Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Hope is the oxygen of the soul. When all around
you is falling apart and you feel the pressure
squeezing the life out of you, hope is the oxygen
that sustains you. So where do you get hope?
How will you make it through these challenging
times? That's today. Stay with me. You don't
want to miss this. We're hardwired to avoid pain.
When trials hit, our first instinct is to run,
hide, or ask, why is God doing this to me? Sound
familiar? I'm Dave Drewy, and today on Living
on the Edge, Chip Ingram opens his Bible to James
chapter 1, starting in verse 2. In this passage,
we'll discover a truth that changes everything.
God isn't trying to crush us. He's building muscle.
Those unwanted trials we all face, well, they're
not signs that God has abandoned us. They're
his training ground for building character. In
this study, Chip poses three powerful questions
that move us from victim to survivor and shows
us how enduring hardship produces something beautiful.
Oh, and good news. Today is Giving Tuesday, and
we're excited to add a Double Your Impact match
to this special day. It's one of the biggest
matches in our history. More details later. Right
now, the message from Chip Ingram titled, An
Attitude to Embrace. I mean, if Jesus walked
in the room where you are right now and you could
look him in the eye in his resurrection body
and you could say, Jesus, what do I do? What
do I do with the situation with my family? What
do I do, Lord? I don't see my way in the future.
Here's what he would say. He said, there's an
attitude that you must begin with. Verse two,
consider it all joy, my brother, when you encounter
various trials, knowing. that the testing of
your faith produces endurance, and let endurance
have its perfect result, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing. Don't give
up. Don't give in. Don't become a victim. You
are more than a conqueror in Christ, but it starts
with this kind of attitude. And now what he's
going to say is don't ask why. Ask what? The
first what question you need to ask in your world
right now is this. What can I control when my
world falls apart? What can you control? Here's
what you can control. Your attitude. So the first
question you need to ask and answer is where's
my attitude? Second what question is what must
I do to make it through today? Okay? And the
answer is one word, and I don't like it and you
don't like it, but it's endure. It's persevere.
And I know what I'm saying is challenging and
difficult, but you have the spirit of the living
God who, as you choose to count it real joy,
he will give you just what you need, not for
tomorrow, but for today. His grace is sufficient
for you. Power is perfected in weakness. And
so the one thing you can do to make it through
today is choose. I will endure. The testing of
your faith will produce this endurance, this
ability to hold up. And I know the moment you
think about tomorrow, how will I do it? You don't
know. Choose baby choices. I won't give up today.
I'll do what I can today. I may not have quite
enough food today. I don't see how I'll make
it tomorrow. But as you do that one day at a
time, what happens is you're strengthened and
God will provide both within and without. I remember
a most challenging time where there was a total
collapse of money and the dot -com market. I
just took over the leadership of an organization,
and we had people all around the world, and the
budget was millions and millions of dollars.
And like a faucet, it turned off. And I was the
new leader, and we didn't have the millions of
dollars. And I wondered, what in the world will
we ever do? And I remember being in Psalm 34,
and I would read it out loud over and over and
over. And I would not just cry out to God, but
I would just cry. Because I thought, Lord, what
will we do? These people are depending on me
and our organization in all these countries and
we don't have the money. And it's very interesting
as I look back, it was devastating. And yet a
year, two, three, four, innovation happened.
Those groups learned how to do the ministry without
the same amount of funds. They innovated in new
ways. And we went from about 19 to 100 countries
in the next four or five years. It's during times
like this that God changes things where crises,
they're difficult, they're painful. I don't mean
to minimize, but for those who endure, those
who pay the price, God will do something in you.
And I will guarantee he'll do something great
through you. Question number one is what can
I control? The answer is my attitude. Question
number two is how do I get through today? And
the answer is I will endure. I will endure because
I will claim God's promises. It was David who
said, it's good for me that I was afflicted,
that I may learn thy statutes. If your word was
not my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
What you find all through scripture is the men
and the women of God in the midst of difficulty,
pain, devastation, and what's unfair, they cling
to the promises of God. I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me. But my God will supply
all your needs according to his riches and glory
in Christ Jesus. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Jesus said, I will build my church
and you're part of it. And the gates of hell
cannot prevail against it. This is a time. When
you grab the invisible promises of God and you
hold them dear and you choose to obey and trust
when you have no idea how it's going to work
out. And that is the story of how God has built
his church throughout the centuries. The third
what question you need to ask is what hope do
I have for tomorrow? Someone has wisely said
that hope is the oxygen of the soul. Once you
lose hope, you know, you're done. So where do
you get hope? Here's the answer. God will take
the worst that you're experiencing today and
use it for your best. God's going to take the
very worst, the very most difficult, the most
desperate, the most painful things in your life
today. And here's the promise. An all powerful,
good, kind and sovereign God in the midst of
a very fallen and evil world. is going to take
whatever you're going through and he's going
to use it for good. And the first thing he's
going to change is not your circumstance. I think
we've lived in a world where some teaching about
the gospel, some prosperity ideas that if you
love God, if you are obedient, if you do what
God wants you to do, then everything's going
to go your way. And many people are disillusioned
and very discouraged because when they do what
God wants them to do, like many of you, and yet
you find a relative has died, that you can't
open your business, that you don't have any money,
that there's not enough food, that life is not
going better. And you say, God, why? I love you.
This last portion explains, he says, let endurance
or perseverance have its perfect. result, that
you may be complete and mature, lacking in nothing.
In other words, what God is saying in this passage
is that as you attitude, choose to consider it
all joy. And as you choose to endure just moment
by moment, day by day, he says, cooperate with
God, let this endurance, let God have his way,
cooperate with what he's doing in your heart
and your life, that you could be perfect. And
the word doesn't mean you're going to be. sinlessly
perfect. The word is teleos. In English, we get
our word telescope. It's the idea of something
that fulfills its design. God has a design for
you and his design is more than to make you happy.
His design is not that everything works out and
wonderful in your circumstance. His design is
to make you and to make me like Jesus, to conform
you to the image of his son. What's that promise
we quote in the most challenging of times? For
we know that God works all things together for
the good to them that love God, to those that
are called according to his purpose. And we usually
stop there. That's Romans 8, 28. Verse 29 says
whom he called, he also predestined that he's
going to conform us to the image of his son.
And so what he's saying is in this process, allow
God to mature you. to have His way. And notice
the promise that you'll be complete, lacking
in nothing. You know, sometimes in my weakest,
most difficult moments, Lord, where are you?
And I've asked why. Lord, I took a big step of
faith or I moved or I gave a lot of money away
or, you know, like you, you do something, you
say, I'm stretching, Lord, to do what you want
me to do with all my heart. And this is what
I get. We'll hear more from Chip Ingram's message
in just a moment. First, we're inviting you to
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Today, let's multiply God's ministry through
Living on the Edge while there's still time.
Go to livingontheedge .org. From a series called
The Art of Survival in an Age of Chaos, Chip
Ingram is teaching from James chapter 1. I remember
in my basement when my world fell apart. I had
all these people around the world that I felt
like I needed to take care of and I didn't have
anything to help them with. And I remember crying,
just literally weeping. And I remember the Lord
saying, so when is it your responsibility to
make the world work out? Chip, I just want you
to trust and obey me. I have a plan and my plans
don't always work out in this life the way that
some of you all think. And as I was literally
crying, I remember thinking, well, all the apostles,
they obeyed God. They loved him with all their
heart. They birthed the church. What happened
to them? And I thought they were obedient. And
every one of the apostles, except the apostle
John, was martyred. They were killed. And John
was stuck on a rock so he could write the book
of Revelation. And then I remember the last half
of the book of Hebrews, and it talked about those
that trusted God and the world was not even worthy
of them because of their faith and their dedication
and their commitment and their loyalty to Christ.
And it says they never saw the promise. They
never got to see like the big, wonderful answer.
Could I remind you? that we do not live for a
temporal world and circumstances of today. Our
anchor, our hope, our promise is heaven. Jesus
said to his disciples, knowing what they would
go through, he said, I'm going to prepare a place
for you. And if it weren't true, I wouldn't have
said it. But here's the heart. I want you to
be with me where I am. And as painful And as
devastating as death is, we need to get our New
Testament eyes. Precious in the sight of God,
says Psalm 116, is the death of his godly ones.
This life is not all that there is. I would remind
you historically. that in the first three centuries
of the early church, they were persecuted. They
were viewed as atheists because they didn't worship
the emperor. In the midst of all these gods,
they were the ones that there were three major
plagues in the first three centuries. I mean,
pandemics that would wipe out hundreds of thousands
of people that took down whole metropolitan areas.
And the only people that stayed in the cities
were Christians nursing people back to health
and those who were too sick to leave the city.
And Rodney Stark, a sociologist in his book,
The Rise of Christianity, looks at the lens of
the growth of the church, not through maybe a
spiritual view of the Holy Spirit and what God
did through his word, but just from a pragmatic
sociological view. He says, 313 AD, when Constantine
became the emperor, he said of the 60 million
people in the Roman Empire, it's estimated that
33 million were followers of Christ. And they
were followers of Christ because of the early
church's commitment through these pandemics to
love people, to literally give their life. When
you would serve someone who died in one of these
pandemics, you were a martyr. You were among
the most esteemed in the church. God wants us
to know that there is an attitude that we're
to have. And the attitude that we need to have
is we choose to consider it all joy. That we
are going when we ask ourselves, you know, what
can I control? My attitude. What do I do to make
it through today? Endure. How do I have hope
for tomorrow? I can know for certain that an
all -wise God. an all -powerful God, the God
who brings about the best possible ends by the
best possible means for the most possible people
for the longest possible time, that's the wisdom
of God, is on your side. And in this present
life, it may not work out the way we choose,
but if we are faithful, if we trust, regardless
of what happens. God will take that. And at the
end of this passage, verse 12, he said, blessed
are those who endure in suffering. And there
is a great reward. There's a great reward in
what happens in our life now, what happens in
us and then through us. And there is great reward
that God has promised for all of us. We need
to keep our eyes on the prize. Fixing our eyes
on Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith,
who blazed the trail so that we could come before
the Father, the throne of grace, to find mercy
in our time of need. As I wrap things up, I would
just give you some perspective. And these are
things that you can pass on. And they're things
that will help you begin to think and ponder
and respond to this passage. But there's five
observations I have about adversity, difficulty.
pain, and challenges like we're facing. Number
one, God uses adversity to make us mature because
we're forced to depend on God at a new level.
Left to ourselves, we tend to be self -sufficient,
proud, and insensitive to the Lord. In this time,
we will depend. Second, we are weaned from the
temporal, the urgent, and the worldly affairs
of life, and we're forced to reexamine our values,
our priorities, our commitments. and our future.
You know, it's in times like this where God says,
why are you really living? What really matters?
What are you giving your life to? And it's a
time that can only happen when things are this
difficult. Third is trials allow us to witness
firsthand the reality and the power of God. Our
need becomes the vehicle of God's grace and our
problems become the object of His power. you
will see the supernatural power of God like never
before as you trust him. He is Jehovah Jireh.
He is the great provider. He is the great protector.
Lean in, trust, refuse to have self -pity. The
spirit of the living God that raised Christ from
the dead dwells in you. He is your hope. And
as you do, you will see his power working in
you and through you. And four, they serve as
an awesome testimony of the unbelieving world.
How we endure hardship shows the world how real
God is. I spent an afternoon yesterday for about
an hour and a half with a man going through cancer
with his wife with every treatment under whatever
they've tried. Problem, problem, problem, problem,
problem, problem. And he has been steadfast and
he was very, very concerned about, you know,
if his wife dies, will that be a bad testimony?
Or he said, I believe I'm trusting. And I said
to him, your testimony is not whether your wife
lives or dies. Everyone's going to die sometime.
I said, the way that you and your wife are going
through this, both for us as believers and your
unbelieving friends, is a testimony of an unexplainable
power. Your attitude is amazing. Your love for
your wife is amazing. Her attitude is spectacular.
And you've been through things that I could never,
ever imagine. And God's going to use your life
and the lives of others as they see how you endure
and respond. And you don't just respond with,
I'm somehow going to make it through. You choose
in the power of God to be the Paul and Silas
who you don't feel like it. But you start singing
hymns in the prison. You say, God, you are a
great God. You are the Lord. You're the maker
of heaven and earth. You are my God. You are
my hope. And as you sing and worship and thank
God in the midst of things, you will see his
power and the world will see his power in you
and through you. And finally, we become sensitive
and caring, compassionate, Christlike people.
Those who have been hurt deeply, love deeply.
Those of you who will go through the most devastating
and painful things in this season, it won't last
forever. You will become a tender, kinder, more
compassionate, more Christ -like person as a
result of this. If you choose to ask what and
don't ask why. May the Lord Jesus fill you with
His grace and His power. Lord, thank you that
you promised to give us all that we need for
this moment on this day. May your spirit fill
us with hope and encouragement by the power of
your word and your spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
He's talking about the art of survival in an
age of chaos. And please stay with us because
Chip has an encouraging word coming up in just
a moment. Living on the Edge is celebrating 30
years of God's faithfulness. And what started
as one man's voice on radio has blossomed into
a global movement. Last year alone, this daily
program has been listened to more than 100 million
times, with active ministry taking place in 28
countries. Astounding. And none of this would
be possible were it not for the generous support
of people like you. visionary friends who choose
to make an impact for God's kingdom through their
voluntary gifts. Here's a snapshot of what that
means. Chip? I want to take a minute and paint
a picture for you. So kind of lean back and listen,
if you will. I want you in your mind's eye to
imagine that you have a very close relative.
You know, it's a cousin. You grew up, you played
together. And right now they're in another country.
I mean, another country that a lot has changed
in. They're in desperate circumstance. I mean,
it's violent. It's scary. They've sent you text
messages and FaceTime. Here's the question. Would
you ignore them? Of course not. But here's the
reality. You do have brothers and sisters, some
that you've never met, and they're part of God's
family just like you. But unlike you, they're
risking their lives every single day when they
gather to worship. They hide their Bibles. They
whisper in their prayers. They live in constant
fear because of the name of Jesus. I just came
back from Dubai and they act like they're having
parties when they're outside where they baptize
people in the ocean. We have teams in Nepal and
in India. We have a huge movement that we've
been able to equip in China. And right now the
persecution is intense. In the Middle East, multiple
countries where we're doing training, they can't
go public and say they're Christians or they
find themselves in jail. Giving Tuesday is living
on the edges statement to say we are going to
serve the persecuted church and we're asking
you to stand with them too. And when you give
to this match, you're telling believers around
the world. And it may not be direct DNA, but
it's spiritual DNA. You're saying, brothers and
sisters, I'm not going to forget. I can let go
of some of my daily luxuries to give you some
necessities. Would you do that? Would you give
to this Giving Tuesday and help us help them
walk with God in the midst of great persecution?
You can respond to Chip right now by giving online
at livingontheedge .org. If you're among those
who use our convenient mobile app, just click
on the heart icon and follow the simple instructions.
Or you can call right now, 888 - On Giving Tuesday,
our collective gifts to Living on the Edge will
bring biblical discipleship to more than 100
million people through our teaching ministry,
equip hundreds of thousands of pastors for their
kingdom work around the world, and accelerate
the launch of critical new initiatives to reach
a skeptical generation with the truth of the
gospel. Together. Let's make an impact by giving
generously to the match that's active right now.
This means that every dollar you send on Giving
Tuesday is automatically doubled in size, having
twice the impact. To send your donation in the
mail, address your envelope to Living on the
Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia 30024.
You can also call 888 -333 -6003 or visit us
online at livingontheedge .org. Ever feel frozen
in fear? I'm Dave Drewy, inviting you to hear
Chip Ingram describe how to take your next steps
tomorrow on Living on the Edge.