It's Not About YOU!

Have you ever wondered if your life is aligned with a purpose beyond your own ambitions? This episode of the Faith and Failures Podcast invites you on a transformative journey, challenging the notion of self-centeredness through the lens of Romans 8:28. We reflect on the deeper meaning of aligning our actions with God's will, and how Jesus criticized superficial righteousness. With heartfelt anecdotes and biblical insights, we encourage listeners to examine their lives and consider how to embrace a purpose that transcends individual desires.

The timeless stories of Joseph and Job serve as powerful reminders of endurance and faith in the face of adversity. We dive into these narratives, highlighting God's unwavering faithfulness amidst trials and tribulations. Like resistance training for the soul, challenges can fortify our spiritual muscles and maturity. Personal experiences from our ministry underscore how early encounters with resistance can spark personal growth and leadership development, reinforcing that life's obstacles are opportunities for profound spiritual advancement.

Embracing the mandate to surrender to God's greater purpose, we explore how to rise above self-centeredness and serve as instruments in God's divine plan. Joseph's journey from betrayal to empowerment illuminates a path where personal struggles contribute to a grander strategy. By viewing our circumstances, both good and bad, as stepping stones to a higher purpose, we open ourselves to the potential of God's power. Join this enlightening conversation for reflections that inspire growth in faith, character, and purpose.

Chapters

• 0:00 Purpose Over Self
• 10:05 Endurance Through God's Testing
• 15:47 The Process of Purpose
• 31:27 Surrendering to God's Greater Purpose

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. Now let's get into the video. What is up? Welcome back to another Faith and Failures episode. So today we're going to be talking a little bit about the great deception of it all being about us. Today we're going to be talking about a topic, and this is kind of more about church people. So if you don't know God, welcome you as well. But I want to talk to you a little bit about let's just go to this verse. So let's go to the verse. We go right here. Look in Romans 8, verse 28. And it says that we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. So, that being said, your purpose, your mission, your value system, your way you live. Life should not be about you. If you are a Christian, if you are saved, we should be doing everything we can to bring people to Christ, like that's what we should be doing. So if you read in the Bible, you can see very clearly that Jesus talked against who? Majority of the time. He talked against the Pharisees, like they made everything about them. They would pray in public in a way that was completely, a hundred percent all about them and about themselves, like they would say, oh god, thank you so much for me not being like these peasants. I mean, it was just a straight up and I don't know why in my head they have british accents, but they do, uh, because I guess I feel like british people. They think they're better than me and it might be a problem. Let me scoot this out of my way for a second, let's see. So it's not about you Now. I want to dive into this just for a second and I want us to Sorry that was not supposed to be touched, want us to sorry that was not supposed to be touched, and I want you to think about this as a believer, that maybe, just maybe, we should, as Christians, be willing to ask God to show us and to reveal to us where we need an attitude adjustment. Now I don't know about you, but I can very easily get into a place where I feel like I have done something to earn God's grace, god's mercy, god's love. By the way that I lived, by how, by how I talk, by the church I go to studying the word so much.

Speaker 1: 3:24

The Pharisees were great at this. Jesus pointed out. The Pharisees said hey, you know, they're doing it right. They are living according to the law, they are doing things how they should. But do not be like them, because their heart is like a whitewashed tomb. It literally has no substance. In there, it's full of nothing but death. But on the outside, no substance. In there it's full of nothing but death. But on the outside, on the exterior, they are really doing it right Now.

Speaker 1: 3:48

That seems to contradict, but Jesus was saying listen, it's not just about what you do, it's about who you are. It's not about what you are acting out, what you are, what laws you are keeping. It is also about the, the content of your character. The content of your character, the substance of your heart, it matters. So, romans 8, verse 28,. It's about unfolding a relationship in a way that'll leave you questioning God, is this your design in my life? Let's look back at this key verse God, is this your design in my life, god? What do you have for me, god? What do you want me to have?

Speaker 1: 4:37

And when we come to the Lord, when we live our life according to scripture, according to God, we can see very clearly by looking back a lot of times, not looking forward, let's be honest. It's hard to see it when you're in the middle of it. But when we look back, we can see that God is quite literally working everything out. We just need to follow his plan that we can understand. And when we look back, when we look behind us you know, hindsight 2020, we can see that God has worked, was working in a way and orchestrating things in a way that only could have been God. And so when we, when we realize that we look back and we can see God's hand on things, hands on things and him moving and orchestrating things, and we trust him a little better, a little more, because we realize that he has a plan, a better plan, and then we also understand that his plan is not about us, that his plan is actually orchestrating, moving us in a direction that is not just about us, but it's actually our lives as believers should be about fulfilling the will of God in our lives.

Speaker 1: 5:58

It should not be all about me. I actually had a shirt when I was a kid. My dad hated it, but I don't even remember where I got it from. But it was a shirt and it said it's all about me. I actually had a shirt when I was a kid. My dad hated it, but I don't even remember where I got it from. But it was a shirt and it said it's all about me.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Well now, being a, a man, being a father, being a pastor, I understand that life isn't truly full until you start living for someone else. Like my marriage would not be a good, healthy marriage If I only lived for myself. I would not be a good, healthy marriage If I only lived for myself. I would not be a good father If I only live for myself. I would not be a good pastor If I only lived for myself. I could not be a good leader If I only lived for myself.

Speaker 1: 6:35

I had to realize in a very, very abrupt revelation that it being only about me, that's not worth doing, because you'll end up being alone, being completely selfish all of your life. You can take some of the richest people in the world that have rich or wealth, fame, but you put a kid in the mix and they actually care about their child. It changes the way they do things. It changes the way they see things. It does something to you when you live for somebody else. Matter of fact, the Bible says that no greater love can anybody know until they lay down their life for someone else, and that's what Christ did for us.

Speaker 1: 7:26

So I mean, if we want to follow the example of Christ and as Christians we should then we have to understand that, even though it may not be comfortable at the time, it may not be a path that is fun to take, that it always will pay off and it always will be worth it. And that's the point. Like you shouldn't become saved, you shouldn't give your life to Christ and then do nothing else for anybody else and just be all about you. Then you're living in a fraction of what your life could be as far as being fulfilled and being a servant of Christ. And I want you to train.

Speaker 1: 8:05

Train your mind differently when you like this key verse said from Romans when you come into opposition, when you come into a place where it's uncomfortable, you're in a season of your life that, chances are, you have experienced at some point if not hopefully not majority of your life but you experience seasons in your life, times in your life where things are difficult, things are hard, things are not fun. Life is not all fun. It can be enjoyable, but it's not all fun, and I want you to train your mind that for you to have purpose, sometimes you have to have pain. Oftentimes, purpose is produced through the process of pain. Now, if you look over in Genesis, chapter 37, I want you to begin to think this way and think differently about the trials and the tribulations and the struggles and the seasons you go through. Instead of suffering, I want you to think set up Instead of suffering. Think, set up Now. What this will do is it will begin to train your mind to walk in a way of expectancy for God to actually do something. It'll actually fuel your faith to grow and strengthen, instead of being like, oh, woe is me, oh, I just life is so tough, I just can't handle this, this and that you know we get to pity party things and people like to get together and you know, talk about all the struggles I have. I have somebody that's kind of related to me. She always has something that is a one-upper for a struggle or a pain or a medical condition or something. It's like why, why do you have feel like you have to celebrate pain and misery, like to me? That seems very counterintuitive to how I want to live my life. No, thank you.

Speaker 1: 10:05

But look at Genesis 37. We have a few things here, joseph's dream first of all, in chapter 37, all the things that seemingly from the initial set up, it seems like all the things in Joseph's life were bad. So Genesis 37, it looks like it's a roller coaster of bad things, one thing after another, one thing after another, one thing after another, and it seems like Joseph just kept getting the bad end of the deal over and over and over. Yes, he had favor in his father's eyes, but even that seemed to feed into his struggle, his trial, his tribulations that were about to come, being sold into slavery after his brothers wanted to kill him. But he had favor in his I believe his oldest brother's eyes. So he went through betrayal, he went through slavery, he went through false accusations. He even went and spent time in prison. So these things begin to stack up against him in a way that probably you and I have not ever seen firsthand. The same with Job.

Speaker 1: 11:07

Job went through a season of his life where in the middle of his story, job had a servant come and tell him one thing that happened and then, in the middle of that story being told, another servant came. Then, in the middle of that one, another servant came. It was like one thing after another. His wife even said just curse God and die His friends that he depended on, that he loved, that he trusted, came and was like what did you do wrong Then? Blaming him when actually the reason he was going through suffering is because God deemed him worthy and holy. So all these things Job went through, all these things Joseph went through and holy. So all these things Job went through, all these things Joseph went through, actually were because God could trust them to make it through that season.

Speaker 1: 11:54

Sometimes it feels like God is up there just letting bad things happen to us and maybe it could be that he's allowing. He loves you so much that he's allowing your faith to be strengthened. He's allowing for your walk, your maturity or your Christianity to become mature. The only way you do this is through conflict and opposition. Well, he's to that age where he wants to date and you know things like that. And we were talking about love the other day and he said he knew what love was, and I simply said love is not something you feel, love is not a word, you say it's will you stay around when it gets tough and when it gets hard, like that's love? That's how we know God loves us, because we can make things very difficult, and yet God still loves us. We can be very stupid, we can be hateful, we can be downright evil, and yet the Bible says that Christ came and died for us in spite of our evil, and that's pretty amazing.

Speaker 1: 13:00

So first, before we talk about Joseph any further, let's talk about God's faithfulness. Now. Joseph's journey teaches us something very crucial is that God is working, even when we can't see it, and sometimes it may feel like it's working against us, but, as the key scripture we read just a minute ago, it's working against us. We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. If you love the Lord and you are following him. Sometimes you have to follow him into the darkness, sometimes you have to follow him into the drought, sometimes you have to follow him into the desert and sometimes, just like when Jesus, before he started his ministry, after he was baptized by John the Baptist, the dove came down. The voice of God said this is my son, who I'm well pleased. Then it says the spirit led him into the wilderness when he was fasting, to be tempted by the devil.

Speaker 1: 14:02

Just because you come to Christ does not mean that everything is going to be good and everything's going to be rainbows and butterflies. Matter of fact, it's usually the opposite. Now it means that you have to be. You have to be more mature, and the only way you get more mature and you grow in your walk with Christ is there has to be some sort of resistance. If you go to the gym every single day and you look at all the weights that are on the racks and you look at the bench press and you look at the leg press and you look at the treadmill, you're not going to lose weight, you're not going to get stronger, you're not going to slim down, you're not going to beef up, you will not gain anything until you put some resistance against yourself. And the same way with our walk. If we never have any resistance against us, you never know how strong your marriage is until you have resistance in your marriage. You never know how much of a leader you can be until you have some sort of resistance.

Speaker 1: 14:52

For me personally, there was a moment when we first took over this church that there was some serious resistance and when I say resistance there was some death that happened. That to me spiritually, and somebody I love dearly, that I had known for over a year and got very close with them, and I had this spiritual awakening inside of me because it was such resistance on me. It was a moment for me to gain some sort of leadership, strength, knowledge and wisdom that I didn't even know that I had, and it caused me to be forced, because the church was mine. It caused me to be forced into becoming a leader that otherwise would not have come out of me or would have taken much longer to come out of me, and I would not be who I am today in this place, right now the leader that I am, the wisdom that I have, the knowledge I have if I did not have to go through some serious resistance in the first part of the ministry here in Longview.

Speaker 1: 15:47

So don't run from resistance. Matter of fact. You should be willing to receive it with a glad heart. Receive it with a glad heart. So Joseph's brothers in Genesis 37, 28,. They sell him. But that's not the end. How many of you feel like you've been sold out? You feel like you've been betrayed? Don't take where you are right now as where you have to stay. Understand that if you follow God, if you love God, even the steps in the direction that feels the darkest, feels the loneliest, feels the hardest. If your steps are ordered by God, if you are righteous in God's sight, covered in Christ, your steps are ordered by God. You will take steps that feel in the moment hard, could possibly even feel like it's in the wrong direction, but I guarantee you if you are following the will of the Lord, you're staying in his word, you have a prayer life with him.

Speaker 1: 16:48

You are fasting week. I invite you to fast at least once a week. I do it myself. I'm not telling you to do anything I don't do. I do it myself because I want to remain faithful, spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally and put my flesh in check at least once a week, and about a week or two ago I haven't done it yet, but I've been thinking about well, put my flesh in check twice a week, is that bad? Three times a week, I mean, can I? How many times is too much to put your flesh in check? Think about when you put it in those terms. It changes the way you see it. So Genesis 37, 28,.

Speaker 1: 17:30

He was sold, and Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. After he was saved from being killed, one of his brothers stood up for him. They thought he brought to the table. Hey, we can make some money instead of just ending his life. Let's make some money off the deal. He was brought into Potiphar's house and even put into prison. God's favor still does not leave Joseph. So it's the same as we read in Psalm 105. Look with me if you will. It's on your screen. Take a screenshot if you need to. Psalm 105, 17 and 19.

Speaker 1: 18:05

Then he sent someone to Egypt, ahead of them Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar Until the time came to fulfill his dreams. The Lord tested Joseph's character. Make no mistake, when you say you have character or you're trying to be mature in the way of character, your character will become challenged. Now, why did Joseph have to go through this? Because in Genesis 41, you see these steps and this is think about this. We're reading this story outside of a Joseph story, like we weren were getting the full picture. You probably know the story. He's living this in real time, like this is not something that he's just reading in a book and can see the outcome. He's just living life day by day, like we do now.

Speaker 1: 19:01

43, pharaoh said to Joseph I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck and boy, that's some bling. Verse 43, then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second in command and whereveroseph went, the command was shouted kneel down. Do you remember joseph's dream? So pharaoh put joseph in charge of all egypt. Now this is a great end to his story. But it took a process and years for this to unfold.

Speaker 1: 19:47

From this, from having a dream telling his brothers. Some people and I've thought this way too like maybe Joseph just should have shut up and not say anything to his brothers. But if he didn't say anything to his brothers, it's almost like God knew exactly what Joseph would do. Sorry, I didn't put the scripture on the screen. Uh, what Joseph would do. Sorry, I didn't put the scripture on the screen. What Joseph would do. And he gave the dream to the right person and what did it do? It started an echo, a ripple effect, if you will, throughout Joseph's life. That got him to a place of now he is in power, where everywhere he goes, it is announced kneel down.

Speaker 1: 20:30

So your pain, your struggle is just the process that it takes to bring out your true purpose. And I'll say it again, it's not about you. Now let's go a step further. It's not just about you. It's bigger than you. It is bigger than you. Your purpose is bigger than just you.

Speaker 1: 21:03

A lot of us get so focused on our little blip of life right here, this little dot on a timeline. Lot of us get so focused on our little blip of life right here, this little dot on a timeline, and we only are concerned about ourselves, so much so that we end up. Everything that we do surrounds ourself and our family, but God has called us to be bigger than that. Our God is bigger than that. His vision for us is bigger than that. His purpose is bigger than that for us. His vision for us is bigger than that. His purpose is bigger than that for us.

Speaker 1: 21:31

This path that Joseph took, that he had to walk, was not just for him. But then, if you think about the dream that he had where his brothers and his mom and dad came and kneeled down before him, this whole process wasn't just about him. It actually came full circle around. And look what Joseph says here. So this is God's strategy to save the nation was through. This process Joseph had to go through. Are you hearing me? Listen? I've been there. I've done it multiple times.

Speaker 1: 22:06

I'm telling you it is so hard when you're in the middle of a season that is a. It seems like there is constant struggle all the time. You don't know what is going on, you don't know why you're there, but I'm telling you there is always a purpose, even if it's just for one conversation. You never know what one seed plant, the kind of harvest it can bring. Genesis 50, 20, when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers Genesis 50, 20. I think I got that up here for you, yep. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. Your pain, your struggle is just the process to bring out your purpose. Your pain, and this process is not just for you, it's for others as well.

Speaker 1: 23:04

Matter of fact, in Revelations, john the Revelator tells us that the way we become overcomers, he gives this kind of remedy, or this process, ingredients, if you will, to be overcomers. He says one, it's the blood of the lamb, and number two is the word of your testimony. Now, you can't have a testimony without going through a test. You cannot have a victory dance until you go through some struggles, trials and tribulations. You cannot, it's impossible. They're not just for you. It's about the common good, the greater good. It's about the fellowship with believers.

Speaker 1: 23:55

Even spiritual gifts mentioned throughout the New Testament. Every single time it's mentioned, it is encompassed with this, like if you throw them all in a basket, the basket is, it is for everybody. Pass them out, share them, encourage each other, lift each other up. Like there, there is a reason for the gifts, both natural and spiritual, that God has given you, and it's not about you, it's not about how good you can look in front of everybody else.

Speaker 1: 24:23

I know somebody who is so gifted they have, they have such a great gift. Somebody who is so gifted they have, they have such a great gift. And all they talk about is how good of a gift they have, they, they. They try to frame it up as how God gave it to them, and it's true. But they always, always, always, talk about how amazing they are all the time and how good they are all the time. And they won't see it this way and I don't think I could ever tell them this and they won't see it this way and I don't think I could ever tell them this. But that is so prideful, like the way they frame it up. It makes every conversation about them and God's going to have the Spirit's going to have to reveal that to them. God's going to have to show that to them because I have tried and it's just. Pride has so consumed them and I get it. When you're good at something, it's hard to not be prideful, but God's going to have to do a work and but this is a constant reminder to me to, no matter how good I get at something, to always point things back to God, to always make sure that I am constantly being mindful of my attitude, my posture, my, my presence, of how I handle people, how I talk to people.

Speaker 1: 25:32

Because, well, if you read any, the book of Corinthians, first or second, paul's writing the church because they have taken the gifts of the Holy Spirit and use For their own personal gain and gratification. And it's very easy to do Because we wear it. We do this with salvation. You can't earn salvation. You can't do anything to earn another minute in heaven. You can't do anything to earn God's grace and mercy. It's something he freely gives. But how often do we wear these things as a badge of honor, like we have done it, and we we rob ourselves of the blessing of humility because we take it on as if we have done it and we make it all about us, all about us. So look over in first Peter four, 10,.

Speaker 1: 26:27

This echoes the same words God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. He does not say, hey, take these gifts so that you can serve yourself. We are called to serve each other, even and more specifically, with intentional interaction with each other, even the people we don't like. Some of us it's really hard to interact with people we don't like and when you do that, you make it all about yourself. You 100% make it all about yourself. You make it all about yourself. You 100% make it all about yourself. This verse is a call to serve others with whatever we have. This is where your story intersects with something bigger than yourself. God will not use you if you're not willing to step out of your comfort zone and offer yourself to his plan for your life.

Speaker 1: 27:34

I've been saying this a lot to my congregation lately. Like you've got to give everything you are to God. If you're doing 99% disobedience, you're still doing 100% disobedience. Like if you're 99% doing what God wants you to do, you're still being a hundred percent disobedient. That means that you're holding something back from God and you haven't given him everything. And I don't want to do that. You shouldn't want to do that. As a believer, you should not want to do that. You should want to, in every capacity, in every way that you can give your life, give everything that you are over to God.

Speaker 1: 28:14

I've changed my phrasing when I give an altar call every single Sunday for people that don't know Christ, and I used to say give your heart to Jesus. It's a very common saying, but I kind of felt like maybe a spiritual correction a couple of weeks ago. They're like we shouldn't just want to give our heart, not a piece. I want to give my life to God. I want to give my life to Jesus. I want everything, I am everything. I have to be God's.

Speaker 1: 28:40

So let's end this with this. What are you going through? So I want you to hear me on this. If you want to comment below and share with the subscribers, or you can go to the Faith and Failures Facebook group. We've got about 700, 800 people in there. But what are you going through? And the thing that you're going through right now I want you to remember this and I want you to internalize this that you're going through right now. I want you to remember this and I want you to internalize this.

Speaker 1: 29:09

Whatever you're facing right now, whatever pit that you're in, whatever way you've been sold out, whatever way you feel like you've been abandoned, I want to say it so clearly to you today it's not about you that there is a greater work happening behind the scenes that you can't even imagine Joseph never would have imagined he would have ended up in Egypt, just like David when he was in the field tending his father's sheep, never would have imagined that he would have been king over a nation. But God sees the faithful and God sees the potential in you. How do I know that? Because he saw it in me, and I'm nothing. I'm the scum of the earth. There's no reason why I should be allowed to have a microphone and tell anybody at all what the word of God says. I have not earned that right in the slightest. I don't know why God chose me, but for some reason he did. And that was one of the hardest things for me to wrap my head around was that I'm so unworthy, I'm so dirty, I'm so filthy, dirty, I'm so filthy, but yet for some reason he chose me to deliver his word, something so holy and so above anything that I could ever be. He chose me to deliver it. And then he gave me the burden for the podcast, and I'm just like Lord, why I don't understand, and as clear as day, he just planted it in my head, in my heart, on my mind. It's not about you. You just do what I've called you to do and love people.

Speaker 1: 31:07

Look at Philippians, chapter 2, 3 and 4. Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out for only your own interests, but take an interest in others too.

Speaker 1: 31:27

This isn't a suggestion for the believer, it is a mandate Value others. Look beyond your situation and see how God wants to use you for something greater. So we have to, as believers, we have to make a choice. Are we going to let our circumstances dictate our service towards others, or are we willing to completely surrender to God All the good, all the bad and everything in between? Are we going to live a life of being self-centered, of being self-centered, or are we going to rise and recognize that our lives are instruments in the hands of God, who is orchestrating something far beyond our wildest dreams?

Speaker 1: 32:20

Joseph's story is not just some nice little Bible fairy tale. It is a mirror reflecting the potential of God's power in our lives, when we begin to realize that it's not about us, that God has a greater purpose and a greater plan for all of us in our lives. Well, thank you so much for joining me today and, uh, I love you and I'm praying for you. And if you would please hit that like button, that subscribe button, and hit the bell notification next to subscribe, so that you can see every time I put out a new video. Thank you, and I'll see you on the next one, faith and Failures Podcast.