The Secret to a Truly Fulfilling Life - Pastor Naeem Fazal

[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is Naim, and you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content. If this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward. [00:00:39] Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you. Enjoy. [00:00:55] Well, good morning. [00:00:57] Are you guys doing good? [00:01:00] Awesome. Well, hey, listen, let me just tell you, we were having a cookout today, and I was thinking about the fact that some of you guys, maybe you're new. You're like, what's happening? We have pancakes after the first service, then a cookout after the second one. And I was thinking about this idea of food. Right? [00:01:14] Don't you realize, like, we all have relations, a certain relationship with food, right? Would you agree? [00:01:20] We have an interesting relationship with food, right? Some of us, it's not a good relationship. Others of us, we love food like crazy. Here's why. Because you and I both agree that food is not just supposed to fill us, it's supposed to, what, fulfill us. [00:01:34] You know what I'm saying? It is, right? Like, I recently have discovered my love for arepas. [00:01:43] Yes. If you don't know what that is, friends, it is a sweet, like, corn pancake that's usually made in Venezuela or Colombia. And I'm, like, loving this stuff. I found this restaurant. I'm like. I'm like, ashley, let's go there every Sunday after church. I want to try all different kinds. And she's like, oh, my gosh. Are you one of those people like me? Like, you find something, and then you just want to eat it all the time, right? I was on a chicken wing. Remember that chicken wing phrase? Oh, my gosh. The whole staff was like, oh, not again. [00:02:13] I'm like, chicken wings, chicken wings, chicken wings. It's one of those interesting things. What I realized, though, is that we're all like this, right? In certain ways, we're all like that because we know that it's not enough for Just to live a life that's full. We want to be fulfilled. [00:02:26] You want to live a life that's satisfying, right? Not just stuff to do. You want a job. That's what I mean. Pays the bill. You're like, yes, I do. I do want that. But I also want a job. That's what, fulfilling. We want that. We want desire that. My question is, why? [00:02:40] Why are we not comfortable with living a life that's like, hey, our needs are met. [00:02:46] We've got nourishment. We've got money in the bank. We got stuff. Why is this, that we, as these created beings want more than just to be full? [00:02:56] Why is it. Why are we attracted to the more out there, the possibility that it could be more in life that you could find this idea of contentment and satisfaction? I mean, it's not like. I mean, like, you know, baboons don't walk around, think around. Oh, my gosh. I just want to live a satisfying life. [00:03:13] I think they're just doing stuff. They're just doing stuff, right? I know. For example, you know this. I have a relationship with cats in my house. It's not a loving relationship. I don't think they're ever thinking, oh, who am I? [00:03:27] Could life be better? No, they just, no, no, I'm gonna kill that thing. I want to kill that thing. That's what they're thinking. No, it's. Why is it. And I've realized something. That's the tension. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because God seems to have created us a certain kind of way. And as I was thinking about this, especially the chapter that we're gonna be jumping into, which is chapter four in James, I realized something that God has made us with these desires that are just a little extra. And we get into trouble because of the desires. And I just wanna say I think it's God's fault. [00:04:05] You're like, oh, my gosh, what's happening? Some of you guys have thought that you're like God. If you would just make all the good things ugly, all the bad things for me, displeasing, distasteful. If you would just make them unattractive, I would live an amazing life. [00:04:24] But the problem is the things that are bad for us are attractive, tasty, right? And they draw us to live a certain kind of life. Now, I'm not just talking about food. I'm talking about relationships. Like the bad relationships in our lives, they're not the most healthiest ones. We are drawn to them. Have you ever Realized that you're just drawn to the bad things in life, that things are not good for you. You're like, oh, I'm just drawn to that because it's so attractive. And my question is, what do you do? What do you end up doing? Also, when you live a life, especially in just your career or the most important things in life, like relationships, when you're drawn to, like, just things that are unhealthy, maybe you're drawn to a mentality, an ideology in life, like a value system in life. And you're like. You're just drawn to it because it promises certain things, right? Because we know that there's a certain kind of level of prosperity that is portrayed out there in. In our world, in our culture, especially in America. And we all want that in some way. We want the American dream. Remember? It's the dream. You want all the stuff. We want that. And there's a promise to that. The promise is, if you have all those things, if you get the family, if you get the house, if you get the dog, the cat, if you get the whatever, you get all these things, you're gonna be so happy. Why? Because you have the freedom to pursue happiness. [00:05:51] Do it. Make it happen. Why? Because you're meant to be happy, meant to be satisfied. And here's the issue, James, chapter four, points this out, is that. Here's what's interesting. You and I are created in such a way that our soul wants something. [00:06:07] Our soul, our deep soul, wants something that we cannot give it. [00:06:11] Like we think we can, but we can't give it. Our soul wants something that we can't. Out of effort and out of striving and out of fighting or out of trying harder, we just. We can't attain it. It seems like that. And James kind of starts talking about this because James, chapter one, I mean, he kind of lays it all out. If you remember chapter one, he talks about this idea of, like, hey, count it all joy when things go bad. And why? Because he's saying God is working in your life. And we followed his thought all the way through. He's talked about a lot of practical things. He talked about, you know, like controlling your tongue, like last week. And, hey, you gotta remember, you can't. This gets you into all kinds of trouble. [00:06:56] But he gets a little serious. He gets a little personal here. And I feel like. I feel like if you jump into chapter four, the first, like, when he starts. The energy he brings is the energy that you would bring to a person that you were trying to get Them to understand, like, have you ever done this? Or do you know someone that you're like, I just want to shake them. Anybody? [00:07:21] Oh, okay. That was a little too personal. Okay, this is what. All right. Okay. That hit home. All right. Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to ask who. Okay. But you. Do anybody else have a person? You're like, I have kids, Naeem. What do you think I have? Yes. [00:07:35] Okay. You can't shake babies, but toddlers, yeah, you can. You know. [00:07:40] Yeah, we just want to shake them. Just want to shake them. Shake them. So I'm going to ask Kenny to come up here because I want you to have this, you know, in your memory right here. So just. Okay. This. James, chapter four is basically. Okay. So Kenny represents all of us who is like, we are. We are. We want to be satisfied. We want to do all the things, but we find ourselves living a certain kind of life. And James is like. Basically, he's like, I want to just shake you. I want to shake you. Okay. Did you get this picture? Okay, just shake you. Shake you. Thank you, buddy. Give me my hand. Okay, yeah, you can take this. This is for your troubles. [00:08:16] This is for your troubles. [00:08:18] Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. All right, all right. Give him a hand. Yes, please. [00:08:23] So let's jump in. Let's jump in. James, chapter four. We'll jump in. And he starts off and he talks to this. He says this. He says, what causes fights? What causes fights and quarrels among you? Okay, what? He's asking the question. He says, don't they come from your desires, that battle within you? He says you desire but you do not have, so you kill. Now, I just want you to know he's being extreme. Why he's shaking. He's like, what's going on with you? What's happening with you? He says you covet, but you cannot get what you want. So you quarrel and fight. And then he says you do not have because you what? Do not ask God. And when you ask, you don't receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your. What pleasures. Now, what is he saying here? What's interesting about this? He's saying. He's saying the stuff that you're fighting for, the war that you're fighting outside is actually connected to the war that's inside of you. There's something inside of your soul that wants something, and you feel like you're pulled towards it. There's a desire towards it. You want this fulfillment. But what you want Is you don't even know what you want. You want certain things in your life, but you think it's out there. So you fight among people and you do it. And then he uses extreme language. He's like, you're killing people. [00:09:43] Were they really killing people? Not really. But what he's talking to them is, he's like, you're killing other things in your life. You're making wrong choices. You're doing, like, you're just being super unhealthy. Have you seen someone's life just go from bad to worse? Anybody? And you're like, what are you doing? What are you doing? That's the energy he's bringing. He's like, hey, hey. He says, you covet. You're like, you want these things, but you can't get them. And then what happens is because your desires are wanting you to be satisfied in life, you end up, like, manipulating God where now you're praying to God, but you're not praying to God for what he wants for you. [00:10:24] You're not praying to God because you're open to what he has for you. No, you're praying to want certain things that you think are going to satisfy. [00:10:33] Here's the problem. You're just stuck. And then he says something you do not have because you do not ask God and what he's saying here to us. Because if you read this before, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, because I gotta pray about things. No, no, no. He says, you don't have. You don't get the thing your soul wants. You don't have fulfillment. You don't have satisfaction, contentment, peace in life. You don't have these things. You're still struggling with anxiety. You're still wanting to wondering what's going on. [00:11:05] You don't really have a. Possess a wholeness. You're not satisfied because you don't ask God. [00:11:14] And what he's saying here is what I just said earlier. And that is he's saying, I don't think you understand something. Why are you fighting? You're fighting because your soul wants something that you can't give it. [00:11:28] Your soul wants something, the only thing that will fulfill it is, Is not you striving. [00:11:34] Because he says, if you run your play, which is, hey, this is my strategy in life. I'm gonna hustle, I'm gonna hustle, I'm gonna hustle. I'm gonna strive, strive, strive. I'm going to fight my way into and I'm gonna get what's coming to me. He said, if you wanna live that kind of life? I just want you to know you will never have. [00:11:51] You will never have. [00:11:53] You'll never be whole, you'll never be satisfied. Because there's more in life. And you gotta start with this, the first thing, and that is you gotta have to stop doing some things. And if there's a point that I was going to try to make here, he would say this. He says, stop fighting battles. Stop fighting battles. Stop fighting battles that, man, that leave you empty. [00:12:16] Stop fighting battles that leave you empty. And see, for some of us, you understand this, you're living a life. You're like, if we can just get this kind of money, if I can just get into this kind of relationship, if I can just find this kind of partner, if I can just do this, this, this, and if I can just do this, I will be content. [00:12:35] And I don't know if you will be, because we're fighting battles that only leave us empty. Have you ever, like, gotten what you wanted and went, oh, that's it. [00:12:44] That was it. [00:12:46] That was it. Oh my gosh, that was it. Ask anybody who's been super successful, when they hit it, they go, okay, okay, that lasted for a bit, but then it's gone. It's gone. So he starts off saying, hey, hey, I just want you to know I need you to shake off something. And. And it starts with you. Stop. Stop doing this. Stop doing this. But then he continues, because this chapter is really interesting because he goes into a lot of different things, but his big idea really is to shake us out of this kind of life that we are drawn to by our desires, but it's not really fulfilling. So he jumps into it. Let's just keep on going. What does he do after that? [00:13:23] Well, after that, he says this. Okay, I'll just make the point right here. He also says, he says, stop chasing. [00:13:31] Stop chasing tomorrows that don't belong to you. Which is really interesting. Okay, so why do I say this? Because after, as he continues, he starts off and he says this word, he says, you help me out with this word. You what? You what? [00:13:45] Adulterous people. [00:13:47] Whoa, bro, what's going on? [00:13:50] Hello. I mean, I know you're shaking me, but, like, have you ever wanted to use extreme language to get someone's attention? [00:13:56] Yes. Yes. You're going to ruin your life. [00:14:00] Yes. [00:14:02] Okay. It says, you adulterous people. [00:14:05] Don't you know that friendship with God means what? [00:14:07] Enmity against God? Friendship with the world means enemy with God. Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the World becomes what, an enemy of God? Again, he's using big language, extreme language. What's he doing here? Is he like, is he scolding them? No, no, no. He's basically, he's throwing back to the Book of Hosea. You see, this whole idea of like, you adulterous people comes from an Old Testament prophet story where the whole book is really about God and his relationship with people. And Hosea is a prophet who illustrates, like, he marries someone who's broken and been in so many different relationships and in fact, a prostitute who's been sold into slavery who is really just, I mean, talk about identity crisis. It's just someone who is like, doesn't even know what to do, never has been loved without a condition connected to it. And so the Book of Hosea is very beautiful because it talks to us about how we as humans are those kinds of people. We are broken people. We've never experienced love without condition. And here God chooses to marry us, and yet in our marriage we wander off. [00:15:17] So when he throws this back, the readers understand what he's saying, what he's doing here. He's not calling them names, he's actually reminding them about Jose. He's like, hey, remember, remember? [00:15:28] And he says, don't you know, like. Because he's assuming that they all know now. We are not his audience. Right? His audience. Obviously they know. He says, hey, friendship with God means enemy with. Friendship with the world means enemy with God. He says, I just want you to know that you can't keep like wandering off and just sticking onto, in one sense, to these relationships or values in life. [00:16:01] You can't allow seductive things like success and prosperity, even Christian prosperity to change your idea of who God is. If you allow those things, it's going to make you a person who does the opposite things of God. [00:16:19] Opposite things of God. It's like, is he saying, basically when he uses that word adulterous? He's saying, he's saying your brokenness and my brokenness. We long for something to give us security. [00:16:30] We long for it and that's why we do this in relationships too. And if you're a single adult, I get that, because we will long for someone to give us companionship. But there's just this idea that we want to be like, we want to have a closeness. We want people to know us and us to know them. And there's this desire there and it's a real, real desire to be loved, to be fully loved. But he says, hey, let me just tell you what you end up doing is you end up living a life that is contrary to what God wants for you. He's like, it's the anti God life that you end up living. I have this piece of tape that fell down. But it's funny though, is like, I use painter's tape a lot for all kinds of projects because I do a lot of painting, apparently. Right? Okay. Have you ever realized that when you reuse tape, it does not stick anymore? Anybody wouldn't be great. And I thought about this. I thought about, like, my relationships. I feel like I've. [00:17:33] I feel like when I talk to single adults, I meet some people, not everybody, some people who just desperately need someone in their life that they cannot be without. A person, they just need a boyfriend, they need a girlfriend, they need someone in their life. And what they do is they end up just like sticking to any. The next person that they meet. [00:17:55] And then when that doesn't happen, they just kind of undo come off and then they stick to the next person, and then they stick to the next person and then they go to the next person and the next person. And I don't know about you, but some point, somehow there's the residue of stuff, of other people's stuff sticks to your soul and you lose your stickiness. [00:18:21] You see, when we go after one desire or the next one person after the next, if we're lured by, seduced by, if we allow this, he calls it spiritual infidelity, we will allow these things to move us into desiring something like that or this person or this thing we desire that we just. We end up sticking to them. And when it doesn't work out, which it won't work out, you end up repeating that pattern. And then you lose the ability to commit to God. [00:18:57] Why? Because you've lose. You've lost your stickiness. You can't do that. He says, hey, don't you know? Don't you know? And then he says, you'll be an enemy of God. Enemy of God? What does that mean? What does that mean? What does that look like? I mean, really, am I an enemy of God? [00:19:14] What's fascinating is the idea of like this anti God thing, right? So have you heard the phrase antichrist, anybody? Antichrist. Right, Antichrist. Okay, okay. So when you think of Antichrist, I mean, I don't know about you, but like, it's always like demonic, right? [00:19:31] Have you noticed that? It's always the Antichrist. [00:19:36] The Antichrist, Right. Like, and then sometimes we know people who've sent us stuff to saying, hey, this politician is the Antichrist. Hey, this politician is the Antichrist. And this politician is the Antichrist. And I've been reading Revelations and these people are the Antichrist, and those people are the Antichrist. And. And so it's like always, like in my lifetime, I've had several people say, shoot, like, this is the Antichrist. That's the Antichrist. And sometimes I just want to tell people, which I don't do it because I keep my mouth shut, is because I'm smart. I go, actually, they're not the Antichrist. You are being the Antichrist. [00:20:09] I want to say that because anti means not right? Like anti inflammatory. [00:20:20] Anybody heard about that? [00:20:22] You guys like, yeah, we got issues. Okay? We got issues. Let's not talk about it. [00:20:27] It's anti. So it does not. It's the opposite. So when you and I, when you and I act other than opposite of what God would do, if you and I say things to people and do things and have a value system about the value of their humans, that is not the same as God. We are what, Antichrist. [00:20:56] So there's so much, so many Christians who, it is amazing to me who are going, you're the Antichrist. And as they are pointing, they're doing something that Jesus would never do. [00:21:10] Now if you think, oh, well, we have to, we gotta point things out. James is not down. [00:21:15] Cause he's gonna get into it. So what he's saying is like, hey, I just want you to know you'll begin doing some things that are really enemy of God. That means they are. [00:21:26] They are the enemy of the things that God's doing within you. [00:21:32] Like God is doing something, growing something inside of you. And if you keep doing this, if you pursue this because you're seduced by this, what you're gonna do is you're going to undo the things that God is doing in your life. [00:21:48] And that way you'll be the enemy of God in your life. And then he keeps on going. He says, or do you think Scripture says, for without reason, that he, God, jealously longs for the spirit he caused to dwell in us? [00:22:07] He says that's why the scriptures talk about how God is jealous. Cause he's looking at your life, he's seeing the stuff that he's done in you. And then you are basically doing the anti. You are dismantling the work that God's doing by following your desires. And he's going like a parent would do, going, oh my gosh, what are you doing? [00:22:30] Have you as a parent or have you As a person. Just been like, stop. Like, again, what is he doing? [00:22:37] He's like, what are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? Don't, don't, don't, don't. Don't do this, he says. Don't do this, he said. And then he says this. But he gives us more. What? More what? [00:22:49] Grace. That is why Scripture says God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. And then he says, submit. Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you, who humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. You see, when you resist evil in your life, you discover something. You discover that you were never meant to be a slave, because that's what evil will do. [00:23:22] It will enslave you. And as soon as you go, I'm not gonna do this, I'm gonna resist what the enemy's. I'm gonna resist the Antichrist. Things to do when you resist those. Let me tell you, you're resisting the being a slave to those things because he says that those things will enslave you. He says, no, no, but here's the. Here's the thing. What you have to do is you gotta. It says here, you got to, man, humble yourself. [00:23:49] And again, this is the. This is the. This is again shaking us out of the kind of life that we live. [00:23:58] Like, when he says, stop, you know, chasing the tomorrow, someone else's tomorrow. Like, stop chasing the tomorrow that is never meant for you. He's saying, stop chasing this dream of yours, this kind of life that is someone else's. It's not what God wants to do in your life. And then he's saying, here's what I want you to do. I want you to submit to him. Now, submission for us in this culture is weakness. [00:24:21] Submission is weakness. [00:24:23] But in God's culture, to God. Submission to God is not weakness. It is the act of spiritual strength and spiritual maturity. I mean, that's what he's saying. He says the strongest thing you can do is resist the enemy. [00:24:41] Submit to God. He said, if you submit to the work that God's doing in your life, if you would just do that. And, friends, if you don't think it takes supernatural power to do that, you know it. You're like, no, it takes so much power to do that. In fact, Jesus was like, hey, not my will. Your will? Why? Because he was like, oh, because I really want my will. [00:25:05] But your will be done. Your will be done. Why? Because God's work and will is hard. [00:25:11] It's so tough, it requires so much strength. [00:25:17] And so what he's saying here is it's only the weak that refuse to submit because the weakness that does not submit turns into pride. [00:25:29] Pride is just this idea of like, I've got it together, but there's shallow, there's nothing there. There's no real strength in pride. It's just, it's just, it's talk about inflammation. It's like an inflammation of your personality. It's just like you're just this, oh, I'm just, I'm this big and bad and I got it all together. And he's saying it doesn't really do anything. He says, just come close to God, come close to him. [00:25:56] I promise he'll come close to you and he'll do the work that he wants you to get done in your life. [00:26:02] And then he keeps on going, keeps on going. Man, there's a lot to this chapter. He goes, he says this, he says this now. And I'll just tell you what he basically is saying. [00:26:11] He says, stop pretending to be God when you were created by him. [00:26:17] Like, stop pretending, stop pretending that you're God. How does he say that? He says. Well, he says. Verse 11. He says also, let me just tell you this, don't speak evil against each other. [00:26:28] What? That's the best part. [00:26:31] What? [00:26:32] What? Come on. Trash talking people. Yeah, some of you guys like, that's my spiritual strength. [00:26:38] What are you talking about? [00:26:41] He says, dear brothers and sisters, if you, he says if you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. [00:26:52] And then he says this. But your job, you want a job? Your job is to what, Obey the law, not to judge whether what it applies to you. [00:27:06] He says, God alone, who gave the law is the judge. [00:27:10] He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? Oh my gosh, he's just going for it. [00:27:28] He's like, what? Stop doing this. He said, who made you God? [00:27:33] Well, I mean, it's my job. He's like, no, no, who told you that you're supposed to do this, like in a game, like if you're playing a game. He says, if you're playing a game, there's a referee. Okay, the referee calls the what? [00:27:48] Calls the fouls, right? [00:27:50] Calls the fouls. What if all the players called fouls? [00:27:55] What kind of game is that? Sports. [00:27:57] Okay, okay. It's like, how do you do that? How do you live like that? And so what he's talking to is actually followers of Jesus, which is interesting because not just in this world, in his world, it was the same. [00:28:14] Christians were trying to live their life, and then somehow they got into a lifestyle, an ideology or something that made them sit around and judge each other. [00:28:27] Now, it's sad, though, is because our beautiful history of the church is not pretty. [00:28:34] It's not because we have. [00:28:37] Man, we have got all kinds of awful things that we have done simply by all of a sudden being the judge and the jury and said, we're gonna judge our neighbors. We're gonna judge this kind of Christian, because you know and I know we have. [00:28:52] What kind of Christian are you now? Because that's not the conversation. And for some reason, we're okay to just judge. And I wonder if he's saying here, hey, I just want you to know your job is to love people, not label them. [00:29:08] So are you loving them? [00:29:10] What are you doing? What are you doing? And what he's saying here is that the kind of life. I wanna shake you out of this. Because if you keep following your desires, you keep following the world's playbook, if you start doing all these things and allowing yourself to be led by desires and all that, he goes, he's throwing it back. He says, let me tell you why you're always fighting. We always against each other, why you're always divided. Why? Because there's a war inside of you, and you gotta stop doing that. He says, you gotta stop. And here's what you can do. You can stop by. Stop judging people. But he's not done. He said, let me just tell you this. Also. Also, I want you to stop pretending you're God. As in, like, you know everything. You know everything, and you stop pretending that you all have it together. He says this. He says, here, now, listen, you who say, tomorrow. I'm sorry, today or tomorrow, we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make what? Make what? [00:30:07] Make money? He says, why? [00:30:10] Why do you even know? Like, why do you even know what will happen tomorrow? [00:30:15] What is your life? [00:30:17] Oh, gosh. Okay. And then he says, you are a what? You are a what? [00:30:21] A mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Basically, what he's saying is. He's saying, let me just tell you. I wanna shake you from this. You're kind of living a life, trying to figure out who you are. You're fighting, you're trying to attain some things. You're trying to provide for yourself, something that God can give. You're trying to compare yourself to people that only God does, that he's the judge. [00:30:50] And then you're making all these. [00:30:52] These plans that you're like, oh, I just got together. And basically he's saying is your big plans are not hiding the fact that you're living a small life. [00:31:05] You're doing that. [00:31:06] You're making all these big plans, you're having all these gold, you're having all these things. But let me tell you, at the end of the day, you live a very small life. [00:31:15] It's faint. It's not here forever, not here forever. [00:31:20] So for some reason you believe this. So all this to say, because this chapter is going so many places. [00:31:27] I mean, to me, it seems like he's saying, hey, for some of us, we're just man. Our desires are causing us to either be more judgy in life, always unfulfilled in life, causing us to be unsatisfied in life. They're causing us and leading us in different paths in life. [00:31:53] Hey, what are you doing? What do you need to stop? [00:31:59] So the question for us is, like, what do we need to stop? And you're like, ah, well, Naeem, I just thought Christianity was all about just stopping sin, right? Sin, you know, the bad things in life. The bad things in life. You know, obviously, the sin. The sin. You know, sin, sin, sin. [00:32:15] And James at the end of this chapter redefines sin. [00:32:20] Let me just read it. This is the last sentence. He says, if anyone then. If anyone then knows what is what the good they. What they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is what it is sin for them. [00:32:37] Oh, well, thanks a lot, James. [00:32:39] I just wish there was a list of 10 things, and I just avoid them. [00:32:44] But he's like, no, no, no. If God is showing you something, if God's showing you something and you know it is the good thing to do, the right thing to do, and you're not doing it, it doesn't matter. Stop looking at someone else. It is sin for you. [00:33:03] And that's. It's not sin for them. And by the way, don't point to them. It's sin for you. It's sin for you. So when I was thinking about this, I was like, oh, my gosh. So in what ways am I sinning? [00:33:16] Or have I convinced myself I don't really sin because I don't do certain things in life? [00:33:24] But he's saying, hey, if you don't stop doing the stuff that you're doing, the kind of mentality that you have, the ideology that you have, if you don't stop this, being led by your desires, if you don't stop this, I just want you to know you're gonna end up sinning, you're going to end up missing the mark in life. And that's what James is saying. I just, I want you to just not do that. [00:33:56] So, I mean, what, what do you think God would want you to shake off? Like, if God was. Got your attention this morning and he was holding your shoulders and he was like, okay, what do you think he was gonna. Is he, Was he. What do you think he's trying to shake off from you? [00:34:16] What is it? [00:34:18] What is it? Is it, I don't know, is it, Is it an old way of thinking? Is it fear? [00:34:23] Is it pride? Is it cynicism? [00:34:27] What is he trying to shake off? Is this bitterness? Is it insecurity? What's he trying to shake off? Is it a. [00:34:33] Is it a lack of self worth? Is it a label that you put on you? Is it laziness? Is it mediocrity? [00:34:42] Is it comparison? What is God trying to shake off of you? [00:34:48] And here's the thing, because I want to pray for us about this, is that if we do this, if we allow God to show us and be changed, man, we will stop fighting with everybody else and we will not be at war with everybody else because we have peace in our hearts. [00:35:10] We will just stop fighting. Stop trying to in your job and in your relationship, just stop striving and striving and striving because all that makes us basically is empty and judgy, apparently. [00:35:23] So let me pray for us. Can I do that? [00:35:26] Lord God, thank youk, thank youk for our lives. Thank youk for God calling us up, asking us to in one sense, level up. [00:35:36] God, I do pray that yout would you, would God, shake us? [00:35:40] You would remind us, God, that you are the God. You're the God who is the firm foundation in our life. You're the God who created us and what our souls need. [00:35:57] You are the only one that can provide what our spirits need. [00:36:03] You're the only one that can provide where our heart needs, where our mind needs. You're the only one that can provide. [00:36:13] God, would you remind us of that? And would you. Yes, God, would you shake us? [00:36:18] Would you tell us, God, some of us were just so tempted, so tempted to just kind of. And so seduced by the. [00:36:27] The idea of something and it's so attractive to us and yet it feels good. But then we find ourselves empty. [00:36:38] God, would you speak to us? Would you shake us this morning? [00:36:43] Would you allow these words to change who we are, God in our lives? [00:36:49] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. [00:36:55] For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.