Resilient - It's Powerful, Part 1

We are living in unusual times, under unusual pressure, that require unusual resilience, the ability, will, and power, and motivation to bounce back and to overcome whatever you're going through. Today, you'll learn how. Stay with me. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher on this international discipleship program, and I'm Dave Drouie. We're currently in a series called Resilient, Withstanding the Storms of Life.

If you've ever wondered how in the world you're going to get past the drama or the trauma that's going on, I'm glad you're with us. We're studying through the first chapter of the book of James. James was the pastor of the first church in Jerusalem at a time when believers were forced to leave homes, leave families, leave jobs, bury loved ones. Life was hard then, and it's hard now, which is why Chip's helping us with James teaching, to see how it's possible to stand strong no matter what's going on. Now, just before we get started, let me encourage you to try using Chip's message notes while you listen. All of his scripture references are there along with the fill-ins to help you remember what you're learning.

They're a quick download when you go to livingontheedge.org or tap fill-in notes on the app. Well, let's join Chip now for part one of his message, It's Powerful, from James chapter one. You know, resilient, I love even on the top of the notes the ability to withstand or recover from a difficult situation. And we've learned it's tempting, we've learned it's emotional, and I want to share It's Powerful. And I'm going to do something I don't normally do.

I tend to do a fairly quick introduction, jump into the text, apply it all the way through. I want to just get you to lean back, and I want to talk about power because I think right now we feel powerless, right? I mean, when are we going to get to go back to work? What about the future?

What about my plans? I mean, it is really a challenging time. I think God wants us to be resilient.

How do we overcome challenges and difficult situations? And I think there's a number of things at play here. So let me give you three very quick stories, all that have to do with the power of something. And by the time we get done, I think those three stories will be bing, bing, bing. Wow. Maybe I want to remember them. The story number one, I'm a young pastor.

I'm 28 years old. It's my very first pastor. We don't even have an office. It's a small little town of under 3,000, not even a stoplight. There was an area where I could sort of office in the back of someone's place.

They just put up a little almost cardboard type thing, let me stay in the back, just a little place to study. It was a businessman, and he was a Christian, went to sort of the main church in town. He was trying to be nice to me, and he came and said, hey, by the way, now what version of the Bible are you using? So we're kind of talking about the Bible, and all I know is he's a person who goes to this church, very open about his faith.

We're talking about the Bible, and he gets a phone call, picks up the phone. What? What? You tell that N-word?

I would never have an N-word. That blankety blank blank blank. This is a... I mean, I'm sitting there going, now, are you kidding?

He hangs up the phone, and then he comes over and goes... Now, the version I was telling you about, I mean, there was not a skip in the beat. It's the power of deception. There was absolutely no connection between him being a follower of Jesus, our conversation about the word of God that screams no partiality, and the words and the prejudice and the anger coming out of his mouth about a human being made in the image of God. I was a young pastor. I'm 28, but I'm thinking, whoa. Now, candidly, I grew up in Ohio, and I grew up in the suburbs, and I was deeply offended.

I grew up playing basketball and so outdoor courts, and then a very mixed racially college team. It was just like, I remember, how could anyone be that deceived? Powerful, powerful deception. Story number two, a number of years later, it was a young man from all practical appearances was doing great, been married, I don't know, seven, eight years, had like a five-year-old at the time, good job, good family, just bought a house, attractive. He and his wife came to church regularly.

I mean, you would just think, upwardly mobile, kind, generous, good dad. I got a call, and he said, I got to talk to you right away. I said, well, Sheri, can I come down right now? I said, well, Sheri, go ahead. He comes to me, and he goes, this is the note that was on the refrigerator. I said, what's it say? He says, I don't love you anymore.

I never loved you, and I've taken our daughter, and I'm gone. That guy, I mean, if a lightning bolt would have hit him, it couldn't have been more drastic. He was completely relationally deceived or unaware. If I'd asked him, I mean, a day before, great at home, great with the wife, great with work, great with the family. I mean, he was absolutely 100%.

Things are fine. Well, obviously, they weren't. Obviously, he didn't see. He didn't recognize. He didn't see the hurt. He didn't see the body language. He wasn't listening to what she said.

I mean, people just don't do that. That was a long, slow burn that ended up in a dramatic ending to someone that, for all practical purposes, was oblivious. Deception.

It's powerful. I'm telling stories, but here's what I want you to get. What would this have to do with you or me? What if deception is that powerful that you could actually be convinced you're in right relationship with God and things are super-duper, or you're in right relationship with someone you love and you're completely wrong, completely deluded? Third story about power.

This is a positive one. This was during my college years. I was a growing Christian. I got into a Bible study.

Then I was meeting one-on-one with a brick layer who was discipling me. Then, little by little, I was meeting with one or two guys. Then I had a Bible study in my dorm. I was just learning.

Everything was new. I was getting to God's Word. I was a pretty slow learner. It was so hard to get up in the morning and spend time with God daily.

It took me about a year and a half, maybe two years before it became a habit and little later became a joy. I began to write down some verses that were meaningful to me on cards. Early on, they wanted me to memorize Scripture. I thought, that's stupid.

It's in the Bible. I can look it up when I want it. I had no idea the power of renewing your mind, the power of the Word of God, the power of meditating. I was clueless. I was growing now and I was even starting to teach a little bit. It's about my junior year in college.

I've been a Christian a little over three years. We had a guy on our campus who came, transferred in, and his name was George. He wouldn't mind me using his name.

In fact, I've used it publicly before. There's no other word. He was socially awkward. He came from an immigrant family. His parents moved here in the New York area, a Slavic background, so he had a pretty decent little accent.

Then there's nothing like being 19 years old and prematurely balding. When you're in college, everyone wants to be cool and George was not cool. George didn't really have a relationship with God. He started coming to Bible study.

He struggled. Confession. You know when someone sort of joins your group and you go, oh, if they break up into groups, I hope he's in another group.

I just hope he's not in my group. That's terrible, but it was true. George, I got to know him for that first year. An amazing thing happened. He heard about something in the summer. He went to some sort of conference. In this conference, they were talking about God can completely change your life. His word is so powerful in all these verses.

They said the way it really works is by memorizing and meditating on Scripture. I think George just got super desperate. I mean, this is one of the most socially awkward people kind of pushing him away or to the fringes. Then the poor guy ended up in a dormitory with the fraternity guys.

I mean, all they did is make fun of him all the time. George comes back after the summer. I notice in his shirt pocket he's got like a stack of three-by-five cards about this thick, very small, small print. I said, George, what you got there?

He said, oh, I went to this conference. I started memorizing Scripture. I had started. I got some little ones here. I got my first 60 verses, topical memory system.

It was kind of tracking, so I had maybe 100, maybe 2. I'm really a spiritual leader here. He said, well, I started out and I memorized the book of James. Then I did Matthew. I said, well, you mean the book Matthew? Yes. Then I forget.

It was the book of John and then 1 and 2 Timothy. I said, George, are you kidding? He goes, no, it takes me. I spent the first 45 minutes of my day just reviewing those verses. First of all, I thought he couldn't be telling the truth.

Then fast forward. You know when you meet someone where there's an inner beauty that comes out of their countenance, that comes out of their speech, that there's an attractiveness that you can't even put your finger on, that's not physical, that just draws like bees to honey? I watched this metamorphosis. George got in one of my small groups and just the calm, the wisdom, I don't know. I can't even explain it. The year goes on and pretty soon fraternity guys are looking both ways and going down to his dorm room to get counsel about their girlfriend or something that's happened at home. Pretty soon George is emerging as this leader and everyone wants to be around him. He's not socially awkward.

He's just one of the most winsome, attractive guys I've ever met. Deception, lies, delusions, thinking everything's okay, super powerful. God's word, super powerful. That brings us to our text. I think you're going to see this played out. Ryan taught us that we should be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

Why? For the anger of man does not fulfill the righteous life that God desires. Then we pick it up. I put it in your notes.

We pick it up at verse 21 that Ryan ended on. Therefore, here's the application, this anger that we have, this speech that we need to have, this listening and caring about people. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent.

It's the aorist tense. That means make a radical step of faith and anything morally or the evil and the references to relationships that are not good and places where you shouldn't go and influences that are messing with your life. Make a radical, radical departure and put that behind you so there's a negative command. Humbly accept the word planted in you which can save you. We're back to the word. Notice it's planted in you. Literally, it says that you receive the word. Remember the parable of the soils? Remember Jesus said to his disciples, I'll explain this to you. The son of men went out and he cast the seed upon the ground. The seed is God's word. The seed of God's word fell on hard path.

That's a hard heart. The seed of God's word fell on shallow soil. That's someone who responds quickly, but when it gets tough to be a follower, they fade away. The seed of God's word falls on thorny soil. That's a person who they love God and they're sincere and they start to grow, but the riches of this world, the deceitfulness of them and other things and distractions choke out the word. So instead of the person becoming more and more like Christ and more and more loving and more and more transformed, they get stuck. But then the last one, Luke 8 verse 15, but the seed that falls in the good ground is the person with a good and honest heart who receives the word implanted and obeys it. That's what he's talking about. He's talking about when you receive the word of truth, the gospel. First Peter says that we are born again by an imperishable seed, verse 23 through 25, that our new relationship with God happened because we responded to the gospel of grace and the gospel of grace put the seed of new life in us and this new life grows and our heart is the kind of soil. And so he says here, accept it humbly, literally with a teachable heart, which can save you. And if you printed out your notes, circle that little word can.

I didn't know if this was true. I just learned this this week because I was doing a little extra study and it's the word we get later became a word that they used for, obviously didn't have dynamite in that day, but dunamis. It's a word for power. It has the power, the word implanted in you has the power to save you. And the word salvation, I think we always think of, you know, like justification is when I prayed to receive Christ, but the word means deliverance. Your salvation is you're delivered from death. You're delivered from the power of sin. You're delivered from the penalty of sin. And so what he's saying is the word of God implanted in our hearts when we trusted Christ has the power to deliver us from what?

Well, from all moral filth, from all evil, from, are you ready for this? Deception. Remember earlier, earlier in the text, what's it say? He says, do not be deceived. We had the word of truth.

And so as you look in your notes, let me read the entire passage and then I want to break it down. And then here's the deal. I want you to think about how much power you'd really like to have. You know, we're just, we're all in this together. And we all struggle. We struggle with temptation. We struggle with emotions, anger, resentment, lack of forgiveness. We struggle with discipline. We struggle with a lot of stuff. This passage, it's going to remind us there is an amazing power of deception over here and there's a power in God's word that will deliver you.

But it only does that if you do something with it. Let's read it. He goes on to say, do not merely listen to the word. And so there's our word. Deceive yourselves.

Do what it says. Illustration. Anyone who listens to the word but doesn't do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

Contrast. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law, speaking of scripture, that gives freedom and continues to do this, so there's a practice, there's a habit, not forgetting what he has heard but doing it, notice the result. He will be blessed in what he does. Now, when I study the Bible and when I prepare to teach it, one of the things I do is I'll study the passage, I'll break down the different verses in terms of grammatically how they fit, and then what I try and do for me, and I've given it to you, but normally I don't give this to people.

I usually give them just sort of my big outline. But we're kind of studying, this is about God's word, so I thought I'd show you what I do. So then what I did is I said, okay, what does it really mean what I just studied? And then I want to put it in one clear sentence that accounts for all the words that really make sense. And so what we learned from verse 21, the beginning of verse 22, is that freedom to become the joyful, mature, Christ-like person who lacks nothing. Where did I get that?

Remember? Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials. Well, we're in a trial, right? Knowing the testing of your faith produces what? Endurance. Well, allow endurance to have its perfecting, maturing result that you might be perfect, mature, Christ-like, notice lacking in nothing. So freedom to become that kind of person requires a radical repentance from sinful practices and relational patterns. That's exactly what verse 21 said.

Moral filth and the prevalent evil. Then notice the positive and a wholehearted cultivation of the word implanted in our hearts. And so you want to experience God's power, His life change. I don't know about you, but regardless of circumstances, I want to have joy. Regardless of temptations, I want to have great relationships and be connected.

Regardless of emotional issues and what might tick me off or what might make me feel resentful, I want to be a joyful, loving, winsome person, dad, friend, husband. And he says, to do that, I have to make a radical repentance away from the things that are pulling me away from God. And then I need to make a wholehearted, I mean, cultivation of taking this word that's written now, but the living word that's been planted in my heart and cultivated in such a way like you would a garden. Oh, man, this is the most precious garden in the world.

And that garden is your heart. Chip's going to be back with his application, but just a quick reminder, this message is from our series called Resilient, Withstanding the Storms of Life. Navigating life's storms is never easy, but as believers in Christ, God gives us the resources we need to keep standing strong, no matter what comes our way. Chip's teaching provides a fresh perspective from James Chapter 1 on not only how to do it, but how to do it well and bless others along the way. For a limited time, the resources for Resilient are discounted, and the MP3s are always free. Now, to order your copy or to send it to a friend, visit us at livingontheedge.org, tap Special Offers on the app, or give us a call at 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003. Well Chip, the teaching today and a struggle with discouragement often go hand in hand. I mean, we've all experienced that to some degree or another, so I just know that we have a lot of brothers and sisters in Christ who are discouraged right now. Your latest book called The Art of Survival has the potential to bring a lot of hope and healing.

Now, if someone asked, what would you tell them about it? What I would say is, I think we're all struggling, regardless of our background or perspective of discouragement to some degree. And discouragement is really rooted in something called perspective. And we either have God's perspective and we see life through His perspective, or we see it through our own lens. And when our problems are very up close to our eye, the whole world looks pretty dark. And when our problems get pushed back and we see things from a large and big perspective, then we can overcome our discouragement. And the very last chapter in that tiny little book is how to slay the dragon of discouragement.

Of all the things I've shared, people have told me over and over and over. One guy said, you know, the first chapter was good. I really, really liked the second chapter. But the last chapter, that was awesome.

That's what got me over the hump. So I would pray that that little book, and especially that chapter, can help our brothers and sisters that are really struggling with discouragement. It's called The Art of Survival. Art is an acronym, A-R-T. A is the attitude that helps us navigate adversity. R is the resource God offers in adversity. And T is the theology that guides our perspective in adversity. In a world of chaos and confusion, Chip explains there's an art to survival, skills honed by practice that lead to joyful endurance no matter what. If you're looking for a path to perspective and peace, you need to read Chip's new book, The Art of Survival. Get your discounted copy at livingontheedge.org, with the Chip Ingram app, or by calling us at 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003. I hope you'll do it today. As we wrap up today's message, I told three stories. Two of them were about deception, and one was about power. I want you to really pause for just a moment. I want you to hang in there with me because I just don't think you grasp, no matter how much you think you grasp, how deceived you can be and I can be. The first story was about a guy that was telling me all about his church and his version of the Bible, and out of his mouth was the most prejudiced communication I'd ever heard in my life.

The second one was about a guy who was absolutely convinced everything was great until he came home and there's a note on the refrigerator, and his marriage was in shambles and the only one who didn't know it was him. Would you be willing, just today, to say, Oh Lord, if there's anything, anything at all that I'm deceived about, would you show me and then sit quietly? And if it's the Holy Spirit, it'll be very specific. It won't be, Oh, you're a bad person or you're terrible.

It'll be very specific about something that needs to change so he can draw you close. The second thing I want you to hear is this, is that just casually reading the Bible or somehow listening to podcasts and thinking that dynamic, supernatural power and change will come from that is false. You're deceived. Power comes when what?

When we put it into practice. That's what he says. He says, You hear the Word of God, you deceive yourselves. He says, Do what it says. And there's something, the Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. The writer of Hebrews says, It pierces to the division of soul and spirit and joint and marrow, listen carefully, and is able to discern or judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I don't read the Bible because a chapter a day keeps the devil away. I read the Bible to renew my mind slowly, thoughtfully, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to me who God is, how things are with us, and then holding tightly to a promise to say, Lord, I need to do this today, and I need your power, and this is what you promised. We have a tool called Learning to Hear God's Voice in Scripture that's absolutely free.

You'll get some information about how to get it. If you're not in the Bible for yourself and experiencing power, please check it out. Great word, Chip. Thanks. Now, to check out How to Hear God's Voice in Scripture, you'll find it on either the Chip Ingram app under Online Courses or at LivingOnTheEdge.org on the Free tab. There are several other free resources there you might find helpful, too. As we wrap up, I want to say thanks to those who make this program possible through your generous financial support. Your gifts help us create programs, purchase airtime, and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians. If you've been blessed by the ministry of Living on the Edge, would you consider sending a gift today? You can call us at 888-333-6003, tap the donate button, or donate online at LivingOnTheEdge.org. Your support is greatly appreciated. Well, until next time, for everyone here, this is Dave Drouie saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.