Days of Difficulty

I can tell you for sure, we're in the last days. The day Jesus walked out of the tomb, we were in the last days. Hebrews says, right, when we went through Hebrews, you might remember after God spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets and many portions in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son. At the day of Pentecost, Peter says, hey, these guys aren't drunk. They're not drunk with wine. But in these last days, God is revealed as Joel said, in the last days, he's gonna be reveal his spirit and pour it out on all. [00:03:13] (36 seconds)  #LastDaysSpirit

Someone asked Jesus. Right? Well, who's my neighbor? Trying to trying to get off the trying to get off the the horn of a dilemma there. Who's my neighbor? And you might remember there is some story about this, the, good Samaritan. Right? Who was the neighbor to that Samaritan? Well, the one that helped him. And so many people in this room demonstrate their faithfulness to Christ loving their neighbor as they love themselves. And we're all blessed by it, [00:10:28] (39 seconds)  #LoveYourNeighborLikeJesus

the first one you come across is difficulty. Days of difficulty. This isn't just a a regular challenge for the day. This isn't a flat tire. This isn't, being late for an appointment. This is a difficulty in the same sense as if you remember the Gadarean demoniacs. Those guys running around in the in the hills and in the, in the tombs and they couldn't the the the their neighbors couldn't control them. They put chains on them. They'd break them loose cause they're full they were completely demon possessed, [00:04:42] (33 seconds)  #DaysOfDifficulty

In in that time frame, the the, cause celeb was to get yourself some higher esteem. You got if you're really gonna try to love somebody else, you gotta love yourself first. You gotta build up your self esteem and talk to yourself and and and reaffirm yourself. And so much so, it became somewhat of a joke in culture. Maybe some of you remember that I am good enough. I'm smart enough, and doggone it. People love me. And, if you these guys don't know, but you can look it up later. [00:05:55] (38 seconds)  #SelfEsteemCulture

And one of the fun things you can do in your bible study when you come across a section of scripture like this with 19 different descriptions is take a look at each one and there's things online you can ask me about it or ask Aaron and you can you can make a list and cross reference all these and find and find where they're used to other places. And at the end of the day, it is somewhat edifying to to look at each of these each of these, each of these, descriptions and characteristics of proud, arrogant, abusive and see where see how it's used in scripture. [00:03:56] (43 seconds)  #StudyScriptureDeeply

But Jesus and Jude both said, you gotta love the lord, and you gotta love your neighbor as yourself. And when it comes to loving your neighbor as yourself, Jesus assumes, rightly, that we all love ourselves. If you're hungry, you're gonna find a way to eat. And if you're thirsty, you're gonna find a way to get something to drink. And if you and if you wanna be entertained, you're gonna be you're gonna find a way to make yourself happy even in the most depressing ways you may try. But Jesus says, [00:08:37] (37 seconds)  #LoveGodLoveNeighbor

don't love yourself more. Don't think down upon yourself and then you can sort of love other people. And also said, don't try to build yourself up because somehow your outflow will will flow over. And he says, love your neighbor in the same way that you already love yourself. In the second not not in this not doing the same things, but in the same way, the same energy you put into loving yourself, the same motivation you have for loving yourself, the same capacity you have for loving yourself, you need to love others. And the the neat thing about being in a church like ICC and [00:09:14] (42 seconds)  #LoveNeighborAsYourself

You remember when we're going through the book of Romans maybe in chapter 13, Paul says, what is it? The great commandment. Right? Love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul, strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. in in in that is the grand challenge. How are you gonna love god? You're love your neighbor as yourself. there's two other guys in the New Testament that references. They happen to be brothers who'd be at here, you can do that for extra credit. [00:07:55] (39 seconds)  #GreatCommandmentChallenge