Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] 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 and enjoy.
[00:00:13] All right. Wow. So, so much fun. Right? Well, okay. Okay. All right. Wow. All right. Yes. Well, hey, good morning. Glad you guys are here. Yes. If you're joining us online. Yeah. Glad you're here. So we are in week two of our new series called almost. Almost what? Almost true. Almost true. Not quite true, but almost true. And Kristen did a great job. If you guys missed it last week, talking about and kicking us off the conversation, and she covered this phrase that's almost true. And that is that you can be anything you want to be. Anything you want to be. And we realize that her daughter wants to be an animal. And, yeah, she's praying for it. She's asked to checked in on Kristen and her daughter, and, yeah, she still is praying to be an animal. And, yeah, so we're still praying for her. I. So, you know, just so you know, just so you know. But so I'm doing part two. I'm gonna talk to you about a phrase. Now, what's interesting, though, is I was in California, southern California last week and speaking at a church there. And, you know, it's always fun to go speak at different churches because the conversation right before I come out is the guy or the person, the lady who's kind of introducing me says this. She goes, okay, how do you pronounce. How do you pronounce your last name?
[00:01:26] Or how do you pronounce your name? How do you do that? It's always funny because sometimes they butcher it, and it's all good. But what's really funny, though, is that sometimes we'll come out the announcer or the person, and sometimes it's the pastor, and they'll come out and they'll talk about. They'll talk about me. They'll set me up. They'll pump me up. You know what I'm saying? They're like, this guy. And sometimes pastors will do this.
[00:01:49] They'll exaggerate a little bit. Pastors are known to just exaggerate just a little bit. Right. And so sometimes, you know, I remember one time this guy comes out and he was like, this is one of my best friends. And I'm like, okay, first of all, we did not have that relationship like that. We don't have that. And he. Then he says, so please help me welcome naheem Fazul. Now, let me explain. My name is not Naheem. Right. It's Naim, by the way, if you're new, it's Naeem. Fazul actually means something else in my language. It is a word for my language. And I know one person who speaks Hindi. And Fazul means useless.
[00:02:29] Useless. So I heard here the great Naim useless is coming out to speak to you. So I was like, that's hilarious. Okay, now, so it's funny. Is that so? And talk about the fact that I'm useless. But we are going to talk about something. And that is this phrase that you. Apparently not me, but you can do anything. You can do anything that you what?
[00:02:53] Put your mind to, which I believe leads to comparison, honestly, because, I mean, I get it. I love this phrase. I love it because I want it to be true. I want to tell that to our kids. I want to inspire people in speeches and all that. You can do anything did you put your mind to. You can do anything you put your mind to. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. But, you know, the truth is you can't.
[00:03:14] I can put my mind, my soul, my body, my spirit, too, but I cannot dunk a basketball. I can't do it. I've tried. I've tried. I barely. I caught the rim. That's about it. I can't get over the deal. Okay. It's just the thing. Just the thing. Middle eastern people cannot jump anyway, so actually, they can. But I can't do that, right? There's something you just can't do. So is there something poor out there? The problem is that if you live by that, I believe it leads to comparison, because you end up living a life where you look around and you go, okay, apparently I'm not putting my mind to this. I'm not putting my soul to this. What's wrong with my mind? What's wrong with me? Because if I were able to do it, if I can focus, if I can do this, I should be able to do it now. See, I grew up with a learning disability, and I have dysgraphia and dyslexia. And so growing up, I never heard the phrase, you can do anything you put your mind to. They're like, no, you don't. Your mind is something. So let's just try for something else. You know what I'm saying? Just go into something else that you don't have to use your mind. Because, I mean, it was the thing. And I was like, I wasn't feeling bad about it. I was like, you're right. It's true. So I was like, forget my mind. Let's just try anything. Let's try everything that you don't have to have a mind for. You know what I'm saying? Let's just do that. See, the problem is, is that when you look around, we end up living a life going, okay, okay, so what about so and so? And what about this? Because we compare to figure out, are we doing all the things? Are we doing the things that we need to do? Am I really accomplishing all this stuff? Cause I don't know about you, but I find out sometimes because I am competitive and I compare and I compare to other people, and I'm thinking, if it's true that I can do anything that I put my mind to, why am I not doing it? What is wrong with what me?
[00:04:56] It centers the self and says, if you're the problem, you're the reason that you're not accomplishing the things you need to accomplish. You're the reason why your kids are like this. You're the reason why you're still single, reason why you're whatever. You're the reason. You're the reason. Because I guess you what? Tell you what. Because you could do anything if you put your, what? Mind to it, which is kind of, I want it to be true, but it's not true, and it's actually hurtful. And it leads to a life that you're always comparing, figuring out where are you in life? And why am I not this, and why am I not this? And how come so and so and what's wrong with me? Unfortunately, it creeps up in spiritual, in spirituality, in Christianity, big time. And it creeps up because of this scripture. Now, let me read this to you. Okay? We'll put it on the screen for you. Now, it's found in Philippians four. What?
[00:05:42] 413 people. Philippians 413. Some people I've seen have tattooed this thing on themselves. Okay, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. Here's the deal, okay? Because it sounds pretty awesome. It's an epic one. What does it say? I can do what? I can do all the things. Yo. I can do all things through Christ. Through what? Yes. Yes. Why not have that?
[00:06:07] You know what I'm saying? I can do what? All the things. Bring it on, world. I got you. I got you. You know why? Because I got Jesus in my pocket. I got Jesus in my heart. He's in my mind. I got him everywhere. I got him. He's the cologne I wear.
[00:06:21] Please. Why? Because the idea is I can do all things. Now, let me give you, actually, the context. This passage, if you've already tattooed it, that's great. Sorry, but this passage is a conversation. Sorry. It's a letter that Paul is writing. Paul, one of the apostles. And he is in jail. The boy is in prison, okay? He is gonna. And he is just stuck there. And he starts writing a letter and he says he lists all the stuff that's happening to him. Like, all the stuff. All the stuff that's happening to him. And it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Conditions are horrible. He's talking about getting beaten. He's talking about all the change. He's talking about all that. Like just a very. It's, it's, it's. He's in. It's sort of a, like, of a dungeon situation. And then he goes, but guess. Guess what? It's okay. Don't worry about me, because you know what I can do? I can get through all of this stuff. Because Christ strengthens me. We've taken that and said, you know what? This feels like a lot. Like, if you put your mind to it, you can do it plus, plus your mind, plus Jesus. Hello. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You know, I'm saying, we got this. We can do this.
[00:07:39] It's not helpful.
[00:07:41] It's partly true. It's almost true. It's not. It's not true, though, because that leads to a life of disappointment. Because that is a life of comparison. It leads to that. So the problem is, is that sometimes we just live. We just spiritually, we just don't realize this. We don't realize this because we think, though, that God wants us to do all the things. All the things. And we don't realize that even spiritually, we compare ourselves to other people. And we do it all the time. We do it all the time. For example, let me set you free. Let me just let you know that we're all tempted by this. I'm going to take you to a passage. It's a conversation Jesus is having with Peter. So Peter and Jesus have a conversation about the fact that he denied him. Remember that story? Like, he denies him how many times? Three. Three times he denied him. So Jesus spent some time talking to him, and he's like, do you love me? Yes. Okay, okay, okay. He does the whole thing. He's like, you're a good man. I still believe in you. The reason Jesus wanted to do that is because he called Peter to be the guy to lead this movement of Jesus. But even though he had this epic failure, he was like, listen, it's okay. I still love you. You do this. You do this. It's all good. So they're having this moment, and then they're walking. Okay? They're walking. They're walking, but then someone is following them. Someone's with them. Someone's with them. And Peter has this moment. Okay? So Peter does this. Okay, it says here in. First, in John, sorry, 21. It says Peter turned. What? He turned around. Turned around and saw, saw behind them the disciple. The disciple. This guy, the disciple Jesus loved. Okay, and let me just. This is so funny, okay? Because if you notice, the scripture is from the book of John. John is the writer.
[00:09:31] John is the guy in his book. Every time he mentions his name, he goes, the one Jesus loves.
[00:09:40] The one Jesus loves. I'm not comparing, but he loves me. I'm just saying you. I don't know. Me? Yes, very much so. The one Jesus loved. Loved. Does he hate anybody? Everybody else? No, because they're still in this comparison. They're still living this, showing us that they're human, that we will end up comparing our piece, your piece, right now. I'll tell you what is not connected to your condition. It's connected to your comparison.
[00:10:13] Let me say it again. Your peace of mind right now, your contentment in life is not connected to anything else but comparison, not your condition, because it's always worse when you compare. It gets better. Because if you compare correctly, you're like, I'm so much better than her. Like, I'm so much better than him. So he goes on and this whole thing doesn't stop, right? So he says, jesus loved. Then he goes on and he says, also, also, just want to let you know, the one, the one he's writing about himself, the one who had leaned over to Jesus during the supper and asked, lord, who will betray you? He said, I just want you to know I'm that guy. There's a lot of johns out there. I'm the guy. I'm the guy. I was there. I was there. Because he know. Because he's about to write something that puts really a pretty good shade on Peter. Check this out. Check this out. Okay. So what happens is. So he says, yeah. So then Jesus, I'm sorry. See, Peter asked Jesus. He's like, he turned around. He says, what about him, lord? Like, why is he following us? Like, what about him? What about him? What about him? And then Jesus replied, so Jesus says this. He says, if I want him to stay them to remain alive until I return.
[00:11:28] What is that to you?
[00:11:35] Why do you care so much? Yeah. Yeah. What about him?
[00:11:39] I just gave you the keys to the kingdom. You're the guy. But what about him? What about him? He's like, what is that to you? Why do you care so much about your brother job? Why do you care so much about your sister's kids? Why do you care so much about other people's opinion?
[00:11:56] Why do you care so much about this? Why do you, why, why do you, why do you, why do you do this?
[00:12:02] What are you doing? What is it to you? Why should you care about other people's life? You.
[00:12:10] You, what? Follow what, me? Like, I've got stuff for you, but as long as you keep looking around and looking back, you're not gonna see what I'm putting in front of you. I'm walking with you. I've got a purpose for you. But you're living out. What? What are you doing? You're living someone else's life. What are you doing? What's happening? What's happening? Why? Why? You know, you know what the problem is?
[00:12:36] The problem is, is that we don't have, we don't have, we don't have a better or more truer statement to live by. It's not, you can do, you know, you can do anything you put your mind to. Let me give you a truer one. Okay? We'll put it on the screen for you. This is more true one. You should, you should put your mind, put your mind to all the things God has put. What in you? In you? You should put your mind to all things God has in you. What if we trained our kids early on instead of like, hey, hey, you can do anything. How about we say, hey, there is some amazing things that God has put inside of you. You're gonna spend your whole life discovering it.
[00:13:19] You need to put your mind to everything that God has put inside of you. Put it in front of you. What he's calling, what he's calling you to. What is the thing? And I think for some of us, we don't realize it's because here's the deal.
[00:13:31] If you live a life like, you're focused on the thing in front of the thing that God has put inside of you, it will lead to a life of possibility.
[00:13:44] Possibility, not comparison. Possibility, the possibility. So what do we do? We don't, here's what we don't need to do. We don't need to try.
[00:13:56] We don't need to try to live what someone else's life.
[00:14:01] I mean, you're living someone else's life.
[00:14:05] You gotta wake up. Listen to me here. Listen. Focus here. Look at this. Are you living someone else's life? Like, the reason why I care about this is because you've been fed a lie.
[00:14:17] You've been fed a lie that you live this kind of person's life, and it does not work.
[00:14:23] It's a game plan for just epic failure. It just is. Let me show you. In acts, right? In acts, the book of acts, chapter, I think it's 19. There is a passage I want to read to you. Okay, so here's what happened, okay? It says here that Paul gave. Sorry. God gave Paul these powers to perform what unusual miracles. When the handkerchiefs and aprons that had merely touched, touched the skin, they were placed on six people. What happened? They were what? They were healed. They were healed of their diseases. So what's happening here? They're healed of diseases and evil spirits were expelled. A group of jewish Jews who were traveling from town down, casting out evil spirits. And then what happens? They tried to do something. They tried to actually do what Paul was wanting to do. They just did. They just was trying to do that. And they were. What they do, they tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their inter. What?
[00:15:30] They tried to do that. So what happened? It says here that this. By saying, I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preached, to come out. So they were basically using, you know, they were using Paul's name to do this. Like, I don't know Jesus, but I'm telling you, Jesus, he, you know, Peter. I mean, John is. I mean, and all these other guys know him, but we don't know him, but Paul preaches this, so I. We're just using that to come out. So what happens? Well, some of the sons, it says some of.
[00:16:00] Some of the sons of Sceva, because they were skeeving. Okay, here's what they did.
[00:16:06] The leading priests were doing this, but one time it says they tried it, and an evil spirit replied.
[00:16:16] Now, here, that's a bad day right there, okay? That's a bad day because, like, you're trying something. You're like, in Jesus name. In Jesus name and all that. But when, you know, even in movies, when this, when the demon starts talking, you're like, oh, whoa, hey, time to shut this off. You know what I'm saying? We're not watching this. And right now, everywhere you look, everywhere you look, it's like all the movies, all these movies, you're like, so the demon starts talking. He says, so I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who you?
[00:16:50] Who you?
[00:16:51] Who you like, I'm sorry. Give me your name, please.
[00:16:58] So it didn't go down really good, did it? What happens next? We read on. It says, then the man, then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and they attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house naked and battered.
[00:17:17] That's where streaking started. Like, this is. This is where it happened.
[00:17:23] So they were like, what did they do wrong here? What did they do wrong here?
[00:17:28] Were they living someone what were they doing? What were they doing? I've got a thought for you. I got a thought for you.
[00:17:34] Don't borrow what someone else's calling.
[00:17:40] Don't borrow someone else's calling.
[00:17:44] Don't live out or live off of someone else's faith like some of us just live our lives. We're living off of the faith of so and so and so and so and so and so and so. Just don't do that. It's a total mess when you do that.
[00:18:01] So what do we do? What do we do?
[00:18:04] What do we do? Well, let me give you a couple things. First of all.
[00:18:09] Number one, I think you need to dig more than you climb.
[00:18:13] Dig more than you climb. What does that even mean? What does that mean, digging more when you climb? Like, so. I think we live our lives when you think about, like, oh, you can do everything that you put your mind to. It's about the idea. It's like, you are so awesome. You can do anything, and you go after all the things. And climbing is what we do here in the US. I love this culture. And part of the culture, this culture is this world is this society is. Is that. It's different from mine and from mine. It's like you are stuck where you are, but in this Us and this world, this society, you can accomplish so many things. And as an immigrant coming from, as a refugee coming from Kuwait, being here all these years, I've been able to accomplish so many things. And I love it. I love it because it's part of my personality. I want to climb, climb, climb, climb, climb, climb, climb. And I want to do this. The problem, though, is when I'm climbing, I'm looking around.
[00:19:09] I'm looking around on who is right up behind me. I'm just looking. I'm just looking around. I keep looking around because I need to make sure that no one else is following me. Have you also noticed. You've noticed this right in races in Olympics, right? The people who are winning the race, they don't look around. They're focused. The people who are insecure about possibly losing, they look around, and I just wonder if we're doing the same thing. I wonder if Peter's insecurities came up and you just kept on looking around. He was wired up to go, I just need to look around. And I think part of it is that the idea of, like, climbing makes so much sense because climbing to the top of your game, to the top of your career, to top of whatever, is great. It's awesome, but I think it's awesome to do that. But you and I have to dig more than you climb, and digging means you got to dig into your soul.
[00:20:00] You got to excavate your soul. Like, the word itself is like digging, like digging out, right? It's digging, moving dirt to discover something that's precious and unique. And I think for some of us, because I'm gonna show us in just a minute. For some of us, you've got some treasures inside of you, but you've never really spent the time digging because you've been climbing. You've never really looked at why you do what you do. I mean, digging requires you to ask the questions of, like, why?
[00:20:35] Why do I act this way? Why do I feel so insecure? Why am I always defensive when someone says this? This is, why does this trigger me?
[00:20:45] What are my deepest desires? Like, what are my biggest fears in life? Have you ever asked that question?
[00:20:52] What is your deepest fear in life? Like, for some of us, we don't want to dig because when we dig, it's messy. And the older you get and if you haven't dug enough, what happens is you got a layer of dirt so thick, you better pack a lunch and get a shovel because you're going to be digging and digging and digging. And, see, that's what. That's what therapists do. That's what life coaches do. They go, they go, they dig. They dig. The first thing they want to do is go to your past. You're like, no, I don't want to go to my past.
[00:21:28] But they want to dig and dig because you passed, man. That is some thick soil over you and over you, and it just embeds and embeds and changes you. And so you and I have got to dig a lot more if you are going to be the person that does not look back, that does not use other people's name to do some miraculous things. No, no. If you're not going to if you're going to decide not to live someone else's life, if you're going to decide not to borrow someone else's calling, you and I have to learn to dig more. And that's tough to do, but, man, we could do this. If we did this. If we did this, you'll find peace. You'll find there's so much inside of you that you don't realize. See, my biggest fear is for myself. Honestly, selfishly, for myself. Then you my first for me. I just don't want to get to a place where I'm like, I spent my whole life just looking around, comparing and climbing and comparing and climbing, and I'm just looking how fast I just want to get to the next and not digging into all the potential, all the things that God has for me in my life. I don't want to raise kids, I don't want to have friends that all I'm trying to do is, man, inspire them to do the next big thing and climb, climb, climb, climb. And never really repel down to their souls and repel down to really what's going on with them and allow them to be really people who are authentic and real. See, when people who are authentic and real, people who have integrity, integrity literally means not like I'm. They don't lie. Integrity means that I'm the same.
[00:23:08] I'm the same person who climbs, the same person who digs. I do the. I do all. I do both of it. I do all of those things, like, and because of that, it's more pure. So you and I have got to dig more than we climb. And secondly, you got to discover more than you conceal. You got to live a life discovery to discover things more than you just conceal things in life.
[00:23:31] I'll tell you, I'll never forget this moment. My mom and I, this is back in Kuwait, and she looked at a rug and they had a big old lump in it, and she was like, is that you? She was like, is that you? And I'm like, hmm, maybe. Cause see, she had asked me to clean up something, like to get rid of my shoes or get rid of toys or something. And instead of cleaning it up, I just. What I had to do, I just picked up the rug and put them in there.
[00:23:59] And it was the funniest thing because I was starting to be known as the kid who would do that. Like, I mean, two brothers, two sisters. She knew. She's like, that's Naims orc. That's Naeem. What's in there? Like shoes, bumpy rug. She's like, if she saw a bumpy rug, she was like, name just cleaned up because name just puts things under the rug.
[00:24:21] I don't know about you, but that, that habit doesn't go away when you get older.
[00:24:28] Just being honest here, that isn't. It's easier to just conceal than to deal with it. It's easier for me to conceal my weakness.
[00:24:38] It's just easier to conceal my flaws, my shortcomings. Just conceal them with half truth. That didn't really happen. It's just easy to do that, to exaggerate something. Just easier to do that. You just kind of, you just kind of. The problem is, if you do what I do, and that is you just put stuff under the rug, you have a bumpy rug. In fact, you have a bumpy life.
[00:25:02] And, I mean, not to be, you know, on the nose here, but you, no wonder you're tripping all the time.
[00:25:07] You know what im saying? Its like that. Thats the. You just putting it in there. Just putting it in there. Putting it in there. I was on a podcast recently. We interviewed a guy. The podcast that we have at Mosaic is called Becoming church, and Kristen leads it and hosts it. And so we were interviewing a guy named Rasool Berry. This guy is a great guy. Hes a black guy who wrote a book with a few other of his friends about, just called the whole man, talking about manhood in America as a black man. And it's really, it was really cool. We connected because Rasul actually is an arab word, which means prophet, and he has muslim background as well, a little bit. And so we were talking about it, and when in the conversation, we talked about weakness and why? Why, like, he was talking about in his culture, that weakness for males is just the worst thing. They should never come across weak. Weakness is a problem if you have a mental situation, if you have mentally, you really need some therapy, if you need to process your emotions. Any sign of weakness is a no no. And I was talking to him about my culture. The same. It's very similar. It's one of those things you just don't talk about. You just don't talk about your weakness. It's okay for women to do that, but men, you should not talk about. They should never come across weak.
[00:26:39] People know, but you should never come across it. You got to protect that. And as we were talking about that, I remember this passage of scripture, and so on the podcast, I referred to it. It's in two corinthians. In two corinthians Paul, the same guy who was in jail, right? He writes this and he says this. He says that he was talking to God about some issues. And God said this to him. God said, my grace is all you need. Is all you need. My power works best in what?
[00:27:12] In weakness. My power works best in weakness. Now, remember that phrase? My power works best. My power works a mediocre in something else. Not so much in something else, but in weakness. It works the what the best. And then Paul says, so, so, so now. So now I know that I'm glad to boast about what my weaknesses, so that. That the power of Christ can work what through through me.
[00:27:45] And so as I was talking about that, I said, you know, I think part of the problem is that we don't realize that weakness, confessed weakness, creates space for God.
[00:27:57] So, like, a confessed weakness creates this space that God can move in me. When I verbalize my vulnerability, expressed weakness creates the space for God's spirit to move. But if I don't confess it, my ego fills it. And ego has no room for goddess. Like, there is no room. That's why the scripture says, hey, the humble God helps, but the prideful, he resists. He resists not because he does not love. He resists because there is no room. There's no room for God in that. And so I thought, you know what? I wonder if we realize that weakness actually opens up the door where God can move. Like it's the container that God needs for him to fill.
[00:28:45] No wonder Paul's like, I'm gonna talk about weakness all the time because it creates a space for God. Because if I don't talk about it, there is no room for God's spirit in me. I thought that's a very different way of looking at life. See, then we can actually move from, like, living a life that is of discovery instead of concealing, because discovery says, I'm gonna spend my life discovering who I am. I'm gonna dig and I'm gonna discover who I am. So I wanna end with this passage of scripture. It's found in psalms 139, and it's powerful. But you know what? When you read this, this verse is not for the weak at heart. This is for people who are, like, ready to take hold of what God has in them, to put all their strength, their focus on really looking into what God has done. I mean, this verse is for those people who don't believe. Like, you know, I can do anything I'm gonna put my mind to. No, this is like, no, no, I need to put my mind to everything that God has put in me. And this is the passage, psalm 139. It starts off and says this.
[00:29:59] You made all the delicate inner parts of my body, and you knit them together in my mother's womb. I mean, right there. Hey, you're intentional.
[00:30:10] You're not an accident.
[00:30:12] You know what? You might have heard that growing up. Ah, we weren't expecting you.
[00:30:16] God was. He knit you together. He. You're intentional. You're not random. You're intentional. Yeah, but I'm so quirky intentionally.
[00:30:28] You're just that person. Yes, yes, you're intentional. And then he says this. He says, thank you, thank you, thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is what? Marvelous. It's marvelous. I mean, is he looking in the mirror going, yeah. Yes, yes. And he says, I know it. I know it.
[00:30:55] Well, I know it like, I know it. I know this. This is written by a person who has spent time digging and discovering, because it's so tough. I don't know about you. It's so tough to look in a physical mirror and not just see the flaws. Like, I have never had that experience. I don't think. It's like, I never see, oh, what's good? I'm like, oh, what the. What is happening here? And friends, I'm on camera every week, okay? Every week. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I mean, I don't even know what life would look like if I wasn't on camera. I'm like, some of you guys are like, you don't have to be on camera. I'm forced to look at myself. Forced. Or people send me, hey, look at this picture. Look at that. Look at that. Like, no.
[00:31:43] Because all I want to see is like, what happened there? What was wrong with me? Someone sent me a picture of, like, ten years ago because I did their wedding, and I was like, you started a church and looked like that.
[00:31:57] Woo. That was rough, bro. Yeah.
[00:32:01] I have never looked in the mirror and go, thank you.
[00:32:05] Thank you for making me like this. I'm like, could you have not done this?
[00:32:11] Can I make a suggestion next time around? Do you know what I'm saying? But he's like, he's done this. And then he goes on, he says, you were there. You were there. While I was being formed in utter seclusion, you saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to what? Breathe? He's like, man. And then he goes. He goes, every day, every day. Was recorded in your book.
[00:32:44] How precious it is, Lord. I mean, how precious it is to realize that you. This is strange. This is pretty amazing. You are what? Thinking about me? What? Constantly? Do you believe that?
[00:32:59] Yeah. Good, because I think some of us were like, yeah, he is thinking about me because he's thinking about all the things I did wrong.
[00:33:06] Like, I get his attention. I get his attention. But he's like, ah, but this writer is saying, no, no, no. He's put stuff in me. And I'm realizing that God has been thinking about me constantly. Constantly. And then he says this. He says, he says, I can't even count.
[00:33:26] I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn what?
[00:33:33] Towards me?
[00:33:34] I mean, friends, I don't know about you, but this is a God who says, hey, I know you're stuck. And I know you've lived a life comparing. And I know the anxiety that you're feeling. And I'm just telling. You're on our rat race. You're on this thing. You're trying to prove to the world. You're trying to prove to the world that you have it. You can do all things, because guess what? You can put your mind to him and you can do it. You are trying to prove to the world, and the world doesn't care.
[00:34:09] The world is not thinking of you.
[00:34:13] They're not. So whoever you're competing with, they don't think about you.
[00:34:18] They're like, oh, that's rude. They don't.
[00:34:22] They don't. They care about someone else they're comparing themselves to? It is not you. You're like, but that's my goal. That they would compare me? No, that's not the goal. That's not the goal. So, friends, what would it look like for you and I to live a life that says, I'm going to live a life of discovery, of possibility, digging in, seeing what's before me. Friends, could it be possible right now that there is something, God's put it right before you? Right before you? He's like, if you would just. If you would just clean out the dirt. Just. You'll see it. You'll see it. You'll see it.
[00:34:56] But some of us are like, God, show me, show me, show me. He was like, start digging. No, no, no. Just show me, show me, show me. Start digging.
[00:35:06] Just dig a little.
[00:35:09] Discover a little. No, no. I gotta clean up. Could you. You know how exhausting it is living a life, trying to cover up your sin all day?
[00:35:19] Oh, I gotta cover up. I'm not that person. Guys, I'm actually this. I'm not this person. I'm not that. I. Cover up, cover up, cover up, cover up. It's exhausting.
[00:35:28] What if you said, hey, I am who I am. I'm gonna live my life discovering more of who I could be. So let me pray for us. Can I do that? Let's stand together.
[00:35:40] Lord. God, thank you. Thank you for making me.
[00:35:46] Making us who we are. God, we are not done. We're not perfect by any means, but, God, we know this. That we can either live our lives trying to be someone else, we can either live our lives borrowing someone else's calling, looking at someone else's career, or we can build our own career.
[00:36:07] We can look at other people's marriages, or we can build our own marriages. We can look at other people's season of life and how they're going through it. And we can live our own season of life.
[00:36:21] Got it? Today we say that we are going to put our mind, our hearts, our souls.
[00:36:30] We're going to put everything to the things you've put in us and before us.
[00:36:40] And you're going to empower us to do that, because you have been us from the beginning.
[00:36:47] You know exactly how we're wired.
[00:36:50] You know our potential so well.
[00:36:54] God, my prayer is that we would live our lives trying to find it, live our lives trying to see it, live our lives trying to live it out.
[00:37:12] God, I pray that today we would put a kind of a death to the past.
[00:37:19] We would say, God, to all the things we've lost and all the things that we've tried and all things haven't worked out, God, that we would just say, it's okay.
[00:37:28] It's okay.
[00:37:29] Because, friends, we have to live in the future.
[00:37:34] And God, I pray that you would drag us to the future.
[00:37:39] Some of us are living in the past and there is no hope in the past.
[00:37:43] Hope does not exist in the past. It cannot only regret, maybe even just a wishing that we could go back to it.
[00:38:02] But, God, hope exists in the future.
[00:38:06] That's where you are.
[00:38:09] So, God, drag us to hope. Drag us to hope today, take us out of this whole comparing game.
[00:38:24] Allow us to live more truer life, not a life that's almost true, but that's true.
[00:38:33] It's true.
[00:38:35] So, God, help us respond as we go, as we receive communion or go to the cross.
[00:38:44] I pray you meet us in Jesus name.
