Joy Through Selfless Living

Now, a lot of times we take this this this verse out of context, you know, and we forget what he's talking about in this situation. If if we're gonna say this, we gotta also be content whether well fed or not. You know? If we're gonna say this, then we gotta realize that we might not find ourselves in the best situations. But here's what he's saying. He's saying, regardless of what situation I find myself in, I can do all things that God wants me to do through Christ who gives me strength. [00:51:52] (32 seconds)  #contentThroughChrist

I don't know about you, but if I was in his situation, I'd probably just be on hold. I I probably thinking, I got when I get out of here, you know, don't we do that, by the way? Don't we come up with these idealistic situations and we wait until that ideal happens, that situation happens that we have in our mind that'd be the perfect situation to start doing something? You know, and and in the meantime, we're just kind of on hold and wait, and taking a back seat, but Paul is not doing that. Matter of fact, we wouldn't have this letter today if it was the if that was the case. [00:35:34] (29 seconds)  #dontWaitForPerfect

We don't see much dividends in this life, but there are dividends that will last. There are dividends that it doesn't matter what the stock market does. It doesn't matter about inflation. When we invest in the eternal and the things of heaven and people's lives, they pay dividends. If we're looking at to have joy through selfless living, we need to, as we've already said, look beyond ourselves. We need to learn to be content, and the next thing on your sheet, we'll put it on the screen. I can have joy when I invest in the eternal, when I invest in the eternal. [00:57:43] (44 seconds)  #investInEternal

There's a feeling of vulnerability sometimes when we let go, meaning, I'm not gonna try any longer to fix this. I'm not gonna try any longer to come up with a solution. I'm not gonna try any longer and what and and don't don't get me wrong. This doesn't mean don't do anything, But what it means is I'm handing over the Lord, let Him have the outcome. Let Him come up with the solution. And I'm gonna follow Him as He guides me in that. And I'm gonna be content with whatever He decides. [00:49:03] (35 seconds)  #surrenderAndTrust

Guys, we're all ministers, and that doesn't just take place within the four walls of the church. Wherever we are in the world, we've got a map downstairs of Madison County, and we we put markers on there where we live, work, and play. And those are our platforms, if you will. Those are the areas of influence we have. And how can we use those? How can we serve the Lord through those? Those opportunities He's given us, and be passionate about serving the Lord. Be passionate about doing what He's called us to do. Be passionate about getting the word out, and building making disciples. [01:03:47] (37 seconds)  #ministersEverywhere

Contentment doesn't mean that you become complacent either. Complacency is one of the problems that we have, and I call it our spiritual lazy boy. You know? We like to, you know, just get into a situation, a place that we feel comfortable. And I kind of like it like this. I've had churches before, I've talked to them before, and they say, I like my little church. I like it small like it is. And I'm like, that's great. But you know what that also means is that we're not reaching out to people. [00:49:38] (29 seconds)  #contentNotComplacent

You know, we'll come up here and we'll pray and we'll say, god, I wanna give you these problems. I wanna take these problems to you, and then we go back to our seats and we carry it with us. You know? It's more like show and tell. We're we're just kinda showing and telling God all about our problems, and God and I'll even prescribe you, listen, I've already got the answer, God. If you'll just do this right here. If you'll just making it easy for you. You know? Isn't that what we do? But we gotta truly just lay it at his feet. [00:48:00] (30 seconds)  #trulyLayItDown

to doing the things that God has called us to do, and then kingdom work. Paul says that when we give to the Lord by allowing us allowing him to use us, the dividends are paid in heaven where they are secure and will last for eternity. And don't limit that to just money, by the way. We're not talking about just money here. Again, it's it's it should encompass everything. What do we have? What has God already entrusted us with? [00:59:19] (29 seconds)  #eternalDividends

Guys, we're all ministers, and that doesn't just take place within the four walls of the church. Wherever we are in the world, we've got a map downstairs of Madison County, and we we put markers on there where we live, work, and play. And those are our platforms, if you will. Those are the areas of influence we have. And how can we use those? How can we serve the Lord through those? Those opportunities He's given us, and be passionate about serving the Lord. Be passionate about doing what He's called us to do. Be passionate about getting the word out, and building making disciples. And and and specifically within our church, you know, there are always needs. [01:03:46] (41 seconds)