RICK WARREN MONEY | TRUST GOD WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE | MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE

The emotional drain of trying to do the right thing on your own power is exhausting and eventually you get worn out. And

what is the cause of this battle that's going on in you? You actually have two natures inside [music] of you. You have

your old nature which you were born with and you have the new nature that was given to you when you trusted in Christ.

When you were born again, when you became a believer and this new nature wants to do the right thing but you still have the old nature inside of you.

And these two natures are in constant conflict with each other and that's the cause of the battle. You have two natures, not one, two natures inside of

you. Paul says this.

you. Paul says this.

I love to do God's will so far as my new nature is concerned.

But there's something else deep within me. My lower nature, that's my old

me. My lower nature, that's my old nature. The Bible often calls it my

nature. The Bible often calls it my flesh or it calls it my carnal self. It

calls it the old man. These are synonyms for the old nature.

There's something else deep within me, my lower nature that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

Now, even though I'm a Christian my old nature is still alive and I hate to tell you this but you're going to live with it the rest of your life. You

don't get rid of your old nature until you go to heaven. When you became a follower of Christ, he gave you a new nature and a new ability to do the right thing. But even though I'm a believer

thing. But even though I'm a believer and I've walked with the Lord for a a long time, I still have my old nature in me which wants to be prideful, which wants to be self-centered, which wants

to gossip, to lie or steal or make myself better or you know, exaggerate or whatever. That old nature is still

whatever. That old nature is still there.

And and the lust and the gossip and the lie and all that stuff there. Now, let

me tell you why the problem is your problem because willpower is not enough to defeat your old nature. And if you think that you can change simply by

wanting to change or by learning about change, it isn't going to happen.

It'll happen for a little while but then you're going to get tired and you're going to stop.

Knowing what to do is not enough to change you. If it was, I would never

change you. If it was, I would never have to repeat a sermon topic.

You'd get it, you'd change in that area and then we'd just go on to something else. But just because you know the

else. But just because you know the right thing to do does not mean you do it.

The next verse says this. So you see how it is, Paul says, my new life tells me to do right but my old nature that's still inside me

loves to sin.

Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in.

In in the original Greek, it literally means the exhaustion of hard work. It

means being worn out after an intense battle. It means you're out of energy,

battle. It means you're out of energy, you're wiped out, you're fatigued, you're frustrated, you feel like a failure. Paul's cry of agony says, I

failure. Paul's cry of agony says, I need relief. I need help.

need relief. I need help.

Now, this is not a pretty picture.

Romans 7 is the picture of a defeated, struggling Christian. And finally, he

struggling Christian. And finally, he falls on his face and he out of exhaustion and Paul goes, what's the cure?

And then he tells us. And he says God's plat battle plan for victory.

And he tells us what the plan is. Now,

let me get you started on a couple of advanced steps on how you start to win the battle going on inside you. You do

three things initially. The first thing I need to do, God's battle plan for winning the battle inside me is I must deepen my understanding

of Christ.

Now, you already know Christ. If you got to deepen your understanding of Christ and what he did for you on the cross.

Now, we're not talking about being an unbeliever here. You're you're a

unbeliever here. You're you're a believer. Paul is a believer here. Jesus

believer. Paul is a believer here. Jesus

is already in you. In fact, that's why you have this battle. If you weren't a Christian, you wouldn't have this battle. Why? Because you'd only have one

battle. Why? Because you'd only have one nature.

And if you only got one nature, your old nature, you just go ahead and do whatever you please and do the wrong thing and you don't even care about it.

So a non-believer does not have this battle going on in them because they don't have the good nature battling with the old nature. They just

got the old nature says, do whatever you want to do.

So the fact that you've got Jesus in you uh is what's causing the battle. But

having Christ in you is not enough. He

doesn't just want to be resident in your life, he wants to be president in your life.

He He doesn't want to just take up space, he wants to be in charge. He

wants to be the Lord of your life. What

does that mean, Lord? It means he's the CEO. He's the boss. He's calling the

CEO. He's the boss. He's calling the shots. He's He's the chairman of the

shots. He's He's the chairman of the board. He wants you to put a sign over

board. He wants you to put a sign over you that says under new management.

That's what it means to have Jesus as the president of your life, in under new management. But the first step is I have

management. But the first step is I have to deepen my understanding of Jesus Christ. I He's in my life but I got to

Christ. I He's in my life but I got to know more about him.

Romans 7:24-25, who will free me from this life?

Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?

Thank God.

The answer [music] is through Jesus Christ our Lord. This

is an amazing uh phrase here. In the original Greek, it is literally who will free me from this body of death. This body of death.

And Paul is giving a striking illustration here that you wouldn't understand unless you knew what was going on in the Roman Empire. Because in

those days one of the punishments for murdering somebody was sometimes they would chain the body of the person you

murdered to you.

And you had to walk around with that person until they decayed and fell off.

And instead of putting you in jail they would [music] chain the person you murdered and took their life and that body of death would be chained to you.

Which means everywhere you go, you're carrying around the memory of your sin and you wake up each morning and the stench is unbearable. And wherever you

go, you have to drag that body with you.

That's the phrase Paul is using here in the Greek when he says, who's going to free me from this body of death?

It's keeping It It's stinking. Now, I

want you to notice on that phrase, who will free me? He doesn't say what because the answer to the battle in you

is not a principle, it's not a program, it's not a pill, it's a person.

It's Jesus Christ.

You know those things you want to change but can't change in your life? The

answer is not a seminar.

The answer is not a new book. The answer

is not the next conference. The answer

is not psychology, it is not therapy, it is not philosophy. He doesn't say, what'll free me from all these hang-ups I've got in my life. He says, who will

free me? The answer

free me? The answer is that only God can free you. Jesus

Christ. Who will free me [music] from this decaying life I've got? Paul says,

I'm at the end of my rope. He's been

talking now for verse after verse. I'm

at the end of my rope and at the end of his rope, he gets a flash of hope.

And he says, oh, I got it. Thank God. He

just blurts it out. Thank God, the answer is in what Jesus did.

He says, the answer is through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Second preliminary step to ending the battle going on inside of you and winning the battle. I must detect and disarm

the lie I'm believing.

I must detect and disarm the lie that I'm believing.

You need to understand that the number one way Satan messes up your life is by suggesting lies to you or to get you to lie to yourself. And

that's the way number one way you mess up your own life is lying to yourself.

Every time you expose and challenge a lie that you've listened to in your mind, you're going to be further set free.

Every time you sin or In fact, look look at this verse.

Uh the Bible says, if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Now, he's saying there that sin causes us to deceive ourselves and deception causes us to sin.

Now, we all tell ourselves lies all the time. All the time. In fact, one of the

time. All the time. In fact, one of the big lies that you tell yourself is this one.

It's not really a problem.

Oh really?

Yeah, it's not really a problem.

My finances, they're not really a problem.

Our sex life it's not really a problem.

My kids it's not really a problem.

My work, not really. My temper

my foul mouth my thought life, my little secret habit over here in the corner, it's not really a problem. Who

are you kidding?

The Bible says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the and the truth is not in us." So, let me just ask you this real blunt question as somebody who loves

you.

What are you pretending isn't a problem in your life?

What are you pretending not to know?

[music] What are you pretending isn't a problem in your marriage?

Isn't a problem in your personality?

And you don't want to admit it.

The Bible tells us that if I'm going to win this battle, I have to stop lying to myself and I've got to stop listening to Satan's lies.

Every self-defeating act is a lie I have believed.

Behind every self-defeating act is a lie that I have believed. Either I lied to myself or um or I let Satan lie to me.

You see, we have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves and to convince ourselves of things that aren't true.

Look at this verse up here on the screen.

Jeremiah 17:9.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

What does it mean the heart is deceitful? We have an amazing ability to

deceitful? We have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves. The biggest liar you know is you. And the person you lie to the most is yourself.

The person I lie to the most is myself.

I tell myself things are right when they're not right. I tell myself things are okay when they're not okay. I often

tell myself things are not okay when they are okay.

And you do this all the time. And we

rationalize and we minimize and we make excuses and we tolerate things that aren't like, "It's no big deal. It's no

big deal."

And I and and if you're going to get free and if you're going to have victory in this, number two, to stop defeating myself,

I must stop deceiving myself.

To stop defeating myself, all those self-defeating things in my life that I don't like about me that I'd like to change, to stop defeating myself, I have to stop deceiving myself. I must become

a person of the truth. I stop denying, I stop rationalizing, I stop minimizing, I stop excusing, I stop tolerating.

Again, let me ask you a very blunt question.

What self-destructive behavior in your life are you putting up with?

And you know it's bad for you. And you

know it's going to cut years off your life.

And you know it's going to hurt you in the long run. And you know it may destroy a relationship.

But you justify it.

What is the truth you need to admit?

This is the second step to winning the battle.

Jesus said this, next verse. "When you

know the truth, the truth will what?"

But first, it will make you miserable.

[snorts] The truth makes you miserable as long as you deny it. The truth does not free you until you admit it.

As long as you deny the truth, it doesn't help you. In fact, it just makes you mad. The truth makes you mad and the

you mad. The truth makes you mad and the truth makes you miserable. It is only when you are humble enough to admit it, "Yeah, this is really what I am. And

yeah, this is really what I do. And

yeah, this is really a compulsion, an addiction, a habit, a problem in my marriage, in my life, or whatever." When

you admit the truth, then it sets you free. It doesn't set you free until you

free. It doesn't set you free until you admit it.

I delete or detect and disarm the lie that I'm believing. And he's all The Bible says, "Satan is the father of lies." All he can do is lie to you. It's

lies." All he can do is lie to you. It's

the only way he can influence you. He

can suggest lies. But Jesus said, "I am the truth." You got to decide whether

the truth." You got to decide whether you're going to listen to God's truth or the world's lies or Satan's lies or your own lies. The third thing I need to do

own lies. The third thing I need to do to get started in overcoming this battle is I must declare my struggle to another.

Declare my struggle, what I'm struggling with with to another. I'm struggling with my mouth. I'm struggling with my mind. I'm

mouth. I'm struggling with my mind. I'm

struggling with my memory. I'm

struggling with my behavior. I'm

struggling with my secret addiction. I'm

struggling with and and you The Bible says we just share it.

Sharing, revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.

Now, if all you want to do is be forgiven, you just admit it to God.

But if you want to change and you want to be healed and you want to be different, God says [music] you're going to have to admit it to one other person.

You don't have to admit it to everybody.

Just You all you need to do is have one person who's going to love you unconditionally, accept it, pray for you. They're going to be a an

you. They're going to be a an accountability partner.

They're going to be a you know, nobody goes into battle fighting a war by themselves. You go

with a team. You go with a platoon. You

need a battle buddy.

You need one person in your life that you're gut-level honestly frank with.

And you can share that with.

And if it's not your husband or your wife, then if you're a woman, you need to get another woman to share it with.

If you're a guy, you need to get another guy to share it with. You go, "Look, I just need to tell you I'm struggling with this."

with this." And by doing that, the relief valve is opened and the pressure is off and the boogeyman isn't as big as you thought he was. Now, the Bible claims this.

was. Now, the Bible claims this.

[music] James 5:16. "Confess your sins to each

James 5:16. "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that God can heal you."

heal you." Now, he says confess it not to God. It

says confess to each other and pray for each other and then you'll be healed.

Galatians 5:16 says [music] this.

"Live your according to your new life in the Holy Spirit, then you won't do what your new what your sinful nature craves."

craves." Now, the difference between Romans 7, which is a picture of total defeat, and the picture of Romans 8, which is a picture of a man or woman in total

victory, is this word spirit.

In Romans 7, the phrase Holy Spirit is never mentioned. Not once. Instead, 41

never mentioned. Not once. Instead, 41

times we have I, me, my, myself, mine, all these personal pronouns.

It's all about me. It's not about the spirit. In Romans chapter 8, the word

spirit. In Romans chapter 8, the word spirit is mentioned 19 times.

And that's the difference. Is whether

you are going by my spirit or going by the Holy Spirit to empower me. Example. Let's say you and I

empower me. Example. Let's say you and I go down to Laguna this afternoon and we're walking on the beach and I see a dead seagull.

And the seagull's only been dead less than a minute. Still warm.

And I pick up this dead seagull.

[music] Now, it's still got the same muscles, bones, feathers, wings that it had a minute earlier. But I pick up that dead

minute earlier. But I pick up that dead seagull and I throw it up into the air and what happens?

It comes right back down. Why?

Because the life is gone out of it.

It is not the muscle. It is not the bones. It is not the wings. It is not

bones. It is not the wings. It is not the feathers that makes a seagull fly.

It is the life that God puts into it.

And when the life when the spirit is out of that bird, it ain't flying.

It's still got all the same equipment, but it's not going to fly.

You have the equipment to live a successful, victorious life.

But you It's not worth anything if you don't have the spirit powering you to do it.

You cannot do it on your own. If there's

anything I want you to understand is willpower doesn't work.

It's like throwing a dead bird in the air. It's got all the equipment, but it

air. It's got all the equipment, but it can't fly without the spirit of God in it.

Without the life that God puts in it.

And you can go out and have all the best intentions and make all the promises to yourself which you have broken over and over and over.

Because you cannot do it on your own.

You cannot be like Christ. You have to let Christ live through you.

And what the spirit does is two things.

The spirit does for me, the Holy Spirit does for me the things I cannot do on my own. I don't have that power. And

own. I don't have that power. And

second, he fulfills in me what God desires to do in my life.

Now, resolutions are good. They're a

good start, but they'll only get you so far.

Then you got to have spirit power in your life.

Let's bow our heads.

Now, all of our best intentions are not good enough.

An alcoholic who says, "I'll never take another drink."

another drink." And the violent person who says, "I'll never lose my temper again."

And the person person controlled by porn who says, "I'm going to I'm never going to look at it again."

is going to fail.

How many promises to yourself [music] have you broken? A lot.

The only way to win this battle against the first enemy, the old nature, is to let [music] the Holy Spirit do it.

Now, you're never going to get to the victory of chapter 8 until you experience the frustration of chapter 7 [music] and you finally realize you can't live the Christian life on your own power.

So, what's your problem?

Temper impatience self-control being honest, thought life, pride, laziness, self-centeredness.

You know, every one of us have our skeletons in the closet.

The problem is the clock skeletons don't stay in the closet.

And you want to do the right thing, but you end up doing wrong.

And that's frustrating.

So, you may as well be honest and say, "It isn't working."

Me trying to flap my wings against gravity is like me trying to live a life that's good on my own power.

God has given you a new nature if you've invited Christ into your life.

But, we are still sinners after we believe [music] and there is that battle between the two dogs.

Some of you really feel defeated.

Being laws never works.

Why? It says, "Because of our sinful nature." Laws simply work on outside

nature." Laws simply work on outside behavior. They don't work on inside

behavior. They don't work on inside change. God knew that laws couldn't save

change. God knew that laws couldn't save us, but God put into effect a different plan to save us.

He sent his own son in a human body like ours except that ours is sinful. And God

destroyed sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins.

In other words, he gave us the power to make those changes, to forgive us, and to change us.

And then it said, "He did this."

Jesus died on the cross so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us. What is he saying there? That Jesus not only paid for all

there? That Jesus not only paid for all your sins, he did all the right things for you.

Those of us who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit.

Now, if you really are serious about changing your life for the better, you got to start where God tells you to start. And God says, "You don't start

start. And God says, "You don't start with your behavior, your actions. And

you don't start with your feelings, your emotions. You start with your mind." The

emotions. You start with your mind." The

battle for you to be set free from me starts in your changing your mind. Be

renewed. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The Bible teaches very clearly that the way we act is determined by the way we feel. And the way we feel is determined

feel. And the way we feel is determined by the way we think. Now, the good thing about this is that now that you're a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you [music]

and so you can ask him to help you put good thoughts in your mind. So, now

you're not just on your own. You're not

just out here trying to think up stuff by yourself on what would be a good thing for me to think about. You can

say, "Holy Spirit, put good thoughts in my mind."

my mind." That's the second thing we learned from Romans 8.

I ask the Holy Spirit to give me better thoughts. And if you ask him to give you

thoughts. And if you ask him to give you better thoughts, do you think he will?

Of course, he will.

Of course, he's going to give you better thoughts. That's a prayer he's going to

thoughts. That's a prayer he's going to answer. I asked the Holy Spirit to give

answer. I asked the Holy Spirit to give me better thoughts. This is the second key to permanent change in your life.

Now, this is what it says in the next two verses, verses 5 and 6 of Romans 8.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their mindset on what the nature that nature desires.

But, those who live in accordance with the spirit have their mindset on what the spirit desires. Now, there's two kinds of mindset. There's the mindset of your old nature and there's the mindset

of the Holy Spirit. There's the mindset of the way I normally think about my life and there's the mindset of how the spirit sees my life. Which one's going to be true? The one that the spirit says.

So, I have to choose between these mindsets. Am I going to set my mind on

mindsets. Am I going to set my mind on the way I normally think about my life or am I going to set my mind on the way God thinks about my life?

Now, there's a big difference in choosing these mindsets because if you choose one, you're going to get one response and if you choose the other, you're going to get another. And the

next part of the verse tells us what that is. The mind of sinful man is what?

that is. The mind of sinful man is what?

That means it's self-destructive.

Thoughts that you come up with yourself are going to tend to be self-destructive.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is what?

Life and peace. And it's all about the mindset you choose.

This is the Holy Spirit's answer to uncontrolled thoughts.

What I do is I ask the Holy Spirit to give me better thoughts. And this is the principle of replacement. I want you to write this word down. Replacement. The

principle of replacement is anytime you want to change something in your life and you're serious about changing it, you don't resist it, you replace it.

When you got something negative in your life, you don't resist it, you [music] replace it.

Whatever if you focus on gets your attention. Whatever gets your attention

attention. Whatever gets your attention gets you.

Satan gives you ideas, those are called temptations. Holy Spirit gives you

temptations. Holy Spirit gives you ideas, those are called inspiration.

You get ideas.

But, the truth is you choose what you focus on.

But, now now that you're a believer, you have a helper.

[music] And you can say, "Holy Spirit, I invite you to give me your ideas."

And and a lot of times the Holy Spirit, the God's spirit will say to me, "Hey Rick, why don't you think about this instead?" Good idea.

instead?" Good idea.

And I just change my thoughts.

Now, I would encourage you to invite [music] the Holy Spirit to have free access to your mind.

You say, "God, you have put your spirit inside of me.

I give you free access to my mind 24 hours a day. I invite you to suggest good thoughts." Why? Because they'll

good thoughts." Why? Because they'll

always be the truth, they'll always be right, they'll always be helpful, they'll always be pure. Those are the things we are to think on.

So, you invite the Holy Spirit to put thoughts in your mind. Why? Because

those who live according to sinful nature have their mindset on one thing, but those who live according to the spirit have their mindset on another.

And the mindset that I normally have leads to self-destruction. And the

mindset that God's spirit gives me leads to peace. And I want peace in my life.

to peace. And I want peace in my life.

Look at the next verse. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. It can't

even do it.

Those controlled by sinful nature cannot please God. So, why do you work on

please God. So, why do you work on passing a law when they don't have the ability to change it? To change. Only

God can change us. Change comes from the inside out.

Third principle.

Third mental habit you're going to need to develop to apply the truths of Romans 8 in your life.

And that is this. I realize I have a new ability to say no.

I need to remind myself. I need to remember on a daily basis. I need to realize [music] that now that I'm a believer, I have a new ability to say no to the things that

are self-destructive in my life. Now,

this is very important because before you became a believer, you all you had was willpower.

And you lost most of those bad habits.

Because I lost to most of them. Because

you don't willpower wears out. It's not

enough.

But, now with the spirit in your life, you have a new ability to say no, a new power. And you need to learn how to tap

power. And you need to learn how to tap into that power.

Galatians 5:16 says this.

Let the spirit direct your lives and you will not satisfy the desires of the old human nature.

Now, if I let the spirit live through me, does it say I won't have those desires?

Is that what it said?

No. It said I won't what?

I won't satisfy those desires. I won't

satisfy those desires. In other words, do I still have the same desires I had before I was a Christian? Yes.

Do I still have the same temptations?

Yes.

Do I still have the same urges and compulsions? Yes.

compulsions? Yes.

Do I fulfill them? No.

Why? Because I have a new power inside of me.

And it's not [music] just willpower anymore.

Now, this is the good news of Romans [music] chapter 8. Look at the next verse, verse 9.

But, he says, [music] "You are not controlled by your sinful nature.

You are now controlled by the spirit if you have the spirit of God living in you."

you." Now, anybody who does not have the spirit of God living in them does not belong to Christ. Now, let me stop here and explain this. Some people mistakenly think that you get God kind of

piecemeal. That Jesus comes into your

piecemeal. That Jesus comes into your life at one point in your life and then maybe a little bit later the Holy Spirit comes into your life and then maybe a little bit later you get the Father into your life. No, God is a trinity, three

your life. No, God is a trinity, three in one.

When you got Jesus, you got all of God.

God doesn't come into your life piecemeal.

When Jesus comes into your life, the spirit comes into your life.

When Jesus comes into your life, the Father comes into your life. When the

Father comes into your life, the Spirit and Jesus come into your life. You can't

separate them. Now, the question is, does he have all of you?

In the rest of your life, you're going to be given more and more of your life to him, and then the more you give, the more power you have.

But he says, "Because I have this, I now have a new ability to say no." Look at the next verse. "So, dear brothers, you have no obligation anymore

to your old sinful nature to do what it begs you to do." This is how God sets me free from my compulsions.

But I have a new power, a new ability to say no. Number four,

say no. Number four, the fourth mental habit I need to develop, if I want to change my life, is I need to turn my thoughts to God

whenever I'm afraid.

And this is how God's Spirit sets me free from me with the attitude of fear. Romans 8,

look at the next verses, verses 14 [music] to 16.

For the Spirit God gives you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid.

Instead, the Spirit [music] makes you God's children.

And by the Spirit's power, we cry out to God, "Father, my father." This is actually the Aramaic word Abba. Abba is

not the the the group. It It's It means Daddy Papa.

You know, it's it's Dad Dad. It's the

most basic intimate form of father.

Daddy. Daddy, my daddy. We cry out to God, "Daddy, my daddy. Papa, my papa.

Abba, my Abba." God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Stop focusing on

your fear. Start focusing on your

your fear. Start focusing on your father.

That's the antidote.

Stop focusing on your fear. Start

focusing on your father. Now, he says, "The antidote to fear is to thanks."

First, he says, "The Spirit that God has given you doesn't make you slaves, make you afraid, but he makes you God's children. Whenever you are afraid, the

children. Whenever you are afraid, the first thing you need to do is remember this, whose family you're a part of.

I'm a son of God.

I'm a daughter of God. I'm a child of God. I'm in the family, and families

God. I'm in the family, and families take care of each other, and there's family protection.

You're a child of God, and he's going to take [music] care of you. And second, you call out to your

you. And second, you call out to your father.

Now, what are you most afraid of? What

are you most afraid of these days?

Um, you know, the number one fear people have, I know all the studies. People say it's the fear of speaking in front of others, it's the fear of heights, or, you know,

the fear of new social situations.

Actually, what I found as a pastor talking to people for 30 years, the number one fear people have is the fear of being out of control.

And when you feel your life is out of control, it creates [music] enormous fear in your life.

The Bible says that we should not be afraid, but we turn to God.

Second Timothy 1:7, "For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us fearful or timid.

Instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love and self-control." Now, get this. The more

self-control." Now, get this. The more

controlled you are by the Holy Spirit, the more self-control you're going to have. So, if you are afraid, that's not

have. So, if you are afraid, that's not from God.

That fear is not from God. When God's

Spirit comes into your life, you're filled with love. I want that. You're

filled with power. I want that. You're

filled with self-control. I want that.

Okay, Holy Spirit, I want all you got.

Fill me. The fifth thing we learn from Romans 8 is about the antidote to hopelessness, and that's verses 17 and 18, and and

the habit I want you to learn to develop is to focus on the long term, not the short term.

Now, when you think in long term, you're able to handle short-term pain a whole lot better. You're able able to handle

lot better. You're able able to handle short-term losses, short-term failures, short-term uh hindrances, because you're thinking long term. Now, Romans chapter

8, uh verses 17 and 18 talks about focusing on the long term. And it talks about the promises of God. Since we are his

children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his family.

And we will also possess, this is really cool, we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him. Did you know that?

The Bible says that when you get to heaven, you're going to get rewarded.

You will be rewarded for how well you did with what you were given. What did

you do with your time? What did you do with your money? What did you do with your influence? What did you do with

your influence? What did you do with your talents? Your time, your talents,

your talents? Your time, your talents, your treasure. This is called the

your treasure. This is called the stewardship of life.

And God has put stuff in your hands, and you're a steward of them. You're going

to be uh evaluated on that in heaven, and your rewards will be based on that.

And you're going to be rewarded. If

you're focusing only on the short term, there's a one word for it. It's foolish.

It's foolish. Number six,

the sixth habit is to remind myself that God is good and in control.

This is an application of what the Bible teaches in Romans uh chapter 8.

I remind myself that God is good and in control, and you are meant to remind yourself of that over and over and over and over and over every single day.

In verses 19 to 25, Paul says, "Everything in the world is broken.

Everything in the world has lost its original purpose.

Everything in the world is suffering.

Everything in the world is in pain, and everything in the world is frustrated because sin broke it all down."

Everything is frustrated. In fact, look at this verse. It's on the screen. Verse

20, "Everything created is subject to frustration, waiting to be liberated, set free from me, waiting to be liberated from its

bondage to decay.

All of creation groans in pain like childbirth.

And we groan inwardly. We're going, "Oh, man, this is tough. This is hard. This

is difficult. Why is life so hard?" Now,

he says that the result of living in a broken world is pain, and the result of pain is bitterness.

And we start getting resentful, and we say, "Life is unfair." Well, yeah, what else is new?

Life is unfair. It's because it's broken.

But the Bible says in Romans 8 that there are four things you need to remember to skid over bitterness. Now,

listen.

[music] Pain in your life is not optional, but misery is.

Pain in your life is not You're going to have pain in your life. It's called

[music] life.

Suffering in your life is not optional.

You're going to suffer. Misery is.

Moaning is op- optional. Bitterness is

optional.

And you overcome bitterness by remembering four magnificent truths in Romans 8. Verse 26 and 27 says this,

Romans 8. Verse 26 and 27 says this, "The Holy Spirit is praying for me. The

Holy Spirit is praying for me." That helps me overcome bitterness cuz no matter what I'm going through, I know God's on my side. He's praying for me.

side. He's praying for me.

It says here, [music] "The Spirit helps us with our weakness.

And we don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us." Okay? The Spirit of God, it says,

us." Okay? The Spirit of God, it says, prays for us and even begs God for us with deep feelings that [music] words cannot explain.

God sees what's in our hearts, and the Spirit [music] speaks to God for his people in the way that God wants. So,

when you No matter what you're going through, first thing [music] you goes, "You know what? Right now, the Holy Spirit is praying for me."

That's cool. Second thing, God is using it all for good. That's second thing I write remember. God [music] is using

write remember. God [music] is using everything in my life for good. It's not

all good, but he's using it all for good. The next verse says this, "And we

good. The next verse says this, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love

him, who've been called according to his purpose." It's not all good, but God is

purpose." It's not all good, but God is using it all for good. God is greater than my problems. God is greater than my enemies.

God is greater than my critics, and God is using it all for good in my life.

Number three, God wants me to [music] succeed.

Did you know that? Did you know that God wants you to succeed? He doesn't want you to fail in your life. He wants you to succeed in your life. God is not

against you. If you're a Christian, if

against you. If you're a Christian, if you're a believer, God is for you.

The Bible says in verse 31, "So, what can we say against such wonderful things about such wonderful things?" All stuff we've talked about. What do we say about all these wonderful things? "If God is

for us, who can be against us?"

Remember, I'm in the family.

My father is God.

And so God is wants me to succeed. And

finally, number four, God will give me what I need.

When I'm feeling blue, and when I'm feeling bitter, I need to remember remind myself that God is good, he's in control, his spirit is praying for me, he's using everything for good in my

life, he wants me to succeed, and he's going to give me what I need. Verse 32,

"Since God did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all, won't God give us won't God who gave us Christ give us everything else?"

everything else?" Wow. He said, "If God loved you enough

Wow. He said, "If God loved you enough to let Jesus die on the cross for you, don't you think he loves you enough to help you with your debt?

Don't you think he cares enough to help you with your health? Don't you think he cares about you when your face breaks out? There is nothing in your life

out? There is nothing in your life that God doesn't care about."

I threw that one in cuz [music] it seemed so ridiculous.

There is nothing in your life that God doesn't care about. You got an upset upset tummy? God cares about it. He

upset tummy? God cares about it. He

knows every hair on your head. God will

give me what I need. If God didn't spare his son to solve my biggest problem, everything else is small potatoes. It's

all minor to him. There is no big problem in your life. They're all small problems to God.

Now finally, the seventh habit destroys the seventh enemy, [music] which is insecurity.

Now the fact is, when you feel insecure, it really messes up your life.

And the worst fear that we have in insecurity is rejection.

And nothing hurts more than rejection.

But one thing I can tell you this is God's never going to reject you. And the

seventh habit is this, trust.

I'm so glad that you've chosen to spend part of your Mother's Day weekend with us, either in person or online. Thank

you so much for joining us. I realize

that if you don't live in the United States, it's not Mother's Day, but for those of us here in the States, Mother's Day can be a bit of a complicated holiday. It just holds this wide range

holiday. It just holds this wide range of emotions, from total exhilaration to great sorrow. On the surface, it seems

great sorrow. On the surface, it seems like it's this holiday made for Hallmark cards and Kodak moments. But underneath

the flowers and the sentimental cards, there can be some tough realities. And I

resonate with the complicated emotions that you might be feeling today.

I am the mother of three incredible children. One who lives near me, one who

children. One who lives near me, one who lives a thousand miles away, and one who passed away eight years ago and is in heaven.

So, like many of you, I hold both joy and sorrow today, and that's okay. I

weep with those who weep, and I rejoice with those who rejoice.

As I thought about what to say on Mother's Day, I reflected on the last two messages we've heard. Two weeks ago, when we began a new sermon series building a better future, Pastor Tom

Holladay talked from chapter 1 of Nehemiah and encouraged us to take stock of where we are. To not be afraid to intentionally let ourselves grieve and

mourn what has been lost or changed in the last year, or perhaps even to fast, either from food or technology, and to increase our time in prayer to

concentrate on hearing God speak to us.

And then last week, Pastor Buddy asked us to take a further look at our inner life and how it's been affected by the challenges of the last year, by giving us a word on rebuilding the city of your

soul.

The reason these words about the soul are so important is because the world is split into doers and beers. Those who

are natural their natural inclination is toward doing. They see a problem or a

toward doing. They see a problem or a challenge or an opportunity, and they immediately launch into action. Move,

go fix.

Others of us lean toward contemplation, thinking carefully and thoughtfully before we act, and we tend to focus more on who we are than on what we do. Well,

the truth is, it takes both kinds of people to make our world healthy and balanced.

But before we launch into the doing part of building a better future, I believe it's helpful to make sure that we are as strong on the inside as we are on the

outside. So, let's get started.

outside. So, let's get started.

If we could have a conversation and tease out what it is that you want from your time here on earth, what is it that sits in the center

place? What is it that drives you?

place? What is it that drives you?

What is it that you're going after?

There are a couple of powerful core desires that we all share.

To love and be loved is probably the number one core desire.

Another is the desire to belong, to feel like we fit in.

And for most of us, there is also a great consuming desire to know that our time here on earth has meant something.

That we haven't just taken up space, breathed air, and then died without leaving something valuable behind us.

We all want to be remembered. We want to feel like we mattered and we had significance. We want to leave a legacy.

significance. We want to leave a legacy.

I think somewhere inside nearly every human being is the desire to be the goat, to be the greatest of all time in something.

Some chase being the greatest of all time with a vengeance. From an early age, they decide they are going to be the best at and you fill in the blank.

They're going to be the best in the financial world. They are going to be

financial world. They are going to be the best in the sports world. They are

going to be the best in movies and television, entertainment, in music, in writing. Some people decide that they're

writing. Some people decide that they're going to be the greatest of all time in academics, some in politics, some in technology or IT. I mean, there are so

many ways to try and be the greatest.

And there's nothing intrinsically wrong with having big goals. I mean, we wouldn't have gone to the moon or have cell phones or have my favorite

hamburger In-N-Out Burger unless somebody had gigantic goals. But there

are at least two cautionary realities that we need to be aware of.

The first is the vast majority of us simply don't get to be the greatest of all time.

So few will reach the pinnacles of human achievement. There are relatively few

achievement. There are relatively few billionaires or athletes who set unbreakable records. Only 46 people have

unbreakable records. Only 46 people have become the president of the United States.

And there aren't many who will start something like Microsoft or Apple or Google. There aren't many that will

Google. There aren't many that will build iconic buildings or own a chain of restaurants that go global like Starbucks and KFC.

That degree of achievement doesn't happen to very many of us.

It doesn't mean you shouldn't try, but you just need to keep in mind that the odds are stacked against you.

The second reality is so few people have big goals when it comes to achievements that can't be quantified by numbers,

sales, or awards.

We like the goals that can be measured and recognized.

But few shoot for the stars and desire to be the greatest of all time when it comes to their inner life. Few people

aim at greatness in the soul.

And yet it is the soul that is eternal.

All the other big goals are temporary.

Eventually, somebody will build a bigger, taller building, topple your speed or endurance record, expand their restaurant chain in more

states or countries than yours, make a better burger, discover something more useful to humanity than what you discovered.

In other words, as I heard someone say one time, eventually, all of your trophies will end up in the trash can.

They just don't last.

But growing a great soul, however, is an effort that will have an impact for eternity, because the soul is eternal.

On top of that, there are no limits to how great and deep your soul can become.

There is no ceiling, glass or otherwise.

You and I can never reach the place where we can say, "My soul is as deep and wide as it could possibly be. No

more growth is even possible."

And probably the most important of all, growing a deep and great soul is within the reach of every person. There is not

a person alive who cannot grow a great soul. Gender doesn't matter, where you

soul. Gender doesn't matter, where you came from doesn't matter, your ethnic background doesn't matter, where you grew up, whether you came from money or whether you came from the gutter or any

place in between. All of us have the same capacity to grow a deep, great soul.

3 John 1:2 says, "Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your

soul is getting along well.

The Apostle John says that we need to have healthy souls. He prays for the health of his friend's soul.

Many versions say, "I pray that your body will prosper as your soul is prospering."

prospering." Well, what does a deep, healthy soul look like?

There are entire books, libraries probably written on this subject, but one that I highly recommend is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero.

But let's just look briefly at a couple of soul health indicators, and then focus on the process of growing a great soul, a great soul.

In Mark 9:35, Jesus sat them down and he called them around him and he said, "Anyone wanting to be the greatest must be the least,

the servant of all."

Mark 12:29 to 31, again Jesus says, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your

strength."

strength." This is the first commandment. And the

second like it is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these."

than these." In 1 Corinthians 13:13, the Apostle Paul says, "And now these three remain, faith,

hope, and love.

But the greatest of these is love."

The Bible narrows all of our earthly pursuits of greatness to this singular focus love.

Love God with your heart. Love God with your soul. Love God with your mind. Love

your soul. Love God with your mind. Love

God with all your strength. Love God

with every fiber of your being.

And love your neighbor with the same passion and energy and devotion as you love yourself. The greatest thing in

love yourself. The greatest thing in life is love.

Jesus says, "Every one of us can reach the pinnacle of greatness by loving God with all of who we are, and by loving our fellow human beings

with the tenderness with which we love ourselves."

ourselves." This is, to me, the greatest legacy that any of us can leave.

To know at the end of our time here on earth that what people remember most about us is not what we accomplished, which is temporary at best, and we be

will be surpassed by somebody else in another generation.

Maybe the very best thing that any of us can leave behind us is this, "She loved the Lord her God with all her heart, with all of her soul, and with

all of her mind."

He loved the Lord his God with everything he had, with every ounce of strength he had, he loved God.

And she loved the people God brought into her path, genuinely, sacrificially, and wholeheartedly.

Well, how do we get to that place? How

do we develop this great soul? How do we learn to love in such a way that it characterizes our lives?

How do we become great in the kingdom of God?

I have been a Christ follower since I was 8 years old, and I've learned that this kind of growth is a process in which God and I each have a part.

So, I want to look at four specific ways that you and I can grow a great soul.

The starting point in growing a great soul is responding to God's invitation to each of us to begin a relationship with

him. God's part is he invites,

him. God's part is he invites, and my part, I respond.

The Bible says in Ephesians 1:4 that God chose us first. It says, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose

us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."

Entire books have been written on the spiritual wealth in this verse, and we can't go too far into it right now, but the takeaway for you is that before God made anything, before he made the sun

and the moon and the stars, before he made the oceans and the the myriad animals that populated earth, insects and birds and plants, before it all, his

mind was on us and how he could bring us into relationship with him.

We were not an afterthought to God. The

very first thought he had about us was how to establish a relationship, how to bring us to himself.

And so God did the prep work. He made a beautiful world that reveals there is a creator, creating curiosity in us to know this creator, and then he issues an

invitation to get to know him.

There is an emptiness, a vacancy in our hearts that was meant to be filled by God and by God alone.

And we so easily fill that vacancy with big goals and even lesser things like TV and movies and a career and education

and food and sex and recreation. I mean,

an endless list of ways to fill the vacancy inside of us.

But our part our part to God's invitation is to respond to him.

Romans 10:9 says, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." If you haven't responded yet to God's invitation to you

to come close and know him and start a relationship, don't wait. Do it today.

Don't wait any longer. Come to Jesus.

If you haven't started a relationship with Jesus, I'll lead us in a prayer at the end of this message where you can pray to start one.

So, once we've responded to God's invitation to us and taken the first step, then what happens? Well, a process begins, this back and forth between me

and God, this ebb and flow. He creates,

we're curious. He invites, we respond.

The next is God's part is he transforms me, and my part, I surrender to him.

When I give my life to God, he begins to transform me, not into a better me, but into the image of his son, Jesus Christ.

And he gives me the power to change, to develop the fruit of the spirit, what the Bible calls the fruit of the spirit, these characteristics that the Holy Spirit develops in us once Jesus is

living inside of us, love, joy, peace, patience kindness gentleness faithfulness goodness and self-control.

We gradually become a different person than we were when we first encountered him.

You've probably heard Rick say often that God loves us just the way we are, but he loves us too much to let us stay that way.

And I think many of you could tell the story of your life and how different you are today, the old habits that have slipped away, new habits that have begun. In fact, some of you would say,

begun. In fact, some of you would say, "I don't even recognize the person I used to be. Thank God."

His power at work in us gives us what we need to live this way.

2 Peter 1:3 says, "By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life."

And my part in that transformation process is to surrender to him completely, not only when he asks something simple of me, but in all things.

Romans 12:1, "I ask you," the Apostle Paul says, "from my heart to give your bodies to God because of his loving kindness to us.

Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God.

He is pleased with this kind of gift.

This is the true worship that you should give him."

give him." In all things, I am his. He is my owner, my master, my Lord. I belong to him, and

my life is his.

It's as though God is a master potter and his his hands are lovingly shaping and forming me on his pottery wheel. The

Bible mentions in several places this imagery and even makes fun of a pot that has the audacity to tell the master potter that he doesn't know what he's doing.

Listen, we are the clay on his wheel, and he knows what he's doing. And our

part is to say to stay soft and yielded to him as he makes and remakes us into the vision he has always had of who he

wants us to be like, his son, Jesus.

And then another aspect of this give and take, this God's part and my part, is God teaches and my part is to learn.

When Jesus was here on the earth, he spent 3 years in a very close, intimate relationship with his 12 disciples. They

went everywhere together. They traveled

together, they ate together. The

disciples were present at his miracles, they were in boats with them, they were in the synagogue. Day in and day out, they were together all the time doing

the normal activities of daily life.

They brought him their questions, their doubts, their confusion, their frustration, and he had answers and wisdom and guidance for them, and they came to depend on him and his wisdom for making

decisions.

But then they saw him arrested and crucified on a cross. And then after that, they saw him in his resurrection body. And then they saw him return to

body. And then they saw him return to heaven.

Jesus knew that before he went that he was going to be going back to his father. And he began to tell them that

father. And he began to tell them that he wasn't going to be visible to them any longer.

And they got really anxious about him leaving. They were fearful that they

leaving. They were fearful that they wouldn't know what to do. That they

wouldn't have the right answers for living.

In the book of John, he tells his disciples that although he won't physically be with them any longer, he will send the spirit of God, the Holy

Spirit to live inside of them. And the

Holy Spirit would continue his, Jesus's, teaching.

John 14:26, Jesus says, "But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of

everything I have said to you."

In another passage, he says, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth."

So, Jesus tells his disciples that his spirit would actually live inside of them. And the spirit would remind them

them. And the spirit would remind them of all the incredible wisdom and knowledge that Jesus had taught them.

So, fast forward to me, to you. How does

it work for us? We didn't get to walk with Jesus here on Earth. We didn't get to learn from him in person the way that they did. And we have a lot of

they did. And we have a lot of questions. I don't know about you, but I

questions. I don't know about you, but I often find myself unsure. Unsure of what to feel, how to act, what to think, what to do next.

You know, we ask these questions, "Who should I marry? When should I have kids?

Should I move? Should I change locations? Should I switch jobs? What

locations? Should I switch jobs? What

friends should I choose?" There are just countless decisions to make in a lifetime.

And we can either depend on ourselves for wisdom, other frail and flawed human beings, popular culture, the current accepted conventional wisdom,

or we can turn to God who knows all there is to know about anything and everything.

He has given us his spirit, the spirit of truth, and he will teach you.

So, if God's part is to teach me what I need to know, my part is to learn.

It sounds really simple and straightforward, but it can take practice to get it right.

Hebrews 5:11-14 says, "We have much to say about this, but it's hard to explain because you are slow to learn.

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not

solid food.

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

Writer of Hebrews is pretty blunt. I

mean, he's actually a bit appalled that some of his readers haven't grown very much. They're still spiritual babies who

much. They're still spiritual babies who can only digest spiritual milk. He

basically says, "You are sucking on a bottle when you should be chewing on steak."

steak." He tells them that they should be able to understand more complex spiritual matters, doctrine and principles that require

chewing, because they've been followers of Christ for a long time.

And he says, "I just keep having to talk to you about the most simple things of God because you have not grown. You have

not learned."

Paul says the way to move from being a spiritual baby who just needs a bottle to a mature believer who can handle the word of God and understands how life

works, it's by constant use of God's word, becoming proficient in the truths and principles and doctrines in the word, training yourself to distinguish good

from evil.

That's actually very hopeful to me.

It's hopeful because it means that every one of us can mature as a believer.

It's not just for a few lucky few who figure out the secret code or the secret handshake. No, the truth is

handshake. No, the truth is anyone can put in the effort, the practice, and the repetition to learn how to distinguish good from evil.

This is how we learn anything. It's how

we get proficient at any skill, whether it's standing on the free throw line on the basketball court and shooting baskets hour after hour, day after day,

or practicing the scales on the piano for months or years until you don't have to look at your hands anymore because they know where every note is.

Repetition.

Constant use. Practice. You practice

till you get it right.

This is our part. To read and study the word of God and to put it into practice, to be obedient to it over and over and over again until it almost becomes

second nature to us.

God will teach us.

He has provided for us.

Our part is to choose to put in the time to learn and become proficient.

The last aspect of God's part in my growing a deep soul, what we're looking at today, is that he brings good out of evil. And

my part is to endure hardship.

Romans 8:28 says, "We are well aware that God works with those who love him, those who have been called in accordance with his purpose, and turns everything

to their good."

This is probably one of the most misunderstood or misapplied verses in the Bible.

It's often said by well-meaning folks to people in grief or loss as sort of this magic eraser verse to try to minimize or

contain the amount of hurt and sadness or sorrow we feel.

There were many people who said this verse to me after the death of our 27-year-old son as though simply knowing that God could

bring good out of tragedy would keep our hearts from breaking.

It didn't.

It didn't make our pain go away.

And for any of you who've had that verse used on you as a way to try to make you stop hurting and feeling sad, I'm sorry.

God is not trying to make you stop hurting in this verse. He is gently asking you to hold on while he continues his work in our

broken world.

He is asking you to endure, not to stop hurting.

One of my favorite quotes is from Eric Liddell, who was an Olympian in the 1924 Olympics.

And he said, "Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives and God's plans.

But God is not helpless among the ruins.

God's love is still working.

He comes in and takes the calamity and uses it victoriously, working out his wonderful plan of love.

You may have faced horrific evil circumstances, leaving you certain that your life is wrecked and ruined.

But I want to reassure you, God is not helpless in your ruins.

As we cooperate with God's plan to grow a deep soul within us, we can be certain, certain

that he is not beaten by evil.

And that he has unexpected ways of turning evil circumstances into something that contains beauty.

I'll tell you honestly, I can't always see it immediately. My eyes can't always seem to find the beauty from the ashes of our tragedy.

But I believe he can.

And he will.

And he is.

And someday, in some way, I will see it.

And when I believe that, when I believe that, I can persevere.

I can wait with hope.

I can endure.

Colossians 1:11 says, "We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul.

Not the grim strength of gritting your teeth, but the glory strength God gives.

It's strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy."

Many of you could bear witness to the ways that you have and are today enduring the unendurable.

The thing you said you could never endure, and yet here you are.

Sometimes, endurance looks like the grim strength of just toughing it out.

But sometimes, over time, it moves to a place of enduring in the glory strength that God gives. And

sometimes, even spills over into joy.

Not Not necessarily giddiness, but rock solid joy.

Let me close with a passage from Jeremiah that speaks of what happens when our focus shifts from growing spiritually, when we wander from God,

and what happens when we focus on growing a great soul.

Jeremiah 17:5-8.

The Lord says, "I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have

turned away from the Lord.

They will be like a shrub in the arid rift valley.

They will not experience good things even when they happen.

It will be as though they were growing in the stony wastes in the wilderness, in a salt land where no one can live."

The Bible says there, when we stop depending on God, when we stop building and deepening our soul, when we decide

that we're going to put our trust and our energy and our passion and our dependence in ourselves or in other people, that we will end up like like a

a tumbleweed, a a bush that has completely dried up, has no more roots and is just rolling across the desert landscape.

We will be as empty and hopeless and aimless as that tumbleweed. So, the

result in your life, if you stop pursuing, growing a great soul, is emptiness and home hopelessness and

aimless wandering.

But, what happens if we decide that we're going to keep focusing? What

happens when I focus on growing a great soul? The rest of that passage says

soul? The rest of that passage says this, "My blessing, God says, is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me.

They will be like a tree planted near a stream, whose roots spread out toward the water.

This tree has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green.

heat comes. Its leaves are always green.

It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing

of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit."

fruit." When we decide to keep growing a great soul, the result is fruitfulness in every

season, whether it's rain, no rain, whether there's flood, whether there's years of drought. The Bible says, when our roots are planted deep into God,

there's there's fruitfulness in every season. He said, instead of being this

season. He said, instead of being this tumbleweed that's ruthless and blown around at the whim of every rogue wind, we can be like majestic trees that line

the riverbeds, that flourish and they're laden with fruit, delicious fruit in every season, even those seasons of extreme heat and long months or years of

drought.

And this delicious fruit, this fruit this fruitfulness that Jeremiah is talking about, I think is this deep soul. It's a great soul where the

soul. It's a great soul where the character of Christ is reproduced in us by that process of planting and

responding, of seeking and finding, of teaching and learning, of him working through the bad times and us enduring

the unendurable and of us sending our spiritual roots deep into him.

And this fruit will be a lasting legacy of a man or a woman who loved God with all their heart, with all their soul,

with all their mind and all their strength, and who loved their neighbor as themselves.

One last promise to you, as you dare to grow a deep soul, a great soul, God will finish what he has started in you.

Philippians 1:6.

The Apostle Paul says, "And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will continue it until the day of Jesus

Christ, right up to the time of his return, developing that good work and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you."

you." So, let's just go back briefly to to where we started.

You may have some big dreams for your life. You've got some of that greatest

life. You've got some of that greatest of all time pursuit on your mind.

Why not redirect some of that passion toward building a legacy that can't be outdone by anyone else, a legacy that

has no limits on how far it expands, a legacy of loving God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your

strength. Love is the greatest legacy

strength. Love is the greatest legacy you can leave.

Some of you may have realized or maybe you've known for some time that you haven't ever really begun this journey.

And today is your moment to say yes to God's invitation to get to know him through Jesus Christ. You don't have to understand it all. A simple prayer is all. In fact, if you'd like to just bow

all. In fact, if you'd like to just bow your head for just a moment, you don't have to say this out loud, but you can just say this in your mind, "God, I want to be a part of you. I don't really know

what all that means, but please forgive me for living my life apart from you. I don't want to be like one of those tumbleweeds that's aimless and wandering, because I've tried to

trust everybody and everything but you.

Jesus, I invite you to come into my life and to be my savior."

If you will dare to pray that, God will begin that ongoing process of inviting, you responding, him transforming you, you surrendering, him

teaching, you learning, him bringing good out of evil and you using his strength to endure.

And fruit will be grown in your soul, fruit for yourself and enough to give away to others.

Will you believe that he will finish what he has started? Will you decide to leave the greatest legacy of all?

Will you decide that your greatest accomplishment, your greatest legacy will be this,

"She loved God with all her heart, her soul, and her mind and her strength.

He loved people like he loved himself."

Let me pray for us.

God, you've heard us as we have you've heard our souls calling to you.

You hear us. You hear the cries of our heart. You hear the things that we don't

heart. You hear the things that we don't know how to articulate to other people.

You know the things that are just sort of heaped up inside of us, the things that are difficult to actually put into words. God, I know there are people

words. God, I know there are people listening to this today who have realized maybe for the very first time that their goals have been okay, but

they're only temporary. And there's some here today who are coming for the very first time and asking you, God, to be their God, Jesus, for you to be their savior. And I ask

for them as they start this journey that you will be faithful to do in them what you have said you would do, that you would do this process of teaching them, of training them, that you would give them strength to endure, that you would

transform them, that you would change them, and that you would finish the work in us that you've said you would do.

And God, for those who maybe have known you for a long time, but have grown tired on the inside. The circumstances

of this last year in particular have just been brutal. They've been so hard and their souls are weary. They're

tired. They don't have much energy or passion and to think about being the greatest of anything is really too much to think about right now. So God, for those who are just kind

now. So God, for those who are just kind of hanging on today, may they feel revived to know that they don't have to be anything special. They

don't have to have these great accomplishments. They don't have to have

accomplishments. They don't have to have been born in a certain place or from certain people or have had a certain background or certain education. None of

that matters really, just as they come into your presence, they have the ability and the capability, because of what you've done in us, to grow a great soul.

God, I pray that our church will be filled with people who have great souls, people who've done the work of being in

your presence, of learning, by putting into practice day in and day out what your word says, and that you would transform us into people who were known,

God, for loving you with all we have, and we're known for loving each other deeply, dearly, greatly from the heart.

I pray a blessing on my friends, on my brothers and my sisters, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus. Amen.

See you next week.

Welcome back to our series on principles for living through a pandemic. We're

looking at a faith that works when life doesn't. And we've been going through

doesn't. And we've been going through the book of James now. This is part 12.

So, if you want to download the message notes from wherever you are, you can go along with us as we go into chapter two.

You know, today our culture is literally overrun with fake products.

Almost anything real can now be faked and purchased at a much cheaper price.

You know, I fly through a lot of international airports around the world and in many countries you could buy a fake Rolex $15,000 for only $100

and it looks identical to the real thing. And of course today you could

thing. And of course today you could improve your body with fake nails, fake hair, fake teeth, fake body parts which remain unmentioned, fake tanning, and

then you can go out and you can eat a taco with fake meat and fake cheese and you could put fake sugar in your coffee and then you can wear fake designer clothes made out of fake leather and

fake fur while you talk about fake news to your fake friends on social media with your fake identity.

[laughter] Now, there are some areas in life where fake works just fine, just as well as the real thing. But there is one area

where you have to have the real thing.

And it is this. You have to have real faith. Not fake faith or it doesn't

faith. Not fake faith or it doesn't work.

In the Bible, in this book, there are over 6,000 promises of God that God has made to you. You need these promises to stay

you. You need these promises to stay stable and strong and healthy during this pandemic.

But to access those promises, you have to have a real legitimate, genuine faith.

Fake faith has no power to change your life. It has no power to save you. It

life. It has no power to save you. It

has no power to answer your prayers.

Fake faith has no power to transform you.

And when life doesn't work, like in this COVID-19 pandemic, faith fake fake faith doesn't work either.

So, in the book of James, we now come to the second half of chapter two.

And here we have a little essay written to help you know the difference between real faith faith and fake faith. Now, I

want to guarantee this today. It's going

to make a huge change in your life. This

is going to be very very helpful. It's

real simple to understand but it's real basic knowing the difference between fake faith and real faith.

Now, for instance, some of you you've been wondering why your prayers have not been answered.

Well, maybe the problem isn't your request.

But it might be that you've been using fake faith.

So, today's passage in James chapter two is going to help you know the real difference between the real and the fake that has no power to help you. Now, let

me read you James chapter two verses 14 down to about 20, okay? It says this.

Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying have faith if you don't prove it by your actions?

That kind of faith can't save anyone.

Suppose you see your brother or sister who needs food or clothing and you say to them, I wish you well.

I feel for you. I hope you stay warm and eat well. But then you do nothing to

eat well. But then you do nothing to meet their needs. What good does your sympathy do? It's worth nothing.

sympathy do? It's worth nothing.

In the same way, faith, if it is not accompanied by actions, doesn't work.

It's dead and it's useless.

Now, someone may argue, well, you know, some people can have faith while other people do good deeds.

But I say, I can't see your faith if I don't see any good works in you. I

don't see any good works to show for it.

In contrast, I will show you my faith by my good deeds.

Now, you say, well, I believe there is a God and I say, well, good for you. But

even the demons believe that and they are afraid. It's foolish not to realize

are afraid. It's foolish not to realize that faith in God is useless if you don't do what God wants you to do.

Now, after reading that passage that I just read, I'm sure some people think that James is contradicting Paul who wrote some of the other books in the New Testament. But that's a

Testament. But that's a misunderstanding. James and Paul don't

misunderstanding. James and Paul don't contradict each other. Instead, they

complement each other. And you can see the way they complement on the outline on the chart that I put on your outline.

Look at Look at that chart.

For instance, when Paul is writing, the emphasis of Paul is how to know I'm saved. How to

know I'm saved. But the emphasis of James is how to show I'm saved. How to

show I'm saved. Paul's focus when he writes about this, he's focusing on the root of my salvation which is internal and unseen.

James is focusing on the fruit of my salvation which is external and visible.

It's two sides of the same coin.

When Paul talks about {quote} works, he's talking about keeping Jewish laws in order to become a believer. He says

you can't do that. They won't save you.

Keeping Jewish laws. But when James uses the

Jewish laws. But when James uses the same term and he talks about works or good deeds, he's talking about living like Jesus because you already are a believer.

So, what is real faith? Well, James first tells us four things that real faith is not. And then he gives us two examples

not. And then he gives us two examples of what real faith really is. Now, as we go through this today, you might use these points as a quiz for

self-evaluation.

Do I have these saving faith items in my life? First, James 2:14 says this.

life? First, James 2:14 says this.

Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions?

That kind of faith can't save anybody.

Now, I want you to circle, if you're taking notes, the word saying. What's

the use of saying you have faith if you don't have any actions in your life? Here's the first thing he says

life? Here's the first thing he says real faith is not. Real faith, he says, is more than just words I say.

Real faith is more than just the words I say. It's more than just a memorized

say. It's more than just a memorized prayer. You know, sometimes people pray,

prayer. You know, sometimes people pray, Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, etc. etc. And and that doesn't mean you're a Christian.

That doesn't mean you know the Lord.

Doesn't mean you have faith. It's just

something you say.

Repeating something that I heard other people say doesn't mean that I have real faith.

Saying claiming that I have real faith doesn't prove that I have real faith.

Knowing all the religious lingo and all of the phrases, just because you say you have faith doesn't guarantee you've got it.

You ever met anybody who sounded like a believer? I mean, they they know all the

believer? I mean, they they know all the right phrases but their lifestyle is a 360° or 180° difference. Their their

lifestyle doesn't match their words.

You know?

Studies have shown that in the United States, most people claim to be a Christian. Vast majority of Americans

Christian. Vast majority of Americans say, I am a Christian.

But they sure don't act like it.

They don't act like it. And we've saw outburst of racism here just recently this this week. That's not Christ-like.

When we treat other people with a disrespect and and a lot of people live any old way they want to live. That's

not faith.

You know, today we make a mistake and we tend to label anybody who's a celebrity or anybody who's a sports star as a Christian if they just vaguely sound like a

Christian. You know, somebody gets up at

Christian. You know, somebody gets up at the country western awards and and they say, I just want to thank the man upstairs. Who they talking about? The producer?

about? The producer?

You know? That doesn't mean they're Christian. He's saying just because you

Christian. He's saying just because you say you have faith doesn't mean you got it. Real faith is more than words.

it. Real faith is more than words.

In Matthew chapter 7 verse 21, Jesus says this.

Not everyone who says that I am their Lord is going to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoa. Not everyone who says that I'm their Lord is going to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The only people, this is Jesus talking.

The only people who enter heaven are those who do what my father in heaven wants them to do.

It's not just what you say, it's what you do. You ever had a driver flip you

you do. You ever had a driver flip you off and then as they drive by they got a Christian bumper sticker on the back?

[laughter] You know?

I I could say, for instance, I could say or I could claim to be the best dancer in the whole world.

But that wouldn't make it true.

And the moment I started dancing, you'd know it was not true.

Now, what value is phony faith?

What value is fake faith? None. Has no

value. It's worthless. Talk is cheap.

So, real faith is more than just words I say. Number two, second thing James

say. Number two, second thing James says, real faith is more than just an emotion I feel.

He says that in the very next verse.

Real faith is more than emotion I feel.

You can be inspired and you can be emotionally moved and you can get a quiver in your liver, and you can have, you know, goosebumps, and you can be really emotional, and never have real faith.

James gives us an an example of this. In James chapter 2, verse 15 to 17, he says this.

Suppose you see your brother or your sister, and they need food or clothing, and you say to them, "I wish you well.

I feel for you. I hope you stay warm. I

hope you eat well." But then you do nothing to meet their needs.

What good does your sympathy do?

It's worth nothing.

In the same way, James is still talking.

He said, "It's not if it's not accompanied by action, it doesn't work.

It's dead. The faith is dead and useless."

useless." You see the sarcasm that James is using here? He said, "You know, you go up

here? He said, "You know, you go up somebody who's out of work, and we've got 32 million people out of work right now just in America.

And and they need food, and they're in the food lines, and and you go up to them and you say, 'Hey, buddy, I feel for you. Hang in there. Cheer up. Keep

for you. Hang in there. Cheer up. Keep

your chin up. Don't worry. Be happy.'

And we use all these great cliches and past platitudes and say, 'You know what?

I'll pray for you.'

You know, they don't need your prayer, they need food.

Okay? So, you can say all those words, but it's not faith unless you actually do something about it. If I shut my finger in my car door, and I can't get it out,

I don't need your sympathy, I need your assistance.

I need you to help me get my finger out of the door.

I don't need you to come up and say, "You know, brother, I sense your pain.

Just let it flow. Let it flow. Let it

flow. Let it flow." No, real faith is practical. It gets involved with

practical. It gets involved with people's needs.

Now, why am I teaching this to you, Saddleback members? Because you,

Saddleback members? Because you, thousands and thousands of you, are doing this literally every week during COVID-19. We've got 10,000-plus people

COVID-19. We've got 10,000-plus people handing out food and supplies to the needy and the out-of-work literally every week. So, you you are talking

every week. So, you you are talking about real faith. You know, just today, on just one day, in one location, we fed 840

out-of-work families just today, in one of our 897 pop-up food distributions, and just today, 256 people prayed to

receive Jesus Christ.

Just today, one food line.

You want to lead somebody to Jesus? I

mentioned this last week. Volunteer for

our food ministry during COVID-19. You

will learn to lead somebody to Christ very, very quickly and very easily.

Faith is more than the words I say.

Faith is more than the emotions I feel.

Number three. James says, "Real faith is more than an idea I debate."

Real faith is more than an idea that I debate. And he says that in the very

debate. And he says that in the very next verse, in James chapter 2.

You know, for some people, faith is just an intellectual game.

It's just a mental challenge. It's a

theology to be studied. It's a doctrine to be debated. It's a dogma to be defended. It's an idea to be discussed.

defended. It's an idea to be discussed.

It's a truth to be talked about. In

other words, for them, faith is not something you do, faith is just a conversation. They love to talk. Talk,

conversation. They love to talk. Talk,

talk, talk, talk, talk. They'll talk all day and night about God, about faith.

And they'll be happy to debate you, and it's all about conversation, not about conduct. They would rather discuss the

conduct. They would rather discuss the Bible than do it.

Okay? They'd rather debate theology than do it, than practice it. And in James chapter 2, verse 18, he imagines an

intellectual objector, this third kind of fake faith. He says, "Now, verse 18. Now, someone may argue,

verse 18. Now, someone may argue, 'Isn't it possible that some people have good faith, while other people do good deeds?'

deeds?' James says, 'But I say no.

No.

I can't see your real faith if you don't do anything. If you don't do any real

do anything. If you don't do any real deeds to show me.'

He says, 'In contrast, I can show you my faith by the good things I do.' In other words, he's saying, 'Hey, you know, the guy goes, 'You

I'm in You're into doing good things, well, I I'm into discussing good things.

I like to discuss it. I like to talk about the Bible. I don't want to practice it.

I want to just discuss it.' And that's cool, you know, you say that's cool. I

don't want to get my hands dirty. I

really don't want to do anything about my faith. I would rather just fight over

my faith. I would rather just fight over it online.

I don't want to obey God, I I want to debate God. I'll discuss it all night,

debate God. I'll discuss it all night, but don't ask me to make any commitment.

That's fake faith number three.

Now, there's a key phrase in verse 18.

And if you're taking notes, I want you to circle the phrase "show me."

He says, "How do I know you got real faith unless you show me?"

He says, "Real faith is visible. It's

apparent. You can see it. You show me."

You know, here's the fact.

Faith, like love, is odorless.

It's colorless.

It's weightless. You can't see it. So,

how do you know if somebody really has faith?

James says, "Look at his lifestyle.

Look at her lifestyle." I got to thinking the other day, you know, [snorts] on a diet, I realized that faith is really like calories.

[laughter] You can't see calories, but you can sure see the results of calories. Okay? You can't see calories.

calories. Okay? You can't see calories.

You're never going to see a calorie, but you can see the results.

And that's what faith is. You can't see faith. It's odorless, but it's

faith. It's odorless, but it's invisible, but it's got results.

Some of you remember, if you're old enough, growing up, there was a classic movie called The Invisible Man.

And in the movie The Invisible Man, you only knew the guy was around if he moved things. You know, he he tips over a cup,

things. You know, he he tips over a cup, or he opens a door. And the point here I'm making is that real faith,

you can't see it by itself, but real faith is expressed in visible ways.

Some of you probably grew up in Missouri, and Missouri, you know, is the Show-Me State. It's on the license plate. And

State. It's on the license plate. And

Missouri is a Show-Me State. James is

saying, "I'm the Show-Me Man. Show me your faith, and then I'll

Man. Show me your faith, and then I'll know it's real. Don't tell it to me.

Don't say it's an emotion, an ocean of emotion. Don't tell me it's words you

emotion. Don't tell me it's words you say. It's something you do." He says,

say. It's something you do." He says, "If you claim to be a Christian," James says, "then I have the right to ask you to prove it."

prove it." And the way you prove it is by your actions.

Now, the truth is really this.

Somebody as big as God cannot possibly come into your life without changing you visibly.

It's impossible for somebody as big as God to come into your life and it not change you in a visible way.

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. The old has passed away, the new has come. Everything

becomes new." Now, it doesn't become new in your life overnight, but it does become new in your life over time.

And if I were to grab 220 V, you know, you know, wire of electricity, I would know it instantly.

And you would, too. And if just like you know when you grab a hot wire of electricity, you know when God's coming into your life, cuz it changes you.

Now, here's the question.

And I want you to really think about this.

We're not persecuted right now in America for our faith. We're harassed,

but not persecuted.

But if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Huh? Would there be enough evidence to convict you? Could people say, "I see

convict you? Could people say, "I see the changes in their life." Real faith always produces a changed life. It's

more than the words I say.

It's more than an emotion I feel. Oh, I

got wonderful emotion in that service.

It's more than an idea that I debate.

Number four.

Here's a fourth thing that it's not.

Real faith is more than just a truth I believe.

Oh yeah.

Real faith is more than a truth you believe. Now, James again uses a little

believe. Now, James again uses a little bit of sarcasm. I think that's why I like this guy. He uses sarcasm to make his point. And in James 2, verses 19 and

his point. And in James 2, verses 19 and 20, he says this.

"Now, you say, 'Well, I believe there is a God.'

a God.' And I say, 'Good for you.'

But even the demons believe that."

And they are afraid. They tremble. They

shudder.

He said, "It's foolish not to realize that faith in God is useless if you don't do anything and don't what he wants you to do.

In other words, the guy comes and says, he thinks he's going to make brownie points by saying by boasting, well, I believe in God.

Big deal. The devil believes in God.

Do you know that? The devil's not an atheist. He's smarter than that. Even

atheist. He's smarter than that. Even

the devil believes in God, but you're not going to find him in heaven. And

demons believe in God. You're not going to find him in heaven. Why? Cuz it's one thing to have head knowledge about God, believe in God, it's another thing to obey God, to love God, to trust God, to

serve God.

Maybe you didn't realize this. The

devil's not an atheist. He's no fool.

Uh let me be clear.

Saying I believe in God will not get you into heaven.

Cuz even the devil says that. Of course

he believes in God. He believes in Jesus. He knows Jesus is a son of God.

Jesus. He knows Jesus is a son of God.

That's why he wanted to kill him. So,

what?

It's not just something you believe and you have an intellectual uh knowledge of.

So, what is real faith? If it's not what I say, it's not what I feel, it's not what I believe, uh you know, it's not all of these things that I I I want to

argue about and I want to debate.

James says, faith is something I do.

Faith is something I do. Faith is

active. It's It's not passive.

Faith is a commitment. Faith is a choice. Faith is an action. Faith is

choice. Faith is an action. Faith is

something I do.

James chapter 2, verse 26.

He says, just just as a body without a spirit doesn't breathe and is dead, so faith that doesn't do anything is just as

dead.

Have you noticed uh the word that James uses over and over in this section?

There's a word I I I He used it in every single verse I read you. It's the word do. Let me read a few of them to you

do. Let me read a few of them to you again. He says um

again. He says um uh if you do nothing, what good does your sympathy do? He says, what if you fail to do any real deeds? He says, I'll

show you my faith by what I do.

He says, faith in God is useless if you don't do what he wants you to do.

And he says, faith uh that doesn't do anything is dead. And on and on and on.

This is the point. He says it over and over and over. He's saying, get the message here.

Faith shows up in my life, in my lifestyle. And if there's no change in

lifestyle. And if there's no change in my life, I don't have real faith. I got

fake faith.

[snorts] First Corinthians chapter 16, uh verses 13 and 14 says this. And this

is a good verse to to remember uh in the pandemic. Stand firm

pandemic. Stand firm in your faith.

Stay brave.

Be strong. And do everything in love. I

can't think of a better sentence for for you to remember. Stand firm, uh be strong, do everything in love. Stand

firm in faith. That's what we should be doing during this pandemic. It's a great verse to remember.

So, let me just ask you.

What are you doing these days to stand firm in your faith? What are

you doing to take a stand for Jesus Christ?

What are you doing to demonstrate your faith? Anything?

faith? Anything?

Are you doing anything to demonstrate your faith in the middle of this pandemic?

Now, James ends his little speech or essay on the difference between real faith and fake faith by giving us two actual examples of living by faith.

And these two people were were real people, uh but they were very very different people. They were named

different people. They were named Abraham and Rahab.

These are the two people James chooses out of the Old Testament to demonstrate what real faith is. Abraham and Rahab.

By the way, neither of them were Jews.

Which means they weren't a part of God's chosen people. Why? There weren't any Jews yet.

people. Why? There weren't any Jews yet.

There weren't any Jews until Abraham actually had faith. Abraham was born where modern uh Iraq is today. He wasn't

born in Israel. He was born in modern-day Iraq. Uh and in that empire,

modern-day Iraq. Uh and in that empire, the Babylonian era. Now,

Abraham had faith and Rahab had faith. Abraham was a man.

Rahab was a woman.

Abraham was a rich businessman.

Rahab was a poor prostitute.

She's a street walker in the city of Jericho.

Their lives were many years apart.

Abraham's story is in the book of Genesis. And one day God comes to

Genesis. And one day God comes to Abraham, who is not a God-fearing man.

He's He's a idol worshiper in Ur of the Chaldees. And God comes and says,

Chaldees. And God comes and says, Abraham, I want you to leave your country and I'm going to ask you to follow me to a new location and I want you to move all your

family and your flocks and your herds.

And if you'll trust me on this, I'm going to make a great nation out of you if you'll demonstrate real faith in me.

And he did.

And Abraham became the father of faith and became the father of the Jewish nation. Now, I want you to write this

nation. Now, I want you to write this down.

Abraham followed God without knowing where he was going.

That's faith.

Abraham followed God without knowing where he's going. He didn't say, God, show me where we're going first. No. He

said, how I'm going to He God told him just head out that direction. How will I know when I get there? I'll tell you when.

He's going to place he's never seen, never been, trusting a God he didn't know before this, but he acted on his faith. He held nothing back from God. He

faith. He held nothing back from God. He

trusted God would provide. And later he was tested again when God asked him to sacrifice his son. It was a test, and Abraham knew, God, if if I sacrifice him, God could raise him back to life.

I'm going to trust him. His whole life was trusting God, going ahead, stepping out in faith, taking a risk there without knowing where he was going.

Now, James concludes uh his example of Abraham in verse 22. He says, isn't it obvious, talking about Abraham, that faith and works are yoked partners,

that faith expresses itself through works, that the works are, quote, works of faith. I love that in the message.

of faith. I love that in the message.

Works are the works of faith. And in

verse 23, he says about James, God accepted Abraham's faith because he he acted on it. And that

faith made him right with God.

So, Abraham was called the friend of God.

I can't think of a better thing to be called.

At the end of my life, I would like to be called the friend of God.

At the end of your life, I would like for you to be called the friend of God.

You know, there are some friends that don't matter, but if you're God's friend, that's going to matter for eternity. I would like for you to become

eternity. I would like for you to become a friend of God today. If you're not sure that you're a friend of God, I'm going to help you step across the line

in just a minute. So, hang on. But I

know you can begin that relationship with God today. God wants to be your friend, but you've got to step across the line in faith just like Abraham did.

Then James gives us the other story of Rahab.

Now, that story is in actually uh Joshua chapter 2. It's actually a spy story.

chapter 2. It's actually a spy story.

Moses had led the children of Israel, the Israelites, out of Egypt after 400 years of bondage. And they're getting ready to go into this new territory that God says, I'm going to give you. This is

the promised land. And Jericho is a giant overwhelmed uh highly fortified city.

And in that city that was so scared of the Jews that were coming in and they were going to fight them, there was a woman named Rahab. She was a prostitute. She was a street walker.

prostitute. She was a street walker.

And you know what she did? She risked

her life to save the spies that Joshua had sent into uh Jericho.

And because she risked her life in order to save God's people, God put her in the genealogy of Jesus.

Do you know that in Matthew in the New Testament, it lists all the people who were, you know, it says, the father begat this father he had this father had four women are mentioned. One of them

is Rahab. She wasn't even Jewish.

is Rahab. She wasn't even Jewish.

And she was a prostitute. But her faith was more important than her background.

And God said, that's good enough. And

she became one in the lineage of the Messiah.

I don't care what your background is.

God can use your life for good if you'll be like Rahab. And if you'll step out in faith, write this down. Rahab risked her life to save others.

Rahab risked her life to save o- What she doing? She's showing faith in

she doing? She's showing faith in action. That's faith.

action. That's faith.

Our faith is demonstrated by what we do.

I'll never forget an old story that I heard as a a young man about the famous tightrope walker, George Blondin.

Way way back, I think it was in the 1920s that Blondin did this. Blondin was

world-famous for work walking on tightropes in very famous places. And and one day he decided and

places. And and one day he decided and he announced that he was going to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

And thousands of people showed up on both sides, the Canadian side, the American side, to watch this world-famous tightrope walker walk across Niagara Falls.

So, he gets up to the to the the edge, and he walks across slowly across Niagara Falls, and when he makes it to the other side side, the crowd went crazy. And they're jumping up down, and

crazy. And they're jumping up down, and they're shouting and whooping and hollering, and Blondin just raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute.

I'm going to do it again."

And he turned around, and he walks all the way back. When he gets back on the other side, the crowd goes crazy again.

They're going, "This is great. This is

the greatest act we've ever seen." He

raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute.

I'm going to do it again."

And he said, "But this time, I'm going to push a wheelbarrow across."

across." So, he gets a wheelbarrow, and he starts pushing it across Niagara Falls on the This true story. On on the this uh

you know, tightrope.

He gets out in the middle, he shakes it a little bit, and everybody goes, "Whoa!" But he's he's in control. He

"Whoa!" But he's he's in control. He

gets it over to the other side, and when he lands it on the other side, the people go crazy.

And a man walks up to Blondin, and he goes, "Mr. Blondin, that's the greatest performance I've ever seen. I I believe you could do it a hundred times. I

believe you could do it the rest of your life. I don't think you'd ever fail. I I

life. I don't think you'd ever fail. I I

believe in you." And Blondin looked at him and said, "So, you really believe in me, huh?" He goes, "Oh, man, I got faith

me, huh?" He goes, "Oh, man, I got faith in you. I know you could do it. I think

in you. I know you could do it. I think

you could do it a hundred times."

Blondin just turned around, dumped out the wheelbarrow, and said, "Okay, buddy, get in the wheelbarrow."

That's the test of faith.

That's the test of faith. Will you get in the wheelbarrow?

It's one thing to say it. It's one thing to feel it. It's one thing to debate it.

None of those things are real faith.

It's one of the things to claim you believe it.

But will you get in the wheelbarrow?

Our behavior shows what we really believe.

Now, I want you to take this message, and I want you to think about what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are really in the faith.

Test yourselves. Maybe you've been a fake Christian. Maybe you've been a fake

fake Christian. Maybe you've been a fake faith person. You've had a phony faith.

faith person. You've had a phony faith.

You've talked the talk, but you haven't got in the wheelbarrow.

You don't There's nothing in your life that shows you're really a Christian.

You're just like everybody else who's a non-believer.

Have you stepped across the line? If so,

it ought to show up in your life, and it ought to show up during this pandemic.

Now, let me make it really clear.

You don't Works don't save you. They

can't save you. You can't work your way to heaven. You can't earn your way to

to heaven. You can't earn your way to heaven.

They're not the root of your salvation, they are the fruit. They don't They they show you are Christian.

That They don't make you Christian, they show it. Ephesians 2:8-9 says this,

show it. Ephesians 2:8-9 says this, "It is by grace you have been saved through faith by grace through faith for a life of

good works, which God has already prepared for us to do." Now, notice there are three

do." Now, notice there are three prepositions in that sentence. It says,

"We're saved by grace, we're saved through faith, we're saved for a life of good works."

You got all three parts in your life?

If you're saved by grace, and you're saved through faith, it's going to show up in your life. You can't

have God come into your life and it not change you.

Now, the order's important. By grace,

through faith, for a lifetime of good works. And God

has planned your life to make a difference.

Now, I want to close with just a a couple questions in light of what James has just said. Here's the question, first question. You need to ask

first question. You need to ask yourself, "Am I really a Christian after all?

Have I really put my faith in Christ?

How do you know? How do you know that?

Do you Well, I just said a few words.

Did it change your life?

What changes can you point to in your life? What changes can I point to in my

life? What changes can I point to in my life?

Is my lifestyle any different from unbelievers?

Each week, we do a couple things at the end of each service at Saddleback Church. The first thing we do is we

Church. The first thing we do is we recommit our lives to Jesus Christ. And

if you have not ever done this, I want to lead you in a prayer right now. Okay,

would you bow your heads with me? And

this is a prayer of real faith, not fake faith. Say this, say, "God, I don't want

faith. Say this, say, "God, I don't want to have a fake faith.

I want to really trust you.

I want you to change my life for good.

I I don't want to just talk the talk and not walk the walk. I I want my life to be better. I want my life to be

be better. I want my life to be different. I want my life to be what you

different. I want my life to be what you made it to be.

I want to know your purpose for my life, and I'm asking you to change me. I'm

giving you permission to change me, and I want to learn to trust you and follow you like Abraham and like Rahab.

Jesus Christ, I give you my life completely to you.

In your name I pray.

Amen.

Now, if you really meant that, you know what's going to happen? You're going to start changing on the inside. Not

everything overnight, but it's going to be the rest of your life that God changes you.

If you prayed that prayer, the one of the purposes of our church is to help you grow and understand your decision. So, here's what I want you to

decision. So, here's what I want you to do. You got a phone, take your phone

do. You got a phone, take your phone right now, and I want you to text the word new start. One word, new start, to 99,000.

All right? I'll send you some material that'll help you with your decision. If

you have don't have a text, you want to email? Email newstart@saddleback.com.

email? Email newstart@saddleback.com.

99,000, text new start, or email newstart@saddleback.com.

newstart@saddleback.com.

Second thing we do every week is we express our gratitude to God for his goodness by giving back to him. Do you

know there more promises in the Bible about generosity than anything else?

Because God is a giver, he wants you to learn to be like him. Your generosity

online is feeding literally tens of thousands of people out of work right now. And so, you can go to

now. And so, you can go to saddleback.com, go give an offering today. Don't put it off. Go give an

today. Don't put it off. Go give an offering today to help other people who are out of work. Serve others who are in less fortunate time than you are.

And then, I mentioned baptism earlier, we're going to have a baptism in the near future at each of our campuses. If

you will baptize If you will write to me my baptism, the word my baptism, to 99,000.

My baptism, 99,000, or email baptism@saddleback.com, and we'll set up a an appointment baptism for you.

I love you so much. I thank God for you, and we'll see you next week. God bless

you everybody.