Skip to content Stepping Up to Greatness: The Distractions of Temptation Jun 17 · 34 min ...more
Stepping Up to Greatness: The Distractions of Temptation
June 17, 2025 · 34 min
John Mark warns against the distractions of temptation, using the story of Balaam and Balak to illustrate the dangers of moral compromise.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton June 17, 2025 · 34 min · "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton
John Mark warns against the distractions of temptation, using the story of Balaam and Balak to illustrate the dangers of moral compromise. ...more Show the full description Show less John Mark warns against the distractions of temptation, using the story of Balaam and Balak to illustrate the dangers of moral compromise.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Lessons from Deuteronomy and the Importance of Obedience 0:02 Welcome to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Keaton. Join us as John Mark shares his insights with other men in his ministry rooted in the timeless truths of the gospel. Today's message will encourage you to0:14 inspire, inform, and invest in the lives of others. This is men's breakfast with your host, John Mark Caton.0:23 The last couple of weeks, we've been marching through this. We're gonna try to finish it today, if we can, if we can make it through it. But, man, Deuteronomy chapter 4 is just packed. Almost every0:35 verse is just a principle for us as men to live by if we're truly gonna step up to the greatness that God has called us to and God wants us to be a part of. If you, missed any of the other ones, I0:46 encourage you to go back to our men's bible study podcast, and listen. We started as we just marched through this, passage over the last couple of weeks. We've started by saying, man, 1 of the first things we can do if0:58 we're gonna step up to the greatness God called us for is we need to listen to God's word, but also listen and obey it. We don't wanna just hear God's word and then say, okay. I know God's word. I wanna I wanna take1:07 God's word, let it apply itself to my heart, my life, my relationships, my family, and then I wanna obey it. I wanna do what God has called me to do. Second thing we said is we don't add to or subtract from God's1:19 word. God's word is God's word. He doesn't need me to cut certain parts out that I don't like, to add other stuff that I do like. He says, man, the word is the word and I1:31 love this. Moses said, listen, as you go to the promised land, you're going to be challenged. You're gonna be, you're gonna feel like from time to time when you look at the surrounding nations that you need to add1:41 something. Maybe an idol here, idol there, a different place to worship. He said, don't do that. You're gonna take something away because, you don't like how that restricts you or something. So we talked about that. Next1:52 thing we looked at, we said, we don't live in our past, but we learn from it. That's what we talked about last week. We don't live in our past, but we learn from it. It. Guys, I wanna encourage2:03 us always to be men, of reflection. And I'm not talking about looking in your mirror in the morning. It's clear a lot of us don't do that very often. Right? But we wanna live with the idea of, I wanna2:15 reflect on my past. I don't wanna live in it, especially in the failures in my life, but I do wanna learn from it. Man, where did I mess up? Where did I go wrong? What are some things that caused me to go2:27 astray? And if you remember, Moses gave the illustration of Balak and Balaam. And this is where we ended last week is that as the children of Israel were going to the promised land, they were on the east side of2:39 the Jordan, they were going through Moabite territory and Balak, the king of the Moabites, looked down from his perch on the children of Israel. And and he realized the children of Israel already were2:51 greater than he was in Moab. And he became fearful that the children of Israel would stop and decide, you know what? We just want the Moabite land. We're just gonna stop right here. But here's the key, what he didn't3:02 understand is God didn't want the children of Israel to stop in Moab. They were supposed to head to the promised land. And guys, what we wanna make sure is that you and I, that we have not3:14 stopped somewhere God doesn't want us to be. We don't wanna stop outside the promised land. We don't wanna stop on the wrong side of the Jordan. My so my encouragement for you3:26 is don't even consider it. But the king Balak, he didn't he didn't know that. He said, you know what? They're they're kinda journeying through their caravans through our land. And he goes, if they wanna take over my3:37 land, they can take over my land. He has no idea the call for call of God on their life was to get in the promised land. So, remember, he gets this, a prophet for hire, Baal. And and he says, I want you to3:49 curse them so I'll be okay. And so, he finds him. I don't know how he found him, but he found him, brings him over. He says, listen, I want you to curse them. He goes out there, he sacrifices a bunch of bulls, does a4:01 bunch of things, stands up. And as he's going to curse the children of Israel, get the God of heaven steps in and won't allow him to curse them and instead he blesses them. Well, Balak, the king of the Moabites, he says,4:12 listen. I I'm I'm paying you to curse them and not bless them. And sure enough, you go over there, I give you the animals, and you bless them, you don't curse them. And so the king reemphasizes,4:25 listen, you'll be the wealthiest prophet in the land if you will curse them and bless me. And so he says, let's go over to a different side of the mountain. So they go a different side of the mountain. They look down on4:33 the children of Israel and and the king of Moabites, Balak, says, curse those people. And so sure enough, he goes through the whole worship ritual and he's prepared to curse them. He stands up and instead of cursing4:44 them, he blesses them again. And remember that story meant God had preserved them, but the prophet then had an idea. The God of heaven won't let me curse his people,4:56 but the men in the land can be tempted to walk away from their God. And so he says, King, here's what you gotta do. God won't let me curse them, but if you'll just take some of your best looking Moabite women, if you'll5:08 march them in front of the men, here's what I know about men. Men can be tempted. How many remember that part of the story? And that's exactly what happened, is the men went after the women of Moab, They5:20 defiled themselves, defiled their families, defiled their marriages, and God literally slayed thousands of them. And so, guys, as we journey towards the promised land, wherever God5:32 wants you, don't ever get distracted in temptation. As we looked at that last week, how many of you have heard the verse in the New Testament where Paul says, you'll never5:44 find yourself in a temptation where God won't create a way out? How many of you ever heard that verse? Here's something you may not have ever noticed about the context of that verse. In the context, Paul5:56 refers to the incident of Balaam and Balak. That's how he sets up that whole idea. So look at first, look at first Corinthians, chapter 10.6:08 I'm gonna pick it up in verse 8. Alright? As we continue to think on this thought, we wanna be careful as we journey forward. We don't wanna live in our past, but we wanna look back. But here it is. This is Paul, and6:19 he's talking about Baal Peor. And Baal is just a god of Peor, is the area. So anytime in the Old Testament or New Testament, you hear them talk about Baal this, Baal that. Typically, the second word is just6:31 the area. They all had their gods, the gods they worship. But look at it. First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 8. He said, we should not this is Paul. He says, we should not commit sexual immorality6:42 as some of them did and in 1 day, 23000 of them died. Did you ever know in first Corinthians chapter 10, the context of that6:54 verse, Paul is pointing the men of God back to that moment? That God had protected, the children of Israel by not allowing them to get cursed, but temptation7:06 caused them to stumble and fall. And so now, as we just continue to read, look at verse 11. He says, these things happened first Corinthians 10 verse 8. He says, these7:18 things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So what is Paul7:30 saying? Paul points all the way back to this incident at Bel Peor where God stepped in and protected them, but the men were tempted and fell. And notice what Paul says. He7:42 says, these are written down as examples for us to follow. Guys, we wanna be the kind of men that are wise. We're smart. We don't add to God's word. We don't take away from it. We don't7:53 wanna live in our past, but we wanna learn from it. And I want you to know this. I truly believe in my life. There are times that God has protected me. God has protected me. God has protected me. And it's my own8:03 temptation that draws me away. And if I'm not careful to do exactly what Paul says, to understand the examples, not only from my life, but from the lives8:15 of others. That's why I think it's really fantastic when men stand up and and in church or or they share in their small group what they've been through in their past. Because, guys, I'll8:27 tell you, some of you probably have some things in your past that you're embarrassed about, you would never want anybody to know about, but they might be something in some place that you failed in your life, you8:38 struggled in your life and someone else can learn from your example. So they won't follow in your footsteps in the wrong way. And then tell them, how did I come out of that? That? What decisions did I make so8:49 I'm no longer headed in the wrong direction, but instead I'm heading in the right direction? And that's ultimately where we want to be. But Paul, as he's moving towards this idea of how to resist temptation and how to9:00 flee temptation and walk away from temptation, He starts by going to an example in their past of a time when God had protected them, protected them, protected them, but the9:12 men were led astray by their own lust. And so as we just continue to read, he says, these things happened to them, talking about the children of Israel, this whole example in Deuteronomy chapter9:24 4, and were written down as warnings for us. Now jump down to verse 12. He says, so if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall.9:36 Guys, I don't care who you are or how strong you are spiritually. Everybody in this room, young, old, single, married, new to the faith, long time in the9:48 faith, every man in this room could blow it today. You could mess it up this week. We could implode this month. And so he says, listen, don't10:00 be overconfident. Don't be arrogant. Man, stay humble. Stay in God's words. Stay surrounded by God's people. And so he says, so if you think you are standing firm, be10:12 careful that you do not fall. Let me ask you a quick question. How many of you think you're standing pretty firm in your faith right now? Just it's okay. This is not10:24 God's not gonna judge you for this. How many of you, are certainly you would say, I am growing towards standing firm in my faith right now. I'm on that journey. I love I want you to10:36 know I love that. Right? But even though wherever you are, if you think, man, I am there. I am standing firm. Hey. Be careful. Telling you, Satan's gonna be out there10:48 and he's gonna find your Moabite woman to walk in front of you. And it may not be a woman. See, your Moabite might be alcohol,11:01 might be pornography, it might be someone you work with, it might be something else, It might be some other struggle, some other addiction. How many of you know Satan knows your weakness?11:13 Absolutely. So he says these are examples so we can be careful even if we stand firm, lest we not fall. And,11:25 man, guys, that's that's the beauty of men coming together, and that's the beauty of 1 of the things that we ask you, 1 of the things that Justin asked you, said, why do you do tell us your name, what you do, something11:34 we can use against you. Guys, we all have something that could be used against us. Don't we? And if we don't, I don't wanna hang out with you. You're probably no fun.11:46 Right? I I wanna I wanna hang out with a dude that that that he knows how to have a little fun and say, hey. Let let's just keep that between us. Right? That's what we wanna be, man. I wanna be the kind of church men11:57 have fun, our church have fun, our families have fun, our kids have fun, but at the same time, we stand firm for the Lord. That's what we wanna do. So here it is. He says, so if you think you're standing firm, be careful12:07 that you do not fall. No temptation. Here it is, no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.12:19 Did you ever know that the way Paul set that verse up and you and I have probably been to men's retreats in different places where they've talked about dealing with temptation in your12:31 life. Did you ever know that the example Paul used to set that up was the failure of the men all the way back on the east side of the Jordan in12:42 Moabite territory when God had protected them from being cursed from, Balaam, the false prophet, and still the men fell and caused literally 2300012:55 to die. So let's break this apart here. What did he say? He says, so listen. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man.13:07 We all face them. We're going to break here in a few minutes and every 1 of us is going to leave here and there's going to be a temptation that crosses your path today. It's going to happen somehow, someway, and we have13:19 to be prepared. We can't walk out here thinking I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Notice what he says. Continue to read on. He says, and God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.13:31 But here's the key, but when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. So Satan is always going to tempt you, but God is13:42 always gonna provide a way out. I'm gonna say that again. Satan will always tempt you, but God will always provide a way out. You say, pastor, what are those ways out? Let me just give you a couple of thoughts. You might13:53 wanna write these down. Man, how do I avoid temptation? How do I keep from falling in temptation? Certainly, I wanna be in God's word. Man, I I I wanna encourage you if you are not14:05 only on a reading plan of God's word, every day you need to put some of God's word in you. Don't just let it be Tuesday morning. Don't just let it be Sunday morning. I wanna encourage you, spend14:17 some time reading God's word, listening to God's word each and every day because God's word will keep your path straight. Man, spend some time in prayer. I don't know what your prayer life is14:29 like, but, you know, I've got this whole image in my mind of what prayer is like that, you know, I've gotta go into my closet or go under go into my prayer room and spend 3 hours on my knees. If you ever know, I am so14:40 ADD. That is not my prayer life. Alright? It's just a constant conversation with God and talking to God and and asking God to protect me as I move forward. So I wanna be in14:52 prayer. I wanna be in God's word. But here's the third thing we always have to do. We have to navigate our lives, direct our lives so we are staying on the15:04 very best best path we always can. I wanna stay as far away from my temptation and my sin as I possibly can. Man, the best antidote to sin is stay15:16 as far away from it as you can. Right? And especially if you have a temptation in your life, man, you wanna make sure as you are making your journey that you don't get close to15:27 those spaces where you've lost in the past, where I get myself too close to those places where, man, I know if I'm gonna stumble, it's gonna be right there. Gosh, my guess is in your mind,15:39 just like in my mind, there are places I know that I'm prone to stumble. How many of you know the places you're prone to stumble? We should. Man, we do. And so here's what you here's how it starts, is I wanna be in God's15:51 word, I wanna pray, I want to direct, have a GPS, a God programming system in my life that I'm gonna make my journey every day as far away16:03 from those places as I've fallen in the past. Alright? I do. Because that's preventative for me. Because the closer I get to the edge of the cliff, those places16:15 where I've fallen into temptation and the life, the more likely it is I'm gonna step off, I'm gonna stumble, and I'm gonna be fall I'm gonna fall. And that's why Paul says, be careful lest you stand firm, lest you16:27 fall. What is he saying? Man, stay in those places where you can be firm, stand firm. Here's the next thing. Prayer, God's word, develop a path, a16:39 course that takes you as far away from those places of temptation and sin for you. You want to do that? Here's the next thing. I want to surround myself with the right people,16:51 Surround myself with the right people. Now, before we even go to the right people, let's talk about the wrong people. My guess is, if you think about your temptations and your failures in your life,17:04 there was always some really good buddy that was right there with you cheering you on. How many of you know what I'm talking about? I mean, that's your best friend. Right? Man, when he's cheering you on and you're about17:13 to make an idiot of yourself, you're about to do something crazy, what happens? Alright? We wanna make sure that I surround myself with the right people. Man, you look through God's17:25 word. We're told to be in relationship with 1 another, be around people. Man, the men of God being together. Paul had Silas and Timothy and others. Barnabas had John Mark. Man, you wanna hang out with17:36 people and surround yourself with people that are gonna help you stay on that path. Alright? That are gonna help you stay on that path. And so who is it in17:48 your life as you are trying to make your journey that you won't be drawn away by the Moabite temptation, whatever it is in your life, not just ladies, not just lust, whatever it is. Who are the people in your18:00 life that when you are walking lock lockstep with them, you know you're not gonna end up in that space, that you're not gonna end up in that place of brokenness again. So surround18:12 yourself with the right people. That's the beauty of getting men together, whether we laugh together, study God's word together. Man, there are times that we experience God's grace together. Sometimes, we we we18:21 experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit together. But I wanna make sure that I surround myself with the right people. Now here's the final thing. Always put yourself in the right places.18:34 Guys, do everything you can to find yourself. If you're gonna avoid temptation and avoid falling into sin, make sure you put yourself in the right places. So as you think about18:46 it, God's word, prayer. I wanna make and develop a course that is true to me and God's call on my life that will keep me as far18:57 away from temptation as it possibly can be. Then as I'm on my journey, I want to surround myself with the right people and I wanna make sure I always end up in the right19:09 places. And if we can do those things, that doesn't mean we're gonna be perfect, but what it is also gonna mean, it is we're gonna fall less and less. We're gonna stumble less and less. We're gonna do the right thing19:20 more and more. And we're gonna be more and more the kind of men that God can use. So anytime you see this verse again from here on out and someone starts talking about temptation and and19:32 lest you fall, I want you guys, I want the guys at Cottonwood Creek to have a step up on everyone else and know, hey, if you read right before that, he's talking about Bell Peor. What was Bell Peor? It was when God19:44 protected his men from being cursed, but they fought they fell in temptation. So that's the example. And so as you think about it, man, this is what we wanna do. We won't be that kind of man. Now jump to Revelation. Let19:55 me show you something else. Revelation chapter 2. If you go look at Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3, that is g that is Jesus' words to the 7 churches. How many of you heard of the 720:07 churches in Revelation 2 and 3? They were real churches and real places with real people, with real pastors, real everything. And so Jesus walks through these churches and says these 720:19 churches are kind of symbolic of all churches of all time, but they're also kind of symbolic of all Christians of all time. And there's 1 of these churches called20:31 Pergamum. Alright? Pergamum was an interesting place. When the church was planted there, they experienced some amazing, tribulation and trials and20:42 difficulties. There were lots of martyrs for the faith in Pergamum. And so notice what Jesus says. He says, to the angel of the church at Pergamum write this, these are the words of him who has sharp, who has the20:54 sharp double edged sword. What is this? Jesus is saying, listen, I'm going to divide things up. I'm going to say some good things about you, but I'm also going to acknowledge some bad things about you. And so notice he21:06 goes on, the 2 edged, double edged sword. He says, I know where you live, where Satan has his throne. He says, listen. This is Jesus talking to this church in Pergamum. He says, I know where you live,21:18 and Satan's the ruler. Hey, guys. Listen. Cottonwood Creek, Satan doesn't rule. You walk outside, who's the ruler of this earth this world and this earth? Satan, man, he's always gonna be looking to21:30 be, the tempter as you journey through. And he says, and I know, yet you remain true to my name. So here's what he's saying. Church, you have done a great job. You live in a difficult area, but you have21:42 remained true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Anapas, my, my faithful witness who was put to death in your city where21:53 Satan lives. You go, alright, who is this Anapas? Yeah. If you go look at church history, he was, he was a doctor in Pergamum. He was part of the doctor's society and everything, and all of a sudden, he gets22:06 converted to Christianity. He changes his life in a radical and powerful way, and others looked around him and they said, you know what? He now serves someone else named Jesus and no longer serves22:17 Caesar. And so they brought him before the triune, the court there in Pergamum, and they found him guilty of disloyalty to Caesar, and so they killed22:29 him. But if you read this, they killed him in a horrible way. Alright? They had all these pagan animals around, but 1 of the pagan animals they had, they had a copper bull. Alright? And they took this22:41 dude, tied him up, put him in this copper bull and then rolled that bull over a fire. And they basically burned him alive in an oven22:53 of a bull to a pagan god. Now, I don't know about you. Let's just say let's put a so so this is a good thing. Let's just imagine we were part of the church in Pergamum23:07 and all of a sudden, 1 of us, we saw it, had gotten convicted of being a Christian and serving Jesus and not Caesar. And you and I went23:19 outside, and we saw that the local leaders convicted 1 of our men. And then they stuck stuck him in the back of this pagan bull, literally burned23:31 him alive. How many of us would stay faithful to Jesus? They did.23:43 Now it's 1 thing for us to talk about trials. It's 1 thing for us to talk about persecution. But when you hear that these dudes stood strong, they stood strong23:54 after watching 1 of their dudes, their buddies, their church leaders get burned to death. So when he says, man, you24:07 did not renounce your faith in the time of Antipas who was martyred for the kingdom, these dudes had seen it and they stood24:19 firm. Now let's continue to read. He says, not even in the days you were my my faithful witness who was put to death in your city, where Satan lives. Now look at verse 14. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you.24:29 There are some among you who hold to the teaching of what? Do you see in Deuteronomy, Moses is saying, don't ever forget the days of Balak and Balaam.24:43 Last book of the Bible, Jesus is walking through the churches. He says, listen, there are still some as awesome as your church is who hold to the teaching of Balaam. Now notice what he says, who taught Balak24:55 to entice the Israelites and, in particular, the Israelite men to sin, so they ate food sacrifices sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. There are25:07 2 charges against them. 1 is they moved into religious compromise, eating the meat that was sacrificed to idols, and number 2, they moved into25:19 moral compromise. They started lowering the standard of God's word. And so as we think about this whole story, you think, man, that is 1 story that maybe maybe up until a couple of weeks ago,25:31 you had never heard about that story of Baal and Balak. But if you notice, that story keeps coming up over and over and over and over again. I think 1 of the key reasons that all of the gospel25:43 writers, New Testament, Jesus even talking to the churches brings up that story, it's because the men failed. It was because the men failed.25:55 And I think God knows and Jesus knows and Paul knows and Peter knows and everybody else who writes as they remember that story, because if the men fell,26:08 a church falls. If the men fell, a family collapses. If the men fell, our communities go to hell in26:20 a hand pass. And so when you think about this 1 story, why is this story brought up over and over and over again? Because it was26:32 the men. It wasn't their leader. It was their men. There are times throughout scripture that examples are gone where Solomon messed up or David messed up, but let me tell26:44 you what, this was the men. And so, guys, the high call for us is that we would stand strong. We don't live in our past failures, but we learn from them. And we26:55 decide in our moments, in our seasons, that I'm gonna stay in God's word, I'm gonna stay in prayer, I'm gonna make the make my plans to be as far away from temptation every day as I can. I'm gonna surround myself with27:07 the right people and I'm gonna end up in the right places. Therefore, we won't fall. And if you do, guess what? Those right people will27:19 help you stand again, will help you get back on your feet, restore you to grace and restore you to love. So as we think about all of these things, don't add to God's word, don't live in your past,27:31 but we want to learn from our past. Here's the next thing he says. He says, don't ever forget God's near to you. Don't ever forget God's near to you. Look at it. Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 7. He says, what other nations27:42 we're in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 7, back to chapter 4. He says, what other nation, man, Moses is saying, is so great as to have their gods near them the way27:54 the Lord your God is near us whenever we pray to him? You say, what does that really mean? Well, if you just go look at the pagan gods, the pagan28:06 gods and remember, we had Bel Peor and you can Bel somewhere else, Bel all of these pagan gods were considered always 2 things. You want to write this down about the pagan gods? They were always somewhere off in the28:17 distance and they were always angry. Alright? That that's every Baal, every god, they were always somewhere distant where you were hoping to get their attention with your28:29 sacrifice somehow, and they were always angry. That's why you appease them. Why else, would some of the people around Israel sacrifice their babies to Molech? Why? Because Molech28:40 was, far off and he was angry. And they're like, listen. If I'll sacrifice my child to you, then surely you can't be angry at me. But notice Moses says, don't ever28:52 forget, guys, that your God is near unlike the pagan gods. Remember up in, first Kings 18 when Elijah was up on Mount Carmel. How many of you remember that story? Remember, the29:04 prophets of Baal were there together and Elijah was there together and and they said, listen, if your god show up and consume the altar, he goes, we'll serve your god. And Elijah said, and29:16 if my god shows up and consumes the altar that we're gonna build, we'll serve my god. Remember? And do you remember what happened all those prophets of Baal that were crying out, they were calling out, they were cutting29:25 themselves, they were dancing all day long. Do you remember that? Why? Because their god was away. He was distant. He was angry. And remember Elijah? I love Elijah. Elijah's got a29:37 good good sense of humor. Elijah looks at him and says, you think he's gone on vacation? You think he's out of the office? You go look at some of the Hebrew commentators. It says, you think he's in the29:49 restroom? That's what 1 of those Hebrew words can also mean, is you think he's all and so what? Their god was distant, far away and angry and they couldn't get his attention. Elijah shows up and30:01 prays to God and God shows up. That's a reminder of exactly what Moses said here. He says, listen. Don't ever ever forget that your God is near.30:13 Guys, when you when you pray to God, do you pray to him as if he's some distant pagan god who's always angry? Or do you30:25 understand that you've got a God and I've got a God that is near? He's near to the brokenhearted. He's near to the humble. He's near to the man who wants30:37 to serve Him. Maybe some of you need to hear this. God is near to the man who wants to put his life back together, put his marriage back together, secure a better30:49 future in the days ahead. God is near. Man, it's 1 thing for us to step back and say, man, I'm never gonna add to God's word. I'm never gonna take away from God's word. I'm gonna listen to God's word, and I'm31:01 gonna obey God's word. Man, I'm gonna make sure that I don't live in my past, but I'm gonna learn from my past. But it's just as important, guys, for us as men to remember, God's right here.31:15 God's right here. The God we serve is right here. He's sitting at your table. He's near you. When we break31:27 up here in a few minutes, God wants to be with you and go with you. When you head into your office, I'm praying that you would leave here today31:39 understanding, man, my God is right here with me. It'll change your thoughts. It'll change31:51 your relationships that god's with you. I'm just gonna invite you to do something as you leave today. Now don't do this in don't do this in front of other people because they'll think you're crazy.32:04 I just wanna encourage you this day to in constantly in in consistent situations when you get in the car, just say, let's go, God, as if32:16 he's climbing in that car with you. As you walk into your office, let's go, God. As you walk into your family, you say, let's go, God. Say32:28 why? I'm not making him near. He's already near. I just wanna acknowledge that he's near. Does that make sense? Because we don't serve a distant and angry32:40 God who we've gotta beg to show up. We've got a God that is near to us and who desires nothing more than for us to acknowledge32:52 his presence. So as we think about all of these things, how we step up into grace greatness, don't ever forget that you always go with a33:04 God who is near. He's near to you, you, you, you, you, and me. Let's pray. God, thank you so much33:18 for just the challenge and the testimony of Deuteronomy chapter 4. God, we didn't even scratch the surface of all it could have said to us, but we've seen enough just from this chapter.33:30 God, let us be the kind of men that listen to your word and obey it, kind of men that don't, don't add to or subtract from your word, god. That we are not the kind of men that, don't don't live we are the33:42 kind of men that don't live in our past, but we learn for from it beyond that, god. Let us be reminded that we serve a god who is near. You're not distant and angry33:54 where we have to appease you. You. All we have to do is acknowledge your presence and your power in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen. God bless you guys. Y'all have a great34:06 day.34:08 Thank you for tuning in to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Caton. For more information on John Mark's ministry and resources, please visit johnmarkcaton dot com. Until next time, remember, we're on34:20 this journey of life together.In this video 0:00 Lessons from Deuteronomy and the Importance of ObedienceComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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