How To Keep Praising In ANY Season!

Have you ever felt like life's challenges have you trapped, leaving you with a sense of defeat? Our latest episode sheds light on how embracing joy and maintaining faith can be transformative, even in the darkest of times. We draw wisdom from Paul's letter to the Philippians, exploring how his choice to rejoice during imprisonment can inspire us today. Through heartfelt personal stories, we discuss the mental battles we face and how staying positive, despite life's complexities, aligns with Paul's powerful example.

Running a small business, juggling multiple roles, and navigating social media pressures can often lead us off course from genuine spirituality. Join our conversation as we reflect on the Apostle Paul's steadfast faith, despite his imprisonment, and how it serves as a beacon of hope for those feeling overwhelmed by modern distractions. Through anecdotes like the frustrations of selling a car, we underscore the importance of maintaining focus on true spiritual growth and community connection, urging listeners to rise above superficial pursuits.

True faith isn't about waiting for blessings before offering praise. In this enlightening discussion, we highlight the power of "praise before the provision," inspired by the stories of Paul and Silas. By shifting our perspective from entitlement to gratitude, we can truly transform our relationships and thoughts. Drawing insights from Romans 12 and Philippians 4, we remind you of the joy and resilience that come with unwavering faith, encouraging a 'praise break' in tough times for spiritual growth and a renewed sense of God's constant goodness.

Chapters

• 0:00 Praise Break for Tough Times
• 13:23 Maintaining Praise Amid Distractions
• 28:20 The Power of Praise in Transformation
• 40:13 Finding Joy Through Adversity

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the new subscribers. If you haven't yet, consider subscribing, hit that bell notification so that you can see every time I put out a new video. A major portion of you that watch my videos haven't subscribed yet, so why not? It's free. You can also find a PayPal link below if you want to give a one-time or give a monthly to support the channel. Anything, great or small, is appreciated.

Speaker 1: 0:26

Now let's get into the video. We're going to start off with a verse, and I want to read this together Always be full of joy. I say it again rejoice. Okay, I want you to think about some things. In the instance that Paul was writing, this was probably not very joyful for him. Now, if you put yourself, this is what I like to do when I read and study scripture I try to put myself in the shoes of the person writing it. I also, on the flip side of that, try to put myself in the shoes of the person writing it. I also, on the flip side of that, try to put myself in the shoes of the person receiving it. Obviously, we're thousands of years later. We're the ones receiving it now. But the letter, even though inspired by the spirit that knew what was to come in that moment, was not actually to us in that moment, was not actually to us, and we are just on the back end of it, not in the middle of it. So it sometimes can, when you don't have all the context of where it was written, who it was written to. But when you figure that stuff out and you actually begin to study, it changes the way you read scripture. So that's important when you're studying scripture. So that's important when you're studying. But put yourself in the shoes of Paul in this moment in his life.

Speaker 1: 1:50

Now think about this. Paul was imprisoned, he was battered and he was definitely uncertain of his future. I've been in jail twice. That is not bragging rights at all. What I'm saying to you is when you're in there and when the last time I was in there, I had no clue when I was getting out, no clue at all. It was up in the air, paul. He didn't have a clue when he was getting out. He just knew he had a mission from God and he was called to do it. So, even though Paul was in the depths of a Roman jail, he writes a letter to his friends in Philippi with a seemingly impossible command from his standpoint. Think about the words he's writing that you see on your screen right now. He's saying always be full of joy in the Lord. And he said I say it again, he repeats himself rejoice.

Speaker 1: 2:47

I don't know about you, but when I'm in the middle of some of the hardest times in my life and he was physically in prison, but a lot of times we can feel emotionally, mentally, spiritually, like we're trapped and in prison, one of the biggest, I think, tools of the enemy. We've been talking about the mind. You see, on the background of this, they're still on the mind, the battleground. If the enemy can get us trapped in here, getting in our own echo chamber and constantly just everything is bad, nothing is good enough, just around and around and around and around we go, he'll get you defeated and he'll definitely get you depleted. He didn't have to necessarily defeat you and this is what I mean by that In the end. Yes, he would. But if he can get you going against your own self and get in your head and begin to think about things you shouldn't be thinking about, begin to.

Speaker 1: 3:47

I've had conversations in my head with my wife when we first got married and I was going to, I was going to let her know what was up. It was something she didn't even do or say, but in my mind we were fighting and I would come out there and luckily God gave me the restraint to know when to shut up, or he would make an instance where I didn't have the opportunity to say what I wanted to say and because of that I would find out that she actually didn't even have a clue that we were fighting or in a disagreement, and it was all in my head. And then sometimes her way, she's as close to perfect as anybody can get. She sometimes feels like she will say something or do something and there may be nothing wrong with it at all, but she lets her mind start overthinking. I don't know if you've ever overthought before. I've overthought before. It's easy to do.

Speaker 1: 4:50

But Paul is saying, no matter what it looks like, if you know where he was when he wrote this his mindset he had it down of how to think about life. He had a perspective on life that most of us will never have, but he also had an encounter with Jesus, like most of us run from. Think about that when he encountered Jesus, it cost him something and he had to submit himself and put down his pride so that he was receptive to what he needed, the mission God actually had for him, not what he thought the mission was. So, thinking about Paul, he is in a Roman jail. He writes a letter to his friends and tells them from prison rejoice. I'll say it again, rejoice.

Speaker 1: 5:42

Now these words, even though they could be very inspiring on the outside of Christ, people can be very skeptical, even irritated. I know somebody who is. Even when she is not having a good day, she always tries to be positive and it gets on some people's nerves because she is trying to stay in a positive frame of mind and people get mad at her for it. It's crazy, but sometimes bubbly can be annoying, just like sometimes complaining can be annoying, but people gravitate towards complaining. They'll jump on that wagon instead of trying to work for getting happier and people would talk about her and say, oh, that's fake, that's not real, when in reality she was making a conscious choice on purpose, intentional, that she was going to rejoice in spite of where she was at the time, in spite of how she felt, and her outlook on that is biblical, and so I want to call. I'm going to call this. Let me go and get back on what I'm getting on. I have to click back on it. This is going to be called Praise Break.

Speaker 1: 6:54

Now, I don't know about you, but I've been in some hard seasons before where I kept hearing this nonsense and I say nonsense, just follow me here for a second about oh, your blessing's coming, it's just around the corner. It's just around the corner. It's just around the corner. There's a common saying right now and please don't hear what I'm not saying the best is yet to come. They're trying to be encouraging. I get that, but, brothers and sisters, if I always was chasing after what was and not enjoying what is, I would have a boring life.

Speaker 1: 7:32

I choose today that, no matter what I'm going through, no matter what it feels like, no matter how it is in truth, I mean things are really going wrong. Life is really tough. Money ain't there, sickness keeps happening, relationships keep getting broken and damaged. Your kids ain't acting right. Your spouse ain't acting right. Your parents ain't acting right. You got all these things that can be coming against you and can be working seemingly against you, but the word says that all work for the good of those that love the Lord. That means that even in the bad, it can work for your good. That does not mean that it is instant for your good, but it does promise that for your good it will become eventually and for the glory of God, which should be, as believers, number one on our list of reasons why we choose to praise when we feel like we're about to break. I want my praise break every day. I want to stop, I want to dance, I want to shout, I want to lift up my hands, I want to lift up my heart. I need to do that so that, no matter what is happening around me, no matter what is trying to affect me, I am in control of me.

Speaker 1: 8:54

I had this conversation with my teenager just before I came live on here. It is not anybody else's choice of how I act or who I am. It is my, it is my sole responsibility, it is my burden and it is also my blessing of how I act, respond and how I move throughout my life. Nobody can. People will come against you, issues will rise, there will be drama. There will be. I was talking to somebody last night. I was like man I've had a bad marriage. Thank God, I'm in the good one now.

Speaker 1: 9:29

With that being said, I had to realize that the bad marriage was equally bad because of me and that I had a big part to play in that. I was responsible for me. You can try to blame everybody else, you can try to, you know, put it off on everybody else, but at the end of the day, I am responsible for me. The same goes spiritually. We are responsible for ourselves. We are responsible for those or for us.

Speaker 1: 9:55

When we lay our head down on the pillow, when we stand before God, one day, it's not going to be anybody else but us and the Father, and we're going to have to answer for every word, every idle word, every thought. But if you are a believer and if you're not a believer, listen to me there is hope. There's always hope. If you are a believer, you can stand righteous before God, but you have to submit to Him. But how do we stay that way?

Speaker 1: 10:22

It's easy to talk, all this stuff. It's easy to say, yeah, okay, I want to praise, I want to be closer to God, I want to do this, I want to do that. How do we get closer? We get closer by praising him. What does the word say about the praise God inhabits, the praise of his people. That means that we can change not that we have the strength, but we can change the atmosphere of a situation or a circumstance or a season by having praise on our lips, because the power and the presence of God will come down in the midst of praise. It is a promise from the Father to his children that if we praise, he will provide.

Speaker 1: 11:06

So all we have to do is keep our mind on the things above, not get focused on what's in front of us. We don't want to be so heavenly minded. We're no earthly good. You probably heard that. But to be focused on kingdom things to me does help us focus better while we're here on earth. To me does help us focus better while we're here on earth that we are sojourners, we are passing through. We are just on this earth for a temporary moment. If you follow Christ, you are an heir to the kingdom. You are an heir to the heavenly kingdom, but I want to drive this home.

Speaker 1: 11:44

If you get nothing else from this live stream, look on the screen, praise break. I want you to understand this, that your praise cannot if you want to remain healthy, if you want to remain strong, because the joy of the Lord is your strength You're not going to stay in the midst of joy stay strengthened by joy if you can't praise in the middle of your issues, If you can't praise in the middle of opposition. You won't be able to stay in that joy and you won't be able to find that strength that you need to be healthy in Christ, to be healthy in Christ. So you should not let your season, your circumstance, your issues, your problems, your drama hinder, dictate and manipulate your praise. You understand. So when things aren't going your way, you can stand firm and know the way, christ Jesus.

Speaker 1: 12:51

Now we're going to look at a couple of points here. I think I got five of them four, five, five points. It's not a good message unless it's got five points right. So the first thing to look at here is the reality of Paul's situation. So we touched on this a little bit. But think about this Now Paul was seemingly, his situation was seemingly destructive and he was definitely distracted Like I don't know if I could have written a letter, especially a well thought out letter, being in the midst of what he was in the middle of Like.

Speaker 1: 13:23

To me that would be a massive distraction. Like today, we can't even read our word or reach out to each other because we're always busy. I'm a very busy person. I run a business. If you've ever ran a business, especially a small business, you have to do everything Bookkeeping. I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants here and I'm the photographer, I'm the video guy, I'm the drone guy, I'm the uh editor, all the things and I. What ends up not getting done is I end up not posting on social media because I don't have the time. So it's kind of like, what do I do?

Speaker 1: 14:01

But Paul's situation was equally distracting because he was writing a positive letter to people to encourage them from prison. I don't know how many prisons you've been to, but I've never actually been to prison, I've been to jail. I don't know if I could ooze and write a letter of positivity from prison. I don't know if that would be possible. I would probably, especially if I was in there for something I didn't do, wrongly convicted, especially if I'm doing something that is wholesome and healthy for everybody and I'm being labeled as a an evil person, which is kind of funny because that's kind of what he did to other people. But you know, god has a sense of humor.

Speaker 1: 14:46

So look at Acts 16. I want to show you this. Acts 16, 23 through 25. Don't let chains keep you from praising. Okay, after they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison. This is Paul and Silas, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. So they didn't let their chains or where they were stop who they were. Did you hear me?

Speaker 1: 15:27

A lot of times, christians lose their praise or they lose their way when circumstances change in their life, and it may be because they're not as solid in Christ as they thought they were, but that's okay. But we as Christians need to check ourselves so that we are being healthy, being mature and constantly evaluating who we are, where we are. Are we who we say we are? This is one of the biggest mistakes. The biggest issues I see in churches is that there are people inside the church that claim one thing but their life actually says another. They are Christian by label, but not by definition. And then people that come to church see this and they don't want anything to do with God, because people who don't know God personally will use the church people as a definition of who God is. It's not fair, it's not accurate, but that's how people work.

Speaker 1: 16:33

Prophets went to kings, went to cities, went to regions, did miracles and prophesied and they believed because of what they saw. They knew who God was, because of who the prophet was, how the prophet spoke, what he said came to pass. And we don't see that a whole lot in church today. The church has become a self-centered let's see how many dollars we can get, let's see what numbers we can get this week. To no fault of theirs, I guess it's just the pattern that gets presented and it ends up being replicated.

Speaker 1: 17:09

I see pastor friends and I'm like, hey, how's your church doing? And most of the time they tell me how many people showed up. And that is not what I asked, because there's people showing up. That does not display the healthiness and the godliness of a church. It can and it's definitely possible. The Spirit draws, the Spirit multiplies. I get that, multiplies. I get that.

Speaker 1: 17:42

God is a God of multiplication, he is a God of increase, but also he is a God of order, he is a God of righteousness, and some churches have none of these things and there's just a charismatic guy or woman up on a table, a pulpit that can mention a couple of scriptures and has nothing to do with God. They just keep saying and repeating doing life together, doing life together, doing life together, and what that means is you're getting together. It has nothing to do with God. Now, god does desire for us to do that, but when it's not centered around God, when it's not focused on Jesus, then all you have is a gathering. You don't have a church. So we'll go back to this. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and he fastened their feet in the stocks. At midnight, paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Speaker 1: 18:39

Now we have the reality that Paul and Silas were in prison. There is a depth and a reality when you're in the middle of a season and you have no answer and you have no. I mean, you just don't know. You are where you are and things are the way things are, and sometimes it's very, very, very difficult to keep praising when you're in the middle of the process, when you're in the middle of that refining, when you're in the middle of the waiting. Oh my gosh, I hate waiting, I hate waiting.

Speaker 1: 19:16

I like I'm in the uh, what do you call it? I am in the process of selling an SUV that I have and buying another one, and when I say process, I mean like I just got a new windshield on it today because it was cracked all the way across. I bought it that way. They didn't tell me when I bought it, never buying from them again. Anyways, new windshield, going to get some fabric pieces replaced. They didn't tell me there were cigarette burns in it either, trying not to hold on to things. So I'm getting that fixed tomorrow and the next day I have two people, two separate people coming and looking at it to buy it. They're going to drive it, they're going to you know, see what it's about.

Speaker 1: 19:55

I hate this process because before I put my car online, I have done so much extensive research of what I want to buy after I sell that. But what I buy is dependent on how much I can get out of that. So it's a holding pattern, a waiting pattern, because, if you know me personally, you know that I am a very let's go now type of guy. I don't like to wait around. I don't like to waste time. I value my time because I don't have a lot of it. It's very limited. So when I choose to do something like this podcast, for instance, I don't get paid to do this. I mentioned people can, you know, use the PayPal link, but nobody ever does, and that's not a big deal.

Speaker 1: 20:40

I love this. I love teaching, so this is something that I feel is my gift and I'm not going to charge for my gift. So I'm just. This is what I do. I love it, but I don't have time. Like normally, I live stream on Mondays. Today is the time of recording. This is Wednesday and we're about to go to church in about an hour and a half, maybe two, so I'm trying to like get this in when I can. But, that being said, I with this podcast. It's very important to me. Like we have over 10,000 subscribers now on YouTube and it I feel like I'm making a difference. I hear I get people's comments. They're saying good job or thank you. That's a blessing. I needed to hear that today so you can see people I will never meet, otherwise making a difference.

Speaker 1: 21:28

But when I started this podcast back up about a year, year and a half ago, and I really bought some equipment, some expensive stuff, some setup, like there's a light, there's a key light. I even every once in a while there's a light back here that shines. That's for sound back there. Those are sound panels and it's all over my I'm not going to show you because I don't have to move the camera, but it's all over my cabinets in here above my desk in my office. So I bought some things these arms, you know, microphones, I, extra microphones, a case interviews and things like that. All these things that I did.

Speaker 1: 22:04

But my time is so limited that this is not number one. It's important to me but it's not number one on my list. I had to choose what was something that makes me money I work two jobs, so things that make me money the people and family and friends and the church that I love, the job that I work, two jobs, so things that make me money, the people and family and friends and the church that I love, the job that I work every day and travel and do or the podcast. Well, the podcast does not bring bread to the table. So it's last, and I'm actually thinking about reducing it even more to just once a month and just like recording videos when I can, and then just post them, like the first Monday of every month, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 22:46

Yet I spent all this money on all this stuff. To me it's important. It's not the most important, but that's my perspective and the reality of Paul and Silas when they were inside of this prison, like the reality of. I have limited amount of time. My time should be more valuable to me sometimes than I allow it to be. Instead of filling it up with everything, choose wisely what I fill it up with. That is a lesson I'm having to learn, and so my perspective is shifting on the importance. And so Paul and Silas in the prison their perspective.

Speaker 1: 23:19

First of all, I don't know if you've ever gotten in trouble for doing something right, but you'll get fired up when you're told that what you're doing is wrong and that everyone else is against you and that you shouldn't be doing it. But yet you know it's right and it's what God called you to. That just makes it even better for the person who's right in the middle of all the stuff that's going on. So they had a reality. We have a reality. Your season, where you are right now, you have a reality. It's it's not going to just magically change because you started singing. It's not going to magically change because you've called on the name of the lord. He promises he will be there, but he does not promise that he will take you out of there. There's a big difference.

Speaker 1: 24:03

Sometimes our reality, most of the time, where we are right now, is unavoidable. If you are and let's get serious for a second if you're a person who is in a marriage and you are miserable, the reality is you can't just be gone, especially if you've got kids, especially if there is no reason. If you're a Christian, there's no biblical reason for divorce except you're unhappy. That is not condoned by the Bible. Just because you're unhappy, the Bible, if you've ever read it, is not really concerned about your happiness. Now, joy is a different thing, but we allow our happiness to be so weak sometimes and bend to things that should never have a place of influence. So reality does not Listen to me If you're struggling, if you're in the middle of it right now, if you're in a season and you need some encouragement, listen to me right now, your reality does not dictate the power of God. Where you are right now does not dictate if God can use you, if God can still speak to you, if God can still work through you. Your reality does not dictate who God is. Your reality does not. And the giant, biggest problem ever doesn't dictate, doesn't make God smaller.

Speaker 1: 25:18

Paul and Silas were not naive to their situation. They knew where they were. They knew they were in the middle of it. They knew they were in some doo-doo, but they didn't care what the punishment was. They knew that they were following God's will. They didn't care what their season led them, what the path led them to and what season they were in. They knew that they were exactly where they needed to be. They felt pain and what season they were in. They knew that they were exactly where they needed to be. They felt pain and discomfort.

Speaker 1: 25:44

They were in chains. They were in prison. I don't know if you know this. Prison's a little different today. Not making light of prison is still prison, but prison was a little different back then. They didn't pamper you. You didn't get free health care. You didn't get education, but apparently Paul had pen and paper, right, paul was given the education from from the prison. They felt pain, they felt discomfort, but their response was not dependent on their circumstance. Let me say it again their response was not dependent on their circumstance. Instead, they focused on the who rather than the what. Their praise was dictated towards God's character, not their current condition.

Speaker 1: 26:32

Let's look over here. If you're with your Bible, if you're doing a screenshot, just look at this for a second. In Psalm 145, verse nine, and it says the Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. So, like Paul and Silas, our ability to rejoice is challenging.

Speaker 1: 26:51

At times we get caught up in preference and so we end up not wanting to praise because we just ain't feeling it. If I didn't praise when I wasn't feeling it, I don't think I would ever praise. That's exaggeration. But think about it. I mean most of the time, life, every person's life, is in some sort of season. Always, you go up, you go down, you go across, you go sideways. There are seasons.

Speaker 1: 27:18

We can always come up with a reason not to praise, not to have the right mindset, not to do it the right way, not to focus on God, not to have praise on our lips, but when we get our perspective right. We want to praise Him, we want to glorify him, we want to lift up holy hands to him and just thank him, even if we're not comfortable where we are, even if we're not happy where we are. We get caught up in happiness and preference and God really doesn't ask us our opinion, because we can't see the big picture. It's not that he don't care about your opinion, obviously he does or prayer wouldn't work. I mean, prayer is good. It is literally us asking for something we want. We're petitioning the father and asking Lord, I need this, I desire this, I'm asking for this. But you have to be comfortable and receptive to no or not. Right now, if you want to be mature, you have to receive no with a glad heart. Come on somebody.

Speaker 1: 28:20

Paul and Silas didn't let rejoicing affect their ability. I'm sorry, like Paul and Silas. Our ability to rejoice in challenging times hinges on recognizing the unchanging nature of God, even when everything around us is shifting. God's goodness, his love, his mercy, his steadfast characteristic. We should remember who he is and it will help us remember who we are.

Speaker 1: 28:57

The third thing is praise before the provision. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm good at praising and thanking him after I get what I want. Now, if you think about your, if you have children or a niece or a nephew or whatever grandchildren, would it not be nice sometimes if before excuse me, if before you gave them everything they wanted? They just said you know, I just wanted to thank you for being you, I just appreciate you. Wouldn't it be nice? Yes, it would be nice. But we just like little children, we get appreciative, we get grateful after we receive something, and that's a very childish and immature way of relationship with God. We wait until we get what we want, what our little heart's desire, what our grocery list was that God came through and checked off, and we end up being well needy and ungrateful most of our lives and we're supposed to be adults Now. That being said, so praise him before the provision.

Speaker 1: 30:02

Often our praise is contingent on receiving, like I just said, what we desire. And what does that mean? If you give the same example of me and my wife, I use her a lot because it's an easy target. I get in a lot of trouble, but it's worth it for y'all in my congregation. If my wife always let's talk real for a second, we're well, I don't know for all adults here, but let's just be honest for a minute. If my wife only gave me sex when I did everything she wanted all the time, now you ladies listen to this, because if you only give in to your husband's desires for you when he does what you want, you have a conditional love. If we only give in when God does what we want, we have conditional faith. Did you hear me? Let me say it a little bit closer. If you only give your husband intimacy when he does everything you want, you're using what he wants that you possess as a weapon against him to get what you want, and you are a selfish jerk.

Speaker 1: 31:17

We do the same thing with God. We say we are in relationship with him, yet we do things with conditional faith, with conditions. How many times Maybe you've done this? I've been guilty, not recent, but I've done it. Lord, if you do this, I will do this. If you just will let this happen, I will serve you all my day. If you let this happen, oh, I'll give up this. And then we start giving the Lord Think about it, the creator of the universe conditions on what he's going to do, and then, once he completes his side, we'll do ours, and most of the time we're saying it just to get what we want and we're not really even worried about it. We won't end up doing our side of the bargain. He knows that and yet sometimes he still blesses. So often our praise is contingent on receiving what we want conditional faith.

Speaker 1: 32:14

Now Paul's example teaches us to praise God not for what he might give, but simply because of who God is. This mindset shifts our focus from entitlement to gratitude. Man. The church house is full of entitlement and it's pretty sad. Now my church is pretty amazing, but there's still entitlement there. There's still pride, there's still selfishness. Why? Because it's made up of people and people are selfish. People are prideful, people are possessive, people are people. But God desires for us to be beyond this when we come to him, to lay all this at his feet and not go after our own selfish ambition, but give it to the Lord.

Speaker 1: 33:05

Now Paul teaches us this Because of the way he praised when he was in prison, him and Silas. Paul and Silas it right there not only showed us that perspective changes everything and that you can praise even when you don't feel like it, but that God's timing and God's plan are sight, viewpoint, understanding is limited, but God's is unlimited, that he has a perfect timing, he has a perfect plan. So the consequence of praise now, the act of worship itself can be transformative, especially if you don't feel like it, it can change everything. The act of worship itself can transform the way you think. It can transform the way you think. It can transform the way you perceive things. It could transform, it could change relationships. It can change not necessarily your seasons, because seasons, they will come and they will go, but the way you're in the season and perceive the season and how you are receptive to the season will change. Paul and Silas their worship was a declaration of faith and God responded powerfully. Look at this in Acts, chapter 16, verse 26.

Speaker 1: 34:21

Suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors were immediately flew open. All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off. I think about this for a second. The praise did not precede God's intervention. It seemed to summon his presence and power. So his praise wasn't just a response to something. It was actually the initiation of the beginning of the prison break.

Speaker 1: 35:08

I keep going back to marriages, because it's a very real thing where you can feel trapped. But we can feel like those types. Those instances fill in the blank with whatever is a prison, and oftentimes we want to praise after we feel some sort of release, after we feel there's been some sort of breakthrough. Here it was actually the praise that shook the foundation of their circumstance and got the chains off and opened the doors. I think oftentimes we flip it and we have it backwards. So we think that we need to praise God for what he has done, but we don't just praise him for who he is. Does that make sense? So when God shows up in response to our praise, he brings His power to change the circumstance, our hearts and our minds. So how do we change our thoughts and change our lives? Now, when we choose, praise is a choice. When we choose to praise God, regardless of our situation, it shifts our perspective.

Speaker 1: 36:12

I've said this at least four times since this podcast. It aligns our thoughts with God's truth about who he is and who we are in Him. Look around it is very, very, very obvious that we are in the midst of an identity crisis. In America, in the world, I mean, they're changing their genders, saying they feel this way, that way. So you have to respect me and call me this and that, and it's just kind of. It's just a weird time, like I never thought we'd be in that. But for Christ to come back and truth to be evil and to be lies, and then good being evil and lies and truth, it just all of a sudden everything is flipped and now if you speak out against anybody, you're the bad guy, when in reality it's just common sense and it's weird, it's very weird.

Speaker 1: 37:04

But, that being said, we are meant to align our thoughts with god. We are meant to align our what we see as truth with God's truth. Like there's no in between in this. There's no. You can't hear.

Speaker 1: 37:21

We're coming up on election At the time of recording this. We're just a few weeks away, and I want to be very clear and I don't care if this makes you mad, upset and what your opinion is. I'm not asking you, but I will tell you this I don't believe, and this is with all my heart, with everything I've studied, everything I've seen, I don't think you can be a Christian and vote for a party or person that murders babies have found technology is so advanced. The need for an actual termination of a baby is very, very, very rare, and so for murdering a child, I don't think you can be a Christian and vote for that Just one man's opinion.

Speaker 1: 38:12

I don't believe you can be a Christian and go directly against what the Word of God says and say you are of Christ, which is what a Christian is. It means you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. You have turned from your wicked ways. You believe that Jesus Christ is the one true son of God. That being said, I don't believe that you can be a actual biblical Christian and affirm an alternative lifestyle in any way. Now, that doesn't mean you don't love them. You can love someone and not affirm their sinful nature. If their sinful nature is affirmed and they are just welcomed in, not welcomed in. We should always welcome in sinners. Okay, we are the church. We should be like Jesus did talking to sinners. We should be in the middle of sinners. If you're strong enough. If you're not strong enough, stay away from it until you get there. My point is we cannot say that sin is okay, no matter how culture tells us any different, no matter how culture tries to say well, if you say that you're a bigot, if you say that you're a homophobe. No, that's not it.

Speaker 1: 39:25

God made the standard, god decided, not man and this is the result of men trying to be God is things that don't even make sense or lifestyles that are directly in conflict with what scripture says is holy and righteous and just. We try to paint them up as good and wholesome and they are not not at all. So let's go on before I get off on that even more. But the way we see things, our viewpoint as believers, should align and match what the word says. We don't manipulate, twist and cherry pick scripture to fit what we think is right. That's dangerous. So look at this scripture with me and we'll close it out.

Speaker 1: 40:13

Romans 12,. It says don't copy the behavior and customs of this world. This is the third, fourth, maybe even fifth time we've read this on every live stream. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know god's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Now paul and silas in this at the very end in acts, and then you have paul when he's writing at the very, very beginning, when we were coming from uh, philippians, chapter four.

Speaker 1: 40:49

Go back to our key, key text rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. Always and again I say rejoice. This command from Paul is not just for those on spiritual mountaintops, but I believe it's even more so for the.

Speaker 1: 41:03

It's easy to rejoice on the mountain when you've accomplished something, when you're feeling good, life's going great. But it's in the valleys and the dark times and the low times where it takes some real intentionality, it takes some real faith to rejoice even when you don't feel it. But I promise you, if you're willing to do that, in spite of your circumstance, the joy of the Lord will be your strength. You can find joy in the middle of struggle, issues, opposition, dark seasons. But you have to make the decision for yourself that, no matter what it looks like, no matter what happens, no matter where you are, no matter who you are, you know that god is good, god is faithful, and you will rejoice and you will praise him anyways. Find your praise break even, especially when you don't feel like it. I'm not saying it's easy, but if you want to be spiritually mature and grow, it's necessary. I love y'all, I'm praying for you and I'll see you on the next one. Faith and Failures Podcast.