Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Are you or someone you know going through a really, really hard time right now? Do you feel down? Are you discouraged? Do you simply want to know, oh God, how do I get out of this?
How do I get perspective?
Well stay with me. That's today. When we're struggling, praying for change in our lives, and yet nothing seems to happen, what more can we do than wait around for things to get better? For God to answer our pleas?
Well, I'm Dave Druy, and today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram helps us realize how our focus can fundamentally shift our experience, even when our circumstances remain the same. Today's lesson comes from a broader study called Free at Last, and you can revisit or share any part of this series anytime by going to livingonthege.org.
Well, now here's Chip Ingram with today's message, understanding the power of focus. Key number one, jot the word in. Focus. The question is, where is your Focus.
Now, we're going to look at Philippians chapter 1. He says in verse 3: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy. In my every prayer for you all.
Well, why? In view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I'm confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you. We'll perfect it. until the day of Christ Jesus.
This is Paul's upward focus. It's upward. And it's outward. Notice his focus continues. Paul's outward focus.
He says, for it is only right for me to feel this way about you all. Why? Because I have you in my heart. Since, in both my imprisonment and the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. For God is my witness how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Finally, out of his outward focus and love, notice he prays for them.
So he takes his concern and he goes, And this I pray, that your love. may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. And then there's what A result, sew that, put a little box around the sew that, it's very important.
So he says, Here's what I'm praying. I'm in prison. My focus isn't on me. It's on God, but it's on you. And when I'm praying for you, I want you to know this is what I'm praying.
I'm praying that your love and your relationship would grow deeper and deeper in the, it's a really powerful word, in the epigonosco, in other words, in the experiential knowledge of God, and that you would have all discernment. In other words, that you would get so close to God in the midst of this corrupt Roman Empire and all the junk coming at you. Saw that Why? You could approve the things that are excellent. And then there's a purpose clause in order that you can be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.
Underline sincere and underlying blameless. We'll come back to this just a little bit later. Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ. to the glory of God.
Now, what I want to do is kind of roll up our sleeves and ask ourselves two or three questions to help us get. Hey, Paul, I'm glad you can look at it that way. It's pretty tough for me, right? How do you develop an upward focus? And I'm going to suggest right from this passage: number one, it's a choice.
It's a choice. And the choice is gratitude. And the way you do it is, you choose to remember and you thank God for significant relationships. On the in the mornings, our whole staff comes down here and we have a A prayer time. And different pastors, actually different people on the staff lead it.
And we all sit here, and he goes, Here's what we're going to do for the first 20 minutes. I want you to write on these three by five cards. Everything that you can possibly thank God for. In 20 minutes. I filled out five.
I mean, it was easy. I had five of these filled front and back. And I had this weird experience afterwards. I had a great attitude that day. Hehehehe It's just a weird experience, you know?
It's just like... Why? Here's why. I spent 20 minutes focusing on what God has provided. Instead of my humanness like yours, is to always focus on what?
is missing. Second, it's an action prayer. Prayer. By the way, remember he said, I willfully chose. to remember the past youthfulness and the partnership.
See, I think we think prayer is always going to be some ooey-gooey feelings and these wonderful great connections with God. Part of my rehab on this fusion on my back was walking, walking, walking, walking until I could walk for an hour. That's a lot of walking. And I just have to tell you, there's times where I, when I didn't want to walk. Two, I'm bummed out.
And just, I mean, honestly, a little pity party, God, you know, why me and wimpy, wimpy, chippy, chippy, you know. Just like you guys do. And then I remember, I'd walk in and I'd listen to some worship songs, and I'd pull out those earplugs. Father, I thank you. And I started quoting verses, and then I started praying for people.
I just started praying for people. I started praying for a lot of you. I prayed for our staff. I prayed for this city. All of a sudden, I realized: you know something?
This isn't the best time praying I've had in a lot of years. Why? Because I had to walk. I don't know what you're going through, but it's not an accident. You can develop an upward focus by choosing to give thanks.
And by the action of prayer. And third, there's an attitude, and the attitude is confidence. You know, I remember like toward the end of my walks, what I realized was You know, I've been through a lot of hard times. I'm getting older. And I've had God's promises and God's character.
God's promises and God's character. And I have these little packets where I've memorized verses over the years. And I started reading some of these old verses, and I found one, 1978: God's Promises for Chip and Teresa. I mean, that was like a month before we got married. And God gave me this passage, this Old Testament passage, and I was reading through that, and I thought.
Like, are you kidding me? I mean, my life is like 100x better than I ever, ever, ever dreamed. But it doesn't matter how good it is, because if I have a really great day today, left to myself, I just want it a little bit. Better. Right?
And so do you. But I want you to know that you choose, you choose joy by being grateful. by being prayerful. And being confident of the future, not because you've got it all together, not because your circumstances are going to change, but there is a God who put His Spirit within you who says, I'm confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you has promises and character that He's going to see you through. And I don't want to be morbid, but the very worst thing that could happen is you die and end up in the presence of Christ with no more pain in the best atmosphere forever and ever and ever.
Say our hope isn't in this world. There's three observations that I see out of This passage that have been both helpful and convicting to me, so I want to share the wealth. Observation number one from verses seven and eight are that difficult circumstances reveal our true affections. Fire number one, he was depressed because he lost his stuff. And he was a believer, but he got caught up in stuff and money and prestige and flying to Vale and skiing and luxury vacations.
In fire number two. He had a different set of affections. Second observation is: living above our circumstances occurs when our hearts are so full of people, there's no room for self-pity. That's what happened in fire number two. Forty-eight hours later, all twelve of his master craftsmen had jobs with his competitors.
Paul, when you squeeze Paul, Paul's like a sponge. You squeeze Paul with pressure and chains and difficulty. And what oozes out is who he really was. And who he really was was a man who loved God with all of his heart and cared so deeply about people. When Pressure and difficulty in circumstances, whether it's work or health or problems in your family, when the vice of pressure and circumstances come into your life, whatever oozes out, that's who you are.
That's who you really are. If you're negative, if you're critical, if you're blaming... If you're down on everyone, I mean, it's easy to have a great attitude when things are going great. God uses affliction.
Sometimes, to allow adverse circumstances to realign. our affections. I mean, we all want to change, right? This this whole deal I've been with on my back. If you would have asked me before all this, I would have said, you know, I'm working on some things.
But God revealed some blind spots in my life. And I'm so glad he did. And actually my wife made It was very kind the way she did it. And and my children as well, and a couple of friends is Basically, these new revelations I had about these blind spots that I needed to address, they kind of looked at me like, oh, really? You just found out?
So you just got that you're driven over the top, productivity centered? Uh nuts. in in a loving kind of way. You know, sometimes God loves you so much that you're praying, Oh God, take it away, take it away, take it away, take it away, take it away. He's going, no.
My goal isn't to make your life comfortable. My goal is to make you holy. And the only way you ever really be happy is if you're holy. And the only way you're holy is if you see what needs to be addressed and allow me to forgive and cleanse and empower you. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and there's more coming up in a moment, so stay with us.
Beyond this broadcast, Chip's teaching also lives on the Living on the Edge YouTube channel. Full sermons, short clips you can send to a friend, and entire series you can work through at your own pace. Just search Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram on YouTube and subscribe so you don't miss what's next.
Now let's continue today's lesson. The summary on the first portion of this section was that our feelings always follow our focus. In case you missed that. Our feelings always follow our focus.
So how you are emotionally is always going to be determined on what you focus on. And then here, Our focus always follows our affections. See, my focus is my affections. My affections were... And not uniquely.
But my blind spot was my affections were around that being productive. Is what gave me value with God and people. Not solely. I mean, it wasn't like I was just completely in that field. But there was a lot more of that than I ever dreamed.
And what I want you to know is that God is not down on you. and the difficulties that we have in our life and the circumstances in a fallen world. In a fallen world, there's storms, there's tsunamis, there's earthquakes. The issue will be what do you focus on and how do you respond? As I think about saying, okay, Lord.
I want to choose joy. I understand I need to have a upward focus. and an outward focus. And I get to have an upward focus. I need to choose to be grateful.
I need to talk to you. And I understand that there's some things that adversity reveals. But here's the last question I want to address: it's this. How do you develop this outward focus? How do you get where, under pressure, you're praying for other people the way Paul prays for other people?
How do you do it where it becomes a habit, where it becomes who you are, not just a thought under some pressure? Yeah. And I'm going to suggest that the Apostle Paul is going to address that in verses 9 through 11 specifically. Number one, Think about those who've loved you the most. When you are really discouraged and really down, just think.
Who are the people that have loved me the most? It's what he does in verse 3. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. They've just sent a financial gift, and you know, when you're in prison back in those days, they didn't like to serve food. If you didn't have friends to bring you food, you'd just die.
And he was just, you think about the people that have loved you the most. Instead of the people that rip you off the most. And then here's something interesting. You pray. for those you think.
about the most. and put a big circle around prayer. And by the way, there's a couple different ways to pray. I had a good friend who really struggled with: if this was this full, he could focus on that much being empty. I'm not a very good counselor, but I gave him a few shots, you know, and tried to help him.
And so I just said, Well, are you praying? He goes, Yeah. And so I said, Well, He goes, it doesn't help. I said, well, let's pray right now together. I'll never forget this.
And if you've heard this story, you need to hear it again because it was like, are you kidding me? And so. It was in my little apartment, and so Bob and I both get on our knees. I said, Bob, you pray first, and then I'll pray. And so Bob gets down and goes.
Yeah. Oh God, you know the terrible childhood I had. You know how bad my father was. You know how the kids teased me all my life. You know, and I mean, he goes on and on and on and on and on.
I mean, he didn't pray at all. He was whining in the presence of God. I mean, at one point, I just hoped my eyes go, like, for real? You know what I mean? And you know that, you know, I've been able to hold down a job and I think everyone doesn't like me.
And then finally, hey, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, let me, let me, can I cut in here? God help Bob. Amen.
Okay, I said I said Bob, that's how you pray, right? He said, Well, yeah. I said, I got news for you. You can pray till the cows come in. God's not answering that one.
Bob, that's not prayer, that's you. Oh, you're telling God all of us, you've told me this. And I've heard it once or twice or three times. And now, have you noticed that people in this fellowship, like when you come around, they start going, yeah, it's terrible, isn't it? I said, there's a reason, Bob.
He said, What's the reason? I said, You're like a recorder. All you do is whine, complain, whine, complain. We try to help you once, but. He said, Bob, okay, let's try a different prayer.
Pray something like this, and this I pray. God, would you help Bob's love, his passion? Like never before, to understand who you really are, how much you love him, and have discernment about what truth is in life. Yeah. In order that.
Bob could approve the things that are excellent. He might know what are the best things for him and the people and the things that are worse for him so that his life could be blameless. The word means tested by sunlight. Sincere, tested by sunlight, take that back. And blameless means morally pure.
In other words, what Paul prays and what we can pray, I pray this for my kids. I pray this for me. I pray this for Teresa. I pray this for our staff. I mean, sometimes I think we have these prayers.
God help so-and-so, help so-and-so, help so-and-so, help so-and-so. God knows all that, and I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. But when Paul prays, Paul prays, this is what I'm praying. I pray this for my adult kids. Lord God, would you give them an experiential, genuine knowledge of you where they feel you and experience you like never before in such a way that in the world and all the pools that are coming at them, they would understand, I don't want to go that direction, but I want to go this direction.
And God, that each one of my boys, that you would keep them pure in their hearts and their minds. And each one of my daughter and my daughter-in-laws would have such a love for you and understanding that as everyone tells them they ought to be this and ought to be that, that when you look like sun coming through a paned glass window, they would be pure before you and morally pure so that. They would be the kind of men and women that would love one another and honor you, and create an environment so my grandkids could see Jesus in their life. And if you look at this, he has a request. Then he gives the reason for the request.
And the last phrase, he gives them the resource, having been filled. with the fruit of righteousness. It's what's called a passive perfect participle for those of you that are English majors. Passive means the action is upon you. Perfect is something that happened in the past that continues on into the future.
And what he's saying is, Philippians, it's a hard world, but let me tell you something. I'm praying that you'll know God like never before. And I'm praying you'll get it so crystal clear that all the trash and all the temptations that you'll see that is not the way I want to go. And that instead you will walk with God in such a way because when you received Christ, the old man died. The Spirit of God came into your life, and the righteousness that He purchased, the fruit of it, this is how God sees you now.
And it's not about trying hard to be a good person. You actually possess the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and by faith, you live out what's already operating in you. until the day of Christ, which is when he returns. And so it's a deeply theological and personal prayer. You start praying that kind of prayer for people you care about, and your self-pity will go whew.
And your woe is me will go, whew. And it won't just be, you know, some of our prayers are, oh God, help them sell their gar, help them sell their house, help their back to get better, help this to get better. We think that the sometimes when I listen to myself pray, and some of you is that the only goal is that God would make life better or easier. What if the bigger goal is he makes us more like Christ so that we are actually change agents? that change everything and everyone around us.
C plus P. Equals the question is where's your focus? I mean Okay, in that box? When you think about the box, Is your focus upward God? What do you want to do in and through this?
And is it outward? God, how are you going to use me? Or, what's happening in other people's lives? I got a tough situation, but maybe at work, or maybe the unwed mother, or maybe the lonely person. Or maybe a relative.
or maybe there's someone I know in this body whose difficulty and challenges, you get your heart. filled with loving other people and I will tell you Joy. Joy. Not because things got better. It's because joy Is the evidence of Christ's presence operating freely in your heart?
It's a gift of the Spirit. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled Understanding the Power of Focus. It's part of our current series called Free at Last, and there's more from Chip in just a minute, so keep listening. Our feelings always follow our focus, and our focus always follows our affections. And that's precisely the territory Chip's book, Yes, You Really Can Change, was written to map out.
Chip walks through the actual mechanics of change straight from scripture, identifying the specific barriers that have kept you circling the same struggle, and then the process of putting them off, renewing how you think, and putting on something new that actually holds. Order a copy today, and we'll send a second one free so you can work through it side by side with someone else who's ready to see real change. Just go online to livingonthege.org/slash offers. If Living on the Edge has ever helped pull you out of your own head and toward God, would you help make sure that happens for someone else too? Every gift, whatever the amount, goes directly toward reaching more people with this kind of practical biblical teaching.
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Well now here's Chip. As we wrap up today's program, I wish we could sit down literally and have a cup of coffee. And you could tell me, hey, Chip, you know, here's what I'm going through. And here's a couple relationships that are really difficult or my work or a health issue. And I could really, really listen and ask a few questions.
And then I could turn around and tell you, hey, you know, here's some things I'm going through right now. And then at the end of their time, I think we would go back to what we heard taught today, that difficult circumstances really do reveal our affections. You know, the Apostle Paul, you see the core of his attitude. He's going through horrendous circumstances, but his focus is so upward. His confidence is, you know, God's gonna use this for good.
And they're outward.
Now, he thinks to himself, you know, this is really hard on me right now, but think of the impact it's gonna have for other people. One of the things that hit me about this was the truth. that our feelings always follow our focus. You know, when I'm looking at things half empty and that's my focus, my emotions go downward. But then the next thing we learned was that our focus is always determined by our affections.
Paul's affection was God's heart, God's agenda, God's will. And what I want to confess to you is when I really struggle with perspective and when I get down, what I realize very subtly is my affections are around my happiness, my agenda, my plans, and what I want to happen for me. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but I would just ask you: as we study Philippians chapter 1 together, could your affections have drifted? Could some of your challenges, your emotions, your negativity really be centered around that your affections have gotten a bit off of following and honoring Christ and a bit more on you and your happiness and what you want to happen? And if so, could we pause today together and say, Lord, will you help us?
You know everything about us. We want our affections to be on you. Would you help us to look upward and outward? And would you give us your perspective today for your glory? In Jesus' name, amen.
We'll see you next time as we continue our series called Free at Last: How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle right here on Living on the Edge Chip Ingram. Yeah. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
