WEBVTT 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:07.280 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:11.599 We exist to awaken this generation to a 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. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.960 You know, I will never forget the first time I went into a maximum security prison. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:33.520 I was a young pastor, and there was an older man in our church that wanted me to learn to share my faith uh more boldly and also to really care for people that no one cared about. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:36.719 And so we got in our car and we drove several miles. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.920 There's a lot of maximum security prisons in uh Texas. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:55.359 And so we did all the things you need to do, and then I'll never forget you you walk up and all the doors open at one time, and there's guards everywhere, and they've got guns, and it was, I mean, these are people that have committed murder and rape and um in for a long time, nothing to lose. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:03.840 And they'd push a button, it goes shh, and all those steel doors would open, and then you would take a step, and then shh, it was behind you. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:16.000 And you know, I remember sitting there and hearing uh different men's story and looking around and just realizing here's a little open toilet, uh uh, a bed. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:25.200 Uh I mean, I mean, it's just a little box that they lived in, and if they were, quote, bad, then they found themselves in solitary confinement. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:31.040 And I just thought, what would it be like to live without freedom? 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.920 To be stuck in a tiny little room. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:43.040 Um, the next picture that comes to my mind is uh I've been, I think, seven times in probably the last three years to China, maybe more. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.000 And um it's a different kind of prison. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:53.760 Uh we doing everything legally and God's opened and blessed, but I would be with someone and say, Would you like to get a cup of coffee? 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:54.480 No, I can't. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:54.959 Why? 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.400 I don't want to be seen with you. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:56.959 Why? 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:58.879 And we would look up here, look up here. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.560 There are cameras everywhere. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:06.799 When I walk into the country, all ten fingers are uh, you know, fingerprinted. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:08.800 Uh the moment then there's eye scans. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:11.280 When I go to a hotel, they scan my eyes. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.879 They know where I'm at and where everyone is at all the time. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:23.840 And there's just the sense of being a prisoner to someone watching you and what's going to be your social score and what will people say about you. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.680 And if you're with a white person, especially one who's teaching God's word. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:47.199 And then I think the third picture that comes to my mind when I think of freedom and the value of freedom is times where I've sat across a kitchen table with a guy that really got honest with me and talked about his workaholism was just the tip of the iceberg of his life. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:55.599 And he had tried to quit pornography, I don't know how many times, and weeping, and just I've tried, I've tried, I've tried, I've tried, I can't. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:00.319 What I want to talk about is uh is freedom. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:07.199 I I would argue that the greatest gift that Christianity has given mankind is freedom. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:08.719 I mean, I mean, think about it. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:36.159 The great story, the narrative, the great arc is that there is only one creator, and uh this one creator made us for himself, and then there was this tragic fall where we became bound to sin and it created death, and we have an enemy, and then there's this narrative all through the Old Testament of this coming deliverer, this redemption, and then there's the return of Christ, there's consummation, and then ultimate freedom, a new heaven and a new earth. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:44.400 Now, even when you open it up, if you've never read, I didn't read the Bible growing up, and you know, you get to the second book, the Exodus, the moment. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:52.960 I mean, all through the Old Testament, it's the picture of God delivers them out of slavery, the waters part, they walk through. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:58.960 There's this message that God longs to bring us freedom in our life. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.479 And then Jesus came. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:05.759 And do you remember He would he got the scroll from Isaiah and he unrolled it? 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:13.680 And remember, he said, Today, this passage, this truth is fulfilled in your hearing. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.839 And then he said, I've come to set the captives free. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:23.519 And then went and talked about ministry to the poor, and the eyes will receive their sight. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:29.120 And you know, I think about all that, and that's great stuff. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:37.120 But then I thought about in my own life and maybe your life, um, maybe how little freedom we actually experience. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:46.959 Now, certainly there's struggles and addictions, and boy, you talk about how many of us, this COVID, boy, I felt like a prisoner. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:51.360 And I was uh just getting back into sort of moving around a little bit. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:05:02.000 I've taken a couple plane flights, done a couple pastors' conferences, and I took a trip to Dallas, and I was flying back from um Dallas, and I was thinking about, I don't know why. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:10.160 You know how you you read different passages and you memorize some passages, and you know, everyone's got a mask on and everyone's you know sitting and making sure there's distance. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:18.800 And I just was meditating and I began to think of I really am free, and what are the implications of my freedom? 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:26.079 And what I'd like to do is I'd like to share some ways that you are free so that you could begin to practice it. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:30.560 Because what I think is we we're starting to believe and feel that we're not free. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:33.600 And the freedom doesn't have to be uh external. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:45.759 There's strongholds, there's beliefs, there's unconscious expectations, there's ways that we literally are prisoners and don't even know it until someone taps us on the shoulder and says, Well, why are you thinking like that? 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:47.600 Why are you trying to live that way? 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.759 Well, what why do why do you unconsciously feel afraid of that? 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.639 And uh the Bible says that we're to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.040 And so these were things I was meditating on. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.079 It's really kind of a bit of a devotional. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.079 But in the world that we're living in right now, I think it'll be a huge help to you. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:12.240 And so uh I begin to write down, and here's my phrase, I am free. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:12.959 You know what? 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:20.879 You might, if you're taking notes, you might take a sheet of paper and put a line down the middle, and on the one side, just write, I am free. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:28.639 And on the bottom of your sheet of paper, you know, you might go all across the bottom, you know, it says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:32.720 That's 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 17. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.279 And then this is what I did. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:40.800 I started to think about I don't have to control. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:45.680 I just, I just in my mind as I was on the plane, I don't have to control. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:52.240 I was feeling myself kind of get anxious and uptight about some things and thinking about, and then it was just like I'm free. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:07:02.240 I don't have to control the government's decisions, I don't have to control friendships, I don't have to control the decisions that other people make. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:07.279 I don't have to control outcomes and make sure everything happens the way I think they should. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:11.920 I don't have to make phone calls and control conversations or relationships. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.240 I don't have to control. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:22.399 And if you're taking notes, with each one of these, there's one key verse, and the key verse here is Psalm 46.10. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:29.600 And the context, you know, we often hear it in devotional literature, you know, it's like it's be still and know that I am God. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:32.639 Literally the word is cease striving. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:40.959 It's the same phrase Jesus uses when the waves are are coming out and he's in the boat and he says to the wind, stop, be still. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:43.439 It's cease striving, knock it off. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:59.600 And what God is saying to us is this stop striving, stop trying to manipulate and control and work out and align and get everything where you feel like you're on top of it and it's gonna come out the way you think. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:04.079 Cease striving and know that I am God. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:06.639 It's been really freeing for me. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:08.959 Cease striving. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.759 COVID's gonna be over when COVID gets over. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:12.959 Cease striving. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:19.439 The economy, the things that you can't control, I can't control, decisions that are made that are outside our scope. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:20.879 Cease striving. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.439 We have a God who knows what's going on. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:31.920 The second moment of freedom is this it's I don't have to hurry. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:41.120 This is probably a shock for those of you that know me well, that I actually tend toward hurry, that I can be intense and I want to get everything done. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.519 I want to get it done really quickly, and I'm guessing a lot of you the same. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:50.240 And the key passage here is Ecclesiastes chapter 3. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:58.240 Uh in verse 1, it says, There is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every event under the sun. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:14.879 And then the wisest man who ever lived begins to say, There's a time to give birth, and a time to die, a time to plant, a time to uproot what's been planted, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:19.840 He goes on to say, a time to be silent, a time to speak, and then he summarizes this list. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:27.039 He goes, He, God, has made everything beautiful, or literally the idea is appropriate in its time. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:35.279 He set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.399 Now listen to this. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:39.600 Verse 12, chapter 3, Ecclesiastes. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.759 I know there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:53.759 Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in his labor, it is a gift from God. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:03.120 And what I want to help you and maybe me get is that when I'm driving, I don't have to hurry to look at the text. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:07.600 I don't have to check my email every other minute to find out who I need to get back to. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.320 I don't need to hurry through a conversation. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.799 You don't have to hurry when you're tucking your kids in bed. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:26.799 You don't have to hurry when you're having a cup of coffee after dinner and just causing the world to stop and have a conversation with a great friend or with your spouse. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:29.919 You don't have to worry to get all your work done. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:42.960 You don't have to always, you know, looking at changed lanes and getting in this lane and that lane and this lane to get there as fast as you can, as though somehow my life or your life hurrying around is going to make a big difference. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:51.679 I um had tremendous struggles with workaholism and hurry and multitasking and trying to get everything done. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:11:10.240 I remember years ago, I uh I read a quote by Dallas uh Willard who said, if you want to be godly, if you want to have an intimate relationship with God, if you want to experience peace in your life, you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:12.960 And it was like bang. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:16.480 And as I heard that, I thought, oh wow. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.919 You know, I was always uh in the old days, I was the last guy to get on the plane. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.799 I was the person that's finishing one or two or three more things. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:28.399 And just before the meeting starts, I'm there three seconds in advance. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.159 And I when I drove, you know, I would, okay, which line is the fastest? 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.240 And I get in this lane, then I get in this lane. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.919 I was the guy that's always in the grocery store going, okay, okay, how many people are in this lane? 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.000 How many of this, which cashier's the fastest? 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:40.879 I'm gonna. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:45.360 And I lived under a stress that was self-imposed. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:54.639 And I remember reading uh another book that talked about uh the spiritual disciplines and how to sort of break out of hurry. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:58.480 And as I read that book, I did what this author said. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:02.159 I went into training to slow the pace of my life. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:06.159 And many of you, this will be hard to believe, but it changed my life. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:10.879 For two years, I drove in what I called the slow lane on the right. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:16.399 Whatever the speed limit was, just set it right there, drove in the slow, no zipping around. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.120 I actually uh disciplined myself. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:24.799 I would go to a bank, to the grocery store, and on purpose get in the slow line. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:31.360 And I just I just wanted to stop thinking that control and hurry go together. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.279 And as I did that, what I can tell you is I got to the airport 30, 40 minutes earlier. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:38.559 I took something with me. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.960 I took a good book, I was relaxed getting there, I wasn't in a hurry. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:56.559 The person that showed up to every meeting and the person inside completely changed because I realized there's a God who makes everything beautiful in its time, and I can't rush it. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:08.720 Some of you are trying to hurry your spiritual growth, some of you are trying to hurry your kids to grow up, some of you want to hurry your company growing, some of you want to hurry everything all the time, like activity, activity, activity. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:14.399 And God would say, there's a rhythm, there's a rhythm of grace in life. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.080 Walk in that rhythm. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:20.559 He makes everything appropriate or literally beautiful in its time. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:25.600 And so I begin to just start thinking these thoughts on the plane, is when it started. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:26.240 You know what? 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:27.519 I don't have to control. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.240 I kept saying it to myself, I don't have to control. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.080 It was like, wow. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:34.799 I I I don't have to control when that meeting starts. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.200 I don't have to control whether that group says yes or no in that other country we're working in. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:40.960 And I don't have to hurry. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:42.399 And it's amazing. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:43.840 You should try this. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.320 I started to just tell myself that. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.559 I mean, throughout the day. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:53.519 And this freedom, this sense of wow. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:05.200 I guess unconsciously, even when I wasn't thinking about it, I felt like I had to control, or I was always being pushed to, well, I gotta get that done, and somehow I need to hurry rather than. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.440 There's plenty of time, right? 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:11.759 There's plenty of time to do all God wants you to do, all He wants me to do. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:19.600 The third act of freedom, I begin to say to this, I don't have to fear. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.080 You know, we're we're living in a world where a lot of people are afraid, right? 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:29.840 Afraid of COVID, afraid maybe we'll get it, or worse that we would give it to someone else that we love. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.480 We're afraid of the future. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.240 We're afraid of what's gonna happen in the economy. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:37.360 What about our jobs? 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:38.480 What about our kids? 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:45.519 Some of us that think futuristically are thinking about what the impact of all that's happening right now for my grandchildren. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.080 And you can live in fear. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:50.000 Ready for your verse? 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:52.559 2 Timothy 1.7. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:01.200 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and self-discipline. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:10.879 On the more devotional level, I remember many years ago uh with my navigator topical memory system, Isaiah 41.10, it says, Fear not, for I'm with you. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:13.039 Be not dismayed, for I'm your God. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:19.200 I will strengthen you, I will uphold you, I will be with you with my righteous right hand. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:23.039 And just to realize, I don't I don't have to fear. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:27.120 I mean, we can start fearing and just but just say that in your mind. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.279 I don't have to be afraid. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:31.279 I'm a follower of Jesus. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:32.480 Could I get COVID? 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:33.120 Yes. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:34.480 Could I die of COVID? 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:35.360 Yes. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:37.279 Then what would happen? 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.799 I would be immediately ushered into the presence of Christ. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:47.200 You know, you know, sometimes you know Jesus' big message was he came to crush the works of the devil. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:52.879 He freed us from sin, he freed us from death, and he freed us from Satan. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.960 Uh I don't have to be afraid. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:04.879 I don't have to be afraid of the future because an almighty, all-knowing, sovereign God holds the future that has my best in mind. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:12.320 And that's why he could say, even a time in of captivity and difficulty to Jeremiah when the whole world was falling apart. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:19.679 Behold, he says, I know the plans that I have for you, Jeremiah, even though it looks kind of bad. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.440 They're plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.279 Can you imagine what can begin to happen in your life and your heart? 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:37.759 Okay, I I don't I don't have to control, I don't have to hurry, and I don't have to fear. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.159 I don't have to fear what other people think of me. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:46.320 I don't have to fear what people say or post about me. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:51.039 In fact, it leads me to the fourth statement of freedom. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.919 I don't have to impress. 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:55.600 I like that one. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:57.840 I don't have to impress. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.000 I don't have to prove I'm something. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:02.159 I don't have to look a certain way. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.400 I don't have to have the approval of people. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:05.279 Do I want it? 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:06.000 Of course I do. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:06.880 We all do. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.759 I don't have to impress. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:24.480 My value, your value has nothing to do with the number of likes or the number of followers, how people respond to your convictions or your beliefs, whether they be theological or biblical or political. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.359 I don't have to impress. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.279 I don't have to look a certain way. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.200 I don't have to weigh a certain thing. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.480 I don't have to have a certain kind of watch or bag. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.440 I don't have to be in a certain zip code. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.000 I don't have to impress anyone. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.319 And here's your verse, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:49.839 The apostle Paul would say, I am what I am by the grace of God. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:51.200 Think of that. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:18:05.440 I mean, he had all this learning, all this knowledge, had been beat up, was an apostle, he'd been through all kinds of things, and a lot of the people were giving him a hard time, like, hey man, your letters, you come off like really some strong dude, but in person, you're not all that. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:10.319 He goes, I am what I am by the grace of God. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:17.920 And his grace did not prove vain toward me, but I labored more than all of them, yet not I, but Christ in me. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:19.839 And this is a big one. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:21.920 This is a really big one. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.480 Do you understand how much energy we spend? 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:31.920 How much time, how how much our emotions just get twisted and pretzels? 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:47.279 I mean, the research about time on social media, especially for um teenagers, young adults, uh, the research says that actually uh older adults are still watching an awful lot of television. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.240 But you know, God says this is who you are. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.200 You're wanted, valuable, redeemed. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:02.640 You're my son, you're my daughter, you're you're a chosen person, you're a royal priesthood, you're my special possession. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:10.319 Now, you gotta do a lot of thinking, and you gotta ask yourself, where am I gonna get my value and what do I allow to go in my mind? 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:14.319 But just to say, I don't I don't need to impress. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:20.160 I'd like people to like me, I don't need them to like me, and neither do you. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:27.680 And so those were sort of the first four things that I began to think about when I was uh thinking that I'm free. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:37.039 And uh I I shared that with uh our staff a couple weeks ago, and then I got thinking a little bit more about it, and a fifth one came to my mind. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:41.440 And uh this one is I don't have to complain. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:20:00.720 No, you know, you know, I think with with all that we've been through in this year, and I mean all the problems and issues, and I mean whether it's racism or whether it's COVID or whether it's government or whether it's political issues, or or whether it's uh the rules aren't fair, or this isn't open, or this is closed, or what about that. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:11.039 I think we've given ourselves permission as followers of Jesus to sort of just whine and complain to one another, or sometimes on social media. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:14.640 And I want to read a verse that was very liberating. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.519 It's uh Philippians chapter two. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:25.519 And Philippians chapter two, verse fourteen says, Do all things, wonder what all things includes. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:27.119 Hmm, all things. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:44.240 Do all things without grumbling or complaining, so that you can prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among you among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of God. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:47.440 Do all things without grumbling or complaining. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.640 Philippians chapter 2, verses 14 through 16. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:21:02.480 And I began to just realize I've kind of given myself permission, you know, privately, mostly with Teresa or, you know, with a close friend or with a sarcastic remark. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:03.519 And you know what? 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.920 It's not helpful. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:08.160 It's not helpful for my soul. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:18.400 When it's posted on Facebook and it's obvious you're a Christian because of a number of other things on your Facebook page, and you whine and you complain and you grumble, it's not attractive. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.000 It's not godly. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:28.480 But he but here's the thing somehow we feel like I've got to complain, I've got to express my opinion, I've got to share my rights because this is the way it is. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.759 And God would say, No, you don't, you really don't. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.240 You don't have to complain. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.440 Now, at this point you might think, okay, Chip, this is kind of helpful. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:42.720 Is this sort of like um the Chip Ingram little bit of Bible self help? 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:53.200 Just tell yourself over and over, I don't have to control, I don't have to hurry, I don't have to fear, um, I don't have to complain, and I don't have to impress. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:57.359 Um, well, there's probably some value there. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.759 But it's beyond that because, see, freedom. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:02.880 Is not the same as independence. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:11.359 See, what happened in the garden was they were completely free to eat of everything because there was a good God who provided for them. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:14.319 Independence came when they rebelled against God. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:22.160 Freedom biblically is freedom from some things, but it's freedom to enjoy and have. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:26.640 And so with freedom always comes a corresponding responsibility. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:33.200 And it's in saying, yes, I'm free from that, and saying, yes, I'm free to this. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.440 This is where you enjoy. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.599 All through Scripture, we experience our freedom by the Holy Spirit. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.079 It's the Spirit of God working in your life. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:45.920 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty or there is freedom. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:50.400 And so what I learned, remember, you've got a sheet of paper. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:53.039 On the one side, it says, I am free. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.759 On this side, I am responsible. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.359 And so let me, I've given you what I don't have to do. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:00.640 Are you ready for this? 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:05.359 I don't have to control, but here's the corresponding responsibility. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:07.200 I have to submit. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.279 Romans 12, 1. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.400 This is what God expects of every single believer. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:25.920 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's great mercy, his kindness, his love, all that he's done for us, that you offer your body as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.319 That's your spiritual service of worship. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:30.559 In other words, I'm responsible. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.160 If I'm going to be free, I need to live under the authority. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.079 I need to submit to God. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:38.319 I need to submit to his word. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.720 And that's a point in time. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:49.680 And then he goes on in verse two and says, do not be conformed any longer to this world, the idea of this world's values, but be transformed. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:51.839 In other words, here's where you experience the freedom. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:52.160 How? 00:23:52.319 --> 00:24:04.160 By the renewing of your mind that your life, your actual lifestyle, would prove or test or demonstrate what God's will is the good, the acceptable, the perfect will of God. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.400 And so, see, I'm free. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:07.839 I don't have to control. 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:23.680 But I have to submit because it's only under the guidance and the umbrella of God's protection and submission and the renewing of my mind and submission to his word that I experience the freedom that I have in Christ. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:28.880 Second, I uh I don't have to hurry, but I have to listen. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:30.559 Romans chapter 8. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:41.359 There's multiple verses there where he says in verse 2 of Romans chapter 8 that we're not under obligation to the law anymore, but we're obligation to the Spirit. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.039 He says we have a spirit now that cries, Abba Father. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:47.039 He says, the Spirit has set you free. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:51.039 There's a spirit, not that the world has received, but that we have received. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.839 And if we have it, then we're no longer slaves, we're sons. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.480 And if we're sons and daughters, then we're heirs. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:02.480 And he basically says, keep in step with the spirit. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:12.240 Paul, over and over, James 5, verse 16, will see those who keep in step with the Spirit are the sons or the children of God. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:17.279 And so I don't have to hurry, but what I need to do is look, I need to listen. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:19.359 Walk in the way. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.079 Lord, what do you want me to do in this conversation? 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.599 How do I respond to this person who said those hurtful things to me? 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:29.920 Lord, I feel like that is such a terrible, that's wrong, that's injust. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:31.519 I want to do something about it. 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:33.119 What do you want me to do? 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:35.119 How do you want me to do it? 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:42.000 Lord, I'm I'm not sure about the economy, but I'm not sure about my job, and I'm not sure about our future. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:46.400 And I could hurry, hurry, hurry, scurry, scurry, scurry, but I want to listen. 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:47.680 Would you guide me? 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:48.720 Would you lead me? 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:49.839 Will you direct me? 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.079 And here's what God says: I love you. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:52.960 I will. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.160 I don't control, but I do submit. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.400 I don't hurry, but I do listen. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.359 I don't fear, but I have to love. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.480 First John chapter 4, verse 18. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:09.519 It says, perfect love casts out fear. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:22.480 The Apostle Paul would write that you could speak in the tongues of angels, you could know all prophecy, all mysteries, all knowledge, but if we do not have love, we have nothing. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:39.519 You can be right politically, you can be right about racism, you can be right about the most important theological issues in our day, but if you do it without love, you are nothing and you have nothing and you accomplish nothing. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:42.559 We don't have to be afraid. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:50.000 We don't have to be afraid of what people think, we don't have to be afraid of the future, we don't have to be afraid of anything or anyone except we fear God. 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:51.839 It's the beginning of wisdom. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:53.680 We have to love. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:27:10.480 And what I can tell you is when you're tempted to fear, if you can get your focus off of you and off of what might happen, and off of the future that you can't control, and in the present, fear is almost always about what might happen someday, some way to you from someone. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:26.559 And love is always about what are you going to do with the person right next to you in real time and care about them in a sacrificial way that costs you something, that improves their life, that blesses them, that points them upward, that meets a need. 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:30.079 And as you begin to do that, fear dissipates. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:36.480 The fourth thing we talked about was I don't have to impress, but I do have to serve. 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:41.920 Paul said, I am what I am by the grace of God. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:51.680 But then he said, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, consider others more important than yourself. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:28:06.640 Have this attitude which was also in Christ Jesus, although existed in the form of God, he didn't regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, revealed his attributes, taking on the form of a servant. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:11.119 Paul would open his letters, a bond servant of Christ. 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:16.720 You see, I don't have to impress anyone, but I have to serve. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:22.400 The Son of Man, Jesus came not to serve, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.920 And that's freedom. 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:32.319 There's incredible freedom when you love, there's incredible freedom when you consider other people's issues when you drive, more important than yours. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:36.720 Other people's need for toilet paper, possibly in the past, more than yours. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.200 Other people's fears and needs and struggles. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:39.839 Are you ready? 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:41.599 Other people's needs more? 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:44.880 If you have extra money, you helping them. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.279 Serving, caring, listening. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:58.240 How about rather than bashing people or arguing with people, what would it look like to listen to someone that you really disagree with? 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:03.839 What would it look like to build a bridge and serve someone who has a different color of skin than you? 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:09.759 What would it look like instead of just posting things or protesting things or saying people shouldn't be protesting things? 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:11.519 You actually acted. 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:21.119 And not someday, some way out there, but in your relational network, in your community, your neighborhood. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:23.519 I mean, just start serving. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:30.000 In fact, let's do it with our roommate, with our wife, with our husband. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:37.599 And finally, we uh don't have to complain, but we do have to be thankful. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:44.799 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18 says, Rejoice always, even during COVID. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:47.119 Pray without ceasing. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:58.000 So, yeah, you have some time in the morning when you pray, and maybe hit your knees before you go to bed, but practice the presence of God, pray, be offering up, thinking all the time. 00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:05.119 And then he says, Give thanks always, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:12.319 Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotional shapers, mind shapers of all the things we can do. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:15.440 Not complaining will put us in bondage. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:18.160 Giving thanks will set us free. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:19.759 God, I don't like this right now. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:23.599 I can be honest, this is a struggle right now, but I thank you you're with me. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:25.359 I thank you, you are in control. 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:33.039 God, I'm really struggling with this, but I thank you that you promise that somehow, somehow, you're going to use this to make me more like your son. 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:36.640 I thank you that you'll never leave me and you'll never forsake me. 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:39.920 And then you pause at some of the things that really bug you. 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:44.400 And I would suggest you step back and say, What do I have? 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:47.119 Boy, in my case, I've got a wife who loves me. 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:50.319 I've got four grown kids that I'm so proud of and I love. 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:51.920 I'm so grateful for these grandkids. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.880 I'm glad that the health that I do have, I'm glad for the you start thanking God for what you do have and not focusing on what you don't have. 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:02.960 And I will tell you what, your emotions, your freedom, your joy. 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:07.359 See, Jesus came to bring freedom. 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:19.279 It's freedom from things that bind us, and it's freedom to that which gives us peace and life and joy, intimacy with him, and impact for him. 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:28.720 Why don't you this week do a little mantra and just begin in your mind? 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:29.920 Have you got him? 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:36.000 I don't have to control, hurry, fear, impress, or complain. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:43.200 I do have to submit, listen, love, serve, and give thanks. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:53.359 Lord, if there's ever a need for us to fill our world with love and freedom and joy, it's now. 00:31:56.079 --> 00:32:02.400 I'd ask that you would have the freedom right now to speak. 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:15.119 Lord, to point out in every person's heart where you want to poke a little bit and say, I want you to be free. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:28.960 Lord, would you bring one of these things to the top of the list that this week we would say, Lord, I'm not gonna hurry, or I'm not gonna fear, or I just refuse to impress. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:33.279 Lord, we tell you we can't do this apart from you. 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:42.319 Everywhere in Scripture, the freedom you've given, the freedom you promised, it becomes actionable by your spirit. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:49.519 So, Holy Spirit, empower us, give us grace, set us free in Jesus' name.