WEBVTT 00:00:00.940 --> 00:00:04.599 This is the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast, brought 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.759 to you by Living on the Edge. In this podcast, 00:00:08.019 --> 00:00:10.599 you'll hear Chip's teaching unedited and from 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:13.800 beginning to end. Well, here's Chip Ingram with 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.079 his message on how to overcome personal stagnation. 00:00:17.260 --> 00:00:20.519 Does your life honestly feel more like an adventure? 00:00:20.739 --> 00:00:24.480 Does your life feel more like a rut? See, life 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:28.239 is dynamic. Life is dynamic. It is not static. 00:00:29.289 --> 00:00:35.049 You are either growing or dying. It's true physically. 00:00:35.210 --> 00:00:37.590 It's true intellectually. It's true relationally. 00:00:37.710 --> 00:00:42.890 It's true spiritually. All living things are 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:45.950 either growing and increasing toward maturity 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:50.590 or they are deteriorating toward decay and death. 00:00:50.630 --> 00:00:53.469 There is no middle ground. The myth in life is 00:00:53.469 --> 00:00:56.210 that we think there is. When we think the status 00:00:56.210 --> 00:00:59.219 quo is where we are, We are just sliding backwards 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:02.759 without knowing it. See, growth is exciting. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.219 Do you remember when your kids, those of us that 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:06.900 are married, do you remember when your kids start 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:08.379 growing and they're like, Dad, will you measure 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:10.879 me? Will you measure me? Right? They don't come 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.079 and say, oh gosh, Dad, I grew another three inches. 00:01:14.219 --> 00:01:16.219 When you grow intellectually, and for some of 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:17.859 us, when you get on that computer and you actually 00:01:17.859 --> 00:01:20.079 punch the writing buttons and something comes 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:24.120 up, what happens? Wow, this is neat. When you're 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.299 involved in a relationship and you sense it growing 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:28.959 and intimacy coming and you work through issues, 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.000 what happens? You're excited. When you begin 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.040 to come into a relationship with Christ like 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.780 20 to 25 people did last weekend alone, and when 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:40.239 they learn who he is and what's going on, they 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.120 get excited. We need to remember, though, that 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.980 growth only comes from God. We can get in the 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:49.140 right environment and we can apply ourselves, 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:52.680 but growth, especially... Spiritual growth, it's 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:55.760 supernatural. You can't make it happen. You can 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.159 just position yourself where God can do it. It's 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:02.719 not automatic. My experience is it is very difficult. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:06.879 It doesn't just happen. There are no magic pills. 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:11.159 And the other thing I've realized is that growth 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:16.960 can be stymied, thwarted, stagnated, and retarded. 00:02:18.250 --> 00:02:20.210 You know, you can take a plant out of the sunshine 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.270 and put it in a closet. What happens? You can 00:02:23.270 --> 00:02:25.370 take an arm that is growing well and have it 00:02:25.370 --> 00:02:27.389 injured and put it in a cast. What happens? Atrophy. 00:02:29.229 --> 00:02:32.370 Some common reasons that I've found that growth 00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:35.110 is stymied is sometimes we just don't get motivated. 00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:38.590 Other times there's that initial inertia we can't 00:02:38.590 --> 00:02:41.069 get through it. For others, there's no sense 00:02:41.069 --> 00:02:44.509 of progress. We get discouraged. Sometimes there's 00:02:44.509 --> 00:02:47.870 just no inspiration. It just seems like... For 00:02:47.870 --> 00:02:52.129 others, we get stuck and we need guidance. For 00:02:52.129 --> 00:02:54.210 others, there's a time of change and we don't 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:55.610 know how to get through that period of change. 00:02:56.449 --> 00:02:58.389 I don't know what it is, but this is what I know. 00:02:59.389 --> 00:03:02.650 I know that everyone in this room finds their 00:03:02.650 --> 00:03:05.150 self at some point in time, in some area, morally, 00:03:05.389 --> 00:03:08.409 spiritually, relationally, intellectually, or 00:03:08.409 --> 00:03:12.129 emotionally, where you get stuck, where you get 00:03:12.129 --> 00:03:17.830 stagnated. And when you do, And when I do, then 00:03:17.830 --> 00:03:20.389 that area of your life begins to shrink. But 00:03:20.389 --> 00:03:23.210 God wants you to grow. So here's my question. 00:03:23.969 --> 00:03:27.050 How are you growing today? How are you growing? 00:03:27.590 --> 00:03:29.550 How are you growing in your relationship with 00:03:29.550 --> 00:03:31.689 God? How are you growing in your relationship 00:03:31.689 --> 00:03:33.870 with people? How are you growing in your family 00:03:33.870 --> 00:03:37.069 life? And here's the question. Would you like 00:03:37.069 --> 00:03:40.289 to learn how to break through those barriers 00:03:40.289 --> 00:03:43.689 of personal stagnation, especially in your relationship 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:46.330 with God and people? I want to give you seven 00:03:46.330 --> 00:03:50.009 principles from Scripture. There may be 20. There 00:03:50.009 --> 00:03:53.129 may be 100. But as I've examined Scripture and 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:56.789 lived life and watched people who grow, it's 00:03:56.789 --> 00:03:59.469 obvious that people who grow have at least these 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:03.250 seven things in common. People who grow, number 00:04:03.250 --> 00:04:08.849 one, live daily with the end in view. People 00:04:08.849 --> 00:04:11.810 who are really growing are motivated. In fact, 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:14.789 this principle is the key to motivation. One 00:04:14.789 --> 00:04:17.009 of the great problems with believers is some 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:19.129 believers think that their goal in life is to 00:04:19.129 --> 00:04:22.009 get to heaven. People, that's not your goal in 00:04:22.009 --> 00:04:25.170 life. That's your destination. Your goal in life 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:28.769 is to become like Christ. Romans 8, 28 says that 00:04:28.769 --> 00:04:30.930 God takes every situation, every relationship, 00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:33.750 every hardship, every single thing that comes 00:04:33.750 --> 00:04:35.730 into your life, and he works it together for 00:04:35.730 --> 00:04:38.329 good to those who are called, to those that he 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:43.730 loves. Why? Verse 29, not nearly as often quoted. 00:04:44.370 --> 00:04:48.250 Because he is preordained to conform you, to 00:04:48.250 --> 00:04:51.589 conform me to the image of his son. God's game 00:04:51.589 --> 00:04:54.250 plan is to make you like Jesus. That's the goal. 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:57.029 In fact, notice Jesus' words on the Sermon on 00:04:57.029 --> 00:04:59.970 the Mount, Matthew 5, 48. Be perfect, therefore, 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:02.629 as your heavenly Father is perfect. You might 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:05.149 circle that word perfect. Other translations, 00:05:05.329 --> 00:05:09.860 it says mature. It means... Fully grown. It means 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:12.500 ripe. The Greek word is teleos. And I only tell 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:14.620 you that because you get the idea of a telescope 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:17.439 or those in philosophy who are familiar with 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.639 the teleological argument. It's the idea of something 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:23.639 arriving and coming to its full development. 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.480 God is saying, Jesus is saying, be ye perfect. 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:31.019 Come and become all that God designed you to 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:33.920 become. The Apostle Paul will say, that's in 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.759 fact why the church is designed. Ephesians 4 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:39.060 .13, he's going to say that these relationships 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:42.160 in the body are all designed in order to help 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:44.480 you and to help me become full grown or mature. 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:47.439 Look at it with me. It says, until we all reach 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:50.439 unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:53.379 Son of God and become, here's our word again, 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:57.300 same word, mature, circle that, attaining to 00:05:57.300 --> 00:06:00.300 the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:03.759 It's God's goal. And when you lived with the 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:07.300 end in view, That's who you want to become. The 00:06:07.300 --> 00:06:09.439 question in life when you get up every morning 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:13.160 is not, what am I going to do today? The question 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.959 in life every day when you get up is, who am 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.680 I going to become more like today? When you put 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.579 that out there, that target on the wall, when 00:06:21.579 --> 00:06:22.939 you live with that end in view, you know what 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:26.519 will happen? You'll be motivated. I'm extremely 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:28.220 motivated because do you ever reach it? No, the 00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:31.360 Apostle Paul says what? I attain, I strive, not 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:33.759 that I'm already there. You'll spend the rest 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:35.680 of your life until Jesus comes back or you go 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:39.259 meet him. Going after the prize of becoming more 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:42.139 like Christ. Second characteristic of people 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:45.220 who grow is they make a personal commitment to 00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:49.399 grow. This is the key to overcoming inertia. 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:52.439 A lot of us don't grow because we feel stuck. 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:55.990 Newton was right. I think most spiritually. And 00:06:55.990 --> 00:06:58.970 in the laws of physics, a body at rest tends 00:06:58.970 --> 00:07:01.790 to stay at rest until there's an action upon 00:07:01.790 --> 00:07:04.529 it. And often what we need in growth is not some 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:07.430 big thing. We just need to get moving. But how 00:07:07.430 --> 00:07:10.790 do you break that inertia? I believe the scripture 00:07:10.790 --> 00:07:13.290 teaches and that as I observe people, they make 00:07:13.290 --> 00:07:17.189 a personal commitment to grow. Notice that Jesus 00:07:17.189 --> 00:07:20.290 called for that in Luke 9, 23. He didn't just 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:24.060 teach. He called for specific. commitment to 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:28.120 grow, to follow him. Verse 23 of Luke 9, Then 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:30.339 he, Jesus, said to them all, If anyone would 00:07:30.339 --> 00:07:33.560 come after me, he must deny himself, take up 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:35.800 his cross daily, and follow me. Do you hear that? 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:39.899 That means you sign up, I want to grow. Jesus, 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:43.000 I want to follow you. Take up your cross means 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:47.800 you die to your agenda, your goals, what you 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:49.959 think is best, and you say, I'm signing up and 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.949 I want to be on your game plan. Notice the reason 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:55.350 being. It's because he loves you, not because 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:57.529 he wants to keep something good from you. For 00:07:57.529 --> 00:08:00.329 whoever wants to save his life will lose it. 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:04.490 But whoever loses his life for me will save it. 00:08:05.050 --> 00:08:07.329 Notice his rationale. What good is it for man 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:10.709 to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit 00:08:10.709 --> 00:08:15.240 his very self? See, what God knows is this. Is 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:17.339 that you're being bombarded day in and day out 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:19.120 in a fallen world and we all grow up with this 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.079 baggage and these agendas. And we think if we 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:22.639 could make a list of these 25 things that would 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.240 work out in my life, then we'd be happy. Seeking 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:27.540 our life. I want to be this. I want to be that. 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:28.699 I want to be this. I want to be that. I've got 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:31.100 to have that. If I only have this. And what he's 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:34.659 saying is you need to lose that. Let go. Because 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:37.000 if God in the next 50 years gave you everything 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.539 on your list, you would end up with everything 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:42.220 you ever dreamed of and be absolutely an empty 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:46.539 shell. and realize your ladder's against the 00:08:46.539 --> 00:08:49.620 wrong wall. But he says, by contrast, the paradox 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:52.779 of life is if you choose to sign up for what's 00:08:52.779 --> 00:08:55.679 on his list, and there may be ones that are very 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:58.639 similar, you sign up for what's on his list and 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:02.679 you let go, you will find your life. You will 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:05.620 become all and beyond what you ever dreamed of 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:09.259 becoming. Because what would it gain for you 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:11.799 or for me to have the whole world and yet... 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:15.399 not just your soul spiritually, but notice this 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:17.659 translation. It's a good one. It's your self. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.500 Notice it's a specific point in time. The Apostle 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:23.679 Paul will write in 1 Timothy 4, 7, and 8, have 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.659 nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:33.279 tales. Rather, train yourself to be godly. There's 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.620 a decision involved. Train yourself. Follow me. 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:41.710 For physical training is of some value, but godliness 00:09:41.710 --> 00:09:44.429 has value for all things, holding promise both 00:09:44.429 --> 00:09:48.629 for the present life and the life to come. Let 00:09:48.629 --> 00:09:51.429 me ask you now, has there ever been a point in 00:09:51.429 --> 00:09:55.149 time for all of you since you've become a Christian 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:58.809 where you have driven a stake in the ground and 00:09:58.809 --> 00:10:02.169 said, I'm going to grow? I mean, come hell or 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:04.929 high water, come good relationships, bad relationships, 00:10:05.070 --> 00:10:08.340 come good circumstances, bad circumstances. I 00:10:08.340 --> 00:10:11.100 am going to follow Christ. It's kind of like 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:13.779 what Joshua said. As for me and my house, the 00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:15.539 whole world can go a different direction. All 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:17.360 my friends can go a different direction. But 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.139 for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:22.220 Have you ever done that? Now, I know what you're 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:26.080 thinking. I've said it for years. I'm not ready 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.200 for that. I'm not ready for that. You know what 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.220 the misbelief is? The misbelief is that we grow 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:34.820 toward commitment. That's not true. The way you 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:40.490 grow. is you build on commitment. Now, some of 00:10:40.490 --> 00:10:43.190 you, many in this room are married, so you said, 00:10:43.230 --> 00:10:45.750 I do, before a group of people, right? And you 00:10:45.750 --> 00:10:47.429 said, I'm going to stick with this person come 00:10:47.429 --> 00:10:49.389 thick or thin. Now, do you know what the thick 00:10:49.389 --> 00:10:52.309 and thin is when you signed up for it? Heck no, 00:10:52.389 --> 00:10:55.070 you didn't know. In fact, some of you wish you 00:10:55.070 --> 00:10:57.610 would have known. But the fact of the matter 00:10:57.610 --> 00:11:00.250 is you build on that commitment. You don't build 00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:02.309 toward it. You don't live together for 49 years 00:11:02.309 --> 00:11:06.029 and say, you know, honey, I think it's going 00:11:06.029 --> 00:11:10.649 to work. You build on commitment. How many of 00:11:10.649 --> 00:11:12.549 us, when you had your first child, felt like, 00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:17.590 we're ready for this. We got this wired. You 00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:19.049 know, it's like, and then the second one comes. 00:11:19.169 --> 00:11:21.750 You know what you do, though? You don't have 00:11:21.750 --> 00:11:24.309 what you need, but you're committed as a parent 00:11:24.309 --> 00:11:27.169 to making it. Let me ask you, have you ever done 00:11:27.169 --> 00:11:29.470 that? See, that's how you break through that 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:32.929 initial inertia. You make the commitment and 00:11:32.929 --> 00:11:34.809 say, I'm going to go for broke. I'm going to 00:11:34.809 --> 00:11:36.769 follow Christ. And you think, well, what about, 00:11:36.870 --> 00:11:38.330 what about, what about? He'll give you, he'll 00:11:38.330 --> 00:11:41.289 show you what to do. But that's, there's people 00:11:41.289 --> 00:11:42.750 that have spent their whole Christian life waiting 00:11:42.750 --> 00:11:44.529 for when they're more mature, when they're really 00:11:44.529 --> 00:11:47.129 ready. You'll wait till Jesus comes and you'll 00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:51.389 miss life. Third, people who grow not only live 00:11:51.389 --> 00:11:54.429 daily with the end in view, and so it's the key 00:11:54.429 --> 00:11:57.009 to motivation. Not only do they make a personal 00:11:57.009 --> 00:11:59.049 commitment, which is the key to overcoming inertia. 00:11:59.210 --> 00:12:03.429 Third, they value process more than event. And 00:12:03.429 --> 00:12:06.309 that's the key to progress. See, what happens 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:09.470 is we think growth happens in these huge spurts. 00:12:09.470 --> 00:12:11.769 We think that there's a magic pill. There's a 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:14.669 seminar. There's a book. There's a secret teaching. 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.539 There's a second experience. There's something 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:21.019 somewhere, somehow. There's an area of the country, 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:22.440 and if you go visit that area of the country, 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:25.100 you get holy and you get powerful and everything's 00:12:25.100 --> 00:12:29.100 going to change. You dream it. That's not the 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:32.940 way life works. So if people who really grow 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:37.460 understand it's the everyday nickel and dime, 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:41.220 tiny little decisions you make, it's the process 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:45.559 that produces real growth. Notice the writing 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:47.279 to the Hebrews written to a group of people that 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.000 had stopped growing. They started to grow. They 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.019 were Jewish Christians and then the heat turned 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:54.019 up and there was persecution and they were moving 00:12:54.019 --> 00:12:57.019 back into legalism and to the law. And the book 00:12:57.019 --> 00:12:58.960 of Hebrews is written to this group saying, hey, 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:01.759 Christ is superior to the law. Christ is superior 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.559 to the priesthood. Christ is superior to angels. 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:07.360 Christ is superior to Moses. He's saying, hey, 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.980 get with the program. It's grace, baby. There's 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:12.759 a new covenant. And he writes to this group of 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:15.919 people, verse 11, and it's sort of a reproach, 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.919 a little rebuke. He says in chapter 5 of verse 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:21.539 11, we have much to say about this, talking about 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:24.100 spiritual growth, but it's hard to explain because 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:27.620 you are slow to learn. They're not growing. In 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:29.779 fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers. 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.059 You need someone to teach you the elementary 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:35.779 truths of God's word all over again. He goes 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:39.600 on to say, you need milk like babies, not solid 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:43.480 food. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.580 infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about 00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:49.360 righteousness. Now get the next verse. Notice 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.419 how growth occurs and look for the concept of 00:13:51.419 --> 00:13:55.120 the process. But solid food is for the mature. 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:59.320 Circle it. That's our word again. Teleos. Solid 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:01.779 food, spiritual food, is for the mature. Now 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:07.360 get this. Who by constant use have trained themselves. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.820 Does that sound like a process? To distinguish 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:14.980 good from evil. Who by constant use, not a big 00:14:14.980 --> 00:14:19.120 event. A little here, a little there. Constant 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:24.679 use have trained themselves. The secret to your 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:29.019 future is hidden in your daily routines. Luke 00:14:29.019 --> 00:14:32.539 16 .10 says, He that is faithful in a very little 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:35.639 thing will be faithful also in much. He who is 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:38.690 unrighteous in a very little thing. Isn't righteous 00:14:38.690 --> 00:14:41.429 all so much. You know people tell me. Oh I really 00:14:41.429 --> 00:14:42.809 want to walk with God. God doesn't care about 00:14:42.809 --> 00:14:44.610 how I drive. God doesn't care about whether I 00:14:44.610 --> 00:14:46.470 talk this way or do that. God doesn't care about 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:48.250 those little decisions. God doesn't care about 00:14:48.250 --> 00:14:50.070 this or that. I got news. God cares about that. 00:14:50.590 --> 00:14:52.389 Because if you're not faithful in little things. 00:14:52.509 --> 00:14:55.110 If I'm not faithful in little things. Why would 00:14:55.110 --> 00:14:58.909 he entrust you with more? God wants you to know. 00:14:59.409 --> 00:15:02.509 It's the very little things. The tiny attitudes 00:15:02.509 --> 00:15:07.399 with people. The tiny disciplines with him. The 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:10.240 little things, a decision here, integrity here, 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:14.299 relationship here, and you build on them. One 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:17.860 Russian philosopher said, a man spends the first 00:15:17.860 --> 00:15:21.320 half of his life building habits, and the second 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:24.779 half of his life will be determined by the habits 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:28.720 he or she builds the first half. I'll tell you, 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:33.539 the most profound beyond words impact in my life 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:37.019 in terms of whatever usefulness, God has for 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:40.279 my life now and in the future was not a big event. 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:44.340 It was not the schools that I've been to. It 00:15:44.340 --> 00:15:46.860 is not any great spiritual awakening. You know, 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:49.580 the greatest impact when I look back, if someone 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:52.419 said, what's the one thing that has shaped your 00:15:52.419 --> 00:15:54.139 life, Chip, more than anything else other than 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:58.100 people? I would say it was a bricklayer with 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:00.820 a high school education shortly after I became 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:03.919 a Christian who came to my dorm room and taught 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:08.049 me how to have a daily quiet time. And I couldn't 00:16:08.049 --> 00:16:10.850 get up for the first year or so. And in the next 00:16:10.850 --> 00:16:13.250 year, I spent five to seven, maybe ten minutes 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:15.929 with God every morning before I went off to school. 00:16:16.710 --> 00:16:19.970 But the discipline of on a daily basis, not big 00:16:19.970 --> 00:16:22.450 deal, not mastering the Bible, not memorizing 00:16:22.450 --> 00:16:25.070 at all, but on a daily basis reading systematically 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:28.529 through the Bible, meeting with God before I 00:16:28.529 --> 00:16:31.230 meet with people. You know, you are what you 00:16:31.230 --> 00:16:34.070 eat, and it's true physically, it's true psychologically, 00:16:34.389 --> 00:16:37.480 and it's true spiritually. I miss a day, of course, 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.179 here and there. But it's kind of, you know, I 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:43.259 miss a meal now and then too, but not many. And 00:16:43.259 --> 00:16:44.759 so it's just become a part of my life. You know 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.799 what I've learned? Is over the years, I just 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.019 get up and I read the Word and I ask God. Sometimes 00:16:49.019 --> 00:16:51.059 it's emotional. Sometimes I don't feel much. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.259 But I say, God, I want you to speak to me. And 00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:56.159 I want to learn who you are. I want to draw close 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:58.240 to you. And I know that you're more important 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.299 than the whole world. And the only way I can 00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:02.580 demonstrate that is stop and be with you first. 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:06.069 And then I pray through my day. And then I sit 00:17:06.069 --> 00:17:07.930 quietly and I ask him to search my heart and 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:09.910 sometimes jot down some things he makes aware 00:17:09.910 --> 00:17:12.470 of. I would feel overwhelmed, but you know what 00:17:12.470 --> 00:17:14.250 I know? I'm going to get up tomorrow and I'm 00:17:14.250 --> 00:17:15.309 going to meet with God and he's going to show 00:17:15.309 --> 00:17:18.750 me what to do next. I don't have a clue. There's 00:17:18.750 --> 00:17:20.730 situations as a parent, you know, we've had financial 00:17:20.730 --> 00:17:22.730 struggles, we've had marital struggles, we've 00:17:22.730 --> 00:17:25.509 had, I've shared most of them. But you know what 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:27.309 the constant has been, the rudder of my life? 00:17:27.390 --> 00:17:31.029 God shows up every morning when I do. And you 00:17:31.029 --> 00:17:33.710 know, inch by inch over the years, little by 00:17:33.710 --> 00:17:39.130 little, That has been the primary shaper of my 00:17:39.130 --> 00:17:41.869 heart, my life, my values, and my relationships. 00:17:43.170 --> 00:17:45.769 Doesn't happen overnight. Seven keys to personal 00:17:45.769 --> 00:17:48.710 growth. The first, live daily with the end in 00:17:48.710 --> 00:17:51.289 view. It's the key to motivation. Second, make 00:17:51.289 --> 00:17:53.369 a personal commitment. It's the key to overcoming 00:17:53.369 --> 00:17:56.529 inertia. Third, value process more than event. 00:17:56.609 --> 00:17:59.650 It's the key to progress. So you get discouraged 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:01.190 thinking you're not making progress. You're making 00:18:01.190 --> 00:18:06.700 progress. Real growth is slow. Fourth, cultivate 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:10.640 stimulating relationships. It's the key to inspiration. 00:18:11.220 --> 00:18:15.119 Growing people arrange their lives and their 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.240 schedules. Are you ready? To be around growing 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.880 people. To be inspired, to be challenged, to 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:23.819 be stretched. Every time I rub up against people 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:27.619 that are walking with God and they're ahead of 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:29.779 me here and they're making progress there. Every 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:32.119 time I get near them, I want to lean forward 00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:34.380 into it. And there's times where there's people 00:18:34.380 --> 00:18:37.039 that have huge needs and I feel inadequate. I 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:38.799 don't know, but when I get involved in their 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.500 life and I get stimulated and I realize God can 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:43.480 use a regular guy like me. He can use a regular 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:48.220 person like you. Growing people cultivate. I 00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:51.420 chose that word carefully. You have to rearrange 00:18:51.420 --> 00:18:56.170 your schedule. You cultivate stimulating relationships. 00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:58.730 In fact, the Bible commands us to. Hebrews 10, 00:18:58.809 --> 00:19:01.930 24 and 25. It says, and let us consider, let 00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:07.230 us ponder how we may spur or stimulate one another 00:19:07.230 --> 00:19:11.250 on to what? Love and good deeds. Let us not give 00:19:11.250 --> 00:19:14.170 up meeting together as some are in the habit 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:17.589 of doing, but encourage, exhort. Get the idea? 00:19:17.930 --> 00:19:21.670 One another. All the more as you see the day 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:25.130 approaching, the day of Christ's return. You 00:19:25.130 --> 00:19:27.430 got to have a small group. You got to have a 00:19:27.430 --> 00:19:30.829 mentor. You got to have a mentoree. There's some 00:19:30.829 --> 00:19:33.029 people that can mentor you. You can become close 00:19:33.029 --> 00:19:35.029 friends with some of the greatest people in the 00:19:35.029 --> 00:19:38.589 world today because of technology. Billy Graham 00:19:38.589 --> 00:19:41.730 and I are on a first name basis. I've never met 00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:47.640 him. But I'm on page 680 something. I've learned 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:51.019 and been inspired because I'm reading as autobiography. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.119 Every week I listen to three or four messages 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:55.319 of other people around the country. And they 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:58.200 inspire me and they encourage me. And you know, 00:19:58.259 --> 00:20:00.079 it's not a hard thing to say, I'm going to read 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:01.799 a half hour before I go to bed instead of watch 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:03.640 TV for an hour before I go to bed. Do you know 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:05.160 what happens when you read a half hour before 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:07.779 you go to bed and you do that 300 days a year? 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:10.819 It transforms your life. But see, you've got 00:20:10.819 --> 00:20:15.289 to cultivate with the time that you have. stimulating 00:20:15.289 --> 00:20:18.289 relationships. Why? Next verse, Proverbs 13, 00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:21.490 20. He who dwells with a wise man will be wise. 00:20:22.009 --> 00:20:24.849 She who dwells with a wise woman will be wise, 00:20:24.910 --> 00:20:28.089 but the companion of a fool will suffer harm. 00:20:28.230 --> 00:20:30.150 I don't know anything about you, but I can tell 00:20:30.150 --> 00:20:33.190 this about you and about me right now. Whoever 00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:35.690 your closest friends are, whoever you're running 00:20:35.690 --> 00:20:37.930 with right now, in five years, you'll be just 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:41.990 like them. So I've just made a decision. I'm 00:20:41.990 --> 00:20:44.390 going to run around with people better, smarter, 00:20:44.650 --> 00:20:48.210 more holy, more godly, more energetic, more intelligent, 00:20:48.309 --> 00:20:50.250 more creative than me. And I'm just praying some 00:20:50.250 --> 00:20:52.650 of it's going to rip off. You've got to balance 00:20:52.650 --> 00:20:54.950 the positive relationships with the draining 00:20:54.950 --> 00:20:58.789 relationships. You need both. Both stimulate. 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:06.009 Fifth, people who grow choose to become progressive 00:21:06.009 --> 00:21:12.220 risk takers. It's the key to change. The Bible 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:14.539 says in Hebrews 11, 6, and without faith it's 00:21:14.539 --> 00:21:16.539 impossible to please God. Not hard, it's impossible. 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:19.480 Because anyone who comes to Him must believe 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:22.640 two things. First, that He exists. Second, that 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.000 He rewards. Do you believe that? God rewards 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.519 those who diligently seek Him. God is looking 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:30.960 to bless and to honor your life and to reward 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:35.519 you. He wants to do good in you. He wants to 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:40.190 do good through you. Where there is no risk, 00:21:40.490 --> 00:21:45.910 there is no faith. Where there is no faith, there 00:21:45.910 --> 00:21:50.430 is no change. Where there is no change, there 00:21:50.430 --> 00:21:56.410 is no growth. It is impossible to grow unless 00:21:56.410 --> 00:21:59.630 you become a progressive risk taker. Now, I put 00:21:59.630 --> 00:22:02.230 that word progressive in there and I put the 00:22:02.230 --> 00:22:04.430 word choose for a reason because it doesn't come 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:07.279 easy, does it? Now, some of you have that spirit 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:09.119 and you like change just because you like change. 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:13.220 The rest of the world kind of likes things the 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:15.740 way they are. And change feels very threatening. 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:21.039 But if you want to grow, you must choose to become 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:25.559 a progressive risk taker. You must choose to 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.839 move out of your comfort zone relationally and 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.599 initiate things that you're uncomfortable with. 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:31.339 You have to choose to move out of your comfort 00:22:31.339 --> 00:22:32.940 zone and get involved in ministry beyond what 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:34.559 you think you can handle. You have to choose 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.559 to move out of your comfort zone and your time 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.559 and your structure and be a little more flexible 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:40.279 than you're comfortable with. You have to choose 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:41.680 to get out of your comfort zone and begin to 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:46.000 do some things financially that will really reveal 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:52.059 where your heart's at. And it's risk. If a personal 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:56.180 quiet time transformed the values, the thinking, 00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:58.559 and the relationships that shaped my life in 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:02.460 the area of faith. Learning how to give biblically 00:23:02.460 --> 00:23:06.400 was absolutely, without a doubt, the greatest 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:10.700 risk -taking area ever. Now, I didn't grow up 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:14.000 in church. And the churches I grew up in, I didn't 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.859 like. And my big suspicion about Christianity 00:23:16.859 --> 00:23:20.000 was, all they want is your money, because that's 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:21.819 what it sounded like from those people on TV. 00:23:22.930 --> 00:23:25.269 And so I trust Christ and they give me a Bible 00:23:25.269 --> 00:23:27.950 and I start reading it. I had a long way to go 00:23:27.950 --> 00:23:30.210 in my views. So I'm a Christian three years and 00:23:30.210 --> 00:23:33.069 finally I decided I'm going to give $5 a month 00:23:33.069 --> 00:23:36.250 to this missionary couple in Japan. And I'm thinking, 00:23:36.329 --> 00:23:38.390 they may be the luckiest group in the whole world 00:23:38.390 --> 00:23:41.589 to get that from me. I mean, I had a clear philosophy 00:23:41.589 --> 00:23:44.410 of giving growing up. You give a quarter in the 00:23:44.410 --> 00:23:47.950 bag every time it comes around as a kid. When 00:23:47.950 --> 00:23:51.200 you get older, you bump it to a dollar. And if 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.119 you're feeling kind of spiritual, you go with 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:56.400 a five. I'm serious. That was my view of giving. 00:23:56.500 --> 00:24:00.539 The idea of a percentage, the idea of 10 % of 00:24:00.539 --> 00:24:03.079 my gross income, it was like, are these people 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:06.880 nuts? I mean, where does this come from? You 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:12.319 know what I understand? If you don't learn, according 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:16.339 to Jesus, to give your money, your heart, your 00:24:16.339 --> 00:24:18.660 time, your relationships, all those are a lot 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:22.099 harder. See, Jesus talked more about money than 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:24.660 heaven and hell combined. Why? He didn't live 00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:27.920 in a mansion. He didn't want nor need anyone's 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:30.059 money. What he understood is the link between 00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:32.980 money and your heart, money and worship, is inseparable. 00:24:33.339 --> 00:24:35.519 And so according to Jesus, you can serve God 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:39.660 or mammon money, but there's no in between. And 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:41.779 so early on for me, I started with $5, and then 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:44.160 I started with like, you know, 5 or 10%. And 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:48.200 now over the years, I willfully put myself in 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:51.119 a place as a team, as a family, to give where 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:53.039 if God doesn't show up this year, Teresa and 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:55.799 I have a major problem. But he's shown up in 00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:58.960 ways beyond what I ever dreamed. I'm not starving. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:01.440 We're among the richest people in the whole world. 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:03.720 And if I didn't spend that money there and give, 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.819 you know what? I'd spend it someplace else. And 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:10.000 the fact of the matter is, I could give you a 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.779 list of blessings in my life, but here's the 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:16.210 point. I learned to trust. Until you learn to 00:25:16.210 --> 00:25:19.450 trust with money, you really believe something 00:25:19.450 --> 00:25:21.390 tangible and easy where you can see God show 00:25:21.390 --> 00:25:23.430 up? You're going to start to break through lifelong 00:25:23.430 --> 00:25:26.809 relational patterns? Probably not. You're going 00:25:26.809 --> 00:25:29.869 to take steps of risk into ministry? You're going 00:25:29.869 --> 00:25:31.450 to begin to face things and say, I'm going to 00:25:31.450 --> 00:25:33.430 be a difference maker in my world? See, it's 00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:37.369 just actually the smallest risk you ever take 00:25:37.369 --> 00:25:40.069 is learning how to give money. Now, I mean, I 00:25:40.069 --> 00:25:41.809 know it's a real taboo subject and all that rest 00:25:41.809 --> 00:25:43.990 in church because of so much, you know, poor 00:25:43.990 --> 00:25:47.640 teaching. Lack of teaching and abuse. But the 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:52.220 Bible, it's clear. If there's no risk, there's 00:25:52.220 --> 00:25:54.460 no faith. And so that's why Jesus said in this 00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:57.420 area, Luke 6 .38, Give, and it will be given 00:25:57.420 --> 00:26:00.119 unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:02.220 together, running over back into your lap. His 00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:04.900 point is, you're not going to out give me. And 00:26:04.900 --> 00:26:07.220 I don't want your stuff. I want your heart. So 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:10.160 give and it. Give your time. Give your compassion. 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.220 Give your money. Give your love. You know what 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:15.660 happens? It always will come back. Shaken down. 00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:19.640 Pressed down. More. But I don't know about you. 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:23.720 That was a toughie for me. And I really had to 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.160 trust the people I was giving it to. Because 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:33.630 I'm a skeptic. It's the key to change. Unless 00:26:33.630 --> 00:26:37.069 you try something beyond what you can already 00:26:37.069 --> 00:26:41.990 do, you will never grow. Have you realized that's 00:26:41.990 --> 00:26:43.490 the way life works? You know how God usually 00:26:43.490 --> 00:26:46.730 does that in your life? Instead of us willfully 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:48.650 choosing to put ourselves in that position, he 00:26:48.650 --> 00:26:51.890 brings in a crisis, doesn't he? He allows a crisis 00:26:51.890 --> 00:26:55.650 where you have this capacity and God brings a 00:26:55.650 --> 00:26:57.829 crisis or a situation that demands this. And 00:26:57.829 --> 00:26:59.930 the distance between what you have and what's 00:26:59.930 --> 00:27:02.829 required, you know what you do? You grow. You 00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:05.230 can't handle it. Boy, you have a child. You get 00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:07.589 laid off work. You have a problem relationship. 00:27:07.970 --> 00:27:10.109 And the distance between, what do you do? It's 00:27:10.109 --> 00:27:12.609 amazing how my prayer life just perks right up 00:27:12.609 --> 00:27:16.210 when crisis occurs. It's amazing how I seek out 00:27:16.210 --> 00:27:18.289 stimulating relationships like, what did you 00:27:18.289 --> 00:27:20.109 do with this teenage son? Help me, help me. I've 00:27:20.109 --> 00:27:22.269 never been through this before, you know? It's 00:27:22.269 --> 00:27:25.650 amazing. You will grow. But God says, you don't 00:27:25.650 --> 00:27:28.210 have to wait for a crisis. You can do it voluntarily. 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:33.740 Six. People who grow leverage life's hardship. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:37.259 It's the key to character. Notice what it says 00:27:37.259 --> 00:27:43.160 in James 1, verses 2 to 4. Consider it. That 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:46.920 means it's a choice. Pure joy. That's an attitude. 00:27:48.220 --> 00:27:51.440 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:53.940 face trials of many kinds. Not if, but whenever. 00:27:56.380 --> 00:27:58.440 Because you know that the testing of your faith 00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:01.319 produces perseverance or endurance. Now notice 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:03.859 what endurance does in your life. Perseverance 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:06.400 or endurance must finish its work so that you 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:09.480 may be, here's our word again, circle it, mature 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:15.680 and complete, lacking in nothing. People who 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.299 grow leverage life's hardships. Stagnant people, 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:22.940 when difficulty comes their way, here's their 00:28:22.940 --> 00:28:28.240 question. Why me, Lord? People who grow, when 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.960 hardship comes into their life, they say, what 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:34.519 do you want to teach me, Lord? See the difference? 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:40.339 Stagnant people blame God, blame other people, 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:44.720 and look outward. Growing people say, a sovereign 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:47.480 God who's good, who loves me, somehow is allowed 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.299 something to come into my life that's very hard. 00:28:50.089 --> 00:28:53.130 And by his grace, I'm going to, the word here 00:28:53.130 --> 00:28:56.329 for endurance is hupomeno, literally to be under 00:28:56.329 --> 00:28:59.049 the pressure of. Hupo, under the pressure of. 00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:01.049 And God puts something on your back and you can 00:29:01.049 --> 00:29:03.490 hardly take it. And it's heavy and you can hardly 00:29:03.490 --> 00:29:06.569 take it. 90 % of success in life is not giving 00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:08.789 up. You can hardly take it. You can hardly take 00:29:08.789 --> 00:29:10.430 it. You can hardly take it. You know when you 00:29:10.430 --> 00:29:11.950 can hardly take something and there's weight 00:29:11.950 --> 00:29:13.890 on your back? You know what happens after a while? 00:29:14.049 --> 00:29:16.509 You athletes know, don't you? What happens? Your 00:29:16.509 --> 00:29:19.150 muscles get stronger. After a while, the weight 00:29:19.150 --> 00:29:22.190 doesn't change, but you strengthen and you can 00:29:22.190 --> 00:29:23.970 take that and put that weight on a backpack and 00:29:23.970 --> 00:29:26.309 walk right through life. And we see people doing 00:29:26.309 --> 00:29:28.289 it with leukemia. We see people doing it with 00:29:28.289 --> 00:29:30.170 shattered lives. We see people who've been rejected 00:29:30.170 --> 00:29:32.410 and hurt. And boy, they walk right through life 00:29:32.410 --> 00:29:35.390 because they're special. No, they endured. What's 00:29:35.390 --> 00:29:38.950 your attitude? Are you leveraging life's hardship? 00:29:39.049 --> 00:29:43.710 Are they leveraging you? Notice the final one. 00:29:44.329 --> 00:29:49.539 People who grow. Make time for solitude and silence. 00:29:51.339 --> 00:29:55.900 It's the key to guidance. Speaking of the life 00:29:55.900 --> 00:29:58.880 of our Lord, it says very early in the morning, 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:00.859 literally a great while before dawn, while it 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:03.299 was still dark, Jesus got up, he left the house, 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:06.279 he went off to a solitary place where he prayed. 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:10.119 See, growing people have a very clear sense of 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:12.799 transcendence in worship. If you read the context 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.500 in Mark 1, it's the busiest day ever recorded 00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:17.279 in the life of our Lord. He's teaching. He's 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:19.319 praying. People are packed in. They're getting 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:21.420 Him from all. Man, I mean, He is just packed. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:23.559 I don't know about you, but when I have a day 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:27.240 or a week like that, I sort of think, I deserve 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:32.480 a break today. So get out and get away. You know? 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:36.650 But Jesus did. Jesus understood the more pressure 00:30:36.650 --> 00:30:39.509 on your life, the more private time, the more 00:30:39.509 --> 00:30:41.289 silence, the more solitude you need with the 00:30:41.289 --> 00:30:44.869 Father. And so after an exhausting day, a great 00:30:44.869 --> 00:30:46.849 while before dawn, and I think I know what he 00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:49.549 prayed. I think he prayed, Father, man, this 00:30:49.549 --> 00:30:51.869 thing is going too fast. I feel pulled. James 00:30:51.869 --> 00:30:53.869 wants this. John wants this. The crowd's in. 00:30:53.950 --> 00:30:55.849 There's more needs. I can't handle it. Help me 00:30:55.849 --> 00:30:59.390 remember, oh God. Father, being fully God, yes, 00:30:59.450 --> 00:31:01.450 but fully man, help me remember what you sent 00:31:01.450 --> 00:31:04.440 me to do. Everyone has a wonderful plan for my 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:07.619 life, but I want the plan we came up with. Give 00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:10.539 me focus. And you're saying, boy, Chip, you must 00:31:10.539 --> 00:31:12.400 have tremendous insight to get all that out of 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:15.579 that verse. No, what I know is that if you read 00:31:15.579 --> 00:31:18.279 the context afterwards, Peter, John, James, the 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:21.380 guy say, hey, you were a hit. It's awesome. The 00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:23.279 crowd's waiting. You're famous. We're famous. 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:27.079 It's big time. And his answer was. I have need 00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:30.279 to go to other towns and to other villages. We 00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:34.380 must leave. Grammatically imperative. Must leave. 00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:39.460 For I came to preach and to heal and to forgive 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:45.519 sins. You see, you need guidance. And the only 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:48.240 way you get guidance is by stopping life. Busyness 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:53.019 is the enemy's tool for a barren life. And we 00:31:53.019 --> 00:31:58.579 must stop. and get guidance. We must stop and 00:31:58.579 --> 00:32:01.559 remember what is it that we're put on this earth 00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:06.539 to do so that we can come back and say no boldly 00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:09.160 to all the world's wonderful plan for our life. 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:10.660 And you're saying, I don't have time to stop. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:12.420 I say, well, why? Well, because I've got to get 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:13.519 to work. Why are you going to work? Because I've 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:14.980 got to do this because I've got to do that. Well, 00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:21.539 why? Well, because I've got to. Says Ahua. You've 00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:24.559 never had a sick day at work? You've never had 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:26.559 something happen where life stopped for two days 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:28.680 and you had to go to an emergency room? And I 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:31.119 bet the company just fell apart both days, right? 00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:34.920 See, the fact of the matter is we can choose 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:39.000 to stop planning our schedule and hear from God. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:41.880 I think you need to do it a little every day. 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:44.900 And I think every month or six weeks, you need 00:32:44.900 --> 00:32:48.339 a full day to say, Lord, help me remember why 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:51.140 I'm here, where I'm going. If you want to do 00:32:51.140 --> 00:32:54.019 a quick review, people who grow, Have some things 00:32:54.019 --> 00:32:57.579 in common? People who grow live daily. Wow. With 00:32:57.579 --> 00:32:59.880 the end in view. It's the key to motivation. 00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:03.200 People who grow make a personal commitment to 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:05.460 grow. Have you made it? It's the key to overcoming 00:33:05.460 --> 00:33:08.380 inertia. Third, people who grow value process 00:33:08.380 --> 00:33:12.500 more than event. It's the key to progress. Fourth, 00:33:12.660 --> 00:33:15.359 people who grow cultivate stimulating relationships. 00:33:15.740 --> 00:33:18.819 It's the key to inspiration. Fifth, people who 00:33:18.819 --> 00:33:22.240 grow choose to become progressive risk takers. 00:33:22.589 --> 00:33:25.130 It's the key to change. People who grow leverage 00:33:25.130 --> 00:33:28.569 life's hardships. It's the key to character. 00:33:28.809 --> 00:33:32.269 And finally, people who grow make time for solitude 00:33:32.269 --> 00:33:35.789 and silence. It's the key to guidance. Want a 00:33:35.789 --> 00:33:39.710 game plan for today? First, make a commitment 00:33:39.710 --> 00:33:44.950 to grow today. Second, prioritize the area of 00:33:44.950 --> 00:33:46.650 your growth. There's a domino principle here. 00:33:46.730 --> 00:33:48.450 You can't do all seven of these things. Don't 00:33:48.450 --> 00:33:52.690 even try. What one thing is a little light Keep 00:33:52.690 --> 00:33:54.470 pulsating in your heart and your mind that says, 00:33:54.490 --> 00:33:56.990 I need to address that. And you address that, 00:33:57.069 --> 00:33:58.769 and then God will show you. Don't get overwhelmed. 00:33:59.250 --> 00:34:02.369 Third, take one specific step this week, even 00:34:02.369 --> 00:34:05.829 if it's small, but do something. Take a step 00:34:05.829 --> 00:34:08.429 toward God, one specific step this week. Write 00:34:08.429 --> 00:34:11.809 it down and tell someone. Growth is exciting. 00:34:11.929 --> 00:34:14.469 It's normal. It's fun. It's fantastic. It's difficult. 00:34:14.570 --> 00:34:18.190 It's not automatic. And we get stuck. But we 00:34:18.190 --> 00:34:22.539 don't have to stay there, do we? This is Living 00:34:22.539 --> 00:34:25.500 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. As we continue 00:34:25.500 --> 00:34:28.139 this series on experiencing breakthrough, you 00:34:28.139 --> 00:34:30.380 might be realizing you need to build a stronger 00:34:30.380 --> 00:34:33.219 spiritual foundation. Well, that's exactly why 00:34:33.219 --> 00:34:35.440 we're offering Chip's free online devotional, 00:34:35.539 --> 00:34:38.340 Psalms of Hope. Here's what makes this resource 00:34:38.340 --> 00:34:41.050 different. Chip doesn't just explain the Psalms 00:34:41.050 --> 00:34:43.309 to you. He teaches you how to study them for 00:34:43.309 --> 00:34:46.289 yourself. Each day for 10 days, you'll spend 00:34:46.289 --> 00:34:48.630 10 minutes learning from Chip, then 10 minutes 00:34:48.630 --> 00:34:50.670 applying what you've learned through prayer and 00:34:50.670 --> 00:34:53.829 meditation. You'll journey through Psalm 1, Psalm 00:34:53.829 --> 00:34:57.730 15, and Psalm 23, passages that speak directly 00:34:57.730 --> 00:35:00.750 to finding stability, experiencing God's presence, 00:35:00.929 --> 00:35:04.309 and building authentic relationships. This isn't 00:35:04.309 --> 00:35:06.449 about adding another obligation to your schedule. 00:35:06.570 --> 00:35:09.130 It's about creating a daily rhythm of connecting 00:35:09.130 --> 00:35:11.789 with God that can transform your entire life. 00:35:12.010 --> 00:35:15.769 And it's completely free, online at livingontheedge 00:35:15.769 --> 00:35:20.869 .org. Just search for Psalms of Hope. Now, creating 00:35:20.869 --> 00:35:23.210 resources like this takes financial investment. 00:35:23.429 --> 00:35:25.469 When you give to Living on the Edge, you're not 00:35:25.469 --> 00:35:28.070 just supporting a radio program. You're helping 00:35:28.070 --> 00:35:30.369 people around the world discover what it means 00:35:30.369 --> 00:35:33.590 to truly walk with God. If this ministry is making 00:35:33.590 --> 00:35:36.010 a difference in your life, please consider giving 00:35:36.010 --> 00:35:39.630 today. Visit livingontheedge .org to give or 00:35:39.630 --> 00:35:43.349 write to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, 00:35:43.530 --> 00:35:48.469 Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call 888 00:35:48.469 --> 00:35:53.530 -333 -6003. Join us again next time for another 00:35:53.530 --> 00:35:56.289 insightful Bible lesson here on the Chip Ingram 00:35:56.289 --> 00:36:02.650 Sermon Podcast. Today's program is produced and 00:36:02.650 --> 00:36:04.489 sponsored by Living on the Edge.