Skip to content Our Struggle His Strength: Hearts That See Struggles Become Successes May 7 · 29 min ...more
Our Struggle His Strength: Hearts That See Struggles Become Successes
May 7, 2025 · 29 min
Watch A Significant Life every week in the PrayTV App or on YouTube.PrayTV App: Pray.comYouTube: youtube.com/@asignificantlife
Series A Significant Life May 7, 2025 · 29 min · A Significant Life
Watch A Significant Life every week in the PrayTV App or on YouTube.PrayTV App: Pray.comYouTube: youtube.com/@asignificantlife ...more Show the full description Show less Watch A Significant Life every week in the PrayTV App or on YouTube.PrayTV App: Pray.comYouTube: youtube.com/@asignificantlife
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Jim Graff is a respected pastor, leader, and author who loves helping people fulfill their unique
potential while finding their significance in Jesus Christ.
277K followers
0:01 Want more from a significant life? Visit us online at asignificant life dot com and follow us on all our social media channels. There, you'll find weekly programs, archived messages, and exclusive features, inspiring0:12 hope and significance wherever you are. Today on A Significant Life.0:20 Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Some of us this morning were discouraged. And I'm here to remind you, though it doesn't feel like it, you're fighting from a place of0:32 victory. God already won. We don't know how the story will play out, but we know how it ends. Amen? We're fighting from a place of victory. We have heaven. We have hope in our future.1:00 Today, we're gonna we're gonna continue in Romans chapter 8, where we've been studying. And we're gonna be talking today about how we can see struggles turn into successes in our lives. How many of1:12 us will admit today that sometimes life is a struggle, right? Sometimes, like the old saying we said, it's true that sometimes the struggle is real, right? And you might be here this morning1:24 and you might be in a struggle. Maybe you're in a struggle at work. Maybe you're in a struggle with your health, with your finances, with the relationship in your life. Life comes with struggles.1:35 Jesus was right when he said that in this world, you will have trouble. Right? And you know, it's easy sometimes to watch a movie or to watch a show, and you can see the character going through these struggles,1:47 you know, you can cheer for them because you know that they're gonna come out on the other side, right? I I don't know about you guys, but I grew up watching all the Rocky movies. I loved Rocky Balboa, and so I would1:57 watch these movies, and Rocky was kind of the epitome of someone who would go through struggle. Right? He would he would get beat up to the point where you think he was like 1 punch away from death. Right? And somehow he2:08 would always come roaring back. And as he went through these struggles, whether it was in the ring or maybe it was, you know, in life, doctors telling him you'll never be able to fight again and all these things. Man,2:18 you would just cheer for him because you know that Rocky's always gonna come out on top. Right? And I don't know about you, but I'd watch those movies and I go I wanna go run through a wall. I was so motivated. Right?2:27 But the truth is when it comes to real life, it's not always that easy, right? Because in real life, sometimes we we we aren't always so sure that we're gonna come out with victory. Sometimes in life, we can get2:39 discouraged because we can look at a situation and we can think, I don't know how I'm gonna make this through, or I don't know, you know, I do know that there's gonna be a lot of hard work and there's gonna be a lot to2:48 go through to get through this struggle in my life. And so we can get discouraged, and that's what Paul talks about in Romans chapter 8. 1 thing I appreciate about Paul is he's someone who he knew struggle2:59 well. He's not someone who lacks struggle in his life, but he went through a lot of struggle. Paul was someone who was persecuted for his faith. He was imprisoned multiple times, he was shipwrecked3:11 multiple times, talk about tough, right? He he struggled with some health issues in his body, and ultimately, Paul was, he was executed for his faith in Jesus. So he knew what it meant3:23 to struggle. And I think that's why it's so important that he outlines in Romans chapter 8 how we can sustain the struggles in a way that helps us have success in our lives even in the midst3:35 of struggle. So we're gonna talk about that, not only here on earth, but in eternity. So let's jump into Romans 8 together. Romans 8 verse 17. Now if we are3:46 children, then we are heirs. Everybody say heirs. Heirs. The heirs of God and co heirs with Christ. What is an heir? An heir is someone who inherits something because of their3:58 relationship to someone. Right? So Paul's reminding us that we're heirs to God. And the first thing I think he's trying to show us in this text is that we can live like a child of God. We can live like a child of God. I4:09 heard a story about a homeless man who was living in Salt Lake City in Utah, and this is a true story. This man really had nothing to his name. He was living on the street, pushing a grocery cart around and really only4:21 had the clothes on his back. 1 day, a private investigator found this man and he said, hey, I've been searching for you for like a year. He said, you don't know this, but 1 of your relatives passed away and they left you4:32 everything that they own. And this man obviously was in shock and obviously he no longer chose to live on the street, but he was able to get a house, able to get clothes, able to get food. His life completely changed,4:44 but he had gone a whole year plus living as a homeless man, not knowing the inheritance that he had available to him, and I'm convinced sometimes in life, we may never have that happen, but spiritually, we can live4:56 not understanding the inheritance we have available to us. And Paul's saying, listen, you are an heir of God. You are a child of God. Now, obviously, he's talking to the5:08 Romans, right? We're in the book of Romans. So as he's talking about adoptions here in Galatians 4 through 5, he says, God sent to buy freedom from us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us5:19 as his very own children. So we've been adopted into the family of God when we choose Jesus. Now he's talking to the Romans, so the Roman context of adoption is what he's speaking to. And here's what would happen when5:30 you were adopted in Rome. Oftentimes, it's a little different than today. Oftentimes, when you would adopt someone, you would adopt an adult. You would adopt this person because you wanted to leave what you had, your5:41 life, your inheritance, everything that you had to this person. And when you were adopted, 3 main things would happen. The first thing is your family debts would be erased. Some of you guys think that sounds pretty good.5:53 Right? No more collectors calling. Right? Your family debts are erased. Some of you guys will be working really hard to get adopted right now if we were in Rome. Right? But not only that, you were given a new name,6:04 and you were given full family rights. So that means that that any kind of rights, whether legal rights, whatever it may be, any rights that were extended to your new family were now your rights. The third thing that6:15 would happen is you would become an heir to everything that your father owns. So if your new father owned land, owned livestock, had money, you now are part of the inheritance and you're gonna inherit that. So6:27 Paul's saying, I want you to understand that you're a co heir with Christ, that everything that that is available to Christ through inheritance is now available to you. So let's look at that together,6:39 family debts. How many of you guys know we all owed a huge debt of sin, right? But aren't you thankful that we can be forgiven because of Jesus? We have a new name, we have new family rights, we can now walk6:51 in spiritual authority, we don't have to be bound to things like fear, shame, condemnation, because how many of you guys know we have authority as children of God, amen? And we have an eternal inheritance.7:03 We can look towards heaven as our future. Anybody here thankful that we have a God who loves us enough to bring us into his family, that we can live in blessing, that we can live in authority, and that we can7:15 know heaven is in our future. So Paul says, remember, you're a child of God. Now you might be here today and you might be thinking, Michael, I'm not sure about that. Like, could are you telling me7:27 that God could really adopt me into his family because I'm really not that great of a person? The things that I've done, the things that I've said, I don't feel like I deserve that. And you know what? That's what grace7:38 is all about. Paul said in Romans 5 8, he said, God demonstrated his love for us in this, that even while we were still sinners Look at the person next to you and say, he's talking about you. Alright. He's talking7:50 about me too. Alright. He said, even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's grace. The truth is none of us here this morning deserve the grace of8:02 Jesus, but his grace is not based on us. It's placed on us. Amen? So Paul said, remember your inheritance. Remember that you're a child of God. Some of us today, we've had curses living in8:14 our family for far too long. Some of us today, we need to be reminded, man, that we're children of God, that we have authority, that things like lust, greed, lack, these things can end with us in the name of Jesus.8:25 Amen? Some of us need to be reminded and encouraged today that though the struggles may last for the night, His mercies are new every morning. There's victory on the other side in Jesus.8:37 I put 3 questions in your notes today to help kind of ask questions to know, am I living like an heir or am I living like an orphan? So you can look at those later if you want, but the questions, are8:49 these, do you approach God with confidence knowing that he loves you? How many of you guys know someone who maybe they don't wanna pray, they don't wanna talk to God, they don't wanna walk into church because they're9:00 scared they might get struck by lightning, right? But you can know this morning that God loves you. God wants a relationship with you. God wants to hear from you. Do you live in freedom, or are you9:12 bound by the weight of guilt and shame? Oh, man. I don't know that I could ever move forward. This is just who I've always been. Right? The enemy will whisper to us, you're never gonna you're never gonna9:24 be any better than you are today, but we don't have to live in the shame of our past. God sees our potential. And do you endure suffering with hope, knowing that glory is coming? So Paul said, live like an9:36 heir. Let's continue on. Romans chapter 8 verse 18, and here's the second thing today. So number 1, we can live like a child of God. The second 1 is this, wait with hope. Everybody say hope. Hope. Hope, not9:48 despair. In other words, your pain points to promise. Your pain points to promise. Here's Roman 8, Romans 8 chapter 18. Paul said, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth9:59 comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For creation waits in eager expectation, everybody say eager expectation. Expectation. For the children of God to be10:10 revealed. For creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the 1 who subjected it in hope, everybody say hope. That the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage10:22 to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. Wait with hope, not despair. Now let's talk about this for a moment, because that was a lot, right? But in this scripture, Paul's referring10:34 to the fall, right? Adam and Eve in Genesis, when they sinned, and in that moment, when they sinned, struggle was brought into the world. You say why? Because creation was10:46 created perfect, and anytime you introduce imperfection into perfection, how many of you guys know that messes things up, right? But if you have a glass of water and you put a little bit of poison in that glass10:58 of water, what's gonna happen? You better not drink that water, right, because you might be in trouble. Messes up the entire glass of water. If you have a car, a good car, but you put bad gas, or you put bad oil into11:10 that car, what's gonna happen? The car is gonna struggle because it's gonna clog up and mess up the entire system. And when sin was introduced into the world, it messed up the world. It messed things up. And as a11:22 result, we live in a fallen, a broken, a dying, and decaying world. And Paul's saying that not only do we have to face this reality, but even all of creation faces11:33 this reality. God said it in Genesis. He told Adam and Eve, he said, listen, you're now gonna have to work really hard to bring life from the earth. Why? Because we live in a decaying11:45 world. And the world that we live in is fallen. It's beautiful, but it's also broken. But how many of you know that that man, this isn't it for us. Right? This isn't it. So the struggle11:57 that we go through is partially because we live in an imperfect world. Now that's not the only reason we go through struggle. If you're anything like me, you've done plenty of things that weren't very smart that caused12:08 you to struggle in life, right? But no matter what, we're never gonna see perfection here and now because the truth is, we live in an imperfect world. That's why God said12:20 you are in this world, but you're not of this world. How many of you guys know the reason we're longing and we're craving and we struggle is because 1 day we're gonna see perfection in heaven, right? 1 day we're gonna be12:32 made new. And so Paul says in chapter in verse 22, he says, we know that the whole creation has been groaning. Everybody say groaning, as in the pains of childbirth right up12:44 to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit groan inwardly as we eagerly wait for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our12:56 bodies. In other words, there's this longing for more because there is more. Right? I like this saying that God put it in the heart of a bird to fly south for the winter because south13:08 is down there, right? Scripture says God placed eternity in our hearts. We know that there's more. We know that we live in this fallen and imperfect world and we know that we13:20 were somehow created for more. And it creates this tension, this struggle, because we're in this world, but we're not of it. Right? And I think it's interesting that Paul compares it13:32 to childbirth. I think it's a bold move because I'm picturing myself as a dude, sitting there with my mom and my wife, my sister, and some other ladies who have given birth and saying, yeah, y'all know it's just like13:42 childbirth. Right? I think my wife would say, what do you know about childbirth? Because the truth is you don't really know childbirth until you've done it. And all the mama said, amen. Right?13:54 So I tread lightly because I know I obviously have not personally experienced childbirth, but as a husband and a father of 2 kids, I've gotten to witness firsthand the birth of our 2 children. And I14:06 can tell you that childbirth is 1 of the most beautiful things that we ever get to experience. It might be the most beautiful thing that we ever get to experience. To get to be there when new life14:18 enters the world, right? To see this child take its first breath. To see this child see its mom and dad for the first time, and all these weird people in coats with scissors and all these14:30 tools, it's probably probably a little scary. But it's beautiful, Right? It's beautiful. It's amazing, but it's also really messy. Maybe maybe it's beautiful, but it's14:42 also really messy. It's also really uncomfortable. Right? I remember my wife going through 2 pregnancies and there was a lot going on in her body. Right? They weren't comfortable. And certainly, they wouldn't have been14:53 normal had she not been pregnant. Right? That would not be good. Things were moving. Things were expanding. A woman's body experiences all these symptoms because after all, ladies,15:05 it's hard work creating a human, right? But you go through it because you know that man, there's new life on the other side of it. You go through it because you know that this is a normal15:17 process when God is trying to birth something new. And I think that's what Paul's trying to tell us, that we're being prepared for something new. That 1 day, man, we're gonna15:29 we're gonna be made new. 1 day, we're gonna be made new in heaven with Jesus. 1 day, the earth is gonna be made new. But until that day, how many you guys know we're gonna have some birthing pains, right? We're gonna15:40 have some growing pains, but we can trust that God knows how to use our pain and turn it into purpose. Anybody ever seen God use your pain and turn it to purpose?15:52 You know, know a lot of stories in this church where that's happened. I think of we've talked about them before, but I think of Chris and Stephanie Kudango, who lead our Celebrate Recovery program, and they do an amazing16:02 job. But they had some pain in their lives. Right? Pain of addiction, pain that was hurting their family, but today, not only has their family been restored, but God has used their story to reach so16:14 many people who have battled addiction. Hundreds of people now have found freedom because God has turned their struggle into stories, their pain into purpose. I see miss Trish16:25 Tynart. Many of you guys know her. She's been a great part of this church family for a long time, but she I was roommates with her son in college, 1 of her sons, and she lost her husband, and then16:37 she lost 1 of her sons. And man, what a difficult thing to have to walk through. But I get so inspired by her because I see her up here every week, and she's leading a grief recovery class, and16:49 she's helping people understand that you may experience loss in your life, but that's not the end. God still has a plan for you, God still has hope for you, God wants to use your story. How many guys are thankful for16:59 people who allow God to use their pain and turn it to purpose? And God wants to do that for you this morning. Here's a quote for you.17:11 Your groaning isn't pointless. Say, my groaning isn't pointless. It's proof that something greater is ahead. Amen. Paul continues to say in Romans chapter 817:23 24, he says, for in this hope, we were saved. How do you know hope is important, right? Hope is oftentimes what keeps us moving forward when we don't feel like17:35 we can move forward. And I wanna implore you this morning, don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. The enemy wants you to lose your faith, that's his whole game.17:46 He wants you to give up. He wants to tell you things like, man, you're defeated. You can't make it. You can't move forward. You'll never be who you wanna be. But how many of you guys think we need to stop and remind17:58 them, hey, I'm not the 1 defeated. You're the 1 who's defeated. Amen? Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Some of us this morning, we're discouraged. And I'm here to18:09 remind you, though it doesn't feel like it, you're fighting from a place of victory. God already won. We don't know how the story will play out, but we know how it ends. Amen? We're fighting from a place of victory. We18:20 have heaven. We have hope in our future. Second Corinthians 1 20 says, for all the promises of God are yes and amen. So Paul says, listen, God is18:32 birthing something in you. He's birthing something for you, so don't lose hope. What does it look like to live with hope? I put a few of these in your notes, you can look at them later, but real quickly,18:44 when we live with hope, when we feel overwhelmed by suffering, we can remember that it's temporary, that his mercies are new every morning. When we see brokenness in the world, we can know18:56 that restoration is coming. And when we feel discouraged, we can cling to the hope that God is making all things new in his time. Now let's talk about the final part of this text,19:08 because I believe Paul's telling us, remember that you're a child of God. Right? Walk in that authority and that confidence. Don't wait with despair, but wait with hope. And then here's the third thing, we have help.19:18 Everybody say help. Help. He says lean on the Holy Spirit. Here's what Romans 8 says, in the same way the spirit helps us in our weakness. Now, if you've been coming to church here for a little19:30 while, you know about the Holy Spirit. You know that when Jesus, before he went to heaven, he said, I'm gonna leave you a helper and this helper is gonna guide you, This help you helper is gonna19:42 remind you of everything that I've taught you. This helper is gonna strengthen you and comfort you. Now why did he leave us the helper? Well, there's a lot of reasons, but 1 of the reasons is it's hard to19:54 wait sometimes. Right? Whether it's waiting for healing, waiting for an answer for prayer, waiting to see the breakthrough that we really wanna see happen in our lives,20:05 the in between struggles in life can be difficult. But the good news is, Paul says, we don't have to face them alone, right? We have each other, and we have the Holy Spirit.20:17 Romans 8 27 goes like this, and he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of the Holy Spirit. The Holy20:29 Spirit's praying for us. Real quickly, let me tell you what you can expect when you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, when you lean on the Holy Spirit. Number 1, when you feel weak, he gives you strength. Anybody20:40 in here could use some strength this morning. He wants to give you strength. When you don't know what to do, he'll be a guide for you. He'll remind you of scripture of God's promises. When you're20:52 tempted to give up, he'll remind you of God's promises. And when you feel broken and abandoned, he'll intercede to the Father for you on your behalf. Now maybe you don't have a relationship21:04 with the Holy Spirit, maybe you don't really know what I'm talking about. Let me tell you how we can strengthen our relationship the Holy Spirit. It comes down to 2 core main things. Number 1 is reading God's word.21:14 Everybody say God's word. God's word. How many of you think if you wanna know God's voice, man, it really helps to read God's voice, right? So we have to develop a habit of reading the word of God. The second thing is21:25 this, prayer. Any good relationship hinges on communication, right? And it's not just talking. My mom would always tell me, you have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason because21:36 listening is important. Right? So when we pray, talk to the Holy Spirit. Share what's on your heart. Ask for wisdom and guidance, but don't just talk. Listen. Right? Take time.21:49 Let them speak to you. Let them speak through scripture into your heart. 1 of the best stories I think that we have here to illustrate this is a story that we've told before. You might have heard this story before, but22:00 when pastor Jim came to pastor Faith Family 35 plus years ago, the first 6 weeks that he preached here, nobody got saved. And he knew in his heart that this doesn't really feel22:12 like what God has for us right now. And so he went on a time of prayer and fasting, and in the middle of this, the Holy Spirit spoke a scripture to his heart. It was Luke chapter 14. And this happened22:24 because pastor Jim had spent time in the word. Right? He knew the promises of God. And so the Holy Spirit brought Luke 14, and he went and read Luke 14, and it talks about how when you prepare a banquet full of food, you22:36 should invite the people who need it. The poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. So he stood up in front of our church over 35 years ago and he said, listen, I'm gonna work hard to22:47 make sure that there's spiritual food in God's house every time we get together. He said, but here's what we gotta do. We gotta go out and we gotta invite the poor, the lame, the cripple, the blind, the22:59 people who need what it is that we have. How many of you guys believe there are people who need what it is that we know about Jesus? Amen? That's still our job today as Christians. Invite the poor,23:11 the crippled, the lame, the blind. As long as there's seats in this place, we want people here hearing about Jesus. Amen? Amen. What happened? 3 300 plus people ended up getting saved that first year.23:23 The next year, more than that. The following year, more than that. And pretty soon, thousands of people. Now we have thousands of people giving their heart to Jesus here and our campuses and NextGen. Over 500 people23:34 baptized last year. Aren't you thankful that the Holy Spirit wants to be your God? But listen, I can tell you pastor Jim would say that wasn't his own strength. That's the Holy23:46 Spirit guiding, leading. And he'll do it for pastor Jim, but you know what else? He'll do it for you too. He wants to do it for you too. God loves you. He has a plan for23:58 you and he wants to be with you even in the midst of struggle. So wherever you find yourself today, can I encourage you, man, God can bring success even in the midst of struggles when we do these 3 things, when24:10 we live like a child of God? When we remember that, man, we have an inheritance that we're walking in. That we have authority in the spirit over things24:21 like shame, fear, condemnation, depression, and we have the future of heaven to look forward to. That we wait with hope, not with despair. Let your24:32 groanings, let the struggles remind you that there's something better ahead. That we're in this world, but we're not of this world and God is creating something new. He can use our pain and he can turn it to purpose. And24:44 finally, remember you're not alone. We can lean on 1 another. And how many you guys know we can lean on the Holy Spirit, right? He wants to be a guide, he wants to be a comforter, and he wants to24:56 be your source of strength. You know, I've been around this church since I was a kid, so I've seen a lot here at Faith Family Church. And when I look across the room today, I see a lot of people who have25:08 lived this story. A lot of people who have seen struggles in their lives become successes, who has seen pain become purpose. And I wanna25:19 encourage you that, man, God can do that for each and every single 1 of us today. I wanna close by reading the next verse in this chapter, and it's a promise. How many of guys know it's good to stand on God's promises,25:30 right? And here's the promise I wanna read over you today. Romans 8 28. And we know that in all things, everybody say, all things. All things. God works for the25:42 good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Do you receive that this morning? Do you believe that this morning? Can we thank God for his goodness? Amen. I25:56 sure hope that message blessed you today as much as it did me and the people of our church family too as it was taught. Because as the apostle Paul shared in the passage we studied, we all find26:08 ourselves groaning because of sin, don't we? And blessed are the people who learned how to live with God at work amidst our groaning Because that's really what turns struggles into God empowered26:19 successes. Hey, this month I wanna thank all of you for helping us help small town pastors through the significant church network. A team of highly highly successful pastors26:31 volunteer their time to help isolated pastors find the friends they need to flourish through receiving the skill training and the inspiration they need to empower greater success and significance.26:43 I hope you'll visit significant church dot com to learn more about what God's doing through his people and pray about encouraging your pastor to do the same. We appreciate you.26:58 I met Jim and Tamara long before I met anybody in a significant church and could instantly tell Jim and Tamara the real deal. It takes a real27:09 heart to care about people. They're asking how's your family? How are you doing? There's a genuineness. And it comes from the top. And so they embody the culture of significant church27:21 network and they genuinely want you to succeed. I just like that culture. Culture. A lot of camaraderie, but also challenging your vision. Jim's ability27:33 to communicate the gospel to everybody is absolutely unique. Jim has his own way. He's got a unique voice. He's got a unique perspective.27:44 It's a voice you can trust. And so I would really encourage anybody that can get involved in support through prayer, through partnership, to do so and not delay27:56 because we are in a prime time for spreading the gospel right now. And I believe that Jim and Tamara Graf have been appointed for such a time as this.28:04 God is moving in powerful ways through the significant church network, and we'd love for you to be a part of it. So sign up today at significant church dot com. You can also support the vision by giving at28:15 asignificant life dot com. And please stand with us in prayer as we continue impacting pastors, leaders, and communities together.
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The Bond of Peace: Forbearance: His Way or the Highway Jim Graff
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