The Fountain of Youth

All right.

How y'all doing this morning?

His hands church.

Man.

I, you know, I don't always remember to say things like this, but my wife and I just want you guys to know how uh how how good it feels to just feel so, I don't know, welcomed by you guys.

We just uh, I mean, we've been coming enough now, I guess we sort of feel like family, and uh we've just been enjoying hanging out with you.

Um what we're gonna talk about today, if I was gonna title it, we're gonna talk about what I call the fountain of youth.

How many of you'd like to think young, feel young, and live young for as long as you can?

Raise your hand.

Now, you know, I wish I could tell you I could, you know, shazam you and you live forever, but that's you are gonna live forever, but not in this body.

But uh, how many of you know you can live long well or you can live long poorly?

And I I just my wife and I are into let's live well and finish strong.

Say that with me.

Live well, finish strong.

How many of you'd like to do that?

I'd like to live well and finish strong.

One of the things I love about the Bible is that God tells these cool stories, and He doesn't hold many punches in people's lives.

And uh, if you've got a Bible and you want to turn there, you can open up to Joshua 14.

But I'm gonna read a little bit out of Joshua 14 about a guy named Caleb.

And Joshua and Caleb are kind of two of the heroes of the Bible.

And to really understand kind of where they fit in the story, uh, you know, God spoke to the children of Israel, actually spoke to Abraham and told them, I'm gonna give you this land.

And it was hundreds of years later when Moses led them out of captivity in Egypt to go take their promised land.

And for you and I, promised land is not a geographical place.

Like God's gonna give me what, Cobb County?

Is that a county near here, or are we in Cobb County?

Cherokee County, isn't that near here?

Because I was talking to a gentleman.

I thought he said he was Cherokee Indian, but he was from Cherokee County.

So I don't mean he's gonna give you a piece of land, but your promised land is a way of living.

And so God said, I want to give this to you.

And so they got close to it, and they sent 12, there were 12 tribes, so that so they sent a representative from all 12 tribes into the promised land that was occupied by people who didn't want to give it up.

And so they sent the 12 spies into the land to check it out and then come back and tell us what's it look like, how much trouble are we gonna have, you know, etc.

And most of you, many of you may know the story, but the 12 spies came back, and of the 12, 10 of the 12 said, can't be done.

Those people are big.

They're trained for war, this is gonna be too hard, we can't do this.

But two spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, God said we can do it.

I believe, we believe we can do it.

Two of the twelve.

Now, the bad news is God said, because you didn't trust me, because you didn't believe me, because you didn't rely on me, you're not gonna go in to the land.

You're gonna wander in the desert until all of you pass away.

But two people saw it, believed it, trusted God could do it.

And he said, Because of that, you're gonna live to enter the land.

Now, what I want to read you is this cool chapter.

Um let me make sure I can find it.

I'm using my phone because uh it's just easy to use.

So, supposedly, theoretically.

So here we are in Joshua 14.

They've already conquered the land, and Caleb, now uh Joshua's leading the people of Israel.

Moses has passed away, and Caleb comes to Joshua, and here's what he says.

Well, let me just read a little bit to you.

Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb said to him, Joshua, you know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barneah about you and me.

I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent us to explore the land, and I brought him back a report according to my convictions.

But my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear.

I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.

So on that day, cool, the scriptures up here.

So on that day Moses swore to me, The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord your God wholeheartedly.

Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years.

Forty years when he got the assignment.

Now here we are forty-five years later.

Since the time he said this to Moses when Israel moved about in the wilderness.

So here I am today, 85.

I just want to tell you, man, this inspires me.

I'm at a point in my life, my wife and I are at a point in our life, and I hope this doesn't bum you out for me to say it this way.

We have realized more of our life is behind us than in front of us.

How many of you know whether you like it or not?

You're gonna hit that point.

More of our life's behind us than in front of us.

When I read something like this, I'm like, man, God.

So here I am today, 85 years old.

I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out.

I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.

I read this stuff and I'm like, God, please, please, I'd be so honored.

Now, listen to what he says, verse 12.

Now give me that hill country over there that the Lord promised me.

You yourself heard that the Anekites, now the Anekites are giants.

Here's what he says.

God told me I could have those hills.

Those are pretty hills over there, and I want them.

I know there's giants living there, but God will give me the ability to do it.

Here he is 85 years old, and he still wants, listen now, something that was promised to him 45, maybe, I don't know how long ago, 45 for sure, he was promised that.

Now, what I want to do is just use his story this morning, and I'm gonna just pull a couple of thoughts out of it.

And it's all about how you and I, I call it the fountain of youth, but it's just some thoughts on how you and I can live with passion and purpose for as long as we possibly can.

I don't know how many days that I have, I don't know how many years that my wife and I have left together.

I don't know.

But I want to live well and I want to finish strong.

Now, two out of twelve, Joshua and Caleb stood their ground.

The rest of the spies, the rest of the people were saying, can't be done, we're too weak, we are as grasshoppers in their sight.

And then he said, We can do it.

Joshua and Caleb said, we can do it.

They were able to stand alone.

And the bad news is the whole nation of Israel sided with the ten spies and said, We're afraid, we don't think we can do it.

And they ended up wandering for 40 years.

I'm gonna give you three principles or thoughts.

One I've talked to you about before, but three thoughts.

This one I've talked to you about before.

If you're gonna live with passion and purpose all the way to the end, you need to know yourself, like yourself, be yourself.

Joshua and Caleb had an internal conviction that was strong enough they were able to go against the current, against the crowd, and stand their ground.

If you're gonna live well, you've got to get to the place that you're comfortable with the person sitting in your seat.

It breaks my heart that most people never learn to love the person they spend the most time with.

I mean, who do you spend the most time with?

Yourself.

Wouldn't it be nice if you learn to like the person God made you?

I've I've played this little head game with you before.

Raise your hand if you believe God made you.

Now hold it up for a second.

You believe God had a hand in creating you.

Right?

You are a work of God.

Ephesians 2 said we're his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.

So your hands up because you believe you are the work of God.

How many of you have spent lots of time criticizing his work?

You follow me?

How many of you have at least one thing about yourself you wish you could change?

How many have two?

Three?

Now, I hope you noticed everybody in the room's hand went up.

What does that mean?

Everybody in this room's got something or things about themselves they wish they could change.

I have a question I would beg you to wrestle with.

What are you waiting for to decide to just accept yourself as you are and be happy?

Because here's the deal.

Every day that goes by will never be back.

Everybody in this room has something about themselves they don't like.

All I'm asking you to do is do whatever work it takes.

And I don't know what work you might need to do.

I could guess at some of it, but all I ask you to do is do whatever work it takes to get to the place where you know what?

I can be alone in a room and like who I'm spending time with.

I can be alone in a room and enjoy the person I'm spending time with.

I beg you to try to do that.

How many, what do you think is the number one fear people have?

Other than death.

What's the number one fear?

Begins with an R.

Rejection.

Dr.

Phil, years ago, before he was on TV, he was part of a team that would study jurors, and he was part of a jury selection team for big fancy lawyers.

And he would, they would survey people and over and over and over again, survey people to try to figure out what makes people tick.

And every single survey in every socioeconomic level of our society, everywhere they surveyed people, the same fear came out at the top of the list.

And it was rejection.

Why?

All the way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse 10, the Bible says this I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.

Genesis 3:10

What does that mean?

I'm afraid if you really get to know me, you won't like me.

So I hide.

Now here's the problem.

We can spend so much time hiding that we even lose sight of who we are.

It frightens me in counseling sometimes when I'm working with someone, and I realize they don't even have a solid, clear sense of the person that they are.

I said, what's the number one fear?

Rejection.

What would you say is the number one need that every one of us has?

What do we need?

Love.

Could we say love, connection, belonging, all those kinds of things?

Well, here's the deal.

Everybody in this room is wrestling with that not liking themselves.

The Bible says, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love your neighbor how?

As yourself.

Guess what?

We are.

We're loving each other the way we love ourselves, and we ain't doing so good.

You follow me?

Do you realize the hardest person you'll ever have to learn to love is whom?

You.

If you could ever learn to love yourself, several things.

Do you realize how good life feels when that's behind you?

Do you realize now do all your problems go away?

Do all your flaws fall off?

No, you still have them.

But just imagine you're no longer wasting energy trying to be someone you're not.

You're just yourself.

And you let the chips fall where they will.

And you know what I figured out?

Everybody on the planet's not going to like me.

But you know what I figured out?

Lots of them are.

And life just goes better if I like me, and then just let everybody else make up their own mind.

Joshua and Caleb had some inner strength that enabled them to stand against the crowd and not cave in.

And there was a vitality to their essence.

One time I was counseling this precious lady who's a friend of mine now, and she was not a believer when we started our counseling.

She was uh honestly, she was a wow, she was messed up in about every area of life you can be messed up in.

If you think of an area you can get in trouble in, she was in trouble in it.

And we were, you know, she wasn't a believer, so I would be very gentle and careful, and I hope this doesn't freak you out, but we we we introduced God by calling him the man in the corner.

I'd say, can I talk about the man in the corner for a minute?

And she'd say, All right, go ahead.

Now the good news eventually she became a believer, baptized, the whole cool thing.

But during those early stages, this thought popped out of me talking to her.

And she had just had a sexual encounter that was extraordinarily damaging, extraordinarily disruptive to her personhood.

And what came out of me was you you will you so crave the affection and approval of others.

Listen to this now.

You violate your essence just to get someone to send some version of affection your direction.

Now I'm gonna say the phrase again.

You violate your essence.

Deep down inside of you is this beautiful person that God created.

Now, by the time it gets out to us, it doesn't always look so good.

Why?

Because all the bangs and dings and accidents and collisions life you and life have had.

But down inside there is an absolutely beautiful person.

And that's the one you've got to learn to love.

If you don't, you're gonna age earlier than you need to because you're just gonna expend a lot of energy trying to be something you're not and get the approval of people who are probably, listen now, probably working really hard to get your approval.

Isn't that the crazy part of it?

They want yours as bad as you want theirs.

All right, the second thought, the fountain of youth.

Here we are, Joshua and Caleb.

Caleb goes to Joshua and they have this conversation.

And he says this, Caleb says this to Joshua.

He says, Give me that hill country.

Now, here's what I want to say to you.

If you want to live well and finish strong, never stop challenging yourself.

Never stop challenging yourself.

What do I mean by that?

Never stop wanting something.

Never stop pursuing something.

I don't care if it's this much beyond where you are, never stop going after something you don't currently have.

The moment you stop wanting something more than you have, something inside of you starts to die.

They did a study, a study of businesses, in business, and they tried to figure out how many of you ever heard of a book called Flow?

I can't pronounce the guy's last name, it's some big Russian name.

But he studied, how many of you ever been at a task that you love and you lost track of time?

You just got lost in it.

Raise your hand if that's ever happened.

Well, that's what they call the state of flow.

And that's when you are so engrossed in what you're doing that everything else just kind of fades away, and you're in what they call the zone.

And when you're in the zone, it's like you don't get tired, your your uh senses are accentuated, and you just I mean, you're just on your game.

You're alive.

I mean, you're just alive.

Well, they studied people at all kinds of businesses, and they tried to figure out when are people the most alive at work?

And here's here's a little scale they used.

When they're under challenged, when they're comfortably challenged, or when they're over-challenged.

Now, what do you think the answer was?

The answer was right on the edge inside the overchallenged zone.

Here's what their research found.

You are at your best, you are at your most alive.

Listen now, when you're just beyond your comfort zone.

You're at your most alert when you're dealing with stuff that intrigues and interests you, but you haven't mastered yet.

Why is that important?

Because most of us seek comfort, and when we get comfortable, we fight tooth and nail to defend our comfort, and we don't want to be uncomfortable.

Here's the problem there's parts of you that were designed by God to be at their best when you're just beyond your comfort zone.

Now, let me make it practical.

What do I mean?

We just Friday and Saturday we talked to some of the couples, did a little marriage workshop.

Let's use marriage.

Let's say you have a certain way you relate to your spouse and you're comfortable there, but it's not exciting.

Guess what you're probably gonna have to do to get the excitement back?

You're gonna probably have to get uncomfortable.

What do you mean?

You're gonna probably have to.

I I'll I'll use my side of it.

I'm the man.

Let's just say, you know, I like where my wife is.

It's kind of nice, predictable, whatever.

But the pizzazz is gone.

You know what?

She loves it when we have those once-a-year times when I'm emotionally present and connect with her.

What did I say?

Did I say something wrong?

You know what, God?

You know what, God?

I'm not comfortable dealing with all that emotional stuff.

But you know what?

She really likes it.

She really likes it.

So, you know what, sir?

If you'll help me, I'd like to get better at it.

Now, what did I just do?

I just shifted out of that comfortably challenged zone and went into the edge of I'm overchallenged.

What I just did was place myself in a place where I've not mastered this yet.

And guess what?

Here's the cool part.

A different part of my brain wakes up.

Do you really let me read you something?

Your brain, your brain, that pile of mush inside your skull, your brain is designed by its creator God.

Listen to this now, please.

Your brain is designed by its creator God to drift into slumber, a subdued, depression.

In the absence of challenge or change.

In the absence of new experiences, new information, new challenges, and new opportunities, the chemicals and hormones of excitement, arousal, and passion are released in your brain when you embrace something at the edge of your current experience, knowledge, or ability.

When you make the decision, I want those hills over there.

You know what?

When I stood at that altar 35 years ago, I saw a relationship that was better than the one I have.

I want it.

Say I want it.

I want it.

Now listen to me, folks.

I beg you.

You can't get what you want by getting what you want.

Now that one phrase you can live out of for the next year.

How many of you want something?

How many of you know it's a gift from God to want something?

It's a gift from God to want something.

Please, I'm gonna say it again.

You can't get what you want by always getting what you want.

I want to retire well.

Can I handle my money any way I want to on the way there?

I want to retire well.

Can I just spend money any way I want to?

I want to retire well.

I want XYZ.

I can't get what I want by always getting what I want.

Are you with me?

I want you to live well and I want you to finish strong.

Third point.

Third point in this story of Caleb and Joshua.

Caleb said in his talk there, he said this, you kept me alive forty five years.

You know what saddens me when I watch the church?

It's very rare to find a believer.

Maybe I shouldn't say this because I want to discourage any of you that are young in your faith.

But it's very rare to find a believer that is excited in God.

One year, three years, five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years.

Caleb, forty-five years.

Caleb said, You kept me alive.

Now, I don't think he meant cardiac resuscitation.

Is that a good word, Coley?

I don't think he meant you kept my heart beating and my lungs breathing.

I think he meant from that core of himself, you kept me alive.

Now, here's the deal.

I don't believe anybody can do that but God.

Before I became a believer, back in my early 20s, I was in college, and I and there were Christians around me, and I'll be honest with you, they look so boring.

They look so boring.

Now, you guys don't look so boring.

They just look, I mean, they were racists, they were bigots, they were hardheaded, they were ugh.

One time this guy came into my room at the citadel to witness to me, and I said, uh, well, how many African Americans you hang out with?

Oh, the Bible teaches this.

He started quoting me scriptures to support racism.

Now at the Citadel, you know, you got these rifles that you you parade with.

I grabbed my rifle and chased him out of my room.

I said, Dude, whatever Jesus you believe, I don't want anything to do with them.

You got it, you get you, I don't know what kind of Jesus you got.

I wasn't even a Christian, and I thought, I just don't think that's the way he really is.

But here's the deal: it looked boring to me.

Well, I got saved a month after we got married, 35 years ago.

I had some stuff I needed help with.

And I want to tell you something, folks, 35 years, I've never been bored once.

Forgive me, don't mean to offend anybody, the dark night of the soul.

I don't believe in it.

I believe if you if you want stuff and you just go after stuff, I don't mean you're not gonna have disappointments.

I don't mean you're not gonna get knocked around.

But I believe what Caleb said.

God will keep you alive for decades and decades and decades.

But you've got to learn how to let him resource you from the inside out.

Most of what gets us in trouble is needing something, nothing wrong with that, but reaching for the wrong thing to meet the need.

What we've got to learn to do is look to God for everything we need.

Now, do we know how to do that automatically and easily?

No.

But what if you just said, you know what, God, I want to learn to do that?

What have you just done?

You just shifted out of that comfortably challenged zone and slid up into the slightly over-challenged zone where you're at your absolute best.

God, I want to learn new ways to be resourced by you.

Now, if you learn to never stop wanting something, if you learn to know yourself, like yourself, be yourself, and if you learn to let God keep you alive and fill you from the inside out, you're gonna have a much better chance of living well and finishing strong.

Now, let me just tell you something.

I'm about to wind up.

Worship team, if you want to go ahead and come on up here so I can pray for you guys.

But let me give you a little taste of what we might do next week.

Lord willing.

And all I mean by that is he may change my mind.

But how many of you, yourself or someone you love and care about, could really stand for God to show up and do something?

Raise your hand.

Lord willing, what we may talk about next week.

I'm gonna be back next week speaking.

And what we may talk about next Sunday is the anatomy of a miracle.

What we may do is just take a miracle story out of the Bible.

How many of you believe Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever?

How many believe God still will perform miracles?

Yes or no?

Now, I don't think we have to act weird.

Now, if you want to, I don't have any problem with that.

But here's the thing.

Lord willing, next Sunday, we're gonna talk about the we're gonna break a miracle down like we were in a laboratory, and we're gonna look at the stages of this miracle.

And then at the end of the service, just sitting right where you are, we're gonna pray for God to do beyond what we can.

How many of you need something beyond what you can do?

Amen.

So, Lord willing, that's what we're gonna do next week.

Let me pray for you.

Father, we love you, sir.

We love you so much, but what's really cool is we love you because you first loved us.

And God, it's my greatest desire to just help challenge and stir and provoke people to learn how to let you, for us to learn how to let you love us.

And so, Father, I pray for this wonderful group of folks that you would meet us, challenge us, help us live in the edge, up in that realm of being just slightly overchallenged.

And we want to live well and finish strong in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Bless you guys.