A Life That Matters: Building A Life That Lasts

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. I appreciate that. Welcome, everybody. I want to also welcome all of you watching online. For those of you that don't know, I Our second service, our normal online feed cut out, so we are recording this again. I'm going to give you the best of what I have to give you. Let me also say we have our third service, which is the best service broadcasting live to you for the very first time. So, hey, welcome in. If you're watching from the uk, G'day, mate. If you're watching from Africa, we love all of you guys. If you're watching from Abilene, we love you too, Howard. We love all of you that are watching from all around the world. So High Ridge family, come on. Give them a big warm round of applause as they tune in today. Welcome. Thank you for coming back and checking us out. We apologize for those technical difficulties, but we are going to give you the best of what we got. Grab your Bible, if you would. Matthew chapter seven is where we're going. Matthew Chapter seven. And so as we're turning there, let me just say thank you so much for your generosity. You guys are an amazing giving church. You stand behind us financially, and because of that, we're able to spread the gospel to all kinds of different places. There are people that are directly connected to us, that we are financially supporting, that are serving God in some of the most amazing places around the world, serving people that are unreached, people groups. Hope literally has come to some hard places. And it is because of your generosity. And so I'm so thankful to be part of a generous church. Thank you so much for doing that. And so Matthew chapter seven, we're gonna get right back into our series called A Life that Matters. Somebody say it with me. A life that matters. That's my hope for you. Hopefully, that is the hope that you have for yourself to live a life, to build a life that actually matters, a significant life, a life that's able to withstand the storms that will come to any person, whether you're a believer or not. Life gets stormy. Life gets rocky. Life has good days and bad days. And today we're going to talk about A life that matters. And so in Matthew chapter seven, if you're not familiar with the text. Let me just kind of give you a brief summary of what's happening. Jesus is finishing up the sermon on the mount, and it is the greatest sermon ever done at all times. And he is. He is. He's. He's bringing into his closing point. And normally when a pastor or speaker says, and this is my closing point, that means you got about another hour. So. But that's not really how Jesus does it. What happens at the end of his message? He starts saying some things that are really hard to hear, really difficult to hear. He says some of the most terrifying things at the very end of his message that anyone has ever spoken. And not that Jesus takes any sermon advice from me, but. But we don't normally do things that way. I try to make sure that when you leave this place at the end of any good message, you're gonna have something encouraging, something that you can kind of say, you know what? I'm gonna focus on that this week. Not Jesus. Jesus says some of the most terrifying words ever. He says stuff like this. Not everyone who calls me Lord is actually gonna be there. He said, there are people that are gonna stand before me on that day and say, lord, we prophesied, we healed, we raised the dead, we did all kind. We cast out demons in your name. And Jesus is going to say, I don't know you. Now, that should be incredibly terrifying for people that believe that they have a relationship with Jesus. Jesus said, not everybody that thinks that they know me, they don't really know me. That's not the way you close out sermons. Jesus, I don't know if you know that that's not the way that we do that. But he's speaking some incredibly hard things that we need to hear and important things. And then he finishes up with this story In Matthew chapter 7, in verse 24, he says this. Therefore, anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, the wind blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because its foundations were on the rock. I love that he said, the wise person built their house upon a rock. And he says, what's wise? Those that took my words and didn't just hear them. He said they actually put them into practice, made good use of them. I love that he doesn't say those that took my words and perfected them. He says, you practice, you took a step, you tried. And I love that because he's encouraging us to not get it all right the very first time. He says, no, no, just take what I'm saying and try. Try to do it my way. He said, there's a lot of wisdom that you can build a life that lasts if you take my word and put it into practice. Then he does the antithesis of what happens if you don't build it on the rock. He says, but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Now, for those of you that have been around long enough to enjoy the Internet, all of us have seen at one point or another what happens when streams rise, when tsunamis come, when things like Hurricane Harvey and Katrina. When those things happen, you're going to watch houses that just get swept away with high winds and rain and floods. It's an incredible sight to see when you see a massive house just completely blown over. And this is the picture that Jesus is painting of what happens if you build your life on something foolish. Well, what is foolish Jesus? He said, whoever hears my words and doesn't do anything with it, he said, your life is like a house built on foolish sand. He goes on to say this. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching. Why were they so amazed at his teaching? Because he painted a great picture. No, no, no. It says they were amazed because he taught as one who had authority. Say that last word with me, if you would. Authority. That's a critical word for us to dive into today. We're going to spend a little bit of time talking about what it means when Jesus speaks with authority. Then it says, not just as they're teachers of the law. So he gives a picture of what it means to build a house on something that is a sure foundation and what it means to build a house like a fool. Now, for those of you that have the distinct pleasure of ever having to buy a house, you know that there's a big difference between renting a house and buying one. And until we moved to East Texas, my family and I were mostly just renters. And. And one of the biggest differences, when you're renting a house, you can call up the landlord and say, hey, your air conditioner ain't working. You better get somebody over here to fix it, because I'm paying rent and I expect to have my air conditioner working by this time tomorrow. When you're Owning a house, hey, me, you need to come fix my air conditioning. Is it my responsibility? And so you look at your house differently when it's your house and not somebody else's house that you're just occupying for a little bit of time. And one of the things that we noticed when we started moving into the housing market to actually buy a house was there's a different mindset of a house that you want to own versus one that you're just renting for a little bit. And by the way, it's not just owning a house, but owning an East Texas house that has some very unique and peculiar situations that you're going to get in. There are some things that those of you that are East Texas homeowners will understand that are really different about East Texas than other places. Let me just say, here's one of the things that we found out is that those that are taking the pictures to post on Zillow or realtor.com those people have incredible skills, maybe some witchcraft, maybe because the things that they're putting on is this perfect picture. Once you get there in real life and actually stand in that room, you're like, how did you make that happen with that camera? Because you're like, look at this spacious place. Wow. So much space. And then you get there and you're like, I can put one foot on this wall, another foot on this wall. Like how? This is not, come on. How did you use that wide angle lens to get this picture to make it look like that? But that's their job is to get you to actually stand inside the home. And they take fantastic pictures. And once you get there, you're like, what? What? And then there are some things in East Texas that are a little bit different than the other places that I've lived. Because there, there are some houses that when, when they decide to add onto a house, it's not like, let's go hire a contractor. It's just, let's have my brother in law give him two cases of beer and see what happens. And so you start walking around these houses, you're like, why is there a commode in the kitchen? There are some things that just don't make any sense. You walk into the bathroom, like I don't know a lot about bathrooms, but why are there so many electrical outlets in the shower? But there are things that are just weird. It's like, that's, that's not a thing. Why are the ceiling fans on the walls? Why is this a load bearing window? Like that does that's not a thing, people. But there are some times where people just say, you know what? The city of Longview is not ever going to expect this. I'm just going to have my brother in law do it for a couple cases of BE and it'll be fine and let's just build it kind of how we want it. And then you try to buy that house, you're like, I don't want to live here because I don't know who built this. And then there are other houses that you walk into. You're like, this is amazing. Somebody knew what they were doing when they built this house. And it's quality that you see, like, wow, somebody took it seriously. And when Jesus is speaking about our lives, he's giving the model of a couple different houses that look identical until the storms come. One is built for the long haul and one is not built as well as we think. And the one great revealer of the quality of our lives is the storm. And here's what it's showing us. If y'all, if you were to sum it up in one great point, that we could just hang it on this one statement, it would tell us this, that there is great danger in building a life on superficial faith. There is great danger on building a shallow, shallow walk with Christ. Now, what we know about living in East Texas is that we are in not just the Bible Belt, we are in the buckle of the Bible Belt. And there's very few people that have never gone to church or that don't have some sort of relationship with Jesus. Now we have a lot of people that will never come back to church. We have people that are really mad at church or people that were really hurt by the church. We got that. We have very few that have never been because we're very religious in this community. Lots of people have a relationship with Jesus. But the question is, is it real? Can you count on that relationship with Jesus? I found that when we start talking to people about their faith walk, most of them will say, I'm a believer. Or I know that my walk with Jesus is right because my Pop Pop was a pastor. Or Meemaw went to church for 27 years and taught Sunday school. Like, really? I'm not asking about Meemaw or Pop Pop, I'm asking about you. But my relationship with God is based upon someone else's depth. And Jesus said, that's kind of like a foolish builder with a very superficial faith. And when the storms of life come, it exposes that for what it really Is. And there's a reason why. He says, there's not many people that really think that they know me, that actually know me. And those are hard words for us to hear from our Savior. But he gives us a great picture, and he tells us there's great danger and living a life based upon some superficial faith. But unfortunately, that's where many of us find ourselves today. The most important thing is, how do we fix that? How do we take a look at our foundation and see what it's built on? So I want to give you a couple of things that I think are important as we're digging into what it means to build a life that lasts. Build a life for the long haul. Here's the first of three things I want to share with you. Number one, a life that lasts is built with real depth. Real depth. And so when the story of the wise and the foolish builder is captured in the Gospels, the book of Luke kind of gives it a little bit more insight. It says this in verse 48, it says, they're like a man who built a house and dug down deep. I want you to notice those three words. Dug down deep and then laid a foundation on the rock. Let me ask you a quick question. What do you do? What do you do a deep dive into? What are the things that you will do a deep dive into anywhere? Is it like me? Is it true crime? A big true crime guy? Is it me? Is it your sports team? What do you do a deep dive into? Is it financial stuff? Is it business? Things that you will just nerd out? What are the things that do more than just pique your curiosity, but you do a deep dive into them. Now, for those of us that are men, that are over the age of 40, we found that generally guys will do a deep dive into two things. World War II and smoking meats. And if you're with the latter, holler at your boy, because I'm down to test the quality of your work. But Luke says a wise builder is one that digs down deep into the things of God. Let me ask you that. When it comes to your relationship with Jesus, what would you say is the depth of that? Not me. Mom. Pop. Pops. Depth. Your depth. What does that look like? Would you say I do a deep dive into God's word? I'm doing a deep dive into things of the spirit, because that matters to me. I'm building my life on this. This is something that's more important than what happened 75 years ago. This is more important than having a good Tasting meal. This is the quality of the foundation of my life. So Luke says he dug down deep and built his foundation there on the rock. Do I have a fixed devotional life? Do I have a time that's set aside for the Lord to speak to me, for me to dive deep into his word? Or is my deep dive into TikTok? Do I do a deep dive into Facebook? I do a deep dive into sports stats. Is there real wisdom in that? Or is it something that should have been a pastime, that now you've made it the deep dive of your life? Please hear me. The Bible says that's a fool. One is entertainment, the other one is the foundation of your life. I found that the stability of my life comes from a deep relationship with the Lord. And I hope that you can be able to say that, too. The stability. What keeps me stable is not my social media. What keep me stable is not the amount of videos that I can watch in a week. What keeps me stable is not the amount of money I can make. What keeps me stable is the depth of my relationship with the Lord. That is my foundation. And I need to constantly work on the foundation. The depth, the stability of my life. Not just when the storms come. I want to make sure that you see it this way. Foundations aren't built during storms. They're built in the good times. You will not find it when it's. When it's heavy raining and storms coming. There's not people out there laying concrete. They don't do that. Foundations are built during the good days, when things are all right, when you can catch your breath. Like, let's work on my relationship with the Lord. Why? Because storms will come, and I'm going to have to know that this is solid ground to be able to withstand this storm. See, a wise life builder is going to put time and effort and energy into their faith walk. It matters to them that their walk with Christ is secure. Why? Because your marriage is built on that. Because the relationship that you have with your children and your grandchildren, it's built on the quality of your relationship with Jesus. And when that is not stable and steady, when storms come, and they will, you're gonna find yourself shipwrecked. You'll find yourself swept away. Find yourself in a real mess because your walk with God was superficial. And please hear me, if you're not ever in a place where you can have a deep walk with Christ, where it matters, you're gonna be constantly relying on somebody else's walk to help you. That's better. Than your amen. And I'm sorry. That's good. I need this just as much as you do. I need this. And so it's important that we take a really good look at our foundation and our walk with Christ and say, is this just some superficial faith that I inherited from somebody or is this something that I work on? I take a deep dive into that. I take it seriously because it matters. It matters to me. Let me just say it this way. Unstable lives aren't built intentionally. Nobody would intentionally build a foolish life. No, no, no. They're built out of ignorance and neglect. There's no one that was set out to build a stupid life. There's no one that was set out to build a life on foolish things. Now we want to do some stupid things because that's part of my testimony. Come on, somebody. We want to do some of the foolish things because that sometimes is just fun. But to build a life on that, that's ridiculous. So people don't set out to build their life on unstable things, but it happens all the time through ignorance and neglect. They just don't know any better, or they're ignoring it, or they don't spend their time doing the things that matter because the storms are coming. It matters what your life is built on. A life that lasts is built with real spiritual depth. And it's not asking anyone else to take me deeper. It's me and my relationship with the Lord saying, lord, where do you want to take me today? Here's the second key that we see. Number two. A life that matters is. And a life that lasts is built on the right authority. I told you we're going to get back to that word in just a moment. The word authority. So it says that the people that were listening to Jesus Sermon on the Mount were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one with authority, not like the normal teaching that they're used to now. It would have been completely normal for a rabbi to travel around and bring little sermons on the Sabbath. People did that all the time. And it was something that was very, very normal and natural. But Jesus was not just saying the things that they were saying. He was saying it with authority. And that leads us to a really important question. The question is not is God's word correct? Not is God's word right? The question is, am I doing what he told me to do? The question is, is it in charge? And that's the real question that we have. But Jesus spoke with authority. Why is it so important that we see that? So if we know the Old Testament. We know that when anyone spoke on behalf of God, when they're speaking as a teacher, when they're speaking as a prophet, they would always say the very same first four words, thus saith the Lord. Remember that. Thus saith the Lord. Some of you are like, you grew up in the Pentecostal or Assembly of God church. You know that anytime some, some old prophet would tell you, thus saith the Lord, he's normally saying something to tell these teenagers to act right. Like, did the Lord just really say that? Or are you just telling me because you think I'm rebellious or backslid or whatever? Thus saith the Lord, young man, straighten up and act right. Like, did God say that or are you just mean? But the Old Testament prophets would say, thus saith the Lord. What does Jesus say in Matthew 5, 6 and 7? He doesn't say, thus saith the Lord. He says, you've heard it said. But I say, there's a big difference between saying, here's what the Lord says and the Lord is saying, it's not the Lord told you this. It's like, I'm telling you this. And then he goes on to say, whoever's not listening to me and putting this into practice, you're a fool. Why? Because I'm speaking with authority. And Jesus is still bringing the same authority through his Word into our lives 2000 years later. Because there are people, by the way, that were listening to him so long ago that knew the Word better than all of us put together. Their entire education system was built around understanding the Old Testament. They knew every single line. It was important, but. But they couldn't see the Word made flesh standing in front of them. It's a matter of authority. So when Jesus says, you've heard it said, don't commit adultery. But I say, don't even look at a person with lust, because it's a heart issue. That's a big deal. You've heard it said, don't do this, don't do that. But I say it's an internal thing, it's a heart thing. And he's doing it from a position of authority. You see, it helps us to understand that Jesus brings authority to a role of autonomy. Autonomy means I'm going to pick out the parts of the Gospel that I like and I'll apply them to my life when it's convenient for me to do so. This cherry picking version of Christianity, which by the way, is the Americanized version of Christianity, I look at what Jesus says and as long as I like it, I'll agree with it, and I might do it. And I really like the things that Jesus said. If I can tell somebody else how they should live their life by what Jesus said, that's a world of autonomy where I will pick out the parts that I like and it becomes not God governance, it becomes self governance. I'm God and I'll use the word of God to my own benefit, at my own convenience, when I like it and how I like it. That's Americanized Christianity. But Jesus says, you've heard it said. But I say, the question is not do you believe my word? The question is, is it in charge? A life that lasts is built not on your authority, on his authority. What does God's word say? And am I allowing that to do more than just become head knowledge, but the attitude of my heart and what I put into practice on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, it matters when I allow God's word to affect the way that I treat people, to affect the way that I am married, to affect the way that I discipline my children. Is the word of God in charge when it comes to your finances? Or is it you? Is the word of God in charge when it comes to how you spend your time? Or is it you? Is the word of God in charge when it comes to how you treat your spouse? Or is it you? Is the word of God in charge when it comes to your lust issue or through sexual sin? Or is it you? I decide what I want or does God's word say, and my life will agree with it? Why? Because I love him and I trust him. You see, wisdom isn't just knowing God's word. It's living it out every day, making the choice to put it into practice, to try. So I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and one of the coolest things that happened is there was a thing that came along that swept through all of us young boys, was called the GI Joe Experience. Man, I love GI Joe. It was awesome. I mean, we finally got my first GI Joe action figures. And my dad was like, those are a bunch of dolls. Boys aren't supposed to play with dolls. I'm like, they're action figures, dad. They're not dolls, they're action figures. And we would spend a lot of time building tunnels in the backyard and playing with little GI Joes. And I always wanted to have the GI Joe aircraft carrier. Anybody remember that? I always wanted that. And I still have some trauma with not being able to receive that. Some of you act like you have no idea what I'm talking about. Yes, you do. I wanted that. And at the end of every GI Joe cartoon, at the end of it, they would always say, and now you know. And knowing is, somebody help me. Half the battle you got. And you know what? That's biblically, theologically true. Knowing is half the battle. The question is not, do I know the Word? The question is, am I doing it? What am I doing with it? So now you know what God's word says. The question is, are you doing the other half of the battle? The book of James also echoes this. In chapter one, it says, but be doers of the Word and not hearers only. What happens if you're just hearing the word of God? He says, you're lying to yourself. That's a superficial faith. You heard it, but you're not putting it into practice, not allowing it to change the way that I think. You see, the blessings found in God's Word are unlocked when it begins to govern your decisions. It says, the one that does this, that not only hears it, but does it. That one will be blessed in what he does. There's a blessing that's unlocked when we allow the word of God to start changing the way that I think. Lord, I know that this is what I always do, but your Word says this. So I'm gonna submit my thoughts under the authority of what your word says, and I'm gonna do it your way. I'm gonna try to walk this out. Lord, I know I always blow up when this happens. Always just freak out when this happens. But your word says, peace. Your word says, you got this. So instead of me freaking out, I'm going to be freaking into your Word and allow your Word to take authority over my thoughts. You see, there's a different way of looking at this versus just what I always do and what God's word says I can do through the power that Christ gives me. See, Jesus was not just exposing their problems and saying, this is the way that all of you are blowing it. He's saying, look, I'm willing to go to the cross and die so that I can help you do it. He wants to empower us to be able to live up to what he's telling us we can do. So I obey God because he has empowered me to do it, and I love him. So when Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments, I don't read that as, if you love me, you're going to keep my commandments. I read it at, if you Love me, you'll keep my commandments. Another scripture says that his commands aren't. They're not burdensome. It's not putting a big load on me of how I'm messing up and missing it. My job is to be close to him, to listen to what he says and to try. That's a great relationship with a fantastic father. Calling us to build lives on a sure foundation. Great wisdom happens when we do more than just hear God's word, but put it into practice. There's a foundation there that can outlast any of life's storms. Here's the third and final point. I'll close with this number three. A life that lasts is built for the storm. It's built for the storm. Now for those of you that have ever had to build a house or you know anything about houses, you know that in East Texas we build houses a little bit differently than maybe other parts of the country. Each region has to build houses in a specific way because each region deals with things differently weather wise. Now we deal with things like humidity, we deal with things like heat. So we don't build our houses to be able to outlast huge cold seasons because it's hardly ever cold here. And then when it is cold, it doesn't last for very long. By the way, we are in pre summer and it's about to get hot. Don't let that weather outside fool you. It's about to get hot. So wear these sweaters while you can. Cause you get about three days of this. Someone says, where's your heavy coat? I'm like, heavy coat? I live in East Texas, there's no heavy coat. We don't need that stuff cause it's hardly ever cold here. But I had a friend of mine that let us stay at his house one time in Colorado and this guy does really, really well. And I was at his house and it was 4 foot of snow outside, but yet his patio, the rocks on his patio were completely dry and they were warm. You could step out on your bare feet outside four foot of snow and have warm stone to step on. I'm like, what kind of spoiled brat lives in a house like this? How do you have hot stone? He's like, no, I have warm water in the coils underneath the outside patio because we want to be able to withstand the cold that comes and it doesn't freeze over and you can just walk out there and have warm on your feet. I'm like, you spoiled brat. You know what his house doesn't have in the Middle of Colorado doesn't have air conditioning. They don't need it. There you go. Need it here. If you build a house in East Texas with no air conditioning, you got problems. You better have a lot of fans because we build things a little bit differently. Now, if you go down to the coast in Galveston or you go off of the Gulf of America, you're going to see that houses are built up on stilts. You don't see a lot of houses built on stilts in East Texas. We don't have that. Why? Because we got trees that will knock those stilts out from underneath you. Because we have falling trees. But you know, the insurance companies will not insure houses that are on the coast that are not placed above like 10ft because they flood. And so it'd be foolish to build an East Texas ranch style home on the Gulf coast because the sand is different and the conditions are different. You got to get that stuff off of the ground. Let me ask you, what is your life built on? What's the foundation of your life built on? Because it matters. Storms come and they will test your faith. And what's on the inside will come out. And when life gets hectic, when work gets hectic, when your marriage gets hectic, what comes out? It won't lie to you. It'll tell you something's wrong. For those of you that are not quite sure if you believe me, let me just remind you what happened to the entire world four years ago. And the world was gripped with fear and pressure all at the same time. What came out of all of us was real weird. The way that we treated people, the reactions. What happened to the church, what happened to government, what happened to media that wasn't good. And great pressure did not bring out the best of us. It brought out the worst of us. It's a huge storm that hits our world. And what happens, even amongst believers, what happens in those moments doesn't lie to you. Let me say it this way. Storms are the best lie detector when it comes to your faith. And we lie to ourselves, saying things like, I'm good. Our relationship with Jesus is fine. Why? Because my grandpa was a pastor, I'm good. You can't stand before Christ on your grandpa's faith. It's your faith. And storms are the great lie detector that will tell you whether it's real, whether you're in trouble because our human condition wants a cheaper version of the gospel. Our human condition wants the highlighted version of this word. Our human condition wants something just. Well, just tell me what what's the easy way to understand that? Cool. What do I do? Cool. And we're relying upon somebody else's depth with Christ to make it through a storm. And you're better than that. The human nature. Human nature always chooses what is cheaper and faster and easier. It always does. Give me the easy version. You just tell me, pastor, what do you want me to do? No, no, no. You need real depth. Because your life has to be built for the storm, because they're going to come. It won't be my storm. It's your storm. And those moments, I can help you. But if you have a foundation that's built on Christ, please look at me. You're going to help somebody else. If you won't spend time developing your relationship with Jesus Christ and setting that foundation, you're going to constantly rely upon somebody else's depth. So God is calling us to have a quality relationship with him. God is calling us to have real depth in our relationship with Him. He's calling us to do more than just hear the word, but to do something with it. And so as I was reading this story last night and reading it one last time before I'm getting ready to preach it, I was sitting there like, okay, Lord, I've read this story all week long, and I've pressed into you, asking you, what do you want me to share with your people? I try to always make sure that everything that I'm bringing to you is exactly like the Lord told me to say it to the best of my ability. And as I just turned off the light and going to lay down, the Lord reminded me of something that I had seen completely wrong every time I'd read this particular parable. You see, I've read this chapter so many times and I've taught it so many different ways, and I've taught it wrong for years because I've always thought in my mind that when the Lord is talking about, you have two houses and one is built on Christ and one is built on something else. One has wisdom and it lasts, and the other one falls to pieces. I've always thought about it in my mind is one is built on Jesus and one is built on culture. One is built on what Jesus says to do, and one is built on what everybody else wants to do in the world. One is built like us and one is built like them. But that's not what it says. It specifically says something completely different. That changed the way I saw this whole thing. Jesus reminded me as I was walking from my bathroom to my bedroom Triumphant light. Jesus reminded me of some powerful words. He says, no, no, no. They both heard the Word. This is not one believer and one unbeliever. They both heard the Word, they both believed the Word, but only one of them did something with it. So just as the Lord told me with that kind of passion, I want to speak that to you today. The question is not, are you hearing what God is doing today? The question is, are you going to change something about tomorrow? How does God's Word affect how you treat people? How does God's Word affect the way you spend your time? How does God's Word affect the way that you spend? Because Jesus speaks very specifically in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 about fasting, about lust. He speaks about the way that you treat people. He speaks about your enemies. He speaks about anger and please hear me. Look at me. He speaks about forgiveness. And those are not things that we can just cherry pick when we hear them, when we read them. It's not enough to say, lord, I hear you. It's something completely different to say, lord, I trust you, and I'm going to do what your Word says. Please hear me. I'm going to try. I'm going to try because I believe that what you're asking me to do, you will empower me to do. And if you say I can do it, I can do it. Let me just remind you of this, that a life built on Christ is a life that the world can't shake. And that's the life that God has called you to have. It's a life that lasts. It's a life that matters. It matters when the world gets shaken. And please hear me, we're living in some pretty good times right about now. This is not global starvation. This is not global pandemic. There are things going on in our world that certainly aren't perfect. But you're in a good season. Look at me. Take a deep breath. You're in a good season. This is the time to build foundations. This is the time to show up your foundations, to go deep in your relationship with Christ. Why? Because there's another storm coming. It always will. It's called life. And in those moments, you'll be able to say, hey, look at my foundation. Come on over here. Let me show you how I built this on the depth of my walk with Christ and the authority of his word. My life is built for the storm. I'm built for this. It doesn't shake the foundation because my life is not built on me. What I thought was right, it's built on the authority of what he said I can do. Can you receive that, everybody? Is that okay? As we finish up there today, I want to just remind you that at the end of every single message that I give to you, I always ask you to do the very same thing. And today will be no different. I always ask you at the end of the message to take a moment and to ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me? And there's a reason why I do that. Because at some point you can come to church and hear a message. You can read God's word on a screen and walk away and only be concerned about what you're having for lunch. But when you ask the Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me, he's going to start downloading some things to your heart. And in those moments, if you trust him, if you know that God is good, that he has good plans for your life, that he wants to build your life on something more than a superficial faith, then you'll say, okay, Lord, when you show me these things, I'm going to try. When you talk about forgiving somebody, Lord, I'm going to try. It's not easy for me, Lord. You know that they hurt me, but I'm going to try. It talks about your finances, Lord, it's not easy for me. I have a hard time trusting you. I'm having a hard time with our finances. But, Lord, I'm going to try. I'm going to step out in faith and become more than a hearer, more than a believer, a doer. So what God is asking me to do, he's going to empower me to do. And there's wisdom and blessing on the other side of me being willing to try. So would you bow your head? Would you close your eyes? I'm going to ask you if you would open up your hands and maybe place them on your knees, almost as if someone was handing you something. I believe it's a sign of being open to what the Lord may be saying to you right now. Would you just place your hands on your knees and with heads bowed and eyes closed, pray the same prayer that we pray every single week? Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me? Holy Spirit, are you asking us to forgive? Our answer is yes. Holy Spirit, are you asking me to look at the way that I'm spending my time? My answer is yes. Holy Spirit, are you confronting an alcohol issue? Lord, I don't love that more than I love you. Are you confronting a substance abuse thing? Lord, I believe that you can empower me, Lord, to let it go. Holy Spirit, are you confronting my marriage and how I've treated my spouse? And my answer is yes, I will obey. Holy Spirit, are you confronting my finances? I'll obey. I trust you. You are my source. You're my provider. I believe that I'm going to step out and do something about it. Holy Spirit, you confronting my past and who I think I am. Lord, I trust you with who you see in me. Help me not to settle for anything less than what you're asking of me. Holy Spirit, come meet your people right now. Father, pray that this week would be unlike any other week where we started stepping out in faith on what you're asking each of us to do, believing that your grace is sufficient, that your strength is made perfect in our weakness, and that what you're asking us to do, you will enable us to do it. And now, with heads bowed and eyes closed, perhaps you're here today and saying, pastor Tim, I don't really have a relationship with God or, Pastor Tim, I am so far from God right now in my life, I need to come home. You may have been raised in church like me, but don't have a real relationship with Jesus. My friend, today is the day. God led you here for this moment. Don't let it pass you by. If you want a relationship with Jesus, if you've been far away from God and need a fresh start, pray this prayer with me right now. You can pray it out loud if you want to. You can pray it under your breath. The most important thing is that you believe it. Pray this prayer with me. I'll tell you what to say. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the son of God. Jesus, I believe that you came and died, and I believe that you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for my sins. Jesus, please forgive me. Now pray this, my friend. Say, jesus, I give my life to you. Right now. I'm all in. Use me for your glory and I'll serve you the rest of my life with heads bowed and eyes closed. Just those of you that prayed that prayer with me, if you're not ashamed to admit it, I'm not going to embarrass you in any way. But if you prayed that prayer with me and you meant it, would you look up at me and go and slip up your hand all across this place? That was me, Pastor. I prayed that prayer with you. If you're watching online and you prayed that prayer with me, I want you to know that whether you're here in person or watching online, there's a phone number appearing behind me on a screen and appearing on your screen. Would you text me, text the words I prayed to that number and I'm going to send you the link to some things that will help you in your walk with Jesus. Good for you. How rich family, go ahead and look up at me and stand to your feet. I wanted to say a special thank you for all of you that are watching online. If you like what you heard today, if you believe our world needs to hear the message that was just given, do us a huge favorite. Would you share this on social media? Click the share button. It always makes a massive difference when you do that. When people begin to see and hear the things that are happening in Longview, Texas and what God is doing here, it's a beautiful thing. We also have our elders and their wives stepping forward. So if you need prayer about anything in any area of your life, these guys will stay right here as the service ends to be available to pray for you and then for everybody else. Let me bless you and send you out. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week following after you hearing your heart, being obedient to your word, trying Lord, would you bless them as they do that in Jesus mighty name and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. Hope you have an awesome week. [00:39:31] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.