Life audio. Hi from the Salvation Army, and you're listening to Words of Life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Welcome back to Words of Life.
We are currently in a series with Counselor and Speaker Dr. Zach Clinton. Throughout this series, we're spending a good bit of time discussing topics from his latest book, Even If. You can find this book on Amazon or wherever books are sold. or visit his website.
Zachclinton.com There, you'll find links to his books, his podcast, as well as a link to find Christian counseling near you if you need some help. Mark Batterson, he shared this with me years ago. He said, Zach, we can assess the spiritual maturity of a person. By whether or not they can see the miraculous in the midst of the monotonous. And what he meant by that was: even in the midst of hardship and trial, if you can begin to see things differently and see God even in the midst of those things, to see the miraculous and truly acknowledge those things.
It will change everything about your life. and it will deepen your faith. To a depth that you couldn't even have fathomed to begin with. That's what I believe it's all about. God often reveals Himself.
in our moments of powerlessness to draw us closer to. And to reveal the character of his heart. And thank God that he does. Yeah. Amen.
I don't know what chapter it is, but you quote your dad in him saying that pressure has a way of exposing who you are. And what I read in that wasn't necessarily like a guilt trip, like, you know, something bad happens, and now you're upset, and it's like, oh, you're just a fake Christian or something. I didn't read that. I read it more as When we are experiencing pressure when when we are going through a trial God is going to allow that moment to pull some stuff out of us that we still need to work on. And Maybe it's career-wise or something, and something didn't go quite what you expected.
And maybe you got a new job, but you're not going to be making what you were hoping to be making. There will be these little moments, these little things that come out of you that God still just wants to keep working on because it's going to continue to make us more like Christ. My wife makes significantly more than I do. She's in the medical field. She's brilliant.
She's amazing. I love beautiful. Why? Um And there was a time when I was like Man, why do I struggle with that a little bit? you know, if I'm being completely honest, like, you know, I'm supposed to be the provider and Why does as a man that kind of affect me in a way that I don't like?
And God, I need you to work on that with me. And so, yeah, I just I loved that quote from your dad, and that's that's kind of how I read it. Yeah. That's really what it's meant to be as well, Chris, is this idea of, again, Pressure or the fiery seasons of our lives, it exposes the foundation, or it really just reveals that to our core. I remember.
Growing up as a kid in middle or high school, I forget when it was, but I remember a cousin calling my dad and I because we were out playing cash in the backyard. And she was in a frantic kind of run to the phone. And I could tell that there was a panic in her voice. And she was yelling that her apartment was burning down. And my dad and I were like, Like, what?
So we jump in the car. Right, and we go racing down the street because it was only about five or so minutes away from where I grew up. And as we're in the car, all of a sudden I look and I can see this black like pillar of smoke. And I'm like, oh my goodness, like this is legit.
So we pull in fire trucks everywhere, and I just remember. like wrapping my arm around my cousin as everything she owned. was being burnt to the ground. And I'll never forget that moment, right? Just like tears, everything.
And It was in that season of her life. that God really again revealed himself. Like never before. It was in that season of life that she began to understand the Ephesians 3:20, right? That we serve a God who.
Can do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask, think, or imagine because he surrounded her with people. He surrounded her with all these things. But the beautiful thing about that story, you guys. is days after when it was just ash piles everywhere. The only thing that was left behind was.
the foundation of the home. Mm-hmm. The only thing that was even left behind and catch this, this was the really cool thing. And I still have a picture in my phone of it. But out of all of the things that were burnt.
everything, the appliances, to the clothes, to the food, to the cabinets, to the beds, to it all. The only thing that was left un burnt unsinged. Was God's word. In the midst of all of this rubble, it was fascinating. These firefighters were pulling back all of these things.
And I've seen this happen multiple times. This isn't just the only time I've seen this, but with my own eyes, it was the only time. And this firefighter was like, Hold on I could tell he was just like he came across gold. And he pulls out. This Bible, and I'm not exaggerating when I say, out of the leather, the leather bounding of the front and the back, every page in between.
It was like the Bible was just thrown in there from a bookstore in the midst of this heap of ash. And it just goes back to this idea of: hey, what are we beginning to build our lives on? If we build our lives on things, if we build our lives on stuff, if we build our lives even on earthly relationships and more, if those things begin to define our value and our worth and our identity in life. I promise you we're building our life on that sinking sand. But if we begin to build our life on the foundation of Christ, we'll begin to recognize that when we hit rock bottom, God was always the rock at the bottom in the first place.
That's what this life is really. All about is like you said, Chris. Pressure really does expose. what's at our deepest core. Hey, you're listening to the Salvation Army's Words of Life.
We're going to take a quick ad break and we'll be right back. For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrive Ench, planning your finances is bigger than just money. We help you put your plans into motion and faith into action so you can do more for the ones in your heart.
Because sometimes all you need to make a difference is someone to help you make it happen. Thriveant, where money means more. Connect with us at Thriveant.com. The final chapter of your book, Even If, talks about pushing towards the mark, and it's certainly. Speaks about just constantly having the mindset of showing up.
And I don't know if it was like the first quote before you start that chapter, but it says You don't have to win all of your fights, but you do have to fight all of your fights. What what does that mean to you? You know, that quote comes from a man named Damon West, somebody who has an incredible testimony of his own. He's a motivational speaker. But just has a crazy testimony.
And when I read that for the first time, it really struck me because it goes back to said, Yeah, you don't have to win all those fights, but you got to be willing to at least. Fight them in the first place. And my kind of mission in life, you guys, is to remind people that they're never out of the fight. What I mean by that is that pain and hardship and suffering and challenge and adversity-like these things are inevitable. We can't just like avoid those things.
I know so many of us wish we could just press this magic button that's like, hey, let's live this perfect and prosperous life for the rest of our life, but that's just not how life works. Because again, it goes back to everything we've been talking about the last several weeks. This idea that you guys, pain is ultimately what produces growth. And we can't even experience growth. We can't experience this idea of leveling up.
We can't experience whatever God has for us, resilience and flourishing, and more, apart from the challenges. that we will face in this life because oftentimes he teaches us again lessons. In the midst of pain, that he could have never taught us in the midst of prosperity. That last chapter, pressing toward the mark. is the idea and the power and significance of discipline.
And disciplining ourselves, disciplining our minds, disciplining our bodies, disciplining our hearts, disciplining our. Faith. More toward position toward God, because I remember coming across some research years ago that's called the Rule of 100. That if we were really committed. To doing something of any chosen craft or discipline 18 minutes a day.
It would equate to 100 hours within a particular year. And guess what? If you do something for 18 minutes a day, You're actually gonna be better than 95% of the human population in that chosen discipline. Research shows that. That's not just an opinion.
Or an assumption that we formed together as friends over the last several weeks. No, no, no. This is something that research. shows. And so the Problem with a lot of us.
is not the intensity. It's our level of consistency. And that's what I'm trying to help people remember as we're kind of closing this book out. Really, as I kind of catapult them into life beyond this book, it's like, hey, take the lessons, take the points, take the quotes, take the things that God has revealed to me. I just want to share all of these things with you.
But by golly, be consistent. Because discipline will take you places motivation never could. It's easy. when we feel like it, but will we show up? And will we continue to strain?
On the path that God has given to us, as Paul references. Will we strain until we finish the race that God has set out before us? Will we keep on going? Galatians 6:9, do not grow weary in doing what is right, for in due time, We will reap a harvest if we do not give Up Jerry Follow Sr., he's the founder of Liberty University. He would always reiterate to students and to so many people.
Don't. ever. Ever Ever. Give. up if we could just keep pushing toward that end Man oh man, it would be a beautiful day because again, The perseverance and the patience and all of that is actually wrapped and attached to pain.
And so then we begin to view pain not as a curse, but more so as a blessing in our lives. We pray that you're enjoying and being blessed by this conversation. We're going to take one more ad break and we'll be right back. For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts.
At ThriveInt, planning your finances is bigger than just money. We help you put your plans into motion and faith into action so you can do more for the ones in your heart. Because sometimes all you need to make a difference is someone to help you make it happen. Private, where money means more. Connect with us at Thrivint.com.
I heard you on a podcast say, We want God's promises without God's processes. And I think that speaks to like that endurance or that consistency just to grow in our faith. You know, like it takes time. And so often we want stuff to happen immediately. I was going to say, as you brought that up, this idea.
of What it looks like to put in the work and to really truly strive for this as we're referencing. There was a man named Jedediah Thurner out of One Day LA. He had this big ministry that he was kind of traveling the country and just hosting these big like revival nights and campaigns. And I remember interviewing him, and he brought up this idea to me. He said, Zach, what are the two drugs of choice?
in culture and society today. I was like, hit me. And he said, comfort. and convenience. And I thought, man, he goes, just think about it, Zach.
We like our food fast. We like our men and women easy. We like success overnight. We want to lose thirty pounds in thirty days. We like cheat sheets instead of study guides, handouts instead of hard work, welfare instead of jobs.
We like God's promises without God's processes, and ultimately, we want our destiny at a discount. But he said this, remember, greatness never goes on sale. Envision never sleeps. Anything worth value in this life. will always come.
at a cost. And those words stuck with me. Because that's how we ought to live our lives, right? There's even passages in scripture, yes, following Jesus, right? The gift of salvation is free of charge.
But it also will cost you everything. And what that means is that guess what? It's not about earning or striving for that gift of salvation, but there's a cost to discipleship. We might have to give up our old ways, our old habits, our old patterns. We might have to move on from some old friends and stop carrying the load of those that aren't kind of pushing us toward the passions and the purposes that God has created us for, but those that might be stunting us in the first place.
There's a cost. to everything worthwhile in this life. The question is This goes into all of those motivational talks and more that we hear so many times. Choose your hard, right? It's just: hey, what are we willing to pay?
What's the price we're willing to pay? And someone once said this. The price is easy when the purpose is clear. When you understand what your purpose is in life, right, that cost is a natural byproduct. It begets easier day by day.
What you say yes to, it's easier to say yes to. What you say no to, it's easier to say no to. I'm just asking people out there today, again, as you understand your purpose, what you've been created for, what you've been called to, again, every day of your life, be willing. to pay the price. And to consider the cost.
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We'll see you next time. Hey friends, Nicole Eunice here from the How to Study the Bible podcast. I want to invite you to experience a fresh look at the story of Joseph and what it means for you today. Life can totally throw us for a loop, whether it's your family or your marriage, work, church, or something else entirely. Maybe you have found yourself in a season that you never would have expected and that you certainly.
wouldn't have signed up for. In this six-week Bible study together, we're going to talk about the biblical story of Joseph, a man who lived an unexpected life. And trusted God through it all. We'll talk about the blessings he experienced, the promises God keeps, the way that tests of our character can actually refine our faith. We'll talk about patience, we'll talk about loss, absolutely talk about redemption.
So come join us for the six-week series over on the How to Study the Bible podcast. Can't wait to dive in with you. The Historical Jesus Podcast is the sweeping saga of the life and times of Galilean Jesus of Nazareth. as well as the faith, religion, and church founded to honor and disseminate his acts and teachings. Join me, Mark Vinette, on this fascinating journey through time, exploring the many great works of Christian theology, literature, architecture, music, and art inspired by the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
