WEBVTT 00:00.031 --> 00:04.861 [SPEAKER_00]: You are listening to Blessed and Boston, presented by Anchored Media. 00:05.483 --> 00:11.516 [SPEAKER_00]: In entrepreneurship podcasts for Christians all about how to make God the CEO of your business. 00:12.157 --> 00:19.693 [SPEAKER_00]: Get ready to be inspired, challenged, but well equipped to live and build your destiny his way. 00:27.318 --> 00:31.726 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of The Blessed Embossed Up Podcast. 00:31.746 --> 00:41.805 [SPEAKER_00]: Today is a bonus episode where we are picking back up our book club pick that we put a pause on around the Q4 of last year. 00:42.006 --> 00:45.512 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you guys know I started law school and had a new baby. 00:45.552 --> 00:48.077 [SPEAKER_00]: There were so many readings for 00:48.057 --> 01:01.017 [SPEAKER_00]: school and I was getting adjusted still to be in a mother three breastfeeding but also attending school full-time all the things and I needed to put a pause on reading for extra curriculars. 01:01.197 --> 01:09.390 [SPEAKER_00]: I had to figure out how to heck the read a case however I did want us to complete this book. 01:09.370 --> 01:15.983 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about y'all, but there have been a lot of times in my life where I have gotten books and I've read it or started to read it. 01:16.384 --> 01:25.202 [SPEAKER_00]: Wanted to dive into it for whatever reason, get to like maybe chapter three tops and then the book just sits and it's never completed. 01:25.182 --> 01:27.365 [SPEAKER_00]: how many y'all got books that you never completed. 01:27.826 --> 01:36.717 [SPEAKER_00]: And so even though I have read this book before, I still wanted to complete it and also for us to complete it together here on the podcast. 01:37.258 --> 01:46.330 [SPEAKER_00]: If you are new here and you weren't a part of the book club before, I'm going to put all of the previous episodes into the show notes. 01:46.310 --> 01:50.399 [SPEAKER_00]: And the title of the book is Charles Stanley the spirit-filled life. 01:50.560 --> 01:57.315 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to read the summary so that we could all be refreshed and the link of the book is going to be in the show notes as well. 01:58.105 --> 02:04.117 [SPEAKER_00]: So the summary says, a wise, measured, and deeply passionate invitation to the spirit-filled life. 02:04.919 --> 02:08.826 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you trying your best to be a good Christian, but still feels something's missing? 02:09.407 --> 02:12.794 [SPEAKER_00]: Does the peace enjoy you long-foreseen to elude you? 02:13.435 --> 02:19.287 [SPEAKER_00]: Can follow and Christ sometimes feel like a lot of work or like it's not working very well? 02:19.267 --> 02:25.201 [SPEAKER_00]: much has been written about the Holy Spirit and what it means to have him as an active part of your life. 02:25.823 --> 02:36.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Dr. Charles Stanley custom the confusion and teaches the truth about the third person of the Trinity who was as real and active as God the Father and Christ the Son. 02:36.428 --> 02:50.633 [SPEAKER_00]: Through personal stories, biblical explorations and insightful explanations, Dr. Stanley helps you discover who the spirit is and how to develop a relationship with him, who the spirit isn't and how to avoid damaging misconceptions. 02:51.274 --> 02:59.128 [SPEAKER_00]: How being filled with the spirit actually works, what the Bible really teaches about spiritual science such as speaking in tongues, 02:59.108 --> 03:04.184 [SPEAKER_00]: how the spirit can increase your capacity for hope, love, and personal transformation. 03:04.986 --> 03:12.831 [SPEAKER_00]: What it means to hear the spirit's voice, how to make the most of your unique spiritual gifting to build up Christ's body. 03:12.980 --> 03:20.469 [SPEAKER_00]: And what happens when the Spirit's power is unleashed in your workplace, your family, your friendships, and every other area of your life. 03:21.290 --> 03:26.056 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't settle for an ordinary life that lacks power, joy, and meaning. 03:26.716 --> 03:30.601 [SPEAKER_00]: Live the mighty and victorious Christian life that you are created to enjoy. 03:30.641 --> 03:37.209 [SPEAKER_00]: Discover the Spirit-filled life and the gift and the great gift the Father has given you in His Holy Spirit. 03:37.769 --> 03:39.932 [SPEAKER_00]: So the link for you to grab the book. 03:39.912 --> 03:45.902 [SPEAKER_00]: is in the show notes as well as the link for all the other chapters that we have discussed. 03:45.922 --> 03:55.879 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're on the fence about getting the book, I encourage you to this is one of my top three Christian books of all time is one that I feel like we should reread regularly. 03:55.859 --> 04:02.167 [SPEAKER_00]: I would even say around this time at this top of the year, this is a book that you should get and read. 04:02.207 --> 04:10.558 [SPEAKER_00]: If getting closer to the Lord, if living a more spirit-filled life is a part of your 2026 goals, get this book. 04:11.419 --> 04:23.655 [SPEAKER_00]: If growing in your faith, if being a better Christian, if growing in your understanding of the word, getting closer to the Lord is on your list of goals for this year, you need this book. 04:23.635 --> 04:30.150 [SPEAKER_00]: So here's how the remaining episodes of this book club pick is going to go because I already know the next book that I want us to read. 04:30.191 --> 04:36.325 [SPEAKER_00]: And once I confirm a couple of things, I will let you know on the next episode. 04:37.087 --> 04:39.653 [SPEAKER_00]: But the book is broken up into three parts. 04:39.633 --> 04:48.184 [SPEAKER_00]: Part one is called looking up part two is called looking within and part three is called looking ahead. 04:48.965 --> 05:00.780 [SPEAKER_00]: So far we have gone over chapters one through ten and we'll pick up this episode on chapters 11 and 12 and then that will allow us to complete part one of the book. 05:00.760 --> 05:10.710 [SPEAKER_00]: Then we're only going to have two more episodes before I was doing like a chapter in episode, but because we've had a little break and I think it's time for us to wrap it up and move once at the next book. 05:11.370 --> 05:15.414 [SPEAKER_00]: I am going to discuss multiple chapters within an episode. 05:15.474 --> 05:18.457 [SPEAKER_00]: So we got two more and part one and that'll be today. 05:18.477 --> 05:25.925 [SPEAKER_00]: We will do the first three chapters of part three in the next bonus episode and then there are three more chapters after that. 05:25.965 --> 05:26.245 [SPEAKER_00]: And 05:26.225 --> 05:29.311 [SPEAKER_00]: and the following bonus episode and then that's it. 05:29.651 --> 05:32.356 [SPEAKER_00]: We will move on to our next book. 05:32.376 --> 05:36.043 [SPEAKER_00]: And honestly this episode is really going to be based off of chapter 11. 05:36.103 --> 05:46.902 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like chapter 12 which is about being baptized with the Holy Spirit and debunking a lot of the misconceptions is extremely repetitive of what the whole first part of your book was about. 05:47.083 --> 05:49.988 [SPEAKER_00]: So I personally don't see how different 05:49.968 --> 05:52.773 [SPEAKER_00]: chapter 12 is from the first part. 05:53.213 --> 06:01.387 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not even going to review it or discuss it just because it just feels repetitive and we've talked about it a lot. 06:02.188 --> 06:10.322 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to focus in today on chapter 11 which says which is title doing God's work, God's way. 06:10.302 --> 06:15.572 [SPEAKER_00]: He starts out by referring to the story of Sarah Babble that we see in Zachariah. 06:16.113 --> 06:23.907 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, Sarah Babble was a man called by God to do an important job, namely finished rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem. 06:24.427 --> 06:34.167 [SPEAKER_00]: A group of Israelites, including Zaire Babel, had been released from captivity in Babylon and allowed to return home to accomplished a monumental task. 06:34.187 --> 06:37.714 [SPEAKER_00]: They ran into some opposition, however, and abandoned the project. 06:38.215 --> 06:40.179 [SPEAKER_00]: For 15 years, no work was done. 06:40.219 --> 06:45.490 [SPEAKER_00]: Then God spoke specifically through the prophet Zachariah to Zaire Babel. 06:45.470 --> 06:48.457 [SPEAKER_00]: and gave him the responsibility of completing the work. 06:49.218 --> 06:57.657 [SPEAKER_00]: God knew that Zara Babu and his team liked their predecessors would face opposition to prepare them for what lay ahead. 06:57.677 --> 07:02.668 [SPEAKER_00]: He gave specific instructions to Zara Babu through the prophet. 07:02.648 --> 07:05.352 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is can be found as Akariah 4-5-7. 07:05.572 --> 07:13.003 [SPEAKER_00]: It says, so the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, do you not know what these are? 07:13.043 --> 07:24.960 [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, no, my Lord, then he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zara Babel saying, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 07:24.940 --> 07:34.456 [SPEAKER_00]: What are you, O Great Mountain, before Zara Babble, you will become a plane, and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of grace, grace to it. 07:35.398 --> 07:39.204 [SPEAKER_00]: That was God's way of saying to Zara Babble, the work can be completed. 07:39.685 --> 07:45.615 [SPEAKER_00]: There are no immovable obstacles, and when it's finished, there will be great celebration. 07:45.595 --> 07:49.140 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm glad that this chapter started with this scripture. 07:49.201 --> 08:12.717 [SPEAKER_00]: This is one of my favorite scriptures and one that I recite out loud often to myself as I go through life and doing it the Lord's way is whenever I face any type of obstacle, objection, a roadblock, whatever the case may be, I remind myself, it is not by my might, it is not by my power. 08:12.697 --> 08:25.575 [SPEAKER_00]: That I'm going to overcome this that I'm going to accomplish this, but it is by the spirit of God and it is a reminder to myself that I am not building this business or doing life 08:25.876 --> 08:26.477 [SPEAKER_00]: my way. 08:27.078 --> 08:28.100 [SPEAKER_00]: It's his way. 08:28.701 --> 08:34.731 [SPEAKER_00]: And it provides a level of comfort, relief, and it brings the correct perspective and focus. 08:35.252 --> 08:38.077 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's so great that we're doing this at the top of the year. 08:38.157 --> 08:41.122 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't plan that this chapter was going to be at this time. 08:41.162 --> 08:45.049 [SPEAKER_00]: This came only be the Lord that we're picking this up now. 08:45.029 --> 09:12.268 [SPEAKER_00]: However, I want you to keep that same mindset as you think about your goals for 2026, the things you're believing in God for, the things that may be on your vision board, what you have written down to do and your business and your life and work, remind yourself and actually put this text or this scripture on your vision board on all the places that these 09:12.248 --> 09:20.802 [SPEAKER_00]: to remind yourself that whatever it is, it is not by your might, it is not by your power, but it is by his spirit. 09:21.463 --> 09:25.510 [SPEAKER_00]: And there will be a lot of temptation for us to do it in our might in our power. 09:25.850 --> 09:30.578 [SPEAKER_00]: There will be a lot of problems that will come up that we want to solve in our might in our power. 09:30.558 --> 09:33.002 [SPEAKER_00]: but self-sufficiency is the opposition. 09:33.282 --> 09:42.756 [SPEAKER_00]: So anytime that we feel like we can then go and do something ourselves and be in control, that is a reminder that your focus needs to be, first that we should repent. 09:43.076 --> 09:48.464 [SPEAKER_00]: And secondly, that your focus needs to be shifted to what really matters and who is really in control. 09:50.528 --> 10:00.362 [SPEAKER_00]: I highlighted, especially here, where Charles Stanley said, 10:00.899 --> 10:07.247 [SPEAKER_00]: So to prepare them for what lay ahead, he sent instructions through the prophet. 10:07.582 --> 10:10.645 [SPEAKER_00]: God knew and so God prepared. 10:11.605 --> 10:13.607 [SPEAKER_00]: God didn't eliminate the opposition. 10:14.688 --> 10:29.421 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is where a lot of us get stuck where we're building these businesses and we knew that the Lord called us to it and we faced some type of struggle that we start the question, why God, why me, why am I not getting the clients? 10:29.501 --> 10:37.588 [SPEAKER_00]: Why am I videos, I'm not getting viewed, why is my podcast not getting listened to, 10:37.568 --> 10:42.016 [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm putting in all this effort and I'm doing it for you and I'm not getting the results. 10:42.196 --> 10:42.617 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 10:42.798 --> 10:43.218 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 10:43.359 --> 10:43.779 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 10:43.819 --> 10:54.379 [SPEAKER_00]: This text for me as a reminder that we may not ever know the why and focusing on the why is a waste of time. 10:54.679 --> 10:59.408 [SPEAKER_00]: Quite frankly, we just need to understand that God knows 11:00.333 --> 11:04.777 [SPEAKER_00]: that we will face opposition, some of it self-imposed, but that's all another podcast. 11:05.918 --> 11:11.523 [SPEAKER_00]: God knows when we will face opposition, and He will prepare us for it. 11:12.504 --> 11:14.766 [SPEAKER_00]: We have the benefit of His Word. 11:15.066 --> 11:19.771 [SPEAKER_00]: So we have so many ways in which we are prepared based on what the Bible says. 11:19.811 --> 11:25.796 [SPEAKER_00]: And on top of having the Word of God, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who will also prepare us. 11:26.416 --> 11:30.340 [SPEAKER_00]: So as you go about building and doing the things this year, 11:30.320 --> 11:43.480 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember that when opposition comes, when disappointment comes, don't put yourself in a position where you're stewing over why and stewing over the disappointment. 11:44.081 --> 11:48.507 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep top of mind that God knows and that God will prepare you. 11:49.349 --> 11:50.370 [SPEAKER_00]: Simple. 11:50.468 --> 11:58.640 [SPEAKER_00]: And if God chooses not to forewarn you as he did in this text, he will still be with you. 11:58.660 --> 12:01.284 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is something to celebrate as well. 12:01.925 --> 12:15.244 [SPEAKER_00]: So wherever you have your goals and things written for the new year and your business plans, everything, write Zachariah for 5-7 to remind yourself to go back to this text and be encouraged. 12:15.224 --> 12:26.416 [SPEAKER_00]: The author then brings up Colossians 3, 23, through 24, which says whatever you do do work hardly as for the Lord rather than for men. 12:27.657 --> 12:31.582 [SPEAKER_00]: Knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. 12:31.982 --> 12:34.465 [SPEAKER_00]: It is the Lord Jesus Christ that you serve. 12:35.126 --> 12:38.329 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, that's Colossians 3, 23, through 24. 12:38.900 --> 12:47.471 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul who wrote this defined the Lord's work as whatever you do, because we are servants of God, everything we do is consider part of that service. 12:47.892 --> 12:51.717 [SPEAKER_00]: God makes no distinction between what is religious and what is secular. 12:52.298 --> 12:56.183 [SPEAKER_00]: We are to consider Him our employer regardless of our place of employment. 12:56.844 --> 13:00.148 [SPEAKER_00]: Just as our earthly employers pay us a wage, 13:00.128 --> 13:02.334 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul said, God will as well. 13:03.057 --> 13:09.054 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul went on to say that our eternal reward is in some way tied to our performance when our jobs. 13:09.134 --> 13:12.484 [SPEAKER_00]: And we've talked about that plenty of times on the podcast. 13:13.358 --> 13:19.346 [SPEAKER_00]: He also says, isn't it true that we all need the Holy Spirit to help us fulfill our vocational responsibilities? 13:20.088 --> 13:23.492 [SPEAKER_00]: Every time we pray for someone who is about to have surgery, what do we pray? 13:24.013 --> 13:25.736 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, God, the hands of the surgeon. 13:26.236 --> 13:28.379 [SPEAKER_00]: When a woman loses a job, how do we pray? 13:28.920 --> 13:32.886 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, provide her with the job of your choice where she can be used to glorify you. 13:33.587 --> 13:37.392 [SPEAKER_00]: A salesman who has the opportunity to open a large account, 13:37.372 --> 13:39.594 [SPEAKER_00]: will likely request prayers for wisdom. 13:40.154 --> 13:47.521 [SPEAKER_00]: When Christians do an exceptional job in their lines of work, there was always an opportunity for them to share the glory with God. 13:47.561 --> 13:53.166 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought this was an important point because there are so many types of businesses, right? 13:53.206 --> 13:55.948 [SPEAKER_00]: The show is for people who are entrepreneurs. 13:56.368 --> 13:59.131 [SPEAKER_00]: There are so many different types of businesses that you can start. 13:59.531 --> 14:03.114 [SPEAKER_00]: Some where your faith can be more loud and free. 14:03.174 --> 14:07.378 [SPEAKER_00]: Others where you have to be more discreet. 14:07.358 --> 14:08.420 [SPEAKER_00]: education. 14:08.520 --> 14:14.070 [SPEAKER_00]: You may not be able to pray or talk about scripture in that environment. 14:14.450 --> 14:26.852 [SPEAKER_00]: If you work somewhere else that's a bit more secular or corporate, you're not able to be as freely about your beliefs as in other places that may be more skewed towards ministry. 14:26.832 --> 14:33.238 [SPEAKER_00]: where it's easy for you to just talk freely about Scripture, about the Holy Spirit and all the things. 14:33.258 --> 14:44.930 [SPEAKER_00]: And I read this excerpt because he talked about how whatever it is that you do, there's always an opportunity to share the glory with God. 14:45.490 --> 14:50.095 [SPEAKER_00]: I always use Chick-fil-A as an example because Chick-fil-A isn't. 14:50.215 --> 14:51.276 [SPEAKER_00]: They are a Christian company. 14:51.296 --> 14:53.498 [SPEAKER_00]: They're known to be a Christian company. 14:53.478 --> 15:00.149 [SPEAKER_00]: And they're obvious ways that they ought to close on Sundays, things that at nature, but they're not overtly churchy. 15:00.249 --> 15:04.737 [SPEAKER_00]: There aren't scriptures on the bags or anything like that. 15:05.137 --> 15:14.473 [SPEAKER_00]: But the way in which they show and glorify the Lord is through a reputation of excellent excellent customer service, treating God's people well. 15:14.453 --> 15:26.146 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever you go into the place, there's worship music playing, usually the instrumentals, so you don't hear the words, but if you listen to gospel and contemporary Christian music, you'll recognize the songs. 15:26.727 --> 15:39.921 [SPEAKER_00]: There are people that I know who work in the medical field, who are Christian, and they always pray before going in to see a patient and they ask the Holy Spirit to use them beyond their medical expertise. 15:39.901 --> 15:54.772 [SPEAKER_00]: and that has led them to being able to identify diagnoses that have been overlooked by other professionals that allows them to speak with the patient and connect with the patient to where the patient feels seen and heard and valued. 15:54.792 --> 15:58.399 [SPEAKER_00]: That's how they glorify God in what they do. 15:58.666 --> 16:10.376 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a professor who I know was a believer based upon just researching, she's the head of the Christian Legal Society or the advisor of the Christian Legal Society at my school. 16:10.857 --> 16:27.812 [SPEAKER_00]: That's all I connected that she was a Christian, but outside of that there's something special about the way in which she teaches that I believe is an indicator that she is a believer as well. 16:27.792 --> 16:37.665 [SPEAKER_00]: Grace, joy, and love for us as individual students that I believe is driven by her beliefs. 16:37.885 --> 16:38.786 [SPEAKER_00]: And they stand out. 16:39.307 --> 16:41.069 [SPEAKER_00]: She is obviously a life. 16:41.810 --> 16:49.280 [SPEAKER_00]: And I recognize this before I even realize that she's a believer, but she's never once told us her beliefs in class. 16:49.660 --> 16:55.588 [SPEAKER_00]: And so that her disposition 16:55.568 --> 16:57.270 [SPEAKER_00]: glorifies the Lord. 16:57.771 --> 17:03.759 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I want you to keep this in mind if you struggle with how do I show up at my job? 17:03.799 --> 17:09.968 [SPEAKER_00]: How do I build this business that isn't quote unquote churchy in a way that glorifies God? 17:10.548 --> 17:19.180 [SPEAKER_00]: You can still do that and you do it by simply living in a way that is dependent 17:19.160 --> 17:30.520 [SPEAKER_00]: how you show up in your job and your work and your business will just be an overflow of that disposition and you glorifying God and what you do will be obvious at that point. 17:31.262 --> 17:40.358 [SPEAKER_00]: The author goes on to say, I'm afraid that the devil has fooled many of us into believing that there are spiritual versus secular components in our lives. 17:40.338 --> 17:45.103 [SPEAKER_00]: In any division we may perceive between God's work and our jobs is a false one. 17:45.604 --> 17:48.527 [SPEAKER_00]: When you are saved by grace, God saved all of you. 17:49.168 --> 17:52.912 [SPEAKER_00]: Once the Holy Spirit came to live inside you, you became a spiritual being. 17:53.753 --> 17:57.197 [SPEAKER_00]: Every facet of your physical life is an expression of the spiritual. 17:57.558 --> 17:58.779 [SPEAKER_00]: You are not two people. 17:59.180 --> 18:03.685 [SPEAKER_00]: The spirit-filled life reaches into every area of your life, including your occupation. 18:04.205 --> 18:10.092 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, except for your home, your job is a place where the Holy Spirit is needed 18:10.072 --> 18:17.024 [SPEAKER_00]: One reason so many Christians are not happy in their careers is that they don't view their occupations as God's work. 18:17.545 --> 18:18.787 [SPEAKER_00]: They see them as jobs. 18:19.328 --> 18:26.640 [SPEAKER_00]: They love teaching Sunday school, they love working with young people, they wish that they were in ministry full time, but they hate their jobs. 18:27.041 --> 18:30.547 [SPEAKER_00]: They fail to see their primary ministry is their jobs. 18:31.288 --> 18:34.273 [SPEAKER_00]: And in our cases entrepreneurs, our businesses. 18:34.253 --> 18:37.259 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't need more full-time Christian workers in the church. 18:37.580 --> 18:42.571 [SPEAKER_00]: We need more full-time Christian workers in the marketplace with the people who need to hear the truth. 18:43.252 --> 18:48.904 [SPEAKER_00]: Please don't use church work as an excuse to escape from the ministry God has chosen for you. 18:49.492 --> 18:54.720 [SPEAKER_00]: Some people you rub shoulders with, every day will never darken the door of a church. 18:54.740 --> 18:56.623 [SPEAKER_00]: You are their only link to the truth. 18:57.304 --> 19:01.932 [SPEAKER_00]: Humanly speaking, you are their only hope, and that is why God puts you there. 19:02.412 --> 19:07.200 [SPEAKER_00]: Typing reports, filing records, selling widgets, it's all God's word. 19:07.560 --> 19:12.428 [SPEAKER_00]: Your attitude and excellence on the job are the bridge to someone's heart. 19:12.408 --> 19:16.753 [SPEAKER_00]: Then he goes into the house, he says, there are two ways to approach God's word. 19:17.254 --> 19:23.001 [SPEAKER_00]: The angel described the first way to Zara Babble like this, not by my nor-by-power. 19:23.242 --> 19:24.864 [SPEAKER_00]: That's Zachariah 4 and 6. 19:25.424 --> 19:32.333 [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, the success of this job does not hinge on the things that one will consider essential to get the job done. 19:32.794 --> 19:36.238 [SPEAKER_00]: For Zara Babble, approaching his task by my 19:36.218 --> 19:39.551 [SPEAKER_00]: would have meant pecuring enough workers and materials for the job. 19:40.073 --> 19:44.389 [SPEAKER_00]: He would also need sufficient military powers to protect his workers. 19:44.588 --> 19:50.677 [SPEAKER_00]: the angel was letting him know of front that there was more to the job than arranging for workers in protection. 19:51.157 --> 19:54.262 [SPEAKER_00]: God wouldn't get any glory out of it if that were all it took. 19:54.782 --> 19:56.104 [SPEAKER_00]: Sarah Babel would get the glory. 19:56.425 --> 19:57.546 [SPEAKER_00]: That was the wrong approach. 19:58.027 --> 20:01.352 [SPEAKER_00]: The first way to do God's work is to do it in a flesh. 20:01.372 --> 20:11.406 [SPEAKER_00]: The work in the flesh is to approach a task on the culture of business with the attitude that God has left us with jobs to do and he expects us 20:11.386 --> 20:21.420 [SPEAKER_00]: doing God's work in the flesh boils down to depending on influence, personalities, gifts, natural resources, education, and experience. 20:21.440 --> 20:26.967 [SPEAKER_00]: Pass success in the thrill of the challenge become the driving force and a project undertaken in the flesh. 20:27.548 --> 20:29.511 [SPEAKER_00]: The assumption is, I can handle it. 20:30.032 --> 20:39.705 [SPEAKER_00]: And so the man or a woman laboring in the flesh sets about gathering the necessary tools, 20:39.685 --> 20:54.224 [SPEAKER_00]: Planning and problem solving are approached by pulling the wisdom of the experts, human understanding and determination, rain supreme, and success is measured in terms of numbers, dollars, and profit margins. 20:55.145 --> 20:57.569 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, I'm not picking on business professionals. 20:57.889 --> 20:59.972 [SPEAKER_00]: Most churches are run the very same way. 21:00.592 --> 21:04.798 [SPEAKER_00]: If many women know nothing about walking in the spirit, 21:05.183 --> 21:09.428 [SPEAKER_00]: They are going to approach every aspect of life from the standpoint of the flesh. 21:10.109 --> 21:18.579 [SPEAKER_00]: As long as a church committee is chaired by someone who is walking in the flesh, the decisions of that committee are going to be fleshly decisions. 21:18.599 --> 21:25.468 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, there is no secular versus spiritual dichotomy, what men and women are in one place is what they will be everywhere else. 21:25.988 --> 21:29.853 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't mean that they will act the same way, but they will have the same orientation. 21:30.353 --> 21:33.317 [SPEAKER_00]: They will either be in the flesh or in the spirit. 21:34.208 --> 21:38.734 [SPEAKER_00]: I want us to pause and do a check against our approach to our goals so far. 21:39.354 --> 21:53.672 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, we're in January, it's that time where we've made the resolutions, we've made the vision boards, we've wrote down the goals, we have the declaration, we have our words for the year, our scriptures, for the year, the things that we are believing in God for. 21:53.732 --> 22:01.161 [SPEAKER_00]: As you have gone to work towards those things since the year has started, what is your approach been? 22:02.170 --> 22:08.598 [SPEAKER_00]: Have you gone to researching how to start a business, how to start a podcast, how to insert whatever your goal is? 22:09.359 --> 22:23.976 [SPEAKER_00]: Have you started to research or talk to different experts, people who have been, where you are, whether you're talking to them directly, whether you're watching YouTube videos, whether you've signed up for some programs? 22:23.956 --> 22:34.724 [SPEAKER_00]: have you brainstormed and used AI to help you brainstorm and strategize how to accomplish those goals that you have, has that been your approach thus far? 22:36.649 --> 22:39.957 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's just say inventory for a second and be honest. 22:40.679 --> 22:45.364 [SPEAKER_00]: If that has been your approach thus far, that is an approach of walking in the flesh. 22:46.205 --> 22:51.090 [SPEAKER_00]: That is an approach of making fleshly decisions in trying to ask God to bless it. 22:51.371 --> 22:54.214 [SPEAKER_00]: That is the opposite of doing business his way. 22:55.535 --> 23:01.822 [SPEAKER_00]: It's doing business your way, spiritualizing it, and saying that it's his way, and it's just simply not true. 23:02.964 --> 23:07.969 [SPEAKER_00]: The process of doing business God's way looks different. 23:09.198 --> 23:13.465 [SPEAKER_00]: It's okay for us to have goals and things that we're believing in God for, absolutely. 23:15.107 --> 23:20.136 [SPEAKER_00]: Usually, this is what the process looks like for me, and I'm just giving you my experience over the years. 23:21.037 --> 23:32.235 [SPEAKER_00]: There came a time as I grew up in my faith and in business where I realized that I was doing this very fleshly and I needed to be in adjustment. 23:32.215 --> 23:35.198 [SPEAKER_00]: and what was fleshly wasn't my heart. 23:35.318 --> 23:48.693 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to build business my way or I didn't want to be self-serving, but because my foundation was based on me, I had no choice. 23:48.793 --> 23:51.416 [SPEAKER_00]: Everything that followed came from that fleshly space. 23:51.877 --> 23:57.683 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I made a shift, maybe a year or so in, where instead of 23:57.663 --> 24:07.337 [SPEAKER_00]: with all the goals that I had in the new year that I want to God to bless, I was set in, I was listened to what God's plan was, and then I will go from there. 24:08.018 --> 24:16.009 [SPEAKER_00]: And so every year I've been doing this for many years at this point, I set aside time, I go somewhere quiet, 24:15.989 --> 24:21.976 [SPEAKER_00]: with a white board and I play worship music I fast. 24:21.996 --> 24:36.032 [SPEAKER_00]: I just honor the Lord and thank him for all that he's done in the previous year or in that current year because I usually did this around Q4 and I was sick and I say, God, what do you have for me in the new year? 24:36.072 --> 24:41.558 [SPEAKER_00]: And I will wait until I got 24:42.702 --> 24:54.274 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I would say, okay, God, I would like to do this or this is something that I'm struggling with and I'm submitting this to you and I would just be candid about what I want it. 24:54.474 --> 25:07.427 [SPEAKER_00]: Candid about what I've been struggling with and request that I have and God will let me know, can I put this on the board for what we're working on in a new year or do I need to table it until he says yes. 25:07.407 --> 25:20.383 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I would get an answer about something I was struggling with, sometimes I wouldn't, and I would have to just keep waiting until the Lord responded, either responded in prayer or responded in changing a situation. 25:20.423 --> 25:31.536 [SPEAKER_00]: And so once I had the blueprint of what the new year and what I was authorized to go forward in, then I would start the planning. 25:31.656 --> 25:37.363 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I would start saying, 25:37.343 --> 25:43.615 [SPEAKER_00]: and knowledge and experience and resources to apply it to what he said and not what I want. 25:44.056 --> 25:59.166 [SPEAKER_00]: And even in gathering my resources, how do I protect the disposition of being dependent on him so that I am not transitioning into then still doing business his way? 25:59.146 --> 26:05.484 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you hear how delicate, intentional, sensitive you have to be when doing this? 26:05.845 --> 26:09.094 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't do this quickly because you're just going to go into the flesh. 26:09.214 --> 26:14.910 [SPEAKER_00]: Like there's no way that you could live a dependent life, building a business his way fast. 26:16.038 --> 26:26.508 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to happen, but you have to, and the external one, I say quickly, I mean, there can't be an internal rush, externally things may move fast. 26:26.528 --> 26:27.109 [SPEAKER_00]: It depends. 26:27.789 --> 26:42.383 [SPEAKER_00]: However, your disposition needs to be one to where no matter what's happening around you, you're still operating with sensitivity and dependency on the Lord and you're flexible to adjust and maneuver. 26:42.363 --> 26:46.051 [SPEAKER_00]: or pivot however he sees fit in real time. 26:46.673 --> 26:54.972 [SPEAKER_00]: So for those of you who did this self inventory and you realize man I have started this off in the flesh unintentionally. 26:56.150 --> 26:57.571 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, it was time to course correct. 26:58.092 --> 27:02.637 [SPEAKER_00]: Take that vision board, take those goals right back to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive me. 27:02.657 --> 27:12.847 [SPEAKER_00]: I came to you with my plan and asked you to bless it, but that's not the proper foundation for me to build things your way, and for me to truly live, dependently, how you called me to build. 27:13.127 --> 27:17.331 [SPEAKER_00]: Forgive me, God, I repent for my actions and my selfishness. 27:18.072 --> 27:20.114 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's wipe this slate clean. 27:20.134 --> 27:21.536 [SPEAKER_00]: I have no goals, Lord. 27:22.537 --> 27:23.878 [SPEAKER_00]: What do you have for me? 27:24.382 --> 27:29.717 [SPEAKER_00]: and you just wait and hear and receive what it is that he has for you. 27:30.811 --> 27:38.117 [SPEAKER_00]: I will tell you that since I made that adjustment, I was accomplished in my goals before I made the adjustment to be clear. 27:38.338 --> 27:41.861 [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't like I was failing and then I became successful when I did it this way. 27:42.361 --> 27:45.063 [SPEAKER_00]: Success is pleasing God, let's be clear with that. 27:45.404 --> 27:52.630 [SPEAKER_00]: So I was successful by a worldly standard to business growth and making money and having an upward trajectory. 27:53.111 --> 28:00.497 [SPEAKER_00]: But I was failing because I was not pleasing the Lord 28:00.713 --> 28:14.773 [SPEAKER_00]: After I made that adjustment and let God determine what the new year was going to bring there's a level of precision that has happened since then precision that is not isolated to business. 28:15.428 --> 28:43.663 [SPEAKER_00]: Precision and how my family operates and how I show up at home, precision in the decisions that I make, precision in who I work with and how I work with them and the outcome that comes from that working relationship, precision in how I am able to impact to people not just in what I do with the podcast or business, but in day to day life, there's a level of precision that can only come from the Lord. 28:43.643 --> 28:45.926 [SPEAKER_00]: there had been things that I've gone to him with. 28:45.986 --> 28:53.157 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember, I want to say last year, where I had went to the Lord because I was getting ready to have the baby. 28:53.177 --> 28:55.581 [SPEAKER_00]: This was like, no, this was in December. 28:55.661 --> 29:02.050 [SPEAKER_00]: So I was made way through my pregnancy and then I also knew I would be starting law school in the fall. 29:02.090 --> 29:06.597 [SPEAKER_00]: So I was thinking ahead about things like child care because I have 29:06.577 --> 29:34.896 [SPEAKER_00]: I would have the baby I have a two-year-old and then my five-year-old would be in school But I needed childcare for the younger two go into law school required me to pull back some from Business because I couldn't go full force in my business and commit myself to this journey that God has me on and so the math wasn't Math thing for how I was going to be able to Make sure my younger two were cared for in a way that I wanted them to be 29:35.433 --> 29:37.299 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you have daycares and things like that. 29:37.320 --> 29:37.942 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to do that. 29:38.042 --> 29:41.454 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to send my fresh baby into daycare. 29:41.474 --> 29:46.551 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to, I considered sending my two-year-old to the same private school that my son goes to. 29:46.812 --> 29:48.177 [SPEAKER_00]: But that adds up. 29:48.325 --> 29:53.192 [SPEAKER_00]: him being too his tuition is higher than I still had to pay for somewhere for the baby to go. 29:53.232 --> 30:02.487 [SPEAKER_00]: It was just a real problem and I needed money and a real financial answer to that problem. 30:03.007 --> 30:12.662 [SPEAKER_00]: And so that was one of the things that I took to the lower and when I took it to him at the end of the year in preparation for the new year, I didn't get an answer. 30:12.642 --> 30:20.897 [SPEAKER_00]: what I got was simply he's the lord and he will provide and that was just what I had to go with and trust because that's what the worst is. 30:21.400 --> 30:30.833 [SPEAKER_00]: So then later in the year, as I'm just spending time with him generally, he gave me the strategy to be able to do what I needed to do. 30:31.434 --> 30:38.063 [SPEAKER_00]: So he showed me, he had me go through my bank statements and everything I had going on in business. 30:38.143 --> 30:39.505 [SPEAKER_00]: We went through a line by line. 30:39.525 --> 30:41.648 [SPEAKER_00]: I got rid of things that I wasn't using. 30:42.048 --> 30:44.552 [SPEAKER_00]: Any money that didn't need to be spent. 30:44.872 --> 30:46.294 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't spend it. 30:46.274 --> 30:51.430 [SPEAKER_00]: He showed me what money to allocate specifically to a child care. 30:51.450 --> 30:57.347 [SPEAKER_00]: I put, I had like all of my money essentially from my advertisers for the podcast. 30:57.508 --> 31:00.537 [SPEAKER_00]: I put into a high yield savings account every time I got paid out. 31:00.787 --> 31:05.214 [SPEAKER_00]: So now I have these checks coming. 31:05.595 --> 31:11.123 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm putting them into somewhere that they are able to grow in interest because I have time. 31:11.143 --> 31:17.874 [SPEAKER_00]: Thankfully, going to the Lord about this earlier and planning ahead is always a strategy of mine personally. 31:18.255 --> 31:19.757 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going. 31:19.737 --> 31:23.523 [SPEAKER_00]: to strategize or plan for something as happening next week today. 31:23.964 --> 31:28.873 [SPEAKER_00]: No, I've been thinking about these things for since last year, right? 31:29.333 --> 31:33.921 [SPEAKER_00]: So, planning ahead is a best practice for me personally. 31:34.402 --> 31:35.063 [SPEAKER_00]: So, 31:35.043 --> 31:46.300 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I was planning ahead, I was able to then utilize something like a high yield savings account so that my money can make money while they're still time before I have to actually use it. 31:46.661 --> 31:57.237 [SPEAKER_00]: And so by following the Lord strategy, by the time I even hired somebody for my children, I had already had their salary for the year. 31:57.217 --> 31:57.978 [SPEAKER_00]: put aside. 31:58.038 --> 32:05.867 [SPEAKER_00]: So by the time I started school, I'm not worried about how to maintain certain things in my business so that I can make sure that child care is paid for anything like that. 32:05.947 --> 32:07.569 [SPEAKER_00]: No, the Lord provided. 32:08.330 --> 32:15.138 [SPEAKER_00]: And he guided me to a strategy that didn't, that didn't need or require me to work more. 32:15.739 --> 32:24.169 [SPEAKER_00]: And it required me to do more of the strive to utilize resources to rock 32:25.803 --> 32:28.566 [SPEAKER_00]: And this was a worry that I just simply didn't have. 32:29.007 --> 32:31.870 [SPEAKER_00]: Worried about my kids was something I simply didn't have to do. 32:33.252 --> 32:50.332 [SPEAKER_00]: Worried about money while taking on this new venture that the Lord has directed me to wasn't something that I had to worry about by simply just being open to receive what he has to say and suppressing my own urge to solve my problems. 32:51.333 --> 32:53.295 [SPEAKER_00]: Charles Stanley goes on to say, 32:53.798 --> 32:58.929 [SPEAKER_00]: But wait, you say, I know some folks who operate in the flesh and they are very successful. 32:59.370 --> 33:07.547 [SPEAKER_00]: But by who standards, I have been around long enough to see the rise and fall of dozens of men and women who were considered successful by the world. 33:08.228 --> 33:11.655 [SPEAKER_00]: They are like flashes in the pain or as the song is says, 33:11.635 --> 33:13.178 [SPEAKER_00]: they are like chast in the wing. 33:13.779 --> 33:21.793 [SPEAKER_00]: From singers to businessmen to pastors, those who walk or work in the flesh will live lives characterized by the deeds of the flesh. 33:22.354 --> 33:28.165 [SPEAKER_00]: And a lifestyle full of that stuff will eventually take its toll, not overnight, but eventually. 33:28.926 --> 33:32.833 [SPEAKER_00]: No one violates the principles of God and lives to rejoice about it. 33:32.813 --> 33:47.716 [SPEAKER_00]: be careful, listen up business folks, be careful about praising those who walk and work in the flesh, take a long heart look at the areas of their lives, not just their businesses or their ministries, it's easy to look good in one area. 33:48.197 --> 33:53.505 [SPEAKER_00]: Only the spirit-filled life has the balance necessary to be successful on all fronts. 33:54.025 --> 34:04.570 [SPEAKER_00]: in contrast to that he says, if ever a group of men had the ability to talent, experience, and motivation to carry out their assigned tasks, it had to be the disciples. 34:05.171 --> 34:06.434 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about what they had seen. 34:07.056 --> 34:08.640 [SPEAKER_00]: Talk about on-the-job training. 34:09.141 --> 34:11.747 [SPEAKER_00]: Not to mention their trainer, Jesus. 34:11.727 --> 34:15.495 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, with all these advantages, Jesus knew that they weren't ready. 34:16.237 --> 34:26.338 [SPEAKER_00]: Experience, talent, motivation, willingness, training, clear directives, they had them all, but those things weren't enough, they needed the Holy Spirit. 34:26.839 --> 34:27.140 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 34:27.180 --> 34:30.647 [SPEAKER_00]: Because God wanted His work done, His way. 34:30.627 --> 34:37.866 [SPEAKER_00]: The second way to approach God's work is to carry it out under the direction of and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 34:38.447 --> 34:45.666 [SPEAKER_00]: And the words of the angel, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 34:45.967 --> 34:51.596 [SPEAKER_00]: When God's work is done God's way, it will bear the unmistakable mark of the Holy Spirit. 34:51.977 --> 34:54.260 [SPEAKER_00]: There will be something unexplainable about it. 34:54.701 --> 35:01.171 [SPEAKER_00]: People will know that what has happened can never be repeated by simply bringing the same components together. 35:02.013 --> 35:05.458 [SPEAKER_00]: The whole is divinely greater than the sum of the parts. 35:05.478 --> 35:11.147 [SPEAKER_00]: People will be moved by the spirit of the work, rather than the work itself. 35:11.768 --> 35:18.336 [SPEAKER_00]: God's ultimate goal for man necessitates that His work be done in the Spirit. 35:18.653 --> 35:23.758 [SPEAKER_00]: He is out to alter the heart of man to bring about a renewal from the inside out. 35:24.178 --> 35:27.821 [SPEAKER_00]: That cannot be done apart from the influence of the Holy Spirit. 35:28.602 --> 35:31.504 [SPEAKER_00]: Only the Spirit of God can transform the Spirit of man. 35:32.205 --> 35:35.488 [SPEAKER_00]: Work done in the flesh goes no deeper than the emotions. 35:35.948 --> 35:39.872 [SPEAKER_00]: It may look impressive when the surface, but no one is changed by it. 35:40.192 --> 35:42.534 [SPEAKER_00]: Start up yes, transformed. 35:42.895 --> 35:43.135 [SPEAKER_00]: No. 35:43.836 --> 35:46.618 [SPEAKER_00]: We see this happen a lot in church settings. 35:46.598 --> 36:11.205 [SPEAKER_00]: where I am taking a recommendation to go somewhere that is a spiritual setting and the person who referred me to that space is not one whose life is one of dependency on the Lord and when I say this, I'm not saying a person who has a perfect life who does all the Christian thing that's not what I'm 36:11.489 --> 36:18.457 [SPEAKER_00]: Judging by, I'm Judging by, are you someone who has a heart posture to live for the Lord? 36:19.438 --> 36:26.206 [SPEAKER_00]: And deny everything about your flesh that works against that, is that your heart posture? 36:26.467 --> 36:33.835 [SPEAKER_00]: Your actions, I mean, you may still fall into sin and then after repent, you may have things that you're struggling with, that's not necessarily what I'm looking at. 36:34.256 --> 36:36.298 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm looking at where is your heart? 36:36.278 --> 36:44.553 [SPEAKER_00]: So I have been referred to many places, especially in my area and I'm looking for a church home. 36:45.154 --> 36:49.101 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, this place you tell me has changed your life. 36:49.722 --> 36:50.724 [SPEAKER_00]: How good it is. 36:50.784 --> 36:52.768 [SPEAKER_00]: You love this place. 36:52.748 --> 36:57.013 [SPEAKER_00]: But there is nothing different or transformed about your heart. 36:57.534 --> 37:00.518 [SPEAKER_00]: You still speak the same way you spoke before you went. 37:00.538 --> 37:03.221 [SPEAKER_00]: You still look the same way that you've looked. 37:03.241 --> 37:06.525 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not talking about just the outward appearance. 37:06.965 --> 37:11.491 [SPEAKER_00]: You still look speak and act the same way you did prior to going. 37:11.531 --> 37:14.014 [SPEAKER_00]: So where is the actual transformation happening? 37:15.158 --> 37:35.243 [SPEAKER_00]: And these days, there are a lot of Christian settings that are simply just personal development with a little bit of scripture sprinkled on top, but there are not spaces that are truly hospitals where you could go in and be healed because of the way in which the Holy Spirit is active alive and submitted to an end space. 37:35.223 --> 37:36.204 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a difference. 37:36.925 --> 37:44.434 [SPEAKER_00]: And so you have to be discerning when we're talking about outside spaces to patronize. 37:45.174 --> 38:01.213 [SPEAKER_00]: But you also have to be discerning and making sure that you as an individual who is cultivating these spaces and your life and your business or whatever it is that you do for the 38:01.193 --> 38:09.804 [SPEAKER_00]: but are truly orchestrating transformation because you're submitted to the Holy Spirit. 38:10.705 --> 38:19.456 [SPEAKER_00]: He then offered give some approaches to that are the wrong approaches and the correct approaches to doing God's work his way. 38:19.956 --> 38:24.602 [SPEAKER_00]: For the wrong approaches, he says that there are three things that often get passed off as God's way. 38:24.852 --> 38:26.334 [SPEAKER_00]: Number one, praying about it. 38:26.915 --> 38:30.179 [SPEAKER_00]: Doing God's work God's way does not mean simply praying about it. 38:30.420 --> 38:35.747 [SPEAKER_00]: Prayer is essential, but it is not necessarily evidence that one is relying on the Holy Spirit. 38:36.288 --> 38:37.669 [SPEAKER_00]: It may just be the opposite. 38:38.090 --> 38:43.938 [SPEAKER_00]: I've heard a lot of prayers that were nothing more than an attempt to get God to help someone accomplish something in the flesh. 38:44.619 --> 38:49.826 [SPEAKER_00]: That is one reason God gets so much attention at the beginning of a project and so little credit at the end. 38:50.287 --> 38:54.252 [SPEAKER_00]: When we work in the flesh, we forget to express our appreciation. 38:54.232 --> 38:57.482 [SPEAKER_00]: prayer becomes a formality is just something that we do. 38:57.522 --> 39:00.430 [SPEAKER_00]: The second wrong way is desperation. 39:00.912 --> 39:06.970 [SPEAKER_00]: God's way is not working ourselves to death and then throwing up our hands and saying, I give up, please take over. 39:07.090 --> 39:08.173 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't do it anymore. 39:08.558 --> 39:18.710 [SPEAKER_00]: That's desperation and usually it's a desperate cry for God to get us out of a mess that we have created or complicated by attempting to do his work our way. 39:19.491 --> 39:22.614 [SPEAKER_00]: The third wrong approach is the let go and let God approach. 39:23.095 --> 39:28.501 [SPEAKER_00]: He says to be honest, I'm not really sure what people mean when they say this, but it makes me uncomfortable. 39:29.001 --> 39:31.384 [SPEAKER_00]: God has chosen to do his work through many women. 39:31.544 --> 39:34.568 [SPEAKER_00]: He has gifted each of us for a specific task. 39:34.588 --> 39:36.490 [SPEAKER_00]: We are his means to his ends. 39:36.470 --> 39:40.142 [SPEAKER_00]: to let go and let God implies that we play no part at all. 39:40.182 --> 39:46.682 [SPEAKER_00]: The Scripture clearly illustrates that we have a very important role in fulfilling God's will on the earth. 39:47.759 --> 39:54.209 [SPEAKER_00]: In contrast, he lists out some approaches that are doing the God's work his way. 39:54.950 --> 40:00.438 [SPEAKER_00]: The first one is, you are convinced that if God doesn't come through, your project is doomed to failure. 40:01.099 --> 40:07.689 [SPEAKER_00]: The greatest achievement recorded in Scripture were accomplished through many women who were convinced of their dependency on God. 40:08.210 --> 40:09.112 [SPEAKER_00]: Read their prayers. 40:09.552 --> 40:13.378 [SPEAKER_00]: God loves to hear his children confess their dependency on him. 40:13.780 --> 40:18.007 [SPEAKER_00]: He gave Psalm the 56-1-4 as an example. 40:18.067 --> 40:24.016 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to read it, but write that down because these are the things that you should be doing this year. 40:24.076 --> 40:31.848 [SPEAKER_00]: As you either course correct, starting off in the flesh or continue through doing his work his way. 40:32.629 --> 40:42.184 [SPEAKER_00]: He says the people who do God's work his way don't wait until their efforts fail before they begin trusting him. 40:42.164 --> 40:46.472 [SPEAKER_00]: And in most cases, they maintain their dependent spirits to the end. 40:47.073 --> 40:52.704 [SPEAKER_00]: On occasions when they do begin trusting in their own strength, God always lets them fall flat when they're faced. 40:53.345 --> 40:57.192 [SPEAKER_00]: A self-sufficient spirit is not evidence of self-sufficiency. 40:57.753 --> 40:59.316 [SPEAKER_00]: It is evidence of stupidity. 40:59.997 --> 41:02.502 [SPEAKER_00]: There are no self-sufficient people. 41:02.482 --> 41:05.751 [SPEAKER_00]: None of us have control over our entries into this world. 41:06.192 --> 41:12.891 [SPEAKER_00]: The next breath we take while we're here, or our hours of departure, we are dependent in every sense of the word. 41:13.733 --> 41:17.925 [SPEAKER_00]: I begin every morning with a confession of my dependency on Christ. 41:17.905 --> 41:24.877 [SPEAKER_00]: Before my feet at the floor, I let him know that he already, what he already knows, I can't make a right move without him. 41:25.538 --> 41:31.588 [SPEAKER_00]: From my position as pastor to my role as a father, grandfather, citizen and friend, I need him. 41:31.628 --> 41:41.905 [SPEAKER_00]: The only way to ensure that I am fulfilling the responsibility he has given me, his way, is to approach them from the standpoint of complete dependency. 41:43.218 --> 41:47.931 [SPEAKER_00]: The second approach, you see God as your only source for everything that you need. 41:48.533 --> 41:53.768 [SPEAKER_00]: To do God's work, God's way, we must view Him as the ultimate source of all we need. 41:54.389 --> 41:58.240 [SPEAKER_00]: And then He provided Psalm 91 here. 41:58.220 --> 42:03.990 [SPEAKER_00]: God will use various people and resources to provide for us, but He is the source. 42:04.010 --> 42:06.655 [SPEAKER_00]: Remembering that is key to staying dependent. 42:07.236 --> 42:10.401 [SPEAKER_00]: We have a tendency to confuse the gift with the giver. 42:10.882 --> 42:15.170 [SPEAKER_00]: It is easy to get our eyes focused on the provision rather than the provider. 42:15.731 --> 42:19.958 [SPEAKER_00]: When that happens, our loyalties and trust shift as well. 42:19.938 --> 42:26.146 [SPEAKER_00]: We began seeking things and people rather than God, and without realizing it, we become idolaters. 42:26.827 --> 42:29.029 [SPEAKER_00]: God is the source of everything that you need. 42:29.510 --> 42:35.778 [SPEAKER_00]: Your children, job, spouse, and friends are only tools that he uses to meet the needs in your life. 42:36.258 --> 42:37.700 [SPEAKER_00]: He, however, is the source. 42:38.361 --> 42:45.810 [SPEAKER_00]: Any or all of these things could disappear tomorrow, but your needs will not go on med for nothing can separate you from the source. 42:46.482 --> 42:46.923 [SPEAKER_00]: 3. 42:46.963 --> 42:49.728 [SPEAKER_00]: You look for evidence of the Spirit's intervention. 42:50.309 --> 42:55.059 [SPEAKER_00]: The reason we don't look for evidence of God's intervention is that we don't really believe we need it. 42:55.519 --> 43:01.511 [SPEAKER_00]: We plan and pray as if the power of God is reserved for missionaries and preachers. 43:02.012 --> 43:08.845 [SPEAKER_00]: As long as we think our lives don't demand intervention, we will do God's work our way in our strength. 43:09.719 --> 43:11.842 [SPEAKER_00]: Number four, you're not stressed out. 43:12.423 --> 43:17.950 [SPEAKER_00]: The most striking characteristic of men and women who are doing God's work, his way is their lack of stress. 43:18.591 --> 43:23.497 [SPEAKER_00]: At times it comes down, come across as a lack of concern, but that's not the case at all. 43:23.938 --> 43:27.823 [SPEAKER_00]: Believers who are walking in the spirit are going to experience peace. 43:28.243 --> 43:30.326 [SPEAKER_00]: Peace and stress cannot coexist. 43:31.127 --> 43:32.449 [SPEAKER_00]: One will replace the other. 43:32.910 --> 43:37.836 [SPEAKER_00]: When we are convinced that God is going to come through for us, stress disappears. 43:37.816 --> 43:44.465 [SPEAKER_00]: And lastly, number five, you spend more time thanking and praising God than requesting things from Him. 43:45.407 --> 43:51.115 [SPEAKER_00]: The men and women God uses to do a great deal of more thinking than asking. 43:51.776 --> 43:56.042 [SPEAKER_00]: When we do God's work, God's way, we won't wake up every morning begging and pleading. 43:56.322 --> 43:58.305 [SPEAKER_00]: We will begin by thanking. 43:58.285 --> 44:01.908 [SPEAKER_00]: True dependency and trust will always erupt in praise. 44:02.509 --> 44:05.711 [SPEAKER_00]: Doubt will constantly dwindle to groveling and bargaining. 44:06.332 --> 44:09.555 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, God, if you come from come through for me this time, I'll never. 44:09.615 --> 44:16.020 [SPEAKER_00]: God cannot be brought, and he certainly isn't honored when our relationship is reduced to bartering. 44:16.401 --> 44:17.441 [SPEAKER_00]: He loves praise. 44:18.042 --> 44:22.846 [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing honors God like praising him for what he promised before the promise is fulfilled. 44:23.287 --> 44:27.330 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the ultimate expression of faith. 44:28.272 --> 44:36.628 [SPEAKER_00]: These are characteristics of individuals who are doing God's work his way, and if these are not 44:36.760 --> 44:42.187 [SPEAKER_00]: descriptive of you, then it might be an indicator that you are operating in the flesh. 44:43.029 --> 45:06.160 [SPEAKER_00]: The first was you are convinced that if God doesn't come through your project is doomed to failure, the second was you see God as your only source for everything you need, the third was you look for evidence of the spirit's intervention, the fourth was you are not stressed out, and the fifth is you spend more time thanking you in praising God than 45:07.118 --> 45:09.020 [SPEAKER_00]: and closing he says, judge yourself. 45:10.000 --> 45:13.363 [SPEAKER_00]: So would you say that you are doing God's work his way or your way? 45:14.044 --> 45:16.266 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you operating in history or yours? 45:16.766 --> 45:18.948 [SPEAKER_00]: If you are like me, you probably go back and forth. 45:19.529 --> 45:23.132 [SPEAKER_00]: I have found that nothing is accomplished by operating in my own strength. 45:23.492 --> 45:25.174 [SPEAKER_00]: I end up working against myself. 45:25.594 --> 45:27.075 [SPEAKER_00]: Stress depletes my energy. 45:27.536 --> 45:30.939 [SPEAKER_00]: I begin seeing people of resources as a means to my ends. 45:31.519 --> 45:36.163 [SPEAKER_00]: My prayers become a shopping list and everything seems to move and slow motion. 45:36.143 --> 45:44.572 [SPEAKER_00]: But on those days when I'm walking and working in the spirit, things are different, there is a sense of excitement as I look for God to intervene. 45:45.173 --> 45:48.377 [SPEAKER_00]: The pressure rides about two inches off my shoulders. 45:48.877 --> 45:51.320 [SPEAKER_00]: I am free to love people rather than use them. 45:51.760 --> 45:54.203 [SPEAKER_00]: My prayers are filled with things giving and praise. 45:54.583 --> 45:56.245 [SPEAKER_00]: I get more done in less time. 45:56.586 --> 45:58.708 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't worry about what I don't finish. 45:59.482 --> 46:03.848 [SPEAKER_00]: Sounds easy, it's not, but it is far easier than working in my own strength. 46:04.329 --> 46:09.657 [SPEAKER_00]: I wanna encourage you to write those five characteristics down and put them somewhere you will see them often. 46:09.997 --> 46:14.123 [SPEAKER_00]: Check yourself throughout the day and begin doing God's work, God's way. 46:15.285 --> 46:26.721 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a great place to end, I believe it's a practical, and it's appropriate for this time of year when many of us are making plans and getting started on the goals and things that we have. 46:27.511 --> 46:30.836 [SPEAKER_00]: So make sure you get this book, the link is going to be in the show notes. 46:30.856 --> 46:37.567 [SPEAKER_00]: We have two more episodes where we're going to finish off the last part, and then we'll go to our next book club pick from there. 46:38.008 --> 46:42.114 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of The Blessed and Boston podcast. 46:42.154 --> 46:43.917 [SPEAKER_00]: I love you guys, and I'll see you in the next one.