It isn't easy

Are you good?

I think some people weren't sure when I lost that question, how could do I need to be to answer that question before we live in a world that has standards and if you filed on you and I do not pass you file a black and white. Do you know what? There are many styles where things are no absolute hell. I'm doing better than I was yesterday. I was with a bunch of students on Friday. None of them who I from the Utah and I asked them, how are you? At least half the cost said not to buy it and I said you'd become very English even in a few weeks. Not too bad. He's such an English thing to say because the absolute Best Buy and I'm a little bit about 5 you sometimes. But I want to talk today about how easy it is to do things, but I want to stop for the point so it's not easy to It's not easy to.

Let me give you a list of things that call Iberia scripture Festival. I'll be reaching fast from Luke 13:24 Wichita, 1413 West 24th Place. Strive to enter through the narrow gate for many. I say to, you will seek to answer. I'm will not be able to And it's easy to go with the flow. It's easy to go with everybody else. If you've ever been in London, one of the one of the main line stations in London. If you have a brain in the Minot station and you were trying to get off the train and leave and everybody's trying to get on the train to go. Now if you're not in the right light, everybody's all the old phones and I just ignoring you and many of you know what? That's like, if you try and take a new car, it's like it's like you're possessed. It's like something to get your wigs. Why you walking this way everybody else is working? That way, it's very difficult to go against the floor. I once went swimming on the beach in Como and this particular page had red and white flags accounting, but it was wrong. I was okay to swim but you need to be strong. So I might go down to the water and I was swimming and as I was swimming, I realized the beach was that was very far away. I decided I have enough time. So I started to swim to watch the show and I realized after five or six or seven minutes I had not moved. In fact, I was further away from the shore that then I had pain when I started to decide to swim to watch the show. And then I tried to swim away. I tried to work harder, the breathing started to get hotter. And I started to realize I was going to tell him what, you might call a Riptide to the wind blows off the beach and I had learned enough to know. Okay, swim with the current. So don't try and get this woman is different directions so that you don't see me again. So I swam along the Beach Bistro. I mean, to me about 15 minutes to get inside and I was tired when I go to the beach but you know, there was no point in me, swimming against the flow. There was absolutely no point in between against the flow because I would not have gone out that people have been drowned, because they tried to adjust get completely exhausted. Trying to swim against the flow, but it isn't easy to go against the flow. Let me give you some things. He's not easy to do, it's not easy to apologize. It's not easy to be unselfish. It's not easy to take advice, it's not easy to admit error, it's not easy. Someone snitching.

It's not easy to think and then aren't Robin just respond. It's not easy to be charitable. It's not easy to be considerate. It's not easy to avoid mistakes.

It's not easy to enjoy success. It's not easy to profit by mistakes.

It's not easy to keep out of the rocks.

It's not easy to make the best of very little.

It's not easy to subdue you. You'll tempeh. It's not easy to shoulder the blame when he's deserved. It's not easy to recognize a silver lining, it's not easy to receive forgiveness.

It's not easy to forgive easy. I wanted to try to listen, I ain't easy, but I thought I haven't had you spell out to remember how to spell where to put the apostrophe, but that sounded very American and I'm not American. And I hate America are often times a lot of sites devices seen. It says this invasive, 29 and 30. But he will come from the East and from the west from the northern from the south and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed those who are lost will be first to know soon as possible. First will be lost. There was a place in God's Kingdom for all of us and there isn't a particular one. We have this mindset that says, okay if we get that first, it's okay, if you haven't been to a beach where it's popular, you lost in finding this sumbitch out, you'll find people getting up at 4 and 5:00 in the morning. Till 8 at towel on the sunbed play. This is mine. Don't take my towel, don't move my towel and then they'll come down maybe off the breakfast to how fast, idle 10 and lie down on the towels a place that or 4:00 in the morning. I just think what craziness is this, but we need to allow all territory and protect things. God has a kingdom that he's open to Old. They will come from the East and then look around the room this morning to us from different nations. If they are coming even to die from the north, south east and west line-ups, you stay with somebody online from South Africa, welcome to anybody, who's watching us from. I forgot, I know who that is. But yeah, maybe you got a friend in South Africa and I watch you because you're here. In Romans chapter, I see says this Romans 8:12. Therefore brethren, we are Texas, not to the flesh to live, according to the flash for if you live, according to the flash, you will die by the spirits, you put to death, the Deeds of the body, you will watch as many as a led by the spirit of God. Sees all the sons of God for you. Did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear but received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out. I have a father, the spirit himself as a witness with all spirits that we are children of God and his children than as as of God and Joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, that we might also be glorified together, we are children of God.

There's nothing better than to run into Mammoth at Sam's and get one of those great big mama, your daddy hugs. And what is not real easy to do today just to run into Mom's arms. That's awesome. I have a hug. Might my gums are kind of see us a few weeks ago now, and she's at school. And then she drove down from where she lives in in the Midlands and she came to the door and she gave me a great big hug. Am I was getting his big hug from her. She was giving me as I was giving her a much bigger than she is, but she was she was give me such a big hug was so enjoyable. I didn't want you to go see if you wanted to go with us to that cuz I've been stood up cuz I was going on and on, and on, and I wasted money to stop. I was just a special moment. That cardigan, wow, that's how God feels about us. He wants us to run into his arms. He wants us to see something. He wants us to linger in his presence. Now, we are very much. So you, during people, we like to do things. I'm really not very good. I'm sure there are other people in the room. We're not very good with doing nothing. What are you doing today? Oh, nothing. Really? Do you know what sometimes people do? I need to think of something because I can't do nothing right to Rice. The Bible talks about it is good to rest a great believer in keeping his eye special for resting separate Bible study but resting in God resting in your fighting spice, the rest and be still.

I'm so I don't know what you would like, but if if I if I need to sit and be still, I start to fidget. I stopped across the nun. Cross my legs. And maybe I'll need to put some music on. Maybe I need something out, just sitting and being still is not something I find it easy but you know what? When I'm signing go to presents. It's fine. It's absolutely fine. That's being times. When I prayed on, this is felt like a chore. I don't read my shopping list to things that I wanted to talk to God about. Okay, if you go now, if I thought my prayer and I'm sure goes just sitting there saying, I just like to sit with you. I appreciate it. I'm the lingo with you, but he has time he built eternity. He must have talked. I'm sorry. I sit in his presence on SSI in his presence. Sometimes I would just linger.

Sometimes I look at my watch and think, oh my goodness. Why did the hour ago? Cuz I was lost in him. We are all children of God and his children of God. We need to understand just how much he loves us and how much he cares for us. Matthew chapter 10 says this Matthew chapter 10, beginning it, Matthew 10:3, who is in heaven confessing is it writing speaking? Pool is a place where we need to stand up and be counted and we need to decide when

you know what, if we hang out with people and we just allow things to happen, things will drift to the lowest common denominator If in this room, he said, what should we do this often? It's going to do something together, we Diamond weed, all, and we'd end up doing something will be, we'd end up meeting together. I would think we can find somewhere to eat together with a wolf for your many times. I have found that if you would just allow things to flow, we end up with the lowest common denominator in the lowest common denominator is but not where I want to be.

Only this week on Tuesday, this week, I was sitting in a room with some other colleagues. And somebody's told and inappropriate judge. What's some words that I wouldn't say? I'm not going to just ignore. I could have just got up and left the room so I didn't need to hear it. I decided rather than make a fuss about it. I bought it in in the middle of the day.

I'm at the guy who's telling the Joker look to me as if to say.

I just carried on I told the joke and everybody Lost In The Jug stopped. And I just realized I had just dropped a bit of the oil of the Holy Spirit into the money. I didn't. I don't want to hear this. Didn't I say I'm a Christian I just needed to be a Christian in that money. I need it to linger in his presence and just allow him to give me something. That would change the nature with change. The we change the atmosphere. If we confess him, I'm So Fine. Place you choose places. Have to be every time you have to go pee. I'm a Christian. So I do not mind a number of years ago. Now I was in a meeting. Talk talk to you. Take me an idea. I'm not sure I could have said, I just talked to my brain. Just gave me an idea and I'm sure maybe he didn't sleep right or something, but I didn't. I just hate is an idea what you think about this. And I just said, the idea somebody came up to me in the sound of a different. That's a very creative idea. Was it was a kind of marketing out there already want to know. He said, yeah, you think I'll tell you what, after the meeting, but that's why they are and that's all day or not. So, I didn't rule things that were dropped into my heart like a Send if you don't believe me. Next time it happens. I'll look at you and I'll wink.

It's all sitting in a meeting about two and a half months lights on, and I turn into him. Let's go to get me another one. He was looking at me and I will send the email and stuff and I'm still sharing my face with him. If we confess Christ, we can face him and he who is glorified 42, he who receives you received me and he, who receives me received him who sent me, he who received the prophet, in the name of the Prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives out one of these little ones, only for a cup of cold water in the name of the disciple short. I say to you, he shall be by no means lose his reward. There are places that we can serve one another. There are places that we can serve strangers.

But let's say, let's choose to serve. I want to encourage you, please. It isn't easy in Philippians 3, verse 12 to 15. It says this. Note that I have already attained or I'm already perfected but I press on the time, I like how the back which was Jesus is our light hold of me and I do not count myself to a pretty handy. But one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things with your ahead like price to watch the goal for the price of the upward call of God in Christ. I pressed the woods without I push. The most I reach the road. I stretch towards the goal. Like beans holes called think the last time I was in the position but I've been told, but if you run the hundred meters, you have to think about winning. I'll be told that you have to think about crossing the Finish Line. You have to think about those last few seconds and Ashley, as you crossed, the line, you stretch goals, and push, both your truck, your chest, and sometimes people have one. Just literally by the moments, that not grabbing a site. I'm thinking about winning, and they stretched across the lawn stretching for the something that's an active Minds, that it's not just reaching out a hand. It's a mindset that says I will reach before I will reach that little further.

I can remember when I was a little boy, but that's a long time ago. How I struggle to reach the cookie jar on the cookie shelf, in a kitchen, for sure, stool to the place where I could then stand on the stool and reach up and reach the cookie jar. And then my mom realized that she needs to move the cookie jar. Hi. Also, she moved the cookie down to a different shelf, cookie Jones, a different shelf, even standing on the stool. I couldn't reach it. Do you know what? One thing I learned was actually I start to stretch while diving standstill on my tiptoes and I couldn't reach you. In my arms are starting to shake because I was struggling to reach this cookie jar. But I just relaxed and stood up again and stretch one more time and just with the tips of my fingers are managed to get hold of the cookie jar and pull it down and eat some cookies. I cooked, but it was so it was such a stretch to put it down but I couldn't put it back. So I put it back on the lower shelf by my mother put it. And she works in just before dinnertime said, someone's been eating cookies and that's why I didn't leave any crumbs on the Shelf. How does she know? And then she said, but you didn't put it back on the same shelf. You took it from put the points on my kitty. Sometimes we think we calmed down any further, Sometimes we think we have more energy, sometimes we didn't take any more capacity to do. What we need to do in those moments, we come to the end of ourselves. And then we stretch. Got to help us. No, I don't know where you are stretching. I don't know whether it's in health, weather Racine work with her. Some creativity weather in seeing, what comes off to you to do, whether it's in research, whatever it is. If there's something that you'll doing that, you can run out of yourself. Let me encourage you to stretch wool. One more time and ask God to help you, when we come to the end of ourselves, we become to come to the beginning of allowing God to help us and what we doing in our own strength, sometimes. I don't know how it happened, but there are things that I've done as I asked, God because I've run out of what I had, but there are times that I thought, you know what, I really need to go to sleep right now. It's 1 in the morning on. I really need to go to sleep and I just think I'll try one more time to write it off. People that I'm trying to write, and I sat down, he was it not just right up until then I was doing it. Only My Own Strength up until then. I was just trying But then I come to the end of myself and I think it's just going to take me at least another two hours to write it and then I finally reached out to Golden Saigon would you help me? God, would you help me? It's happened so many times in the midst of that desperation in that midst of lingering before. The said Lord, have your way. And then I just wrote stuff down as a. Where did that come from? And then I realize exactly where it came from. But then I realized that I actually it took me less than 20 minutes and what I thought was going to take 2 hours. I just priced in a stressful. I went that little bit further and if you, if you, if you, if you want a Biblical, this situation is just think of the story of the prodigal son. That's a moment when he comes to himself. I'm not coming to self is the self-realization to go home. What about if I go back to my father and ask him? It's the same kind of moment. I haven't tell him. I had an often. I just found it in my arm strength. It ain't easy to do it in your own strength. It's so much easier with God. But why do we struggle again? And again, and again. I sat and watched children, I've had the privilege of teaching reception and you wanting you to, in my time has been times when I watch children and they're sitting on the floor, playing with something that really struggling with it. And, of course, I could come in and I could just do it for I want the time to ask, I wanted to do it with them. I didn't want to type while I was doing the eventually sometimes they could your help and I just do what I need is one minute hand it back to them. Joe Wheeler whip when do little children but we're like tickle children. We still behave and we still want to do it in our own strength and we don't want to show. We have an eight

pretzel enzymes chapter 5. It says the same flight vs73 11 for 3 patient. So why did you say that Brethren until the coming of the Lord, see how the farmer White's for the precious fruit to be waiting patiently for him to pay for it until it receives the Earthly and the early. And the last year, I'm sure you also be patient. Establish your heart for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not Grumble against one another. That's you should be condensed. Behold. The judges standing at the door, my brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord is an example of suffering. And patience indeed, we count them blessed, you and Jewel, who have heard of the perseverance of tell. You been seeing the ends intended by the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful, nobody break joke. But jobs incredibly patients online on the scale of Jerry by knowing that I don't have the patience that he had. Be patient. Be patient in a wolf thing somewhere else in Scripture. The price of the Lord is coming back. The Lord is coming back for his church, is he going to find us ready? And the parable of the virgins, that was some Bhajan to a ready, when the bridegroom returned, and there's some who won. And when the break room, it says they went by Steely, West awake, but not ready. Replacement checks be ready. Think about the things that go cause us to do. And I want you to think about the things that God has laid on, you have to do It's not easy to apologize. It's not easy to admit Aaron, it's not easy to admit mistakes. It's not easy to shoulder deserves blame. It's not easy. To receive forgiveness. It's not easy to give forgiveness.

Ending Ephesians 5.

Beginning at verse 15, it says that what is Weiss Redeeming the time because the days are evil. That fool to, not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is, do not be drunk with wine in which there is dissipation will be filled with the spirit speaking to one another in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart, to the Lord giving. Thanks always for all the things to God, the father, in the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord.

You know, I didn't realize but I sing from time to time. I am underneath my brother. I'm walking around just waiting a bit halfway and I'll just stop singing and no disrespect in June. I was walking around a building most of the people in the building would have known me. I come to get a copy of a cup of coffee and I was walking back to my desk. I was just sipping my coffee thinking about what I was going to do next. Humming some I think it was a stop and get some of the Overflow but happy mood. Salsa to my desk. You sat down at my desk and I haven't stopped still having the two nuts. I said a couple wears. And why you so happy tonight? Okay. Take a seat. Do you really want to know the answer? They said yesterday, there were many days, you seem happy and other people don't. I said well that's because I don't allow my seconds to allow this piping to be true.

I said we often say things like under the circumstances or under the situation, how you doing not too bad considering we're considering Waltz nothing too bad because they Overwhelms me. Am I really saying that the situation is so big that I don't have no hope. I'm already signed the I thought. I try not to smile as possible. Say those kinds of words about this because I'm sure we will do it. But he said so how can you say that? How can you say that it's good. It is well with me. It's good tonight. How can you say that I said? Well, because I've got a bit of a different perspective circumstances or situation. I'm on top of it at best. An even if it is an alarm set.

We still trust God. So even if the circumstances are overwhelming, I'm still trusting God and he's a nobody, so I believe that something was thinking singing about, I feel relieved by something rusty play. I believe that something, but shouting about shouting at work, for being us a good thing. But I still do that once in awhile.

Right before. Last, I was sitting at my computer in a very clock academic room. Everybody else. It was a big things about 14-15 paper in the room. It was a very encouraging email to the end of the email instead of just trying to see if you smiling. I went up and look around. Absolutely. Are you watching the football or something? Or the cricket said? No. No, I just read a really encouraging email. My name is any cars you emailed about a friend of mine, who works in Brazil, Brazil, nuts with the street people in Brazil. I'm just sharing about how someone who had not being able to walk for years because of crippling disability. Pray for, and then I'll happily helping and serving the team and they're no longer working. I don't even have a limp that walking completely healthily, and upright. Until I read this email out to the office cuz somebody kind of what do you say if you really want to know? I'll tell you because I've gone everybody wanted to hear. So it wasn't appropriate for me just to keep it a secret, but I can keep a secret. I want to see. People might say I was being Politically Incorrect, but I was just reading anema. I'll send you a copy to email.

But you know what? Please don't keep the goodness of God inside allow little bit to leak. Allow a little bit depressed for a while. Last confess Christ in. Lots of doesn't have to be giving people the sermon confession Christ and sometimes we just be a big smile. Compression question, sometimes, just be walking around with the song on your lips, confessing Christ, and sometimes just be working. A little bit of sleeping is Scott, Stapp in the balance walking along a compression question such as winking and smiling.

I think it's worth doing is worth doing well. As many things, it ain't easy to say. But you know, there's one thing that I've found it's easier and easier and easier to do overtime, and that's just to share Christ. Just me, the whatever it is for you.

Not. If it's just that's fine, if you want to blow a Hooter and then we'll just born in a bit before you get my house a Time. But let's go Pasquale St. Clair Christ. It ain't easy to do, a lot of things, do you know what? The more I get the easier it is.

Probably. Thank you that you have made a way, there's a way for send us to return to you. Call the guy, that's because you made a way to your son, Jesus, your son, Jesus Paid the price since he went to the Cross. He died. He rose again. That's no longer had use cuss. The grave no longer has expectorant. I'm so proud that we thank you that there was a way back to you. I'll create some There is a unique way back to you. Call the help us to find it and woke it. Even if it is against the flag, for the help, us to be willing to be different wherever we find ourselves a different wire blast wire Paso. Why not lead us guide us? Give us what we need to do to be able to do it. The father, help us to celebrate. El Pastor, linga.

Will doing it in in your strength. Is that much easier than looking at the bank balance of comparison? Not looking at the capacity, we have in terms of energy and patience and strength, and hope and love tanks, often run close to empty. But we often run dangerously close to empty before. We realize that we need from you right now. Lord, would you talk about time? No, but you fill us up with your presence. Could you fill us up with your power with your Holy Spirit, Come and Phyllis and enable us to be who you called us to be? Father I pray for everybody listing those in the room knows. This thing likes of us listing online right now father I pray for everyone of us, we will walk with a new level because you fill this out with the new high because you have talked to his upload. You will walk with a new perspective. Gives you give me some wisdom. Snow will walk with a new Dynamic load because you've given us a prophetic insights. And the Lord, I ask you to do that. We will leave to give you praise and glory. We will come fast price cuz it's through him. We have found all the way back to you. I'm sorry Father we slice. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much. In Jesus name