you know, and we're ab Shaf and Ray. I'm just like, okay. And so I've just kinda reading along now, uh. I can pick the Bible up. Actually, when I read it now, I read it in more of a historical. The first time I read the Bible, I read it through, and you know why I read it.'cause I was gonna get favor. See, I was like, if I read this whole Bible through, then God will certainly, uh, bless me and give me my breakthrough. So I read the whole thing. I couldn't remember anything in it. All, all I was doing chapter down, okay. On to, I'm onto this great New Testament. Let me roll through this. Moved right on through it. I, I mean, I, I might as well been reading the comic book. Wasn't paying attention at all. Now. Inspired by you by the way. Um, because of some of our private conversations on things you said when you turned to the Bible. I just started reading in a historical context and I started reading into Matthew and I think we had that conversation. I did not know it was, it was 14 generations.'cause I'm a big history fan. I would skip school and go read my history book out, by the lake. Uh, but it was 14 years from Abraham. To David, 14 years from David to the Jews being taken into captivity and then 14 years to Jesus. So it, you know, it's kind of unique. There was a 14, 14, 14, and I also was surprised to find out as we discussed that Solomon was actually the. Child of Bathsheba and David. Mm-hmm. The of their adulterous affair. So it was, but now I read it and I get something out of it. I'm reading it like, let me read this to, we do so much when you're I don't want. Use the word mature, immature, Christian. But when you're first starting, you are a little kind of, I'm doing things to try to garner favor. When I first really started, I mean, I'm just being honest. I go to God now, you know, I'm like, you know my motivations. You know who I am, you know, the seedy side of me. You know the good side of me. That all comes from you. I'm just here trying to accomplish what you want me to accomplish. But when I read now I'm learning. Things are jumping out at me that I just didn't understand and one of the biggest things that I've noticed that when I'm reading the Bible or I'm paying attention to God, remember I told you about the prayer people, you know, I had somebody tell me like, I feel guilty when I'm praying. Sometimes I fall asleep. And I said, well, don't feel guilty because Jesus saying rest in him. Once you're talking to God, you're talking to Jesus. All those fears kind of go away. This is kind of an overlay of what we're talking about. If you're, when I would be stressed and I start thinking about trying to solve a problem at two 15 in the morning, laying in the bed, and you're not gonna solve it. All you're gonna do is just torture yourself. But if I'm in turn talking to God, thanking him, I slip off, I go to sleep. Uh. And that wisdom can somehow, you know, seep into my head. But the point is, I am talking to God, I'm talking to my father, and he's just like your real father. He wants you to come talk to him. You don't have to come in with all these big words and everything like that. It's just like going to your dad going, look, I'm stressed about this, or I got this going on. Or you're being, you're being grateful, but if you're talking to God, you're talking to Jesus. Satan can't talk to you. And as we talked about in the spiritual warfare, which we could talk about in every single episode, because it really is spiritual warfare. When we get up and we started, when you and I started following God and the money and everything started coming in, Satan starts attacking, okay, well he's blessed them. If I can get them, get their mind off of this and get them through, uh, get them to be that anger or be anxious about continuing to have this success and things. I have just found that if you immerse yourself. In, if you immerse yourself in the word of God, I'm not talking about just walking around carrying your Bible, but if you're reading, if you're listening, if you're thinking about something, uh, watching a sermon of, with a pastor reading a book, just constantly be putting it in your mind. Then the world and the world is Satan.'cause who, you know. You made a good point. Satan took Jesus up on the hill, said, I'll give you this. What does that mean? If he says, I'll give you this, that means he owns it. And so what do we do? We go out here and we try to survive in, in this world when we should be focusing on Jesus. I have this, what I call the one thing principle. If I'm reading a book or reading a chapter, or if I'm reading a chapter in the Bible. One thing, don't try to soak it all in, just take one thing from it. Mm-hmm. And then you're constantly kind of dwelling on, Hey, I heard a pastor, I heard a great sermon, this one thing, and then just kind of remember that. And then it just builds this, uh, this mansion of goodness in your head where the other stuff can't come in. And just remember what you focus on determines how you feel and determines what you feel. It's just that simple. If you're focusing on God, you're focusing on Jesus, you're gonna be more positive, you're gonna be happy. You're going to have peace in your mind. You might be dealing with a stressful situation, but if you're dealing with it under the guise of, God has seen me through everything else in my life, he's gonna see me through this. If it's a stressful situation, whatever it is, if you focus on God. Immerse yourself in the goodness of God, in the goodness of his blessings, the goodness of his grace, and what he's done for you. That's what takes it away from me, and it's just, it's what you focus on is gonna determine how you feel. Remember. You gotta go to God. He's not yelling at you. He's not yelling at you to get away from the cliff. Satan's telling you to go to the cliff, jump off the cliff, and here's 15 reasons why you jump off the cliff. That's why you have actual Christians that have committed suicide and that live with depressions and are struggling on a daily basis. But if you consciously. I'm talking to God, I do it just in, I don't have to stop and pull over on the side of the road. I'm like, all right, God. All right. I'm literally ready to punch this woman in the face at the gas station. You know, I just constantly have a running conversation, just like I would my very own father.'cause he is, is our very own father. Um, anyway, you have any, uh, closing thoughts on that? Um, well, let me have a little think about what else is there to say on this. I mean, we've definitely focused on that sort of external. Validation and gratification, I guess. Uh, the thing, I was just looking through the Bible as you were talking, you know, and I, I think just to think to what you were talking about, Matthew four, four, you know, Jesus answered. This is in response to the devil. You know, it is written, man shall not live on bread or line, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. And, uh, and you know what, I think what, what that, the point that that makes to me, man, shall not live on bread alone. It doesn't say, man shall not live on bread, you know? We gotta be, we gotta be in the world. Like there are some things that we need, right? Like, you know, I need to be able to pay my electricity bill. You know, I need to be able to keep a roof over my head. You know, like, so we kind of have to kind of be in the world, but it's about the way that we attach to it. You know? It's what do we worship? You know, do I worship the things of the world or do I worship him? You know? And that's the, I guess that speaks to our title, right? It's like living in the world as a Christian, you know? Um, yeah, so it's like, yeah, like we, the word of God is what feeds us and we need to find ways to be in the world and engage in worldly things, but without that becoming the full side, you know, without that becoming to the order that we worship us. I think that's the, that's, that's the trick, man. And it's, you know, I don't know about you Pat, but it's an ongoing battle for me. You know, it's a, see, it's a seesaw for me, you know, but I actually, you know, I just wanna share as well, like for the anyone listening, it's like, you know, I certainly don't stand on a pedestal of like spiritual, like perfection or anything close to, right. It's like this is a battle for me, like I've been in it this month. You know, like I'm in it this month. You know, there's everyth, you know, moving house. It's busy. I'm too busy for this. I'm too busy to commune with him. Too busy. You know, I haven't got time to invest in that'cause I've got all these things to do. I need to go to the gym. I haven't been to the gym for three days. I've got an hour spare. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna go to the gym. What am I worshiping? My biceps? You know what I mean? And actually this, this conversation has really. Just really reignited that like, you know, it's a timely reminder for me. So if, you know, yeah, there are people listening, I think that hopefully we can kind of bring to faith, you know, through listening to this. But also if you're in faith and you struggle with this, like, me too brother, you know, you're not alone i's doing it, but you can by focusing on one quick thing. The other day I was fixing a$8, uh, flapper, I mean an$8 fill. Uh, valve in my toilet, uh, because it was running a little too much. It's amazing. With YouTube now I've become dangerous fixing things around the house. I couldn't get the nut off the bottom of the toilet, and I'd read the reviews where our grandmother said it took her five minutes, but I didn't have the tool to get the nut off the bottom. And my wife comes home. I, my language, when my, when I met my wife, I had the language on my hard drive. She was like, well, you were in the military, weren't you? I said, I was. She said, well, why? How? I said, how, how'd you know? She said, because I've never heard anybody. She used that filthy, you know, a mouth and, and I cleaned all that up. So, you know, but my wife is always throughout the years, you know, when something, when I dropped a hammer on my toe, she would look at me and give me the, uh, you know, you need to talk to Jesus about your language. And, um, so I would get the point. But anyway, I'm in this bathroom and I'm letting out just, ah, you know, every time I'm dropping the wrench and I'm just ready to choke somebody because I can't get an$8 fill valve. This thought and, and I came and so that's life. That is just life to when someone gets up and, and they've listened to us or they've had this conversation, they've listened to their pastor and they get up on Monday or their Tuesday and this happens, or the spouse comes in, or the boss or whatever's going on, or the car messes up. You go zero to a hundred and your're back in this world and you're stressed as opposed to going, I'm living with God. I have a father I can text. I mean, literally I can almost just. Text. He's given me a whole blueprint on how to live that's in the Bible. Um, and he's just right there. Okay, wait a minute, this is my peace. Calm down. Let me put my faith. Uh, lemme put my focus, uh, back on Jesus and everything he's done for me. No, you're not gonna float around. Neither one of us do, which is what we just illustrated. Um. But that has given me great peace in my life. I start going off, but I come back and I come back and I come back and what I've done, what I've learned, just focus on God, focus on Jesus. And you don't have to walk around singing hymns all the time, but just make it cognizant and it's what you put in your mind too. In this world these days, the stuff people are seeing on, you know what you got, if you cut on tv, if you cut on the news and all the people that are ready to punch everybody in the face and stuff. But if you're filling your mind with all of that. You know, my wife has this thing like, you cut on the news or whatever you're getting irritated or angry or you're mad. And look what somebody said on, she'll walk by and grab the control and go, we are turning to Jesus. And it'll be a pastor, uh, on a station that's just given a sermon. And five minutes later, 10 minutes later, not only has the blood pressure gone down, but now you're encouraged. You just learned something. I just heard the word of God. I just heard God talking and now. I've got joy now. My peace and everything is back simply'cause I'm focusing on God and focusing on Jesus. But I think you hit the nail on the head for everybody out there. It's a struggle, but it's a struggle that Jesus won. He won the struggle, he won the battle, and we should live in the victory of it. So, uh, we'll leave it there. Uh, Richard, you have something I know that you, uh, have to do. You are a multitasker. Well, you're not, if your world renowned, which you are. World renowned in small, it's small areas, but yeah. Thanks Pat. Yeah, you can't just close the computer like me and go lay, lay in the bed and start thinking up goofy stuff to say it, to say it the next show. So, so go out and make an impact in people's lives and, uh, and everyone else out there. So good to see you, rich. And once you too, man. God bless everybody. Yep. God bless everybody out there. And keep your mind on God. Keep your mind on your Father. He's your father. Keep your mind on Jesus and you'll see a big difference in your life, and you'll fulfill his purpose and everybody has it. It's not just to go out and evangelize. You'd be amazed at everybody that's listening, the impact that you're making on people's lives. If you're following Jesus and you're walking in the. The path he wants you to walk. So, alright, we'll see you next time and take care, rich. Do you later, pat. God bless you man.