WEBVTT 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:07.200 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.599 We exist to awaken this generation to new life in Christ. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.399 To find out more, go to awakeningchurch.com. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:25.519 It is so wonderful to be with our awakening family, and thank you to Pastor Ryan and the whole team for making us feel at home. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:30.000 Those of you who may be newer to Awakening, this is our hometown. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:34.159 We grew up in Silicon Valley, but we've been living in the Rockies for the last three years. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:41.920 But every time we return, we feel so much the presence of the Lord, the welcome of this wonderful church family. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:48.960 And so if you're newer, I just urge you, let this be a place of solace, encouragement, instruction, and wisdom for you. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:50.399 We're glad to be with you. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:56.399 If you have a Bible, turn to James chapter 4, verse 13, and we'll come to that text in just a moment. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:00.719 As we continue this amazing series, Now What? 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:08.799 Now, right now we're hearing words like unprecedented in the midst of this pandemic and some of the protests around us. 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:14.719 And certainly for all of us, it is unprecedented, but it's not unprecedented for the people of God. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:24.400 It's not unprecedented for our Lord, who has already walked through all of this and is helping us be faithful as we walk through these circumstances. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:31.439 But we'd also be deceiving ourselves not to be aware of some of the real stressors that we're under right now. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:41.599 And I'd like to just encourage you that this is a time to rejoice in the Lord, but it's also a time, as we heard it a little bit earlier, it's okay to lament. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.879 It's okay to feel the weight of what we're going through. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:48.959 In fact, all of us are feeling about three layers of stress right now. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:57.760 First of all, just the stress of the circumstances themselves, just the desire to break out of the restrictions and experience more of life. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.400 And then we have the second layer of stress, which is will I have work? 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:07.680 What's going to be changing in my world of work, in the economy, in our society? 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:15.919 And then underneath it is all kinds of things that we kind of battle quietly seem to come to the surface in these moments. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:39.120 And so today, as we again talk about now what, in light of this moment and look at the scriptures, God wants to reach into our hearts and help heal and deliver and really help us deal with all these levels of stress in order that we might bring Him glory and we might bring good to those around us and ourselves feel more whole than ever before. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:45.759 It's an interesting thing, but faith and uncertainty are actually partners of grace. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:57.439 You know, our security doesn't come from the immediate circumstances, but it comes from our eternal hope and the presence of the Holy Spirit giving us little foretastes of the kingdom. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:09.360 Every time we feel God's forgiveness, every time we reach out to others and express our mutual respect and love and joy, we're getting a little taste of that future kingdom that's coming. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:23.520 Every time God answers a prayer and every time we persevere through challenges, the Holy Spirit is with us, giving us those down payments of a future where one day there won't be any more tears or pain or uncertainty. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:29.919 The other thing on a very practical note is that our future is built on God's design. 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:35.680 My friend Anthony Liebenberg said that God has a designer life for every believer. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:41.199 And in Ephesians 2.10, Paul says that God has good works that we're to walk in. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:45.280 So God's design matters, but our discipline matters as well. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:52.240 In order to step into that beautiful blueprint, we have some steps to take, and James is going to help us with that. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:04:03.360 And the other thing I want to make us alert to, in addition to the stresses, is that this moment calls upon us to be alert, to realize the spiritual battle that we're in. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:10.800 You see, every trying circumstance is an opportunity for the Lord to refine our character, to grow our community. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:17.279 But our enemy, our adversary, wants to disintegrate our lives, wants to depress us and to discourage us. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:29.839 It's also a time for wisdom in the work that we do, to really listen to God, listen to his word, listen to his spirit, listen to how he speaks through one another, and really walk in wisdom. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:36.240 But it's also a great opportunity, and I was sharing this with Pastor Ryan and other leaders across the country. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:43.360 What a great moment for recalibrating how we understand God's work when we can't do all the normal activities. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:48.959 So this is a great moment that we're in, but we want to acknowledge that it's a challenging one as well. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:55.439 By the way, James is going to talk about people making decisions, kind of without regard to God. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:04.879 And I just thought it'd be kind of fun to look at all the predictions human beings have made that just show our own pride and presumption and sometimes just silliness. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:10.160 In the 1950s, they predicted we'd have nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners by now. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.959 In the 1960s, people said no one's ever going to buy a car from Japan. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:19.839 I've looked in the parking lot at Delmar High School where the cars come from, folks. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:28.000 In the 1970s, in the late 70s, and I worked at this company, a leading CEO said nobody's ever going to have a computer in their house. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:30.480 What a waste of time to invest in that. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:42.800 Since the 1960s, even as close as Stanford, there have been all kinds of apocalyptic predictions that world population would grow and that we'd all perish by the year 2000. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:50.160 Well, we have lots of needs around the world, and we want to be concerned with our environment and our economy and justice, but you know what? 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:55.199 We're still here, and in fact, we have a 20, 25% food surplus in the world. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:06.800 You see, God has a plan, and he's allowing us to partner with him, and all the human predictions are not going to thwart that plan as we partner with him for good in the world. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:13.600 One other thing I find interesting, and I just I so love the worship team here and so love the different styles that you bring. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.199 But in the 1990s, they said, it's the end of vinyl. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:19.839 Nobody's ever gonna listen to records again. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.600 And here we are, people are buying vinyl and buying record players. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:30.319 BC, James's hearers, and we as hearers of God's word face some of the same circumstances. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.720 They were persecuted and scattered. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:37.680 They were marginalized, they were minimalized, and in some cases overtly persecuted. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:50.879 Now we don't face that kind of overt persecution in the United States, although millions of our sisters and brothers do around the world, but we do feel the marginalization, we do feel on the outside at times. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:59.120 The community that James is speaking to, or I should say the communities as they gathered, they faced issues of pride and prejudice. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:05.040 And I'm not just referring to a great Jane Austen novel or movie there, but they had internal challenges. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:13.920 By the way, the minute you get two or three people gathering, you have both the presence of God in great joy and purpose, and you have the potential for conflict, don't we? 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:23.360 Now, at least, of course, not in awakening, everything's perfect here, but I've just heard rumors that there's a potential for pride and prejudice to sneak into our hearts and into our conversations. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:33.439 And then James's friends had to learn the integration of their belief system with their real behavior every day, learning about faith and work. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:38.480 And so as we come to our passage, the context of this whole letter becomes important. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:47.279 And Pastor Ryan's been preaching on this, and you've been reading in James, the great contrast between God's wisdom and our pride. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:58.639 And by the way, we are made in God's image, and there's much for us to take joy in that God's given us gifts, but he wants us to bring everything in reference to him and not ourselves. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:03.759 We have problems in James and in our own day of rich and poor learning to serve each other. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:12.399 You know, around the world, class, gender, race, ethnicity, these are conflicts until the Holy Spirit comes. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:18.000 And around the table of the Lord, we find a unity that only God can create. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:23.199 Christ died for it, and we're called by the power of the Spirit to help maintain it. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:29.279 And then James had to deal with the fact that we can look in the mirror and walk away and forget what we've seen. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:34.879 We can have a great moment in church and then on Monday wonder what we just heard sometimes. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.279 And he wants us to integrate our lives. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:46.480 So let's look at the text that we get to look at today, and let's allow the Holy Spirit to take God's word and change our hearts and minds together. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.360 James chapter 4, verse 13 to 17. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:57.840 Now listen, you who say, Today or tomorrow we'll go into this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:08:58.639 Why? 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.519 You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:03.120 What is your life? 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.799 You're a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:11.759 Instead, you ought to say, If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.200 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.080 All such boasting is evil. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:24.879 If anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:28.879 Wow, what amazing poetry here. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:32.879 As James unveils the condition of our heart. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:39.840 By the way, don't take this paragraph as the sum total of everything God says about you as a believer in Christ. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:45.600 James is not trying in this moment to build us up psychologically or heal childhood needs. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:51.360 He's trying to remind us that in the midst of God's work in us, he also wants to bring humility. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:55.919 You notice verse 13, he talks about human planning and presumption. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:57.440 We're going to go into this city. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:09:59.759 We're going to make this plan, we're going to do this. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:08.000 You're sitting around your, of course, we can't sit around our cubicles anymore or conference tables, but you're on your Zoom call and you're making all kinds of plans. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:12.080 And James says, What's the attitude behind that? 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:14.159 Why are you making those plans? 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.799 And there's verses 14 and 15. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:27.360 James uses a lot of Old Testament references here as he talks about this mist, this temporality, this briefness of our human life. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.799 And he's calling for humility and submission to God. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:36.559 And then in verse 16, he says, Watch out for your arrogance, watch out for your pride. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:43.679 And then in verse 17, just when we think there's just almost no hope, he says, By the way, there's something we can do. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:51.679 There's things God's told us to do that we can be about today, even when we're not certain of tomorrow. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:53.440 I want to say that again. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:11:08.000 There are things God's word tells us to do and things the Holy Spirit's put on our hearts, both as an awakening family and as individuals, that we can be about doing even while we wrestle with uncertainty about tomorrow. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:14.960 Now, real quick here, before we jump into what we can be about, a couple things James is not saying. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.399 James is not saying it's wrong to plan or to prosper. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:26.480 He's not saying it's wrong to put a business plan together or wrong to make plans. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:35.519 In fact, in Luke chapter 14, Jesus tells us if you're going to build a tower, you sit down and you calculate all the costs and details in building that tower. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:43.200 If you're in a military campaign, you're not just going out there with your troops, you're thinking about it, you're counting the cost before you do something. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:49.600 One day we were doing some strategic planning in an organization I was part of, and there's always this tension. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:57.200 And I'm sure you've experienced it in your life and your work and family and maybe even in some areas of church conversation. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:08.399 But this tension between strategic planning and master planning that goes beyond just the immediate week or two or ten, and this sense of wanting to walk by faith, being open to the Spirit of God. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:17.200 So we had a real venerable leader, an older leader standing up talking about strategic planning, and all of a sudden a missionary stood up and said, What about faith? 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.159 We got God called Abraham to go out in faith. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.639 You know, you're supposed to just trust God as you go. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:25.440 And this wise old leader said, You know what? 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:26.559 Absolutely. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:33.679 There are times that God calls us just to trust him and go out and know he's going to provide. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:36.240 And then he said, This that was has changed my life. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.759 He said, We can also hear from God in our planning. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:51.679 And whether it's our financial planning, whether it's personal planning, whether it's business or work or ministry, the Holy Spirit can help us plan well and plan from right motives. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:58.159 And that was life-changing because, on one hand, there are moments when he tells us, hey, let's take a step and go. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:03.279 And then there are moments when we need to wait and get the details in order. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:11.279 Which leads me to say this we have to learn to live with a little bit of complexity, with knowing that things are going to change. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:24.240 Our stability is our identity in Christ and our sense of calling, not the current circumstances or even the job title we have, which by the way could change tomorrow. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.559 We have to live with a little bit of complexity. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.960 We have to live with some nuance sometimes. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:40.159 We have to live with the fact, and I'm not talking about moral absolutes or theological truth, but live with the fact that things aren't always clear or the answers aren't always immediately evident. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.759 We have to press into God and listen humbly to one another. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.399 And sometimes we have to live with paradox. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.799 What I love about this passage is one minute I feel like almost slammed by James. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.559 I mean, come on, you've told me my life is just a mist. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.799 That's not, I thought I was important. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:03.440 And the the paradox is this we're so important that Jesus died for us. 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:14.080 And by the way, if you're a a seeker, maybe you've been hanging out for a while here at Awakening, maybe you've been on the edges of full commitment to Jesus Christ. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:26.480 I want you to know that he loved you so much he went to the cross, loved you so much that he bore every bit of your sin and your suffering, every bit of your sorrow and unanswered questions. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:35.919 That we serve a Lord and Savior who's forever one of us, who died for our sins, and on the third day he rose again, telling us that we have a future beyond this moment. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:43.440 And if that's a Lord worth following, I want to urge you today to make a decision to begin to step in to a life of faith. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:55.200 It's going to include some complexity, it's going to include some paradox, it's not going to include having all the answers to every detail at every moment, but it's going to include a deep assurance that God is with you and loves you. 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.120 Encourage you to step into that. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:03.279 In Romans, in Romans chapter 14 and 15, in Acts, in the book of Acts, Paul made plans. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:09.440 And God honored those plans as Paul went out to the people who'd never heard the gospel before. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.080 And yet Paul's plans were altered at times. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:17.519 One time, as Luke tells us, the Holy Spirit told us, no, you don't go there, you go somewhere else. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:26.080 Another time they had spiritual warfare and they confronted some real adversarial powers and they had to pivot and make other decisions. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.320 So we're allowed to plan. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:34.799 But what God's concerned about is that we plan with humility and with understanding of his grace. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:36.000 So now what? 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.080 How do we take this passage? 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:42.480 And I just want to give some practical advice that comes right out of this text. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:49.360 It just sort of leaps out and helps us live in light of the uncertainty that we find ourselves in. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:54.320 First of all, today's listening is tomorrow's lifeline. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.639 Today's listening is tomorrow's lifeline. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:09.440 If we want to be walking in a sense of assurance and peace, if we want to be resilient and ready for what's ahead, let's press in and listen. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:23.679 By the way, that listening includes listening to the Lord in prayer, listening to one another and praying for each other, listening to God's word, both directly as we read it, and then through Pastor Ryan and the team and others bringing it to us in different forms. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:29.519 But it means also listening to the world around us and hearing the heart cries and the hopes of others. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:40.960 Because as we listen, a picture emerges of our place in God's plan, and we can be a person of resource and encouragement and not be a victim of the circumstance. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:45.440 The other thing is that today's discipline is tomorrow's destiny. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.919 When we have a sense of what God's called us to, and let me make this really practical. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:16:59.679 But you know what? 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:10.079 I can have those outlined and I can have great intentions and dreams, but if I don't sit down and write something almost every day, those books just sort of sit there as an idea. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.440 I have great goals for my physical well-being. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:22.079 Now, I know I looked really cool and buffed right now, but the fact of the matter is it takes daily discipline just to keep ourselves reasonably healthy. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:29.839 And but I can have all these great goals, but if I don't exercise discipline, so God will give us the goals. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:35.440 God will tell us what our destiny is, but he wants us to exercise discipline. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:44.000 And then I love this at the end of the passage when James says, hey, if you know what to do and you're not doing it, hey, you're kind of in trouble here. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.640 That's what we call the sins of omission. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:48.960 You really need to be about what you know. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:54.559 And one of my Scottish mentors said, Today's obedience is tomorrow's guidance. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.680 I don't know tomorrow's circumstances. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:17:59.119 I have some plans. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:05.920 I'm looking forward to the appointments that Kathy and I have made to see some people here, but I don't know what tomorrow may bring. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:11.920 But if today I'm doing all that I know to do, you say, Well, I don't know what to do today. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:13.599 I mean, where do I start? 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:22.319 Well, you begin in the simplest way possible by submitting your day to the Lord and saying, Lord, I offer you my plans today. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.599 And if those include all the business that James mentions, that's great. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:26.880 Offer them to Him. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:38.400 You begin by kind of getting rid of the attitudes toward people and some of the thinking patterns that get in the way of really hearing the Holy Spirit speak. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.559 And by the way, this is daily discipline. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:42.559 We all do it every day. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:43.839 But you can begin. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:50.640 You can begin by submitting your day, kind of shedding the old clothing, Paul calls it, of some of those attitudes. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:55.359 And then by allowing God's word to be in you as you go about your day. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.359 Now, you may not be a mem a person who memorizes a lot of things. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:01.200 You may not feel like you're a great scholar. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:02.000 Don't worry. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.160 God can give you a verse or two that become a lifeline for today. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:13.279 And so I encourage you as you're in God's word, even if you don't have a lot of time, I know there's a lot of you that are moms raising little kids. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:17.039 By the way, dads are raising them too, but moms bear a special burden. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.079 You're a new mom and sleep deprivation is normal. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.480 You're a new dad and you're learning all of this. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:31.839 Hey, take those five-minute moments, get some of God's word in you, and you'll be amazed at the clarity of your mind and heart as you face new circumstances. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:38.559 You know, we can't alter the circumstances around us, but we can change our responses. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:43.039 We can allow God to work in our character, develop our gifts. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:53.279 Let me go a step further with James's text here by way of application and just kind of get a wonderful view of how he's encouraging us. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.079 First of all, we need God's perspective. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.720 In the providence of God, we are made for this moment. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:02.720 And that's not just a cliche. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.640 Um can I just I want to be really honest with you? 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:14.480 A few weeks ago, I was going through a tussle with some people in leadership, and for a little while I felt like a fossil. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.759 I felt like, man, are my best days over? 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.680 Um, I don't want to make these changes they want me to make. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:34.079 And then I had to laugh a little bit as the Lord worked in my heart that I'd been praying for some of these changes for years, and now I was the one that had to change more than the people I was praying for. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:36.400 We need perspective. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:38.720 We're made for this moment. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:57.200 And I and God has begun begun to show me that the last 40 plus years of serving Him are being refined into something that can be a gift for others, even if it's just a word of encouragement, even if it's just coming alongside someone in private and being able to help them take a next step. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.960 Suddenly you realize we have the great texts like the book of Esther. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.880 You're called into the kingdom for this moment. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:05.759 We we have to be honest, we don't always feel that way. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:09.839 But we are indeed called to God's kingdom for this moment. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.519 We're not accidents. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:20.720 He loves us, he's gifted us, he's refining our character, he's placed us in certain positions and places. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:22.640 We're made for this moment. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:24.960 We also have to continue. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.519 You notice you've heard me say four or five times now that we want to listen to his voice. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:34.559 So not only do we need perspective, but we need our perceptions refined. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:39.359 We need to be able to hear his voice in all the ways he's speaking. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:45.279 God speaks to us directly by the Holy Spirit in confirmation of his scriptures. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:49.119 God speaks to us through the spoken word that our pastors bring. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.720 God speaks to us through the prayers and wisdom of others. 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:55.440 God speaks to us through circumstances. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.839 By the way, it's always good to listen to God's whispers before the megaphone of difficulty. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.279 Comes along. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.000 He speaks to us in all different ways. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:06.640 And we want to just refine our hearing. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.559 And by the way, if you wonder, you know, am I hearing from God or am I just kind of mixing it up with the pizza I ate last night? 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:15.680 You know, am I hearing from God, or is it just my desires? 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:19.839 Talk to a brother or sister within the church community that you trust. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:21.920 Talk to somebody and pray with them. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:29.359 And often God will give confirming and affirming words or maybe adjusting words to help that get refined. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:33.680 A few years ago, I would, we had to make a decision, and it was a challenging one. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:41.920 And so we uh, and Kathy and I usually find ourselves in agreement, I won't say easily all the time, but pretty pretty quickly. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.480 And this decision was a tougher one. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:50.960 So we found a friend we trusted to help us walk through that decision and reframe it. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:57.839 By the way, it still wasn't easy, and but we were able to make a wise decision that has since opened a lot of doors. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:01.920 And by the way, that wise decision also opened a lot of challenges. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:04.400 So no decision is without consequence. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:11.680 But that our friend helped us frame it so that we could have a unity and make a decision, so our perceptions can grow. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:18.240 And then I would say today that our personal and professional relationships are more important than ever. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.640 Folks, we're in isolation. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.960 We're feeling the pain of this moment. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:28.720 But what a great moment, what a great moment to be in better touch with people. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:36.319 We've met more of our neighbors than we in the last four months than we've met in the previous three years where we're living in the Denver area. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:46.160 We have exchanged more phone calls, more texts, more emails of a personal nature, not just the spam that it feels like we're assaulted with. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:47.920 What a great moment. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.680 What a great moment to increase our personal relationships. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:24:00.240 You know, one of the things we're discovering in the church is that activity may not be progress and proximity and meetings may not be relationships. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:08.079 We have a chance to recalibrate and to really deepen both our personal and professional relationships in this moment. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.680 What's James helping us to do in this now what moment? 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:17.599 He's helping us realize that we can be obedient to what we know to do. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.440 And in that obedience, guidance will begin to open to us. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:24.000 James help is helping us be humble. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:28.319 We make our plans, but we make them in conjunction with the Lord. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.920 And he's helping us realize that humility will lead to wisdom. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:36.640 You know, I love earlier in James, he says, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.440 I don't know about you, I want to be on the side of grace. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:42.240 And as we humble ourselves, we can discover that. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.680 James is a little bit direct, a little bit hard with us when it talks about our life being amiss. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:59.440 But remember, that's just one text of an entire body of scripture that tells us our life is of eternal value, but some of the things we focus on are very temporary. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:02.799 One day there's going to be no more sorrow and pain. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:11.839 One day after our Lord returns, all of our work and our play, all of our rest and our relationships will be pure and perfect. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:22.240 And until that day, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can watch God perfect, refine, and help us bring foretastes of his future into everything that we do today. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.759 What a great answer to the question of now what? 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:27.039 What does James say? 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:42.400 Hey, humble yourself, be obedient to what you know is true, deepen your relationships, and you will find in that moment everything that you need for life, for godliness, and to bring pleasure to God and the world around you. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:44.559 Praise his holy name. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.000 He is so good. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:47.359 Would you join with me? 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:54.640 And I want to just pray in a couple of points with you as we allow God's word to take hold in our hearts. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:02.640 Gracious and loving Father, we thank you that you are the Almighty and you're also Abba. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:09.839 But we humble ourselves, Lord, under your mighty hand and say, please, Lord, here are our plans. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:13.039 Refine them, change them, bless them. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:20.319 We humble ourselves under your hand, and we thank you, Abba, that you embrace us with your intimacy and your love. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.839 Jesus, you're the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:28.799 We were the joy set before you as you went to the cross and rose again. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:33.200 We also thank you that you're the good shepherd and we can hear your voice. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:43.359 And sovereign Spirit of God, whose breath animates the stars, whose breath raised Jesus from the dead, you live in us these jars of clay. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:54.640 And we ask, Holy Spirit, that you would give us ever greater sensitivity to your voice and ever greater understanding of how you are at work as we go about our day. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:00.720 We give you praise for this now and thank you for the power of your word in Jesus' name. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:01.680 Amen. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.880 Thanks so much for letting me be part of the family with you. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:07.039 I hope you're encouraged today. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:13.759 And I want you to know that Kathy and I pray for you with great joy, and we can't wait to be together with you in person. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:15.039 Thanks so much.