What is Good and Acceptable — Romans 12

0:00 Alright. As everybody clears out or at least the young kids clear out, who who wrote that song? Martin Luther. How long ago was that that song written? It's over five hundred years ago.

0:15 As I was standing here singing the song, I actually asked for the song because we're going to frame what I have to speak about today based on this song or at least parts of it. Growing up, I grew up I grew up in a Catholic church, and we sang this song, and it didn't hit me until now. You know, that is the battle song of the Reformation. That is the battle song of the Reformation. So pardon me?

0:43 So Martin Luther, we're gonna talk a little bit about him today. Notice the slide I have up here. The slide says the more uncomfortable we allow ourselves to be, the more comfortable we we become. I'm gonna speak today and and and I hope to, convince you that this is true, and hope to convince you this is true from a from a faith based standpoint. Now, I want to open up with a a word of prayer real quick and then we'll proceed.

1:16 Heavenly father, we do come before you and we thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you for the the celebration that we had before this service where we were able to give you the glory and honor and praise that that that you deserve for the redemption that you have provided us. So, we thank you now for this meeting. Lord, I pray that you will use the words that you have put into me to glorify you and edify the body, and pray in Jesus name. Now I'm to start with...

1:47 I go back and forth and argue in my own mind what my life verse is. Who here has a life verse? Who here has a life verse? Who wants to share that life verse? Who would like to share it?

2:00 Does anybody want to share it? Alright. Did you want to share it? Amen. That's my life verse.

2:15 Amen. And he did. Alright. So so my my life verse, again, I battle between Romans chapter 12 verse two and James one verse two. And...

2:28 But today, we're gonna stick to Romans 12 verse two. So Romans 12 verse two. Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the perfect, good, pleasing will of God. Do not be conformed. Right?

2:56 We're at... We we are told to be transformed. What... The way that I look at it, it says be transformed. I look at it from this standpoint.

3:03 It is an action. I have to take action to be transformed. I need to make myself uncomfortable in order to be transformed. I need to make a movement in a direction to be transformed. We're battled all the time in today's modern world to conform to the world.

3:23 While we take... If we just sit back and we take a look at the discussion and the arguments that are going on from a political standpoint and from a social standpoint, we are asked to be conformed to this world. That's what everybody's asking us to do. Be conformed. Right?

3:39 Use their pronouns or them's pronouns. I'd never figured that one out. Or they pronoun. Right? Use those pronouns.

3:47 That's... We're asked to be conformed. But the Lord has told us specifically, do not be conformed, but be transformed. And how do you become transformed? By the renewing of your mind.

3:59 So we're gonna spend some time today talking about transformation and that transformation through the renewing of our mind. So I to talk something that... So I go back to 2018, I think it was 2018, might have been '17, I was up here speaking and I used the term neuroplasticity. I don't know if you remember me using that, but I talked about neuroplasticity and what the science of neuroplasticity tells us is that we're able to rewire our brains. We're able to do it.

4:35 The research is there's just a ton of research. Now I'm going to take it a little bit further and talk about some other science, cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. CBT is a way for us to transform our minds. Alright? CBT is psychologists are using this right now to help people that are facing challenges that they cannot seem to overcome.

5:36 You're at the end of your rope. You're barely hanging on. You can't... Excuse me. Alright?

5:44 Most of us have been there. Most of us have been there. If you haven't, you will be. Where do you go? So when when these when these challenges are facing you, when you're when you're afraid, when you're scared, where do you go?

5:59 Where is your escape? Do you lash out in anger? Do you self medicate? Do you go to the gym or go for a run? Do you aimlessly watch YouTube videos?

6:09 I put in there because that's what I do. Do you do you run to social media? Do you seek to understand? Do you run to scripture? Do you run toward God?

6:19 Do you run away from God? So when the world is crumbling in around us... Now I've got I've I've got the, the gift to be able to, be part of high school athletics. Right? So I coach track and field.

6:32 And I am amazed by the number of teenagers whose lives are just ultra, ultra crumbling around them. You know, it's so hard to be a teenager today. Right? We've got several of them here. It's so hard to be in that situation.

6:46 How do you find your way out? Where do you go? What direction do you do? It's easy to conform to the world. Right?

6:53 But how do we stick to our guns and follow that path toward transformation? So I wanna use as an example, I wanna use as an example this whole thought, this whole idea when it comes to Martin Luther. So, you know, Martin Luther was engaging in a... Well, we'll go here, right? Martin Luther did when he...

7:20 What did Martin Luther do when his world was turned upside down? So the diet of worms. This is something that I I remember from, I don't know, elementary school. We were talking about the diet of worms. Now the diet of worms doesn't mean that you sit down and you eat worms.

7:33 Alright? The diet of worms a meeting of religious people and they were putting on trial other people of faith. And it just so happens that Martin Luther was called into the diet of worms as a result of him posting 95 theses on the on the door at the church of Wittenberg. Right? Y'all...

7:57 Do you all remember that story? Alright. So that was five hundred and some years ago. He tacked those on to the door. And he listed 95 things that he disagreed with about the church.

8:09 The church at that time was the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire didn't just control the church, the Holy Roman Empire the Holy Roman Empire controlled social... Everything that was going on during that day. Alright? And you had to fall into alignment under the Holy Roman Empire.

8:29 And what what Martin Luther decided to do was not. Alright? He sat down, he read he read the scriptures, and he understood that some of the things that were going on in the church at that time were not biblical. They were not biblical. Now, foreshadowing.

8:47 Devin talked about foreshadowing this morning. I'll give you a little bit of foreshadowing. Martin Luther knew the Bible. Martin Luther knew the Bible. He studied the Bible.

8:57 He understood that the direction that the church was going at that time was not the right direction. So he decided to make a big deal out of it. He he was the most important person in my mind of the Reformation, which changed the way that most people thought about God. Alright. So this right here is, the Castle At Wartburg.

9:23 So here's what happened to Martin Luther. Martin Luther was brought to the diet of worms. And they said, would you like to recant your thoughts? Alright? Would you like to change what you said?

9:34 You're pointing the finger at the Holy Roman Empire, you're pointing the finger at the church, and you're telling us that we're doing wrong things. Would you like to change that? And Martin Luther was a very wise man. What he said was, I want to answer you, but I don't want to answer you until tomorrow. And they gave him that ability to go back to wherever he was staying in Worms.

9:56 Actually, guess it's pronounced Worms, Nance. Worms, Worms, The W As A V. He went back he went back and sat down and penned his reaction. And he with boldness and with power stood before them and told them he absolutely would not recant anything that he said unless they could point out to him where he was scripturally wrong. Wouldn't you like to be him?

10:23 Wouldn't you like to have that courage? Wouldn't you like to have that faith to be able to stand up in front of people that wanted to kill you because what they did was they killed people who didn't fall under their purview. And they didn't do it in a nice fashion. Right? My biggest fear always growing up was dying...

10:45 Being... What do they call that when you die underwater? Drowning. Drowning. There we go.

10:52 Until my friend Bob Buttress turned me upside down in in a raffle in time, and I realized, hey, this ain't so bad, right? The sun was coming through and can't, you know, I'm like, is awesome. So my second worst way to die would be die by being burned alive, right? And what they did is they burned people alive at the stake. Now certainly, crucifixion would have been a lot more painful because you had to endure that.

11:20 You know, being burned, eventually you're going to be overcome and asphyxiated and it's not going to last as long. But that's what he was faced with. Now what happened after that was the group of men that were at the Diet of Worms said, hey look, we're done for the day. We need to decide what we're going to do. As they were deciding what they were going to do, Martin Luther was captured by a group of friends.

11:48 Alright? It's nice to have friends. Right? It's nice to have people that have your back. And they knew that Martin Luther was on his way to death by being burned.

12:15 Frederick the Wise, who was the owner of that place. Alright, So now this is a picture of Martin Luther's room. Now we have to understand that Martin Luther was pushed up into a room that the only access to it was through a trap door and a ladder. He had relationships with three people during this time, that was it, while he was up there. He had, one person that kind of came up and chatted with him a little bit and then two pages that brought him food on a daily basis.

12:50 Now, Martin Luther was a very social person so it took him out of his normal way of doing things, but he knew that if he were to go out because they had made a verdict, the verdict was he will be captured and killed. And Martin Luther knew that that's what the verdict was at the Diet of Worms that he would be captured and killed. So what Martin Luther did is he he spent his time in this room. You can still visit this room. And what I did is I is I I I found a quote in a letter that Martin Luther wrote because I wanted to understand what Martin Luther was feeling.

13:26 Right? Me, if I was in that situation, I can understand how I'm gonna I'm gonna feel and Martin Luther felt the same way that I would. Right? And we could... We...

13:35 The evidence is there. So in this this letter right here, he says, I have much ado to get this letter off, so great great is the so great is the fear that my whereabouts may somehow be revealed. Martin Luther was afraid. Martin Luther was afraid. He was afraid that he was going to get captured.

13:53 He was afraid that he was going to die. Right? As he sat in this room, he actually even grew his beard out. He was a monk with that little hairdo where the top of the head is bald. And Martin Luther actually changed the way he looked.

14:08 He put on a bunch of weight also, according to the research that I did and he actually changed the way he looked because he didn't want to be captured. Alright, so that was where Martin Luther was. His mindset was there was fear. He didn't want to die. Alright?

14:27 And so we sang this song, and and I I went through the song. You take a look at my notes. And every verse of this song points back to a bible verse. Every verse of this song points back to a bible verse. Alright?

14:48 So when we think of cognitive behavioral therapy, what desiring to do is we're desiring to put good thoughts into our mind. So while Martin Luther, afraid in the fear of dying, sat up in that room and he wrote this song and it was based on scripture. Alright. It is a powerful song, but it is a simple song and it is based on scripture. So if we look at this, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.

15:22 Psalm 18 verse two, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. So Martin Luther, like I said, knew the Bible. He read the Bible. He lived the Bible. He was able to point out the flaws in the Roman...

15:43 The the Holy Roman Empire as a result of his knowledge of the Bible. Psalm, Also Psalm ninety one ninety one four, he will cover you with his his his pinions and under his wings you may seek refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and a bulwark. When I take a look at this castle, it's a bulwark never failing. Alright?

16:04 This castle was impenetrable at the time. It is on top of the highest the highest hill that you would see in this space. Martin Luther was safe. Martin Luther was aligning his current situation with the thoughts of God in God's word in the bible. Alright?

16:24 A little bit more difficult to see here. Right? Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing, Psalm fifty four four, behold God is my helper. Lord is the sustainer of my soul. For still our ancient foe foe doth seek to work us woe.

16:43 Right? God said to Satan in Genesis three fifteen, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. And first Peter five eight, be of sober spirit on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

17:14 So as we as we look at Martin Luther in his time where the world was literally crumbling around him, he had absolutely no idea if he was going to survive another day. He didn't know that he was going to wake up in the middle of the night and be captured and taken and burned at the stake, yet his focus was clearly on God. He clearly took his mindset and he focused on what God is doing and what God has done for him. Right? He spent the time writing that song and other songs while he was there, but here is the the amazing thing that he did.

17:53 He he took the the the New Testament and wrote it out in German. So he took the Greek New Testament and some of the Latin and wrote it in German. Alright? So this is what he did with his time. What do we do with our time when we are struggling?

18:14 Alright? I I I told you, right? I I spend time on YouTube videos. If I I I... It it...

18:21 As as wrong as it is, but Martin Luther is a great witness to us in that he spent his time focusing on God. Focusing on God's word. And as much as we... Right, this is one of these James one verse two. Right?

18:44 Consider it a joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you're faced with various trials. So here was Martin Luther that that was... By the way, if you have a friend that is going through a trial, don't lob that verse out to them because that's probably the worst time for them to hear it. That's the verse that you want to hide in your heart so that when you go through the trial and tribulation that you're going to go through, that one pops up. Alright?

19:11 Never, never say it to somebody. Oh brother, I see you're going through a hard time. I'm just going to preach to you James one chapter two. Consider it a joy. Yeah.

19:19 I got a joy right here. Alright? So so don't do that. But but praise God that Martin Luther took his time and went into God's word and translated the entire New Testament into German as a result of that. Later on in his life, Martin Luther tran...

19:41 Also translated the Old Testament to German. That was his focus. That's what he wanted to do. And can... Wouldn't it be nice if we could say this?

19:50 Wouldn't it be nice if on the day that our funeral that that that that we die, that people could get up and testify to the fact that our lives were focused on the Lord, and that the struggles and everything that we went through, we rested on God. We rested on God. So here's an example of what Martin Luther did. And I consider this CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy. And the reason why I consider this is because he was focused on those good things that help us to what?

20:29 Transform. It was transformational. Meditating on God's word and then applying this meditation to the songs that he wrote and to the fact that he translated this. Alright? Alright.

21:01 When I was at AIG Merrill Lynch, I used to golf. I was I was never a good golfer, but I enjoyed it. Right? Spend time on the golf course. I...

21:12 My biggest problem was the water. Well, my biggest problem was the fact that I couldn't play golf. But when I actually got down to hit golf balls, it was the water. So I always... My focus was on the water.

21:26 So since my focus was on the water, where do you think those golf balls went? In the water. So I would get the... Again, everything that you shouldn't do, I would go to my bag, I would take out a range ball. You guys know what a range ball is?

21:40 I would take out a range ball, something that I found that was probably the worst golf ball out there. I'd put it down, I'd swing, it would plop in the water and I'd okay, I'm gonna take my stroke, I'm gonna go on the other side of the water and drop. Not not even risk going back in. Alright? So the the point there is, where our mind is, where our thoughts are, that's the direction of our life.

22:02 The direction of Martin Luther's life was based on the work that he was doing. Even though he was secluded up in that room, he was by himself and he had fear, his focus was on writing writing that beautiful hymn that we sang today and it was focused on to... On the New Testament, doing the New Testament. Now, what what... When when I think of this when I think of this, again, this is this is part of CBT, but it's also part of scripture.

22:32 What verse do you think comes to mind when we take a look at this? Our lives are moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts, what we think shapes who we are, and Proverbs 23 verse seven says, for as he thinks, so he is. As he thinks, so he is. So there's scriptural evidence to this. The way we think, that's who we are.

22:56 If we have fear, we're gonna be fearful. If we love the Lord, we're gonna love the Lord. When we go through a trial like Martin Luther went through, if that's where our focus is, that's where going we're to be. Einstein says that simplicity is the highest form of intellect. Simplicity is the highest form of intellect.

23:18 Right? We had the worship service this morning and I love the fact that Roger said, it is so simple. Right? We have we have bread and we have grape juice, identifying the the blood and the and the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's simplicity there.

23:37 We remember him every Sunday. This is a this is a way for us to grow cognitively and spiritually in alignment with the Lord, and it's simple. Alright. Philippians four verses eight through nine. Right?

23:57 I've I've created in my mind a way to remember this verse because this verse is important to me. When I was going through my dark time in my life, when I was going through my depression, I figured out a way to understand this verse so that my mindset would be focused on God. And the the... What I came up with was planter. Planter with two p's.

24:18 Whatever is pure, whatever is praiseworthy, loving, admirable, noble, true, excellent, and real, meditate on these things. So that's what we're being called to do. The Lord knows that we're gonna go through trials. Why else would James chapter one verse two be there? Consider it a joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you go through trials.

24:37 We're going to go through trials. How are we going to attack the trials? Where are we going to sit? Are we going to sit like Martin Luther or are going be Bob Markovich and get on YouTube and aimlessly look at funny videos for an hour until you feel safe to go back and do what you were doing. Right?

24:51 What are we gonna do? What choice are we gonna make? Now the the the the... What I like about this, if we go to verse if we go to verse nine of Ephesians four. Thank you.

25:04 Philippians four. If we go to verse nine of Philippians four, here's what we see. Alright. So so the verse... I'll I'll read the verse rather than to you Bob Bob Markovich's rendition.

25:22 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any moral excellence, and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things. And then we're told, do what you have learned and received and heard from me and seen in me, and the God of our peace will be with you. So these are the three items that we can pull from that verse. Dwell. The first one is dwell.

25:54 Dwell on these things. Keep our mind focused on what is pure, praiseworthy, loving, admirable, noble, true, excellent, and real. When we're faced with struggles, focus on whatever is pure, praiseworthy, loving, admirable, noble, true, excellent, and real. Keep that focus on there. Dwell on these things.

26:14 What happens when you dwell on the world crumbling in around you? I can answer that. When the world is crumbling around... What's that? You crumble with it.

26:26 You crumble with it. Why? Because as a man thinks, so he is. So we can't dwell on that. We have to dwell on what's pure, appraiserly, loving, admirable, noble, true, excellent, and real, and then do.

26:42 We have to have action. Alright? With Romans chapter 12 verse two, be, right, be transformed. It takes action. We actually have to step out of our comfort zone, be...

26:56 Make ourselves uncomfortable so that we can become more comfortable. We need to take action and go toward those thoughts. Make a movement toward those thoughts. Alright? Clear our mind.

27:21 We experience the peace of God by understanding who He is. We experience the peace of God by knowing that He is our bulwark, never failing. That's what gives us the courage. That's what gives us the motivation to get out of bed in the morning. Do you realize every day the first thing that you decide to do is am I getting out of bed?

27:51 My question is what's the second thing that you do? Which bathroom you go into? If you're over the age 60, it's which bathroom you go into? But we have to do. So we have to dwell, we have to do, and we have to discover.

28:10 So you can't discover the peace that God gives us unless you actually go out and you become part of what God has allowed you to be part of or the gifts that God has given you. So we have to discover his peace. It's action. We have to move toward that. Believe me, it just doesn't happen.

28:33 It just doesn't happen. If we sit down and we feel sorry for ourself, we're number one, number one, you're the only one feeling sorry for yourself. Just so you know that. Number two, you're just going to continue to feel sorry for yourself until get up and you take... You make a...

28:49 You make movement toward dwelling on what God is telling us to do, these great things, and in action, going out in action and and doing these things, and then we get to discover the peace that is there. Now, I put this up here because it is what I call a neural neural pathway declaration. Well, I don't call it, scientists do. And as a result of what Ray had to say last week, I thought I would pull pull this one out. And you know, one of my biggest fears is running out of money.

29:28 One of my biggest fears is not being able pay my bills. Alright? And and you you know, those of you that you you could be faced by the same thing. So this is something that I read every morning. I read this every morning because I need to do that so that I could keep it in my mind.

29:47 So I have this written in in an app that I use every morning and I read I read it. It says, money is is not and never will be a problem for me. But wouldn't that be great if you could if you could actually believe that? My God is an abundant provider. He does own the cattle on a thousand hills and he meets my every need.

30:14 Because I am blessed, I will always be a blessing. I will lead the way with irrational generosity because I know it is truly more blessed to give than receive. And then I put this word Elyon in there. Now I'll talk about that in a minute. Elyon, I surrender my finances to you.

30:35 Notice I've I've given credit to Greg Grochel. Craig Groeschel, anybody know who he is? I know Andy does. Craig Groeschel, I'm telling you, if if you have a... If you're having a difficult time with depression and anxiety, look him up on YouTube.

30:51 Here's a pastor that had issues with depression and anxiety, wrote a book, and I've I've learned a lot from from Craig. So this is creating a new neural pathway. So if we look at money rather than... If we're... If we look at money and and we're afraid of money, we're gonna be afraid of money.

31:08 If we look at money and we fear that we're gonna run out of money, we're gonna hold on to it so tight where we don't give it. We don't put it in the basket. We don't give it to people that need it. So we need to change that mindset in order for us to be convicted that the Lord provides our every need. Now, we take a look at this.

31:29 Elyon literally means God the most high. It refers to God as creator and protector of the universe. Right? A lot... And I learned this from from Devin Boss.

31:41 Right? He he said, why do we look at God like he's just another person? Right? Those aren't your words, I'm putting words in your mouth on that one, but it's kind of what you said at my house several months ago. We need to recognize that God is the creator of the universe.

31:57 And so I use this in my mind, Elyon, because I know that it means God the most high and that he is the creator and protector of the universe. Elyon, I give my finances to you. You're in charge of my finances, I am not. Right? The most high, he is above every person, power, position, and problem.

32:22 Once we recognize how great our God is, it's... We should not have difficulty following Martin Luther's lead and spending our time clearly focused on him. Okay. So I want I want to take a little bit of time here and just just go through Psalm 77. Psalm 77 was my motivating verse to to bring this to your your attention.

33:14 My hands were continually lifted up all night. I refused to be comforted. Right? How many times that when we're going through pain, when we're going through anxiety, when we're going through depression, when we're going through stress, when we don't know how we're gonna how we're gonna meet the next need that's out there, do we feel like I cannot be comforted. I cannot be comforted.

33:36 Comforted. I think of God, I groan, I meditate, my spirit becomes weak. You have kept me from closing my eyes, I am troubled, I cannot speak. Do you see the agony that the author has? He cannot cannot be be comforted.

33:49 Comforted. I consider days of old, years long past. At night, I remember I remember my music. I meditate in my heart and my spirit ponders. So at least we see a little bit of transition.

34:03 Well, here's here's the music. I need... Maybe I need to meditate on this music. Right? I...

34:08 Will the Lord reject forever and never again show me favor? How many times have you been in that situation where you felt like God had just said, that's it. I want nothing else with you. That happens because we think in our mind that that happens, the lord will never let go of you. Has his faithful love ceased forever?

34:36 Is his promise at the end for all generations? Has God forgotten to be gracious? You can just see the pain that this person has. His anger, he... Has he in anger withheld his compassion?

34:52 Right? We've talked about compassion. Has God withheld his compassion? So I say I am grieved that the right hand of the most high has changed. Elyon.

35:04 The hand of the most high. This is the word Elyon right here. The hand of the most high has changed. I will remember the Lord's work. Yes.

35:14 I will remember your ancient wonders. Now, we see that the psalmist is coming out of the funk. He is putting his mind. He is focusing on God. God, your way is holy.

35:26 What God is great like you? We can see, right, it's it's coming to a... What word am I looking for? It's coming to a crescendo. It's coming to a crescendo here.

35:38 God, your your way is holy. What God is great like God? You are the God who works wonders. You revealed your strength among the peoples. With power, you redeemed your people.

35:51 The descendants of Jacob and Joseph. The water saw you God and the water saw you. It trembled even the depths shook. The clouds poured down water. The storm clouds thundered.

36:07 Your arrows flashed back and forth. The sound of your thumb... Thunder was was in the whirling lightning lit up by the world. The earth shook and quaked. Your way went through the sea.

36:18 Right? We're talking about now the the Israelites leaving Egypt going through the Red Sea. Your way went through the sea in your path through the vast water, but your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. So here's the psalmist that's doing exactly what I suggest that we need to do, understand what this CBT is and put ourselves, our mindsets on the on the right path.

37:05 So what this is, is we've got some of the kids in the back here that were actually at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes event that we had several weeks ago. And the Lord put it on my heart to create this this declaration right here. And we gave it to we gave it to all the attendees. And I I just printed it on my computer, but I felt moved to to go ahead and and and and have a printer do this for me. So I I would suggest I would suggest that we take this every day during your quiet time and read this.

37:41 And it is... It's God's word that we're we're we're we're taking and we're bearing in our mind. Right? We're be... We're transforming ourselves and I'm going to read it for you.

37:49 I am a unique creation. I have been so amazingly and miraculously made for it was god who created my inward parts. God knit me together in my mother's womb. I am the clay and the lord is the potter. We are all the works of the lord, of the lord's hand.

38:07 God knows me so well. He has numbered the hairs on my head. I love laughing about that because you can see it's not it's not difficult to count the number of hairs on my head. They're there. They're just tiny.

38:24 And I am valuable to God. I am valuable to God. This is important to understand. I am valuable to God. When somebody's going going through a tough time, I I am valuable to God.

38:35 I said one time, I was speaking at an event and I and I just felt moved. I I had to say, said, look, I I just want everybody here to know that I love you. I love you. And you might be sitting there thinking, who's this this guy and why does he love me? He doesn't even know me.

38:51 And I knew that they had that thought and I said, I love you because the God that created you and me love you. And if God God loves you, I love you. I don't even have to know you. I love you because God loves you. I am thrilled to know that God knows the plans that he has for me, plans to prosper me and not harm me.

39:18 Plans to give me hope in a future. I am god's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which god has prepared beforehand that I should walk in. God, you saw me before I was born. Every day of my life recorded in your book. Every moment of my life was laid out before a single day had passed.

39:40 God has given me gifts from his great variety of spiritual gifts and I will use them to serve others. Lord, you know when I sit down or stand up, you know my thoughts even when I am far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest. You know everything I do. You created me in your own image.

40:06 I I truly believe that if this becomes part of your morning routine and you read this every day, it's going to be a little bit easier to go through the trials and tribulations that we go through. It's not gonna be real easy because we're still... We still have to be... The the Lord's desire is for us to be uncomfortable so that we can become more comfortable. So that we're able to step out and do what he calls us to do.

40:32 You know, the first time the first time that you get up here and speak, it's it's it's a miserable train wreck. Alright? The second time, you get a little bit better. The third time, you get a little bit better. By the time you're up here a 100 a 100, maybe you can deliver a message.

40:47 But it's all stepping out of our comfort zone and doing what we're being called to do. And when we go through these issues, right, when the world is crumbling around us, and if this is something that you've read every day, I guarantee that life is going to be a little bit easier for you because you have the confidence knowing that you were created by God, created to do good works that he had prepared ahead of time. So if you if you know anybody that's going through a difficult time, I've got about a 100 of those left up here. If you want a couple of them, you can take them and and just give them and just give them. Let's close in prayer.

41:56 And we thank you that you've created us, Lord, in your image. So just ask that you bless us as go forth today, and we we do ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.