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Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
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Living a Life Pleasing to God 0:01 Hello men of God. Welcome to the men's global livestream where we are really gaining steam and kind of plowing full force towards the finish line in our journey through the book of first Thessalonians.0:14 And we're in a broader series where we've been talking and walking through, the bible for every man. But our current focus, right, which is how God intends us as God's men to0:25 move forward in our lives as 1. So we're continuing in our series in first Thessalonians where Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has been writing a0:37 letter to a church that he loves very much. Last session, we unpacked the depth of Paul's love for this church. That his desire was to provide strength and0:49 encouragement that, he had plans and then followed through on those plans to check-in on them to see if their faith was standing tall amidst all of the trials, all the struggles1:00 that they were going through. You know, it's interesting because most of Paul's letters, most of the letters that Paul wrote are full of theological correction for the churches.1:12 Proper doctrine, addressing specific new heresies that had shown up or correcting misunderstandings. But the letter in first Thessalonians just feels a little bit different. I1:24 mean, so far through 3 chapters, we've pretty much just seen Paul encouraging this group of believers that he loves so much. These people that are living their lives on mission for1:36 Jesus. But this week as we go into chapter 4, his tone changes a bit. So this is chapter 4. In this session, we're really just gonna be looking at the first 12 verses. We'll1:48 we'll complete the chapter in our next time together, but, we're gonna walk through chapter 4 verses 1 through 12. Just listen to the first 2 verses. Finally, dear brothers and1:59 sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even2:11 more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Paul says here that he's he's urging them and that he's urging them in the name of the2:23 Lord Jesus. Paul's trying to remind them that the commands that he's given them, the encouragements that that he's offered to this body of believers have all come under the inspiration2:35 of the Holy Spirit. Right? That they're experiencing the truth about Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. And Paul is giving this church and by proxy us2:48 a lens through which to view the teaching. A frame that you and I desperately need to cling to in today's culture as God's men. When we encounter the word, when3:00 we encounter the Bible today, we have to hold on to the truth that the Bible might have been penned by men, but it was written by God himself. Alright? The hands of men, the3:12 words of God Almighty. This is something that Paul was already encouraging the early church in and he wants to keep reminding them of this. Then back in chapter 2 and verse 13,3:24 Paul had already told them when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the words of men, but what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in3:36 you as believers. Now, in this section, why would Paul start off this encouragement or this admonishment in the way that he does? I mean, with with another chapter to get3:48 through, why does this part begin with Paul saying finally? Well, you have to remember, the early document did not have clever little subtitles. It wasn't even broken down into chapter and3:59 verse. But the fact that Paul begins by saying finally, it's as if to say pay attention. What follows is of utmost importance. Right? This4:11 encouragement that Paul's giving them, he's saying you need to continue to hold and value the word of God for what it actually is. Paul's saying this4:23 now because Paul knew that the early church, just like you and I, would be tempted by our own flesh, our human desires, our human wisdom, our human4:35 logic. We'd be lured by the culture that we live in and its view of the Bible, and even by the outright lies of our enemy that we battle against. All of that would work together to warp our view of God's word4:47 and to try to get us to believe that the Bible is just merely passed down by men. It's the words of men passed down by men. And why is this so important brothers?4:58 Because if the enemy can lower our view of scripture, he wins. If the enemy can erode or somehow lessen the view that we hold God's5:10 word at in our hearts and in our lives, then he wins. Because if the Bible can be lowered to just being the words and wisdom of men, then I can disagree with it. I can5:22 sit in judgment over it. I can decide which parts I agree with, maybe which parts are no longer relevant. I can begin to omit,5:34 scratch out, and change it if it's just the wise sayings of people. As we've watched heretical teachers and cult leaders do since the beginning of time, it becomes5:46 the Bible plus, the Bible minus. But if this book is actually filled with the living word of God,5:58 then everything changes. I mean, if it's truly God's word, then I submit to it. I sit under its authority.6:11 I let it judge me. I let it instruct me. I humbly submit myself and my life to it. Men,6:23 how we view God's word will direct our entire lives. It'll direct our entire lives. Because how we view God's word6:35 informs how often we'll pursue it or our heart posture when we do. It's paramount. It's so important. Because with the right view of scripture, we'll pursue scripture6:47 rightly. And as we spend time in it, as we submit to it, our lives start to be renewed by what? By the transforming of our minds. The word starts to get in and do its work, and then it6:59 starts to go out of us, and we start to live the lives that Christ intended for us. And everything starts to change, but it all begins with God's word. But as it starts to move out,7:11 what kind of lives does God intend for us to live? I mean, what does he wanna see? As the word gets in us, as it starts to change the things that we think and the way that we value and what we pursue, What is it that7:23 we're supposed to do? I mean, what is the hallmark of a life that's been changed by scripture? Right? Once that truth gets in, basically, what's the net result? How do we look and live differently? Well,7:35 today's passage gives us some instruction. Let's jump back in verse 3. God's will is for you to be holy. Pause right there. Holy. We7:47 hear that word a lot. We use that word a lot. What was Paul trying to convey here? Well, what does culture tell us Paul's trying to convey? Is this holy like the7:59 way that Justin Bieber says that the way his girl, when she holds him, it feels holy. Right? Run into the altar like a track star. Or maybe it's more country influence. Right? The Florida8:11 Georgia line where holy becomes an acronym for high on loving you. This is what culture says holy is? No. Not even close brothers. Not even a8:23 little bit. Holy is what God desired for his people when he called them in the very beginning. Holy means to be set apart.8:35 To be set apart and to be used for a different purpose. I mean, that's the defining characteristic of God's man. That defines the way that you and I live our8:47 lives. It informs our decisions. It directs our choices. You and I have been saved, rescued, covered by the blood of Jesus, set free, purchased. And now, rather8:59 than living for self or our experiences or gathering stuff, our purpose is to know and love and experience God as his people. As the scripture says, this is how9:10 we're supposed to live. This is what holy Paul actually tells us what holy living looks like. He goes into a couple practical implications. Let's go back to verse 3. God's will is for you to be holy,9:22 right, set apart. So here's some set apart behavior. Stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness, there it is again, and9:35 honor. Not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God in his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife9:47 for the Lord avenges all such sins. As we've solemnly warned you before, God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.9:58 Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching, but is rejecting God who gives his holy spirit to you. So Paul starts off with this10:10 call to be holy, and then he runs into a laundry list of what holy and unholy living looks like. Things that would explain and kind of detail what a holy life looks like practically for us as10:22 God's men. And guys, we see this pattern right away. We see this common thread that we can actually grab hold of. First, we're told plainly that this life, this holy10:34 life clearly is God's will for us. This is God's desire for us. God's will and the pursuit of God's will is something that every follower of Jesus is trying to figure out. I10:46 mean, if you love God, if you believe Jesus is who he claims to be, then you wanna know what his plans are. But, we can wrongly make our understanding of God's10:57 will to be very very specific, very myopic, very selfish. I mean, how often do we concern ourselves with the question, when we say what is god's will, our emphasis is what is11:09 god's will for me? What is god's will for my life? What are god's plans for my life? And we rack our brain trying to figure out what we're supposed to do,11:21 what we're supposed to pursue as we try to discern god's will. And all the while, we're neglecting the things that god has already made plain11:33 about his will in his word. Things that are true for all of us. God's will is that we would seek to emulate him by how we11:45 live and more specifically by how we live in relationship with other people living a life that is holy, that is different. I'm not just talking11:57 about the avoidance of sin. God's man doesn't just live to avoid sin. He lives to pursue the righteous life that Christ has called him to. But holiness is an inside12:09 out game. God's word goes in, holiness is lived out, and it's lived out in our context. Holiness is revealed in how I treat others.12:21 Our our game, the the field of play is our relationships. It's where we live out holiness. Because the Christian life is so much more than the time we spend12:33 with Jesus in quiet prayer, contemplation, and reading of the word. We're not just discussing our private spiritual lives here. In this passage, did you notice or catch12:45 just how many of the activities for both holy and unholy living really explain the way that we're supposed to love other people? Well, make it easy. It was all of them. It was every single 1 of12:56 them. So that we're called to control our own bodies. Why? Not to harm or cheat another by violating their spouse. Men are called to live our lives13:08 for Jesus. They're most prominently put on display by how we treat the people that God's placed in our lives. Our faith is put on display by how we treat the people that God has put in our13:20 life. In this passage he says, control your body. So he's talking about holy conduct as it relates to our sexuality. And he talks about it in regard for the13:31 other, concerning ourselves and our actions with the implications that those actions have in the lives of others. I mean, that's the most practical way to live lives of holiness and13:43 honor is to consider the blast zone. Right? The fallout of our decisions. And then in this passage, I love that Paul contrast the holy life of God's13:55 people with the life of the pagan that Paul says does not know God. And saying, your life should never look like those who don't know God because you do know God. In verse 5, he14:07 says, that we're to live lives of holiness and honor, not lives defined by lustful passion that looks like the pagans. For the follower of Jesus,14:19 it's love not lust that should define how we treat others. It's love not lust that that explains. Because if14:31 we're to be people of love, if we're to love people and not just lust after them or what they can do for us, we have to understand the difference between love and lust. So if we turn our eyes14:43 to a well worn passage on love, you can't go to a wedding without hearing first Corinthians chapter 13. It's the love chapter. Right? It tells us all that love is. There's a list of it. Take a14:55 look over it. But just a couple of highlights, it says that love is patient and kind. That this love does not seek its own good, that it perseveres, that it15:06 serves, that it's others focus. It says that's what love looks like. I'm paraphrasing. So if that's love, then lust is the exact opposite. So in the15:18 context of first Corinthians 13, if love is patient, lust is impatient. Lust doesn't wait. Lust wants now. If love is kind,15:31 then then lust is angry. Lust is confrontational. If love seeks to give, lust always seeks to take.15:43 Love is a decision. Lust is a simple fleshly response. But you and I are called to be people whose lives are defined by15:56 love. I mean, as God's men, we're endeavoring to be people who love 1 another well. And so love must be something that we're constantly excelling in and endeavoring to16:07 do more to greater measures. For the follower of Jesus, love is sort of our deal. It's what defines us. That same chapter in first Corinthians tells us that the greatest things in16:19 life, right, the top 3 on this side of heaven are faith, hope, and love. They were always gonna have, but it says that the greatest is love. For the 1 who's16:31 following after Jesus, love is the aim. Love is the goal. You wanna know why? Because scripture tells us that our God is love. And so if our God16:43 is love, we have to understand that there's a very specific kind of love our God wants to see coming out of the lives and the hearts of his children. When God looks to his men, he wants to see a heart16:55 that reflects his own. God wants to see a love that reflects that we actually know who he is and understand what he's like. Look at this first John 4 8 puts it right between the eyes. Anyone who17:07 does not love does not know God. Why? There it is again. For God is love. It does not say that God does love or that he values it or thinks it's a nice17:18 idea. It says he is love. It's core to his being. And, man, we only have the capacity to love because we're made in the17:30 image of God. That's why we have the ability to love others in the first place. And and that God love, that agape love that goes beyond our ability, we talked about this last session.17:42 That's given to us by the Holy Spirit. Right? As image bearers of God, as as those who have been rescued, as those in the family of God filled with his spirit, we now have the capacity for love that's17:54 beyond us. Love is the greatest need on this planet and yet it's so rarely seen. And if our ability to love is proof that we're made in God's image, the decision not to love is just18:06 evidence of the fall. The fact that we can shows that we're made in his image. The fact that we don't shows that we're still marred in sin. And both sides reflect the reality of our creator and18:18 then our position as the fallen creation. The fact that love is so commonly desired is proof that all people are made in God's image. And the fact that it's so18:30 absent, it's just proof of the fall and the work of the enemy. Every day we have the opportunity to look like God or his enemy. To choose love and look like the king18:42 or to choose selfishness and lust and look like our enemy. But guys, even our need for love, even our desire for it and the fact that our culture has written millions of songs18:54 about it and we talk about it and and everyone thinks they understand what it is. I think our culture has no idea what this kind of love actually looks like. And I think culture has hijacked love,19:06 has twisted, especially recently, has twisted love to mean something that God never intended it to mean. I mean, according to culture today, love is unconditional19:18 support and unconditional celebration. Love means never disagreeing with someone, never questioning their decision. Love just supports.19:30 Love just says, yes. Love never asks why. Love never asks if something is a good idea or helpful. It's just unconditional go go go. That's what culture says is19:42 love. But for God's man, we recognize that he's our model and our God is love. And so I have to take that cultural picture of love and hold it up to19:54 my God and ask myself, is that how God loves me? Never challenging, never questioning, never correcting, always agreeing with, no truth.20:07 No, I know what's best for you son, never hearing the word no. A loving father says no when no is the loving answer.20:19 That's our God, grace and truth. God doesn't just get us. He changes us, rescues us, saves us. Amen? I mean, before thinking that love is just this positive support,20:31 Culture is also trying to convince us that love is just this feeling you get. It's just this emotion. It's the warm butterflies or even romantically, it's just the physical attraction part. It's just that connection when20:42 really love is so much more. Again, god is the model. So what does God do? Well, God's love does because real love moves. John20:54 3 16 says that our God was so moved by love that he gave, that he gave his son for us. Real love always does. It always goes. It gives21:06 sacrificially. Real love is never just a feeling or an emotion. Real love acts. Real love shows up. Real love is there when no 1 else21:18 is. Real love accepts when you've fallen down and brings you back. Real love chases down the 1 and brings them back to the 99. Real love mimics the heart of the father.21:31 Verse 9 in this passage, we see this. We don't need to write to you about the importance of loving each other for God himself has taught you to love 1 another. Paul's saying, we don't have to tell21:43 you about it. You guys have already seen and experienced real love. We don't need to just talk to you about it. You already know because you've experienced Christ's21:55 love. And and so we have to remind ourselves often, how did Christ love us completely, sacrificially, extravagantly,22:08 publicly? Christ's love went all the way to the cross and to the tomb and back again. We see that God we just said God's love moved him to offer22:20 his son on our behalf. So that type of sacrificial love becomes our aim. So Paul's praying for it becomes the goal. Right? Really since we've been loved much, we now can love much.22:33 Because we've received his love, we can then move out in radical love to people that are unlovely. And they think that's how we continue God's plan of growing his family, through love.22:47 Through Christ, we have now become the beloved children of God, brought into his family, adopted as sons. The love22:59 that God has for us now defines us. It sits atop our resume. It tells us who we are more than our jobs, more than our desires, more23:11 than our interests and hobbies, more than our our social circles or even our earthly family. More than every 1 of your successes and more than every 1 of your failures. For23:23 God's man, the love of God becomes the most defining characteristic in our lives. It really becomes the truest thing about us. So we move into God's family. And then another beautiful23:35 thing that happens. We realize that much of the love that we get to experience and encounter and receive from God, he actually delivers to us through the people he's put in our lives. Right? We23:47 become these people who have been loved who then move out in love. Often we experience God's love as we love 1 another. Many people are23:59 experiencing the reality that they are seen, that they are loved, that they are cared for by God through us. Many people are experiencing God through24:11 us. You've heard we're his hands, we're his feet. Like that verse in first John said, we love because he first loved us. So if we're the beloved children24:23 of God, if we're saved because he loves us, and because we worship the God who is love, then why isn't love24:35 our highest aim? Why do I so rarely think about how loving of a person am I? We can get so tempted to just try to eliminate sin from our life that we24:46 don't think about filling our life with love. Love needs to become our aim, our focus as God's men constantly checking our hearts. Are we growing in love? Are we increasing in love24:59 individually and as a community? And like Paul said in this passage, it's Christ who showed us how we're supposed to love. And how did Jesus love? Flip over to John chapter 13.25:11 John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35. Jesus says this, a new command I give you, love 1 another. As I have loved you, so you25:23 must love 1 another. And by this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love 1 another. A new command I give you, but it wasn't really a new command, was it? I mean, the call25:35 to love each other goes back to Leviticus chapter 19. I mean, long time ago, thousand years, but Jesus does something new with it. He raises the25:47 bar. He gives them a picture. He takes their preconceived ideas of what love is, what they thought it looked like to live love out, and then he just raises25:58 it. I mean, how gnarly is this? Jesus says, I'm giving you a new charge. You're supposed to love each other just like I loved you. And it wasn't a suggestion.26:11 I mean, do you hear the language in that? You must love 1 another. This was a command. Jesus was saying, not only is it26:23 a command, this is actually what's going to be the defining mark of my believers. Right? According to verse 35, he says, this is what proves that you belong to me. And he says people26:35 are gonna see it. By this, all men will see it. No. If this was seen, right, if the love that proved their allegiance to Christ was visible, it means that it was obvious, public.26:47 If it proved that they belong to Jesus, it means it was different than they were seeing other people treat each other. And if it made them wanna join the family, it means it was attractive. The love that God's man26:57 displays is obvious, different, and attractive. Jesus said that. He said about my people, love is gonna be the ID badge that lets people know you're27:09 in. This world is gonna know that I'm in you because of the way you love each other. So make it public. Make it visible. The way that we care for and encourage each27:21 other, the way that we sow seeds of truth into the hearts of other men should be on full display for this world to see. Then if our culture saw anything from us, it should be this.27:34 Because our culture can disagree with us theologically. Our culture can be an odds with us politically, but our culture should take notice about the way we love each other. I mean, the early followers of27:45 Jesus loved each other in such a markedly different way than anything culture had ever seen that everybody wanted to join the family of God. They're like, I don't know who these crazy dudes are following27:57 the construction worker from Nazareth, but I wanna be in that club. Man, the way they care for each other. The way they're there for each other. I could use some of that in my life.28:10 But Jesus doesn't just tell us to love, he sets the tone for how we're to love. Jesus doesn't just command us and say do this love, he models to us that just as I means he28:22 says, I'm the perfect model of what this looks like guys. Look to me for how you should treat each other. And we see some incredible lessons in that like Jesus, you and I have to love people not28:34 based on how lovable they are. Our love is never circumstantial. Our love is never based on how lovable the person in front of us is. We love them because God loves us.28:46 First John chapter 4 19 says, we love each other because he first loved us. His love is in us and starts to leak out of us. Remember, Romans 5 8 says that when we28:58 were our most unlovable, when there was nothing lovable about us, that's when God displayed the most incredible act of love the world's ever known. And I praise God that he29:10 loves us based on who he is, not based on who we are. So we model that. We love others based on who he is, not based on who they are.29:22 Paul says though that he desires to see that our love would grow. Not just that it would be there, that it would increase, that we would excel in it. Guys, we've been repeating this over and over again. That only29:34 happens as we abide in Christ and his spirit is at home in us. When we're looking at the perfect model of love, when he's the center of our lives, when Christ is the king of our lives, when29:46 we come off the throne of our hearts and sit Jesus down and start to live out our faith practically and really and truly every single day, then our behavior29:58 starts to look like his. We start to love in the same way he did. What does it look like? Looks like generosity. We start to give to30:09 people because our God is a giver. So we find ourselves in love giving of our resources of our time. We give our words encouragement. We give our ear listening.30:21 We prioritize others because that's what Jesus did. Remember, this is Jesus. He's in me. So this is me. And we don't just give out of our abundance. We give in a way that30:33 costs us. Why? Because that's what Jesus did. How much did it cost Christ to love you? How much did it cost Jesus to love me?30:45 Everything. So we give in a sacrificial way. We serve. Why? Because that's what Jesus did. And we don't serve from a place of power, and we don't serve30:57 for the notoriety. We follow Jesus down into servicemen. We don't need more men looking to step up into public roles of influence. We need31:09 people willing to step down following Jesus into humble service. God is gonna lead us into situations, maybe even confrontations.31:23 The hardest places are the places where we can most perfectly display his love to a world that desperately needs to see it and experience it. And the only way you and I can live31:35 it out is we have to stay rooted in Christ's love for us. That's the gospel. That on our own, we are more unlovable than we can ever imagine in our sin. But at the same time, we are more loved by Jesus than we31:47 could ever hope to understand. The gospel, we have to stay rooted in that. And then we have to have open eyes and look for ways to give that love away sacrificially. We stay rooted in the gospel, in the truth of how31:58 we're loved, and then we look for ways to give that away. But we have to look at our lives and see if we're even leaving enough margin for that. Enough space for32:10 that. Our calendars, our bank accounts tell us if we're living Christ centered or self centered lives. I don't have time.32:22 I can't afford are not statements about our resources. Those are statements about our priorities. And following Jesus not only makes us generous people, it32:33 settles us because we're no longer looking for the affirmation. We're no longer looking for our identity. We're not trying to figure out who we are. We're settled. Look at verse 11. Make it your goal to live a quiet32:45 life, minding your own business, working with your hands. Does he mean just sit around and don't speak? Like, actually, just quiet life, monk style.32:57 Right? Reclusive life. You know, in California, it just mean buy a sprinter van and just go roll solo through all the state parks and surf, and as great as that sounds, that's not what he's saying. He's saying lead a33:09 quiet life, which is free from cultural and selfish ambitions. Selfish ambition that comes from an unsettled heart that is33:21 still seeking praise, comfort, and purpose away from Jesus. That unsettled heart is still looking for praise. It's still looking to find its comfort. It's still looking to find its purpose,33:33 not in the person of Jesus. So live a quiet life. Then it says attending or minding your own business. Simply put, leave people alone. Trust33:45 God. I'm not saying don't speak truth, speak truth. I'm not saying don't show up. I'm saying understand we are all in process. I hate to break it to you, man. We are all imperfect.33:59 But you are dearly loved by Jesus. And so is the person that you're arguing with. You were created in God's image and so is34:11 the person you're fighting with. And then he says work with your hands. What he means there actually is do your part. Don't freeload. Everybody has this34:23 friend. I'm not sure if you do. Here's a way to figure out if you do. Next time the check comes, they're gonna be in the bathroom magically. Or they're always having problems with Venmo or their Cash App or these are the34:34 guys that say, let's split the check when they got the steak and lobster and you got the burger. You still can't figure out if you have this person in your life? It might be that you are that person. Either34:46 way, Paul is saying, don't take advantage of the family of love. Be a giver because that's what Jesus is. Don't abuse it. Don't presume on people's grace and34:58 kindness. Receive it, celebrate it, and then reciprocate it, and work hard to be a giver. And what's crazy about all this, man, is that35:10 Paul connects this type of living with our witness for Jesus. And I think if we're not careful, too often we can think that sharing the gospel starts when when we start talking35:22 about Jesus, that preaching the gospel starts, you know, at that point when the reality is guys, sharing the gospel begins the moment we start interacting with someone. But I wanna pause because there's something35:33 that needs to be said. You hear all the time, Preach the truth everywhere and when necessary use words. When you're sharing the gospel, you always have to35:45 use words. Peter said always be ready to give an answer for the hope because the gospel is a truth. The gospel is the truth that our35:57 sin separates us from God, but that Jesus Christ died to restore that relationship and offer us a way back to the father. We cannot share the good news by being nice36:09 people, but we also can't share the gospel and live contrary to what it teaches. We can't share God's word with someone36:21 after we've treated them like garbage or acted sideways in a business dealing because the message will just feel false. The gospel will always feel hollow if our lives display something36:33 different. Will we be perfect? No. Will we be transparent, endeavoring to act like Jesus and even admitting our faults? Sometimes the greatest36:44 opportunity to witness to someone is to ask for their forgiveness after you wrong them. Because it lines up with the truth of the gospel. Right? That we're in process, that we're still sinful people fighting that36:56 struggle. After Paul's encouragement in all this, he He says this in verse 12. You know, after you live this quiet life, you love people, he says this. Then people who37:08 are not believers will respect the way you live, and you won't need to depend on others. Look back at the beginning of this verse, it says that we were called to be holy people. Right? Set apart from this culture,37:20 from this world. Set apart for God's holy intended purposes. And Paul has given us 2 clear places that our lives should look different. Right? Paul talks specifically about how we interact37:32 sexually and then how we interact with our work ethic. The way that you and I handle sexuality in all of its forms, from what we talk about, to what we37:43 watch, to what we do, and how we treat money speaks volumes about our true faith and what we truly believe. As God's37:55 people, our question in both of these arenas in our life should never be how far away from God's plan can I get and still be38:07 okay? My wife and I just got back from a quick trip to Yosemite. And as we're winding those roads in the snow with chains on trying drastically38:19 to grip for traction, thank you, Sean, for letting me borrow your chains. Never once did I think, I wonder how close I can get to the car in front of me and still have enough time to stop.38:31 I wonder how close I can get to some of those bends and not go over the edge. The question is never how far away from God's plan can I get and still be okay?38:43 In both of these instances, but how outside of the tax law can I be and still be okay? How much of my money can I keep? How little can I give and still be okay sexually?38:55 How far can I go before it's wrong? Our aim should always be how close to the Lord Jesus can I get? How can I reflect his heart39:07 in sexual purity, in in generosity with what he's entrusted me? How can I reflect the heart of this holy God? And the word says that if we live according to God's statutes, the world will39:19 stand up and take notice and then we'll have the ultimate privilege of pointing them to Jesus. Is there a greater joy than to think about the way that you and I choose to39:31 live our daily lives? The way the decisions that we make every day could move somebody towards faith in Jesus.39:43 I mean, is there anything greater that you and I could endeavor to do? Can you think of any encouragement that would hit harder than someone coming up to you and telling you that they have watched your life?Show more In this video 0:00 Living a Life Pleasing to GodComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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