WEBVTT 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:14.279 Today, from guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. The 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:18.699 Bible would teach and would prioritize, I believe, 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:22.019 how we spend our morning hours, our time with 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:24.039 God in the morning. I did just a quick survey 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:27.239 of scripture on this. Abraham, Genesis chapter 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:30.519 22, 3 and 5, rose early in the morning to split 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:32.820 wood for burnt offerings and to worship God. 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:37.340 Moses rose early in the morning to worship God, 00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:42.149 to meet with God. Welcome to Living on the Edge. 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:45.369 How you start your morning, sense the trajectory 00:00:45.369 --> 00:00:48.549 for your entire day. Whatever you tune into first, 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:51.729 the news, your phone, your fears, is what you'll 00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:54.429 be listening to for hours. But what if you could 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:57.270 change the channel? Today, guest teacher Kyle 00:00:57.270 --> 00:00:59.990 Eidelman shows you how. Before we get started, 00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:02.469 here's our Bible teacher, Chip Ingram, to introduce 00:01:02.469 --> 00:01:04.629 today's special guest. You know, I've taught 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:07.829 the Bible for a number of years. And over and 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:09.689 over, I've tried to help people, beginning with 00:01:09.689 --> 00:01:12.909 me. Life change doesn't happen simply by trying 00:01:12.909 --> 00:01:15.530 harder. The key, according to Romans chapter 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:19.489 12, too, is renewing our mind. And I have a special 00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:22.049 guest. His name is Kyle Ottoman, pastor of Southeast 00:01:22.049 --> 00:01:24.870 Christian Church. He's written a book, but he 00:01:24.870 --> 00:01:26.689 has a series that he's going to share with us 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:30.120 called Every... Thought Captive. It comes out 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:33.459 of 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, where we're commanded 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:36.439 to take every thought captive. You're going to 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.819 learn the power of thoughts, not only from Scripture, 00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:42.200 but Kyle uses some great information from neuroscience. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.599 I am privileged today to introduce my friend, 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:47.519 and then I'll be back at the end of the program 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:49.659 to share a few final thoughts. Thank you, Chip. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.400 Now with his contribution to our teaching series 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.219 called God's Dream for Your Life, here's Kyle 00:01:55.219 --> 00:01:58.040 Eidelman with a brand new message titled, Win 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:02.400 the Morning. Life is difficult. Life is difficult. 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:05.060 In fact, the Bible tells us that life is difficult. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:07.200 If anybody ever tries to preach a message that 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:09.360 doesn't include the fact that life is difficult, 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:12.340 then they're not preaching the message of Scripture. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.240 Jesus said in John 16, in this world you will 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:19.849 have trouble. And he goes on to say, I have overcome 00:02:19.849 --> 00:02:23.409 the world. So there's hope, there's strength. 00:02:23.909 --> 00:02:27.349 Like we have confidence in who Jesus is, but 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:28.610 in this world, you'll have trouble. And that 00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:32.310 word for trouble is the word tribulation. Meaning 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:36.909 that these are not small challenges. These aren't 00:02:36.909 --> 00:02:39.129 light difficulties. These are things that are 00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:41.990 significant. This is a darkness that is so deep, 00:02:42.030 --> 00:02:44.409 it can feel like it's consuming all the light. 00:02:44.810 --> 00:02:47.860 That's the word here for trouble. It is a young 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:50.639 Ukrainian girl stabbed to death on a train in 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:52.599 Charlotte. It's the shooting in a Catholic school 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:54.740 in Minneapolis. It's a 31 -year -old husband 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:56.699 and father being assassinated while speaking 00:02:56.699 --> 00:02:59.560 at a university in Utah. And so what it can feel 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:02.560 like is that every morning we wake up and we 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.699 don't know what the headlines are gonna be, but 00:03:04.699 --> 00:03:07.900 we know that darkness is waiting. And what that 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:11.740 means is that we end up carrying some sadness 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:14.000 and some grief with us that can at times just 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.099 feel like it's sitting really heavy on our chest. 00:03:17.049 --> 00:03:21.030 What that means is that sometimes we have to 00:03:21.030 --> 00:03:23.810 fight back anger and certainly confusion. Things 00:03:23.810 --> 00:03:26.229 just don't make sense. Things don't unfold the 00:03:26.229 --> 00:03:27.990 way we think they should or that would make sense 00:03:27.990 --> 00:03:29.830 to us if we were sitting in God's seat, which 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:33.389 we're not. And so we pray and we pray for the 00:03:33.389 --> 00:03:35.169 church. The church is called to be a light in 00:03:35.169 --> 00:03:38.090 the darkness. And the way we see it, church, 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:40.129 is that the darker it is, the brighter the light 00:03:40.129 --> 00:03:43.689 shines. The Ephesians says, so we pray, Jesus, 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:47.610 let us be a light. Somehow let us do what you 00:03:47.610 --> 00:03:50.150 tell us to do of loving our enemies and praying 00:03:50.150 --> 00:03:52.870 for those who persecute us. And so it's a time 00:03:52.870 --> 00:03:55.050 to pray. It's a time to reflect on our own lives. 00:03:55.169 --> 00:03:57.449 I often say at a funeral that this is a time 00:03:57.449 --> 00:03:59.449 when we gently close the eyes of the dead, but 00:03:59.449 --> 00:04:03.210 we open the eyes of the living. The Bible says 00:04:03.210 --> 00:04:05.310 in Psalm 90 verse 12, teach us God to number 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:07.409 our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 00:04:08.110 --> 00:04:09.870 God teach us to live with an awareness that our 00:04:09.870 --> 00:04:11.990 days are numbered so that we live with an intentionality 00:04:11.990 --> 00:04:15.030 about our lives. James 4, 14 says, what is your 00:04:15.030 --> 00:04:17.149 life? You're a mist that appears for a while 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:20.430 and then disappears. And we need to be reminded 00:04:20.430 --> 00:04:22.990 of the temporariness of this life. That from 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:27.149 our perspective, the years run together, but 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:29.889 compared to eternity, none of us are here very 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:32.939 long. And that's not meant to scare us. The scriptures 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:34.839 aren't meant to scare us, but they're meant to 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.620 wake us up. They're meant to help us pay attention 00:04:37.620 --> 00:04:40.399 to our one and only lives and understand that 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.000 moments like these matter, that matter. And we 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.519 need to look up long enough to recognize that. 00:04:47.230 --> 00:04:49.310 That one day we'll stand before God. And on that 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:50.970 day, it won't matter what anybody else thought 00:04:50.970 --> 00:04:52.509 of you. It won't matter what your boss thought 00:04:52.509 --> 00:04:54.829 about you or your critics said about you. It 00:04:54.829 --> 00:04:56.889 won't matter how many followers you had or what 00:04:56.889 --> 00:04:58.769 your bank account looked like or what car you 00:04:58.769 --> 00:05:00.509 drove or house you lived in. It won't matter 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:03.029 who won the last election. It won't matter what 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:05.129 grade you got on the exam this past week. Like 00:05:05.129 --> 00:05:07.250 what will matter is your relationship with Jesus. 00:05:08.209 --> 00:05:11.050 And so this is a good time to just pause and 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:14.610 ask a question. If this is your last day, are 00:05:14.610 --> 00:05:17.360 you ready? Have you surrendered your life to 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:19.100 Jesus? Have you confessed that you're a sinner 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:21.459 who needs a savior? Have you believed that Jesus 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:24.000 died on the cross for your sins, that he rose 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:25.860 again so that you could have eternal life? Is 00:05:25.860 --> 00:05:27.579 that where you have put your hope? Is that where 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:30.519 you find your confidence? Jesus defeated death 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:34.519 so you can live. That's the platform. And so 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.300 we pray and we reflect on our lives, but we also, 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.399 if we're honest, and I think we should be, we 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:42.100 find ourselves in moments like these and weeks 00:05:42.100 --> 00:05:44.120 like these asking questions that have perhaps 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:46.379 always been there below the surface. But when 00:05:46.379 --> 00:05:49.279 certain headlines hit the news, those questions 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.779 get louder. Like, how do we make sense of such 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:55.740 evil? And how do we respond when violence becomes 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:58.000 the answer to disagreement? How do we find hope 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.279 when darkness seems overwhelming? Like, how do 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:03.350 we even do that? And so I want to talk to you 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:05.129 about some of those questions because this is 00:06:05.129 --> 00:06:07.589 true. And this isn't just true globally. Like 00:06:07.589 --> 00:06:09.790 this is true personally. It's not just the darkness 00:06:09.790 --> 00:06:11.769 and the headlines. It's like the darkness in 00:06:11.769 --> 00:06:14.250 our hearts and darkness in our homes. And it's 00:06:14.250 --> 00:06:17.029 the darkness when we're in these quiet moments 00:06:17.029 --> 00:06:20.990 alone with our thoughts. Life is difficult. That 00:06:20.990 --> 00:06:24.300 is actually the first line. of the book called 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:26.220 The Road Less Traveled, which according to the 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:28.160 Guinness Book of World Records holds the record 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.199 for the longest time on the New York Times bestseller 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:32.860 list, The Road Less Traveled at six, last time 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:36.579 I checked, 694 weeks. Bestseller for 13 years. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.120 Starts off life as difficult. But in the midst 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:43.560 of the difficult circumstances that we have no 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:46.139 control over, in the midst of the darkness that 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:48.019 can seem overwhelming, in the midst of grief 00:06:48.019 --> 00:06:51.730 and fear, the Bible tells us God's will is for 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:53.910 you to live with joy and gratitude. How do you 00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:56.629 do that? Like, I know that's what you want. I 00:06:56.629 --> 00:06:59.189 want that. But it's not just what you want. It's 00:06:59.189 --> 00:07:02.430 what God wants for you. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 00:07:02.430 --> 00:07:06.850 through 18 say, rejoice always. Some translations, 00:07:07.110 --> 00:07:10.629 be joyful always and pray continually and give 00:07:10.629 --> 00:07:13.870 thanks in all circumstances for this is God's 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:15.290 will. You wonder what God's will is for your 00:07:15.290 --> 00:07:18.009 life? You lay awake at night and say, God, what 00:07:18.009 --> 00:07:19.569 do you want from me? What's your will for me? 00:07:19.649 --> 00:07:22.250 This is my will for you, God says, is that you'd 00:07:22.250 --> 00:07:25.110 be joyful, that you pray continually, you give 00:07:25.110 --> 00:07:28.990 thanks in all circumstance. And there's always 00:07:28.990 --> 00:07:32.370 and continually in all circumstances, not just 00:07:32.370 --> 00:07:35.029 some of the time, not just when things are going 00:07:35.029 --> 00:07:37.509 well and everything's unfolding the way we hoped 00:07:37.509 --> 00:07:40.050 that it would and things just make sense for 00:07:40.050 --> 00:07:43.370 us. All of life is up and to the right. It's 00:07:43.370 --> 00:07:47.670 like, no, it's always. all the time, in all circumstances. 00:07:48.490 --> 00:07:51.269 And so how do we do that? How do we live with 00:07:51.269 --> 00:07:53.730 that kind of joy when life is difficult and we're 00:07:53.730 --> 00:07:55.649 hit with wave after wave of difficulties and 00:07:55.649 --> 00:07:58.870 everywhere we look, we're reminded of how hard 00:07:58.870 --> 00:08:01.589 things can be. How do you find that kind of peace 00:08:01.589 --> 00:08:03.569 when maybe you're carrying a lot of shame and 00:08:03.569 --> 00:08:05.709 regret and you don't know what to do about it, 00:08:05.769 --> 00:08:11.230 but it feels, it just feels like too much. You 00:08:11.230 --> 00:08:14.189 just can't go back. and do things differently. 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:15.910 You wish you could, but you can't. And now it's 00:08:15.910 --> 00:08:19.509 like every day, you're just reminded of the reality 00:08:19.509 --> 00:08:22.250 of your decisions, what it's done to you, the 00:08:22.250 --> 00:08:25.230 people around you, and it just all feels like 00:08:25.230 --> 00:08:28.790 too much. How do you find victory over temptation 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:30.889 where it just seems to get the better of you? 00:08:30.949 --> 00:08:32.830 Like you don't want to keep doing what you've 00:08:32.830 --> 00:08:35.529 been doing, but you keep doing it. How do you 00:08:35.529 --> 00:08:37.289 find victory? How do you intentionally fill your 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:39.389 mind with thoughts that are true and God honoring? 00:08:39.529 --> 00:08:41.850 How do you overcome the voices in your head that 00:08:41.850 --> 00:08:43.970 tell you, hey, it's too late and things are too 00:08:43.970 --> 00:08:48.529 dark and evil is winning? So the answer, I believe, 00:08:48.769 --> 00:08:51.970 is connected to the series we're in called Every 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:53.509 Thought Captive, where the Bible would teach 00:08:53.509 --> 00:08:55.529 us that either you take your thoughts captive 00:08:55.529 --> 00:08:58.350 or they're taking you captive. That the way we 00:08:58.350 --> 00:09:01.590 tear down these strongholds in our life is by 00:09:01.590 --> 00:09:05.879 being renewed in our minds. that we partner with 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:09.159 the Holy Spirit in experiencing this mind transformation. 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.379 We align our thoughts with what God says. And 00:09:11.379 --> 00:09:13.899 as we do, he gives us a new way of looking at 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:16.659 things. He gives us a new way of thinking. He 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:20.159 transforms our minds. And as he transforms our 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:23.230 minds, our lives change. And so what I wanna 00:09:23.230 --> 00:09:25.909 do is focus this in a little bit as we get in 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:27.750 this series and talk to you about taking your 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:29.889 thoughts captive at a certain time of the day, 00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:31.909 specifically taking your thoughts captive first 00:09:31.909 --> 00:09:34.629 thing in the morning. Now, listen, I know some 00:09:34.629 --> 00:09:37.490 of you are not. morning people. Like I get it. 00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:40.210 Some of you don't, you don't even, you don't 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:42.230 even believe in God till after lunch. That's 00:09:42.230 --> 00:09:44.789 sort of how you feel about it. Like you wouldn't 00:09:44.789 --> 00:09:47.070 say that out loud, but the people around you 00:09:47.070 --> 00:09:49.370 might wreck, like, are you a Christian yet? Okay. 00:09:49.470 --> 00:09:51.490 I'll give you another hour and we'll see if it 00:09:51.490 --> 00:09:53.809 kicks in after you have the coffee because you're 00:09:53.809 --> 00:09:55.470 just not a, you're just not a morning person. 00:09:56.009 --> 00:09:57.690 So I'm going to talk to you about the importance 00:09:57.690 --> 00:09:59.049 of taking your thoughts captive in the morning, 00:09:59.110 --> 00:10:00.610 but I want you to hear me. I'm not putting it 00:10:00.610 --> 00:10:04.009 like a time on what the morning is for you. It's 00:10:04.009 --> 00:10:07.220 just whenever you wake up. All right, so that 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:10.460 might be five something. That might be 10 something. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:16.299 If it's 11 something, I mean, okay. But really 00:10:16.299 --> 00:10:18.500 what we're saying is what you think about when 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:20.559 you first wake up has a way of determining what 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:21.919 you think about through the rest of the day. 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:25.419 Like your thoughts early in the morning have 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:28.759 impact on who you are. I don't remember where 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:30.620 I first heard the phrase when the morning. I 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:32.799 think I heard it from, I know I heard it from 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.220 my junior high. soccer coach. He may have been 00:10:35.220 --> 00:10:39.299 the first person. He would, he just took all 00:10:39.299 --> 00:10:41.039 of it too seriously. I don't know if you ever 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:42.740 had a coach like this, like in junior high, where 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:45.100 you're like, this is not professional soccer. 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:47.220 That's not what, it's not what we're doing here. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:51.159 But he, he coached as if it were, and he insisted 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:53.379 we have our practices before school instead of 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:56.899 after. And we'd show up half awake and he would 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:00.320 blow his whistle and yell at us with this. annoying 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.559 William Wallace -like energy and say, win the 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:06.159 morning. Win the morning, boys, and you win the 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.940 day. Have a sprint back and forth. And look, 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:11.940 we were tolerating the morning, I feel like, 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:13.320 and I thought we should have gotten credit for 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.139 that. Like we were there tolerating the morning, 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:19.159 but he wanted us to win the morning. And my question 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:21.720 was always, why can't we win the afternoon? I'm 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:24.019 all for winning. Does it really matter when we 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:28.250 win? And my coach would say, yeah, it does. You 00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:29.750 got to win the morning if you want to win the 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:33.549 day. And I think there's a lot of wisdom in that. 00:11:34.929 --> 00:11:37.629 You're listening to Living on the Edge. And today's 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:40.090 teaching from guest teacher Kyle Eidelman continues 00:11:40.090 --> 00:11:43.470 in just a minute. His message is available anytime 00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:47.230 at livingontheedge .org. Listen again, share 00:11:47.230 --> 00:11:49.649 it with a friend, or explore hundreds of additional 00:11:49.649 --> 00:11:53.580 programs, all free, all online. You can even 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:56.419 search for specific topics like parenting, personal 00:11:56.419 --> 00:11:59.960 growth, and unchangeable truths. Plus, find small 00:11:59.960 --> 00:12:02.919 group resources and practical tools to help you 00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:05.980 live the Christian life every day. It's all waiting 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:10.419 for you at livingontheedge .org. Now let's get 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:12.700 back to today's message. And what I discovered 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:15.620 is that there's a reflection of this in Scripture. 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:19.500 Like the Bible would teach and would prioritize, 00:12:19.580 --> 00:12:22.850 I believe. How we spend our morning hours, our 00:12:22.850 --> 00:12:24.730 time with God in the morning. I did just a quick 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:27.730 survey of scripture on this. Abraham, Genesis 00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:29.730 chapter 22, three and five, rose early in the 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:32.470 morning to split wood for burnt offerings and 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:36.289 to worship God. Moses, Exodus 24, Exodus 34, 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:39.590 rose early in the morning to worship God, to 00:12:39.590 --> 00:12:42.230 meet with God. Gideon rose early in the morning 00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:44.370 to find the Lord's favor, Judges six, Judges 00:12:44.370 --> 00:12:47.289 seven. Proverbs 31 describes a godly woman as 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:49.409 one who rises early and with intentionality. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.419 Hezekiah worshiped God first thing in the morning, 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:56.440 2 Chronicles 29. Job made it his habit to rise 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:58.100 early in the morning and to pray for his children. 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:01.379 Isaiah spoke about waking up and meeting with 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:03.440 God in the mornings, Isaiah chapter 50, verse 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:08.000 four. You read through the Psalms and David uses 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.600 this as almost a refrain, this in the morning. 00:13:11.659 --> 00:13:13.159 Let's look at a few of these together. Psalm 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:15.899 five, verse three. In the morning, Lord, you 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:19.039 hear my voice. In the morning. I lay my request 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:20.940 before you. And then here's what happens. Because 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:23.759 he starts his day this way, then throughout the 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.740 day, what's he do? He waits expectantly. Because 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:29.480 he starts his day by praying and laying his request 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.419 before God, it changes the way that he lives 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:34.200 out the rest of his day. Throughout the rest 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.399 of his day, he's living with this anticipation 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.139 of how God's gonna show up because of how he 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:42.299 started his day. Psalm 143, verse eight, in the 00:13:42.299 --> 00:13:44.620 morning, God, bring me word of your unfailing 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:47.779 love. I've put my trust in you. Show me the way 00:13:47.779 --> 00:13:51.179 I should go for to you, I entrust my life. God, 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:53.519 in the morning, just give me direction. Help 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:56.539 me know the path I should take. Next verse, Psalm 00:13:56.539 --> 00:13:59.840 59, 16, but I will sing of your strength in the 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.139 morning. In the morning, I will sing of your 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:04.519 love for you are my fortress and my refuge in 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:07.860 times of trouble. Next one is Psalm 88, verse 00:14:07.860 --> 00:14:12.720 13. But I cry to you for help, Lord. In the morning, 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:16.179 my prayer comes before you. In the morning, in 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:17.679 the morning, in the morning, in the morning I 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.720 worship, in the morning I seek your direction. 00:14:20.059 --> 00:14:22.679 In the morning, I'm reminded of your love for 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:25.899 me. In the morning, I ask you for help. How you 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:29.100 start your day, the thoughts you first think 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.620 have a way of setting the direction for the rest 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:33.940 of your day. And then ultimately, your days become 00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:37.000 your life. Jesus modeled this for us. In Mark 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:40.559 chapter one, It's this crazy busy time in the 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:43.179 life of Jesus. Lots happening, lots of crowds 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:46.440 with expectations for Jesus about what he should 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.200 do and what he shouldn't do with his time. And 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.559 in the middle of all the craziness, we read about 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:55.220 Jesus in Mark chapter one. It says of him very 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.200 early in the morning. How early? Well, it was 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:00.259 still dark. And Jesus got up and he left the 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:02.519 house and he went off to a solitary, to a quiet 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:05.320 place where he prayed. And if Jesus needs this, 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.039 like if he's prioritizing this, if he's intentional 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.399 with his mornings, then how much more should 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:13.639 we be with ours? And so it was just really clear 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:16.700 to me that, okay, like this is biblically emphasized, 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.759 this idea of connecting with God in the mornings, 00:15:19.820 --> 00:15:23.070 of meeting. God in the morning of taking my thoughts 00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:25.169 captive when I first wake up. And then I started 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:28.549 to wonder if maybe science backed this up. In 00:15:28.549 --> 00:15:30.690 other words, if this is true in scripture, maybe 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:33.710 it's true biologically. Like maybe this is how 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:36.330 we're made neurologically. That God has wired 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:40.269 us in such a way that our brains are especially 00:15:40.269 --> 00:15:45.330 moldable in the mornings. And it turns out they 00:15:45.330 --> 00:15:47.750 are. When you wake up, your brain moves from 00:15:47.750 --> 00:15:51.330 delta waves to theta waves to alpha waves. And 00:15:51.330 --> 00:15:53.070 in that time, important things are happening 00:15:53.070 --> 00:15:55.649 that determine whether you respond or you react 00:15:55.649 --> 00:15:57.610 to whatever happens to you throughout the day. 00:15:57.710 --> 00:16:00.570 Dr. Andrew Huberman and his research for Stanford 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:03.570 University, he uses some language I find really 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:06.909 helpful. He calls the morning hours your neuroplasticity 00:16:06.909 --> 00:16:08.950 window. That you've got a couple hours in the 00:16:08.950 --> 00:16:11.450 morning that are your neuroplasticity window 00:16:11.450 --> 00:16:14.149 because in those few hours, you're thinking. 00:16:15.299 --> 00:16:18.419 disproportionately shapes your brain. It's your 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.620 neuroplasticity window. The first hour or two 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:23.860 of your day, what you think about has disproportionate 00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:26.399 weight. It has compounding effects on what you 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.379 think about the rest of the day. Dr. Sonia Lupine 00:16:29.379 --> 00:16:32.259 and her research on cortisol patterns talks about 00:16:32.259 --> 00:16:34.940 how our stress hormone levels are naturally highest 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:37.480 in the morning. It's called the cortisol awakening 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.759 response. And the idea here is that our morning 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:43.960 thoughts have amplified emotional impact through 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:46.100 the rest of the day. Like our morning thoughts 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:49.279 set us up for either having a resiliency throughout 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.240 the rest of the day or having these negative 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:54.980 thought patterns for the rest of the day. Psychology 00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:57.639 would call this a primacy effect. Like your first 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:00.019 thoughts about something, first thoughts about 00:17:00.019 --> 00:17:01.860 a person or your first thoughts about the day 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:05.019 disproportionately influence everything else 00:17:05.019 --> 00:17:07.900 that follows. So your thoughts early in the morning 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:11.700 create neural pathways that are used to process 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:14.779 whatever else happens to you throughout the course 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:17.799 of the day. Psychologists also refer to the morning 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:21.289 hours as a time of priming. Like if you ever 00:17:21.289 --> 00:17:23.150 put a coat of primer on a wall before painting 00:17:23.150 --> 00:17:27.089 it, you can't see the primer, but it's underneath 00:17:27.089 --> 00:17:30.250 what you can see. And if you've ever done much 00:17:30.250 --> 00:17:31.890 painting and you've tried to skip the primer, 00:17:31.990 --> 00:17:34.809 you know it's a bad idea. Like you pay attention 00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:37.170 to what's underneath what you can see. Even though 00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:39.450 you can't see it, even though people can't see 00:17:39.450 --> 00:17:41.349 how you're spending your morning hours, what 00:17:41.349 --> 00:17:44.230 they can see is impacted by what they can't see. 00:17:44.930 --> 00:17:48.119 So think of it like this. Imagine that somebody 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:50.640 gives you a gift as kind of an old school radio 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:54.400 that has a tuner on it that you tune into different 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.519 radio stations. But the way this radio works 00:17:56.519 --> 00:18:01.819 is whatever you tune into before 7 a .m. is what 00:18:01.819 --> 00:18:04.880 it stays on the rest of the day. So whatever 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:08.150 station you tune into first, is what you gotta 00:18:08.150 --> 00:18:10.549 listen to all day long. And you better be like, 00:18:10.609 --> 00:18:12.849 you could tune into some country music and maybe 00:18:12.849 --> 00:18:14.789 that's nice to start your day, but around five 00:18:14.789 --> 00:18:17.390 o 'clock in the evening, you're like, why didn't 00:18:17.390 --> 00:18:19.690 I choose differently? Like whatever you start 00:18:19.690 --> 00:18:21.289 the day with is what you have to listen to all 00:18:21.289 --> 00:18:23.250 day. And in a sense, this is the way our brains 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:25.970 work, that whatever you tune into to begin your 00:18:25.970 --> 00:18:28.369 day is what you listen to throughout the rest 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:30.549 of your day. So play this out with me. You wake 00:18:30.549 --> 00:18:34.089 up, you immediately grab your phone. There's 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:37.420 a news alert, another tragedy. A political post 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:40.740 makes you all angsty to start your day. A couple 00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:43.299 of messages from work marked urgent that you 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:45.480 miss during the night. You've not even gotten 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:48.579 out of bed yet and you're already dealing with 00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:52.559 anxiety and anger and feeling overwhelmed. But 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.099 what really the cost of this is what happens 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:58.220 the rest of the day. Because it's not just in 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:00.900 that moment, but now you're setting yourself 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:04.200 up where. Small inconveniences, you're reactive 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:06.940 to them. They feel like a crisis. Traffic makes 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:09.279 you furious. Your coworker's innocent attack 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.500 or comment feels like an attack and you're reactive. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.420 It's because you primed your brain for chaos 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:19.400 at 6 .47 in the morning. Or maybe instead of 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:22.599 checking the news, you get on your phone and 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:23.859 the first thing you do before you even get out 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:26.819 of bed, you look at Instagram, your friends posted 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:30.220 their stupid, perfect vacation pictures. And 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:33.920 you look at the, perfect date that somebody else 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.559 went on the night before and that fitness influencer 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:41.240 you follow has been up for like four hours already. 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:44.420 And like before you've even had your coffee, 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:47.380 you're feeling inadequate and insecure. And so 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:49.019 what that does for the rest of the day is it 00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:51.000 primes it. Like now you're measuring yourself 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.079 against others. Your accomplishments feel small. 00:19:54.220 --> 00:19:57.559 Your appearance is lacking. And you spend the 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.019 day feeling less than because that's what you 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:02.720 primed your mind for. That's how you set the 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.759 trajectory of your thinking to begin your day. 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:07.720 But you think of the flip side of that. Like 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:09.420 what if you take your thoughts captive and you 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:11.279 wake up and before you even reach for the phone, 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:13.960 you say, okay, God, before I get out of this 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.299 bed, I'm gonna think of three things today that 00:20:16.299 --> 00:20:18.599 I have to be grateful for. And you say it out 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:20.640 loud. And maybe the first thing is I woke up. 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:22.960 Maybe that's what you go with. I woke up. I'm 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.069 thankful that I woke up today. And you pick a 00:20:25.069 --> 00:20:27.029 couple of other things and you say it out loud. 00:20:27.109 --> 00:20:28.730 And what happens? Well, the rest of the day, 00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:31.670 you've primed yourself for some gratitude. And 00:20:31.670 --> 00:20:33.690 you can notice things that maybe you would have 00:20:33.690 --> 00:20:35.630 missed otherwise. And this time when the traffic 00:20:35.630 --> 00:20:39.410 is heavy, you find something to be grateful for. 00:20:39.470 --> 00:20:41.150 The podcast that you're listening to or your 00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:43.650 work is stressful and you notice a coworker who's 00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:44.890 there for you that maybe you would have missed 00:20:44.890 --> 00:20:48.009 otherwise. And you respond instead of react because 00:20:48.009 --> 00:20:50.109 you primed your brain to see some blessings. 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:52.619 This is what it looks like to take your thoughts 00:20:52.619 --> 00:20:54.779 captive, is you recognize in the morning what 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:58.279 you see, what you look for, is what you're going 00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:00.400 to see the rest of the day. The station you tune 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:02.740 into is what you're going to listen to the rest 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:07.539 of the day. You've been listening to Living on 00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:10.680 the Edge with special guest teacher Kyle Eidelman. 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:13.339 Chip Ingram has a few thoughts to share in just 00:21:13.339 --> 00:21:16.460 a moment. Kyle brought it home today with a simple 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:19.740 but convicting challenge, win the morning. What 00:21:19.740 --> 00:21:22.079 you tune into when you first wake up, the station 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:24.279 you set your mind on before your feet hit the 00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:26.559 floor, that's what plays for the rest of your 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:29.839 day. And your days become your life. Scripture 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.440 has been saying this for centuries. David said 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:35.400 it in the Psalms. Jesus modeled it in the Gospels. 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:37.920 And now neuroscience is confirming what God's 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:40.759 Word established long ago, that the morning hours 00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:42.720 are your greatest window for transformation. 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:46.299 For 30 years, living on the edge has existed 00:21:46.299 --> 00:21:48.680 for that moment. The moment a listener wakes 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:51.339 up and chooses, maybe for the first time, to 00:21:51.339 --> 00:21:54.640 tune into God's voice before anything else. That 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:56.960 happens because of friends like you who believe 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:00.099 this mission matters. If this broadcast has ever 00:22:00.099 --> 00:22:02.519 helped you start your day differently, remember 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:05.160 that your gift today will do the same thing for 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:07.299 someone you may never meet this side of heaven. 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:10.740 To give right now, go to livingontheedge .org 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:16.690 or call us at 888 -333 -6003. Even easier, use 00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:19.250 our mobile app. Just click on the heart icon 00:22:19.250 --> 00:22:22.349 and follow the instructions. And by the way, 00:22:22.349 --> 00:22:24.529 we also encourage you to subscribe to the Chip 00:22:24.529 --> 00:22:27.150 Ingram Sermon Podcast, where you can hear complete, 00:22:27.289 --> 00:22:30.710 full -length messages anytime. Well, Chip, go 00:22:30.710 --> 00:22:32.789 right ahead. You know, I've been a pastor for 00:22:32.789 --> 00:22:35.710 a lot of years. But I have to tell you, every 00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:39.029 time I hear Kyle speak, I feel like I learned 00:22:39.029 --> 00:22:41.990 something. And today's lesson boils down to such 00:22:41.990 --> 00:22:46.779 a simple, yet hard truth. Life is difficult. 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:50.180 I mean, I know this in my head. But remember, 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:54.119 Jesus said in John 16, in this world, he didn't 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:57.059 say you might have trouble. In this world, you 00:22:57.059 --> 00:22:59.500 will have trouble. And then here's the good news. 00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:04.000 But I have overcome the world. Scripture emphasizes 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.549 meeting with God in the morning. I mean, if you 00:23:07.549 --> 00:23:09.690 could just read through the entire Bible like 00:23:09.690 --> 00:23:12.150 in 10 seconds miraculously, you would think, 00:23:12.150 --> 00:23:16.029 wow, Abraham, Moses, David, Job, they all prioritize 00:23:16.029 --> 00:23:19.230 meeting with God early. Now, one of my favorite 00:23:19.230 --> 00:23:21.690 passages in Mark 1, it says, a great while before 00:23:21.690 --> 00:23:25.170 dawn, Jesus arose to met with his heavenly father. 00:23:25.509 --> 00:23:28.289 And if you read the context, it's the busiest 00:23:28.289 --> 00:23:31.470 day recorded in his life. That means he went 00:23:31.470 --> 00:23:34.650 to bed late. He was really tired, but he just 00:23:34.650 --> 00:23:38.210 knew. More than anything else, he needed to meet 00:23:38.210 --> 00:23:42.089 with God. He needed to reprioritize and renew 00:23:42.089 --> 00:23:45.769 his mind. Here's what's fascinating. Neuroscience 00:23:45.769 --> 00:23:49.329 backs this up. Your first two hours of your day 00:23:49.329 --> 00:23:53.289 is what researchers call your neuroplasticity 00:23:53.289 --> 00:23:56.430 window. It's when your brain is most moldable. 00:23:56.670 --> 00:23:59.450 Your morning thoughts set the trajectory for 00:23:59.450 --> 00:24:03.119 your entire day. What you tune into first is 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:06.880 what you're going to listen to all day. My time 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.980 every day with God first has been the most powerful, 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:14.480 transformational thing that has ever happened 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:16.779 in my life. So here's what I want to encourage 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:20.440 you to do. Win the morning. Before you reach 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:23.819 for your phone, look at the stock market, scroll 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:27.759 anything, go on social media, start with gratitude. 00:24:28.430 --> 00:24:32.049 Meet with God first. It will change your thoughts. 00:24:32.349 --> 00:24:35.930 It'll change your brain. It'll change your life. 00:24:36.349 --> 00:24:39.369 Make a commitment. Take a step. Do it today. 00:24:40.190 --> 00:24:42.710 Life is difficult, but in the middle of grief, 00:24:42.890 --> 00:24:45.509 confusion, and darkness, there's a choice you 00:24:45.509 --> 00:24:48.309 can make about what you call to mind. I'm Dave 00:24:48.309 --> 00:24:50.849 Drewy, inviting you to learn more next time on 00:24:50.849 --> 00:24:56.460 Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced 00:24:56.460 --> 00:24:58.619 and sponsored by Living on the Edge.