Getting In Shape To Live Out Your Calling - Leaders' Talks

I remember me and my best friend kind of made a pass not to use foul language in high school.

And I remember one time I said something wrong with football field.

I said something that evidently sounded like a cut word.

And my friend looked at me and said, I heard you cuss.

No, it wasn't like he was gonna shoot me or something.

But had it not been for him, I would not have been able to kind of stick to that conviction.

So you've got to partner with people that will help you prepare for the race.

Who is that?

Who do you know that's gonna be praying for you?

At The Road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

For more information on the road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message.

So I got a phone call two weeks ago from uh someone who said, Hey man, I'm running the tough mutter.

And I was like, good for you.

And he said, Yeah, I'm trying to get a team together.

So the question I asked him was, when is this tough mutter?

And anyone who thinks like I think knows exactly why I ask, when is it?

Because I need to know if I have enough time to actually be in a condition to do it.

So if he were to say, two weeks from now, I'd say, ah, my grandmother's coming in town.

I just can't do it that week.

If he'd said two months from now, I'd say, well, my cousin's coming in town.

I can't, but he said six months from now, seven months from now.

So I thought, all right, can I lose 50 pounds in seven months?

And as I was talking to my family about this, my cautionary child said, my cautionary child said, Dad, I uh And sometimes you need to listen to that, but sometimes you need to not listen to that, and you need to go after it.

You need to strive for something.

And so that'd be one of the areas of a breakthrough that I need.

And so here's the deal with the tough mutter.

The tough mutter is like a 10 to 12 mile race, and it has like 10 to 15 obstacles that you have to overcome.

It's not enough that you have to run for 15 miles.

I run to the mailbox, I run to the refrigerator.

So running for 15 miles for me is like that's enough.

But on top of that, you have to put obstacles in the way.

15 miles is the obstacle in my world.

So there's these obstacles that we have to deal with.

And so I really do have to know how much time do I have to get my act together to be able to run a race like that.

Now, there are people in this room, and I hate you, kind of, but I love you too.

I love you enough to get a pass in the kingdom, but on the other side, you guys could get up tomorrow and run the race because you're just prepared and you've conditioned your body, you watch how you eat, you watch, you handle yourself in preparation to do things like that, particularly in Colorado, man.

You guys, you are a beast.

That's one of the things that I love, love, love about living in Colorado.

It's a great example for my family.

It's a great challenge to be healthy.

So some of you could get up tomorrow and just do it.

I'm not one of those some ones.

But I wish I were.

Now I'm gonna tell you, I bet more people are prepared to get up tomorrow and run the tough mutter than you are to prepared to get up in 2018 and run the race that God has set in front of you.

And if you only knew the race that God had set in front of you, it would be sobering to you.

And you would say, Wow, God believes in me enough that he believes I can run that race, I can overcome these obstacles, and I can live that kind of breakthrough.

Wow.

But if I told you what God actually wants for you, you would say, Whoa, how much time do I have?

Like, do I need to start reading the Bible?

I need to start becoming a person of prayer, I need to get joy in my heart.

I cannot do that race.

And I'm telling you, just as sure as I'm gonna run the tough mudder in seven months, however long it is, I invite those of you that are laughing at me to join me, and I'm not joking.

So just come up to me afterwards and say, hey, I'm in, and we're gonna raise money either for the Springs Initiative or to help uh our missionary partners in Guatemala, which, by the way, go ahead and put that on your calendar.

If you have a heart for missions, I hope you all do, but if you have a heart for missions, you're intrigued by the opportunity of helping, uh, go ahead and put June in your just save the date.

The second week in June for families, the first week in June for adventurous.

I'm thinking about people like the well.

Uh because they're two different styles of trips, they're pretty challenging.

But if you want to run that race with me, come get me.

That's not even that what I didn't even mean to make that announcement, but come get me.

Don't make fun of me.

Run with me, encourage me, and there's other people in this church that are gonna be doing that too.

So just come with me, but you have got to get prepared, guys.

Way more than getting prepared for a tough mudder.

You have got to get prepared for this breakthrough that we're gonna be talking about this year.

You have got to lock in that you're running a race, and what do I need to be doing to be prepared to achieve what God knows I can achieve?

Because God knows that you can achieve far more than you believe you can achieve.

Every man in this room that's married, God knows that you can be a great father.

Every one of you.

Some of you don't even believe that's possible, but God does.

He knows that it's possible.

I want to read something for you out of Ephesians.

Let's just start in chapter two, and then we're gonna go straight over to chapter four.

Ephesians chapter two and verse eight, it says, For it is by grace that you've been saved through faith, and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

This is what I told the Mormons yesterday on my doorstep when they were talking to me.

They were explaining to me that I have to be baptized by a, I don't even know who it is, but the grand Pooh has to be the guy to baptize me.

And there were all these rules, and so I said, Do you believe in Jesus Christ?

I said, he said, Yes.

I said, Do you believe he's the only way to salvation?

He said, Yes.

And I said, Do you believe there's anything else I have to do other than put my faith in Jesus Christ?

And he said, No.

And I said, then why are we having this conversation?

You and I should just be celebrating, man.

I love Jesus, you love Jesus, and you could tell there's just this anxiety in his heart.

And I was like, there's more, isn't there?

There's something else nagging you, man.

For some reason you think I'm go, you're going and I'm not.

So let's get down to that.

And he said, Well, have you been baptized?

And I said, Well, let me ask you this question Did the thief on the cross get baptized?

And he said, Uh.

And I said, Look, man, and I took him to this verse.

I said, We're saved by grace, not by work, so that anyone can boast.

I said, You're standing here boasting to me that you've been baptized by the Grand Pooh Bah, and I haven't.

And that's why you think you're going and I'm not.

And so he had to go, he had to leave.

But I made sure he put on his calendar to come back Friday.

So I said, give me your Mormon book, and I'm gonna take that.

And then he said, Can I pray for you?

I said, No, I'll pray for you.

And then on Friday we're gonna talk again.

So I appreciate it if you guys pray for that.

So I'm looking forward to building a relationship with that guy.

But just like we're saved by grace, we're able to run the race that God gave us to run by grace.

Look at this.

It says, we are God's handiwork.

In verse 10.

Created in Christ Jesus.

We're created in Christ Jesus.

What does that mean?

Jesus did the work that makes us able to run the race.

It's the work that He did, it's the work that the Holy Spirit did, it's the work that God did, and that's why we can run the race.

Not because of me, not because I have anything to boast about, not because you have anything to boast about, but because of the work that He did, we're able to run the race in Christ Jesus.

And look at this, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God has prepared a race for you to run.

He has prepared obstacles for you to climb.

And I'm telling you, by the power of Jesus Christ, you're capable of doing that.

But you're going to have to train for it.

You can't just get up in the morning and just run this race.

It's not going to happen.

You have to show up to morning fire.

You have to get around these women at this women's retreat.

You have to get into a D group.

You have to get into the PB and J or whatever Bible track you're following to build you up.

You have to do those things, or you will not finish that race in the way that God meant for you to finish the race.

So let's go to Ephesians chapter 4, and I want to talk about getting in shape for this race.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

In chapter 4, verse 1, he says, and this is Paul writing to the Ephesians who are Gentiles that are now believers.

That was its own breakthrough, by the way.

Just study that.

The fact that Gentiles could be believers, that is a result of God giving Paul a breakthrough and saying, hey, you know that this is not just for the Jews, right?

So what if your breakthrough were to create a breakthrough for others in the way that Paul's breakthrough created a breakthrough for the Gentiles?

You are a Gentile, by the way.

This is your book of the Bible.

So he says, as a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling that you have received.

Now I'm called into the ministry, and when I was growing up, that was kind of like you're unique.

Like you're really, dude, you're weird.

I only know like five people called into the ministry, and you're one of them.

Oh, we're all called into the ministry.

It says it right here.

He's telling you to go ahead and live a life worthy of the calling that you've already received.

You have a calling.

I don't know what it is, but you should.

And as you're diving into your relationship with the Lord, that thing should begin to unfold.

And I'll tell you this: our church needs you to do your calling well because the church depends on it.

You're part of the body if you are a believer.

But he says to live a life worthy of the calling.

And that's in the same way I need to have an exercise pattern, an eating pattern, a lifestyle pattern worthy of running the tough mutter, of running that race.

I gotta, you know, I can't just show up like this.

I can't.

This is not, people like this can't just show up and run the race.

No, you've got to get your life to a place where it's worthy of running that race.

And you have to too.

Let me say this.

I don't know what your calling is, but I'll tell you this: it's not bigger than your life.

I don't know what job God has for you to do, but it's not bigger than the life He's called you to live.

They actually don't separate.

But you know, I know pastors, I know people in the ministry, particularly in the music business.

I know people who have a calling, and that calling is to get on stage and give a message, give a song, whatever it is.

But then I've seen, and and if I'm if I'm honest, I've been that backstage person where it's like, whoa, what happened to the stage guy?

What happened to him?

You're backstage, dude.

It haven't been 15 minutes, and you don't look anything like the guy that was on stage.

Your life is not worthy of the calling that you're walking in.

So, whatever calling God has you, I'm telling you, if you say, I don't even know how to do that calling yet, just live the life.

Just live a life that loves the Lord, that's joy-filled, that treats people well, that has integrity, live that life.

I bet you that calling will start unfolding.

But he says, live a life worthy.

So the first thing you got to do to get in shape, look in the mirror.

Look in the mirror honestly.

And don't be like guys.

Guys can look in the mirror and we can convince ourselves, eh, we could be back to our what we call fighting weight, which we never actually were fighters.

But we call it, we can be back to our fighting weight, or we can be back to our football weight, or we can be back in whatever shape, two weeks.

You know, that's how guys think.

Give me two weeks.

I'll be right there.

No, look in the mirror soberly, honestly, evaluate your life and say, what has to change here?

Take a long look in the spiritual mirror and say, okay, God, if I'm gonna run this race, I see some things that are gonna have to change this year.

And just write them down.

The next thing you gotta do is you have to practice humility.

Not just humility in, hey, be respectful, be kind, be humble once you accomplish something.

No, just know I'm not gonna accomplish this without the Lord.

Just be humble and just say it's not gonna happen.

God, I need a breakthrough from you because how many times have I tried to run this race and fail?

So I need you, and I'm gonna be humble enough to just admit that I'm super dependent on you, number one, and number two, I'm not running this race for me.

I'm running this race for the Lord.

I'm running this race from the Lord.

Someone in this church challenged me one time and said, Hey, you don't just do things for the kingdom.

You better make sure you're doing things from the kingdom.

That strength and energy has to come from the Lord.

Or it's not even worth racing unless the Lord builds a house of laborers' labor in vain.

So it's not even worth it.

So make sure it's coming from the Lord.

And then let's make sure that we're doing it for others.

Look at what he says.

He says, as a prisoner of the Lord in verse one.

What he's saying is, I'm trying to set an example here.

This is the mindset that I've chosen to take.

I am a prisoner of the Lord.

That's it.

So as I stand in front of you, I'm trying to model for you what you the mindset that you need to take on, which is a humble mindset.

And so he says, as a prisoner of the Lord, I challenge you, be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and the Father of all, who is over all and through all.

But to each of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

That is why it says, when he ascended, he took captives and gave gifts to his people.

Now look at this.

It says, What does he ascended mean except that he also descended to the lower regions?

He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

It says, How could he ascend if he didn't first descend?

And he's challenging them to be humble.

And what does that mean?

What he's saying here is we all tend to want to ascend.

We all tend to want to arrive.

We all tend to want to accomplish or have our moment or somehow achieve that glory.

He said, Well, he had to go down to the muck.

He wouldn't even be in a position to ascend if he wasn't humble enough to descend.

You got to be humble.

Your vision has to not be about you.

Your moment has to not be about a trophy.

I had a chance to go yesterday to a thing that we're doing now.

It's called more than a meal.

And we go on the fifth Saturday every month that has a fifth Saturday in it.

We go downtown and we feed and we serve.

And I was able to work beside people in our church that were serving the homeless.

And you could just see joy on them.

You could just see this one lady, I was just so intrigued by watching people in our church.

That's a joy for me as a pastor, is watching people come alive, watching people walk in the Lord.

And this one lady just sat and she had a conversation with this homeless gentleman probably for 30 minutes.

And it was just, you could tell she was truly engaged.

She wasn't appeasing him.

She wasn't trying to do the spiritual thing.

No, she was genuinely interested, as if that was her someone in her family.

They were just sitting there enjoying the conversation.

I thought, man, that is, that's an example that I can learn from.

And so we have to, if we want to achieve something, we have to understand that you have to first descend.

And you have to be willing to say, Lord, I'll do whatever.

Whatever you want me to do.

God, whatever the race is, I don't care what the race is, I'll do it.

There's no race too great, there's no race too little.

I'll do whatever you want me to do.

I have to have that heart of humility.

So we have to practice some humility.

But then look at this.

In verse 11, he says, So Christ himself gave apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for the works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

So he says, not that Christ gave us pastors and evangelists and prophets and teachers to do the work.

He says that he gave us those people to equip us as a whole church to work.

And so when there are things like Outlier University, those things are only there with the vision from Pastor Steve, from Stuart Orr, from Ron Lint, from others.

That's only there because they have a vision to equip you so that you're lacking nothing to run your race.

So when those opportunities are there, I would challenge you to take advantage of them.

Just man, we're trying to invest in runners.

We're trying to invest in racers.

We're trying to build you up.

And so God gave you pastors and preachers and prophets, but he did more than that.

He gave you parents.

Now, I don't do a great job.

My kids remain silent.

I don't do a great job at parenting, but every single time I try to parent, it is because I love my children.

Now, some days I look in the mirror and I say, Man, you blew that.

You did not do that right.

Pastor Steve probably says the same thing about his pastoring.

I certainly can say the same thing about the role I do.

Some days I look and think, what were you thinking?

But my desire is to help.

My desire is to equip.

And there's other people in your life, not just pastors, prophets, teachers, but parents, mentors, men in your D groups, women in your D groups, when they're showing up at 7 o'clock in the morning for coffee, it's not because they love coffee, it's because they love you.

They're wanting to invest something in you that's going to help you run that race.

So you have to partner with people that are going to help you prepare.

Well, that's one of the only reasons why I'm daring to run this tough mutter.

It's because there's somebody in this church that is committed, and I know in seven months they're going to be there.

When I show up to run that race, I'm going to look beside me, and I know that there's going to be one person at least.

I hope there'll be 10 or 15 of us, but I know there'll be at least one person beside me.

And they're going to be challenging me for the next seven months.

There's going to be a conviction and an encouragement to do what I have to do to get where I need to be in seven months.

And you have to surround yourself with people like that.

You have to surround yourself with people that are like, hey, if you're running this race, man, you can't have that in your life.

Like you're going to have to, let's go.

Let's go.

You got to have those kind of people.

And this is what he's talking about here.

So God has put people in our lives to teach us, but look at verse 15.

It's not just a book knowledge.

He said, instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, and that is Christ.

So it's not enough that there's just we put some teachers in front of you at Outlier University.

You have to have some people in your life that's going to speak the truth in love.

You have to have somebody in your life that's going to say, hey, I don't know about that.

I remember me and my best friend kind of made a pack not to use foul language in high school.

And I remember one time I said something, we were on the football field, I said something that evidently sounded like a cuss word.

And my friend looked at me and said, I heard you cuss.

And I was like, whoa, whoa, like he was going to shoot me or something.

Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't do it.

I didn't do it.

But had it not been for him, I would not have been able to kind of stick to that conviction.

But I just had somebody kind of looking into my life and saying, hey, hey, hey, don't do that.

Don't do that.

So you got to partner your with people that will help you prepare for the race.

Who is that?

Like if I were to ask you right now, who is it?

Who's going to be calling you throughout the week?

Who do you know that's going to be praying for you?

You sent me a great email this week of Snoopy, and the email said, Real friends are people who talk nice about you when you're not around.

That's right.

They always have your back, even when you're not listening, but they will talk tough to you when you are around.

If they have to say, hey, I'm concerned about your marriage, man, you can't be okay.

You've got to be able to take that.

So not only do you need to partner with these people, but you need to be able to be teachable.

When these people talk, whether it's outlier, whether it's someone that's going to speak the truth in love, whether it's Pastor Steve, whether it's your parents, whether it's your mentor, whether it's your D group, you have to be teachable.

Look at verse 17.

In verse 17, so I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live, as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

You can't have futility of thinking.

You have to be good thinkers.

I saw a bumper sticker a couple weeks ago that said, think while it's still legal.

We have to be thinkers.

One of my favorite sermons was yours on the mind.

The mind.

The mind has to be engaged.

You have to be thinkers, not just feelers.

But you have to be thinkers.

And you have to engage and you have to be learners.

It says in verse 18, those people are darkened in their understanding.

They're separated from the life of God because of ignorance that is in them due to this: the hardening of the heart.

So your heart is keeping you from being able to think.

Somebody's giving you some truth.

We've all been teenagers when our parents or guardians or mentors are talking to us, and we're just not listening.

Well, they're giving us good advice, but we're not thinkers.

We don't have a heart that can absorb that.

I love the way he says it in verse 23.

Go down to verse 23.

He says, to be made new in the attitude of your mind.

We can sit in a room while the same teaching is happening, and the person next to us can just be absorbing it.

Man, this is good stuff.

This is good stuff.

And they're absorbing it, and it's not because it's good stuff.

It was good stuff last week, too.

But it's because your mind is hungry for it.

Now I remember going into my classes in school, I was not a very sharp kid in high school and younger.

And I believed, I believed this.

When I walked in the door, I believed, no matter what this teacher says, I am too dumb to get any of it.

So I check out as soon as I check in, because I'm not capable of learning.

And now, here I am much years later, I realize I was duped.

I was self-talk.

I was beating myself down.

It's just not true.

If I would have gone in with a different attitude, same teacher teaching the same subject in the same way, but I believe something different, so now I can take it in.

The difference is the guy who pursues the counselor, the marriage counselor, because he wants his marriage to be better, versus the guy whose wife drags him to marriage counseling.

Same counselor.

The attitude of your mind is different.

So you have to adjust the attitude of your mind.

Be teachable.

Now look at verse 22.

I want to challenge you here from verse 22 to verse 24 to trade your habits.

Don't change your habits.

Trade them.

Because look at verse 22.

He says this.

You were taught with regard to your formal life, put off your old self, which is being corrupted by uh deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your mind and put on the new self.

So put off the old self, but at the same time, you've got to put on the new self.

So you want a better family?

Don't just start saying, okay, I'm going to stop ignoring my kids.

But say, I'm going to start having family dinner instead of eating in front of the TV.

And I'm just going to trade that.

And so that habit, it's not enough to break a habit.

Then you have this free space.

You've got this open space.

Now I'm going to shift.

I'm going to trade a habit.

So it's not enough for me to just turn the TV off.

I need to turn the TV off and go to the gym.

So I'm going to trade it.

And I'm going to shift what I was doing and trade it for what I should be doing.

Shift what I was thinking and trade it for what I should be thinking.

So trade your habits.

Now this next part for me is one of my favorite parts of the scripture.

Look at chapter 4, verse 25 through 13.

We're not going to go verse by verse and plow through this because we just don't have the time.

But then he begins to say in verse 25, therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we're all members of one body.

He's like, man, you're going to have to start talking honestly because my elbow hurts and my knee is not listening.

We need to start talking honestly to each other because we're all suffering when you're not doing or being who you need to do or be.

Just like when dad in the home is kind of being a ninny head.

I can say that because I've been a ninny head in my home.

The whole family suffers from it.

It's not just like, well, dad's a ninny head and he's off to himself.

No, the whole family kind of suffers from it.

So he's saying, speak honestly.

And then he begins to go through and just call out all kinds of sin.

All kind of sin.

And you either are willing to hear that, or you're not willing to hear that.

You're either willing to take a real inventory of your life or you're not willing to take a real inventory of your life.

But here's what I want to say to you.

If you truly want to be able to run this race this year, you got to be willing to invite influencers that will speak hard truth into your life.

Invite influencers into your life.

And then here's the other part though.

You got to be willing to kick out other influencers in your life.

Because he says in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 6 through 7, after he says, expose the evil deed.

Ephesians 5:6–7

He goes through all these sins and he says, You got to expose these deeds, man.

They're killing you.

They're killing you.

You've got to expose them.

He goes to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 6.

Ephesians 5:6

And he says, Let no one deceive you with empty words.

For because of such things, God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Therefore, do not be partners with them.

Now, this is not talking about the world.

It's not talking about reject the world, be mean to the world, turn your back on the world.

No, it's talking about people that are telling you, oh, it's okay.

Oh, the Lord loves you.

Oh, God's grace covers you.

Oh, but in a false way, don't listen to that.

Those are not things you need to hear.

You need to hear someone who is going to speak the truth in love to you, and they're going to be willing to call things out and expose them.

But they got to be people that you really, really trust.

They have to be bloodstained allies.

Because if they're not, that's not helpful.

But find someone that you know, you're convinced when I'm away from them, they talk good about me.

Find that person and give them permission to expose things in your life that are going to keep you from running that race.

And when I say find that person, I mean that literal.

It's probably a plural thing.

But if it's two or three, you're good.

Anything more than that, I would stay away from that.

Because the goal is to become who you need to be, not just tell everybody your stuff.

Right?

So, one or two godly people, that's plenty.

Make sure they have your back.

Make sure that they're blood-stained allies.

Because you have to be able to trust it.

So do that.

Now, as we're finishing up here, I want to look at just a couple of verses at the end of this thing.

This is what I want to say.

If you look at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 14, this is why it is said, wake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Ephesians 5:14

This is the kind of self-talk you need to have.

If I could challenge you with anything this year, have this kind of self-talk.

Look in the mirror.

You know you're not happy with who you need to be spiritually.

Forgive physically, that's your own problem.

But spiritually, and just look in the mirror and say, wake.

Talk to yourself.

Wake, O sleeper.

Arise from the dead and believe this.

Believe that Christ will shine on you.

There's so many people in this room that don't believe He'll do that.

You believe He will reject you and He will not reject you.

Wake.

Rise.

Let Christ shine on you.

You need to be giving yourself that kind of self-talk.

Now, it says in verse 15, be careful how you live, not as unwise, but as wise.

Make the most of every opportunity.

So if I were to encourage you in this verse, I'd say, tape that verse on your mirror.

Tape that verse on your mirror.

And if I were to tell you that you need to have one New Year's resolution, it would be up in verse 10.

Verse 10 says, find out what pleases the Lord.

You want a New Year's resolution?

Don't let it be a works thing.

Just find out what pleases the Lord.

Open your PB and J in the mornings and say, God, what pleases you?

Lord, I'm looking at this situation.

This person doesn't have food.

Would it please you that I that I give this person food?

Lord, I can win this argument or I can lose this argument and humble myself.

Which one pleases you?

God, would it please you that I go for a walk and worship you?

Does that please you?

I want to be a friend to you.

Show me what pleases you.

Make that your new year's resolution this year.

And then here's the last thing I want to say.

If you want to have transformation this year, if you want to have a vision of transformation this year, you know, when I start this tough mutter, I'm probably gonna like tape Captain America or something to my mirror.

And I'm gonna get up in the morning, and by day three, I'll probably tear Captain America down.

Tearing me down.

But no, it does, it does help me sometime to see a vision of what I want to be.

Get a picture of what I can actually attain.

Don't let it be ridiculous and weird.

But what can I actually attain?

Sometimes it helps me to get a picture of that.

So I'm gonna give you a picture of that real quick, and then we're gonna close as the worship team comes up.

In verse 18, it says, Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery.

Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

God, the picture I have is I just want to be full of you.

Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.

God, I just want to have that much joy in my life this year.

I want to walk around with a song in my heart.

I want to pursue you to the place that I have a song in my heart.

I want to be a worshiper.

I want to praise you.

I want to have this kind of attitude, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of the Lord our Christ.

You've been listening to The Road.

We hope you have been blessed by today's message.

To connect with us further, visit theroad.org.

If you are walking through a difficult time, we want to pray for you.

Go to theroad.org, click on the ministries tab, and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer request.

Thank you for tuning in today.

Be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road.