Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast brought to you by A Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined with Pastor Tim and we are in week nine of our sermon series, joyful. And then each week we've been walking through the book of Philippians and we have finally Tim. After this past Sunday we have finished up chapter three. Only two weeks to go.

Speaker 3: 0:46

That's one of the biggest chapters in the Bible, I think, and it's deep stuff. Sometimes you just got to get out in the swamp and get in the mud and get it all over. You, yeah, roll around in it a little bit, right, right, skipping or prancing through the you know field of lilies and flowers, and that's all good. But sometimes you got to dig in and find out what God is really doing in our lives, and this is a great chapter for that.

Speaker 2: 1:15

Yeah, it's great to read, great to study. It's a little hard to preach at times because I don't tell enjoy. I'm like there's so much here. She's like, how's your sermon coming? And I'm like there's so much here. She's like, how's your sermon coming? And I'm like it's so long, it is so long, how do I start chopping some of this stuff? I'm like you could have at least two, if not three, sermons out of just what did I use yesterday? Four, five verses. Like you could almost preach a sermon off of each verse.

Speaker 3: 1:46

Yeah, you can preach whole sermons on just how he addresses the Philippians. You can tell he sees them as peers and not like he saw the Corinthians. You guys are all messed up. You got to listen to me and you got to do what I say, because I'm the boss, but in the Philippians he's like you guys. You know what I'm talking about. We're all in this together. You know you're doing the same thing, I am and, and you can, you can teach. You can teach that, let alone all the the meat that's in this.

Speaker 2: 2:25

I didn't even get a chance to cover it in depth, that section or part of chapter 4, verse 1. I kind of honed in on the stand firm to kind of wrap up what he's been talking about. But listen to how he refers to the Philippians, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters. I mean, you just feel the warmth of the relationship he has with these people and then he refers to them as my joy and crown.

Speaker 3: 2:58

Yeah, that is awesome to have started the church and and share Jesus with these people and then for them to grow and become what they become in Christ. Right in front of them they kind of take our that little phrase you and I've been batting around, you know discover more in Christ, because there's always more to know and more to grow, more to see and more to be. And that's what they did right in front of them and we'd all love for our children just to grab a hold of that, grab a hold of Jesus and just grow like that and so they would be our joy and our crown. It references the way Jesus thinks of us in Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 1.

Speaker 3: 3:50

It says I got to get through verse 1 first in my head it says focusing on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, for the joy set before him and that joy was us.

Speaker 3: 4:08

He went after us. That's why he came to earth and did what he did, because he was chasing us down, because we were his joy. And then Paul reflects that to these people that's growing right in front of him and he's taken on, um, this relationship with them. They're they're brothers and sisters, um. And he says in in a previous chapter join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, let's not fall off the track Like you, you said Sunday. Stand firm, because you know it just takes uh, one little rumor uh of your influencer. You know the guy who's teaching you to ride on trains. I took a train a couple years ago to get up to Maddie and and um, so I of course you jump online, you find out what it's all and there's people who take trains all over the United States and they tell you which car to get in. And then you find out that the train company, the one who owns the cars, is giving them money to get you to say good things about them.

Speaker 3: 5:21

And then you're like hmm, are they telling me the truth, Are they not telling me the truth, and we need to stand firm in that. And when we're living a life that's worthy of imitation, we need to stand firm so that people never can second-guess us like TV evangelists First they start out, I'm all about you, and then they start saying, if you'll. First they start out, I'm all about you, and then they start saying, if you'll just send in this money, I'll get you this book or whatever.

Speaker 3: 5:51

And then you're like well, I don't know who's influencing who now you know, first he was influencing me and it was all good and it was about my growth and um about my walk with Jesus. And now he's saying if I buy this book, you know it's really going to help me. I don't know.

Speaker 3: 6:14

You know I go online all the time and I look, for I hurt my knee last week and I'm looking for something that would tell me what I should do, and I find everybody's talking about this BPC 157. It's something that your body produces but you don't produce much and it helps heal your joints and your bones and does all these crazy things. And you know, you grow huge muscles and you gain like three inches on your height and and um, you can. Some people's actually flown, you know, just flown through the sky like superman I'll sell my house.

Speaker 2: 6:56

Where do I get it?

Speaker 1: 6:57

it's supposed to be great stuff.

Speaker 3: 6:59

But you know, when you you you see all that stuff and they're like, if you just do this, it's funny. There's this AI group online that has the workouts that you need over 50, that'll change your life. Okay, here's five workouts that you got to do, it'll change your life. Okay, here's five workouts that you got to do. It'll change your life. And then the next week they have another five workouts to do that'll change your life. That has nothing to do with the first one. It's like okay, is it better than the last one? Well, you know, where are we on this? It's just like no, this is what everybody clicks on, so these are the best exercises.

Speaker 3: 7:47

So you get kind of jaded on that kind of stuff. But I come to church and some guy came up to me and said hey look, pastor, I got in a bad car accident. I was crushed, all kinds of terrible things happened to me and I tried this BPC-157, and it changed my life and I think it was the one thing that brought me back. So now I have a testimony from my brother and sister. You know, he's my brother and I can trust it because he's been through it. He did it. I don't have to sit online and say hmm, Right, right.

Speaker 3: 8:28

is it his sponsor, is it? You know I, you know what. So this is a. This is a great thing and it's it's hard, uh, to look at living in the consumer age and what you taught that our stomach is our god. Yeah, uh, it's hard to figure out who's true and who's not true, but paul's got this group in philippians and you guys are my brothers and sisters and that's the way we're supposed to beat each other, just like my brother on sunday came up and said yes, this works, use this, it'll help you.

Speaker 2: 8:59

So I'm gonna try it yeah, we need those people in our life and the internet, especially with AI. It is such a clickbait machine, you know, and Paul's talking about. You know their God is their belly. I don't know if he knows anything about AI when he writes that, but my gosh.

Speaker 3: 9:21

AI knows that our God is our belly.

Speaker 2: 9:24

Yeah, because it does. I look at all these articles and you know it'll be about the Browns or something and so-and-so said this and this and this and this. And I'm looking at the picture and I'm like that's an AI generated picture. I think this whole quote is AI generated. This is fake. No one said this.

Speaker 2: 9:41

But, man, you look at the likes or the comments underneath that post, thousands of people are are fired up over this one thing. I'm like some bot made that. A bot did that, you know, and it it's hard to to be able to stand firm in anything. And so paul's laying this stuff out and he's saying, yeah to my brothers and sisters, this is what you stand firm in, imitate me. And then he goes beyond just himself, which is what I love about Paul in this letter, because in the Corinthians he says imitate me as I imitate Christ. And that around here is that's one of our driving verses. You know, I don't know if a church can have a life verse, but it's our life verse. You know one of them Imitate me as I imitate Christ. That's who we want to be as a people, people that live with that kind of integrity.

Speaker 2: 10:31

But Paul doesn't just point to himself. He says pay careful attention to these guys over here, to the example that they have, that you've seen in them, that we've left behind, and so what do they do that helps them walk close to Jesus? And then you need to go, do those things, imitate those things. Are they waking up early so that they can pray? You should start waking up early so you can pray. When they're walking down the street, do they take time to notice people who are in need and and stop to pray with them? Or or, to, you know, give them a few bucks so they can get a sandwich at, you know, mcdonald's. Well, you should do those things. This is what it looks like to walk close to Christ and you know, I challenged everybody on Sunday. It's. It's so much easier when we live in a culture, culture and a society where it's just easier to say do as I say, not as I do.

Speaker 3: 11:30

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 11:31

And we give ourselves, we let ourselves off the hook. I don't need to be responsible for what I'm saying. I know what I'm talking about and I think you should do it. But if I really believed in it, wouldn't I be doing it, you know. And Paul man should do it. But if I really believed in it, wouldn't I be doing it? And Paul man, imitate me as I imitate Christ, follow this pattern, follow this example. And I was just struck by that and I got up at the very end of the message and I just challenged our church. I said what if we quit living with excuses? What if we quit letting ourselves off the hook? And we said it's worth it to live this way. My family's worth it, my marriage is worth it. The type of employee or the type of boss that I am, the type of citizen I am in this country, it's worth it for me to live in a way that I could look at other people and say, man, if you want to grow in relationship with Jesus, just live like this. They're worth it.

Speaker 2: 12:36

And I had gotten off the stage and, man, I was in emotional wreck after preaching that sermon. That didn't. It happens to you a lot. It doesn't happen to me as much, but Joey and I we went to dinner Sunday night and she looked at me and she goes. So why were you so emotional?

Speaker 2: 12:55

Coming off the stage today, I was like I think it's just this idea of like man, what if our people grabbed a hold of that? What could happen in their marriages, because I know that there's people in our church whose marriages are struggling right now. What could happen with their kids, because I know there's people in our church who are struggling with their kids right now. Man, what could this church look like if we just, as a body, said man, we're going to get serious about this thing and live lives worthy of imitation? And, man, I was just thinking about the ripple effect I guess that that could have as it spread from person to person, family to family, all across the auditorium. As I was looking out on the people on Sunday and I was like, man, if we could get this, it could change everything.

Speaker 3: 13:43

It's been building since we started Philippians first, um, live your life worthy of the gospel. And how do you do that? Well, last week, live up to the light that you have just do what you know to do. A quick questioning and all the time, should I help my neighbor here, or um, and my, my brother's not been very good to me and um, but now he's in trouble and should I help him out? You know Well, yeah, you should help him out, help him out. You might have to put up some boundaries and, um, if he goes off on you or whatever, and you can say, look, I'm helping you, yeah, I don't have to listen to your mess.

Speaker 3: 14:26

It says here take the hill. And that idea that Paul is saying to his brothers and sisters is this is not difficult, it's not rocket science, just do what you know to do. Do what you know to do, and then God last week, if you don't believe this, if you don't have this right, god will fix that in you.

Speaker 3: 14:51

God will fix that I do too. He said this is the mature thing, and if you think differently about anything, god will reveal this to you also. I just I love that idea. You guys, you guys know what to do. Just do it, keep doing it. And um, and we need to do it for each other Um, just living in a with a group of people, having community with a group of people I know we're, you know we just go to church together and we're not that close and and we're not best friends. But, man, when you're walking side by side with someone and you start to fall out, you run into them and they're like no, no, no, we're going this way, let's keep going, yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:40

So in the message, one of the things I brought up was you know, we talk a lot about sharing the gospel or um, and it's usually in the context of evangelism. But I was like man, we, we need to share it to those who are already saved, those are already converted. We need to show them what a faithful life looks like, what it looks like to walk worthy. And I remember one of the very first things that you had taught me when, when I started here cause I, you know, I was trying to be self-deprecating.

Speaker 2: 16:07

I guess, in sermons I'm with you, I'm among the people and there's truth to that, right, right. But at the same time we need people that we can look up to, that say this is what a life of following Jesus is supposed to look like. And you kept telling me, if you keep cutting your legs out from under yourself, nobody's going to follow you. And so I mean I still want to be transparent and vulnerable in sermons and people get a whole lot more of my life than probably they should at times, because I'll just say stuff and I get myself in a mess all the time up there. But that whole idea of man, who are those people that we can look up to and again that self-deprecating. It almost gives us again a chance to let ourselves off the hook.

Speaker 2: 16:57

I don't need to live up to this.

Speaker 3: 16:59

Yeah, let me see if I can. If you've got something, if the Lord has taught you something and you've got it and you're living it, if the Lord has taught you something and you've got it and you're living it, there's no reason why you can't expect another Christian to live that way too. I mean, let's face it, ryan, if you can do it, we all can. Right, if I can do it, right. And I think sometimes we're self-deprecating because we know that that thing in our life was a real struggle for us, but we whooped it. The holy spirit came in, drug us out of that and we were walking on and but then we're afraid to put that challenge on someone else and paul's saying no, this is what it's all about is to say, guys, we can overcome this. We can overcome the fact that the stomach is our God, that we live in a consumerist psychology in the United States, that everything is about what you have and where you go and what you can buy and what you can experience. It's not about that. You know we forget that everything that you can buy on this planet if you were a sheik in saudi arabia everything you can buy is going to be nothing when we get to heaven, it's going to be worthless. The roads are made of gold. That's how worthless it is in heaven. Yeah, so we need to man. We got to shake ourselves free, you know, hey, um, I know carl marx said that, um, oh, now that quote comes out that, uh, religion is the uh bomb of the masses, or whatever, because they feel like that they can be something in heaven one day, even though their life is miserable here.

Speaker 3: 18:55

And you know what I say to that? You're exactly right. You're exactly right. Jesus is your bomb. I mean, you've got something waiting for you. No matter how tough this life is, no matter what you're going through, you're going to walk into reward and you can walk worthy of the gospel in whatever situation you are, and lead others to do the same thing. And when you get to heaven, you're going to see your reward. And I think we give up on that too quick. I think we've become. You know, I got to show everybody that I'm doing well, and let's face it, we're not always doing well, but we can still live up to the light that God has given us. We can still live a life that's worthy of the gospel, even though we're struggling.

Speaker 2: 19:51

Yeah, and I'm not talking about a fake it till you make it thing, where I'm saying you know, if you're struggling in something, you need to not let anybody know about that. No, I think that you need to have wisdom and discernment in who you share that stuff with, and oftentimes from a stage or pulpit isn't the place. But what we're saying here is if, when you have learned how to follow God in any particular area, there's no reason for you to get up and trash the work that God's done in your life. You know you need to. We need listen, I need this church needs. We need you to live up to the light that you have Not walking around. Well, I'm a screw up, just like everybody else. Yeah, there's things that you struggle with, but God has brought you out of some stuff and we need to look at you and say, man, if he can walk out of that mess, then I can walk out of that mess. If he can be disciplined in this area, or if she can be disciplined in this area, then I can live that way. But so often we're cutting our feet out from under ourselves in a way to not put that challenge on other people or to make it seem like we're not better than them. We're all in it together. We are all in it together, but we need people that we can look at.

Speaker 2: 21:13

Before we started recording the podcast, one of the things I was telling Pastor Tim is, in this influencer culture that we live, it's hard to find people who stayed faithful to the end and maybe, yeah, some of them, they get those sponsors in there and instead of who stayed faithful to the end, right, you know, and maybe, yeah, you know, some of them, they get those sponsors in there and, you know, instead of being beholden to the scriptures and to, you know, impacting people's lives, buy this book or buy this bottle of Kleenex or this thing Like we're doing all this stuff because we got to make sure the bills are getting paid. So, who knows? But, man, there's so many of them, and even people that I've looked up to in my life, that before they die, just I mean they'll blow up their whole ministry. Yeah, and man, we need those Billy Grahams who are faithful to the end.

Speaker 2: 22:07

John Maxwell's been one of my heroes, one of those guys who, at least thus far, been faithful, just walking the life that God has called him to, impacting people's lives, and John Maxwell doesn't get up on stage and just cut his legs off. He says I know the way. Come follow me, I'll show you. And that's what Paul's doing here. Join in imitating me as I imitate Christ, and if at any point I ever stop imitating Christ, you need to stop imitating me. But thankfully Paul was one of those guys who walked worthy to the end.

Speaker 2: 22:40

He could say man if you want to grow in relationship with Jesus, come do this and I want to challenge our church.

Speaker 2: 22:47

Let's be those people. I don't often ask people to stand up on a Sunday, you know, I usually just have people raise their hands. But as I got to that part of the response time, the Lord just said you need to have people stand in this commitment, and maybe it was coming off of chapter 4, verse 1, stand firm in this. I don't know, but I was like people need to stand up for this. If I'm making this decision and one of the things Joy's like, I think you said something that, like all Christians should stand for, and I'm like we should. This is something we should all stand for. But I hope people were introspective enough to say am I going to be committed to it? And if not, I'm not going to stand. You know this. By standing, I'm taking that stand that this is who I'm going to be. And then all across the room, people stood up to say I want to live a life worthy of the gospel, to be someone who, who people can imitate and discover more in Christ.

Speaker 3: 23:46

I love that. I loved how you did that. We um, I think we live in a culture that is uh, likes to tear down people who will make a stand like that and uh, we, we see that happening. Of course, we see it happening online all the time. I mean, that's most of the clickbait that you see is someone did something wrong and we're all gonna um, of course, we talk about the browns a lot and we saw that, gabriel, he said some of us are competitors and some of us are. What did he use?

Speaker 3: 24:28

entertainers entertainers yeah and um, if you just took what everybody said about that, you would say, oh, he's talking about that other quarterback and um, but he wasn't. He was talking. He was a little aggravated, if you see the whole interview that someone came over and wanted to talk to him while he was supposed to be paying attention to the game and he was. And you know, I know he's in competition with Shadur Sanders, but he basically said look, you guys don't matter, he was talking about the media. You're just entertainers and you'll say anything you can say to get somebody to click on you, but I'm a competitor, you know, and I I've got a job to do, and that's what he said. So they twisted it all around and now he's everybody's like pointing his finger at. Everybody loves to do that. You know, this is what's going on there. Well, that's not what's going on there.

Speaker 3: 25:28

Um, I think that since we're in that culture, we're afraid to stand up because someone's going to come along and try to take our feet out from under you. But it can't happen. This can't happen because the only thing, the only one you have to answer to, is Jesus. He's the only one. And if you're stuck in your anger and you're mad, you can still stand firm. You can stand up and say I'm angry, I'm mad, I'm mad at God, I'm mad that he didn't figure this out for me, I'm mad, but I am going to live a life worthy of the gospel anyway. Amen, and that's um. That's that's who we gotta be. And are we going to trip up? Most likely you will, but you know what? There'll be some things that you never trip up on that other people are falling all over themselves and you're going to. God is going to use you, the grace that he's given you to give that grace to other people, and he promises that that's how he's going to use you. And we need to be careful.

Speaker 3: 26:40

We don't want to tell no lies If we're like I'm going to live a life worthy of the gospel after Wednesday, because I'm planning on this thing I'm going to do and I know it's wrong Then then we need to sit down, yeah, but if you, if you feel like I want to go I know I got that thing planned on Wednesday, but by the time I get there I want to not want to do it, you know and then stand firm, stand firm, live a life, uh, that your heroes lived and and don't fall. Uh, we, I think we, um, I don't like that word fall. We are always talking about falling. You can't fall, you can't.

Speaker 3: 27:27

He's got you, he's got you. You can do some stuff that you'll have to pay for, and you can want some stuff that God doesn't want, and guess what? He'll give it to you and then you'll have to pay the consequences. But he's going to take you on into heaven and, uh, but we need to. There is a part of us that wants to say Jesus, do it all for me. I'm just going to lay here like a slug and let my God be my stomach and go with whatever makes me feel good and you do it all for me, but if you're really saved, that's going to be the most miserable way you can live your life, Because he's not going to let you enjoy that.

Speaker 3: 28:12

He's not. He's just going to keep feeding you all the stuff and it's going to drive you crazy.

Speaker 2: 28:18

Yeah, paul talks. You know verse 18, and I talked about how it's kind of shocking, you know, to hear all of a sudden Paul in this letter that's been so full of joy. Now he says, as I say this, I say it with tears Many live as enemies of the cross, and the reason we need people who will stand firm and walk worthy, be the kind of people that other people can look up to and imitate, is because there's many who are enemies of the cross and live their lives that way. We have the opposite influence in our life. You know we got enough of it. Well, please, we don't need any more. We need those people who will walk the narrow way and say, hey, this is how you do it. Yeah, it involves denying yourself, yes, it involves picking up your cross daily and following Jesus. Let me show you how to do it, let me show you what that looks like, and then, as you struggle, I'm going to be here to lift you back up. We need those people in our lives.

Speaker 2: 29:14

Paul says these enemies of the cross man. He says their end is destruction. This is all they get. What's awaiting them? I mean momentary pleasure after momentary pleasure. Is that what you want your life to be? I mean just chasing that one high to the next, momentary pleasure after momentary pleasure. Is that what you want your life to be? I mean just chasing that one high to the next. It's not in Philippians. But Paul says what have we gained from those things that we're now ashamed of? Right, and I know in the moment you thought you weren't hurting anybody.

Speaker 2: 29:48

In the moment you thought this would make you happy, in the moment you thought you would find some sort of relief. What have you gained from those things? We get so blind. We are that horse with blinders on where this is the only thing I can see and I won't stop until I have it. Hindsight says, man, that was ridiculous. And so look back and just see what did I gain from that when I compromised here?

Speaker 1: 30:20

what did I?

Speaker 2: 30:20

gain when I didn't follow through on my commitment over here? What did I gain from that? When I compromised here? What did I gain when I didn't follow through on my commitment over here? What did I actually gain from that? And I would say most of us would say nothing. I didn't gain anything apart from shame and regret and guilt and do-overs that I wish I could have, but I can't have. Those are the things that I gained.

Speaker 2: 30:44

And when our we live this way, where our, our God is our stomach, and we just become slaves to our desires Cause that's what we are. We're just slaves to our desires, and it pulls us around. You know, by our nose, from one thing to the next, this is what you're going to focus on. You know, by our nose, from one thing to the next, this is what you're going to focus on. We live a, a life that is all about the here and the now, and and you hit the nail on the head just a little bit ago the end of all this isn't going to mean anything. You know, when we get to heaven, none of this is going to compare.

Speaker 2: 31:17

I can't take any of it with me, jesus, why would you store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust come in and decay those things. Store instead treasures in heaven where moth and rust can't even touch it. We are so focused on that here and now. I would challenge you, as you're listening today, to think about those, those desires, where that earthly focus, that, those gods of your stomach you know that that pull you away. What, what is it about?

Speaker 3: 31:51

that that's so enticing to you and let me, um, add this to that there is no joy in that life. And I know we, we, I've, I've had a lot of people who just rail on the sidelines. I'm not worthy, I'm such a sinner I'm, I'm this, I'm that and I'm saying listen, god can change you and you can have a life of joy. You can have a life of joy. Will you live that life?

Speaker 3: 32:25

There was a lady in our church whose life was transformed by going through Financial Peace University and she said I locked it down, I took control and I went through that. It has changed my life, my financial life, and it's not like she is a billionaire or anything, but she says I'm free and I have joy. I want other people to have that joy and she has paid for the first 10 people to go through Financial Peace University. That is what we're talking about to go through Financial Peace University. That is what we're talking about. We're talking about standing up, taking a stand and letting the Lord transform you. It's transformed her and she wants to see that in other people and that's what the church is all about?

Speaker 2: 33:14

Yeah, absolutely. And so, as you think about those things that have kind of stolen your focus or your attention, I wonder if you could be intentional this week about replacing one of those earthly highs with a heavenly pursuit. You know, maybe it could be something as simple as you know binge watching a show on Netflix and you know, I'm going to watch one episode and you look up seven hours later it's four o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 2: 33:47

You got to get up at 630 for work. You could replace that thing and spend some time reading scripture, watching a sermon, just spending some time. Go outside, sit in your backyard, look at the sky and just spending some time. Go outside, sit in your backyard, look at the sky and just spend some time with God. You could replace those things and just watch how God begins to use those habits in your life to move you from that earthly focus to a heavenly focus so that you can begin to think about things above, not on earthly things focus, so that you can begin to think about things above, not on earthly things. Paul says the people who are so focused on the earth, their end is destruction.

Speaker 2: 34:28

But as you begin to build some of these habits, you look at some of those faithful Christians in your life. You know and we got people all over this church been following Jesus a long time and you can look at their lives and be like man. I want to do what they do. I want to serve people the way that Amy serves people. I want to study God's word like read studies God's word. I want to share my faith the way that Dave Meyer shares his faith with people.

Speaker 2: 34:56

We got some of these people in this church that you can just look up to and say, man, I want to go and do what they do. You start doing those things and watch how God just begins to transform your life and it's going to happen right in front of your family's eyes. They're going to be watching, and maybe not tomorrow or maybe not next month, but six months, a year, two years from now, five years from now, you're going to be able to look at your kids and say, hey, why don't you imitate me as I imitate Christ? Right, imagine what that would do for your family.

Speaker 3: 35:31

And that's what all those people are doing. They're following Jesus and we see those things in them when we say, oh man, I wish I was like him. Well, he's just being like Jesus and you have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, that resurrection power that we've been talking about. That can make you like him. Why don't you pray for us, ryan? Pray for all those people who feel like they've already disqualified themselves to live a life worthy of imitation.

Speaker 2: 36:04

Well, father, I thank you for again, just Paul's letter to the Philippians. It has been so encouraging but also so challenging. Paul's writing some hard truth here that we are to live lives worthy of imitation. And, god, I know that there is so many of us.

Speaker 2: 36:24

I think of so many of the conversations I've had with people, particularly men, over the years, god, I think of the own chatter in my own mind, those things that seem to disqualify us from living the life that you have called us to. But, father, I pray that you would help us to lay aside every hindrance, to take a new grip and strengthen our weak knees so that we can run the race that you have set before us. God, we need your spirit to give us the power to do what pleases you, to give us even the desire to do what pleases you, the desire more than these other things. And so help us to take our mind off of just the here and now, these earthly things. Help our desires and appetites not be ruled by our stomachs, this just insatiable craving for more. But, father, may we desire truly to discover more in you. There is more to see, there's more to grow, there's more to be, there's more to do and, father, I pray that you would help us pursue that above all things, in Jesus' name, amen, amen and amen.

Speaker 1: 37:38

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life, or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at afreshwindorg. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.